Castelnuovo's contraction theorem

Last updated

In mathematics, Castelnuovo's contraction theorem is used in the classification theory of algebraic surfaces to construct the minimal model of a given smooth algebraic surface.

More precisely, let be a smooth projective surface over and a (1)-curve on (which means a smooth rational curve of self-intersection number 1), then there exists a morphism from to another smooth projective surface such that the curve has been contracted to one point , and moreover this morphism is an isomorphism outside (i.e., is isomorphic with ).

This contraction morphism is sometimes called a blowdown, which is the inverse operation of blowup. The curve is also called an exceptional curve of the first kind.

Related Research Articles

In mathematics, an embedding is one instance of some mathematical structure contained within another instance, such as a group that is a subgroup.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Algebraic variety</span> Mathematical object studied in the field of algebraic geometry

Algebraic varieties are the central objects of study in algebraic geometry, a sub-field of mathematics. Classically, an algebraic variety is defined as the set of solutions of a system of polynomial equations over the real or complex numbers. Modern definitions generalize this concept in several different ways, while attempting to preserve the geometric intuition behind the original definition.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Algebraic curve</span> Curve defined as zeros of polynomials

In mathematics, an affine algebraic plane curve is the zero set of a polynomial in two variables. A projective algebraic plane curve is the zero set in a projective plane of a homogeneous polynomial in three variables. An affine algebraic plane curve can be completed in a projective algebraic plane curve by homogenizing its defining polynomial. Conversely, a projective algebraic plane curve of homogeneous equation h(x, y, t) = 0 can be restricted to the affine algebraic plane curve of equation h(x, y, 1) = 0. These two operations are each inverse to the other; therefore, the phrase algebraic plane curve is often used without specifying explicitly whether it is the affine or the projective case that is considered.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Projective variety</span> Algebraic variety in a projective space

In algebraic geometry, a projective variety is an algebraic variety that is a closed subvariety of a projective space. That is, it is the zero-locus in of some finite family of homogeneous polynomials that generate a prime ideal, the defining ideal of the variety.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Birational geometry</span> Field of algebraic geometry

In mathematics, birational geometry is a field of algebraic geometry in which the goal is to determine when two algebraic varieties are isomorphic outside lower-dimensional subsets. This amounts to studying mappings that are given by rational functions rather than polynomials; the map may fail to be defined where the rational functions have poles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cubic surface</span>

In mathematics, a cubic surface is a surface in 3-dimensional space defined by one polynomial equation of degree 3. Cubic surfaces are fundamental examples in algebraic geometry. The theory is simplified by working in projective space rather than affine space, and so cubic surfaces are generally considered in projective 3-space . The theory also becomes more uniform by focusing on surfaces over the complex numbers rather than the real numbers; note that a complex surface has real dimension 4. A simple example is the Fermat cubic surface

<span class="mw-page-title-main">K3 surface</span> Type of smooth complex surface of kodaira dimension 0

In mathematics, a complex analytic K3 surface is a compact connected complex manifold of dimension 2 with а trivial canonical bundle and irregularity zero. An (algebraic) K3 surface over any field means a smooth proper geometrically connected algebraic surface that satisfies the same conditions. In the Enriques–Kodaira classification of surfaces, K3 surfaces form one of the four classes of minimal surfaces of Kodaira dimension zero. A simple example is the Fermat quartic surface

In algebraic geometry, the Kodaira dimensionκ(X) measures the size of the canonical model of a projective variety X.

In mathematics, algebraic spaces form a generalization of the schemes of algebraic geometry, introduced by Michael Artin for use in deformation theory. Intuitively, schemes are given by gluing together affine schemes using the Zariski topology, while algebraic spaces are given by gluing together affine schemes using the finer étale topology. Alternatively one can think of schemes as being locally isomorphic to affine schemes in the Zariski topology, while algebraic spaces are locally isomorphic to affine schemes in the étale topology.

In number theory and algebraic geometry, a rational point of an algebraic variety is a point whose coordinates belong to a given field. If the field is not mentioned, the field of rational numbers is generally understood. If the field is the field of real numbers, a rational point is more commonly called a real point.

In algebraic geometry, a line bundle on a projective variety is nef if it has nonnegative degree on every curve in the variety. The classes of nef line bundles are described by a convex cone, and the possible contractions of the variety correspond to certain faces of the nef cone. In view of the correspondence between line bundles and divisors, there is an equivalent notion of a nef divisor.

In algebraic geometry, a branch of mathematics, a Hilbert scheme is a scheme that is the parameter space for the closed subschemes of some projective space, refining the Chow variety. The Hilbert scheme is a disjoint union of projective subschemes corresponding to Hilbert polynomials. The basic theory of Hilbert schemes was developed by Alexander Grothendieck. Hironaka's example shows that non-projective varieties need not have Hilbert schemes.

In algebraic geometry, flips and flops are codimension-2 surgery operations arising in the minimal model program, given by blowing up along a relative canonical ring. In dimension 3 flips are used to construct minimal models, and any two birationally equivalent minimal models are connected by a sequence of flops. It is conjectured that the same is true in higher dimensions.

In mathematics a stack or 2-sheaf is, roughly speaking, a sheaf that takes values in categories rather than sets. Stacks are used to formalise some of the main constructions of descent theory, and to construct fine moduli stacks when fine moduli spaces do not exist.

In algebraic geometry, the minimal model program is part of the birational classification of algebraic varieties. Its goal is to construct a birational model of any complex projective variety which is as simple as possible. The subject has its origins in the classical birational geometry of surfaces studied by the Italian school, and is currently an active research area within algebraic geometry.

In mathematics, Arakelov theory is an approach to Diophantine geometry, named for Suren Arakelov. It is used to study Diophantine equations in higher dimensions.

In algebraic geometry, the smooth completion of a smooth affine algebraic curve X is a complete smooth algebraic curve which contains X as an open subset. Smooth completions exist and are unique over a perfect field.

This is a glossary of algebraic geometry.

In algebraic geometry, the dualizing sheaf on a proper scheme X of dimension n over a field k is a coherent sheaf together with a linear functional

In algebraic geometry, a contraction morphism is a surjective projective morphism between normal projective varieties such that or, equivalently, the geometric fibers are all connected. It is also commonly called an algebraic fiber space, as it is an analog of a fiber space in algebraic topology.

References