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For a smooth genus one curve with origin $O$, the map $P\mapsto [(P)-(O)]$ identifies geometric points with the degree-zero Picard group of a curve. Riemann-Roch theorem gives a unique effective representative for each divisor class of degree one: its Riemann-Roch space has dimension one. A line cuts a plane cubic in a divisor linearly equivalent to $3(O)$ when $O$ is the Weierstrass flex. The two successive line intersections in the chord-and-tangent group law therefore give addition of the corresponding divisor classes. Associativity follows by injectivity of the identification and associativity of divisor-class addition, including tangent intersection multiplicities.

Work near the identity $O$ of a generalized Weierstrass equation of an elliptic curve. On the projective chart where $Y\ne 0$, use the local parameter $t=-x/y$ and the auxiliary coordinate $w=-1/y$. Substitution givesThe coefficient of $w$ in the linearized equation at $(0,0)$ is one. Consequently, successive coefficient comparison determines a unique formal power series $w(t)$, without dividing by any coefficient of the equation. Its initial terms areRecover the affine coordinates as Laurent series $x=t/w(t)$ and $y=-1/w(t)$; in particular $x=t^{-2}+O(t^{-1})$ and $y=-t^{-3}+O(t^{-2})$.

The elliptic curve group law is a regular morphism near $(O,O)$. Applying the local parameter to the sum and passing to completed local rings producesOne can construct the series without any nonunit division. PutThe divided difference is an integral formal power series, including its tangent line specialization at $T_1=T_2$. The line $w=\lambda t+\nu$ meets the cubic in the two chosen points and a third point $R$. Substitution in the equation shows that its cubic and quadratic coefficients in $t$ are $-A,-B$, whereSince $\lambda$ has total degree at least two and $\nu$ at least three, $A$ is a unit. The sum of the roots therefore givesThe last expression reflects the third intersection according to the chord-and-tangent group law. Both denominators have constant term one. This proves integrality of the universal construction and also provides an explicit coefficient algorithm. Expanding it, the resulting formal group of an elliptic curve beginsThe integral coefficient recursion and the unit-denominator addition calculation work universally over $\mathbb{Z}[a_1,a_2,a_3,a_4,a_6]$; thus these coefficients specialize in every characteristic of a field. This is the initial coefficients of the elliptic formal group at infinity construction, rather than a definition requiring division by the elliptic-curve discriminant.

The identity, commutativity and associativity of the elliptic curve group law give the defining identities of a one-dimensional commutative formal group law:Reflection in the generalized Weierstrass equation of an elliptic curve gives its formal inverse explicitly:Successive addition gives the multiplication series $[n{]}_F(T)=nT+O(T^2)$.

In characteristic zero, an especially useful description comes from the invariant differential on an elliptic curve:Integrating with zero constant term constructs the formal logarithmTranslation invariance of the invariant differential on an elliptic curve implies $L(F(X,Y))=L(X)+L(Y)$. Thus the formal logarithm converts the formal group law into the formal additive group in characteristic zero. Expanding this identity to degree three also recovers the displayed coefficients of $F$; in positive characteristic the integral addition construction remains valid although the logarithmic denominators may not exist.

The good-reduction map respects elliptic addition. Since the finite groups at two and three have orders five and seven, respectively, $5P$ reduces to $O$ at two and $7P$ reduces to $O$ at three. These multiples are not $O$, since $P$ has infinite order. The formal kernel of a minimal Weierstrass equation gives, for every nonidentity point in the reduction kernel at $p$,Thus both coordinates of $5P$ have negative two-adic valuation, and both coordinates of $7P$ have negative three-adic valuation. In particularThere is also an elementary way to see that both coordinates must fail integrality here. An integral affine pair cannot reduce to the point at infinity. If one coordinate had negative valuation and the other nonnegative valuation, the equation would give different valuations on its two sides. When both are negative the lowest-valuation terms give $2v_p(y)=3v_p(x)$, so both are indeed negative.

For a direct numerical confirmation, continuing the chord-and-tangent group law calculation givesThe original printed part repeats its request about $7P$ at the end; the two distinct requested multiples are $5P$ and $7P$.

