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J.C. Ottem
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Varieties where every non-zero effective divisor is ample

The following question seems very intuitive, but I haven't been able to find any proof (or counterexample).

Let $X$ be a non-singular projective variety of $\dim X\ge 2$ and let $NS^1(X)$ be its Neron-Severi group. If every non-zero effective divisor on $X$ is ample, does it follow that $X$ has Picard number one, i.e., $\rho=$ rank $NS^1(X)=1$?

Motivation:

1) In the case of Fano varieties the result is true (the proof is an easy application of Riemann-Roch). In fact this result was a key ingredient in Mori's proof of Hartshorne's conjecture for projective 3-space (i.e., any 3-fold with ample tangent bundle is isomorphic to $\mathbb{P}^3$). See Mori's original article for the details.

2) In this Mathoverflow question Charles Staats asks for a surface with the property that any two curves on the surface have nontrivial intersection. In his comment, BCnrd considered a K3 surface with Picard number one, which satisfies the condition precisely because any effective divisor is ample. A natural question is whether any such surface has Picard number one.

I am mostly interested in the case where $X$ is a complex projective variety. In the case the result does not hold, I'd also be interested in seeing a concrete counterexample and other examples of varieties where the result holds.

J.C. Ottem
  • 11.6k
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  • 42
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