Ribet's theorem

In mathematics, Ribet's theorem (earlier called the epsilon conjecture or ε-conjecture) is a statement in number theory concerning properties of Galois representations associated with modular forms. It was proposed by Jean-Pierre Serre and proved by Ken Ribet. The proof of the epsilon conjecture was a significant step towards the proof of Fermat's Last Theorem. As shown by Serre and Ribet, the Taniyama–Shimura conjecture (whose status was unresolved at the time) and the epsilon conjecture together imply that Fermat's Last Theorem is true.

Statement

Let f be a weight 2 newform on Γ₀(qN)–i.e. of level qN where q does not divide N–with absolutely irreducible 2-dimensional mod p Galois representation ρ_f,p unramified at q if q ≠ p and finite flat at q = p. Then there exists a weight 2 newform g of level N such that

$\rho_{f,p} \simeq \rho_{g,p}.$

In particular, if E is an elliptic curve over $\mathbb{Q}$ with conductor qN, then the Modularity theorem guarantees that there exists a weight 2 newform f of level qN such that the 2-dimensional mod p Galois representation ρ_{f, p} of f is isomorphic to the 2-dimensional mod p Galois representation ρ_{E, p} of E. To apply Ribet's Theorem to ρ_{E, p}, it suffices to check the irreducibility and ramification of ρ_{E, p}. Using the theory of the Tate curve, one can prove that ρ_{E, p} is unramified at q ≠ p and finite flat at q = p if p divides the power to which q appears in the minimal discriminant Δ_E. Then Ribet's theorem implies that there exists a weight 2 newform g of level N such that ρ_{g, p} ≈ ρ_{E, p}.

The result of level lowering

Note that Ribet's theorem does not guarantee that if you begin with an elliptic curve E of conductor qN, there exists an elliptic curve E' of level N such that ρ_{E, p} ≈ ρ_{E', p}. The newform g of level N may not have rational Fourier coefficients, and hence may be associated to a higher-dimensional Abelian variety, not an elliptic curve. For example, elliptic curve 4171a1 in the Cremona database given by the equation

$E: y^2 +xy +y = x^3 - 663204x + 206441595$

with conductor 43*97 and discriminant 43⁷ * 97³ does not level-lower mod 7 to an elliptic curve of conductor 97. Rather, the mod p Galois representation is isomorphic to the mod p Galois representation of an irrational newform g of level 97.

However, for p large enough compared to the level N of the level-lowered newform, a rational newform (e.g. an elliptic curve) must level-lower to another rational newform (e.g. elliptic curve). In particular for p>>N^N1+ε, the mod p Galois representation of a rational newform cannot be isomorphic to that of an irrational newform of level N.

Similarly, the Frey-Mazur conjecture predicts that for p large enough (independent of the conductor N), elliptic curves with isomorphic mod p Galois representations are in fact isogenous, and hence have the same conductor. Thus non-trivial level-lowering between rational newforms is not predicted to occur for large p (in particular p > 17).

History

In his thesis, de came up with the idea of associating solutions (a,b,c) of Fermat's equation with a completely different mathematical object: an elliptic curve. If p is an odd prime and a, b, and c are positive integers such that

$a^p + b^p = c^p,\$

then a corresponding Frey curve is an algebraic curve given by the equation

$y^2 = x(x - a^p)(x + b^p).\$

This is a nonsingular algebraic curve of genus one defined over $\mathbb{Q}$, and its projective completion is an elliptic curve over $\mathbb{Q}$.

In 1982 Gerhard Frey called attention to the unusual properties of the same curve as Hellegouarch, now called a Frey curve. This provided a bridge between Fermat and Taniyama by showing that a counterexample to Fermat's Last Theorem would create such a curve that would not be modular. The conjecture attracted considerable interest when Frey (1986) suggested that the Taniyama–Shimura–Weil conjecture implies Fermat's Last Theorem. However, his argument was not complete. In 1985 Jean-Pierre Serre proposed that a Frey curve could not be modular and provided a partial proof of this. This showed that a proof of the semistable case of the Taniyama–Shimura conjecture would imply Fermat's Last Theorem. Serre did not provide a complete proof and what was missing became known as the epsilon conjecture or ε-conjecture. In the summer of 1986, Kenneth Alan Ribet proved the epsilon conjecture, thereby proving that the Taniyama–Shimura–Weil conjecture implied Fermat's Last Theorem.

Implication of Fermat's Last Theorem

Suppose that the Fermat equation with exponent p ≥ 3 had a solution in non-zero integers a, b, c. Let us form the corresponding Frey curve E_a^p,b^p,c^p. It is an elliptic curve and one can show that its minimal discriminant Δ is equal to 2⁻⁸ (abc)^2p and its conductor N is the radical of abc, i.e. the product of all distinct primes dividing abc. By an elementary consideration of the equation a^p + b^p = c^p, it is clear that one of a, b, c is even and hence so is N. By the Taniyama–Shimura conjecture, E is a modular elliptic curve. Since all odd primes dividing a,b,c in N appear to a pth power in the minimal discriminant Δ, by Ribet's theorem one can perform level descent modulo p repetitively to strip off all odd primes from the conductor. However, there are no newforms of level 2 as the genus of the modular curve X₀(2) is zero (and newforms of level N are differentials on X₀(N)).

See also

• abc conjecture
• Modularity theorem
• Wiles' proof of Fermat's Last Theorem

References

• Kenneth Ribet, From the Taniyama-Shimura conjecture to Fermat's last theorem. Annales de la faculté des sciences de Toulouse Sér. 5, 11 no. 1 (1990), p. 116–139.
• Frey Curve and Ribet's Theorem

External links

• Ken Ribet and Fermat's Last Theorem by Kevin Buzzard June 28, 2008