Proc. Indian Acad. Sci. (Math. Sci.), Vol. 111, No. 3, August 2001, pp. 263269.

Printed in India

Stability of Picard bundle over moduli space of stable vector bundles of rank two over a curve
L GOMEZ INDRANIL BISWAS and TOMAS
School of Mathematics, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Homi Bhabha Road, Mumbai 400 005, India E-mail: indranil@math.tifr.res.in; tomas@math.tifr.res.in MS received 14 September 2000 Abstract. Answering a question of [BV] it is proved that the Picard bundle on the moduli space of stable vector bundles of rank two, on a Riemann surface of genus at least three, with xed determinant of odd degree is stable. Keywords. Picard bundle; Hecke lines.

0. Introduction Let X be a compact connected Riemann surface of genus g , with g 3. Let be a holomorphic line bundle over X of odd degree d , with d 4g 3. Let M denote the moduli space of stable vector bundles E over X of rank two and 2 E = . Take a universal vector bundle E on X M . Let p : X M M be the projection. The vector bundle P := p E on M is called the Picard bundle for M . In [BV] it was proved that the Picard bundle P is simple, and a question was asked whether it is stable. In [BHM] a differential geometric criterion for the stability of P was given. But there is no evidence for this criterion to be valid. In Theorem 3.1 we prove that the Picard bundle P over M is stable. 1. Preliminaries In this section we prove some lemmas that will be needed. A vector bundle E of rank two and degree d is called superstable if for every subline bundle L of E the inequality deg(L) < 1 d 2 2

is valid. Clearly, a superstable bundle is stable. The rst lemma ensures existence of superstable bundles. Lemma 1.1. bundles. There is a nonempty open subset U of M corresponding to superstable

Proof. Here we need g 3. Let T be the subset of M of vector bundles that are not superstable, i.e., E T if and only if there exists a subline bundle L such that deg(L) 263

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(d 1)/2. Since E is stable, deg(L) < d/2, and since d is odd, deg(L) = (d 1)/2. There is a short exact sequence 0 L E L1 0 . Note that the quotient is torsion free (hence a line bundle) because E is stable and L has degree (d 1)/2. Therefore, all vector bundles in T can be constructed by choosing a line bundle L of degree (d 1)/2 together with an extension class in Ext 1 ( L1 , L). It follows immediately that T is a closed subset of M with dimension dim(T ) g + h1 ( 1 L2 ) 1 = g ( 1 L2 ) 1 = 2g 1 < 3g 3 = dim(M), and hence the complement U := M \T is open and nonempty. 2

Lemma 1.2. Choose m distinct points {x1 , . . . , xm } X , with m > d/2. Let E M be a vector bundle and 0 = s H 0 (E) a nontrivial section. Then s cannot simultaneously vanish at all the chosen points {x1 , . . . , xm }. Proof. If s vanishes at all chosen points x1 , . . . , xm , then s : O E factors as s : O E(D) E, where D is the divisor D = x1 + + xm . Since deg E(D) = d 2m < 0, the stability condition of E forces s to be the zero section. 2 2. Hecke lines Let U M be the open subset of superstable vector bundles (Lemma 1.1). Take a point x X . Let E U and l Ex a line in the ber of E at x (equivalently, l P(Ex )). Dene the vector bundle W by 0 W (x) E Ex / l 0 . The vector bundle W (x) is called the Hecke transform of E with respect to x and l . The exact sequence implies 2 W = O(x). The vector bundle W is stable. Indeed, a line subbundle L of W is realized as a subline bundle of E(x) using the homomorphism W E(x). Now the superstability condition of E says deg(L) < deg(W ) d +1 = . 2 2

In other words, W is stable. We can reconstruct back E from W by doing another Hecke transform, and E is given as the middle row of the following commutative diagram:

Stability of Picard bundle 0 Ex / l E W (x) 0 0 Wx W W (x) 0

265

0 0

= = =

Cx Cx
f0

0 0 (1)

