Let $A$ be a non-isotrivial ordinary abelian surface over a global function field of characteristic $p>0$ with good reduction everywhere. Suppose that $A$ does not have real multiplication by any real quadratic field with discriminant a multiple of $p$. We prove that there are infinitely many places modulo which $A$ is isogenous to the product of two elliptic curves.

We construct one-dimensional families of Abelian surfaces with quaternionic multiplication, which also have an automorphism of order three or four. Using Barth's description of the moduli space of (2,4)-polarized Abelian surfaces, we find the Shimura curve parametrizing these Abelian surfaces in a specific case. We explicitly relate these surfaces to the Jacobians of genus two curves studied by Hashimoto and Murabayashi. We also describe a (Humbert) surface in Barth's moduli space that parametrizes Abelian surfaces with real multiplication by $\mathbf{Z}\left[ \sqrt{2} \right]$ .

Consider a quartic $q$-Weil polynomial $f$. Motivated by equidistribution considerations, we define, for each prime $\ell$, a local factor that measures the relative frequency with which $f$$ \bmod \,\ell $ occurs as the characteristic polynomial of a symplectic similitude over ${{\mathbb{F}}_{\ell }}$. For a certain class of polynomials, we show that the resulting infinite product calculates the number of principally polarized abelian surfaces over ${{\mathbb{F}}_{q}}$ with Weil polynomial $f$.

We construct new indecomposable elements in the higher Chow group $CH^2(A,1)$ of a principally polarized Abelian surface over a $p$-adic local field, which generalize an element constructed by Collino [Griffiths’ infinitesimal invariant and higher K-theory on hyperelliptic Jacobians, J. Algebraic Geom. 6 (1997), 393–415]. These elements are constructed using a generalization, due to Birkenhake and Wilhelm [Humbert surfaces and the Kummer plane, Trans. Amer. Math. Soc. 355 (2003), 1819–1841 (electronic)], of a classical construction of Humbert. They can be used to prove a non-Archimedean analogue of the Hodge-${\mathcal{D}}$-conjecture – namely, the surjectivity of the boundary map in the localization sequence – in the case where the Abelian surface has good and ordinary reduction.

For an abelian surface A over a number field k, we study the limiting distribution of the normalized Euler factors of the L-function of A. This distribution is expected to correspond to taking characteristic polynomials of a uniform random matrix in some closed subgroup of USp(4); this Sato–Tate group may be obtained from the Galois action on any Tate module of A. We show that the Sato–Tate group is limited to a particular list of 55 groups up to conjugacy. We then classify A according to the Galois module structure on the ℝ-algebra generated by endomorphisms of (the Galois type), and establish a matching with the classification of Sato–Tate groups; this shows that there are at most 52 groups up to conjugacy which occur as Sato–Tate groups for suitable A and k, of which 34 can occur for k=ℚ. Finally, we present examples of Jacobians of hyperelliptic curves exhibiting each Galois type (over ℚ whenever possible), and observe numerical agreement with the expected Sato–Tate distribution by comparing moment statistics.

We describe birational models and decide the rationality/unirationality of moduli spaces $\cal A$d (and $\cal A$levd) of (1, d)-polarized Abelian surfaces (with canonical level structure, respectively) for small values of d. The projective lines identified in the rational/unirational moduli spaces correspond to pencils of Abelian surfaces traced on nodal threefolds living naturally in the corresponding ambient projective spaces, and whose small resolutions are new Calabi–Yau threefolds with Euler characteristic zero.

We prove that the moduli space $\cal A$11lev of <$>(1,11)-polarized Abelian surfaces with level structure of canonical type is birational to Klein's cubic hypersurface in P4. Therefore, $\cal A$11lev is unirational but not rational, and there are no Γ11-cusp forms of weight 3. The same methods also provide an easy proof of the rationality of $\cal A$9lev.