Arithmetic of function field units (Q514357)

Combing ideas from [\textit{F. Pellarin}, Ann. Math. (2) 176, No. 3, 2055--2093 (2012; Zbl 1336.11064)] by using Tate algebras to the study of special values of Goss \(L\)-series and analogues of Dirichlet's class number formula obtained in [\textit{L. Taelman}, Ann. Math. (2) 175, No. 1, 369--391 (2012; Zbl 1323.11039)], the authors of this paper under review extend the results in [\textit{B. Anglès} et al., Compos. Math. 152, No. 1, 1--61 (2016; Zbl 1336.11042)] to the case of \(L\)-values in Tate algebras for Drinfeld modules of any rank (the \(L\)-series studied previously are those associated to the Carlitz module). One of the goal in the present paper is to solve the ``discrete Greenberg conjectures'' stated in [Anglès et al., loc. cit.]. This paper consists of three parts: a construction of Stark units (Section 2), deformations of Drinfeld modules (Section 3) and the arithmetic of cyclotomic function fields (Section 4). To give more details of the paper, let \(A = \mathbb{F}_{q}[\theta]\), the polynomial ring of the indeterminate \(\theta\) over a finite field \(\mathbb{F}_{q}\) of \(q\) elements and let \(K = \mathbb{F}_{q}(\theta).\) Let \(L\) be a finite extension of \(K\) and let \(K_{\infty} = \mathbb{F}_{q}((1/\theta))\) be the completion of \(K\) with respect to \((1/\theta)\)-adic topology. Section 2 is devoted to the construction of the \(A\)-module of Stark units and its connection with Taelman's work. Let \(\phi\) be an \(A\)-module defined over \(O_{L}\), the integral closure of \(A\) in \(L\). Then, by [Taelman, loc. cit.] we have \({\mathcal L}(\phi/O_{L}) = [O_{L} : U(\phi/O_{L})]_{A}[H(\phi/O_{L}]_{A}\), where \({\mathcal L}(\phi/O_{L})\) is the value at one of the Goss \(L\)-series associated to \(\phi\) and \(U(\phi/O_{L})\) and \(H(\phi/O_{L})\) are \(A\)-modules playing respectively the roles analogous to units group and the ideal class group in the classical situation, see [\textit{L. Taelman}, Math. Ann. 348, No. 4, 899--907 (2010; Zbl 1217.11062)]. Here, for a finite \(A\)-module \(M\), the notation \([M]_{A}\) denotes the monic generator of the Fitting ideal of \(M\) and \([O_{L} : U(\phi/O_{L})]_{A}\) plays the role of a regulator. Using the ``canonical \(z\)-deformation'' \(\tilde{\phi}\) of \(\phi\), the authors construct a sub-\(A\)-module \(U_{St}(\phi/O_{L})\) (called Stark units) of \(U(\phi/O_{L}).\) The first main result (Theorem 1) asserts that \(\frac{U(\phi/O_{L})}{U_{St}(\phi/O_{L})}\) is a finite \(A\)-module that satisfies \([H(\phi/O_{L})]_{A} = [U(\phi/O_{L})/U_{St}(\phi/O_{L})]_{A}\). In particular, \({\mathcal L}(\phi/O_{L}) = [O_{L} : U_{St}(\phi/O_{L})]_{A}.\) In Section 3, the idea of deformation of a Drinfeld module is explored further in the context of deformation of Drinfeld modules over Tate algebra. Let \(n\geq 1\) be an integer and let \(t_{1}, \ldots, t_{n}\) be \(n\) variables over \(K_{\infty}.\) Let \(\mathbf{T}_{n}(K_{\infty})\) be the Tate algebra in the variables \(t_{1},\ldots, t_{n}\) with coefficients in \(K_{\infty}\). Let \(\tau : \mathbf{T}_{n}(K_{\infty}) \to \mathbf{T}_{n}(K_{\infty})\) be the continuous morphism of \(\mathbb{F}_{q}[t_{1}, \ldots, t_{n}]\)-algebras such that \(\tau(x) = x^{q}\) for \(x\in K_{\infty}\). Given a Drinfeld \(A\)-module \(\phi\) defined over \(A\), one associates the canonical deformation \(\varphi\) of \(\phi\) over the Tate algebra \(\mathbf{T}_{n}(K_{\infty})\) which is a Drinfeld \(\mathbf{A}\)-module over the Tate algebra \(\mathbf{T}_{n}(K_{\infty})\), where \(\mathbf{A}= \mathbb{F}_{q}(t_{1}, \ldots, t_{n})[\theta]\) (see also [Anglès et al., loc. cit.] for the case of Drinfeld modules of rank one). Restricting to the case of rank one Drinfeld modules, the arithmetic properties of the Stark units and Taelman's class modules attached deformation of the Carlitz module are explored further. Let \(\varphi : A \to A[t_{1}, \ldots, t_{n}]\{\tau\}\) be the rank one Drinfeld module over \(A[t_{1}, \ldots, t_{n}]\) given by \(\varphi_{\theta} = (t_{1}-\theta)\cdots (t_{n}-\theta) \tau + \theta\). Then, attached to \(\varphi\) we have the ``generic class module'' \(H_{n} = H(\varphi/A[t_{1}, \ldots, t_{n}])\) of level \(n\) which is a finitely generated \(\mathbb{F}_{q}[t_{1},\ldots, t_{n}]\)-module and a torsion \(A[t_{1},\ldots, t_{n}]\)-module. Then the following two results are the discrete Greenberg conjectures proved in this paper. (A) \textit{Pseudo-cyclicity}: let \(n\geq 2, n \equiv 1 \pmod{q-1},\) there exists an injective morphism of \(A[t_{1},\ldots, t_{n}]\)-modules between a cyclic \(A[t_{1},\ldots, t_{n}]\)-module and \(H_{n}\) such that the cokernel of this morphism is a finitely generated and torsion \(\mathbb{F}_{q}[t_{1}, \ldots, t_{n}]\)-module (Theorem 4) and (B) \textit{Pseudo-nullity}: let \(n\geq 2, n\not\equiv 1 \pmod{q-1},\) then \(H_{n}\) is a finitely generated and torsion \(\mathbb{F}_{q}[t_{1}, \ldots, t_{n}]\)-module (Theorem 3). In Section 4, using the ideas developed in previous sections, the authors study the values \(L_{P}(1, \chi)\) and at one of the Dirichlet-Goss \(P\)-adic \(L\)-series and the values \(L^{(1)}(1, \chi)\) of their ``derivatives'' attached to a Dirichlet character \(\chi\), where \(P\) is a monic irreducible element in \(A.\) Let \(H = H(C/O_{L})\) be Taelman's class module associated to the \(P\)-th cyclotomic function field \(L/K\). Let \(A_{P}\) be the \(P\)-adic completion of \(A\) and let the \(P\)-Sylow submodule of \(H\) be defined by \(X := A \otimes_{A} A_{P}.\) Let \(X(\chi) := e_{\chi} X\) denote the \(\chi\)-component of \(X\) for \(\chi \in \mathrm{Hom}(\mathrm{Gal}(L/K), A_{P}^{\times})\). Then it is proved in Theorem 6 that \(L_{P}^{(1)}(1, \chi) \neq 0\) provided that \(\chi\) is odd and furthermore, the cyclicity result (Theorem 7) asserts that for an odd Dirichlet character \(\chi\) of prime conductor \(P\), the module \(L_{P}^{(1)}(1, \chi) X(\chi)\) is a cyclic \(A_{P}\)-module.