Relative Jacobians of elliptic fibrations with reducible fibers (Q2581863)

For an elliptic fibration \(f: X \rightarrow S\), let \(\hat{f}: M_{X/S} \rightarrow S\), be the relative Jacobian of \(X\), i.e. the Simpson moduli space of semistable rank 1 sheaves of degree 0 on the fibers of \(f\). If all the fibers \(X_s\) of the elliptic fibration \(X\) are reduced and irreducible they are isomorphic to the fibers \(M_{X/S,s}\) of \(M_{X/S}\); and if in addition the fibration \(f\) has a section then \(X\) is isomorphic to \(M_{X/S}\). In contrast, as shows an example given by \textit{A. Caldararu} [J. Reine Angew. Math. 544, 161--179 (2002; Zbl 0995.14012)], if \(f\) has reducible fibers \(X_s\) of type \(I_2\) (i.e. \(X_s\) is a pair of smooth rational curves intersecting transversally each other at two points) then \(X_s\) is no longer isomorphic to \(M_{X/S,s}\), the last being a rational curve with one node. This paper generalizes Caldararu's example for elliptic fibrations \(X\) that admit singular fibers \(X_s\) of types \(I_1\) (a nodal rational curve), \(I_N, N \geq 2\) (a chain \(C_1,...,C_{N-1}\) of smooth rational curves + a smooth rational curve \(C_N\) intersecting twice \(C_{N-1}\)), \(II\) (a rational curve with a cusp), \(III\) (a pair of smooth rational curves simply tangent at a point), and \(IV\) (a triple of smooth rational curves intersecting transversally at one point). By theorem 4.1, the main result of the paper, in all these cases the corresponding fiber \(M_{X/S,s}\) of \(\hat{f}\) is irreducible. More exactly, if \(X_s\) is of the types \(I_N, N \geq 1\) then the fiber \(M_{X/S,s}\) is a rational curve with one node, while in any of the cases \(II, III, IV\) the fiber \(M_{X/S,s}\) is a rational curve with one cusp. In particular, if \(X_s\) is reducible (i.e. of types \(I_N, N \geq 2, III\) and \(IV\)) then the fibers \(M_{X/S,s}\) and \(X_s\) are not isomorphic to each other.