Finite descent obstructions and rational points on curves
Michael Stoll
备注：
43 pages. Changes from previous version: some improvements in section 5, simplification in section 7, cut most of section 9 (which will be expanded and published separately), plus minor changes throughout
Let k be a number field and X a smooth projective k-variety. In this paper, we study the information obtainable from descent via torsors under finite k-group schemes on the location of the k-rational points on X within the adelic points.
Our main result is that if a curve C/k maps nontrivially into an abelian variety A/k such that A(k) is finite and Sha(k,A) has no nontrivial divisible elements, then the information coming from finite abelian descent cuts out precisely the rational points of C. We conjecture that this is the case for all curves of genus at least 2.
We relate finite descent obstructions to the Brauer-Manin obstruction; in particular, we prove that on curves, the Brauer set equals the set cut out by finite abelian descent. Our conjecture therefore implies that the Brauer-Manin obstruction against rational points in the only one on curves.
We provide a relation between Brauer-Manin obstruction and descent obstruction for torsors over open varieties under a connected linear algebraic group or a group of multiplicative type is given. Such a relation is further refined for torsors under a torus. As an appliaction, we prove that the semi-simple part of a connected linear algebraic group will satisfy strong approximation with Brauer-Manin obstruction if G iteself satisfies strong approximation with Brauer-Manin obstruction.The equivalence between descent obstruction and etale Brauer-Manin obstruction for smooth projective varieties i…
Let $S$ be a finite set of primes. We prove that a form of finite Galois descent obstruction is the only obstruction to the existence of $\mathbb{Z}_{S}$-points on integral models of Hilbert modular varieties, extending a result of D.Helm and F.Voloch about modular curves. Let $L$ be a totally real field. Under (a special case of) the absolute Hodge conjecture and a weak Serre's conjecture for mod $\ell$ representations of the absolute Galois group of $L$, we prove that the same holds also for the $\mathcal{O}_{L,S}$-points.
We extend the notion of rational points and cohomological obstructions on varieties to categories fibred in groupoids. We also establish the generalized theory of descent by torsors. Then we interpret the obstruction given by the second cohomology of abelian sheaves in terms of categorical points of gerbes, analogue to descent by torsors. As an application, we construct some composite obstructions not larger than the descent obstruction. We also propose some new kinds of obstructions including the derived obstruction, which has good behavior under a product and is also not larger than the desc…
Nous montrons comment associer à une gerbe définie sur un corps de nombres une obstruction de Brauer-Manin mesurant, comme dans le cas des variétés, le défaut d'existence d'une section globale. Ceci nous conduit à une généralisation de la dualité de Tate-Poitou au cas non-abélien. We find a way to associate to a gerbe defined over a number field a Brauer-Manin obstruction, which measures, as for varieties, the defect to the existence of a global section. This leads us to a generalization of Tate-Poitou duality in the non-abelian case.
For a nice algebraic variety $X$ over a number field $F$, one of the central problems of Diophantine Geometry is to locate precisely the set $X(F)$ inside $X(\A_F)$, where $\A_F$ denotes the ring of adèles of $F$. One approach to this problem is provided by the finite descent obstruction, which is defined to be the set of adelic points which can be lifted to twists of torsors for (certain) finite étale group schemes over $F$ on $X$. More recently, Kim proposed an iterative construction of another subset of $X(\A_F)$ which contains the set of rational points. In this paper, we compare the two c…
We give large families of Shimura curves defined by congruence conditions, all of whose twists lack $p$-adic points for some $p$. For each such curve we give analytically large families of counterexamples to the Hasse principle via the descent (or equivalently étale Brauer-Manin) obstruction to rational points applied to étale coverings coming from the level structure. More precisely, we find infinitely many quadratic fields defined using congruence conditions such that a twist of a related Shimura curve by each of those fields violates the Hasse principle. As a minimal example, we find the tw…
We show how to transport descent obstructions from the category of covers to the category of varieties. We deduce examples of curves having $\QQ$ as field of moduli, that admit models over every completion of $\QQ$, but have no model over $\QQ$.
