We generalize a theorem of D. Rohrlich concerning root numbers of elliptic curves over the field of rational numbers. Our result applies to curves of all higher genera over number fields. Namely, under certain conditions which naturally extend the conditions used by D. Rohrlich, we show that the root number associated to a smooth projective curve over a number field F and a complex finite-dimensional irreducible representation of the absolute Galois group of F with real-valued character is equal to 1. In the case where the ground field is the field of rational numbers, we show that our result is consistent with the refined version of the conjecture of Birch and Swinnerton-Dyer.
In this paper, we show that an action on the set of elliptic curves with j= 1728 preserves a certain kind of symmetry on the local root number of Hecke characters attached to such elliptic curves. As a consequence, we give results on the distribution of the root numbers and their average of the aforementioned Hecke characters.
We present a method for computing the Mordell-Weil rank of the jacobian of a curve of genus 2 with multiplication by a square root of 2, based on descent via isogenies of degree 2, and apply it to a family of curves.
To determine the global root number of an elliptic curve defined over a number field, one needs to understand all the local root numbers. These have been classified except at places above 2, and in this paper we attempt to complete the classification. At places above 2, we express the local root numbers in terms of norm residue symbols (resp. root numbers of explicit 1-dimensional characters) in case when wild inertia acts through a cyclic (resp. quaternionic) quotient.
In a previous article, the author proves that the value of the root number varies in a non-isotrivial family of elliptic curves indexed by one parameter $t$ running through $\mathbb{Q}$. However, a well-known example of Washington has root number $-1$ for every fiber when $t$ runs through $\mathbb{Z}$. Such examples are rare since, as proven in this paper, the root number of the integer fibers varies for a large class of families of elliptic curves. Our results depends on the squarefree conjecture and Chowla's conjecture, and are unconditional in many cases.
We give an explicit description of the behaviour of the root number in the family given by twists of an elliptic curve $E$ by the rational values of a polynomial $f(T)$. In particular, we give a criterion (on $f$ depending on $E$) for the family to have a constant root number over $\mathbb{Q}$. This completes a work of Rohrlich: we detail the behaviour of the root number when $E$ has bad reduction over $\mathbb{Q}^{ab}$ and we treat the cases $j(E)=0,1728$ which were not considered previously.
Given an elliptic curve over a field of characteristic different from 2,3, its discriminant defines a $μ_{12}$-torsor over the field. In this paper, we give an explicit description of this $μ_{12}$-torsor in terms of the 3-torsion points and of the 4-torsion points on the given elliptic curve. %In addition, we show that such a description involves the Weil pairing in a certain way. As an application, we generalize a result of Coates on the 12-th root of the discriminant of an elliptic curve.
The purpose of the paper is to complete several global and local results concerning parity of ranks of elliptic curves. Primarily, we show that the Shafarevich-Tate conjecture implies the parity conjecture for all elliptic curves over number fields, give a formula for local and global root numbers of elliptic curves and complete the proof of a conjecture of Kramer and Tunnell in characteristic 0. The method is to settle the outstanding local formulae by deforming from local fields to totally real number fields and then using global parity results.
Let $E/\mathbb{Q}$ be an elliptic curve. For a prime $p$ of good reduction, let $r(E,p)$ be the smallest non-negative integer that gives the $x$-coordinate of a point of maximal order in the group $E(\mathbb{F}_p)$. We prove unconditionally that $r(E,p)> 0.72\log\log p$ for infinitely many $p$, and $r(E,p) > 0.36 \log p$ under the assumption of the Generalized Riemann Hypothesis. This can be viewed as elliptic curve analogues of classical lower bounds on the least primitive root of a prime.
