On the Lang-Trotter conjecture for two elliptic curves

Abstract

Following Lang and Trotter we describe a probabilistic model that predicts the distribution of primes $p$ with given Frobenius traces at $p$ for two fixed elliptic curves over $\mathbb{Q}$. In addition, we propose explicit Euler product representations for the constant in the predicted asymptotic formula and describe in detail the universal component of this constant. A new feature is that in some cases the $\ell$-adic limits determining the $\ell$-factors of the universal constant, unlike the Lang-Trotter conjecture for a single elliptic curve, do not stabilize. We also prove the conjecture on average over a family of elliptic curves following the work of David, Koukoulopoulos, and Smith.