Counting integral matrices with a given characteristic polynomial (Q2736865)

Let \(P\) be a monic polynomial of degree \(n\geq 2\), with integral coefficients, which is irreducible over the rationals. Consider the number, say \(N_r\), of integral \(n\times n\) matrices of (Euclidean) norm at most \(r\), with \(P\) as their characteristic polynomial. It was proved in a paper of \textit{A. Eskin}, \textit{S. Mozes} and the present author [Ann. Math. (2) 143, 253-299 (1996; Zbl 0852.11054)] that, as \(r\to\infty\), \(N_r/r^{n(n- 1)/2}\) converges to a positive constant; we denote the constant by \(c_p\). In the present paper, the author gives a simpler and somewhat more direct proof of this assertion. The argument follows a different route from a certain point onward, using the author's earlier results on the distribution of polynomial-like trajectories on homogeneous spaces [Duke Math. J. 75, 711-732 (1994; Zbl 0818.22005)].NEWLINENEWLINENEWLINEThe author also gives an explicit formula for the constant \(c_P\) in terms of some well-known number-theoretic quantities associated with the polynomial \(P\) (too elaborate to be reproduced here), generalizing a formula obtained in the above mentioned paper of Eskin et al. under certain additional conditions on \(P\).