TITLE: Are Kato's zeta elements integral?
QUESTION [11 upvotes]: Let $E$ be an elliptic curve over $\mathbb{Q}$ and $T$ the $p$-adic Tate module of $E$. Kato's Euler system, constructed in the paper "P-adic Hodge theory and values of zeta functions of modular forms" (Asterisque 295, 2004), gives rise to an element $\mathbf{z}_{\rm Kato}$ lying in the Iwasawa cohomology $ H^1_{\mathrm{Iw}}(\mathbb{Q}_p, T)[\frac{1}{p}]$. In Theorem 12.5(4) of the paper, Kato shows that if the image of $\mathrm{Gal}(\overline{\mathbb{Q}}/\mathbb{Q})$ in $\mathrm{Aut}(T)$ contains $\mathrm{SL}_2(\mathbb{Z}_p)$, then in fact $\mathbf{z}_{\rm Kato} \in H^1_{\mathrm{Iw}}(\mathbb{Q}_p, T)$.
Is it known if there are weaker conditions that are sufficient to ensure that $\mathbf{z}_{\rm Kato}$ has this integrality property? Are there examples where it is genuinely non-integral, or is it conjectured that it should always be so?
I would be the last person to claim I understand Kato's argument, but it looks to me as if he only actually uses the weaker statement that the mod $p$ Galois representation $T/pT$ is irreducible. I'd be interested to know if this weaker condition is indeed sufficient, and whether anything is known in this direction if the weaker condition doesn't hold (i.e. if $E$ admits a $p$-isogeny). 
(EDIT: Added more detail and references.)

REPLY [9 votes]: There are two issues. Let $H=H^1_{\mathrm{Iw}}(\mathbb{Q},T)$ where $T=V_{\mathbb{Z}_p}(f)(1)$ and $f$ is the modular form associated to the isogeny class of $E$.
(1) What is $T$ ?
$T$ will correspond to the lattice $\Lambda$ in $\mathbb{C}$ generated by all modular symbols. This is because $V_{2,\mathbb{Z}}(f)$ is the image of $V_{2,\mathbb{Z}} (Y_1(N)) = H_1 \bigl( X_1(N)(\mathbb{C}),\{\text{cusps}\},\mathbb{Z}\bigr)$ inside $H_1(E(\mathbb{C}),\mathbb{Z})$. The lattice $\Lambda$ will contain the lattice $\Lambda_0$ of the $X_0$-optimal (strong Weil) curve $E_0$, but it may be strictly larger if $E_0$ has rational torsion points, e.g. for 11a. Note also that $\Lambda$ need not be the lattice of an elliptic curve in the isogeny class, but rather $\tfrac{1}{2}\Lambda_E$ for some elliptic curve $E$. in case $E_0[2] \subset E_0(\mathbb{Q})$, e.g. for 17a. But can only happen for $p=2$ and for $p$ of additive reduction. So if $p$ is a prime of odd semi-stable reduction, then $T$ is the Tate-module of an elliptic curve $E_*$ which is an étale quotient of $E_0$. So let $E$ be this curve for the rest of the answer.
(2) Are Kato's elements integral in $H$ ?
There are two kinds of them. The $z_{\gamma}$ and the ${c,d}$ $z_{m}$. (sorry I don't seem to be able to produce indices before the symbol in MathJax) The latter are in $H$, see 8.1 of Kato, but they depend on the choices of $c$ and $d$. They are useful for bounding the Selmer group as, for a fixed $c$ and $d$ they form an Euler system.
The $z_{\gamma}$ instead is linked to the $p$-adic $L$-function and they are independent of the choices. They are obtained by dividing by $\mu(c,d)$, page 229 of Kato. So they need not be integral anymore. The appendix A in Delbourgo's book "Elliptic curves and big Galois representations" discusses this in detail. Kato shows that they are in $H\otimes \mathbb{Q}_p$
Kato shows that $z_{\gamma}$ is integral if $H$ is a free $\Lambda$-module of rank 1, e.g. as shown in 12.4.(3) if $T/pT$ is irreducible. In fact it is not hard to show that $H$ is free also if $E(\mathbb{Q})[p]$ is trivial. 
Now if the curve admits an isogeny of degree $p$, one can show that for all curves $A$ in the isogeny class $H^1_{\text{Iw}}(\mathbb{Q},T_p A)$ is a free $\Lambda$-module of rank $1$, except for at most a single one of them (I mean up to non-$p$-isogenies of course). This exception - if present - will always be the minimal curve $E_{\text{min}}$ in the class. Moreover if $E_{\text{min}}$ is does not have a free $H^1_{\text{Iw}}$, then there is an embedding of it into $\Lambda$ with image equal to the maximal ideal of $\Lambda$. One can now conclude from the interpolation property of the $p$-adic $L$-function that even if $E_*=E_{\text{min}}$ then $z_{\gamma}$ will be in $H$.
Using this one can prove that the $p$-adic $L$-function is integral and that $\mu\geq 0$, but it would not say anything about Greenberg's $\mu=0$ conjecture. Furthermore one gets a proof of the divisibility in the main conjecture as in 12.5.(3), if the $T/pT$ is reducible. However this conclusion can not be extended at present to all odd semi-stable primes, because there may be primes for which the Galois representation is not surjective, yet $T/pT$ is irreducible; because the Euler system method requires and element $\binom{1\ 1}{0\ 1}$ in the image of the Galois representation, see Hyp($K_{\infty},T)$ in Rubin's book. So the integrality won't help, yet. 
In summary, all zeta-elements of Kato are integral with respect to $T$ in the case of an elliptic curve. For Kato's divisibility on the other hand, the surjectivity of the representation to $\mathrm{GL}_(\mathbb{Z}_p)$ or its reducibility is still needed.
(edits: quite a few in the whole answer above, now that I konw the full answer to the question)