Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2002 iii Paper 24 3 c Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
The elliptic-curve discriminant is , so the elliptic curve has good reduction at both and . At a prime of good reduction, the reduction of torsion points on an elliptic curve is injective on torsion of order prime to . Here is the formal reason: the kernel of reduction of an elliptic curve is described by an integral formal group law on , and its multiplication series is . If , the first term has strictly smaller valuation than every higher term for . Thus this kernel has no nonidentity point killed by .
Apply this to each prime-primary component of the rational torsion subgroup. A component at injects into , of order , and is therefore trivial. A component at injects into , of order , and is trivial. Every other prime-primary component injects into both groups, so its order divides . This proves the two-prime bound on rational elliptic torsion in the present case:
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2003 iii Paper 21 1 a Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
The Mordell-Weil theorem gives . Move the rational point of order two to and clear denominators to obtain an integral Weierstrass equation of an elliptic curveThe two-isogeny formula gives and dual isogenies , with . Compute the torsion subgroup using reduction of torsion points on an elliptic curve at several good primes, followed by division polynomials of an elliptic curve to identify the possible points.
For the free part, use two-isogeny descent. The two-torsion square-class homomorphism isin , with kernel ; define on similarly. The prime-support bound in two-isogeny descent restricts the first image to signed square-free divisors of and the second to those of . For each candidate , solve its two-isogeny descent quarticTest local solubility at the real place and the relevant p-adic fields, discard impossible classes, and search the surviving coverings for rational points. A point with gives , . Include the identity and rational 2-torsion cases separately. Once both rational images are determined, the two-isogeny rank formula givesThe point searches give explicit candidates for a basis. Their canonical height pairing can certify independence; Mordell-Weil saturation and effective height bounds then certify that they generate the full free part. Rank alone does not certify generators of the whole Mordell-Weil group. If the rational images are not fully determined, the procedure instead supplies lower and upper bounds on the rank of an elliptic curve.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2003 iii Paper 21 2 b Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Use the two-prime bound on rational elliptic torsion with the counts six at three and eight at five from solution. For a prime , the -primary torsion subgroup injects into both reduced groups by reduction of torsion points on an elliptic curve. Its order therefore divides the corresponding primary part of . The three-primary subgroup injects into the group of order eight at five and is trivial; the five-primary subgroup injects into the group of order six at three and is trivial. Hence the entire rational torsion subgroup has order at most two.
The factorization supplies , a nonidentity point of order two under the elliptic curve group law. ThereforeThe primary-component argument avoids assuming injectivity on residue-characteristic torsion.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2005 iii Paper 32 1 iii Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Use reduction of torsion points on an elliptic curve, which is injective on torsion of order prime to the residue characteristic. Any two-primary torsion point of an elliptic curve must inject into the group of order seven at three, so is zero. Any three-primary torsion point of an elliptic curve injects into the group of order five at two, so is zero. For a prime , its primary torsion injects into both reduced groups and would have order dividing both five and seven, so is also zero. Decomposing the cyclic group generated by any torsion point of an elliptic curve into its primary parts shows that has no nonidentity torsion at all. This is the two-prime bound on rational elliptic torsion, with the residue-characteristic exceptions handled explicitly. Since is not ,
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2006 iii Paper 29 2 iv Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Use the standard theorem on reduction of torsion points on an elliptic curve: at a prime of good reduction, reduction is injective on torsion whose order is prime to that prime. Reduction at implies that every odd-primary part of the rational torsion subgroup has order dividing . Thus its only possible odd prime is , and its -primary part has order at most . Reduction at injects the -primary part into a group of order , so that part is trivial. No other primary part can occur.
Consequently the torsion subgroup has order at most three. Since has exact order three,This argument uses only prime-to-residue-characteristic injectivity, and therefore avoids an unjustified claim of full torsion injectivity at the prime .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2007 iii Paper 27 1 ii Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
The Hessian criterion for flexes of a plane cubic applied to the defining polynomial givesConsequently the inflection points of a plane cubic on this curve are exactly its intersections with the three coordinate lines. Choose with , and a primitive cube root of unity . The nine distinct flexes of a diagonal cubic areWith the chosen flex as identity, these points are precisely . A tangent cutting the Weil divisor gives ; conversely makes the hyperplane Weil divisor equivalent to , which supplies a tangent with triple contact. This is the three-torsion points are flexes of a plane cubic correspondence.
