C OMPOSITIO M ATHEMATICA
J ING Y U
On periods and quasi-periods of Drinfeld modules
Compositio Mathematica, tome 74, n
o3 (1990), p. 235-245
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On periods and quasi-periods of Drinfeld modules
JING YU*
School of Mathematics, The Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, NJ 08540, USA and
Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan, R.O.C.
Received 20 March 1989; accepted 28 August 1989 235-245,
(Ç) 1990 Kluwer Academic Publishers. Printed in the Netherlands.
Introduction
Let W be a smooth
projective, geometrically
irreducible curve over a finite fieldFq,
q =
pn.
We fix a closedpoint
00 on , and consider thering A
of functions onregular
away from oo. We set k to be the function field ouf 16 andk~
itscompletion
at oo. Aftertaking algebraic closure,
we obtain the fieldfoo
whoseelements will be called "numbers". We fix an
embedding
k cfoo throughout.
We are interested in transcendental numbers
(i.e.
elements infoo
trans-cendental over
k)
which arisenaturally
fromalgebro-geometric objects
defined over f. Thus our aim is todevelop
atheory
in characteristic p which isanalogous
to the classical transcendence
theory
of abelianintegrals.
Thealgebro-geometric objects
we have in mind are the Drinfeld A-modules(elliptic modules)
introducedby
V.G. Drinfeld in[5],
1973. One can associateperiods
to such Drinfeld A-modules of characteristic oo, and we have shown in[10]
that if agiven
DrinfeldA-module is defined
over k,
then all itsperiods
are transcendental. This result isparallel
to the well-known theorem ofSiegel-Schneider,
onelliptic integrals
offirst kind.
Our purpose here is twofold.
First,
we shall extend ourprevious
work to dealwith
higher-dimension
Drinfeld modules. Morespecifically,
we shallstudy
thetranscendence
properties
of the abelian t-modules. We shall prove inparticular that,
forperiod
vectors of abelian t-modules defined overk,
at least onecoordinate component is transcendental.
The second purpose is to extend transcendence
theory
toperiods
of the second kind. Justrecently, basing
on an idea of P.Deligne,
a veryinteresting theory
ofquasi-periods
for Drinfeld modules emerges from the work of G. Anderson[2].
With this we shall prove that all
quasi-periods
aretranscendental,
once the(dimension one)
Drinfeld A-module inquestion
is defined over k. Thisparallels completely
the classical work of Schneider onelliptic integrals
of the second kind.*Supported by a National Science Foundation Grant No. DMS-8601978
For
brevity,
we shall restrict ourselves hereonly
to the case of dimension onequasi-periods theory.
We wish to thank G.
Anderson,
P.Deligne,
E.-U.Gekeler,
D. Goss and D.Thakur for many
helpful
conversations.1.
Background
of Drinfeld modulesFollowing [10],
we first introduce theconcept
ofEq -functions.
We denoteby d(a)
the additive valuation of a E k which
equals
the order ofpole
of a at 00 times thedegree
of oo. As usual we extend this valuationto k~. If 03B1 ~ k ~ foo,
the maximum of the valuations of all theconjugates
of oc is said to be the size of a, notedby
7.Let K be a finite extension of k. We say that an entire function
f : k~ ~ k~
is anE.-function
with respect to K if it has thefollowing properties:
(i)
It is additive and it has the form(ii)
It has finitegrowth order,
i.e. there exists real p > 0 such thatmax(d(bh)
+qhr) qpr
for all rationals rlarge.
h
(iii)
There exists a sequence(ah )
in Asatisfying
These
Eq -functions
behave like classical functionssatisfying algebraic
differ-ential
equations,
and we haveproved
thefollowing
basic theorem in[10]:
THEOREM 1.1. Let
K/k
bea finite
extension. Letf1, f2
beE, -functions
withrespect to K which are
algebraically independent
over k. Then there areonly finitely
many
points
at whichf1,f2, simultaneously
assume values in K.All
interesting examples
ofEq -functions
are related to Drinfeld’stheory.
