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Remarks on the Griffiths infinitesimal invariant of algebraic curves

Haohua Deng Department of mathematics at Duke University, 120 Science Drive, 117 Physics Building, Campus Box 90320, Durham, North Carolina, 27708-0320 [email protected]

Abstract

We study two canonically defined admissible normal functions on the moduli space of smooth genus 44 algebraic curves including the Ceresa normal function. In particular, we study the vanishing criteria for the Griffiths infinitesimal invariants of both normal functions over a specific family of curves.

1. Introduction

1.1. Backgrounds

Let CC be a non-hyperelliptic smooth algebraic curve of genus g3g\geq 3. In [Cer83] Ceresa showed there is a canonically defined homologous algebraic cycle in CHg1(Jac(C))\mathrm{CH}^{g-1}(\mathrm{Jac}(C)) which is not algebraically trivial, verifies the non-triviality of the corresponding Griffiths group. This cycle is known as Ceresa cycle.

Properties of Ceresa cycle is a board and active research topic. In this article we focus on the complex geometric and Hodge theoretic aspect. In particular, we focus on the Griffiths’ Abel-Jacobi map (3.18) associated to the Ceresa cycle. When the curve varies in a family, a natural tool in Hodge theory to study deformation of the Ceresa cycle is the associated admissible normal function, which we denoted as νc\nu_{c}.

Given a family of curves over a quasi-projective base, we are particularly interested in the positive-dimensional locus over which the Ceresa cycle is torsion. Such locus must be contained in the positive-dimensional torsion locus of νc\nu_{c} which is shown to be algebraic by [KT24]. To obtain a better picture of this locus, One way is to study the Griffiths infinitesimal invariant δνc\delta\nu_{c} associated to the normal function νc\nu_{c}. δν\delta\nu is intuitively the ”derivative” of normal functions and could be study in various ways. For example, in [CP95] Collino-Pirola studied δνc\delta\nu_{c} over the moduli of genus 33 curves by using the adjunction morphism and produced several interesting results.

In this paper we are going to apply Collino-Pirola’s adjunction formula to δνc\delta\nu_{c} for the genus 44 case. Firstly, over all rank 11 deformations we search vanishing criteria for δνc\delta\nu_{c}. Secondly, we study a specific family 𝒞B\mathcal{C}\rightarrow B of genus 44 curves. We will show δνc\delta\nu_{c} has maximal rank (See Section 3 for definitions) over this family, and moreover give nice control on the locus on which νc\nu_{c} drops rank.

1.2. Main results

The first main result of this paper is to generalize part of Collino-Pirola’s results to the genus 44 case. Besides the Ceresa normal function νc\nu_{c}, there is another canonical normal function associated to family of genus 44 curves defined by Griffiths in [Gri83, Sec. 6], which we denote as ν0\nu_{0}111Strictly speaking, ν0\nu_{0} is only well-defined over 4[2]\mathcal{M}_{4}[2], the moduli space with an additional level-22 structure, but δν0\delta\nu_{0} is well-defined for any C4C\in\mathcal{M}_{4}..

Theorem 1.1.

For a general non-hyperelliptic genus 44 curve CC, δν0\delta\nu_{0} and δνc\delta\nu_{c} have the same vanishing criteria for rank 11 deformations of CC as both of them vanish exactly along the Schiffer variations.

The main strategy for the proof is to find relations between the Griffiths infinitesimal invariants and the canonical embedding. In particular, we are able to realize δνc\delta\nu_{c} as a certain projective hyperplane cutting off the canonical curve, generalize a similar result of [CP95, Thm 4.2.4] for the genus 33 case.

While coming to general first-order deformations, the two normal functions ν0\nu_{0} and νc\nu_{c} behave very differently. In the second part of the paper we study a certain family of genus 44 curves which can be realized as a triple cover of the projective line branched over 66 double points. We denote this family of curves as 𝒞B\mathcal{C}\rightarrow B (See Section 5). Our second main theorem is about the behaviors of ν0\nu_{0} and νc\nu_{c} over this family:

Theorem 1.2.

For the family of trigonal genus 44 curves 𝒞B\mathcal{C}\rightarrow B, the normal function ν0\nu_{0} as well as its Griffiths infinitesimal invariant δν0\delta\nu_{0} vanishes identically while the Ceresa normal function νc\nu_{c} has maximal rank. Moreover, if XBX\subset B is a subvariety on which νc\nu_{c} is locally constant, then dim(X)1\mathrm{dim}(X)\leq 1 and the tangent bundle TXTX must be contained in a certain algebraic subbundle of TBTB.

The equation defining the subbundle of TBTB controlling TXTX is found by explicitly calculating the Kodaira-Spencer classes of the family, see Theorem 5.5.

To show νc\nu_{c} has maximal rank over this family, we need an alternative description on the rank of normal function which is the third main result of this paper:

Theorem 1.3 (Theorem 6.4).

If a normal function ν\nu underlying a variation of Hodge structures 𝒱B\mathcal{V}\rightarrow B has co-rank rcr_{c}, then there is a Zariski open subset BBB^{\circ}\subset B foliated by rcr_{c}-dimensional algebraic subvarieties on each of which ν\nu is locally constant.

The proof of algebraicity of these rcr_{c}-dimensional submanifolds requires o-minimal geometry and its application in Hodge theory. We give a brief survey in Appendix 6. Next we will consider the algebraic monodromy group of the variation over each of these subvarieties. Theorem 1.2 will be concluded from a Zariski density argument.

1.3. Some related works

Normal functions over the moduli space of (stable) curves including the Ceresa normal function has been extensively studied, we refer readers to [Hai13] for a comprehensive overview.

Rank of the Ceresa normal function νc\nu_{c} over g\mathcal{M}_{g} for g3g\geq 3 was proven to be maximal, independently by Gao-Zhang [GZ24] and Hain [Hai24]. As a generalization of [CP95], Pirola-Zucconi showed in [PZ03] that over a dimension-2g1\geq 2g-1 subvariety of g\mathcal{M}_{g}, the Griffiths infinitesimal invariant of νc\nu_{c} must not vanish unless the subvariety is the hyperelliptic locus.

One may also interested in finding specific families of curves on which νc\nu_{c} drops rank, including those (positive-dimensional) families on which the Ceresa cycle itself is torsion. Some known examples include [Lat23], [QZ24]. Relation between the Ceresa cycle themselves and their Abel-Jacobi image is also an interesting topic, see for example [LS24].

The author is aware of the preprint [GZ24] which contains some results similar to the Appendix 6. In particular, the maximal rank part of Theorem 1.2 can also be concluded from [GZ24, Cor. 1.8].

Acknowledgement. The author sincerely appreciates Richard Hain for introducing the topic and sharing numerous motivating ideas. The author also thanks Matt Kerr and Colleen Robles for related discussions. Part of this work was motivated during the author’s attendence at the ICERM conference ”The Ceresa Cycle in Arithmetic and Geometry”. The author thanks the organizers for their effort and generous support.

2. Basic deformation theory

Let CC be a smooth algebraic curve of genus gg which is not hyperelliptic. Recall that its first-order deformation space is H1(C,TC)H0(C,ΩC2)H^{1}(C,T_{C})\simeq H^{0}(C,\Omega_{C}^{\otimes 2})^{\vee}, which has dimension 3g33g-3.

Consider Noether’s map:

(2.1) ρ:H1(C,TC){H0(C,ΩC)H1(C,OC)}Sym2H0,1(C)\rho:H^{1}(C,T_{C})\rightarrow\{H^{0}(C,\Omega_{C})\rightarrow H^{1}(C,O_{C})\}\simeq\mathrm{Sym}^{2}H^{0,1}(C)

which is injective by Noether’s theorem. For any ξH1(C,TC)\xi\in H^{1}(C,T_{C}), we say ξ\xi has rank rr if its image under Noether’s map (2.1) has rank rr. We also note that any rank 11 transformations has the form ω¯ω¯\overline{\omega}\cdot\overline{\omega} for some ω¯H0,1(C)\overline{\omega}\in H^{0,1}(C), and any rank 22 transformation has the form ω1¯ω2¯\overline{\omega_{1}}\cdot\overline{\omega_{2}} for independent ω1¯,ω2¯H0,1(C)\overline{\omega_{1}},\overline{\omega_{2}}\in H^{0,1}(C).

Fix an orthonormal basis (ω1,,ωg)(\omega_{1},...,\omega_{g}) of H0(C,OC)H1,0(C)H^{0}(C,O_{C})\simeq H^{1,0}(C). The canonical embedding of CC is read as:

(2.2) C(H0,1(C))g1,p[ω1(p)::ωg(p)].C\rightarrow\mathbb{P}(H^{0,1}(C))\simeq\mathbb{P}^{g-1},\ p\rightarrow[\omega_{1}(p):...:\omega_{g}(p)].

