Projective biduality theorem

ID: projective-biduality-theorem

Over the complex numbers, an irreducible projective variety is recovered by applying projective dual variety twice. In its conormal incidence variety, pairs with tangent at become pairs under exchange of the two projective factors. At general smooth pairs, differentiating the incidence equation shows that the hyperplane defined by is tangent to the dual variety at . Closure gives the same conormal variety with the factors exchanged, proving biduality. This is why the branch hypersurface of the Gauss map of a theta divisor determines a nonhyperelliptic canonical curve.

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