On the Russell problem (Q627989)

Peter Russell conjectured that an affine, smooth, \(n\)-dimensional complex variety \(X\) is isomorphic to \(\mathbb{C}^n\) iff there is a closed embedding of the union of the coordinate hyperplanes into \(X\). Here, the author considers the generalization to an uncountable algebraically closed field \(k\). If we denote \(K_n:=\{(x_1,\dots,x_n)\in k^n |\;x_1x_2\cdots x_n=0\}\), the author proves the conjecture for \(k\) under some additional assumptions: Theorem. Let \(X\) be a \(k\)-uniruled smooth affine variety of dimension \(n\). Assume that \(\mathrm{Pic}(X)=0\) and \(H^0(X, \mathcal O^*)=k^*.\) If there exists a closed embedding \(i: K_n\to X,\) then \(X\cong\mathbb A^n(k)\). This means that for \(k=\mathbb{C}\), the conjecture holds with the additional assumption that \(X\) is \(\mathbb{C}\)-uniruled. For more general \(k\), this can be expressed by the notions of \(k\)-uniruled varieties (i.e., there exist an \((n-1)\)-dimensional affine variety \(W\) and a dominant polynomial map \(\varphi: W\times k \to X\)) and testing sets (a subset \(S\subset Y\) of an affine variety \(Y\) is called a testing set for properness of polynomial maps \(f: X\to Y\) if, for every generically finite polynomial map \(f: X\to Y\), properness of \(f\) follows from properness of the restriction \(f|_{S}: S\to f(S)\)) used by the author in a previous paper [Math. Ann. 315, No. 1, 1--35 (1999; Zbl 0946.14039)]. He generalizes his results for \(\mathbb{C}\) in [loc. cit.] as follows: Theorem. Let \(X\) be an affine \(k\)-uniruled variety. Let \(S_1,\dots,S_m\) be hypersurfaces in \(k^m,\) which have no common points at infinity. Then \(S=\bigcup_{i=1}^{m} S_i\) is a testing set for polynomial mappings \(X\to k^m\). Theorem. For a generically finite dominant map \(f: X\to Y\), where \(X\) is a \(k\)-uniruled affine variety and \(Y\) is an affine variety, the set \(S_f:=\{y\in Y| f \text{ is not proper in }y\}\) is either empty or it is a \(k\)-uniruled hypersurface in \(Y\).