An algebraic variety is a geometric space locally described by polynomial equations, together with its regular functions.
A locally closed affine algebraic set in a projective space, equivalently an open subset of a closed subset of projective space cut out by homogeneous polynomials. Reducibility is allowed for an algebraic set; an irreducible variety with such an embedding is a quasi-projective variety.
An irreducible variety which admits a locally closed embedding into projective space. Open subsets of affine varieties and blowups of algebraic varieties along closed centres give important examples.
An algebraic variety whose underlying topological space with its Zariski topology is an irreducible topological space: it is nonempty and cannot be a union of two proper closed subsets. For a reduced affine variety, this is equivalent to its coordinate ring being an integral domain.
A constructible subset is a finite union of locally closed subsets in the Zariski topology. A dense constructible subset contains a dense open subset. Constructibility alone is weaker than closedness, but a constructible subgroup is closed.
The image of a morphism of algebraic varieties is constructible. This replaces the generally false assertion that all morphisms have closed image. Group structure adds the fact that a constructible subgroup is closed.
For an algebraic variety defined over a field , a K-rational point is a morphism over . In affine coordinates it is a solution of the defining equations with every coordinate in ; in projective coordinates it is a nonzero coordinate vector over , considered up to common nonzero scaling. The set is denoted . Over a number field, having points over every completion need not imply having a rational point; for genus-one coverings this failure is recorded by the Tate–Shafarevich group.
An algebraic variety is smooth over its ground field when its structural morphism is smooth. Over an algebraically closed field its local rings are regular; on an irreducible variety its tangent spaces all have the variety's dimension of a scheme.
Over a perfect field, a point of an algebraic variety is smooth exactly when its local ring is a regular local ring. The smooth locus of a variety is open; its closed complement is the singular locus.
The normalization of an integral algebraic variety is obtained by taking the integral closure of its affine coordinate rings in its function field. Its natural morphism is finite and birational, and its source is normal. For Cartier divisors, bigness under finite normalization compares section growth on the two varieties.
A closed subvariety is an integral closed subscheme of an algebraic variety. It supplies the lower-dimensional loci on which positivity is tested by the Nakai–Moishezon criterion.
An algebraic curve is a one-dimensional algebraic variety. On a smooth algebraic curve, the local ring at every closed point is a discrete valuation ring, which allows orders of zeros and poles to be recorded as a divisor on an algebraic curve.
Over a field , an affine curve parametrized by positive integer powers of one parameter. Its coordinate ring is the subalgebra generated by those powers, and its defining prime ideal is the kernel of sending to . Equal exponent sums yield binomial relations. Studying those relations connects an additive semigroup of exponents to the geometry of the curve.
The kernel of , , is generated by , , . Reducing these three relations leaves a unique normal form : its images have distinct exponents modulo three. The curve ring is therefore finite free of rank three over and has dimension one. In a three-variable polynomial ring its ideal has height two, but its three independent quadratic initial forms force at least three generators. This is a concrete failure of generation by codimension many equations.
A rational parametrization expresses the coordinates of an algebraic curve as rational functions of a parameter, with a rational inverse on a dense open subset. It identifies the function field with and the smooth projective normalization of an algebraic curve with the projective line. A nonconstant parametrizing map without an inverse is a weaker notion; even this cannot exist for an elliptic curve in characteristic zero.
The arithmetic genus of a proper curve is . For an integral projective curve over an algebraically closed field, , so . Its finite normalization has . Hence arithmetic genus zero forces the curve to be smooth and rational.
For a projective complete intersection curve cut out by a homogeneous regular sequence of positive degrees in , the Koszul resolution gives Hilbert polynomial . Hence its arithmetic genus is . The same resolution shows , and the dimension of a scheme is one, so this genus equals . Smoothness and irreducibility of the curve are not required. For degrees five and seven, the value is .
In the classical convention over an algebraically closed field , a prevariety is an irreducible topological space with a sheaf of rings which has a finite open cover by affine varieties, with compatible local identifications. A prevariety need not be separated. A classical algebraic variety is a separated prevariety: its diagonal morphism has closed image. Some authors allow reducible prevarieties and varieties; the separation criterion and product construction remain the same under that convention.
The multiplicative algebraic group has , with multiplication as its group operation. Its coordinate ring is . The formal multiplicative group describes its law near the identity .
This is a group action whose action map is a morphism of varieties. Orbits are locally closed: constructibility gives a relatively open piece, and its translates cover the orbit. An orbit of an irreducible group is irreducible and open in its closure. These facts control degenerations of quiver representations.
The kernel is a closed identity fiber. The image is closed because a constructible subgroup is closed. Every nonempty fiber is a kernel translate, so the fiber dimension theorem gives , even for inseparable morphisms.
