Motives and the Hodge conjecture for moduli spaces of pairs (Q2348280)

Let \(C\) be a smooth projective curve of genus \(g \geq 2\) over \(\mathbb{C}\). Fix \(n \geq 1, d \in \mathbb{Z}\). A pair \((E, \phi)\) over \(C\) consists of an algebraic vector bundle \(E\) of rank \(n\) and degree \(d\) over \(C\) and a section \(\phi \in H^0(E)\). There is a concept of stability for pairs depending on a real parameter \(\tau\). Let \(\mathfrak{M}_{\tau} (n, d)\) be the moduli space of \(\tau\)-polystable pairs of rank \(n\) and degree \(d\) over \(C\). The main result of the paper under review (Theorem 1.1) says that, for a generic curve \(C\) and for a non-critical value \(\tau\), the moduli space \(\mathfrak{M}_{\tau} (n, d)\) satisfies the Hodge Conjecture for \(n \leq 4\). The authors use the techniques from [\textit{V. Muñoz}, Int. J. Math. 21, No. 11, 1505--1529 (2010; Zbl 1217.14010)]. Let \(\mathfrak{M}ot\) be the category of effective Chow motives and let \(K(\mathfrak{M}ot)\) be the corresponding ring of motives. Let \(\mathfrak{fhs}\) be the category of filtered Hodge structures and let \(K(\mathfrak{fhs})\) be its Grothendieck group. Then the level and the coniveau filtrations on cohomology define the maps \(\mathcal F: K(\mathfrak{M}ot)\to K(\mathfrak{fhs})\) and \(\mathcal N: K(\mathfrak{M}ot)\to K(\mathfrak{fhs})\) respectively. Their difference \(\Theta=\mathcal F-\mathcal N: K(\mathfrak{M}ot)\to K(\mathfrak{fhs})\) vanishes on a smooth projective variety \(X\) if and only if the Hodge Conjecture holds for \(X\). Let \(\mathcal R_C\subset K(\mathfrak{M}ot)\) be the subring generated by all iterated symmetric products and self-products of \(C\). One says that a projective algebraic variety \(X\) is motivated by \(C\) if the class of \(X\) in \(K(\mathfrak{M}ot)\) belongs to \(\mathcal R_C\). The authors show in Theorem 1.2 that for any curve \(C\) the moduli space \(\mathfrak{M}_{\tau} (n, d)\) is motivated by \(C\) if \(n\leq 4\) and \(\tau\) is generic. Since for a generic curve \(C\) the ring \(\mathcal R_C\) belongs to the kernel of \(\Theta\), this implies the main result of the paper. The paper consists of seven sections. Section 1 is an introduction, the main theorems of the paper (Theorem 1.1 and Theorem 1.2) are stated here. Section 2 provides some basic definitions and important facts about Chow motives, filtered Hodge structures, and the Hodge Conjecture. In Section 3 the moduli spaces of pairs and triples are studied, certain stratifications of their flip loci are described here. The strata of different types are studied in sections 4, 5, and 6. The proof of the main result is presented in Section 7.