Questions tagged [deformation-theory]

for questions about deformation theory, including deformations of manifolds, schemes, Galois representations, and von Neumann algebras.

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63 votes
5 answers
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Intuition about the cotangent complex?

Does anyone have an answer to the question "What does the cotangent complex measure?" Algebraic intuitions (like "homology measures how far a sequence is from being exact") are as welcome as ...
Peter Arndt's user avatar
35 votes
6 answers
8k views

Deformation theory and differential graded Lie algebras

There is supposed to be a philosophy that, at least over a field of characteristic zero, every "deformation problem" is somehow "governed" or "controlled" by a differential graded Lie algebra. See for ...
Kevin H. Lin's user avatar
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31 votes
4 answers
2k views

Clifford algebras as deformations of exterior algebras

$\def\Cl{\mathcal C\ell} \def\CL{\boldsymbol{\mathscr{C\kern-.1eml}}(\mathbb R)}$ I'm not an expert in neither of the fields I'm touching, so don't be too rude with me :-) here's my question. A well ...
fosco's user avatar
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11 votes
2 answers
738 views

Deformations of a blowup

Let $S$ be a smooth projective surface over $\mathbb{C}$. (I guess this can be more general—higher dimension, other ground fields, non-projective, maybe even singular?—and I'dd like to hear that.) Let ...
jmc's user avatar
  • 5,444
5 votes
2 answers
906 views

Injectivity under flat base change of the Picard group on smooth projective curves

Let $K$ be a field of characteristic $0$, $X_K$ a smooth projective curve over $K$. Denote by $\bar{K}$ the algebraic closure of $K$. The base change morphism $X_{\bar{K}} \to X_K$, induces via the ...
Kali's user avatar
  • 503
2 votes
1 answer
200 views

Deformation of isolated singularities and non zero divisors

Consider $f \in \mathbb{C}\{x_1,\dots,x_n\}$ such that $(V(f),0)$ has an isolated singularity. Let $F \in \mathbb{C}\{x_1,\dots,x_n,t\}$ be a deformation of $f$ such that there exists some integer $m$...
Serge the Toaster's user avatar
29 votes
1 answer
4k views

Almost Complex Structure approach to Deformation of Compact Complex Manifolds

I don't know much about the deformation of compact complex manifolds, I've only read chapter 6 of Huybrechts' book Complex Geometry: An Introduction. There are two parts to this chapter. The second ...
Michael Albanese's user avatar
20 votes
1 answer
796 views

Deligne's letter to Millson

The deformation theoretic principle that any reasonable deformation problem should be governed by a dg-Lie algebra seems to come from a letter of Deligne to Millson. It is clear how the Maurer-Cartan ...
Diane's user avatar
  • 201
19 votes
4 answers
2k views

Example of a smooth morphism where you can't lift a map from a nilpotent thickening?

Definition. A locally finitely presented morphism of schemes $f\colon X\to Y$ is smooth (resp. unramified, resp. étale) if for any affine scheme $T$, any closed subscheme $T_0$ defined by a square ...
Anton Geraschenko's user avatar
17 votes
2 answers
968 views

What is an explicit example of a variety X which is finite over Spec F_p but which does not lift to a scheme Y which is finite and flat over Spec Z_p?

What is an explicit example of a variety X which is finite over Spec F_p but which does not lift to a scheme Y which is finite and flat over Spec Z_p?
David Zureick-Brown's user avatar
14 votes
2 answers
2k views

"Spec" of graded rings?

From the discussion at Hochschild cohomology and A-infinity deformations, it seems that general Hochschild cohomology classes correspond to deformations where the deformation parameter can have ...
Kevin H. Lin's user avatar
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13 votes
1 answer
2k views

What is the universal deformation of the formal additive group $\widehat{\mathbb{G}}_a$ over $\mathbb{F}_p$?

