Diagonal subschemes and vector bundles (Q959032)

The paper deals with the question of whether the diagonal subscheme \(X\subset X\times X\) of an \(n\)-dimensional scheme is the zeroes of a section of a rank \(n\) vector bundle on \(X\times X\). Similar questions can be raised in various other contexts other than algebraic geometry and the paper deals with some of these too. For the case of smooth projective curves, of course the answer is trivially yes. But even in the case of smooth projective surfaces, this condition is very restrictive as the authors show. Let me quote just one of the several results. Let \(X\) be a smooth projective variety with Picard group the group of integers with the ample generator having a non-zero section. If the diagonal is the zeroes of a section of an appropriate rank vector bundle, then \(X\) is a Fano variety of index at least 2. The authors relate the required property in many cases to the existence of a cohomologically trivial line bundle ( a line bundle all of its cohomologies vanish) on \(X\). Similar results are proved in the category of smooth manifolds, oriented manifolds etc.