Some unlimited families of minimal surfaces of general type with the canonical map of degree 8 (Q785982)

The article under review gives detailed constructions of surfaces of general type of small irregularity (\(q=0\) or \(1\)) with canonical map of degree \(8\). Moreover, the constructions result in nine sequences of such surfaces with unbounded geometric genus. The surfaces are constructed as \((\mathbb Z/2\mathbb Z)^3\)-covers over either the first Hirzebruch surface \(\mathbb F_1\) or its blow-up in a point. It was shown by [\textit{G. Xiao}, Math. Ann. 274, 473--483 (1986; Zbl 0571.14019)] that if the geometric genus of a minimal surface of general type is sufficiently large, then the degree of the canonical map is at most \(8\); moreover, in the extreme case of degree \(8\), the irregularity is at most \(3\) (see [\textit{G. Xiao}, Duke Math. J. 55, 597--602 (1987; Zbl 0651.14021)]). Beauville had constructed a sequence of surfaces of general type with canonical map of degree \(8\), irregularity \(3\) and unbounded geometric genus, cf. [\textit{A. Beauville}, Invent. Math. 55, 121--140 (1979; Zbl 0403.14006)]. The main contribution of the article under review is the construction of such unbounded sequences of surfaces with irregularity \(0\) and \(1\). They turn out to have the following numerical invariants: The \((\mathbb Z/2\mathbb Z)^3\)-covers of \(\mathbb F_1\) are regular and satisfy \(p_g = 2n+1\), \(n\geq 2\); the \((\mathbb Z/2\mathbb Z)^3\)-covers of the blow up of \(\mathbb F_1\) -- some of which are regular, others having \(q=1\) -- satisfy \(p_g = 2n\), \(n\geq 2\). Only three of the types of surfaces constructed have a base point free canonical system; for more details on this, we refer to the article. After briefly recalling Pardini's calculus of so-called building data for abelian covers [\textit{R. Pardini}, J. Reine Angew. Math. 417, 191--213 (1991; Zbl 0721.14009)] in the special case of \((\mathbb Z/2\mathbb Z)^3\)-covers, the surfaces are constructed by defining suitable branch loci in either the first Hirzebruch surface \(\mathbb F_1\) or the blow up of \(\mathbb F_1\) in a suitably chosen point. The unboundedness of the geometric genus in the sequences is accomplished by including arbitrarily many fibres of the ruling on \(\mathbb F_1\) into the branch loci. E.g., the branch locus for the surfaces of the first sequence is given by the sum of \(2n\) fibres of the ruling of \(\mathbb F_1\) and three general members of \(|2\Delta_0+2\Gamma|\), where \(\Gamma\) and \(\Delta_0\) are a fibre of the ruling and the \((-1)\)-curve, respectively. There exists a corresponding \((\mathbb Z/2\mathbb Z)^3\)-cover \(f\colon X\to \mathbb F_1\) with \(2K_X = f^*(2\Delta+2n\Gamma)\), therefore satisfying \(p_g(X) = 2n+1\), \(K_X^2 = 16n-8\), \(\chi(\mathcal O_X) = 2n+2\) and \(q(X) = 0\). The remaining examples are obtained similarly.