Semipositivity of generic ordinary fibration over a curve (Q1989906)

Given a family $f: X\rightarrow B$ of compact Kähler manifolds over a curve $B$ with relative dualizing sheaf $\omega_{X/B}$, a fundamental result of \textit{T. Fujita} [J. Math. Soc. Jpn., 30, No. 4, 779--794 (1978; Zbl 0393.14006)] states that the direct image $f_*\omega_{X/B}$ is semipositive (nef). Semipositivity of such direct images, and more generally that of $f_*\omega_{X/B}^{\otimes m}$ (proved by \textit{Y. Kawamata} [Invent. Math. 66, 57--71 (1982; Zbl 0461.14004)]), plays an important role in the study of moduli spaces of algebraic varieties. \par For ground fields $k$ of positive characteristic \textit{J. Kollár} proved in [J. Differ. Geom. 32, No. 1, 235--268 (1990; Zbl 0684.14002)] that $f_*\omega_{X/B}^{\otimes m}$ is nef for any $m\geq 2$ if the general fibres of $f$ are smooth, but for $m=1$ there are counterexamples [\textit{L. Moret-Bailly}, Astérisque 86, 125--140 (1981; Zbl 0515.14007)], [\textit{J. Jang}, Math. Z. 264, No. 2, 271--277 (2010; Zbl 1225.14008)]. \textit{J. Jang} [Mich. Math. J. 59, No. 1, 169--178 (2010; Zbl 1195.14052)] proved the semipositivity of $f_*\omega_{X/B}$ for semistable $f$ and $\dim X=2$, assuming moreover that the generic fibre $X\times k(B)$ is smooth and \textit{ordinary} (that is, it has ordinary Picard variety). \par In the present paper the authors generalize Jang's result in the following way: If $f: X\rightarrow B$ is a fibration of arbitrary relative dimension over a curve such that $R^1f_*\mathcal{O}_X$ is torsion-free and the generic fibre is smooth and ordinary, then the dual of $R^1f_*\mathcal{O}_X$ is nef. As a consequence, the semistability assumption in Jang's result for fibred surfaces can be removed. \par By using the known counterexamples the authors also prove that: \par -- A similar result does not hold if the base $B$ has dimension at least 2. \par -- The Picard scheme of an algebraic surface can be abitrarily singular, in the sense that for each positive integer $n$ there is an algebraic surface $S$ such that \[ \dim T_0Pic^0_{S/k}-\dim Pic^0_{S/k}\geq n. \]