The generalized Mordell-Lang conjecture (GML) is the statement that the irreducible components of the Zariski closure of a subset of a group of finite rank inside a semi-abelian variety are translates of closed algebraic subgroups. M. McQuillan gave a proof of this statement. We revisit his proof, indicating some simplifications. This text contains a complete elementary proof of the fact that (GML) for groups of torsion points (= generalized Manin-Mumford conjecture), together with (GML) for finitely generated groups imply the full generalized Mordell-Lang conjecture.
We give a new proof of the Mordell-Lang conjecture in positive characteristic for finitely generated subgroups. We also make some progress towards the full Mordell-Lang conjecture in positive characteristic.
We formulate a conjecture for semiabelian varieties A over number fields that includes both the Mordell-Lang conjecture (now proven) and the Bogomolov conjecture. We prove the "Mordellic" (finitely generated) part of the conjecture when A is isogenous to the product of an abelian variety and a torus. The proof makes use of the Mordell-Lang conjecture, the Bogomolov conjecture, and an equidistribution theorem.
We prove a dynamical version of the Mordell-Lang conjecture in the context of Drinfeld modules. We use analytic methods similar to the ones employed by Skolem, Chabauty, and Coleman for studying diophantine equations.
In "Mordell-Lang plus Bogomolov", we formulated a conjecture combining the Mordell-Lang conjecture (now proven) and the Bogomolov conjecture, and proved the Mordellic part when A is almost split (i.e., isogenous to the product of an abelian variety and a torus). Here we prove that the full conjecture would follow from the Bogomolov conjecture and an equidistribution result for general semiabelian varieties. These assumptions have been proved when A is almost split, so the conjecture is completely proven in that case.
We prove a dynamical version of the Mordell-Lang conjecture for subvarieties of quasiprojective varieties X, endowed with the action of a morphism f:X --> X. We use an analytic method based on the technique of Skolem, Mahler, and Lech, along with results of Herman and Yoccoz from nonarchimedean dynamics.
We determine the structure of the intersection of a finitely generated subgroup of a semiabelian variety $G$ defined over a finite field with a closed subvariety $X\subset G$.
Let $ϕ$ be a Drinfeld module of generic characteristic, and let $X$ be a sufficiently generic affine subvariety of $\mathbb{G}_a^g$. We show that the intersection of $X$ with a finite rank $ϕ$-submodule of $\mathbb{G}_a^g$ is finite.
The Mordell-Lang conjecture (proven by Faltings, Vojta and McQuillan) states that the intersection of a subvariety $V$ of a semiabelian variety $G$ defined over an algebraically closed field $\mathbb{k}$ of characteristic $0$ with a finite rank subgroup $Γ\le G(\mathbb{k})$ is a finite union of cosets of subgroups of $Γ$. We explore a variant of this conjecture when $G$ is a product of an abelian variety $A$ defined over $\mathbb{k}$ with the additive group $\mathbb{G}_a$.
This expository survey is based on my online talk at the ICCM 2020. It aims to sketch key steps of the recent proof of the uniform Mordell-Lang conjecture for curves embedded into Jacobians (a question of Mazur). The full version of this conjecture is proved by combining Dimitrov-Gao-Habegger (https://annals.math.princeton.edu/articles/17715) and Kühne (arXiv:2101.10272). We include in this survey a detailed proof on how to combine these two results, which was implicitly done in another short paper of Dimitrov-Gao-Habegger (arXiv:2009.08505) but not explicitly written in existing literature. A…
Consider a smooth, geometrically irreducible, projective curve of genus $g \ge 2$ defined over a number field of degree $d \ge 1$. It has at most finitely many rational points by the Mordell Conjecture, a theorem of Faltings. We show that the number of rational points is bounded only in terms of $g$, $d$, and the Mordell-Weil rank of the curve's Jacobian, thereby answering in the affirmative a question of Mazur. In addition we obtain uniform bounded, in $g$ and $d$, for the number of geometric torsion points of the Jacobian which lie in the image of an Abel-Jacobi map. Both estimates generaliz…
The Mordell-Lang conjecture describes the intersection of a finitely generated subgroup with a closed subvariety of a semiabelian variety. Equivalently, this conjecture describes the intersection of closed subvarieties with the set of images of the origin under a finitely generated semigroup of translations. We study the analogous question in which the translations are replaced by algebraic group endomorphisms (and the origin is replaced by another point). We show that the conclusion of the Mordell-Lang conjecture remains true in this setting if either (1) the semiabelian variety is simple, (2…
We note that Pillay's result on the stability of an algebraically closed field with a predicate for a group of Lang type implies that number uniformity follows formally from the finiteness results analogous to Faltings' Theorem.
