Nodal elliptic curves on K3 surfaces

DOI10.1007/S00208-022-02449-XMaRDI QIDQ6169593zbMATH OpenOpenAlexFDO

Authors

Publication date 12 July 2023

Published in Mathematische Annalen (Search for Journal in Brave)

Full work available at URL https://arxiv.org/abs/2001.05104

zbMATH Keywords

\(K3\) surfacesSeveri varietystable maps

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Stacks and moduli problems (14D23) Families, moduli of curves (algebraic) (14H10) (K3) surfaces and Enriques surfaces (14J28) Classical problems, Schubert calculus (14N15)

Abstract: Let $(X,L)$ be a general primitively polarized K3 surface with $c_1(L{)}^2=2g-2$ for some integer $ggeq2$. The Severi variety $V^{L,delta}subset|L|$ is defined to be the locus of reduced and irreducible curves in $|L|$ with exactly $delta$ nodes and no other singularities. When $delta=g$, any curve $Cin{V}^{L,g}$ is a rational curve; in fact, Chen cite{Chen02} has shown that all rational curves in $|L|$ are nodal, and the number of such rational curves is given by the Yau-Zaslow formula cite{YZ96}. In this paper, we consider the next case where $delta=g-1$ and the Severi variety $V^{L,g-1}$ parametrizing nodal elliptic curves is of dimension 1. Let $overline{V}^{L,g-1}subset|L|$ denote the Zariski closure. For a reduced curve $C$, we define the geometric genus of $C$ to be the sum of the genera of the irreducible components of the normalization. We prove that the geometric genus of the closure $overline{V}^{L,g-1}subset|L|$ is bounded from below by $O(e^{Csqrtg})$.

Review text

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 \([\overline{\mathcal{M}}_1(X_0,L_0)]^{\text{vir}}\).

Recommendations

• Nodal curves on K3 surfaces
• Moduli of nodal curves on \(K3\) surfaces
• On the irreducibility of Severi varieties on 𝐾3 surfaces
• On universal Severi varieties of low genus \(K3\) surfaces
• Curves on surfaces with trivial canonical bundle
• The universal Severi variety of rational curves on K3 surfaces
• A simple proof that rational curves on K3 are nodal
• Nodal Curves with General Moduli onK3 Surfaces
• On the existence of curves with A_k-singularities on K3 surfaces
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Cites work

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• Gromov-Witten invariants in algebraic geometry
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• Hyperelliptic Linear Systems on a K 3 Surface
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• The projectivity of the moduli space of stable curves, III: The line bundles on $M_{g,n}$, and a proof of the projectivity of $\bar{M}_{g,n}$ in characteristic 0.

Cited in

(4)

• On the existence of curves with A_k-singularities on K3 surfaces
• Nodal Curves with General Moduli onK3 Surfaces
• Modular properties of nodal curves on \(K3\) surfaces
• A note on elliptic curves on toric surfaces

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