Related papers: On dimensions supporting a rational projective pla…

Given a simply connected manifold $M$, we completely determine which rational monomial Pontryagin numbers are attained by fiber homotopy trivial $M$-bundles over the $k$-sphere, provided that $k$ is small compared to the dimension of $M$.…

We construct a linearly normal smooth rational surface S of degree 11 and sectional genus 8 in the projective fivespace. Surfaces satisfying these numerical invariants are special, in the sense that $h^1(\mathscr{O}_S(1))>0$. Our…

A complex projective manifold is rationally connected, resp. rationally simply connected, if finite subsets are connected by a rational curve, resp. the spaces parameterizing these connecting rational curves are themselves rationally…

For a quadratic form $\varphi$ over a field of characteristic different from $2$, we study whether its group of proper projective similitudes ${\bf PSim}^+(\varphi)$ is rationally connected (i.e. $R$-trivial). We obtain new sufficient…

We consider quadrangles of perimeter $2$ in the plane with marked directed edge. To such quadrangle $Q$ a two-dimensional plane $\Pi\in\mathbb{R}^4$ with orthonormal base is corresponded. Orthogonal plane $\Pi^\bot$ defines a plane…

We give some new explicit examples of putatively optimal projective spherical designs. i.e., ones for which there is numerical evidence that they are of minimal size. These form continuous families, and so have little apparent symmetry in…

Let $M$ be a simply connected closed manifold of dimension $n$. We study the rational homotopy type of the configuration space of 2 points in $M$, $F(M,2)$. When $M$ is even dimensional, we prove that the rational homotopy type of $F(M,2)$…

We establish a twistor correspondence between a cuspidal cubic curve in a complex projective plane, and a co-calibrated homogeneous $G_2$ structure on the seven--dimensional parameter space of such cubics. Imposing the Riemannian reality…

Let X be a complex, rationally connected, projective manifold. We show that X admits a modification X' that contains a quasi-line, ie a smooth rational curve whose normal bundle is a direct sum of copies of O_{P^1}(1). For manifolds…

A Q-homology plane is a normal complex algebraic surface having trivial rational homology. We classify singular Q-homology planes which are C^1- or C*-ruled. We analyze their completions, the number of different rulings, the number of…

We give a sufficient condition in order that $n$ closed connected subsets in the $n$-dimensional real projective space admit a common multitangent hyperplane.

Let G/Q be an homogeneous variety embedded in a projective space P thanks to an ample line bundle L. Take a projective space containing P and form the cone X over G/Q, we call this a cone over an homogeneous variety. Let $\alpha$ a class of…

We consider rationally connected complex projective manifolds M and show that their loop spaces--infinite dimensional complex manifolds--have properties similar to those of M. Furthermore, we give a finite dimensional application concerning…

The conjecture called algebraic Montgomery-Yang problem is still open for rational $\mathbb{Q}$-homology projective planes with cyclic quotient singularities having ample canonical divisor. All known such surfaces have a special birational…

We prove the irredcibility (and the rational connectedness) of the moduli spaces of (free) morphisms from a projective line to a successive blowing-up of a product of projective spaces if a suitable numerical condition on morphisms is…

It is a classical result that there are $12$ (irreducible) rational cubic curves through $8$ generic points in $\mathbb{P}_{\mathbb{C}}^2$, but little is known about the non-generic cases. The space of $8$-point configurations is…

Let M be a compact, connected and simply-connected Riemannian manifold, and suppose that G is a compact, connected Lie group acting on M by isometries. The dimension of the space of orbits is called the cohomogeneity of the action. If the…

A pair $(S,C)$ is called a singular $\mathbb{Q}$-homology plane pair if $S$ is a singular projective surface with only quotient singularities having the same rational homology as $\mathbb{p}^2$ and $C \subset S$ has the same rational…

We classify rational, irreducible quartic symmetroids in projective 3-space. They are either singular along a line or a smooth conic section, or they have a triple point or a tacnode.

A very general hypersurface of dimension $n$ and degree $d$ in complex projective space is rational if $d \leq 2$, but is expected to be irrational for all $n, d \geq 3$. Hypersurfaces in weighted projective space with degree small relative…