Elliptic curve variants of the least quadratic nonresidue problem and Linnik’s theorem

Abstract

Let [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] be [Formula: see text]-nonisogenous, semistable elliptic curves over [Formula: see text], having respective conductors [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] and both without complex multiplication. For each prime [Formula: see text], denote by [Formula: see text] the trace of Frobenius. Assuming the Generalized Riemann Hypothesis (GRH) for the convolved symmetric power [Formula: see text]-functions [Formula: see text] where [Formula: see text], we prove an explicit result that can be stated succinctly as follows: there exists a prime [Formula: see text] such that [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] This improves and makes explicit a result of Bucur and Kedlaya. Now, if [Formula: see text] is a subinterval with Sato–Tate measure [Formula: see text] and if the symmetric power [Formula: see text]-functions [Formula: see text] are functorial and satisfy GRH for all [Formula: see text], we employ similar techniques to prove an explicit result that can be stated succinctly as follows: there exists a prime [Formula: see text] such that [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text]