Lines on del Pezzo surfaces

Sam Streeter (University of Bristol)

Wednesday 11th March 16:00-17:00
Maths 311B

Abstract

The Cayley—Salmon theorem, which states that any smooth cubic surface over the complex numbers contains exactly 27 lines, is one of the jewels of classical algebraic geometry. Cubic surfaces fit within the larger family of del Pezzo surfaces, which have a degree between 1 and 9, cubic surfaces being (perhaps unsurprisingly) those of degree 3. I will report on joint work with Enis Kaya, Stephen McKean and Happy Uppal in which we generalise Cayley—Salmon three ways: by varying the field of definition of the lines, by varying the degree of the del Pezzo surface, and by further considering conics on these surfaces.

Add to your calendar

Download event information as iCalendar file (only this event)