On Severi type inequalities (Q2225605)

We recall that for a projective variety of general type of dimension \(n\), the \textit{volume} measures the asymptotic growth of the plurigenera: \(\textrm{vol}\,(X) := \limsup _{m\to +\infty}\frac{h^0(X, m K_X)}{m^n/n!}\). This is equal to the intersection number \(K^n_X\) if the canonical class \(K_X\) is ample. For minimal smooth complex surfaces \(S\) of maximal Albanese dimension, the \textit{Severi inequality} asserts that \(K^2_S\ge 4\chi(S)\), where \(\chi(S)\) is the holomorphic Euler characteristic of \(S\); it was proved by \textit{R. Pardini} [Invent. Math. 159, No. 3, 669--672 (2005; Zbl 1082.14041)]. Severiss inequality was extended to varieties of maximal Albanese dimensions of higher dimensions independently by \textit{M. A. Barja} [Duke Math. J. 164, No. 3, 541--568 (2015; Zbl 1409.14013)] and \textit{T. Zhang} [Math. Ann. 359, No. 3--4, 1097--1114 (2014; Zbl 1307.14064)]: let \(X\) be a smooth projective variety of general type and of maximal Albanese dimension, then \(\textrm{vol}\,(X ) \ge 2(\dim X )!\chi (\omega_X )\). A crucial feature in both proofs is that, by generic vanishing, one could regard \(\chi (\omega_X )\) as \(h^0 (X , \omega_X \otimes Q)\), where \(Q \in \textrm{Pic}\,^0(X )\) is a general numerically trivial line bundle, and hence \(\chi (\omega_X ) \ge 0\). A refined Severi's inequality of surfaces was obtained by \textit{X. Lu} and \textit{K. Zuo} recently [Int. Math. Res. Not. 2019, No. 1, 231--248 (2019; Zbl 1430.14079)]. They proved that \(\textrm{vol}\,(S) \ge \min\{ \frac{2}{9} \chi (\omega_S ), 4\chi (\omega_S ) + 4(q(S) - 2))\}\), which is crucial in their classification of surfaces on the Severi line. In [J. Inst. Math. Jussieu 19, No. 6, 2087--2125 (2020; Zbl 1452.14005)], \textit{M. Á. Barja} et al. introduced continuous rank functions on abelian varieties and proved several important results, including a simple proof of Barja and Zhang's higher dimensional Severi's inequality and various refinements of Severi's inequality in all dimensions. In this article, the author follows the method of Barja, Pardini, and Stoppino [loc. cit.], who applied continuous rank functions to study Severi type inequalities on varieties of maximal Albanese dimensions. Let \(f \colon X \to A\) be a morphism from a smooth projective variety to an abelian variety and let \(F\) be a connected component of a general fiber of \(f\) over its image. The main result of the paper is a Severi type inequality of \(X\) which depends on Clifford or Noether type inequalities on \(F\). A simple version of this result is the following (see Theorem 3.8 for the full statement): assume that the linear system \(|K_F |\) induces a generically finite map of \(F\). Then \(\textrm{vol}(X ) \ge 2(\dim X- \dim F)! \chi ( f_* \omega_X )\). Severi type inequalities naturally provide estimates of volumes of irregular varieties of general type. It is known that there exists a positive lower bound \(\epsilon(n)\) of the set of the volumes of smooth projective varieties of general type of dimension \(n\). In general this lower bound is quite difficult to compute due to the singularities of minimal models of varieties of general type in dimension \(\ge 3\). One can also define \(\epsilon_I(n)\) the lower bound of the set of the volumes of irregular smooth projective varieties of general type of dimension \(n\). In this article, the author improves the bound of this number proving that \(\epsilon_I(3)\ge \frac{3}{8}\). An application of Severi type inequality the author completely describes \(n\)-dimensional varieties \(X\) of maximal Albanese dimension with \(\textrm{vol}\,(X ) = (2n!)\). More precisely, he proves the follwing result: assume that \(X\) is a smooth projective variety of maximal Albanese dimension and of general type. Then \(\textrm{vol}\,(X ) \ge (2(\dim X )!)\). If the equality holds, then the Albanese variety of \(X\), \(A_X\), admits a principal polarization \(\Theta\) and the canonical model \(X_{\textrm{can}}\) is a flat double cover of \(A_X\) branched over a divisor \(D \in |2\Theta|\).