No label defined (Q4239972)

The main aim of the paper is to prove (in Section 3) that if \(K(C)\) is the function field of a smooth projective curve \(C\) over a local non-dyadic field \(K\) then the \(u\)-invariant \(u(K(C))\) is finite. In fact the result is more general. The authors show that if \(F\) is a field of characteristic not 2, \(I^4F=0\) and to each form \(\varphi\in I^2F\) there exist \(a,b\in F^*\) such that \(\varphi_{F(\sqrt{a},\sqrt{b})}\) is hyperbolic, then \(u(F)\leq 22\). The recent result of \textit{D. Saltman} [J. Ramanujan Math. Soc. 12, 25-47 (1997; Zbl 0902.16021)] on a common splitting field of a finite subset of \(_nBr(F)\), \(F\) being a function field in one variable over a local field, guarantees that \(K(C), K\) and \(C\) being as above, satisfies the assumptions of the main theorem. Saltman's paper, however, contains a gap completed later by \textit{O. Gabber} [cf. J. Ramanujan Math. Soc. 13, No. 2, 125-129 (1998)]. Moreover the authors need only Saltman's result for \(n=2\). To make the paper self-contained the authors discuss (in Section 2) Saltman's result restricting themselves to elements of \(_2Br(F)\) and taking into account Gabber's corrections. The paper sums up with an application of the main result to a problem raised by \textit{J.-L. Colliot-Thélène} and \textit{A. N. Skorobogatov} [K-Theory 7, 477-500 (1993; Zbl 0837.14002)]. Let \(\varphi\) be a quadratic form over \(K(C)\), \(K\) and \(C\) as above, and let \(N_{\varphi}(K(C))\) be the norm group of \(\varphi\). The question is whether \(K^*N_{\varphi}(K(C))=K(C)^*\) for all forms \(\varphi\) over \(K(C)\) of dimension \(\geq 5\). The authors of the paper under review yield a positive answer for all forms \(\varphi\) of dimension \(\geq 7\).