Étale difference algebraic groups are a difference analog of étale algebraic groups. Our main result is a Jordan-Hölder type decomposition theorem for these groups. Roughly speaking, it shows that any étale difference algebraic group can be build up from simple étale algebraic groups and two finite étale difference algebraic groups. The simple étale algebraic groups occurring in this decomposition satisfy a certain uniqueness property.
Affine difference algebraic groups are a generalization of affine algebraic groups obtained by replacing algebraic equations with algebraic difference equations. We show that the isomorphism theorems from abstract group theory have meaningful analogs for these groups and we establish a Jordan-Hölder type theorem that allows us to decompose any affine difference algebraic group into almost-simple affine difference algebraic groups. We also characterize almost-simple affine difference algebraic groups via almost-simple affine algebraic groups.
We extend and apply the Galois theory of linear differential equations equipped with the action of an endomorphism. The Galois groups in this Galois theory are difference algebraic groups and we use structure theorems for these groups to characterize the possible difference algebraic relations among solutions of linear differential equations. This yields tools to show that certain special functions are difference transcendent. One of our main results is a characterization of discrete integrability of linear differential equations with almost simple usual Galois group, based on a structure theo…
We study the inverse problem in the difference Galois theory of linear differential equations over the difference-differential field $\mathbb{C}(x)$ with derivation $\frac{d}{dx}$ and endomorphism $f(x)\mapsto f(x+1)$. Our main result is that every linear algebraic group, considered as a difference algebraic group, occurs as the difference Galois group of some linear differential equation over $\mathbb{C}(x)$.
We propose an algebraic geometric approach for studying rational solutions of first-order algebraic ordinary difference equations. For an autonomous first-order algebraic ordinary difference equations, we give an upper bound for the degrees of its rational solutions, and thus derive a complete algorithm for computing corresponding rational solutions.
We introduce a notion of dimension for the solution set of a system of algebraic difference equations that measures the degrees of freedom when determining a solution in the ring of sequences. This number need not be an integer, but, as we show, it satisfies properties suitable for a notion of dimension. We also show that the dimension of a difference monomial is given by the covering density of its set of exponents.
We develop a Galois theory for linear differential equations equipped with the action of an endomorphism. This theory is aimed at studying the difference algebraic relations among the solutions of a linear differential equation. The Galois groups here are linear difference algebraic groups, i.e., matrix groups defined by algebraic difference equations.
We introduce a cohomology set for groups defined by algebraic difference equations and show that it classifies torsors under the group action. This allows us to compute all torsors for large classes of groups. We also develop some tools for difference algebraic geometry and present an application to the Galois theory of differential equations depending on a discrete parameter.
We establish several finiteness properties of groups defined by algebraic difference equations. One of our main results is that a subgroup of the general linear group defined by possibly infinitely many algebraic difference equations in the matrix entries can indeed be defined by finitely many such equations. As an application, we show that the difference ideal of all difference algebraic relations among the solutions of a linear differential equation is finitely generated.
We introduce a class of strongly étale difference algebras, whose role in the study of difference equations is analogous to the role of étale algebras in the study of algebraic equations. We deduce an improved version of Babbitt's decomposition theorem and we present applications to difference algebraic groups and the compatibility problem.
In analogy with the Riemann zeta function at positive integers, for each finite field F_p^r with fixed characteristic p we consider Carlitz zeta values zeta_r(n) at positive integers n. Our theorem asserts that among the zeta values in {zeta_r(1), zeta_r(2), zeta_r(3), ... | r = 1, 2, 3, ...}, all the algebraic relations are those algebraic relations within each individual family {zeta_r(1), zeta_r(2), zeta_r(3), ...}. These are the algebraic relations coming from the Euler-Carlitz relations and the Frobenius relations. To prove this, a motivic method for extracting algebraic independence resu…
This second part of the paper strengthens the descent theory described in the first part to rational maps, arbitrary base fields, and dynamics given by correspondences. We obtain in particular a decomposition of any difference field extension into a tower of finite, field-internal and one-based difference field extensions. This is needed in order to obtain the "dynamical Northcott" Theorem 1.11 of Part I in sharp form.
We view difference algebra as the study of algebraic objects in the topos of difference sets. The methods of topos theory and categorical logic enable us to develop difference homological algebra, identify a solid foundation for difference algebraic geometry, and cohomology theory of difference schemes.
We draw a connection between the model-theoretic notions of modularity (or one-basedness), orthogonality and internality, as applied to difference fields, and questions of descent in in algebraic dynamics. In particular we prove in any dimension a strong dynamical version of Northcott's theorem for function fields, answering a question of Szpiro and Tucker and generalizing a theorem of Baker's for the projective line. The paper comes in three parts. This first part contains an exposition some of the main results of the model theory of difference fields, and their immediate connection to questi…
A classification of ordinary differential equations and finite-difference equations in one variable having polynomial solutions (the generalized Bochner problem) is given. The method used is based on the spectral problem for a polynomial element of the universal enveloping algebra of $sl_2({\bf R})$ (for differential equations) or $sl_2({\bf R})_q$ (for finite-difference equations) in the "projectivized" representation possessing an invariant subspace. Connection to the recently-discovered quasi-exactly-solvable problems is discussed.
We develop sheaf theory in the context of difference algebraic geometry. We introduce categories of difference sheaves and develop the appropriate cohomology theories. As specializations, we get difference Galois cohomology, difference Picard group and a good theory of difference torsors.
We study canonical central extensions of the general linear group of the ring of adeles on a smooth projective algebraic surface $X$ by means of the group of integers. By these central extensions and adelic transition matrices of a rank $n$ locally free sheaf of ${\mathcal O}_X$-modules we obtain the local (adelic) decomposition for the difference of Euler characteristics of this sheaf and the sheaf ${\mathcal O}_X^n$. Two various calculations of this difference lead to the Riemann-Roch theorem on $X$ (without the Noether formula).
Let $E$ be a fiber $F$ bundle over a base $B$ such that $E, F$ and $B$ are smooth compact complex algebraic varieties. In this paper we give explicit formulae for the difference of the Hirzebruch $χ_y$-genus $χ_y(E) - χ_y(F)χ_y(B)$. As a byproduct of the formulae we obtain that the signature of such a fiber bundle is multiplicative mod $4$, i.e. the signature difference $σ(E) -σ(F)σ(B)$ is always divisible by $4$. In the case of $\operatorname{dim}_{\mathbb C}E \leqq 4$ the $χ_y$-genus difference $χ_y(E) - χ_y(F)χ_y(B)$ can be concretely described only in terms of the signature difference $σ(E…
