On a relative form of Verdier Specialization
We prove a relative form of Verdier's specialization formula, and apply it to derive a Chern class identity predicted by string dualities.
arXiv subjects
Publications and source records attributed to James Fullwood.
We prove a relative form of Verdier's specialization formula, and apply it to derive a Chern class identity predicted by string dualities.
Using the construct of "Verdier specialization", we provide a purely mathematical derivation of Chern class identities which upon integration yield the D3-brane tadpole relations coming from the equivalence between F-theory and associated weakly coupled type IIB orientifold limits. In particular, we find that all Chern class identities associated with weak coupling limits appearing in the physics literature are manifestations of a relative version of Verdier's specialization formula.
For any algebraic scheme $X$ and every $(n,\mathscr{L})\in \mathbb{Z}\times \text{Pic}(X)$ we define an associated involution of its Chow group $A_*X$, and show that certain characteristic classes of (possibly singular) hypersurfaces in a smooth variety are interchanged via these involutions. For $X=\mathbb{P}^N$ we show that such involutions are induced by involutive correspondences.
For every positive integer $n\in \mathbb{Z}_+$ we define an `Euler polynomial' $\mathscr{E}_n(t)\in \mathbb{Z}[t]$, and observe that for a fixed $n$ all Chern numbers (as well as other numerical invariants) of all smooth hypersurfaces in $\mathbb{P}^n$ may be recovered from the single polynomial $\mathscr{E}_n(t)$. More generally, we show that all Chern classes of hypersurfaces in a smooth variety may be recovered from its top Chern class.
We derive a formula for the Milnor class of scheme-theoretic global complete intersections (with arbitrary singularities) in a smooth variety in terms of the Segre class of its singular scheme. In codimension one the formula recovers a formula of Aluffi for the Milnor class of a hypersurface.
We investigate aspects of certain stringy invariants of singular elliptic fibrations which arise in engineering Grand Unified Theories in F-theory. In particular, we exploit the small resolutions of the total space of these fibrations provided recently in the physics literature to compute `stringy characteristic classes', and find that numerical invariants obtained by integrating such characteristic classes are predetermined by the topology of the base of the elliptic fibration. Moreover, we derive a simple (dimension independent) formula for pushing forward powers of the exceptional divisor of a blowup, which one may use to reduce any integral (in the sense of Chow cohomology) on a small resolution of a singular elliptic fibration to an integral on the base. We conclude with a speculatory note on the cohomology of small resolutions of GUT vacua, where we conjecture that certain simple formulas for their Hodge numbers may be given solely in terms of the first Chern class and Hodge numbers of the base.}
We compute all Hirzebruch invariants $χ_q$ for $D_5$, $E_6$, $E_7$ and $E_8$ elliptic fibrations of every dimension. A single generating series $χ(t,y)$ is produced for each family of fibrations such that the coefficient of $t^{k}y^{q}$ encodes $χ_q$ over a base of dimension $k$, solely in terms of invariants of the base of the fibration.
We present a formula for computing proper pushforwards of classes in the Chow ring of a projective bundle under the projection $π:\Pbb(\Escr)\rightarrow B$, for $B$ a non-singular compact complex algebraic variety of any dimension. Our formula readily produces generalizations of formulas derived by Sethi,Vafa, and Witten to compute the Euler characteristic of elliptically fibered Calabi-Yau fourfolds used for F-theory compactifications of string vacua. The utility of such a formula is illustrated through applications, such as the ability to compute the Chern numbers of any non-singular complete intersection in such a projective bundle in terms of the Chern class of a line bundle on $B$.
A D5 elliptic fibration is a fibration whose generic fiber is modeled by the complete intersection of two quadric surfaces in P3. They provide simple examples of elliptic fibrations admitting a rich spectrum of singular fibers (not all on the list of Kodaira) without introducing singularities in the total space of the fibration and therefore avoiding a discussion of their resolutions. We study systematically the fiber geometry of such fibrations using Segre symbols and compute several topological invariants. We present for the first time Sen's (orientifold) limits for D5 elliptic fibrations. These orientifolds limit describe different weak coupling limits of F-theory to type IIB string theory giving a system of three brane-image-brane pairs in presence of a Z_2 orientifold. The orientifold theory is mathematically described by the double cover the base of the elliptic fibration. Such orientifold theories are characterized by a transition from a semi-stable singular fiber to an unstable one. In this paper, we describe the first example of a weak coupling limit in F-theory characterized by a transition to a non-Kodaira (and non-ADE) fiber. Inspired by string dualities, we obtain non-trivial topological relations connecting the elliptic fibration and the different loci that appear in its weak coupling limit. Mathematically, these are surprising relations relating the total Chern class of the D5 elliptic fibration and those of different loci that naturally appear in the weak coupling limit. We work in arbitrary dimension and our results don't assume the Calabi-Yau condition.