arXiv2026
Let $\mathbb{WP}^n_{\mathbf{q}}$ be a weighted projective space with weights $\mathbf{q} = (q_0, \dots, q_n)$, $q = \operatorname{lcm}(q_i)$, and let $ϕ\colon \mathbb{WP}^n_{\mathbf{q}} \to \mathbb{P}^n$, $[x_i] \mapsto [x_i^{q/q_i}]$, be the Veronese morphism. A point of $\mathbb{P}^n(\mathbb{Q})$ is the image of a rational point of $\mathbb{WP}^n_{\mathbf{q}}$ only if its valuation vector at every prime satisfies a Kummer congruence. We count the rational points of $\mathbb{WP}^n_{\mathbf{q}}$ of bounded weighted height $\mathfrak{h} = H(ϕ(\,\cdot\,))^{1/q}$ and prove that, on the locus where all coordinates are nonzero, $$ Z^{\circ}_{\mathfrak{h}}\big( \mathbb{WP}^n_{\mathbf{q}}(\mathbb{Q}), X \big) = X^{q\,a(\mathbf{q})} P_{\mathbf{q}}(\log X) + O\big( X^{q\,a(\mathbf{q}) - θ} \big), \qquad θ> 0, $$ with $P_{\mathbf{q}}$ of exact degree $β(\mathbf{q})$, where $a(\mathbf{q})$ and $β(\mathbf{q})$ are the value and the dimension of the optimal face of a linear program determined by the Kummer congruences. The exponent satisfies $Q \leq q\,a(\mathbf{q}) \leq q(n+1)$, $Q = \sum q_i$, with equality on the right if and only if the exponents $q/q_i$ are pairwise coprime; the difference $q(n+1) - q\,a(\mathbf{q})$ measures the sparsity of the rational points of $\mathbb{WP}^n_{\mathbf{q}}$ relative to those of its Veronese image. The leading constant is evaluated when the dual optimum is diagonal and for the weights $(2,2,3,3)$. The full counting function follows by stratification, and we formulate the conjecture over an arbitrary number field.