Definable V-topologies, Henselianity and NIP

Abstract

We initiate the study of definable V-topolgies and show that there is at most one such V-topology on a t-henselian NIP field. Equivalently, we show that if $(K,v_1,v_2)$ is a bi-valued NIP field with $v_1$ henselian (resp. t-henselian) then $v_1$ and $v_2$ are comparable (resp. dependent). As a consequence Shelah's conjecture for NIP fields implies the henselianity conjecture for NIP fields. Furthermore, the latter conjecture is proved for any field admitting a henselian valuation with a dp-minimal residue field. We conclude by showing that Shelah's conjecture is equivalent to the statement that any NIP field not contained in the algebraic closure of a finite field is t-henselian.