We show that the class of Krasner hyperfields is not elementary. To show this, we determine the rational rank of quotients of multiplicative groups in field extensions. We also discuss some related questions.

We study universal-existential fragments of first-order theories of fields, in particular of function fields and of equicharacteristic henselian valued fields. For example, we discuss to what extent the theory of a field k determines the universal-existential theories of the rational function field over k and of the field of Laurent series over k, and we find various many-one reductions between such fragments.

Dedicated to the memory of Alexander Prestel (1941–2024)

We study infinite groups interpretable in power bounded T-convex, V-minimal or p-adically closed fields. We show that if G is an interpretable definably semisimple group (i.e., has no definable infinite normal abelian subgroups) then, up to a finite index subgroup, it is definably isogenous to a group $G_1\times G_2$, where $G_1$ is a K-linear group and $G_2$ is a $\mathbf {k}$-linear group. The analysis is carried out by studying the interaction of G with four distinguished sorts: the valued field K, the residue field $\mathbf {k}$, the value group $\Gamma $, and the closed $0$-balls $K/\mathcal {O}$.

We prove the existence of a model companion of the two-sorted theory of c-nilpotent Lie algebras over a field satisfying a given theory of fields. We describe a language in which it admits relative quantifier elimination up to the field sort. Using a new criterion which does not rely on a stationary independence relation, we prove that if the field is NSOP$_1$, then the model companion is NSOP$_4$. We also prove that if the field is algebraically closed, then the model companion is c-NIP.

We prove that the class of separably algebraically closed valued fields equipped with a distinguished Frobenius endomorphism $x \mapsto x^q$ is decidable, uniformly in q. The result is a simultaneous generalization of the work of Chatzidakis and Hrushovski (in the case of the trivial valuation) and the work of the first author and Hrushovski (in the case where the fields are algebraically closed).

The logical setting for the proof is a model completeness result for valued fields equipped with an endomorphism $\sigma $ which is locally infinitely contracting and fails to be onto. Namely, we prove the existence of a model complete theory $\widetilde {\mathrm {VFE}}$ amalgamating the theories $\mathrm {SCFE}$ and $\widetilde {\mathrm {VFA}}$ introduced in [5] and [11], respectively. In characteristic zero, we also prove that $\widetilde {\mathrm {VFE}}$ is NTP$_2$ and classify the stationary types: they are precisely those orthogonal to the fixed field and the value group.

Using motivic integration theory and the notion of riso-triviality, we introduce two new objects in the framework of definable nonarchimedean geometry: a convenient partial preorder $\preccurlyeq$ on the set of constructible motivic functions, and an invariant $V_0$, nonarchimedean substitute for the number of connected components. We then give several applications based on $\preccurlyeq$ and $V_0$: we obtain the existence of nonarchimedean substitutes of real measure geometric invariants $V_i$, called the Vitushkin variations, and we establish the nonarchimedean counterpart of a real inequality involving $\preccurlyeq$, the metric entropy and our invariants $V_i$. We also prove the nonarchimedean Cauchy–Crofton formula for definable sets of dimension $d$, relating $V_0$ (and $V_d$) and the motivic measure in dimension $d$.

A first-order expansion of $(\mathbb {R},+,<)$ is dp-minimal if and only if it is o-minimal. We prove analogous results for algebraic closures of finite fields, p-adic fields, ordered abelian groups with only finitely many convex subgroups (in particular archimedean ordered abelian groups), and abelian groups equipped with archimedean cyclic group orders. The latter allows us to describe unary definable sets in dp-minimal expansions of $(\mathbb {Z},+,S)$, where S is a cyclic group order. Along the way we describe unary definable sets in dp-minimal expansions of ordered abelian groups. In the last section we give a canonical correspondence between dp-minimal expansions of $(\mathbb {Q},+,<)$ and o-minimal expansions ${\mathscr R}$ of $(\mathbb {R},+,<)$ such that $({\mathscr R},\mathbb {Q})$ is a “dense pair.”.

Pre-H-fields are ordered valued differential fields satisfying some basic axioms coming from transseries and Hardy fields. We study pre-H-fields that are differential-Hensel–Liouville closed, that is, differential-henselian, real closed, and closed under exponential integration, establishing an Ax–Kochen/Ershov theorem for such structures: the theory of a differential-Hensel–Liouville closed pre-H-field is determined by the theory of its ordered differential residue field; this result fails if the assumption of closure under exponential integration is dropped. In a two-sorted setting with one sort for a differential-Hensel–Liouville closed pre-H-field and one sort for its ordered differential residue field, we eliminate quantifiers from the pre-H-field sort, from which we deduce that the ordered differential residue field is purely stably embedded and if it has NIP, then so does the two-sorted structure. Similarly, the one-sorted theory of differential-Hensel–Liouville closed pre-H-fields with closed ordered differential residue field has quantifier elimination, is the model completion of the theory of pre-H-fields with gap $0$, and is complete, distal, and locally o-minimal.

We show that if a field A is not pseudo-finite, then there is no prime model of the theory of pseudo-finite fields over A. Assuming GCH, we extend this result to $\kappa $-prime models, for $\kappa $ an uncountable cardinal or $\aleph _\varepsilon $.

