The congruent number problem

Number theory is the part of mathematics concerned with the mysterious and hidden properties of the integers and rational numbers (by a rational number, we mean the ratio of two integers). The congruent number problem, the written history of which can be traced back at least a millennium, is the oldest unsolved major problem in number theory, and perhaps in the whole of mathematics. We say that a right-angled triangle is “rational” if all its sides have rational length. A positive integer N is said to be “congruent” if it is the area of a rational right-angled triangle. If we multiply any congruent number N by the square of an integer, we again get a congruent number, and so it suffices to consider only those integers N that are square-free (meaning not divisible by the square of an integer >1). The congruent number problem is simply the question of deciding which square-free positive integers are, or are not, congruent numbers. Long ago, it was realized that an integer N ≥ 1 is congruent if and only if there exists a point (x, y) on the elliptic curve y2 = x3 − N2x, with rational coordinates x, y and with y ≠ 0. Until the 17th century, mathematicians made numerical tables of congruent numbers by using ingenuity to write down the corresponding rational right-angled triangles. For example, the integers 5, 6, and 7 were all known to be congruent, as they are the areas of the right-angled triangles, whose sides lengths are given respectively by [40/6, 9/6, 41/6], [3, 4, 5], and [288/60, 175/60, 337/60]. The first important theoretical result about congruent numbers was established by Fermat, who proved in the 17th century that 1 is not a congruent number. As explained in more …

At the end of the last chapter, we used reduction modulo p to find some useful information about the elliptic curves E n : y2 = x3 − n2x and the congruent number problem. We considered E n as a curve over the prime field \({{\mathbb{F}}_{p}} \) where \( p\nmid 2n \) used the easily proved equality \( \# {{E}_{n}}({{\mathbb{F}}_{p}}) = p + 1 \) when p = 3 (mod 4); and, by making use of infinitely many such p, were able to conclude that the only rational points of finite order on E n are the four obvious points of order two. This then reduced the congruent number problem to the determination of whether r, the rank of \( {{E}_{n}}(\mathbb{Q}) \), is zero or greater than zero

The Birch and Swinnerton-Dyer (BSD) conjecture and Goldfeld conjecture are fundamental problems in the arithmetic of elliptic curves. The congruent number problem (CNP) is one of the oldest problems in number theory which is, for each integer $n$, to find all the rational right triangles of area $n$. It is equivalent to finding all rational points on the elliptic curve $E^{(n)}: ny^{2}=x^{3}-x$. The BSD conjecture for $E^{(n)}$ solves CNP, and Goldfeld conjecture for this elliptic curve family solves CNP for integers with probability one. In this article, we introduce some recent progress on these conjectures and problems.

This paper investigates the distribution of prime elements over finite fields through the interplay between elliptic curves and sheaf-theoretic methods. We define new algebraic-geometric invariants of primes by interpreting them as Frobenius traces on elliptic curves defined over , and further characterize their behavior using cohomological data of associated étale sheaves. By analyzing the point counts of elliptic curves modulo , we derive a structural correspondence between the statistical distribution of primes and the arithmetic of elliptic curves, including supersingular loci and trace formulas. The use of sheaf cohomology allows us to refine classical density results and propose new congruence-based filtrations on prime sets. This fusion of arithmetic geometry and finite field analysis offers a deeper geometric interpretation of prime phenomena in positive characteristic settings.

Computing l-isogenies between elliptic curves defined over a finite field Fq of small characteristic is of some importance for the computation of the cardinalities of elliptic curves using Schoof-Atkin-Elkies method. In a previous publication [3] we showed that this could be achieved in O(l3+e) multiplications in \(\mathbb{F}_q \)using formal groups. This method has been implemented by Lercier and Morain who obtained spectacular results in this direction [7, 8]. Nevertheless, the use of formal groups seems to be a serious deterent both for man and machine to perform such a work. More recently Lercier proposed an algorithm specific for characteristic 2 that has the same assymptotic complexity but is faster by some significative constant factor. In this paper we propose a general algorithm which does not use formal groups. Instead we take advantage of the elementary Galois properties of the p-torsion. This algorithm has the same complexity as the previous ones if we don't use fast multiplication techniques. But, contrary to the previous methods, it allows the use of fast multiplication for polynomials and then turns out to run in O(l2+e) multiplications in the field \(\mathbb{F}_q \). Our algorithm has also the advantage that it is made exclusively of very classical routines in polynomial and elliptic curve arithmetic. Also one may expect that the implementation of this method should require less work than the previous ones thus bringing new people to this kind of calculation.

Book Review: The arithmetic of elliptic curves

Arithmetic of Elliptic Curves

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Currently, a lot of standardized elliptic curve cryptographic algorithms are widely used. Due to the constantly increasing execution speed demands, implementation optimization problem become actual. Using elliptic curve arithmetic on a different information security devices require to form an mathematical programming problem of elliptic curves calculation. Solution of this problem allows to find optimal way of calculation in the current condition. This approach increases the speed of cryptographic algorithms on information security devices. The paper present one of the possible ways to optimize computations in elliptic curve arithmetic by using mathematical programming. An optimization problem is formed that describes the calculation of scalar multiplication. Operations composition and multiplication methods composition are introduced to form the corresponding optimization problem. Adduction of elliptic curve calculations to the mathematical programming problem allow to research applicability of known optimization methods to computations in elliptic curves.