At $P_1=(0,0)$ the tangent slope is $-2$, so its equation is $y=-2x$. Substitution leaves $x^3=0$; this tangent meets the curve three times at $P_1$. The chord-and-tangent group law therefore givesIn particular $P_1$ has exact order three. The chord through $P_1$ and $P_2=(-2,-4)$ is $y=2x$. Substitution gives $x(x+2)(x-2)=0$, so the third intersection is $(2,4)$. Negating it gives

Choose a Weierstrass equation of an elliptic curve, with origin $O$ at infinity. For $P,Q$, draw their chord, or the tangent if they coincide, and call its third intersection $R$, counted with intersection multiplicity. The line through $R$ and $O$ gives a third point $S$; define $P+Q=S$. This is the chord-and-tangent group law. The inverse of an affine point on $y^2+a_{1}xy+a_{3}y=x^3+a_2{x}^2+a_{4}x+a_6$ is $(x,-y-a_{1}x-a_3)$, obtained from its vertical line through $O$. These conventions give identity $O$, and cover tangent and flex cases by multiplicity.

Here is a proof of associativity, without assuming that the geometric construction already defines a group. Work first over an algebraic closure and use divisors on an algebraic curve. The Riemann-Roch theorem says $\ell (D)-\ell (K_E-D)=\mathrm{deg}D+1-g$. For a smooth genus-one curve the canonical divisor has degree zero, so every degree-one divisor has $\ell (D)=1$. Thus every divisor class of degree one has a unique effective representative, necessarily a single point. Existence follows from a nonzero section; uniqueness follows because two distinct effective representatives would give linearly independent sections in the same one-dimensional space. Consequentlyis a bijection: add $(O)$ to any degree-zero divisor class, and use its unique degree-one representative.

A line through $P,Q,R$ cuts out a divisor linearly equivalent to $3(O)$, since the line at infinity has triple intersection at the Weierstrass flex $O$. Equivalently, the ratio of the line equation to that of the line at infinity has principal divisor $(P)+(Q)+(R)-3(O)$. Thus the three corresponding degree-zero classes sum to zero. Applying the same fact to $O,R,S$ shows that the point produced by the chord-and-tangent process satisfiesAddition of divisors modulo principal divisors is associative. The two parenthesizations of $P+Q+T$ therefore have identical classes; injectivity of the displayed bijection makes them the same point. Hence the chord-and-tangent law is associative. This is associativity of the chord-and-tangent law via divisor classes. Its construction is defined over the original field, so the same conclusion holds for its rational points.

An elliptic curve works over every algebraically closed field, including one algebraic over a finite field. Give it explicitly in ${\mathbb{P}}^2$ byIn the first case the only point at infinity is $O=[0:1:0]$, where the derivative with respect to $z$ is nonzero. In the affine chart $z=1$, a singular point of an algebraic variety would have $y=0$, $x^3-x=0$, and $3x^2-1=0$. The possible roots $x=0,1,-1$ cannot satisfy the last equation in characteristic different from $2$: at $0$ it is $-1$, and at $\pm 1$ it is $2$. In the second case the three homogeneous partial derivatives are $x^2,z^2,y^2$, up to harmless signs, and cannot vanish simultaneously at a projective point. Thus both cubics are smooth varieties. A reducible plane cubic would have intersecting positive-degree components by Bézout theorem, and be singular at an intersection; therefore these smooth cubics are irreducible varieties. The genus-degree formula gives $g=(3-1)(3-2)/2=1$. With the marked point $O$ they are elliptic curves.

For a smooth algebraic curve, its divisor class group is its Picard group. Its degree-zero subgroup isThe map $P\mapsto [P-O]$ gives an isomorphism of abelian groupsTo recall why it is a bijection, Riemann-Roch theorem in geometric genus one says every degree-one divisor class has exactly one independent section: a canonical divisor has degree zero, so the dual degree-$-1$ term has no section. Thus the class contains one effective divisor on an algebraic curve of degree one, namely a point $P$, and that point is unique. Translating by $-O$ gives the claimed bijection; this is precisely the chord-and-tangent group law on the elliptic curve.

Choose a prime integer $\ell$ different from $\mathrm{char}k$. The multiplication-by-n morphism $[\ell ]:E\to E$ has derivative $\ell$ times the identity at $O$, so it is nonconstant. A nonconstant morphism of algebraic varieties between smooth projective curves is surjective: its image is closed by proper morphism and cannot have algebraic dimension zero. Since $k$ is an algebraically closed field, this makes $[\ell ]$ surjective on $k$-points. ThereforeYet $E(k)$ is infinite. For each $x\in k$, the affine equation has a solution for $y$ in the algebraically closed field; since $k$ is infinite, this gives infinitely many points.

