On Brauer groups of double covers of ruled surfaces (Q2516887)

The main object of the paper under review is a smooth double cover \(X\) of a geometrically ruled surface \(S\) defined over a separably closed field \(k\) of characteristic different from 2. The authors compute the 2-torsion in the Brauer group of \(X\). This is done in an explicit way, which allows one in several important cases to exhibit the unramified central simple algebras representing the generators. This plays an important role in eventual applications to arithmetic problems. The techniques used by authors are based on the earlier works by \textit{O. Wittenberg} [Progr. Math. 226, 259--267 (2004; Zbl 1173.11336 )] and \textit{E. Ieronymou} [J. Inst. Math. Jussieu 9, 769--798 (2010; Zbl 1263.14023)], as well as on their earlier paper [Manuscr. Math. 147, 139--167 (2015; Zbl 1327.14158)].