A conic bundle or quadric bundle in characteristic 2 can have generic fiber which is nowhere smooth over the function field of the base variety. In that case, the generic fiber is called a quasilinear quadric. We solve some of the main problems of birational geometry for quasilinear quadrics. First, if there is a rational map from one quasilinear quadric to another of the same dimension, and also a map back, then the two quadrics are birational. Next, we determine exactly which quasilinear quadrics are ruled, that is, birational over the base field to the product of some variety with the projective line. Both statements are conjectured for quadrics in any characteristic. The proofs begin by extending Karpenko and Merkurjev's theorem on the essential dimension of quadrics to arbitrary quadrics (smooth or not) in characteristic 2.
We study birational geometry of the moduli space of stable sheaves on a quadric surface with Hilbert polynomial $5m + 1$ and $c_{1} = (2, 3)$. We describe a birational map between the moduli space and a projective bundle over a Grassmannian as a composition of smooth blow-ups/downs.
We prove birational rigidity and calculate the group of birational automorphisms of a nodal Q-factorial double cover $X$ of a smooth three-dimensional quadric branched over a quartic section. We also prove that $X$ is Q-factorial provided that it has at most 11 singularities; moreover, we give an example of a non-Q-factorial variety of this type with 12 simple double singularities.
It is proved that the group of birational automorphisms of a three-dimensional double quadric with a singular point arising from a double point on the branch divisor is a semidirect product of the free group generated by birational involutions of a special form and the group of regular automorphisms. The proof is based on the method of `untwisting' maximal singularities of linear systems.
Let ϕ: \mathbb{P}^{r}\dashrightarrow Z be a birational transformation with a smooth connected base locus scheme, where Z\subseteq\mathbb{P}^{r+c} is a nondegenerate prime Fano manifold. We call ϕa quadro-quadric special briational transformation if ϕand ϕ^{-1} are defined by linear subsystems of |\mathcal{O}_{\mathbb{P}^{r}}(2)| and |\mathcal{O}_{Z}(2)| respectively. In this paper we classify quadro-quadric special birational transformations in the cases where either (i) Z is a complete intersection and the base locus scheme of ϕ^{-1} is smooth, or (ii) Z is a hypersurface.
We study the birational geometry of the moduli space of complete $n$-quadrics $X$. We exhibit generators for Eff$(X)$ and Nef$(X)$, the cone of effective divisors and the cone of nef divisors, respectively. As a corollary X is a Mori Dream space. Furthermore, we run the MMP on $X$ and find a moduli interpretation for the models induced by the generators of the nef cone. In the case of complete quadric surfaces, we describe all the birational models of $X$ induced by the movable cone and find a moduli interpretation for some of these models.
Special birational transformations $Φ:\p^r\da Z$ defined by quadric hypersurfaces are studied by means of the variety of lines $\mathcal L_z\subset\p^{r-1}$ passing through a general point $z\in Z$. Classification results are obtained when $Z$ is either a Grassmannian of lines, or the 10-dimensional spinor variety, or the $E_6$-variety. In the particular case of quadro-quadric transformations, we extend the well-known classification of Ein and Shepherd-Barron coming from Zak's classification of Severi varieties to a wider class of prime Fano manifolds $Z$. Combining both results, we get a clas…
We consider two varieties associated to a web of quadrics W in the projective space of dimension 7. One is the base locus and the second one is the double cover of the three dimensional projective space branched along the determinant surface of W. We show that small resolutions of these varieties are Calabi-Yau manifolds. We compute their Betti numbers and show that they are not birational in the generic case. The main result states that if the base locus of W contains a plane then in the generic case the two varieties are birational.
We will consider an explicit birational map between a quadric and the projective variety X(J) of traceless rank one elements in a simple reduced Jordan algebra J. X(J) is a homogeneous G-variety for the automorphism group G=Aut(J). We will show that the birational map is a blow up followed by a blow down. This will allow us to use the blow up formula for motives together with Vishik's work on the motives of quadrics to give a motivic decomposition of X(J).
We prove birational superrigidity of generic Fano complete intersections $V$ of type $2^{k_1}\cdot 3^{k_2}$ in the projective space ${\mathbb P}^{2k_1+3k_2}$, under the condition that $k_2\geq 2$ and $k_1+2k_2=\mathop{\rm dim} V\geq 12$, and of a few families of Fano complete intersections of dimension 10 and 11. This is the third version: minor corrections were made, including a few typos.
