English

$2$-Selmer groups, $2$-class groups, and congruent numbers

Number Theory 2026-04-28 v1

Abstract

In this article, we study necessary conditions for certain square-free integers to be congruent numbers. Our method uses divisibility properties of class numbers of related imaginary quadratic fields. We first consider positive square-free integers of the form n=p1p2ptq,n = p_1 p_2 \cdots p_t q, where each prime pi5(mod8)p_i \equiv 5 \pmod{8} and q7(mod8)q \equiv 7 \pmod{8}. We show that if such an integer nn is a congruent number, then the class number h(n)h(-n) of the quadratic field Q(n)\mathbb{Q}(\sqrt{-n}) satisfies a specific divisibility condition. Furthermore, we provide quantitative lower bounds on the number of non-congruent numbers of this form. Next, we study integers of the form n=p1p2ptq,n = p_1 p_2 \cdots p_t q, with pi5(mod8)p_i \equiv 5 \pmod{8} and q3(mod8)q \equiv 3 \pmod{8}. Assuming that nn is a congruent number, we obtain a congruence modulo powers of 22 between the class numbers of the fields Q(n)\mathbb{Q}(\sqrt{-n}) and Q ⁣(p1p2pt)\mathbb{Q}\!\left(\sqrt{-p_1 p_2 \cdots p_t}\right).

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2604.23482,
  title  = {$2$-Selmer groups, $2$-class groups, and congruent numbers},
  author = {Shamik Das and Debajyoti De and Sudipa Mondal},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2604.23482},
  year   = {2026}
}

Comments

17 pages

R2 v1 2026-07-01T12:35:25.802Z