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# A conjecture of Yves André. 11footnote 1The author was supported by an EPSRC grant and the European Research Training Network “Arithmetic Algebraic Geometry”. Address: Imperial College, Dept. of Mathematics, 180 Queens Gate, SW7 2BZ London, UK. E-mail: andrei.yafaev@ic.ac.uk

## 1 Introduction.

In this article we deal with the following conjecture by Yves André and Frans Oort.

###### Conjecture 1.1 (André-Oort)

Let $`(G,X)`$ be a Shimura datum. Let $`K`$ be a compact open subgroup of $`G(𝔸_\mathrm{f})`$ and let $`S`$ be a set of special points in $`\mathrm{Sh}_K(G,X)()`$. Then every irreducible component of the Zariski closure of $`S`$ in $`\mathrm{Sh}_K(G,X)_{}`$ is a subvariety of Hodge type.

The introduction to  (and references contained therein) contains a comprehensive exposition of terminology and notations relative to this conjecture. Since we use the same terminology and notations, we do not reproduce them here. The introduction to  also contains an exposition of results on this conjecture obtained before the article  came out.

In this article we prove the following theorem, which is actually the statement conjectured by Yves André in 1989 in his book  (see Problem 9). This statement (without the assumption of the GRH) is now referred to as a conjecture of Yves André.

###### Theorem 1.2

Assume the Generalised Riemann Hypothesis (GRH) for CM fields. Let $`(G,X)`$ be a Shimura datum. Let $`K`$ be a compact open subgroup of $`G(𝔸_\mathrm{f})`$. Let $`C`$ be an irreducible closed algebraic curve contained in the Shimura variety $`\mathrm{Sh}_K(G,X)`$ and such that $`C`$ contains an infinite set of special points. Then $`C`$ is of Hodge type.

In the article  we considered a curve in a Shimura variety $`\mathrm{Sh}_K(G,X)`$ containing an infinite set $`S`$ of special points satisfying the following condition. There is a faithful rational representation of $`G`$ such that the $``$-Hodge structures corresponding to the points in $`S`$ via this representation lie in one isomorphism class. We proved that such a curve is of Hodge type. This was the strongest result towards the André-Oort conjecture at that time.

In the article  we introduced some technical tools to attack the André-Oort conjecture. In particular we obtained the following characterisation of subvarieties of Hodge type of a Shimura variety associated to a Shimura datum $`(G,X)`$ with $`G`$ semisimple of adjoint type. Let $`Z`$ be a Hodge generic subvariety of $`\mathrm{Sh}_K(G,X)`$ contained in its image by some Hecke correspondence $`T_g`$ with $`g`$ an element of $`G(_p)`$ i.e. $`ZT_gZ`$. Suppose that $`p`$ is bigger than some integer depending on $`G`$, $`X`$, $`K`$ and $`Z`$ and that $`g`$ is such that for any simple factor $`G_i`$ of $`G`$, the image of $`g`$ in $`G_i(_p)`$ is not contained in a compact subgroup. Then $`Z`$ is of Hodge type provided $`Z`$ contains at least one special point.

The strategy used to prove our main theorem 1.2 is the same as the one used in  (see Section 2 of  for details). We use the characterisation mentioned above. After having reduced ourselves to the case where the group $`G`$ is semisimple of adjoint type and where the curve $`C`$ is Hodge generic, we try to get $`C`$ to be contained in its image by a suitable Hecke correspondence. We consider intersections of $`C`$ with its images $`T_gC`$ by Hecke correspondences $`T_g`$ with $`g`$ some elements of $`G(_p)`$ for various primes $`p`$. For suitably chosen $`p`$ and $`g`$ such intersection contains a Galois orbit of some special point of $`C`$. We prove that one can choose a prime $`p`$ and an element $`g`$, both satisfying the conditions mentioned above, in such a way that the Galois orbit is too large for the intersection $`T_gCC`$ to be finite. The choice of a prime $`p`$ with this property is made possible by the assumption of the GRH and the use of the effective version of the Chebotarev density theorem. We conclude that $`C`$ is of Hodge type.

The heart of this paper is a proof of a theorem about lower bounds for Galois orbits of special points of Shimura varieties. Our theorem on Galois orbits is a partial answer to Edixhoven’s question Open Problem 14 in . Using the GRH we refine lower bounds for Galois orbits given in  enough to be able to prove the conjecture of Yves André.

In section 2.2 we obtain precise information about Mumford-Tate groups of special points and their representations coming from special points on Shimura varieties. This information allows us to bring the following improvement to the main result of .

###### Theorem 1.3

Let $`(G,X)`$ be a Shimura datum. Let $`K`$ be a compact open subgroup of $`G(𝔸_\mathrm{f})`$. Let $`C`$ be an irreducible closed algebraic curve contained in the Shimura variety $`\mathrm{Sh}_K(G,X)`$ and such that $`C`$ contains an infinite set $`S`$ of special points satisfying the following condition.

For any point $`s`$ of $`S`$ we choose an element $`(\stackrel{~}{s},g)`$ of $`X\times G(𝔸_\mathrm{f})`$ lying over $`s`$. We suppose that the Mumford-Tate groups $`\mathrm{MT}(\stackrel{~}{s})`$ lie in one isomorphism class of $``$-tori as $`s`$ ranges through the set $`S`$. Then $`C`$ is of Hodge type.

## 2 Lower bounds for Galois orbits.

In this section we prove a theorem giving lower bounds for Galois orbits of special points of Shimura varieties.

###### Theorem 2.1

Assume the GRH for CM fields. Let $`N`$ be a positive integer. Let $`(G,X)`$ be a Shimura datum with $`G`$ semi-simple of adjoint type, and let $`K`$ be a neat compact open subgroup of $`G(𝔸_\mathrm{f})`$. Via a faithful representation of $`G`$, we view $`G`$ as a closed algebraic subgroup of $`\mathrm{GL}_{n,}`$, such that $`K`$ is contained in $`\mathrm{GL}_n(\widehat{})`$. Let $`V_{}`$ be the induced variation of $``$-Hodge structure on $`\mathrm{Sh}_K(G,X)`$. For $`s`$ in $`\mathrm{Sh}_K(G,X)`$, we let $`V_s`$ be the corresponding Hodge structure and $`\mathrm{MT}(V_s)`$ its Mumford-Tate group (viewed as a closed algebraic subgroup of $`\mathrm{GL}_{n,}`$). Let $`F`$ be a number field over which $`\mathrm{Sh}_K(G,X)`$ admits a canonical model. For any special point $`s`$ in $`\mathrm{Sh}_K(G,X)`$, let $`L_s`$ be the splitting field of $`\mathrm{MT}(V_s)`$ and $`d_{L_s}`$ be the absolute value of its discriminant.

There exist real $`c_1>0`$ and $`c_2>0`$ such that for any special point $`s`$ in $`\mathrm{Sh}_K(G,X)_F(\overline{})`$ we have:

$$|\mathrm{Gal}(\overline{}/F)s|>c_1\mathrm{log}(d_{L_s})^N\underset{\{p\text{ prime}|\mathrm{MT}(V_s)_{𝔽_p}\text{ is not a torus}\}}{}c_2p$$

### 2.2 Reciprocity morphisms and Mumford-Tate groups.

In this section we recall the definition of the Mumford-Tate group and reciprocity morphism attached to special elements of $`X`$ and prove some technical results about the Mumford-Tate groups and reciprocity morphisms to be used later on.

Let $`(G,X)`$ be a Shimura datum with $`G`$ semisimple of adjoint type, let $`V`$ be a faithful rational representation of $`G`$ and let $`V_{}`$ be a lattice in $`V`$. Then $`V_{}`$ induces a variation of $``$-Hodge structure over $`X`$. Let $`h`$ be a special element of $`X`$. The morphism $`h:\mathrm{SS}G_{}`$, composed with the representation gives an $``$-Hodge structure $`h:\mathrm{SS}\mathrm{GL}(V_{})`$. Let $`z`$ and $`\overline{z}`$ be the generators of the character group of $`\mathrm{SS}`$. The morphism $`h`$ corresponds to the decomposition

$$V_{}=_{p,q}V^{p,q}$$

where $`V^{p,q}`$ is the $``$-vector subspace on which $`\mathrm{SS}`$ acts through the character $`z^p\overline{z}^q`$. The spaces $`V^{p,q}`$ satisfy the following condition $`\overline{V^{p,q}}=V^{q,p}`$. Let $`W`$ be the collection of pairs of integers $`(p,q)`$ that intervene in this representation. Since the $``$-Hodge structures corresponding to elements of $`X`$ lie in one isomorphism class, the set $`W`$ does not depend on the element $`h`$ in $`X`$. The fact that $`G`$ is of adjoint type implies that for any $`(p,q)`$ in $`W`$ we have $`p+q=0`$. Let $`M\mathrm{GL}(V)`$ be the Mumford-Tate group of $`h`$ and let $`L`$ be its splitting field. Let us recall that $`M`$ is the smallest algebraic subgroup $`H`$ of $`\mathrm{GL}(V)`$ having the property that $`h`$ factors through $`H_{}`$. The group $`M`$ is a $``$-torus because $`h`$ is special and $`M`$ is given a $``$-structure by taking its Zariski closure in the $``$-group scheme $`\mathrm{GL}(V_{})`$. We let $`X^{}(M)`$ be the character group of $`M`$ i.e the group $`\mathrm{Hom}(M_\overline{},𝔾_{\mathrm{m}\overline{}})`$. The group $`X^{}(M)`$ is a free $``$-module of rank equal to the dimension of $`M`$ with a continuous $`\mathrm{Gal}(\overline{}/)`$-action.

###### Lemma 2.3

The field $`L`$ is a Galois CM field. Futhermore, the degree of $`L`$ is bounded in terms of the dimension of $`V`$.

###### Proof.

The field $`L`$ is Galois since it is the splitting field of a torus (the group $`\mathrm{Gal}(\overline{}/L)`$ is exactly the kernel of the morphism $`\mathrm{Gal}(\overline{}/)\mathrm{GL}(X^{}(M))`$ hence is a normal subgroup of $`\mathrm{Gal}(\overline{}/)`$). The fact that $`L`$ is a CM field follows from the fact that $`\mathrm{ad}(h(i))`$ is a Cartan involution of $`G_{}`$ (this is a part of axioms imposed upon Shimura data).

Let $`E`$ be the centre of the endomorphism algebra of the Hodge structure $`V`$. The algebra $`E`$ is a finite product of number fields $`E=E_1\times \mathrm{}\times E_m`$. The torus $`M`$ is a subtorus of the torus $`_{i=1}^m\mathrm{Res}_{E_i/}𝔾_{\mathrm{m}E_i}`$. Hence $`M`$ is split over the composite of the Galois closures of the $`E_i`$ whose degree is clearly bounded in terms of the dimension of $`V`$ only. ∎

Let $`T`$ be the $``$-torus $`\mathrm{Res}_{L/}𝔾_{\mathrm{m}L}`$. Let $`G_L`$ be the Galois group of $`L`$ over $``$ and let $`r:TM\mathrm{GL}(V)`$ be the reciprocity morphism associated to $`h`$. Let us recall how $`r`$ is defined. The morphism $`h`$ gives, by extending scalars from $``$ to $``$, the morphism $`h_{}`$ from $`𝔾_\mathrm{m}\times 𝔾_\mathrm{m}`$ to $`M_{}\mathrm{GL}(V_{})`$. Let $`\mu :𝔾_\mathrm{m}M_{}`$ be the morphism $`h_{}(z,1)`$. This morphism $`\mu `$ is defined over $`L`$. Hence $`\mu `$ induces a morphism $`𝔾_{\mathrm{m}L}M_L`$, which, by taking the restriction of scalars from $`L`$ to $``$ gives the morphism

$$\mathrm{Res}_{L/}\mu :\mathrm{Res}_{L/}𝔾_{\mathrm{m}L}\mathrm{Res}_{L/}M_L.$$

This morphism $`\mathrm{Res}_{L/}\mu `$ followed the by the norm morphism $`\mathrm{Res}_{L/}M_LM`$ gives $`r`$. The morphism $`X^{}(r)`$ between character groups $`X^{}(M)`$ and $`X^{}(T)`$ is injective (because $`r`$ is a surjective morphism of $``$-tori). The Galois module $`X^{}(T)`$ is naturally isomorphic to $`[G_L]`$. We enumerate the elements of $`G_L`$ thus choosing a basis for $`X^{}(T)`$ so that it now makes sense to talk about coordinates of elements of $`X^{}(T)`$.

