F. Cukierman asked whether or not for every smooth real plane curve $X\subset \mathbb{P}^{2}$ of even degree $d\geqslant 2$ there exists a real line $L\subset \mathbb{P}^{2}$ such $X\cap L$ has no real points. We show that the answer is yes if $d=2$ or 4 and no if $n\geqslant 6$.

We prove that if $C$ is a reflexive smooth plane curve of degree $d$ defined over a finite field $\mathbb{F}_{q}$ with $d\leqslant q+1$, then there is an $\mathbb{F}_{q}$-line $L$ that intersects $C$ transversely. We also prove the same result for non-reflexive curves of degree $p+1$ and $2p+1$ when $q=p^{r}$.

We prove that the monodromy group of a reduced irreducible square system of general polynomial equations equals the symmetric group. This is a natural first step towards the Galois theory of general systems of polynomial equations, because arbitrary systems split into reduced irreducible ones upon monomial changes of variables. In particular, our result proves the multivariate version of the Abel–Ruffini theorem: the classification of general systems of equations solvable by radicals reduces to the classification of lattice polytopes of mixed volume 4 (which we prove to be finite in every dimension). We also notice that the monodromy of every general system of equations is either symmetric or imprimitive. The proof is based on a new result of independent importance regarding dual defectiveness of systems of equations: the discriminant of a reduced irreducible square system of general polynomial equations is a hypersurface unless the system is linear up to a monomial change of variables.

Let $X$ be a smooth projective curve of genus $g\geq 2$ over an algebraically closed field $k$ of characteristic $p>0$. We show that for any integers $r$ and $d$ with $0<r<p$, there exists a maximally Frobenius destabilised stable vector bundle of rank $r$ and degree $d$ on $X$ if and only if $r\mid d$.

Let $\unicode[STIX]{x1D719}$ be a post-critically finite branched covering of a two-sphere. By work of Koch, the Thurston pullback map induced by $\unicode[STIX]{x1D719}$ on Teichmüller space descends to a multivalued self-map—a Hurwitz correspondence ${\mathcal{H}}_{\unicode[STIX]{x1D719}}$—of the moduli space ${\mathcal{M}}_{0,\mathbf{P}}$. We study the dynamics of Hurwitz correspondences via numerical invariants called dynamical degrees. We show that the sequence of dynamical degrees of ${\mathcal{H}}_{\unicode[STIX]{x1D719}}$ is always non-increasing and that the behavior of this sequence is constrained by the behavior of $\unicode[STIX]{x1D719}$ at and near points of its post-critical set.

This paper contains two results on Hodge loci in $\mathsf{M}_{g}$. The first concerns fibrations over curves with a non-trivial flat part in the Fujita decomposition. If local Torelli theorem holds for the fibers and the fibration is non-trivial, an appropriate exterior power of the cohomology of the fiber admits a Hodge substructure. In the case of curves it follows that the moduli image of the fiber is contained in a proper Hodge locus. The second result deals with divisors in $\mathsf{M}_{g}$. It is proved that the image under the period map of a divisor in $\mathsf{M}_{g}$ is not contained in a proper totally geodesic subvariety of $\mathsf{A}_{g}$. It follows that a Hodge locus in $\mathsf{M}_{g}$ has codimension at least 2.

The motivic Hilbert zeta function of a variety $X$ is the generating function for classes in the Grothendieck ring of varieties of Hilbert schemes of points on $X$. In this paper, the motivic Hilbert zeta function of a reduced curve is shown to be rational.

We investigate the connection between Osserman limit series (on curves of pseudocompact type) and Amini–Baker limit linear series (on metrized complexes with corresponding underlying curve) via a notion of pre-limit linear series on curves of the same type. Then, applying the smoothing theorems of Osserman limit linear series, we deduce that, fixing certain metrized complexes, or for certain types of Amini–Baker limit linear series, the smoothability is equivalent to a certain “weak glueing condition”. Also for arbitrary metrized complexes of pseudocompact type the weak glueing condition (when it applies) is necessary for smoothability. As an application we confirm the lifting property of specific divisors on the metric graph associated with a certain regular smoothing family, and give a new proof of a result of Cartright, Jensen, and Payne for vertex-avoiding divisors, and generalize it for divisors of rank one in the sense that, for the metric graph, there could be at most three edges (instead of two) between any pair of adjacent vertices.

We compute Betti numbers for a Cohen–Macaulay tangent cone of a monomial curve in the affine $4$-space corresponding to a pseudo-symmetric numerical semigroup. As a byproduct, we also show that for these semigroups, being of homogeneous type and homogeneous are equivalent properties.

In this paper we study the singularities of the invariant metric of the Poincaré bundle over a family of abelian varieties and their duals over a base of arbitrary dimension. As an application of this study we prove the effectiveness of the height jump divisors for families of pointed abelian varieties. The effectiveness of the height jump divisor was conjectured by Hain in the more general case of variations of polarized Hodge structures of weight $-1$ .

