arXiv subjects

R. P. Thomas

Publications and source records attributed to R. P. Thomas.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2025

Hodge theory and derived categories of cubic fourfolds

Cubic fourfolds behave in many ways like K3 surfaces. Certain cubics - conjecturally, the ones that are rational - have specific K3s associated to them geometrically. Hassett has studied cubics with K3s associated to them at the level of Hodge theory, and Kuznetsov has studied cubics with K3s associated to them at the level of derived categories. These two notions of having an associated K3 should coincide. We prove that they coincide generically: Hassett's cubics form a countable union of irreducible Noether-Lefschetz divisors in moduli space, and we show that Kuznetsov's cubics are a dense subset of these, forming a non-empty, Zariski open subset in each divisor.

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arXiv2019

Curve counting via stable pairs in the derived category

For a nonsingular projective 3-fold $X$, we define integer invariants virtually enumerating pairs $(C,D)$ where $C\subset X$ is an embedded curve and $D\subset C$ is a divisor. A virtual class is constructed on the associated moduli space by viewing a pair as an object in the derived category of $X$. The resulting invariants are conjecturally equivalent, after universal transformations, to both the Gromov-Witten and DT theories of $X$. For Calabi-Yau 3-folds, the latter equivalence should be viewed as a wall-crossing formula in the derived category. Several calculations of the new invariants are carried out. In the Fano case, the local contributions of nonsingular embedded curves are found. In the local toric Calabi-Yau case, a completely new form of the topological vertex is described. The virtual enumeration of pairs is closely related to the geometry underlying the BPS state counts of Gopakumar and Vafa. We prove that our integrality predictions for Gromov-Witten invariants agree with the BPS integrality. Conversely, the BPS geometry imposes strong conditions on the enumeration of pairs.

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arXiv2019

Smoothing nodal Calabi-Yau n-folds

Let X be an n-dimensional Calabi-Yau with ordinary double points, where n is odd. Friedman showed that for n=3 the existence of a smoothing of X implies a specific type of relation between homology classes on a resolution of X. (The converse is also true, due to work of Friedman, Kawamata and Tian.) We sketch a more topological proof of this result, and then extend it to higher dimensions. For n>3 the "Yukawa product" on the middle dimensional (co)homology plays an unexpected role. We also discuss a converse, proving it for nodal Calabi-Yau hypersurfaces in projective space.

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arXiv2019

Stable pairs with descendents on local surfaces I: the vertical component

We study the full stable pair theory --- with descendents --- of the Calabi-Yau 3-fold $X=K_S$, where $S$ is a surface with a smooth canonical divisor $C$. By both $\mathbb C^*$-localisation and cosection localisation we reduce to stable pairs supported on thickenings of $C$ indexed by partitions. We show that only strict partitions contribute, and give a complete calculation for length-1 partitions. The result is a surprisingly simple closed product formula for these "vertical" thickenings. This gives all contributions for the curve classes $[C]$ and $2[C]$ (and those which are not an integer multiple of the canonical class). Here the result verifies, via the descendent-MNOP correspondence, a conjecture of Maulik-Pandharipande, as well as various results about the Gromov-Witten theory of $S$ and spin Hurwitz numbers.

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arXiv2017

Notes on HPD

Beginning with the theorems of Beilinson and Orlov on derived categories, we show how these lead naturally to Kuznetsov's beautiful theory of Homological Projective Duality. We then survey some examples.

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arXiv2017

The Katz-Klemm-Vafa conjecture for K3 surfaces

We prove the KKV conjecture expressing Gromov-Witten invariants of K3 surfaces in terms of modular forms. Our results apply in every genus and for every curve class. The proof uses the Gromov-Witten/Pairs correspondence for K3-fibered hypersurfaces of dimension 3 to reduce the KKV conjecture to statements about stable pairs on (thickenings of) K3 surfaces. Using degeneration arguments and new multiple cover results for stable pairs, we reduce the KKV conjecture further to the known primitive cases. Our results yield a new proof of the full Yau-Zaslow formula, establish new Gromov-Witten multiple cover formulas, and express the fiberwise Gromov-Witten partition functions of K3-fibered 3-folds in terms of explicit modular forms.

