In this article we apply the classical method of focal loci of families to give a lower bound for the genus of curves lying on general surfaces. First we translate and reprove Xu's result that any curve C on a general surface in P^3 of degree d>4 has geometric genus g > 1 + deg(C)(d - 5)/2. Then we prove a similar lower bound for the curves lying on a general surface in a given component of the Noether-Lefschetz locus in P^3 and on a general projectively Cohen-Macaulay surface in P^4.
In the Hurwitz space of rational functions on CP^1 with poles of given orders, we study the loci of multisingularities, that is, the loci of functions with a given ramification profile over 0. We prove a recursion relation on the Poincare dual cohomology classes of these loci and deduce a differential equation on Hurwitz numbers.
We show that for any numerical semigroup H of genus g at most 6, the locus of Weierstrass points on curves of genus g with Weierstrass semigroup H is irreducible and that for all but possibly two semigroups it is stably rational.
In this paper we give a simple Torelli type theorem for curves of genus 6 and 8 by showing that these curves can be reconstructed from their Brill-Noether varieties. Among other results, it is shown that the focal variety of a general, canonical and nonhyperelliptic curve of genus 6 is a hypersurface.
The focal locus $Σ_X$ of an affine variety $X$ is roughly speaking the (projective) closure of the set of points $O$ for which there is a smooth point $x \in X$ and a circle with centre $O$ passing through $x$ which osculates $X$ in $x$. Algebraic geometry interprets the focal locus as the branching locus of the endpoint map $ε$ between the Euclidean normal bundle $N_X$ and the projective ambient space ($ε$ sends the normal vector $O-x$ to its endpoint $O$), and in this paper we address two general problems : 1) Characterize the "degenerate" case where the focal locus is not a hypersurface 2) …
In this paper, we construct some examples of rank-2 Brill-Noether loci with "unexpected" properties on general curves. The key example is in genus 6, but we also have interesting examples in rank 5 and in higher genus. We relate some of our results to the recent proof of Mercat's conjecture in rank 2 by Bakker and Farkas.
Inside the moduli space of curves of genus three with one marked point, we consider the locus of hyperelliptic curves with a marked Weierstrass point, and the locus of non-hyperelliptic curves with a marked hyperflex. These loci have codimension two. We compute the classes of their closures in the moduli space of stable curves of genus three with one marked point. Similarly, we compute the class of the closure of the locus of curves of genus four with an even theta characteristic vanishing with order three at a certain point. These loci naturally arise in the study of minimal strata of Abelian…
Using the techniques of Bayer--Macrì, we determine the walls in the movable cone of the Mukai system of rank two for a general K3 surface $S$ of genus two. We study the (essentially unique) birational map to $S^{[5]}$ and decompose it into a sequence of flops. We give an interpretation of the exceptional loci in terms of Brill--Noether loci.
We prove a lower bound for the codimension of the Andreotti-Mayer locus N_{g,1} and show that the lower bound is reached only for the hyperelliptic locus in genus 4 and the Jacobian locus in genus 5. In relation with the boundary of the Andreotti-Mayer loci we study subvarieties of principally polarized abelian varieties (B,Theta) parametrizing points b such that Theta and the translate Theta_b are tangentially degenerate along a variety of a given dimension.
A Brill-Noether locus is a subvariety of M_g consisting of curves having certain linear series g^r_d. We study the relative position of Brill-Noether loci with respect to the gonality stratification of M_g. We construct smooth curves in P^r of given degree and genus and having the `expected' gonality. As an application we give a new proof of our result about the Kodaira dimension of the moduli space of curves of genus 23.
Inside the moduli space of curves of genus 2 with 2 marked points we consider the loci of curves admitting a map to P^1 of degree d totally ramified over the two marked points, for d>= 2. Such loci have codimension two. We compute the class of their compactifications in the moduli space of stable curves. Several results will be deduced from this computation.
Given a smooth prime Fano threefold $X$ of genus 7 we consider its homologically projectively dual curve $Γ$ and the natural integral functor $Φ^{!}:D^b(X) \to D^b(Γ)$. We prove that, for $d\geq 6$, $Φ^{!}$ gives a birational map from a component of the moduli scheme $M_X(2,1,d)$ of rank 2 stable sheaves on $X$ with $c_1=1$, $c_2=d$ to a generically smooth $2d-9$-dimensional component of the Brill-Noether variety $W^{2d-11}_{d-5,5d-24}$ of stable vector bundles on $Γ$ of rank $d-5$ and degree $5d-24$ with at least $2d-10$ sections. This map turns out to be an isomorphism for $d=6$, and the mod…
We study wall-crossing for the Beauville-Mukai system of rank three on a general genus two K3 surface. We show that such a system is related to the Hilbert scheme of ten points on the surface by a sequence of flops, whose exceptional loci can be described as Brill-Noether loci. We also obtain Brill-Noether type results for sheaves in the Beauville-Mukai system.
