Stable rationality of Brauer-Severi surface bundles (Q2285832)

A smooth projective variety \(X\) defined over an algebraically closed field \(k\) is called stably rational if and only if \(X \times \mathbb{P}^n_k\) is rational, for some \(n>0\). A breakthrough in the problem of studying the stable rationality of varieties was achieved by \textit{C. Voisin} [Invent. Math. 201, No. 1, 207--237 (2015; Zbl 1327.14223)] who obtained a criterion for the general member of a family of varieties to fail be stably rational. In this paper the authors study the stable rationality of Brauer-Severi surface bundles, a higher dimensional generalization of conic bundles. A Brauer-Severi surface bundle, is a flat projective morphisms \(f \colon X \rightarrow S\) between smooth projective varieties over a perfect field of characteristic different than 3 such that the fiber over any geometric point of \(S\) is one of the following: \begin{enumerate} \item A Del Pezzo surface of degree 9, \item The union of three Hirzebruch surfaces \(\mathbb{F}_1\) meeting transversally such that any pair of them meets along a fiber of one and the \((-1)\)-curve of the other, \item An irreducible scheme whose underlying reduced subscheme is isomorphic to the cone over a twisted cubic curve. \end{enumerate} In this paper the authors prove the following. Let \(S\) be a rational smooth projective surface over an uncountable algebraically closed field of characteristic different than 3 and \(L\) a very ample line bundle on \(S\) such that the linear system \(|L|\) contains a nodal reducible curve \(D=D_1\cup D_2\), where \(D_1, D_2\) are smooth with positive genus and contains also a curve with \(E_6\)-singularity. If the base field has positive characteristic, it is also assumed that \(H^1(S,L)=0\) and that some curve in \(|L|\) with \(E_6\)-singularity can be lifted with \(S\) and \(L\) to characteristic zero. Then the Brauer-Severi surface bundle corresponding to a very general element of \(|L|\) with nontrivial cyclic degree 3 cover is not stably rational. The main idea of the proof of the previous result is to construct a family of Brauer-Severi surface bundles such that one member has an obstruction to stable rationality and and then conclude by the method developed by C. Voisin [loc. cit.] that the very general member of the family is not stably rational.