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TRANSCRIPT
STABLE REDUCTION OF FOLIATED SURFACES
FEDERICO BUONERBA
Abstract We study one-dimensional families of foliated algebraic surfaces of
general type we analyze the foliation-invariant subscheme along which the foliated
canonical bundle fails to be ample prove the existence of canonical models and
analyze their structure in detail This leads to a compactification of the moduli
space of foliated surfaces
Contents
I Introduction 2
II Preliminaries 8
III Operations on Deligne-Mumford stacks 8
IIII Width of embedded parabolic champs 10
IIIII Gorenstein foliation singularities 11
IIIV Foliated adjunction 13
IIV Canonical models of foliated surfaces with canonical singularities 14
IIVI Canonical models of foliated surfaces with log-canonical singularities 16
IIVII Set-up 23
III Invariant curves and singularities local description 25
IIII sing(F ) not isolated 25
IIIII sing(F ) isolated 28
IIIIII Local consequences 30
IV Invariant curves along which KF vanishes 33
IVI KF -nil curves 33
IVII Invariant curves inside sing(F ) 40
V Configurations 42
VI Configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially 431
2 FEDERICO BUONERBA
VII Configurations of non-rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially 49
VI Contractions and proof of the Main Theorem 56
VII Moduli space of foliated surfaces of general type 59
References 62
I Introduction
Foliations are ubiquitous throughout mathematics In algebraic geometry they are
widely used as tools to investigate hyperbolicity and boundedness phenomena The
first example of this is Bogomolovrsquos ground-breaking theorem [Bo78] that on a mini-
mal surface of general type with c21 gt c2 the degree of curves can be bounded linearly
in terms of their geometric genera The proof is extremely simple the abundance
of symmetric differentials defines a birational map φ on the projectivised cotangent
bundle to our surface whose base locus is an algebraic surface carrying a canoni-
cally defined algebraic foliation Curves on our original surface lift by way of their
derivative to the projectivised cotangent bundle If such lift does not lie in the base
locus of φ the required bound on the degree follows if the lift does lie in the base
locus then the curve is invariant by the canonical foliation The conclusion follows
by two standard facts in the theory of algebraic foliations Seidenbergrsquos reduction of
foliation singularities to simple ones [Se67] and Jouanoloursquos remark that a foliated
surface with infinitely many invariant curves is fibered over a curve
This deep relation between algebraic foliations and boundedness of curves was in-
vestigated by McQuillan who in [McQ98] extended Bogomolovrsquos technique to non-
compact curves thus proving the Green-Griffiths conjecture for minimal surfaces of
general type with c21 gt c2 namely that entire curves on such surfaces cannot be
Zariski-dense The key new ingredient to the proof is the tautological inequality a
principle that can be vaguely stated as follows a foliation has simple singularities
if and only if the intersection multiplicity between any invariant disk not factor-
ing through the algebraic leaves and the so-called foliated canonical bundle can be
bounded up to a small error by the logarithm of the length of the diskrsquos boundary
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 3
In particular a sequence of bigger and bigger invariant disks not converging in the
Gromov-Hausdorff sense to a disk with bubbles defines in the limit a closed invari-
ant measure wich intersects the foliated canonical bundle trivially
Hyperbolicity phenomena in presence of algebraic foliations can therefore be poten-
tially studied via the birational geometry of the foliated canonical bundle obstruc-
tions locate on special invariant currents along which the foliated canonical bundle
fails to be positive Such point of view was extensively developed by McQuillan and
the present work is a contribution to it The reader is invited to consult the webpage
[McQ12] for a complete discussion around this theory
As it became clear in McQuillanrsquos proof of the Green-Griffiths conjecture for c21 gt c2
the birational geometry of the foliated canonical bundle is amenable much in the
same spirit as that of the absolute canonical bundle is to a complete classification in
dimension 2 Such classification was completed in [McQ08] where an exhaustive list
of foliated surfaces with canonical Gorenstein singularities is provided Interestingly
there are some important differences between the foliated theory and the absolute
theory First abundance fails namely there exist examples of foliated canonical
bundles whose numerical Kodaira dimension and Kodaira dimension differ Second
vanishing theorems of Kodaira type fail Third foliated minimal models may have
quotient singularities while foliated canonical models may have elliptic singularities
which are never Q-Gorenstein and may even fail to be projective
The achievement of the classification in dimension 2 along with its important ap-
plications to hyperbolicity of algebraic surfaces call for a systematic study of the
birational geometry of higher-dimensional algebraic varieties foliated by curves We
refer again to [McQ12] for a discussion of the main open problems in this direction
namely existence of canonical resolution of singularities and the residue lemma in
dimensions ge 4
The present work is devoted to an in-depth study of 1-dimensional families of foliated
algebraic surfaces of general type We develop a profusion of techniques that can
be systematically used in the study of general foliated 3-folds while we settle some
of the outstanding open problems in the theory of foliated surfaces More precisely
4 FEDERICO BUONERBA
we prove the stable reduction theorem in this context and deduce the existence of
canonical compactifications of the moduli of foliated surfaces of general type
Main Theorem Let p (X F ) rarr ∆ be a one-dimensional projective semi-
stable family of foliated orbifold surfaces whose total space has Gorenstein canonical
foliation singularities such that KF is big and nef Then there exists a digram of
birational maps
(X F ) 99K (X F )canpcanminusminusrarr ∆
Where
bull The dashed arrow is a composition of foliated flops including contractions of
divisors and curves along foliation-invariant centers
bull The singularities of (X F )can not contained in the central fiber of pcan define
sections of pcan on its general fiber these singularities are elliptic featuring a
minimal resolution with exceptional divisor a foliation-invariant nodal ratio-
nal curve Along such singularities Fcan is not Q-Gorenstein and pcan might
fail to be projective
bull The singularities of (X F )can contained in the central fiber of pcan are de-
scribed as follows
(1) One-dimensional They admit a resolution with foliation-invariant ir-
reducible exceptional divisor ruled by nodal rational curves on whose
normalization the foliation is birationally isotrivial
(2) Zero-dimensional They admit a resolution with exceptional set a tree
of foliation-invariant quadric surfaces and orbifold curves such that
quadric surfaces have cohomologous rulings and the foliation restricts
to a Kronecker vector field each orbifold curve is unibranch with at
most one singular point has universal cover whose normalization has
rational moduli it is either fully contained in sing(F ) or it intersects
sing(F ) in two points
bull The birational transform KFcan of KF is numerically big and nef and sat-
isfies if KFcan middot C = 0 for some curve C sub Xcan then C is not foliation-
invariant
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 5
The output (X F )can is called foliated canonical model of (X F )
The core of the previous statement is that there exists an algorithmic birational
transformation (X F ) 99K (X F )can which contracts all the foliation-invariant
curves which intersect KF trivially One might wonder about the origin of the
notion of foliated canonical model In the absolute theory a canonical model of a
variety of general type is one where the canonical bundle is as positive as possible
In the foliated theory we only care about positivity against invariant measures - on
a philosophical level this is due to the fact that obstructions to hyperbolicity lie
on such measures Moreover we can provide an example which shows clearly that
this is the good notion of foliated canonical model Consider the algebraic foliation
defined by the natural projection
π M g1 rarrM g
The foliated canonical bundle coincides with the relative canonical bundle ωπ which
is big and nef but not semi-ample in characteristic zero as shown by Keel in [Ke99]
Its base locus coincides with the nodal locus of π and it is not even known what
type of analytic structure if any can be supported by the topological contraction
of such nodal locus From a purely algebraic perspective π cannot be improved to
a better foliated canonical model Fortunately this agrees with our definition since
the nodal locus of π is certainly not a foliation-invariant subvariety
We can now discuss the structure of the paper and of the proof
In Section II we first review the basic definitions and constructions to be used sys-
tematically in the proof These include some operations of general character on
Deligne-Mumford stacks such as building roots and Vistoli covers as well as net
completion we then turn to the basic definitions of birational foliation theory namely
the notion of (log)canonical Gorenstein singularities and the adjunction formula for
invariant curves we continue by recalling McQuillanrsquos classification of foliated sur-
faces with canonical Gorenstein singularities we conclude by describing out how to
extend McQuillanrsquos 2-dimensional theory to the more general case of foliated surfaces
with log-canonical Gorenstein singularities - in particular we classify the singularities
of the underlying surface construct minimal amp canonical models and describe the
6 FEDERICO BUONERBA
corresponding exceptional sets The situation differs considerably from the canoni-
cal world indeed surfaces supporting log-canonical foliation singularities are cones
over smooth curves of arbitrary high genus and embedding dimension and even on
smooth surfaces invariant curves through a log-canonical singularity might acquire
cusps of arbitrary high multiplicity It is worth pointing out at this stage that one
of the main technical tools we use all time is the existence of Jordan decomposition
of a vector field in a formal neighborhood of a singular point This allows us to
decompose a formal vector field part as a sum partS + partN of commuting formal vector
fields where partS is semi-simple with respect to a choice of regular parameters and
partN is formally nilpotent
In Section III we compute the local structure of a foliation by curves tangent to a
semi-stable morphism of relative dimension 2 In particular we focus on the local
configurations of foliation-invariant curves through a foliation singularity We achieve
this by distinguishing all possible 18 combinations of number of eigenvalues of partS
at the singularity whether the singularity is 0 or 1-dimensional number of local
branches of the central fiber of the semi-stable morphism through the singularity
This classification is the first step towards the proof of the Main Theorem
In Section IV we study the geometry of foliation-invariant curves along which KF
vanishes this is technically the most important chapter of the paper To understand
the problem observe that the locus of points in ∆ over which the foliation has a
log-canonical singularity can be non-discrete even dense in its closure If we happen
to find a rigid curve in a smooth fiber of p that we wish to contract then the only
possibility is that the rigid curve is smooth and rational In particular we have to
prove that rigid cuspidal rational curves dotting KF trivially cannot appear in the
smooth locus of p even though log-canonical singularities certainly do The first
major result is Proposition IVI6 that indeed invariant curves in the smooth locus
of p that intersect KF trivially are rational with at most one node and do move in a
family flat over the base ∆ The main ingredient of the proof is the existence of Jor-
dan decomposition uniformly in a formal neighborhood of our curve this provides us
with an extremely useful linear relation equation 22 between the eigenvalues of the
Jordan semi-simple fields around the foliation singularities located along the curve -
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 7
linear relation which depends uniquely on the weights of the normal bundle to the
curve This allows to easily show that the width of the curve must be infinite Having
obtained the best possible result for invariant curves in the general fiber we switch
our attention to curves located in the central fiber of p Also in this case we have
good news indeed such curves can be flopped and can be described as a complete
intersection of two formal divisors which are eigenfunctions for the global Jordan
semi-simple field - this is the content of Proposition IVI8 We conclude this im-
portant chapter by describing in Proposition IVII3 foliation-invariant curves fully
contained in the foliation singularity which turn out to be smooth and rational The
proof requires a simple but non-trivial trick and provides a drastic simplification of
the combinatorics to be dealt with in the next chapter
In Section V we globalize the informations gathered in the previous two chap-
ters namely we describe all possible configurations of invariant curves dotting KF
trivially These can be split into two groups configurations all of whose sub-
configurations are rigid and configurations of movable curves The first group is
analyzed in Proposition VI10 and it turns out that the dual graph of such con-
figurations contains no cycles - essentially the presence of cycles would force some
sub-curve to move either filling an irreducible component of the central fiber or in
the general fiber transversely to p The second group is the most tricky to study
however the result is optimal Certainly there are chains and cycles of ruled surfaces
on which p restricts to a flat morphism The structure of irreducible components of
the central fiber which are filled by movable invariant curves dotting KF trivially
is remakably poor and is summarized in Corollary VII9 there are quadric surfaces
with cohomologous rulings and carrying a Kronecker vector field and there are sur-
faces ruled by nodal rational curves on which the foliation is birationally isotrivial
Moreover the latter components are very sporadic and isolated from other curves of
interest indeed curves in the first group can only intersect quadric surfaces which
themselves can be thought of as rigid curves if one is prepared to lose projectivity
of the total space of p As such the contribution coming from movable curves is
concentrated on the general fiber of p and is a well solved 2-dimensional problem
8 FEDERICO BUONERBA
In Section VI we prove the Main Theorem we only need to work in a formal neigh-
borhood of the curve we wish to contract which by the previous chapter is a tree
of unibranch foliation-invariant rational curves The existence of a contraction is
established once we produce an effective divisor which is anti-ample along the tree
The construction of such divisor is a rather straightforward process which profits
critically from the tree structure of the curve
In Section VII we investigate the existence of compact moduli of canonical models
of foliated surfaces of general type The main issue here is the existence of a rep-
resentable functor indeed Artinrsquos results tend to use Grothendieckrsquos existence in
a rather crucial way which indeed relies on some projectivity assumption - a lux-
ury that we do not have in the foliated context Regardless it is possible to define
a functor parametrizing deformations of foliated canonical models together with a
suitably defined unique projective resolution of singularities This is enough to push
Artinrsquos method through and establish the existence of a separated algebraic space
representing this functor Its properness is the content of our Main Theorem
II Preliminaries
This section is mostly a summary of known results about holomorphic foliations by
curves By this we mean a Deligne-Mumford stack X over a field k of characteristic
zero endowed with a torsion-free quotient Ω1X k rarr Qrarr 0 generically of rank 1 We
will discuss the construction of Vistoli covers roots of divisors and net completions
in the generality of Deligne-Mumford stacks a notion of singularities well adapted to
the machinery of birational geometry a foliated version of the adjunction formula
McQuillanrsquos classification of canonical Gorenstein foliations on algebraic surfaces
a classification of log-canonical Gorenstein foliation singularities on surfaces along
with the existence of (numerical) canonical models the behavior of singularities on
a family of Gorenstein foliated surfaces
III Operations on Deligne-Mumford stacks In this subsection we describe
some canonical operations that can be performed on DM stacks over a base field
k We follow the treatment of [McQ05][IaIe] closely Proofs can also be found in
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 9
[Bu] A DM stack X is always assumed to be separated and generically scheme-like
ie without generic stabilizer A DM stack is smooth if it admits an etale atlas
U rarr X by smooth k-schemes in which case it can also be referred to as orbifold
By [KM97][13] every DM stack admits a moduli space which is an algebraic space
By [Vis89][28] every algebraic space with tame quotient singularities is the moduli
of a canonical smooth DM stack referred to as Vistoli cover It is useful to keep in
mind the following Vistoli correspondence
Fact III1 [McQ05 Ia3] Let X rarr X be the moduli of a normal DM stack and
let U rarrX be an etale atlas The groupoid R = normalization of U timesX U rArr U has
classifying space [UR] equivalent to X
Next we turn to extraction of roots of Q-Cartier divisors This is rather straight-
forward locally and can hardly be globalised on algebraic spaces It can however
be globalized on DM stacks
Fact III2 (Cartification) [McQ05 Ia8] Let L be a Q-cartier divisor on a normal
DM stack X Then there exists a finite morphism f XL rarrX from a normal DM
stack such that f lowastL is Cartier Moreover there exists f which is universal for this
property called Cartification of L
Similarly one can extract global n-th roots of effective Cartier divisors
Fact III3 (Extraction of roots) [McQ05 Ia9] Let D subX be an effective Cartier
divisor and n a positive integer invertible on X Then there exists a finite proper
morphism f X ( nradic
D)rarrX an effective Cartier divisor nradic
D subX ( nradic
D) such that
f lowastD = n nradic
D Moreover there exists f which is universal for this property called
n-th root of D which is a degree n cyclic cover etale outside D
In a different vein we proceed to discuss the notion of net completion This is a
mild generalization of formal completion in the sense that it is performed along a
local embedding rather than a global embedding Let f Y rarr X be a net morphism
ie a local embedding of algebraic spaces For every closed point y isin Y there is
a Zariski-open neighborhood y isin U sub Y such that f|U is a closed embedding In
10 FEDERICO BUONERBA
particular there exists an ideal sheaf I sub fminus1OX and an exact sequence of coherent
sheaves
(1) 0rarr I rarr fminus1OX rarr OY rarr 0
For every integer n define Ofn = fminus1OXI n By [McQ05][Ie1] the ringed space
Yn = (YOfn) is a scheme and the direct limit Y = limYn in the category of formal
schemes is the net completion along f More generally let f Y rarr X be a net
morphism ie etale-locally a closed embedding of DM stacks Let Y = [RrArr U ] be
a sufficiently fine presentation then we can define as above thickenings Un Rn along
f and moreover the induced relation [Rn rArr Un] is etale and defines thickenings
fn Yn rarrX
Definition III4 (Net completion) [McQ05 ie5] Notation as above we define the
net completion as Y = lim Yn It defines a factorization Y rarr Y rarr X where the
leftmost arrow is a closed embedding and the rightmost is net
IIII Width of embedded parabolic champs In this subsection we recall the
basic geometric properties of three-dimensional formal neighborhoods of smooth
champs with rational moduli We follow [Re83] and [McQ05rdquo] As such let X
be a three-dimensional smooth formal scheme with trace a smooth rational curve C
Our main concern is
(2) NCXsimminusrarr O(minusn)oplus O(minusm) n gt 0 m ge 0
In case m gt 0 the knowledge of (nm) determines X uniquely In fact there exists
by [Ar70] a contraction X rarrX0 of C to a point and an isomorphism everywhere
else In particular C is a complete intersection in X and everything can be made
explicit by way of embedding coordinates for X0 This is explained in the proof of
Proposition IVI8 On the other hand the case m = 0 is far more complicated
Definition IIII1 [Re83] The width width(C) of C is the maximal integer k
such that there exists an inclusion C times Spec(C[ε]εk) sub Xk the latter being the
infinitesimal neighborhood of order k
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 11
Clearly width(C) = 1 if and only if the normal bundle to C is anti-ample
width(C) ge 2 whenever such bundle is O oplus O(minusn) n gt 0 and width(C) = infinif and only if C moves in a scroll As explained in opcit width can be understood
in terms of blow ups as follows Let q1 X1 rarr X be the blow up in C Its excep-
tional divisor E1 is a Hirzebruch surface which is not a product hence q1 has two
natural sections when restricted to E1 Let C1 the negative section There are two
possibilities for its normal bundle in X1
bull it is a direct sum of strictly negative line bundles In this case width(C) = 2
bull It is a direct sum of a strictly negative line bundle and the trivial one
In the second case we can repeat the construction by blowing up C1 more generally
we can inductively construct Ck sub Ek sub Xk k isin N following the same pattern as
long as NCkminus1
simminusrarr O oplus O(minusnkminus1) Therefore width(C) is the minimal k such that
Ckminus1 has normal bundle splitting as a sum of strictly negative line bundles No-
tice that the exceptional divisor Ekminus1 neither is one of the formal surfaces defining
the complete intersection structure of Ck nor it is everywhere transverse to either
ie it has a tangency point with both This is clear by the description Reidrsquos
Pagoda [Re83] Observe that the pair (nwidth(C)) determines X uniquely there
exists a contraction X rarr X0 collapsing C to a point and an isomorphism every-
where else In particular X0 can be explicitly constructed as a ramified covering of
degree=width(C) of the contraction of a curve with anti-ample normal bundle
The notion of width can also be understood in terms of lifting sections of line bun-
dles along infinitesimal neighborhoods of C As shown in [McQ05rdquo II43] we have
assume NCp
simminusrarr O oplus O(minusnp) then the natural inclusion OC(n) rarr N orCX can be
lifted to a section OXp+2(n)rarr OXp+2
IIIII Gorenstein foliation singularities In this subsection we define certain
properties of foliation singularities which are well-suited for both local and global
considerations From now on we assume X is normal and give some definitions
taken from [McQ05] and [MP13] If Qoror is a Q-line bundle we say that F is Q-
foliated Gorenstein or simply Q-Gorenstein In this case we denote by KF = Qoror
and call it the canonical bundle of the foliation In the Gorenstein case there exists a
12 FEDERICO BUONERBA
codimension ge 2 subscheme Z subX such that Q = KF middot IZ Such Z will be referred
to as the singular locus of F We remark that Gorenstein means that the foliation
is locally defined by a saturated vector field
Next we define the notion of discrepancy of a divisorial valuation in this context let
(UF ) be a local germ of a Q-Gorenstein foliation and v a divisorial valuation on
k(U) there exists a birational morphism p U rarr U with exceptional divisor E such
that OU E is the valuation ring of v Certainly F lifts to a Q-Gorenstein foliation
F on U and we have
(3) KF = plowastKF + aF (v)E
Where aF (v) is said discrepancy For D an irreducible Weil divisor define ε(D) = 0
if D if F -invariant and ε(D) = 1 if not We are now ready to define
Definition IIIII1 The local germ (UF ) is said
bull Terminal if aF (v) gt ε(v)
bull Canonical if aF (v) ge ε(v)
bull Log-terminal if aF (v) gt 0
bull Log-canonical if aF (v) ge 0
For every divisorial valuation v on k(U)
These classes of singularities admit a rather clear local description If part denotes a
singular derivation of the local k-algebra O there is a natural k-linear linearization
(4) part mm2 rarr mm2
As such we have the following statements
Fact IIIII2 [MP13 Iii4 IIIi1 IIIi3] A Gorenstein foliation is
bull log-canonical if and only if it is smooth or its linearization is non-nilpotent
bull terminal if and only if it is log-terminal if and only if it is smooth and gener-
ically transverse to its singular locus
bull log-canonical but not canonical if and only if it is a radial foliation
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 13
Where a derivation on a complete local ring O is termed radial if there ex-
ist x1 middot middot middotxn isin m independent mod m2 and positive integers ni such that part =sumi nixi
partpartxi
In this case the singular locus is the center of a divisorial valuation with
zero discrepancy and non-invariant exceptional divisor
A very useful tool which is emplyed in the analysis of local properties of foliation
singularities is the Jordan decompositon [McQ08 I23] Notation as above the
linearization part admits a Jordan decomposition partS + partN into commuting semi-simple
and nilpotent part It is easy to see inductively that such decomposition lifts canon-
ically over successive infinitesimal neighborhoods Omn+1 rarr Omn and in the limit
we obtain a Jordan decomposition for the linear action of part on the whole complete
ring O
IIIV Foliated adjunction In this subsection we provide an adjunction formula
for foliation-invariant curves Let (X F ) be a Gorenstein foliation and f L rarrX the normalization of a F -invariant one-dimensional stack not contained in the
singular locus Z Denote by χ(L ) its topological Euler characteristic and by sZ(f)
the multiplicity of the ideal sheaf fminus1IZ We have
Fact IIIV1 [McQ05 IId4]
(5) KF middotL = minusχ(L )minus Ramf +sZ(f)
Which is a simple consequence of the isomorphism f lowastKF middotfminus1IZsimminusrarr Ω1
L (minusRamf )
The local contribution of sZ(f)minusRamf computed for a branch of f around a point
p in the support of fminus1IZ is np|Gp|minus1 with np a positive integer and Gp the local
monodromy of L at p Assume now that L has no generic stabilizer and let |L |denote its moduli The previous formula can be rewritten more usefully
Fact IIIV2
(6) KF middotL = 2g(|L |)minus 2 + fminus1IZ +sumf(p)isinZ
(np minus 1)|Gp|minus1 +sumf(p)isinZ
(1minus |Gp|minus1)
This can be easily deduced via a comparison between χ(L ) and χ(|L |) The
adjunction estimate 6 gives a complete description of invariant curves which are not
14 FEDERICO BUONERBA
contained in the singular locus and intersect the canonical KF non-positively A
complete analysis of the structure of KF -negative curves and much more is done
in [McQ05]
Definition IIIV3 A KF -nil curve is an invariant one-dimensional orbifold f
C rarr X such that KF middotf C = 0 and f does not factor through the singular locus
Z of the foliation
By adjunction 6 we have
Proposition IIIV4 The following is a complete list of possibilities for KF -nil
curves f
bull C is an elliptic curve without non-schematic points and f misses the singular
locus
bull |C| is a rational curve f hits the singular locus in two points with np = 1
there are no non-schematic points off the singular locus
bull |C| is a rational curve f hits the singular locus in one point with np = 1 there
are two non-schematic points off the singular locus with local monodromy
Z2Z
bull |C| is a rational curve f hits the singular locus in one point p there is at
most one non-schematic point q off the singular locus we have the identity
(np minus 1)|Gp|minus1 = |Gq|minus1
As shown in [McQ08] all these can happen In the sequel we will always assume
that a KF -nil curve is simply connected We remark that an invariant curve can have
rather bad singularities where it intersects the foliation singularities First it could
fail to be unibranch moreover each branch could acquire a cusp if going through
a radial singularity This phenomenon of deep ramification appears naturally in
presence of log-canonical singularities
IIV Canonical models of foliated surfaces with canonical singularities In
this subsection we provide a summary of the birational classification of Gorenstein
foliations with canonical singularities on algebraic surfaces obtained in [McQ08] Let
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 15
X be a two-dimensional smooth DM stack with projective moduli and F a foliation
with canonical singularities Since X is smooth certainly F is Q-Gorenstein If
KF is not pseudo-effective then foliated bend and break [BM16 Main Theorem]
shows that F is birationally a fibration by rational curves If KF is pseudo-effective
its Zariski decomposition has negative part a finite collection of invariant chains of
rational curves which can be contracted to a smooth DM stack with projective
moduli on which KF is nef At this point those foliations such that the Kodaira
dimension k(KF ) le 1 can be completely classified
Fact IIV1 [McQ08 IV3] Foliations with canonical singularities and Kodaira di-
mension zero are up to a ramified cover and birational transformations defined by
a global vector field The minimal models belong the following list
bull A Kronecker vector field on an abelian surface
bull The suspension of a representation π1(E)rarr PGL2(C) for E an elliptic curve
bull A Kronecker vector field on P1 timesP1
bull An isotrivial elliptic fibration
Fact IIV2 [McQ08 IV4] Foliations with canonical singularities and Kodaira di-
mension one are classified by their Kodaira fibration The linear system |KF | defines
a fibration onto a curve and the minimal models belong to the following list
bull The foliation and the fibration coincide so then the fibration is non-isotrivial
elliptic
bull The foliation is transverse to a projective bundle (Riccati)
bull The foliation is everywhere smooth and transverse to an isotrivial elliptic
fibration (turbolent)
bull The foliation is parallel to an isotrivial fibration in hyperbolic curves
On the other hand for foliations of general type the new phenomenon is that
global generation fails The problem is the appearence of elliptic Gorenstein leaves
these are cycles possibly irreducible of invariant rational curves around which KF
is numerically trivial but might fail to be torsion Assume that KF is big and nef
16 FEDERICO BUONERBA
and consider morphisms
(7) X rarrXe rarrXc
Where the composite is the contraction of all the KF -nil curves and the rightmost
is the minimal resolution of elliptic Gorenstein singularities
Fact IIV3 [McQ08 IV21 IV22] Xe is projective there exists an ample divisor
A and an effective divisor E supported on minimal elliptic Gorenstein leaves such
that KFe = A+E On the other hand Xc might fail to be projective and Fc is never
Q-Gorenstein
We refer to [McQ08 III32] for the descriptions of possible dual graphs of config-
urations of invariant KF -negative or nil curves
IIVI Canonical models of foliated surfaces with log-canonical singulari-
ties In this subsection we study Gorenstein foliations with log-canonical singulari-
ties on algebraic surfaces In particular we will classify the singularities appearing
on the underlying surface prove the existence of minimal and canonical models
describe the exceptional curves appearing in the contraction to the canonical model
Proposition IIVI1 Let (UF ) be a germ of Gorenstein log-canonical foliation
singularity Then U is a cone over a subvariety Y of a weighted projective space
whose weights are determined by the eigenvalues of F Moreover F is defined by
the rulings of the cone
Proof By Fact IIIII2 there exists a closed embedding i U rarr M - with M a
smooth local formal scheme - a regular system of parameters x1 middot middot middot xk on M and
positive integers n1 middot middot middotnk such that F is the restriction of the foliation defined by
part =sumnixi
partpartxi
to U Let I sub OM denote the ideal defining i(U) subM then part(I) sube I
We are going to prove that I is homogeneous where each xi has weight ni Let f isin I
and write f =sum
dge1 fd where fd is homogeneous of degree d in x1 middot middot middot xk - ie fd is
a k-linear combination of monomials xa11 xakk with d =
sumi aini For every N isin N
let FN = (xa11 xakk
sumi aini ge N) This collection of ideals defines a natural
filtration on OM For a = max ai we have mN sube FN sube mNa ie the FN -filtration
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 17
is equivalent to the one by powers of the maximal ideal and therefore OM is also
complete with respect to the FN -filtration
We will prove that if f isin I then fd isin I for every d
Let IN = (I + FN)FN Since OM is complete with respect to the FN -filtration
I = limlarrminus IN Therefore it is enough to show
Claim IIVI2 For every N gt 0 we have fd isin IN sub OMFN for all d lt N
Proof For every g isin IN denote by n(g) the unique integer such that g isin Fn(g) Fn(g)+1 (ie the minimal index d for which fd 6= 0) and by N(g) = N minus n(g)
We will prove the statement of the Claim by induction on N(f) If N(f) = 1 then
f = fNminus1 holds in OMFN and the statement is true If N(f) gt 1 we have part(f) =sumd d middot fd hence consider f1 = D(f)minus n(f)f =
sumdgtn(f)(dminus n(f))fd Tautologically
we have N(f1) lt N(f) and therefore fd isin IN for every d gt n(f) so then fn(f) =
f minussum
dgtn(f) fd isin IN as well
This implies that I is a homogeneous ideal and hence U is the germ of a cone over
a variety in the weighted projective space P(n1 nk)
Corollary IIVI3 If the germ U is normal then Y is normal If U is normal
of dimension 2 the weighted blow-up p U rarr U at the vertex of the cone has only
quotient singularities the exceptional divisor E(simminusrarr Y ) is smooth and everywhere
transverse to the induced foliation Moreover we have
(8) plowastKF = KF + E
Certainly the converse to Proposition IIVI1 fails even on surfaces indeed let
(X F ) be a Gorenstein foliated surface and let C sub X be a generic curve so
in particular smooth and not F -invariant We can assume perhaps after a finite
sequence of simple blow-ups along C that both X and F are smooth in a neigh-
borhood of C C and F are everywhere transverse and C2 lt 0
Proposition IIVI4 The formal contraction q X rarr X0 of C is isomorphic to
the cone over C the projected foliation F0 coincides with that by rulings on the cone
F0 is Q-Gorenstein if C rational or elliptic but not in general
18 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proof F0 is Q-Gorenstein if and only if the bundle KF (C) is trivial on the formal
completion of X along C The obstructions to lift the isomorphism OC(KF +C)simminusrarr
OC over infinitesimal neighborhoods of C lie in H1(C (1 minus n)C + KF ) for every
n isin N These groups vanish for every n isin N if 2g(C) minus 2 + C2 lt 0 (which is
always true for rational or elliptic curves) but do provide non-trivial obstructions in
general
We focus on the minimal model program for Gorenstein log-canonical foliations
on algebraic surfaces Let X be a DM stack of dimension 2 with projective moduli
and F a Gorenstein foliation with log-canonical singularities Denote by LC(F )
the set of points where F is log-canonical and not canonical and by Z the singular
sub-scheme of F We assume LC(F ) 6= empty since the empty case has been completely
settled Moreover we can assume that X is smooth outside LC(F ) Let f C rarrX
be a morphism from a 1-dimensional stack with trivial generic stabilizer such that
fminus1 LC(F ) 6= empty Since we will need them several times we formulate some technical
results
Lemma IIVI5 Let p X rarr X be the resolution of the log-canonical foliation
singularity intersecting C with exceptional divisor E Then
(9) KF middot C minus C middot E = KF middot C
Proof We have
(10) plowastC = C minus (C middot EE2)E
Intersecting this equation with equation 8 we obtain the result
This formula is important because it shows that passing from foliations with log-
canonical singularities to their canonical resolution increases the negativity of inter-
sections between invariant curves and the canonical bundle In fact the log-canonical
theory reduces to the canonical one after resolving the log-canonical singularities
Further we list some strong constraints given by invariant curves along which the
foliation is smooth
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 19
Fact IIVI6 [BB72 Baum-Bott] Let g C rarrX be an F -invariant curve missing
the foliation singularities Then C2 = NF middotg C = 0
Corollary IIVI7 Let g C rarr X be an F -invariant curve missing the foliation
singularities and such that KF middotg C lt 0 Then F is birationally a fibration by
rational curves
Proof By assumption KF middot C = minusχ(C) This together with Baum-Bott IIVI6
imply that KX middot C = minusχ(C) and from usual adjunction we get C2 = 0 Riemann-
Roch gives h0(X mC) ge 2 for m gtgt 0 so then |C| defines a fibration by rational
curves tangent to F
The rest of this subsection is devoted to the construction of minimal and canonical
models in presence of log-canonical singularities The only technique we use is
resolve the log-canonical singularities in order to reduce to the canonical case and
keep track of the exceptional divisor
We are now ready to handle the existence of minimal models
Theorem IIVI8 (Minimal models) Let X be a DM stack of dimension 2 with pro-
jective moduli and F a Gorenstein foliation with log-canonical singularities Then
either
bull F is birational to a fibration by rational curves or
bull There exist a birational contraction q X rarr X0 such that KF0 is nef
Moreover the exceptional curves of q donrsquot intersect LC(F )
Proof Let f be as above ie KF -negative and intersecting LC(F ) If f is not
F -invariant then KF middotC +C2 ge 0 so C moves and KF is not pseudo-effective We
conclude by foliated bend and break [BM16]
If f is F -invariant then foliated adjunction 6 implies that C is rational it intersects
the singular locus of F in exactly one point By Lemma IIVI5 after resolving the
log-canonical singularity KF middot C lt 0 and F is smooth along C We conlude by
Corollary IIVI7
20 FEDERICO BUONERBA
From now on we add the assumption that KF is nef and we want to analyze
those curves f satisfying KF middotf C = 0 By adjunction formula 6 we know that C
has rational moduli and fminus1Z is supported on two points
Remark IIVI9 If fminus1Z = fminus1 LC(F ) then F is birationally a fibration by ratio-
nal curves
Proof After resolving the log-canonical singularities of F along the image of C we
have KF middot C lt 0 and F smooth along C We conclude by Corollary IIVI7
Therefore we can assume that f satisfies the following condition
Definition IIVI10 An invariant curve f C rarr X is called log-contractible if
KF middot C = 0 and it intersects Z in two points one canonical and one log-canonical
not canonical
It follows that f(C) is everywhere unibranch but it might have a cusp in LC(F )
Definition IIVI11 A log-chain is a chain of invariant rational orbifolds C =
cupni=0Ci scheme-like outside the foliation singularities with KF middot C = 0 and such
that
bull C0 is log-contractible with lowast(C ) = C0 cap LC(F ) called the marking of C
bull Ci is disjoint from LC(F ) if i ge 1
There is a unique point t(C ) satisfying t(C ) isin Z cap (Cn Cnminus1) called the tail of
the log-chain
Proposition IIVI12 Let C1C2 be two log-chains intersecting non-trivially Then
lowast(C1) = lowast(C2) and C1 cap C2 = lowast(C1)
Proof It is enough to prove that the two log-chains cannot intersect in their tails
Replace X be the resolution of the at most two markings of the log-chains and Ci
by their proper transforms C1cupC2 = cupmi=0Ri is a connected chain of rational curves
intersecting Z outisde LC(F ) Moreover each of the two extremal curves R0 and
Rm intersects Z in one point only In particular KF middot Ri = 0 for i = 1 middot middot middot m minus 1
and KF middot Ri lt 0 for i = 0m Since we assumed F is not birational to a fibration
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 21
by rational curves there exists a contraction p X rarr X0 with exceptional curve
cupmminus1i=0 Ri However F0 is smooth along plowastRm so by adjunction formula KF0 middotplowastRm lt
0 and we find a contradiction by Corollary IIVI7
Corollary IIVI13 Let C be a maximal connected curve such that KF middotC = 0 and
C cap LC(F ) 6= empty Then C is a union of finitely many log-chains intersecting each
other in their common marking
The following shows a configuration of log-chains sharing the same marking col-
ored in black
We are now ready to state and prove the canonical model theorem in presence of
log-canonical singularities
Theorem IIVI14 (Canonical models) Let X be a proper DM stack of dimension
2 and F a foliation with isolated singularities Moreover assume that KF is nef
that every KF -nil curve is contained in a log-chain and that F is Gorenstein and
log-canonical in a neighborhood of every KF -nil curve Then either
bull There exists a birational contraction p X rarr X0 whose exceptional curves
are unions of log-chains If all the log-contractible curves contained in the log-
chains are smooth then F0 is Gorenstein and log-canonical If furthermore
X has projective moduli then X0 has projective moduli In any case KF0
is numerically ample
bull There exists a fibration p X rarr B over a curve whose fibers intersect
KF trivially Each F -invariant fiber of p intersecting LC(F ) is union of
mutually compatible log-chains
Proof If all the KF -nil curves can be contracted by a birational morphism we are in
the first case of the Theorem Else let C be a maximal connected curve withKF middotC =
0 and which is not contractible It is a union of pairwise compatible log-chains
22 FEDERICO BUONERBA
with marking lowast Replace (X F ) by the resolution of the log-canonical singularity
at lowast with exceptional divisor E Therefore F is Gorenstein and canonical in a
neighborhood of C cupE By equation 9 we have KF middotC = minusC middotE lt 0 and therefore
C can be contracted to a canonical foliation singularity Replace (X F ) by the
contraction of C We have a smooth curve E around which F is smooth and
nowhere tangent to E Moreover
(11) KF middot E = minusE2
And we distinguish cases
bull E2 gt 0 so KF is not pseudo-effective a contradiction
bull E2 lt 0 so the initial curve C is contractible a contradiction
bull E2 = 0 which we proceed to analyze
The following is what we need to handle the third case
Proposition IIVI15 Let (X F ) be a foliation with canonical singularities with
X a smooth 2-dimensional DM stack with projective moduli and KF nef If there
exists a smooth curve E everywhere transverse to F such that KF middot E = E2 = 0
then E moves in a pencil and defines a fibration p X rarr B onto a curve whose
fibers intersect KF trivially
Proof If KF has Kodaira dimension one then its linear system contains an effective
divisor and by Hodge index KF = cE as divisors for some c isin Q+ Hence there is
a fibration onto a curve with fiber E and F is transverse to it by assumption If
KF has Kodaira dimension zero we use the classification IIV1 in all cases but the
suspension over an elliptic curve E defines a product structure on the underlying
surface in the case of a suspension every section of the underlying projective bundle
is clearly F -invariant Therefore E is a fiber of the bundle
This concludes the proof of the Theorem
We remark that the second alternative in the above theorem is rather natural
let (X F ) be a foliation which is transverse to a fibration by rational or elliptic
curves ie a suspension over elliptic curve turbolent Riccati or isotrivial Pick a
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 23
general fiber E of the fibration and blow up any number of points on it The proper
transform E is certainly contractible By Proposition IIVI4 the contraction of E is
Gorenstein and log-canonical Moreover the fiber E has been replaced by a union of
compatible log-chains Note in particular that the number of log-chains appearing
is arbitrary
Corollary IIVI16 Let X be a proper DM stack of dimension 2 and F a Goren-
stein foliation with log-canonical singularities Assume that KF is big and pseudo-
effective Then there exists a birational morphism p X rarr X0 such that C is
exceptional if and only if KF middot C le 0 In particular KF0 is numerically ample
For future applications we spell out
Corollary IIVI17 Hypothesis as in Theorem IIVI14 assume further that X
is everywhere smooth Then in the second alternative of the theorem the fibration
p X rarr B is by rational curves
Proof Indeed in this case the curve E which appears in the proof above as the
exceptional locus for the resolution of the log-canonical singularity at lowast must be
rational By the previous Proposition p is defined by a pencil in |E|
IIVII Set-up In this subsection we prepare the set-up we will deal with in the
rest of the manuscript Briefly we want to handle the existence of canonical models
for a family of foliated surfaces parametrized by a one-dimensional base To this
end we will discuss the modular behavior of singularities of foliated surfaces with
Gorenstein singularities recall McQuillan-Panazzolorsquos resolution of foliation singu-
larities building on the existence of minimal models [McQ05] prepare the set-up
for the sequel
Let us begin with the modular behavior of Gorenstein singularities
Proposition IIVII1 Let (X F ) be a smooth DM stack with a foliation by
curves Assume there exists a flat proper morphism p X rarr C onto an algebraic
curve such that F restricts to a foliation on every fiber of p Then the set
(12) s isin C Fs is log-canonical
24 FEDERICO BUONERBA
is Zariski-open while the set
(13) s isin C Fs is canonical
is the complement to a countable subset of C lying on a real-analytic curve
Proof By Fact IIIII2 being log-canonical is equivalent to the linearized endomor-
phism part IZI2Z rarr IZI
2Z being non-nilpotent where Z is the singular sub-scheme
of the foliation Of course being non-nilpotent is a Zariski open condition The
second statement also follows from opcit since a log-canonical singularity which is
not canonical has linearization with all its eigenvalues positive and rational The
statement is optimal as shown by the vector field on A3xys
(14) part(s) =part
partx+ s
part
party
Next we recall the existence of a functorial canonical resolution of foliation singu-
larities for foliations by curves on 3-dimensional stacks
Fact IIVII2 [MP13] Let X = (XDF ) be a 3-dimensional DM stack with bound-
ary foliated by curves Then there exists a proper birational morphism Xprime rarr X such
that X prime is a smooth DM stack and F prime has only canonical foliation singularities
The original opcit contains a more refined statement including a detailed de-
scription of the claimed birational morphism
In order for our set-up to make sense we mention one last very important result
Fact IIVII3 [McQ05] Let X be a smooth DM stack with projective moduli and F
a foliation by curves with (log)canonical singularities Then there exists a birational
map X 99K Xm obtained as a composition of flips such that Xm is a smooth
DM stack with projective moduli the birational transform Fm has (log)canonical
singularities and one of the following happens
bull KFm is nef or
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 25
bull There exists a fibration Xm rarr B over a smooth base whose fibers are
weighted projective spaces such that Fm is tangent to the fibers and restricts
to a radial foliation on those
Finally we can organize our notation
Set-up IIVII4 (X F ) is a smooth 3-dimensional DM stack with projective mod-
uli F a foliation by curves with canonical singularities such that KF is big and nef
There exists a semi-stable morphism p X rarr ∆ whose moduli is projective onto
the (formal) unit disk F restricts to a foliation on every fiber of p it has canon-
ical singularities on the very general fiber of p and log-canonical singularities on
every fiber of p Our task from now on is to analyze and contract the maximal
foliation-invariant sub-scheme of X along which KF is not ample
III Invariant curves and singularities local description
In this section we give a complete decription of germs of invariant curves that
appear in the formal completion of any point in the set-up IIVII4 Let us replace
X by its formal completion in a point lowast where the foliation is singular F is defined
by a vector field part with Jordan decomposition partS + partN see the end of subsection
IIIII Since [partS partN ] = 0 partN preserves the eigenspaces of partS Moreover the fact that
F is tangent to p translates into
(15) partS(p) = partN(p) = 0
The description of invariant germs of curves through lowast will be achieved via case-by-
case analysis organized by computing what happens for all possible combinations
of the following informations whether the singular locus Z is isolated at lowast the
number of eigenvalues of partS the number of components of the fiber through p
IIII sing(F ) not isolated
ni (1) partS has one eigenvalue
bull We have partS = x partpartx
and partN = f partparty
+ g partpartz
for some functions f g isin (y z)
Moreover partN is non-trivial
26 FEDERICO BUONERBA
bull Z = (x = f = g = 0) is not isolated
(a) The fiber has one component y = 0 Then 0 = partN(y) = f hence
Z = (x = g = 0) The restriction on the fiber is part|(y=0) = x partpartx
+g|(y=0)partpartz
Z has a one-dimensional component contained in the fiber iff g isin (y) in
which case such component is smooth equal to (x = 0) moreover the
foliation on the fiber saturates to a smooth one with invariant curves
z = 0 transverse to Z
Otherwise the foliation is saturated on the fiber and has a saddle-node
singularity
(b) The fiber has two components yz = 0 Then 0 = partN(yz) = zf + yg
hence f = yh g = minuszh for some h and Z = (x = h = 0) The restriction
on a fiber component say y = 0 is part|(y=0) = x partpartxminus zh|(y=0)
partpartz
Z has an
irreducible component contained in y = 0 iff h isin (y) in which case such
component is smooth equal to (x = 0) moreover the foliation on the
fiber saturates to a smooth one with invariant curves z = 0 transverse
to Z
Otherwise the foliation is saturated on the fiber and has a saddle-node
singularity
(c) The fiber has three components xyz = 0 0 = partS(xyz) = xyz a contra-
diction
Summary with one eigenvalue there are either one or two components The
foliation might have a one-dimensional singularity when restricted to a fiber
component in this case such singularity is a smooth curve and the foliation
saturates to a smooth one with invariant curves transverse to the singular-
ity If the singularity is isolated on a fiber component then it is a canonical
saddle-node with at most two invariant branches
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 27
ni (2) partS has two eigenvalues
We have partS = x partpartx
+ λy partparty
and partN(x y z) = k partpartx
+ f partparty
+ g partpartz
for some func-
tions k f g
(a) The fiber has one component z = 0 Then g = 0 k f isin (x y) and
necessarily Z = (x = y = 0) is transverse to the fiber The restriction on
the fiber is saturated and non-degenerate It has canonical singularities
if either partN 6= 0 or λ isin Q+ otherwise it is log-canonical
(b) The fiber has two components xy = 0 Then 0 = partS(xy) hence λ = minus1
Also 0 = partN(xy) hence k = xh f = minusyh g isin (xy) and necessarily
Z = (x = y = 0) coincides with the intersection of the two fiber compo-
nents which is smooth the foliation saturates to a smooth one on each
component with invariant curves transverse to Z
(c) The fiber has three components xyz = 0 hence λ = minus1 Also k = xklowast
f = yf lowast g = zglowast with klowast + f lowast + glowast = 0 and glowast isin (xy) The singularity
Z = (x = y = 0) coincides with the intersection of two of the fiber
components The restriction to either such components saturates to a
smooth foliation with invariant curves transverse to Z the restriction
to z = 0 has a canonical non-degenerate singularity all the invariant
curves are those in xy = 0 transverse to Z
Summary with 2 eigenvalues there can be any number of components With
one component the foliation restricts to a saturated one with a (log)canonical
singularity which moves transversely to p With two components the folia-
tion is not saturated on either and saturates to a smooth one with invariant
curves transverse to the singularity With three components the foliation
is not saturated on two of them and saturates to a smooth one on both
with invariant curves transverse to the singularity the foliation is saturated
and has a canonical non-degenerate singularity on the third component In
28 FEDERICO BUONERBA
the last two cases the singularity is fully contained in an intersection of two
components
ni (3) partS has three eigenvalues But then the singularity is isolated a contradiction
IIIII sing(F ) isolated
i (1) partS has one eigenvalue
bull We have partS = x partpartx
and partN = xk partpartx
+ f partparty
+ g partpartz
for some functions
k f g isin (y z) Moreover partN is non-trivial
bull Z = (x = f = g = 0) is isolated
(a) The fiber has one component y = 0 Then 0 = partN(y) = f and Z cannot
be isolated a contradiction
(b) The fiber has two components yz = 0 Then 0 = partN(yz) = zf + yg so
f = yh g = minuszh with h non-constant Hence Z = (x = h = 0) is not
isolated a contradiction
(c) The fiber has three components xyz = 0 Then 0 = partS(xyz) = xyz a
contradiction
Summary the 1 eigenvalue case does not exist
i (2) partS has two eigenvalues
bull We have partS = x partpartx
+ λy partparty
partN = xk partpartx
+ f partparty
+ g partpartz
for some functions
k f g
bull g is non-trivial and g isin (x y)
bull Z = (x = y = g = 0) is isolated
(a) The fiber has one component z = 0 Then g = 0 a contradiction
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 29
(b) The fiber has two components xy = 0 hence λ = minus1 and g isin (xy z)
the restriction to y = 0 is part|(y=0) = x partpartx
+g|(y=0)partpartz
and necessarily g|(y=0)
is non-vanishing Therefore the restriction to either components is satu-
rated and the singularity is a canonical saddle-node on each of them
The invariant curves are among the axes x = y = 0 x = z = 0 y = z =
0
(c) The fiber has three components xyz = 0 hence λ = minus1 Necessarily
k = xklowast f = yf lowast g = zglowast with klowast + f lowast + glowast = 0 The restriction to
y = 0 is part|(y=0) = x(1 + klowast|(y=0))partpartx
+ zglowast|(y=0)partpartz
since g isin (x y) we have
glowast|(y=0) non-trivial Therefore the restriction to either x = 0 and y = 0
is saturated and the singularity is a canonical saddle-node on each of
them
The restriction to z = 0 is part|(z=0) = x(1 + klowast|(z=0))partpartx
+ y(minus1 + f lowast|(z=0))partparty
therefore the restriction is saturated and has a canonical non-degenerate
singularity
The invariant curves are among the axes x = y = 0 x = z = 0 y = z =
0
Summary with 2 eigenvalues there are either two or three components the
foliation restricts to a canonical saddle-node on two of them and to a non-
degenerate singularity on the third one if it exists All the invariant curves
are in the axes
i (3) partS has three eigenvalues We have partS = x partpartx
+ λy partparty
+ microz partpartz
(a) The fiber has one component y = 0 hence λ = 0 a contradiction
(b) The fiber has two components xy = 0 hence λ = minus1 The restriction to
y = 0 is part|(y=0) = x partpartx
+ microz partpartz
+ partN|(y=0) The singularity is log-canonical
30 FEDERICO BUONERBA
iff micro isin Qgt0 and partN|(y=0)= 0 and in this case the singularity on x = 0 is
canonical non-degenerate Invariant curves are those in y = 0 and the
axis x = z = 0
If the restriction to both fiber components is canonical then it non-
degenerate on both and the invariant curves are contained in the axes
x = y = 0 x = z = 0 y = z = 0
The fiber could be yz = 0 hence λ+micro = 0 It can be analyzed as in the
next item
(c) The fiber has three components xyz = 0 hence 1 + λ + micro = 0 In par-
ticular if λ = cmicro c isin Q+ then λ micro isin Q The restriction to y = 0
is part|(y=0) = x partpartx
+ microz partpartz
+ partN|(y=0) This singularity is log-canonical iff
micro isin Qgt0 and partN|(y=0)= 0 in which case the singularity on both x = 0
and z = 0 is canonical non-degenerate In particular if the singularity
is log-canonical on some fiber component then it is so on exactly one
component and all eigenvalues are rational Invariant curves are those
in y = 0 and the axis x = z = 0
If the restriction to all fiber components is canonical then it non-degenerate
on each of them and the invariant curves are contained in the axes
x = y = 0 x = z = 0 y = z = 0
Summary with 3 eigenvalues there are either two or three fiber components
the foliation restricts to a singular foliation on each of them and it has a
log-canonical singularity on at most one of them in this case all eigenvalues
of the semi-simple field are rational
IIIIII Local consequences We list some corollaries for future reference As al-
ways in this section the statements are local so everything happens in a formal
neighborhood of our point lowast First we state those corollaries we will need to describe
configurations of KF -nil curves
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 31
Definition IIIIII1 An LC-center Π sub X is an irreducible F -invariant formal
hypersurface such that the local vector field generating the foliation when restricted
to Π has semi-simple part with log-canonical singularity or a one-dimensional sin-
gular locus An LC-center with a log-canonical singularity is necessarily an algebraic
component of the singular fiber of p
Corollary IIIIII2 There is at most one LC-center with a log-canonical singularity
through lowast If it exists then all eigenvalues of the semi-simple field at lowast are rational
If there are at least two LC-centers through lowast then there are exactly two and the
foliation singularity is a smooth curve on each of them
Proof Possible cases in which an LC-center with log-canonical singularities appears
ni (2)a i (3)b i (3)c
Corollary IIIIII3 If there is no LC-center thorugh a point lowast then there are at
most three invariant curves through lowast all smooth Any number of them spans a sub-
space of the tangent space at lowast of maximal possible dimension
If there is an LC-center through lowast then there is at most one invariant curve through
lowast and not contained in the LC-center
If there is an LC-center with non-isolated singularity then the singularity is smooth
and all invariant curves contained in the LC-center intersect the singularity trans-
versely
Proof Invariant curves not in an LC-centers with log-canonical singularities are con-
tained in the three axes x = z = 0 x = y = 0 y = z = 0 mentioned in the above
classification The other statements are clear
Corollary IIIIII4 If p is smooth at lowast then Z is one dimensional around lowast
Proof Possible casesni (1)a ni (2)a
In particular if there is no LC-center the situation is the familiary
xz
32 FEDERICO BUONERBA
While if there is an LC-center (pink) with log-canonical singularity it will look like
y
LC-center
While if there is an LC-center with non-isolated singularity (red) it will look like
(the black arrows being invariant curves)
y
LC-center
The next corollary describes one-dimensional components of the foliation singularity
Corollary IIIIII5 If Z0 is a one-dimensional irreducible component of the folia-
tion singularity then it is at worst nodal The foliation when restricted to any fiber
component containing Z0 saturates to a smooth foliation in a neighborhood of Z0
and all the invariant curves are transverse to Z0
If Z0 is contained in exactly one fiber component then the semi-simple field has one
eigenvalue everywhere along Z0
If Z0 lies at the intersection of two fiber components then the semi-simple field has
two constant eigenvalues everywhere along Z0
Moreover if there exist a sequence of invariant curves converging in the compact-
open topology to Z0 then there is generically one eigenvalue along Z0
Proof Possible casesni (1)a ni (1)b ni (2)b ni (2)c Concerning the one-
eigenvalue case invariant curves converging to Z0 can be found in the formal hyper-
surface x = 0
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 33
IV Invariant curves along which KF vanishes
In this section we study in great detail a formal neighborhood of invariant curves
where KF is numerically trivial In the first subsection we deal with KF -nil curves
namely those whose generic point is not contained in the foliation singularity In this
case the normal bundle to the curve determines its formal neighborhood uniquely
and this has plenty of amazing consequences In the second subsection we study
those invariant curves which are contained in the foliation singularity In this case
we are not able to control the full formal neighborhood but important informations
can still be obtained
IVI KF -nil curves In this subsection we study in detail the structure of KF -
nil curves and their formal neighborhoods appearing in the set-up IIVII4 In
particular we will describe a simple process to replace cuspidal KF -nil curves by
net ones prove that the foliation is in the net completion around a net KF -nil curve
defined by a global vector field which admits a global Jordan decomposition deduce
that eigenfunctions for the semi-simple component of such field are also globally
defined on a formal neighborhood
The first important remark is of technical nature and explains how to deal with non-
net KF -nil curves By Proposition IIIV4 this is indeed possible and the images of
such curves will acquire cusp-like singularities It is hard to analyze the geometry
of F around such cuspidal curves and therefore necessary to remove them Let us
assume that C is simply connected with rational moduli f is ramified at 0 isin C
and and denote by X the formal completion along f(C) Then formally around
f(0) the curve f(C) has defining ideal (y xa minus zb) where y = 0 is a fiber of the
fibration p X rarr ∆ containing f(C) x z isin H0(X OX ) restrict to suitable local
coordinates on such fiber and a b ge 2 are coprime integers
Claim IVI1 Let r X ( aradicz = 0) rarr X be the a-th root of z = 0 III3 Then
(rlowastC)norm =∐a
1 C and the induced map rlowastf (rlowastC)norm rarrX ( aradicz = 0) is net
Proof Since r is etale away from z = 0 also rlowastC rarr C is etale away from 0 isin C
Since C 0 is simply connected we have rlowastC rminus1(0) =∐a
1 C 0 This proves
34 FEDERICO BUONERBA
the first statement Let ζ be a function on X ( aradicz = 0) such that ζa = z so then
rlowast(xa minus zb) =prod
ηa=1(x minus ηζb) Every branch is net in 0 and we obtain the second
statement as well
As such upon taking roots we can replace non-net KF -nil invariant curves with
rational moduli by net ones
We now proceed to study net KF -nil curves We will show that the foliation is
defined by a global vector field around a net KF -nil curve with rational moduli and
that such vector field admits a global Jordan decomposition
Proposition IVI2 Notation as in the set-up IIVII4 let f C rarrX be a KF -nil
curve Assume that f is net and let j C rarr C be the net completion along f Then
there exists an isomorphism
(16) OC(KF )simminusrarr OC
In particular there exists a global vector field partf on C that generates F
Proof Since C has rational moduli and is simply connected it has infinite-cyclic
Picard group and we have an isomorphism
(17) OC(KF )simminusrarr OC
Moreover we have a non-canonical splitting of the normal bundle Njsimminusrarr O(minusn) oplus
O(minusm) and we claim that both nm ge 0 Indeed consider the induced semi-stable
fibration C rarr ∆ and let F be the normalization of an irreducible component of a
fiber such that C sub F Consider the exact sequence
(18) 0rarr NCF rarr Nj rarr NFC|C rarr 0
Since KF is nef NCF is not ample since F is a fiber of a fibration also NFC|C is
not ample and this is enough to conclude even though nm may be different from
the degrees of such normal bundles
At this point we can lift the isomorphism 17 over infinitesimal neighborhoods of j
Indeed for every k ge 0 we have an exact sequence
(19) 0rarr Symk ICI2C rarr OCk+1
(KF )rarr OCk(KF )rarr 0
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 35
which shows that the obstruction to lifting the isomorphism lies in
(20) H1(C Symk ICI2C) = H1(C Symk(O(n)oplus O(m))) = 0
From this we can deduce
Proposition IVI3 The vector field partf admits a Jordan decomposition uniformly
along C
Proof The cohomology sequence attached to 19 is
(21) 0rarr H0(C Symk ICI2C)rarr H0(COCk+1
)rarr H0(COCk)rarr 0
Let partk+1 denote the image of partf in End(H0(COCk+1)) Looking at
H0(COCk+1) minusminusminusrarr H0(COCk
)
partk+1
y partk
yH0(COCk+1
) minusminusminusrarr H0(COCk)
we see the canonical Jordan deomposition of partk+1 restricts to that of partk
The above result describes a very useful interplay between normal bundles to
KF -nil curves and the structure of the semi-simple field It turns out that these
informations determine formal neighborhoods uniquely For simplicity let C be
an irreducible component of C without orbifold points Let us assume that part|C is
singular in 0infin Then there exist formal functions x y z at 0 isin C and ξ η ζ at
infin isin C such that x ξ are coordinates along C y η are local sections of OC(minusn)
so η = xny mod(I2C) z ζ are local sections of OC(minusm) so ζ = xmz mod(I2C)
Normalizing so that xminus1partS(x) = ε isin 0 1 we obtain
(22) part0S = εxpart
partx+ λy
part
party+ microz
part
partz partinfinS = minusεξ part
partξ+ (λ+ εn)η
part
partη+ (micro+ εm)ζ
part
partζ
More generally ie C = P1(d e) we have glueing rules x = te ξ = tminusd η = tny and
ζ = tmz mod(I2C) Normalizing so that tminus1partS(t) = ε isin 0 1 we obtain
(23) part0S = eεxpart
partx+ λy
part
party+ microz
part
partz partinfinS = minusdεξ part
partξ+ (λ+ εn)η
part
partη+ (micro+ εm)ζ
part
partζ
36 FEDERICO BUONERBA
It is worth remarking that the above relations hold between eigenvalues at the two
singular point of singular ie nodal or cuspidal KF -nil curves as well this is
easily seen by taking a root followed by net completion and keeping track of the
eigenvalues
Definition IVI4 Let C be a KF -nil curve The foliation singular points along C
are called ends
As well as the existence of Hilbert scheme in the following form
Fact IVI5 Let W sub Xlowast be a curve and D a divisor in the formal neighborhood
of W such that W = D capXlowast scheme-theoretically Then W moves in D
In what follows our main concern is to understand formal neighborhoods of KF -
nil curves Observe that the fibration p when restricted to the formal neighborhood
of such curves provides at least one eigenfunction of the semi-simple field Hence
in order to compute the width IIII we must study the behavior of the other eigen-
function on infinitesimal neighborhoods We first describe the situation inside the
smooth locus of p
Proposition IVI6 (Smooth fiber) Let f C rarrX be an irreducible KF -nil curve
which is contained in the smooth locus of a fiber Xlowast of p Then the end(s) on C are
flat over ∆ ni (1)b and ni (1)a with z2|g(y z) and C moves in a family flat over
∆
Proof Let us assume that f is net Then upon passing to net completion we can
actually assume it is embedded From our local classification of singularities we case
in case ni (1)a and ni (2)a We want to show that both ends have components
that move transversely to p hence we have to exclude case ni (1)a with g(y z) = ya
By way of contradiction say we have g(y z) = ya in the notation of opcit around
an end lowast isin C We proceed to compute what happens at the other end we find
formal coordinates ξ η ζ which by equation 23 satisfy
(24) ξ = xminus1 η = y ζ = xmz mod(I2C)
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 37
As such we compute part(ζ) = mζ + ξminusmηa mod(I2C) which is holomorphic if and only
if m le 0 so then C moves in Xlowast contradicting that the foliation has general type
Hence we are in cases ni (1)a ni (2)a with g = microyazb b ge 1
(25) part0 = xpart
partx+ microyazb
part
partz partinfin = minusξ part
partξ+ ζ(m+ microξm(bminus1)ηaζbminus1)
part
partζ(mod(I2C))
Following notation from subsection IIII observe that C1 is the section of E1C which
is disjoint from the proper transform of the fiber of p In coordinates over 0
(26) x1 = x y1 = y z1 = zyminus1
And similarly over infin Using the previous equation and 25 on C1 we find
(27)
part01 = x1part
partx1+microya+bminus11 zb1
part
partz1 partinfin1 = minusξ1
part
partξ1+ζ1(m+microξ
m(bminus1)1 ηa+bminus11 ζbminus11 )
part
partζ1(mod(I2C1
))
In particular the transform of the nilpotent field is still nilpotent after blowing up in
C It follows that the eigenvalues of the semi-simple field at the two ends of C and
C1 are the same Using equation 23 we deduce that the normal bundle to C1X1 to
isomorphic to that of CX in particular it contains a trivial direct summand This
proves that width(C) =infin
Next we show that f must be net Consider the induced flat projection pD D rarr ∆
its general fiber cannot be a cuspidal curve since along such cusp the foliation sin-
gularity would be log-canonical but not canonical Hence if C has a cusp necessarily
the general fiber of pD is a nodal curve Let X rarr X denote the blow up of the
nodal locus of pD with exceptional divisor E ruled over ∆ In a neighborhood of E
we have sing(F ) = D cap E which projects to ∆ as a double cover ramified over lowastObserve that the foliation on Xlowast is again log-canonical and not canonical hence its
local structure is ni (2)a In that case however p is unramified along the foliation
singularity Contradiction
We state a general criterion for movability of KF -nil curves
Proposition IVI7 Let C be a connected KF -nil curve such that p(C ) = lowast isin ∆
Assume its dual graph is a chain that none of its irreducible components is double
38 FEDERICO BUONERBA
VI3 and that its two extremal ends are flat over ∆ Then C moves in a family flat
over ∆ and each of its irreducible components is embedded
Proof We work in a formal neighborhood of C After taking roots we can assume
C is net and since its dual graph is a chain it is actually embedded We proceed by
induction on its length l where the case l = 1 is Proposition IVI6 For l gt 1 let C1
be a component of C which is extremal in its dual graph If C1 moves transversely
to p then both its ends do and hence we can apply the induction hypothesis to
C C1 If C1 is rigid then it can be flopped It is straightforward to check that we
can apply the induction hypothesis to the transform C + C+1 and we are done
Now we deal with rigid curves inside the singular fiber
Proposition IVI8 (Singular fiber) Let f C rarr X be an embedded net KF -
nil curve with anti-ample normal bundle Then there exists a birational map φ
(X F ) 99K (X +F+) and a KF+-nil curve C+ such that
bull φ is an isomorphism away from C+
bull In a formal neighborhood of at least one among C and C+ there exist two
invariant hypersurfaces D1D2 locally defined by the vanishing of eigenfunc-
tions of the semi-simple field such that C (resp C+)= D1 capD2
bull If F middot C lt 0 for some hypersurface F then F+ middot C+ gt 0 In particular X +
is projective
Such φ is called flop
Proof Our assumption is that Nfsimminusrarr O(minusn)oplusO(minusm) is anti-ample namely nm gt
0 If two invariant hypersurfaces as in our statement do exist around C the flop is
easily constructed as a weighted blow-up followed by a weighted blow-down As such
let us assume that such hypersurfaces do not exist around C In particular C is not
double VI3 By [Ar70] there exists a formal contraction c X rarrX0 collapsing C
to a point and an isomorphism everywhere else By Proposition IVI3 the foliation
F0 is Gorenstein around the node of X0 For ease of exposition let us assume
n = m = 1 the general case is handled the same way only the notation becomes more
cumbersome due to the presence of weights The node has embedding dimension 4
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 39
and in suitable local coordinates x0 y0 w0 z0 can be defined by x0z0minusy0w0 = 0 The
morphism c can be identified with the blow up of the embedded surface (x0 = y0 = 0)
Explicitly in the chart y = y0 x = x0yminus10 it is defined by
(28) y0 = y x0 = xy z0 = zprime w0 = xzprime
Here x is a coordinate along C while y = 0 is the pull-back of (x0 = y0 = 0) and
zprime some function in the normal bundle to C By the previous Proposition IVI6
we know C cannot be contained in the smooth locus of p Since C is not double
we can assume that in this local chart p is defined by (x y zprime) rarr xy - the case
(x y zprime) rarr xzprime being isomorphic as it is isomorphic to blow-up (z0 = w0 = 0)
instead of (x0 = y0 = 0) The issue is as emphasized by the notation zprime 6= z that
zprime may fail to be an eigenfunction for partS if it were we would be done since zprime = 0
is the local equation for the global pullback of (z0 = w0 = 0) However we have
a b isin C such that
(29) partS0(y0) = minusy0 partS0(x0) = 0 partS0(z0) = ay0 + bz0 partS0(w0) = ax0 + (b+ 1)w0
Observe that the embedded surfaces D01 = (y0 = z0 = 0) and D0
2 = (x0 = w0 = 0)
are both foliation invariant As such let b X + rarr X0 denote the blow-up of X0
along D01 - which is isomorphic to that along D0
2 - and let Di = blowastD0i i = 1 2
Finally X + is projective by Nakai-Moishezon Indeed every C with anti-ample
normal bundle is contained in an irreducible component F of X0 such that F middotC lt 0
Then F+ middot C+ gt 0 and we can find an ample divisor of the form H+ + εF+ where
H+ is the proper transform of an ample on X
Remark IVI9 In the previous proof a 6= b+ 1 Indeed such identity would create
a non-trivial Jordan block of partS0 in the (x0 w0)-plane thus contradicting the semi-
simplicity of partS0 In particular by a straightforward computation it is impossible to
find eigenfunctions of the form wlowast0 = w0 + αx0 zlowast0 = z0 + βy0 with x0z
lowast0 minus y0wlowast0 = 0
unless a = 0
We can conclude by pointing out an important point understood in this section
A painful aspect of the theory is that log-canonical singularities which appear natu-
rally as analytic degenerations of canonical ones come along with cuspidal invariant
40 FEDERICO BUONERBA
curves There is in particular no a-priori obstruction to the existence of rigid
cuspidal KF -nil curves in a smooth fiber of our family of foliated surfaces p Quite
generally a rigid curve of positive arithmetic genus in a smooth family of surfaces can
never be contracted to a point Therefore this would have been a counter-example
to any reasonable foliated canonical model theory one may wish to achieve Fortu-
nately such phenomenon does not happen and this establishes the Main Theorem I
modulo finitely many rigid curves confined in the singular fiber X0
IVII Invariant curves inside sing(F ) In this subsection we study curves Z0 subeXlowast cap sing(F ) which are inside the foliation singularity and invariant By this we
mean that there exists a sequence fn Cn rarrX of not necessarily algebraic invariant
curves converging in the compact-open topology to Z0 In other words the map
(30) NorF rarr Ω1Z0
is trivial By Corollary IIIIII5 we know that Z0 is at worst nodal it is smooth
wherever p is smooth for every point z isin Z0 the semi-simple part of the gener-
ating vector field has exactly one eigenvalue The problem here is that the Jordan
decomposition need not extend uniformly along Z0 not even along an irreducible
component In case ni (1)a the functions x and g may develop essential singulari-
ties arbitrary close to z Nonetheless the function x is unique and this says that x
does extend along Z0
Proposition IVII1 Let Z0 be as above Then in a formal neighborhood of Z0
there exists a unique smooth invariant hypersurface D0 containing Z0 which restricts
around any point in Z0 to the unique eigenfunction for the semi-simple field whose
eigenvalue is non-zero
Proof The local structure of the foliation around a point z isin Z0 is described by
cases ni (1)a and ni (1)b In both cases partS has one non-zero eigenvalue with
eigenfunction x Such eigenfunction x is a-priori only defined in the normal bundle to
Z0 but it is clear that the equation partx = x has a unique up to constants solution in
the formal completion around z As such there exists a unique smooth hypersurface
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 41
D0 in the formal completion around Z0 which restricts to the eigenfunction x around
z
Observe that the previous argument goes through since we are assuming Z0 subX0
Keeping notations from case ni (1)a if say g(y z) = yz then in the hypersurface
y equiv q isin Qgt0 the foliation has a log-canonical singularity and the eigenfunction x
extends highly non-uniquely to a formal neighborhood of the point (x y z) = (0 q 0)
In particular the existence of D0 as in the previous Proposition might fail along
the component (x = z = 0) of the foliation singularity This phenomenon is called
the beast
Anyway uniqueness in the previous proposition yields
Corollary IVII2 Let Z prime be a connected invariant curve inside sing(F ) Then in
a formal neighborhood of Z prime there exists a unique smooth invariant hypersurface D prime
containing Z prime which restricts around any point in Z prime to the hypersurface constructed
in the previous proposition
Next we turn to the intrinsic structure of invariant singular curves
Proposition IVII3 Let Z0 be an irreducible invariant curve inside sing(F )
Then Z0 is smooth and rational
Proof We work in a formal neighborhood of Z0 Let F0 denote the unique component
of X0 containing Z0 For any other fiber component F intersecting Z0 non-trivially
blow-up the invariant curve F cap F0 with exceptional divisor EF A straightforward
computation using the local formula ni (1)b shows that the fiber of the natural
projection EF rarr F cap F0 intersecting Z0 is also contained in sing(F ) For Z prime the
maximal connected singular invariant curve containing Z0 let G denote the saturated
foliation induced on D prime It is canonical with reduced singularities and it satisfies
KG = KF |Dprime minus Zprime By adjunction
(31) 2g(Z0)minus 2 + sZG(Z0) = minusZ prime middot Z0
Observe that thanks to our initial sequence of blow-ups the singularities of G along
Z0 coincide with the intersection of Z0 and Z prime Z0 In particular since D prime is formally
42 FEDERICO BUONERBA
flat over ∆ we deduce Z prime middot Z0 = 0 and the previous formula becomes
(32) 2g(Z0)minus 2 + sZG(Z0) = 0
This implies that Z0 is rational or elliptic If Z0 were elliptic then sZG(Z0) = 0 and
D0 defines an invariant elliptic curve in the general fiber of p By Baum-Bott this
contradicts that KF is big and nef Now we show that Z0 is smooth If it has a node
then D0 moves it in a family of nodal rational curves flat over ∆ In particular D0
itself has a node in codimension 1 hence Xlowast is smooth around the node of Z0 In its
formal neighborhood the foliation must be as in case ni (1)a which implies that
Z0 is smooth contradiction
We can improve as follows
Proposition IVII4 Let Z prime sube sing F capXlowast be a connected invariant curve with
KF middot Z prime = 0 Then its dual graph is a chain
Proof Assume Z prime is a cycle Then necessarily Z prime = D prime capXlowast scheme-theoretically
and by the existence of Hilbert scheme Z prime moves in the general fiber Its general
member is either a cycle of smooth rational curves or an elliptic curve Arguing as
in the previous proof we see that both options are impossible
V Configurations
In this section we analyze in great detail all possible configurations of invariant
curves along which KF vanishes These can be divided into three groups those
that do not move those that move in a one-dimensional family covering a surface
those that move in a higher-dimensional family covering a surface Curves in the first
group can form rather complicated configurations while those in the second group
are more simple they either move in the general fiber or they cover an isolated
Riccati component in the singular fiber Those in the third group turn out to be
represented by the two rulings of P1timesP1 if they happen to be cohomologous in the
ambient stack First we will analyze rigid curves then those which move and finally
we will describe their configurations
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 43
VI Configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially In
this subsection we describe configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF
trivially which arise in the situation described by set-up IIVII4
First we focus on KF -nil curves At the end of the section we deal with the simpler
case in which a curve in the configuration is fully contained in sing(F ) The general
fiber was handled in Proposition IVI6
Proposition VI1 Let C be a connected KF -nil curve contained in the smooth
locus of a fiber of p Then it is a chain or a cycle and it moves in a family flat over
∆
In what follows we let C denote a connected KF -nil curve contained in the
singular fiber X0 all of whose sub-curves are rigid in X Observe a consequence of
equation 23
Proposition VI2 Let C = cupiCi be a connected KF -nil curve Then the eigen-
values of partS are all rational at every point of sing(F )capC if and only if they are all
rational at one point
We can deduce many non-trivial properties about configurations of KF -nil curves
First we need
Definition VI3 Let C subX0 be a curve It is called double if there exists formally
around C two components F F prime of X0 such that C = F cap F prime A point lowast isin C where
three fiber components intersect is called a triple point If C lies on exactly one fiber
component it is called non-double We denote by F (C) such component
Remark VI4 Let Csimminusrarr P1(d e) be double with two triple points Then we know
e+ λ+ micro = minusd+ (λ+ n) + (micro+m) = 0 whence we obtain
(33) n+m = d+ e
Which is called triple-point formula
Next we show that essentially KF -nil curves do not form cycles unless something
deforms in X0 First we show that there are no cycles of rigid non-double curves
44 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proposition VI5 Let C be a connected KF -nil curve contained in the singular
fiber X0 of p Assume that every component of C is non-double and that every
sub-curve is rigid Then C contains no cycles
Proof We work in a formal neighborhood of C which we assume is a cycle Let
us first consider the case in which all components C1 middot middot middot CN are smooth with no
orbifold points and denote lowasti = Ci cap Ci+1 with CN+1 = C1 Moreover let us
assume no lowasti lies in the smooth locus of p
Since no curve is double the semi-simple field at every lowasti is as in case i (3)b in
particular the eigenvalues along the branches of Ci and Ci+1 add up to zero More-
over let minusni denote the self-intersection of Ci sub F (Ci) Normalize the eigenvalues
of partS so that at lowastn they are 1 in the C1 direction minus1 in the CN direction λ in the
F (C1)capF (CN) direction It follows by induction that at lowasti the eigenvalues are minus1
in the Ci direction 1 in the Ci+1 direction λ+ n1 + middot middot middot+ ni in the F (Ci) cap F (Ci+1)
direction After traveling around the cycle we obtain n1+middot middot middot+nN = 0 contradicting
that ni gt 0 for every i
We established the Proposition assuming every Ci is an embedded scheme and ev-
ery lowasti is in the singular locus of p The case in which Cisimminusrarr P1(di ei) has orbifold
points is analogous we end up with a combination c1n1 + middot middot middot + cNnN = 0 with ci
the eigenvalue at lowasti in the Ci+1 direction Normalizing so that c1 = e1 gt 0 again by
induction on i we see that every ci isin Qgt0 Next we show that our assumption on lowastiis always satisfied
Claim VI6 Every lowasti must belong to the singular locus of p
Proof We give two essentially equivalent proofs
bull If N = 2 3 then the previous argument goes through indeed we can normal-
ize eigenvalues at lowasti to be negative in the Ciminus1 direction and positive in the
Ci-direction and argue as above Hence we can assume N ge 4 If say lowasti is in
the smooth locus of p then F (Ci) = F (Ci+1) If also F (Ciminus1) = F (Ci) then Ci
lies in the smooth locus of p and hence it moves Therefore F (Ciminus1) 6= F (Ci)
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 45
and Ciminus1 can be flopped inside F (Ci) Since N ge 4 this preserves the smooth-
ness of F (Ci) and Ci is now is the smooth locus of p - contradiction
bull If lowasti belongs to the smooth locus of p then the end through lowasti moves We
can form a partial net completion fi Xi rarrX by normalizing C in lowasti only
Then f lowasti C is a chain with movable ends and hence moves in the general fiber
of p fi
Finally the general case in which some among the Ci have cusps can be easily
reduced to the smooth case in a couple of ways
bull Eigenvalues at the singularities of any KF -nil curve satisfy the same relations
as in the smooth case
bull Upon taking roots and net completion we can find a foliated formal 3-fold
supported on a cycle of smooth KF -nil curves which is a ramified cover of a
formal neighborhood of our cycle
Similarly we can show that there are no rigid cycles of double curves
Proposition VI7 Let C be a nodal KF -nil curve which is double Then C
deforms inside X0 In particular there cannot exist a rigid cycle of KF -nil double
curves
Proof Following the previous notation we have 0 = infin and if C = (xy = z = 0)
around 0 then we have identities
(34) x = η y = ξ z = ζ
The last one of which implies m = 0 that is C deforms Since C is double necessarily
the surface it spans must be contained in X0
The statement about cycles follows since a cycle of double curves can be transformed
after finitely many flops into a chain of smooth double curves with a nodal one
attached at one end
46 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Later on we will show that the deformations of C cannot span an elliptic surface
but only a family of nodal rational curves with a special Riccati foliation on it
We are ready to organize a detailed description of the dual graph of C More pre-
cisely we only need to understand how double curves intersect non-double curves
Lemma VI8 There exists a sequence of flops X 99KX + such that if C + denotes
the transform of C every double curve supported on C + contains two triple points
Proof Let C sube C be an irreducible component with at most one triple point and
let X 99K X + be its flop Then its transform C+ is non-double and the number
of double curves contained in C descreases It is clear that after finitely many flops
all double curves contain exactly two triple points
From now on all double curves in C have two triple points Thanks to proposition
VI2 we know that there are two cases to consider those curves along which the
semi-simple field has not only rational eigenvalues and those along which the semi-
simple field has only rational eigenvalues The first case being strictly easier than
the second it is a good starting place to warm up
Proposition VI9 (irrational eigenvalues) Assume that for every foliation singu-
larity along C not all eigenvalues of partS are rational Then every component of C
is net with at most one node and 1-skeleton of its dual graph is at worst trivalent
Write C = C axes cup C free where
C axes is the union of double curves
C free is the union of non-double curves
Then one among C axes and C free is empty Moreover
bull If C free is non-empty then it is a chain of smooth curves with rational moduli
bull If C axes is non-empty there exists a sequence of flops X 99KX + and an ir-
reducible component of the fiber FC subX + such that X + is a smooth stack
the transform C+ of C is contained in FC Moreover the dual graph of C+
is a tree which by [McQ08 III32] becomes a chain inside the normalization
of FC
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 47
Proof The first sentence is just corollary IIIIII3
Observe that if a non-double curve intersects a double curve then the non-double
curve must be contained in an LC-center around such intersection This contradicts
that not all eigenvalues are rational and establishes that one among C axes and C free
is empty
In case C free is not empty then it is clearly a chain or a cycle the latter being
impossible by Proposition VI5
We are left to show the existence of flops in case C = C axes We remark that
every component is smooth Let C0 be such a component and S0 a component of
X0 containing it Let C1 be the collection of irreducible components of C which
intersect S0 but are not contained in it All the components of C1 are smooth hence
we can flop them in any order until the transform of C1 lies in the transform of S0
Since the number of irreducible components of C lying outside S0 decreases after
such flop by induction we deduce the existence of finitely many flops after which
the birational transform of C is fully contained in the transform of S0
Next we take care of rational eigenvalues The complication here arises from
the fact that there may be double and non-double curves intersecting each other
However the situation is best possible
Proposition VI10 (rational eigenvalues) Assume that for every foliation singu-
larity along C all eigenvalues of partS are rational Write C = C axes cup C free where
C axes is the union of double curves
C free is the union of non-double curves
Then there exists a sequence of flops X 99K X + and an irreducible component of
the fiber FC axes subX + such that
bull X + is a smooth stack
bull The union of double curves of C axes is contained in FC axes the 1-skeleton of
its dual graph is a tree and each of its components has two triple points
bull The 1-skeleton of the dual graph of the transform C free+ is a disjoint union of
trees
bull Each connected component of C free+ intersects C axes in exactly one point
48 FEDERICO BUONERBA
In particular the 1-skeleton of the dual graph of C is a tree
Proof Notice that for every point lowast isin C cap Z there exists one LC-center through lowastIndeed there are three rational eigenvalues and they cannot be all non-vanishing and
all with different signs at the same time Now C axes can be treated as in proposition
VI9 This proves the first two items of the statement The third item follows from
Proposition VI5 so we can focus on the fourth one The proof is based on the
following obvious
Remark VI11 let C be a double curve such that either it is KF -nil hence has
two triple points or it is fully contained in sing(F ) Let C0 sube C free intersect C
non-trivially in a point lowast then necessarily C0 sub LClowast
Now let C0 middot middot middot CN form a chain of non-double curves with C0 and CN both
intersecting double curves as in the remark Denote by lowasti = Ci cap Ci+1 Since
C1 sub LClowast necessarily C1 is transverse to LClowast1 otherwise C1 would deform in F (C1)
Inductively we see that Ci+1 sub LClowasti and is transverse to LClowasti+1 In particular CN
cannot touch a double curve This contradiction proves the fourth item
Let us add a remark about configurations featuring invariant curves inside sing(F )
Proposition VI12 Let C be an invariant curve with KF middot C = 0 such that
Z0 sube C for some component Z0 sube sing(F ) Then C = Z prime cup C where
Z prime is a connected invariant curve inside the foliation singularity with dual graph a
chain
C is the union of at most two pairwise disjoint KF -nil curves with anti-ample
normal bundle
If not empty C can only intersect Z prime at the two ends of its dual graph Moreover
perhaps after a flop the intersection of C with Z prime supports the foliation singularity
along C As such if C has two components Z prime cup C deforms in the general fiber
Proof The structure of Z prime is Proposition IVII3 while that of Co is Proposition
IVI6 Let C prime be a component of C intersecting Z0 in a point lowast If C prime and Z0 belong
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 49
to different components of X0 then by case ni (1)b the eigenvalue of partS along C prime
vanishes so supp(sing(F ) cap C prime) = lowast If C prime and Z0 belong to the same component
then we can flop C prime into a different component
Observe that the divisor D prime from op cit can be extended along C prime This implies
that C can only intersect Z prime at its ends Moreover if C touches both ends necessarily
D prime capX0 = C scheme-theoretically hence by the existence of Hilbert scheme IVI5
we conclude
Our new set-up is
Set-up VI13 Everything as in set-up IIVII4 and moreover for any connected
invariant curve C with KF middot C = 0 all of whose sub-curves are rigid we have
configurations computed in proposition VI9 VI10 and Lemma VI12
VII Configurations of non-rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
In this subsection we describe configurations of surfaces which are covered by KF -nil
curves The structure of each such surface is described by classification IIV1 IIV2
and Corollary IIVI17 Our first step is to simplify the situation by contracting
chains of ruled surfaces The next step is to try and exclude the possibility that
the singular fiber of p contains fibrations by elliptic or nodal rational curves with
at least one invariant fiber This can be achieved with good success indeed there
may be at most one such Riccati foliation which is anyway rather isolated from the
remaining KF -nil curves Finally we observe that the only class of surfaces we have
not mentioned is
Definition VII1 A irreducible component F of the singular fiber of p is called
small Kronecker if
bull (FFF ) is birational to a Kronecker vector field on P1 timesP1 and
bull The two rulings of this P1 timesP1 are cohomologous inside X
The name comes from the fact that contraction of a small Kronecker yields a node
in the ambient threefold which admits a small resolution In fact in many respects
these fiber components behave very much like rigid KF -nil curves
50 FEDERICO BUONERBA
We start by getting rid of some fiber components which are ruled by KF -nil gener-
ically smooth rational curves
Proposition VII2 Notation as in Set-up VI13 there exists a sequence of flops
and divisorial contractions c X 99KX + such that
bull X + is a smooth stack
bull let S+ sub X + be an irreducible invariant divisor that contains a positive-
dimensional family of invariant rational curves along which KF+ vanishes
Then S+ is either birationally ruled by nodal rational curves or it is a small
Kronecker
Proof We focus first on contracting components of the singular fiber of p Consider
the following algorithm If there is no birationally ruled component different from
the ones listed in the second item we are done otherwise pick one such F and let
C denote the general member of the ruling If the cohomology class [C] is inde-
composable F is minimal Otherwise [C] = [C1] + [C2] where Ci are rational and
intersect KF trivially After finitely many steps we have a decomposition as a finite
sum of indecomposables [C] =sumn
i=0 ni[Ci] where every Ci is rational intersects KF
trivially We have two cases
bull There exists k such that Ck deforms in a birationally ruled necessarily min-
imal surface Fk
bull Every Ci has anti-ample normal bundle
In the first case denote by X rarr X1 the contraction of Fk along |Ck| and relpace
X by X1 Since Fk is minimal smoothness of the ambient stack is preserved unless
Fk is a small Kronecker This is however impossible if n ge 2 if Fk were a small
Kronecker then Ck deforms away from Fkminus1 so then Fkminus1 middot Ck = 0 on the other
hand Fkminus1 intersects the other ruling of Fk positively
In the second case flop C1 middot middot middot Cn in this order The transform of F is minimal and
not a small Kronecker so it can be contracted along its ruling preserving ambient
smoothness By induction on the Picard rank of X after finitely many steps this
algorithm ends Call X the output of this algorithm
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 51
Let S subX be an invariant divisor with a generically smooth ruling Then pS S rarr∆ is flat and after flopping finitely many rational curves in S cap plowastS(0) the resulting
pS is smooth Hence we can contract S along pS After finitely many steps the
Proposition is proven
For ease of notation in the sequel we call X the output of the previous proposition
Notice that there might still be divisors carrying a pencil of nodal rational curves
both inside and outside the singular fiber of p
We can start analyzing configurations of fiber components where the restriction of
F is not of general type We need some notation whose reason to exist will be clear
shortly
Definition VII3 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
along which KF is not big F is called special Riccati if
bull F is minimal
bull There exists a morphism s F rarr B onto a curve whose fibers are nodal
rational curve
bull F is transverse to the general fiber of s in particular KF is numerically
trivial along s
bull At least one fiber of s is invariant
bull There exists a section σ of s which is invariant and does not coincide with
the nodal locus of F
In particular the intersections of σ with invariant fibers of s isolated singularities
of F the node of F all coincide There may be fibers of s fully contained in sing(F )
in which case they are everywhere transverse to the saturated foliation
The definition looks nasty but special Riccati components have a rather simple
origin as the following proof shows
Lemma VII4 Let F be special Riccati Up to base change by an etale double cover
Bprime rarr B there is a natural isomorphism F norm simminusrarr BprimetimesP1 and the restriction of F
to F norm is birational to the projection onto P1
52 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proof We work over the normalization F norm Denote by Bprime the pre-image of the
node of F which is an etale double cover of B and let f denote an invariant fiber
of s with lowast = σ cap f Observe that F norm carries a Riccati foliation with 3 invariant
curves through lowast - namely σ f and a component of Bprime Hence FF has a log-canonical
singularity in lowast On F norm perform a weighted blow-up in each log-canonical singu-
larity followed by the contraction of the transforms of the corresponding fibers Let
s+ F+ rarr B denote the output of this operation If the proper transform of Bprime is
connected replace F+ by its base change under Bprime rarr B Hence we can assume Bprime
is the disjoint union of two sections of s+ and the transform of σ is a third section
which is disjoint from Bprime Therefore F+ = P1 timesBprime and the foliation restricts to the
projection onto P1
Next we describe those surfaces which cannot appear as components of the sin-
gular fiber X0
Definition VII5 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
along which KF is not big F is called illusory if
bull there exists a morphism t F rarr B onto a curve
bull KF is trivial along t
bull For any other fiber component F prime the intersection F cap F prime is either empty or
contained in a fiber of t
We give examples of illusory fiber components
Lemma VII6 The following fiber components are necessarily illusory
bull t is elliptic the foliation is either parallel to t or turbolent with at least one
invariant fiber
bull t is a nodal ruling the foliation is either parallel to t or transverse to t with
at least one invariant fiber and not birational to a special Riccati VII3
Proof Let f = F cap F prime for some fiber component F prime It is F -invariant
Assume t and F are parallel and f is transverse to both Then necessarily f subesing(F ) and KF is positive along the fibers of t contradiction
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 53
Assume t and F are generically transverse and f is transverse to t Let e be an
invariant fiber of t then ecap f isin sing(F ) hence t must be a family of nodal rational
curves and ecapf coincides with the node of e - otherwise KF would be positive along
t But this implies F is special Riccati contradiction
We proceed to show that illusory fibers do not exist
Lemma VII7 Let F be an illusory fiber component then every fiber of t is irre-
ducible If F prime is any fiber component intersecting F non-trivially then F prime is illusory
Proof Assume t has a reducible fiber f Then we can write f = f prime cup f primeprime where f prime
is irreducible and f primeprime is a disjoint union of chains of rational curves In particular
every subscheme supported on f primeprime is rigid in X f prime is rational and smooth iff f is a
cycle of rational curves hence the foliation on F is parallel to t and the choice of f prime
is not unique otherwise f prime is nodal or elliptic Let X 99KX + denote the flop of the
irreducible components of f primeprime in any order The proper transform f prime+ (below in red)
is the irreducible fiber of the induced morphism t+ F+ rarr B Since f primeprime+ intersects
f prime+ and is not contained in F+ there exists a component F prime of the fiber of p+ such
that F+ cap f prime+ 6= empty Since F+ is illusory necessarily F+ cap F prime = f prime+ Moreover F+
and F prime are the only fiber components intersecting f prime+ again because F+ is illusory
We deduce that F+ middot f prime+ = F prime middot f prime+ = 0 and therefore f prime+ is nef inside F prime It follows
that he restriction of F+ to F prime is not of general type and by the classification of
foliated surfaces [McQ08] necessarily f prime+ deforms inside F prime and defines a fibration
u F prime rarr Bprime In particular f prime+ is an irreducible fiber of u This is however impossible
since u contracts all the components of f primeprime+ contained in F prime (below in blue) and by
definition of F prime there exists at least one such component This proves that every
fiber of t is irreducible The following depicts the situation
F prime F+
f prime+
f primeprime+
t+u
54 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Concerning the second statement we only need to check the third condition for F prime
to be illussory namely that every other fiber component F primeprime intersecting F prime does
so along the fibers of u If F primeprime intersects F prime transversely to u then F primeprime intersects F
non-trivially and transversely to t as well absurd
Corollary VII8 Illusory components do not exist
Proof By the above lemma the existence of one illusory component implies that
every irreducible component of the singular fiber of p is illusory contradicting that
KF is big
We can now focus on fiber components that do appear
Corollary VII9 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
containing an invariant curve C which moves and such that KF middot C = 0 Then
following the classification [McQ08] we have two cases
(1) The minimal model of F is a special Riccati component
(2) F is a small Kronecker
Proof Certainly the ones listed are the only cases where C is KF -nil We have to
exclude the possibility that C is invariant inside sing(F ) By Proposition IVII3
such C would be rational with at most one node Since we already contracted at
the beginning of the present subsection all ruled surfaces necessarily C is nodal
However by opcit C cannot intersect any other fiber component of X0 which
implies the absurdity that X0 = F
We proceed to show that special Riccati components are rather isolated in the
fiber
Lemma VII10 Let F be a special Riccati component If F prime is a fiber component
intersecting F non-trivially then it does so transversely to s Morover there is
exactly one such F prime
Proof After finitely many flops we can assume that every fiber of s is irreducible
By the non-existence of illusory components there exists a fiber component F lowast with
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 55
σprime = F cap F prime transverse to s If F primeprime is a fiber component with f = F cap F primeprime a fiber
of s then we claim f sube sing(F ) If not then since KF middot f = 0 and σprime is invariant
necessarily σprimecap f is the node of f But then the existence of F primeprime contradicts that p is
snc Hence f sube sing(F ) so then around the node of f there are 3 fiber components -
two branches coming from F one from F primeprime - and sing(F ) has 2 branches - namely f
This is impossible by our case analysis ni (1)c ni (2)c The very same reasoning
establishes the uniqueness of F prime
Lemma VII11 Let F be as in the previous Lemma If C is a connected curve
with KF middot C = 0 then it is disjoint from F
Proof After finitely many flops s is irreducible and C intersects F transversely away
from its node Moreover lowast = C cap F isin sing(F ) and we deduce that the fiber of s
through lowast is fully contained in the singular locus of F This contradicts Proposition
IVII3 since such fiber is nodal
We conclude by observing the obvious
Lemma VII12 Let F be a small Kronecker Then there exists a contraction
c X rarr X prime which is an isomorphism away from F and contracts F along one
of its rulings Necessarily X prime is not projective since every global Cartier divisor
intersects c(F ) trivially On the other hand in a formal neighborhood of c(F ) there
exist Cartier divisors intersecting it non-trivialliy
As such the contribution coming from non-rigid curves is rather poor there are
curves moving in the general fiber there are special Riccati components disjoint from
any other invariant curve intersecting KF trivially there are small Kroneckers who
can be contracted to curves We shall see in the next section that the complications
arising from the contraction of such non-rigid curves is purely psychological and
totally harmless
56 FEDERICO BUONERBA
VI Contractions and proof of the Main Theorem
In this section we contract all invariant curves along which KF is zero thereby
establishing the existence of canonical models I First we contract non-rigid curves
as described in the previous subsection
bull Small Kroneckers along either ruling Albeit this destroys projectivity of
the ambient threefold there still exist Cartier divisors defined in a formal
neighborhood of the base curve that intersect it non-trivially
bull Families of irreducible nodal rational curves which are flat over ∆ This
creates elliptic singularities on the general fiber of p which are disjoint from
other invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
bull Special Riccati again families of irreducible nodal rational curves fully con-
tained in X0 This creates elliptic singularities disjoint from other invariant
curves intersecting KF trivially
We can summarize our situation by way of
Set-up VI1 X is a 3-dimensional DM stack with at worst elliptic singularities
F a foliation by curves with canonical singularities which is not Q-Cartier in a
neighborhood of Xsing
There exists a proper morphism p X rarr ∆ smooth off 0 isin ∆ F restricts to a
foliation on every fiber of p it has canonical singularities on the very general fiber
of p and log-canonical singularities on every fiber of p KF is big and nef on every
irreducible component of every fiber of p
Let C be the invariant sub-scheme along which KF is not big then C is a curve
fully contained in the smooth locus X0capXsmooth every sub-curve of C has anti-ample
normal bundle the 1-simplex of its dual graph is a tree and detailed configurations
of such are referenced in set-up VI13
We proceed to contract such C We assume that along C the semi-simple field has
only rational eigenvalues and moreover no component of C is inside the foliation
singularity The other two cases - irrational eigenvalues and presence of singular
component - are strictly easier and can be obtained with the very same method
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 57
The proof takes place in the formal completion around C = C free cup C axes The
former is a disjoint union of trees of non-double curves For each non-double C let
F (C) denote the unique component of X0 containing it The latter is a tree of double
curves each with two triple points all contained in the same irreducible FC axes Each
tree of non-double curves touches C axes in one point through a LC-center In order
to construct the contraction we will use Artinrsquos celebrated criterion in the following
form
Fact VI1 ([Ar70]) Let X be an irreducible algebraic space i Y rarr X a closed
subspace of pure codimension 1 and f Y rarr Y0 a proper morphism with flowastOY = OY0
Let X denote the formal completion of X along Y and assume there exists a Cartier
divisor D in X which is supported on Y and is f -anti-ample Then there exists a
proper morphism of algebraic spaces F X rarr X0 which is an isomorphism away
from Y and such that ilowastF = f
Now we use the tree structure of C to construct a suitable divisor to which apply
Artinrsquos theorem Namely consider the following inductive defintion
(35) C0 = C axes F0 = FC axes
For k ge 0 assume Ck Fk are defined
bull Let Ck+1 denote the union of irreducible components of C that intersect Fk
non-trivially but are not contained in cupilekFibull Let Fk+1 denote the reduced sum (
sumCsubeCk+1
F (C))red
This process stops with a collection C1 middot middot middotCN of curves and F1 middot middot middot FN of reduced
divisors
Lemma VI1 We have the following identities
(36)
Fk middot C lt 0 for every C sube Ck
(F0 + F1) middot C le 0 for every C sube C0
(Fkminus1 + Fk + Fk+1) middot C = 0 for every C sube Ck 1 lt k lt N
(FNminus1 + FN) middot C lt 0 for every C sube CN
58 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proof The first is just the fact that every component of C is rigid The remaining
three follow from X0 middot C = 0 but the last one requires further justification Indeed
if C sube CN N gt 0 then C is one end of a tree of non-double curves In particular
there exists a foliation singularity lowast isin C disjoint from any other component of
C and LClowast is transverse to C This implies LClowast middotC gt 0 which together with
(FNminus1 + FN + LClowast) middot C = 0 concludes the proof
Let ε1 middot middot middot εN isin Qgt0 and define
(37) F Nminusk = (1 + ε1 + middot middot middot+ εk)FNminusk
bull If C sube CN we have
(38) (F Nminus1 + F
N) middot C = ε1FNminus1 middot C + (FNminus1 + FN) middot C
bull If C sube CNminusk 1 lt k lt N we have
(39)
(F Nminuskminus1 + F
Nminusk + F Nminusk+1) middot C =
(1 + middot middot middot+ εk)(FNminuskminus1 + FNminusk + FNminusk+1) middot C minus εkFNminusk+1 middot C + εk+1FNminuskminus1 middot C =
minus εkFNminusk+1 middot C + εk+1FNminuskminus1 middot C
bull If C sube C0 we have
(40) (F 0 + F
1) middot C = εNF0 middot C + (Nminus1sumj=0
εj)(F0 + F1) middot C
It is clear that provided
(41) 1 gtgt ε1 gtgt middot middot middot gtgt εN
the divisor F =sumF k is negative along every component of C
This proves the existence of the contraction and concludes the proof of the Main
Theorem I
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 59
VII Moduli space of foliated surfaces of general type
In this section we study the modular variation of foliated surfaces of general type
The upshot is that it is possible to define a functor which is representable separated
and every irreducible component is proper The main issue here is that the supporting
surface of a foliated canonical model may well fail to be projective indeed KF is not
Q-Gorenstein in general Hence in order to proceed via standard methods [Ko17]
we have to parametrize our canonical models together with a suitable projective
resolution
Definition VII13 Let (SF ) be a foliated proper reduced purely 2-dimensional
DM stack Assume S has only normal crossing singularities in codimension 1 that
F has log-canonical foliation singularities and that KF is big and nef on at least
one of the irreducible components of S If whenever KF middot C = 0 for some curve C
then C moves in an irreducible component of S and no member of such deformation
is F -invariant then (SF ) is called foliated canonical model of general type
Clearly foliated canonical models are exactly the stable degenerations appearing
as the central fiber of our Main Theorem I Their lack of projectivity has two sources
namely the contraction of cycles of smooth KF -nil curves and of trees of cuspidal
ones Singularities arising from cycles behave well in families namely they always
deform into the general fiber Those arising from cuspidal curves on the other hand
tend to be rather isolated inside the degenerate fiber
Observe that the deformation theory of a foliated surface is rather simple suppose
given an infinitesimal C-algebras extension 0 rarr J rarr Ae rarr A rarr 0 and (SF )
a foliated surface flat over Spec(A) then the obstruction to lifting to Ae can be
understood in three simple steps
(1) Deformation of the underlying surface S once a deformation Se rarr Spec(Ae)
is given
(2) Deformation of the line bundle KF by the exponential sequence
(42) 0rarr J otimes OS rarr OlowastSerarr OlowastS rarr 0
obstructions lie in H2(SOS)otimes J once a deformation of KF is given
60 FEDERICO BUONERBA
(3) Deformation of the defining section OS rarr KF otimes TS obstructions lie in
H1(SKF otimes TS)otimes J
Now we have
Definition VII14 Let (SF ) be a foliated canonical model of general type A
proper birational morphism q (SF )proj rarr (SF ) is called its projective resolution
if
bull Every irreducible component of Sproj is smooth
bull The exceptional locus of q is a disjoint union of cycles of KFproj-nil smooth
curves and trees of KFproj-nil curves each of which has a non-trivial cuspidal
singularity
bull In a neighborhood of every q-exceptional cycle not only Sproj but also its
moduli space is smooth
We need a few remarks about projective resolutions
(1) Projective resolutions are always unique Indeed the only possible ambiguity
could lie in some extra smooth irreducible components in the exceptional
locus This is forbidden by definition in the trees of cuspidal curves it is
also forbidden by way of the third item in cycles of smooth ones ie on
algebraic surfaces the minimal resolution is unique
(2) Denote by E the collection of q-exceptional cycles Then there exist ε δ isinQgt0 such that KFproj
minus εE + δKSprojis ample by Nakai-Moishezon
(3) Deformations of a projective resolution of a foliated canonical model are
canonically identified with deformations of the underlying birational mor-
phism q Sproj rarr S followed by a deformation of the foliation F
We are now ready to construct a moduli functor for foliated surfaces more precisely
for projective resolutions of foliated canonical models of general type For m dN isinN and ε δ isin Qgt0 let
(43) MmdNεδ (C-schemes)rarr (sets)
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 61
be defined by MmdNεδ(S) = Diagrams
(44) (X F )projqminusrarr (X F )
pminusrarr S
Where
bull Both p and p q are flat and proper
bull For every closed point s isin S the induced morphism qs is the projective
resolution of (X F )s which is a foliated canonical model of general type
bull Denote by Es the collection of exceptional cycles of qs By our Main Theorem
I there is a fibrewise divisor E subXproj flat over S restricting to Es for every
s isin S
bull Let j W rarr Xproj denote the maximal closed subscheme away from which
KFprojand KXprojS are locally free Then
(45) L [m] = (jlowast(KFprojotimes OXproj
(minusεE )otimesKδXprojS
)otimesm)oror
is flat over S and commutes with base-change
bull L [m] is very ample of degree d on every fiber and defines an embedding into
PNS
We are now ready for
Theorem VII15 The functor MmdNεδ is represented by a separated algebraic
space each of whose irreducible components is proper
Proof We show that our functor satisfies Artinrsquos conditions [Ar74 Corollary 54] By
definition condition 1) and 4) hold while our previous remark on foliated obstruction
theory shows that 3) is true
We proceed to show 2) namely effectivity of formal deformations for MmdNεδ
What follows owes much to Artinrsquos [A74rsquo] Let T be a complete C-algebra Tn its
n-truncation so that Tsimminusrarr limlarrminusTn and finally qn isinMmdNεδ(Spec(Tn)) a compatible
sequence For each n there is a maximal open set Un sube Xprojn where qn is an
isomorphism denote by sn Cn rarr Zn the restriction of qn to the complement of Un
Clearly sn is projective over Spec(Tn)
62 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Denote by X C etc the formal algebraic spaces obtained as limits of Xn Cn
etc Then Xproj sub PNˆSpec(T )
hence by Grothendieckrsquos existence Theorem we find
bull a flat projective family (X F )proj rarr Spec(T ) resp a closed subscheme
C subXproj whose completion is Xproj resp C
bull a scheme Z whose completion is Z and a morphism s C rarr Z everything
being projective over Spec(T )
Further we have a formal contraction limminusrarr qn C rarr Z hence the main theorem
of [Ar70] gives algebraic contraction (X F )proj rarr (X F ) This proves the repre-
sentability of MmdNεδ The properness and separability of each irreducible com-
ponent can be checked using valutative criteria indeed properness is the content of
our Main Theorem I separatedness follows from the uniqueness of foliated canonical
models of general type and their projective resolution
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[McQ98] M McQuillan Diophantine approximation and foliations Inst Hautes Etudes Sci
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(2008) no 3 Special Issue In honor of Fedor Bogomolov Part 2 877-1012
httpintlpresscomsitepubfiles_fulltextjournalspamq20080004
0003PAMQ-2008-0004-0003-a009pdf
[MP13] M McQuillan D Panazzolo Almost etale resolution of foliations J Diff Geom 95
(2013) pp 279-319 httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesmp1bispdf
[Pe02] JV Pereira On the Poincare Problem for Foliations of General Type Mathematische
Annalen 323 no 2 pp217-226 2002 httpsarxivorgabsmath0104185
[PS16] JV Pereira R Svaldi Effective algebraic integration in bounded genus preprint
httpsarxivorgabs161206932
64 FEDERICO BUONERBA
[Re83] M Reid Minimal models of canonical threefolds in rdquoAlgebraic Varieties and Ana-
lytic Varietiesrdquo Adv Stud Pure Math vol 1 S Iitaka ed Kinokuniya and North-
Holland 1983 pp 131-180 httpwwwmathsedacukcheltsovquotientpdf
reid2pdf
[Se67] A Seidenberg Reduction of singularities of the differential equation Ady = Bdx Amer
J Math 89 (1967) 248-269 httpwwwjstororgstable2373435
[SB83] N Shepherd-Barron Degenerations with numerically effective canonical divisor The
Birational Geometry of Degenerations (R Friedman and D Morrison eds) Progr
Math no 29 Birkhuser 1983 pp 33-84
[Vis89] A Vistoli Intersection theory on algebraic stacks and on their moduli spaces
Invent Math (1989) pp 613-670 httplinkspringercomarticle101007
2FBF01388892page-1
Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences New York University 251 Mercer
Street New York NY 10012 USA
E-mail address buonerbacimsnyuedu
- I Introduction
- II Preliminaries
-
- III Operations on Deligne-Mumford stacks
- IIII Width of embedded parabolic champs
- IIIII Gorenstein foliation singularities
- IIIV Foliated adjunction
- IIV Canonical models of foliated surfaces with canonical singularities
- IIVI Canonical models of foliated surfaces with log-canonical singularities
- IIVII Set-up
-
- III Invariant curves and singularities local description
-
- IIII `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F) not isolated
- IIIII `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F) isolated
- IIIIII Local consequences
-
- IV Invariant curves along which KF vanishes
-
- IVI KF-nil curves
- IVII Invariant curves inside `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F)
-
- V Configurations
-
- VI Configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
- VII Configurations of non-rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
-
- VI Contractions and proof of the Main Theorem
- VII Moduli space of foliated surfaces of general type
- References
-
2 FEDERICO BUONERBA
VII Configurations of non-rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially 49
VI Contractions and proof of the Main Theorem 56
VII Moduli space of foliated surfaces of general type 59
References 62
I Introduction
Foliations are ubiquitous throughout mathematics In algebraic geometry they are
widely used as tools to investigate hyperbolicity and boundedness phenomena The
first example of this is Bogomolovrsquos ground-breaking theorem [Bo78] that on a mini-
mal surface of general type with c21 gt c2 the degree of curves can be bounded linearly
in terms of their geometric genera The proof is extremely simple the abundance
of symmetric differentials defines a birational map φ on the projectivised cotangent
bundle to our surface whose base locus is an algebraic surface carrying a canoni-
cally defined algebraic foliation Curves on our original surface lift by way of their
derivative to the projectivised cotangent bundle If such lift does not lie in the base
