Tamagawa numbers of diagonal cubic surfaces, numerical evidence

A refined version of Manin's conjecture about the asymptotics of points of bounded height on Fano varieties has been developed by Batyrev and the authors. We test numerically this refined conjecture for some diagonal cubic surfaces.

     

The <Emphasis Type="Italic">L</Emphasis>-series of a cubic fourfold

We study the L-series of cubic fourfolds. Our main result is that, if X/C is a special cubic fourfold associated to some polarized K3 surface S, defined over a number field K and satisfying , then X has a model over K such that the L-series of the primitive cohomology of X/K can be expressed in terms of the L-series of S/K. This allows us to compute the L-series for a discrete dense subset of cubic fourfolds in the moduli spaces of certain special cubic fourfolds. We also discuss a concrete example.     

Cubic surfaces violating the Hasse principle are Zariski dense in the moduli scheme

We construct new examples of cubic surfaces, for which the Hasse principle fails. Thereby we show that, over every number field, the counterexamples to the Hasse principle are Zariski dense in the moduli scheme of non-singular cubic surfaces.     

Orbits of points on certain K3 surfaces

In this paper we show that, for a K3 surface within a certain class of surfaces and over a number field, the orbit of a point under the group of automorphisms is either finite or its exponent of growth is exactly the Hausdorff dimension of a fractal associated to the ample cone. In particular, the exponent depends on the geometry of the surface and not its arithmetic. For surfaces in this class, the exponent is 0.6527±0.0012.     

Torsion points on families of products of elliptic curves

In a recent paper we proved a special case of a variant of Pink's Conjecture for a variety inside a semiabelian scheme: namely for any curve inside any scheme isogenous to a fibred product of two isogenous elliptic schemes. Here we go ahead with the programme of settling the conjecture for general abelian surface schemes by completing the proof for all non-simple surfaces. This involves some entirely new and crucial issues.     

Sums of residues on algebraic surfaces and application to coding theory

In this paper, we study residues of differential 2-forms on a smooth algebraic surface over an arbitrary field and give several statements about sums of residues. Afterwards, using these results, we construct algebraic-geometric codes which are an extension to surfaces of the well-known differential codes on curves. We also study some properties of these codes and extend to them some known properties for codes on curves.     

Rational points of bounded height on projective surfaces

We give upper bounds for the number of rational points of bounded height on the complement of the lines on projective surfaces.     

Dyson's theorem for curves

Let K be a number field and X₁ and X₂ two smooth projective curves defined over it. In this paper we prove an analogue of the Dyson theorem for the product X₁×X₂. If Xi=P₁ we find the classical Dyson theorem. In general, it will imply a self contained and easy proof of Siegel theorem on integral points on hyperbolic curves and it will give some insight on effectiveness. This proof is new and avoids the use of Roth and Mordell-Weil theorems, the theory of Linear Forms in Logarithms and the Schmidt subspace theorem.     

Admissible metrics for line bundles on curves and abelian varieties over non-archimedean local fields

Following the approach in the archimedean case, we introduce the notion of admissible metrics for line bundles on curves and abelian varieties over non-archimedean local fields. Several properties of admissible metrics are considered and we show that this approach yields the same notion of admissible metrics over curves as doing harmonic analysis on the reduction graph of the curve. Received: 9 September 2002     

Densité de points et minoration de hauteur

We obtain a lower bound for the normalised height of a non-torsion subvariety V of a C.M. abelian variety. This lower bound is optimal in terms of the geometric degree of V, up to a power of a “log”. We thus extend the results of Amoroso and David on the same problem on a multiplicative group . We prove furthermore that the optimal lower bound (conjectured by David and Philippon) is a corollary of the conjecture of David and Hindry on the abelian Lehmer's problem. We deduce these results from a density theorem on the non-torsion points of V.     

A nondensity property of preperiodic points on Chebyshev dynamical systems

Let k be a number field with algebraic closure , and let S be a finite set of primes of k, containing all the infinite ones. Consider a Chebyshev dynamical system on P². Fix the effective divisor D of P² that is equal to a line nondegenerate on²[−2,2]. Then we will prove that the set of preperiodic points on which are S-integral relative to D is not Zariski dense in P².     

Generalized Greatest Common Divisors,Divisibility Sequences,and Vojta’s Conjecture for Blowups

We apply Vojta’s conjecture to blowups and deduce a number of deep statements regarding (generalized) greatest common divisors on varieties, in particular on projective space and on abelian varieties. Special cases of these statements generalize earlier results and conjectures. We also discuss the relationship between generalized greatest common divisors and the divisibility sequences attached to algebraic groups, and we apply Vojta’s conjecture to obtain a strong bound on the divisibility sequences attached to abelian varieties of dimension at least two.     

Evaluating the Advanced Life Deferred Annuity — An annuity people might actually buy

Although annuities provide longevity insurance that should be attractive to households facing an uncertain lifespan, rates of voluntary annuitization remain extremely low. We evaluate the Advanced Life Deferred Annuity, an annuity purchased at retirement, providing an income commencing in advanced old age. Using numerical optimization, we show that it would provide a substantial proportion of the longevity insurance provided by an immediate annuity, at much lower cost. At plausible levels of actuarial unfairness, households should prefer it to both immediate and postponed annuitization and an optimal decumulation of unannuitized wealth. Few households would suffer significant losses were it used as a 401(k) plan default.     

A quotient curve of the Fermat curve of degree twenty-three attaining the Serre bound

The curve in the title is a non-maximal curve of genus 11, which has a defining equation analogous to the Klein quartic's. We study its properties and show how to apply it to coding theory.     

Failure of the Hasse principle for Enriques surfaces

We construct an Enriques surface X over Q with empty étale-Brauer set (and hence no rational points) for which there is no algebraic Brauer–Manin obstruction to the Hasse principle. In addition, if there is a transcendental obstruction on X, then we obtain a K3 surface that has a transcendental obstruction to the Hasse principle.     

Some Artin-Schreier type function fields over finite fields with prescribed genus and number of rational places

We give existence and characterization results for some Artin-Schreier type function fields over finite fields with prescribed genus and number of rational places simultaneously.     

Density of integer solutions to diagonal quadratic forms

Let Q be a non-singular diagonal quadratic form in at least four variables. We provide upper bounds for the number of integer solutions to the equation Q = 0, which lie in a box with sides of length 2B, as B → ∞. The estimates obtained are completely uniform in the coefficients of the form, and become sharper as they grow larger in modulus.     

Bielliptic surfaces as covers of rational surfaces

We present a construction of the bielliptic surfaces as covers of certain rational elliptic surfaces.