We study second order focal loci of nondegenerate plane congruences in P4(C) with degenerate focal conic. We show the projective generation of such congruences when the second order focal locus fills a component of the focal conic, improving a result of Corrado Segre
We prove that the moduli space of tetragonal curves of genus g>6 is rational when g is congruent to 1, 2, 5, 6, 9, 10 modulo 12 and not equal to 9, 45.
The locus of genus-two curves with n marked Weierstrass points has codimension n inside the moduli space of genus-two curves with n marked points, for n<=6. It is well known that the class of the closure of the divisor obtained for n=1 spans an extremal ray of the cone of effective divisor classes. We generalize this result for all n: we show that the class of the closure of the locus of genus-two curves with n marked Weierstrass points spans an extremal ray of the cone of effective classes of codimension n, for n<=6. A related construction produces extremal nef curve classes in moduli spaces …
We determine non hyper elliptic curves of genus $g(C)\geq 9$, such that for some very ample line bundle on them and for some integers d and r with some prescribed assumptions, the dimension of secant loci, attains one less than its maximum value. Then we proceed to generalize and extend a problem of M. Coppens to Secant Loci.
Higher rank Brill-Noether theory for genus 6 is especially interesting as, even in the general case, some unexpected phenomena arise which are absent in lower genus. Moreover, it is the first case for which there exist curves of Clifford dimension greater than 1 (smooth plane quintics). In all cases, we obtain new upper bounds for non-emptiness of Brill-Noether loci and construct many examples which approach these upper bounds more closely than those that are well known. Some of our examples of non-empty Brill-Noether loci have negative Brill-Noether numbers.
For every fixed genus $g\geq 1$, we consider all quadruples $Q=(w_0,w_1,w_2,d)\in\mathbb{Z}^4_{>0}$ with the property that any smooth degree-$d$ curve embedded in the weighted projective plane $\mathbb{P}^2(w_0,w_1,w_2)$ has genus $g$. We show there are infinitely many quadruples $Q$ satisfying this condition. For every such $Q$, we consider $Z_Q\subseteq M_g$ the locus in the moduli space of all smooth degree-$d$ curves embedded in $\mathbb{P}^2(w_0,w_1,w_2)$. We show that, as $Q$ varies over all these quadruples, there are only finitely many different loci $Z_Q\subseteq M_g$.
In this paper we study the gonality of the normalizations of curves in the linear system $|H|$ of a general primitively polarized complex $K3$ surface $(S,H)$ of genus $p$. We prove two main results. First we give a necessary condition on $p, g, r, d$ for the existence of a curve in $ |H|$ with geometric genus $g$ whose normalization has a $g^ r_d$. Secondly we prove that for all numerical cases compatible with the above necessary condition, there is a family of \emph{nodal} curves in $|H|$ of genus $g$ carrying a $g^1_k$ and of dimension equal to the \emph{expected dimension} $\min\{2(k-1),g\…
Let $X$ be a non-singular algebraic curve of genus $g$. We prove that the Brill-Noether locus $\bns $ is non-empty if $d= nd' +d'' $ with $0< d'' <2n$, $1\le s\le g$, $d'\geq (s-1)(s+g)/s $, $n\leq d''+(n-k)g$, $(d'',k)\ne(n,n)$. These results hold for an arbitrary curve of genus $\ge 2$, and allow us to construct a region in the associated ``Brill-Noether $\pa$-map'' of points for which the Brill-Noether loci are non-empty. Even for the generic case, the region so constructed extends beyond that defined by the so-called ``Teixidor parallelograms.'' For hyperelliptic curves, the same methods g…
We analyze the stratification of the moduli space S_g of spin curves of genus g given by the dimension of the theta-characteristic. Using the relation between gaussian maps and the strata S_g^r, we construct "regular" components of S_g^r having expected codimension r(r+1)/2 inside S_g. We also relate moduli spaces of pointed curves with a moving spin structure to the classical Gieseker-Petri loci in M_g. We show that the locus of curves for which the Gieseker-Petri theorem fails for a pencil is always a divisor on M_g. Finally, we give a sufficient criterion for the injectivity of Gaussian map…
In this paper we study the topology of the stack $\mathcal{T}_g$ of smooth trigonal curves of genus g, over the complex field. We make use of a construction by the first named author and Vistoli, that describes $\mathcal{T}_g$ as a quotient stack of the complement of the discriminant. This allows us to use techniques developed by the second named author to give presentations of the orbifold fundamental group of $\mathcal{T}_g$, of its substrata with prescribed Maroni invariant and describe their relation with the mapping class group $\mathcal{M}ap_g$ of Riemann surfaces of genus g.
