Elliptic curves with a 7-isogeny, and a recalcitrant genus 12 curve
Presenter
April 14, 2011
Keywords:
- arithmetic geometry
- arithmetic statistics
- L-function
- isogeny classes
- elliptic curves
- rational points
- rational points on elliptic curves
- point counting
- abelian variety
MSC:
- 11Gxx
- 11G20
- 11G30
- 11G40
- 11G45
- 11Kxx
- 11Mxx
- 14K02
- 14K25
- 12J27
- 11G05
Abstract
We show that if E is an elliptic curve over Q with a Q-rational isogeny of degree 7, then the image of the 7-adic Galois representation attached to E is as large as allowed by the isogeny, except for the curves with complex multiplication by Q(√−7). The analogous result with 7 replaced by a prime p > 7 was proved by the first author in [8]. The present case p = 7 has additional interesting complications. We show that any exceptions correspond to the rational points on a certain curve of genus 12. We then use the method of Chabauty to show that the exceptions are exactly the curves with complex multiplication. As a by-product of one of the key steps in our proof, we determine exactly when there exist elliptic curves over an arbitrary field k of characteristic not 7 with a k-rational isogeny of degree 7 and a specified Galois action on the kernel of the isogeny, and we give a parametric description of such curves.