We give a complete list of rational functions $A$ such that the genus $g$ of the Galois closure of $\mathbb C(z)/\mathbb C(A)$ equals zero. We also provide a geometric description of $A$ for which $g=1.$
We describe a method that allows, under some hypotheses, to compute all the rational points of some genus 5 curves defined over a number field. This method is used to solve some arithmetic problems that remained open.
We show that for all finite fields F_q, there exists a curve C over F_q of genus 3 such that the number of rational points on C is within 3 of the Serre-Weil upper or lower bound. For some q, we also obtain improvements on the upper bound for the number of rational points on a genus 3 curve over F_q.
For affine plane curves defined over the rationals of genus at least two, we show that a decision algorithm for the existence of solutions also yields a search algorithm for all solutions.
We compute rational points on genus $3$ odd degree hyperelliptic curves $C$ over $\mathbb{Q}$ that have Jacobians of Mordell-Weil rank $0$. The computation applies the Chabauty-Coleman method to find the zero set of a certain system of $p$-adic integrals, which is known to be finite and include the set of rational points $C(\mathbb{Q})$. We implemented an algorithm in Sage to carry out the Chabauty-Coleman method on a database of $5870$ curves.
One of the big questions in the area of curves over finite fields concerns the distribution of the numbers of points: Which numbers occur as the number of points on a curve of genus $g$? The same question can be asked of various subclasses of curves. In this article we classify the possibilities for the number of points on genus 4 hyperelliptic supersingular curves over finite fields of order $2^n$, $n$ odd.
The number $N_9(5)$, the maximal number of $\mathbb{F}_9$-rational points on curves over $\mathbb{F}_9$ of genus $5$ is unknown, but it is known that $32 \le N_9(5)\le 35$. In this paper, we enumerate hyperelliptic curves and trigonal curves over $\mathbb{F}_3$ which have many $\mathbb{F}_9$-rational points (and $\mathbb{F}_3$-rational points), especially the maximal number of $\mathbb{F}_9$-rational points of those curves is $30$. Kudo-Harashita studied the nonhyperelliptic and nontrigonal case,where they found a new example of curves (over $\mathbb{F}_3$) of genus five which attains $32$ and…
In this paper we obtain the genus field of a general Kummer extension of a global rational function field. We study first the case of a general Kummer extension of degree a power of a prime. Then we prove that the genus field of a composite of two abelian extensions of a global rational function field with relatively prime degrees is equal to the composite of their respective genus fields. Our main result, the genus of a general Kummer extension of a global rational function field, is a direct consequence of this fact.
Based on computational evidence, we formulate a number of conjectures on the distribution of rational points on curves of genus 2 over the rational numbers, in terms of the size of the coefficients of an equation of the form y^2 = f(x) >.
In this paper we show that the maximum number of rational points possible for a smooth, projective, absolutely irreducible genus 4 curve over a finite field F_7 is 24. It is known that a genus 4 curve over F_7 can have at most 25 points. In this paper we prove that such a curve can have at most 24. On the other hand we provide an explicit example of a genus 4 curve over F_7 having 24 points.
The number A(q) shows the asymptotic behaviour of the quotient of the number of rational points over the genus of non-singular absolutely irreducible curves over a finite field Fq. Research on bounds for A(q) is closely connected with the so-called asymptotic main problem in Coding Theory. In this paper, we study some generalizations of this number for non-irreducible curves, their connection with A(q) and its application in Coding Theory.
Let $A$ be a simple abelian surface over an algebraically closed field $k$. Let $S\subset A(k)$ be the set of torsion points $x$ of $A$ such that there exists a genus $2$ curve $C$ and a map $f: C\to A$ such that $x$ is in the image of $f$, and $f$ sends a Weierstrass point of $C$ to the origin of $A$. The purpose of this note is to show that if $k$ has characteristic zero, then $S$ is finite -- this is in contrast to the situation where $k$ is the algebraic closure of a finite field, where $S=A(k)$, as shown by Bogomolov and Tschinkel. We deduce that if $k=\bar{\mathbb{Q}}$, the Kummer surfac…
Building on work of Balakrishnan, Dogra, and of the first author, we provide some improvements to the explicit quadratic Chabauty method to compute rational points on genus $2$ bielliptic curves over $\mathbb{Q}$, whose Jacobians have Mordell-Weil rank equal to $2$. We complement this with a precision analysis to guarantee correct outputs. Together with the Mordell-Weil sieve, this bielliptic quadratic Chabauty method is then the main tool that we use to compute the rational points on the $411$ locally solvable curves from the LMFDB which satisfy the aforementioned conditions.
