Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge / 2006 / iii / Paper 29 / 1

Write $N=\#E({\mathbb{F}}_q)$. The Hasse bound isWe prove it using isogeny degrees of endomorphisms, with no assumption about a pre-existing Frobenius eigenvalue estimate. The standard elliptic isogeny facts we use are these: isogeny degree is multiplicative under composition; $\mathrm{deg}[m]=m^2$; assigning isogeny degree zero to the zero homomorphism makes isogeny degree a quadratic form, satisfying the degree parallelogram law; and the isogeny degree of a separable isogeny equals the number of its geometric kernel of an isogeny points.

Let $\varphi$ be the $q$-power Frobenius isogeny. It has isogeny degree $q$ and zero differential. Therefore $1-\varphi$ has differential the identity and is a separable isogeny. Its kernel of an isogeny consists exactly of the points fixed by Frobenius, including the identity, soPut $t=q+1-N$. Polarization of the isogeny degree quadratic form gives, for all integers $m,n$,The cross coefficient is fixed by the case $m=n=1$, where the isogeny degree is $N=1-t+q$; the coefficients of $m^2,n^2$ are $\mathrm{deg}1=1$ and $\mathrm{deg}\varphi =q$.

Every isogeny degree is nonnegative. For $n\ne 0$, divide by $n^2$ to obtain $u^2-tu+q\ge 0$ for every rational $u=m/n$. Continuity and density of the rationals imply the same inequality for real $u$. Its minimum, attained at $u=t/2$, is $q-t^2/4$, so $t^2\le 4q$. This is precisely the stated bound. Equality is allowed; a zero value of the quadratic form can occur when the two endomorphisms involved are rationally dependent.

The given relation impliesTake isogeny degrees and cancel the positive integer $\mathrm{deg}\pi$. Multiplicativity of isogeny degree givesAs above, $\mathrm{deg}(1-{\varphi }_i)=\#E_i({\mathbb{F}}_q)$ and $\mathrm{deg}{\varphi }_i=q$. The degree parallelogram law on $\mathrm{End}(E_2)$ now yieldsSubstitution provesEquivalently, their Frobenius traces are negatives of one another. The isogeny degree argument works over the algebraic closure, so it does not wrongly assume that $\pi$ is defined over ${\mathbb{F}}_q$; the stated quadratic-extension hypothesis is compatible with the anticommutation relation.