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Let $E,E'$ be a pair of elliptic curves defined over $\mathbb{Z}$. Let $T_p[E], T_p[E']$ be their associated ($p$-adic) Tate modules. These are Galois representations for the absolute Galois group of $\mathbb{Q}$, which we denote by $G$, denote them by $\rho,\rho'$, respectively.

Let $\overline{\rho},\overline{\rho'}$ be their associated residual representations and assume that $\overline{\rho}\cong\overline{\rho'}$. Is it true that $H^1(G,T_p[E]) \cong H^1(G,T_p[E'])$?

Thanks in advance!

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    $\begingroup$ Not if $p=2$ as then the torsion subgroup of $H^1(\mathbb{Q},T_pE)$, which is isomorphic to $E(\mathbb{Q})[p^{\infty}]$, might be different even if the $p$-torsion $E[p]$ are both trivial. $\endgroup$ Commented May 4, 2023 at 11:51
  • $\begingroup$ What about $p\neq 2$? $\endgroup$
    – kindasorta
    Commented May 4, 2023 at 12:04
  • $\begingroup$ Yeah, I do. Are you saying that if I take $H^1(G_S, T_pE)$, where $S$ is a finite set of primes then it should be torsion free? Do you have a reference for this claim? $\endgroup$
    – kindasorta
    Commented May 4, 2023 at 12:09
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    $\begingroup$ The torsion subgroup is isomorphic to $E(\mathbb{Q})[p^\infty]$ in both cases and that won't change between $E$ and $E'$ if $p>2$. And often, but not always, it is torsion-free. $\endgroup$ Commented May 4, 2023 at 14:26
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    $\begingroup$ $0\to T \to T \to E[p^k] \to 0 $ is exact and $T^G=0$ gives $H^1(G,T)[p^k] = E(\mathbb{Q})[p^k]$. $\endgroup$ Commented May 4, 2023 at 16:24

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Let $S$ be a finite set containing all places where an elliptic curve $E$ has bad reduction as well as $p$ and $\infty$. Write $T$ for $T_pE$ and $G_S$ for the Galois group of the maximal extension of $\mathbb{Q}$ unramified outside $S$. Then, for any $k>0$ the exact sequence $0\to T \to^{[p^k]} T \to E[p^k]\to 0$ is exact. Since $T^{G_S}=0$, we get an isomorphism $H^1(G_S,T)[p^k] \cong E(\mathbb{Q})[p^k]$ and a short exact sequence $$ 0\to H^1(G_S,T)/p \to H^1(G_S, E[p]) \to H^2(G_S,T)[p] \to 0.$$ If $p>3$, then $E(\mathbb{Q})[p^{\infty}]\cong H^1(G_S,T)_{\mathrm{tors}} = H^1(\mathbb{Q}, T)_{\mathrm{tors}}$ only depends on the $G$-fixed part of $E[p]$. Therefore the torsion subgroup are isomorphic groups for $E$ and $E'$ in this case. For $p=2$ or $p=3$ or for larger number fields that fails.

The short exact sequence shows that the $\mathbb{Z}_p$-rank of $H^1(G_S,T)$ may also depend on more than just the Galois module $E[p]$, since there is no reason that the dimension of $H^2(G_S,T)[p]$ as an $\mathbb{F}_p$-vector space does not depend on this alone.

Here is an explicit counter example. Take $p=3$ and the curves $E$ https://www.lmfdb.org/EllipticCurve/Q/20449g1/ and $E'$ https://www.lmfdb.org/EllipticCurve/Q/20449d2/ . They have isomorphic $3$-torsion as they are the twist by $D=-143$ of a well known example of such a pair. Now $E$ has rank $2$ and, if you believe BSD or if you are willing to calculate more than on that page, the $3$-primary part of the Tate-Shafarevich group has order $1$. Instead $E'$ has rank $0$ but its Tate Shafarevich group has order $9$. Consider the Cassels sequence $$ 0\to \operatorname{Sel}(T) \to H^1(G_S,T) \to \bigl(E(\mathbb{Q}_3)\otimes \mathbb{Q}_3/\mathbb{Z}_3\bigr)^{\vee} \to \operatorname{Sel}(E[p^{\infty}])^{\vee}, $$ where ${}^{\vee}$ stands for the Pontryagin dual, the Selmer groups are the projective and the direct limit of the usual $3^k$-Selmer groups. For the curve $E$, we have $\operatorname{Sel}(T) \cong \mathbb{Z}_3^2$, $\operatorname{Sel}(E[3^{\infty}])^{\vee}\cong \mathbb{Z}_3^2$, while the local term is free of rank $1$ with the map to the right being injective since the points of infinite order in $E(\mathbb{Q})$ will not reduce to torsion point locally. We conclude that $H^1(G_S,T)$ is free of rank $2$ for $E$.

For $E'$ instead, the group $\operatorname{Sel}(T')$ is trivial, while $\operatorname{Sel}(E'[3^{\infty}])^{\vee}$ is isomorphic to $\bigl(\mathbb{Z}/3\mathbb{Z}\bigr)^2$. The local term is still free of rank $1$. Hence, no matter whether the right hand map is injective or not, we have that $H^1(G_S, T')$ is free of rank $1$ for $E'$.

Unsurprisingly, the $3$-Selmer groups $\operatorname{Sel}(E[3])$ are isomorphic of dimension $2$ over $\mathbb{F}_p$, just for one of the curves this comes from global points while for the other is it the non-trivial Tate-Shafarevich group.

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    $\begingroup$ Actually, the fact that the $\lambda$-invariant for $E$ is $2$ proves that the $3$-primary part of Sha has at most $9$ elements and the argument with the congruence shows provably that this is an equality. No need to rely on BSD. $\endgroup$ Commented May 4, 2023 at 22:36
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    $\begingroup$ I don't see why the $p$-power torsion subgroups are the same if $\overline{\rho}$ and $\overline{\rho'}$ are isomorphic. Can't you have elliptic curves $E$ and $E'$ that are $3$-congruent where $E$ has a rational point of order $9$ and $E'$ doesn't? $\endgroup$ Commented May 5, 2023 at 17:20
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    $\begingroup$ @kindasorta So it is just $E[p]$? If you read my answer you should sport that the rank of $H^1(G_S, T)$ is not the dimension of $H^1(G_S,E[p])$ because the term $H^2(G_S,T)[p]$ may be non-zero. $\endgroup$ Commented May 5, 2023 at 18:54
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    $\begingroup$ If you look at the example, then it should be clear that is not the case whatever meaning "Tate dual" has in this case. Instead, $H^2(G_S,T)$ is the cokernel of the last map in the Cassels sequence above and hence it is dual to the fine (or strict) Selmer group of $E$. Its torsion subgroup is a subgroup of the Tate-Shafarevich group as expected in the above example. $\endgroup$ Commented May 6, 2023 at 9:13
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    $\begingroup$ @kindasorta Also, I will stop answering questions like this now. Unfortunately, I don't have time to tutor you on these topics. I recommend texts by Greenberg on the Iwasawa theory of elliptic curves where you will learn more about the Galois cohomology of elliptic curves. He has also a text with many references regarding congruences of elliptic curves. $\endgroup$ Commented May 6, 2023 at 9:20

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