We study the section conjecture of anabelian geometry and the sufficiency of the finite descent obstruction to the Hasse principle for the moduli spaces of principally polarized abelian varieties and of curves over number fields. For the former we show that the section conjecture fails and the finite descent obstruction holds for a general class of adelic points, assuming several well-known conjectures. This is done by relating the problem to a local-global principle for Galois representations. For the latter, we prove some partial results that indicate that the finite descent obstruction suff…
A torsor under a k-group scheme G on a variety X over a number field k imposes a descent obstruction against the existence of rational points on X. We discuss the finite descent obstruction, that is for all such torsors under finite k-groups G, in view of a local-global interpolation property for sections of the fundamental group short exact sequence of X/k. There are applications to the Brauer-Manin obstruction, to the descent obstruction by torsors under linear groups, and to the birational version of Grothendieck's section conjecture over number fields. In particular, we obtain examples of …
This paper is devoted to the explicit description of the Galois descent obstruction for hyperelliptic curves of arbitrary genus whose reduced automorphism group is cyclic of order coprime to the characteristic of their ground field. Along the way, we obtain an arithmetic criterion for the existence of a hyperelliptic descent. The obstruction is described by the so-called arithmetic dihedral invariants of the curves in question. If it vanishes, then the use of these invariants also allows the explicit determination of a model over the field of moduli; if not, then one obtains a hyperelliptic mo…
We show that a positive proportion of cubic fields are not monogenic, despite having no local obstruction to being monogenic. Our proof involves the comparison of $2$-descent and $3$-descent in a certain family of Mordell curves $E_k \colon y^2 = x^3 + k$. As a by-product of our methods, we show that, for every $r \geq 0$, a positive proportion of curves $E_k$ have Tate--Shafarevich group with $3$-rank at least $r$.
We split the program of explicit descent of elliptic curves into two parts. For $n=3$ and $n=5,$ we first display a model for the universal elliptic curve $E$ with full level $n$ structure and describe the map of rational points of $E$ to the cohomology group $H^1(G, E[n]).$ Second, we find models in $\PP^{n-1}$ of principal homogeneous spaces of $E$ corresponding to all possible elements of $H^1(G, E[n]),$ i.e. for those elements with trivial period-index obstruction. For this we use the relationship established in \cite{me2} between the period-index obstruction and the norm symbol, a general…
We extend the descent theory of Colliot-Thélène and Sansuc to arbitrary smooth algebraic varieties by removing the condition that every invertible regular function is constant. This links the Brauer--Manin obstruction for integral points on arithmetic schemes to the obstructions defined by torsors under groups of multiplicative type.
We explain how recent work on 3-descent and 4-descent for elliptic curves over Q can be combined to search for generators of the Mordell-Weil group of large height. As an application we show that every elliptic curve of prime conductor in the Stein-Watkins database has rank at least as large as predicted by the conjecture of Birch and Swinnerton-Dyer.
Comparing local-global obstructions on algebraic stacks
State Key Laboratory of Cyberspace Security Defense Institute of Information Engineering Chinese Academy of Sciences（中国科学院信息工程研究所网络空间安全防御国家重点实验室）；Hubei Key Laboratory of Applied Mathematics, Faculty of Mathematics and Statistics, Hubei University（湖北大学数学与统计学院应用数学湖北省重点实验室）；School of Mathematical Sciences, Beihang University（北京航空航天大学数学科学学院）
We consider the practical computation of rational points on y^2=x(x^2+ax+b). The algebra necessary for a 4-descent procedure is described. A simple further descent is then described which only uses integer arithmetic. Numerous examples are given to illustrate the effectiveness of this extra descent. Currently, the largest point found has height 51.15 or 102.3, depending on which height normalisation you use.