On only is rational, since the other cube roots of unity are not rational. On each other coordinate line a rational point exists exactly when is a rational cube, and then exactly one does. ThereforeIn particular the rational torsion subgroup cannot contain two independent points of order .
One can also determine the whole rational torsion of a diagonal cubic. First it is killed by . To see this, use the Weierstrass equation of an elliptic curve from (iii). At primes outside the finite set containing and the prime divisors of the numerator and denominator of , the cube map permutes , sowhere the quadratic character is extended by , and the character sum vanishes after substituting . Reduction of torsion points on an elliptic curve injects the prime-to- part of rational torsion into this finite group. This injection follows because multiplication by an integer prime to is invertible on the formal group of an elliptic curve, and hence its reduction kernel has no such torsion.
For any prime , choose a good with ; the Dirichlet theorem on primes in arithmetic progressions and the Chinese remainder theorem supply such primes outside the finite bad set. Then , excluding -torsion. Similarly good exclude order , and good exclude order . Thus every rational torsion point has order dividing .
The inversion formula in (i) shows that the only possible nonidentity rational point of order has and . It exists precisely when , that is, when is a rational cube. There is at most one such point. This condition and being a cube cannot hold together, since is not a rational cube. Combining it with the three-torsion calculation gives the full answer:
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2008 iii Paper 28 2 iii Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
We bound the torsion subgroups by reduction of torsion points on an elliptic curve. At a prime of good reduction, reduction is injective on the prime-to- torsion. Indeed, a point in the kernel is represented by the formal group of an elliptic curve on the maximal ideal. Multiplication by an integer prime to has a unit linear coefficient and is invertible there, so the kernel has no nonzero torsion of such order.
Both curves have good reduction at and . For this follows from , which is a unit at both primes. For at , its reduction is and its three partial derivatives cannot vanish at a projective point. At , the singularity calculation in part (i) would require to vanish modulo , which it does not; and are also units there.
Direct counting gives:
| Curve | Affine over | At infinity | Total | Affine over | At infinity | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
For over , the numbers of ordinate solutions at are . For in the chart , they are , with the single infinity point . These give the displayed totals without identifying the finite-field groups through the given isogeny of elliptic curves.
For either rational torsion subgroup, every odd-primary part injects at , so the whole odd torsion has order dividing three. The two-primary part injects at and must be trivial, since the reduced group has odd order nine. Thus either rational torsion subgroup has order at most three. For , the point already has order three, soFor the plane cubic , the chosen identity is a plane cubic flex. The fact that three-torsion points are flexes of a plane cubic therefore identifies with its nine geometric flexes. Part (i) found only the identity among the rational flexes. No nonidentity rational three-torsion exists, and the preceding bound excludes every other order. HenceThis also illustrates that isogenous elliptic curves can have different rational point groups; the given degree-three isogeny does not imply equality of rational torsion.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2008 iii Paper 28 4 a Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
A congruent number is a positive integer which occurs as the area of a right triangle with positive rational side lengths. Scaling a triangle by a nonzero rational factor multiplies its area by a rational square, so the essential parameter is its positive square class; integer parameters can be reduced to square-free integers. For example is congruent by the triangle , and is congruent by .
The connection with elliptic curves comes from the congruent number elliptic curve in the modelFrom a rational point with , defineDirect squaring gives , and its area isConversely, from a positive rational triangle of area , putSubstitution using and gives and . ThusThe standard rational torsion of a congruent number curve consists of . One way to see the torsion restriction is to use good primes . The character sum cancels at and , giving . For any odd prime , the Dirichlet theorem on primes in arithmetic progressions supplies good primes with and , so the reduction of torsion points on an elliptic curve excludes -torsion. Good primes similarly bound the two-primary torsion by four, and the four displayed points give equality. Consequently the Mordell-Weil theorem turns the criterion into positive rank of . Arithmetic two-descent on an elliptic curve and local obstructions are therefore tools for the congruent number problem, and a nontorsion point gives infinitely many rational right triangles from a nontorsion point by taking multiples.
