Infinite finitely generated fields are biinterpretable with ${\mathbb N}$

Abstract:

Using the work of several other mathematicians, principally the results of Poonen refining the work of Pop that algebraic independence is definable within the class of finitely generated fields and of Rumely that the ring of rational integers is uniformly interpreted in global fields, and a theorem on the definability of valuations on function fields of curves, we show that each infinite finitely generated field considered in the ring language is parametrically biinterpretable with $\mathbb {N}$. As a consequence, for any finitely generated field there is a first-order sentence in the language of rings which is true in that field but false in every other finitely generated field and, hence, Pop’s conjecture that elementarily equivalent finitely generated fields are isomorphic is true.