Non-reduced moduli spaces of sheaves on multiple curves (Q2174111)

Let \(Y\) be a primitive multiple curve over \(\mathbb C\), i.e., a Cohen-Macaulay scheme with the associated reduced scheme \(C=Y_{red}\subset Y\) being a smooth projective curve locally embeddable in a smooth surface. For a coherent sheaf \(E\) on \(Y\) let \((V_E, v_0, \mathcal E_E, \alpha)\) be a semi-universal deformation of \(E\) as defined in [\textit{Y.-T. Siu} and \textit{G. Trautmann}, Mem. Am. Math. Soc. 238, 155 p. (1981; Zbl 0526.32021)], i.e., \(\mathcal E_E\) is a coherent sheaf on \(Y\times V_E\), where \((V_E, v_0)\) is a germ of an analytic variety and \(\alpha \colon \mathcal E_{E, s_0} \rightarrow E\) is an isomorphism. For a flat deformation \(\mathcal F\) of \(E\) along a germ of an analytic variety \((T, t_0)\) there is a universal morphism \(\varphi\colon (T, t_0)\rightarrow (V_E, v_0)\) with \((\mathrm{id}_Y\times \varphi)^*(\mathcal E_E)\simeq \mathcal F\) and uniquely defined tangent map \(T_{t_0}T\rightarrow T_{v_0}V_{E}=\mathrm{Ext}^1_{\mathcal O_Y}(E, E)\). It is well known that \(V_E\) can be non-reduced. When \(T\) is reduced one has a factorization of \(\varphi\) through the reduced germ \(V_{E, \mathrm{red}}\) associated to \(V_E\): \[ \varphi\colon T \rightarrow V_{E, \mathrm{red}} \hookrightarrow V_E. \] The paper under review aims to partially answer the following questions: (i) describe \(T_{v_0} V_{E, \mathrm{red}}\subset \mathrm{Ext}^1_{\mathcal O_Y}(E, E)\); (ii) understand when one can factorize \(\varphi\) through \(V_{E, \mathrm{red}}\) (for non-reduced \(T\)); (iii) explain why \(V_E\) can be non-reduced. Let \(\mathcal J_C\) be the ideal sheaf of \(C\) in \(Y\). Let \(n\) be the multiplicity of \(Y\). There is a filtration \(C=C_1\subset \dots \subset C_n=Y\), where \(C_i\) is defined by \(\mathcal J_C^i\). A coherent sheaf \(\mathcal E\) on \(Y\) is called quasi locally free if there are integers \(m_1,\dots, m_n\) such that \(\mathcal E\) is locally isomorphic to \(\bigoplus_{i=1}^{n}\mathcal O_{C_i} \otimes \mathbb C^{m_i}\). The tuple \((m_1,\dots, m_n)\) is called the type of \(\mathcal E\). Let \(\mathbb E\) be a flat family of quasi locally free sheaves on \(Y\) of type \((m_1,\dots, m_n)\) parameterized by a connected algebraic variety \(X\). Denote \(\mathbb E_i=\mathcal J_{C}^i \mathbb E\). The family \(\mathbb E\) is called a good family if \(\mathbb E_i/\mathbb E_{i+1}\) is locally free on \(X\times C\) for all \(0\le i \le n\). The first main result of the paper, Theorem~3.2.1 says that (1) \(\mathbb E\) is a good family if and only if it is locally isomorphic to \(\bigoplus_{i=1}^{n}\mathcal O_{X\times C_i} \otimes \mathbb C^{m_i}\) and (2) if \(\mathbb E\) is a good family on \(X\times Y\), then for every \(x\in X\) the image of the Kodaira-Spencer morphism \(\omega_x(\mathbb E)\colon T X_x\rightarrow \mathrm{Ext}^1_{\mathcal O_Y}(\mathbb E_x, \mathbb E_x)\) of \(\mathbb E\) is contained in \(H^1(\mathcal End(\mathbb E_x))\). The second main result, Theorem~5.2.1, could be outlined as follows. Let \(Y\) be a ribbon, i.e., \(n=2\). Consider quasi-locally free sheaves of rigid type on \(Y\), i.e., those locally isomporphic to \(r\mathcal O_Y\oplus \mathcal O_C\) for some \(r\). In this case \(T_{v_0} V_{E, \mathrm{red}} = H^1(\mathcal End(\mathbb E_x))\) and the first main result mentioned above gives an