Let $p$ be an odd prime number. Let $K$ be the $p$-th cyclotomic field and $F$ its maximal real subfield. We give general formulae of the root numbers of the Jacobian varieties of the Fermat curves $X^p+Y^p=δ$ where $δ$ is an integer. As an application of these general formulae, we derive the equidistribution of the root numbers for the families of Jacobian varieties of the Fermat curves. When $p\nmid δ$, we bound the Selmer groups of these Jacobian varieties. Moreover, if $p$ is regular and all prime ideals of $K$ dividing $δ$ are inert in $K/F$, the Selmer groups are explicitly determined an…
In this article we perform an extensive study of the spaces of automorphic forms for GL(2) of weight two and level N, for N an ideal in the ring of integers of the quartic CM field generated by the twelfth roots of unity. This study is conducted through the computation of the group cohomology of the congruence subgroup of upper triangular matrices modulo N, and the corresponding Hecke action which this space admits. Combining this Hecke data with the Faltings-Serre method for proving equivalence of Galois representations, we are able to provide the first known examples of modular elliptic curv…
The formulas for local root numbers of abelian varieties of dimension one are known. In this paper we treat the simplest unknown case in dimension two by considering a curve of genus 2 defined over a $5$-adic field such that the inertia acts on the first $\ell$-adic cohomology group through the largest possible finite quotient, isomorphic to $C_5\rtimes C_8$. We give a few criteria to identify such curves and prove a formula for their local root numbers in terms of invariants associated to a Weierstrass equation.
In a recent paper of Dokchitser--Dokchitser--Maistret--Morgan, the authors introduced the concept of a cluster picture associated to a hyperelliptic curve from which they are able to recover numerous invariants, including the inertia representation on the first étale cohomology group of the curve. The purpose of this paper is to explore the functionality of these cluster pictures and prove that the inertia representation of a hyperelliptic curve is a function of its cluster picture.
Conditionally on the $abc$ conjecture, we generalize previous work of Clark and the author to show that a superelliptic curve $C: y^n = f(x)$ of sufficiently high genus has infinitely many twists violating the Hasse Principle if and only if $f(x)$ has no $\mathbb Q$-rational roots. We also show unconditionally that a curve defined by $C: y^{pN}=f(x)$ has infinitely many twists violating the Hasse Principle over any number field $k$ such that $k$ contains the $p$th roots of unity and $f(x)$ has no $k$-rational roots.
By considering a one-parameter family of elliptic curves defined over $\mathbb{Q}$, we might ask ourselves if there is any bias in the distribution (or parity) of the root numbers at each specialization. From the work of Helfgott, we know (at least conjecturally) that the average root number of an elliptic curve defined over $\mathbb{Q}(T)$ is zero as soon as there is a place of multiplicative reduction over $\mathbb{Q}(T)$ other than $-$deg. Recently, Helfgott's work was extended by Desjardins, where she relaxes some of Helfgott's hypotheses and is able to provide unconditional results on the…
The parity of the analytic rank of an elliptic curve is given by the root number in the functional equation L(E,s). Fixing an elliptic curve over any number field and considering the family of its quadratic twists, it is natural to ask what the average analytic rank in this family is. A lower bound on this number is given by the average root number. In this paper, we investigate the root number in such families and derive an asymptotic formula for the proportion of curves in the family that have even rank. Our results are then used to support a conjecture about the average analytic rank in thi…
Let E be a one-parameter family of elliptic curves over Q. We prove that the average root number is zero for a large class of families of elliptic curves of fairly general type. Furthermore, we show that any family E with at least one point of multiplicative reduction over Q(t) has average root number 0, provided that two classical arithmetical conjectures hold for two polynomials constructed explicitly in terms of E. The behaviour of the root number in any family E without multiplicative reduction over Q(t) is shown to be rather regular and non-random; we give expressions for the average root…
Let F be the function field of a curve over totally imaginary number field. Let p be a prime. If F contains a primitive p th root of unity, then every element in the third Galois cohomology group of F with values in the group of p th roots of unity, is a symbol.
The parity conjecture has a long and distinguished history. It gives a way of predicting the existence of points of infinite order on elliptic curves without having to construct them, and is responsible for a wide range of unexplained arithmetic phenomena. It is one of the main consequences of the Birch and Swinnerton-Dyer conjecture and lets one calculate the parity of the rank of an elliptic curve using root numbers. In this handbook, we explain how to use local root numbers of elliptic curves to realise some of these phenomena, with an emphasis on explicit calculations. The text is aimed at…
We conjecture that, for a fixed prime $p$, rational elliptic curves with higher rank tend to have more points mod $p$. We show that there is an analogous bias for modular forms with respect to root numbers, and conjecture that the order of the rank bias for elliptic curves is greater than that of the root number bias for modular forms.