Let $π\colon \mathcal{X}\to B$ be a family whose general fiber $X_b$ gives a $(d_1,...,d_a)$ polarisation of a general Abelian variety where $1\leq d_i\leq 2$, $i=1,...,a$ and $a\geq 4$. We show that the fibers are in the same birational class if all the $(m,0)$ forms on $X_b$ are liftable to $(m,0)$ forms on $\mathcal{X}$ where $m=1$ and $m=a-1$. Actually we show general criteria to find families with fibers in the same birational class, which leads together with a famous theorem of Nori to some interesting applications.
Moduli spaces of complete collineations are wonderful compactifications of spaces of linear maps of maximal rank between two fixed vector spaces. We investigate the birational geometry of moduli spaces of complete collineations and quadrics from the point of view of Mori theory. We compute their effective, nef and movable cones, the generators of their Cox rings, and their groups of pseudo-automorphisms. Furthermore, we give a complete description of both the Mori chamber and stable base locus decompositions of the effective cone of the space of complete collineations of the 3-dimensional proj…
In our previous works (2012, 2013), we provided a finite list of properties characterizing all potential types of quadratic birational transformations of a projective space into a factorial variety, whose base locus is smooth and irreducible. However, some existence problems remained open. Among them one had to prove that the image of a given transformation was factorial, but in two particular situations, even the mere existence of the transformation was left as an open problem. In this paper, we use computer algebra methods to construct explicitly four examples of such transformations; two of…
Three-dimensional del Pezzo varieties of degree 2 are double covers of projective space $\mathbb{P}^{3}$ branced in a quadric. In this paper we prove that if a del Pezzo variety of degree 2 has exactly 15 nodes then the corresponding quadric is a hyperplane section of the Igusa quartic or, equivalently, all such del Pezzo varieties are members of one particular linear system on the Coble fourfold. Their automorphism groups are induced from the automorphism group of Coble fourfold. Also we classify all $G$-birationally rigid varieties of such type.
We study birational transformations P^n--->S \subseteq P^N defined by linear systems of quadrics whose base locus is smooth and irreducible of dimension \leq3 and whose image S is sufficiently regular.
We study the geometry of a birational map between an intersection of a web of quadrics in seven-dimensional complex projective space that contains a plane and the double octic branched along the discriminant of the web.
We construct an example of the birationally rigid complete intersection of a quadric and a cubic in $\PA^5$ with an ordinary double point, which under a small deformation gives a non-rigid Fano variety. Thus we show that birational rigidity is not open in moduli.
Fix a finite group $G$. We seek to classify varieties with $G$-action equivariantly birational to a representation of $G$ on affine or projective space. Our focus is odd-dimensional smooth complete intersections of two quadrics, relating the equivariant rationality problem with analogous Diophantine questions over nonclosed fields. We explore how invariants -- both classical cohomological invariants and recent symbol constructions -- control rationality in some cases.
We study transformations as in the title with emphasis on those having smooth connected base locus, called "special". In particular, we classify all special quadratic birational maps into a quadric hypersurface whose inverse is given by quadratic forms by showing that there are only four examples having general hyperplane sections of Severi varieties as base loci.
Inspired by the Weak Lefschetz Principle, we study when a smooth projective variety fully determines the birational geometry of some of its subvarieties. In particular, we consider the natural embedding of the space of complete quadrics into the space of complete collineations and we observe that their birational geometry, from the point of view of Mori theory, fully determines each other. When two varieties are related in this way, we call them birational twins. We explore this notion and its various flavors for other embeddings between Mori dream spaces.
We show that the birationality class of a quadric surface bundle over $\mathbb{P}^2$ is determined by its associated cokernel sheaves. As an application, we discuss stable-rationality of very general quadric bundles over $\mathbb{P}^2$ with discriminant curves of fixed degree. In particular, we construct explicit models of these bundles for some discriminant data. Among others, we obtain various birational models of a nodal Gushel-Mukai fourfold, as well as of a cubic fourfold containing a plane. Finally, we prove stable irrationality of several types of quadric surface bundles.
We show that the residual categories of quadric surface bundles are equivalent to the (twisted) derived categories of some scheme under the following hypotheses. Case 1: The quadric surface bundle has a smooth section. Case 2: The total space of the quadric surface bundle is smooth and the base is a smooth surface. We provide two proofs in Case 1 describing the scheme as the hyperbolic reduction and as a subscheme of the relative Hilbert scheme of lines, respectively. In Case 2, the twisted scheme is obtained by performing birational transformations to the relative Hilbert scheme of lines. Fin…
We survey recent developments in the Birational Anabelian Geometry program aimed at the reconstruction of function fields of algebraic varieties over algebraically closed fields from pieces of their absolute Galois groups.
