Forthcoming events in this series


Thu, 11 May 2017
16:00
L6

Lifting theorems in Galois cohomology

Mathieu Florence
(Université Paris 6)
Abstract

The aim of this talk is to explain how to axiomatize Hilbert's Theorem 90, in the setting of (the cohomology with finite coefficients of) profinite groups. I shall first explain the general framework.  It includes, in particular, the use of divided power modules over Witt vectors; a process which appears to be of independent interest in the theory of modular representations. I shall then give several applications to Galois cohomology, notably to the problem of lifting mod p Galois representations (or more accurately: torsors under these) modulo higher powers of p. I'll also explain the connection with the Bloch-Kato conjecture in Galois cohomology, proved by Rost, Suslin and Voevodsky. This is joint work in progress with Charles De Clercq.

Thu, 04 May 2017
16:00
L6

Joint Number Theory/Logic Seminar: On the Hilbert Property and the fundamental group of algebraic varieties

Umberto Zannier
(Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa)
Abstract

This  concerns recent work with P. Corvaja in which we relate the Hilbert Property for an algebraic variety (a kind of axiom linked with Hilbert Irreducibility, relevant e.g. for the Inverse Galois Problem)  with the fundamental group of the variety.
 In particular, this leads to new examples (of surfaces) of  failure of the Hilbert Property. We also prove the Hilbert Property for a non-rational surface (whereas all previous examples involved rational varieties).

Thu, 27 Apr 2017
16:00
L2

Automorphic Galois Representations attached to Inner Forms of $\mathrm{Sp}_{2n}$

Benjamin Green
(Oxford)
Abstract

In this talk, I will give a brief overview of the Langlands program and Langlands functoriality with reference to the examples of Galois representations attached to cusp forms and the Jacquet-Langlands correspondence for $\mathrm{GL}_2$. I will then explain how one can generalise this idea, sketching a proof of a Jacquet-Langlands type correspondence from $\mathrm{U}_n(B)$, where $B$ is a quaternion algebra, to $\mathrm{Sp}_{2n}$ and showing that one can attach Galois representations to regular algebraic cuspidal automorphic representations of $\mathrm{Sp}_{2n}$.
 

Thu, 09 Mar 2017

16:00 - 17:00
L6

Euclidean lattices of infinite rank and Diophantine applications

Jean-Benoît Bost
(Paris-Sud, Orsay)
Abstract

I will discuss the definitions and the basic properties of some infinite dimensional generalizations of Euclidean lattices and of their invariants defined in terms of theta series. Then I will present some of their applications to transcendence theory and Diophantine geometry.

Thu, 02 Mar 2017

16:15 - 17:15
L6

Minimal weights of mod-p Hilbert modular forms

Payman Kassaei
(Kings College London)
Abstract

I will discuss results on the characterization of minimal weights of mod-p Hilbert modular forms using results on stratifications of Hilbert Modular Varieties.  This is joint work with Fred Diamond.

Thu, 23 Feb 2017
16:00
L6

Wach modules, regulator maps, and ε-isomorphisms in families

Otmar Venjakob
(Heidelberg)
Abstract

In this talk on joint work with REBECCA BELLOVIN we discuss the “local ε-isomorphism” conjecture of Fukaya and Kato for (crystalline) families of G_{Q_p}-representations. This can be regarded as a local analogue of the global Iwasawa main conjecture for families, extending earlier work of Kato for rank one modules, of Benois and Berger for crystalline representations with respect to the cyclotomic extension as well as of Loeffler, Venjakob and Zerbes for crystalline representations with respect to abelian p-adic Lie extensions of Q_p. Nakamura has shown Kato’s - conjecture for (ϕ,\Gamma)-modules over the Robba ring, which means in particular only after inverting p, for rank one and trianguline families. The main ingredient of (the integrality part of) the proof consists of the construction of families of Wach modules generalizing work of Wach and Berger and following Kisin’s approach via a corresponding moduli space.
 

Thu, 16 Feb 2017

16:00 - 17:00
L6

P-adic representations attached to vector bundles on smooth complete p-adic varieties

Christopher Deninger
(Münster)
Abstract

We discuss vector bundles with numerically stable reduction on smooth complete varieties over a p-adic number field and sketch the construction of associated p-adic representations of the geometric fundamental group. On projective varieties, such bundles are semistable with respect to every polarization and have vanishing Chern classes. One of the main problems in the construction consisted in getting rid of infinitely many obstruction classes. This is achieved by adapting a theory of Bhatt based on de Jongs's alteration method. One also needs control over numerically flat bundles on arbitrary singular varieties over finite fields. The singular Riemann Roch Theorem of Baum Fulton Macpherson is a key ingredient for this step. This is joint work with Annette Werner.
 

