Related papers: On Unirationality of Quartics over non Algebraical…

We develop explicit techniques to investigate algebraic quasi-hyperbolicity of singular surfaces through the constraints imposed by symmetric differentials. We apply these methods to prove that rational curves on Barth's sextic surface,…

Let k be an uncountable field of characteristic different from two. We show that a very general hypersurface of dimension N>2 and degree at least $\log_2N +2$ is not stably rational over the algebraic closure of k.

We estimate the number of lines on a non-K3 quartic surface. Such a surface with only isolated double point(s) contains at most twenty lines; this bound is attained by a unique configuration of lines and by a surface with a certain limited…

It is proved that a smooth rational surface in projective four-space, which is ruled by cubics or quartics has degree at most 12. It is also proved that a smooth rational surface in projective four-space which is the image of Fn by a linear…

We prove that the enumerative geometry of lines on smooth cubic surfaces is governed by the arithmetic of the base field. In 1949, Segre proved that the number of lines on a smooth cubic surface over any field is 0, 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 9, 15, or…

Let $q$ be a prime power and $\mathbb{F}_q$ be the finite field with $q$ elements. In this article we investigate the space of unramified automorphic forms for $\mathrm{PGL}_n$ over the rational function field defined over $\mathbb{F}_q$…

The aim of the present paper is to prove the rationality of the universal family of polarized $ K3 $ surfaces of degree 14. This is achieved by identifying it with the moduli space of cubic fourfolds plus the data of a quartic scroll. The…

Here are described the geometric structures of the lines of principal curvature and the partially umbilic singularities of the tridimensional non compact generic quadric hypersurfaces of ${\mathbb R}^4$. This includes the ellipsoidal…

The quartic hypersurfaces in P^4 invariant under the standard representation of S_6 form a linear pencil. We prove that a general member of this pencil is not rational.

Let k be a field of characteristic other than 2,3. We prove that there are no geometrically smooth quartic surfaces in IP^3 with more than 64 lines. As a key step, we derive the sharp bound that any line meets at most 20 other lines on a…

For a field extension $L/K$ we consider maps that are quadratic over $L$ but whose polarisation is only bilinear over $K$. Our main result is that all such are automatically quadratic forms over $L$ in the usual sense if and only if $L/K$…

Following an idea of Ciliberto we show that double covers of projective r-space branched over an hypersurface of degree 2d are unirational provided r is sufficiently big with respect to d.

We study the geometry of spaces of planes on smooth complete intersections of three quadrics, with a view toward rationality questions.

We survey some results on real rational surfaces focused on their topology and their birational geometry.

This is a detailed write-up of Koll\'ar's course at the EMS summer school in Algebraic Geometry in Eger, Hungary, August 1996. The topics include definitions and examples of rational and unirational varieties, with special attention to…

Affine surfaces in $\mathbb{C}^{3}$ defined by an equation of the form $x^{n}z-Q(x,y)=0$ have been increasingly studied during the past 15 years. Of particular interest is the fact that they come equipped with an action of the additive…

In characteristic $p>0$ and for $q$ a power of $p$, we compute the number of nonplanar rational curves of arbitrary degrees on a smooth Hermitian surface of degree $q+1$ under the assumption that the curves have a parametrization given by…

We give an upper bound for the number of points of a hypersurface over a finite field that has no lines on, in terms of the dimension, the degree, and the number of the elements of the finite field.

This is a survey of the geometry of complex cubic fourfolds with a view toward rationality questions. Topics include classical constructions of rational examples, Hodge structures and special cubic fourfolds, associated K3 surfaces and…

Let $\Bbbk$ be any field of characteristic zero, $X$ be a del Pezzo surface and $G$ be a finite subgroup in $\operatorname{Aut}(X)$. In this paper we study when the quotient surface $X / G$ can be non-rational over $\Bbbk$. Obviously, if…