arXiv subjects

Nathan Jones

Publications and source records attributed to Nathan Jones.

25 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2012

Elliptic aliquot cycles of fixed length

Silverman and Stange define the notion of an aliquot cycle of length L for a fixed elliptic curve E defined over the rational numbers, and conjecture an order of magnitude for the function which counts such aliquot cycles. In the present note, we combine heuristics of Lang-Trotter with those of Koblitz to refine their conjecture to a precise asymptotic formula by specifying the appropriate constant. We give a criterion for positivity of the conjectural constant, as well as some numerical evidence for our conjecture.

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arXiv2009

Geometry and arithmetic of verbal dynamical systems on simple groups

We study dynamical systems arising from word maps on simple groups. We develop a geometric method based on the classical trace map for investigating periodic points of such systems. These results lead to a new approach to the search of Engel-like sequences of words in two variables which characterize finite solvable groups. They also give rise to some new phenomena and concepts in the arithmetic of dynamical systems.

math.AG↗

arXiv2008

A refined version of the Lang-Trotter Conjecture

Let $E$ be an elliptic curve defined over the rational numbers and $r$ a fixed integer. Using a probabilistic model consistent with the Chebotarev theorem for the division fields of $E$ and the Sato-Tate distribution, Lang and Trotter conjectured an asymptotic formula for the number of primes up to $x$ which have Frobenius trace equal to $r$, where $r$ is a {\it fixed} integer. However, as shown in this note, this asymptotic estimate cannot hold for {\it all} $r$ in the interval $|r|\le 2\sqrt{x}$ with a uniform bound for the error term, because an estimate of this kind would contradict the Chebotarev density theorem as well as the Sato-Tate conjecture. The purpose of this note is to refine the Lang-Trotter conjecture, by taking into account the "semicircular law", to an asymptotic formula that conjecturally holds for arbitrary integers $r$ in the interval $|r|\le 2\sqrt{x}$, with a uniform error term. We demonstrate consistency of our refinement with the Chebotarev theorem for a fixed division field, and with the Sato-Tate conjecture. We also present numerical evidence for the refined conjecture.

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arXiv2007

Averages of elliptic curve constants

We compute the averages over elliptic curves of the constants occurring in the Lang-Trotter conjecture, the Koblitz conjecture, and the cyclicity conjecture. The results obtained confirm the consistency of these conjectures with the corresponding ``theorems on average'' obtained recently by various authors.

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arXiv2007

A bound for the "torsion conductor" of a non-CM elliptic curve

Given a non-CM elliptic curve E over Q, define the ``torsion conductor'' m_E to be the smallest positive integer so that the Galois representation on the torsion of E has image Pi^{-1}(Gal(Q(E[m_E])/Q), where Pi denotes the natural projection GL_2(\hat{Z}) onto GL_2(Z/m_E Z). We show that, uniformly for semi-stable non-CM elliptic curves E over Q, m_E is less than a constant times the 5th power of the conductor of E.

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arXiv2006

Almost all elliptic curves are Serre curves

Using a multidimensional large sieve inequality, we obtain a bound for the mean square error in the Chebotarev theorem for division fields of elliptic curves that is as strong as what is implied by the Generalized Riemann Hypothesis. As an application we prove a theorem to the effect that, according to height, almost all elliptic curves are Serre curves, where a Serre curve is an elliptic curve whose torsion subgroup, roughly speaking, has as much Galois symmetry as possible.

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arXiv2006

Trace formulas and class number sums

We specialize the Eichler-Selberg trace formula to obtain trace formulas for the prime-to-level Hecke action on cusp forms for certain congruence groups of arbitrary level. As a consequence, we determine the asymptotic in the prime p of the number of (weighted) SL(2,Z)-conjugation orbits of 2 by 2 matrices of determinant p whose reductions modulo N lie in a given conjugacy class in GL(2,Z/NZ). This generalizes an 1885 result of Hurwitz.

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