The universal \(K3\) surface of genus 14 via cubic fourfolds (Q1696015)

The main result of the paper is the rationality of the universal \(K3\) surface \(\mathcal F_{14,1}\) of genus \(g=14\). In general, the moduli space \(\mathcal F_g\) of \(K3\) surfaces of genus \(g\) is known to be of general type when \(g>62\), and unirational for \(g\leq 14\). In particular the unirationality of \(\mathcal F_{14}\) follows from the existence of a birational map between \(\mathcal F_{14}\) and the space \(\mathcal C_{26}\) of special cubic fourfolds with discriminant \(26\). A cubic fourfold \(X\) is special, of discriminant \(d\), if it contains a surface \(S\) which is not complete intersection, and such that the lattice generated by the square of a hyperplane and \(S\) has discriminant \(d\). The Fano variety \(F(X)\) of lines contained in a special cubic fourfold \(X\) of discriminant \(d=2(n^2+n+1)\) is isomorphic to the Hilbert scheme \(Hilb^2(S)\) of a polarized \(K3\) surface \(S\) of degree \(d\). This correspondence determines, for \(n=3\) hence for \(d=26\), a birational map \(\mathcal C_{26}\to \mathcal F_{14}\). \textit{H. Nuer} [Algebr. Geom. 4, No. 3, 281--289 (2017; Zbl 1386.14024)] proved that \(\mathcal C_{26}\) is unirational, establishing in this way the unirationality of \(\mathcal F_{14}\). In the paper under review, the authors map a \(K3\) surface \(S\in \mathcal F_{14}\) with a marked point \(p\) to the scroll \(R_p\) of lines in the associated cubic \(X\in \mathcal C_{26}\) which correspond to schemes \(\eta\in \mathrm{Hilb}^2(S)\) containing \(p\). It turns out that \(R_p\) is a \(2\)-dimensional scroll with three non-normal nodes, and it corresponds to a curve of degree \(7\) in the Grassmannian of lines in \(\mathbb P^5\). A general \(X\in\mathcal C_{26}\) contains a \(2\)-dimensional family of such scrolls \(R_p\), parametrized by the associated \(K3\) surface \(S\). In this way, the authors prove that the universal surface \(\mathcal F_{14,1}\) is birational to a moduli space \(\mathcal H\) of \(3\)-nodal scrolls in \(\mathbb P^5\). The rationality of \(\mathcal F_{14,1}\) follows, as the authors prove the rationality of the space \(\mathcal H\) of scrolls.