Picard bundle on the moduli space of torsionfree sheaves (Q2190070)

Let \(Y\) be an integral nodal curve of arithmetic genus \(g \ge 2\) defined over an algebraically closed field. There is a moduli space \(U_Y ( n, d )\) parametrising isomorphism classes of stable torsion free sheaves of rank \(n\) and degree \(d\) over \(Y\). For a fixed line bundle \(L\) of degree \(d\) over \(Y\), denote by \(U_L (n, d)\) the closed sublocus of bundles with determinant \(L\). The latter carries a natural polarisation \(\theta_L\), whose restriction to the dense open subset \(U_L' (n, d)\) of locally free sheaves is the ample generator of \(\mathrm{Pic} ( U_L' (n, d) ) \cong \mathbb{Z}\) (see [\textit{U. N. Bhosle}, Math. Ann. 314, No. 2, 245--263 (1999; Zbl 0979.14003)] ). For \(d > n (2g-2)\), there is a Picard bundle \(\mathbf{E}_L\) over \(U_L ( n, d)\) with fibre \(H^0 ( Y, E )\) at \(E\). Assume that \(n\) and \(d\) are coprime. The author shows (Theorem 4.1) that \(\mathbf{E}_L\) is stable with respect to the polarisation \(\theta_L\), and (Corollary 4.3) that the restriction of \(\mathbf{E}_L\) to \(U_L' (n, d)\) is stable with respect to any polarisation of \(U_L' (n, d)\). The strategy is very similar to that employed in [\textit{I. Biswas} et al., Bull. Lond. Math. Soc. 34, No. 5, 561--568 (2002; Zbl 1054.14047)] in the smooth case, using certain projective spaces in \(U_L' ( n, d )\) (called ``Hecke spaces'' in [loc. cit.]). Next, consider the compactified Jacobian \(\overline{J}(Y)\) of \(Y\), which parametrises torsion free sheaves over \(Y\) of rank \(1\) and degree \(-1\). The author showed in [\textit{U. N. Bhosle}, Manuscr. Math. 157, No. 3--4, 361--385 (2018; Zbl 1400.14090)] that for a general stable bundle \(E_0\) of degree \(d + n\), the association \(N \mapsto N \otimes E_0\) defines an embedding \(\alpha_Y \colon \overline{J}(Y) \to U_L' (n, d)\); and moreover that \(\alpha_Y^* \mathbf{E}_L\) is stable with respect to any polarisation of \(\overline{J}_Y\) if \(d > n(2g-1)\) and semistable if \(d = n(2g-1)\). In Theorem 5.2 of the present work, the author strengthens the latter statement, showing that \(\alpha_Y^* \mathbf{E}_L\) in fact is stable with respect to any polarisation on \(\overline{J}_Y\) also if \(d = n(2g-1)\). An auxiliary result is Theorem 5.1, which states that a general \(E \in U_Y (n, d)\) has ``natural cohomology'', meaning at most one cohomology group is nonzero. The techniques employed are similar to those in [loc. cit.].