We extend the computations from our previous paper arXiv:2005.07054 to determine the maximum number of rational points on a curve over $\mathbb{F}_3$ and $\mathbb{F}_4$ with fixed gonality and small genus. We find, for example, that there is no curve of genus 5 and gonality 6 over a finite field. We propose two conjectures based on our data. First, an optimal curve of genus $g$ has gonality at most $\lfloor \frac{g+3}{2} \rfloor$. Second, a curve of gonality $γ$ and large genus over $\mathbb{F}_q$ has $γ(q+1)$ rational points.
The problem of finding all possible extensions of a given rational diophantine quadruple to a rational diophantine quintuple is equivalent to the determination of the set of rational points on a certain curve of genus 5 that can be written as an intersection of three diagonal quadrics in $\mathbb P^4$. We discuss how one can (try to) determine the set of rational points on such a curve. We apply our approach to the original question in several cases. In particular, we show that Fermat's diophantine quadruple (1,3,8,120) can be extended to a rational diophantine quintuple in only one way, namel…
We describe the construction of a database of genus 2 curves of small discriminant that includes geometric and arithmetic invariants of each curve, its Jacobian, and the associated L-function. This data has been incorporated into the L-Functions and Modular Forms Database (LMFDB).
It has been conjectured that for $N$ sufficiently large, there are no quadratic polynomials in $\bold Q[z]$ with rational periodic points of period $N$. Morton proved there were none with $N=4$, by showing that the genus~$2$ algebraic curve that classifies periodic points of period~4 is birational to $X_1(16)$, whose rational points had been previously computed. We prove there are none with $N=5$. Here the relevant curve has genus~$14$, but it has a genus~$2$ quotient, whose rational points we compute by performing a~$2$-descent on its Jacobian and applying a refinement of the method of Chabau…
In this paper we first obtain the genus field of a finite abelian non-Kummer $l$--extension of a global rational function field. Then, using that the genus field of a composite of two abelian extensions of a global rational function field with relatively prime degrees is equal to the composite of their respective genus fields and our previous results, we deduce the general expression of the genus field of a finite abelian extension of a global rational function field.
Given a genus $2$ curve $C$ with a rational Weierstrass point defined over a number field, we construct a family of genus $5$ curves that realize descent by maximal unramified abelian two-covers of $C$, and describe explicit models of the isogeny classes of their Jacobians as restrictions of scalars of elliptic curves. All the constructions of this paper are accompanied by explicit formulas and implemented in Magma and/or SageMath. We apply these algorithms in combination with elliptic Chabauty to a dataset of 7692 genus $2$ quintic curves over $\mathbb{Q}$ of Mordell-Weil rank $2$ or $3$ whos…
It is well-known that abelian varieties are projective, and so that there exist explicit polynomial and rational functions which define both the variety and its group law. It is however difficult to find any explicit polynomial and rational functions describing these varieties or their group laws in dimensions greater than two. One exception can be found in Mumford's classic "Lectures on Theta", where he describes how to obtain an explicit model for hyperelliptic Jacobians as the union of several affine pieces described as the vanishing locus of explicit polynomial equations. In this article, …
In this paper we classify curves of genus two over a perfect field k of characteristic two. We find rational models of curves with a given arithmetic structure for the ramification divisor and we give necessary and sufficient conditions for two models of the same type to be k-isomorphic. As a consequence, we obtain an explicit formula for the number of k-isomorphism classes of curves of genus two over a finite field. Moreover, we prove that the field of moduli of any curve coincides with its field of definition, by exhibiting rational models of curves with any prescribed value of their Igusa i…
In this paper, we give an explicit formula as well as a practical algorithm for computing the Cassels-Tate pairing on $\text{Sel}^{2}(J) \times \text{Sel}^{2}(J)$ where $J$ is the Jacobian variety of a genus two curve under the assumption that all points in $J[2]$ are $K$-rational. We also give an explicit formula for the Obstruction map $\text{Ob}: H^1(G_K, J[2]) \rightarrow \text{Br}(K)$ under the same assumption. Finally, we include a worked example demonstrating we can indeed improve the rank bound given by a 2-descent via computing the Cassels-Tate pairing.
