Flexes of a diagonal cubic
ID: flexes-of-a-diagonal-cubic
Let and let be a primitive cube root of unity. The nine inflection points of a plane cubic on areThe Hessian criterion for flexes of a plane cubic gives the Hessian determinant , so every flex lies on one of the three coordinate lines. Their intersections give precisely the displayed points. With as identity, these are exactly the three-torsion points are flexes of a plane cubic configurations: the tangent divisor at a flex is , giving .
Over only the first point with is rational on . The other two coordinate lines each give one rational point precisely when is a rational cube. Consequently the rational three-torsion subgroup is when is a cube and is trivial otherwise.
New to topics? Read the docs here!