By the Fundamental theorem of finitely generated abelian groups, a finitely generated abelian group $A$ satisfying $A=\ell A$ has no free part and is a finite torsion group of order prime to $\ell$. The infinite group $E(k)$ cannot have this property while being finitely generated. Thus ${\mathrm{Pic}}^0(E)$ is not finitely generated. A subgroup of a finitely generated abelian group is finitely generated, soThis proof uses divisibility and infinitude, rather than uncountability, so it remains valid over countable algebraically closed fields.

Write $g_2=60G_4$ and $g_3=140G_6$, with the lattice sums taken over nonzero lattice elements. Reindexing the normally convergent series shows that the Weierstrass elliptic function $\wp$ is an even function, and consequently ${\wp }^{\prime }$ is an odd function. Expanding $(z-w{)}^{-2}$ near zero and cancelling the odd lattice sums gives the Laurent coefficients of the Weierstrass elliptic functionThus the elliptic function ${\wp }^{\prime 2}-4{\wp }^3+60G_4\wp$ has no pole at zero and its constant term is $-140G_6$. By periodicity it has no poles anywhere. An entire elliptic function is bounded on a fundamental parallelogram and hence everywhere, so Liouville theorem makes it constant. This proves the Weierstrass elliptic differential equation

We first verify that the cubic is smooth, rather than presupposing it when using its group law. There are three nonzero two-torsion points of a complex torus $h_j\in (\frac{1}{2}\Lambda )/\Lambda$. Oddness and periodicity imply ${\wp }^{\prime }(h_j)=0$. Since ${\wp }^{\prime }$ has a triple pole and no other poles on the torus, value multiplicity of an elliptic function says that these three distinct zeros exhaust its zeros and are simple. Put $e_j=\wp (h_j)$. Each $\wp -e_j$ has a double zero at $h_j$, since ${\wp }^{\prime }(h_j)=0$ and the zero of ${\wp }^{\prime }$ is simple. If $e_i=e_j$ with $i\ne j$, this same function would have at least four zeros counted with multiplicity, although its only pole is double. Therefore the half-period values of the Weierstrass elliptic function are distinct. They are roots of $4x^3-g_{2}x-g_3$, so all its roots are distinct and the affine curve is a smooth algebraic curve. Its projective closure isIt has the single point $O=(0:1:0)$ at infinity. The derivative with respect to $Z$ of the defining homogeneous polynomial is nonzero at $O$, proving smoothness there too.

For any finite value $a$, value multiplicity of an elliptic function gives exactly two solutions of $\wp (z)=a$, counting multiplicities. Evenness supplies the pair $z,-z$. At a nonzero half-period these coincide and the zero is double; elsewhere they are distinct. An even elliptic function $f$ therefore descends to a meromorphic function of $x=\wp (z)$ on the Riemann sphere. To justify descent at a half-period, put $z=h+u$: both $f(h+u)$ and $\wp (h+u)$ are even in $u$, and $\wp (h+u)-\wp (h)$ is $u^2$ times a nonvanishing even analytic function. The local Laurent series of $f$ is consequently meromorphic in the coordinate $x-e$. At zero the same argument uses $1/x=z^2+O(z^6)$. Every meromorphic function on the Riemann sphere is a rational function, proving that even elliptic functions are rational in the Weierstrass function.

For an arbitrary elliptic function $f$, its even part $(f(z)+f(-z))/2$ is $A(\wp )$. Its odd part divided by ${\wp }^{\prime }$ is an even meromorphic function, hence is $B(\wp )$ with $B$ rational. We have therefore proved the elliptic function-field decompositionUniqueness follows by taking even and odd parts. In particular the field of elliptic functions is $\mathbb{C}(\wp ,{\wp }^{\prime })$.

Define $\Phi (0)=O$ and $\Phi (z)=(\wp (z),{\wp }^{\prime }(z))$ elsewhere on $\mathbb{C}/\Lambda$. Periodicity makes the map well defined. Near zero, the projective chart $Y\ne 0$ has coordinates $X/Y=\wp /{\wp }^{\prime }=-z/2+O(z^5)$ and $Z/Y=1/{\wp }^{\prime }=-z^3/2+O(z^7)$, so the extension is holomorphic. The fiber description above proves injectivity: the two candidates $z,-z$ are distinguished by ${\wp }^{\prime }$ unless they coincide at a half-period. It also proves surjectivity, since every $x$ occurs and the two derivatives are the two allowed $y$ values, with $y=0$ at a branch value.

