Related papers: Computing the average root number of an elliptic s…
Let E be a one-parameter family of elliptic curves over Q. We prove that the average root number is zero for a large class of families of elliptic curves of fairly general type. Furthermore, we show that any family E with at least one point…
We consider the problem of finding $1$-parameter families of elliptic curves whose root number does not average to zero as the parameter varies in $\mathbb{Z}$. We classify all such families when the degree of the coefficients (in the…
The parity of the analytic rank of an elliptic curve is given by the root number in the functional equation L(E,s). Fixing an elliptic curve over any number field and considering the family of its quadratic twists, it is natural to ask what…
We show the density of rational points on non-isotrivial elliptic surfaces by studying the variation of the root numbers among the fibers of these surfaces, conditionally to two analytic number theory conjectures (the squarefree conjecture…
We give an explicit description of the behaviour of the root number in the family given by twists of an elliptic curve $E$ by the rational values of a polynomial $f(T)$. In particular, we give a criterion (on $f$ depending on $E$) for the…
For each $t\in\mathbb{Q}\setminus\{-1,0,1\}$, define an elliptic curve over $\mathbb{Q}$ by \begin{align*} E_t:y^2=x(x+1)(x+t^2). \end{align*} Using a formula for the root number $W(E_t)$ as a function of $t$ and assuming some standard…
Let E be a one-parameter family of elliptic curves over a number field. It is natural to expect the average root number of the curves in the family to be zero. All known counterexamples to this folk conjecture occur for families obeying a…
In a previous article, the author proves that the value of the root number varies in a non-isotrivial family of elliptic curves indexed by one parameter $t$ running through $\mathbb{Q}$. However, a well-known example of Washington has root…
In this article, we prove that the average rank of elliptic curves over $\mathbb{Q}$, when ordered by height, is less than $1$ (in fact, less than $.885$). As a consequence of our methods, we also prove that at least four fifths of all…
Let $q$ be a prime with $q \geq 5$. We show that the average rank of elliptic curves over a function field $\mathbb{F}_{q}(t)$, when ordered by naive height, is bounded above by $25/14 \approx 1.8$. Our result improves the previous upper…
The parity conjecture has a long and distinguished history. It gives a way of predicting the existence of points of infinite order on elliptic curves without having to construct them, and is responsible for a wide range of unexplained…
In this paper, we present details of seven elliptic curves over $\mathbb{Q}(u)$ with rank $2$ and torsion group $\mathbb{Z}/ 8\mathbb{Z}$ and five curves over $\mathbb{Q}(u)$ with rank $2$ and torsion group $\mathbb{Z}/ 2\mathbb{Z} \times…
This is an introduction to a probabilistic model for the arithmetic of elliptic curves, a model developed in a series of articles of the author with Bhargava, Kane, Lenstra, Park, Rains, Voight, and Wood. We discuss the theoretical evidence…
Let $E$ be an elliptic curve over $\mathbb{Q}$. Then, we show that the average analytic rank of $E$ over cyclic extensions of degree $l$ over $\mathbb{Q}$ with $l$ a prime not equal to $2$, is at most $2+r_{\mathbb{Q}}(E)$, where…
It is a classical result (apparently due to Tate) that all elliptic curves with a torsion point of order n ($4 \leq n \leq 10$, or n = 12) lie in a one-parameter family. However, this fact does not appear to have been used ever for…
To determine the global root number of an elliptic curve defined over a number field, one needs to understand all the local root numbers. These have been classified except at places above 2, and in this paper we attempt to complete the…
We study the low-lying zeros of various interesting families of elliptic curve L-functions. One application is an upper bound on the average analytic rank of the family of all elliptic curves. The upper bound obtained is less than two,…
We prove asymptotic formulas for cyclicity of reductions of elliptic curves over the rationals in a family of curves having specified torsion. These results agree with established conditional results and with average results taken over…
Fix an integer $d>0$. In 2008, David and Weston showed that, on average, an elliptic curve over $\mathbf{Q}$ picks up a nontrivial $p$-torsion point defined over a finite extension $K$ of the $p$-adics of degree at most $d$ for only…
We consider natural polynomial truncations of hypergeometric power series defined over finite fields. For these truncations, we establish asymptotic upper bounds of order $O(p^{11/12})$ on the number of roots in the prime field…