LetT be the Frobenius
map X H
Xq. Letk~ M
be the non-commutativepolynomial ring generated by r
overfoo
undercomposition (i.e.
thering
ofFq-linear endomorphisms
of the additivegroup GJ.
Recall that a DrinfeldA-module 0
isa
Fq-linear ring homomorphism
from the Dedekindring
A intofoo (s)
such thatfor a suitable
positive integer n
and all a ~ 0 in AThe
integer n
is said to be the rankof 0.
What makes such ahomomorphism
moresignificant
is the factthat Ga, together
with the A-actiongiven by 4J,
can beparametrized by
anunique
entireexponential
function e~, in the sense that thefollowing
identities are satisfied:One can deduce from here that once the Drinfeld
A-module 0
is defined overk (i.e.
all the coefficients~(a)j
lie in F ck~),
then e~:F. -+ k~
is aEq -function
with respect to some finite extension of
k,
cf. Theorem 3.3 in[10].
Let
Lo
be the zero set of theexponential
function eo. This isalways
afinitely generated
discrete A-submodule ofF. (considered
as LieGa).
Itsprojective
A-rank
equals
the rank of the Drinfeld A-module4J.
We callLo
theperiod lattice,
and any non-zero element in it is called aperiod
of the Drinfeld A-module4J. By applying
Theorem1.1,
we have shown in[10]
that all theperiods
aretranscendental
if 0
is defined overAs an
illustration,
we shall extract one moreapplication
of Theorem 1.1 toperiods.
Recall thatif 4Jl, 4J2
are two DrinfeldA-modules,
amorphism from 0
1 to4J2
is an elementP ~ k~{03C4} satisfying P~1(a)=~2(a)P,
for all a ~ A.A non-zero
morphism
is called anisogeny.
If there existsisogeny
from~1
to4J2,
there also exists
isogeny from 02 to 4Jl,
and wesay 01 is isogenous to ~2.
Givenisogenous
Drinfeld A-modules4Jl
and4J2, they
must have the same rank. If both of them are defined overk,
then one canalways
find anisogeny
P with coefficients in k. It follows P’ ~ k =ifro,
P’ =1= 0 andP’L~1
cL~2.
Thusgiven
anyperiod
col of4Jl,
there existsperiod
cv2 of4J2
such that the ratioCOl/C02
isalgebraic. This, however,
will neverhappen if ~1
is notisogenous
to~2.
THEOREM 1.2.
Let 01
and4J2
beDrinfeld
A-modulesdefined
over k.Suppose
there exists 03C91 E
Lo {0}
and C02 EL~2 - {0}
such thatCOl/C02 E f. Then 0 1
isisogenous
to4J 2 .
Proof.
Let K be a common field of definition for4Jl
and4J2,
finite over k. Let03C92 =
03BB03C91.
Then the functionsfi (z)
= e~1(z),f2(z)
=e~2(03BBz)
areEq -functions
withrespect to
K(03BB).
SinceTheorem 1.1
implies
that e~1(z)
ande~2(03BBz)
arealgebraically dependent
functionsover
By
a well-known theorem of E. Artin(cf. [7], Chap. VIII),
one can then findnon-trivial
algebraic
relations of the formThus,
if co ELo,,
03C91 ~ 0 and aE A,
all the valuese~2(03BBa03C9)
must be among thefinitely
many roots of the additiveequation
Hence there exists a ~ 0 in A such that aâco E
L~2.
Let co run over a finite set of generatorsof L~1.
We then getao E A,
a0 ~ 0 such that ao03BBL~1
cL~2. Similarly,
one can also get a1 ~ 0 in A such that
a103BB-1L~2
cL~1.
This shows that the twoDrinfeld
A-modules ~ and 4J2
have the same rank.Also, multiplication by a103BB
induces an
isogeny
from4Jl
to4J2.
DThe above
proof actually
leads to a moregeneral
theorem.THEOREM 1.3. Let
4Jl
and4J2 be non-isogenous Drinfeld
A-modulesdefined
overk. Let
u1, u2 ~ k~ - {0} satisfying
e~1(u1)
E f ande 02(U2)C-)F.
