Abstract
Moduli spaces and rational parametrizations of algebraic varieties have common roots. A rich album of moduli of special varieties was indeed collected by classical algebraic geometers and their (uni)rationality was studied. These were the origins for the study of a wider series of moduli spaces one could define as classical. These moduli spaces are parametrize several type of varieties which are often interacting: curves, abelian varieties, K3 surfaces. The course will focus on rational parametrizations of classical moduli spaces, building on concrete constructions and examples.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
A first counterexample to this outstanding problem has been finally produced by B. Hassett, A. Pirutka and Y. Tschinkel in 2016. See: Stable rationality of quadric surfaces bundles over surfaces, arXiv1603.09262
- 2.
We recall that \(kod(X):= \mbox{ min}\{\dim f_{m}(X^{{\prime}}),\ m \geq 1\}\). Here X ′ is a complete, smooth birational model of X. Moreover f m is the map defined by the linear system of pluricanonical divisors \(P_{m}:= \mathbf{P}H^{0}(det(\Omega _{X^{{\prime}}}^{1})^{\otimes m})\). If P m is empty for each m ≥ 1 one puts kod(X): = −∞.
- 3.
Unless differently stated, we assume g ≥ 2 to simplify the exposition.
- 4.
To simplify the notation we identify Pic(P 1) to \(\mathbb{Z}\) via the degree map.
References
E. Arbarello, M. Cornalba, P.A. Griffiths, J. Harris, Geometry of Algebraic Curves, vol. II. Grundlehren der Mathematischen Wissenschaften, vol. 268 (Springer, New York, 1985)
E. Arbarello, M. Cornalba, P.A. Griffiths, J. Harris, Geometry of Algebraic Curves, vol. I. Grundlehren der Mathematischen Wissenschaften, vol. 267 (Springer, New York, 1985)
A. Ash, D. Mumford, M. Rapoport, Y. Tai, Smooth Compactification of Locally Symmetric Varieties, 2nd edn. With the Collaboration of Peter Scholze (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2010)
E. Arbarello, Alcune osservazioni sui moduli delle curve appartenenti a una data superficie algebrica. Lincei Rend. Sc. fis. mat. e nat. 59, 725–732 (1975)
E. Arbarello, E. Sernesi, The equation of a plane curve. Duke Math. J. 46, 469–485 (1979)
W. Barth, A. Verra, Torsion on K3 sections, in Problems in the Theory of Surfaces and their Classification (Academic, London, 1991), pp. 1–24
S. Boucksom, J.P. Demailly, M. Paun, T. Peternell, The pseudo-effective cone of a compact Kähler manifold and varieties of negative Kodaira dimension. J. Algebr. Geom. 22, 201–248 (2013)
A. Beauville, Determinantal hypersurfaces. Mich. Math. J. 48, 39–64 (2000)
A. Beauville, Variétés de Prym et jacobiennes intermédiares. Ann. Ècole Norm. Sup. 10, 149–196 (1977)
A. Beauville, Prym varieties and the Schottky problem. Invent. Math. 41, 209–217 (1977)
G. Bini, C. Fontanari, F. Viviani, On the birational geometry of the universal Picard variety. IRMN 4, 740–780 (2012)
C. Bohning, The rationality of the moduli space of curves of genus 3 after P. Katsylo, in Cohomological and Geometric Approaches to Rationality Problems. Progress in Mathematics, vol. 282 (Birkhauser, Boston, 2010), pp. 17–53
A. Bruno, A. Verra, M 15 is rationally connected, in Projective Varieties With Unexpected Properties, vol. 51–65 (W. de Gruyter, New York, 2005)
G. Castelnuovo, Ricerche generali sopra i sistemi lineari di curve piane. Mem. R. Accad. delle Scienze di Torino 42, 3–42 (1892)
F. Catanese, On certain moduli spaces related to curves of genus 4, in Algebraic Geometry. Lecture Notes in Mathematics, vol. 1008 (Springer, New York, 1983), pp. 30–50
C. Ciliberto, Geometric aspects of polynomial interpolation in more variables and of Waring’s problem, in European Congress of Mathematics, Barcelona 2000 volume I.
