Universal torsors and values of quadratic polynomials represented by norms (Q2339335)

The main object of the paper under review is the variety \(X\) defined over a number field \(k\) by the equation \(P(t)=N_{K/k}(z)\) where \(P(t)\) is a quadratic polynomial and \(N_{K/k}\) stands for the norm of a finite extension \(K/k\). The authors study the Hasse principle and weak approximation for \(X\) in several particular cases. If \(k=\mathbb Q\) and \(K\) is any finite extension, they show that the Brauer-Manin obstruction to the Hasse principle and weak approximation is the only one. If \([K:k]=4\) and \(P(t)\) is irreducible over \(k\) and split in \(K\), they prove the Hasse principle and weak approximation. Without assuming that \(P(t)\) splits in \(K\), they determine the unramified Brauer group of \(X\) and, in the case it is non-trivial, produce a counter-example to weak approximation. Some of these facts can be viewed as a generalization of earlier results by \textit{T. D. Browning} and \textit{D. R. Heath-Brown} [Geom. Funct. Anal. 22, No. 5, 1124--1190 (2012; Zbl 1264.14032)], obtained by analytic methods. The authors of the paper under review use a variant of descent method, developed by \textit{J.-L. Colliot-Thélène} and \textit{J.-J. Sansuc} [Duke Math. J. 54, 375--492 (1987; Zbl 0659.14028)] for proper varieties and modified by \textit{A. Skorobogatov} [Torsors and rational points. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press (2001; Zbl 0972.14015)] for affine varieties.