The morphism $`r`$, when composed with the representation, defines an action of the torus $`T`$ on the $``$-vector space $`V`$. There is a subset $`𝒳`$ of $`X^{}(T)`$ such that this representation corresponds to a direct sum decomposition

$$V_\overline{}=_{\chi 𝒳}V_\chi .$$

where each $`V_\chi `$ is a $`\overline{}`$-subspace of $`V_\overline{}`$ on which $`T_\overline{}`$ acts through the character $`\chi `$. The spaces $`V_\chi `$ satisfy the condition that $`V_\chi ^\sigma =V_{\sigma \chi }`$ (which insures that the representation is defined over $``$).

The representation $`h_{}(z,1)`$ of $`𝔾_\mathrm{m}`$ corresponds to the decomposition $`V_{}=_{(p,q)W}V^{p,q}`$ where $`𝔾_\mathrm{m}`$ acts via the character $`z^p`$ on $`V^{p,q}`$. This representation is defined over $`L`$ hence induces a representation of $`𝔾_{\mathrm{m}L}`$. We get a decomposition $`V_L=_{(p,q)W}V^{p,q}`$ where $`𝔾_{\mathrm{m}L}`$ acts through the character $`z^p`$ on $`V^{p,q}`$. The representation $`r`$ of $`T_L`$ is obtained by taking the restriction of scalars of this representation of $`𝔾_{\mathrm{m}L}`$ followed by the norm from $`L`$ to $``$.

It follows that the characters of $`X^{}(T)`$ that belong to $`𝒳`$ have coordinates (with respect to the basis we have chosen) can be only integers $`p`$ or $`q`$ where $`(p,q)`$ is some element of $`W`$. In particular they are bounded, in absolute value, independently of the element $`h`$. Furthermore, the characters in $`𝒳`$ have the property that for any $`\chi `$ in $`𝒳`$, the character $`\chi \overline{\chi }`$ is the identity because the morphism $`r`$ satisfies the so-called Seere’s condition (the group $`G`$ is of adjoint type) and $`p+q=0`$ for every pair $`(p,q)`$ in $`W`$. We refer to Section 2 of Chapter I of , in particular the Proposition 2.4 for facts about Hodge structures of CM type. We summarise what has been said in the following proposition.

###### Proposition 2.4

There is an integer $`k>0`$ such that the following holds. Let $`h`$ be a special element of $`X`$, $`M`$ its Mumford-Tate group and $`L`$ its splitting field. Choose a basis for $`X^{}(T)`$ by enumerating the elements of $`G_L`$. With respect to the basis the coordinates of the characters of $`T`$ that intervene in the decomposition $`V_\overline{}=_{\chi 𝒳}V_\chi `$ coming from the representation $`r`$ associated to $`h`$ have absolute value at most $`k`$. Furthermore, for any character $`\chi `$ in $`𝒳`$ the character $`\chi \overline{\chi }`$ is the identity.

We now apply this Proposition to prove a number of results about Mumford-Tate groups of special elements of $`X`$ and reciprocity morphisms attached to such elements. These results will be used later on to prove lower bounds for Galois orbits.

###### Proposition 2.5

There is a real $`e>0`$ such that the following holds. Let $`h`$ be a special element of $`X`$. Let $`M`$ be the Mumford-Tate group of $`h`$ and $`L`$ be its splitting field. Let $`r:TM`$ be the reciprocity morphism attached to $`h`$. Let $`p`$ be a prime. The index of $`r((_pL)^{})`$ in $`M(_p)`$ is finite bounded above by $`e`$. The index of $`r((_pO_L)^{})`$ in the maximal compact open subgroup of $`M(_p)`$ is finite and bounded above by $`e`$.

###### Proof.

Let $`P`$ be the $``$-submodule of $`X^{}(T)`$ spanned by the vectors in $`𝒳`$. Recall that we identify $`X^{}(M)`$ with its image by $`X^{}(r)`$ i.e we view it as a submodule of $`X^{}(T)`$ and we have chosen a basis for $`X^{}(T)`$. The module $`X^{}(M)`$ is $`P`$. The group $`M(_p)`$ is canonically isomorphic to the group $`\mathrm{Hom}_{G_L}(X^{}(M),(_pL)^{})`$ of $`G_L`$-invariant homomorphisms. Similarly the group $`(_pL)^{}`$ is isomorphic to $`\mathrm{Hom}_{G_L}(X^{}(T),(_pL)^{})`$ and the morphism $`r:T(_p)M(_p)`$ is

$$r:\mathrm{Hom}_{G_L}(X^{}(T),(_pL)^{})\mathrm{Hom}_{G_L}(X^{}(M),(_pL)^{})$$

which is just the restriction. The group $`X^{}(T)/P`$ is a product of a free abelian group and a torsion group. Let $`E`$ be the order of this torsion subgroup. Since, by the previous Proposition, the coordinates of the vectors generating $`P`$ are bounded (in absolute value) by a unifrm constant $`k`$, the number $`E`$ is bounded in terms of $`k`$ and $`n_L`$ only. It is straightforward to see that the order of the cokernel is bounded in terms of $`E`$ and $`n_L`$ only. The first claim follows.

The maximal compact open subgroup of $`M(_p)`$ is $`\mathrm{Hom}_{G_L}(X^{}(M),(_pO_L)^{})`$. The second claim is proved using exactly the same arguments. ∎

###### Proposition 2.6

There is an integer $`B>0`$ such that the following holds. Let $`h`$ be a special element of $`X`$ and let $`M`$ be its Mumford-Tate group and $`L`$ its splitting field. Let $`p`$ be a prime splitting $`L`$ (hence $`M`$). There is a $``$-basis of the character group $`X^{}(M)`$ such that the differences of coordinates of the characters (with respect to this basis) that intervene in the representation $`V__p`$ of $`M__p`$ have absolute value at most $`B`$.

###### Proof.

The module $`X^{}(M__p)`$ is a submodule of $`X^{}(T)`$ (along with its given basis). generated by vectors whose coordinates are bounded in absolute value by the integer $`k`$ from the Proposition 2.4. This integer is independent of the point $`h`$. It follows that there is only finite number (depending on $`k`$ and $`n_L`$ only) of possibilities for the set $`𝒳`$ and hence for the submodule $`X^{}(M)`$ of $`X^{}(T)`$. Choose some basis for $`X^{}(M)`$ for each of this finite number of cases. Take $`B`$ to be the maximum of absolute values of the differences of coordinates of characters in $`𝒳`$ with respect to these bases. ∎

###### Proposition 2.7

There is a real $`C>0`$ such that the following holds. Let $`p`$ be a prime. For any special element $`h`$ in $`X`$ with Mumford-Tate group $`M`$ such that $`M_{𝔽_p}`$ is a torus, the following holds. Let $`Y`$ be a subspace of $`V_{𝔽_p}`$. Let $`T`$ be the stabiliser of $`Y`$ in $`M_{𝔽_p}`$ (as defined in the Lemma 3.3.1 of ). The order of the group of connected components of $`T_{\overline{𝔽}_p}`$ has order at most $`C`$. The order of the cokernel of the morphism $`M(𝔽_p)(M/T)(𝔽_p)`$ is at most $`C`$.

###### Proof.

Proceeding as in the proof of the Lemma 4.4.1 of , we reduce the proof of this proposition to the proof of the fact that stabilisers of lines satisfy the conclusion of the statement above. We have a decomposition $`V_{\overline{𝔽_p}}=_{\chi 𝒳}V_\chi `$. Let $`v`$ be an element of $`V_{\overline{𝔽_p}}`$, write $`v=_\chi v_\chi `$. The stabiliser of the line $`kv`$ is the intersection of the kernels of $`\chi \chi ^{}`$ with $`\chi `$ and $`\chi ^{}`$ distinct characters such that $`v_\chi 0`$ and $`v_\chi ^{}0`$. Since the torsion of each $``$-module $`X^{}(T)/(\chi \chi ^{})`$ is bounded independently of $`s`$ and of the characters $`\chi `$ and $`\chi ^{}`$ in $`𝒳`$, the order of the group of connected components of the stabiliser of $`kv`$ is bounded independently of $`s`$, $`p`$ and the subspace. This proves the first claim.

As for the second claim, using the Lemma 4.4.2 of , we see that the order of the cokernel of the map $`M(𝔽_p)(M/T)(𝔽_p)`$ is bounded by the order of the group of connected components of $`T_{\overline{𝔽}_p}`$ which is uniformly bounded by what has just been said. The second claim follows. ∎

###### Proposition 2.8

There is a real $`D>0`$ such that the following holds. Let $`h`$ be a special element of $`X`$ and let $`M`$ be its Mumford-Tate group. Let $`K_M`$ be the maximal compact open subgroup of $`M(𝔸_\mathrm{f})`$. The intersection $`M()K_M`$ is finite of order bounded by $`D`$.

###### Proof.

The group $`M()K_M`$ is finite because $`M()`$ is compact ($`M()`$ stabilises the point $`h`$ of the Hermitian symmetric domain $`X`$ and the group $`G_{}`$ is of adjoint type) and the group $`M()K_M`$ is discrete. Let $`L`$ be the splitting field of $`M`$. Choose any basis for the character group $`X^{}(M)`$ and use this basis to embed $`M`$ into a product of $`dim(M)`$ copies of $`T_L`$. Then the group $`M()K_M`$ is, via this embedding, a finite subgroup of the product of $`d`$ copies of $`O_L^{}`$. It follows that it is contained in the product of $`dim(M)`$ copies of the group of roots of unity in $`L`$ which is finite of order bounded independently of the point $`h`$. The claim follows. ∎

### 2.9 Getting rid of $`G`$.

Choose a set of representatives $`R`$ in $`G(𝔸_\mathrm{f})`$ for the set of double classes $`G()\backslash G(𝔸_\mathrm{f})/K`$. Note that $`R`$ is finite. For $`s`$ in $`\mathrm{Sh}_K(G,X)`$ there exists a unique $`g_s`$ in $`R`$ and an element $`\stackrel{~}{s}`$ in $`X`$ unique up to $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_s:=G()g_sKg_s^1`$, such that $`s=\overline{(\stackrel{~}{s},g_s)}`$. Let $`K_s`$ be the compact open subgroup of $`G(𝔸_\mathrm{f})`$ defined by $`K_s:=g_sKg_s^1`$. We let $`\mathrm{MT}(\stackrel{~}{s})`$ be the Mumford-Tate group of $`\stackrel{~}{s}`$ (the smallest algebraic subgroup $`H`$ of $`G`$ such that $`\stackrel{~}{s}`$ factors through $`H_{}`$). The Mumford-Tate group $`\mathrm{MT}(V_s)`$ is the image of $`\mathrm{MT}(\stackrel{~}{s})`$ by the representation (this follows from the explicit construction of the variation of Hodge structures over $`\mathrm{Sh}_K(G,X)`$ given in the Section 3.2 of ). The element $`\stackrel{~}{s}`$ gives an embedding of the Shimura datum $`(\mathrm{MT}(\stackrel{~}{s}),\{\stackrel{~}{s}\})`$ into $`(G,X)`$.

