Instytut Matematyczny Polskiej Akademii Nauk / Institute of Mathematics / Publishing house / Journals and Serials / Acta Arithmetica / All issues

Abstract

Consider two families of hyperelliptic curves (over $\mathbb{Q}$), $C^{n,a}:y^{2}=x^{n}+a$ and $C_{n,a}:y^{2}=x(x^{n}+a)$, and their respective Jacobians $J^{n,a}$, $J_{n,a}$. We give a partial characterization of the torsion part of $J^{n,a}( \mathbb{Q})$ and $J_{n,a}( \mathbb{Q})$. More precisely, we show that the only prime factors of the orders of such groups are 2 and prime divisors of $n$ (we also give upper bounds for the exponents). Moreover, we give a complete description of the torsion part of $J_{8,a}( \mathbb{Q})$. Namely, we show that $J_{8,a}(\mathbb{Q})_{\rm tors} =J_{8,a}(\mathbb{Q})[2]$. In addition, we characterize the torsion parts of $J_{p,a}( \mathbb{Q})$, where $p$ is an odd prime, and of $J^{n,a}( \mathbb{Q})$, where $n=4,6,8$.

The main ingredients in the proofs are explicit computations of zeta functions of the relevant curves, and applications of the Chebotarev Density Theorem.