In this paper we approach the study of generalized theta linear series on moduli of vector bundles on curves via vector bundle techniques on abelian varieties. We study what are called the Verlinde bundles in order to obtain information about duality between theta functions and effective global and normal generation on these moduli spaces.
We prove canonical isomorphisms between Spin Verlinde spaces, i.e, spaces of global sections of a determinant line bundle over the moduli space of semistable Spin-bundles over a smooth projective curve C, and the dual spaces of theta functions over Prym varieties of unramified double covers of C.
We study the splitting properties of the Verlinde bundles over elliptic curves. Our methods rely on the explicit description of the moduli space of semistable vector bundles on elliptic curves, and on the analysis of the symmetric powers of the Schrodinger representation of the Theta group.
We determine the splitting type of the Verlinde vector bundles in higher genus in terms of simple semihomogeneous factors. In agreement with strange duality, the simple factors are interchanged by the Fourier-Mukai transform, and their spaces of sections are naturally dual.
A Verlinde space of level $k$ is the space of global sections of the $k$-th power of the determinant line bundle on the moduli space $\cSU_C(r)$ of semi-stable bundles of rank $r$ on a curve $C$. The aim of this note is to make accessible some remarks on the action of the Theta group on the Verlinde spaces of higher level. This gives a decomposition of the bundle of Verlinde spaces over the moduli space of curves and we indicate how to compute the rank of the isotypical components in the decomposition.
Verlinde bundles are vector bundles $V_k$ arising as the direct image $π_*(\mathcal L^{\otimes k})$ of polarizations of a proper family of schemes $π\colon \mathfrak X \to S$. We study the splitting behavior of Verlinde bundles in the case where $π$ is the universal family $\mathfrak X \to |\mathcal O(d)|$ of hypersurfaces of degree $d$ in $\mathbb P^n$ and calculate the cohomology class of the locus of jumping lines of the Verlinde bundles $V_{d+1}$ in the cases $n=2,3$.
We prove an explicit formula for the total Chern character of the Verlinde bundle over the moduli space of pointed stable curves in terms of tautological classes. The Chern characters of the Verlinde bundles define a semisimple CohFT (the ranks, given by the Verlinde formula, determine a semisimple fusion algebra). According to Teleman's classification of semisimple CohFTs, there exists an element of Givental's group transforming the fusion algebra into the CohFT. We determine the element using the first Chern class of the Verlinde bundle on the moduli space of nonsingular curves and the proje…
Theta functions of level n on the principally polarised Prym varieties of an algebraic curve are dual to sections of the orthogonal theta line bundle on the moduli space of Spin(n)-bundles over the curve. As a by-product of our computations we also note that when n is odd the pfaffian line bundle on moduli space has a basis of sections labelled by the even theta characteristics of the curve.
We prove that moduli spaces of semistable parabolic bundles and generalized parabolic sheaves (GPS) with a fixed determinant on a smooth projective curve are globally F-regular type. As an application, we prove vanishing theorems on the moduli spaces of semistable parabolic sheaves on a singular curve, which combining with Factorization theorems in [24] and [25] give two recurrence relations among dimensions of spaces of generalized theta functions. By using of these recurrence relations, we prove an explicit formula (Verlinde formula) for the dimension of spaces of generalized theta functions…
A formula for the first Chern class of the Verlinde bundle over the moduli space of smooth genus g curves is given. A finite-dimensional argument is presented in rank 2 using geometric symmetries obtained from strange duality, relative Serre duality, and Wirtinger duality together with the projective flatness of the Hitchin connection. A derivation using conformal-block methods is presented in higher rank. An expression for the first Chern class over the compact moduli space of curves is obtained.