Finally, a nonvertical line $y=ax+b$ pulls back to the elliptic function ${\wp }^{\prime }-a\wp -b$, whose only pole is triple at zero. Its three zeros $z_1,z_2,z_3$, counted with intersection multiplicity, satisfy $z_1+z_2+z_3=0$ modulo $\Lambda$ by the zero-pole sum of an elliptic function. On the cubic, reflection $y\mapsto -y$ corresponds to $z\mapsto -z$. The chord-and-tangent group law therefore gives $\Phi (z_1)+\Phi (z_2)=\Phi (-z_3)=\Phi (z_1+z_2)$. Vertical lines give inverse pairs; tangencies are included through repeated zeros, and the identity cases follow from the extension at zero. This completes the Weierstrass uniformization by half-period values: $\Phi$ is a group isomorphism.

For an integral Minimal Weierstrass equation, let $E_0({\mathbb{Q}}_p)$ be the subgroup of points whose reduction is a smooth point of the reduced cubic. Its reduction is a homomorphism to the smooth-locus group of a singular Weierstrass cubic, or to the whole reduced elliptic curve in the good-reduction case. Define the formal kernel of a minimal Weierstrass equation byIt consists of the identity and the points reducing to the identity at infinity. For a nonidentity affine point this is equivalent to $v_p(x)=-2r$ and $v_p(y)=-3r$ for some positive integer $r$.

The local parameter $t=-x/y$, with $t(O)=0$, gives the group isomorphismwhere $\hat{E}$ is the formal group of an elliptic curve. To see the local coordinates, put $w=-1/y$ in the Weierstrass equation of an elliptic curve. The resulting relation is $w=t^3+a_{1}tw+a_2{t}^{2}w+a_3{w}^2+a_{4}t{w}^2+a_6{w}^3$, and its unit linear coefficient gives a unique integral series $w(t)=t^3+O(t^4)$. Thus $x=t/w$ and $y=-1/w$ have valuations $-2v_p(t)$ and $-3v_p(t)$. The chord-and-tangent group law expressed in this parameter is precisely the integral formal group law $\hat{E}$. This description includes bad reduction; only the smooth identity neighborhood is involved.

Write the cubic in the Weierstrass equation of an elliptic curve as $f(x)=x^3+a_2{x}^2+a_{4}x+a_6$. A suitable invariant differential on an elliptic curve isIt is regular and nonzero wherever $y\ne 0$. At a point with $y=0$, nonsingularity gives $f^{\prime }(x)\ne 0$, and differentiating the equation shows $\omega =dy/f^{\prime }(x)$, again regular and nonzero. At the identity $O$, use the parameter $t=-x/y$: the expansions start $x=t^{-2}+\cdots$, $y=-t^{-3}+\cdots$, so $\omega =(1+\cdots )dt$. Thus it is a nowhere-vanishing regular differential on the whole smooth projective curve.

Here is a direct proof of translation invariance of a Weierstrass differential. Fix $Q=(u,v)$, let $P=(x,y)$ vary, and write $P+Q=(X,Y)$. On the open set where the chord-and-tangent group law uses an ordinary chord, put $h=(y-v)/(x-u)$. The addition formulas are $X=h^2-a_2-x-u$ and $Y=h(x-X)-y$. The line-intersection identity isDifferentiate this polynomial in $T$ at $T=x$ to obtain $f^{\prime }(x)-2yh=(x-u)(x-X)$. Differentiating $h$ along the curve now gives $dh/dx=(x-X)/(2y)$, and henceThis proves translation invariance on a dense open set. Since the translation on an elliptic curve is an automorphism and both sides are regular differentials, it proves invariance everywhere, including the exceptional addition cases. Translation by $O$ is the identity.

Translation invariance also gives ${\mu }^{\ast }\omega ={\mathrm{pr}}_1^{\ast }\omega +{\mathrm{pr}}_2^{\ast }\omega$ for the addition map: its differential on a tangent pair is the sum of the two translated tangent vectors. Therefore $[j{]}^{\ast }\omega =j\omega$ for every integer $j$.

