Characterization of standard embeddings between complex Grassmannians by means of varieties of minimal rational tangents

In 1993,Tsal proved that a proper holomorphic mapping f:Ω→Ω' from an irreducible bounded symmetric domainΩof rank≥2 into a bounded symmetric domainΩ' is necessarily totally geodesic provided that r':=rank(Ω')≤rank(Ω):= r,proving a conjecture of the author's motivated by Hermitian metric rigidity.As a first step in the proof,Tsai showed that df preserves almost everywhere the set of tangent vectors of rank 1.Identifying bounded symmetric domains as open subsets of their compact duals by means of the Borel embedding,this means that the germ of f at a general point preserves the varieties of minimal rational tangents(VMRTs). In another completely different direction Hwang-Mok established with very few exceptions the Cartan- Fubini extension priniciple for germs of local biholomorphisms between Fano manifolds of Picard num- ber 1,showing that the germ of map extends to a global biholomorphism provided that it preserves VMRTs.We propose to isolate the problem of characterization of special holomorphic embeddings between Fano manifolds of Picard number 1,especially in the case of classical manifolds such as ratio- nal homogeneous spaces of Picard number 1,by a non-equidimensional analogue of the Cartan-Fubini extension principle.As an illustration we show along this line that standard embeddings between com- plex Grassmann manifolds of rank≤2 can be characterized by the VMRT-preserving property and a non-degeneracy condition,giving a new proof of a result of Neretin's which on the one hand paves the way for far-reaching generalizations to the context of rational homogeneous spaces and more generally Fano manifolds of Picard number 1,on the other hand should be applicable to the study of proper holomorphic mappings between bounded domains carrying some form of geometric structures.     

Fano 5-folds with nef tangent bundles and Picard numbers greater than one

We prove that smooth Fano 5-folds with nef tangent bundles and Picard numbers greater than one are rational homogeneous manifolds.     

On the deformation rigidity of smooth projective symmetric varieties with Picard number one

Symmetric varieties are normal equivariant open embeddings of symmetric homogeneous spaces and they are interesting examples of spherical varieties. The principal goal of this article is to study the rigidity under Kähler deformations of smooth projective symmetric varieties with Picard number one.     

Seshadri constants and degrees of defining polynomials

In this paper, we study a relation between Seshadri constants and degrees of defining polynomials. In particular, we compute the Seshadri constants on Fano varieties obtained as complete intersections in rational homogeneous spaces of Picard number one.     

Cartan-Fubini type extension of holomorphic maps respecting varieties of minimal rational tangents

A fundamental result in the theory of minimal rational curves on projective manifolds is CartanFubini extension theorem proved by Hwang and Mok,which describes the extensibility of biholomorphisms between connected open subsets of two Fano manifolds of Picard number 1 which preserve varieties of minimal rational tangents(VMRT),under a mild geometric assumption on the second fundamental forms of VMRT’s.Hong and Mok have developed Cartan-Fubini extension for non-equidimensional holomorphic immersions from a connected open subset of a Fano manifold of Picard number 1 into a uniruled projective manifold,under the assumptions that the map sends VMRT’s onto linear sections of VMRT’s and it satisfies a mild geometric condition formulated in terms of second fundamental forms on VMRT’s.In the current paper,we give a generalization of Hong and Mok’s result,under the same condition on second fundamental forms,assuming only that the holomorphic immersions send VMRT’s to VMRT’s.Our argument is different from Hong and Mok’s and is based on the study of natural foliations on the total family of VMRT’s.This gives a substantially simpler proof than Hong and Mok’s argument.     

On the Vanishing Orders of Vector Fields on Fano Varieties of Picard Number 1

We show that the vanishing order of a non-zero vector field at a generic point of a smooth Fano variety of Picard number 1 cannot exceed the dimension of the Fano variety. Furthermore, if there exist only finitely many rational curves of minimal degree through a generic point of the Fano variety, we show that a non-zero vector field cannot vanish at a generic point of the Fano variety.     

On the Picard group of a compact flat projective variety

In this note, we describe the Picard group of the class of compact, smooth, flat, projective varieties. In view of Charlap's work and Johnson's characterization, we construct line bundles over such manifolds as the holonomy-invariant elements of the Neron-Severi group of a projective flat torus covering the manifold. We prove a generalized version of the Appell-Humbert theorem which shows that the nontrivial elements of the Picard group are precisely those coming from the above construction. Our calculations finally give an estimate for the set of positive line bundles for such varieties.

     

On some smooth projective two-orbit varieties with Picard number 1

We classify all smooth projective horospherical varieties with Picard number 1. We prove that the automorphism group of any such variety X acts with at most two orbits and that this group still acts with only two orbits on X blown up at the closed orbit. We characterize all smooth projective two-orbit varieties with Picard number 1 that satisfy this latter property.     

Characterizing the homogeneous variety

In this paper we consider the 15‐dimensional rational homogeneous variety of Picard number one F₄(4), and provide a characterization of it in terms of its variety of minimal rational tangents.     

Chern class of Schubert cells in the flag manifold and related algebras

We discuss a relationship between Chern–Schwartz–MacPherson classes for Schubert cells in flag manifolds, the Fomin–Kirillov algebra, and the generalized nil-Hecke algebra. We show that the nonnegativity conjecture in the Fomin–Kirillov algebra implies the nonnegativity of the Chern–Schwartz–MacPherson classes for Schubert cells in flag manifolds for type A. Motivated by this connection, we also prove that the (equivariant) Chern–Schwartz–MacPherson classes for Schubert cells in flag manifolds are certain summations of the structure constants of the equivariant cohomology of Bott–Samelson varieties. We also discuss refined positivity conjectures of the Chern–Schwartz–MacPherson classes for Schubert cells motivated by the nonnegativity conjecture in the Fomin–Kirillov algebra.     