In this section we reduce the problem of giving a lower bound for the Galois orbit of the point $`s`$ of $`\mathrm{Sh}_K(G,X)`$ to the one of giving a lower bound for the Galois orbit of the point $`\overline{(\stackrel{~}{s},1)}`$ of $`\mathrm{Sh}_{K_s\mathrm{MT}(\stackrel{~}{s})(𝔸_\mathrm{f})}(\mathrm{MT}(\stackrel{~}{s}))`$.

###### Proposition 2.10

The morphism of Shimura varieties

$$\mathrm{Sh}_{K_s\mathrm{MT}(\stackrel{~}{s})(𝔸_\mathrm{f})}(\mathrm{MT}(\stackrel{~}{s}))\mathrm{Sh}_K(G,X)$$

sending $`\overline{(\stackrel{~}{s},t)}`$ to $`\overline{(\stackrel{~}{s},tg_s)}`$ is injective.

###### Proof.

Let $`M:=\mathrm{MT}(\stackrel{~}{s})`$. Let $`H`$ be the centraliser of $`M`$ in $`G`$. Let $`\overline{(\stackrel{~}{s},t)}`$ and $`\overline{(\stackrel{~}{s},t^{})}`$ be two points of $`\mathrm{Sh}_{K_s\mathrm{MT}(\stackrel{~}{s})(𝔸_\mathrm{f})}(\mathrm{MT}(\stackrel{~}{s}))`$ such that $`\overline{(\stackrel{~}{s},tg_s)}=\overline{(\stackrel{~}{s},t^{}g_s)}`$ in $`\mathrm{Sh}_K(G,X)`$. There exists an element $`q`$ of $`H()`$ and an element $`k`$ of $`K`$ such that we have the following relation

$$t=qt^{}g_skg_s^1$$

Since $`H()`$ and $`M(𝔸_\mathrm{f})`$ commute, this relation implies that $`tt^{}_{}{}^{}1`$ belongs to $`M(𝔸_\mathrm{f})H()U_s`$ with $`U_s:=H(𝔸_\mathrm{f})K_s`$. Hence what we need to prove is that $`M(𝔸_\mathrm{f})H()K_s=M()(M(𝔸_\mathrm{f})U_s)`$. Consider the quotient of algebraic groups $`H\overline{H}=H/M`$, which is well defined since $`M`$ is normal in $`H`$. The image of $`\overline{U_s}`$ of $`U_s`$ in $`\overline{H}(𝔸_\mathrm{f})`$ is neat. On the other hand $`\overline{H}()`$ is compact since $`H()`$ is compact (as a stabiliser of a point in a hermitian symmetric domain and because $`G_{}`$ is of adjoint type) and the map $`H()\overline{H}()`$ is surjective on identity components. It follows that $`\overline{H}()`$ is discrete in $`\overline{H}(𝔸_\mathrm{f})`$ and hence $`\overline{H}()\overline{U_s}`$ is trivial by neatness of $`\overline{U_s}`$.

Now suppose that $`h`$ is in $`H()`$ and $`u`$ in $`U_s`$ such that $`hu`$ is in $`M(𝔸_\mathrm{f})`$. Then, in $`\overline{H}(𝔸_\mathrm{f})`$, we have $`\overline{h}\overline{u}=1`$, hence $`\overline{h}=\overline{u}=1`$ in $`\overline{H}(𝔸_\mathrm{f})`$. That means that $`h`$ is in $`M()`$ and $`u`$ is in $`M(𝔸_\mathrm{f})U_s`$. The claim follows. ∎

### 2.11 Lower bounds for Galois orbits.

We keep the notations of the preceding section. Let furthermore $`L`$ be the splitting field of $`\mathrm{MT}(\stackrel{~}{s})`$. Let $`r`$ be the reciprocity morphism attached to $`\stackrel{~}{s}`$ as explained in Section 2.2. To simplify the notation we write $`M`$ for $`\mathrm{MT}(\stackrel{~}{s})`$. The morphism $`\mathrm{Sh}_{K_s\mathrm{MT}(\stackrel{~}{s})(𝔸_\mathrm{f})}(\mathrm{MT}(\stackrel{~}{s}))\mathrm{Sh}_K(G,X)`$ is defined over $`L`$. The action of $`\mathrm{Gal}(\overline{}/L)`$ on the Hecke orbit of $`(\stackrel{~}{s},g_s)`$ is defined as follows. The group $`\mathrm{Gal}(\overline{}/L)`$ acts through its maximal abelian quotient, which is, by class field theory, isomorphic to a quotient of a product of a finite group of connected components of $`(L)^{}`$ (of order bounded in terms of the degree of $`L`$ only) and of $`(𝔸_\mathrm{f}L)^{}/(\widehat{}O_L)^{}`$. Let $`\sigma `$ be an element of $`\mathrm{Gal}(\overline{}/L)`$ and $`t`$ be an element of $`(𝔸_\mathrm{f}L)^{}`$ such that some element in the preimage of $`\sigma `$ in $`(𝔸L)^{}`$ followed by the projection to $`(𝔸_\mathrm{f}L)^{}`$ is $`t`$. Then

$$\sigma \overline{(\stackrel{~}{s},g_s)}=\overline{(\stackrel{~}{s},r(t)g_s)}$$

It follows that the size of the Galois orbit is, up to a uniformly bounded factor, the size of the set $`\overline{(\stackrel{~}{s},r((𝔸_\mathrm{f}L)^{})g_s)}`$. From the last lemma it follows that to prove the Theorem 2.1 it suffices to give a lower bound for the size of the image of the set $`(\stackrel{~}{s},r((𝔸_\mathrm{f}L)^{}))`$ in $`\mathrm{Sh}_{K_sM(𝔸_\mathrm{f})}(M)`$. Since the set $`R`$ of elements $`g_s`$ is finite, the index $`[K:K_sK]`$ is bounded independently of $`s`$ and it suffices to give a lower bound for the Galois orbit of the point $`\overline{(\stackrel{~}{s},1)}`$ of the Shimura variety $`\mathrm{Sh}_{\mathrm{GL}_n(\widehat{})M(𝔸_\mathrm{f})}(M)`$.

###### Lemma 2.12

There is an element $`q`$ of $`\mathrm{GL}_n()`$ such that the torus $`M^{}:=qMq^1`$ satisfies the condition that $`M_{𝔽_p}^{}`$ is a torus for any prime $`p`$ not dividing the discriminant of $`L`$.

###### Proof.

Let $`S`$ be the finite set of primes $`p`$ such that $`M(_p)`$ is not the maximal compact subgroup $`\mathrm{Hom}_{G_L}(X^{}(M),(_pO_L)^{})`$ of $`M(_p)`$. For every prime $`p`$ in $`S`$, choose a lattice $`L_p`$ in $`_p^n`$ invariant under the maximal compact subgroup of $`M(_p)`$. Let $`g=(g_p)`$ be an element of $`\mathrm{GL}_n(𝔸_\mathrm{f})`$ such that each $`g_p`$ is an element of $`\mathrm{GL}_n(_p)`$ such that $`L_p=g_p_p^n`$. As $`\mathrm{GL}_n(𝔸_\mathrm{f})=\mathrm{GL}_n()\mathrm{GL}_n(\widehat{})`$, we get an element $`q`$ of $`\mathrm{GL}_n()`$ such that $`g=qk`$ for some $`k`$ in $`\mathrm{GL}_n(\widehat{})`$. By the Lemma 3.3.1 of , the torus $`M^{}:=qMq^1`$ is a torus for every $`p`$ unramified in $`L`$. ∎

The morphism $`\mathrm{inn}_q`$ induces an isomorphism between $`M()\backslash M(𝔸_\mathrm{f})/M(𝔸_\mathrm{f})\mathrm{GL}_n(\widehat{})`$ and $`M^{}()\backslash M^{}(𝔸_\mathrm{f})/M^{}(𝔸_\mathrm{f})q\mathrm{GL}_n(\widehat{})q^1`$. We let $`r^{}`$ denote the morphism $`\mathrm{inn}_qr`$. To give a lower bound for the Galois orbit of the point $`\overline{(\stackrel{~}{s},1)}`$ of $`\mathrm{Sh}_{M^{}(𝔸_\mathrm{f})q\mathrm{GL}_n(\widehat{})q^1}(M^{})`$ it suffices to give a lower bound for the image of $`r^{}((𝔸_\mathrm{f}L)^{})`$ in $`M^{}()\backslash M^{}(𝔸_\mathrm{f})/M^{}(𝔸_\mathrm{f})q\mathrm{GL}_n(\widehat{})q^1`$.

###### Proposition 2.13

The size of the image of $`r^{}((𝔸_\mathrm{f}L)^{})`$ in $`\mathrm{Sh}_{M^{}(𝔸_\mathrm{f})q\mathrm{GL}_n(\widehat{})q^1}(M^{})`$ is, up to a uniform (i.e depending only on the Shimura variety, not on $`s`$) constant, the size of the image of $`r^{}((𝔸_\mathrm{f}L)^{})`$ in $`\mathrm{Sh}_{M^{}(\widehat{})}(M^{})`$ times the size of the image of $`r^{}((𝔸_\mathrm{f}L)^{})M^{}(\widehat{})`$ in $`M^{}(\widehat{})/M^{}(\widehat{})q\mathrm{GL}_n(\widehat{})q^1`$.

###### Proof.

We are interested in the size of the set

$$r^{}((𝔸_\mathrm{f}L)^{})/r^{}((𝔸_\mathrm{f}L)^{})(M^{}()(q\mathrm{GL}_n(\widehat{})q^1M^{}(𝔸_\mathrm{f}))).$$

Since $`M^{}(\widehat{})`$ is the maximal compact subgroup of $`M^{}(𝔸_\mathrm{f})`$, we have an inclusion

$$M^{}(𝔸_\mathrm{f})q\mathrm{GL}_n(\widehat{})q^1M^{}(\widehat{}).$$

Hence the size of the set we are interested in is the size of

$$r^{}((𝔸_\mathrm{f}L)^{})/r^{}((𝔸_\mathrm{f}L)^{})M^{}()M^{}(\widehat{})$$

times that of

$$r^{}((𝔸_\mathrm{f}L)^{})M^{}()M^{}(\widehat{})/r^{}((𝔸_\mathrm{f}L)^{})(M^{}()M^{}(𝔸_\mathrm{f})q\mathrm{GL}_n(\widehat{})q^1).$$

The order of $`M^{}()M^{}(\widehat{})`$ is bounded independently of the point $`s`$ by the Proposition 2.8 hence the size of

$$r^{}((𝔸_\mathrm{f}L)^{})M^{}()M^{}(\widehat{})/r^{}((𝔸_\mathrm{f}L)^{})(M^{}()q\mathrm{GL}_n(\widehat{})q^1M^{}(𝔸_\mathrm{f}))$$

is, up to a uniformly bounded constant, that of the of the image of $`r^{}((𝔸_\mathrm{f}L)^{})M^{}(\widehat{})`$ in $`M^{}(\widehat{})/M^{}(\widehat{})q\mathrm{GL}_n(\widehat{})q^1`$. ∎

###### Proposition 2.14

The size of the image of $`r^{}((𝔸_\mathrm{f}L)^{})M^{}(\widehat{})`$ in $`M^{}(\widehat{})/M^{}(\widehat{})q\mathrm{GL}_n(\widehat{})q^1`$ is at least

$$\underset{\{p\text{ prime}|\mathrm{MT}(\stackrel{~}{s})_{𝔽_p}\text{ is not a torus}\}}{}c_2p$$

where $`c_2`$ is strictly positive real constant independent of $`p`$ and $`s`$.