Consider the 22-Veronese embedding (H0,1(C))(Sym2H0,1(C))\mathbb{P}(H^{0,1}(C))\rightarrow\mathbb{P}(\mathrm{Sym}^{2}H^{0,1}(C)), the image may be identified with the projective space of rank 11 transformations in Sym2H0,1(C)\mathrm{Sym}^{2}H^{0,1}(C).

Definition 2.1.

We say a rank 11 transformation ξp(Sym2H0,1(C))\xi_{p}\in\mathbb{P}(\mathrm{Sym}^{2}H^{0,1}(C)) is a Schiffer variation at pCp\in C if ξp\xi_{p} is the Veronese image of pCp\in C.

Proposition 2.2.

A rank 11 transformation ξ\xi is a Schiffer variation at pCp\in C if and only if pCp\in C is a base point of Wξ:=Ker(ξ)H1,0(C)W_{\xi}:=\mathrm{Ker}(\xi)\leq H^{1,0}(C).

In general, for an effective divisor DD on CC, we say ξH1(C,TC)H0(C,ΩC2)\xi\in H^{1}(C,T_{C})\simeq H^{0}(C,\Omega_{C}^{\otimes 2})^{\vee} is supported on DD if ξ\xi annihilates H0(C,ΩC2(D))H^{0}(C,\Omega_{C}^{\otimes 2}(-D)). A Schiffer variation ξp\xi_{p} is thus supported on D=[p]D=[p].

If g4g\geq 4, (H1(C,TC))(Sym2H0,1(C))\mathbb{P}(H^{1}(C,T_{C}))\subset\mathbb{P}(\mathrm{Sym}^{2}H^{0,1}(C)) is an intersection of hyperplanes. These hyperplanes cut off the Veronese image of (H0,1(C))\mathbb{P}(H^{0,1}(C)) along a set of quadric hypersurfaces in (H0,1(C))\mathbb{P}(H^{0,1}(C)) containing the canonical image of CC. We arrive at Griffiths’ famous theorem:

Theorem 2.3 (Griffiths).

For a non-hyperelliptic curve CC, every rank 11 transformation in (H1(C,TC))\mathbb{P}(H^{1}(C,T_{C})) is a Schiffer variation if and only if CC is cut off by quadric hypersurfaces.

When g=4g=4, it is well-known that C3C\subset\mathbb{P}^{3} is the intersection of a quadric QQ and a cubic VV. In this case not every rank 11 transformation is a Schiffer variation.

3. Normal functions and Griffiths infinitesimal invariants

3.1. Basic theory of normal functions

Let 𝒱S\mathcal{V}\rightarrow S be an integral polarized variation of Hodge structures (\mathbb{Z}-PVHS) of weight 1-1 with type (V,Q,hp,q)(V_{\mathbb{Z}},Q,h^{p,q}) defined over a quasi-projective base SS. The intermediate Jacobian associated to 𝒱S\mathcal{V}\rightarrow S is 𝒥(𝒱):=𝒱0𝒱+𝒱\mathcal{J}(\mathcal{V}):=\frac{\mathcal{V}_{\mathbb{C}}}{\mathcal{F}^{0}\mathcal{V}_{\mathbb{C}}+\mathcal{V}_{\mathbb{Z}}}. We also define

(3.1) 𝒥h(𝒱):=ker{¯:𝒥(𝒱)𝒱0ΩS1}\mathcal{J}_{h}(\mathcal{V}):=\mathrm{ker}\{\overline{\nabla}:\mathcal{J}(\mathcal{V})\rightarrow\frac{\mathcal{V}}{\mathcal{F}^{0}}\otimes\Omega_{S}^{1}\}

as the horizontal part of 𝒥(𝒱)\mathcal{J}(\mathcal{V}).

Definition 3.1.

A normal function ν\nu assocated to 𝒱S\mathcal{V}\rightarrow S is a section of 𝒥h(𝒱)S\mathcal{J}_{h}(\mathcal{V})\rightarrow S.

In general, we only care about normal functions which are admissible. The precise definition can be found at for example [Sai96]. Briefly speaking, admissibility means the existence of relative monodromy weight filtrations and nilpotent orbit theorem ([Sch73]) along the boundary strata.

Let 𝒳S\mathcal{X}\rightarrow S be a family of smooth projective varieties of dimension nn and 𝒵𝒳\mathcal{Z}\subset\mathcal{X} be a subvariety of codimension rr such that for each sSs\in S, 𝒵s:=𝒵XsCHhomr(Xs)\mathcal{Z}_{s}:=\mathcal{Z}\cap X_{s}\in\mathrm{CH}^{r}_{\mathrm{hom}}(X_{s}). For each sSs\in S the Griffiths Abel-Jacobi map associates ZsZ_{s} an element in J(Hs):=Hs()F0Hs+Hs()J(H_{s}):=\frac{H_{s}(\mathbb{C})}{F^{0}H_{s}+H_{s}(\mathbb{Z})} where Hs:=H2n2r+1(Xs)[nr+1]H_{s}:=H^{2n-2r+1}(X_{s})[n-r+1] defined as follows.

Use the identification:

(3.2) J(Hs):=Hs()F0Hs+Hs()(F0Hs)Hs(),J(H_{s}):=\frac{H_{s}(\mathbb{C})}{F^{0}H_{s}+H_{s}(\mathbb{Z})}\cong\frac{(F^{0}H_{s})^{\vee}}{H_{s}(\mathbb{Z})},

there is the defining formula

(3.3) ν(ω(s))=Γsωs\nu(\omega(s))=\int_{\Gamma_{s}}\omega_{s}

where ω(s)F0Hs\omega(s)\in F^{0}H_{s} and ΓsXs\Gamma_{s}\subset X_{s} is a (2n2r+1)(2n-2r+1)-chain satisfies Γs=𝒵s\partial\Gamma_{s}=\mathcal{Z}_{s}, both vary smoothly locally around ss.

By patching together all intermediate Jacobians J(Hs)J(H_{s}) and the Abel-Jacobi image given by ZsZ_{s}, we obtain a normal function ν\nu as a section of 𝒥S\mathcal{J}\rightarrow S. Such a normal function is said to be of geometric origin.

Theorem 3.2 (Voisin).

Normal functions of geometric origins are admissible.

3.2. The rank of normal function

In this subsection we fix a \mathbb{Z}-PVHS 𝒱S\mathcal{V}\rightarrow S of weight 1-1 and an admissible normal function νH0(S,𝒥(𝒱))\nu\in H^{0}(S,\mathcal{J}(\mathcal{V})). For any sSs\in S, we have the (split) exact sequence:

(3.4) 0Vs/F0VsTν(s)𝒥(𝒱)TsS00\rightarrow V_{s}/F^{0}V_{s}\rightarrow T_{\nu(s)}\mathcal{J}(\mathcal{V})\rightarrow T_{s}S\rightarrow 0

Let πv\pi_{v} be the natural projection Tν(s)𝒥(𝒱)Vs/F0VsT_{\nu(s)}\mathcal{J}(\mathcal{V})\rightarrow V_{s}/F^{0}V_{s}.

Definition 3.3.

The rank of ν\nu at a point sSs\in S is defined to be the rank of the tangent map:

(3.5) πvdν|s:TsSTν(s)𝒥(𝒱)Vs/F0Vs.\pi_{v}\circ d\nu|_{s}:T_{s}S\rightarrow T_{\nu(s)}\mathcal{J}(\mathcal{V})\rightarrow V_{s}/F^{0}V_{s}.

The rank of ν\nu is defined to be the rank of ν\nu at a very general point sSs\in S.

Remark 3.4.

By using the identification

(3.6) 𝒥(𝒱)𝒥(𝒱)=𝒱/𝒱,\mathcal{J}(\mathcal{V})\simeq\mathcal{J}(\mathcal{V}_{\mathbb{R}})=\mathcal{V}_{\mathbb{R}}/\mathcal{V}_{\mathbb{Z}},

as CC^{\infty}-manifolds, we may also define the rank of ν\nu at sSs\in S by half of the rank of the real tangent map:

(3.7) πvdν|s:(TsS)Tν(s)𝒥(𝒱)Vs,.\pi_{v}\circ d\nu_{\mathbb{R}}|_{s}:(T_{s}S)_{\mathbb{R}}\rightarrow T_{\nu(s)}\mathcal{J}(\mathcal{V}_{\mathbb{R}})\rightarrow V_{s,\mathbb{R}}.

The following lemma is an immediate consequence from the definition:

Lemma 3.5.

ν\nu is locally constant if and only if it has rank 0. In this case for any sSs\in S, there exists a neighborhood sUSs\in U\subset S such that ν(U)𝒥(𝒱)\nu(U)\subset\mathcal{J}(\mathcal{V}) admits a lift in Γ(U,𝒱)\Gamma^{\nabla}(U,\mathcal{V}), the \nabla-flat sections of 𝒱\mathcal{V} on UU.

There will be more discussions about the normal function rank in Section 6.

