A rigidity result for \(p\)-divisible formal groups (Q953948)

The author proves the following rigidity statement for a finite-dimensional \(p\)-divisible smooth formal group \(X\) over an algebraically closed field \(k\) of characteristic \(p>0\). Let \(G\) be a connected linear algebraic group over \(\mathbb Q_p\), and let \(\rho \colon G \rightarrow (\text{End}(X)\otimes_{\mathbb Z_p} \mathbb Q_p)^\times\) be a homomorphism of algebraic groups over \(\mathbb Q_p\). Let \(G(\mathbb Z_p) = \rho^{-1}(\text{End}(X)^\times)\), a compact \(p\)-adic group which acts on \(X\) via \(\rho\). With this notation, assume that the trivial representation is not a subquotient of \(\rho\). Let \(Z\) be a reduced, irreducible closed formal subscheme of \(X\) which is closed under the action of an open subgroup of \(G(\mathbb Z_p)\). Then \(Z\) is a \(p\)-divisible smooth formal subgroup of \(X\). As an important special case, one gets the following statement: Let \(T\) be a formal torus over \(k\), and let \(Z\subseteq T\) be an irreducible closed formal subscheme which is stable under the endomorphism \([1+p^n]_T\) for some \(n\geq 2\). Then \(Z\) is a formal subtorus of \(T\). The main ingredient of the proof is an elementary result on power series. Furthermore, the author proves a weak desingularization result, in order to handle the problem that \(Z\) is not a priori known to be formally smooth. One motivation for this result is the Hecke orbit problem for Shimura varieties. Using the present result together with the theory of canonical coordinates on leaves, one can reduce the Hecke orbit problem to a question on global \(p\)-adic monodromy.