Good reduction of certain covers \(\mathbb{P}^1\to\mathbb{P}^1\) (Q5951481): Difference between revisions

In a previous paper [Acta Arithm. 71, 107-137 (1995; Zbl 0840.11015)], \textit{U. Zannier} proved that there are distinct polynomials \(F,G \in {\mathbb{C}}[t]\) having roots of prescribed multiplicities and with \(\deg(F- G)\) as small as predicted by a theorem attributed to \textit{R. C. Mason} that is a predecessor to the abc conjecture. The author is interested here in the analogous problem in positive characteristic. The method used by the author is good reduction of certain covers of curves of genus \(0\). More precisely, let \(F(t)=\prod_{i=1}^{h}(t-\xi_{i})^{\mu_{i}}\), \(G(t)=\prod_{i=1}^{k}(t- \eta_{i})^{\nu_{i}}\) be distinct polynomials of degree \(n\) with coefficients in a field \(K\) of characteristic zero, with discrete valuation \(\upsilon\) having perfect residue field \(K_0\) of characteristic \(p>0\) and \(\mathcal{O}\) as valuation ring. Then the rational function \(F/G\) defines a cover \(f_{K}:{\mathbb{P}}_{K}^1\to {\mathbb{P}}_{K}^1\). We say that \(f_{K}\) has good reduction if there exists an \(\mathcal O\)-morphism \(f_{\mathcal O}:=F^{*}/G^{*}:{\mathbb{P}}_{\mathcal{O}}^1\to {\mathbb{P}}_{\mathcal{O}}^1\) that extends \(f_{K}\) such that the reduction of \(f_{\mathcal{O}}\) mod \(\upsilon\) gives a separable and generically unramified \(K_{0}\)-morphism \(f_{K_{0}}:{\mathbb{P}}_{K_{0}}^1\to {\mathbb{P}}_{K_{0}}^1\) of the same degree of \(f_{K}\). The cover has potential good reduction if it has good reduction over a finite field extension of \(K\). The main result of the paper gives some sufficient conditions for the cover \(f_{K}\) to have potential good reduction at \(\upsilon\). The proof is mainly by means of \(p\)-adic analytic continuation of Puiseux series as developed by \textit{B. Dwork} and \textit{P. Robba} [Trans. Am. Math. Soc. 256,199-213 (1979; Zbl 0426.12013)].