On projective manifolds swept out by cubic varieties (Q2909461)

Consider \(X \subset \mathbb{P}^N\) a complex projective variety of dimension \(n \geq 5\) and assume that, through the general point of \(X\), there exists a smooth cubic hypersurface of dimension bigger than \(2\) plus half the dimension of \(X\). The lines in the cubics provide a covering family of lines on \(X\) that results to span an extremal ray of the cone of curves of \(X\). Hence \(X\) admits a contraction of an extremal ray contracting the cubics and that is either a linear projective bundle or a cubic fibration (see Theorem 1.1). In particular this characterizes smooth cubic hypersurfaces as varieties swept by cubics (of big enough dimension) which generally intersect (details in Corollary 1.2).NEWLINENEWLINETo complete the picture of the study of varieties swept out by cubics, it remains to consider varieties swept out by Segre 3-folds \(\mathbb{P}^1 \times \mathbb{P}^2\) (see Theorem 1.3) under the natural hypothesis of having dimension \(n \leq 5\). Observe that, in particular, these varieties are swept out by planes. This question of classifying varieties (essentially of dimension 5) swept out by planes is faced in Section 4, getting a complete classification (see Theorem 4.1). This classification and a study of the family of lines corresponding to the first factor of the Segre 3-folds lead to the classification of Theorem 1.3. Varieties of dimension \(n \leq 5\) swept out by Segre 3-folds are: either \(\mathbb{P}^d\)-bundles, or hyperplane sections of the Grassmannian of lines in \(\mathbb{P}^4\), or the product of a line and a smooth 4-dimensional quadric, or admit an extremal contraction onto a smooth curve whose general fiber is the Segre product of two planes.