Let be constructible in an algebraic group, and . The closure is a subgroup. Choose a dense open contained in . For every , the dense opens intersect, giving for . Hence and . The Chevalley constructibility theorem therefore proves closedness of homomorphism images.
A homomorphism of group varieties is a morphism of algebraic varieties that also preserves multiplication. It automatically preserves the identity and inversion.
An abelian variety is a complete connected group variety. Despite its name, commutativity follows from completeness and the rigidity lemma.
A smooth projective curve generates by its point differences if and only if it meets every prime Weil divisor. If a prime Weil divisor avoids , its restriction to has degree zero; constancy of line bundle degree in a family shows that every translate either contains or misses it. This forces invariance under and puts the generated subgroup inside the line bundle translation stabilizer. If this subgroup were all of , the divisor would be algebraically trivial, contradicting its positive intersection with an ample line bundle. Conversely a proper closed generated subgroup admits a disjoint divisor by the pole divisor avoiding a fiber construction, after translating the fiber to contain .
The dual of an abelian variety represents algebraically trivial line bundles rigidified at the origin. Its group law is tensor product. A group homomorphism induces by pullback of these line bundles.
The normalized universal line bundle restricts to the class on and is trivialized on both zero sections. For a line bundle on an abelian variety, its homomorphism associated to a line bundle on an abelian variety satisfiesas Picard group classes. A choice of trivialization of normalizes the right side; uniqueness then follows from the Seesaw theorem.
One form of Mumford's rigidity lemma says that if is complete, is connected, and a morphism maps one fiber to a point, then factors through the projection to under the usual pointed hypotheses.
Translation identifies the cotangent sheaf of a group scheme with the constant bundle determined by its cotangent space at the identity:
The Theorem of the Cube says that the third finite difference of a line bundle on an abelian variety is trivial. On , it is the alternating tensor product of the pullbacks along the seven nonempty partial-sum maps.
For group homomorphisms , this Picard group class is symmetric and additive in both arguments. The Theorem of the Cube says precisely that the third additive difference of vanishes, proving additivity of the cross-effect. The Poincaré line bundle expresses it as , so it depends only on the Néron-Severi group class of . Its associated homomorphism is .
For a line bundle on an abelian variety , this closed subgroup consists of such that . It is a stabilizer of a Picard group class, which need not be the same as the stabilizer of an individual Weil divisor representing that class.
The seesaw theorem determines a line bundle on a product from its restrictions to fibers: if it is trivial on all fibers over one factor and on one transverse section, then it is trivial.
A smooth algebraic curve is a one-dimensional algebraic variety whose local ring at every point is regular.
For nonzero finite-dimensional spaces of sections of two line bundles on a smooth integral curve over an algebraically closed field, their product span in sections of the tensor product satisfies this bound. At one point choose bases with strictly increasing orders of vanishing. Multiplying every first-space basis vector by the first second-space vector, and then the last first-space vector by the remaining second-space vectors, produces distinct increasing orders and hence independent sections. This proves the dimension inequality needed for the Clifford inequality for curves.
A classical variety is affine if finitely many global regular functions generate the unit ideal and their nonvanishing opens are affine. Localization of global sections on a principal open identifies their coordinate rings with , where . Choose a finite-type subalgebra of containing the functions, their unit-ideal coefficients and numerators of generators of every . Its affine variety has the same principal affine charts, whose isomorphisms glue globally. This avoids assuming finite generation of before affineness is known.
A map between affine varieties is a morphism when its coordinate functions are restrictions of ambient polynomials. Pullback identifies these morphisms contravariantly with homomorphisms of their coordinate rings.
For affine varieties over an algebraically closed field , their product in a category is affine, with coordinate ring , where and . Presenting and identifies this ring with . If both varieties are irreducible, this is an integral domain: express a nonzero tensor using linearly independent second factors. The points where its specialization is nonzero form a nonempty open subset of . For two nonzero tensors , choose in the intersection of these open subsets; then in the domain . The Hilbert Nullstellensatz identifies with the defining ideal of . The universal property follows from the universal property of the tensor product of modules as a tensor product of commutative algebras.
For an affine algebraic set , its coordinate ring isThe set is irreducible exactly when is an integral domain.
For an affine algebraic set over an algebraically closed field,If vanishes on , then is the union of its intersections with and . Conversely, a nontrivial decomposition into closed subsets supplies functions vanishing on each proper piece whose product vanishes on all of .
A morphism of affine varieties is dominant when its image is Zariski dense in . It is dominant exactly when the pullback homomorphismis injective. When and are irreducible, this injection extends to their function fields and gives .
The algebraic sethas the two irreducible componentsEach is irreducible because the linear change , identifies its coordinate ring withan integral domain.
