Polynomials which are locally reducible

Root separation for reducible monic polynomials of odd degree

We study root separation of reducible monic integer polynomials of odd degree. Let h(P) be the naive height, sep(P) the minimal distance between two distinct roots of an integer polynomial P(x) and sep(P)=h(P)^{-e(P)}. Let e_r*(d)=limsup_{deg(P)=d, h(P)-> +infty} e(P), where the limsup is taken over the reducible monic integer polynomials P(x) of degree d. We prove that e_r*(d) <= d-2. We also obtain a lower bound for e_r*(d) for d odd, which improves previously known lower bounds for e_r*(d) when d = 5, 7, 9.

Square-free values of reducible polynomials

We calculate admissible values of r such that a square-free polynomial with integer coefficients, no fixed prime divisor and irreducible factors of degree at most 3 takes infinitely many values that are a product of at most r distinct primes.

Packets of Serre weights for generic locally reducible two-dimensional Galois representations

Suppose $K/\mathbb{Q}_p$ is finite and $\overline{r}\colon G_K\to \mathrm{GL}_2(\overline{\mathbb{F}}_p)$ is a reducible Galois representation. In this paper we prove that we can use the results by the author in [Ste22] to obtain a decomposition of the set of Serre weights $W(\overline{r})$ into a disjoint union of at most $(e+1)^f$ 'packets' of weights (where $f$ is the residue degree and $e$ the ramification degree of $K$) under the assumption that $\overline{r}$ is weakly generic. Thereby, we improve on results of Diamond--Savitt in [DS15] which give a similar decomposition, by rather diffe…

Newly reducible polynomial iterates

Given a field $K$ and $n > 1$, we say that a polynomial $f \in K[x]$ has newly reducible $n$th iterate over $K$ if $f^{n-1}$ is irreducible over $K$, but $f^n$ is not (here $f^i$ denotes the $i$th iterate of $f$). We pose the problem of characterizing, for given $d,n > 1$, fields $K$ such that there exists $f \in K[x]$ of degree $d$ with newly reducible $n$th iterate, and the similar problem for fields admitting infinitely many such $f$. We give results in the cases $(d,n) \in \{(2,2), (2,3), (3,2), (4,2)\}$ as well as for $(d,2)$ when $d \equiv 2 \bmod{4}$. In particular, we show that for all…

Newly reducible iterates in families of quadratic polynomials

We examine the question of when a quadratic polynomial f(x) defined over a number field K can have a newly reducible nth iterate, that is, f^n(x) irreducible over K but f^{n+1}(x) reducible over K, where f^n denotes the nth iterate of f. For each choice of critical point γof f(x), we consider the family g_{γ,m}(x)= (x - γ)^2 + m + γ, m \in K. For fixed n \geq 3 and nearly all values of γ, we show that there are only finitely many m such that g_{γ,m} has a newly reducible nth iterate. For n = 2 we show a similar result for a much more restricted set of γ. These results complement those obtained…

On a class of reducible trinomials

In this short note we give an expression for some numbers $n$ such that the polynomial $x^{2p}-nx^p+1$ is reducible.

Note on the number of divisors of reducible quadratic polynomials

In a recent paper, Lapkova uses a Tauberian theorem to derive the asymptotic formula for the divisor sum $\sum_{n \leq x} d( n (n+v))$ where $v$ is a fixed integer and $d(n)$ denotes the number of divisors of $n$. We reprove her result by following a suggestion of Hooley, namely investigating the relationship between this sum and the well-known sum $\sum_{n \leq x} d( n ) d (n+v)$. As such, we are able to furnish additional terms in the asymptotic formula.

