On Brumer's family of {RM}-curves of genus two

Abstract

We reconstruct Brumer's family with 3-parameters of curves of genus two whose jacobian varieties admit a real multiplication of discriminant 5. Our method is based on the descent theory in geometric Galois theory which can be compared with a classical problem of Noether. Namely, we first construct a 3-parameter family of polynomials $f(X)$ of degree 6 whose Galois group is isomorphic to the alternating group $A_5$. Then we study the family of curves defined by $Y^2=f(X)$, showing that they are equivalent to Brumer's family. The real multiplication will be described in three distinct ways, i.e., by Humbert's modular equation, by Poncelet's pentagon, and by algebraic correspondences.