Explicit Hilbert's irreducibility theorem in function fields (Q7286359)

The authors establish a quantitative version of Hilbert's irreducibility theorem over the rational function field \(K=\mathbb{F}_q(u)\).\N\NThe main result is the following. Let \( f(T_1,\ldots,T_n,X)\in K[T_1,\ldots,T_n,X] \) be irreducible and of positive degree in \(X\), and let \(M_d\) denote the set of monic polynomials in \(\mathbb{F}_q[u]\) of degree \(d\). If \(H_f(d)\) is the number of tuples \( (t_1,\ldots,t_n)\in M_d^n \) for which \(f(t_1,\ldots,t_n,X)\) remains irreducible over \(K\), then \N\[ \N\frac{H_f(d)}{q^{dn}} =1+O_{f,q}\!\left(dq^{-d/2}\right). \N\]\NThus, as \(d\) tends to infinity, almost all such specializations preserve irreducibility, with an explicit error term analogous to the classical quantitative Hilbert irreducibility theorem over number fields.\N\NFor polynomials separable in \(X\), the proof combines specialization of Galois groups, an explicit Chebotarev theorem over function fields, and a large sieve inequality for rational function fields in [\textit{C.-N. Hsu}, J. Number Theory 58, No. 2, 267--287 (1996; Zbl 0852.11049)]. The inseparable case, which requires additional arguments specific to positive characteristic, is treated using an irreducibility criterion of Uchida in [\textit{K. Uchida}, Kodai Math. J. 3, 83--95 (1980; Zbl 0435.12010)] together with an estimate for specializations at which a coefficient becomes a \(p\)-th power.\N\NAs consequences, the authors also obtain quantitative results on the preservation of Galois groups under specialization, as well as Zariski-density and \(S\)-adic density statements for the corresponding Hilbert sets.\N\NFor the entire collection see [Zbl 1470.14004].