Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge / 2016 / iii / Paper 125 / 1

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.

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.