SAGA²

Seminar on Algebraic Geometry and its Applications

Talks

Rational points on curves over finite fields: bounds, geometry, and maximality
Yves Aubry, University of French Polynesia

In this talk, we will focus on the number of rational points on projective algebraic curves over a finite field. After recalling the Weil bound arising from the Riemann Hypothesis, as well as Ihara's bound, which improves it when the genus grows, we will present an approach that interprets these bounds in the Neron-Severi group of the surface defined by the product of the curve with itself. We will then study a new bound involving both the number of rational points over the base field and over a quadratic extension, and in particular the curves that attain this latter bound. In particular, we characterize their zeta function and the isogeny class of their Jacobian, as well as the connection with Ihara-maximal curves.

On moduli spaces of some threefolds of general type
Jungkai Chen, National Taiwan University

There are some recent advances in the study of threefolds of general type. With the explicit description of minimal models and canonical models for threefolds near the Noether line, it is possible to explore some aspects of moduli spaces of threefolds of general type with small invariants. This talk is based on joint work in progress with Yongnam Lee and Phin-Sing Soo.

Amitsur Subgroups in Arithmetic and Equivariant Geometry
Alexander Duncan, University of South Carolina

For a variety defined over a field, a line bundle over the algebraic closure may fail to descend to a line bundle on the original variety. Similarly, if there is a group action, that action may fail to lift to certain line bundles. The Amitsur subgroup precisely measures this failure, taking values in the Brauer group of the field (or in an equivariant analog). A key property of the Amitsur subgroup is that it is an (equivariant) birational invariant. When all overfields and subgroups are considered, it is fine enough to completely distinguish between varieties in several interesting classes. I will discuss how the language of Mackey functors can be used to describe and compute the Amitsur subgroup, especially in the cases of Fano varieties, toric varieties, and torsors of tori.

The Jacobi bound conjecture and the dimension conjecture
Taylor Dupuy, University of Vermont

The Jacobi Bound Conjecture and the Dimension Conjecture are fundamental open problems in Differential Algebra. I will talk about recent progress on these problems in joint work with David Zureick-Brown. The statements of these conjectures follow. Let K be a differential field of characteristic zero. Let R=K{x₁,...,xₙ} be the ring of differential polynomials in n differential indeterminates. The Jacobi Bound Conjecture is a differential algebraic analog of Bezout’s inequality for intersections of hypersurfaces in affine space. Roughly it tells us how many constants of integration are required to solve a system of n equations in n variables. The Jacobi Bound Conjecture states that if I is the differential ideal in R generated by n differential polynomials in R and P is a minimal prime differential ideal over I such that the Krull dimension of R/P is finite then the Krull dimension of R/P is bounded by the tropical determinant of the order matrix of the system. The Dimension Conjecture states that if u₁,...,uᵢ are differential polynomials in R with i

Explicit birational geometry over imperfect fields and the Cremona group
Andrea Fanelli, University of Bordeaux

In this talk I will present joint projects with Fabio Bernasconi, Julia Schneider, Stefan Schröer and Susanna Zimmermann aimed to study some aspects of the birational geometry of regular algebraic surfaces over imperfect fields. These objects naturally appear when one works with fibrations over algebraically closed fields in positive characteristics. I will also discuss applications to the Cremona group.

Smoothing toric Gorenstein Fano varieties
Matej Filip, University of Ljubljana

Given a Laurent polynomial with reflexive Newton polytope, we give a criterion ensuring that it gives rise to a deformation family with smooth general fibre. One-parameter deformations in this family correspond to mutations of the Laurent polynomial. In dimension three, the smooth fibres arising from this construction include all 98 deformation families of very ample smooth Fano threefolds. This is an upcoming result that generalises already published work "Laurent Polynomials and Deformations of Non-Isolated Gorenstein Toric Singularities". Building on that framework, I will also outline evidence towards a conjecture of Corti–Filip–Petracci predicting a one-to-one correspondence between 0-mutable Laurent polynomials and the smoothing deformation components of three-dimensional affine Gorenstein toric varieties.