We explore the interplay between $\omega $-categoricity and pseudofiniteness for groups, and we conjecture that $\omega $-categorical pseudofinite groups are finite-by-abelian-by-finite. We show that the conjecture reduces to nilpotent p-groups of class 2, and give a proof that several of the known examples of $\omega $-categorical p-groups satisfy the conjecture. In particular, we show by a direct counting argument that for any odd prime p the ($\omega $-categorical) model companion of the theory of nilpotent class 2 exponent p groups, constructed by Saracino and Wood, is not pseudofinite, and that an $\omega $-categorical group constructed by Baudisch with supersimple rank 1 theory is not pseudofinite. We also survey some scattered literature on $\omega $-categorical groups over 50 years.

We provide a characterization of differentially large fields in arbitrary characteristic and a single derivation in the spirit of Blum axioms for differentially closed fields. In the case of characteristic zero, we use these axioms to characterize differential largeness in terms of being existentially closed in the differential algebraic Laurent series ring, and we prove that any large field of infinite transcendence degree can be expanded to a differentially large field even under certain prescribed constant fields. As an application, we show that the theory of proper dense pairs of models of a complete and model-complete theory of large fields, is a complete theory. As a further consequence of the expansion result we show that there is no real closed and differential field that has a prime model extension in closed ordered differential fields, unless it is itself a closed ordered differential field.

We study the question of $\mathcal {L}_{\mathrm {ring}}$-definability of non-trivial henselian valuation rings. Building on previous work of Jahnke and Koenigsmann, we provide a characterization of henselian fields that admit a non-trivial definable henselian valuation. In particular, we treat the cases where the canonical henselian valuation has positive residue characteristic, using techniques from the model theory and algebra of tame fields.

Let ${\mathbb K}$ be an algebraically bounded structure, and let T be its theory. If T is model complete, then the theory of ${\mathbb K}$ endowed with a derivation, denoted by $T^{\delta }$, has a model completion. Additionally, we prove that if the theory T is stable/NIP then the model completion of $T^{\delta }$ is also stable/NIP. Similar results hold for the theory with several derivations, either commuting or non-commuting.

We give explicit formulas witnessing IP, IP$_{\!n}$, or TP2 in fields with Artin–Schreier extensions. We use them to control p-extensions of mixed characteristic henselian valued fields, allowing us most notably to generalize to the NIP$_{\!n}$ context one way of Anscombe–Jahnke’s classification of NIP henselian valued fields. As a corollary, we obtain that NIP$_{\!n}$ henselian valued fields with NIP residue field are NIP. We also discuss tameness results for NTP2 henselian valued fields.

We generalize two of our previous results on abelian definable groups in p-adically closed fields [12, 13] to the non-abelian case. First, we show that if G is a definable group that is not definably compact, then G has a one-dimensional definable subgroup which is not definably compact. This is a p-adic analogue of the Peterzil–Steinhorn theorem for o-minimal theories [16]. Second, we show that if G is a group definable over the standard model $\mathbb {Q}_p$, then $G^0 = G^{00}$. As an application, definably amenable groups over $\mathbb {Q}_p$ are open subgroups of algebraic groups, up to finite factors. We also prove that $G^0 = G^{00}$ when G is a definable subgroup of a linear algebraic group, over any model.

As a continuation of the work of the third author in [5], we make further observations on the features of Galois cohomology in the general model theoretic context. We make explicit the connection between forms of definable groups and first cohomology sets with coefficients in a suitable automorphism group. We then use a method of twisting cohomology (inspired by Serre’s algebraic twisting) to describe arbitrary fibres in cohomology sequences—yielding a useful “finiteness” result on cohomology sets.

Applied to the special case of differential fields and Kolchin’s constrained cohomology, we complete results from [3] by proving that the first constrained cohomology set of a differential algebraic group over a bounded, differentially large, field is countable.

We construct an existentially undecidable complete discretely valued field of mixed characteristic with existentially decidable residue field and decidable algebraic part, answering a question by Anscombe–Fehm in a strong way. Along the way, we construct an existentially decidable field of positive characteristic with an existentially undecidable finite extension, modifying a construction due to Kesavan Thanagopal.

We introduce and study the model-theoretic notions of absolute connectedness and type-absolute connectedness for groups. We prove that groups of rational points of split semisimple linear groups (that is, Chevalley groups) over arbitrary infinite fields are absolutely connected and characterize connected Lie groups which are type-absolutely connected. We prove that the class of type-absolutely connected group is exactly the class of discretely topologized groups with the trivial Bohr compactification, that is, the class of minimally almost periodic groups.

We study model theory of actions of finite groups on substructures of a stable structure. We give an abstract description of existentially closed actions as above in terms of invariants and PAC structures. We show that if the corresponding PAC property is first order, then the theory of such actions has a model companion. Then, we analyze some particular theories of interest (mostly various theories of fields of positive characteristic) and show that in all the cases considered the PAC property is first order.

We prove that the class of all the rings $\mathbb {Z}/m\mathbb {Z}$ for all $m>1$ is decidable. This gives a positive solution to a problem of Ax asked in his celebrated 1968 paper on the elementary theory of finite fields [1, Problem 5, p. 270]. In our proof, we reduce the problem to the decidability of the ring of adeles $\mathbb {A}_{\mathbb {Q}}$ of $\mathbb {Q}$.