Sequences of irreducible polynomials without prescribed coefficients over odd prime fields

In this paper we construct infinite sequences of monic irreducible polynomials with coefficients in odd prime fields by means of a transformation introduced by Cohen in 1992. We make no assumptions on the coefficients of the first polynomial $f_0$ of the sequence, which belongs to \F_p [x], for some odd prime $p$, and has positive degree $n$. If $p^{2n}-1 = 2^{e_1} \cdot m$ for some odd integer $m$ and non-negative integer $e_1$, then, after an initial segment $f_0, ..., f_s$ with $s \leq e_1$, the degree of the polynomial $f_{i+1}$ is twice the degree of $f_i$ for any $i \geq s$.Comment: 10 pages. Fixed a typo in the reference

Using approximate roots for irreducibility and equi-singularity issues in K[[x]][y]

We provide an irreducibility test in the ring K[[x]][y] whose complexity is quasi-linear with respect to the valuation of the discriminant, assuming the input polynomial F square-free and K a perfect field of characteristic zero or greater than deg(F). The algorithm uses the theory of approximate roots and may be seen as a generalization of Abhyankhar's irreducibility criterion to the case of non algebraically closed residue fields. More generally, we show that we can test within the same complexity if a polynomial is pseudo-irreducible, a larger class of polynomials containing irreducible ones. If $F$ is pseudo-irreducible, the algorithm computes also the valuation of the discriminant and the equisingularity types of the germs of plane curve defined by F along the fiber x=0.Comment: 51 pages. Title modified. Slight modifications in Definition 5 and Proposition 1

The density of primes in orbits of z^d + c

Given a polynomial f(z) = z^d + c over a global field K and a_0 in K, we study the density of prime ideals of K dividing at least one element of the orbit of a_0 under f. The density of such sets for linear polynomials has attracted much study, and the second author has examined several families of quadratic polynomials, but little is known in the higher-degree case. We show that for many choices of d and c this density is zero for all a_0, assuming K contains a primitive dth root of unity. The proof relies on several new results, including some ensuring the number of irreducible factors of the nth iterate of f remains bounded as n grows, and others on the ramification above certain primes in iterated extensions. Together these allow for nearly complete information when K is a global function field or when K=Q(zeta_d).Comment: 27 page

L-functions with large analytic rank and abelian varieties with large algebraic rank over function fields

The goal of this paper is to explain how a simple but apparently new fact of linear algebra together with the cohomological interpretation of L-functions allows one to produce many examples of L-functions over function fields vanishing to high order at the center point of their functional equation. The main application is that for every prime p and every integer g>0 there are absolutely simple abelian varieties of dimension g over Fp(t) for which the BSD conjecture holds and which have arbitrarily large rank.Comment: To appear in Inventiones Mathematica

On the discrete logarithm problem in finite fields of fixed characteristic

For $q$ a prime power, the discrete logarithm problem (DLP) in $\mathbb{F}_{q}$ consists in finding, for any $g \in \mathbb{F}_{q}^{\times}$ and $h \in \langle g \rangle$, an integer $x$ such that $g^x = h$. We present an algorithm for computing discrete logarithms with which we prove that for each prime $p$ there exist infinitely many explicit extension fields $\mathbb{F}_{p^n}$ in which the DLP can be solved in expected quasi-polynomial time. Furthermore, subject to a conjecture on the existence of irreducible polynomials of a certain form, the algorithm solves the DLP in all extensions $\mathbb{F}_{p^n}$ in expected quasi-polynomial time.Comment: 15 pages, 2 figures. To appear in Transactions of the AM