Cubic fourfolds of discriminant 24 and rationality

Abstract

Cubic fourfolds of discriminant 24 contain special codimension-two algebraic cycles of degree 6 and self-intersection 20. Such cycles may be represented by singular scrolls or del Pezzo surfaces. A discriminant 24 cubic fourfold gives rise to a twisted surface, consisting of a degree-six K3 surface and a two-torsion element of its Brauer group. We show that the cubic fourfold is rational if the Brauer class vanishes. This yields a countably-infinite collection of new examples of rational cubic fourfolds, each of codimension two in moduli.