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Arakelov theory

Mathematical theory

  • 4 min read
  • 4 chapters

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Background

The main motivation behind Arakelov geometry is that there is a correspondence between prime ideals p∈Spec(Z) and finite places vp:Q∗→R, but there also exists a place at infinity v∞, given by the Archimedean valuation, which doesn't have a corresponding prime ideal. Arakelov geometry gives a technique for compactifying Spec(Z) into a complete space Spec(Z)¯ which has a prime lying at infinity. Arakelov's original construction studies one such theory, where a definition of divisors is constructed for a scheme X of relative dimension 1 over Spec(OK) such that it extends to a Riemann surface X∞=X(C) for every valuation at infinity. In addition, he equips these Riemann surfaces with Hermitian metrics on holomorphic vector bundles over X(C), the complex points of X. This extra Hermitian structure is applied as a substitute for the failure of the scheme Spec(Z) to be a complete variety.

Note that other techniques exist for constructing a complete space extending Spec(Z), which is the basis of F1 geometry.

Original definition of divisors

Let K be a field, OK its ring of integers, and X a genus g curve over K with a non-singular model X→Spec(OK), called an arithmetic surface. Also, let ∞:K→C be an inclusion of fields (which is supposed to represent a place at infinity). Also, let X∞ be the associated Riemann surface from the base change to C. Using this data, one can define a c-divisor as a formal linear combination D=∑ikiCi+∑∞λ∞X∞ where Ci is an irreducible closed subset of X of codimension 1, ki∈Z, and λ∞∈R, and the sum ∑∞λ∞X∞ represents the sum over every real embedding of K→R and over one embedding for each pair of complex embeddings K→C. The set of c-divisors forms a group Divc(X).

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