The cone theorem for Kahler varieties
Christopher Hacon, University of Utah

There has been substantial recent progress towards the minimal model program for Kahler varieties. In this talk I will discuss a recent proof of the Cone Theorem for Kahler varieties of arbitrary dimension (improving on previous work of Cao-Horing) and related results such as the canonical bundle formula, subadjunction and Wenhao Ou's recent breakthrough result on the characterization of uniruled compact Kahler manifolds.

Automorphism groups of toroidal horospherical varieties
DongSeon Hwang, Ajou University

We present our recent work on the structure of the identity component of the automorphism group of a smooth, complete, toroidal horospherical variety by generalizing the notion of Demazure roots using the toric bundle structure. In particular, we provide a criterion for the reductivity of Aut⁰(X) in terms of an analogous notion of Demazure roots for such toric bundles, i.e., projective toric bundles over rational homogeneous spaces. As an application, we prove the K-unstability of certain ℙ¹-bundles over rational homogeneous spaces. This is joint work with Lorenzo Barban and Minseong Kwon.

Pluripotential theory on curves
Sione Ma'u, University of Auckland

The extremal (green) function, Chebyshev constant, and Robin constant associated to a compact nonpolar subset of the complex plane are well-known potential-theoretic quantities. Extensions of the latter quantities (directional Chebyshev and Robin constants) to certain affine algebraic curves have been studied using pluripotential theory. In this talk, I will present a couple of recent results connecting them to the extremal function. In particular, directional Chebyshev polynomials asymptotically give the extremal function. This is joint work with Norm Levenberg.

Cluster type varieties
Joaquin Moraga, University of California Los Angeles

In this talk, I will introduce a new class of algebraic varieties that has been of recent interest; cluster type varieties. These are compactifications of algebraic tori in such a way that the volume form has no zeros on the compactifications. The second aim of this talk is to show some main properties and characteristics of cluster type varieties. Finally, we will show some new results towards the understanding of cluster type varieties from the perspective of Cox rings.

Fun with Mac Lane Valuations
Andrew Obus, University of New York

Mac Lane's technique of "inductive valuations" on rational function fields is over 85 years old, but has only recently been used to attack problems about arithmetic surfaces. This first half of the talk will be an explicit, hands-on introduction to the theory, requiring no background beyond the definition of a discrete valuation. We will then discuss how the theory helps us work with models of the projective line over a discretely valued field, and how the insights gained can be used to explicitly resolve certain types of singularities of arithmetic surfaces.

A few observations on algebraic dynamics of Calabi-Yau manifolds
Keiji Oguiso, University of Tokyo

I would like to discuss how one can use MMP to study algebraic dynamical aspects of Calabi-Yau manifolds, namely, primitivity and the existence of Zariski-dense orbit of birational automorphisms and biregular automorphisms of some Calabi-Yau manifolds (Calabi-Yau manifolds of Wehler type and Calabi-Yau threefolds with c₂-contractions) with relevant open problems.

Singular supports and characteristic cycles of etale sheaves in positive characteristic
Takeshi Saito, University of Tokyo

As an analogue of microlocal analysis for D-modules, the singular supports and characteristic cycles of etale sheaves on a smooth scheme over a perfect field are defined on the cotangent bundle. I will recall a summary of the theory and discuss open questions.

Homological stability and weak approximation
Sho Tanimoto, Nagoya University

Motivated by a topological proof of Manin's conjecture over global function fields, Ellenberg and Venkatesh envisioned homological stability for the space of sections of Fano fibrations. In this talk we discuss this property in the context of weak approximation and establish such a stability for certain Fano fibrations. This is joint work with Yuri Tschinkel.

Characterization of products of projective spaces via the nef complexity
Kiwamu Watanabe, Chuo University

The nef complexity, introduced by Yoshinori Gongyo, is a numerical invariant that measures how far a Fano variety is from being a product of projective spaces. In this talk, I will explain a divisorial characterization stating that the nef complexity is always nonnegative, and it vanishes precisely for products of projective spaces. I will also discuss explicit computations, several applications, and further related developments. This is joint work with Joshua Enwright, Stefano Filipazzi, Yoshinori Gongyo, Joaquin Moraga, Roberto Svaldi, and Chengxi Wang.