A complete Diophantine characterization of the rational torsion of an elliptic curve (Q1943016): Difference between revisions

The authors give a complete characterization for the rational torsion of an elliptic curve \(Q\) in terms of the (non-)existence of integral solutions of a system of Diophantine equations. The set of rational points of its projective closure, noted by \(E(Q)\), is a finitely generated abelian group (Mordell-Weil Theorem) and its torsion part, noted by \(T(E(Q))\) has been described by Mazur to be isomorphic to one of the following groups: \[ \mathbb Z/n\mathbb Z\quad\text{for}\;n = 1, 2, . . . , 10, 12; \] \[ \mathbb Z/2\mathbb Z\times\mathbb Z/2n\mathbb Z\quad\text{for}\;n = 1, 2, 3, 4. \] Here the authors give a procedure for finding out which of these groups is the actual torsion subgroup of their curve. They prove the following: Theorem 1.1 Let \(E: Y^2 = X^3 + AX + B\) be an elliptic curve, with \(A,B\in\mathbb Z\). For every \(n\in\{3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9\}\), there are, at most, 4 quasi-homogeneous polynomials \(P_n,Q_n,R_n, S_n\in\mathbb Z[z_1, \ldots, z_4]\) such that \(E\) has a rational point of order \(n\) if and only if there exists an integral solution for the system \[ P(z_1,z_2,z_3,z_4)=6^2A,\quad Q(z_1,z_2,z_3,z_4)=6^3B,\quad R(z_1,z_2,z_3,z_4)=0,\quad S(z_1,z_2,z_3,z_4)=0. \]