H. Clemens, Double solids. Adv. Math. 47, 107–230 (1983)
M.C. Chang, Z. Ran, Unirationality of the moduli space of curves of genus 11, 13 (and 12). Invent. Math. 76, 41–54 (1984)
M.C. Chang, Z. Ran, On the slope and Kodaira dimension of M g for small g. J. Differ. Geom. 34, 267–274 (1991)
I. Dolgachev, Rationality of \(\mathcal{R}_{2}\) and \(\mathcal{R}_{3}\). Pure Appl. Math. Q. 4, 501–508 (2008)
R. Donagi, The unirationality of \(\mathcal{A}_{5}\). Ann. Math. 119, 269–307 (1984)
R. Donagi, The fibers of the Prym map, in Contemporary Mathematics, vol. 136 (AMS Providence, Providence, RI, 1992)
R. Donagi, R. Smith, The structure of the Prym map. Acta Math. 145, 26–102 (1981)
V.A. Iskovskikh, Yu. Prokhorov, Algebraic Geometry V - Fano Varieties. Encyclopaedia of Mathematical Sciences, vol. 47 (Springer, Berlin, 1999), pp. 1–247
G. Farkas, Aspects of the birational geometry of M g , in Geometry of Riemann Surfaces and Their Moduli Spaces, Surveys in Differential Geometry, vol. 14 (International Press, Somerville, MA, 2010), pp. 57–110
G. Farkas, S. Grushevsky, R. Salvati Manni, A. Verra, Singularities of theta divisors and the geometry of \(\overline{\mathcal{A}}_{5}\). J. Eur. Math. Soc. 16, 1817–1848 (2014)
G. Farkas, M. Kemeny, The generic Green-Lazarsfeld conjecture. Invent. Math. 203, 265–301 (2016)
G. Farkas, K. Ludwig, The Kodaira dimension of the moduli space of Prym varieties. J. Eur. Math. Soc. 12, 755–795 (2010)
G. Farkas, M. Popa, Effective divisors on \(\mathcal{M}_{g}\), curves on K3 surfaces and the slope conjecture. J. Algebr. Geom. 14, 241–267 (2005)
G. Farkas, A. Verra, The classification of universal Jacobians over the moduli space of curves. Comment. Math. Helv. 88, 587–611(2010)
G. Farkas, A. Verra, Moduli of theta characteristics via Nikulin surfaces. Math. Ann. 354, 465–496 (2012)
G. Farkas, A. Verra, The universal abelian variety over A 5. Ann. Sci. Ecole Norm. Sup. 49, 521–542 (2016)
G. Farkas, A. Verra, Moduli of curves of low genus and elliptic surfaces. Preprint (2012)
G. Farkas, A. Verra, Prym varieties and moduli of polarized Nikulin surfaces. Adv. Math. 290, 314–38 (2016)
A. Garbagnati, A. Sarti, Projective models of K3 surfaces with an even set. J. Algebra 318, 325–350 (2007)
S. Grushevsky, R. Salvati Manni, The Prym map on divisors and the slope of \(\mathcal{A}_{5}\), Appendix by K. Hulek. IMRN 24, 6645–6660 (2013)
S. Grushevsky, D. Zakharov, The double ramification cycle and the theta divisor. Proc. Am. Math. Soc. 142, 4053–4064 (2014)
J. Harris, On the Kodaira dimension of the moduli space of curves II: the even genus case. Invent. Math. 75, 437–466 (1984)
J. Harris, On the Severi problem. Invent. Math. 84, 445–461 (1984)
J. Harris, D. Mumford, On the Kodaira dimension of the moduli space of curves. Invent. Math. 67, 23–88 (1982)
J. Harris, I. Morrison, Slopes of effective divisors on the moduli space of curves. Invent. Math. 99, 321–355 (1990)
J. Harris, I. Morrison, Moduli of Curves. GTM (Springer, New York, 1991)
D. Huybrechts, Lectures on K3 surfaces. Cambridge UP (2015, to appear). Preprint at http://www.math.uni-bonn.de/people/huybrech/K3.html
J. Igusa, Arithmetic variety of moduli for genus two. Ann. Math. 72, 612–649 (1960)
E. Izadi, A. Lo Giudice, G. Sankaran, The moduli space of étale double covers of genus 5 curves is unirational. Pac. J. Math. 239, 39–52 (2009)
J. Kollar, Which are the simplest algebraic varieties? Bull. Am. Math. Soc. 38, 409–433 (2001)
P. Katsylo, Rationality of the moduli variety of curves of genus 3. Comment. Math. Helv. 71, 507–524 (1996)
P. Katsylo, On the unramified 2-covers of the curves of genus 3, in Algebraic Geometry and its Applications. Aspects of Mathematics, vol. 25 (Vieweg, Berlin, 1994), pp. 61–65
P. Katsylo, Rationality of the variety of moduli of curves of genus 5. Mat. Sb. 182, 457–464 (1991). Translation in Math. USSR-Sb. 72 439–445 (1992)
P. Katsylo, The variety of moduli of curves of genus four is rational. Dokl. Akad. Nauk SSSR 290, 1292–1294 (1986)
P. Katsylo, Rationality of the moduli spaces of hyperelliptic curves. Izv. Akad. Nauk SSSR 48, 705–710 (1984)
D. Mumford, On the Kodaira dimension of the Siegel modular variety, in Algebraic Geometry-Open problems (Ravello 1982). Lecture Notes in Mathematics, vol. 997 (Springer, Berlin, 1983), pp. 348–375.
