Let $X$ be a real algebraic convex 3-manifold whose real part is equipped with a $Pin^-$ structure. We show that every irreducible real rational curve with non-empty real part has a canonical spinor state belonging to $\{\pm 1\}$. The main result is then that the algebraic count of the number of real irreducible rational curves in a given numerical equivalence class passing through the appropriate number of points does not depend on the choice of the real configuration of points, provided that these curves are counted with respect to their spinor states. These invariants provide lower bounds for the total number of such real rational curves independantly of the choice of the real configuration of points.
This revision contains some additional corrections and references, including a reference to Zeuthen suggested by Kleiman. For possible subsequent revisions, check http://math.ucr.edu/~ziv/papers/1nodal.pdf
We study the geometry of the Kontsevich compactification of stable maps to the Grassmannian of lines in the projective space. We consider a stratification of this space. As an application we compute the degree of the variety parametrizing rational ruled surfaces with a minimal directix of degree d/2-1 by intersecting divisors in the moduli space of stable maps. For example, there are 128054031872040 rational ruled sextics passing through 25 points in $\mathbb{P}^{3}$ with a minimal directrix of degree 2.
The surfaces considered are real, rational and have a unique smooth real $(-2)$-curve. Their canonical class $K$ is strictly negative on any other irreducible curve in the surface and $K^2>0$. For surfaces satisfying these assumptions, we suggest a certain signed count of real rational curves that belong to a given divisor class and are simply tangent to the $(-2)$-curve at each intersection point. We prove that this count provides a number which depends neither on the point constraints nor on deformation of the surface preserving the real structure and the $(-2)$-curve.
We collect various known results (about plane curves and the moduli space of stable maps) to derive new recursive formulas enumerating low genus plane curves of any degree with various behaviors. Recursive formulas are given for the characteristic numbers of rational plane curves, elliptic plane curves, and elliptic plane curves with fixed complex structure. Recursions are also given for the number of elliptic (and rational) plane curves with various "codimension 1" behavior (cuspidal, tacnodal, triple pointed, etc., as well as the geometric and arithmetic sectional genus of the Severi variety…
Suppose that 2d-2 tangent lines to the rational normal curve z\mapsto (1 : z : ... : z^d) in d-dimensional complex projective space are given. It was known that the number of codimension 2 subspaces intersecting all these lines is always finite; for a generic configuration it is equal to the d^{th} Catalan number. We prove that for real tangent lines, all these codimension 2 subspaces are also real, thus confirming a special case of a general conjecture of B. and M. Shapiro. This is equivalent to the following result: If all critical points of a rational function lie on a circle in the Riemann…
We first present the construction of the moduli space of real pseudo-holomorphic curves in a given real symplectic manifold. Then, following the approach of Gromov and Witten, we construct invariants under deformation of real rational symplectic 4-manifolds. These invariants provide lower bounds for the number of real rational $J$-holomorphic curves in a given homology class passing through a given real configuration of points.
We introduce new invariants of the projective plane (and, more generally, of certain toric surfaces) that arise from the appropriate enumeration of real elliptic curves. These invariants admit a refinement (according to the quantum index) similar to the one introduced by Grigory Mikhalkin in the rational case. We also construct tropical counterparts of the refined elliptic invariants under consideration and establish a tropical algorithm allowing one to compute, {\it via} a suitable version of the correspondence theorem, the above invariants.
We study the enumerative significance of the s-pointed genus zero Gromov-Witten invariant on a homogeneous space X. For that, we give an interpretation in terms of rational curves on X.
This is an introduction to: (1) the enumerative geometry of rational curves in equivariant symplectic resolutions, and (2) its relation to the structures of geometric representation theory. Written for the 2015 Algebraic Geometry Summer Institute.
There is an equation relating numbers of curves on F_0 satisfying incidence conditions and numbers of curves on F_2 satisfying incidence conditions. The purpose of this paper is to give a tropical proof of this equation in the case of rational curves. We use induction on the degree and two Kontsevich-type formulas for curves on F_0 and on F_2. The formula for F_2 was not known before and is proved using tropical geometry.
