We prove the existence of various families of irreducible homaloidal hypersurfaces in projective space $\mathbb P^ r$, for all $r\geq 3$. Some of these are families of homaloidal hypersurfaces whose degrees are arbitrarily large as compared to the dimension of the ambient projective space. The existence of such a family solves a question that has naturally arisen from the consideration of the classes of homaloidal hypersurfaces known so far. The result relies on a fine analysis of dual hypersurfaces to certain scroll surfaces. We also introduce an infinite family of determinantal homaloidal hypersurfaces based on a certain degeneration of a generic Hankel matrix. These examples fit non--classical versions of de Jonquières transformations. As a natural counterpoint, we broaden up aspects of the theory of Gordan--Noether hypersurfaces with vanishing Hessian determinant, bringing over some more precision to the present knowledge.
We investigate the relationship among several numerical invariants associated to a (free) projective hypersurface $V$: the sequence of mixed multiplicities of its Jacobian ideal, the Hilbert polynomial of its Milnor algebra, and the sequence of exponents when $V$ is free. As a byproduct, we obtain explicit equations for some of the homaloidal surfaces in the projective 3-dimensional space constructed by C. Ciliberto, F. Russo and A. Simis.
We prove a formula for the polar degree of projective hypersurfaces in terms of the Milnor data of the singularities, extending to 1-dimensional singularities the Dimca-Papadima result for isolated singularities. We discuss the semi-continuity of the polar degree in deformations, and we classify the homaloidal cubic surfaces with 1-dimensional singular locus. Some open questions are pointed out along the way.
We present a general construction of hypersurfaces with vanishing hessian, starting from any irreducible non-degenerate variety whose dual variety is a hypersurface and based on the so called Dual Cayley Trick. The geometrical properties of these hypersurfaces are different from the known series constructed until now. In particular, their dual varieties can have arbitrary codimension in the image of the associated polar map.
Given a hypersurface in the complex projective $n$-space we prove several known formulas for the degree of its polar map by purely algebro-geometric methods. Furthermore, we give formulas for the degree of its polar map in terms of the degrees of the polar maps of its components. As an application, we classify the plane curves with polar map of low degree, including a very simple proof of I. Dolgachev's classification of homaloidal plane curves.
For a reduced hypersurface $V(f) \subseteq \mathbb{P}^n$ of degree $d$, the Castelnuovo-Mumford regularity of the Milnor algebra $M(f)$ is well understood when $V(f)$ is smooth, as well as when $V(f)$ has isolated singularities. We study the regularity of $M(f)$ when $V(f)$ has a positive dimensional singular locus. In certain situations, we prove that the regularity is bounded by $(d-2)(n+1)$, which is the degree of the Hessian polynomial of $f$. However, this is not always the case, and we prove that in $\mathbb{P}^n$ the regularity of the Milnor algebra can grow quadratically in $d$.
Using the minors in Hessian matrices, we introduce new graded algebras associated to a homogeneous polynomial. When the associated projective hypersurface has isolated singularities, these algebras are related to some new local algebras associated to isolated hypersurface singularities, which generalize their Tjurina algebras. One consequence of our results is a new way to determine the number of weighted homogeneous singularities of such a hypersurface.
We study the connected component of the automorphism group of a cubic hypersurface over complex numbers. When the cubic hypersurface has nonzero Hessian, this group is usually small. But there are examples with unusually large automorphism groups: the secants of Severi varieties. Can we characterize them by the property of having unusually large automorphism groups? We study this question from the viewpoint of prolongations of the Lie algebras. Our result characterizes the secants of Severi varieties, among cubic hypersurfaces with nonzero Hessian and smooth singular locus, in terms of prolong…
This article presents the theory of focal locus applied to the hypersurfaces in the projective space which are (finitely) covered by linear spaces and such that the tangent space is constant along these spaces.
