We study the existential (and parts of the universal-existential) theory of equicharacteristic henselian valued fields. We prove, among other things, an existential Ax-Kochen-Ershov principle, which roughly says that the existential theory of an equicharacteristic henselian valued field (of arbitrary characteristic) is determined by the existential theory of the residue field; in particular, it is independent of the value group. As an immediate corollary, we get an unconditional proof of the decidability of the existential theory of $\mathbb{ F}_{ q}((t))$.
Categories: math.LO math.AC