Let $N$ be a point of an orbit closure $\bar{O_M}$ in a module variety such that its orbit $O_N$ has codimension two in $\bar{O_M}$. We show that under some additional conditions the pointed variety $(\bar{O_M},N)$ is smoothly equivalent to a cone over a rational normal curve.
Let A be a finitely generated associative algebra over an algebraically closed field. We characterize the finite dimensional modules over A whose orbit closures are regular varieties.
This short note is a supplement to the previous article with the same title. Here we treat a conical symplectic variety obtained as a finite covering of a (not necessarily normal) nilpotent orbit closure of a complex semisimple Lie algebra.
Let M_d(k) denote the space of dxd-matrices with coefficients in an algebraically closed field k. Let X be an orbit closure in the product [M_d(k)]^t equipped with the action of the general linear group GL_d(k) by simultaneous conjugation. We show that X is regular at any its point y such that the orbit of y has codimension one in X. The proof uses mainly the representation theory of associative algebras.
We prove that a conical symplectic variety with maximal weight 1 is isomorphic to one of the following: (i) an affine space with the standard symplectic form (ii) a nilpotent orbit closure of a complex semisimple Lie algebra with the Kirillov-Kostant form.
We prove that for a simply laced group, the closure of the Borel conjugacy class of any nilpotent element of height $2$ in its conjugacy class is normal and admits a rational resolution. We extend this, using Frobenius splitting techniques, to the closure in the whole Lie algebra if either the group has type $A$ or the element has rank $2$.
This is an expository article on the singularities of nilpotent orbit closures in simple Lie algebras over the complex numbers. It is slanted towards aspects that are relevant for representation theory, including Maffei's theorem relating Slodowy slices to Nakajima quiver varieties in type A. There is one new observation: the results of Juteau and Mautner, combined with Maffei's theorem, give a geometric proof of a result on decomposition numbers of Schur algebras due to Fang, Henke and Koenig.
According to a well-known theorem of Brieskorn and Slodowy, the intersection of the nilpotent cone of a simple Lie algebra with a transverse slice to the subregular nilpotent orbit is a simple surface singularity. At the opposite extremity of the nilpotent cone, the closure of the minimal nilpotent orbit is also an isolated symplectic singularity, called a minimal singularity. For classical Lie algebras, Kraft and Procesi showed that these two types of singularities suffice to describe all generic singularities of nilpotent orbit closures: specifically, any such singularity is either a simple …
This paper deals with singularities of closures of $2$-nilpotent Borel conjugacy classes in either a $\text{GL}_n$-conjugacy class or in the nilpotent cone of $\text{GL}_n$. In the latter case we construct a resolution of singularities, in the former we show that singularities are rational by applying a result of M. Brion. We reason why this generalizes the result of N. Perrin and E. Smirnov on the rationality of singularities of Springer fiber components in the two-column case. In the case of Borel orbit closures being contained in orbital varieties, we give an alternative version of L. Fress…
Let F be the flag variety of a complex semi-simple group G, let H be an algebraic subgroup of G acting on F with finitely many orbits, and let V be an H-orbit closure in F. Expanding the cohomology class of V in the basis of Schubert classes defines a union V_0 of Schubert varieties in F with positive multiplicities. If G is simply-laced, we show that these multiplicites are equal to the same power of 2. For arbitrary G, we show that V_0 is connected in codimension 1. If moreover all multiplicities are 1, we show that the singularities of V are rational, and we construct a flat degeneration of…
We unify aspects of the equivariant geometry of type $D$ quiver representation varieties, double Grassmannians, and symmetric varieties $GL(a+b)/GL(a)\times GL(b)$; in particular we translate results about singularities of orbit closures, combinatorics of orbit closure containment, and torus equivariant $K$-theory between these three families. These results are all obtained from our generalization of a construction of Zelevinsky for type $A$ quivers to the type $D$ setting. More precisely, we give explicit embeddings with nice properties of homogeneous fiber bundles over type $D$ quiver repres…
In characteristic $p=2$, we compute the singularities of Kummer varieties arising from products of elliptic curves. This result is generalized to Kummer varieties associated to ordinary abelian varieties.
