Which rational double points occur on del Pezzo surfaces?

We determine all configurations of rational double points that occur on RDP del Pezzo surfaces of arbitrary degree and Picard rank over an algebraically closed field $k$ of arbitrary characteristic ${\rm char}(k)=p \geq 0$, generalizing classical work of Du Val to positive characteristic. Moreover, we give simplified equations for all RDP del Pezzo surfaces of degree $1$ containing non-taut rational double points.

Maximally mutable Laurent polynomials

We introduce a class of Laurent polynomials, called maximally mutable Laurent polynomials (MMLPs), which we believe correspond under mirror symmetry to Fano varieties. A subclass of these, called rigid, are expected to correspond to Fano varieties with terminal locally toric singularities. We prove that there are exactly 10 mutation classes of rigid MMLPs in two variables; under mirror symmetry these correspond one-to-one with the 10 deformation classes of smooth del Pezzo surfaces. Furthermore, we give a computer-assisted classification of rigid MMLPs in three variables with reflexive Newton polytope; under mirror symmetry these correspond one-to-one with the 98 deformation classes of three-dimensional Fano manifolds with very ample anti-canonical bundle. We compare our proposal to previous approaches to constructing mirrors to Fano varieties, and explain why mirror symmetry in higher dimensions necessarily involves varieties with terminal singularities. Every known mirror to a Fano manifold, of any dimension, is a rigid MMLP.