We prove that in positive characteristic, the Manin-Mumford conjecture implies the Mordell-Lang conjecture, in the situation where the ambient variety is an abelian variety defined over the function field of a smooth curve over a finite field and the relevant group is a finitely generated group. In particular, in the setting of the last sentence, we provide a proof of the Mordell-Lang conjecture, which does not depend on tools coming from model theory.
We provide an explicit formula on the growth rate of ample heights of rational points under iteration of endomorphisms on smooth projective varieties over number fields. As an application, we give a positive answer to a problem of Dynamical Mordell-Lang type for pairs of étale endomorphisms, which is a variant of the original one stated by Bell, Ghioca, and Tucker in their monograph.
We here aim to complete our model-theoretic account of the function field Mordell-Lang conjecture, avoiding appeal to dichotomy theorems for Zariski geometries, where we now consider the general case of semiabelian varieties. The main result is a reduction, using model-theoretic tools, of the semiabelian case to the abelian case.
We prove that if nonlinear complex polynomials of the same degree have orbits with infinite intersection, then the polynomials have a common iterate. We also prove a special case of a conjectured dynamical analogue of the Mordell-Lang conjecture.
We prove that two finite endomorphisms of the unit disk with degree at least two have orbits with infinite intersections if and only if they have a common iteration.
We study the quasi-endomorphism ring of infinitely definable subgroups in separably closed fields. Based on the results we obtain, we are able to prove a Mordell-Lang theorem for Drinfeld modules of finite characteristic. Using specialization arguments we are able to prove also a Mordell-Lang theorem for Drinfeld modules of generic characteristic.
We present a reduction of the function field Mordell-Lang conjecture to the function field Manin-Mumford conjecture, in all characteristics, via model theory, but avoiding recourse to the dichotomy theorems for (generalized) Zariski structures. In this version 2, the quantifier elimination result in positive characteristic is extended from simple abelian varieties to all abelian varieties, completing the main theorem in the positive characteristic case. In version 3, some corrections are made to the proof of quantifier elimination in positive characteristic, and the paper is substantially reor…
We give an overview of some landmark theorems and recent conjectures in Diophantine Geometry. In the elliptic case, we prove some new bounds for torsion anomalous points and we clarify the implications of several height bounds on the effective Mordell-Lang Conjecture. We also explicitly bound the Neron-Tate height of the rational points of a family of curves of increasing genus.
The dynamical Mordell-Lang conjecture concerns the structure of the intersection of an orbit in an algebraic dynamical system and an algebraic variety. In this paper, we bound the size of this intersection for various cases when it is finite.
We prove a dynamical version of the Mordell-Lang conjecture for etale endomorphisms of quasiprojective varieties. We use p-adic methods inspired by the work of Skolem, Mahler, and Lech, combined with methods from algebraic geometry. As special cases of our result we obtain a new proof of the classical Mordell-Lang conjecture for cyclic subgroups of a semiabelian variety, and we also answer positively a question of Keeler/Rogalski/Stafford for critically dense sequences of closed points of a Noetherian integral scheme.
