Fundamental group of Galois covers of degree 6 surfaces

In this paper, we consider the Galois covers of algebraic surfaces of degree 6, with all associated planar degenerations. We compute the fundamental groups of those Galois covers, using their degeneration. We show that for 8 types of degenerations, the fundamental group of the Galois cover is non-trivial and for 20 types it is trivial. Moreover, we compute the Chern numbers of all the surfaces with this type of degeneration and prove that the signatures of all their Galois covers are negative. We formulate a conjecture regarding the structure of the fundamental groups of the Galois covers based on our findings.

Limits of canonical forms on towers of Riemann surfaces

We prove a generalized version of Kazhdan’s theorem for canonical forms on Riemann surfaces. In the classical version, one starts with an ascending sequence {\{S_{n}\rightarrow S\}} of finite Galois covers of a hyperbolic Riemann surface S, converging to the universal cover. The theorem states that the sequence of forms on S inherited from the canonical forms on {S_{n}}’s converges uniformly to (a multiple of) the hyperbolic form. We prove a generalized version of this theorem, where the universal cover is replaced with any infinite Galois cover. Along the way, we also prove a Gauss–Bonnet-type theorem in the context of arbitrary infinite Galois covers.

On the mod-p distribution of discriminants of G-extensions

This paper was motivated by a recent paper by Krumm and Pollack ([Twists of hyperelliptic curves by integers in progressions modulo [Formula: see text], preprint (2018); https://arXiv.org/abs/1807.00972] ) investigating modulo-[Formula: see text] behavior of quadratic twists with rational points of a given hyperelliptic curve, conditional on the abc-conjecture. We extend those results to twisted Galois covers with arbitrary Galois groups. The main point of this generalization is to interpret those results as statements about the sets of specializations of a given Galois cover under restrictions on the discriminant. In particular, we make a connection with existing heuristics about the distribution of discriminants of Galois extensions such as the Malle conjecture: our results show in a precise sense the non-existence of “local obstructions” to such heuristics, in many cases essentially only under the assumption that [Formula: see text] occurs as the Galois group of a Galois cover defined over [Formula: see text]. This complements and generalizes a similar result in the direction of the Malle conjecture by Dèbes ([On the Malle conjecture and the self-twisted cover, Israel J. Math. 218(1) (2017) 101–131]).

DENSITY RESULTS FOR SPECIALIZATION SETS OF GALOIS COVERS

We provide evidence for this conclusion: given a finite Galois cover $f:X\rightarrow \mathbb{P}_{\mathbb{Q}}^{1}$ of group $G$ , almost all (in a density sense) realizations of $G$ over $\mathbb{Q}$ do not occur as specializations of $f$ . We show that this holds if the number of branch points of $f$ is sufficiently large, under the abc-conjecture and, possibly, the lower bound predicted by the Malle conjecture for the number of Galois extensions of $\mathbb{Q}$ of given group and bounded discriminant. This widely extends a result of Granville on the lack of $\mathbb{Q}$ -rational points on quadratic twists of hyperelliptic curves over $\mathbb{Q}$ with large genus, under the abc-conjecture (a diophantine reformulation of the case $G=\mathbb{Z}/2\mathbb{Z}$ of our result). As a further evidence, we exhibit a few finite groups $G$ for which the above conclusion holds unconditionally for almost all covers of $\mathbb{P}_{\mathbb{Q}}^{1}$ of group $G$ . We also introduce a local–global principle for specializations of Galois covers $f:X\rightarrow \mathbb{P}_{\mathbb{Q}}^{1}$ and show that it often fails if $f$ has abelian Galois group and sufficiently many branch points, under the abc-conjecture. On the one hand, such a local–global conclusion underscores the ‘smallness’ of the specialization set of a Galois cover of $\mathbb{P}_{\mathbb{Q}}^{1}$ . On the other hand, it allows to generate conditionally ‘many’ curves over $\mathbb{Q}$ failing the Hasse principle, thus generalizing a recent result of Clark and Watson devoted to the hyperelliptic case.