Here Cx is the skyscraper sheaf at x with stalk C. Instead of f0 : W Cx we may consider an arbitrary nontrivial homomorphism
f Hom(W, Cx ) = Hom(Wx , Cx ) = Wx

and dene Ef as the kernel 0 Ef W Cx 0 .

f

(2)

), This way we obtain a family of vector bundles parametrized by the projective line P(Wx with Ef0 = E . More precisely, there is a short exact sequence on X P(Wx ), 0 E X W Ox P(W ) (1) 0 ,
x

X is the projection to X. It has the property that if f Wx where X : and we restrict the exact sequence to the subvariety X [f ] = X of X P(Wx ), then a sequence isomorphic to (2) is obtained. , the vector bundle E is stable. Indeed, if L is a subline bundle of For every f Wx f Ef , then by composition with the homomorphism Ef W in (2) it is a subline bundle of W . The stability condition for W says that deg(L) < (d + 1)/2. Since d is odd this is equivalent to

) X P(Wx

deg(Ef ) d d 1 < = . 2 2 2 Note that if E is stable but not superstable, then W is semistable but not necessarily stable. The semistability condition is not enough to ensure the stability of Ef for each f . ) M The universal property of the moduli space M gives a morphism : P(Wx for the family E . deg(L) DEFINITION 2.1
), ) is called the Hecke line associated to the triple The data consisting of the pair (P(Wx (E, x, l). ), the projective line P(W ) will also be called a Since is determined by W and P(Wx x Hecke line. The Hecke line P(Wx ) will also be denoted by PE, x, l or simply by P if the rest ) of the data is clear from the context. Note that there is a distinguished point [f0 ] P(Wx that maps to E M . ), let l denote the kernel of the homomorphism (E ) W of For any f P(Wx f f x x bers in (2). Clearly, the images of the two Hecke lines PE, x, l and PEf , x, lf in M coincide.

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Therefore, for each E M , there is a three parameter family of Hecke lines whose image contains E . On the other hand, if we identify two Hecke lines if their images in M coincide, then through each point of M there is a two parameter family of rational curves dened by Hecke lines. Since the morphism is given by the universal property of the moduli space, the pullback of the universal bundle E on X M to X P by the map idX is isomorphic (up to a twist by a line bundle coming from P ) to E . In other words, there is an integer k such that 0 (idX ) E W OP (k) Ox P (k + 1) 0 (3)

is an exact sequence of sheaves on X P ; OP (1) is the tautological line bundle on ). Applying ( ) , where is the projection of X P to P , the following P = P(Wx P P sequence 0 P H 0 (W ) OP (k) OP (k + 1) 0 (4)

on P is obtained, where P is the Picard bundle. Since d 4g 3, the stability condition ensures that H 1 (X, E ) vanishes for every E M . Let N denote the rank of P . The following proposition describes the pullback P . PROPOSITION 2.2 The pullback P of the Picard bundle P to the P = PE, x, l satises P = OP (k)N 1 OP (k 1). Hence P has a canonical subbundle OP (k)N 1 = V P . Let V H 0 (X, E) be the ber of this subbundle over the distinguished point [f0 ] P . Then s V if and only if s(x) l . Proof. Grothendiecks theorem [Gr] says that a vector bundle on P1 is holomorphically isomorphic to a direct sum of line bundles. Hence P = OP (a1 ) OP (aN ) . The sequence (4) gives h0 (W ) = 1 + N , ai = N k 1 and ai k for all i . Combining these, (5) is obtained immediately. Now we are going to identify the subbundle V . From (3) the following commutative diagram is obtained 0 (idX ) E W (x) 0 OP (k) = W W (x) OP (k) 0 OP (k) Ox P (k + 1) 0 (5)

Stability of Picard bundle and applying (P ) we obtain the following commutative diagram on P : 0 P H 0 (W ) OP (k)

267

OP (k + 1) 0 .