In previous work, the first author, Ghioca, and the third author introduced a broad dynamical framework giving rise to many classical sequences from number theory and algebraic combinatorics. Specifically, these are sequences of the form $f(Φ^n(x))$, where $Φ\colon X\to X$ and $f\colon X\to\mathbb{P}^1$ are rational maps defined over $\overline{\mathbb{Q}}$ and $x\in X(\overline{\mathbb{Q}})$ is a point whose forward orbit avoids the indeterminacy loci of $Φ$ and $f$. They conjectured that if the sequence is infinite, then $\limsup \frac{h(f(Φ^n(x)))}{\log n} > 0$. They also made a correspondi…
We prove a special case of a dynamical analogue of the classical Mordell-Lang conjecture. In particular, let $ϕ$ be a rational function with no superattracting periodic points other than exceptional points. If the coefficients of $ϕ$ are algebraic, we show that the orbit of a point outside the union of proper preperiodic subvarieties of $(\bP^1)^g$ has only finite intersection with any curve contained in $(\bP^1)^g$. We also show that our result holds for indecomposable polynomials $ϕ$ with coefficients in $\bC$. Our proof uses results from $p$-adic dynamics together with an integrality argume…
We offer some theorems, mainly of finiteness, for certain patterns in elliptical billiards, related to periodic trajectories. For instance, if two players hit a ball at a given position and with directions forming a fixed angle in $(0,π)$, there are only finitely many cases for both trajectories being periodic. Another instance is the finiteness of the billiard shots which send a given ball into another one so that this falls eventually in a hole. These results have their origin in `relative' cases of the Manin-Mumford conjecture, and constitute instances of how arithmetical content may affect…
Let K be an algebraically closed field of prime characteristic p, let N be a positive integer, let f be a self-map on the algebraic torus T=G_m^N defined over K, let V be a curve in T defined over K, and let x be a K-point of T. We show that the set S consisting of all positive integers n for which f^n(x) is contained in V is a union of finitely many arithmetic progressions, along with a finite set and with finitely many p-arithmetic sequences, which are sets of the form {b + ap^{kn}: n is a positive integer} where a and b are given rational numbers and k is a positive integer. We also prove t…
Let X be a Noetherian space, let f be a continuous self-map on X, let Y be a closed subset of X, and let x be a point on X. We show that the set S consisting of all nonnegative integers n such that f^n(x) is in Y is a union of at most finitely many arithmetic progressions along with a set of Banach density zero. In particular, we obtain that given any quasi-projective variety X, any rational self-map map f on X, any subvariety Y of X, and any point x in X whose orbit under f is in the domain of definition for f, the set S is a finite union of arithmetic progressions together with a set of Bana…
We prove a quantitative partial result in support of the Dynamical Mordell-Lang Conjecture (also known as the DML conjecture) in positive characteristic. More precisely, we show the following: given a field $K$ of characteristic $p$, given a semiabelian variety $X$ defined over a finite subfield of $K$ and endowed with a regular self-map $Φ:X \longrightarrow X$ defined over $K$, given a point $α\in X(K)$ and a subvariety $V\subseteq X$, then the set of all non-negative integers $n$ such that $Φ^n(α)\in V(K)$ is a union of finitely many arithmetic progressions along with a subset $S$ with the p…
We show that if $ϕ: X \to X$ is an automorphism of a smooth projective variety and $D \subset X$ is an irreducible divisor for which the set of $d$ in $D$ with $ϕ^n(d)$ in $D$ for some nonzero $n$ is not Zariski dense, then $(X, ϕ)$ admits an equivariant rational fibration to a curve. As a consequence, we show that certain blowups (e.g. blowups in high codimension) do not alter the finiteness of $\textrm{Aut}(X)$, extending results of Bayraktar-Cantat. We also generalize results of Arnol'd on the growth of multiplicities of the intersection of a variety with the iterates of some other variety …
Let k be an algebraically closed field of characteristic 0, let X=P^1\times A^N and let f be a rational endomorphism of X given by (x,y)--->(g(x), A(x)y), where g is a rational function, while A is an N-by-N matrix with entries in k(x). We prove that if g is of the form x--->ax+b, then each irreducible curve C of X which intersects some orbit of f in infinitely many points must be periodic under the action of f. In the case g is an endomorphism of degree greater than 1, then we prove that each irreducible subvariety Y of X intersecting an orbit of f in a Zariski dense set of points must be per…
We propose a formulation of the relative Bogomolov conjecture and show that it gives an affirmative answer to a question of Mazur's concerning the uniformity of the Mordell-Lang conjecture for curves. In particular we show that the relative Bogomolov conjecture implies the uniform Manin-Mumford conjecture for curves. The proof is built up on our previous work "Uniformity in Mordell-Lang for curves".