Thenu1/u2
istranscendental.
2. Abelian t-modules and transcendence
We shall consider abelian t-modules introduced
by
G. Anderson in[1].
Let T bea non-constant element in A. Let
K
be eitherk or foo,
viewed asFq[t]-algebra
viat H T.
By
a t-module defined overK,
we mean apair consisting
of analgebraic
group E defined over
K
and anIF q-linear ring homomorphism 0: IF q [t]
~EndFqE
such that the
following properties
are satisfied:(i)
There is anisomorphism
of E ontoGf
which identifiesO(F.)
with scalarmultiplications on Gf.
(ii) (~(t)* - TI)N Lie(E)
= 0 for someinteger
N > 0.We let
IFq
act on Eby ~(Fq),
and letHomFq(E, Ga)
be theK-vector
space ofFq-linear algebraic
grouphomomorphisms
overK.
We say that the t-module(E, ~)
is an abelian t-module if there exists a finite-dimensionalsubspace W
inHomFq(E, Ga)
such thatLet
(E1, ~1), (E2, 4J2)
be two t-modules. AF.-linear morphism f : E1 ~ E2
whichcommutes with the t-action is said to be a
morphism
of the t-modules. To each t-module E =(E,4J),
one can associatefunctorially
anexponential
mapExpressed
in terms of agiven
coordinate system(i.e.
fixedisomorphism
of E ontoGf
overK identifying ~(Fq)
withscalars),
thisexponential
map becomes an entireIFq-linear
map eE fromk£
toE£ satisfying
theequation
We let t act on Lie
E(k~)
via4J(t)*.
Theker(expE)
isalways
a discreteF,[t]-submodule
in LieE(k~).
We callker(expE)
theperiod
lattice of the t-module E =(E, ~),
and any non-zero element in it is called aperiod
vector of E.If (E, ~)
isabelian,
then itsperiod
lattice isalways
free of finite rank overFq[t] (cf.
Anderson
[1],
Lemma2.4.1).
EXAMPLES:
(I)
The trivial t-module. Let E =Ga
and let t act as scalarmultiplication by
T.This is not an abelian t-module. The
exponential
here isjust e(z)
= z.(II) Any
Drinfeld A-module can be considered as abelian t-module with E =Ga
and Drinfeld’s
exponential
as theexponential
map. Infact,
all one-dimensional abelian t-modules arise in this way.
(III) A very interesting
classof higher
dimensional abelian t-modules isgiven by
the tensor powers of the Carlitz module
EO’.
Theunderlying algebraic
group of
E§"’’
isGma.
Thehomomorphism 0
isgiven by
where the first square matrix on the
right-hand
side is the standard Jordanblock,
the second square matrix is theelementary
one with the lower leftcorner
equal
to 1. Theexponential
map for E =E~mc
is thus character- izedby
the conditionBy
a Theorem of Anderson-Thakur[3],
theperiod
latticeof E~mc
is a rank oneFq[t]-module generated by 03C9(m),
with the last coordinate component ofcv(m) equal
toitm,
where is theperiod
of the Carlitz modulegiven by
If m is a power of p, then one
simply
has03C9(m) = (o, ... , 0, ftm).
To
study general
abeliant-modules,
we consider theK-vector
spaceHomFq(E, Ga)
asfinitely generated [t]-module,
via the t-actionf ~ f 0 ~(t).
It isalso
finitely generated
as[tn]-module,
for any n > 0.LEMMA 2.1. Let
(E, ~)
be an abelian t-module overK.
Let n > 0 be aninteger.
LetEl :0 {0}
be a connectedalgebraic subgroup of E
overK. Suppose E1 is
invariant under~(Fq[tn]).
Then(E1, ~|Fq[tn])
is an abelian t"-module overK.
Proof.
SinceEl
isconnected,
we canalways
findFq-linear isomorphism
between
E1
andGda
for some d > 0. It remainsonly
to show thatHomFq(E1, Ga)
isa
quotient [tn]-module
ofHomFq(E, Ga).
