A partial improvement of the Ax-Katz theorem (Q765141)

Let \(h_1,\ldots,h_r\) in \({\mathbb F}_q[x_1,\ldots,x_n,z_1,\ldots,z_t]\) be a system of polynomials over the finite field \({\mathbb F}_q\) of characteristic \(p\), where \(z_1,\ldots,z_t\) are the isolated variables each of which appears only once in the system in the form \(b_jz_j^{\ell_j}\) for some \(b_j\) in \({\mathbb F}_q^*\) and \(\ell_j\geq1\). Let \(N(h_1,\ldots,h_r)\) be the number of common zeros of the \(h_i\) in \({\mathbb F}_q\). Let \(A\subset\{1, 2,\ldots,n\}\) be a non-empty set. For any monomial \(X^{\mathbf d}=X_1^{d_!}\cdots X_n^{d_n}\), define \(\deg_A X^{\mathbf d}=\sum_{i\;\text{in}\;A}d_i\). For a polynomial \(h(X)=\sum_{\mathbf d}a_{\mathbf d}x^{\mathbf d}\), define \(\deg_A h(X) = \max_{a_{\mathbf d}\neq0} \deg_A X^{\mathbf d}\). The main result states that if \(\deg_A h_i(X)>0\) for \(i=1,\ldots,r\), then \[ \text{ord}_q N(h_1,\ldots,h_r)\geq \left\lceil \frac{|A|-\sum_{i=1}^r\deg_A h_i(X)} {\max_{1\leq i\leq r}\deg_A h_i(X)} + \sum_{j=1}^t\frac{1}{\ell_j}\right\rceil. \] As a corollary, \(\text{ord}_q N(h_1,.\ldots, h_r)\geq\lceil\sum_{j=1}^t\ell_j^{-1}\rceil - r\). The proof of the theorem relies on a result of \textit{A. Adolphson} and \textit{S. Sperber} [Ann. Sci. Éc. Norm. Supér. (4) 20, No. 4, 545--556 (1987; Zbl 0654.12011)]. There are several examples to illustrate how the main result improves on the Ax-Katz theorem and how it can give quick \(p\)-adic estimates.