This project addresses the theory of rational curves on K3 surfaces, as a prototype and model for investigations of rational curves on higher-dimensional varieties of Fano and intermediate type. The key problems concern the existence of infinitely many rational curves on K3 surfaces over countable fields, techniques for the generation of such curves and computation of their numerical invariants, Brill-Noether loci and enumerative geometry of rational curves, aspects of mixed-characteristic deformation theory, Galois representations, and Brauer groups.
The term `K3 surface' was coined by A. Weil in the 1950's, and honors the seminal contributions of Kummer, Kaehler, and Kodaira to their structure. These surfaces have been central to complex geometry for decades, but recently their arithmetic properties have received increasing attention. This project addresses problems at the interface of complex, algebraic, and arithmetic geometry. In particular, what is the structure of the curves on a K3 surface? Can they be constructed explicitly? And how do they reflect symmetries of the ambient surface?