The AS–Cohen–Macaulay property for quantum flag manifolds of minuscule weight

It is shown that quantum homogeneous coordinate rings of generalised flag manifolds corresponding to minuscule weights, their Schubert varieties, big cells, and determinantal varieties are AS–Cohen–Macaulay. The main ingredient in the proof is the notion of a quantum graded algebra with a straightening law, introduced by T.H. Lenagan and L. Rigal [T.H. Lenagan, L. Rigal, Quantum graded algebras with a straightening law and the AS–Cohen–Macaulay property for quantum determinantal rings and quantum Grassmannians, J. Algebra 301 (2006) 670–702]. Using Stanley's Theorem it is moreover shown that quantum generalised flag manifolds of minuscule weight and their big cells are AS–Gorenstein.     

Odd symplectic flag manifolds

We define the odd symplectic Grassmannians and flag manifolds, which are smooth projective varieties equipped with an action of the odd symplectic group, analogous to the usual symplectic Grassmannians and flag manifolds. Contrary to the latter, which are the flag manifolds of the symplectic group, the varieties we introduce are not homogeneous. We argue nevertheless that in many respects the odd symplectic Grassmannians and flag manifolds behave like homogeneous varieties; in support of this claim, we compute the automorphism group of the odd symplectic Grassmannians and we prove a Borel-Weil-type theorem for the odd symplectic group.     

On orbit closures of spherical subgroups in flag varieties

Let be the flag variety of a complex semi-simple group G, let H be an algebraic subgroup of G acting on with finitely many orbits, and let V be an H-orbit closure in . Expanding the cohomology class of V in the basis of Schubert classes defines a union V₀ of Schubert varieties in with positive multiplicities. If G is simply-laced, we show that these multiplicities are equal to the same power of 2. For arbitrary G, we show that V₀ is connected in codimension 1. If moreover all multiplicities are 1, we show that the singularities of V are rational and we construct a flat degeneration of V to V₀ in . Thus, for any effective line bundle L on , the restriction map is surjective, and for all . Received: April 17, 2000     

Smooth and palindromic Schubert varieties in affine Grassmannians

We completely determine the smooth and palindromic Schubert varieties in affine Grassmannians, in all Lie types. We show that an affine Schubert variety is smooth if and only if it is a closed parabolic orbit. In particular, there are only finitely many smooth affine Schubert varieties in a given Lie type. An affine Schubert variety is palindromic if and only if it is a closed parabolic orbit, a chain, one of an infinite family of “spiral” varieties in type A, or a certain 9-dimensional singular variety in type B ₃. In particular, except in type A there are only finitely many palindromic affine Schubert varieties in a fixed Lie type. Moreover, in types D and E an affine Schubert variety is smooth if and only if it is palindromic; in all other types there are singular palindromics. The proofs are for the most part combinatorial. The main tool is a variant of Mozes’ numbers game, which we use to analyze the Bruhat order on the coroot lattice. In the proof of the smoothness theorem we also use Chevalley’s cup product formula.     

Rigidity of Schubert classes in orthogonal Grassmannians

A Schubert class σ in the cohomology of a homogeneous variety X is called rigid if the only projective subvarieties of X representing σ are Schubert varieties. A Schubert class σ is called multi rigid if the only projective subvarieties representing positive integral multiples of σ are unions of Schubert varieties. In this paper, we discuss the rigidity and multi rigidity of Schubert classes in orthogonal Grassmannians. For a large set of non-rigid classes, we provide explicit deformations of Schubert varieties using combinatorially defined varieties called restriction varieties. We characterize rigid and multi rigid Schubert classes of Grassmannian and quadric type. We also characterize all the rigid classes in OG(2, n) if n > 8.     

Slope Stability for Lines on Products of Fano Manifolds

Mathematical Notes - In this paper, we consider the slope stability of products X of two Fano manifolds with Picard number 1 which are covered by lines. We show that such manifolds X are slope...     

Flexibility of Schubert classes

In this note, we discuss the flexibility of Schubert classes in homogeneous varieties. We give several constructions for representing multiples of a Schubert class by irreducible subvarieties. We sharpen [22, Theorem 3.1] by proving that every positive multiple of an obstructed class in a cominuscule homogeneous variety can be represented by an irreducible subvariety.     

Bioriented flags and resolutions of Schubert varieties

We use incidence relations running in two directions in order to construct a Kempf–Laksov type resolution for any Schubert variety of the complete flag manifold but also an embedded resolution for any Schubert variety in the Grassmannian. These constructions are alternatives to the celebrated Bott–Samelson resolutions. The second process led to the introduction of W-flag varieties, algebro-geometric objects that interpolate between the standard flag manifolds and products of Grassmannians, but which are singular in general. The surprising simple desingularization of a particular such type of variety produces an embedded resolution of the Schubert variety within the Grassmannian.     

Fano manifolds obtained by blowing up along curves with maximal Picard number

The Picard number of a Fano manifold X obtained by blowing up a curve in a smooth projective variety is known to be at most 5, in any dimension greater than or equal to 4. In this note, we show that the Picard number attains to the maximal if and only if X is the blow-up of the projective space whose center consists of two points, the strict transform of the line joining them and a linear subspace or a hyperquadric of codimension 2. This result is obtained as a consequence of a classification of special types of Fano manifolds.