On Taking Square Roots without Quadratic Nonresidues over Finite Fields

We present a novel idea to compute square roots over finite fields, without being given any quadratic nonresidue, and without assuming any unproven hypothesis. The algorithm is deterministic and the proof is elementary. In some cases, the square root algorithm runs in $\tilde{O}(\log^2 q)$ bit operations over finite fields with $q$ elements. As an application, we construct a deterministic primality proving algorithm, which runs in $\tilde{O}(\log^3 N)$ for some integers $N$.Comment: 14 page

Sparse univariate polynomials with many roots over finite fields.

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Finite quotients of Z[C_n]-lattices and Tamagawa numbers of semistable abelian varieties

We investigate the behaviour of Tamagawa numbers of semistable principally polarised abelian varieties in extensions of local fields. In view of the Raynaud parametrisation, this translates into a purely algebraic problem concerning the number of $H$-invariant points on a quotient of $C_n$-lattices $\Lambda/e\Lambda'$ for varying subgroups $H$ of $C_n$ and integers $e$. In particular, we give a simple formula for the change of Tamagawa numbers in totally ramified extensions (corresponding to varying $e$) and one that computes Tamagawa numbers up to rational squares in general extensions. As an application, we extend some of the existing results on the $p$-parity conjecture for Selmer groups of abelian varieties by allowing more general local behaviour. We also give a complete classification of the behaviour of Tamagawa numbers for semistable 2-dimensional principally polarised abelian varieties, that is similar to the well-known one for elliptic curves. The appendix explains how to use this classification for Jacobians of genus 2 hyperelliptic curves given by equations of the form $y^2=f(x)$, under some simplifying hypotheses.Comment: Two new lemmas are added. The first describes permutation representations, and the second describes the dependence of the B-group on the maximal fixpoint-free invariant sublattice. Contact details and bibliographic details have been update

Number Fields in Fibers: the Geometrically Abelian Case with Rational Critical Values

Let X be an algebraic curve over Q and t a non-constant Q-rational function on X such that Q(t) is a proper subfield of Q(X). For every integer n pick a point P_n on X such that t(P_n)=n. We conjecture that, for large N, among the number fields Q(P_1), ..., Q(P_N) there are at least cN distinct. We prove this conjecture in the special case when t defines a geometrically abelian covering of the projective line, and the critical values of t are all rational. This implies, in particular, that our conjecture follows from a famous conjecture of Schinzel.Comment: Some typos are corrected. The article is now accepted in Periodica Math. Hungaric

Nonisomorphic curves that become isomorphic over extensions of coprime degrees

We show that one can find two nonisomorphic curves over a field K that become isomorphic to one another over two finite extensions of K whose degrees over K are coprime to one another. More specifically, let K_0 be an arbitrary prime field and let r and s be integers greater than 1 that are coprime to one another. We show that one can find a finite extension K of K_0, a degree-r extension L of K, a degree-s extension M of K, and two curves C and D over K such that C and D become isomorphic to one another over L and over M, but not over any proper subextensions of L/K or M/K. We show that such C and D can never have genus 0, and that if K is finite, C and D can have genus 1 if and only if {r,s} = {2,3} and K is an odd-degree extension of F_3. On the other hand, when {r,s}={2,3} we show that genus-2 examples occur in every characteristic other than 3. Our detailed analysis of the case {r,s} = {2,3} shows that over every finite field K there exist nonisomorphic curves C and D that become isomorphic to one another over the quadratic and cubic extensions of K. Most of our proofs rely on Galois cohomology. Without using Galois cohomology, we show that two nonisomorphic genus-0 curves over an arbitrary field remain nonisomorphic over every odd-degree extension of the base field.Comment: LaTeX, 32 pages. Further references added to the discussion in Section 1