Published online by Cambridge University Press: 11 November 2014
Let $A$ be an abelian variety over a global field
$K$ of characteristic
$p\geqslant 0$. If
$A$ has nontrivial (respectively full)
$K$-rational
$l$-torsion for a prime
$l\neq p$, we exploit the fppf cohomological interpretation of the
$l$-Selmer group
$\text{Sel}_{l}\,A$ to bound
$\#\text{Sel}_{l}\,A$ from below (respectively above) in terms of the cardinality of the
$l$-torsion subgroup of the ideal class group of
$K$. Applied over families of finite extensions of
$K$, the bounds relate the growth of Selmer groups and class groups. For function fields, this technique proves the unboundedness of
$l$-ranks of class groups of quadratic extensions of every
$K$ containing a fixed finite field
$\mathbb{F}_{p^{n}}$ (depending on
$l$). For number fields, it suggests a new approach to the Iwasawa
${\it\mu}=0$ conjecture through inequalities, valid when
$A(K)[l]\neq 0$, between Iwasawa invariants governing the growth of Selmer groups and class groups in a
$\mathbb{Z}_{l}$-extension.