ULRICH BUNDLES on CUBIC FOURFOLDS Daniele Faenzi, Yeongrak Kim

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

ULRICH BUNDLES on CUBIC FOURFOLDS Daniele Faenzi, Yeongrak Kim ULRICH BUNDLES ON CUBIC FOURFOLDS Daniele Faenzi, Yeongrak Kim To cite this version: Daniele Faenzi, Yeongrak Kim. ULRICH BUNDLES ON CUBIC FOURFOLDS. 2020. hal- 03023101v2 HAL Id: hal-03023101 https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-03023101v2 Preprint submitted on 25 Nov 2020 HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est archive for the deposit and dissemination of sci- destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents entific research documents, whether they are pub- scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, lished or not. The documents may come from émanant des établissements d’enseignement et de teaching and research institutions in France or recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires abroad, or from public or private research centers. publics ou privés. ULRICH BUNDLES ON CUBIC FOURFOLDS DANIELE FAENZI AND YEONGRAK KIM Abstract. We show the existence of rank 6 Ulrich bundles on a smooth cubic fourfold. First, we construct a simple sheaf E of rank 6 as an elementary modification of an ACM bundle of rank 6 on a smooth cubic fourfold. Such an E appears as an extension of two Lehn-Lehn-Sorger-van Straten sheaves. Then we prove that a general deformation of E(1) becomes Ulrich. In particular, this says that general cubic fourfolds have Ulrich complexity 6. Introduction An Ulrich sheaf on a closed subscheme X of PN of dimension n and degree d is a non-zero coherent sheaf F on X satisfying H∗(X, F(−j)) = 0 for 1 ≤ j ≤ n. In particular, the cohomology table {hi(X, F(j))} of F is a multiple of the cohomology table of Pn. It turns out that the reduced Hilbert polynomial pF (t)= χ(F(t))/ rk(F) of an Ulrich sheaf F must be: n d u(t) := (t + i). n! Yi=1 Ulrich sheaves first appeared in commutative algebra in the 1980s, namely, in the form of maximally generated maximal Cohen-Macaulay modules [Ulr84]. Pioneering work of Eisenbud and Schreyer [ES03] popularized them in algebraic geometry in view of their many connections and applications. Eisenbud and Schreyer asked whether every projective scheme supports an Ulrich sheaf. That this should be the case is now called a conjecture of Eisenbud-Schreyer (see also [ES11]). They also proposed another question about what is the smallest possible rank of an Ulrich sheaf on X. This is called the Ulrich complexity uc(X) of X (cf. [BES17]). Both the Ulrich existence problem and the Ulrich complexity problem have been elucidated only for a few cases. We focus here on the case when X is a hypersurface in Pn+1 over an algebraically closed field k. Using the generalized Clifford algebra, Backelin and Herzog proved in [BH89] that any hypersurface X has an Ulrich sheaf. However, their construction yields an Ulrich sheaf of rank dτ(X)−1, where τ(X) is the Chow rank of X (i.e. the smallest length of an expression of the defining equation of X as sums of products of d linear forms), often much bigger than uc(X). Looking in more detail at the Ulrich complexity problem for smooth hypersurfaces of degree d in Pn+1, the situation is well-understood for arbitrary n only for d = 2. Indeed, in this case the only indecomposable Ulrich bundles on X are spinor bundles, which have rank 2⌊(n−1)/2⌋ [BEH87]. On the other hand, for d ≥ 3, the Ulrich complexity problem is wide open except for a very few small-dimensional cases. For instance, smooth cubic curves and surfaces always X satisfy uc(X) = 1, while for smooth cubic threefolds X we have uc(X) = 2, (cf. [Bea00, Bea02, LMS15]). When X is a smooth cubic fourfold, which is the main object of this paper, there can be several possibilities. In any case, X does not have an Ulrich bundle of rank 1, but some X can have an D.F. partially supported by ISITE-BFC project contract ANR-lS-IDEX-OOOB and EIPHI Graduate School ANR-17-EURE-0002. Y.K. was supported by Project I.6 of the SFB-TRR 195 “Symbolic Tools in Mathematics and their Application” of the German Research Foundation (DFG). Both authors partially supported by F´ed´eration de Recherche Bourgogne Franche-Comt´eMath´ematiques (FR CNRS 2011). 