Galois representations attached to abelian varieties of CM type

Abstract

Let $K$ be a number field, $A/K$ be an absolutely simple abelian variety of CM type, and $\ell$ be a prime number. We give explicit bounds on the degree over $K$ of the division fields $K(A[\ell^n])$, and when $A$ is an elliptic curve we also describe the full Galois group of $K(A_{\text{tors}})/K$. This makes explicit previous results of Serre and Ribet, and strengthens a theorem of Banaszak, Gajda and Kraso\'n. Our bounds are especially sharp in case the CM type of $A$ is nondegenerate.