The number of varieties in a family which contain a rational point (Q1989605)

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The number of varieties in a family which contain a rational point
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    The number of varieties in a family which contain a rational point (English)
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    26 October 2018
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    This paper gives some asymptotic counting formulas for rational points of bounded height on anisotropic tori, in the following setting: Let $F$ be a number field, and $T$ be a torus whose scheme of characters has no rational points, beside the trivial character. Let $X$ be toric variety with respect to $T$, and write $U\subset X$ for the dense open orbit, which is a principal homogeneous space for the torus. Furthermore, let $\mathscr{B}\subset\operatorname{Br}(U)$ be a finite subgroup consisting of Brauer classes that vanish after base-change to the algebraic closure $F^{\text{alg}}$. Let $U(F)_\mathcal{B}$ be the ensuing set of rational points over which all members of $\mathscr{B}$ become trivial, and assume that this set in non-empty. The main result asserts that there is a constant $c>0$ with $$ N(U,H,\mathcal{B},B) \sim cB \frac{(\log B)^{\rho -1}} {(\log B)^\Delta}, \text{ as }B\to\infty. $$ The left-hand side $N(U,H,\mathscr{B},B)$ counts the number of rational points $x\in U(F)_\mathcal{B}$ with bounded height $H(x)\leq B$. Here $\rho=\rho(X)$ is the Picard number of the toric variety $X$, and $$ \Delta=\sum_{D\in X^{(1)}}\left(1-\frac{1}{|\partial_D(\mathscr{B})}|\right) $$ is a rational number measuring the size of the finite group $\mathscr{B}$ under the residue maps at codimension-one points $D\in X$, and $H$ is the Batyrev-Tschinkel anticanonical height function [\textit{V. V. Batyrev} and \textit{Y. Tschinkel}, Int. Math. Res. Not. 1995, No. 12, 591--635 (1995; Zbl 0890.14008)]. It follows that the non-zero set $U(F)_\mathcal{B}$ is infinite, and it is actually shown to be Zariski dense. The author also gives an interpretation of the leading constant $c=c_{X,\mathscr{B},H}$ in terms of Artin L-functions, Tamagawa numbers, and Picard groups. This formally resembles the leading constant $c=c_{X,H,\text{Peyre}}$ conjectured to appear in the context of Manin's Conjecture [\textit{E. Peyre}, Duke Math. J. 79, No. 1, 101--218 (1995; Zbl 0901.14025)]. From the above result, a similar asymptotic formula for certain families $\pi:Y\to X$ is derived, where the restriction to $U$ becomes a product of Brauer-Severi varieties. Now one counts points on $U$, as above, but only those that lie in the image of $Y(F)$.
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    rational points
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    families of varieties
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    Brauer groups
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    toric varieties
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