\(\mathbb G_a\)-actions of fiber type on affine \(\mathbb T\)-varieties (Q627988)

The paper is concentrated on two subjects. The first one is a classification of normal affine \(\mathbb{T}\)-varieties (over an algebraically closed field \(k\) of characteristic zero) equipped with a \(\mathbb{G}_a\)-action normalized by~\(\mathbb{T}\). Here, \(\mathbb{T}\) is an algebraic torus and \(\mathbb{G}_a\) is the one-dimensional additive group. In algebraic terms, the \(\mathbb{T}\)-action on such a variety \(X\) corresponds to a grading of \(k[X]\) by the weight lattice \(M\) of \(\mathbb{T}\), and the \(\mathbb{G}_a\)-action corresponds to a locally nilpotent derivation (LND) \(\partial\) of \(k[X]\) which is homogeneous with respect to this grading. \(\mathbb{T}\)-actions on normal affine varieties were classified by \textit{K. Altmann} and \textit{J. Hausen} [Math. Ann. 334, No. 3, 557--607 (2006; Zbl 1193.14060)]. Such an action is determined by the following data: a pointed rational polyhedral cone \(\sigma\) in~\(M^*_{\mathbb{Q}}\), a semiprojective normal variety~\(Y\), and a proper \(\sigma\)-polyhedral divisor on~\(Y\), i.e., a formal sum \(\mathfrak{D}=\sum_H\mathfrak{D}_H\cdot H\), where \(H\) runs over all prime divisors on~\(Y\), \(\mathfrak{D}_H\subset M^*_{\mathbb{Q}}\) are polyhedra with tail cone~\(\sigma\), all but finitely many of them equal to~\(\sigma\), and \(\mathfrak{D}(m)=\sum_H\min\langle\mathfrak{D}_H,m\rangle\cdot D\) is semiample whenever \(m\in\sigma^{\vee}\cap M\) and big whenever \(m\in\text{int}(\sigma^{\vee})\cap M\). \(X\)~is recovered from these data via \(k[X]=\bigoplus_{m\in\sigma^{\vee}\cap M}H^0(Y,\mathcal{O}(\lfloor\mathfrak{D}(m)\rfloor))t^m\), where \(t\mapsto t^m\) are the respective characters of~\(\mathbb{T}\). In the case where the codimension of a general \(\mathbb{T}\)-orbit on \(X\) is \(0\) or~\(1\), the description of homogeneous locally nilpotent derivations (HLND's) of \(k[X]\) is due to \textit{M. Demazure} [Ann. Sci. Éc. Norm. Supér. (4) 3, 507-588 (1970; Zbl 0223.14009) and the author [Transform. Groups 15, No. 2, 389--425 (2010; Zbl 1209.14050)]. In this paper, the author waives this restriction, but considers only HLNDs of fiber type, i.e., those annihilating \(k(X)^{\mathbb{T}}=k(Y)\) or, equivalently, \(\mathbb{G}_a\)-actions preserving general \(\mathbb{T}\)-orbit closures. For any primitive lattice generator \(\rho\) of an extremal ray of \(\sigma\) and any \(e\in M\) such that \(\langle\rho,e\rangle=-1\) and \(\langle\rho',e\rangle\geq0\) for other generators \(\rho'\) of~\(\sigma\), there is an LND \(\partial_e\) of \(k(X)\) over \(k(Y)\) given by \(\partial(t^m)=\langle\rho,m\rangle t^{m+e}\). A \(\mathbb{Q}\)-divisor \(D_e=\sum_H\max_{m\in(\sigma^{\vee}\setminus\rho^{\perp})\cap M} (\min\langle\mathfrak{D}_H,m\rangle-\min\langle\mathfrak{D}_H,m+e\rangle)\cdot H\) is well defined. For any \(f\in H^0(Y,\mathcal{O}(\lfloor-D_e\rfloor))\), the derivation \(\partial_{e,f}=f\partial_e\) preserves~\(k[X]\), and every HLND of vertical type is of the form \(\partial=\partial_{e,f}\). As a corollary, the author deduces that \(\text{Ker}\partial\) is always finitely generated. The second subject is the Makar-Limanov invariant and rationality. Recall that the Makar-Limanov invariant of an irreducible affine variety \(X\) is \(\text{ML}(X)=\bigcap_{\partial}\text{Ker}\partial\) over all LNDs \(\partial\) of~\(k[X]\). For \(X=\mathbb{A}^n\), \(\text{ML}(X)=k\) is trivial. However there are non-rational varieties with trivial Makar-Limanov invariant. It is proved that \(\text{ML}(X)=k\) implies that \(X\) is birationally equivalent to \(Y\times\mathbb{A}^2\) and, conversely, for any \(Y\) there exists such \(X\) with \(\text{ML}(X)=k\). The author introduces the fractional Makar-Limanov invariant \(\text{FML}(X)=\bigcap_{\partial}\text{Frac}(\text{Ker}\partial)\) and conjectures that \(\text{FML}(X)=k\) implies rationality of~\(X\). He proves that the conjecture is true if \(X\) is birationally equivalent to \(C\times\mathbb{A}^n\), where \(C\) is a curve, and, as a consequence, if \(\dim{X}\leq3\).