Finitely ramified iterated extensions

Let K be a number field, t a parameter, F=K(t) and f in K[x] a polynomial of degree d. The polynomial P_n(x,t)= f^n(x) - t in F[x] where f^n is the n-fold iterate of f, is absolutely irreducible over F; we compute a recursion for its discriminant. Let L=L(f) be the field obtained by adjoining to F all roots, in a fixed algebraic closure, of P_n for all n; its Galois group Gal(L/F) is the iterated monodromy group of f. The iterated extension L/F is finitely ramified if and only if f is post-critically finite (pcf). We show that, moreover, for pcf polynomials f, every specialization of L/F at t=t_0 in K is finitely ramified over K, pointing to the possibility of studying Galois groups with restricted ramification via tree representations associated to iterated monodromy groups of pcf polynomials. We discuss the wildness of ramification in some of these representations, describe prime decomposition in terms of certain finite graphs, and also give some examples of monogene number fields.Comment: 19 page

New perspectives in Arakelov geometry

In this survey, written for the proceedings of the VII meeting of the CNTA held in May 2002 in Montreal, we describe how Connes' theory of spectral triples provides a unified view, via noncommutative geometry, of the archimedean and the totally split degenerate fibers of an arithmetic surface.Comment: 20 pages, 10pt LaTeX, 2 eps figures (v3: some changes for the final version