This paper surveys and gives a uniform exposition of results contained in papers published by the team of authors.
The subject is degenerations of surfaces, especially to unions of planes. More specifically, we deduce some properties of the smooth surface which is the general fibre of the degeneration from combinatorial features of the central fibre. In particular we show that there are strong constraints on the invariants of a smooth surface which degenerates to configurations of planes.
Finally we consider several examples of embedded degenerations of smooth surfaces to unions of planes.
Our interest in these problems has been raised by a series of interesting articles by Guido Zappa in 1950's.
In this paper we study some properties of degenerations of surfaces whose general fibre is a smooth projective surface and whose central fibre is a reduced, connected surface $X \subset IP^r$, $r \geq 3$, which is assumed to be a union of smooth projective surfaces, in particular of planes. Our original motivation has been a series of papers of G. Zappa which appeared in the 1940-50's regarding degenerations of scrolls to unions of planes. Here, we present a first set of results on the subject; other aspects are still work in progress and will appear later. We first study the geometry and the …
For a simple normal crossing variety $X$, we introduce the concepts of prelog Chow ring, saturated prelog Chow group, as well as their counterparts for numerical equivalence. Thinking of $X$ as the central fibre in a (strictly) semistable degeneration, these objects can intuitively be thought of as consisting of cycle classes on $X$ for which some initial obstruction to arise as specializations of cycle classes on the generic fibre is absent. Cycle classes in the generic fibre specialize to their prelog counterparts in the central fibre, thus extending to Chow rings the method of studying smoo…
In a recent paper \cite{3}, a semi-stable degeneration of moduli space of Higgs bundles on a curve has been constructed. In this paper, we show that there is a relative log-symplectic form on this degeneration, whose restriction to the generic fibre is the classical symplectic form discovered by Hitchin. We compute the Poisson ranks at every point and describe the symplectic foliation on the closed fibre. We also show that the closed fibre, which is a variety with normal crossing singularities, acquires a structure of an algebraically completely integrable system.
In this paper, the Euler characteristic formula for projective logarithmic minimal degenerations of surfaces with Kodaira dimension zero over a 1-dimensional complex disk is proved under a reasonable assumption and as its application, the singularity of logarithmic minimal degenerations are determined in the abelian or hyperelliptic case. By globalizing this local analysis of singular fibres via generalized canonical bundle formulae due to Fujino-Mori, we bound the number of singular fibres of abelian fibred Calabi-Yau threefolds from above,which was previously done by Oguiso in the potentiall…
We consider a semistable degeneration of K3 surfaces, equipped with an effective divisor that defines a polarisation of degree two on a general fibre. We show that the map to the relative log canonical model of the degeneration maps every fibre to either a sextic hypersurface in P(1,1,1,3) or a complete intersection of degree (2,6) in P(1,1,1,2,3). Furthermore, we find an explicit description of the hypersurfaces and complete intersections that can arise, thereby giving a full classification of the possible singular fibres.
In this note, we show that for surfaces admitting suitable fibrations, any given degeneration X / Delta is bimeromorphic to a fiber space over Delta and we apply this result to the study of the degenerate fiber.
Given a strict simple degeneration $f \colon X\to C$ the first three authors previously constructed a degeneration $I^n_{X/C} \to C$ of the relative degree $n$ Hilbert scheme of $0$-dimensional subschemes. In this paper we investigate the geometry of this degeneration, in particular when the fibre dimension of $f$ is at most $2$. In this case we show that $I^n_{X/C} \to C$ is a dlt model. This is even a good minimal dlt model if $f \colon X \to C$ has this property. We compute the dual complex of the central fibre $(I^n_{X/C})_0$ and relate this to the essential skeleton of the generic fibre. …
Given a generically smooth stable curve over a discrete valuation ring such that its special fibre is irreducible with one double point, we construct a moduli stack over that descrete valuation ring which is a model for the moduli stack of vector bundles over the generic fibre of the curve. The model has the following nice properties: 1. It is regular. 2. Its special fibre is a normal crossing divisor. 3. The normalization of its special fibre is a locally trivial KGl-bundle over the moduli stack of vector bundles over the normalization of the special fibre of the curve. Here KGl is a canonica…
We study the real loci of toric degenerations of complex varieties with reducible central fibre. We show that the topology of such degenerations can be explicitly described via the Kato-Nakayama space of the central fibre as a log space. We furthermore provide generalities of real structures in log geometry and their lift to Kato-Nakayama spaces. A key point of this paper is a description of the Kato-Nakayama space of a toric degeneration and its real locus, both as bundles determined by combinatorial data. We provide several examples including real toric degenerations of K3-surfaces and a tor…
Consider the germ of an isolated surface singularity in $(\mC^3,0)$. The corresponding Milnor fibre possesses the homology lattice (the integral middle homology with a natural symmetric intersection form). An old question of A.Durfee (1978) asks: is the signature of this form non-increasing under degenerations? The present article answers negatively: We give examples of Newton non-degenerate families where the signature increases under degeneration.
