Differentials of Cox rings: Jaczewski's theorem revisited (Q2351875)

Let \(X\) be a normal, complete complex variety. In analogy to the classical Atiyah extension on a curve we can consider the extension of vector bundles \[ 0 \rightarrow \Omega_X \rightarrow \mathcal R_X \rightarrow \mathcal O_X \otimes H^1(X, \Omega_X) \rightarrow 0 \] corresponding to the identity in \[ \mathrm{Hom}(H^1(X, \Omega_X), H^1(X, \Omega_X)) \simeq \mathrm{Ext}^1(\mathcal O_X \otimes H^1(X, \Omega_X), \Omega_X). \] More generally we can associate a vector bundle \(\mathcal R_V\) to every non-zero subspace \(V \subset H^1(X, \Omega_X)\). \textit{K. Jaczewski} [Contemp. Math. 162, 227--247 (1994; Zbl 0837.14042)] showed that if \(X\) is a complete manifold containing a divisor \(\sum_{\alpha=1}^r D_\alpha\) with simple normal crossings components such that \(\mathcal R_X \simeq \bigoplus_{\alpha=1}^r \mathcal O_X(D_\alpha)\), the variety \(X\) is toric and the divisors \(D_\alpha\) are the closures of codimension one orbits of the torus action. In the paper under review the authors study the situation where we start with a lattice \(\Lambda \subset H^1(X, \Omega_X)\) generated by Cartier divisors on a smooth projective variety \(X\), and the vector bundle \(R_\Lambda\) associated to the vector space \(\Lambda \otimes \mathbb C \subset H^1(X, \Omega_X)\). The main result is that if \(\Lambda\) contains the class of an ample divisor and \(R_\Lambda\) splits into a direct sum of line bundles, then \(X\) is a toric variety and we are in the situation of Jacewski's theorem. This theorem is based on the study of the Cox ring \(S_\Lambda\) associated to the lattice \(\Lambda\): the authors prove that if \(\Lambda\) contains the class of an ample divisor and \(S_\Lambda\) is a polynomial ring, then \(X\) is a smooth toric variety and \(\Lambda\) is the whole Picard group.