arXiv subjects

Jaume Alonso

Publications and source records attributed to Jaume Alonso.

13 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Geometry of two- and three-dimensional integrable systems related to affine Weyl groups $W(E_8^{(1)})$ and $W(E_7^{(1)})$

We find a general framework for the construction of birational involutions on two- and three-dimensional varieties obtained from $\mathbb P^2$, $\mathbb P^1\times \mathbb P^1$, and $\mathbb P^3$ by blow-up at nine, respectively eight points. Each such involution is based on a divisor class with a one-dimensional linear system with a generic element of genus zero. Classical Manin involutions represent the simplest particular case. Novel, more sophisticated cases identified here include birational involutions of $\mathbb P^2$ along conics and along nodal cubic curves, as well as birational involutions of $\mathbb P^3$ along quadratic cones and along Cayley nodal cubic surfaces. We prove a general formula for the induced action of geometric birational involutions on the respective Picard group, and give a general result about decomposition of translational elements of the respective affine Weyl group of symmetries into a product of two geometric birational involutions.

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arXiv2025

Geometry of autonomous discrete Painlev\'e equations related to the Weyl group $W(E_8^{(1)})$

Discrete Painlev\'e equations are integrable two-dimensional birational maps associated to a family of generalized Halphen surfaces. The latter can be seen either as $\mathbb P^2$ blown up at nine points or as $\mathbb P^1\times\mathbb P^1$ blown up at eight points. These maps become autonomous if the blow-up points are in a special position (support a pencil of cubic curves in $\mathbb P^2$, respectively a pencil of biquadratic curves in $\mathbb P^1\times\mathbb P^1$), so that the generalized Halphen surfaces become rational elliptic surfaces. In the generic case, the symmetry of a discrete Painlev\'e equation is the Weyl group $W(E_8^{(1)})$. One has a system of commuting maps which correspond to translational elements of $W(E_8^{(1)})$ associated to the roots of the lattice $E_8^{(1)}$. In the present note, we give a geometric construction of these commuting maps. For this, we use some novel birational involutions based on the above mentioned pencils of curves.

nlin.SI↗

arXiv2025

Invariant volume form for 3D QRT maps

Recently, we proposed a three-dimensional generalization of QRT maps. These novel maps can be associated with pairs of pencils of quadrics in $\mathbb P^3$. By construction, these maps have two rational integrals (parameters of both pencils). In the present paper, we find an invariant volume form for these maps, thus finally establishing their integrability.

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arXiv2025

Discrete Painlev\'e equations from pencils of quadrics in $\mathbb P^3$ with branching generators

In this paper we extend the novel approach to discrete Painlev\'e equations initiated in our previous work [2]. A classification scheme for discrete Painlev\'e equations proposed by Sakai interprets them as birational isomorphisms between generalized Halphen surfaces (surfaces obtained from $\mathbb P^1\times\mathbb P^1$ by blowing up at eight points). Sakai's classification is thus based on the classification of generalized Halphen surfaces. In our scheme, the family of generalized Halphen surfaces is replaced by a pencil of quadrics in $\mathbb P^3$. A discrete Painlev\'e equation is viewed as an autonomous transformation of $\mathbb P^3$ that preserves the pencil and maps each quadric of the pencil to a different one. Thus, our scheme is based on the classification of pencils of quadrics in $\mathbb P^3$. Compared to our previous work, here we consider a technically more demanding case where the characteristic polynomial $\Delta(\lambda)$ of the pencil of quadrics is not a complete square. As a consequence, traversing the pencil via a 3D Painlev\'e map corresponds to a translation on the universal cover of the Riemann surface of $\sqrt{\Delta(\lambda)}$, rather than to a M\"obius transformation of the pencil parameter $\lambda$ as in [2].

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arXiv2024

Discrete Painlev\'e equations and pencils of quadrics in $\mathbb P^3$

Discrete Painlev\'e equations constitute a famous class of integrable non-autonomous second order difference equations. A classification scheme proposed by Sakai interprets a discrete Painlev\'e equation as a birational map between generalized Halphen surfaces (surfaces obtained from $\mathbb P^1\times\mathbb P^1$ by blowing up at eight points). We propose a novel geometric interpretation of discrete Painlev\'e equations, where the family of generalized Halphen surfaces is replaced by a pencil of quadrics in $\mathbb P^3$. A discrete Painlev\'e equation is viewed as an autonomous birational transformation of $\mathbb P^3$ that preserves the pencil and maps each quadric of the pencil to a different one, according to a M\"obius transformation of the pencil parameter. Thus, our scheme is based on the classification of pencils of quadrics in $\mathbb P^3$.

nlin.SI↗

arXiv2023

The twisting index in semitoric systems

Semitoric integrable systems were symplectically classified by Pelayo and Vu Ngoc in 2009-2011 in terms of five invariants. Four of these invariants were already well-understood prior to the classification, but the fifth invariant, the so-called twisting index invariant, came as a surprise. Intuitively, the twisting index encodes how the structure in a neighborhood of a focus-focus fiber compares to the large-scale structure of the semitoric system and it was originally defined by comparing certain momentum maps. In the first half of the present paper, we produce several new formulations of the twisting index which give rise to dynamical, geometric, and topological interpretations. More specifically, we describe it in terms of differences of action variables, Taylor series, and homology cycles. In the second half of the paper, we compute the twisting index invariant of a specific family of systems with two focus-focus singular points (the so-called generalized coupled angular momenta), which is the first time that the twisting index has been computed for a system with more than one focus-focus point. Moreover, we also compute the terms of the Taylor series invariant up to second order. Since the other invariants of this family were already computed, this becomes the third family of semitoric systems for which all invariants are known, after the coupled spin oscillators and the coupled angular momenta.

