Cyclic reduction densities for elliptic curves (Q6095443)

Let \(K\) be a number field with the discriminant \(\Delta_K\) and \(E\) be an elliptic curve defined over \(K\). The authors consider the problem about the density \(\delta_{E/K}\) of the set \(S_{E/K}\) of prime ideals \(\mathfrak p\) of \(K\), where \(E\) has good cyclic reduction, which means that \(E\) has good reduction at \(\mathfrak p\) and the reduction group rational over the residue field of \(\mathfrak p\) is cyclic. This problem is an analogy of Artin's primitive root conjecture. For an integer \(m\), let \(K_m\) denote the \(m\)-division field of \(E\) over \(K\) and \(d_m=[K_m:K]\). Let \(\mathfrak p\) be a prime of good reduction of \(E\). Then \(\mathfrak p\in S_{E/K}\) if and only if \(\mathfrak p\) does not split completely in \(K_\ell\) for any prime numbers \(\ell\). The Tschebotareff density of prime ideals of \(K\) which do not split completely in \(K_\ell\) is \(A_\ell=1-1/d_\ell\). Under GRH, the density of \(S_{E/K}\) is given by \(\delta_{E/K}=\lim_{n\to\infty}\delta_{E/K}(n)\), where \(\delta_{E/K}(n)=\sum_{m|n}\mu(m)/d_m\) and \(\mu(m)\) is the Möbius function. The series converges and its limit is non-negative. If \(\delta_{E/K}=0\), then \(S_{E/K}\) is finite. Otherwise, it is an open problem to prove unconditionally that \(S_{E/K}\) is infinite. Since this series converges rather slowly, it is unsuitable to determine whether \(\delta_{E/K}\) vanishes. To escape this difficulty, the authors factor the sum as the product of a finite sum and an infinite non-vanishing product. By studying the entanglement of the family \(\{K_\ell\}\), the following results are proved. If \(E\) has no CM (complex multiplication) or has CM rational over \(K\), then \(\delta_{E/K}=\delta_{E/K}(N)\prod_{\ell\nmid N}A_\ell\), where \(N\) is an integer defined below. If \(E\) had no CM, then \(N\) is a finite product of primes \(p\) satisfying one of the following conditions: (1) \(p\mid 30\Delta_K\); (2) \(p\) is divisible by a prime of bad reduction of \(E/K\); (3) \(\mathrm{Gal}(K_p/K)\not\simeq \mathrm{GL}_2(\mathbb Z/p\mathbb Z)\), and \(A_\ell=1-1/(\ell^2-1)(\ell^2-\ell)\) for \(\ell\nmid N\). If \(E\) has CM rational over \(K\), then \(N\) is a finite product of \(p\) satisfying one of the following conditions: (1) \(p\) is divisible by a prime of bad reduction of \(E/K\); (2) \(p\mid \Delta(\mathcal{O})\Delta_K\), and \(A_\ell=1- 1/\sharp(\mathcal{O}/\ell\mathcal{O})^\times\), since the Galois group \(\mathrm{Gal}(K_\ell/K)\simeq (\mathcal{O}/\ell\mathcal{O})^\times\) for \(\ell\nmid N\). Here \(\mathcal{O}=\mathrm{End}(E)\) and \(\Delta(\mathcal{O})\) is the discriminant of \(\mathcal{O}\). If \(E\) has CM not rational over \(K\), then \(\delta_{E/K}=\delta_{E/K}^{ss}+\frac12\delta_{E/FK}\), where \(F\) is the CM field, and \(\delta_{E/K}^{ss}\) denotes the density of supersingular prime ideals in \(S_{E/K}\) and takes one of values \(0,1/4,1/2\) according to \(K=K_2, K\nsubseteq K_2\nsubseteq K_2F,K_2=KF\) respectively. The density \(\delta_{E/k}\) is called non-trivial vanishing if \(K\nsupseteq K_\ell\) for any \(\ell\) and \(\delta_{E/K}=0\). The authors shows that if \(\delta_{E/K}>0\), then there exists a finite normal extension \(K'/K\) linearly disjoint over \(K\) from a given any finite normal extension \(M/K\) such that \(\delta_{E/K'}\) is non-trivially vanishing. In the final part, they explain how to compute \(\delta_{E/\mathbb Q}\) for seven examples of non-CM types.