Rational points of bounded height on Del Pezzo surfaces of degree six

LetK be a number field. Denote byV ₃ a split Del Pezzo surface of degree six overK and by ω its canonical divisor. Denote byW ₃ the open complement of the exceptional lines inV ₃. LetN _{W s}(−ω, X) be the number ofK-rational points onW ₃ whose anticanonical heightH _−ω is bounded byX. Manin has conjectured that asymptoticallyN _{W 3}(−ω, X) tends tocX(logX)³, wherec is a constant depending only on the number field and on the normalization of the height. Our goal is to prove the following theorem: For each number fieldK there exists a constantc _K such thatN _{W 3}(−ω, X)≤c_KX(logX)^3+2r , wherer is the rank of the group of units ofO _K. The constantc _K is far from being optimal. However, ifK is a purely imaginary quadratic field, this proves an upper bound with a correct power of logX. The proof of Manin's conjecture for arbitrary number fields and a precise treatment of the constants would require a more sophisticated setting, like the one used by Peyre] to prove Manin's conjecture and to compute the correct asymptotic constant (in some normalization) in the caseK=ℚ. Up to now the best result for arbitraryK goes back, as far as we know, to Manin-Tschinkel], who gives an upper boundN _{W 3}(−ω,X)≤cX^l+ε. The author would like to express his gratitude to Daniel Coray and Per Salberger for their generous and indispensable support.