Root bundles and towards exact matter spectra of F-theory MSSMs

Motivated by the appearance of fractional powers of line bundles in studies of vector-like spectra in 4d F-theory compactifications, we analyze the structure and origin of these bundles. Fractional powers of line bundles are also known as root bundles and can be thought of as generalizations of spin bundles. We explain how these root bundles are linked to inequivalent F-theory gauge potentials of a G4-flux.While this observation is interesting in its own right, it is particularly valuable for F-theory Standard Model constructions. In aiming for MSSMs, it is desired to argue for the absence of vector-like exotics. We work out the root bundle constraints on all matter curves in the largest class of currently-known F-theory Standard Model constructions without chiral exotics and gauge coupling unification. On each matter curve, we conduct a systematic “bottom”-analysis of all solutions to the root bundle constraints and all spin bundles. Thereby, we derive a lower bound for the number of combinations of root bundles and spin bundles whose cohomologies satisfy the physical demand of absence of vector-like pairs.On a technical level, this systematic study is achieved by a well-known diagrammatic description of root bundles on nodal curves. We extend this description by a counting procedure, which determines the cohomologies of so-called limit root bundles on full blow-ups of nodal curves. By use of deformation theory, these results constrain the vector-like spectra on the smooth matter curves in the actual F-theory geometry.

Nodal curves and polarizations with good properties

In this paper we deal with polarizations on a nodal curve C with smooth components. Our aim is to study and characterize a class of polarizations, which we call “good”, for which depth one sheaves on C reflect some properties that hold for vector bundles on smooth curves. We will concentrate, in particular, on the relation between the $${{\underline{w}}}$$ w ̲ -stability of $${\mathcal {O}}_C$$ O C and the goodness of $${{\underline{w}}}$$ w ̲ . We prove that these two concepts agree when C is of compact type and we conjecture that the same should hold for all nodal curves.

On the maximal number of du Val singularities for a K3 surface

A complex K3 surface or an algebraic K3 surface in characteristics distinct from 2 cannot have more than 16 disjoint nodal curves.

On the moduli spaces of singular principal bundles on stable curves

We prove the existence of a linearization for singular principal G-bundles not depending on the base curve. This allow us to construct the relative compact moduli space of δ-(semi)stable singular principal G-bundles over families of reduced projective and connected nodal curves, and to reduce the construction of the universal moduli space over 𝓜g to the construction of the universal moduli space of swamps.

ON THE POSITION OF NODES OF PLANE CURVES

The Severi variety $V_{d,n}$ of plane curves of a given degree $d$ and exactly $n$ nodes admits a map to the Hilbert scheme $\mathbb{P}^{2[n]}$ of zero-dimensional subschemes of $\mathbb{P}^{2}$ of degree $n$ . This map assigns to every curve $C\in V_{d,n}$ its nodes. For some $n$ , we consider the image under this map of many known divisors of the Severi variety and its partial compactification. We compute the divisor classes of such images in $\text{Pic}(\mathbb{P}^{2[n]})$ and provide enumerative numbers of nodal curves. We also answer directly a question of Diaz–Harris [‘Geometry of the Severi variety’, Trans. Amer. Math. Soc.309 (1988), 1–34] about whether the canonical class of the Severi variety is effective.