Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2008/iii/paper-28/2/ii/solution

For this Weierstrass equation of an elliptic curve, the inverse is . At a point with , implicit differentiation gives the tangent slope
If the tangent line is , substitution into the equation shows that the three intersection abscissae sum to . Two of them equal the tangency abscissa , so the third is . Reflecting the third intersection by the inverse formula gives the elliptic curve group law from Riemann-Roch doubling formula
For , the slope is , giving and . For , the slope is , giving and . Hence
In particular has order exactly three: it is nonidentity and .

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