Related papers: Computing the lines of a smooth cubic surface
We give an arithmetic count of the lines on a smooth cubic surface over an arbitrary field $k$, generalizing the counts that over $\mathbb{C}$ there are $27$ lines, and over $\mathbb{R}$ the number of hyperbolic lines minus the number of…
Jordan showed that the incidence variety of a smooth cubic surface containing 27 lines has solvable Galois group over the incidence variety of a smooth cubic surface containing 3 skew lines. As noted by Harris, it follows that for any…
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…
The aim of this note is to give a formula expressing the trace form associated with the 27 lines of a cubic surface.
We study lines on smooth cubic surfaces over the field of $p$-adic numbers, from a theoretical and computational point of view. Segre showed that the possible counts of such lines are $0,1,2,3,5,7,9,15$ or $27$. We show that each of these…
We provide explicit equations of some smooth complex quartic surfaces with many lines, including all 10 quartics with more than 52 lines. We study the relation between linear automorphisms and some configurations of lines such as twin lines…
We give a defining equation of a complex smooth quartic surface containing 56 lines, and investigate its reductions to positive characteristics. This surface is isomorphic to the complex Fermat quartic surface, which contains only 48 lines.…
In this paper we compute the distributions of various markings on smooth cubic surfaces defined over the finite field $\mathbb{F}_q$, for example the distribution of pairs of points, `tritangents' or `double sixes'. We also compute the…
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…
This paper deals with surfaces with many lines. It is well-known that a cubic contains 27 of them and that the maximal number for a quartic is 64. In higher degree the question remains open. Here we study classical and new constructions of…
We introduce certain rational functions on a smooth projective surface X in IP^3 which facilitate counting the lines on X. We apply this to smooth quintics in characteristic zero to prove that they contain no more than 127 lines, and that…
The Cayley--Salmon theorem implies the existence of a 27-sheeted covering space specifying lines contained in smooth cubic surfaces over $\mathbb{C}$. In this paper we compute the rational cohomology of the total space of this cover, using…
We formulate an equivariant conservation of number, which proves that a generalized Euler number of a complex equivariant vector bundle can be computed as a sum of local indices of an arbitrary section. This involves an expansion of the…
We develop a heuristic for the density of integer points on affine cubic surfaces. Our heuristic applies to smooth surfaces defined by cubic polynomials that are log K3, but it can also be adjusted to handle singular cubic surfaces. We…
We construct explicit examples of cubic surfaces over $\bbQ$ such that the 27 lines are acted upon by the index two subgroup of the maximal possible Galois group. This is the simple group of order $25 920$. Our examples are given in…
We show that any smooth projective cubic hypersurface of dimension at least $29$ over the rationals contains a rational line. A variation of our methods provides a similar result over p-adic fields. In both cases, we improve on previous…
We compute the constant of approximation for an arbitrary rational point on an arbitrary smooth cubic hypersurface $X$ over a number field $k$, provided that there is a $k$-rational line somewhere on $X$. In the process, we verify the Coba…
We investigate the density of rational points on the Fermat cubic surface and the Cayley cubic surface whose coordinates have few prime factors. The key tools used are the weighted sieve, the circle method and universal torsors.
Using equivariant geometry, we find a universal formula that computes the number of times a general cubic surface arises in a family. As applications, we show that the PGL(4) orbit closure of a generic cubic surface has degree 96120, and…
The Eckardt hypersurface in $\mathbb{P}^{19}$ parameterizes smooth cubic surfaces with an Eckardt point, which is a point common to three of the $27$ lines on a smooth cubic surface. We describe the cubic surfaces lying on the singular…