A criterion for the existence of logarithmic connections on curves over a perfect field (Q2147526)

The goal of this article is to find criterion for the existence of logarithmic connections over a smooth, irreducible projective curve \(X\) over a perfect field \(k\). The field \(k\) need not be of characteristic zero or algebraically closed. Let \(E\) be a vector bundle on \(X\). Choose a set \(S\) of distinct points on \(X\). Given a point \(x \in X\), an endomorphism of the fiber \(E(x)\) of the vector bundle \(E\) is called \emph{rigid} if it commutes with every global endomorphism of \(E\). For every point \(x \in S\), fix rigid endomorphisms \(A(x) \in \mathrm{End}(E(x))\). It is known that if \(k\) is algebraically closed of characteristic zero, then \(E\) admits a logarithmic connection singular over \(S\) with residue \(A(x)\) for every \(x \in S\) if and only if for every indecomposable component \(F\) of \(E\), the degree of \(F\) equals the negative of the sum over all points \(x\) in \(S\), of the trace of the endomorphism \(A(x)\) restricted to \(F(x)\). The authors prove that if \(k\) is instead of characteristic \(p\), then \(E\) admits such a logarithmic connection (i.e., singular over \(S\) with residues \(A(x)\)) if and only if the same condition holds for the degree of every indecomposable components of \(E\), modulo \(p\). Furthermore, if \(k\) is a perfect field but not necessarily algebraically closed, then the same equivalent condition for the existence of logarithmic connections hold after an additional assumption: the rank of every indecomposable component of \(E\) is not divisible by \(p\).