Stable rationality in smooth families of threefolds (Q6046460)

A variety \(X\) is called rational if it is birational to projective space, and stably rational if \(X \times \mathbb P^r\) is rational for some \(r\). This paper is about the behavior of stable rationality in families of varieties. The authors exhibit a family of smooth projective complex \(3\)-folds such that there is a stably rational member, but the very general member is not stably rational. This phenomenon was previously known to exist in dimensions \(\ge 4\) (even with a rational member). The question whether one can have both rational and non-stably rational members in dimension \(3\) remains open.