Let C be a smooth projective complex curve of genus at least 2. For a simply-connected complex Lie group G the vector space of global sections H^0(M(G), L^l) of the l-th power of the ample generator L of the Picard group of the moduli stack of principal G-bundles over C is commonly called the space of generalized G-theta functions or Verlinde space of level l. In the case G = G_2, the exceptional Lie group of automorphisms of the complex Cayley algebra, we study natural linear maps between the Verlinde space H^0(M(G_2), L) of level one and some Verlinde spaces for SL_2 and SL_3. We deduce that…
Given a compact Riemann surface $X$ of genus at least $2$ with automorphism group $G$ we provide formulae that enable us to compute traces of automorphisms of X on the space of global sections of $G$-linearized line bundles defined on certain blow-ups of proyective spaces along the curve $X$. The method is an adaptation of one used by Thaddeus to compute the dimensions of those spaces. In particular we can compute the traces of automorphisms of $X$ on the Verlinde spaces corresponding to the moduli space $SU_{X}(2,ξ)$ when $ξ$ is a line bundle $G$-linearized of suitable degree.
This paper computes the quantization of the moduli space of flat SO(3)-bundles over an oriented surface with boundary, with prescribed holonomies around the boundary circles. The result agrees with the generalized Verlinde formula conjectured by Fuchs and Schweigert.
We study the bundles of generalized theta functions constructed from moduli spaces of sheaves over abelian surfaces. In degree 0, the splitting type of these bundles is expressed in terms of indecomposable semihomogeneous factors. Furthermore, Fourier-Mukai symmetries of the Verlinde bundles are found, consistently with strange duality. Along the way, a transformation formula for the theta bundles is derived, extending a theorem of Drezet-Narasimhan from curves to abelian surfaces.
We propose and prove the Verlinde formula for the quantization of the Higgs bundle moduli spaces and stacks for any simple and simply-connected group. This generalizes the equivariant Verlinde formula for the case of $SU(n)$ proposed previously by the second and third author. We further establish a Verlinde formula for the quantization of parabolic Higgs bundle moduli spaces and stacks. Finally, we prove that these dimensions form a one-parameter family of $1+1$-dimensional TQFT, uniquely classified by the complex Verlinde algebra, which is a one-parameter family of Frobenius algebras. We cons…
I conjecture that index formulas for $K$-theory classes on the moduli of holomorphic $G$-bundles over a compact Riemann surface $Σ$ are controlled, in a precise way, by Frobenius algebra deformations of the Verlinde algebra of $G$. The Frobenius algebras in question are twisted $K$-theories of $G$, equivariant under the conjugation action, and the controlling device is the equivariant Gysin map along the "product of commutators" from $G^{2g}$ to $G$. The conjecture is compatible with naive virtual localization of holomorphic bundles, from $G$ to its maximal torus; this follows by localization …
In this paper we show that semistable vector bundles on a Castelnuovo curve of genus g >= 2 have theta divisors. As a corollary, we deduce that semistable vector bundles on a smooth, general curve of genus g >= 2 which extend to semistable vector bundles on any Castelnuovo degeneration of the general curve admit a theta divisor.
We show that the locus of stable rank four vector bundles without theta divisor over a smooth projective curve of genus two is in canonical bijection with the set of theta-characteristics. We give several descriptions of these bundles and compute the degree of the rational theta map.
We prove an analog of the Verlinde formula on the moduli space of semistable meromorphic G-Higgs bundles over a smooth curve for a reductive group G whose fundamental group is free. The formula expresses the graded dimension of the space of sections of a positive line bundle as a finite sum whose terms are indexed by formal solutions of a generalized Bethe ansatz equation on the maximal torus of G. In an appendix, Constantin Teleman proves a vanishing theorem for the higher cohomology of positive line bundles on the stack of Higgs bundles.
Let M be the moduli space of SO(r)-bundles on a curve, and L the determinant bundle on M. We define an isomorphism of H^0(M,L) onto the dual of the space of r-th order theta functions on the Jacobian of C. This isomorphism identifies the map M -->|L|* defined by the linear system |L| with the map M -->|r Theta| which associates to a quadratic bundle (E,q) the Theta divisor of the vector bundle E . The two components M+ and M- of M are mapped into the subspaces of even and odd theta functions respectively. Finally we discuss the analogous question for Sp(2r)-bundles.