Let F : P^n --> P^n be a morphism of degree d > 1 defined over C. The dynamical Mordell--Lang conjecture says that the intersection of an orbit O_F(P) and a subvariety X of P^n is usually finite. We consider the number of linear subvarieties L in P^n such that the intersection of O_F(P)and L is "larger than expected." When F is the d'th-power map and the coordinates of P are multiplicatively independent, we prove that there are only finitely many linear subvarieties that are "super-spanned" by O_F(P), and further that the number of such subvarieties is bounded by a function of n, independent o…
Let K be an algebraically closed field of prime characteristic p, let X be a semiabelian variety defined over a finite subfield of K, let f be a regular self-map on X defined over K, let V be a subvariety of X defined over K, and let x be a K-point of X. The Dynamical Mordell-Lang Conjecture in characteristic p predicts that the set S consisting of all positive integers n for which f^n(x) lies on V is a union of finitely many arithmetic progressions, along with finitely many p-sets, which are sets consisting of all integers of the form c_1 p^{k_1 n_1} + ... + c_m p^{k_m n_m} (as we vary n_1,..…
Let $K$ be a finitely generated field of characteristic zero. We study, for fixed $m \geq 2$, the rational functions $ϕ$ defined over $K$ that have a $K$-orbit containing infinitely many distinct $m$th powers. For $m \geq 5$ we show the only such functions are those of the form $cx^j(ψ(x))^m$ with $ψ\in K(x)$, and for $m \leq 4$ we show the only additional cases are certain Lattès maps and four families of rational functions whose special properties appear not to have been studied before. With additional analysis, we show that the index set $\{n \geq 0 : ϕ^{n}(a) \in λ(\mathbb{P}^1(K))\}$ is a…
We study an open question at the interplay between the classical and the dynamical Mordell-Lang conjectures in positive characteristic. Let $K$ be an algebraically closed field of positive characteristic, let $G$ be a finitely generated subgroup of the multiplicative group of $K$, and let $X$ be a (irreducible) quasiprojective variety defined over $K$. We consider $K$-valued sequences of the form $a_n:=f(φ^n(x_0))$, where $φ\colon X\rightarrow X$ and $f\colon X\rightarrow\mathbb{P}^1$ are rational maps defined over $K$ and $x_0\in X$ is a point whose forward orbit avoids the indeterminacy loci…
We prove that various arithmetic quotients of the unit ball in $\mathbb{C}^n$ are Mordellic, in the sense that they have only finitely many rational points over any finitely generated field extension of $\mathbb{Q}$. In the previously known case of compact hyperbolic complex surfaces, we give a new proof using their Albanese in conjunction with some key results of Faltings, but without appealing to the Shafarevich conjecture. In higher dimension, our methods allow us to solve an alternative of Ullmo and Yafaev. Our strongest result uses in addition Rogawski's theory and establishes the Mordell…
We consider an abelian variety defined over a number field. We give conditional bounds for the order of its Tate-Shafarevich group, as well as conditional bounds for the Néron-Tate height of generators of its Mordell-Weil group. The bounds are implied by strong but nowadays classical conjectures, such as the Birch and Swinnerton-Dyer conjecture and the functional equation of the L-series. In particular, we improve and generalise a result by D. Goldfeld and L. Szpiro on the order of the Tate-Shafarevich group, and extends a conjecture of S. Lang on the canonical height of a system of generators…
We investigate generalizations along the lines of the Mordell--Lang conjecture of the author's $p$-adic formal Manin--Mumford results for $n$-dimensional $p$-divisible formal groups $\mathcal{F}$. In particular, given a finitely generated subgroup $Γ$ of $\mathcal{F}(\overline{\mathbb{Q}}_p)$ and a closed subscheme $X\hookrightarrow \mathcal{F}$, we show under suitable assumptions that for any points $P\in X(\mathbb{C}_p)$ satisfying $nP\inΓ$ for some $n\in\mathbb{N}$, the minimal such orders $n$ are uniformly bounded whenever $X$ does not contain a formal subgroup translate of positive dimens…
