Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2009/iii/paper-20/4/i/solution

Along the smooth complex curve, there is an exact sequence of complex vector bundles
The Whitney sum formula for Chern classes gives . The complex tangent line has first Chern number . The normal complex line is an oriented real rank-two bundle, whose Euler number is the self-intersection of the curve: a generic normal section has signed zeros equal to the intersections with a small pushed-off copy. Thus
and the adjunction formula is
Equivalently, since , it is . The derivation applies to a compact smooth complex curve; its complex orientation fixes all signs.

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