A Modular Compactification of the Space of Elliptic K3 Surfaces By

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

A Modular Compactification of the Space of Elliptic K3 Surfaces By A Modular Compactification of the Space of Elliptic K3 Surfaces by Adrian Brunyate (Under the Direction of Valery Alexeev) Abstract We describe work towards a compact moduli space of elliptic K3 surfaces with marked divisor given by a small multiple of the sum of rational curves in an ample class of sufficiently large degree. Index words: K3 Moduli, Elliptic surfaces. A Modular Compactification of the Space of Elliptic K3 Surfaces by Adrian Brunyate BS, Towson University, 2006 A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of The University of Georgia in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy Athens, Georgia 2015 c 2015 Adrian Brunyate All Rights Reserved A Modular Compactification of the Space of Elliptic K3 Surfaces by Adrian Brunyate Approved: Major Professor: Valery Alexeev Pete L. Clark Mitchell Rothstein Committee: Robert Varley Electronic Version Approved: Suzanne Barbour Dean of the Graduate School The University of Georgia August 2015 Acknowledgments I would like to thank my advisor, Valery Alexeev, for introducing me to this material and without whom this work would have been impossible. I would like to thank my family, friends and colleagues for their support, even when I didn't deserve it. iv Contents Acknowledgements iv 1 Introduction 1 I Background 4 2 K3 Surfaces 5 2.1 Introduction and Examples . 5 2.2 Basic Properties . 6 3 Toric Geometry 9 3.1 Affine Toric Varieties . 10 3.2 Non-Affine and Projective Toric Varieties. 11 4 The Minimal Model Program and Moduli of Stable Pairs 16 4.1 Prehistory: Moduli of Pointed Curves . 16 4.2 Singularities in the Minimal Model Program . 18 4.3 The Minimal Model Program and Application to Moduli . 21 4.4 Application to the Moduli of Varieties of Non-General Type . 24 5 Some Lattice Theory 25 v 5.1 Definitions and general theory. 25 5.2 Even Root Lattices . 28 6 Elliptic Surfaces 40 6.1 Weierstrass Fibrations . 45 6.2 The Mordell-Weil Lattice . 49 6.3 Elliptic K3 Surfaces . 50 7 Hodge theory of Kulikov degenerations 52 7.1 Kulikov Degenerations . 53 7.2 Definitions and Common Results . 55 7.3 The Global Torelli Theorem and Type I Degenerations . 59 7.4 Type II . 61 7.5 Type III . 66 8 Compactifications of D=Γ 74 8.1 The Baily-Borel Construction . 75 8.2 The Toroidal Construction . 77 Σ 8.3 Explicit description of F ell ............................ 78 II A Modular Compactification 83 9 KSBA Stable Limits 84 9.1 Description of Limit Pairs . 85 9.2 Singularities of Stable Models . 90 9.3 Components of Stable Pairs . 94 10 Torelli type theorems for components of degenerations and applications. 102 vi 10.1 Torelli Theorems . 102 10.2 Automorphisms of stable pairs . 109 11 Construction of type III Degenerations 113 12 Description of the Conjectural Fan 120 vii Chapter 1 Introduction The problem of finding a natural compact moduli space of (some class of) algebraic K3 sur- faces has a long history. Immediately from the global Torelli theorem of Piatetski-Shapiro and Shafarevich, which expresses the moduli of K3's with some polarization as a quotient of a type IV symmetric domain, we have a natural compactification, the Baily-Borel com- pactification. Unfortunately the resulting space is quite singular, and so the search for compactifications with rich geometric meaning continues. Friedman and Scattone [Fri84] [FS86] discuss partial compactifications from a Hodge theoretic perspective, which agree with Mumford's toroidal construction. Scattone [Sca87] raises the question, as yet unan- swered, as to whether there exist natural toroidal compactifications of a moduli of algebraic K3's. Various authors have used GIT to address the same problem. In particular, Shah [Sha80] produced a geometric compactification of degree 2 K3's as a blowup of a quotient of the space of plane sextics. Also of relevance to the current project, Miranda [Mir89] considered a GIT quotient of the space of Weierstrass equations to obtain a compactification of a moduli space of elliptic K3's. 1 Recently a technology has been developed to produce in a canonical way compactifications of moduli of surfaces of general type, or pairs (X; B) of log general type, introduced by Koll´ar and Shepherd-Baron [KSB88], and Alexeev [Ale94]. It is tempting to use this method to study the K3 case. This was done by Laza [Laz12], who studied the case of degree 2 pairs (X; B) with B arbitrary. If one wishes to remove the element of choice for B, there are several options for canonically associating an ample divisor to a polarized K3. For example, in the degree 2 case one may take the