English

The average number of integral points in orbits

Number Theory 2017-10-11 v3

Abstract

Over a number field KK, a celebrated result of Silverman states that if φ(z)K(z)\varphi(z)\in K(z) is a rational function whose second iterate is not a polynomial, the set of SS-integral points in the orbit Orbφ(P)={φn(P)}n0\text{Orb}_\varphi(P)=\{\varphi^n(P)\}_{n\geq0} is finite for all PP1(K)P\in \mathbb{P}^1(K). In this paper, we show that if we vary φ\varphi and PP in a suitable family, the number of SS-integral points in Orbφ(P)\text{Orb}_\varphi(P) is absolutely bounded. In particular, if we fix φ\varphi and vary the basepoint PP1(K)P\in \mathbb{P}^1(K), then we show that #(Orbφ(P)OK,S)\#(\text{Orb}_\varphi(P)\cap\mathcal{O}_{K,S}) is zero on average. Finally, we prove a zero-average result in general, assuming a standard height uniformity conjecture in arithmetic geometry.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.1509.00752,
  title  = {The average number of integral points in orbits},
  author = {Wade Hindes},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1509.00752},
  year   = {2017}
}

Comments

We strengthen the main result to non-isotrivial families

R2 v1 2026-06-22T10:47:36.764Z