This follows from the fact that anyFq-linear homomorphism
fromEl
toGa
can be extended to aFq-linear homomorphism
from E toGa (cf. [11],
Lemma5.2).
~The
exponential
maps associated to t-modules alsogive Eq-functions:
LEMMA 2.2.
Let(E, ~)
be a t-moduleof
dimension ndefined
over f. LeteE(z) = (e(1)(z), ..., e(n)(z))
be theassociated exponential map
with respect toa fixed
coordinate system. Let V E
F",
and letfi(y)
=e(i)(yV), for
i =1,...,
n and y Efoo.
Then
the functions f : foo -+- foo,
i =1,...,
n, areEq functions
relative tosome finite
extension
field
over k.Proof.
Let s be aninteger
such thatps
n. Then~(tps)*
is the scalarmultiplication
TI" onLie(E).
Hence one has a functionalequation
for theexponential
which is of the formwhere
Go
=TP’I, G 1, ... , G,
are n x n matrices with entries in a suitable finite extension fieldK/k.
Write
We can solve the vector
Taylor
coefficientsbh recursively
from the formulawhere
bqjh-j
denotes the column vector obtained frombh - j by raising
allcoordinate components to its
qi-th
power. From this recursiveformula,
it israther easy to see that the functions
fi(y),
i =1, ... , n
areEq -functions
withrespect to K. D
Now we come to the main
point.
Let E =(E, ~) be
an abelian t-module definedover k. Let V be any
period
vector of E. We contend that at least one coordinate component of V is transcendental. This isspecial
case of thefollowing
THEOREM 2.3. Let E be an abelian t-module
of dimension
ndefined
over K. LeteE(z)
be the associatedexponential
map with respect toa fixed
coordinate system.Let V E
k)
such that V ~ 0 andeE(V)
E P’. Then at least one coordinate componentof
V is transcendental.Proof.
We firstverify
that the one-parameter map y HeE(YV)
is not apoly-
nomial map. Let s be an
integer
such that~(tps)*
acts as scalarmultiplication
onLie E.
Suppose y H eE( yV)
ispolynomial.
Let Z be theimage
offoo
under this map inkn~ ~ E(foo)’
Then the connected component of the Zariski closure of Z is anone-dimensional
algebraic subgroup E 1. By
Lemma 2.1(E1, ~| Fq[tps])
is anabelian tp’-module over
foo.
Identify
LieE1(k~)
inside LieE(k~),
andregard
expE as a restrictionof expE .
Under our chosen coordinate system, Lie
El (foo)
coincides withfoo
V, because of the inversemapping
theorem. Thisimplies
that the abelian tps-moduleEl
hasa
polynomial exponential,
which isimpossible.
We may then write
eE(yV)=(f1(y),...,fn(y))
and assumef1(y)
is nota
polynomial
in y.Suppose
V Ekn.
Then the functionsfi(y),
i =1,..., n
areE.-functions
with respect to some finite extensionK/k.
Weapply
Theorem 1.1 tothe two
Eq-functions, f1(y)
andf(y)
= y.By
Artin’s theorem we then havenon-trivial additive relation of the form
Since
f1(y)
is entire but notpolynomial,
it has an infinite number of zeros.Hence all
Pj
are zero. This isclearly impossible. Therefore,
we haveV ~ kn.
DFinally,
we note that we haveproved
the stronger result in[11]
for those abeliant-modules over f which admit
sufficiently
many "real"endomorphisms (i.e.
Hilbert-Blumenthal abelian
t-modules).
In that case, if V ~ 0 andexpE(V)
EE(k),
then all coordinate components of V with respect to
suitably
normalizedcoordinate system are transcendental.
3.
Quasi-periodic
functions and transcendenceTo introduce
quasi-periodic
functions into Drinfeld’stheory,
we first recall somefacts from classical function
theory.
(I)
LetE 1 = Gm.