ramification of the involution. This situation is currently being studied by Alexeev and A. Thompson. Alternatively, it was suggested to P study B = Bi, where Bi are the rational curves in the polarization class. We provisionally RC call the corresponding moduli spaces F2d (for rational curves), where 2d is the degree of the polarization. In this thesis I describe work towards continuing this program in the case of (jacobian) elliptic K3 surfaces using the latter approach. We call the resulting space Fell. Beyond it's RC intrinsic interest this lends insight into the (much harder) problem of describing F2d , since RC Fell is exactly the intersection of F2d for all d (though the modular interpretation changes slightly with small d). The main \result" of this work is the conjecture: ν J Conjecture 1.0.1. The normalization Fell of Fell is a toroidal compactification F ell of the period domain Fell corresponding to the fan J described in chapter (12). The main actual results are paraphrased below: Theorem 1.0.2. Let (X; B) be a stable pair parameterized by Fell. Then X is a Weierstrass P24 fibration over a chain of rational curves, and B = i=1 fi + δs, where fi are some fibers and s is the section. The specific pairs that occur are of course enumerated when the theorem is fully stated. This allows a description of each boundary stratum. In particular: 2 ν Theorem 1.0.3. The boundary strata of Fell n Fell are isomorphic to the boundary strata J of F ell. We now briefly discuss the layout of this document. Part I consists of background mate- rial, with the aim being to introduce just enough concepts and notation to understand the second part. While the reader may safely skip to the new results, certain crucial calculations are performed as examples when the appropriate concepts are introduced. The reader is referred back to these when they are used. Also, the level of detail in the exposition varies not only depending on the results needed but also on the technicality of the proofs. While toric geometry (3), elliptic surfaces (6), and lattices (5) are elementary, the Minimal Model Program (4), Mixed Hodge Theory (7), and toroidal compactification (8) are intimidating machines, and it would lead too far afield to even hint at the proofs of many key results. In any case the proofs provided more to provide the flavor of the arguments than to completely develop the results. The most assiduous reader is referred to the references. The second part details new results. First the possible stable pairs are enumerated (9). Next the type III boundary components are parameterized (10). Explicit semistable models are constructed for degenerations and it is shown that all the possible limits described earlier in fact occur (11). Finally the fan J is described, and the isomorphism of boundary strata is shown (12). Finally, a word on the technical approach used. Many statements here have a distinctly \old fashioned" feel, and it is likely that a modern approach using stacks and log geometry would simplify much of this work. The reason for this is two fold. First, the old fashioned approach was easier for me to learn. Since a dissertation is partly a historical artifact of the student's learning process this shapes the exposition enormously. Second, some of the main inspirations for this study predate the development of these tools, and so they need to be integrated along with the primary sources. I hope that readers will be able to shape this discussion to their personal tastes. 3 Part I Background 4 Chapter 2 K3 Surfaces 2.1 Introduction and Examples K3 surfaces were first introduced by Weil in the late 1950's. He chose the name \K3" in honor of Kummer, Kodaira, and K¨ahler,as well as the Himalayan peak. The definition is: Definition 2.1.1. A K3 surface over k is a complete nonsingular algebraic surface X=k with 1 KX = 0 1 2 H (X; OX ) = 0 A polarized K3 surface is a pair (X; L) where X is a K3 surface and L 2 Pic(X) is an ample line bundle. The degree of the surface is L2. In this work, we will assume k = C unless otherwise specified. In the category of complex manifolds notice that the above definition still holds. We recall from the classification of surfaces that the only complete algebraic surfaces with trivial canonical class are abelian surfaces and K3 surfaces, so we can replace \2" in the definition with any other property that rules out abelian surfaces, for example: 5 2' π1(X) trivial. Notice this also rules out Kodaira surfaces (which have odd first Betti number), so in fact serves as an alternate definition of complex analytic K3 surfaces. Because of the fact that they naturally form an analytic family, for algebraic purposes it is often easier to deal with polarized K3's. Example 2.1.2.
