Admissible pairs and $p$-adic Hodge structures III: Variation and unlikely intersection

Abstract

We extend the relative theory of admissible pairs and $p$-adic Hodge structures introduced in Part II to allow variation in the underlying local systems of $\mathbb{Q}_p$-vector spaces and isocrystals. This extension accommodates, in particular, the families of $p$-adic Hodge structures that arise from the cohomology of certain smooth proper families. Such a variation gives rise to a cover with a global Hodge period map, and we study this cover and its period map from a differential perspective both classically and via the theory of inscription. This study is motivated by our transcendence results in Parts I and II and analogies with complex bi-algebraic geometry, and we also extend these ideas in other directions: First, we study the locus of special points on local Shimura varieties. We establish a refined version of a prediction of Rapoport-Viehmann on the density of special points, but give a robust counter-example to the local analog of the Andr\'{e}-Oort conjecture in this setting. This shuts down a broader theory of unlikely intersection but leaves open the possibility of stronger geometric transcendence results than the bi-analytic Ax--Lindemann theorem of Part II. Using the Banach-Colmez Tangent Bundles for infinite level local Shimura varieties that arise from the theory of inscription, we define precise notions of generic and exceptional intersections and then formulate an Ax--Schanuel conjecture that we expect to refine our Ax--Lindemann theorem.