locus of φ the required bound on the degree follows if the lift does lie in the base
locus then the curve is invariant by the canonical foliation The conclusion follows
by two standard facts in the theory of algebraic foliations Seidenbergrsquos reduction of
foliation singularities to simple ones [Se67] and Jouanoloursquos remark that a foliated
surface with infinitely many invariant curves is fibered over a curve
This deep relation between algebraic foliations and boundedness of curves was in-
vestigated by McQuillan who in [McQ98] extended Bogomolovrsquos technique to non-
compact curves thus proving the Green-Griffiths conjecture for minimal surfaces of
general type with c21 gt c2 namely that entire curves on such surfaces cannot be
Zariski-dense The key new ingredient to the proof is the tautological inequality a
principle that can be vaguely stated as follows a foliation has simple singularities
if and only if the intersection multiplicity between any invariant disk not factor-
ing through the algebraic leaves and the so-called foliated canonical bundle can be
bounded up to a small error by the logarithm of the length of the diskrsquos boundary
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 3
In particular a sequence of bigger and bigger invariant disks not converging in the
Gromov-Hausdorff sense to a disk with bubbles defines in the limit a closed invari-
ant measure wich intersects the foliated canonical bundle trivially
Hyperbolicity phenomena in presence of algebraic foliations can therefore be poten-
tially studied via the birational geometry of the foliated canonical bundle obstruc-
tions locate on special invariant currents along which the foliated canonical bundle
fails to be positive Such point of view was extensively developed by McQuillan and
the present work is a contribution to it The reader is invited to consult the webpage
[McQ12] for a complete discussion around this theory
As it became clear in McQuillanrsquos proof of the Green-Griffiths conjecture for c21 gt c2
the birational geometry of the foliated canonical bundle is amenable much in the
same spirit as that of the absolute canonical bundle is to a complete classification in
dimension 2 Such classification was completed in [McQ08] where an exhaustive list
of foliated surfaces with canonical Gorenstein singularities is provided Interestingly
there are some important differences between the foliated theory and the absolute
theory First abundance fails namely there exist examples of foliated canonical
bundles whose numerical Kodaira dimension and Kodaira dimension differ Second
vanishing theorems of Kodaira type fail Third foliated minimal models may have
quotient singularities while foliated canonical models may have elliptic singularities
which are never Q-Gorenstein and may even fail to be projective
The achievement of the classification in dimension 2 along with its important ap-
plications to hyperbolicity of algebraic surfaces call for a systematic study of the
birational geometry of higher-dimensional algebraic varieties foliated by curves We
refer again to [McQ12] for a discussion of the main open problems in this direction
namely existence of canonical resolution of singularities and the residue lemma in
dimensions ge 4
The present work is devoted to an in-depth study of 1-dimensional families of foliated
algebraic surfaces of general type We develop a profusion of techniques that can
be systematically used in the study of general foliated 3-folds while we settle some
of the outstanding open problems in the theory of foliated surfaces More precisely
4 FEDERICO BUONERBA
we prove the stable reduction theorem in this context and deduce the existence of
canonical compactifications of the moduli of foliated surfaces of general type
Main Theorem Let p (X F ) rarr ∆ be a one-dimensional projective semi-
stable family of foliated orbifold surfaces whose total space has Gorenstein canonical
foliation singularities such that KF is big and nef Then there exists a digram of
birational maps
(X F ) 99K (X F )canpcanminusminusrarr ∆
Where
bull The dashed arrow is a composition of foliated flops including contractions of
divisors and curves along foliation-invariant centers
bull The singularities of (X F )can not contained in the central fiber of pcan define
sections of pcan on its general fiber these singularities are elliptic featuring a
minimal resolution with exceptional divisor a foliation-invariant nodal ratio-
nal curve Along such singularities Fcan is not Q-Gorenstein and pcan might
fail to be projective
bull The singularities of (X F )can contained in the central fiber of pcan are de-
scribed as follows
(1) One-dimensional They admit a resolution with foliation-invariant ir-
reducible exceptional divisor ruled by nodal rational curves on whose
normalization the foliation is birationally isotrivial
(2) Zero-dimensional They admit a resolution with exceptional set a tree
of foliation-invariant quadric surfaces and orbifold curves such that
quadric surfaces have cohomologous rulings and the foliation restricts
to a Kronecker vector field each orbifold curve is unibranch with at
most one singular point has universal cover whose normalization has
rational moduli it is either fully contained in sing(F ) or it intersects
sing(F ) in two points
bull The birational transform KFcan of KF is numerically big and nef and sat-
isfies if KFcan middot C = 0 for some curve C sub Xcan then C is not foliation-
invariant
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 5
The output (X F )can is called foliated canonical model of (X F )
The core of the previous statement is that there exists an algorithmic birational
transformation (X F ) 99K (X F )can which contracts all the foliation-invariant
curves which intersect KF trivially One might wonder about the origin of the
notion of foliated canonical model In the absolute theory a canonical model of a
variety of general type is one where the canonical bundle is as positive as possible
In the foliated theory we only care about positivity against invariant measures - on
a philosophical level this is due to the fact that obstructions to hyperbolicity lie
on such measures Moreover we can provide an example which shows clearly that
this is the good notion of foliated canonical model Consider the algebraic foliation
defined by the natural projection
π M g1 rarrM g
The foliated canonical bundle coincides with the relative canonical bundle ωπ which
is big and nef but not semi-ample in characteristic zero as shown by Keel in [Ke99]
Its base locus coincides with the nodal locus of π and it is not even known what
type of analytic structure if any can be supported by the topological contraction
of such nodal locus From a purely algebraic perspective π cannot be improved to
a better foliated canonical model Fortunately this agrees with our definition since
the nodal locus of π is certainly not a foliation-invariant subvariety
We can now discuss the structure of the paper and of the proof
In Section II we first review the basic definitions and constructions to be used sys-
tematically in the proof These include some operations of general character on
Deligne-Mumford stacks such as building roots and Vistoli covers as well as net
completion we then turn to the basic definitions of birational foliation theory namely
the notion of (log)canonical Gorenstein singularities and the adjunction formula for
invariant curves we continue by recalling McQuillanrsquos classification of foliated sur-
faces with canonical Gorenstein singularities we conclude by describing out how to
extend McQuillanrsquos 2-dimensional theory to the more general case of foliated surfaces
with log-canonical Gorenstein singularities - in particular we classify the singularities
of the underlying surface construct minimal amp canonical models and describe the
6 FEDERICO BUONERBA
corresponding exceptional sets The situation differs considerably from the canoni-
cal world indeed surfaces supporting log-canonical foliation singularities are cones
over smooth curves of arbitrary high genus and embedding dimension and even on
smooth surfaces invariant curves through a log-canonical singularity might acquire
cusps of arbitrary high multiplicity It is worth pointing out at this stage that one
of the main technical tools we use all time is the existence of Jordan decomposition
of a vector field in a formal neighborhood of a singular point This allows us to
decompose a formal vector field part as a sum partS + partN of commuting formal vector
fields where partS is semi-simple with respect to a choice of regular parameters and
partN is formally nilpotent
In Section III we compute the local structure of a foliation by curves tangent to a
semi-stable morphism of relative dimension 2 In particular we focus on the local
configurations of foliation-invariant curves through a foliation singularity We achieve
this by distinguishing all possible 18 combinations of number of eigenvalues of partS
at the singularity whether the singularity is 0 or 1-dimensional number of local
branches of the central fiber of the semi-stable morphism through the singularity
This classification is the first step towards the proof of the Main Theorem
In Section IV we study the geometry of foliation-invariant curves along which KF
vanishes this is technically the most important chapter of the paper To understand
the problem observe that the locus of points in ∆ over which the foliation has a
log-canonical singularity can be non-discrete even dense in its closure If we happen
to find a rigid curve in a smooth fiber of p that we wish to contract then the only
possibility is that the rigid curve is smooth and rational In particular we have to
prove that rigid cuspidal rational curves dotting KF trivially cannot appear in the
smooth locus of p even though log-canonical singularities certainly do The first
major result is Proposition IVI6 that indeed invariant curves in the smooth locus
of p that intersect KF trivially are rational with at most one node and do move in a
family flat over the base ∆ The main ingredient of the proof is the existence of Jor-
dan decomposition uniformly in a formal neighborhood of our curve this provides us
with an extremely useful linear relation equation 22 between the eigenvalues of the
Jordan semi-simple fields around the foliation singularities located along the curve -
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 7
linear relation which depends uniquely on the weights of the normal bundle to the
curve This allows to easily show that the width of the curve must be infinite Having
obtained the best possible result for invariant curves in the general fiber we switch
our attention to curves located in the central fiber of p Also in this case we have
good news indeed such curves can be flopped and can be described as a complete
intersection of two formal divisors which are eigenfunctions for the global Jordan
semi-simple field - this is the content of Proposition IVI8 We conclude this im-
portant chapter by describing in Proposition IVII3 foliation-invariant curves fully
contained in the foliation singularity which turn out to be smooth and rational The
proof requires a simple but non-trivial trick and provides a drastic simplification of
the combinatorics to be dealt with in the next chapter
In Section V we globalize the informations gathered in the previous two chap-
ters namely we describe all possible configurations of invariant curves dotting KF
trivially These can be split into two groups configurations all of whose sub-
configurations are rigid and configurations of movable curves The first group is
analyzed in Proposition VI10 and it turns out that the dual graph of such con-
figurations contains no cycles - essentially the presence of cycles would force some
sub-curve to move either filling an irreducible component of the central fiber or in
the general fiber transversely to p The second group is the most tricky to study
however the result is optimal Certainly there are chains and cycles of ruled surfaces
on which p restricts to a flat morphism The structure of irreducible components of
the central fiber which are filled by movable invariant curves dotting KF trivially
is remakably poor and is summarized in Corollary VII9 there are quadric surfaces
with cohomologous rulings and carrying a Kronecker vector field and there are sur-
faces ruled by nodal rational curves on which the foliation is birationally isotrivial
Moreover the latter components are very sporadic and isolated from other curves of
interest indeed curves in the first group can only intersect quadric surfaces which
themselves can be thought of as rigid curves if one is prepared to lose projectivity
of the total space of p As such the contribution coming from movable curves is
concentrated on the general fiber of p and is a well solved 2-dimensional problem
8 FEDERICO BUONERBA
In Section VI we prove the Main Theorem we only need to work in a formal neigh-
borhood of the curve we wish to contract which by the previous chapter is a tree
of unibranch foliation-invariant rational curves The existence of a contraction is
established once we produce an effective divisor which is anti-ample along the tree
The construction of such divisor is a rather straightforward process which profits
critically from the tree structure of the curve
In Section VII we investigate the existence of compact moduli of canonical models
of foliated surfaces of general type The main issue here is the existence of a rep-
resentable functor indeed Artinrsquos results tend to use Grothendieckrsquos existence in
a rather crucial way which indeed relies on some projectivity assumption - a lux-
ury that we do not have in the foliated context Regardless it is possible to define
a functor parametrizing deformations of foliated canonical models together with a
suitably defined unique projective resolution of singularities This is enough to push
Artinrsquos method through and establish the existence of a separated algebraic space
representing this functor Its properness is the content of our Main Theorem
II Preliminaries
This section is mostly a summary of known results about holomorphic foliations by
curves By this we mean a Deligne-Mumford stack X over a field k of characteristic
zero endowed with a torsion-free quotient Ω1X k rarr Qrarr 0 generically of rank 1 We
will discuss the construction of Vistoli covers roots of divisors and net completions
in the generality of Deligne-Mumford stacks a notion of singularities well adapted to
the machinery of birational geometry a foliated version of the adjunction formula
McQuillanrsquos classification of canonical Gorenstein foliations on algebraic surfaces
a classification of log-canonical Gorenstein foliation singularities on surfaces along
with the existence of (numerical) canonical models the behavior of singularities on
a family of Gorenstein foliated surfaces
III Operations on Deligne-Mumford stacks In this subsection we describe
some canonical operations that can be performed on DM stacks over a base field
k We follow the treatment of [McQ05][IaIe] closely Proofs can also be found in
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 9
[Bu] A DM stack X is always assumed to be separated and generically scheme-like
ie without generic stabilizer A DM stack is smooth if it admits an etale atlas
U rarr X by smooth k-schemes in which case it can also be referred to as orbifold
By [KM97][13] every DM stack admits a moduli space which is an algebraic space
By [Vis89][28] every algebraic space with tame quotient singularities is the moduli
of a canonical smooth DM stack referred to as Vistoli cover It is useful to keep in
mind the following Vistoli correspondence
Fact III1 [McQ05 Ia3] Let X rarr X be the moduli of a normal DM stack and
let U rarrX be an etale atlas The groupoid R = normalization of U timesX U rArr U has
classifying space [UR] equivalent to X
Next we turn to extraction of roots of Q-Cartier divisors This is rather straight-
forward locally and can hardly be globalised on algebraic spaces It can however
be globalized on DM stacks
Fact III2 (Cartification) [McQ05 Ia8] Let L be a Q-cartier divisor on a normal
DM stack X Then there exists a finite morphism f XL rarrX from a normal DM
stack such that f lowastL is Cartier Moreover there exists f which is universal for this
property called Cartification of L
Similarly one can extract global n-th roots of effective Cartier divisors
Fact III3 (Extraction of roots) [McQ05 Ia9] Let D subX be an effective Cartier
divisor and n a positive integer invertible on X Then there exists a finite proper
morphism f X ( nradic
D)rarrX an effective Cartier divisor nradic
D subX ( nradic
D) such that
f lowastD = n nradic
D Moreover there exists f which is universal for this property called
n-th root of D which is a degree n cyclic cover etale outside D
In a different vein we proceed to discuss the notion of net completion This is a
mild generalization of formal completion in the sense that it is performed along a
local embedding rather than a global embedding Let f Y rarr X be a net morphism
ie a local embedding of algebraic spaces For every closed point y isin Y there is
a Zariski-open neighborhood y isin U sub Y such that f|U is a closed embedding In
10 FEDERICO BUONERBA
particular there exists an ideal sheaf I sub fminus1OX and an exact sequence of coherent
sheaves
(1) 0rarr I rarr fminus1OX rarr OY rarr 0
For every integer n define Ofn = fminus1OXI n By [McQ05][Ie1] the ringed space
Yn = (YOfn) is a scheme and the direct limit Y = limYn in the category of formal
schemes is the net completion along f More generally let f Y rarr X be a net
morphism ie etale-locally a closed embedding of DM stacks Let Y = [RrArr U ] be
a sufficiently fine presentation then we can define as above thickenings Un Rn along
f and moreover the induced relation [Rn rArr Un] is etale and defines thickenings
fn Yn rarrX
Definition III4 (Net completion) [McQ05 ie5] Notation as above we define the
net completion as Y = lim Yn It defines a factorization Y rarr Y rarr X where the
leftmost arrow is a closed embedding and the rightmost is net
IIII Width of embedded parabolic champs In this subsection we recall the
basic geometric properties of three-dimensional formal neighborhoods of smooth
champs with rational moduli We follow [Re83] and [McQ05rdquo] As such let X
be a three-dimensional smooth formal scheme with trace a smooth rational curve C
Our main concern is
(2) NCXsimminusrarr O(minusn)oplus O(minusm) n gt 0 m ge 0
In case m gt 0 the knowledge of (nm) determines X uniquely In fact there exists
by [Ar70] a contraction X rarrX0 of C to a point and an isomorphism everywhere
else In particular C is a complete intersection in X and everything can be made
explicit by way of embedding coordinates for X0 This is explained in the proof of
Proposition IVI8 On the other hand the case m = 0 is far more complicated
Definition IIII1 [Re83] The width width(C) of C is the maximal integer k
such that there exists an inclusion C times Spec(C[ε]εk) sub Xk the latter being the
infinitesimal neighborhood of order k
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 11
Clearly width(C) = 1 if and only if the normal bundle to C is anti-ample
width(C) ge 2 whenever such bundle is O oplus O(minusn) n gt 0 and width(C) = infinif and only if C moves in a scroll As explained in opcit width can be understood
in terms of blow ups as follows Let q1 X1 rarr X be the blow up in C Its excep-
tional divisor E1 is a Hirzebruch surface which is not a product hence q1 has two
natural sections when restricted to E1 Let C1 the negative section There are two
possibilities for its normal bundle in X1
bull it is a direct sum of strictly negative line bundles In this case width(C) = 2
bull It is a direct sum of a strictly negative line bundle and the trivial one
In the second case we can repeat the construction by blowing up C1 more generally
we can inductively construct Ck sub Ek sub Xk k isin N following the same pattern as
long as NCkminus1
simminusrarr O oplus O(minusnkminus1) Therefore width(C) is the minimal k such that
Ckminus1 has normal bundle splitting as a sum of strictly negative line bundles No-
tice that the exceptional divisor Ekminus1 neither is one of the formal surfaces defining
the complete intersection structure of Ck nor it is everywhere transverse to either
ie it has a tangency point with both This is clear by the description Reidrsquos
Pagoda [Re83] Observe that the pair (nwidth(C)) determines X uniquely there
exists a contraction X rarr X0 collapsing C to a point and an isomorphism every-
where else In particular X0 can be explicitly constructed as a ramified covering of
degree=width(C) of the contraction of a curve with anti-ample normal bundle
The notion of width can also be understood in terms of lifting sections of line bun-
dles along infinitesimal neighborhoods of C As shown in [McQ05rdquo II43] we have
assume NCp
simminusrarr O oplus O(minusnp) then the natural inclusion OC(n) rarr N orCX can be
lifted to a section OXp+2(n)rarr OXp+2
IIIII Gorenstein foliation singularities In this subsection we define certain
properties of foliation singularities which are well-suited for both local and global
considerations From now on we assume X is normal and give some definitions
taken from [McQ05] and [MP13] If Qoror is a Q-line bundle we say that F is Q-
foliated Gorenstein or simply Q-Gorenstein In this case we denote by KF = Qoror
and call it the canonical bundle of the foliation In the Gorenstein case there exists a
12 FEDERICO BUONERBA
codimension ge 2 subscheme Z subX such that Q = KF middot IZ Such Z will be referred
to as the singular locus of F We remark that Gorenstein means that the foliation
is locally defined by a saturated vector field
Next we define the notion of discrepancy of a divisorial valuation in this context let
(UF ) be a local germ of a Q-Gorenstein foliation and v a divisorial valuation on
k(U) there exists a birational morphism p U rarr U with exceptional divisor E such
that OU E is the valuation ring of v Certainly F lifts to a Q-Gorenstein foliation
F on U and we have
(3) KF = plowastKF + aF (v)E
Where aF (v) is said discrepancy For D an irreducible Weil divisor define ε(D) = 0
if D if F -invariant and ε(D) = 1 if not We are now ready to define
Definition IIIII1 The local germ (UF ) is said
bull Terminal if aF (v) gt ε(v)
bull Canonical if aF (v) ge ε(v)
bull Log-terminal if aF (v) gt 0
bull Log-canonical if aF (v) ge 0
For every divisorial valuation v on k(U)
These classes of singularities admit a rather clear local description If part denotes a
singular derivation of the local k-algebra O there is a natural k-linear linearization
(4) part mm2 rarr mm2
As such we have the following statements
Fact IIIII2 [MP13 Iii4 IIIi1 IIIi3] A Gorenstein foliation is
bull log-canonical if and only if it is smooth or its linearization is non-nilpotent
bull terminal if and only if it is log-terminal if and only if it is smooth and gener-
ically transverse to its singular locus
bull log-canonical but not canonical if and only if it is a radial foliation
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 13
Where a derivation on a complete local ring O is termed radial if there ex-
ist x1 middot middot middotxn isin m independent mod m2 and positive integers ni such that part =sumi nixi
partpartxi
In this case the singular locus is the center of a divisorial valuation with
zero discrepancy and non-invariant exceptional divisor
A very useful tool which is emplyed in the analysis of local properties of foliation
singularities is the Jordan decompositon [McQ08 I23] Notation as above the
linearization part admits a Jordan decomposition partS + partN into commuting semi-simple
and nilpotent part It is easy to see inductively that such decomposition lifts canon-
ically over successive infinitesimal neighborhoods Omn+1 rarr Omn and in the limit
we obtain a Jordan decomposition for the linear action of part on the whole complete
ring O
IIIV Foliated adjunction In this subsection we provide an adjunction formula
for foliation-invariant curves Let (X F ) be a Gorenstein foliation and f L rarrX the normalization of a F -invariant one-dimensional stack not contained in the
singular locus Z Denote by χ(L ) its topological Euler characteristic and by sZ(f)
the multiplicity of the ideal sheaf fminus1IZ We have
Fact IIIV1 [McQ05 IId4]
(5) KF middotL = minusχ(L )minus Ramf +sZ(f)
Which is a simple consequence of the isomorphism f lowastKF middotfminus1IZsimminusrarr Ω1
L (minusRamf )
The local contribution of sZ(f)minusRamf computed for a branch of f around a point
p in the support of fminus1IZ is np|Gp|minus1 with np a positive integer and Gp the local
monodromy of L at p Assume now that L has no generic stabilizer and let |L |denote its moduli The previous formula can be rewritten more usefully
Fact IIIV2
(6) KF middotL = 2g(|L |)minus 2 + fminus1IZ +sumf(p)isinZ
(np minus 1)|Gp|minus1 +sumf(p)isinZ
(1minus |Gp|minus1)
This can be easily deduced via a comparison between χ(L ) and χ(|L |) The
adjunction estimate 6 gives a complete description of invariant curves which are not
14 FEDERICO BUONERBA
contained in the singular locus and intersect the canonical KF non-positively A
complete analysis of the structure of KF -negative curves and much more is done
in [McQ05]
Definition IIIV3 A KF -nil curve is an invariant one-dimensional orbifold f
C rarr X such that KF middotf C = 0 and f does not factor through the singular locus
Z of the foliation
By adjunction 6 we have
Proposition IIIV4 The following is a complete list of possibilities for KF -nil
curves f
bull C is an elliptic curve without non-schematic points and f misses the singular
locus
bull |C| is a rational curve f hits the singular locus in two points with np = 1
there are no non-schematic points off the singular locus
bull |C| is a rational curve f hits the singular locus in one point with np = 1 there
are two non-schematic points off the singular locus with local monodromy
Z2Z
bull |C| is a rational curve f hits the singular locus in one point p there is at
most one non-schematic point q off the singular locus we have the identity
(np minus 1)|Gp|minus1 = |Gq|minus1
As shown in [McQ08] all these can happen In the sequel we will always assume
that a KF -nil curve is simply connected We remark that an invariant curve can have
rather bad singularities where it intersects the foliation singularities First it could
fail to be unibranch moreover each branch could acquire a cusp if going through
a radial singularity This phenomenon of deep ramification appears naturally in
presence of log-canonical singularities
IIV Canonical models of foliated surfaces with canonical singularities In
this subsection we provide a summary of the birational classification of Gorenstein
foliations with canonical singularities on algebraic surfaces obtained in [McQ08] Let
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 15
X be a two-dimensional smooth DM stack with projective moduli and F a foliation
with canonical singularities Since X is smooth certainly F is Q-Gorenstein If
KF is not pseudo-effective then foliated bend and break [BM16 Main Theorem]
shows that F is birationally a fibration by rational curves If KF is pseudo-effective
its Zariski decomposition has negative part a finite collection of invariant chains of
rational curves which can be contracted to a smooth DM stack with projective
moduli on which KF is nef At this point those foliations such that the Kodaira
dimension k(KF ) le 1 can be completely classified
Fact IIV1 [McQ08 IV3] Foliations with canonical singularities and Kodaira di-
mension zero are up to a ramified cover and birational transformations defined by
a global vector field The minimal models belong the following list
bull A Kronecker vector field on an abelian surface
bull The suspension of a representation π1(E)rarr PGL2(C) for E an elliptic curve
bull A Kronecker vector field on P1 timesP1
bull An isotrivial elliptic fibration
Fact IIV2 [McQ08 IV4] Foliations with canonical singularities and Kodaira di-
mension one are classified by their Kodaira fibration The linear system |KF | defines
a fibration onto a curve and the minimal models belong to the following list
bull The foliation and the fibration coincide so then the fibration is non-isotrivial
elliptic
bull The foliation is transverse to a projective bundle (Riccati)
bull The foliation is everywhere smooth and transverse to an isotrivial elliptic
fibration (turbolent)
bull The foliation is parallel to an isotrivial fibration in hyperbolic curves
On the other hand for foliations of general type the new phenomenon is that
global generation fails The problem is the appearence of elliptic Gorenstein leaves
these are cycles possibly irreducible of invariant rational curves around which KF
is numerically trivial but might fail to be torsion Assume that KF is big and nef
16 FEDERICO BUONERBA
and consider morphisms
(7) X rarrXe rarrXc
Where the composite is the contraction of all the KF -nil curves and the rightmost
is the minimal resolution of elliptic Gorenstein singularities
Fact IIV3 [McQ08 IV21 IV22] Xe is projective there exists an ample divisor
A and an effective divisor E supported on minimal elliptic Gorenstein leaves such
that KFe = A+E On the other hand Xc might fail to be projective and Fc is never
Q-Gorenstein
We refer to [McQ08 III32] for the descriptions of possible dual graphs of config-
urations of invariant KF -negative or nil curves
IIVI Canonical models of foliated surfaces with log-canonical singulari-
ties In this subsection we study Gorenstein foliations with log-canonical singulari-
ties on algebraic surfaces In particular we will classify the singularities appearing
on the underlying surface prove the existence of minimal and canonical models
describe the exceptional curves appearing in the contraction to the canonical model
Proposition IIVI1 Let (UF ) be a germ of Gorenstein log-canonical foliation
singularity Then U is a cone over a subvariety Y of a weighted projective space
whose weights are determined by the eigenvalues of F Moreover F is defined by
the rulings of the cone
Proof By Fact IIIII2 there exists a closed embedding i U rarr M - with M a
smooth local formal scheme - a regular system of parameters x1 middot middot middot xk on M and
positive integers n1 middot middot middotnk such that F is the restriction of the foliation defined by
part =sumnixi
partpartxi
to U Let I sub OM denote the ideal defining i(U) subM then part(I) sube I
We are going to prove that I is homogeneous where each xi has weight ni Let f isin I
and write f =sum
dge1 fd where fd is homogeneous of degree d in x1 middot middot middot xk - ie fd is
a k-linear combination of monomials xa11 xakk with d =
sumi aini For every N isin N
let FN = (xa11 xakk
sumi aini ge N) This collection of ideals defines a natural
filtration on OM For a = max ai we have mN sube FN sube mNa ie the FN -filtration
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 17
is equivalent to the one by powers of the maximal ideal and therefore OM is also
complete with respect to the FN -filtration
We will prove that if f isin I then fd isin I for every d
Let IN = (I + FN)FN Since OM is complete with respect to the FN -filtration
I = limlarrminus IN Therefore it is enough to show
Claim IIVI2 For every N gt 0 we have fd isin IN sub OMFN for all d lt N
Proof For every g isin IN denote by n(g) the unique integer such that g isin Fn(g) Fn(g)+1 (ie the minimal index d for which fd 6= 0) and by N(g) = N minus n(g)
We will prove the statement of the Claim by induction on N(f) If N(f) = 1 then
f = fNminus1 holds in OMFN and the statement is true If N(f) gt 1 we have part(f) =sumd d middot fd hence consider f1 = D(f)minus n(f)f =
sumdgtn(f)(dminus n(f))fd Tautologically
we have N(f1) lt N(f) and therefore fd isin IN for every d gt n(f) so then fn(f) =
f minussum
dgtn(f) fd isin IN as well
This implies that I is a homogeneous ideal and hence U is the germ of a cone over
a variety in the weighted projective space P(n1 nk)
Corollary IIVI3 If the germ U is normal then Y is normal If U is normal
of dimension 2 the weighted blow-up p U rarr U at the vertex of the cone has only
quotient singularities the exceptional divisor E(simminusrarr Y ) is smooth and everywhere
transverse to the induced foliation Moreover we have
(8) plowastKF = KF + E
Certainly the converse to Proposition IIVI1 fails even on surfaces indeed let
(X F ) be a Gorenstein foliated surface and let C sub X be a generic curve so
in particular smooth and not F -invariant We can assume perhaps after a finite
sequence of simple blow-ups along C that both X and F are smooth in a neigh-
borhood of C C and F are everywhere transverse and C2 lt 0
Proposition IIVI4 The formal contraction q X rarr X0 of C is isomorphic to
the cone over C the projected foliation F0 coincides with that by rulings on the cone
F0 is Q-Gorenstein if C rational or elliptic but not in general
18 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proof F0 is Q-Gorenstein if and only if the bundle KF (C) is trivial on the formal
completion of X along C The obstructions to lift the isomorphism OC(KF +C)simminusrarr
OC over infinitesimal neighborhoods of C lie in H1(C (1 minus n)C + KF ) for every
n isin N These groups vanish for every n isin N if 2g(C) minus 2 + C2 lt 0 (which is
always true for rational or elliptic curves) but do provide non-trivial obstructions in
general
We focus on the minimal model program for Gorenstein log-canonical foliations
on algebraic surfaces Let X be a DM stack of dimension 2 with projective moduli
and F a Gorenstein foliation with log-canonical singularities Denote by LC(F )
the set of points where F is log-canonical and not canonical and by Z the singular
sub-scheme of F We assume LC(F ) 6= empty since the empty case has been completely
settled Moreover we can assume that X is smooth outside LC(F ) Let f C rarrX
be a morphism from a 1-dimensional stack with trivial generic stabilizer such that
fminus1 LC(F ) 6= empty Since we will need them several times we formulate some technical
results
Lemma IIVI5 Let p X rarr X be the resolution of the log-canonical foliation
singularity intersecting C with exceptional divisor E Then
(9) KF middot C minus C middot E = KF middot C
Proof We have
(10) plowastC = C minus (C middot EE2)E
Intersecting this equation with equation 8 we obtain the result
This formula is important because it shows that passing from foliations with log-
canonical singularities to their canonical resolution increases the negativity of inter-
sections between invariant curves and the canonical bundle In fact the log-canonical
theory reduces to the canonical one after resolving the log-canonical singularities
Further we list some strong constraints given by invariant curves along which the
foliation is smooth
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 19
Fact IIVI6 [BB72 Baum-Bott] Let g C rarrX be an F -invariant curve missing
the foliation singularities Then C2 = NF middotg C = 0
Corollary IIVI7 Let g C rarr X be an F -invariant curve missing the foliation
singularities and such that KF middotg C lt 0 Then F is birationally a fibration by
rational curves
Proof By assumption KF middot C = minusχ(C) This together with Baum-Bott IIVI6
imply that KX middot C = minusχ(C) and from usual adjunction we get C2 = 0 Riemann-
Roch gives h0(X mC) ge 2 for m gtgt 0 so then |C| defines a fibration by rational
curves tangent to F
The rest of this subsection is devoted to the construction of minimal and canonical
models in presence of log-canonical singularities The only technique we use is
resolve the log-canonical singularities in order to reduce to the canonical case and
keep track of the exceptional divisor
We are now ready to handle the existence of minimal models
Theorem IIVI8 (Minimal models) Let X be a DM stack of dimension 2 with pro-
jective moduli and F a Gorenstein foliation with log-canonical singularities Then
either
bull F is birational to a fibration by rational curves or
bull There exist a birational contraction q X rarr X0 such that KF0 is nef
Moreover the exceptional curves of q donrsquot intersect LC(F )
Proof Let f be as above ie KF -negative and intersecting LC(F ) If f is not
F -invariant then KF middotC +C2 ge 0 so C moves and KF is not pseudo-effective We
conclude by foliated bend and break [BM16]
If f is F -invariant then foliated adjunction 6 implies that C is rational it intersects
the singular locus of F in exactly one point By Lemma IIVI5 after resolving the
log-canonical singularity KF middot C lt 0 and F is smooth along C We conlude by
Corollary IIVI7
20 FEDERICO BUONERBA
From now on we add the assumption that KF is nef and we want to analyze
those curves f satisfying KF middotf C = 0 By adjunction formula 6 we know that C
has rational moduli and fminus1Z is supported on two points
Remark IIVI9 If fminus1Z = fminus1 LC(F ) then F is birationally a fibration by ratio-
nal curves
Proof After resolving the log-canonical singularities of F along the image of C we
have KF middot C lt 0 and F smooth along C We conclude by Corollary IIVI7
Therefore we can assume that f satisfies the following condition
Definition IIVI10 An invariant curve f C rarr X is called log-contractible if
KF middot C = 0 and it intersects Z in two points one canonical and one log-canonical
not canonical
It follows that f(C) is everywhere unibranch but it might have a cusp in LC(F )
Definition IIVI11 A log-chain is a chain of invariant rational orbifolds C =
cupni=0Ci scheme-like outside the foliation singularities with KF middot C = 0 and such
that
bull C0 is log-contractible with lowast(C ) = C0 cap LC(F ) called the marking of C
bull Ci is disjoint from LC(F ) if i ge 1
There is a unique point t(C ) satisfying t(C ) isin Z cap (Cn Cnminus1) called the tail of
the log-chain
Proposition IIVI12 Let C1C2 be two log-chains intersecting non-trivially Then
lowast(C1) = lowast(C2) and C1 cap C2 = lowast(C1)
Proof It is enough to prove that the two log-chains cannot intersect in their tails
Replace X be the resolution of the at most two markings of the log-chains and Ci
by their proper transforms C1cupC2 = cupmi=0Ri is a connected chain of rational curves
intersecting Z outisde LC(F ) Moreover each of the two extremal curves R0 and
Rm intersects Z in one point only In particular KF middot Ri = 0 for i = 1 middot middot middot m minus 1
and KF middot Ri lt 0 for i = 0m Since we assumed F is not birational to a fibration
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 21
by rational curves there exists a contraction p X rarr X0 with exceptional curve
cupmminus1i=0 Ri However F0 is smooth along plowastRm so by adjunction formula KF0 middotplowastRm lt
0 and we find a contradiction by Corollary IIVI7
Corollary IIVI13 Let C be a maximal connected curve such that KF middotC = 0 and
C cap LC(F ) 6= empty Then C is a union of finitely many log-chains intersecting each
other in their common marking
The following shows a configuration of log-chains sharing the same marking col-
ored in black
We are now ready to state and prove the canonical model theorem in presence of
log-canonical singularities
Theorem IIVI14 (Canonical models) Let X be a proper DM stack of dimension
2 and F a foliation with isolated singularities Moreover assume that KF is nef
that every KF -nil curve is contained in a log-chain and that F is Gorenstein and
log-canonical in a neighborhood of every KF -nil curve Then either
bull There exists a birational contraction p X rarr X0 whose exceptional curves
are unions of log-chains If all the log-contractible curves contained in the log-
chains are smooth then F0 is Gorenstein and log-canonical If furthermore
X has projective moduli then X0 has projective moduli In any case KF0
is numerically ample
bull There exists a fibration p X rarr B over a curve whose fibers intersect
KF trivially Each F -invariant fiber of p intersecting LC(F ) is union of
mutually compatible log-chains
Proof If all the KF -nil curves can be contracted by a birational morphism we are in
the first case of the Theorem Else let C be a maximal connected curve withKF middotC =
0 and which is not contractible It is a union of pairwise compatible log-chains
22 FEDERICO BUONERBA
with marking lowast Replace (X F ) by the resolution of the log-canonical singularity
at lowast with exceptional divisor E Therefore F is Gorenstein and canonical in a
neighborhood of C cupE By equation 9 we have KF middotC = minusC middotE lt 0 and therefore
C can be contracted to a canonical foliation singularity Replace (X F ) by the
contraction of C We have a smooth curve E around which F is smooth and
nowhere tangent to E Moreover
(11) KF middot E = minusE2
And we distinguish cases
bull E2 gt 0 so KF is not pseudo-effective a contradiction
bull E2 lt 0 so the initial curve C is contractible a contradiction
bull E2 = 0 which we proceed to analyze
The following is what we need to handle the third case
Proposition IIVI15 Let (X F ) be a foliation with canonical singularities with
X a smooth 2-dimensional DM stack with projective moduli and KF nef If there
exists a smooth curve E everywhere transverse to F such that KF middot E = E2 = 0
then E moves in a pencil and defines a fibration p X rarr B onto a curve whose
fibers intersect KF trivially
Proof If KF has Kodaira dimension one then its linear system contains an effective
divisor and by Hodge index KF = cE as divisors for some c isin Q+ Hence there is
a fibration onto a curve with fiber E and F is transverse to it by assumption If
KF has Kodaira dimension zero we use the classification IIV1 in all cases but the
suspension over an elliptic curve E defines a product structure on the underlying
surface in the case of a suspension every section of the underlying projective bundle
is clearly F -invariant Therefore E is a fiber of the bundle
This concludes the proof of the Theorem
We remark that the second alternative in the above theorem is rather natural
let (X F ) be a foliation which is transverse to a fibration by rational or elliptic
curves ie a suspension over elliptic curve turbolent Riccati or isotrivial Pick a
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 23
general fiber E of the fibration and blow up any number of points on it The proper
transform E is certainly contractible By Proposition IIVI4 the contraction of E is
Gorenstein and log-canonical Moreover the fiber E has been replaced by a union of
compatible log-chains Note in particular that the number of log-chains appearing
is arbitrary
Corollary IIVI16 Let X be a proper DM stack of dimension 2 and F a Goren-
stein foliation with log-canonical singularities Assume that KF is big and pseudo-
effective Then there exists a birational morphism p X rarr X0 such that C is
exceptional if and only if KF middot C le 0 In particular KF0 is numerically ample
For future applications we spell out
Corollary IIVI17 Hypothesis as in Theorem IIVI14 assume further that X
is everywhere smooth Then in the second alternative of the theorem the fibration
p X rarr B is by rational curves
Proof Indeed in this case the curve E which appears in the proof above as the
exceptional locus for the resolution of the log-canonical singularity at lowast must be
rational By the previous Proposition p is defined by a pencil in |E|
IIVII Set-up In this subsection we prepare the set-up we will deal with in the
rest of the manuscript Briefly we want to handle the existence of canonical models
for a family of foliated surfaces parametrized by a one-dimensional base To this
end we will discuss the modular behavior of singularities of foliated surfaces with
Gorenstein singularities recall McQuillan-Panazzolorsquos resolution of foliation singu-
larities building on the existence of minimal models [McQ05] prepare the set-up
for the sequel
Let us begin with the modular behavior of Gorenstein singularities
Proposition IIVII1 Let (X F ) be a smooth DM stack with a foliation by
curves Assume there exists a flat proper morphism p X rarr C onto an algebraic
curve such that F restricts to a foliation on every fiber of p Then the set
(12) s isin C Fs is log-canonical
24 FEDERICO BUONERBA
is Zariski-open while the set
(13) s isin C Fs is canonical
is the complement to a countable subset of C lying on a real-analytic curve
Proof By Fact IIIII2 being log-canonical is equivalent to the linearized endomor-
phism part IZI2Z rarr IZI
2Z being non-nilpotent where Z is the singular sub-scheme
of the foliation Of course being non-nilpotent is a Zariski open condition The
second statement also follows from opcit since a log-canonical singularity which is
not canonical has linearization with all its eigenvalues positive and rational The
statement is optimal as shown by the vector field on A3xys
(14) part(s) =part
partx+ s
part
party
Next we recall the existence of a functorial canonical resolution of foliation singu-
larities for foliations by curves on 3-dimensional stacks
Fact IIVII2 [MP13] Let X = (XDF ) be a 3-dimensional DM stack with bound-
ary foliated by curves Then there exists a proper birational morphism Xprime rarr X such
that X prime is a smooth DM stack and F prime has only canonical foliation singularities
The original opcit contains a more refined statement including a detailed de-
scription of the claimed birational morphism
In order for our set-up to make sense we mention one last very important result
Fact IIVII3 [McQ05] Let X be a smooth DM stack with projective moduli and F
a foliation by curves with (log)canonical singularities Then there exists a birational
map X 99K Xm obtained as a composition of flips such that Xm is a smooth
DM stack with projective moduli the birational transform Fm has (log)canonical
singularities and one of the following happens
bull KFm is nef or
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 25
bull There exists a fibration Xm rarr B over a smooth base whose fibers are
weighted projective spaces such that Fm is tangent to the fibers and restricts
to a radial foliation on those
Finally we can organize our notation
Set-up IIVII4 (X F ) is a smooth 3-dimensional DM stack with projective mod-
uli F a foliation by curves with canonical singularities such that KF is big and nef
There exists a semi-stable morphism p X rarr ∆ whose moduli is projective onto
the (formal) unit disk F restricts to a foliation on every fiber of p it has canon-
ical singularities on the very general fiber of p and log-canonical singularities on
every fiber of p Our task from now on is to analyze and contract the maximal
foliation-invariant sub-scheme of X along which KF is not ample
III Invariant curves and singularities local description
In this section we give a complete decription of germs of invariant curves that
appear in the formal completion of any point in the set-up IIVII4 Let us replace
X by its formal completion in a point lowast where the foliation is singular F is defined
by a vector field part with Jordan decomposition partS + partN see the end of subsection
IIIII Since [partS partN ] = 0 partN preserves the eigenspaces of partS Moreover the fact that
F is tangent to p translates into
(15) partS(p) = partN(p) = 0
The description of invariant germs of curves through lowast will be achieved via case-by-
case analysis organized by computing what happens for all possible combinations
of the following informations whether the singular locus Z is isolated at lowast the
number of eigenvalues of partS the number of components of the fiber through p
IIII sing(F ) not isolated
ni (1) partS has one eigenvalue
bull We have partS = x partpartx
and partN = f partparty
+ g partpartz
for some functions f g isin (y z)
Moreover partN is non-trivial
26 FEDERICO BUONERBA
bull Z = (x = f = g = 0) is not isolated
(a) The fiber has one component y = 0 Then 0 = partN(y) = f hence
Z = (x = g = 0) The restriction on the fiber is part|(y=0) = x partpartx
+g|(y=0)partpartz
Z has a one-dimensional component contained in the fiber iff g isin (y) in
which case such component is smooth equal to (x = 0) moreover the
foliation on the fiber saturates to a smooth one with invariant curves
z = 0 transverse to Z
Otherwise the foliation is saturated on the fiber and has a saddle-node
singularity
(b) The fiber has two components yz = 0 Then 0 = partN(yz) = zf + yg
hence f = yh g = minuszh for some h and Z = (x = h = 0) The restriction
on a fiber component say y = 0 is part|(y=0) = x partpartxminus zh|(y=0)
partpartz
Z has an
irreducible component contained in y = 0 iff h isin (y) in which case such
component is smooth equal to (x = 0) moreover the foliation on the
fiber saturates to a smooth one with invariant curves z = 0 transverse
to Z
Otherwise the foliation is saturated on the fiber and has a saddle-node
singularity
(c) The fiber has three components xyz = 0 0 = partS(xyz) = xyz a contra-
diction
Summary with one eigenvalue there are either one or two components The
foliation might have a one-dimensional singularity when restricted to a fiber
component in this case such singularity is a smooth curve and the foliation
saturates to a smooth one with invariant curves transverse to the singular-
ity If the singularity is isolated on a fiber component then it is a canonical
saddle-node with at most two invariant branches
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 27
ni (2) partS has two eigenvalues
We have partS = x partpartx
+ λy partparty
and partN(x y z) = k partpartx
+ f partparty
+ g partpartz
for some func-
tions k f g
(a) The fiber has one component z = 0 Then g = 0 k f isin (x y) and
necessarily Z = (x = y = 0) is transverse to the fiber The restriction on
the fiber is saturated and non-degenerate It has canonical singularities
if either partN 6= 0 or λ isin Q+ otherwise it is log-canonical
(b) The fiber has two components xy = 0 Then 0 = partS(xy) hence λ = minus1
Also 0 = partN(xy) hence k = xh f = minusyh g isin (xy) and necessarily
Z = (x = y = 0) coincides with the intersection of the two fiber compo-
nents which is smooth the foliation saturates to a smooth one on each
component with invariant curves transverse to Z
(c) The fiber has three components xyz = 0 hence λ = minus1 Also k = xklowast
f = yf lowast g = zglowast with klowast + f lowast + glowast = 0 and glowast isin (xy) The singularity
Z = (x = y = 0) coincides with the intersection of two of the fiber
components The restriction to either such components saturates to a
smooth foliation with invariant curves transverse to Z the restriction
to z = 0 has a canonical non-degenerate singularity all the invariant
curves are those in xy = 0 transverse to Z
Summary with 2 eigenvalues there can be any number of components With
one component the foliation restricts to a saturated one with a (log)canonical
singularity which moves transversely to p With two components the folia-
tion is not saturated on either and saturates to a smooth one with invariant
curves transverse to the singularity With three components the foliation
is not saturated on two of them and saturates to a smooth one on both
with invariant curves transverse to the singularity the foliation is saturated
and has a canonical non-degenerate singularity on the third component In
28 FEDERICO BUONERBA
the last two cases the singularity is fully contained in an intersection of two
components
ni (3) partS has three eigenvalues But then the singularity is isolated a contradiction
IIIII sing(F ) isolated
i (1) partS has one eigenvalue
bull We have partS = x partpartx
and partN = xk partpartx
+ f partparty
+ g partpartz
for some functions
k f g isin (y z) Moreover partN is non-trivial
bull Z = (x = f = g = 0) is isolated
(a) The fiber has one component y = 0 Then 0 = partN(y) = f and Z cannot
be isolated a contradiction
(b) The fiber has two components yz = 0 Then 0 = partN(yz) = zf + yg so
f = yh g = minuszh with h non-constant Hence Z = (x = h = 0) is not
isolated a contradiction
(c) The fiber has three components xyz = 0 Then 0 = partS(xyz) = xyz a
contradiction
Summary the 1 eigenvalue case does not exist
i (2) partS has two eigenvalues
bull We have partS = x partpartx
+ λy partparty
partN = xk partpartx
+ f partparty
+ g partpartz
for some functions
k f g
bull g is non-trivial and g isin (x y)
bull Z = (x = y = g = 0) is isolated
(a) The fiber has one component z = 0 Then g = 0 a contradiction
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 29
(b) The fiber has two components xy = 0 hence λ = minus1 and g isin (xy z)
the restriction to y = 0 is part|(y=0) = x partpartx
+g|(y=0)partpartz
and necessarily g|(y=0)
is non-vanishing Therefore the restriction to either components is satu-
rated and the singularity is a canonical saddle-node on each of them
The invariant curves are among the axes x = y = 0 x = z = 0 y = z =
0
(c) The fiber has three components xyz = 0 hence λ = minus1 Necessarily
k = xklowast f = yf lowast g = zglowast with klowast + f lowast + glowast = 0 The restriction to
y = 0 is part|(y=0) = x(1 + klowast|(y=0))partpartx
+ zglowast|(y=0)partpartz
since g isin (x y) we have
glowast|(y=0) non-trivial Therefore the restriction to either x = 0 and y = 0
is saturated and the singularity is a canonical saddle-node on each of
them
The restriction to z = 0 is part|(z=0) = x(1 + klowast|(z=0))partpartx
+ y(minus1 + f lowast|(z=0))partparty
therefore the restriction is saturated and has a canonical non-degenerate
singularity
The invariant curves are among the axes x = y = 0 x = z = 0 y = z =
0
Summary with 2 eigenvalues there are either two or three components the
foliation restricts to a canonical saddle-node on two of them and to a non-
degenerate singularity on the third one if it exists All the invariant curves
are in the axes
i (3) partS has three eigenvalues We have partS = x partpartx
+ λy partparty
+ microz partpartz
(a) The fiber has one component y = 0 hence λ = 0 a contradiction
(b) The fiber has two components xy = 0 hence λ = minus1 The restriction to
y = 0 is part|(y=0) = x partpartx
+ microz partpartz
+ partN|(y=0) The singularity is log-canonical
30 FEDERICO BUONERBA
iff micro isin Qgt0 and partN|(y=0)= 0 and in this case the singularity on x = 0 is
canonical non-degenerate Invariant curves are those in y = 0 and the
axis x = z = 0
If the restriction to both fiber components is canonical then it non-
degenerate on both and the invariant curves are contained in the axes
x = y = 0 x = z = 0 y = z = 0
The fiber could be yz = 0 hence λ+micro = 0 It can be analyzed as in the
next item
(c) The fiber has three components xyz = 0 hence 1 + λ + micro = 0 In par-
ticular if λ = cmicro c isin Q+ then λ micro isin Q The restriction to y = 0
is part|(y=0) = x partpartx
+ microz partpartz
+ partN|(y=0) This singularity is log-canonical iff
micro isin Qgt0 and partN|(y=0)= 0 in which case the singularity on both x = 0
and z = 0 is canonical non-degenerate In particular if the singularity
is log-canonical on some fiber component then it is so on exactly one
component and all eigenvalues are rational Invariant curves are those
in y = 0 and the axis x = z = 0
If the restriction to all fiber components is canonical then it non-degenerate
on each of them and the invariant curves are contained in the axes
x = y = 0 x = z = 0 y = z = 0
Summary with 3 eigenvalues there are either two or three fiber components
the foliation restricts to a singular foliation on each of them and it has a
log-canonical singularity on at most one of them in this case all eigenvalues
of the semi-simple field are rational
IIIIII Local consequences We list some corollaries for future reference As al-
ways in this section the statements are local so everything happens in a formal
neighborhood of our point lowast First we state those corollaries we will need to describe
configurations of KF -nil curves
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 31
Definition IIIIII1 An LC-center Π sub X is an irreducible F -invariant formal
hypersurface such that the local vector field generating the foliation when restricted
to Π has semi-simple part with log-canonical singularity or a one-dimensional sin-
gular locus An LC-center with a log-canonical singularity is necessarily an algebraic
component of the singular fiber of p
Corollary IIIIII2 There is at most one LC-center with a log-canonical singularity
through lowast If it exists then all eigenvalues of the semi-simple field at lowast are rational
If there are at least two LC-centers through lowast then there are exactly two and the
foliation singularity is a smooth curve on each of them
Proof Possible cases in which an LC-center with log-canonical singularities appears
ni (2)a i (3)b i (3)c
Corollary IIIIII3 If there is no LC-center thorugh a point lowast then there are at
most three invariant curves through lowast all smooth Any number of them spans a sub-
space of the tangent space at lowast of maximal possible dimension
If there is an LC-center through lowast then there is at most one invariant curve through
lowast and not contained in the LC-center
If there is an LC-center with non-isolated singularity then the singularity is smooth
and all invariant curves contained in the LC-center intersect the singularity trans-
versely
Proof Invariant curves not in an LC-centers with log-canonical singularities are con-
tained in the three axes x = z = 0 x = y = 0 y = z = 0 mentioned in the above
classification The other statements are clear
Corollary IIIIII4 If p is smooth at lowast then Z is one dimensional around lowast
Proof Possible casesni (1)a ni (2)a
In particular if there is no LC-center the situation is the familiary
xz
32 FEDERICO BUONERBA
While if there is an LC-center (pink) with log-canonical singularity it will look like
y
LC-center
While if there is an LC-center with non-isolated singularity (red) it will look like
(the black arrows being invariant curves)
y
LC-center
The next corollary describes one-dimensional components of the foliation singularity
Corollary IIIIII5 If Z0 is a one-dimensional irreducible component of the folia-
tion singularity then it is at worst nodal The foliation when restricted to any fiber
component containing Z0 saturates to a smooth foliation in a neighborhood of Z0
and all the invariant curves are transverse to Z0
If Z0 is contained in exactly one fiber component then the semi-simple field has one
eigenvalue everywhere along Z0
If Z0 lies at the intersection of two fiber components then the semi-simple field has
two constant eigenvalues everywhere along Z0
Moreover if there exist a sequence of invariant curves converging in the compact-
open topology to Z0 then there is generically one eigenvalue along Z0
Proof Possible casesni (1)a ni (1)b ni (2)b ni (2)c Concerning the one-
eigenvalue case invariant curves converging to Z0 can be found in the formal hyper-
surface x = 0
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 33
IV Invariant curves along which KF vanishes
In this section we study in great detail a formal neighborhood of invariant curves
where KF is numerically trivial In the first subsection we deal with KF -nil curves
namely those whose generic point is not contained in the foliation singularity In this
case the normal bundle to the curve determines its formal neighborhood uniquely
and this has plenty of amazing consequences In the second subsection we study
those invariant curves which are contained in the foliation singularity In this case
we are not able to control the full formal neighborhood but important informations
can still be obtained
IVI KF -nil curves In this subsection we study in detail the structure of KF -
nil curves and their formal neighborhoods appearing in the set-up IIVII4 In
particular we will describe a simple process to replace cuspidal KF -nil curves by
net ones prove that the foliation is in the net completion around a net KF -nil curve
defined by a global vector field which admits a global Jordan decomposition deduce
that eigenfunctions for the semi-simple component of such field are also globally
defined on a formal neighborhood
The first important remark is of technical nature and explains how to deal with non-
net KF -nil curves By Proposition IIIV4 this is indeed possible and the images of
such curves will acquire cusp-like singularities It is hard to analyze the geometry
of F around such cuspidal curves and therefore necessary to remove them Let us
assume that C is simply connected with rational moduli f is ramified at 0 isin C
and and denote by X the formal completion along f(C) Then formally around
f(0) the curve f(C) has defining ideal (y xa minus zb) where y = 0 is a fiber of the
fibration p X rarr ∆ containing f(C) x z isin H0(X OX ) restrict to suitable local
coordinates on such fiber and a b ge 2 are coprime integers
Claim IVI1 Let r X ( aradicz = 0) rarr X be the a-th root of z = 0 III3 Then
(rlowastC)norm =∐a
1 C and the induced map rlowastf (rlowastC)norm rarrX ( aradicz = 0) is net
Proof Since r is etale away from z = 0 also rlowastC rarr C is etale away from 0 isin C
Since C 0 is simply connected we have rlowastC rminus1(0) =∐a
1 C 0 This proves
34 FEDERICO BUONERBA
the first statement Let ζ be a function on X ( aradicz = 0) such that ζa = z so then
rlowast(xa minus zb) =prod
ηa=1(x minus ηζb) Every branch is net in 0 and we obtain the second
statement as well
As such upon taking roots we can replace non-net KF -nil invariant curves with
rational moduli by net ones
We now proceed to study net KF -nil curves We will show that the foliation is
defined by a global vector field around a net KF -nil curve with rational moduli and
that such vector field admits a global Jordan decomposition
Proposition IVI2 Notation as in the set-up IIVII4 let f C rarrX be a KF -nil
curve Assume that f is net and let j C rarr C be the net completion along f Then
there exists an isomorphism
(16) OC(KF )simminusrarr OC
In particular there exists a global vector field partf on C that generates F
Proof Since C has rational moduli and is simply connected it has infinite-cyclic
Picard group and we have an isomorphism
(17) OC(KF )simminusrarr OC
Moreover we have a non-canonical splitting of the normal bundle Njsimminusrarr O(minusn) oplus
O(minusm) and we claim that both nm ge 0 Indeed consider the induced semi-stable
fibration C rarr ∆ and let F be the normalization of an irreducible component of a
fiber such that C sub F Consider the exact sequence
(18) 0rarr NCF rarr Nj rarr NFC|C rarr 0
Since KF is nef NCF is not ample since F is a fiber of a fibration also NFC|C is
not ample and this is enough to conclude even though nm may be different from
the degrees of such normal bundles
At this point we can lift the isomorphism 17 over infinitesimal neighborhoods of j
Indeed for every k ge 0 we have an exact sequence
(19) 0rarr Symk ICI2C rarr OCk+1
(KF )rarr OCk(KF )rarr 0
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 35
which shows that the obstruction to lifting the isomorphism lies in
(20) H1(C Symk ICI2C) = H1(C Symk(O(n)oplus O(m))) = 0
From this we can deduce
Proposition IVI3 The vector field partf admits a Jordan decomposition uniformly
along C
Proof The cohomology sequence attached to 19 is
(21) 0rarr H0(C Symk ICI2C)rarr H0(COCk+1
)rarr H0(COCk)rarr 0
Let partk+1 denote the image of partf in End(H0(COCk+1)) Looking at
H0(COCk+1) minusminusminusrarr H0(COCk
)
partk+1
y partk
yH0(COCk+1
) minusminusminusrarr H0(COCk)
we see the canonical Jordan deomposition of partk+1 restricts to that of partk
The above result describes a very useful interplay between normal bundles to
KF -nil curves and the structure of the semi-simple field It turns out that these
informations determine formal neighborhoods uniquely For simplicity let C be
an irreducible component of C without orbifold points Let us assume that part|C is
singular in 0infin Then there exist formal functions x y z at 0 isin C and ξ η ζ at
infin isin C such that x ξ are coordinates along C y η are local sections of OC(minusn)
so η = xny mod(I2C) z ζ are local sections of OC(minusm) so ζ = xmz mod(I2C)
Normalizing so that xminus1partS(x) = ε isin 0 1 we obtain
(22) part0S = εxpart
partx+ λy
part
party+ microz
part
partz partinfinS = minusεξ part
partξ+ (λ+ εn)η
part
partη+ (micro+ εm)ζ
part
partζ
More generally ie C = P1(d e) we have glueing rules x = te ξ = tminusd η = tny and
ζ = tmz mod(I2C) Normalizing so that tminus1partS(t) = ε isin 0 1 we obtain
(23) part0S = eεxpart
partx+ λy
part
party+ microz
part
partz partinfinS = minusdεξ part
partξ+ (λ+ εn)η
part
partη+ (micro+ εm)ζ
part
partζ
36 FEDERICO BUONERBA
It is worth remarking that the above relations hold between eigenvalues at the two
singular point of singular ie nodal or cuspidal KF -nil curves as well this is
easily seen by taking a root followed by net completion and keeping track of the
eigenvalues
Definition IVI4 Let C be a KF -nil curve The foliation singular points along C
are called ends
As well as the existence of Hilbert scheme in the following form
Fact IVI5 Let W sub Xlowast be a curve and D a divisor in the formal neighborhood
of W such that W = D capXlowast scheme-theoretically Then W moves in D
In what follows our main concern is to understand formal neighborhoods of KF -
nil curves Observe that the fibration p when restricted to the formal neighborhood
of such curves provides at least one eigenfunction of the semi-simple field Hence
in order to compute the width IIII we must study the behavior of the other eigen-
function on infinitesimal neighborhoods We first describe the situation inside the
smooth locus of p
Proposition IVI6 (Smooth fiber) Let f C rarrX be an irreducible KF -nil curve
which is contained in the smooth locus of a fiber Xlowast of p Then the end(s) on C are
flat over ∆ ni (1)b and ni (1)a with z2|g(y z) and C moves in a family flat over
∆
Proof Let us assume that f is net Then upon passing to net completion we can
actually assume it is embedded From our local classification of singularities we case
in case ni (1)a and ni (2)a We want to show that both ends have components
that move transversely to p hence we have to exclude case ni (1)a with g(y z) = ya
By way of contradiction say we have g(y z) = ya in the notation of opcit around
an end lowast isin C We proceed to compute what happens at the other end we find
formal coordinates ξ η ζ which by equation 23 satisfy
(24) ξ = xminus1 η = y ζ = xmz mod(I2C)
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 37
As such we compute part(ζ) = mζ + ξminusmηa mod(I2C) which is holomorphic if and only
if m le 0 so then C moves in Xlowast contradicting that the foliation has general type
Hence we are in cases ni (1)a ni (2)a with g = microyazb b ge 1
(25) part0 = xpart
partx+ microyazb
part
partz partinfin = minusξ part
partξ+ ζ(m+ microξm(bminus1)ηaζbminus1)
part
partζ(mod(I2C))
Following notation from subsection IIII observe that C1 is the section of E1C which
is disjoint from the proper transform of the fiber of p In coordinates over 0
(26) x1 = x y1 = y z1 = zyminus1
And similarly over infin Using the previous equation and 25 on C1 we find
(27)
part01 = x1part
partx1+microya+bminus11 zb1
part
partz1 partinfin1 = minusξ1
part
partξ1+ζ1(m+microξ
m(bminus1)1 ηa+bminus11 ζbminus11 )
part
partζ1(mod(I2C1
))
In particular the transform of the nilpotent field is still nilpotent after blowing up in
C It follows that the eigenvalues of the semi-simple field at the two ends of C and
C1 are the same Using equation 23 we deduce that the normal bundle to C1X1 to
isomorphic to that of CX in particular it contains a trivial direct summand This
proves that width(C) =infin
Next we show that f must be net Consider the induced flat projection pD D rarr ∆
its general fiber cannot be a cuspidal curve since along such cusp the foliation sin-
gularity would be log-canonical but not canonical Hence if C has a cusp necessarily
the general fiber of pD is a nodal curve Let X rarr X denote the blow up of the
nodal locus of pD with exceptional divisor E ruled over ∆ In a neighborhood of E
we have sing(F ) = D cap E which projects to ∆ as a double cover ramified over lowastObserve that the foliation on Xlowast is again log-canonical and not canonical hence its
local structure is ni (2)a In that case however p is unramified along the foliation
singularity Contradiction
We state a general criterion for movability of KF -nil curves
Proposition IVI7 Let C be a connected KF -nil curve such that p(C ) = lowast isin ∆
Assume its dual graph is a chain that none of its irreducible components is double
38 FEDERICO BUONERBA
VI3 and that its two extremal ends are flat over ∆ Then C moves in a family flat
over ∆ and each of its irreducible components is embedded
Proof We work in a formal neighborhood of C After taking roots we can assume
C is net and since its dual graph is a chain it is actually embedded We proceed by
induction on its length l where the case l = 1 is Proposition IVI6 For l gt 1 let C1
be a component of C which is extremal in its dual graph If C1 moves transversely
to p then both its ends do and hence we can apply the induction hypothesis to
C C1 If C1 is rigid then it can be flopped It is straightforward to check that we
can apply the induction hypothesis to the transform C + C+1 and we are done
Now we deal with rigid curves inside the singular fiber
Proposition IVI8 (Singular fiber) Let f C rarr X be an embedded net KF -
nil curve with anti-ample normal bundle Then there exists a birational map φ
(X F ) 99K (X +F+) and a KF+-nil curve C+ such that
bull φ is an isomorphism away from C+
bull In a formal neighborhood of at least one among C and C+ there exist two
invariant hypersurfaces D1D2 locally defined by the vanishing of eigenfunc-
tions of the semi-simple field such that C (resp C+)= D1 capD2
bull If F middot C lt 0 for some hypersurface F then F+ middot C+ gt 0 In particular X +
is projective
Such φ is called flop
Proof Our assumption is that Nfsimminusrarr O(minusn)oplusO(minusm) is anti-ample namely nm gt
0 If two invariant hypersurfaces as in our statement do exist around C the flop is
easily constructed as a weighted blow-up followed by a weighted blow-down As such
let us assume that such hypersurfaces do not exist around C In particular C is not
double VI3 By [Ar70] there exists a formal contraction c X rarrX0 collapsing C
to a point and an isomorphism everywhere else By Proposition IVI3 the foliation
F0 is Gorenstein around the node of X0 For ease of exposition let us assume
n = m = 1 the general case is handled the same way only the notation becomes more
cumbersome due to the presence of weights The node has embedding dimension 4
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 39
and in suitable local coordinates x0 y0 w0 z0 can be defined by x0z0minusy0w0 = 0 The
morphism c can be identified with the blow up of the embedded surface (x0 = y0 = 0)
Explicitly in the chart y = y0 x = x0yminus10 it is defined by
(28) y0 = y x0 = xy z0 = zprime w0 = xzprime
Here x is a coordinate along C while y = 0 is the pull-back of (x0 = y0 = 0) and
zprime some function in the normal bundle to C By the previous Proposition IVI6
we know C cannot be contained in the smooth locus of p Since C is not double
we can assume that in this local chart p is defined by (x y zprime) rarr xy - the case
(x y zprime) rarr xzprime being isomorphic as it is isomorphic to blow-up (z0 = w0 = 0)
instead of (x0 = y0 = 0) The issue is as emphasized by the notation zprime 6= z that
zprime may fail to be an eigenfunction for partS if it were we would be done since zprime = 0
is the local equation for the global pullback of (z0 = w0 = 0) However we have
a b isin C such that
(29) partS0(y0) = minusy0 partS0(x0) = 0 partS0(z0) = ay0 + bz0 partS0(w0) = ax0 + (b+ 1)w0
Observe that the embedded surfaces D01 = (y0 = z0 = 0) and D0
2 = (x0 = w0 = 0)
are both foliation invariant As such let b X + rarr X0 denote the blow-up of X0
along D01 - which is isomorphic to that along D0
2 - and let Di = blowastD0i i = 1 2
Finally X + is projective by Nakai-Moishezon Indeed every C with anti-ample
normal bundle is contained in an irreducible component F of X0 such that F middotC lt 0
Then F+ middot C+ gt 0 and we can find an ample divisor of the form H+ + εF+ where
H+ is the proper transform of an ample on X
Remark IVI9 In the previous proof a 6= b+ 1 Indeed such identity would create
a non-trivial Jordan block of partS0 in the (x0 w0)-plane thus contradicting the semi-
simplicity of partS0 In particular by a straightforward computation it is impossible to
find eigenfunctions of the form wlowast0 = w0 + αx0 zlowast0 = z0 + βy0 with x0z
lowast0 minus y0wlowast0 = 0
unless a = 0
We can conclude by pointing out an important point understood in this section
A painful aspect of the theory is that log-canonical singularities which appear natu-
rally as analytic degenerations of canonical ones come along with cuspidal invariant
40 FEDERICO BUONERBA
curves There is in particular no a-priori obstruction to the existence of rigid
cuspidal KF -nil curves in a smooth fiber of our family of foliated surfaces p Quite
generally a rigid curve of positive arithmetic genus in a smooth family of surfaces can
never be contracted to a point Therefore this would have been a counter-example
to any reasonable foliated canonical model theory one may wish to achieve Fortu-
nately such phenomenon does not happen and this establishes the Main Theorem I
modulo finitely many rigid curves confined in the singular fiber X0
IVII Invariant curves inside sing(F ) In this subsection we study curves Z0 subeXlowast cap sing(F ) which are inside the foliation singularity and invariant By this we
mean that there exists a sequence fn Cn rarrX of not necessarily algebraic invariant
curves converging in the compact-open topology to Z0 In other words the map
(30) NorF rarr Ω1Z0
is trivial By Corollary IIIIII5 we know that Z0 is at worst nodal it is smooth
wherever p is smooth for every point z isin Z0 the semi-simple part of the gener-
ating vector field has exactly one eigenvalue The problem here is that the Jordan
decomposition need not extend uniformly along Z0 not even along an irreducible
component In case ni (1)a the functions x and g may develop essential singulari-
ties arbitrary close to z Nonetheless the function x is unique and this says that x
does extend along Z0
Proposition IVII1 Let Z0 be as above Then in a formal neighborhood of Z0
there exists a unique smooth invariant hypersurface D0 containing Z0 which restricts
around any point in Z0 to the unique eigenfunction for the semi-simple field whose
eigenvalue is non-zero
Proof The local structure of the foliation around a point z isin Z0 is described by
cases ni (1)a and ni (1)b In both cases partS has one non-zero eigenvalue with
eigenfunction x Such eigenfunction x is a-priori only defined in the normal bundle to
Z0 but it is clear that the equation partx = x has a unique up to constants solution in
the formal completion around z As such there exists a unique smooth hypersurface
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 41
D0 in the formal completion around Z0 which restricts to the eigenfunction x around
z
Observe that the previous argument goes through since we are assuming Z0 subX0
Keeping notations from case ni (1)a if say g(y z) = yz then in the hypersurface
y equiv q isin Qgt0 the foliation has a log-canonical singularity and the eigenfunction x
extends highly non-uniquely to a formal neighborhood of the point (x y z) = (0 q 0)
In particular the existence of D0 as in the previous Proposition might fail along
the component (x = z = 0) of the foliation singularity This phenomenon is called
the beast
Anyway uniqueness in the previous proposition yields
Corollary IVII2 Let Z prime be a connected invariant curve inside sing(F ) Then in
a formal neighborhood of Z prime there exists a unique smooth invariant hypersurface D prime
containing Z prime which restricts around any point in Z prime to the hypersurface constructed
in the previous proposition
Next we turn to the intrinsic structure of invariant singular curves
Proposition IVII3 Let Z0 be an irreducible invariant curve inside sing(F )
Then Z0 is smooth and rational
Proof We work in a formal neighborhood of Z0 Let F0 denote the unique component
of X0 containing Z0 For any other fiber component F intersecting Z0 non-trivially
blow-up the invariant curve F cap F0 with exceptional divisor EF A straightforward
computation using the local formula ni (1)b shows that the fiber of the natural
projection EF rarr F cap F0 intersecting Z0 is also contained in sing(F ) For Z prime the
maximal connected singular invariant curve containing Z0 let G denote the saturated
foliation induced on D prime It is canonical with reduced singularities and it satisfies
KG = KF |Dprime minus Zprime By adjunction
(31) 2g(Z0)minus 2 + sZG(Z0) = minusZ prime middot Z0
Observe that thanks to our initial sequence of blow-ups the singularities of G along
Z0 coincide with the intersection of Z0 and Z prime Z0 In particular since D prime is formally
42 FEDERICO BUONERBA
flat over ∆ we deduce Z prime middot Z0 = 0 and the previous formula becomes
(32) 2g(Z0)minus 2 + sZG(Z0) = 0
This implies that Z0 is rational or elliptic If Z0 were elliptic then sZG(Z0) = 0 and
D0 defines an invariant elliptic curve in the general fiber of p By Baum-Bott this
contradicts that KF is big and nef Now we show that Z0 is smooth If it has a node
then D0 moves it in a family of nodal rational curves flat over ∆ In particular D0
itself has a node in codimension 1 hence Xlowast is smooth around the node of Z0 In its
formal neighborhood the foliation must be as in case ni (1)a which implies that
Z0 is smooth contradiction
We can improve as follows
Proposition IVII4 Let Z prime sube sing F capXlowast be a connected invariant curve with
KF middot Z prime = 0 Then its dual graph is a chain
Proof Assume Z prime is a cycle Then necessarily Z prime = D prime capXlowast scheme-theoretically
and by the existence of Hilbert scheme Z prime moves in the general fiber Its general
member is either a cycle of smooth rational curves or an elliptic curve Arguing as
in the previous proof we see that both options are impossible
V Configurations
In this section we analyze in great detail all possible configurations of invariant
curves along which KF vanishes These can be divided into three groups those
that do not move those that move in a one-dimensional family covering a surface
those that move in a higher-dimensional family covering a surface Curves in the first
group can form rather complicated configurations while those in the second group
are more simple they either move in the general fiber or they cover an isolated
Riccati component in the singular fiber Those in the third group turn out to be
represented by the two rulings of P1timesP1 if they happen to be cohomologous in the
ambient stack First we will analyze rigid curves then those which move and finally
we will describe their configurations
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 43
VI Configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially In
this subsection we describe configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF
trivially which arise in the situation described by set-up IIVII4
First we focus on KF -nil curves At the end of the section we deal with the simpler
case in which a curve in the configuration is fully contained in sing(F ) The general
fiber was handled in Proposition IVI6
Proposition VI1 Let C be a connected KF -nil curve contained in the smooth
locus of a fiber of p Then it is a chain or a cycle and it moves in a family flat over
∆
In what follows we let C denote a connected KF -nil curve contained in the
singular fiber X0 all of whose sub-curves are rigid in X Observe a consequence of
equation 23
Proposition VI2 Let C = cupiCi be a connected KF -nil curve Then the eigen-
values of partS are all rational at every point of sing(F )capC if and only if they are all
rational at one point
We can deduce many non-trivial properties about configurations of KF -nil curves
First we need
Definition VI3 Let C subX0 be a curve It is called double if there exists formally
around C two components F F prime of X0 such that C = F cap F prime A point lowast isin C where
three fiber components intersect is called a triple point If C lies on exactly one fiber
component it is called non-double We denote by F (C) such component
Remark VI4 Let Csimminusrarr P1(d e) be double with two triple points Then we know
e+ λ+ micro = minusd+ (λ+ n) + (micro+m) = 0 whence we obtain
(33) n+m = d+ e
Which is called triple-point formula
Next we show that essentially KF -nil curves do not form cycles unless something
deforms in X0 First we show that there are no cycles of rigid non-double curves
44 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proposition VI5 Let C be a connected KF -nil curve contained in the singular
fiber X0 of p Assume that every component of C is non-double and that every
sub-curve is rigid Then C contains no cycles
Proof We work in a formal neighborhood of C which we assume is a cycle Let
us first consider the case in which all components C1 middot middot middot CN are smooth with no
orbifold points and denote lowasti = Ci cap Ci+1 with CN+1 = C1 Moreover let us
assume no lowasti lies in the smooth locus of p
Since no curve is double the semi-simple field at every lowasti is as in case i (3)b in
particular the eigenvalues along the branches of Ci and Ci+1 add up to zero More-
over let minusni denote the self-intersection of Ci sub F (Ci) Normalize the eigenvalues
of partS so that at lowastn they are 1 in the C1 direction minus1 in the CN direction λ in the
F (C1)capF (CN) direction It follows by induction that at lowasti the eigenvalues are minus1
in the Ci direction 1 in the Ci+1 direction λ+ n1 + middot middot middot+ ni in the F (Ci) cap F (Ci+1)
direction After traveling around the cycle we obtain n1+middot middot middot+nN = 0 contradicting
that ni gt 0 for every i
We established the Proposition assuming every Ci is an embedded scheme and ev-
ery lowasti is in the singular locus of p The case in which Cisimminusrarr P1(di ei) has orbifold
points is analogous we end up with a combination c1n1 + middot middot middot + cNnN = 0 with ci
the eigenvalue at lowasti in the Ci+1 direction Normalizing so that c1 = e1 gt 0 again by
induction on i we see that every ci isin Qgt0 Next we show that our assumption on lowastiis always satisfied
Claim VI6 Every lowasti must belong to the singular locus of p
Proof We give two essentially equivalent proofs
bull If N = 2 3 then the previous argument goes through indeed we can normal-
ize eigenvalues at lowasti to be negative in the Ciminus1 direction and positive in the
Ci-direction and argue as above Hence we can assume N ge 4 If say lowasti is in
the smooth locus of p then F (Ci) = F (Ci+1) If also F (Ciminus1) = F (Ci) then Ci
lies in the smooth locus of p and hence it moves Therefore F (Ciminus1) 6= F (Ci)
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 45
and Ciminus1 can be flopped inside F (Ci) Since N ge 4 this preserves the smooth-
ness of F (Ci) and Ci is now is the smooth locus of p - contradiction
bull If lowasti belongs to the smooth locus of p then the end through lowasti moves We
can form a partial net completion fi Xi rarrX by normalizing C in lowasti only
Then f lowasti C is a chain with movable ends and hence moves in the general fiber
of p fi
Finally the general case in which some among the Ci have cusps can be easily
reduced to the smooth case in a couple of ways
bull Eigenvalues at the singularities of any KF -nil curve satisfy the same relations
as in the smooth case
bull Upon taking roots and net completion we can find a foliated formal 3-fold
supported on a cycle of smooth KF -nil curves which is a ramified cover of a
formal neighborhood of our cycle
Similarly we can show that there are no rigid cycles of double curves
Proposition VI7 Let C be a nodal KF -nil curve which is double Then C
deforms inside X0 In particular there cannot exist a rigid cycle of KF -nil double
curves
Proof Following the previous notation we have 0 = infin and if C = (xy = z = 0)
around 0 then we have identities
(34) x = η y = ξ z = ζ
The last one of which implies m = 0 that is C deforms Since C is double necessarily
the surface it spans must be contained in X0
The statement about cycles follows since a cycle of double curves can be transformed
after finitely many flops into a chain of smooth double curves with a nodal one
attached at one end
46 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Later on we will show that the deformations of C cannot span an elliptic surface
but only a family of nodal rational curves with a special Riccati foliation on it
We are ready to organize a detailed description of the dual graph of C More pre-
cisely we only need to understand how double curves intersect non-double curves
Lemma VI8 There exists a sequence of flops X 99KX + such that if C + denotes
the transform of C every double curve supported on C + contains two triple points
Proof Let C sube C be an irreducible component with at most one triple point and
let X 99K X + be its flop Then its transform C+ is non-double and the number
of double curves contained in C descreases It is clear that after finitely many flops
all double curves contain exactly two triple points
From now on all double curves in C have two triple points Thanks to proposition
VI2 we know that there are two cases to consider those curves along which the
semi-simple field has not only rational eigenvalues and those along which the semi-
simple field has only rational eigenvalues The first case being strictly easier than
the second it is a good starting place to warm up
Proposition VI9 (irrational eigenvalues) Assume that for every foliation singu-
larity along C not all eigenvalues of partS are rational Then every component of C
is net with at most one node and 1-skeleton of its dual graph is at worst trivalent
Write C = C axes cup C free where
C axes is the union of double curves
C free is the union of non-double curves
Then one among C axes and C free is empty Moreover
bull If C free is non-empty then it is a chain of smooth curves with rational moduli
bull If C axes is non-empty there exists a sequence of flops X 99KX + and an ir-
reducible component of the fiber FC subX + such that X + is a smooth stack
the transform C+ of C is contained in FC Moreover the dual graph of C+
is a tree which by [McQ08 III32] becomes a chain inside the normalization
of FC
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 47
Proof The first sentence is just corollary IIIIII3
Observe that if a non-double curve intersects a double curve then the non-double
curve must be contained in an LC-center around such intersection This contradicts
that not all eigenvalues are rational and establishes that one among C axes and C free
is empty
In case C free is not empty then it is clearly a chain or a cycle the latter being
impossible by Proposition VI5
We are left to show the existence of flops in case C = C axes We remark that
every component is smooth Let C0 be such a component and S0 a component of
X0 containing it Let C1 be the collection of irreducible components of C which
intersect S0 but are not contained in it All the components of C1 are smooth hence
we can flop them in any order until the transform of C1 lies in the transform of S0
Since the number of irreducible components of C lying outside S0 decreases after
such flop by induction we deduce the existence of finitely many flops after which
the birational transform of C is fully contained in the transform of S0
Next we take care of rational eigenvalues The complication here arises from
the fact that there may be double and non-double curves intersecting each other
However the situation is best possible
Proposition VI10 (rational eigenvalues) Assume that for every foliation singu-
larity along C all eigenvalues of partS are rational Write C = C axes cup C free where
C axes is the union of double curves
C free is the union of non-double curves
Then there exists a sequence of flops X 99K X + and an irreducible component of
the fiber FC axes subX + such that
bull X + is a smooth stack
bull The union of double curves of C axes is contained in FC axes the 1-skeleton of
its dual graph is a tree and each of its components has two triple points
bull The 1-skeleton of the dual graph of the transform C free+ is a disjoint union of
trees
bull Each connected component of C free+ intersects C axes in exactly one point
48 FEDERICO BUONERBA
In particular the 1-skeleton of the dual graph of C is a tree
Proof Notice that for every point lowast isin C cap Z there exists one LC-center through lowastIndeed there are three rational eigenvalues and they cannot be all non-vanishing and
all with different signs at the same time Now C axes can be treated as in proposition
VI9 This proves the first two items of the statement The third item follows from
Proposition VI5 so we can focus on the fourth one The proof is based on the
following obvious
Remark VI11 let C be a double curve such that either it is KF -nil hence has
two triple points or it is fully contained in sing(F ) Let C0 sube C free intersect C
non-trivially in a point lowast then necessarily C0 sub LClowast
Now let C0 middot middot middot CN form a chain of non-double curves with C0 and CN both
intersecting double curves as in the remark Denote by lowasti = Ci cap Ci+1 Since
C1 sub LClowast necessarily C1 is transverse to LClowast1 otherwise C1 would deform in F (C1)
Inductively we see that Ci+1 sub LClowasti and is transverse to LClowasti+1 In particular CN
cannot touch a double curve This contradiction proves the fourth item
Let us add a remark about configurations featuring invariant curves inside sing(F )
Proposition VI12 Let C be an invariant curve with KF middot C = 0 such that
Z0 sube C for some component Z0 sube sing(F ) Then C = Z prime cup C where
Z prime is a connected invariant curve inside the foliation singularity with dual graph a
chain
C is the union of at most two pairwise disjoint KF -nil curves with anti-ample
normal bundle
If not empty C can only intersect Z prime at the two ends of its dual graph Moreover
perhaps after a flop the intersection of C with Z prime supports the foliation singularity
along C As such if C has two components Z prime cup C deforms in the general fiber
Proof The structure of Z prime is Proposition IVII3 while that of Co is Proposition
IVI6 Let C prime be a component of C intersecting Z0 in a point lowast If C prime and Z0 belong
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 49
to different components of X0 then by case ni (1)b the eigenvalue of partS along C prime
vanishes so supp(sing(F ) cap C prime) = lowast If C prime and Z0 belong to the same component
then we can flop C prime into a different component
Observe that the divisor D prime from op cit can be extended along C prime This implies
that C can only intersect Z prime at its ends Moreover if C touches both ends necessarily
D prime capX0 = C scheme-theoretically hence by the existence of Hilbert scheme IVI5
we conclude
Our new set-up is
Set-up VI13 Everything as in set-up IIVII4 and moreover for any connected
invariant curve C with KF middot C = 0 all of whose sub-curves are rigid we have
configurations computed in proposition VI9 VI10 and Lemma VI12
VII Configurations of non-rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
In this subsection we describe configurations of surfaces which are covered by KF -nil
curves The structure of each such surface is described by classification IIV1 IIV2
and Corollary IIVI17 Our first step is to simplify the situation by contracting
chains of ruled surfaces The next step is to try and exclude the possibility that
the singular fiber of p contains fibrations by elliptic or nodal rational curves with
at least one invariant fiber This can be achieved with good success indeed there
may be at most one such Riccati foliation which is anyway rather isolated from the
remaining KF -nil curves Finally we observe that the only class of surfaces we have
not mentioned is
Definition VII1 A irreducible component F of the singular fiber of p is called
small Kronecker if
bull (FFF ) is birational to a Kronecker vector field on P1 timesP1 and
bull The two rulings of this P1 timesP1 are cohomologous inside X
The name comes from the fact that contraction of a small Kronecker yields a node
in the ambient threefold which admits a small resolution In fact in many respects
these fiber components behave very much like rigid KF -nil curves
50 FEDERICO BUONERBA
We start by getting rid of some fiber components which are ruled by KF -nil gener-
ically smooth rational curves
Proposition VII2 Notation as in Set-up VI13 there exists a sequence of flops
and divisorial contractions c X 99KX + such that
bull X + is a smooth stack
bull let S+ sub X + be an irreducible invariant divisor that contains a positive-
dimensional family of invariant rational curves along which KF+ vanishes
Then S+ is either birationally ruled by nodal rational curves or it is a small
Kronecker
Proof We focus first on contracting components of the singular fiber of p Consider
the following algorithm If there is no birationally ruled component different from
the ones listed in the second item we are done otherwise pick one such F and let
C denote the general member of the ruling If the cohomology class [C] is inde-
composable F is minimal Otherwise [C] = [C1] + [C2] where Ci are rational and
intersect KF trivially After finitely many steps we have a decomposition as a finite
sum of indecomposables [C] =sumn
i=0 ni[Ci] where every Ci is rational intersects KF
trivially We have two cases
bull There exists k such that Ck deforms in a birationally ruled necessarily min-
imal surface Fk
bull Every Ci has anti-ample normal bundle
In the first case denote by X rarr X1 the contraction of Fk along |Ck| and relpace
X by X1 Since Fk is minimal smoothness of the ambient stack is preserved unless
Fk is a small Kronecker This is however impossible if n ge 2 if Fk were a small
Kronecker then Ck deforms away from Fkminus1 so then Fkminus1 middot Ck = 0 on the other
hand Fkminus1 intersects the other ruling of Fk positively
In the second case flop C1 middot middot middot Cn in this order The transform of F is minimal and
not a small Kronecker so it can be contracted along its ruling preserving ambient
smoothness By induction on the Picard rank of X after finitely many steps this
algorithm ends Call X the output of this algorithm
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 51
Let S subX be an invariant divisor with a generically smooth ruling Then pS S rarr∆ is flat and after flopping finitely many rational curves in S cap plowastS(0) the resulting
pS is smooth Hence we can contract S along pS After finitely many steps the
Proposition is proven
For ease of notation in the sequel we call X the output of the previous proposition
Notice that there might still be divisors carrying a pencil of nodal rational curves
both inside and outside the singular fiber of p
We can start analyzing configurations of fiber components where the restriction of
F is not of general type We need some notation whose reason to exist will be clear
shortly
Definition VII3 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
along which KF is not big F is called special Riccati if
bull F is minimal
bull There exists a morphism s F rarr B onto a curve whose fibers are nodal
rational curve
bull F is transverse to the general fiber of s in particular KF is numerically
trivial along s
bull At least one fiber of s is invariant
bull There exists a section σ of s which is invariant and does not coincide with
the nodal locus of F
In particular the intersections of σ with invariant fibers of s isolated singularities
of F the node of F all coincide There may be fibers of s fully contained in sing(F )
in which case they are everywhere transverse to the saturated foliation
The definition looks nasty but special Riccati components have a rather simple
origin as the following proof shows
Lemma VII4 Let F be special Riccati Up to base change by an etale double cover
Bprime rarr B there is a natural isomorphism F norm simminusrarr BprimetimesP1 and the restriction of F
to F norm is birational to the projection onto P1
52 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proof We work over the normalization F norm Denote by Bprime the pre-image of the
node of F which is an etale double cover of B and let f denote an invariant fiber
of s with lowast = σ cap f Observe that F norm carries a Riccati foliation with 3 invariant
curves through lowast - namely σ f and a component of Bprime Hence FF has a log-canonical
singularity in lowast On F norm perform a weighted blow-up in each log-canonical singu-
larity followed by the contraction of the transforms of the corresponding fibers Let
s+ F+ rarr B denote the output of this operation If the proper transform of Bprime is
connected replace F+ by its base change under Bprime rarr B Hence we can assume Bprime
is the disjoint union of two sections of s+ and the transform of σ is a third section
which is disjoint from Bprime Therefore F+ = P1 timesBprime and the foliation restricts to the
projection onto P1
Next we describe those surfaces which cannot appear as components of the sin-
gular fiber X0
Definition VII5 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
along which KF is not big F is called illusory if
bull there exists a morphism t F rarr B onto a curve
bull KF is trivial along t
bull For any other fiber component F prime the intersection F cap F prime is either empty or
contained in a fiber of t
We give examples of illusory fiber components
Lemma VII6 The following fiber components are necessarily illusory
bull t is elliptic the foliation is either parallel to t or turbolent with at least one
invariant fiber
bull t is a nodal ruling the foliation is either parallel to t or transverse to t with
at least one invariant fiber and not birational to a special Riccati VII3
Proof Let f = F cap F prime for some fiber component F prime It is F -invariant
Assume t and F are parallel and f is transverse to both Then necessarily f subesing(F ) and KF is positive along the fibers of t contradiction
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 53
Assume t and F are generically transverse and f is transverse to t Let e be an
invariant fiber of t then ecap f isin sing(F ) hence t must be a family of nodal rational
curves and ecapf coincides with the node of e - otherwise KF would be positive along
t But this implies F is special Riccati contradiction
We proceed to show that illusory fibers do not exist
Lemma VII7 Let F be an illusory fiber component then every fiber of t is irre-
ducible If F prime is any fiber component intersecting F non-trivially then F prime is illusory
Proof Assume t has a reducible fiber f Then we can write f = f prime cup f primeprime where f prime
is irreducible and f primeprime is a disjoint union of chains of rational curves In particular
every subscheme supported on f primeprime is rigid in X f prime is rational and smooth iff f is a
cycle of rational curves hence the foliation on F is parallel to t and the choice of f prime
is not unique otherwise f prime is nodal or elliptic Let X 99KX + denote the flop of the
irreducible components of f primeprime in any order The proper transform f prime+ (below in red)
is the irreducible fiber of the induced morphism t+ F+ rarr B Since f primeprime+ intersects
f prime+ and is not contained in F+ there exists a component F prime of the fiber of p+ such
that F+ cap f prime+ 6= empty Since F+ is illusory necessarily F+ cap F prime = f prime+ Moreover F+
and F prime are the only fiber components intersecting f prime+ again because F+ is illusory
We deduce that F+ middot f prime+ = F prime middot f prime+ = 0 and therefore f prime+ is nef inside F prime It follows
that he restriction of F+ to F prime is not of general type and by the classification of
foliated surfaces [McQ08] necessarily f prime+ deforms inside F prime and defines a fibration
u F prime rarr Bprime In particular f prime+ is an irreducible fiber of u This is however impossible
since u contracts all the components of f primeprime+ contained in F prime (below in blue) and by
definition of F prime there exists at least one such component This proves that every
fiber of t is irreducible The following depicts the situation
F prime F+
f prime+
f primeprime+
t+u
54 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Concerning the second statement we only need to check the third condition for F prime
to be illussory namely that every other fiber component F primeprime intersecting F prime does
so along the fibers of u If F primeprime intersects F prime transversely to u then F primeprime intersects F
non-trivially and transversely to t as well absurd
Corollary VII8 Illusory components do not exist
Proof By the above lemma the existence of one illusory component implies that
every irreducible component of the singular fiber of p is illusory contradicting that
KF is big
We can now focus on fiber components that do appear
Corollary VII9 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
containing an invariant curve C which moves and such that KF middot C = 0 Then
following the classification [McQ08] we have two cases
(1) The minimal model of F is a special Riccati component
(2) F is a small Kronecker
Proof Certainly the ones listed are the only cases where C is KF -nil We have to
exclude the possibility that C is invariant inside sing(F ) By Proposition IVII3
such C would be rational with at most one node Since we already contracted at
the beginning of the present subsection all ruled surfaces necessarily C is nodal
However by opcit C cannot intersect any other fiber component of X0 which
implies the absurdity that X0 = F
We proceed to show that special Riccati components are rather isolated in the
fiber
Lemma VII10 Let F be a special Riccati component If F prime is a fiber component
intersecting F non-trivially then it does so transversely to s Morover there is
exactly one such F prime
Proof After finitely many flops we can assume that every fiber of s is irreducible
By the non-existence of illusory components there exists a fiber component F lowast with
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 55
σprime = F cap F prime transverse to s If F primeprime is a fiber component with f = F cap F primeprime a fiber
of s then we claim f sube sing(F ) If not then since KF middot f = 0 and σprime is invariant
necessarily σprimecap f is the node of f But then the existence of F primeprime contradicts that p is
snc Hence f sube sing(F ) so then around the node of f there are 3 fiber components -
two branches coming from F one from F primeprime - and sing(F ) has 2 branches - namely f
This is impossible by our case analysis ni (1)c ni (2)c The very same reasoning
establishes the uniqueness of F prime
Lemma VII11 Let F be as in the previous Lemma If C is a connected curve
with KF middot C = 0 then it is disjoint from F
Proof After finitely many flops s is irreducible and C intersects F transversely away
from its node Moreover lowast = C cap F isin sing(F ) and we deduce that the fiber of s
through lowast is fully contained in the singular locus of F This contradicts Proposition
IVII3 since such fiber is nodal
We conclude by observing the obvious
Lemma VII12 Let F be a small Kronecker Then there exists a contraction
c X rarr X prime which is an isomorphism away from F and contracts F along one
of its rulings Necessarily X prime is not projective since every global Cartier divisor
intersects c(F ) trivially On the other hand in a formal neighborhood of c(F ) there
exist Cartier divisors intersecting it non-trivialliy
As such the contribution coming from non-rigid curves is rather poor there are
curves moving in the general fiber there are special Riccati components disjoint from
any other invariant curve intersecting KF trivially there are small Kroneckers who
can be contracted to curves We shall see in the next section that the complications
arising from the contraction of such non-rigid curves is purely psychological and
totally harmless
56 FEDERICO BUONERBA
VI Contractions and proof of the Main Theorem
In this section we contract all invariant curves along which KF is zero thereby
establishing the existence of canonical models I First we contract non-rigid curves
as described in the previous subsection
bull Small Kroneckers along either ruling Albeit this destroys projectivity of
the ambient threefold there still exist Cartier divisors defined in a formal
neighborhood of the base curve that intersect it non-trivially
bull Families of irreducible nodal rational curves which are flat over ∆ This
creates elliptic singularities on the general fiber of p which are disjoint from
other invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
bull Special Riccati again families of irreducible nodal rational curves fully con-
tained in X0 This creates elliptic singularities disjoint from other invariant
curves intersecting KF trivially
We can summarize our situation by way of
Set-up VI1 X is a 3-dimensional DM stack with at worst elliptic singularities
F a foliation by curves with canonical singularities which is not Q-Cartier in a
neighborhood of Xsing
There exists a proper morphism p X rarr ∆ smooth off 0 isin ∆ F restricts to a
foliation on every fiber of p it has canonical singularities on the very general fiber
of p and log-canonical singularities on every fiber of p KF is big and nef on every
irreducible component of every fiber of p
Let C be the invariant sub-scheme along which KF is not big then C is a curve
fully contained in the smooth locus X0capXsmooth every sub-curve of C has anti-ample
normal bundle the 1-simplex of its dual graph is a tree and detailed configurations
of such are referenced in set-up VI13
We proceed to contract such C We assume that along C the semi-simple field has
only rational eigenvalues and moreover no component of C is inside the foliation
singularity The other two cases - irrational eigenvalues and presence of singular
component - are strictly easier and can be obtained with the very same method
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 57
The proof takes place in the formal completion around C = C free cup C axes The
former is a disjoint union of trees of non-double curves For each non-double C let
F (C) denote the unique component of X0 containing it The latter is a tree of double
curves each with two triple points all contained in the same irreducible FC axes Each
tree of non-double curves touches C axes in one point through a LC-center In order
to construct the contraction we will use Artinrsquos celebrated criterion in the following
form
Fact VI1 ([Ar70]) Let X be an irreducible algebraic space i Y rarr X a closed
subspace of pure codimension 1 and f Y rarr Y0 a proper morphism with flowastOY = OY0
Let X denote the formal completion of X along Y and assume there exists a Cartier
divisor D in X which is supported on Y and is f -anti-ample Then there exists a
proper morphism of algebraic spaces F X rarr X0 which is an isomorphism away
from Y and such that ilowastF = f
Now we use the tree structure of C to construct a suitable divisor to which apply
Artinrsquos theorem Namely consider the following inductive defintion
(35) C0 = C axes F0 = FC axes
For k ge 0 assume Ck Fk are defined
bull Let Ck+1 denote the union of irreducible components of C that intersect Fk
non-trivially but are not contained in cupilekFibull Let Fk+1 denote the reduced sum (
sumCsubeCk+1
F (C))red
This process stops with a collection C1 middot middot middotCN of curves and F1 middot middot middot FN of reduced
divisors
Lemma VI1 We have the following identities
(36)
Fk middot C lt 0 for every C sube Ck
(F0 + F1) middot C le 0 for every C sube C0
(Fkminus1 + Fk + Fk+1) middot C = 0 for every C sube Ck 1 lt k lt N
(FNminus1 + FN) middot C lt 0 for every C sube CN
58 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proof The first is just the fact that every component of C is rigid The remaining
three follow from X0 middot C = 0 but the last one requires further justification Indeed
if C sube CN N gt 0 then C is one end of a tree of non-double curves In particular
there exists a foliation singularity lowast isin C disjoint from any other component of
C and LClowast is transverse to C This implies LClowast middotC gt 0 which together with
(FNminus1 + FN + LClowast) middot C = 0 concludes the proof
Let ε1 middot middot middot εN isin Qgt0 and define
(37) F Nminusk = (1 + ε1 + middot middot middot+ εk)FNminusk
bull If C sube CN we have
(38) (F Nminus1 + F
N) middot C = ε1FNminus1 middot C + (FNminus1 + FN) middot C
bull If C sube CNminusk 1 lt k lt N we have
(39)
(F Nminuskminus1 + F
Nminusk + F Nminusk+1) middot C =
(1 + middot middot middot+ εk)(FNminuskminus1 + FNminusk + FNminusk+1) middot C minus εkFNminusk+1 middot C + εk+1FNminuskminus1 middot C =
minus εkFNminusk+1 middot C + εk+1FNminuskminus1 middot C
bull If C sube C0 we have
(40) (F 0 + F
1) middot C = εNF0 middot C + (Nminus1sumj=0
εj)(F0 + F1) middot C
It is clear that provided
(41) 1 gtgt ε1 gtgt middot middot middot gtgt εN
the divisor F =sumF k is negative along every component of C
This proves the existence of the contraction and concludes the proof of the Main
Theorem I
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 59
VII Moduli space of foliated surfaces of general type
In this section we study the modular variation of foliated surfaces of general type
The upshot is that it is possible to define a functor which is representable separated
and every irreducible component is proper The main issue here is that the supporting
surface of a foliated canonical model may well fail to be projective indeed KF is not
Q-Gorenstein in general Hence in order to proceed via standard methods [Ko17]
we have to parametrize our canonical models together with a suitable projective
resolution
Definition VII13 Let (SF ) be a foliated proper reduced purely 2-dimensional
DM stack Assume S has only normal crossing singularities in codimension 1 that
F has log-canonical foliation singularities and that KF is big and nef on at least
one of the irreducible components of S If whenever KF middot C = 0 for some curve C
then C moves in an irreducible component of S and no member of such deformation
is F -invariant then (SF ) is called foliated canonical model of general type
Clearly foliated canonical models are exactly the stable degenerations appearing
as the central fiber of our Main Theorem I Their lack of projectivity has two sources
namely the contraction of cycles of smooth KF -nil curves and of trees of cuspidal
ones Singularities arising from cycles behave well in families namely they always
deform into the general fiber Those arising from cuspidal curves on the other hand
tend to be rather isolated inside the degenerate fiber
Observe that the deformation theory of a foliated surface is rather simple suppose
given an infinitesimal C-algebras extension 0 rarr J rarr Ae rarr A rarr 0 and (SF )
a foliated surface flat over Spec(A) then the obstruction to lifting to Ae can be
understood in three simple steps
(1) Deformation of the underlying surface S once a deformation Se rarr Spec(Ae)
is given
(2) Deformation of the line bundle KF by the exponential sequence
(42) 0rarr J otimes OS rarr OlowastSerarr OlowastS rarr 0
obstructions lie in H2(SOS)otimes J once a deformation of KF is given
60 FEDERICO BUONERBA
(3) Deformation of the defining section OS rarr KF otimes TS obstructions lie in
H1(SKF otimes TS)otimes J
Now we have
Definition VII14 Let (SF ) be a foliated canonical model of general type A
proper birational morphism q (SF )proj rarr (SF ) is called its projective resolution
if
bull Every irreducible component of Sproj is smooth
bull The exceptional locus of q is a disjoint union of cycles of KFproj-nil smooth
curves and trees of KFproj-nil curves each of which has a non-trivial cuspidal
singularity
bull In a neighborhood of every q-exceptional cycle not only Sproj but also its
moduli space is smooth
We need a few remarks about projective resolutions
(1) Projective resolutions are always unique Indeed the only possible ambiguity
could lie in some extra smooth irreducible components in the exceptional
locus This is forbidden by definition in the trees of cuspidal curves it is
also forbidden by way of the third item in cycles of smooth ones ie on
algebraic surfaces the minimal resolution is unique
(2) Denote by E the collection of q-exceptional cycles Then there exist ε δ isinQgt0 such that KFproj
minus εE + δKSprojis ample by Nakai-Moishezon
(3) Deformations of a projective resolution of a foliated canonical model are
canonically identified with deformations of the underlying birational mor-
phism q Sproj rarr S followed by a deformation of the foliation F
We are now ready to construct a moduli functor for foliated surfaces more precisely
for projective resolutions of foliated canonical models of general type For m dN isinN and ε δ isin Qgt0 let
(43) MmdNεδ (C-schemes)rarr (sets)
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 61
be defined by MmdNεδ(S) = Diagrams
(44) (X F )projqminusrarr (X F )
pminusrarr S
Where
bull Both p and p q are flat and proper
bull For every closed point s isin S the induced morphism qs is the projective
resolution of (X F )s which is a foliated canonical model of general type
bull Denote by Es the collection of exceptional cycles of qs By our Main Theorem
I there is a fibrewise divisor E subXproj flat over S restricting to Es for every
s isin S
bull Let j W rarr Xproj denote the maximal closed subscheme away from which
KFprojand KXprojS are locally free Then
(45) L [m] = (jlowast(KFprojotimes OXproj
(minusεE )otimesKδXprojS
)otimesm)oror
is flat over S and commutes with base-change
bull L [m] is very ample of degree d on every fiber and defines an embedding into
PNS
We are now ready for
Theorem VII15 The functor MmdNεδ is represented by a separated algebraic
space each of whose irreducible components is proper
Proof We show that our functor satisfies Artinrsquos conditions [Ar74 Corollary 54] By
definition condition 1) and 4) hold while our previous remark on foliated obstruction
theory shows that 3) is true
We proceed to show 2) namely effectivity of formal deformations for MmdNεδ
What follows owes much to Artinrsquos [A74rsquo] Let T be a complete C-algebra Tn its
n-truncation so that Tsimminusrarr limlarrminusTn and finally qn isinMmdNεδ(Spec(Tn)) a compatible
sequence For each n there is a maximal open set Un sube Xprojn where qn is an
isomorphism denote by sn Cn rarr Zn the restriction of qn to the complement of Un
Clearly sn is projective over Spec(Tn)
62 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Denote by X C etc the formal algebraic spaces obtained as limits of Xn Cn
etc Then Xproj sub PNˆSpec(T )
hence by Grothendieckrsquos existence Theorem we find
bull a flat projective family (X F )proj rarr Spec(T ) resp a closed subscheme
C subXproj whose completion is Xproj resp C
bull a scheme Z whose completion is Z and a morphism s C rarr Z everything
being projective over Spec(T )
Further we have a formal contraction limminusrarr qn C rarr Z hence the main theorem
of [Ar70] gives algebraic contraction (X F )proj rarr (X F ) This proves the repre-
sentability of MmdNεδ The properness and separability of each irreducible com-
ponent can be checked using valutative criteria indeed properness is the content of
our Main Theorem I separatedness follows from the uniqueness of foliated canonical
models of general type and their projective resolution
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tic Annals of Math 149 No 1 (Jan 1999) pp 253-286 httpwwwjstororg
stable121025 httpsarxivorgabsmath9901149
[KM97] S Keel S Mori Quotients by groupoids Annals of Math 145 (1997) pp
193-213 httpwwwjstororgstable2951828seq=1page_scan_tab_contents
httparxivorgabsalg-geom9508012
[Ko17] J Kollar Families of varieties of general type httpswebmathprincetonedu
~kollarbookmodbook20170720pdf
[LN02] A Lins Neto Some examples for the Poincare and Painleve problems Annales sci-
entifiques de lrsquoENS 352 (2002) 231-266 httparchivenumdamorgarticle
ASENS_2002_4_35_2_231_0pdf
[McQ12] M McQuillan Foliated Mori Theory amp Hyperbolicity of Algebraic Surfaces http
wwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillahomehtml
[McQ98] M McQuillan Diophantine approximation and foliations Inst Hautes Etudes Sci
Publ Math 87 (1998) 121-174 httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafiles
ihespdf
[McQ05rsquo] M McQuillan Bloch hyperbolicity preprint httpwwwmatuniroma2it
~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ05] M McQuillan Semi-stable reduction of foliations IHES pre-print IHESM0502
(2005) httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ05rdquo] M McQuillan Uniform Uniformisation IHES pre-print (2005) IHES M0503 http
wwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ08] M McQuillan Canonical models of foliations Pure Appl Math Q 4
(2008) no 3 Special Issue In honor of Fedor Bogomolov Part 2 877-1012
httpintlpresscomsitepubfiles_fulltextjournalspamq20080004
0003PAMQ-2008-0004-0003-a009pdf
[MP13] M McQuillan D Panazzolo Almost etale resolution of foliations J Diff Geom 95
(2013) pp 279-319 httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesmp1bispdf
[Pe02] JV Pereira On the Poincare Problem for Foliations of General Type Mathematische
Annalen 323 no 2 pp217-226 2002 httpsarxivorgabsmath0104185
[PS16] JV Pereira R Svaldi Effective algebraic integration in bounded genus preprint
httpsarxivorgabs161206932
64 FEDERICO BUONERBA
[Re83] M Reid Minimal models of canonical threefolds in rdquoAlgebraic Varieties and Ana-
lytic Varietiesrdquo Adv Stud Pure Math vol 1 S Iitaka ed Kinokuniya and North-
Holland 1983 pp 131-180 httpwwwmathsedacukcheltsovquotientpdf
reid2pdf
[Se67] A Seidenberg Reduction of singularities of the differential equation Ady = Bdx Amer
J Math 89 (1967) 248-269 httpwwwjstororgstable2373435
[SB83] N Shepherd-Barron Degenerations with numerically effective canonical divisor The
Birational Geometry of Degenerations (R Friedman and D Morrison eds) Progr
Math no 29 Birkhuser 1983 pp 33-84
[Vis89] A Vistoli Intersection theory on algebraic stacks and on their moduli spaces
Invent Math (1989) pp 613-670 httplinkspringercomarticle101007
2FBF01388892page-1
Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences New York University 251 Mercer
Street New York NY 10012 USA
E-mail address buonerbacimsnyuedu
- I Introduction
- II Preliminaries
-
- III Operations on Deligne-Mumford stacks
- IIII Width of embedded parabolic champs
- IIIII Gorenstein foliation singularities
- IIIV Foliated adjunction
- IIV Canonical models of foliated surfaces with canonical singularities
- IIVI Canonical models of foliated surfaces with log-canonical singularities
- IIVII Set-up
-
- III Invariant curves and singularities local description
-
- IIII `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F) not isolated
- IIIII `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F) isolated
- IIIIII Local consequences
-
- IV Invariant curves along which KF vanishes
-
- IVI KF-nil curves
- IVII Invariant curves inside `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F)
-
- V Configurations
-
- VI Configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
- VII Configurations of non-rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
-
- VI Contractions and proof of the Main Theorem
- VII Moduli space of foliated surfaces of general type
- References
-
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 3
In particular a sequence of bigger and bigger invariant disks not converging in the
Gromov-Hausdorff sense to a disk with bubbles defines in the limit a closed invari-
ant measure wich intersects the foliated canonical bundle trivially
Hyperbolicity phenomena in presence of algebraic foliations can therefore be poten-
tially studied via the birational geometry of the foliated canonical bundle obstruc-
tions locate on special invariant currents along which the foliated canonical bundle
fails to be positive Such point of view was extensively developed by McQuillan and
the present work is a contribution to it The reader is invited to consult the webpage
[McQ12] for a complete discussion around this theory
As it became clear in McQuillanrsquos proof of the Green-Griffiths conjecture for c21 gt c2
the birational geometry of the foliated canonical bundle is amenable much in the
same spirit as that of the absolute canonical bundle is to a complete classification in
dimension 2 Such classification was completed in [McQ08] where an exhaustive list
of foliated surfaces with canonical Gorenstein singularities is provided Interestingly
there are some important differences between the foliated theory and the absolute
theory First abundance fails namely there exist examples of foliated canonical
bundles whose numerical Kodaira dimension and Kodaira dimension differ Second
vanishing theorems of Kodaira type fail Third foliated minimal models may have
quotient singularities while foliated canonical models may have elliptic singularities
which are never Q-Gorenstein and may even fail to be projective
The achievement of the classification in dimension 2 along with its important ap-
plications to hyperbolicity of algebraic surfaces call for a systematic study of the
birational geometry of higher-dimensional algebraic varieties foliated by curves We
refer again to [McQ12] for a discussion of the main open problems in this direction
