A nontrivial algebraic cycle in the Jacobian variety of the Fermat sextic (Q1032690)

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A nontrivial algebraic cycle in the Jacobian variety of the Fermat sextic
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    A nontrivial algebraic cycle in the Jacobian variety of the Fermat sextic (English)
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    26 October 2009
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    Let \(X\) be a compact Riemann surface of genus \(g\geq3\), and let \(J(X)\) be the Jacobian variety of \(X\). In [\textit{G. Ceresa}, Ann. Math. (2) 117, 285--291 (1983; Zbl 0538.14024)], it is shown that for a generic \(X\), the algebraic cycle \(X-X^{-}\) is not algebraically equivalent to zero in \(J(X)\). There are, however, few explicit nontrivial examples of such a curve. In this paper the author considers the case of the Fermat sextic \(F(6)\) defined by \(x^{6}+y^{6}=1\), and shows that the algebraic cycle \(F(6)-F(6)^{-}\) is not algebraically equivalent to zero in \(J(F(6))\). A main ingredient of his proof is the harmonic volume which is defined as follows. Let \(R\) be a discrete subring of \(\mathbb{C}\) and suppose that all the entries of the period matrix of \(X\) can be reduced to elements of \(R\). Let \(H_{R}^{1,0}\) denote the space of holomorphic one-forms on \(X\) with \(R\)-periods, and let \(\{K_{1},\cdots,K_{2g}\}\) be a basis of \(H_{1}(X,\mathbb{Z})\). The harmonic volume is a homomorphism \(I_{R}:(H_{R}^{1,0})^{\otimes_{R}3}\rightarrow\mathbb{C}/R\) defined by \(I_{R}(\omega_{1}\otimes\omega_{2}\otimes\omega_{3})=\sum_{r=1}^{2g}a_{r}\int_{C_{r}}\omega_{1}\omega_{2}\: \mod R\), where \(C_{r}\) is a loop in \(X\) at a fixed base point whose homology class is \(K_{r}\), the Poincaré dual of \(\omega_{3}\) is equal to \(\sum_{r=1}^{2g}a_{r}K_{r}\), and the integral \( \)\(\int_{C_{R}}\omega_{1}\omega_{2}\) is Chen's iterated integral [\textit{K.-T. Chen}, Trans. Am. Math. Soc. 156, 359--379 (1971; Zbl 0217.47705)]. By [\textit{B. Harris}, Nankai Tracts in Mathematics 7. River Edge, NJ: World Scientific (2004; Zbl 1063.14010)], one knows that if the algebraic cycle \(X-X^{-}\) is algebraically equivalent to zero in \(J(X)\), then \(2I_{R}(\omega)\equiv0\:\mod R\) for any \(\omega\in(H_{R}^{1,0})^{\otimes_{R}3}\). Employing this result he conludes the proof by finding some element \(\omega\in(H_{R}^{1,0})^{\otimes_{R}3}\) such that \(2I_{R}(\omega)\neq0\: \mod R\) for the Fermat sextic.
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    algebraic cycles
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    Jacobian varieties
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    algebraic equivalence
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