Classification of toric 2-Fano 4-folds (Q2392907)

This article focuses on a special type of Fano variety, called a 2-Fano variety, which was introduced by \textit{J. de Jong} and \textit{J. Starr} in [Duke Math. J. 139, No. 1, 173--183 (2007; Zbl 1124.14039); ``A note on Fano manifolds whose second Chern character is positive'', Preprint, \url{arXiv:0602644}]. A Fano variety \(X\) is called 2-Fano if its second Chern character is positive, that is \(ch_2(T_X).S>0\) for every surface \(S\subset X\). 2-Fano surfaces have been previously classified by de Jong and Starr in [\url{arXiv:0602644}], and 2-Fano threefolds have been previously determined by \textit{C. Araujo} and \textit{A-M. Castravet} [in: B. Hassett (ed.) et al., A Celebration of Algebraic Geometry. A conference in Honor of Joe Harris' 60th Birthday, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA, August 25-28, 2011. Providence, RI: American Mathematical Society (AMS); Cambridge, MA: Clays Mathematics Institute. Clay Mathematics Proceedings 18, 1--36 (2013; Zbl 1275.14003)]. The main result of this article is that the only 2-Fano toric 4-fold is \(\mathbb P^4\). The author first recalls the notion of a primitive collection and the classification by \textit{V. Batyrev} [J. Math. Sci. 94, No. 1, 1021--1050 (1999; Zbl 0929.14024)] of Fano toric 4-folds in terms of the primitive relations associated to their primitive collections. The author then proves a simple formula relating \(\mathrm{ch}_2(T_X)\) to the sum of squares of the boundary divisors on a toric 4-fold \(X\). A key ingredient in the proof is the observation that to check positivity of \(\mathrm{ch}_2(T_X)\) it suffices to check products with the torus-invariant surfaces. The author concludes the proof by checking via computer (code included in article) the existence of an invariant surface \(S\) with \(\mathrm{ch}_2(T_X)\cdot S\leq 0\) in each case given by Batyrev's classification with the exception of \(X=\mathbb P^4\). A consequence of the method employed in the article is the classification of weakly 2-Fano toric 4-folds (i.e. \(\mathrm{ch}_2(T_X)\) is only required to be nef), recovering the classification of such 4-folds by \textit{H. Sato} in [Int. J. Math. Math. Sci. 2012, Article ID 536475, 9 p. (2012; Zbl 1241.14021)].