Differential subgroups of simple algebraic groups over p-adic fields

A theorem of Cassidy states that any Zariski closed differential algebraic subgroup of a simple linear algebraic group, defined over a differential field, is either the whole group or is conjugate to the subgroup of constant matrices. An arithmetic analogue of this theorem is proved in which usual derivations on fields are replaced by certain nonlinear operators on p-adic rings, called "p-derivations."