The Decomposition Theorem and the Intersection Cohomology of Quotients in Algebraic Geometry

Let $X$ be a smooth projective variety acted on by a reductive group $G$. Let $L$ be a positive $G$-equivariant line bundle over $X$. We use the Witten deformation of the Dolbeault complex of $L$ to show, that the cohomology of the sheaf of holomorphic sections of the induced bundle on the Mumford quotient of $(X,L)$ is equal to the $G$-invariant part on the cohomology of the sheaf of holomorphic sections of $L$. This result, which was recently proven by C. Teleman by a compl...

The purpose of this article is to investigate the intersection cohomology for algebraic varieties with torus action. Given an algebraic torus $\mathbb{T}$, one of our result determines the intersection cohomology Betti numbers of any normal projective $\mathbb{T}$-variety admitting an algebraic curve as global quotient. The calculation is expressed in terms of a combinatorial description involving a divisorial fan which is the analogous of the defining fan of a toric variety....

Let X be any nonsingular complex projective variety on which a complex reductive group G acts linearly, and let X^{ss} and X^s be the sets of semistable and stable points of X in the sense of Mumford's geometric invariant theory. Then X has a G-equivariantly perfect stratification by locally closed nonsingular G-invariant subvarieties with X^{ss} as an open stratum, which can be obtained as the Morse stratification of the normsquare of a moment map for the action of a maximal...

Many moduli spaces are constructed as quotients of group actions; this paper surveys the classical theory, as well as recent progress and applications. We review geometric invariant theory for reductive groups and how it is used to construct moduli spaces, and explain two new developments extending this theory to non-reductive groups and to stacks, which enable the construction of new moduli spaces.

In its simplest form the Decomposition Theorem asserts that the rational intersection cohomology of a complex projective variety occurs as a summand of the cohomology of any resolution. This deep theorem has found important applications in algebraic geometry, representation theory, number theory and combinatorics. It was originally proved in 1981 by Beilinson, Bernstein, Deligne and Gabber as a consequence of Deligne's proof of the Weil conjectures. A different proof was give...

Let $U$ be a unipotent group which is graded in the sense that it has an extension $H$ by the multiplicative group of the complex numbers such that all the weights of the adjoint action on the Lie algebra of $U$ are strictly positive. We study embeddings of $H$ in a general linear group $G$ which possess Grosshans-like properties. More precisely, suppose $H$ acts on a projective variety $X$ and its action extends to an action of $G$ which is linear with respect to an ample li...

Let i be a homomorphism of the multiplicative group into a connected reductive algebraic group over C. Let G^i be the centralizer of the image i. Let LG be the Lie algebra of G and let L_nG (n integer) be the summands in the direct sum decomposition of LG determined by i. Assume that n is not zero. For any G^i-orbit O in L_nG and any irreducible G^i-equivariant local system L on O we consider the restriction of some cohomology sheaf of the intersection cohomology complex of t...

The notion of a \emph{$G$-completely reducible} subgroup is important in the study of algebraic groups and their subgroup structure. It generalizes the usual idea of complete reducibility from representation theory: a subgroup $H$ of a general linear group $G= {\rm GL}_n(k)$ is $G$-completely reducible if and only if the inclusion map $i\colon H\rightarrow {\rm GL}_n(k)$ is a completely reducible representation of $H$. In these notes I give an introduction to the theory of co...

We give another proof that a reductive algebraic group is geometrically reductive. We show that a quotient of the semi-stable locus (by a linear action of a reductive algebraic group on a projective scheme) exists, and from this Haboush's Theorem (Mumford's Conjecture) follows.

Given a suitable action on a complex projective variety X of a non-reductive affine algebraic group H, this paper considers how to choose a reductive group G containing H and a projective completion of G x_H X which is a reductive envelope in the sense of math.AG/0703131. In particular it studies the family of examples given by moduli spaces of hypersurfaces in the weighted projective plane P(1,1,2) obtained as quotients by linear actions of the (non-reductive) automorphism g...