namely existence of canonical resolution of singularities and the residue lemma in
dimensions ge 4
The present work is devoted to an in-depth study of 1-dimensional families of foliated
algebraic surfaces of general type We develop a profusion of techniques that can
be systematically used in the study of general foliated 3-folds while we settle some
of the outstanding open problems in the theory of foliated surfaces More precisely
4 FEDERICO BUONERBA
we prove the stable reduction theorem in this context and deduce the existence of
canonical compactifications of the moduli of foliated surfaces of general type
Main Theorem Let p (X F ) rarr ∆ be a one-dimensional projective semi-
stable family of foliated orbifold surfaces whose total space has Gorenstein canonical
foliation singularities such that KF is big and nef Then there exists a digram of
birational maps
(X F ) 99K (X F )canpcanminusminusrarr ∆
Where
bull The dashed arrow is a composition of foliated flops including contractions of
divisors and curves along foliation-invariant centers
bull The singularities of (X F )can not contained in the central fiber of pcan define
sections of pcan on its general fiber these singularities are elliptic featuring a
minimal resolution with exceptional divisor a foliation-invariant nodal ratio-
nal curve Along such singularities Fcan is not Q-Gorenstein and pcan might
fail to be projective
bull The singularities of (X F )can contained in the central fiber of pcan are de-
scribed as follows
(1) One-dimensional They admit a resolution with foliation-invariant ir-
reducible exceptional divisor ruled by nodal rational curves on whose
normalization the foliation is birationally isotrivial
(2) Zero-dimensional They admit a resolution with exceptional set a tree
of foliation-invariant quadric surfaces and orbifold curves such that
quadric surfaces have cohomologous rulings and the foliation restricts
to a Kronecker vector field each orbifold curve is unibranch with at
most one singular point has universal cover whose normalization has
rational moduli it is either fully contained in sing(F ) or it intersects
sing(F ) in two points
bull The birational transform KFcan of KF is numerically big and nef and sat-
isfies if KFcan middot C = 0 for some curve C sub Xcan then C is not foliation-
invariant
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 5
The output (X F )can is called foliated canonical model of (X F )
The core of the previous statement is that there exists an algorithmic birational
transformation (X F ) 99K (X F )can which contracts all the foliation-invariant
curves which intersect KF trivially One might wonder about the origin of the
notion of foliated canonical model In the absolute theory a canonical model of a
variety of general type is one where the canonical bundle is as positive as possible
In the foliated theory we only care about positivity against invariant measures - on
a philosophical level this is due to the fact that obstructions to hyperbolicity lie
on such measures Moreover we can provide an example which shows clearly that
this is the good notion of foliated canonical model Consider the algebraic foliation
defined by the natural projection
π M g1 rarrM g
The foliated canonical bundle coincides with the relative canonical bundle ωπ which
is big and nef but not semi-ample in characteristic zero as shown by Keel in [Ke99]
Its base locus coincides with the nodal locus of π and it is not even known what
type of analytic structure if any can be supported by the topological contraction
of such nodal locus From a purely algebraic perspective π cannot be improved to
a better foliated canonical model Fortunately this agrees with our definition since
the nodal locus of π is certainly not a foliation-invariant subvariety
We can now discuss the structure of the paper and of the proof
In Section II we first review the basic definitions and constructions to be used sys-
tematically in the proof These include some operations of general character on
Deligne-Mumford stacks such as building roots and Vistoli covers as well as net
completion we then turn to the basic definitions of birational foliation theory namely
the notion of (log)canonical Gorenstein singularities and the adjunction formula for
invariant curves we continue by recalling McQuillanrsquos classification of foliated sur-
faces with canonical Gorenstein singularities we conclude by describing out how to
extend McQuillanrsquos 2-dimensional theory to the more general case of foliated surfaces
with log-canonical Gorenstein singularities - in particular we classify the singularities
of the underlying surface construct minimal amp canonical models and describe the
6 FEDERICO BUONERBA
corresponding exceptional sets The situation differs considerably from the canoni-
cal world indeed surfaces supporting log-canonical foliation singularities are cones
over smooth curves of arbitrary high genus and embedding dimension and even on
smooth surfaces invariant curves through a log-canonical singularity might acquire
cusps of arbitrary high multiplicity It is worth pointing out at this stage that one
of the main technical tools we use all time is the existence of Jordan decomposition
of a vector field in a formal neighborhood of a singular point This allows us to
decompose a formal vector field part as a sum partS + partN of commuting formal vector
fields where partS is semi-simple with respect to a choice of regular parameters and
partN is formally nilpotent
In Section III we compute the local structure of a foliation by curves tangent to a
semi-stable morphism of relative dimension 2 In particular we focus on the local
configurations of foliation-invariant curves through a foliation singularity We achieve
this by distinguishing all possible 18 combinations of number of eigenvalues of partS
at the singularity whether the singularity is 0 or 1-dimensional number of local
branches of the central fiber of the semi-stable morphism through the singularity
This classification is the first step towards the proof of the Main Theorem
In Section IV we study the geometry of foliation-invariant curves along which KF
vanishes this is technically the most important chapter of the paper To understand
the problem observe that the locus of points in ∆ over which the foliation has a
log-canonical singularity can be non-discrete even dense in its closure If we happen
to find a rigid curve in a smooth fiber of p that we wish to contract then the only
possibility is that the rigid curve is smooth and rational In particular we have to
prove that rigid cuspidal rational curves dotting KF trivially cannot appear in the
smooth locus of p even though log-canonical singularities certainly do The first
major result is Proposition IVI6 that indeed invariant curves in the smooth locus
of p that intersect KF trivially are rational with at most one node and do move in a
family flat over the base ∆ The main ingredient of the proof is the existence of Jor-
dan decomposition uniformly in a formal neighborhood of our curve this provides us
with an extremely useful linear relation equation 22 between the eigenvalues of the
Jordan semi-simple fields around the foliation singularities located along the curve -
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 7
linear relation which depends uniquely on the weights of the normal bundle to the
curve This allows to easily show that the width of the curve must be infinite Having
obtained the best possible result for invariant curves in the general fiber we switch
our attention to curves located in the central fiber of p Also in this case we have
good news indeed such curves can be flopped and can be described as a complete
intersection of two formal divisors which are eigenfunctions for the global Jordan
semi-simple field - this is the content of Proposition IVI8 We conclude this im-
portant chapter by describing in Proposition IVII3 foliation-invariant curves fully
contained in the foliation singularity which turn out to be smooth and rational The
proof requires a simple but non-trivial trick and provides a drastic simplification of
the combinatorics to be dealt with in the next chapter
In Section V we globalize the informations gathered in the previous two chap-
ters namely we describe all possible configurations of invariant curves dotting KF
trivially These can be split into two groups configurations all of whose sub-
configurations are rigid and configurations of movable curves The first group is
analyzed in Proposition VI10 and it turns out that the dual graph of such con-
figurations contains no cycles - essentially the presence of cycles would force some
sub-curve to move either filling an irreducible component of the central fiber or in
the general fiber transversely to p The second group is the most tricky to study
however the result is optimal Certainly there are chains and cycles of ruled surfaces
on which p restricts to a flat morphism The structure of irreducible components of
the central fiber which are filled by movable invariant curves dotting KF trivially
is remakably poor and is summarized in Corollary VII9 there are quadric surfaces
with cohomologous rulings and carrying a Kronecker vector field and there are sur-
faces ruled by nodal rational curves on which the foliation is birationally isotrivial
Moreover the latter components are very sporadic and isolated from other curves of
interest indeed curves in the first group can only intersect quadric surfaces which
themselves can be thought of as rigid curves if one is prepared to lose projectivity
of the total space of p As such the contribution coming from movable curves is
concentrated on the general fiber of p and is a well solved 2-dimensional problem
8 FEDERICO BUONERBA
In Section VI we prove the Main Theorem we only need to work in a formal neigh-
borhood of the curve we wish to contract which by the previous chapter is a tree
of unibranch foliation-invariant rational curves The existence of a contraction is
established once we produce an effective divisor which is anti-ample along the tree
The construction of such divisor is a rather straightforward process which profits
critically from the tree structure of the curve
In Section VII we investigate the existence of compact moduli of canonical models
of foliated surfaces of general type The main issue here is the existence of a rep-
resentable functor indeed Artinrsquos results tend to use Grothendieckrsquos existence in
a rather crucial way which indeed relies on some projectivity assumption - a lux-
ury that we do not have in the foliated context Regardless it is possible to define
a functor parametrizing deformations of foliated canonical models together with a
suitably defined unique projective resolution of singularities This is enough to push
Artinrsquos method through and establish the existence of a separated algebraic space
representing this functor Its properness is the content of our Main Theorem
II Preliminaries
This section is mostly a summary of known results about holomorphic foliations by
curves By this we mean a Deligne-Mumford stack X over a field k of characteristic
zero endowed with a torsion-free quotient Ω1X k rarr Qrarr 0 generically of rank 1 We
will discuss the construction of Vistoli covers roots of divisors and net completions
in the generality of Deligne-Mumford stacks a notion of singularities well adapted to
the machinery of birational geometry a foliated version of the adjunction formula
McQuillanrsquos classification of canonical Gorenstein foliations on algebraic surfaces
a classification of log-canonical Gorenstein foliation singularities on surfaces along
with the existence of (numerical) canonical models the behavior of singularities on
a family of Gorenstein foliated surfaces
III Operations on Deligne-Mumford stacks In this subsection we describe
some canonical operations that can be performed on DM stacks over a base field
k We follow the treatment of [McQ05][IaIe] closely Proofs can also be found in
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 9
[Bu] A DM stack X is always assumed to be separated and generically scheme-like
ie without generic stabilizer A DM stack is smooth if it admits an etale atlas
U rarr X by smooth k-schemes in which case it can also be referred to as orbifold
By [KM97][13] every DM stack admits a moduli space which is an algebraic space
By [Vis89][28] every algebraic space with tame quotient singularities is the moduli
of a canonical smooth DM stack referred to as Vistoli cover It is useful to keep in
mind the following Vistoli correspondence
Fact III1 [McQ05 Ia3] Let X rarr X be the moduli of a normal DM stack and
let U rarrX be an etale atlas The groupoid R = normalization of U timesX U rArr U has
classifying space [UR] equivalent to X
Next we turn to extraction of roots of Q-Cartier divisors This is rather straight-
forward locally and can hardly be globalised on algebraic spaces It can however
be globalized on DM stacks
Fact III2 (Cartification) [McQ05 Ia8] Let L be a Q-cartier divisor on a normal
DM stack X Then there exists a finite morphism f XL rarrX from a normal DM
stack such that f lowastL is Cartier Moreover there exists f which is universal for this
property called Cartification of L
Similarly one can extract global n-th roots of effective Cartier divisors
Fact III3 (Extraction of roots) [McQ05 Ia9] Let D subX be an effective Cartier
divisor and n a positive integer invertible on X Then there exists a finite proper
morphism f X ( nradic
D)rarrX an effective Cartier divisor nradic
D subX ( nradic
D) such that
f lowastD = n nradic
D Moreover there exists f which is universal for this property called
n-th root of D which is a degree n cyclic cover etale outside D
In a different vein we proceed to discuss the notion of net completion This is a
mild generalization of formal completion in the sense that it is performed along a
local embedding rather than a global embedding Let f Y rarr X be a net morphism
ie a local embedding of algebraic spaces For every closed point y isin Y there is
a Zariski-open neighborhood y isin U sub Y such that f|U is a closed embedding In
10 FEDERICO BUONERBA
particular there exists an ideal sheaf I sub fminus1OX and an exact sequence of coherent
sheaves
(1) 0rarr I rarr fminus1OX rarr OY rarr 0
For every integer n define Ofn = fminus1OXI n By [McQ05][Ie1] the ringed space
Yn = (YOfn) is a scheme and the direct limit Y = limYn in the category of formal
schemes is the net completion along f More generally let f Y rarr X be a net
morphism ie etale-locally a closed embedding of DM stacks Let Y = [RrArr U ] be
a sufficiently fine presentation then we can define as above thickenings Un Rn along
f and moreover the induced relation [Rn rArr Un] is etale and defines thickenings
fn Yn rarrX
Definition III4 (Net completion) [McQ05 ie5] Notation as above we define the
net completion as Y = lim Yn It defines a factorization Y rarr Y rarr X where the
leftmost arrow is a closed embedding and the rightmost is net
IIII Width of embedded parabolic champs In this subsection we recall the
basic geometric properties of three-dimensional formal neighborhoods of smooth
champs with rational moduli We follow [Re83] and [McQ05rdquo] As such let X
be a three-dimensional smooth formal scheme with trace a smooth rational curve C
Our main concern is
(2) NCXsimminusrarr O(minusn)oplus O(minusm) n gt 0 m ge 0
In case m gt 0 the knowledge of (nm) determines X uniquely In fact there exists
by [Ar70] a contraction X rarrX0 of C to a point and an isomorphism everywhere
else In particular C is a complete intersection in X and everything can be made
explicit by way of embedding coordinates for X0 This is explained in the proof of
Proposition IVI8 On the other hand the case m = 0 is far more complicated
Definition IIII1 [Re83] The width width(C) of C is the maximal integer k
such that there exists an inclusion C times Spec(C[ε]εk) sub Xk the latter being the
infinitesimal neighborhood of order k
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 11
Clearly width(C) = 1 if and only if the normal bundle to C is anti-ample
width(C) ge 2 whenever such bundle is O oplus O(minusn) n gt 0 and width(C) = infinif and only if C moves in a scroll As explained in opcit width can be understood
in terms of blow ups as follows Let q1 X1 rarr X be the blow up in C Its excep-
tional divisor E1 is a Hirzebruch surface which is not a product hence q1 has two
natural sections when restricted to E1 Let C1 the negative section There are two
possibilities for its normal bundle in X1
bull it is a direct sum of strictly negative line bundles In this case width(C) = 2
bull It is a direct sum of a strictly negative line bundle and the trivial one
In the second case we can repeat the construction by blowing up C1 more generally
we can inductively construct Ck sub Ek sub Xk k isin N following the same pattern as
long as NCkminus1
simminusrarr O oplus O(minusnkminus1) Therefore width(C) is the minimal k such that
Ckminus1 has normal bundle splitting as a sum of strictly negative line bundles No-
tice that the exceptional divisor Ekminus1 neither is one of the formal surfaces defining
the complete intersection structure of Ck nor it is everywhere transverse to either
ie it has a tangency point with both This is clear by the description Reidrsquos
Pagoda [Re83] Observe that the pair (nwidth(C)) determines X uniquely there
exists a contraction X rarr X0 collapsing C to a point and an isomorphism every-
where else In particular X0 can be explicitly constructed as a ramified covering of
degree=width(C) of the contraction of a curve with anti-ample normal bundle
The notion of width can also be understood in terms of lifting sections of line bun-
dles along infinitesimal neighborhoods of C As shown in [McQ05rdquo II43] we have
assume NCp
simminusrarr O oplus O(minusnp) then the natural inclusion OC(n) rarr N orCX can be
lifted to a section OXp+2(n)rarr OXp+2
IIIII Gorenstein foliation singularities In this subsection we define certain
properties of foliation singularities which are well-suited for both local and global
considerations From now on we assume X is normal and give some definitions
taken from [McQ05] and [MP13] If Qoror is a Q-line bundle we say that F is Q-
foliated Gorenstein or simply Q-Gorenstein In this case we denote by KF = Qoror
and call it the canonical bundle of the foliation In the Gorenstein case there exists a
12 FEDERICO BUONERBA
codimension ge 2 subscheme Z subX such that Q = KF middot IZ Such Z will be referred
to as the singular locus of F We remark that Gorenstein means that the foliation
is locally defined by a saturated vector field
Next we define the notion of discrepancy of a divisorial valuation in this context let
(UF ) be a local germ of a Q-Gorenstein foliation and v a divisorial valuation on
k(U) there exists a birational morphism p U rarr U with exceptional divisor E such
that OU E is the valuation ring of v Certainly F lifts to a Q-Gorenstein foliation
F on U and we have
(3) KF = plowastKF + aF (v)E
Where aF (v) is said discrepancy For D an irreducible Weil divisor define ε(D) = 0
if D if F -invariant and ε(D) = 1 if not We are now ready to define
Definition IIIII1 The local germ (UF ) is said
bull Terminal if aF (v) gt ε(v)
bull Canonical if aF (v) ge ε(v)
bull Log-terminal if aF (v) gt 0
bull Log-canonical if aF (v) ge 0
For every divisorial valuation v on k(U)
These classes of singularities admit a rather clear local description If part denotes a
singular derivation of the local k-algebra O there is a natural k-linear linearization
(4) part mm2 rarr mm2
As such we have the following statements
Fact IIIII2 [MP13 Iii4 IIIi1 IIIi3] A Gorenstein foliation is
bull log-canonical if and only if it is smooth or its linearization is non-nilpotent
bull terminal if and only if it is log-terminal if and only if it is smooth and gener-
ically transverse to its singular locus
bull log-canonical but not canonical if and only if it is a radial foliation
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 13
Where a derivation on a complete local ring O is termed radial if there ex-
ist x1 middot middot middotxn isin m independent mod m2 and positive integers ni such that part =sumi nixi
partpartxi
In this case the singular locus is the center of a divisorial valuation with
zero discrepancy and non-invariant exceptional divisor
A very useful tool which is emplyed in the analysis of local properties of foliation
singularities is the Jordan decompositon [McQ08 I23] Notation as above the
linearization part admits a Jordan decomposition partS + partN into commuting semi-simple
and nilpotent part It is easy to see inductively that such decomposition lifts canon-
ically over successive infinitesimal neighborhoods Omn+1 rarr Omn and in the limit
we obtain a Jordan decomposition for the linear action of part on the whole complete
ring O
IIIV Foliated adjunction In this subsection we provide an adjunction formula
for foliation-invariant curves Let (X F ) be a Gorenstein foliation and f L rarrX the normalization of a F -invariant one-dimensional stack not contained in the
singular locus Z Denote by χ(L ) its topological Euler characteristic and by sZ(f)
the multiplicity of the ideal sheaf fminus1IZ We have
Fact IIIV1 [McQ05 IId4]
(5) KF middotL = minusχ(L )minus Ramf +sZ(f)
Which is a simple consequence of the isomorphism f lowastKF middotfminus1IZsimminusrarr Ω1
L (minusRamf )
The local contribution of sZ(f)minusRamf computed for a branch of f around a point
p in the support of fminus1IZ is np|Gp|minus1 with np a positive integer and Gp the local
monodromy of L at p Assume now that L has no generic stabilizer and let |L |denote its moduli The previous formula can be rewritten more usefully
Fact IIIV2
(6) KF middotL = 2g(|L |)minus 2 + fminus1IZ +sumf(p)isinZ
(np minus 1)|Gp|minus1 +sumf(p)isinZ
(1minus |Gp|minus1)
This can be easily deduced via a comparison between χ(L ) and χ(|L |) The
adjunction estimate 6 gives a complete description of invariant curves which are not
14 FEDERICO BUONERBA
contained in the singular locus and intersect the canonical KF non-positively A
complete analysis of the structure of KF -negative curves and much more is done
in [McQ05]
Definition IIIV3 A KF -nil curve is an invariant one-dimensional orbifold f
C rarr X such that KF middotf C = 0 and f does not factor through the singular locus
Z of the foliation
By adjunction 6 we have
Proposition IIIV4 The following is a complete list of possibilities for KF -nil
curves f
bull C is an elliptic curve without non-schematic points and f misses the singular
locus
bull |C| is a rational curve f hits the singular locus in two points with np = 1
there are no non-schematic points off the singular locus
bull |C| is a rational curve f hits the singular locus in one point with np = 1 there
are two non-schematic points off the singular locus with local monodromy
Z2Z
bull |C| is a rational curve f hits the singular locus in one point p there is at
most one non-schematic point q off the singular locus we have the identity
(np minus 1)|Gp|minus1 = |Gq|minus1
As shown in [McQ08] all these can happen In the sequel we will always assume
that a KF -nil curve is simply connected We remark that an invariant curve can have
rather bad singularities where it intersects the foliation singularities First it could
fail to be unibranch moreover each branch could acquire a cusp if going through
a radial singularity This phenomenon of deep ramification appears naturally in
presence of log-canonical singularities
IIV Canonical models of foliated surfaces with canonical singularities In
this subsection we provide a summary of the birational classification of Gorenstein
foliations with canonical singularities on algebraic surfaces obtained in [McQ08] Let
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 15
X be a two-dimensional smooth DM stack with projective moduli and F a foliation
with canonical singularities Since X is smooth certainly F is Q-Gorenstein If
KF is not pseudo-effective then foliated bend and break [BM16 Main Theorem]
shows that F is birationally a fibration by rational curves If KF is pseudo-effective
its Zariski decomposition has negative part a finite collection of invariant chains of
rational curves which can be contracted to a smooth DM stack with projective
moduli on which KF is nef At this point those foliations such that the Kodaira
dimension k(KF ) le 1 can be completely classified
Fact IIV1 [McQ08 IV3] Foliations with canonical singularities and Kodaira di-
mension zero are up to a ramified cover and birational transformations defined by
a global vector field The minimal models belong the following list
bull A Kronecker vector field on an abelian surface
bull The suspension of a representation π1(E)rarr PGL2(C) for E an elliptic curve
bull A Kronecker vector field on P1 timesP1
bull An isotrivial elliptic fibration
Fact IIV2 [McQ08 IV4] Foliations with canonical singularities and Kodaira di-
mension one are classified by their Kodaira fibration The linear system |KF | defines
a fibration onto a curve and the minimal models belong to the following list
bull The foliation and the fibration coincide so then the fibration is non-isotrivial
elliptic
bull The foliation is transverse to a projective bundle (Riccati)
bull The foliation is everywhere smooth and transverse to an isotrivial elliptic
fibration (turbolent)
bull The foliation is parallel to an isotrivial fibration in hyperbolic curves
On the other hand for foliations of general type the new phenomenon is that
global generation fails The problem is the appearence of elliptic Gorenstein leaves
these are cycles possibly irreducible of invariant rational curves around which KF
is numerically trivial but might fail to be torsion Assume that KF is big and nef
16 FEDERICO BUONERBA
and consider morphisms
(7) X rarrXe rarrXc
Where the composite is the contraction of all the KF -nil curves and the rightmost
is the minimal resolution of elliptic Gorenstein singularities
Fact IIV3 [McQ08 IV21 IV22] Xe is projective there exists an ample divisor
A and an effective divisor E supported on minimal elliptic Gorenstein leaves such
that KFe = A+E On the other hand Xc might fail to be projective and Fc is never
Q-Gorenstein
We refer to [McQ08 III32] for the descriptions of possible dual graphs of config-
urations of invariant KF -negative or nil curves
IIVI Canonical models of foliated surfaces with log-canonical singulari-
ties In this subsection we study Gorenstein foliations with log-canonical singulari-
ties on algebraic surfaces In particular we will classify the singularities appearing
on the underlying surface prove the existence of minimal and canonical models
describe the exceptional curves appearing in the contraction to the canonical model
Proposition IIVI1 Let (UF ) be a germ of Gorenstein log-canonical foliation
singularity Then U is a cone over a subvariety Y of a weighted projective space
whose weights are determined by the eigenvalues of F Moreover F is defined by
the rulings of the cone
Proof By Fact IIIII2 there exists a closed embedding i U rarr M - with M a
smooth local formal scheme - a regular system of parameters x1 middot middot middot xk on M and
positive integers n1 middot middot middotnk such that F is the restriction of the foliation defined by
part =sumnixi
partpartxi
to U Let I sub OM denote the ideal defining i(U) subM then part(I) sube I
We are going to prove that I is homogeneous where each xi has weight ni Let f isin I
and write f =sum
dge1 fd where fd is homogeneous of degree d in x1 middot middot middot xk - ie fd is
a k-linear combination of monomials xa11 xakk with d =
sumi aini For every N isin N
let FN = (xa11 xakk
sumi aini ge N) This collection of ideals defines a natural
filtration on OM For a = max ai we have mN sube FN sube mNa ie the FN -filtration
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 17
is equivalent to the one by powers of the maximal ideal and therefore OM is also
complete with respect to the FN -filtration
We will prove that if f isin I then fd isin I for every d
Let IN = (I + FN)FN Since OM is complete with respect to the FN -filtration
I = limlarrminus IN Therefore it is enough to show
Claim IIVI2 For every N gt 0 we have fd isin IN sub OMFN for all d lt N
Proof For every g isin IN denote by n(g) the unique integer such that g isin Fn(g) Fn(g)+1 (ie the minimal index d for which fd 6= 0) and by N(g) = N minus n(g)
We will prove the statement of the Claim by induction on N(f) If N(f) = 1 then
f = fNminus1 holds in OMFN and the statement is true If N(f) gt 1 we have part(f) =sumd d middot fd hence consider f1 = D(f)minus n(f)f =
sumdgtn(f)(dminus n(f))fd Tautologically
we have N(f1) lt N(f) and therefore fd isin IN for every d gt n(f) so then fn(f) =
f minussum
dgtn(f) fd isin IN as well
This implies that I is a homogeneous ideal and hence U is the germ of a cone over
a variety in the weighted projective space P(n1 nk)
Corollary IIVI3 If the germ U is normal then Y is normal If U is normal
of dimension 2 the weighted blow-up p U rarr U at the vertex of the cone has only
quotient singularities the exceptional divisor E(simminusrarr Y ) is smooth and everywhere
transverse to the induced foliation Moreover we have
(8) plowastKF = KF + E
Certainly the converse to Proposition IIVI1 fails even on surfaces indeed let
(X F ) be a Gorenstein foliated surface and let C sub X be a generic curve so
in particular smooth and not F -invariant We can assume perhaps after a finite
sequence of simple blow-ups along C that both X and F are smooth in a neigh-
borhood of C C and F are everywhere transverse and C2 lt 0
Proposition IIVI4 The formal contraction q X rarr X0 of C is isomorphic to
the cone over C the projected foliation F0 coincides with that by rulings on the cone
F0 is Q-Gorenstein if C rational or elliptic but not in general
18 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proof F0 is Q-Gorenstein if and only if the bundle KF (C) is trivial on the formal
completion of X along C The obstructions to lift the isomorphism OC(KF +C)simminusrarr
OC over infinitesimal neighborhoods of C lie in H1(C (1 minus n)C + KF ) for every
n isin N These groups vanish for every n isin N if 2g(C) minus 2 + C2 lt 0 (which is
always true for rational or elliptic curves) but do provide non-trivial obstructions in
general
We focus on the minimal model program for Gorenstein log-canonical foliations
on algebraic surfaces Let X be a DM stack of dimension 2 with projective moduli
and F a Gorenstein foliation with log-canonical singularities Denote by LC(F )
the set of points where F is log-canonical and not canonical and by Z the singular
sub-scheme of F We assume LC(F ) 6= empty since the empty case has been completely
settled Moreover we can assume that X is smooth outside LC(F ) Let f C rarrX
be a morphism from a 1-dimensional stack with trivial generic stabilizer such that
fminus1 LC(F ) 6= empty Since we will need them several times we formulate some technical
results
Lemma IIVI5 Let p X rarr X be the resolution of the log-canonical foliation
singularity intersecting C with exceptional divisor E Then
(9) KF middot C minus C middot E = KF middot C
Proof We have
(10) plowastC = C minus (C middot EE2)E
Intersecting this equation with equation 8 we obtain the result
This formula is important because it shows that passing from foliations with log-
canonical singularities to their canonical resolution increases the negativity of inter-
sections between invariant curves and the canonical bundle In fact the log-canonical
theory reduces to the canonical one after resolving the log-canonical singularities
Further we list some strong constraints given by invariant curves along which the
foliation is smooth
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 19
Fact IIVI6 [BB72 Baum-Bott] Let g C rarrX be an F -invariant curve missing
the foliation singularities Then C2 = NF middotg C = 0
Corollary IIVI7 Let g C rarr X be an F -invariant curve missing the foliation
singularities and such that KF middotg C lt 0 Then F is birationally a fibration by
rational curves
Proof By assumption KF middot C = minusχ(C) This together with Baum-Bott IIVI6
imply that KX middot C = minusχ(C) and from usual adjunction we get C2 = 0 Riemann-
Roch gives h0(X mC) ge 2 for m gtgt 0 so then |C| defines a fibration by rational
curves tangent to F
The rest of this subsection is devoted to the construction of minimal and canonical
models in presence of log-canonical singularities The only technique we use is
resolve the log-canonical singularities in order to reduce to the canonical case and
keep track of the exceptional divisor
We are now ready to handle the existence of minimal models
Theorem IIVI8 (Minimal models) Let X be a DM stack of dimension 2 with pro-
jective moduli and F a Gorenstein foliation with log-canonical singularities Then
either
bull F is birational to a fibration by rational curves or
bull There exist a birational contraction q X rarr X0 such that KF0 is nef
Moreover the exceptional curves of q donrsquot intersect LC(F )
Proof Let f be as above ie KF -negative and intersecting LC(F ) If f is not
F -invariant then KF middotC +C2 ge 0 so C moves and KF is not pseudo-effective We
conclude by foliated bend and break [BM16]
If f is F -invariant then foliated adjunction 6 implies that C is rational it intersects
the singular locus of F in exactly one point By Lemma IIVI5 after resolving the
log-canonical singularity KF middot C lt 0 and F is smooth along C We conlude by
Corollary IIVI7
20 FEDERICO BUONERBA
From now on we add the assumption that KF is nef and we want to analyze
those curves f satisfying KF middotf C = 0 By adjunction formula 6 we know that C
has rational moduli and fminus1Z is supported on two points
Remark IIVI9 If fminus1Z = fminus1 LC(F ) then F is birationally a fibration by ratio-
nal curves
Proof After resolving the log-canonical singularities of F along the image of C we
have KF middot C lt 0 and F smooth along C We conclude by Corollary IIVI7
Therefore we can assume that f satisfies the following condition
Definition IIVI10 An invariant curve f C rarr X is called log-contractible if
KF middot C = 0 and it intersects Z in two points one canonical and one log-canonical
not canonical
It follows that f(C) is everywhere unibranch but it might have a cusp in LC(F )
Definition IIVI11 A log-chain is a chain of invariant rational orbifolds C =
cupni=0Ci scheme-like outside the foliation singularities with KF middot C = 0 and such
that
bull C0 is log-contractible with lowast(C ) = C0 cap LC(F ) called the marking of C
bull Ci is disjoint from LC(F ) if i ge 1
There is a unique point t(C ) satisfying t(C ) isin Z cap (Cn Cnminus1) called the tail of
the log-chain
Proposition IIVI12 Let C1C2 be two log-chains intersecting non-trivially Then
lowast(C1) = lowast(C2) and C1 cap C2 = lowast(C1)
Proof It is enough to prove that the two log-chains cannot intersect in their tails
Replace X be the resolution of the at most two markings of the log-chains and Ci
by their proper transforms C1cupC2 = cupmi=0Ri is a connected chain of rational curves
intersecting Z outisde LC(F ) Moreover each of the two extremal curves R0 and
Rm intersects Z in one point only In particular KF middot Ri = 0 for i = 1 middot middot middot m minus 1
and KF middot Ri lt 0 for i = 0m Since we assumed F is not birational to a fibration
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 21
by rational curves there exists a contraction p X rarr X0 with exceptional curve
cupmminus1i=0 Ri However F0 is smooth along plowastRm so by adjunction formula KF0 middotplowastRm lt
0 and we find a contradiction by Corollary IIVI7
Corollary IIVI13 Let C be a maximal connected curve such that KF middotC = 0 and
C cap LC(F ) 6= empty Then C is a union of finitely many log-chains intersecting each
other in their common marking
The following shows a configuration of log-chains sharing the same marking col-
ored in black
We are now ready to state and prove the canonical model theorem in presence of
log-canonical singularities
Theorem IIVI14 (Canonical models) Let X be a proper DM stack of dimension
2 and F a foliation with isolated singularities Moreover assume that KF is nef
that every KF -nil curve is contained in a log-chain and that F is Gorenstein and
log-canonical in a neighborhood of every KF -nil curve Then either
bull There exists a birational contraction p X rarr X0 whose exceptional curves
are unions of log-chains If all the log-contractible curves contained in the log-
chains are smooth then F0 is Gorenstein and log-canonical If furthermore
X has projective moduli then X0 has projective moduli In any case KF0
is numerically ample
bull There exists a fibration p X rarr B over a curve whose fibers intersect
KF trivially Each F -invariant fiber of p intersecting LC(F ) is union of
mutually compatible log-chains
Proof If all the KF -nil curves can be contracted by a birational morphism we are in
the first case of the Theorem Else let C be a maximal connected curve withKF middotC =
0 and which is not contractible It is a union of pairwise compatible log-chains
22 FEDERICO BUONERBA
with marking lowast Replace (X F ) by the resolution of the log-canonical singularity
at lowast with exceptional divisor E Therefore F is Gorenstein and canonical in a
neighborhood of C cupE By equation 9 we have KF middotC = minusC middotE lt 0 and therefore
C can be contracted to a canonical foliation singularity Replace (X F ) by the
contraction of C We have a smooth curve E around which F is smooth and
nowhere tangent to E Moreover
(11) KF middot E = minusE2
And we distinguish cases
bull E2 gt 0 so KF is not pseudo-effective a contradiction
bull E2 lt 0 so the initial curve C is contractible a contradiction
bull E2 = 0 which we proceed to analyze
The following is what we need to handle the third case
Proposition IIVI15 Let (X F ) be a foliation with canonical singularities with
X a smooth 2-dimensional DM stack with projective moduli and KF nef If there
exists a smooth curve E everywhere transverse to F such that KF middot E = E2 = 0
then E moves in a pencil and defines a fibration p X rarr B onto a curve whose
fibers intersect KF trivially
Proof If KF has Kodaira dimension one then its linear system contains an effective
divisor and by Hodge index KF = cE as divisors for some c isin Q+ Hence there is
a fibration onto a curve with fiber E and F is transverse to it by assumption If
KF has Kodaira dimension zero we use the classification IIV1 in all cases but the
suspension over an elliptic curve E defines a product structure on the underlying
surface in the case of a suspension every section of the underlying projective bundle
is clearly F -invariant Therefore E is a fiber of the bundle
This concludes the proof of the Theorem
We remark that the second alternative in the above theorem is rather natural
let (X F ) be a foliation which is transverse to a fibration by rational or elliptic
curves ie a suspension over elliptic curve turbolent Riccati or isotrivial Pick a
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 23
general fiber E of the fibration and blow up any number of points on it The proper
transform E is certainly contractible By Proposition IIVI4 the contraction of E is
Gorenstein and log-canonical Moreover the fiber E has been replaced by a union of
compatible log-chains Note in particular that the number of log-chains appearing
is arbitrary
Corollary IIVI16 Let X be a proper DM stack of dimension 2 and F a Goren-
stein foliation with log-canonical singularities Assume that KF is big and pseudo-
effective Then there exists a birational morphism p X rarr X0 such that C is
exceptional if and only if KF middot C le 0 In particular KF0 is numerically ample
For future applications we spell out
Corollary IIVI17 Hypothesis as in Theorem IIVI14 assume further that X
is everywhere smooth Then in the second alternative of the theorem the fibration
p X rarr B is by rational curves
Proof Indeed in this case the curve E which appears in the proof above as the
exceptional locus for the resolution of the log-canonical singularity at lowast must be
rational By the previous Proposition p is defined by a pencil in |E|
IIVII Set-up In this subsection we prepare the set-up we will deal with in the
rest of the manuscript Briefly we want to handle the existence of canonical models
for a family of foliated surfaces parametrized by a one-dimensional base To this
end we will discuss the modular behavior of singularities of foliated surfaces with
Gorenstein singularities recall McQuillan-Panazzolorsquos resolution of foliation singu-
larities building on the existence of minimal models [McQ05] prepare the set-up
for the sequel
Let us begin with the modular behavior of Gorenstein singularities
Proposition IIVII1 Let (X F ) be a smooth DM stack with a foliation by
curves Assume there exists a flat proper morphism p X rarr C onto an algebraic
curve such that F restricts to a foliation on every fiber of p Then the set
(12) s isin C Fs is log-canonical
24 FEDERICO BUONERBA
is Zariski-open while the set
(13) s isin C Fs is canonical
is the complement to a countable subset of C lying on a real-analytic curve
Proof By Fact IIIII2 being log-canonical is equivalent to the linearized endomor-
phism part IZI2Z rarr IZI
2Z being non-nilpotent where Z is the singular sub-scheme
of the foliation Of course being non-nilpotent is a Zariski open condition The
second statement also follows from opcit since a log-canonical singularity which is
not canonical has linearization with all its eigenvalues positive and rational The
statement is optimal as shown by the vector field on A3xys
(14) part(s) =part
partx+ s
part
party
Next we recall the existence of a functorial canonical resolution of foliation singu-
larities for foliations by curves on 3-dimensional stacks
Fact IIVII2 [MP13] Let X = (XDF ) be a 3-dimensional DM stack with bound-
ary foliated by curves Then there exists a proper birational morphism Xprime rarr X such
that X prime is a smooth DM stack and F prime has only canonical foliation singularities
The original opcit contains a more refined statement including a detailed de-
scription of the claimed birational morphism
In order for our set-up to make sense we mention one last very important result
Fact IIVII3 [McQ05] Let X be a smooth DM stack with projective moduli and F
a foliation by curves with (log)canonical singularities Then there exists a birational
map X 99K Xm obtained as a composition of flips such that Xm is a smooth
DM stack with projective moduli the birational transform Fm has (log)canonical
singularities and one of the following happens
bull KFm is nef or
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 25
bull There exists a fibration Xm rarr B over a smooth base whose fibers are
weighted projective spaces such that Fm is tangent to the fibers and restricts
to a radial foliation on those
Finally we can organize our notation
Set-up IIVII4 (X F ) is a smooth 3-dimensional DM stack with projective mod-
uli F a foliation by curves with canonical singularities such that KF is big and nef
There exists a semi-stable morphism p X rarr ∆ whose moduli is projective onto
the (formal) unit disk F restricts to a foliation on every fiber of p it has canon-
ical singularities on the very general fiber of p and log-canonical singularities on
every fiber of p Our task from now on is to analyze and contract the maximal
foliation-invariant sub-scheme of X along which KF is not ample
III Invariant curves and singularities local description
In this section we give a complete decription of germs of invariant curves that
appear in the formal completion of any point in the set-up IIVII4 Let us replace
X by its formal completion in a point lowast where the foliation is singular F is defined
by a vector field part with Jordan decomposition partS + partN see the end of subsection
IIIII Since [partS partN ] = 0 partN preserves the eigenspaces of partS Moreover the fact that
F is tangent to p translates into
(15) partS(p) = partN(p) = 0
The description of invariant germs of curves through lowast will be achieved via case-by-
case analysis organized by computing what happens for all possible combinations
of the following informations whether the singular locus Z is isolated at lowast the
number of eigenvalues of partS the number of components of the fiber through p
IIII sing(F ) not isolated
ni (1) partS has one eigenvalue
bull We have partS = x partpartx
and partN = f partparty
+ g partpartz
for some functions f g isin (y z)
Moreover partN is non-trivial
26 FEDERICO BUONERBA
bull Z = (x = f = g = 0) is not isolated
(a) The fiber has one component y = 0 Then 0 = partN(y) = f hence
Z = (x = g = 0) The restriction on the fiber is part|(y=0) = x partpartx
+g|(y=0)partpartz
Z has a one-dimensional component contained in the fiber iff g isin (y) in
which case such component is smooth equal to (x = 0) moreover the
foliation on the fiber saturates to a smooth one with invariant curves
z = 0 transverse to Z
Otherwise the foliation is saturated on the fiber and has a saddle-node
singularity
(b) The fiber has two components yz = 0 Then 0 = partN(yz) = zf + yg
hence f = yh g = minuszh for some h and Z = (x = h = 0) The restriction
on a fiber component say y = 0 is part|(y=0) = x partpartxminus zh|(y=0)
partpartz
Z has an
irreducible component contained in y = 0 iff h isin (y) in which case such
component is smooth equal to (x = 0) moreover the foliation on the
fiber saturates to a smooth one with invariant curves z = 0 transverse
to Z
Otherwise the foliation is saturated on the fiber and has a saddle-node
singularity
(c) The fiber has three components xyz = 0 0 = partS(xyz) = xyz a contra-
diction
Summary with one eigenvalue there are either one or two components The
foliation might have a one-dimensional singularity when restricted to a fiber
component in this case such singularity is a smooth curve and the foliation
saturates to a smooth one with invariant curves transverse to the singular-
ity If the singularity is isolated on a fiber component then it is a canonical
saddle-node with at most two invariant branches
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 27
ni (2) partS has two eigenvalues
We have partS = x partpartx
+ λy partparty
and partN(x y z) = k partpartx
+ f partparty
+ g partpartz
for some func-
tions k f g
(a) The fiber has one component z = 0 Then g = 0 k f isin (x y) and
necessarily Z = (x = y = 0) is transverse to the fiber The restriction on
the fiber is saturated and non-degenerate It has canonical singularities
if either partN 6= 0 or λ isin Q+ otherwise it is log-canonical
(b) The fiber has two components xy = 0 Then 0 = partS(xy) hence λ = minus1
Also 0 = partN(xy) hence k = xh f = minusyh g isin (xy) and necessarily
Z = (x = y = 0) coincides with the intersection of the two fiber compo-
nents which is smooth the foliation saturates to a smooth one on each
component with invariant curves transverse to Z
(c) The fiber has three components xyz = 0 hence λ = minus1 Also k = xklowast
f = yf lowast g = zglowast with klowast + f lowast + glowast = 0 and glowast isin (xy) The singularity
Z = (x = y = 0) coincides with the intersection of two of the fiber
components The restriction to either such components saturates to a
smooth foliation with invariant curves transverse to Z the restriction
to z = 0 has a canonical non-degenerate singularity all the invariant
curves are those in xy = 0 transverse to Z
Summary with 2 eigenvalues there can be any number of components With
one component the foliation restricts to a saturated one with a (log)canonical
singularity which moves transversely to p With two components the folia-
tion is not saturated on either and saturates to a smooth one with invariant
curves transverse to the singularity With three components the foliation
is not saturated on two of them and saturates to a smooth one on both
with invariant curves transverse to the singularity the foliation is saturated
and has a canonical non-degenerate singularity on the third component In
28 FEDERICO BUONERBA
the last two cases the singularity is fully contained in an intersection of two
components
ni (3) partS has three eigenvalues But then the singularity is isolated a contradiction
IIIII sing(F ) isolated
i (1) partS has one eigenvalue
bull We have partS = x partpartx
and partN = xk partpartx
+ f partparty
+ g partpartz
for some functions
k f g isin (y z) Moreover partN is non-trivial
bull Z = (x = f = g = 0) is isolated
(a) The fiber has one component y = 0 Then 0 = partN(y) = f and Z cannot
be isolated a contradiction
(b) The fiber has two components yz = 0 Then 0 = partN(yz) = zf + yg so
f = yh g = minuszh with h non-constant Hence Z = (x = h = 0) is not
isolated a contradiction
(c) The fiber has three components xyz = 0 Then 0 = partS(xyz) = xyz a
contradiction
Summary the 1 eigenvalue case does not exist
i (2) partS has two eigenvalues
bull We have partS = x partpartx
+ λy partparty
partN = xk partpartx
+ f partparty
+ g partpartz
for some functions
k f g
bull g is non-trivial and g isin (x y)
bull Z = (x = y = g = 0) is isolated
(a) The fiber has one component z = 0 Then g = 0 a contradiction
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 29
(b) The fiber has two components xy = 0 hence λ = minus1 and g isin (xy z)
the restriction to y = 0 is part|(y=0) = x partpartx
+g|(y=0)partpartz
and necessarily g|(y=0)
is non-vanishing Therefore the restriction to either components is satu-
rated and the singularity is a canonical saddle-node on each of them
The invariant curves are among the axes x = y = 0 x = z = 0 y = z =
0
(c) The fiber has three components xyz = 0 hence λ = minus1 Necessarily
k = xklowast f = yf lowast g = zglowast with klowast + f lowast + glowast = 0 The restriction to
y = 0 is part|(y=0) = x(1 + klowast|(y=0))partpartx
+ zglowast|(y=0)partpartz
since g isin (x y) we have
glowast|(y=0) non-trivial Therefore the restriction to either x = 0 and y = 0
is saturated and the singularity is a canonical saddle-node on each of
them
The restriction to z = 0 is part|(z=0) = x(1 + klowast|(z=0))partpartx
+ y(minus1 + f lowast|(z=0))partparty
therefore the restriction is saturated and has a canonical non-degenerate
singularity
The invariant curves are among the axes x = y = 0 x = z = 0 y = z =
0
Summary with 2 eigenvalues there are either two or three components the
foliation restricts to a canonical saddle-node on two of them and to a non-
degenerate singularity on the third one if it exists All the invariant curves
are in the axes
i (3) partS has three eigenvalues We have partS = x partpartx
+ λy partparty
+ microz partpartz
(a) The fiber has one component y = 0 hence λ = 0 a contradiction
(b) The fiber has two components xy = 0 hence λ = minus1 The restriction to
y = 0 is part|(y=0) = x partpartx
+ microz partpartz
+ partN|(y=0) The singularity is log-canonical
30 FEDERICO BUONERBA
iff micro isin Qgt0 and partN|(y=0)= 0 and in this case the singularity on x = 0 is
canonical non-degenerate Invariant curves are those in y = 0 and the
axis x = z = 0
If the restriction to both fiber components is canonical then it non-
degenerate on both and the invariant curves are contained in the axes
x = y = 0 x = z = 0 y = z = 0
The fiber could be yz = 0 hence λ+micro = 0 It can be analyzed as in the
next item
(c) The fiber has three components xyz = 0 hence 1 + λ + micro = 0 In par-
ticular if λ = cmicro c isin Q+ then λ micro isin Q The restriction to y = 0
is part|(y=0) = x partpartx
+ microz partpartz
+ partN|(y=0) This singularity is log-canonical iff
micro isin Qgt0 and partN|(y=0)= 0 in which case the singularity on both x = 0
and z = 0 is canonical non-degenerate In particular if the singularity
is log-canonical on some fiber component then it is so on exactly one
component and all eigenvalues are rational Invariant curves are those
in y = 0 and the axis x = z = 0
If the restriction to all fiber components is canonical then it non-degenerate
on each of them and the invariant curves are contained in the axes
x = y = 0 x = z = 0 y = z = 0
Summary with 3 eigenvalues there are either two or three fiber components
the foliation restricts to a singular foliation on each of them and it has a
log-canonical singularity on at most one of them in this case all eigenvalues
of the semi-simple field are rational
IIIIII Local consequences We list some corollaries for future reference As al-
ways in this section the statements are local so everything happens in a formal
neighborhood of our point lowast First we state those corollaries we will need to describe
configurations of KF -nil curves
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 31
Definition IIIIII1 An LC-center Π sub X is an irreducible F -invariant formal
hypersurface such that the local vector field generating the foliation when restricted
to Π has semi-simple part with log-canonical singularity or a one-dimensional sin-
gular locus An LC-center with a log-canonical singularity is necessarily an algebraic
component of the singular fiber of p
Corollary IIIIII2 There is at most one LC-center with a log-canonical singularity
through lowast If it exists then all eigenvalues of the semi-simple field at lowast are rational
If there are at least two LC-centers through lowast then there are exactly two and the
foliation singularity is a smooth curve on each of them
Proof Possible cases in which an LC-center with log-canonical singularities appears
ni (2)a i (3)b i (3)c
Corollary IIIIII3 If there is no LC-center thorugh a point lowast then there are at
most three invariant curves through lowast all smooth Any number of them spans a sub-
space of the tangent space at lowast of maximal possible dimension
If there is an LC-center through lowast then there is at most one invariant curve through
lowast and not contained in the LC-center
If there is an LC-center with non-isolated singularity then the singularity is smooth
and all invariant curves contained in the LC-center intersect the singularity trans-
versely
Proof Invariant curves not in an LC-centers with log-canonical singularities are con-
tained in the three axes x = z = 0 x = y = 0 y = z = 0 mentioned in the above
classification The other statements are clear
Corollary IIIIII4 If p is smooth at lowast then Z is one dimensional around lowast
Proof Possible casesni (1)a ni (2)a
In particular if there is no LC-center the situation is the familiary
xz
32 FEDERICO BUONERBA
While if there is an LC-center (pink) with log-canonical singularity it will look like
y
LC-center
While if there is an LC-center with non-isolated singularity (red) it will look like
(the black arrows being invariant curves)
y
LC-center
The next corollary describes one-dimensional components of the foliation singularity
Corollary IIIIII5 If Z0 is a one-dimensional irreducible component of the folia-
tion singularity then it is at worst nodal The foliation when restricted to any fiber
component containing Z0 saturates to a smooth foliation in a neighborhood of Z0
and all the invariant curves are transverse to Z0
If Z0 is contained in exactly one fiber component then the semi-simple field has one
eigenvalue everywhere along Z0
If Z0 lies at the intersection of two fiber components then the semi-simple field has
two constant eigenvalues everywhere along Z0
Moreover if there exist a sequence of invariant curves converging in the compact-
open topology to Z0 then there is generically one eigenvalue along Z0
Proof Possible casesni (1)a ni (1)b ni (2)b ni (2)c Concerning the one-
eigenvalue case invariant curves converging to Z0 can be found in the formal hyper-
surface x = 0
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 33
IV Invariant curves along which KF vanishes
In this section we study in great detail a formal neighborhood of invariant curves
where KF is numerically trivial In the first subsection we deal with KF -nil curves
namely those whose generic point is not contained in the foliation singularity In this
case the normal bundle to the curve determines its formal neighborhood uniquely
and this has plenty of amazing consequences In the second subsection we study
those invariant curves which are contained in the foliation singularity In this case
we are not able to control the full formal neighborhood but important informations
can still be obtained
IVI KF -nil curves In this subsection we study in detail the structure of KF -
nil curves and their formal neighborhoods appearing in the set-up IIVII4 In
particular we will describe a simple process to replace cuspidal KF -nil curves by
net ones prove that the foliation is in the net completion around a net KF -nil curve
defined by a global vector field which admits a global Jordan decomposition deduce
that eigenfunctions for the semi-simple component of such field are also globally
defined on a formal neighborhood
The first important remark is of technical nature and explains how to deal with non-
net KF -nil curves By Proposition IIIV4 this is indeed possible and the images of
such curves will acquire cusp-like singularities It is hard to analyze the geometry
of F around such cuspidal curves and therefore necessary to remove them Let us
assume that C is simply connected with rational moduli f is ramified at 0 isin C
and and denote by X the formal completion along f(C) Then formally around
f(0) the curve f(C) has defining ideal (y xa minus zb) where y = 0 is a fiber of the
fibration p X rarr ∆ containing f(C) x z isin H0(X OX ) restrict to suitable local
coordinates on such fiber and a b ge 2 are coprime integers
Claim IVI1 Let r X ( aradicz = 0) rarr X be the a-th root of z = 0 III3 Then
(rlowastC)norm =∐a
1 C and the induced map rlowastf (rlowastC)norm rarrX ( aradicz = 0) is net
Proof Since r is etale away from z = 0 also rlowastC rarr C is etale away from 0 isin C
Since C 0 is simply connected we have rlowastC rminus1(0) =∐a
1 C 0 This proves
34 FEDERICO BUONERBA
the first statement Let ζ be a function on X ( aradicz = 0) such that ζa = z so then
rlowast(xa minus zb) =prod
ηa=1(x minus ηζb) Every branch is net in 0 and we obtain the second
statement as well
As such upon taking roots we can replace non-net KF -nil invariant curves with
rational moduli by net ones
We now proceed to study net KF -nil curves We will show that the foliation is
defined by a global vector field around a net KF -nil curve with rational moduli and
that such vector field admits a global Jordan decomposition
Proposition IVI2 Notation as in the set-up IIVII4 let f C rarrX be a KF -nil
curve Assume that f is net and let j C rarr C be the net completion along f Then
there exists an isomorphism
(16) OC(KF )simminusrarr OC
In particular there exists a global vector field partf on C that generates F
Proof Since C has rational moduli and is simply connected it has infinite-cyclic
Picard group and we have an isomorphism
(17) OC(KF )simminusrarr OC
Moreover we have a non-canonical splitting of the normal bundle Njsimminusrarr O(minusn) oplus
O(minusm) and we claim that both nm ge 0 Indeed consider the induced semi-stable
fibration C rarr ∆ and let F be the normalization of an irreducible component of a
fiber such that C sub F Consider the exact sequence
(18) 0rarr NCF rarr Nj rarr NFC|C rarr 0
Since KF is nef NCF is not ample since F is a fiber of a fibration also NFC|C is
not ample and this is enough to conclude even though nm may be different from
the degrees of such normal bundles
At this point we can lift the isomorphism 17 over infinitesimal neighborhoods of j
Indeed for every k ge 0 we have an exact sequence
(19) 0rarr Symk ICI2C rarr OCk+1
(KF )rarr OCk(KF )rarr 0
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 35
which shows that the obstruction to lifting the isomorphism lies in
(20) H1(C Symk ICI2C) = H1(C Symk(O(n)oplus O(m))) = 0
From this we can deduce
Proposition IVI3 The vector field partf admits a Jordan decomposition uniformly
along C
Proof The cohomology sequence attached to 19 is
(21) 0rarr H0(C Symk ICI2C)rarr H0(COCk+1
)rarr H0(COCk)rarr 0
Let partk+1 denote the image of partf in End(H0(COCk+1)) Looking at
H0(COCk+1) minusminusminusrarr H0(COCk
)
partk+1
y partk
yH0(COCk+1
) minusminusminusrarr H0(COCk)
we see the canonical Jordan deomposition of partk+1 restricts to that of partk
The above result describes a very useful interplay between normal bundles to
KF -nil curves and the structure of the semi-simple field It turns out that these
informations determine formal neighborhoods uniquely For simplicity let C be
an irreducible component of C without orbifold points Let us assume that part|C is
singular in 0infin Then there exist formal functions x y z at 0 isin C and ξ η ζ at
infin isin C such that x ξ are coordinates along C y η are local sections of OC(minusn)
so η = xny mod(I2C) z ζ are local sections of OC(minusm) so ζ = xmz mod(I2C)
Normalizing so that xminus1partS(x) = ε isin 0 1 we obtain
(22) part0S = εxpart
partx+ λy
part
party+ microz
part
partz partinfinS = minusεξ part
partξ+ (λ+ εn)η
part
partη+ (micro+ εm)ζ
part
partζ
More generally ie C = P1(d e) we have glueing rules x = te ξ = tminusd η = tny and
ζ = tmz mod(I2C) Normalizing so that tminus1partS(t) = ε isin 0 1 we obtain
(23) part0S = eεxpart
partx+ λy
part
party+ microz
part
partz partinfinS = minusdεξ part
partξ+ (λ+ εn)η
part
partη+ (micro+ εm)ζ
part
partζ
36 FEDERICO BUONERBA
It is worth remarking that the above relations hold between eigenvalues at the two
singular point of singular ie nodal or cuspidal KF -nil curves as well this is
easily seen by taking a root followed by net completion and keeping track of the
eigenvalues
Definition IVI4 Let C be a KF -nil curve The foliation singular points along C
are called ends
As well as the existence of Hilbert scheme in the following form
Fact IVI5 Let W sub Xlowast be a curve and D a divisor in the formal neighborhood
of W such that W = D capXlowast scheme-theoretically Then W moves in D
In what follows our main concern is to understand formal neighborhoods of KF -
nil curves Observe that the fibration p when restricted to the formal neighborhood
of such curves provides at least one eigenfunction of the semi-simple field Hence
in order to compute the width IIII we must study the behavior of the other eigen-
function on infinitesimal neighborhoods We first describe the situation inside the
smooth locus of p
Proposition IVI6 (Smooth fiber) Let f C rarrX be an irreducible KF -nil curve
which is contained in the smooth locus of a fiber Xlowast of p Then the end(s) on C are
flat over ∆ ni (1)b and ni (1)a with z2|g(y z) and C moves in a family flat over
∆
Proof Let us assume that f is net Then upon passing to net completion we can
actually assume it is embedded From our local classification of singularities we case
in case ni (1)a and ni (2)a We want to show that both ends have components
that move transversely to p hence we have to exclude case ni (1)a with g(y z) = ya
By way of contradiction say we have g(y z) = ya in the notation of opcit around
an end lowast isin C We proceed to compute what happens at the other end we find
formal coordinates ξ η ζ which by equation 23 satisfy
(24) ξ = xminus1 η = y ζ = xmz mod(I2C)
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 37
As such we compute part(ζ) = mζ + ξminusmηa mod(I2C) which is holomorphic if and only
if m le 0 so then C moves in Xlowast contradicting that the foliation has general type
Hence we are in cases ni (1)a ni (2)a with g = microyazb b ge 1
(25) part0 = xpart
partx+ microyazb
part
partz partinfin = minusξ part
partξ+ ζ(m+ microξm(bminus1)ηaζbminus1)
part
partζ(mod(I2C))
Following notation from subsection IIII observe that C1 is the section of E1C which
is disjoint from the proper transform of the fiber of p In coordinates over 0
(26) x1 = x y1 = y z1 = zyminus1
And similarly over infin Using the previous equation and 25 on C1 we find
(27)
part01 = x1part
partx1+microya+bminus11 zb1
part
partz1 partinfin1 = minusξ1
part
partξ1+ζ1(m+microξ
m(bminus1)1 ηa+bminus11 ζbminus11 )
part
partζ1(mod(I2C1
))
In particular the transform of the nilpotent field is still nilpotent after blowing up in
C It follows that the eigenvalues of the semi-simple field at the two ends of C and
C1 are the same Using equation 23 we deduce that the normal bundle to C1X1 to
isomorphic to that of CX in particular it contains a trivial direct summand This
proves that width(C) =infin
Next we show that f must be net Consider the induced flat projection pD D rarr ∆
its general fiber cannot be a cuspidal curve since along such cusp the foliation sin-
gularity would be log-canonical but not canonical Hence if C has a cusp necessarily
the general fiber of pD is a nodal curve Let X rarr X denote the blow up of the
nodal locus of pD with exceptional divisor E ruled over ∆ In a neighborhood of E
we have sing(F ) = D cap E which projects to ∆ as a double cover ramified over lowastObserve that the foliation on Xlowast is again log-canonical and not canonical hence its
local structure is ni (2)a In that case however p is unramified along the foliation
singularity Contradiction
We state a general criterion for movability of KF -nil curves
Proposition IVI7 Let C be a connected KF -nil curve such that p(C ) = lowast isin ∆
Assume its dual graph is a chain that none of its irreducible components is double
38 FEDERICO BUONERBA
VI3 and that its two extremal ends are flat over ∆ Then C moves in a family flat
over ∆ and each of its irreducible components is embedded
Proof We work in a formal neighborhood of C After taking roots we can assume
C is net and since its dual graph is a chain it is actually embedded We proceed by
induction on its length l where the case l = 1 is Proposition IVI6 For l gt 1 let C1
be a component of C which is extremal in its dual graph If C1 moves transversely
to p then both its ends do and hence we can apply the induction hypothesis to
C C1 If C1 is rigid then it can be flopped It is straightforward to check that we
can apply the induction hypothesis to the transform C + C+1 and we are done
Now we deal with rigid curves inside the singular fiber
Proposition IVI8 (Singular fiber) Let f C rarr X be an embedded net KF -
nil curve with anti-ample normal bundle Then there exists a birational map φ
(X F ) 99K (X +F+) and a KF+-nil curve C+ such that
bull φ is an isomorphism away from C+
bull In a formal neighborhood of at least one among C and C+ there exist two
invariant hypersurfaces D1D2 locally defined by the vanishing of eigenfunc-
tions of the semi-simple field such that C (resp C+)= D1 capD2
bull If F middot C lt 0 for some hypersurface F then F+ middot C+ gt 0 In particular X +
is projective
Such φ is called flop
Proof Our assumption is that Nfsimminusrarr O(minusn)oplusO(minusm) is anti-ample namely nm gt
0 If two invariant hypersurfaces as in our statement do exist around C the flop is
easily constructed as a weighted blow-up followed by a weighted blow-down As such
let us assume that such hypersurfaces do not exist around C In particular C is not
double VI3 By [Ar70] there exists a formal contraction c X rarrX0 collapsing C
to a point and an isomorphism everywhere else By Proposition IVI3 the foliation
F0 is Gorenstein around the node of X0 For ease of exposition let us assume
n = m = 1 the general case is handled the same way only the notation becomes more
cumbersome due to the presence of weights The node has embedding dimension 4
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 39
and in suitable local coordinates x0 y0 w0 z0 can be defined by x0z0minusy0w0 = 0 The
morphism c can be identified with the blow up of the embedded surface (x0 = y0 = 0)
Explicitly in the chart y = y0 x = x0yminus10 it is defined by
(28) y0 = y x0 = xy z0 = zprime w0 = xzprime
Here x is a coordinate along C while y = 0 is the pull-back of (x0 = y0 = 0) and
zprime some function in the normal bundle to C By the previous Proposition IVI6
we know C cannot be contained in the smooth locus of p Since C is not double
we can assume that in this local chart p is defined by (x y zprime) rarr xy - the case
(x y zprime) rarr xzprime being isomorphic as it is isomorphic to blow-up (z0 = w0 = 0)
instead of (x0 = y0 = 0) The issue is as emphasized by the notation zprime 6= z that
zprime may fail to be an eigenfunction for partS if it were we would be done since zprime = 0
is the local equation for the global pullback of (z0 = w0 = 0) However we have
a b isin C such that
(29) partS0(y0) = minusy0 partS0(x0) = 0 partS0(z0) = ay0 + bz0 partS0(w0) = ax0 + (b+ 1)w0
Observe that the embedded surfaces D01 = (y0 = z0 = 0) and D0
2 = (x0 = w0 = 0)
are both foliation invariant As such let b X + rarr X0 denote the blow-up of X0
along D01 - which is isomorphic to that along D0
2 - and let Di = blowastD0i i = 1 2
Finally X + is projective by Nakai-Moishezon Indeed every C with anti-ample
normal bundle is contained in an irreducible component F of X0 such that F middotC lt 0
Then F+ middot C+ gt 0 and we can find an ample divisor of the form H+ + εF+ where
H+ is the proper transform of an ample on X
Remark IVI9 In the previous proof a 6= b+ 1 Indeed such identity would create
a non-trivial Jordan block of partS0 in the (x0 w0)-plane thus contradicting the semi-
simplicity of partS0 In particular by a straightforward computation it is impossible to
find eigenfunctions of the form wlowast0 = w0 + αx0 zlowast0 = z0 + βy0 with x0z
lowast0 minus y0wlowast0 = 0
unless a = 0
We can conclude by pointing out an important point understood in this section
A painful aspect of the theory is that log-canonical singularities which appear natu-
rally as analytic degenerations of canonical ones come along with cuspidal invariant
40 FEDERICO BUONERBA
curves There is in particular no a-priori obstruction to the existence of rigid
cuspidal KF -nil curves in a smooth fiber of our family of foliated surfaces p Quite
generally a rigid curve of positive arithmetic genus in a smooth family of surfaces can
never be contracted to a point Therefore this would have been a counter-example
to any reasonable foliated canonical model theory one may wish to achieve Fortu-
nately such phenomenon does not happen and this establishes the Main Theorem I
modulo finitely many rigid curves confined in the singular fiber X0
IVII Invariant curves inside sing(F ) In this subsection we study curves Z0 subeXlowast cap sing(F ) which are inside the foliation singularity and invariant By this we
mean that there exists a sequence fn Cn rarrX of not necessarily algebraic invariant
curves converging in the compact-open topology to Z0 In other words the map
(30) NorF rarr Ω1Z0
is trivial By Corollary IIIIII5 we know that Z0 is at worst nodal it is smooth
wherever p is smooth for every point z isin Z0 the semi-simple part of the gener-
ating vector field has exactly one eigenvalue The problem here is that the Jordan
decomposition need not extend uniformly along Z0 not even along an irreducible
component In case ni (1)a the functions x and g may develop essential singulari-
ties arbitrary close to z Nonetheless the function x is unique and this says that x
does extend along Z0
Proposition IVII1 Let Z0 be as above Then in a formal neighborhood of Z0
there exists a unique smooth invariant hypersurface D0 containing Z0 which restricts
around any point in Z0 to the unique eigenfunction for the semi-simple field whose
eigenvalue is non-zero
Proof The local structure of the foliation around a point z isin Z0 is described by
cases ni (1)a and ni (1)b In both cases partS has one non-zero eigenvalue with
eigenfunction x Such eigenfunction x is a-priori only defined in the normal bundle to
Z0 but it is clear that the equation partx = x has a unique up to constants solution in
the formal completion around z As such there exists a unique smooth hypersurface
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 41
D0 in the formal completion around Z0 which restricts to the eigenfunction x around
z
Observe that the previous argument goes through since we are assuming Z0 subX0
Keeping notations from case ni (1)a if say g(y z) = yz then in the hypersurface
y equiv q isin Qgt0 the foliation has a log-canonical singularity and the eigenfunction x
extends highly non-uniquely to a formal neighborhood of the point (x y z) = (0 q 0)
In particular the existence of D0 as in the previous Proposition might fail along
the component (x = z = 0) of the foliation singularity This phenomenon is called
the beast
Anyway uniqueness in the previous proposition yields
Corollary IVII2 Let Z prime be a connected invariant curve inside sing(F ) Then in
a formal neighborhood of Z prime there exists a unique smooth invariant hypersurface D prime
containing Z prime which restricts around any point in Z prime to the hypersurface constructed
in the previous proposition
Next we turn to the intrinsic structure of invariant singular curves
Proposition IVII3 Let Z0 be an irreducible invariant curve inside sing(F )
Then Z0 is smooth and rational
Proof We work in a formal neighborhood of Z0 Let F0 denote the unique component
of X0 containing Z0 For any other fiber component F intersecting Z0 non-trivially
blow-up the invariant curve F cap F0 with exceptional divisor EF A straightforward
computation using the local formula ni (1)b shows that the fiber of the natural
projection EF rarr F cap F0 intersecting Z0 is also contained in sing(F ) For Z prime the
maximal connected singular invariant curve containing Z0 let G denote the saturated
foliation induced on D prime It is canonical with reduced singularities and it satisfies
KG = KF |Dprime minus Zprime By adjunction
(31) 2g(Z0)minus 2 + sZG(Z0) = minusZ prime middot Z0
Observe that thanks to our initial sequence of blow-ups the singularities of G along
Z0 coincide with the intersection of Z0 and Z prime Z0 In particular since D prime is formally
42 FEDERICO BUONERBA
flat over ∆ we deduce Z prime middot Z0 = 0 and the previous formula becomes
(32) 2g(Z0)minus 2 + sZG(Z0) = 0
This implies that Z0 is rational or elliptic If Z0 were elliptic then sZG(Z0) = 0 and
D0 defines an invariant elliptic curve in the general fiber of p By Baum-Bott this
contradicts that KF is big and nef Now we show that Z0 is smooth If it has a node
then D0 moves it in a family of nodal rational curves flat over ∆ In particular D0
itself has a node in codimension 1 hence Xlowast is smooth around the node of Z0 In its
formal neighborhood the foliation must be as in case ni (1)a which implies that
Z0 is smooth contradiction
We can improve as follows
Proposition IVII4 Let Z prime sube sing F capXlowast be a connected invariant curve with
KF middot Z prime = 0 Then its dual graph is a chain
Proof Assume Z prime is a cycle Then necessarily Z prime = D prime capXlowast scheme-theoretically
and by the existence of Hilbert scheme Z prime moves in the general fiber Its general
member is either a cycle of smooth rational curves or an elliptic curve Arguing as
in the previous proof we see that both options are impossible
V Configurations
In this section we analyze in great detail all possible configurations of invariant
curves along which KF vanishes These can be divided into three groups those
that do not move those that move in a one-dimensional family covering a surface
those that move in a higher-dimensional family covering a surface Curves in the first
group can form rather complicated configurations while those in the second group
are more simple they either move in the general fiber or they cover an isolated
Riccati component in the singular fiber Those in the third group turn out to be
represented by the two rulings of P1timesP1 if they happen to be cohomologous in the
ambient stack First we will analyze rigid curves then those which move and finally
we will describe their configurations
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 43
VI Configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially In
this subsection we describe configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF
trivially which arise in the situation described by set-up IIVII4
First we focus on KF -nil curves At the end of the section we deal with the simpler
case in which a curve in the configuration is fully contained in sing(F ) The general
fiber was handled in Proposition IVI6
Proposition VI1 Let C be a connected KF -nil curve contained in the smooth
locus of a fiber of p Then it is a chain or a cycle and it moves in a family flat over
∆
In what follows we let C denote a connected KF -nil curve contained in the
singular fiber X0 all of whose sub-curves are rigid in X Observe a consequence of
equation 23
Proposition VI2 Let C = cupiCi be a connected KF -nil curve Then the eigen-
values of partS are all rational at every point of sing(F )capC if and only if they are all
rational at one point
We can deduce many non-trivial properties about configurations of KF -nil curves
First we need
Definition VI3 Let C subX0 be a curve It is called double if there exists formally
around C two components F F prime of X0 such that C = F cap F prime A point lowast isin C where
three fiber components intersect is called a triple point If C lies on exactly one fiber
component it is called non-double We denote by F (C) such component
Remark VI4 Let Csimminusrarr P1(d e) be double with two triple points Then we know
e+ λ+ micro = minusd+ (λ+ n) + (micro+m) = 0 whence we obtain
(33) n+m = d+ e
Which is called triple-point formula
Next we show that essentially KF -nil curves do not form cycles unless something
deforms in X0 First we show that there are no cycles of rigid non-double curves
44 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proposition VI5 Let C be a connected KF -nil curve contained in the singular
fiber X0 of p Assume that every component of C is non-double and that every
sub-curve is rigid Then C contains no cycles
Proof We work in a formal neighborhood of C which we assume is a cycle Let
us first consider the case in which all components C1 middot middot middot CN are smooth with no
orbifold points and denote lowasti = Ci cap Ci+1 with CN+1 = C1 Moreover let us
assume no lowasti lies in the smooth locus of p
Since no curve is double the semi-simple field at every lowasti is as in case i (3)b in
particular the eigenvalues along the branches of Ci and Ci+1 add up to zero More-
over let minusni denote the self-intersection of Ci sub F (Ci) Normalize the eigenvalues
of partS so that at lowastn they are 1 in the C1 direction minus1 in the CN direction λ in the
F (C1)capF (CN) direction It follows by induction that at lowasti the eigenvalues are minus1
in the Ci direction 1 in the Ci+1 direction λ+ n1 + middot middot middot+ ni in the F (Ci) cap F (Ci+1)
direction After traveling around the cycle we obtain n1+middot middot middot+nN = 0 contradicting
that ni gt 0 for every i
We established the Proposition assuming every Ci is an embedded scheme and ev-
ery lowasti is in the singular locus of p The case in which Cisimminusrarr P1(di ei) has orbifold
points is analogous we end up with a combination c1n1 + middot middot middot + cNnN = 0 with ci
the eigenvalue at lowasti in the Ci+1 direction Normalizing so that c1 = e1 gt 0 again by
induction on i we see that every ci isin Qgt0 Next we show that our assumption on lowastiis always satisfied
Claim VI6 Every lowasti must belong to the singular locus of p
Proof We give two essentially equivalent proofs
bull If N = 2 3 then the previous argument goes through indeed we can normal-
ize eigenvalues at lowasti to be negative in the Ciminus1 direction and positive in the
Ci-direction and argue as above Hence we can assume N ge 4 If say lowasti is in
the smooth locus of p then F (Ci) = F (Ci+1) If also F (Ciminus1) = F (Ci) then Ci
lies in the smooth locus of p and hence it moves Therefore F (Ciminus1) 6= F (Ci)
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 45
and Ciminus1 can be flopped inside F (Ci) Since N ge 4 this preserves the smooth-
ness of F (Ci) and Ci is now is the smooth locus of p - contradiction
bull If lowasti belongs to the smooth locus of p then the end through lowasti moves We
can form a partial net completion fi Xi rarrX by normalizing C in lowasti only
Then f lowasti C is a chain with movable ends and hence moves in the general fiber
of p fi
Finally the general case in which some among the Ci have cusps can be easily
reduced to the smooth case in a couple of ways
bull Eigenvalues at the singularities of any KF -nil curve satisfy the same relations
as in the smooth case
bull Upon taking roots and net completion we can find a foliated formal 3-fold
supported on a cycle of smooth KF -nil curves which is a ramified cover of a
formal neighborhood of our cycle
Similarly we can show that there are no rigid cycles of double curves
Proposition VI7 Let C be a nodal KF -nil curve which is double Then C
deforms inside X0 In particular there cannot exist a rigid cycle of KF -nil double
curves
Proof Following the previous notation we have 0 = infin and if C = (xy = z = 0)
around 0 then we have identities
(34) x = η y = ξ z = ζ
The last one of which implies m = 0 that is C deforms Since C is double necessarily
the surface it spans must be contained in X0
The statement about cycles follows since a cycle of double curves can be transformed
after finitely many flops into a chain of smooth double curves with a nodal one
attached at one end
46 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Later on we will show that the deformations of C cannot span an elliptic surface
but only a family of nodal rational curves with a special Riccati foliation on it
We are ready to organize a detailed description of the dual graph of C More pre-
cisely we only need to understand how double curves intersect non-double curves
Lemma VI8 There exists a sequence of flops X 99KX + such that if C + denotes
the transform of C every double curve supported on C + contains two triple points
Proof Let C sube C be an irreducible component with at most one triple point and
let X 99K X + be its flop Then its transform C+ is non-double and the number
of double curves contained in C descreases It is clear that after finitely many flops
all double curves contain exactly two triple points
From now on all double curves in C have two triple points Thanks to proposition
VI2 we know that there are two cases to consider those curves along which the
semi-simple field has not only rational eigenvalues and those along which the semi-
simple field has only rational eigenvalues The first case being strictly easier than
the second it is a good starting place to warm up
Proposition VI9 (irrational eigenvalues) Assume that for every foliation singu-
larity along C not all eigenvalues of partS are rational Then every component of C
is net with at most one node and 1-skeleton of its dual graph is at worst trivalent
Write C = C axes cup C free where
C axes is the union of double curves
C free is the union of non-double curves
Then one among C axes and C free is empty Moreover
bull If C free is non-empty then it is a chain of smooth curves with rational moduli
bull If C axes is non-empty there exists a sequence of flops X 99KX + and an ir-
reducible component of the fiber FC subX + such that X + is a smooth stack
the transform C+ of C is contained in FC Moreover the dual graph of C+
is a tree which by [McQ08 III32] becomes a chain inside the normalization
of FC
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 47
Proof The first sentence is just corollary IIIIII3
Observe that if a non-double curve intersects a double curve then the non-double
curve must be contained in an LC-center around such intersection This contradicts
that not all eigenvalues are rational and establishes that one among C axes and C free
is empty
In case C free is not empty then it is clearly a chain or a cycle the latter being
impossible by Proposition VI5
We are left to show the existence of flops in case C = C axes We remark that
every component is smooth Let C0 be such a component and S0 a component of
X0 containing it Let C1 be the collection of irreducible components of C which
intersect S0 but are not contained in it All the components of C1 are smooth hence
we can flop them in any order until the transform of C1 lies in the transform of S0
Since the number of irreducible components of C lying outside S0 decreases after
such flop by induction we deduce the existence of finitely many flops after which
the birational transform of C is fully contained in the transform of S0
Next we take care of rational eigenvalues The complication here arises from
the fact that there may be double and non-double curves intersecting each other
However the situation is best possible
Proposition VI10 (rational eigenvalues) Assume that for every foliation singu-
larity along C all eigenvalues of partS are rational Write C = C axes cup C free where
C axes is the union of double curves
C free is the union of non-double curves
Then there exists a sequence of flops X 99K X + and an irreducible component of
the fiber FC axes subX + such that
bull X + is a smooth stack
bull The union of double curves of C axes is contained in FC axes the 1-skeleton of
its dual graph is a tree and each of its components has two triple points
bull The 1-skeleton of the dual graph of the transform C free+ is a disjoint union of
trees
bull Each connected component of C free+ intersects C axes in exactly one point
48 FEDERICO BUONERBA
In particular the 1-skeleton of the dual graph of C is a tree
Proof Notice that for every point lowast isin C cap Z there exists one LC-center through lowastIndeed there are three rational eigenvalues and they cannot be all non-vanishing and
all with different signs at the same time Now C axes can be treated as in proposition
VI9 This proves the first two items of the statement The third item follows from
Proposition VI5 so we can focus on the fourth one The proof is based on the
following obvious
Remark VI11 let C be a double curve such that either it is KF -nil hence has
two triple points or it is fully contained in sing(F ) Let C0 sube C free intersect C
non-trivially in a point lowast then necessarily C0 sub LClowast
Now let C0 middot middot middot CN form a chain of non-double curves with C0 and CN both
intersecting double curves as in the remark Denote by lowasti = Ci cap Ci+1 Since
C1 sub LClowast necessarily C1 is transverse to LClowast1 otherwise C1 would deform in F (C1)
Inductively we see that Ci+1 sub LClowasti and is transverse to LClowasti+1 In particular CN
cannot touch a double curve This contradiction proves the fourth item
Let us add a remark about configurations featuring invariant curves inside sing(F )
Proposition VI12 Let C be an invariant curve with KF middot C = 0 such that
Z0 sube C for some component Z0 sube sing(F ) Then C = Z prime cup C where
Z prime is a connected invariant curve inside the foliation singularity with dual graph a
chain
C is the union of at most two pairwise disjoint KF -nil curves with anti-ample
normal bundle
If not empty C can only intersect Z prime at the two ends of its dual graph Moreover
perhaps after a flop the intersection of C with Z prime supports the foliation singularity
along C As such if C has two components Z prime cup C deforms in the general fiber
Proof The structure of Z prime is Proposition IVII3 while that of Co is Proposition
IVI6 Let C prime be a component of C intersecting Z0 in a point lowast If C prime and Z0 belong
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 49
to different components of X0 then by case ni (1)b the eigenvalue of partS along C prime
vanishes so supp(sing(F ) cap C prime) = lowast If C prime and Z0 belong to the same component
then we can flop C prime into a different component
Observe that the divisor D prime from op cit can be extended along C prime This implies
that C can only intersect Z prime at its ends Moreover if C touches both ends necessarily
D prime capX0 = C scheme-theoretically hence by the existence of Hilbert scheme IVI5
we conclude
Our new set-up is
Set-up VI13 Everything as in set-up IIVII4 and moreover for any connected
invariant curve C with KF middot C = 0 all of whose sub-curves are rigid we have
configurations computed in proposition VI9 VI10 and Lemma VI12
VII Configurations of non-rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
In this subsection we describe configurations of surfaces which are covered by KF -nil
curves The structure of each such surface is described by classification IIV1 IIV2
and Corollary IIVI17 Our first step is to simplify the situation by contracting
chains of ruled surfaces The next step is to try and exclude the possibility that
the singular fiber of p contains fibrations by elliptic or nodal rational curves with
at least one invariant fiber This can be achieved with good success indeed there
may be at most one such Riccati foliation which is anyway rather isolated from the
remaining KF -nil curves Finally we observe that the only class of surfaces we have
not mentioned is
Definition VII1 A irreducible component F of the singular fiber of p is called
small Kronecker if
bull (FFF ) is birational to a Kronecker vector field on P1 timesP1 and
bull The two rulings of this P1 timesP1 are cohomologous inside X
The name comes from the fact that contraction of a small Kronecker yields a node
in the ambient threefold which admits a small resolution In fact in many respects
these fiber components behave very much like rigid KF -nil curves
50 FEDERICO BUONERBA
We start by getting rid of some fiber components which are ruled by KF -nil gener-
ically smooth rational curves
Proposition VII2 Notation as in Set-up VI13 there exists a sequence of flops
and divisorial contractions c X 99KX + such that
bull X + is a smooth stack
bull let S+ sub X + be an irreducible invariant divisor that contains a positive-
dimensional family of invariant rational curves along which KF+ vanishes
Then S+ is either birationally ruled by nodal rational curves or it is a small
Kronecker
Proof We focus first on contracting components of the singular fiber of p Consider
the following algorithm If there is no birationally ruled component different from
the ones listed in the second item we are done otherwise pick one such F and let
C denote the general member of the ruling If the cohomology class [C] is inde-
composable F is minimal Otherwise [C] = [C1] + [C2] where Ci are rational and
intersect KF trivially After finitely many steps we have a decomposition as a finite
sum of indecomposables [C] =sumn
i=0 ni[Ci] where every Ci is rational intersects KF
trivially We have two cases
bull There exists k such that Ck deforms in a birationally ruled necessarily min-
imal surface Fk
bull Every Ci has anti-ample normal bundle
In the first case denote by X rarr X1 the contraction of Fk along |Ck| and relpace
X by X1 Since Fk is minimal smoothness of the ambient stack is preserved unless
Fk is a small Kronecker This is however impossible if n ge 2 if Fk were a small
Kronecker then Ck deforms away from Fkminus1 so then Fkminus1 middot Ck = 0 on the other
hand Fkminus1 intersects the other ruling of Fk positively
In the second case flop C1 middot middot middot Cn in this order The transform of F is minimal and
not a small Kronecker so it can be contracted along its ruling preserving ambient
smoothness By induction on the Picard rank of X after finitely many steps this
algorithm ends Call X the output of this algorithm
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 51
Let S subX be an invariant divisor with a generically smooth ruling Then pS S rarr∆ is flat and after flopping finitely many rational curves in S cap plowastS(0) the resulting
pS is smooth Hence we can contract S along pS After finitely many steps the
Proposition is proven
For ease of notation in the sequel we call X the output of the previous proposition
Notice that there might still be divisors carrying a pencil of nodal rational curves
both inside and outside the singular fiber of p
We can start analyzing configurations of fiber components where the restriction of
F is not of general type We need some notation whose reason to exist will be clear
shortly
Definition VII3 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
along which KF is not big F is called special Riccati if
bull F is minimal
bull There exists a morphism s F rarr B onto a curve whose fibers are nodal
rational curve
bull F is transverse to the general fiber of s in particular KF is numerically
trivial along s
bull At least one fiber of s is invariant
bull There exists a section σ of s which is invariant and does not coincide with
the nodal locus of F
In particular the intersections of σ with invariant fibers of s isolated singularities
of F the node of F all coincide There may be fibers of s fully contained in sing(F )
in which case they are everywhere transverse to the saturated foliation
The definition looks nasty but special Riccati components have a rather simple
origin as the following proof shows
Lemma VII4 Let F be special Riccati Up to base change by an etale double cover
Bprime rarr B there is a natural isomorphism F norm simminusrarr BprimetimesP1 and the restriction of F
to F norm is birational to the projection onto P1
52 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proof We work over the normalization F norm Denote by Bprime the pre-image of the
node of F which is an etale double cover of B and let f denote an invariant fiber
of s with lowast = σ cap f Observe that F norm carries a Riccati foliation with 3 invariant
curves through lowast - namely σ f and a component of Bprime Hence FF has a log-canonical
singularity in lowast On F norm perform a weighted blow-up in each log-canonical singu-
larity followed by the contraction of the transforms of the corresponding fibers Let
s+ F+ rarr B denote the output of this operation If the proper transform of Bprime is
connected replace F+ by its base change under Bprime rarr B Hence we can assume Bprime
is the disjoint union of two sections of s+ and the transform of σ is a third section
which is disjoint from Bprime Therefore F+ = P1 timesBprime and the foliation restricts to the
projection onto P1
Next we describe those surfaces which cannot appear as components of the sin-
gular fiber X0
Definition VII5 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
along which KF is not big F is called illusory if
bull there exists a morphism t F rarr B onto a curve
bull KF is trivial along t
bull For any other fiber component F prime the intersection F cap F prime is either empty or
contained in a fiber of t
We give examples of illusory fiber components
Lemma VII6 The following fiber components are necessarily illusory
bull t is elliptic the foliation is either parallel to t or turbolent with at least one
invariant fiber
bull t is a nodal ruling the foliation is either parallel to t or transverse to t with
at least one invariant fiber and not birational to a special Riccati VII3
Proof Let f = F cap F prime for some fiber component F prime It is F -invariant
Assume t and F are parallel and f is transverse to both Then necessarily f subesing(F ) and KF is positive along the fibers of t contradiction
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 53
Assume t and F are generically transverse and f is transverse to t Let e be an
invariant fiber of t then ecap f isin sing(F ) hence t must be a family of nodal rational
curves and ecapf coincides with the node of e - otherwise KF would be positive along
t But this implies F is special Riccati contradiction
We proceed to show that illusory fibers do not exist
Lemma VII7 Let F be an illusory fiber component then every fiber of t is irre-
ducible If F prime is any fiber component intersecting F non-trivially then F prime is illusory
Proof Assume t has a reducible fiber f Then we can write f = f prime cup f primeprime where f prime
is irreducible and f primeprime is a disjoint union of chains of rational curves In particular
every subscheme supported on f primeprime is rigid in X f prime is rational and smooth iff f is a
cycle of rational curves hence the foliation on F is parallel to t and the choice of f prime
is not unique otherwise f prime is nodal or elliptic Let X 99KX + denote the flop of the
irreducible components of f primeprime in any order The proper transform f prime+ (below in red)
is the irreducible fiber of the induced morphism t+ F+ rarr B Since f primeprime+ intersects
f prime+ and is not contained in F+ there exists a component F prime of the fiber of p+ such
that F+ cap f prime+ 6= empty Since F+ is illusory necessarily F+ cap F prime = f prime+ Moreover F+
and F prime are the only fiber components intersecting f prime+ again because F+ is illusory
We deduce that F+ middot f prime+ = F prime middot f prime+ = 0 and therefore f prime+ is nef inside F prime It follows
that he restriction of F+ to F prime is not of general type and by the classification of
foliated surfaces [McQ08] necessarily f prime+ deforms inside F prime and defines a fibration
u F prime rarr Bprime In particular f prime+ is an irreducible fiber of u This is however impossible
since u contracts all the components of f primeprime+ contained in F prime (below in blue) and by
definition of F prime there exists at least one such component This proves that every
fiber of t is irreducible The following depicts the situation
F prime F+
f prime+
f primeprime+
t+u
54 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Concerning the second statement we only need to check the third condition for F prime
to be illussory namely that every other fiber component F primeprime intersecting F prime does
so along the fibers of u If F primeprime intersects F prime transversely to u then F primeprime intersects F
non-trivially and transversely to t as well absurd
Corollary VII8 Illusory components do not exist
Proof By the above lemma the existence of one illusory component implies that
every irreducible component of the singular fiber of p is illusory contradicting that
KF is big
We can now focus on fiber components that do appear
Corollary VII9 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
containing an invariant curve C which moves and such that KF middot C = 0 Then
following the classification [McQ08] we have two cases
(1) The minimal model of F is a special Riccati component
(2) F is a small Kronecker
Proof Certainly the ones listed are the only cases where C is KF -nil We have to
exclude the possibility that C is invariant inside sing(F ) By Proposition IVII3
such C would be rational with at most one node Since we already contracted at
the beginning of the present subsection all ruled surfaces necessarily C is nodal
However by opcit C cannot intersect any other fiber component of X0 which
implies the absurdity that X0 = F
We proceed to show that special Riccati components are rather isolated in the
fiber
Lemma VII10 Let F be a special Riccati component If F prime is a fiber component
intersecting F non-trivially then it does so transversely to s Morover there is
exactly one such F prime
Proof After finitely many flops we can assume that every fiber of s is irreducible
By the non-existence of illusory components there exists a fiber component F lowast with
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 55
σprime = F cap F prime transverse to s If F primeprime is a fiber component with f = F cap F primeprime a fiber
of s then we claim f sube sing(F ) If not then since KF middot f = 0 and σprime is invariant
necessarily σprimecap f is the node of f But then the existence of F primeprime contradicts that p is
snc Hence f sube sing(F ) so then around the node of f there are 3 fiber components -
two branches coming from F one from F primeprime - and sing(F ) has 2 branches - namely f
This is impossible by our case analysis ni (1)c ni (2)c The very same reasoning
establishes the uniqueness of F prime
Lemma VII11 Let F be as in the previous Lemma If C is a connected curve
with KF middot C = 0 then it is disjoint from F
Proof After finitely many flops s is irreducible and C intersects F transversely away
from its node Moreover lowast = C cap F isin sing(F ) and we deduce that the fiber of s
through lowast is fully contained in the singular locus of F This contradicts Proposition
IVII3 since such fiber is nodal
We conclude by observing the obvious
Lemma VII12 Let F be a small Kronecker Then there exists a contraction
c X rarr X prime which is an isomorphism away from F and contracts F along one
of its rulings Necessarily X prime is not projective since every global Cartier divisor
intersects c(F ) trivially On the other hand in a formal neighborhood of c(F ) there
exist Cartier divisors intersecting it non-trivialliy
As such the contribution coming from non-rigid curves is rather poor there are
curves moving in the general fiber there are special Riccati components disjoint from
any other invariant curve intersecting KF trivially there are small Kroneckers who
can be contracted to curves We shall see in the next section that the complications
arising from the contraction of such non-rigid curves is purely psychological and
totally harmless
56 FEDERICO BUONERBA
VI Contractions and proof of the Main Theorem
In this section we contract all invariant curves along which KF is zero thereby
establishing the existence of canonical models I First we contract non-rigid curves
as described in the previous subsection
bull Small Kroneckers along either ruling Albeit this destroys projectivity of
the ambient threefold there still exist Cartier divisors defined in a formal
neighborhood of the base curve that intersect it non-trivially
bull Families of irreducible nodal rational curves which are flat over ∆ This
creates elliptic singularities on the general fiber of p which are disjoint from
other invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
bull Special Riccati again families of irreducible nodal rational curves fully con-
tained in X0 This creates elliptic singularities disjoint from other invariant
curves intersecting KF trivially
We can summarize our situation by way of
Set-up VI1 X is a 3-dimensional DM stack with at worst elliptic singularities
F a foliation by curves with canonical singularities which is not Q-Cartier in a
neighborhood of Xsing
There exists a proper morphism p X rarr ∆ smooth off 0 isin ∆ F restricts to a
foliation on every fiber of p it has canonical singularities on the very general fiber
of p and log-canonical singularities on every fiber of p KF is big and nef on every
irreducible component of every fiber of p
Let C be the invariant sub-scheme along which KF is not big then C is a curve
fully contained in the smooth locus X0capXsmooth every sub-curve of C has anti-ample
normal bundle the 1-simplex of its dual graph is a tree and detailed configurations
of such are referenced in set-up VI13
We proceed to contract such C We assume that along C the semi-simple field has
only rational eigenvalues and moreover no component of C is inside the foliation
singularity The other two cases - irrational eigenvalues and presence of singular
component - are strictly easier and can be obtained with the very same method
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 57
The proof takes place in the formal completion around C = C free cup C axes The
former is a disjoint union of trees of non-double curves For each non-double C let
F (C) denote the unique component of X0 containing it The latter is a tree of double
curves each with two triple points all contained in the same irreducible FC axes Each
tree of non-double curves touches C axes in one point through a LC-center In order
to construct the contraction we will use Artinrsquos celebrated criterion in the following
form
Fact VI1 ([Ar70]) Let X be an irreducible algebraic space i Y rarr X a closed
subspace of pure codimension 1 and f Y rarr Y0 a proper morphism with flowastOY = OY0
Let X denote the formal completion of X along Y and assume there exists a Cartier
divisor D in X which is supported on Y and is f -anti-ample Then there exists a
proper morphism of algebraic spaces F X rarr X0 which is an isomorphism away
from Y and such that ilowastF = f
Now we use the tree structure of C to construct a suitable divisor to which apply
Artinrsquos theorem Namely consider the following inductive defintion
(35) C0 = C axes F0 = FC axes
For k ge 0 assume Ck Fk are defined
bull Let Ck+1 denote the union of irreducible components of C that intersect Fk
non-trivially but are not contained in cupilekFibull Let Fk+1 denote the reduced sum (
sumCsubeCk+1
F (C))red
This process stops with a collection C1 middot middot middotCN of curves and F1 middot middot middot FN of reduced
divisors
Lemma VI1 We have the following identities
(36)
Fk middot C lt 0 for every C sube Ck
(F0 + F1) middot C le 0 for every C sube C0
(Fkminus1 + Fk + Fk+1) middot C = 0 for every C sube Ck 1 lt k lt N
(FNminus1 + FN) middot C lt 0 for every C sube CN
58 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proof The first is just the fact that every component of C is rigid The remaining
three follow from X0 middot C = 0 but the last one requires further justification Indeed
if C sube CN N gt 0 then C is one end of a tree of non-double curves In particular
there exists a foliation singularity lowast isin C disjoint from any other component of
C and LClowast is transverse to C This implies LClowast middotC gt 0 which together with
(FNminus1 + FN + LClowast) middot C = 0 concludes the proof
Let ε1 middot middot middot εN isin Qgt0 and define
(37) F Nminusk = (1 + ε1 + middot middot middot+ εk)FNminusk
bull If C sube CN we have
(38) (F Nminus1 + F
N) middot C = ε1FNminus1 middot C + (FNminus1 + FN) middot C
bull If C sube CNminusk 1 lt k lt N we have
(39)
(F Nminuskminus1 + F
Nminusk + F Nminusk+1) middot C =
(1 + middot middot middot+ εk)(FNminuskminus1 + FNminusk + FNminusk+1) middot C minus εkFNminusk+1 middot C + εk+1FNminuskminus1 middot C =
minus εkFNminusk+1 middot C + εk+1FNminuskminus1 middot C
bull If C sube C0 we have
(40) (F 0 + F
1) middot C = εNF0 middot C + (Nminus1sumj=0
εj)(F0 + F1) middot C
It is clear that provided
(41) 1 gtgt ε1 gtgt middot middot middot gtgt εN
the divisor F =sumF k is negative along every component of C
This proves the existence of the contraction and concludes the proof of the Main
Theorem I
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 59
VII Moduli space of foliated surfaces of general type
In this section we study the modular variation of foliated surfaces of general type
The upshot is that it is possible to define a functor which is representable separated
and every irreducible component is proper The main issue here is that the supporting
surface of a foliated canonical model may well fail to be projective indeed KF is not
Q-Gorenstein in general Hence in order to proceed via standard methods [Ko17]
we have to parametrize our canonical models together with a suitable projective
resolution
Definition VII13 Let (SF ) be a foliated proper reduced purely 2-dimensional
DM stack Assume S has only normal crossing singularities in codimension 1 that
F has log-canonical foliation singularities and that KF is big and nef on at least
one of the irreducible components of S If whenever KF middot C = 0 for some curve C
then C moves in an irreducible component of S and no member of such deformation
is F -invariant then (SF ) is called foliated canonical model of general type
Clearly foliated canonical models are exactly the stable degenerations appearing
as the central fiber of our Main Theorem I Their lack of projectivity has two sources
namely the contraction of cycles of smooth KF -nil curves and of trees of cuspidal
ones Singularities arising from cycles behave well in families namely they always
deform into the general fiber Those arising from cuspidal curves on the other hand
tend to be rather isolated inside the degenerate fiber
Observe that the deformation theory of a foliated surface is rather simple suppose
given an infinitesimal C-algebras extension 0 rarr J rarr Ae rarr A rarr 0 and (SF )
a foliated surface flat over Spec(A) then the obstruction to lifting to Ae can be
understood in three simple steps
(1) Deformation of the underlying surface S once a deformation Se rarr Spec(Ae)
is given
(2) Deformation of the line bundle KF by the exponential sequence
(42) 0rarr J otimes OS rarr OlowastSerarr OlowastS rarr 0
obstructions lie in H2(SOS)otimes J once a deformation of KF is given
60 FEDERICO BUONERBA
(3) Deformation of the defining section OS rarr KF otimes TS obstructions lie in
H1(SKF otimes TS)otimes J
Now we have
Definition VII14 Let (SF ) be a foliated canonical model of general type A
proper birational morphism q (SF )proj rarr (SF ) is called its projective resolution
if
bull Every irreducible component of Sproj is smooth
bull The exceptional locus of q is a disjoint union of cycles of KFproj-nil smooth
curves and trees of KFproj-nil curves each of which has a non-trivial cuspidal
singularity
bull In a neighborhood of every q-exceptional cycle not only Sproj but also its
moduli space is smooth
We need a few remarks about projective resolutions
(1) Projective resolutions are always unique Indeed the only possible ambiguity
could lie in some extra smooth irreducible components in the exceptional
locus This is forbidden by definition in the trees of cuspidal curves it is
also forbidden by way of the third item in cycles of smooth ones ie on
algebraic surfaces the minimal resolution is unique
(2) Denote by E the collection of q-exceptional cycles Then there exist ε δ isinQgt0 such that KFproj
minus εE + δKSprojis ample by Nakai-Moishezon
(3) Deformations of a projective resolution of a foliated canonical model are
canonically identified with deformations of the underlying birational mor-
phism q Sproj rarr S followed by a deformation of the foliation F
We are now ready to construct a moduli functor for foliated surfaces more precisely
for projective resolutions of foliated canonical models of general type For m dN isinN and ε δ isin Qgt0 let
(43) MmdNεδ (C-schemes)rarr (sets)
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 61
be defined by MmdNεδ(S) = Diagrams
(44) (X F )projqminusrarr (X F )
pminusrarr S
Where
bull Both p and p q are flat and proper
bull For every closed point s isin S the induced morphism qs is the projective
resolution of (X F )s which is a foliated canonical model of general type
bull Denote by Es the collection of exceptional cycles of qs By our Main Theorem
I there is a fibrewise divisor E subXproj flat over S restricting to Es for every
s isin S
bull Let j W rarr Xproj denote the maximal closed subscheme away from which
KFprojand KXprojS are locally free Then
(45) L [m] = (jlowast(KFprojotimes OXproj
(minusεE )otimesKδXprojS
)otimesm)oror
is flat over S and commutes with base-change
bull L [m] is very ample of degree d on every fiber and defines an embedding into
PNS
We are now ready for
Theorem VII15 The functor MmdNεδ is represented by a separated algebraic
space each of whose irreducible components is proper
Proof We show that our functor satisfies Artinrsquos conditions [Ar74 Corollary 54] By
definition condition 1) and 4) hold while our previous remark on foliated obstruction
theory shows that 3) is true
We proceed to show 2) namely effectivity of formal deformations for MmdNεδ
What follows owes much to Artinrsquos [A74rsquo] Let T be a complete C-algebra Tn its
n-truncation so that Tsimminusrarr limlarrminusTn and finally qn isinMmdNεδ(Spec(Tn)) a compatible
sequence For each n there is a maximal open set Un sube Xprojn where qn is an
isomorphism denote by sn Cn rarr Zn the restriction of qn to the complement of Un
Clearly sn is projective over Spec(Tn)
62 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Denote by X C etc the formal algebraic spaces obtained as limits of Xn Cn
etc Then Xproj sub PNˆSpec(T )
hence by Grothendieckrsquos existence Theorem we find
bull a flat projective family (X F )proj rarr Spec(T ) resp a closed subscheme
C subXproj whose completion is Xproj resp C
bull a scheme Z whose completion is Z and a morphism s C rarr Z everything
being projective over Spec(T )
Further we have a formal contraction limminusrarr qn C rarr Z hence the main theorem
of [Ar70] gives algebraic contraction (X F )proj rarr (X F ) This proves the repre-
sentability of MmdNεδ The properness and separability of each irreducible com-
ponent can be checked using valutative criteria indeed properness is the content of
our Main Theorem I separatedness follows from the uniqueness of foliated canonical
models of general type and their projective resolution
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httparxivorgabsalg-geom9508012
[Ko17] J Kollar Families of varieties of general type httpswebmathprincetonedu
~kollarbookmodbook20170720pdf
[LN02] A Lins Neto Some examples for the Poincare and Painleve problems Annales sci-
entifiques de lrsquoENS 352 (2002) 231-266 httparchivenumdamorgarticle
ASENS_2002_4_35_2_231_0pdf
[McQ12] M McQuillan Foliated Mori Theory amp Hyperbolicity of Algebraic Surfaces http
wwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillahomehtml
[McQ98] M McQuillan Diophantine approximation and foliations Inst Hautes Etudes Sci
Publ Math 87 (1998) 121-174 httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafiles
ihespdf
[McQ05rsquo] M McQuillan Bloch hyperbolicity preprint httpwwwmatuniroma2it
~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ05] M McQuillan Semi-stable reduction of foliations IHES pre-print IHESM0502
(2005) httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ05rdquo] M McQuillan Uniform Uniformisation IHES pre-print (2005) IHES M0503 http
wwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ08] M McQuillan Canonical models of foliations Pure Appl Math Q 4
(2008) no 3 Special Issue In honor of Fedor Bogomolov Part 2 877-1012
httpintlpresscomsitepubfiles_fulltextjournalspamq20080004
0003PAMQ-2008-0004-0003-a009pdf
[MP13] M McQuillan D Panazzolo Almost etale resolution of foliations J Diff Geom 95
(2013) pp 279-319 httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesmp1bispdf
[Pe02] JV Pereira On the Poincare Problem for Foliations of General Type Mathematische
Annalen 323 no 2 pp217-226 2002 httpsarxivorgabsmath0104185
[PS16] JV Pereira R Svaldi Effective algebraic integration in bounded genus preprint
httpsarxivorgabs161206932
64 FEDERICO BUONERBA
[Re83] M Reid Minimal models of canonical threefolds in rdquoAlgebraic Varieties and Ana-
lytic Varietiesrdquo Adv Stud Pure Math vol 1 S Iitaka ed Kinokuniya and North-
Holland 1983 pp 131-180 httpwwwmathsedacukcheltsovquotientpdf
reid2pdf
[Se67] A Seidenberg Reduction of singularities of the differential equation Ady = Bdx Amer
J Math 89 (1967) 248-269 httpwwwjstororgstable2373435
[SB83] N Shepherd-Barron Degenerations with numerically effective canonical divisor The
Birational Geometry of Degenerations (R Friedman and D Morrison eds) Progr
Math no 29 Birkhuser 1983 pp 33-84
[Vis89] A Vistoli Intersection theory on algebraic stacks and on their moduli spaces
Invent Math (1989) pp 613-670 httplinkspringercomarticle101007
2FBF01388892page-1
Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences New York University 251 Mercer
Street New York NY 10012 USA
E-mail address buonerbacimsnyuedu
- I Introduction
- II Preliminaries
-
- III Operations on Deligne-Mumford stacks
- IIII Width of embedded parabolic champs
- IIIII Gorenstein foliation singularities
- IIIV Foliated adjunction
- IIV Canonical models of foliated surfaces with canonical singularities
- IIVI Canonical models of foliated surfaces with log-canonical singularities
- IIVII Set-up
-
- III Invariant curves and singularities local description
-
- IIII `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F) not isolated
- IIIII `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F) isolated
- IIIIII Local consequences
-
- IV Invariant curves along which KF vanishes
-
- IVI KF-nil curves
- IVII Invariant curves inside `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F)
-
- V Configurations
-
- VI Configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
- VII Configurations of non-rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
-
- VI Contractions and proof of the Main Theorem
- VII Moduli space of foliated surfaces of general type
- References
-
4 FEDERICO BUONERBA
we prove the stable reduction theorem in this context and deduce the existence of
canonical compactifications of the moduli of foliated surfaces of general type
Main Theorem Let p (X F ) rarr ∆ be a one-dimensional projective semi-
stable family of foliated orbifold surfaces whose total space has Gorenstein canonical
foliation singularities such that KF is big and nef Then there exists a digram of
birational maps
(X F ) 99K (X F )canpcanminusminusrarr ∆
Where
bull The dashed arrow is a composition of foliated flops including contractions of
divisors and curves along foliation-invariant centers
bull The singularities of (X F )can not contained in the central fiber of pcan define
sections of pcan on its general fiber these singularities are elliptic featuring a
minimal resolution with exceptional divisor a foliation-invariant nodal ratio-
nal curve Along such singularities Fcan is not Q-Gorenstein and pcan might
fail to be projective
bull The singularities of (X F )can contained in the central fiber of pcan are de-
scribed as follows
(1) One-dimensional They admit a resolution with foliation-invariant ir-
reducible exceptional divisor ruled by nodal rational curves on whose
normalization the foliation is birationally isotrivial
(2) Zero-dimensional They admit a resolution with exceptional set a tree
of foliation-invariant quadric surfaces and orbifold curves such that
quadric surfaces have cohomologous rulings and the foliation restricts
to a Kronecker vector field each orbifold curve is unibranch with at
most one singular point has universal cover whose normalization has
rational moduli it is either fully contained in sing(F ) or it intersects
sing(F ) in two points
bull The birational transform KFcan of KF is numerically big and nef and sat-
isfies if KFcan middot C = 0 for some curve C sub Xcan then C is not foliation-
invariant
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 5
The output (X F )can is called foliated canonical model of (X F )
The core of the previous statement is that there exists an algorithmic birational
transformation (X F ) 99K (X F )can which contracts all the foliation-invariant
curves which intersect KF trivially One might wonder about the origin of the
notion of foliated canonical model In the absolute theory a canonical model of a
variety of general type is one where the canonical bundle is as positive as possible
In the foliated theory we only care about positivity against invariant measures - on
a philosophical level this is due to the fact that obstructions to hyperbolicity lie
on such measures Moreover we can provide an example which shows clearly that
this is the good notion of foliated canonical model Consider the algebraic foliation
defined by the natural projection
π M g1 rarrM g
The foliated canonical bundle coincides with the relative canonical bundle ωπ which
is big and nef but not semi-ample in characteristic zero as shown by Keel in [Ke99]
Its base locus coincides with the nodal locus of π and it is not even known what
type of analytic structure if any can be supported by the topological contraction
of such nodal locus From a purely algebraic perspective π cannot be improved to
a better foliated canonical model Fortunately this agrees with our definition since
the nodal locus of π is certainly not a foliation-invariant subvariety
We can now discuss the structure of the paper and of the proof
In Section II we first review the basic definitions and constructions to be used sys-
tematically in the proof These include some operations of general character on
Deligne-Mumford stacks such as building roots and Vistoli covers as well as net
completion we then turn to the basic definitions of birational foliation theory namely
the notion of (log)canonical Gorenstein singularities and the adjunction formula for
invariant curves we continue by recalling McQuillanrsquos classification of foliated sur-
faces with canonical Gorenstein singularities we conclude by describing out how to
extend McQuillanrsquos 2-dimensional theory to the more general case of foliated surfaces
with log-canonical Gorenstein singularities - in particular we classify the singularities
of the underlying surface construct minimal amp canonical models and describe the
6 FEDERICO BUONERBA
corresponding exceptional sets The situation differs considerably from the canoni-
cal world indeed surfaces supporting log-canonical foliation singularities are cones
over smooth curves of arbitrary high genus and embedding dimension and even on
smooth surfaces invariant curves through a log-canonical singularity might acquire
cusps of arbitrary high multiplicity It is worth pointing out at this stage that one
of the main technical tools we use all time is the existence of Jordan decomposition
of a vector field in a formal neighborhood of a singular point This allows us to
decompose a formal vector field part as a sum partS + partN of commuting formal vector
fields where partS is semi-simple with respect to a choice of regular parameters and
partN is formally nilpotent
In Section III we compute the local structure of a foliation by curves tangent to a
semi-stable morphism of relative dimension 2 In particular we focus on the local
configurations of foliation-invariant curves through a foliation singularity We achieve