Let $d_j=\mathrm{deg}[j]$, with the zero endomorphism assigned degree zero. The assumed degree identity, applied to $[j]$ and $[1]$, givesInduction gives $\mathrm{deg}[j]=j^2$ for positive $j$; negation is an automorphism, so the result holds for negative $j$ as well. This is quadratic degree recursion for elliptic multiplication.

For a prime $\ell \ne p$, the invariant differential on an elliptic curve has nonzero pullback under $[\ell ]$, so that map is a separable isogeny. Translation identifies all its fibres and their local multiplicities, so its geometric kernel has exactly its degree ${\ell }^2$ distinct points. It is killed by $\ell$, and thereforeThe algebraic closure is essential here; the assertion is not generally true for the rational-point subgroup over ${\mathbb{F}}_p$ itself. This is prime-to-characteristic geometric torsion.

For $[p]$, the pullback differential vanishes. Its total degree is $p^2$, and its inseparable degree is at least $p$, so its kernel has at most $p$ geometric points. Thus $E({\mathbb{F}}_p)[p]$ has dimension at most one over ${\mathbb{F}}_p$, while every other prime-torsion subgroup has dimension at most two. The rational-point group is finite and abelian. The structure theorem for finite abelian groups says that the number of cyclic factors of an $\ell$-primary component equals the dimension of its subgroup killed by $\ell$. Each component therefore has at most two factors. Combining the smaller primary factors into one cyclic group and the larger ones into another yieldsOne may also choose $p\nmid m$, since the $p$-primary component is cyclic. This explains two generators for elliptic curves over finite fields.

Let $C$ be the projective cubic of a Weierstrass equation of an elliptic curve, allowing its elliptic-curve discriminant to vanish, and let $O=[0:1:0]$. Use only the smooth locus of a variety $C_{\mathrm{sm}}(K)$: the singular point, if present, is excluded. For $P,Q$, intersect their chord with $C$, using the tangent if $P=Q$ and counting intersection multiplicity. If the third intersection is $R$, define $P+Q=-R$, wherein general Weierstrass equation of an elliptic curve coordinates. The line through $R$ and $O$ gives this reflection. A vertical chord gives $P+(-P)=O$, and the tangent at $O$ meets $C$ three times at $O$, so $O$ is the identity. The construction is symmetric in $P,Q$. It stays in the nonsingular locus: a line through a singular point has intersection multiplicity at least two there, and therefore cannot also contain two smooth intersections counted with multiplicity.

For the nonsingular case, prove associativity by transporting a known abelian group law. The Abel-Jacobi map of a genus-one curveis bijective over an algebraic closure. Indeed, the Riemann-Roch theorem in genus one says that every divisor class of degree one has a unique effective representative consisting of one point: existence follows from $\ell (D)=1$, and uniqueness follows because two distinct representatives would produce a degree-one map to the projective line, impossible for a genus one curve. Subtracting $O$ gives the claimed bijection.

Any line section represents the same divisor class as $3O$, including tangencies. Thus $P+Q+R\sim 3O$ as divisors on an algebraic curve, while the vertical line gives $R+(-R)+O\sim 3O$. HenceAddition in the Picard group is associative, soThe chord-and-tangent group law is defined over $K$, so the group operation restricts to the $K$-rational points.

For completeness, a singular Weierstrass equation of an elliptic curve produces the smooth-locus group of a singular Weierstrass cubic, not an elliptic curve. Over an algebraic closure, its normalization of an algebraic curve is the projective line; deleting the two preimages of a nodal crossing gives the multiplicative algebraic group, while deleting the single preimage of a cusp gives the additive group. For example, on $y^2=x^3$, the coordinate $u=x/y$, with $u(O)=0$, makes the smooth-locus law addition. On $y^2=x^2(x+1)$ in characteristic different from two, put $t=y/x$ and $z=(t+1)/(t-1)$, with $z(O)=1$; the chord relation gives $z(P)z(Q)z(R)=1$, so the group law is multiplication of $z$. A nonsplit node gives the corresponding form of the multiplicative algebraic group over $K$. These descriptions also establish the singular-case group laws.