1 2 DANIELE FAENZI AND YEONGRAK KIM Ulrich bundle F of rank 2. Since F is globally generated, one can consider the locus defined by a general global section of F, which is a del Pezzo surface of degree 5. The moduli space of cubic fourfolds containing a del Pezzo surface of degree 5 forms a divisor C14 ⊂ C, so a general cubic fourfold X has uc(X) ≥ 3. A few more cubic fourfolds which have an Ulrich bundle of rank 3 or 4 have been reported very recently by Troung and Yen [TY20]. However, all these cases are special cubic fourfolds which contain a surface not homologous to a complete intersection. Indeed, it turns out that the Ulrich complexity of a very general cubic fourfold is divisible by 3 and at least 6, see [KS20]. On the other hand, it is known that a general cubic fourfold has a rank 9 Ulrich bundle (cf. [IM14, Man19, KS20]). Therefore, the Ulrich complexity of a (very) general cubic fourfold is either 6 or 9. The goal of this paper is to prove the following result. This implies that a general cubic fourfold X satisfies uc(X) = 6. Theorem. Any smooth cubic fourfold admits an Ulrich bundle of rank 6. To achieve this, we use a deformation theoretic argument. Let us sketch briefly the strategy of our proof. As a warm-up it, let us review a construction of a rank-2 Ulrich bundle on a smooth cubic threefold. First, starting from a line L contained in the threefold, one constructs an ACM bundle of rank 2 having (c1, c2) = (0,L). Such a bundle is unstable since it has a unique global section which vanishes along L. By choosing a line L′ disjoint from L, we may take an elementary modification of it so that we have a simple and semistable sheaf E of (c1, c2) = (0, 2L). The sheaf E is not Ulrich, but one can show that its general deformation becomes Ulrich. A similar argument is used to prove the existence of rank 2 Ulrich bundles on K3 surfaces [Fae19] and prime Fano threefolds [BF11]. For fourfolds, twisted cubics play a central role in the construction, rather than lines. Note that twisted cubics in X form a 10-dimensional family. For each twisted cubic C ⊂ X, its linear span V = hCi defines a linear section Y ⊂ X which is a cubic surface. When Y is smooth, the rank-3 sheaf G = ker[3OX → OY (C)] is stable. The family of such stable sheaves of rank 3 forms an 8-dimensional moduli space, which is indeed a very well-studied smooth hyperk¨ahler manifold [LLSvS17, LLMS18]. We will call them Lehn-Lehn-Sorger-van Straten sheaves and the Lehn-Lehn-Sorger-van Straten eightfold. To construct an Ulrich bundle of rank 6, we first consider two Lehn-Lehn-Sorger-van Straten sheaves of rank 3 associated with two points of this manifold. We choose the points so that the associated pair of twisted cubics spans the same smooth surface section of X and intersects at 4 points. Then, we define a simple sheaf E as extension of such sheaves and show that this enjoys a large part of the cohomology vanishing required to be Ulrich. In particular, this will show that E lies in the Kuznetsov category Ku(X) of X, [Kuz04]. Finally, we obtain an Ulrich sheaf by taking a generic deformation F of E in the moduli space of simple sheaves over X and using that the cohomology vanishing of E propagates to F by semicontinuity. This step relies on deformation- obstruction theory of the sheaf as developed in [KM09, BLM+] and makes substantial use of the fact that Ku(X) is a K3 category. The structure of this paper is as follows. In Section 1, we recall basic notions and set up some background. In Section 2, we introduce an ACM bundle of rank 6 which arises as a (higher) syzygy sheaf of a twisted cubic and review some material on Lehn-Lehn-Sorger-van Straten sheaves as syzygy sheaves. Then we take an elementary modification to define a strictly semistable sheaf E of rank 6 whose reduced Hilbert polynomial is u(t). In Section 3, we show that a general deformation of E is Ulrich. We first prove this claim for cubic fourfolds which do not contain surfaces of small degrees other than linear sections. Then we extend it for every smooth cubic fourfold. ULRICH BUNDLES ON CUBIC FOURFOLDS 3 Acknowledgment. We wish to thank F´ed´eration Bourgogne Franche-Comt´eMath´ematiques FR CNRS 2011 for supporting the visit of Y.K. in Dijon. We would like to thank Frank-Olaf Schreyer and Paolo Stellari for valuable advice and helpful discussion. 1. Background Let us collect here some basic material. We work over an algebraically closed field k of charac- teristic other than 2. 1.1. Background definitions and notation. Consider a smooth connected n-dimensional pro- N jective subvariety X ⊆ P and denote by HX the hyperplane divisor on X and OX (1) = OX (HX ). Given a coherent sheaf F on X and t ∈ Z, write F(t) for F ⊗ OX (tHX ). Let F be a torsion-free sheaf on X. The reduced Hilbert polynomial of F is defined as 1 p (t) := χ(F(t)) ∈ Q[t].
