In mathematics, an elliptic divisibility sequence (EDS) is a sequence of integers satisfying a nonlinear recursion relation arising from division polynomials on elliptic curves. EDS were first defined, and their arithmetic properties studied, by Morgan WardMorgan Ward, Memoir on elliptic divisibility sequences, Amer. J. Math. 70 (1948), 31–74. in the 1940s. They attracted only sporadic attention until around 2000, when EDS were taken up as a class of nonlinear recurrences that are more amenable to analysis than most such sequences. This tractability is due primarily to the close connection between EDS and elliptic curves. In addition to the intrinsic interest that EDS have within number theory, EDS also have applications to other areas of mathematics including logic and cryptography.
Definition A (nondegenerate) elliptic divisibility sequence (EDS) is a sequence of integers defined recursively by four initial values , , , , with ≠ 0 and with subsequent values determined by the formulas
It can be shown that if divides each of , , and if further divides , then every term in the sequence is an integer.
Divisibility property An EDS is a divisibility sequence in the sense that
In particular, every term in an EDS is divisible by , so EDS are frequently normalized to have = 1 by dividing every term by the initial term.
Any three integers , , with divisible by lead to a normalized EDS on setting
It is not obvious, but can be proven, that the condition | suffices to ensure that every term in the sequence is an integer.
General recursion A fundamental property of elliptic divisibility sequences is that they satisfy the general recursion relation
(This formula is often applied with = 1 and = 1.)
Nonsingular EDS The discriminant of a normalized EDS is the quantity
An EDS is nonsingular if its discriminant is nonzero.
Examples A simple example of an EDS is the sequence of natural numbers 1, 2, 3,... . Another interesting example is 1, 3, 8, 21, 55, 144, 377, 987,... consisting of every other term in the Fibonacci sequence, starting with the second term. However, both of these sequences satisfy a linear recurrence and both are singular EDS. An example of a nonsingular EDS is
Periodicity of EDS A sequence is said to be periodic if there is a number so that = for every ≥ 1. If a nondegenerate EDS is periodic, then one of its terms vanishes. The smallest ≥ 1 with = 0 is called the rank of apparition of the EDS. A deep theorem of Mazur B. Mazur. Modular curves and the Eisenstein ideal, Inst. Hautes Études Sci. Publ. Math. 47:33–186, 1977. implies that if the rank of apparition of an EDS is finite, then it satisfies ≤ 10 or = 12.
Elliptic curves and points associated to EDS Ward proves that associated to any nonsingular EDS () is an elliptic curve /Q and a point ε (Q) such that
Here ψ is the division polynomial of ; the roots of ψ are the nonzero points of order on . There is a complicated formula This formula is due to Ward. See the appendix to J. H. Silverman and N. Stephens. The sign of an elliptic divisibility sequence. J. Ramanujan Math. Soc., 21(1):1–17, 2006. for and in terms of , , , and .
There is an alternative definition of EDS that directly uses elliptic curves and yields a sequence which, up to sign, almost satisfies the EDS recursion. This definition starts with an elliptic curve /Q given by a Weierstrass equation and a nontorsion point ε (Q). One writes the -coordinates of the multiples of as
Then the sequence () is also called an elliptic divisibility sequence. It is a divisibility sequence, and there exists an integer so that the subsequence ( ± ) ≥ 1 (with an appropriate choice of signs) is an EDS in the earlier sense.
Growth of EDS Let be a nonsingular EDS that is not periodic. Then the sequence grows quadratic exponentially in the sense that there is a positive constant such that
The number is the canonical height of the point on the elliptic curve associated to the EDS.
Primes and primitive divisors in EDS It is conjectured that a nonsingular EDS contains only finitely many primesM. Einsiedler, G. Everest, and T. Ward. Primes in elliptic divisibility sequences. LMS J. Comput. Math., 4:1–13 (electronic), 2001. However, all but finitely many terms in a nonsingular EDS admit a primitive prime divisor.J. H. Silverman. Wieferich's criterion and the abc-conjecture. J. Number Theory, 30(2):226–237, 1988. Thus for all but finitely many , there is a prime such that divides , but does not divide for all < . This statement is an analogue of Zsigmondy's theorem.
EDS over finite fields An EDS over a finite field F, or more generally over any field, is a sequence of elements of that field satisfying the EDS recursion. An EDS over a finite field is always periodic, and thus has a rank of apparition . The period of an EDS over F then has the form , where and satisfy
More precisely, there are elements and in F* such that
The values of and are related to the Tate pairing of the point on the associated elliptic curve.
Applications of EDS Bjorn Poonen B. Poonen. Using elliptic curves of rank one towards the undecidability of Hilbert's tenth problem over rings of algebraic integers. In Algorithmic number theory (Sydney, 2002), volume 2369 of Lecture Notes in Comput. Sci., pages 33–42. Springer, Berlin, 2002. has applied EDS to logic. He uses the existence of primitive divisors in EDS on elliptic curves of rank one to prove the undecidability of Hilbert's tenth problem over certain rings of integers.
Katherine E. Stange K. Stange. The Tate pairing via elliptic nets. In Pairing-Based Cryptography (Tokyo, 2007), volume 4575 of Lecture Notes in Comput. Sci. Springer, Berlin, 2007. has applied EDS and their higher rank generalizations called elliptic nets to cryptography. She shows how EDS can be used to compute the value of the Weil and Tate pairings on elliptic curves over finite fields. These pairings have numerous applications in pairing-based cryptography.
References
Further material
G. Everest, A. van der Poorten, I. Shparlinski, and T. Ward. Recurrence sequences, volume 104 of Mathematical Surveys and Monographs. American Mathematical Society, Providence, RI, 2003. . (Chapter 10 is on EDS.) R. Shipsey. Elliptic divisibility sequences . PhD thesis, Goldsmiths College (University of London), 2000. K. Stange. Elliptic nets. PhD thesis, Brown University, 2008. C. Swart. Sequences related to elliptic curves. PhD thesis, Royal Holloway (University of London), 2003.
External links Graham Everest's EDS web page. Prime Values of Elliptic Divisibility Sequences. Lecture on p-adic Properites of Elliptic Divisibility Sequences.