On the \(\lambda\) invariants of \(\mathbb Z_p\)-extensions of real quadratic fields (Q1076071)

Necessary and sufficient conditions for the Iwasawa invariants of a real quadratic field to vanish were given by \textit{R. Greenberg} [Am. J. Math. 98, 263--284 (1976; Zbl 0334.12013)]. However, Greenberg's condition is not easily applied to examples, so a new sufficient condition is given by the following: Theorem: Let \(k\) be a real quadratic field and \(p\) an odd prime which splits in \(k\). Moreover, let \(k=k_0\subset k_1\subset\cdots \subset k_n\subset\cdots \subset k_{\infty}\) denote the cyclotomic \(\mathbb Z_ p\)-extension of \(k\). If \(\varepsilon\) denotes the fundamental unit of \(k\), let \(m\) be the largest positive integer such that \(\varepsilon^{p-1}\equiv 1\pmod {p^m \mathbb Z_ p}\). Let \(E_n\) denote the unit group of \(k_n\). If the class number of \(k\) is relatively prime to \(p\) and if \(N_{k_{m-1}/k}(E_{m-1})=E_0\) then \[\lambda_p(k)=\mu_ p(k)=0.\] The author proves this theorem and then gives all examples of \(k=\mathbb Q(\sqrt{d})\) with \(d<1000\) for which the condition holds for each of the primes \(p=3, 5\) and \(7\). In addition the author proves a second condition for the invariants to vanish, which drops the requirement that \(p\) does not divide the class number of \(k\). Several values of \(d\) are again given for each of the primes \(p=3, 5\) and \(7\) for which this condition is satisfied.