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Pietro Mercuri

Publications and source records attributed to Pietro Mercuri.

15 recordsLinked to original sources
arXiv2025

A survey about Hidden Subgroup Problem from a mathematical and cryptographic perspective

We provide a survey on the Hidden Subgroup Problem (HSP), which plays an important role in studying the security of public-key cryptosystems. We first review the abelian case, where Kitaev's algorithm yields an efficient quantum solution to the HSP, recalling how classical problems (such as order finding, integer factorization, and discrete logarithm) can be formulated as abelian HSP instances. We then examine the current state of the art for non-abelian HSP, where no general efficient quantum solution is known, focusing on some relevant groups including dihedral group (connected to the shortest vector problem), symmetric groups (connected to the graph isomorphism problem), and semidirect product constructions (connected, in a special case, to the code equivalence problem). We also describe the main techniques for addressing the HSP in non-abelian cases, namely Fourier sampling and the black-box approach. Throughout the paper, we highlight the mathematical notions required and exploited in this context, providing a cryptography-oriented perspective.

cs.CR↗
arXiv2025

Point counts, automorphisms, and gonalities of Shimura curves

We implement an algorithm to compute the number of points over finite fields for the Shimura curves $X_0^D(N)$ over $\mathbb{Q}$ and their Atkin--Lehner quotients. Our computations identify $116$ such quotients over finite fields (out of $783514$ tested) that attain a number of rational points exceeding that of any previously known curve of the same genus over the same finite field. To illustrate the utility of our point counts algorithm in addressing arithmetic questions, we prove that all automorphisms are Atkin--Lehner for $9288$ of the $10609$ curves $X_0^D(N)$ of genus $g > 2$ with $D$ the discriminant of an indefinite quaternion algebra over $\mathbb{Q}$, $N$ a squarefree positive integer coprime to $D$, and $DN\leq 10000$, and we determine all tetragonal and geometrically tetragonal curves $X_0^D(N)$ up to a small number of possible exceptions.

math.NT↗
arXiv2025

Maximal curves over finite fields and a modular isogeny

We prove the existence of curves of genus $7$ and $12$ over the field with $11^5$ elements, reaching the Hasse-Weil-Serre upper bound. These curves are quotients of modular curves and we give explicit equations. We compute the number of points of many quotient modular curves in the same family without providing equations. For various pairs (genus, finite field) we find new records for the largest known number of points. In other instances we find quotient modular curves that are maximal, matching already known results. To perform these computations, we provide a generalization of Chen's isogeny result.

math.NT↗
arXiv2025

Greenberg's conjecture for real quadratic number fields

We compute the $3$-class groups $A_n$ of the fields $F_n$ in the cyclotomic $\mathbf{Z}_3$-extensions of the real quadratic fields of discriminant $f<100,000$. In all cases the orders of $A_n$ remain bounded as $n$ goes to infinity. This is in agreement with Greenberg's conjecture.

math.NT↗
arXiv2023

Intersection matrices for the minimal regular model of ${X}_0(N)$ and applications to the Arakelov canonical sheaf

Let $N>1$ be an integer coprime to $6$ such that $N\notin\{5,7,13\}$ and let $g=g(N)$ be the genus of the modular curve $X_0(N)$. We compute the intersection matrices relative to special fibres of the minimal regular model of $X_0(N)$. Moreover we prove that the self-intersection of the Arakelov canonical sheaf of $X_0(N)$ is asymptotic to $3g\log N$, for $N\to+\infty$.

math.NT↗
arXiv2022

Parity of 4-regular and 8-regular partition functions

We give a complete characterization of the parity of $b_8(n)$, the number of $8$-regular partitions of $n$. Namely, we prove that $b_8(n)$ is odd or even depending on whether or not we have the factorisation $24n+7=p^{4a+1}m^2$, for some prime $p\nmid m$ and $a\ge 0$.

math.NT↗
arXiv2022

Modular Curves with many Points over Finite Fields

We describe an algorithm to compute the number of points over finite fields on a broad class of modular curves: we consider quotients $X_H/W$ for $H$ a subgroup of $\GL_2(\mathbb Z/n\mathbb Z)$ such that for each prime $p$ dividing $n$, the subgroup $H$ at $p$ is either a Borel subroup, a Cartan subgroup, or the normalizer of a Cartan subgroup of $\GL_2(\mathbb Z/p^e\mathbb Z)$, and for $W$ any subgroup of the Atkin-Lehner involutions of $X_H$. We applied our algorithm to more than ten thousands curves of genus up to 50, finding more than one hundred record-breaking curves, namely curves $X/\FF_q$ with genus $g$ that improve the previously known lower bound for the maximum number of points over $\FF_q$ of a curve with genus $g$. As a key technical tool for our computations, we prove the generalization of Chen's isogeny to all the Cartan modular curves of composite level.

