Odoni's conjecture for number fields

Abstract

Let $K$ be a number field, and let $d\ge 2$. A conjecture of Odoni (stated more generally for characteristic zero Hilbertian fields $K$) posits that there is a monic polynomial $f\in K[x]$ of degree $d$, and a point $x_0\in K$, such that for every $n\ge 0$, the so-called arboreal Galois group $Gal(K(f^{-n}(x_0))/K)$ is an $n$-fold wreath product of the symmetric group $S_d$. In this paper, we prove Odoni's conjecture when $d$ is even and $K$ is an arbitrary number field, and also when both $d$ and $[K:Q]$ are odd.

15 pages, 1 figure