On the space of conics on complete intersections (Q403547)

The main result of the paper is the following: Theorem. For a general complete intersection of degree \((d_1, \dots, d_c)\) in \(\mathbb{P}^n\), where \(c\) is the codimension, the space of lines \(F(X)\) is empty if \(d_1+\dots+d_c>2n-2-c\), smooth of dimension \(2n-c-d_1+\dots+d_c\) if this number is non-negative. Furthermore, it is connected if \(d_1+\dots+d_c\leq 2n-3\) and \(X\) is not a quadric surface; the space of conics \(C(X)\) is empty if \(d_1+\dots+d_c>\frac{3n-2-c}{2}\), smooth of dimension \(3n-1-c-2(d_1+\dots+d_c)\) if this number is non-negative. Furthermore, \(C(X)\) is always connected if \(d_1+\dots+d_c\leq (3n-3-c)/2\). The proof follows the strategy of \textit{J. Kollár} [Rational curves on algebraic varieties. Ergebnisse der Mathematik und ihrer Grenzgebiete. 3. Folge. 32. Berlin: Springer-Verlag. (1995; Zbl 0877.14012) Chap. V, Theorem 4.3].