Category Archives: algebraic-geometry

## Beware of the Two Galois Actions

Let $F$ be a field and $E/F$ be a nontrivial Galois extensions with Galois group $\Gamma$. If $V$ is an $F$-scheme then the points $V(E)$ carry a natural action of $\Gamma$ via the action on $\mathrm{Spec}(E)$. Sometimes, however, $V$ might have two Galois actions. How does this arise? Perhaps the most natural setting is when […]

## arXiv: Kindler and Rülling's Intro Notes on l-adic Sheaves

One policy of Aleph Zero Categorical is that any lecture notes posted on the arXiv that I manage to see will be announced and advertised here. Today I saw that Lars Kindler and Kay Rülling have posted their notes entited: Introductory course on $\ell$-adic sheaves and their ramification theory on curves I quote from the […]

## Calculation of an Orbital Integral

In the Arthur-Selberg trace formula and other formulas, one encounters so-called 'orbital integrals'. These integrals might appear forbidding and abstract at first, but actually they are quite concrete objects. In this post we'll look at an example that should make orbital integrals seem more friendly and approachable. Let $k = \mathbb{F}_q$ be a finite field […]

## From Rational Canonical Form to The Kostant Section

Suppose we have a $2\times 2$ matrix $$M = \begin{pmatrix} x_{11} & x_{12}\\ x_{21} & x_{22} \end{pmatrix}$$ with entries in a field $F$. The characteristic polynomial of this matrix is $p(t) := {\rm det}(tI_2 – M) = t^2 – (x_{11} + x_{22})t + x_{11}x_{22} – x_{21}x_{12}$. One might ask: how can we produce […]

## Guess The Algebraic Group

Suppose one day you run into the following algebraic group, defined on $\mathbb{Z}$-algebras $R$ by $$G(R) = \left\{ \begin{pmatrix} a_{11} & a_{12} & a_{13} & a_{14} \\ a_{12} & a_{11} & -a_{14} & -a_{13} \\ a_{13} & -a_{14} & a_{11} & -a_{12} \\ a_{14} & -a_{13} & -a_{12} & a_{11} \end{pmatrix} \in\mathrm{GL}_4(R) \right\}$$ Can you […]

## G-Ideals, Maximal Ideals, and The Nullstellensatz

Let $R$ be an integral domain and $K$ is fraction field. If $K$ is finitely generated over $R$ then we say that $R$ is a $G$-domain, named after Oscar Goldman. This innocuous-looking definition is actually an extremely useful device in commutative algebra that pops up all over the place. […]