In this paper we study principally polarized complex abelian varieties that admit an automorphism of order 3. It turns out that certain natural conditions on the multiplicities of its action on the differentials of the first kind do guarantee that those polarized varieties are not jacobians of curves. As an application, we get another proof of the already known (thanks to Clemens and Griffiths) fact that intermediate jacobians of certain cubic threefolds are not jacobians of curves.
Let A be a principally polarized abelian threefold over a perfect field k, not isomorphic to a product over the algebraic closure of k. There exists a canonical extension k' of k, of degree 1 or 2, such that A becomes isomorphic to a Jacobian over k'. The aim of this note is to give a geometric construction of this extension.
Let X be a smooth cubic threefold. We can associate two objects to X: the intermediate Jacobian J and the Fano surface F parametrising lines on X. By a theorem of Clemens and Griffiths, the Fano surface can be embedded in the intermediate Jacobian and the cohomology class of its image is minimal. In this paper we show that if X is generic, the Fano surface is the only surface of minimal class in J.
We define, basing upon semiorthogonal decompositions of $\Db(X)$, categorical representability of a projective variety $X$ and describe its relation with classical representabilities of the Chow ring. For complex threefolds satisfying both classical and categorical representability assumptions, we reconstruct the intermediate Jacobian from the semiorthogonal decomposition. We discuss finally how categorical representability can give useful information on the birational properties of $X$ by providing examples and stating open questions.
The intermediate Jacobian map, which associates to a smooth cubic threefold its intermediate Jacobian, does not extend to the GIT compactification of the space of cubic threefolds, not even as a map to the Satake compactification of the moduli space of principally polarized abelian fivefolds. A much better "wonderful" compactification of the space of cubic threefolds was constructed by the first and fourth authors --- it has a modular interpretation, and divisorial normal crossing boundary. We prove that the intermediate Jacobian map extends to a morphism from the wonderful compactification to…
Results due to Druel and Beauville show that the blowup of the intermediate Jacobian of a smooth cubic threefold X in the Fano surface of lines can be identified with a moduli space of semistable sheaves of Chern classes c_1=0, c_2=2, c_3=0 on X. Here we further identify this space with a space of matrix factorizations. This has the advantage that this description naturally generalizes to singular and even reducible cubic threefolds. In this way, given a degeneration of X to a reducible cubic threefold X_0, we obtain an associated degeneration of the above moduli spaces of semistable sheaves.
We exhibit the isogeny classes of supersingular abelian threefolds over F_{2^n} containing the Jacobian of a genus 3 curve. In particular, we prove that for even n>6 there always exist a maximal and a minimal curve over F_{2^n}. All the curves can be obtained explicitly.
A well known result of Clemens and Griffiths says that a smooth cubic threefold can be recovered from its intermediate Jacobian. In this paper we discuss the possible degenerations of these abelian varieties, and thus give a description of the compactification of the moduli space of cubic threefolds obtained in this way. The relation between this compactification and those constructed in the work of Allcock-Carlson-Toledo and Looijenga-Swierstra is also considered, and is similar in spirit to the relation between the various compactifications of the moduli spaces of low genus curves.
We explicitly construct the Kummer variety associated to the Jacobian of a hyperelliptic curve of genus 3 that is defined over a field of characteristic not equal to 2 and has a Weierstraß point defined over the same field. We also construct homogeneous quartic polynomials on the Kummer variety and show that they represent the duplication map.
A new proof of the non-rationality of a generic cubic threefold is given as follows: If a generic cubic threefold were rational then the associated intermediate Jacobian would be a product of Jacobians of curves. We degenerate a generic cubic threefold to the Segre Cubic Threefold and so there is a degeneration of intermediate Jacobians as well. Associated to the degenerating family of Pryms is a unimodular system of vectors. Rationality of the generic cubic threefold would imply that the unimodular system would be cographic dicing. However, we show that the unimodular system obtained is a wel…
Let $k$ be a field of characteristic zero containing a primitive fifth root of unity. Let $X/k$ be a smooth cubic threefold with an automorphism of order five, then we observe that over a finite extension of the field actually the dihedral group $D_5$ is a subgroup of ${\rm Aut}(X)$. We find that the intermediate Jacobian $J(X)$ of $X$ is isogenous to the product of an elliptic curve $E$ and the self-product of an abelian surface $B$ with real multiplication by $\mathbb{Q}(\sqrt{5})$. We give explicit models of some algebraic curves related to the construction of $J(X)$ as a Prym variety. This…
In this paper, we classify groups which faithfully act on smooth cubic threefolds. It turns out that there are exactly $6$ maximal ones and we describe them with explicit examples of target cubic threefolds.
We show that every morphism from a degree 5 hypersurface in 4-dimensional projective space to a nonsingular degree 3 hypersurface in 4-dimensional projective space is necessarily constant. In the process, we also classify morphisms from the projective plane to nonsingular cubic threefolds given by degree 3 polynomials.
