We study K3 surfaces over a number field $k$ which are double covers of extremal rational elliptic surfaces. We provide a list of all elliptic fibrations on certain K3 surfaces together with the degree of a field extension over which each genus one fibration is defined and admits a section. We show that the latter depends, in general, on the action of the cover involution on the fibers of the genus 1 fibration.
This paper is concerned with the construction of extremal elliptic K3 surfaces. It gives a complete treatment of those fibrations which can be derived from rational elliptic surfaces by easy manipulations of their Weierstrass equations. In particular, this approach enables us to find explicit equations for 38 semi-stable extremal elliptic K3 fibrations, 32 of which are indeed defined over the rationals. They are realized as pull-back of non-semi-stable extremal rational elliptic surfaces via base change. This is related to work of J. Top and N. Yui which exhibited the same procedure for the se…
We consider a rational surface with a relatively minimal fibration. Picard number of a such fibred surface is bounded in terms of the genus of a general fibre. When Picard number is the maximum for any given genus, we characterize a such fibred surface whose Mordell-Weil group is trivial by singular fibres. Furthermore, we describe the defining equation explicitly.
This article treats smooth weak Fano 3-folds having an extremal ray of type D. Smooth weak Fano 3-folds with an extremal ray of type D except of degree 6 are classified into 47 deformation types.
Using deformation theory of rational curves, we prove a conjecture of Sommese on the extendability of morphisms from ample subvarieties when the morphism is a smooth (or mildly singular) fibration with rationally connected fibers. We apply this result in the context of Fano fibrations and prove a classification theorem for projective bundle and quadric fibration structures on ample subvarieties.
We consider threefold del Pezzo fibrations over a curve germ whose central fiber is non-rational. Under the additional assumption that the singularities of the total space are at worst ordinary double points, we apply a suitable base change and show that there is a 1-to-1 correpspondence between such fibrations and certain non-singular del Pezzo fibrations equipped with a cyclic group action.
We consider K3 surfaces which are double cover of rational elliptic surfaces. The former are endowed with a natural elliptic fibration, which is induced by the latter. There are also other elliptic fibrations on such K3 surfaces, which are necessarily induced by special linear systems on the rational elliptic surfaces. We describe these linear systems. In particular, we observe that every conic bundle on the rational surface induces a genus 1 fibration on the K3 surface and we classify the singular fibers of the genus 1 fibration on the K3 surface it terms of singular fibers and special curves…
In this paper we look for necessary and sufficient conditions for a genus one fibration to have rational curves. We show that a projective variety with log terminal singularities that admits a relatively minimal genus one fibration $X\rightarrow B$ does contain vertical rational curves if and only if it not isomorphic to a finite étale quotient of a product $\tilde{B}\times E$ over $B$. Many sufficient conditions for the existence of rational curves in a variety that admits a genus one fibration are proved in this paper.
The main aim of this article is to show that a very general 3-dimensional del Pezzo fibration of degree 1,2,3 is not stably rational except for a del Pezzo fibration of degree 3 belonging to explicitly described 2 families. Higher dimensional generalizations are also discussed and we prove that a very general del Pezzo fibration of degree 1,2,3 defined over the projective space is not stably rational provided that the anticanonical divisor is not ample.
We prove that a fibration X \to \Bbb P_1, the general fiber of which is a smooth Fano threefold, is rationally connected. The proof is based on a generalization of Tsen's classical theorem: a fibration X/C over a curve the general fiber of which is a Fano complete intersection in a product of weighted projective spaces has a section.
In this paper we complete the classification of the elliptic fibrations on K3 surfaces which admit a non-symplectic involution acting trivially on the Néron--Severi group. We use the geometric method introduced by Oguiso and moreover we provide a geometric construction of the fibrations classified. If the non-symplectic involution fixes at least one curve of genus 1, we relate all the elliptic fibrations on the K3 surface with either elliptic fibrations or generalized conic bundles on rational elliptic surfaces. This description allows us to write the Weierstrass equations of the elliptic fibr…
This paper has been withdrawn. A completely rewritten new version will be soon submitted. In order to obtain the inequality $6(g-1) \le K_f^2$ some additional conditions must be imposed on the fibration, involving the number on certain exceptional curves.