Given any complex number $a$, we prove that there are infinitely many simple roots of the equation $ζ(s)=a$ with arbitrarily large imaginary part. Besides, we give a heuristic interpretation of a certain regularity of the graph of the curve $t\mapsto ζ({1\over 2}+it)$. Moreover, we show that the curve $t\mapsto (ζ({1\over 2}+it),ζ'({1\over 2}+it))$ is not dense in $C^2$.
The Birch and Swinnerton-Dyer conjecture predicts that the parity of the algebraic rank of an abelian variety over a global field should be controlled by the expected sign of the functional equation of its $L$-function, known as the global root number. In this paper, we give explicit formulae for the local root numbers as a product of Jacobi symbols. This enables one to compute the global root number, generalising work of Rohrlich who studies the case of elliptic curves. We provide similar formulae for the root numbers after twisting the abelian variety by a self-dual Artin representation. As …
We prove sharp $L^{12}$ estimates for exponential sums associated with nondegenerate curves in ${\mathbb R}^4$. We place Bourgain's progress on the Lindel"of hypothesis in a larger framework that contains a continuum of estimates of different flavor. We enlarge the spectrum of methods by combining decoupling with quadratic Weyl sum estimates, to address new cases of interest. All results are proved in the general framework of real analytic curves.
We classify stacky curves in characteristic $p > 0$ with cyclic stabilizers of order $p$ using higher ramification data. This approach replaces the local root stack structure of a tame stacky curve, similar to the local structure of a complex orbifold curve, with a more sensitive structure called an Artin-Schreier root stack, allowing us to incorporate this ramification data directly into the stack. As an application, we compute dimensions of Riemann-Roch spaces for some examples of stacky curves in positive characteristic and suggest a program for computing spaces of modular forms in this set…
We consider generalised root identities for zeta functions of curves over finite fields, ζ_{k}, and compare with the corresponding analysis for the Riemann zeta function. We verify numerically that, as for ζ, the ζ_{k} do satisfy the generalised root identities and we investigate these in detail for the special cases of μ=0,-1\:\&\:-2. Unlike for ζ, however, we show that in the setting of zeta functions of curves over finite fields the μ=-2 root identity is consistent with the Riemann hypothesis (RH) proved by Weil. Comparison of this analysis with the corresponding calculations for ζilluminat…
Let $C/\mathbb{Q}$ be a hyperelliptic curve with an affine model of the form $y^2=x^p+a$. We explicitly determine the root number of the Jacobian of $C$, with particular focus on the local root number at $p$ where $C$ has wild ramification.
Let $C$ be a hyperelliptic curve $y^2 = f(x)$ over a discretely valued field $K$. The $p$-adic distances between the roots of $f(x)$ can be described by a completely combinatorial object known as the cluster picture. We show that the cluster picture of $C$, along with the leading coefficient of $f$ and the action of $\mathrm{Gal}(\bar{K}/K)$ on the roots of $f$, completely determines the combinatorics of the special fibre of the minimal strict normal crossings model of $C$. In particular, we give an explicit description of the special fibre in terms of this data.
Conjecturally, the parity of the Mordell-Weil rank of an elliptic curve over a number field K is determined by its root number. The root number is a product of local root numbers, so the rank modulo 2 is conjecturally the sum over all places of K of a function of elliptic curves over local fields. This note shows that there can be no analogue for the rank modulo 3, 4 or 5, or for the rank itself. In fact, standard conjectures for elliptic curves imply that there is no analogue modulo n for any n>2, so this is purely a parity phenomenon.
Given two elliptic curves $E_1$ and $E_2$ defined over the field of rational numbers, $\mathbb{Q}$, with good reduction at an odd prime $p$ and equivalent mod $p$ Galois representation, we compare the $p$-Selmer rank, global and local root numbers of $E_1$ and $E_2$ over number fields.
