Related papers: On a rigidity criterion for del Pezzo fibrations o…
A rigidity theory is developed for bar-joint frameworks in $\mathbb{R}^{d+1}$ whose vertices are constrained to lie on concentric $d$-spheres with independently variable radii. In particular, combinatorial characterisations are established…
This is a continuation of the series of notes on the dynamics of quadratic polynomials. We show the following Rigidity Theorem: Any combinatorial class contains at most one quadratic polynomial satisfying the secondary limbs condition with…
In this paper we propose two guiding principles that suggest a number of conjectures (some now proved) about various forms of rigidity for moduli spaces arising in algebraic geometry. Such conjectures have group-theoretic, topological and…
We show that, for every integer $1 \leq d \leq 4$ and every finite set $S$ of places, there exists a degree $d$ del Pezzo surface $X$ over ${\mathbb Q}$ such that ${\rm Br}(X)/{\rm Br}({\mathbb Q}) \cong {\mathbb Z}/2{\mathbb Z}$ and the…
Let Q -> B be a quadric fibration and T -> B a family of sextic du Val del Pezzo surfaces. Making use of the recent theory of noncommutative mixed motives, we establish a precise relation between the Schur-finiteness conjecture for Q, resp.…
We study surjective (not necessarily regular) rational endomorphisms $f$ of smooth del Pezzo surfaces $X$. We prove that under certain natural non\,-\,degeneracy condition $f$ can have degree bigger than $1$ only when $(-K_X^2) > 5$. Some…
Among geometrically rational surfaces, del Pezzo surfaces of degree two over a field k containing at least one point are arguably the simplest that are not known to be unirational over k. Looking for k-rational curves on these surfaces, we…
We prove that the group of birational transformations of a Del Pezzo fibration of degree 3 over a curve is not simple, by giving a surjective group homomorphism to a free product of infinitely many groups of order 2. As a consequence we…
We prove some boundary rigidity results for the hemisphere under a lower bound for Ricci curvature. The main result can be viewed as the Ricci version of a conjecture of Min-Oo.
Let X be a surface with quotient singularities which admits a smoothing to the plane. We prove that X is a deformation of a weighted projective plane P(a^2,b^2,c^2), where a,b,c is a solution of the Markov equation a^2+b^2+c^2=3abc. We also…
A degree one del Pezzo surface is the blowup of P^2 at 8 general points. By the classical Cayley-Bacharach Theorem, there is a unique 9th point whose blowup produces a rational elliptic surface with a section. Via this relationship, we…
Consider a rational elliptic surface over a field $k$ with characteristic $0$ given by $\mathcal{E}: y^2 = x^3 + f(t)x + g(t)$, with $f,g\in k[t]$, $\text{deg}(f) \leq 4$ and $\text{deg}(g) \leq 6$. If all the bad fibres are irreducible,…
We prove that a germ of a finite morphism of smooth surfaces is rigid if the germ of its branch curve has one of $ADE$-singularity types and establish a correspondence between the set of rigid germs and the set of Belyi rational functions…
We prove birational superrigidity of generic Fano fiber spaces $V/{\mathbb P}^1$, the fibers of which are Fano complete intersections of index 1 and dimension $M$ in ${\mathbb P}^{M+k}$, provided that $M\geq 2k+1$. The proof combines the…
We study Severi curves parametrizing rational bisections of elliptic fibrations associated to general pencils of plane cubics. Our main results show that these Severi curves are connected and reduced, and we give an upper bound on their…
We prove that the Hilbert property is satisfied by certain del Pezzo surfaces of degree one and Picard rank 1 over fields finitely generated over $\mathbb{Q}$. We generalize results of the first author on elliptic surfaces and employ…
We prove that a Lefschetz fibration over the disc that, after compactification, has the same singular fibers as an extremal rational elliptic surface can be obtained by deleting a singular fiber and a section from the rational extremal…
Let X be a surface whose Cox ring has a single relation satisfying moreover a kind of linearity property. Under a simple assumption, we show that the geometric Manin's conjectures hold for some degrees lying in the dual of the effective…
We prove that every del Pezzo surface of degree two over a finite field is unirational, building on the work of Manin and an extension by Salgado, Testa, and V\'arilly-Alvarado, who had proved this for all but three surfaces. Over general…
A simple convex polytope $P$ is \emph{cohomologically rigid} if its combinatorial structure is determined by the cohomology ring of a quasitoric manifold over $P$. Not every $P$ has this property, but some important polytopes such as…