Let $V_1$ be the Fano threefold given as a hypersurface of degree 6 in $P(1,1,1,2,3)$ (over a number field $K$). Then there exists a finite extension $K'/K$ such that the set of $K'$-rational points of $X$ is Zariski dense.
Under some positivity assumptions, extension properties of rationally connected fibrations from a submanifold to its ambient variety are studied. Given a family of rational curves on a complex projective manifold X inducing a covering family on a submanifold Y with ample normal bundle in X, the main results relate, under suitable conditions, the associated rational connected fiber structures on X and on Y. Applications of these results include an extension theorem for Mori contractions of fiber type and a classification theorem in the case Y has a structure of projective bundle or quadric fibr…
This is the second of two papers on the birational geometry of $\bar{M}_{g,1}$. We construct rational maps from $\bar{M}_{5,1}$ and $\bar{M}_{6,1}$ to lower-dimensional moduli spaces. As a consequence, we identify geometric divisors that generate extremal rays of the effective cones for these spaces.
We consider fibrations by affine lines on smooth affine surfaces obtained as complements of smooth rational curves $B$ in smooth projective surfaces $X$ defined over an algebraically closed field of characteristic zero. We observe that except for two exceptions, these surfaces $X \setminus B$ admit infinitely many families of $\mathbb{A}^1$-fibrations over the projective line with irreducible fibers and a unique singular fiber of arbitrarily large multiplicity. For $\mathbb{A}^1$-fibrations over the affine line, we give a new and essentially self-contained proof that the set of equivalence cla…
We study the polynomial fibration induced by the equation of the Klein surfaces obtained as quotient of finite linear groups of automorphisms of the plane; this surfaces are of type A, D, E, corresponding to their singularities. The generic fibre of the polynomial fibration is a surface defined over the function field of the line. We proved that it is not rational in cases D, E, although it is obviously rational in the case A. The group of automorphisms of the Klein surfaces is also described, and is linear and of finite dimension in cases D, E; this result being obviously false in case A.
A rational Lagrangian fibration f on an irreducible symplecitc variety V is a rational map which is birationally equivalent to a regular surjective morphism with Lagrangian fibers. By analogy with K3 surfaces, it is natural to expect that a rational Lagrangian fibration exists if and only if V has a divisor D with Bogomolov--Beauville square 0. This conjecture is proved in the case when V is the punctual Hilbert scheme of a generic algebraic K3 surface S. The construction of f uses a twisted Fourier--Mukai transform which induces a birational isomorphism of V with a certain moduli space of twi…
In this paper we describe the fundamental group-scheme of a proper variety fibered over an abelian variety with rationally connected fibers over an algebraically closed field. We use old and recent results for the Nori fundamental group-scheme, and of finite group-schemes in general to prove that the kernel of such a fibration is finite, and that the homotopy exact sequence holds in this case. As an application, we describe the fundamental group-schemes of certain proper varieties that are connected by curves or are related to them.
Polarized rational surfaces $(X, \mathcal L)$ of sectional genus two ruled in conics are studied. When they are not minimal, they are described as the blow-up of $\mathbb F_1$ at some points lying on distinct fibers. Ampleness and very ampleness of $\mathcal L$ are studied in terms of their location. When $\mathcal L$ is very ample and there is a line contained in $X$ and transverse to the fibers, the conic fibrations $(X, \mathcal L)$ are classified and a related property concerned with the inflectional locus is discussed.
By studying the theory of rational curves, we introduce a notion of rational simple connectedness for projective homogeneous spaces. As an application, we prove that over a function field of an algebraic surface, a projective homogeneous space admits a rational point if the elementary obstruction vanishes.
