On the uniqueness of elliptic K3 surfaces with maximal singular fibre

Abstract

We explicitly determine the elliptic K3 surfaces with a maximal singular fibre. If the characteristic of the ground field is different from 2, for each of the two possible maximal fibre types, $I_{19}$ and $I^*_{14}$, the surface is unique. In characteristic 2 the maximal fibre types are $I_{18}$ and $I^*_{13}$, and there exist two (resp. one) one-parameter families of such surfaces.