The theory of Q-Cartier divisors on the space of n-pointed, genus 0, stable maps to projective space is considered. Generators and Picard numbers are computed. A recursive algorithm computing all top intersection products of Q-Divisors is established. As a corollary, an algorithm computing all characteristic numbers of rational curves in P^r is proven (including simple tangency conditions). Computations of these characteristic numbers are carried out in many examples. The degree of the 1-cuspidal rational locus in the linear system of degree d plane curves is explicitly evaluated.
Following the approach of Gromov and Witten, we define invariants under deformation of stongly semipositive real symplectic six-manifolds. These invariants provide lower bounds in real enumerative geometry, namely for the number of real rational $J$-holomorphic curves which realize a given homology class and pass through a given real configuration of points.
We discuss a particular problem of enumerating rational curves on a Grassmannian from several perspectives, including systems theory, real enumerative geometry, and symbolic computation. We also present a new transversality result, showing this problem is enumerative in all characteristics. While it is well-known how this enumerative problem arose in mathematical physics and also its importance to the development of quantum cohomology, it is less known how it arose independently in mathematical systems theory. We describe this second story.
We study the geometry of varieties parametrizing degree d rational and elliptic curves in P^n intersecting fixed general linear spaces and tangent to a fixed hyperplane H with fixed multiplicities along fixed general linear subspaces of H. As an application, we derive recursive formulas for the number of such curves when the number is finite. These recursive formulas require as ``seed data'' only one input: there is one line in P^1 through two points. These numbers can be seen as top intersection products of various cycles on the Hilbert scheme of degree d rational or elliptic curves in P^n, o…
We compute the Gromov-Witten invariants of the projective plane blown up in r general points. These are determined by associativity from r+1 intial values. Applications are given to the enumeration of rational plane curves with prescribed multiplicities at fixed general points. We show that the numbers are enumerative if at least one of the prescribed multiplicities is 1 or 2. In particular, all the invariants for r<=8 (the Del Pezzo case) are enumerative.
We determine the splitting (isomorphism) type of the normal bundle of a generic genus-0 curve with 1 or 2 components in any projective space, as well as the (sometimes nontrivial) way the bundle deforms locally with a general deformation of the curve. We deduce an enumerative formula for divisorial loci of smooth rational curves whose normal bundle is of non-generic splitting type.
In this paper we introduce a refined multiplicity for rational tropical curves in arbitrary dimension, which generalizes the refined multiplicity introduced by F. Block and L. Göttsche in arXiv:1407.2901 . We then prove an invariance statement for the count of rational tropical curves in several enumerative problems using this new refined multiplicity. This leads to the definition of Block-Göttsche polynomials in any dimension.
In this article formulas for the quantum product of a rational surface are given, and used to give an algebro-geometric proof of the associativity of the quantum product for strict Del Pezzo surfaces, those for which $-K$ is very ample. An argument for the associativity in general is proposed, which also avoids resorting to the symplectic category. The enumerative predictions of Kontsevich and Manin concerning the degree of the rational curve locus in a linear system are recovered. The associativity of the quantum product for the cubic surface is shown to be essentially equivalent to the class…
In many situations, the monodromy group of enumerative problems will be the full symmetric group. In this paper, we study a similar phenomenon on the rational curves in $|\mathcal{O}(1)|$ on a generic K3 surface of fixed genus over $\mathbb{C}$ as the K3 surface varies. We prove that when the K3 surface has genus $g$, $1\leq g\leq 3$, the monodromy group is the full symmetric group.
We study the integer sequence v_n of numbers of lines in hypersurfaces of degree 2n-3 of P^n, n>1. We prove a number of congruence properties of these numbers of several different types. Furthermore, the asymptotics of the v_n are described (in an appendix by Don Zagier). An attempt is made at a similar analysis of two other enumerative sequences: the number of rational plane curves and the number of instantons in the quintic threefold.