This paper is devoted to the classification of connected components of Prym eigenform loci in the strata H(2,2)^odd and H(1,1,2) in the Abelian differentials bundle in genus 3. These loci, discovered by McMullen are GL^+(2,R)-invariant submanifolds (of complex dimension 3) that project to the locus of Riemann surfaces whose Jacobian variety has a factor admitting real multiplication by some quadratic order Ord_D. It turns out that these subvarieties can be classified by the discriminant D of the corresponding quadratic orders. However there algebraic varieties are not necessarily irreducible. …
In this paper, we consider higher rank Brill-Noether theory for smooth curves of genus 5, obtaining new upper bounds for non-emptiness of Brill-Noether loci and many new examples.
In this paper, we describe the osculating cone to Brill-Noether loci $W^{0}_{d}(C)$ at smooth isolated points of $W^{1}_{d}(C)$ for a smooth canonically embedded curve $C$ of even genus $g=2(d-1)$. In particular, we show that the canonical curve $C$ is a component of the osculating cone. The proof is based on techniques introduced by George Kempf in 1986.
Let $\M_g$ be the course moduli space of complex projective nonsingular curves of genus $g$. We prove that when the Brill-Noether number $ρ(g,r,n)$ is non-negative every component of the Petri locus $P^r_{g,n}\subset \M_g$ whose general member is a curve $C$ such that $W^{r+1}_n(C) = \emptyset$, has codimension one in $\M_g$.
We describe a conjectural stratification of the Brill-Noether variety for general curves of fixed genus and gonality. As evidence for this conjecture, we show that this Brill-Noether variety has at least as many irreducible components as predicted by the conjecture, and that each of these components has the expected dimension. Our proof uses combinatorial and tropical techniques. Specifically, we analyze containment relations between the various strata of tropical Brill-Noether loci identified by Pflueger in his classification of special divisors on chains of loops.
Let us consider the locus in the moduli space of curves of genus 2k defined by curves with a pencil of degree k. Since the Brill-Noether number is equal to -2, such a locus has codimension two. Using the method of test surfaces, we compute the class of its closure in the moduli space of stable curves.
In this paper we consider the singularities of the varieties parameterizing stable vector bundles of fixed rank and degree with sections on a smooth curve of genus at least two. In particular, we extend results of Y. Laszlo, and of the second author, regarding the singularities of generalized theta divisors.
S. Kondō used periods of $K3$ surfaces to prove that the moduli space of genus three curves is birational to an arithmetic quotient of a complex 6-ball. In this paper we study Heegner divisors in the ball quotient, given by arithmetically defined hyperplane sections of the ball. We show that the corresponding loci of genus three curves are given by: hyperelliptic curves, singular plane quartics and plane quartics admitting certain rational "splitting curves".
Let C be a general connected, smooth, projective curve of positive genus g. For each nonnegative integer i we give formulas for the number of pairs (P,Q) em C x C off the diagonal such that (g+i-1)Q-(i+1)P is linearly equivalent to an effective divisor, and the number of pairs (P,Q) em C x C off the diagonal such that (g+i+1)Q-(i+1)P is linearly equivalent to a moving effective divisor.
Given two vector bundles E and F on a variety X and a morphism from Sym^2(E) to F, we compute the cohomology class of the locus in X where the kernel of this morphism contains a quadric of prescribed rank. Our formulas have many applications to moduli theory: (i) we find a simple proof of Borcherds' result that the Hodge class on the moduli space of polarized K3 surfaces of fixed genus is of Noether-Lefschetz type, (ii) we construct an explicit canonical divisor on the Hurwitz space parametrizing degree k covers of the projective line from curves of genus 2k-1, (iii) we provide a closed formul…
Let C be a smooth projective complex curve of genus $g\geq2$. We investigate the Brill-Noether locus consisting of stable bundles of rank 2 and canonical determinant having at least $k$ independent sections. Using the Hecke correpondence we construct a fundamental class, which determines the non-emptiness of this locus at least when $C$ is a Petri curve. We prove that in many expected cases the Brill-Noether locus is non-empty. For some values of $k$ the result is best possible.