this by distinguishing all possible 18 combinations of number of eigenvalues of partS
at the singularity whether the singularity is 0 or 1-dimensional number of local
branches of the central fiber of the semi-stable morphism through the singularity
This classification is the first step towards the proof of the Main Theorem
In Section IV we study the geometry of foliation-invariant curves along which KF
vanishes this is technically the most important chapter of the paper To understand
the problem observe that the locus of points in ∆ over which the foliation has a
log-canonical singularity can be non-discrete even dense in its closure If we happen
to find a rigid curve in a smooth fiber of p that we wish to contract then the only
possibility is that the rigid curve is smooth and rational In particular we have to
prove that rigid cuspidal rational curves dotting KF trivially cannot appear in the
smooth locus of p even though log-canonical singularities certainly do The first
major result is Proposition IVI6 that indeed invariant curves in the smooth locus
of p that intersect KF trivially are rational with at most one node and do move in a
family flat over the base ∆ The main ingredient of the proof is the existence of Jor-
dan decomposition uniformly in a formal neighborhood of our curve this provides us
with an extremely useful linear relation equation 22 between the eigenvalues of the
Jordan semi-simple fields around the foliation singularities located along the curve -
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 7
linear relation which depends uniquely on the weights of the normal bundle to the
curve This allows to easily show that the width of the curve must be infinite Having
obtained the best possible result for invariant curves in the general fiber we switch
our attention to curves located in the central fiber of p Also in this case we have
good news indeed such curves can be flopped and can be described as a complete
intersection of two formal divisors which are eigenfunctions for the global Jordan
semi-simple field - this is the content of Proposition IVI8 We conclude this im-
portant chapter by describing in Proposition IVII3 foliation-invariant curves fully
contained in the foliation singularity which turn out to be smooth and rational The
proof requires a simple but non-trivial trick and provides a drastic simplification of
the combinatorics to be dealt with in the next chapter
In Section V we globalize the informations gathered in the previous two chap-
ters namely we describe all possible configurations of invariant curves dotting KF
trivially These can be split into two groups configurations all of whose sub-
configurations are rigid and configurations of movable curves The first group is
analyzed in Proposition VI10 and it turns out that the dual graph of such con-
figurations contains no cycles - essentially the presence of cycles would force some
sub-curve to move either filling an irreducible component of the central fiber or in
the general fiber transversely to p The second group is the most tricky to study
however the result is optimal Certainly there are chains and cycles of ruled surfaces
on which p restricts to a flat morphism The structure of irreducible components of
the central fiber which are filled by movable invariant curves dotting KF trivially
is remakably poor and is summarized in Corollary VII9 there are quadric surfaces
with cohomologous rulings and carrying a Kronecker vector field and there are sur-
faces ruled by nodal rational curves on which the foliation is birationally isotrivial
Moreover the latter components are very sporadic and isolated from other curves of
interest indeed curves in the first group can only intersect quadric surfaces which
themselves can be thought of as rigid curves if one is prepared to lose projectivity
of the total space of p As such the contribution coming from movable curves is
concentrated on the general fiber of p and is a well solved 2-dimensional problem
8 FEDERICO BUONERBA
In Section VI we prove the Main Theorem we only need to work in a formal neigh-
borhood of the curve we wish to contract which by the previous chapter is a tree
of unibranch foliation-invariant rational curves The existence of a contraction is
established once we produce an effective divisor which is anti-ample along the tree
The construction of such divisor is a rather straightforward process which profits
critically from the tree structure of the curve
In Section VII we investigate the existence of compact moduli of canonical models
of foliated surfaces of general type The main issue here is the existence of a rep-
resentable functor indeed Artinrsquos results tend to use Grothendieckrsquos existence in
a rather crucial way which indeed relies on some projectivity assumption - a lux-
ury that we do not have in the foliated context Regardless it is possible to define
a functor parametrizing deformations of foliated canonical models together with a
suitably defined unique projective resolution of singularities This is enough to push
Artinrsquos method through and establish the existence of a separated algebraic space
representing this functor Its properness is the content of our Main Theorem
II Preliminaries
This section is mostly a summary of known results about holomorphic foliations by
curves By this we mean a Deligne-Mumford stack X over a field k of characteristic
zero endowed with a torsion-free quotient Ω1X k rarr Qrarr 0 generically of rank 1 We
will discuss the construction of Vistoli covers roots of divisors and net completions
in the generality of Deligne-Mumford stacks a notion of singularities well adapted to
the machinery of birational geometry a foliated version of the adjunction formula
McQuillanrsquos classification of canonical Gorenstein foliations on algebraic surfaces
a classification of log-canonical Gorenstein foliation singularities on surfaces along
with the existence of (numerical) canonical models the behavior of singularities on
a family of Gorenstein foliated surfaces
III Operations on Deligne-Mumford stacks In this subsection we describe
some canonical operations that can be performed on DM stacks over a base field
k We follow the treatment of [McQ05][IaIe] closely Proofs can also be found in
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 9
[Bu] A DM stack X is always assumed to be separated and generically scheme-like
ie without generic stabilizer A DM stack is smooth if it admits an etale atlas
U rarr X by smooth k-schemes in which case it can also be referred to as orbifold
By [KM97][13] every DM stack admits a moduli space which is an algebraic space
By [Vis89][28] every algebraic space with tame quotient singularities is the moduli
of a canonical smooth DM stack referred to as Vistoli cover It is useful to keep in
mind the following Vistoli correspondence
Fact III1 [McQ05 Ia3] Let X rarr X be the moduli of a normal DM stack and
let U rarrX be an etale atlas The groupoid R = normalization of U timesX U rArr U has
classifying space [UR] equivalent to X
Next we turn to extraction of roots of Q-Cartier divisors This is rather straight-
forward locally and can hardly be globalised on algebraic spaces It can however
be globalized on DM stacks
Fact III2 (Cartification) [McQ05 Ia8] Let L be a Q-cartier divisor on a normal
DM stack X Then there exists a finite morphism f XL rarrX from a normal DM
stack such that f lowastL is Cartier Moreover there exists f which is universal for this
property called Cartification of L
Similarly one can extract global n-th roots of effective Cartier divisors
Fact III3 (Extraction of roots) [McQ05 Ia9] Let D subX be an effective Cartier
divisor and n a positive integer invertible on X Then there exists a finite proper
morphism f X ( nradic
D)rarrX an effective Cartier divisor nradic
D subX ( nradic
D) such that
f lowastD = n nradic
D Moreover there exists f which is universal for this property called
n-th root of D which is a degree n cyclic cover etale outside D
In a different vein we proceed to discuss the notion of net completion This is a
mild generalization of formal completion in the sense that it is performed along a
local embedding rather than a global embedding Let f Y rarr X be a net morphism
ie a local embedding of algebraic spaces For every closed point y isin Y there is
a Zariski-open neighborhood y isin U sub Y such that f|U is a closed embedding In
10 FEDERICO BUONERBA
particular there exists an ideal sheaf I sub fminus1OX and an exact sequence of coherent
sheaves
(1) 0rarr I rarr fminus1OX rarr OY rarr 0
For every integer n define Ofn = fminus1OXI n By [McQ05][Ie1] the ringed space
Yn = (YOfn) is a scheme and the direct limit Y = limYn in the category of formal
schemes is the net completion along f More generally let f Y rarr X be a net
morphism ie etale-locally a closed embedding of DM stacks Let Y = [RrArr U ] be
a sufficiently fine presentation then we can define as above thickenings Un Rn along
f and moreover the induced relation [Rn rArr Un] is etale and defines thickenings
fn Yn rarrX
Definition III4 (Net completion) [McQ05 ie5] Notation as above we define the
net completion as Y = lim Yn It defines a factorization Y rarr Y rarr X where the
leftmost arrow is a closed embedding and the rightmost is net
IIII Width of embedded parabolic champs In this subsection we recall the
basic geometric properties of three-dimensional formal neighborhoods of smooth
champs with rational moduli We follow [Re83] and [McQ05rdquo] As such let X
be a three-dimensional smooth formal scheme with trace a smooth rational curve C
Our main concern is
(2) NCXsimminusrarr O(minusn)oplus O(minusm) n gt 0 m ge 0
In case m gt 0 the knowledge of (nm) determines X uniquely In fact there exists
by [Ar70] a contraction X rarrX0 of C to a point and an isomorphism everywhere
else In particular C is a complete intersection in X and everything can be made
explicit by way of embedding coordinates for X0 This is explained in the proof of
Proposition IVI8 On the other hand the case m = 0 is far more complicated
Definition IIII1 [Re83] The width width(C) of C is the maximal integer k
such that there exists an inclusion C times Spec(C[ε]εk) sub Xk the latter being the
infinitesimal neighborhood of order k
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 11
Clearly width(C) = 1 if and only if the normal bundle to C is anti-ample
width(C) ge 2 whenever such bundle is O oplus O(minusn) n gt 0 and width(C) = infinif and only if C moves in a scroll As explained in opcit width can be understood
in terms of blow ups as follows Let q1 X1 rarr X be the blow up in C Its excep-
tional divisor E1 is a Hirzebruch surface which is not a product hence q1 has two
natural sections when restricted to E1 Let C1 the negative section There are two
possibilities for its normal bundle in X1
bull it is a direct sum of strictly negative line bundles In this case width(C) = 2
bull It is a direct sum of a strictly negative line bundle and the trivial one
In the second case we can repeat the construction by blowing up C1 more generally
we can inductively construct Ck sub Ek sub Xk k isin N following the same pattern as
long as NCkminus1
simminusrarr O oplus O(minusnkminus1) Therefore width(C) is the minimal k such that
Ckminus1 has normal bundle splitting as a sum of strictly negative line bundles No-
tice that the exceptional divisor Ekminus1 neither is one of the formal surfaces defining
the complete intersection structure of Ck nor it is everywhere transverse to either
ie it has a tangency point with both This is clear by the description Reidrsquos
Pagoda [Re83] Observe that the pair (nwidth(C)) determines X uniquely there
exists a contraction X rarr X0 collapsing C to a point and an isomorphism every-
where else In particular X0 can be explicitly constructed as a ramified covering of
degree=width(C) of the contraction of a curve with anti-ample normal bundle
The notion of width can also be understood in terms of lifting sections of line bun-
dles along infinitesimal neighborhoods of C As shown in [McQ05rdquo II43] we have
assume NCp
simminusrarr O oplus O(minusnp) then the natural inclusion OC(n) rarr N orCX can be
lifted to a section OXp+2(n)rarr OXp+2
IIIII Gorenstein foliation singularities In this subsection we define certain
properties of foliation singularities which are well-suited for both local and global
considerations From now on we assume X is normal and give some definitions
taken from [McQ05] and [MP13] If Qoror is a Q-line bundle we say that F is Q-
foliated Gorenstein or simply Q-Gorenstein In this case we denote by KF = Qoror
and call it the canonical bundle of the foliation In the Gorenstein case there exists a
12 FEDERICO BUONERBA
codimension ge 2 subscheme Z subX such that Q = KF middot IZ Such Z will be referred
to as the singular locus of F We remark that Gorenstein means that the foliation
is locally defined by a saturated vector field
Next we define the notion of discrepancy of a divisorial valuation in this context let
(UF ) be a local germ of a Q-Gorenstein foliation and v a divisorial valuation on
k(U) there exists a birational morphism p U rarr U with exceptional divisor E such
that OU E is the valuation ring of v Certainly F lifts to a Q-Gorenstein foliation
F on U and we have
(3) KF = plowastKF + aF (v)E
Where aF (v) is said discrepancy For D an irreducible Weil divisor define ε(D) = 0
if D if F -invariant and ε(D) = 1 if not We are now ready to define
Definition IIIII1 The local germ (UF ) is said
bull Terminal if aF (v) gt ε(v)
bull Canonical if aF (v) ge ε(v)
bull Log-terminal if aF (v) gt 0
bull Log-canonical if aF (v) ge 0
For every divisorial valuation v on k(U)
These classes of singularities admit a rather clear local description If part denotes a
singular derivation of the local k-algebra O there is a natural k-linear linearization
(4) part mm2 rarr mm2
As such we have the following statements
Fact IIIII2 [MP13 Iii4 IIIi1 IIIi3] A Gorenstein foliation is
bull log-canonical if and only if it is smooth or its linearization is non-nilpotent
bull terminal if and only if it is log-terminal if and only if it is smooth and gener-
ically transverse to its singular locus
bull log-canonical but not canonical if and only if it is a radial foliation
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 13
Where a derivation on a complete local ring O is termed radial if there ex-
ist x1 middot middot middotxn isin m independent mod m2 and positive integers ni such that part =sumi nixi
partpartxi
In this case the singular locus is the center of a divisorial valuation with
zero discrepancy and non-invariant exceptional divisor
A very useful tool which is emplyed in the analysis of local properties of foliation
singularities is the Jordan decompositon [McQ08 I23] Notation as above the
linearization part admits a Jordan decomposition partS + partN into commuting semi-simple
and nilpotent part It is easy to see inductively that such decomposition lifts canon-
ically over successive infinitesimal neighborhoods Omn+1 rarr Omn and in the limit
we obtain a Jordan decomposition for the linear action of part on the whole complete
ring O
IIIV Foliated adjunction In this subsection we provide an adjunction formula
for foliation-invariant curves Let (X F ) be a Gorenstein foliation and f L rarrX the normalization of a F -invariant one-dimensional stack not contained in the
singular locus Z Denote by χ(L ) its topological Euler characteristic and by sZ(f)
the multiplicity of the ideal sheaf fminus1IZ We have
Fact IIIV1 [McQ05 IId4]
(5) KF middotL = minusχ(L )minus Ramf +sZ(f)
Which is a simple consequence of the isomorphism f lowastKF middotfminus1IZsimminusrarr Ω1
L (minusRamf )
The local contribution of sZ(f)minusRamf computed for a branch of f around a point
p in the support of fminus1IZ is np|Gp|minus1 with np a positive integer and Gp the local
monodromy of L at p Assume now that L has no generic stabilizer and let |L |denote its moduli The previous formula can be rewritten more usefully
Fact IIIV2
(6) KF middotL = 2g(|L |)minus 2 + fminus1IZ +sumf(p)isinZ
(np minus 1)|Gp|minus1 +sumf(p)isinZ
(1minus |Gp|minus1)
This can be easily deduced via a comparison between χ(L ) and χ(|L |) The
adjunction estimate 6 gives a complete description of invariant curves which are not
14 FEDERICO BUONERBA
contained in the singular locus and intersect the canonical KF non-positively A
complete analysis of the structure of KF -negative curves and much more is done
in [McQ05]
Definition IIIV3 A KF -nil curve is an invariant one-dimensional orbifold f
C rarr X such that KF middotf C = 0 and f does not factor through the singular locus
Z of the foliation
By adjunction 6 we have
Proposition IIIV4 The following is a complete list of possibilities for KF -nil
curves f
bull C is an elliptic curve without non-schematic points and f misses the singular
locus
bull |C| is a rational curve f hits the singular locus in two points with np = 1
there are no non-schematic points off the singular locus
bull |C| is a rational curve f hits the singular locus in one point with np = 1 there
are two non-schematic points off the singular locus with local monodromy
Z2Z
bull |C| is a rational curve f hits the singular locus in one point p there is at
most one non-schematic point q off the singular locus we have the identity
(np minus 1)|Gp|minus1 = |Gq|minus1
As shown in [McQ08] all these can happen In the sequel we will always assume
that a KF -nil curve is simply connected We remark that an invariant curve can have
rather bad singularities where it intersects the foliation singularities First it could
fail to be unibranch moreover each branch could acquire a cusp if going through
a radial singularity This phenomenon of deep ramification appears naturally in
presence of log-canonical singularities
IIV Canonical models of foliated surfaces with canonical singularities In
this subsection we provide a summary of the birational classification of Gorenstein
foliations with canonical singularities on algebraic surfaces obtained in [McQ08] Let
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 15
X be a two-dimensional smooth DM stack with projective moduli and F a foliation
with canonical singularities Since X is smooth certainly F is Q-Gorenstein If
KF is not pseudo-effective then foliated bend and break [BM16 Main Theorem]
shows that F is birationally a fibration by rational curves If KF is pseudo-effective
its Zariski decomposition has negative part a finite collection of invariant chains of
rational curves which can be contracted to a smooth DM stack with projective
moduli on which KF is nef At this point those foliations such that the Kodaira
dimension k(KF ) le 1 can be completely classified
Fact IIV1 [McQ08 IV3] Foliations with canonical singularities and Kodaira di-
mension zero are up to a ramified cover and birational transformations defined by
a global vector field The minimal models belong the following list
bull A Kronecker vector field on an abelian surface
bull The suspension of a representation π1(E)rarr PGL2(C) for E an elliptic curve
bull A Kronecker vector field on P1 timesP1
bull An isotrivial elliptic fibration
Fact IIV2 [McQ08 IV4] Foliations with canonical singularities and Kodaira di-
mension one are classified by their Kodaira fibration The linear system |KF | defines
a fibration onto a curve and the minimal models belong to the following list
bull The foliation and the fibration coincide so then the fibration is non-isotrivial
elliptic
bull The foliation is transverse to a projective bundle (Riccati)
bull The foliation is everywhere smooth and transverse to an isotrivial elliptic
fibration (turbolent)
bull The foliation is parallel to an isotrivial fibration in hyperbolic curves
On the other hand for foliations of general type the new phenomenon is that
global generation fails The problem is the appearence of elliptic Gorenstein leaves
these are cycles possibly irreducible of invariant rational curves around which KF
is numerically trivial but might fail to be torsion Assume that KF is big and nef
16 FEDERICO BUONERBA
and consider morphisms
(7) X rarrXe rarrXc
Where the composite is the contraction of all the KF -nil curves and the rightmost
is the minimal resolution of elliptic Gorenstein singularities
Fact IIV3 [McQ08 IV21 IV22] Xe is projective there exists an ample divisor
A and an effective divisor E supported on minimal elliptic Gorenstein leaves such
that KFe = A+E On the other hand Xc might fail to be projective and Fc is never
Q-Gorenstein
We refer to [McQ08 III32] for the descriptions of possible dual graphs of config-
urations of invariant KF -negative or nil curves
IIVI Canonical models of foliated surfaces with log-canonical singulari-
ties In this subsection we study Gorenstein foliations with log-canonical singulari-
ties on algebraic surfaces In particular we will classify the singularities appearing
on the underlying surface prove the existence of minimal and canonical models
describe the exceptional curves appearing in the contraction to the canonical model
Proposition IIVI1 Let (UF ) be a germ of Gorenstein log-canonical foliation
singularity Then U is a cone over a subvariety Y of a weighted projective space
whose weights are determined by the eigenvalues of F Moreover F is defined by
the rulings of the cone
Proof By Fact IIIII2 there exists a closed embedding i U rarr M - with M a
smooth local formal scheme - a regular system of parameters x1 middot middot middot xk on M and
positive integers n1 middot middot middotnk such that F is the restriction of the foliation defined by
part =sumnixi
partpartxi
to U Let I sub OM denote the ideal defining i(U) subM then part(I) sube I
We are going to prove that I is homogeneous where each xi has weight ni Let f isin I
and write f =sum
dge1 fd where fd is homogeneous of degree d in x1 middot middot middot xk - ie fd is
a k-linear combination of monomials xa11 xakk with d =
sumi aini For every N isin N
let FN = (xa11 xakk
sumi aini ge N) This collection of ideals defines a natural
filtration on OM For a = max ai we have mN sube FN sube mNa ie the FN -filtration
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 17
is equivalent to the one by powers of the maximal ideal and therefore OM is also
complete with respect to the FN -filtration
We will prove that if f isin I then fd isin I for every d
Let IN = (I + FN)FN Since OM is complete with respect to the FN -filtration
I = limlarrminus IN Therefore it is enough to show
Claim IIVI2 For every N gt 0 we have fd isin IN sub OMFN for all d lt N
Proof For every g isin IN denote by n(g) the unique integer such that g isin Fn(g) Fn(g)+1 (ie the minimal index d for which fd 6= 0) and by N(g) = N minus n(g)
We will prove the statement of the Claim by induction on N(f) If N(f) = 1 then
f = fNminus1 holds in OMFN and the statement is true If N(f) gt 1 we have part(f) =sumd d middot fd hence consider f1 = D(f)minus n(f)f =
sumdgtn(f)(dminus n(f))fd Tautologically
we have N(f1) lt N(f) and therefore fd isin IN for every d gt n(f) so then fn(f) =
f minussum
dgtn(f) fd isin IN as well
This implies that I is a homogeneous ideal and hence U is the germ of a cone over
a variety in the weighted projective space P(n1 nk)
Corollary IIVI3 If the germ U is normal then Y is normal If U is normal
of dimension 2 the weighted blow-up p U rarr U at the vertex of the cone has only
quotient singularities the exceptional divisor E(simminusrarr Y ) is smooth and everywhere
transverse to the induced foliation Moreover we have
(8) plowastKF = KF + E
Certainly the converse to Proposition IIVI1 fails even on surfaces indeed let
(X F ) be a Gorenstein foliated surface and let C sub X be a generic curve so
in particular smooth and not F -invariant We can assume perhaps after a finite
sequence of simple blow-ups along C that both X and F are smooth in a neigh-
borhood of C C and F are everywhere transverse and C2 lt 0
Proposition IIVI4 The formal contraction q X rarr X0 of C is isomorphic to
the cone over C the projected foliation F0 coincides with that by rulings on the cone
F0 is Q-Gorenstein if C rational or elliptic but not in general
18 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proof F0 is Q-Gorenstein if and only if the bundle KF (C) is trivial on the formal
completion of X along C The obstructions to lift the isomorphism OC(KF +C)simminusrarr
OC over infinitesimal neighborhoods of C lie in H1(C (1 minus n)C + KF ) for every
n isin N These groups vanish for every n isin N if 2g(C) minus 2 + C2 lt 0 (which is
always true for rational or elliptic curves) but do provide non-trivial obstructions in
general
We focus on the minimal model program for Gorenstein log-canonical foliations
on algebraic surfaces Let X be a DM stack of dimension 2 with projective moduli
and F a Gorenstein foliation with log-canonical singularities Denote by LC(F )
the set of points where F is log-canonical and not canonical and by Z the singular
sub-scheme of F We assume LC(F ) 6= empty since the empty case has been completely
settled Moreover we can assume that X is smooth outside LC(F ) Let f C rarrX
be a morphism from a 1-dimensional stack with trivial generic stabilizer such that
fminus1 LC(F ) 6= empty Since we will need them several times we formulate some technical
results
Lemma IIVI5 Let p X rarr X be the resolution of the log-canonical foliation
singularity intersecting C with exceptional divisor E Then
(9) KF middot C minus C middot E = KF middot C
Proof We have
(10) plowastC = C minus (C middot EE2)E
Intersecting this equation with equation 8 we obtain the result
This formula is important because it shows that passing from foliations with log-
canonical singularities to their canonical resolution increases the negativity of inter-
sections between invariant curves and the canonical bundle In fact the log-canonical
theory reduces to the canonical one after resolving the log-canonical singularities
Further we list some strong constraints given by invariant curves along which the
foliation is smooth
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 19
Fact IIVI6 [BB72 Baum-Bott] Let g C rarrX be an F -invariant curve missing
the foliation singularities Then C2 = NF middotg C = 0
Corollary IIVI7 Let g C rarr X be an F -invariant curve missing the foliation
singularities and such that KF middotg C lt 0 Then F is birationally a fibration by
rational curves
Proof By assumption KF middot C = minusχ(C) This together with Baum-Bott IIVI6
imply that KX middot C = minusχ(C) and from usual adjunction we get C2 = 0 Riemann-
Roch gives h0(X mC) ge 2 for m gtgt 0 so then |C| defines a fibration by rational
curves tangent to F
The rest of this subsection is devoted to the construction of minimal and canonical
models in presence of log-canonical singularities The only technique we use is
resolve the log-canonical singularities in order to reduce to the canonical case and
keep track of the exceptional divisor
We are now ready to handle the existence of minimal models
Theorem IIVI8 (Minimal models) Let X be a DM stack of dimension 2 with pro-
jective moduli and F a Gorenstein foliation with log-canonical singularities Then
either
bull F is birational to a fibration by rational curves or
bull There exist a birational contraction q X rarr X0 such that KF0 is nef
Moreover the exceptional curves of q donrsquot intersect LC(F )
Proof Let f be as above ie KF -negative and intersecting LC(F ) If f is not
F -invariant then KF middotC +C2 ge 0 so C moves and KF is not pseudo-effective We
conclude by foliated bend and break [BM16]
If f is F -invariant then foliated adjunction 6 implies that C is rational it intersects
the singular locus of F in exactly one point By Lemma IIVI5 after resolving the
log-canonical singularity KF middot C lt 0 and F is smooth along C We conlude by
Corollary IIVI7
20 FEDERICO BUONERBA
From now on we add the assumption that KF is nef and we want to analyze
those curves f satisfying KF middotf C = 0 By adjunction formula 6 we know that C
has rational moduli and fminus1Z is supported on two points
Remark IIVI9 If fminus1Z = fminus1 LC(F ) then F is birationally a fibration by ratio-
nal curves
Proof After resolving the log-canonical singularities of F along the image of C we
have KF middot C lt 0 and F smooth along C We conclude by Corollary IIVI7
Therefore we can assume that f satisfies the following condition
Definition IIVI10 An invariant curve f C rarr X is called log-contractible if
KF middot C = 0 and it intersects Z in two points one canonical and one log-canonical
not canonical
It follows that f(C) is everywhere unibranch but it might have a cusp in LC(F )
Definition IIVI11 A log-chain is a chain of invariant rational orbifolds C =
cupni=0Ci scheme-like outside the foliation singularities with KF middot C = 0 and such
that
bull C0 is log-contractible with lowast(C ) = C0 cap LC(F ) called the marking of C
bull Ci is disjoint from LC(F ) if i ge 1
There is a unique point t(C ) satisfying t(C ) isin Z cap (Cn Cnminus1) called the tail of
the log-chain
Proposition IIVI12 Let C1C2 be two log-chains intersecting non-trivially Then
lowast(C1) = lowast(C2) and C1 cap C2 = lowast(C1)
Proof It is enough to prove that the two log-chains cannot intersect in their tails
Replace X be the resolution of the at most two markings of the log-chains and Ci
by their proper transforms C1cupC2 = cupmi=0Ri is a connected chain of rational curves
intersecting Z outisde LC(F ) Moreover each of the two extremal curves R0 and
Rm intersects Z in one point only In particular KF middot Ri = 0 for i = 1 middot middot middot m minus 1
and KF middot Ri lt 0 for i = 0m Since we assumed F is not birational to a fibration
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 21
by rational curves there exists a contraction p X rarr X0 with exceptional curve
cupmminus1i=0 Ri However F0 is smooth along plowastRm so by adjunction formula KF0 middotplowastRm lt
0 and we find a contradiction by Corollary IIVI7
Corollary IIVI13 Let C be a maximal connected curve such that KF middotC = 0 and
C cap LC(F ) 6= empty Then C is a union of finitely many log-chains intersecting each
other in their common marking
The following shows a configuration of log-chains sharing the same marking col-
ored in black
We are now ready to state and prove the canonical model theorem in presence of
log-canonical singularities
Theorem IIVI14 (Canonical models) Let X be a proper DM stack of dimension
2 and F a foliation with isolated singularities Moreover assume that KF is nef
that every KF -nil curve is contained in a log-chain and that F is Gorenstein and
log-canonical in a neighborhood of every KF -nil curve Then either
bull There exists a birational contraction p X rarr X0 whose exceptional curves
are unions of log-chains If all the log-contractible curves contained in the log-
chains are smooth then F0 is Gorenstein and log-canonical If furthermore
X has projective moduli then X0 has projective moduli In any case KF0
is numerically ample
bull There exists a fibration p X rarr B over a curve whose fibers intersect
KF trivially Each F -invariant fiber of p intersecting LC(F ) is union of
mutually compatible log-chains
Proof If all the KF -nil curves can be contracted by a birational morphism we are in
the first case of the Theorem Else let C be a maximal connected curve withKF middotC =
0 and which is not contractible It is a union of pairwise compatible log-chains
22 FEDERICO BUONERBA
with marking lowast Replace (X F ) by the resolution of the log-canonical singularity
at lowast with exceptional divisor E Therefore F is Gorenstein and canonical in a
neighborhood of C cupE By equation 9 we have KF middotC = minusC middotE lt 0 and therefore
C can be contracted to a canonical foliation singularity Replace (X F ) by the
contraction of C We have a smooth curve E around which F is smooth and
nowhere tangent to E Moreover
(11) KF middot E = minusE2
And we distinguish cases
bull E2 gt 0 so KF is not pseudo-effective a contradiction
bull E2 lt 0 so the initial curve C is contractible a contradiction
bull E2 = 0 which we proceed to analyze
The following is what we need to handle the third case
Proposition IIVI15 Let (X F ) be a foliation with canonical singularities with
X a smooth 2-dimensional DM stack with projective moduli and KF nef If there
exists a smooth curve E everywhere transverse to F such that KF middot E = E2 = 0
then E moves in a pencil and defines a fibration p X rarr B onto a curve whose
fibers intersect KF trivially
Proof If KF has Kodaira dimension one then its linear system contains an effective
divisor and by Hodge index KF = cE as divisors for some c isin Q+ Hence there is
a fibration onto a curve with fiber E and F is transverse to it by assumption If
KF has Kodaira dimension zero we use the classification IIV1 in all cases but the
suspension over an elliptic curve E defines a product structure on the underlying
surface in the case of a suspension every section of the underlying projective bundle
is clearly F -invariant Therefore E is a fiber of the bundle
This concludes the proof of the Theorem
We remark that the second alternative in the above theorem is rather natural
let (X F ) be a foliation which is transverse to a fibration by rational or elliptic
curves ie a suspension over elliptic curve turbolent Riccati or isotrivial Pick a
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 23
general fiber E of the fibration and blow up any number of points on it The proper
transform E is certainly contractible By Proposition IIVI4 the contraction of E is
Gorenstein and log-canonical Moreover the fiber E has been replaced by a union of
compatible log-chains Note in particular that the number of log-chains appearing
is arbitrary
Corollary IIVI16 Let X be a proper DM stack of dimension 2 and F a Goren-
stein foliation with log-canonical singularities Assume that KF is big and pseudo-
effective Then there exists a birational morphism p X rarr X0 such that C is
exceptional if and only if KF middot C le 0 In particular KF0 is numerically ample
For future applications we spell out
Corollary IIVI17 Hypothesis as in Theorem IIVI14 assume further that X
is everywhere smooth Then in the second alternative of the theorem the fibration
p X rarr B is by rational curves
Proof Indeed in this case the curve E which appears in the proof above as the
exceptional locus for the resolution of the log-canonical singularity at lowast must be
rational By the previous Proposition p is defined by a pencil in |E|
IIVII Set-up In this subsection we prepare the set-up we will deal with in the
rest of the manuscript Briefly we want to handle the existence of canonical models
for a family of foliated surfaces parametrized by a one-dimensional base To this
end we will discuss the modular behavior of singularities of foliated surfaces with
Gorenstein singularities recall McQuillan-Panazzolorsquos resolution of foliation singu-
larities building on the existence of minimal models [McQ05] prepare the set-up
for the sequel
Let us begin with the modular behavior of Gorenstein singularities
Proposition IIVII1 Let (X F ) be a smooth DM stack with a foliation by
curves Assume there exists a flat proper morphism p X rarr C onto an algebraic
curve such that F restricts to a foliation on every fiber of p Then the set
(12) s isin C Fs is log-canonical
24 FEDERICO BUONERBA
is Zariski-open while the set
(13) s isin C Fs is canonical
is the complement to a countable subset of C lying on a real-analytic curve
Proof By Fact IIIII2 being log-canonical is equivalent to the linearized endomor-
phism part IZI2Z rarr IZI
2Z being non-nilpotent where Z is the singular sub-scheme
of the foliation Of course being non-nilpotent is a Zariski open condition The
second statement also follows from opcit since a log-canonical singularity which is
not canonical has linearization with all its eigenvalues positive and rational The
statement is optimal as shown by the vector field on A3xys
(14) part(s) =part
partx+ s
part
party
Next we recall the existence of a functorial canonical resolution of foliation singu-
larities for foliations by curves on 3-dimensional stacks
Fact IIVII2 [MP13] Let X = (XDF ) be a 3-dimensional DM stack with bound-
ary foliated by curves Then there exists a proper birational morphism Xprime rarr X such
that X prime is a smooth DM stack and F prime has only canonical foliation singularities
The original opcit contains a more refined statement including a detailed de-
scription of the claimed birational morphism
In order for our set-up to make sense we mention one last very important result
Fact IIVII3 [McQ05] Let X be a smooth DM stack with projective moduli and F
a foliation by curves with (log)canonical singularities Then there exists a birational
map X 99K Xm obtained as a composition of flips such that Xm is a smooth
DM stack with projective moduli the birational transform Fm has (log)canonical
singularities and one of the following happens
bull KFm is nef or
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 25
bull There exists a fibration Xm rarr B over a smooth base whose fibers are
weighted projective spaces such that Fm is tangent to the fibers and restricts
to a radial foliation on those
Finally we can organize our notation
Set-up IIVII4 (X F ) is a smooth 3-dimensional DM stack with projective mod-
uli F a foliation by curves with canonical singularities such that KF is big and nef
There exists a semi-stable morphism p X rarr ∆ whose moduli is projective onto
the (formal) unit disk F restricts to a foliation on every fiber of p it has canon-
ical singularities on the very general fiber of p and log-canonical singularities on
every fiber of p Our task from now on is to analyze and contract the maximal
foliation-invariant sub-scheme of X along which KF is not ample
III Invariant curves and singularities local description
In this section we give a complete decription of germs of invariant curves that
appear in the formal completion of any point in the set-up IIVII4 Let us replace
X by its formal completion in a point lowast where the foliation is singular F is defined
by a vector field part with Jordan decomposition partS + partN see the end of subsection
IIIII Since [partS partN ] = 0 partN preserves the eigenspaces of partS Moreover the fact that
F is tangent to p translates into
(15) partS(p) = partN(p) = 0
The description of invariant germs of curves through lowast will be achieved via case-by-
case analysis organized by computing what happens for all possible combinations
of the following informations whether the singular locus Z is isolated at lowast the
number of eigenvalues of partS the number of components of the fiber through p
IIII sing(F ) not isolated
ni (1) partS has one eigenvalue
bull We have partS = x partpartx
and partN = f partparty
+ g partpartz
for some functions f g isin (y z)
Moreover partN is non-trivial
26 FEDERICO BUONERBA
bull Z = (x = f = g = 0) is not isolated
(a) The fiber has one component y = 0 Then 0 = partN(y) = f hence
Z = (x = g = 0) The restriction on the fiber is part|(y=0) = x partpartx
+g|(y=0)partpartz
Z has a one-dimensional component contained in the fiber iff g isin (y) in
which case such component is smooth equal to (x = 0) moreover the
foliation on the fiber saturates to a smooth one with invariant curves
z = 0 transverse to Z
Otherwise the foliation is saturated on the fiber and has a saddle-node
singularity
(b) The fiber has two components yz = 0 Then 0 = partN(yz) = zf + yg
hence f = yh g = minuszh for some h and Z = (x = h = 0) The restriction
on a fiber component say y = 0 is part|(y=0) = x partpartxminus zh|(y=0)
partpartz
Z has an
irreducible component contained in y = 0 iff h isin (y) in which case such
component is smooth equal to (x = 0) moreover the foliation on the
fiber saturates to a smooth one with invariant curves z = 0 transverse
to Z
Otherwise the foliation is saturated on the fiber and has a saddle-node
singularity
(c) The fiber has three components xyz = 0 0 = partS(xyz) = xyz a contra-
diction
Summary with one eigenvalue there are either one or two components The
foliation might have a one-dimensional singularity when restricted to a fiber
component in this case such singularity is a smooth curve and the foliation
saturates to a smooth one with invariant curves transverse to the singular-
ity If the singularity is isolated on a fiber component then it is a canonical
saddle-node with at most two invariant branches
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 27
ni (2) partS has two eigenvalues
We have partS = x partpartx
+ λy partparty
and partN(x y z) = k partpartx
+ f partparty
+ g partpartz
for some func-
tions k f g
(a) The fiber has one component z = 0 Then g = 0 k f isin (x y) and
necessarily Z = (x = y = 0) is transverse to the fiber The restriction on
the fiber is saturated and non-degenerate It has canonical singularities
if either partN 6= 0 or λ isin Q+ otherwise it is log-canonical
(b) The fiber has two components xy = 0 Then 0 = partS(xy) hence λ = minus1
Also 0 = partN(xy) hence k = xh f = minusyh g isin (xy) and necessarily
Z = (x = y = 0) coincides with the intersection of the two fiber compo-
nents which is smooth the foliation saturates to a smooth one on each
component with invariant curves transverse to Z
(c) The fiber has three components xyz = 0 hence λ = minus1 Also k = xklowast
f = yf lowast g = zglowast with klowast + f lowast + glowast = 0 and glowast isin (xy) The singularity
Z = (x = y = 0) coincides with the intersection of two of the fiber
components The restriction to either such components saturates to a
smooth foliation with invariant curves transverse to Z the restriction
to z = 0 has a canonical non-degenerate singularity all the invariant
curves are those in xy = 0 transverse to Z
Summary with 2 eigenvalues there can be any number of components With
one component the foliation restricts to a saturated one with a (log)canonical
singularity which moves transversely to p With two components the folia-
tion is not saturated on either and saturates to a smooth one with invariant
curves transverse to the singularity With three components the foliation
is not saturated on two of them and saturates to a smooth one on both
with invariant curves transverse to the singularity the foliation is saturated
and has a canonical non-degenerate singularity on the third component In
28 FEDERICO BUONERBA
the last two cases the singularity is fully contained in an intersection of two
components
ni (3) partS has three eigenvalues But then the singularity is isolated a contradiction
IIIII sing(F ) isolated
i (1) partS has one eigenvalue
bull We have partS = x partpartx
and partN = xk partpartx
+ f partparty
+ g partpartz
for some functions
k f g isin (y z) Moreover partN is non-trivial
bull Z = (x = f = g = 0) is isolated
(a) The fiber has one component y = 0 Then 0 = partN(y) = f and Z cannot
be isolated a contradiction
(b) The fiber has two components yz = 0 Then 0 = partN(yz) = zf + yg so
f = yh g = minuszh with h non-constant Hence Z = (x = h = 0) is not
isolated a contradiction
(c) The fiber has three components xyz = 0 Then 0 = partS(xyz) = xyz a
contradiction
Summary the 1 eigenvalue case does not exist
i (2) partS has two eigenvalues
bull We have partS = x partpartx
+ λy partparty
partN = xk partpartx
+ f partparty
+ g partpartz
for some functions
k f g
bull g is non-trivial and g isin (x y)
bull Z = (x = y = g = 0) is isolated
(a) The fiber has one component z = 0 Then g = 0 a contradiction
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 29
(b) The fiber has two components xy = 0 hence λ = minus1 and g isin (xy z)
the restriction to y = 0 is part|(y=0) = x partpartx
+g|(y=0)partpartz
and necessarily g|(y=0)
is non-vanishing Therefore the restriction to either components is satu-
rated and the singularity is a canonical saddle-node on each of them
The invariant curves are among the axes x = y = 0 x = z = 0 y = z =
0
(c) The fiber has three components xyz = 0 hence λ = minus1 Necessarily
k = xklowast f = yf lowast g = zglowast with klowast + f lowast + glowast = 0 The restriction to
y = 0 is part|(y=0) = x(1 + klowast|(y=0))partpartx
+ zglowast|(y=0)partpartz
since g isin (x y) we have
glowast|(y=0) non-trivial Therefore the restriction to either x = 0 and y = 0
is saturated and the singularity is a canonical saddle-node on each of
them
The restriction to z = 0 is part|(z=0) = x(1 + klowast|(z=0))partpartx
+ y(minus1 + f lowast|(z=0))partparty
therefore the restriction is saturated and has a canonical non-degenerate
singularity
The invariant curves are among the axes x = y = 0 x = z = 0 y = z =
0
Summary with 2 eigenvalues there are either two or three components the
foliation restricts to a canonical saddle-node on two of them and to a non-
degenerate singularity on the third one if it exists All the invariant curves
are in the axes
i (3) partS has three eigenvalues We have partS = x partpartx
+ λy partparty
+ microz partpartz
(a) The fiber has one component y = 0 hence λ = 0 a contradiction
(b) The fiber has two components xy = 0 hence λ = minus1 The restriction to
y = 0 is part|(y=0) = x partpartx
+ microz partpartz
+ partN|(y=0) The singularity is log-canonical
30 FEDERICO BUONERBA
iff micro isin Qgt0 and partN|(y=0)= 0 and in this case the singularity on x = 0 is
canonical non-degenerate Invariant curves are those in y = 0 and the
axis x = z = 0
If the restriction to both fiber components is canonical then it non-
degenerate on both and the invariant curves are contained in the axes
x = y = 0 x = z = 0 y = z = 0
The fiber could be yz = 0 hence λ+micro = 0 It can be analyzed as in the
next item
(c) The fiber has three components xyz = 0 hence 1 + λ + micro = 0 In par-
ticular if λ = cmicro c isin Q+ then λ micro isin Q The restriction to y = 0
is part|(y=0) = x partpartx
+ microz partpartz
+ partN|(y=0) This singularity is log-canonical iff
micro isin Qgt0 and partN|(y=0)= 0 in which case the singularity on both x = 0
and z = 0 is canonical non-degenerate In particular if the singularity
is log-canonical on some fiber component then it is so on exactly one
component and all eigenvalues are rational Invariant curves are those
in y = 0 and the axis x = z = 0
If the restriction to all fiber components is canonical then it non-degenerate
on each of them and the invariant curves are contained in the axes
x = y = 0 x = z = 0 y = z = 0
Summary with 3 eigenvalues there are either two or three fiber components
the foliation restricts to a singular foliation on each of them and it has a
log-canonical singularity on at most one of them in this case all eigenvalues
of the semi-simple field are rational
IIIIII Local consequences We list some corollaries for future reference As al-
ways in this section the statements are local so everything happens in a formal
neighborhood of our point lowast First we state those corollaries we will need to describe
configurations of KF -nil curves
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 31
Definition IIIIII1 An LC-center Π sub X is an irreducible F -invariant formal
hypersurface such that the local vector field generating the foliation when restricted
to Π has semi-simple part with log-canonical singularity or a one-dimensional sin-
gular locus An LC-center with a log-canonical singularity is necessarily an algebraic
component of the singular fiber of p
Corollary IIIIII2 There is at most one LC-center with a log-canonical singularity
through lowast If it exists then all eigenvalues of the semi-simple field at lowast are rational
If there are at least two LC-centers through lowast then there are exactly two and the
foliation singularity is a smooth curve on each of them
Proof Possible cases in which an LC-center with log-canonical singularities appears
ni (2)a i (3)b i (3)c
Corollary IIIIII3 If there is no LC-center thorugh a point lowast then there are at
most three invariant curves through lowast all smooth Any number of them spans a sub-
space of the tangent space at lowast of maximal possible dimension
If there is an LC-center through lowast then there is at most one invariant curve through
lowast and not contained in the LC-center
If there is an LC-center with non-isolated singularity then the singularity is smooth
and all invariant curves contained in the LC-center intersect the singularity trans-
versely
Proof Invariant curves not in an LC-centers with log-canonical singularities are con-
tained in the three axes x = z = 0 x = y = 0 y = z = 0 mentioned in the above
classification The other statements are clear
Corollary IIIIII4 If p is smooth at lowast then Z is one dimensional around lowast
Proof Possible casesni (1)a ni (2)a
In particular if there is no LC-center the situation is the familiary
xz
32 FEDERICO BUONERBA
While if there is an LC-center (pink) with log-canonical singularity it will look like
y
LC-center
While if there is an LC-center with non-isolated singularity (red) it will look like
(the black arrows being invariant curves)
y
LC-center
The next corollary describes one-dimensional components of the foliation singularity
Corollary IIIIII5 If Z0 is a one-dimensional irreducible component of the folia-
tion singularity then it is at worst nodal The foliation when restricted to any fiber
component containing Z0 saturates to a smooth foliation in a neighborhood of Z0
and all the invariant curves are transverse to Z0
If Z0 is contained in exactly one fiber component then the semi-simple field has one
eigenvalue everywhere along Z0
If Z0 lies at the intersection of two fiber components then the semi-simple field has
two constant eigenvalues everywhere along Z0
Moreover if there exist a sequence of invariant curves converging in the compact-
open topology to Z0 then there is generically one eigenvalue along Z0
Proof Possible casesni (1)a ni (1)b ni (2)b ni (2)c Concerning the one-
eigenvalue case invariant curves converging to Z0 can be found in the formal hyper-
surface x = 0
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 33
IV Invariant curves along which KF vanishes
In this section we study in great detail a formal neighborhood of invariant curves
where KF is numerically trivial In the first subsection we deal with KF -nil curves
namely those whose generic point is not contained in the foliation singularity In this
case the normal bundle to the curve determines its formal neighborhood uniquely
and this has plenty of amazing consequences In the second subsection we study
those invariant curves which are contained in the foliation singularity In this case
we are not able to control the full formal neighborhood but important informations
can still be obtained
IVI KF -nil curves In this subsection we study in detail the structure of KF -
nil curves and their formal neighborhoods appearing in the set-up IIVII4 In
particular we will describe a simple process to replace cuspidal KF -nil curves by
net ones prove that the foliation is in the net completion around a net KF -nil curve
defined by a global vector field which admits a global Jordan decomposition deduce
that eigenfunctions for the semi-simple component of such field are also globally
defined on a formal neighborhood
The first important remark is of technical nature and explains how to deal with non-
net KF -nil curves By Proposition IIIV4 this is indeed possible and the images of
such curves will acquire cusp-like singularities It is hard to analyze the geometry
of F around such cuspidal curves and therefore necessary to remove them Let us
assume that C is simply connected with rational moduli f is ramified at 0 isin C
and and denote by X the formal completion along f(C) Then formally around
f(0) the curve f(C) has defining ideal (y xa minus zb) where y = 0 is a fiber of the
fibration p X rarr ∆ containing f(C) x z isin H0(X OX ) restrict to suitable local
coordinates on such fiber and a b ge 2 are coprime integers
Claim IVI1 Let r X ( aradicz = 0) rarr X be the a-th root of z = 0 III3 Then
(rlowastC)norm =∐a
1 C and the induced map rlowastf (rlowastC)norm rarrX ( aradicz = 0) is net
Proof Since r is etale away from z = 0 also rlowastC rarr C is etale away from 0 isin C
Since C 0 is simply connected we have rlowastC rminus1(0) =∐a
1 C 0 This proves
34 FEDERICO BUONERBA
the first statement Let ζ be a function on X ( aradicz = 0) such that ζa = z so then
rlowast(xa minus zb) =prod
ηa=1(x minus ηζb) Every branch is net in 0 and we obtain the second
statement as well
As such upon taking roots we can replace non-net KF -nil invariant curves with
rational moduli by net ones
We now proceed to study net KF -nil curves We will show that the foliation is
defined by a global vector field around a net KF -nil curve with rational moduli and
that such vector field admits a global Jordan decomposition
Proposition IVI2 Notation as in the set-up IIVII4 let f C rarrX be a KF -nil
curve Assume that f is net and let j C rarr C be the net completion along f Then
there exists an isomorphism
(16) OC(KF )simminusrarr OC
In particular there exists a global vector field partf on C that generates F
Proof Since C has rational moduli and is simply connected it has infinite-cyclic
Picard group and we have an isomorphism
(17) OC(KF )simminusrarr OC
Moreover we have a non-canonical splitting of the normal bundle Njsimminusrarr O(minusn) oplus
O(minusm) and we claim that both nm ge 0 Indeed consider the induced semi-stable
fibration C rarr ∆ and let F be the normalization of an irreducible component of a
fiber such that C sub F Consider the exact sequence
(18) 0rarr NCF rarr Nj rarr NFC|C rarr 0
Since KF is nef NCF is not ample since F is a fiber of a fibration also NFC|C is
not ample and this is enough to conclude even though nm may be different from
the degrees of such normal bundles
At this point we can lift the isomorphism 17 over infinitesimal neighborhoods of j
Indeed for every k ge 0 we have an exact sequence
(19) 0rarr Symk ICI2C rarr OCk+1
(KF )rarr OCk(KF )rarr 0
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 35
which shows that the obstruction to lifting the isomorphism lies in
(20) H1(C Symk ICI2C) = H1(C Symk(O(n)oplus O(m))) = 0
From this we can deduce
Proposition IVI3 The vector field partf admits a Jordan decomposition uniformly
along C
Proof The cohomology sequence attached to 19 is
(21) 0rarr H0(C Symk ICI2C)rarr H0(COCk+1
)rarr H0(COCk)rarr 0
Let partk+1 denote the image of partf in End(H0(COCk+1)) Looking at
H0(COCk+1) minusminusminusrarr H0(COCk
)
partk+1
y partk
yH0(COCk+1
) minusminusminusrarr H0(COCk)
we see the canonical Jordan deomposition of partk+1 restricts to that of partk
The above result describes a very useful interplay between normal bundles to
KF -nil curves and the structure of the semi-simple field It turns out that these
informations determine formal neighborhoods uniquely For simplicity let C be
an irreducible component of C without orbifold points Let us assume that part|C is
singular in 0infin Then there exist formal functions x y z at 0 isin C and ξ η ζ at
infin isin C such that x ξ are coordinates along C y η are local sections of OC(minusn)
so η = xny mod(I2C) z ζ are local sections of OC(minusm) so ζ = xmz mod(I2C)
Normalizing so that xminus1partS(x) = ε isin 0 1 we obtain
(22) part0S = εxpart
partx+ λy
part
party+ microz
part
partz partinfinS = minusεξ part
partξ+ (λ+ εn)η
part
partη+ (micro+ εm)ζ
part
partζ
More generally ie C = P1(d e) we have glueing rules x = te ξ = tminusd η = tny and
ζ = tmz mod(I2C) Normalizing so that tminus1partS(t) = ε isin 0 1 we obtain
(23) part0S = eεxpart
partx+ λy
part
party+ microz
part
partz partinfinS = minusdεξ part
partξ+ (λ+ εn)η
part
partη+ (micro+ εm)ζ
part
partζ
36 FEDERICO BUONERBA
It is worth remarking that the above relations hold between eigenvalues at the two
singular point of singular ie nodal or cuspidal KF -nil curves as well this is
easily seen by taking a root followed by net completion and keeping track of the
eigenvalues
Definition IVI4 Let C be a KF -nil curve The foliation singular points along C
are called ends
As well as the existence of Hilbert scheme in the following form
Fact IVI5 Let W sub Xlowast be a curve and D a divisor in the formal neighborhood
of W such that W = D capXlowast scheme-theoretically Then W moves in D
In what follows our main concern is to understand formal neighborhoods of KF -
nil curves Observe that the fibration p when restricted to the formal neighborhood
of such curves provides at least one eigenfunction of the semi-simple field Hence
in order to compute the width IIII we must study the behavior of the other eigen-
function on infinitesimal neighborhoods We first describe the situation inside the
smooth locus of p
Proposition IVI6 (Smooth fiber) Let f C rarrX be an irreducible KF -nil curve
which is contained in the smooth locus of a fiber Xlowast of p Then the end(s) on C are
flat over ∆ ni (1)b and ni (1)a with z2|g(y z) and C moves in a family flat over
∆
Proof Let us assume that f is net Then upon passing to net completion we can
actually assume it is embedded From our local classification of singularities we case
in case ni (1)a and ni (2)a We want to show that both ends have components
that move transversely to p hence we have to exclude case ni (1)a with g(y z) = ya
By way of contradiction say we have g(y z) = ya in the notation of opcit around
an end lowast isin C We proceed to compute what happens at the other end we find
formal coordinates ξ η ζ which by equation 23 satisfy
(24) ξ = xminus1 η = y ζ = xmz mod(I2C)
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 37
As such we compute part(ζ) = mζ + ξminusmηa mod(I2C) which is holomorphic if and only
if m le 0 so then C moves in Xlowast contradicting that the foliation has general type
Hence we are in cases ni (1)a ni (2)a with g = microyazb b ge 1
(25) part0 = xpart
partx+ microyazb
part
partz partinfin = minusξ part
partξ+ ζ(m+ microξm(bminus1)ηaζbminus1)
part
partζ(mod(I2C))
Following notation from subsection IIII observe that C1 is the section of E1C which
is disjoint from the proper transform of the fiber of p In coordinates over 0
(26) x1 = x y1 = y z1 = zyminus1
And similarly over infin Using the previous equation and 25 on C1 we find
(27)
part01 = x1part
partx1+microya+bminus11 zb1
part
partz1 partinfin1 = minusξ1
part
partξ1+ζ1(m+microξ
m(bminus1)1 ηa+bminus11 ζbminus11 )
part
partζ1(mod(I2C1
))
In particular the transform of the nilpotent field is still nilpotent after blowing up in
C It follows that the eigenvalues of the semi-simple field at the two ends of C and
C1 are the same Using equation 23 we deduce that the normal bundle to C1X1 to
isomorphic to that of CX in particular it contains a trivial direct summand This
proves that width(C) =infin
Next we show that f must be net Consider the induced flat projection pD D rarr ∆
its general fiber cannot be a cuspidal curve since along such cusp the foliation sin-
gularity would be log-canonical but not canonical Hence if C has a cusp necessarily
the general fiber of pD is a nodal curve Let X rarr X denote the blow up of the
nodal locus of pD with exceptional divisor E ruled over ∆ In a neighborhood of E
we have sing(F ) = D cap E which projects to ∆ as a double cover ramified over lowastObserve that the foliation on Xlowast is again log-canonical and not canonical hence its
local structure is ni (2)a In that case however p is unramified along the foliation
singularity Contradiction
We state a general criterion for movability of KF -nil curves
Proposition IVI7 Let C be a connected KF -nil curve such that p(C ) = lowast isin ∆
Assume its dual graph is a chain that none of its irreducible components is double
38 FEDERICO BUONERBA
VI3 and that its two extremal ends are flat over ∆ Then C moves in a family flat
over ∆ and each of its irreducible components is embedded
Proof We work in a formal neighborhood of C After taking roots we can assume
C is net and since its dual graph is a chain it is actually embedded We proceed by
induction on its length l where the case l = 1 is Proposition IVI6 For l gt 1 let C1
be a component of C which is extremal in its dual graph If C1 moves transversely
to p then both its ends do and hence we can apply the induction hypothesis to
C C1 If C1 is rigid then it can be flopped It is straightforward to check that we
can apply the induction hypothesis to the transform C + C+1 and we are done
Now we deal with rigid curves inside the singular fiber
Proposition IVI8 (Singular fiber) Let f C rarr X be an embedded net KF -
nil curve with anti-ample normal bundle Then there exists a birational map φ
(X F ) 99K (X +F+) and a KF+-nil curve C+ such that
bull φ is an isomorphism away from C+
bull In a formal neighborhood of at least one among C and C+ there exist two
invariant hypersurfaces D1D2 locally defined by the vanishing of eigenfunc-
tions of the semi-simple field such that C (resp C+)= D1 capD2
bull If F middot C lt 0 for some hypersurface F then F+ middot C+ gt 0 In particular X +
is projective
Such φ is called flop
Proof Our assumption is that Nfsimminusrarr O(minusn)oplusO(minusm) is anti-ample namely nm gt
0 If two invariant hypersurfaces as in our statement do exist around C the flop is
easily constructed as a weighted blow-up followed by a weighted blow-down As such
let us assume that such hypersurfaces do not exist around C In particular C is not
double VI3 By [Ar70] there exists a formal contraction c X rarrX0 collapsing C
to a point and an isomorphism everywhere else By Proposition IVI3 the foliation
F0 is Gorenstein around the node of X0 For ease of exposition let us assume
n = m = 1 the general case is handled the same way only the notation becomes more
cumbersome due to the presence of weights The node has embedding dimension 4
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 39
and in suitable local coordinates x0 y0 w0 z0 can be defined by x0z0minusy0w0 = 0 The
morphism c can be identified with the blow up of the embedded surface (x0 = y0 = 0)
Explicitly in the chart y = y0 x = x0yminus10 it is defined by
(28) y0 = y x0 = xy z0 = zprime w0 = xzprime
Here x is a coordinate along C while y = 0 is the pull-back of (x0 = y0 = 0) and
zprime some function in the normal bundle to C By the previous Proposition IVI6
we know C cannot be contained in the smooth locus of p Since C is not double
we can assume that in this local chart p is defined by (x y zprime) rarr xy - the case
(x y zprime) rarr xzprime being isomorphic as it is isomorphic to blow-up (z0 = w0 = 0)
instead of (x0 = y0 = 0) The issue is as emphasized by the notation zprime 6= z that
zprime may fail to be an eigenfunction for partS if it were we would be done since zprime = 0
is the local equation for the global pullback of (z0 = w0 = 0) However we have
a b isin C such that
(29) partS0(y0) = minusy0 partS0(x0) = 0 partS0(z0) = ay0 + bz0 partS0(w0) = ax0 + (b+ 1)w0
Observe that the embedded surfaces D01 = (y0 = z0 = 0) and D0
2 = (x0 = w0 = 0)
are both foliation invariant As such let b X + rarr X0 denote the blow-up of X0
along D01 - which is isomorphic to that along D0
2 - and let Di = blowastD0i i = 1 2
Finally X + is projective by Nakai-Moishezon Indeed every C with anti-ample
normal bundle is contained in an irreducible component F of X0 such that F middotC lt 0
Then F+ middot C+ gt 0 and we can find an ample divisor of the form H+ + εF+ where
H+ is the proper transform of an ample on X
Remark IVI9 In the previous proof a 6= b+ 1 Indeed such identity would create
a non-trivial Jordan block of partS0 in the (x0 w0)-plane thus contradicting the semi-
simplicity of partS0 In particular by a straightforward computation it is impossible to
find eigenfunctions of the form wlowast0 = w0 + αx0 zlowast0 = z0 + βy0 with x0z
lowast0 minus y0wlowast0 = 0
unless a = 0
We can conclude by pointing out an important point understood in this section
A painful aspect of the theory is that log-canonical singularities which appear natu-
rally as analytic degenerations of canonical ones come along with cuspidal invariant
40 FEDERICO BUONERBA
curves There is in particular no a-priori obstruction to the existence of rigid
cuspidal KF -nil curves in a smooth fiber of our family of foliated surfaces p Quite
generally a rigid curve of positive arithmetic genus in a smooth family of surfaces can
never be contracted to a point Therefore this would have been a counter-example
to any reasonable foliated canonical model theory one may wish to achieve Fortu-
nately such phenomenon does not happen and this establishes the Main Theorem I
modulo finitely many rigid curves confined in the singular fiber X0
IVII Invariant curves inside sing(F ) In this subsection we study curves Z0 subeXlowast cap sing(F ) which are inside the foliation singularity and invariant By this we
mean that there exists a sequence fn Cn rarrX of not necessarily algebraic invariant
curves converging in the compact-open topology to Z0 In other words the map
(30) NorF rarr Ω1Z0
is trivial By Corollary IIIIII5 we know that Z0 is at worst nodal it is smooth
wherever p is smooth for every point z isin Z0 the semi-simple part of the gener-
ating vector field has exactly one eigenvalue The problem here is that the Jordan
decomposition need not extend uniformly along Z0 not even along an irreducible
component In case ni (1)a the functions x and g may develop essential singulari-
ties arbitrary close to z Nonetheless the function x is unique and this says that x
does extend along Z0
Proposition IVII1 Let Z0 be as above Then in a formal neighborhood of Z0
there exists a unique smooth invariant hypersurface D0 containing Z0 which restricts
around any point in Z0 to the unique eigenfunction for the semi-simple field whose
eigenvalue is non-zero
Proof The local structure of the foliation around a point z isin Z0 is described by
cases ni (1)a and ni (1)b In both cases partS has one non-zero eigenvalue with
eigenfunction x Such eigenfunction x is a-priori only defined in the normal bundle to
Z0 but it is clear that the equation partx = x has a unique up to constants solution in
the formal completion around z As such there exists a unique smooth hypersurface
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 41
D0 in the formal completion around Z0 which restricts to the eigenfunction x around
z
Observe that the previous argument goes through since we are assuming Z0 subX0
Keeping notations from case ni (1)a if say g(y z) = yz then in the hypersurface
y equiv q isin Qgt0 the foliation has a log-canonical singularity and the eigenfunction x
extends highly non-uniquely to a formal neighborhood of the point (x y z) = (0 q 0)
In particular the existence of D0 as in the previous Proposition might fail along
the component (x = z = 0) of the foliation singularity This phenomenon is called
the beast
Anyway uniqueness in the previous proposition yields
Corollary IVII2 Let Z prime be a connected invariant curve inside sing(F ) Then in
a formal neighborhood of Z prime there exists a unique smooth invariant hypersurface D prime
containing Z prime which restricts around any point in Z prime to the hypersurface constructed
in the previous proposition
Next we turn to the intrinsic structure of invariant singular curves
Proposition IVII3 Let Z0 be an irreducible invariant curve inside sing(F )
Then Z0 is smooth and rational
Proof We work in a formal neighborhood of Z0 Let F0 denote the unique component
of X0 containing Z0 For any other fiber component F intersecting Z0 non-trivially
blow-up the invariant curve F cap F0 with exceptional divisor EF A straightforward
computation using the local formula ni (1)b shows that the fiber of the natural
projection EF rarr F cap F0 intersecting Z0 is also contained in sing(F ) For Z prime the
maximal connected singular invariant curve containing Z0 let G denote the saturated
foliation induced on D prime It is canonical with reduced singularities and it satisfies
KG = KF |Dprime minus Zprime By adjunction
(31) 2g(Z0)minus 2 + sZG(Z0) = minusZ prime middot Z0
Observe that thanks to our initial sequence of blow-ups the singularities of G along
Z0 coincide with the intersection of Z0 and Z prime Z0 In particular since D prime is formally
42 FEDERICO BUONERBA
flat over ∆ we deduce Z prime middot Z0 = 0 and the previous formula becomes
(32) 2g(Z0)minus 2 + sZG(Z0) = 0
This implies that Z0 is rational or elliptic If Z0 were elliptic then sZG(Z0) = 0 and
D0 defines an invariant elliptic curve in the general fiber of p By Baum-Bott this
contradicts that KF is big and nef Now we show that Z0 is smooth If it has a node
then D0 moves it in a family of nodal rational curves flat over ∆ In particular D0
itself has a node in codimension 1 hence Xlowast is smooth around the node of Z0 In its
formal neighborhood the foliation must be as in case ni (1)a which implies that
Z0 is smooth contradiction
We can improve as follows
Proposition IVII4 Let Z prime sube sing F capXlowast be a connected invariant curve with
KF middot Z prime = 0 Then its dual graph is a chain
Proof Assume Z prime is a cycle Then necessarily Z prime = D prime capXlowast scheme-theoretically
and by the existence of Hilbert scheme Z prime moves in the general fiber Its general
member is either a cycle of smooth rational curves or an elliptic curve Arguing as
in the previous proof we see that both options are impossible
V Configurations
In this section we analyze in great detail all possible configurations of invariant
curves along which KF vanishes These can be divided into three groups those
that do not move those that move in a one-dimensional family covering a surface
those that move in a higher-dimensional family covering a surface Curves in the first
group can form rather complicated configurations while those in the second group
are more simple they either move in the general fiber or they cover an isolated
Riccati component in the singular fiber Those in the third group turn out to be
represented by the two rulings of P1timesP1 if they happen to be cohomologous in the
ambient stack First we will analyze rigid curves then those which move and finally
we will describe their configurations
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 43
VI Configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially In
this subsection we describe configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF
trivially which arise in the situation described by set-up IIVII4
First we focus on KF -nil curves At the end of the section we deal with the simpler
case in which a curve in the configuration is fully contained in sing(F ) The general
fiber was handled in Proposition IVI6
Proposition VI1 Let C be a connected KF -nil curve contained in the smooth
locus of a fiber of p Then it is a chain or a cycle and it moves in a family flat over
∆
In what follows we let C denote a connected KF -nil curve contained in the
singular fiber X0 all of whose sub-curves are rigid in X Observe a consequence of
equation 23
Proposition VI2 Let C = cupiCi be a connected KF -nil curve Then the eigen-
values of partS are all rational at every point of sing(F )capC if and only if they are all
rational at one point
We can deduce many non-trivial properties about configurations of KF -nil curves
First we need
Definition VI3 Let C subX0 be a curve It is called double if there exists formally
around C two components F F prime of X0 such that C = F cap F prime A point lowast isin C where
three fiber components intersect is called a triple point If C lies on exactly one fiber
component it is called non-double We denote by F (C) such component
Remark VI4 Let Csimminusrarr P1(d e) be double with two triple points Then we know
e+ λ+ micro = minusd+ (λ+ n) + (micro+m) = 0 whence we obtain
(33) n+m = d+ e
Which is called triple-point formula
Next we show that essentially KF -nil curves do not form cycles unless something
deforms in X0 First we show that there are no cycles of rigid non-double curves
44 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proposition VI5 Let C be a connected KF -nil curve contained in the singular
fiber X0 of p Assume that every component of C is non-double and that every
sub-curve is rigid Then C contains no cycles
Proof We work in a formal neighborhood of C which we assume is a cycle Let
us first consider the case in which all components C1 middot middot middot CN are smooth with no
orbifold points and denote lowasti = Ci cap Ci+1 with CN+1 = C1 Moreover let us
assume no lowasti lies in the smooth locus of p
Since no curve is double the semi-simple field at every lowasti is as in case i (3)b in
particular the eigenvalues along the branches of Ci and Ci+1 add up to zero More-
over let minusni denote the self-intersection of Ci sub F (Ci) Normalize the eigenvalues
of partS so that at lowastn they are 1 in the C1 direction minus1 in the CN direction λ in the
F (C1)capF (CN) direction It follows by induction that at lowasti the eigenvalues are minus1
in the Ci direction 1 in the Ci+1 direction λ+ n1 + middot middot middot+ ni in the F (Ci) cap F (Ci+1)
direction After traveling around the cycle we obtain n1+middot middot middot+nN = 0 contradicting
that ni gt 0 for every i
We established the Proposition assuming every Ci is an embedded scheme and ev-
ery lowasti is in the singular locus of p The case in which Cisimminusrarr P1(di ei) has orbifold
points is analogous we end up with a combination c1n1 + middot middot middot + cNnN = 0 with ci
the eigenvalue at lowasti in the Ci+1 direction Normalizing so that c1 = e1 gt 0 again by
induction on i we see that every ci isin Qgt0 Next we show that our assumption on lowastiis always satisfied
Claim VI6 Every lowasti must belong to the singular locus of p
Proof We give two essentially equivalent proofs
bull If N = 2 3 then the previous argument goes through indeed we can normal-
ize eigenvalues at lowasti to be negative in the Ciminus1 direction and positive in the
Ci-direction and argue as above Hence we can assume N ge 4 If say lowasti is in
the smooth locus of p then F (Ci) = F (Ci+1) If also F (Ciminus1) = F (Ci) then Ci
lies in the smooth locus of p and hence it moves Therefore F (Ciminus1) 6= F (Ci)
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 45
and Ciminus1 can be flopped inside F (Ci) Since N ge 4 this preserves the smooth-
ness of F (Ci) and Ci is now is the smooth locus of p - contradiction
bull If lowasti belongs to the smooth locus of p then the end through lowasti moves We
can form a partial net completion fi Xi rarrX by normalizing C in lowasti only
Then f lowasti C is a chain with movable ends and hence moves in the general fiber
of p fi
Finally the general case in which some among the Ci have cusps can be easily
reduced to the smooth case in a couple of ways
bull Eigenvalues at the singularities of any KF -nil curve satisfy the same relations
as in the smooth case
bull Upon taking roots and net completion we can find a foliated formal 3-fold
supported on a cycle of smooth KF -nil curves which is a ramified cover of a
formal neighborhood of our cycle
Similarly we can show that there are no rigid cycles of double curves
Proposition VI7 Let C be a nodal KF -nil curve which is double Then C
deforms inside X0 In particular there cannot exist a rigid cycle of KF -nil double
curves
Proof Following the previous notation we have 0 = infin and if C = (xy = z = 0)
around 0 then we have identities
(34) x = η y = ξ z = ζ
The last one of which implies m = 0 that is C deforms Since C is double necessarily
the surface it spans must be contained in X0
The statement about cycles follows since a cycle of double curves can be transformed
after finitely many flops into a chain of smooth double curves with a nodal one
attached at one end
46 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Later on we will show that the deformations of C cannot span an elliptic surface
but only a family of nodal rational curves with a special Riccati foliation on it
We are ready to organize a detailed description of the dual graph of C More pre-
cisely we only need to understand how double curves intersect non-double curves
Lemma VI8 There exists a sequence of flops X 99KX + such that if C + denotes
the transform of C every double curve supported on C + contains two triple points
Proof Let C sube C be an irreducible component with at most one triple point and
let X 99K X + be its flop Then its transform C+ is non-double and the number
of double curves contained in C descreases It is clear that after finitely many flops
all double curves contain exactly two triple points
From now on all double curves in C have two triple points Thanks to proposition
VI2 we know that there are two cases to consider those curves along which the
semi-simple field has not only rational eigenvalues and those along which the semi-
simple field has only rational eigenvalues The first case being strictly easier than
the second it is a good starting place to warm up
Proposition VI9 (irrational eigenvalues) Assume that for every foliation singu-
larity along C not all eigenvalues of partS are rational Then every component of C
is net with at most one node and 1-skeleton of its dual graph is at worst trivalent
Write C = C axes cup C free where
C axes is the union of double curves
C free is the union of non-double curves
Then one among C axes and C free is empty Moreover
bull If C free is non-empty then it is a chain of smooth curves with rational moduli
bull If C axes is non-empty there exists a sequence of flops X 99KX + and an ir-
reducible component of the fiber FC subX + such that X + is a smooth stack
the transform C+ of C is contained in FC Moreover the dual graph of C+
is a tree which by [McQ08 III32] becomes a chain inside the normalization
of FC
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 47
Proof The first sentence is just corollary IIIIII3
Observe that if a non-double curve intersects a double curve then the non-double
curve must be contained in an LC-center around such intersection This contradicts
that not all eigenvalues are rational and establishes that one among C axes and C free
is empty
In case C free is not empty then it is clearly a chain or a cycle the latter being
impossible by Proposition VI5
We are left to show the existence of flops in case C = C axes We remark that
every component is smooth Let C0 be such a component and S0 a component of
X0 containing it Let C1 be the collection of irreducible components of C which
intersect S0 but are not contained in it All the components of C1 are smooth hence
we can flop them in any order until the transform of C1 lies in the transform of S0
Since the number of irreducible components of C lying outside S0 decreases after
such flop by induction we deduce the existence of finitely many flops after which
the birational transform of C is fully contained in the transform of S0
Next we take care of rational eigenvalues The complication here arises from
the fact that there may be double and non-double curves intersecting each other
However the situation is best possible
Proposition VI10 (rational eigenvalues) Assume that for every foliation singu-
larity along C all eigenvalues of partS are rational Write C = C axes cup C free where
C axes is the union of double curves
C free is the union of non-double curves
Then there exists a sequence of flops X 99K X + and an irreducible component of
the fiber FC axes subX + such that
bull X + is a smooth stack
bull The union of double curves of C axes is contained in FC axes the 1-skeleton of
its dual graph is a tree and each of its components has two triple points
bull The 1-skeleton of the dual graph of the transform C free+ is a disjoint union of
trees
bull Each connected component of C free+ intersects C axes in exactly one point
48 FEDERICO BUONERBA
In particular the 1-skeleton of the dual graph of C is a tree
Proof Notice that for every point lowast isin C cap Z there exists one LC-center through lowastIndeed there are three rational eigenvalues and they cannot be all non-vanishing and
all with different signs at the same time Now C axes can be treated as in proposition
VI9 This proves the first two items of the statement The third item follows from
Proposition VI5 so we can focus on the fourth one The proof is based on the
following obvious
Remark VI11 let C be a double curve such that either it is KF -nil hence has
two triple points or it is fully contained in sing(F ) Let C0 sube C free intersect C
non-trivially in a point lowast then necessarily C0 sub LClowast
Now let C0 middot middot middot CN form a chain of non-double curves with C0 and CN both
intersecting double curves as in the remark Denote by lowasti = Ci cap Ci+1 Since
C1 sub LClowast necessarily C1 is transverse to LClowast1 otherwise C1 would deform in F (C1)
Inductively we see that Ci+1 sub LClowasti and is transverse to LClowasti+1 In particular CN
cannot touch a double curve This contradiction proves the fourth item
Let us add a remark about configurations featuring invariant curves inside sing(F )
Proposition VI12 Let C be an invariant curve with KF middot C = 0 such that
Z0 sube C for some component Z0 sube sing(F ) Then C = Z prime cup C where
Z prime is a connected invariant curve inside the foliation singularity with dual graph a
chain
C is the union of at most two pairwise disjoint KF -nil curves with anti-ample
normal bundle
If not empty C can only intersect Z prime at the two ends of its dual graph Moreover
perhaps after a flop the intersection of C with Z prime supports the foliation singularity
along C As such if C has two components Z prime cup C deforms in the general fiber
Proof The structure of Z prime is Proposition IVII3 while that of Co is Proposition
IVI6 Let C prime be a component of C intersecting Z0 in a point lowast If C prime and Z0 belong
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 49
to different components of X0 then by case ni (1)b the eigenvalue of partS along C prime
vanishes so supp(sing(F ) cap C prime) = lowast If C prime and Z0 belong to the same component
then we can flop C prime into a different component
Observe that the divisor D prime from op cit can be extended along C prime This implies
that C can only intersect Z prime at its ends Moreover if C touches both ends necessarily
D prime capX0 = C scheme-theoretically hence by the existence of Hilbert scheme IVI5
we conclude
Our new set-up is
Set-up VI13 Everything as in set-up IIVII4 and moreover for any connected
invariant curve C with KF middot C = 0 all of whose sub-curves are rigid we have
configurations computed in proposition VI9 VI10 and Lemma VI12
VII Configurations of non-rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
In this subsection we describe configurations of surfaces which are covered by KF -nil
curves The structure of each such surface is described by classification IIV1 IIV2
and Corollary IIVI17 Our first step is to simplify the situation by contracting
chains of ruled surfaces The next step is to try and exclude the possibility that
the singular fiber of p contains fibrations by elliptic or nodal rational curves with
at least one invariant fiber This can be achieved with good success indeed there
may be at most one such Riccati foliation which is anyway rather isolated from the
remaining KF -nil curves Finally we observe that the only class of surfaces we have
not mentioned is
Definition VII1 A irreducible component F of the singular fiber of p is called
small Kronecker if
bull (FFF ) is birational to a Kronecker vector field on P1 timesP1 and
bull The two rulings of this P1 timesP1 are cohomologous inside X
The name comes from the fact that contraction of a small Kronecker yields a node
in the ambient threefold which admits a small resolution In fact in many respects
these fiber components behave very much like rigid KF -nil curves
50 FEDERICO BUONERBA
We start by getting rid of some fiber components which are ruled by KF -nil gener-
ically smooth rational curves
Proposition VII2 Notation as in Set-up VI13 there exists a sequence of flops
and divisorial contractions c X 99KX + such that
bull X + is a smooth stack
bull let S+ sub X + be an irreducible invariant divisor that contains a positive-
dimensional family of invariant rational curves along which KF+ vanishes
Then S+ is either birationally ruled by nodal rational curves or it is a small
Kronecker
Proof We focus first on contracting components of the singular fiber of p Consider
the following algorithm If there is no birationally ruled component different from
the ones listed in the second item we are done otherwise pick one such F and let
C denote the general member of the ruling If the cohomology class [C] is inde-
composable F is minimal Otherwise [C] = [C1] + [C2] where Ci are rational and
intersect KF trivially After finitely many steps we have a decomposition as a finite
sum of indecomposables [C] =sumn
i=0 ni[Ci] where every Ci is rational intersects KF
trivially We have two cases
bull There exists k such that Ck deforms in a birationally ruled necessarily min-
imal surface Fk
bull Every Ci has anti-ample normal bundle
In the first case denote by X rarr X1 the contraction of Fk along |Ck| and relpace
X by X1 Since Fk is minimal smoothness of the ambient stack is preserved unless
Fk is a small Kronecker This is however impossible if n ge 2 if Fk were a small
Kronecker then Ck deforms away from Fkminus1 so then Fkminus1 middot Ck = 0 on the other
hand Fkminus1 intersects the other ruling of Fk positively
In the second case flop C1 middot middot middot Cn in this order The transform of F is minimal and
not a small Kronecker so it can be contracted along its ruling preserving ambient
smoothness By induction on the Picard rank of X after finitely many steps this
algorithm ends Call X the output of this algorithm
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 51
Let S subX be an invariant divisor with a generically smooth ruling Then pS S rarr∆ is flat and after flopping finitely many rational curves in S cap plowastS(0) the resulting
pS is smooth Hence we can contract S along pS After finitely many steps the
Proposition is proven
For ease of notation in the sequel we call X the output of the previous proposition
Notice that there might still be divisors carrying a pencil of nodal rational curves
both inside and outside the singular fiber of p
We can start analyzing configurations of fiber components where the restriction of
F is not of general type We need some notation whose reason to exist will be clear
shortly
Definition VII3 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
along which KF is not big F is called special Riccati if
bull F is minimal
bull There exists a morphism s F rarr B onto a curve whose fibers are nodal
rational curve
bull F is transverse to the general fiber of s in particular KF is numerically
trivial along s
bull At least one fiber of s is invariant
bull There exists a section σ of s which is invariant and does not coincide with
the nodal locus of F
In particular the intersections of σ with invariant fibers of s isolated singularities
of F the node of F all coincide There may be fibers of s fully contained in sing(F )
in which case they are everywhere transverse to the saturated foliation
The definition looks nasty but special Riccati components have a rather simple
origin as the following proof shows
Lemma VII4 Let F be special Riccati Up to base change by an etale double cover
Bprime rarr B there is a natural isomorphism F norm simminusrarr BprimetimesP1 and the restriction of F
to F norm is birational to the projection onto P1
52 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proof We work over the normalization F norm Denote by Bprime the pre-image of the
node of F which is an etale double cover of B and let f denote an invariant fiber
of s with lowast = σ cap f Observe that F norm carries a Riccati foliation with 3 invariant
curves through lowast - namely σ f and a component of Bprime Hence FF has a log-canonical
singularity in lowast On F norm perform a weighted blow-up in each log-canonical singu-
larity followed by the contraction of the transforms of the corresponding fibers Let
s+ F+ rarr B denote the output of this operation If the proper transform of Bprime is
connected replace F+ by its base change under Bprime rarr B Hence we can assume Bprime
is the disjoint union of two sections of s+ and the transform of σ is a third section
which is disjoint from Bprime Therefore F+ = P1 timesBprime and the foliation restricts to the
projection onto P1
Next we describe those surfaces which cannot appear as components of the sin-
gular fiber X0
Definition VII5 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
along which KF is not big F is called illusory if
bull there exists a morphism t F rarr B onto a curve
bull KF is trivial along t
bull For any other fiber component F prime the intersection F cap F prime is either empty or
contained in a fiber of t
We give examples of illusory fiber components
Lemma VII6 The following fiber components are necessarily illusory
bull t is elliptic the foliation is either parallel to t or turbolent with at least one
invariant fiber
bull t is a nodal ruling the foliation is either parallel to t or transverse to t with
at least one invariant fiber and not birational to a special Riccati VII3
Proof Let f = F cap F prime for some fiber component F prime It is F -invariant
Assume t and F are parallel and f is transverse to both Then necessarily f subesing(F ) and KF is positive along the fibers of t contradiction
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 53
Assume t and F are generically transverse and f is transverse to t Let e be an
invariant fiber of t then ecap f isin sing(F ) hence t must be a family of nodal rational
curves and ecapf coincides with the node of e - otherwise KF would be positive along
t But this implies F is special Riccati contradiction
We proceed to show that illusory fibers do not exist
Lemma VII7 Let F be an illusory fiber component then every fiber of t is irre-
ducible If F prime is any fiber component intersecting F non-trivially then F prime is illusory
Proof Assume t has a reducible fiber f Then we can write f = f prime cup f primeprime where f prime
is irreducible and f primeprime is a disjoint union of chains of rational curves In particular
every subscheme supported on f primeprime is rigid in X f prime is rational and smooth iff f is a
cycle of rational curves hence the foliation on F is parallel to t and the choice of f prime
is not unique otherwise f prime is nodal or elliptic Let X 99KX + denote the flop of the
irreducible components of f primeprime in any order The proper transform f prime+ (below in red)
is the irreducible fiber of the induced morphism t+ F+ rarr B Since f primeprime+ intersects
f prime+ and is not contained in F+ there exists a component F prime of the fiber of p+ such
that F+ cap f prime+ 6= empty Since F+ is illusory necessarily F+ cap F prime = f prime+ Moreover F+
and F prime are the only fiber components intersecting f prime+ again because F+ is illusory
We deduce that F+ middot f prime+ = F prime middot f prime+ = 0 and therefore f prime+ is nef inside F prime It follows
that he restriction of F+ to F prime is not of general type and by the classification of
foliated surfaces [McQ08] necessarily f prime+ deforms inside F prime and defines a fibration
u F prime rarr Bprime In particular f prime+ is an irreducible fiber of u This is however impossible
since u contracts all the components of f primeprime+ contained in F prime (below in blue) and by
definition of F prime there exists at least one such component This proves that every
fiber of t is irreducible The following depicts the situation
F prime F+
f prime+
f primeprime+
t+u
54 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Concerning the second statement we only need to check the third condition for F prime
to be illussory namely that every other fiber component F primeprime intersecting F prime does
so along the fibers of u If F primeprime intersects F prime transversely to u then F primeprime intersects F
non-trivially and transversely to t as well absurd
Corollary VII8 Illusory components do not exist
Proof By the above lemma the existence of one illusory component implies that
every irreducible component of the singular fiber of p is illusory contradicting that
KF is big
We can now focus on fiber components that do appear
Corollary VII9 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
containing an invariant curve C which moves and such that KF middot C = 0 Then
following the classification [McQ08] we have two cases
(1) The minimal model of F is a special Riccati component
(2) F is a small Kronecker
Proof Certainly the ones listed are the only cases where C is KF -nil We have to
exclude the possibility that C is invariant inside sing(F ) By Proposition IVII3
such C would be rational with at most one node Since we already contracted at
the beginning of the present subsection all ruled surfaces necessarily C is nodal
However by opcit C cannot intersect any other fiber component of X0 which
implies the absurdity that X0 = F
We proceed to show that special Riccati components are rather isolated in the
fiber
Lemma VII10 Let F be a special Riccati component If F prime is a fiber component
intersecting F non-trivially then it does so transversely to s Morover there is
exactly one such F prime
Proof After finitely many flops we can assume that every fiber of s is irreducible
By the non-existence of illusory components there exists a fiber component F lowast with
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 55
σprime = F cap F prime transverse to s If F primeprime is a fiber component with f = F cap F primeprime a fiber
of s then we claim f sube sing(F ) If not then since KF middot f = 0 and σprime is invariant
necessarily σprimecap f is the node of f But then the existence of F primeprime contradicts that p is
snc Hence f sube sing(F ) so then around the node of f there are 3 fiber components -
two branches coming from F one from F primeprime - and sing(F ) has 2 branches - namely f
This is impossible by our case analysis ni (1)c ni (2)c The very same reasoning
establishes the uniqueness of F prime
Lemma VII11 Let F be as in the previous Lemma If C is a connected curve
with KF middot C = 0 then it is disjoint from F
Proof After finitely many flops s is irreducible and C intersects F transversely away
from its node Moreover lowast = C cap F isin sing(F ) and we deduce that the fiber of s
through lowast is fully contained in the singular locus of F This contradicts Proposition
IVII3 since such fiber is nodal
We conclude by observing the obvious
Lemma VII12 Let F be a small Kronecker Then there exists a contraction
c X rarr X prime which is an isomorphism away from F and contracts F along one
of its rulings Necessarily X prime is not projective since every global Cartier divisor
intersects c(F ) trivially On the other hand in a formal neighborhood of c(F ) there
exist Cartier divisors intersecting it non-trivialliy
As such the contribution coming from non-rigid curves is rather poor there are
curves moving in the general fiber there are special Riccati components disjoint from
any other invariant curve intersecting KF trivially there are small Kroneckers who
can be contracted to curves We shall see in the next section that the complications
arising from the contraction of such non-rigid curves is purely psychological and
totally harmless
56 FEDERICO BUONERBA
VI Contractions and proof of the Main Theorem
In this section we contract all invariant curves along which KF is zero thereby
establishing the existence of canonical models I First we contract non-rigid curves
as described in the previous subsection
bull Small Kroneckers along either ruling Albeit this destroys projectivity of
the ambient threefold there still exist Cartier divisors defined in a formal
neighborhood of the base curve that intersect it non-trivially
bull Families of irreducible nodal rational curves which are flat over ∆ This
creates elliptic singularities on the general fiber of p which are disjoint from
other invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
bull Special Riccati again families of irreducible nodal rational curves fully con-
tained in X0 This creates elliptic singularities disjoint from other invariant
curves intersecting KF trivially
We can summarize our situation by way of
Set-up VI1 X is a 3-dimensional DM stack with at worst elliptic singularities
F a foliation by curves with canonical singularities which is not Q-Cartier in a
neighborhood of Xsing
There exists a proper morphism p X rarr ∆ smooth off 0 isin ∆ F restricts to a
foliation on every fiber of p it has canonical singularities on the very general fiber
of p and log-canonical singularities on every fiber of p KF is big and nef on every
irreducible component of every fiber of p
Let C be the invariant sub-scheme along which KF is not big then C is a curve
fully contained in the smooth locus X0capXsmooth every sub-curve of C has anti-ample
normal bundle the 1-simplex of its dual graph is a tree and detailed configurations
of such are referenced in set-up VI13
We proceed to contract such C We assume that along C the semi-simple field has
only rational eigenvalues and moreover no component of C is inside the foliation
singularity The other two cases - irrational eigenvalues and presence of singular
component - are strictly easier and can be obtained with the very same method
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 57
The proof takes place in the formal completion around C = C free cup C axes The
former is a disjoint union of trees of non-double curves For each non-double C let
F (C) denote the unique component of X0 containing it The latter is a tree of double
curves each with two triple points all contained in the same irreducible FC axes Each
tree of non-double curves touches C axes in one point through a LC-center In order
to construct the contraction we will use Artinrsquos celebrated criterion in the following
form
Fact VI1 ([Ar70]) Let X be an irreducible algebraic space i Y rarr X a closed
subspace of pure codimension 1 and f Y rarr Y0 a proper morphism with flowastOY = OY0
Let X denote the formal completion of X along Y and assume there exists a Cartier
divisor D in X which is supported on Y and is f -anti-ample Then there exists a
proper morphism of algebraic spaces F X rarr X0 which is an isomorphism away
from Y and such that ilowastF = f
Now we use the tree structure of C to construct a suitable divisor to which apply
Artinrsquos theorem Namely consider the following inductive defintion
(35) C0 = C axes F0 = FC axes
For k ge 0 assume Ck Fk are defined
bull Let Ck+1 denote the union of irreducible components of C that intersect Fk
non-trivially but are not contained in cupilekFibull Let Fk+1 denote the reduced sum (
sumCsubeCk+1
F (C))red
This process stops with a collection C1 middot middot middotCN of curves and F1 middot middot middot FN of reduced
divisors
Lemma VI1 We have the following identities
(36)
Fk middot C lt 0 for every C sube Ck
(F0 + F1) middot C le 0 for every C sube C0
(Fkminus1 + Fk + Fk+1) middot C = 0 for every C sube Ck 1 lt k lt N
(FNminus1 + FN) middot C lt 0 for every C sube CN
58 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proof The first is just the fact that every component of C is rigid The remaining
three follow from X0 middot C = 0 but the last one requires further justification Indeed
if C sube CN N gt 0 then C is one end of a tree of non-double curves In particular
there exists a foliation singularity lowast isin C disjoint from any other component of
C and LClowast is transverse to C This implies LClowast middotC gt 0 which together with
(FNminus1 + FN + LClowast) middot C = 0 concludes the proof
Let ε1 middot middot middot εN isin Qgt0 and define
(37) F Nminusk = (1 + ε1 + middot middot middot+ εk)FNminusk
bull If C sube CN we have
(38) (F Nminus1 + F
N) middot C = ε1FNminus1 middot C + (FNminus1 + FN) middot C
bull If C sube CNminusk 1 lt k lt N we have
(39)
(F Nminuskminus1 + F
Nminusk + F Nminusk+1) middot C =
(1 + middot middot middot+ εk)(FNminuskminus1 + FNminusk + FNminusk+1) middot C minus εkFNminusk+1 middot C + εk+1FNminuskminus1 middot C =
minus εkFNminusk+1 middot C + εk+1FNminuskminus1 middot C
bull If C sube C0 we have
(40) (F 0 + F
1) middot C = εNF0 middot C + (Nminus1sumj=0
εj)(F0 + F1) middot C
It is clear that provided
(41) 1 gtgt ε1 gtgt middot middot middot gtgt εN
the divisor F =sumF k is negative along every component of C
This proves the existence of the contraction and concludes the proof of the Main
Theorem I
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 59
VII Moduli space of foliated surfaces of general type
In this section we study the modular variation of foliated surfaces of general type
The upshot is that it is possible to define a functor which is representable separated
and every irreducible component is proper The main issue here is that the supporting
surface of a foliated canonical model may well fail to be projective indeed KF is not
Q-Gorenstein in general Hence in order to proceed via standard methods [Ko17]
we have to parametrize our canonical models together with a suitable projective
resolution
Definition VII13 Let (SF ) be a foliated proper reduced purely 2-dimensional
DM stack Assume S has only normal crossing singularities in codimension 1 that
F has log-canonical foliation singularities and that KF is big and nef on at least
one of the irreducible components of S If whenever KF middot C = 0 for some curve C
then C moves in an irreducible component of S and no member of such deformation
is F -invariant then (SF ) is called foliated canonical model of general type
Clearly foliated canonical models are exactly the stable degenerations appearing
as the central fiber of our Main Theorem I Their lack of projectivity has two sources
namely the contraction of cycles of smooth KF -nil curves and of trees of cuspidal
ones Singularities arising from cycles behave well in families namely they always
deform into the general fiber Those arising from cuspidal curves on the other hand
tend to be rather isolated inside the degenerate fiber
Observe that the deformation theory of a foliated surface is rather simple suppose
given an infinitesimal C-algebras extension 0 rarr J rarr Ae rarr A rarr 0 and (SF )
a foliated surface flat over Spec(A) then the obstruction to lifting to Ae can be
understood in three simple steps
(1) Deformation of the underlying surface S once a deformation Se rarr Spec(Ae)
is given
(2) Deformation of the line bundle KF by the exponential sequence
(42) 0rarr J otimes OS rarr OlowastSerarr OlowastS rarr 0
obstructions lie in H2(SOS)otimes J once a deformation of KF is given
60 FEDERICO BUONERBA
(3) Deformation of the defining section OS rarr KF otimes TS obstructions lie in
H1(SKF otimes TS)otimes J
Now we have
Definition VII14 Let (SF ) be a foliated canonical model of general type A
proper birational morphism q (SF )proj rarr (SF ) is called its projective resolution
if
bull Every irreducible component of Sproj is smooth
bull The exceptional locus of q is a disjoint union of cycles of KFproj-nil smooth
curves and trees of KFproj-nil curves each of which has a non-trivial cuspidal
singularity
bull In a neighborhood of every q-exceptional cycle not only Sproj but also its
moduli space is smooth
We need a few remarks about projective resolutions
(1) Projective resolutions are always unique Indeed the only possible ambiguity
could lie in some extra smooth irreducible components in the exceptional
locus This is forbidden by definition in the trees of cuspidal curves it is
also forbidden by way of the third item in cycles of smooth ones ie on
algebraic surfaces the minimal resolution is unique
(2) Denote by E the collection of q-exceptional cycles Then there exist ε δ isinQgt0 such that KFproj
minus εE + δKSprojis ample by Nakai-Moishezon
(3) Deformations of a projective resolution of a foliated canonical model are
canonically identified with deformations of the underlying birational mor-
phism q Sproj rarr S followed by a deformation of the foliation F
We are now ready to construct a moduli functor for foliated surfaces more precisely
for projective resolutions of foliated canonical models of general type For m dN isinN and ε δ isin Qgt0 let
(43) MmdNεδ (C-schemes)rarr (sets)
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 61
be defined by MmdNεδ(S) = Diagrams
(44) (X F )projqminusrarr (X F )
pminusrarr S
Where
bull Both p and p q are flat and proper
bull For every closed point s isin S the induced morphism qs is the projective
resolution of (X F )s which is a foliated canonical model of general type
bull Denote by Es the collection of exceptional cycles of qs By our Main Theorem
I there is a fibrewise divisor E subXproj flat over S restricting to Es for every
s isin S
bull Let j W rarr Xproj denote the maximal closed subscheme away from which
KFprojand KXprojS are locally free Then
(45) L [m] = (jlowast(KFprojotimes OXproj
(minusεE )otimesKδXprojS
)otimesm)oror
is flat over S and commutes with base-change
bull L [m] is very ample of degree d on every fiber and defines an embedding into
PNS
We are now ready for
Theorem VII15 The functor MmdNεδ is represented by a separated algebraic
space each of whose irreducible components is proper
Proof We show that our functor satisfies Artinrsquos conditions [Ar74 Corollary 54] By
definition condition 1) and 4) hold while our previous remark on foliated obstruction
theory shows that 3) is true
We proceed to show 2) namely effectivity of formal deformations for MmdNεδ
What follows owes much to Artinrsquos [A74rsquo] Let T be a complete C-algebra Tn its
n-truncation so that Tsimminusrarr limlarrminusTn and finally qn isinMmdNεδ(Spec(Tn)) a compatible
sequence For each n there is a maximal open set Un sube Xprojn where qn is an
isomorphism denote by sn Cn rarr Zn the restriction of qn to the complement of Un
Clearly sn is projective over Spec(Tn)
62 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Denote by X C etc the formal algebraic spaces obtained as limits of Xn Cn
etc Then Xproj sub PNˆSpec(T )
hence by Grothendieckrsquos existence Theorem we find
bull a flat projective family (X F )proj rarr Spec(T ) resp a closed subscheme
C subXproj whose completion is Xproj resp C
bull a scheme Z whose completion is Z and a morphism s C rarr Z everything
being projective over Spec(T )
Further we have a formal contraction limminusrarr qn C rarr Z hence the main theorem
of [Ar70] gives algebraic contraction (X F )proj rarr (X F ) This proves the repre-
sentability of MmdNεδ The properness and separability of each irreducible com-
ponent can be checked using valutative criteria indeed properness is the content of
our Main Theorem I separatedness follows from the uniqueness of foliated canonical
models of general type and their projective resolution
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[McQ12] M McQuillan Foliated Mori Theory amp Hyperbolicity of Algebraic Surfaces http
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[McQ98] M McQuillan Diophantine approximation and foliations Inst Hautes Etudes Sci
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[McQ05rdquo] M McQuillan Uniform Uniformisation IHES pre-print (2005) IHES M0503 http
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[McQ08] M McQuillan Canonical models of foliations Pure Appl Math Q 4
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64 FEDERICO BUONERBA
[Re83] M Reid Minimal models of canonical threefolds in rdquoAlgebraic Varieties and Ana-
lytic Varietiesrdquo Adv Stud Pure Math vol 1 S Iitaka ed Kinokuniya and North-
Holland 1983 pp 131-180 httpwwwmathsedacukcheltsovquotientpdf
reid2pdf
[Se67] A Seidenberg Reduction of singularities of the differential equation Ady = Bdx Amer
J Math 89 (1967) 248-269 httpwwwjstororgstable2373435
[SB83] N Shepherd-Barron Degenerations with numerically effective canonical divisor The
Birational Geometry of Degenerations (R Friedman and D Morrison eds) Progr
Math no 29 Birkhuser 1983 pp 33-84
[Vis89] A Vistoli Intersection theory on algebraic stacks and on their moduli spaces
Invent Math (1989) pp 613-670 httplinkspringercomarticle101007
2FBF01388892page-1
Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences New York University 251 Mercer
Street New York NY 10012 USA
E-mail address buonerbacimsnyuedu
- I Introduction
- II Preliminaries
-
- III Operations on Deligne-Mumford stacks
- IIII Width of embedded parabolic champs
- IIIII Gorenstein foliation singularities
- IIIV Foliated adjunction
- IIV Canonical models of foliated surfaces with canonical singularities
- IIVI Canonical models of foliated surfaces with log-canonical singularities
- IIVII Set-up
-
- III Invariant curves and singularities local description
-
- IIII `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F) not isolated
- IIIII `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F) isolated
- IIIIII Local consequences
-
- IV Invariant curves along which KF vanishes
-
- IVI KF-nil curves
- IVII Invariant curves inside `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F)
-
- V Configurations
-
- VI Configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
- VII Configurations of non-rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
-
- VI Contractions and proof of the Main Theorem
- VII Moduli space of foliated surfaces of general type
- References
-
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 5
The output (X F )can is called foliated canonical model of (X F )
The core of the previous statement is that there exists an algorithmic birational
transformation (X F ) 99K (X F )can which contracts all the foliation-invariant
curves which intersect KF trivially One might wonder about the origin of the
notion of foliated canonical model In the absolute theory a canonical model of a
variety of general type is one where the canonical bundle is as positive as possible
In the foliated theory we only care about positivity against invariant measures - on
a philosophical level this is due to the fact that obstructions to hyperbolicity lie
on such measures Moreover we can provide an example which shows clearly that
this is the good notion of foliated canonical model Consider the algebraic foliation
defined by the natural projection
π M g1 rarrM g
The foliated canonical bundle coincides with the relative canonical bundle ωπ which
is big and nef but not semi-ample in characteristic zero as shown by Keel in [Ke99]
Its base locus coincides with the nodal locus of π and it is not even known what
type of analytic structure if any can be supported by the topological contraction
of such nodal locus From a purely algebraic perspective π cannot be improved to
a better foliated canonical model Fortunately this agrees with our definition since
the nodal locus of π is certainly not a foliation-invariant subvariety
We can now discuss the structure of the paper and of the proof
In Section II we first review the basic definitions and constructions to be used sys-
tematically in the proof These include some operations of general character on
Deligne-Mumford stacks such as building roots and Vistoli covers as well as net
completion we then turn to the basic definitions of birational foliation theory namely
the notion of (log)canonical Gorenstein singularities and the adjunction formula for
invariant curves we continue by recalling McQuillanrsquos classification of foliated sur-
faces with canonical Gorenstein singularities we conclude by describing out how to
extend McQuillanrsquos 2-dimensional theory to the more general case of foliated surfaces
with log-canonical Gorenstein singularities - in particular we classify the singularities
of the underlying surface construct minimal amp canonical models and describe the
6 FEDERICO BUONERBA
corresponding exceptional sets The situation differs considerably from the canoni-
cal world indeed surfaces supporting log-canonical foliation singularities are cones
over smooth curves of arbitrary high genus and embedding dimension and even on
smooth surfaces invariant curves through a log-canonical singularity might acquire
cusps of arbitrary high multiplicity It is worth pointing out at this stage that one
of the main technical tools we use all time is the existence of Jordan decomposition
of a vector field in a formal neighborhood of a singular point This allows us to
decompose a formal vector field part as a sum partS + partN of commuting formal vector
fields where partS is semi-simple with respect to a choice of regular parameters and
partN is formally nilpotent
In Section III we compute the local structure of a foliation by curves tangent to a
semi-stable morphism of relative dimension 2 In particular we focus on the local
configurations of foliation-invariant curves through a foliation singularity We achieve
this by distinguishing all possible 18 combinations of number of eigenvalues of partS
at the singularity whether the singularity is 0 or 1-dimensional number of local
branches of the central fiber of the semi-stable morphism through the singularity
This classification is the first step towards the proof of the Main Theorem
In Section IV we study the geometry of foliation-invariant curves along which KF
vanishes this is technically the most important chapter of the paper To understand
the problem observe that the locus of points in ∆ over which the foliation has a
log-canonical singularity can be non-discrete even dense in its closure If we happen
to find a rigid curve in a smooth fiber of p that we wish to contract then the only
possibility is that the rigid curve is smooth and rational In particular we have to
prove that rigid cuspidal rational curves dotting KF trivially cannot appear in the
smooth locus of p even though log-canonical singularities certainly do The first
major result is Proposition IVI6 that indeed invariant curves in the smooth locus
of p that intersect KF trivially are rational with at most one node and do move in a
family flat over the base ∆ The main ingredient of the proof is the existence of Jor-
dan decomposition uniformly in a formal neighborhood of our curve this provides us
with an extremely useful linear relation equation 22 between the eigenvalues of the
Jordan semi-simple fields around the foliation singularities located along the curve -
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 7
linear relation which depends uniquely on the weights of the normal bundle to the
curve This allows to easily show that the width of the curve must be infinite Having
obtained the best possible result for invariant curves in the general fiber we switch
our attention to curves located in the central fiber of p Also in this case we have
good news indeed such curves can be flopped and can be described as a complete
intersection of two formal divisors which are eigenfunctions for the global Jordan
semi-simple field - this is the content of Proposition IVI8 We conclude this im-
portant chapter by describing in Proposition IVII3 foliation-invariant curves fully
contained in the foliation singularity which turn out to be smooth and rational The
proof requires a simple but non-trivial trick and provides a drastic simplification of
the combinatorics to be dealt with in the next chapter
In Section V we globalize the informations gathered in the previous two chap-
ters namely we describe all possible configurations of invariant curves dotting KF
trivially These can be split into two groups configurations all of whose sub-
configurations are rigid and configurations of movable curves The first group is
analyzed in Proposition VI10 and it turns out that the dual graph of such con-
figurations contains no cycles - essentially the presence of cycles would force some
sub-curve to move either filling an irreducible component of the central fiber or in
the general fiber transversely to p The second group is the most tricky to study
however the result is optimal Certainly there are chains and cycles of ruled surfaces
on which p restricts to a flat morphism The structure of irreducible components of
the central fiber which are filled by movable invariant curves dotting KF trivially
is remakably poor and is summarized in Corollary VII9 there are quadric surfaces
with cohomologous rulings and carrying a Kronecker vector field and there are sur-
faces ruled by nodal rational curves on which the foliation is birationally isotrivial
Moreover the latter components are very sporadic and isolated from other curves of
interest indeed curves in the first group can only intersect quadric surfaces which
themselves can be thought of as rigid curves if one is prepared to lose projectivity
of the total space of p As such the contribution coming from movable curves is
concentrated on the general fiber of p and is a well solved 2-dimensional problem
8 FEDERICO BUONERBA
In Section VI we prove the Main Theorem we only need to work in a formal neigh-
borhood of the curve we wish to contract which by the previous chapter is a tree
of unibranch foliation-invariant rational curves The existence of a contraction is
established once we produce an effective divisor which is anti-ample along the tree
The construction of such divisor is a rather straightforward process which profits
critically from the tree structure of the curve
In Section VII we investigate the existence of compact moduli of canonical models
of foliated surfaces of general type The main issue here is the existence of a rep-
resentable functor indeed Artinrsquos results tend to use Grothendieckrsquos existence in
a rather crucial way which indeed relies on some projectivity assumption - a lux-
ury that we do not have in the foliated context Regardless it is possible to define
a functor parametrizing deformations of foliated canonical models together with a
suitably defined unique projective resolution of singularities This is enough to push
Artinrsquos method through and establish the existence of a separated algebraic space
representing this functor Its properness is the content of our Main Theorem
II Preliminaries
This section is mostly a summary of known results about holomorphic foliations by
curves By this we mean a Deligne-Mumford stack X over a field k of characteristic
zero endowed with a torsion-free quotient Ω1X k rarr Qrarr 0 generically of rank 1 We
will discuss the construction of Vistoli covers roots of divisors and net completions
in the generality of Deligne-Mumford stacks a notion of singularities well adapted to
the machinery of birational geometry a foliated version of the adjunction formula
McQuillanrsquos classification of canonical Gorenstein foliations on algebraic surfaces
a classification of log-canonical Gorenstein foliation singularities on surfaces along
with the existence of (numerical) canonical models the behavior of singularities on
a family of Gorenstein foliated surfaces
III Operations on Deligne-Mumford stacks In this subsection we describe
some canonical operations that can be performed on DM stacks over a base field
k We follow the treatment of [McQ05][IaIe] closely Proofs can also be found in
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 9
[Bu] A DM stack X is always assumed to be separated and generically scheme-like
ie without generic stabilizer A DM stack is smooth if it admits an etale atlas
U rarr X by smooth k-schemes in which case it can also be referred to as orbifold
By [KM97][13] every DM stack admits a moduli space which is an algebraic space
By [Vis89][28] every algebraic space with tame quotient singularities is the moduli
of a canonical smooth DM stack referred to as Vistoli cover It is useful to keep in
mind the following Vistoli correspondence
Fact III1 [McQ05 Ia3] Let X rarr X be the moduli of a normal DM stack and
let U rarrX be an etale atlas The groupoid R = normalization of U timesX U rArr U has
classifying space [UR] equivalent to X
Next we turn to extraction of roots of Q-Cartier divisors This is rather straight-
forward locally and can hardly be globalised on algebraic spaces It can however
be globalized on DM stacks
Fact III2 (Cartification) [McQ05 Ia8] Let L be a Q-cartier divisor on a normal
DM stack X Then there exists a finite morphism f XL rarrX from a normal DM
stack such that f lowastL is Cartier Moreover there exists f which is universal for this
property called Cartification of L
Similarly one can extract global n-th roots of effective Cartier divisors
Fact III3 (Extraction of roots) [McQ05 Ia9] Let D subX be an effective Cartier
divisor and n a positive integer invertible on X Then there exists a finite proper
morphism f X ( nradic
D)rarrX an effective Cartier divisor nradic
D subX ( nradic
D) such that
f lowastD = n nradic
D Moreover there exists f which is universal for this property called
n-th root of D which is a degree n cyclic cover etale outside D
In a different vein we proceed to discuss the notion of net completion This is a
mild generalization of formal completion in the sense that it is performed along a
local embedding rather than a global embedding Let f Y rarr X be a net morphism
ie a local embedding of algebraic spaces For every closed point y isin Y there is
a Zariski-open neighborhood y isin U sub Y such that f|U is a closed embedding In
10 FEDERICO BUONERBA
particular there exists an ideal sheaf I sub fminus1OX and an exact sequence of coherent
sheaves
(1) 0rarr I rarr fminus1OX rarr OY rarr 0
For every integer n define Ofn = fminus1OXI n By [McQ05][Ie1] the ringed space
Yn = (YOfn) is a scheme and the direct limit Y = limYn in the category of formal
schemes is the net completion along f More generally let f Y rarr X be a net