It is well known that every smooth cubic threefold is the zero locus of the Pfaffian of a 6 x 6 skew-symmetric matrix of linear forms in P^4. To compactify the space of such Pfaffian representations of a given cubic and to study the construction in families as well as for singular or reducible cubics, it is thus natural to consider the incidence correspondence of Pfaffian representations inside the product of the space of semistable skew-symmetric 6 x 6 matrices of linear forms in P^4 and the space of cubics. Here we describe concretely the irreducible component of this incidence correspondenc…
An arithmetic method of proving the irrationality of smooth projective 3-folds is described, using reduction modulo $p$. It is illustrated by an application to a cubic threefold, for which the hypothesis that its intermediate Jacobian is isomorphic to the Jacobian of a curve is contradicted by reducing modulo 3 and counting points over appropriate extensions of $\mathbb F_3$. As a spin-off, it is shown that the 5-dimensional Prym varieties arising as intermediate Jacobians of certain cubic 3-folds have the maximal number of points over $\mathbb F_q$ which attains Perret's and Weil's upper boun…
We prove a categorical version of the Torelli theorem for cubic threefolds. More precisely, we show that the non-trivial part of a semi-orthogonal decomposition of the derived category of a cubic threefold characterizes its isomorphism class.
We pose some questions about spaces parametrizing rational curves on rationally connected varieties. We give a partial answer for cubic threefolds. Many of our results were previously proved by Iliev, Markushevich and Tikhimirov by analyzing vector bundles on cubic threefolds. Our proofs use residuation rather than vector bundles.
The present paper deals with lines contained in a smooth complex cubic threefold. It is well-known that the set of lines of the second type on a cubic threefold is a curve on its Fano surface. Here we give a description of the singularities of this curve.
We study the moduli space of pairs consisting of a smooth cubic surface and a smooth hyperplane section, via a Hodge theoretic period map due to Laza, Pearlstein, and the second named author. The construction associates to such a pair a so-called Eckardt cubic threefold, admitting an involution, and the period map sends the pair to the anti-invariant part of the intermediate Jacobian of this cubic threefold, with respect to this involution. Our main result is that the global Torelli theorem holds for this period map; i.e., the period map is injective. To prove the result, we describe the anti-…
We study the locus of intermediate Jacobians of cubic threefolds within the moduli space of complex principally polarized abelian fivefolds, and its generalization to arbitrary genus - the locus of abelian varieties with a singular odd two-torsion point on the theta divisor. Assuming that this locus has expected codimension (which we show to be true for genus up to 5), we compute the class of this locus, and of is closure in the perfect cone toroidal compactification, in the Chow, homology, and the tautological ring. We work out the cases of genus up to 5 in detail, obtaining explicit expressi…
The Abel-Jacobi maps of the families of elliptic quintics and rational quartics lying on a smooth cubic threefold are studied. It is proved that their generic fiber is the 5-dimensional projective space for quintics, and a smooth 3-dimensional variety birational to the cubic itself for quartics. The paper is a continuation of the recent work of Markushevich-Tikhomirov, who showed that the first Abel-Jacobi map factors through the moduli component of stable rank 2 vector bundles on the cubic threefold with Chern numbers $c_1=0, c_2=2$ obtained by Serre's construction from elliptic quintics, and…
We describe the Hilbert schemes parametrizing curves on a cubic threefold of degree at most 5. In a forthcoming paper, we use this description to give a new proof and extension of a theorem of Iliev, Markushevich and Tikhimirov.
We discuss the work of Corrado Segre on nodal cubic hypersurfaces with emphasis on the cases of 6-nodal and 10-nodal cubics. In particular, we discuss the Fano surface of lines and conic bundle structures on such threefolds. We review some of the current research in algebraic geometry related to Segre's work.
It is unknown whether smooth cubic threefolds have an (integral Chow-theoretic) decomposition of the diagonal, or whether they are stably rational or not in general. As a first step towards making progress on these questions, we compute the (saturated numerical) prelog Chow group of the self-product of a certain degeneration of cubic threefolds.
We show that the Makar-Limanov invariant of the cylinder over the Koras-Russell cubic affine threefold is trivial. This means that regular functions which are invariant under all algebraic actions of the additive group on this variety are constants.
We give an algorithm to compute the zeta function of the Fano surface of lines of a smooth cubic threefold $F$ into $\mathbb{P}^4$ defined over a finite field. We obtain some examples of Fano surfaces with supersingular reduction.
Let $X$ be a smooth cubic threefold and $J(X)$ be its intermediate Jacobian. We show that there exists a codimension 2 cycle $Z$ on $J(X)\times X$ with $Z_{t}$ homologically trivial for each $t\in J(X)$, such that the morphism $ϕ_{Z}: J(X)\rightarrow J(X)$ induced by the Abel-Jacobi map is the identity. This answers positively a question of Voisin in the case of the cubic threefold.
We study the Picard variety of the Fano surface of nodal and mildly cuspidal cubic threefolds in arbitrary characteristic by relating divisors on the Fano surface to divisors on the symmetric product of a curve of genus 4.
