Motivic and quantum invariance under stratified Mukai flops (Q951977)

Two smooth projective varieties \(X\) and \(X'\) are \(K\)-equivalent if there are birational morphisms \(\phi :Y\to X\) and \(\phi ':Y\to X'\) such that \(\phi ^*K_X={\phi '}^*K_{X'}\). It is conjectured that if \(X\) and \(X'\) are \(K\)-equivalent, then there should exist a correspondence \(\mathcal F \in A^*(X\times X')\) giving an isomorphism of Chow motives \([X]\cong [X']\) and identifying the \(A\)-models (respectively the \(B\)-models) of \(X\) and \(X'\). The most basic examples of \(K\)-equivalences are flops. In this paper, the authors prove that for certain flops \(f:X\dasharrow X'\) over \(\bar X\) (namely Mukai flops of type \(A_{n,k}\), \(D_{2k+1}\), and \(E_{6,I}\)), the correspondence given by \(X\times _{\bar X}X'\) induces an isomorphism of Chow motives and preserves the Poincaré pairing on cohomology. In general this correspondence does not preserve the cup product. However in the case of Mukai flops of type \(A_{n,2}\), \(D_{5}\), and \(E_{6,I}\), it is shown that the cup product is preserved once one introduces an appropriate quantum correction.