Recommended publications
  • The Many Lives of the Twisted Cubic
    Mathematical Assoc. of America American Mathematical Monthly 121:1 February 10, 2018 11:32 a.m. TwistedMonthly.tex page 1 The many lives of the twisted cubic Abstract. We trace some of the history of the twisted cubic curves in three-dimensional affine and projective spaces. These curves have reappeared many times in many different guises and at different times they have served as primary objects of study, as motivating examples, and as hidden underlying structures for objects considered in mathematics and its applications. 1. INTRODUCTION Because of its simple coordinate functions, the humble (affine) 3 twisted cubic curve in R , given in the parametric form ~x(t) = (t; t2; t3) (1.1) is staple of computational problems in many multivariable calculus courses. (See Fig- ure 1.) We and our students compute its intersections with planes, find its tangent vectors and lines, approximate the arclength of segments of the curve, derive its cur- vature and torsion functions, and so forth. But in many calculus books, the curve is not even identified by name and no indication of its protean nature and rich history is given. This essay is (semi-humorously) in part an attempt to remedy that situation, and (more seriously) in part a meditation on the ways that the things mathematicians study often seem to have existences of their own. Basic structures can reappear at many times in many different contexts and under different names. According to the current consensus view of mathematical historiography, historians of mathematics do well to keep these different avatars of the underlying structure separate because it is almost never correct to attribute our understanding of the sorts of connections we will be con- sidering to the thinkers of the past.
    [Show full text]
  • A Three-Dimensional Laguerre Geometry and Its Visualization
    A Three-Dimensional Laguerre Geometry and Its Visualization Hans Havlicek and Klaus List, Institut fur¨ Geometrie, TU Wien 3 We describe and visualize the chains of the 3-dimensional chain geometry over the ring R("), " = 0. MSC 2000: 51C05, 53A20. Keywords: chain geometry, Laguerre geometry, affine space, twisted cubic. 1 Introduction The aim of the present paper is to discuss in some detail the Laguerre geometry (cf. [1], [6]) which arises from the 3-dimensional real algebra L := R("), where "3 = 0. This algebra generalizes the algebra of real dual numbers D = R("), where "2 = 0. The Laguerre geometry over D is the geometry on the so-called Blaschke cylinder (Figure 1); the non-degenerate conics on this cylinder are called chains (or cycles, circles). If one generator of the cylinder is removed then the remaining points of the cylinder are in one-one correspon- dence (via a stereographic projection) with the points of the plane of dual numbers, which is an isotropic plane; the chains go over R" to circles and non-isotropic lines. So the point space of the chain geometry over the real dual numbers can be considered as an affine plane with an extra “improper line”. The Laguerre geometry based on L has as point set the projective line P(L) over L. It can be seen as the real affine 3-space on L together with an “improper affine plane”. There is a point model R for this geometry, like the Blaschke cylinder, but it is more compli- cated, and belongs to a 7-dimensional projective space ([6, p.