Let $\mathcal H_g$ be the moduli space of genus $g$ hyperelliptic curves. In this note, we study the locus $\mathcal L$ in $\mathcal H_g$ of curves admitting a $G$-action of given ramification type $σ$ and inclusions between such loci. For each genus we determine the list of all possible groups, the inclusions among the loci, and the corresponding equations of the generic curve in $\mathcal L$. The proof of the results is based solely on representations of finite subgroups of $PGL_2 (\mathbb C)$ and the Riemann-Hurwitz formula.
Consider the moduli space $M_C(r; K_C)$ of stable rank r vector bundles on a curve $C$ with canonical determinant, and let $h$ be the maximum number of linearly independent global sections of these bundles. If $C$ embeds in a K3 surface $X$ as a generator of $Pic(X)$ and the genus $g$ of $C$ is sufficiently high, we show the Brill-Noether locus $BN_C \subset M_C(r; K_C)$ of bundles with $h$ global sections is a smooth projective Hyperkähler manifold of dimension $2g -2r \lfloor \frac{g}{r}\rfloor$, isomorphic to a moduli space of stable vector bundles on $X$.
We provide a bound on the $Θ$-regularity of an arbitrary reduced and irreducible curve embedded in a polarized abelian variety in terms of its degree and codimension. This is an "abelian" version of Gruson-Lazarsfeld-Peskine's bound on the Castelnuovo--Mumford regularity of a non-degenerate curve embedded in a projective space. As an application, we provide a Castelnuovo type bound for the genus of a curve in a (non necessarily principally) polarized abelian variety. Finally, we bound the $Θ$-regularity of a class of higher dimensional subvarieties in Jacobian varieties, i.e. the Brill-Noether…
We make a systematic study of the focal surface of a congruence of lines in the projective space. Using differential techniques together with techniques from intersection theory, we reobtain in particular all the invariants of the focal surface (degree, class, class of its hyperplane section, sectional genus and degrees of the nodal and cuspidal curve). We study in particular the congruences of chords to a smooth curve and the congruences of bitangents or flexes to a smooth surface. We find that they possess unexpected components in their focal surface, and conjecture that they are the only on…
The Coble cubics were discovered more than a century ago in connection with genus two Riemann surfaces and theta functions. They have attracted renewed interest ever since. Recently, they were reinterpreted in terms of alternating trivectors in nine variables. Exploring this relation further, we show how the Hilbert scheme of pairs of points on an abelian surface, and also its Kummer fourfold, a very remarkable hyper-Kähler manifold, can very naturally be constructed in this context. Moreover, we explain how this perspective allows us to describe the group law of an abelian surface, in a strik…
We consider the loci of d-elliptic curves in $M_2$, and corresponding loci of d-elliptic surfaces in $A_2$. We show how a description of these loci as quotients of a product of modular curves can be used to calculate cohomology of natural local systems on them, both as mixed Hodge structures and $\ell$-adic Galois representations. We study in particular the case d=2, and compute the Euler characteristic of the moduli space of n-pointed bi-elliptic genus 2 curves in the Grothendieck group of Hodge structures.
We study the codimension n locus of curves of genus 2 with n distinct marked Weierstrass points inside the moduli space of genus 2, n-pointed curves, for n <= 6. We give a recursive description of the classes of the closure of these loci inside the moduli space of stable curves. For n<= 4, we express these classes using a generating function over stable graphs indexing the boundary strata of moduli spaces of pointed stable curves. Similarly, we express the closure of these classes inside the moduli space of curves of compact type for all n. This is a first step in the study of the structure of…
This article is a generalisation of results of Ciliberto and Sernesi. For a general canonically embedded curve $C$ of genus $g\geq 5$, let $d\le g-1$ be an integer such that the Brill--Noether number $ρ(g,d,1)=g-2(g-d+1)\geq 1$. We study the family of $d$-secant $\mathbb{P}^{d-2}$'s to $C$ induced by the smooth locus of the Brill--Noether locus $W^1_d(C)$. Using the theory of foci and a structure theorem for the rank one locus of special $1$-generic matrices by Eisenbud and Harris, we prove a Torelli-type theorem for general curves by reconstructing the curve from its Brill--Noether loci $W^1_…
Adapting focal loci techniques used by Chiantini and Lopez, we provide lower bounds on the genera of curves contained in very general surfaces in Gorenstein toric threefolds. We illustrate the utility of these bounds by obtaining results on algebraic hyperbolicity of very general surfaces in toric threefolds.