A generic strictly semistable bundle of degree zero over a curve X has a reducible theta divisor, given by the sum of the theta divisors of the stable summands of the associated graded bundle. The converse is not true: Beauville and Raynaud have each constructed stable bundles with reducible theta divisors. For X of genus at least 5, we construct stable vector bundles over X of rank $r$ for all $r \geq 5$, with reducible and nonreduced theta divisors. We also adapt the construction to symplectic bundles. In the appendix, Raynaud's original example of a stable rank 2 vector bundle with reducibl…
This is a (short) survey lecture on the "theta map" from the moduli space of SL_r bundles on a curve C to the projective space of r-th order theta functions on JC . Some recent results and a few open problems about that map are discussed.
Let $E$ be a smooth elliptic curve over $\mathbb{C}$. For $E$ embedded into $\mathbb{P}^2$ as Hesse cubic and $V$ an Ulrich bundle on $E$ we derive a explicit presentation of $V$ using Moore matrices and theta functions.
Let G be a complex semi-simple group, X a Riemann surface, M_G the moduli space of principal G-bundles on X. When G is simply-connected, there exists a closed formula expressing the dimension of the space H^0(M_G,L) for any line bundle L on M_G (this is usually called among mathematicians, somewhat incorrectly, the "Verlinde formula").In this paper we find an analogous formula for G = PGL(r) where r is prime.
The Verlinde formula computes the dimension of certain vector spaces ("conformal blocks") associated to a Rational Conformal Field Theory. In this paper we show how this can be made rigorous for one particular such theory, the WZW model. Thanks to the results of [B-L], [F] and [T-U-Y], this gives the dimension of the space of global sections of the determinant line bundles (and its multiples) on the moduli space of vector bundles with fixed rank and determinant.
Let C be a curve of genus g and L a line bundle of degree 2g on C . Let M be the kernel of the evaluation map from the trivial bundle with fibre H^0(C,L) into L . We show that when L is general enough, the rank g bundle M and its exterior powers are stable and admit a reducible theta divisor.
We study the moduli problem of pairs consisting of a rank 2 vector bundle and a nonzero section over a fixed smooth curve. The stability condition involves a parameter; as it varies, we show that the moduli space undergoes a sequence of flips in the sense of Mori. As applications, we prove several results about moduli spaces of rank 2 bundles, including the Harder-Narasimhan formula and the SU(2) Verlinde formula. Indeed, we prove a general result on the space of sections of powers of the ideal sheaf of a curve in projective space, which includes the Verlinde formula.
Let C be a curve of genus g, and let SU(r) be the moduli space of vector bundles of rank r on C, with trivial determinant. A general E in SU(r) defines a theta divisor in the linear system |r Theta|, where Theta is the canonical theta divisor in Pic^{g-1}(C). This defines a rational map SU(r) - - > |r Theta|, which is the map associated to the determinant bundle on SU(r) (the positive generator of Pic(SU(r)). In this paper we prove that in genus 2 this map is generically finite and dominant. The same method, together with some classical work of Morin, shows that in rank 3 and genus 3 the theta…
The moduli space M(n,d) is an algebraic variety parametrizing those representations of the fundamental group of a punctured Riemann surface into the Lie group SU(n) for which a loop around the boundary is sent to the n-th root of unity exp (2 πi d/n) multiplied by the identity matrix. If n and d are coprime it is in fact a Kähler manifold. One may relax the constraint and study moduli spaces M(L) parametrizing those representations for which the loop around the boundary is sent to an element conjugate to L, if L is some element in SU(n), and these are also Kähler manifolds for a suitable class…
Raynaud has shown that over a general curve of genus $g \ge 2$, every semistable bundle of rank three and integral slope admits a theta divisor. We show that this can fail for special curves: Over any bielliptic curve of genus $g \ge 5$, we construct a stable rank three bundle of trivial determinant with no theta divisor. This gives a partial answer to a question of Beauville.
