Related papers: Rational curves on $V_5$ and rational simple conne…

We show that the coarse moduli space $\cR_5$ of \'etale double covers of curves of genus~5 over the complex numbers is unirational. We give two slightly different arguments, one purely geometric and the other more computational.

We study the connectedness of the real locus of smooth geometrically rational Fano threefolds and prove a sufficient criterion of $\mathbb{R}$-rationality.

We study the moduli spaces of rational curves on prime Fano threefolds of index 1. For general threefolds of most genera we compute the dimension and the number of irreducible components of these moduli spaces. Our results confirm Geometric…

The object of this note is the moduli spaces of cubic fourfolds (resp., Gushel-Mukai fourfolds) which contain some special rational surfaces. Under some hypotheses on the families of such surfaces, we develop a general method to show the…

Let $Y$ be a smooth, projective curve of genus $g\geq 1$ over the complex numbers. Let $H^0_{d,A}(Y)$ be the Hurwitz space which parametrizes coverings $p:X \to Y$ of degree $d$, simply branched in $n=2e$ points, with monodromy group equal…

We define, for smooth projective orbifold pairs $(X,D)$ notions of `slope Rational connectedness', and of orbifold `slope Rational quotient' . These notions extend to this larger context the classical notions of rationally connected…

We prove the irreducibility of the spaces of rational curves on del Pezzo manifolds of Picard rank 1 and dimension at least 4 by analyzing the fibers of evaluation maps. As a corollary, we prove Geometric Manin's Conjecture in these cases.

Any smooth projective curve embeds into $\mathbb{P}^3$. More generally, any curve embeds into a rationally connected variety of dimension at least three. We prove conversely that if every curve embeds in a threefold $X$, then $X$ is…

We classify all complex surfaces with quotient singularities that do not contain any smooth rational curves, under the assumption that the canonical divisor of the surface is not pseudo-effective. As a corollary we show that if $X$ is a log…

The surface corresponding to the moduli space of quadratic endomorphisms of $\mathbb{P}^1$ with a marked periodic point of order $n$ is studied. It is shown that the surface is rational over $\mathbb{Q}$ when $n\le 5$ and is of general type…

In this paper we consider a generalization of a well known result by Veronese about rational normal curves. More precisely, given a collection of linear spaces in $\PP^n$ we study the existence of rational normal curves intersecting each…

We give the first evidence for a conjecture that a general, index-one, Fano hypersurface is not unirational: (i) a general point of the hypersurface is contained in no rational surface ruled, roughly, by low-degree rational curves, and (ii)…

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…

Refereed version to appear in Michigan Mathematical Journal. A mistake in the last section of the previous version has been corrected. The new title exactly describes the main result obtained. Building on the geometry of cubic surfaces and…

A complex smooth prime Fano threefold $X$ of genus $9$ is related via projective duality to a quartic plane curve $\Gamma$. We use this setup to study the restriction of rank $2$ stable sheaves with prescribed Chern classes on $X$ to an…

We prove that a smooth Fano hypersurface $V=V_M\subset{\Bbb P}^M$, $M\geq 6$, is birationally superrigid. In particular, it cannot be fibered into uniruled varieties by a non-trivial rational map and each birational map onto a minimal Fano…

We study the compactification of the moduli space of a certain class of rank-two irregular connections on the Riemann sphere, presenting one double pole and two simple poles. To construct the compactification explicitly, we identify a class…

We isolate a class of smooth rational cubic fourfolds X containing a plane whose associated quadric surface bundle does not have a rational section. This is equivalent to the nontriviality of the Brauer class of the even Clifford algebra…

We investigate the universal Severi variety of rational curves on K3 surfaces, which parametrises irreducible rational curves in a fixed class on varying K3 surfaces of fixed genus. We investigate the conjecuted irreducibility of this space…

This article proves hypersurfaces of degree d in projective n-space are "rationally simply-connected" if $d^2 \leq n$. In a forthcoming paper, de Jong and I prove a slightly weaker result when $d^2 \leq n+1$.