Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2023/iii/paper-125/5/a/solution

Fix a prime . If a rational point has , the integral projective Weierstrass equation forces
for some . Hence its formal parameter lies in , so belongs to the formal group of an elliptic curve at the identity. This formal kernel has no nonzero torsion for the present equation. Multiplication by an integer prime to is a formal-group automorphism, while the formal logarithm rules out -power torsion for odd . For , inversion sends to because the equation has no or term, and therefore
For , its leading term has strictly smaller valuation than every higher term, so cannot vanish; iterating excludes all two-power torsion as well.
Thus a nonzero torsion point cannot have . Since this holds for every prime, . The integral equation then makes an integer; a rational number whose square is integral is itself integral, so . This is the integrality assertion in the Lutz–Nagell theorem.

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