If is a Gaussian integer and is a nonzero prime ideal of , then is a finite field. Complex conjugation preserves , so a nonzero gives the positive integer . Primality supplies a rational prime . Since satisfies the monic polynomial , the ring is a quotient of and has at most elements. It is a finite integral domain, hence a field. The proof does not require to be a principal ideal domain.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2005 ib Paper 4 11C Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-24
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2011 ii Paper 1 11G Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-24
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2012 iii Paper 18 2 iv Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-07
A holomorphic group endomorphism of the complex torus lifts to multiplication by a scalar , as in Question 1. It descends exactly when . Applying this condition to gives . Conversely any Gaussian integer preserves , since the latter is a ring. Addition of endomorphisms is addition of scalars, and composition is multiplication of scalars. Thus, as rings,The wording “endomorphism algebra” here denotes this integral endomorphism ring of an elliptic curve. If it instead meant the rational algebra , that algebra would be .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2012 iii Paper 18 2 v Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-07
Pulling back the factors of automorphy in the Appell–Humbert theorem by , where , pulls back both the Hermitian form and the semicharacter of a complex lattice. Thus the explicit answer isWriting makes the second formula completely explicit:The second equality is an equality of signs, obtained by reducing the exponents modulo . The Hermitian form follows from . Its integer parameter equals the norm of the Gaussian integer, agreeing with the degree of this nonzero isogeny of elliptic curves. The formulas also include , when the pulled-back line bundle is trivial.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2013 ib Paper 2 2G Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-07
Let be a Euclidean domain and a nonzero ideal. Choose minimizing the Euclidean size. For any , Euclidean division gives , where either or has smaller size than . But , so minimality forces . Consequently . The zero ideal is , proving that every Euclidean domain is a principal ideal domain.
A commutative ring is Noetherian if every ideal is finitely generated; equivalently, every ascending chain of ideals stabilizes. To see the equivalence, the union of an ascending chain is an ideal. Finitely many generators for that union already belong to one member of the chain, after which the chain is constant. Conversely, an ideal which is not finitely generated permits successive choices outside the ideals generated by previous choices, producing a strictly ascending chain.
Every principal ideal domain is therefore Noetherian. The given Euclidean domain property of the Gaussian integers yields
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2014 iii Paper 22 5 ii Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
First compute the Mordell-Weil group rank by two-isogeny descent. HereThe two-isogeny formula gives . If , then , andis an isomorphism over . Its -coordinate multiplier is a square in .
Use the two-torsion square-class homomorphismFor any prime ideal of the Gaussian integers, if , then is a unit and ; if , the term has strictly smallest valuation and . Hence every valuation of is even. Since the Gaussian integers form a principal ideal domain, dividing by a square leaves a unit. Their units are , whose square classes are because and is not a square in . For the latter assertion, with would imply and , hence , impossible for rational . ThusBoth classes occur, at and . This is the unit square-class bound for two-isogeny descent.
Define on similarly, with . Since multiplies nonexceptional -coordinates by a square, and preserves the exceptional classes as well, its image is also . The standard kernel identities in two-isogeny descent areHere is the dual isogeny and . These identities can be checked directly from the formulas: , and conversely a square -coordinate lets the quadratic equation for a preimage be solved using the curve equation. For example, if , the equation for is , whose discriminant is ; the -coordinate then follows from the dual formula. The exceptional points satisfy the same completed square-class criterion.
The two-isogeny index formula over a number field keeps track of a small kernel factor:In this case , where , and because . Thus , and the index is . There is only one nonzero rational 2-torsion point on : the other two would require , and has the same nonsquare class as . The Mordell-Weil theorem now givesso .
It remains to identify all torsion, rather than merely the rank. The elliptic-curve discriminant is , so the primes and have good reduction, with residue characteristics three and five. By the supplied point-count information their reduction groups have orders that are powers of two. The reduction of torsion points on an elliptic curve is injective on prime-to-residue-characteristic torsion. Every odd-primary torsion subgroup therefore injects into a group of two-power order at at least one of these two primes, and must be zero. All torsion is two-primary.
Finally, if a point had order four, its double would be . The elliptic-curve addition formula givesFor the denominator is nonzero, so , impossible in . A point of higher two-power order would have a multiple of order four, so it too is excluded. Thus the only torsion points are . Together with rank zero,
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2016 ib Paper 3 11E b Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-06
The polynomial satisfies the Eisenstein criterion at the prime two: every nonleading coefficient is divisible by two, and the constant coefficient is not divisible by four. Thus it is irreducible over and is the minimal polynomial of every one of its roots. Part (a) givesButIn the quotient, the two nonzero classes of and multiply to zero. They are nonzero because their nonzero representative degrees are less than five. The quotient is not an integral domain, so is not a prime ideal.
For ring homomorphisms preserving the identity, an image of in the Gaussian integers would satisfy . The minimal polynomial of over would then be , of degree five. This is impossible because has degree at most two. Thus there is no unital homomorphism . If homomorphisms are instead allowed not to preserve the identity, the zero map exists; every nonzero homomorphism into this integral domain is unital, because the image of one is a nonzero idempotent and hence one.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 ib Paper 3 11E c Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-05
Write the Gaussian integer , with , and set . Complex conjugation preserves , because . Choose a nonzero . Then is a positive integer in . It cannot be one because is a proper prime ideal. Factoring into rational primes and applying primality repeatedly gives a prime .
The element satisfies the monic polynomial . Evaluation induces a ring homomorphism that is a surjectionThe source has elements by part (b), soIf , use instead and get at most elements. Moreover is an integral domain, so its finiteness makes it a field. This proves the finite residue-field theorem for Gaussian integer orders without incorrectly assuming that every Gaussian integer order is a principal ideal domain.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2018 iii Paper 101 6 e Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-05
No. In the Gaussian integers, chooseIndeed, substituting gives , so is a prime ideal and its contraction is . Put . Modulo , becomes in , so . ThereforeWe show that is not an integral element over , using a direct reduction argument. Write , viewed inside . There is a ring homomorphismwhich reduces rational coefficients modulo . It is well defined because denominators in are not divisible by , and in . In particular, and .
If satisfied a monic equation over , saymultiplication by would give an equality in :Applying gives in , a contradiction. ConsequentlyThis exhibits why localization of an integral extension at a prime need not be integral. Localizing both rings by the same multiplicative subset preserves an integral extension, but inverts additional elements, including , whose image at the other prime ideal is zero. The original extension is integral because satisfies the monic equation : the subalgebra generated by finitely many integral elements property applies to .
Unit square-class bound for two-isogeny descent Created 2026-10-06 Updated 2026-10-07
Suppose the ring of integers of a number field is a principal ideal domain, are integral, and is a unit. On every nonzero -coordinate has even valuation at every finite prime: positive valuation gives , and negative valuation gives . Thus the two-torsion square-class homomorphism takes values among unit square classes. For the Gaussian integers, their unit group modulo squares has two elements, represented by . This can reduce a two-isogeny descent to a very small calculation even though the field contains no ordering.