Recommended publications
  • Arxiv:0907.0298V3 [Math.AG] 9 Jul 2010 E Oefrmn Rtmtcadgoerccnieain.Wieth While Considerations
    ELLIPTIC SURFACES MATTHIAS SCHUTT¨ AND TETSUJI SHIODA Abstract. This survey paper concerns elliptic surfaces with section. We give a detailed overview of the theory including many examples. Emphasis is placed on rational elliptic surfaces and elliptic K3 surfaces. To this end, we particularly review the theory of Mordell-Weil lattices and address arithmetic questions. Contents 1. Introduction 1 2. Elliptic curves 3 3. Elliptic surfaces 7 4. Singular fibres 10 5. Base change and quadratic twisting 17 6. Mordell-Weil group and N´eron-Severi lattice 22 7. Torsion sections 32 8. Rational elliptic surfaces 38 9. Extremal rational elliptic surfaces 42 10. Semi-stable elliptic surfaces 45 11. Mordell-Weil lattice 48 12. Elliptic K3 surfaces 58 13. Arithmetic of elliptic K3 surfaces 72 14. Ranks of elliptic curves 84 References 88 arXiv:0907.0298v3 [math.AG] 9 Jul 2010 1. Introduction Elliptic surfaces are ubiquitous in the theory of algebraic surfaces. They play a key role for many arithmetic and geometric considerations. While this feature Date: February 22, 2010. 2000 Mathematics Subject Classification. Primary 14J27; Secondary 06B05, 11G05, 11G07, 11G50, 14J20, 14J26, 14J28. Key words and phrases. Elliptic surface, elliptic curve, N´eron-Severi group, singular fibre, Mordell-Weil group, Mordell-Weil lattice, Tate algorithm, K3 surface. Partial funding from DFG under grant Schu 2266/2-2 and JSPS under Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C) No. 20540051 is gratefully acknowledged. 1 2 MATTHIAS SCHUTT¨ AND TETSUJI SHIODA has become ever more clear during the last two decades, extensive survey papers and monographs seem to date back exclusively to the 80’s and early 90’s.
    [Show full text]
  • Arxiv:2008.05229V2 [Math.AG]
    A TORELLI THEOREM FOR MODULI SPACES OF PARABOLIC VECTOR BUNDLES OVER AN ELLIPTIC CURVE THIAGO FASSARELLA AND LUANA JUSTO Abstract. Let C be an elliptic curve, w ∈ C, and let S ⊂ C be a finite subset of cardinality at least 3. We prove a Torelli type theorem for the moduli space of rank two parabolic vector bundles with determinant line bundle OC (w) over (C,S) which are semistable with respect to a weight vector 1 1 2 ,..., 2 . 1. Introduction Let C be a smooth complex curve of genus g ≥ 2 and fix w ∈ C. Let M be the corresponding moduli space of semistable rank two vector bundles having OC (w) as determinant line bundle. A classical Torelli type theorem of D. Mumford and P. Newstead [MN68] says that the isomorphism class of M determines the isomorphism class of C. This result has been extended first in [Tyu70, NR75, KP95] to higher rank and later to the parabolic context, which we now describe. We now assume g ≥ 0. Let S ⊂ C be a finite subset of cardinality n ≥ 1. Let Ma be the moduli space of rank two parabolic vector bundles on (C,S) with fixed determinant line bundle OC (w), and which are µa-semistable, see Section 2. The subscript a refers to a particular choice of a weight vector a = (a1, . , an) of real numbers, 0 ≤ ai ≤ 1, which gives the slope-stability condition. The moduli 1 1 space associated to the central weight aF = 2 ,..., 2 is particularly interesting, for instance when g = 0 and n ≥ 5 it is a Fano variety that is smooth if n is odd and has isolated singularities if n is even, see [Muk05, Cas15, AM16, AFKM19].