For an Abelian surface $A$ with a symplectic action by a finite group $G$, one can define the partition function for $G$-invariant Hilbert schemes \[Z_{A, G}(q) = \sum_{d=0}^{\infty} e(\text{Hilb}^{d}(A)^{G})q^{d}.\] We prove the reciprocal $Z_{A,G}^{-1}$ is a modular form of weight $\frac{1}{2}e(A/G)$ for the congruence subgroup $Γ_{0}(|G|)$, and give explicit expressions in terms of eta products. Refined formulas for the $χ_{y}$-genera of $\text{Hilb}(A)^{G}$ are also given. For the group generated by the standard involution $τ: A \to A$, our formulas arise from the enumerative geometry of t…
We extend the classical Schubert calculus of enumerative geometry for the Grassmann variety of lines in projective space from the complex realm to the real. Specifically, given any collection of Schubert conditions on lines in projective space which generically determine a finite number of lines, we show there exist real generic conditions determining the expected number of real lines. Our main tool is an explicit description of rational equivalences which also constitutes a novel determination of the Chow rings of these Grassmann varieties.
We introduce a \textit{quantum index} for oriented real curves inside toric varieties. This quantum index is related to the computation of the area of the amoeba of the curve for some chosen 2-form. We then make a refined signed count of oriented real rational curves solution to some enumerative problem. This generalizes the results from G. Mikhalkin arXiv:1505.04338 to higher dimension. Finally, we use the tropical approach to relate these new refined invariants to previously known tropical refined invariants.
We show the Kontsevich space of rational curves of degree at most roughly $\frac{2-\sqrt{2}}{2}n$ on a general hypersurface $X\subset \mathbb{P}^n$ of degree $n-1$ is equidimensional of expected dimension and has two components: one consisting generically of smooth, embedded rational curves and the other consisting of multiple covers of a line. This proves more cases of a conjecture of Coskun, Harris, and Starr and shows the Gromov-Witten invariants in these cases are enumerative.
We use twisted stable maps to answer the following question. Let E\subset P^2 be a smooth cubic. How many rational degree d curves pass through a general points of E, have b specified tangencies with E and c unspecified tangencies, and pass through 3d-1-a-2b-c general points of P^2? The answer is given as a generalization of Kontsevich's recursion. We also investigate more general enumerative problems of this sort, and prove an analogue of a formula of Caporaso and Harris.
We use stable maps, and their stable lifts to the Semple bundle variety of second-order curvilinear data, to calculate certain characteristic numbers for rational plane curves. These characteristic numbers involve first-order (tangency) and second-order (inflectional) conditions. Although they may be virtual, they may be used as inputs in an enumeratively significant formula for the number of rational curves having a triple contact with a specified plane curve and passing through 3d-3 general points.
A new, simple method to approach enumerative questions about rational curves on rational surfaces is described. Applications include a short proof of Kontsevich's formula for plane curves and a the solution of the analogous problem for the Hirzebruch surface F_3.
Given two Calabi--Yau threefolds which are believed to constitute a mirror pair, there are very precise predictions about the enumerative geometry of rational curves on one of the manifolds which can be made by performing calculations on the other. We review the mechanics of making these predictions, including a discussion of two conjectures which specify how the elusive ``constants of integration'' in the mirror map should be fixed. Such predictions can be useful for checking whether or not various conjectural constructions of mirror manifolds are producing reasonable answers.
We address the problem of existence of refined (i.e., depending on a formal parameter) tropical enumerative invariants, and we present two new examples of a refined count of rational marked tropical curves. One of the new invariants counts plane rational tropical curves with an unmarked vertex of arbitrary valency. It was motivated by the tropical enumeration of plane cuspidal tropical curves given by Y. Ganor and the author, which naturally led to consideration of plane tropical curves with an unmarked four-valent vertex. Another refined invariant counts rational tropical curves of a given de…
We answer some enumerative questions about irreducible rational curves on Hirzebruch surfaces, by combining an idea of Kontsevich with the study of the geometry of certain natural parameter spaces. Our formulas generalize Kontsevich's formula for rational plane curves of given degree.