    [Show full text]
  • Real Rank Two Geometry Arxiv:1609.09245V3 [Math.AG] 5
    Real Rank Two Geometry Anna Seigal and Bernd Sturmfels Abstract The real rank two locus of an algebraic variety is the closure of the union of all secant lines spanned by real points. We seek a semi-algebraic description of this set. Its algebraic boundary consists of the tangential variety and the edge variety. Our study of Segre and Veronese varieties yields a characterization of tensors of real rank two. 1 Introduction Low-rank approximation of tensors is a fundamental problem in applied mathematics [3, 6]. We here approach this problem from the perspective of real algebraic geometry. Our goal is to give an exact semi-algebraic description of the set of tensors of real rank two and to characterize its boundary. This complements the results on tensors of non-negative rank two presented in [1], and it offers a generalization to the setting of arbitrary varieties, following [2]. A familiar example is that of 2 × 2 × 2-tensors (xijk) with real entries. Such a tensor lies in the closure of the real rank two tensors if and only if the hyperdeterminant is non-negative: 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 x000x111 + x001x110 + x010x101 + x011x100 + 4x000x011x101x110 + 4x001x010x100x111 −2x000x001x110x111 − 2x000x010x101x111 − 2x000x011x100x111 (1) −2x001x010x101x110 − 2x001x011x100x110 − 2x010x011x100x101 ≥ 0: If this inequality does not hold then the tensor has rank two over C but rank three over R. To understand this example geometrically, consider the Segre variety X = Seg(P1 × P1 × P1), i.e. the set of rank one tensors, regarded as points in the projective space P7 = 2 2 2 7 arXiv:1609.09245v3 [math.AG] 5 Apr 2017 P(C ⊗ C ⊗ C ).
    [Show full text]
  • Hyperbolic Monopoles and Rational Normal Curves
    HYPERBOLIC MONOPOLES AND RATIONAL NORMAL CURVES Nigel Hitchin (Oxford) Edinburgh April 20th 2009 204 Research Notes A NOTE ON THE TANGENTS OF A TWISTED CUBIC B Y M. F. ATIYAH Communicated by J. A. TODD Received 8 May 1951 1. Consider a rational normal cubic C3. In the Klein representation of the lines of $3 by points of a quadric Q in Ss, the tangents of C3 are represented by the points of a rational normal quartic O4. It is the object of this note to examine some of the consequences of this correspondence, in terms of the geometry associated with the two curves. 2. C4 lies on a Veronese surface V, which represents the congruence of chords of O3(l). Also C4 determines a 4-space 2 meeting D. in Qx, say; and since the surface of tangents of O3 is a developable, consecutive tangents intersect, and therefore the tangents to C4 lie on Q, and so on £lv Hence Qx, containing the sextic surface of tangents to C4, must be the quadric threefold / associated with C4, i.e. the quadric determining the same polarity as C4 (2). We note also that the tangents to C4 correspond in #3 to the plane pencils with vertices on O3, and lying in the corresponding osculating planes. 3. We shall prove that the surface U, which is the locus of points of intersection of pairs of osculating planes of C4, is the projection of the Veronese surface V from L, the pole of 2, on to 2. Let P denote a point of C3, and t, n the tangent line and osculating plane at P, and let T, T, w denote the same for the corresponding point of C4.
