Euler characteristics of general linear sections and polynomial Chern classes

Structural characterization of families of graphs (05C75) Intersection theory, characteristic classes, intersection multiplicities in algebraic geometry (14C17) Feynman integrals and graphs; applications of algebraic topology and algebraic geometry (81Q30)

Abstract: We obtain a precise relation between the Chern-Schwartz-MacPherson class of a subvariety of projective space and the Euler characteristics of its general linear sections. In the case of a hypersurface, this leads to simple proofs of formulas of Dimca-Papadima and Huh for the degrees of the polar map of a homogeneous polynomial, extending these formula to any algebraically closed field of characteristic~0, and proving a conjecture of Dolgachev on 'homaloidal' polynomials in the same context. We generalize these formulas to subschemes of higher codimension in projective space. We also describe a simple approach to a theory of `polynomial Chern classes' for varieties endowed with a morphism to projective space, recovering properties analogous to the Deligne-Grothendieck axioms from basic properties of the Euler characteristic. We prove that the polynomial Chern class defines homomorphisms from suitable relative Grothendieck rings of varieties to Z[t].

Review text

Let \(X\) be a locally closed subset of \(\mathbb{P}^n\), and let \(X_r\) be the intersection of \(X\) with \(r\) general hyperplanes. One assembles the Euler characteristics of the general linear sections into a generating polynomial: \[ \chi_X(t):=\sum_{r=0}^n \chi(X_r) \cdot (-t)^r. \] In the paper under review, the author connects \(\chi_X(t)\) with the Chern-Schwartz-MacPherson class of the constructible function \(\mathbf{1}_X\) on \(\mathbb{P}^n\). Consider the polynomial obtained from \(c_{SM}(\mathbf{1}_X) \in A_*(\mathbb{P}^n)\) by replacing the rational equivalence class of the \(r\)-dimensional linear space with \(t^r\): \[ \gamma_X(t):= \sum \gamma_r(X) \cdot t^r \] Theorem 1.1 gives a precise relation between the Chern-Schwartz-MacPherson class and the Euler characteristics of general linear sections: \[ \gamma_X=\mathscr{I}(\chi_X), \qquad \chi_X=\mathscr{I}(\gamma_X), \] where \(\mathscr{I}\) is the involution \[ \mathscr{I}\big(p(t)\big):=\frac{t \cdot p(-t-1)+p(0)}{t+1}. \] The formula can be used, for example, to give a simple proof of a conjecture of Dolgachev that a homogeneous polynomial \(F\) is homaloidal if and only if \(F_{\text{red}}\) is, extending the previous proof by \textit{A. Dimca} and \textit{S. Papadima} [Ann. Math. (2) 158, No. 2, 473--507 (2003; Zbl 1068.32019)] to arbitrary algebraically closed field of characteristic zero. The author also describes a simple approach to a theory of `polynomial Chern classes' for varieties endowed with a morphism to a projective space. The polynomial Chern class gives a homomorphism from a certain relative Grothendieck ring of varieties to \(\mathbb{Z}[t]\), which can be constructed using the theory of Chern-Schwartz-MacPherson classes. Remarkably, this `polynomial' version of the Chern class theory, including an analogue of the key covariance property of \(c_{SM}\), can be established using no tools other than basic properties of the Euler characteristic.

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