Related papers: Fundamental groups of rationally connected varieti…
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…
For any genuinely ramified morphism $f\, :\, Y\, \longrightarrow\, X$ between irreducible smooth projective curves we prove that $\overline{(Y\times_X Y) \setminus \Delta}$ is connected, where $\Delta\, \subset\, Y\times_X Y$ is the…
Grothendieck and Harder proved that every principal bundle over the projective line with split reductive structure group (and trivial over the generic point) can be reduced to a maximal torus. Furthermore, this reduction is unique modulo…
We prove for various finite groups $G$ and integers $n\geq 1$ that there are families of equations with Galois group $G$ that cannot be simplified to a one-parameter family even after adjoining a root of a polynomial of degree at most $n$.…
One version of the classical Lefschetz hyperplane theorem states that for $U \subset \mathbb P^n$ a smooth quasi-projective variety of dimension at least $2$, and $H \cap U$ a general hyperplane section, the resulting map on \'etale…
Let $X$ be a curve of genus $g\geq 2$ over a number field $F$ of degree $d = [F:Q]$. The conjectural existence of a uniform bound $N(g,d)$ on the number $\#X(F)$ of $F$-rational points of $X$ is an outstanding open problem in arithmetic…
We describe a family of genus one fibered Calabi-Yau threefolds with fundamental group ${\mathbb Z}/2$. On each Calabi-Yau $Z$ in the family we exhibit a positive dimensional family of Mumford stable bundles whose symmetry group is the…
We study families of rational curves on irreducible holomorphic symplectic varieties. We give a necessary and sufficient condition for a sufficiently ample linear system on a holomorphic symplectic variety of $K3^{[n]}$-type to contain a…
We prove that all finitely generated fully residually free groups (limit groups) have a sequence of finite dimensional unitary representations that `strongly converge' to the regular representation of the group. The corresponding statement…
Let $M$ be a closed manifold that admits a self-cover $p:M \to M$ of degree >1. We say p is strongly regular if all its iterates are regular covers. In this case, we establish an algebraic structure theorem for the fundamental group of $M$:…
In this article we prove the irreducibility of the Hilbert scheme of rationnal curves on homogeneous varieties with fixed class in the Chow ring. This result has also been proved by J. F. Thomsen [T] and B. Kim and R. Pandharipande [KP].…
We study embedded rational curves in projective toric varieties. Generalizing results of the first author and Zotine for the case of lines, we show that any degree $d$ rational curve in a toric variety $X$ can be constructed from a special…
We construct a family of plane curves as pull-backs of a conic for abelian coverings of P^2. If the conic is tangent to the ramification lines one obtains a family of curves of degree 2n with 3n singularities of type A_{n-1}. We calculate…
Let A be a basic connected finite dimensional algebra over an algebraically closed field, let G be a group, let T be a basic tilting A-module and let B the endomorphism algebra of T. Under a hypothesis on T, we establish a correspondence…
We introduce a new framework linking group theory and formal language theory which generalizes a number of ways these topics have been linked in the past. For a language class C in the Chomsky hierarchy, we say a group is epiC if it admits…
Let $C$ and $D$ be smooth, proper and geometrically integral curves over a finite field $F$. Any morphism from $D$ to $C$ induces a morphism of their \'etale fundamental groups. The anabelian philosophy proposed by Grothendieck suggests…
Let $K$ be the function field of a $p$-adic curve, $G$ a semisimple simply connected group over $K$ and $X$ a $G$-torsor over $K$. A conjecture of Colliot-Th\'el\`ene, Parimala and Suresh predicts that if for every discrete valuation $v$ of…
We complete the classification of the smooth, closed, oriented 4-manifolds having Euler characteristic less than four and a horizontal handlebody decomposition of genus one. We use the classification result to find a large family of…
We study linear systems cut out by cones of fixed degree on a smooth complex curve $C\subset\mathbb{P}^{3}$. We develop a systematic study of the families of such systems, considering their limits, their infinitesimal behaviour and some…
We consider parahoric Bruhat-Tits group schemes over a smooth projective curve and torsors under them. If the characteristic of the ground field is either zero or positive but not too small and the generic fiber is absolutely simple and…