Addition-deletion results for the minimal degree of a Jacobian syzygy of a union of two curves (Q2099252)

In this extremely interesting paper the authors study addition-deletion type results for the minimal degree of Jacobian syzygies of unions of plane curves. Let \(S = \mathbb{C}[x,y,z]\) be the polynomial ring in three variables and denote by \(\partial_{x},\partial_{y},\partial_{z}\) the partial derivatives. Consider \(\mathrm{Der}(S) = \{\partial = a\partial_{x} + b\partial_{y}+c\partial_{z} \, : \, a,b,c \in S\}\). For a given polynomial \(g \in S\) the \(S\)-module \(D(g)\) of derivations of \(S\) preserving the principal ideal \(\langle g \rangle \subset S\) is by definition \[ D(g) = \{ \partial \in \mathrm{Der}(s) \, : \partial(g) \in \langle g \rangle\}. \] If \(g \in S\) is a homogeneous polynomial, then we have the following decomposition \[ D(g) = D_{0}(g) \oplus S(-1)\cdot E, \] where \(E\) denotes the Euler derivation and \[ D_{0}(g) = \{ \partial \in \mathrm{Der}(S): \, \partial(g) = 0\}. \] Recall that a reduced curve \(C_{g} \, : \, g=0\) in \(\mathbb{P}^{2}_{\mathbb{C}}\) is free if \(D(g)\), or \(D_{0}(g)\), is a free graded \(S\)-module. We define, for a reduced curve \(C \, :\, f=0\) in \(\mathbb{P}^{2}_{\mathbb{C}}\), the minimal degree of a derivation killing \(f\) by \[ \mathrm{mdr}(f) := \min \{ s \in \mathbb{N} \, : \, D_{0}(f)_{s} \neq 0\}. \] In the paper the authors study the relations of this invariant with a decomposition of \(C\) as a union of two curves \(C_{1} \, : \, f_{1} = 0\) and \(C_{2} \, : \, f_{2}=0\) without common irreducible components. In particular, their aim is to relate \(r =\mathrm{mdr}(f) = \mathrm{mdr}(f_{1}f_{2})\) with \(r_{j} = \mathrm{mdr}(f_{j})\) for \(j \in \{1,2\}\). The first case is about \(C = C_{1} \cup L\) where \(C_{1} \, : \, f_{1} =0\) is a reduced plane curve of degree \(d_{1}\) and \(\mathrm{mdr}(f_{1}) = r_{1}\), and \(L\) is a line which is not an irreducible component of \(C_{1}\). Theorem A. With the notation as above, one has \(r_{1} \leq r \leq r_{1}+1\). Let \(C_{1} \, : f_{1}=0\) and \(C_{2} \, : \, f_{2}=0\) be two reduced curves in \(\mathbb{P}^{2}_{\mathbb{C}}\) without common irreducible components. We denote by \(\mathrm{deg}(f_{j}) = d_{j}\) and \(r_{j} = \mathrm{mdr}(f_{j})\) with \(j \in \{1,2\}\). Let \(C \, : f=f_{1}f_{2}=0\) of degree \(d=d_{1}+d_{2}\) with \(\mathrm{mdr}(f) = r\). Theorem B. With the notation as above, one has i) If \(\delta_{1} \in D_{0}(f_{1})\), then \[ \delta = f_{2}\delta_{1} - \frac{\delta_{1}(f_{2})}{d}E \in D_{0}(f), \] where \(E\) is the Euler derivation. In particular \[ r \leq\min \{r_{1}+d_{2}, r_{2}+d_{1}\}. \] ii) \(D_{0}(f) \subset D(f_{1}) \cap D(f_{2})\). More precisely, for \(\delta \neq 0\) one has \(\delta \in D_{0}(f)\) if and only if \(\delta\) can be written in a unique way in the form \[ \delta = \frac{h}{d_{1}}E + \delta_{1} = -\frac{h}{d_{2}}E + \delta_{2}, \] where \(h \in S\) and \(\delta_{j} \in D_{0}(f_{j})\) are non-zero derivations. In particular, one has \[ r \geq\max \{r_{1}, r_{2}\}. \] Corollary 1. With the notation as above, \(r = \mathrm{mdr}(f)\) is the minimal integer \(s\) such that either \(D_{0}(f_{1})_{s} \cap D_{0}(f_{2})_{s} \neq 0\) or \(D_{0}(f_{1})_{s} + D_{0}(f_{2})_{s}\) contains a non-zero multiple of the Euler derivation \(E\). The final section of the paper is devoted to reduced curves with quasi-homogeneous singularities. Consider the sheafification \[ E_{C} :=\widetilde{D_{0}(f)} \] of the graded \(S\)-module \(D_{0}(f)\), which is a rank two vector bundle on \(\mathbb{P}^{2}_{\mathbb{C}}\). Recall also