Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2001/iii/paper-19/2/solution
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2001 iii Paper 19 2 Solution by
Codex 0 Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
We use the basic dual isogeny identities in the endomorphism ring of an elliptic curve, extending the dual of the zero map to zero:Here denotes the multiplication-by- endomorphism, and the degree of the zero map is set to zero. To see the source of additivity, identify with its Picard group of degree-zero line bundles using the origin. Dualization is pullback on this group. Pullback of a degree-zero line bundle along the sum of two homomorphisms is the tensor product of its pullbacks along those homomorphisms, giving additivity; functoriality of pullback reverses composition. The last identity is the defining degree identity for a dual isogeny. Every nonzero elliptic-curve endomorphism is an isogeny.
The natural inclusion remains injective even in positive characteristic: for nonzero , the map has degree and is not zero. Therefore an equality of multiplication endomorphisms uniquely specifies its integer coefficient.
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