If $X = V(f) \subset \mathbb P^N$ is a reduced complex hypersurface, the hessian of $f$ (or by abusing the terminology the hessian of $X$) is the determinant of the matrix of the second derivatives of the form $f$, that is the determinant of the hessian matrix of $f$. Hypersurfaces with vanishing hessian were studied systematically for the first time in the fundamental paper [GN], where Gordan and M. Noether analyze Hesse's claims in [Hesse1, Hesse2] according to which these hypersurfaces are necessarily cones. Of course cones have vanishing hessian. Clearly the claim is true if deg(X)=2 so th…
In this paper we study the Hessian map $h_{d,r}$ which associates to any hypersurface of degree $d$ in ${\mathbb P}^r$ its Hessian hypersurface. We study general properties of this map and we prove that: $h_{d,1}$ is birational onto its image if $d\geq 5$; we study in detail the maps $h_{3,1}$, $h_{4,1}$ and $h_{3,2}$; we study the restriction of the Hessian map to the locus of hypersurfaces of degree $d$ with Waring rank $r+2$ in ${\mathbb P}^r$, proving that this restriction is injective as soon as $r\geq 2$ and $d\geq 3$, which implies that $h_{3,3}$ is birational onto its image; we prove t…
The aim is to study Perazzo hypersurfaces $X=V(F)\subseteq\mathbb{P}(K^5)$, defined by $F(x_0,x_1,x_2,u,v) = p_0(u,v)x_0+p_1(u,v)x_1+p_2(u,v)x_2+g(u,v)$, where $p_0,p_1,p_2$ are algebraically dependent, but linearly independent forms of degree $d-1$ in $u,v$, and $g$ is a form in $u,v$ of degree $d$. These hypersurfaces are the "building blocks" for all possible hypersuface in $\mathbb{P}^4$ with vanishing Hessian. A minimal and a maximal Hilbert vector is found for the associated Artinian Gorenstein $K$-algebras $A_F$: in the minimal case they satisfy the Weak Lefschetz property, but in the m…
Let $X \subset \Bbb P^r$ be a smooth algebraic curve in projective space, over an algebraically closed field of characteristic zero. For each $m \in \Bbb N$, the $m$-flexes of $X$ are defined as the points where the osculating hypersurface of degree $m$ has higher contact than expected, and a hypersurface $H \subset \Bbb P^r$ is called a $m$-Hessian if it cuts $X$ along its $m$-flexes. When $X$ is a complete intersection, we give an expression for a (rational) $m$-Hessian as the Div (in the sense of Grothendieck-Knudsen-Mumford) of a complex of graded free modules naturally associated to $X$. …
Hesse claimed that an irreducible projective hypersurface in $\PP^n$ defined by an equation with vanishing hessian determinant is necessarily a cone. Gordan and Noether proved that this is true for $n\leq 3$ and constructed counterexamples for every $n\geq 4$. Gordan and Noether and Franchetta gave classification of hypersurfaces in $\PP^4$ with vanishing hessian and which are not cones. Here we translate in geometric terms Gordan and Noether approach, providing direct geometrical proofs of these results.
It is shown that an irreducible cubic hypersurface with nonzero Hessian and smooth singular locus is the secant variety of a Severi variety if and only if its Lie algebra of infinitesimal linear automorphisms admits a nonzero prolongation.
We obtain a precise relation between the Chern-Schwartz-MacPherson class of a subvariety of projective space and the Euler characteristics of its general linear sections. In the case of a hypersurface, this leads to simple proofs of formulas of Dimca-Papadima and Huh for the degrees of the polar map of a homogeneous polynomial, extending these formula to any algebraically closed field of characteristic~0, and proving a conjecture of Dolgachev on 'homaloidal' polynomials in the same context. We generalize these formulas to subschemes of higher codimension in projective space. We also describe a…
We construct explicit examples of elementary extremal contractions, both birational and of fiber type, from smooth projective n-dimensional varieties, n\geq 4, onto smooth projective varieties, arising from classical projective geometry and defined over sufficiently small fields, not necessarily algebraically closed. The examples considered come from particular special homaloidal and subhomaloidal linear systems, which usually are degenerations of general phenomena classically investigated by Bordiga, Severi, Todd, Room, Fano, Semple and Tyrrell and more recently by Ein and Shepherd-Barron. Th…
The moduli space M_0 of semi-stable rank 2 vector bundles with fixed trivial determinant over a non-hyperelliptic curve C of genus 3 is isomorphic to a quartic hypersurface in P^7 (Coble's quartic). We show that M_0 is self-dual and that its polar map associates to a stable bundle E \in M_0 a bundle F which is characterized by dim H^0(C, E \otimes F) = 4. The projective space PH^0(C, E \otimes F) is equipped with a net of quadrics Πand it is shown that the map which associates to E \in M_0 the isomorphism class of the plane quartic Hessian curve of Πis a dominant map to the moduli space of gen…
