arXiv subjects

Charles Vial

Publications and source records attributed to Charles Vial.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Fundamental group schemes of globally F-regular varieties

We prove that every tower of connected quasi-torsor covers of a connected normal globally $F$-regular projective variety over an algebraically closed field of positive characteristic stabilizes, and that the Nori fundamental group scheme of its regular locus is finite and linearly reductive. The linear reductivity asserts that any quasi-torsor cover is tame, while the finiteness is a positive-characteristic analogue of theorems of Xu and Braun on the finiteness of the fundamental group of the smooth locus of a log Fano complex projective variety.

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arXiv2025

IMProofBench: Benchmarking AI on Research-Level Mathematical Proof Generation

As the mathematical capabilities of large language models (LLMs) improve, it becomes increasingly important to evaluate their performance on research-level tasks at the frontier of mathematical knowledge. However, existing benchmarks are limited, as they focus solely on final-answer questions or high-school competition problems. To address this gap, we introduce IMProofBench, a private benchmark consisting of 77 peer-reviewed problems developed by expert mathematicians. Each problem requires a detailed proof and is paired with subproblems that have final answers, supporting both an evaluation by human experts and a large-scale quantitative analysis through automated grading. Furthermore, unlike prior benchmarks, the evaluation setup simulates a realistic research environment: models operate in an agentic framework with tools like web search for literature review and mathematical software such as SageMath. Our results show that current LLMs can already solve a significant percentage of research-level questions. IMProofBench will continue to evolve as a dynamic benchmark in collaboration with the mathematical community, ensuring its relevance for evaluating the next generation of LLMs.

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arXiv2025

Regular homomorphisms, with a twist

Let $X/K$ be a variety over a field, and $A/K$ an abelian variety. A regular homomorphism to $A$ (in codimension $i$) induces, for every smooth geometrically connected pointed $K$-scheme $(T,t_0)$ and every cycle class $Z \in CH^i(T\times X)$, a morphism $T \to A$ of varieties over $K$. In this note we show that, even if $T$ admits no $K$-point, the data $(T,Z)$ determines a torsor $A^{(T,Z)}$ over $K$ under $A$ and a $K$-morphism $T \to A^{(T,Z)}$. This can be used to provide an obstruction to the existence of algebraic cycles defined over $K$. We then connect this obstruction to some recent results of Hassett--Tschinkel and Benoist--Wittenberg on rationality of threefolds.

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arXiv2024

The Beauville-Voisin-Franchetta conjecture and LLSS eightfolds

The Chow rings of hyper-K\"ahler varieties are conjectured to have a particularly rich structure. In this paper, we formulate a conjecture that combines the Beauville-Voisin conjecture regarding the subring generated by divisors and the Franchetta conjecture regarding generically defined cycles. As motivation, we show that this Beauville-Voisin-Franchetta conjecture for a hyper-K\"ahler variety $X$ follows from a combination of Grothendieck's standard conjectures for a very general deformation of $X$, Murre's conjecture (D) for $X$ and the Franchetta conjecture for $X^3$. As evidence, beyond the case of Fano varieties of lines on smooth cubic fourfolds, we show that this conjecture holds for codimension-2 and codimension-8 cycles on Lehn-Lehn-Sorger-van Straten eightfolds. Moreover, we establish that the subring of the Chow ring generated by primitive divisors injects into cohomology.

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arXiv2023

On proper splinters in positive characteristic

While the splinter property is a local property for Noetherian schemes in characteristic zero, Bhatt observed that it imposes strong conditions on the global geometry of proper schemes in positive characteristic. We show that if a proper scheme over a field of positive characteristic is a splinter, then its Nori fundamental group scheme is trivial and its Kodaira dimension is negative. In another direction, Bhatt also showed that any splinter in positive characteristic is a derived splinter. We ask whether the splinter property is a derived invariant for projective varieties in positive characteristic and give a positive answer for normal Gorenstein projective varieties with big anticanonical divisor. We also show that global F-regularity is a derived invariant for normal Gorenstein projective varieties in positive characteristic.

