We give upper bounds for the level and the Pythagoras number of function fields over fraction fields of integral Henselian excellent local rings. In particular, we show that the Pythagoras number of $mathbb{R}((x_1,dots,x_n))$ is $leq 2^{n-1}$, which answers positively a question of Choi, Dai, Lam and Reznick.
We prove that a smooth proper universally CH_0-trivial variety X over a field k has universally trivial Brauer group. This fills a gap in the literature concerning the p-torsion of the Brauer group when k has characteristic p.
We show how the notion of the transcendence degree of a zero-cycle on a smooth projective variety X is related to the structure of the motive M(X). This can be of particular interest in the context of Blochs conjecture, especially for Godeaux surfaces, when the surface is given as a finite quotient of a suitable quintic in P^3.
We study the birational properties of geometrically rational surfaces from a derived categorical point of view. In particular, we give a criterion for the rationality of a del Pezzo surface over an arbitrary field, namely, that its derived category decomposes into zero-dimensional components. For del Pezzo surfaces of degree at least 5, we construct explicit semiorthogonal decompositions by subcategories of modules over semisimple algebras arising as endomorphism algebras of vector bundles and we show how to retrieve information about the index of the surface from Brauer classes and Chern classes associated to these vector bundles.
Let T -> S be a finite flat morphism of degree two between regular integral schemes of dimension at most two (and with 2 invertible), having regular branch divisor D. We establish a bijection between Azumaya quaternion algebras on T and quadric surface bundles over S with simple degeneration along D. This is a manifestation of the exceptional isomorphism A_1^2 = D_2 degenerating to the exceptional isomorphism A_1 = B_1. In one direction, the even Clifford algebra yields the map. In the other direction, we show that the classical algebra norm functor can be uniquely extended over the discriminant divisor. Along the way, we study the orthogonal group schemes, which are smooth yet nonreductive, of quadratic forms with simple degeneration. Finally, we provide two surprising applications: constructing counter-examples to the local-global principle for isotropy, with respect to discrete valuations, of quadratic forms over surfaces; and a new proof of the global Torelli theorem for very general cubic fourfolds containing a plane.