No label defined (Q4793231)

A discussion of certain generalizations of the classical Schwarzian derivative \(\{z;x\}=v'/2-v^2/4\), where \(v=z''/z'\) is given. These generalizations arise as nonlinear differential operators on the space of mappings from \({\mathbb C}^n\) to the Grassmannian manifold \(\text{ Gr}(m,r)\) of \(m\)-dimensional complex subspaces of \({\mathbb C}^r\). While \(\{z;x\}\) is an invariant for functions \(z(x)\) under the action of \(\text{ Sl}(2,{\mathbb C})\) by fractional linear transformations, they are invariants of meromorphic mappings with respect to projective or conformal transformations of \(\text{ Gr}(m,r)\). Other features of \(\{z;x\}\) to be generalized are its specific behavior under changes of the independent variable \(x\), its local behavior, and its applications to find normal forms of ordinary \(2^{\text{nd}}\) order linear differential equations. The first generalization of the Schwarzian derivative given here refers to the case \(m=1\), \(r=n+1\) and the invariants of mappings \(s:x=(x^1,\ldots,x^n)\longrightarrow u(x)=u^0(x):\cdots:u^n(x)\in{\mathbb P}^n\), under the action of \(\text{ PGl}(n,{\mathbb C})\), i.e., to projective structures. The invariants of \(x\) that generalize the Schwarzian derivative consist of a system of differential operators \(S^k_{ij}(z;x)=\gamma^k_{ij}(z,x)-\delta^k_i\sigma_j(z,x)-\delta^k_j\sigma_i(z,x)\), \(i,j,k=1,\ldots,n\), defined by \[ \gamma^k_{ij}(z,x)=\sum_l{\partial^2z^l\over\partial x^i \partial x^j} {\partial x^k\over\partial x^l},\quad \sigma_i(z,x)={1\over n+1}{\partial \log(J)\over\partial x^i}, \] where \(z^i=u^i/u^0\) and \(J\) is the determinant of the Jacobian of \(s\). Other considerations concern the case \(m=1\), \(r=n+2\), referred to as conformal structures, the case \(n=1\), \(r=m d\), related to systems of ordinary differential equations of order \(d\), or the case \(n=m^2\), \(r=2 m\). The results are applied to obtain uniformizing equations of the moduli space of marked cubic surfaces in \({\mathbb P}^3\) and of the moduli space of a 4-dimensional family of \(K3\) surfaces. For the entire collection see [Zbl 0993.00033].