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arXiv2022

A functorial approach to regular homomorphisms

Classically, regular homomorphisms have been defined as a replacement for Abel--Jacobi maps for smooth varieties over an algebraically closed field. In this work, we interpret regular homomorphisms as morphisms from the functor of families of algebraically trivial cycles to abelian varieties and thereby define regular homomorphisms in the relative setting, e.g., families of schemes parameterized by a smooth variety over a given field. In that general setting, we establish the existence of an initial regular homomorphism, going by the name of algebraic representative, for codimension-2 cycles on a smooth proper scheme over the base. This extends a result of Murre for codimension-2 cycles on a smooth projective scheme over an algebraically closed field. In addition, we prove base change results for algebraic representatives as well as descent properties for algebraic representatives along separable field extensions. In the case where the base is a smooth variety over a subfield of the complex numbers we identify the algebraic representative for relative codimension-2 cycles with a subtorus of the intermediate Jacobian fibration which was constructed in previous work.

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arXiv2022

A complete answer to Albanese base change for incomplete varieties

Albanese varieties provide a standard tool in algebraic geometry for converting questions about varieties in general, to questions about Abelian varieties. A result of Serre provides the existence of an Albanese variety for any geometrically connected and geometrically reduced scheme of finite type over a field, and a result of Grothendieck--Conrad establishes that Albanese varieties are stable under base change of field provided the scheme is, in addition, proper. A result of Raynaud shows that base change can fail for Albanese varieties without this properness hypothesis. In this paper we show that Albanese varieties of geometrically connected and geometrically reduced schemes of finite type over a field are stable under separable field extensions. We also show that the failure of base change in general is explained by the L/K-image for purely inseparable extensions L/K.

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arXiv2022

Effective zero-cycles and the Bloch-Beilinson filtration

A conjecture of Voisin states that two points on a smooth projective complex variety whose algebra of holomorphic forms is generated in degree 2 are rationally equivalent to each other if and only if their difference lies in the third step of the Bloch-Beilinson filtration. In this note, we formulate a generalization that allows for rational equivalence of effective zero-cycles of higher degree, at the expense of looking deeper in the Bloch-Beilinson filtration. In the first half, we provide evidence in support of this conjecture in the case of abelian varieties and projective hyper-K\"ahler manifolds. Notably, we give explicit criteria for rational equivalence of effective zero-cycles on moduli spaces of semistable sheaves on K3 surfaces, generalizing that of Marian-Zhao. In the second half, in an effort to explain our main conjecture, we formulate a second conjecture predicting when the diagonal of a smooth projective variety belongs to a subalgebra of the ring of correspondences generated in low degree.

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arXiv2022

De Rham-Betti classes with coefficients

Let $K$ and $L$ be algebraic extensions of the rational numbers inside the field of complex numbers. An $L$-de Rham-Betti class on a smooth projective variety $X$ over $K$ is a class in the Betti cohomology with $L$-coefficients of the analytification of $X$ that descends to a class in the algebraic de Rham cohomology of $X$ via the period comparison isomorphism. The period conjecture of Grothendieck implies that $L$-de Rham-Betti classes should be $L$-linear combinations of algebraic cycle classes. We prove that $L$-de Rham-Betti classes on products of elliptic curves are $L$-linear combinations of algebraic classes, provided $L$ contains at most one of the CM fields associated with the CM elliptic curves involved in the product. A key step consists in establishing a version of the analytic subgroup theorem with $L$-coefficients. Moreover, building on results of Deligne and Andr\'e regarding the Kuga-Satake correspondence, we show that codimension-2 $L$-de Rham-Betti classes on hyper-K\"ahler varieties of known deformation type are $L$-linear combinations of motivated cycles, and we obtain a global de Rham-Betti Torelli theorem for K3 surfaces defined over the algebraic numbers.

