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The Fermat cubic $x^3+y^3+z^3=0$ is a smooth projective curve: its three first partial derivatives vanish simultaneously only at the forbidden zero vector. The genus of a smooth plane curve formula gives genus one.

Let $H$ denote a hyperplane-section divisor of a projective plane curve. The Adjunction formula for a smooth degree-$d$ projective plane curve statesSince $\mathrm{deg}(H{|}_C)=d$, this gives the canonical degree of a smooth plane curveCombining this with $\mathrm{deg}{K}_C=2g-2$ gives the genus of a smooth plane curve

Homogenization of the affine equation gives the projective completionThis is the plane model y plus x cubed plus xy cubed equals zero of the Klein quartic: after the coordinate relabelling $[A:B:C]=[Y:X:Z]$, its equation is $A^{3}B+B^{3}C+C^{3}A=0$.

Its first partial derivatives areIf one of $X,Y,Z$ vanishes at a common zero of these three derivatives, the displayed equations successively force all three coordinates to vanish, which is impossible in projective space. If $XYZ\ne 0$, multiplying the three derivative equations givesagain a contradiction. The Jacobian criterion therefore proves that $C$ is smooth.

The rational function $y=Y/Z$ defines a rational map of projective varieties $C⇢{\mathbb{P}}^1$. Because $C$ is a smooth projective curve, it extends uniquely to a morphismFor a generic finite value of $y$, its fibre is given by the cubicso the degree of a holomorphic map is $3$. The discriminant of a depressed cubic is

At $y=0$ the fibre consists of $(0,0)$. Since $F_y(0,0)=1$, the holomorphic implicit function theorem givesso $x$ is a local coordinate and $\pi$ has ramification index of a holomorphic map $3$ there. Each of the seven distinct roots of $4y^7+27$ gives one double, but not triple, root of the cubic in $x$, hence seven further ramification points of index $2$.

It remains to inspect the points at infinity. They areNear $Q$, set $u=X/Y$ and $v=Z/Y$. The equation becomes $u^{3}v+u+v^3=0$, so $u=-v^3+O(v^{10})$, while $y=1/v$ has a simple pole. Thus $e_Q=1$. Near $P$, set $s=Y/X$ and $t=Z/X$. Now $t+s^3+s{t}^3=0$, so $t=-s^3+O(s^{10})$ andThus $y$ has a double pole at $P$ and $e_P=2$. These calculations are the ramification of the x-coordinate on the Klein quartic after the coordinate relabelling above.

The total ramification contribution isThe Riemann-Hurwitz formula for the degree-three map to the projective line now givesand therefore

Homogenizing the affine equation gives the projective closureThis is the Klein quartic. It is smooth: if all three projective partial derivatives vanished, thenMultiplying them gives $28X^3{Y}^3{Z}^3=0$. If one coordinate is zero, the displayed equations force all three to vanish, which is impossible in projective space. Thus $C$ is a smooth compactification of $X^{\prime }$. The smooth compactification compatible with the extended coordinate functions is its normalization, and since $C$ is already smooth it is biholomorphic to $C$.

For a direct genus computation, consider the extended coordinate map ${\pi }_x:X\to {\mathbb{C}}_{\infty }$. A generic $x$ leaves the cubic equationso $\mathrm{deg}{\pi }_x=3$. In the affine part, ramification occurs where $F_y=0$. Solving $F=F_y=0$ gives $(0,0)$ and the seven pointsAt the origin, $x=-y^3+O(y^6)$, so the ramification index of a holomorphic map is three and the contribution is two. At each of the other seven points, $F_x=-7/2\ne 0$, $F_y=0$, and $F_{yy}=6y\ne 0$, so the ramification index is two and each contributes one.

There are two points at infinity. Near $P=[1:0:0]$, in coordinates $u=Y/X$, $v=Z/X$, the equation isand $1/x=v$, so $P$ is unramified. Near $Q=[0:1:0]$, in coordinates $r=X/Y$, $s=Z/Y$, the equation isThus $s=-r^3+O(r^{10})$ and $1/x=s/r=-r^2+O(r^9)$, so $Q$ has ramification index two and contributes one. The total ramification is thereforeThe Riemann-Hurwitz formula for the degree-three map to the sphere givesand henceThis also agrees with the genus of a smooth plane curve of degree four.

The formula $[X:Y:Z]\mapsto [X:Z]$ is initially undefined at the unique point $P_{\infty }=[0:1:0]$ of $X$ at infinity. Since $X$ is a smooth projective curve, the extension of a rational map from a smooth projective curve extends it uniquely to a morphismOn the affine chart it is the rational function $x$, and the equation $y^3=x^4+1$ shows that $\phi$ has degree three.