###### Proof.

Clearly it suffices to give a lower bound for the size of the image of $`r^{}((\widehat{}O_L)^{})`$ in $`M^{}(\widehat{})/M^{}(\widehat{})q\mathrm{GL}_n(\widehat{})q^1`$.

The group $`M^{}(\widehat{})/M^{}(\widehat{})q\mathrm{GL}_n(\widehat{})q^1`$ is a product over primes $`p`$ such that $`M^{}(_p)M^{}(_p)q\mathrm{GL}_n(_p)q^1`$ of groups $`M^{}(_p)/M^{}(_p)q\mathrm{GL}_n(_p)q^1`$. Hence we need for every such $`p`$ to give a lower bound for the image of $`r^{}((_pO_L)^{})`$ in the quotient.

Let $`p`$ be such prime. Using the fact that $`r^{}((_pO_L)^{})`$ has uniformy bounded index in $`M^{}(_p)`$, we see that up to a uniformly bounded constant, the size of the image of $`r^{}((_pO_L)^{})`$ in $`M^{}(_p)/M^{}(_p)q\mathrm{GL}_n(_p)q^1`$ is the size of $`M^{}(_p)/M^{}(_p)q\mathrm{GL}_n(_p)q^1`$.

The size of the set $`M^{}(_p)/M^{}(_p)q\mathrm{GL}_n(_p)q^1`$ is the size of the orbit $`M^{}(_p)q_p_p^n`$ where $`q_p`$ is the image of $`q`$ in $`\mathrm{GL}_n(_p)`$. The Proposition 4.3.9 of  tells us that the size of this orbit is at least $`cp`$ if $`M__p^{}`$ does not fix the lattice $`q_p_p^n`$. This last condition means exactly that $`\mathrm{MT}(V_s)_{𝔽_p}`$ is not a torus (by Lemma 3.3.1 of ). The only thing we have to do is to check that the constant $`c`$ can actually be taken independent of $`s`$. The proof of the Proposition 4.3.9 of  tells us that this constant depends only on the orders of the groups of connected components of the stabilisers of subspaces of $`𝔽_p^n`$ in $`M_{𝔽_p}`$. By the Lemma 2.7, these orders are bounded independently of $`p`$ and $`s`$ and the subspace in question. ∎

The remaining task in order to prove the theorem 2.1 is to give a lower bound for the size of the set $`r^{}((𝔸_\mathrm{f}L)^{})/r^{}((𝔸_\mathrm{f}L)^{})M^{}()M^{}(\widehat{})`$. We prove the following Theorem.

###### Theorem 2.15

Assume the GRH for CM fields. Let $`N`$ be a positive integer. There is a real constant $`c>0`$ independent of the choice of $`s`$ and $`M^{}`$ (but depending on $`N`$) such that the size of the set $`r^{}((𝔸_\mathrm{f}L)^{})/r^{}((𝔸_\mathrm{f}L)^{})M^{}()M^{}(\widehat{})`$ is at least $`c\mathrm{log}(d_L)^N`$.

###### Proof.

In what follows, we write $`M`$ for $`M^{}`$ and $`r`$ for $`r^{}`$ to simplify the notations. Let $`n_L`$ be the degree of $`L`$ over $``$. Let $`m>0`$ be an integer at most $`\frac{\mathrm{log}(d_L)^5}{15n_L\mathrm{log}\mathrm{log}(d_L)}`$ and let $`p_1,\mathrm{},p_m`$ be $`m`$ distinct primes split in $`L`$ and smaller than $`\mathrm{log}(d_L)^5`$. Their existence is provided by the effective Chebotarev theorem (under GRH), provided $`d_L`$ is bigger than some absolute constant, which we assume. We refer to the Proposition 8.2 of  for the exact statement of the effective Chebotarev theorem that we use. For each $`i=1,\mathrm{},m`$, we choose a place $`v_i`$ of $`L`$ lying over $`p_i`$. We let $`P_i`$ be the uniformiser at the place $`v_i`$. Let $`n_1,\mathrm{},n_m`$ be integers satisfying $`|n_i|<N`$. Let $`I`$ be the element of $`(𝔸_\mathrm{f}L)^{}`$ that equals $`P_i^{n_i}`$ at the place $`v_i`$ for $`i=1,\mathrm{},m`$ and $`1`$ elsewhere. Suppose that $`r(I)`$ belongs to $`M()M(\widehat{})`$. Let $`\pi `$ be a corresponding element of $`M()`$ (this element is defined up to an element of $`M()M(\widehat{})`$ which is, by the Proposition 2.8, a finite group of uniformly bounded order). Let, as before, $`T`$ be the torus $`\mathrm{Res}_{L/}𝔾_{\mathrm{m}L}`$. Recall that there is a set $`𝒳X^{}(T)`$ such that the representation $`r`$ of $`T`$ gives a decomposition $`V_L=_{\chi 𝒳}V_\chi `$ which is Galois invariant. Let $`d`$ be the cardinality of $`𝒳`$ and let $`(\pi _1,\mathrm{},\pi _d)`$ be the $`d`$ elements of $`L^{}`$ which are images of $`\pi `$ by the $`d`$ characters in $`𝒳`$. The field $`(\pi _1,\mathrm{},\pi _d)`$ is Galois because the set $`𝒳`$ is Galois invariant.

###### Lemma 2.16

Suppose that not all $`n_i`$ are zero. Then the field $`(\pi _1,\mathrm{},\pi _d)`$ is $`L`$.

###### Proof.

It suffices to prove that the group $`\mathrm{Gal}(L/(\pi _1,\mathrm{},\pi _d))`$ acts trivially on $`X^{}(M)`$ (alternatively on $`X_{}(M)`$, $`X_{}(M)`$ being the group of cocharacters).

To simplify the exposition we suppose that $`m=1`$ (the general case is done using exactly the same arguments). Let $`\sigma `$ be an element of $`\mathrm{Gal}(L/(\pi _1,\mathrm{},\pi _d))`$. So we have a prime $`p`$ splitting $`L`$, we choose a place $`v`$ of $`L`$ lying over $`p`$ and a uniformiser $`P`$ at $`v`$. We consider the idele $`I=P^n`$ with $`n>1`$ some integer. We suppose that $`r(I)`$ belongs to $`M()M(\widehat{})`$. As $`p`$ splits $`M`$, we have $`M(_p)=\mathrm{Hom}(X^{}(M),_p^{})=X_{}(M)_p^{}`$. It follows that the evaluation map $`v_p:_p^{}`$ induces an isomorphism between $`M(_p)/M(_p)`$ and the group of cocharacters $`X_{}(M)`$ of $`M`$. Let $`K`$ be the kernel of $`r`$, then we have an exact sequence of $``$-vector spaces with $`\mathrm{Gal}(\overline{}/)`$-action

$$0X_{}(K)X_{}(T)X_{}(M)0.$$

It suffices to prove that $`\sigma `$ acts trivially on $`(X_{}(T)/X_{}(K))`$. Since $`\sigma `$ fixes each $`\pi _i`$ and the set of $`\pi _i`$ is $`G_L`$-invariant, $`\sigma `$ fixes all the elements $`r(\tau I)`$ of $`M(_p)/M(_p)`$ with $`\tau `$ ranging through $`G_L`$. The Galois action on $`M(_p)/M(_p)`$ is being given by identifying it with $`X_{}(M)`$ which has a Galois action. Since the morphism $`X_{}(T)X_{}(M)`$ is surjective, for any $`\tau `$ in $`G_L`$ we have $`\sigma \tau I=\tau I`$ in $`(X_{}(T)/X_{}(K))`$. Let $`e_1,\mathrm{},e_{n_L}`$ be the basis of $`X_{}(T)`$ given by the the $`n`$th powers of uniformisers at the places lying over $`p`$. Their images in $`(X_{}(T)/X_{}(K))`$ generate this vector space. Since $`\sigma `$ fixes these elements, $`\sigma `$ acts trivially on $`(X_{}(T)/X_{}(K))`$. The claim follows. ∎

Let $`x`$ be the integer $`(p_1\mathrm{}p_m)^{Nk}`$ with $`k`$ the integer from the Proposition 2.4. Let $`\chi `$ be a character in $`𝒳`$. The element $`x\chi (I)`$ of $`(𝔸_\mathrm{f}L)^{}`$ belongs to $`\widehat{}O_L`$. On the other hand this element is of the form $`x\pi _i`$ (for some $`i`$) times some element of $`(\widehat{}O_L)^{}`$. It follows that $`x\pi _i`$ is in $`O_L`$. We replace $`\pi _i`$ with $`x\pi _i`$. The fact that $`\chi \overline{\chi }`$ is the identity shows that $`\pi _i\overline{\pi _i}`$ is $`x^2=(p_1\mathrm{}p_m)^{2Nk}`$. The field $`(\pi _1,\mathrm{},\pi _d)`$ is $`L`$. Let us choose a basis $`b_1,\mathrm{},b_{n_L}`$ of $`L`$ over $``$ consisting of monomials in $`\pi _1,\mathrm{},\pi _d`$ of degree bounded by a constant depending on $`n_L`$ only. The discriminant of the ring $`[b_1,\mathrm{},b_{n_L}]`$ is the discriminant of the matrix $`A`$ whose entries $`A_{ij}`$ are $`A_{ij}=\mathrm{Tr}_{L/}(b_ib_j)`$. The absolute values of the $`A_{ij}`$ are bounded by a uniform power of $`(p_1\mathrm{}p_m)^N`$. We see that the discrimiant of $`A`$ is the sum of $`n_L!`$ terms whose absolute values are bounded by a uniform power of $`(p_1\mathrm{}p_m)^N`$ hence there is a uniform constant $`t`$ such that

$$|\mathrm{disc}[b_1,\mathrm{},b_{n_L}]|(p_1\mathrm{}p_m)^{Nt}.$$

Since $`[b_1,\mathrm{},b_{n_L}]`$ is an order in $`O_L`$, we have

$$|\mathrm{disc}[b_1,\mathrm{},b_{n_L}]|d_L$$

Replacing $`t`$ with $`5t`$, we get the following inequality

$$\mathrm{log}(d_L)^{Nmt}>d_L$$

Hence, if $`I`$ is such that $`r(I)`$ belongs to $`M()M(\widehat{})`$, then

$$Nm>\frac{\mathrm{log}(d_L)}{t\mathrm{log}\mathrm{log}(d_L)}$$

Let us now consider elements of $`(𝔸_\mathrm{f}L)^{}`$ that equal $`P_i^{n_i}`$ at the place $`v_i`$ and $`1`$ outside of the places $`v_i`$ and where $`|n_i|<N/2`$ with $`N`$ and $`m`$ are such that $`Nm\frac{\mathrm{log}(d_L)}{t\mathrm{log}\mathrm{log}(d_L)}`$. From the above inequality it follows that these elements have distinct non-trivial images in $`M(𝔸_\mathrm{f})/M()M(\widehat{})`$ by $`r`$. It follows that the set $`r((𝔸_\mathrm{f}L)^{})/r((𝔸_\mathrm{f}L)^{})M()M(\widehat{})`$ contains at least $`(N/2)^m`$ elements if $`N`$ and $`m`$ being such that $`Nm\frac{\mathrm{log}(d_L)}{t\mathrm{log}\mathrm{log}(d_L)}`$. Taking $`m=\frac{\mathrm{log}(d_L)}{20tNn_L\mathrm{log}\mathrm{log}(d_L)}`$ (which is possible by the effective Chebotarev), we easily see that $`(N/2)^m`$ is at least $`c\mathrm{log}(d_L)^N`$ elements where $`c`$ is some real positive constant not depending on $`s`$ (but of course depending on $`N`$). ∎

## 3 Proof of main results.

In this section we prove the Theorems 1.2 and 1.3.