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arXiv2022

On the birational motive of hyper-Kähler varieties

We introduce a new ascending filtration, that we call the co-radical filtration in analogy with the basic theory of co-algebras, on the Chow groups of pointed smooth projective varieties. In the case of zero-cycles on projective hyper-Kähler manifolds, we conjecture it agrees with a filtration introduced by Voisin. This is established for moduli spaces of stable objects on K3 surfaces, for generalized Kummer varieties and for the Fano variety of lines on a smooth cubic fourfold. Our overall strategy is to view the birational motive of a smooth projective variety as a co-algebra object with respect to the diagonal embedding and to show in the aforementioned cases the existence of a so-called strict grading whose associated filtration agrees with the filtration of Voisin. As results of independent interest, we upgrade to rational equivalence Voisin's notion of "surface decomposition" and show that the birational motive of some projective hyper-Kähler manifolds is determined, as a co-algebra object, by the birational motive of a surface. We also relate our co-radical filtration on the Chow groups of abelian varieties to Beauville's eigenspace decomposition.

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arXiv2021

The Walker Abel-Jacobi map descends

For a complex projective manifold, Walker has defined a regular homomorphism lifting Griffiths' Abel-Jacobi map on algebraically trivial cycle classes to a complex abelian variety, which admits a finite homomorphism to the Griffiths intermediate Jacobian. Recently Suzuki gave an alternate, Hodge-theoretic, construction of this Walker Abel-Jacobi map. We provide a third construction based on a general lifting property for surjective regular homomorphisms, and prove that the Walker Abel-Jacobi map descends canonically to any field of definition of the complex projective manifold. In addition, we determine the image of the l-adic Bloch map restricted to algebraically trivial cycle classes in terms of the coniveau filtration.

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arXiv2021

Multiplicative Chow-Künneth decompositions and varieties of cohomological K3 type

Given a smooth projective variety, a Chow-Künneth decomposition is called multiplicative if it is compatible with the intersection product. Following works of Beauville and Voisin, Shen and Vial conjectured that hyper-Kähler varieties admit a multiplicative Chow-Künneth decomposition. In this paper, based on the mysterious link between Fano varieties with cohomology of K3 type and hyper-Kähler varieties, we ask whether Fano varieties with cohomology of K3 type also admit a multiplicative Chow-Künneth decomposition, and provide evidence by establishing their existence for cubic fourfolds and Küchle fourfolds of type c7. The main input in the cubic hypersurface case is the Franchetta property for the square of the Fano variety of lines; this was established in our earlier work in the fourfold case and is generalized here to arbitrary dimension. On the other end of the spectrum, we also give evidence that varieties with ample canonical class and with cohomology of K3 type might admit a multiplicative Chow-Künneth decomposition, by establishing this for two families of Todorov surfaces.

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arXiv2021

The generalized Franchetta conjecture for some hyper-Kähler varieties, II

We prove the generalized Franchetta conjecture for the locally complete family of hyper-Kähler eightfolds constructed by Lehn-Lehn-Sorger-van Straten (LLSS). As a corollary, we establish the Beauville-Voisin conjecture for very general LLSS eightfolds. The strategy consists in reducing to the Franchetta property for relative fourth powers of cubic fourfolds, by using the recent description of LLSS eightfolds as moduli spaces of semistable objects in the Kuznetsov component of the derived category of cubic fourfolds, together with its generalization to the relative setting due to Bayer-Lahoz-Macrì-Nuer-Perry-Stellari. As a by-product, we compute the Chow motive of the Fano variety of lines on a smooth cubic hypersurface in terms of the Chow motive of the cubic hypersurface.

