Periods modulo $p$ of integer sequences associated with division polynomials of genus $2$ curves

Abstract

We study an integer sequence associated with Cantor's division polynomials of a genus 2 curve having an integral point. We show that the reduction modulo $p$ of such a sequence is periodic for all but finitely many primes $p$, and describe the relation between the period of the reduction modulo $p$ of the sequence and the order of the integral point on the reduction modulo $p$ in the Jacobian variety explicitly. This generalizes Ward's results on elliptic divisibility sequences associated with division polynomials of elliptic curves.

18 pages; to appear in New York Journal of Mathematics