We study liftings or deformations of $D$-modules ($D$ is the ring of differential operators from EGA IV) from positive characteristic to characteristic zero using ideas of Matzat and Berthelot’s theory of arithmetic $D$-modules. We pay special attention to the growth of the differential Galois group of the liftings. We also apply formal deformation theory (following Schlessinger and Mazur) to analyze the space of all liftings of a given $D$-module in positive characteristic. At the end we compare the problems...

Given a 3-dimensional vector field V with coordinates $V_x$, $V_y$ and $V_z$ that are homogeneous polynomials in the ring k[x,y,z], we give a necessary and sufficient condition for the existence of a Liouvillian first integral of V which is homogeneous of degree 0. This condition is the existence of some 1-forms with coordinates in the ring k[x,y,z] enjoying precise properties; in particular, they have to be integrable in the sense of Pfaff and orthogonal to the vector field V. Thus, our theorem links the existence...