
Abstract: Let K be the algebraic closure of a finite field, and let X and Y be irreducible affine surfaces over K. Let C and D be irreducible curves on X and Y respectively. Then there is a homeomorphism (in the Zariski topology) from X onto Y, carrying C onto D. There is an arithmetical version of this theorem, in view of the fact that, if R is an order in an algebraic number field, then Spec(R[X]) and Spec(K[X,Y]) are homeomorphic, equivalently, isomorphic as partially ordered sets. (For a commutative ring A, Spec(A) denotes the set of prime ideals of A, partially ordered by inclusion.)