arXiv subjects

Gian Pietro Pirola

Publications and source records attributed to Gian Pietro Pirola.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Conic linear series and pencils of plane quartics

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 associated geometric structures. As an application, we prove the existence of a non-isotrivial pencil of quartics with only one base point, all whose members are irreducible and whose general member is smooth.

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arXiv2026

On the maximal variation problem and Lefschetz pencils

We study the maximal variation problem for linear systems associated with a very ample line bundle, using Hodge theory and Picard-Lefschetz theory. We provide an affirmative answer to the maximal variation problem for a broad class of smooth projective varieties. This includes varieties $X$ of dimension $n\geq2$ with $p_g=h^{n,0}(X)>0$ and $H^{n-1,0}(X)=\{0\}$, Enriques surfaces, irregular surfaces with maximal Albanese dimension, smooth hyperkähler varieties, and all the smooth not Fano hypersurfaces in $\mathbb{P}^n$. As a consequence, by a result of Beauville, we establish a Lefschetz property for the Jacobian rings of smooth hypersurfaces in $\mathbb{P}^n$ of degree n+1.

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arXiv2026

Normal Functions, Even Theta Characteristics and the Theta Divisor

Let $[C]$ be a general point in the moduli space of curves $M_g$ with $g > 1$. Let $G \subset J(C)$ be a connected compact subgroup of real dimension $1$ of the Jacobian, and let $L$ be an even theta characteristic on $C$. We prove that $\{ζ\in G \mid H^0(C, L \otimes ζ) \neq 0\} = \emptyset$ if and only if $L \otimes ζ_G$ is an even theta characteristic on $C$, where $ζ_G$ is the unique non-trivial point of $G$ of order two.

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arXiv2026

A few remarks on sections of the Picard bundle of family of curves

We study sections of the relative Picard bundle of a family of curves of genus $g \geq 2$ through the rank of the associated normal function. Using Griffiths' formula for the infinitesimal invariant and higher Schiffer variations, we establish a numerical inequality relating the rank, the minimal support of a representing divisor and the modular dimension of the family. When the modular map is dominant, we obtain a sharp classification: equality occurs only for multiples of odd theta characteristics or of the canonical section. As applications, we derive geometric consequences for plane curves, obtaining results on intersections with very general quartic curves, in the spirit of the work of Chen-Riedl-Yeong, and with quintic curves.

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arXiv2025

Pencils of plane cubics with one base point

We study pencils of plane cubics with only one base point and general member smooth, giving a complete classification. Under the additional hypothesis that all members are irreducible, we prove that there exists a unique non-isotrivial pencil with these properties up to projective transformation. We compare our construction with the classical approaches given by Gattazzo, Beauville and Miranda-Persson.

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arXiv2025

Asymptotic directions in the moduli space of curves

In this paper we study asymptotic directions in the tangent bundle of the moduli space ${\mathcal M}_g$ of curves of genus $g$, namely those tangent directions that are annihilated by the second fundamental form of the Torelli map. We give examples of asymptotic directions for any $g \geq 4$. We prove that if the rank $d$ of a tangent direction $ζ\in H^1(T_C)$ (with respect to the infinitesimal deformation map) is less than the Clifford index of the curve $C$, then $ζ$ is not asymptotic. If the rank of $ζ$ is equal to the Clifford index of the curve, we give sufficient conditions ensuring that the infinitesimal deformation $ζ$ is not asymptotic. Then we determine all asymptotic directions of rank 1 and we give an almost complete description of asymptotic directions of rank 2.

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arXiv2024

Projective structures and Hodge theory

Every compact Riemann surface $X$ admits a natural projective structure $p_u$ as a consequence of the uniformization theorem. In this work we describe the construction of another natural projective structure on $X$, namely the Hodge projective structure $p_h$, related to the second fundamental form of the period map. We then describe how projective structures correspond to $(1,1)$-differential forms on the moduli space of projective curves and, from this correspondence, we deduce that $p_u$ and $p_h$ are not the same structure.

