OpenFrontiers
← Back to the index
OP-9954Status unassessedNumber theory

Serre's uniformity conjecture over the rationals

Serre's uniformity conjecture over the rationals

Inferred from the community field; finer classification has not been reviewed.

Specialist source · status unassessedAs of 2026-09-10Source & evidence ↓

Problem statement

serre_uniformity

Serre's uniformity question over Q\mathbb{Q} [Ser72, Lem17]: is there a bound CC such that every non-CM elliptic curve over Q\mathbb{Q} has surjective mod-pp Galois representation for every prime p>Cp > C?

serre_uniformity.variants.bound_37

Serre's uniformity conjecture over Q\mathbb{Q}, explicit form: the bound C=37C = 37 works, i.e. every non-CM elliptic curve over Q\mathbb{Q} has surjective mod-pp Galois representation for every prime p>37p > 37. From the introduction of [Lem17]: "This conjecture remains open today, but, over the last forty years, there has been a lot of progress towards a proof for K=QK = \mathbb{Q} — it is believed that, in this case, pK=37p_K = 37."

Lean 4

No Lean submitted

Formal statement

Lean 4
/-
Copyright 2026 The Formal Conjectures Authors.

Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
You may obtain a copy of the License at

    https://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0

Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
limitations under the License.
-/

import FormalConjecturesUtil

/-!
# Serre's uniformity conjecture over the rationals

Is there a bound $C$, independent of the non-CM elliptic curve $E/\mathbb{Q}$, such that
the Galois action on $E[p]$ is surjective onto $\mathrm{GL}_2(\mathbb{F}_p)$ for every
prime $p > C$? This is the $\mathbb{Q}$ case of Serre's question [Ser72], recalled in
the introduction of [Lem17].

We express surjectivity without choosing a basis: every additive automorphism of $E[p]$
must be induced by an element of $G_{\mathbb{Q}}$. For prime $p$, these automorphisms are
exactly the $\mathbb{F}_p$-linear automorphisms. The non-CM condition uses the classification
of rational CM $j$-invariants.

*References:*
- [Ser72] J.-P. Serre, *Propriétés galoisiennes des points d'ordre fini des courbes
  elliptiques*. Inventiones Mathematicae 15 (1972), 259–331.
  https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01405086
- [Lem17] P. Lemos, *Serre's uniformity conjecture for elliptic curves with rational
  cyclic isogenies*, introduction. https://arxiv.org/abs/1702.01985
-/

namespace SerreUniformity

/--
The thirteen rational CM $j$-invariants.
-/
def cmJInvariants : Finset ℚ :=
  {0, 1728, -3375, 8000, -32768, 54000, 287496, -884736,
    -12288000, 16581375, -884736000, -147197952000, -262537412640768000}

open scoped Classical in
/--
Every additive automorphism of $E[p]$ is induced by a Galois automorphism.
For elliptic $E$ and prime $p$, this means that the mod-$p$ representation is surjective.
-/
def HasFullTorsionAction (E : WeierstrassCurve ℚ) (p : ℕ) : Prop :=
  let T := AddSubgroup.torsionBy (E.baseChange (AlgebraicClosure ℚ)).toAffine.Point (p : ℤ)
  ∀ f : T ≃+ T, ∃ σ : AlgebraicClosure ℚ ≃ₐ[ℚ] AlgebraicClosure ℚ,
    ∀ P : T, WeierstrassCurve.Affine.Point.map (W' := E) σ.toAlgHom P.val = (f P).val

/--
**Serre's uniformity question over $\mathbb{Q}$** [Ser72, Lem17]: is there a bound
$C$ such that every non-CM elliptic curve over $\mathbb{Q}$ has surjective mod-$p$
Galois representation for every prime $p > C$?
-/
@[category research open, AMS 11 14]
theorem serre_uniformity :
    answer(sorry) ↔
      ∃ C : ℕ, ∀ (E : WeierstrassCurve ℚ) [E.IsElliptic], E.j ∉ cmJInvariants →
        ∀ p : ℕ, p.Prime → C < p → HasFullTorsionAction E p := by
  sorry

/--
**Serre's uniformity conjecture over $\mathbb{Q}$, explicit form**: the bound $C = 37$
works, i.e. every non-CM elliptic curve over $\mathbb{Q}$ has surjective mod-$p$ Galois
representation for every prime $p > 37$. From the introduction of [Lem17]: "This conjecture
remains open today, but, over the last forty years, there has been a lot of progress towards
a proof for $K = \mathbb{Q}$ — it is believed that, in this case, $p_K = 37$."
-/
@[category research open, AMS 11 14]
theorem serre_uniformity.variants.bound_37 :
    answer(sorry) ↔
      ∀ (E : WeierstrassCurve ℚ) [E.IsElliptic], E.j ∉ cmJInvariants →
        ∀ p : ℕ, p.Prime → 37 < p → HasFullTorsionAction E p := by
  sorry

end SerreUniformity

On-site verification needs an executable Lean target. None is attached yet.

A source attachment or link is not a verified proof. The statement’s correspondence with the original question needs human review.

Proofs & verification

No Lean has been submitted for this problem yet. A Lean file can be attached to a submission for review, though with no target here it cannot be machine-checked.

Background

Source snapshot inspected on 10 September 2026. Subsequent research status and the accuracy of source formalizations have not been independently certified.

Fixed commit b82b08faa9006484021c12005ab41287fb2ffb69. This file contains 2 source-labeled research-open declarations. Other declarations in the attached file can be definitions, solved results or tests. The file is preserved as source material; it has not been compiled or proved by this import.

Copyright The Formal Conjectures Authors. Code: Apache-2.0; other original material: CC BY 4.0. Third-party sources retain their own licenses. Original source files and notices preserved.

References
  1. [1]Formal Conjectures — Serre's uniformity conjecture over the rationals link
  2. [2]Original reference cited in the formalization link
  3. [3]Original reference cited in the formalization link

Recorded progress

Add yours →

Nothing recorded yet. A pointer to a paper the entry is missing counts.

Machine attempts

0 recorded

Attempts run against the statement below and are recorded in full, including the failures. The point is to stop the next model — and the next person — from re-walking a road that is already known to end. Each attempt costs 25 credits.

No machine attempts recorded.

Sign in to run an attempt. New accounts start with enough credits for ten.

Discussion

0 notes

Notes are for clarifying the statement, flagging a missing reference, or recording why an approach fails. Claimed solutions belong in a submission, where they can be reviewed.

No notes yet.

Sign in to add a note.