Rational Points on Elliptic Curves

Silverman & Tate

Table of Contents

1. Geometry & Arithmetic 2. Points of Finite Order 3. The Group of Rational Points 4. Cubic Curves over Finite Fields 5. Integer Points on Cubic Curves 6. Complex Multiplication 7. Appendix: Projective Geometry

Rational Points & Lines

A rational point is a tuple (x, y ) with x, y Q. A rational line is a line that can be written as ax + by + c = 0 with a, b, c Q. Two rational points have a rational line through them. Two rational lines intersect at a rational point. What about other types of geometric objects on the rationals?

Rational Conics & Inersections with Rational Lines

A general rational conic takes the form ax 2 + bxy + cy 2 + dx + ey + f = 0 for a, b, c, d, e, f Q. What about the intersection of a rational line with a rational conic? The solutions will not in general be rational. Solving for the x-coordinate of the intersection gives a quadratic equation for x. Conic & Line rational = x quadratic is rational. x-quadratic will have either both rational roots or conjugate quadratic irrationalities.

Finding Rational Points Given One Such Point O

Suppose we do have a rational point on a rational conic O and rational line L. Taking a line from O to a point on L, both being rational, forms a rational line L . L intersects the conic at a rational point. We can nd all rational points on the conic this way. In fact, the rational conic points excluding O are in one-to-one correspondence with the points on the rational line. To include O, we consider the projective space and associate it with point at innity on L.

Example: Rational Points on the Unit Circle

On the unit circle, given by x 2 + y 2 = 1, we clearly have the rational point O := (1, 0). Let L be the y -axis, which is clearly a rational line. Let the point of intersection be given by (0, t). The line L is given by the equation y = t(1 + x). If (x, y ) is on the circle and L , then it satises both dening equations, giving 1 x 2 = y 2 = t 2 (1 + x)2 . This gives us the aforementioned x-quadratic, which we plug back into our equation for L : 2t 1 t2 , y= . 1 + t2 1 + t2 Conversely, these equations give you rational points for rational t. Note t gives O. x=

Example: Rational Points on the Unit Hyperbola

On the unit hyperbola, given by x 2 y 2 = 1, we still have the rational point O := (1, 0). Again, let L be the y -axis and the point of intersection be given by (0, t). The line L is still given by the equation y = t(1 + x). If (x, y ) is on the hyperbola and L , then it satises both dening equations, giving x 2 1 = y 2 = t 2 (1 + x)2 . This gives us the aforementioned x-quadratic, which we plug back into our equation for L : 2t 1 + t2 , y = . 2 1t 1 t2 Conversely, these equations give you rational points for rational t. Note t gives O. x=

Remarks Relating These Examples

Note the similarities between rational points on the unit circle and hyperbola. If we view these entities in C, then the unit hyperbola is merely the unit circle where we swapped the origin and the innity on top the Reimann sphere and vice versa with appropriate scaling. The transformation that accomplishes the above action takes the rational solutions of one to the other. INVESTIGATE!

A Non-Unit Circle

Let our conic be x 2 + y 2 = 3. If we have a rational solution x = X /Z and y = Y /Z where (X , Z ) = 1 = (Y , Z ), then we may write X 2 + Y 2 = 3Z 2 . X and Y are not divisible by 3: If 3|X , then 3 divides Y 2 = 3Z 2 X 2 , making 3|Y . This makes 9 divide X 2 + Y 2 = 3Z 2 , making 3|Z . But this shows that X , Y , Z have a common factor of 3: a contradiction. X and Y must then satisfy X , Y 1 (mod 3), making X 2 Y 2 1 (mod 3). But our equation gives 1 X 2 + Y 2 = 3Z 2 0 (mod 3): a contradiction. Hence, there are no rational points on this curve.

Determining Existence of Solutions to Conics

Note that the question of the existence of rational points was determined above by looking modulo 3. A theorem by Legendre states there exists an integer m such that the integer equation aX 2 + bY 2 = cZ 2 has a non-trivial integer solution if and only if it has a solution in (Z/mZ) . m is rather simply fashoined from a, b, and c. Due to Hasse, we have the generalization below: A homogeneous quadratic equation in several variables has a non-trivial integer solution if and only if it is solvable in all the completions of Q. This descirbes the rational solutions of conics. So, lets move onto cubics!

We cannot project onto a line with one-to-one