    [Show full text]
  • TWO FAMILIES of STABLE BUNDLES with the SAME SPECTRUM Nonreduced [M]
    proceedings of the american mathematical society Volume 109, Number 3, July 1990 TWO FAMILIES OF STABLE BUNDLES WITH THE SAME SPECTRUM A. P. RAO (Communicated by Louis J. Ratliff, Jr.) Abstract. We study stable rank two algebraic vector bundles on P and show that the family of bundles with fixed Chern classes and spectrum may have more than one irreducible component. We also produce a component where the generic bundle has a monad with ghost terms which cannot be deformed away. In the last century, Halphen and M. Noether attempted to classify smooth algebraic curves in P . They proceeded with the invariants d , g , the degree and genus, and worked their way up to d = 20. As the invariants grew larger, the number of components of the parameter space grew as well. Recent work of Gruson and Peskine has settled the question of which invariant pairs (d, g) are admissible. For a fixed pair (d, g), the question of determining the number of components of the parameter space is still intractable. For some values of (d, g) (for example [E-l], if d > g + 3) there is only one component. For other values, one may find many components including components which are nonreduced [M]. More recently, similar questions have been asked about algebraic vector bun- dles of rank two on P . We will restrict our attention to stable bundles a? with first Chern class c, = 0 (and second Chern class c2 = n, so that « is a positive integer and i? has no global sections). To study these, we have the invariants n, the a-invariant (which is equal to dim//"'(P , f(-2)) mod 2) and the spectrum.
    [Show full text]
  • Geometry of Algebraic Curves
    Geometry of Algebraic Curves Fall 2011 Course taught by Joe Harris Notes by Atanas Atanasov One Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA 02138 E-mail address: [email protected] Contents Lecture 1. September 2, 2011 6 Lecture 2. September 7, 2011 10 2.1. Riemann surfaces associated to a polynomial 10 2.2. The degree of KX and Riemann-Hurwitz 13 2.3. Maps into projective space 15 2.4. An amusing fact 16 Lecture 3. September 9, 2011 17 3.1. Embedding Riemann surfaces in projective space 17 3.2. Geometric Riemann-Roch 17 3.3. Adjunction 18 Lecture 4. September 12, 2011 21 4.1. A change of viewpoint 21 4.2. The Brill-Noether problem 21 Lecture 5. September 16, 2011 25 5.1. Remark on a homework problem 25 5.2. Abel's Theorem 25 5.3. Examples and applications 27 Lecture 6. September 21, 2011 30 6.1. The canonical divisor on a smooth plane curve 30 6.2. More general divisors on smooth plane curves 31 6.3. The canonical divisor on a nodal plane curve 32 6.4. More general divisors on nodal plane curves 33 Lecture 7. September 23, 2011 35 7.1. More on divisors 35 7.2. Riemann-Roch, finally 36 7.3. Fun applications 37 7.4. Sheaf cohomology 37 Lecture 8. September 28, 2011 40 8.1. Examples of low genus 40 8.2. Hyperelliptic curves 40 8.3. Low genus examples 42 Lecture 9. September 30, 2011 44 9.1. Automorphisms of genus 0 an 1 curves 44 9.2.
    [Show full text]
  • Arxiv:1102.0878V3 [Math.AG]
    STABLE ULRICH BUNDLES MARTA CASANELLAS AND ROBIN HARTSHORNE With an Appendix by Florian Geiß and Frank-Olaf Schreyer Abstract. The existence of stable ACM vector bundles of high rank on alge- braic varieties is a challenging problem. In this paper, we study stable Ulrich bundles (that is, stable ACM bundles whose corresponding module has the maximum number of generators) on nonsingular cubic surfaces X ⊂ P3. We give necessary and sufficient conditions on the first Chern class D for the exis- tence of stable Ulrich bundles on X of rank r and c1 = D. When such bundles exist, we prove that that the corresponding moduli space of stable bundles is smooth and irreducible of dimension D2 − 2r2 + 1 and consists entirely of stable Ulrich bundles (see Theorem 1.1). As a consequence, we are also able to prove the existence of stable Ulrich bundles of any rank on nonsingular cubic threefolds in P4, and we show that the restriction map from bundles on the threefold to bundles on the surface is generically ´etale and dominant. 1. Introduction The study of moduli spaces of stable vector bundles of given rank and Chern classes on algebraic varieties is a very active topic in algebraic geometry. See for example the book [20]. In recent years attention has focused on ACM bundles, arXiv:1102.0878v3 [math.AG] 4 May 2011 that is vector bundles without intermediate cohomology. Recently ACM bundles on hypersurfaces have been used to provide counterexamples to a conjecture of Griffiths and Harris about whether subvarieties of codimension two of a hypersur- face can be obtained by intersecting with a subvariety of codimension two of the ambient space [22].