Write $T=(\theta ,0)$, so $f(\theta )=0$, $K=\mathbb{Q}(\theta )$, and $f^{\prime }(\theta )\ne 0$. Let $[a]$ denote the class of $a\in K^{\ast }$ modulo squares. The required two-torsion square-class homomorphism isThe last value is needed in the domain only if $T\in E(\mathbb{Q})$. Every displayed nonexceptional value is nonzero, because an affine point with $x=\theta$ necessarily has $y=0$ and equals $T$.

Consider a nonvertical line $y=mx+c$ whose three intersection points have $x$-coordinates $x_1,x_2,x_3$, counted with multiplicity. Since $f$ is monic,If none of these points is $T$, evaluating at $\theta$ givesand therefore the product of their $\alpha$-values is $1$ in the square-class group. Tangencies are included by repeated factors. Since negation preserves the $x$-coordinate, this identity says $\alpha (P+Q)=\alpha (P)\alpha (Q)$.

If the line passes through $T$, put $f(x)=(x-\theta )g(x)$ and write the line as $y=m(x-\theta )$. The other two intersection abscissae $x_1,x_2$ satisfyEvaluating at $\theta$ now givesThus $\alpha (T)\alpha (P_1)\alpha (P_2)=[f^{\prime }(\theta ){]}^2=1$, as required. This covers a tangent at a different point whose third intersection is $T$ as well.

The tangent at $T$ is vertical. For a vertical chord or tangent the two affine intersections are $P,-P$, so their product of square classes is $\alpha (P{)}^2=1$; in particular $\alpha (T{)}^2=1$ agrees with $2T=O$. Finally, adding $O$ changes neither side. These cases exhaust the chord-and-tangent group law, proving that the displayed map is a group homomorphism.

Put $O=0_E$. Choose rational projective coordinates in which $O=(0:1:0)$ and its tangent is $Z=0$. Because $O$ is an inflection point of a plane cubic, that tangent intersects the cubic in the divisor $3O$. Consequently its cubic equation has the formHere $a\ne 0$, since the restriction to $Z=0$ is a nonzero multiple of $X^3$, and $b\ne 0$, since smoothness at $O$ requires a nonzero $Z$-derivative there. Completing the square in $Y$, by the rational linear change $Y^{\prime }=Y+(cX+eZ)/(2b)$, gives on $Z=1$Set $x^{\prime }=c_{0}x$ and $y^{\prime \prime }=c_0{y}^{\prime }$. ThenThese are invertible rational projective coordinate changes, and $O$ remains the unique point at infinity. Smoothness ensures that the resulting monic cubic has no repeated root. Thus this is a Weierstrass equation of an elliptic curve, without requiring any extraction of a square or cube root in $\mathbb{Q}$.

On this model write $-(x,y)=(x,-y)$ and $-O=O$. To add $P,Q$, take their joining line, or the tangent if $P=Q$, and let $R$ be the third intersection counted with multiplicity. DefineFor a vertical line its third intersection is $O$, so $P+(-P)=O$. The line through $O$ and an affine point is vertical, giving $P+O=P$. The tangent at $O$ has triple contact, giving $O+O=O$. This is the chord-and-tangent group law.

If $P,Q$ are rational, their joining line or tangent is rational. Its residual intersection point is rational: substituting the line in the cubic leaves a cubic whose other two roots, counted with multiplicity, are rational. Thus addition preserves $E(\mathbb{Q})$. The construction is symmetric in $P,Q$, so it is commutative.

For associativity, use divisor classes. A smooth plane cubic has geometric genus $1$, by the genus-degree formula. The Riemann-Roch theorem says that a divisor of degree $1$ on a genus-one curve has a one-dimensional space of sections. Therefore every degree-zero divisor class is uniquely represented by $P-O$: add $O$, take its unique effective degree-one representative, and then subtract $O$. Uniqueness also follows because a nonconstant function with its only pole a simple pole at $Q$ would contradict $\ell (Q)=1$.

Every line section is linearly equivalent to the tangent section $3O$. Thus, whenever $P,Q,R$ are collinear, including tangencies,A vertical section gives $[(-R)-O]=-[R-O]$. Hence the chord-and-tangent group law becomes ordinary addition in the degree-zero Picard group under the injective correspondence $P\mapsto [P-O]$. Associativity follows from associativity in that abelian group. Together with closure, identity and inverses already checked, this proves that $E(\mathbb{Q})$ is an abelian group.

