Let $X$ be a scheme over a field $K$ and let $M_X$ be the intersection of all subfields $L$ of $\bar K$ such that $X$ has a $L$-valued point. In this note we prove that for a variety $X$ over a field $K$ finitely generated over its prime field one has that $M_X = K$
We report on progress in the qualitative study of rational points on rationally connected varieties over number fields, also examining integral points, zero-cycles, and non-rationally connected varieties. One of the main objectives is to highlight and explain the many recent interactions with analytic number theory.
We investigate Fano varieties defined over a number field that contain subvarieties whose number of rational points of bounded height is comparable to the total number on the variety.
We use birational geometry to show that the existence of rational points on proper rationally connected varieties over fields of characteristic $0$ is a consequence of the existence of rational points on terminal Fano varieties. We discuss several consequences of this result, especially in relation to the $C_1$-conjecture. We also provide evidence that supports the conjecture in dimension $3$ for $C_1$ fields of characteristic $0$.
Let $Z$ be a projective geometrically integral algebraic variety. This paper is concerned with estimating the number of rational points on $Z$ which have height at most $B$. The bounds obtained are uniform in varieties of fixed degree and fixed dimension, and are essentially best possible for varieties of degree at least six.
We consider the problem of counting the number of varieties in a family over a number field which contain a rational point. In particular, for products of Brauer-Severi varieties and closely related counting functions associated to Brauer group elements. Using harmonic analysis on toric varieties, we provide a positive answer to a question of Serre on such counting functions in some cases. We also formulate some conjectures on generalisations of Serre's problem.
We show that the number of rational points on the fibres of a proper morphism of smooth varieties over a finite field k whose generic fibre has a ``trival'' Chow group of zero cycles is congruent to 1 mod |k|. As a consequence we prove that there is a rational point on any degeneration of a smooth proper rationally chain connected variety over a finite field. We also obtain a generalisation of the Chevalley-Warning theorem.
Wan conjectures that if $X$ and $Y$ form a strong mirror pair of Calabi-Yau varieties over a finite field $F_q$ with $q$ elements, then X and Y have the same number of $F_{q^k}$-rational points modulo $q^k$. We prove this conjecture under the condition that $Y$ can be obtained from $X$ through quotient construction.
In this paper we prove a formula for the number of rational points of bounded height relative to all the generators of the cone of effective divisor for a toric variety over a number field.
We study zero cycles on rationally connected varieties defined over characteristic zero Laurent fields with algebraically closed residue fields. We show that the degree map induces an isomorphism for rationally connected threefolds defined over such fields. In general, the degree map is an isomorphism if rationally connected varieties defined over algebraically closed fields of characteristic zero satisfy the integral Hodge/Tate conjecture for one cycles, or if the Tate conjecture is true for divisor classes on surfaces defined over finite fields. To prove these results, we introduce technique…
This is a survey of recent examples of varieties that are not stably rational. We review the specialization method based on properties of the Chow group of zero-cycles used in these examples and explain the point of view of unramified cohomology for the construction of nontrivial stable invariants of the special fiber. In particular, we find an explicit formula for the Brauer group of fourfolds fibered in quadrics of dimension two over a rational surface.
We construct a concrete example of a 1-parameter family of smooth projective geometrically integral varieties over an open subscheme of P^1_Q such that there is exactly one rational fiber with no rational points. This makes explicit a construction of Poonen.
A complex projective manifold is rationally connected, resp. rationally simply connected, if finite subsets are connected by a rational curve, resp. the spaces parameterizing these connecting rational curves are themselves rationally connected. We prove that a projective scheme over a global function field with vanishing "elementary obstruction" has a rational point if it deforms to a rationally simply connected variety in characteristic 0. This gives new, uniform proofs over these fields of the Period-Index Theorem, the quasi-split case of Serre's "Conjecture II", and Lang's $C_2$ property.