Let $`(G,X)`$ be a Shimura datum and $`K`$ a compact open subgroup in $`G(𝔸_\mathrm{f})`$. Let $`C`$ be an irreducible closed algebraic curve in $`\mathrm{Sh}_K(G,X)`$ containing an infinite set $`\mathrm{\Sigma }`$ of special points. For any special point $`s`$ of $`C`$ we let $`L_s`$ be the splitting field of the Mumford-Tate group of some element $`\stackrel{~}{s}`$ lying over $`s`$ and we let $`d_s`$ be the absolute value of the discriminant of $`L_s`$.

###### Proposition 3.1

Suppose that the discriminant of $`L_s`$ is bounded as $`s`$ ranges through $`\mathrm{\Sigma }`$. Then $`C`$ is of Hodge type.

###### Proof.

We can assume that $`G`$ is semisimple of adjoint type (passing to the adjoint group does not change the property of $`C`$ being of Hodge type by the Proposition 2.2 of  and does not change the property that $`d_{L_s}`$ is bounded). Let us choose some faithful representation $`V`$ of $`G`$. Since the discriminant of $`L_s`$ is bounded as $`s`$ ranges through $`\mathrm{\Sigma }`$, there are only finitely many possibilities for $`L_s`$. Hence we can assume that for all points $`s`$ in $`\mathrm{\Sigma }`$, the field $`L_s`$ is the same field $`L`$. For any $`s`$ in $`\mathrm{\Sigma }`$, we let $`\stackrel{~}{s}`$ be an element of $`X`$ such that $`s=\overline{(\stackrel{~}{s},g)}`$ for some $`g`$ in $`G(𝔸_\mathrm{f})`$. The reciprocity morphism $`r_{\stackrel{~}{s}}`$ gives a rational representation of the torus $`T:=\mathrm{Res}_{L/}𝔾_{\mathrm{m}L}`$. This representation corresponds to a direct sum decomposition $`V_L=_{\chi 𝒳}V_\chi `$ for some subset $`𝒳`$ of $`X^{}(T)`$. As before, we identify the $`G_L`$-module $`X^{}(T)`$ with $`[G_L]`$ and enumerate elements of $`G_L`$ thus getting a basis for $`X^{}(T)`$. Using the fact that coordinates of the characters in the set $`𝒳`$ are bounded in absolute value by $`k`$ which does not depend on $`s`$ (Proposition 2.4), we see that there are only finitely many possibilities for the set $`𝒳`$ as $`s`$ ranges through $`\mathrm{\Sigma }`$. Hence, possibly replacing $`\mathrm{\Sigma }`$ by an infinite subset, we can and do assume that the set $`𝒳`$ is constant as $`s`$ ranges through $`\mathrm{\Sigma }`$. We can further assume that the dimensions of the $`V_\chi `$ are constant. We now see that the $``$-Hodge stuctures $`V_{\stackrel{~}{s}}`$ are isomorphic as $`s`$ ranges through $`\mathrm{\Sigma }`$. Hence $`C`$ is of Hodge type by the main theorem of . ∎

From the proof of this Proposition the Theorem 1.3 follows. Indeed, let $`C`$ be a curve in $`\mathrm{Sh}_K(G,X)`$ that contains an infinite set $`\mathrm{\Sigma }`$ of points such that the corresponding Mumford-Tate groups are isomorphic as $``$-tori. Since the Mumford-Tate groups of points of $`\mathrm{\Sigma }`$ are isomorphic, they have the same splitting field. From the proof of the above proposition, it follows that $`C`$ contains an infinite set of special points such that the $``$-Hodge structures corresponding to these points via some faithful representation of $`G`$ lie in one isomorphism class. By the main result of , $`C`$ is of Hodge type.

In what follows we assume that $`d_{L_s}`$ is unbounded as $`s`$ ranges through $`\mathrm{\Sigma }`$. From Propositions 2.1 and 2.2 of , it follows that we can assume $`G`$ to be semisimple of adjoint type and $`C`$ to be Hodge generic. Write $`G=G_1\times \mathrm{}\times G_r`$ where $`G_i`$ are simple. We can and do assume that $`K`$ is the product of compact open subgroups $`K_p`$ of the $`G(_p)`$ and that $`K`$ is neat. Choose a faithful representation $`V`$ of $`G`$ through which we view $`G`$ as a closed subgroup of $`\mathrm{GL}_{n,}`$ such that $`K`$ is in $`\mathrm{GL}_n(\widehat{})`$. Also choose a $`K`$-invariant lattice in $`V_{𝔸_\mathrm{f}}`$. This gives a variation of $``$-Hodge structure on $`\mathrm{Sh}_K(G,X)`$ (Section 3.2 of ). Let $`X^+`$ be a connected component of $`X`$. After possibly having replaced $`C`$ by an irreducible component of its image under a suitable Hecke correspondence we can and do assume that $`C`$ is contained in the image $`S`$ of $`X^+\times \{1\}`$ in $`\mathrm{Sh}_K(G,X)`$. Since $`C`$ contains an infinite set of special points which are in $`\mathrm{Sh}_K(G,X)(\overline{})`$, $`C`$ is defined over a Galois number field $`F`$ containing the reflex field of $`(G,X)`$ (as an absolutely irreducible closed subscheme $`Z_F`$ of $`\mathrm{Sh}_K(G,X)_F`$).

###### Proposition 3.2

Assume the GRH for CM fields. There is a prime $`p`$ and a point $`s`$ in $`\mathrm{\Sigma }`$ which have the following properties

1. $`p`$ splits $`\mathrm{MT}(V_s)`$.
2. $`\mathrm{MT}(V_s)_{𝔽_p}`$ is a torus.
3. Let $`k`$ be an integer as in the Corrollary 7.4.4 of . Then $`|\mathrm{Gal}(\overline{}/F)s|>p^k`$.

###### Proof.

Let, as in the section 7 of , define the function $`i:\mathrm{\Sigma }`$ as follows. For $`s`$ in $`\mathrm{\Sigma }`$, let $`i(s)`$ be the number of prime numbers $`p`$ such that $`\mathrm{MT}(V_s)_{𝔽_p}`$ is not a torus. Then, by the Theorem 2.1, there exist real $`c_1>0`$ and $`c_2>0`$ such that for any $`s`$ in $`\mathrm{\Sigma }`$ we have

$$|\mathrm{Gal}(\overline{}/F)s|>c_1\mathrm{log}(d_{L_s})^{5k}c_2^{i(s)}i(s)!$$

where $`k`$ is the integer from the Corollary 7.4.4 of . Using this inequality and the effective Chebotarev theorem (in the form stated in the Proposition 8.2 of ) we see that the number of primes split in $`L_s`$ and smaller than $`|\mathrm{Gal}(\overline{}/F)s|^{1/k}`$ is bigger than $`i(s)`$ when $`d_{L_s}`$ is large enough. This finishes the proof of the proposition. ∎

Take a prime $`p`$ and a point $`s`$ given by the previous proposition. Let $`m`$ be an element of $`G(_p)`$ given by the Corollary 7.4.4 of  (this Corrolary can be applied because of our Proposition 2.6). Then some Galois conjugate of $`s`$ is in $`CT_mC`$ and since $`CT_mC`$ is defined over $`F`$ the whole Galois orbit of $`s`$ is contained in $`CT_mC`$. If the intersection $`CT_mC`$ was finite, its cardinality would be smaller than $`p^k`$. By the choice of $`p`$ and $`s`$, this intersection can not be finite hence $`C`$ is contained in $`T_mC`$. We conclude that $`C`$ is of Hodge type using the Theorem 7.1 of .

## Acknowledgements

This work is a continuation of author’s Phd thesis carried out under supervision of Bas Edixhoven. The author is grateful to him for many important discussions on the subject and many importants comments on previous versions of this paper. The author is grateful to Ralph Greenberg who provided him with his unpublished notes on abelian varieties with complex multiplication. The author is grateful to Alexei Skorobogatov for some useful discussions. The author is grateful to the EPSRC and Arithmetic Algebraic Geometry network for financial support.


text:
# A bolometric measurement of the antineutrino mass

## Abstract

High statistics calorimetric measurements of the $`\beta `$ spectrum of 187Re are being performed with arrays of silver perrhenate crystals operated at low temperature. After a modification of the experimental set-up, which allowed to substantially reduce the background of spurious counts and therefore to increase the sensitivity on the electron antineutrino mass, a new measurement with 10 silver perrhenate microbolometers is running since July 2002. The crystals have masses between 250 and 350 $`\mu `$g and their average FWHM energy resolution, constantly monitored by means of fluorescence X-rays, is of 28.3 eV at the $`\beta `$ end-point. The Kurie plot collected during 4485 hours$`\times `$mg effective running time has an end-point energy of $`2466.1\pm 0.8_{stat}\pm 1.5_{syst}`$ eV, while the half lifetime of the decay is found to be $`43.2\pm 0.2_{stat}\pm 0.1_{syst}`$ Gy. These values are the most precise obtained so far for 187Re. From the fit of the Kurie plot we can deduce a value for the squared electron antineutrino mass $`m_{\overline{\nu }_e}^2`$ of $`147\pm 237_{stat}\pm 90_{syst}`$ eV2. The corresponding 90% C.L. upper limit for $`m_{\overline{\nu }_e}`$ is 21.7 eV.

The interest in direct measurements of the neutrino mass $`m_\nu `$ from the $`\beta `$ decay spectrum has been recently stimulated by the evidence of a non zero value of $`\mathrm{\Delta }m_\nu ^2`$ detected in searches on solar and atmospheric neutrino oscillations Fukuda et al. (2001); Ahmad et al. (2001); Nishikawa et al. (2002).

Limits on direct measurements of $`m_\nu `$ have been so far obtained by experiments with electrostatic spectrometers investigating the $`\beta `$ decay of tritium. Recent results Bonn et al (2002); Particle Data Group (2002), have set an upper limit of 2.2 eV at 90% C.L. These experiments are based on the measurement of the spectrum of the emitted electron. One cannot therefore exclude ”a priori” that the decay could partially occur on a excited state of the daughter molecule. This and other systematic effects have given in the past years a negative value for mν2. Even if now these problems seem to be almost completely solved we think it is important to carry out a measurement in a different approach.

Calorimetric measurements where all the energy released in the decay is recorded, appear therefore complementary to those carried out with spectrometers. In addition they allow to measure the entire $`\beta `$ decay spectrum, and can therefore test any possible distortion of the Kurie plot. A particularly suitable approach appears the bolometric one Twerenbold (1996); Booth et al. (1996) where detectors, operated at low temperature, include absorbers of a material containing the $`\beta `$ active nucleus. If the absorbers are diamagnetic and dielectric crystals their heat capacity can be very low, since it is proportional to the cube of the operating temperature. As a consequence even the tiny energy delivered by a particle can give rise to a measurable pulse in a suitable thermal sensor.