For an elliptic curve $E$ over a number field $K$, one consequence of the Birch and Swinnerton-Dyer conjecture is the parity conjecture: the global root number matches the parity of the Mordell-Weil rank. Assuming finiteness of $\mathrm{Sha}(E/K)[p^\infty]$ for a prime $p$ this is equivalent to the $p$-parity conjecture: the global root number matches the parity of the $\mathbb{Z}_p$-corank of the $p^\infty$-Selmer group. We complete the proof of the $p$-parity conjecture for elliptic curves that have a $p$-isogeny for $p > 3$ (the cases $p \le 3$ were known). T. and V. Dokchitser have showed …
We show the density of rational points on non-isotrivial elliptic surfaces by studying the variation of the root numbers among the fibers of these surfaces, conditionally to two analytic number theory conjectures (the squarefree conjecture and Chowla's conjecture). This is a weaker statement than the one found in a preprint of Helfgott which proves (under the same assumptions) that the average root number is $0$ when the surface admits a place of multiplicative reduction. However, we use a different technique. The conjectures involved impose a restriction on the degree of the irreducible facto…
In this article, we prove that the average rank of elliptic curves over $\mathbb{Q}$, when ordered by height, is less than $1$ (in fact, less than $.885$). As a consequence of our methods, we also prove that at least four fifths of all elliptic curves over $\mathbb{Q}$ have rank either 0 or 1; furthermore, at least one fifth of all elliptic curves in fact have rank 0. The primary ingredient in the proofs of these theorems is a determination of the average size of the $5$-Selmer group of elliptic curves over $\mathbb{Q}$; we prove that this average size is $6$. Another key ingredient is a new l…
We consider natural polynomial truncations of hypergeometric power series defined over finite fields. For these truncations, we establish asymptotic upper bounds of order $O(p^{11/12})$ on the number of roots in the prime field $\mathbb{F}_p$. We discuss the correspondence to families of elliptic curves and K3 surfaces of certain such hypergeometric polynomials, for which sharp bounds are obtained in some cases. We include some computations to illustrate and supplement our results.
The $E_8$ root lattice can be constructed from the modular curve $X(13)$ by the invariant theory for the simple group $\text{PSL}(2, 13)$. This gives a different construction of the $E_8$ root lattice. It also gives an explicit construction of the modular curve $X(13)$.
We study the roots of a random polynomial over the field of p-adic numbers. For a random monic polynomial with coefficients in $\mathbb{Z}_p$, we obtain an asymptotic formula for the factorial moments of the number of roots of this polynomial. In addition, we show the probability that a random polynomial of degree $n$ has more than $\log n$ roots is $O\big(n^{-K}\big)$ for some $K > 0$.
For CM elliptic curve over rational field with analytic rank one, for any potential good ordinary prime p, not dividing the number of roots of unity in the complex multiplication field, we show the p-part of its Shafarevich-Tate group has order predicted by the Birch and Swinnerton-Dyer conjecture.
We consider the problem of finding $1$-parameter families of elliptic curves whose root number does not average to zero as the parameter varies in $\mathbb{Z}$. We classify all such families when the degree of the coefficients (in the parameter $t$) is less than or equal to $2$ and we compute the rank over $\mathbb{Q}(t)$ of all these families. Also, we compute explicitly the average of the root numbers for some of these families highlighting some special cases. Finally, we prove some results on the possible values average root numbers can take, showing for example that all rational number in …
Let E be a one-parameter family of elliptic curves over a number field. It is natural to expect the average root number of the curves in the family to be zero. All known counterexamples to this folk conjecture occur for families obeying a certain degeneracy condition. We prove that the average root number is zero for a large class of families of elliptic curves of fairly general type. Furthermore, we show that any non-degenerate family E has average root number 0, provided that two classical arithmetical conjectures hold for two homogeneous polynomials with integral coefficients constructed ex…
For an elliptic curve E over a number field K, we prove that the algebraic rank of E goes up in infinitely many extensions of K obtained by adjoining a cube root of an element of K. As an example, we briefly discuss E=X_1(11) over Q, and how the result relates to Iwasawa theory.