We define the Barbasch-Evens-Magyar varieties. We show they are isomorphic to the smooth varieties defined in [D.~Barbasch-S.~Evens '94] that map generically finitely to symmetric orbit closures, thereby giving resolutions of singularities in certain cases. Our definition parallels [P.~Magyar '98]'s construction of the Bott-Samelson varieties [H.~C.~Hansen '73, M.~Demazure '74]. From this alternative viewpoint, one deduces a graphical description in type $A$, stratification into closed subvarieties of the same kind, and determination of the torus-fixed points. Moreover, we explain how these ma…
We use Galois closures of finite rational maps between complex projective varieties to introduce a new method for producing varieties such that the holomorphic part of the cup product map has non-trivial kernel. We then apply our result to the two-dimensional case and we construct a new family of surfaces which are Lagrangian in their Albanese variety. Moreover, we analyze these surfaces computing their Chern invariants, and proving that they are not fibred over curves of genus greater than one.
With the help of Lusztig's canonical basis, we study local intersection cohomology of the Zariski closures of orbits of representations of a quiver of type A, D or E. In particular, we characterize the rationally smooth orbits and prove that orbit closures are smooth if and only if they are rationally smooth. This provides an analogue of theorems of V. Deodhar, and J. Carrell and D. Peterson on Schubert varieties.
We describe noncommutative desingularizations of determinantal varieties, determinantal varieties defined by minors of generic symmetric matrices, and pfaffian varieties defined by pfaffians of generic anti-symmetric matrices. For maximal minors of square matrices and symmetric matrices, this gives a non-commutative crepant resolution. Along the way, we describe a method to calculate the quiver with relations for any non-commutative desingularizations coming from exceptional collections over partial flag varieties.
For a given irreducible projective variety $X$, the closure of the set of all hyperplanes containing tangents to $X$ is the projectively dual variety $X^{\vee}$. We study the singular locus of projectively dual varieties of certain Segre-Plücker embeddings in series of papers. In this work we give a classification of the irreducible components of the singular locus of the dual Grassmannian. Basically, it admits two components: cusp type and node type which are degeneracies of a certain Hessian matrix, and the closure of the set of tangent planes having more than one critical point, respectivel…
For the classical groups, Kraft and Procesi have resolved the question of which nilpotent orbits have closures which are normal and which are not, with the exception of the very even orbits in $D_{2l}$ which have partition of the form $(a^{2k}, b^2)$ for $a, b$ distinct even natural numbers with $a k + b = 2 l$. In this article, we show that these orbits do have normal closure.
We give a short proof that essentially all questions concerning singularities of Richardson varieties reduce to corresponding questions about Schubert varieties. Consequently, we quickly deduce some new and previously known results.
We prove an inclusion result for graded dagger closure for primary ideals in symmetric section rings of abelian varieties over an algebraically closed field of arbitrary characteristic.
In a previous paper (joint with Hausel and Rodriguez-Villegas) we gave a conjectural formula for the mixed Hodge polynomials of character varieties with generic semisimple conjugacy classes at punctures and we prove a formula for the E-polynomial. We also proved that these character varieties are irreducible. In this paper we extend the above results to character varieties with Zariski closures of arbitrary generic conjugacy classes at punctures working with intersection cohomology. We also study Weyl group action on the intersection cohomology of the partial resolutions of these character var…
We find generators for the ideals of secant varieties of Segre varieties in several the cases including the Garcia-Stillmann-Ssturmfels conjecture for four factors and prove results about their singularities.
We list combinatorial criteria of some singularities, which appear in the Minimal Model Program or in the study of (singular) Fano varieties, for spherical varieties. Most of the results of this paper are already known or are quite easy corollary of known results. We collect these results, we precise some proofs and add few results to get a coherent and complete survey.
