Toric degenerations of spherical varieties

We prove that any affine, resp. polarized projective, spherical variety admits a flat degeneration to an affine, resp. polarized projective, toric variety. Motivated by mirror symmetry, we give conditions for the limit toric variety to be a Gorenstein Fano, and provide many examples. We also provide an explanation for the limits as boundary points of the moduli space of stable pairs whose existence is predicted by the Minimal Model Program.     

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.     

The degree of a Schubert variety

We study integration along Bott-Samelson cycles. As an application the degree of a Schubert variety on a flag manifold G/B is evaluated in terms of certain Cartan numbers of G.     

Toric degenerations of Schubert varieties

LetG be a simply connected semisimple complex algebraic group. We prove that every Schubert variety ofG has a flat degeneration into a toric variety. This provides a generalization of results of [9], [7], [6]. Our basic tool is Lusztig's canonical basis and the string parametrization of this basis.Supported in part by the EC TMR network Algebraic Lie Representations, contract No. ERB FMTX-CT97-0100.     

The recursive nature of cominuscule Schubert calculus

The necessary and sufficient Horn inequalities which determine the non-vanishing Littlewood-Richardson coefficients in the cohomology of a Grassmannian are recursive in that they are naturally indexed by non-vanishing Littlewood-Richardson coefficients on smaller Grassmannians. We show how non-vanishing in the Schubert calculus for cominuscule flag varieties is similarly recursive. For these varieties, the non-vanishing of products of Schubert classes is controlled by the non-vanishing products on smaller cominuscule flag varieties. In particular, we show that the lists of Schubert classes whose product is non-zero naturally correspond to the integer points in the feasibility polytope, which is defined by inequalities coming from non-vanishing products of Schubert classes on smaller cominuscule flag varieties. While the Grassmannian is cominuscule, our necessary and sufficient inequalities are different than the classical Horn inequalities.     

Secant varieties of toric varieties

Let X_P be a smooth projective toric variety of dimension n embedded in P^r using all of the lattice points of the polytope P. We compute the dimension and degree of the secant variety . We also give explicit formulas in dimensions 2 and 3 and obtain partial results for the projective varieties X_A embedded using a set of lattice points A⊂P∩Zⁿ containing the vertices of P and their nearest neighbors.     

Multiplication of a Schubert polynomial by a Schur polynomial

Schur polynomials are a special case of Schubert polynomials. In this paper, we give an algorithm to compute the product of a Schubert polynomial with a Schur polynomial on the basis of Schubert polynomials. This is a special case of the general problem of the multiplication of two Schubert polynomials, where the corresponding algorithm is still missing. The main tools for the given algorithm is a factorization property of a special class of Schubert polynomials and the transition formula for Schubert polynomials.     

Double Schubert polynomials for the classical groups

For each infinite series of the classical Lie groups of type B, C or D, we construct a family of polynomials parametrized by the elements of the corresponding Weyl group of infinite rank. These polynomials represent the Schubert classes in the equivariant cohomology of the appropriate flag variety. They satisfy a stability property, and are a natural extension of the (single) Schubert polynomials of Billey and Haiman, which represent non-equivariant Schubert classes. They are also positive in a certain sense, and when indexed by maximal Grassmannian elements, or by the longest element in a finite Weyl group, these polynomials can be expressed in terms of the factorial analogues of Schur's Q- or P-functions defined earlier by Ivanov.     

Schubert polynomials of types A--D

Schubert polynomials of type B, C, and D have been described first by S. Billey and M. Haiman [BH] using a combinatorial method. In this paper we give a unified algebraic treatment of Schubert polynomials of types A–D in the style of the Lascoux–Schützenberger theory in type A, i.e. Schubert polynomials are generated by the application of sequences of divided difference operators to “top polynomials”. The use of the creation operators for Q-Schur and P-Schur functions allows us to give: (1) simple and natural forms of the “top polynomials”, (2) formulas for the easy computation with all divided differences, (3) recursive structures, and (4) simplified derivations of basic properties. Received: 23 July 1998     

Uniform boundedness of level structures on abelian varieties over complex function fields

