Positivity of anticanonical divisors from the viewpoint of Fano conic bundles (Q2631631)

Let \(\varphi \colon X \to Y\) be a contraction, i.e., a surjective morphism with connected fibers between normal complex projective varieties. It is a fundamental problem to understand how the positivity properties of the anticanonical divisors \(-K_X, -K_Y\) of \(X,Y\) are related. Assume that \(X,Y\) are smooth. If \(\varphi\) is smooth and \(-K_X\) is ample, nef and big, or semiample, then so is \(-K_Y\) by \textit{J. Kollár} et al. [J. Differ. Geom. 36, No. 3, 765--779 (1992; Zbl 0759.14032)], \textit{O. Fujino} and \textit{Y. Gongyo} [Math. Z. 270, No. 1--2, 531--544 (2012; Zbl 1234.14033)], or \textit{C. Birkar} and \textit{Y. Chen} [J. Algebr. Geom. 25, No. 2, 273--287 (2016; Zbl 1343.14012)], respectively. One may ask whether a similar result holds for some weaker assumption on \(\varphi\). Consider the case that \(\varphi\) is a Fano conic bundle, i.e., \(X\) is smooth, \(-K_X\) is ample, and all fibers of \(\varphi\) are one-dimensional. \textit{J. A. Wiśniewski} [J. Reine Angew. Math. 417, 141--157 (1991; Zbl 0721.14023)] constructed an example of a Fano conic bundle \(\varphi \colon X \to Y\) such that \(-K_Y\) is not ample but nef and big. In the paper under review, by modifying Wiśniewski's construction, the author constructs an example of a Fano conic bundle \(\varphi \colon X \to Y\) such that \(-K_Y\) is not nef.