Root number of twists of an elliptic curve (Q2199673): Difference between revisions

For an elliptic curve \(E\) defined over \(\mathbb Q\), let \(W(E)\) be the root number of \(E\). This number is equal to the sign of the functional equation of \(L\)-series of \(E\) and is the product of local root numbers \(W_p(E)\) of \(E\). The local root number \(W_p(E)\) has been determined by \textit{D. E. Rohrlich} [Compos. Math. 100, No. 3, 311--349 (1996; Zbl 0860.11033)] for primes \(p\ge 5\) and by Halberstadt for \(p=2,3\). In this article, the author gives an explicit description of the behavior of the root numbers in the family obtained from twists of an elliptic curve by rational numbers and presents a criterion for the family to have constant root numbers. Let \(E_t\) be the twist of \(E\) by \(t\in\mathbb Q\). She gives an explicit formula of \(W(E_t)\) and shows that \(W(E_t)\) is not constant when \(t\) runs through \(\mathbb Z\backslash \{0\}\). In the case where \(j(E)\ne 0,1728\), she shows that \(W(E_t)\) is periodic on square-free positive (resp., negative) integers \(t\) (thus, \(W(E_t)\) is constant on a congruence class of \(t\)) and further she gives conditions for \(E\) such that \(W(E_t)\) is constant on \(\mathbb Z_{<0}\) and \(\mathbb Z_{>0}\). In the cases where \(j(E)=1728\) and \(0\), she shows that \(W(E_t)\) is square-periodic on fourth-powerfree positive (resp., negative) integers \(t\) and on sixth-powerfree positive (resp., negative) integers \(t\) respectively. Here a function \(f:\mathcal{F}\subset\mathbb Z\rightarrow \{\pm1\}\) is square-periodic if there exist positive integers \(M\) and \(N\) such that the congruences \(t\equiv t'\mod M\) and \(sq(t)\equiv sq(t')\mod N\) imply that \(f(t)=f(t')\), where \(sq(t)\) denotes the square-free part of \(t\).