Unirational surfaces on the Noether line (Q1011618)

Let \(X\) be a variety of dimension \(n\) defined over a field \(k\). Then \(X\) is called unirational if and only if there is a finite dominant map \(f : \mathbb{P}^n \dasharrow X\), or equivalently there is a finite extension of fields \(K(X) \subset k(x_1, \ldots ,x_n)\), where \(k(x_1,\ldots,x_n)\) is pure transcedental extension of degree \(n\) over \(k\). One of the classical problems of algebraic geometry was to decide whether a unirational variety \(X\) is rational, i.e., if there is a birational map \(f : \mathbb{P}^n \dasharrow X\). If the characteristic of \(k\) is zero then in dimension at most \(2\) the notions unirational and rational are equivalent but for \(n\geq 3\) this is not true anymore. In fact Griffiths and Clemens have shown that any smooth cubic threefold defined over the complex numbers is not rational. Moreover, Iskovskikh and Manin have shown that any smooth quartic threefold is not rational. However, many of them are unirational. In positive characteristic the notions of unirational and rational fail to be the same even in dimension two. In fact Zariski has constructed examples of unirational but non-rational examples of surfaces defined over fields of positive characteristic. If \(X\) is unirational and the characteristic of \(k\) zero, then \(k(X)=-\infty\), where \(k(X)\) is the Kodaira dimension of \(X\). However, there are examples of unirational surfaces of general type defined over a field of characteristic 2. If \(X\) is a smooth surface of general type, then the Noether inequality holds, i.e., \(K_X^2 \geq 2p_g-2\). \(X\) is called a Horikawa surface if \(K_X^2 \geq 2p_g-2\). The paper under review studies the existence of unirational Horikawa surfaces defined over a field \(k\) of characteristic \(p >0\). It is shown that for all primes \(p\) outside a set \(\mathcal{P}\) of density \(5\cdot 2^{-25}\) there exist unirational Horikawa surfaces in characteristic \(p\). Moreover, for any even integer \(g\), there exists an arithmetic progression of primes \(P_g\) such that for any \(p \in P_g\), there exists a unirational Horikawa surface with \(p_g=g\).