Algebraic Gromov ellipticity of cones over projective manifolds (Q7028254)

Let \(X\) be a smooth algebraic variety. A \textit{spray of rank \(r\)} over \(X\) is a triple \((E,p,s)\) where \(p: E \to X\) is a vector bundle of rank \(r\) with a zero section \(Z\) and \(s: E \to X\) is a morphism such that \(p|_{Z} = s|_{Z}\). The variety \(X\) is \textit{elliptic} if it admits a spray \((E, p, s)\) such that, for each point \(x \in X\), the restriction \(s|_{E_x}: E_x \to X\) to the fiber \(E_x = p^{-1}(x)\) is dominating at the origin \(0_x \in Z \cap E_x\) of the vector space \(E_x\).\N\NLet \(X\) be a smooth projective variety over an algebraically closed field of characteristic zero and let \(\hat{Y}\) be a generalized affine cone over \(X\) with vertex \(v\), defined by an ample \(\mathbb{Q}\)-divisors on \(X\). In this paper, the authors prove that \(Y:= \hat{Y} \setminus \{ v \}\) is elliptic in the following cases:\N\begin{itemize}\N\item[(1)] \(X\) is a rational surface.\N\item[(2)] \(X\) is obtained by a sequence of successive blowups of points of a generalized flag variety \(X_0 = G/P\) of dimension \(\geq 3\), where \(G\) is a reductive group and \(P\) is a parabolic subgroup of \(G\).\N\end{itemize}\NIn fact, the authors prove the ellipticity of \(Y\) for a class of varieties wider than (2).\N\NFor the affine cones of smooth projective varieties, the ellipcity is a weaker property than the flexibility. For example, by [\textit{I. Cheltsov} et al., J. Eur. Math. Soc. 18, 1537--1564 (2016; Zbl 1386.14068)] and by [\textit{T. Kishimoto} et al., Am. Math. Soc. 54, 123--163 (2011; Zbl 1257.14039)], the affine cones over pluri-anticanonically embedded del Pezzo surfaces of degree \(\leq 3\) are not flexible. However, the above result implies that they are elliptic.\N\NFurthermore, the authors prove that, for a smooth elliptic variety \(Y\), the endomorphism monoid \(\mathrm{End}(Y)\) acts highly transitively on \(Y\), that is, for any \(k \geq 1\) and any two corteges of distinct \(k\) points \((y_1, \ldots, y_k)\) and \((y'_1, \ldots, y_k')\) in \(Y\), there exists \(f \in \mathrm{End}(Y)\) such that \(f(y_i) = y'_i\) for \(i = 1, \ldots, k\). In general, the flexibility of a smooth quasi-affine variety implies highly transitivity of the action of its automorphism group. The latter may fail for elliptic smooth quasi-affine varieties.