The singularH 2,2-invariant quartic surfaces in ℙ3

AnH _2,2-invariant quartic surface in ₃ is a quartic surface in ₃ invariant under the Heisenberg groupH _2,2 of level (2, 2), the family ofH _2,2-invariant quartic surfaces is parametrized by ₄. For each ₄, the corresponding quartic surfaceX will be a Kummer surface, ifX is singular. The equation for { = 0} ₄ parametrizing all Kummer surfaces is well known. We find another more symmetric form (with respect to a 5-dimensional representation of the symmetric group S₆) for this equation.The aim of this note is to describe all singularH _2,2-invariant quartic surfaces in ₃.     

On the finite generation of the effective monoid of rational surfaces

We give a numerical criterion for ensuring the finite generation of the effective monoid of the surfaces obtained by a blowing-up of the projective plane at the supports of zero dimensional subschemes assuming that these are contained in a degenerate cubic. Furthermore, this criterion also ensures the regularity of any numerically effective divisor on these surfaces. Thus the dimension of any complete linear system is computed. On the other hand, in particular and among these surfaces, we obtain ringed rational surfaces with very large Picard numbers and with only finitely many integral curves of strictly negative self-intersection. These negative integral curves except two (−1)-curves are all contained in the support of an anticanonical divisor. Thus almost all the geometry of such surfaces is concentrated in the anticanonical class.     

On a class of rational cuspidal plane curves

We obtain new examples and the complete list of the rational cuspidal plane curvesC with at least three cusps, one of which has multiplicitydegC-2. It occurs that these curves are projectively rigid. We also discuss the general problem of projective rigidity of rational cuspidal plane curves.     

Fibrations by nonsmooth genus three curves in characteristic three

Bertini’s theorem on variable singular points may fail in positive characteristic, as was discovered by Zariski in 1944. In fact, he found fibrations by nonsmooth curves. In this work we continue to classify this phenomenon in characteristic three by constructing a two-dimensional algebraic fibration by nonsmooth plane projective quartic curves, that is universal in the sense that the data about some fibrations by nonsmooth plane projective quartics are condensed in it. Our approach has been motivated by the close relation between it and the theory of regular but nonsmooth curves, or equivalently, nonconservative function fields in one variable. Actually, it also provides an understanding of the interesting effect of the relative Frobenius morphism in fibrations by nonsmooth curves. In analogy to the Kodaira-Néron classification of special fibers of minimal fibrations by elliptic curves, we also construct the minimal proper regular model of some fibrations by nonsmooth projective plane quartic curves, determine the structure of the bad fibers, and study the global geometry of the total spaces.     

Two remarks on sextic double solids

We study the potential density of rational points on double solids ramified along singular reduced sextic surfaces. Also, we investigate elliptic fibration structures on nonsingular sextic double solids defined over a perfect field of characteristic 5.     

Self-adjoint determinantal representations of real plane curves

Research supported by a Chaim Weizmann Fellowship, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel.     

Special rank two vector bundles over Enriques surfaces

Partially supported by the European Science project Geometry of Algebraic Varieties, Contract SCJ-0398-C(A)     

Some remarks on the study of good contractions

LetX be a complex projective variety with log terminal singularities admitting an extremal contraction in terms of Minimal Model Theory, i.e. a projective morphism φ:X→Z onto a normal varietyZ with connected fibers which is given by a (high multiple of a) divisor of the typeK _x+rL, wherer is a positive rational number andL is an ample Cartier divisor. We first prove that the dimension of anu fiberF of φ is bigger or equal to (r-1) and, if φ is birational, thatdimF≥r, with the equalities if and only ifF is the projective space andL the hyperplane bundle (this is a sort of “relative” version of a theorem of Kobayashi-Ochiai). Then we describe the structure of the morphism φ itself in the case in which all fibers have minimal dimension with the respect tor. If φ is a birational divisorial contraction andX has terminal singularities we prove that φ is actually a “blow-up”.     

On the Griffiths group of the cubic sevenfold

Partially supported by Science Project Geometry of Algebraic Varieties, n. 0-198-SC1, and by fundings from M.U.R.S.T. and G.N.S.A.G.A. (C.N.R.), Italy     

Calabi-Yau threefolds arising from fiber products of rational quasi-elliptic surfaces, II

We construct examples of supersingular Calabi-Yau threefolds in characteristic 2 making use of the method by Schoen. Unirational Calabi-Yau threefolds of five different topological types are obtained. There are two examples with the third Betti number zero among them, and they are counted as other examples of non-liftable Calabi-Yau threefolds in characteristic 2 after the one given by Schröer.     

Moduli stacks of stable toric quasimaps

We construct new “virtually smooth” modular compactifications of spaces of maps from nonsingular curves to smooth projective toric varieties. They generalize Givental's compactifications, when the complex structure of the curve is allowed to vary and markings are included, and are the toric counterpart of the moduli spaces of stable quotients introduced by Marian, Oprea, and Pandharipande to compactify spaces of maps to Grassmannians. A brief discussion of the resulting invariants and their (conjectural) relation with Gromov-Witten theory is also included.     

Space curves with the expected postulation

The postulation of a space curve is a classifying invariant which computes for any integer n the dimension of the family of surfaces of degree n containing the curve. We prove that for any integers d and g satisfying d−3?g?2d−9, there exists a smooth connected curve of degree d and genus g with the minimal postulation expected by the Riemann-Roch theorem.