Linear equations on Drinfeld modules (Q6042805)

The aim of this paper is to prove that linear relations among finitely many elements of a Drinfeld module, can be characterized by solutions of a system of homogeneous linear equations over \(A:= {\mathbb F}_q[t]\) and, as a consequence, to show that there exists an explicit upper bound for the size of the generators of linear relations among these points. The motivation of the paper is a theorem of Masser for finitely many \(K\)-rational points on an elliptic curve \(E\) defined over a number field \(K\). Let \(k={\mathbb F}_q(t)\) and let \(L/k\) be a finite extension. Let \(\tau:L\to L\), given by \(\tau(x)=x^q\), be the Frobenius and let \(L[\tau]\) be the twisted polynomial ring in \(\tau\) over \(L\). Let \(E:=({\mathbb G}_{a/L},\phi)\) be a Drinfeld \(A\)-module over \(L\), where \({\mathbb G}_{a/L}\) is the additive group scheme defined over \(L\). Let \(E(L)\) denote the \(A\)-module whose underlying space is the additive group of \(L\), and the \(A\)-module structure arises from \(\phi\). It is known that \(E(L)\) is never finitely generated, The first main result is that given \(P_1,\ldots,P_{\ell}\in E(L)\) distinct non-zero elements in \(L\), there exists a matrix \(B\) over \(A\), and a divisor \(D\), such that the canonical projection \begin{align*} \pi:\{\vec x\in {\mathbb F}_q[t]^{d+\ell}\mid B\vec x^{\mathrm{tr}}=0\} &\twoheadrightarrow \{(a_1,\ldots,a_{\ell})\in{\mathbb F}_q[t]^{ \ell}\mid \sum_{i=1}^{\ell}\phi_{a_i}(P_i)=0\}\\ (g_1,\ldots,g_d,a_1,\ldots,a_{\ell})&\mapsto (a_1,\ldots,a_{\ell}), \end{align*} is a well defined surjective \({\mathbb F}_q[t]\)-module homomorphism. Here, \(d=\dim_{{\mathbb F}_q} {\mathcal L} (D):=\{f\in L^*\mid\operatorname{div}(f)+D\geq 0\}\cup \{0\}\). As a consequence, the second main result is an analogue of Masser's theorem for Drinfeld \(A\)-modules. The study of this paper relies on the theory of Anderson dual \(t\)-motives, and analyzes the solution space of the Frobenius difference equation in question. It is shown that all possible solutions can be described by polynomials in the variable \(t\) with coefficients in a finite dimensional \({\mathbb F}_q\)-vector space \({\mathcal L}(D)\).