3.3. The Griffiths infinitesimal invariant

Associated to a normal function ν\nu is a differential invariant of ν\nu studied by Griffiths [Gri83], denoted as δ~ν\tilde{\delta}\nu which is described as follows.

For sSs\in S, choose any local lift vv of ν\nu around ss, we have

(3.8) vKer{1ΩS1ΩS22}.\nabla v\in\mathrm{Ker}\{\mathcal{F}^{-1}\otimes\Omega^{1}_{S}\xrightarrow{\nabla}\Omega^{2}_{S}\otimes\mathcal{F}^{-2}\}.

Consider the Koszul complex:

(3.9) 0Ωs11Ωs22,\mathcal{F}^{0}\xrightarrow{\nabla}\Omega^{1}_{s}\otimes\mathcal{F}^{-1}\xrightarrow{\nabla}\Omega^{2}_{s}\otimes\mathcal{F}^{-2},

since different choices of vv are differed by elements in 0\mathcal{F}^{0} and \nabla-flat sections, δ~νs\tilde{\delta}\nu_{s} gives a well-defined element in the Koszul cohomology group:

(3.10) δ~νs~s:=Ker{Ωs1Fs1Ωs2Fs2}Img{Fs0Ωs1Fs1}\tilde{\delta}\nu_{s}\in\tilde{\mathbb{H}}_{s}:=\frac{\mathrm{Ker}\{\Omega^{1}_{s}\otimes F_{s}^{-1}\xrightarrow{\nabla}\Omega^{2}_{s}\otimes F_{s}^{-2}\}}{\mathrm{Img}\{F_{s}^{0}\xrightarrow{\nabla}\Omega^{1}_{s}\otimes F_{s}^{-1}\}}

This is usually called the (full) Griffiths infinitesimal invariant of ν\nu at sSs\in S.

In practice a weaker invariant called the first Griffiths infinitesimal invariant δν\delta\nu is more suitable for calculation. Consider the graded part of (3.9):

(3.11) Hs0,1¯Ωs1Hs1,0¯Ωs2Hs2,1,H_{s}^{0,-1}\xrightarrow{\overline{\nabla}}\Omega^{1}_{s}\otimes H_{s}^{-1,0}\xrightarrow{\overline{\nabla}}\Omega^{2}_{s}\otimes H_{s}^{-2,1},

The first Griffiths infinitesimal invariant δνs\delta\nu_{s} gives a well-defined element in:

(3.12) δνss:=Ker{Ωs1Hs1,0¯Ωs2Hs2,1}Img{Hs0,1¯Ωs1Hs1,0}.\delta\nu_{s}\in\mathbb{H}_{s}:=\frac{\mathrm{Ker}\{\Omega^{1}_{s}\otimes H_{s}^{-1,0}\xrightarrow{\overline{\nabla}}\Omega^{2}_{s}\otimes H_{s}^{-2,1}\}}{\mathrm{Img}\{H_{s}^{0,-1}\xrightarrow{\overline{\nabla}}\Omega^{1}_{s}\otimes H_{s}^{-1,0}\}}.

By considering the dual complex of (3.11):

(3.13) 2TsHs1,2TsHs0,1Hs1,0,\wedge^{2}T_{s}\otimes H_{s}^{1,-2}\rightarrow T_{s}\otimes H_{s}^{0,-1}\xrightarrow{}H_{s}^{-1,0},

δ¯νs\overline{\delta}\nu_{s} can also be seen as a linear function on:

(3.14) s:=Ker{TsHs0,1Hs1,0}Img{2TsHs1,2TsHs0,1}\mathbb{H}_{s}^{\vee}:=\frac{\mathrm{Ker}\{T_{s}\otimes H_{s}^{0,-1}\xrightarrow{}H_{s}^{-1,0}\}}{\mathrm{Img}\{\wedge^{2}T_{s}\otimes H_{s}^{1,-2}\xrightarrow{}T_{s}\otimes H_{s}^{0,-1}\}}

given by:

(3.15) δνs(ξiwi)=ξiv,wi\delta\nu_{s}(\sum\xi_{i}\otimes w_{i})=\sum\langle\nabla_{\xi_{i}}v,w_{i}\rangle

where vv is any local lift of ν\nu around ss.

The Griffiths infinitesimal invariant is a powerful tool to study the local behavior of a normal function. In particular, we have:

Theorem 3.6 ([Gri83], Sec. 6(a)).

The normal function ν\nu is locally constant, or say has rank 0, if and only if δ~νs=0\tilde{\delta}\nu_{s}=0 at every sSs\in S.

Remark 3.7.

It is clear that δν=0\delta\nu=0 is a necessary but in general not sufficient condition for δ~ν=0\tilde{\delta}\nu=0. To fill the gap between them, in [Gre89] Mark Green defined a sequence of infinitesimal invariants δν=δ1ν,δ2ν,,δkν,\delta\nu=\delta_{1}\nu,\delta_{2}\nu,...,\delta_{k}\nu,... such that the vanishing of all of δkν\delta_{k}\nu holds if and only if δ~ν=0\tilde{\delta}\nu=0. We will not use these invariants in the rest of the paper.

For the rest of this paper, by the Griffiths infinitesimal invariant we mean the first Griffiths infinitesimal invariant.

3.4. Infinitesimal invariant the Ceresa cycle normal function

Fix a smooth genus gg algebraic curve CC and a marked point p0Cp_{0}\in C. The image of Abel-Jacobi map CJ(C),pp0pC\rightarrow J(C),\ p\rightarrow\int_{p_{0}}^{p} in J(C)J(C) gives an algebraic cycle [C][C]Zg1(J(C))[C]-[C^{-}]\in Z^{g-1}(J(C)). In [Cer83] Ceresa showed for a general curve CC,

(3.16) 0[C][C]Griffg1(J(C)),0\neq[C]-[C^{-}]\in\mathrm{Griff}^{g-1}(J(C)),

where

(3.17) Griffg1(J(C)):=Chhomg1(J(C))Chalgg1(J(C))\mathrm{Griff}^{g-1}(J(C)):=\frac{\mathrm{Ch}^{g-1}_{\mathrm{hom}}(J(C))}{\mathrm{Ch}^{g-1}_{\mathrm{alg}}(J(C))}

is the Griffiths group. The Griffiths Abel-Jacobi map (3.3) gives:

(3.18) AJ([C][C])Jg1(J(C))F2H3(J(C))H3(J(C),).\mathrm{AJ}([C]-[C^{-}])\in J^{g-1}(J(C))\simeq\frac{F^{2}H^{3}(J(C))^{\vee}}{H_{3}(J(C),\mathbb{Z})}.

The image depends on the base point p0Cp_{0}\in C, but its projection onto the primitive factor

(3.19) PJg1(J(C)):=F2PH3(J(C),C)H3(J(C),)PJ^{g-1}(J(C)):=\frac{F^{2}PH^{3}(J(C),C)^{\vee}}{H_{3}(J(C),\mathbb{Z})}

does not ([CP95], Prop. 2.2.1). Therefore, associated to the universal curve of genus gg: g,1g\mathcal{M}_{g,1}\rightarrow\mathcal{M}_{g} is a \mathbb{Z}-PVHS 03𝒱g\wedge^{3}_{0}\mathcal{V}\rightarrow\mathcal{M}_{g} with fibers being the primitive cohomology PH3(J(C),C)(2)PH^{3}(J(C),C)(2) and associated admissible normal function νc\nu_{c} given by the Ceresa cycle. By the existence of the Kuranishi family, δνc,C\delta\nu_{c,C} is well-defined and called the Griffiths infinitesimal invariant of CC.

More precisely, the family of intermediate Jacobians 𝒫𝒥g\mathcal{PJ}\rightarrow\mathcal{M}_{g} has fiber at CC given by (3.19). Therefore δνc,C\delta\nu_{c,C} gives a linear function on ¯s\overline{\mathbb{H}}_{s} defined by equation (3.14).

We introduce a result given by Collino-Pirola which is useful on computing the infinitesimal invariant. Let ξH1(C,TC)\xi\in H^{1}(C,T_{C}) be a transformation with dim(Wξ)2\mathrm{dim}(W_{\xi})\geq 2, and σ1,σ2H1,0(C)\sigma_{1},\sigma_{2}\in H^{1,0}(C) are 22 independent forms annihilated by ξ\xi.

Theorem 3.8 ([CP95], Sec. 2).

δνc,C(ξσ1σ2ω¯)=0\delta\nu_{c,C}(\xi\otimes\sigma_{1}\wedge\sigma_{2}\wedge\overline{\omega})=0 for any ωH1,0(C)\omega\in H^{1,0}(C) orthogonal to σ1,σ2\langle\sigma_{1},\sigma_{2}\rangle if and only if ξ\xi is supported on the base locus of σ1,σ2\langle\sigma_{1},\sigma_{2}\rangle.

The proof relies on the construction of the adjunction map defined in [CP95], we will not cover it in details here.

