Calculating the Mordell-Weil rank of elliptic threefolds and the cohomology of singular hypersurfaces

DOI10.5802/AIF.2637MaRDI QIDQ660443zbMATH OpenOpenAlexFDO

Publication date 2 February 2012

Published in Annales de l’institut Fourier (Search for Journal in Brave)

Full work available at URL https://arxiv.org/abs/0806.2025, https://eudml.org/doc/219798

cohomology of singular varieties mixed Hodge stuctures Mordell-Weil group of elliptic threefolds

(3)-folds (14J30) Hypersurfaces and algebraic geometry (14J70) Global theory of complex singularities; cohomological properties (32S20) Mixed Hodge theory of singular varieties (complex-analytic aspects) (32S35) Topological aspects of complex singularities: Lefschetz theorems, topological classification, invariants (32S50)

Abstract: In this paper we give a method for calculating the rank of a general elliptic curve over the field of rational functions in two variables. We reduce this problem to calculating the cohomology of a singular hypersurface in a weighted projective 4-space. We then give a method for calculating the cohomology of a certain class of singular hypersurfaces, extending work of Dimca for the isolated singularity case.

Review text

There is an arithmetic part to this paper, and a more purely geometric part. The latter is motivated by the former but is of independent interest. The arithmetic question is to compute the rank of the Mordell-Weil group \(\text{MW}(\pi)\) of an elliptic 3-fold \(\pi: X\to S\) where the base \(S\) is a smooth rational surface, i.e.\ of an elliptic curve over the function field \({\mathbb C}(S)={\mathbb C}(s_1,s_2)\). The method uses the fact that \(X\) has a model \(Y\), given by a minimal Weierstrass equation as a singular hypersurface in a weighted projective space. As long as \(H^4(Y)\) has a pure weight~\(4\) Hodge structure, which is only a very mild condition, the authors prove that \[ \text{rank}\text{MW}(\pi)=\text{rank}\big(H^{2,2}(H^4(Y{\mathbb C}))\cap H^4(Y,{\mathbb Z})\big)-1. \] If \(X\) is general then \(Y\) is quasismooth and in that case \(\text{MW}(\pi)=0\). The authors give explicit conditions on the discriminant under which this happens, and explain why the problem is harder for elliptic surfaces The second part of the paper aims to compute the cohomology of a hypersurface in weighted projective space, under conditions on the singularities that \(Y\) might often satisfy. The authors extend the methods used by Dimca for hypersurfaces with isolated semi-weighted homogeneous singularities, so as to compute \(H^4(Y)\) provided that the codimension~\(2\) singularities are of transverse Du Val type and the ccodimension \(3\) singularities are contact equivalent to weighted homogeneous singularities: this is quite hard. They are able to verify that these conditions are satisfied by the models of many elliptic threefolds, and thus to compute their Mordell-Weil ranks.

Recommendations

Cites work

Cited in

(18)

This page was built for publication: Calculating the Mordell-Weil rank of elliptic threefolds and the cohomology of singular hypersurfaces

Report a bug (only for logged in users!)Click here to report a bug for this page (MaRDI item Q660443)