This dissertation will cover two topics. For the first, let $K$ be a number field. A $K$-derived polynomial $f(x) \in K[x]$ is a polynomial that

factors into linear factors over $K$, as do all of its derivatives. Such a polynomial

is said to be {\it proper} if

its roots are distinct. An unresolved question in the literature is

whether or not there exists a proper $\Q$-derived polynomial of degree 4. Some examples

are known of proper $K$-derived quartics for a quadratic number field $K$, although other

than $\Q(\sqrt{3})$, these fields have quite large discriminant. (The second known field

is $\Q(\sqrt{3441})$.) I will describe a search for quadratic fields $K$

over which there exist proper $K$-derived quartics. The search finds examples for

$K=\Q(\sqrt{D})$ with $D=...,-95,-41,-19,21,31,89,...$.\\

For the second topic, by Krasner's lemma there exist a finite number of degree $n$ extensions of $\Q_p$. Jones and Roberts have developed a database recording invariants of $p$-adic extensions for low degree $n$. I will contribute data to this database by computing the Galois slope content, inertia subgroup, and Galois mean slope for a variety of wildly ramified extensions of composite degree using the idea of \emph{global splitting models}.

Diophantine arithmetic is one of the oldest branches of mathematics, the search

for integer or rational solutions of algebraic equations. Pythagorean triangles are

an early instance. Diophantus of Alexandria wrote the first related treatise in the

fourth century; it was an area extensively studied by the great mathematicians of the seventeenth century, including Euler and Fermat.

The modern approach is to treat the equations as defining geometric objects, curves, surfaces, etc. The theory of elliptic curves (or curves of genus 1, which are much used in modern cryptography) was developed extensively in the twentieth century, and has had great application to Diophantine equations. This theory is used in application to the problems studied in this thesis. This thesis studies some curves of high genus, and possible solutions in both rationals and in algebraic number fields, generalizes some old results and gives answers to some open problems in the literature. The methods involve known techniques together with some ingenious tricks. For example, the equations $y^2=x^6+k$, $k=-39,\,-47$, the two previously unsolved cases for $|k|<50$, are solved using algebraic number theory and the ‘elliptic Chabauty’ method. The thesis also studies the genus three quartic curves $F(x^2,y^2,z^2)=0$ where F is a homogeneous quadratic form, and extend old results of Cassels, and Bremner. It is a very delicate matter to find such curves that have no rational points, yet which do have points in odd-degree extension fields of the rationals.

The principal results of the thesis are related to surfaces where the theory is much less well known. In particular, the thesis studies some specific families of surfaces, and give a negative answer to a question in the literature regarding representation of integers n in the form $n=(x+y+z+w)(1/x+1/y+1/z+1/w).$ Further, an example, the first such known, of a quartic surface $x^4+7y^4=14z^4+18w^4$ is given with remarkable properties: it is everywhere locally solvable, yet has no non-zero rational point, despite having a point in (non-trivial) odd-degree extension fields of the rationals. The ideas here involve manipulation of the Hilbert symbol, together with the theory of elliptic curves.

In the 1980's, Gromov and Piatetski-Shapiro introduced a technique called "hybridization'' which allowed them to produce non-arithmetic hyperbolic lattices from two non-commensurable arithmetic lattices. It has been asked whether an analogous hybridization technique exists for complex hyperbolic lattices, because certain geometric obstructions make it unclear how to adapt this technique. This thesis explores one possible construction (originally due to Hunt) in depth and uses it to produce arithmetic lattices, non-arithmetic lattices, and thin subgroups in SU(2,1).

As computers become a more embedded aspect of daily life, the importance of communicating ideas in computing and technology to the general public has become increasingly apparent. One such growing technology is electronic voting. The feasibility of explaining electronic voting protocols was directly investigated through the generation of a presentation based on journal articles and papers identified by the investigator. Extensive use of analogy and visual aids were used to explain various cryptographic concepts. The presentation was then given to a classroom of ASU freshmen, followed by a feedback survey. A self-evaluation on the presentation methods is conducted, and a procedure for explaining subjects in computer science is proposed based on the researcher's personal process.

