Non-rational nodal quartic threefolds

Abstract

The $\mathbb{Q}$-factoriality of a nodal quartic 3-fold implies its non-rationality. We prove that a nodal quartic 3-fold with at most 8 nodes is $\mathbb{Q}$-factorial, and we show that a nodal quartic 3-fold with 9 nodes is not $\mathbb{Q}$-factorial if and only if it contains a plane. However, there are non-rational non-$\mathbb{Q}$-factorial nodal quartic 3-folds in ${\mathbb{P}}^4$. In particular, we prove the non-rationality of a general non-$\mathbb{Q}$-factorial nodal quartic 3-fold that contains either a plane or a smooth del Pezzo surface of degree 4.