answer to (i). Let \(L=\mathcal J_C\) be the ideal sheaf of \(C\) in \(Y\). It is a line bundle on \(C\). It is shown that \(H^0(L^*)\) measures the non-reducedness of \(V_E\): \[ T_{v_0} V_{E}/T_{v_0} V_{E, \mathrm{red}}\simeq H^0(\mathcal E\mathit{xt}^1_{\mathcal O_Y}(E, E)) \simeq H^0(L^*). \] The author considers a maximal reducible deformation of \(Y\) studied in [Cent. Eur. J. Math. 11, No. 12, 2106--2137 (2013; Zbl 1309.14023)], [Manuscr. Math. 148, No. 3-4, 447-469 (2015; Zbl 1331.14047)], [Int. J. Math. 28, No. 12, Article ID 1750086, 65 p. (2017; Zbl 1375.14048)], i.e., a flat morphism \(\pi\colon \mathcal C\rightarrow S\), \(P\in S\), such that \begin{itemize} \item \(S\) is a smooth curve with \(C_P\simeq Y\); \item \(\mathcal C\) is a reduced algebraic variety with two irreducible components \(\mathcal C_1\) and \(\mathcal C_2\); \item the restrictions \(\pi_i\), \(i=1,2\), of \(\pi\) to \(\mathcal C_i\) are flat deformations of \(C\) to smooth irreducible curves, \(\pi^{-1}(P)=C\); \item for every \(s\in S\setminus \{P\}\) the components \(\mathcal C_{1, s}\) and \(\mathcal C_{2, s}\) meet transversally. \end{itemize} Such a maximal reducible deformation exists if \(L\) is defined by a divisor without multiple points, i.e., \(L\simeq \mathcal O_{C}(-P_1-\dots -P_k)\), \(P_i\in C\). The canonical section of \(L^*\simeq \mathcal O_{C}(P_1+\dots +P_k)\) defines a one-dimensional subspace \[ \Delta_{\mathcal C}\subset H^0(L^*)\simeq T_{v_0} V_{E}/T_{v_0} V_{E, \mathrm{red}} \] and thus a parameter responsible for a non-reducedness of \(V_E\). The author relates this parameter to the deformations of \(E\) by considering pairs of sheaves \(\mathcal E_1\), \(\mathcal E_2\) on \(\mathcal C\) with \(\mathcal E_{1, P}=\mathcal E_{2, P}=E\) and constructing for such a pair the associated Kodaira-Spencer element \(\omega_{\mathcal E_1, \mathcal E_2} \in \mathrm{Ext}^1_{\mathcal O_Y}(E,E)\), which turns out to allways land in \(\Delta_{\mathcal C}\) under the canonical morphism \[ \varphi\colon\mathrm{Ext}^1_{\mathcal O_Y}(E, E) \rightarrow H^0(\mathcal E\mathit{xt}^1_{\mathcal O_Y}(E, E)) \simeq H^0(L^*). \] There are basically only two different cases for the choice of the pair \(\mathcal E_1\), \(\mathcal E_2\). The first one with \(\mathcal E_1\) and \(\mathcal E_2\) having different ranks (\(r\) and \(r+1\)) on the components of \(\mathcal C\), the second one with the same ranks along the components. Only the first choice yields \(\varphi(\omega_{\mathcal E_1, \mathcal E_2})\neq 0\) and, therefore, is responsible for a non-reducedness of \(V_E\) and gives a partial answer to (iii). For the choice with the same ranks one gets \(\varphi(\omega_{\mathcal E_1, \mathcal E_2}) = 0\), which implies the existence of a factorization from (ii) for the corresponding deformation of \(E\). The paper under review consists of five sections. Section~1 is an introduction, the main results of the paper are outlined here. Section~2 provides some basics on primitive multiple curves, quasi locally free sheaves, and Kodaira-Spencer elements. Section~3 is devoted to the study of quasi locally free sheaves of rigid type, the first main result of the paper, Theorem~3.2.1 is proven here. Section~4 is a reminder on maximal reducible deformations of ribbons that is used in the final Section~5, where the second main result, Theorem~5.2.1, is demonstrated.