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arXiv2021

A motivic global Torelli theorem for isogenous K3 surfaces

We prove that the Chow motives of twisted derived equivalent K3 surfaces are isomorphic, not only as Chow motives (due to Huybrechts), but also as Frobenius algebra objects. Combined with a recent result of Huybrechts, we conclude that two complex projective K3 surfaces are isogenous (i.e. their second rational cohomology groups are Hodge isometric) if and only if their Chow motives are isomorphic as Frobenius algebra objects; this can be regarded as a motivic Torelli-type theorem. We ask whether, more generally, twisted derived equivalent hyper-Kaehler varieties have isomorphic Chow motives as (Frobenius) algebra objects and in particular isomorphic graded rational cohomology algebras. In the appendix, we justify introducing the notion of "Frobenius algebra object" by showing the existence of an infinite family of K3 surfaces whose Chow motives are pairwise non-isomorphic as Frobenius algebra objects but isomorphic as algebra objects. In particular, K3 surfaces in that family are pairwise non-isogenous but have isomorphic rational Hodge algebras.

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arXiv2021

On the image of the second l-adic Bloch map

For a smooth projective geometrically uniruled threefold defined over a perfect field we show that there exists a canonical abelian variety over the field, namely the second algebraic representative, whose rational Tate modules model canonically the third l-adic cohomology groups of the variety for all primes l. In addition, there exists a rational correspondence inducing these identifications. In the case of a geometrically rationally chain connected variety, one obtains canonical identifications between the integral Tate modules of the second algebraic representative and the third l-adic cohomology groups of the variety, and if the variety is a geometrically stably rational threefold, these identifications are induced by an integral correspondence. Our overall strategy consists in studying -- for arbitrary smooth projective varieties -- the image of the second ell-adic Bloch map restricted to the Tate module of algebraically trivial cycle classes in terms of the "correspondence (co)niveau filtration". This complements results with rational coefficients due to Suwa. In the appendix, we review the construction of the Bloch map and its basic properties.

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arXiv2020

On the Chow groups of the variety of lines of a cubic fourfold

Let $X$ be a smooth complex cubic fourfold and let $F$ be the variety of lines of $X$. The variety $F$ is known to be a smooth projective hyperkaehler fourfold, which is moreover endowed with a self rational map $ϕ: F -\rightarrow F$ first constructed by C. Voisin. Here we define a filtration of Bloch--Beilinson type on the Chow group of zero-cycles $CH_0(F)$ which canonically splits under the action of $ϕ$, thereby answering in this case a question of A. Beauville. Moreover, we show that this filtration is of motivic origin, in the sense that it arises from a Chow--Kuenneth decomposition of the diagonal.

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arXiv2020

Cubic fourfolds, Kuznetsov components and Chow motives

We prove that the Chow motives of two smooth cubic fourfolds whose Kuznetsov components are Fourier-Mukai derived-equivalent are isomorphic as Frobenius algebra objects. As a corollary, we obtain that there exists a Galois-equivariant isomorphism between their l-adic cohomology Frobenius algebras. We also discuss the case where the Kuznetsov component of a smooth cubic fourfold is Fourier-Mukai derived-equivalent to a K3 surface.

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arXiv2020

Decomposition of the diagonal, intermediate Jacobians, and universal codimension-2 cycles in positive characteristic

We consider the connections among algebraic cycles, abelian varieties, and stable rationality of smooth projective varieties in positive characteristic. Recently Voisin constructed two new obstructions to stable rationality for rationally connected complex projective threefolds by giving necessary and sufficient conditions for the existence of a cohomological decomposition of the diagonal. In this paper, we show how to extend these obstructions to rationally chain connected threefolds in positive characteristic via ell-adic cohomological decomposition of the diagonal. This requires extending results in Hodge theory regarding intermediate Jacobians and Abel--Jacobi maps to the setting of algebraic representatives. For instance, we show that the algebraic representative for codimension-two cycle classes on a geometrically stably rational threefold admits a canonical auto-duality, which in characteristic zero agrees with the principal polarization on the intermediate Jacobian coming from Hodge theory. As an application, we extend a result of Voisin, and show that in characteristic greater than two, a desingularization of a very general quartic double solid with seven nodes fails one of these two new obstructions, while satisfying all of the classical obstructions. More precisely, it does not admit a universal codimension-two cycle class. In the process, we establish some results on the moduli space of nodal degree-four polarized K3 surfaces in positive characteristic.

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