sl_n level 1 conformal blocks divisors on M₀,n

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Publication:2882372



Abstract: We study a family of semiample divisors on the moduli space that come from the theory of conformal blocks for the Lie algebra sln and level 1. The divisors we study are invariant under the action of Sn on . We compute their classes and prove that they generate extremal rays in the cone of symmetric nef divisors on . In particular, these divisors define birational contractions of , which we show factor through reduction morphisms to moduli spaces of weighted pointed curves defined by Hassett.


Let \(\overline{\mathcal M}_{g,n}\) be the Deligne-Mumford moduli space of stable curves of genus \(g\) with \(n\) marked points. Consider a a simple complex, finite-dimensional, Lie algebra \(\mathfrak g\), a positive integer \(\ell\) (the level) and an \(n\)-tuple of dominant integral weights \((\lambda_1, \dots, \lambda_n)\) with level of \(\lambda_i \leq \ell\) for all \(i\). The Wess-Zumino-Witten model of conformal field theory can be thought of as defining vector bundles on \(\overline{\mathcal M}_{g,n}\) whose fibers are the so-called vector spaces of conformal blocks, with ranks computed by the Verlinde formula. In this paper the authors consider \(\overline{\mathcal M}_{0,n}\), with \(\mathfrak g = \mathfrak{sl}_n\), \(\ell = 1\) and \(n\)-tuples \(\omega = (\omega_{j_1}, \dots, \omega_{j_n})\), where \(\omega_1, \dots, \omega_{n-1}\) are the fundamental weights. The divisor associated to the corresponding conformal block bundle is denoted \(D^n_{1, \omega}\), or simply \(D^n_{1, j}\) when \(\omega = (\omega_{j}, \dots, \omega_{j})\) is \(\mathbb S_n\)-invariant. The authors study these divisors. It is shown that the divisors \(D^n_{1, j}\) for various \(j =2, \dots, [\frac n2]\) span extremal rays of the cone of symmetric nef divisors. Evidence pointing to the validity of this result was first obtained in the following way: recurrence formulae for the Chern classes of conformal block divisors were given in [\textit{N. Fakhruddin}, Contemp. Math. 564, 145--176 (2012; Zbl 1244.14007)]. These formulae were implemented in a package of Macaulay and subsequent experimentation suggested the above mentioned fact. The authors also show that the morphisms from \(\overline{\mathcal M}_{0,n}\) to projective varieties defined by the divisors \(D^n_{1, \omega}\) factor through natural birational contractions defined in [\textit{B. Hassett}, Adv. Math. 173, No. 2, 316--352 (2003; Zbl 1072.14014)].





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