Let $k$ be a field of characteristic 0 and $G$ a linear algebraic $k$-group. When $G$ is abelian, it is well known that torsors under $G_{X}$ over a $k$-scheme $π:X\to \textup{Spec} k$ provide an obstruction to the existence of $k$-rational points on $X$, since Leray spectral sequence gives rise (when $X$ is 'nice', e.g. $X$ smooth and proper) to an exact sequence of groups (5-term exact sequence associated). This sequence gives an obstruction for a $\bar{G}_{X}$-torsor $\bar{P}\to\bar{X}$ with field of moduli $k$ to be defined over $k$, i.e. to be obtained by extension of scalars to the algeb…
In 2010, Poonen gave the first example of failure of the local-global principle that cannot be explained by Skorobogatov's étale Brauer-Manin obstruction. Motivated by this example, we show that the Brauer-Manin obstruction detects non-existence of rational points on a sufficiently fine Zariski open cover of any variety over an imaginary quadratic or totally real field. We provide some evidence for why this is expected to happen more generally over any number field, some of which relates to the section conjecture in anabelian geometry. We then prove a result about the behavior of the étale Bra…
Let $E$ be an elliptic curve over a number field $K$. Descent calculations on $E$ can be used to find upper bounds for the rank of the Mordell-Weil group, and to compute covering curves that assist in the search for generators of this group. The general method of 4-descent, developed in the PhD theses of Siksek, Womack and Stamminger, has been implemented in Magma (when $K={\mathbb Q}$) and works well for elliptic curves with sufficiently small discriminant. By extending work of Bremner and Cassels, we describe the improvements that can be made when $E$ has a rational 2-torsion point. In parti…
We determine the odd order torsion subgroup of the Brauer group of diagonal quartic surfaces over the field of rational numbers. We show that a non-constant Brauer element of odd order always obstructs weak approximation but never the Hasse principle.
Let $\mathbb{F}$ be a finite field and $C,D$ smooth, geometrically irreducible proper curves over $\mathbb{F}$ and set $K = \mathbb{F}(D)$. We consider Brauer-Manin and abelian descent obstructions to the existence of rational points and to weak approximation for the curve $C \otimes_\mathbb{F} K$. In particular, we show that Brauer-Manin is the only obstruction to weak approximation and the Hasse principle in the case that the genus of $D$ is less than that of $C$. We also show that we can identify the points corresponding to non-constant maps $D \to C$ using Frobenius descents.
Let $k$ be a number field, let $X$ be a Kummer variety over $k$, and let $δ$ be an odd integer. In the spirit of a result by Yongqi Liang, we relate the arithmetic of rational points over finite extensions of $k$ to that of zero-cycles over $k$ for $X$. For example, we show that if the Brauer-Manin obstruction is the only obstruction to the existence of rational points on $X$ over all finite extensions of $k$, then the $2$-primary Brauer-Manin obstruction is the only obstruction to the existence of a zero-cycle of degree $δ$ on $X$ over $k$.
Let $k$ be a number field. In the spirit of a result by Yongqi Liang, we relate the arithmetic of rational points over finite extensions of $k$ to that of zero-cycles over $k$ for Kummer varieties over $k$. For example, for any Kummer variety $X$ over $k$, we show that if the Brauer-Manin obstruction is the only obstruction to the Hasse principle for rational points on $X$ over all finite extensions of $k$, then the ($2$-primary) Brauer-Manin obstruction is the only obstruction to the Hasse principle for zero-cycles of any given odd degree on $X$ over $k$. We also obtain similar results for pr…
For a curve over a global field we consider for which integers d the d-primary part of the Brauer group can obstruct the existence of rational points. We give examples showing it is possible that there is a d-primary obstruction for infinitely many relatively coprime d, and also an example where the odd part of the Brauer group does not obstruct although there is a Brauer-Manin obstruction. These examples demonstrate that a slightly stronger form of a conjecture of Poonen is false, despite being supported by the same heuristic.
We describe an algorithm that determines a set of unramified covers of a given hyperelliptic curve, with the property that any rational point will lift to one of the covers. In particular, if the algorithm returns an empty set, then the hyperelliptic curve has no rational points. This provides a relatively efficiently tested criterion for solvability of hyperelliptic curves. We also discuss applications of this algorithm to curves of genus 1 and to curves with rational points.
Suppose $X$ is a torsor under an abelian variety $A$ over a number field. We show that any adelic point of $X$ that is orthogonal to the algebraic Brauer group of $X$ is orthogonal to the whole Brauer group of $X$. We also show that if there is a Brauer-Manin obstruction to the existence of rational points on $X$, then there is already an obstruction coming from the locally constant Brauer classes. These results had previously been established under the assumption that $A$ has finite Tate-Shafarevich group. Our results are unconditional.
A rational perfect cuboid is a rectangular parallelepiped whose edges and face diagonals are given by rational numbers and whose space diagonal is equal to unity. Recently it was shown that the Diophantine equations describing such a cuboid lead to a couple of parametric families of elliptic curves. Two and three descent methods for calculating their ranks are discussed in the present paper. The elliptic curves in each parametric family are subdivided into two subsets admitting 2-descent and 3-descent methods respectively.
