Generalized Lazarsfeld-Mukai bundles and a conjecture of Donagi and Morrison

Let S be a K3 surface and assume for simplicity that it does not contain any (-2)-curve. Using coherent systems, we express every non-simple Lazarsfeld-Mukai bundle on S as an extension of two sheaves of some special type, that we refer to as generalized Lazarsfeld-Mukai bundles. This has interesting consequences concerning the Brill-Noether theory of curves C lying on S. From now on, let g denote the genus of C and A be a complete linear series of type g^r_d on C such that d<= g-1 and the corresponding Brill-Noether number is negative. First, we focus on the cases where A computes the Clifford index; if r>1 and with only some completely classified exceptions, we show that A coincides with the restriction to C of a line bundle on S. This is a refinement of Green and Lazarsfeld's result on the constancy of the Clifford index of curves moving in the same linear system. Then, we study a conjecture of Donagi and Morrison predicting that, under no hypothesis on its Clifford index, A is contained in a g^s_e which is cut out from a line bundle on S and satisfies e<= g-1. We provide counterexamples to the last inequality already for r=2. A slight modification of the conjecture, which holds for r=1,2, is proved under some hypotheses on the pair (C,A) and its deformations. We show that the result is optimal (in the sense that our hypotheses cannot be avoided) by exhibiting, in the Appendix, some counterexamples obtained jointly with Andreas Leopold Knutsen.Comment: 28 pages, final version, to appear in Adv. Math. with an Appendix joint with Andreas Leopold Knutse

A codimension 2 component of the Gieseker-Petri locus

We show that the Brill-Noether locus M^3_{18,16} is an irreducible component of the Gieseker-Petri locus in genus 18 having codimension 2 in the moduli space of curves. This result disproves a conjecture predicting that the Gieseker-Petri locus is always divisorial.Comment: Final version, to appear in Journal of Algebraic Geometr

Stability of rank-3 Lazarsfeld-Mukai bundles on K3 surfaces

Given an ample line bundle L on a K3 surface S, we study the slope stability with respect to L of rank-3 Lazarsfeld-Mukai bundles associated with complete, base point free nets of type g^2_d on curves C in the linear system |L|. When d is large enough and C is general, we obtain a dimensional statement for the variety W^2_d(C). If the Brill-Noether number is negative, we prove that any g^2_d on any smooth, irreducible curve in |L| is contained in a g^r_e which is induced from a line bundle on S, thus answering a conjecture of Donagi and Morrison. Applications towards transversality of Brill-Noether loci and higher rank Brill-Noether theory are then discussed.Comment: 29 pages, final version, to appear in Proc. Lon. Math. So

Green's Conjecture for curves on rational surfaces with an anticanonical pencil

Green's conjecture is proved for smooth curves C lying on a rational surface S with an anticanonical pencil, under some mild hypotheses on the line bundle L defined by C. Constancy of Clifford dimension, Clifford index and gonality of curves in the linear system |L| is also obtained.Comment: Final version, to appear in Math. Zei

Severi Varieties and Brill-Noether theory of curves on abelian surfaces

Severi varieties and Brill-Noether theory of curves on K3 surfaces are well understood. Yet, quite little is known for curves on abelian surfaces. Given a general abelian surface $S$ with polarization $L$ of type $(1,n)$, we prove nonemptiness and regularity of the Severi variety parametrizing $\delta$-nodal curves in the linear system $|L|$ for $0\leq \delta\leq n-1=p-2$ (here $p$ is the arithmetic genus of any curve in $|L|$). We also show that a general genus $g$ curve having as nodal model a hyperplane section of some $(1,n)$-polarized abelian surface admits only finitely many such models up to translation; moreover, any such model lies on finitely many $(1,n)$-polarized abelian surfaces. Under certain assumptions, a conjecture of Dedieu and Sernesi is proved concerning the possibility of deforming a genus $g$ curve in $S$ equigenerically to a nodal curve. The rest of the paper deals with the Brill-Noether theory of curves in $|L|$. It turns out that a general curve in $|L|$ is Brill-Noether general. However, as soon as the Brill-Noether number is negative and some other inequalities are satisfied, the locus $|L|^r_d$ of smooth curves in $|L|$ possessing a $g^r_d$ is nonempty and has a component of the expected dimension. As an application, we obtain the existence of a component of the Brill-Noether locus $\mathcal{M}^r_{p,d}$ having the expected codimension in the moduli space of curves $\mathcal{M}_p$. For $r=1$, the results are generalized to nodal curves.Comment: 29 pages, 3 figures. Comments are welcome. 2nd version: added some references in Rem. 7.1

Genus two curves on abelian surfaces

This paper deals with singularities of genus 2 curves on a general (d1, d2)- polarized abelian surface (S, L). In analogy with Chen’s results concerning rational curves on K3 surfaces [Ch1, Ch2], it is natural to ask whether all such curves are nodal. We prove that this holds true if and only if d2 is not divisible by 4. In the cases where d2 is a multiple of 4, we exhibit genus 2 curves in |L| that have a triple, 4-tuple or 6-tuple point. We show that these are the only possible types of unnodal singularities of a genus 2 curve in |L|. Furthermore, with no assumption on d1 and d2, we prove the existence of at least one nodal genus 2 curve in |L|. As a corollary, we obtain nonemptiness of all Severi varieties on general abelian surfaces and hence generalize [KLM, Thm. 1.1] to nonprimitive polarizations.acceptedVersio