The Galois image of twisted Carlitz modules (Q5964542)

Let \(A = {\mathbb F}_q[T]\) be the polynomial ring over a finite field \({\mathbb F}_q\) with field of fractions \(K = {\mathbb F}_q(T).\) Let \(\phi\) be a Drinfeld module of rank \(r\in {\mathbb N}\) over a finite extension \(F\) of \(K\). Denote the Galois representation given by the Galois action on the Tate module \(T(\phi)\) associated to \(\phi\) by \(\pi(\phi) :\mathrm{Gal}(F^{\mathrm{sep}}|F) \to \mathrm{Aut}_{\hat{A}}(T(\phi))\simeq \mathrm{GL}(r, \hat{A})\) where \(\hat{A}\) is the profinite completion of \(A.\) It follows from \textit{V. G. Drinfel'd}'s work [Math. USSR, Sb. 23, 561--592 (1976); translation from Mat. Sb., n. Ser. 94(136), 594--627 (1974; Zbl 0321.14014)] that \(\pi(\phi)\) has open image if \(r = 1.\) This result has been generalized to \(r\geq 2\) by \textit{R. Pink} and \textit{E. Rütsche} [J. Number Theory 129, No. 4, 882--907 (2009; Zbl 1246.11122)] provided that \(\phi\) has no ``complex multiplication'' (i.e., \(\mathrm{End}(\phi) = A\)). This is an analogue of the Tate conjecture for abelian varieties proved by \textit{G. Faltings} [Invent. Math. 73, 349--366 (1983; Zbl 0588.14026)] in the setting of Drinfeld modules. It is a natural question to find a bound for the index of the image \(\mathrm{im}\pi(\phi)\) of \(\pi(\phi)\) in \(\mathrm{GL}(r, \hat{A})\). In this paper, the author establishes an explicit description of \(\mathrm{im}\pi(\phi)\) and the degrees of the associated constant field extensions in the case where \(r = 1\) and \(F = K.\) Note that a rank 1 Drinfeld module over \(K\) must be a twist \(\phi = \rho^{(\Delta)}\) of the Carlitz module \(\rho = \rho^{(1)}\) over \(K\) where \(\rho^{(\Delta)}\) is determined by the operator polynomial \(\rho_T^{(\Delta)}(X) = T X + \Delta X^q \in K[X]\) with \(\Delta\in K\setminus \{0\}\). Fix a rank 1 Drinfeld module \(\rho^{(\Delta)}\) over \(K\) and let \(N\) be a non-constant element of \(A\). Denote the \(N\)-torsion subgroup of \(\rho^{(\Delta)}\) by \( \rho^{(\Delta)}[N]\). Then the first result (Theorem~3.13) is an explicit formula for the index \(\mathrm{def}(\Delta, N)\) of the image of \(\mathrm{Gal}(K^{\mathrm{sep}}|K)\) in \(\mathrm{Aut}_A(\rho^{(\Delta)}[N]) = \left(A/N\right)^\ast\). To be more precisely, let \(\Delta/\gcd(\Delta, N) = c^{k_0}Q_1^{k_1}\cdots Q_{\ell}^{k_\ell}\) where \(\ell \geq 0\), \(c\in \mathbb{F}_q^\ast\) is a primitive \((q-1)\)-th root of unity and \(Q_1, \ldots, Q_\ell\) are distinct monic irreducible elements of \(A\) (if \(\ell \geq 1\)). Then, \(\mathrm{def}(\Delta,N) = \gcd(\deg \Delta - 1, q-1, k_0^{\ast}, \deg Q_1, \ldots, \deg Q_\ell)\) where \(k_0^\ast\) is an integer depending on \(q\) and \(\deg \Delta\). In the second main theorem (Theorem~4.11) of the paper, the author gives explicit formulae for the degrees of the constant field extensions in \(K\left(\rho^{(\Delta)}[N]\right)\) (i.e., algebraic closure of \(\mathbb{F}_q\) in \(K\left(\rho^{(\Delta)}[N]\right)\)) and \(K\left(\rho^{(\Delta)}_{\mathrm{tor}}\right)\) (the field extension generated by all the the torsion points of \(\rho^{(\Delta)}\) as well.