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We study groups of automorphisms and birational transformations of quasi-projective varieties. Two methods are combined; the first one is based on p-adic analysis, the second makes use of isoperimetric inequalities and Lang–Weil estimates. For instance, we show that, if SLn(Z) acts faithfully on a complex quasi-projective variety X by birational transformations, then dim(X)⩾n−1 and X is rational if dim(X)=n−1.

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We associate to any given finite set of valuations on the polynomial ring in two variables over an algebraically closed field a numerical invariant whose positivity characterizes the case when the intersection of their valuation rings has maximal transcendence degree over the base fields. As an application, we give a criterion for when an analytic branch at infinity in the affine plane that is defined over a number field in a suitable sense is the branch of an algebraic curve.

We prove the dynamical Mordell-Lang conjecture for birational polynomial morphisms on A^2.