Nodal elliptic curves on \(K3\) surfaces (Q6169593)

For a general, primitively polarized \(K3\) surface \((X,L)\) of genus \(g\) (i.e. \(L^2=2g-2\)), the \textit{Severi variety} \(V^{L,\delta}\subseteq |L|\cong \mathbb{P}^g\) is defined as the locus of integral curves in \(|L|\) with precisely \(\delta\) nodes. Nodal curves play a crucial role in the geometry and the deformation theory of \(K3\) surfaces: for instance, it was proved by \textit{X. Chen} [Math. Ann. 324, No. 1, 71--104 (2002; Zbl 1039.14019); New York J. Math. 25, 168--173 (2019; Zbl 1409.14065)] that a general singular curve in \(|L|\) of geometric genus \(g-\delta\) is nodal, and nodal curves were employed by \textit{X. Chen} and \textit{F. Gounelas} [Forum Math. Sigma 10, Paper No. e36, 21 p. (2022; Zbl 1494.14034)] to show the existence of curves on \(K3\) surfaces with maximal variation in moduli. Standard techniques show that the Severi variety \(V^{L,\delta}\) of a general \(K3\) surface \((X,L)\) of genus \(g\ge \delta\) is smooth, non-empty and of codimension \(\delta\) in \(|L|\). If \(g=\delta\), then the curves parametrized by \(V^{L,g}\) are rational, and thus \(V^{L,g}\) is the disjoint union of points. The length of \(V^{L,g}\) is given by the well-known formula by \textit{S.-T. Yau} and \textit{E. Zaslow} [Nucl. Phys. B 471, No. 3, 503--512 (1996; Zbl 0964.81521)]. However, it is conjectured that the closure \(\overline{V}^{L,\delta}\subseteq |L|\) is irreducible for any \(0\le \delta < g\). This conjecture was proved by \textit{A. Bruno} and \textit{M. Lelli-Chiesa} [``Irreducibility of Severi varieties on \(K3\) surfaces'', Preprint, \url{arXiv:2112.09398}] in the case \(\delta\le g-4\). The present article investigates the structure of the Severi curve \(\overline{V}^{L,g-1}\) on a very general \(K3\) surface, and in particular the genus of \(\overline{V}^{L,g-1}\). The authors show that the \textit{total geometric genus} of \(\overline{V}^{L,g-1}\), i.e. the sum of the geometric genera of the components of the normalization, grows with \(g\), and more precisely it is bounded from below by \(O(e^{C \sqrt{g}})\) for some constant \(C>0\). The idea of the proof is to relate the Severi curve to the Kontsevich moduli space \(\mathcal{M}_1(X,L)\) of genus \(1\) stable maps to \(X\), and deform the polarized \(K3\) surface \((X,L)\) to a hyperelliptic \(K3\) surface \((X_0,L_0)\). The bound on the genus of the Severi curve is then obtained by a virtual count with the fundamental class of the flat limit \(\overline{\mathcal{M}}_1^{\text{lim}}(X_0,L_0)\), which is related to the Gromov-Witten virtual class \([\overline{\mathcal{M}}_1(X_0,L_0)]^{\text{vir}}\).