English

Northcott numbers for the house and the Weil height

Number Theory 2022-02-23 v2

Abstract

For an algebraic number α\alpha and γR\gamma\in \mathbb{R}, h(α)h(\alpha) be the (logarithmic) Weil height, and hγ(α)=(degα)γh(α)h_\gamma(\alpha)=(\mathrm{deg}\alpha)^\gamma h(\alpha) be the γ\gamma-weighted (logarithmic) Weil height of α\alpha. Let f:Q[0,)f:\overline{\mathbb{Q}}\to [0,\infty) be a function on the algebraic numbers Q\overline{\mathbb{Q}}, and let SQS\subset \overline{\mathbb{Q}}. The Northcott number Nf(S)\mathcal{N}_f(S) of SS, with respect to ff, is the infimum of all X0X\geq 0 such that {αS;f(α)<X}\{\alpha \in S; f(\alpha)< X\} is infinite. This paper studies the set of Northcott numbers Nf(O)\mathcal{N}_f(\mathcal{O}) for subrings of Q\overline{\mathbb{Q}} for the house, the Weil height, and the γ\gamma-weighted Weil height. We show: (1) Every t1t\geq 1 is the Northcott number of a ring of integers of a field w.r.t. the house. (2) For each t0t\geq 0 there exists a field with Northcott number in [t,2t] [t,2t] w.r.t. the Weil height h()h(\cdot). (3) For all 0γ10\leq \gamma\leq 1 and γ<γ\gamma'<\gamma there exists a field KK with Nhγ(K)=0\mathcal{N}_{h_{\gamma'}}(K)=0 and Nhγ(K)=\mathcal{N}_{h_\gamma}(K)=\infty. For (1)(1) we provide examples that satisfy an analogue of Julia Robinon's property (JR), examples that satisfy an analogue of Vidaux and Videla's isolation property, and examples that satisfy neither of those. Item (2)(2) concerns a question raised by Vidaux and Videla due to its direct link with decidability theory via the Julia Robinson number. Item (3) is a strong generalisation of the known fact that there are fields that satisfy the Lehmer conjecture but which are not Bogomolov in the sense of Bombieri and Zannier.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2107.09027,
  title  = {Northcott numbers for the house and the Weil height},
  author = {Fabien Pazuki and Niclas Technau and Martin Widmer},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2107.09027},
  year   = {2022}
}

Comments

To appear in Bull. Lond. Math. Soc