The relative class number one problem for function fields. I (Q2081531)

The relative class number one problem for global function fields is to classify finite extensions for which the relative class number equals \(1\), that is, if \(h_{F'/F}=1\) or \(h_{F'}=h_F\), where \(F'/F\) is a finite extension and \(h_F\) denotes the class number of \(F\). For a global function field \(F\), we consider \(F\) as the field of rational functions on a curve \(C\) over some finite field. The cardinality of the field of constants is denoted by \(q_F\), the genus of \(F\) by \(g_F\) and the Jacobian of \(C\) by \(J(C)\), so that \(\#J(C)({\mathbb F}_{q_F})=h_F\). The relative class number \(h_{F'/F}\) is the order of \(\mathrm{coker}\, f\), where \(f\) is the morphism from \(J(C)\) to the Weil restriction of \(J(C')\), the \textit{Prym variety} of the covering. In particular \(h_{F'/F}\) is a positive integer. This paper reduces the classification of finite extensions of function fields to a finite computation. The computation is complete in all cases except when the field of constants of both \(F'\) and \(F\) is \({\mathbb F}_2\) and both have genus grater than \(1\). The main results are the following: \begin{itemize} \item Let \(F'/F\) be an extension of constants of degree \(d>1\), \(g_F>0\), \(q_{F'}>q_F\) and \(h_{F'/F}=1\). Then \((q_F,d,g_F,J(C))\) is one of \(8\) explicit cases. \item Let \(F'/F\) be a geometric extension of degree \(d\) with \(g_F\leq 1\), \(g_{F'}>g_F\) and \(h_{F'/F}=1\). Then \((q_F, g_F,g_{F'}, J(C),J(C'))\) is given in a table with \(31\) cases. \item The case \(F'/F\) is a geometric extension of degree \(d\) with \(g_{F'}>g_F>1\) and \(h_{F'/F}=1\), the possibilities are given in \(4\) different tables. \end{itemize} As a corollary, it is obtained that there are two different extensions \(F'/F\) of degree \(d\) with \(g_{F'}>g_F\) and \(h_{F'/F}=1\), which are neither constant nor purely geometric extensions and, in both cases, \(q_F=2\) and \(q_{F'}=4\).