A Chevalley theorem for difference equations

Abstract

By a theorem of Chevalley the image of a morphism of varieties is a constructible set. The algebraic version of this fact is usually stated as a result on "extension of specializations" or "lifting of prime ideals". We present a difference analog of this theorem. The approach is based on the philosophy that occasionally one needs to pass to higher powers of $\sigma$, where $\sigma$ is the endomorphism defining the difference structure. In other words, we consider difference pseudo fields (which are finite direct products of fields) rather than difference fields. We also prove a result on compatibility of pseudo fields and present some applications of the main theorem, e.g. constrained extension and uniqueness of differential Picard-Vessiot rings with a difference parameter.