Determinant description of the theta divisor

Choose an effective Cartier divisor $E$ of degree at least $g$ on a smooth projective genus-$g$ algebraic curve. For a family $M$ of degree-$g-1$ line bundles, the evaluation map from ${\pi }_{\ast }M(E)$ to ${\pi }_{\ast }(M(E){|}_E)$ is between vector bundles of the same rank. Its determinant vanishes exactly when $H^0(C,M)$ is nonzero. Changing $E$ changes the presentation by cancelling an invertible determinant factor; the zero Cartier divisor is the theta divisor. At a point with $h^0(M)=h^1(M)=1$, the derivative is the cup-product map $H^1({\mathcal{O}}_C)\to \mathrm{Hom}(H^0(M),H^1(M))$. By Serre duality it is nonzero, since the product of nonzero sections of $M$ and $K_C\otimes M^{-1}$ is nonzero. Hence this Cartier divisor is generically reduced.

Suppose a line bundle $L$ of degree $g-1$ on a smooth projective curve has $h^0(L)=h^1(L)=r$. Choose $r$ distinct points where evaluation is invertible for both $H^0(L)$ and $H^0(K_X\otimes L^{-1})$. Such choices exist simultaneously: each determinant defines a nonempty open subset of $X^r$, since independent sections cannot vanish at every point. Let $\xi \in H^1({\mathcal{O}}_X)=H^0(K_X{)}^{\ast }$ be a sum of nonzero weighted evaluation functionals at these points. The Serre duality matrix of $\xi ⌣-$ factors as the product of the two invertible evaluation matrices and an invertible diagonal matrix. Its determinant is nonzero. This gives the nonzero leading determinant needed for the Riemann singularity theorem.

On $C\times C^n$, let ${\Gamma }_i$ be the graph of the $i$th coordinate and $D={\sum }_i{\Gamma }_i$. Successive restriction exact sequences giveWhen $h^0(L)=n$ and $h^1(L)=0$, the determinant of evaluation vanishes at tuples where $H^0(L(-D))$ is nonzero. On distinct points it is the ordinary evaluation determinant; the diagonal factors remove its forced zero when two points coincide. This explains why the formula remains valid at repeated points, using jets instead of repeated evaluations.

Evaluation determinants for $L\otimes P$ and $L$ have a quotient which is a rational section of ${⨂}_i{\mathrm{pr}}_i^{\ast }P$, not intrinsically a scalar. If $P^N\cong {\mathcal{O}}_C$, its $N$th power becomes a rational function after choosing that trivialization. In Cartier divisor notation, write $P={\mathcal{O}}_C(p)$ and $\mathrm{div}(h)=Np$. With raw meromorphic evaluations the scalar expression is $r^N{\prod }_{i}h(z_i)$. The extra product accounts for the line-bundle frames; it is suppressed when evaluation already uses compatible torsion trivializations.