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arXiv2017

Stable pairs and BPS invariants

We define the BPS invariants of Gopakumar-Vafa in the case of irreducible curve classes on Calabi-Yau 3-folds. The main tools are the theory of stable pairs in the derived category and Behrend's constructible function approach to the virtual class. We prove that for irreducible classes the stable pairs generating function satisfies the strong BPS rationality conjectures. We define the contribution of each curve to the BPS invariants. A curve $C$ only contributes to the BPS invariants in genera lying between the geometric genus and arithmetic genus of $C$. Complete formulae are derived for nonsingular and nodal curves. A discussion of primitive classes on K3 surfaces from the point of view of stable pairs is given in the Appendix via calculations of Kawai-Yoshioka. A proof of the Yau-Zaslow formula for rational curve counts is obtained. A connection is made to the Katz-Klemm-Vafa formula for BPS counts in all genera.

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arXiv2016

13/2 ways of counting curves

In the past 20 years, compactifications of the families of curves in algebraic varieties X have been studied via stable maps, Hilbert schemes, stable pairs, unramified maps, and stable quotients. Each path leads to a different enumeration of curves. A common thread is the use of a 2-term deformation/obstruction theory to define a virtual fundamental class. The richest geometry occurs when X is a nonsingular projective variety of dimension 3. We survey here the 13/2 principal ways to count curves with special attention to the 3-fold case. The different theories are linked by a web of conjectural relationships which we highlight. Our goal is to provide a guide for graduate students looking for an elementary route into the subject.

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arXiv2016

Reduced classes and curve counting on surfaces I: theory

We develop a theory of \emph{reduced} Gromov-Witten and stable pair invariants of surfaces and their canonical bundles. We show that classical Severi degrees are special cases of these invariants. This proves a special case of the MNOP conjecture, and allows us to generalise the Göttsche conjecture to the non-ample case. In a sequel we prove this generalisation. We prove a remarkable property of the moduli space of stable pairs on a surface. It is the zero locus of a section of a bundle on a smooth compact ambient space, making calculation with the reduced virtual cycle possible.

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arXiv2016

An obstructed bundle on a Calabi-Yau 3-fold

Mirror symmetry suggests that on a Calabi-Yau 3-fold moduli spaces of stable bundles, especially those with degree zero and indivisible Chern class, might be smooth (i.e. unobstructed, though perhaps of too high a dimension). This is because smoothly embedded special lagrangian cycles in the mirror have unobstructed deformations. As there does not seem to be a counterexample in the literature we provide one here, showing that such a Tian-Todorov-McLean-type result cannot hold.

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arXiv2016

Notes on the proof of the KKV conjecture

The Katz-Klemm-Vafa conjecture expresses the Gromov-Witten theory of K3 surfaces (and K3-fibred 3-folds in fibre classes) in terms of modular forms. Its recent proof gives the first non-toric geometry in dimension greater than 1 where Gromov-Witten theory is exactly solved in all genera. We survey the various steps in the proof. The MNOP correspondence and a new Pairs/Noether-Lefschetz correspondence for K3-fibred 3-folds transform the Gromov-Witten problem into a calculation of the full stable pairs theory of a local K3-fibred 3-fold. The stable pairs calculation is then carried out via degeneration, localisation, vanishing results, and new multiple cover formulae.

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arXiv2015

Counting curves on surfaces in Calabi-Yau 3-folds

Motivated by S-duality modularity conjectures in string theory, we define new invariants counting a restricted class of 2-dimensional torsion sheaves, enumerating pairs $Z\subset H$ in a Calabi-Yau threefold X. Here H is a member of a sufficiently positive linear system and Z is a 1-dimensional subscheme of it. The associated sheaf is the ideal sheaf of $Z\subset H$, pushed forward to X and considered as a certain Joyce-Song pair in the derived category of X. We express these invariants in terms of the MNOP invariants of X.

