Related papers: Exceptional Loci on $\bar M_{0,n}$ and Hypergraph …

We develop a new method for establishing the extremality in the closed cone of effective curves on the moduli space of curves and determine the extremality of many boundary $1$-strata. As a consequence, by using a general criterion for…

We determine explicit birational models over Q for the modular surfaces parametrising pairs of N-congruent elliptic curves in all cases where this surface is an elliptic surface. In each case we also determine the rank of the Mordell-Weil…

Due to the orbifold singularities, the intersection numbers on the moduli space of curves $\bar{\sM}_{g,n}$ are in general rational numbers rather than integers. We study the properties of the denominators of these intersection numbers and…

Let $(X,B)$ be a log canonical pair and $\mathcal{V}$ be a finite set of divisorial valuations with log discrepancy in $[0,1)$. We prove that there exists a projective birational morphism $\pi \colon Y\rightarrow X$ so that the exceptional…

We study the birational geometry of $\bar{M}_{3,1}$ and $\bar{M}_{4,1}$. In particular, we pose a pointed analogue of the Slope Conjecture and prove it in these low-genus cases. Using variation of GIT, we construct birational contractions…

Classically, an indecomposable class $R$ in the cone of effective curves on a K3 surface $X$ is representable by a smooth rational curve if and only if $R^2=-2$. We prove a higher-dimensional generalization conjectured by Hassett and…

In this paper we study the geometry of GIT configurations of $n$ ordered points on $\mathbb{P}^1$ both from the the birational and the biregular viewpoint. In particular, we prove that any extremal ray of the Mori cone of effective curves…

Let $X$ be a smooth irreducible projective curve of genus $g \geq 2$ over a finite field $\F_{q}$ of characteristic $p$ with $q$ elements such that the function field $\F_{q}(X)$ is a geometric Galois extension of the rational function…

We describe a conjectural stratification of the Brill-Noether variety for general curves of fixed genus and gonality. As evidence for this conjecture, we show that this Brill-Noether variety has at least as many irreducible components as…

Given a normal surface singularity $(X, Q)$ and a birational morphism to a non- singular surface $\pi : X \to S$, we investigate the local geometry of the exceptional divisor $L$ of $\pi$. We prove that the dimension of the tangent space to…

We explain a strategy for distinguishing Brill-Noether loci in the moduli space of curves by studying the lifting of linear systems on curves in polarized K3 surfaces, which motivates a conjecture identifying the maximal Brill-Noether loci…

Let $C$ be a smooth projective irreducible curve of genus $g$. And let $G_{\alpha}(n,d,l)$ be the moduli space of $\alpha$ stable pairs of a vector bundle of $\rank n, \deg d$ and a subspace of $H^0(C,E)$ of $\dim = l $. We find an explicit…

A result due to Cho, Miyaoka, Shepherd-Barron [CMSB] and Kebekus [Ke] provides a numerical characterization of projective spaces. More recently, Dedieu and H\"oring [DH] gave a characterization of smooth quadrics based on similar arguments.…

Let $C$ be a curve of genus $g$. A fundamental problem in the theory of algebraic curves is to understand maps $C \to \mathbb{P}^r$ of specified degree $d$. When $C$ is general, the moduli space of such maps is well-understood by the main…

We complete Mori's program with symmetric divisors for the moduli space of stable seven pointed rational curves. We describe all birational models in terms of explicit blow-ups and blow-downs. We also give a moduli theoretic description of…

For $g\geq2$, $j=1,\dots,g$ and $n\geq g+j$ we exhibit infinitely many new rigid and extremal effective codimension $j$ cycles in $\overline{\mathcal{M}}_{g,n}$ from the strata of quadratic differentials and projections of these strata…

We explore some of the interplay between Brill-Noether subvarieties of the moduli space SU_C(2,K) of rank 2 bundles with canonical determinant on a smooth projective curve and 2\theta divisors, via the inclusion of the moduli space into…

Let $\M_g$ be the course moduli space of complex projective nonsingular curves of genus $g$. We prove that when the Brill-Noether number $\rho(g,1,n)$ is non-negative the Petri locus $P^1_{g,n}\subset \M_g$ has a divisorial component whose…

The paper is devoted to highlighting several novel aspects of the moduli space of curves of genus 13, the first genus g where phenomena related to K3 surfaces no longer govern the birational geometry of M_g. We compute the class of the…

In this paper, we study maps from reducible curves $f : C \cup_\Gamma D \to \mathbb{P}^r$. We restrict our attention to two cases: first, when $f|_D$ factors through a hyperplane $H$ and $f|_C$ is transverse to $H$; and second, when $r =…