This article provides, over any field, infinitely many algebraic embeddings of the affine spaces $\mathbb{A}^1$ and $\mathbb{A}^2$ into smooth quadrics of dimension two and three respectively, which are pairwise non-equivalent under automorphisms of the smooth quadric. Our main tools are the study of the birational morphism $\mathrm{SL}_2 \to \mathbb{A}^3$ and the fibration $\mathrm{SL}_2 \to \mathbb{A}^3 \to \mathbb{A}^1$ obtained by projections, as well as degenerations of variables of polynomial rings, and families of $\mathbb{A}^1$-fibrations.
To any homogeneous polynomial $h$ we naturally associate a variety $Ω_h$ which maps birationally onto the graph $Γ_h$ of the gradient map $\nabla h$ and which agrees with the space of complete quadrics when $h$ is the determinant of the generic symmetric matrix. We give a sufficient criterion for $Ω_h$ being smooth which applies for example when $h$ is an elementary symmetric polynomial. In this case $Ω_h$ is a smooth toric variety associated to a certain generalized permutohedron. We also give examples when $Ω_h$ is not smooth.
We consider function fields of transcendence degree at least 2 over algebraic closures of finite fields, and describe a functorial way to recover such function fields form their pro-l Galois theory.
In this paper we connect degenerations of Fano threefolds by projections. Using Mirror Symmetry we transfer these connections to the side of Landau--Ginzburg models. Based on that we suggest a generalization of Kawamata's categorical approach to birational geometry enhancing it via geometry of moduli spaces of Landau--Ginzburg models. We suggest a conjectural application to Hasset--Kuznetsov--Tschinkel program based on new nonrationality "invariants" we consider --- gaps and phantom categories. We make several conjectures for these invariants in the case of surfaces of general type and quadric…
A wonderful compactification of an orbit under the action of a semi-simple and simply connected group is a smooth projective variety containing the orbit as a dense open subset, and where the added boundary divisor is simple normal crossing. We construct the wonderful compactification of the space of symmetric and symplectic matrices, and investigate its geometry. As an application, we describe the birational geometry of the Kontsevich spaces parametrizing conics in Lagrangian Grassmannians.
We develop the formalism of universal torsors in equivariant birational geometry and apply it to produce new examples of nonbirational but stably birational actions of finite groups.
We study the moduli space of stable sheaves of Euler characteristic 2, supported on curves of arithmetic genus 2 contained in a smooth quadric surface. We show that this moduli space is rational. We compute its Betti numbers and we give a classification of the stable sheaves involving locally free resolutions.
We discuss the equivariant Burnside group and related new invariants in equivariant birational geometry, with a special emphasis on applications in low dimensions.
We study the moduli space of stable sheaves of Euler characteristic 1 supported on curves of bidegree (3, 3) contained in a smooth quadric surface. We show that this moduli space is rational. We compute its Betti numbers by studying the variation of the moduli spaces of alpha-semi-stable pairs.
This is a report on some of the main developments in birational geometry in the last few years focusing on the minimal model program, Fano varieties, singularities and related topics, in characteristic zero.
Here we investigate the birational geometry of projective varieties of arbitrary dimension having defective higher secant varieties. We apply the classical tool of tangential projections and we determine natural conditions for uniruledness, rational connectivity, and rationality.
This article contains the notes of a graduate course on birational geometry focusing on the minimal model program. Topics covered include singularities, vanishing, nonvanishing, cone and contraction, base point freeness, finite generation, flips, termination, minimal models and Mori fibre spaces.
We determine the birational geometry of O'Grady's six dimensional example over the Donaldson-Uhlenbeck compactification, by looking at the locus of non-locally-free sheaves on the relevant moduli space.
We study the motivic Grothendieck group of algebraic varieties from the point of view of stable birational geometry. In particular, we obtain a counter-example to a conjecture of M. Kapranov on the rationality of motivic zeta-function.
In this paper we analyse the birational geometry of O'Grady ten dimensional manifolds, giving a characterisation of Kaehler classes and lagrangian fibrations. Moreover, we study symplectic compactifications of intermediate jacobian fibrations of smooth cubic fourfolds.
Via wall-crossing, we study the birational geometry of Beauville-Mukai systems on K3 surfaces with Picard rank one. We show that there is a class of walls which are always present in the movable cones of Beauville-Mukai systems. We give a complete description of the birational geometry of rank two Beauville-Mukai systems when the genus of the surface is small.
This is, mostly, a survey of results about the birational geometry of rationally connected manifolds, using rational curves analogous to lines in ${\mathbb P}^n$ ({\it quasi-lines}). Various characterizations of a Zariski neighbourhood of a line in ${\mathbb P}^n$ are obtained, some of them being new. Also, methods of formal geometry are applied for deducing results of birational nature.
