Cyclicity of elliptic curves modulo \(p\) and elliptic curve analogues of Linnik's problem (Q707424): Difference between revisions

Let \(E\) be an elliptic curve defined over \(\mathbb Q\) with conductor \(N\), let \(p\) be a prime not dividing \(N\), and let \(\overline {E}\) be the reduction of \(E\) modulo \(p\). The curve \(\overline {E}\) is an elliptic curve defined over the finite field \(\mathbb F_{p}\), and it is known that the group of \(\mathbb F_{p}\)-rational points \(\overline {E} (\mathbb F_{p})\) is a subgroup of a product of two finite cyclic groups. In the paper under review, the authors address the problem of when the group \(\overline {E} (\mathbb F_{p})\) is actually cyclic. This question is naturally related to two topics, namely Lang and Trotter's analogue for elliptic curves of Artin's primitive root conjecture [\textit{S. Lang} and \textit{H. Trotter}, Bull. Am. Math. Soc. 83, 289--292 (1977; Zbl 0345.12008)], and Koblitz's question on the proportion of primes \(p\) for which \(\#\overline {E} (\mathbb F_{p})\) is prime. More precisely, the authors study the function \(f_{E} (x) = \#\{p\leq x \mid (p,N)=1, \overline {E} (\mathbb F_{p})\text{cyclic}\}\). Serre, assuming a certain generalized Riemann hypothesis, showed in 1976 [\textit{J.-P. Serre}, Résumé des cours de 1977--1978. Annuaire du Collège de France, 67--70 (1978)] that as \(x\rightarrow \infty\), we have \(f_{E} (x) = \mathbf f_{E} \operatorname{li} x + \varepsilon (E,x)\), where \(\operatorname{li} x\) is the logarithmic integral, \(\mathbf f_{E}\) is a constant depending on the degrees of the fields obtained by adjoining the coordinates of the \(k\)-division points of \(E\), and \(\varepsilon (E,x)\) is an error term. The main results of the paper under review describe explicit error terms for \(f_{E} (x)\) of the form \(O_{N} (x^{\delta})\), for some \(0<\delta <1\), again assuming suitable generalized Riemann hypotheses. They display the explicit dependence of the error term in terms of \(N\), and use this to estimate the first prime \(p\) for which \(\overline {E} (\mathbb F_{p})\) is cyclic.