For each of the four roots $\alpha$ of $x^4+1$, let $P_{\alpha }=(\alpha ,0)$. Since the root is simple, $t=y$ is a uniformizer at $P_{\alpha }$, and the equation givesThus the ramification index of a holomorphic map at every $P_{\alpha }$ is three.

At $P_{\infty }$, use the chart $Y=1$ and put $u=X/Y$, $v=Z/Y$. The equation becomesThe implicit function theorem makes $u$ a uniformizer and gives $v=u^4$ times a local unit. Henceso $P_{\infty }$ also has ramification index three. These are all the ramification points of a holomorphic map because the resulting ramification degree is $5(3-1)=10$. Indeed, the Riemann-Hurwitz formula givesTherefore $g_X=3$, in agreement with the genus of a smooth plane curve, and the Euler characteristic of the underlying compact orientable surface is

A projective variety is smooth when every local ring is regular, equivalently when its Jacobian has the expected rank at every point. The affine curve $y=x^3$ is smooth because the derivative of $y-x^3$ with respect to $y$ is $1$, while its projective closure $Y{Z}^2=X^3$ is singular at $[0:1:0]$.

The genus is ${\dim }_k{H}^1(C,{\mathcal{O}}_C)$. Intersect the Fermat cubic threefold with the plane $X_3=X_4=0$. This gives the smooth plane cubic $X_0^3+X_1^3+X_2^3=0$, whose genus of a smooth plane curve is $(3-1)(3-2)/2=1$.

An irreducible plane conic is smooth: a singular quadratic form in three variables has rank at most two and factors over the algebraically closed field, contradicting irreducibility. Projection from any point of the conic, or its degree-two complete linear system, then identifies it with the projective line.

Finally, a nonzero ternary quadratic form is determined up to nonzero scalar by its six coefficients. Thus generalized conics are parametrized bijectively by ${\mathbb{P}}^5$.

The Riemann-Hurwitz formula for a nonconstant degree-$n$ morphism
$f:C\to C^{\prime }$ of smooth projective connected curves in characteristic zero iswhere $R_f$ is the effective ramification divisor. If $g(C^{\prime })\ge 2$ and
$g(C)<g(C^{\prime })$, the right side is at least $2g(C^{\prime })-2>2g(C)-2$, impossible. If $g(C^{\prime })=1$, then $g(C)=0$ and the left side is $-2$ while the right side is nonnegative. Thus every morphism is constant.

Choose $p\in C_d$ and project from $p$ to the pencil of lines through it. Bézout's theorem says that a general such line meets $C_d$ in $p$ plus $d-1$ further points, so the resolved projectionhas degree $d-1$. Since the genus of a smooth plane curve is
$g=(d-1)(d-2)/2$, Riemann--Hurwitz givesEvery branch point receives at least one ramification point, hence

The adjunction formula givesSince $\mathrm{deg}D=d$ and $\mathrm{deg}{K}_{C_d}=d(d-3)$, linear equivalence
$D\sim K_{C_d}$ would force $d=d(d-3)$, hence $d=4$. It is therefore impossible for $d\ge 5$.

For a smooth plane quartic, projection from a point of the curve gives a degree-three map, so its gonality is at most three. Its genus is three and
$K_C\sim D$, so its plane embedding is the canonical map. A genus-three curve with a degree-two map to ${\mathbb{P}}^1$ would be hyperelliptic, and its canonical map would factor through that double cover and map onto a conic rather than embed the curve. Thus no degree-two map exists, and a degree-one map is excluded by the genus. The quartic's gonality isFor a genus-one curve, Riemann--Roch supplies a degree-two map to ${\mathbb{P}}^1$, while degree one would make it isomorphic to ${\mathbb{P}}^1$. Its gonality is therefore

Let $X$ be an irreducible variety of dimension $d$. A point $p\in X$ is nonsingular, or smooth, whenwhere $T_{p}X$ is the Zariski tangent space; it is a singular point when $\dim T_{p}X>d$. Equivalently, the local ring ${\mathcal{O}}_{X,p}$ is regular exactly at a nonsingular point.

For an irreducible affine variety $X\subseteq {\mathbb{A}}^N$ over a perfect field, the Jacobian criterion expresses the singular locus by the vanishing of the relevant Jacobian minors, so it is Zariski closed. At a point where the tangent-space dimension is minimal it equals $d$; equivalently, some $(N-d)$-rowed Jacobian minor is nonzero. Its nonvanishing locus is therefore a nonempty Zariski-open set contained in the smooth locus. Every nonempty open subset of an irreducible topological space is dense, proving the density of the smooth locus.