Degree Formulas

This chapter uses algebraic cobordism to establish some degree formulas. It presents δ‎ as a function from a class of smooth projective varieties over a field 𝑘 to some abelian group. Here, a degree formula for δ‎ is a formula relating δ‎(𝑋), δ‎(𝑌), and deg(𝑓) for any generically finite map 𝑓 : 𝑌 → 𝑋 in this class. The formula is usually δ‎(𝑌)=deg(𝑓)δ‎(𝑋). These degree formulas are used to prove that any norm variety over 𝑘 is a ν‎ n−1-variety. Using a standard result for the complex bordism ring 𝑀𝑈*, which uses a gluing argument of equivariant bordism theory, this chapter establishes Rost's DN (Degree and Norm Principle) Theorem for degrees, and defines the invariant η‎(𝑋/𝑆) of a pseudo-Galois cover.

Connected Numbers and the Embedded Topology of Plane Curves

The splitting number of a plane irreducible curve for a Galois cover is effective in distinguishing the embedded topology of plane curves. In this paper, we define the connected number of a plane curve (possibly reducible) for a Galois cover, which is similar to the splitting number. By using the connected number, we distinguish the embedded topology of Artal arrangements of degree b ≥ 4, where an Artal arrangement of degree b is a plane curve consisting of one smooth curve of degree b and three of its total inflectional tangents.

PRINCIPAL BUNDLES ON RATIONALLY CONNECTED FIBRATIONS OVER ABELIAN VARIETIES

Let f : M → A be a smooth surjective algebraic morphism, where M is a connected complex projective manifold and A a complex abelian variety, such that all the fibers of f are rationally connected. We show that an algebraic principal G-bundle EG over M admits a flat holomorphic connection if EG admits a holomorphic connection; here G is any connected reductive linear algebraic group defined over ℂ. We also show that EG admits a holomorphic connection if and only if any of the following three statements holds. (1) The principal G-bundle EG is semistable, c2( ad (EG)) = 0, and all the line bundles associated to EG for the characters of G have vanishing rational first Chern class. (2) There is an algebraic principal G-bundle E'G on A such that f*E'G = EG, and all the translations of E'G by elements of A are isomorphic to E'G itself. (3) There is a finite étale Galois cover [Formula: see text] and a reduction of structure group [Formula: see text] to a Borel subgroup B ⊂ G such that all the line bundles associated to ÊB for the characters of B have vanishing rational first Chern class. In particular, the above three statements are equivalent.

THE FUNDAMENTAL GROUP OF GALOIS COVER OF THE SURFACE 𝕋 × 𝕋

This is the final paper in a series of four, concerning the surface 𝕋 × 𝕋 embedded in ℂℙ8, where 𝕋 is the one-dimensional torus. In this paper we compute the fundamental group of the Galois cover of the surface with respect to a generic projection onto ℂℙ2, and show that it is nilpotent of class 3. This is the first time such a group is presented as the fundamental group of a Galois cover of a surface.

THE FUNDAMENTAL GROUP OF THE GALOIS COVER OF HIRZEBRUCH SURFACE F1(2, 2)

This paper is the second in a series of papers concerning Hirzebruch surfaces. In the first paper in this series, the fundamental group of Galois covers of Hirzebruch surfaces Fk(a, b), where a, b are relatively prime, was shown to be trivial. For the general case, the conjecture stated that the fundamental group is [Formula: see text] where c = gcd (a, b) and n = 2ab + kb2. In this paper, we degenerate the Hirzebruch surface F1(2, 2), compute the braid monodromy factorization of the branch curve in ℂ2, and verify that, in this case, the conjecture holds: the fundamental group of the Galois cover of F1(2, 2) with respect to a generic projection is isomorphic to [Formula: see text].