The Super Catalan numbers are a known set of numbers which have so far eluded a combinatorial interpretation. Several weighted interpretations have appeared since their discovery, one of which was discovered by William Kuszmaul in 2017. In this paper, we connect the weighted Super Catalan structure created previously by Kuszmaul and a natural $q$-analogue of the Super Catalan numbers. We do this by creating a statistic $\sigma$ for which the $q$ Super Catalan numbers, $S_q(m,n)=\sum_X (-1)^{\mu(X)} q^{\sigma(X)}$. In doing so, we take a step towards finding a strict combinatorial interpretation for the Super Catalan numbers.

The Cambrian lattice corresponding to a Coxeter element c of An, denoted Camb(c),

is the subposet of An induced by the c-sortable elements, and the m-eralized Cambrian

lattice corresponding to c, denoted Cambm(c), is dened as a subposet of the

braid group accompanied with the right weak ordering induced by the c-sortable elements

under certain conditions. Both of these families generalize the well-studied

Tamari lattice Tn rst introduced by D. Tamari in 1962. S. Fishel and L. Nelson

enumerated the chains of maximum length of Tamari lattices.

In this dissertation, I study the chains of maximum length of the Cambrian and

m-eralized Cambrian lattices, precisely, I enumerate these chains in terms of other

objects, and then nd formulas for the number of these chains for all m-eralized

Cambrian lattices of A1, A2, A3, and A4. Furthermore, I give an alternative proof

for the number of chains of maximum length of the Tamari lattice Tn, and provide

conjectures and corollaries for the number of these chains for all m-eralized Cambrian

lattices of A5.

The Tamari lattice T(n) was originally defined on bracketings of a set of n+1 objects, with a cover relation based on the associativity rule in one direction. Since then it has been studied in various areas of mathematics including cluster algebras, discrete geometry, algebraic combinatorics, and Catalan theory. Although in several related lattices the number of maximal chains is known, the enumeration of these chains in Tamari lattices is still an open problem.

This dissertation defines a partially-ordered set on equivalence classes of certain saturated chains of T(n) called the Tamari Block poset, TB(lambda). It further proves TB(lambda) is a graded lattice. It then shows for lambda = (n-1,...,2,1) TB(lambda) is anti-isomorphic to the Higher Stasheff-Tamari orders in dimension 3 on n+2 elements. It also investigates enumeration questions involving TB(lambda), and proves other structural results along the way.

In 1984, Sinnott used $p$-adic measures on $\mathbb{Z}_p$ to give a new proof of the Ferrero-Washington Theorem for abelian number fields by realizing $p$-adic $L$-functions as (essentially) the $Gamma$-transform of certain $p$-adic rational function measures. Shortly afterward, Gillard and Schneps independently adapted Sinnott's techniques to the case of $p$-adic $L$-functions associated to elliptic curves with complex multiplication (CM) by realizing these $p$-adic $L$-functions as $Gamma$-transforms of certain $p$-adic rational function measures. The results in the CM case give the vanishing of the Iwasawa $mu$-invariant for certain $mathbb{Z}_p$-extensions of imaginary quadratic fields constructed from torsion points of CM elliptic curves.

In this thesis, I develop the theory of $p$-adic measures on $mathbb{Z}_p^d$, with particular interest given to the case of $d>1$. Although I introduce these measures within the context of $p$-adic integration, this study includes a strong emphasis on the interpretation of $p$-adic measures as $p$-adic power series. With this dual perspective, I describe $p$-adic analytic operations as maps on power series; the most important of these operations is the multivariate $Gamma$-transform on $p$-adic measures.

This thesis gives new significance to product measures, and in particular to the use of product measures to construct measures on $mathbb{Z}_p^2$ from measures on $mathbb{Z}_p$. I introduce a subring of pseudo-polynomial measures on $mathbb{Z}_p^2$ which is closed under the standard operations on measures, including the $Gamma$-transform. I obtain results on the Iwasawa-invariants of such pseudo-polynomial measures, and use these results to deduce certain continuity results for the $Gamma$-transform. As an application, I establish the vanishing of the Iwasawa $mu$-invariant of Yager's two-variable $p$-adic $L$-function from measure theoretic considerations.