The cryptosystem of elliptic curve has gained more and more researchers' attention from home and abroad in recent years as it owns a short key and a fine security. This paper elaborates the definition of elliptic curve which is used to establish cryptosystem and also makes some explanation to the realization of the Add Point Operation on the elliptic curve together with the fast Add Point Operation of its corresponding coordinate system. In addition, the security of the elliptic curve cryptosystem is also analyzed starting from the theory of the elliptic curve in this paper. And the issue of production of the safe elliptic curve is discussed. Finally, the elliptic curve cryptosystem has aroused great attention of the researchers as the public key system of the next generation. The production arithmetic of the safe elliptic curve, the security analysis of the elliptic curve cryptosystem together with the fast arithmetic on the elliptic curve will be the hotspot and the issues that are remained to be solved in its future development.

This textbook covers with the main topics in number theory as taught in universities throughout the world. Number theory deals mainly with properties of integers and rational numbers; it is not an organized theory in the usual sense, but a vast collection of individual topics and results, with some coherent sub-theories and a long list of unsolved problems. Nine main areas of the subject are treated: (i) divisibility and multiplicative functions; (ii) congruences and quadratic residues; (iii) the basics of algebraic numbers and sums of squares; (iv) continued fractions, diophantine approximations and transcendence; (v) quadratic forms; (vi) partitions; (vii) the prime numbers; (viii) diophantine equations; and (ix) elliptic curves (this part has been considerably extended for this edition). The increased use of computers in number theory is reflected in many sections (with much greater emphasis in this edition). Some results of a more advanced nature are also given, including the Gelfond-Schneider theorem, the prime number theorem, and the Mordell-Weil theorem. The latest work on fermat's last theorem is also breifly discussed. Each chapter ends with a collection of problems; hints or sketch solutions are given at the end of the book, together with various useful tables.

Many problems in number theory have simple statements, but their solutions require a deep understanding of algebra, algebraic geometry, complex analysis, group representations, or a combination of all four. The original simply stated problem can be obscured in the depth of the theory developed to understand it. This book is an introduction to some of these problems, and an overview of the theories used nowadays to attack them, presented so that the number theory is always at the forefront of the discussion. Lozano-Robledo gives an introductory survey of elliptic curves, modular forms, and $L$-functions. His main goal is to provide the reader with the big picture of the surprising connections among these three families of mathematical objects and their meaning for number theory. As a case in point, Lozano-Robledo explains the modularity theorem and its famous consequence, Fermat's Last Theorem. He also discusses the Birch and Swinnerton-Dyer Conjecture and other modern conjectures. The book begins with some motivating problems and includes numerous concrete examples throughout the text, often involving actual numbers, such as 3, 4, 5, $\frac{3344161}{747348}$, and $\frac{2244035177043369699245575130906674863160948472041} {8912332268928859588025535178967163570016480830}$. The theories of elliptic curves, modular forms, and $L$-functions are too vast to be covered in a single volume, and their proofs are outside the scope of the undergraduate curriculum. However, the primary objects of study, the statements of the main theorems, and their corollaries are within the grasp of advanced undergraduates. This book concentrates on motivating the definitions, explaining the statements of the theorems and conjectures, making connections, and providing lots of examples, rather than dwelling on the hard proofs. The book succeeds if, after reading the text, students feel compelled to study elliptic curves and modular forms in all their glory.

The study of geodesic flows on homogenous spaces is an area of research that has yielded some fascinating developments. This book, first published in 2000, focuses on many of these, and one of its highlights is an elementary and complete proof (due to Margulis and Dani) of Oppenheim's conjecture. Also included here: an exposition of Ratner's work on Raghunathan's conjectures; a complete proof of the Howe-Moore vanishing theorem for general semisimple Lie groups; a new treatment of Mautner's result on the geodesic flow of a Riemannian symmetric space; Mozes' result about mixing of all orders and the asymptotic distribution of lattice points in the hyperbolic plane; Ledrappier's example of a mixing action which is not a mixing of all orders. The treatment is as self-contained and elementary as possible. It should appeal to graduate students and researchers interested in dynamical systems, harmonic analysis, differential geometry, Lie theory and number theory

Diophantine equations are a popular and active area of research in number theory. In this paper we consider Mordell equations, which are of the form $y^2=x^3+d$, where $d$ is a (given) nonzero integer number and all solutions in integers $x$ and $y$ have to be determined. One non-elementary approach for this problem is the resolution via descent and class groups. Along these lines we formalized in Lean 3 the resolution of Mordell equations for several instances of $d<0$. In order to achieve this, we needed to formalize several other theories from number theory that are interesting on their own as well, such as ideal norms, quadratic fields and rings, and explicit computations of the class number. Moreover we introduced new computational tactics in order to carry out efficiently computations in quadratic rings and beyond.

Prime numbers are an important research area with application in computer security. The security of certain cryptographic schemes critical in information security lies in the difficulty of factoring large numbers into their prime factors. Determination of the distribution of prime numbers is an important unsolved problem in number theory. Biomolecules such as DNA have extended the domains of what is considered a standard computer model. This report investigated the distribution of prime numbers generated from viral DNA. The digits of Euler’s number and Pi were found to be encoded between Bacteriophage T4 Watson-Crick DNA segments comprised of prime numbers. Key words: Prime number, number theory, molecular computing, phage T4.