Related papers: On the unique unexpected quartic in $\mathbb{P}^2$
Let a set of nodes $\mathcal X$ in the plane be $n$-independent, i.e., each node has a fundamental polynomial of degree $n.$ Assume that $\#\mathcal X=d(n,k-3)+3= (n+1)+n+\cdots+(n-k+5)+3$ and $4 \le k\le n-1.$ In this paper we prove that…
We solve an open problem in spectral geometry: the construction of finite-dimensional, discrete geometries coordinatized by non-simple, exceptional Jordan algebras. The approach taken is readily generalisable to broad classes of…
Costantini and Kappes gave an algebraic equation of the universal family over the Kenyon-Smillie (2,3,4)-Teichm\"uller curve. This equation gives rise to a family of projective plane quartic curves with three singular members. These…
Let P be a set of n points in the plane, not all on a line. We show that if n is large then there are at least n/2 ordinary lines, that is to say lines passing through exactly two points of P. This confirms, for large n, a conjecture of…
The existence of certain monomial hyperovals $D(x^k)$ in the finite Desarguesian projective plane $PG(2,q)$, $q$ even, is related to the existence of points on certain projective plane curves $g_k(x,y,z)$. Segre showed that some values of…
We show how for every integer n one can explicitly construct n distinct plane quartics and one hyperelliptic curve over the complex numbers all of whose Jacobians are isomorphic to one another as abelian varieties without polarization. When…
We study intersections of exceptional curves on del Pezzo surfaces of degree 1, motivated by questions in arithmetic geometry. Outside characteristics 2 and 3, at most 10 exceptional curves can intersect in a point. We classify the…
We investigate plane curves intersecting in at most two unibranched points to study the algebraic exceptional set appearing in standard conjectures of diophantine and hyperbolic geometry. Our first result compares the local geometry of two…
Motivated by a question of Erd\H{o}s on blocking sets in a projective plane that intersect every line only a few times, several authors have used unions of algebraic curves to construct such sets in $\mathbb{P}^2(\mathbb{F}_q)$. In this…
Every polygon with n vertices in the complex projective plane is naturally associated with its adjoint curve of degree n-3. Hence the adjoint of a heptagon is a plane quartic. We prove that a general plane quartic is the adjoint of exactly…
We study the orchard problem on cubic surfaces. We classify possibly reducible cubic surfaces $X\subseteq \mathbb{P}^3(\C)$ with smooth components on which there exist families of finite sets (of unbounded size) with quadratically many…
We study rational cuspidal curves in projective surfaces. We specify two criteria obstructing possible configurations of singular points that may occur on such curves. One criterion generalizes the result of Fernandez de Bobadilla, Luengo,…
An old problem in discrete geometry, originating with Kupitz, asks whether there is a fixed natural number $k$ such that every finite set of points in the plane has a line through at least two of its points where the number of points on…
If $X \subset \mathbb P^n$ is a reduced subscheme, we say that $X$ admits an unexpected hypersurface of degree $t$ for multiplicity $m$ if the imposition of having multiplicity $m$ at a general point $P$ fails to impose the expected number…
A criterion for the existence of a birational embedding into a projective plane with three collinear Galois points for algebraic curves is presented. The extendability of an automorphism induced by a Galois point to a linear transformation…
The Stable Reduction Theorem guarantees that any smooth, projective, geometrically irreducible curve of genus $g \geq 2$ over a discretely valued field admits a unique stable model after a finite field extension. Computing this model is a…
Given n general points p_1, p_2,..., p_n \in P^r, it is natural to ask whether there is a curve of given degree d and genus g passing through them; by counting dimensions a natural conjecture is that such a curve exists if and only if \[n…
For each integer $k \in [0,9]$, we count the number of plane cubic curves defined over a finite field $\mathbb{F}_q$ that do not share a common component and intersect in exactly $k\ \mathbb{F}_q$-rational points. We set this up as a…
The Erd\H{o}s distinct distance problem is a ubiquitous problem in discrete geometry. Less well known is Erd\H{o}s' distinct angle problem, the problem of finding the minimum number of distinct angles between $n$ non-collinear points in the…
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…