arXiv subjects

Brendan Creutz

Publications and source records attributed to Brendan Creutz.

33 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2017

The d-primary Brauer-Manin obstruction for Curves

For a curve over a global field we consider for which integers d the d-primary part of the Brauer group can obstruct the existence of rational points. We give examples showing it is possible that there is a d-primary obstruction for infinitely many relatively coprime d, and also an example where the odd part of the Brauer group does not obstruct although there is a Brauer-Manin obstruction. These examples demonstrate that a slightly stronger form of a conjecture of Poonen is false, despite being supported by the same heuristic.

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arXiv2017

On automorphism groups of toroidal circle planes

Schenkel proved that the automorphism group of a flat Minkowski plane is a Lie group of dimension at most 6 and described planes whose automorphism group has dimension at least 4 or one of whose kernels has dimension 3. We extend these results to the case of toroidal circle planes.

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arXiv2017

Improved rank bounds from 2-descent on hyperelliptic Jacobians

We describe a qualitative improvement to the algorithms for performing 2-descents to obtain information regarding the Mordell-Weil rank of a hyperelliptic Jacobian. The improvement has been implemented in the Magma Computational Algebra System and as a result, the rank bounds for hyperelliptic Jacobians are now sharper and have the conjectured parity.

math.NT↗

arXiv2017

Zero-cycles of degree one on Skorobogatov's bielliptic surface

Skorobogatov constructed a bielliptic surface which is a counterexample to the Hasse principle not explained by the Brauer-Manin obstruction. We show that this surface has a $0$-cycle of degree 1, as predicted by a conjecture of Colliot-Thélène.

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arXiv2016

Local-global principles for Weil-Châtelet divisibility in positive characteristic

We extend existing results characterizing Weil-Châtelet divisibility of locally trivial torsors over number fields to global fields of positive characteristic. Building on work of González-Avilés and Tan, we characterize when local-global divisibility holds in such contexts, providing examples showing that these results are optimal. We give an example of an elliptic curve over a global field of characteristic $2$ containing a rational point which is locally divisible by $8$, but is not divisible by $8$ as well as examples showing that the analogous local-global principle for divisibility in the Weil-Châtelet group can also fail.

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arXiv2016

Relative Brauer groups of torsors of period two

We consider the problem of computing the relative Brauer group of a torsor of period 2 under an elliptic curve E. We show how this problem can be reduced to finding a set of generators for the group of rational points on E. This extends work of Haile and Han to the case of torsors with unequal period and index. Several numerical examples are given.

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arXiv2014

On Brauer groups of double covers of ruled surfaces

Let X be a smooth double cover of a geometrically ruled surface defined over a separably closed field of characteristic different from 2. The main result of this paper is a finite presentation of the 2-torsion in the Brauer group of X with generators given by central simple algebras over the function field of X and relations coming from the Néron-Severi group of X. In particular, the result gives a central simple algebra representative for the unique nontrivial Brauer class on any Enriques surface. An example demonstrating the applications to the study of rational points is given.

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arXiv2014

Two torsion in the Brauer group of a hyperelliptic curve

We construct unramified central simple algebras representing 2-torsion classes in the Brauer group of a hyperelliptic curve, and show that every 2-torsion class can be constructed this way when the curve has a rational Weierstrass point or when the base field is C_1. In general, we show that a large (but in general proper) subgroup of the 2-torsion classes are given by the construction. Examples demonstrating applications to the arithmetic of hyperelliptic curves defined over number fields are given.

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arXiv2013

On the local-global principle for divisibility in the cohomology of elliptic curves

For every prime power p^n with p = 2 or 3 and n > 1 we give an example of an elliptic curve over Q containing a rational point which is locally divisible by p^n but is not divisible by p^n. For these same prime powers we construct examples showing that the analogous local-global principle for divisibility in the Weil-Châtelet group can also fail.

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arXiv2012

Explicit descent in the Picard group of a cyclic cover of the projective line

Given a curve X of the form y^p = h(x) over a number field, one can use descents to obtain explicit bounds on the Mordell-Weil rank of the Jacobian or to prove that the curve has no rational points. We show how, having performed such a descent, one can easily obtain additional information which may rule out the existence of rational divisors on X of degree prime to p. This can yield sharper bounds on the Mordell-Weil rank by demonstrating the existence of nontrivial elements in the Shafarevich-Tate group. As an example we compute the Mordell-Weil rank of the Jacobian of a genus 4 curve over Q by determining that the 3-primary part of the Shafarevich-Tate group is isomorphic to Z/3 x Z/3.

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arXiv2012

A Grunwald-Wang type theorem for abelian varieties

Let A be an abelian variety over a number field k. We show that weak approximation holds in the Weil-Châtelet group of A/k but that it may fail when one restricts to the n-torsion subgroup. This failure is however relatively mild; we show that weak approximation holds outside a finite set of primes which is generically empty. This proves a conjecture of Lang and Tate that can be seen as an analog of the Grunwald-Wang theorem in class field theory. The methods apply, for the most part, to arbitrary finite Galois modules and so may be of interest in their own right.

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arXiv2012

Locally trivial torsors that are not Weil-Châtelet divisible

For every prime p we give infinitely many examples of torsors under abelian varieties over Q that are locally trivial but not divisible by p in the Weil-Châtelet group. We also give an example of a locally trivial torsor under an elliptic curve over Q which is not divisible by 4 in the Weil-Châtelet group. This gives a negative answer to a question of Cassels.

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arXiv2012

Second Isogeny Descents and the Birch and Swinnerton-Dyer Conjectural Formula

Let h be a p-isogeny of elliptic curves. We describe how to perform h-descents on the nontrivial elements in the Shafarevich-Tate group which are killed by the dual isogeny h'. This makes computation of p-Selmer groups of elliptic curves admitting a p-isogeny over Q feasible for p = 5,7 in cases where an isogeny descent is insufficient and a full p-descent would be infeasible. As an application we complete the verification of the full Birch and Swinnerton-Dyer conjectural formula for all elliptic curves over Q of rank zero or one and conductor less than 5000.

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arXiv2012

Second p descents on elliptic curves

Let p be a prime and let C be a genus one curve over a number field k representing an element of order dividing p in the Shafarevich-Tate group of its Jacobian. We describe an algorithm which computes the set of D in the Shafarevich-Tate group such that pD = C and obtains explicit models for these D as curves in projective space. This leads to a practical algorithm for performing 9-descents on elliptic curves over the rationals.

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arXiv2011

Potential Sha for abelian varieties

We show that the p-torsion in the Tate-Shafarevich group of any principally polarized abelian variety over a number field is unbounded as one ranges over extensions of degree O(p), the implied constant depending only on the dimension of the abelian variety.

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