Related papers: A very general sextic double solid is not stably r…
Let $R$ be the field of real Puiseux series. It is a real closed field. We construct the first examples of smooth intersections of two quadrics in $\mathbb{P}_R^5$ and smooth cubic hypersurfaces in $\mathbb{P}_R^4$ which are not stably…
Let $S$ and $T$ be reduced divisors on $\mathbb{P}^2$ which have no common components, and $\Delta=S+2\,T.$ We assume $\deg\Delta=6.$ Let $\pi:X\to\mathbb{P}^2$ be a normal triple cover with branch divisor $\Delta,$ i.e. $\pi$ is ramified…
We describe the set of Mori structures for a Fano 3-fold of index 2 and degree 1 (the double cone over the Veronese surface). In partiular, it is proved that such a Fano variety is not rational, the group of birational automorphisms…
In this paper, we study the Castelnuovo-Mumford regularity of nonlinearly normal embedding of rational surfaces. Let $X$ be a rational surface and let $L \in {Pic}X$ be a very ample line bundle. For a very ample subsystem $V \subset H^0…
Let $k$ be a field with char $k \not= 2$, $X$ be an affine surface defined by the equation $z^2=P(x)y^2+Q(x)$ where $P(x), Q(x) \in k[x]$ are separable polynomials. We will investigate the rationality problem of $X$ in terms of the…
We use the motivic obstruction to stable rationality introduced by Shinder and the first-named author to establish several new classes of stably irrational hypersurfaces and complete intersections. In particular, we show that very general…
Let a,b,c,d be nonzero rational numbers whose product is a square, and let V be the diagonal quartic surface in PP^3 defined by ax^4+by^4+cz^4+dw^4=0. We prove that if V contains a rational point that does not lie on any of the 48 lines on…
The aim of the paper is to construct examples of cyclic covers of $CP^m\times CP^n$ which are rationally connected but are not rational. The crucial point turns out to be the study of Del Pezzo surfaces over function fields in positive…
Let $X$ be a K3 surface defined over a number field $K$. Assume that $X$ admits a structure of an elliptic fibration or an infinite group of automorphisms. Then there exists a finite extension $K'/K$ such that the set of $K'$-rational…
Let SU_X(3) be the moduli space of semi-stable vector bundles of rank 3 and trivial determinant on a curve X of genus 2. It maps onto P^8 and the map is a double cover branched over a sextic hypersurface called the Coble sextic. In the dual…
The sl_2-triples play a fundamental role for the structure theory of Lie algebras, and representation theory in general. Here we investigate sl_2-triples of global vector fields on schemes X in positive characteristics p>0, and develop a…
We construct examples of projective toric surfaces whose blow-up at a general point has a non-polyhedral pseudo-effective cone, both in characteristic $0$ and in every prime characteristic $p$. As a consequence, we prove that the…
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.
In this paper, we prove the irreducibility of the monodromy action on the anti-invariant part of the vanishing cohomology on a double cover of a very general element in an ample hypersurface of a complex smooth projective variety branched…
In this paper we classify the topological invariants of the possible branch loci of a smooth double cover $f:X\rightarrow Y$ of a K3 surface $Y$. We describe some geometric properties of $X$ which depend on the properties of the branch…
There are two outstanding questions about division algebras of prime degree $p$. The first is whether they are cyclic, or equivalently crossed products. The second is whether the center, $Z(F,p)$, of the generic division algebra $UD(F,p)$…
We construct a smooth complex projective rational surface with infinitely many mutually non-isomorphic real forms. This gives the first definite answer to a long standing open question if a smooth complex projective rational surface has…
We show that there cannot be more than 64 lines on a quartic surface admitting isolated rational double points over an algebraically closed field of characteristic $p \neq 2,\,3$, thus extending Segre--Rams--Sch\"utt theorem. Our proof…
We prove a structure theorem for non-isomorphic endomorphisms of weak Q-Fano threefolds, or more generally for threefolds with big anti-canonical divisor. Also provided is a criterion for a fibred rationally connected threefold to be…
In this paper, we compare the moduli spaces of rank-3 vector bundles stable with respect to different ample divisors over rational ruled surfaces. We also discuss the irreducibility, unirationality, and rationality of these moduli spaces.