Bernstein--Sato Theory for D-modules in Positive Characteristic

In this article, we develop a positive characteristic analogue of the Bernstein–Sato theory for holonomic D-modules in the complex setting. We work with D-modules on a Noetherian regular $F$-finite ${\mathbb{F}}_p$-scheme $X$, and define their Bernstein–Sato roots as $p$-adic integers. When the D-module is the structure sheaf $O_X$, this recovers Bitoun’s definition. When the D-module arises from a locally finitely generated unit $F^e$-module and $X$ is of finite type over an $F$-finite field, we show that the roots are finite and rational, generalizing Bitoun’s result. In the course of the proof, we also develop a related theory for Cartier modules.