The present experiment is carried out on the first forbidden unique decay:

$`{}_{}{}^{187}Re^{187}Os+e^{}+\overline{\nu }_e`$

which is particularly promising Vitale (1985) due to its low transition energy ($``$2.5 keV). In addition the large isotopic abundance of 187Re (62.8 %) allows the use of absorbers made with natural Rhenium. We note also that a precise direct measurement of the half lifetime of this decay ($``$ 43 Gy) is of great interest in geochronology for the determination of the age of minerals and meteorites from their Re-Os abundance W.Herr and E. Merz (1955); L.Reisberg and J.P.Lorand (1995); Pearson (1999); S.B.Shirey and R.J.Walker (1998); O.Alard, et al. (2002). Measurements of the spectra of 187Re have been reported by the Genova group Galeazzi et al. (2001) with single crystals of metallic Rhenium and by our group Alessandrello et al. (1999) with an array of four crystals of Silver Perrhenate (AgReO4), a dielectric compound of Rhenium.

In this paper we report on new high statistics measurements carried out in two successive runs with arrays of ten crystals of AgReO4 with masses ranging from 250 to 350 $`\mu `$g. These crystals are thermally coupled to thermometers made of doped silicon chips implemented by the ITC-irst institute in Trento and tested and calibrated at low temperature in Milan Alessandrello et al. (1999). Special care is put on the calibration of the energy scale and on the monitoring of the stability and performance of all detectors. This is achieved by means of the 5.9 keV K$`\alpha `$ line of 55Mn and the fluorescence K$`\alpha `$ lines produced by two 55Fe primary sources at 1.5, 2.6, 3.7 and 4.5 keV in Al, Cl, Ca, and Ti, respectively. During the runs all detectors are exposed to the fluorescence X-rays produced by the sources for $``$20 minutes every two hours to allow a continuous energy calibration. In a first run totaling 2354 hours$`\times `$mg effective running time we have collected $`1.4\times 10^6`$ 187Re decays above an energy threshold of 700 eV.

The Kurie plot corresponding to the sum of all detectors was fit to the spectrum calculated by W. Buhring Buhring (1965). The end-point energy for 187Re was found to be $`2465.7\pm 1.2(stat.)\pm 1.5(syst.)`$ eV. The systematic error is due to the uncertainties in the energy resolution, in the detector response function, in the shape of the background below the beta spectrum and in the theoretical spectral shape for the 187Re beta decay. We have also attempted to determine the half lifetime of 187Re, by precisely measuring the mass of all absorbers and the total counts from each of them.

There were however spurious counts which our Data Acquisition System could not eliminate. This did not allow to determine precisely the dead time of the measurement. As a consequence we could only assume that all the running time was effective, thus determining an upper limit of 45.1 Gy for the half lifetime of 187Re. No evidence was found for deviations from the calculated Kurie plot. The squared electron antineutrino mass was found to be $`335\pm 499(stat.)\pm 170(syst.)`$ eV2, where the systematic error has the same origin as for the end-point energy quoted above. A preliminary upper limit of 31.9 eV at 90 % C.L. could be set on the electron antineutrino mass. In this measurement the sensitivity on the antineutrino mass is mainly limited by the background of spurious counts, shown by the upper curve of Fig. 1. By means of a Monte Carlo simulation and of a dedicated measurement with the same set-up, but without the 55Fe primary sources, we found out that the background was mainly caused by the Internal Bremsstrahlung accompanying the 55Fe E.C. decay, with a branching ratio of $`3.2\times 10^3`$ % Firestone et al. (1998). Most of the peaks appearing in this spectrum are due to fluorescence in the copper of the detector holders and in a lead shield placed near the detectors.

As a consequence we decided to substantially change the calibrating set-up with a new system which automatically moves the sources in a massive shield of Roman lead Alessandrello et al. (1998). The consequent reduction of the background is shown by the lower curve of Fig. 1. The second run is being carried out in these improved conditions and with a new acquisition system which allows to precisely determine the live time of the measurement. A partially renewed array of 10 AgReO4 crystals with a total mass of 2.683 mg is running since July 2002. The data from two detectors, with poor resolution, are not included in our statistics: the corresponding effective total mass is therefore of 2.174 mg. The present analysis refers to five months of continuous run totaling 4485 and 1070 hours$`\times `$mg of effective measurement and calibration times, respectively. The FWHM resolution of the 8 detectors at 1.5 keV (the Al K$`\alpha `$ line) ranges from 21.2 to 28.7 eV with an average of 25.4 eV, while the FWHM resolution of the array extrapolated at the energy of the $`\beta `$ end-point (2.46 keV) is 28.3 eV. The 10 to 90 % risetime of the detectors is in the range 340 - 680 $`\mu `$s with an average value of 492 $`\mu `$s. The check of the stability of the gain, which we consider essential for a correct measurement of the Kurie plot, is shown for a typical detector in Fig. 2.

The Kurie plot obtained from the sum of all 8 detectors is shown in Fig. 3.

It corresponds to $`3.2\times 10^6`$ 187Re decays above the common energy threshold of 700 eV. As in the preceding run, we find no deviation from the above mentioned calculation of Buhring for the spectrum expected in absence of the neutrino mass. The measured value for the end-point is $`2466.1\pm 0.8(stat.)\pm 1.5(syst.)`$ eV. The systematic error is again determined by the uncertainties in the energy resolution, in the detector response function, in the shape of the background below the beta spectrum and in the theoretical spectral shape for the 187Re beta decay. Due to the substantial absence of spurious counts we could precisely determine the effective decay rate from the distribution of the time intervals between two successive $`\beta `$ decays. The half lifetime is thus found to be $`[43.2\pm 0.2(stat.)\pm 0.1(syst.)]\times 10^9`$ years, where the statistical error is mainly due to the uncertainties in the measurement of the mass of the absorbers and the systematic error is due to the uncertainties in the pile-up discrimination. The values for the end-point energy and for the half lifetime are the most precise existing in the literature. The latter, as noted before, has considerable impact in geocronology.

The squared electron antineutrino mass $`m_{\overline{\nu }_e}^2`$ is $`147\pm 237(stat.)\pm 90(syst.)`$ eV2, where the systematic error has again the same origin as for the end-point energy quoted above. The 90 % C.L. upper limit to the electron antineutrino mass is 21.7 eV. This result is in agreement with the expected sensitivity deduced from a Monte Carlo simulation of an experiment with the same statistical significance as our present data set. The limit on the electron antineutrino mass is not improved by a combined analysis of the two runs because of the substantial improvements in the new run, both on the statistics and on the background.

This result even if not yet competitive to those obtained with spectrometers has to be considered, in our opinion, complementary to them and show the potential of future bolometric measurements of the neutrino mass. As pointed out before it measures the total released energy and not only the electron one, unless long living metastable states are formed. In addition it allows to investigate over the entire energy range all possible deviations from the standard theory of beta decay. The measurement is still presently running, but improvements are planned, based on the use of better and more massive crystals and improved thermal coupling between them and the thermistors. A new experiment is planned based on a larger array and different and faster thermal sensors.

Thanks are due to C. Callegaro, R. Cavallini, G. Ceruti, R. Gaigher, S. Parmeggiano, M. Perego, and to our student L. Soma for continuous and constructive help in various stages of this experiment. We also gratefully acknowledge contributions of A. Alessandrello and L. Zanotti in the first stage of this search.
This experiment has been supported in part by the Commission of European Communities under contract FMRX-CT98-0167.


text:
# Electron-impact broadening of the 3𝑠-3𝑝 lines in low-Z Li-like ions

## 1 Introduction

The broadening of spectral lines in dense plasmas primarily stems from a complex interaction of an emitting atom with the perturbing plasma constituents . Accordingly, the line shapes and shifts reveal (generally non-trivial) dependence on major plasma characteristics such as particle density and temperature, and hence can serve as important diagnostic tools. The complexity of the interaction, however, often impedes a reliable understanding of the line broadening, both experimentally and theoretically.

Although the line widths in hydrogen and hydrogen-like ions can normally be explained to a high level of accuracy, the recent studies on collisional broadening of isolated lines of multiply-charged ions have unveiled worrying disagreement between the experimental data and various theoretical calculations, including the advanced quantum-mechanical ones . An example is provided by the resonance $`2s2p`$ line in the B III ion for which the experimental width  was found to be about a factor of two larger than non-perturbative results of both quantal and semiclassical . As for the $`2s3s2s3p`$ singlet and triplet lines in Be-like ions from boron to neon, it was shown that although the quantal results agree well with experimental line widths for low-charge ions, the deviation between experiment and theory monotonically increases along the isoelectronic sequence , reaching a factor of two for Ne VII. Such disagreement is indeed disturbing since the collisional broadening of the isolated lines in multiply-charged ions is primarily determined by the inelastic binary collisions, which in turn can be either experimentally assessed (as was done for the B III $`2s2p`$ excitation cross section ) or reliably cross-checked by comparing with other theoretical calculations.

A reliable measurement of rather narrow line widths in multiply-charged ions poses demanding requirements both on the generation of the plasma properties required and the methods for an independent determination of electron density $`N_e`$ and temperature $`T_e`$. In such benchmark experiments the laboratory plasmas, or plasma volumes, that are used in line broadening measurements have to be as uniform and stationary as possible and, if at all possible, to be free of various instabilities and turbulences. Needless to say, these requirements are not easily met in laboratory plasmas and are difficult to verify in astrophysical plasmas. Moreover, an independent measurement of $`N_e`$ and $`T_e`$ requires the most accurate available techniques which may not be applicable in some plasma conditions. It is thus not surprising that systematic measurements of broadening of isolated lines in multiply-charged ions were primarily conducted by two groups, namely, at the Institute of Physics in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, and at the Ruhr Universität in Bochum, Germany. Both groups have recently reported measurements of the $`3s3p`$ line widths in Li-like ions from boron to oxygen (using a linear arc ) and from carbon to neon (using a gas-puff Z-pinch ), respectively, and the major plasma characteristics were independently measured for each shot. Furthermore, several other experimental results as well as a number of theoretical calculations are available for these transitions. Thus, the existing data could when taken as a whole provide a diverse set of results for comparison of measurements and theory.

In continuation of the previous quantal calculations of line broadening in multiply-charged ions , we present here a quantum-mechanical calculation of the electron-impact line widths of the $`3s3p`$ transitions in Li-like ions from B III to Ne VIII. The paper is organized as follows. Section II contains the basic discussion of the theoretical method used for the present calculation. The convergent close-coupling method is applied for determination of both inelastic and elastic contributions to the line widths. The results of calculations as well as the comparison with experimental data are presented in Sec. III. The following Section deals with the scaling properties of the line widths and finally the conclusions are drawn in the last Section.

## 2 Theory

The calculational method implemented in the present work has been described in detail previously (see, e.g., Ref.  and references therein), and hence only the principal steps in the line width calculation are outlined here. The electron-impact full width at half-maximum (FWHM) of an isolated spectral line is calculated here using the Baranger formula , which represents the line width as a product of the electron density $`N_e`$ and the sum of the thermally-averaged (i) inelastic (excitation, deexcitation, ionization, etc.) cross sections for all possible collisional transitions from the upper and lower levels of the radiative transition in question, and (ii) the difference squared of the non-Coulomb elastic amplitudes $`f_u`$ and $`f_l`$ of scattering from the upper and lower levels. This representation allows one to efficiently apply the computational methods developed for a general atomic collision theory to calculations of the impact line widths.

