Rational curves on minuscule Schubert varieties (Q2583027)

Let \(X=G/P\) be a Schubert variety, defined as the quotient of the Lie group \(G\) by a parabolic subgroup \(P\). \(X\) is minuscule when \(P\) is associated with a weight \(w\) such that \(<a^*, w>\leq 1\), for any positive root \(a\) with respect to a Borel subgroup. A first example of minuscule Schubert variety is the set of lines meeting a fixed line in \(\mathbb P^3\). The author studies the set \(\Hom_\alpha(\mathbb P^1,X)\) of maps whose image lies in a fixed class \(\alpha\in A_1(X)\). In other words, he studies the variety of rational curves in a given class \(\alpha\). If \(U\) is the dense orbit on \(X\) under the stabilizer of \(X\), then \(U\) is homogeneous, and the variety of maps \(\mathbb P^1\to U\) can be studied using general results on homogeneous varieties. \(X-U\) has codimension at least \(2\) and the author proves that, after a deformation, one may assume that the image of a map \(f\in \Hom_\alpha(\mathbb P^1,X)\) lies in \(U\). Using this fact, the author proves that the irreducible components of \(\Hom_\alpha(\mathbb P^1,X)\) are parametrized by the classes \(\beta\in \text{Pic}(U)^*\) such that \(\Hom_\beta(\mathbb P^1,U)\) is non empty and \(\beta\) maps to \(\alpha\) under the natural morphism \( \text{Pic}(U)^*\to A_1(X)\).