    [Show full text]
  • A Torelli Theorem for Moduli Spaces of Principal Bundles Over a Curve Tome 62, No 1 (2012), P
    R AN IE N R A U L E O S F D T E U L T I ’ I T N S ANNALES DE L’INSTITUT FOURIER Indranil BISWAS & Norbert HOFFMANN A Torelli theorem for moduli spaces of principal bundles over a curve Tome 62, no 1 (2012), p. 87-106. <http://aif.cedram.org/item?id=AIF_2012__62_1_87_0> © Association des Annales de l’institut Fourier, 2012, tous droits réservés. L’accès aux articles de la revue « Annales de l’institut Fourier » (http://aif.cedram.org/), implique l’accord avec les conditions générales d’utilisation (http://aif.cedram.org/legal/). Toute re- production en tout ou partie cet article sous quelque forme que ce soit pour tout usage autre que l’utilisation à fin strictement per- sonnelle du copiste est constitutive d’une infraction pénale. Toute copie ou impression de ce fichier doit contenir la présente mention de copyright. cedram Article mis en ligne dans le cadre du Centre de diffusion des revues académiques de mathématiques http://www.cedram.org/ Ann. Inst. Fourier, Grenoble 62, 1 (2012) 87-106 A TORELLI THEOREM FOR MODULI SPACES OF PRINCIPAL BUNDLES OVER A CURVE by Indranil BISWAS & Norbert HOFFMANN (*) 0 Abstract. — Let X and X be compact Riemann surfaces of genus > 3, and 0 d let G and G be nonabelian reductive complex groups. If one component MG(X) of the coarse moduli space for semistable principal G–bundles over X is isomorphic d0 0 0 to another component MG0 (X ), then X is isomorphic to X . Résumé. — Soient X et X0 des surfaces de Riemann compactes de genre au moins 3, et G et G0 des groupes complexes réductifs non abéliens.
    [Show full text]
  • Threefolds of Kodaira Dimension One Such That a Small Pluricanonical System Do Not Define the Iitaka fibration
    THREEFOLDS OF KODAIRA DIMENSION ONE HSIN-KU CHEN Abstract. We prove that for any smooth complex projective threefold of Kodaira di- mension one, the m-th pluricanonical map is birational to the Iitaka fibration for every m ≥ 5868 and divisible by 12. 1. Introduction By the result of Hacon-McKernan [14], Takayama [25] and Tsuji [26], it is known that for any positive integer n there exists an integer rn such that if X is an n-dimensional smooth complex projective variety of general type, then |rKX| defines a birational morphism for all r ≥ rn. It is conjectured in [14] that a similar phenomenon occurs for any projective variety of non-negative Kodaira dimension. That is, for any positive integer n there exists a constant sn such that, if X is an n-dimensional smooth projective variety of non-negative Kodaira dimension and s ≥ sn is sufficiently divisible, then the s-th pluricanonical map of X is birational to the Iitaka fibration. We list some known results related to this problem. In 1986, Kawamata [17] proved that there is an integer m0 such that for any terminal threefold X with Kodaira dimension zero, the m0-th plurigenera of X is non-zero. Later on, Morrison proved that one can 5 3 2 take m0 =2 × 3 × 5 × 7 × 11 × 13 × 17 × 19. See [21] for details. In 2000, Fujino and Mori [12] proved that if X is a smooth projective variety with Kodaira dimension one and F is a general fiber of the Iitaka fibration of X, then there exists a integer M, which depends on the dimension of X, the middle Betti number of some finite covering of F and the smallest integer so that the pluricanonical system of F is non-empty, such that the M-th pluricanonical map of X is birational to the Iitaka fibration.
    [Show full text]
  • Weighted Fano Varieties and Infinitesimal Torelli Problem 3
    WEIGHTED FANO VARIETIES AND INFINITESIMAL TORELLI PROBLEM ENRICO FATIGHENTI, LUCA RIZZI AND FRANCESCO ZUCCONI Abstract. We solve the infinitesimal Torelli problem for 3-dimensional quasi-smooth Q-Fano hypersurfaces with at worst terminal singularities. We also find infinite chains of double coverings of increasing dimension which alternatively distribute themselves in examples and counterexamples for the infinitesimal Torelli claim and which share the analogue, and in some cases the same, Hodge-diagram properties as the length 3 Gushel- Mukai chain of prime smooth Fanos of coindex 3 and degree 10. 1. Introduction Minimal model program suggests us to formulate inside the category of varieties with terminal singularities many questions which were initially asked for smooth varieties. The construction of the period map, and the related Torelli type problems are definitely among these problems. 1.1. Infinitesimal Torelli. A Q-Fano variety is a projective variety X such that X has at worst Q-factorial terminal singularities, −KX is ample and Pic(X) has rank 1; cf. [CPR00]. In this paper we give a full answer to the infinitesimal Torelli problem in the case of quasi- smooth Q-Fano hypersurfaces of dimension 3 with terminal singularities and with Picard number 1. In subsections 2.1 of this paper the reader can find a basic dictionary and up to date references needed to understand the statement of the infinitesimal Torelli problem and where to find the meaning of infinitesimal variation of Hodge structures (IVHS; to short). Here we stress only that the method à la Griffiths based on the extension of the Macaulay’s theorem in algebra to the weighted case, cf.