In this work both inelastic cross sections and elastic amplitudes are calculated with the convergent close-coupling (CCC) method , which is presently considered to be one of the most accurate techniques for electron-ion scattering problems. A detailed description of the method as well as recent applications of the CCC technique can be found in the review of Bray et al  and references therein. We only mention here that the basic idea of this method is the discretization of the continuum along with the use of the square-integrable Laguerre basis, which significantly facilitates the computational efforts.

It is well known that in multiply-charged ions the major contribution to the line width originates from excitation and deexcitation, and therefore a reliable estimate of the cross section accuracy would be important for an assessment of the line width accuracy. Since the existing experimental techniques do not allow one to measure the cross sections for transitions between excited states due to their small lifetimes, a comparison of different theoretical results seems presently to be the only tool for the error estimates. Fortunately, the Li-like ions represent a simple quasi-one-electron atomic system with practically pure LS-coupling for the lowest excited states (including the $`n=3`$ terms), so that one would expect the modern calculational techniques to produce fairly accurate results for the collisional cross sections and amplitudes. Indeed, it was confirmed in a number of publications that the CCC excitation cross sections agree well with both the experimental data and other theoretical non-perturbative results for the ground state excitations. Such comparisons were done, e.g., for the R-matrix with pseudostates and K-matrix method results . For higher-Z ions ($`Z4`$), a detailed comparison of all excitation cross sections between the states with the principal quantum number $`n4`$ has shown that the CCC data practically coincide with the perturbative Coulomb-Born-exchange calculations . Furthermore, a recent paper on electron-impact excitation in Be II and B III (also including the transitions between the excited states up to $`n4`$) again demonstrated a high level of agreement between the CCC and the K-matrix cross sections . Thus, the available data comparisons indicate that the CCC method seems to provide high accuracy for the excitation cross sections of Li-like ions and, correspondingly, for the inelastic contributions to the collisional line broadening. Also, it has to be added that, as one would expect, for all ions considered here the major contribution to the inelastic part comes from the collisional dipole-allowed $`3s3p`$, $`3p3s`$ and $`3p3d`$ channels that amount to about 90% of the inelastic line width. The contribution of ionization and recombination channels was found to be negligible compared to (de)excitation processes.

The accuracy of the theoretical elastic contribution to the line widths still remains largely unknown. The main reason is that the elastic non-Coulomb scattering amplitudes as well as the angular-integrated elastic difference term (EDT) $`\sigma _{EDT}\left(E\right)\left|f_u\left(\theta \right)f_l\left(\theta \right)\right|^2𝑑\mathrm{\Omega }`$ are practically unavailable in the literature. However, given the high accuracy of the CCC inelastic cross sections, one would expect about the same accuracy for the elastic part as well. The EDT’s for all ions from B III to Ne VIII have been calculated in the present work (see the Z-scaled results in Sect. 4). It was found that while the elastic cross sections $`\sigma _{s,p}\left(E\right)\left|f_{s,p}\left(\theta \right)\right|^2𝑑\mathrm{\Omega }`$ follow the $`1/E`$ law for practically all energies from 0.1 to 100 eV, the EDTs show a sharper fall $`\sigma _{EDT}\left(E\right)1/E^\alpha `$ with $`\alpha =1.35÷1.45`$, thereby pointing out a strong cancellation in the difference of elastic amplitudes. This steeper dependence on electron energy had already been noticed in our previous studies on the B III $`2s2p`$ line and Be-like $`2s3s2s3p`$ transitions .

## 3 Results and comparisons

The calculated elastic, inelastic and total FWHMs (in units of Å) for the electron density of 1018 cm-3 vs. electron temperature $`T_e`$ in the range of $`T_e`$ = $`220`$ eV are presented in Table I for the ions from B III to F VII and in the range of $`T_e`$ = $`250`$ eV for Ne VIII, where experimental data are available for higher $`T_e`$. The inelastic contribution is seen to dominate over the elastic part for all calculated temperatures, although for small $`T_e`$ = 2 eV the relative contribution of the elastic line width reaches as much as 50% for N V and O VI.The $`T_e`$-scaling of the calculated line widths for $`T_e`$ = $`220`$ eV is approximately given as

$$\lambda T_e^\alpha ,$$
(1)
where $`\alpha `$ takes values of 0.17 (B III), 0.29 (C IV), 0.28 (N V), 0.31 for O VI, 0.26 (F VII) and 0.23 (Ne VIII). These values show a weaker than the 1/$`T_e^{0.5}`$ dependence which is often used in the literature.

Figures 1-6 present the calculated CCC line widths and the available experimental and theoretical data scaled to the electron density of Ne = 1018 cm-3. Most of the other theoretical results are taken from Ref. . Below we often make use of the following designations: DSB – semiclassical results by Dimitrijević and Sahal-Brechot as cited in Ref. , DK – calculations made within the modified semiempirical method by Dimitrijević and Konjević as cited in Ref. , HB – semiclassical results by Hey and Breger , MNPSC – modified non-perturbative semiclassical method by Alexiou .

Note also that the measurements by the Belgrade group were carried out for low densities N$`{}_{e}{}^{}=(0.3÷1.4)\times 10^{17}`$ cm-3, while the Bochum group measurements were performed on a linear gas-puff Z-pinch at densities exceeding $`10^{18}`$ cm-3. The experimental error bars shown on the plots do not include the uncertainty of electron density measurements which can be as high as 15%. We now discuss the calculations for individual ions in more detail.

### 3.1 B III (Fig. 1)

For this ion, the $`3s3p`$ line width was measured only by the Belgrade group . The typical experimental electron densities and temperatures were about 1017 cm-3 and 5 eV, respectively. This is the only case where the present CCC results practically coincide with the experimental data. Similarly, for the Be-like ions  an agreement was found only for the lowest-charge ion of B II. The semiclassical results of Griem and DSB, as cited in Ref. , exceed the experimental data by about 70 and 40%, respectively, while the semiempirical data of DK are seen to be within the errors bars, exceeding the CCC line widths by 15-20% over the temperature interval $`T_e`$ = $`220`$ eV. The only other quantum-mechanical results, by Seaton , also confirm the experimental data near $`T_e`$ = $`5.56`$ eV and, moreover, agree with the present calculations to within 10% over a wider range of Te. Yet such good agreement for low temperatures may not be a measure of good agreement of elastic parts since the present calculations show that even for Te as low as 2 eV the elastic contribution is only about one-fifth of the total line width (see Table I).

### 3.2 C IV (Fig. 2)

The theoretical and experimental data for the C IV $`3s3p`$ line width are quite extensive. The older measurements by Bogen  and by El-Farra and Hughes  are well confirmed by the recent results of the Belgrade group . The gas-puff Z-pinch data from Ref. , although being somewhat higher than the extrapolated $`T_e`$-trend from other measurements, nevertheless overlap with the error bars from the Belgrade results. The recent measurements of Srecković et al.  on a linear low-pressure pulsed arc were performed for low temperatures $`T_e2`$ eV and showed a significant spread. As for the theoretical results, Seaton  carried out a quantum-mechanical R-matrix calculation within the framework of the Opacity Project for this line width taking into account the perturbing $`n=2`$ and $`n=3`$ states. Later Burke  improved Seaton’s calculations using the same method but adding $`n=4`$ states, which resulted in a moderate increase of less than 10% to the line widths. The present CCC results are seen to agree excellently with Burke’s calculations, particularly for higher temperatures where the inelastic contribution dominates. Even for the lowest temperatures ($`T_e4`$ eV) the difference is well within 10%. However, as can be seen from Fig. 2, the recent experimental results  exceed the CCC line widths by up to 30%.

### 3.3 N V (Fig. 3)

Experimental line widths for N V are available from both Bochum and Belgrade experiments, the former having rather large error bars for the electron temperature. Of the available theoretical results, the semiclassical method of Griem  provides very good agreement with both sets of experimental data over the range of temperatures from 6 to 24 eV. It is noted that the $`T_e`$dependence of line widths is very similar for the CCC, Griem and DK results, while the semiclassical DSB data seem to decay faster for higher $`T_e`$.

### 3.4 O VI (Fig. 4)

The available measurements for this ion were carried out over a rather large range of electron temperatures, $`T_e`$ = $`518`$ eV, although the error bars here are quite significant, and therefore it is difficult to reach conclusions regarding the temperature dependence of the data. Figure 4 shows that both sets of experimental data for O VI well agree with the semiclassical calculations of DSB. The only other quantum-mechanical data of Seaton for $`T_e`$ $``$ $`11`$ eV practically coincide with the present calculations, and the DK results are again within 20% from the CCC data. The semiclassical results by Griem, Hey and Breger, and Alexiou agree with each other and are at the lower edge of the experimental error bars.

### 3.5 F VII (Fig. 5)

The only available experimental data for this line for $`T_e=1418`$ eV and electron densities in the range $`(1.53)\times 10^{18}`$ cm-3  were reported in Ref. . Again, similar to the O VI case, the agreement with the semiclassical results of DSB is very good, while all other theoretical results are much lower than the experiment.

### 3.6 Ne VIII (Fig. 6)

This is the case where the difference between the experiment and all existing theoretical results is the largest. The broadening of the Ne VIII $`3s3p`$ line at the highest electron temperatures of 30 and 42 eV was measured by the Bochum group a decade ago  and has recently been remeasured on the same experimental setup . The latest data are seen to be closer to the theoretical values (Fig. 6), so that DSB and Griem’s results are at the lower edge of the error bars. However, the other available theoretical data are much lower, and the disagreement with the experiment exceeds 50% for the MNPSC method, DK and HB results, while the CCC line widths are factor 2.3 smaller than the data from Ref. .

## 4 Discussion and Scaling Properties

As has already been mentioned in the Introduction, in the previous work on collisional broadening in Be-like ions  we found that the CCC results and experimental data systematically diverge along the isoelectronic sequence. A reader might have already noticed that this is also the case in the present comparison. Figure 7 shows the ratio of experimental to calculated CCC line widths for the $`3s3p`$ transition as a function of atomic number for all Belgrade and Bochum data points presented in Figs. 1-6. (The two older data points for Ne VIII  are not included in this plot.) The ratios using the Belgrade experimental results are shown by the large shaded circles, while those using the Bochum data are shown by the large open circles. The dashed line is added to the plot in order to make the trend more visible. Further, we add the ratios for the $`2s3s2s3p`$ line widths in Be-like ions  (small shaded and open squares for the Bochum and Belgrade data, respectively) to emphasize that the ratios are indeed very close for both isoelectronic sequences.

The fact that a very similar behavior in terms of the ratio between the experimental and quantum-mechanical line widths is found for completely different experiments suggests a similar physical rather than instrumental or systematic experimental mechanism responsible for the deviation of experimental and theoretical widths. As has already been mentioned above, in most of the experiments an independent diagnostic is required for a reliable determination of the electron density (and temperature). In order to eliminate the broadening due to the opacity effects, the measurements were done using small amounts of test gas containing the impurity ions added to a major bulk gas. In both series of experiments, $`N_e`$ was determined from the bulk plasma (hydrogen in Bochum experiments and helium in Belgrade measurements) using 90o Thomson scattering of laser light, or a well-known dependence of the Paschen-$`\alpha `$ line of He II on $`N_e`$, respectively. The resolved impurity peak in the former measurements indicated that the impurity density was $``$ 1% of $`N_e`$. Such measurements are obviously carried out macroscopically and thus are insensitive to the density fluctuations near the multi-charged impurity ions. The local increase of electron density near an impurity ion which has a higher Coulomb charge than the background ions is obvious already from the Debye-Hückel picture of a charge screening in plasmas. The recent detailed classical many-body and molecular-dynamics calculations  of non-linear behavior of electrons near a positive impurity ion for various plasma conditions (with a strong coupling constant $`\mathrm{\Gamma }=0.030.5`$ which is much larger than that in both Belgrade and Bochum experiments) indeed show an increase of electron density in the ion vicinity. However, preliminary estimates based on the Debye-Hückel picture do not seem to support the importance of this phenomenon for line broadening in the experiments discussed here. Needless to say, a detailed investigation of how the local density fluctuations near impurity ions could influence the spectral line broadening would obviously be very helpful.