Given a cubic hypersurface $X\subset \mathbb{P}^4$, we study the existence of Pfaffian representations of $X$, namely of $6\times 6$ skew-symmetric matrices of linear forms $M$ such that $X$ is defined by the equation $Pf(M)=0$. It was known that such a matrix always exists whenever $X$ is smooth. Here we prove that the same holds whenever $X$ is singular, hence that every cubic threefold is Pfaffian.
A Fano surface of a smooth cubic threefold X in P^4 parametrizes the lines on X. In this note, we prove that a Fano surface satisfies the Tate conjecture over a field of finite type over the prime field and characteristic not 2.
This paper was written in 1982. Ideas and methods of "Clemens C.H., Griffiths Ph. The intermediate Jacobian of a cubic threefold" are applied to a Fano threefold X of genus 6 -- intersection of Grassmann sixfold with two hyperplanes and a quadric. We prove: 1. The Fano surface F(X) of X is smooth and irreducible. Hodge numbers and some other invariants of F(X) are calculated. 2. Tangent bundle theorem for X, and its geometric interpretation. It is shown that F(X) defines X uniquely. 3. The Abel - Jacobi map from the Albanese of F(X) to the middle Jacobian of X is an isogeny.
We show that the projectivization of the exceptional rank 2 vector bundle on an arbitrary smooth V14 Fano threefold after a certain natural flop turns into the projectivization of an instanton vector bundle on a smooth cubic threefold. And vice versa, starting from a smooth cubic threefold with an instanton vector bundle of charge 2 on it we reconstruct V14 threefold. Relying on the geometric properties of the above correspondence we prove that the orthogonals to the exceptional pairs in the bounded derived categories of coherent sheaves on a smooth V14 threefold and on the corresponding cubic…
It has long been known that to a complex cubic surface or threefold one can canonically associate a principally polarized abelian variety. We give a construction which works for cubics over an arithmetic base. This answers, away from the prime 2, an old question of Deligne and a recent question of Kudla and Rapoport. We further classify the Mumford-Tate groups of the abelian varieties which arise, and give additional arithmetic applications.
We show that the only summands of theta divisors on Jacobians of curves and on intermediate Jacobians of cubic threefolds are the obvious powers of the curve and the Fano surface of lines on the threefold. The proof uses the decomposition theorem for perverse sheaves, a bit of representation theory and a computation of characteristic cycles for Brill-Noether sheaves.
We show that there exists a cubic threefold defined by an invertible polynomial that, when quotiented by the maximal diagonal symmetry group, has a derived category which does not have a full exceptional collection consisting of line bundles. This provides a counterexample to a conjecture of Lekili and Ueda.
We study certain moduli spaces of stable vector bundles of rank two on cubic and quartic threefolds. In many cases under consideration, it turns out that the moduli space is complete and irreducible and a general member has vanishing intermediate cohomology. In one case, all except one component of the moduli space has such vector bundles.
We show the cohomological monodromy for the universal family of smooth cubic threefolds does not factor through the genus five mapping class group. This gives a geometric group theory perspective on the well-known irrationality of cubic threefolds.
Let k be a field and f be a Siegel modular form of weight h \geq 0 and genus g>1 over k. Using f, we define an invariant of the k-isomorphism class of a principally polarized abelian variety (A,a)/k of dimension g. Moreover when (A,a) is the Jacobian of a smooth plane curve, we show how to associate to f a classical plane invariant. As straightforward consequences of these constructions, when g=3 and k is a subfield of the complex field, we obtain (i) a new proof of a formula of Klein linking the modular form χ_{18} to the square of the discriminant of plane quartics ; (ii) a proof that one ca…
We prove that the Klein cubic threefold $F$ is the only smooth cubic threefold which has an automorphism of order 11. We compute the period lattice of the intermediate Jacobian of $F$ and study its Fano surface $S$. We compute also the set of fibrations of $S$ onto a curve of positive genus and the intersection between the fibres of these fibrations. These fibres generate an index 2 sub-group of the Néron-Severi group and we obtain a set of generators of this group. The Néron-Severi group of $S$ has rank $25=h^{1,1}$ and discriminant $11^{10}$.
The moduli space of cubic threefolds in CP4, with some minor birational modifications, is the Baily-Borel compactification of the quotient of the complex 10-ball by a discrete group. We describe both the birational modifications and the discrete group explicitly.
We characterise smooth curves in a smooth cubic threefold whose blow-ups produce a weak-Fano threefold. These are curves $C$ of genus $g$ and degree $d$, such that (i) $2(d-5) \le g$ and $d\le 6$; (ii) $C$ does not admit a 3-secant line in the cubic threefold. Among the list of ten possible such types $(g,d)$, two were previously left as open numerical possibilities, namely $(g,d) = (0,5)$ and $(2,6)$. Using the Sarkisov link associated with a curve of type $(2,6)$, we are able to produce the first example of a pseudo-automorphism with dynamical degree greater than $1$ on a smooth threefold wi…