A Lehmer number modulo a prime $p$ is an integer $a$ with $1 \leq a \leq p-1$ whose inverse $\bar{a}$ within the same range has opposite parity. Lehmer numbers that are also primitive roots have been discussed by Wang and Wang in an endeavour to count the number of ways $1$ can be expressed as the sum of two primitive roots that are also Lehmer numbers (an extension of a question of S. Golomb). In this paper we give an explicit estimate for the number of Lehmer primitive roots modulo $p$ and prove that, for all primes $p \neq 2,3,7$, Lehmer primitive roots exist. We also make explicit the know…
For a prime number $p$ we study the zeros modulo $p$ of divisor polynomials of rational elliptic curves $E$ of conductor $p$. Ono made the observation that these zeros of are often $j$-invariants of supersingular elliptic curves over $\overline{\mathbb{F}_p}$. We show that these supersingular zeros are in bijection with zeros modulo $p$ of an associated quaternionic modular form $v_E$. This allows us to prove that if the root number of $E$ is $-1$ then all supersingular $j$-invariants of elliptic curves defined over $\mathbb{F}_{p}$ are zeros of the corresponding divisor polynomial. If the roo…
Using the simple properties of Riemman integrable functions, Ramanujan's formula for sum of the square roots of first n natural numbers has been generalized to include r'th roots where r is any real number greater than 1.As an application we derive formula that gives factorial of positive integer $n$ similar to Stirling's formula.
We answer a challenge posed in (Math. Ann. 363 (2015), no. 1-2, 423-454) by proving a version of Weil's converse theorem that assumes a functional equation for character twists but allows their root numbers to vary arbitrarily.
We show that a large number of elliptic curve L-functions do not vanish at the central point, conditionally on the generalized Riemann hypothesis and on a hypothesis on the regular distribution of the root number.
A fundamental problem in the theory of linearized and projective polynomials over finite fields is to characterize the number of roots in the coefficient field directly from the coefficients. We prove results of this type, of a recursive nature. These results follow from our main theorem which characterizes the number of roots using the rank of a matrix that is smaller than the Dickson matrix.
In this paper we study the number of rational points on curves in an ensemble of abelian covers of the projective line: Let $\ell$ be a prime, $q$ a prime power and consider the ensemble $\mathcal{H}_{g,\ell}$ of $\ell$-cyclic covers of $\mathbb{P}^1_{\mathbb{F}_q}$ of genus $g$. We assume that $q\not\equiv 0,1\mod \ell$. If $2g+2\ell-2\not\equiv0\mod (\ell-1){\rm ord}_\ell(q)$, then $\mathcal{H}_{g,\ell}$ is empty. Otherwise, the number of rational points on a random curve in $\mathcal{H}_{g,\ell}$ distributes as $\sum_{i=1}^{q+1} X_i$ as $g\to \infty$, where $X_1,\ldots, X_{q+1}$ are i.i.d.\…
We detail the continued fraction expansion of the square root of monic sextic polynomials. We note in passing that each line of the expansion corresponds to addition of the divisor at infinity, and interpret the data yielded by the general expansion. In particular we obtain an associated Somos sequence defined by a three-term recurrence relation of gap~6.
For a global field K and an elliptic curve E_eta over K(T), Silverman's specialization theorem implies that rank(E_eta(K(T))) <= rank(E_t(K)) for all but finitely many t in P^1(K). If this inequality is strict for all but finitely many t, the elliptic curve E_eta is said to have elevated rank. All known examples of elevated rank for K=Q rest on the parity conjecture for elliptic curves over Q, and the examples are all isotrivial. Some additional standard conjectures over Q imply that there does not exist a non-isotrivial elliptic curve over Q(T) with elevated rank. In positive characteristic, …
We study the roots of a random polynomial over the field of $p$-adic numbers. For a random monic polynomial with i.i.d. coefficients in $\mathbb{Z}_p$, we obtain an estimate for the expected number of roots of this polynomial. In particular, if the coefficients take the values $\pm1$ with equal probability, the expected number of $p$-adic roots converges to $\left(p-1\right)/\left(p+1\right)$ as the degree of the polynomial tends to $\infty$.
We show that an orthogonal root number of a tempered L-parameter decomposes as the product of two other numbers: the orthogonal root number of the principal parameter and the value on a certain involution of Langlands's central character for the parameter. The formula resolves a conjecture of Gross and Reeder and computes root numbers of Weil-Deligne representations arising in the work of Hiraga, Ichino, and Ikeda on the Plancherel measure.
Using the discriminant modular form and the Noether formula it is possible to write the admissible self-intersection of the relative dualising sheaf of a semistable hyperelliptic curve over a number field or function field as a sum, over all places, of a certain adelic invariant. We provide a simple geometric interpretation for this invariant, based on the arithmetic of symmetric roots. We propose the conjecture that the invariant introduced in this paper coincides with an invariant introduced in a recent paper by S.-W. Zhang.