morphism ie etale-locally a closed embedding of DM stacks Let Y = [RrArr U ] be
a sufficiently fine presentation then we can define as above thickenings Un Rn along
f and moreover the induced relation [Rn rArr Un] is etale and defines thickenings
fn Yn rarrX
Definition III4 (Net completion) [McQ05 ie5] Notation as above we define the
net completion as Y = lim Yn It defines a factorization Y rarr Y rarr X where the
leftmost arrow is a closed embedding and the rightmost is net
IIII Width of embedded parabolic champs In this subsection we recall the
basic geometric properties of three-dimensional formal neighborhoods of smooth
champs with rational moduli We follow [Re83] and [McQ05rdquo] As such let X
be a three-dimensional smooth formal scheme with trace a smooth rational curve C
Our main concern is
(2) NCXsimminusrarr O(minusn)oplus O(minusm) n gt 0 m ge 0
In case m gt 0 the knowledge of (nm) determines X uniquely In fact there exists
by [Ar70] a contraction X rarrX0 of C to a point and an isomorphism everywhere
else In particular C is a complete intersection in X and everything can be made
explicit by way of embedding coordinates for X0 This is explained in the proof of
Proposition IVI8 On the other hand the case m = 0 is far more complicated
Definition IIII1 [Re83] The width width(C) of C is the maximal integer k
such that there exists an inclusion C times Spec(C[ε]εk) sub Xk the latter being the
infinitesimal neighborhood of order k
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 11
Clearly width(C) = 1 if and only if the normal bundle to C is anti-ample
width(C) ge 2 whenever such bundle is O oplus O(minusn) n gt 0 and width(C) = infinif and only if C moves in a scroll As explained in opcit width can be understood
in terms of blow ups as follows Let q1 X1 rarr X be the blow up in C Its excep-
tional divisor E1 is a Hirzebruch surface which is not a product hence q1 has two
natural sections when restricted to E1 Let C1 the negative section There are two
possibilities for its normal bundle in X1
bull it is a direct sum of strictly negative line bundles In this case width(C) = 2
bull It is a direct sum of a strictly negative line bundle and the trivial one
In the second case we can repeat the construction by blowing up C1 more generally
we can inductively construct Ck sub Ek sub Xk k isin N following the same pattern as
long as NCkminus1
simminusrarr O oplus O(minusnkminus1) Therefore width(C) is the minimal k such that
Ckminus1 has normal bundle splitting as a sum of strictly negative line bundles No-
tice that the exceptional divisor Ekminus1 neither is one of the formal surfaces defining
the complete intersection structure of Ck nor it is everywhere transverse to either
ie it has a tangency point with both This is clear by the description Reidrsquos
Pagoda [Re83] Observe that the pair (nwidth(C)) determines X uniquely there
exists a contraction X rarr X0 collapsing C to a point and an isomorphism every-
where else In particular X0 can be explicitly constructed as a ramified covering of
degree=width(C) of the contraction of a curve with anti-ample normal bundle
The notion of width can also be understood in terms of lifting sections of line bun-
dles along infinitesimal neighborhoods of C As shown in [McQ05rdquo II43] we have
assume NCp
simminusrarr O oplus O(minusnp) then the natural inclusion OC(n) rarr N orCX can be
lifted to a section OXp+2(n)rarr OXp+2
IIIII Gorenstein foliation singularities In this subsection we define certain
properties of foliation singularities which are well-suited for both local and global
considerations From now on we assume X is normal and give some definitions
taken from [McQ05] and [MP13] If Qoror is a Q-line bundle we say that F is Q-
foliated Gorenstein or simply Q-Gorenstein In this case we denote by KF = Qoror
and call it the canonical bundle of the foliation In the Gorenstein case there exists a
12 FEDERICO BUONERBA
codimension ge 2 subscheme Z subX such that Q = KF middot IZ Such Z will be referred
to as the singular locus of F We remark that Gorenstein means that the foliation
is locally defined by a saturated vector field
Next we define the notion of discrepancy of a divisorial valuation in this context let
(UF ) be a local germ of a Q-Gorenstein foliation and v a divisorial valuation on
k(U) there exists a birational morphism p U rarr U with exceptional divisor E such
that OU E is the valuation ring of v Certainly F lifts to a Q-Gorenstein foliation
F on U and we have
(3) KF = plowastKF + aF (v)E
Where aF (v) is said discrepancy For D an irreducible Weil divisor define ε(D) = 0
if D if F -invariant and ε(D) = 1 if not We are now ready to define
Definition IIIII1 The local germ (UF ) is said
bull Terminal if aF (v) gt ε(v)
bull Canonical if aF (v) ge ε(v)
bull Log-terminal if aF (v) gt 0
bull Log-canonical if aF (v) ge 0
For every divisorial valuation v on k(U)
These classes of singularities admit a rather clear local description If part denotes a
singular derivation of the local k-algebra O there is a natural k-linear linearization
(4) part mm2 rarr mm2
As such we have the following statements
Fact IIIII2 [MP13 Iii4 IIIi1 IIIi3] A Gorenstein foliation is
bull log-canonical if and only if it is smooth or its linearization is non-nilpotent
bull terminal if and only if it is log-terminal if and only if it is smooth and gener-
ically transverse to its singular locus
bull log-canonical but not canonical if and only if it is a radial foliation
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 13
Where a derivation on a complete local ring O is termed radial if there ex-
ist x1 middot middot middotxn isin m independent mod m2 and positive integers ni such that part =sumi nixi
partpartxi
In this case the singular locus is the center of a divisorial valuation with
zero discrepancy and non-invariant exceptional divisor
A very useful tool which is emplyed in the analysis of local properties of foliation
singularities is the Jordan decompositon [McQ08 I23] Notation as above the
linearization part admits a Jordan decomposition partS + partN into commuting semi-simple
and nilpotent part It is easy to see inductively that such decomposition lifts canon-
ically over successive infinitesimal neighborhoods Omn+1 rarr Omn and in the limit
we obtain a Jordan decomposition for the linear action of part on the whole complete
ring O
IIIV Foliated adjunction In this subsection we provide an adjunction formula
for foliation-invariant curves Let (X F ) be a Gorenstein foliation and f L rarrX the normalization of a F -invariant one-dimensional stack not contained in the
singular locus Z Denote by χ(L ) its topological Euler characteristic and by sZ(f)
the multiplicity of the ideal sheaf fminus1IZ We have
Fact IIIV1 [McQ05 IId4]
(5) KF middotL = minusχ(L )minus Ramf +sZ(f)
Which is a simple consequence of the isomorphism f lowastKF middotfminus1IZsimminusrarr Ω1
L (minusRamf )
The local contribution of sZ(f)minusRamf computed for a branch of f around a point
p in the support of fminus1IZ is np|Gp|minus1 with np a positive integer and Gp the local
monodromy of L at p Assume now that L has no generic stabilizer and let |L |denote its moduli The previous formula can be rewritten more usefully
Fact IIIV2
(6) KF middotL = 2g(|L |)minus 2 + fminus1IZ +sumf(p)isinZ
(np minus 1)|Gp|minus1 +sumf(p)isinZ
(1minus |Gp|minus1)
This can be easily deduced via a comparison between χ(L ) and χ(|L |) The
adjunction estimate 6 gives a complete description of invariant curves which are not
14 FEDERICO BUONERBA
contained in the singular locus and intersect the canonical KF non-positively A
complete analysis of the structure of KF -negative curves and much more is done
in [McQ05]
Definition IIIV3 A KF -nil curve is an invariant one-dimensional orbifold f
C rarr X such that KF middotf C = 0 and f does not factor through the singular locus
Z of the foliation
By adjunction 6 we have
Proposition IIIV4 The following is a complete list of possibilities for KF -nil
curves f
bull C is an elliptic curve without non-schematic points and f misses the singular
locus
bull |C| is a rational curve f hits the singular locus in two points with np = 1
there are no non-schematic points off the singular locus
bull |C| is a rational curve f hits the singular locus in one point with np = 1 there
are two non-schematic points off the singular locus with local monodromy
Z2Z
bull |C| is a rational curve f hits the singular locus in one point p there is at
most one non-schematic point q off the singular locus we have the identity
(np minus 1)|Gp|minus1 = |Gq|minus1
As shown in [McQ08] all these can happen In the sequel we will always assume
that a KF -nil curve is simply connected We remark that an invariant curve can have
rather bad singularities where it intersects the foliation singularities First it could
fail to be unibranch moreover each branch could acquire a cusp if going through
a radial singularity This phenomenon of deep ramification appears naturally in
presence of log-canonical singularities
IIV Canonical models of foliated surfaces with canonical singularities In
this subsection we provide a summary of the birational classification of Gorenstein
foliations with canonical singularities on algebraic surfaces obtained in [McQ08] Let
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 15
X be a two-dimensional smooth DM stack with projective moduli and F a foliation
with canonical singularities Since X is smooth certainly F is Q-Gorenstein If
KF is not pseudo-effective then foliated bend and break [BM16 Main Theorem]
shows that F is birationally a fibration by rational curves If KF is pseudo-effective
its Zariski decomposition has negative part a finite collection of invariant chains of
rational curves which can be contracted to a smooth DM stack with projective
moduli on which KF is nef At this point those foliations such that the Kodaira
dimension k(KF ) le 1 can be completely classified
Fact IIV1 [McQ08 IV3] Foliations with canonical singularities and Kodaira di-
mension zero are up to a ramified cover and birational transformations defined by
a global vector field The minimal models belong the following list
bull A Kronecker vector field on an abelian surface
bull The suspension of a representation π1(E)rarr PGL2(C) for E an elliptic curve
bull A Kronecker vector field on P1 timesP1
bull An isotrivial elliptic fibration
Fact IIV2 [McQ08 IV4] Foliations with canonical singularities and Kodaira di-
mension one are classified by their Kodaira fibration The linear system |KF | defines
a fibration onto a curve and the minimal models belong to the following list
bull The foliation and the fibration coincide so then the fibration is non-isotrivial
elliptic
bull The foliation is transverse to a projective bundle (Riccati)
bull The foliation is everywhere smooth and transverse to an isotrivial elliptic
fibration (turbolent)
bull The foliation is parallel to an isotrivial fibration in hyperbolic curves
On the other hand for foliations of general type the new phenomenon is that
global generation fails The problem is the appearence of elliptic Gorenstein leaves
these are cycles possibly irreducible of invariant rational curves around which KF
is numerically trivial but might fail to be torsion Assume that KF is big and nef
16 FEDERICO BUONERBA
and consider morphisms
(7) X rarrXe rarrXc
Where the composite is the contraction of all the KF -nil curves and the rightmost
is the minimal resolution of elliptic Gorenstein singularities
Fact IIV3 [McQ08 IV21 IV22] Xe is projective there exists an ample divisor
A and an effective divisor E supported on minimal elliptic Gorenstein leaves such
that KFe = A+E On the other hand Xc might fail to be projective and Fc is never
Q-Gorenstein
We refer to [McQ08 III32] for the descriptions of possible dual graphs of config-
urations of invariant KF -negative or nil curves
IIVI Canonical models of foliated surfaces with log-canonical singulari-
ties In this subsection we study Gorenstein foliations with log-canonical singulari-
ties on algebraic surfaces In particular we will classify the singularities appearing
on the underlying surface prove the existence of minimal and canonical models
describe the exceptional curves appearing in the contraction to the canonical model
Proposition IIVI1 Let (UF ) be a germ of Gorenstein log-canonical foliation
singularity Then U is a cone over a subvariety Y of a weighted projective space
whose weights are determined by the eigenvalues of F Moreover F is defined by
the rulings of the cone
Proof By Fact IIIII2 there exists a closed embedding i U rarr M - with M a
smooth local formal scheme - a regular system of parameters x1 middot middot middot xk on M and
positive integers n1 middot middot middotnk such that F is the restriction of the foliation defined by
part =sumnixi
partpartxi
to U Let I sub OM denote the ideal defining i(U) subM then part(I) sube I
We are going to prove that I is homogeneous where each xi has weight ni Let f isin I
and write f =sum
dge1 fd where fd is homogeneous of degree d in x1 middot middot middot xk - ie fd is
a k-linear combination of monomials xa11 xakk with d =
sumi aini For every N isin N
let FN = (xa11 xakk
sumi aini ge N) This collection of ideals defines a natural
filtration on OM For a = max ai we have mN sube FN sube mNa ie the FN -filtration
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 17
is equivalent to the one by powers of the maximal ideal and therefore OM is also
complete with respect to the FN -filtration
We will prove that if f isin I then fd isin I for every d
Let IN = (I + FN)FN Since OM is complete with respect to the FN -filtration
I = limlarrminus IN Therefore it is enough to show
Claim IIVI2 For every N gt 0 we have fd isin IN sub OMFN for all d lt N
Proof For every g isin IN denote by n(g) the unique integer such that g isin Fn(g) Fn(g)+1 (ie the minimal index d for which fd 6= 0) and by N(g) = N minus n(g)
We will prove the statement of the Claim by induction on N(f) If N(f) = 1 then
f = fNminus1 holds in OMFN and the statement is true If N(f) gt 1 we have part(f) =sumd d middot fd hence consider f1 = D(f)minus n(f)f =
sumdgtn(f)(dminus n(f))fd Tautologically
we have N(f1) lt N(f) and therefore fd isin IN for every d gt n(f) so then fn(f) =
f minussum
dgtn(f) fd isin IN as well
This implies that I is a homogeneous ideal and hence U is the germ of a cone over
a variety in the weighted projective space P(n1 nk)
Corollary IIVI3 If the germ U is normal then Y is normal If U is normal
of dimension 2 the weighted blow-up p U rarr U at the vertex of the cone has only
quotient singularities the exceptional divisor E(simminusrarr Y ) is smooth and everywhere
transverse to the induced foliation Moreover we have
(8) plowastKF = KF + E
Certainly the converse to Proposition IIVI1 fails even on surfaces indeed let
(X F ) be a Gorenstein foliated surface and let C sub X be a generic curve so
in particular smooth and not F -invariant We can assume perhaps after a finite
sequence of simple blow-ups along C that both X and F are smooth in a neigh-
borhood of C C and F are everywhere transverse and C2 lt 0
Proposition IIVI4 The formal contraction q X rarr X0 of C is isomorphic to
the cone over C the projected foliation F0 coincides with that by rulings on the cone
F0 is Q-Gorenstein if C rational or elliptic but not in general
18 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proof F0 is Q-Gorenstein if and only if the bundle KF (C) is trivial on the formal
completion of X along C The obstructions to lift the isomorphism OC(KF +C)simminusrarr
OC over infinitesimal neighborhoods of C lie in H1(C (1 minus n)C + KF ) for every
n isin N These groups vanish for every n isin N if 2g(C) minus 2 + C2 lt 0 (which is
always true for rational or elliptic curves) but do provide non-trivial obstructions in
general
We focus on the minimal model program for Gorenstein log-canonical foliations
on algebraic surfaces Let X be a DM stack of dimension 2 with projective moduli
and F a Gorenstein foliation with log-canonical singularities Denote by LC(F )
the set of points where F is log-canonical and not canonical and by Z the singular
sub-scheme of F We assume LC(F ) 6= empty since the empty case has been completely
settled Moreover we can assume that X is smooth outside LC(F ) Let f C rarrX
be a morphism from a 1-dimensional stack with trivial generic stabilizer such that
fminus1 LC(F ) 6= empty Since we will need them several times we formulate some technical
results
Lemma IIVI5 Let p X rarr X be the resolution of the log-canonical foliation
singularity intersecting C with exceptional divisor E Then
(9) KF middot C minus C middot E = KF middot C
Proof We have
(10) plowastC = C minus (C middot EE2)E
Intersecting this equation with equation 8 we obtain the result
This formula is important because it shows that passing from foliations with log-
canonical singularities to their canonical resolution increases the negativity of inter-
sections between invariant curves and the canonical bundle In fact the log-canonical
theory reduces to the canonical one after resolving the log-canonical singularities
Further we list some strong constraints given by invariant curves along which the
foliation is smooth
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 19
Fact IIVI6 [BB72 Baum-Bott] Let g C rarrX be an F -invariant curve missing
the foliation singularities Then C2 = NF middotg C = 0
Corollary IIVI7 Let g C rarr X be an F -invariant curve missing the foliation
singularities and such that KF middotg C lt 0 Then F is birationally a fibration by
rational curves
Proof By assumption KF middot C = minusχ(C) This together with Baum-Bott IIVI6
imply that KX middot C = minusχ(C) and from usual adjunction we get C2 = 0 Riemann-
Roch gives h0(X mC) ge 2 for m gtgt 0 so then |C| defines a fibration by rational
curves tangent to F
The rest of this subsection is devoted to the construction of minimal and canonical
models in presence of log-canonical singularities The only technique we use is
resolve the log-canonical singularities in order to reduce to the canonical case and
keep track of the exceptional divisor
We are now ready to handle the existence of minimal models
Theorem IIVI8 (Minimal models) Let X be a DM stack of dimension 2 with pro-
jective moduli and F a Gorenstein foliation with log-canonical singularities Then
either
bull F is birational to a fibration by rational curves or
bull There exist a birational contraction q X rarr X0 such that KF0 is nef
Moreover the exceptional curves of q donrsquot intersect LC(F )
Proof Let f be as above ie KF -negative and intersecting LC(F ) If f is not
F -invariant then KF middotC +C2 ge 0 so C moves and KF is not pseudo-effective We
conclude by foliated bend and break [BM16]
If f is F -invariant then foliated adjunction 6 implies that C is rational it intersects
the singular locus of F in exactly one point By Lemma IIVI5 after resolving the
log-canonical singularity KF middot C lt 0 and F is smooth along C We conlude by
Corollary IIVI7
20 FEDERICO BUONERBA
From now on we add the assumption that KF is nef and we want to analyze
those curves f satisfying KF middotf C = 0 By adjunction formula 6 we know that C
has rational moduli and fminus1Z is supported on two points
Remark IIVI9 If fminus1Z = fminus1 LC(F ) then F is birationally a fibration by ratio-
nal curves
Proof After resolving the log-canonical singularities of F along the image of C we
have KF middot C lt 0 and F smooth along C We conclude by Corollary IIVI7
Therefore we can assume that f satisfies the following condition
Definition IIVI10 An invariant curve f C rarr X is called log-contractible if
KF middot C = 0 and it intersects Z in two points one canonical and one log-canonical
not canonical
It follows that f(C) is everywhere unibranch but it might have a cusp in LC(F )
Definition IIVI11 A log-chain is a chain of invariant rational orbifolds C =
cupni=0Ci scheme-like outside the foliation singularities with KF middot C = 0 and such
that
bull C0 is log-contractible with lowast(C ) = C0 cap LC(F ) called the marking of C
bull Ci is disjoint from LC(F ) if i ge 1
There is a unique point t(C ) satisfying t(C ) isin Z cap (Cn Cnminus1) called the tail of
the log-chain
Proposition IIVI12 Let C1C2 be two log-chains intersecting non-trivially Then
lowast(C1) = lowast(C2) and C1 cap C2 = lowast(C1)
Proof It is enough to prove that the two log-chains cannot intersect in their tails
Replace X be the resolution of the at most two markings of the log-chains and Ci
by their proper transforms C1cupC2 = cupmi=0Ri is a connected chain of rational curves
intersecting Z outisde LC(F ) Moreover each of the two extremal curves R0 and
Rm intersects Z in one point only In particular KF middot Ri = 0 for i = 1 middot middot middot m minus 1
and KF middot Ri lt 0 for i = 0m Since we assumed F is not birational to a fibration
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 21
by rational curves there exists a contraction p X rarr X0 with exceptional curve
cupmminus1i=0 Ri However F0 is smooth along plowastRm so by adjunction formula KF0 middotplowastRm lt
0 and we find a contradiction by Corollary IIVI7
Corollary IIVI13 Let C be a maximal connected curve such that KF middotC = 0 and
C cap LC(F ) 6= empty Then C is a union of finitely many log-chains intersecting each
other in their common marking
The following shows a configuration of log-chains sharing the same marking col-
ored in black
We are now ready to state and prove the canonical model theorem in presence of
log-canonical singularities
Theorem IIVI14 (Canonical models) Let X be a proper DM stack of dimension
2 and F a foliation with isolated singularities Moreover assume that KF is nef
that every KF -nil curve is contained in a log-chain and that F is Gorenstein and
log-canonical in a neighborhood of every KF -nil curve Then either
bull There exists a birational contraction p X rarr X0 whose exceptional curves
are unions of log-chains If all the log-contractible curves contained in the log-
chains are smooth then F0 is Gorenstein and log-canonical If furthermore
X has projective moduli then X0 has projective moduli In any case KF0
is numerically ample
bull There exists a fibration p X rarr B over a curve whose fibers intersect
KF trivially Each F -invariant fiber of p intersecting LC(F ) is union of
mutually compatible log-chains
Proof If all the KF -nil curves can be contracted by a birational morphism we are in
the first case of the Theorem Else let C be a maximal connected curve withKF middotC =
0 and which is not contractible It is a union of pairwise compatible log-chains
22 FEDERICO BUONERBA
with marking lowast Replace (X F ) by the resolution of the log-canonical singularity
at lowast with exceptional divisor E Therefore F is Gorenstein and canonical in a
neighborhood of C cupE By equation 9 we have KF middotC = minusC middotE lt 0 and therefore
C can be contracted to a canonical foliation singularity Replace (X F ) by the
contraction of C We have a smooth curve E around which F is smooth and
nowhere tangent to E Moreover
(11) KF middot E = minusE2
And we distinguish cases
bull E2 gt 0 so KF is not pseudo-effective a contradiction
bull E2 lt 0 so the initial curve C is contractible a contradiction
bull E2 = 0 which we proceed to analyze
The following is what we need to handle the third case
Proposition IIVI15 Let (X F ) be a foliation with canonical singularities with
X a smooth 2-dimensional DM stack with projective moduli and KF nef If there
exists a smooth curve E everywhere transverse to F such that KF middot E = E2 = 0
then E moves in a pencil and defines a fibration p X rarr B onto a curve whose
fibers intersect KF trivially
Proof If KF has Kodaira dimension one then its linear system contains an effective
divisor and by Hodge index KF = cE as divisors for some c isin Q+ Hence there is
a fibration onto a curve with fiber E and F is transverse to it by assumption If
KF has Kodaira dimension zero we use the classification IIV1 in all cases but the
suspension over an elliptic curve E defines a product structure on the underlying
surface in the case of a suspension every section of the underlying projective bundle
is clearly F -invariant Therefore E is a fiber of the bundle
This concludes the proof of the Theorem
We remark that the second alternative in the above theorem is rather natural
let (X F ) be a foliation which is transverse to a fibration by rational or elliptic
curves ie a suspension over elliptic curve turbolent Riccati or isotrivial Pick a
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 23
general fiber E of the fibration and blow up any number of points on it The proper
transform E is certainly contractible By Proposition IIVI4 the contraction of E is
Gorenstein and log-canonical Moreover the fiber E has been replaced by a union of
compatible log-chains Note in particular that the number of log-chains appearing
is arbitrary
Corollary IIVI16 Let X be a proper DM stack of dimension 2 and F a Goren-
stein foliation with log-canonical singularities Assume that KF is big and pseudo-
effective Then there exists a birational morphism p X rarr X0 such that C is
exceptional if and only if KF middot C le 0 In particular KF0 is numerically ample
For future applications we spell out
Corollary IIVI17 Hypothesis as in Theorem IIVI14 assume further that X
is everywhere smooth Then in the second alternative of the theorem the fibration
p X rarr B is by rational curves
Proof Indeed in this case the curve E which appears in the proof above as the
exceptional locus for the resolution of the log-canonical singularity at lowast must be
rational By the previous Proposition p is defined by a pencil in |E|
IIVII Set-up In this subsection we prepare the set-up we will deal with in the
rest of the manuscript Briefly we want to handle the existence of canonical models
for a family of foliated surfaces parametrized by a one-dimensional base To this
end we will discuss the modular behavior of singularities of foliated surfaces with
Gorenstein singularities recall McQuillan-Panazzolorsquos resolution of foliation singu-
larities building on the existence of minimal models [McQ05] prepare the set-up
for the sequel
Let us begin with the modular behavior of Gorenstein singularities
Proposition IIVII1 Let (X F ) be a smooth DM stack with a foliation by
curves Assume there exists a flat proper morphism p X rarr C onto an algebraic
curve such that F restricts to a foliation on every fiber of p Then the set
(12) s isin C Fs is log-canonical
24 FEDERICO BUONERBA
is Zariski-open while the set
(13) s isin C Fs is canonical
is the complement to a countable subset of C lying on a real-analytic curve
Proof By Fact IIIII2 being log-canonical is equivalent to the linearized endomor-
phism part IZI2Z rarr IZI
2Z being non-nilpotent where Z is the singular sub-scheme
of the foliation Of course being non-nilpotent is a Zariski open condition The
second statement also follows from opcit since a log-canonical singularity which is
not canonical has linearization with all its eigenvalues positive and rational The
statement is optimal as shown by the vector field on A3xys
(14) part(s) =part
partx+ s
part
party
Next we recall the existence of a functorial canonical resolution of foliation singu-
larities for foliations by curves on 3-dimensional stacks
Fact IIVII2 [MP13] Let X = (XDF ) be a 3-dimensional DM stack with bound-
ary foliated by curves Then there exists a proper birational morphism Xprime rarr X such
that X prime is a smooth DM stack and F prime has only canonical foliation singularities
The original opcit contains a more refined statement including a detailed de-
scription of the claimed birational morphism
In order for our set-up to make sense we mention one last very important result
Fact IIVII3 [McQ05] Let X be a smooth DM stack with projective moduli and F
a foliation by curves with (log)canonical singularities Then there exists a birational
map X 99K Xm obtained as a composition of flips such that Xm is a smooth
DM stack with projective moduli the birational transform Fm has (log)canonical
singularities and one of the following happens
bull KFm is nef or
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 25
bull There exists a fibration Xm rarr B over a smooth base whose fibers are
weighted projective spaces such that Fm is tangent to the fibers and restricts
to a radial foliation on those
Finally we can organize our notation
Set-up IIVII4 (X F ) is a smooth 3-dimensional DM stack with projective mod-
uli F a foliation by curves with canonical singularities such that KF is big and nef
There exists a semi-stable morphism p X rarr ∆ whose moduli is projective onto
the (formal) unit disk F restricts to a foliation on every fiber of p it has canon-
ical singularities on the very general fiber of p and log-canonical singularities on
every fiber of p Our task from now on is to analyze and contract the maximal
foliation-invariant sub-scheme of X along which KF is not ample
III Invariant curves and singularities local description
In this section we give a complete decription of germs of invariant curves that
appear in the formal completion of any point in the set-up IIVII4 Let us replace
X by its formal completion in a point lowast where the foliation is singular F is defined
by a vector field part with Jordan decomposition partS + partN see the end of subsection
IIIII Since [partS partN ] = 0 partN preserves the eigenspaces of partS Moreover the fact that
F is tangent to p translates into
(15) partS(p) = partN(p) = 0
The description of invariant germs of curves through lowast will be achieved via case-by-
case analysis organized by computing what happens for all possible combinations
of the following informations whether the singular locus Z is isolated at lowast the
number of eigenvalues of partS the number of components of the fiber through p
IIII sing(F ) not isolated
ni (1) partS has one eigenvalue
bull We have partS = x partpartx
and partN = f partparty
+ g partpartz
for some functions f g isin (y z)
Moreover partN is non-trivial
26 FEDERICO BUONERBA
bull Z = (x = f = g = 0) is not isolated
(a) The fiber has one component y = 0 Then 0 = partN(y) = f hence
Z = (x = g = 0) The restriction on the fiber is part|(y=0) = x partpartx
+g|(y=0)partpartz
Z has a one-dimensional component contained in the fiber iff g isin (y) in
which case such component is smooth equal to (x = 0) moreover the
foliation on the fiber saturates to a smooth one with invariant curves
z = 0 transverse to Z
Otherwise the foliation is saturated on the fiber and has a saddle-node
singularity
(b) The fiber has two components yz = 0 Then 0 = partN(yz) = zf + yg
hence f = yh g = minuszh for some h and Z = (x = h = 0) The restriction
on a fiber component say y = 0 is part|(y=0) = x partpartxminus zh|(y=0)
partpartz
Z has an
irreducible component contained in y = 0 iff h isin (y) in which case such
component is smooth equal to (x = 0) moreover the foliation on the
fiber saturates to a smooth one with invariant curves z = 0 transverse
to Z
Otherwise the foliation is saturated on the fiber and has a saddle-node
singularity
(c) The fiber has three components xyz = 0 0 = partS(xyz) = xyz a contra-
diction
Summary with one eigenvalue there are either one or two components The
foliation might have a one-dimensional singularity when restricted to a fiber
component in this case such singularity is a smooth curve and the foliation
saturates to a smooth one with invariant curves transverse to the singular-
ity If the singularity is isolated on a fiber component then it is a canonical
saddle-node with at most two invariant branches
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 27
ni (2) partS has two eigenvalues
We have partS = x partpartx
+ λy partparty
and partN(x y z) = k partpartx
+ f partparty
+ g partpartz
for some func-
tions k f g
(a) The fiber has one component z = 0 Then g = 0 k f isin (x y) and
necessarily Z = (x = y = 0) is transverse to the fiber The restriction on
the fiber is saturated and non-degenerate It has canonical singularities
if either partN 6= 0 or λ isin Q+ otherwise it is log-canonical
(b) The fiber has two components xy = 0 Then 0 = partS(xy) hence λ = minus1
Also 0 = partN(xy) hence k = xh f = minusyh g isin (xy) and necessarily
Z = (x = y = 0) coincides with the intersection of the two fiber compo-
nents which is smooth the foliation saturates to a smooth one on each
component with invariant curves transverse to Z
(c) The fiber has three components xyz = 0 hence λ = minus1 Also k = xklowast
f = yf lowast g = zglowast with klowast + f lowast + glowast = 0 and glowast isin (xy) The singularity
Z = (x = y = 0) coincides with the intersection of two of the fiber
components The restriction to either such components saturates to a
smooth foliation with invariant curves transverse to Z the restriction
to z = 0 has a canonical non-degenerate singularity all the invariant
curves are those in xy = 0 transverse to Z
Summary with 2 eigenvalues there can be any number of components With
one component the foliation restricts to a saturated one with a (log)canonical
singularity which moves transversely to p With two components the folia-
tion is not saturated on either and saturates to a smooth one with invariant
curves transverse to the singularity With three components the foliation
is not saturated on two of them and saturates to a smooth one on both
with invariant curves transverse to the singularity the foliation is saturated
and has a canonical non-degenerate singularity on the third component In
28 FEDERICO BUONERBA
the last two cases the singularity is fully contained in an intersection of two
components
ni (3) partS has three eigenvalues But then the singularity is isolated a contradiction
IIIII sing(F ) isolated
i (1) partS has one eigenvalue
bull We have partS = x partpartx
and partN = xk partpartx
+ f partparty
+ g partpartz
for some functions
k f g isin (y z) Moreover partN is non-trivial
bull Z = (x = f = g = 0) is isolated
(a) The fiber has one component y = 0 Then 0 = partN(y) = f and Z cannot
be isolated a contradiction
(b) The fiber has two components yz = 0 Then 0 = partN(yz) = zf + yg so
f = yh g = minuszh with h non-constant Hence Z = (x = h = 0) is not
isolated a contradiction
(c) The fiber has three components xyz = 0 Then 0 = partS(xyz) = xyz a
contradiction
Summary the 1 eigenvalue case does not exist
i (2) partS has two eigenvalues
bull We have partS = x partpartx
+ λy partparty
partN = xk partpartx
+ f partparty
+ g partpartz
for some functions
k f g
bull g is non-trivial and g isin (x y)
bull Z = (x = y = g = 0) is isolated
(a) The fiber has one component z = 0 Then g = 0 a contradiction
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 29
(b) The fiber has two components xy = 0 hence λ = minus1 and g isin (xy z)
the restriction to y = 0 is part|(y=0) = x partpartx
+g|(y=0)partpartz
and necessarily g|(y=0)
is non-vanishing Therefore the restriction to either components is satu-
rated and the singularity is a canonical saddle-node on each of them
The invariant curves are among the axes x = y = 0 x = z = 0 y = z =
0
(c) The fiber has three components xyz = 0 hence λ = minus1 Necessarily
k = xklowast f = yf lowast g = zglowast with klowast + f lowast + glowast = 0 The restriction to
y = 0 is part|(y=0) = x(1 + klowast|(y=0))partpartx
+ zglowast|(y=0)partpartz
since g isin (x y) we have
glowast|(y=0) non-trivial Therefore the restriction to either x = 0 and y = 0
is saturated and the singularity is a canonical saddle-node on each of
them
The restriction to z = 0 is part|(z=0) = x(1 + klowast|(z=0))partpartx
+ y(minus1 + f lowast|(z=0))partparty
therefore the restriction is saturated and has a canonical non-degenerate
singularity
The invariant curves are among the axes x = y = 0 x = z = 0 y = z =
0
Summary with 2 eigenvalues there are either two or three components the
foliation restricts to a canonical saddle-node on two of them and to a non-
degenerate singularity on the third one if it exists All the invariant curves
are in the axes
i (3) partS has three eigenvalues We have partS = x partpartx
+ λy partparty
+ microz partpartz
(a) The fiber has one component y = 0 hence λ = 0 a contradiction
(b) The fiber has two components xy = 0 hence λ = minus1 The restriction to
y = 0 is part|(y=0) = x partpartx
+ microz partpartz
+ partN|(y=0) The singularity is log-canonical
30 FEDERICO BUONERBA
iff micro isin Qgt0 and partN|(y=0)= 0 and in this case the singularity on x = 0 is
canonical non-degenerate Invariant curves are those in y = 0 and the
axis x = z = 0
If the restriction to both fiber components is canonical then it non-
degenerate on both and the invariant curves are contained in the axes
x = y = 0 x = z = 0 y = z = 0
The fiber could be yz = 0 hence λ+micro = 0 It can be analyzed as in the
next item
(c) The fiber has three components xyz = 0 hence 1 + λ + micro = 0 In par-
ticular if λ = cmicro c isin Q+ then λ micro isin Q The restriction to y = 0
is part|(y=0) = x partpartx
+ microz partpartz
+ partN|(y=0) This singularity is log-canonical iff
micro isin Qgt0 and partN|(y=0)= 0 in which case the singularity on both x = 0
and z = 0 is canonical non-degenerate In particular if the singularity
is log-canonical on some fiber component then it is so on exactly one
component and all eigenvalues are rational Invariant curves are those
in y = 0 and the axis x = z = 0
If the restriction to all fiber components is canonical then it non-degenerate
on each of them and the invariant curves are contained in the axes
x = y = 0 x = z = 0 y = z = 0
Summary with 3 eigenvalues there are either two or three fiber components
the foliation restricts to a singular foliation on each of them and it has a
log-canonical singularity on at most one of them in this case all eigenvalues
of the semi-simple field are rational
IIIIII Local consequences We list some corollaries for future reference As al-
ways in this section the statements are local so everything happens in a formal
neighborhood of our point lowast First we state those corollaries we will need to describe
configurations of KF -nil curves
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 31
Definition IIIIII1 An LC-center Π sub X is an irreducible F -invariant formal
hypersurface such that the local vector field generating the foliation when restricted
to Π has semi-simple part with log-canonical singularity or a one-dimensional sin-
gular locus An LC-center with a log-canonical singularity is necessarily an algebraic
component of the singular fiber of p
Corollary IIIIII2 There is at most one LC-center with a log-canonical singularity
through lowast If it exists then all eigenvalues of the semi-simple field at lowast are rational
If there are at least two LC-centers through lowast then there are exactly two and the
foliation singularity is a smooth curve on each of them
Proof Possible cases in which an LC-center with log-canonical singularities appears
ni (2)a i (3)b i (3)c
Corollary IIIIII3 If there is no LC-center thorugh a point lowast then there are at
most three invariant curves through lowast all smooth Any number of them spans a sub-
space of the tangent space at lowast of maximal possible dimension
If there is an LC-center through lowast then there is at most one invariant curve through
lowast and not contained in the LC-center
If there is an LC-center with non-isolated singularity then the singularity is smooth
and all invariant curves contained in the LC-center intersect the singularity trans-
versely
Proof Invariant curves not in an LC-centers with log-canonical singularities are con-
tained in the three axes x = z = 0 x = y = 0 y = z = 0 mentioned in the above
classification The other statements are clear
Corollary IIIIII4 If p is smooth at lowast then Z is one dimensional around lowast
Proof Possible casesni (1)a ni (2)a
In particular if there is no LC-center the situation is the familiary
xz
32 FEDERICO BUONERBA
While if there is an LC-center (pink) with log-canonical singularity it will look like
y
LC-center
While if there is an LC-center with non-isolated singularity (red) it will look like
(the black arrows being invariant curves)
y
LC-center
The next corollary describes one-dimensional components of the foliation singularity
Corollary IIIIII5 If Z0 is a one-dimensional irreducible component of the folia-
tion singularity then it is at worst nodal The foliation when restricted to any fiber
component containing Z0 saturates to a smooth foliation in a neighborhood of Z0
and all the invariant curves are transverse to Z0
If Z0 is contained in exactly one fiber component then the semi-simple field has one
eigenvalue everywhere along Z0
If Z0 lies at the intersection of two fiber components then the semi-simple field has
two constant eigenvalues everywhere along Z0
Moreover if there exist a sequence of invariant curves converging in the compact-
open topology to Z0 then there is generically one eigenvalue along Z0
Proof Possible casesni (1)a ni (1)b ni (2)b ni (2)c Concerning the one-
eigenvalue case invariant curves converging to Z0 can be found in the formal hyper-
surface x = 0
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 33
IV Invariant curves along which KF vanishes
In this section we study in great detail a formal neighborhood of invariant curves
where KF is numerically trivial In the first subsection we deal with KF -nil curves
namely those whose generic point is not contained in the foliation singularity In this
case the normal bundle to the curve determines its formal neighborhood uniquely
and this has plenty of amazing consequences In the second subsection we study
those invariant curves which are contained in the foliation singularity In this case
we are not able to control the full formal neighborhood but important informations
can still be obtained
IVI KF -nil curves In this subsection we study in detail the structure of KF -
nil curves and their formal neighborhoods appearing in the set-up IIVII4 In
particular we will describe a simple process to replace cuspidal KF -nil curves by
net ones prove that the foliation is in the net completion around a net KF -nil curve
defined by a global vector field which admits a global Jordan decomposition deduce
that eigenfunctions for the semi-simple component of such field are also globally
defined on a formal neighborhood
The first important remark is of technical nature and explains how to deal with non-
net KF -nil curves By Proposition IIIV4 this is indeed possible and the images of
such curves will acquire cusp-like singularities It is hard to analyze the geometry
of F around such cuspidal curves and therefore necessary to remove them Let us
assume that C is simply connected with rational moduli f is ramified at 0 isin C
and and denote by X the formal completion along f(C) Then formally around
f(0) the curve f(C) has defining ideal (y xa minus zb) where y = 0 is a fiber of the
fibration p X rarr ∆ containing f(C) x z isin H0(X OX ) restrict to suitable local
coordinates on such fiber and a b ge 2 are coprime integers
Claim IVI1 Let r X ( aradicz = 0) rarr X be the a-th root of z = 0 III3 Then
(rlowastC)norm =∐a
1 C and the induced map rlowastf (rlowastC)norm rarrX ( aradicz = 0) is net
Proof Since r is etale away from z = 0 also rlowastC rarr C is etale away from 0 isin C
Since C 0 is simply connected we have rlowastC rminus1(0) =∐a
1 C 0 This proves
34 FEDERICO BUONERBA
the first statement Let ζ be a function on X ( aradicz = 0) such that ζa = z so then
rlowast(xa minus zb) =prod
ηa=1(x minus ηζb) Every branch is net in 0 and we obtain the second
statement as well
As such upon taking roots we can replace non-net KF -nil invariant curves with
rational moduli by net ones
We now proceed to study net KF -nil curves We will show that the foliation is
defined by a global vector field around a net KF -nil curve with rational moduli and
that such vector field admits a global Jordan decomposition
Proposition IVI2 Notation as in the set-up IIVII4 let f C rarrX be a KF -nil
curve Assume that f is net and let j C rarr C be the net completion along f Then
there exists an isomorphism
(16) OC(KF )simminusrarr OC
In particular there exists a global vector field partf on C that generates F
Proof Since C has rational moduli and is simply connected it has infinite-cyclic
Picard group and we have an isomorphism
(17) OC(KF )simminusrarr OC
Moreover we have a non-canonical splitting of the normal bundle Njsimminusrarr O(minusn) oplus
O(minusm) and we claim that both nm ge 0 Indeed consider the induced semi-stable
fibration C rarr ∆ and let F be the normalization of an irreducible component of a
fiber such that C sub F Consider the exact sequence
(18) 0rarr NCF rarr Nj rarr NFC|C rarr 0
Since KF is nef NCF is not ample since F is a fiber of a fibration also NFC|C is
not ample and this is enough to conclude even though nm may be different from
the degrees of such normal bundles
At this point we can lift the isomorphism 17 over infinitesimal neighborhoods of j
Indeed for every k ge 0 we have an exact sequence
(19) 0rarr Symk ICI2C rarr OCk+1
(KF )rarr OCk(KF )rarr 0
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 35
which shows that the obstruction to lifting the isomorphism lies in
(20) H1(C Symk ICI2C) = H1(C Symk(O(n)oplus O(m))) = 0
From this we can deduce
Proposition IVI3 The vector field partf admits a Jordan decomposition uniformly
along C
Proof The cohomology sequence attached to 19 is
(21) 0rarr H0(C Symk ICI2C)rarr H0(COCk+1
)rarr H0(COCk)rarr 0
Let partk+1 denote the image of partf in End(H0(COCk+1)) Looking at
H0(COCk+1) minusminusminusrarr H0(COCk
)
partk+1
y partk
yH0(COCk+1
) minusminusminusrarr H0(COCk)
we see the canonical Jordan deomposition of partk+1 restricts to that of partk
The above result describes a very useful interplay between normal bundles to
KF -nil curves and the structure of the semi-simple field It turns out that these
informations determine formal neighborhoods uniquely For simplicity let C be
an irreducible component of C without orbifold points Let us assume that part|C is
singular in 0infin Then there exist formal functions x y z at 0 isin C and ξ η ζ at
infin isin C such that x ξ are coordinates along C y η are local sections of OC(minusn)
so η = xny mod(I2C) z ζ are local sections of OC(minusm) so ζ = xmz mod(I2C)
Normalizing so that xminus1partS(x) = ε isin 0 1 we obtain
(22) part0S = εxpart
partx+ λy
part
party+ microz
part
partz partinfinS = minusεξ part
partξ+ (λ+ εn)η
part
partη+ (micro+ εm)ζ
part
partζ
More generally ie C = P1(d e) we have glueing rules x = te ξ = tminusd η = tny and
ζ = tmz mod(I2C) Normalizing so that tminus1partS(t) = ε isin 0 1 we obtain
(23) part0S = eεxpart
partx+ λy
part
party+ microz
part
partz partinfinS = minusdεξ part
partξ+ (λ+ εn)η
part
partη+ (micro+ εm)ζ
part
partζ
36 FEDERICO BUONERBA
It is worth remarking that the above relations hold between eigenvalues at the two
singular point of singular ie nodal or cuspidal KF -nil curves as well this is
easily seen by taking a root followed by net completion and keeping track of the
eigenvalues
Definition IVI4 Let C be a KF -nil curve The foliation singular points along C
are called ends
As well as the existence of Hilbert scheme in the following form
Fact IVI5 Let W sub Xlowast be a curve and D a divisor in the formal neighborhood
of W such that W = D capXlowast scheme-theoretically Then W moves in D
In what follows our main concern is to understand formal neighborhoods of KF -
nil curves Observe that the fibration p when restricted to the formal neighborhood
of such curves provides at least one eigenfunction of the semi-simple field Hence
in order to compute the width IIII we must study the behavior of the other eigen-
function on infinitesimal neighborhoods We first describe the situation inside the
smooth locus of p
Proposition IVI6 (Smooth fiber) Let f C rarrX be an irreducible KF -nil curve
which is contained in the smooth locus of a fiber Xlowast of p Then the end(s) on C are
flat over ∆ ni (1)b and ni (1)a with z2|g(y z) and C moves in a family flat over
∆
Proof Let us assume that f is net Then upon passing to net completion we can
actually assume it is embedded From our local classification of singularities we case
in case ni (1)a and ni (2)a We want to show that both ends have components
that move transversely to p hence we have to exclude case ni (1)a with g(y z) = ya
By way of contradiction say we have g(y z) = ya in the notation of opcit around
an end lowast isin C We proceed to compute what happens at the other end we find
formal coordinates ξ η ζ which by equation 23 satisfy
(24) ξ = xminus1 η = y ζ = xmz mod(I2C)
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 37
As such we compute part(ζ) = mζ + ξminusmηa mod(I2C) which is holomorphic if and only
if m le 0 so then C moves in Xlowast contradicting that the foliation has general type
Hence we are in cases ni (1)a ni (2)a with g = microyazb b ge 1
(25) part0 = xpart
partx+ microyazb
part
partz partinfin = minusξ part
partξ+ ζ(m+ microξm(bminus1)ηaζbminus1)
part
partζ(mod(I2C))
Following notation from subsection IIII observe that C1 is the section of E1C which
is disjoint from the proper transform of the fiber of p In coordinates over 0
(26) x1 = x y1 = y z1 = zyminus1
And similarly over infin Using the previous equation and 25 on C1 we find
(27)
part01 = x1part
partx1+microya+bminus11 zb1
part
partz1 partinfin1 = minusξ1
part
partξ1+ζ1(m+microξ
m(bminus1)1 ηa+bminus11 ζbminus11 )
part
partζ1(mod(I2C1
))
In particular the transform of the nilpotent field is still nilpotent after blowing up in
C It follows that the eigenvalues of the semi-simple field at the two ends of C and
C1 are the same Using equation 23 we deduce that the normal bundle to C1X1 to
isomorphic to that of CX in particular it contains a trivial direct summand This
proves that width(C) =infin
Next we show that f must be net Consider the induced flat projection pD D rarr ∆
its general fiber cannot be a cuspidal curve since along such cusp the foliation sin-
gularity would be log-canonical but not canonical Hence if C has a cusp necessarily
the general fiber of pD is a nodal curve Let X rarr X denote the blow up of the
nodal locus of pD with exceptional divisor E ruled over ∆ In a neighborhood of E
we have sing(F ) = D cap E which projects to ∆ as a double cover ramified over lowastObserve that the foliation on Xlowast is again log-canonical and not canonical hence its
local structure is ni (2)a In that case however p is unramified along the foliation
singularity Contradiction
We state a general criterion for movability of KF -nil curves
Proposition IVI7 Let C be a connected KF -nil curve such that p(C ) = lowast isin ∆
Assume its dual graph is a chain that none of its irreducible components is double
38 FEDERICO BUONERBA
VI3 and that its two extremal ends are flat over ∆ Then C moves in a family flat
over ∆ and each of its irreducible components is embedded
Proof We work in a formal neighborhood of C After taking roots we can assume
C is net and since its dual graph is a chain it is actually embedded We proceed by
induction on its length l where the case l = 1 is Proposition IVI6 For l gt 1 let C1
be a component of C which is extremal in its dual graph If C1 moves transversely
to p then both its ends do and hence we can apply the induction hypothesis to
C C1 If C1 is rigid then it can be flopped It is straightforward to check that we
can apply the induction hypothesis to the transform C + C+1 and we are done
Now we deal with rigid curves inside the singular fiber
Proposition IVI8 (Singular fiber) Let f C rarr X be an embedded net KF -
nil curve with anti-ample normal bundle Then there exists a birational map φ
(X F ) 99K (X +F+) and a KF+-nil curve C+ such that
bull φ is an isomorphism away from C+
bull In a formal neighborhood of at least one among C and C+ there exist two
invariant hypersurfaces D1D2 locally defined by the vanishing of eigenfunc-
tions of the semi-simple field such that C (resp C+)= D1 capD2
bull If F middot C lt 0 for some hypersurface F then F+ middot C+ gt 0 In particular X +
is projective
Such φ is called flop
Proof Our assumption is that Nfsimminusrarr O(minusn)oplusO(minusm) is anti-ample namely nm gt
0 If two invariant hypersurfaces as in our statement do exist around C the flop is
easily constructed as a weighted blow-up followed by a weighted blow-down As such
let us assume that such hypersurfaces do not exist around C In particular C is not
double VI3 By [Ar70] there exists a formal contraction c X rarrX0 collapsing C
to a point and an isomorphism everywhere else By Proposition IVI3 the foliation
F0 is Gorenstein around the node of X0 For ease of exposition let us assume
n = m = 1 the general case is handled the same way only the notation becomes more
cumbersome due to the presence of weights The node has embedding dimension 4
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 39
and in suitable local coordinates x0 y0 w0 z0 can be defined by x0z0minusy0w0 = 0 The
morphism c can be identified with the blow up of the embedded surface (x0 = y0 = 0)
Explicitly in the chart y = y0 x = x0yminus10 it is defined by
(28) y0 = y x0 = xy z0 = zprime w0 = xzprime
Here x is a coordinate along C while y = 0 is the pull-back of (x0 = y0 = 0) and
zprime some function in the normal bundle to C By the previous Proposition IVI6
we know C cannot be contained in the smooth locus of p Since C is not double
we can assume that in this local chart p is defined by (x y zprime) rarr xy - the case
(x y zprime) rarr xzprime being isomorphic as it is isomorphic to blow-up (z0 = w0 = 0)
instead of (x0 = y0 = 0) The issue is as emphasized by the notation zprime 6= z that
zprime may fail to be an eigenfunction for partS if it were we would be done since zprime = 0
is the local equation for the global pullback of (z0 = w0 = 0) However we have
a b isin C such that
(29) partS0(y0) = minusy0 partS0(x0) = 0 partS0(z0) = ay0 + bz0 partS0(w0) = ax0 + (b+ 1)w0
Observe that the embedded surfaces D01 = (y0 = z0 = 0) and D0
2 = (x0 = w0 = 0)
are both foliation invariant As such let b X + rarr X0 denote the blow-up of X0
along D01 - which is isomorphic to that along D0
2 - and let Di = blowastD0i i = 1 2
Finally X + is projective by Nakai-Moishezon Indeed every C with anti-ample
normal bundle is contained in an irreducible component F of X0 such that F middotC lt 0
Then F+ middot C+ gt 0 and we can find an ample divisor of the form H+ + εF+ where
H+ is the proper transform of an ample on X
Remark IVI9 In the previous proof a 6= b+ 1 Indeed such identity would create
a non-trivial Jordan block of partS0 in the (x0 w0)-plane thus contradicting the semi-
simplicity of partS0 In particular by a straightforward computation it is impossible to
find eigenfunctions of the form wlowast0 = w0 + αx0 zlowast0 = z0 + βy0 with x0z
lowast0 minus y0wlowast0 = 0
unless a = 0
We can conclude by pointing out an important point understood in this section
A painful aspect of the theory is that log-canonical singularities which appear natu-
rally as analytic degenerations of canonical ones come along with cuspidal invariant
40 FEDERICO BUONERBA
curves There is in particular no a-priori obstruction to the existence of rigid
cuspidal KF -nil curves in a smooth fiber of our family of foliated surfaces p Quite
generally a rigid curve of positive arithmetic genus in a smooth family of surfaces can
never be contracted to a point Therefore this would have been a counter-example
to any reasonable foliated canonical model theory one may wish to achieve Fortu-
nately such phenomenon does not happen and this establishes the Main Theorem I
modulo finitely many rigid curves confined in the singular fiber X0
IVII Invariant curves inside sing(F ) In this subsection we study curves Z0 subeXlowast cap sing(F ) which are inside the foliation singularity and invariant By this we
mean that there exists a sequence fn Cn rarrX of not necessarily algebraic invariant
curves converging in the compact-open topology to Z0 In other words the map
(30) NorF rarr Ω1Z0
is trivial By Corollary IIIIII5 we know that Z0 is at worst nodal it is smooth
wherever p is smooth for every point z isin Z0 the semi-simple part of the gener-
ating vector field has exactly one eigenvalue The problem here is that the Jordan
decomposition need not extend uniformly along Z0 not even along an irreducible
component In case ni (1)a the functions x and g may develop essential singulari-
ties arbitrary close to z Nonetheless the function x is unique and this says that x
does extend along Z0
Proposition IVII1 Let Z0 be as above Then in a formal neighborhood of Z0
there exists a unique smooth invariant hypersurface D0 containing Z0 which restricts
around any point in Z0 to the unique eigenfunction for the semi-simple field whose
eigenvalue is non-zero
Proof The local structure of the foliation around a point z isin Z0 is described by
cases ni (1)a and ni (1)b In both cases partS has one non-zero eigenvalue with
eigenfunction x Such eigenfunction x is a-priori only defined in the normal bundle to
Z0 but it is clear that the equation partx = x has a unique up to constants solution in
the formal completion around z As such there exists a unique smooth hypersurface
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 41
D0 in the formal completion around Z0 which restricts to the eigenfunction x around
z
Observe that the previous argument goes through since we are assuming Z0 subX0
Keeping notations from case ni (1)a if say g(y z) = yz then in the hypersurface
y equiv q isin Qgt0 the foliation has a log-canonical singularity and the eigenfunction x
extends highly non-uniquely to a formal neighborhood of the point (x y z) = (0 q 0)
In particular the existence of D0 as in the previous Proposition might fail along
the component (x = z = 0) of the foliation singularity This phenomenon is called
the beast
Anyway uniqueness in the previous proposition yields
Corollary IVII2 Let Z prime be a connected invariant curve inside sing(F ) Then in
a formal neighborhood of Z prime there exists a unique smooth invariant hypersurface D prime
containing Z prime which restricts around any point in Z prime to the hypersurface constructed
in the previous proposition
Next we turn to the intrinsic structure of invariant singular curves
Proposition IVII3 Let Z0 be an irreducible invariant curve inside sing(F )
Then Z0 is smooth and rational
Proof We work in a formal neighborhood of Z0 Let F0 denote the unique component
of X0 containing Z0 For any other fiber component F intersecting Z0 non-trivially
blow-up the invariant curve F cap F0 with exceptional divisor EF A straightforward
computation using the local formula ni (1)b shows that the fiber of the natural
projection EF rarr F cap F0 intersecting Z0 is also contained in sing(F ) For Z prime the
maximal connected singular invariant curve containing Z0 let G denote the saturated
foliation induced on D prime It is canonical with reduced singularities and it satisfies
KG = KF |Dprime minus Zprime By adjunction
(31) 2g(Z0)minus 2 + sZG(Z0) = minusZ prime middot Z0
Observe that thanks to our initial sequence of blow-ups the singularities of G along
Z0 coincide with the intersection of Z0 and Z prime Z0 In particular since D prime is formally
42 FEDERICO BUONERBA
flat over ∆ we deduce Z prime middot Z0 = 0 and the previous formula becomes
(32) 2g(Z0)minus 2 + sZG(Z0) = 0
This implies that Z0 is rational or elliptic If Z0 were elliptic then sZG(Z0) = 0 and
D0 defines an invariant elliptic curve in the general fiber of p By Baum-Bott this
contradicts that KF is big and nef Now we show that Z0 is smooth If it has a node
then D0 moves it in a family of nodal rational curves flat over ∆ In particular D0
itself has a node in codimension 1 hence Xlowast is smooth around the node of Z0 In its
formal neighborhood the foliation must be as in case ni (1)a which implies that
Z0 is smooth contradiction
We can improve as follows
Proposition IVII4 Let Z prime sube sing F capXlowast be a connected invariant curve with
KF middot Z prime = 0 Then its dual graph is a chain
Proof Assume Z prime is a cycle Then necessarily Z prime = D prime capXlowast scheme-theoretically
and by the existence of Hilbert scheme Z prime moves in the general fiber Its general
member is either a cycle of smooth rational curves or an elliptic curve Arguing as
in the previous proof we see that both options are impossible
V Configurations
In this section we analyze in great detail all possible configurations of invariant
curves along which KF vanishes These can be divided into three groups those
that do not move those that move in a one-dimensional family covering a surface
those that move in a higher-dimensional family covering a surface Curves in the first
group can form rather complicated configurations while those in the second group
are more simple they either move in the general fiber or they cover an isolated
Riccati component in the singular fiber Those in the third group turn out to be
represented by the two rulings of P1timesP1 if they happen to be cohomologous in the
ambient stack First we will analyze rigid curves then those which move and finally
we will describe their configurations
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 43
VI Configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially In
this subsection we describe configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF
trivially which arise in the situation described by set-up IIVII4
First we focus on KF -nil curves At the end of the section we deal with the simpler
case in which a curve in the configuration is fully contained in sing(F ) The general
fiber was handled in Proposition IVI6
Proposition VI1 Let C be a connected KF -nil curve contained in the smooth
locus of a fiber of p Then it is a chain or a cycle and it moves in a family flat over
∆
In what follows we let C denote a connected KF -nil curve contained in the
singular fiber X0 all of whose sub-curves are rigid in X Observe a consequence of
equation 23
Proposition VI2 Let C = cupiCi be a connected KF -nil curve Then the eigen-
values of partS are all rational at every point of sing(F )capC if and only if they are all
rational at one point
We can deduce many non-trivial properties about configurations of KF -nil curves
First we need
Definition VI3 Let C subX0 be a curve It is called double if there exists formally
around C two components F F prime of X0 such that C = F cap F prime A point lowast isin C where
three fiber components intersect is called a triple point If C lies on exactly one fiber
component it is called non-double We denote by F (C) such component
Remark VI4 Let Csimminusrarr P1(d e) be double with two triple points Then we know
e+ λ+ micro = minusd+ (λ+ n) + (micro+m) = 0 whence we obtain
(33) n+m = d+ e
Which is called triple-point formula
Next we show that essentially KF -nil curves do not form cycles unless something
deforms in X0 First we show that there are no cycles of rigid non-double curves
44 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proposition VI5 Let C be a connected KF -nil curve contained in the singular
fiber X0 of p Assume that every component of C is non-double and that every
sub-curve is rigid Then C contains no cycles
Proof We work in a formal neighborhood of C which we assume is a cycle Let
us first consider the case in which all components C1 middot middot middot CN are smooth with no
orbifold points and denote lowasti = Ci cap Ci+1 with CN+1 = C1 Moreover let us
assume no lowasti lies in the smooth locus of p
Since no curve is double the semi-simple field at every lowasti is as in case i (3)b in
particular the eigenvalues along the branches of Ci and Ci+1 add up to zero More-
over let minusni denote the self-intersection of Ci sub F (Ci) Normalize the eigenvalues
of partS so that at lowastn they are 1 in the C1 direction minus1 in the CN direction λ in the
F (C1)capF (CN) direction It follows by induction that at lowasti the eigenvalues are minus1
in the Ci direction 1 in the Ci+1 direction λ+ n1 + middot middot middot+ ni in the F (Ci) cap F (Ci+1)
direction After traveling around the cycle we obtain n1+middot middot middot+nN = 0 contradicting
that ni gt 0 for every i
We established the Proposition assuming every Ci is an embedded scheme and ev-
ery lowasti is in the singular locus of p The case in which Cisimminusrarr P1(di ei) has orbifold
points is analogous we end up with a combination c1n1 + middot middot middot + cNnN = 0 with ci
the eigenvalue at lowasti in the Ci+1 direction Normalizing so that c1 = e1 gt 0 again by
induction on i we see that every ci isin Qgt0 Next we show that our assumption on lowastiis always satisfied
Claim VI6 Every lowasti must belong to the singular locus of p
Proof We give two essentially equivalent proofs
bull If N = 2 3 then the previous argument goes through indeed we can normal-
ize eigenvalues at lowasti to be negative in the Ciminus1 direction and positive in the
Ci-direction and argue as above Hence we can assume N ge 4 If say lowasti is in
the smooth locus of p then F (Ci) = F (Ci+1) If also F (Ciminus1) = F (Ci) then Ci
lies in the smooth locus of p and hence it moves Therefore F (Ciminus1) 6= F (Ci)
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 45
and Ciminus1 can be flopped inside F (Ci) Since N ge 4 this preserves the smooth-
ness of F (Ci) and Ci is now is the smooth locus of p - contradiction
bull If lowasti belongs to the smooth locus of p then the end through lowasti moves We
can form a partial net completion fi Xi rarrX by normalizing C in lowasti only
Then f lowasti C is a chain with movable ends and hence moves in the general fiber
of p fi
Finally the general case in which some among the Ci have cusps can be easily
reduced to the smooth case in a couple of ways
bull Eigenvalues at the singularities of any KF -nil curve satisfy the same relations
as in the smooth case
bull Upon taking roots and net completion we can find a foliated formal 3-fold
supported on a cycle of smooth KF -nil curves which is a ramified cover of a
formal neighborhood of our cycle
Similarly we can show that there are no rigid cycles of double curves
Proposition VI7 Let C be a nodal KF -nil curve which is double Then C
deforms inside X0 In particular there cannot exist a rigid cycle of KF -nil double
curves
Proof Following the previous notation we have 0 = infin and if C = (xy = z = 0)
around 0 then we have identities
(34) x = η y = ξ z = ζ
The last one of which implies m = 0 that is C deforms Since C is double necessarily
the surface it spans must be contained in X0
The statement about cycles follows since a cycle of double curves can be transformed
after finitely many flops into a chain of smooth double curves with a nodal one
attached at one end
46 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Later on we will show that the deformations of C cannot span an elliptic surface
but only a family of nodal rational curves with a special Riccati foliation on it
We are ready to organize a detailed description of the dual graph of C More pre-
cisely we only need to understand how double curves intersect non-double curves
Lemma VI8 There exists a sequence of flops X 99KX + such that if C + denotes
the transform of C every double curve supported on C + contains two triple points
Proof Let C sube C be an irreducible component with at most one triple point and
let X 99K X + be its flop Then its transform C+ is non-double and the number
of double curves contained in C descreases It is clear that after finitely many flops
all double curves contain exactly two triple points
From now on all double curves in C have two triple points Thanks to proposition
VI2 we know that there are two cases to consider those curves along which the
semi-simple field has not only rational eigenvalues and those along which the semi-
simple field has only rational eigenvalues The first case being strictly easier than
the second it is a good starting place to warm up
Proposition VI9 (irrational eigenvalues) Assume that for every foliation singu-
larity along C not all eigenvalues of partS are rational Then every component of C
is net with at most one node and 1-skeleton of its dual graph is at worst trivalent
Write C = C axes cup C free where
C axes is the union of double curves
C free is the union of non-double curves
Then one among C axes and C free is empty Moreover
bull If C free is non-empty then it is a chain of smooth curves with rational moduli
bull If C axes is non-empty there exists a sequence of flops X 99KX + and an ir-
reducible component of the fiber FC subX + such that X + is a smooth stack
the transform C+ of C is contained in FC Moreover the dual graph of C+
is a tree which by [McQ08 III32] becomes a chain inside the normalization
of FC
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 47
Proof The first sentence is just corollary IIIIII3
Observe that if a non-double curve intersects a double curve then the non-double
curve must be contained in an LC-center around such intersection This contradicts
that not all eigenvalues are rational and establishes that one among C axes and C free
is empty
In case C free is not empty then it is clearly a chain or a cycle the latter being
impossible by Proposition VI5
We are left to show the existence of flops in case C = C axes We remark that
every component is smooth Let C0 be such a component and S0 a component of
X0 containing it Let C1 be the collection of irreducible components of C which
intersect S0 but are not contained in it All the components of C1 are smooth hence
we can flop them in any order until the transform of C1 lies in the transform of S0
Since the number of irreducible components of C lying outside S0 decreases after
such flop by induction we deduce the existence of finitely many flops after which
the birational transform of C is fully contained in the transform of S0
Next we take care of rational eigenvalues The complication here arises from
the fact that there may be double and non-double curves intersecting each other
However the situation is best possible
Proposition VI10 (rational eigenvalues) Assume that for every foliation singu-
larity along C all eigenvalues of partS are rational Write C = C axes cup C free where
C axes is the union of double curves
C free is the union of non-double curves
Then there exists a sequence of flops X 99K X + and an irreducible component of
the fiber FC axes subX + such that
bull X + is a smooth stack
bull The union of double curves of C axes is contained in FC axes the 1-skeleton of
its dual graph is a tree and each of its components has two triple points
bull The 1-skeleton of the dual graph of the transform C free+ is a disjoint union of
trees
bull Each connected component of C free+ intersects C axes in exactly one point
48 FEDERICO BUONERBA
In particular the 1-skeleton of the dual graph of C is a tree
Proof Notice that for every point lowast isin C cap Z there exists one LC-center through lowastIndeed there are three rational eigenvalues and they cannot be all non-vanishing and
all with different signs at the same time Now C axes can be treated as in proposition
VI9 This proves the first two items of the statement The third item follows from
Proposition VI5 so we can focus on the fourth one The proof is based on the
following obvious
Remark VI11 let C be a double curve such that either it is KF -nil hence has
two triple points or it is fully contained in sing(F ) Let C0 sube C free intersect C
non-trivially in a point lowast then necessarily C0 sub LClowast
Now let C0 middot middot middot CN form a chain of non-double curves with C0 and CN both
intersecting double curves as in the remark Denote by lowasti = Ci cap Ci+1 Since
C1 sub LClowast necessarily C1 is transverse to LClowast1 otherwise C1 would deform in F (C1)
Inductively we see that Ci+1 sub LClowasti and is transverse to LClowasti+1 In particular CN
cannot touch a double curve This contradiction proves the fourth item
Let us add a remark about configurations featuring invariant curves inside sing(F )
Proposition VI12 Let C be an invariant curve with KF middot C = 0 such that
Z0 sube C for some component Z0 sube sing(F ) Then C = Z prime cup C where
Z prime is a connected invariant curve inside the foliation singularity with dual graph a
chain
C is the union of at most two pairwise disjoint KF -nil curves with anti-ample
normal bundle
If not empty C can only intersect Z prime at the two ends of its dual graph Moreover
perhaps after a flop the intersection of C with Z prime supports the foliation singularity
along C As such if C has two components Z prime cup C deforms in the general fiber
Proof The structure of Z prime is Proposition IVII3 while that of Co is Proposition
IVI6 Let C prime be a component of C intersecting Z0 in a point lowast If C prime and Z0 belong
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 49
to different components of X0 then by case ni (1)b the eigenvalue of partS along C prime
vanishes so supp(sing(F ) cap C prime) = lowast If C prime and Z0 belong to the same component
then we can flop C prime into a different component
Observe that the divisor D prime from op cit can be extended along C prime This implies
that C can only intersect Z prime at its ends Moreover if C touches both ends necessarily
D prime capX0 = C scheme-theoretically hence by the existence of Hilbert scheme IVI5
we conclude
Our new set-up is
Set-up VI13 Everything as in set-up IIVII4 and moreover for any connected
invariant curve C with KF middot C = 0 all of whose sub-curves are rigid we have
configurations computed in proposition VI9 VI10 and Lemma VI12
VII Configurations of non-rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
In this subsection we describe configurations of surfaces which are covered by KF -nil
curves The structure of each such surface is described by classification IIV1 IIV2
and Corollary IIVI17 Our first step is to simplify the situation by contracting
chains of ruled surfaces The next step is to try and exclude the possibility that
the singular fiber of p contains fibrations by elliptic or nodal rational curves with
at least one invariant fiber This can be achieved with good success indeed there
may be at most one such Riccati foliation which is anyway rather isolated from the
remaining KF -nil curves Finally we observe that the only class of surfaces we have
not mentioned is
Definition VII1 A irreducible component F of the singular fiber of p is called
small Kronecker if
bull (FFF ) is birational to a Kronecker vector field on P1 timesP1 and
bull The two rulings of this P1 timesP1 are cohomologous inside X
The name comes from the fact that contraction of a small Kronecker yields a node
in the ambient threefold which admits a small resolution In fact in many respects
these fiber components behave very much like rigid KF -nil curves
50 FEDERICO BUONERBA
We start by getting rid of some fiber components which are ruled by KF -nil gener-
ically smooth rational curves
Proposition VII2 Notation as in Set-up VI13 there exists a sequence of flops
and divisorial contractions c X 99KX + such that
bull X + is a smooth stack
bull let S+ sub X + be an irreducible invariant divisor that contains a positive-
dimensional family of invariant rational curves along which KF+ vanishes
Then S+ is either birationally ruled by nodal rational curves or it is a small
Kronecker
Proof We focus first on contracting components of the singular fiber of p Consider
the following algorithm If there is no birationally ruled component different from
the ones listed in the second item we are done otherwise pick one such F and let
C denote the general member of the ruling If the cohomology class [C] is inde-
composable F is minimal Otherwise [C] = [C1] + [C2] where Ci are rational and
intersect KF trivially After finitely many steps we have a decomposition as a finite
sum of indecomposables [C] =sumn
i=0 ni[Ci] where every Ci is rational intersects KF
trivially We have two cases
bull There exists k such that Ck deforms in a birationally ruled necessarily min-
imal surface Fk
bull Every Ci has anti-ample normal bundle
In the first case denote by X rarr X1 the contraction of Fk along |Ck| and relpace
X by X1 Since Fk is minimal smoothness of the ambient stack is preserved unless
Fk is a small Kronecker This is however impossible if n ge 2 if Fk were a small
Kronecker then Ck deforms away from Fkminus1 so then Fkminus1 middot Ck = 0 on the other
hand Fkminus1 intersects the other ruling of Fk positively
In the second case flop C1 middot middot middot Cn in this order The transform of F is minimal and
not a small Kronecker so it can be contracted along its ruling preserving ambient
smoothness By induction on the Picard rank of X after finitely many steps this
algorithm ends Call X the output of this algorithm
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 51
Let S subX be an invariant divisor with a generically smooth ruling Then pS S rarr∆ is flat and after flopping finitely many rational curves in S cap plowastS(0) the resulting
pS is smooth Hence we can contract S along pS After finitely many steps the
Proposition is proven
For ease of notation in the sequel we call X the output of the previous proposition
Notice that there might still be divisors carrying a pencil of nodal rational curves
both inside and outside the singular fiber of p
We can start analyzing configurations of fiber components where the restriction of
F is not of general type We need some notation whose reason to exist will be clear
shortly
Definition VII3 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
along which KF is not big F is called special Riccati if
bull F is minimal
bull There exists a morphism s F rarr B onto a curve whose fibers are nodal
rational curve
bull F is transverse to the general fiber of s in particular KF is numerically
trivial along s
bull At least one fiber of s is invariant
bull There exists a section σ of s which is invariant and does not coincide with
the nodal locus of F
In particular the intersections of σ with invariant fibers of s isolated singularities
of F the node of F all coincide There may be fibers of s fully contained in sing(F )
in which case they are everywhere transverse to the saturated foliation
The definition looks nasty but special Riccati components have a rather simple
origin as the following proof shows
Lemma VII4 Let F be special Riccati Up to base change by an etale double cover
Bprime rarr B there is a natural isomorphism F norm simminusrarr BprimetimesP1 and the restriction of F
to F norm is birational to the projection onto P1
52 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proof We work over the normalization F norm Denote by Bprime the pre-image of the
node of F which is an etale double cover of B and let f denote an invariant fiber
of s with lowast = σ cap f Observe that F norm carries a Riccati foliation with 3 invariant
curves through lowast - namely σ f and a component of Bprime Hence FF has a log-canonical
singularity in lowast On F norm perform a weighted blow-up in each log-canonical singu-
larity followed by the contraction of the transforms of the corresponding fibers Let
s+ F+ rarr B denote the output of this operation If the proper transform of Bprime is
connected replace F+ by its base change under Bprime rarr B Hence we can assume Bprime
is the disjoint union of two sections of s+ and the transform of σ is a third section
which is disjoint from Bprime Therefore F+ = P1 timesBprime and the foliation restricts to the
projection onto P1
Next we describe those surfaces which cannot appear as components of the sin-
gular fiber X0
Definition VII5 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
along which KF is not big F is called illusory if
bull there exists a morphism t F rarr B onto a curve
bull KF is trivial along t
bull For any other fiber component F prime the intersection F cap F prime is either empty or
contained in a fiber of t
We give examples of illusory fiber components
Lemma VII6 The following fiber components are necessarily illusory
bull t is elliptic the foliation is either parallel to t or turbolent with at least one
invariant fiber
bull t is a nodal ruling the foliation is either parallel to t or transverse to t with
at least one invariant fiber and not birational to a special Riccati VII3
Proof Let f = F cap F prime for some fiber component F prime It is F -invariant
Assume t and F are parallel and f is transverse to both Then necessarily f subesing(F ) and KF is positive along the fibers of t contradiction
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 53
Assume t and F are generically transverse and f is transverse to t Let e be an
invariant fiber of t then ecap f isin sing(F ) hence t must be a family of nodal rational
curves and ecapf coincides with the node of e - otherwise KF would be positive along
t But this implies F is special Riccati contradiction
We proceed to show that illusory fibers do not exist
Lemma VII7 Let F be an illusory fiber component then every fiber of t is irre-
ducible If F prime is any fiber component intersecting F non-trivially then F prime is illusory
Proof Assume t has a reducible fiber f Then we can write f = f prime cup f primeprime where f prime
is irreducible and f primeprime is a disjoint union of chains of rational curves In particular
every subscheme supported on f primeprime is rigid in X f prime is rational and smooth iff f is a
cycle of rational curves hence the foliation on F is parallel to t and the choice of f prime
is not unique otherwise f prime is nodal or elliptic Let X 99KX + denote the flop of the
irreducible components of f primeprime in any order The proper transform f prime+ (below in red)
is the irreducible fiber of the induced morphism t+ F+ rarr B Since f primeprime+ intersects
f prime+ and is not contained in F+ there exists a component F prime of the fiber of p+ such
that F+ cap f prime+ 6= empty Since F+ is illusory necessarily F+ cap F prime = f prime+ Moreover F+
and F prime are the only fiber components intersecting f prime+ again because F+ is illusory
We deduce that F+ middot f prime+ = F prime middot f prime+ = 0 and therefore f prime+ is nef inside F prime It follows
that he restriction of F+ to F prime is not of general type and by the classification of
foliated surfaces [McQ08] necessarily f prime+ deforms inside F prime and defines a fibration
u F prime rarr Bprime In particular f prime+ is an irreducible fiber of u This is however impossible
since u contracts all the components of f primeprime+ contained in F prime (below in blue) and by
definition of F prime there exists at least one such component This proves that every
fiber of t is irreducible The following depicts the situation
F prime F+
f prime+
f primeprime+
t+u
54 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Concerning the second statement we only need to check the third condition for F prime
to be illussory namely that every other fiber component F primeprime intersecting F prime does
so along the fibers of u If F primeprime intersects F prime transversely to u then F primeprime intersects F
non-trivially and transversely to t as well absurd
Corollary VII8 Illusory components do not exist
Proof By the above lemma the existence of one illusory component implies that
every irreducible component of the singular fiber of p is illusory contradicting that
KF is big
We can now focus on fiber components that do appear
Corollary VII9 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
containing an invariant curve C which moves and such that KF middot C = 0 Then
following the classification [McQ08] we have two cases
(1) The minimal model of F is a special Riccati component
(2) F is a small Kronecker
Proof Certainly the ones listed are the only cases where C is KF -nil We have to
exclude the possibility that C is invariant inside sing(F ) By Proposition IVII3
such C would be rational with at most one node Since we already contracted at
the beginning of the present subsection all ruled surfaces necessarily C is nodal
However by opcit C cannot intersect any other fiber component of X0 which
implies the absurdity that X0 = F
We proceed to show that special Riccati components are rather isolated in the
fiber
Lemma VII10 Let F be a special Riccati component If F prime is a fiber component
intersecting F non-trivially then it does so transversely to s Morover there is
exactly one such F prime
Proof After finitely many flops we can assume that every fiber of s is irreducible
By the non-existence of illusory components there exists a fiber component F lowast with
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 55
σprime = F cap F prime transverse to s If F primeprime is a fiber component with f = F cap F primeprime a fiber
of s then we claim f sube sing(F ) If not then since KF middot f = 0 and σprime is invariant
necessarily σprimecap f is the node of f But then the existence of F primeprime contradicts that p is
snc Hence f sube sing(F ) so then around the node of f there are 3 fiber components -
two branches coming from F one from F primeprime - and sing(F ) has 2 branches - namely f
This is impossible by our case analysis ni (1)c ni (2)c The very same reasoning
establishes the uniqueness of F prime
Lemma VII11 Let F be as in the previous Lemma If C is a connected curve
with KF middot C = 0 then it is disjoint from F
Proof After finitely many flops s is irreducible and C intersects F transversely away
from its node Moreover lowast = C cap F isin sing(F ) and we deduce that the fiber of s
through lowast is fully contained in the singular locus of F This contradicts Proposition
IVII3 since such fiber is nodal
We conclude by observing the obvious
Lemma VII12 Let F be a small Kronecker Then there exists a contraction
c X rarr X prime which is an isomorphism away from F and contracts F along one
of its rulings Necessarily X prime is not projective since every global Cartier divisor
intersects c(F ) trivially On the other hand in a formal neighborhood of c(F ) there
exist Cartier divisors intersecting it non-trivialliy
As such the contribution coming from non-rigid curves is rather poor there are
curves moving in the general fiber there are special Riccati components disjoint from
any other invariant curve intersecting KF trivially there are small Kroneckers who
can be contracted to curves We shall see in the next section that the complications
arising from the contraction of such non-rigid curves is purely psychological and
totally harmless
56 FEDERICO BUONERBA
VI Contractions and proof of the Main Theorem
In this section we contract all invariant curves along which KF is zero thereby
establishing the existence of canonical models I First we contract non-rigid curves
as described in the previous subsection
bull Small Kroneckers along either ruling Albeit this destroys projectivity of
the ambient threefold there still exist Cartier divisors defined in a formal
neighborhood of the base curve that intersect it non-trivially
bull Families of irreducible nodal rational curves which are flat over ∆ This
creates elliptic singularities on the general fiber of p which are disjoint from
other invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
bull Special Riccati again families of irreducible nodal rational curves fully con-
tained in X0 This creates elliptic singularities disjoint from other invariant
curves intersecting KF trivially
We can summarize our situation by way of
Set-up VI1 X is a 3-dimensional DM stack with at worst elliptic singularities
F a foliation by curves with canonical singularities which is not Q-Cartier in a
neighborhood of Xsing
There exists a proper morphism p X rarr ∆ smooth off 0 isin ∆ F restricts to a
foliation on every fiber of p it has canonical singularities on the very general fiber
of p and log-canonical singularities on every fiber of p KF is big and nef on every
irreducible component of every fiber of p
Let C be the invariant sub-scheme along which KF is not big then C is a curve
fully contained in the smooth locus X0capXsmooth every sub-curve of C has anti-ample
normal bundle the 1-simplex of its dual graph is a tree and detailed configurations
of such are referenced in set-up VI13
We proceed to contract such C We assume that along C the semi-simple field has
only rational eigenvalues and moreover no component of C is inside the foliation
singularity The other two cases - irrational eigenvalues and presence of singular
component - are strictly easier and can be obtained with the very same method
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 57
The proof takes place in the formal completion around C = C free cup C axes The
former is a disjoint union of trees of non-double curves For each non-double C let
F (C) denote the unique component of X0 containing it The latter is a tree of double
curves each with two triple points all contained in the same irreducible FC axes Each
tree of non-double curves touches C axes in one point through a LC-center In order
to construct the contraction we will use Artinrsquos celebrated criterion in the following
form
Fact VI1 ([Ar70]) Let X be an irreducible algebraic space i Y rarr X a closed
subspace of pure codimension 1 and f Y rarr Y0 a proper morphism with flowastOY = OY0
Let X denote the formal completion of X along Y and assume there exists a Cartier
divisor D in X which is supported on Y and is f -anti-ample Then there exists a
proper morphism of algebraic spaces F X rarr X0 which is an isomorphism away
from Y and such that ilowastF = f
Now we use the tree structure of C to construct a suitable divisor to which apply
Artinrsquos theorem Namely consider the following inductive defintion
(35) C0 = C axes F0 = FC axes
For k ge 0 assume Ck Fk are defined
bull Let Ck+1 denote the union of irreducible components of C that intersect Fk
non-trivially but are not contained in cupilekFibull Let Fk+1 denote the reduced sum (
sumCsubeCk+1
F (C))red
This process stops with a collection C1 middot middot middotCN of curves and F1 middot middot middot FN of reduced
divisors
Lemma VI1 We have the following identities
(36)
Fk middot C lt 0 for every C sube Ck
(F0 + F1) middot C le 0 for every C sube C0
(Fkminus1 + Fk + Fk+1) middot C = 0 for every C sube Ck 1 lt k lt N
(FNminus1 + FN) middot C lt 0 for every C sube CN
58 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proof The first is just the fact that every component of C is rigid The remaining
three follow from X0 middot C = 0 but the last one requires further justification Indeed
if C sube CN N gt 0 then C is one end of a tree of non-double curves In particular
there exists a foliation singularity lowast isin C disjoint from any other component of
C and LClowast is transverse to C This implies LClowast middotC gt 0 which together with
(FNminus1 + FN + LClowast) middot C = 0 concludes the proof
Let ε1 middot middot middot εN isin Qgt0 and define
(37) F Nminusk = (1 + ε1 + middot middot middot+ εk)FNminusk
bull If C sube CN we have
(38) (F Nminus1 + F
N) middot C = ε1FNminus1 middot C + (FNminus1 + FN) middot C
bull If C sube CNminusk 1 lt k lt N we have
(39)
(F Nminuskminus1 + F
Nminusk + F Nminusk+1) middot C =
(1 + middot middot middot+ εk)(FNminuskminus1 + FNminusk + FNminusk+1) middot C minus εkFNminusk+1 middot C + εk+1FNminuskminus1 middot C =
minus εkFNminusk+1 middot C + εk+1FNminuskminus1 middot C
bull If C sube C0 we have
(40) (F 0 + F
1) middot C = εNF0 middot C + (Nminus1sumj=0
εj)(F0 + F1) middot C
It is clear that provided
(41) 1 gtgt ε1 gtgt middot middot middot gtgt εN
the divisor F =sumF k is negative along every component of C
This proves the existence of the contraction and concludes the proof of the Main
Theorem I
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 59
VII Moduli space of foliated surfaces of general type
In this section we study the modular variation of foliated surfaces of general type
The upshot is that it is possible to define a functor which is representable separated
and every irreducible component is proper The main issue here is that the supporting
surface of a foliated canonical model may well fail to be projective indeed KF is not
Q-Gorenstein in general Hence in order to proceed via standard methods [Ko17]
we have to parametrize our canonical models together with a suitable projective
resolution
Definition VII13 Let (SF ) be a foliated proper reduced purely 2-dimensional
DM stack Assume S has only normal crossing singularities in codimension 1 that
F has log-canonical foliation singularities and that KF is big and nef on at least
one of the irreducible components of S If whenever KF middot C = 0 for some curve C
then C moves in an irreducible component of S and no member of such deformation
is F -invariant then (SF ) is called foliated canonical model of general type
Clearly foliated canonical models are exactly the stable degenerations appearing
as the central fiber of our Main Theorem I Their lack of projectivity has two sources
namely the contraction of cycles of smooth KF -nil curves and of trees of cuspidal
ones Singularities arising from cycles behave well in families namely they always
deform into the general fiber Those arising from cuspidal curves on the other hand
tend to be rather isolated inside the degenerate fiber
Observe that the deformation theory of a foliated surface is rather simple suppose
given an infinitesimal C-algebras extension 0 rarr J rarr Ae rarr A rarr 0 and (SF )
a foliated surface flat over Spec(A) then the obstruction to lifting to Ae can be
understood in three simple steps
(1) Deformation of the underlying surface S once a deformation Se rarr Spec(Ae)
is given
(2) Deformation of the line bundle KF by the exponential sequence
(42) 0rarr J otimes OS rarr OlowastSerarr OlowastS rarr 0
obstructions lie in H2(SOS)otimes J once a deformation of KF is given
60 FEDERICO BUONERBA
(3) Deformation of the defining section OS rarr KF otimes TS obstructions lie in
H1(SKF otimes TS)otimes J
Now we have
Definition VII14 Let (SF ) be a foliated canonical model of general type A
proper birational morphism q (SF )proj rarr (SF ) is called its projective resolution
if
bull Every irreducible component of Sproj is smooth
bull The exceptional locus of q is a disjoint union of cycles of KFproj-nil smooth
curves and trees of KFproj-nil curves each of which has a non-trivial cuspidal
singularity
bull In a neighborhood of every q-exceptional cycle not only Sproj but also its
moduli space is smooth
We need a few remarks about projective resolutions
(1) Projective resolutions are always unique Indeed the only possible ambiguity
could lie in some extra smooth irreducible components in the exceptional
locus This is forbidden by definition in the trees of cuspidal curves it is
also forbidden by way of the third item in cycles of smooth ones ie on
algebraic surfaces the minimal resolution is unique
(2) Denote by E the collection of q-exceptional cycles Then there exist ε δ isinQgt0 such that KFproj
minus εE + δKSprojis ample by Nakai-Moishezon
(3) Deformations of a projective resolution of a foliated canonical model are
canonically identified with deformations of the underlying birational mor-
phism q Sproj rarr S followed by a deformation of the foliation F
We are now ready to construct a moduli functor for foliated surfaces more precisely
for projective resolutions of foliated canonical models of general type For m dN isinN and ε δ isin Qgt0 let
(43) MmdNεδ (C-schemes)rarr (sets)
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 61
be defined by MmdNεδ(S) = Diagrams
(44) (X F )projqminusrarr (X F )
pminusrarr S
Where
bull Both p and p q are flat and proper
bull For every closed point s isin S the induced morphism qs is the projective
resolution of (X F )s which is a foliated canonical model of general type
bull Denote by Es the collection of exceptional cycles of qs By our Main Theorem
I there is a fibrewise divisor E subXproj flat over S restricting to Es for every
s isin S
bull Let j W rarr Xproj denote the maximal closed subscheme away from which
KFprojand KXprojS are locally free Then
(45) L [m] = (jlowast(KFprojotimes OXproj
(minusεE )otimesKδXprojS
)otimesm)oror
is flat over S and commutes with base-change
bull L [m] is very ample of degree d on every fiber and defines an embedding into
PNS
We are now ready for
Theorem VII15 The functor MmdNεδ is represented by a separated algebraic
space each of whose irreducible components is proper
Proof We show that our functor satisfies Artinrsquos conditions [Ar74 Corollary 54] By
definition condition 1) and 4) hold while our previous remark on foliated obstruction
theory shows that 3) is true
We proceed to show 2) namely effectivity of formal deformations for MmdNεδ
What follows owes much to Artinrsquos [A74rsquo] Let T be a complete C-algebra Tn its
n-truncation so that Tsimminusrarr limlarrminusTn and finally qn isinMmdNεδ(Spec(Tn)) a compatible
sequence For each n there is a maximal open set Un sube Xprojn where qn is an
isomorphism denote by sn Cn rarr Zn the restriction of qn to the complement of Un
Clearly sn is projective over Spec(Tn)
62 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Denote by X C etc the formal algebraic spaces obtained as limits of Xn Cn
etc Then Xproj sub PNˆSpec(T )
hence by Grothendieckrsquos existence Theorem we find
bull a flat projective family (X F )proj rarr Spec(T ) resp a closed subscheme
C subXproj whose completion is Xproj resp C
bull a scheme Z whose completion is Z and a morphism s C rarr Z everything
being projective over Spec(T )
Further we have a formal contraction limminusrarr qn C rarr Z hence the main theorem
of [Ar70] gives algebraic contraction (X F )proj rarr (X F ) This proves the repre-
sentability of MmdNεδ The properness and separability of each irreducible com-
ponent can be checked using valutative criteria indeed properness is the content of
our Main Theorem I separatedness follows from the uniqueness of foliated canonical
models of general type and their projective resolution
References
[Ar70] M Artin Algebraization of Formal Moduli II Existence of Modifications Ann
of Math Vol 91 No 1 (Jan 1970) pp 88-135 httpwwwjstororgstable
1970602
[Ar74] M Artin Versal Deformations and Algebraic Stacks Inventiones Math 27 165- 189
(1974) httpmathuchicagoedu~drinfeldArtin_on_stackspdf
[A74rsquo] M Artin Algebraic construction of Brieskornrsquos resolutions J Alg Vol 29 Issue
2 May 1974 pp 330-348 httpwwwsciencedirectcomsciencearticlepii
0021869374901021
[BB72] P Baum R Bott Singularities of holomorphic foliations J Diff Geom 7 (1972)
279-342 httpsprojecteuclidorgdownloadpdf_1euclidjdg1214431158
[Bo77] F Bogomolov Families of curves on a surface of general type Doklady Akademii Nauk
USSR (in Russian) 236 (5) 1041-1044
[Bo78] F Bogomolov Holomorphic tensors and vector bundles on projective varieties Math
USSR Izv 13 (1978) 499-555
[BM16] F Bogomolov M McQuillan Rational Curves on Foliated Varieties In Cascini
McKernan Pereira (eds) Foliation Theory in Algebraic Geometry Simons Symposia
Springer Cham pp 21-51 (2016) httpslinkspringercomchapter101007
978-3-319-24460-0_2
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 63
[Bu] F Buonerba Functorial resolution of tame quotient singularities in positive charac-
teristic httpsarxivorgabs151100550
[Ke99] S Keel Basepoint Freeness for Nef and Big Line Bundles in Positive Characteris-
tic Annals of Math 149 No 1 (Jan 1999) pp 253-286 httpwwwjstororg
stable121025 httpsarxivorgabsmath9901149
[KM97] S Keel S Mori Quotients by groupoids Annals of Math 145 (1997) pp
193-213 httpwwwjstororgstable2951828seq=1page_scan_tab_contents
httparxivorgabsalg-geom9508012
[Ko17] J Kollar Families of varieties of general type httpswebmathprincetonedu
~kollarbookmodbook20170720pdf
[LN02] A Lins Neto Some examples for the Poincare and Painleve problems Annales sci-
entifiques de lrsquoENS 352 (2002) 231-266 httparchivenumdamorgarticle
ASENS_2002_4_35_2_231_0pdf
[McQ12] M McQuillan Foliated Mori Theory amp Hyperbolicity of Algebraic Surfaces http
wwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillahomehtml
[McQ98] M McQuillan Diophantine approximation and foliations Inst Hautes Etudes Sci
Publ Math 87 (1998) 121-174 httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafiles
ihespdf
[McQ05rsquo] M McQuillan Bloch hyperbolicity preprint httpwwwmatuniroma2it
~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ05] M McQuillan Semi-stable reduction of foliations IHES pre-print IHESM0502
(2005) httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ05rdquo] M McQuillan Uniform Uniformisation IHES pre-print (2005) IHES M0503 http
wwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ08] M McQuillan Canonical models of foliations Pure Appl Math Q 4
(2008) no 3 Special Issue In honor of Fedor Bogomolov Part 2 877-1012
httpintlpresscomsitepubfiles_fulltextjournalspamq20080004
0003PAMQ-2008-0004-0003-a009pdf
[MP13] M McQuillan D Panazzolo Almost etale resolution of foliations J Diff Geom 95
(2013) pp 279-319 httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesmp1bispdf
[Pe02] JV Pereira On the Poincare Problem for Foliations of General Type Mathematische
Annalen 323 no 2 pp217-226 2002 httpsarxivorgabsmath0104185
[PS16] JV Pereira R Svaldi Effective algebraic integration in bounded genus preprint
httpsarxivorgabs161206932
64 FEDERICO BUONERBA
[Re83] M Reid Minimal models of canonical threefolds in rdquoAlgebraic Varieties and Ana-
lytic Varietiesrdquo Adv Stud Pure Math vol 1 S Iitaka ed Kinokuniya and North-
Holland 1983 pp 131-180 httpwwwmathsedacukcheltsovquotientpdf
reid2pdf
[Se67] A Seidenberg Reduction of singularities of the differential equation Ady = Bdx Amer
J Math 89 (1967) 248-269 httpwwwjstororgstable2373435
[SB83] N Shepherd-Barron Degenerations with numerically effective canonical divisor The
Birational Geometry of Degenerations (R Friedman and D Morrison eds) Progr
Math no 29 Birkhuser 1983 pp 33-84
[Vis89] A Vistoli Intersection theory on algebraic stacks and on their moduli spaces
Invent Math (1989) pp 613-670 httplinkspringercomarticle101007
2FBF01388892page-1
Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences New York University 251 Mercer
Street New York NY 10012 USA
E-mail address buonerbacimsnyuedu
- I Introduction
- II Preliminaries
-
- III Operations on Deligne-Mumford stacks
- IIII Width of embedded parabolic champs
- IIIII Gorenstein foliation singularities
- IIIV Foliated adjunction
- IIV Canonical models of foliated surfaces with canonical singularities
- IIVI Canonical models of foliated surfaces with log-canonical singularities
- IIVII Set-up
-
- III Invariant curves and singularities local description
-
- IIII `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F) not isolated
- IIIII `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F) isolated
- IIIIII Local consequences
-
- IV Invariant curves along which KF vanishes
-
- IVI KF-nil curves
- IVII Invariant curves inside `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F)
-
- V Configurations
-
- VI Configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
- VII Configurations of non-rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
-
- VI Contractions and proof of the Main Theorem
- VII Moduli space of foliated surfaces of general type
- References
-
6 FEDERICO BUONERBA
corresponding exceptional sets The situation differs considerably from the canoni-
cal world indeed surfaces supporting log-canonical foliation singularities are cones
over smooth curves of arbitrary high genus and embedding dimension and even on
smooth surfaces invariant curves through a log-canonical singularity might acquire
cusps of arbitrary high multiplicity It is worth pointing out at this stage that one
of the main technical tools we use all time is the existence of Jordan decomposition
of a vector field in a formal neighborhood of a singular point This allows us to
decompose a formal vector field part as a sum partS + partN of commuting formal vector
fields where partS is semi-simple with respect to a choice of regular parameters and
partN is formally nilpotent
In Section III we compute the local structure of a foliation by curves tangent to a
semi-stable morphism of relative dimension 2 In particular we focus on the local
configurations of foliation-invariant curves through a foliation singularity We achieve
this by distinguishing all possible 18 combinations of number of eigenvalues of partS
at the singularity whether the singularity is 0 or 1-dimensional number of local
branches of the central fiber of the semi-stable morphism through the singularity
This classification is the first step towards the proof of the Main Theorem
In Section IV we study the geometry of foliation-invariant curves along which KF
vanishes this is technically the most important chapter of the paper To understand
the problem observe that the locus of points in ∆ over which the foliation has a
log-canonical singularity can be non-discrete even dense in its closure If we happen
to find a rigid curve in a smooth fiber of p that we wish to contract then the only
possibility is that the rigid curve is smooth and rational In particular we have to
prove that rigid cuspidal rational curves dotting KF trivially cannot appear in the
smooth locus of p even though log-canonical singularities certainly do The first
major result is Proposition IVI6 that indeed invariant curves in the smooth locus
of p that intersect KF trivially are rational with at most one node and do move in a
family flat over the base ∆ The main ingredient of the proof is the existence of Jor-
dan decomposition uniformly in a formal neighborhood of our curve this provides us
with an extremely useful linear relation equation 22 between the eigenvalues of the
Jordan semi-simple fields around the foliation singularities located along the curve -
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 7
linear relation which depends uniquely on the weights of the normal bundle to the
curve This allows to easily show that the width of the curve must be infinite Having
obtained the best possible result for invariant curves in the general fiber we switch
our attention to curves located in the central fiber of p Also in this case we have
good news indeed such curves can be flopped and can be described as a complete
intersection of two formal divisors which are eigenfunctions for the global Jordan
semi-simple field - this is the content of Proposition IVI8 We conclude this im-
portant chapter by describing in Proposition IVII3 foliation-invariant curves fully
contained in the foliation singularity which turn out to be smooth and rational The
proof requires a simple but non-trivial trick and provides a drastic simplification of
the combinatorics to be dealt with in the next chapter
In Section V we globalize the informations gathered in the previous two chap-
ters namely we describe all possible configurations of invariant curves dotting KF
trivially These can be split into two groups configurations all of whose sub-
configurations are rigid and configurations of movable curves The first group is
analyzed in Proposition VI10 and it turns out that the dual graph of such con-
figurations contains no cycles - essentially the presence of cycles would force some
sub-curve to move either filling an irreducible component of the central fiber or in
the general fiber transversely to p The second group is the most tricky to study
however the result is optimal Certainly there are chains and cycles of ruled surfaces
on which p restricts to a flat morphism The structure of irreducible components of
the central fiber which are filled by movable invariant curves dotting KF trivially
is remakably poor and is summarized in Corollary VII9 there are quadric surfaces
with cohomologous rulings and carrying a Kronecker vector field and there are sur-
faces ruled by nodal rational curves on which the foliation is birationally isotrivial
Moreover the latter components are very sporadic and isolated from other curves of
interest indeed curves in the first group can only intersect quadric surfaces which
themselves can be thought of as rigid curves if one is prepared to lose projectivity
of the total space of p As such the contribution coming from movable curves is
concentrated on the general fiber of p and is a well solved 2-dimensional problem
8 FEDERICO BUONERBA
In Section VI we prove the Main Theorem we only need to work in a formal neigh-
borhood of the curve we wish to contract which by the previous chapter is a tree
of unibranch foliation-invariant rational curves The existence of a contraction is
established once we produce an effective divisor which is anti-ample along the tree
The construction of such divisor is a rather straightforward process which profits
critically from the tree structure of the curve
In Section VII we investigate the existence of compact moduli of canonical models
of foliated surfaces of general type The main issue here is the existence of a rep-
resentable functor indeed Artinrsquos results tend to use Grothendieckrsquos existence in
a rather crucial way which indeed relies on some projectivity assumption - a lux-
ury that we do not have in the foliated context Regardless it is possible to define
a functor parametrizing deformations of foliated canonical models together with a
suitably defined unique projective resolution of singularities This is enough to push
Artinrsquos method through and establish the existence of a separated algebraic space
representing this functor Its properness is the content of our Main Theorem
II Preliminaries
This section is mostly a summary of known results about holomorphic foliations by
curves By this we mean a Deligne-Mumford stack X over a field k of characteristic
zero endowed with a torsion-free quotient Ω1X k rarr Qrarr 0 generically of rank 1 We
will discuss the construction of Vistoli covers roots of divisors and net completions
in the generality of Deligne-Mumford stacks a notion of singularities well adapted to
the machinery of birational geometry a foliated version of the adjunction formula
McQuillanrsquos classification of canonical Gorenstein foliations on algebraic surfaces
a classification of log-canonical Gorenstein foliation singularities on surfaces along
with the existence of (numerical) canonical models the behavior of singularities on
a family of Gorenstein foliated surfaces
III Operations on Deligne-Mumford stacks In this subsection we describe
some canonical operations that can be performed on DM stacks over a base field
k We follow the treatment of [McQ05][IaIe] closely Proofs can also be found in
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 9
[Bu] A DM stack X is always assumed to be separated and generically scheme-like
ie without generic stabilizer A DM stack is smooth if it admits an etale atlas
U rarr X by smooth k-schemes in which case it can also be referred to as orbifold
By [KM97][13] every DM stack admits a moduli space which is an algebraic space
By [Vis89][28] every algebraic space with tame quotient singularities is the moduli
of a canonical smooth DM stack referred to as Vistoli cover It is useful to keep in
mind the following Vistoli correspondence
Fact III1 [McQ05 Ia3] Let X rarr X be the moduli of a normal DM stack and
let U rarrX be an etale atlas The groupoid R = normalization of U timesX U rArr U has
classifying space [UR] equivalent to X
Next we turn to extraction of roots of Q-Cartier divisors This is rather straight-
forward locally and can hardly be globalised on algebraic spaces It can however
be globalized on DM stacks
Fact III2 (Cartification) [McQ05 Ia8] Let L be a Q-cartier divisor on a normal
DM stack X Then there exists a finite morphism f XL rarrX from a normal DM
stack such that f lowastL is Cartier Moreover there exists f which is universal for this
property called Cartification of L
Similarly one can extract global n-th roots of effective Cartier divisors
Fact III3 (Extraction of roots) [McQ05 Ia9] Let D subX be an effective Cartier
divisor and n a positive integer invertible on X Then there exists a finite proper
morphism f X ( nradic
D)rarrX an effective Cartier divisor nradic
D subX ( nradic
D) such that
f lowastD = n nradic
D Moreover there exists f which is universal for this property called
n-th root of D which is a degree n cyclic cover etale outside D
In a different vein we proceed to discuss the notion of net completion This is a
mild generalization of formal completion in the sense that it is performed along a
local embedding rather than a global embedding Let f Y rarr X be a net morphism
ie a local embedding of algebraic spaces For every closed point y isin Y there is
a Zariski-open neighborhood y isin U sub Y such that f|U is a closed embedding In
10 FEDERICO BUONERBA
particular there exists an ideal sheaf I sub fminus1OX and an exact sequence of coherent
sheaves
(1) 0rarr I rarr fminus1OX rarr OY rarr 0
For every integer n define Ofn = fminus1OXI n By [McQ05][Ie1] the ringed space
Yn = (YOfn) is a scheme and the direct limit Y = limYn in the category of formal
schemes is the net completion along f More generally let f Y rarr X be a net
morphism ie etale-locally a closed embedding of DM stacks Let Y = [RrArr U ] be
a sufficiently fine presentation then we can define as above thickenings Un Rn along
f and moreover the induced relation [Rn rArr Un] is etale and defines thickenings
fn Yn rarrX
Definition III4 (Net completion) [McQ05 ie5] Notation as above we define the
net completion as Y = lim Yn It defines a factorization Y rarr Y rarr X where the
leftmost arrow is a closed embedding and the rightmost is net
IIII Width of embedded parabolic champs In this subsection we recall the
basic geometric properties of three-dimensional formal neighborhoods of smooth
champs with rational moduli We follow [Re83] and [McQ05rdquo] As such let X
be a three-dimensional smooth formal scheme with trace a smooth rational curve C
Our main concern is
(2) NCXsimminusrarr O(minusn)oplus O(minusm) n gt 0 m ge 0
In case m gt 0 the knowledge of (nm) determines X uniquely In fact there exists
by [Ar70] a contraction X rarrX0 of C to a point and an isomorphism everywhere
else In particular C is a complete intersection in X and everything can be made
explicit by way of embedding coordinates for X0 This is explained in the proof of
Proposition IVI8 On the other hand the case m = 0 is far more complicated
Definition IIII1 [Re83] The width width(C) of C is the maximal integer k
such that there exists an inclusion C times Spec(C[ε]εk) sub Xk the latter being the
infinitesimal neighborhood of order k
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 11
Clearly width(C) = 1 if and only if the normal bundle to C is anti-ample
width(C) ge 2 whenever such bundle is O oplus O(minusn) n gt 0 and width(C) = infinif and only if C moves in a scroll As explained in opcit width can be understood
in terms of blow ups as follows Let q1 X1 rarr X be the blow up in C Its excep-
tional divisor E1 is a Hirzebruch surface which is not a product hence q1 has two
natural sections when restricted to E1 Let C1 the negative section There are two
possibilities for its normal bundle in X1
bull it is a direct sum of strictly negative line bundles In this case width(C) = 2
bull It is a direct sum of a strictly negative line bundle and the trivial one
In the second case we can repeat the construction by blowing up C1 more generally
we can inductively construct Ck sub Ek sub Xk k isin N following the same pattern as
long as NCkminus1
simminusrarr O oplus O(minusnkminus1) Therefore width(C) is the minimal k such that
Ckminus1 has normal bundle splitting as a sum of strictly negative line bundles No-
tice that the exceptional divisor Ekminus1 neither is one of the formal surfaces defining
the complete intersection structure of Ck nor it is everywhere transverse to either
ie it has a tangency point with both This is clear by the description Reidrsquos
Pagoda [Re83] Observe that the pair (nwidth(C)) determines X uniquely there
exists a contraction X rarr X0 collapsing C to a point and an isomorphism every-
where else In particular X0 can be explicitly constructed as a ramified covering of
degree=width(C) of the contraction of a curve with anti-ample normal bundle
The notion of width can also be understood in terms of lifting sections of line bun-
dles along infinitesimal neighborhoods of C As shown in [McQ05rdquo II43] we have
assume NCp
simminusrarr O oplus O(minusnp) then the natural inclusion OC(n) rarr N orCX can be
lifted to a section OXp+2(n)rarr OXp+2
IIIII Gorenstein foliation singularities In this subsection we define certain
properties of foliation singularities which are well-suited for both local and global
considerations From now on we assume X is normal and give some definitions
taken from [McQ05] and [MP13] If Qoror is a Q-line bundle we say that F is Q-
foliated Gorenstein or simply Q-Gorenstein In this case we denote by KF = Qoror
and call it the canonical bundle of the foliation In the Gorenstein case there exists a
12 FEDERICO BUONERBA
codimension ge 2 subscheme Z subX such that Q = KF middot IZ Such Z will be referred
to as the singular locus of F We remark that Gorenstein means that the foliation
is locally defined by a saturated vector field
Next we define the notion of discrepancy of a divisorial valuation in this context let
(UF ) be a local germ of a Q-Gorenstein foliation and v a divisorial valuation on
k(U) there exists a birational morphism p U rarr U with exceptional divisor E such
that OU E is the valuation ring of v Certainly F lifts to a Q-Gorenstein foliation
F on U and we have
(3) KF = plowastKF + aF (v)E
Where aF (v) is said discrepancy For D an irreducible Weil divisor define ε(D) = 0
if D if F -invariant and ε(D) = 1 if not We are now ready to define
Definition IIIII1 The local germ (UF ) is said
bull Terminal if aF (v) gt ε(v)
bull Canonical if aF (v) ge ε(v)
bull Log-terminal if aF (v) gt 0
bull Log-canonical if aF (v) ge 0
For every divisorial valuation v on k(U)
These classes of singularities admit a rather clear local description If part denotes a
singular derivation of the local k-algebra O there is a natural k-linear linearization
(4) part mm2 rarr mm2
As such we have the following statements
Fact IIIII2 [MP13 Iii4 IIIi1 IIIi3] A Gorenstein foliation is
bull log-canonical if and only if it is smooth or its linearization is non-nilpotent
bull terminal if and only if it is log-terminal if and only if it is smooth and gener-
ically transverse to its singular locus
bull log-canonical but not canonical if and only if it is a radial foliation
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 13
Where a derivation on a complete local ring O is termed radial if there ex-
ist x1 middot middot middotxn isin m independent mod m2 and positive integers ni such that part =sumi nixi
partpartxi
In this case the singular locus is the center of a divisorial valuation with
zero discrepancy and non-invariant exceptional divisor
A very useful tool which is emplyed in the analysis of local properties of foliation
singularities is the Jordan decompositon [McQ08 I23] Notation as above the
linearization part admits a Jordan decomposition partS + partN into commuting semi-simple
and nilpotent part It is easy to see inductively that such decomposition lifts canon-
ically over successive infinitesimal neighborhoods Omn+1 rarr Omn and in the limit
we obtain a Jordan decomposition for the linear action of part on the whole complete
ring O
IIIV Foliated adjunction In this subsection we provide an adjunction formula
for foliation-invariant curves Let (X F ) be a Gorenstein foliation and f L rarrX the normalization of a F -invariant one-dimensional stack not contained in the
singular locus Z Denote by χ(L ) its topological Euler characteristic and by sZ(f)
the multiplicity of the ideal sheaf fminus1IZ We have
Fact IIIV1 [McQ05 IId4]
(5) KF middotL = minusχ(L )minus Ramf +sZ(f)
Which is a simple consequence of the isomorphism f lowastKF middotfminus1IZsimminusrarr Ω1
L (minusRamf )
The local contribution of sZ(f)minusRamf computed for a branch of f around a point
p in the support of fminus1IZ is np|Gp|minus1 with np a positive integer and Gp the local
monodromy of L at p Assume now that L has no generic stabilizer and let |L |denote its moduli The previous formula can be rewritten more usefully
Fact IIIV2
(6) KF middotL = 2g(|L |)minus 2 + fminus1IZ +sumf(p)isinZ
(np minus 1)|Gp|minus1 +sumf(p)isinZ
(1minus |Gp|minus1)
This can be easily deduced via a comparison between χ(L ) and χ(|L |) The
adjunction estimate 6 gives a complete description of invariant curves which are not
14 FEDERICO BUONERBA
contained in the singular locus and intersect the canonical KF non-positively A
complete analysis of the structure of KF -negative curves and much more is done
in [McQ05]
Definition IIIV3 A KF -nil curve is an invariant one-dimensional orbifold f
C rarr X such that KF middotf C = 0 and f does not factor through the singular locus
Z of the foliation
By adjunction 6 we have
Proposition IIIV4 The following is a complete list of possibilities for KF -nil
curves f
bull C is an elliptic curve without non-schematic points and f misses the singular
locus
bull |C| is a rational curve f hits the singular locus in two points with np = 1
there are no non-schematic points off the singular locus
bull |C| is a rational curve f hits the singular locus in one point with np = 1 there
are two non-schematic points off the singular locus with local monodromy
Z2Z
bull |C| is a rational curve f hits the singular locus in one point p there is at
most one non-schematic point q off the singular locus we have the identity
