Related papers: Some Obstructions to Solvable Points on Higher Gen…
A curve over a field k is pointless if it has no k-rational points. We show that there exist pointless genus-3 hyperelliptic curves over a finite field F_q if and only if q < 26, that there exist pointless smooth plane quartics over F_q if…
This paper is devoted to understanding curves $X$ over a number field $k$ that possess infinitely many solutions in extensions of $k$ of degree at most $d$; such solutions are the titular low degree points. For $d=2,3$ it is known (by the…
This paper gives a conjectural characterization of those elliptic curves over the field of complex numbers which "should" be covered by standard modular curves. The elliptic curves in question all have algebraic j-invariant, so they can be…
We show that if f: X --> Y is a finite, separable morphism of smooth curves defined over a finite field F_q, where q is larger than an explicit constant depending only on the degree of f and the genus of X, then f maps X(F_q) surjectively…
Let N_q(g) denote the maximal number of F_q-rational points on any curve of genus g over the finite field F_q. Ihara (for square q) and Serre (for general q) proved that limsup_{g-->infinity} N_q(g)/g > 0 for any fixed q. In their proofs…
In this article we prove several new uniform upper bounds on the number of points of bounded height on varieties over $\mathbb{F}_q[t]$. For projective curves, we prove the analogue of Walsh' result with polynomial dependence on $q$ and the…
In this article, we study Galois points of plane curves and the extension of the corresponding Galois group to $\mathrm{Bir}(\mathbb{P}^2)$. If the Galois group has order at most $3$, we prove that it always extends to a subgroup of the…
We consider smooth plane curves $\mathcal{X}$ of degree $d\geq4$, defined over an algebraically closed field of characteristic $0$, that possess a unique outer Galois point. This geometric condition forces the curve to be a cyclic covering…
A maximal curve over a finite field $\mathbb F_q$ is a curve whose number of points reaches the upper Hasse-Weil-Serre bound. We define the discriminant of $\mathbb F_q$ as $d(\mathbb F_q):= \lfloor2\sqrt{q}\rfloor^2-4q$, which arises as…
We establish that smooth, geometrically integral projective varieties of small degree are not pointless in suitable solvable extensions of their field of definition, provided that this field is algebraic over $\Bbb Q$.
We obtain a formula for the degrees of the varieties parameterizing complex algebraic curves of any divisor class and genus on P^2_6, the projective plane blown-up at 6 generic points. Moreover, the formula computes the degrees of the…
Given an odd representation of the absolute Galois group of Q onto PGL(2,3) and a positive integer N, there exists a twisted modular curve defined over Q whose rational points classify the quadratic Q-curves of degree N realizing the…
We prove that if $f:X \rightarrow A$ is a morphism from a smooth projective variety $X$ to an abelian variety $A$ over a number field $K$, and $G$ is a subgroup of automorphisms of $X$ satisfying certain properties, and if a prime $p$…
We show that if $K$ is an arbitrary field and $G$ is a finite group then there exists a curve over $K$ with automorphism group $G$. We also give a positive solution to the weak inverse Galois problem for function fields over an arbitrary…
Suppose $Y$ is a smooth variety equipped with a top form. We prove a simple theorem giving a sharp lower bound on the geometric genus of a family of subvarieties of $Y$, in terms of the dimension of this family. Two elementary applications…
The problem of constructing curves with many points over finite fields has received considerable attention in the recent years. Using the class field theory approach, we construct new examples of curves ameliorating some of the known…
We find that non-hyperelliptic generalised Howe curves and their twists of genus 5 attain the Hasse-Weil-Serre bound over some finite fields of order p, p^2 or p^3 for a prime p. We are able to decompose their Jacobians completely under…
We consider all genus 2 curves over Q given by an equation y^2 = f(x) with f a squarefree polynomial of degree 5 or 6, with integral coefficients of absolute value at most 3. For each of these roughly 200000 isomorphism classes of curves,…
We show that families of coverings of an algebraic curve where the associated Cayley-Schreier graphs form an expander family exhibit strong forms of geometric (genus and gonality) growth. Combining this general result with finiteness…
For a smooth and geometrically irreducible variety X over a field k, the quotient of the absolute Galois group G_{k(X)} by the commutator subgroup of G_{\bar k(X)} projects onto G_k. We investigate the sections of this projection. We show…