Hodge-Stickelberger polygons for \(L\)-functions of exponential sums of \(P(x^s)\) (Q1000621)

Let \({\mathbb F}_q\) be a finite field of cardinality \(q\) and characteristic \(p\). Let \({\mathcal A}_{d_1,d_2}\) be the space of all Laurent polynomials in one variable \(x\) with coefficients in \({\mathbb F}_q\), of degree \(d_1\) in \(x\) and \(d_2\) in \(x^{-1}\), where \(d_1,d_2\geq 1\). Suppose that \(p\) does not divide \(d_1d_2\). Fix an integer \(s\geq 1\). The authors prove that for every \(\bar{P}\in{\mathcal A}_{d_1,d_2}\) the \(q\)-adic Newton polygon of the \(L\)-function of the exponential sum of \(\bar{P}(x^s)\) lies over the Hodge-Stickelberger polygon, and that for every \(\nu\in({\mathbb Z}/s{\mathbb Z})^\times\) there exists a dense Zariski open subset \({\mathcal U}_\nu\) defined over \({\mathbb Q}\) such that for every Laurent polynomial \(P\) in \( {\mathcal U}_\nu(\bar{\mathbb Q}) \) the \(q\)-adic Newton polygon of \(L(\bar{P}(x^s)/{\mathbb F}_q;T)\) converges to the Hodge-Stickelberger polygon as \(p\) approaches infinity and \(p\equiv \nu(\bmod s)\). As a corollary, they obtain a tight lower bound for the \(q\)-adic Newton polygon of the numerator of the zeta function of an Artin-Schreier curve given by affine equation \(y^p-y=\bar{P}(x^s)\). This estimates the \(q\)-adic valuations of reciprocal roots of the numerator of the zeta function of the Artin-Schreier curve.