Firstly, we see that the bases of the miniversal deformations of isolated $\mathbb{Q}$-Gorenstein toric singularities are quite restricted. In particular, we classify the analytic germs of embedding dimension $\leq 2$ which are the bases of the miniversal deformations of isolated $\mathbb{Q}$-Gorenstein toric singularities. Secondly, we show that the deformation spaces of isolated Gorenstein toric $3$-fold singularities appear, in a weak sense, as singularities of the K-moduli stack of K-semistable Fano varieties of every dimension $\geq 3$. As a consequence, we prove that the number of local …
This paper studies the singularities of affine Schubert varieties in the affine Grassmannian (of type $\mathrm{A}^{(1)}_\ell$). For two classes of affine Schubert varieties, we determine the singular loci; and for one class, we also determine explicitly the tangent spaces at singular points. For a general affine Schubert variety, we give partial results on the singular locus.
We generalize the well-known numerical criterion for projective spaces by Cho, Miyaoka and Shepherd-Barron to varieties with at worst quotient singularities. Let $X$ be a normal projective variety of dimension $n \geq 3$ with at most quotient singularities. Our result asserts that if $C \cdot (-K_X) \geq n+1$ for every curve $C \subset X$, then $X \cong \PP^n$.
Restriction varieties in the orthogonal Grassmannian are subvarieties of $OG(k, n)$ defined by rank conditions given by a flag that is not necessarily isotropic with respect to the relevant symmetric bilinear form. In particular, Schubert varieties of Type B and D are examples of restriction varieties. In this paper, we introduce a resolution of singularities for restriction varieties in $OG(k, n)$, and give a description of their singular locus by studying components of the exceptional locus of the resolution.
Let $X^v_w$ be a Richardson variety in the full flag variety $X$ associated to a symmetrizable Kac-Moody group $G$. Recall that $X^v_w$ is the intersection of the finite dimensional Schubert variety $X_w$ with the finite codimensional opposite Schubert variety $X^v$. We give an explicit $\bQ$-divisor $Δ$ on $X^v_w$ and prove that the pair $(X^v_w, Δ)$ has Kawamata log terminal singularities. In fact, $-K_{X^v_w} - Δ$ is ample, which additionally proves that $(X^v_w, Δ)$ is log Fano. We first give a proof of our result in the finite case (i.e., in the case when $G$ is a finite dimensional semis…
Richardson varieties play an important role in intersection theory and in the geometric interpretation of the Littlewood-Richardson Rule for flag varieties. We discuss three natural generalizations of Richardson varieties which we call projection varieties, intersection varieties, and rank varieties. In many ways, these varieties are more fundamental than Richardson varieties and are more easily amenable to inductive geometric constructions. In this paper, we study the singularities of each type of generalization. Like Richardson varieties, projection varieties are normal with rational singula…
It is known by results of Kollár, Ein, Lazarsfeld, Hacon and Debarre that divisors representing principal and other low degree polarizations on abelian varieties have mild singularities. In this note we extend such results to polarizations of degree $<g$ on simple $g$-dimensional abelian varieties, settling a conjecture of Debarre and Hacon.
We study the singularities of the secant variety $Σ(X,L)$ associated to a smooth variety $X$ embedded by a sufficiently positive adjoint bundle $L$. We show that $Σ(X,L)$ is always Du Bois singular. Examples of secant varieties with worse singularities when $L$ has weak positivity are provided. We also give a necessary and sufficient condition for $Σ(X, L)$ to have rational singularities.
We discuss Hironaka's theorem on resolution of singularities in charactetistic 0 as well as more recent progress, both on simplifying and improving Hironaka's method of proof and on new results and directions on families of varieties, leading to joint work on toroidal orbifolds with Michael Temkin and Jarosław Włodarczyk.
We describe the generic singularity of a Schubert variety of type A on each irreducible component of its singular locus. This singularity is given either by a cone of rank one matrices, or a quadratic cone.
Building on previous work of Kollar, Ein, Lazarsfeld, and Hacon, we show that ample divisors of low degree on an abelian variety have mild singularities in case the abelian variety is simple or the degree of the polarization is two.
