×

Primitive divisors of elliptic divisibility sequences. (English) Zbl 1093.11038

Let \(A=(a_n)_{n\geq 1}\) be an integer sequence. A prime number \(p\) which divides a term \(a_n\) is called a {primitive divisor} of \(a_n\) if \(p\) does not divide any term \(a_k\) with \(1\leq k<n\). One defines the Zsigmondy bound \(Z(A)\) for \(A\) by the equality \(Z(A)= \max \{ n\mid a_n\) does not have a primitive divisor\(\},\) if this set is finite, and \(Z(A)=\infty\) if not. Zsigmondy has proved in 1892 that for the Mersenne sequence \(M=(2^n-1)_{n\geq 1}\), one has \(Z(M)=6\). He also showed that for any coprime integers \(a\) and \(b\), we have \(Z((a^n-b^n)_{n\geq 1})\leq 6\). A few years ago, Bilu, Hanrot and Voutier have obtained the bound \(Z(L)\leq 30\) for any non-trivial Lucas or Lehmer sequence \(L\). In this paper the authors study to what extent this kind of results might hold for elliptic divisibility sequences.
Let us recall the definition of the elliptic divisibility sequences. Let \(E\) be an elliptic curve defined over \(\mathbb Q\) given by a minimal Weierstrass equation and \(P=(x(P),y(P))\) be a non-torsion point in \(E(\mathbb Q)\). For any integer \(n\geq 1\), let us write \[ x(nP)={a_n\over b_n}, \] in lowest terms, with \(a_n\in \mathbb Z\) and \(b_n\in \mathbb N\). The sequence \(B_{E,P}=(b_n)_{n\geq 1}\) is a divisibility sequence, which means that \(b_m\) divides \(b_n\) whenever \(m\) divides \(n\). Following a suggestion of Silverman, such sequences are called elliptic divisibility sequences. Silverman has shown in 1988 that \(Z(B_{E,P})\) is finite. The authors determine uniform explicit bounds for \(Z(B_{E,P})\), for certain infinite families of elliptic curves \(E/\mathbb Q\). Their results appear as the first examples given explicitly of the elliptic Zsigmondy theorem. Given an integer sequence \(A\), they are led to consider the even and the odd Zsigmondy bounds for \(A\). These bounds \(Z_e(A)\) and \(Z_o(A)\) are defined as \(Z(A)\), by considering only the even and the odd indexes respectively. We obviously have the equality \(Z(A)=\max(Z_e(A),Z_o(A))\). Let us mention one of the results obtained by the authors. Let \(a\) be a square-free positive integer and \(E\) be the elliptic curve defined by the equation \[ y^2=x^3-a^2x. \] Suppose that \(E\) has a non-torsion point \(P\in E(\mathbb Q)\). Then, one has \(Z_e(B_{E,P})\leq 10\). Furthermore, if \(x(P)<0\), then \(Z_o(B_{E,P})\leq 3\) and if \(x(P)\) is a square, then \(Z_o(B_{E,P})\leq 21\). In case \(a=5\), with \(P=(-4,6)\), they prove that \(Z(B_{E,P})=1\).

MSC:

11G05 Elliptic curves over global fields
11A41 Primes
PDFBibTeX XMLCite
Full Text: DOI arXiv Link

References:

[1] Bennett, M. A., Effective measures of irrationality for certain algebraic numbers, J. Austral. Math. Soc. Ser. A, 62, 3, 329-344 (1997) · Zbl 0880.11055
[2] Bennett, M. A., Explicit lower bounds for rational approximation to algebraic numbers, Proc. London Math. Soc. (3), 75, 1, 63-78 (1997) · Zbl 0879.11038
[3] Bilu, Y.; Hanrot, G.; Voutier, P. M., Existence of primitive divisors of Lucas and Lehmer numbers, J. Reine Angew. Math., 539, 75-122 (2001), (with an appendix by M. Mignotte) · Zbl 0995.11010
[4] Bremner, A.; Silverman, J. H.; Tzanakis, N., Integral points in arithmetic progression on \(y^2 = x(x^2 - n^2)\), J. Number Theory, 80, 2, 187-208 (2000) · Zbl 1009.11035
[5] Cassels, J. W.S., Lectures on Elliptic Curves, London Math. Soc. Stud. Texts, vol. 24 (1991), Cambridge Univ. Press: Cambridge Univ. Press Cambridge · Zbl 0752.14033
[6] David, S., Minorations de formes linéaires de logarithmes elliptiques, Mém. Soc. Math. Fr. (N.S.) (62), iv+143 (1995) · Zbl 0859.11048
[7] Everest, G.; Ward, T., An Introduction to Number Theory (2005), Springer-Verlag: Springer-Verlag New York · Zbl 1089.11001
[8] Everest, G.; van der Poorten, A.; Shparlinski, I.; Ward, T., Recurrence Sequences, Math. Surveys Monogr., vol. 104 (2003), Amer. Math. Soc.: Amer. Math. Soc. Providence, RI · Zbl 1033.11006
[9] Gale, D., The strange and surprising saga of the Somos sequences, Math. Intelligencer, 13, 1, 40-42 (1991)
[11] Robinson, R. M., Periodicity of Somos sequences, Proc. Amer. Math. Soc., 116, 3, 613-619 (1992) · Zbl 0774.11009
[12] Silverman, J. H., The Arithmetic of Elliptic Curves (1986), Springer-Verlag: Springer-Verlag New York · Zbl 0585.14026
[13] Silverman, J. H., Wieferich’s criterion and the abc-conjecture, J. Number Theory, 30, 2, 226-237 (1988) · Zbl 0654.10019
[14] Silverman, J. H., The difference between the Weil height and the canonical height on elliptic curves, Math. Comp., 55, 192, 723-743 (1990) · Zbl 0729.14026
[15] Silverman, J. H.; Tate, J., Rational Points on Elliptic Curves, Undergrad. Texts Math. (1992), Springer-Verlag: Springer-Verlag New York · Zbl 0752.14034
[16] Somos, M., Problem 1470, Crux Mathematicorum, 15, 208 (1989)
[17] Stroeker, R. J.; Tzanakis, N., Solving elliptic Diophantine equations by estimating linear forms in elliptic logarithms, Acta Arith., 67, 2, 177-196 (1994) · Zbl 0805.11026
[18] Zsigmondy, K., Zur Theorie der Potenzreste, Monatsh. Math., 3, 265-284 (1892) · JFM 24.0176.02
This reference list is based on information provided by the publisher or from digital mathematics libraries. Its items are heuristically matched to zbMATH identifiers and may contain data conversion errors. In some cases that data have been complemented/enhanced by data from zbMATH Open. This attempts to reflect the references listed in the original paper as accurately as possible without claiming completeness or a perfect matching.