Assume the ground field has characteristic other than two. Forthe partial derivatives are $2X_0,\dots ,2X_{n-1},0$. They vanish simultaneously at the unique projective pointThus this point is the singular locus of the projective quadric cone.

For varieties $X,Y$,If $Y$ is smooth of dimension $m$, the product point $(x,y)$ is singular exactly when $x$ is singular. HenceandThis is the singular locus of a product with a smooth variety.

To construct the requested examples, put $r=n-k>0$. If $r\ge 2$, let $Q_r\subseteq {\mathbb{P}}^{r+1}$ be an irreducible quadric cone of dimension $r$ with one singular vertex. If $r=1$, use instead the irreducible cuspidal cubicwhose only singular point is $[0:0:1]$. Let $W$ denote the chosen $r$-dimensional variety and embedin projective space by the Segre embedding. It is irreducible and has dimension $r+k=n$, while its singular locus is the vertex or cusp point times ${\mathbb{P}}^k$, which is nonempty and has dimension exactly $k$. This is the projective variety with a prescribed-dimensional singular locus construction.

Finally, suppose that the irreducible plane curve $C\subseteq {\mathbb{P}}^2$ were smooth of degree $d$. Since it is birational to a smooth projective curve of genus two, its geometric genus would be two. But the genus of a smooth plane curve isand no integer $d$ makes this number equal to two. Therefore $C$ cannot be smooth and must contain a singular point.

For a divisor on an algebraic curve $D$ on a smooth projective curve $X$ of genus $g$, the Riemann-Roch theorem stateswhere $K_X$ is a canonical divisor. Taking $D=0$ gives $1-\ell (K_X)=1-g$, so $\ell (K_X)=g$. Taking $D=K_X$ then gives

To obtain a uniform projective embedding, choose a divisor $D$ of degree $2g+1$. Since every divisor appearing below has degree greater than $2g-2$, Riemann--Roch givesThe first two equalities show that the complete linear system of a divisor $|D|$ has no base point. The strict drops in the last two comparisons show respectively that its sections separate distinct points $P,Q$ and tangent directions at $P$. Thus $D$ is a very ample divisor, in accordance with the general fact that a high-degree divisor is very ample on a smooth projective curve, and its sections define a closed embeddingThe ambient dimension therefore depends only on $g$.

The Riemann-Hurwitz formula for a nonconstant morphism $h:C_1\to C_2$ of degree $n$ isChoose a smooth plane quartic $C$, so $g(C)=3$, and form the product of projective varieties $S=C\times C$. This is a smooth projective variety of dimension two. If $B\subset S$ is an irreducible curve, pass to its normalization $\tilde{B}$. At least one coordinate projection $\tilde{B}\to C$ is nonconstant, since otherwise $B$ would be a point. For that projection, Riemann--Hurwitz givesso the geometric genus of $B$ is at least three. Hence $S$ is the required surface; this is the product surface without low-genus curves construction.

Finally let $X\subset {\mathbb{P}}^2$ be a smooth plane curve of degree $d$ and let $p\notin X$. After a projective change of coordinates, take $p=[0:0:1]$. Projection away from $p$ isIts two homogeneous coordinate functions cannot vanish simultaneously on $X$, because their common zero in ${\mathbb{P}}^2$ is $p$. The criterion for a morphism of algebraic varieties therefore shows that the restrictionis a morphism. A fibre is the intersection with a line through $p$, and a general such line meets $X$ in $d$ points counted with multiplicity. Thus the projection of a plane curve from an exterior point has degree $d$.

By the genus of a smooth plane curve, $g(X)=(d-1)(d-2)/2$. Applying Riemann--Hurwitz to $\pi$ and its ramification divisor $R_{\pi }$ givesEvery ramification point contributes at least one to this degree, so

For an algebraically closed field $k$, the strong Hilbert Nullstellensatz says that every ideal $J\subseteq k[x_1,\dots ,x_n]$ satisfiesIts weak form says that $V(J)=\varnothing$ exactly when $J=(1)$. Now let $S=\mathbb{C}[x_0,\dots ,x_n]$ and let $I\subseteq S$ be a homogeneous ideal. The affine zero set of $I$ is the affine cone over $V_{+}(I)$ together with the origin. Hence, when the projective zero set is empty, eitheror the affine zero set is exactly the origin. In the latter case the Hilbert Nullstellensatz givesthe irrelevant ideal of projective space. Equivalently, some power $(x_0,\dots ,x_n{)}^N$ is contained in $I$. These are precisely the alternatives in the Projective Nullstellensatz.

