Cyclic coverings of virtual link diagrams

A virtual link diagram is called mod [Formula: see text] almost classical if it admits an Alexander numbering valued in integers modulo [Formula: see text], and a virtual link is called mod [Formula: see text] almost classical if it has a mod [Formula: see text] almost classical diagram as a representative. In this paper, we introduce a method of constructing a mod [Formula: see text] almost classical virtual link diagram from a given virtual link diagram, which we call an [Formula: see text]-fold cyclic covering diagram. The main result is that [Formula: see text]-fold cyclic covering diagrams obtained from two equivalent virtual link diagrams are equivalent. Thus, we have a well-defined map from the set of virtual links to the set of mod [Formula: see text] almost classical virtual links. Some applications are also given.

Variation of the Variety of Minimal Rational Tangents of Cyclic Coverings

Let π: X → ℙn be the d-cyclic covering branched along a smooth hypersurface Y ⊂ ℙn of degree d, 3 ≤ d ≤ n. We identify the minimal rational curves on X with d-tangent lines of Y and describe the scheme structure of the variety of minimal rational tangents 𝒞x ⊂ ℙTx(X) at a general point x ∈ X. We also show that the projective isomorphism type of 𝒞x varies in a maximal way as x moves over general points of X.