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

This thesis is an investigation of the moduli spaces of instanton bundles on the Fano threefold $Y_5$ (a linear section of $\mathbb{G}r(2,5)$). It contains new proofs of classical facts about lines, conics and cubics on $Y_5$, and about…

By the geometry of the 3-fold quadric we show that the coarse moduli space of genus g ineffective spin hyperelliptic curves with two marked points is a rational variety for every $g \geq 2$.

Up to now the only known constantly curved sextic curve, i.e., holomorphic 2-sphere of degree 6, in the complex $G(2,5)$ has been the first associated curve of the Veronese curve of degree 4, which indicates that such curves are rare to…

Using ideas from the theory of tropical curves and degeneration, we prove that any Fano hypersurface (and more generally Fano complete intersections) is swept by at most quadratic rational curves.

We prove that the moduli space A_3(1,1,4) of polarized abelian threefolds with polarization of type (1,1,4) is unirational. By a result of Birkenhake and Lange this implies the unirationality of the isomorphic moduli space A_3(1,4,4). The…

This paper is concerned with rational curves on real classical groups. Our contributions are three-fold: (i) We determine the structure of quadratic rational curves on real classical groups. As a consequence, we completely classify…

This is a survey of the geometry of complex cubic fourfolds with a view toward rationality questions. Topics include classical constructions of rational examples, Hodge structures and special cubic fourfolds, associated K3 surfaces and…

We study a particular class of rationally connected manifolds, $X\subset \p^N$, such that two general points $x,x' \in X$ may be joined by a conic contained in $X$. We prove that these manifolds are Fano, with $b_2\leq 2$. Moreover, a…

For a hypersurface in complex projective space $X\subset \PP^n$, we investigate the singularities and Kodaira dimension of the Kontsevich moduli spaces $\Kbm{0,0}{X,e}$ parametrizing rational curves of degree $e$ on $X$. If $d+e \leq n$ and…

This paper is concerned with projective rationally connected surfaces $X$ with canonical singularities and having non-zero pluri-forms, i.e. $(\Omega_X^1)^{[\otimes m]}$ has non-zero global sections for some m > 0, where…

Let $\mathfrak B_g$ denote the moduli space of primitively polarized $K3$ surfaces $(S,H)$ of genus $g$ over $\mathbb C$. It is well-known that $\mathfrak B_g$ is irreducible and that there are only finitely many rational curves in $|H|$…

The moduli space of parabolic bundles with fixed determinant over a smooth curve of genus greater than one is proved to be rational whenever one of the multiplicities associated to the quasi-parabolic structure is equal to one. It follows…

This survey paper discusses some of the recent progress in the study of rational curves on algebraic varieties. It was written for the survey volume of the priority programme "Global Methods in Complex Geometry", supported by the DFG. To…

Let $C$ be a smooth, projective, geometrically irreducible curve defined over $\mathbb{R}$ such that $C(\mathbb{R}) = \emptyset$. Let $r>0$ and $d$ be integers which are coprime. Let $L$ be a line bundle on $C$ which corresponds to an…

We study the birational properties of geometrically rational surfaces from a derived categorical point of view. In particular, we give a criterion for the rationality of a del Pezzo surface over an arbitrary field, namely, that its derived…

Recent results of Hassett, Kuznetsov and others pointed out countably many divisors $C_d$ in the open subset of $\mathbb{P}^{55}=\mathbb{P}(H^0(\mathcal{O}_{\mathbb{P}^5}(3)))$ parametrizing all cubic 4-folds and lead to the conjecture that…

In this short note we prove the unirationality of Hurwitz spaces of 6-gonal curves of genus $g$ with $5\leq g\leq 28$ or $g=30,31,33,35,36,40,45$. Key ingredient is a liaison construction in $\PP^1 \times \PP^2$. By semicontinuity, the…

In this short note we prove that in many cases the failure of a variety to be separably rationally connected is caused by the instability of the tangent sheaf (if there are no other obvious reasons). A simple application of the results…

We proved the existence of rational curves in every linear system on a general K3 surface and that all rational curves in the hyperplane class are nodal on a general K3 surface of small genus.

In this, largely expository, note, we show how the simplicial structure of the moduli spaces of stable rational curves with marked points allows to produce explicit equations for these spaces. The key argument is an elementary combinatorial…