Fano varieties and linear sections of hypersurfaces

Let $X\subset P^n$ be a complex projective manifold of degree $d$ and arbitrary dimension. The main result of this paper gives a classification of such manifolds (assumed moreover to be connected, non-degenerate and linearly normal) in case $d\leq n$. As a by-product of the classification it follows that these manifolds are either rational or Fano. In particular, they are simply connected (hence regular) and of negative Kodaira dimension. Moreover, easy examples show that $d\...

Let $k$ be a perfect field and let $X\subset {\mathbb P}^N$ be a hypersurface of degree $d$ defined over $k$ and containing a linear subspace $L$ defined over an algebraic closure $\overline{k}$ with $\mathrm{codim}_{{\mathbb P}^N}L=r$. We show that $X$ contains a linear subspace $L_0$ defined over $k$ with $\mathrm{codim}_{{\mathbb P}^N}L\le dr$. We conjecture that the intersection of all linear subspaces (over $\overline{k}$) of minimal codimension $r$ contained in $X$, has...

Using ideas from the theory of tropical curves and degeneration, we prove that any Fano hypersurface (and more generally Fano complete intersections) is swept by at most quadratic rational curves.

Given a rational dominant map $\phi: Y \dashrightarrow X$ between two generic hypersurfaces $Y,X \subset \mathbb{P}^n$ of dimension $\ge 3$, we prove (under an addition assumption on $\phi$) a "Noether-Fano type" inequality $m_Y \ge m_X$ for certain (effectively computed) numerical invariants of $Y$ and $X$.

A $q$-bic hypersurface is a hypersurface in projective space of degree $q+1$, where $q$ is a power of the positive ground field characteristic, whose equation consists of monomials which are products of a $q$-power and a linear power; the Fermat hypersurface is an example. I identify $q$-bics as moduli spaces of isotropic vectors for an intrinsically defined bilinear form, and use this to study their Fano schemes of linear spaces. Amongst other things, I prove that the scheme...

We show that a wide class of hypersurfaces in all dimensions are not stably rational. Namely, for all d at least about 2n/3, a very general complex hypersurface of degree d in P^{n+1} is not stably rational. The statement generalizes Colliot-Thelene and Pirutka's theorem that very general quartic 3-folds are not stably rational. The result covers all the degrees in which Kollar proved that a very general hypersurface is non-rational, and a bit more. For example, very general ...

On a general hypersurface of degree $d\leq n$ in $\mathbb P^n$ or $\mathbb P^n$ itself, we prove the existence of curves of any genus and high enough degree depending on the genus passing through the expected number $t$ of general points or incident to a general collection of subvarieties of suitable codimensions. In some cases we also show that the family of curves through $t$ fixed points has general moduli as family of $t$-pointed curves. These results imply positivity of ...

The purpose of this note is to show that the minimal $e$ for which every smooth Fano hypersurface of dimension $n$ contains a free rational curve of degree at most $e$ cannot be bounded by a linear function in $n$ when the base field has positive characteristic. This is done by providing a super-linear bound on the minimal possible degree of a free curve in certain Fermat hypersurfaces.

We prove that a general Fano hypersurface in a projective space over an algebraically closed field of arbitrary characteristic is separably rationally connected.

Let $X$ be an arbitrary smooth hypersurface in $\mathbb{C} \mathbb{P}^n$ of degree $d$. We prove the de Jong-Debarre Conjecture for $n \geq 2d-4$: the space of lines in $X$ has dimension $2n-d-3$. We also prove an analogous result for $k$-planes: if $n \geq 2 \binom{d+k-1}{k} + k$, then the space of $k$-planes on $X$ will be irreducible of the expected dimension. As applications, we prove that an arbitrary smooth hypersurface satisfying $n \geq 2^{d!}$ is unirational, and we ...