Related papers: Rational normal curves as no-$(d+2)$-on-$Q$-quadri…

We establish estimates for the number of solutions of certain affine congruences. These estimates are then used to prove Manin's conjecture for a cubic surface split over Q and whose singularity type is D_4. This improves on a result of…

It is well known that an irreducible algebraic curve is rational (i.e. parametric) if and only if its genus is zero. In this paper, given a tolerance $\epsilon>0$ and an $\epsilon$-irreducible algebraic affine plane curve $\mathcal C$ of…

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)…

Kontsevich and Manin gave a formula for the number $N_e$ of rational plane curves of degree $e$ through $3e-1$ points in general position in the plane. When these $3e-1$ points have coordinates in the rational numbers, the corresponding set…

A set $R\subset \mathbb{N}$ is called rational if it is well-approximable by finite unions of arithmetic progressions. Examples of rational sets include many classical sets of number-theoretical origin such as the set of squarefree numbers,…

In this paper we obtain a formula for the number of rational degree d curves in $\mathbb{P}^3$ having a cusp, whose image lies in a $\mathbb{P}^2$ and that passes through $r$ lines and $s$ points (where $r + 2s = 3d + 1$). This problem can…

Given an integer $\gamma\geq 2$ and an odd prime power $q$ we show that for every large genus $g$ there exists a non-singular curve $C$ defined over $\mathbb{F}_q$ of genus $g$ and gonality $\gamma$ and with exactly $\gamma(q+1)$…

In projective space over fields of characteristic different from 2, the normal bundle of a general nondegenerate rational curve is balanced. The corresponding statement for rational curves in other Grassmannians can fail. Nevertheless, we…

We show that even dimensional Fermat cubic hypersurfaces are rational over any field of characteristic different from three by producing explicit rational parametrizations given by polynomials of low degree. As a byproduct of our…

Let $k$ be any field. Let $R=k[[X_1,\ldots,X_d]]$ and $\frak p$ a $1$-dimensional prime ideal. In this note we present $d-1$ elements such as $f_1,\ldots,f_{d-1}$ in $\frak p$ such that $\mathfrak{p}=\text{rad}(f_1,\ldots,f_{d-1})$.

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.

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 give an upper bound for the degree of rational curves in a family that covers a given birational ruled surface in projective space. The upper bound is stated in terms of the degree, sectional genus and arithmetic genus of the surface. We…

Based on the fact that projective monomial curves in the plane are complete intersections, we give an effective inductive method for creating infinitely many monomial curves in the projective $n$-space that are set theoretic complete…

Let $\mathbb{F}_q$ denote the finite field with $q$ elements. In this work, we use characters to give the number of rational points on suitable curves of low degree over $\mathbb{F}_q$ in terms of the number of rational points on elliptic…

We determine exactly which positive rational numbers occur as squared edge lengths of regular $d$-simplices with vertices in $\mathbb{Q}^n$. The answer exhibits a sharp stabilization phenomenon: once $n-d\geq 3$, every positive rational…

We study the complement problem in projective spaces $\mathbb{P}^n$ over any algebraically closed field: If $H, H' \subseteq \mathbb{P}^n$ are irreducible hypersurfaces of degree $d$ such that the complements $\mathbb{P}^n \setminus H$,…

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 give necessary and sufficient topological conditions for a simple closed curve on a real rational surface to be approximable by smooth rational curves. We also study approximation by smooth rational curves with given complex…

Let $X_4\subset\mathbb{P}^{n+1}$ be a quartic hypersurface of dimension $n\geq 4$ over an infinite field $k$. We show that if either $X_4$ contains a linear subspace $\Lambda$ of dimension $h\geq \max\{2,\dim(\Lambda\cap…