4. The Genus four case

We will be focusing on the case g=4g=4 in the rest of the paper. It is well-known that for a general smooth genus 44 curve CC, its canonical embedding into g13\mathbb{P}^{g-1}\simeq\mathbb{P}^{3} is the intersection of a unique quadric QQ and a cubic VV well-defined up to cubics generated by QQ.

To the family 4\mathcal{M}_{4} of smooth genus 44 curves, let 4,14\mathcal{M}_{4,1}\rightarrow\mathcal{M}_{4} be the universal curve and 𝒱4\mathcal{V}\rightarrow\mathcal{M}_{4} be the associated PVHS. There is a family of 0-cycles defined up to a sign which leads to an admissible normal function ν0\nu_{0} underlying 𝒱4[2]\mathcal{V}\rightarrow\mathcal{M}_{4}[2], and hence a well-defined infinitesimal invariant δν0\delta\nu_{0} for any C4C\in\mathcal{M}_{4}.

4.1. The normal function ν0\nu_{0}

Since any quadric hypersurface Q3Q\subset\mathbb{P}^{3} is isomorphic to 1×1\mathbb{P}^{1}\times\mathbb{P}^{1}, the two rulings l1,l2l_{1},l_{2} of QQ cut off the canonical curve C=QVC=Q\cap V at the divisor

(4.1) ±D0(C):=1i3[pi]1i3[qi]\pm D_{0}(C):=\sum_{1\leq i\leq 3}[p_{i}]-\sum_{1\leq i\leq 3}[q_{i}]

which is homologous to zero and whose image in CHhom1(C)\mathrm{CH}^{1}_{\mathrm{hom}}(C) is well-defined up to a sign. Therefore, ν0\nu_{0} is just the normal function associated to this family of cycles:

(4.2) ν0:4[2]𝒥(𝒱)𝒱0𝒱+𝒱.\nu_{0}:\mathcal{M}_{4}[2]\rightarrow\mathcal{J}(\mathcal{V})\simeq\frac{\mathcal{V}}{\mathcal{F}^{0}\mathcal{V}+\mathcal{V}_{\mathbb{Z}}}.

In [Gri83] Griffiths studied the infinitesimal invariant δν0\delta\nu_{0} over 4\mathcal{M}_{4}. Fix a non-hyperelliptic curve CC, we have TCM4H1(C,TC)T_{C}M_{4}\simeq H^{1}(C,T_{C}) via the Kodaira-Spencer map. Consider the set of rank 11 deformations of CC:

𝒞ΔΔ\mathcal{C}_{\Delta}\rightarrow\Delta, Δ:=Spec{(ϵ)ϵ2}\Delta:=\mathrm{Spec}\{\frac{\mathbb{C}(\epsilon)}{\epsilon^{2}}\}, 𝒞0C\mathcal{C}_{0}\simeq C.

Such that the image of the Kodaira-Spencer class ξH1(C,TC)\xi\in H^{1}(C,T_{C}) in Hom(H1,0,H0,1)\mathrm{Hom}(H^{1,0},H^{0,1}) has rank 11. Using the identification introduced in the beginning of Sec. 2, this set may be identified with the quadric hypersurface Q3Q\subset\mathbb{P}^{3}.

Theorem 4.1 ([Gri83]).

δν0|Δ\delta\nu_{0}|_{\Delta} vanishes if and only if ξC=QV\xi\in C=Q\cap V, equivalently if and only if ξ\xi is a Schiffer variation.

Indeed, he showed that δν0\delta\nu_{0} defines an element in H0(Q,𝒪Q(3))H^{0}(Q,\mathcal{O}_{Q}(3)) whose vanishing locus is exactly the canonical curve CC.

4.2. The Ceresa normal function νc\nu_{c}

In this subsection we consider the Ceresa normal function νc\nu_{c} over 4\mathcal{M}_{4} and its infinitesimal invariant δνc\delta\nu_{c}. In particular, we show δνc\delta\nu_{c} and δν0\delta\nu_{0} has the same vanishing locus on rank 11 deformations.

Let 4𝒜4\mathcal{M}_{4}\rightarrow\mathcal{A}_{4} be the period map where 𝒜4\mathcal{A}_{4} is the moduli space of principally polarized abelian varieties of dimension 44. The image of 4\mathcal{M}_{4} is known as the Jacobian divisor of 𝒜4\mathcal{A}_{4}. Let C4C\in\mathcal{M}_{4} and TC𝒜4Hom(H1,0(C),H0,1(C))T_{C}\mathcal{A}_{4}\simeq\mathrm{Hom}(H^{1,0}(C),H^{0,1}(C)). Denote {Pp,q,p+q=1}\{P^{p,q},\ p+q=-1\} as the Hodge decomposition of PH3(J(C),C)[2]PH^{3}(J(C),C)[2]. We have the commutative diagram:

(4.3) 2TC4P1,2{\wedge^{2}T_{C}\mathcal{M}_{4}\otimes P^{1,-2}}TC4P0,1{T_{C}\mathcal{M}_{4}\otimes P^{0,-1}}P1,0{P^{-1,0}}2TC𝒜4P1,2{\wedge^{2}T_{C}\mathcal{A}_{4}\otimes P^{1,-2}}TC𝒜4P0,1{T_{C}\mathcal{A}_{4}\otimes P^{0,-1}}P1,0.{P^{-1,0}.}=\scriptstyle{=}

Following the computation in [Nor93, Sec. 7], the bottom row of (4.3) is exact, while the top row has the cohomology group C\mathbb{H}_{C}^{\vee} defined in (3.14) (We regard the curve CC as a point in 4\mathcal{M}_{4}).

Let 𝒦:=Ker{TC4P1,2P0,1}\mathcal{K}:=\mathrm{Ker}\{T_{C}\mathcal{M}_{4}\otimes P^{1,-2}\rightarrow P^{0,-1}\}. It follows that 𝒦Sym3(H0,1(C))\mathcal{K}\simeq\mathrm{Sym}^{3}(H^{0,1}(C)). Choose an orthonormal basis {ωi, 1i4}\{\omega_{i},\ 1\leq i\leq 4\} of H1,0(C)H^{1,0}(C). The equivalence is given on decomposible tensors by

(4.4) dω1¯dω2¯dω3¯Sym3(H0,1(C))σS3dωσ(1)¯dωσ(2)¯ωσ(3)𝒦\overline{d\omega_{1}}\cdot\overline{d\omega_{2}}\cdot\overline{d\omega_{3}}\in\mathrm{Sym}^{3}(H^{0,1}(C))\rightarrow\sum_{\sigma\in S_{3}}\overline{d\omega_{\sigma(1)}}\cdot\overline{d\omega_{\sigma(2)}}\otimes\star\omega_{\sigma(3)}\in\mathcal{K}

where ω\star\omega is the Hodge-star operator.

Take any 0ηTC𝒜4TC40\neq\eta\in T_{C}\mathcal{A}_{4}-T_{C}\mathcal{M}_{4}. There is a well-defined map ρη:𝒦C\rho_{\eta}:\mathcal{K}\rightarrow\mathbb{H}_{C}^{\vee} defined by:

(4.5) ξiωi𝒦ρηξiηωiC.\sum\xi_{i}\otimes\omega_{i}\in\mathcal{K}\xrightarrow{\rho_{\eta}}\sum\xi_{i}\otimes\nabla_{\eta}\omega_{i}\in\mathbb{H}_{C}^{\vee}.

Since different choice of η\eta are differed by a constant multiple or an element in TCM4T_{C}M_{4}, the map ρη\rho_{\eta} with image in C\mathbb{P}\mathbb{H}_{C}^{\vee} is canonically defined. By pulling back we may realize δνc,C\delta\nu_{c,C} as a linear functional on 𝒦Sym3(H0,1(C))\mathbb{P}\mathcal{K}\simeq\mathbb{P}\mathrm{Sym}^{3}(H^{0,1}(C)).

Notice that for any rank 11 transformation ξ=dω¯dω¯\xi=\overline{d\omega}\cdot\overline{d\omega}, take {σ1,σ2,σ3}\{\sigma_{1},\sigma_{2},\sigma_{3}\} as an orthonormal basis of WξW_{\xi}, the maps (4.4) and (4.5) are read as:

(4.6) dω¯dω¯dω¯dω¯dω¯σ1σ2σ3ρηdω¯dω¯η(σ1σ2σ3).\overline{d\omega}\cdot\overline{d\omega}\cdot\overline{d\omega}\rightarrow\overline{d\omega}\cdot\overline{d\omega}\otimes\sigma_{1}\wedge\sigma_{2}\wedge\sigma_{3}\xrightarrow{\rho_{\eta}}\sum\overline{d\omega}\cdot\overline{d\omega}\otimes\nabla_{\eta}(\sigma_{1}\wedge\sigma_{2}\wedge\sigma_{3}).

The following proposition together with Theorm 4.1 implies the main Theorem 1.1.

Proposition 4.2.