Let $U$ be an affine smooth curve defined over an algebraically closed field of positive characteristic. The Abhyankar conjecture (proved by Raynaud and Harbater in 1994) describes the set of finite quotients of Grothendieck’s étale fundamental group $\unicode[STIX]{x1D70B}_{1}^{\acute{\text{e}}\text{t}}(U)$. In this paper, we consider a purely inseparable analogue of this problem, formulated in terms of Nori’s profinite fundamental group scheme $\unicode[STIX]{x1D70B}^{N}(U)$, and give a partial answer to it.

We study Higgs bundles over an elliptic curve with complex reductive structure group, describing the (normalisation of) its moduli spaces and the associated Hitchin fibration. The case of trivial degree is covered by the work of Thaddeus in 2001. Our arguments are different from those of Thaddeus and cover arbitrary degree.

We prove model completeness for the expansion of the real field by the Weierstrass ℘ function as a function of the variable z and the parameter (or period) τ. We need to existentially define the partial derivatives of the ℘ function with respect to the variable z and the parameter τ. To obtain this result, it is necessary to include in the structure function symbols for the unrestricted exponential function and restricted sine function, the Weierstrass ζ function and the quasi-modular form E2 (we conjecture that these functions are not existentially definable from the functions ℘ alone or even if we use the exponential and restricted sine functions). We prove some auxiliary model-completeness results with the same functions composed with appropriate change of variables. In the conclusion, we make some remarks about the non-effectiveness of our proof and the difficulties to be overcome to obtain an effective model-completeness result, and how to extend these results to appropriate expansion of the real field by automorphic forms.

In this paper we construct a $\mathbb{Q}$-linear tannakian category $\mathsf{MEM}_{1}$ of universal mixed elliptic motives over the moduli space ${\mathcal{M}}_{1,1}$ of elliptic curves. It contains $\mathsf{MTM}$, the category of mixed Tate motives unramified over the integers. Each object of $\mathsf{MEM}_{1}$ is an object of $\mathsf{MTM}$ endowed with an action of $\text{SL}_{2}(\mathbb{Z})$ that is compatible with its structure. Universal mixed elliptic motives can be thought of as motivic local systems over ${\mathcal{M}}_{1,1}$ whose fiber over the tangential base point $\unicode[STIX]{x2202}/\unicode[STIX]{x2202}q$ at the cusp is a mixed Tate motive. The basic structure of the tannakian fundamental group of $\mathsf{MEM}$ is determined and the lowest order terms of a set (conjecturally, a minimal generating set) of relations are deduced from computations of Brown. This set of relations includes the arithmetic relations, which describe the ‘infinitesimal Galois action’. We use the presentation to give a new and more conceptual proof of the Ihara–Takao congruences.

For a pair $(R,I)$, where $R$ is a standard graded domain of dimension $d$ over an algebraically closed field of characteristic 0, and $I$ is a graded ideal of finite colength, we prove that the existence of $\lim _{p\rightarrow \infty }e_{HK}(R_{p},I_{p})$ is equivalent, for any fixed $m\geqslant d-1$, to the existence of $\lim _{p\rightarrow \infty }\ell (R_{p}/I_{p}^{[p^{m}]})/p^{md}$. This we get as a consequence of Theorem 1.1: as $p\longrightarrow \infty$, the convergence of the Hilbert–Kunz (HK) density function $f(R_{p},I_{p})$ is equivalent to the convergence of the truncated HK density functions $f_{m}(R_{p},I_{p})$ (in $L^{\infty }$ norm) of the mod $p$reductions$(R_{p},I_{p})$, for any fixed $m\geqslant d-1$. In particular, to define the HK density function $f_{R,I}^{\infty }$ in char 0, it is enough to prove the existence of $\lim _{p\rightarrow \infty }f_{m}(R_{p},I_{p})$, for any fixed $m\geqslant d-1$. This allows us to prove the existence of $e_{HK}^{\infty }(R,I)$ in many new cases, for example, when Proj R is a Segre product of curves.

We compute the Alexander polynomial of a nonreduced nonirreducible complex projective plane curve with mutually coprime orders of vanishing along its irreducible components in terms of certain multiplier ideals.

In this paper, we prove that the set of equivalence classes of dormant opers of rank $p-1$ over a projective smooth curve of genus ${\geqslant}2$ over an algebraically closed field of characteristic $p>0$ is of cardinality one.

We rewrite in modern language a classical construction by W. E. Edge showing a pencil of sextic nodal curves admitting A5 as its group of automorphism. Next, we discuss some other aspects of this pencil, such as the associated fibration and its connection to the singularities of the moduli of six-dimensional abelian varieties.

Gromov–Witten invariants have been constructed to be deformation invariant, but their behavior under other transformations is subtle. We show that logarithmic Gromov–Witten invariants are also invariant under appropriately defined logarithmic modifications.

We show that the canonical lift construction for ordinary elliptic curves over perfect fields of characteristic $p>0$ extends uniquely to arbitrary families of ordinary elliptic curves, even over $p$-adic formal schemes. In particular, the universal ordinary elliptic curve has a canonical lift. The existence statement is largely a formal consequence of the universal property of Witt vectors applied to the moduli space of ordinary elliptic curves, at least with enough level structure. As an application, we show how this point of view allows for more formal proofs of recent results of Finotti and Erdoğan.