Elliptic Curves

Abstract

An elliptic curve can be defined as a smooth projective curve of degree 3 in the projective plane with a distinguished point chosen on it. The set of points on the curve can thus be endowed with a natural additive group structure. The most concrete description of an elliptic curve comes from its affine equation, written as $$y^2=x^3+ax+b,\quad \text{with}\ 4a^3+27b^2\not=0.$$ The theory of elliptic curves is a marvelous mixture of elementary mathematics and profound, advanced mathematics, a mixture which moreover lies on the crossroads of multiple theories: arithmetic, algebraic geometry, group representations, complex analysis, etc. Here, we will provide an introduction to the subject and prove the main Diophantine theorems: the group of rational points is finitely generated (the Mordell-Weil theorem) and the set of integral points is finite (Siegel’s theorem). Finally, we will evoke the famous theorem of Wiles—whose proof resulted in the proof of Fermat’s last theorem—and the Birch & Swinnerton-Dyer conjecture.