For an irreducible algebraic variety with function field , this sheaf of abelian groups assigns to every nonempty open set, with identity restriction maps, and assigns the trivial group to the empty set. Irreducibility ensures that any two nonempty open subsets meet, so these sections satisfy the sheaf gluing axiom. It is a flasque sheaf and has zero higher sheaf cohomology.
For an irreducible variety over a field ,Consequently birational irreducible varieties have the same dimension.
If is a finitely generated field extension, write for a finitely generated integral -algebra . The projective closure of the affine variety is an irreducible projective variety with function field .
A morphism of algebraic varieties is a map given locally by regular functions. A projective-coordinate formula defines a morphism wherever its homogeneous coordinate functions do not vanish simultaneously.
For an affine variety with coordinate ring acted on by a finite group , the affine quotient is . Elements of satisfy monic orbit polynomials over , so the quotient map is a finite morphism. Over an algebraically closed field, invariant functions separate finite orbits; in characteristic not dividing , interpolate and average a function separating two orbits. The quotient fibres are consequently the orbits.
For a classical algebraic variety and affine variety , a homomorphism on the indicated rings gives a morphism by evaluating the images of affine coordinate generators at each point of . The relations defining remain zero. Local fractions pull back to local regular fractions, proving regularity; the coordinate ring generators also prove uniqueness.
For a nonconstant morphism between nonsingular curves and a local target uniformizer at the image of , the index is the order of vanishing of its pullback. Changing multiplies it by a local unit in a ring and does not change that order. This is a valuation definition and remains meaningful for inseparable morphisms.
For a dominant morphism of irreducible varieties, generic fiber dimension is source dimension minus target dimension, and this dimension occurs over a nonempty open subset. In particular, constant fiber dimension gives source dimension equal to target dimension plus . For algebraic groups the equal-dimensional components and coset fibers allow the same dimension formula componentwise.
For a morphism of schemes and a point , the scheme-theoretic fiber is the fiber product . It remembers multiplicities and nilpotents that the underlying set-theoretic inverse image cannot detect.
Over a perfect field of characteristic , the scheme-theoretic fiber of the Absolute Frobenius morphism of over a rational point isIts underlying space is one point, but its coordinate ring has a nonzero nilpotent element, so the fibre is a length- nonreduced scheme.
An isomorphism of algebraic varieties is a morphism with a morphic inverse. It preserves all properties intrinsic to the variety.
A finite morphism is a morphism whose inverse image of every affine open set is affine and whose corresponding coordinate ring is finite as a module over the base coordinate ring. A nonconstant morphism between smooth projective curves is finite, and its degree is the number of points in a generic fiber counted with multiplicity.
Projective space is the set of one-dimensional subspaces of a vector space of dimension , written in homogeneous coordinates .
Hyperplanes in are kernels of nonzero linear functionals modulo scalar multiplication. Their parameter space is therefore , of the same dimension. In particular lines in a projective plane are parametrized by another projective plane.
For a local ring , every map from into projective space lands in one standard chart: the inverse image of a chart containing the closed point is the whole spectrum. This gives homogeneous coordinates with at least one unit entry, unique up to a common unit. For a nonlocal ring, coordinates may instead merely generate the unit ideal, and general maps can involve a nontrivial invertible sheaf quotient.
Quaternionic projective space is the space of right quaternionic lines in . It is modulo the right action of unit quaternions, with one cell in each dimension . It is a compact smooth manifold of real dimension ; . The quaternionic tautological line bundle and its sphere bundle give the multiplication in its cohomology ring of quaternionic projective space.
Coordinate inclusion of complex vectors sends a complex line to its quaternionic span. If two such vectors span the same quaternionic line, a nonzero complex coordinate forces their scalar ratio to be complex, so this map is injective. The pulled-back quaternionic tautological line bundle splits as with complex first Chern classes . Its top Chern class, and thus Euler class, is . With the negative Euler generator, and . The map on infinite projective spaces is injective on cohomology; a finite inclusion loses the degrees with .
The cell structure gives one integral cohomology generator in each degree divisible by four through . The Gysin sequence of a sphere bundle for the quaternionic tautological line bundle makes multiplication by its Euler class an isomorphism between successive such degrees. Choose to be the negative of that Euler class; its powers generate the displayed cohomology ring.
Points in are in general linear position when no of them lie in a projective subspace of dimension less than for . Equivalently, every selection of at most representing vectors is linearly independent.
The degree- Veronese map sends a projective point to the list of all degree- monomials in its homogeneous coordinates. It embeds into a higher-dimensional projective space.
For every integer , the cohomology of a twisting sheaf on projective space isThus all intermediate cohomology vanishes. The top line follows from Serre duality and .
