Degree and the Brauer-Manin obstruction (Q1727419)

Let $X$ be a smooth, projective, geometrically integral variety over a number field $k$. It is well-known that in general the Hasse principle may fail for $X$ so that $X(k)$ is empty while $X(\mathbb{A}_k)$ is not. Sometimes (but not always -- see [\textit{A. N. Skorobogatov}, Invent. Math. 135, No. 2, 399--424 (1999; Zbl 0951.14013)] for a bielliptic counterexample) this failure can be explained by the \textit{Brauer-Manin obstruction}. More precisely, there is a pairing \[ X(\mathbb{A}_k)\times \mathrm{Br}(X)\to \mathbb{Q}/\mathbb{Z} \] between the adelic points of $X$ and its Brauer group such that for any subgroup $B\subset\mathrm{Br}(X)$, the rational points $X(k)$ are contained in the set $X(\mathbb{A}_k)^B$ of adelic points which are orthogonal to all elements of $B$. \par Recent literature deals with the question how the torsion order of a Brauer class relates to the obstruction it can give. For a positive integer $d$, denote by $B[d^\infty]$ the $d$-primary part of $B$ and by $B[d^\perp]$ the prime-to-$d$ part. \par Say that the property $\mathrm{BM}_{B,d}$ is satisfied for $X$ if $B[d^\infty]$ captures any Brauer-Manin obstruction to the Hasse principle, i.e.\ the following implication holds: \[ X(\mathbb{A}_k)^B=\emptyset \Rightarrow X(\mathbb{A}_k)^{B[d^\infty]}=\emptyset. \] Say that $\mathrm{BM}_{B,d}^\perp$ is satisfied for $X$ if $B[d^\perp]$ never obstructs the Hasse principle, i.e.\ if the following implication holds: \[ X(\mathbb{A}_k)\neq\emptyset \Rightarrow X(\mathbb{A}_k)^{B[d^\perp]}\neq\emptyset. \] We omit the index $B$ in the notation when $B=\mathrm{Br}(X)$. \par It has been shown that $\mathrm{BM}_2^\perp$ holds for diagonal quartic surfaces over $\mathbb{Q}$ [\textit{E. Ieronymou} and \textit{A. N. Skorobogatov}, Adv. Math. 270, 181--205 (2015; Zbl 1388.14071), \textit{E. Ieronymou} and \textit{A. N. Skorobogatov}, Adv. Math. 307, 1372--1377 (2017; Zbl 1388.14072)] (with a generalisation to number fields in [\textit{M. Nakahara}, Adv. Math. 348, 512--522 (2019)]), Kummer varieties [\textit{A. N. Skorobogatov} and \textit{Y. G. Zarhin}, Pure Appl. Math. Q. 13, No. 2, 337--368 (2017; Zbl 1398.14029)] and del Pezzo surfaces of degree $2$ [\textit{M. Nakahara}, Adv. Math. 348, 512--522 (2019)]. On the other hand, in [\textit{P. Corn} and \textit{M. Nakahara}, Res. Number Theory 4, No. 3, Art. 33 (2018)] resp.\ [\textit{J. Berg} and \textit{A. Várilly-Alvarado}, ``Odd order obstructions to the Hasse principle on general K3 surfaces'', \url{arXiv:1808.00879}] an obstruction by an algebraic resp.\ transcendental $3$-torsion Brauer class on a degree $2$ K3 surface was constructed. \par The present article relates the above properties to the degree of a variety. The authors ask whether \textit{degrees capture the Brauer-Manin obstruction} on $X$, which is defined to mean that $\mathrm{BM}_d$ holds for any $d$ which is the degree of a globally generated ample line bundle on $X$. Apart from being a natural question, an answer may be relevant for algorithmic purposes. \par The first main result is that torsors under abelian varieties satisfy $\mathrm{BM}_{B,d}$ for any subgroup $B$ and any $d$ divisible by the period of the variety, in particular for any $d$ which is the degree of a globally generated ample line bundle on $X$. Taking $B=\mathrm{Br}(X)[d^\perp]$, this shows that any prime-to-$d$ Brauer class cannot obstruct. The proof relies on the observation that for any class $\mathcal{A}$ in $B[d^\perp]$, there exists an étale automorphism of $X$ which annihilates $\mathcal{A}$. For $B=\mathrm{Br}(X)$ and semi-abelian varieties, one could also prove the theorem using Manin's work under the assumption of finiteness of the Tate-Shafarevich group. \par The authors then proceed to consider quotients of torsors under abelian varieties and prove that Kummer varieties satisfy $\mathrm{BM}_2$. In combination with the aforementioned result by Skorobogatov-Zarhin, the appendix strengthens this to $\mathrm{BM}_{B,2}$ for any subgroup $B$. It is also shown that assuming the finiteness of the Tate-Shafarevich group, degrees capture the Brauer-Manin obstruction on bielliptic surfaces. \par The last section proves that degrees capture the Brauer-Manin obstruction on minimal rational conic bundles and Severi-Brauer bundles over elliptic curves with finite Tate-Shafarevich group, which combined with previous results on del Pezzo surfaces implies an affirmative answer for all geometrically rational minimal surfaces. Finally a counterexample of a conic bundle over an elliptic curve, where degrees do not capture the Brauer-Manin obstruction, is given.