Normal forms for the endpoint map near nice singular curves for rank-two distributions

Given a rank-two sub-Riemannian structure $(M,\Delta)$ and a point $x_0\in M$, a singular curve is a critical point of the endpoint map $F:\gamma\mapsto\gamma(1)$ defined on the space of horizontal curves starting at $x_0$. The typical least degenerate singular curves of these structures are called \emph{regular singular curves}; they are \emph{nice} if their endpoint is not conjugate along $\gamma$. The main goal of this paper is to show that locally around a nice singular curve $\gamma$, once we choose a suitable topology on the control space we can find a normal form for the endpoint map, in which $F$ writes essentially as a sum of a linear map and a quadratic form. This is a preparation for a forthcoming generalization of the Morse theory to rank-two sub-Riemannian structures.

Elliptic Curves in Hyper-Kähler Varieties

We show that the moduli space of elliptic curves of minimal degree in a general Fano variety of lines of a cubic four-fold is a non-singular curve of genus $631$. The curve admits a natural involution with connected quotient. We find that the general Fano contains precisely $3,780$ elliptic curves of minimal degree with fixed (general) $j$-invariant. More generally, we express (modulo a transversality result) the enumerative count of elliptic curves of minimal degree in hyper-Kähler varieties with fixed $j$-invariant in terms of Gromov–Witten invariants. In $K3^{[2]}$-type this leads to explicit formulas of these counts in terms of modular forms.

ALBANESE VARIETIES OF CYCLIC COVERS OF THE PROJECTIVE PLANE AND ORBIFOLD PENCILS

The paper studies a relation between fundamental group of the complement to a plane singular curve and the orbifold pencils containing it. The main tool is the use of Albanese varieties of cyclic covers ramified along such curves. Our results give sufficient conditions for a plane singular curve to belong to an orbifold pencil, that is, a pencil of plane curves with multiple fibers inducing a map onto an orbifold curve whose orbifold fundamental group is nontrivial. We construct an example of a cyclic cover of the projective plane which is an abelian surface isomorphic to the Jacobian of a curve of genus 2 illustrating the extent to which these conditions are necessary.

Divisorial extractions from singular curves in smooth 3-folds

Consider a singular curve [Formula: see text] contained in a smooth [Formula: see text]-fold [Formula: see text]. Assuming the general elephant conjecture, the general hypersurface section [Formula: see text] is Du Val. Under that assumption, this paper describes the construction of a divisorial extraction from [Formula: see text] by Kustin–Miller unprojection. Terminal extractions from [Formula: see text] are proved not to exist if [Formula: see text] is of type [Formula: see text] or [Formula: see text] and are classified if [Formula: see text] is of type [Formula: see text] or [Formula: see text].

Moduli spaces of stable quotients and wall-crossing phenomena

The moduli space of holomorphic maps from Riemann surfaces to the Grassmannian is known to have two kinds of compactifications: Kontsevich’s stable map compactification and Marian–Oprea–Pandharipande’s stable quotient compactification. Over a non-singular curve, the latter moduli space is Grothendieck’s Quot scheme. In this paper, we give the notion of ‘ ϵ-stable quotients’ for a positive real number ϵ, and show that stable maps and stable quotients are related by wall-crossing phenomena. We will also discuss Gromov–Witten type invariants associated to ϵ-stable quotients, and investigate them under wall crossing.