The GL₂ main conjecture for elliptic curves without complex multiplication

Abstract

Let G be a compact p-adic Lie group, with no element of order p, and having a closed normal subgroup H such that G/H is isomorphic to Z_p. We prove the existence of a canonical Ore set S* of non-zero divisors in the Iwasawa algebra ∧(G) of G, which seems to be particularly relevant for arithmetic applications. Using localization with respect to S*, we are able to define a characteristic element for every finitely generated ∧(G)-module M which has the property that the quotient of M by its p-primary submodule is finitely generated over the Iwasawa algebra of H. We discuss the evaluation of this characteristic element at Artin representations of G, and its relation to the G-Euler characteristics of the twists of M by such representations. Finally, we illustrate the arithmetic applications of these ideas by formulating a precise version of the main conjecture of Iwasawa theory for an elliptic curve E over Q, without complex multiplication, over the field F generated by the coordinates of all its p-power division points; here p is a prime at least 5 where E has good ordinary reduction, and G is the Galois group of F over Q.