An invitation to quantum cohomology. Kontsevich's formula for rational plane curves (Q2502531)

The book is intended to be a friendly introduction to quantum cohomology. It makes the reader acquainted with the notions of stable curves and stable maps, and their moduli spaces. These notions are central in the field. The authors' main reference are the notes of \textit{W.~Fulton} and \textit{R.~Pandharipande} [in: Algebraic geometry. Proc. Summer Res. Inst., Santa Cruz, CA, USA, 1995. Proc. Symp. Pure Math. 62 (pt.2), 45--96 (1997; Zbl 0898.14018)]. The main goal of the book is to prove Kontsevich's formula for the number \(N_d\) of rational plane curves of degree \(d\) passing through \(3d-1\) points. The result is viewed from three different perspectives: that of enumerative geometry, as a reconstruction result for the Gromov-Witten invariants, and as an instance of the associativity of the quantum multiplication. The book contains five chapters. The first chapter introduces the notion of stable pointed curves of genus zero, with emphasis on \(\bar M_{0,4}\) and \(\bar M_{0,5}\). The authors describe the main properties of the moduli spaces \(\bar M_{0,n}\): the stabilization process, the forgetful morphism, contraction of unstable components, the glueing morphisms, and description of the boundary of \(\bar M_{0,n}\). The second chapter introduces the space of stable maps \(\bar M_{0,n}(\mathbb P^n,d)\), and sketches its construction. Again, the main features of this space are discussed: projectivity and normality, the evaluation maps at the marked points, the forgetful morphisms, and the description of the boundary divisors. The third chapter contains the first proof of Kontsevich's formula. The problem is stated within the frame of enumerative geometry. Using transversality arguments, it is proved that counting stable maps and plane curves gives the same result. The cases of plane conics and rational cubics are discussed in detail. The fourth chapter contains the definition of the Gromov-Witten invariants of \(\mathbb P^n\), and some of their properties: the so-called divisor and splitting axioms. Kontsevich's formula is recovered as a special case of the Reconstruction Theorem [see \textit{M.~Kontsevich} and \textit{Yu~Manin}, Commun. Math. Phys. 164, 525--562 (1994; Zbl 0853.14020)]. Finally, in the last chapter the authors introduce the Gromov-Witten potential, the quantum cup product, and prove its associativity. This gives a third method for computing the number \(N_d\). Each chapter ends with references for further readings, and also with a set of exercices which help fixing the ideas introduced in that chapter. This makes the book especially useful for graduate courses, and for graduate students who wish to learn about quantum cohomology.