No elliptic curves over $\mathbb{Q}$ with everywhere good reduction

analytic-number-theoryelliptic-curvesnumber theory

I'm trying to prove that there aren't any elliptic curves $E$ over $\mathbb{Q}$ with everywhere good reduction. I first suppose that $\Delta = \pm 1$ and am trying to reduce the quantities for $c_{4}, c_6, \Delta$ etc. modulo 8 in order to eventually reach a contradiction. Going off of the hint in Silverman's The Arithmetic of Elliptic Curves (exercise 8.15), I'm running into some problems trying to prove that $a_1$, i.e. the coefficient of $xy$ in Weierstrass equation of $E$, is odd. My thinking is that I need to work with

$$\Delta = \pm 1 \equiv -b_2^2b_8 – 3b_6^2 +b_2b_4b_6 \pmod{8}$$

Am I right in thinking this? I've been working with it to no avail. Any help or hints would be much appreciated!

Best Answer

If the coefficient $a_1$ is even, then $$b_2=a_1^2+4a_2\equiv0\pmod{4} \qquad\text{ and }\qquad b_4=2a_4+a_1a_3\equiv0\pmod{2}.$$ It follows that $$\Delta=-b_2^2b_8-8b_4^3-27b_6^2+9b_2b_4b_6\equiv5b_6^2\pmod{8}.$$ This can never be congruent to $\pm1\pmod{8}$. Hence $a_1$ is odd, from which point you say you can conclude the proof.

Alternatively, as noted in the comments any elliptic curve over $\Bbb{Q}$ has a Weierstrass form $$y^2=x^3+ax+b,$$ with discriminant $\Delta=-16(4a^3+27b^2)$, which cannot equal $\pm1$ as it is a multiple of $16$.