H 0 (W (x)) OP (k) = H 0 (W (x)) OP (k) 0 0 Since P = OP (k)N 1 OP (k 1), we deduce that V = H 0 (W (x)) OP (k) P .

Let V denote the ber of V at the point [f0 ] P . So, V H 0 (E). Now, s V if and only if s H 0 (W (x)) H 0 (E). Finally, taking global sections for the diagram (2) it is easy to see that this is equivalent to the condition that s(x) l . This completes the proof of the proposition. 2 Proposition 2.2 has the following corollary. COROLLARY 2.3 The morphism is a nonconstant one. Indeed, if were a constant map, then the vector bundle P would be trivial. 3. Main theorem In this section we will prove the main theorem of this paper. Theorem 3.1. Let P be the Picard bundle on the moduli space M of stable bundles of rank two and xed determinant of odd degree d with d 4g 3. Then P is stable. Proof. Since P is a vector bundle, to check stability it is enough to consider reexive subsheaves of P . Let F P be a reexive subsheaf of rank r < N = rank (P ). Fix m distinct points x1 , . . . , xm in X, with m > d/2. We need the following lemma for the proof of the theorem. Lemma 3.2. There is a nonempty open set of M such that if E is a vector bundle corresponding to a point of that open set, then E has the following four properties: (i) E is superstable; (ii) F is locally free at E ; (iii) FE PE is an injection; (iv) Let xi be one of the xed points and l any line on Exi . Let P = PE, xi , l be the associated Hecke line. Then F is locally free at all points of the image of : P M .

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Proof. The subset U of M where property (i) is satised is open and nonempty by Lemma 1.1. Let U U be the subset where also property (ii) is satised and U U the subset where furthermore property (iii) is satised. Clearly, U is a nonempty open subset of M . Let S M denote the subvariety where F is not locally free. Since F is reexive, codim(S) 3. Let Si be the union of the images of all Hecke lines PE, xi , l , when E runs through all points in S and l runs through all lines of Ex . Then codimSi 3 1 1 = 1 . Finally consider the union
m

S :=
i =1

Si .

Since this is a union of a nite number of subvarieties, we still have codimS 1. Conse(M \S) is nonempty and open. By construction, any vector bundle quently, U := U E corresponding to a point in U satises conditions (i) to (iv). This nishes the proof of the lemma. 2 Continuing the proof of Theorem 3.1, x a vector bundle E satisfying the four properties in the above lemma. Let v FE be a nonzero vector in the ber, and let s be its image in the ber PE = H 0 (E). It is still nonzero because of property (iii). From the xed set of chosen points {x1 , . . . , xm }, pick one of them xi such that the section s does not vanish at xi . The existence of such a point is ensured by Lemma 1.2. / l . Consider the Hecke line P = PE, xi , l dened Let l Exi be a line such that s(xi ) with this data. Note that F is a vector bundle because F is locally free on all points of the image of P in M (property (iv)), and F P is injective as a sheaf homomorphism because both F and P are vector bundles and property (iii). The Proposition 2.2 says that P has a canonical subbundle V with OP (k)N 1 = V P = OP (k)N 1 OP (k 1). (6)

/ l, We can think of v and s as vectors in the bers of F and P at [f0 ]. Since s(xi ) Proposition 2.2 also gives that s / V = VE . Consequently, F V . By Grothendiecks theorem F = OP (b1 ) OP (br ) . Since F P is injective, (6) implies that bi k for all i , and (7) implies that for some i (say i = 1), b1 k 1. Fix a polarization L on M . Let be the degree of L. The Corollary 2.3 says that > 0. Now, deg( F ) 1 1 deg( P ) 1 deg(P ) 1 deg(F ) = k <k = = rank (F ) rank ( F ) r N rank ( P ) rank (P ) and hence the Picard bundle P is stable. This completes the proof of the theorem. 2 (7)

Stability of Picard bundle References

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