Weber's class number problem and its variants

We survey Weber's class number problem and its variants in the spirit of arithmetic topology; we recollect some history, present a relation to certain units and generalized Pell's equation, and overview a study of the $p$-adic limits of class numbers in $\mathbb{Z}_p$-towers together with numerical investigation for knots and elliptic curves

Generalized Pell's equations and Weber's class number problem

We study a generalization of Pell's equation, whose coefficients are certain algebraic integers. Let $X_0=0$ and $X_n=\sqrt{2+X_{n-1}}$ for each $n\in \mathbb{Z}_{\ge 1}$. We study the $\mathbb{Z}[X_{n-1}]$-solutions of the equation $x^2-X_n^2y^2=1$. By imitating the solution to the classical Pell's equation, we introduce new continued fraction expansions for $X_n$ over $\mathbb{Z}[X_{n-1}]$ and obtain an explicit solution of the generalized Pell's equation. In addition, we show that our explicit solution generates all the solutions if and only if the answer to Weber's class number problem is affirmative. We also obtain a congruence relation for the ratios of the class numbers of the $\mathbb{Z}_2$-extension over the rationals and show the convergence of the class numbers in $\mathbb{Z}_2$.Comment: 17 page

The pp-adic limits of class numbers in Zp\mathbb{Z}_p-towers

This article discusses variants of Weber's class number problem in the spirit of arithmetic topology to connect the results of Sinnott--Kisilevsky and Kionke. Let $p$ be a prime number. We first prove the $p$-adic convergence of class numbers in a $\mathbb{Z}_p$-extension of a global field and a similar result in a $\mathbb{Z}_p$-cover of a compact 3-manifold. Secondly, we establish an explicit formula for the $p$-adic limit of the $p$-power-th cyclic resultants of a polynomial using roots of unity of orders prime to $p$, the $p$-adic logarithm, and the Iwasawa invariants. Finally, we give thorough investigations of torus knots, twist knots, and elliptic curves; we complete the list of the cases with $p$-adic limits being in $\mathbb{Z}$ and find the cases such that the base $p$-class numbers are small and $\nu$'s are arbitrarily large.Comment: 28 pages. new results on lim in Z and large nu in v2. minor corrections in later version