In 1959, Iwasawa proved that the size of the $p$-part of the class groups of a $\mathbb{Z}_p$-extension grows as a power of $p$ with exponent ${\mu}p^m+{\lambda}\,m+\nu$ for $m$ sufficiently large. Broadly, I construct conditions to verify if a given $m$ is indeed sufficiently large. More precisely, let $CG_m^i$ (class group) be the $\epsilon_i$-eigenspace component of the $p$-Sylow subgroup of the class group of the field at the $m$-th level in a $\mathbb{Z}_p$-extension; and let $IACG^i_m$ (Iwasawa analytic class group) be ${\mathbb{Z}_p[[T]]/((1+T)^{p^m}-1,f(T,\omega^{1-i}))}$, where $f$ is the associated Iwasawa power series. It is expected that $CG_m^i$ and $IACG^i_m$ be isomorphic, providing us with a powerful connection between algebraic and analytic techniques; however, as of yet, this isomorphism is unestablished in general. I consider the existence and the properties of an exact sequence $$0\longrightarrow\ker{\longrightarrow}CG_m^i{\longrightarrow}IACG_m^i{\longrightarrow}\textrm{coker}\longrightarrow0.$$ In the case of a $\mathbb{Z}_p$-extension where the Main Conjecture is established, there exists a pseudo-isomorphism between the respective inverse limits of $CG_m^i$ and $IACG_m^i$. I consider conditions for when such a pseudo-isomorphism immediately gives the existence of the desired exact sequence, and I also consider work-around methods that preserve cardinality for otherwise. However, I primarily focus on constructing conditions to verify if a given $m$ is sufficiently large that the kernel and cokernel of the above exact sequence have become well-behaved, providing similarity of growth both in the size and in the structure of $CG_m^i$ and $IACG_m^i$; as well as conditions to determine if any such $m$ exists. The primary motivating idea is that if $IACG_m^i$ is relatively easy to work with, and if the relationship between $CG_m^i$ and $IACG_m^i$ is understood; then $CG_m^i$ becomes easier to work with. Moreover, while the motivating framework is stated concretely in terms of the cyclotomic $\mathbb{Z}_p$-extension of $p$-power roots of unity, all results are generally applicable to arbitrary $\mathbb{Z}_p$-extensions as they are developed in terms of Iwasawa-Theory-inspired, yet abstracted, algebraic results on maps between inverse limits.

In Iwasawa theory, one studies how an arithmetic or geometric object grows as its field of definition varies over certain sequences of number fields. For example, let $F/\mathbb{Q}$ be a finite extension of fields, and let $E:y^2 = x^3 + Ax + B$ with $A,B \in F$ be an elliptic curve. If $F = F_0 \subseteq F_1 \subseteq F_2 \subseteq \cdots F_\infty = \bigcup_{i=0}^\infty F_i$, one may be interested in properties like the ranks and torsion subgroups of the increasing family of curves $E(F_0) \subseteq E(F_1) \subseteq \cdots \subseteq E(F_\infty)$. The main technique for studying this sequence of curves when $\Gal(F_\infty/F)$ has a $p$-adic analytic structure is to use the action of $\Gal(F_n/F)$ on $E(F_n)$ and the Galois cohomology groups attached to $E$, i.e. the Selmer and Tate-Shafarevich groups. As $n$ varies, these Galois actions fit into a coherent family, and taking a direct limit one obtains a short exact sequence of modules $$0 \longrightarrow E(F_\infty) \otimes(\mathbb{Q}_p/\mathbb{Z}_p) \longrightarrow \Sel_E(F_\infty)_p \longrightarrow \Sha_E(F_\infty)_p \longrightarrow 0 $$ over the profinite group algebra $\mathbb{Z}_p[[\Gal(F_\infty/F)]]$. When $\Gal(F_\infty/F) \cong \mathbb{Z}_p$, this ring is isomorphic to $\Lambda = \mathbb{Z}_p[[T]]$, and the $\Lambda$-module structure of $\Sel_E(F_\infty)_p$ and $\Sha_E(F_\infty)_p$ encode all the information about the curves $E(F_n)$ as $n$ varies. In this dissertation, it will be shown how one can classify certain finitely generated $\Lambda$-modules with fixed characteristic polynomial $f(T) \in \mathbb{Z}_p[T]$ up to isomorphism. The results yield explicit generators for each module up to isomorphism. As an application, it is shown how to identify the isomorphism class of $\Sel_E(\mathbb{Q_\infty})_p$ in this explicit form, where $\mathbb{Q}_\infty$ is the cyclotomic $\mathbb{Z}_p$-extension of $\mathbb{Q}$, and $E$ is an elliptic curve over $\mathbb{Q}$ with good ordinary reduction at $p$, and possessing the property that $E(\mathbb{Q})$ has no $p$-torsion.