Lubin and Tate show in their paper Formal moduli for one-parameter formal Lie groups that for any formal group over a field $k$ of characteristic $p>0$ with height $h<\infty$, the functor of ...
Aaron Mazel-Gee's user avatar
12 votes
1 answer
1k views

Accumulation of algebraic subvarieties: Near one subvariety there are many others (?), 2

This is a sequel to the question Accumulation of algebraic subvarieties: Near one subvariety there are many others (?) . Let $Y$ be some projective variety, over $\mathbb{C}$. Let $X\subset Y$ be ...
Peter Scholze's user avatar
12 votes
2 answers
875 views

Residues of $\frac{1}{\prod_{i=1}^n (x-P_i)^{e_i}}$

This is a problem occurring in my research about deformations of $\mathbb{Z}/p^n$-covers over a ring of power series. Given an algebraically closed field $k$ of characteristic $p>0$, suppose $1< ...
Huy Dang's user avatar
  • 245
11 votes
1 answer
645 views

Extended Deformation Theory (dg-Lie algebra principle in positive characteristic?)

Recently, I looked at articles that make use of Deligne's idea that "in characteristic 0 every deformation problem is governed by a differential graded Lie algebra" as explained first in Goldman-...
user47856's user avatar
  • 113
11 votes
1 answer
886 views

Deformations of smooth projective hypersurfaces and the Jacobian ring

It is a well-known result of Griffiths that the pieces of Hodge filtration of a smooth hypersurface $X:= (f=0)$ of degree $d$ in $\mathbb{P}^{n}$ are isomorphic to graded pieces of the Jacobian ring ...
Jack's user avatar
  • 637
10 votes
2 answers
1k views

Some examples of $\mathbb Q$-Gorenstein smoothing

I am trying to understand $\mathbb Q$-Gorenstein smoothings, and especially the third condition in the following definition. Definition. For a normal projective surface $X$ with quotient ...
SAG's user avatar
  • 641
10 votes
2 answers
3k views

Kodaira-Spencer map in a concrete instance

Let $\pi:X_{\epsilon} \rightarrow \Delta$ be a family of (say smooth) projective plane curves parametrized by $\Delta:=\operatorname{Spec}(k[\epsilon])$, and let $X=X_0$ be the closed fiber. Suppose ...
Qfwfq's user avatar
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9 votes
2 answers
2k views

What is an example of a smooth variety over a finite field F_p which does not lift to Z_p?

Somebody answered this question instead of the question here, so I am asking this with the hope that they will cut and paste their solution.
David Zureick-Brown's user avatar
8 votes
2 answers
3k views

How to define the equivalence of Maurer-Cartan elements in an $L_{\infty}$-algebra?

First let $L^{\bullet}$ be a pro-nilpotent differential graded Lie algebra (dgla). We have the set of Maurer-Cartan elements in $L^{\bullet}$ ($MC(L^{\bullet})$) which are $\alpha \in L^1$ such that ...
Zhaoting Wei's user avatar
  • 8,707
7 votes
3 answers
3k views

Hochschild cohomology and A-infinity deformations

When we are dealing with ordinary things or dg things (where thing = algebra or category), I think I understand how HH^2 corresponds to 1st order deformations and HH^3 corresponds to obstructions. ...
Kevin H. Lin's user avatar
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6 votes
0 answers
135 views

Does homotopy equivalence between deformations of cochain complexes imply gauge equivalence?

Let $(C^{\bullet},d)$ be a cochain complex over a field $k$ with char$k$=0. We fix an Artin local $k$-algebra $(A,m)$. A deformation of $d$ is a new operator $d+\epsilon: C^{\bullet}\otimes_k m\to C^{\...
Zhaoting Wei's user avatar
  • 8,707
6 votes
1 answer
953 views

Can the homological dimension of a coherent sheaf explode along a formal deformation? (is the resolution property hereditary for formal deformations?)