We study base points of the generalized Theta-divisor on the moduli space of vector bundles on a smooth algebraic curve X of genus g defined over an algebraically closed field. To do so, we use the derived categories D(Pic(X)), D(Jac(X)), and the equivalence between them given by the Fourier-Mukai transform coming from the Poincaré bundle. The vector bundles P(m) on the curve X defined by Raynaud play a central role in this description. Indeed, we show that a vector bundle E is a base point of the generalized Theta-divisor, if and only if there exists a nontrivial homomorphism P(rk(E)g+1) --> …
The moduli stack M_X(E_8) of principal E_8-bundles over a smooth projective curve X carries a natural divisor Delta. We study the pull-back of the divisor Delta to the moduli stack M_X(P), where P is a semi-simple and simply connected group such that its Lie algebra Lie(P) is a maximal conformal subalgebra of Lie(E_8). We show that the divisor Delta induces "Strange Duality"-type isomorphisms between the Verlinde spaces at level one of the following pairs of groups (SL(5), SL(5)), (Spin(8), Spin(8)), (SL(3), E_6) and (SL(2), E_7).
We generalize to $n$-torsion a result of Kempf's describing $2$-torsion points lying on a theta divisor. This is accomplished by means of certain semihomogeneous vector bundles introduced and studied by Mukai and Oprea. As an application, we prove a sharp upper bound for the number of $n$-torsion points on a theta divisor, and show that this is achieved only in the case of products of elliptic curves, settling in the affirmative a conjecture of Auffarth, Pirola and Salvati Manni.
We study relations between two fundamental constructions associated to vector bundles on a smooth complex projective curve: the theta function (a section of a line bundle on the moduli space of vector bundles) and the Szegö kernel (a section of a vector bundle on the square of the curve). Two types of relations are demonstrated. First, we establish a higher--rank version of the prime form, describing the pullback of determinant line bundles by difference maps, and show the theta function pulls back to the determinant of the Szegö kernel. Next, we prove that the expansion of the Szegö kernel at…
The moduli space M_2 of rank four semistable symplectic vector bundles over a curve X of genus two is an irreducible projective variety of dimension ten. Its Picard group is generated by the determinantal line bundle Ξ. The base locus of the linear system |Ξ| consists of precisely those bundles without theta divisors, that is, admitting nonzero maps from every line bundle of degree -1 = 1-g over X. We show that this base locus consists of six distinct points, which are in canonical bijection with the Weierstrass points of the curve. We relate our construction of these bundles to another of Ray…
Let U(r) be the moduli space of rank r vector bundles with trivial determinant on a smooth curve of genus 2. The map theta_r: U(r) -> |r Theta|, which associates to a general bundle its theta divisor, is generically finite. In this paper we give a geometric interpretation of the generic fibre of theta_r.
This paper shows that on the moduli space of semi-stable vector bundles of fixed rank and determinant (of any degree) on a smooth curve of genus at least two, the base locus of the generalized theta divisor is large provided the rank is sufficiently large. It also shows that the base locus is large for positive multiples of the theta divisor. This work extends results already known for the case where the determinant is of degree zero.
We find an agreement of equivariant indices of semi-classical homomorphisms between pairwise mirror branes in the GL(2) Higgs moduli space on a Riemann surface. On one side we have the components of the Lagrangian brane of U(1,1) Higgs bundles whose mirror was proposed by Nigel Hitchin to be certain even exterior powers of the hyperholomorphic Dirac bundle on the SL(2) Higgs moduli space. The agreement arises from a mysterious functional equation. This gives strong computational evidence for Hitchin's proposal.
We consider the following question: for which invariants $g$ and $e$ is there a geometrically ruled surface $S \rightarrow C$ over a curve $C$ of genus $g$ with invariant $e$ such that $S$ is the support of an Ulrich line bundle with respect to a very ample line bundle? A surprising relation between the existence of certain proper Theta divisors on some moduli spaces of vector bundles on $C$ with the existence of Ulrich line bundles on $S$ will be the key to completely solve the above question. The relation is realized by translating the vanishing conditions characterizing Ulrich line bundles …
In this paper I present a new geometric approach to the factorization rule for generalised theta functions. Let $X$ be an irreducible projective nodal curve with one singularity and let $Y$ be its normalization. Recently I have constructed the moduli stack $GVB(X)$ of rank $n$ Gieseker vector bundles on $X$ and have shown that its normalization is a locally trivial fibration over the moduli stack $VB(Y)$ of vector bundles on $Y$, where the fibre is a canonical compactification of $Gl_n$. In this paper I prove a canonical direct sum decomposition of the space of global sections of a power of th…
We complete the proof of the fact that the moduli space of rank two bundles with trivial determinant embeds into the linear system of divisors on $Pic^{g-1}C$ which are linearly equivalent to $2Θ$. The embedded tangent space at a semi-stable non-stable bundle $ξ\oplusξ^{-1}$, where $ξ$ is a degree zero line bundle, is shown to consist of those divisors in $|2Θ|$ which contain $Sing(Θ_ξ)$ where $Θ_ξ$ is the translate of $Θ$ by $ξ$. We also obtain geometrical results on the structure of this tangent space.
