Regulator constants and the parity conjecture

Abstract

The p-parity conjecture for twists of elliptic curves relates multiplicities of Artin representations in p ∞-Selmer groups to root numbers. In this paper we prove this conjecture for a class of such twists. For example, if E/ℚ is semistable at 2 and 3, K/ℚ is abelian and K ∞ is its maximal pro-p extension, then the p-parity conjecture holds for twists of E by all orthogonal Artin representations of $\mathop{\mathrm{Gal}}(K^{\infty}/{\mathbb{Q}})$ . We also give analogous results when K/ℚ is non-abelian, the base field is not ℚ and E is replaced by an abelian variety. The heart of the paper is a study of relations between permutation representations of finite groups, their “regulator constants”, and compatibility between local root numbers and local Tamagawa numbers of abelian varieties in such relations.