(np minus 1)|Gp|minus1 = |Gq|minus1
As shown in [McQ08] all these can happen In the sequel we will always assume
that a KF -nil curve is simply connected We remark that an invariant curve can have
rather bad singularities where it intersects the foliation singularities First it could
fail to be unibranch moreover each branch could acquire a cusp if going through
a radial singularity This phenomenon of deep ramification appears naturally in
presence of log-canonical singularities
IIV Canonical models of foliated surfaces with canonical singularities In
this subsection we provide a summary of the birational classification of Gorenstein
foliations with canonical singularities on algebraic surfaces obtained in [McQ08] Let
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 15
X be a two-dimensional smooth DM stack with projective moduli and F a foliation
with canonical singularities Since X is smooth certainly F is Q-Gorenstein If
KF is not pseudo-effective then foliated bend and break [BM16 Main Theorem]
shows that F is birationally a fibration by rational curves If KF is pseudo-effective
its Zariski decomposition has negative part a finite collection of invariant chains of
rational curves which can be contracted to a smooth DM stack with projective
moduli on which KF is nef At this point those foliations such that the Kodaira
dimension k(KF ) le 1 can be completely classified
Fact IIV1 [McQ08 IV3] Foliations with canonical singularities and Kodaira di-
mension zero are up to a ramified cover and birational transformations defined by
a global vector field The minimal models belong the following list
bull A Kronecker vector field on an abelian surface
bull The suspension of a representation π1(E)rarr PGL2(C) for E an elliptic curve
bull A Kronecker vector field on P1 timesP1
bull An isotrivial elliptic fibration
Fact IIV2 [McQ08 IV4] Foliations with canonical singularities and Kodaira di-
mension one are classified by their Kodaira fibration The linear system |KF | defines
a fibration onto a curve and the minimal models belong to the following list
bull The foliation and the fibration coincide so then the fibration is non-isotrivial
elliptic
bull The foliation is transverse to a projective bundle (Riccati)
bull The foliation is everywhere smooth and transverse to an isotrivial elliptic
fibration (turbolent)
bull The foliation is parallel to an isotrivial fibration in hyperbolic curves
On the other hand for foliations of general type the new phenomenon is that
global generation fails The problem is the appearence of elliptic Gorenstein leaves
these are cycles possibly irreducible of invariant rational curves around which KF
is numerically trivial but might fail to be torsion Assume that KF is big and nef
16 FEDERICO BUONERBA
and consider morphisms
(7) X rarrXe rarrXc
Where the composite is the contraction of all the KF -nil curves and the rightmost
is the minimal resolution of elliptic Gorenstein singularities
Fact IIV3 [McQ08 IV21 IV22] Xe is projective there exists an ample divisor
A and an effective divisor E supported on minimal elliptic Gorenstein leaves such
that KFe = A+E On the other hand Xc might fail to be projective and Fc is never
Q-Gorenstein
We refer to [McQ08 III32] for the descriptions of possible dual graphs of config-
urations of invariant KF -negative or nil curves
IIVI Canonical models of foliated surfaces with log-canonical singulari-
ties In this subsection we study Gorenstein foliations with log-canonical singulari-
ties on algebraic surfaces In particular we will classify the singularities appearing
on the underlying surface prove the existence of minimal and canonical models
describe the exceptional curves appearing in the contraction to the canonical model
Proposition IIVI1 Let (UF ) be a germ of Gorenstein log-canonical foliation
singularity Then U is a cone over a subvariety Y of a weighted projective space
whose weights are determined by the eigenvalues of F Moreover F is defined by
the rulings of the cone
Proof By Fact IIIII2 there exists a closed embedding i U rarr M - with M a
smooth local formal scheme - a regular system of parameters x1 middot middot middot xk on M and
positive integers n1 middot middot middotnk such that F is the restriction of the foliation defined by
part =sumnixi
partpartxi
to U Let I sub OM denote the ideal defining i(U) subM then part(I) sube I
We are going to prove that I is homogeneous where each xi has weight ni Let f isin I
and write f =sum
dge1 fd where fd is homogeneous of degree d in x1 middot middot middot xk - ie fd is
a k-linear combination of monomials xa11 xakk with d =
sumi aini For every N isin N
let FN = (xa11 xakk
sumi aini ge N) This collection of ideals defines a natural
filtration on OM For a = max ai we have mN sube FN sube mNa ie the FN -filtration
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 17
is equivalent to the one by powers of the maximal ideal and therefore OM is also
complete with respect to the FN -filtration
We will prove that if f isin I then fd isin I for every d
Let IN = (I + FN)FN Since OM is complete with respect to the FN -filtration
I = limlarrminus IN Therefore it is enough to show
Claim IIVI2 For every N gt 0 we have fd isin IN sub OMFN for all d lt N
Proof For every g isin IN denote by n(g) the unique integer such that g isin Fn(g) Fn(g)+1 (ie the minimal index d for which fd 6= 0) and by N(g) = N minus n(g)
We will prove the statement of the Claim by induction on N(f) If N(f) = 1 then
f = fNminus1 holds in OMFN and the statement is true If N(f) gt 1 we have part(f) =sumd d middot fd hence consider f1 = D(f)minus n(f)f =
sumdgtn(f)(dminus n(f))fd Tautologically
we have N(f1) lt N(f) and therefore fd isin IN for every d gt n(f) so then fn(f) =
f minussum
dgtn(f) fd isin IN as well
This implies that I is a homogeneous ideal and hence U is the germ of a cone over
a variety in the weighted projective space P(n1 nk)
Corollary IIVI3 If the germ U is normal then Y is normal If U is normal
of dimension 2 the weighted blow-up p U rarr U at the vertex of the cone has only
quotient singularities the exceptional divisor E(simminusrarr Y ) is smooth and everywhere
transverse to the induced foliation Moreover we have
(8) plowastKF = KF + E
Certainly the converse to Proposition IIVI1 fails even on surfaces indeed let
(X F ) be a Gorenstein foliated surface and let C sub X be a generic curve so
in particular smooth and not F -invariant We can assume perhaps after a finite
sequence of simple blow-ups along C that both X and F are smooth in a neigh-
borhood of C C and F are everywhere transverse and C2 lt 0
Proposition IIVI4 The formal contraction q X rarr X0 of C is isomorphic to
the cone over C the projected foliation F0 coincides with that by rulings on the cone
F0 is Q-Gorenstein if C rational or elliptic but not in general
18 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proof F0 is Q-Gorenstein if and only if the bundle KF (C) is trivial on the formal
completion of X along C The obstructions to lift the isomorphism OC(KF +C)simminusrarr
OC over infinitesimal neighborhoods of C lie in H1(C (1 minus n)C + KF ) for every
n isin N These groups vanish for every n isin N if 2g(C) minus 2 + C2 lt 0 (which is
always true for rational or elliptic curves) but do provide non-trivial obstructions in
general
We focus on the minimal model program for Gorenstein log-canonical foliations
on algebraic surfaces Let X be a DM stack of dimension 2 with projective moduli
and F a Gorenstein foliation with log-canonical singularities Denote by LC(F )
the set of points where F is log-canonical and not canonical and by Z the singular
sub-scheme of F We assume LC(F ) 6= empty since the empty case has been completely
settled Moreover we can assume that X is smooth outside LC(F ) Let f C rarrX
be a morphism from a 1-dimensional stack with trivial generic stabilizer such that
fminus1 LC(F ) 6= empty Since we will need them several times we formulate some technical
results
Lemma IIVI5 Let p X rarr X be the resolution of the log-canonical foliation
singularity intersecting C with exceptional divisor E Then
(9) KF middot C minus C middot E = KF middot C
Proof We have
(10) plowastC = C minus (C middot EE2)E
Intersecting this equation with equation 8 we obtain the result
This formula is important because it shows that passing from foliations with log-
canonical singularities to their canonical resolution increases the negativity of inter-
sections between invariant curves and the canonical bundle In fact the log-canonical
theory reduces to the canonical one after resolving the log-canonical singularities
Further we list some strong constraints given by invariant curves along which the
foliation is smooth
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 19
Fact IIVI6 [BB72 Baum-Bott] Let g C rarrX be an F -invariant curve missing
the foliation singularities Then C2 = NF middotg C = 0
Corollary IIVI7 Let g C rarr X be an F -invariant curve missing the foliation
singularities and such that KF middotg C lt 0 Then F is birationally a fibration by
rational curves
Proof By assumption KF middot C = minusχ(C) This together with Baum-Bott IIVI6
imply that KX middot C = minusχ(C) and from usual adjunction we get C2 = 0 Riemann-
Roch gives h0(X mC) ge 2 for m gtgt 0 so then |C| defines a fibration by rational
curves tangent to F
The rest of this subsection is devoted to the construction of minimal and canonical
models in presence of log-canonical singularities The only technique we use is
resolve the log-canonical singularities in order to reduce to the canonical case and
keep track of the exceptional divisor
We are now ready to handle the existence of minimal models
Theorem IIVI8 (Minimal models) Let X be a DM stack of dimension 2 with pro-
jective moduli and F a Gorenstein foliation with log-canonical singularities Then
either
bull F is birational to a fibration by rational curves or
bull There exist a birational contraction q X rarr X0 such that KF0 is nef
Moreover the exceptional curves of q donrsquot intersect LC(F )
Proof Let f be as above ie KF -negative and intersecting LC(F ) If f is not
F -invariant then KF middotC +C2 ge 0 so C moves and KF is not pseudo-effective We
conclude by foliated bend and break [BM16]
If f is F -invariant then foliated adjunction 6 implies that C is rational it intersects
the singular locus of F in exactly one point By Lemma IIVI5 after resolving the
log-canonical singularity KF middot C lt 0 and F is smooth along C We conlude by
Corollary IIVI7
20 FEDERICO BUONERBA
From now on we add the assumption that KF is nef and we want to analyze
those curves f satisfying KF middotf C = 0 By adjunction formula 6 we know that C
has rational moduli and fminus1Z is supported on two points
Remark IIVI9 If fminus1Z = fminus1 LC(F ) then F is birationally a fibration by ratio-
nal curves
Proof After resolving the log-canonical singularities of F along the image of C we
have KF middot C lt 0 and F smooth along C We conclude by Corollary IIVI7
Therefore we can assume that f satisfies the following condition
Definition IIVI10 An invariant curve f C rarr X is called log-contractible if
KF middot C = 0 and it intersects Z in two points one canonical and one log-canonical
not canonical
It follows that f(C) is everywhere unibranch but it might have a cusp in LC(F )
Definition IIVI11 A log-chain is a chain of invariant rational orbifolds C =
cupni=0Ci scheme-like outside the foliation singularities with KF middot C = 0 and such
that
bull C0 is log-contractible with lowast(C ) = C0 cap LC(F ) called the marking of C
bull Ci is disjoint from LC(F ) if i ge 1
There is a unique point t(C ) satisfying t(C ) isin Z cap (Cn Cnminus1) called the tail of
the log-chain
Proposition IIVI12 Let C1C2 be two log-chains intersecting non-trivially Then
lowast(C1) = lowast(C2) and C1 cap C2 = lowast(C1)
Proof It is enough to prove that the two log-chains cannot intersect in their tails
Replace X be the resolution of the at most two markings of the log-chains and Ci
by their proper transforms C1cupC2 = cupmi=0Ri is a connected chain of rational curves
intersecting Z outisde LC(F ) Moreover each of the two extremal curves R0 and
Rm intersects Z in one point only In particular KF middot Ri = 0 for i = 1 middot middot middot m minus 1
and KF middot Ri lt 0 for i = 0m Since we assumed F is not birational to a fibration
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 21
by rational curves there exists a contraction p X rarr X0 with exceptional curve
cupmminus1i=0 Ri However F0 is smooth along plowastRm so by adjunction formula KF0 middotplowastRm lt
0 and we find a contradiction by Corollary IIVI7
Corollary IIVI13 Let C be a maximal connected curve such that KF middotC = 0 and
C cap LC(F ) 6= empty Then C is a union of finitely many log-chains intersecting each
other in their common marking
The following shows a configuration of log-chains sharing the same marking col-
ored in black
We are now ready to state and prove the canonical model theorem in presence of
log-canonical singularities
Theorem IIVI14 (Canonical models) Let X be a proper DM stack of dimension
2 and F a foliation with isolated singularities Moreover assume that KF is nef
that every KF -nil curve is contained in a log-chain and that F is Gorenstein and
log-canonical in a neighborhood of every KF -nil curve Then either
bull There exists a birational contraction p X rarr X0 whose exceptional curves
are unions of log-chains If all the log-contractible curves contained in the log-
chains are smooth then F0 is Gorenstein and log-canonical If furthermore
X has projective moduli then X0 has projective moduli In any case KF0
is numerically ample
bull There exists a fibration p X rarr B over a curve whose fibers intersect
KF trivially Each F -invariant fiber of p intersecting LC(F ) is union of
mutually compatible log-chains
Proof If all the KF -nil curves can be contracted by a birational morphism we are in
the first case of the Theorem Else let C be a maximal connected curve withKF middotC =
0 and which is not contractible It is a union of pairwise compatible log-chains
22 FEDERICO BUONERBA
with marking lowast Replace (X F ) by the resolution of the log-canonical singularity
at lowast with exceptional divisor E Therefore F is Gorenstein and canonical in a
neighborhood of C cupE By equation 9 we have KF middotC = minusC middotE lt 0 and therefore
C can be contracted to a canonical foliation singularity Replace (X F ) by the
contraction of C We have a smooth curve E around which F is smooth and
nowhere tangent to E Moreover
(11) KF middot E = minusE2
And we distinguish cases
bull E2 gt 0 so KF is not pseudo-effective a contradiction
bull E2 lt 0 so the initial curve C is contractible a contradiction
bull E2 = 0 which we proceed to analyze
The following is what we need to handle the third case
Proposition IIVI15 Let (X F ) be a foliation with canonical singularities with
X a smooth 2-dimensional DM stack with projective moduli and KF nef If there
exists a smooth curve E everywhere transverse to F such that KF middot E = E2 = 0
then E moves in a pencil and defines a fibration p X rarr B onto a curve whose
fibers intersect KF trivially
Proof If KF has Kodaira dimension one then its linear system contains an effective
divisor and by Hodge index KF = cE as divisors for some c isin Q+ Hence there is
a fibration onto a curve with fiber E and F is transverse to it by assumption If
KF has Kodaira dimension zero we use the classification IIV1 in all cases but the
suspension over an elliptic curve E defines a product structure on the underlying
surface in the case of a suspension every section of the underlying projective bundle
is clearly F -invariant Therefore E is a fiber of the bundle
This concludes the proof of the Theorem
We remark that the second alternative in the above theorem is rather natural
let (X F ) be a foliation which is transverse to a fibration by rational or elliptic
curves ie a suspension over elliptic curve turbolent Riccati or isotrivial Pick a
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 23
general fiber E of the fibration and blow up any number of points on it The proper
transform E is certainly contractible By Proposition IIVI4 the contraction of E is
Gorenstein and log-canonical Moreover the fiber E has been replaced by a union of
compatible log-chains Note in particular that the number of log-chains appearing
is arbitrary
Corollary IIVI16 Let X be a proper DM stack of dimension 2 and F a Goren-
stein foliation with log-canonical singularities Assume that KF is big and pseudo-
effective Then there exists a birational morphism p X rarr X0 such that C is
exceptional if and only if KF middot C le 0 In particular KF0 is numerically ample
For future applications we spell out
Corollary IIVI17 Hypothesis as in Theorem IIVI14 assume further that X
is everywhere smooth Then in the second alternative of the theorem the fibration
p X rarr B is by rational curves
Proof Indeed in this case the curve E which appears in the proof above as the
exceptional locus for the resolution of the log-canonical singularity at lowast must be
rational By the previous Proposition p is defined by a pencil in |E|
IIVII Set-up In this subsection we prepare the set-up we will deal with in the
rest of the manuscript Briefly we want to handle the existence of canonical models
for a family of foliated surfaces parametrized by a one-dimensional base To this
end we will discuss the modular behavior of singularities of foliated surfaces with
Gorenstein singularities recall McQuillan-Panazzolorsquos resolution of foliation singu-
larities building on the existence of minimal models [McQ05] prepare the set-up
for the sequel
Let us begin with the modular behavior of Gorenstein singularities
Proposition IIVII1 Let (X F ) be a smooth DM stack with a foliation by
curves Assume there exists a flat proper morphism p X rarr C onto an algebraic
curve such that F restricts to a foliation on every fiber of p Then the set
(12) s isin C Fs is log-canonical
24 FEDERICO BUONERBA
is Zariski-open while the set
(13) s isin C Fs is canonical
is the complement to a countable subset of C lying on a real-analytic curve
Proof By Fact IIIII2 being log-canonical is equivalent to the linearized endomor-
phism part IZI2Z rarr IZI
2Z being non-nilpotent where Z is the singular sub-scheme
of the foliation Of course being non-nilpotent is a Zariski open condition The
second statement also follows from opcit since a log-canonical singularity which is
not canonical has linearization with all its eigenvalues positive and rational The
statement is optimal as shown by the vector field on A3xys
(14) part(s) =part
partx+ s
part
party
Next we recall the existence of a functorial canonical resolution of foliation singu-
larities for foliations by curves on 3-dimensional stacks
Fact IIVII2 [MP13] Let X = (XDF ) be a 3-dimensional DM stack with bound-
ary foliated by curves Then there exists a proper birational morphism Xprime rarr X such
that X prime is a smooth DM stack and F prime has only canonical foliation singularities
The original opcit contains a more refined statement including a detailed de-
scription of the claimed birational morphism
In order for our set-up to make sense we mention one last very important result
Fact IIVII3 [McQ05] Let X be a smooth DM stack with projective moduli and F
a foliation by curves with (log)canonical singularities Then there exists a birational
map X 99K Xm obtained as a composition of flips such that Xm is a smooth
DM stack with projective moduli the birational transform Fm has (log)canonical
singularities and one of the following happens
bull KFm is nef or
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 25
bull There exists a fibration Xm rarr B over a smooth base whose fibers are
weighted projective spaces such that Fm is tangent to the fibers and restricts
to a radial foliation on those
Finally we can organize our notation
Set-up IIVII4 (X F ) is a smooth 3-dimensional DM stack with projective mod-
uli F a foliation by curves with canonical singularities such that KF is big and nef
There exists a semi-stable morphism p X rarr ∆ whose moduli is projective onto
the (formal) unit disk F restricts to a foliation on every fiber of p it has canon-
ical singularities on the very general fiber of p and log-canonical singularities on
every fiber of p Our task from now on is to analyze and contract the maximal
foliation-invariant sub-scheme of X along which KF is not ample
III Invariant curves and singularities local description
In this section we give a complete decription of germs of invariant curves that
appear in the formal completion of any point in the set-up IIVII4 Let us replace
X by its formal completion in a point lowast where the foliation is singular F is defined
by a vector field part with Jordan decomposition partS + partN see the end of subsection
IIIII Since [partS partN ] = 0 partN preserves the eigenspaces of partS Moreover the fact that
F is tangent to p translates into
(15) partS(p) = partN(p) = 0
The description of invariant germs of curves through lowast will be achieved via case-by-
case analysis organized by computing what happens for all possible combinations
of the following informations whether the singular locus Z is isolated at lowast the
number of eigenvalues of partS the number of components of the fiber through p
IIII sing(F ) not isolated
ni (1) partS has one eigenvalue
bull We have partS = x partpartx
and partN = f partparty
+ g partpartz
for some functions f g isin (y z)
Moreover partN is non-trivial
26 FEDERICO BUONERBA
bull Z = (x = f = g = 0) is not isolated
(a) The fiber has one component y = 0 Then 0 = partN(y) = f hence
Z = (x = g = 0) The restriction on the fiber is part|(y=0) = x partpartx
+g|(y=0)partpartz
Z has a one-dimensional component contained in the fiber iff g isin (y) in
which case such component is smooth equal to (x = 0) moreover the
foliation on the fiber saturates to a smooth one with invariant curves
z = 0 transverse to Z
Otherwise the foliation is saturated on the fiber and has a saddle-node
singularity
(b) The fiber has two components yz = 0 Then 0 = partN(yz) = zf + yg
hence f = yh g = minuszh for some h and Z = (x = h = 0) The restriction
on a fiber component say y = 0 is part|(y=0) = x partpartxminus zh|(y=0)
partpartz
Z has an
irreducible component contained in y = 0 iff h isin (y) in which case such
component is smooth equal to (x = 0) moreover the foliation on the
fiber saturates to a smooth one with invariant curves z = 0 transverse
to Z
Otherwise the foliation is saturated on the fiber and has a saddle-node
singularity
(c) The fiber has three components xyz = 0 0 = partS(xyz) = xyz a contra-
diction
Summary with one eigenvalue there are either one or two components The
foliation might have a one-dimensional singularity when restricted to a fiber
component in this case such singularity is a smooth curve and the foliation
saturates to a smooth one with invariant curves transverse to the singular-
ity If the singularity is isolated on a fiber component then it is a canonical
saddle-node with at most two invariant branches
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 27
ni (2) partS has two eigenvalues
We have partS = x partpartx
+ λy partparty
and partN(x y z) = k partpartx
+ f partparty
+ g partpartz
for some func-
tions k f g
(a) The fiber has one component z = 0 Then g = 0 k f isin (x y) and
necessarily Z = (x = y = 0) is transverse to the fiber The restriction on
the fiber is saturated and non-degenerate It has canonical singularities
if either partN 6= 0 or λ isin Q+ otherwise it is log-canonical
(b) The fiber has two components xy = 0 Then 0 = partS(xy) hence λ = minus1
Also 0 = partN(xy) hence k = xh f = minusyh g isin (xy) and necessarily
Z = (x = y = 0) coincides with the intersection of the two fiber compo-
nents which is smooth the foliation saturates to a smooth one on each
component with invariant curves transverse to Z
(c) The fiber has three components xyz = 0 hence λ = minus1 Also k = xklowast
f = yf lowast g = zglowast with klowast + f lowast + glowast = 0 and glowast isin (xy) The singularity
Z = (x = y = 0) coincides with the intersection of two of the fiber
components The restriction to either such components saturates to a
smooth foliation with invariant curves transverse to Z the restriction
to z = 0 has a canonical non-degenerate singularity all the invariant
curves are those in xy = 0 transverse to Z
Summary with 2 eigenvalues there can be any number of components With
one component the foliation restricts to a saturated one with a (log)canonical
singularity which moves transversely to p With two components the folia-
tion is not saturated on either and saturates to a smooth one with invariant
curves transverse to the singularity With three components the foliation
is not saturated on two of them and saturates to a smooth one on both
with invariant curves transverse to the singularity the foliation is saturated
and has a canonical non-degenerate singularity on the third component In
28 FEDERICO BUONERBA
the last two cases the singularity is fully contained in an intersection of two
components
ni (3) partS has three eigenvalues But then the singularity is isolated a contradiction
IIIII sing(F ) isolated
i (1) partS has one eigenvalue
bull We have partS = x partpartx
and partN = xk partpartx
+ f partparty
+ g partpartz
for some functions
k f g isin (y z) Moreover partN is non-trivial
bull Z = (x = f = g = 0) is isolated
(a) The fiber has one component y = 0 Then 0 = partN(y) = f and Z cannot
be isolated a contradiction
(b) The fiber has two components yz = 0 Then 0 = partN(yz) = zf + yg so
f = yh g = minuszh with h non-constant Hence Z = (x = h = 0) is not
isolated a contradiction
(c) The fiber has three components xyz = 0 Then 0 = partS(xyz) = xyz a
contradiction
Summary the 1 eigenvalue case does not exist
i (2) partS has two eigenvalues
bull We have partS = x partpartx
+ λy partparty
partN = xk partpartx
+ f partparty
+ g partpartz
for some functions
k f g
bull g is non-trivial and g isin (x y)
bull Z = (x = y = g = 0) is isolated
(a) The fiber has one component z = 0 Then g = 0 a contradiction
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 29
(b) The fiber has two components xy = 0 hence λ = minus1 and g isin (xy z)
the restriction to y = 0 is part|(y=0) = x partpartx
+g|(y=0)partpartz
and necessarily g|(y=0)
is non-vanishing Therefore the restriction to either components is satu-
rated and the singularity is a canonical saddle-node on each of them
The invariant curves are among the axes x = y = 0 x = z = 0 y = z =
0
(c) The fiber has three components xyz = 0 hence λ = minus1 Necessarily
k = xklowast f = yf lowast g = zglowast with klowast + f lowast + glowast = 0 The restriction to
y = 0 is part|(y=0) = x(1 + klowast|(y=0))partpartx
+ zglowast|(y=0)partpartz
since g isin (x y) we have
glowast|(y=0) non-trivial Therefore the restriction to either x = 0 and y = 0
is saturated and the singularity is a canonical saddle-node on each of
them
The restriction to z = 0 is part|(z=0) = x(1 + klowast|(z=0))partpartx
+ y(minus1 + f lowast|(z=0))partparty
therefore the restriction is saturated and has a canonical non-degenerate
singularity
The invariant curves are among the axes x = y = 0 x = z = 0 y = z =
0
Summary with 2 eigenvalues there are either two or three components the
foliation restricts to a canonical saddle-node on two of them and to a non-
degenerate singularity on the third one if it exists All the invariant curves
are in the axes
i (3) partS has three eigenvalues We have partS = x partpartx
+ λy partparty
+ microz partpartz
(a) The fiber has one component y = 0 hence λ = 0 a contradiction
(b) The fiber has two components xy = 0 hence λ = minus1 The restriction to
y = 0 is part|(y=0) = x partpartx
+ microz partpartz
+ partN|(y=0) The singularity is log-canonical
30 FEDERICO BUONERBA
iff micro isin Qgt0 and partN|(y=0)= 0 and in this case the singularity on x = 0 is
canonical non-degenerate Invariant curves are those in y = 0 and the
axis x = z = 0
If the restriction to both fiber components is canonical then it non-
degenerate on both and the invariant curves are contained in the axes
x = y = 0 x = z = 0 y = z = 0
The fiber could be yz = 0 hence λ+micro = 0 It can be analyzed as in the
next item
(c) The fiber has three components xyz = 0 hence 1 + λ + micro = 0 In par-
ticular if λ = cmicro c isin Q+ then λ micro isin Q The restriction to y = 0
is part|(y=0) = x partpartx
+ microz partpartz
+ partN|(y=0) This singularity is log-canonical iff
micro isin Qgt0 and partN|(y=0)= 0 in which case the singularity on both x = 0
and z = 0 is canonical non-degenerate In particular if the singularity
is log-canonical on some fiber component then it is so on exactly one
component and all eigenvalues are rational Invariant curves are those
in y = 0 and the axis x = z = 0
If the restriction to all fiber components is canonical then it non-degenerate
on each of them and the invariant curves are contained in the axes
x = y = 0 x = z = 0 y = z = 0
Summary with 3 eigenvalues there are either two or three fiber components
the foliation restricts to a singular foliation on each of them and it has a
log-canonical singularity on at most one of them in this case all eigenvalues
of the semi-simple field are rational
IIIIII Local consequences We list some corollaries for future reference As al-
ways in this section the statements are local so everything happens in a formal
neighborhood of our point lowast First we state those corollaries we will need to describe
configurations of KF -nil curves
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 31
Definition IIIIII1 An LC-center Π sub X is an irreducible F -invariant formal
hypersurface such that the local vector field generating the foliation when restricted
to Π has semi-simple part with log-canonical singularity or a one-dimensional sin-
gular locus An LC-center with a log-canonical singularity is necessarily an algebraic
component of the singular fiber of p
Corollary IIIIII2 There is at most one LC-center with a log-canonical singularity
through lowast If it exists then all eigenvalues of the semi-simple field at lowast are rational
If there are at least two LC-centers through lowast then there are exactly two and the
foliation singularity is a smooth curve on each of them
Proof Possible cases in which an LC-center with log-canonical singularities appears
ni (2)a i (3)b i (3)c
Corollary IIIIII3 If there is no LC-center thorugh a point lowast then there are at
most three invariant curves through lowast all smooth Any number of them spans a sub-
space of the tangent space at lowast of maximal possible dimension
If there is an LC-center through lowast then there is at most one invariant curve through
lowast and not contained in the LC-center
If there is an LC-center with non-isolated singularity then the singularity is smooth
and all invariant curves contained in the LC-center intersect the singularity trans-
versely
Proof Invariant curves not in an LC-centers with log-canonical singularities are con-
tained in the three axes x = z = 0 x = y = 0 y = z = 0 mentioned in the above
classification The other statements are clear
Corollary IIIIII4 If p is smooth at lowast then Z is one dimensional around lowast
Proof Possible casesni (1)a ni (2)a
In particular if there is no LC-center the situation is the familiary
xz
32 FEDERICO BUONERBA
While if there is an LC-center (pink) with log-canonical singularity it will look like
y
LC-center
While if there is an LC-center with non-isolated singularity (red) it will look like
(the black arrows being invariant curves)
y
LC-center
The next corollary describes one-dimensional components of the foliation singularity
Corollary IIIIII5 If Z0 is a one-dimensional irreducible component of the folia-
tion singularity then it is at worst nodal The foliation when restricted to any fiber
component containing Z0 saturates to a smooth foliation in a neighborhood of Z0
and all the invariant curves are transverse to Z0
If Z0 is contained in exactly one fiber component then the semi-simple field has one
eigenvalue everywhere along Z0
If Z0 lies at the intersection of two fiber components then the semi-simple field has
two constant eigenvalues everywhere along Z0
Moreover if there exist a sequence of invariant curves converging in the compact-
open topology to Z0 then there is generically one eigenvalue along Z0
Proof Possible casesni (1)a ni (1)b ni (2)b ni (2)c Concerning the one-
eigenvalue case invariant curves converging to Z0 can be found in the formal hyper-
surface x = 0
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 33
IV Invariant curves along which KF vanishes
In this section we study in great detail a formal neighborhood of invariant curves
where KF is numerically trivial In the first subsection we deal with KF -nil curves
namely those whose generic point is not contained in the foliation singularity In this
case the normal bundle to the curve determines its formal neighborhood uniquely
and this has plenty of amazing consequences In the second subsection we study
those invariant curves which are contained in the foliation singularity In this case
we are not able to control the full formal neighborhood but important informations
can still be obtained
IVI KF -nil curves In this subsection we study in detail the structure of KF -
nil curves and their formal neighborhoods appearing in the set-up IIVII4 In
particular we will describe a simple process to replace cuspidal KF -nil curves by
net ones prove that the foliation is in the net completion around a net KF -nil curve
defined by a global vector field which admits a global Jordan decomposition deduce
that eigenfunctions for the semi-simple component of such field are also globally
defined on a formal neighborhood
The first important remark is of technical nature and explains how to deal with non-
net KF -nil curves By Proposition IIIV4 this is indeed possible and the images of
such curves will acquire cusp-like singularities It is hard to analyze the geometry
of F around such cuspidal curves and therefore necessary to remove them Let us
assume that C is simply connected with rational moduli f is ramified at 0 isin C
and and denote by X the formal completion along f(C) Then formally around
f(0) the curve f(C) has defining ideal (y xa minus zb) where y = 0 is a fiber of the
fibration p X rarr ∆ containing f(C) x z isin H0(X OX ) restrict to suitable local
coordinates on such fiber and a b ge 2 are coprime integers
Claim IVI1 Let r X ( aradicz = 0) rarr X be the a-th root of z = 0 III3 Then
(rlowastC)norm =∐a
1 C and the induced map rlowastf (rlowastC)norm rarrX ( aradicz = 0) is net
Proof Since r is etale away from z = 0 also rlowastC rarr C is etale away from 0 isin C
Since C 0 is simply connected we have rlowastC rminus1(0) =∐a
1 C 0 This proves
34 FEDERICO BUONERBA
the first statement Let ζ be a function on X ( aradicz = 0) such that ζa = z so then
rlowast(xa minus zb) =prod
ηa=1(x minus ηζb) Every branch is net in 0 and we obtain the second
statement as well
As such upon taking roots we can replace non-net KF -nil invariant curves with
rational moduli by net ones
We now proceed to study net KF -nil curves We will show that the foliation is
defined by a global vector field around a net KF -nil curve with rational moduli and
that such vector field admits a global Jordan decomposition
Proposition IVI2 Notation as in the set-up IIVII4 let f C rarrX be a KF -nil
curve Assume that f is net and let j C rarr C be the net completion along f Then
there exists an isomorphism
(16) OC(KF )simminusrarr OC
In particular there exists a global vector field partf on C that generates F
Proof Since C has rational moduli and is simply connected it has infinite-cyclic
Picard group and we have an isomorphism
(17) OC(KF )simminusrarr OC
Moreover we have a non-canonical splitting of the normal bundle Njsimminusrarr O(minusn) oplus
O(minusm) and we claim that both nm ge 0 Indeed consider the induced semi-stable
fibration C rarr ∆ and let F be the normalization of an irreducible component of a
fiber such that C sub F Consider the exact sequence
(18) 0rarr NCF rarr Nj rarr NFC|C rarr 0
Since KF is nef NCF is not ample since F is a fiber of a fibration also NFC|C is
not ample and this is enough to conclude even though nm may be different from
the degrees of such normal bundles
At this point we can lift the isomorphism 17 over infinitesimal neighborhoods of j
Indeed for every k ge 0 we have an exact sequence
(19) 0rarr Symk ICI2C rarr OCk+1
(KF )rarr OCk(KF )rarr 0
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 35
which shows that the obstruction to lifting the isomorphism lies in
(20) H1(C Symk ICI2C) = H1(C Symk(O(n)oplus O(m))) = 0
From this we can deduce
Proposition IVI3 The vector field partf admits a Jordan decomposition uniformly
along C
Proof The cohomology sequence attached to 19 is
(21) 0rarr H0(C Symk ICI2C)rarr H0(COCk+1
)rarr H0(COCk)rarr 0
Let partk+1 denote the image of partf in End(H0(COCk+1)) Looking at
H0(COCk+1) minusminusminusrarr H0(COCk
)
partk+1
y partk
yH0(COCk+1
) minusminusminusrarr H0(COCk)
we see the canonical Jordan deomposition of partk+1 restricts to that of partk
The above result describes a very useful interplay between normal bundles to
KF -nil curves and the structure of the semi-simple field It turns out that these
informations determine formal neighborhoods uniquely For simplicity let C be
an irreducible component of C without orbifold points Let us assume that part|C is
singular in 0infin Then there exist formal functions x y z at 0 isin C and ξ η ζ at
infin isin C such that x ξ are coordinates along C y η are local sections of OC(minusn)
so η = xny mod(I2C) z ζ are local sections of OC(minusm) so ζ = xmz mod(I2C)
Normalizing so that xminus1partS(x) = ε isin 0 1 we obtain
(22) part0S = εxpart
partx+ λy
part
party+ microz
part
partz partinfinS = minusεξ part
partξ+ (λ+ εn)η
part
partη+ (micro+ εm)ζ
part
partζ
More generally ie C = P1(d e) we have glueing rules x = te ξ = tminusd η = tny and
ζ = tmz mod(I2C) Normalizing so that tminus1partS(t) = ε isin 0 1 we obtain
(23) part0S = eεxpart
partx+ λy
part
party+ microz
part
partz partinfinS = minusdεξ part
partξ+ (λ+ εn)η
part
partη+ (micro+ εm)ζ
part
partζ
36 FEDERICO BUONERBA
It is worth remarking that the above relations hold between eigenvalues at the two
singular point of singular ie nodal or cuspidal KF -nil curves as well this is
easily seen by taking a root followed by net completion and keeping track of the
eigenvalues
Definition IVI4 Let C be a KF -nil curve The foliation singular points along C
are called ends
As well as the existence of Hilbert scheme in the following form
Fact IVI5 Let W sub Xlowast be a curve and D a divisor in the formal neighborhood
of W such that W = D capXlowast scheme-theoretically Then W moves in D
In what follows our main concern is to understand formal neighborhoods of KF -
nil curves Observe that the fibration p when restricted to the formal neighborhood
of such curves provides at least one eigenfunction of the semi-simple field Hence
in order to compute the width IIII we must study the behavior of the other eigen-
function on infinitesimal neighborhoods We first describe the situation inside the
smooth locus of p
Proposition IVI6 (Smooth fiber) Let f C rarrX be an irreducible KF -nil curve
which is contained in the smooth locus of a fiber Xlowast of p Then the end(s) on C are
flat over ∆ ni (1)b and ni (1)a with z2|g(y z) and C moves in a family flat over
∆
Proof Let us assume that f is net Then upon passing to net completion we can
actually assume it is embedded From our local classification of singularities we case
in case ni (1)a and ni (2)a We want to show that both ends have components
that move transversely to p hence we have to exclude case ni (1)a with g(y z) = ya
By way of contradiction say we have g(y z) = ya in the notation of opcit around
an end lowast isin C We proceed to compute what happens at the other end we find
formal coordinates ξ η ζ which by equation 23 satisfy
(24) ξ = xminus1 η = y ζ = xmz mod(I2C)
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 37
As such we compute part(ζ) = mζ + ξminusmηa mod(I2C) which is holomorphic if and only
if m le 0 so then C moves in Xlowast contradicting that the foliation has general type
Hence we are in cases ni (1)a ni (2)a with g = microyazb b ge 1
(25) part0 = xpart
partx+ microyazb
part
partz partinfin = minusξ part
partξ+ ζ(m+ microξm(bminus1)ηaζbminus1)
part
partζ(mod(I2C))
Following notation from subsection IIII observe that C1 is the section of E1C which
is disjoint from the proper transform of the fiber of p In coordinates over 0
(26) x1 = x y1 = y z1 = zyminus1
And similarly over infin Using the previous equation and 25 on C1 we find
(27)
part01 = x1part
partx1+microya+bminus11 zb1
part
partz1 partinfin1 = minusξ1
part
partξ1+ζ1(m+microξ
m(bminus1)1 ηa+bminus11 ζbminus11 )
part
partζ1(mod(I2C1
))
In particular the transform of the nilpotent field is still nilpotent after blowing up in
C It follows that the eigenvalues of the semi-simple field at the two ends of C and
C1 are the same Using equation 23 we deduce that the normal bundle to C1X1 to
isomorphic to that of CX in particular it contains a trivial direct summand This
proves that width(C) =infin
Next we show that f must be net Consider the induced flat projection pD D rarr ∆
its general fiber cannot be a cuspidal curve since along such cusp the foliation sin-
gularity would be log-canonical but not canonical Hence if C has a cusp necessarily
the general fiber of pD is a nodal curve Let X rarr X denote the blow up of the
nodal locus of pD with exceptional divisor E ruled over ∆ In a neighborhood of E
we have sing(F ) = D cap E which projects to ∆ as a double cover ramified over lowastObserve that the foliation on Xlowast is again log-canonical and not canonical hence its
local structure is ni (2)a In that case however p is unramified along the foliation
singularity Contradiction
We state a general criterion for movability of KF -nil curves
Proposition IVI7 Let C be a connected KF -nil curve such that p(C ) = lowast isin ∆
Assume its dual graph is a chain that none of its irreducible components is double
38 FEDERICO BUONERBA
VI3 and that its two extremal ends are flat over ∆ Then C moves in a family flat
over ∆ and each of its irreducible components is embedded
Proof We work in a formal neighborhood of C After taking roots we can assume
C is net and since its dual graph is a chain it is actually embedded We proceed by
induction on its length l where the case l = 1 is Proposition IVI6 For l gt 1 let C1
be a component of C which is extremal in its dual graph If C1 moves transversely
to p then both its ends do and hence we can apply the induction hypothesis to
C C1 If C1 is rigid then it can be flopped It is straightforward to check that we
can apply the induction hypothesis to the transform C + C+1 and we are done
Now we deal with rigid curves inside the singular fiber
Proposition IVI8 (Singular fiber) Let f C rarr X be an embedded net KF -
nil curve with anti-ample normal bundle Then there exists a birational map φ
(X F ) 99K (X +F+) and a KF+-nil curve C+ such that
bull φ is an isomorphism away from C+
bull In a formal neighborhood of at least one among C and C+ there exist two
invariant hypersurfaces D1D2 locally defined by the vanishing of eigenfunc-
tions of the semi-simple field such that C (resp C+)= D1 capD2
bull If F middot C lt 0 for some hypersurface F then F+ middot C+ gt 0 In particular X +
is projective
Such φ is called flop
Proof Our assumption is that Nfsimminusrarr O(minusn)oplusO(minusm) is anti-ample namely nm gt
0 If two invariant hypersurfaces as in our statement do exist around C the flop is
easily constructed as a weighted blow-up followed by a weighted blow-down As such
let us assume that such hypersurfaces do not exist around C In particular C is not
double VI3 By [Ar70] there exists a formal contraction c X rarrX0 collapsing C
to a point and an isomorphism everywhere else By Proposition IVI3 the foliation
F0 is Gorenstein around the node of X0 For ease of exposition let us assume
n = m = 1 the general case is handled the same way only the notation becomes more
cumbersome due to the presence of weights The node has embedding dimension 4
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 39
and in suitable local coordinates x0 y0 w0 z0 can be defined by x0z0minusy0w0 = 0 The
morphism c can be identified with the blow up of the embedded surface (x0 = y0 = 0)
Explicitly in the chart y = y0 x = x0yminus10 it is defined by
(28) y0 = y x0 = xy z0 = zprime w0 = xzprime
Here x is a coordinate along C while y = 0 is the pull-back of (x0 = y0 = 0) and
zprime some function in the normal bundle to C By the previous Proposition IVI6
we know C cannot be contained in the smooth locus of p Since C is not double
we can assume that in this local chart p is defined by (x y zprime) rarr xy - the case
(x y zprime) rarr xzprime being isomorphic as it is isomorphic to blow-up (z0 = w0 = 0)
instead of (x0 = y0 = 0) The issue is as emphasized by the notation zprime 6= z that
zprime may fail to be an eigenfunction for partS if it were we would be done since zprime = 0
is the local equation for the global pullback of (z0 = w0 = 0) However we have
a b isin C such that
(29) partS0(y0) = minusy0 partS0(x0) = 0 partS0(z0) = ay0 + bz0 partS0(w0) = ax0 + (b+ 1)w0
Observe that the embedded surfaces D01 = (y0 = z0 = 0) and D0
2 = (x0 = w0 = 0)
are both foliation invariant As such let b X + rarr X0 denote the blow-up of X0
along D01 - which is isomorphic to that along D0
2 - and let Di = blowastD0i i = 1 2
Finally X + is projective by Nakai-Moishezon Indeed every C with anti-ample
normal bundle is contained in an irreducible component F of X0 such that F middotC lt 0
Then F+ middot C+ gt 0 and we can find an ample divisor of the form H+ + εF+ where
H+ is the proper transform of an ample on X
Remark IVI9 In the previous proof a 6= b+ 1 Indeed such identity would create
a non-trivial Jordan block of partS0 in the (x0 w0)-plane thus contradicting the semi-
simplicity of partS0 In particular by a straightforward computation it is impossible to
find eigenfunctions of the form wlowast0 = w0 + αx0 zlowast0 = z0 + βy0 with x0z
lowast0 minus y0wlowast0 = 0
unless a = 0
We can conclude by pointing out an important point understood in this section
A painful aspect of the theory is that log-canonical singularities which appear natu-
rally as analytic degenerations of canonical ones come along with cuspidal invariant
40 FEDERICO BUONERBA
curves There is in particular no a-priori obstruction to the existence of rigid
cuspidal KF -nil curves in a smooth fiber of our family of foliated surfaces p Quite
generally a rigid curve of positive arithmetic genus in a smooth family of surfaces can
never be contracted to a point Therefore this would have been a counter-example
to any reasonable foliated canonical model theory one may wish to achieve Fortu-
nately such phenomenon does not happen and this establishes the Main Theorem I
modulo finitely many rigid curves confined in the singular fiber X0
IVII Invariant curves inside sing(F ) In this subsection we study curves Z0 subeXlowast cap sing(F ) which are inside the foliation singularity and invariant By this we
mean that there exists a sequence fn Cn rarrX of not necessarily algebraic invariant
curves converging in the compact-open topology to Z0 In other words the map
(30) NorF rarr Ω1Z0
is trivial By Corollary IIIIII5 we know that Z0 is at worst nodal it is smooth
wherever p is smooth for every point z isin Z0 the semi-simple part of the gener-
ating vector field has exactly one eigenvalue The problem here is that the Jordan
decomposition need not extend uniformly along Z0 not even along an irreducible
component In case ni (1)a the functions x and g may develop essential singulari-
ties arbitrary close to z Nonetheless the function x is unique and this says that x
does extend along Z0
Proposition IVII1 Let Z0 be as above Then in a formal neighborhood of Z0
there exists a unique smooth invariant hypersurface D0 containing Z0 which restricts
around any point in Z0 to the unique eigenfunction for the semi-simple field whose
eigenvalue is non-zero
Proof The local structure of the foliation around a point z isin Z0 is described by
cases ni (1)a and ni (1)b In both cases partS has one non-zero eigenvalue with
eigenfunction x Such eigenfunction x is a-priori only defined in the normal bundle to
Z0 but it is clear that the equation partx = x has a unique up to constants solution in
the formal completion around z As such there exists a unique smooth hypersurface
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 41
D0 in the formal completion around Z0 which restricts to the eigenfunction x around
z
Observe that the previous argument goes through since we are assuming Z0 subX0
Keeping notations from case ni (1)a if say g(y z) = yz then in the hypersurface
y equiv q isin Qgt0 the foliation has a log-canonical singularity and the eigenfunction x
extends highly non-uniquely to a formal neighborhood of the point (x y z) = (0 q 0)
In particular the existence of D0 as in the previous Proposition might fail along
the component (x = z = 0) of the foliation singularity This phenomenon is called
the beast
Anyway uniqueness in the previous proposition yields
Corollary IVII2 Let Z prime be a connected invariant curve inside sing(F ) Then in
a formal neighborhood of Z prime there exists a unique smooth invariant hypersurface D prime
containing Z prime which restricts around any point in Z prime to the hypersurface constructed
in the previous proposition
Next we turn to the intrinsic structure of invariant singular curves
Proposition IVII3 Let Z0 be an irreducible invariant curve inside sing(F )
Then Z0 is smooth and rational
Proof We work in a formal neighborhood of Z0 Let F0 denote the unique component
of X0 containing Z0 For any other fiber component F intersecting Z0 non-trivially
blow-up the invariant curve F cap F0 with exceptional divisor EF A straightforward
computation using the local formula ni (1)b shows that the fiber of the natural
projection EF rarr F cap F0 intersecting Z0 is also contained in sing(F ) For Z prime the
maximal connected singular invariant curve containing Z0 let G denote the saturated
foliation induced on D prime It is canonical with reduced singularities and it satisfies
KG = KF |Dprime minus Zprime By adjunction
(31) 2g(Z0)minus 2 + sZG(Z0) = minusZ prime middot Z0
Observe that thanks to our initial sequence of blow-ups the singularities of G along
Z0 coincide with the intersection of Z0 and Z prime Z0 In particular since D prime is formally
42 FEDERICO BUONERBA
flat over ∆ we deduce Z prime middot Z0 = 0 and the previous formula becomes
(32) 2g(Z0)minus 2 + sZG(Z0) = 0
This implies that Z0 is rational or elliptic If Z0 were elliptic then sZG(Z0) = 0 and
D0 defines an invariant elliptic curve in the general fiber of p By Baum-Bott this
contradicts that KF is big and nef Now we show that Z0 is smooth If it has a node
then D0 moves it in a family of nodal rational curves flat over ∆ In particular D0
itself has a node in codimension 1 hence Xlowast is smooth around the node of Z0 In its
formal neighborhood the foliation must be as in case ni (1)a which implies that
Z0 is smooth contradiction
We can improve as follows
Proposition IVII4 Let Z prime sube sing F capXlowast be a connected invariant curve with
KF middot Z prime = 0 Then its dual graph is a chain
Proof Assume Z prime is a cycle Then necessarily Z prime = D prime capXlowast scheme-theoretically
and by the existence of Hilbert scheme Z prime moves in the general fiber Its general
member is either a cycle of smooth rational curves or an elliptic curve Arguing as
in the previous proof we see that both options are impossible
V Configurations
In this section we analyze in great detail all possible configurations of invariant
curves along which KF vanishes These can be divided into three groups those
that do not move those that move in a one-dimensional family covering a surface
those that move in a higher-dimensional family covering a surface Curves in the first
group can form rather complicated configurations while those in the second group
are more simple they either move in the general fiber or they cover an isolated
Riccati component in the singular fiber Those in the third group turn out to be
represented by the two rulings of P1timesP1 if they happen to be cohomologous in the
ambient stack First we will analyze rigid curves then those which move and finally
we will describe their configurations
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 43
VI Configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially In
this subsection we describe configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF
trivially which arise in the situation described by set-up IIVII4
First we focus on KF -nil curves At the end of the section we deal with the simpler
case in which a curve in the configuration is fully contained in sing(F ) The general
fiber was handled in Proposition IVI6
Proposition VI1 Let C be a connected KF -nil curve contained in the smooth
locus of a fiber of p Then it is a chain or a cycle and it moves in a family flat over
∆
In what follows we let C denote a connected KF -nil curve contained in the
singular fiber X0 all of whose sub-curves are rigid in X Observe a consequence of
equation 23
Proposition VI2 Let C = cupiCi be a connected KF -nil curve Then the eigen-
values of partS are all rational at every point of sing(F )capC if and only if they are all
rational at one point
We can deduce many non-trivial properties about configurations of KF -nil curves
First we need
Definition VI3 Let C subX0 be a curve It is called double if there exists formally
around C two components F F prime of X0 such that C = F cap F prime A point lowast isin C where
three fiber components intersect is called a triple point If C lies on exactly one fiber
component it is called non-double We denote by F (C) such component
Remark VI4 Let Csimminusrarr P1(d e) be double with two triple points Then we know
e+ λ+ micro = minusd+ (λ+ n) + (micro+m) = 0 whence we obtain
(33) n+m = d+ e
Which is called triple-point formula
Next we show that essentially KF -nil curves do not form cycles unless something
deforms in X0 First we show that there are no cycles of rigid non-double curves
44 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proposition VI5 Let C be a connected KF -nil curve contained in the singular
fiber X0 of p Assume that every component of C is non-double and that every
sub-curve is rigid Then C contains no cycles
Proof We work in a formal neighborhood of C which we assume is a cycle Let
us first consider the case in which all components C1 middot middot middot CN are smooth with no
orbifold points and denote lowasti = Ci cap Ci+1 with CN+1 = C1 Moreover let us
assume no lowasti lies in the smooth locus of p
Since no curve is double the semi-simple field at every lowasti is as in case i (3)b in
particular the eigenvalues along the branches of Ci and Ci+1 add up to zero More-
over let minusni denote the self-intersection of Ci sub F (Ci) Normalize the eigenvalues
of partS so that at lowastn they are 1 in the C1 direction minus1 in the CN direction λ in the
F (C1)capF (CN) direction It follows by induction that at lowasti the eigenvalues are minus1
in the Ci direction 1 in the Ci+1 direction λ+ n1 + middot middot middot+ ni in the F (Ci) cap F (Ci+1)
direction After traveling around the cycle we obtain n1+middot middot middot+nN = 0 contradicting
that ni gt 0 for every i
We established the Proposition assuming every Ci is an embedded scheme and ev-
ery lowasti is in the singular locus of p The case in which Cisimminusrarr P1(di ei) has orbifold
points is analogous we end up with a combination c1n1 + middot middot middot + cNnN = 0 with ci
the eigenvalue at lowasti in the Ci+1 direction Normalizing so that c1 = e1 gt 0 again by
induction on i we see that every ci isin Qgt0 Next we show that our assumption on lowastiis always satisfied
Claim VI6 Every lowasti must belong to the singular locus of p
Proof We give two essentially equivalent proofs
bull If N = 2 3 then the previous argument goes through indeed we can normal-
ize eigenvalues at lowasti to be negative in the Ciminus1 direction and positive in the
Ci-direction and argue as above Hence we can assume N ge 4 If say lowasti is in
the smooth locus of p then F (Ci) = F (Ci+1) If also F (Ciminus1) = F (Ci) then Ci
lies in the smooth locus of p and hence it moves Therefore F (Ciminus1) 6= F (Ci)
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 45
and Ciminus1 can be flopped inside F (Ci) Since N ge 4 this preserves the smooth-
ness of F (Ci) and Ci is now is the smooth locus of p - contradiction
bull If lowasti belongs to the smooth locus of p then the end through lowasti moves We
can form a partial net completion fi Xi rarrX by normalizing C in lowasti only
Then f lowasti C is a chain with movable ends and hence moves in the general fiber
of p fi
Finally the general case in which some among the Ci have cusps can be easily
reduced to the smooth case in a couple of ways
bull Eigenvalues at the singularities of any KF -nil curve satisfy the same relations
as in the smooth case
bull Upon taking roots and net completion we can find a foliated formal 3-fold
supported on a cycle of smooth KF -nil curves which is a ramified cover of a
formal neighborhood of our cycle
Similarly we can show that there are no rigid cycles of double curves
Proposition VI7 Let C be a nodal KF -nil curve which is double Then C
deforms inside X0 In particular there cannot exist a rigid cycle of KF -nil double
curves
Proof Following the previous notation we have 0 = infin and if C = (xy = z = 0)
around 0 then we have identities
(34) x = η y = ξ z = ζ
The last one of which implies m = 0 that is C deforms Since C is double necessarily
the surface it spans must be contained in X0
The statement about cycles follows since a cycle of double curves can be transformed
after finitely many flops into a chain of smooth double curves with a nodal one
attached at one end
46 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Later on we will show that the deformations of C cannot span an elliptic surface
but only a family of nodal rational curves with a special Riccati foliation on it
We are ready to organize a detailed description of the dual graph of C More pre-
cisely we only need to understand how double curves intersect non-double curves
Lemma VI8 There exists a sequence of flops X 99KX + such that if C + denotes
the transform of C every double curve supported on C + contains two triple points
Proof Let C sube C be an irreducible component with at most one triple point and
let X 99K X + be its flop Then its transform C+ is non-double and the number
of double curves contained in C descreases It is clear that after finitely many flops
all double curves contain exactly two triple points
From now on all double curves in C have two triple points Thanks to proposition
VI2 we know that there are two cases to consider those curves along which the
semi-simple field has not only rational eigenvalues and those along which the semi-
simple field has only rational eigenvalues The first case being strictly easier than
the second it is a good starting place to warm up
Proposition VI9 (irrational eigenvalues) Assume that for every foliation singu-
larity along C not all eigenvalues of partS are rational Then every component of C
is net with at most one node and 1-skeleton of its dual graph is at worst trivalent
Write C = C axes cup C free where
C axes is the union of double curves
C free is the union of non-double curves
Then one among C axes and C free is empty Moreover
bull If C free is non-empty then it is a chain of smooth curves with rational moduli
bull If C axes is non-empty there exists a sequence of flops X 99KX + and an ir-
reducible component of the fiber FC subX + such that X + is a smooth stack
the transform C+ of C is contained in FC Moreover the dual graph of C+
is a tree which by [McQ08 III32] becomes a chain inside the normalization
of FC
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 47
Proof The first sentence is just corollary IIIIII3
Observe that if a non-double curve intersects a double curve then the non-double
curve must be contained in an LC-center around such intersection This contradicts
that not all eigenvalues are rational and establishes that one among C axes and C free
is empty
In case C free is not empty then it is clearly a chain or a cycle the latter being
impossible by Proposition VI5
We are left to show the existence of flops in case C = C axes We remark that
every component is smooth Let C0 be such a component and S0 a component of
X0 containing it Let C1 be the collection of irreducible components of C which
intersect S0 but are not contained in it All the components of C1 are smooth hence
we can flop them in any order until the transform of C1 lies in the transform of S0
Since the number of irreducible components of C lying outside S0 decreases after
such flop by induction we deduce the existence of finitely many flops after which
the birational transform of C is fully contained in the transform of S0
Next we take care of rational eigenvalues The complication here arises from
the fact that there may be double and non-double curves intersecting each other
However the situation is best possible
Proposition VI10 (rational eigenvalues) Assume that for every foliation singu-
larity along C all eigenvalues of partS are rational Write C = C axes cup C free where
C axes is the union of double curves
C free is the union of non-double curves
Then there exists a sequence of flops X 99K X + and an irreducible component of
the fiber FC axes subX + such that
bull X + is a smooth stack
bull The union of double curves of C axes is contained in FC axes the 1-skeleton of
its dual graph is a tree and each of its components has two triple points
bull The 1-skeleton of the dual graph of the transform C free+ is a disjoint union of
trees
bull Each connected component of C free+ intersects C axes in exactly one point
48 FEDERICO BUONERBA
In particular the 1-skeleton of the dual graph of C is a tree
Proof Notice that for every point lowast isin C cap Z there exists one LC-center through lowastIndeed there are three rational eigenvalues and they cannot be all non-vanishing and
all with different signs at the same time Now C axes can be treated as in proposition
VI9 This proves the first two items of the statement The third item follows from
Proposition VI5 so we can focus on the fourth one The proof is based on the
following obvious
Remark VI11 let C be a double curve such that either it is KF -nil hence has
two triple points or it is fully contained in sing(F ) Let C0 sube C free intersect C
non-trivially in a point lowast then necessarily C0 sub LClowast
Now let C0 middot middot middot CN form a chain of non-double curves with C0 and CN both
intersecting double curves as in the remark Denote by lowasti = Ci cap Ci+1 Since
C1 sub LClowast necessarily C1 is transverse to LClowast1 otherwise C1 would deform in F (C1)
Inductively we see that Ci+1 sub LClowasti and is transverse to LClowasti+1 In particular CN
cannot touch a double curve This contradiction proves the fourth item
Let us add a remark about configurations featuring invariant curves inside sing(F )
Proposition VI12 Let C be an invariant curve with KF middot C = 0 such that
Z0 sube C for some component Z0 sube sing(F ) Then C = Z prime cup C where
Z prime is a connected invariant curve inside the foliation singularity with dual graph a
chain
C is the union of at most two pairwise disjoint KF -nil curves with anti-ample
normal bundle
If not empty C can only intersect Z prime at the two ends of its dual graph Moreover
perhaps after a flop the intersection of C with Z prime supports the foliation singularity
along C As such if C has two components Z prime cup C deforms in the general fiber
Proof The structure of Z prime is Proposition IVII3 while that of Co is Proposition
IVI6 Let C prime be a component of C intersecting Z0 in a point lowast If C prime and Z0 belong
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 49
to different components of X0 then by case ni (1)b the eigenvalue of partS along C prime
vanishes so supp(sing(F ) cap C prime) = lowast If C prime and Z0 belong to the same component
then we can flop C prime into a different component
Observe that the divisor D prime from op cit can be extended along C prime This implies
that C can only intersect Z prime at its ends Moreover if C touches both ends necessarily
D prime capX0 = C scheme-theoretically hence by the existence of Hilbert scheme IVI5
we conclude
Our new set-up is
Set-up VI13 Everything as in set-up IIVII4 and moreover for any connected
invariant curve C with KF middot C = 0 all of whose sub-curves are rigid we have
configurations computed in proposition VI9 VI10 and Lemma VI12
VII Configurations of non-rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
In this subsection we describe configurations of surfaces which are covered by KF -nil
curves The structure of each such surface is described by classification IIV1 IIV2
and Corollary IIVI17 Our first step is to simplify the situation by contracting
chains of ruled surfaces The next step is to try and exclude the possibility that
the singular fiber of p contains fibrations by elliptic or nodal rational curves with
at least one invariant fiber This can be achieved with good success indeed there
may be at most one such Riccati foliation which is anyway rather isolated from the
remaining KF -nil curves Finally we observe that the only class of surfaces we have
not mentioned is
Definition VII1 A irreducible component F of the singular fiber of p is called
small Kronecker if
bull (FFF ) is birational to a Kronecker vector field on P1 timesP1 and
bull The two rulings of this P1 timesP1 are cohomologous inside X
The name comes from the fact that contraction of a small Kronecker yields a node
in the ambient threefold which admits a small resolution In fact in many respects
these fiber components behave very much like rigid KF -nil curves
50 FEDERICO BUONERBA
We start by getting rid of some fiber components which are ruled by KF -nil gener-
ically smooth rational curves
Proposition VII2 Notation as in Set-up VI13 there exists a sequence of flops
and divisorial contractions c X 99KX + such that
bull X + is a smooth stack
bull let S+ sub X + be an irreducible invariant divisor that contains a positive-
dimensional family of invariant rational curves along which KF+ vanishes
Then S+ is either birationally ruled by nodal rational curves or it is a small
Kronecker
Proof We focus first on contracting components of the singular fiber of p Consider
the following algorithm If there is no birationally ruled component different from
the ones listed in the second item we are done otherwise pick one such F and let
C denote the general member of the ruling If the cohomology class [C] is inde-
composable F is minimal Otherwise [C] = [C1] + [C2] where Ci are rational and
intersect KF trivially After finitely many steps we have a decomposition as a finite
sum of indecomposables [C] =sumn
i=0 ni[Ci] where every Ci is rational intersects KF
trivially We have two cases
bull There exists k such that Ck deforms in a birationally ruled necessarily min-
imal surface Fk
bull Every Ci has anti-ample normal bundle
In the first case denote by X rarr X1 the contraction of Fk along |Ck| and relpace
X by X1 Since Fk is minimal smoothness of the ambient stack is preserved unless
Fk is a small Kronecker This is however impossible if n ge 2 if Fk were a small
Kronecker then Ck deforms away from Fkminus1 so then Fkminus1 middot Ck = 0 on the other
hand Fkminus1 intersects the other ruling of Fk positively
In the second case flop C1 middot middot middot Cn in this order The transform of F is minimal and
not a small Kronecker so it can be contracted along its ruling preserving ambient
smoothness By induction on the Picard rank of X after finitely many steps this
algorithm ends Call X the output of this algorithm
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 51
Let S subX be an invariant divisor with a generically smooth ruling Then pS S rarr∆ is flat and after flopping finitely many rational curves in S cap plowastS(0) the resulting
pS is smooth Hence we can contract S along pS After finitely many steps the
Proposition is proven
For ease of notation in the sequel we call X the output of the previous proposition
Notice that there might still be divisors carrying a pencil of nodal rational curves
both inside and outside the singular fiber of p
We can start analyzing configurations of fiber components where the restriction of
F is not of general type We need some notation whose reason to exist will be clear
shortly
Definition VII3 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
along which KF is not big F is called special Riccati if
bull F is minimal
bull There exists a morphism s F rarr B onto a curve whose fibers are nodal
rational curve
bull F is transverse to the general fiber of s in particular KF is numerically
trivial along s
bull At least one fiber of s is invariant
bull There exists a section σ of s which is invariant and does not coincide with
the nodal locus of F
In particular the intersections of σ with invariant fibers of s isolated singularities
of F the node of F all coincide There may be fibers of s fully contained in sing(F )
in which case they are everywhere transverse to the saturated foliation
The definition looks nasty but special Riccati components have a rather simple
origin as the following proof shows
Lemma VII4 Let F be special Riccati Up to base change by an etale double cover
Bprime rarr B there is a natural isomorphism F norm simminusrarr BprimetimesP1 and the restriction of F
to F norm is birational to the projection onto P1
52 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proof We work over the normalization F norm Denote by Bprime the pre-image of the
node of F which is an etale double cover of B and let f denote an invariant fiber
of s with lowast = σ cap f Observe that F norm carries a Riccati foliation with 3 invariant
curves through lowast - namely σ f and a component of Bprime Hence FF has a log-canonical
singularity in lowast On F norm perform a weighted blow-up in each log-canonical singu-
larity followed by the contraction of the transforms of the corresponding fibers Let
s+ F+ rarr B denote the output of this operation If the proper transform of Bprime is
connected replace F+ by its base change under Bprime rarr B Hence we can assume Bprime
is the disjoint union of two sections of s+ and the transform of σ is a third section
which is disjoint from Bprime Therefore F+ = P1 timesBprime and the foliation restricts to the
projection onto P1
Next we describe those surfaces which cannot appear as components of the sin-
gular fiber X0
Definition VII5 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
along which KF is not big F is called illusory if
bull there exists a morphism t F rarr B onto a curve
bull KF is trivial along t
bull For any other fiber component F prime the intersection F cap F prime is either empty or
contained in a fiber of t
We give examples of illusory fiber components
Lemma VII6 The following fiber components are necessarily illusory
bull t is elliptic the foliation is either parallel to t or turbolent with at least one
invariant fiber
bull t is a nodal ruling the foliation is either parallel to t or transverse to t with
at least one invariant fiber and not birational to a special Riccati VII3
Proof Let f = F cap F prime for some fiber component F prime It is F -invariant
Assume t and F are parallel and f is transverse to both Then necessarily f subesing(F ) and KF is positive along the fibers of t contradiction
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 53
Assume t and F are generically transverse and f is transverse to t Let e be an
invariant fiber of t then ecap f isin sing(F ) hence t must be a family of nodal rational
curves and ecapf coincides with the node of e - otherwise KF would be positive along
t But this implies F is special Riccati contradiction
We proceed to show that illusory fibers do not exist
Lemma VII7 Let F be an illusory fiber component then every fiber of t is irre-
ducible If F prime is any fiber component intersecting F non-trivially then F prime is illusory
Proof Assume t has a reducible fiber f Then we can write f = f prime cup f primeprime where f prime
is irreducible and f primeprime is a disjoint union of chains of rational curves In particular
every subscheme supported on f primeprime is rigid in X f prime is rational and smooth iff f is a
cycle of rational curves hence the foliation on F is parallel to t and the choice of f prime
is not unique otherwise f prime is nodal or elliptic Let X 99KX + denote the flop of the
irreducible components of f primeprime in any order The proper transform f prime+ (below in red)
is the irreducible fiber of the induced morphism t+ F+ rarr B Since f primeprime+ intersects
f prime+ and is not contained in F+ there exists a component F prime of the fiber of p+ such
that F+ cap f prime+ 6= empty Since F+ is illusory necessarily F+ cap F prime = f prime+ Moreover F+
and F prime are the only fiber components intersecting f prime+ again because F+ is illusory
We deduce that F+ middot f prime+ = F prime middot f prime+ = 0 and therefore f prime+ is nef inside F prime It follows
that he restriction of F+ to F prime is not of general type and by the classification of
foliated surfaces [McQ08] necessarily f prime+ deforms inside F prime and defines a fibration
u F prime rarr Bprime In particular f prime+ is an irreducible fiber of u This is however impossible
since u contracts all the components of f primeprime+ contained in F prime (below in blue) and by
definition of F prime there exists at least one such component This proves that every
fiber of t is irreducible The following depicts the situation
F prime F+
f prime+
f primeprime+
t+u
54 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Concerning the second statement we only need to check the third condition for F prime
to be illussory namely that every other fiber component F primeprime intersecting F prime does
so along the fibers of u If F primeprime intersects F prime transversely to u then F primeprime intersects F
non-trivially and transversely to t as well absurd
Corollary VII8 Illusory components do not exist
Proof By the above lemma the existence of one illusory component implies that
every irreducible component of the singular fiber of p is illusory contradicting that
KF is big
We can now focus on fiber components that do appear
Corollary VII9 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
containing an invariant curve C which moves and such that KF middot C = 0 Then
following the classification [McQ08] we have two cases
(1) The minimal model of F is a special Riccati component
(2) F is a small Kronecker
Proof Certainly the ones listed are the only cases where C is KF -nil We have to
exclude the possibility that C is invariant inside sing(F ) By Proposition IVII3
such C would be rational with at most one node Since we already contracted at
the beginning of the present subsection all ruled surfaces necessarily C is nodal
However by opcit C cannot intersect any other fiber component of X0 which
implies the absurdity that X0 = F
We proceed to show that special Riccati components are rather isolated in the
fiber
Lemma VII10 Let F be a special Riccati component If F prime is a fiber component
intersecting F non-trivially then it does so transversely to s Morover there is
exactly one such F prime
Proof After finitely many flops we can assume that every fiber of s is irreducible
By the non-existence of illusory components there exists a fiber component F lowast with
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 55
σprime = F cap F prime transverse to s If F primeprime is a fiber component with f = F cap F primeprime a fiber
of s then we claim f sube sing(F ) If not then since KF middot f = 0 and σprime is invariant
necessarily σprimecap f is the node of f But then the existence of F primeprime contradicts that p is
snc Hence f sube sing(F ) so then around the node of f there are 3 fiber components -
two branches coming from F one from F primeprime - and sing(F ) has 2 branches - namely f
This is impossible by our case analysis ni (1)c ni (2)c The very same reasoning
establishes the uniqueness of F prime
Lemma VII11 Let F be as in the previous Lemma If C is a connected curve
with KF middot C = 0 then it is disjoint from F
Proof After finitely many flops s is irreducible and C intersects F transversely away
from its node Moreover lowast = C cap F isin sing(F ) and we deduce that the fiber of s
through lowast is fully contained in the singular locus of F This contradicts Proposition
IVII3 since such fiber is nodal
We conclude by observing the obvious
Lemma VII12 Let F be a small Kronecker Then there exists a contraction
c X rarr X prime which is an isomorphism away from F and contracts F along one
of its rulings Necessarily X prime is not projective since every global Cartier divisor
intersects c(F ) trivially On the other hand in a formal neighborhood of c(F ) there
exist Cartier divisors intersecting it non-trivialliy
As such the contribution coming from non-rigid curves is rather poor there are
curves moving in the general fiber there are special Riccati components disjoint from
any other invariant curve intersecting KF trivially there are small Kroneckers who
can be contracted to curves We shall see in the next section that the complications
arising from the contraction of such non-rigid curves is purely psychological and
totally harmless
56 FEDERICO BUONERBA
VI Contractions and proof of the Main Theorem
In this section we contract all invariant curves along which KF is zero thereby
establishing the existence of canonical models I First we contract non-rigid curves
as described in the previous subsection
bull Small Kroneckers along either ruling Albeit this destroys projectivity of
the ambient threefold there still exist Cartier divisors defined in a formal
neighborhood of the base curve that intersect it non-trivially
bull Families of irreducible nodal rational curves which are flat over ∆ This
creates elliptic singularities on the general fiber of p which are disjoint from
other invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
bull Special Riccati again families of irreducible nodal rational curves fully con-
tained in X0 This creates elliptic singularities disjoint from other invariant
curves intersecting KF trivially
We can summarize our situation by way of
Set-up VI1 X is a 3-dimensional DM stack with at worst elliptic singularities
F a foliation by curves with canonical singularities which is not Q-Cartier in a
neighborhood of Xsing
There exists a proper morphism p X rarr ∆ smooth off 0 isin ∆ F restricts to a
foliation on every fiber of p it has canonical singularities on the very general fiber
of p and log-canonical singularities on every fiber of p KF is big and nef on every
irreducible component of every fiber of p
Let C be the invariant sub-scheme along which KF is not big then C is a curve
fully contained in the smooth locus X0capXsmooth every sub-curve of C has anti-ample
normal bundle the 1-simplex of its dual graph is a tree and detailed configurations
of such are referenced in set-up VI13
We proceed to contract such C We assume that along C the semi-simple field has
only rational eigenvalues and moreover no component of C is inside the foliation
singularity The other two cases - irrational eigenvalues and presence of singular
component - are strictly easier and can be obtained with the very same method
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 57
The proof takes place in the formal completion around C = C free cup C axes The
former is a disjoint union of trees of non-double curves For each non-double C let
F (C) denote the unique component of X0 containing it The latter is a tree of double
curves each with two triple points all contained in the same irreducible FC axes Each
tree of non-double curves touches C axes in one point through a LC-center In order
to construct the contraction we will use Artinrsquos celebrated criterion in the following
form
Fact VI1 ([Ar70]) Let X be an irreducible algebraic space i Y rarr X a closed
subspace of pure codimension 1 and f Y rarr Y0 a proper morphism with flowastOY = OY0
Let X denote the formal completion of X along Y and assume there exists a Cartier
divisor D in X which is supported on Y and is f -anti-ample Then there exists a
proper morphism of algebraic spaces F X rarr X0 which is an isomorphism away
from Y and such that ilowastF = f
Now we use the tree structure of C to construct a suitable divisor to which apply
Artinrsquos theorem Namely consider the following inductive defintion
(35) C0 = C axes F0 = FC axes
For k ge 0 assume Ck Fk are defined
bull Let Ck+1 denote the union of irreducible components of C that intersect Fk
non-trivially but are not contained in cupilekFibull Let Fk+1 denote the reduced sum (
sumCsubeCk+1
F (C))red
This process stops with a collection C1 middot middot middotCN of curves and F1 middot middot middot FN of reduced
divisors
Lemma VI1 We have the following identities
(36)
Fk middot C lt 0 for every C sube Ck
(F0 + F1) middot C le 0 for every C sube C0
(Fkminus1 + Fk + Fk+1) middot C = 0 for every C sube Ck 1 lt k lt N
(FNminus1 + FN) middot C lt 0 for every C sube CN
58 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proof The first is just the fact that every component of C is rigid The remaining
three follow from X0 middot C = 0 but the last one requires further justification Indeed
if C sube CN N gt 0 then C is one end of a tree of non-double curves In particular
there exists a foliation singularity lowast isin C disjoint from any other component of
C and LClowast is transverse to C This implies LClowast middotC gt 0 which together with
(FNminus1 + FN + LClowast) middot C = 0 concludes the proof
Let ε1 middot middot middot εN isin Qgt0 and define
(37) F Nminusk = (1 + ε1 + middot middot middot+ εk)FNminusk
bull If C sube CN we have
(38) (F Nminus1 + F
N) middot C = ε1FNminus1 middot C + (FNminus1 + FN) middot C
bull If C sube CNminusk 1 lt k lt N we have
(39)
(F Nminuskminus1 + F
Nminusk + F Nminusk+1) middot C =
(1 + middot middot middot+ εk)(FNminuskminus1 + FNminusk + FNminusk+1) middot C minus εkFNminusk+1 middot C + εk+1FNminuskminus1 middot C =
minus εkFNminusk+1 middot C + εk+1FNminuskminus1 middot C
bull If C sube C0 we have
(40) (F 0 + F
1) middot C = εNF0 middot C + (Nminus1sumj=0
εj)(F0 + F1) middot C
It is clear that provided
(41) 1 gtgt ε1 gtgt middot middot middot gtgt εN
the divisor F =sumF k is negative along every component of C
This proves the existence of the contraction and concludes the proof of the Main
Theorem I
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 59
VII Moduli space of foliated surfaces of general type
In this section we study the modular variation of foliated surfaces of general type
The upshot is that it is possible to define a functor which is representable separated
and every irreducible component is proper The main issue here is that the supporting
surface of a foliated canonical model may well fail to be projective indeed KF is not
Q-Gorenstein in general Hence in order to proceed via standard methods [Ko17]
we have to parametrize our canonical models together with a suitable projective
resolution
Definition VII13 Let (SF ) be a foliated proper reduced purely 2-dimensional
DM stack Assume S has only normal crossing singularities in codimension 1 that
F has log-canonical foliation singularities and that KF is big and nef on at least
one of the irreducible components of S If whenever KF middot C = 0 for some curve C
then C moves in an irreducible component of S and no member of such deformation
is F -invariant then (SF ) is called foliated canonical model of general type
Clearly foliated canonical models are exactly the stable degenerations appearing
as the central fiber of our Main Theorem I Their lack of projectivity has two sources
namely the contraction of cycles of smooth KF -nil curves and of trees of cuspidal
ones Singularities arising from cycles behave well in families namely they always
deform into the general fiber Those arising from cuspidal curves on the other hand
tend to be rather isolated inside the degenerate fiber
Observe that the deformation theory of a foliated surface is rather simple suppose
given an infinitesimal C-algebras extension 0 rarr J rarr Ae rarr A rarr 0 and (SF )
a foliated surface flat over Spec(A) then the obstruction to lifting to Ae can be
understood in three simple steps
(1) Deformation of the underlying surface S once a deformation Se rarr Spec(Ae)
is given
(2) Deformation of the line bundle KF by the exponential sequence
(42) 0rarr J otimes OS rarr OlowastSerarr OlowastS rarr 0
obstructions lie in H2(SOS)otimes J once a deformation of KF is given
60 FEDERICO BUONERBA
(3) Deformation of the defining section OS rarr KF otimes TS obstructions lie in
H1(SKF otimes TS)otimes J
Now we have
Definition VII14 Let (SF ) be a foliated canonical model of general type A
proper birational morphism q (SF )proj rarr (SF ) is called its projective resolution
if
bull Every irreducible component of Sproj is smooth
bull The exceptional locus of q is a disjoint union of cycles of KFproj-nil smooth
curves and trees of KFproj-nil curves each of which has a non-trivial cuspidal
singularity
bull In a neighborhood of every q-exceptional cycle not only Sproj but also its
moduli space is smooth
We need a few remarks about projective resolutions
(1) Projective resolutions are always unique Indeed the only possible ambiguity
could lie in some extra smooth irreducible components in the exceptional
locus This is forbidden by definition in the trees of cuspidal curves it is
also forbidden by way of the third item in cycles of smooth ones ie on
algebraic surfaces the minimal resolution is unique
(2) Denote by E the collection of q-exceptional cycles Then there exist ε δ isinQgt0 such that KFproj
minus εE + δKSprojis ample by Nakai-Moishezon
(3) Deformations of a projective resolution of a foliated canonical model are
canonically identified with deformations of the underlying birational mor-
phism q Sproj rarr S followed by a deformation of the foliation F
We are now ready to construct a moduli functor for foliated surfaces more precisely
for projective resolutions of foliated canonical models of general type For m dN isinN and ε δ isin Qgt0 let
(43) MmdNεδ (C-schemes)rarr (sets)
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 61
be defined by MmdNεδ(S) = Diagrams
(44) (X F )projqminusrarr (X F )
pminusrarr S
Where
bull Both p and p q are flat and proper
bull For every closed point s isin S the induced morphism qs is the projective
resolution of (X F )s which is a foliated canonical model of general type
bull Denote by Es the collection of exceptional cycles of qs By our Main Theorem
I there is a fibrewise divisor E subXproj flat over S restricting to Es for every
s isin S
bull Let j W rarr Xproj denote the maximal closed subscheme away from which
KFprojand KXprojS are locally free Then
(45) L [m] = (jlowast(KFprojotimes OXproj
(minusεE )otimesKδXprojS
)otimesm)oror
is flat over S and commutes with base-change
bull L [m] is very ample of degree d on every fiber and defines an embedding into
PNS
We are now ready for
Theorem VII15 The functor MmdNεδ is represented by a separated algebraic
space each of whose irreducible components is proper
Proof We show that our functor satisfies Artinrsquos conditions [Ar74 Corollary 54] By
definition condition 1) and 4) hold while our previous remark on foliated obstruction
theory shows that 3) is true
We proceed to show 2) namely effectivity of formal deformations for MmdNεδ
What follows owes much to Artinrsquos [A74rsquo] Let T be a complete C-algebra Tn its
n-truncation so that Tsimminusrarr limlarrminusTn and finally qn isinMmdNεδ(Spec(Tn)) a compatible
sequence For each n there is a maximal open set Un sube Xprojn where qn is an
isomorphism denote by sn Cn rarr Zn the restriction of qn to the complement of Un
Clearly sn is projective over Spec(Tn)
62 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Denote by X C etc the formal algebraic spaces obtained as limits of Xn Cn
etc Then Xproj sub PNˆSpec(T )
hence by Grothendieckrsquos existence Theorem we find
bull a flat projective family (X F )proj rarr Spec(T ) resp a closed subscheme
C subXproj whose completion is Xproj resp C
bull a scheme Z whose completion is Z and a morphism s C rarr Z everything
being projective over Spec(T )
Further we have a formal contraction limminusrarr qn C rarr Z hence the main theorem
of [Ar70] gives algebraic contraction (X F )proj rarr (X F ) This proves the repre-
sentability of MmdNεδ The properness and separability of each irreducible com-
ponent can be checked using valutative criteria indeed properness is the content of
our Main Theorem I separatedness follows from the uniqueness of foliated canonical
models of general type and their projective resolution
References
[Ar70] M Artin Algebraization of Formal Moduli II Existence of Modifications Ann
of Math Vol 91 No 1 (Jan 1970) pp 88-135 httpwwwjstororgstable
1970602
[Ar74] M Artin Versal Deformations and Algebraic Stacks Inventiones Math 27 165- 189
(1974) httpmathuchicagoedu~drinfeldArtin_on_stackspdf
[A74rsquo] M Artin Algebraic construction of Brieskornrsquos resolutions J Alg Vol 29 Issue
2 May 1974 pp 330-348 httpwwwsciencedirectcomsciencearticlepii
0021869374901021
[BB72] P Baum R Bott Singularities of holomorphic foliations J Diff Geom 7 (1972)
279-342 httpsprojecteuclidorgdownloadpdf_1euclidjdg1214431158
[Bo77] F Bogomolov Families of curves on a surface of general type Doklady Akademii Nauk
USSR (in Russian) 236 (5) 1041-1044
[Bo78] F Bogomolov Holomorphic tensors and vector bundles on projective varieties Math
USSR Izv 13 (1978) 499-555
[BM16] F Bogomolov M McQuillan Rational Curves on Foliated Varieties In Cascini
McKernan Pereira (eds) Foliation Theory in Algebraic Geometry Simons Symposia
Springer Cham pp 21-51 (2016) httpslinkspringercomchapter101007
978-3-319-24460-0_2
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 63
[Bu] F Buonerba Functorial resolution of tame quotient singularities in positive charac-
teristic httpsarxivorgabs151100550
[Ke99] S Keel Basepoint Freeness for Nef and Big Line Bundles in Positive Characteris-
tic Annals of Math 149 No 1 (Jan 1999) pp 253-286 httpwwwjstororg
stable121025 httpsarxivorgabsmath9901149
[KM97] S Keel S Mori Quotients by groupoids Annals of Math 145 (1997) pp
193-213 httpwwwjstororgstable2951828seq=1page_scan_tab_contents
httparxivorgabsalg-geom9508012
[Ko17] J Kollar Families of varieties of general type httpswebmathprincetonedu
~kollarbookmodbook20170720pdf
[LN02] A Lins Neto Some examples for the Poincare and Painleve problems Annales sci-
entifiques de lrsquoENS 352 (2002) 231-266 httparchivenumdamorgarticle
ASENS_2002_4_35_2_231_0pdf
[McQ12] M McQuillan Foliated Mori Theory amp Hyperbolicity of Algebraic Surfaces http
wwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillahomehtml
[McQ98] M McQuillan Diophantine approximation and foliations Inst Hautes Etudes Sci
Publ Math 87 (1998) 121-174 httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafiles
ihespdf
[McQ05rsquo] M McQuillan Bloch hyperbolicity preprint httpwwwmatuniroma2it
~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ05] M McQuillan Semi-stable reduction of foliations IHES pre-print IHESM0502
(2005) httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ05rdquo] M McQuillan Uniform Uniformisation IHES pre-print (2005) IHES M0503 http
wwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ08] M McQuillan Canonical models of foliations Pure Appl Math Q 4
(2008) no 3 Special Issue In honor of Fedor Bogomolov Part 2 877-1012
httpintlpresscomsitepubfiles_fulltextjournalspamq20080004
0003PAMQ-2008-0004-0003-a009pdf
[MP13] M McQuillan D Panazzolo Almost etale resolution of foliations J Diff Geom 95
(2013) pp 279-319 httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesmp1bispdf
[Pe02] JV Pereira On the Poincare Problem for Foliations of General Type Mathematische
Annalen 323 no 2 pp217-226 2002 httpsarxivorgabsmath0104185
[PS16] JV Pereira R Svaldi Effective algebraic integration in bounded genus preprint
httpsarxivorgabs161206932
64 FEDERICO BUONERBA
[Re83] M Reid Minimal models of canonical threefolds in rdquoAlgebraic Varieties and Ana-
lytic Varietiesrdquo Adv Stud Pure Math vol 1 S Iitaka ed Kinokuniya and North-
Holland 1983 pp 131-180 httpwwwmathsedacukcheltsovquotientpdf
reid2pdf
[Se67] A Seidenberg Reduction of singularities of the differential equation Ady = Bdx Amer
J Math 89 (1967) 248-269 httpwwwjstororgstable2373435
[SB83] N Shepherd-Barron Degenerations with numerically effective canonical divisor The
Birational Geometry of Degenerations (R Friedman and D Morrison eds) Progr
Math no 29 Birkhuser 1983 pp 33-84
[Vis89] A Vistoli Intersection theory on algebraic stacks and on their moduli spaces
Invent Math (1989) pp 613-670 httplinkspringercomarticle101007
2FBF01388892page-1
Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences New York University 251 Mercer
Street New York NY 10012 USA
E-mail address buonerbacimsnyuedu
- I Introduction
- II Preliminaries
-
- III Operations on Deligne-Mumford stacks
- IIII Width of embedded parabolic champs
- IIIII Gorenstein foliation singularities
- IIIV Foliated adjunction
- IIV Canonical models of foliated surfaces with canonical singularities
- IIVI Canonical models of foliated surfaces with log-canonical singularities
- IIVII Set-up
-
- III Invariant curves and singularities local description
-
- IIII `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F) not isolated
- IIIII `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F) isolated
- IIIIII Local consequences
-
- IV Invariant curves along which KF vanishes
-
- IVI KF-nil curves
- IVII Invariant curves inside `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F)
-
- V Configurations
-
- VI Configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
- VII Configurations of non-rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
-
- VI Contractions and proof of the Main Theorem
- VII Moduli space of foliated surfaces of general type
- References
-
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 7
linear relation which depends uniquely on the weights of the normal bundle to the
curve This allows to easily show that the width of the curve must be infinite Having
obtained the best possible result for invariant curves in the general fiber we switch
our attention to curves located in the central fiber of p Also in this case we have
good news indeed such curves can be flopped and can be described as a complete
intersection of two formal divisors which are eigenfunctions for the global Jordan
semi-simple field - this is the content of Proposition IVI8 We conclude this im-
portant chapter by describing in Proposition IVII3 foliation-invariant curves fully
contained in the foliation singularity which turn out to be smooth and rational The
proof requires a simple but non-trivial trick and provides a drastic simplification of
the combinatorics to be dealt with in the next chapter
In Section V we globalize the informations gathered in the previous two chap-
ters namely we describe all possible configurations of invariant curves dotting KF
trivially These can be split into two groups configurations all of whose sub-
configurations are rigid and configurations of movable curves The first group is
analyzed in Proposition VI10 and it turns out that the dual graph of such con-
figurations contains no cycles - essentially the presence of cycles would force some
sub-curve to move either filling an irreducible component of the central fiber or in
the general fiber transversely to p The second group is the most tricky to study
however the result is optimal Certainly there are chains and cycles of ruled surfaces
on which p restricts to a flat morphism The structure of irreducible components of
the central fiber which are filled by movable invariant curves dotting KF trivially
is remakably poor and is summarized in Corollary VII9 there are quadric surfaces
with cohomologous rulings and carrying a Kronecker vector field and there are sur-
faces ruled by nodal rational curves on which the foliation is birationally isotrivial
Moreover the latter components are very sporadic and isolated from other curves of
interest indeed curves in the first group can only intersect quadric surfaces which
themselves can be thought of as rigid curves if one is prepared to lose projectivity
of the total space of p As such the contribution coming from movable curves is
concentrated on the general fiber of p and is a well solved 2-dimensional problem
8 FEDERICO BUONERBA
In Section VI we prove the Main Theorem we only need to work in a formal neigh-
borhood of the curve we wish to contract which by the previous chapter is a tree
of unibranch foliation-invariant rational curves The existence of a contraction is
established once we produce an effective divisor which is anti-ample along the tree
The construction of such divisor is a rather straightforward process which profits
critically from the tree structure of the curve
In Section VII we investigate the existence of compact moduli of canonical models
of foliated surfaces of general type The main issue here is the existence of a rep-
resentable functor indeed Artinrsquos results tend to use Grothendieckrsquos existence in
a rather crucial way which indeed relies on some projectivity assumption - a lux-
ury that we do not have in the foliated context Regardless it is possible to define
a functor parametrizing deformations of foliated canonical models together with a
suitably defined unique projective resolution of singularities This is enough to push
Artinrsquos method through and establish the existence of a separated algebraic space
representing this functor Its properness is the content of our Main Theorem
II Preliminaries
This section is mostly a summary of known results about holomorphic foliations by
curves By this we mean a Deligne-Mumford stack X over a field k of characteristic
zero endowed with a torsion-free quotient Ω1X k rarr Qrarr 0 generically of rank 1 We
will discuss the construction of Vistoli covers roots of divisors and net completions
in the generality of Deligne-Mumford stacks a notion of singularities well adapted to
the machinery of birational geometry a foliated version of the adjunction formula
McQuillanrsquos classification of canonical Gorenstein foliations on algebraic surfaces
a classification of log-canonical Gorenstein foliation singularities on surfaces along
with the existence of (numerical) canonical models the behavior of singularities on
a family of Gorenstein foliated surfaces
III Operations on Deligne-Mumford stacks In this subsection we describe
some canonical operations that can be performed on DM stacks over a base field
k We follow the treatment of [McQ05][IaIe] closely Proofs can also be found in
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 9
[Bu] A DM stack X is always assumed to be separated and generically scheme-like
ie without generic stabilizer A DM stack is smooth if it admits an etale atlas
U rarr X by smooth k-schemes in which case it can also be referred to as orbifold
By [KM97][13] every DM stack admits a moduli space which is an algebraic space
By [Vis89][28] every algebraic space with tame quotient singularities is the moduli
of a canonical smooth DM stack referred to as Vistoli cover It is useful to keep in
mind the following Vistoli correspondence
Fact III1 [McQ05 Ia3] Let X rarr X be the moduli of a normal DM stack and
let U rarrX be an etale atlas The groupoid R = normalization of U timesX U rArr U has
classifying space [UR] equivalent to X
Next we turn to extraction of roots of Q-Cartier divisors This is rather straight-
forward locally and can hardly be globalised on algebraic spaces It can however
be globalized on DM stacks
Fact III2 (Cartification) [McQ05 Ia8] Let L be a Q-cartier divisor on a normal
DM stack X Then there exists a finite morphism f XL rarrX from a normal DM
stack such that f lowastL is Cartier Moreover there exists f which is universal for this
property called Cartification of L
Similarly one can extract global n-th roots of effective Cartier divisors
Fact III3 (Extraction of roots) [McQ05 Ia9] Let D subX be an effective Cartier
divisor and n a positive integer invertible on X Then there exists a finite proper
morphism f X ( nradic
D)rarrX an effective Cartier divisor nradic
D subX ( nradic
D) such that
f lowastD = n nradic
D Moreover there exists f which is universal for this property called
n-th root of D which is a degree n cyclic cover etale outside D
In a different vein we proceed to discuss the notion of net completion This is a
mild generalization of formal completion in the sense that it is performed along a
local embedding rather than a global embedding Let f Y rarr X be a net morphism
ie a local embedding of algebraic spaces For every closed point y isin Y there is
a Zariski-open neighborhood y isin U sub Y such that f|U is a closed embedding In
10 FEDERICO BUONERBA
particular there exists an ideal sheaf I sub fminus1OX and an exact sequence of coherent
sheaves
(1) 0rarr I rarr fminus1OX rarr OY rarr 0
For every integer n define Ofn = fminus1OXI n By [McQ05][Ie1] the ringed space
Yn = (YOfn) is a scheme and the direct limit Y = limYn in the category of formal
schemes is the net completion along f More generally let f Y rarr X be a net
morphism ie etale-locally a closed embedding of DM stacks Let Y = [RrArr U ] be
a sufficiently fine presentation then we can define as above thickenings Un Rn along
f and moreover the induced relation [Rn rArr Un] is etale and defines thickenings
fn Yn rarrX
Definition III4 (Net completion) [McQ05 ie5] Notation as above we define the
net completion as Y = lim Yn It defines a factorization Y rarr Y rarr X where the
leftmost arrow is a closed embedding and the rightmost is net
IIII Width of embedded parabolic champs In this subsection we recall the
basic geometric properties of three-dimensional formal neighborhoods of smooth
champs with rational moduli We follow [Re83] and [McQ05rdquo] As such let X
be a three-dimensional smooth formal scheme with trace a smooth rational curve C
Our main concern is
(2) NCXsimminusrarr O(minusn)oplus O(minusm) n gt 0 m ge 0
In case m gt 0 the knowledge of (nm) determines X uniquely In fact there exists
by [Ar70] a contraction X rarrX0 of C to a point and an isomorphism everywhere
else In particular C is a complete intersection in X and everything can be made
explicit by way of embedding coordinates for X0 This is explained in the proof of
Proposition IVI8 On the other hand the case m = 0 is far more complicated
Definition IIII1 [Re83] The width width(C) of C is the maximal integer k
such that there exists an inclusion C times Spec(C[ε]εk) sub Xk the latter being the
infinitesimal neighborhood of order k
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 11
Clearly width(C) = 1 if and only if the normal bundle to C is anti-ample
width(C) ge 2 whenever such bundle is O oplus O(minusn) n gt 0 and width(C) = infinif and only if C moves in a scroll As explained in opcit width can be understood
in terms of blow ups as follows Let q1 X1 rarr X be the blow up in C Its excep-
tional divisor E1 is a Hirzebruch surface which is not a product hence q1 has two
natural sections when restricted to E1 Let C1 the negative section There are two
possibilities for its normal bundle in X1
bull it is a direct sum of strictly negative line bundles In this case width(C) = 2
bull It is a direct sum of a strictly negative line bundle and the trivial one
In the second case we can repeat the construction by blowing up C1 more generally
we can inductively construct Ck sub Ek sub Xk k isin N following the same pattern as
long as NCkminus1
simminusrarr O oplus O(minusnkminus1) Therefore width(C) is the minimal k such that
Ckminus1 has normal bundle splitting as a sum of strictly negative line bundles No-
tice that the exceptional divisor Ekminus1 neither is one of the formal surfaces defining
the complete intersection structure of Ck nor it is everywhere transverse to either
ie it has a tangency point with both This is clear by the description Reidrsquos
Pagoda [Re83] Observe that the pair (nwidth(C)) determines X uniquely there
exists a contraction X rarr X0 collapsing C to a point and an isomorphism every-
where else In particular X0 can be explicitly constructed as a ramified covering of
degree=width(C) of the contraction of a curve with anti-ample normal bundle
The notion of width can also be understood in terms of lifting sections of line bun-
dles along infinitesimal neighborhoods of C As shown in [McQ05rdquo II43] we have
assume NCp
simminusrarr O oplus O(minusnp) then the natural inclusion OC(n) rarr N orCX can be
lifted to a section OXp+2(n)rarr OXp+2
IIIII Gorenstein foliation singularities In this subsection we define certain
properties of foliation singularities which are well-suited for both local and global
considerations From now on we assume X is normal and give some definitions
taken from [McQ05] and [MP13] If Qoror is a Q-line bundle we say that F is Q-
foliated Gorenstein or simply Q-Gorenstein In this case we denote by KF = Qoror
and call it the canonical bundle of the foliation In the Gorenstein case there exists a
12 FEDERICO BUONERBA
codimension ge 2 subscheme Z subX such that Q = KF middot IZ Such Z will be referred
to as the singular locus of F We remark that Gorenstein means that the foliation
is locally defined by a saturated vector field
Next we define the notion of discrepancy of a divisorial valuation in this context let
(UF ) be a local germ of a Q-Gorenstein foliation and v a divisorial valuation on
k(U) there exists a birational morphism p U rarr U with exceptional divisor E such
that OU E is the valuation ring of v Certainly F lifts to a Q-Gorenstein foliation
F on U and we have
(3) KF = plowastKF + aF (v)E
Where aF (v) is said discrepancy For D an irreducible Weil divisor define ε(D) = 0
if D if F -invariant and ε(D) = 1 if not We are now ready to define
Definition IIIII1 The local germ (UF ) is said
bull Terminal if aF (v) gt ε(v)
bull Canonical if aF (v) ge ε(v)
bull Log-terminal if aF (v) gt 0
bull Log-canonical if aF (v) ge 0
For every divisorial valuation v on k(U)
These classes of singularities admit a rather clear local description If part denotes a
singular derivation of the local k-algebra O there is a natural k-linear linearization
(4) part mm2 rarr mm2
As such we have the following statements
Fact IIIII2 [MP13 Iii4 IIIi1 IIIi3] A Gorenstein foliation is
bull log-canonical if and only if it is smooth or its linearization is non-nilpotent
bull terminal if and only if it is log-terminal if and only if it is smooth and gener-
ically transverse to its singular locus
bull log-canonical but not canonical if and only if it is a radial foliation
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 13
Where a derivation on a complete local ring O is termed radial if there ex-
ist x1 middot middot middotxn isin m independent mod m2 and positive integers ni such that part =sumi nixi
partpartxi
In this case the singular locus is the center of a divisorial valuation with
zero discrepancy and non-invariant exceptional divisor
A very useful tool which is emplyed in the analysis of local properties of foliation
singularities is the Jordan decompositon [McQ08 I23] Notation as above the
linearization part admits a Jordan decomposition partS + partN into commuting semi-simple
and nilpotent part It is easy to see inductively that such decomposition lifts canon-
ically over successive infinitesimal neighborhoods Omn+1 rarr Omn and in the limit
we obtain a Jordan decomposition for the linear action of part on the whole complete
ring O
IIIV Foliated adjunction In this subsection we provide an adjunction formula
for foliation-invariant curves Let (X F ) be a Gorenstein foliation and f L rarrX the normalization of a F -invariant one-dimensional stack not contained in the
singular locus Z Denote by χ(L ) its topological Euler characteristic and by sZ(f)
the multiplicity of the ideal sheaf fminus1IZ We have
Fact IIIV1 [McQ05 IId4]
(5) KF middotL = minusχ(L )minus Ramf +sZ(f)
Which is a simple consequence of the isomorphism f lowastKF middotfminus1IZsimminusrarr Ω1
L (minusRamf )
The local contribution of sZ(f)minusRamf computed for a branch of f around a point
p in the support of fminus1IZ is np|Gp|minus1 with np a positive integer and Gp the local
monodromy of L at p Assume now that L has no generic stabilizer and let |L |denote its moduli The previous formula can be rewritten more usefully
Fact IIIV2
(6) KF middotL = 2g(|L |)minus 2 + fminus1IZ +sumf(p)isinZ
(np minus 1)|Gp|minus1 +sumf(p)isinZ
(1minus |Gp|minus1)
This can be easily deduced via a comparison between χ(L ) and χ(|L |) The
adjunction estimate 6 gives a complete description of invariant curves which are not
14 FEDERICO BUONERBA
contained in the singular locus and intersect the canonical KF non-positively A
complete analysis of the structure of KF -negative curves and much more is done
in [McQ05]
Definition IIIV3 A KF -nil curve is an invariant one-dimensional orbifold f
C rarr X such that KF middotf C = 0 and f does not factor through the singular locus
Z of the foliation
By adjunction 6 we have
Proposition IIIV4 The following is a complete list of possibilities for KF -nil
curves f
bull C is an elliptic curve without non-schematic points and f misses the singular
locus
bull |C| is a rational curve f hits the singular locus in two points with np = 1
there are no non-schematic points off the singular locus
bull |C| is a rational curve f hits the singular locus in one point with np = 1 there
are two non-schematic points off the singular locus with local monodromy
Z2Z
bull |C| is a rational curve f hits the singular locus in one point p there is at
most one non-schematic point q off the singular locus we have the identity
(np minus 1)|Gp|minus1 = |Gq|minus1
As shown in [McQ08] all these can happen In the sequel we will always assume
that a KF -nil curve is simply connected We remark that an invariant curve can have
rather bad singularities where it intersects the foliation singularities First it could
fail to be unibranch moreover each branch could acquire a cusp if going through
a radial singularity This phenomenon of deep ramification appears naturally in
presence of log-canonical singularities
IIV Canonical models of foliated surfaces with canonical singularities In
this subsection we provide a summary of the birational classification of Gorenstein
foliations with canonical singularities on algebraic surfaces obtained in [McQ08] Let
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 15
X be a two-dimensional smooth DM stack with projective moduli and F a foliation
with canonical singularities Since X is smooth certainly F is Q-Gorenstein If
KF is not pseudo-effective then foliated bend and break [BM16 Main Theorem]
shows that F is birationally a fibration by rational curves If KF is pseudo-effective
its Zariski decomposition has negative part a finite collection of invariant chains of
rational curves which can be contracted to a smooth DM stack with projective
moduli on which KF is nef At this point those foliations such that the Kodaira
dimension k(KF ) le 1 can be completely classified
Fact IIV1 [McQ08 IV3] Foliations with canonical singularities and Kodaira di-
mension zero are up to a ramified cover and birational transformations defined by
a global vector field The minimal models belong the following list
bull A Kronecker vector field on an abelian surface
bull The suspension of a representation π1(E)rarr PGL2(C) for E an elliptic curve
bull A Kronecker vector field on P1 timesP1
bull An isotrivial elliptic fibration
Fact IIV2 [McQ08 IV4] Foliations with canonical singularities and Kodaira di-
mension one are classified by their Kodaira fibration The linear system |KF | defines
a fibration onto a curve and the minimal models belong to the following list
bull The foliation and the fibration coincide so then the fibration is non-isotrivial
elliptic
bull The foliation is transverse to a projective bundle (Riccati)
bull The foliation is everywhere smooth and transverse to an isotrivial elliptic
fibration (turbolent)
bull The foliation is parallel to an isotrivial fibration in hyperbolic curves
On the other hand for foliations of general type the new phenomenon is that
global generation fails The problem is the appearence of elliptic Gorenstein leaves
these are cycles possibly irreducible of invariant rational curves around which KF
is numerically trivial but might fail to be torsion Assume that KF is big and nef
16 FEDERICO BUONERBA
and consider morphisms
(7) X rarrXe rarrXc
Where the composite is the contraction of all the KF -nil curves and the rightmost
is the minimal resolution of elliptic Gorenstein singularities
Fact IIV3 [McQ08 IV21 IV22] Xe is projective there exists an ample divisor
A and an effective divisor E supported on minimal elliptic Gorenstein leaves such
that KFe = A+E On the other hand Xc might fail to be projective and Fc is never
Q-Gorenstein
We refer to [McQ08 III32] for the descriptions of possible dual graphs of config-
urations of invariant KF -negative or nil curves
IIVI Canonical models of foliated surfaces with log-canonical singulari-
ties In this subsection we study Gorenstein foliations with log-canonical singulari-
ties on algebraic surfaces In particular we will classify the singularities appearing
on the underlying surface prove the existence of minimal and canonical models
describe the exceptional curves appearing in the contraction to the canonical model
Proposition IIVI1 Let (UF ) be a germ of Gorenstein log-canonical foliation
singularity Then U is a cone over a subvariety Y of a weighted projective space
whose weights are determined by the eigenvalues of F Moreover F is defined by
the rulings of the cone
Proof By Fact IIIII2 there exists a closed embedding i U rarr M - with M a
smooth local formal scheme - a regular system of parameters x1 middot middot middot xk on M and
positive integers n1 middot middot middotnk such that F is the restriction of the foliation defined by
part =sumnixi
partpartxi
to U Let I sub OM denote the ideal defining i(U) subM then part(I) sube I
We are going to prove that I is homogeneous where each xi has weight ni Let f isin I
and write f =sum
dge1 fd where fd is homogeneous of degree d in x1 middot middot middot xk - ie fd is
a k-linear combination of monomials xa11 xakk with d =
sumi aini For every N isin N
let FN = (xa11 xakk
sumi aini ge N) This collection of ideals defines a natural
filtration on OM For a = max ai we have mN sube FN sube mNa ie the FN -filtration
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 17
is equivalent to the one by powers of the maximal ideal and therefore OM is also
complete with respect to the FN -filtration
We will prove that if f isin I then fd isin I for every d
Let IN = (I + FN)FN Since OM is complete with respect to the FN -filtration
I = limlarrminus IN Therefore it is enough to show
Claim IIVI2 For every N gt 0 we have fd isin IN sub OMFN for all d lt N
Proof For every g isin IN denote by n(g) the unique integer such that g isin Fn(g) Fn(g)+1 (ie the minimal index d for which fd 6= 0) and by N(g) = N minus n(g)
We will prove the statement of the Claim by induction on N(f) If N(f) = 1 then
f = fNminus1 holds in OMFN and the statement is true If N(f) gt 1 we have part(f) =sumd d middot fd hence consider f1 = D(f)minus n(f)f =
sumdgtn(f)(dminus n(f))fd Tautologically
we have N(f1) lt N(f) and therefore fd isin IN for every d gt n(f) so then fn(f) =
f minussum
dgtn(f) fd isin IN as well
This implies that I is a homogeneous ideal and hence U is the germ of a cone over
a variety in the weighted projective space P(n1 nk)
Corollary IIVI3 If the germ U is normal then Y is normal If U is normal
of dimension 2 the weighted blow-up p U rarr U at the vertex of the cone has only
quotient singularities the exceptional divisor E(simminusrarr Y ) is smooth and everywhere
transverse to the induced foliation Moreover we have
(8) plowastKF = KF + E
Certainly the converse to Proposition IIVI1 fails even on surfaces indeed let
(X F ) be a Gorenstein foliated surface and let C sub X be a generic curve so
in particular smooth and not F -invariant We can assume perhaps after a finite
sequence of simple blow-ups along C that both X and F are smooth in a neigh-
borhood of C C and F are everywhere transverse and C2 lt 0
Proposition IIVI4 The formal contraction q X rarr X0 of C is isomorphic to
the cone over C the projected foliation F0 coincides with that by rulings on the cone
F0 is Q-Gorenstein if C rational or elliptic but not in general
18 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proof F0 is Q-Gorenstein if and only if the bundle KF (C) is trivial on the formal
completion of X along C The obstructions to lift the isomorphism OC(KF +C)simminusrarr
OC over infinitesimal neighborhoods of C lie in H1(C (1 minus n)C + KF ) for every
n isin N These groups vanish for every n isin N if 2g(C) minus 2 + C2 lt 0 (which is
always true for rational or elliptic curves) but do provide non-trivial obstructions in
general
We focus on the minimal model program for Gorenstein log-canonical foliations
on algebraic surfaces Let X be a DM stack of dimension 2 with projective moduli
and F a Gorenstein foliation with log-canonical singularities Denote by LC(F )
the set of points where F is log-canonical and not canonical and by Z the singular
sub-scheme of F We assume LC(F ) 6= empty since the empty case has been completely
settled Moreover we can assume that X is smooth outside LC(F ) Let f C rarrX
be a morphism from a 1-dimensional stack with trivial generic stabilizer such that
fminus1 LC(F ) 6= empty Since we will need them several times we formulate some technical
results
Lemma IIVI5 Let p X rarr X be the resolution of the log-canonical foliation
singularity intersecting C with exceptional divisor E Then
(9) KF middot C minus C middot E = KF middot C
Proof We have
(10) plowastC = C minus (C middot EE2)E
Intersecting this equation with equation 8 we obtain the result
This formula is important because it shows that passing from foliations with log-
canonical singularities to their canonical resolution increases the negativity of inter-
sections between invariant curves and the canonical bundle In fact the log-canonical
theory reduces to the canonical one after resolving the log-canonical singularities
Further we list some strong constraints given by invariant curves along which the
foliation is smooth
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 19
Fact IIVI6 [BB72 Baum-Bott] Let g C rarrX be an F -invariant curve missing
the foliation singularities Then C2 = NF middotg C = 0
Corollary IIVI7 Let g C rarr X be an F -invariant curve missing the foliation
singularities and such that KF middotg C lt 0 Then F is birationally a fibration by
rational curves
Proof By assumption KF middot C = minusχ(C) This together with Baum-Bott IIVI6
imply that KX middot C = minusχ(C) and from usual adjunction we get C2 = 0 Riemann-
Roch gives h0(X mC) ge 2 for m gtgt 0 so then |C| defines a fibration by rational
curves tangent to F
The rest of this subsection is devoted to the construction of minimal and canonical
models in presence of log-canonical singularities The only technique we use is
resolve the log-canonical singularities in order to reduce to the canonical case and
keep track of the exceptional divisor
We are now ready to handle the existence of minimal models
Theorem IIVI8 (Minimal models) Let X be a DM stack of dimension 2 with pro-
jective moduli and F a Gorenstein foliation with log-canonical singularities Then
either
bull F is birational to a fibration by rational curves or
bull There exist a birational contraction q X rarr X0 such that KF0 is nef
Moreover the exceptional curves of q donrsquot intersect LC(F )
Proof Let f be as above ie KF -negative and intersecting LC(F ) If f is not
F -invariant then KF middotC +C2 ge 0 so C moves and KF is not pseudo-effective We
conclude by foliated bend and break [BM16]
If f is F -invariant then foliated adjunction 6 implies that C is rational it intersects
the singular locus of F in exactly one point By Lemma IIVI5 after resolving the
log-canonical singularity KF middot C lt 0 and F is smooth along C We conlude by
Corollary IIVI7
20 FEDERICO BUONERBA
From now on we add the assumption that KF is nef and we want to analyze
those curves f satisfying KF middotf C = 0 By adjunction formula 6 we know that C
has rational moduli and fminus1Z is supported on two points
Remark IIVI9 If fminus1Z = fminus1 LC(F ) then F is birationally a fibration by ratio-
nal curves
Proof After resolving the log-canonical singularities of F along the image of C we
have KF middot C lt 0 and F smooth along C We conclude by Corollary IIVI7