Consider a fibred compact Kähler manifold X endowed with a relatively ample line bundle, such that each fibre admits a constant scalar curvature Kähler metric and has discrete automorphism group. Assuming the base of the fibration admits a twisted extremal metric where the twisting form is a certain Weil-Petersson type metric, we prove that X admits an extremal metric for polarisations making the fibres small. Thus X admits a constant scalar curvature Kähler metric if and only if the Futaki invariant vanishes. This extends a result of Fine, who proved this result when the base admits no contin…
Given a relatively minimal fibration $f: S \to \Bbb P^1$ on a rational surface $S$ with general fiber $C$ of genus $g$, we investigate under what conditions the inequality $6(g-1)\le K_f^2$ occurs, where $K_f$ is the canonical relative sheaf of $f$. We give sufficient conditions for having such inequality, depending on the genus and gonality of $C$ and the number of certain exceptional curves on $S$. We illustrate how these results can be used for constructing fibrations with the desired property. For fibrations of genus $11\le g\le 49$ we prove the inequality: $$ 6(g-1) +4 -4\sqrt g \le K_f^2…
We first classify the possible configurations of fibrations which are not semi-stable on extremal elliptic K3 surfaces. Then we give a complete list of extremal elliptic K3 surfaces whose singular fibers are all not of type $I_n$.
A theorem of Graber, Harris, and Starr states that a rationally connected fibration over a curve has a section. We study an analogous question in symplectic geometry. Namely, given a rationally connected fibration over a curve, can one find a section which gives a non-zero Gromov-Witten invariant? We observe that for any fibration, the existence of a section which gives a non-zero Gromov-Witten invariant only depends on the generic fiber, i.e. a variety defined over the function field of a curve. Some examples of rationally connected fibrations with this property are given, including all ratio…
Let X be a smooth, complex Fano variety. For every prime divisor D in X, we set c(D):=dim ker(r:H^2(X,R)->H^2(D,R)), where r is the natural restriction map, and we define an invariant of X as c_X:=max{c(D)|D is a prime divisor in X}. In a previous paper we showed that c_X<9, and that if c_X>2, then either X is a product, or X has a flat fibration in Del Pezzo surfaces. In this paper we study the case c_X=2. We show that up to a birational modification given by a sequence of flips, X has a conic bundle structure, or an equidimensional fibration in Del Pezzo surfaces. We also show a weaker prope…
We study weak approximation on rationally connected varieties under an assumption of strong approximation for a "simple" variety or under Schinzel's hypothesis. We also get some unconditional results.
A new, simple method to approach enumerative questions about rational curves on rational surfaces is described. Applications include a short proof of Kontsevich's formula for plane curves and a the solution of the analogous problem for the Hirzebruch surface F_3.
We develop technics of birational geometry to study automorphisms of affine surfaces admitting many distinct rational fibrations, with a particular focus on the interactions between automorphisms and these fibrations. In particular, we associate to each surface $S$ of this type a graph encoding equivalence classes of rational fibrations from which it is possible to decide for instance if the automorphism group of $S$ is generated by automorphisms preserving these fibrations.
The goal of this paper is to present a modified version (GML) of ML invariant which should take into account rulings over a projective base and allow further stratification of smooth affine rational surfaces. We provide a non-trivial example where GML invariant is computed for a smooth affine rational surface admitting no C-actions. We apply GML invariant to computation of ML invariant of some threefolds.