We construct examples of families of curves of genus 2 or 3 over Q whose Jacobians split completely and have various large rational torsion subgroups. For example, the rational points on a certain elliptic surface over P^1 of positive rank parameterize a family of genus-2 curves over Q whose Jacobians each have 128 rational torsion points. Also, we find the genus-3 curve 15625(X^4 + Y^4 + Z^4) - 96914(X^2 Y^2 + X^2 Z^2 + Y^2 Z^2) = 0, whose Jacobian has 864 rational torsion points. This paper has appeared in Forum Math. 12 (2000) 315-364.
For a cyclic Kummer extension $K$ of a rational function field $k$ is considered, via class field theory, the extended Hilbert class field $K_H^+$ of $K$ and the corresponding extended genus field $K_g^+$ of $K$ over $k$, along the lines of the definitions of R. Clement for such extensions of prime degree. We obtain $K_g^+$ explicitly. Also, we use cohomology to determine the number of ambiguous classes and obtain a reciprocity law for $K/k$. Finally, we present a necessary and sufficient condition for a prime of $K$ to decompose fully in $K_g^+$.
Using a geometric approach involving Riemann surface orbifolds, we provide lower bounds for the genus of an irreducible algebraic curve of the form $E_{A,B}:\, A(x)-B(y)=0$, where $A, B\in\mathbb C(z)$. We also investigate "series" of curves $E_{A,B}$ of genus zero, where by a series we mean a family with the "same" $A$. We show that for a given rational function $A$ a sequence of rational functions $B_i$, such that ${\rm deg}\, B_i \rightarrow \infty$ and all the curves $A(x)-B_i(y)=0$ are irreducible and have genus zero, exists if and only if the Galois closure of the field extension $\mathb…
We introduce an algorithm to compute the rational torsion subgroup of the Jacobian of a hyperelliptic curve of genus 3 over the rationals. We apply a Magma implementation of our algorithm to a database of curves with low discriminant due to Sutherland as well as a list of curves with small coefficients. In the process, we find several torsion structures not previously described in the literature. The algorithm is a generalisation of an algorithm for genus 2 due to Stoll, which we extend to abelian varieties satisfying certain conditions. The idea is to compute p-adic torsion lifts of points ov…
We show that there exist genus one curves of every index over the rational numbers, answering affirmatively a question of Lang and Tate. The proof is "elementary" in the sense that it does not assume the finiteness of any Shafarevich-Tate group. On the other hand, using Kolyvagin's construction of a rational elliptic curve whose Mordell-Weil and Shafarevich-Tate groups are both trivial, we show that there are infinitely many curves of every index over every number field.
Let $\overlineρ: G_{\mathbf{Q}} \rightarrow {\rm GSp}_4(\mathbf{F}_3)$ be a continuous Galois representation with cyclotomic similitude character -- or, what turns out to be equivalent, the Galois representation associated to the $3$-torsion of a principally polarized abelian surface $A/\mathbf{Q}$. We prove that the moduli space $\mathcal{A}_2(\overlineρ)$ of principally polarized abelian surfaces $B/\mathbf{Q}$ admitting a symplectic isomorphism $B[3] \simeq \overlineρ$ of Galois representations is never rational over $\mathbf{Q}$ when $\overlineρ$ is surjective, even though it is both ratio…
Let $M_{g, n}$ (respectively, $\overline{M_{g, n}}$) be the moduli space of smooth (respectively stable) curves of genus $g$ with $n$ marked points. Over the field of complex numbers, it is a classical problem in algebraic geometry to determine whether or not $M_{g, n}$ (or equivalently, $\overline{M_{g, n}}$) is a rational variety. Theorems of J. Harris, D. Mumford, D. Eisenbud and G. Farkas assert that $M_{g, n}$ is not unirational for any $n \geqslant 0$ if $g \geqslant 22$. Moreover, P. Belorousski and A. Logan showed that $M_{g, n}$ is unirational for only finitely many pairs $(g, n)$ wit…
We resolve a 1983 question of Serre by constructing curves with many points of every genus over every finite field. More precisely, we show that for every prime power q there is a positive constant c_q with the following property: for every non-negative integer g, there is a genus-g curve over F_q with at least c_q * g rational points over F_q. Moreover, we show that there exists a positive constant d such that for every q we can choose c_q = d * (log q). We show also that there is a constant c > 0 such that for every q and every n > 0, and for every sufficiently large g, there is a genus-g cu…
