On projective varieties with strictly nef tangent bundles (Q2314024)

Let \(X\) be a smooth complex projective variety of dimension \(n\). A line bundle \(L\) on \(X\) is strictly nef if \(L\cdot C > 0\) for any smooth curve \(C \subset X\). As is known, strict nefness is a weaker condition than ampleness. However one could expect equivalence for some specific line bundle related to the canonical bundle \(\omega_X\). A conjecture proposed by \textit{F. Campana} and \textit{T. Peternell} [Math. Ann. 289, No. 1, 169--187 (1991; Zbl 0729.14032)] claims that for the anticanonical line bundle \(\omega_X^{-1}\) these two conditions are equivalent. This is true in low dimension, as shown by \textit{H. Maeda} for \(n=2\) [Math. Proc. Camb. Philos. Soc. 113, No. 1, 1--3 (1993; Zbl 0838.14034)] and by \textit{F. Serrano} for \(n=3\) [J. Reine Angew. Math. 464, 187--206 (1995; Zbl 0826.14006)]. The authors prove the following result, which provides some evidence for the conjecture to be true for all \(n\). Let \(T_X\) be the tangent bundle of \(X\). If \(\bigwedge^r T_X\) is strictly nef for some integer \(r\), \(1 \leq r \leq n\), then \(X\) is rationally connected (a vector bundle is strictly nef if so is its tautological line bundle on the corresponding projective bundle). As an application, they obtain the following results in line with Mori's characterization of the projective space. 1) If \(T_X\) is strictly nef, then \(X=\mathbb P^n\). 2) If \(\bigwedge^2 T_X\) is strictly nef, then \(X\) is isomorphic either to \(\mathbb P^n\) or to a quadric hypersurface \(\mathbb Q^n\). A crucial role in the paper is played by a technical result relying on recent progress on the knowledge of the structure of projective manifolds with \(\omega_X^{-1}\) nef due to \textit{J. Cao} and \textit{A. Höring} [J. Algebr. Geom. 28, No. 3, 567--597 (2019; Zbl 1419.14055)].