In the town of Saratov where he was prisonner, Poncelet, continuing the work of Euler and Steiner on polygons simultaneously inscribed in a circle and circumscribed around an other circle, proved the following generalization : "Let C and D be two smooth conics in the projective complex plane. If D passes through the n(n-1)/2 vertices of a complete polygon with n sides tangent to C then D passes through the vertices of infinitely many such polygons." According to Marcel Berger this theorem is the nicest result about the geometry of conics. Even if it is, there are few proofs of it. To my knowledge there are only three. The first proof, published in 1822 and based on infinitesimal deformations, is due to Poncelet. Later, Jacobi proposed a new proof based on finite order points on elliptic curves; his proof, certainly the most famous, is explained in a modern way and in detail by Griffiths and Harris. In 1870 Weyr proved a Poncelet theorem in space (more precisely for two quadrics) that implies the one above when one quadric is a cone; this proof is explained by Barth and Bauer. Our aim in this short note is to involve vector bundles techniques to propose a new proof of this celebrated result. Poncelet did not appreciate Jacobi's for the reason that it was too far from the geometric intuition. I guess that he would not appreciate our proof either for the same reason.
Poncelet's theorem states that if there exists an n-sided polygon which is inscribed in a given conic C and circumscribed about another conic D, then there are infinitely many such n-gons. Proofs of this theorem that we are aware of, including Poncelet's original proof and the celebrated modern proof by Griffiths and Harris, assume the two conics to be in general position (that is, not tangent or at least not osculating), or be defined over the field of complex numbers, or both. Here we show that Poncelet's theorem holds for any two conics C and D in the projective plane over an algebraically …
Let $D$ be any elliptic right cylinder. We prove that every type of knot can be realized as the trajectory of a ball in $D.$ This proves a conjecture of Lamm and gives a new proof of a conjecture of Jones and Przytycki. We use Jacobi's proof of Poncelet's theorem by means of elliptic functions.
The Marden theorem of geometry of polynomials and the great Poncelet theorem from projective geometry of conics by their classical beauty occupy very special places. Our main aim is to present a strong and unexpected relationship between the two theorems. We establish a dynamical equivalence between the full Marden theorem and the Poncelet-Darboux theorem. By introducing a class of {\it isofocal deformations}, we construct morphisms between the Marden curves and the Poncelet-Darboux curves. Then we present effective criterion in terms of pair of polynomials which defines a Poncelet-Darboux cur…
We propose 3D generalizations of the Feuerbach theorem: the first one deals with a tetrahedron analogue of the Euler circle, the second one is done by means of an «up-in-ex-touch» construction. Then we give a geometric proof of the Grace theorem (a classical, but still not well-known, 3D Feuerbach theorem) and show its relation to the Poncelet closure theorem. Our elementary proof is based on the properties of imaginary generators on a sphere and of isotropic tangents to a conic. Then we show that the Grace theorem implies the Laguerre theorem, which generalises the Euler-Chapple formulas. Fur…
Our aim is to prove a Poncelet type theorem for a line configuration on the complex projective. More precisely, we say that a polygon with 2n sides joining 2n vertices A1, A2,..., A2n is well inscribed in a configuration Ln of n lines if each line of the configuration contains exactly two points among A1, A2, ..., A2n. Then we prove : "Let Ln be a configuration of n lines and D a smooth conic in the complex projective plane. If it exists one polygon with 2n sides well inscribed in Ln and circumscribed around D then there are infinitely many such polygons. In particular a general point in Ln is…
The pentagram map takes a planar polygon $P$ to a polygon $P'$ whose vertices are the intersection points of consecutive shortest diagonals of $P$. This map is known to interact nicely with Poncelet polygons, i.e. polygons which are simultaneously inscribed in a conic and circumscribed about a conic. A theorem of R. Schwartz says that if $P$ is a Poncelet polygon, then the image of $P$ under the pentagram map is projectively equivalent to $P$. In the present paper we show that in the convex case this property characterizes Poncelet polygons: if a convex polygon is projectively equivalent to it…
We study algebraic curves that are envelopes of families of polygons supported on the unit circle T. We address, in particular, a characterization of such curves of minimal class and show that all realizations of these curves are essentially equivalent and can be described in terms of orthogonal polynomials on the unit circle (OPUC), also known as Szegő polynomials. Our results have connections to classical results from algebraic and projective geometry, such as theorems of Poncelet, Darboux, and Kippenhahn; numerical ranges of a class of matrices; and Blaschke products and disk functions. Thi…
A comprehensive analysis of periodic trajectories of billiards within ellipses in the Euclidean plane is presented. The novelty of the approach is based on a relationship recently established by the authors between periodic billiard trajectories and extremal polynomials on the systems of $d$ intervals on the real line and ellipsoidal billiards in $d$-dimensional space. Even in the planar case, systematically studied in the present paper it leads to new results in characterizing $n$ periodic trajectories vs. so-called $n$ elliptic periodic trajectories, which are $n$-periodic in elliptical coor…
This paper gives a new elementary proof of the theorem that all vector bundles on $\mathbb P^1$ split into the direct sum of line bundles. The proof is based on the study of divisors associated to germs of sections at the generic point.
By analyzing degeneracy loci over projectivized vector bundles, we recompute the degree of the discriminant locus of a vector bundle and provide a new proof of the Bogomolov instability theorem.
Hartshorne's conjecture about vector bundles on projective space states that any rank 2 vector bundle on n-dimensional projective space splits as soon as n is at least 7. Klyachko has shown that Hartshorne's conjecture is true when the vector bundles are torus equivariant. Moreover, recent work of Ilten and Süss generalizes Klyachko's work to the case of a smaller rank torus action on projective space. In this note we give a new, direct proof that torus rank 2 bundles split that avoids a description of the category of torus equivariant vector bundles.
This note contains another proof of Grothendieck`s theorem on the splitting of vector bundles on the projective line over a field $k$. Actually the proof is formulated entirely in the classical terms of a lattice $Λ\cong k[T]^d$, discretely embedded into the vector space $V \cong K_\infty^d$, where $K_\infty \cong k((1/T))$ is the completion of the field of rational functions $k(T)$ at the place $\infty$ with the usual valuation.
This mainly expository text translates into stack language the proof of King and Schofield for the rationality of moduli schemes of vector bundles on a curve in the coprime case. An appendix summarizes some basic properties of the relevant moduli stacks.
Let R be a regular local ring, containing a finite field. Let G be a reductive group scheme over R. We prove that a principal G-bundle over R is trivial, if it is trivial over the fraction field of R. If the regular local ring R contains an infinite field this result is proved in [FP]. Thus the conjecture is true for regular local rings containing a field.
Let R be a regular local ring, containing an infinite field. Let G be a reductive group scheme over R. We prove that a principal G-bundle over R is trivial, if it is trivial over the fraction field of R.
We combine the idea of Chang and Ran [Invent. Math. 76 (1984), 41-54] of using monads of vector bundles on the projective 3-space to prove the unirationality of the moduli spaces of curves of low genus with our classification of globally generated vector bundles with small first Chern class $c_1$ on the projective 3-space to get an alternative argument for the unirationality of the moduli spaces of curves of degree at most 13 (based on the general framework of Chang and Ran).
In 2009 Kokotov, Korotkin and Zograf gave a formula for the class of the Hodge bundle on the Hurwitz space of admissible covers of genus g and degree d of the projective line. They gave an analytic proof of it. In this note we give an algebraic proof and an extension of the result.
In a series of papers [Pan0], [Pan1], [Pan2], [Pan3] we give a detailed and better structured proof of the Grothendieck--Serre's conjecture for semi-local regular rings containing a finite field. The outline of the proof is the same as in [P1],[P2],[P3]. If the semi-local regular ring contains an infinite field, then the conjecture is proved in [FP]. Thus the conjecture is true for regular local rings containing a field. A proof of Grothendieck--Serre conjecture on principal bundles over a semi-local regular ring containing an arbitrary field is given in [Pan3]. That proof is heavily based on …
Recently McBreen and Webster constructed a tilting bundle on a smooth hypertoric variety (using reduction to finite characteristic) and showed that its endomorphism ring is Koszul. In this short note we present alternative proofs for these results. We simply observe that the tilting bundle constructed by Halpern-Leistner and Sam on a generic open GIT substack of the ambient linear space restricts to a tilting bundle on the hypertoric variety. The fact that the hypertoric variety is defined by a quadratic regular sequence then also yields an easy proof of Koszulity.
Using the method of Coandă and Trautmann (2006), we give a simple proof of the following theorem due to Tyurin (1976) in the smooth case: if a vector bundle $E$ on a $c$-codimensional locally Cohen-Macaulay closed subscheme $X$ of the projective space $P^n$ extends to a vector bundle $F$ on a similar closed subscheme $Y$ of $P^N$, for every $N > n$, then $E$ is the restriction to $X$ of a direct sum of line bundles on $P^n$. Using the same method, we also provide a proof of the Babylonian tower theorem for locally complete intersection subschemes of projective spaces.
We study the images of tautological bundles on Hilbert schemes of points on surfaces and their wedge powers under the derived McKay correspondence. The main observation of the paper is that using a derived equivalence differing slightly from the standard one considerably simplifies both the results and their proofs. As an application, we obtain shorter proofs for known results as well as new formulae for homological invariants of tautological sheaves. In particular, we compute the extension groups between wedge powers of tautological bundles associated to line bundles on the surface.
The goal of this paper is to give a new proof of a special case of the Kodaira-Saito vanishing theorem for a variation of Hodge structure on the complement of a divisor with normal crossings. The proof does not use the theory of mixed Hodge modules, but instead reduces it to a more general vanishing theorem for semistable nilpotent Higgs bundles, which is then proved by using some facts about Higgs bundles in positive characteristic.
Holomorphic chains on a Riemann surface arise naturally as fixed points of the natural C*-action on the moduli space of Higgs bundles. In this paper we associate a new quiver bundle to the Hom-complex of two chains, and prove that stability of the chains implies stability of this new quiver bundle. Our approach uses the Hitchin-Kobayashi correspondence for quiver bundles. Moreover, we use our result to give a new proof of a key lemma on chains (due to Álvarez-Cónsul, García-Prada and Schmitt), which has been important in the study of Higgs bundle moduli; this proof relies on stability and thus…
In Comm. Math. Physics 118 (1988), 651-701, A. Beilinson and V. Schechtman define on the total space of a smooth family of curves a so-called trace complex associated to a vector bundle, the 0-th relative cohomology of which is the Atiyah algebra of the determinant bundle. Their proof reduces the general case to the acyclic one. In particular, one needs a comparison of the image of the trace complex for a bundle, and its twist by an étale multisection. We analyse this and correct a point in the original proof.
Let $(E,φ)$ be decorated vector bundle of type $(a,b,c,N)$ on a smooth projective curve $X$. There is a suitable semistability condition for such objects which has to be checked for any weighted filtration of $E$. We prove, at least when $a=2$, that it is enough to consider filtrations of length less or equal than two. In this case decorated bundles are very close to quadric bundles and to check semistability condition one can just consider the former. A similar result for L-twisted bundles and quadric bundles was already proved. Our proof provides an explicit algorithm which requires a destab…
This paper is a companion of the paper "Weil's conjecture for function fields" by J. Lurie and the author. We present a different exposition of essentially the same algebro-geometric proof of the Atiyah-Bott for the cohomology of Bun(G), which subsequently leads to the proof of the Tamagawa number formula for the volume of the automorphic space for function fields.
This paper studies syzygies of curves that have been embedded in projective space by line bundles of large degree. The proofs take advantage of the relationship between syzygies and spaces of section of vector bundles associated to the given line bundles.
We give a simple combinatorial proof of the toric version of Mori's theorem that the only $n$-dimensional smooth projective varieties with ample tangent bundle are the projective spaces $\mathbb{P}^n$.
Let R be a regular local ring, containing a finite field. Let G be a reductive group scheme over R. We prove that a principal G-bundle over R is trivial, if it is trivial over the fraction field of R. In other words, if K is the fraction field of R, then the map of pointed sets H^1_{et}(R,G) \to H^1_{et}(K,G), induced by the inclusion of R into K, has a trivial kernel. Certain arguments used in the present preprint do not work if the ring R contains a characteristic zero field. In that case and, more generally, in the case when the regular local ring R contains an infinite field this result is…
In this article we extend the proof given by Biswas and Gomez of a Torelli theorem for the moduli space of Higgs bundles with fixed determinant, to the parabolic situation.
We give a short, geometric proof of Graham's theorem on positivity in the equivariant cohomology of a flag variety, based on a transversality argument.
In this paper, we prove that the notions of Hilbert stability and Mumford stability agree for vector bundles of arbitrary rank over smooth curves. The notion of Hilbert stability was introduced by Gieseker and Morrison in 1984, and they showed that for smooth curves and vector bundles of rank two it agrees with Mumford stability. A different proof for the rank two case was given by M. Teixidor i Bigas. Our proof uses a new approach and avoids complicated computations. Our results might serve as a first step in the construction of the Hilbert stable compactification of the universal moduli spac…
A key result for syzygies of curves is Voisin's proof of Green's conjecture for the canonical embedding of a general curve of any genus. Her primary tools were the Lazarsfeld Mukai bundle on a K3 surface and a representation of Koszul cohomology on the Hilbert scheme of points on the surface. In this note we construct representations of the Koszul complex on Grassmann varieties; Voisin's setup arises as the inverse image of one of the maps. Using a different map, we give a substantially shorter proof of Voisin's result for K3 surfaces of even sectional genus.
We observe that the proof of the Bogomolov stable restriction theorem can be adapted to give an ampleness criterion for globally generated rank 2 vector bundles on certain surfaces. This applies to the Lazarsfeld-Mukai bundles, to congruences of lines in P^3, and possibly to the construction of surfaces with ample cotangent bundle (help welcome!).
We give a new proof of Kollár's conjecture on the pushforward of the dualizing sheaf twisted by a variation of Hodge structure. This conjecture was settled by M. Saito via mixed Hodge modules and has applications in the investigation of Albanese maps. Our technique is the $L^2$-method and we give a concrete construction and proofs of the conjecture. The $L^2$ point of view allows us to generalize Kollár's conjecture to the context of non-abelian Hodge theory.
We show that a normalized rank two vector bundle, E, on P2 splits if and only if h1(E(-1)) = 0. Using this fact we give another proof of a theorem of Chiantini and Valabrega. Finally we describe the normalized bundles with h1(E(-1)) <= 4.
In a series of papers [Pan0], [Pan1], [Pan2], [Pan3] we give a detailed and better structured proof of the Grothendieck--Serre's conjecture for semi-local regular rings containing a finite field. The outline of the proof is the same as in [P1],[P2],[P3]. If the semi-local regular ring contains an infinite field, then the conjecture is proved in [FP]. Thus the conjecture is true for regular local rings containing a field. The present paper is the one [Pan1] in that new series. Theorem 1.1 is one of the main result of the paper. It is also one of the key steps in the proof of the Grothendieck--S…
This expository paper is concerned with the rationality problems for three-dimensional algebraic varieties with a conic bundle structure. We discuss the main methods of this theory. We sketch the proofs of certain principal results, and present some recent achievements. Many open problems are also stated.
We give a proof of the conjecture that a semistable Higgs bundle is strongly Higgs semistable in the case of small ranks, based upon the fact that there exists a gr-semistable Griffiths-transverse filtration on a $\nabla$-invariant semistable vector bundle. The latter is a generalization of a result of Carlos Simpson.
In this note we give an easy proof of the existence of generically smooth components of the expected dimension of certain Brill--Noether loci of stable rank 2 vector bundles on a curve with general moduli, with related applications to Hilbert scheme of scrolls.
We study the general elements of the moduli spaces (\MM_{\PP^2} (r, c_1, c_2) ) of stable holomorphic vector bundle on $\PP^2$ and their minimal free resolution. Incidentally, a quite easy proof of the irreducibility of (\MM_{\PP^2} (r, c_1, c_2)) is shown.
In this paper, we provide an $L^2$ fine resolution of the prolongation of a nilpotent harmonic bundle in the sense of Simpson-Mochizuki (an analytic analogue of the Kashiwara-Malgrange filtrations). This is the logarithmic analogue of Cattani-Kaplan-Schmid's and Kashiwara-Kawai's results on the $L^2$ interpretation of the intersection complex. As an application, we give an $L^2$-theoretic proof to the Nadel-Kawamata-Viehweg vanishing theorem with coefficients in a nilpotent Higgs bundle.
We generalise the variant of the Babylonian tower theorem for vector bundles on projective spaces proved by I. Coanda and G. Trautmann (2006) to the case of principal $G$-bundles over projective spaces, where $G$ is a linear algebraic group defined over an algebraically closed field. In course of the proofs some new insight into the structure of such principal $G$-bundles is obtained.
Let $E$ be a vector bundle on a smooth complex projective variety $X$. We study the family of sections $s_t\in H^0(E\otimes L_t)$ where $L_t\in Pic^0(X)$ is a family of topologically trivial line bundle and $L_0=\mathcal O_X,$ that is, we study deformations of $s=s_0$. By applying the approximation theorem of Artin [2] we give a transversality condition that generalizes the semi-regularity of an effective Cartier divisor. Moreover, we obtain another proof of the Severi-Kodaira-Spencer theorem [4]. We apply our results to give a lower bound to the continuous rank of a vector bundle as defined b…
Mathematical instanton bundles of rank 4 and $c_2=2$ on ${\mathbb P}^4$ have a smoothquasiprojective moduli space, which is shown via a direct GIT construction. A complete classification of jumping lines of these vector bundles is obtained. The duals of these bundles are described. Dimension computations and irreducibility proofs for some "interesting" subsets of the moduli space are presented. Restrictions of vector bundles from ${\mathbb P}^4$ to ${\mathbb P}^3$ are shown to produce mathematical instanton bundles on ${\mathbb P}^3$.