For a general genus 44 curve CC, δνc,C\delta\nu_{c,C} vanishes on the image of a rank 11 deformation ξ\xi under (4.6) if and only if ξ=ξp\xi=\xi_{p} is a Schiffer variation.

Proof.

We first show δνc,C\delta\nu_{c,C} does not vanish identically on the Veronese image of (H0,1(C))\mathbb{P}(H^{0,1}(C)). It suffices to find one curve CC and one rank 11 deformation ξH1(C,TC)\xi\in H^{1}(C,T_{C}) such that δνc,C\delta\nu_{c,C} does not vanish on the image of ξ\xi under (4.6).

We consider the same example as [Gri83, Sec. 6(d)]. Take CC and pCp\in C satisfy that the two rulings l1,l2l_{1},l_{2} of QQ at pp have triple and double tangent point with CC at pp respectively. The plane generated by l1,l2l_{1},l_{2} in (H0,1(C))\mathbb{P}(H^{0,1}(C)) represents a holomorphic form ω0H0(C,ΩC(3p))\omega_{0}\in H^{0}(C,\Omega_{C}(3p)). Take another two forms ω1,ω2\omega_{1},\omega_{2} such that ω0ωi=li\omega_{0}\cap\omega_{i}=l_{i}, and ω0,ω1,ω2\omega_{0},\omega_{1},\omega_{2} are mutually orthogonal. Take qω1ω2ω0q\in\omega_{1}\cap\omega_{2}-\omega_{0}. The base locus of ω1,ω2\langle\omega_{1},\omega_{2}\rangle is 3[p]3[p] while ξq\xi_{q} is not supported on 3[p]3[p] as it does not annihilate ω0\omega_{0}. Theorem 3.8 implies δνc,C(ω1ω2ζ¯)\delta\nu_{c,C}(\omega_{1}\wedge\omega_{2}\wedge\overline{\zeta}) does not vanish for all ζH1,0(C)\zeta\in H^{1,0}(C).

It remains to show for any pCp\in C and the corresponding Schiffer variation ξpH1(C,TC)\xi_{p}\in\mathbb{P}H^{1}(C,T_{C}), δνc,C\delta\nu_{c,C} vanishes on the image of ξp\xi_{p} under (4.6), but this follows the fact δνc,C(ξpσiσjησk)\delta\nu_{c,C}(\xi_{p}\otimes\sigma_{i}\wedge\sigma_{j}\wedge\nabla_{\eta}\sigma_{k}) vanishes as pp is a base point of σ1,σ2,σ3\langle\sigma_{1},\sigma_{2},\sigma_{3}\rangle. ∎

5. A family of special trigonal curves

Denote \mathbb{P} as the weighted projective plane [1:1:2]\mathbb{P}[1:1:2]. Consider the family of smooth projective curves

(5.1) 𝒞:={(u1,u2,u3,[X:Z:Y])B×|Y3=(X3Z3)1j3(XujZ)},\mathcal{C}:=\{(u_{1},u_{2},u_{3},[X:Z:Y])\in B\times\mathbb{P}\ |\ Y^{3}=(X^{3}-Z^{3})\prod_{1\leq j\leq 3}(X-u_{j}Z)\},

where

(5.2) B:=(1)3i,j{ui=uj}i{ui3=1}.B:=(\mathbb{P}^{1})^{3}-\cup_{i,j}\{u_{i}=u_{j}\}-\cup_{i}\{u_{i}^{3}=1\}.

Hence BB is isomorphic to 0,6\mathcal{M}_{0,6}, the moduli space of 66 distinct marked points on 1\mathbb{P}^{1} up to projective equivalence. For u=(u1,u2,u3)Bu=(u_{1},u_{2},u_{3})\in B, the curve CuC_{u} has affine equation

(5.3) Cu:{(x,y)2|y3=(x31)1j3(xuj)}¯.C_{u}:\overline{\{(x,y)\in\mathbb{C}^{2}\ |\ y^{3}=(x^{3}-1)\prod_{1\leq j\leq 3}(x-u_{j})\}}\subset\mathbb{P}.

It is clear CuC_{u} admits a 33 to 11 covering map to 1\mathbb{P}^{1} branched along 66 double points. By Riemann-Hurwitz, it has genus 44. Moreover it admits a degree 33-automorphism ρ:ye2πi3y\rho:y\xrightarrow{}e^{\frac{2\pi i}{3}}y.

Remark 5.1.

By [Loo24], the family 𝒞B\mathcal{C}\rightarrow B parametrizes curves admitting a g31g^{1}_{3} whose discriminant divisor on 1\mathbb{P}^{1} is the sum of 66 (distinct) double points.

To show the main Theorem 1.2, we independently check the behaviors of δν0\delta\nu_{0} and δνc\delta\nu_{c} over the family 𝒞B\mathcal{C}\rightarrow B.

5.1. Rationally triviality of the cycle D0D_{0}

For uBu\in B there is a canonical basis of H0(Cu,ΩCu1)H^{0}(C_{u},\Omega^{1}_{C_{u}}) compatible with the eigenspace decomposition of the induced action from ρ\rho:

(5.4) H0(Cu,ΩCu1)=dxye4πi3dxy2,xdxy2,x2dxy2e2πi3=:ω0ω1,ω2,ω3.H^{0}(C_{u},\Omega^{1}_{C_{u}})=\langle\frac{dx}{y}\rangle_{e^{\frac{4\pi i}{3}}}\oplus\langle\frac{dx}{y^{2}},\frac{xdx}{y^{2}},\frac{x^{2}dx}{y^{2}}\rangle_{e^{\frac{2\pi i}{3}}}=:\langle\omega_{0}\rangle\oplus\langle\omega_{1},\omega_{2},\omega_{3}\rangle.

Take this ordered basis and consider the corresponding canonical embedding Cuϕ(H0,1(Cu))3C_{u}\xrightarrow{\phi}\mathbb{P}(H^{0,1}(C_{u}))\simeq\mathbb{P}^{3}, the canonical image ϕ(Cu)\phi(C_{u}) lies on the quadric surface

(5.5) Q:={[z0:z1:z2:z3]3|z22z1z3=0}.Q:=\{[z_{0}:z_{1}:z_{2}:z_{3}]\in\mathbb{P}^{3}\ |\ z_{2}^{2}-z_{1}z_{3}=0\}.

The two rulings are given by the lines:

(5.6) L(t1):={z2+z1=t1(z3z1)}{z1=t1(z2z1)}\displaystyle L(t_{1}):=\{z_{2}+z_{1}=t_{1}(z_{3}-z_{1})\}\cap\{z_{1}=t_{1}(z_{2}-z_{1})\}
(5.7) L(t2):={z2+z1=t2z1}{z3z1=t2(z2z1)}\displaystyle L(t_{2}):=\{z_{2}+z_{1}=t_{2}z_{1}\}\cap\{z_{3}-z_{1}=t_{2}(z_{2}-z_{1})\}

for ti1t_{i}\in\mathbb{P}^{1}. Take t1,t2t_{1},t_{2} such that

(5.8) 1t1+1=t21,\frac{1}{t_{1}}+1=t_{2}-1,

it follows that [L(t1)Cu]=[L(t2)Cu][L(t_{1})\cap C_{u}]=[L(t_{2})\cap C_{u}]. Hence for any uBu\in B, t1,t21t_{1},t_{2}\in\mathbb{P}^{1}, the cycle D0(Cu)=[L(t1)Cu][L(t2)Cu]D_{0}(C_{u})=[L(t_{1})\cap C_{u}]-[L(t_{2})\cap C_{u}] on CuC_{u} is rationally trivial222This also implies ν0\nu_{0} can be defined over 𝒞B\mathcal{C}\rightarrow B without adding any level structures..

5.2. The Ceresa cycle

To study the Ceresa normal function of the family, we need to compute the explicit Kodaira-Spencer image of TuBT_{u}B. Clearly

(5.9) TuB={a11+a22+a33,j:=uj,aj}3.T_{u}B=\{a_{1}\partial_{1}+a_{2}\partial_{2}+a_{3}\partial_{3},\ \partial_{j}:=\frac{\partial}{\partial u_{j}},\ a_{j}\in\mathbb{C}\}\simeq\mathbb{C}^{3}.

To find the Kodaira-Spencer image of j\partial_{j}, we notice that

(5.10) jω0=13(xuj)ω0,\displaystyle\partial_{j}\omega_{0}=\frac{1}{3(x-u_{j})}\omega_{0},
(5.11) jωk=23(xuj)ωk, 1k3.\displaystyle\partial_{j}\omega_{k}=\frac{2}{3(x-u_{j})}\omega_{k},\ 1\leq k\leq 3.