Therefore we can assume that f satisfies the following condition
Definition IIVI10 An invariant curve f C rarr X is called log-contractible if
KF middot C = 0 and it intersects Z in two points one canonical and one log-canonical
not canonical
It follows that f(C) is everywhere unibranch but it might have a cusp in LC(F )
Definition IIVI11 A log-chain is a chain of invariant rational orbifolds C =
cupni=0Ci scheme-like outside the foliation singularities with KF middot C = 0 and such
that
bull C0 is log-contractible with lowast(C ) = C0 cap LC(F ) called the marking of C
bull Ci is disjoint from LC(F ) if i ge 1
There is a unique point t(C ) satisfying t(C ) isin Z cap (Cn Cnminus1) called the tail of
the log-chain
Proposition IIVI12 Let C1C2 be two log-chains intersecting non-trivially Then
lowast(C1) = lowast(C2) and C1 cap C2 = lowast(C1)
Proof It is enough to prove that the two log-chains cannot intersect in their tails
Replace X be the resolution of the at most two markings of the log-chains and Ci
by their proper transforms C1cupC2 = cupmi=0Ri is a connected chain of rational curves
intersecting Z outisde LC(F ) Moreover each of the two extremal curves R0 and
Rm intersects Z in one point only In particular KF middot Ri = 0 for i = 1 middot middot middot m minus 1
and KF middot Ri lt 0 for i = 0m Since we assumed F is not birational to a fibration
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 21
by rational curves there exists a contraction p X rarr X0 with exceptional curve
cupmminus1i=0 Ri However F0 is smooth along plowastRm so by adjunction formula KF0 middotplowastRm lt
0 and we find a contradiction by Corollary IIVI7
Corollary IIVI13 Let C be a maximal connected curve such that KF middotC = 0 and
C cap LC(F ) 6= empty Then C is a union of finitely many log-chains intersecting each
other in their common marking
The following shows a configuration of log-chains sharing the same marking col-
ored in black
We are now ready to state and prove the canonical model theorem in presence of
log-canonical singularities
Theorem IIVI14 (Canonical models) Let X be a proper DM stack of dimension
2 and F a foliation with isolated singularities Moreover assume that KF is nef
that every KF -nil curve is contained in a log-chain and that F is Gorenstein and
log-canonical in a neighborhood of every KF -nil curve Then either
bull There exists a birational contraction p X rarr X0 whose exceptional curves
are unions of log-chains If all the log-contractible curves contained in the log-
chains are smooth then F0 is Gorenstein and log-canonical If furthermore
X has projective moduli then X0 has projective moduli In any case KF0
is numerically ample
bull There exists a fibration p X rarr B over a curve whose fibers intersect
KF trivially Each F -invariant fiber of p intersecting LC(F ) is union of
mutually compatible log-chains
Proof If all the KF -nil curves can be contracted by a birational morphism we are in
the first case of the Theorem Else let C be a maximal connected curve withKF middotC =
0 and which is not contractible It is a union of pairwise compatible log-chains
22 FEDERICO BUONERBA
with marking lowast Replace (X F ) by the resolution of the log-canonical singularity
at lowast with exceptional divisor E Therefore F is Gorenstein and canonical in a
neighborhood of C cupE By equation 9 we have KF middotC = minusC middotE lt 0 and therefore
C can be contracted to a canonical foliation singularity Replace (X F ) by the
contraction of C We have a smooth curve E around which F is smooth and
nowhere tangent to E Moreover
(11) KF middot E = minusE2
And we distinguish cases
bull E2 gt 0 so KF is not pseudo-effective a contradiction
bull E2 lt 0 so the initial curve C is contractible a contradiction
bull E2 = 0 which we proceed to analyze
The following is what we need to handle the third case
Proposition IIVI15 Let (X F ) be a foliation with canonical singularities with
X a smooth 2-dimensional DM stack with projective moduli and KF nef If there
exists a smooth curve E everywhere transverse to F such that KF middot E = E2 = 0
then E moves in a pencil and defines a fibration p X rarr B onto a curve whose
fibers intersect KF trivially
Proof If KF has Kodaira dimension one then its linear system contains an effective
divisor and by Hodge index KF = cE as divisors for some c isin Q+ Hence there is
a fibration onto a curve with fiber E and F is transverse to it by assumption If
KF has Kodaira dimension zero we use the classification IIV1 in all cases but the
suspension over an elliptic curve E defines a product structure on the underlying
surface in the case of a suspension every section of the underlying projective bundle
is clearly F -invariant Therefore E is a fiber of the bundle
This concludes the proof of the Theorem
We remark that the second alternative in the above theorem is rather natural
let (X F ) be a foliation which is transverse to a fibration by rational or elliptic
curves ie a suspension over elliptic curve turbolent Riccati or isotrivial Pick a
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 23
general fiber E of the fibration and blow up any number of points on it The proper
transform E is certainly contractible By Proposition IIVI4 the contraction of E is
Gorenstein and log-canonical Moreover the fiber E has been replaced by a union of
compatible log-chains Note in particular that the number of log-chains appearing
is arbitrary
Corollary IIVI16 Let X be a proper DM stack of dimension 2 and F a Goren-
stein foliation with log-canonical singularities Assume that KF is big and pseudo-
effective Then there exists a birational morphism p X rarr X0 such that C is
exceptional if and only if KF middot C le 0 In particular KF0 is numerically ample
For future applications we spell out
Corollary IIVI17 Hypothesis as in Theorem IIVI14 assume further that X
is everywhere smooth Then in the second alternative of the theorem the fibration
p X rarr B is by rational curves
Proof Indeed in this case the curve E which appears in the proof above as the
exceptional locus for the resolution of the log-canonical singularity at lowast must be
rational By the previous Proposition p is defined by a pencil in |E|
IIVII Set-up In this subsection we prepare the set-up we will deal with in the
rest of the manuscript Briefly we want to handle the existence of canonical models
for a family of foliated surfaces parametrized by a one-dimensional base To this
end we will discuss the modular behavior of singularities of foliated surfaces with
Gorenstein singularities recall McQuillan-Panazzolorsquos resolution of foliation singu-
larities building on the existence of minimal models [McQ05] prepare the set-up
for the sequel
Let us begin with the modular behavior of Gorenstein singularities
Proposition IIVII1 Let (X F ) be a smooth DM stack with a foliation by
curves Assume there exists a flat proper morphism p X rarr C onto an algebraic
curve such that F restricts to a foliation on every fiber of p Then the set
(12) s isin C Fs is log-canonical
24 FEDERICO BUONERBA
is Zariski-open while the set
(13) s isin C Fs is canonical
is the complement to a countable subset of C lying on a real-analytic curve
Proof By Fact IIIII2 being log-canonical is equivalent to the linearized endomor-
phism part IZI2Z rarr IZI
2Z being non-nilpotent where Z is the singular sub-scheme
of the foliation Of course being non-nilpotent is a Zariski open condition The
second statement also follows from opcit since a log-canonical singularity which is
not canonical has linearization with all its eigenvalues positive and rational The
statement is optimal as shown by the vector field on A3xys
(14) part(s) =part
partx+ s
part
party
Next we recall the existence of a functorial canonical resolution of foliation singu-
larities for foliations by curves on 3-dimensional stacks
Fact IIVII2 [MP13] Let X = (XDF ) be a 3-dimensional DM stack with bound-
ary foliated by curves Then there exists a proper birational morphism Xprime rarr X such
that X prime is a smooth DM stack and F prime has only canonical foliation singularities
The original opcit contains a more refined statement including a detailed de-
scription of the claimed birational morphism
In order for our set-up to make sense we mention one last very important result
Fact IIVII3 [McQ05] Let X be a smooth DM stack with projective moduli and F
a foliation by curves with (log)canonical singularities Then there exists a birational
map X 99K Xm obtained as a composition of flips such that Xm is a smooth
DM stack with projective moduli the birational transform Fm has (log)canonical
singularities and one of the following happens
bull KFm is nef or
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 25
bull There exists a fibration Xm rarr B over a smooth base whose fibers are
weighted projective spaces such that Fm is tangent to the fibers and restricts
to a radial foliation on those
Finally we can organize our notation
Set-up IIVII4 (X F ) is a smooth 3-dimensional DM stack with projective mod-
uli F a foliation by curves with canonical singularities such that KF is big and nef
There exists a semi-stable morphism p X rarr ∆ whose moduli is projective onto
the (formal) unit disk F restricts to a foliation on every fiber of p it has canon-
ical singularities on the very general fiber of p and log-canonical singularities on
every fiber of p Our task from now on is to analyze and contract the maximal
foliation-invariant sub-scheme of X along which KF is not ample
III Invariant curves and singularities local description
In this section we give a complete decription of germs of invariant curves that
appear in the formal completion of any point in the set-up IIVII4 Let us replace
X by its formal completion in a point lowast where the foliation is singular F is defined
by a vector field part with Jordan decomposition partS + partN see the end of subsection
IIIII Since [partS partN ] = 0 partN preserves the eigenspaces of partS Moreover the fact that
F is tangent to p translates into
(15) partS(p) = partN(p) = 0
The description of invariant germs of curves through lowast will be achieved via case-by-
case analysis organized by computing what happens for all possible combinations
of the following informations whether the singular locus Z is isolated at lowast the
number of eigenvalues of partS the number of components of the fiber through p
IIII sing(F ) not isolated
ni (1) partS has one eigenvalue
bull We have partS = x partpartx
and partN = f partparty
+ g partpartz
for some functions f g isin (y z)
Moreover partN is non-trivial
26 FEDERICO BUONERBA
bull Z = (x = f = g = 0) is not isolated
(a) The fiber has one component y = 0 Then 0 = partN(y) = f hence
Z = (x = g = 0) The restriction on the fiber is part|(y=0) = x partpartx
+g|(y=0)partpartz
Z has a one-dimensional component contained in the fiber iff g isin (y) in
which case such component is smooth equal to (x = 0) moreover the
foliation on the fiber saturates to a smooth one with invariant curves
z = 0 transverse to Z
Otherwise the foliation is saturated on the fiber and has a saddle-node
singularity
(b) The fiber has two components yz = 0 Then 0 = partN(yz) = zf + yg
hence f = yh g = minuszh for some h and Z = (x = h = 0) The restriction
on a fiber component say y = 0 is part|(y=0) = x partpartxminus zh|(y=0)
partpartz
Z has an
irreducible component contained in y = 0 iff h isin (y) in which case such
component is smooth equal to (x = 0) moreover the foliation on the
fiber saturates to a smooth one with invariant curves z = 0 transverse
to Z
Otherwise the foliation is saturated on the fiber and has a saddle-node
singularity
(c) The fiber has three components xyz = 0 0 = partS(xyz) = xyz a contra-
diction
Summary with one eigenvalue there are either one or two components The
foliation might have a one-dimensional singularity when restricted to a fiber
component in this case such singularity is a smooth curve and the foliation
saturates to a smooth one with invariant curves transverse to the singular-
ity If the singularity is isolated on a fiber component then it is a canonical
saddle-node with at most two invariant branches
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 27
ni (2) partS has two eigenvalues
We have partS = x partpartx
+ λy partparty
and partN(x y z) = k partpartx
+ f partparty
+ g partpartz
for some func-
tions k f g
(a) The fiber has one component z = 0 Then g = 0 k f isin (x y) and
necessarily Z = (x = y = 0) is transverse to the fiber The restriction on
the fiber is saturated and non-degenerate It has canonical singularities
if either partN 6= 0 or λ isin Q+ otherwise it is log-canonical
(b) The fiber has two components xy = 0 Then 0 = partS(xy) hence λ = minus1
Also 0 = partN(xy) hence k = xh f = minusyh g isin (xy) and necessarily
Z = (x = y = 0) coincides with the intersection of the two fiber compo-
nents which is smooth the foliation saturates to a smooth one on each
component with invariant curves transverse to Z
(c) The fiber has three components xyz = 0 hence λ = minus1 Also k = xklowast
f = yf lowast g = zglowast with klowast + f lowast + glowast = 0 and glowast isin (xy) The singularity
Z = (x = y = 0) coincides with the intersection of two of the fiber
components The restriction to either such components saturates to a
smooth foliation with invariant curves transverse to Z the restriction
to z = 0 has a canonical non-degenerate singularity all the invariant
curves are those in xy = 0 transverse to Z
Summary with 2 eigenvalues there can be any number of components With
one component the foliation restricts to a saturated one with a (log)canonical
singularity which moves transversely to p With two components the folia-
tion is not saturated on either and saturates to a smooth one with invariant
curves transverse to the singularity With three components the foliation
is not saturated on two of them and saturates to a smooth one on both
with invariant curves transverse to the singularity the foliation is saturated
and has a canonical non-degenerate singularity on the third component In
28 FEDERICO BUONERBA
the last two cases the singularity is fully contained in an intersection of two
components
ni (3) partS has three eigenvalues But then the singularity is isolated a contradiction
IIIII sing(F ) isolated
i (1) partS has one eigenvalue
bull We have partS = x partpartx
and partN = xk partpartx
+ f partparty
+ g partpartz
for some functions
k f g isin (y z) Moreover partN is non-trivial
bull Z = (x = f = g = 0) is isolated
(a) The fiber has one component y = 0 Then 0 = partN(y) = f and Z cannot
be isolated a contradiction
(b) The fiber has two components yz = 0 Then 0 = partN(yz) = zf + yg so
f = yh g = minuszh with h non-constant Hence Z = (x = h = 0) is not
isolated a contradiction
(c) The fiber has three components xyz = 0 Then 0 = partS(xyz) = xyz a
contradiction
Summary the 1 eigenvalue case does not exist
i (2) partS has two eigenvalues
bull We have partS = x partpartx
+ λy partparty
partN = xk partpartx
+ f partparty
+ g partpartz
for some functions
k f g
bull g is non-trivial and g isin (x y)
bull Z = (x = y = g = 0) is isolated
(a) The fiber has one component z = 0 Then g = 0 a contradiction
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 29
(b) The fiber has two components xy = 0 hence λ = minus1 and g isin (xy z)
the restriction to y = 0 is part|(y=0) = x partpartx
+g|(y=0)partpartz
and necessarily g|(y=0)
is non-vanishing Therefore the restriction to either components is satu-
rated and the singularity is a canonical saddle-node on each of them
The invariant curves are among the axes x = y = 0 x = z = 0 y = z =
0
(c) The fiber has three components xyz = 0 hence λ = minus1 Necessarily
k = xklowast f = yf lowast g = zglowast with klowast + f lowast + glowast = 0 The restriction to
y = 0 is part|(y=0) = x(1 + klowast|(y=0))partpartx
+ zglowast|(y=0)partpartz
since g isin (x y) we have
glowast|(y=0) non-trivial Therefore the restriction to either x = 0 and y = 0
is saturated and the singularity is a canonical saddle-node on each of
them
The restriction to z = 0 is part|(z=0) = x(1 + klowast|(z=0))partpartx
+ y(minus1 + f lowast|(z=0))partparty
therefore the restriction is saturated and has a canonical non-degenerate
singularity
The invariant curves are among the axes x = y = 0 x = z = 0 y = z =
0
Summary with 2 eigenvalues there are either two or three components the
foliation restricts to a canonical saddle-node on two of them and to a non-
degenerate singularity on the third one if it exists All the invariant curves
are in the axes
i (3) partS has three eigenvalues We have partS = x partpartx
+ λy partparty
+ microz partpartz
(a) The fiber has one component y = 0 hence λ = 0 a contradiction
(b) The fiber has two components xy = 0 hence λ = minus1 The restriction to
y = 0 is part|(y=0) = x partpartx
+ microz partpartz
+ partN|(y=0) The singularity is log-canonical
30 FEDERICO BUONERBA
iff micro isin Qgt0 and partN|(y=0)= 0 and in this case the singularity on x = 0 is
canonical non-degenerate Invariant curves are those in y = 0 and the
axis x = z = 0
If the restriction to both fiber components is canonical then it non-
degenerate on both and the invariant curves are contained in the axes
x = y = 0 x = z = 0 y = z = 0
The fiber could be yz = 0 hence λ+micro = 0 It can be analyzed as in the
next item
(c) The fiber has three components xyz = 0 hence 1 + λ + micro = 0 In par-
ticular if λ = cmicro c isin Q+ then λ micro isin Q The restriction to y = 0
is part|(y=0) = x partpartx
+ microz partpartz
+ partN|(y=0) This singularity is log-canonical iff
micro isin Qgt0 and partN|(y=0)= 0 in which case the singularity on both x = 0
and z = 0 is canonical non-degenerate In particular if the singularity
is log-canonical on some fiber component then it is so on exactly one
component and all eigenvalues are rational Invariant curves are those
in y = 0 and the axis x = z = 0
If the restriction to all fiber components is canonical then it non-degenerate
on each of them and the invariant curves are contained in the axes
x = y = 0 x = z = 0 y = z = 0
Summary with 3 eigenvalues there are either two or three fiber components
the foliation restricts to a singular foliation on each of them and it has a
log-canonical singularity on at most one of them in this case all eigenvalues
of the semi-simple field are rational
IIIIII Local consequences We list some corollaries for future reference As al-
ways in this section the statements are local so everything happens in a formal
neighborhood of our point lowast First we state those corollaries we will need to describe
configurations of KF -nil curves
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 31
Definition IIIIII1 An LC-center Π sub X is an irreducible F -invariant formal
hypersurface such that the local vector field generating the foliation when restricted
to Π has semi-simple part with log-canonical singularity or a one-dimensional sin-
gular locus An LC-center with a log-canonical singularity is necessarily an algebraic
component of the singular fiber of p
Corollary IIIIII2 There is at most one LC-center with a log-canonical singularity
through lowast If it exists then all eigenvalues of the semi-simple field at lowast are rational
If there are at least two LC-centers through lowast then there are exactly two and the
foliation singularity is a smooth curve on each of them
Proof Possible cases in which an LC-center with log-canonical singularities appears
ni (2)a i (3)b i (3)c
Corollary IIIIII3 If there is no LC-center thorugh a point lowast then there are at
most three invariant curves through lowast all smooth Any number of them spans a sub-
space of the tangent space at lowast of maximal possible dimension
If there is an LC-center through lowast then there is at most one invariant curve through
lowast and not contained in the LC-center
If there is an LC-center with non-isolated singularity then the singularity is smooth
and all invariant curves contained in the LC-center intersect the singularity trans-
versely
Proof Invariant curves not in an LC-centers with log-canonical singularities are con-
tained in the three axes x = z = 0 x = y = 0 y = z = 0 mentioned in the above
classification The other statements are clear
Corollary IIIIII4 If p is smooth at lowast then Z is one dimensional around lowast
Proof Possible casesni (1)a ni (2)a
In particular if there is no LC-center the situation is the familiary
xz
32 FEDERICO BUONERBA
While if there is an LC-center (pink) with log-canonical singularity it will look like
y
LC-center
While if there is an LC-center with non-isolated singularity (red) it will look like
(the black arrows being invariant curves)
y
LC-center
The next corollary describes one-dimensional components of the foliation singularity
Corollary IIIIII5 If Z0 is a one-dimensional irreducible component of the folia-
tion singularity then it is at worst nodal The foliation when restricted to any fiber
component containing Z0 saturates to a smooth foliation in a neighborhood of Z0
and all the invariant curves are transverse to Z0
If Z0 is contained in exactly one fiber component then the semi-simple field has one
eigenvalue everywhere along Z0
If Z0 lies at the intersection of two fiber components then the semi-simple field has
two constant eigenvalues everywhere along Z0
Moreover if there exist a sequence of invariant curves converging in the compact-
open topology to Z0 then there is generically one eigenvalue along Z0
Proof Possible casesni (1)a ni (1)b ni (2)b ni (2)c Concerning the one-
eigenvalue case invariant curves converging to Z0 can be found in the formal hyper-
surface x = 0
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 33
IV Invariant curves along which KF vanishes
In this section we study in great detail a formal neighborhood of invariant curves
where KF is numerically trivial In the first subsection we deal with KF -nil curves
namely those whose generic point is not contained in the foliation singularity In this
case the normal bundle to the curve determines its formal neighborhood uniquely
and this has plenty of amazing consequences In the second subsection we study
those invariant curves which are contained in the foliation singularity In this case
we are not able to control the full formal neighborhood but important informations
can still be obtained
IVI KF -nil curves In this subsection we study in detail the structure of KF -
nil curves and their formal neighborhoods appearing in the set-up IIVII4 In
particular we will describe a simple process to replace cuspidal KF -nil curves by
net ones prove that the foliation is in the net completion around a net KF -nil curve
defined by a global vector field which admits a global Jordan decomposition deduce
that eigenfunctions for the semi-simple component of such field are also globally
defined on a formal neighborhood
The first important remark is of technical nature and explains how to deal with non-
net KF -nil curves By Proposition IIIV4 this is indeed possible and the images of
such curves will acquire cusp-like singularities It is hard to analyze the geometry
of F around such cuspidal curves and therefore necessary to remove them Let us
assume that C is simply connected with rational moduli f is ramified at 0 isin C
and and denote by X the formal completion along f(C) Then formally around
f(0) the curve f(C) has defining ideal (y xa minus zb) where y = 0 is a fiber of the
fibration p X rarr ∆ containing f(C) x z isin H0(X OX ) restrict to suitable local
coordinates on such fiber and a b ge 2 are coprime integers
Claim IVI1 Let r X ( aradicz = 0) rarr X be the a-th root of z = 0 III3 Then
(rlowastC)norm =∐a
1 C and the induced map rlowastf (rlowastC)norm rarrX ( aradicz = 0) is net
Proof Since r is etale away from z = 0 also rlowastC rarr C is etale away from 0 isin C
Since C 0 is simply connected we have rlowastC rminus1(0) =∐a
1 C 0 This proves
34 FEDERICO BUONERBA
the first statement Let ζ be a function on X ( aradicz = 0) such that ζa = z so then
rlowast(xa minus zb) =prod
ηa=1(x minus ηζb) Every branch is net in 0 and we obtain the second
statement as well
As such upon taking roots we can replace non-net KF -nil invariant curves with
rational moduli by net ones
We now proceed to study net KF -nil curves We will show that the foliation is
defined by a global vector field around a net KF -nil curve with rational moduli and
that such vector field admits a global Jordan decomposition
Proposition IVI2 Notation as in the set-up IIVII4 let f C rarrX be a KF -nil
curve Assume that f is net and let j C rarr C be the net completion along f Then
there exists an isomorphism
(16) OC(KF )simminusrarr OC
In particular there exists a global vector field partf on C that generates F
Proof Since C has rational moduli and is simply connected it has infinite-cyclic
Picard group and we have an isomorphism
(17) OC(KF )simminusrarr OC
Moreover we have a non-canonical splitting of the normal bundle Njsimminusrarr O(minusn) oplus
O(minusm) and we claim that both nm ge 0 Indeed consider the induced semi-stable
fibration C rarr ∆ and let F be the normalization of an irreducible component of a
fiber such that C sub F Consider the exact sequence
(18) 0rarr NCF rarr Nj rarr NFC|C rarr 0
Since KF is nef NCF is not ample since F is a fiber of a fibration also NFC|C is
not ample and this is enough to conclude even though nm may be different from
the degrees of such normal bundles
At this point we can lift the isomorphism 17 over infinitesimal neighborhoods of j
Indeed for every k ge 0 we have an exact sequence
(19) 0rarr Symk ICI2C rarr OCk+1
(KF )rarr OCk(KF )rarr 0
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 35
which shows that the obstruction to lifting the isomorphism lies in
(20) H1(C Symk ICI2C) = H1(C Symk(O(n)oplus O(m))) = 0
From this we can deduce
Proposition IVI3 The vector field partf admits a Jordan decomposition uniformly
along C
Proof The cohomology sequence attached to 19 is
(21) 0rarr H0(C Symk ICI2C)rarr H0(COCk+1
)rarr H0(COCk)rarr 0
Let partk+1 denote the image of partf in End(H0(COCk+1)) Looking at
H0(COCk+1) minusminusminusrarr H0(COCk
)
partk+1
y partk
yH0(COCk+1
) minusminusminusrarr H0(COCk)
we see the canonical Jordan deomposition of partk+1 restricts to that of partk
The above result describes a very useful interplay between normal bundles to
KF -nil curves and the structure of the semi-simple field It turns out that these
informations determine formal neighborhoods uniquely For simplicity let C be
an irreducible component of C without orbifold points Let us assume that part|C is
singular in 0infin Then there exist formal functions x y z at 0 isin C and ξ η ζ at
infin isin C such that x ξ are coordinates along C y η are local sections of OC(minusn)
so η = xny mod(I2C) z ζ are local sections of OC(minusm) so ζ = xmz mod(I2C)
Normalizing so that xminus1partS(x) = ε isin 0 1 we obtain
(22) part0S = εxpart
partx+ λy
part
party+ microz
part
partz partinfinS = minusεξ part
partξ+ (λ+ εn)η
part
partη+ (micro+ εm)ζ
part
partζ
More generally ie C = P1(d e) we have glueing rules x = te ξ = tminusd η = tny and
ζ = tmz mod(I2C) Normalizing so that tminus1partS(t) = ε isin 0 1 we obtain
(23) part0S = eεxpart
partx+ λy
part
party+ microz
part
partz partinfinS = minusdεξ part
partξ+ (λ+ εn)η
part
partη+ (micro+ εm)ζ
part
partζ
36 FEDERICO BUONERBA
It is worth remarking that the above relations hold between eigenvalues at the two
singular point of singular ie nodal or cuspidal KF -nil curves as well this is
easily seen by taking a root followed by net completion and keeping track of the
eigenvalues
Definition IVI4 Let C be a KF -nil curve The foliation singular points along C
are called ends
As well as the existence of Hilbert scheme in the following form
Fact IVI5 Let W sub Xlowast be a curve and D a divisor in the formal neighborhood
of W such that W = D capXlowast scheme-theoretically Then W moves in D
In what follows our main concern is to understand formal neighborhoods of KF -
nil curves Observe that the fibration p when restricted to the formal neighborhood
of such curves provides at least one eigenfunction of the semi-simple field Hence
in order to compute the width IIII we must study the behavior of the other eigen-
function on infinitesimal neighborhoods We first describe the situation inside the
smooth locus of p
Proposition IVI6 (Smooth fiber) Let f C rarrX be an irreducible KF -nil curve
which is contained in the smooth locus of a fiber Xlowast of p Then the end(s) on C are
flat over ∆ ni (1)b and ni (1)a with z2|g(y z) and C moves in a family flat over
∆
Proof Let us assume that f is net Then upon passing to net completion we can
actually assume it is embedded From our local classification of singularities we case
in case ni (1)a and ni (2)a We want to show that both ends have components
that move transversely to p hence we have to exclude case ni (1)a with g(y z) = ya
By way of contradiction say we have g(y z) = ya in the notation of opcit around
an end lowast isin C We proceed to compute what happens at the other end we find
formal coordinates ξ η ζ which by equation 23 satisfy
(24) ξ = xminus1 η = y ζ = xmz mod(I2C)
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 37
As such we compute part(ζ) = mζ + ξminusmηa mod(I2C) which is holomorphic if and only
if m le 0 so then C moves in Xlowast contradicting that the foliation has general type
Hence we are in cases ni (1)a ni (2)a with g = microyazb b ge 1
(25) part0 = xpart
partx+ microyazb
part
partz partinfin = minusξ part
partξ+ ζ(m+ microξm(bminus1)ηaζbminus1)
part
partζ(mod(I2C))
Following notation from subsection IIII observe that C1 is the section of E1C which
is disjoint from the proper transform of the fiber of p In coordinates over 0
(26) x1 = x y1 = y z1 = zyminus1
And similarly over infin Using the previous equation and 25 on C1 we find
(27)
part01 = x1part
partx1+microya+bminus11 zb1
part
partz1 partinfin1 = minusξ1
part
partξ1+ζ1(m+microξ
m(bminus1)1 ηa+bminus11 ζbminus11 )
part
partζ1(mod(I2C1
))
In particular the transform of the nilpotent field is still nilpotent after blowing up in
C It follows that the eigenvalues of the semi-simple field at the two ends of C and
C1 are the same Using equation 23 we deduce that the normal bundle to C1X1 to
isomorphic to that of CX in particular it contains a trivial direct summand This
proves that width(C) =infin
Next we show that f must be net Consider the induced flat projection pD D rarr ∆
its general fiber cannot be a cuspidal curve since along such cusp the foliation sin-
gularity would be log-canonical but not canonical Hence if C has a cusp necessarily
the general fiber of pD is a nodal curve Let X rarr X denote the blow up of the
nodal locus of pD with exceptional divisor E ruled over ∆ In a neighborhood of E
we have sing(F ) = D cap E which projects to ∆ as a double cover ramified over lowastObserve that the foliation on Xlowast is again log-canonical and not canonical hence its
local structure is ni (2)a In that case however p is unramified along the foliation
singularity Contradiction
We state a general criterion for movability of KF -nil curves
Proposition IVI7 Let C be a connected KF -nil curve such that p(C ) = lowast isin ∆
Assume its dual graph is a chain that none of its irreducible components is double
38 FEDERICO BUONERBA
VI3 and that its two extremal ends are flat over ∆ Then C moves in a family flat
over ∆ and each of its irreducible components is embedded
Proof We work in a formal neighborhood of C After taking roots we can assume
C is net and since its dual graph is a chain it is actually embedded We proceed by
induction on its length l where the case l = 1 is Proposition IVI6 For l gt 1 let C1
be a component of C which is extremal in its dual graph If C1 moves transversely
to p then both its ends do and hence we can apply the induction hypothesis to
C C1 If C1 is rigid then it can be flopped It is straightforward to check that we
can apply the induction hypothesis to the transform C + C+1 and we are done
Now we deal with rigid curves inside the singular fiber
Proposition IVI8 (Singular fiber) Let f C rarr X be an embedded net KF -
nil curve with anti-ample normal bundle Then there exists a birational map φ
(X F ) 99K (X +F+) and a KF+-nil curve C+ such that
bull φ is an isomorphism away from C+
bull In a formal neighborhood of at least one among C and C+ there exist two
invariant hypersurfaces D1D2 locally defined by the vanishing of eigenfunc-
tions of the semi-simple field such that C (resp C+)= D1 capD2
bull If F middot C lt 0 for some hypersurface F then F+ middot C+ gt 0 In particular X +
is projective
Such φ is called flop
Proof Our assumption is that Nfsimminusrarr O(minusn)oplusO(minusm) is anti-ample namely nm gt
0 If two invariant hypersurfaces as in our statement do exist around C the flop is
easily constructed as a weighted blow-up followed by a weighted blow-down As such
let us assume that such hypersurfaces do not exist around C In particular C is not
double VI3 By [Ar70] there exists a formal contraction c X rarrX0 collapsing C
to a point and an isomorphism everywhere else By Proposition IVI3 the foliation
F0 is Gorenstein around the node of X0 For ease of exposition let us assume
n = m = 1 the general case is handled the same way only the notation becomes more
cumbersome due to the presence of weights The node has embedding dimension 4
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 39
and in suitable local coordinates x0 y0 w0 z0 can be defined by x0z0minusy0w0 = 0 The
morphism c can be identified with the blow up of the embedded surface (x0 = y0 = 0)
Explicitly in the chart y = y0 x = x0yminus10 it is defined by
(28) y0 = y x0 = xy z0 = zprime w0 = xzprime
Here x is a coordinate along C while y = 0 is the pull-back of (x0 = y0 = 0) and
zprime some function in the normal bundle to C By the previous Proposition IVI6
we know C cannot be contained in the smooth locus of p Since C is not double
we can assume that in this local chart p is defined by (x y zprime) rarr xy - the case
(x y zprime) rarr xzprime being isomorphic as it is isomorphic to blow-up (z0 = w0 = 0)
instead of (x0 = y0 = 0) The issue is as emphasized by the notation zprime 6= z that
zprime may fail to be an eigenfunction for partS if it were we would be done since zprime = 0
is the local equation for the global pullback of (z0 = w0 = 0) However we have
a b isin C such that
(29) partS0(y0) = minusy0 partS0(x0) = 0 partS0(z0) = ay0 + bz0 partS0(w0) = ax0 + (b+ 1)w0
Observe that the embedded surfaces D01 = (y0 = z0 = 0) and D0
2 = (x0 = w0 = 0)
are both foliation invariant As such let b X + rarr X0 denote the blow-up of X0
along D01 - which is isomorphic to that along D0
2 - and let Di = blowastD0i i = 1 2
Finally X + is projective by Nakai-Moishezon Indeed every C with anti-ample
normal bundle is contained in an irreducible component F of X0 such that F middotC lt 0
Then F+ middot C+ gt 0 and we can find an ample divisor of the form H+ + εF+ where
H+ is the proper transform of an ample on X
Remark IVI9 In the previous proof a 6= b+ 1 Indeed such identity would create
a non-trivial Jordan block of partS0 in the (x0 w0)-plane thus contradicting the semi-
simplicity of partS0 In particular by a straightforward computation it is impossible to
find eigenfunctions of the form wlowast0 = w0 + αx0 zlowast0 = z0 + βy0 with x0z
lowast0 minus y0wlowast0 = 0
unless a = 0
We can conclude by pointing out an important point understood in this section
A painful aspect of the theory is that log-canonical singularities which appear natu-
rally as analytic degenerations of canonical ones come along with cuspidal invariant
40 FEDERICO BUONERBA
curves There is in particular no a-priori obstruction to the existence of rigid
cuspidal KF -nil curves in a smooth fiber of our family of foliated surfaces p Quite
generally a rigid curve of positive arithmetic genus in a smooth family of surfaces can
never be contracted to a point Therefore this would have been a counter-example
to any reasonable foliated canonical model theory one may wish to achieve Fortu-
nately such phenomenon does not happen and this establishes the Main Theorem I
modulo finitely many rigid curves confined in the singular fiber X0
IVII Invariant curves inside sing(F ) In this subsection we study curves Z0 subeXlowast cap sing(F ) which are inside the foliation singularity and invariant By this we
mean that there exists a sequence fn Cn rarrX of not necessarily algebraic invariant
curves converging in the compact-open topology to Z0 In other words the map
(30) NorF rarr Ω1Z0
is trivial By Corollary IIIIII5 we know that Z0 is at worst nodal it is smooth
wherever p is smooth for every point z isin Z0 the semi-simple part of the gener-
ating vector field has exactly one eigenvalue The problem here is that the Jordan
decomposition need not extend uniformly along Z0 not even along an irreducible
component In case ni (1)a the functions x and g may develop essential singulari-
ties arbitrary close to z Nonetheless the function x is unique and this says that x
does extend along Z0
Proposition IVII1 Let Z0 be as above Then in a formal neighborhood of Z0
there exists a unique smooth invariant hypersurface D0 containing Z0 which restricts
around any point in Z0 to the unique eigenfunction for the semi-simple field whose
eigenvalue is non-zero
Proof The local structure of the foliation around a point z isin Z0 is described by
cases ni (1)a and ni (1)b In both cases partS has one non-zero eigenvalue with
eigenfunction x Such eigenfunction x is a-priori only defined in the normal bundle to
Z0 but it is clear that the equation partx = x has a unique up to constants solution in
the formal completion around z As such there exists a unique smooth hypersurface
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 41
D0 in the formal completion around Z0 which restricts to the eigenfunction x around
z
Observe that the previous argument goes through since we are assuming Z0 subX0
Keeping notations from case ni (1)a if say g(y z) = yz then in the hypersurface
y equiv q isin Qgt0 the foliation has a log-canonical singularity and the eigenfunction x
extends highly non-uniquely to a formal neighborhood of the point (x y z) = (0 q 0)
In particular the existence of D0 as in the previous Proposition might fail along
the component (x = z = 0) of the foliation singularity This phenomenon is called
the beast
Anyway uniqueness in the previous proposition yields
Corollary IVII2 Let Z prime be a connected invariant curve inside sing(F ) Then in
a formal neighborhood of Z prime there exists a unique smooth invariant hypersurface D prime
containing Z prime which restricts around any point in Z prime to the hypersurface constructed
in the previous proposition
Next we turn to the intrinsic structure of invariant singular curves
Proposition IVII3 Let Z0 be an irreducible invariant curve inside sing(F )
Then Z0 is smooth and rational
Proof We work in a formal neighborhood of Z0 Let F0 denote the unique component
of X0 containing Z0 For any other fiber component F intersecting Z0 non-trivially
blow-up the invariant curve F cap F0 with exceptional divisor EF A straightforward
computation using the local formula ni (1)b shows that the fiber of the natural
projection EF rarr F cap F0 intersecting Z0 is also contained in sing(F ) For Z prime the
maximal connected singular invariant curve containing Z0 let G denote the saturated
foliation induced on D prime It is canonical with reduced singularities and it satisfies
KG = KF |Dprime minus Zprime By adjunction
(31) 2g(Z0)minus 2 + sZG(Z0) = minusZ prime middot Z0
Observe that thanks to our initial sequence of blow-ups the singularities of G along
Z0 coincide with the intersection of Z0 and Z prime Z0 In particular since D prime is formally
42 FEDERICO BUONERBA
flat over ∆ we deduce Z prime middot Z0 = 0 and the previous formula becomes
(32) 2g(Z0)minus 2 + sZG(Z0) = 0
This implies that Z0 is rational or elliptic If Z0 were elliptic then sZG(Z0) = 0 and
D0 defines an invariant elliptic curve in the general fiber of p By Baum-Bott this
contradicts that KF is big and nef Now we show that Z0 is smooth If it has a node
then D0 moves it in a family of nodal rational curves flat over ∆ In particular D0
itself has a node in codimension 1 hence Xlowast is smooth around the node of Z0 In its
formal neighborhood the foliation must be as in case ni (1)a which implies that
Z0 is smooth contradiction
We can improve as follows
Proposition IVII4 Let Z prime sube sing F capXlowast be a connected invariant curve with
KF middot Z prime = 0 Then its dual graph is a chain
Proof Assume Z prime is a cycle Then necessarily Z prime = D prime capXlowast scheme-theoretically
and by the existence of Hilbert scheme Z prime moves in the general fiber Its general
member is either a cycle of smooth rational curves or an elliptic curve Arguing as
in the previous proof we see that both options are impossible
V Configurations
In this section we analyze in great detail all possible configurations of invariant
curves along which KF vanishes These can be divided into three groups those
that do not move those that move in a one-dimensional family covering a surface
those that move in a higher-dimensional family covering a surface Curves in the first
group can form rather complicated configurations while those in the second group
are more simple they either move in the general fiber or they cover an isolated
Riccati component in the singular fiber Those in the third group turn out to be
represented by the two rulings of P1timesP1 if they happen to be cohomologous in the
ambient stack First we will analyze rigid curves then those which move and finally
we will describe their configurations
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 43
VI Configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially In
this subsection we describe configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF
trivially which arise in the situation described by set-up IIVII4
First we focus on KF -nil curves At the end of the section we deal with the simpler
case in which a curve in the configuration is fully contained in sing(F ) The general
fiber was handled in Proposition IVI6
Proposition VI1 Let C be a connected KF -nil curve contained in the smooth
locus of a fiber of p Then it is a chain or a cycle and it moves in a family flat over
∆
In what follows we let C denote a connected KF -nil curve contained in the
singular fiber X0 all of whose sub-curves are rigid in X Observe a consequence of
equation 23
Proposition VI2 Let C = cupiCi be a connected KF -nil curve Then the eigen-
values of partS are all rational at every point of sing(F )capC if and only if they are all
rational at one point
We can deduce many non-trivial properties about configurations of KF -nil curves
First we need
Definition VI3 Let C subX0 be a curve It is called double if there exists formally
around C two components F F prime of X0 such that C = F cap F prime A point lowast isin C where
three fiber components intersect is called a triple point If C lies on exactly one fiber
component it is called non-double We denote by F (C) such component
Remark VI4 Let Csimminusrarr P1(d e) be double with two triple points Then we know
e+ λ+ micro = minusd+ (λ+ n) + (micro+m) = 0 whence we obtain
(33) n+m = d+ e
Which is called triple-point formula
Next we show that essentially KF -nil curves do not form cycles unless something
deforms in X0 First we show that there are no cycles of rigid non-double curves
44 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proposition VI5 Let C be a connected KF -nil curve contained in the singular
fiber X0 of p Assume that every component of C is non-double and that every
sub-curve is rigid Then C contains no cycles
Proof We work in a formal neighborhood of C which we assume is a cycle Let
us first consider the case in which all components C1 middot middot middot CN are smooth with no
orbifold points and denote lowasti = Ci cap Ci+1 with CN+1 = C1 Moreover let us
assume no lowasti lies in the smooth locus of p
Since no curve is double the semi-simple field at every lowasti is as in case i (3)b in
particular the eigenvalues along the branches of Ci and Ci+1 add up to zero More-
over let minusni denote the self-intersection of Ci sub F (Ci) Normalize the eigenvalues
of partS so that at lowastn they are 1 in the C1 direction minus1 in the CN direction λ in the
F (C1)capF (CN) direction It follows by induction that at lowasti the eigenvalues are minus1
in the Ci direction 1 in the Ci+1 direction λ+ n1 + middot middot middot+ ni in the F (Ci) cap F (Ci+1)
direction After traveling around the cycle we obtain n1+middot middot middot+nN = 0 contradicting
that ni gt 0 for every i
We established the Proposition assuming every Ci is an embedded scheme and ev-
ery lowasti is in the singular locus of p The case in which Cisimminusrarr P1(di ei) has orbifold
points is analogous we end up with a combination c1n1 + middot middot middot + cNnN = 0 with ci
the eigenvalue at lowasti in the Ci+1 direction Normalizing so that c1 = e1 gt 0 again by
induction on i we see that every ci isin Qgt0 Next we show that our assumption on lowastiis always satisfied
Claim VI6 Every lowasti must belong to the singular locus of p
Proof We give two essentially equivalent proofs
bull If N = 2 3 then the previous argument goes through indeed we can normal-
ize eigenvalues at lowasti to be negative in the Ciminus1 direction and positive in the
Ci-direction and argue as above Hence we can assume N ge 4 If say lowasti is in
the smooth locus of p then F (Ci) = F (Ci+1) If also F (Ciminus1) = F (Ci) then Ci
lies in the smooth locus of p and hence it moves Therefore F (Ciminus1) 6= F (Ci)
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 45
and Ciminus1 can be flopped inside F (Ci) Since N ge 4 this preserves the smooth-
ness of F (Ci) and Ci is now is the smooth locus of p - contradiction
bull If lowasti belongs to the smooth locus of p then the end through lowasti moves We
can form a partial net completion fi Xi rarrX by normalizing C in lowasti only
Then f lowasti C is a chain with movable ends and hence moves in the general fiber
of p fi
Finally the general case in which some among the Ci have cusps can be easily
reduced to the smooth case in a couple of ways
bull Eigenvalues at the singularities of any KF -nil curve satisfy the same relations
as in the smooth case
bull Upon taking roots and net completion we can find a foliated formal 3-fold
supported on a cycle of smooth KF -nil curves which is a ramified cover of a
formal neighborhood of our cycle
Similarly we can show that there are no rigid cycles of double curves
Proposition VI7 Let C be a nodal KF -nil curve which is double Then C
deforms inside X0 In particular there cannot exist a rigid cycle of KF -nil double
curves
Proof Following the previous notation we have 0 = infin and if C = (xy = z = 0)
around 0 then we have identities
(34) x = η y = ξ z = ζ
The last one of which implies m = 0 that is C deforms Since C is double necessarily
the surface it spans must be contained in X0
The statement about cycles follows since a cycle of double curves can be transformed
after finitely many flops into a chain of smooth double curves with a nodal one
attached at one end
46 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Later on we will show that the deformations of C cannot span an elliptic surface
but only a family of nodal rational curves with a special Riccati foliation on it
We are ready to organize a detailed description of the dual graph of C More pre-
cisely we only need to understand how double curves intersect non-double curves
Lemma VI8 There exists a sequence of flops X 99KX + such that if C + denotes
the transform of C every double curve supported on C + contains two triple points
Proof Let C sube C be an irreducible component with at most one triple point and
let X 99K X + be its flop Then its transform C+ is non-double and the number
of double curves contained in C descreases It is clear that after finitely many flops
all double curves contain exactly two triple points
From now on all double curves in C have two triple points Thanks to proposition
VI2 we know that there are two cases to consider those curves along which the
semi-simple field has not only rational eigenvalues and those along which the semi-
simple field has only rational eigenvalues The first case being strictly easier than
the second it is a good starting place to warm up
Proposition VI9 (irrational eigenvalues) Assume that for every foliation singu-
larity along C not all eigenvalues of partS are rational Then every component of C
is net with at most one node and 1-skeleton of its dual graph is at worst trivalent
Write C = C axes cup C free where
C axes is the union of double curves
C free is the union of non-double curves
Then one among C axes and C free is empty Moreover
bull If C free is non-empty then it is a chain of smooth curves with rational moduli
bull If C axes is non-empty there exists a sequence of flops X 99KX + and an ir-
reducible component of the fiber FC subX + such that X + is a smooth stack
the transform C+ of C is contained in FC Moreover the dual graph of C+
is a tree which by [McQ08 III32] becomes a chain inside the normalization
of FC
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 47
Proof The first sentence is just corollary IIIIII3
Observe that if a non-double curve intersects a double curve then the non-double
curve must be contained in an LC-center around such intersection This contradicts
that not all eigenvalues are rational and establishes that one among C axes and C free
is empty
In case C free is not empty then it is clearly a chain or a cycle the latter being
impossible by Proposition VI5
We are left to show the existence of flops in case C = C axes We remark that
every component is smooth Let C0 be such a component and S0 a component of
X0 containing it Let C1 be the collection of irreducible components of C which
intersect S0 but are not contained in it All the components of C1 are smooth hence
we can flop them in any order until the transform of C1 lies in the transform of S0
Since the number of irreducible components of C lying outside S0 decreases after
such flop by induction we deduce the existence of finitely many flops after which
the birational transform of C is fully contained in the transform of S0
Next we take care of rational eigenvalues The complication here arises from
the fact that there may be double and non-double curves intersecting each other
However the situation is best possible
Proposition VI10 (rational eigenvalues) Assume that for every foliation singu-
larity along C all eigenvalues of partS are rational Write C = C axes cup C free where
C axes is the union of double curves
C free is the union of non-double curves
Then there exists a sequence of flops X 99K X + and an irreducible component of
the fiber FC axes subX + such that
bull X + is a smooth stack
bull The union of double curves of C axes is contained in FC axes the 1-skeleton of
its dual graph is a tree and each of its components has two triple points
bull The 1-skeleton of the dual graph of the transform C free+ is a disjoint union of
trees
bull Each connected component of C free+ intersects C axes in exactly one point
48 FEDERICO BUONERBA
In particular the 1-skeleton of the dual graph of C is a tree
Proof Notice that for every point lowast isin C cap Z there exists one LC-center through lowastIndeed there are three rational eigenvalues and they cannot be all non-vanishing and
all with different signs at the same time Now C axes can be treated as in proposition
VI9 This proves the first two items of the statement The third item follows from
Proposition VI5 so we can focus on the fourth one The proof is based on the
following obvious
Remark VI11 let C be a double curve such that either it is KF -nil hence has
two triple points or it is fully contained in sing(F ) Let C0 sube C free intersect C
non-trivially in a point lowast then necessarily C0 sub LClowast
Now let C0 middot middot middot CN form a chain of non-double curves with C0 and CN both
intersecting double curves as in the remark Denote by lowasti = Ci cap Ci+1 Since
C1 sub LClowast necessarily C1 is transverse to LClowast1 otherwise C1 would deform in F (C1)
Inductively we see that Ci+1 sub LClowasti and is transverse to LClowasti+1 In particular CN
cannot touch a double curve This contradiction proves the fourth item
Let us add a remark about configurations featuring invariant curves inside sing(F )
Proposition VI12 Let C be an invariant curve with KF middot C = 0 such that
Z0 sube C for some component Z0 sube sing(F ) Then C = Z prime cup C where
Z prime is a connected invariant curve inside the foliation singularity with dual graph a
chain
C is the union of at most two pairwise disjoint KF -nil curves with anti-ample
normal bundle
If not empty C can only intersect Z prime at the two ends of its dual graph Moreover
perhaps after a flop the intersection of C with Z prime supports the foliation singularity
along C As such if C has two components Z prime cup C deforms in the general fiber
Proof The structure of Z prime is Proposition IVII3 while that of Co is Proposition
IVI6 Let C prime be a component of C intersecting Z0 in a point lowast If C prime and Z0 belong
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 49
to different components of X0 then by case ni (1)b the eigenvalue of partS along C prime
vanishes so supp(sing(F ) cap C prime) = lowast If C prime and Z0 belong to the same component
then we can flop C prime into a different component
Observe that the divisor D prime from op cit can be extended along C prime This implies
that C can only intersect Z prime at its ends Moreover if C touches both ends necessarily
D prime capX0 = C scheme-theoretically hence by the existence of Hilbert scheme IVI5
we conclude
Our new set-up is
Set-up VI13 Everything as in set-up IIVII4 and moreover for any connected
invariant curve C with KF middot C = 0 all of whose sub-curves are rigid we have
configurations computed in proposition VI9 VI10 and Lemma VI12
VII Configurations of non-rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
In this subsection we describe configurations of surfaces which are covered by KF -nil
curves The structure of each such surface is described by classification IIV1 IIV2
and Corollary IIVI17 Our first step is to simplify the situation by contracting
chains of ruled surfaces The next step is to try and exclude the possibility that
the singular fiber of p contains fibrations by elliptic or nodal rational curves with
at least one invariant fiber This can be achieved with good success indeed there
may be at most one such Riccati foliation which is anyway rather isolated from the
remaining KF -nil curves Finally we observe that the only class of surfaces we have
not mentioned is
Definition VII1 A irreducible component F of the singular fiber of p is called
small Kronecker if
bull (FFF ) is birational to a Kronecker vector field on P1 timesP1 and
bull The two rulings of this P1 timesP1 are cohomologous inside X
The name comes from the fact that contraction of a small Kronecker yields a node
in the ambient threefold which admits a small resolution In fact in many respects
these fiber components behave very much like rigid KF -nil curves
50 FEDERICO BUONERBA
We start by getting rid of some fiber components which are ruled by KF -nil gener-
ically smooth rational curves
Proposition VII2 Notation as in Set-up VI13 there exists a sequence of flops
and divisorial contractions c X 99KX + such that
bull X + is a smooth stack
bull let S+ sub X + be an irreducible invariant divisor that contains a positive-
dimensional family of invariant rational curves along which KF+ vanishes
Then S+ is either birationally ruled by nodal rational curves or it is a small
Kronecker
Proof We focus first on contracting components of the singular fiber of p Consider
the following algorithm If there is no birationally ruled component different from
the ones listed in the second item we are done otherwise pick one such F and let
C denote the general member of the ruling If the cohomology class [C] is inde-
composable F is minimal Otherwise [C] = [C1] + [C2] where Ci are rational and
intersect KF trivially After finitely many steps we have a decomposition as a finite
sum of indecomposables [C] =sumn
i=0 ni[Ci] where every Ci is rational intersects KF
trivially We have two cases
bull There exists k such that Ck deforms in a birationally ruled necessarily min-
imal surface Fk
bull Every Ci has anti-ample normal bundle
In the first case denote by X rarr X1 the contraction of Fk along |Ck| and relpace
X by X1 Since Fk is minimal smoothness of the ambient stack is preserved unless
Fk is a small Kronecker This is however impossible if n ge 2 if Fk were a small
Kronecker then Ck deforms away from Fkminus1 so then Fkminus1 middot Ck = 0 on the other
hand Fkminus1 intersects the other ruling of Fk positively
In the second case flop C1 middot middot middot Cn in this order The transform of F is minimal and
not a small Kronecker so it can be contracted along its ruling preserving ambient
smoothness By induction on the Picard rank of X after finitely many steps this
algorithm ends Call X the output of this algorithm
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 51
Let S subX be an invariant divisor with a generically smooth ruling Then pS S rarr∆ is flat and after flopping finitely many rational curves in S cap plowastS(0) the resulting
pS is smooth Hence we can contract S along pS After finitely many steps the
Proposition is proven
For ease of notation in the sequel we call X the output of the previous proposition
Notice that there might still be divisors carrying a pencil of nodal rational curves
both inside and outside the singular fiber of p
We can start analyzing configurations of fiber components where the restriction of
F is not of general type We need some notation whose reason to exist will be clear
shortly
Definition VII3 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
along which KF is not big F is called special Riccati if
bull F is minimal
bull There exists a morphism s F rarr B onto a curve whose fibers are nodal
rational curve
bull F is transverse to the general fiber of s in particular KF is numerically
trivial along s
bull At least one fiber of s is invariant
bull There exists a section σ of s which is invariant and does not coincide with
the nodal locus of F
In particular the intersections of σ with invariant fibers of s isolated singularities
of F the node of F all coincide There may be fibers of s fully contained in sing(F )
in which case they are everywhere transverse to the saturated foliation
The definition looks nasty but special Riccati components have a rather simple
origin as the following proof shows
Lemma VII4 Let F be special Riccati Up to base change by an etale double cover
Bprime rarr B there is a natural isomorphism F norm simminusrarr BprimetimesP1 and the restriction of F
to F norm is birational to the projection onto P1
52 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proof We work over the normalization F norm Denote by Bprime the pre-image of the
node of F which is an etale double cover of B and let f denote an invariant fiber
of s with lowast = σ cap f Observe that F norm carries a Riccati foliation with 3 invariant
curves through lowast - namely σ f and a component of Bprime Hence FF has a log-canonical
singularity in lowast On F norm perform a weighted blow-up in each log-canonical singu-
larity followed by the contraction of the transforms of the corresponding fibers Let
s+ F+ rarr B denote the output of this operation If the proper transform of Bprime is
connected replace F+ by its base change under Bprime rarr B Hence we can assume Bprime
is the disjoint union of two sections of s+ and the transform of σ is a third section
which is disjoint from Bprime Therefore F+ = P1 timesBprime and the foliation restricts to the
projection onto P1
Next we describe those surfaces which cannot appear as components of the sin-
gular fiber X0
Definition VII5 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
along which KF is not big F is called illusory if
bull there exists a morphism t F rarr B onto a curve
bull KF is trivial along t
bull For any other fiber component F prime the intersection F cap F prime is either empty or
contained in a fiber of t
We give examples of illusory fiber components
Lemma VII6 The following fiber components are necessarily illusory
bull t is elliptic the foliation is either parallel to t or turbolent with at least one
invariant fiber
bull t is a nodal ruling the foliation is either parallel to t or transverse to t with
at least one invariant fiber and not birational to a special Riccati VII3
Proof Let f = F cap F prime for some fiber component F prime It is F -invariant
Assume t and F are parallel and f is transverse to both Then necessarily f subesing(F ) and KF is positive along the fibers of t contradiction
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 53
Assume t and F are generically transverse and f is transverse to t Let e be an
invariant fiber of t then ecap f isin sing(F ) hence t must be a family of nodal rational
curves and ecapf coincides with the node of e - otherwise KF would be positive along
t But this implies F is special Riccati contradiction
We proceed to show that illusory fibers do not exist
Lemma VII7 Let F be an illusory fiber component then every fiber of t is irre-
ducible If F prime is any fiber component intersecting F non-trivially then F prime is illusory
Proof Assume t has a reducible fiber f Then we can write f = f prime cup f primeprime where f prime
is irreducible and f primeprime is a disjoint union of chains of rational curves In particular
every subscheme supported on f primeprime is rigid in X f prime is rational and smooth iff f is a
cycle of rational curves hence the foliation on F is parallel to t and the choice of f prime
is not unique otherwise f prime is nodal or elliptic Let X 99KX + denote the flop of the
irreducible components of f primeprime in any order The proper transform f prime+ (below in red)
is the irreducible fiber of the induced morphism t+ F+ rarr B Since f primeprime+ intersects
f prime+ and is not contained in F+ there exists a component F prime of the fiber of p+ such
that F+ cap f prime+ 6= empty Since F+ is illusory necessarily F+ cap F prime = f prime+ Moreover F+
and F prime are the only fiber components intersecting f prime+ again because F+ is illusory
We deduce that F+ middot f prime+ = F prime middot f prime+ = 0 and therefore f prime+ is nef inside F prime It follows
that he restriction of F+ to F prime is not of general type and by the classification of
foliated surfaces [McQ08] necessarily f prime+ deforms inside F prime and defines a fibration
u F prime rarr Bprime In particular f prime+ is an irreducible fiber of u This is however impossible
since u contracts all the components of f primeprime+ contained in F prime (below in blue) and by
definition of F prime there exists at least one such component This proves that every
fiber of t is irreducible The following depicts the situation
F prime F+
f prime+
f primeprime+
t+u
54 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Concerning the second statement we only need to check the third condition for F prime
to be illussory namely that every other fiber component F primeprime intersecting F prime does
so along the fibers of u If F primeprime intersects F prime transversely to u then F primeprime intersects F
non-trivially and transversely to t as well absurd
Corollary VII8 Illusory components do not exist
Proof By the above lemma the existence of one illusory component implies that
every irreducible component of the singular fiber of p is illusory contradicting that
KF is big
We can now focus on fiber components that do appear
Corollary VII9 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
containing an invariant curve C which moves and such that KF middot C = 0 Then
following the classification [McQ08] we have two cases
(1) The minimal model of F is a special Riccati component
(2) F is a small Kronecker
Proof Certainly the ones listed are the only cases where C is KF -nil We have to
exclude the possibility that C is invariant inside sing(F ) By Proposition IVII3
such C would be rational with at most one node Since we already contracted at
the beginning of the present subsection all ruled surfaces necessarily C is nodal
However by opcit C cannot intersect any other fiber component of X0 which
implies the absurdity that X0 = F
We proceed to show that special Riccati components are rather isolated in the
fiber
Lemma VII10 Let F be a special Riccati component If F prime is a fiber component
intersecting F non-trivially then it does so transversely to s Morover there is
exactly one such F prime
Proof After finitely many flops we can assume that every fiber of s is irreducible
By the non-existence of illusory components there exists a fiber component F lowast with
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 55
σprime = F cap F prime transverse to s If F primeprime is a fiber component with f = F cap F primeprime a fiber
of s then we claim f sube sing(F ) If not then since KF middot f = 0 and σprime is invariant
necessarily σprimecap f is the node of f But then the existence of F primeprime contradicts that p is
snc Hence f sube sing(F ) so then around the node of f there are 3 fiber components -
two branches coming from F one from F primeprime - and sing(F ) has 2 branches - namely f
This is impossible by our case analysis ni (1)c ni (2)c The very same reasoning
establishes the uniqueness of F prime
Lemma VII11 Let F be as in the previous Lemma If C is a connected curve
with KF middot C = 0 then it is disjoint from F
Proof After finitely many flops s is irreducible and C intersects F transversely away
from its node Moreover lowast = C cap F isin sing(F ) and we deduce that the fiber of s
through lowast is fully contained in the singular locus of F This contradicts Proposition
IVII3 since such fiber is nodal
We conclude by observing the obvious
Lemma VII12 Let F be a small Kronecker Then there exists a contraction
c X rarr X prime which is an isomorphism away from F and contracts F along one
of its rulings Necessarily X prime is not projective since every global Cartier divisor
intersects c(F ) trivially On the other hand in a formal neighborhood of c(F ) there
exist Cartier divisors intersecting it non-trivialliy
As such the contribution coming from non-rigid curves is rather poor there are
curves moving in the general fiber there are special Riccati components disjoint from
any other invariant curve intersecting KF trivially there are small Kroneckers who
can be contracted to curves We shall see in the next section that the complications
arising from the contraction of such non-rigid curves is purely psychological and
totally harmless
56 FEDERICO BUONERBA
VI Contractions and proof of the Main Theorem
In this section we contract all invariant curves along which KF is zero thereby
establishing the existence of canonical models I First we contract non-rigid curves
as described in the previous subsection
bull Small Kroneckers along either ruling Albeit this destroys projectivity of
the ambient threefold there still exist Cartier divisors defined in a formal
neighborhood of the base curve that intersect it non-trivially
bull Families of irreducible nodal rational curves which are flat over ∆ This
creates elliptic singularities on the general fiber of p which are disjoint from
other invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
bull Special Riccati again families of irreducible nodal rational curves fully con-
tained in X0 This creates elliptic singularities disjoint from other invariant
curves intersecting KF trivially
We can summarize our situation by way of
Set-up VI1 X is a 3-dimensional DM stack with at worst elliptic singularities
F a foliation by curves with canonical singularities which is not Q-Cartier in a
neighborhood of Xsing
There exists a proper morphism p X rarr ∆ smooth off 0 isin ∆ F restricts to a
foliation on every fiber of p it has canonical singularities on the very general fiber
of p and log-canonical singularities on every fiber of p KF is big and nef on every
irreducible component of every fiber of p
Let C be the invariant sub-scheme along which KF is not big then C is a curve
fully contained in the smooth locus X0capXsmooth every sub-curve of C has anti-ample
normal bundle the 1-simplex of its dual graph is a tree and detailed configurations
of such are referenced in set-up VI13
We proceed to contract such C We assume that along C the semi-simple field has
only rational eigenvalues and moreover no component of C is inside the foliation
singularity The other two cases - irrational eigenvalues and presence of singular
component - are strictly easier and can be obtained with the very same method
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 57
The proof takes place in the formal completion around C = C free cup C axes The
former is a disjoint union of trees of non-double curves For each non-double C let
F (C) denote the unique component of X0 containing it The latter is a tree of double
curves each with two triple points all contained in the same irreducible FC axes Each
tree of non-double curves touches C axes in one point through a LC-center In order
to construct the contraction we will use Artinrsquos celebrated criterion in the following
form
Fact VI1 ([Ar70]) Let X be an irreducible algebraic space i Y rarr X a closed
subspace of pure codimension 1 and f Y rarr Y0 a proper morphism with flowastOY = OY0
Let X denote the formal completion of X along Y and assume there exists a Cartier
divisor D in X which is supported on Y and is f -anti-ample Then there exists a
proper morphism of algebraic spaces F X rarr X0 which is an isomorphism away
from Y and such that ilowastF = f
Now we use the tree structure of C to construct a suitable divisor to which apply
Artinrsquos theorem Namely consider the following inductive defintion
(35) C0 = C axes F0 = FC axes
For k ge 0 assume Ck Fk are defined
bull Let Ck+1 denote the union of irreducible components of C that intersect Fk
non-trivially but are not contained in cupilekFibull Let Fk+1 denote the reduced sum (
sumCsubeCk+1
F (C))red
This process stops with a collection C1 middot middot middotCN of curves and F1 middot middot middot FN of reduced
divisors
Lemma VI1 We have the following identities
(36)
Fk middot C lt 0 for every C sube Ck
(F0 + F1) middot C le 0 for every C sube C0
(Fkminus1 + Fk + Fk+1) middot C = 0 for every C sube Ck 1 lt k lt N
(FNminus1 + FN) middot C lt 0 for every C sube CN
58 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proof The first is just the fact that every component of C is rigid The remaining
three follow from X0 middot C = 0 but the last one requires further justification Indeed
if C sube CN N gt 0 then C is one end of a tree of non-double curves In particular
there exists a foliation singularity lowast isin C disjoint from any other component of
C and LClowast is transverse to C This implies LClowast middotC gt 0 which together with
(FNminus1 + FN + LClowast) middot C = 0 concludes the proof
Let ε1 middot middot middot εN isin Qgt0 and define
(37) F Nminusk = (1 + ε1 + middot middot middot+ εk)FNminusk
bull If C sube CN we have
(38) (F Nminus1 + F
N) middot C = ε1FNminus1 middot C + (FNminus1 + FN) middot C
bull If C sube CNminusk 1 lt k lt N we have
(39)
(F Nminuskminus1 + F
Nminusk + F Nminusk+1) middot C =
(1 + middot middot middot+ εk)(FNminuskminus1 + FNminusk + FNminusk+1) middot C minus εkFNminusk+1 middot C + εk+1FNminuskminus1 middot C =
minus εkFNminusk+1 middot C + εk+1FNminuskminus1 middot C
bull If C sube C0 we have
(40) (F 0 + F
1) middot C = εNF0 middot C + (Nminus1sumj=0
εj)(F0 + F1) middot C
It is clear that provided
(41) 1 gtgt ε1 gtgt middot middot middot gtgt εN
the divisor F =sumF k is negative along every component of C
This proves the existence of the contraction and concludes the proof of the Main
Theorem I
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 59
VII Moduli space of foliated surfaces of general type
In this section we study the modular variation of foliated surfaces of general type
The upshot is that it is possible to define a functor which is representable separated
and every irreducible component is proper The main issue here is that the supporting
surface of a foliated canonical model may well fail to be projective indeed KF is not
Q-Gorenstein in general Hence in order to proceed via standard methods [Ko17]
we have to parametrize our canonical models together with a suitable projective
resolution
Definition VII13 Let (SF ) be a foliated proper reduced purely 2-dimensional
DM stack Assume S has only normal crossing singularities in codimension 1 that
F has log-canonical foliation singularities and that KF is big and nef on at least
one of the irreducible components of S If whenever KF middot C = 0 for some curve C
then C moves in an irreducible component of S and no member of such deformation
is F -invariant then (SF ) is called foliated canonical model of general type
Clearly foliated canonical models are exactly the stable degenerations appearing
as the central fiber of our Main Theorem I Their lack of projectivity has two sources
namely the contraction of cycles of smooth KF -nil curves and of trees of cuspidal
ones Singularities arising from cycles behave well in families namely they always
deform into the general fiber Those arising from cuspidal curves on the other hand
tend to be rather isolated inside the degenerate fiber
Observe that the deformation theory of a foliated surface is rather simple suppose
given an infinitesimal C-algebras extension 0 rarr J rarr Ae rarr A rarr 0 and (SF )
a foliated surface flat over Spec(A) then the obstruction to lifting to Ae can be
understood in three simple steps
(1) Deformation of the underlying surface S once a deformation Se rarr Spec(Ae)
is given
(2) Deformation of the line bundle KF by the exponential sequence
(42) 0rarr J otimes OS rarr OlowastSerarr OlowastS rarr 0
obstructions lie in H2(SOS)otimes J once a deformation of KF is given
60 FEDERICO BUONERBA
(3) Deformation of the defining section OS rarr KF otimes TS obstructions lie in
H1(SKF otimes TS)otimes J
Now we have
Definition VII14 Let (SF ) be a foliated canonical model of general type A
proper birational morphism q (SF )proj rarr (SF ) is called its projective resolution
if
bull Every irreducible component of Sproj is smooth
bull The exceptional locus of q is a disjoint union of cycles of KFproj-nil smooth
curves and trees of KFproj-nil curves each of which has a non-trivial cuspidal
singularity
bull In a neighborhood of every q-exceptional cycle not only Sproj but also its
moduli space is smooth
We need a few remarks about projective resolutions
(1) Projective resolutions are always unique Indeed the only possible ambiguity
could lie in some extra smooth irreducible components in the exceptional
locus This is forbidden by definition in the trees of cuspidal curves it is
also forbidden by way of the third item in cycles of smooth ones ie on
algebraic surfaces the minimal resolution is unique
(2) Denote by E the collection of q-exceptional cycles Then there exist ε δ isinQgt0 such that KFproj
minus εE + δKSprojis ample by Nakai-Moishezon
(3) Deformations of a projective resolution of a foliated canonical model are
canonically identified with deformations of the underlying birational mor-
phism q Sproj rarr S followed by a deformation of the foliation F
We are now ready to construct a moduli functor for foliated surfaces more precisely
for projective resolutions of foliated canonical models of general type For m dN isinN and ε δ isin Qgt0 let
(43) MmdNεδ (C-schemes)rarr (sets)
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 61
be defined by MmdNεδ(S) = Diagrams
(44) (X F )projqminusrarr (X F )
pminusrarr S
Where
bull Both p and p q are flat and proper
bull For every closed point s isin S the induced morphism qs is the projective
resolution of (X F )s which is a foliated canonical model of general type
bull Denote by Es the collection of exceptional cycles of qs By our Main Theorem
I there is a fibrewise divisor E subXproj flat over S restricting to Es for every
s isin S
bull Let j W rarr Xproj denote the maximal closed subscheme away from which
KFprojand KXprojS are locally free Then
(45) L [m] = (jlowast(KFprojotimes OXproj
(minusεE )otimesKδXprojS
)otimesm)oror
is flat over S and commutes with base-change
bull L [m] is very ample of degree d on every fiber and defines an embedding into
PNS
We are now ready for
Theorem VII15 The functor MmdNεδ is represented by a separated algebraic
space each of whose irreducible components is proper
Proof We show that our functor satisfies Artinrsquos conditions [Ar74 Corollary 54] By
definition condition 1) and 4) hold while our previous remark on foliated obstruction
theory shows that 3) is true
We proceed to show 2) namely effectivity of formal deformations for MmdNεδ
What follows owes much to Artinrsquos [A74rsquo] Let T be a complete C-algebra Tn its
n-truncation so that Tsimminusrarr limlarrminusTn and finally qn isinMmdNεδ(Spec(Tn)) a compatible
sequence For each n there is a maximal open set Un sube Xprojn where qn is an
isomorphism denote by sn Cn rarr Zn the restriction of qn to the complement of Un
Clearly sn is projective over Spec(Tn)
62 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Denote by X C etc the formal algebraic spaces obtained as limits of Xn Cn
etc Then Xproj sub PNˆSpec(T )
hence by Grothendieckrsquos existence Theorem we find
bull a flat projective family (X F )proj rarr Spec(T ) resp a closed subscheme
C subXproj whose completion is Xproj resp C
bull a scheme Z whose completion is Z and a morphism s C rarr Z everything
being projective over Spec(T )
Further we have a formal contraction limminusrarr qn C rarr Z hence the main theorem
of [Ar70] gives algebraic contraction (X F )proj rarr (X F ) This proves the repre-
sentability of MmdNεδ The properness and separability of each irreducible com-
ponent can be checked using valutative criteria indeed properness is the content of
our Main Theorem I separatedness follows from the uniqueness of foliated canonical
models of general type and their projective resolution
References
[Ar70] M Artin Algebraization of Formal Moduli II Existence of Modifications Ann
of Math Vol 91 No 1 (Jan 1970) pp 88-135 httpwwwjstororgstable
1970602
[Ar74] M Artin Versal Deformations and Algebraic Stacks Inventiones Math 27 165- 189
(1974) httpmathuchicagoedu~drinfeldArtin_on_stackspdf
[A74rsquo] M Artin Algebraic construction of Brieskornrsquos resolutions J Alg Vol 29 Issue
2 May 1974 pp 330-348 httpwwwsciencedirectcomsciencearticlepii
0021869374901021
[BB72] P Baum R Bott Singularities of holomorphic foliations J Diff Geom 7 (1972)
279-342 httpsprojecteuclidorgdownloadpdf_1euclidjdg1214431158
[Bo77] F Bogomolov Families of curves on a surface of general type Doklady Akademii Nauk
USSR (in Russian) 236 (5) 1041-1044
[Bo78] F Bogomolov Holomorphic tensors and vector bundles on projective varieties Math
USSR Izv 13 (1978) 499-555
[BM16] F Bogomolov M McQuillan Rational Curves on Foliated Varieties In Cascini
McKernan Pereira (eds) Foliation Theory in Algebraic Geometry Simons Symposia
Springer Cham pp 21-51 (2016) httpslinkspringercomchapter101007
978-3-319-24460-0_2
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 63
[Bu] F Buonerba Functorial resolution of tame quotient singularities in positive charac-
teristic httpsarxivorgabs151100550
[Ke99] S Keel Basepoint Freeness for Nef and Big Line Bundles in Positive Characteris-
tic Annals of Math 149 No 1 (Jan 1999) pp 253-286 httpwwwjstororg
stable121025 httpsarxivorgabsmath9901149
[KM97] S Keel S Mori Quotients by groupoids Annals of Math 145 (1997) pp
193-213 httpwwwjstororgstable2951828seq=1page_scan_tab_contents
httparxivorgabsalg-geom9508012
[Ko17] J Kollar Families of varieties of general type httpswebmathprincetonedu
~kollarbookmodbook20170720pdf
[LN02] A Lins Neto Some examples for the Poincare and Painleve problems Annales sci-
entifiques de lrsquoENS 352 (2002) 231-266 httparchivenumdamorgarticle
ASENS_2002_4_35_2_231_0pdf
[McQ12] M McQuillan Foliated Mori Theory amp Hyperbolicity of Algebraic Surfaces http
wwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillahomehtml
[McQ98] M McQuillan Diophantine approximation and foliations Inst Hautes Etudes Sci
Publ Math 87 (1998) 121-174 httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafiles
ihespdf
[McQ05rsquo] M McQuillan Bloch hyperbolicity preprint httpwwwmatuniroma2it
~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ05] M McQuillan Semi-stable reduction of foliations IHES pre-print IHESM0502
(2005) httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ05rdquo] M McQuillan Uniform Uniformisation IHES pre-print (2005) IHES M0503 http
wwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ08] M McQuillan Canonical models of foliations Pure Appl Math Q 4
(2008) no 3 Special Issue In honor of Fedor Bogomolov Part 2 877-1012
httpintlpresscomsitepubfiles_fulltextjournalspamq20080004
0003PAMQ-2008-0004-0003-a009pdf
[MP13] M McQuillan D Panazzolo Almost etale resolution of foliations J Diff Geom 95
(2013) pp 279-319 httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesmp1bispdf
[Pe02] JV Pereira On the Poincare Problem for Foliations of General Type Mathematische
Annalen 323 no 2 pp217-226 2002 httpsarxivorgabsmath0104185
[PS16] JV Pereira R Svaldi Effective algebraic integration in bounded genus preprint
httpsarxivorgabs161206932
64 FEDERICO BUONERBA
[Re83] M Reid Minimal models of canonical threefolds in rdquoAlgebraic Varieties and Ana-
lytic Varietiesrdquo Adv Stud Pure Math vol 1 S Iitaka ed Kinokuniya and North-
Holland 1983 pp 131-180 httpwwwmathsedacukcheltsovquotientpdf
reid2pdf
[Se67] A Seidenberg Reduction of singularities of the differential equation Ady = Bdx Amer
J Math 89 (1967) 248-269 httpwwwjstororgstable2373435
[SB83] N Shepherd-Barron Degenerations with numerically effective canonical divisor The
Birational Geometry of Degenerations (R Friedman and D Morrison eds) Progr
Math no 29 Birkhuser 1983 pp 33-84
[Vis89] A Vistoli Intersection theory on algebraic stacks and on their moduli spaces
Invent Math (1989) pp 613-670 httplinkspringercomarticle101007
2FBF01388892page-1
Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences New York University 251 Mercer
Street New York NY 10012 USA
E-mail address buonerbacimsnyuedu
- I Introduction
- II Preliminaries
-
- III Operations on Deligne-Mumford stacks
- IIII Width of embedded parabolic champs
- IIIII Gorenstein foliation singularities
- IIIV Foliated adjunction
- IIV Canonical models of foliated surfaces with canonical singularities
- IIVI Canonical models of foliated surfaces with log-canonical singularities
- IIVII Set-up
-
- III Invariant curves and singularities local description
-
- IIII `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F) not isolated
- IIIII `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F) isolated
- IIIIII Local consequences
-
- IV Invariant curves along which KF vanishes
-
- IVI KF-nil curves
- IVII Invariant curves inside `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F)
-
- V Configurations
-
- VI Configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
- VII Configurations of non-rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
-
- VI Contractions and proof of the Main Theorem
- VII Moduli space of foliated surfaces of general type
- References
-
8 FEDERICO BUONERBA
In Section VI we prove the Main Theorem we only need to work in a formal neigh-
borhood of the curve we wish to contract which by the previous chapter is a tree
of unibranch foliation-invariant rational curves The existence of a contraction is
established once we produce an effective divisor which is anti-ample along the tree
The construction of such divisor is a rather straightforward process which profits
critically from the tree structure of the curve
In Section VII we investigate the existence of compact moduli of canonical models
of foliated surfaces of general type The main issue here is the existence of a rep-
resentable functor indeed Artinrsquos results tend to use Grothendieckrsquos existence in
a rather crucial way which indeed relies on some projectivity assumption - a lux-
ury that we do not have in the foliated context Regardless it is possible to define
a functor parametrizing deformations of foliated canonical models together with a
suitably defined unique projective resolution of singularities This is enough to push
Artinrsquos method through and establish the existence of a separated algebraic space
representing this functor Its properness is the content of our Main Theorem
II Preliminaries
This section is mostly a summary of known results about holomorphic foliations by
curves By this we mean a Deligne-Mumford stack X over a field k of characteristic
zero endowed with a torsion-free quotient Ω1X k rarr Qrarr 0 generically of rank 1 We
will discuss the construction of Vistoli covers roots of divisors and net completions
in the generality of Deligne-Mumford stacks a notion of singularities well adapted to
the machinery of birational geometry a foliated version of the adjunction formula
McQuillanrsquos classification of canonical Gorenstein foliations on algebraic surfaces
a classification of log-canonical Gorenstein foliation singularities on surfaces along
with the existence of (numerical) canonical models the behavior of singularities on
a family of Gorenstein foliated surfaces
III Operations on Deligne-Mumford stacks In this subsection we describe
some canonical operations that can be performed on DM stacks over a base field
k We follow the treatment of [McQ05][IaIe] closely Proofs can also be found in
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 9
[Bu] A DM stack X is always assumed to be separated and generically scheme-like
ie without generic stabilizer A DM stack is smooth if it admits an etale atlas
U rarr X by smooth k-schemes in which case it can also be referred to as orbifold
By [KM97][13] every DM stack admits a moduli space which is an algebraic space
By [Vis89][28] every algebraic space with tame quotient singularities is the moduli
of a canonical smooth DM stack referred to as Vistoli cover It is useful to keep in
mind the following Vistoli correspondence
Fact III1 [McQ05 Ia3] Let X rarr X be the moduli of a normal DM stack and
let U rarrX be an etale atlas The groupoid R = normalization of U timesX U rArr U has
classifying space [UR] equivalent to X
Next we turn to extraction of roots of Q-Cartier divisors This is rather straight-
forward locally and can hardly be globalised on algebraic spaces It can however
be globalized on DM stacks
Fact III2 (Cartification) [McQ05 Ia8] Let L be a Q-cartier divisor on a normal
DM stack X Then there exists a finite morphism f XL rarrX from a normal DM
stack such that f lowastL is Cartier Moreover there exists f which is universal for this
property called Cartification of L
Similarly one can extract global n-th roots of effective Cartier divisors
Fact III3 (Extraction of roots) [McQ05 Ia9] Let D subX be an effective Cartier
divisor and n a positive integer invertible on X Then there exists a finite proper
morphism f X ( nradic
D)rarrX an effective Cartier divisor nradic
D subX ( nradic
D) such that
f lowastD = n nradic
D Moreover there exists f which is universal for this property called
n-th root of D which is a degree n cyclic cover etale outside D
In a different vein we proceed to discuss the notion of net completion This is a
mild generalization of formal completion in the sense that it is performed along a
local embedding rather than a global embedding Let f Y rarr X be a net morphism
ie a local embedding of algebraic spaces For every closed point y isin Y there is
a Zariski-open neighborhood y isin U sub Y such that f|U is a closed embedding In
10 FEDERICO BUONERBA
particular there exists an ideal sheaf I sub fminus1OX and an exact sequence of coherent
sheaves
(1) 0rarr I rarr fminus1OX rarr OY rarr 0
For every integer n define Ofn = fminus1OXI n By [McQ05][Ie1] the ringed space
Yn = (YOfn) is a scheme and the direct limit Y = limYn in the category of formal
schemes is the net completion along f More generally let f Y rarr X be a net
morphism ie etale-locally a closed embedding of DM stacks Let Y = [RrArr U ] be
a sufficiently fine presentation then we can define as above thickenings Un Rn along
f and moreover the induced relation [Rn rArr Un] is etale and defines thickenings
fn Yn rarrX
Definition III4 (Net completion) [McQ05 ie5] Notation as above we define the
net completion as Y = lim Yn It defines a factorization Y rarr Y rarr X where the
leftmost arrow is a closed embedding and the rightmost is net
IIII Width of embedded parabolic champs In this subsection we recall the
basic geometric properties of three-dimensional formal neighborhoods of smooth
champs with rational moduli We follow [Re83] and [McQ05rdquo] As such let X
be a three-dimensional smooth formal scheme with trace a smooth rational curve C
Our main concern is
(2) NCXsimminusrarr O(minusn)oplus O(minusm) n gt 0 m ge 0
In case m gt 0 the knowledge of (nm) determines X uniquely In fact there exists
by [Ar70] a contraction X rarrX0 of C to a point and an isomorphism everywhere
else In particular C is a complete intersection in X and everything can be made
explicit by way of embedding coordinates for X0 This is explained in the proof of
Proposition IVI8 On the other hand the case m = 0 is far more complicated
Definition IIII1 [Re83] The width width(C) of C is the maximal integer k
such that there exists an inclusion C times Spec(C[ε]εk) sub Xk the latter being the
infinitesimal neighborhood of order k
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 11
Clearly width(C) = 1 if and only if the normal bundle to C is anti-ample
width(C) ge 2 whenever such bundle is O oplus O(minusn) n gt 0 and width(C) = infinif and only if C moves in a scroll As explained in opcit width can be understood
in terms of blow ups as follows Let q1 X1 rarr X be the blow up in C Its excep-
tional divisor E1 is a Hirzebruch surface which is not a product hence q1 has two
natural sections when restricted to E1 Let C1 the negative section There are two
possibilities for its normal bundle in X1
bull it is a direct sum of strictly negative line bundles In this case width(C) = 2
bull It is a direct sum of a strictly negative line bundle and the trivial one
In the second case we can repeat the construction by blowing up C1 more generally
we can inductively construct Ck sub Ek sub Xk k isin N following the same pattern as
long as NCkminus1
simminusrarr O oplus O(minusnkminus1) Therefore width(C) is the minimal k such that
Ckminus1 has normal bundle splitting as a sum of strictly negative line bundles No-
tice that the exceptional divisor Ekminus1 neither is one of the formal surfaces defining
the complete intersection structure of Ck nor it is everywhere transverse to either
ie it has a tangency point with both This is clear by the description Reidrsquos
Pagoda [Re83] Observe that the pair (nwidth(C)) determines X uniquely there
exists a contraction X rarr X0 collapsing C to a point and an isomorphism every-
where else In particular X0 can be explicitly constructed as a ramified covering of
degree=width(C) of the contraction of a curve with anti-ample normal bundle
The notion of width can also be understood in terms of lifting sections of line bun-
dles along infinitesimal neighborhoods of C As shown in [McQ05rdquo II43] we have
assume NCp
simminusrarr O oplus O(minusnp) then the natural inclusion OC(n) rarr N orCX can be
lifted to a section OXp+2(n)rarr OXp+2
IIIII Gorenstein foliation singularities In this subsection we define certain
properties of foliation singularities which are well-suited for both local and global
considerations From now on we assume X is normal and give some definitions
taken from [McQ05] and [MP13] If Qoror is a Q-line bundle we say that F is Q-
foliated Gorenstein or simply Q-Gorenstein In this case we denote by KF = Qoror
and call it the canonical bundle of the foliation In the Gorenstein case there exists a
12 FEDERICO BUONERBA
codimension ge 2 subscheme Z subX such that Q = KF middot IZ Such Z will be referred
to as the singular locus of F We remark that Gorenstein means that the foliation
is locally defined by a saturated vector field
Next we define the notion of discrepancy of a divisorial valuation in this context let
(UF ) be a local germ of a Q-Gorenstein foliation and v a divisorial valuation on
k(U) there exists a birational morphism p U rarr U with exceptional divisor E such
that OU E is the valuation ring of v Certainly F lifts to a Q-Gorenstein foliation
F on U and we have
(3) KF = plowastKF + aF (v)E
Where aF (v) is said discrepancy For D an irreducible Weil divisor define ε(D) = 0
if D if F -invariant and ε(D) = 1 if not We are now ready to define
Definition IIIII1 The local germ (UF ) is said
bull Terminal if aF (v) gt ε(v)
bull Canonical if aF (v) ge ε(v)
bull Log-terminal if aF (v) gt 0
bull Log-canonical if aF (v) ge 0
For every divisorial valuation v on k(U)
These classes of singularities admit a rather clear local description If part denotes a
singular derivation of the local k-algebra O there is a natural k-linear linearization
(4) part mm2 rarr mm2
As such we have the following statements
Fact IIIII2 [MP13 Iii4 IIIi1 IIIi3] A Gorenstein foliation is
bull log-canonical if and only if it is smooth or its linearization is non-nilpotent
bull terminal if and only if it is log-terminal if and only if it is smooth and gener-
ically transverse to its singular locus
bull log-canonical but not canonical if and only if it is a radial foliation
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 13
Where a derivation on a complete local ring O is termed radial if there ex-
ist x1 middot middot middotxn isin m independent mod m2 and positive integers ni such that part =sumi nixi
partpartxi
In this case the singular locus is the center of a divisorial valuation with
zero discrepancy and non-invariant exceptional divisor
A very useful tool which is emplyed in the analysis of local properties of foliation
singularities is the Jordan decompositon [McQ08 I23] Notation as above the
linearization part admits a Jordan decomposition partS + partN into commuting semi-simple
and nilpotent part It is easy to see inductively that such decomposition lifts canon-
ically over successive infinitesimal neighborhoods Omn+1 rarr Omn and in the limit
we obtain a Jordan decomposition for the linear action of part on the whole complete
ring O
IIIV Foliated adjunction In this subsection we provide an adjunction formula
for foliation-invariant curves Let (X F ) be a Gorenstein foliation and f L rarrX the normalization of a F -invariant one-dimensional stack not contained in the
singular locus Z Denote by χ(L ) its topological Euler characteristic and by sZ(f)
the multiplicity of the ideal sheaf fminus1IZ We have
Fact IIIV1 [McQ05 IId4]
(5) KF middotL = minusχ(L )minus Ramf +sZ(f)
Which is a simple consequence of the isomorphism f lowastKF middotfminus1IZsimminusrarr Ω1
L (minusRamf )
The local contribution of sZ(f)minusRamf computed for a branch of f around a point
p in the support of fminus1IZ is np|Gp|minus1 with np a positive integer and Gp the local
monodromy of L at p Assume now that L has no generic stabilizer and let |L |denote its moduli The previous formula can be rewritten more usefully
Fact IIIV2
(6) KF middotL = 2g(|L |)minus 2 + fminus1IZ +sumf(p)isinZ
(np minus 1)|Gp|minus1 +sumf(p)isinZ
(1minus |Gp|minus1)
This can be easily deduced via a comparison between χ(L ) and χ(|L |) The
adjunction estimate 6 gives a complete description of invariant curves which are not
14 FEDERICO BUONERBA
contained in the singular locus and intersect the canonical KF non-positively A
complete analysis of the structure of KF -negative curves and much more is done
in [McQ05]
Definition IIIV3 A KF -nil curve is an invariant one-dimensional orbifold f
C rarr X such that KF middotf C = 0 and f does not factor through the singular locus
Z of the foliation
By adjunction 6 we have
Proposition IIIV4 The following is a complete list of possibilities for KF -nil
curves f
bull C is an elliptic curve without non-schematic points and f misses the singular
locus
bull |C| is a rational curve f hits the singular locus in two points with np = 1
there are no non-schematic points off the singular locus
bull |C| is a rational curve f hits the singular locus in one point with np = 1 there
are two non-schematic points off the singular locus with local monodromy
Z2Z
bull |C| is a rational curve f hits the singular locus in one point p there is at
most one non-schematic point q off the singular locus we have the identity
(np minus 1)|Gp|minus1 = |Gq|minus1
As shown in [McQ08] all these can happen In the sequel we will always assume
that a KF -nil curve is simply connected We remark that an invariant curve can have
rather bad singularities where it intersects the foliation singularities First it could
fail to be unibranch moreover each branch could acquire a cusp if going through
a radial singularity This phenomenon of deep ramification appears naturally in
presence of log-canonical singularities
IIV Canonical models of foliated surfaces with canonical singularities In
this subsection we provide a summary of the birational classification of Gorenstein
foliations with canonical singularities on algebraic surfaces obtained in [McQ08] Let
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 15
X be a two-dimensional smooth DM stack with projective moduli and F a foliation
with canonical singularities Since X is smooth certainly F is Q-Gorenstein If
KF is not pseudo-effective then foliated bend and break [BM16 Main Theorem]
shows that F is birationally a fibration by rational curves If KF is pseudo-effective
its Zariski decomposition has negative part a finite collection of invariant chains of
rational curves which can be contracted to a smooth DM stack with projective
moduli on which KF is nef At this point those foliations such that the Kodaira
dimension k(KF ) le 1 can be completely classified
Fact IIV1 [McQ08 IV3] Foliations with canonical singularities and Kodaira di-
mension zero are up to a ramified cover and birational transformations defined by
a global vector field The minimal models belong the following list
bull A Kronecker vector field on an abelian surface
bull The suspension of a representation π1(E)rarr PGL2(C) for E an elliptic curve
bull A Kronecker vector field on P1 timesP1
bull An isotrivial elliptic fibration
Fact IIV2 [McQ08 IV4] Foliations with canonical singularities and Kodaira di-
mension one are classified by their Kodaira fibration The linear system |KF | defines
a fibration onto a curve and the minimal models belong to the following list
bull The foliation and the fibration coincide so then the fibration is non-isotrivial
elliptic
bull The foliation is transverse to a projective bundle (Riccati)
bull The foliation is everywhere smooth and transverse to an isotrivial elliptic
fibration (turbolent)
bull The foliation is parallel to an isotrivial fibration in hyperbolic curves
On the other hand for foliations of general type the new phenomenon is that
global generation fails The problem is the appearence of elliptic Gorenstein leaves
these are cycles possibly irreducible of invariant rational curves around which KF
is numerically trivial but might fail to be torsion Assume that KF is big and nef
16 FEDERICO BUONERBA
and consider morphisms
(7) X rarrXe rarrXc
Where the composite is the contraction of all the KF -nil curves and the rightmost
is the minimal resolution of elliptic Gorenstein singularities
Fact IIV3 [McQ08 IV21 IV22] Xe is projective there exists an ample divisor
A and an effective divisor E supported on minimal elliptic Gorenstein leaves such
that KFe = A+E On the other hand Xc might fail to be projective and Fc is never
Q-Gorenstein
We refer to [McQ08 III32] for the descriptions of possible dual graphs of config-
urations of invariant KF -negative or nil curves
IIVI Canonical models of foliated surfaces with log-canonical singulari-
ties In this subsection we study Gorenstein foliations with log-canonical singulari-
ties on algebraic surfaces In particular we will classify the singularities appearing
on the underlying surface prove the existence of minimal and canonical models
describe the exceptional curves appearing in the contraction to the canonical model
Proposition IIVI1 Let (UF ) be a germ of Gorenstein log-canonical foliation
singularity Then U is a cone over a subvariety Y of a weighted projective space
whose weights are determined by the eigenvalues of F Moreover F is defined by
the rulings of the cone
Proof By Fact IIIII2 there exists a closed embedding i U rarr M - with M a
smooth local formal scheme - a regular system of parameters x1 middot middot middot xk on M and
positive integers n1 middot middot middotnk such that F is the restriction of the foliation defined by
part =sumnixi
partpartxi
to U Let I sub OM denote the ideal defining i(U) subM then part(I) sube I
We are going to prove that I is homogeneous where each xi has weight ni Let f isin I
and write f =sum
dge1 fd where fd is homogeneous of degree d in x1 middot middot middot xk - ie fd is
a k-linear combination of monomials xa11 xakk with d =
sumi aini For every N isin N
let FN = (xa11 xakk
sumi aini ge N) This collection of ideals defines a natural
filtration on OM For a = max ai we have mN sube FN sube mNa ie the FN -filtration
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 17
is equivalent to the one by powers of the maximal ideal and therefore OM is also
complete with respect to the FN -filtration
We will prove that if f isin I then fd isin I for every d
Let IN = (I + FN)FN Since OM is complete with respect to the FN -filtration
I = limlarrminus IN Therefore it is enough to show
Claim IIVI2 For every N gt 0 we have fd isin IN sub OMFN for all d lt N
Proof For every g isin IN denote by n(g) the unique integer such that g isin Fn(g) Fn(g)+1 (ie the minimal index d for which fd 6= 0) and by N(g) = N minus n(g)
We will prove the statement of the Claim by induction on N(f) If N(f) = 1 then
f = fNminus1 holds in OMFN and the statement is true If N(f) gt 1 we have part(f) =sumd d middot fd hence consider f1 = D(f)minus n(f)f =
sumdgtn(f)(dminus n(f))fd Tautologically
we have N(f1) lt N(f) and therefore fd isin IN for every d gt n(f) so then fn(f) =
f minussum
dgtn(f) fd isin IN as well
This implies that I is a homogeneous ideal and hence U is the germ of a cone over
a variety in the weighted projective space P(n1 nk)
Corollary IIVI3 If the germ U is normal then Y is normal If U is normal
of dimension 2 the weighted blow-up p U rarr U at the vertex of the cone has only
quotient singularities the exceptional divisor E(simminusrarr Y ) is smooth and everywhere
transverse to the induced foliation Moreover we have
(8) plowastKF = KF + E
Certainly the converse to Proposition IIVI1 fails even on surfaces indeed let
(X F ) be a Gorenstein foliated surface and let C sub X be a generic curve so
in particular smooth and not F -invariant We can assume perhaps after a finite
sequence of simple blow-ups along C that both X and F are smooth in a neigh-
borhood of C C and F are everywhere transverse and C2 lt 0
Proposition IIVI4 The formal contraction q X rarr X0 of C is isomorphic to
the cone over C the projected foliation F0 coincides with that by rulings on the cone
F0 is Q-Gorenstein if C rational or elliptic but not in general
18 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proof F0 is Q-Gorenstein if and only if the bundle KF (C) is trivial on the formal
completion of X along C The obstructions to lift the isomorphism OC(KF +C)simminusrarr
OC over infinitesimal neighborhoods of C lie in H1(C (1 minus n)C + KF ) for every
n isin N These groups vanish for every n isin N if 2g(C) minus 2 + C2 lt 0 (which is
always true for rational or elliptic curves) but do provide non-trivial obstructions in
general
We focus on the minimal model program for Gorenstein log-canonical foliations
on algebraic surfaces Let X be a DM stack of dimension 2 with projective moduli
and F a Gorenstein foliation with log-canonical singularities Denote by LC(F )
the set of points where F is log-canonical and not canonical and by Z the singular
sub-scheme of F We assume LC(F ) 6= empty since the empty case has been completely
settled Moreover we can assume that X is smooth outside LC(F ) Let f C rarrX
be a morphism from a 1-dimensional stack with trivial generic stabilizer such that
fminus1 LC(F ) 6= empty Since we will need them several times we formulate some technical
results
Lemma IIVI5 Let p X rarr X be the resolution of the log-canonical foliation
singularity intersecting C with exceptional divisor E Then
(9) KF middot C minus C middot E = KF middot C
Proof We have
(10) plowastC = C minus (C middot EE2)E
Intersecting this equation with equation 8 we obtain the result
This formula is important because it shows that passing from foliations with log-
canonical singularities to their canonical resolution increases the negativity of inter-
sections between invariant curves and the canonical bundle In fact the log-canonical
theory reduces to the canonical one after resolving the log-canonical singularities
Further we list some strong constraints given by invariant curves along which the
foliation is smooth
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 19
Fact IIVI6 [BB72 Baum-Bott] Let g C rarrX be an F -invariant curve missing
the foliation singularities Then C2 = NF middotg C = 0
Corollary IIVI7 Let g C rarr X be an F -invariant curve missing the foliation
singularities and such that KF middotg C lt 0 Then F is birationally a fibration by
rational curves
Proof By assumption KF middot C = minusχ(C) This together with Baum-Bott IIVI6
imply that KX middot C = minusχ(C) and from usual adjunction we get C2 = 0 Riemann-
Roch gives h0(X mC) ge 2 for m gtgt 0 so then |C| defines a fibration by rational
curves tangent to F
The rest of this subsection is devoted to the construction of minimal and canonical
models in presence of log-canonical singularities The only technique we use is
resolve the log-canonical singularities in order to reduce to the canonical case and
keep track of the exceptional divisor
We are now ready to handle the existence of minimal models
Theorem IIVI8 (Minimal models) Let X be a DM stack of dimension 2 with pro-
jective moduli and F a Gorenstein foliation with log-canonical singularities Then
either
bull F is birational to a fibration by rational curves or
bull There exist a birational contraction q X rarr X0 such that KF0 is nef
Moreover the exceptional curves of q donrsquot intersect LC(F )
Proof Let f be as above ie KF -negative and intersecting LC(F ) If f is not
F -invariant then KF middotC +C2 ge 0 so C moves and KF is not pseudo-effective We
conclude by foliated bend and break [BM16]
If f is F -invariant then foliated adjunction 6 implies that C is rational it intersects
the singular locus of F in exactly one point By Lemma IIVI5 after resolving the
log-canonical singularity KF middot C lt 0 and F is smooth along C We conlude by
Corollary IIVI7
20 FEDERICO BUONERBA
From now on we add the assumption that KF is nef and we want to analyze
those curves f satisfying KF middotf C = 0 By adjunction formula 6 we know that C
has rational moduli and fminus1Z is supported on two points
Remark IIVI9 If fminus1Z = fminus1 LC(F ) then F is birationally a fibration by ratio-
nal curves
Proof After resolving the log-canonical singularities of F along the image of C we
have KF middot C lt 0 and F smooth along C We conclude by Corollary IIVI7
Therefore we can assume that f satisfies the following condition
Definition IIVI10 An invariant curve f C rarr X is called log-contractible if
KF middot C = 0 and it intersects Z in two points one canonical and one log-canonical
not canonical
It follows that f(C) is everywhere unibranch but it might have a cusp in LC(F )
Definition IIVI11 A log-chain is a chain of invariant rational orbifolds C =
cupni=0Ci scheme-like outside the foliation singularities with KF middot C = 0 and such
that
bull C0 is log-contractible with lowast(C ) = C0 cap LC(F ) called the marking of C
bull Ci is disjoint from LC(F ) if i ge 1
There is a unique point t(C ) satisfying t(C ) isin Z cap (Cn Cnminus1) called the tail of
the log-chain
Proposition IIVI12 Let C1C2 be two log-chains intersecting non-trivially Then
lowast(C1) = lowast(C2) and C1 cap C2 = lowast(C1)
Proof It is enough to prove that the two log-chains cannot intersect in their tails
Replace X be the resolution of the at most two markings of the log-chains and Ci
by their proper transforms C1cupC2 = cupmi=0Ri is a connected chain of rational curves
intersecting Z outisde LC(F ) Moreover each of the two extremal curves R0 and
Rm intersects Z in one point only In particular KF middot Ri = 0 for i = 1 middot middot middot m minus 1
and KF middot Ri lt 0 for i = 0m Since we assumed F is not birational to a fibration
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 21
by rational curves there exists a contraction p X rarr X0 with exceptional curve
cupmminus1i=0 Ri However F0 is smooth along plowastRm so by adjunction formula KF0 middotplowastRm lt
0 and we find a contradiction by Corollary IIVI7
Corollary IIVI13 Let C be a maximal connected curve such that KF middotC = 0 and
C cap LC(F ) 6= empty Then C is a union of finitely many log-chains intersecting each
other in their common marking
The following shows a configuration of log-chains sharing the same marking col-
ored in black
We are now ready to state and prove the canonical model theorem in presence of
log-canonical singularities
Theorem IIVI14 (Canonical models) Let X be a proper DM stack of dimension
2 and F a foliation with isolated singularities Moreover assume that KF is nef
that every KF -nil curve is contained in a log-chain and that F is Gorenstein and
log-canonical in a neighborhood of every KF -nil curve Then either
bull There exists a birational contraction p X rarr X0 whose exceptional curves
are unions of log-chains If all the log-contractible curves contained in the log-
chains are smooth then F0 is Gorenstein and log-canonical If furthermore
X has projective moduli then X0 has projective moduli In any case KF0
is numerically ample
bull There exists a fibration p X rarr B over a curve whose fibers intersect
KF trivially Each F -invariant fiber of p intersecting LC(F ) is union of
mutually compatible log-chains
Proof If all the KF -nil curves can be contracted by a birational morphism we are in
the first case of the Theorem Else let C be a maximal connected curve withKF middotC =
0 and which is not contractible It is a union of pairwise compatible log-chains
22 FEDERICO BUONERBA
with marking lowast Replace (X F ) by the resolution of the log-canonical singularity
at lowast with exceptional divisor E Therefore F is Gorenstein and canonical in a
neighborhood of C cupE By equation 9 we have KF middotC = minusC middotE lt 0 and therefore
C can be contracted to a canonical foliation singularity Replace (X F ) by the
contraction of C We have a smooth curve E around which F is smooth and
nowhere tangent to E Moreover
(11) KF middot E = minusE2
And we distinguish cases
bull E2 gt 0 so KF is not pseudo-effective a contradiction
bull E2 lt 0 so the initial curve C is contractible a contradiction
bull E2 = 0 which we proceed to analyze
The following is what we need to handle the third case
Proposition IIVI15 Let (X F ) be a foliation with canonical singularities with
X a smooth 2-dimensional DM stack with projective moduli and KF nef If there
exists a smooth curve E everywhere transverse to F such that KF middot E = E2 = 0
then E moves in a pencil and defines a fibration p X rarr B onto a curve whose
fibers intersect KF trivially
Proof If KF has Kodaira dimension one then its linear system contains an effective
divisor and by Hodge index KF = cE as divisors for some c isin Q+ Hence there is
a fibration onto a curve with fiber E and F is transverse to it by assumption If
KF has Kodaira dimension zero we use the classification IIV1 in all cases but the
suspension over an elliptic curve E defines a product structure on the underlying
surface in the case of a suspension every section of the underlying projective bundle
is clearly F -invariant Therefore E is a fiber of the bundle
This concludes the proof of the Theorem
We remark that the second alternative in the above theorem is rather natural
let (X F ) be a foliation which is transverse to a fibration by rational or elliptic
curves ie a suspension over elliptic curve turbolent Riccati or isotrivial Pick a
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 23
general fiber E of the fibration and blow up any number of points on it The proper
transform E is certainly contractible By Proposition IIVI4 the contraction of E is
Gorenstein and log-canonical Moreover the fiber E has been replaced by a union of
compatible log-chains Note in particular that the number of log-chains appearing
is arbitrary
Corollary IIVI16 Let X be a proper DM stack of dimension 2 and F a Goren-
stein foliation with log-canonical singularities Assume that KF is big and pseudo-
effective Then there exists a birational morphism p X rarr X0 such that C is
exceptional if and only if KF middot C le 0 In particular KF0 is numerically ample
For future applications we spell out
Corollary IIVI17 Hypothesis as in Theorem IIVI14 assume further that X
is everywhere smooth Then in the second alternative of the theorem the fibration
p X rarr B is by rational curves
Proof Indeed in this case the curve E which appears in the proof above as the
exceptional locus for the resolution of the log-canonical singularity at lowast must be
rational By the previous Proposition p is defined by a pencil in |E|
IIVII Set-up In this subsection we prepare the set-up we will deal with in the
rest of the manuscript Briefly we want to handle the existence of canonical models
for a family of foliated surfaces parametrized by a one-dimensional base To this
end we will discuss the modular behavior of singularities of foliated surfaces with
Gorenstein singularities recall McQuillan-Panazzolorsquos resolution of foliation singu-
larities building on the existence of minimal models [McQ05] prepare the set-up
for the sequel
Let us begin with the modular behavior of Gorenstein singularities
Proposition IIVII1 Let (X F ) be a smooth DM stack with a foliation by
curves Assume there exists a flat proper morphism p X rarr C onto an algebraic
curve such that F restricts to a foliation on every fiber of p Then the set
(12) s isin C Fs is log-canonical
24 FEDERICO BUONERBA
is Zariski-open while the set
(13) s isin C Fs is canonical
is the complement to a countable subset of C lying on a real-analytic curve
Proof By Fact IIIII2 being log-canonical is equivalent to the linearized endomor-
phism part IZI2Z rarr IZI
2Z being non-nilpotent where Z is the singular sub-scheme
of the foliation Of course being non-nilpotent is a Zariski open condition The
second statement also follows from opcit since a log-canonical singularity which is
not canonical has linearization with all its eigenvalues positive and rational The
statement is optimal as shown by the vector field on A3xys
(14) part(s) =part
partx+ s
part
party
Next we recall the existence of a functorial canonical resolution of foliation singu-
larities for foliations by curves on 3-dimensional stacks
Fact IIVII2 [MP13] Let X = (XDF ) be a 3-dimensional DM stack with bound-
ary foliated by curves Then there exists a proper birational morphism Xprime rarr X such
that X prime is a smooth DM stack and F prime has only canonical foliation singularities
The original opcit contains a more refined statement including a detailed de-
scription of the claimed birational morphism
In order for our set-up to make sense we mention one last very important result
Fact IIVII3 [McQ05] Let X be a smooth DM stack with projective moduli and F
a foliation by curves with (log)canonical singularities Then there exists a birational
map X 99K Xm obtained as a composition of flips such that Xm is a smooth
DM stack with projective moduli the birational transform Fm has (log)canonical
singularities and one of the following happens
bull KFm is nef or
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 25
bull There exists a fibration Xm rarr B over a smooth base whose fibers are
weighted projective spaces such that Fm is tangent to the fibers and restricts
to a radial foliation on those
Finally we can organize our notation
Set-up IIVII4 (X F ) is a smooth 3-dimensional DM stack with projective mod-
uli F a foliation by curves with canonical singularities such that KF is big and nef
There exists a semi-stable morphism p X rarr ∆ whose moduli is projective onto
the (formal) unit disk F restricts to a foliation on every fiber of p it has canon-
ical singularities on the very general fiber of p and log-canonical singularities on
every fiber of p Our task from now on is to analyze and contract the maximal
foliation-invariant sub-scheme of X along which KF is not ample
III Invariant curves and singularities local description
In this section we give a complete decription of germs of invariant curves that
appear in the formal completion of any point in the set-up IIVII4 Let us replace
X by its formal completion in a point lowast where the foliation is singular F is defined
by a vector field part with Jordan decomposition partS + partN see the end of subsection
IIIII Since [partS partN ] = 0 partN preserves the eigenspaces of partS Moreover the fact that
F is tangent to p translates into
(15) partS(p) = partN(p) = 0
The description of invariant germs of curves through lowast will be achieved via case-by-
case analysis organized by computing what happens for all possible combinations
of the following informations whether the singular locus Z is isolated at lowast the
number of eigenvalues of partS the number of components of the fiber through p
IIII sing(F ) not isolated
ni (1) partS has one eigenvalue
bull We have partS = x partpartx
and partN = f partparty
+ g partpartz
for some functions f g isin (y z)
Moreover partN is non-trivial
26 FEDERICO BUONERBA
bull Z = (x = f = g = 0) is not isolated
(a) The fiber has one component y = 0 Then 0 = partN(y) = f hence
Z = (x = g = 0) The restriction on the fiber is part|(y=0) = x partpartx
+g|(y=0)partpartz
Z has a one-dimensional component contained in the fiber iff g isin (y) in
which case such component is smooth equal to (x = 0) moreover the
foliation on the fiber saturates to a smooth one with invariant curves
z = 0 transverse to Z
Otherwise the foliation is saturated on the fiber and has a saddle-node
singularity
(b) The fiber has two components yz = 0 Then 0 = partN(yz) = zf + yg
hence f = yh g = minuszh for some h and Z = (x = h = 0) The restriction
on a fiber component say y = 0 is part|(y=0) = x partpartxminus zh|(y=0)
partpartz
Z has an
irreducible component contained in y = 0 iff h isin (y) in which case such
component is smooth equal to (x = 0) moreover the foliation on the
fiber saturates to a smooth one with invariant curves z = 0 transverse
to Z
Otherwise the foliation is saturated on the fiber and has a saddle-node
singularity
(c) The fiber has three components xyz = 0 0 = partS(xyz) = xyz a contra-
diction
Summary with one eigenvalue there are either one or two components The
foliation might have a one-dimensional singularity when restricted to a fiber
component in this case such singularity is a smooth curve and the foliation
saturates to a smooth one with invariant curves transverse to the singular-
ity If the singularity is isolated on a fiber component then it is a canonical
saddle-node with at most two invariant branches
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 27
ni (2) partS has two eigenvalues
We have partS = x partpartx
+ λy partparty
and partN(x y z) = k partpartx
+ f partparty
+ g partpartz
for some func-
tions k f g
(a) The fiber has one component z = 0 Then g = 0 k f isin (x y) and
necessarily Z = (x = y = 0) is transverse to the fiber The restriction on
the fiber is saturated and non-degenerate It has canonical singularities
if either partN 6= 0 or λ isin Q+ otherwise it is log-canonical
(b) The fiber has two components xy = 0 Then 0 = partS(xy) hence λ = minus1
Also 0 = partN(xy) hence k = xh f = minusyh g isin (xy) and necessarily
Z = (x = y = 0) coincides with the intersection of the two fiber compo-
nents which is smooth the foliation saturates to a smooth one on each
component with invariant curves transverse to Z
(c) The fiber has three components xyz = 0 hence λ = minus1 Also k = xklowast
f = yf lowast g = zglowast with klowast + f lowast + glowast = 0 and glowast isin (xy) The singularity
Z = (x = y = 0) coincides with the intersection of two of the fiber
components The restriction to either such components saturates to a
smooth foliation with invariant curves transverse to Z the restriction
to z = 0 has a canonical non-degenerate singularity all the invariant
curves are those in xy = 0 transverse to Z
Summary with 2 eigenvalues there can be any number of components With
