On a numerical characterization of non-simple principally polarized abelian varieties (Q269875)

The main result of the paper is a numerical characterization of a principally polarized abelian variety \((a, \Theta)\) to obtain an abelian Néron-Severi group of \(A\) comes from abelian subvariety if it satisfies certain explicitly given intersection numbers with the principal polarization. In particular, the simplicity of a principally polarized abelian variety is a numerical property. This generalizes a result of \textit{E. Kani} [Manuscr. Math. 84, No. 2, 199--223 (1994; Zbl 0821.14023)], who proved this in the case of elliptic curves on an abelian surface. The second part of the paper deals with the special case of complex abelian varieties. In this case, the Néron-Severi group of an abelian variety \(A\) can be considered as a certain subgroup of \(H^2(A,\mathbb Z)\) and the theorem mentioned above can be translated into terms of differential forms. The author uses this to give a criterion for the non-simplicity of a complex principally polarized abelian variety in terms of period matrices. Several examples are given.