On families of 13-congruent elliptic curves

Abstract

We compute twists of the modular curve $X(13)$ that parametrise the elliptic curves 13-congruent to a given elliptic curve. Searching for rational points on these twists enables us to find non-trivial pairs of 13-congruent elliptic curves over ${\mathbb Q}$, i.e. pairs of non-isogenous elliptic curves over ${\mathbb Q}$ whose 13-torsion subgroups are isomorphic as Galois modules. We also find equations for the surfaces parametrising pairs of 13-congruent elliptic curves. There are two such surfaces, corresponding to 13-congruences that do, or do not, respect the Weil pairing. We write each as a double cover of the projective plane ramified over a highly singular model for Baran's modular curve of level 13. By finding suitable rational curves on these surfaces, we show that there are infinitely many non-trivial pairs of 13-congruent elliptic curves over ${\mathbb Q}$.