Counting integral points in thin sets of type II: singularities, sieves, and stratification

TL;DR

This paper establishes new upper bounds for counting integral solutions to certain polynomial equations, extending previous results by removing nonsingularity assumptions and applying advanced stratification techniques.

Contribution

It introduces novel bounds for integral points in thin sets of type II, applicable even when the polynomial has singularities, and develops a sieve method based on stratification.

Findings

Proves bounds of order B^{n-1+1/(n+1)+ε} under nondegeneracy conditions.

Shows generic polynomials satisfy the nondegeneracy condition.

For specific polynomial classes, establishes bounds of order B^{n-1} (log B)^{e(n)}.

Abstract

Consider an absolutely irreducible polynomial $F(Y,X_1,\ldots,X_n) \in \mathbb{Z}[Y,X_1,\ldots,X_n]$ that is monic in $Y$ and is a polynomial in $Y^m$ for an integer $m \geq 1$. Let $N(F,B)$ count the number of $\mathbf{x} \in [-B,B]^n \cap \mathbb{Z}^n$ such that $F(y,\mathbf{x})=0$ is solvable for $y \in\mathbb{Z}$. In nomenclature of Serre, bounding $N(F,B)$ corresponds to counting integral points in an affine thin set of type II. Previously, in this generality Serre proved $N(F,B) \ll_F B^{n-1/2}(\log B)^{\gamma}$ for some $\gamma<1$. When $m \geq 2$, this new work proves $N(F,B) \ll_{n,F,\epsilon} B^{n-1+1/(n+1) + \epsilon}$ under a nondegeneracy condition that encapsulates that $F(Y,\mathbf{X})$ is truly a polynomial in $n+1$ variables, even after performing any $\text{GL}_n(\mathbb{Q})$ change of variables on $X_1,\ldots,X_n$. Under GRH, this result also holds when $m=1$. We show that generic polynomials satisfy the relevant nondegeneracy condition. Moreover, for a certain class of polynomials, we prove the stronger bound $N(F,B) \ll_{F} B^{n-1}(\log B)^{e(n)}$, comparable to a conjecture of Serre. A key strength of these results is that they require no nonsingularity property of $F(Y,\mathbf{X})$. The Katz-Laumon stratification for character sums, in a new uniform formulation appearing in a companion paper of Bonolis, Kowalski and Woo, is a key ingredient in the sieve method we develop to prove upper bounds that explicitly control any dependence on the size of the coefficients of $F$.