Rational two-torsion bounds #
This file bounds the two-torsion of a Weierstrass curve in characteristic different from two and excludes an elementary abelian subgroup of order eight. These are elementary structural inputs to the torsion classification in Mazur's theorem.
The points killed by 2 form a finite type in characteristic different
from two.
Over a field of characteristic different from two, an elliptic curve has
at most four points killed by 2.
For an elliptic curve in characteristic different from two, the points
killed by 4 have cardinality at most sixteen.
There is no embedding of an elementary abelian group of order eight into
the rational points of a Weierstrass curve in characteristic different from
two. This is the full-2-torsion obstruction used in Mazur's classification.