Thu, 09 Feb 2017

16:00 - 17:00
L6

A logarithmic interpretation of Edixhoven's jumps for Jacobians

Johannes Nicaise
(Imperial College London)
Abstract

Let A be an abelian variety over a strictly henselian discretely valued field K. In his 1992 paper "Néron models and tame ramification", Edixhoven has constructed a filtration on the special fiber of the Néron model of A that measures the behaviour of the Néron model with respect to tamely ramified extensions of K. The filtration is indexed by rational numbers in [0,1], and if A is wildly ramified, it is an open problem whether the places where it jumps are always rational. I will explain how an interpretation of the filtration in terms of logarithmic geometry leads to explicit formulas for the jumps in the case where A is a Jacobian, which confirms in particular that they are rational. This is joint work with Dennis Eriksson and Lars Halvard Halle.

Thu, 02 Feb 2017

16:00 - 17:00
L6

Finding Arithmetic Implications of Mirror Symmetry

Tyler Kelly
(Cambridge)
Abstract

Mirror symmetry is a duality from string theory that states that given a Calabi-Yau variety, there exists another Calabi-Yau variety so that various geometric and physical data are exchanged. The investigation of this mirror correspondence has its roots in enumerative geometry and hodge theory, but has been later interpreted by Kontsevich in a categorical setting. This exchange in data is very powerful, and has been shown to persist for zeta functions associated to Calabi-Yau varieties, although there is no rigorous statement for what arithmetic mirror symmetry would be. Instead of directly trying to state and prove arithmetic mirror symmetry, we will instead use mirror symmetry as an intuitional framework to obtain arithmetic results for special Calabi-Yau pencils in projective space from the Hodge theoretic viewpoint. If time permits, we will discuss work in progress in starting to find arithmetic implications of Kontsevich's Homological Mirror Symmetry.

Thu, 26 Jan 2017

16:00 - 17:00
L6

CANCELED: Wach modules, regulator maps, and ε-isomorphisms in families

Otmar Venjakob
(Heidelberg)
Abstract

In this talk on joint work with REBECCA BELLOVIN we discuss the “local ε-isomorphism” conjecture of Fukaya and Kato for (crystalline) families of G_{Q_p}-representations. This can be regarded as a local analogue of the global Iwasawa main conjecture for families, extending earlier work of Kato for rank one modules, of Benois and Berger for crystalline representations with respect to the cyclotomic extension as well as of Loeffler, Venjakob and Zerbes for crystalline representations with respect to abelian p-adic Lie extensions of Q_p. Nakamura has shown Kato’s - conjecture for (ϕ,\Gamma)-modules over the Robba ring, which means in particular only after inverting p, for rank one and trianguline families. The main ingredient of (the integrality part of) the proof consists of the construction of families of Wach modules generalizing work of Wach and Berger and following Kisin’s approach via a corresponding moduli space.
 

Thu, 19 Jan 2017
16:00
L6

Joint Logic/Number Theory Seminar: Formality and higher Massey products in Galois cohomology

Adam Topaz
(Oxford)
Abstract

There are several conjectures in the literature suggesting that absolute Galois groups of fields tend to be "as free as possible," given their "almost-abelian" data.
This can be made precise in various ways, one of which is via the notion of "1-formality" arising in analogy with the concept in rational homotopy theory.
In this talk, I will discuss several examples which illustrate this phenomenon, as well as some surprising diophantine consequences.
This discussion will also include some recent joint work with Guillot, Mináč, Tân and Wittenberg, concerning the vanishing of mod-2 4-fold Massey products in the Galois cohomology of number fields.

Thu, 01 Dec 2016
16:00
L6

Random waves on the three-dimensional torus and correlations of spherical lattice points

Jacques Benatar
(King's College London)
Abstract

I will discuss some recent work, joint with R. Maffucci, concerning random Laplace eigenfunctions on the torus T^3=R^3/Z^3. Studying various statistics of these 'random waves' we will be confronted with an arithmetic question about linear relations among integer points on spheres.

Thu, 24 Nov 2016
16:00
L6

On the standard L-function attached to Siegel-Jacobi modular forms of higher index

Thanasis Bouganis
(Durham University)
Abstract

In this talk we will start by introducing the notion of Siegel-Jacobi modular form and explain its close relation to Siegel modular forms through the Fourier-Jacobi expansion. Then we will discuss how one can attach an L-function to an appropriate (i.e. eigenform) Siegel-Jacobi modular form due to Shintani, and report on joint work with Jolanta Marzec on analytic properties of this L-function, extending results of Arakawa and Murase. 

