Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 iii Paper 125 3 b Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-05
For this integral Weierstrass equation of an elliptic curve, computeIf an odd prime divides or , then is a unit there and is not. The j-invariant of an elliptic curve consequently has negative valuation. Since good reduction implies an integral j-invariant, such a prime cannot be a prime of good reduction, regardless of whether the displayed equation is minimal. Conversely, if it divides neither factor, this equation already has unit discriminant.
At five the good possibilities have , so . At seven they have or . Direct elliptic-curve point count over a finite field gives the following nonzero ordinates, together with the three zero-ordinate points and :At either prime, torsion-freeness of the formal group over Qp for odd p makes reduction injective on all of , so its order is at most eight. Using only prime-to- injectivity here would leave an unjustified possible -primary component.
All three nonzero 2-torsion points are rational. The rational point lies on the curve, since . For an equation the elliptic-curve addition formula givesHere , , so and has order four. The point is not in , whose only nonzero point of order two is . Therefore and generate a subgroup of order eight isomorphic to . The upper bound proves the rational torsion in the family x times x plus one times x plus m squared: