We study isolated quotient singularities by finite and linearly reductive group schemes (lrq singularities for short) and show that they satisfy many, but not all, of the known properties of finite quotient singularities in characteristic zero:
(1) From the lrq singularity we can recover the group scheme and the quotient presentation.
(2) We establish canonical lifts to characteristic zero, which leads to a bijection between lrq singularities and certain characteristic zero counterparts.
(3) We classify subgroup schemes of ${\mathbf{GL}}_d$ and ${\mathbf{SL}}_d$ that correspond to lrq singularities. For $d=2$, this generalises results of Klein, Brieskorn, and Hashimoto. Also, our classification is closely related to the spherical space form problem.
(4) F-regular (resp. F-regular and Gorenstein) surface singularities are precisely the lrq singularities by finite and linearly reductive subgroup schemes of ${\mathbf{GL}}_2$ (resp. ${\mathbf{SL}}_2$). This generalises results of Klein and Du Val.
(5) Lrq singularities in dimension $\geq 4$ are infinitesimally rigid. We classify lrq singularities in dimension $3$ that are not infinitesimally rigid and compute their deformation spaces. This generalises Schlessinger's rigidity theorem to positive and mixed characteristic.
Finally, we study Riemenschneider's conjecture in this context, that is, whether lrq singularities deform to lrq singularities.
We prove that good quotients of algebraic varieties with 1-rational singularities also have 1-rational singularities. This refines a result of Boutot on rational singularities of good quotients.
We establish a method for calculating the Poincaré series of moduli spaces constructed as quotients of smooth varieties by suitable non-reductive group actions; examples of such moduli spaces include moduli spaces of unstable vector or Higgs bundles on a smooth projective curve, with a Harder-Narasimhan type of length two. To do so, we first prove a result concerning the smoothness of fixed point sets for suitable non-reductive group actions on smooth varieties. This enables us to prove that quotients of smooth varieties by such non-reductive group actions, which can be constructed using Non-R…
We give another proof that a reductive algebraic group is geometrically reductive. We show that a quotient of the semi-stable locus (by a linear action of a reductive algebraic group on a projective scheme) exists, and from this Haboush's Theorem (Mumford's Conjecture) follows.
This paper generalizes the classical theory of Newton polygons from the case of general linear groups to the case of split reductive groups. It also gives a root-theoretic formula for dimensions of Newton strata in the adjoint quotients of reductive groups.
In this paper we give smoothness criterions for a good quotient Y of a smooth variety X by a reductive group G. Our results partially answer a question raised by J. Fogarty in the case where G is a finite group. They also give a converse to a theorem of M. Brion, telling that invariant horizontal differential forms on X and differential forms on Y are isomorphic under the assumption that Y is smooth. The proof of our criterion rely on a new description of the dualizing sheaf of Y established in this article.
We study the Newton stratification of the adjoint quotient of a connected split reductive group G with simply connected derived group over the field F of formal Laurent series in one variable over the field of complex numbers. Our main result describes the centralizer of a regular semisimple element in G(F) whose image in the adjoint quotient lies in a certain generic subset of a given Newton stratum. Other noteworthy results include analogues of some results of Springer on regular elements of finite reflection groups, as well as a geometric construction of a well known homomorphism from the f…
We classify the linearly reductive finite subgroup schemes $G$ of $SL_2=SL(V)$ over an algebraically closed field $k$ of positive characteristic, up to conjugation. As a corollary, we prove that such $G$ is in one-to-one correspondence with an isomorphism class of two-dimensional $F$-rational Gorenstein complete local rings with the coefficient field $k$ by the correspondence $G\mapsto ((\mathop{\mathrm{Sym}} V)^G)\,\hat{~}$.
Given a suitable action on a complex projective variety X of a non-reductive affine algebraic group H, this paper considers how to choose a reductive group G containing H and a projective completion of G x_H X which is a reductive envelope in the sense of math.AG/0703131. In particular it studies the family of examples given by moduli spaces of hypersurfaces in the weighted projective plane P(1,1,2) obtained as quotients by linear actions of the (non-reductive) automorphism group of P(1,1,2).
We extend the methods of geometric invariant theory to actions of non--reductive groups in the case of homomorphisms between decomposable sheaves whose automorphism groups are non--reductive. Given a linearization of the natural action of the group $\Aut(E)\times\Aut(F)$ on Hom(E,F), a homomorphism is called stable if its orbit with respect to the unipotent radical is contained in the stable locus with respect to the natural reductive subgroup of the automorphism group. We encounter effective numerical conditions for a linearization such that the corresponding open set of semi-stable homomorph…
In this paper we study actions of reductive groups on affine spaces. We prove that there is a fan structure on the space of characters of the group, which parameterizes the possible invariant quotients. In the second half of the paper we study various geometrical properties of the quotients: we compute their Chow ring and the cohomology ring (in case we work over the complex numbers), both with rational coefficients. Actually, the cycle map turns out to be an isomorphism. Further, we construct families of such quotients over reduced base schemes, and compute again the Chow and the cohomology r…
Consider an algebraic action of a connected complex reductive algebraic group on a complex polarized projective variety. In this paper, we first introduce the nilpotent quotient, the quotient of the polarized projective variety by a maximal unipotent subgroup. Then, we introduce and investigate three induced actions: one by the reductive group, one by a Borel subgroup, and one by a maximal torus, respectively. Our main result is that there are natural correspondences among quotients of these three actions. In the end, we mention a possible application to the moduli spaces of parabolic bundles …
We generalize the classical Chevalley-Shephard-Todd theorem to the case of finite linearly reductive group schemes. As an application, we prove that every scheme X which is etale locally the quotient of a smooth scheme by a finite linearly reductive group scheme is the coarse space of a smooth tame Artin stack (as defined by Abramovich, Olsson, and Vistoli) whose stacky structure is supported on the singular locus of X.
Let X be a locally symmetric variety. Let EBS(X) and TorE(X) denote its excentric Borel-Serre and excentric toroidal compactifications, resp. We determine their least common modification and use it to prove a conjecture of Goresky and Tai concerning canonical extensions of homogeneous vector bundles. In the process, we see that EBS(X) and TorE(X) are homotopy equivalent.
We prove that the Hodge-de Rham spectral sequence for smooth proper tame Artin stacks in characteristic p (as defined by Abramovich, Olsson, and Vistoli) which lift mod p^2 degenerates. We push the result to the coarse spaces of such stacks, thereby obtaining a degeneracy result for schemes which are etale locally the quotient of a smooth scheme by a finite linearly reductive group scheme.
The symplectic implosion construction of Guillemin, Jeffrey and Sjamaar associates to a Hamiltonian action of a compact group K on a symplectic manifold X its 'imploded cross section'. When X is a complex projective variety and K acts linearly on X, this construction is closely related to geometric invariant theory (GIT) for the action on X of a maximal unipotent subgroup U of the complexification G of K. The aim of this paper is to generalise symplectic implosion to give a symplectic construction for GIT-like quotients by unipotent radicals U of arbitrary parabolic subgroups P of the complex …
For a connected reductive group G and a finite-dimensional G-module V, we study the invariant Hilbert scheme that parameterizes closed G-stable subschemes of V affording a fixed, multiplicity-finite representation of G in their coordinate ring. We construct an action on this invariant Hilbert scheme of a maximal torus T of G, together with an open T-stable subscheme admitting a good quotient. The fibers of the quotient map classify affine G-schemes having a prescribed categorical quotient by a maximal unipotent subgroup of G. We show that V contains only finitely many multiplicity-free G-subva…
We study linear actions of algebraic groups on smooth projective varieties X. A guiding goal for us is to understand the cohomology of "quotients" under such actions, by generalizing (from reductive to non-reductive group actions) existing methods involving Mumford's geometric invariant theory (GIT). We concentrate on actions of unipotent groups H, and define sets of stable points X^s and semistable points X^{ss}, often explicitly computable via the methods of reductive GIT, which reduce to the standard definitions due to Mumford in the case of reductive actions. We compare these with definiti…
For a derived stack obtained as a quotient of a derived affine scheme by a reductive group, we show that shifted symplectic structures can be characterized by the Cartan-de Rham complex. For non-reductive groups, we also show the analogous statement for Getzler's extension of the Cartan-de Rham complex. Dually, we construct a Cartan model for polyvector fields on global quotients by reductive groups, and show that shifted Poisson structures can be characterized by it.
The space of n distinct points and a disjoint parameterized hyperplane in projective d-space up to projectivity---equivalently, configurations of n distinct points in affine d-space up to translation and homothety---has a beautiful compactification introduced by Chen-Gibney-Krashen. This variety, constructed inductively using the apparatus of Fulton-MacPherson configuration spaces, is a parameter space of certain pointed rational varieties whose dual intersection complex is a rooted tree. This generalizes $\overline{M}_{0,n}$ and shares many properties with it. In this paper, we prove that the…
The wall-and-chamber structure of the dependence of the reductive GIT quotient on the choice of linearisation is well known. In this article, we first give a brief survey of recent results in non-reductive GIT, which apply when the unipotent radical is 'graded'. We then examine the dependence of these non-reductive quotients on the linearisation and an additional parameter, the choice of one-parameter subgroup grading the unipotent radical, and arrive at a picture similar to the reductive one.
Motivated by the study of hyperkahler structures in moduli problems and hyperkahler implosion, we initiate the study of non-reductive hyperkahler and algebraic symplectic quotients with an eye towards those naturally tied to projective geometry, like cotangent bundles of blow-ups of linear arrangements of projective space. In the absence of a Kempf-Ness theorem for non-reductive quotients, we focus on constructing algebraic symplectic analogues of additive quotients of affine spaces, and obtain hyperkahler structures on large open subsets of these analogues by comparison with reductive analogu…
In this article we review the question of constructing geometric quotients of actions of linear algebraic groups on irreducible varieties over algebraically closed fields of characteristic zero, in the spirit of Mumford's geometric invariant theory (GIT). The article surveys some recent work on geometric invariant theory and quotients of varieties by linear algebraic group actions, as well as background material on linear algebraic groups, Mumford's GIT and some of the challenges that the non-reductive setting presents. The earlier work of two of the authors in the setting of unipotent group a…
Motivated by constructing moduli spaces of unstable objects, we use new ideas in non-reductive GIT to construct quotients by parabolic group actions. For moduli problems with semistable moduli spaces constructed by reductive GIT, we consider associated instability (or HKKN) stratifications, which are often closed related to Harder-Narasimhan stratifications, and construct quotients of the unstable strata under various stabiliser assumptions by further developing ideas of non-reductive GIT. Our approach is to construct parabolic quotients in stages, in order for the required stabiliser assumpti…
In this paper we generalize standard results about non-commutative resolutions of quotient singularities for finite groups to arbitrary reductive groups. We show in particular that quotient singularities for reductive groups always have non-commutative resolutions in an appropriate sense. Moreover we exhibit a large class of such singularities which have (twisted) non-commutative crepant resolutions. We discuss a number of examples, both new and old, that can be treated using our methods. Notably we prove that twisted non-commutative crepant resolutions exist in previously unknown cases for de…
We show that near closed points with linearly reductive stabilizer, Artin stacks are formally locally quotient stacks by the stabilizer. We conjecture that the statement holds etale locally and we provide some evidence for this conjecture. In particular, we prove that if the stabilizer of a point is linearly reductive, the stabilizer acts algebraically on a miniversal deformation space generalizing results of Pinkham and Rim.
We prove finite generation of the algebras of invariants for a class of linear actions of suitable non-reductive groups on projective and affine varieties, and give a geometric construction for their GIT quotients.
We present a generalized version of classical geometric invariant theory à la Mumford where we consider an affine algebraic group $G$ acting on a specific affine algebraic variety $X$. We define the notions of linearly reductive and of unipotent action in terms of the $G$ fixed point functor in the category of $(G,\Bbbk [X])$--modules. In the case that $X=\{\star\}$ we recuperate the concept of lineraly reductive and of unipotent group. We prove in our "relative" context some of the classical results of GIT such as: existence of quotients, finite generation of invariants, Kostant--Rosenlicht's…
The $L^2$-cohomology of a locally symmetric variety is known to have the topological interpretation as the intersection homology of its Baily-Borel Satake compactification. In this article, we observe that even without the Hermitian hypothesis, the $L^p$-cohomology of an arithmetic quotient, for $p$ finite and sufficiently large, is isomorphic to the ordinary cohomology of its reductive Borel-Serre compactification. We use this to generalize a theorem of Mumford concerning homogeneous vector bundles, their invariant Chern forms and the canonical extensions of the bundles; here, though, we are …
The paper proves that if a reductive group scheme acts properly on a scheme then the geometric quotient exists as an algebraic space. As a consequence we obtain the existence of the moduli spcace of canonically polarized varieties over Spec Z.
Let $(X,ω_X)$ be a derived scheme with a 0-symplectic form and suppose there is a Hamiltonian $G$-action with a moment map for $G$ a reductive group. We prove, under no further assumptions, that symplectic reduction along any coadjoint orbit in the category of derived Artin stacks has a 0-symplectic form.
Suppose that G is a linearly reductive group. We study the minimal free resolution of the invariant ring. If G is a finite linearly reductive group, then the ring of invariants is generated in degree at most |G|, the group order. We prove that the ideal of relations of a minimal set of generators of the invariant ring is generated in degree at most 2|G|.
We consider actions of reductive groups on a varieties with finitely generated Cox ring, e.g., the classical case of a diagonal action on a product of projective spaces. Given such an action, we construct via combinatorial data in the Cox ring all maximal open subsets such that the quotient is quasiprojective or embeddable into a toric variety. As applications, we obtain an explicit description of the chamber structure of the linearized ample cone and several Gelfand-MacPherson type correspondences relating quotients of reductive groups to quotients of torus actions. Moreover, our approach pro…
Cohomological integrality for weakly symmetric representations of reductive groups
Laboratoire Ami\'enois de Math\'ematique Fondamentale et Appliqu\'ee, CNRS UMR 7352, Universit\'e de Picardie Jules Verne, 33 rue Saint Leu, 80000 Amiens, France
In this paper, we prove that any two birational projective varieties with finite quotient singularities can be realized as two geometric GIT quotients of a non-singular projective variety by a reductive algebraic group. Then, by applying the theory of Variation of Geometric Invariant Theory Quotients ([3]), we show that they are related by a sequence of GIT wall-crossing flips.
We generalize the Białynicki-Birula decomposition from actions of $G_m$ on smooth varieties to actions of linearly reductive group ${\bf G}$ on finite type schemes and algebraic spaces. We also provide a relative version and briefly discuss the case of algebraic stacks. We define the Białynicki-Birula decomposition functorially: for a fixed ${\bf G}$-scheme $X$ and a monoid $\overline{\bf G}$ which partially compactifies ${\bf G}$, the BB decomposition parameterizes ${\bf G}$-schemes over $X$ for which the ${\bf G}$-action extends to the $\overline{\bf G}$-action. The freedom of choice of $\ov…
Let G be a reductive linear algebraic group, H a reductive subgroup of G and X an affine G-variety. Let Y denote the set of fixed points of H in X, and N(H) the normalizer of H in G. In this paper we study the natural map from the quotient of Y by N(H) to the quotient of X by G induced by the inclusion of Y in X. We show that, given G and H, this map is a finite morphism for all G-varieties X if and only if H is G-completely reducible (in the sense defined by J-P. Serre); this was proved in characteristic zero by Luna in the 1970s. We discuss some applications and give a criterion for the map …
For a large class of good moduli spaces $X$ of symmetric stacks $\mathcal{X}$, we define noncommutative motives $\mathbb{D}^{\text{nc}}(X)$ which can be regarded as categorifications of the intersection cohomology of $X$. These motives are summands of noncommutative resolutions of singularities $\mathbb{D}(X)\subset D^b(\mathcal{X})$ of $X$. The category $\mathbb{D}(X)$ is a global analogue of the noncommutative resolutions of singularities of $V//G$ for $V$ a symmetric representation of a reductive group $G$ constructed by Špenko-Van den Bergh.
Fix a scheme $X$ over a field of characteristic zero that is equipped with an action of a reductive algebraic group $G$. We give necessary and sufficient conditions for a $G$-equivariant coherent sheaf on $X$ or a bounded-above complex of $G$-equivariant coherent sheaves on $X$ to descend to a good quotient $X//G$. This gives a description of the coherent derived category of $X//G$ as an admissible subcategory of the equivariant derived category of $X$.
Recent results in geometric invariant theory (GIT) for non-reductive linear algebraic group actions allow us to stratify quotient stacks of the form [X/H], where X is a projective scheme and H is a linear algebraic group with internally graded unipotent radical acting linearly on X, in such a way that each stratum [S/H] has a geometric quotient S/H. This leads to stratifications of moduli stacks (for example, sheaves over a projective scheme) such that each stratum has a coarse moduli space.
When a reductive group $G$ acts linearly on a complex projective scheme $X$ there is a stratification of $X$ into $G$-invariant locally closed subschemes, with an open stratum $X^{ss}$ formed by the semistable points in the sense of Mumford's geometric invariant theory which has a categorical quotient $X^{ss} \to X//G$. In this article we describe a method for constructing quotients of the unstable strata. As an application, we construct moduli spaces of sheaves of fixed Harder-Narasimhan type with some extra data (an '$n$-rigidification') on a projective base.
