English

Mazur's isogeny theorem

Number Theory 2023-05-31 v2

Abstract

Mazur's isogeny theorem states that if pp is a prime for which there exists an elliptic curve E/QE / \mathbb{Q} that admits a rational isogeny of degree pp, then p{2,3,5,7,11,13,17,19,37,43,67,163}p \in \{2,3,5,7,11,13,17,19,37,43,67,163 \}. This result is one of the cornerstones of the theory of elliptic curves and plays a crucial role in the proof of Fermat's Last Theorem. In this expository paper, we overview Mazur's proof of this theorem, in which modular curves and Galois representations feature prominently.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2209.03153,
  title  = {Mazur's isogeny theorem},
  author = {Philippe Michaud-Jacobs},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2209.03153},
  year   = {2023}
}

Comments

Minor changes addressing referee suggestions. To appear in Proceedings of The Year-Long Program on Triangle Groups, Belyi Uniformization, and Modularity: IInd Trimester Proceedings, Bhaskaracharya Pratishthana, Pune, India (https://sites.google.com/view/bms2021/proceedings)

R2 v1 2026-06-28T00:52:48.128Z