Prime values of reducible polynomials, II

The Schinzel hypothesis claims (but it seems hopeless to prove) that any irreducible Q[x] polynomial without a constant factor assumes infinitely many prime values at integer places. On the other hand, it is easy to see that a reducible Q[x] polynomial can have only finitely many such places. In this paper we prove that a reducible Z[x] polynomial of degree n (where n is not 4 or 5) can have at most n+2 such places, and there exist examples with n+1 places. If the Schinzel hypothesis and the k-prime-tuple conjecture are true, then there are also polynomials with n+2 such places. (For n=4 or 5 …

An iterative construction of irreducible polynomials reducible modulo every prime

We give a method of constructing polynomials of arbitrarily large degree irreducible over a global field F but reducible modulo every prime of F. The method consists of finding quadratic f in F[x] whose iterates have the desired property, and it depends on new criteria ensuring all iterates of f are irreducible. In particular when F is a number field in which the ideal (2) is not a square, we construct infinitely many families of quadratic f such that every iterate f^n is irreducible over F, but f^n is reducible modulo all primes of F for n at least 2. We also give an example for each n of a q…

The parity problem for reducible cubic forms

Let f in Z[x,y] be a reducible homoegeneous polynomial of degree 3. We show that f(x,y) has an even number of prime factors as often as an odd number of prime factors.

On the distribution of reducible polynomials

Let Y_n(t) denote the set of all polynomials over the ring Z which are reducible over the field Q and of degree n>1 and of height not greater than t. We show that the true order of magnitude of |Y_n(t)| equals t^2 log t in the special case n=2 and it equals t^n for each n>2. We also determine the true order of magnitude of the size of certain interesting subsets of Y_n(t).

Counting Reducible Matrices, Polynomials, and Surface and Free Group Automorphisms

We give upper bounds on the numbers of various classes of polynomials reducible over the integers and over integers modulo a prime and on the number of matrices in SL(n), GL(n) and Sp(2n) with reducible characteristic polynomials, and on polynomials with non-generic Galois groups. We use our result to show that a random (in the appropriate sense) element of the mapping class group of a closed surface is pseudo-Anosov, and that a random automorphism of a free group is strongly irreducible (aka irreducible with irreducible powers). We also give a necessary condition for all powers of an algebrai…

Erdos-Turan with a moving target, equidistribution of roots of reducible quadratics, and Diophantine quadruples

A Diophantine $m$-tuple is a set $A$ of $m$ positive integers such that $ab+1$ is a perfect square for every pair $a,b$ of distinct elements of $A$. We derive an asymptotic formula for the number of Diophantine quadruples whose elements are bounded by $x$. In doing so, we extend two existing tools in ways that might be of independent interest. The Erd\H os-Turán inequality bounds the discrepancy between the number of elements of a sequence that lie in a particular interval modulo 1 and the expected number; we establish a version of this inequality where the interval is allowed to vary. We also…

Asymptotic behavior of the least common multiple of consecutive reducible quadratic progression terms

Let $l$ and $m$ be two integers with $l>m\ge 0$, and let $f(x)$ be the product of two linear polynomials with integer coefficients. In this paper, we show that $\log {\rm lcm}_{mn<i\le ln}\{f(i)\}=An+o(n)$, where $A$ is a constant depending only on $l$, $m$ and $f$.

$p$-进商集：具有可约特征多项式的线性递推序列

$p$-Adic quotient sets: linear recurrence sequences with reducible characteristic polynomials

本文针对特征多项式在有理数域上可约的一类线性递推序列，解答了Sanna提出的判断其$p$-进商集在$p$-进数域中是否稠密的公开问题，补充了此前不可约情形下的相关研究结论。

A note on a conjecture by Ulas on polynomial substitutions

We prove a recent conjecture by Ulas on reducible polynomial substitutions.

Reducible Fibers of Polynomial Maps

For a degree $n$ polynomial $f$ over the rationals, the elements in the fiber $f^{-1}(a)$ are of degree $n$ over $\mathbb Q$ for most rational values $a$ by Hilbert's irreducibility theorem. Determining the set of exceptional $a$'s without this property is a long standing open problem that is closely related to the Davenport--Lewis--Schinzel problem (1959) on reducibility of separated polynomials. As opposed to previous work which mostly concerns indecomposable $f$, we answer both problems for decomposable $f=f_1\circ\cdots\circ f_r$, as long as the indecomposable factors $f_i\in\mathbb Q[x]$ …

