A ruled residue theorem for function fields of elliptic curves (Q6057739)

Let \(E\) be a field. In this paper, the authors consider function fields in one variable \(F\) over \(E\) and the extensions of a valuation \(v\) on \(E\) to valuations \(w\) on \(F\). The extension \(F/E\) is called {\em ruled} if \(F=E'(x)\) for some finite extension \(E'/E\) and some \(x\in F\). \textit{J. Ohm} proved in [Proc. Am. Math. Soc. 89, 16--18 (1983; Zbl 0523.12021)] the {\em Ruled Residue Theorem:} if \(F/E\) is ruled, then for any extension \(w\) of \(v\) to \(F\), the residue field extension \(Fw/Ev\) is either algebraic or ruled. An extension of \(v\) to \(F\) is called {\em residually transcendental} if the residue field extension \(Fw/Ev\) is transcendental. The set of residually transcendental extensions of \(v\) to \(F\) is denoted by \(\Omega_v(F)\) and the subset of \(\Omega_v(F)\) of the extensions \(w\) for which \(Fw/Ev\) is not ruled is denoted by \(\Omega^*_v(F)\). When the valued group \(vE={\mathbb Z}\), we have that \(\Omega^*_v(F)\) is finite. An extension of this result is that when \(vE\) is arbitrary and \(F/E\) is the function field of a conic of characteristic other than \(2\), then \(|\Omega^*_v(F)|\leq 1\). The objective of this paper is to obtain the same conclusion when \(F/E\) is the function field of an elliptic curve and the characteristic is different from \(2\) and \(3\) and \(vE\) is arbitrary. The function field \(F/E\) is called {\em elliptic} if \(F/E\) has genus one and there exists a prime divisor of degree one. It is shown that if \(F/E\) is elliptic in a valuation \(v\) with \(v(6)= 0\), then there can be at most one residually transcendental extension \(w\) of \(v\) to \(F\), such that \(Fw/Ev\) is not ruled. Consider \(a,b\in E\) and \(\Delta_{a,b}=4a^3+27b^2\). If \(\Delta_{a,b} \neq 0\), then \(Y^2=X^3+aX+b\) is an elliptic curve over \(E\), and its function filed is given by \(E(X)[\sqrt{X^3+aX+b}]\). We say that \(F/E\) is {\em of good reduction with respect to \(v\)} if there exist \(a,b\in {\mathcal O}_v\) with \(\Delta_{a,b}\in {\mathcal O}_v^*\) such that \(F\cong E(X)[\sqrt{X^3+aX+b}]\), where \({\mathcal O}_v\) denotes the valuation ring of \(v\). The extension \(F/E\) is said of {\em potential good reduction with respect to \(v\)} if there exists a finite field extension \(E'/E\) such that \(FE'/E'\) is of good reduction with respect to some extension of \(v\) from \(E\) to \(E'\). The main result, Theorem 7.2, considers \(F/E\) an elliptic function field and \(v\) a valuation on \(E\) with \(v(6)= 0\). (a) If \(F/E\) is of good reduction with respect to \(v\), then \(|\Omega^*_v(F)|=1\) and for \(w\in \Omega^*_v(F)\) we have that \(Fw/Ev\) is an elliptic function field. (b) If \(F/E\) is of potential good reduction but not of good reduction with respect to \(v\), then \(\Omega^*_v(F)=\emptyset\). (c) If \(F/E\) is not of potential good reduction with respect to \(v\), then \(|\Omega^*_v(F)|\leq 1\). Moreover, if \(|\Omega^*_v(F)|=1\), then for \(w\in \Omega^*_v(F)\) we have that \(Fw/Ev\) is the function field of a smooth conic over \(Ev\).