Let $X_0$ be a locally noetherian scheme and $\mathcal{F}_0$ a coherent $\mathcal{O}_{X_0}$-module. Let $C$ be an artin ring with residue field $k$ and let $X \to Spec C$ be a (flat) deformation of $...
Saal Hardali's user avatar
  • 7,549
5 votes
2 answers
1k views

Exercise 1.1.(c) in Hartshorne's Deformation Theory

Exercise 1.1.(c) in Hartshorne's Deformation Theory: Over an algebraically closed field $k$, we define a curve in $\mathbb P^2_k$ to be the closed subscheme, defined by a homogeneous polynomial $f(...
danneks's user avatar
  • 159
5 votes
0 answers
146 views

One-parameter family of algebra structures: characterizing trivial deformation as adjoint 2-cocycle being a 2-coboundary

$\DeclareMathOperator\C{\mathbf{C}}$Motivation: this post discusses a simple criterion for a 1-parameter family of $n$-dimensional complex algebras to be a "trivial deformation", i.e., be ...
YCor's user avatar
  • 60.4k
5 votes
0 answers
174 views

Extension of holomorphic maps to smooth family of holomorphic maps

Let $\pi:X \to D^2$ be a family of diffeomorphic (but not isomorphic) complex manifolds. Each fiber is allowed to have boundary but is compact (maybe not Stein) and $D^2 \subset \mathbb{C}$ is a ...
Paul's user avatar
  • 1,379
4 votes
5 answers
534 views

Reference Request: Deformations of a map bijective to global sections of the pullback of the tangent sheaf

I have been trying to learn some deformation theory, and came across the following in a paper: The first order deformations of a morphism of smooth curves $f:X\rightarrow Y$ is in bijection with $H^0(...
Randall's user avatar
  • 801
4 votes
1 answer
293 views

Infinitesimal deformations of fake projective planes (or ball quotients)

This question is related to the answer I gave to this MO question. What I'm asking is probably well-known to the experts in the field, and I apologize in advance if this turns out to be trivial. By ...
Francesco Polizzi's user avatar
2 votes
2 answers
539 views

Infinitesimal deformations of a fibration

Let $f:X\rightarrow Y$ be a morphism of normal projective varieties over an algebraically closed field with connected fibers. Assume that both $Y$ and the general fiber of $f$ admit a non-trivial ...
user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
705 views

A question on nested Hilbert scheme

Let $H_1, H_2$ be two Hilbert schemes parametrizing subschemes in $\mathbb{P}^{n_1}, \mathbb{P}^{n_2}$ with Hilbert polynomials $P_1, P_2$, respectively. Given a pair $(Z_1, Z_2)$ of subschemes in $\...
Jana's user avatar
  • 2,022
2 votes
1 answer
252 views

Question about automorphism functor in Sernesi's "Deformations of algebraic schemes"

Let $X$ denote an algebraic scheme over $\operatorname{Spec} k$ such that its deformation functor $\operatorname{Def}_X$ has a semi-universal couple $(R,u)$, where $R$ is an Artinian $k$-algebra and $...
user's user avatar
  • 719
2 votes
1 answer
455 views

Deformations of pointed stable maps with "curve held rigid" or "preserving the dual graph"

I am reading the "Notes on stable maps and quantum cohomology" by Fulton and Pandharipande and I got stuck in the proof of the Theorem 2, p.27. The authors consider the space $Def(\mu)$ of first order ...
boxdot's user avatar
  • 203
1 vote
0 answers
97 views

Is an isomorphism between holomorphic vector bundles still holomorphic with respect to a deformation parameter?

Let $X$ be a compact complex manifold and $E$ be a finite dimensional holomorphic vector bundle on $X$ with a fixed $\bar{ \partial}$-connection $\bar{\partial}_E$. Now we consider a small ...
Zhaoting Wei's user avatar
  • 8,707
1 vote
0 answers
280 views

Specialization map and fibration

Let $\pi:X \to \Delta$ be a proper, surjective, flat morphism (here $\Delta$ is the unit disc), smooth over $\Delta \backslash \{0\}$ and possibly singular central fiber. There is a fibrewise ...
user45397's user avatar
  • 2,195
1 vote
1 answer
469 views

Open problems in deformation theory

I am only a beginner in the field, but I would like to have at least a few examples of open problems in deformation theory to give me an idea of the actual status of the theory, and to help guide my ...
1 vote
0 answers
135 views

Constructing embedded families of curves with general moduli

Is there a known way to construct flat families of smooth curves $\mathcal{C}/\mathcal{B}$ which are fiberwise embedded in a family of projective varieties $\mathcal{X}/\mathcal{B}$ and which have ...
Nati's user avatar
  • 1,971