Isogeny classes of abelian varieties with no principal polarizations

Abstract

We provide a simple method of constructing isogeny classes of abelian varieties over certain fields $k$ such that no variety in the isogeny class has a principal polarization. In particular, given a field $k$, a Galois extension $\ell$ of $k$ of odd prime degree $p$, and an elliptic curve $E$ over $k$ that has no complex multiplication over $k$ and that has no $k$-defined $p$-isogenies to another elliptic curve, we construct a simple $(p-1)$-dimensional abelian variety $X$ over $k$ such that every polarization of every abelian variety isogenous to $X$ has degree divisible by $p^2$. We note that for every odd prime $p$ and every number field $k$, there exist $\ell$ and $E$ as above. We also provide a general framework for determining which finite group schemes occur as kernels of polarizations of abelian varieties in a given isogeny class. Our construction was inspired by a similar construction of Silverberg and Zarhin; their construction requires that the base field $k$ have positive characteristic and that there be a Galois extension of $k$ with a certain non-abelian Galois group. Note: Theorem 3.2 in this paper is incorrect. The current version of the paper includes comments explaining the mistake.