We construct inhomogeneous isoparametric families of hypersurfaces with non-austere focal set on each symmetric space of non-compact type and rank ${\geq }3$. If the rank is ${\geq }4$, there are infinitely many such examples. Our construction yields the first examples of isoparametric families on any Riemannian manifold known to have a non-austere focal set. They can be obtained from a new general extension method of submanifolds from Euclidean spaces to symmetric spaces of non-compact type. This method preserves the mean curvature and isoparametricity, among other geometric properties.

We prove that the $p^\infty$-torsion of the transcendental Brauer group of an abelian variety over a finitely generated field of characteristic $p>0$ is bounded. This answers a (variant of a) question asked by Skorobogatov and Zarhin for abelian varieties. To do this, we prove a ‘flat Tate conjecture’ for divisors. We also study other geometric Galois-invariant $p^\infty$-torsion classes of the Brauer group which are not in the transcendental Brauer group. These classes, in contrast with our main theorem, can be infinitely $p$-divisible. We explain how the existence of these $p$-divisible towers is naturally related to the failure of surjectivity of specialisation morphisms of Néron–Severi groups in characteristic $p$.