Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2019/iii/paper-125/5/b/i/solution

Let be the -coordinate map and define the naive logarithmic height by
The duplication formula induces a degree-four morphism on the -line, so part (a) gives
uniformly in . The telescoping sequence is therefore Cauchy. Define the canonical height of an elliptic curve by
Summing the geometric error series proves that is bounded. If another function has this bounded-difference property and scales by four under doubling, evaluating the bounded difference at and dividing by proves uniqueness.

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