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arXiv2024

On the irreducibility of Hessian loci of cubic hypersurfaces

We study the problem of the irreducibility of the Hessian variety $\mathcal{H}_f$ associated with a smooth cubic hypersurface $V(f)\subset \mathbb{P}^n$. We prove that when $n\leq5$, $\mathcal{H}_f$ is normal and irreducible if and only if $f$ is not of Thom-Sebastiani type, i.e., roughly, one can not separate its variables. This also generalizes a result of Beniamino Segre dealing with the case of cubic surfaces. The geometric approach is based on the study of the singular locus of the Hessian variety and on infinitesimal computations arising from a particular description of these singularities.

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arXiv2023

The second fundamental form of the moduli space of cubic threefolds in $\mathcal A_5$

We study the second fundamental form of the Siegel metric in $\mathcal A_5$ restricted to the locus of intermediate Jacobians of cubic threefolds. We prove that the image of this second fundamental form, which is known to be non-trivial, is contained in the kernel of a suitable multiplication map. Some ingredients are: the conic bundle structure of cubic threefolds, Prym theory, Gaussian maps and Jacobian ideals.

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arXiv2023

On the local geometry of the moduli space of $(2,2)$-threefolds in ${\mathcal A}_9$

We study the local geometry of the moduli space of intermediate Jacobians of $(2,2)$-threefolds in ${\mathbb P}^2 \times {\mathbb P}^2$. More precisely, we prove that a composition of the second fundamental form of the Siegel metric in $\mathcal A_9$ restricted to this moduli space, with a natural multiplication map is a nonzero holomorphic section of a vector bundle. We also describe its kernel. We use the two conic bundle structures of these threefolds, Prym theory, gaussian maps and Jacobian ideals.

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arXiv2022

Holomorphic 1-forms on some coverings of the moduli space of curves

In this paper we consider unramified coverings of the moduli space $\mathcal{M}_g$ of smooth projective complex curves of genus $g$. Under some hypothesis on the branch locus of the finite extended map to the Deligne-Mumford compactification, we prove the vanishing of the vector space of holomorphic 1-forms on the preimage of the smooth locus of $\mathcal{M}_g$. This applies to several moduli spaces, as the moduli space of curves with 2-level structures, of spin curves and of Prym curves. In particular, we obtain that there are no non-trivial holomorphic 1-forms on the smooth open set of the Prym locus.

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arXiv2022

A theorem of Gordan and Noether via Gorenstein rings

Gordan and Noether proved in their fundamental theorem that an hypersurface $X=V(F)\subseteq \mathbb{P}^n$ with $n\leq 3$ is a cone if and only if $F$ has vanishing hessian (i.e. the determinant of the Hessian matrix). They also showed that the statement is false if $n\geq 4$, by giving some counterexamples. Since their proof, several others have been proposed in the literature. In this paper we give a new one by using a different perspective which involves the study of standard Artinian Gorenstein $\mathbb{K}$-algebras and the Lefschetz properties. As a further application of our setting, we prove that a standard Artinian Gorenstein algebra $R=\mathbb{K}[x_0,\dots,x_4]/J$ with $J$ generated by a regular sequence of quadrics has the strong Lefschetz property. In particular, this holds for Jacobian rings associated to smooth cubic threefolds.

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arXiv2021

Infinitesimal variation functions for families of smooth varieties

In this paper we introduce some {\it variation functions} associated to the rank of the Infinitesimal Variations of Hodge Structure for a family of smooth projective complex curves. We give some bounds and inequalities and, in particular, we prove that if $X$ is a smooth plane curve $X$, then there exists a first order deformation $ξ\in H^1(T_X)$ which deforms $X$ as plane curve, such that $ξ\cdot:H^0(ω_X)\to H^1(\mathcal{O}_{X})$ is an isomorphism. We also generalize the notions of variation functions to the higher dimensional case and we analyze the link between IVHS and the Weak and Strong Lefschetz properties of the Jacobian ring of a smooth hypersurface.