math.SG↗

arXiv2023

Dynamical degrees of birational maps from indices of polynomials with respect to blow-ups II. 3D examples

The goal of this paper is the exact computation of the degrees $\text{deg}(f^n)$ of the iterates of birational maps $f: \mathbb{P}^N \dashrightarrow \mathbb{P}^N$. In the preceding companion paper, a new method has been proposed based on the use of indices of polynomials associated to the local blow-ups used to resolve contractions of hypersurfaces by $f$, and on the control of the factorization of pull-backs of polynomials. This leads to recurrence relations for the degrees and the indices. We apply this method to several illustrative examples in three dimensions. These examples demonstrate the flexibility of the method which, in particular, does not require the construction of an algebraically stable lift of $f$, unlike the previously known methods based on the Picard group.

math.DS↗

arXiv2023

Dynamical degrees of birational maps from indices of polynomials with respect to blow-ups I. General theory and 2D examples

In this paper we address the problem of computing $\text{deg}(f^n)$, the degrees of iterates of a birational map $f:\mathbb{P}^N\rightarrow\mathbb{P}^N$. For this goal, we develop a method based on two main ingredients: the factorization of a polynomial under pull-back of $f$, based on local indices of a polynomial associated to blow-ups used to resolve the contraction of hypersurfaces by $f$, and the propagation of these indices along orbits of $f$. For maps admitting algebraically stable modifications $f_X:X\rightarrow X$, where $X$ is a variety obtained from $\mathbb P^N$ by a finite number of blow-ups, this method leads to an algorithm producing a finite system of recurrent equations relating the degrees and indices of iterated pull-backs of linear polynomials. We illustrate the method by three representative two-dimensional examples. It is actually applicable in any dimension, and we will provide a number of three-dimensional examples as a separate companion paper.

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arXiv2022

A three-dimensional generalization of QRT maps

We propose a geometric construction of three-dimensional birational maps that preserve two pencils of quadrics. The maps act as compositions of involutions, which, in turn, act along the straight line generators of the quadrics of the first pencil and are defined by the intersections with quadrics of the second pencil. On each quadric of the first pencil, the maps act as two-dimensional QRT maps. While these maps are of a pretty high degree in general, we find geometric conditions which guarantee that the degree is reduced to 3. The resulting degree 3 maps are illustrated by two known and two novel Kahan-type discretizations of three-dimensional Nambu systems, including the Euler top and the Zhukovski-Volterra gyrostat with two non-vanishing components of the gyrostatic momentum.

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arXiv2020

The height invariant of a four-parameter semitoric system with two focus-focus singularities

Semitoric systems are a special class of completely integrable systems with two degrees of freedom that have been symplectically classified by Pelayo and Vu Ngoc about a decade ago in terms of five symplectic invariants. If a semitoric system has several focus-focus singularities, then some of these invariants have multiple components, one for each focus-focus singularity. Their computation is not at all evident, especially in multi-parameter families. In this paper, we consider a four-parameter family of semitoric systems with two focus-focus singularities. In particular, apart from the polygon invariant, we compute the so-called height invariant. Moreover, we show that the two components of this invariant encode the symmetries of the system in an intricate way.

math.DS↗

arXiv2019

Survey on recent developments in semitoric systems

Semitoric systems are a special class of four-dimensional completely integrable systems where one of the first integrals generates an $\mathbb{S}^1$-action. They were classified by Pelayo & Vu Ngoc in terms of five symplectic invariants about a decade ago. We give a survey over the recent progress which has been mostly focused on the explicit computation of the symplectic invariants for families of semitoric systems depending on several parameters and the generation of new examples with certain properties, such as a specific number of singularities of lowest rank.

math.DS↗

arXiv2018

Taylor series and twisting-index invariants of coupled spin-oscillators

About six years ago, semitoric systems on 4-dimensional manifolds were classified by Pelayo & Vu Ngoc by means of five invariants. A standard example of such a system is the coupled spin-oscillator on $\mathbb{S}^2 \times \mathbb{R}^2$. Calculations of three of the five semitoric invariants of this system (namely the number of focus-focus singularities, the generalised semitoric polygon, and the height invariant) already appeared in the literature, but the so-called twisting index was not yet computed and, of the so-called Taylor series invariant, only the linear terms were known. In the present paper, we complete the list of invariants for the coupled spin-oscillator by calculating higher order terms of the Taylor series invariant and by computing the twisting index. Moreover, we prove that the Taylor series invariant has certain symmetry properties that make the even powers in one of the variables vanish and allow us to show superintegrability of the coupled spin-oscillator on the zero energy level.

math.SG↗

arXiv2018

Symplectic classification of coupled angular momenta

The coupled angular momenta are a family of completely integrable systems that depend on three parameters and have a compact phase space. They correspond to the classical version of the coupling of two quantum angular momenta and they constitute one of the fundamental examples of so-called semitoric systems. Pelayo & Vu Ngoc have given a classification of semitoric systems in terms of five symplectic invariants. Three of these invariants have already been partially calculated in the literature for a certain parameter range, together with the linear terms of the so-called Taylor series invariant for a fixed choice of parameter values. In the present paper we complete the classification by calculating the polygon invariant, the height invariant, the twisting-index invariant, and the higher-order terms of the Taylor series invariant for the whole family of systems. We also analyse the explicit dependence of the coefficients of the Taylor series with respect to the three parameters of the system, in particular near the Hopf bifurcation where the focus-focus point becomes degenerate.

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