Work first where all three coordinates are finite and the joining line is not vertical. By the chord-and-tangent group law, the third intersection of $y=\lambda x+\mu$ with the elliptic curve is $-(P_1+P_2)$, whose first coordinate is also $x_3$. Substitution gives the monic polynomialIts roots are $x_1,x_2,x_3$, counted with intersection multiplicity. Comparing its coefficients with the elementary symmetric polynomials provesThis symmetric-coordinate identity for elliptic-curve addition is an identity of rational functions. It includes tangent cases by specialization. Literally assigning finite $s_i$ when a point is $O$ would be meaningless; such cases must be interpreted on the projective curve. A nonsingular equation in the printed short form has characteristic different from two.

Here is how the identity yields the quadratic form for the degree of an isogeny. With $u=x(P)$, $v=x(Q)$, write $s=u+v$ and $q=uv$. As an equation for $t=x(P+Q)$, it becomesBoth $x(P+Q)$ and $x(P-Q)$ satisfy it, because replacing $Q$ by $-Q$ does not change $v$. Thus its two branches are the sum and difference maps. Their common denominator is the square of $u-v$. The following divisor on an algebraic curve calculation keeps track of cancellations and exceptional points rigorously, instead of assuming degrees of displayed numerators always add.

On $E_2\times E_2$, equality of the two first coordinates means $Q=P$ or $Q=-P$. Each coordinate has a double pole at $O$. Consequently the principal divisor identity iswhere $D_{+}$ is the diagonal and $D_{-}$ is the graph of negation. Equivalently, the two zero divisors are the inverse images of $O$ under difference and sum, exactly the two branches identified above. Their generic multiplicities are one; the divisor identity also accounts for their intersections at 2-torsion points.

For nonzero isogenies of elliptic curves $\varphi ,\psi :E_1\to E_2$ with $\varphi \ne \pm \psi$, pull this identity back by $(\varphi ,\psi )$. Taking degrees of the resulting principal divisor on $E_1$ gives the divisor proof of the degree parallelogram law:If one map is zero, this is immediate. If $\varphi =\pm \psi$, it follows from $\mathrm{deg}([2]\circ \varphi )=4\mathrm{deg}\varphi$. This also proves the parallelogram law for a general Weierstrass equation of an elliptic curve in characteristic two: the same divisor identity uses the quotient by negation, even though the particular symmetric-coordinate formula above is unavailable.

Put $q(\varphi )=\mathrm{deg}\varphi$ and $q(0)=0$. Applying the parallelogram law to $n\varphi ,\varphi$ gives the recurrence $q((n+1)\varphi )+q((n-1)\varphi )=2q(n\varphi )+2q(\varphi )$, and hence $q(n\varphi )=n^{2}q(\varphi )$ for every integer $n$. Its polarization $B(\varphi ,\psi )=q(\varphi +\psi )-q(\varphi )-q(\psi )$ is symmetric and integer-valued. For fixed $\psi$, the parallelogram law makes $B(\cdot ,\psi )$ odd and gives $B(x+y,\psi )+B(x-y,\psi )=2B(x,\psi )$. Interchanging $x,y$ and adding proves additivity, since integers have no two-torsion. Thus $B$ has bilinearity, and $q$ is a positive quadratic form on $\mathrm{Hom}(E_1,E_2)$, with $q(\varphi )>0$ whenever $\varphi \ne 0$.

An elliptic curve has good reduction over $K$ if it admits an integral Weierstrass equation of an elliptic curve with unit elliptic-curve discriminant. Equivalently, the reduction of its Minimal Weierstrass equation is a nonsingular cubic over the residue field $k$. Its smooth integral projective model is a group scheme with the point $O$ as identity.

Choose homogeneous coordinates in the valuation ring ${\mathcal{O}}_K$ with at least one coordinate a unit, and reduce them modulo its maximal ideal ${\mathfrak{m}}_K$. This defines $\mathrm{red}:E(K)\to \tilde{E}(k)$. The chord-and-tangent group law extends over the smooth integral model, so reduction is a group homomorphism. For any point of $\tilde{E}(k)$, choose an affine projective chart containing it. Smoothness means some partial derivative of its equation is nonzero in $k$. Lift the other coordinate arbitrarily and apply the Hensel lemma to the coordinate with unit derivative. This constructs a point of $E(K)$ above the prescribed point, proving the surjectivity of good reduction over a local field.