We introduce and study a class of algebraic stacks with finite inertia in positive and mixed characteristic, which we call tame algebraic stacks. They include tame Deligne-Mumford stacks, and are arguably better behaved than general Deligne-Mumford stacks. We also give a complete characterization of finite flat linearly reductive schemes over an arbitrary base. Our main result is that tame algebraic stacks are étale locally quotient by actions of linearly reductive finite group schemes. In a subsequent paper we will show that tame algebraic stacks admit a good theory of stable maps.
We prove that rational and 1-rational singularities of complex spaces are stable under taking quotients by holomorphic actions of reductive and compact Lie groups. This extends a result of Boutot to the analytic category and yields a refinement of his result in the algebraic category. As one of the main technical tools vanishing theorems for cohomology groups with support on fibres of resolutions are proven.
Many moduli spaces are constructed as quotients of group actions; this paper surveys the classical theory, as well as recent progress and applications. We review geometric invariant theory for reductive groups and how it is used to construct moduli spaces, and explain two new developments extending this theory to non-reductive groups and to stacks, which enable the construction of new moduli spaces.
Let $X$ be flat scheme over $\mathbb{Z}$ such that its base change, $X_p$, to $\bar{\mathbb{F}}_p$ is Frobenius split for all primes $p$. Let $G$ be a reductive group scheme over $\mathbb{Z}$ acting on $X$. In this paper, we prove a result on the $N_p$ property for line bundles on GIT quotients of $X_{\mathbb{C}}$ for the action of $G_{\mathbb{C}}$. We apply our result to the special cases of (1) an action of a finite group on the projective space and (2) the action of a maximal torus on the flag variety of type $A_n$.
In this article, we study $G$-covers of klt varieties, where $G$ is a reductive group. First, we exhibit an example of a klt singularity admitting a $\mathbb{P}{\rm GL}_n(\mathbb{K})$-cover that is not of klt type. Then, we restrict ourselves to $G$-quasi-torsors, a special class of $G$-covers that behave like $G$-torsors outside closed subsets of codimension two. Given a $G$-quasi-torsor $X\rightarrow Y$, where $G$ is a finite extension of a torus $\mathbb{T}$, we show that $X$ is of klt type if and only if $Y$ is of klt type. We prove a structural theorem for $\mathbb{T}$-quasi-torsors over …
Let G be a complex reductive group and K a maximal compact subgroup. If X is a smooth projective G-variety, with a fixed (not necessarily integral) K-invariant Kaehler form, then the K-action is Hamiltonian. Let M be the zero fiber of the corresponding moment map. It is well known that the quotient M/K is a complex space in a natural way. We prove that M/K is a projective variety. In particular, it follows that semistability with respect to a moment map is equivalent to semistability in the sense of Mumford.
This is the first in a sequence of papers in which we construct a quantum version of the Kirwan map from the equivariant quantum cohomology $QH_G(X)$ of a smooth complex projective variety X with the action of a connected complex reductive group $G$ to the orbifold quantum cohomology $QH(X//G)$ of its geometric invariant theory quotient $X//G$, and prove that it intertwines the genus zero gauged Gromov-Witten potential of X with the genus zero Gromov-Witten graph potential of $X//G$.
This is the third in a sequence of papers in which we construct a quantum version of the Kirwan map from the equivariant quantum cohomology of a smooth polarized complex projective variety with the action of a connected complex reductive group to the orbifold quantum cohomology of its geometric invariant theory quotient, and prove that it intertwines the genus zero gauged Gromov-Witten potential with the genus zero Gromov-Witten graph potential. We also give a formula for a solution to the quantum differential equation in terms of a localized gauged potential. These results overlap with those …
We take a new look at the curvilinear Hilbert scheme of points on a smooth projective variety $X$ as a projective completion of the non-reductive quotient of holomorphic map germs from the complex line into $X$ by polynomial reparametrisations. Using an algebraic model of this quotient coming from global singularity theory we develop an iterated residue formula for tautological integrals over curvilinear Hilbert schemes.
Given an action of a reductive group on a normal variety, we construct all invariant open subsets admitting a good quotient with a quasiprojective or a divisorial quotient space. Our approach extends known constructions like Mumford's Geometric Invariant Theory. We obtain several new Hilbert-Mumford type theorems, and we extend a projectivity criterion of Bialynicki-Birula and Swiecicka for varieties with semisimple group action from the smooth to the singular case.
