Generic vanishing index and the birationality of the bicanonical map of irregular varieties

We prove that any smooth complex projective variety with generic vanishing index bigger or equal than 2 has birational bicanonical map. Therefore, if X is a smooth complex projective variety φ with maximal Albanese dimension and non-birational bicanonical map, then the Albanese image of X is fibred by subvarieties of codimension at most 1 of an abelian subvariety of Alb X.     

Rigidity and moduli space in Real Algebraic Geometry

Let R be a real closed field and let X be an affine algebraic variety over R. We say that X is universally map rigid (UMR for short) if, for each irreducible affine algebraic variety Z over R, the set of nonconstant rational maps from Z to X is finite. A bijective map from an affine algebraic variety over R to X is called weak change of the algebraic structure of X if it is regular and φ⁻¹ is a Nash map, which preserves nonsingular points. We prove the following rigidity theorem: every affine algebraic variety over R is UMR up to a weak change of its algebraic structure. Let us introduce another notion. Let Y be an affine algebraic variety over R. We say that X and Y are algebraically unfriendly if all the rational maps from X to Y and from Y to X are trivial, i.e., Zariski locally constant. From the preceding theorem, we infer that, if dim (X)≥1, then there exists a set of weak changes of the algebraic structure of X such that, for each t,s ∈ R with t≠s, and are algebraically unfriendly. This result implies the following expected fact: For each (nonsingular) affine algebraic variety X over R of positive dimension, the natural Nash structure of X does not determine the algebraic structure of X. In fact, the moduli space of birationally nonisomorphic (nonsingular) affine algebraic varieties over R, which are Nash isomorphic to X, has the same cardinality of R. This result was already known under the special assumption that R is the field of real numbers and X is compact and nonsingular. The author is a member of GNSAGA of CNR, partially supported by MURST and European Research Training Network RAAG 2002–2006 (HPRN–CT–00271).     

Simple tangential family germs and perestroikas of their envelopes

A tangential family is a 1-parameter system of regular curves emanating tangentially from another regular curve. We classify simple tangential family germs up to A-equivalence. We describe perestroikas of envelopes of simple tangential family germs of small codimension under small deformations of the germ among tangential families.     

Second order homological obstructions on real algebraic manifolds

Let Y be a compact nonsingular real algebraic set whose homology classes (over Z/2) are represented by Zariski closed subsets. It is well known that every smooth map from a compact smooth manifold to Y is unoriented bordant to a regular map. In this paper, we show how to construct smooth maps from compact nonsingular real algebraic sets to Y not homotopic to any regular map starting from a nonzero homology class of Y of positive degree. We use these maps to obtain obstructions to the existence of local algebraic tubular neighborhoods of algebraic submanifolds of Rn and to study some algebro-homological properties of rational real algebraic manifolds.     

On the recognition problem of quasi-homogeneous locally nilpotent derivations in dimension three

We give a criterion to decide if a given w-homogeneous derivation on A?k[X₁,X₂,X₃] is locally nilpotent. We deduce an algorithm which decides if a k-subalgebra of A, which is finitely generated by w-homogeneous elements, is the kernel of some locally nilpotent derivation.     

Projectively simple rings

An infinite-dimensional N-graded k-algebra A is called projectively simple if dim_kA/I<∞ for every nonzero two-sided ideal I⊂A. We show that if a projectively simple ring A is strongly noetherian, is generated in degree 1, and has a point module, then A is equal in large degree to a twisted homogeneous coordinate ring B=B(X,L,σ). Here X is a smooth projective variety, σ is an automorphism of X with no proper σ-invariant subvariety (we call such automorphisms wild), and L is a σ-ample line bundle. We conjecture that if X admits a wild automorphism then every irreducible component of X is an abelian variety. We prove several results in support of this conjecture; in particular, we show that the conjecture is true if . In the case where X is an abelian variety, we describe all wild automorphisms of X . Finally, we show that if A is projectively simple and admits a balanced dualizing complex, then is Cohen-Macaulay and Gorenstein.     

Detecting codimension one manifold factors with 0-stitched disks

The 0-stitched disks property is introduced and shown to detect codimension one manifold factors of dimension n?4. It is shown that if a space X is an ANR and has the 0-stitched disks property, then X has the disjoint homotopies property. It follows that if a space X is a resolvable generalized manifold of dimension n?4 with the 0-stitched disks property, then X is a codimension one manifold factor. Whether or not the 0-stitched disks property is equivalent to the disjoint homotopies property remains an open question.     

Functional characterizations of p-spaces

We show that a completely regular space Y is a p-space (a ?ech-complete space, a locally compact space) if and only if given a dense subspace A of any topological space X and a continuous f: A → Y there are a p-embedded subset (resp. a G _δ-subset, an open subset) M of X containing A and a quasicontinuous subcontinuous extension f*: M → Y of f continuous at every point of A. A result concerning a continuous extension to a residual set is also given.     

Linear pencils on real algebraic curves

Our knowledge of linear series on real algebraic curves is still very incomplete. In this paper we restrict to pencils (complete linear series of dimension one). Let X denote a real curve of genus g with real points and let k(R) be the smallest degree of a pencil on X (the real gonality of X). Then we can find on X a base point free pencil of degree g+1 (resp. g if X is not hyperelliptic, i.e. if k(R)>2) with an assigned geometric behaviour w.r.t. the real components of X, and if we prove that which is the same bound as for the gonality of a complex curve of even genus g. Furthermore, if the complexification of X is a k-gonal curve (k≥2) one knows that k≤k(R)≤2k−2, and we show that for any two integers k≥2 and 0≤n≤k−2 there is a real curve with real points and k-gonal complexification such that its real gonality is k+n.     

