Density of rational points on del Pezzo surfaces of degree one

Rational points (14G05) Arithmetic ground fields for surfaces or higher-dimensional varieties (14J20) Elliptic surfaces, elliptic or Calabi-Yau fibrations (14J27)

Abstract: We state conditions under which the set S(k) of k-rational points on a del Pezzo surface S of degree 1 over an infinite field k of characteristic not equal to 2 or 3 is Zariski dense. For example, it suffices to require that the elliptic fibration over the projective line induced by the anticanonical map has a nodal fiber over a k-rational point. It also suffices to require the existence of a point in S(k) that does not lie on six exceptional curves of S and that has order 3 on its fiber of the elliptic fibration. This allows us to show that within a parameter space for del Pezzo surfaces of degree 1 over the field of real numbers, the set of surfaces S defined over the field Q of rational numbers for which the set S(Q) is Zariski dense, is dense with respect to the real analytic topology. We also include conditions that may be satisfied for every del Pezzo surface S and that can be verified with a finite computation for any del Pezzo surface S that does satisfy them.

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It may be conjectured that if \(S\) is a del Pezzo surface of degree 1, defined over a number field \(k\), then the \(k\)-points of \(S\) are Zariski dense in \(S\). Indeed one may ask whether this could be true for every infinite field \(k\). The paper gives various conditions under which there is a positive answer to this latter question. One sufficient condition is the existence of a \(k\)-point on \(S\), not lying on any of 6 exceptional curves, and having order 3 on its fibre under the elliptic fibration of \(S\). Another condition -- too complicated to state here -- is effectively testable for any given \(S\), and plausibly holds for every \(S\). In the case \(k=\mathbb{Q}\) it is shown that there is a set of surfaces \(S\), defined over \(\mathbb{Q}\) and dense in the real topology, for each of which the \(\mathbb{Q}\)-points are Zariski dense. The methods are ultimately inspired by work of \textit{M. Ulas} [Acta Arith. 129, No. 2, 167--185 (2007; Zbl 1142.11017); Glasg. Math. J. 50, No. 3, 557--564 (2008; Zbl 1223.14041)]. However Ulas only considered some rather special examples.

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