For a semisimple adjoint algebraic group $G$ and a Borel subgroup $B$, consider the double classes $BwB$ in $G$ and their closures in the canonical compactification of $G$: we call these closures large Schubert varieties. We show that these varieties are normal and Cohen-Macaulay; we describe their Picard group and the spaces of sections of their line bundles. As an application, we construct geometrically van der Kallen's filtration of the algebra of regular functions on $B$. We also construct a degeneration of the flag variety $G/B$ embedded diagonally in $G/B\times G/B$, into a union of Schu…
This paper gives the all possible global indices of log Calabi-Yau 3-folds with standard coefficients on the boundaries and having lc, non-klt singularities. This follows easily from the discussion in the paper: The indices of log canonical singularities by Fujino (AG/9909035).
We give explicit formulas for torus-equivariant fundamental classes of closed $K$-orbits on the flag variety $G/B$ when $G$ is one of the classical groups $SL(n,\C)$, $SO(n,\C)$, or $Sp(2n,\C)$, and $K$ is a symmetric subgroup of $G$. We describe parametrizations of each orbit set and the combinatorics of its weak order, allowing us to compute formulas for the equivariant classes of all remaining orbit closures using divided difference operators. In each of the cases in type A, we realize the $K$-orbit closures as universal degeneracy loci of a certain type, involving a vector bundle $V$ over …
By the fundamental work of Griffiths one knows that, under suitable assumption, homological and algebraic equivalence do not coincide for a general hypersurface section of a smooth projective variety $Y$. In the present paper we prove the same result in case $Y$ has isolated singularities.
In this paper we give a lower bound for the codimension of the Andreotti-Mayer loci in the moduli space of principally polarized complex abelian varieties. We also present a conjecture on this codimension.
We develop interval pattern avoidance and Mars-Springer ideals to study singularities of symmetric orbit closures in a flag variety. This paper focuses on the case of the Levi subgroup GL_p x GL_q acting on the classical flag variety. We prove that all reasonable singularity properties can be classified in terms of interval patterns of clans.
For a finite subgroup $Γ\subset \mathrm{SL}(2,\mathbb{C})$ and $n\geq 1$, we construct the (reduced scheme underlying the) Hilbert scheme of $n$ points on the Kleinian singularity $\mathbb{C}^2/Γ$ as a Nakajima quiver variety for the framed McKay quiver of $Γ$, taken at a specific non-generic stability parameter. We deduce that this Hilbert scheme is irreducible (a result previously due to Zheng), normal, and admits a unique symplectic resolution. More generally, we introduce a class of algebras obtained from the preprojective algebra of the framed McKay quiver by a process called cornering, a…
We study logarithmic jet schemes of a log scheme and generalize a theorem of M. Mustata from the case of ordinary jet schemes to the logarithmic case. If X is a normal local complete intersection log variety, then X has canonical singularities if and only if the log jet schemes of X are irreducible.
We determine which nilpotent orbits in $E_6$ have normal closure and which do not. We also verify a conjecture about small representations in rings of functions on nilpotent orbit covers for type $E_6$.
The generalized commuting and isospectral commuting varieties of a reductive Lie algebra have been introduced in a preceding article. In this note, it is proved that their normalizations are Gorenstein with rational singularities. Moreover, their canonical modules are free of rank 1. In particular, the usual commuting variety is Gorenstein with rational singularities and its canonical module is free of rank 1.
In this paper we study the singularities of the invariant metric of the Poincaré bundle over a family of abelian varieties and their duals over a base of arbitrary dimension. As an application of this study we prove the effectiveness of the height jump divisors for families of pointed abelian varieties. The effectiveness of the height jump divisor was conjectured by Hain in the more general case of variations of polarized Hodge structures of weight $-1$.
We show that every Mori dream space of globally $F$-regular type is of Fano type. As an application, we give a characterization of varieties of Fano type in terms of the singularities of their Cox rings.
Let $X$ be a smooth complete Fano variety over $\mathbb{C}$. We show that the Cox ring $\bigoplus_{L\in\text{Pic}(X)}H^0(X,\mathcal{O}_X(L))$ is Gorenstein with canonical singularities.