Quadratic Twists as Random Variables

Abstract

Let $D\neq 1$ be a fixed squarefree integer. For elliptic curves $E/\mathbb{Q}$, writing $E_D$ for the quadratic twist by $D$, we consider the question of how often $E(\mathbb{Q})$ and $E_D(\mathbb{Q})$ generate $E(\mathbb{Q}(\sqrt{D}))$. We bound the proportion of $E/\mathbb{Q}$, ordered by height, for which this is not the case, showing that it is very small for typical $D$. The central theorem is concerned with intersections of 2-Selmer groups of quadratic twists. We establish their average size in terms of a product of local densities. We additionally propose a heuristic model for these intersections, which explains our result and similar results in the literature. This heuristic predicts further results in other families.