Faltings’ theorem

Let $K$ be a number field and let $C/K$ be a non-singular curve defined over $K$ and genus $g$. When the genus is $0$, the curve is isomorphic to ${\mathbb{P}}^1$ (over an algebraic closure $\overline{K}$) and therefore $C(K)$ is either empty or equal to ${\mathbb{P}}^1(K)$ (in particular $C(K)$ is infinite). If the genus of $C$ is $1$ and $C(K)$ contains at least one point over $K$ then $C/K$ is an elliptic curve and the Mordell-Weil theorem shows that $C(K)$ is a finitely generated abelian group (in particular, $C(K)$ may be finite or infinite). However, if $g\ge 2$, Mordell conjectured in $1922$ that $C(K)$ cannot be infinite. This was first proven by Faltings in $1983$.

Theorem (Faltings’ Theorem (Mordell’s conjecture)).

Let $K$ be a number field and let $C\mathrm{/}K$ be a non-singular curve defined over $K$ of genus $g\mathrm{\ge }\mathrm{2}$. Then $C\mathit{}\mathrm{(}K\mathrm{)}$ is finite.

The reader may also be interested in Siegel’s theorem.

Title	Faltings’ theorem
Canonical name	FaltingsTheorem
Date of creation	2013-03-22 15:57:21
Last modified on	2013-03-22 15:57:21
Owner	alozano (2414)
Last modified by	alozano (2414)
Numerical id	5
Author	alozano (2414)
Entry type	Theorem
Classification	msc 14G05
Classification	msc 14H99
Synonym	Mordell’s conjecture
Related topic	SiegelsTheorem