It should also be mentioned that the extra contribution to the line widths from ion-impact broadening may be quite reliably estimated using the semiclassical calculations of Ref. . For the ions from B III to O VI the ion width was found to not exceed 5% of the electron FWHM and thus it can be safely neglected here.

The scaling of the impact widths for isolated lines has long been a subject of detailed studies. The possibility of accurately predicting the unknown line widths from those already measured and/or calculated is always a strong impetus to attack this problem. The regularities of the Stark broadening along isoelectronic sequences have been discussed for some time in connection with the critical reviews of Stark broadening data (see, e.g.,  and references therein). The scaling of the line widths with the ion spectroscopic charge can be easily derived from the Baranger formula. If one assumes that only one perturbing transition contributes to the line width, then the inelastic contribution is proportional to:

$$\mathrm{\Delta }\lambda _{inel}\lambda ^2\sigma v.$$
(2)
For the $`\mathrm{\Delta }n=0`$ transition the wavelength scales as $`\lambda 1/Z`$, the threshold cross section $`\sigma 1/Z^3`$, so that for the line width one obtains $`\mathrm{\Delta }\lambda _{inel}1/Z^5`$ for the same electron temperatures. Our previous study of excitation cross sections in Li-like ions with spectroscopic charge $`Z4`$  showed that the scaling of the CCC cross sections slightly differs from the $`1/Z^3`$ dependence, and for the $`3s3p`$ and $`3p3d`$ transitions, which are dominant in the present case, the scaling is $`1/\left(Z+1.75\right)^{3.4}`$ and $`1/\left(Z+0.44\right)^{3.5}`$, respectively. This results in modified scaling properties for the CCC line widths which are found to be approximately

$$\mathrm{\Delta }\lambda _{inel}^{CCC}1/Z^{17/4}$$
(3)
for the ions considered in this work. The scaled products $`\mathrm{\Delta }\lambda _{inel}^{CCC}\times Z^{17/4}`$ for all ions from B III to Ne VIII are presented in Fig 8(a). One can see that the scaling is accurate to only 10% for all values of $`T_e`$ and significantly improves with the increase of the spectroscopic charge.

The scaling of the elastic part of the line width, however, is not as obvious as that of the inelastic one. For the problem in question the elastic scattering is dominated by the polarization potential $`1/r^4`$ resulting from interactions between the $`n=3`$ states. The solutions for the elastic cross sections in a central field of the modified Blumington polarization potential

$$V\left(r\right)=\frac{\alpha _D}{2\left(r^2+d^2\right)^2},$$
(4)
where $`\alpha _D`$ is the dipole polarizability and $`d`$ is the characteristic length of the order of the atomic orbit, are well known for the Born and semiclassical approximations. Since for the $`\mathrm{\Delta }n=0`$ transitions $`\alpha _D1/Z^3`$ and assuming $`d1/Z,`$ the Z-scaling in these cases is $`\sigma 1/Z^3`$ and $`\sigma 1/Z^{7/3}`$, respectively. However, we find that the elastic cross sections $`3s3s`$ and $`3p3p`$ as well as the elastic difference term exhibit a weaker scaling law, namely, $`\sigma 1/Z^{3/2}`$. This difference may result from the fact that the theoretical $`Z`$-dependence of the Born and semiclassical cross sections is ususally derived assuming that the major contribution comes from the high partial waves $`L1`$. On the contrary, the present CCC calculations show that most of the elastic cross sections is provided by the low partial waves with $`L34`$ only. Returning to the Z-scaling of the elastic line widths, one immediately obtains that for the same electron temperatures and $`\sigma _{EDT}1/Z^{3/2}`$ the elastic contribution to the line width scales as

$$\mathrm{\Delta }\lambda _{el}^{CCC}1/Z^{7/2}.$$
(5)
Somewhat better accuracy is actually achieved with a $`1/Z^{15/4}`$ scaling which is presented in Fig. 8(b), where the scaled line widths $`\mathrm{\Delta }\lambda _{el}^{CCC}\times Z^{15/4}`$ are plotted vs. electron temperature.

## 5 Conclusions

One of the most powerful techniques in the atomic collision theory–the convergent close-coupling method–is applied here to the electron-impact broadening of the isolated $`3s3p`$ lines in Li-like ions from B III to Ne VIII. The elastic and inelastic contributions to the line width are explicitly calculated and tabulated for electron temperatures from 2 to 20 eV. A comparison with available experimental data (mostly from the Belgrade and Bochum groups) shows that although the quantum-mechanical data presented here agree well with the measurements for lowest-charge ions, the disagreement progressively increases with an increase of the ion charge. In no case is the experimental line width smaller than the quantum-mechanical one, suggesting some additional line broadening process in the higher-Z experiments.

## 6 Acknowledgments

We are grateful to H.-J. Kunze and Y. Maron for valuable discussions and comments and to S. Alexiou for providing the MNPSC data prior to publication. This work was supported in part by the Israeli Ministry of Absorption and Israeli Academy of Sciences (Yu. V. R.) and by the US National Science Foundation (H.R.G.). I.B. acknowledges the support of the Australian Research Council.

Figure captions.

Figure 1. Collisional line widths for the 3s-3p transition in B III. Experiment: Ref. $`\mathrm{}`$. Theory: present work – solid line with solid circles, Griem (as cited in Ref. ) – dot line, DSB  – short-dash line, Seaton  – dot-dash line, DK (as cited in Ref. ) – long-dash line.

Figure 2. Collisional line widths for the 3s-3p transition in C IV. Most of notations are the same as in Fig. 1. Experiment: Ref. $``$, Ref. $`\mathrm{}`$, Ref. $``$, Ref. $``$. Theory: Alexiou $`\times `$, Burke  – dot-double-dash line.

Figure 3. Collisional line widths for the 3s-3p transition in N V. Most of notations are the same as in Fig. 1 and 2.

Figure 4. Collisional line widths for the 3s-3p transition in O VI. Most of notations are the same as in Fig. 1 and 2. Theory: Seaton $``$, Hey and Breger  – dash-double-dot line.

Figure 5. Collisional line widths for the 3s-3p transition in F VII. Most of notations are the same as in Fig. 4. Experiment: Ref. $``$.

Figure 6. Collisional line widths for the 3s-3p transition in Ne VIII. Most of notations are the same as in Fig. 4. Experiment: Ref.  – shaded circle.

Figure 7. Ratio of experimental and quantum-mechanical line widths vs. atomic number. Li-like ions: circles, Be-like ions: squares. Ratios with the Belgrade data correspond to shadowed symbols, while ratios with the Bochum data correspond to open symbols.

Figure 8. Scaled (a) inelastic and (b) elastic CCC line widths. B III – solid line, C IV – short-dash line, N V – dotted line, O VI – dot-dashed line, F VII – long-dash line, Ne VIII – dot-double-dash line.

Table I. Electron-impact linewidths (in Å) for the $`3s3p`$ transition in B III – Ne VIII ions. The electron temperature Te is in eV and the electron density is 1018 cm-3.

| Te |  |  | B III |  |  |  | C IV |  |  |  | N V |  |  |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|  |  | el | inel | total |  | el | inel | total |  | el | inel | total |  |
| 2 |  | 2.860 | 10.25 | 13.11 |  | 1.117 | 3.799 | 4.916 |  | 0.661 | 1.348 | 2.009 |  |
| 4 |  | 1.578 | 9.880 | 11.46 |  | 0.589 | 3.490 | 4.079 |  | 0.342 | 1.318 | 1.656 |  |
| 6 |  | 1.096 | 9.576 | 10.67 |  | 0.405 | 3.212 | 3.617 |  | 0.229 | 1.254 | 1.483 |  |
| 8 |  | 0.844 | 9.344 | 10.19 |  | 0.312 | 3.007 | 3.319 |  | 0.172 | 1.197 | 1.369 |  |
| 10 |  | 0.689 | 9.163 | 9.852 |  | 0.255 | 2.852 | 3.107 |  | 0.138 | 1.151 | 1.289 |  |
| 12 |  | 0.584 | 9.007 | 9.591 |  | 0.217 | 2.729 | 2.946 |  | 0.115 | 1.111 | 1.226 |  |
| 14 |  | 0.508 | 8.878 | 9.386 |  | 0.189 | 2.629 | 2.818 |  | 0.0981 | 1.076 | 1.174 |  |
| 16 |  | 0.450 | 8.747 | 9.197 |  | 0.168 | 2.544 | 2.712 |  | 0.0857 | 1.047 | 1.133 |  |
| 18 |  | 0.404 | 8.659 | 9.063 |  | 0.151 | 2.472 | 2.623 |  | 0.0761 | 1.021 | 1.097 |  |
| 20 |  | 0.367 | 8.531 | 8.898 |  | 0.137 | 2.410 | 2.547 |  | 0.0684 | 0.996 | 1.064 |  |

Table I (continued).

| Te |  |  | O VI |  |  |  | F VII |  |  |  | Ne VIII |  |  |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|  |  | el | inel | total |  | el | inel | total |  | el | inel | total |  |
| 2 |  | 0.340 | 0.668 | 1.008 |  | 0.141 | 0.334 | 0.475 |  | 0.0732 | 0.177 | 0.250 |  |
| 4 |  | 0.178 | 0.664 | 0.842 |  | 0.0712 | 0.342 | 0.413 |  | 0.0413 | 0.182 | 0.223 |  |
| 6 |  | 0.118 | 0.624 | 0.743 |  | 0.0490 | 0.327 | 0.376 |  | 0.0289 | 0.176 | 0.205 |  |
| 8 |  | 0.0881 | 0.588 | 0.676 |  | 0.0382 | 0.310 | 0.348 |  | 0.0226 | 0.169 | 0.192 |  |
| 10 |  | 0.0701 | 0.558 | 0.629 |  | 0.0318 | 0.295 | 0.327 |  | 0.0187 | 0.162 | 0.180 |  |
| 12 |  | 0.0581 | 0.533 | 0.591 |  | 0.0274 | 0.282 | 0.310 |  | 0.0161 | 0.156 | 0.172 |  |
| 14 |  | 0.0496 | 0.513 | 0.562 |  | 0.0242 | 0.271 | 0.296 |  | 0.0141 | 0.150 | 0.165 |  |
| 16 |  | 0.0433 | 0.496 | 0.539 |  | 0.0217 | 0.262 | 0.284 |  | 0.0126 | 0.146 | 0.159 |  |
| 18 |  | 0.0384 | 0.481 | 0.519 |  | 0.0197 | 0.254 | 0.273 |  | 0.0114 | 0.143 | 0.154 |  |
| 20 |  | 0.0345 | 0.468 | 0.503 |  | 0.0180 | 0.247 | 0.265 |  | 0.0104 | 0.139 | 0.150 |  |
| 30 |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | 0.0073 | 0.128 | 0.135 |  |
| 40 |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | 0.0055 | 0.120 | 0.125 |  |
| 50 |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | 0.0044 | 0.114 | 0.119 |  |