It follows that

(5.12) j(ω2ujω1)=23(xuj)ω1,\displaystyle\partial_{j}(\omega_{2}-u_{j}\omega_{1})=\frac{2}{3(x-u_{j})}\omega_{1},
(5.13) j(ω3ujω2)=23(xuj)ω2\displaystyle\partial_{j}(\omega_{3}-u_{j}\omega_{2})=\frac{2}{3(x-u_{j})}\omega_{2}

are both holomorphic, therefore ω2ujω1,ω3ujω2\langle\omega_{2}-u_{j}\omega_{1},\omega_{3}-u_{j}\omega_{2}\rangle is annihilated by the Kodaira-Spencer class of j\partial_{j}.

Moreover, it is clear for any ξTuB\xi\in T_{u}B,

(5.14) ξH0(Cu,ΩCu1)e4πi3H1(Cu,𝒪Cu)e4πi3=ω0¯\nabla_{\xi}H^{0}(C_{u},\Omega^{1}_{C_{u}})_{e^{\frac{4\pi i}{3}}}\subset H^{1}(C_{u},\mathcal{O}_{C_{u}})_{e^{\frac{4\pi i}{3}}}=\langle\overline{\omega_{0}}\rangle

and similarly

(5.15) ξH0(Cu,ΩCu1)e2πi3=ξω0H1(Cu,𝒪Cu)e2πi3.\nabla_{\xi}H^{0}(C_{u},\Omega^{1}_{C_{u}})_{e^{\frac{2\pi i}{3}}}=\nabla_{\xi}\langle\omega_{0}\rangle\subset H^{1}(C_{u},\mathcal{O}_{C_{u}})_{e^{\frac{2\pi i}{3}}}.

As a consequence we have the following lemma.

Lemma 5.2.

For any 0ξTuB0\neq\xi\in T_{u}B, its Kodaira-spencer class in H1(Cu,TCu)H^{1}(C_{u},T_{C_{u}}) has rank 22, and the two dimensional kernel WξH0(Cu,ΩCu1)e4πi3W_{\xi}\leq H^{0}(C_{u},\Omega^{1}_{C_{u}})_{e^{\frac{4\pi i}{3}}}.

We compute the explicit Kodaira-Spencer classes of j\partial_{j}. For convenience denote

(5.16) Q(x)=Qu(x):=(x31)(xu1)(xu2)(xu3),Q(x)=Q_{u}(x):=(x^{3}-1)(x-u_{1})(x-u_{2})(x-u_{3}),

we compute the class of jωk\partial_{j}\omega_{k} in H0,1(C)H^{0,1}(C).

Lemma 5.3.
(5.17) Cuω0(jω1)=6πiQ(uj),\displaystyle\int_{C_{u}}\omega_{0}\wedge(\partial_{j}\omega_{1})=\frac{6\pi i}{Q^{\prime}(u_{j})},
(5.18) Cuω1(jω0)=6πiQ(uj),\displaystyle\int_{C_{u}}\omega_{1}\wedge(\partial_{j}\omega_{0})=\frac{6\pi i}{Q^{\prime}(u_{j})},
(5.19) Cuω0(jω0)=0,\displaystyle\int_{C_{u}}\omega_{0}\wedge(\partial_{j}\omega_{0})=0,
(5.20) Cuω1(jωk)=0, 1k3.\displaystyle\int_{C_{u}}\omega_{1}\wedge(\partial_{j}\omega_{k})=0,\ 1\leq k\leq 3.
Proof.

The calculation is similar to [CMP17, Chap. 1.1], we solve Cuω0(1ω1)\int_{C_{u}}\omega_{0}\wedge(\partial_{1}\omega_{1}) and the remaining ones are parallel. Note that around u1u_{1},

(5.21) 1ω1=dy(xu)Q(x)dyy3+\partial_{1}\omega_{1}=\frac{dy}{(x-u)Q^{{}^{\prime}}(x)}\sim\frac{dy}{y^{3}}+*

where * represents some higher-order terms. Let u1UVu_{1}\in U\subset V be small enough open neighborhoods of u1Cuu_{1}\in C_{u} on which yy is a local coordinate. Since both ω0\omega_{0} and 1ω1\partial_{1}\omega_{1} are holomorphic over CuUC_{u}-U,

(5.22) Cuω0(1ω1)=Uω0(1ω1)\displaystyle\int_{C_{u}}\omega_{0}\wedge(\partial_{1}\omega_{1})=\int_{U}\omega_{0}\wedge(\partial_{1}\omega_{1})
(5.23) =U3ydyQ(x)dyy3\displaystyle=-\int_{U}\frac{3ydy}{Q^{{}^{\prime}}(x)}\wedge\frac{dy}{y^{3}}
(5.24) =U3dyQ(x)d(1y)\displaystyle=\int_{U}\frac{3dy}{Q^{{}^{\prime}}(x)}\wedge d(\frac{1}{y})
(5.25) =Ud(3dyQ(x)y)\displaystyle=\int_{U}d(\frac{3dy}{Q^{{}^{\prime}}(x)y})
(5.26) =U3dyQ(x)y\displaystyle=\int_{\partial U}\frac{3dy}{Q^{{}^{\prime}}(x)y}
(5.27) =2πiResy=03Q(x)y=6πiQ(u1).\displaystyle=2\pi i\mathrm{Res}_{y=0}\frac{3}{Q^{{}^{\prime}}(x)y}=\frac{6\pi i}{Q^{{}^{\prime}}(u_{1})}.

A direct consequence of Lemma 5.3 is:

Proposition 5.4.

For any 0ξTuB0\neq\xi\in T_{u}B, its Kodaira-Spencer image has rank 22. Moreover, it sends ωk, 1k3\langle\omega_{k},\ 1\leq k\leq 3\rangle to ω0¯\langle\overline{\omega_{0}}\rangle and ω0\omega_{0} to ωξ¯\langle\overline{\omega_{\xi}}\rangle, where ωξ\omega_{\xi} is a holomorphic form in ωk, 1k3\langle\omega_{k},\ 1\leq k\leq 3\rangle orthogonal to Wξ:=Ker(ξ)W_{\xi}:=\mathrm{Ker}(\xi).

For any ξTuB\xi\in T_{u}B, suppose Wξ=σ1,σ2H1,0(Cu)W_{\xi}=\langle\sigma_{1},\sigma_{2}\rangle\leq H^{1,0}(C_{u}). We consider whether δνc,Cu\delta\nu_{c,C_{u}} vanishes on the first deformation of CuC_{u} given by ξ\xi. If we can show that ξ\xi is not supported on the base locus of WξW_{\xi}, then Theorem 3.8 implies δνc,Cu\delta\nu_{c,C_{u}} does not vanish on the first-order deformation of CuC_{u} given by ξ\xi.

By (5.17), for ξ=1j3ajj\xi=\sum_{1\leq j\leq 3}a_{j}\partial_{j},

(5.28) Wξ={1l3blωl|1j,l3blajujl1Q(uj)=0}.W_{\xi}=\{\sum_{1\leq l\leq 3}b_{l}\omega_{l}\ |\sum_{1\leq j,l\leq 3}\frac{b_{l}a_{j}u_{j}^{l-1}}{Q^{\prime}(u_{j})}=0\}.

On the other hand, for a form ω:=a3x2+a2x+a1y2dx,a30\omega:=\frac{a_{3}x^{2}+a_{2}x+a_{1}}{y^{2}}dx,\ a_{3}\neq 0, by [McM13, Sec. 3], the zero locus is precisely given by the roots of a3x2+a2x+a1=0a_{3}x^{2}+a_{2}x+a_{1}=0.

To sum up, for C=Cu,u=(u1,u2,u3)C=C_{u},\ u=(u_{1},u_{2},u_{3}), ξ=a11+a22+a33TuB\xi=a_{1}\partial_{1}+a_{2}\partial_{2}+a_{3}\partial_{3}\in T_{u}B makes WξW_{\xi} have non-empty base locus if and only if

(5.29) [a1,a2,a3]A{[X:Y:Z]2|XZY2=0},[a_{1},a_{2},a_{3}]A\in\{[X:Y:Z]\in\mathbb{P}^{2}\ |\ XZ-Y^{2}=0\},

where

(5.30) A=(1Q(u1)u1Q(u1)u12Q(u1)1Q(u2)u2Q(u2)u22Q(u2)1Q(u3)u3Q(u3)u32Q(u3)).A=\begin{pmatrix}\frac{1}{Q^{\prime}(u_{1})}&\frac{u_{1}}{Q^{\prime}(u_{1})}&\frac{u_{1}^{2}}{Q^{\prime}(u_{1})}\\ \frac{1}{Q^{\prime}(u_{2})}&\frac{u_{2}}{Q^{\prime}(u_{2})}&\frac{u_{2}^{2}}{Q^{\prime}(u_{2})}\\ \frac{1}{Q^{\prime}(u_{3})}&\frac{u_{3}}{Q^{\prime}(u_{3})}&\frac{u_{3}^{2}}{Q^{\prime}(u_{3})}\end{pmatrix}.

Since this is a plane quadric which does not contain any linear subspaces of 2\mathbb{P}^{2} other than points (generically), we may conclude:

Theorem 5.5.

