On minimal \(3\)-folds of general type with maximal pluricanonical section index (Q1642918)

\textit{C. D. Hacon} and \textit{J. McKernan} [Invent. Math. 166, No. 1, 1--25 (2006; Zbl 1121.14011)] proved that for any \(n \geq 1\) there exists an integer \(r_n\) such that if \(Y\) is a smooth projective variety of general type and dimension \(n\), then the \(r\)-canonical map of \(Y\) is birational onto its image for all \(r \geq r_n\). Moreover, they suggested the problem of finding explicit values of \(r_n\) (e.g., \(r_1=3\) and \(r_2=5\)). Now, let \(X\) be a minimal \(3\)-fold of general type. The pluricanonical section index (ps-index) of \(X\) is defined as \(\delta(X) = \min \{ m \in \mathbb Z_{>0}\;|\;P_m(X) \geq 2 \}\). According to a joint result of the author with \textit{J. A. Chen} [Compos. Math. 151, No. 6, 1041--1082 (2015; Zbl 1329.14030)], either \(1 \leq \delta(X) \leq 15\), or \(\delta(X)=18\). In the paper under review, the case of maximal \(\delta(X)\) is studied. As the author observes, in studying the birationality of the pluricanonical maps, 3-folds with largest ps-index represent the main obstacle to obtain good estimates for \(r_3\). The author proves that if \(\delta(X)=18\), then all \(m\)-canonical maps of \(X\) are birational for \(m \geq 57\). Combined with previous results, this implies \(r_3 \leq 57\), which improves an upper bound obtained in the above quoted paper.