Very free rational curves in Fano varieties (Q2079232)

A proper variety \(X\) over an algebraically closed field \(k\) is \textit{separably rationally connected (SRC)} if there exists a variety \(Y\) and a morphism \(e: Y \times \mathbb P^1 \to X\) such that the induced map \(e^{(2)}: Y \times \mathbb P^1 \times \mathbb P^1 \to X \times X\) on products is dominant and smooth. In his study of rationally connected varieties \textit{J. Kollár} [Rational curves on algebraic varieties. Berlin: Springer-Verlag (1995; Zbl 0877.14012)] proves that rationally connected varieties are SRC when char \(k=0\) and suggests that SRC is a suitable generalization of rational connectedness for char \(k\) arbitrary. There he asks whether every smooth Fano variety is SRC when char \(k = p > 0\). The answer is positive for general Fano complete intersections in \(\mathbb P^n\) by work of \textit{Q. Chen} and \textit{Y. Zhu} [Algebr. Geom. 1, No. 5, 558--572 (2014; Zbl 1322.14074)] and \textit{Z. Tian} [Contemp. Math. 654, 155--159 (2015; Zbl 1470.14100)]. The authors extend this result, proving that if \(d_1, \dots, d_c \geq 3\) are integers with \(\sum d_i < n\), then a general complete intersection of type \((d_1, \dots, d_c)\) in the Grassmann variety \(G(k,n)\) is SRC. This complements a result of \textit{J. M. Starr} et al. to the effect that all smooth Fano complete intersections in the Grassmann variety are SRC if char \(k\) is larger than an explicit bound [``Separable rational connectedness and weak approximation in positive characteristic'', Preprint, \url{arXiv:1811.02466}]. They prove similar results for flag varieties, products of projective spaces and homogeneous spaces in general. The proof involves constructing very free rational curves, i.e. rational curves \(\mathbb P^1 \cong C \subset X\) for which the normal bundle splits on \(C\) as a direct sum of positive line bundles. This is achieved by showing that the general rational curve \(C\) is \textit{balanced}, meaning that the degrees of the line bundle summands of the normal bundle differ by at most one.