The Ceresa normal function νc\nu_{c} has rank 2\geq 2 for the family 𝒞B\mathcal{C}\rightarrow B. Moreover, if LBL\subset B is a curve on which νc\nu_{c} is locally constant, then the tangent bundle TLTL must contained in the subbundle of TBTB determined by (5.29).

Remark 5.6.

Since the family 𝒞B\mathcal{C}\rightarrow B descends to a family 𝒞B/S3\mathcal{C}\rightarrow B/S_{3} and Sym313\mathrm{Sym}^{3}\mathbb{P}^{1}\simeq\mathbb{P}^{3}, Theorem 1.2 implies the curves in BB on which νc\nu_{c} is locally constant are given by projective curves in 3\mathbb{P}^{3}.

To finish proving Theorem 1.2 we need to show νc\nu_{c} has rank 33. Two critical ingradients are definability of normal functions introduced in the Appendix 6, and the algebraic monodromy group which we discuss next.

5.3. The algebraic monodromy group

Consider a general \mathbb{Z}-PVHS 𝒱B\mathcal{V}\rightarrow B with associated monodromy group ΓAut(V)\Gamma\leq\mathrm{Aut}(V_{\mathbb{Z}}), where VV is the fiber at a reference point.

Definition 5.7.

Let 𝕂\mathbb{K}\leq\mathbb{C} be a field, the 𝕂\mathbb{K}-algebraic monodromy group Γ¯𝕂\overline{\Gamma}^{\mathbb{K}} is the connected component of the 𝕂\mathbb{K}-Zariski closure of Γ\Gamma.

Remark 5.8.

Let MAut(V)M\leq\mathrm{Aut}(V_{\mathbb{Q}}) be the generic Mumford-Tate group of the VHS defined over \mathbb{Q}, then Γ¯\overline{\Gamma}^{\mathbb{Q}} is a normal subgroup of MderM^{\mathrm{der}}, the derived subgroup of MM, see [And92].

Back to the \mathbb{Z}-PVHS associated to the family (5.1). [Xu18, Thm 2.1] implies:

Proposition 5.9.

The \mathbb{R}-algebraic monodromy group Γ¯\overline{\Gamma}^{\mathbb{R}} of the family 𝒱B\mathcal{V}\rightarrow B is isomorphic to SU(3,1)\mathrm{SU}(3,1). In particular, 03V\wedge^{3}_{0}V is irreducible as a Γ¯\overline{\Gamma}^{\mathbb{R}}-representation.

We are ready to prove the main Theorem 1.2. Suppose νc,C\nu_{c,C} has generic rank 22. By Theorem 6.4, there exists a Zariski open subset BB3B^{\circ}\subset B\subset\mathbb{P}^{3} such that BB^{\circ} is foliated by algebraic curves on each of which νc\nu_{c} is locally constant. We take a general leaf ζ\zeta in BB^{\circ}.

Lemma 5.10.

Γζ\Gamma_{\zeta} and Γ\Gamma have the same \mathbb{R}-algebraic monodromy group SU(3,1)\mathrm{SU}(3,1).

Proof.

Since BB^{\circ} is a zariski open subset of 3\mathbb{P}^{3}, the monodromy of 𝒱B\mathcal{V}\rightarrow B is generated by the monodromy operator around each irreducible component of the divisor T:=3BT:=\mathbb{P}^{3}-B^{\circ}. A generic leaf ζ\zeta must intersect each component of TT transversally, which means the monodromy group of Γζ\Gamma_{\zeta} and Γ\Gamma have the same set of generators. ∎

On the other hand, since νc\nu_{c} is locally constant on ζ\zeta, there exists wH0(ζ,V)w\in H^{0}(\zeta,V_{\mathbb{R}}) lifting νc\nu_{c}, which means ww should be fixed by the monodromy group Γζ\Gamma_{\zeta} which implies Γ¯ζ\overline{\Gamma}^{\mathbb{R}}_{\zeta} is contained in the stabilizer of ww, a contradiction. This concludes rank(νc)\mathrm{rank}(\nu_{c}) has maximal rank.

We are able to conclude a bit more: The proof showed that if there is an (11-dimensional) leaf ζ0\zeta_{0} over which νc\nu_{c} is locally constant, then the \mathbb{R}- algebraic monodromy group Γ¯ζ0\overline{\Gamma}^{\mathbb{R}}_{\zeta_{0}} must not be generic. Therefore, the positive-dimensional locus on which the Ceresa normal function is torsion must have special \mathbb{Q}-algebraic monodromy group.

Corollary 5.11.

The positive-dimensional locus in BB on which the Ceresa normal function is torsion must contain in the (algebraic) weakly special subspace of BB (in the sense of [Bak+24, Sec. 6.3]).

Indeed, by [QZ24, Sec. 4], the Ceresa cycle is torsion over the 11-dimensional family of (5.1):

(5.31) 𝒞:={(a,[X:Z:Y])(1{0,1,})×|Y3=(X3Z3)(X3aZ3)},\mathcal{C}:=\{(a,[X:Z:Y])\in(\mathbb{P}^{1}-\{0,1,\infty\})\times\mathbb{P}\ |\ Y^{3}=(X^{3}-Z^{3})(X^{3}-aZ^{3})\},

hence νc\nu_{c} must be locally constant along this family.

6. Appendix: Definability of normal functions

In this section we survey the theory of normal functions using the mixed Hodge theory aspects. We also introduce the application of o-minimal geometry in Hodge theory. As a consequence, we prove a theorem regarding the locus on which a normal function is locally constant.

Some references for this sections are [BKT20], [BBT22] and [Bak+24].

6.1. Normal function as variation of mixed Hodge structures

Regarding basic facts of admissible integral polarized variation of mixed Hodge structures (\mathbb{Z}-PVMHS), we refer readers to [Bak+24, Sec. 3-4]. In this section we assume all normal functions and VMHS are admissible.

A normal function ν\nu underlying a \mathbb{Z}-PVHS 𝒱S\mathcal{V}\rightarrow S can be regarded as a \mathbb{Z}-PVMHS (,𝒲,)(\mathcal{E},\mathcal{W},\mathcal{F}) with only 22 non-trivial graded quotients, with:

(6.1) Gr1𝒲,(Gr1𝒲)(𝒱,)\displaystyle\mathrm{Gr^{\mathcal{W}}_{-1}\mathcal{E}},\mathcal{F}(\mathrm{Gr^{\mathcal{W}}_{-1}\mathcal{E}})\simeq(\mathcal{V},\mathcal{F})
(6.2) Gr0𝒲(0),\displaystyle\mathrm{Gr^{\mathcal{W}}_{0}\mathcal{E}}\simeq\mathbb{Z}(0),

where (0)\mathbb{Z}(0) is the Tate Hodge structure. In other words, the exact sequence

(6.3) 0𝒱(0)00\rightarrow\mathcal{V}\rightarrow\mathcal{E}\rightarrow\mathbb{Z}(0)\rightarrow 0

realizes ν\nu as an element in ExtVPMHS1((0),𝒱)\mathrm{Ext}^{1}_{\mathbb{Z}-\mathrm{VPMHS}}(\mathbb{Z}(0),\mathcal{V}). Note that the sequence (6.3) always splits over \mathbb{R}. We say the normal function is vanishing (resp. torsion) if the corresponding sequence (6.3) splits over \mathbb{Z} (resp. \mathbb{Q}).

Let E=sE=\mathcal{E}_{s} for some reference point sSs\in S. Let 𝔾\mathbb{G} be the \mathbb{Q}-algebraic subgroup of Aut(E)\mathrm{Aut}(E) preserving the weight filtration W=𝒲sW=\mathcal{W}_{s}, and 𝕌\mathbb{U} be its unipotent radical. Let 𝒟\mathcal{D} be the mixed period domain parametrizing all \mathbb{Z}-PVMHS on EE with the type given by (6.1).

Let 𝒟𝒟\mathcal{D}_{\mathbb{R}}\subset\mathcal{D} be the subdomain of all \mathbb{R}-split members in 𝒟\mathcal{D}, DD be the period domain for the underlying \mathbb{Z}-PVHS 𝒱\mathcal{V}, and 𝒮(W)\mathcal{S}(W) be the \mathbb{R}-splitting variety of \mathcal{M}.

Proposition 6.1.

The following properties hold.

  1. (1)

    𝔾()𝕌()\mathbb{G}(\mathbb{R})\mathbb{U}(\mathbb{C}) acts transitively on 𝒟\mathcal{D}.

  2. (2)

    𝒟=𝒟\mathcal{D}=\mathcal{D}_{\mathbb{R}}.

  3. (3)

    𝒟D×𝒮(W)\mathcal{D}_{\mathbb{R}}\simeq D\times\mathcal{S}(W).

Proof.

(2) comes from the observation (6.3) always splits over \mathbb{R}. See [Bak+24, Sec. 3-4] for (1) and (3). ∎

Remark 6.2.

