Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2006 iii Paper 29 2 i Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
The projective completion has identity . For this Weierstrass equation of an elliptic curve, negation isFor distinct affine points , draw their chord; for , use the tangent with its intersection multiplicity. If the third intersection is , define . A vertical chord pairs with and gives their sum ; also . A vertical tangent at a point satisfying gives .
For a nonvertical line , substitution into the cubic givesThus if and , the sum has coordinatesHere for a chord, and implicit differentiation givesfor a nonvertical tangent. These formulas include the repeated-root case. Associativity can be seen without a lengthy coordinate calculation: a line cuts the cubic in a divisor equivalent to , and identifies the curve with its degree-zero divisor class group. The chord-and-tangent operation becomes addition of divisor classes, hence is associative.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2018 ii Paper 4 24I Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
Let denote a hyperplane-section divisor of a projective plane curve. The adjunction formula for a smooth degree- projective plane curve statesSince , this gives the canonical degree of a smooth plane curveCombining this with gives the genus of a smooth plane curve
Homogenization of the affine equation gives the projective completionThis is the plane model y plus x cubed plus xy cubed equals zero of the Klein quartic: after the coordinate relabelling , its equation is .
Its first partial derivatives areIf one of vanishes at a common zero of these three derivatives, the displayed equations successively force all three coordinates to vanish, which is impossible in projective space. If , multiplying the three derivative equations givesagain a contradiction. The Jacobian criterion therefore proves that is smooth.
The rational function defines a rational map of projective varieties . Because is a smooth projective curve, it extends uniquely to a morphismFor a generic finite value of , its fibre is given by the cubicso the degree of a holomorphic map is . The discriminant of a depressed cubic is
At the fibre consists of . Since , the holomorphic implicit function theorem givesso is a local coordinate and has ramification index of a holomorphic map there. Each of the seven distinct roots of gives one double, but not triple, root of the cubic in , hence seven further ramification points of index .
It remains to inspect the points at infinity. They areNear , set and . The equation becomes , so , while has a simple pole. Thus . Near , set and . Now , so andThus has a double pole at and . These calculations are the ramification of the x-coordinate on the Klein quartic after the coordinate relabelling above.
The total ramification contribution isThe Riemann-Hurwitz formula for the degree-three map to the projective line now givesand therefore
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2020 ii Paper 3 24F i Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
Let the smooth projective curve be the projective completion of , of degree , and suppose after interchanging and if necessary that is nonzero. A basis of its holomorphic differential forms isEquivalently one may use . These expressions agree on their common domain because differentiating gives . The allowed monomials are precisely the homogeneous polynomials of degree at most , in accordance with the adjunction formula .
The projective completion ofis the smooth plane quarticThe coordinate relabelling turns this equation into the standard Klein quartic equation .