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- (Jeff)
Let
be the set of triples
modulo scalar multiplication,
as usual. Define a line in
to be the set
of solutions of an equation of the form
for some numbers
not all zero.
Prove (from the definition) that any two distinct points in
are contained in a unique line.
Then prove that any two distinct lines in
intersect
in a unique point.
- (Jennifer)
Let
be a homogeneous polynomial
of degree
. Prove that the partial derivatives of
are homogeneous polynomials of degree
, and use
this to show that
by differentiating
with respect
to
.
- (Mauro)
- Let
be a curve in
defined by
,
where
is a homogenous polynomial.
Prove that if
satifies the equation
 |
(1) |
then
``automatically'' satisfies
.
Thus to find the singular points on
, you just
have to find the common solutions to (1);
it is not necessary to include
.
- Find all singular points on the curve
defined by
- (Alex)
For each of the given affine curves
, find a projective
curve
whose affine part is
. Then find all of the points
at infinity on the projective curve
.
-
-
- (Jenna)
For each of the following curves
and points
, either find
the tangent line to
at
or else verify that
is
singular at
.
- (Alex)
Let
be the cubic curve
. In the
projective plane, the point
at infinity lies on this curve.
Find rational functoins
and
so that
and
satisfy a cubic equation in Weierstrass normal form (i.e.,
).
- (Jeff)
Let
be the cubic curve in
given by
Prove that the point
on
is nonsingular.
- (Jenna) Let
and
be the cubics given by the
following equations:
Find the nine points of intersection of
and
.
- (Jennifer) The cubic curve
(with
) has a rational point
at infinity. Taking this rational point to be
(the
identity element of the group), we can make the points
on the curve into a group.
Derive a formula for the sum
of two distinct
points
and
.
- (Mauro)
Verify that if
and
satisfy the relation
, then the quantities

and
satisfy the relation
. We thus obtain a birational
transformation
from the curve
to the curve
. Each of these cubic curves can have a group law defined on
it. Prove that
is an isomorphism of groups, where the zero
element for
is the point
and the zero element
for
is
(at infinity).
Next: Motivation: The Congruent Number
Up: New reading and problems
Previous: New reading and problems
William A Stein
2003-02-11