We study (smooth, complex) Fano 4-folds X having a rational contraction of fiber type, that is, a rational map X-->Y that factors as a sequence of flips followed by a contraction of fiber type. The existence of such a map is equivalent to the existence of a non-zero, non-big movable divisor on X. Our main result is that if Y is not P^1 or P^2, then the Picard number rho(X) of X is at most 18, with equality only if X is a product of surfaces. We also show that if a Fano 4-fold X has a dominant rational map X-->Z, regular and proper on an open subset of X, with dim(Z)=3, then either X is a produ…
To classify complex rational cuspidal curves $E\subseteq \mathbb{P}^2$ it remains to classify the ones with complement of log general type, i.e. the ones for which $κ(K_X+D)=2$, where $(X,D)$ is a log resolution of $(\mathbb{P}^2,E)$. It is conjectured that $κ(K_X+\frac{1}{2}D)=-\infty$ and hence $\mathbb{P}^2\setminus E$ is $\mathbb{C}^{**}$-fibered, where $\mathbb{C}^{**}=\mathbb{C}^1\setminus\{0,1\}$, or $-(K_X+\frac{1}{2}D)$ is ample on some minimal model of $(X,\frac{1}{2}D)$. Here we classify, up to a projective equivalence, those rational cuspidal curves for which the complement is $\ma…
We prove a criterion of nonsingularity of a complete intersection of two fiberwise quadrics in a scroll over $P^1$. As a corollary we derive the following addition to the Alexeev theorem on rationality of standard Del Pezzo fibrations of degree 4 over $P^1$: we prove that any fibration of this kind with the topological Euler characteristic -4 is rational.
In this paper we determine a minimal set of generators for the Cox rings of extremal rational elliptic surfaces. Moreover, we develop a technique for computing the ideal of relations between them which allows, in all but three cases, to provide a presentation of the Cox ring.
Let $X$ be a general divisor in $|3M+nL|$ on the rational scroll $\mathrm{Proj}(\oplus_{i=1}^{4}\mathcal{O}_{\mathbb{P}^{1}}(d_{i}))$, where $d_{i}$ and $n$ are integers, $M$ is the tautological line bundle, $L$ is a fibre of the natural projection to $\mathbb{P}^{1}$, and $d_{1}\geqslant...\geqslant d_{4}=0$. We prove that $X$ is rational $\iff$ $d_{1}=0$ and $n=1$.
Conjectures on the existence of zero-cycles on arbitrary smooth projective varieties over number fields were proposed by Colliot-Thélène, Sansuc, Kato and Saito in the 1980's. We prove that these conjectures are compatible with fibrations, for fibrations into rationally connected varieties over a curve. In particular, they hold for the total space of families of homogeneous spaces of linear groups with connected geometric stabilisers. We prove the analogous result for rational points, conditionally on a conjecture on locally split values of polynomials which a recent work of Matthiesen establi…
Let $X$ be a projective variety with log terminal singularities and vanishing augmented irregularity. In this paper we prove that if $X$ admits a relatively minimal genus one fibration then it does contain a subvariety of codimension one covered by rational curves contracted by the fibration. We then focus on the case of varieties with numerically trivial canonical bundle and we discuss several consequences of this result.
Miranda and Persson classified all extremal rational elliptic surfaces in characteristic zero. We show that each surface in Miranda and Persson's classification has an integral model with good reduction everywhere (except for those of type X_{11}(j), which is an exceptional case), and that every extremal rational elliptic surface over an algebraically closed field of characteristic p > 0 can be obtained by reducing one of these integral models mod p.
We review and develop some techniques used to investigate the effective cones of higher codimension classes. Our results show that a large collection of boundary strata of rational tails type are extremal in their effective cones on $\overline{\mathcal{M}}_{g,n}$ and provide evidence for the conjecture that all boundary strata of $\overline{\mathcal{M}}_{g,n}$ are extremal. As a corollary, we show that all boundary strata are extremal in genus zero.
The following divisors in the space Sym^{12} P^1 of twelve points on P^1 are actually the same: (A) the possible locus of the twelve nodal fibers in a rational elliptic fibration (i.e. a pencil of plane cubic curves); (B) degree 12 binary forms that can be expressed as a cube plus a square; (C) the locus of the twelve tangents to a smooth plane quartic from a general point of the plane; (D) the branch locus of a degree 4 map from a hyperelliptic genus 3 curve to P^1; (E) the branch locus of a degree 3 map from a genus 4 curve to P^1 induced by a theta-characteristic; and several more. The corr…
We prove some results on the fibers and images of rational maps from a hyper-Kähler manifold. We study in particular the minimal genus of fibers of a fibration into curves. The last section of this paper is devoted to the study of the rational map defined by a linear system on a hyper-Kähler fourfold satisfying numerical conditions similar to those considered by O'Grady in his study of fourfolds numerically equivalent to $K3^{[2]}$. We extend his results to this more general context.
