Special groups, versality and the Grothendieck-Serre conjecture (Q2184561)

Summary: Let \(k\) be a base field and \(G\) be an algebraic group over \(k\). J.-P. Serre defined \(G\) to be special if every \(G\)-torsor \(T \to X\) is locally trivial in the Zariski topology for every reduced algebraic variety \(X\) defined over \(k\). In recent papers an a priori weaker condition is used: \(G\) is called special if every \(G\)-torsor \(T \to \operatorname{Spec}(K)\) is split for every field~\(K\) containing \(k\). We show that these two definitions are equivalent. We also generalize this fact and propose a strengthened version of the Grothendieck-Serre conjecture based on the notion of essential dimension.