On a theorem of Ax and Katz

The well-known theorem of Ax and Katz gives a p-divisibility bound for the number of rational points on an algebraic variety V over a finite field of characteristic p in terms of the degree and number of variables of defining polynomials of V. It was strengthened by Adolphson-Sperber in terms of Newton polytope of the support set G of V. In this paper we prove that for every generic algebraic variety over a number field supported on G the Adolphson-Sperber bound can be achieved on special fibre at p for a set of prime p of positive density in SpecZ. Moreover we show that if G has certain combinatorial conditional number nonzero then the above bound is achieved at special fiber at p for all but finitely many primes p.Comment: 11 page

Zeta functions of totally ramified p-covers of the projective line

In this paper we prove that there exists a Zariski dense open subset U defined over the rationals Q in the space of all one-variable rational functions with arbitrary k poles of prescribed orders, such that for every geometric point f in U(Qbar)$, the L-function of the exponential sum of f at a prime p has Newton polygon approaching the Hodge polygon as p approaches infinity. As an application to algebraic geometry, we prove that the p-adic Newton polygon of the zeta function of a p-cover of the projective line totally ramified at arbitrary k points of prescribed orders has an asymptotic generic lower bound.Comment: 17 page