A pseudomodular group is a finite coarea nonarithmetic Fuchsian group whose cusp set is exactly $\mathbb{P}^1(\mathbb{Q})$. Long and Reid constructed finitely many of these by considering Fricke groups, i.e., those that uniformize one-cusped tori. We prove that a zonal Fricke group with rational cusps is pseudomodular if and only if its cusp set is dense in the finite adeles of $\mathbb{Q}$. We then deduce that infinitely many such Fricke groups are not pseudomodular.
We work out the complete descent via 4-isogeny for a family of rational elliptic curves with a rational point of order 4; such a family is of the form $y^2 + x y + a y = x^3 + a x^2$ where $\sqrt{-a} \in \mathbb Q^\times$. In the process we exhibit the 4-isogeny and the isogenous curve, explicitly present the principal homogeneous spaces, and discuss examples by computing the rank.
We prove that for a large class of subvarieties of abelian varieties over global function fields, the Brauer-Manin condition on adelic points cuts out exactly the rational points. This result is obtained from more general results concerning the intersection of the adelic points of a subvariety with the adelic closure of the group of rational points of the abelian variety.
We prove that, on a sufficiently general diagonal quartic surface, there is a non-trivial Brauer group but no Brauer-Manin obstruction to the existence of rational points.
This is a textbook on arithmetic geometry with special regard to unramified Brauer groups of algebraic varieties. The topics include Galois cohomology, Brauer groups, obstructions to stable rationality, arithmetic and geometry of quadrics, Weil restriction of scalars, algebraic tori, an example of a stably rational non-rational variety, Brauer-Manin obstruction. All material is split into locally trivial problems with detailed hints.
In the previous paper, Hirakawa and the author determined the set of rational points of a certain infinite family of hyperelliptic curves $C^{(p;i,j)}$ parametrized by a prime number $p$ and integers $i$, $j$. In the proof, we used the standard $2$-descent argument and a Lutz-Nagell theorem that was proven by Grant. In this paper, we extend the above work. By using the descent theorem, the proof for $j=2$ is reduced to elliptic curves of rank $0$ that are independent of $p$. On the other hand, for odd $j$, we consider another hyperelliptic curve $C'^{(p;i,j)}$ whose Jacobian variety is isogeno…
Let F be a finite field of characteristic p. We consider smooth surfaces over F(t) defined by an equation f+tg=0, where f and g are forms of degree d in 4 variables with coefficients in F, with d prime to p. We prove : For such surfaces over F(t), the Brauer-Manin obstruction to the existence of a zero-cycle of degree one is the only obstruction. For d=3 (cubic surfaces), this leads to the same result for rational points. -- Soit F un corps fini de caractéristique p. Pour une surface lisse sur F(t) définie par une équation f+tg=0, où f et g sont deux formes de degré d sur F en 4 variables, ave…
Let r > 0 be an integer. We present a sufficient condition for an abelian variety A over a number field k to have infinitely many quadratic twists of rank at least r, in terms of density properties of rational points on the Kummer variety Km(A^r) of the r-fold product of A with itself. One consequence of our results is the following. Fix an abelian variety A over k, and suppose that for some r > 0 the Brauer-Manin obstruction to weak approximation on the Kummer variety Km(A^r) is the only one. Then A has a quadratic twist of rank at least r. Hence if the Brauer-Manin obstruction is the only on…
Following Bright and Newton, we construct an explicit K$3$ surface over the rational numbers having good reduction at 2, and for which 2 is the only prime at which weak approximation is obstructed.
We construct a smooth and projective surface over an arbitrary number field that is a counterexample to the Hasse principle but has the infinite etale Brauer-Manin set. We also construct a surface with a unique rational point and the infinite etale Brauer-Manin set. The key new ingredient is the arithmetic of singular projective curves.
We construct an explicit K3 surface over the field of rational numbers that has geometric Picard rank one, and for which there is a transcendental Brauer-Manin obstruction to weak approximation. To do so, we exploit the relationship between polarized K3 surfaces endowed with particular kinds of Brauer classes and cubic fourfolds.