Thu, 17 Nov 2016
16:00
L6

Correlations of multiplicative functions

Oleksiy Klurman
(University College London)
Abstract


We develop the asymptotic formulas for correlations  
\[ \sum_{n\le x}f_1(P_1(n))f_2(P_2(n))\cdot \dots \cdot f_m(P_m(n))\]

where $f_1,\dots,f_m$ are bounded ``pretentious" multiplicative functions, under certain natural hypotheses. We then deduce several desirable consequences: first, we characterize all multiplicative functions $f:\mathbb{N}\to\{-1,+1\}$ with bounded partial sums. This answers a question of Erd{\"o}s from $1957$ in the form conjectured by Tao. Second, we show that if the average of the first divided difference of multiplicative function is zero, then either $f(n)=n^s$ for $\operatorname{Re}(s)<1$ or $|f(n)|$ is small on average. This settles an old conjecture of K\'atai. Third, we discuss applications to the study of sign patterns of $(f(n),f(n+1),f(n+2))$ and $(f(n),f(n+1),f(n+2),f(n+3))$ where $f:\mathbb{N}\to \{-1,1\}$ is a given multiplicative function. If time permits, we discuss multidimensional version of some of the results mentioned above.
 

Thu, 10 Nov 2016
16:00
L6

Effective equidistribution of rational points on expanding horospheres

Min Lee
(University of Bristol)
Abstract

The equidistribution theorem for rational points on expanding horospheres with fixed denominator in the space of d-dimensional Euclidean lattices has been derived in the work by M. Einsiedler, S. Mozes, N. Shah and U. Shapira. The proof of their theorem requires ergodic theoretic tools, including Ratner's measure classification theorem. In this talk I will present an alternative approach, based on harmonic analysis and Weil's bound for Kloosterman sums. In the case of d=3, unlike the ergodic-theoretic approach, this provides an explicit estimate on the rate of convergence. This is a joint work with Jens Marklof. 

Thu, 03 Nov 2016
16:00
L6

Arithmetic applications of $\omega$-integral curves in varieties (Joint with Logic)

Natalia Garcia-Fritz
(University of Toronto)
Abstract

In 2000, Vojta solved the n-squares problem under the Bombieri-Lang conjecture, by explicitly finding all the curves of genus 0 or 1 on the surfaces related to this problem. The fundamental notion used by him is $\omega$-integrality of curves. 


In this talk, I will show a generalization of Vojta's method to find all curves of low genus in some surfaces, with arithmetic applications.


I will also explain how to use $\omega$-integrality to obtain a bound of the height of a non-constant morphism from a curve to $\mathbb{P}^2$ in terms of the number of intersections (without multiplicities) of its image with a divisor of a particular kind.
This proves some new special cases of Vojta's conjecture for function fields.
 

Thu, 27 Oct 2016
16:00
L6

On Hodge-Tate local systems

Ahmed Abbes
(Institut des Hautes Etudes Scientifiques)
Abstract

I will revisit the theory of Hodge-Tate local systems in the light of the p-adic Simpson correspondence. This is a joint work with Michel Gros.

Thu, 20 Oct 2016
16:00
L6

An Arithmetic Chern-Simons Invariant

Minhyong Kim
(Oxford)
Abstract

Abstract: We will recall some analogies between structures arising from three-manifold topology and rings of integers in number fields. This can be used to define a Chern-Simons functional on spaces of Galois representations.  Some sample computations and elementary applications will be shown.

Thu, 13 Oct 2016
16:00
L6

Representation of integers by binary forms

Stanley Yao Xiao
(Oxford)
Abstract

Let $F$ be a binary form of degree $d \geq 3$ with integer coefficients and non-zero discriminant. In this talk we give an asymptotic formula for the quantity $R_F(Z)$, the number of integers in the interval $[-Z,Z]$ representable by the binary form $F$.

This is joint work with C.L. Stewart.