We obtain the extended genus field of an abelian extension of a rational function field. We follow the definition of Anglès and Jaulent, which uses class field theory. First we show that the natural definition of extended genus field of a cyclotomic function field obtained by means of Dirichlet characters is the same as the one given by Anglès and Jaulent. Next we study the extended genus field of a finite abelian extension of a rational function field along the lines of the study of genus fields of abelian extensions of rational function fields and compare this approach with the one given by …
Let $E$ be an ordinary elliptic curve over a finite field and $g$ be a positive integer. Under some technical assumptions, we give an algorithm to span the isomorphism classes of principally polarized abelian varieties in the isogeny class of $E^g$. The varieties are first described as hermitian lattices over (not necessarily maximal) quadratic orders and then geometrically in terms of their algebraic theta null point. We also show how to algebraically compute Siegel modular forms of even weight given as polynomials in the theta constants by a careful choice of an affine lift of the theta null…
We use the method of quadratic Chabauty on the quotients $X_0^+(N)$ of modular curves $X_0(N)$ by their Fricke involutions to provably compute all the rational points of these curves for prime levels $N$ of genus four, five, and six. We find that the only such curves with exceptional rational points are of levels $137$ and $311$. In particular there are no exceptional rational points on those curves of genus five and six. More precisely, we determine the rational points on the curves $X_0^+(N)$ for $N=137,173,199,251,311,157,181,227,263,163,197,211,223,269,271,359$.
We prove that, when genus two curves $C/\mathbb{Q}$ with a marked Weierstass point are ordered by height, the average number of rational points $\#|C(\mathbb{Q})|$ is bounded. The argument follows the same ideas as the sphere-packing proof of boundedness of the average number of integral points on (quasiminimal Weierstrass models of) elliptic curves. That is, we bound the number of small-height points by hand, the number of medium-height points by establishing an explicit Mumford gap principle and using the theorem of Kabatiansky-Levenshtein on spherical codes (this technique goes back to work…
In the published version of this paper [Finite Fields and Their Applications {\bf 20} (2013) 40--54], there is an error in the proof of Theorem 4.2 of the paper. Here we correct the error and give the right statments for Theorems 4.2, 4.5 and 5.2 We give a construction of genus fields for congruence function fields. First we consider the cyclotomic function field case following the ideas of Leopoldt and then the general case. As applications we give explicitly the genus fields of Kummer, Artin--Schreier and cyclic $p$--extensions. Kummer extensions were obtained previously by G. Peng and Artin…
Currently, the best upper bounds on the number of rational points on an absolutely irreducible, smooth, projective algebraic curve of genus g defined over a finite field F_q come either from Serre's refinement of the Weil bound if the genus is small compared to q, or from Oesterle's optimization of the explicit formulae method if the genus is large. This paper presents three methods for improving these bounds. The arguments used are the indecomposability of the theta divisor of a curve, Galois descent, and Honda-Tate theory. Examples of improvements on the bounds include lowering them for a wi…
We present a table containing the maximal number of rational points on a genus 3 curve over a field of cardinality q, for all q<100. Also, some remarks on Frobenius non-classical quartics over finite fields are given.
In the present work we give the construction of the genus field and the extended genus field of an elementary abelian $l$-extension of a field of rational functions, where $l$ is a prime number. In the Kummer case, if $K$ is contained in a cyclotomic funtion field, the construction is given using Leopoldt's ideas by means of Dirichlet characters. Following the definition of Anglès and Jaulent of extended Hilbert class field, we obtain the extended genus field of an elementary abelian $l$-extension of a field of rational functions.
Given an integer $γ\geq 2$ and an odd prime power $q$ we show that for every large genus $g$ there exists a non-singular curve $C$ defined over $\mathbb{F}_q$ of genus $g$ and gonality $γ$ and with exactly $γ(q+1)$ $\mathbb{F}_q$-rational points. This is the maximal number of rational points possible. This answers a recent conjecture by Faber--Grantham. Our methods are based on curves on toric surfaces and Poonen's work on squarefree values of polynomials.
