A twisted bicanonical system with base points (Q2364522)

This paper deals with twisted bicanonical systems of minimal complex surfaces \(S\) of general type i.e. linear systems of divisors numerically equivalent to \(2K_S\). According to a theorem of Reider such linear systems are basepoint free if \(K_S^2 \geq 5\). Examples admitting base points are only known for \(K_S^2=1\) and \(2\). It is therefore natural and important to ask whether there exists a minimal surface \(S\) of general type with \(K_S^2=3\) or \(4\) admitting a (twisted) bicanonical system with base points. In a previous work the authors, together with G. Bini and J. Neves, constructed a four dimensional family \(\mathcal M\) of surfaces with \(p_g=q=0\), \(K_S^2=3\) and \(\pi_1(S) \simeq \mathbb Z_4 \rtimes \mathbb Z_4\). The first result of this article provides a partial answer to the above question: for each member \(S\) of \(\mathcal M\) there exists a \(2\)-torsion line bundle \(\eta \in\mathrm{Pic}(S)\) not divisible by two such that \(|2K_S + \eta|\) has exactly two base points. Moreover the authors give a precise description of the image of the associated twisted bicanonical map: it maps birationally onto a tacnodal surface of degree \(10\) in projective \(3\)-space with a 1-cycle of degree \(26\). Based on this result they show that finding a minimal surface \(S\) of general type with \(K_S^2=3\) is, under some mild technical assumptions, essentially the same as constructing a suitable curve in \(\mathbb P^3\). At the moment the existence of such a curve is still open.