KMB, 29/10/10

Number Theory: Elliptic Curves, Problem Sheet 2

1) Give a direct proof of Lemma 3.5 for the p-adic norm |.|p on Q. 2) For each of the sets of p, m, r below, either nd an x Z such that |r x|p pm , or show that no such x exists. (i) p = 257, r = 1/2, m = 1 (ii) p = 3, r = 7/8, m = 2 (iii) p = 3, r = 7/8, m = 7 (iv) p = 3, r = 5/6, m = 9 (v) p = 5, r = 1/4, m = 4 (vi) and invent some more until you feel youve got the hang of it. 3) For each of the sets of p, m, r below, either nd an x Z such that |r x2 |p pm , or show that no such x exists. (i) p = 3, r = 2, m = 4 (ii) p = 5, r = 10, m = 3 (iii) p = 13, r = 4, m = 3 (iv) p = 2, r = 7, m = 6 (v) p = 7, r = 14, m = 4 (vi) p = 5, r = 25, m = 4 (vii) p = 5, r = 2/3, m = 3 (viii) and so on. 4) (higher powers, some cases) (a) Prove that there is x Z7 with x3 = 6. (b) Let p be a prime congruent to 2 mod 3. Prove that for any a Z with p a, there is x Zp such that x3 = a. (c) Prove a general theorem will be about when an integer a Z is a cube in Zp . (The only messy case is p = 3, just like p = 2 was troublesome for squares). 5) Say a, b, c Z and p is prime with p 2abc. a) Prove that ax2 + c takes (p + 1)/2 values mod p as x runs through Z. b) Prove that there are x, y Z such that ax2 + c = by 2 mod p (hint: use a counting argument) c) Prove that there are x, y Zp such that ax2 + c = by 2 . d) Deduce that there is a solution to ax2 + by 2 + cz 2 = 0 in P2 (Qp ). 6) (p > 2, necessary and sucient conditions for a p-adic point in some bad cases) Say a, b, c Z are all non-zero, and p | a exactly once but p bc. Prove that there is a solution to ax2 + by 2 + cz 2 = 0 in P2 (Qp ) i b/c Z/pZ is a quadratic residue mod p. 7) (Like Q6 but p = 2) Again, say a, b, c Z are all non-zero. a) If a, b, c are all odd, then show that there are no solutions in P2 (Q2 ) to ax2 + by 2 + cz 2 = 0 if and only if a, b and c are all congruent mod 4. b) If a and b are odd, but c 2 mod 4, then there is a solution in P2 (Q2 ) to ax2 + by 2 + cz 2 = 0 if and only if either a + b 0 mod 8 or a + b + c 0 mod 8.

8) For each of the following triples a, b, c, nd the set of primes p such that there is no solution to ax2 + by 2 + cz 2 = 0 in P2 (Qp ) (hint: do Qs 5, 6, 7 rst). Also, determine whether or not there is a solution in P2 (R) = P2 (Q ). Do you notice anything about the number of completions of Q for which there is no solution to the equation in P2 ? (i) (a, b, c) = (1, 1, 1) (ii) (a, b, c) = (1, 1, 2) (iii) (a, b, c) = (1, 1, 2) (iv) (a, b, c) = (1, 1, 3) (v) (a, b, c) = (3, 4, 5) (vi) (a, b, c) = (14, 15, 33) (vii) etc etc etc. 9) Prove what you noticed in Q8 for the case (a, b, c) = (1, p, q ) where p, q are distinct odd primes (hint: quadratic reciprocity and Q7). 10) (hard, or perhaps just very long) Prove what you noticed in Q8, in the general case (hint: like Q9 but far more cases).