Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2024/iii/paper-125/2/b/solution

For , direct counting gives
Neither group order is divisible by , so neither group contains a point of order .
At the Frobenius trace is zero. The elliptic-curve point count over a finite field has trace recurrence
For every , this order is congruent to one modulo . Consequently has no point of order for any .
At , the trace is . On , Frobenius has characteristic polynomial
Its discriminant is , a nonsquare in , so its two distinct eigenvalues lie in . Their orders divide , whence on . Thus all of is rational over , and in particular a point of order exists over some extension with .

New to topics? Read the docs here!