Geometric index theorems for holomorphic foliations and curves

Abstract

Let $M$ be a complex surface endowed with a holomorphic projective connection and let $C \subset M$ be a compact smooth holomorphic curve. Given two singular holomorphic foliations $\mathcal{F}$ and $\mathcal{G}$ near $C$, with $C$ not $\mathcal{G}$-invariant, we attach to every point $p \in C$ an index $\mathrm{Ind}(\mathcal{F},\mathcal{G},C,p) \in \mathbb{C}$ of $\mathcal{F}$ relative to the reference $\mathcal{G}$, and we prove that these indices add up to $T\mathcal{G} \cdot C$. When $C$ is $\mathcal{F}$-invariant the index is the Camacho--Sad index corrected by the order of tangency of $\mathcal{G}$ with $C$, and the index formula reduces to the Camacho--Sad formula. The main applications are two contact formulas. At a tangency point $p$ of $\mathcal{G}$ with $C$, let $k(\mathcal{G},C,p)$ be the ratio of the curvatures at $p$ of the leaf of $\mathcal{G}$ and of the curve; it is a projective invariant, although each curvature separately depends on a choice of metric. If $\mathcal{G}$ has no singular points on $C$ and only simple tangencies with $C$, then $$ \sum_{p} \frac{1}{1 - k(\mathcal{G},C,p)} = \frac{2}{3}\left( C \cdot C + g - 1 \right), $$ where $g$ is the genus of $C$: the number of tangencies depends on $\mathcal{G}$, but this weighted count does not. For a pencil of lines in the projective plane it is the Plücker formula for the class of a plane curve. The second formula asserts that, for a curve in general position with respect to $\mathcal{F}$ and $\mathcal{G}$ which is not a geodesic, the total index of the tangencies of $\mathcal{F}$ with $\mathcal{G}$ along $C$ equals the number of tangencies of $\mathcal{G}$ with $C$ minus one third of the number of inflection points of $C$; in particular, it does not depend on $\mathcal{F}$.