Sieves and the Minimal Ramification Problem

TL;DR

This paper establishes new bounds on the minimal number of ramified primes in Galois extensions of rationals, using specialization of branched coverings and advanced sieve theory, advancing the understanding of the inverse Galois problem.

Contribution

It provides novel upper bounds on the minimal ramification for certain finite groups, especially symmetric groups and their powers, via specialization techniques and sieve theory.

Findings

Bounds on m(S_m) and m(S_m^n) for symmetric groups.

Asymptotic behavior of m(G^n) for specific groups.

Application of sieve theory and specialization in arithmetic geometry.

Abstract

The minimal ramification problem may be considered as a quantitative version of the inverse Galois problem. For a nontrivial finite group $G$, let $m(G)$ be the minimal integer $m$ for which there exists a Galois extension $N/\mathbb{Q}$ that is ramified at exactly $m$ primes (including the infinite one). So, the problem is to compute or to bound $m(G)$. In this paper, we bound the ramification of extensions $N/\mathbb{Q}$ obtained as a specialization of a branched covering $\phi\colon C\to \mathbb{P}^1_{\mathbb{Q}}$. This leads to novel upper bounds on $m(G)$, for finite groups $G$ that are realizable as the Galois group of a branched covering. Some instances of our general results are: $$ 1\leq m(S_m)\leq 4 \quad \mbox{and} \quad n\leq m(S_m^n) \leq n+4, $$ for all $n,m>0$. Here $S_m$ denotes the symmetric group on $m$ letters, and $S_m^n$ is the direct product of $n$ copies of $S_m$. We also get the correct asymptotic of $m(G^n)$, as $n \to \infty$ for a certain class of groups $G$. Our methods are based on sieve theory results, in particular on the Green-Tao-Ziegler theorem on prime values of linear forms in two variables, on the theory of specialization in arithmetic geometry, and on finite group theory.