The Arithmetic of Elliptic Curves

Beschreibung

The preface to a textbook frequently contains the author's justification for offering the public "another book" on the given subject. For our chosen topic, the arithmetic of elliptic curves, there is little need for such an apologia. Considering the vast amount of research currently being done in this area, the paucity of introductory texts is somewhat surprising. Parts of the theory are contained in various books of Lang (especially [La 3] and [La 5]); and there are books of Koblitz ([Kob]) and Robert ([Rob], now out of print) which concentrate mostly on the analytic and modular theory. In addition, survey articles have been written by Cassels ([Ca 7], really a short book) and Tate ([Ta 5J, which is beautifully written, but includes no proofs). Thus the author hopes that this volume will fill a real need, both for the serious student who wishes to learn the basic facts about the arithmetic of elliptic curves; and for the research mathematician who needs a reference source for those same basic facts. Our approach is more algebraic than that taken in, say, [La 3] or [La 5], where many of the basic theorems are derived using complex analytic methods and the Lefschetz principle. For this reason, we have had to rely somewhat more on techniques from algebraic geometry. However, the geom etry of (smooth) curves, which is essentially all that we use, does not require a great deal of machinery.
The theory of elliptic curves is distinguished by its long history and by the diversity of the methods that have been used in its study. This book treats the arithmetic theory of elliptic curves in its modern formulation, through the use of basic algebraic number theory and algebraic geometry. The book begins with a brief discussion of the necessary algebro-geometric results, and proceeds with an exposition of the geometry of elliptic curves, the formal group of an elliptic curve, elliptic curves over finite fields, the complex numbers, local fields, and global fields. The last two chapters deal with integral and rational points, including Siegel's theorem and explicit computations for the curve Y^2 = X^3 + DX.

Autor*in

Joseph H. Silverman

Themen in »The Arithmetic of Elliptic Curves«

Algebraic Cohomology Geometry Mordell-Weil algebra finite field number theory

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"This well-written book covers the basic facts about the geometry and arithmetic of elliptic curves, and is sure to become the standard reference in the subject. It meets the needs of at least three groups of people: students interested in doing research in Diophantine geometry, mathematicians needing a reference for standard facts about elliptic curves, and computer scientists interested in algorithms and needing an introduction to elliptic curves..."-- MATHEMATICAL REVIEWS

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