Visible Points on Curves over Finite Fields
For a prime p and an absolutely irreducible modulo p polynomial f(U,V) ∈ ℤ[U,V] we obtain an asymptotic formula for the number of solutions to the congruence f(x,y) ≡ a (mod p) in positive integers x ≤ X, y ≤ Y, with the additional condition gcd(x,y) = 1. Such solutions have a natural interpretation as solutions which are visible from the origin. These formulas are derived on average over a for a fixed prime p, and also on average over p for a fixed integer a.