Discriminant-stability in \(p\)-adic Lie towers of number fields (Q2127211)

Let \(p\) be a prime and let \(K\) be a number field or a \(p\)-adic field. Let \(L/K\) be a \(p\)-adic Lie extension, set \(G=\text{Gal}(L/K)\), and let \(d\) be the dimension of the \(p\)-adic Lie group \(G\). Then \(G\) admits a Lie filtration \(G\ge G(0)\ge G(1)\ge\cdots\). Thus \(G(i)\) is an open normal subgroup of \(G\), \(G(i+1)=G(i)^p\), and \(G(i)/G(i+1)\) is an elementary abelian \(p\)-group of rank \(d\) for all \(i\ge0\). Let \(K(i)\) denote the fixed field of \(G(i)\); then Gal\((K(i)/K)\cong G/G(i)\). Thus we get a tower of field extensions \(L\supset\dots\supset K(1)\supset K(0)\supset K\) associated to a Lie filtration of \(G\). Say that this \(p\)-adic Lie tower is \(p\)-stable if for every prime \(\mathfrak{p}\) of \(K\) lying over \(p\) there is a polynomial \(f_{\mathfrak{p}}(X,Y)\in\mathbb{Q}[X,Y]\) such that \(v_{\mathfrak{p}}(\mathfrak{d}_{K(i)/K}) =f(i,p^i)\) for all sufficiently large \(i\), where \(\mathfrak{d}_{K(i)/K}\) is the discriminant of \(K(i)/K\). In this paper it is proved that if \(K\) is a number field then every \(p\)-adic Lie tower is \(p\)-stable. This result can viewed as a characteristic-0 analog of a conjecture of \textit{D. Wan} [J. Number Theory 203, 139--154 (2019; Zbl 1448.11197)], which says that for certain \(p\)-adic Lie towers of function fields in characteristic \(p\) there is a polynomial \(f(X)\in\mathbb{Q}[X]\) such that the genus of \(K(i)\) is equal to \(f(p^i)\) for all sufficiently large \(i\). To prove the theorem the author reduces the problem to showing that if \(K\) is a \(p\)-adic field then every \(p\)-adic Lie tower is \(p\)-stable. In this case the upper ramification filtration of \(\text{Gal}(L/K)\) can be used to construct a Lie tower \(L\supset\dots\supset K[1]\supset K[0]\supset K\) for which the corresponding discriminant valuations \(v_K(\mathfrak{d}_{K[i]/K})\) can be computed directly and the claim verified. For the general case one uses \textit{S. Sen}'s theorem [Invent. Math. 17, 44--50 (1972; Zbl 0242.12012)] on \(p\)-adic Lie extensions to compare the two Lie filtrations and deduce that the claim holds for the given Lie tower \(L\supset\dots\supset K(1)\supset K(0)\supset K\).