The purpose of this short note is to give a remark on the decomposition theorem for direct images of canonical sheaves tensorized with Nakano semipositive vector bundles. Although our result is a direct consequence of Takegoshi's work, it was not stated explicitly in his article. Here we give the precise statement and the proof.
We prove a Torelli theorem for the moduli space of semistable parabolic Higgs bundles over a smooth complex projective algebraic curve under the assumption that the parabolic weight system is generic. When the genus is at least two, using this result we also prove a Torelli theorem for the moduli space of semistable parabolic bundles of rank at least two with generic parabolic weights. The key input in the proofs is a method of J.C. Hurtubise, Integrable systems and algebraic surfaces, Duke Math. Jour. 83 (1996), 19--49.
Let X be an irreducible smooth complex projective curve of genus g at least 4. Let M(r,Λ) be the moduli space of stable vector bundles over X or rank r and fixed determinant Λ, of degree d. We give a new proof of the fact that the automorphism group of M(r,Λ) is generated by automorphisms of the curve X, tensorization with suitable line bundles, and, if r divides 2d, also dualization of vector bundles.
In this paper we give a survey about the classification of vector bundles and torsion free sheaves on degenerations of elliptic curves. Coherent sheaves on singular curves of arithmetic genus one can be studied using the technique of matrix problems or via Fourier-Mukai transforms, both methods are discussed here. Moreover, we include new proofs of some classical results about vector bundles on elliptic curves.
In this paper, we give a simple proof of a triviality criterion due to I.Biswas and J.Pedro and P.Dos Santos. We also prove a vector bundle on a homogenous space is trivial if and only if the restrictions of the vector bundle to Schubert lines are trivial. Using this result and Chern classes of vector bundles, we give a general criterion of a uniform vector bundle on a homogenous space to be splitting. As an application, we prove a uniform vector bundle on classical Grassmannians and quadrics of low rank is splitting.
Let S be a complex smooth projective surface and L be a line bundle on S. Göttsche conjectured that for every integer r, the number of r-nodal curves in |L| is a universal polynomial of four topological numbers when L is sufficiently ample. We prove Göttsche's conjecture using the algebraic cobordism group of line bundles on surfaces and degeneration of Hilbert schemes of points. In addition, we prove the the Göttsche-Yau-Zaslow Formula which expresses the generating function of the numbers of nodal curves in terms of quasi-modular forms and two unknown series.
We observe that if we are interested primarily in degeneration arguments, there is a weaker notion of (semi)stability for vector bundles on reducible curves, which is sufficient for many applications, and does not depend on a choice of polarization. We introduce and explore the basic properties of this alternate notion of (semi)stability. In a complementary direction, we record a proof of the existence of semistable extensions of vector bundles in suitable degenerations.
We prove that the normalized Poincaré bundle on the moduli space of stable rank $r$ vector bundles with a fixed determinant on a smooth projective curve $X$ induces a family of nef vector bundles on the moduli space. Two applications follow. We show that when the genus of $X$ is large, the derived category of $X$ is embedded into the derived category of the moduli space for arbitrary rank and coprime degree, which extends the results of Narasimhan, Fonarev-Kuznetsov, and Belmans-Mukhopadhyay. As the second application, we construct a family of ACM bundles on the moduli space. A key ingredient …
We give an algebraic proof valid in arbitrary characteristic for the known equivalence between (strongly) slope semistable vector bundles with vanishing discriminant and vanishing determinant and numerically flat bundles. We also address a related question of Misra.
The cherry on top of this stacky paper is the following: for any g>1 we give a finite group G such that the moduli space of connected admissible G-covers of genus g is a smooth, fine moduli space, which is a Galois cover of the moduli space of stable curves. The proof relies on methods introduced by Looijenga and Pikaart-De Jong, and on the theory of twisted G-covers, a theory announced without proofs in math.AG/9811059, section 3, and developed in the first few sections of this paper. This includes a moduli description of the normalization of the Harris-Mumford space of admissible covers, and…
We present a proof of the algorithm for computing line bundle valued cohomology classes over toric varieties conjectured by R.~Blumenhagen, B.~Jurke and the authors (arXiv:1003.5217) and suggest a kind of Serre duality for combinatorial Betti numbers that we observed when computing examples.
It is a folklore theorem that the Kuranishi slice method can be used to construct the moduli space of semistable Higgs bundles on a closed Riemann surface as a complex space. The purpose of this paper is to provide a proof in detail. We also give a direct proof that the moduli space is locally modeled on an affine GIT quotient of a quadratic cone by a complex reductive group.