    [Show full text]
  • Intersection Theory
    APPENDIX A Intersection Theory In this appendix we will outline the generalization of intersection theory and the Riemann-Roch theorem to nonsingular projective varieties of any dimension. To motivate the discussion, let us look at the case of curves and surfaces, and then see what needs to be generalized. For a divisor D on a curve X, leaving out the contribution of Serre duality, we can write the Riemann-Roch theorem (IV, 1.3) as x(.!Z'(D)) = deg D + 1 - g, where xis the Euler characteristic (III, Ex. 5.1). On a surface, we can write the Riemann-Roch theorem (V, 1.6) as 1 x(!l'(D)) = 2 D.(D - K) + 1 + Pa· In each case, on the left-hand side we have something involving cohomol­ ogy groups of the sheaf !l'(D), while on the right-hand side we have some numerical data involving the divisor D, the canonical divisor K, and some invariants of the variety X. Of course the ultimate aim of a Riemann-Roch type theorem is to compute the dimension of the linear system IDI or of lnDI for large n (II, Ex. 7.6). This is achieved by combining a formula for x(!l'(D)) with some vanishing theorems for Hi(X,!l'(D)) fori > 0, such as the theorems of Serre (III, 5.2) or Kodaira (III, 7.15). We will now generalize these results so as to give an expression for x(!l'(D)) on a nonsingular projective variety X of any dimension. And while we are at it, with no extra effort we get a formula for x(t&"), where @" is any coherent locally free sheaf.
    [Show full text]
  • Ordinary Planes, Coplanar Quadruples, and Space Quartics
    Ordinary planes, coplanar quadruples, and space quartics Aaron Lin∗ Konrad Swanepoel∗ Abstract An ordinary plane of a finite set of points in real 3-space with no three collinear is a plane intersecting the set in exactly three points. We prove a structure theorem for sets of points spanning few ordinary planes. Our proof relies on Green and Tao’s work on ordinary lines in the plane, combined with classical results on space quartic curves and non-generic projections of curves. This gives an alternative approach to Ball’s recent results on ordinary planes, as well as extending them. We also give bounds on the number of coplanar quadruples determined by a finite set of points on a rational space quartic curve in complex 3-space, answering a question of Raz, Sharir and De Zeeuw [Israel J. Math. 227 (2018)]. 1 Introduction Let P denote a finite set of points in 3-dimensional Euclidean (or real projective) space. An ordinary line of P is a line passing through exactly two points of P . The classical Sylvester-Gallai theorem states that any finite non-collinear point set in the plane has an ordinary line. Green and Tao [12] proved a structure theorem for sets with few ordinary lines, and used it to prove the so-called Dirac-Motzkin conjecture: any sufficiently large non-collinear n-point set in the plane has at least n/2 ordinary lines. It is natural to ask the same question of ordinary planes, where an ordinary plane of P is a plane passing through exactly three points of P .
    [Show full text]
  • Quartic Curves and Their Bitangents
    QUARTIC CURVES AND THEIR BITANGENTS DANIEL PLAUMANN, BERND STURMFELS, AND CYNTHIA VINZANT Abstract. A smooth quartic curve in the complex projective plane has 36 inequivalent representations as a symmetric determinant of linear forms and 63 representations as a sum of three squares. These correspond to Cayley octads and Steiner complexes respectively. We present exact algorithms for comput- ing these objects from the 28 bitangents. This expresses Vinnikov quartics as spectrahedra and positive quartics as Gram matrices. We explore the geometry of Gram spectrahedra and we find equations for the variety of Cayley octads. Interwoven is an exposition of much of the 19th century theory of plane quartics. 1. Introduction We consider smooth curves in the projective plane defined by ternary quartics 4 3 3 2 2 2 4 (1.1) f(x; y; z) = c400x + c310x y + c301x z + c220x y + c211x yz + ··· + c004z ; whose 15 coefficients cijk are parameters over the field Q of rational numbers. Our goal is to devise exact algorithms for computing the two alternate representations (1.2) f(x; y; z) = detxA + yB + zC; where A; B; C are symmetric 4 × 4-matrices, and 2 2 2 (1.3) f(x; y; z) = q1(x; y; z) + q2(x; y; z) + q3(x; y; z) ; where the qi(x; y; z) are quadratic forms. The representation (1.2) is of most interest when the real curve VR(f) consists of two nested ovals. Following Helton- Vinnikov [13] and Henrion [14], one seeks real symmetric matrices A; B; C whose span contains a positive definite matrix.