For a given genus $g \geq 1$, we give lower bounds for the maximal number of rational points on a smooth projective absolutely irreducible curve of genus $g$ over ${\mathbb F}_q$. As a consequence of Katz-Sarnak theory, we first get for any given $g>0$, any $\varepsilon>0$ and all $q$ large enough, the existence of a curve of genus $g$ over ${\mathbb F}_q$ with at least $1+q+ (2g-\varepsilon) \sqrt{q}$ rational points. Then using sums of powers of traces of Frobenius of hyperelliptic curves, we get a lower bound of the form $1+q+1.71 \sqrt{q}$ valid for $g \geq 3$ and odd $q \geq 11$. Finally,…
The Oesterlé bound shows that a curve of genus 8 over the finite field $\mathbb{F}_4$ can have at most 24 rational points, and Niederreiter and Xing used class field theory to show that there exists such a curve with 21 points. We improve both of these results: We show that a genus-8 curve over $\mathbb{F}_4$ can have at most 23 rational points, and we provide an example of such a curve with 22 points, namely the curve defined by the two equations $y^2 + (x^3 + x + 1)y = x^6 + x^5 + x^4 + x^2$ and $z^3 = (x+1)y + x^2.$
We prove that when all hyperelliptic curves of genus $n\geq 1$ having a rational Weierstrass point are ordered by height, the average size of the 2-Selmer group of their Jacobians is equal to 3. It follows that (the limsup of) the average rank of the Mordell-Weil group of their Jacobians is at most 3/2. The method of Chabauty can then be used to obtain an effective bound on the number of rational points on most of these hyperelliptic curves; for example, we show that a majority of hyperelliptic curves of genus $n\geq 3$ with a rational Weierstrass point have fewer than 20 rational points.
We consider the problem of efficient computation in the Jacobian of a hyperelliptic curve of genus 3 defined over a field whose characteristic is not 2. For curves with a rational Weierstrass point, fast explicit formulas are well known and widely available. Here we address the general case, in which we do not assume the existence of a rational Weierstrass point, using a balanced divisor approach.
Given a curve $C$ over a field $K$, the period of $C/K$ is the gcd of degrees of $K$-rational divisor classes, while the index is the gcd of degrees of $K$-rational divisors. S. Lichtenbaum showed that the period and index must satisfy certain divisibility conditions. For given admissible period, index, and genus, we show that there exists a curve $C$ and a number field $K$ with these desired invariants, as long as the index is not divisible by $4$.
A rational triangle is a triangle with rational side lengths. We consider three different families of rational triangles having a fixed side and whose vertices are rational points in the plane. We display a one-to-one correspondence between each family and the set of rational points of an algebraic curve. These algebraic curves are: a curve of genus 0, an elliptic curve, and a genus 3 curve. We study the set of rational points on each of these curves and describe some of its rational points explicitly.
By a hyperelliptic curve over Q, we mean a smooth, geometrically irreducible, complete curve C over Q equipped with a fixed map of degree 2 to P^1 defined over Q. Thus any hyperelliptic curve C over Q of genus g can be embedded in weighted projective space P(1,1,g+1) via an equation of the form C : z^2 = f(x,y) = f_0 x^n + f_1 x^{n-1} y + ... + f_n y^n where n=2g+2, the coefficients f_i lie in Z, and f factors into distinct linear factors over Q-bar. Define the height H(C) of C by H(C):=max{|f_i|}, and order all hyperelliptic curves over Q of genus g by height. Then we prove that, as g tends t…
We prove or conjecture several relations between the multizeta values for positive genus function fields of class number one, focusing on the zeta-like values, namely those whose ratio with the zeta value of the same weight is rational (or conjecturally equivalently algebraic). These are the first known relations between multizetas, which are not with prime field coefficients. We seem to have one universal family. We also find that interestingly the mechanism with which the relations work is quite different from the rational function field case, raising interesting questions about the expected…
We establish a relation between Galois reducibility and Endoscopy for genus 2 Siegel cusp forms which have rational eigenvalues and are unramified at 3
The period of a curve is the smallest positive degree of Galois-invariant divisor classes. The index is the smallest positive degree of rational divisors. We construct examples of genus one curves with prescribed period and index over certain number fields.