(2) is false in general, for example when 𝒟\mathcal{D} contains a mixed Hodge structure not splitting over \mathbb{R}.

The normal function ν\nu thus give rise to a mixed period map

(6.4) Φ:SΓ\𝒟Γ0\D\Phi:S\rightarrow\Gamma\backslash\mathcal{D}\rightarrow\Gamma_{0}\backslash D

where Γ0\Gamma_{0} is the monodromy group of 𝒱S\mathcal{V}\rightarrow S and ΓΓ0V\Gamma\simeq\Gamma_{0}\ltimes V_{\mathbb{Z}} is the monodromy group of S\mathcal{E}\rightarrow S.

6.2. More on rank of normal functions

We keep definitions and notations from Section 3. Suppose rank(ν)=r\mathrm{rank}(\nu)=r for some 0rdim(S)0\leq r\leq\mathrm{dim}(S), denote rc:=dim(X)rr_{c}:=\mathrm{dim}(X)-r as the co-rank of ν\nu.

Theorem 6.3 ([GZ24]).

S=SrSr1S0S=S_{r}\supset S_{r-1}\supset...\supset S_{0}, where

(6.5) Sk:={sS,rank(νs)k}, 0krS_{k}:=\{s\in S,\ \mathrm{rank}(\nu_{s})\leq k\},\ 0\leq k\leq r

are algebraic subvarieties of SS.

In other words, there exists a Zariski open subset SSS^{\circ}\subset S such that rank(νs)=r\mathrm{rank}(\nu_{s})=r for every sSs\in S^{\circ}. Therefore after possibly replace SS by one of its zariski open subset, we may assume Sr1=S_{r-1}=\emptyset. The main result of this section is the following.

Theorem 6.4.

SS admits a foliation by dimension-rcr_{c} algebraic subvarieties on each of which the normal function ν\nu is locally constant.

We first prove a weaker version of Theorem 6.4.

Proposition 6.5.

SS admits a foliation by dimension-rcr_{c} complex submanifolds on each of which the normal function ν\nu is locally constant, which we call the leaves of the foliation.

Proof.

The co-rank of ν\nu at sSs\in S equals to rcr_{c} implies in a local neighborhood sUSs\in U\subset S, a local holomorphic lift vH0(U,𝒱)v\in H^{0}(U,\mathcal{V}) and some flat local section eH0(U,𝒱)e\in H^{0}_{\nabla}(U,\mathcal{V}) such that

(6.6) dimTp(v(e+0𝒱|U))=rc\mathrm{dim}\ T_{p}(v\cap(e+\mathcal{F}^{0}\mathcal{V}|_{U}))=r_{c}

for a generic point pv(e+0𝒱)p\in v\cap(e+\mathcal{F}^{0}\mathcal{V}). the projection of this intersection on UU gives a rcr_{c}-dimensional complex submanifold of UU.

Therefore, the condition that the co-rank of ν\nu at every point sSs\in S is rcr_{c} means there is a rank-rcr_{c} integrable holomorphic distribution on SS whose integral submanifolds are rcr_{c}-dimensional submanifolds of SS. ∎

Another ingredient to prove Theorem 6.4 is o-minimal geometry, see [BBT22] for an introduction. We will show the following proposition:

Proposition 6.6.

The rcr_{c}-dimensional leaves in Proposition 6.5 are all definable in the o-minimal structure an,exp\mathbb{R}_{\mathrm{an,exp}}.

Proposition 6.5, 6.6 and the definable Chow theorem [PS09] will imply Theorem 6.4. From this point, by definable we shall mean definable in the o-minimal structure an,exp\mathbb{R}_{\mathrm{an,exp}} unless a different o-minimal structure is specified.

6.3. Proof of Proposition 6.6

By using the CC^{\infty}-isomorphism 𝒥(𝒱)𝒥(𝒱)\mathcal{J}(\mathcal{V})\simeq\mathcal{J}(\mathcal{V}_{\mathbb{R}}) we may regard ν\nu as an element in H0(S,𝒥(𝒱))H^{0}(S,\mathcal{J}(\mathcal{V}_{\mathbb{R}})).

Choose a projective completion S^\hat{S} of SS such that S^S\hat{S}-S is a simple normal crossing divisor. We may take a finite open cover {Ui,i}\{U_{i},\ i\in\mathfrak{I}\} of S^\hat{S} such that UiS(Δ)ki×(Δ)rkiU_{i}\cap S\simeq(\Delta^{*})^{k_{i}}\times(\Delta)^{r-k_{i}} for each ii. For any complex analytic leaf ζ\zeta of SS, showing ζUi\zeta\cap U_{i} has a definable structure compatible with UiU_{i} is enough for showing Proposition 6.6. We thus reduce to showing the case when ν\nu is a normal function defined over (Δ)n(\Delta^{*})^{n}.

Consider the associated mixed period map and its lift to n\mathcal{H}^{n}, where \mathcal{H} is the Siegel upper half space:

(6.7) n{\mathcal{H}^{n}}𝒟D×𝒮(W){\mathcal{D}\simeq D\times\mathcal{S}(W)}(Δ)n{(\Delta^{*})^{n}}Γ\𝒟{\Gamma\backslash\mathcal{D}}exp(2πi)\scriptstyle{\mathrm{exp}(2\pi i\cdot)}Φ~\scriptstyle{\tilde{\Phi}}Φ\scriptstyle{\Phi}

The following two results are critical:

Proposition 6.7.

[Bak+24, Prop. 5.2-5.3] The image of Φ~(Rn)𝒟\tilde{\Phi}(R^{n})\rightarrow\mathcal{D} is contained in a (finite union of) fundamental set of Γ\Gamma acting on 𝒟\mathcal{D}, where RnnR^{n}\subset\mathcal{H}^{n} is a subset of the form:

(6.8) {(z1,,zn)n||𝔢(zj)|M,𝔪(zj)N}\{(z_{1},...,z_{n})\in\mathcal{H}^{n}\ |\ |\mathfrak{Re}(z_{j})|\leq M,\ \mathfrak{Im}(z_{j})\geq N\}

for some M,N+M,N\in\mathbb{R}_{+}. In particular, the composition Φ~(Rn)𝒟Γ\𝒟\tilde{\Phi}(R^{n})\rightarrow\mathcal{D}\rightarrow\Gamma\backslash\mathcal{D} is definable.

Proposition 6.8.

[Bak+24, Prop. 6.5] Using 𝒟D×𝒮(W)\mathcal{D}\simeq D\times\mathcal{S}(W), if 𝔖D\mathfrak{S}\subset D is a fundamental set for the Γ0\Gamma_{0}-action on DD and Σ𝒮(W)\Sigma\subset\mathcal{S}(W) is a bounded semi-algebraic subset, then 𝔖×ΣΓ\𝒟\mathfrak{S}\times\Sigma\rightarrow\Gamma\backslash\mathcal{D} is definable in the o-minimal structure alg\mathbb{R}_{\mathrm{alg}}.

We are ready to finish our proof. Note that in the normal function case 𝒮(W)V\mathcal{S}(W)\simeq V_{\mathbb{R}}. For any wVw\in V_{\mathbb{R}} consider the subset 𝒟w:=D×{w}𝒟\mathcal{D}_{w}:=D\times\{w\}\subset\mathcal{D}. 𝒟w\mathcal{D}_{w} is an alg\mathbb{R}_{\mathrm{alg}}-definable subset in 𝒟\mathcal{D}, therefore Φ~(Rn)𝒟w\tilde{\Phi}(R^{n})\cap\mathcal{D}_{w} is a definable subset in 𝒟\mathcal{D} being contained in some fundamental set 𝔖\mathfrak{S} of Γ\Gamma.

To sum up, choose M,NM,N properly such that Rn(Δ)nR^{n}\rightarrow(\Delta^{*})^{n} is surjective, we have a diagram lies in the category of definable analytic spaces:

(6.9) Rn{R^{n}}Φ~(Rn){\tilde{\Phi}(R^{n})}Φ~(Rn)(D×{w}){\tilde{\Phi}(R^{n})\cap(D\times\{w\})}(Δ)n{(\Delta^{*})^{n}}Φ((Δ)n){\Phi((\Delta^{*})^{n})}exp(2πi)\scriptstyle{\mathrm{exp}(2\pi i\cdot)}Φ~\scriptstyle{\tilde{\Phi}}Φ\scriptstyle{\Phi}

By definition, a leaf ζ(Δ)n\zeta\subset(\Delta^{*})^{n} given by Proposition 6.5 is exactly the projection of Φ~1(Φ~(Rn)(D×{w}))\tilde{\Phi}^{-1}(\tilde{\Phi}(R^{n})\cap(D\times\{w\})) on (Δ)n(\Delta^{*})^{n} for some wVw\in V_{\mathbb{R}} (in which case ww is the constant lift of ν|ζ\nu|_{\zeta}), therefore must be definable.

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