Linear system of divisorsIn algebraic geometry, a linear system of divisors is an algebraic generalization of the geometric notion of a family of curves; the dimension of the linear system corresponds to the number of parameters of the family. These arose first in the form of a linear system of algebraic curves in the projective plane. It assumed a more general form, through gradual generalisation, so that one could speak of linear equivalence of divisors D on a general scheme or even a ringed space (X, OX).
Divisor (algebraic geometry)In algebraic geometry, divisors are a generalization of codimension-1 subvarieties of algebraic varieties. Two different generalizations are in common use, Cartier divisors and Weil divisors (named for Pierre Cartier and André Weil by David Mumford). Both are derived from the notion of divisibility in the integers and algebraic number fields. Globally, every codimension-1 subvariety of projective space is defined by the vanishing of one homogeneous polynomial; by contrast, a codimension-r subvariety need not be definable by only r equations when r is greater than 1.
Canonical bundleIn mathematics, the canonical bundle of a non-singular algebraic variety of dimension over a field is the line bundle , which is the nth exterior power of the cotangent bundle on . Over the complex numbers, it is the determinant bundle of the holomorphic cotangent bundle . Equivalently, it is the line bundle of holomorphic n-forms on . This is the dualising object for Serre duality on . It may equally well be considered as an invertible sheaf.
Birational geometryIn 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. A rational map from one variety (understood to be irreducible) to another variety , written as a dashed arrow X Y, is defined as a morphism from a nonempty open subset to .
Glossary of algebraic geometryThis is a glossary of algebraic geometry. See also glossary of commutative algebra, glossary of classical algebraic geometry, and glossary of ring theory. For the number-theoretic applications, see glossary of arithmetic and Diophantine geometry. For simplicity, a reference to the base scheme is often omitted; i.e., a scheme will be a scheme over some fixed base scheme S and a morphism an S-morphism.
Coherent sheafIn mathematics, especially in algebraic geometry and the theory of complex manifolds, coherent sheaves are a class of sheaves closely linked to the geometric properties of the underlying space. The definition of coherent sheaves is made with reference to a sheaf of rings that codifies this geometric information. Coherent sheaves can be seen as a generalization of vector bundles. Unlike vector bundles, they form an , and so they are closed under operations such as taking , , and cokernels.
Minimal model programIn 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. The basic idea of the theory is to simplify the birational classification of varieties by finding, in each birational equivalence class, a variety which is "as simple as possible".
Projective varietyIn algebraic geometry, a projective variety over an algebraically closed field k is a subset of some projective n-space over k that is the zero-locus of some finite family of homogeneous polynomials of n + 1 variables with coefficients in k, that generate a prime ideal, the defining ideal of the variety. Equivalently, an algebraic variety is projective if it can be embedded as a Zariski closed subvariety of .
Coherent sheaf cohomologyIn mathematics, especially in algebraic geometry and the theory of complex manifolds, coherent sheaf cohomology is a technique for producing functions with specified properties. Many geometric questions can be formulated as questions about the existence of sections of line bundles or of more general coherent sheaves; such sections can be viewed as generalized functions. Cohomology provides computable tools for producing sections, or explaining why they do not exist. It also provides invariants to distinguish one algebraic variety from another.
Rational pointIn 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. Understanding rational points is a central goal of number theory and Diophantine geometry. For example, Fermat's Last Theorem may be restated as: for n > 2, the Fermat curve of equation has no other rational points than (1, 0), (0, 1), and, if n is even, (–1, 0) and (0, –1).
Fano varietyIn algebraic geometry, a Fano variety, introduced by Gino Fano in , is a complete variety X whose anticanonical bundle KX* is ample. In this definition, one could assume that X is smooth over a field, but the minimal model program has also led to the study of Fano varieties with various types of singularities, such as terminal or klt singularities. Recently techniques in differential geometry have been applied to the study of Fano varieties over the complex numbers, and success has been found in constructing moduli spaces of Fano varieties and proving the existence of Kähler–Einstein metrics on them through the study of K-stability of Fano varieties.
