Lang maps and Harris's conjecture (Q1380498)

The main result of this paper is the following theorem: Let \(X\) be an irreducible variety over a field \(k\) of characteristic \(0\). Then there exists a variety of general type \(L(X)\) and a dominant rational map \(L:X\to L(X)\) (called the Lang map), defined over \(k\), satisfying the following universal property: Given a field \(K\supset k\) and a dominant rational map \(f:X_K\to Z\) defined over \(K\), where \(Z\) is of general type, then there exists a unique dominant rational map \(L(f): L(X)\to Z\) such that \(L(f)\circ L=f\). The dimension \(\dim L(X)\) is called the Lang dimension of \(X\). The Lang conjecture [\textit{S. Lang}, Bull. Am. Math. Ssoc., New Ser. 14, 159-205 (1986; Zbl 0602.14019)] claims that the set of rational points \(X(K)\) is not Zariski-dense in \(X\). The Lang conjecture implies that if \(K\) is a number field, and if \(X/K\) has positive Lang dimension, then \(X(K)\) is not Zariski-dense in \(X\). The Harris conjecture provides a complementary statement to the Lang conjecture. Harris's conjecture, weak form: Let \(X\) be a variety of Lang dimension \(0\) defined over a number field \(K\). Then for some finite extension \(E\supset K\) the set of \(E\)-rational points \(X(E)\) is Zariski-dense in \(X\). Harris's conjecture: For any variety \(X\) over a number field, \(\text{Ddim}(X)+\dim L(X)=\dim X\). Here Ddim stands for the diophantine dimension, which is defined as follows: \[ \text{Ddim}(X):=\min_{\emptyset\neq U\subset X\text{ open}}\max_{[E:K]<\infty} \dim\overline{(U(E))}. \] Recently, a counterexample was found to Harris's conjecture by \textit{J. L. Colliot-Thélène, A. N. Skorobogatov} and \textit{Sir P. Swinnerton-Dyer} [Acta Arith. 79, No. 2, 113-135 (1997; Zbl 0863.14011)]. This follows from the observation that the diophantine dimension is invariant under étale covers, whereas the Lang dimension is not.