Theexponential
function eZgives complex analytic
iso-morphism C/203C0iZ ~ E 1 (C),
where eZ is a solution of thealgebraic
differentialequation f’ (z)
=f(z),
and 2niZ is theperiod
lattice.(II)
Let L be a rank two lattice in C. Theperiodic
Weierstrass functionL(z)
leads to
complex analytic isomorphism
fromC/L
ontoE2(C),
whereE2
is theelliptic
curve associated to L. In thisconnection,
one also hasquasi-periodic
Weierstrass function
03B6L(z).
BothL(z)
and03B6L(z)
are solutions of suitablealgebraic
differentialequations.
Write L =
03C91, 03C92>,
withIm(03C91/03C92)
> 0.Let rii
=203B6L(03C9i),
for i =1, 2.
Thenone has the
Legendre’s
relationconnecting (I)
and(II),
We
regard
the entries COi, fli aselliptic integrals
of the first and second kindrespectively,
then thenon-vanishing
of this determinantgives
the de Rhamisomorphism
theorem for theelliptic
curveE2.
In Drinfeld’s
theory,
one starts with latticesL~k~ (i.e. finitely generated
discrete
A-submodules).
One can associate togiven
lattice L a Drinfeld A-module4J = 4JL:
A -EndFq Ga.
We letEo = Ga, equipped
with the A-actiongiven by 4J.
Drinfeld’s
exponential
functioneo(z)
thengives
ananalytic
A-moduleisomorphism k~/L ~ E~(k~).
Fix any non-constant a inA,
thefunction e~(z)
is a solution of the"algebraic
differentialequation"
belowIf the lattice L has rank r >
1,
one also hasinteresting quasi-periodic
functionsassociated to L, as first noticed
by
P.Deligne
in the case A =Fq[T].
To get these
quasi-periodic functions,
we considerfoo M
asA-bimodule,
withright multiplication by ~(a)
and leftmultiplication by scalars a, a E
A.By
a biderivation from A into
k~{03C4}03C4,
we mean aFq-linear
map b: A ~k~ {03C4}03C4 satisfying
Given such a
biderivation,
andgiven
non-constant a inA,
we canalways
solve theunique
entireFq -linear
solutionF(z)
of thefollowing "algebraic
differentialequation"
This solution is
independent of a,
and is henceforth denotedby F03B4(z).
It isquasi-periodic
with respect to the lattice L, in the sense that thefollowing properties always
hold(i) F03B4(z
+03C9)
=F03B4(z)
+F03B4(03C9),
forz ~ k~
and co E L,(ii) F03B4(03C9)
is A-linear in cv E L.We shall call the values
F03B4(03C9), 03C9~L,
thequasi-periods
ofFa,
andfollowing
G. Anderson
[2],
we shalladopt
theintegral
notationWe call biderivations 03B4: A ~
/Zoo {03C4}03C4
differentials of second kind on the Drinfeld A-module4J.
The set of all such biderivations will be denotedby BD(~).
The Drinfeld
A-module 4J
itselfgives
rise to a biderivationsatisfying
The solution of the
corresponding equation
isF03B4~(z)
=e~(z) -
z.Thus,
one has03C903B4~
= 03C9 for all co E L. We call scalarmultiples
of03B4~
differentials of the first kind.One can alsô form inner biderivations
03B4(P)~
from any P Ek~ {03C4}03C4,
i.e.These are also called exact
differentials,
since03C903B4(P)~ = - P(e~(03C9))
~ 0. AUquasi-periodic
functions obtained from exact differentials areactually periodic.
The set of all
03B4(P)~, P ~ k~{03C4}03C4,
will be denotedby IBD(~).
The vector spaceBD(~)/IBD(~)
is therefore called the de Rhamcohomology
of the Drinfeld A-module4J,
and is denotedby H*DR(~).
Just as in the classical
theory,
one is able to write downgenuine quasi-periodic
functions
only
if the lattice L has rank r > 1. Infact,
as observedby
P.Deligne
and G.
Anderson,
one hasAn
illuminating
way to get this dimension isthrough
the so-called de Rhamisomorphism: H*DR(~) ~ HomA (L, k~)
via themapping
inducedby 03B4 ~ (03C9 ~ 03C903B4).