Let $V\subseteq {\mathbb{P}}^3$ be a smooth quadric surface. After a projective linear transformation, the Segre embedding identifiesChoose distinct points $p,q\in {\mathbb{P}}^1$. The two fibresare the promised disjoint curves on a smooth quadric surface: each is a smooth projective line, and $C_p\cap C_q=\varnothing$. By the Bézout theorem, any two nonempty curves in the projective plane intersect. An isomorphism of algebraic varieties preserves intersections and takes projective curves to projective curves, so these disjoint curves prove

Next let $W$ be a smooth projective curve and let $f:W⇢Y\subseteq {\mathbb{P}}^N$ be a rational map to a projective variety. At a point $P$ outside its initial domain, writeusing elements of the function field $\mathbb{C}(W)$. The local ring of a smooth algebraic curve at $P$ is a discrete valuation ring. If $m={\min }_i{v}_P(f_i)$, multiplying every coordinate by a function of valuation $-m$ makes all coordinates regular at $P$ and at least one a unit there. They therefore define a morphism near $P$. Repeating this at the finitely many missing points proves the extension of a rational map from a smooth projective curve.

Smoothness is essential. Let $\nu :{\mathbb{P}}^1\to C$ be the normalization of a nodal curve for a rational nodal cubic $C$. The inverse is a rational map $C⇢{\mathbb{P}}^1$ on the smooth locus. If it extended to a morphism $g:C\to {\mathbb{P}}^1$, then $g\circ \nu$ would agree with the identity on a dense Zariski-open subset of ${\mathbb{P}}^1$ and hence everywhere. But the two distinct points $a,b\in {\mathbb{P}}^1$ above the node would satisfya contradiction. This is the failure of rational-map extension on a singular curve.

Finally take the Fermat cubic curveand define the projective hypersurfaceBecause $F$ and $xyz$ have no common irreducible factor, the bihomogeneous polynomial $sF+txyz$ is irreducible, so $Z$ is an algebraic variety. Letbe the second coordinate projection. Every homogeneous cubic in three variables has a projective zero over $\mathbb{C}$, so every fibre is nonempty and $\pi$ is a surjective morphism. Over $p=[1:0]$ the fibre is the Fermat cubic curve, which is smooth and has genusOver $q=[0:1]$ the fibre isthe union of exactly three distinct projective lines, hence exactly three irreducible components. This is the cubic pencil with a triangular member required by the question.

Two irreducible varieties $X$ and $Y$ are birational if they contain nonempty Zariski-open subsets $U\subseteq X$ and $V\subseteq Y$ that are isomorphic. Equivalently, their function fields are isomorphic:For an irreducible variety,An isomorphism of function fields preserves transcendence degree, so $\dim X=\dim Y$. This is the dimension from the function field.

Now let $K/\mathbb{C}$ be a finitely generated field extension. Choose field generators $a_1,\dots ,a_m$ and setThen $A$ is a finitely generated integral $\mathbb{C}$-algebra and $\mathrm{Frac}(A)=K$. The affine irreducible varietyhas function field $K$. Embed $X_0$ as a closed affine subvariety of some affine space ${\mathbb{A}}^N$, identify that affine space with the standard open chart of projective space ${\mathbb{P}}^N$, and take the projective closure $X$ of $X_0$. The closure of an irreducible topological space is irreducible, and $X_0$ is dense and open in $X$. Thus $X$ is a projective variety andThis constructs the projective model of a finitely generated field.

For the curveputIn its function field, the defining equation givesHence $\mathbb{C}(X)=\mathbb{C}(t)$, so $X$ is rational. Equivalently, this is the normalization of y squared equals x times x minus one squared, whose smooth projective normalization is ${\mathbb{P}}^1$ and has geometric genus zero.

A smooth projective curve in the projective plane of degree $d$ has, by the genus of a smooth plane curve formula,Its genus can be zero only for $d=1$ or $d=2$. Conversely, a projective line and every smooth conic over $\mathbb{C}$ are rational, so each is birational to $X$. Therefore the required degrees are exactly

Finally, in ${\mathbb{A}}_{x,y,z}^3$ takeThe polynomial $F$ is irreducible: as a quadratic in $y$, it could factor only if $x(x-1{)}^2$ were a square polynomial, which it is not. Thus $S$ is an irreducible affine hypersurface of dimension two. Its function field isso $S$ is birational to ${\mathbb{A}}^2$.

The partial derivatives areSolving $F=F_x=F_y=0$ gives $x=1$, $y=0$, with $z$ arbitrary. By the Jacobian criterion,This is an irreducible subvariety of dimension one, giving the requested singular cylinder over a nodal curve.