math.NT↗
arXiv2021

Automorphisms of Cartan modular curves of prime and composite level

We study the automorphisms of modular curves associated to Cartan subgroups of $\mathrm{GL}_2(\mathbb Z/n\mathbb Z)$ and certain subgroups of their normalizers. We prove that if $n$ is large enough, all the automorphisms are induced by the ramified covering of the complex upper half-plane. We get new results for non-split curves of prime level $p\ge 13$: the curve $X_{\text{ns}}^+(p)$ has no non-trivial automorphisms, whereas the curve $X_{\text{ns}}(p)$ has exactly one non-trivial automorphism. Moreover, as an immediate consequence of our results we compute the automorphism group of $X_0^*(n):=X_0(n)/W$, where $W$ is the group generated by the Atkin-Lehner involutions of $X_0(n)$ and $n$ is a large enough square.

math.NT↗
arXiv2021

High Order Elements in Finite Fields Arising from Recursive Towers

We provide a recipe to construct towers of fields producing high order elements in $\mathrm{GF}(q,2^n)$, for odd $q$, and in $\mathrm{GF}(2,2 \cdot 3^n)$, for $n \ge 1$. These towers are obtained recursively by $x_{n}^2 + x_{n} = v(x_{n - 1})$, for odd $q$, or $x_{n}^3 + x_{n} = v(x_{n - 1})$, for $q=2$, where $v(x)$ is a polynomial of small degree over the prime field $\mathrm{GF}(q,1)$ and $x_n$ belongs to the finite field extension $\mathrm{GF}(q,2^n)$, for $q$ odd, or to $\mathrm{GF}(2,2\cdot 3^n)$. Several examples are carried out and analysed numerically. The lower bounds of the orders of the groups generated by $x_n$, or by the discriminant $δ_n$ of the polynomial, are similar to the ones obtained in [BCG+09], but we get better numerical results in some cases.

math.NT↗
arXiv2021

Partition identities associated to Rogers-Ramanujan type identities

We show that, in many cases, there are infinitely many sets of partitions corresponding to a single analytical Rogers-Ramanujan type identity. This means that a single analytical Rogers-Ramanujan type identity implies the existence of bijections among infinitely many sets of partitions. We also give an explicit description of these infinite sets coming from the sum side of the analytical identity explaining how to interpret the sum side combinatorially as the generating function of the partitions considered. Moreover, we give a new infinite familiy of Rogers-Ramanujan type identities obtained by the Glaisher's identities.

math.CO↗
arXiv2020

Some partition and analytical identities arising from Alladi, Andrews, Gordon bijections

In a work of 1995, Alladi, Andrews, and Gordon provided a generalization of the two Capparelli identities involving certain classes of integer partitions. Inspired by that contribution, in particular as regards the general setting and the tools the authors employed, we obtain new partition identities by identifying further sets of partitions that can be explicitly put into a one-to-one correspondence by the method described in the 1995 paper. As a further result, although of a different nature, we obtain an analytical identity of Rogers-Ramanujan type, involving generating functions, for a class of partition identities already found in that paper and that generalize the first Capparelli identity and include it as a particular case. To achieve this, we apply the same strategy as Kanade and Russel did in a recent paper. This method relies on the use of jagged partitions that can be seen as a more general kind of integer partitions.

math.NT↗
arXiv2018

Modular forms invariant under non-split Cartan subgroups

In this paper we describe a method for computing a basis for the space of weight $2$ cusp forms invariant under a non-split Cartan subgroup of prime level $p$. As an application we compute, for certain small values of $p$, explicit equations over $\bf Q$ for the canonical embeddings of the associated modular curves.

math.NT↗
arXiv2017

Double Covers of Cartan Modular Curves

We present a strategy to obtain explicit equations for the modular double covers associated respectively to both a split and a non-split Cartan subgroup of $\text{GL}_2(\mathbb F_{p})$ with $p$ prime. Then we apply it successfully to the level $13$ case.

math.NT↗
arXiv2016

Equations and Rational Points of the Modular Curves $X^+_0(p)$

Let $p$ be an odd prime number and let $X_0^+(p)$ be the quotient of the classical modular curve $X_0(p)$ by the action of the Atkin-Lehner operator $w_p$. In this paper we show how to compute explicit equations for the canonical model of $X_0^+(p)$. Then we show how to compute the modular parametrization, when it exists, from $X_0^+(p)$ to an isogeny factor $E$ of dimension 1 of its jacobian $J_0^+(p)$. Finally we show how use this map to determine the rational points on $X_0^+(p)$ up to a large fixed height.

math.NT↗