Finiteness theorems for potentially equivalent Galois representations: extension of Faltings finiteness criteria

We study the relationship between potential equivalence and character theory; we observe that potential equivalence of a representation $rho$ is determined by an equality of an $m$-power character $gmapsto Tr(rho(g^m))$ for some natural number $m$. Using this, we extend Faltings finiteness criteria to determine the equivalence of two $ell$-adic, semisimple representations of the absolute Galois group of a number field, to the context of potential equivalence. We also discuss finiteness results for twist unramified representations.