Open subgroups of $p$-adic algebraic groups

Abstract

In \cite{Pillay} and more formally in \cite{Onshuus-Pillay} it was asked whether open subgroups of $p$-adic algebraic groups are ($p$-adic) semialgebraic, equivalently, definable in the structure $({\mathbb{Q}}_p,+,\times )$. We give a positive answer in the commutative case. Together with results of \cite{Prasad} this leads to a positive answer for reductive algebraic groups.