English

Polynomial Bounds for Birch's Theorem

Number Theory 2025-12-02 v1

Abstract

Let KK be a number field and f1,,fsK[x1,,xn]f_1,\ldots,f_s\in K[x_1,\ldots,x_n] forms of odd degrees. In 1957, Birch proved that if nn is sufficiently large then the forms always have a nontrivial zero in KnK^n. Apart from some small degrees, the number of variables required was so large that it has been described as "not even astronomical". We prove that, for any fixed degree, nn may be taken polynomial in ss. We deduce this from a stronger result -- the Zariski closure of the set of rational zeros has codimension bounded by a polynomial in ss. When KK is totally imaginary, our results hold for forms of any (possibly even) degrees.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2512.00697,
  title  = {Polynomial Bounds for Birch's Theorem},
  author = {Amichai Lampert and Andrew Snowden and Tamar Ziegler},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2512.00697},
  year   = {2025}
}

Comments

21 pages, comments welcome!

R2 v1 2026-07-01T08:01:20.834Z