We now give elementary proofs for and , including the descent steps. Recall the primitive Pythagorean parametrizationwhere are coprime and of opposite parity. To derive it, in a primitive Pythagorean triple put the even leg at . The relatively prime integers have product , so each is a square, say . This gives the formulas and the parity condition. The area is , and its four factors are pairwise coprime: their common divisors reduce to divisors of or of two, while are odd.
Area one is impossible. Clearing denominators of a hypothetical rational triangle of area one gives an integer triangle with square area. Dividing out its common factor leaves a primitive integer triangle whose area is still a rational square; an integer which is a rational square is an integer square. Choose such a triangle with smallest hypotenuse. Pairwise coprimality in the area product forcesThe positive integers are odd and coprime. If were even, then would be odd and would be modulo eight, whereas two odd squares have difference zero modulo eight. Hence is odd, is even and is even.
Now set and . These are positive coprime integers andThus is another integer right triangle with square area and hypotenuse , strictly smaller than . This contradicts the minimal choice and proves the Fermat right triangle theorem. In particular is not a congruent number.
For area two we first establish the auxiliary descent fourth-power sum cannot be a square. Suppose with positive integers, and choose a primitive solution with smallest . Two odd fourth powers sum to modulo sixteen, so after exchange is odd and is even. Parametrize the primitive triangle :The case even, odd makes , so is odd and even. Coprimality then gives and . ConsequentlyThis second triangle is primitive, since is odd and . Parametrize it as , , , with coprime. The equality makes , . Thusa new positive solution with smaller hypotenuse . This contradicts infinite descent, proving the auxiliary assertion.
Area two is also impossible. Clearing denominators and removing a common factor now gives a primitive integer triangle with area twice an integer square. Indeed, if an integer is with , then divides two, forcing . Its area product would satisfyThe odd factors must be squares and the unique even factor twice a square. As in the preceding modulo-eight argument, even would force , and odd, with , impossible modulo eight. ThusThe integers and are positive and coprime, and . Hence , . Butcontradicting the auxiliary descent. This proves two is not a congruent number, and concludesThe two obstructions are global arithmetic descents. The elliptic-curve correspondence organizes the wider problem, but by itself is not a substitute for proving these particular nonexistence assertions.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2012 iii Paper 27 4 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-07
The elliptic-curve discriminant of is . Thus three and eleven are primes of good reduction. Counting the reduced points gives four points over and sixteen over . For example, the numbers of affine points above successive modulo three are . Modulo eleven, for , they are ; add the point at infinity in each case.
The reduction of torsion points on an elliptic curve is injective on torsion prime to the residue characteristic. The three-primary rational torsion injects into the group of order sixteen at eleven, so is trivial; likewise the eleven-primary torsion injects into the group of order four at three. Every other primary component injects at both primes. Therefore the rational torsion subgroup has order dividing four. All four rational 2-torsion points are visible, so
The rational point lies on the curve. The tangent slope in the elliptic-curve addition formula is , giving . The integral substitution changes the equation to ; the doubled point has . The Nagell–Lutz theorem says that a rational torsion point on this integral short equation has integral coordinates, so , and hence , is nontorsion. An infinite-order point is .
We prove the rank bound by two-isogeny descent. For , the two-isogeny formula gives the partnerand maps , with . The two-torsion square-class homomorphism is away from , with values and at those exceptional points. Its kernel is . The corresponding map on has kernel .
The prime-support bound in two-isogeny descent can be checked directly here. For a prime , if then is a unit, so is even; if , the term has strictly least valuation and is even. Thus the square class of is supported only on two and five. Also forces , so nonzero is positive. The possible classes are , and the four torsion points provide all of them:Consequently .
The same valuation argument on gives possible signed classes , since its coefficient has only the prime two. The identity gives class , and gives class . For , the two-isogeny descent quartic iswith integral coprime after scaling a rational solution. If is odd, its right side is or modulo sixteen for , and or for , according to the parity of . None is a square. If is even, is odd and the right side is . The bracket is odd for either parity of , so its 2-adic valuation is five, again impossible for a square. The signed divisor-two obstruction for an isogeny covering excludes both classes. Hence .