Kähler manifoldIn mathematics and especially differential geometry, a Kähler manifold is a manifold with three mutually compatible structures: a complex structure, a Riemannian structure, and a symplectic structure. The concept was first studied by Jan Arnoldus Schouten and David van Dantzig in 1930, and then introduced by Erich Kähler in 1933. The terminology has been fixed by André Weil.
Algebraic surfaceIn mathematics, an algebraic surface is an algebraic variety of dimension two. In the case of geometry over the field of complex numbers, an algebraic surface has complex dimension two (as a complex manifold, when it is non-singular) and so of dimension four as a smooth manifold. The theory of algebraic surfaces is much more complicated than that of algebraic curves (including the compact Riemann surfaces, which are genuine surfaces of (real) dimension two).
Blowing upIn mathematics, blowing up or blowup is a type of geometric transformation which replaces a subspace of a given space with all the directions pointing out of that subspace. For example, the blowup of a point in a plane replaces the point with the projectivized tangent space at that point. The metaphor is that of zooming in on a photograph to enlarge part of the picture, rather than referring to an explosion. Blowups are the most fundamental transformation in birational geometry, because every birational morphism between projective varieties is a blowup.
Tautological bundleIn mathematics, the tautological bundle is a vector bundle occurring over a Grassmannian in a natural tautological way: for a Grassmannian of -dimensional subspaces of , given a point in the Grassmannian corresponding to a -dimensional vector subspace , the fiber over is the subspace itself. In the case of projective space the tautological bundle is known as the tautological line bundle. The tautological bundle is also called the universal bundle since any vector bundle (over a compact space) is a pullback of the tautological bundle; this is to say a Grassmannian is a classifying space for vector bundles.
Nef line bundleIn 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 (built from codimension-1 subvarieties), there is an equivalent notion of a nef divisor. More generally, a line bundle L on a proper scheme X over a field k is said to be nef if it has nonnegative degree on every (closed irreducible) curve in X.
Sheaf of modulesIn mathematics, a sheaf of O-modules or simply an O-module over a ringed space (X, O) is a sheaf F such that, for any open subset U of X, F(U) is an O(U)-module and the restriction maps F(U) → F(V) are compatible with the restriction maps O(U) → O(V): the restriction of fs is the restriction of f times that of s for any f in O(U) and s in F(U). The standard case is when X is a scheme and O its structure sheaf. If O is the constant sheaf , then a sheaf of O-modules is the same as a sheaf of abelian groups (i.
Chern classIn mathematics, in particular in algebraic topology, differential geometry and algebraic geometry, the Chern classes are characteristic classes associated with complex vector bundles. They have since become fundamental concepts in many branches of mathematics and physics, such as string theory, Chern–Simons theory, knot theory, Gromov-Witten invariants. Chern classes were introduced by . Chern classes are characteristic classes. They are topological invariants associated with vector bundles on a smooth manifold.
Kodaira dimensionIn algebraic geometry, the Kodaira dimension κ(X) measures the size of the canonical model of a projective variety X. Igor Shafarevich in a seminar introduced an important numerical invariant of surfaces with the notation κ. Shigeru Iitaka extended it and defined the Kodaira dimension for higher dimensional varieties (under the name of canonical dimension), and later named it after Kunihiko Kodaira. The canonical bundle of a smooth algebraic variety X of dimension n over a field is the line bundle of n-forms, which is the nth exterior power of the cotangent bundle of X.
Homogeneous coordinate ringIn algebraic geometry, the homogeneous coordinate ring R of an algebraic variety V given as a subvariety of projective space of a given dimension N is by definition the quotient ring R = K[X0, X1, X2, ..., XN] / I where I is the homogeneous ideal defining V, K is the algebraically closed field over which V is defined, and K[X0, X1, X2, ..., XN] is the polynomial ring in N + 1 variables Xi. The polynomial ring is therefore the homogeneous coordinate ring of the projective space itself, and the variables are the homogeneous coordinates, for a given choice of basis (in the vector space underlying the projective space).
