Computing isogeny volcanoes of composite degree (Q426552)

Let \(p,\ell\) be two different prime numbers. The set of isomorphism classes of ordinary elliptic curves defined over \(\mathbb{F}_p\), whose \(j\)-invariant is different from \(0\) and \(1728\), can be given the structure of a graph by drawing an edge between every two curves admitting an \(\ell\)-isogeny between them. This graph is called an \(\ell\)-cordillera and its connected components are called volcanoes of \(\ell\)-isogenies. These volcanoes were originally used by \textit{D. Kohel} [Endomorphism rings of elliptic curves over finite fields. PhD thesis, University of California, Berkeley (1996)] to determine the endomorphism ring of an elliptic curve over \(\mathbb{F}_p\) and by \textit{M. Fouquet} and \textit{F. Morain} [Algorithmic number theory. ANTS-V, Lect. Notes Comput. Sci. 2369, 276--291 (2002; Zbl 1058.11041)] to accelerate the SEA algorithm. In this paper it is shown how to speed up the computation of a cordillera once a cordillera of a different degree is known. This is used to compute volcanoes of composite degree more efficiently than a direct construction using modular polynomials.