We refer to E.-U. Gekeler
[6]
for aproof
of this theorem.Since our purpose here is to derive transcendence
properties
of thequasi- periodic functions,
we will not go into thedeeper
part of Anderson’stheory,
which culminates in an
analogue
of theLegendre’s
relation for Drinfeld A-modules.We now restrict ourselves to Drinfeld
A-module 4J
defined over k. For these4J,
it is natural to consider biderivations 5 defined
over f,
i.e.satisfying 03B4(A)
ck{03C4}03C4.
The set of all such biderivations is denoted
by BD(4J/f).
The set of all03B4(P)~,
Pek{03C4}03C4,
is denotedby IBD(O, k). Putting H*DR(~/k)
to be thequotient
ofBD(~/k) by IBD(~/k),
then one hasThus,
if 03B4 EBD(~/k)
and03C903B4
= 0 for allperiods
cv, the de Rhamisomorphism implies 03B4
ElBD(4J/f).
The fundamental theorem we want to prove is
THEOREM 3.1.
Let 0
be aDrinfeld
A-moduledefined
overf,
withcorresponding exponential e~(z).
Let 03B4 EBD(~/k) - IBD(~/k),
withcorresponding quasi-periodic function F,6(z).
Let u ~foo
such that u =1= 0 andeo(u) c-
k. ThenF03B4(u)
is transcendental.I n
particular, 03C903B4
istranscendental for
allperiods
coof 4J.
Proof.
We let A act onG; according
to thefollowing recipe
Then
(G2a, 03A6)
becomes anA-module,
a fortiori a t-module for any choice ofnon-constant T in A. The
exponential
map for this module iseasily
seen to be thefollowing
mapSince
(G2a, 03A6)
is definedover f,
we mayapply
Lemma 2.2 with V =(1, 0).
Itfollows that
e~(z1)
andF03B4(z1)
areEq -functions
with respect to some finite extension fieldK/k. Suppose Fô (u) e E
ThenFa (au) E
Kfor all a ~A,
sincee~(u) ~ k
by assumption. Thus, applying
our Theorem1.1,
we know thateO (z 1)
andF03B4(z1)
are
algebraically dependent
functions.By
Artin’stheorem,
we then havealgebraic dependence
relations of the formLet L be the
period
lattice of4J,
and let col E L be aperiod.
Thedependence
relation above
implies
that the valuesF (j(acol)’
a EA,
must be among thefinitely
many roots of the additive
polynomial 03A3a’jXpj.
Thus we can find a 1 =1= 0 in A suchthat
F03B4(a1 col)
= 0. Since L isfinitely generated,
we conclude thatF03B4(z1)
vanisheson a sublattice of L of finite index. This
implies 03C903B4
= 0 for all co EL whichcontradicts the de Rham
isomorphism
theorem. DReferences
[1] G. Anderson, t-motives, Duke Math. J. 53 (1986) 457-502.
[2] G. Anderson, Drinfeld motives, Notes at IAS 1987.
[3] G. Anderson and D. Thakur, Tensor powers of the Carlitz module and zeta values, to appear.
[4] P. Deligne and D. Husemöller, Survey of Drinfeld modules, Contemporary Math. 67 (1987)
25-91.
[5] V.G. Drinfeld, Elliptic modules, Math. Sbornik 94 (1974), transl. 23 No. 4 (1974) 561-592.
[6] E.-U. Gekeler, On the de Rham isomorphism for Drinfeld modules, to appear.
[7] S. Lang, Algebra, New York: Addison Wesley, 1984.
[8] T. Schneider, Arithmetische Untersuchungen elliptischer Integrale, Math. Ann. 113 (1937) 1-13.
[9] M. Waldschmidt, Nombres transcendants et groupes algébriques, Astérisque (1979) 69-70.
[10] J. Yu, Transcendence and Drinfeld modules, Invent. Math. 83 (1986) 507-517.
[11] J. Yu, Transcendence and Drinfeld modules: several variables, to appear.