Fluctuations in the number of points on smooth plane curves over finite fields

In this note, we study the fluctuations in the number of points on smooth projective plane curves over a finite field Fq as q is fixed and the genus varies. More precisely, we show that these fluctuations are predicted by a natural probabilistic model, in which the points of the projective plane impose independent conditions on the curve. The main tool we use is a geometric sieving process introduced by Poonen (2004) [8].     

On a property of plane curves

Let γ:[0,1]→²[0,1] be a continuous curve such that γ(0)=(0,0), γ(1)=(1,1), and γ(t)∈²(0,1) for all t∈(0,1). We prove that, for each n∈N, there exists a sequence of points Ai, 0?i?n+1, on γ such that A₀=(0,0), An+1=(1,1), and the sequences and , 0?i?n, are positive and the same up to order, where π₁, π₂ are projections on the axes.     

On the number of curves of genus 2 over a finite field

In this paper we compute the number of curves of genus 2 defined over a finite field k of odd characteristic up to isomorphisms defined over k; the even characteristic case is treated in an ongoing work (G. Cardona, E. Nart, J. Pujolàs, Curves of genus 2 over field of even characteristic, 2003, submitted for publication). To this end, we first give a parametrization of all points in , the moduli variety that classifies genus 2 curves up to isomorphism, defined over an arbitrary perfect field (of zero or odd characteristic) and corresponding to curves with non-trivial reduced group of automorphisms; we also give an explicit representative defined over that field for each of these points. Then, we use cohomological methods to compute the number of k-isomorphism classes for each point in .     

On the proportion of locally soluble superelliptic curves

We investigate the proportion of superelliptic curves that have a ${\mathbb{Q}}_p$ point for every place p of $\mathbb{Q}$. We show that this proportion is positive and given by the product of local densities, we provide lower bounds for this proportion in general, and for superelliptic curves of the form $y^3=f(x,z)$ for an integral binary form f of degree 6, we determine this proportion to be 96.94%. More precisely, we give explicit rational functions in p for the proportion of such curves over ${\mathbb{Z}}_p$ having a ${\mathbb{Q}}_p$-point.     

Near-MDS codes arising from algebraic curves

Every elliptic quartic Γ₄ of PG(3,q) with nGF(q)-rational points provides a near-MDS code C of length n and dimension 4 such that the collineation group of Γ₄ is isomorphic to the automorphism group of C. In this paper we assume that GF(q) has characteristic p>3. We classify the linear collineation groups of PG(3,q) which can preserve an elliptic quartic of PG(3,q). Also, we prove for q?113 that if the j-invariant of Γ₄ does not disappear, then C cannot be extended in a natural way by adding a point of PG(3,q) to Γ₄.     

On triconnected and cubic plane graphs on given point sets

Let S be a set of n4 points in general position in the plane, and let h<n be the number of extreme points of S. We show how to construct a 3-connected plane graph with vertex set S, having max{3n/2,n+h−1} edges, and we prove that there is no 3-connected plane graph on top of S with a smaller number of edges. In particular, this implies that S admits a 3-connected cubic plane graph if and only if n4 is even and hn/2+1. The same bounds also hold when 3-edge-connectivity is considered. We also give a partial characterization of the point sets in the plane that can be the vertex set of a cubic plane graph.     

On rational embeddings of curves in the second Garcia–Stichtenoth tower

In 1995, Garcia and Stichtenoth explicitly constructed a tower of projective curves over a finite field with q² elements which reaches the Drinfeld–Vlăduţ bound. These curves are given recursively by covers of Artin–Schreier type where the curve on the nth level of the tower has a natural model in . In this paper, for q an even prime power, we use point projections in order to embed these curves into projective space of the lowest possible dimension.     

On the number of moduli of plane sextics with six cusps

Let be the variety of irreducible sextics with six cusps as singularities. Let be one of irreducible components of . Denoting by the space of moduli of smooth curves of genus 4, we consider the rational map sending the general point [Γ] of Σ, corresponding to a plane curve , to the point of parametrizing the normalization curve of Γ. The number of moduli of Σ is, by definition the dimension of Π(Σ). We know that , where ρ(2, 4, 6) is the Brill–Noether number of linear series of dimension 2 and degree 6 on a curve of genus 4. We prove that both irreducible components of have number of moduli equal to seven.      

On generalizations of Fermat curves over finite fields and their automorphisms

Let 𝒳 be an irreducible algebraic curve defined over a finite field 𝔽_q of characteristic p>2. Assume that the 𝔽_q-automorphism group of 𝒳 admits a subgroup isomorphic to the direct product of two cyclic groups C_m and C_n of orders m and n prime to p, such that both quotient curves 𝒳∕C_n and 𝒳∕C_m are rational. In this paper, we provide a complete classification of such curves as well as a characterization of their full automorphism groups.     

On isogeny graphs of supersingular elliptic curves over finite fields

We study the isogeny graphs of supersingular elliptic curves over finite fields, with an emphasis on the vertices corresponding to elliptic curves of j-invariant 0 and 1728.     

On ring class eigenspaces of Mordell-Weil groups of elliptic curves over global function fields

If E is a non-isotrivial elliptic curve over a global function field F of odd characteristic we show that certain Mordell-Weil groups of E have 1-dimensional χ-eigenspace (with χ a complex ring class character) provided that the projection onto this eigenspace of a suitable Drinfeld-Heegner point is non-zero. This represents the analogue in the function field setting of a theorem for elliptic curves over Q due to Bertolini and Darmon, and at the same time is a generalization of the main result proved by Brown in his monograph on Heegner modules. As in the number field case, our proof employs Kolyvagin-type arguments, and the cohomological machinery is started up by the control on the Galois structure of the torsion of E provided by classical results of Igusa in positive characteristic.     

Hamiltonicity in vertex envelopes of plane cubic graphs

In this paper we study a graph operation which produces what we call the “vertex envelope” G^∗_V from a graph G. We apply it to plane cubic graphs and investigate the hamiltonicity of the resulting graphs, which are also cubic. To this end, we prove a result giving a necessary and sufficient condition for the existence of hamiltonian cycles in the vertex envelopes of plane cubic graphs. We then use these conditions to identify graphs or classes of graphs whose vertex envelopes are either all hamiltonian or all non-hamiltonian, paying special attention to bipartite graphs. We also show that deciding if a vertex envelope is hamiltonian is NP-complete, and we provide a polynomial algorithm for deciding if a given cubic plane graph is a vertex envelope.     

Some families of Mordell curves associated to cubic fields

We introduce some Mordell curves of two different natures both of which are associated to cubic fields. One set of them consists of those elliptic curves whose rational points over the rational number field are described by or closely related to cubic fields. The other is a one-parameter family of Mordell curves which gives all (cyclic) cubic twists and all quadratic twists of the Fermat curve X³+Y³+Z³=0.