D. Mumford, Prym Varieties I, in Contributions to Analysis (Academic, New York, 1974), pp. 325–350
S. Mori, S. Mukai, The uniruledness of the moduli space of curves of genus 11, in Algebraic Geometry (Tokyo/Kyoto 1082). Lecture Notes in Mathematics, vol. 1016 (Springer, Berlin, 1983), pp. 334–353
S. Mukai, Curves, K3 surfaces and Fano manifolds of genus ≤ 10, in Algebraic Geometry and Commutative Algebra I (Kinokunya, Tokyo, 1988), pp. 367–377
S. Mukai, Curves and K3 surfaces of genus eleven, in Moduli of Vector Bundles. Lecture Notes in Pure and Applied Mathematics, vol. 179 (Dekker, New York, 1996), pp. 189–197
S. Mukai, Non-abelian Brill-Noether theory and Fano 3-folds. Sugaku Expositions 14, 125–153 (2001)
S. Mukai, Curves and Grassmannians, in Algebraic Geometry and Related Topics (International Press, Boston, 1992), pp. 19–40
V. Nikulin, Finite automorphism groups of Kähler K3 surfaces. Trans. Mosc. Math. Soc. 38, 71–135 (1980)
S. Recillas, Jacobians of curves with a g 4 1 are Prym varieties of trigonal curves. Bol. Soc. Matemat. Mexic. 19, 9–13 (1974)
F. Severi, Sulla classificazione delle curve algebriche e sul teorema di esistenza di Riemann. Atti R. Acc. dei Lincei, Serie V 24, 877–888 (1915)
F. Severi, Vorlesungen über Algebraische Geometrie (Teubner, Leipzig, 1921)
N. Shepherd-Barron, Invariant theory for S 5 and the rationality of \(\mathcal{M}_{6}\). Compos. Math. 70, 13–25 (1989)
N. Shepherd-Barron, Perfect forms and the moduli space of abelian varieties. Invent. Math. 163, 25–45 (2006)
F.O. Schreyer, Computer aided unirationality proofs of moduli spaces, in Handbook of Moduli, III (International Press, Boston, 2011), pp. 257–280
B. Segre, Sui moduli delle curve algebriche. Ann. Mat. 4, 71–102 (1930)
B. Segre, Alcune questioni su insiemi finiti di punti in geometria algebrica. Rend. Sem. Mat. Univ. Torino 20, 67–85 (1960/1961)
E. Sernesi, L’unirazionalità della varietà dei moduli delle curve di genere 12. Ann. Scuola Normale Sup. Pisa 8, 405–439 (1981)
E. Sernesi, Deformation of Algebraic Schemes. Grundlehren der Mathematischen Wissenschaften, vol. 334 (Springer, Berlin, 2006)
J.G. Semple, L. Roth, Introduction to Algebraic Geometry (Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1985), p. 400
B. van Geemen, A. Sarti, Nikulin involutions on K3 surfaces. Math. Z. 255, 731–753 (2007)
Y. Tai, On the Kodaira dimension of the moduli space of abelian varieties. Invent. Math. 68, 425–439 (1982)
C. Voisin, Sur l’ application de Wahl des courbes satisfaisantes la condition de Brill-Noether-Petri. Acta Math. 168, 249–272 (1992)
A. Verra, Rational parametrizations of moduli spaces of curves, in Handbook of Moduli, III (International Press, Boston, 2011), pp. 431–506
A. Verra, The unirationality of the moduli space of curves of genus 14 or lower. Compos. Math. 141, 1425–1444 (2005)
A. Verra, The fibre of the Prym map in genus three. Math. Ann. 276, 433–448 (1983)
A. Verra, A short proof of the unirationality of \(\mathcal{A}_{5}\). Indag. Math. 46, 339–355 (1984)
A. Verra, On the universal principally polarized abelian variety of dimension 4, in Curves and Abelian Varieties. Contemporary Mathematics, vol. 465 (American Mathematical Society, Providence, RI, 2008), pp. 253–274
A. Verra, Geometry of genus 8 Nikulin surfaces and rationality of their Moduli, in K3 Surfaces and Their Moduli. Progress in Mathematics, vol. 316 (Birkhauser, 2016), pp. 345–364
G. Welters, A theorem of Gieseker-Petri type for Prym varieties. Ann. Sci. Ec. Norm. Super. 18, 671–683 (1985). Gerald E. Welters. A theorem of Gieseker-Petri type for Prym varieties. Ann. Sci. Ecole Norm.
Acknowledgements
I wish to thank CIME and the scientific coordinators of the School ‘Rationality problems’ for the excellent and pleasant realization of this event. Let me also thank the referee for a patient reading and several useful suggestions. Supported by MIUR PRIN-2010 project ‘Geometria delle varietá algebriche e dei loro spazi di moduli’ and by INdAM-GNSAGA.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2016 Springer International Publishing Switzerland
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Verra, A. (2016). Classical Moduli Spaces and Rationality. In: Pardini, R., Pirola, G. (eds) Rationality Problems in Algebraic Geometry. Lecture Notes in Mathematics(), vol 2172. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-46209-7_4
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-46209-7_4
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-46208-0
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-46209-7
eBook Packages: Mathematics and StatisticsMathematics and Statistics (R0)