Given a vector bundle $E$ of rank $r$ and degree $d$ on a curve $C$ of genus $g$, one can associate to $E$ in a natural way several other vector bundles. For example, one can take wedge powers of $E$. If $E$ is generated by global sections, the kernel of the evaluation map of sections is again a vector bundle. Also, new vector bundles can be produced by taking elementary transformations centered at a fixed point. Under suitable conditions on degree and rank, these constructions can be carried out globally. While all this processes seem quite elementary, very little is known about the resulting…
Let X be a smooth projective connected curve of genus $g \ge 2$ and let I be a finite set of points of X. Fix a parabolic structure on I for rank r vector bundles on X. Let $M^{par}$ denote the moduli space of parabolic semistable bundles and let $L^{par}$ denote the parabolic determinant bundle. In this paper we show that the n-th tensor power line bundle ${L^{par}}^n$ on the moduli space $M^{par}$ is globally generated, as soon as the integer n is such that $n \ge [\frac{r^2}{4}]$. In order to get this bound, we construct a parabolic analogue of the Quot scheme and extend the result of Popa …
We construct natural maps (the Klein and Wirtinger maps) from moduli spaces of vector bundles on an algebraic curve $X$ to affine spaces, as quotients of the nonabelian theta linear series. We prove a finiteness result for these maps over generalized Kummer varieties (moduli of torus bundles), leading us to conjecture that the maps are finite in general. The conjecture provides canonical explicit coordinates on the moduli space. The finiteness results give low--dimensional parametrizations of Jacobians (in $\Pp^{3g-3}$ for generic curves), described by $2Θ$ functions or second logarithmic deri…
Let $C$ be a smooth complex irreducible projective curve of genus $g$ with general moduli, and let $(L,H^0(L))$ be a generated complete linear series of type $(d,r+1)$ over $C$. The syzygy bundle, denoted by $M_L$, is the kernel of the evaluation map $H^0(L)\otimes\mathcal O_C\to L$. In this work we have a double purpose. The first one is to give new examples of stable syzygy bundles admitting theta divisor over general curves. We prove that if $M_L$ is strictly semistable then $M_L$ admits reducible theta divisor. The second purpose is to study the cohomological semistability of $M_L$, and in…
Let E and F be vector bundles over a complex projective smooth curve X, and suppose that 0 -> E -> W -> F -> 0 is a nontrivial extension. Let G be a subbundle of F, and D an effective divisor on X. We give a criterion for the subsheaf G(-D) \subset F to lift to W, in terms of the geometry of a scroll in the extension space \PP H^1 (X, Hom(F, E)). We use this criterion to describe the tangent cone to the generalised theta divisor on the moduli space of semistable bundles of rank r and slope g-1 over X, at a stable point. This gives a generalisation of a case of the Riemann-Kempf singularity the…
We compute all the top intersection numbers of divisors on the total space of the Poincare bundle restricted to the product of a curve and the abelian variety. We use these computations to find the class of the universal theta divisor and $m$-theta divisor inside the universal corank 1 semiabelian variety -- the boundary of the partial toroidal compactification of the moduli space of abelian varieties. We give two computational examples: we compute the boundary coefficient of the Andreotti-Mayer divisor (computed by Mumford but in a much harder and ad hoc way), and the analog of this for the u…
This article is based on lecture notes prepared for the August 2006 Cologne Summer School. The first part contains background material and references for beginners. The second (and main) part is a survey of the current status in the theory of pluri-theta linear series and generalized theta divisors on moduli spaces of vector bundles on curves. It emphasizes relatively new techniques employed in the analysis of linear series on these moduli spaces, namely the use of moduli spaces of stable maps for understanding Quot schemes, and the Fourier-Mukai functor in the study of coherent sheaves on abe…
According to Mukai, any prime Fano threefold X of genus 7 is a linear section of the spinor tenfold in the projectivized half-spinor space of Spin(10). The orthogonal linear section of the spinor tenfold is a canonical genus-7 curve G, and the intermediate Jacobian J(X) is isomorphic to the Jacobian of G. It is proven that, for a generic X, the Abel-Jacobi map of the family of elliptic sextics on X factors through the moduli space of rank-2 vector bundles with c_1=-K_X and deg c_2=6 and that the latter is birational to the singular locus of the theta divisor of J(X).
