Approximation in algebraic groups

<h2 id="history">History</h2>
Eichler (1938) proved strong approximation for some classical groups.
Strong approximation was established in the 1960s and 1970s, for semisimple simply-connected algebraic groups over <a href="/facts/Global_field/na458xWs">global fields</a>. The results for <a href="/facts/Number_field/e0K0TXSh">number fields</a> are due to <a href="/facts/Martin_Kneser/D6Np0Nkd">Kneser</a> (1966) and <a href="/facts/Vladimir_Platonov/FKTEyuoy">Platonov</a> (1969); the <a href="/facts/Global_field/na458xWs">function field</a> case, over <a href="/facts/Finite_field/UkMGJo3m">finite fields</a>, is due to <a href="/facts/Grigory_Margulis/kTkcHJII">Margulis</a> (1977) and <a href="/facts/Gopal_Prasad/txbgRma9">Prasad</a> (1977). In the number field case Platonov also proved a related result over <a href="/facts/Local_field/vqIgPIX3">local fields</a> called the <a href="/facts/Kneser%E2%80%93Tits_conjecture/P5DxwIvp">Kneser–Tits conjecture</a>.

<h2 id="formal-definitions-and-properties">Formal definitions and properties</h2>
Let G be a linear algebraic group over a global field k, and A the adele ring of k. If S is a non-empty finite set of places of k, then we write AS for the ring of S-adeles and AS for the product of the completions ks, for s in the finite set S. For any choice of S, G(k) embeds in G(AS) and G(AS).
The question asked in weak approximation is whether the embedding of G(k) in G(AS) has dense image. If the group G is connected and k-rational, then it satisfies weak approximation with respect to any set S (Platonov & Rapinchuk 1994, p.402). More generally, for any connected group G, there is a finite set T of finite places of k such that G satisfies weak approximation with respect to any set S that is disjoint with T (Platonov & Rapinchuk 1994, p.415). In particular, if k is an algebraic number field then any connected group G satisfies weak approximation with respect to the set S = S∞ of infinite places.
The question asked in strong approximation is whether the embedding of G(k) in G(AS) has dense image, or equivalently whether the set

G(k)G(AS)
is a <a href="/facts/Dense_subset/nPT9Yxao">dense subset</a> in G(A). The main theorem of strong approximation (Kneser 1966, p.188) states that a non-solvable linear algebraic group G over a global field k has strong approximation for the finite set S if and only if its <a href="/facts/Radical_of_an_algebraic_group/XbDfspYC">radical</a> N is <a href="/facts/Unipotent/xnJlzBR9">unipotent</a>, G/N is simply connected, and each almost simple component H of G/N has a non-compact component Hs for some s in S (depending on H).
The proofs of strong approximation depended on the <a href="/facts/Hasse_principle/B6el223t">Hasse principle</a> for algebraic groups, which for groups of type E8 was only proved several years later.
Weak approximation holds for a broader class of groups, including <a href="/facts/Adjoint_group/bWG4c2su">adjoint groups</a> and <a href="/facts/Inner_form/M46wg3Pj">inner forms</a> of <a href="/facts/Chevalley_group/gmboug78">Chevalley groups</a>, showing that the strong approximation property is restrictive.

<h2 id="see-also">See also</h2>
<ul><li><a href="/facts/Superstrong_approximation/WbVtJP1p">Superstrong approximation</a></li></ul>

<ul><li>Eichler, Martin (1938), <a href="http://resolver.sub.uni-goettingen.de/purl?GDZPPN002174561">"Allgemeine Kongruenzklasseneinteilungen der Ideale einfacher Algebren über algebraischen Zahlkörpern und ihre L-Reihen."</a>, Journal für die Reine und Angewandte Mathematik (in German), 179: 227–251, <a href="/facts/Doi_(identifier)/muM9Etpq">doi</a>:<a href="https://doi.org/10.1515%2Fcrll.1938.179.227">10.1515/crll.1938.179.227</a>, <a href="/facts/ISSN_(identifier)/DPAflDvU">ISSN</a> <a href="https://search.worldcat.org/issn/0075-4102">0075-4102</a></li>
<li>Kneser, Martin (1966), "Strong approximation", Algebraic Groups and Discontinuous Subgroups (Proc. Sympos. Pure Math., Boulder, Colo., 1965), Providence, R.I.: <a href="/facts/American_Mathematical_Society/fr5gotCt">American Mathematical Society</a>, pp. 187–196, <a href="/facts/MR_(identifier)/uP137L11">MR</a> <a href="https://mathscinet.ams.org/mathscinet-getitem?mr=0213361">0213361</a></li>
<li>Margulis, G. A. (1977), "Cobounded subgroups in algebraic groups over local fields", Akademija Nauk SSSR. Funkcional'nyi Analiz i ego Priloženija, 11 (2): 45–57, 95, <a href="/facts/ISSN_(identifier)/DPAflDvU">ISSN</a> <a href="https://search.worldcat.org/issn/0374-1990">0374-1990</a>, <a href="/facts/MR_(identifier)/uP137L11">MR</a> <a href="https://mathscinet.ams.org/mathscinet-getitem?mr=0442107">0442107</a></li>
<li>Platonov, V. P. (1969), "The problem of strong approximation and the Kneser–Tits hypothesis for algebraic groups", Izvestiya Akademii Nauk SSSR. Seriya Matematicheskaya, 33: 1211–1219, <a href="/facts/ISSN_(identifier)/DPAflDvU">ISSN</a> <a href="https://search.worldcat.org/issn/0373-2436">0373-2436</a>, <a href="/facts/MR_(identifier)/uP137L11">MR</a> <a href="https://mathscinet.ams.org/mathscinet-getitem?mr=0258839">0258839</a></li>
<li>Platonov, Vladimir; Rapinchuk, Andrei (1994), Algebraic groups and number theory. (Translated from the 1991 Russian original by Rachel Rowen.), Pure and Applied Mathematics, vol. 139, Boston, MA: Academic Press, Inc., <a href="/facts/ISBN_(identifier)/15AdSPa9">ISBN</a> 0-12-558180-7, <a href="/facts/MR_(identifier)/uP137L11">MR</a> <a href="https://mathscinet.ams.org/mathscinet-getitem?mr=1278263">1278263</a></li>
<li>Prasad, Gopal (1977), "Strong approximation for semi-simple groups over function fields", <a href="/facts/Annals_of_Mathematics/CUYktUqD">Annals of Mathematics</a>, Second Series, 105 (3): 553–572, <a href="/facts/Doi_(identifier)/muM9Etpq">doi</a>:<a href="https://doi.org/10.2307%2F1970924">10.2307/1970924</a>, <a href="/facts/ISSN_(identifier)/DPAflDvU">ISSN</a> <a href="https://search.worldcat.org/issn/0003-486X">0003-486X</a>, <a href="/facts/JSTOR_(identifier)/YTeVmaJ7">JSTOR</a> <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/1970924">1970924</a>, <a href="/facts/MR_(identifier)/uP137L11">MR</a> <a href="https://mathscinet.ams.org/mathscinet-getitem?mr=0444571">0444571</a></li></ul>

Approximation in algebraic groups open-in-new

Approximation in algebraic groups