The probability that a complete intersection is smooth (Q1940465)

Let \(X\) be a smooth subscheme of a projective space over a finite field. In the case of a single hypersurface of large degree, the probability that its intersection with \(X\) is smooth of the correct dimension was computed by \textit{B. Poonen} [Ann. Math. 160, 1099--1127 (2003; Zbl 1084.14026)]. The authors of the paper under review generalize Poonen's theorem to the case of complete intersections. They then relate this result to the probabilistic model of rational points of such complete intersection. These and some another author's results, although difficult to present in a short review, are well summarized in the introductory section. Briefly, the general idea of the proof of the authors' theorem is a sieve over the set of closed points of \(X\) similar to Poonen's proof of Theorem 1.1., in which the authors separately analyze the contribution of points of low degree, medium degree and high degree. The authors also give an interesting corollary that the number of rational points on a random smooth intersection of two surfaces in projective 3-space is strictly less than the number of points on the projective line. Finally, they indicate some other directions in which one can probably generalize Poonen's results from hypersurfaces to complete intersections and make the conjecture, generalizing the conditional Poonen's Theorem 5.5.