    [Show full text]
  • Algebraic Curves and Surfaces
    Notes for Curves and Surfaces Instructor: Robert Freidman Henry Liu April 25, 2017 Abstract These are my live-texed notes for the Spring 2017 offering of MATH GR8293 Algebraic Curves & Surfaces . Let me know when you find errors or typos. I'm sure there are plenty. 1 Curves on a surface 1 1.1 Topological invariants . 1 1.2 Holomorphic invariants . 2 1.3 Divisors . 3 1.4 Algebraic intersection theory . 4 1.5 Arithmetic genus . 6 1.6 Riemann{Roch formula . 7 1.7 Hodge index theorem . 7 1.8 Ample and nef divisors . 8 1.9 Ample cone and its closure . 11 1.10 Closure of the ample cone . 13 1.11 Div and Num as functors . 15 2 Birational geometry 17 2.1 Blowing up and down . 17 2.2 Numerical invariants of X~ ...................................... 18 2.3 Embedded resolutions for curves on a surface . 19 2.4 Minimal models of surfaces . 23 2.5 More general contractions . 24 2.6 Rational singularities . 26 2.7 Fundamental cycles . 28 2.8 Surface singularities . 31 2.9 Gorenstein condition for normal surface singularities . 33 3 Examples of surfaces 36 3.1 Rational ruled surfaces . 36 3.2 More general ruled surfaces . 39 3.3 Numerical invariants . 41 3.4 The invariant e(V ).......................................... 42 3.5 Ample and nef cones . 44 3.6 del Pezzo surfaces . 44 3.7 Lines on a cubic and del Pezzos . 47 3.8 Characterization of del Pezzo surfaces . 50 3.9 K3 surfaces . 51 3.10 Period map . 54 a 3.11 Elliptic surfaces .
    [Show full text]
  • TASI Lectures on F-Theory
    CERN-TH-2018-126 TASI Lectures on F-theory Timo Weigand1,2 1CERN, Theory Division, CH-1211 Geneva 23, Switzerland 2Institut f¨ur Theoretische Physik, Ruprecht-Karls-Universit¨at, Philosophenweg 19, 69120, Heidelberg, Germany Abstract F-theory is perhaps the most general currently available approach to study non-perturbative string compactifications in their geometric, large radius regime. It opens up a wide and ever- growing range of applications and connections to string model building, quantum gravity, (non- perturbative) quantum field theories in various dimensions and mathematics. Its computational power derives from the geometrisation of physical reasoning, establishing a deep correspondence between fundamental concepts in gauge theory and beautiful structures of elliptic fibrations. These lecture notes, which are an extended version of my lectures given at TASI 2017, introduce some of the main concepts underlying the recent technical advances in F-theory compactifications and their various applications. The main focus is put on explaining the F-theory dictionary between the local and global data of an elliptic fibration and the physics of 7-branes in Type IIB compactifications to arXiv:1806.01854v1 [hep-th] 5 Jun 2018 various dimensions via duality with M-theory. The geometric concepts underlying this dictionary include the behaviour of elliptic fibrations in codimension one, two, three and four, the Mordell-Weil group of rational sections, and the Deligne cohomology group specifying gauge backgrounds. Contents 1 Introduction 1 2 Setting the stage for F-theory 3 2.1 Type IIB string theory, SL(2, Z) duality and [p,q]7-branes ............... 3 2.2 Elliptic curves, SL(2, Z)bundleandellipticfibrations .
