Involutions on numerical Campedelli surfaces (Q925096)

Numerical Campedelli surfaces are smooth minimal surfaces of general type with \(p_g=0\) and \(K^2=2\). Although they have been studied by several authors, their complete classification is not known. In this paper the authors classify numerical Campedelli surfaces with an involution, i.e. an automorphism of order 2. Using results on involutions on surfaces of general type with \(p_g=0\) [cf. \textit{A. Calabri, C. Ciliberto} and \textit{M. M. Lopes}, Trans. Am. Math. Soc. 359, No. 4, 1605--1632 (2007; Zbl 1124.14036)], they show that an involution \(\sigma\) on a numerical Campedelli surface \(S\) has either four or six isolated fixed points, and the bicanonical map of \(S\) is composed with the involution if and only if the involution has six isolated fixed points. In the latter case they prove that the ramification divisor \(R\) on \(S\) is not 0, and the quotient surface \(S/\sigma\) is either birational to an Enriques surface or a rational surface; if \(S/\sigma\) is rational, then there are four possible cases and each of the four cases actually occurs. If the involution has four isolated fixed points, they show that the ramification divisor \(R\) is either \(0\) or constituted by one, two or three \(-2-\)curves. In this case there are more possibilities for the quotient surface \(S/\sigma\): 1)\(S/\sigma\) is of general type (a numerical Godeaux surface) if and only if the ramification divisor \(R\) is equal to 0; 2) if \(R\) is not empty and irreducible, then \(S/\sigma\) is properly elliptic; 3) if \(R\) has two or three components then \(S/\sigma\) may be rational or birational to an Enriques surface or properly elliptic. There are examples for all cases, except when the quotient surface is a rational surface for this case. The authors also study a family of numerical Campedelli surfaces with torsion \(\mathbb{Z}_3^2\), showing that every surface in this family has two involutions, one with four isolated fixed points and one with six isolated fixed points, whose quotients are respectively birational to a numerical Go deaux surface and a rational surface. Finally, they study the involutions of numerical Campedelli surfaces with torsion \(\mathbb{Z}_2^3\), the so-called ``classical Campedelli surfaces''. Using the description of these surfaces as a \(\mathbb{Z}_2^3\)-cover of \(\mathbb{P}^2\) branched on 7 lines, they show that these involutions are all composed with the bicanonical map.