    [Show full text]
  • Equations for Point Configurations to Lie on a Rational Normal Curve
    EQUATIONS FOR POINT CONFIGURATIONS TO LIE ON A RATIONAL NORMAL CURVE ALESSIO CAMINATA, NOAH GIANSIRACUSA, HAN-BOM MOON, AND LUCA SCHAFFLER Abstract. The parameter space of n ordered points in projective d-space that lie on a ra- tional normal curve admits a natural compactification by taking the Zariski closure in (Pd)n. The resulting variety was used to study the birational geometry of the moduli space M0;n of n-tuples of points in P1. In this paper we turn to a more classical question, first asked independently by both Speyer and Sturmfels: what are the defining equations? For conics, namely d = 2, we find scheme-theoretic equations revealing a determinantal structure and use this to prove some geometric properties; moreover, determining which subsets of these equations suffice set-theoretically is equivalent to a well-studied combinatorial problem. For twisted cubics, d = 3, we use the Gale transform to produce equations defining the union of two irreducible components, the compactified configuration space we want and the locus of degenerate point configurations, and we explain the challenges involved in eliminating this extra component. For d ≥ 4 we conjecture a similar situation and prove partial results in this direction. 1. Introduction Configuration spaces are central to many modern areas of geometry, topology, and physics. Rational normal curves are among the most classical objects in algebraic geometry. In this paper we explore a setting where these two realms meet: the configuration space of n ordered points in Pd that lie on a rational normal curve. This is naturally a subvariety of (Pd)n, and by taking the Zariski closure we obtain a compactification of this configuration space, which d n we call the Veronese compactification Vd;n ⊆ (P ) .
    [Show full text]
  • Low Degree Complete Intersections Are Rationally Simply Connected
    LOW DEGREE COMPLETE INTERSECTIONS ARE RATIONALLY SIMPLY CONNECTED A. J. DE JONG AND JASON MICHAEL STARR Abstract. We prove smooth, low degree complete intersections in projec- tive space are rationally simply connected in a strong sense. Using a result of Hassett, we deduce weak approximation for smooth, low degree complete intersections defined over the function field of a curve. Contents 1. Main results 1 1.1. Overview 5 2. Elementary results about complete intersections 7 3. Canonical irreducible components 11 4. Pointed lines 16 5. Minimal pointed curves. Existence and connectedness 20 6. Minimal pointed curves. Canonical bundle and uniruledness 30 7. Twisting surfaces. Existence 40 8. Twisting surfaces. Rational simple connectedness 63 9. Proofs of the main theorems 68 References 73 1. Main results sec-intro There is a well-developed algebro-geometric analogue of path connectedness: A nonempty, projective, complex variety is rationally connected if each pair of closed points is contained in a rational curve, cf. [Kol96], [Deb01]. To give a flavor of this notion, we mention that a smooth complete intersection of c hypersurfaces in Pn of degrees d1, . , dc is rationally connected if and only if c X n ≥ di. i=1 A path connected space is simply connected if the space of based paths is path connected. Barry Mazur suggested an algebro-geometric analogue of simple con- nectedness: a rationally connected variety should be rationally simply connected if the space of based, 2-pointed rational curves of suitably positive class is rationally connected. Date: October 31, 2006. 1 We must assume the curve class is suitably positive or else the space may be empty or atypical in some other way.
    [Show full text]