    [Show full text]
  • Abelian Varieties
    Abelian Varieties J.S. Milne Version 2.0 March 16, 2008 These notes are an introduction to the theory of abelian varieties, including the arithmetic of abelian varieties and Faltings’s proof of certain finiteness theorems. The orginal version of the notes was distributed during the teaching of an advanced graduate course. Alas, the notes are still in very rough form. BibTeX information @misc{milneAV, author={Milne, James S.}, title={Abelian Varieties (v2.00)}, year={2008}, note={Available at www.jmilne.org/math/}, pages={166+vi} } v1.10 (July 27, 1998). First version on the web, 110 pages. v2.00 (March 17, 2008). Corrected, revised, and expanded; 172 pages. Available at www.jmilne.org/math/ Please send comments and corrections to me at the address on my web page. The photograph shows the Tasman Glacier, New Zealand. Copyright c 1998, 2008 J.S. Milne. Single paper copies for noncommercial personal use may be made without explicit permis- sion from the copyright holder. Contents Introduction 1 I Abelian Varieties: Geometry 7 1 Definitions; Basic Properties. 7 2 Abelian Varieties over the Complex Numbers. 10 3 Rational Maps Into Abelian Varieties . 15 4 Review of cohomology . 20 5 The Theorem of the Cube. 21 6 Abelian Varieties are Projective . 27 7 Isogenies . 32 8 The Dual Abelian Variety. 34 9 The Dual Exact Sequence. 41 10 Endomorphisms . 42 11 Polarizations and Invertible Sheaves . 53 12 The Etale Cohomology of an Abelian Variety . 54 13 Weil Pairings . 57 14 The Rosati Involution . 61 15 Geometric Finiteness Theorems . 63 16 Families of Abelian Varieties .
    [Show full text]
  • MINIMAL MODEL THEORY of NUMERICAL KODAIRA DIMENSION ZERO Contents 1. Introduction 1 2. Preliminaries 3 3. Log Minimal Model Prog
    MINIMAL MODEL THEORY OF NUMERICAL KODAIRA DIMENSION ZERO YOSHINORI GONGYO Abstract. We prove the existence of good minimal models of numerical Kodaira dimension 0. Contents 1. Introduction 1 2. Preliminaries 3 3. Log minimal model program with scaling 7 4. Zariski decomposition in the sense of Nakayama 9 5. Existence of minimal model in the case where º = 0 10 6. Abundance theorem in the case where º = 0 12 References 14 1. Introduction Throughout this paper, we work over C, the complex number ¯eld. We will make use of the standard notation and de¯nitions as in [KM] and [KMM]. The minimal model conjecture for smooth varieties is the following: Conjecture 1.1 (Minimal model conjecture). Let X be a smooth pro- jective variety. Then there exists a minimal model or a Mori ¯ber space of X. This conjecture is true in dimension 3 and 4 by Kawamata, Koll¶ar, Mori, Shokurov and Reid (cf. [KMM], [KM] and [Sho2]). In the case where KX is numerically equivalent to some e®ective divisor in dimen- sion 5, this conjecture is proved by Birkar (cf. [Bi1]). When X is of general type or KX is not pseudo-e®ective, Birkar, Cascini, Hacon Date: 2010/9/21, version 4.03. 2000 Mathematics Subject Classi¯cation. 14E30. Key words and phrases. minimal model, the abundance conjecture, numerical Kodaira dimension. 1 2 YOSHINORI GONGYO and McKernan prove Conjecture 1.1 for arbitrary dimension ([BCHM]). Moreover if X has maximal Albanese dimension, Conjecture 1.1 is true by [F2]. In this paper, among other things, we show Conjecture 1.1 in the case where º(KX ) = 0 (for the de¯nition of º, see De¯nition 2.6): Theorem 1.2.
    [Show full text]
  • Arxiv:2008.08852V2 [Math.AG] 15 Oct 2020 Assuming Theorem 2, We Conclude That M16 Cannot Be of General Type, Thus Es- Tablishing Theorem 1
    ON THE KODAIRA DIMENSION OF M16 GAVRIL FARKAS AND ALESSANDRO VERRA ABSTRACT. We prove that the moduli space of curves of genus 16 is not of general type. The problem of determining the nature of the moduli space Mg of stable curves of genus g has long been one of the key questions in the field, motivating important developments in moduli theory. Severi [Sev] observed that Mg is unirational for g ≤ 10, see [AC] for a modern presentation. Much later, in the celebrated series of papers [HM], [H], [EH], Harris, Mumford and Eisenbud showed that Mg is of general type for g ≥ 24. Very recently, it has been showed in [FJP] that both M22 and M23 are of general type. On the other hand, due to work of Sernesi [Ser], Chang-Ran [CR1], [CR2] and Verra [Ve] it is known that Mg is unirational also for 11 ≤ g ≤ 14. Finally, Bruno and Verra [BV] proved that M15 is rationally connected. Our result is the following: Theorem 1. The moduli space M16 of stable curves of genus 16 is not of general type. A few comments are in order. The main result of [CR3] claims that M16 is unir- uled. It has been however recently pointed out by Tseng [Ts] that the key calculation in [CR3] contains a fatal error, which genuinely reopens this problem (after 28 years)! Before explaining our strategy of proving Theorem 1, recall the standard notation ∆0;:::; ∆ g for the irreducible boundary divisors on Mg, see [HM]. Here ∆0 denotes b 2 c the closure in Mg of the locus of irreducible 1-nodal curves of arithmetic genus g.