We give a positive answer to the questions 4.4 on Hodge type and 4.2 on divisibility of the eigenvalues of Frobenius of the article by N. Fakhruddin and C. S. Rajan (NT/0402230).
We construct higher-dimensional Calabi-Yau varieties defined over a given number field with Zariski dense sets of rational points. We give two elementary constructions in arbitrary dimensions as well as another construction in dimension three which involves certain Calabi-Yau threefolds containing an Enriques surface. The constructions also show that potential density holds for (sufficiently) general members of the families.
We give new instances where Chabauty--Kim sets can be proved to be finite, by developing a notion of "generalised height functions" on Selmer varieties. We also explain how to compute these generalised heights in terms of iterated integrals and give the first explicit nonabelian Chabauty result for a curve $X/\mathbb{Q}$ whose Jacobian has Mordell-Weil rank larger than its genus.
We investigate properties of the Albanese map and the fundamental group of a complex projective variety with many rational points over some function field, and prove that every linear quotient of the fundamental group of such a variety is virtually abelian, as well as that its Albanese map is surjective, has connected fibres, and has no multiple fibres in codimension one.
Let $k$ be a number field. In the spirit of a result by Yongqi Liang, we relate the arithmetic of rational points over finite extensions of $k$ to that of zero-cycles over $k$ for Kummer varieties over $k$. For example, for any Kummer variety $X$ over $k$, we show that if the Brauer-Manin obstruction is the only obstruction to the Hasse principle for rational points on $X$ over all finite extensions of $k$, then the ($2$-primary) Brauer-Manin obstruction is the only obstruction to the Hasse principle for zero-cycles of any given odd degree on $X$ over $k$. We also obtain similar results for pr…
In this paper, we prove a general result computing the number of rational points of bounded height on a projective variety $V$ which is covered by lines. The main technical result used to achieve this is an upper bound on the number of rational points of bounded height on a line. This upper bound is such that it can be easily controlled as the line varies, and hence is used to sum the counting functions of the lines which cover the original variety $V$.
Given a smooth projective variety $X$ over a number field $k$ and $P\in X(k)$, the first author conjectured that in a precise sense, any sequence that approximates $P$ sufficiently well must lie on a rational curve. We prove this conjecture for smooth split toric surfaces conditional on Vojta's conjecture. More generally, we show that if $X$ is a $\mathbb{Q}$-factorial terminal split toric variety of arbitrary dimension, then $P$ is better approximated by points on a rational curve than by any Zariski dense sequence.
We consider the finite set of isogeny classes of $g$-dimensional abelian varieties defined over the finite field $\mathbb{F}_q$ with endomorphism algebra being a field. We prove that the class within this set whose varieties have maximal number of rational points is unique, for any prime even power $q$ big enough and verifying mild conditions. We describe its Weil polynomial and we prove that the class is ordinary and cyclic outside the primes dividing an integer that only depends on $g$. In dimension $3$, we prove that the class is ordinary and cyclic and give explicitly its Weil polynomial, …
We prove new results on the distribution of rational points on ramified covers of abelian varieties over finitely generated fields $k$ of characteristic zero. For example, given a ramified cover $π: X \to A$, where $A$ is an abelian variety over $k$ with a dense set of $k$-rational points, we prove that there is a finite-index coset $C \subset A(k)$ such that $π(X(k))$ is disjoint from $C$. Our results do not seem to be in the range of other methods available at present; they confirm predictions coming from Lang's conjectures on rational points, and also go in the direction of an issue raised …
Given a proper family of varieties over a smooth base, with smooth total space and general fibre, all over a finite field k with q elements, we show that a finiteness hypothesis on the Chow groups, CH_i, i=0,1,...,r, of the fibres in the family leads to congruences mod q^{r+1} for the number of rational points in all the fibres over k-rational points of the base. These hypotheses on the Chow groups are expected to hold for families of low degree intersections in many Fano varieties leading to a broad generalisation of the theorem of Ax--Katz, as well as results of the author and C. S. Rajan. A…
A sieve for rational points on suitable varieties is developed, together with applications to counting rational points in thin sets, the number of varieties in a family which are everywhere locally soluble, and to the notion of friable rational points with respect to divisors. In the special case of quadrics, sharper estimates are obtained by developing a version of the Selberg sieve for rational points.
