Enumerating \(D_4\) quartics and a Galois group bias over function fields (Q2086410)

Counting number fields by discriminant is a central topic in arithmetic statistics with a long and rich history. A classical result of \textit{H. Cohen} et al. [Compos. Math. 133, No. 1, 65--93 (2002; Zbl 1050.11104)] counts the number of quartic \(D_4\)-extensions of a number field \(F\). Seminal work of Bhargava-Shankar-Wang [\textit{M. Bhargava}, et al.,``Geometry-of-numbers methods over global fields I: Prehomogeneous vector spaces'', Preprint, \url{}] achieves the same goal for quartic \(S_4\)-extensions. The goal of this paper is twofold. The author adapts the work of Cohen-Diaz y Diaz-Olivier to the setting of function fields. The overarching strategy of that work is to uniformly count quadratic extension of a given number field. This allows one to count the number of \(D_4\)-extensions upon observing that a typical quadratic extension of a quadratic extension has Galois group \(D_4\). One of the interesting novelties is the strong error term that the author has obtained in the process. This improvement mainly comes from the usage of the Riemann hypothesis, which is known in the setting of function fields. The second goal of the paper is to compare the count of \(D_4\)-extensions to the count of \(S_4\)-extensions. This is made possible by the work done in the first part of the paper and by using the results of Bhargava-Shankar-Wang, which include the function field setting. This comparison reveals the surprising phenomenon that a typical genus \(g \geq 2\) hyperelliptic extension of \(\mathbb{F}_q(t)\) has many more \(D_4\)-extensions than \(S_4\)-extensions as \(q\) goes to infinity.