We study conchoids to algebraic curve from the perspective of algebraic geometry, analyzing their main algebraic properties. We introduce the formal definition of conchoid of an algebraic curve by means of incidence diagrams. We prove that, with the exception of a circle centered at the focus and taking $d$ as its radius, the conchoid is an algebraic curve having at most two irreducible components. In addition, we introduce the notions of special and simple components of a conchoid. Moreover we state that, with the exception of lines passing through the focus, the conchoid always has at least one simple component and that, for almost every distance, all the components of the conchoid are simple. We state that, in the reducible case, simple conchoid components are birationally equivalent to the initial curve, and we show how special components can be used to decide whether a given algebraic curve is the conchoid of another curve.
We study the rationality of the components of the conchoid to an irreducible algebraic affine plane curve, excluding the trivial cases of the isotropic lines, of the lines through the focus and the circle centered at the focus and radius the distance involved in the conchoid. We prove that conchoids having all their components rational can only be generated by rational curves. Moreover, we show that reducible conchoids to rational curves have always their two components rational. In addition, we prove that the rationality of the conchoid component, to a rational curve, does depend on the base …
The conchoid of a plane curve $C$ is constructed using a fixed circle $B$ in the affine plane. We generalize the classical definition so that we obtain a conchoid from any pair of curves $B$ and $C$ in the projective plane. We present two definitions, one purely algebraic through resultants and a more geometric one using an incidence correspondence in $\PP^2 \times \PP^2$. We prove, among other things, that the conchoid of a generic curve of fixed degree is irreducible, we determine its singularities and give a formula for its degree and genus. In the final section we return to the classical c…
We introduce the notion of radical parametrization of a surface, and we provide algorithms to compute such type of parametrizations for families of surfaces, like: Fermat surfaces, surfaces with a high multiplicity (at least the degree minus 4) singularity, all irreducible surfaces of degree at most 5, all irreducible singular surfaces of degree 6, and surfaces containing a pencil of low-genus curves. In addition, we prove that radical parametrizations are preserved under certain type of geometric constructions that include offset and conchoids.
We discuss the principle tools and results and state a few open problems concerning the classification and topology of plane sextics and trigonal curves in ruled surfaces.
In this paper we prove the topological uniqueness of maximal arrangements of a real plane algebraic curve with respect to three lines. More generally, we prove the topological uniqueness of a maximally arranged algebraic curve on a real toric surface. We use the moment map as a tool for studying the topology of real algebraic curves and their complexifications.
We establish for smooth projective real curves the equivalent of the classical Clifford inequality known for complex curves. We also study the cases when equality holds.
Two sets of conditions are presented for the compactness of a real plane algebraic curve, one sufficient and one necessary, in terms of the Newton polygon of the defining polynomial.
We formulate a refined theory of linear systems, using the methods of a previous paper, "A Theory of Branches for Algebraic Curves", and use it to give a geometric interpretation of the genus of an algebraic curve. Using principles of duality, we prove generalisations of Plucker's formulae for algebraic curves. The results hold for arbitrary characteristic of the base field L, with some occasional exceptions when characteristic(L)=2, which we observe in the course of the paper.
Let X,Y be algebraic curves in P^n over C. We give an effective description of the join J(X,Y)\in P^n of X and Y in terms of local parametrizations of X and Y.
Let $\mathcal{X}$ be an algebraic curve of genus $g$ defined over an algebraically closed field $K$ of characteristic $p \geq 0$, and $q$ a prime dividing $|\mbox{Aut}(\mathcal{X})|$. We say that $\mathcal{X}$ is a $q$-curve. Homma proved that either $q \leq g+1$ or $q = 2g+1$, and classified $(2g+1)$-curves. In this note, we classify $(g+1)$-curves, and fully characterize the automorphism groups of $q$-curves for $q= 2g+1, g+1$. We also give some partial results on $q$-curves for $q = g, g-1$.
This article shows that on a generic principally polarized abelian variety of dimension five the $\mathbb{Q}$-vector space of algebraic equivalences among the 27 Abel-Prym curves has dimension 20.
Patchworking theorems serve as a basic element of the correspondence between tropical and algebraic curves, which is a core of the tropical enumerative geometry. We present a new version of a patchworking theorem which relates plane tropical curves with complex and real algebraic curves having prescribed multiple points. It can be used to compute Welschinger invariants of non-toric Del Pezzo surfaces.
Let $X \subset \mathbb{C}^{2n}$ be an $n$-dimensional algebraic variety. We define the algebraic version of the generic symmetry defect set (Wigner caustic) of $X$. Moreover, we compute its singularities for $X_d$ being a generic curve of degree $d$ in $\mathbb{C}^2$.
We study linear series on curves inducing injective morphisms to projective space, using zero-dimensional schemes and cohomological vanishings. Albeit projections of curves and their singularities are of central importance in algebraic geometry, basic problems still remain unsolved. In this note, we study cuspidal projections of space curves lying on irreducible quadrics (in arbitrary characteristic).
