Search arXivSearch

arXiv · 2605.21666

2007: An Arboreal Odyssey: A View of Arboreal Galois Representations and Applications, from Early in the Subject's History

Abstract

The study of arboreal Galois representations (that is, Galois groups arising from iteration of polynomial and rational functions) originated with work of Odoni in the 1980s. Beginning in the early 2000s it underwent a period of renewed interest, which continues to this day. Written in 2007, this survey article gives a sense of the subject from the early days of this renewal. It is presented here as a document of historical interest -- precisely as originally written -- and because some recent work has referenced specific pieces of it. It was written as an informal document, and not intended to be published. Much, though not all, of the content overlaps with the 2013 survey article ``Galois representations from pre-image trees: an arboreal survey" of the author.

Explore related subjects

Keep this discovery

Explore connections, maps & timelines

BibTeXRIS

Rafe Jones. 2026-05-20. 2007: An Arboreal Odyssey: A View of Arboreal Galois Representations and Applications, from Early in the Subject's History. https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.21666

Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.

KEEP EXPLORING

Related papers

On single-variable Witten zeta functions of rank two and three

By introducing a novel integration kernel for the Mellin transform, we uncover many previously unknown and intriguing properties of the Witten zeta functions of rank two and three. Detailed results concerning their pole locations, residues, and special values are obtained. We propose a non-trivial conjecture regarding their derivatives at the origin, which seems to encode deep information about the root system. We also discuss their behavior at negative integers, highlighting a connection with Eisenstein series and a $p$-adic observation.

math.NT

On graded Lie algebras associated to once-punctured elliptic curves with complex multiplication

We study a graded Lie algebra arising from the Galois action on the pro-$p$ fundamental group of a once-punctured elliptic curve with complex multiplication. Among other things, we provide a minimal generating set of the rationalized Lie algebra under suitable assumptions. The proof is based on a slight variant of the theory of weighted completion of profinite groups developed by Hain and Matsumoto.

math.NT

Burgess-type volume dependent bounds for character sums over $\mathbb{F}_{p^n}$

We establish a Burgess-type bound for short multiplicative character sums over finite fields $\mathbb{F}_{p^n}$. Let \[ B=\left\{\sum_{i=1}^{n}x_iω_i: N_i+1\le x_i\le N_i+H_i,1\le i\le n\right\}\subseteq\mathbb{F}_{p^n}, \] where $1\le H_i\le p$ for all $1\le i\le n$, and the side lengths satisfy $H_1\le H_2\le\cdots\le H_n.$ We prove that if the side lengths satisfy certain lower bounds in terms of the two largest side lengths, then a nontrivial cancellation occurs in the character sum over the boxes. This generalizes the work of Gabdullin \cite{GB} in dimensions $n=2,3$ to arbitrary dimension. This also generalizes the character sum estimate of Konyagin \cite{Kon} where each of the side lengths of the boxes are greater than $p^{1/4}$. The proof combines techniques from the geometry of numbers, multiplicative energy estimates, and Katz's bounds for multiplicative character sums.

math.NT