The Fano normal function

DOI10.1016/J.MATPUR.2012.01.006MaRDI QIDQ715172zbMATH OpenOpenAlexFDO

Authors Alberto Collino, Juan Carlos Naranjo, Gian Pietro Pirola

Publication date 2 November 2012

Published in Journal de Mathématiques Pures et Appliquées. Neuvième Série (Search for Journal in Brave)

Full work available at URL https://arxiv.org/abs/1109.1456

cubic threefold Fano cycle infinitesimal invariant intermediate Jacobian normal function variation of Hodge structures

Transcendental methods, Hodge theory (algebro-geometric aspects) (14C30) Variation of Hodge structures (algebro-geometric aspects) (14D07) Varieties of low degree (14N25)

Abstract: The Fano surface

F

of lines in the cubic threefold

V

is naturally embedded in the intermediate Jacobian

J (V)

, we call "Fano cycle" the difference

F - F^{-}

, this is homologous to 0 in

J (V)

. We study the normal function on the moduli space which computes the Abel-Jacobi image of the Fano cycle. By means of the related infinitesimal invariant we can prove that the primitive part of the normal function is not of torsion. As a consequence we get that, for a general

V

,

F - F^{-}

in not algebraically equivalent to zero in

J (V)

(already proved by van der Geer-Kouvidakis) and, moreover, there is no a divisor in

J V

containing both

F

and

F^{-}

and such that these surfaces are homologically equivalent in the divisor. Our study of the infinitesimal variation of Hodge structure for

V

produces intrinsically a threefold

X i (V)

in

m a t h b b G

the Grasmannian of lines in

m a t h b b P^{4} .

We show that the infinitesimal invariant at

V

attached to the normal function gives a section for a natural bundle on

X i (V)

and more specifically that this section vanishes exactly on

X i c a p F,

which turns out to be the curve in

F

parameterizing the "double lines" in the threefold. We prove that this curve reconstructs

V

and hence we get a Torelli-like result: the infinitesimal invariant for the Fano cycle determines

V

.

Review text

The paper under review deals with the geometry of smooth cubic threefolds, especially the study of \textit{Fano cycles} and their variations. Let us briefly recall its definition. For a smooth cubic threefold \(V\), denote by \(F\) its Fano surface of lines contained in \(V\). Then \(F\) is embedded, via the Albanese map, into the 5-dimensional abelian variety \(A:=\mathrm{Alb}(F)\), which is also identified with the intermediate Jacobian \(JV\) of \(V\). The image defines a 2-dimensional algebraic cycle \(F\in \mathrm{CH}_2(A)\). (Strictly speaking one has to fix a base point in \(F\), but let us ignore this here.) Composing with the involution \(-\mathrm{id}_{A}\), one has similarly \(F^-\in \mathrm{CH}_2(A)\). The \textit{Fano cycle} is by definition the cycle \(F-F^-\in \mathrm{CH}_2(A)\). The first main result of the paper is that for a generic cubic threefold \(V\), there is no \(f: W\to JV\) from a 4-dimensional variety \(W\) who has a homologically trivial cycle \(Z\in \mathrm{CH}_2(W)\) such that \(f_*(Z)\) is Abel-Jacobi equivalent to \(F-F^-\) in \(JV\). The second main result is a new proof of the result in [\textit{G. van der Geer} and \textit{A. Kouvidakis}, Doc. Math., J. DMV 15, 747--763 (2010; Zbl 1202.14009)] saying that for a generic cubic threefold \(V\), its Fano cycle \(F-F^-\in \mathrm{CH}^3(A)\) is not algebraically equivalent to zero. Their approach uses the theory of variation of Hodge structures. As the cohomology class of the Fano cycle is trivial, one can consider its Abel-Jacobi invariant \(\nu\in J^5(A)\). Corresponding to the Lefschetz decomposition of \(H^5(A)\) into primitive parts, we have \(J^5(A)=J(P^5(A)(2))\times J(P^3(A)(1))\times J(H^1(A))\), hence the decomposition \(\nu=\nu^1+\nu^3+\nu^5\), where \(J\) is the functor that associates an effective weight \(-1\) (pure) Hodge structure its Jacobian, \(P^3\) and \(P^5\) are primitive cohomology groups of \(V\) of degree 3 and 5 respectively and \(\nu^i\) is the component of \(\nu\) in \(J(P^i(A))\). As is remarked by the authors (Proposition 5.4), \(v^3=0\) and \(\nu^5\) is independent of the choice of the base point of \(F\). They make a detailed computation of the corresponding infinitesimal invariants \(\delta\nu\). Consider a family \(\mathcal V\to B\) parametrised by an open subset of the moduli space of smooth cubic threefolds, all the above objects vary in families \(\mathcal F\to B\), \(\mathcal A\to B\), \(\mathcal J^5\to B\), \(\mathcal P^5\to B\) etc. The Abel-Jacobi invariants of Fano cycles on fibres then give rise to a normal function of \(\mathcal J^5\to B\) or rather of \(\mathcal P^5\to B\). They prove actually a stronger result: this normal function is not a torsion section. Finally, the computation of the infinitesimal invariants shows also that the value of normal function associated to the Fano cycles determines the curve \(D(V)\subset F(V)\) parametrising the double lines in \(V\), which in turn determines the cubic threefold itself. One deduces therefore a Torelli type theorem.

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