Ranks of subgroups in boundedly generated groups

We show that an infinite residually finite boundedly generated group has an infinite chain of finite index subgroups with ranks uniformly bounded, and give (sublinear) upper bounds on the ranks of arbitrary finite index subgroups of boundedly generated groups (examples which come close to achieving these bounds are presented). This proves a strong form of a conjecture of Abert, Jaikin-Zapirain, and Nikolov which asserts that the rank gradient of infinite boundedly generated residually finite groups is $0$. Furthermore, our first result establishes a variant of a conjecture of Lubotzky on the ranks of finite index subgroups of special linear groups over the integers, and is analogous to a result of Pyber and Segal for solvable groups

Ascending chains of finitely generated subgroups

We show that a nonempty family of $n$-generated subgroups of a pro-$p$ group has a maximal element. This suggests that 'Noetherian Induction' can be used to discover new features of finitely generated subgroups of pro-$p$ groups. To demonstrate this, we show that in various pro-$p$ groups $\Gamma$ (e.g. free pro-$p$ groups, nonsolvable Demushkin groups) the commensurator of a finitely generated subgroup $H \neq 1$ is the greatest subgroup of $\Gamma$ containing $H$ as an open subgroup. We also show that an ascending sequence of $n$-generated subgroups of a limit group must terminate (this extends the analogous result for free groups proved by Takahasi, Higman, and Kapovich-Myasnikov)

Balanced presentations for fundamental groups of curves over finite fields

We show that the algebraic fundamental group of a smooth projective curve over a finite field admits a finite topological presentation where the number of relations does not exceed the number of generators

Squarefree polynomials with prescribed coefficients

For nonempty subsets $S_0, \dots, S_{n-1}$ of a (large enough) finite field $\mathbb{F}$ satisfying $$|S_1|, \dots, |S_{n-1}| > 2 \quad \mathrm{or} \quad |S_1|,|S_{n-1}| > n - 1,$$ we show that there exist $a_0 \in S_0, \dots, a_{n-1} \in S_{n-1}$ such that $$T^n + a_{n-1}T^{n-1} + \dots + a_1T + a_0 \in \mathbb{F}[T]$$ is a squarefree polynomial

Virtual retraction and Howson's theorem in pro-pp groups

We show that for every finitely generated closed subgroup $K$ of a non-solvable Demushkin group $G$, there exists an open subgroup $U$ of $G$ containing $K$, and a continuous homomorphism $\tau \colon U \to K$ satisfying $\tau(k) = k$ for every $k \in K$. We prove that the intersection of a pair of finitely generated closed subgroups of a Demushkin group is finitely generated (giving an explicit bound on the number of generators). Furthermore, we show that these properties of Demushkin groups are preserved under free pro-$p$ products, and deduce that Howson's theorem holds for the Sylow subgroups of the absolute Galois group of a number field. Finally, we confirm two conjectures of Ribes, thus classifying the finitely generated pro-$p$ M. Hall groups

The Hanna Neumann conjecture for Demushkin Groups

We confirm the Hanna Neumann conjecture for topologically finitely generated closed subgroups $U$ and $W$ of a nonsolvable Demushkin group $G$. Namely, we show that \begin{equation*} \sum_{g \in U \backslash G/W} \bar d(U \cap gWg^{-1}) \leq \bar d(U) \bar d(W) \end{equation*} where $\bar d(K) = \max\{d(K) - 1, 0\}$ and $d(K)$ is the least cardinality of a topological generating set for the group $K$

On the Chowla and twin primes conjectures over Fq[T]\mathbb F_q[T]

Using geometric methods, we improve on the function field version of the Burgess bound, and show that, when restricted to certain special subspaces, the M\"{o}bius function over $\mathbb F_q[T]$ can be mimicked by Dirichlet characters. Combining these, we obtain a level of distribution close to $1$ for the M\"{o}bius function in arithmetic progressions, and resolve Chowla's $k$-point correlation conjecture with large uniformity in the shifts. Using a function field variant of a result by Fouvry-Michel on exponential sums involving the M\"{o}bius function, we obtain a level of distribution beyond $1/2$ for irreducible polynomials, and establish the twin prime conjecture in a quantitative form. All these results hold for finite fields satisfying a simple condition

Semi-free subgroups of a profinite surface group

We show that every closed normal subgroup of infinite index in a profinite surface group $\Gamma$ is contained in a semi-free profinite normal subgroup of $\Gamma$. This answers a question of Bary-Soroker, Stevenson, and Zalesskii

M\"{o}bius cancellation on polynomial sequences and the quadratic Bateman-Horn conjecture over function fields

We establish cancellation in short sums of certain special trace functions over $\mathbb{F}_q[u]$ below the P\'{o}lya-Vinogradov range, with savings approaching square-root cancellation as $q$ grows. This is used to resolve the $\mathbb{F}_q[u]$-analog of Chowla's conjecture on cancellation in M\"{o}bius sums over polynomial sequences, and of the Bateman-Horn conjecture in degree $2$, for some values of $q$. A final application is to sums of trace functions over primes in $\mathbb{F}_q[u]$

Finite presentation of the tame fundamental group

Let $p$ be a prime number, and let $k$ be an algebraically closed field of characteristic $p$. We show that the tame fundamental group of a smooth affine curve over $k$ is a projective profinite group. We prove that the fundamental group of a smooth projective variety over $k$ is finitely presented. More generally we prove that the tame fundamental group of a smooth quasi-projective variety over $k$ which admits a good compactification is finitely presented. v2: references added. Thank you to all for the friendly and fruitful comments.Comment: 19 page