5
$\begingroup$

Setup. Let $p > 2$ be a prime, let $K$ be the completion of the maximal unramified extension of $\mathbb{Q}_p$, and fix an algebraic closure $\overline{K}$ of $K$. Let $A/K$ be an abelian variety of dimension $n$ with good reduction, let $\mathcal{A}/\mathcal{O}_K$ denote the Neron model of $A$, and consider the $n$-dimensional formal group $\widehat{\mathcal{A}}/\mathcal{O}_K$ associated to $\mathcal{A}$.

Suppose $P = (x_1,...,x_n)$ is a non-zero, $p$-torsion point of $\widehat{\mathcal{A}}(\mathcal{O}_{\overline{K}})$. I am interested in understanding the ramification behavior of the field $K(P)/K$. In particular, here is my question.

Question. Is the extension $K(P)/K$ tamely ramified?

I know the answer to the question is yes when $A$ is an elliptic curve $E$. Indeed, if $E$ has good ordinary reduction, then the formal group is isomorphic to $\widehat{\mathbb{G}_m}$ (recall that $\mathcal{O}_K \cong W(\overline{\mathbb{F}_p})$), in which case the result is clear, and if $E$ has good supersingular reduction, then this is true by work of Serre [1, Section 1]. One can also see that the answer is yes whenever $A$ has good ordinary reduction because the formal group is toroidal. There is also work of Arias-de-Reyna [2, Theorem 3.3] which gives a criterion saying when wild inertia will act trivially on the $p$-torsion points, however, this condition is strong, and it will not hold in general. I have searched extensively through Hazewinkel's Formal Groups and Applications, but I have not been able to find a result of this form.

Any comments, suggestions, references, and/or counterexamples would be greatly apprecaited.

References.

[1] J.-P. Serre, Propriètès galoisiennes des points d’ordre fini des courbes elliptiques

[2] S. Arias-de-Reyna, Formal groups, supersingular abelian varieties and tame ramification

$\endgroup$
11
  • 3
    $\begingroup$ In the case of supersingular curves over an unramified base, there’s nothing fancy going on, to see that the ramification is tame. You see that the Newton Polygon of $[p]$ has vertices at $(1,1)$ and $(p^2,0)$, so all $p$-torsion points have valuation $1/(p^2-1)$. Naturally, all bets are off in cases where there’s ramification in the base. $\endgroup$
    – Lubin
    Commented Apr 5, 2021 at 21:11
  • 2
    $\begingroup$ @Lubin Thank you for the comment! Of course, you are totally correct that there isn't anything fancy going on in the supersingular curve case over an unramified base other than the theory of Newton polygons. Moreover, there really wasn't any need to add the citation to J.-P. Serre's work. I just learned of the result from that work so I thought I would include it. $\endgroup$ Commented Apr 5, 2021 at 21:44
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ By a theorem of Raynaud, any finite flat group scheme, say over a dvr, can be embedded in an abelian scheme. So your question amounts to asking whether points of order $p$ of a finite flat group sheme with connected special fibre generate a tamely ramified extension. This seems unlikely to me. $\endgroup$
    – naf
    Commented Apr 7, 2021 at 14:28
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ Finite flat group schemes over such a ring are determined by their Galois representation. Tameness implies that the Galois representation is semisimple. Since subrepresentations of the Galois representation of a finite flat group scheme come finite flat subgroup schemes, tameness implies that the finite flat group scheme is a product of simple finite flat group schemes. These simple finite flat group schemes were classified (also by Raynaud). So any finite flat group scheme that is not a sum of these would be an example. $\endgroup$
    – Will Sawin
    Commented Apr 7, 2021 at 16:10
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ For Raynaud's classification, I think "Finite Flat Group Schemes" by Tate in the book Modular Forms and Fermat's Last Theorem link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-1-4612-1974-3_5 is a good introduction. For semisimplicity, it's the classical fact that representations of a group of order prime to p are semisimple in characteristic p. $\endgroup$
    – Will Sawin
    Commented Apr 7, 2021 at 21:49

0

You must log in to answer this question.