Related papers: Intermediate modular curves with infinitely many c…

For every $n\geq 3$, we exhibit infinitely many extremal effective divisors on the moduli space of genus one curves with $n$ marked points.

Let X be a projective variety which is covered by rational curves, for instance a Fano manifold over the complex numbers. In this setup, characterization and classification problems lead to the natural question: "Given two points on X, how…

For each $1\leq n\leq6$ we present formulas for the number of $n-$nodal curves in an $n-$dimensional linear system on a smooth, projective surface. This yields in particular the numbers of rational curves in the system of hyperplane…

Let K be a finite field. We know that a half of elements of K* is a square. So it is natural to ask how many of them appear as x-coordinate of points on an elliptic curve over K. We consider a specific class of elliptic curves over finite…

A K3 surface over a number field has infinitely many rational points over a finite field extension. For K3 surfaces of degree 2, arising as double covers of $\mathbb{P}^2$ branched along a smooth sextic curve, we give a bound for the degree…

We obtain some restrictions on the topology of infinite volume hyperbolic manifolds. In particular, for any n and any closed negatively curved manifold M of dimension greater than 2, only finitely many hyperbolic n-manifolds are total…

We give explicit parametric equations for all irreducible plane projective sextic curves which have at most double points and whose total Milnor number is maximal (is equal to 19). In each case we find a parametrization over a number field…

Given an elliptic curve $E$ over a finite field $\mathbb{F}_q$ we study the finite extensions $\mathbb{F}_{q^n}$ of $\mathbb{F}_q$ such that the number of $\mathbb{F}_{q^n}$-rational points on $E$ attains the Hasse upper bound. We obtain an…

We address the problem of the maximal finite number of real points of a real algebraic curve (of a given degree and, sometimes, genus) in the projective plane. We improve the known upper and lower bounds and construct close to optimal…

We apply the specialization technique based on the decomposition of the diagonal to find an explicit example over $\mathbb{Q}$ of a quadric and cubic hypersurface in $\mathbb{P}^6$ such that their intersection is a smooth stably irrational…

We use a global version of Heath-Brown's $p-$adic determinant method developed by Salberger to give upper bounds for the number of rational points of height at most $B$ on non-singular cubic curves defined over $\mathbb{Q}$. The bounds are…

We give a complete classification of complex Q-homology projective planes with isolated rational double point singularities and numerically trivial canonical bundle. There are 31 types, and each has one-dimensional moduli. In fact, all…

We study arithmetical and geometrical properties of maximal curves, that is, curves defined over the finite field F_{q^2} whose number of F_{q^2}-rational points reaches the Hasse-Weil upper bound. Under a hypothesis on non-gaps at a…

The surface corresponding to the moduli space of quadratic endomorphisms of $\mathbb{P}^1$ with a marked periodic point of order $n$ is studied. It is shown that the surface is rational over $\mathbb{Q}$ when $n\le 5$ and is of general type…

We study the question of whether algebraic curves of a given genus g defined over a field K must have points rational over the maximal abelian extension K^{ab} of K. We give: (i) an explicit family of diagonal plane cubic curves with…

Segre proved that a smooth cubic surface over Q is unirational iff it has a rational point. We prove that the result also holds for cubic hypersurfaces over any field, including finite fields.

Generalizing a classical lemma of Castelnuovo, we characterize rational normal curves (resp. linearly normal elliptic curves) as curves $C\subset \PP^n$ such that the number of linearly independent hypersurfaces $Z\supset C$ of given…

We show that smooth cubic hypersurfaces of dimension $n$ defined over a finite field ${\bf F}_q$ contain a line defined over ${\bf F}_q$ in each of the following cases: - $n=3$ and $q\ge 11$; - $n=4$ and $q\ne 3$; - $n\ge 5$. For a smooth…

This is an extended version of an invited lecture I gave at the Journees Arithmetiques in St. Etienne in July 2009. We discuss the state of the art regarding the problem of finding the set of rational points on a (smooth projective)…

We develop an analytic theory of cusps for Scholze's $p$-adic modular curves at infinite level in terms of perfectoid parameter spaces for Tate curves. As an application, we describe a canonical tilting isomorphism between an anticanonical…