For completeness, the index correction in the two-isogeny index formula over a number field is one: and , so the whole kernel lies in . ThusThe Mordell-Weil theorem and the four rational 2-torsion points identify this index as . Therefore andThis is the rank-one elliptic curve with roots zero two and ten. We have exhibited a point of infinite order but have not needed to prove that it generates the free part.
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 2019 iii Paper 125 3 b Solution 2026-10-03
The elliptic-curve discriminant is supported at and , so and are primes of good reduction. Direct point counts giveFor example, summing over and adding the point at infinity gives these values.
The reduction of torsion points on an elliptic curve at the two primes shows that divides eight. Part (a) shows that has order four, and is an independent point of order two because it does not lie in . They already generate eight points, so
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2023 iii Paper 125 5 b Solution 2026-09-28
For , the addition formulas giveIn particular, and has order four, while the nonintegral coordinate of and part (a) show that has infinite order.
For two-isogeny descent, writeThe rational point is the kernel of a degree-two isogeny . The square-class maps send an affine point with to , send to , and send to or on the two curves. Their images determine the rank through
HereOn , the possible square classes divide ; real solubility excludes the negative classes, while and exhibit and . Thus . On , the pointsexhibit the classes , along with . The remaining candidate classes are divisible by . Their homogeneous spaceshave no primitive solution modulo : reduction modulo first forces , and then the equation is congruent to or modulo . HenceThe rank formula gives , so .
At the good primes and , direct counts giveThe reduction of torsion points on an elliptic curve injects rational torsion into both groups, so its order divides . Since has order four, the torsion subgroup is . Thereforeso , , and .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2024 iii Paper 125 1 b iii Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-25
The discriminant is , so are primes of good reduction of an elliptic curve. The reduction of torsion points on an elliptic curve injects the prime-to- torsion into .
If a prime divided the order of , its primary subgroup would inject at every one of except possibly when . For , the counts at and have greatest common divisor one; for use the counts at and ; for use those at and ; every other would divide all three counts. Each possibility is excluded. Hence
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2024 iii Paper 125 3 c Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-25
An integral Weierstrass equation has good reduction outside the finitely many primes dividing its nonzero discriminant. This proves finiteness of the set of bad primes. To prove finiteness of rational torsion, choose two distinct good primes. The reduction of torsion points on an elliptic curve injects each primary component at a good prime of different residue characteristic, so the two finite reduced point groups bound every primary component of .
Rank-one elliptic curve with roots zero two and ten Created 2026-10-07 Updated 2026-10-14
This elliptic curve has torsion subgroup and the infinite-order point . Good-reduction point counts at three and eleven are four and sixteen, which bound the torsion order by four using reduction of torsion points on an elliptic curve. Doubling gives ; after the shift to , its nonintegral coordinate proves nontorsion by the Nagell–Lutz theorem. The two-isogeny formula gives the partner . The first two-torsion square-class homomorphism has image , while the second has image by the signed divisor-two obstruction for an isogeny covering. The two-isogeny rank formula therefore gives , so the rank is one. The argument does not determine the index of the subgroup generated by .
Rational pairs of cubes summing to seven 2026-10-14
There are infinitely many rational pairs with . The corresponding Weierstrass equation of an elliptic curve is , and maps to . The primes and are good, with point counts and because cubing is bijective in their residue fields. Reduction of torsion points on an elliptic curve bounds rational torsion by order dividing . The flexes of a diagonal cubic exclude three-torsion for , while is not a cube and hence excludes two-torsion. Thus has infinite order.
For positive integral , the rational torsion subgroup of has order dividing four. Indeed, torsion-freeness of the formal group over Qp for odd p, reduction of torsion points on an elliptic curve, and the point-count criterion for y squared equals x cubed plus k x bound its order by at all good primes . The Dirichlet theorem on primes in arithmetic progressions excludes every odd torsion prime and bounds the two-primary part by four, by choosing . There is exactly one nonzero rational 2-torsion point, namely . A rational half of it must have by the elliptic-curve addition formula. Writing with , its equation is , so and . Conversely has order four. Thus the cyclic group of order four occurs exactly for , . The order bound itself holds for every nonzero integral of either sign: positivity was used only to classify the rational points of orders two and four.