Let X = Ω/Γ be a smooth quotient of a bounded symmetric domain Ω by an arithmetic subgroup . We prove the following generalization of Nadel's result: for any non-negative integer g, there exists a finite étale cover X_g = Ω/Γ(g) of X determined by a subgroup depending only on g, such that for any compact Riemann surface R of genus g and any non-constant holomorphic map f : R → X_g^* from R into the Satake-Baily-Borel compactification X_g^* of X_g, the image f(R) lies in the boundary ∂X_g: = X^*_g\X_g. Nadel proved it for g = 0 or 1. Moreover, for any positive integer n and any non-negative integer g≥0, we show that there exists a positive number a(n,g) depending only on n and g with the following property: a principally polarized non-isotrivial n-dimensional abelian variety over a complex function field of genus g does not have a level-N structure for N≥a(n,g). This was proved by Nadel for g = 0 or 1, and by Noguchi for arbitrary g under the additional hypothesis that the abelian variety has non-empty singular fibers.     

Restriction varieties and geometric branching rules

This paper develops a new method for studying the cohomology of orthogonal flag varieties. Restriction varieties are subvarieties of orthogonal flag varieties defined by rank conditions with respect to (not necessarily isotropic) flags. They interpolate between Schubert varieties in orthogonal flag varieties and the restrictions of general Schubert varieties in ordinary flag varieties. We give a positive, geometric rule for calculating their cohomology classes, obtaining a branching rule for Schubert calculus for the inclusion of the orthogonal flag varieties in Type A flag varieties. Our rule, in addition to being an essential step in finding a Littlewood–Richardson rule, has applications to computing the moment polytopes of the inclusion of SO(n) in SU(n), the asymptotic of the restrictions of representations of SL(n) to SO(n) and the classes of the moduli spaces of rank two vector bundles with fixed odd determinant on hyperelliptic curves. Furthermore, for odd orthogonal flag varieties, we obtain an algorithm for expressing a Schubert cycle in terms of restrictions of Schubert cycles of Type A flag varieties, thereby giving a geometric (though not positive) algorithm for multiplying any two Schubert cycles.     

On Waring's problem for many forms and Grassmann defective varieties

This paper is devoted to the classical Waring type problem for several algebraic forms. Its geometric translation in terms of Grassmann defectivity for projective varieties yields the best possible solution whenever the number of polynomials is greater than the number of variables. In particular, together with a classical theorem of Alessandro Terracini, this result gives a complete answer to Waring's problem for several ternary forms.     

The singular locus of the secant varieties of a smooth projective curve

Let X be a smooth irreducible non-degenerated projective curve in some projective space P^N. Let r be a positive integer such that 2r + 1 < N and let S_r(X) be the r-th secant variety of X. It is a variety of dimension 2r + 1. In this paper we prove that the singular locus is the (r - 1)-th secant variety S_{r- 1}(X) if X does not have any (2r + 2)-secant 2r-space divisor. Received: 26 November 2002     

On syzygies of non-complete embedding of projective varieties

Let X be a non-degenerate, not necessarily linearly normal projective variety in . Recently the generalization of property N _p to non-linearly normal projective varieties have been considered and its algebraic and geometric properties are studied extensively. One of the generalizations is the property N _d,p for the saturated ideal I _X (Eisenbud et al. in Compos Math 141: 1460–1478, 2005) and the other is the property for the graded module of the twisted global sections of (Kwak and Park in J Reine Angew Math 582: 87–105, 2005). In this paper, we are interested in the algebraic and geometric meaning of properties for every p ≥ 0 and the syzygetic behaviors of isomorphic projections and hyperplane sections of a given variety with property . Youngook Choi and Sijong Kwak were supported in part by KRF (grant No. 2005-070-C00005).     

On secant varieties of compact Hermitian symmetric spaces

We show that the secant varieties of rank three compact Hermitian symmetric spaces in their minimal homogeneous embeddings are normal, with rational singularities. We show that their ideals are generated in degree three—with one exception, the secant variety of the 21-dimensional spinor variety in P⁶³ where we show that the ideal is generated in degree four. We also discuss the coordinate rings of secant varieties of compact Hermitian symmetric spaces.     

On uniruled degenerations of algebraic varieties with trivial canonical divisor

We give a uniruledness criterion on degenerate fibers in a family of varieties whose general fiber has a numerically trivial canonical divisor. The criterion is related with the so-called non-nef locus of the canonical divisor of the total space.