New surfaces with \(K^2 = 7\) and \(p_g = q \leq 2\) (Q1717137)

Minimal complex surfaces \(X\) of general type with \(\chi(\mathcal O_X)=1\) satisfy \(1\le K^2_X\le 9\), hence they belong to a finite number of families and can in principle be classified. The inequality \(q(X):=h^1(\mathcal O_X)\le 4\) also holds, and the cases \(q(X)=3,4\) are completely classified. On the other hand, for \(q(X)\le 2\) a complete classification seems out of reach at the moment, and therefore the construction of new examples helps to improve our understanding of this class of surfaces. In this paper the author considers the case \(K^2_X=7\), \(\chi(\mathcal O_X)=1\) and constructs new examples with \(q(X)=0,1,2\). Note that no example with \(K^2_X=7\), \(\chi(\mathcal O_X)=1\), \(q(X)=2\) was previously known. Although all the examples can be described as double covers of some nodal surface, the examples are constructed as \(\mathbb Z_2^2\)-covers (``bidouble covers'') of rational surfaces \(Y\) with very ad hoc choices of the surface \(Y\) and of the branch data.