On the projective line, an infinite direct sum of copies of is a quasi-coherent sheaf but not a coherent sheaf: at any point its residue-vector-space dimension is infinite. Its global sections vanish because each summand has no sections, and sections commute with direct sums for the finite two-chart equalizer. Its direct image sheaf on is consequently zero and coherent. This shows that a nonaffine direct image can lose information needed to detect coherence.
The only regular functions defined on all of a nonempty projective space over a field are the constants:For , this also follows by gluing and inside : their intersection is .
A projective point is an equivalence class of nonzero coordinate vectors under multiplication by a nonzero scalar.
The homogeneous coordinates of a projective point are defined only up to simultaneous multiplication by a nonzero scalar.
A coordinate point of is represented by a standard basis vector, so exactly one of its homogeneous coordinates is nonzero.
A point of the projective plane corresponds to the dual line . A line given by those coefficients corresponds back to the point . Incidence is reversed: if and only if . Thus collinear point triples become concurrent line triples, preserving the essential combinatorics of incidence geometry.
Dualize a noncollinear finite point set in the real projective plane to projective lines. Their intersection vertices and consecutive line segments form an embedded graph. A vertex incident to lines has graph degree and corresponds to a primal line containing points. Ordinary lines correspond to degree-four vertices. The faces are polygons with at least three sides.
A good dual-arrangement edge has degree-six endpoints and two triangular adjacent faces. Other edges are bad. The Euler defect identity for a projective line arrangement bounds the number of bad edges by : charge them to degree-four or higher-degree vertices and to nontriangular faces. This turns a count of ordinary lines into quantitative control of local triangular geometry.
A safe dual-arrangement edge is one for which every edge on a path of length at most two from either endpoint is a good dual-arrangement edge. This stronger local condition supplies a two-cell-thick triangular strip. Only a bounded multiple of the original bad edges can be unsafe: trace a shortest path to the first bad edge and reverse it through degree-six intermediate vertices.
In an embedded arrangement graph, an edge whose fixed-radius neighbourhood meets a bad edge can be charged to the first such edge along a shortest path. All intervening edges are good dual-arrangement edges, so their endpoints have bounded degree. The number of possible reversed paths is bounded in terms of the fixed radius alone. Therefore thickening a defect set by a fixed radius preserves an edge count.
Let count vertices where lines meet and count faces with sides in a nonpencil projective line arrangement. Using Euler characteristic one, , , and gives . Thus few double vertices control both high-multiplicity vertices and nontriangular faces. Discarding the face term gives the usual arrangement form of the ordinary-line inequality.
The Fano plane is the projective plane over the finite field . It has seven points and seven lines, each line contains three points, and two distinct lines meet in one point. A line-point incidence matrix therefore satisfies , making it invertible over the real numbers and useful for the transplantation theorem.
An invertible linear map of the underlying vector space induces a projective linear transformation of ; scalar multiples induce the same transformation.
Suppose a nonconstant morphism of varieties has fiber over , where is normal, connected and projective. Choose an affine neighborhood of and a regular function on nonconstant on . Its pullback is a nonconstant rational function on , so its pole Weil divisor is nonzero. A pole-free rational function on a normal variety is regular, and global regular functions on a connected projective variety are constant. The pole divisor avoids , hence avoids . No projectivity assumption on is needed.
A projective completion of an affine variety is a projective variety containing as a dense open subvariety. Homogenizing affine defining equations and taking their projective zero set gives the projective closure, although it may add singularities at infinity.
The homogenization of a polynomial of total degree is the homogeneous polynomialIts projective zero set is the projective closure of the affine hypersurface defined by .
If projective varieties have dimensions and , then is nonempty and every component has dimension at least .
A rational normal curve in is the image of the degree- Veronese map from . After projective changes of coordinates it has parametrization
The product of projective varieties is projective via the Segre embedding. Dimensions add under products, and the product of smooth varieties is smooth.
The coordinate projections from a product send to and , respectively. For products of projective varieties, they are morphisms.
Over an algebraically closed field of characteristic other than two, every smooth quadric surface in becomesafter a projective linear transformation. The Segre embedding identifies it with .
For and , the displayed map is defined on . Its fibre over has equation on an affine line. Away from the fibre is one reduced point. On that line it is empty except at and , where it is a punctured ruling line, hence an affine line. The two exceptional lines are the rulings of a smooth quadric surface through .
Over an algebraically closed field, remove a smooth hyperplane conic from a smooth quadric surface . The rulings of a smooth quadric surface generate , and has class . Picard-group localization on a smooth variety gives the quotient by . The restricted ruling bundle is a generator, exhibiting a nontrivial line bundle on an affine surface.
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