We study genus $g$ coverings of full moduli dimension of degree $d=[\frac {g+3} 2]$. There is a homomorphism between the corresponding Hurwitz space $\H$ of such covers to the moduli space $\M_g$ of genus $g$ curves. In the case $g=3$, using the signature of such covering we provide an equation for the generic ternary quartic. Further, we discuss the degenerate subloci of the corresponding Hurwitz space of such covers from the computational group theory viewpoint. In the last section, we show that one of these degenerate loci corresponds to the locus of curves with automorphism group $C_3$. We…
In this paper we study the moduli stack ${\mathcal U}_{1,n}^{ns}$ of curves of arithmetic genus 1 with n marked points, forming a nonspecial divisor. In arXiv:1511.03797 this stack was realized as the quotient of an explicit scheme $\widetilde{\mathcal U}_{1,n}^{ns}$, affine of finite type over ${\Bbb P}^{n-1}$, by the action of ${\Bbb G}_m^n$ . Our main result is an explicit description of the corresponding GIT semistable loci in $\widetilde{\mathcal U}_{1,n}^{ns}$. This allows us to identify some of the GIT quotients with some of the modular compactifications of ${\mathcal M}_{1,n}$ defined …
Consider the moduli space $\mathcal{M}_{g}$ of Riemann surfaces of genus $g\geq 2$ and its Deligne-Munford compactification $\bar{\mathcal{M}_{g}}$. We are interested in the branch locus ${\mathcal{B}_{g}}$ for $g>2$, i.e., the subset of $\mathcal{M}_{g}$ consisting of surfaces with automorphisms. It is well-known that the set of hyperelliptic surfaces (the hyperelliptic locus) is connected in $\mathcal{M}_{g}$ but the set of (cyclic) trigonal surfaces is not. By contrast, we show that for $g\geq 5$ the set of (cyclic) trigonal surfaces is connected in $\bar{\mathcal{M}_{g}}$. To do so we exhi…
We compute the Mori cone of curves of the moduli space \M_{g,n} of stable n-pointed curves of genus g in the case when g and n are relatively small. For instance, we show that for g<14 every curve in \M_g is numerically equivalent to an effective sum of 1-strata (loci of curves with 3g-4 nodes). We also prove that the nef cone of \M_{0,6} is composed of 11 natural subcones all contained in the convex hull of boundary classes. We apply this result to classify the fibrations of the moduli space of rational curves with n<7 marked points.
We continue our study of genus 2 curves $C$ that admit a cover $ C \to E$ to a genus 1 curve $E$ of prime degree $n$. These curves $C$ form an irreducible 2-dimensional subvariety $Ł_n$ of the moduli space $\M_2$ of genus 2 curves. Here we study the case $n=5$. This extends earlier work for degree 2 and 3, aimed at illuminating the theory for general $n$. We compute a normal form for the curves in the locus $Ł_5$ and its three distinguished subloci. Further, we compute the equation of the elliptic subcover in all cases, give a birational parametrization of the subloci of $Ł_5$ as subvarieties …
The main goal of this article is to compute the class of the divisor of $\overline{\mathcal{M}}_3$ obtained by taking the closure of the image of $Ω\mathcal{M}_3(6;-2)$ by the forgetful map. This is done using Porteous formula and the theory of test curves. For this purpose, we study the locus of meromorphic differentials of the second kind, computing the dimension of the map of these loci to $\mathcal{M}_g$ and solving some enumerative problems involving such differentials in low genus. A key tool of the proof is the compactification of strata recently introduced by Bainbridge-Chen-Gendron-Gr…
In this paper we study the gonality of the normalizations of curves in the linear system $|H|$ of a general primitively polarized $K3$ surface $(S,H)$ of genus $p$. We prove two main results. First we give a necessary condition on $p, g, k$ for the existence of a curve in $|H|$ with geometric genus $g$ whose normalization has a $g^ 1_k$. Secondly we prove that for $p$ even and all numerical cases compatible with the above necessary condition, there is a family of \emph{nodal} curves $|H|$ with the given $g,k$ and of dimension equal to the \emph{expected dimension} $\min\{2(k-1),g\}$. For odd $…
