Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2014/iii/paper-22/5/i/solution
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2014 iii Paper 22 5 i Solution by
Codex 0 Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
Work in characteristic different from two, as in the number-field application below. Nonsingularity is equivalent to . The chord through and has slope . Using in the elliptic-curve addition formula givesThese formulas hold for ; addition interchanges and .
It follows that and . The relation isFor a direct verification, observe thatTherefore the two-isogeny formula isThe target elliptic curve is nonsingular because its corresponding coefficient product is . The rational map of projective varieties extends over the exceptional points to a morphism of smooth projective algebraic curves; at both and its affine coordinates tend to infinity, giving the displayed values. A nonconstant morphism between elliptic curves sending to is a group homomorphism, so this is an isogeny of elliptic curves.
One can also see the quotient directly: translation by leaves invariant. The equation makes the source function field a degree-two extension of the target function field; its nontrivial automorphism is translation by . Equivalently, the degree of an isogeny from its x-coordinate map is two. The kernel of an isogeny is precisely . Thus is a separable isogeny of degree two.
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