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Vesselin Dimitrov
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Points of minimum Arakelov height and harmonic arithmetical varieties

By a polarized arithmetical variety I will mean a pair $(X,L)$ of a finite-type proper regular integral scheme $X$ flat and generically smooth over $\mathbb{Z}$, and an invertible sheaf $L \in \mathrm{PIC}(X)$ equipped with an $F_{\infty}$-invariant metric $\| \cdot\|$ on the associated holomorphic line bundles $L_{\mathbb{C}}$, such that $\|\cdot\|$ is the uniform limit of positive $C^{\infty}$ metrics. Assume for simplicity that the geometric generic fibre of $X/\mathbb{Z}$ is connected, so that $X_{\mathbb{Q}}$ is a smooth variety defined over $\mathbb{Q}$.

There is then an Arakelov height functiont $h_L$ on the algebraic points $X(\bar{\mathbb{Q}})$, given by the arithmetic intersection number of the associated multisection with $\hat{c}_1(L)$, divided by $[\mathbb{Q}(x):\mathbb{Q}]$. Let me call such a polarization $(X,L)$ harmonic if the set $$ \{ x \in X(\bar{\mathbb{Q}}) \quad | \quad h_L(x) = \inf_{X(\bar{\mathbb{Q}})} h_L \} $$ is Zariski-dense.

One can show, as a consequence of the arithmetic Riemann-Roch theorem, that the infimum then equals the arithmetic self-intersection (or arithmetic volume) $L^2/2$, and that moreover, the points of minimal height have their Galois orbits equidistributed in $c_1(L)$ (which, by definition, is a uniform limit of Chern forms of smooth metrics). Examples are abelian schemes over the full ring of integers of a number field, equipped with canonical symmetric polarizations (in which case the height $h_L$ is just the Neron-Tate height, and the points of minimum height are precisely the torsion points); and, on the other hand, projective space with the standard Weil height (or with the generalized canonical heights of Call-Silverman).

Two questions:

  1. Is it true that semistable elliptic curves over $\mathbb{Q}$ (this case being the simplest), or more generally abelian varieties with non-integral moduli, are never harmonic in the above sense, with respect to any symmetric canonical polarization? with respect to any polarization? Is the minimum of $h_L$ isolated in those cases?

  2. Is it true that an arithmetical surface of genus $> 1$ is never harmonic in the above sense?

Vesselin Dimitrov
  • 13.8k
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  • 56
  • 95