Walks on groups, counting reducible matrices, polynomials, and surface and free group automorphisms

We prove sharp limit theorems on random walks on graphs with values in finite groups. We then apply these results (together with some elementary algebraic geometry, number theory, and representation theory) to finite quotients of lattices in semisimple Lie groups (specifically SL(n,Z) and Sp(2n, Z) to show that a ``random'' element in one of these lattices has irreducible characteristic polynomials (over the integers. The term ``random'' can be defined in at least two ways (in terms of height and also in terms of word length in terms of a generating set) -- we show the result using both defini…

An Infinite Family of Cubics with Emergent Reducibility at Depth 1

A polynomial f(x) has emergent reducibility at depth n if f^{\circ k}(x) is irreducible for 0\leq k\leq n-1 but f^{\circ n}(x) is reducible. In this paper we prove that there are infinitely many irreducible cubics f \in \mathbb{Z}[x] with f\circ f reducible by exhibiting a one parameter family with this property.

Jacobi 极点除子与超奇异提升

Reducible modular differential equations, Jacobi pole divisors, and supersingular lifts

本文通过单一 Jacobi 多项式统一了模微分方程极点、Stieltjes 平衡与超奇异提升，证明 Ogg 素数对应完全分裂，并揭示极点的超越性与极限分布。

An irreducibility criterion for polynomials over integers

In this article, we consider the polynomials of the form $f(x)=a_0+a_1x+a_2x^2+\cdots+a_nx^n\in \mathbb{Z}[x],$ where $|a_0|=|a_1|+\dots+|a_n|$ and $|a_0|$ is a prime. We show that these polynomials have a cyclotomic factor whenever reducible. As a consequence, we give a simple procedure for checking the irreducibility of trinomials of this form and separability criterion for certain quadrinomials.

Irreducibility of generalized Fibonacci polynomials

A second order polynomial sequence is of Fibonacci-type $\mathcal{F}_{n}$ (Lucas-type $\mathcal{L}_{n}$) if its Binet formula has a structure similar to that for Fibonacci (Lucas) numbers. Under certain conditions these polynomials are irreducible if and only if $n$ is a prime number. For example, the Fibonacci polynomials, Pell polynomials, Fermat polynomials, Lucas polynomials, Pell-Lucas polynomials, Fermat-Lucas polynomials are irreducible when $n$ is a prime number; and Chebyshev polynomials (second kind), Morgan-Voyce polynomials (Fibonacci type), and Vieta polynomials are reducible when…

Polynomial Cunningham Chains

Let $ε\in \{-1,1\}$. A sequence of prime numbers $p_1, p_2, p_3, ...$, such that $p_i=2p_{i-1}+ε$ for all $i$, is called a {\it Cunningham chain} of the first or second kind, depending on whether $ε=1$ or -1 respectively. If $k$ is the smallest positive integer such that $2p_k+ε$ is composite, then we say the chain has length $k$. Although such chains are necessarily finite, it is conjectured that for every positive integer $k$, there are infinitely many Cunningham chains of length $k$. A sequence of polynomials $f_1(x), f_2(x), ...$, such that $f_i(x)\in \Z[x]$, $f_1(x)$ has positive leading …

Irreducibility of Random Polynomials

We study the probability that a random polynomial with integer coefficients is reducible when factored over the rational numbers. Using computer-generated data, we investigate a number of different models, including both monic and non-monic polynomials. Our data supports conjectures made by Odlyzko and Poonen and by Konyagin, and we formulate a universality heuristic and new conjectures that connect their work with Hilbert's Irreducibility Theorem and work of van der Waerden. The data indicates that the probability that a random polynomial is reducible divided by the probability that there is …

Z上形式幂级数环中二次多项式的因式分解

Factorization of quadratic polynomials in the ring of formal power series over Z

本文确立了整系数形式幂级数环中二次多项式不可约的充要条件，并证明特定二次多项式在该环中的可约性等价于其在p进整数多项式环中的可约性。

Explicit Hilbert's Irreducibility Theorem in Function Fields

We prove a quantitative version of Hilbert's irreducibility theorem for function fields: If $f(T_1,\ldots, T_n,X)$ is an irreducible polynomial over the field of rational functions over a finite field $\mathbb{F}_q$ of characteristic $p$, then the proportion of $n$-tuples $(t_1,\ldots, t_n)$ of monic polynomials of degree $d$ for which $f(t_1,\ldots, t_n,X)$ is reducible out of all $n$-tuples of degree $d$ monic polynomials is $O(dq^{-d/2})$.