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arXiv2014

A short proof of the Göttsche conjecture

We prove that for a sufficiently ample line bundle $L$ on a surface $S$, the number of $δ$-nodal curves in a general $δ$-dimensional linear system is given by a universal polynomial of degree $δ$ in the four numbers $L^2,\,L.K_S,\,K_S^2$ and $c_2(S)$. The technique is a study of Hilbert schemes of points on curves on a surface, using the BPS calculus of [PT3] and the computation of tautological integrals on Hilbert schemes by Ellingsrud, Göttsche and Lehn. We are also able to weaken the ampleness required, from Göttsche's $(5δ-1)$-very ample to $δ$-very ample.

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arXiv2014

Reduced classes and curve counting on surfaces II: calculations

We calculate the stable pair theory of a projective surface $S$. For fixed curve class $β\in H^2(S)$ the results are entirely topological, depending on $β^2$, $β.c_1(S)$, $c_1(S)^2$, $c_2(S)$, $b_1(S)$ \emph{and} invariants of the ring structure on $H^*(S)$ such as the Pfaffian of $β$ considered as an element of $Λ^2 H^1(S)^*$. Amongst other things, this proves an extension of the Göttsche conjecture to non-ample linear systems. We also give conditions under which this calculates the full 3-fold reduced residue theory of $K_S$. This is related to the reduced residue Gromov-Witten theory of $S$ via the MNOP conjecture. When the surface has no holomorphic 2-forms this can be expressed as saying that certain Gromov-Witten invariants of $S$ are topological. Our method uses the results of \cite{KT1} to express the reduced virtual cycle in terms of Euler classes of bundles over a natural smooth ambient space.

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arXiv2013

Deformation-obstruction theory for complexes via Atiyah and Kodaira--Spencer classes

We give a universal approach to the deformation-obstruction theory of objects of the derived category of coherent sheaves over a smooth projective family. We recover and generalise the obstruction class of Lowen and Lieblich, and prove that it is a product of Atiyah and Kodaira--Spencer classes. This allows us to obtain deformation-invariant virtual cycles on moduli spaces of objects of the derived category on threefolds.

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arXiv2012

Curves on K3 surfaces and modular forms

We study the virtual geometry of the moduli spaces of curves and sheaves on K3 surfaces in primitive classes. Equivalences relating the reduced Gromov-Witten invariants of K3 surfaces to characteristic numbers of stable pairs moduli spaces are proven. As a consequence, we prove the Katz-Klemm-Vafa conjecture evaluating $λ_g$ integrals (in all genera) in terms of explicit modular forms. Indeed, all K3 invariants in primitive classes are shown to be governed by modular forms. The method of proof is by degeneration to elliptically fibered rational surfaces. New formulas relating reduced virtual classes on K3 surfaces to standard virtual classes after degeneration are needed for both maps and sheaves. We also prove a Gromov-Witten/Pairs correspondence for toric 3-folds. Our approach uses a result of Kiem and Li to produce reduced classes. In Appendix A, we answer a number of questions about the relationship between the Kiem-Li approach, traditional virtual cycles, and symmetric obstruction theories. The interplay between the boundary geometry of the moduli spaces of curves, K3 surfaces, and modular forms is explored in Appendix B by A. Pixton.

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arXiv2012

Almost closed 1-forms

We construct an algebraic almost closed 1-form with zero scheme not expressible (even locally) as the critical locus of a holomorphic function on a nonsingular variety. The result answers a question of Behrend-Fantechi. We correct here an error in our paper [MPT] where an incorrect construction with the same claimed properties was proposed.

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arXiv2011

Weighted Bergman kernels on orbifolds

We describe a notion of ampleness for line bundles on orbifolds with cyclic quotient singularities that is related to embeddings in weighted projective space, and prove a global asymptotic expansion for a weighted Bergman kernel associated to such a line bundle.

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