We prove that a smooth complete intersection of two quadrics of dimension at least $2$ over a number field has index dividing $2$, i.e., that it possesses a rational $0$-cycle of degree $2$.
Let $X$ be a smooth projective quadric defined over a field of characteristic 2. We prove that in the Chow group of codimension 2 or 3 of $X$ the torsion subgroup has at most two elements. In codimension 2, we determine precisely when this torsion su
bgroup is nontrivial. In codimension 3, we show that there is no torsion if {$dim Xge 11$.} This extends the analogous results in characteristic different from 2, obtained by Karpenko in the nineteen-nineties.
Let $F$ be a field of characteristic 2 and let $X$ be a smooth projective quadric of dimension $ge 1$ over $F$. We study the unramified cohomology groups with 2-primary torsion coefficients of $X$ in degrees 2 and 3. We determine completely the kerne
l and the cokernel of the natural map from the cohomology of $F$ to the unramified cohomology of $X$. This extends the results in characteristic different from 2 obtained by Kahn, Rost and Sujatha in the nineteen-nineties.
We investigate the average number of solutions of certain quadratic congruences. As an application, we establish Manins conjecture for a cubic surface whose singularity type is A_5+A_1.
We provide in this paper an upper bound for the number of rational points on a curve defined over a one variable function field over a finite field. The bound only depends on the curve and the field, but not on the Jacobian variety of the curve.