On the Finiteness of Isolated $j$-invariants for $X_1(N)$

Abstract

Characterizing isolated points on the modular curve $X_1(N)$ is a key obstruction to classifying all points of a fixed degree. These points do not lie in infinite parameterized families, making them difficult to obtain through geometric constructions. In this paper, we focus on the collection of "isolated $j$-invariants" for $X_1(N)$, which are the values obtained by mapping isolated points to the $j$-line. Prior work of the author in collaboration with Ejder, Liu, Odumodu, and Viray asks whether there are only finitely many isolated $j$-invariants lying in extensions of bounded degree. Here, we explore how this question relates to other uniformity problems in the field and give new finiteness results for isolated $j$-invariants in $\mathbb{Q}$. As an application, we show similar methods give sharpened polynomial bounds on torsion for non-CM elliptic curves having rational $j$-invariant.