On the Notion of Visibility of Torsors

http://dx.doi.org/10.4153/CMB-2011-182-0
Canad. Math. Bull. 56(2013), 225-228

  Published:2011-10-05
 Printed: Jun 2013

Let $J$ be an abelian variety and $A$ be an abelian subvariety of $J$, both defined over $\mathbf{Q}$. Let $x$ be an element of $H^1(\mathbf{Q},A)$. Then there are at least two definitions of $x$ being visible in $J$: one asks that the torsor corresponding to $x$ be isomorphic over $\mathbf{Q}$ to a subvariety of $J$, and the other asks that $x$ be in the kernel of the natural map $H^1(\mathbf{Q},A) \to H^1(\mathbf{Q},J)$. In this article, we clarify the relation between the two definitions.