Schinzel's problem: imprimitive covers and the monodromy method

DOI10.4064/AA155-1-3MaRDI QIDQ2919664zbMATH OpenOpenAlexFDO

Authors Michael D. Fried, Ivica Gusić

Publication date 5 October 2012

Published in Acta Arithmetica (Search for Journal in Brave)

Full work available at URL https://arxiv.org/abs/1104.1740

zbMATH Keywords

Davenport's Problemfactorization of variables separated polynomialsSchinzel's Problem

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Polynomials in number theory (11C08) Polynomials in general fields (irreducibility, etc.) (12E05)

Abstract: Schinzel's original problem was to describe when an expression f(x)-g(y), with f,g nonconstant and having complex coefficients, is reducible. We call such an (f,g) a Schinzel pair if this happens nontrivially: f(x)-g(y) is newly reducible. Fried accomplished this as a special case of a result in "http://www.math.uci.edu/~mfried/paplist-ff/dav-red.pdf">dav-red.pdf, when f is indecomposable. That work featured using primitive permutation representations. Even after 42 years going beyond using primitivity is a challenge to the monodromy method despite many intervening related papers (see http://www.math.uci.edu/~mfried/paplist-ff/UMStory.pdf">UMStory.pdf. Here we develop a formula for branch cycles that characterizes Schinzel pairs satisfying a condition of Avanzi, Gusic and Zannier and relate it to this ongoing story.

Recommendations

• On a problem in the theory of polynomials
• Andrzej Schinzel selecta. Volume I: Diophantine problems and polynomials. Volume II: Elementary, analytic and geometric number theory. Edited by Henryk Iwaniec, Władysław Narkiewicz and Jerzy Urbanowicz
• On an irreducibility theorem of A. Schinzel associated with coverings of the integers
• scientific article; zbMATH DE number 694906
• scientific article; zbMATH DE number 1305300

Cited in

(2)

• Variables separated equations: strikingly different roles for the branch cycle lemma and the finite simple group classification
• From hyperelliptic to superelliptic curves

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