We analyze morphisms from pointed curves to K3 surfaces with a distinguished rational curve, such that the marked points are taken to the rational curve, perhaps with specified cross ratios. This builds on work of Mukai and others characterizing embeddings of curves into K3 surfaces via non-abelian Brill-Noether theory. Our study leads naturally to enumerative problems, which we solve in several specific cases. These have applications to the existence of sections of del Pezzo fibrations with prescribed invariants.
We develop the theory of halving spaces to obtain lower bounds in real enumerative geometry. Halving spaces are topological spaces with an action of a Lie group $Γ$ with additional cohomological properties. For $Γ=\mathbb{Z}_2$ we recover the conjugation spaces of Hausmann, Holm and Puppe. For $Γ=\mathrm{U}(1)$ we obtain the circle spaces. We show that real even and quaternionic partial flag manifolds are circle spaces leading to non-trivial lower bounds for even real and quaternionic Schubert problems. To prove that a given space is a halving space, we generalize results of Borel and Haeflige…
We present an approach to a large class of enumerative problems concerning rational curves in projective spaces. This approach uses analysis to obtain topological information about moduli spaces of stable maps. We demonstrate it by enumerating one-component rational curves with a triple point or a tacnodal point in the three-dimensional projective space and with a cusp in any projective space.
In his paper "Hodge integrals and degenerate contributions", Pandharipande studied the relationship between the enumerative geometry of certain 3-folds and the Gromov-Witten invariants. In some good cases, enumerative invariants (which are manifestly integers) can be expressed as a rational combination of Gromov-Witten invariants. Pandharipande speculated that the same combination of invariants should yield integers even when they do not have any enumerative significance on the 3-fold. In the case when the 3-fold is the product of a complex surface and an elliptic curve, Pandharipande has comp…
We characterize transversality, non-transversality properties on the moduli space of genus 0 stable maps to a rational projective surface. If a target space is equipped with a real structure, i.e, anti-holomorphic involution, then the results have real enumerative applications. Firstly, we can define a real version of Gromov-Witten invariants. Secondly, we can prove the invariance of Welschinger's invariant in algebraic geometric category.
For a semistable reflexive sheaf $E$ of rank $r$ and $c_1=a$ on $¶^n$ and an integer $d$ such that $r|ad$, we give sufficient conditions so that the restriction of $E$ on a generic rational curve of degree $d$ is balanced, i.e. a twist of the trivial bundle (for instance, if $E$ has balanced restriction on a generic line, or $r=2$ or $E$ is an exterior power of the tangent bundle). Assuming this, we give a formula for the 'virtual degree', interpreted enumeratively, of the locus of rational curves of degree $d$ on which the restriction of $E$ is not balanced, generalizing a classical formula d…
We establish the equality of classical and tropical curve counts for elliptic curves on toric surfaces with fixed $j$-invariant, refining results of Mikhalkin and Nishinou--Siebert. As an application, we determine a formula for such counts on $\mathbb P^2$ and all Hirzebruch surfaces. This formula relates the count of elliptic curves with the number of rational curves on the surface satisfying a small number of tangency conditions with the toric boundary. Furthermore, the combinatorial tropical multiplicities of Kerber and Markwig for counts in $\mathbb P^2$ are derived and explained algebro-g…
We give examples of real enumerative problems without real solutions. Most of the examples concern rational curves in ${\mathbb C}{\mathbb P}^3$ passing through a real set of points and lines.
We study Gromov-Witten invariants on the blow-up of P^n at a point, which is probably the simplest example of a variety whose moduli spaces of stable maps do not have the expected dimension. It is shown that many of these invariants can be interpreted geometrically on P^n as certain numbers of rational curves having a multiple point of given order at the blown up point. Moreover, all these invariants can actually be calculated, giving enumerative invariants of P^n which have not been known before.