Let $\cM_r$ denote the moduli space of semi-stable rank-$r$ vector bundles with trivial determinant over a smooth projective curve $C$ of genus $g$. In this paper we study the base locus $\cB_r \subset \cM_r$ of the linear system of the determinant line bundle $\cL$ over $\cM_r$, i.e., the set of semi-stable rank-$r$ vector bundles without theta divisor. We construct base points in $\cB_{g+2}$ over any curve $C$, and base points in $\cB_4$ over any hyperelliptic curve.
Riemann surface carries a natural line bundle, the determinant bundle. The space of sections of this line bundle (or its multiples) constitutes a natural non-abelian generalization of the spaces of theta functions on the Jacobian. There has been much progress in the last few years towards a better understanding of these spaces, including a rigorous proof of the celebrated Verlinde formula which gives their dimension. This survey paper tries to explain what is now known and what remains open.
In this paper we give a birational model for the theta divisor of the intermediate Jacobian of a generic cubic threefold $X$. We use the standard realization of $X$ as a conic bundle and a $4-$dimensional family of plane quartics which are totally tangent to the discriminant quintic curve of such a conic bundle structure. The additional data of an even theta characteristic on the curves in the family gives us a model for the theta divisor.
Let $X$ be an abelian variety defined over an algebraically closed field $k$. We consider theta groups associated to \emph{simple semi-homogenous vector bundles of separable type} on $X$. We determine the structure and representation theory of these groups. In doing so we relate work of Mumford, Mukai, and Umemura. We also consider adelic theta groups associated to line bundles on $X$. After reviewing Mumford's construction of these groups we determine functorial properties which they enjoy and then realize the Neron-Severi group of $X$ as a subgroup of the cohomology group $\H^2(\V(X); k^\tim…
In this paper we investigate generalized theta divisors $Θ_r$ in the moduli spaces $\mathcal{U}_C(r,r)$ of semistable vector bundles on a curve $C$ of genus $2$. We provide a desingularization $Φ$ of $Θ_r$ in terms of a projective bundle $π:\mathbb{P}(\mathcal{V})\to\mathcal{U}_C(r-1,r)$ which parametrizes extensions of stable vector bundles on the base by $\mathcal{O}_C$. Then, we study the composition of $Φ$ with the well known theta map $θ$. We prove that, when it is restricted to the general fiber of $π$, we obtain a linear embedding.
Let $C$ be a Petri general curve of genus $g$ and $E$ a general stable vector bundle of rank $r$ and slope $g-1$ over $C$ with $h^0 (C, E) = r+1$. For $g > (2r+2)(2r+1)$, we show how the bundle $E$ can be recovered from the tangent cone to the theta divisor $Θ_E$ at ${\mathcal O}_C$. We use this to give a constructive proof and a sharpening of Brivio and Verra's theorem that the theta map $SU_C (r) -rightarrow |r Θ|$ is generically injective for large values of $g$.
We show that intersection numbers on the moduli space of stable bundles of coprime rank and degree over a smooth complex curve can be recovered as highest-degree asymptotics in formulas of Vafa-Intriligator type. In particular, we explicitly evaluate all intersection numbers appearing in the Verlinde formula. Our results are in agreement with previous computations of Witten, Jeffrey-Kirwan and Liu. Moreover, we prove the vanishing of certain intersections on a suitable Quot scheme which can be interpreted as giving equations between counts of maps to the Grassmannian.