We apply numerical algebraic geometry to the invariant-theoretic problem of detecting symmetries between two plane algebraic curves. We describe an efficient equality test which determines, with "probability-one", whether or not two rational maps have the same image up to Zariski closure. The application to invariant theory is based on the construction of suitable signature maps associated to a group acting linearly on the respective curves. We consider two versions of this construction: differential and joint signature maps. In our examples and computational experiments, we focus on the compl…
A projective non-singular plane algebraic curve of degree d<=4 is called maximally symmetric if it attains the maximum order of the automorphism groups for complex non-singular plane algebraic curves of degree d. For d<=7, all such curves are known. Up to projectivities, they are the Fermat curve for d=5,7, see \cite{kmp1,kmp2}, the Klein quartic for d=4, see \cite{har}, and the Wiman sextic for d=6, see \cite{doi}. In this paper we work on projective plane curves defined over an algebraically closed field of characteristic zero, and we extend this result to every d>=8 showing that the Fermat …
In this paper, we introduce the notion of infinity branches as well as approaching curves. We present some properties which allow us to obtain an algorithm that compares the behavior of two implicitly defined algebraic plane curves at the infinity. As an important result, we prove that if two plane algebraic curves have the same asymptotic behavior, the Hausdorff distance between them is finite.
We discuss selected topics on the topology of moduli spaces of curves and maps, emphasizing their relation with Gromov--Witten theory and integrable systems.
A criterion for the existence of a birational embedding into a projective plane with non-collinear Galois points for algebraic curves is presented. A new example of a plane curve with non-collinear Galois points as an application is described. Furthermore, a new characterization of the Fermat curve in terms of non-collinear Galois points is presented.
Given a real curve, we study special linear systems called "very special" for which the dimension does not satisfy a Clifford type inequality. We classify all these very special linear systems when the gonality of the curve is small.
We present a treatment of the algebraic description of the Jacobian of a generic genus two plane curve which exploits an SL2(k) equivariance and clarifes the structure of E.V.Flynn's 72 defining quadratic relations. The treatment is also applied to the Kummer variety.
We present relations between cycles with rational coefficients modulo algebraic equivalence on the Jacobian of a curve. These relations depend on the linear systems the curve admits. They are obtained in the tautological ring, the smallest subspace containing (an embedding of) the curve and closed under the basic operations of intersection, Pontryagin product and the pullback and pushdown induced by homotheties.
In this paper, we develop the theory of flashes of an algebraic curve. We show that the theory is birationally invariant in a sense which we will make more precise below. We also show how the theory provides a foundation for the method of asymptotic degenerations, a particular class of degenerations of plane projective algebraic curves. In particular, we consider the geometrical technique in relation to the Severi problem of degenerating nodal curves to lines in general position, and correct Severi's original proof of his conjecture.
We prove a Curve Selection Lemma valid in infinite-dimensional algebraic geometry and apply it, together with a structure theorem of Grinberg-Kahzdan and Drinfeld, to obtain a Curve Selection Lemma in arc spaces.
In a previous work of the authors, a result to algorithmically compute the topology types of the level curves of an algebraic surface, is given. From this result, here we derive applications based on level curves to determine some topological features of surfaces (reality, compactness, connectivity) and to the problem of plotting.
Motivated by Xing's method [7], we show that there exist [n,k,d] linear Hermitian codes over F_{q^2} with k+d>=n-3 for all sufficiently large q. This improves the asymptotic bound of Algebraic-Geometry codes from Hermitian curves given in [9,10].
A criterion for the existence of a birational embedding of an algebraic curve into a projective plane with two Galois points is presented. Several novel examples of plane curves with two inner Galois points as an application are described.
A criterion for the existence of a plane model of an algebraic curve such that the Galois closures of projections from two points are the same is presented. As an application, it is proved that the Hermitian curve in positive characteristic coincides with the Galois closures of projections of some plane curve from some two non-uniform points.
In his investigation on large $K$-automorphism groups of an algebraic curve, Stichtenoth obtained an upper bound on the order of the first ramification group of an algebraic curve $\cX$ defined over an algebraically closed field of characteristic $p$. Stichtenoth's bound has raised the problem of classifying all $\K$-automorphism groups $G$ of $\cX$ with the following property: There is a point $P\in \cX$ for which \begin{equation} |G_P^{(1)}|>\frac{p}{p-1}g. \end{equation} Such a classification is obtained here by proving Theorem 1.3
An irreducible, algebraic curve $\mathcal X_g$ of genus $g\geq 2$ defined over an algebraically closed field $k$ of characteristic $\mbox{char } \, k = p \geq 0$, has finite automorphism group $\mbox{Aut} (\mathcal X_g)$. In this paper we describe methods of determining the list of groups $\mbox{Aut} (\mathcal X_g)$ for a fixed $g\geq 2$. Moreover, equations of the corresponding families of curves are given when possible.
