Spherical varieties and Wahl's conjecture (Q486776)

Using the theory of spherical varieties and especially Frobenius splitting results for symmetric varieties, the author gives a type independent proof of Wahl's conjecture for cominuscule homogeneous spaces for all primes different from 2. \textit{J. Wahl} conjectured in [Manuscr. Math. 73, No. 3, 229--259 (1991; Zbl 0764.20022)] that, given a rational homogeneous space V and two ample line bundles \(L\) and \(M\), the Gaussian map should be surjective. This conjecture was proved by \textit{S. Kumar} in characteristic 0 in [Am. J. Math. 114, No. 6, 1201--1220 (1992; Zbl 0790.14015)]. In [J. Algebra 208, No. 1, 101--128 (1998; Zbl 0955.14006)] \textit{V. Lakshmibai, V. B. Mehta} and \textit{A. J. Parameswaran} considered the situation in positive characteristic and proved that the so-called LMP-conjecture implies Wahl's conjecture in positive characteristic. Let \(V\) be a rational projective homogeneous space over an algebraically closed field of positive characteristic \(p\), let \(X = V \times V\) and let \(\widetilde{X}\) be the blowing-up of the diagonal in \(X\). The LMP-conjecture states that \(\widetilde{X}\) is Frobenius split compatibly with the exceptional divisor. \textit{J. Brown} and \textit{V. Lakshmibai} [Proc. Indian Acad. Sci., Math. Sci. 119, No. 5, 571--592 (2009; Zbl 1192.14036)] proved this conjecture for minuscule homogeneous spaces. In this paper, the author give a new proof of LMP-conjecture and therefore of Wahl's conjecture for cominuscule homogeneous spaces using the theory of spherical varieties. Remark that any minuscule homogeneous space is cominuscule for some other group. Let \(V\) be a cominuscule homogeneous space and let \(\widetilde{X}\) be as before. One of the main argument is to remark that if \(V\) is cominuscule, then \(X\) is spherical. Using this idea and a result of \textit{M. Brion} and \textit{S. P. Inamdar} [Proc. Symp. Pure Math. 56, 207--218 (1994; Zbl 0820.14032)], the author gives a very simple proof of the conjecture for large primes and in particular in characteristic 0. To obtain the result for all odd primes, he utilise a parabolic induction from a symmetric variety and use a result of \textit{C. De Concini} and \textit{T. A. Springer} [Transform. Groups 4, No. 2--3, 273--300 (1999; Zbl 0966.14035)].