We give an upper bound on the number of rational points of an arbitrary Zariski closed subset of a projective space over a finite field. This bound depends only on the dimensions and degrees of the irreducible components and holds for very general varieties, even reducible and non equidimensional. As a consequence, we prove a conjecture of Ghorpade and Lachaud on the maximal number of rational points of an equidimensional projective variety.
We prove several results on the number of rational points on open subsets of Kummer varieties of arbitrary dimension. Some of our results are unconditional, and others depend on the Parity Conjecture (a corollary of the Conjecture of Birch and Swinnerton-Dyer). As examples, we show that (conditional on the Parity Conjecture) all odd-dimension Kummer varieties over Q which are quotients of absolutely simple abelian varieties have dense rational points, and we construct an infinite family of K3 surfaces with dense rational points.
In this paper, we consider Abelian varieties over function fields that arise as twists of Abelian varieties by cyclic covers of irreducible quasi-projective varieties. Then, in terms of Prym varieties associated to the cyclic covers, we prove a structure theorem on their Mordell-Weil group. Our results give an explicit method for construction of elliptic curves, hyper- and super-elliptic Jacobians that have large ranks over function fields of certain varieties.
Let $L$ be a simply-connected simple connected algebraic group over a number field $F$, and $H$ be a semisimple absolutely maximal connected $F$-subgroup of $L$. Under a cohomological condition, we prove an asymptotic formula for the number of rational points of bounded height on projective equivariant compactifications of $Δ(H)\backslash L^n$ with respect to a balanced line bundle, where $Δ(H)$ is the image of $H$ diagonally embedded in $L^n$.
In this article, we show that for any non-isotrivial family of abelian varieties over a rational base with big monodromy, those members that have adelic Galois representation with image as large as possible form a density-$1$ subset. Our results can be applied to a number of interesting families of abelian varieties, such as rational families dominating the moduli of Jacobians of hyperelliptic curves, trigonal curves, or plane curves. As a consequence, we prove that for any dimension $g \geq 3$, there are infinitely many abelian varieties over $\mathbb Q$ with adelic Galois representation havi…
It is possible to talk about the étale homotopy equivalence of rational points on algebraic varieties by using a relative version of the étale homotopy type. We show that over $p$-adic fields rational points are homotopy equivalent in this sense if and only if they are étale-Brauer equivalent. We also show that over the real field rational points on projective varieties are étale homotopy equivalent if and only if they are in the same connected component. We also study this equivalence relation over number fields and prove that in this case it is finer than the other two equivalence relations …
We show that there is no simple congruence formula for the number of points of the mod p reduction of a regular model of a smooth proper variety defined over a local field with $\ell$-adic cohomology supported in codimension $\ge κ$.
These are expanded notes of the mini-courses on Pila's work that Yuri Bilu gave in Basel in April 2011, Yaroslavl in August 2011 and Chennai in February 2012. The topics covered include the Bombieri-Pila theorem, its extensions and applications to some prominent conjectures (Manin-Mumford, André-Oort).
By restricting the variables running over various (possibly different) subfields, we introduce the notion of a partial zeta function. We prove that the partial zeta function is rational in an interesting case, generalizing Dwork's well known rationality theorem. In general, the partial zeta function is probably not rational. But a theorem of Faltings says that the partial zeta function is always nearly rational.
We define a binary operation on the set of irreducible components of Lusztig's nilpotent varieties of a quiver. We study commutativity, cancellativity and associativity of this operation. We focus on rigid irreducible components and discuss inductive ways to construct them.