We study the boundary of the Milnor fibre of real analytic singularities $f: (\bR^m,0) \to (\bR^k,0)$, $m\geq k$, with an isolated critical value and the Thom $a_f$-property. We define the vanishing zone for $f$ and we give necessary and sufficient conditions for it to be a fibre bundle over the link of the singular set of $f^{-1}(0)$. In the case of singularities of the type $\fgbar: (\bC^n,0) \to (\bC,0)$ with an isoalted critical value, $f, g$ holomorphic, we further describe the degeneration of the boundary of the Milnor fibre to the link of $\fgbar$. As a milestone, we also construct a Lê…
We study totally real semi-stable degenerations (and more generally, smooth semi-stable degenerations). Our goal is to describe the homeomorphism type of the real locus $\mathbf{R} X_t$ of the general fibre in terms of the special fibre. We give a general homeomorphism statement via the real-oriented blow-up of the family. Using this, we give more explicit descriptions of $\mathbf{R} X_t$ as a stratified space glued from (covers of) strata of the special fibre. We also give relative versions of the statements and consider the example of toric degenerations in order to link the technique to tro…
We prove that Godeaux--Reid surfaces with torsion group Z/3 have topological fundamental group Z/3. For this purpose, we describe degenerations to stable KSBA surfaces with one 1/4(1,1) singularity, whose minimal resolution are elliptic fibrations with two multiplicity 3 fibres and one I_4 singular fibre. We study special such degenerations which have an involution, describing the corresponding Campedelli double plane construction. We also find some stable rational degenerations, some of which have more singularities, and one of which has a single 1/9(1,2) singularity, the minimal possible ind…
We construct a degeneration of the moduli space of Hitchin pairs on smooth projective curves when the curve degenerates to an irreducible curve with a single node. The degeneration constructed here is analogous to the models constructed by Gieseker and Nagaraj-Seshadri for the case of the usual moduli spaces (i.e when the Higgs structure is trivial). There is an canonical relative Hitchin map which is shown to be proper and the general fibre of the relative Hitchin map provides a new compactification of the Picard variety of smooth curves with normal crossing singularities.
Let $f: X \to S$ be a unipotent degeneration of projective complex manifolds over a disc such that the reduction of the central fibre $Y=f^{-1}(0)$ is simple normal crossings, and let $X_\infty$ be the canonical nearby fibre. Building on the work of Kontsevich, Tschinkel, Mikhalkin and Zharkov, I introduce a sheaf of graded algebras $Λ^\bullet$ on the dual intersection complex of $Y$, denoted $Δ_X$. I show that there exists a map $H^q(Δ_X, Λ^p) \to \mathrm{gr}^W_{2p} H^{p+q}(X_\infty, \mathbb{Q})$, where $W$ is the monodromy weight filtration, which is injective whenever there exists a class $…
In the paper we show that for a normal-crossings degeneration $Z$ over the ring of integers of a local field with $X$ as generic fibre, the local monodromy operator and its powers determine invariant cocycle classes under the decomposition group in the cohomology of the product $X \times X$. More precisely, they also define algebraic cycles on the special fibre of a resolution of $Z \times Z$. In the paper, we give an explicit description of these cycles for a degeneration with at worst triple points as singularities. These cycles explain geometrically the presence of poles on specific local f…
We prove that a Kummer surface defined over a complete strictly Henselian discretely valued field $K$ of residue characteristic different from 2 admits a strict Kulikov model after finite base change. The Kulikov models we construct will be schemes, so our results imply that the semistable reduction conjecture is true for Kummer surfaces in this setup, even in the category of schemes. Our construction of Kulikov models is closely related to an earlier construction of Künnemann, which produces semistable models of Abelian varieties. It is well-known that the special fibre of a strict Kulikov mo…
We describe various properties of Hirzebruch surfaces and related constructions: degenerations, braid monodromy, Galois covers and their Chern classes.
We study degenerations of non-simple principally polarized abelian surfaces to the boundary in the toroidal compactification of $\mathcal{A}_2$, and describe the degenerate abelian surfaces as well as the degenerate elliptic curves that live inside them.
We investigate the problem of existence of degenerations of surfaces in $\mathbb P^3$ with ordinary singularities into plane arrangements in general position.
