Hecke points on modular curves (Q1813437)

This paper studies the action of the Hecke operators on the height of points on a modular curve. Let \(x\) be a point on \(X=\) the modular curve corresponding to \(\Gamma(N)\), or \(\Gamma_ 1(N)\), or \(\Gamma_ 0(N)\), the usual congruence subgroups. For a point \(x\) in \(X(\overline\mathbb{Q})\), and an integer \(m\), the Hecke correspondance \(T_ m\) associates a formal sum \(\sum y_ i\). The purpose of the paper is to compare the height of \(x\) to the sum \(h_ m(x)\) of the heights of the \(y_ i\). The first step in proving the result is to reduce the computations of heights to the main modular curve corresponding to \(SL_ 2(\mathbb{Z})\). After that the local components of the height are analysed. For the finite prime the situation is quite easy; for the infinite place a comparison to the Eisenstein series is used. The author can deduce from his main result combined with Serre's result on the size of the image of the Galois group on the torsion of an elliptic curve that for \(m\) prime and big enough the \(y_ i\) are non torsion points in the jacobian (unpublished result of Mazur); the proof uses also Raynaud's theorem comparing the image of \(X\) in its jacobian and the torsion part of it.