arXiv subjects

Paolo Aluffi

Publications and source records attributed to Paolo Aluffi.

63 records · Page 4Linked to original sources

arXiv2001

Interpolation of characteristic classes of singular hypersurfaces

We show that the Chern-Schwartz-MacPherson class of a hypersurface X in a nonsingular variety M `interpolates' between two other notions of characteristic classes for singular varieties, provided that the singular locus of X is smooth and that certain numerical invariants of X are constant along this locus. This allows us to define a lift of the Chern-Schwartz-MacPherson class of such `nice' hypersurfaces to intersection homology. As another application, the interpolation result leads to an explicit formula for the Chern-Schwartz-MacPherson class of X in terms of its polar classes.

math.AG↗

arXiv1999

Linear orbits of arbitrary plane curves

The `linear orbit' of a plane curve of degree $d$ is its orbit in $¶^{d(d+3)/2}$ under the natural action of $\PGL(3)$. In this paper we obtain an algorithm computing the degree of the closure of the linear orbit of an arbitrary plane curve, and give explicit formulas for plane curves with irreducible singularities. The main tool is an intersection@-theoretic study of the projective normal cone of a scheme determined by the curve in the projective space $¶^8$ of $3\times 3$ matrices; this expresses the degree of the orbit closure in terms of the degrees of suitable loci related to the limits of the curve. These limits, and the degrees of the corresponding loci, have been established in previous work.

math.AG↗

arXiv1999

Plane curves with small linear orbits II

The `linear orbit' of a plane curve of degree d is its orbit in P^{d(d+3)/2} under the natural action of PGL(3). We classify curves with positive dimensional stabilizer, and we compute the degree of the closure of the linear orbits of curves supported on unions of lines. Together with the results of math.AG/9805020, this encompasses the enumerative geometry of all plane curves with small linear orbit. This information will serve elsewhere as an ingredient in the computation of the degree of the orbit closure of an arbitrary plane curve.

math.AG↗

arXiv1999

Plane curves with small linear orbits I

The `linear orbit' of a plane curve of degree d is its orbit in the projective space of dimension d(d+3)/2 parametrizing such curves under the natural action of PGL(3). In this paper we compute the degree of the closure of the linear orbits of most curves with positive dimensional stabilizers. Our tool is a nonsingular variety dominating the orbit closure, which we construct by a blow-up sequence mirroring the sequence yielding an embedded resolution of the curve. The results given here will serve as an ingredient in the computation of the analogous information for arbitrary plane curves. Linear orbits of smooth plane curves are studied in [A-F1].

math.AG↗

arXiv1998

Weighted Chern-Mather classes and Milnor classes of hypersurfaces

We introduce a class extending the notion of Chern-Mather class to possibly nonreduced schemes, and use it to express the difference between Schwartz-MacPherson's Chern class and the class of the virtual tangent bundle of a singular hypersurface of a nonsingular variety. Applications include constraints on the possible singularities of a hypersurface and on contacts of nonsingular hypersurfaces, and multiplicity computations.

math.AG↗

arXiv1996

Chern classes for singular hypersurfaces

We prove a simple formula for MacPherson's Chern class of hypersurfaces in nonsingular varieties. The result highlights the relation between MacPherson's class and other definitions of homology Chern classes of singular varieties, such as Mather's Chern class and a class introduced by W. Fulton.

alg-geom↗

arXiv1994

A blow-up construction and graph coloring

Given a graph G (or more generally a matroid embedded in a projective space), we construct a sequence of varieties whose geometry encodes combinatorial information about G. For example, the chromatic polynomial of G (giving at each m>0 the number of colorings of G with m colors, such that no adjacent vertices are assigned the same color) can be computed as an intersection product between certain classes on these varieties, and other information such as Crapo's invariant find a very natural geometric counterpart. The note presents this construction, and gives `geometric' proofs of a number of standard combinatorial results on the chromatic polynomial.

alg-geom↗

arXiv1992

Linear orbits of smooth plane curves

The group PGL(3) of linear transformations of the projective plane acts naturally on the projective space parametrizing curves of a given degree. In this note we begin the study of the orbits of smooth curves under this action: we construct a resolution of the closure of the orbit of a given curve, and we use it to compute its degree. This turns out to depend only on the degree of the curve, the order of its automorphism group, and on the number and type of its flexes. This paper will appear on the Journal of Algebraic Geometry.

alg-geom↗

arXiv1992

Linear orbits of d-tuples of points in P^1

The group PGL(2) of linear transformations of the projective line acts naturally on the d-dimensional projective space P^d parametrizing configurations (`d-tuples') of points on the line. In this note we are concerned with the orbits of this action of PGL(2) on P^d. The closure of each orbit is a projective subvariety of P^d of which we determine the degree, the `boundary'--i.e., the complement of an orbit in its closure--, and the multiplicity at points of the boundary. These results are used to provide a complete classification of the non-singular orbit closures, and criteria for an orbit closure to be non-singular in codimension 1.

alg-geom↗