The moduli space of (1,7)-polarized abelian surfaces with a level structure was shown by Manolache and Schreyer to be rational with compactification a Fano 3-fold of genus 12 which is also a compactification of the variety of powersum presentations of the Klein quartic curve. In this paper the possible degenerations of the abelian surfaces are classified in terms of degenerations of powersum presentations. In particular, the surface degenerations into fourteen planes are recovered. These were independently discovered by Alfio Marini using degenerations of twisted cubic curves.
We describe an algorithm for computing certain characteristic numbers of surface scrolls using degenerations. As a corollary we obtain a method for computing the corresponding Gromov-Witten invariants of Grassmannians.
In this article we construct a specific projective degeneration of K3 surfaces of degree 2g-2 in P^g to a union of 2g-2 planes, which meet in such a way that the combinatorics of the configuration of planes is a triangulation of the 2-sphere. Abstractly, such degenerations are said to be Type III degenerations of K3 surfaces. Although the birational geometry of such degenerations is fairly well understood, the study of projective degenerations is not nearly as completely developed. In this article we construct degenerations for which the general member is embedded by a multiple of the primitiv…
We prove that for a Q-Gorenstein degeneration $X$ of del Pezzo surfaces, the number of non-Du Val singularities is at most $ρ(X)+2$. Degenerations with $ρ(X)+2$ and $ρ(X)+1$ non-Du Val points are investigated.
We consider a surface that admits a $\mathbb{Q}$-Gorenstein degeneration to a cyclic quotient singularity $\frac{1}{dn^2}(1,dna-1)$. Under several technical assumptions, we construct $d$ exceptional vector bundles of rank $n$ which are orthogonal to each other.
We classify irreducible d-semistable degenerations of primary Kodaira surfaces. As an application we construct a canonical completion for the moduli space of primary Kodaira surfaces.
We explicitly construct a $V$-normal crossing Gorenstein canonical model of the relative symmetric products of a local semistable degeneration of surfaces without a triple point by means of toric geometry. Using this model, we calculate the stringy $E$-polynomial of the relative symmetric product. We also construct a minimal model of degeneration of Hilbert schemes explicitly.
Work of Green, Griffiths, Laza, and Robles suggests that the moduli space of (smoothable) stable surfaces should admit a natural stratification defined via Hodge theoretic data. In the case of stable surfaces with $K_X^2 = 1$ and $χ(X) = 3$ we compute the Hodge type of all examples known to us and show that all predicted degenerations are geometrically realised.
We prove the main Conjecture 4 of our paper arXiv:1403.6061v5, which leads to classification of degenerations of codimension one of Kahlerian K3 surfaces with finite symplectic automorphism groups.
W. Thurston proved that to a triangulation of the sphere of non-negative combinatorial curvature, one can associate an element in a certain lattice over the Eisenstein integers such that its orbit is a complete invariant of the triangulation. In this paper, we show that this association can be obtained naturally by using Type III degenerations of K3 surfaces.
Using results of our preprint "Kahlerian K3 surfaces and Niemeier lattices" arXiv:1109.2879 (and the corresponding papers), we classify degenerations of Kahlerian K3 surfaces with finite symplectic automorphism groups.
In this paper we introduce a technique to degenerate K3 surfaces and linear systems through fat points in general position on K3 surfaces. Using this degeneration we show that on generic K3 surfaces it is enough to prove that linear systems with one fat point are non-special in order to obtain the non-speciality of homogeneous linear systems through n = 4^u9^w fat points in general position. Moreover, we use this degeneration to obtain a result for homogeneous linear systems through n = 4^u9^w fat points in general position on a general quartic surface in P^3.
We construct a smoothing of a particular normal crossing surface, which dual complex is a duncehat, thus obtaining an example of a surface degeneration with non-collapsible, contractible dual complex. The general fiber of this family has $h^{1,0} = h^{2,0} = 0$ and $h^{1,1}=9$, we conjecture that it is in the deformation class of the Barlow surface. This text is a complete rewrite of author's previous work [14].
We study the topology of a line singularity, which is a complex hypersurface with non-isolated singularity given by a complex line. We describe the degeneration of its Milnor fibre to the singular hypersurface by means of a pair of polyhedra, one in the Milnor fibre and other in the singular fibre, which are deformation retracts of the corresponding fibres; and a continuous map taking the Milnor fibre to the singular fibre and the first polyhedron to the second one, which restrict to a homeomorphism outside the polyhedra. In the same sense, we also study the topology of a complex isolated sing…
We generalise a method of Xiao Gang to construct 'prototypes' of fibred surfaces with maximal irregularity without being a product. This enables us, in the case of fibre genus g=3 to describe the possible singular fibres and to calculate the invariants of these surfaces. We also prove structure theorems on the moduli space for fibred surfaces with fibre genus g=2 and g=3.
