English

On the proportion of irreducible polynomials in unicritically generated semigroups

Number Theory 2023-08-29 v1 Dynamical Systems

Abstract

Let pp be a prime number and let S={xp+c1,,xp+cr}S=\{x^p+c_1,\dots,x^p+c_r\} be a finite set of unicritical polynomials for some c1,,crZc_1,\dots,c_r\in\mathbb{Z}. Moreover, assume that SS contains at least one irreducible polynomial over Q\mathbb{Q}. Then we construct a large, explicit subset of irreducible polynomials within the semigroup generated by SS under composition; in fact, we show that this subset has positive asymptotic density within the full semigroup when we count polynomials by degree. In addition, when p=2p=2 or 33 we construct an infinite family of semigroups that break the local-global principle for irreducibility. To do this, we use a mix of algebraic and arithmetic techniques and results, including Runge's method, the elliptic curve Chabauty method, and Fermat's Last Theorem.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2308.14202,
  title  = {On the proportion of irreducible polynomials in unicritically generated semigroups},
  author = {Wade Hindes and Reiyah Jacobs and Benjamin Keller and Albert Kim and Peter Ye and Aaron Zhou},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2308.14202},
  year   = {2023}
}
R2 v1 2026-06-28T12:05:33.554Z