Rationality of moduli of elliptic fibrations with fixed monodromy. (Q1811208)

The authors study the rationality of moduli spaces of smooth (non isotrivial) Jacobian elliptic fibrations over curves with fixed global monodromy group. These moduli spaces are irreducible components of maximal parameter spaces for elliptic fibrations with fixed monodromy group, considered up to fibrewise birational transformations acting trivially on the base of the elliptic fibration. Even if the moduli spaces can fail to be algebraic varieties, one can consider their birational type. The main result is that when the prescribed monodromy group is a subgroup of finite order of the special linear group \(\text{SL}_2(\mathbb Z)\), then the moduli spaces are rational. The paper uses techniques developed by two of the authors in the classification of all possible global monodromy groups for elliptic fibrations [in: Galois groups and fundamental groups. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Math. Sci. Res. Inst. Publ. 41, 167--181 (2003; Zbl 1093.14053)] and contains plenty of information on the geometry of elliptic fibrations, in particular a classification of the families of rational elliptic surfaces and elliptic \(K3\) surfaces with different monodromy groups. Besides the important main result of the paper, all the geometry described can be very useful for many other purposes.