Thu, 16 Jun 2016
16:00
L6

Gaps Between Smooth Numbers

Roger Heath-Brown
(Oxford University)
Abstract

Let $a_1, \cdots, a_N$ be the sequence of y-smooth numbers up to x (i.e. composed only of primes up to y). When y is a small power of x, what can one say about the size of the gaps $a_{j+1}-a_j$? In particular, what about

$$\sum_1^N (a_{j+1}-a_j)^2?$$

Thu, 09 Jun 2016
16:00
L6

Almost Primes in Almost all Short Intervals

Joni Teräväinen
(University of Turku)
Abstract

When considering $E_k$ numbers (products of exactly $k$ primes), it is natural to ask, how they are distributed in short intervals. One can show much stronger results when one restricts to almost all intervals. In this context,  we seek the smallest value of c such that the intervals $[x,x+(\log x)^c]$ contain an $E_k$ number almost always. Harman showed that $c=7+\varepsilon$ is admissible for $E_2$ numbers, and this was the best known result also for $E_k$ numbers with $k>2$.

We show that for $E_3$ numbers one can take $c=1+\varepsilon$, which is optimal up to $\varepsilon$. We also obtain the value $c=3.51$ for $E_2$ numbers. The proof uses pointwise, large values and mean value results for Dirichlet polynomials as well as sieve methods.

Thu, 02 Jun 2016
16:00
L6

The Hasse norm principle for abelian extensions

Rachel Newton
(University of Reading)
Abstract

Let $L/K$ be an extension of number fields and let $J_L$ and $J_K$ be the associated groups of ideles. Using the diagonal embedding, we view $L^*$ and $K^*$ as subgroups of $J_L$ and $J_K$ respectively. The norm map $N: J_L\to  J_K$ restricts to the usual field norm $N: L^*\to K^*$ on $L^*$. Thus, if an element of $K^*$ is a norm from $L^*$, then it is a norm from $J_L$. We say that the Hasse norm principle holds for $L/K$ if the converse holds, i.e. if every element of $K^*$ which is a norm from $J_L$ is in fact a norm from $L^*$. 

The original Hasse norm theorem states that the Hasse norm principle holds for cyclic extensions. Biquadratic extensions give the smallest examples for which the Hasse norm principle can fail. One might ask, what proportion of biquadratic extensions of $K$ fail the Hasse norm principle? More generally, for an abelian group $G$, what proportion of extensions of $K$ with Galois group $G$ fail the Hasse norm principle? I will describe the finite abelian groups for which this proportion is positive. This involves counting abelian extensions of bounded discriminant with infinitely many local conditions imposed, which is achieved using tools from harmonic analysis.

This is joint work with Christopher Frei and Daniel Loughran.

Thu, 26 May 2016
16:00
L6

Sub-convexity in certain Diophantine problems via the circle method

Trevor Wooley
(University of Bristol)
Abstract

The sub-convexity barrier traditionally prevents one from applying the Hardy-Littlewood (circle) method to Diophantine problems in which the number of variables is smaller than twice the inherent total degree. Thus, for a homogeneous polynomial in a number of variables bounded above by twice its degree, useful estimates for the associated exponential sum can be expected to be no better than the square-root of the associated reservoir of variables. In consequence, the error term in any application of the circle method to such a problem cannot be expected to be smaller than the anticipated main term, and one fails to deliver an asymptotic formula. There are perishingly few examples in which this sub-convexity barrier has been circumvented, and even fewer having associated degree exceeding two. In this talk we review old and more recent progress, and exhibit a new class of examples of Diophantine problems associated with, though definitely not, of translation-invariant type.

Thu, 19 May 2016
16:00
L6

On the distribution modulo one of $\alpha p^k$

Roger Baker
(Brigham Young University)
Abstract

For $k \geq 3$ we give new values of $\rho_k$ such that
$$ \| \alpha p^k + \beta \| < p^{-\rho_k} $$
has infinitely many solutions in primes whenever $\alpha$ is irrational and $\beta$ is real. The mean
value results of Bourgain, Demeter, and Guth are useful for $k \geq 6$; for all $k$, the results also
depend on bounding the number of solutions of a congruence of the form

$$ \left\| \frac{sy^k}{q} \right\| < \frac{1}{Z} \ \ (1 \leq y \leq Y < q) $$

where $q$ is a given large natural number.

Thu, 12 May 2016
16:00
L6

(Joint with logic) Two models for the hyperbolic plane and existence of the Poincaré metric on compact Riemann surfaces

Norbert A’Campo
(University of Basel)
Abstract
An implicite definition for the hyperbolic plane $H=H_I$ is in: ${\rm Spec}(\mathbb{R}[X]) = H_I \cup \mathbb{R}$. All geometric hyperbolic features will follow from this definition in an elementary way.
 
A second definition is $H=H_J=\{J \in {\rm End}(R^2) \mid J^2=-Id, dx \wedge dy(u,Ju) \geq 0 \}$. Working with $H=H_J$ allows to prove rather directly main theorems about Riemann surfaces.