English

Rank growth of elliptic curves over $N$-th root extensions

Number Theory 2023-06-08 v2 Algebraic Geometry

Abstract

Fix an elliptic curve EE over a number field FF and an integer nn which is a power of 33. We study the growth of the Mordell--Weil rank of EE after base change to the fields Kd=F(d2n)K_d = F(\sqrt[2n]{d}). If EE admits a 33-isogeny, then we show that the average ``new rank'' of EE over KdK_d, appropriately defined, is bounded as the height of dd goes to infinity. When n=3n = 3, we moreover show that for many elliptic curves E/QE/\mathbb{Q}, there are no new points on EE over Q(d6)\mathbb{Q}(\sqrt[6]d), for a positive proportion of integers dd. This is a horizontal analogue of a well-known result of Cornut and Vatsal. As a corollary, we show that Hilbert's tenth problem has a negative solution over a positive proportion of pure sextic fields Q(d6)\mathbb{Q}(\sqrt[6]{d}). The proofs combine our recent work on ranks of abelian varieties in cyclotomic twist families with a technique we call the ``correlation trick'', which applies in a more general context where one is trying to show simultaneous vanishing of multiple Selmer groups. We also apply this technique to families of twists of Prym surfaces, which leads to bounds on the number of rational points in sextic twist families of bielliptic genus 3 curves.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2112.12864,
  title  = {Rank growth of elliptic curves over $N$-th root extensions},
  author = {Ari Shnidman and Ariel Weiss},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2112.12864},
  year   = {2023}
}

Comments

24 pages. Revised following referee comments. Section added with application to Hilbert's 10th problem. To appear in Transactions of the AMS. Comments welcome!