In this paper, motivated by a problem posed by Barry Mazur, we show that for smooth projective varieties over the rationals, the odd cohomology groups of degree less than or equal to the dimension can be modeled by the cohomology of an abelian variety, provided the geometric coniveau is maximal. This provides an affirmative answer to Mazur’s question for all uni-ruled threefolds, for instance. Concerning cohomology in degree three, we show that the image of the Abel–Jacobi map admits a distinguished model over the rationals.

Consider a system of polynomials in many variables over the ring of integers of a number field $K$. We prove an asymptotic formula for the number of integral zeros of this system in homogeneously expanding boxes. As a consequence, any smooth and geometrically integral variety $X\subseteq \mathbb{P}_{K}^{m}$ satisfies the Hasse principle, weak approximation, and the Manin–Peyre conjecture if only its dimension is large enough compared to its degree. This generalizes work of Skinner, who considered the case where all polynomials have the same degree, and recent work of Browning and Heath-Brown, who considered the case where $K=\mathbb{Q}$. Our main tool is Skinner’s number field version of the Hardy–Littlewood circle method. As a by-product, we point out and correct an error in Skinner’s treatment of the singular integral.

For any number field we calculate the exact proportion of rational numbers which are everywhere locally a norm but not globally a norm from the number field.

Silverman has discussed the problem of bounding the Mordell–Weil ranks of elliptic curves over towers of function fields (J. Algebraic Geom. 9 (2000), 301–308; J. reine. angew. Math. 577 (2004), 153–169). We first prove generalizations of the theorems of Silverman by a different method, allowing non-abelian Galois groups and removing the dependence on Tate's conjectures. We then prove some theorems about the growth of Mordell–Weil ranks in towers of function fields whose Galois groups are $p$-adic Lie groups; a natural question is whether the Mordell–Weil rank is bounded in such a tower. We give some Galois-theoretic criteria which guarantee that certain curves ${\mathcal{E}}/{\mathbb{Q}}(t)$ have finite Mordell–Weil rank over ${\mathbb{C}}(t^{p^{-\infty}})$, and show that these criteria are met for elliptic K3 surfaces whose associated Galois representations have sufficiently large image.

For any $n \geq 3$, let $F \in \mathbb{Z}[X_0,\ldots,X_n]$ be a form of degree $d\geq 5$ that defines a non-singular hypersurface $X \subset \mathbb{P}^{n}$. The main result in this paper is a proof of the fact that the number $N(F;B)$ of $\mathbb{Q}$-rational points on $X$ which have height at most $B$ satisfies $N(F;B)=O_{d,\varepsilon,n}(B^{n-1+\varepsilon}),$ for any $\varepsilon >0$. The implied constant in this estimate depends at most upon $d$, $\varepsilon$ and $n$. New estimates are also obtained for the number of representations of a positive integer as the sum of three $d$th powers, and for the paucity of integer solutions to equal sums of like polynomials.

In this paper, the theory of $\epsilon$-constants associated to tame finite group actions on arithmetic surfaces is used to define a Brauer group invariant $\mu(\X,G,V)$ associated to certain symplectic motives of weight one. The relationship between this invariant and $w_2(\pi)$ (the Galois-theoretic invariant associated to tame covers of surfaces defined by Cassou-Noguès, Erez and Taylor) is also discussed.

In this paper we suppose G is a finite group acting tamely on a regular projective curve $\mathcal{X}$ over $\mathbb{Z}$ and V is an orthogonal representation of G of dimension 0 and trivial determinant. Our main result determines the sign of the $\epsilon$-constant $\epsilon(\mathcal{X}/G,V)$ in terms of data associated to the archimedean place and to the crossing points of irreducible components of finite fibers of $\mathcal{X}$, subject to certain standard hypotheses about these fibers.