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arXiv2021

Quillen connection and the uniformization of Riemann surfaces

The Quillen connection on ${\mathcal L} \rightarrow {\mathcal M}_g$, where ${\mathcal L}^*$ is the Hodge line bundle over the moduli stack of smooth complex projective curves curves ${\mathcal M}_g$, $g \geq 5$, is uniquely determined by the condition that its curvature is the Weil--Petersson form on ${\mathcal M}_g$. The bundle of holomorphic connections on ${\mathcal L}$ has a unique holomorphic isomorphism with the bundle on ${\mathcal M}_g$ given by the moduli stack of projective structures. This isomorphism takes the $C^\infty$ section of the first bundle given by the Quillen connection on ${\mathcal L}$ to the $C^\infty$ section of the second bundle given by the uniformization theorem. Therefore, any one of these two sections determines the other uniquely.

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arXiv2021

Reconstructing curves from their Hodge classes

Let $S$ be a smooth algebraic surface in $\mathbb{P}^3(\mathbb{C})$. A curve $C$ in $S$ has a cohomology class $η_C \in H^1 \hspace{-3pt}\left( Ω^1_S \right)$. Define $α(C)$ to be the equivalence class of $η_C$ in the quotient of $H^1 \hspace{-3pt}\left( Ω^1_S \right)$ modulo the subspace generated by the class $η_H$ of a plane section of $S$. In the paper "Reconstructing subvarieties from their periods" the authors Movasati and Sertöz pose several interesting questions about the reconstruction of $C$ from the annihilator $I_{α(C)}$ of $α(C)$ in the polynomial ring $R=H^0_*(\mathcal{O}_{\mathbb{P}^3})$. It contains the homogeneous ideal of $C$, but is much larger as $R/I_{α(C)}$ is artinian. We give sharp numerical conditions that guarantee $C$ is reconstructed by forms of low degree in $I_{α(C)}$. We also show it is not always the case that the class $α(C)$ is \textit{perfect}, that is, that $I_{α(C)}$ could be bigger than the sum of the Jacobian ideal of $S$ and of the homogeneous ideals of curves $D$ in $S$ for which $I_{α(D)}=I_{α(C)}$.

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arXiv2020

A Hodge theoretic projective structure on Riemann surfaces

Given any compact Riemann surface $C$, there is a canonical meromorphic 2--form $\widehatη$ on $C\times C$, with pole of order two on the diagonal $Δ\, \subset\, C\times C$, constructed in \cite{cfg}. This meromorphic 2--form $\widehatη$ produces a canonical projective structure on $C$. On the other hand the uniformization theorem provides another canonical projective structure on any compact Riemann surface $C$. We prove that these two projective structures differ in general. This is done by comparing the $(0,1)$--component of the differential of the corresponding sections of the moduli space of projective structures over the moduli space of curves. The $(0,1)$--component of the differential of the section corresponding to the projective structure given by the uniformization theorem was computed by Zograf and Takhtadzhyan in \cite{ZT} as the Weil--Petersson Kähler form $ω_{wp}$ on the moduli space of curves. We prove that the $(0,1)$--component of the differential of the section of the moduli space of projective structures corresponding to $\widehatη$ is the pullback of a nonzero constant scalar multiple of the Siegel form, on the moduli space of principally polarized abelian varieties, by the Torelli map.

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arXiv2020

Hyperelliptic odd coverings

We investigate a class of odd (ramification) coverings $C \to \mathbb{P}^1$ where $C$ is hyperelliptic, its Weierstrass points maps to one fixed point of $\mathbb{P}^1$ and the covering map makes the hyperelliptic involution of $C$ commute with an involution of $\mathbb{P}^1$. We show that the total number of hyperelliptic odd coverings of minimal degree $4g$ is ${3g \choose g-1} 2^{2g}$ when $C$ is general. Our study is approached from three main perspectives: if a fixed effective theta characteristic is fixed they are described as a solution of a certain class of differential equations; then they are studied from the monodromy viewpoint and a deformation argument that leads to the final computation.

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arXiv2020

On the geometry of the second fundamental form of the Torelli map

In this paper we give a geometric interpretation of the second fundamental form of the period map of curves and we use it to improve the upper bounds on the dimension of a totally geodesic subvariety Y of A_g generically contained in the Torelli locus obtained in [3], [7]. We get dim Y < 2g if g is even, dim Y < 2g+1 if g is odd. We also study totally geodesic subvarieties Z of A_g generically contained in the hyperelliptic Torelli locus and we show that dim Z < g+2.

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