We revisit the abstract framework underlying the fibration method for producing rational points on the total space of fibrations over the projective line. By fine-tuning its dependence on external arithmetic conjectures, we render the method unconditional when the degree of the non-split locus is $\leq 2$, as well as in various instances where it is $3$. We are also able to obtain improved results in the regime that is conditionally accessible under Schinzel's hypothesis, by incorporating into it, for the first time, a technique due to Harari for controlling the Brauer--Manin obstruction in fa…
Given a variety over a number field, are its rational points potentially dense, i.e., does there exist a finite extension over which rational points are Zariski dense? We study the question of potential density for symmetric products of surfaces. Contrary to the situation for curves, rational points are not necessarily potentially dense on a sufficiently high symmetric product. Our main result is that rational points are potentially dense for the Nth symmetric product of a K3 surface, where N is explicitly determined by the geometry of the surface. The basic construction is that for some N, th…
We study the problem of counting the number of varieties in families which have a rational point. We give conditions on the singular fibres that force very few of the varieties in the family to contain a rational point, in a precise quantitative sense. This generalises and unifies existing results in the literature by Serre, Browning-Dietmann, Bright-Browning-Loughran, Graber-Harris-Mazur-Starr, et al.
We give a criterion to determine when the degree growth of a birational map of the complex projective plane which fixes (the action on the basis of the fibration is trivial) a rational fibration is linear up to conjugacy. We also compute the centraliser of such maps. It allows us to describe the centraliser of the birational maps of the complex projective plane which preserve a rational fibration (the action on the basis of the fibration being not necessarily trivial); this question is related to some classical problems of difference equations.
We consider the problem of counting the number of varieties in a family over $\mathbb{Q}$ with a rational point. We obtain lower bounds for this counting problem for some families over $\mathbb{P}^1$, even if the Hasse principle fails. We also obtain sharp results for some multinorm equations and for specialisations of certain Brauer group elements on higher dimensional projective spaces, where we answer some cases of a question of Serre. Our techniques come from arithmetic geometry and additive combinatorics.
We prove that the moduli spaces of twisted $\mathrm{SL}_n$ and $\mathrm{PGL}_n$-Higgs bundles on a smooth projective curve have the same (stringy) class in the Grothendieck ring of rational Chow motives. On the level of Hodge numbers this was conjectured by Hausel and Thaddeus, and recently proven by Groechenig, Ziegler and the second author. To adapt their argument, which relies on p-adic integration, we use a version of motivic integration with values in rational Chow motives and the geometry of Néron models to evaluate such integrals on Hitchin fibers.
We study the Brauer-Manin obstruction to the Hasse principle and to weak approximation for 0-cycles on algebraic varieties that possess a fibration structure. The exactness of the local-to-global sequence $(E)$ of Chow groups of 0-cycles was known only for a fibration whose base is either a curve or the projective space. In the present paper, we prove the exactness of $(E)$ for fibrations whose bases are Châtelet surfaces or projective models of homogeneous spaces of connected linear algebraic groups with connected stabilizers. We require that either all fibres are split and most fibres satisf…
We show that hyperelliptic symplectic Lefschetz fibrations are symplectically birational to two-fold covers of rational ruled surfaces, branched in a symplectically embedded surface. This reduces the classification of genus 2 fibrations to the classification of certain symplectic submanifolds in rational ruled surfaces.
We define a cone curve to be a reduced sextic space curve which lies on a quadric cone and does not go through the vertex. We classify families of bitangent planes of cone curves. The methods we apply can be used for any space curve with ADE singularities, though in this paper we concentrate on cone curves. An embedded complex projective surface which is adjoint to a degree one weak Del Pezzo surface contains families of minimal degree rational curves, which cannot be defined by the fibers of a map. Such families are called minimal non-fibration families. Families of bitangent planes of cone c…