    [Show full text]
  • K3 Surfaces and String Duality
    RU-96-98 hep-th/9611137 November 1996 K3 Surfaces and String Duality Paul S. Aspinwall Dept. of Physics and Astronomy, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ 08855 ABSTRACT The primary purpose of these lecture notes is to explore the moduli space of type IIA, type IIB, and heterotic string compactified on a K3 surface. The main tool which is invoked is that of string duality. K3 surfaces provide a fascinating arena for string compactification as they are not trivial spaces but are sufficiently simple for one to be able to analyze most of their properties in detail. They also make an almost ubiquitous appearance in the common statements concerning string duality. We arXiv:hep-th/9611137v5 7 Sep 1999 review the necessary facts concerning the classical geometry of K3 surfaces that will be needed and then we review “old string theory” on K3 surfaces in terms of conformal field theory. The type IIA string, the type IIB string, the E E heterotic string, 8 × 8 and Spin(32)/Z2 heterotic string on a K3 surface are then each analyzed in turn. The discussion is biased in favour of purely geometric notions concerning the K3 surface itself. Contents 1 Introduction 2 2 Classical Geometry 4 2.1 Definition ..................................... 4 2.2 Holonomy ..................................... 7 2.3 Moduli space of complex structures . ..... 9 2.4 Einsteinmetrics................................. 12 2.5 AlgebraicK3Surfaces ............................. 15 2.6 Orbifoldsandblow-ups. .. 17 3 The World-Sheet Perspective 25 3.1 TheNonlinearSigmaModel . 25 3.2 TheTeichm¨ullerspace . .. 27 3.3 Thegeometricsymmetries . .. 29 3.4 Mirrorsymmetry ................................. 31 3.5 Conformalfieldtheoryonatorus . ... 33 4 Type II String Theory 37 4.1 Target space supergravity and compactification .
    [Show full text]
  • The Kodaira Dimension of Siegel Modular Varieties of Genus 3 Or Higher
    The Kodaira dimension of Siegel modular varieties of genus 3 or higher Vom Fachbereich Mathematik der Universitat¨ Hannover zur Erlangung des Grades Doktor der Naturwissenschaften Dr. rer. nat. genehmigte Dissertation von Dipl.-Math. Eric Schellhammer geboren am 18. November 1973 in Stuttgart 2004 [email protected] Universitat¨ Hannover – Fachbereich Mathematik February 25, 2004 Referent: Prof. Dr. Klaus Hulek, Universitat¨ Hannover Koreferent: Prof. Dr. Herbert Lange, Universitat¨ Erlangen Tag der Promotion: 6. Februar 2004 2 Abstract An Abelian variety is a g-dimensional complex torus which is a projective variety. In order to obtain an embedding into projective space one has to chose an ample line bundle. To each such line bundle one can associate a polarisation which only depends on the class of the line bundle in the Neron-Se´ veri group. The type of the polarisation is given by a g-tuple of integers e1;::: ;eg with the property that ei ei+1 for i = 1;:::;g 1. j ei+1 − If e1 = = eg = 1, the polarisation is said to be principal. If the values are ··· ei pairwise coprime, the polarisation is said to be coprime. Furthermore, we can give a symplectic basis for the group of n-torsion points, which is then called a level-n structure. Not only Abelian varieties but also their moduli spaces have been of interest for many years. The moduli space of Abelian varieties with a fixed polarisation (and op- tionally a level-n structure for a fixed n) can be constructed from the Siegel upper half space by dividing out the action of the appropriate arithmetic symplectic group.
    [Show full text]