We enumerate rational curves in toric surfaces passing through points and satisfying cross-ratio constraints using tropical and combinatorial methods. Our starting point is arXiv:1509.07453, where a tropical-algebraic correspondence theorem was proved that relates counts of rational curves in toric varieties that satisfy point conditions and cross-ratio constraints to the analogous tropical counts. We proceed in two steps: based on tropical intersection theory we first study tropical cross-ratios and introduce degenerated cross-ratios. Second we provide a lattice path algorithm that produces a…
This note is a survey of the enumerative geometry of rational curves on Calabi-Yau threefolds, based on a talk given by the author at the May 1991 Workshop on Mirror Symmetry at MSRI. An earlier version appeared in "Essays on Mirror Manifolds"; this version corrects typographical errors that appeared in print, gives a brief update of related progress during the last two years in the form of footnotes, and has more and updated references. (To appear in the second edition of Essays on Mirror Manifolds.)
These notes are intended as an easy-to-read supplement to part of the background material presented in my talks on enumerative geometry. In particular, the numbers $n_3$ and $n_4$ of plane rational cubics through eight points and of plane rational quartics through eleven points are determined via the classical approach of counting curves. The computation of the latter number also illustrates my topological approach to counting the zeros of a fixed vector bundle section that lie in the main stratum of a compact space. The arguments used in the computation of the number $n_4$ extend easily to co…
We introduce enumerative invariants of real del Pezzo surfaces that count real rational curves belonging to a given divisor class, passing through a generic conjugation-invariant configuration of points and satisfying preassigned tangency conditions to given smooth arcs centered at the fixed points. The counted curves are equipped with Welschinger-type signs. We prove that such a count does not depend neither on the choice of the point-arc configuration, nor on the variation of the ambient real surface. These invariants can be regarded as a real counterpart of (complex) descendant invariants.
Fulton asked how many solutions to a problem of enumerative geometry can be real, when that problem is one of counting geometric figures of some kind having specified position with respect to some general fixed figures. For the problem of plane conics tangent to five general conics, the (surprising) answer is that all 3264 may be real. Similarly, given any problem of enumerating p-planes incident on some general fixed subspaces, there are real fixed subspaces such that each of the (finitely many) incident p-planes are real. We show that the problem of enumerating parameterized rational curves …
We show that the moduli spaces of irreducible labeled parametrized marked rational curves in toric varieties can be embedded into algebraic tori such that their tropicalizations are the analogous tropical moduli spaces. These embeddings are shown to respect the evaluation morphisms in the sense that evaluation commutes with tropicalization. With this particular setting in mind we prove a general correspondence theorem for enumerative problems which are defined via "evaluation maps" in both the algebraic and tropical world. Applying this to our motivational example we reprove Nishinou and Siebe…
This is a survey describing recents developments in enumerative geometry of curves on projective varieties. Various methods to arrive at results such as Kontsevich's formula for plane rational curves, or Caporaso-Harris's formula for plane curves of any genus, are illustrated on concrete examples It will appear on the Proceedings of the European Congress of Mathematics, Budapest 1996.
The following divisors in the space Sym^{12} P^1 of twelve points on P^1 are actually the same: (A) the possible locus of the twelve nodal fibers in a rational elliptic fibration (i.e. a pencil of plane cubic curves); (B) degree 12 binary forms that can be expressed as a cube plus a square; (C) the locus of the twelve tangents to a smooth plane quartic from a general point of the plane; (D) the branch locus of a degree 4 map from a hyperelliptic genus 3 curve to P^1; (E) the branch locus of a degree 3 map from a genus 4 curve to P^1 induced by a theta-characteristic; and several more. The corr…
In this paper we study the geometry of the Severi varieties parametrizing curves on the rational ruled surface $\fn$. We compute the number of such curves through the appropriate number of fixed general points on $\fn$, and the number of such curves which are irreducible. These numbers are known as Severi degrees; they are the degrees of unions of components of the Hilbert scheme. As (i) $\fn$ can be deformed to $\eff_{n+2}$, (ii) the Gromov-Witten invariants are deformation-invariant, and (iii) the Gromov-Witten invariants of $\eff_0$ and $\eff_1$ are enumerative, Theorem \ref{irecursion} com…