that \(E_{C} = T\langle C \rangle(-1)\), where \(T\langle C \rangle\) is the sheaf of logarithmic vector fields along \(C\). For any integer one has \[ H^{0}(\mathbb{P}^{2}_{\mathbb{C}},E_{C}(k)) = D_{0}(f)_{k} \quad \text{ and } \quad H^{1}(\mathbb{P}^{2}_{\mathbb{C}},E_{C}(k)) = N(f)_{k+d-1}, \] where \(d = \mathrm{deg}(f)\) and \(N(f)\) is the Jacobian module. Theorem C. With the notation as above, assume \(C_{2}\) is a smooth curve, and that all singularities of \(C_{1}\) and \(C\) are quasi-homogeneous. Then there is an exact sequence for any integer \(k\) given by \[ 0\rightarrow D_{0}(f)_{k-d_{2}} \rightarrow D_{0}(f)_{k} \rightarrow H^{0}(C_{2},\mathcal{O}_{C_{2}}(-K_{C_{2}}-R + (k-1)D)) \rightarrow \] \[ \rightarrow N(f_{1})_{k-d_{2}+d_{1}-1} \rightarrow N(f)_{k+d-1} \rightarrow H^{1}(C_{2},\mathcal{O}_{\mathcal{C}_{2}}(-K_{C_{2}}-R + (k-1)D)), \] where \(R\) is the reduced scheme of \(C_{1} \cap C_{2}\) and the morphism \(\phi_{k} \, : \, D_{0}(f_{1})_{k-d_{2}} \rightarrow D_{0}(f)_{k}\) is given by \[ \phi_{k}(\delta_{1}) = f_{2}\delta_{1} -\frac{\delta_{1}(f_{2})}{d}E \] for \(\delta_{1} \in D_{0}(f_{1})\) and \(\psi_{k} \, : \, N(f_{1})_{k-d_{2}+d_{1}-1} \rightarrow N(f)_{k+d-1}\) is induced by the multiplication by \(f_{2}^{2}\). In particular, if \[ (k+2)d_{2} < d_{2}^{2} + |R|, \] then the morphism \(\phi_{k}\) is an isomorphism and \(\psi_{k}\) is a monomorphism. Corollary 2. If \(C_{1}\) is free and \(C_{2}\) is rational, then \(|R|\leq (r_{1}+1)d_{2}\) implies \(k_{0} := d_{2} - 2 + \lceil |R|/d_{2}\rceil \geq r_{1}\) and \[ r_{1} \leq r = k_{0} \leq r_{1}+d_{2}-1. \] In particular, \(|R| > (r_{1}+1)d_{2} - d_{2}^{2}\), that is we have the following cases: i) Let \(C_{1} \, : \, f_{1}=0\) be a free curve and \(L\) a line such that \(C_{1} \cup L\) have only quasi-homogeneous singularities. Then \[ |C_{1} \cap L| > r_{1} =\mathrm{mdr}(f_{1}). \] ii) Let \(C_{1} \, : \, f_{1} = 0\) be a free curve and \(Q\) be a smooth conics such that \(C_{1}\) and \(C_{1}\cup Q\) have only quasi-homogeneous singularities. Then \[ |C_{1} \cap Q| > 2r_{1} - 2, \] where \(r_{1} = \mathrm{mdr}(f_{1})\). The last main result of the paper is devoted to jumping lines of the vector bundle \(E_{C}\). For a reduced plane curve \(C\) and a line \(L\) in \(\mathbb{P}^{2}_{\mathbb{C}}\) the pair of integers \((d_{1}^{L}(C),d_{2}^{L}(C))\) such that \(d_{1}^{L}(C) \leq d_{2}^{L}(C)\) and \(E_{C_{|L}}\simeq \mathcal{O}_{L}(-d_{1}^{L}(C)) \oplus \mathcal{O}_{L}(-d_{2}^{L}(C))\) is called the ordered splitting type of \(E_{C}\) along \(L\). It is well-known that for a generic line \(L_0\) the corresponding splitting type is constant. A line \(L \in \mathbb{P}^{2}_{\mathbb{C}}\) is called a jumping line for \(E_{C}\) if \[ d_{1}^{L_{0}}(C)-d_{1}^{L}(C) >0. \] In that setting, the authors show the following result. Theorem D. Let \(C_{1} \, : \, f_{1}=0\) be a reduced curve and \(C_{2} \, : \, f_{2}=0\) be a line in \(\mathbb{P}^{2}_{\mathbb{C}}\). Assume that all singularities of \(C_{1}\) and \(C=C_{1} \cup C_{2}\) are quasi-homogeneous, and let \(R\) be the reduced scheme of \(C_{1} \cap C_{2}\). If \(|R| < r_{1}+1\), then for any \(k\) satisfying \(|R|-1 \leq k < r_{1}\) the morphism \[ \psi_{k}^{'} \, : N(f_{1})_{k+d_{1}-2} \rightarrow N(f_{1})_{k+d_{1}-1} \] is not injective and one has \[ d_{1}^{C_{2}}(C_{1}) \leq |R|-1. \] Moreover, if one of the following two conditions holds: 1) either \(2r_{1} < d_{1}\), or 2) \[ 2r_{1} \geq d_{1} \quad \text{ and } \quad |R|-1 < \lfloor (d_{1}-1)/2\rfloor, \] then \(C_{2}\) is a jumping line for the rank two vector bundle \(E_{C_{1}}\).