The kernel of reduction of an elliptic curve consists precisely of points reducing to $O$. The parameter $t=-x/y$ at $O$ gives a bijection between this kernel and ${\mathfrak{m}}_K$: the integral formal-coordinate series solve the equation uniquely near $O$. Addition in these coordinates is the formal group of an elliptic curve, not ordinary addition in ${\mathfrak{m}}_K$. ThusHere the group operation on the last expression is its formal group law.

DefineIf $D$ is a divisor class of degree zero, Riemann--Roch gives $\ell (D+Q)=1$, because $K_E\sim 0$ and the divisor $-D-Q$ has negative degree. A nonzero section therefore yieldsfor some point $P$, proving that $\alpha$ is surjective. If $\alpha (P)=\alpha (P^{\prime })$, then $P-P^{\prime }$ is a principal divisor. For $P\ne P^{\prime }$ its defining function would have one simple pole and give a degree-one map $E\to {\mathbb{P}}^1$, impossible for a genus-one curve. Thus $P=P^{\prime }$. The map and its inverse are regular, so this proves the Abel-Jacobi map of a genus-one curve is an isomorphism.

Transport the addition of the divisor class group through $\alpha$: define $P⊞R$ byThen $Q$ is the identity, and this is the chord-and-tangent group law on the plane cubic.

For the displayed equation, inversion is $(x,y)\mapsto (x,-y)$. Thus $P⊞P=Q$ exactly when $P=-P$. Besides the point at infinity $Q$, this requires $y=0$. Therefore the complete set of two-torsion points is

Forthe chord-and-tangent group law gives, for distinct nonopposite points $P=(x_1,y_1)$ and $Q=(x_2,y_2)$,For doubling, replace the slope byThe point at infinity is the identity and $-(x,y)=(x,-y)$.

Let the $x$-coordinates of $P,Q,P+Q,P-Q$ be $x_1,x_2,x_3,x_4$. Applying the addition formula with $Q$ and $-Q$ givesSubstituting $y_i^2=x_i^3+a{x}_i+b$ and simplifying yieldsMultiplying the two addition formulas and eliminating $y_1{y}_2$ in the same way gives

These identities are the algebraic source of two parallelogram laws. Applied to pullbacks of the pole divisor of $x$, they implyfor isogenies of elliptic curves. Together with $\mathrm{deg}(n\phi )=n^2\mathrm{deg}\phi$, this makes the degree a quadratic form. Applied to the Absolute logarithmic Weil height of the four $x$-coordinates, with bounded terms removed by passage to the limit defining the canonical height of an elliptic curve, they similarly give

For points $P,Q$ on a smooth plane cubic, draw the line through them, using the tangent at $P$ when $P=Q$, and let its third intersection with the cubic be $R$. The chord-and-tangent group law defines $P+Q$ as the reflection of $R$ in the $x$-axis; the point at infinity $O$ is the identity and $-(x,y)=(x,-y)$.

If $P,Q\in E(\mathbb{Q})$, their chord or tangent has rational coefficients. Substitution into the cubic gives a polynomial with rational coefficients for which two intersection roots are rational, so the third is rational as well. The identity and inverse of every rational point are rational, and closure under addition follows. Assuming the elliptic-curve law is a group law, $E(\mathbb{Q})$ is therefore a subgroup of $E(\overline{\mathbb{Q}})$.

Embed $E$ as a smooth plane cubic with $O_E$ an inflection point. A line through $P,Q$, using the tangent when $P=Q$, has a third intersection $S$ counted with multiplicity. The chord-and-tangent group law defines $P+Q=-S$, where $-S$ is the third point on the line through $S$ and $O_E$.

The divisor cut out by the first line isand the line through $S$ and $O_E$ gives $(S)+(-S)-2(O_E)$. Their quotient therefore showsUnder the bijection from part (a), the chord-and-tangent operation is exactly addition in the abelian group ${\mathrm{Pic}}^0(E)$. It is consequently associative and commutative, has identity $O_E$, and has the geometrically defined point $-P$ as inverse. Thus it makes $E$ an abelian group.

Let $E$ be a smooth plane cubic whose identity $O$ is an inflection point. A line through $P$ and $Q$, using the tangent when $P=Q$, has a third intersection $R$ counted with multiplicity. The chord-and-tangent group law defines $P+Q$ by drawing the line through $R$ and $O$ and taking its third intersection.