On dimensionally exotic maps

We call a value y = f(x) of a map f: X → Y dimensionally regular if dimX ≤ dim(Y × f ^?1(y)). It was shown in [6] that if a map f: X → Y between compact metric spaces does not have dimensionally regular values, then X is a Boltyanskii compactum, i.e., a compactum satisfying the equality dim(X × X) = 2dim X ? 1. In this paper we prove that every Boltyanskii compactum X of dimension dim X ≥ 6 admits a map f: X → Y without dimensionally regular values. We show that the converse does not hold by constructing a 4-dimensional Boltyanskii compactum for which every map has a dimensionally regular value.     

Invariant hypersurfaces for derivations in positive characteristic

Let A be an integral k-algebra of finite type over an algebraically closed field k of characteristic p>0. Given a collection D of k-derivations on A, that we interpret as algebraic vector fields on , we study the group spanned by the hypersurfaces V(f) of X invariant under D modulo the rational first integrals of D. We prove that this group is always a finite dimensional F_p-vector space, and we give an estimate for its dimension. This is to be related to the results of Jouanolou and others on the number of hypersurfaces invariant under a foliation of codimension 1. As a application, given a k-algebra B between A^p and A, we show that the kernel of the pull-back morphism is a finite F_p-vector space. In particular, if A is a UFD, then the Picard group of B is finite.     

The derived category of quasi-coherent sheaves and axiomatic stable homotopy

We prove in this paper that for a quasi-compact and semi-separated (nonnecessarily noetherian) scheme X, the derived category of quasi-coherent sheaves over X, D(Aqc(X)), is a stable homotopy category in the sense of Hovey, Palmieri and Strickland, answering a question posed by Strickland. Moreover we show that it is unital and algebraic. We also prove that for a noetherian semi-separated formal scheme X, its derived category of sheaves of modules with quasi-coherent torsion homologies Dqct(X) is a stable homotopy category. It is algebraic but if the formal scheme is not a usual scheme, it is not unital, therefore its abstract nature differs essentially from that of the derived category Dqc(X) (which is equivalent to D(Aqc(X))) in the case of a usual scheme.     

Ordinals and set-valued zero-selections for hyperspaces

A continuous zero-selection f for the Vietoris hyperspace F(X) of the nonempty closed subsets of a space X is a Vietoris continuous map f:F(X)→X which assigns to every nonempty closed subset an isolated point of it. It is well known that a compact space X has a continuous zero-selection if and only if it is an ordinal space, or, equivalently, if X can be mapped onto an ordinal space by a continuous one-to-one surjection. In this paper, we prove that a compact space X has an upper semi-continuous set-valued zero-selection for its Vietoris hyperspace F(X) if and only if X can be mapped onto an ordinal space by a continuous finite-to-one surjection.     

Local selections and local dendrites

Let X be a Peano continuum, C(X) its space of subcontinua, and C(X, ε) the space of subcontinua of diameter less than ε. A selection on some subspace of C(X) is a continuous choice function; the selection σ is rigid if σ(A) ? B ? A implies σ(A) = σ(B). It is shown that X is a local dendrite (contains at most one simple closed curve) if and only if there exists ε > 0 such that C(X, ε) admits a selection (rigid selection). Further, C(X) admits a local selection at the subcontinuum A if and only if A has a neighborhood (relative to the space C(X)) which contains no cyclic local dendrite; moreover, that local selection may be chosen to be a constant.     

Maps preserving the idempotency of products of operators

Let B(X) be the algebra of all bounded linear operators on a complex Banach space X. We give the concrete form of every unital surjective map φ on B(X) such that AB is a non-zero idempotent if and only if φ(A)φ(B) is for all A,B∈B(X) when the dimension of X is at least 3.     

The alternating groups and K3 surfaces

In this note, we consider all possible extensions G of a non-trivial perfect group H acting faithfully on a K3 surface X. The pair (X,G) is proved to be uniquely determined by G if the transcendental value of G is maximum. In particular, we have , if H is the alternating group A₅ and normal in G.     

Oriented cohomology and motivic decompositions of relative cellular spaces

For an oriented cohomology theory A and a relative cellular space X, we decompose the A-motive of X into a direct sum of twisted motives of the base spaces. We also obtain respective decompositions of the A-cohomology of X. Applying them, one can compute A(X), where X is an isotropic projective homogeneous variety and A means algebraic K-theory, motivic cohomology or algebraic cobordism MGL.     

Open selections on smooth fans

Given a dendroid X, an open selection is an open map such that s(A)∈A for every A∈C(X). We show that a smooth fan X admits an open selection if and only if X is locally connected.     

When does continuity on the center imply continuity?

LetA be a Banach algebra. We give a condition forA which forces a homomorphism fromA into a Banach algebra to be continuous if the closure of its continuity ideal has finite codimension, and if its restriction to the center ofA is continuous. We apply this result to answer the question in the title for centralC ^*-algebras,AW ^*-algebras, andL ¹ (G) for certain [FIA]^?-groupsG.