Intersection de sous-groupes et de sous-variétés I

Abstract

We study the intersection of a subvariety X of an abelian variety A over Open image in new window with the union of all the algebraic subgroups of A of given dimension d. Our main result states that if we remove a suitable exceptional subset from X and if d is small enough then the intersection enjoys a Northcott-like property: the points of bounded height on it form a finite set. The condition on d involves only the dimension of X and the structure of A up to isogenies. We show how it can be weakened if we assume certain conjectures in the direction of an abelian version of Lehmer's problem. The theorem is especially meaningful when X is a curve since it is then possible to bound the height and hence to prove finiteness of the set under consideration. This generalises the result of E. Viada on powers of elliptic curves and is analogous to work of E. Bombieri, D. Masser and U. Zannier on tori, whose general strategy we follow.