We compute equations for Coughlan's family of Godeaux surfaces with torsion $\mathbb Z/2$, which we call $\mathbb Z/2$-Godeaux surfaces, and we show that it is (at most) 7 dimensional. We classify non-rational KSBA degenerations $W$ of $\mathbb Z/2$-Godeaux surfaces with one Wahl singularity, showing that $W$ is birational to particular either Enriques surfaces, or $D_{2,n}$ elliptic surfaces, with $n=3,4$ or $6$. We present examples for all possibilities in the first case, and for $n=3,4$ in the second.
In this paper we mainly describe $\mathbb{Q}$-Gorenstein smoothings of projective surfaces with only Wahl singularities which have birational fibers. For instance, these degenerations appear in normal degenerations of the projective plane, and in boundary divisors of the KSBA compactification of the moduli space of surfaces of general type [KSB88]. We give an explicit description of them as smooth deformations plus 3-fold birational operations, through the flips and divisorial contractions in [HTU13]. We interpret the continuous part (smooth deformations) as degenerations of certain curves in …
In a Type III degeneration of K3-surfaces the dual graph of the central fibre is a triangulation of the 2-sphere. We realise the tetrahedral, octahedral and especially the icosahedral triangulation in families of K3-surfaces, preferably with the associated symmetry groups acting.
We use the moduli space of stable curves to determine the stable (in the sense of Kollár-Shepherd-Barron) degenerations of surfaces isogenous to a product of stable curves. A recent family of examples of Catanese show that the moduli space of such smooth surfaces may have two components. The main result of this note is that these components do not meet in the stable compactification. To the best of my knowledge this gives the first example of a moduli space of stable surfaces with multiple connected components parameterizing diffeomorphic smooth surfaces. Comments are appreciated.
Similarly to our papers I and II on the subject (see arXiv:1403.6061 and arXiv:1504.00326), we classify degenerations of codimension 2 and higher of Kahlerian K3 surfaces with finite symplectic automorphism groups. In parts I and II, it was done for the codimension one.
In this note, we describe the possible singularities on a stable surface which is in the boundary of the moduli space of surfaces isogenous to a product. Then we use the $\mathbb Q$-Gorenstein deformation theory to get some connected components of the moduli space of stable surfaces.
Let X be a surface with quotient singularities which admits a smoothing to the plane. We prove that X is a deformation of a weighted projective plane P(a^2,b^2,c^2), where a,b,c is a solution of the Markov equation a^2+b^2+c^2=3abc. We also prove a generalisation for del Pezzo surfaces of degree K^2 at least 5.
Let $f:S \fr B$ be a surface fibration with fibres of genus 5. We find a linear relation between the fundamental invariants of the surface. Namely $K_f^2=χ_f+N$ where $N$ is the number of trigonal fibres. Our proof is based on the analysis of the relative canonical algebra $\cal{R}(f)$.
A recent construction of Hacking relates the classification of stable vector bundles on a surface of general type with $p_g = 0$ and the boundary of the moduli space of deformations of the surface. In the present paper we analyze this relation for Godeaux surfaces. We provide a description of certain boundary components of the moduli space of Godeaux surfaces. Also we explicitly construct certain exceptional vector bundles of rank 2 on Godeaux surfaces, stable with respect to the canonical class, and examine the correspondence between the boundary components and such exceptional vector bundles…
We give an explicit description of the Godeaux surfaces that admit an involution such that the quotient surface is birational to an Enriques surface; these surfaces give a 6-dimensional unirational irreducible subset of the moduli space of surfaces of general type. In addition, we describe the Enriques surfaces that are birational to the quotient of a Godeaux surface by an involution and we show that they give a 5-dimensional unirational irreducible subset of the moduli space of Enriques surfaces. Finally, by degenerating our description we obtain some examples of non-normal stable Godeaux sur…
The $k$-secant degree is studied with a combinatorial approach. A planar toric degeneration of any projective toric surface $X$ corresponds to a regular unimodular triangulation $D$ of the polytope defining $X$. If the secant ideal of the initial ideal with respect to $D$ coincides with the initial ideal of the secant ideal, then $D$ is said to be delightful and the $k$-secant degree of $X$ can be easily computed. All delightful triangulations of toric surfaces having sectional genus $g\leq1$ are completely classified and, for $g\geq2$, a lower bound for the $2$- and $3$-secant degree, by mean…
This paper studies curves on quartic K3 surfaces, or more generally K3 surfaces which are complete intersection in weighted projective spaces. A folklore conjecture concerning rational curves on K3 surfaces states that all K3 surfaces contain infinite number of irreducible rational curves. It is known that all K3 surfaces, except those contained in the countable union of hypersurfaces in the moduli space of K3 surfaces satisfy this property. In this paper we present a new approach for constructing curves on varieties which admit nice degenerations. We apply this technique to the above problem …
