Elliptic fibrations on cubic surfaces (Q2655014)

Let \(X\) be a minimal nonsingular cubic surface defined over a field \(k\) of characteristic zero. An elliptic structure on \(X\) is a rational dominant map \(X\dashrightarrow B\) defined over \(k\), the generic fiber of which is an elliptic curve. In this paper, elliptic structures on \(X\) are described in the following way: first, some special elliptic structures (Halphen structures) are constructed, then it is proved that any structure can be transformed into a Halphen structure by means of a birational self-map which is a composition of Bertini and Geiser involutions. An explicit algorithm of untwisting a given elliptic structure by suitable birational involutions is described and illustrated by numerical examples done on the computer. The paper is very nicely written.