New Points on Curves

Abstract

Let K be a field and let L/K be a finite extension. Let X/K be a scheme of finite type. A point of X(L) is said to be new if it does not belong to the union of X(F), when F runs over all proper subextensions of L. Fix now an integer g>0 and a finite separable extension L/K of degree d. We investigate in this article whether there exists a smooth proper geometrically connected curve of genus g with a new point in X(L). We show for instance that if K is infinite of characteristic different from 2 and g is bigger or equal to [d/4], then there exist infinitely many hyperelliptic curves X/K of genus g, pairwise non-isomorphic over the algebraic closure of K, and with a new point in X(L). When d is between 1 and 10, we show that there exist infinitely many elliptic curves X/K with pairwise distinct j-invariants and with a new point in X(L).