Strong Approximation for the Markoff surface modulo primes

Let X\mathcal{X} be the affine surface in A3\mathbb{A}^3 defined by

X12+X22+X32=3X1X2X3,X_1^2+X_2^2+X_3^2=3X_1X_2X_3,

and let Γ\Gamma be the group of affine integral morphisms generated by coordinate permutations and the Vieta involutions, including

R1(x1,x2,x3)=(3x2x3x1,x2,x3),R_1(x_1,x_2,x_3)=(3x_2x_3-x_1,x_2,x_3),

with R2R_2 and R3R_3 defined similarly. Strong Approximation. For any prime pp,

Γ(1,1,1)=X(Z/pZ){(0,0,0)}.\Gamma\cdot(1,1,1)=\mathcal{X}(\mathbb{Z}/p\mathbb{Z})-\{(0,0,0)\}.

This asserts that every nonzero solution of the Markoff equation modulo a prime lies in the orbit of (1,1,1)(1,1,1). Bourgain, Gamburd, and Sarnak proved the assertion for primes pp such that p21p^2-1 does not have too many divisors; the general statement remains open.

Sources & referencesView supporting material

Primary source

Elisa Bellah, Siran Chen, Elena Fuchs and Lynnelle Ye, “Bounding Lifts of Markoff Triples mod p”, arXiv:2311.11468 (2023).

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