Polar varieties, Bertini's theorems and number of points of singular complete intersections over a finite field

Abstract: Let P^n denote the n-dimensional projective space defined over the algebraic closure of a finite field F_q, let V contained P^n be a complete intersection defined over F_q of dimension r and singular locus of dimension at most s, and let \pi:V-->P^{s+1} be a "generic" linear mapping. We obtain an effective version of the Bertini smoothness theorem concerning \pi, namely an explicit upper bound of the degree of a proper Zariski closed subset of P^{s+1} which contains all the points defining singular fibers of \pi. For this purpose we make essential use of the concept of polar variety associated to the set of exceptional points of \pi. As a consequence of our effective Bertini theorem we obtain results of existence of smooth rational points of V, namely conditions on q which imply that V has a smooth q-rational point. Finally, for s=r-2 and s=r-3 we obtain estimates on the number of q-rational points of V, and we discuss how these estimates can be used in order to determine the average value set of "small" families of univariate polynomials with coefficients in F_q.