Explicit Hilbert Irreducibility

Let $P(T,X)$ be an irreducible polynomial in two variables with rational coefficients. It follows from Hilbert's Irreducibility Theorem that for most rational numbers $t$ the specialized polynomial $P(t,X)$ is irreducible and has the same Galois group as $P$. We discuss here a method for obtaining an explicit description of the set of exceptional numbers $t$, i.e., those for which $P(t,X)$ is either reducible or has a different Galois group than $P$. To illustrate the method we determine the exceptional specializations of two polynomials of degrees four and six.

Stability of Certain Higher Degree Polynomials

One of the interesting problems in arithmetic dynamics is to study the stability of polynomials over a field. In this paper, we study the stability of $f(z)=z^d+\frac{1}{c}$ for $d\geq 2$, $c\in{\mathbb{Z}\setminus\{0\}}$. We show that for infinite families of $d\geq 3$, whenever $f(z)$ is irreducible, all its iterates are irreducible, that is, $f(z)$ is stable. For $c\equiv 1\pmod{4}$, we show that all the iterates of $z^2+\frac{1}{c}$ are irreducible. Also we show that for $d=3$, if $f(z)$ is reducible, then the number of irreducible factors of each iterate of $f(z)$ is exactly $2$ for $|c|\…

比较剩余可约情形下的伽罗瓦表示

Comparing Galois representations in the residually reducible case

本文提出一种算法，用于判定剩余像为p-群的伽罗瓦表示的半单化是否同构，并应用于证明特定不可约表示由五个小范数素数处的Frobenius特征多项式决定，且自动验证了Grenié的2-adic例子。

Specializations of one-parameter families of polynomials

Let K be a number field, and let lambda(x,t)\in K[x, t] be irreducible over K(t). Using algebraic geometry and group theory, we study the set of alpha\in K for which the specialized polynomial lambda(x,alpha) is K-reducible. We apply this to show that for any fixed n>=10 and for any number field K, all but finitely many K-specializations of the degree n generalized Laguerre polynomial are K-irreducible and have Galois group S_n. In conjunction with the theory of complex multiplication, we also show that for any K and for any n>=53, all but finitely many of the K-specializations of the modular …

局部整数值多项式函数

Locally Integer Polynomial Functions

本文研究定义在 Z 及其无限子集上、有限限制均为整系数多项式的 Z 值函数环，指出其受多项式迭代研究启发且具有独立价值，并揭示其类似复解析函数、可在余有限与密度一拓扑中构成层的性质。

Reducibility of polynomials $f(x,y)$ modulo $p$

We consider absolutely irreducible polynomials $f \in Z[x,y]$ with $°_x(f)=m$, $°_y(f)=n$ and height $H$. We show that for any prime $p$ with $p>c_{mn} H^{2mn+n-1}$ the reduction $f \bmod p$ is also absolutely irreducible. Furthermore if the Bouniakowsky conjecture is true we show that there are infinitely many absolutely irreducible polynomials $f \in Z[x,y]$ which are reducible mod $p$ where $p$ is a prime with $p>H^{2m}$.

Factoring polynomials in the ring of formal power series over Z

We consider polynomials with integer coefficients and discuss their factorization properties in Z[[x]], the ring of formal power series over Z. We treat polynomials of arbitrary degree and give sufficient conditions for their reducibility as power series. Moreover, if a polynomial is reducible over Z[[x]], we provide an explicit factorization algorithm. For polynomials whose constant term is a prime power, our study leads to the discussion of p-adic integers.