Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge / 2006 / iii / Paper 18 / 1 / Solution

Let $X$ be a connected compact Riemann surface of geometric genus $g$, equivalently a smooth projective curve over $\mathbb{C}$, and put $V=H^0(X,K_X)$. Choose a symplectic basis $a_1,\dots ,a_g,b_1,\dots ,b_g$ of $H_1(X,\mathbb{Z})$ with $a_i\cdot b_j={\delta }_{ij}$. For a closed differential form $\alpha$, write $A_i(\alpha )={\int }_{a_i}\alpha$ and $B_i(\alpha )={\int }_{b_i}\alpha$. The underlying bilinear identity isIt holds for any two smooth closed one-forms. In particular, the Riemann bilinear relations for holomorphic differential forms arefor $\omega ,\eta \in V$ and $\omega \ne 0$ in the inequality. The inequality fixes the orientation and the sign convention.

To prove the identity, cut $X$ along the symplectic basis to a fundamental polygon $P$. On $P$, a closed one-form $\alpha$ has a primitive $F$. The Stokes theorem givesOpposite copies of each cut have opposite orientations, while their values of $F$ differ by the corresponding period of $\alpha$. Pairing those edges therefore leaves $A_i(\alpha ){\int }_{b_i}\beta -B_i(\alpha ){\int }_{a_i}\beta$ for the $i$th handle. Summing proves the identity. The same calculation can be made with a small disk about the polygon's vertices removed; its extra boundary terms tend to zero, so the vertices cause no additional term.

For holomorphic differential forms $\omega ,\eta$, their wedge product of differential forms vanishes: locally both are multiples of $dz$. This proves the first relation. If $\omega =f(z)dz$ and $z=x+iy$, thenA nonzero holomorphic differential form is nonzero on an open set, so the integral is strictly positive. Applying the identity to $\omega ,\overline{\omega }$ proves the second relation.

These relations first prove that the map $V\to {\mathbb{C}}^g$ taking $a$-periods is injective: if every $A_i(\omega )$ vanishes, the positive integral just computed would vanish. Since $\dim V=g$ by the Riemann-Roch theorem, it is an isomorphism. Consequently there is a unique basis ${\omega }_1,\dots ,{\omega }_g$ with ${\int }_{a_j}{\omega }_i={\delta }_{ij}$. Set ${\tau }_{ij}={\int }_{b_j}{\omega }_i$. The first relation gives ${\tau }_{ij}={\tau }_{ji}$, and the second gives, for any nonzero column $c$,Thus the normalized period matrix of a complex torus is symmetric and has positive-definite imaginary part:

The integration map sends a cycle $\gamma$ to the functional $\omega \mapsto {\int }_{\gamma }\omega$ in $V^{\ast }$. In the normalized basis its image is the period latticeIndeed, the real-linear map $(x,y)\mapsto x+\tau y$ from ${\mathbb{R}}^{2g}$ to ${\mathbb{C}}^g$ is an isomorphism: its imaginary part is $Yy$, and $Y$ is invertible. Its image of ${\mathbb{Z}}^{2g}$ is therefore discrete and has compact quotient. This proves thatis a well-defined $g$-dimensional complex torus, rather than merely a quotient by an arbitrary subgroup.

The relations also provide its canonical principal polarization of a complex torus. With the convention that a Hermitian form is conjugate-linear in its first argument, put $H(z,w)={\overline{z}}^{,t}{Y}^{-1}w$ and $E=\mathrm{Im}H$. Symmetry of $\tau$ givesIn particular $E$ is integral and unimodular on $\Lambda$, and it is compatible with the complex structure. These are exactly the positivity and integrality conditions for a Riemann form on a complex torus; they make the complex torus a Jacobian variety with a principal polarization of a complex torus. If instead one uses a first-argument-linear Hermitian form, the same alternating form is $-\mathrm{Im}H$. Changing the symplectic basis changes the coordinates but not this polarized quotient. For $g=0$, $V=0$ and the Jacobian variety is a point.