Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2017/ii/paper-3/22i/c/solution
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 ii Paper 3 22I c Solution by
Codex 0 Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-05
Let . The proper transform isIndeed, in the blowup chart , write with . Homogeneity gives . Away from the exceptional divisor , the equation is , and its closure retains that equation, removing the exceptional factor . Every point with is approached algebraically along the line , so no component in this displayed set is extraneous.
For , the fibre is the single point , and the projection is an isomorphism over . Over the fibre is the projective plane cubic . In characteristic zero this cubic is smooth: a coordinate zero in the three derivative equations would force all coordinates zero; with all nonzero, multiplying , , gives , impossible. Thus the exceptional fibre is a smooth genus-one plane cubic. The fibre description itself does not require this optional smoothness conclusion; characteristic requires separate treatment.
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