We compute the first, second, third, and fifth rational cohomology groups of the moduli space of stable n-pointed genus g curves, for all g and n, using (mostly) algebro-geometric techniques.
A criterion for the existence of a birational embedding into a projective plane with three collinear Galois points for algebraic curves is presented. The extendability of an automorphism induced by a Galois point to a linear transformation of the projective plane is also discussed, under the assumption that two Galois points exist.
A point of an algebraic curve of genus g is subcanonical if some regular differential vanishes only at that point, with multiplicity 2g-2. Subcanonical points are Weierstrass points, and we compute the associated gap sequence at a general point of each component of the moduli space of curves with marked subcanonical point. We also construct subcanonical points with other gap sequences as ramification points of certain cyclic covers.
The linking set is an invariant of algebraic plane curves introduced by Meilhan and the first author. It has been successfully used to detect several examples of Zariski pairs, i.e. curves with the same combinatorics and different embedding in $\mathds{CP}^2$. Differentiating Shimada's $π_1$-equivalent Zariski pair by the linking set, we prove, in the present paper, that this invariant is not determined by the fundamental group of the curve.
The aim of this work is to provide a construction of generalized local symbols on algebraic curves as morphisms of group schemes. From a closed point of a complete, irreducible and non-singular curve $C$ over a perfect field $k$ as the only data, using theta groups over Picard schemes of curves, we offer a geometric construction that allows us to define generalizations of the tame symbol and the Hilbert norm residue symbol.
A criterion for the existence of a plane model with two non-smooth Galois points for algebraic curves is presented, which is a generalization of Fukasawa's criterion for two smooth Galois points. Owing to this generalized criterion, multiplicities and order sequences at Galois points can be described in detail.
Using abelian differentials and periods of the universal Mumford curve, we study the universal expression and asymptotic behavior of tau functions defined for stably degenerating families of algebraic curves with additional data. Furthermore, we apply this study to constructing solutions to the KP hierarchy which are expressed by nonarchimedean theta functions and by mixtures of quasi-periodic solutions with solitons containing real solutions defined on families of M-curves.
This is mostly* a non-technical exposition of the joint work arXiv:1212.0373 with Caporaso and Payne. Topics include: Moduli of Riemann surfaces / algebraic curves; Deligne-Mumford compactification; Dual graphs and the combinatorics of the compactification; Tropical curves and their moduli; Non-archimedean geometry and comparison. * Maybe the last section is technical.
It is well known that an irreducible algebraic curve is rational (i.e. parametric) if and only if its genus is zero. In this paper, given a tolerance $ε>0$ and an $ε$-irreducible algebraic affine plane curve $\mathcal C$ of proper degree $d$, we introduce the notion of $ε$-rationality, and we provide an algorithm to parametrize approximately affine $ε$-rational plane curves, without exact singularities at infinity, by means of linear systems of $(d-2)$-degree curves. The algorithm outputs a rational parametrization of a rational curve $\bar{\mathcal C}$ of degree at most $d$ which has the same…
We address the problem of the maximal finite number of real points of a real algebraic curve (of a given degree and, sometimes, genus) in the projective plane. We improve the known upper and lower bounds and construct close to optimal curves of small degree. Our upper bound is sharp if the genus is small as compared to the degree. Some of the results are extended to other real algebraic surfaces, most notably ruled.
We construct the moduli space for equivalence classes of n-pointed tropical curves of genus g, together with its compactification given by weighted tropical curves, and establish some of its basic topological properties. We compare it to the moduli spaces of smooth and stable algebraic curves, from the combinatorial, the topological, and the Teichmüller point of view. The paper is written in an expository style, and it generalizes some results contained in sections 4-6 of arXiv:1001.2815v3.
Here we investigate some birational properties of two collections of moduli spaces, namely moduli spaces of (pointed) stable curves and of (pointed) spin curves. In particular, we focus on vanishings of Hodge numbers of type (p,0) and on computations of the Kodaira dimension. Our methods are purely algebraic geometric and rely on an induction argument on the number of marked points and the genus of the curves (cf. mathAG/9803001).
This survey article is a much extended version of a lecture given at a Clay Institute workshop in October 2006. It describes all known results on the existence of stable coherent systems on algebraic curves.
We bound the number of fixed points of an automorphism of a real curve in terms of the genus and the number of connected components of the real part of the curve. Using this bound, we derive some consequences concerning the maximum order of an automorphism and the maximum order of an abelian group of automorphisms of a real curve. We also bound the full group of automorphisms of a real hyperelliptic curve.
The Halphen transform of a plane curve is the curve obtained by intersecting the tangent lines of the curve with the corresponding polar lines with respect to some conic. This transform has been introduced by Halphen as a branch desingularization method and has also been studied by Coolidge and by Josse. We extend this notion to Halphen transform of a space curve and study several of its properties (birationality, degree, rank, class, desingularization).