one component the foliation restricts to a saturated one with a (log)canonical
singularity which moves transversely to p With two components the folia-
tion is not saturated on either and saturates to a smooth one with invariant
curves transverse to the singularity With three components the foliation
is not saturated on two of them and saturates to a smooth one on both
with invariant curves transverse to the singularity the foliation is saturated
and has a canonical non-degenerate singularity on the third component In
28 FEDERICO BUONERBA
the last two cases the singularity is fully contained in an intersection of two
components
ni (3) partS has three eigenvalues But then the singularity is isolated a contradiction
IIIII sing(F ) isolated
i (1) partS has one eigenvalue
bull We have partS = x partpartx
and partN = xk partpartx
+ f partparty
+ g partpartz
for some functions
k f g isin (y z) Moreover partN is non-trivial
bull Z = (x = f = g = 0) is isolated
(a) The fiber has one component y = 0 Then 0 = partN(y) = f and Z cannot
be isolated a contradiction
(b) The fiber has two components yz = 0 Then 0 = partN(yz) = zf + yg so
f = yh g = minuszh with h non-constant Hence Z = (x = h = 0) is not
isolated a contradiction
(c) The fiber has three components xyz = 0 Then 0 = partS(xyz) = xyz a
contradiction
Summary the 1 eigenvalue case does not exist
i (2) partS has two eigenvalues
bull We have partS = x partpartx
+ λy partparty
partN = xk partpartx
+ f partparty
+ g partpartz
for some functions
k f g
bull g is non-trivial and g isin (x y)
bull Z = (x = y = g = 0) is isolated
(a) The fiber has one component z = 0 Then g = 0 a contradiction
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 29
(b) The fiber has two components xy = 0 hence λ = minus1 and g isin (xy z)
the restriction to y = 0 is part|(y=0) = x partpartx
+g|(y=0)partpartz
and necessarily g|(y=0)
is non-vanishing Therefore the restriction to either components is satu-
rated and the singularity is a canonical saddle-node on each of them
The invariant curves are among the axes x = y = 0 x = z = 0 y = z =
0
(c) The fiber has three components xyz = 0 hence λ = minus1 Necessarily
k = xklowast f = yf lowast g = zglowast with klowast + f lowast + glowast = 0 The restriction to
y = 0 is part|(y=0) = x(1 + klowast|(y=0))partpartx
+ zglowast|(y=0)partpartz
since g isin (x y) we have
glowast|(y=0) non-trivial Therefore the restriction to either x = 0 and y = 0
is saturated and the singularity is a canonical saddle-node on each of
them
The restriction to z = 0 is part|(z=0) = x(1 + klowast|(z=0))partpartx
+ y(minus1 + f lowast|(z=0))partparty
therefore the restriction is saturated and has a canonical non-degenerate
singularity
The invariant curves are among the axes x = y = 0 x = z = 0 y = z =
0
Summary with 2 eigenvalues there are either two or three components the
foliation restricts to a canonical saddle-node on two of them and to a non-
degenerate singularity on the third one if it exists All the invariant curves
are in the axes
i (3) partS has three eigenvalues We have partS = x partpartx
+ λy partparty
+ microz partpartz
(a) The fiber has one component y = 0 hence λ = 0 a contradiction
(b) The fiber has two components xy = 0 hence λ = minus1 The restriction to
y = 0 is part|(y=0) = x partpartx
+ microz partpartz
+ partN|(y=0) The singularity is log-canonical
30 FEDERICO BUONERBA
iff micro isin Qgt0 and partN|(y=0)= 0 and in this case the singularity on x = 0 is
canonical non-degenerate Invariant curves are those in y = 0 and the
axis x = z = 0
If the restriction to both fiber components is canonical then it non-
degenerate on both and the invariant curves are contained in the axes
x = y = 0 x = z = 0 y = z = 0
The fiber could be yz = 0 hence λ+micro = 0 It can be analyzed as in the
next item
(c) The fiber has three components xyz = 0 hence 1 + λ + micro = 0 In par-
ticular if λ = cmicro c isin Q+ then λ micro isin Q The restriction to y = 0
is part|(y=0) = x partpartx
+ microz partpartz
+ partN|(y=0) This singularity is log-canonical iff
micro isin Qgt0 and partN|(y=0)= 0 in which case the singularity on both x = 0
and z = 0 is canonical non-degenerate In particular if the singularity
is log-canonical on some fiber component then it is so on exactly one
component and all eigenvalues are rational Invariant curves are those
in y = 0 and the axis x = z = 0
If the restriction to all fiber components is canonical then it non-degenerate
on each of them and the invariant curves are contained in the axes
x = y = 0 x = z = 0 y = z = 0
Summary with 3 eigenvalues there are either two or three fiber components
the foliation restricts to a singular foliation on each of them and it has a
log-canonical singularity on at most one of them in this case all eigenvalues
of the semi-simple field are rational
IIIIII Local consequences We list some corollaries for future reference As al-
ways in this section the statements are local so everything happens in a formal
neighborhood of our point lowast First we state those corollaries we will need to describe
configurations of KF -nil curves
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 31
Definition IIIIII1 An LC-center Π sub X is an irreducible F -invariant formal
hypersurface such that the local vector field generating the foliation when restricted
to Π has semi-simple part with log-canonical singularity or a one-dimensional sin-
gular locus An LC-center with a log-canonical singularity is necessarily an algebraic
component of the singular fiber of p
Corollary IIIIII2 There is at most one LC-center with a log-canonical singularity
through lowast If it exists then all eigenvalues of the semi-simple field at lowast are rational
If there are at least two LC-centers through lowast then there are exactly two and the
foliation singularity is a smooth curve on each of them
Proof Possible cases in which an LC-center with log-canonical singularities appears
ni (2)a i (3)b i (3)c
Corollary IIIIII3 If there is no LC-center thorugh a point lowast then there are at
most three invariant curves through lowast all smooth Any number of them spans a sub-
space of the tangent space at lowast of maximal possible dimension
If there is an LC-center through lowast then there is at most one invariant curve through
lowast and not contained in the LC-center
If there is an LC-center with non-isolated singularity then the singularity is smooth
and all invariant curves contained in the LC-center intersect the singularity trans-
versely
Proof Invariant curves not in an LC-centers with log-canonical singularities are con-
tained in the three axes x = z = 0 x = y = 0 y = z = 0 mentioned in the above
classification The other statements are clear
Corollary IIIIII4 If p is smooth at lowast then Z is one dimensional around lowast
Proof Possible casesni (1)a ni (2)a
In particular if there is no LC-center the situation is the familiary
xz
32 FEDERICO BUONERBA
While if there is an LC-center (pink) with log-canonical singularity it will look like
y
LC-center
While if there is an LC-center with non-isolated singularity (red) it will look like
(the black arrows being invariant curves)
y
LC-center
The next corollary describes one-dimensional components of the foliation singularity
Corollary IIIIII5 If Z0 is a one-dimensional irreducible component of the folia-
tion singularity then it is at worst nodal The foliation when restricted to any fiber
component containing Z0 saturates to a smooth foliation in a neighborhood of Z0
and all the invariant curves are transverse to Z0
If Z0 is contained in exactly one fiber component then the semi-simple field has one
eigenvalue everywhere along Z0
If Z0 lies at the intersection of two fiber components then the semi-simple field has
two constant eigenvalues everywhere along Z0
Moreover if there exist a sequence of invariant curves converging in the compact-
open topology to Z0 then there is generically one eigenvalue along Z0
Proof Possible casesni (1)a ni (1)b ni (2)b ni (2)c Concerning the one-
eigenvalue case invariant curves converging to Z0 can be found in the formal hyper-
surface x = 0
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 33
IV Invariant curves along which KF vanishes
In this section we study in great detail a formal neighborhood of invariant curves
where KF is numerically trivial In the first subsection we deal with KF -nil curves
namely those whose generic point is not contained in the foliation singularity In this
case the normal bundle to the curve determines its formal neighborhood uniquely
and this has plenty of amazing consequences In the second subsection we study
those invariant curves which are contained in the foliation singularity In this case
we are not able to control the full formal neighborhood but important informations
can still be obtained
IVI KF -nil curves In this subsection we study in detail the structure of KF -
nil curves and their formal neighborhoods appearing in the set-up IIVII4 In
particular we will describe a simple process to replace cuspidal KF -nil curves by
net ones prove that the foliation is in the net completion around a net KF -nil curve
defined by a global vector field which admits a global Jordan decomposition deduce
that eigenfunctions for the semi-simple component of such field are also globally
defined on a formal neighborhood
The first important remark is of technical nature and explains how to deal with non-
net KF -nil curves By Proposition IIIV4 this is indeed possible and the images of
such curves will acquire cusp-like singularities It is hard to analyze the geometry
of F around such cuspidal curves and therefore necessary to remove them Let us
assume that C is simply connected with rational moduli f is ramified at 0 isin C
and and denote by X the formal completion along f(C) Then formally around
f(0) the curve f(C) has defining ideal (y xa minus zb) where y = 0 is a fiber of the
fibration p X rarr ∆ containing f(C) x z isin H0(X OX ) restrict to suitable local
coordinates on such fiber and a b ge 2 are coprime integers
Claim IVI1 Let r X ( aradicz = 0) rarr X be the a-th root of z = 0 III3 Then
(rlowastC)norm =∐a
1 C and the induced map rlowastf (rlowastC)norm rarrX ( aradicz = 0) is net
Proof Since r is etale away from z = 0 also rlowastC rarr C is etale away from 0 isin C
Since C 0 is simply connected we have rlowastC rminus1(0) =∐a
1 C 0 This proves
34 FEDERICO BUONERBA
the first statement Let ζ be a function on X ( aradicz = 0) such that ζa = z so then
rlowast(xa minus zb) =prod
ηa=1(x minus ηζb) Every branch is net in 0 and we obtain the second
statement as well
As such upon taking roots we can replace non-net KF -nil invariant curves with
rational moduli by net ones
We now proceed to study net KF -nil curves We will show that the foliation is
defined by a global vector field around a net KF -nil curve with rational moduli and
that such vector field admits a global Jordan decomposition
Proposition IVI2 Notation as in the set-up IIVII4 let f C rarrX be a KF -nil
curve Assume that f is net and let j C rarr C be the net completion along f Then
there exists an isomorphism
(16) OC(KF )simminusrarr OC
In particular there exists a global vector field partf on C that generates F
Proof Since C has rational moduli and is simply connected it has infinite-cyclic
Picard group and we have an isomorphism
(17) OC(KF )simminusrarr OC
Moreover we have a non-canonical splitting of the normal bundle Njsimminusrarr O(minusn) oplus
O(minusm) and we claim that both nm ge 0 Indeed consider the induced semi-stable
fibration C rarr ∆ and let F be the normalization of an irreducible component of a
fiber such that C sub F Consider the exact sequence
(18) 0rarr NCF rarr Nj rarr NFC|C rarr 0
Since KF is nef NCF is not ample since F is a fiber of a fibration also NFC|C is
not ample and this is enough to conclude even though nm may be different from
the degrees of such normal bundles
At this point we can lift the isomorphism 17 over infinitesimal neighborhoods of j
Indeed for every k ge 0 we have an exact sequence
(19) 0rarr Symk ICI2C rarr OCk+1
(KF )rarr OCk(KF )rarr 0
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 35
which shows that the obstruction to lifting the isomorphism lies in
(20) H1(C Symk ICI2C) = H1(C Symk(O(n)oplus O(m))) = 0
From this we can deduce
Proposition IVI3 The vector field partf admits a Jordan decomposition uniformly
along C
Proof The cohomology sequence attached to 19 is
(21) 0rarr H0(C Symk ICI2C)rarr H0(COCk+1
)rarr H0(COCk)rarr 0
Let partk+1 denote the image of partf in End(H0(COCk+1)) Looking at
H0(COCk+1) minusminusminusrarr H0(COCk
)
partk+1
y partk
yH0(COCk+1
) minusminusminusrarr H0(COCk)
we see the canonical Jordan deomposition of partk+1 restricts to that of partk
The above result describes a very useful interplay between normal bundles to
KF -nil curves and the structure of the semi-simple field It turns out that these
informations determine formal neighborhoods uniquely For simplicity let C be
an irreducible component of C without orbifold points Let us assume that part|C is
singular in 0infin Then there exist formal functions x y z at 0 isin C and ξ η ζ at
infin isin C such that x ξ are coordinates along C y η are local sections of OC(minusn)
so η = xny mod(I2C) z ζ are local sections of OC(minusm) so ζ = xmz mod(I2C)
Normalizing so that xminus1partS(x) = ε isin 0 1 we obtain
(22) part0S = εxpart
partx+ λy
part
party+ microz
part
partz partinfinS = minusεξ part
partξ+ (λ+ εn)η
part
partη+ (micro+ εm)ζ
part
partζ
More generally ie C = P1(d e) we have glueing rules x = te ξ = tminusd η = tny and
ζ = tmz mod(I2C) Normalizing so that tminus1partS(t) = ε isin 0 1 we obtain
(23) part0S = eεxpart
partx+ λy
part
party+ microz
part
partz partinfinS = minusdεξ part
partξ+ (λ+ εn)η
part
partη+ (micro+ εm)ζ
part
partζ
36 FEDERICO BUONERBA
It is worth remarking that the above relations hold between eigenvalues at the two
singular point of singular ie nodal or cuspidal KF -nil curves as well this is
easily seen by taking a root followed by net completion and keeping track of the
eigenvalues
Definition IVI4 Let C be a KF -nil curve The foliation singular points along C
are called ends
As well as the existence of Hilbert scheme in the following form
Fact IVI5 Let W sub Xlowast be a curve and D a divisor in the formal neighborhood
of W such that W = D capXlowast scheme-theoretically Then W moves in D
In what follows our main concern is to understand formal neighborhoods of KF -
nil curves Observe that the fibration p when restricted to the formal neighborhood
of such curves provides at least one eigenfunction of the semi-simple field Hence
in order to compute the width IIII we must study the behavior of the other eigen-
function on infinitesimal neighborhoods We first describe the situation inside the
smooth locus of p
Proposition IVI6 (Smooth fiber) Let f C rarrX be an irreducible KF -nil curve
which is contained in the smooth locus of a fiber Xlowast of p Then the end(s) on C are
flat over ∆ ni (1)b and ni (1)a with z2|g(y z) and C moves in a family flat over
∆
Proof Let us assume that f is net Then upon passing to net completion we can
actually assume it is embedded From our local classification of singularities we case
in case ni (1)a and ni (2)a We want to show that both ends have components
that move transversely to p hence we have to exclude case ni (1)a with g(y z) = ya
By way of contradiction say we have g(y z) = ya in the notation of opcit around
an end lowast isin C We proceed to compute what happens at the other end we find
formal coordinates ξ η ζ which by equation 23 satisfy
(24) ξ = xminus1 η = y ζ = xmz mod(I2C)
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 37
As such we compute part(ζ) = mζ + ξminusmηa mod(I2C) which is holomorphic if and only
if m le 0 so then C moves in Xlowast contradicting that the foliation has general type
Hence we are in cases ni (1)a ni (2)a with g = microyazb b ge 1
(25) part0 = xpart
partx+ microyazb
part
partz partinfin = minusξ part
partξ+ ζ(m+ microξm(bminus1)ηaζbminus1)
part
partζ(mod(I2C))
Following notation from subsection IIII observe that C1 is the section of E1C which
is disjoint from the proper transform of the fiber of p In coordinates over 0
(26) x1 = x y1 = y z1 = zyminus1
And similarly over infin Using the previous equation and 25 on C1 we find
(27)
part01 = x1part
partx1+microya+bminus11 zb1
part
partz1 partinfin1 = minusξ1
part
partξ1+ζ1(m+microξ
m(bminus1)1 ηa+bminus11 ζbminus11 )
part
partζ1(mod(I2C1
))
In particular the transform of the nilpotent field is still nilpotent after blowing up in
C It follows that the eigenvalues of the semi-simple field at the two ends of C and
C1 are the same Using equation 23 we deduce that the normal bundle to C1X1 to
isomorphic to that of CX in particular it contains a trivial direct summand This
proves that width(C) =infin
Next we show that f must be net Consider the induced flat projection pD D rarr ∆
its general fiber cannot be a cuspidal curve since along such cusp the foliation sin-
gularity would be log-canonical but not canonical Hence if C has a cusp necessarily
the general fiber of pD is a nodal curve Let X rarr X denote the blow up of the
nodal locus of pD with exceptional divisor E ruled over ∆ In a neighborhood of E
we have sing(F ) = D cap E which projects to ∆ as a double cover ramified over lowastObserve that the foliation on Xlowast is again log-canonical and not canonical hence its
local structure is ni (2)a In that case however p is unramified along the foliation
singularity Contradiction
We state a general criterion for movability of KF -nil curves
Proposition IVI7 Let C be a connected KF -nil curve such that p(C ) = lowast isin ∆
Assume its dual graph is a chain that none of its irreducible components is double
38 FEDERICO BUONERBA
VI3 and that its two extremal ends are flat over ∆ Then C moves in a family flat
over ∆ and each of its irreducible components is embedded
Proof We work in a formal neighborhood of C After taking roots we can assume
C is net and since its dual graph is a chain it is actually embedded We proceed by
induction on its length l where the case l = 1 is Proposition IVI6 For l gt 1 let C1
be a component of C which is extremal in its dual graph If C1 moves transversely
to p then both its ends do and hence we can apply the induction hypothesis to
C C1 If C1 is rigid then it can be flopped It is straightforward to check that we
can apply the induction hypothesis to the transform C + C+1 and we are done
Now we deal with rigid curves inside the singular fiber
Proposition IVI8 (Singular fiber) Let f C rarr X be an embedded net KF -
nil curve with anti-ample normal bundle Then there exists a birational map φ
(X F ) 99K (X +F+) and a KF+-nil curve C+ such that
bull φ is an isomorphism away from C+
bull In a formal neighborhood of at least one among C and C+ there exist two
invariant hypersurfaces D1D2 locally defined by the vanishing of eigenfunc-
tions of the semi-simple field such that C (resp C+)= D1 capD2
bull If F middot C lt 0 for some hypersurface F then F+ middot C+ gt 0 In particular X +
is projective
Such φ is called flop
Proof Our assumption is that Nfsimminusrarr O(minusn)oplusO(minusm) is anti-ample namely nm gt
0 If two invariant hypersurfaces as in our statement do exist around C the flop is
easily constructed as a weighted blow-up followed by a weighted blow-down As such
let us assume that such hypersurfaces do not exist around C In particular C is not
double VI3 By [Ar70] there exists a formal contraction c X rarrX0 collapsing C
to a point and an isomorphism everywhere else By Proposition IVI3 the foliation
F0 is Gorenstein around the node of X0 For ease of exposition let us assume
n = m = 1 the general case is handled the same way only the notation becomes more
cumbersome due to the presence of weights The node has embedding dimension 4
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 39
and in suitable local coordinates x0 y0 w0 z0 can be defined by x0z0minusy0w0 = 0 The
morphism c can be identified with the blow up of the embedded surface (x0 = y0 = 0)
Explicitly in the chart y = y0 x = x0yminus10 it is defined by
(28) y0 = y x0 = xy z0 = zprime w0 = xzprime
Here x is a coordinate along C while y = 0 is the pull-back of (x0 = y0 = 0) and
zprime some function in the normal bundle to C By the previous Proposition IVI6
we know C cannot be contained in the smooth locus of p Since C is not double
we can assume that in this local chart p is defined by (x y zprime) rarr xy - the case
(x y zprime) rarr xzprime being isomorphic as it is isomorphic to blow-up (z0 = w0 = 0)
instead of (x0 = y0 = 0) The issue is as emphasized by the notation zprime 6= z that
zprime may fail to be an eigenfunction for partS if it were we would be done since zprime = 0
is the local equation for the global pullback of (z0 = w0 = 0) However we have
a b isin C such that
(29) partS0(y0) = minusy0 partS0(x0) = 0 partS0(z0) = ay0 + bz0 partS0(w0) = ax0 + (b+ 1)w0
Observe that the embedded surfaces D01 = (y0 = z0 = 0) and D0
2 = (x0 = w0 = 0)
are both foliation invariant As such let b X + rarr X0 denote the blow-up of X0
along D01 - which is isomorphic to that along D0
2 - and let Di = blowastD0i i = 1 2
Finally X + is projective by Nakai-Moishezon Indeed every C with anti-ample
normal bundle is contained in an irreducible component F of X0 such that F middotC lt 0
Then F+ middot C+ gt 0 and we can find an ample divisor of the form H+ + εF+ where
H+ is the proper transform of an ample on X
Remark IVI9 In the previous proof a 6= b+ 1 Indeed such identity would create
a non-trivial Jordan block of partS0 in the (x0 w0)-plane thus contradicting the semi-
simplicity of partS0 In particular by a straightforward computation it is impossible to
find eigenfunctions of the form wlowast0 = w0 + αx0 zlowast0 = z0 + βy0 with x0z
lowast0 minus y0wlowast0 = 0
unless a = 0
We can conclude by pointing out an important point understood in this section
A painful aspect of the theory is that log-canonical singularities which appear natu-
rally as analytic degenerations of canonical ones come along with cuspidal invariant
40 FEDERICO BUONERBA
curves There is in particular no a-priori obstruction to the existence of rigid
cuspidal KF -nil curves in a smooth fiber of our family of foliated surfaces p Quite
generally a rigid curve of positive arithmetic genus in a smooth family of surfaces can
never be contracted to a point Therefore this would have been a counter-example
to any reasonable foliated canonical model theory one may wish to achieve Fortu-
nately such phenomenon does not happen and this establishes the Main Theorem I
modulo finitely many rigid curves confined in the singular fiber X0
IVII Invariant curves inside sing(F ) In this subsection we study curves Z0 subeXlowast cap sing(F ) which are inside the foliation singularity and invariant By this we
mean that there exists a sequence fn Cn rarrX of not necessarily algebraic invariant
curves converging in the compact-open topology to Z0 In other words the map
(30) NorF rarr Ω1Z0
is trivial By Corollary IIIIII5 we know that Z0 is at worst nodal it is smooth
wherever p is smooth for every point z isin Z0 the semi-simple part of the gener-
ating vector field has exactly one eigenvalue The problem here is that the Jordan
decomposition need not extend uniformly along Z0 not even along an irreducible
component In case ni (1)a the functions x and g may develop essential singulari-
ties arbitrary close to z Nonetheless the function x is unique and this says that x
does extend along Z0
Proposition IVII1 Let Z0 be as above Then in a formal neighborhood of Z0
there exists a unique smooth invariant hypersurface D0 containing Z0 which restricts
around any point in Z0 to the unique eigenfunction for the semi-simple field whose
eigenvalue is non-zero
Proof The local structure of the foliation around a point z isin Z0 is described by
cases ni (1)a and ni (1)b In both cases partS has one non-zero eigenvalue with
eigenfunction x Such eigenfunction x is a-priori only defined in the normal bundle to
Z0 but it is clear that the equation partx = x has a unique up to constants solution in
the formal completion around z As such there exists a unique smooth hypersurface
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 41
D0 in the formal completion around Z0 which restricts to the eigenfunction x around
z
Observe that the previous argument goes through since we are assuming Z0 subX0
Keeping notations from case ni (1)a if say g(y z) = yz then in the hypersurface
y equiv q isin Qgt0 the foliation has a log-canonical singularity and the eigenfunction x
extends highly non-uniquely to a formal neighborhood of the point (x y z) = (0 q 0)
In particular the existence of D0 as in the previous Proposition might fail along
the component (x = z = 0) of the foliation singularity This phenomenon is called
the beast
Anyway uniqueness in the previous proposition yields
Corollary IVII2 Let Z prime be a connected invariant curve inside sing(F ) Then in
a formal neighborhood of Z prime there exists a unique smooth invariant hypersurface D prime
containing Z prime which restricts around any point in Z prime to the hypersurface constructed
in the previous proposition
Next we turn to the intrinsic structure of invariant singular curves
Proposition IVII3 Let Z0 be an irreducible invariant curve inside sing(F )
Then Z0 is smooth and rational
Proof We work in a formal neighborhood of Z0 Let F0 denote the unique component
of X0 containing Z0 For any other fiber component F intersecting Z0 non-trivially
blow-up the invariant curve F cap F0 with exceptional divisor EF A straightforward
computation using the local formula ni (1)b shows that the fiber of the natural
projection EF rarr F cap F0 intersecting Z0 is also contained in sing(F ) For Z prime the
maximal connected singular invariant curve containing Z0 let G denote the saturated
foliation induced on D prime It is canonical with reduced singularities and it satisfies
KG = KF |Dprime minus Zprime By adjunction
(31) 2g(Z0)minus 2 + sZG(Z0) = minusZ prime middot Z0
Observe that thanks to our initial sequence of blow-ups the singularities of G along
Z0 coincide with the intersection of Z0 and Z prime Z0 In particular since D prime is formally
42 FEDERICO BUONERBA
flat over ∆ we deduce Z prime middot Z0 = 0 and the previous formula becomes
(32) 2g(Z0)minus 2 + sZG(Z0) = 0
This implies that Z0 is rational or elliptic If Z0 were elliptic then sZG(Z0) = 0 and
D0 defines an invariant elliptic curve in the general fiber of p By Baum-Bott this
contradicts that KF is big and nef Now we show that Z0 is smooth If it has a node
then D0 moves it in a family of nodal rational curves flat over ∆ In particular D0
itself has a node in codimension 1 hence Xlowast is smooth around the node of Z0 In its
formal neighborhood the foliation must be as in case ni (1)a which implies that
Z0 is smooth contradiction
We can improve as follows
Proposition IVII4 Let Z prime sube sing F capXlowast be a connected invariant curve with
KF middot Z prime = 0 Then its dual graph is a chain
Proof Assume Z prime is a cycle Then necessarily Z prime = D prime capXlowast scheme-theoretically
and by the existence of Hilbert scheme Z prime moves in the general fiber Its general
member is either a cycle of smooth rational curves or an elliptic curve Arguing as
in the previous proof we see that both options are impossible
V Configurations
In this section we analyze in great detail all possible configurations of invariant
curves along which KF vanishes These can be divided into three groups those
that do not move those that move in a one-dimensional family covering a surface
those that move in a higher-dimensional family covering a surface Curves in the first
group can form rather complicated configurations while those in the second group
are more simple they either move in the general fiber or they cover an isolated
Riccati component in the singular fiber Those in the third group turn out to be
represented by the two rulings of P1timesP1 if they happen to be cohomologous in the
ambient stack First we will analyze rigid curves then those which move and finally
we will describe their configurations
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 43
VI Configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially In
this subsection we describe configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF
trivially which arise in the situation described by set-up IIVII4
First we focus on KF -nil curves At the end of the section we deal with the simpler
case in which a curve in the configuration is fully contained in sing(F ) The general
fiber was handled in Proposition IVI6
Proposition VI1 Let C be a connected KF -nil curve contained in the smooth
locus of a fiber of p Then it is a chain or a cycle and it moves in a family flat over
∆
In what follows we let C denote a connected KF -nil curve contained in the
singular fiber X0 all of whose sub-curves are rigid in X Observe a consequence of
equation 23
Proposition VI2 Let C = cupiCi be a connected KF -nil curve Then the eigen-
values of partS are all rational at every point of sing(F )capC if and only if they are all
rational at one point
We can deduce many non-trivial properties about configurations of KF -nil curves
First we need
Definition VI3 Let C subX0 be a curve It is called double if there exists formally
around C two components F F prime of X0 such that C = F cap F prime A point lowast isin C where
three fiber components intersect is called a triple point If C lies on exactly one fiber
component it is called non-double We denote by F (C) such component
Remark VI4 Let Csimminusrarr P1(d e) be double with two triple points Then we know
e+ λ+ micro = minusd+ (λ+ n) + (micro+m) = 0 whence we obtain
(33) n+m = d+ e
Which is called triple-point formula
Next we show that essentially KF -nil curves do not form cycles unless something
deforms in X0 First we show that there are no cycles of rigid non-double curves
44 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proposition VI5 Let C be a connected KF -nil curve contained in the singular
fiber X0 of p Assume that every component of C is non-double and that every
sub-curve is rigid Then C contains no cycles
Proof We work in a formal neighborhood of C which we assume is a cycle Let
us first consider the case in which all components C1 middot middot middot CN are smooth with no
orbifold points and denote lowasti = Ci cap Ci+1 with CN+1 = C1 Moreover let us
assume no lowasti lies in the smooth locus of p
Since no curve is double the semi-simple field at every lowasti is as in case i (3)b in
particular the eigenvalues along the branches of Ci and Ci+1 add up to zero More-
over let minusni denote the self-intersection of Ci sub F (Ci) Normalize the eigenvalues
of partS so that at lowastn they are 1 in the C1 direction minus1 in the CN direction λ in the
F (C1)capF (CN) direction It follows by induction that at lowasti the eigenvalues are minus1
in the Ci direction 1 in the Ci+1 direction λ+ n1 + middot middot middot+ ni in the F (Ci) cap F (Ci+1)
direction After traveling around the cycle we obtain n1+middot middot middot+nN = 0 contradicting
that ni gt 0 for every i
We established the Proposition assuming every Ci is an embedded scheme and ev-
ery lowasti is in the singular locus of p The case in which Cisimminusrarr P1(di ei) has orbifold
points is analogous we end up with a combination c1n1 + middot middot middot + cNnN = 0 with ci
the eigenvalue at lowasti in the Ci+1 direction Normalizing so that c1 = e1 gt 0 again by
induction on i we see that every ci isin Qgt0 Next we show that our assumption on lowastiis always satisfied
Claim VI6 Every lowasti must belong to the singular locus of p
Proof We give two essentially equivalent proofs
bull If N = 2 3 then the previous argument goes through indeed we can normal-
ize eigenvalues at lowasti to be negative in the Ciminus1 direction and positive in the
Ci-direction and argue as above Hence we can assume N ge 4 If say lowasti is in
the smooth locus of p then F (Ci) = F (Ci+1) If also F (Ciminus1) = F (Ci) then Ci
lies in the smooth locus of p and hence it moves Therefore F (Ciminus1) 6= F (Ci)
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 45
and Ciminus1 can be flopped inside F (Ci) Since N ge 4 this preserves the smooth-
ness of F (Ci) and Ci is now is the smooth locus of p - contradiction
bull If lowasti belongs to the smooth locus of p then the end through lowasti moves We
can form a partial net completion fi Xi rarrX by normalizing C in lowasti only
Then f lowasti C is a chain with movable ends and hence moves in the general fiber
of p fi
Finally the general case in which some among the Ci have cusps can be easily
reduced to the smooth case in a couple of ways
bull Eigenvalues at the singularities of any KF -nil curve satisfy the same relations
as in the smooth case
bull Upon taking roots and net completion we can find a foliated formal 3-fold
supported on a cycle of smooth KF -nil curves which is a ramified cover of a
formal neighborhood of our cycle
Similarly we can show that there are no rigid cycles of double curves
Proposition VI7 Let C be a nodal KF -nil curve which is double Then C
deforms inside X0 In particular there cannot exist a rigid cycle of KF -nil double
curves
Proof Following the previous notation we have 0 = infin and if C = (xy = z = 0)
around 0 then we have identities
(34) x = η y = ξ z = ζ
The last one of which implies m = 0 that is C deforms Since C is double necessarily
the surface it spans must be contained in X0
The statement about cycles follows since a cycle of double curves can be transformed
after finitely many flops into a chain of smooth double curves with a nodal one
attached at one end
46 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Later on we will show that the deformations of C cannot span an elliptic surface
but only a family of nodal rational curves with a special Riccati foliation on it
We are ready to organize a detailed description of the dual graph of C More pre-
cisely we only need to understand how double curves intersect non-double curves
Lemma VI8 There exists a sequence of flops X 99KX + such that if C + denotes
the transform of C every double curve supported on C + contains two triple points
Proof Let C sube C be an irreducible component with at most one triple point and
let X 99K X + be its flop Then its transform C+ is non-double and the number
of double curves contained in C descreases It is clear that after finitely many flops
all double curves contain exactly two triple points
From now on all double curves in C have two triple points Thanks to proposition
VI2 we know that there are two cases to consider those curves along which the
semi-simple field has not only rational eigenvalues and those along which the semi-
simple field has only rational eigenvalues The first case being strictly easier than
the second it is a good starting place to warm up
Proposition VI9 (irrational eigenvalues) Assume that for every foliation singu-
larity along C not all eigenvalues of partS are rational Then every component of C
is net with at most one node and 1-skeleton of its dual graph is at worst trivalent
Write C = C axes cup C free where
C axes is the union of double curves
C free is the union of non-double curves
Then one among C axes and C free is empty Moreover
bull If C free is non-empty then it is a chain of smooth curves with rational moduli
bull If C axes is non-empty there exists a sequence of flops X 99KX + and an ir-
reducible component of the fiber FC subX + such that X + is a smooth stack
the transform C+ of C is contained in FC Moreover the dual graph of C+
is a tree which by [McQ08 III32] becomes a chain inside the normalization
of FC
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 47
Proof The first sentence is just corollary IIIIII3
Observe that if a non-double curve intersects a double curve then the non-double
curve must be contained in an LC-center around such intersection This contradicts
that not all eigenvalues are rational and establishes that one among C axes and C free
is empty
In case C free is not empty then it is clearly a chain or a cycle the latter being
impossible by Proposition VI5
We are left to show the existence of flops in case C = C axes We remark that
every component is smooth Let C0 be such a component and S0 a component of
X0 containing it Let C1 be the collection of irreducible components of C which
intersect S0 but are not contained in it All the components of C1 are smooth hence
we can flop them in any order until the transform of C1 lies in the transform of S0
Since the number of irreducible components of C lying outside S0 decreases after
such flop by induction we deduce the existence of finitely many flops after which
the birational transform of C is fully contained in the transform of S0
Next we take care of rational eigenvalues The complication here arises from
the fact that there may be double and non-double curves intersecting each other
However the situation is best possible
Proposition VI10 (rational eigenvalues) Assume that for every foliation singu-
larity along C all eigenvalues of partS are rational Write C = C axes cup C free where
C axes is the union of double curves
C free is the union of non-double curves
Then there exists a sequence of flops X 99K X + and an irreducible component of
the fiber FC axes subX + such that
bull X + is a smooth stack
bull The union of double curves of C axes is contained in FC axes the 1-skeleton of
its dual graph is a tree and each of its components has two triple points
bull The 1-skeleton of the dual graph of the transform C free+ is a disjoint union of
trees
bull Each connected component of C free+ intersects C axes in exactly one point
48 FEDERICO BUONERBA
In particular the 1-skeleton of the dual graph of C is a tree
Proof Notice that for every point lowast isin C cap Z there exists one LC-center through lowastIndeed there are three rational eigenvalues and they cannot be all non-vanishing and
all with different signs at the same time Now C axes can be treated as in proposition
VI9 This proves the first two items of the statement The third item follows from
Proposition VI5 so we can focus on the fourth one The proof is based on the
following obvious
Remark VI11 let C be a double curve such that either it is KF -nil hence has
two triple points or it is fully contained in sing(F ) Let C0 sube C free intersect C
non-trivially in a point lowast then necessarily C0 sub LClowast
Now let C0 middot middot middot CN form a chain of non-double curves with C0 and CN both
intersecting double curves as in the remark Denote by lowasti = Ci cap Ci+1 Since
C1 sub LClowast necessarily C1 is transverse to LClowast1 otherwise C1 would deform in F (C1)
Inductively we see that Ci+1 sub LClowasti and is transverse to LClowasti+1 In particular CN
cannot touch a double curve This contradiction proves the fourth item
Let us add a remark about configurations featuring invariant curves inside sing(F )
Proposition VI12 Let C be an invariant curve with KF middot C = 0 such that
Z0 sube C for some component Z0 sube sing(F ) Then C = Z prime cup C where
Z prime is a connected invariant curve inside the foliation singularity with dual graph a
chain
C is the union of at most two pairwise disjoint KF -nil curves with anti-ample
normal bundle
If not empty C can only intersect Z prime at the two ends of its dual graph Moreover
perhaps after a flop the intersection of C with Z prime supports the foliation singularity
along C As such if C has two components Z prime cup C deforms in the general fiber
Proof The structure of Z prime is Proposition IVII3 while that of Co is Proposition
IVI6 Let C prime be a component of C intersecting Z0 in a point lowast If C prime and Z0 belong
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 49
to different components of X0 then by case ni (1)b the eigenvalue of partS along C prime
vanishes so supp(sing(F ) cap C prime) = lowast If C prime and Z0 belong to the same component
then we can flop C prime into a different component
Observe that the divisor D prime from op cit can be extended along C prime This implies
that C can only intersect Z prime at its ends Moreover if C touches both ends necessarily
D prime capX0 = C scheme-theoretically hence by the existence of Hilbert scheme IVI5
we conclude
Our new set-up is
Set-up VI13 Everything as in set-up IIVII4 and moreover for any connected
invariant curve C with KF middot C = 0 all of whose sub-curves are rigid we have
configurations computed in proposition VI9 VI10 and Lemma VI12
VII Configurations of non-rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
In this subsection we describe configurations of surfaces which are covered by KF -nil
curves The structure of each such surface is described by classification IIV1 IIV2
and Corollary IIVI17 Our first step is to simplify the situation by contracting
chains of ruled surfaces The next step is to try and exclude the possibility that
the singular fiber of p contains fibrations by elliptic or nodal rational curves with
at least one invariant fiber This can be achieved with good success indeed there
may be at most one such Riccati foliation which is anyway rather isolated from the
remaining KF -nil curves Finally we observe that the only class of surfaces we have
not mentioned is
Definition VII1 A irreducible component F of the singular fiber of p is called
small Kronecker if
bull (FFF ) is birational to a Kronecker vector field on P1 timesP1 and
bull The two rulings of this P1 timesP1 are cohomologous inside X
The name comes from the fact that contraction of a small Kronecker yields a node
in the ambient threefold which admits a small resolution In fact in many respects
these fiber components behave very much like rigid KF -nil curves
50 FEDERICO BUONERBA
We start by getting rid of some fiber components which are ruled by KF -nil gener-
ically smooth rational curves
Proposition VII2 Notation as in Set-up VI13 there exists a sequence of flops
and divisorial contractions c X 99KX + such that
bull X + is a smooth stack
bull let S+ sub X + be an irreducible invariant divisor that contains a positive-
dimensional family of invariant rational curves along which KF+ vanishes
Then S+ is either birationally ruled by nodal rational curves or it is a small
Kronecker
Proof We focus first on contracting components of the singular fiber of p Consider
the following algorithm If there is no birationally ruled component different from
the ones listed in the second item we are done otherwise pick one such F and let
C denote the general member of the ruling If the cohomology class [C] is inde-
composable F is minimal Otherwise [C] = [C1] + [C2] where Ci are rational and
intersect KF trivially After finitely many steps we have a decomposition as a finite
sum of indecomposables [C] =sumn
i=0 ni[Ci] where every Ci is rational intersects KF
trivially We have two cases
bull There exists k such that Ck deforms in a birationally ruled necessarily min-
imal surface Fk
bull Every Ci has anti-ample normal bundle
In the first case denote by X rarr X1 the contraction of Fk along |Ck| and relpace
X by X1 Since Fk is minimal smoothness of the ambient stack is preserved unless
Fk is a small Kronecker This is however impossible if n ge 2 if Fk were a small
Kronecker then Ck deforms away from Fkminus1 so then Fkminus1 middot Ck = 0 on the other
hand Fkminus1 intersects the other ruling of Fk positively
In the second case flop C1 middot middot middot Cn in this order The transform of F is minimal and
not a small Kronecker so it can be contracted along its ruling preserving ambient
smoothness By induction on the Picard rank of X after finitely many steps this
algorithm ends Call X the output of this algorithm
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 51
Let S subX be an invariant divisor with a generically smooth ruling Then pS S rarr∆ is flat and after flopping finitely many rational curves in S cap plowastS(0) the resulting
pS is smooth Hence we can contract S along pS After finitely many steps the
Proposition is proven
For ease of notation in the sequel we call X the output of the previous proposition
Notice that there might still be divisors carrying a pencil of nodal rational curves
both inside and outside the singular fiber of p
We can start analyzing configurations of fiber components where the restriction of
F is not of general type We need some notation whose reason to exist will be clear
shortly
Definition VII3 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
along which KF is not big F is called special Riccati if
bull F is minimal
bull There exists a morphism s F rarr B onto a curve whose fibers are nodal
rational curve
bull F is transverse to the general fiber of s in particular KF is numerically
trivial along s
bull At least one fiber of s is invariant
bull There exists a section σ of s which is invariant and does not coincide with
the nodal locus of F
In particular the intersections of σ with invariant fibers of s isolated singularities
of F the node of F all coincide There may be fibers of s fully contained in sing(F )
in which case they are everywhere transverse to the saturated foliation
The definition looks nasty but special Riccati components have a rather simple
origin as the following proof shows
Lemma VII4 Let F be special Riccati Up to base change by an etale double cover
Bprime rarr B there is a natural isomorphism F norm simminusrarr BprimetimesP1 and the restriction of F
to F norm is birational to the projection onto P1
52 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proof We work over the normalization F norm Denote by Bprime the pre-image of the
node of F which is an etale double cover of B and let f denote an invariant fiber
of s with lowast = σ cap f Observe that F norm carries a Riccati foliation with 3 invariant
curves through lowast - namely σ f and a component of Bprime Hence FF has a log-canonical
singularity in lowast On F norm perform a weighted blow-up in each log-canonical singu-
larity followed by the contraction of the transforms of the corresponding fibers Let
s+ F+ rarr B denote the output of this operation If the proper transform of Bprime is
connected replace F+ by its base change under Bprime rarr B Hence we can assume Bprime
is the disjoint union of two sections of s+ and the transform of σ is a third section
which is disjoint from Bprime Therefore F+ = P1 timesBprime and the foliation restricts to the
projection onto P1
Next we describe those surfaces which cannot appear as components of the sin-
gular fiber X0
Definition VII5 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
along which KF is not big F is called illusory if
bull there exists a morphism t F rarr B onto a curve
bull KF is trivial along t
bull For any other fiber component F prime the intersection F cap F prime is either empty or
contained in a fiber of t
We give examples of illusory fiber components
Lemma VII6 The following fiber components are necessarily illusory
bull t is elliptic the foliation is either parallel to t or turbolent with at least one
invariant fiber
bull t is a nodal ruling the foliation is either parallel to t or transverse to t with
at least one invariant fiber and not birational to a special Riccati VII3
Proof Let f = F cap F prime for some fiber component F prime It is F -invariant
Assume t and F are parallel and f is transverse to both Then necessarily f subesing(F ) and KF is positive along the fibers of t contradiction
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 53
Assume t and F are generically transverse and f is transverse to t Let e be an
invariant fiber of t then ecap f isin sing(F ) hence t must be a family of nodal rational
curves and ecapf coincides with the node of e - otherwise KF would be positive along
t But this implies F is special Riccati contradiction
We proceed to show that illusory fibers do not exist
Lemma VII7 Let F be an illusory fiber component then every fiber of t is irre-
ducible If F prime is any fiber component intersecting F non-trivially then F prime is illusory
Proof Assume t has a reducible fiber f Then we can write f = f prime cup f primeprime where f prime
is irreducible and f primeprime is a disjoint union of chains of rational curves In particular
every subscheme supported on f primeprime is rigid in X f prime is rational and smooth iff f is a
cycle of rational curves hence the foliation on F is parallel to t and the choice of f prime
is not unique otherwise f prime is nodal or elliptic Let X 99KX + denote the flop of the
irreducible components of f primeprime in any order The proper transform f prime+ (below in red)
is the irreducible fiber of the induced morphism t+ F+ rarr B Since f primeprime+ intersects
f prime+ and is not contained in F+ there exists a component F prime of the fiber of p+ such
that F+ cap f prime+ 6= empty Since F+ is illusory necessarily F+ cap F prime = f prime+ Moreover F+
and F prime are the only fiber components intersecting f prime+ again because F+ is illusory
We deduce that F+ middot f prime+ = F prime middot f prime+ = 0 and therefore f prime+ is nef inside F prime It follows
that he restriction of F+ to F prime is not of general type and by the classification of
foliated surfaces [McQ08] necessarily f prime+ deforms inside F prime and defines a fibration
u F prime rarr Bprime In particular f prime+ is an irreducible fiber of u This is however impossible
since u contracts all the components of f primeprime+ contained in F prime (below in blue) and by
definition of F prime there exists at least one such component This proves that every
fiber of t is irreducible The following depicts the situation
F prime F+
f prime+
f primeprime+
t+u
54 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Concerning the second statement we only need to check the third condition for F prime
to be illussory namely that every other fiber component F primeprime intersecting F prime does
so along the fibers of u If F primeprime intersects F prime transversely to u then F primeprime intersects F
non-trivially and transversely to t as well absurd
Corollary VII8 Illusory components do not exist
Proof By the above lemma the existence of one illusory component implies that
every irreducible component of the singular fiber of p is illusory contradicting that
KF is big
We can now focus on fiber components that do appear
Corollary VII9 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
containing an invariant curve C which moves and such that KF middot C = 0 Then
following the classification [McQ08] we have two cases
(1) The minimal model of F is a special Riccati component
(2) F is a small Kronecker
Proof Certainly the ones listed are the only cases where C is KF -nil We have to
exclude the possibility that C is invariant inside sing(F ) By Proposition IVII3
such C would be rational with at most one node Since we already contracted at
the beginning of the present subsection all ruled surfaces necessarily C is nodal
However by opcit C cannot intersect any other fiber component of X0 which
implies the absurdity that X0 = F
We proceed to show that special Riccati components are rather isolated in the
fiber
Lemma VII10 Let F be a special Riccati component If F prime is a fiber component
intersecting F non-trivially then it does so transversely to s Morover there is
exactly one such F prime
Proof After finitely many flops we can assume that every fiber of s is irreducible
By the non-existence of illusory components there exists a fiber component F lowast with
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 55
σprime = F cap F prime transverse to s If F primeprime is a fiber component with f = F cap F primeprime a fiber
of s then we claim f sube sing(F ) If not then since KF middot f = 0 and σprime is invariant
necessarily σprimecap f is the node of f But then the existence of F primeprime contradicts that p is
snc Hence f sube sing(F ) so then around the node of f there are 3 fiber components -
two branches coming from F one from F primeprime - and sing(F ) has 2 branches - namely f
This is impossible by our case analysis ni (1)c ni (2)c The very same reasoning
establishes the uniqueness of F prime
Lemma VII11 Let F be as in the previous Lemma If C is a connected curve
with KF middot C = 0 then it is disjoint from F
Proof After finitely many flops s is irreducible and C intersects F transversely away
from its node Moreover lowast = C cap F isin sing(F ) and we deduce that the fiber of s
through lowast is fully contained in the singular locus of F This contradicts Proposition
IVII3 since such fiber is nodal
We conclude by observing the obvious
Lemma VII12 Let F be a small Kronecker Then there exists a contraction
c X rarr X prime which is an isomorphism away from F and contracts F along one
of its rulings Necessarily X prime is not projective since every global Cartier divisor
intersects c(F ) trivially On the other hand in a formal neighborhood of c(F ) there
exist Cartier divisors intersecting it non-trivialliy
As such the contribution coming from non-rigid curves is rather poor there are
curves moving in the general fiber there are special Riccati components disjoint from
any other invariant curve intersecting KF trivially there are small Kroneckers who
can be contracted to curves We shall see in the next section that the complications
arising from the contraction of such non-rigid curves is purely psychological and
totally harmless
56 FEDERICO BUONERBA
VI Contractions and proof of the Main Theorem
In this section we contract all invariant curves along which KF is zero thereby
establishing the existence of canonical models I First we contract non-rigid curves
as described in the previous subsection
bull Small Kroneckers along either ruling Albeit this destroys projectivity of
the ambient threefold there still exist Cartier divisors defined in a formal
neighborhood of the base curve that intersect it non-trivially
bull Families of irreducible nodal rational curves which are flat over ∆ This
creates elliptic singularities on the general fiber of p which are disjoint from
other invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
bull Special Riccati again families of irreducible nodal rational curves fully con-
tained in X0 This creates elliptic singularities disjoint from other invariant
curves intersecting KF trivially
We can summarize our situation by way of
Set-up VI1 X is a 3-dimensional DM stack with at worst elliptic singularities
F a foliation by curves with canonical singularities which is not Q-Cartier in a
neighborhood of Xsing
There exists a proper morphism p X rarr ∆ smooth off 0 isin ∆ F restricts to a
foliation on every fiber of p it has canonical singularities on the very general fiber
of p and log-canonical singularities on every fiber of p KF is big and nef on every
irreducible component of every fiber of p
Let C be the invariant sub-scheme along which KF is not big then C is a curve
fully contained in the smooth locus X0capXsmooth every sub-curve of C has anti-ample
normal bundle the 1-simplex of its dual graph is a tree and detailed configurations
of such are referenced in set-up VI13
We proceed to contract such C We assume that along C the semi-simple field has
only rational eigenvalues and moreover no component of C is inside the foliation
singularity The other two cases - irrational eigenvalues and presence of singular
component - are strictly easier and can be obtained with the very same method
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 57
The proof takes place in the formal completion around C = C free cup C axes The
former is a disjoint union of trees of non-double curves For each non-double C let
F (C) denote the unique component of X0 containing it The latter is a tree of double
curves each with two triple points all contained in the same irreducible FC axes Each
tree of non-double curves touches C axes in one point through a LC-center In order
to construct the contraction we will use Artinrsquos celebrated criterion in the following
form
Fact VI1 ([Ar70]) Let X be an irreducible algebraic space i Y rarr X a closed
subspace of pure codimension 1 and f Y rarr Y0 a proper morphism with flowastOY = OY0
Let X denote the formal completion of X along Y and assume there exists a Cartier
divisor D in X which is supported on Y and is f -anti-ample Then there exists a
proper morphism of algebraic spaces F X rarr X0 which is an isomorphism away
from Y and such that ilowastF = f
Now we use the tree structure of C to construct a suitable divisor to which apply
Artinrsquos theorem Namely consider the following inductive defintion
(35) C0 = C axes F0 = FC axes
For k ge 0 assume Ck Fk are defined
bull Let Ck+1 denote the union of irreducible components of C that intersect Fk
non-trivially but are not contained in cupilekFibull Let Fk+1 denote the reduced sum (
sumCsubeCk+1
F (C))red
This process stops with a collection C1 middot middot middotCN of curves and F1 middot middot middot FN of reduced
divisors
Lemma VI1 We have the following identities
(36)
Fk middot C lt 0 for every C sube Ck
(F0 + F1) middot C le 0 for every C sube C0
(Fkminus1 + Fk + Fk+1) middot C = 0 for every C sube Ck 1 lt k lt N
(FNminus1 + FN) middot C lt 0 for every C sube CN
58 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proof The first is just the fact that every component of C is rigid The remaining
three follow from X0 middot C = 0 but the last one requires further justification Indeed
if C sube CN N gt 0 then C is one end of a tree of non-double curves In particular
there exists a foliation singularity lowast isin C disjoint from any other component of
C and LClowast is transverse to C This implies LClowast middotC gt 0 which together with
(FNminus1 + FN + LClowast) middot C = 0 concludes the proof
Let ε1 middot middot middot εN isin Qgt0 and define
(37) F Nminusk = (1 + ε1 + middot middot middot+ εk)FNminusk
bull If C sube CN we have
(38) (F Nminus1 + F
N) middot C = ε1FNminus1 middot C + (FNminus1 + FN) middot C
bull If C sube CNminusk 1 lt k lt N we have
(39)
(F Nminuskminus1 + F
Nminusk + F Nminusk+1) middot C =
(1 + middot middot middot+ εk)(FNminuskminus1 + FNminusk + FNminusk+1) middot C minus εkFNminusk+1 middot C + εk+1FNminuskminus1 middot C =
minus εkFNminusk+1 middot C + εk+1FNminuskminus1 middot C
bull If C sube C0 we have
(40) (F 0 + F
1) middot C = εNF0 middot C + (Nminus1sumj=0
εj)(F0 + F1) middot C
It is clear that provided
(41) 1 gtgt ε1 gtgt middot middot middot gtgt εN
the divisor F =sumF k is negative along every component of C
This proves the existence of the contraction and concludes the proof of the Main
Theorem I
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 59
VII Moduli space of foliated surfaces of general type
In this section we study the modular variation of foliated surfaces of general type
The upshot is that it is possible to define a functor which is representable separated
and every irreducible component is proper The main issue here is that the supporting
surface of a foliated canonical model may well fail to be projective indeed KF is not
Q-Gorenstein in general Hence in order to proceed via standard methods [Ko17]
we have to parametrize our canonical models together with a suitable projective
resolution
Definition VII13 Let (SF ) be a foliated proper reduced purely 2-dimensional
DM stack Assume S has only normal crossing singularities in codimension 1 that
F has log-canonical foliation singularities and that KF is big and nef on at least
one of the irreducible components of S If whenever KF middot C = 0 for some curve C
then C moves in an irreducible component of S and no member of such deformation
is F -invariant then (SF ) is called foliated canonical model of general type
Clearly foliated canonical models are exactly the stable degenerations appearing
as the central fiber of our Main Theorem I Their lack of projectivity has two sources
namely the contraction of cycles of smooth KF -nil curves and of trees of cuspidal
ones Singularities arising from cycles behave well in families namely they always
deform into the general fiber Those arising from cuspidal curves on the other hand
tend to be rather isolated inside the degenerate fiber
Observe that the deformation theory of a foliated surface is rather simple suppose
given an infinitesimal C-algebras extension 0 rarr J rarr Ae rarr A rarr 0 and (SF )
a foliated surface flat over Spec(A) then the obstruction to lifting to Ae can be
understood in three simple steps
(1) Deformation of the underlying surface S once a deformation Se rarr Spec(Ae)
is given
(2) Deformation of the line bundle KF by the exponential sequence
(42) 0rarr J otimes OS rarr OlowastSerarr OlowastS rarr 0
obstructions lie in H2(SOS)otimes J once a deformation of KF is given
60 FEDERICO BUONERBA
(3) Deformation of the defining section OS rarr KF otimes TS obstructions lie in
H1(SKF otimes TS)otimes J
Now we have
Definition VII14 Let (SF ) be a foliated canonical model of general type A
proper birational morphism q (SF )proj rarr (SF ) is called its projective resolution
if
bull Every irreducible component of Sproj is smooth
bull The exceptional locus of q is a disjoint union of cycles of KFproj-nil smooth
curves and trees of KFproj-nil curves each of which has a non-trivial cuspidal
singularity
bull In a neighborhood of every q-exceptional cycle not only Sproj but also its
moduli space is smooth
We need a few remarks about projective resolutions
(1) Projective resolutions are always unique Indeed the only possible ambiguity
could lie in some extra smooth irreducible components in the exceptional
locus This is forbidden by definition in the trees of cuspidal curves it is
also forbidden by way of the third item in cycles of smooth ones ie on
algebraic surfaces the minimal resolution is unique
(2) Denote by E the collection of q-exceptional cycles Then there exist ε δ isinQgt0 such that KFproj
minus εE + δKSprojis ample by Nakai-Moishezon
(3) Deformations of a projective resolution of a foliated canonical model are
canonically identified with deformations of the underlying birational mor-
phism q Sproj rarr S followed by a deformation of the foliation F
We are now ready to construct a moduli functor for foliated surfaces more precisely
for projective resolutions of foliated canonical models of general type For m dN isinN and ε δ isin Qgt0 let
(43) MmdNεδ (C-schemes)rarr (sets)
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 61
be defined by MmdNεδ(S) = Diagrams
(44) (X F )projqminusrarr (X F )
pminusrarr S
Where
bull Both p and p q are flat and proper
bull For every closed point s isin S the induced morphism qs is the projective
resolution of (X F )s which is a foliated canonical model of general type
bull Denote by Es the collection of exceptional cycles of qs By our Main Theorem
I there is a fibrewise divisor E subXproj flat over S restricting to Es for every
s isin S
bull Let j W rarr Xproj denote the maximal closed subscheme away from which
KFprojand KXprojS are locally free Then
(45) L [m] = (jlowast(KFprojotimes OXproj
(minusεE )otimesKδXprojS
)otimesm)oror
is flat over S and commutes with base-change
bull L [m] is very ample of degree d on every fiber and defines an embedding into
PNS
We are now ready for
Theorem VII15 The functor MmdNεδ is represented by a separated algebraic
space each of whose irreducible components is proper
Proof We show that our functor satisfies Artinrsquos conditions [Ar74 Corollary 54] By
definition condition 1) and 4) hold while our previous remark on foliated obstruction
theory shows that 3) is true
We proceed to show 2) namely effectivity of formal deformations for MmdNεδ
What follows owes much to Artinrsquos [A74rsquo] Let T be a complete C-algebra Tn its
n-truncation so that Tsimminusrarr limlarrminusTn and finally qn isinMmdNεδ(Spec(Tn)) a compatible
sequence For each n there is a maximal open set Un sube Xprojn where qn is an
isomorphism denote by sn Cn rarr Zn the restriction of qn to the complement of Un
Clearly sn is projective over Spec(Tn)
62 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Denote by X C etc the formal algebraic spaces obtained as limits of Xn Cn
etc Then Xproj sub PNˆSpec(T )
hence by Grothendieckrsquos existence Theorem we find
bull a flat projective family (X F )proj rarr Spec(T ) resp a closed subscheme
C subXproj whose completion is Xproj resp C
bull a scheme Z whose completion is Z and a morphism s C rarr Z everything
being projective over Spec(T )
Further we have a formal contraction limminusrarr qn C rarr Z hence the main theorem
of [Ar70] gives algebraic contraction (X F )proj rarr (X F ) This proves the repre-
sentability of MmdNεδ The properness and separability of each irreducible com-
ponent can be checked using valutative criteria indeed properness is the content of
our Main Theorem I separatedness follows from the uniqueness of foliated canonical
models of general type and their projective resolution
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[Ar70] M Artin Algebraization of Formal Moduli II Existence of Modifications Ann
of Math Vol 91 No 1 (Jan 1970) pp 88-135 httpwwwjstororgstable
1970602
[Ar74] M Artin Versal Deformations and Algebraic Stacks Inventiones Math 27 165- 189
(1974) httpmathuchicagoedu~drinfeldArtin_on_stackspdf
[A74rsquo] M Artin Algebraic construction of Brieskornrsquos resolutions J Alg Vol 29 Issue
2 May 1974 pp 330-348 httpwwwsciencedirectcomsciencearticlepii
0021869374901021
[BB72] P Baum R Bott Singularities of holomorphic foliations J Diff Geom 7 (1972)
279-342 httpsprojecteuclidorgdownloadpdf_1euclidjdg1214431158
[Bo77] F Bogomolov Families of curves on a surface of general type Doklady Akademii Nauk
USSR (in Russian) 236 (5) 1041-1044
[Bo78] F Bogomolov Holomorphic tensors and vector bundles on projective varieties Math
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[BM16] F Bogomolov M McQuillan Rational Curves on Foliated Varieties In Cascini
McKernan Pereira (eds) Foliation Theory in Algebraic Geometry Simons Symposia
Springer Cham pp 21-51 (2016) httpslinkspringercomchapter101007
978-3-319-24460-0_2
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 63
[Bu] F Buonerba Functorial resolution of tame quotient singularities in positive charac-
teristic httpsarxivorgabs151100550
[Ke99] S Keel Basepoint Freeness for Nef and Big Line Bundles in Positive Characteris-
tic Annals of Math 149 No 1 (Jan 1999) pp 253-286 httpwwwjstororg
stable121025 httpsarxivorgabsmath9901149
[KM97] S Keel S Mori Quotients by groupoids Annals of Math 145 (1997) pp
193-213 httpwwwjstororgstable2951828seq=1page_scan_tab_contents
httparxivorgabsalg-geom9508012
[Ko17] J Kollar Families of varieties of general type httpswebmathprincetonedu
~kollarbookmodbook20170720pdf
[LN02] A Lins Neto Some examples for the Poincare and Painleve problems Annales sci-
entifiques de lrsquoENS 352 (2002) 231-266 httparchivenumdamorgarticle
ASENS_2002_4_35_2_231_0pdf
[McQ12] M McQuillan Foliated Mori Theory amp Hyperbolicity of Algebraic Surfaces http
wwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillahomehtml
[McQ98] M McQuillan Diophantine approximation and foliations Inst Hautes Etudes Sci
Publ Math 87 (1998) 121-174 httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafiles
ihespdf
[McQ05rsquo] M McQuillan Bloch hyperbolicity preprint httpwwwmatuniroma2it
~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ05] M McQuillan Semi-stable reduction of foliations IHES pre-print IHESM0502
(2005) httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ05rdquo] M McQuillan Uniform Uniformisation IHES pre-print (2005) IHES M0503 http
wwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ08] M McQuillan Canonical models of foliations Pure Appl Math Q 4
(2008) no 3 Special Issue In honor of Fedor Bogomolov Part 2 877-1012
httpintlpresscomsitepubfiles_fulltextjournalspamq20080004
0003PAMQ-2008-0004-0003-a009pdf
[MP13] M McQuillan D Panazzolo Almost etale resolution of foliations J Diff Geom 95
(2013) pp 279-319 httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesmp1bispdf
[Pe02] JV Pereira On the Poincare Problem for Foliations of General Type Mathematische
Annalen 323 no 2 pp217-226 2002 httpsarxivorgabsmath0104185
[PS16] JV Pereira R Svaldi Effective algebraic integration in bounded genus preprint
httpsarxivorgabs161206932
64 FEDERICO BUONERBA
[Re83] M Reid Minimal models of canonical threefolds in rdquoAlgebraic Varieties and Ana-
lytic Varietiesrdquo Adv Stud Pure Math vol 1 S Iitaka ed Kinokuniya and North-
Holland 1983 pp 131-180 httpwwwmathsedacukcheltsovquotientpdf
reid2pdf
[Se67] A Seidenberg Reduction of singularities of the differential equation Ady = Bdx Amer
J Math 89 (1967) 248-269 httpwwwjstororgstable2373435
[SB83] N Shepherd-Barron Degenerations with numerically effective canonical divisor The
Birational Geometry of Degenerations (R Friedman and D Morrison eds) Progr
Math no 29 Birkhuser 1983 pp 33-84
[Vis89] A Vistoli Intersection theory on algebraic stacks and on their moduli spaces
Invent Math (1989) pp 613-670 httplinkspringercomarticle101007
2FBF01388892page-1
Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences New York University 251 Mercer
Street New York NY 10012 USA
E-mail address buonerbacimsnyuedu
- I Introduction
- II Preliminaries
-
- III Operations on Deligne-Mumford stacks
- IIII Width of embedded parabolic champs
- IIIII Gorenstein foliation singularities
- IIIV Foliated adjunction
- IIV Canonical models of foliated surfaces with canonical singularities
- IIVI Canonical models of foliated surfaces with log-canonical singularities
- IIVII Set-up
-
- III Invariant curves and singularities local description
-
- IIII `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F) not isolated
- IIIII `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F) isolated
- IIIIII Local consequences
-
- IV Invariant curves along which KF vanishes
-
- IVI KF-nil curves
- IVII Invariant curves inside `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F)
-
- V Configurations
-
- VI Configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
- VII Configurations of non-rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
-
- VI Contractions and proof of the Main Theorem
- VII Moduli space of foliated surfaces of general type
- References
-
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 9
[Bu] A DM stack X is always assumed to be separated and generically scheme-like
ie without generic stabilizer A DM stack is smooth if it admits an etale atlas
U rarr X by smooth k-schemes in which case it can also be referred to as orbifold
By [KM97][13] every DM stack admits a moduli space which is an algebraic space
By [Vis89][28] every algebraic space with tame quotient singularities is the moduli
of a canonical smooth DM stack referred to as Vistoli cover It is useful to keep in
mind the following Vistoli correspondence
Fact III1 [McQ05 Ia3] Let X rarr X be the moduli of a normal DM stack and
let U rarrX be an etale atlas The groupoid R = normalization of U timesX U rArr U has
classifying space [UR] equivalent to X
Next we turn to extraction of roots of Q-Cartier divisors This is rather straight-
forward locally and can hardly be globalised on algebraic spaces It can however
be globalized on DM stacks
Fact III2 (Cartification) [McQ05 Ia8] Let L be a Q-cartier divisor on a normal
DM stack X Then there exists a finite morphism f XL rarrX from a normal DM
stack such that f lowastL is Cartier Moreover there exists f which is universal for this
property called Cartification of L
Similarly one can extract global n-th roots of effective Cartier divisors
Fact III3 (Extraction of roots) [McQ05 Ia9] Let D subX be an effective Cartier
divisor and n a positive integer invertible on X Then there exists a finite proper
morphism f X ( nradic
D)rarrX an effective Cartier divisor nradic
D subX ( nradic
D) such that
f lowastD = n nradic
D Moreover there exists f which is universal for this property called
n-th root of D which is a degree n cyclic cover etale outside D
In a different vein we proceed to discuss the notion of net completion This is a
mild generalization of formal completion in the sense that it is performed along a
local embedding rather than a global embedding Let f Y rarr X be a net morphism
ie a local embedding of algebraic spaces For every closed point y isin Y there is
a Zariski-open neighborhood y isin U sub Y such that f|U is a closed embedding In
10 FEDERICO BUONERBA
particular there exists an ideal sheaf I sub fminus1OX and an exact sequence of coherent
sheaves
(1) 0rarr I rarr fminus1OX rarr OY rarr 0
For every integer n define Ofn = fminus1OXI n By [McQ05][Ie1] the ringed space
Yn = (YOfn) is a scheme and the direct limit Y = limYn in the category of formal
schemes is the net completion along f More generally let f Y rarr X be a net
morphism ie etale-locally a closed embedding of DM stacks Let Y = [RrArr U ] be
a sufficiently fine presentation then we can define as above thickenings Un Rn along
f and moreover the induced relation [Rn rArr Un] is etale and defines thickenings
fn Yn rarrX
Definition III4 (Net completion) [McQ05 ie5] Notation as above we define the
net completion as Y = lim Yn It defines a factorization Y rarr Y rarr X where the
leftmost arrow is a closed embedding and the rightmost is net
IIII Width of embedded parabolic champs In this subsection we recall the
basic geometric properties of three-dimensional formal neighborhoods of smooth
champs with rational moduli We follow [Re83] and [McQ05rdquo] As such let X
be a three-dimensional smooth formal scheme with trace a smooth rational curve C
Our main concern is
(2) NCXsimminusrarr O(minusn)oplus O(minusm) n gt 0 m ge 0
In case m gt 0 the knowledge of (nm) determines X uniquely In fact there exists
by [Ar70] a contraction X rarrX0 of C to a point and an isomorphism everywhere
else In particular C is a complete intersection in X and everything can be made
explicit by way of embedding coordinates for X0 This is explained in the proof of
Proposition IVI8 On the other hand the case m = 0 is far more complicated
Definition IIII1 [Re83] The width width(C) of C is the maximal integer k
such that there exists an inclusion C times Spec(C[ε]εk) sub Xk the latter being the
infinitesimal neighborhood of order k
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 11
Clearly width(C) = 1 if and only if the normal bundle to C is anti-ample
width(C) ge 2 whenever such bundle is O oplus O(minusn) n gt 0 and width(C) = infinif and only if C moves in a scroll As explained in opcit width can be understood
in terms of blow ups as follows Let q1 X1 rarr X be the blow up in C Its excep-
tional divisor E1 is a Hirzebruch surface which is not a product hence q1 has two
natural sections when restricted to E1 Let C1 the negative section There are two
possibilities for its normal bundle in X1
bull it is a direct sum of strictly negative line bundles In this case width(C) = 2
bull It is a direct sum of a strictly negative line bundle and the trivial one
In the second case we can repeat the construction by blowing up C1 more generally
we can inductively construct Ck sub Ek sub Xk k isin N following the same pattern as
long as NCkminus1
simminusrarr O oplus O(minusnkminus1) Therefore width(C) is the minimal k such that
Ckminus1 has normal bundle splitting as a sum of strictly negative line bundles No-
tice that the exceptional divisor Ekminus1 neither is one of the formal surfaces defining
the complete intersection structure of Ck nor it is everywhere transverse to either
ie it has a tangency point with both This is clear by the description Reidrsquos
Pagoda [Re83] Observe that the pair (nwidth(C)) determines X uniquely there
exists a contraction X rarr X0 collapsing C to a point and an isomorphism every-
where else In particular X0 can be explicitly constructed as a ramified covering of
degree=width(C) of the contraction of a curve with anti-ample normal bundle
The notion of width can also be understood in terms of lifting sections of line bun-
dles along infinitesimal neighborhoods of C As shown in [McQ05rdquo II43] we have
assume NCp
simminusrarr O oplus O(minusnp) then the natural inclusion OC(n) rarr N orCX can be
lifted to a section OXp+2(n)rarr OXp+2
IIIII Gorenstein foliation singularities In this subsection we define certain
properties of foliation singularities which are well-suited for both local and global
considerations From now on we assume X is normal and give some definitions
taken from [McQ05] and [MP13] If Qoror is a Q-line bundle we say that F is Q-
foliated Gorenstein or simply Q-Gorenstein In this case we denote by KF = Qoror
and call it the canonical bundle of the foliation In the Gorenstein case there exists a
12 FEDERICO BUONERBA
codimension ge 2 subscheme Z subX such that Q = KF middot IZ Such Z will be referred
to as the singular locus of F We remark that Gorenstein means that the foliation
is locally defined by a saturated vector field
Next we define the notion of discrepancy of a divisorial valuation in this context let
(UF ) be a local germ of a Q-Gorenstein foliation and v a divisorial valuation on
k(U) there exists a birational morphism p U rarr U with exceptional divisor E such
that OU E is the valuation ring of v Certainly F lifts to a Q-Gorenstein foliation
F on U and we have
(3) KF = plowastKF + aF (v)E
Where aF (v) is said discrepancy For D an irreducible Weil divisor define ε(D) = 0
if D if F -invariant and ε(D) = 1 if not We are now ready to define
Definition IIIII1 The local germ (UF ) is said
bull Terminal if aF (v) gt ε(v)
bull Canonical if aF (v) ge ε(v)
bull Log-terminal if aF (v) gt 0
bull Log-canonical if aF (v) ge 0
For every divisorial valuation v on k(U)
These classes of singularities admit a rather clear local description If part denotes a
singular derivation of the local k-algebra O there is a natural k-linear linearization
(4) part mm2 rarr mm2
As such we have the following statements
Fact IIIII2 [MP13 Iii4 IIIi1 IIIi3] A Gorenstein foliation is
bull log-canonical if and only if it is smooth or its linearization is non-nilpotent
bull terminal if and only if it is log-terminal if and only if it is smooth and gener-
ically transverse to its singular locus
bull log-canonical but not canonical if and only if it is a radial foliation
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 13
Where a derivation on a complete local ring O is termed radial if there ex-
ist x1 middot middot middotxn isin m independent mod m2 and positive integers ni such that part =sumi nixi
partpartxi
In this case the singular locus is the center of a divisorial valuation with
zero discrepancy and non-invariant exceptional divisor
A very useful tool which is emplyed in the analysis of local properties of foliation
singularities is the Jordan decompositon [McQ08 I23] Notation as above the
linearization part admits a Jordan decomposition partS + partN into commuting semi-simple
and nilpotent part It is easy to see inductively that such decomposition lifts canon-
ically over successive infinitesimal neighborhoods Omn+1 rarr Omn and in the limit
we obtain a Jordan decomposition for the linear action of part on the whole complete
ring O
IIIV Foliated adjunction In this subsection we provide an adjunction formula
for foliation-invariant curves Let (X F ) be a Gorenstein foliation and f L rarrX the normalization of a F -invariant one-dimensional stack not contained in the
singular locus Z Denote by χ(L ) its topological Euler characteristic and by sZ(f)
the multiplicity of the ideal sheaf fminus1IZ We have
Fact IIIV1 [McQ05 IId4]
(5) KF middotL = minusχ(L )minus Ramf +sZ(f)
Which is a simple consequence of the isomorphism f lowastKF middotfminus1IZsimminusrarr Ω1
L (minusRamf )
The local contribution of sZ(f)minusRamf computed for a branch of f around a point
p in the support of fminus1IZ is np|Gp|minus1 with np a positive integer and Gp the local
monodromy of L at p Assume now that L has no generic stabilizer and let |L |denote its moduli The previous formula can be rewritten more usefully
Fact IIIV2
(6) KF middotL = 2g(|L |)minus 2 + fminus1IZ +sumf(p)isinZ
(np minus 1)|Gp|minus1 +sumf(p)isinZ
(1minus |Gp|minus1)
This can be easily deduced via a comparison between χ(L ) and χ(|L |) The
adjunction estimate 6 gives a complete description of invariant curves which are not
14 FEDERICO BUONERBA
contained in the singular locus and intersect the canonical KF non-positively A
complete analysis of the structure of KF -negative curves and much more is done
in [McQ05]
Definition IIIV3 A KF -nil curve is an invariant one-dimensional orbifold f
C rarr X such that KF middotf C = 0 and f does not factor through the singular locus
Z of the foliation
By adjunction 6 we have
Proposition IIIV4 The following is a complete list of possibilities for KF -nil
curves f
bull C is an elliptic curve without non-schematic points and f misses the singular
locus
bull |C| is a rational curve f hits the singular locus in two points with np = 1
there are no non-schematic points off the singular locus
bull |C| is a rational curve f hits the singular locus in one point with np = 1 there
are two non-schematic points off the singular locus with local monodromy
Z2Z
bull |C| is a rational curve f hits the singular locus in one point p there is at
most one non-schematic point q off the singular locus we have the identity
(np minus 1)|Gp|minus1 = |Gq|minus1
As shown in [McQ08] all these can happen In the sequel we will always assume
that a KF -nil curve is simply connected We remark that an invariant curve can have
rather bad singularities where it intersects the foliation singularities First it could
fail to be unibranch moreover each branch could acquire a cusp if going through
a radial singularity This phenomenon of deep ramification appears naturally in
presence of log-canonical singularities
IIV Canonical models of foliated surfaces with canonical singularities In
this subsection we provide a summary of the birational classification of Gorenstein
foliations with canonical singularities on algebraic surfaces obtained in [McQ08] Let
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 15
X be a two-dimensional smooth DM stack with projective moduli and F a foliation
with canonical singularities Since X is smooth certainly F is Q-Gorenstein If
KF is not pseudo-effective then foliated bend and break [BM16 Main Theorem]
shows that F is birationally a fibration by rational curves If KF is pseudo-effective
its Zariski decomposition has negative part a finite collection of invariant chains of
rational curves which can be contracted to a smooth DM stack with projective
moduli on which KF is nef At this point those foliations such that the Kodaira
dimension k(KF ) le 1 can be completely classified
Fact IIV1 [McQ08 IV3] Foliations with canonical singularities and Kodaira di-
mension zero are up to a ramified cover and birational transformations defined by
a global vector field The minimal models belong the following list
bull A Kronecker vector field on an abelian surface
bull The suspension of a representation π1(E)rarr PGL2(C) for E an elliptic curve
bull A Kronecker vector field on P1 timesP1
bull An isotrivial elliptic fibration
Fact IIV2 [McQ08 IV4] Foliations with canonical singularities and Kodaira di-
mension one are classified by their Kodaira fibration The linear system |KF | defines
a fibration onto a curve and the minimal models belong to the following list
bull The foliation and the fibration coincide so then the fibration is non-isotrivial
elliptic
bull The foliation is transverse to a projective bundle (Riccati)
bull The foliation is everywhere smooth and transverse to an isotrivial elliptic
fibration (turbolent)
bull The foliation is parallel to an isotrivial fibration in hyperbolic curves
On the other hand for foliations of general type the new phenomenon is that
global generation fails The problem is the appearence of elliptic Gorenstein leaves
these are cycles possibly irreducible of invariant rational curves around which KF
is numerically trivial but might fail to be torsion Assume that KF is big and nef
16 FEDERICO BUONERBA
and consider morphisms
(7) X rarrXe rarrXc
Where the composite is the contraction of all the KF -nil curves and the rightmost
is the minimal resolution of elliptic Gorenstein singularities
Fact IIV3 [McQ08 IV21 IV22] Xe is projective there exists an ample divisor
A and an effective divisor E supported on minimal elliptic Gorenstein leaves such
that KFe = A+E On the other hand Xc might fail to be projective and Fc is never
Q-Gorenstein
We refer to [McQ08 III32] for the descriptions of possible dual graphs of config-
urations of invariant KF -negative or nil curves
IIVI Canonical models of foliated surfaces with log-canonical singulari-
ties In this subsection we study Gorenstein foliations with log-canonical singulari-
ties on algebraic surfaces In particular we will classify the singularities appearing
on the underlying surface prove the existence of minimal and canonical models
describe the exceptional curves appearing in the contraction to the canonical model
Proposition IIVI1 Let (UF ) be a germ of Gorenstein log-canonical foliation
singularity Then U is a cone over a subvariety Y of a weighted projective space
whose weights are determined by the eigenvalues of F Moreover F is defined by
the rulings of the cone
Proof By Fact IIIII2 there exists a closed embedding i U rarr M - with M a
smooth local formal scheme - a regular system of parameters x1 middot middot middot xk on M and
positive integers n1 middot middot middotnk such that F is the restriction of the foliation defined by
part =sumnixi
partpartxi
to U Let I sub OM denote the ideal defining i(U) subM then part(I) sube I
We are going to prove that I is homogeneous where each xi has weight ni Let f isin I
and write f =sum
dge1 fd where fd is homogeneous of degree d in x1 middot middot middot xk - ie fd is
a k-linear combination of monomials xa11 xakk with d =
sumi aini For every N isin N
let FN = (xa11 xakk
sumi aini ge N) This collection of ideals defines a natural
filtration on OM For a = max ai we have mN sube FN sube mNa ie the FN -filtration
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 17
is equivalent to the one by powers of the maximal ideal and therefore OM is also
complete with respect to the FN -filtration
We will prove that if f isin I then fd isin I for every d
Let IN = (I + FN)FN Since OM is complete with respect to the FN -filtration
I = limlarrminus IN Therefore it is enough to show
Claim IIVI2 For every N gt 0 we have fd isin IN sub OMFN for all d lt N
Proof For every g isin IN denote by n(g) the unique integer such that g isin Fn(g) Fn(g)+1 (ie the minimal index d for which fd 6= 0) and by N(g) = N minus n(g)
We will prove the statement of the Claim by induction on N(f) If N(f) = 1 then
f = fNminus1 holds in OMFN and the statement is true If N(f) gt 1 we have part(f) =sumd d middot fd hence consider f1 = D(f)minus n(f)f =
sumdgtn(f)(dminus n(f))fd Tautologically
we have N(f1) lt N(f) and therefore fd isin IN for every d gt n(f) so then fn(f) =
f minussum
dgtn(f) fd isin IN as well
This implies that I is a homogeneous ideal and hence U is the germ of a cone over
a variety in the weighted projective space P(n1 nk)
Corollary IIVI3 If the germ U is normal then Y is normal If U is normal
of dimension 2 the weighted blow-up p U rarr U at the vertex of the cone has only
quotient singularities the exceptional divisor E(simminusrarr Y ) is smooth and everywhere
transverse to the induced foliation Moreover we have
(8) plowastKF = KF + E
Certainly the converse to Proposition IIVI1 fails even on surfaces indeed let
(X F ) be a Gorenstein foliated surface and let C sub X be a generic curve so
in particular smooth and not F -invariant We can assume perhaps after a finite
sequence of simple blow-ups along C that both X and F are smooth in a neigh-
borhood of C C and F are everywhere transverse and C2 lt 0
Proposition IIVI4 The formal contraction q X rarr X0 of C is isomorphic to
the cone over C the projected foliation F0 coincides with that by rulings on the cone
F0 is Q-Gorenstein if C rational or elliptic but not in general
18 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proof F0 is Q-Gorenstein if and only if the bundle KF (C) is trivial on the formal
completion of X along C The obstructions to lift the isomorphism OC(KF +C)simminusrarr
OC over infinitesimal neighborhoods of C lie in H1(C (1 minus n)C + KF ) for every
n isin N These groups vanish for every n isin N if 2g(C) minus 2 + C2 lt 0 (which is
always true for rational or elliptic curves) but do provide non-trivial obstructions in
general
We focus on the minimal model program for Gorenstein log-canonical foliations
on algebraic surfaces Let X be a DM stack of dimension 2 with projective moduli
and F a Gorenstein foliation with log-canonical singularities Denote by LC(F )
the set of points where F is log-canonical and not canonical and by Z the singular
sub-scheme of F We assume LC(F ) 6= empty since the empty case has been completely
settled Moreover we can assume that X is smooth outside LC(F ) Let f C rarrX
be a morphism from a 1-dimensional stack with trivial generic stabilizer such that
fminus1 LC(F ) 6= empty Since we will need them several times we formulate some technical
results
Lemma IIVI5 Let p X rarr X be the resolution of the log-canonical foliation
singularity intersecting C with exceptional divisor E Then
(9) KF middot C minus C middot E = KF middot C
Proof We have
(10) plowastC = C minus (C middot EE2)E
Intersecting this equation with equation 8 we obtain the result
This formula is important because it shows that passing from foliations with log-
canonical singularities to their canonical resolution increases the negativity of inter-
sections between invariant curves and the canonical bundle In fact the log-canonical
theory reduces to the canonical one after resolving the log-canonical singularities
Further we list some strong constraints given by invariant curves along which the
foliation is smooth
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 19
Fact IIVI6 [BB72 Baum-Bott] Let g C rarrX be an F -invariant curve missing
the foliation singularities Then C2 = NF middotg C = 0
Corollary IIVI7 Let g C rarr X be an F -invariant curve missing the foliation
singularities and such that KF middotg C lt 0 Then F is birationally a fibration by
rational curves
Proof By assumption KF middot C = minusχ(C) This together with Baum-Bott IIVI6
imply that KX middot C = minusχ(C) and from usual adjunction we get C2 = 0 Riemann-
Roch gives h0(X mC) ge 2 for m gtgt 0 so then |C| defines a fibration by rational
curves tangent to F
The rest of this subsection is devoted to the construction of minimal and canonical
models in presence of log-canonical singularities The only technique we use is
resolve the log-canonical singularities in order to reduce to the canonical case and
keep track of the exceptional divisor
We are now ready to handle the existence of minimal models
Theorem IIVI8 (Minimal models) Let X be a DM stack of dimension 2 with pro-
jective moduli and F a Gorenstein foliation with log-canonical singularities Then
either
bull F is birational to a fibration by rational curves or
bull There exist a birational contraction q X rarr X0 such that KF0 is nef
Moreover the exceptional curves of q donrsquot intersect LC(F )
Proof Let f be as above ie KF -negative and intersecting LC(F ) If f is not
F -invariant then KF middotC +C2 ge 0 so C moves and KF is not pseudo-effective We
conclude by foliated bend and break [BM16]
If f is F -invariant then foliated adjunction 6 implies that C is rational it intersects
the singular locus of F in exactly one point By Lemma IIVI5 after resolving the
log-canonical singularity KF middot C lt 0 and F is smooth along C We conlude by
Corollary IIVI7
20 FEDERICO BUONERBA
From now on we add the assumption that KF is nef and we want to analyze
those curves f satisfying KF middotf C = 0 By adjunction formula 6 we know that C
has rational moduli and fminus1Z is supported on two points
Remark IIVI9 If fminus1Z = fminus1 LC(F ) then F is birationally a fibration by ratio-
nal curves
Proof After resolving the log-canonical singularities of F along the image of C we
have KF middot C lt 0 and F smooth along C We conclude by Corollary IIVI7
Therefore we can assume that f satisfies the following condition
Definition IIVI10 An invariant curve f C rarr X is called log-contractible if
KF middot C = 0 and it intersects Z in two points one canonical and one log-canonical
not canonical
It follows that f(C) is everywhere unibranch but it might have a cusp in LC(F )
Definition IIVI11 A log-chain is a chain of invariant rational orbifolds C =
cupni=0Ci scheme-like outside the foliation singularities with KF middot C = 0 and such
that
bull C0 is log-contractible with lowast(C ) = C0 cap LC(F ) called the marking of C
bull Ci is disjoint from LC(F ) if i ge 1
There is a unique point t(C ) satisfying t(C ) isin Z cap (Cn Cnminus1) called the tail of
the log-chain
Proposition IIVI12 Let C1C2 be two log-chains intersecting non-trivially Then
lowast(C1) = lowast(C2) and C1 cap C2 = lowast(C1)
Proof It is enough to prove that the two log-chains cannot intersect in their tails
Replace X be the resolution of the at most two markings of the log-chains and Ci
by their proper transforms C1cupC2 = cupmi=0Ri is a connected chain of rational curves
intersecting Z outisde LC(F ) Moreover each of the two extremal curves R0 and
Rm intersects Z in one point only In particular KF middot Ri = 0 for i = 1 middot middot middot m minus 1
and KF middot Ri lt 0 for i = 0m Since we assumed F is not birational to a fibration
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 21
by rational curves there exists a contraction p X rarr X0 with exceptional curve
cupmminus1i=0 Ri However F0 is smooth along plowastRm so by adjunction formula KF0 middotplowastRm lt
0 and we find a contradiction by Corollary IIVI7
Corollary IIVI13 Let C be a maximal connected curve such that KF middotC = 0 and
C cap LC(F ) 6= empty Then C is a union of finitely many log-chains intersecting each
other in their common marking
The following shows a configuration of log-chains sharing the same marking col-
ored in black
We are now ready to state and prove the canonical model theorem in presence of
log-canonical singularities
Theorem IIVI14 (Canonical models) Let X be a proper DM stack of dimension
2 and F a foliation with isolated singularities Moreover assume that KF is nef
that every KF -nil curve is contained in a log-chain and that F is Gorenstein and
log-canonical in a neighborhood of every KF -nil curve Then either
bull There exists a birational contraction p X rarr X0 whose exceptional curves
are unions of log-chains If all the log-contractible curves contained in the log-
chains are smooth then F0 is Gorenstein and log-canonical If furthermore
X has projective moduli then X0 has projective moduli In any case KF0
is numerically ample
bull There exists a fibration p X rarr B over a curve whose fibers intersect
KF trivially Each F -invariant fiber of p intersecting LC(F ) is union of
mutually compatible log-chains
Proof If all the KF -nil curves can be contracted by a birational morphism we are in
the first case of the Theorem Else let C be a maximal connected curve withKF middotC =
0 and which is not contractible It is a union of pairwise compatible log-chains
22 FEDERICO BUONERBA
with marking lowast Replace (X F ) by the resolution of the log-canonical singularity
at lowast with exceptional divisor E Therefore F is Gorenstein and canonical in a
neighborhood of C cupE By equation 9 we have KF middotC = minusC middotE lt 0 and therefore
C can be contracted to a canonical foliation singularity Replace (X F ) by the
contraction of C We have a smooth curve E around which F is smooth and
nowhere tangent to E Moreover
(11) KF middot E = minusE2
And we distinguish cases
bull E2 gt 0 so KF is not pseudo-effective a contradiction
bull E2 lt 0 so the initial curve C is contractible a contradiction
bull E2 = 0 which we proceed to analyze
The following is what we need to handle the third case
Proposition IIVI15 Let (X F ) be a foliation with canonical singularities with
X a smooth 2-dimensional DM stack with projective moduli and KF nef If there
exists a smooth curve E everywhere transverse to F such that KF middot E = E2 = 0
then E moves in a pencil and defines a fibration p X rarr B onto a curve whose
fibers intersect KF trivially
Proof If KF has Kodaira dimension one then its linear system contains an effective
divisor and by Hodge index KF = cE as divisors for some c isin Q+ Hence there is
a fibration onto a curve with fiber E and F is transverse to it by assumption If
KF has Kodaira dimension zero we use the classification IIV1 in all cases but the
suspension over an elliptic curve E defines a product structure on the underlying
surface in the case of a suspension every section of the underlying projective bundle
is clearly F -invariant Therefore E is a fiber of the bundle
This concludes the proof of the Theorem
We remark that the second alternative in the above theorem is rather natural
let (X F ) be a foliation which is transverse to a fibration by rational or elliptic
curves ie a suspension over elliptic curve turbolent Riccati or isotrivial Pick a
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 23
general fiber E of the fibration and blow up any number of points on it The proper
transform E is certainly contractible By Proposition IIVI4 the contraction of E is
Gorenstein and log-canonical Moreover the fiber E has been replaced by a union of
compatible log-chains Note in particular that the number of log-chains appearing
is arbitrary
Corollary IIVI16 Let X be a proper DM stack of dimension 2 and F a Goren-
stein foliation with log-canonical singularities Assume that KF is big and pseudo-
effective Then there exists a birational morphism p X rarr X0 such that C is
exceptional if and only if KF middot C le 0 In particular KF0 is numerically ample
For future applications we spell out
Corollary IIVI17 Hypothesis as in Theorem IIVI14 assume further that X
is everywhere smooth Then in the second alternative of the theorem the fibration
p X rarr B is by rational curves
Proof Indeed in this case the curve E which appears in the proof above as the
exceptional locus for the resolution of the log-canonical singularity at lowast must be
rational By the previous Proposition p is defined by a pencil in |E|
IIVII Set-up In this subsection we prepare the set-up we will deal with in the
rest of the manuscript Briefly we want to handle the existence of canonical models
for a family of foliated surfaces parametrized by a one-dimensional base To this
end we will discuss the modular behavior of singularities of foliated surfaces with
Gorenstein singularities recall McQuillan-Panazzolorsquos resolution of foliation singu-
larities building on the existence of minimal models [McQ05] prepare the set-up
for the sequel
Let us begin with the modular behavior of Gorenstein singularities
Proposition IIVII1 Let (X F ) be a smooth DM stack with a foliation by
curves Assume there exists a flat proper morphism p X rarr C onto an algebraic
curve such that F restricts to a foliation on every fiber of p Then the set
(12) s isin C Fs is log-canonical
24 FEDERICO BUONERBA
is Zariski-open while the set
(13) s isin C Fs is canonical
is the complement to a countable subset of C lying on a real-analytic curve
Proof By Fact IIIII2 being log-canonical is equivalent to the linearized endomor-
phism part IZI2Z rarr IZI
2Z being non-nilpotent where Z is the singular sub-scheme
of the foliation Of course being non-nilpotent is a Zariski open condition The
second statement also follows from opcit since a log-canonical singularity which is
not canonical has linearization with all its eigenvalues positive and rational The
statement is optimal as shown by the vector field on A3xys
(14) part(s) =part
partx+ s
part
party
Next we recall the existence of a functorial canonical resolution of foliation singu-
larities for foliations by curves on 3-dimensional stacks
Fact IIVII2 [MP13] Let X = (XDF ) be a 3-dimensional DM stack with bound-
ary foliated by curves Then there exists a proper birational morphism Xprime rarr X such
that X prime is a smooth DM stack and F prime has only canonical foliation singularities
The original opcit contains a more refined statement including a detailed de-
scription of the claimed birational morphism
In order for our set-up to make sense we mention one last very important result
Fact IIVII3 [McQ05] Let X be a smooth DM stack with projective moduli and F
a foliation by curves with (log)canonical singularities Then there exists a birational
map X 99K Xm obtained as a composition of flips such that Xm is a smooth
DM stack with projective moduli the birational transform Fm has (log)canonical
singularities and one of the following happens
bull KFm is nef or
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 25
bull There exists a fibration Xm rarr B over a smooth base whose fibers are
weighted projective spaces such that Fm is tangent to the fibers and restricts
to a radial foliation on those
Finally we can organize our notation
Set-up IIVII4 (X F ) is a smooth 3-dimensional DM stack with projective mod-
uli F a foliation by curves with canonical singularities such that KF is big and nef
There exists a semi-stable morphism p X rarr ∆ whose moduli is projective onto
the (formal) unit disk F restricts to a foliation on every fiber of p it has canon-
ical singularities on the very general fiber of p and log-canonical singularities on
every fiber of p Our task from now on is to analyze and contract the maximal
foliation-invariant sub-scheme of X along which KF is not ample
III Invariant curves and singularities local description
In this section we give a complete decription of germs of invariant curves that
appear in the formal completion of any point in the set-up IIVII4 Let us replace
X by its formal completion in a point lowast where the foliation is singular F is defined
by a vector field part with Jordan decomposition partS + partN see the end of subsection
IIIII Since [partS partN ] = 0 partN preserves the eigenspaces of partS Moreover the fact that
F is tangent to p translates into
(15) partS(p) = partN(p) = 0
The description of invariant germs of curves through lowast will be achieved via case-by-
case analysis organized by computing what happens for all possible combinations
of the following informations whether the singular locus Z is isolated at lowast the
number of eigenvalues of partS the number of components of the fiber through p
IIII sing(F ) not isolated
ni (1) partS has one eigenvalue
bull We have partS = x partpartx
and partN = f partparty
+ g partpartz
for some functions f g isin (y z)
Moreover partN is non-trivial
26 FEDERICO BUONERBA
bull Z = (x = f = g = 0) is not isolated
(a) The fiber has one component y = 0 Then 0 = partN(y) = f hence
Z = (x = g = 0) The restriction on the fiber is part|(y=0) = x partpartx
+g|(y=0)partpartz
Z has a one-dimensional component contained in the fiber iff g isin (y) in
which case such component is smooth equal to (x = 0) moreover the
foliation on the fiber saturates to a smooth one with invariant curves
z = 0 transverse to Z
Otherwise the foliation is saturated on the fiber and has a saddle-node
singularity
(b) The fiber has two components yz = 0 Then 0 = partN(yz) = zf + yg
hence f = yh g = minuszh for some h and Z = (x = h = 0) The restriction
on a fiber component say y = 0 is part|(y=0) = x partpartxminus zh|(y=0)
partpartz
Z has an
irreducible component contained in y = 0 iff h isin (y) in which case such
component is smooth equal to (x = 0) moreover the foliation on the
fiber saturates to a smooth one with invariant curves z = 0 transverse
to Z
Otherwise the foliation is saturated on the fiber and has a saddle-node
singularity
(c) The fiber has three components xyz = 0 0 = partS(xyz) = xyz a contra-
diction
Summary with one eigenvalue there are either one or two components The
foliation might have a one-dimensional singularity when restricted to a fiber
component in this case such singularity is a smooth curve and the foliation
saturates to a smooth one with invariant curves transverse to the singular-
ity If the singularity is isolated on a fiber component then it is a canonical
saddle-node with at most two invariant branches
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 27
ni (2) partS has two eigenvalues
We have partS = x partpartx
+ λy partparty
and partN(x y z) = k partpartx
+ f partparty
+ g partpartz
for some func-
tions k f g
(a) The fiber has one component z = 0 Then g = 0 k f isin (x y) and
necessarily Z = (x = y = 0) is transverse to the fiber The restriction on
the fiber is saturated and non-degenerate It has canonical singularities
if either partN 6= 0 or λ isin Q+ otherwise it is log-canonical
(b) The fiber has two components xy = 0 Then 0 = partS(xy) hence λ = minus1
Also 0 = partN(xy) hence k = xh f = minusyh g isin (xy) and necessarily
Z = (x = y = 0) coincides with the intersection of the two fiber compo-
nents which is smooth the foliation saturates to a smooth one on each
component with invariant curves transverse to Z
(c) The fiber has three components xyz = 0 hence λ = minus1 Also k = xklowast
f = yf lowast g = zglowast with klowast + f lowast + glowast = 0 and glowast isin (xy) The singularity
Z = (x = y = 0) coincides with the intersection of two of the fiber
components The restriction to either such components saturates to a
smooth foliation with invariant curves transverse to Z the restriction
to z = 0 has a canonical non-degenerate singularity all the invariant
curves are those in xy = 0 transverse to Z
Summary with 2 eigenvalues there can be any number of components With
one component the foliation restricts to a saturated one with a (log)canonical
singularity which moves transversely to p With two components the folia-
tion is not saturated on either and saturates to a smooth one with invariant
curves transverse to the singularity With three components the foliation
is not saturated on two of them and saturates to a smooth one on both
with invariant curves transverse to the singularity the foliation is saturated
and has a canonical non-degenerate singularity on the third component In
28 FEDERICO BUONERBA
the last two cases the singularity is fully contained in an intersection of two
components
ni (3) partS has three eigenvalues But then the singularity is isolated a contradiction
IIIII sing(F ) isolated
i (1) partS has one eigenvalue
bull We have partS = x partpartx
and partN = xk partpartx
+ f partparty
+ g partpartz
for some functions
k f g isin (y z) Moreover partN is non-trivial
bull Z = (x = f = g = 0) is isolated
(a) The fiber has one component y = 0 Then 0 = partN(y) = f and Z cannot
be isolated a contradiction
(b) The fiber has two components yz = 0 Then 0 = partN(yz) = zf + yg so
f = yh g = minuszh with h non-constant Hence Z = (x = h = 0) is not
isolated a contradiction
(c) The fiber has three components xyz = 0 Then 0 = partS(xyz) = xyz a
contradiction
Summary the 1 eigenvalue case does not exist
i (2) partS has two eigenvalues
bull We have partS = x partpartx
+ λy partparty
partN = xk partpartx
+ f partparty
+ g partpartz
for some functions
k f g
bull g is non-trivial and g isin (x y)
bull Z = (x = y = g = 0) is isolated
(a) The fiber has one component z = 0 Then g = 0 a contradiction
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 29
(b) The fiber has two components xy = 0 hence λ = minus1 and g isin (xy z)
the restriction to y = 0 is part|(y=0) = x partpartx
+g|(y=0)partpartz
and necessarily g|(y=0)
is non-vanishing Therefore the restriction to either components is satu-
rated and the singularity is a canonical saddle-node on each of them
The invariant curves are among the axes x = y = 0 x = z = 0 y = z =
0
(c) The fiber has three components xyz = 0 hence λ = minus1 Necessarily
k = xklowast f = yf lowast g = zglowast with klowast + f lowast + glowast = 0 The restriction to
y = 0 is part|(y=0) = x(1 + klowast|(y=0))partpartx
+ zglowast|(y=0)partpartz
since g isin (x y) we have
glowast|(y=0) non-trivial Therefore the restriction to either x = 0 and y = 0
is saturated and the singularity is a canonical saddle-node on each of
them
The restriction to z = 0 is part|(z=0) = x(1 + klowast|(z=0))partpartx
+ y(minus1 + f lowast|(z=0))partparty
therefore the restriction is saturated and has a canonical non-degenerate
singularity
The invariant curves are among the axes x = y = 0 x = z = 0 y = z =
0
Summary with 2 eigenvalues there are either two or three components the
foliation restricts to a canonical saddle-node on two of them and to a non-
degenerate singularity on the third one if it exists All the invariant curves
are in the axes
i (3) partS has three eigenvalues We have partS = x partpartx
+ λy partparty
+ microz partpartz
(a) The fiber has one component y = 0 hence λ = 0 a contradiction
(b) The fiber has two components xy = 0 hence λ = minus1 The restriction to
y = 0 is part|(y=0) = x partpartx
+ microz partpartz
+ partN|(y=0) The singularity is log-canonical
30 FEDERICO BUONERBA
iff micro isin Qgt0 and partN|(y=0)= 0 and in this case the singularity on x = 0 is
canonical non-degenerate Invariant curves are those in y = 0 and the
axis x = z = 0
If the restriction to both fiber components is canonical then it non-
degenerate on both and the invariant curves are contained in the axes
x = y = 0 x = z = 0 y = z = 0
The fiber could be yz = 0 hence λ+micro = 0 It can be analyzed as in the
next item
(c) The fiber has three components xyz = 0 hence 1 + λ + micro = 0 In par-
ticular if λ = cmicro c isin Q+ then λ micro isin Q The restriction to y = 0
is part|(y=0) = x partpartx
+ microz partpartz
+ partN|(y=0) This singularity is log-canonical iff
micro isin Qgt0 and partN|(y=0)= 0 in which case the singularity on both x = 0
and z = 0 is canonical non-degenerate In particular if the singularity
is log-canonical on some fiber component then it is so on exactly one
component and all eigenvalues are rational Invariant curves are those
in y = 0 and the axis x = z = 0
If the restriction to all fiber components is canonical then it non-degenerate
on each of them and the invariant curves are contained in the axes
x = y = 0 x = z = 0 y = z = 0
Summary with 3 eigenvalues there are either two or three fiber components
the foliation restricts to a singular foliation on each of them and it has a
log-canonical singularity on at most one of them in this case all eigenvalues
of the semi-simple field are rational
IIIIII Local consequences We list some corollaries for future reference As al-
ways in this section the statements are local so everything happens in a formal
neighborhood of our point lowast First we state those corollaries we will need to describe
configurations of KF -nil curves
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 31
Definition IIIIII1 An LC-center Π sub X is an irreducible F -invariant formal
hypersurface such that the local vector field generating the foliation when restricted
to Π has semi-simple part with log-canonical singularity or a one-dimensional sin-
gular locus An LC-center with a log-canonical singularity is necessarily an algebraic
component of the singular fiber of p
Corollary IIIIII2 There is at most one LC-center with a log-canonical singularity
through lowast If it exists then all eigenvalues of the semi-simple field at lowast are rational
If there are at least two LC-centers through lowast then there are exactly two and the
foliation singularity is a smooth curve on each of them
Proof Possible cases in which an LC-center with log-canonical singularities appears
ni (2)a i (3)b i (3)c
Corollary IIIIII3 If there is no LC-center thorugh a point lowast then there are at
most three invariant curves through lowast all smooth Any number of them spans a sub-
space of the tangent space at lowast of maximal possible dimension
If there is an LC-center through lowast then there is at most one invariant curve through
lowast and not contained in the LC-center
If there is an LC-center with non-isolated singularity then the singularity is smooth
and all invariant curves contained in the LC-center intersect the singularity trans-
versely
Proof Invariant curves not in an LC-centers with log-canonical singularities are con-
tained in the three axes x = z = 0 x = y = 0 y = z = 0 mentioned in the above
classification The other statements are clear
Corollary IIIIII4 If p is smooth at lowast then Z is one dimensional around lowast
Proof Possible casesni (1)a ni (2)a
In particular if there is no LC-center the situation is the familiary
xz
32 FEDERICO BUONERBA
While if there is an LC-center (pink) with log-canonical singularity it will look like
y
LC-center
While if there is an LC-center with non-isolated singularity (red) it will look like
(the black arrows being invariant curves)
y
LC-center
The next corollary describes one-dimensional components of the foliation singularity
Corollary IIIIII5 If Z0 is a one-dimensional irreducible component of the folia-
tion singularity then it is at worst nodal The foliation when restricted to any fiber
component containing Z0 saturates to a smooth foliation in a neighborhood of Z0
and all the invariant curves are transverse to Z0
If Z0 is contained in exactly one fiber component then the semi-simple field has one
eigenvalue everywhere along Z0
If Z0 lies at the intersection of two fiber components then the semi-simple field has
two constant eigenvalues everywhere along Z0
Moreover if there exist a sequence of invariant curves converging in the compact-
open topology to Z0 then there is generically one eigenvalue along Z0
Proof Possible casesni (1)a ni (1)b ni (2)b ni (2)c Concerning the one-
eigenvalue case invariant curves converging to Z0 can be found in the formal hyper-
surface x = 0
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 33
IV Invariant curves along which KF vanishes
In this section we study in great detail a formal neighborhood of invariant curves
where KF is numerically trivial In the first subsection we deal with KF -nil curves
namely those whose generic point is not contained in the foliation singularity In this
case the normal bundle to the curve determines its formal neighborhood uniquely
and this has plenty of amazing consequences In the second subsection we study
those invariant curves which are contained in the foliation singularity In this case
we are not able to control the full formal neighborhood but important informations
can still be obtained
IVI KF -nil curves In this subsection we study in detail the structure of KF -
nil curves and their formal neighborhoods appearing in the set-up IIVII4 In
particular we will describe a simple process to replace cuspidal KF -nil curves by
net ones prove that the foliation is in the net completion around a net KF -nil curve
defined by a global vector field which admits a global Jordan decomposition deduce
that eigenfunctions for the semi-simple component of such field are also globally
defined on a formal neighborhood
The first important remark is of technical nature and explains how to deal with non-
net KF -nil curves By Proposition IIIV4 this is indeed possible and the images of
such curves will acquire cusp-like singularities It is hard to analyze the geometry
of F around such cuspidal curves and therefore necessary to remove them Let us
assume that C is simply connected with rational moduli f is ramified at 0 isin C
and and denote by X the formal completion along f(C) Then formally around
f(0) the curve f(C) has defining ideal (y xa minus zb) where y = 0 is a fiber of the
fibration p X rarr ∆ containing f(C) x z isin H0(X OX ) restrict to suitable local
coordinates on such fiber and a b ge 2 are coprime integers
Claim IVI1 Let r X ( aradicz = 0) rarr X be the a-th root of z = 0 III3 Then
(rlowastC)norm =∐a
1 C and the induced map rlowastf (rlowastC)norm rarrX ( aradicz = 0) is net
Proof Since r is etale away from z = 0 also rlowastC rarr C is etale away from 0 isin C
Since C 0 is simply connected we have rlowastC rminus1(0) =∐a
1 C 0 This proves
34 FEDERICO BUONERBA
the first statement Let ζ be a function on X ( aradicz = 0) such that ζa = z so then
rlowast(xa minus zb) =prod
ηa=1(x minus ηζb) Every branch is net in 0 and we obtain the second
statement as well
As such upon taking roots we can replace non-net KF -nil invariant curves with
rational moduli by net ones
We now proceed to study net KF -nil curves We will show that the foliation is
defined by a global vector field around a net KF -nil curve with rational moduli and
that such vector field admits a global Jordan decomposition
Proposition IVI2 Notation as in the set-up IIVII4 let f C rarrX be a KF -nil
curve Assume that f is net and let j C rarr C be the net completion along f Then
there exists an isomorphism
(16) OC(KF )simminusrarr OC
In particular there exists a global vector field partf on C that generates F
Proof Since C has rational moduli and is simply connected it has infinite-cyclic
Picard group and we have an isomorphism
(17) OC(KF )simminusrarr OC
Moreover we have a non-canonical splitting of the normal bundle Njsimminusrarr O(minusn) oplus
O(minusm) and we claim that both nm ge 0 Indeed consider the induced semi-stable
fibration C rarr ∆ and let F be the normalization of an irreducible component of a
fiber such that C sub F Consider the exact sequence
(18) 0rarr NCF rarr Nj rarr NFC|C rarr 0
Since KF is nef NCF is not ample since F is a fiber of a fibration also NFC|C is
not ample and this is enough to conclude even though nm may be different from
the degrees of such normal bundles
At this point we can lift the isomorphism 17 over infinitesimal neighborhoods of j
Indeed for every k ge 0 we have an exact sequence
(19) 0rarr Symk ICI2C rarr OCk+1
(KF )rarr OCk(KF )rarr 0
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 35
which shows that the obstruction to lifting the isomorphism lies in
(20) H1(C Symk ICI2C) = H1(C Symk(O(n)oplus O(m))) = 0
From this we can deduce
Proposition IVI3 The vector field partf admits a Jordan decomposition uniformly
along C
Proof The cohomology sequence attached to 19 is
(21) 0rarr H0(C Symk ICI2C)rarr H0(COCk+1
)rarr H0(COCk)rarr 0
Let partk+1 denote the image of partf in End(H0(COCk+1)) Looking at
H0(COCk+1) minusminusminusrarr H0(COCk
)
partk+1
y partk
yH0(COCk+1
) minusminusminusrarr H0(COCk)
we see the canonical Jordan deomposition of partk+1 restricts to that of partk
The above result describes a very useful interplay between normal bundles to
KF -nil curves and the structure of the semi-simple field It turns out that these
informations determine formal neighborhoods uniquely For simplicity let C be
an irreducible component of C without orbifold points Let us assume that part|C is
singular in 0infin Then there exist formal functions x y z at 0 isin C and ξ η ζ at
infin isin C such that x ξ are coordinates along C y η are local sections of OC(minusn)
so η = xny mod(I2C) z ζ are local sections of OC(minusm) so ζ = xmz mod(I2C)
Normalizing so that xminus1partS(x) = ε isin 0 1 we obtain
(22) part0S = εxpart
partx+ λy
part
party+ microz
part
partz partinfinS = minusεξ part
partξ+ (λ+ εn)η
part
partη+ (micro+ εm)ζ
part
partζ
More generally ie C = P1(d e) we have glueing rules x = te ξ = tminusd η = tny and
ζ = tmz mod(I2C) Normalizing so that tminus1partS(t) = ε isin 0 1 we obtain
(23) part0S = eεxpart
partx+ λy
part
party+ microz
part
partz partinfinS = minusdεξ part
partξ+ (λ+ εn)η
part
partη+ (micro+ εm)ζ
part
partζ
36 FEDERICO BUONERBA
It is worth remarking that the above relations hold between eigenvalues at the two
singular point of singular ie nodal or cuspidal KF -nil curves as well this is
easily seen by taking a root followed by net completion and keeping track of the
eigenvalues
Definition IVI4 Let C be a KF -nil curve The foliation singular points along C
are called ends
As well as the existence of Hilbert scheme in the following form
Fact IVI5 Let W sub Xlowast be a curve and D a divisor in the formal neighborhood
of W such that W = D capXlowast scheme-theoretically Then W moves in D
In what follows our main concern is to understand formal neighborhoods of KF -
nil curves Observe that the fibration p when restricted to the formal neighborhood
of such curves provides at least one eigenfunction of the semi-simple field Hence
in order to compute the width IIII we must study the behavior of the other eigen-
function on infinitesimal neighborhoods We first describe the situation inside the
smooth locus of p
Proposition IVI6 (Smooth fiber) Let f C rarrX be an irreducible KF -nil curve
which is contained in the smooth locus of a fiber Xlowast of p Then the end(s) on C are
flat over ∆ ni (1)b and ni (1)a with z2|g(y z) and C moves in a family flat over
∆
Proof Let us assume that f is net Then upon passing to net completion we can
actually assume it is embedded From our local classification of singularities we case
in case ni (1)a and ni (2)a We want to show that both ends have components
that move transversely to p hence we have to exclude case ni (1)a with g(y z) = ya
By way of contradiction say we have g(y z) = ya in the notation of opcit around
an end lowast isin C We proceed to compute what happens at the other end we find
formal coordinates ξ η ζ which by equation 23 satisfy
(24) ξ = xminus1 η = y ζ = xmz mod(I2C)
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 37
As such we compute part(ζ) = mζ + ξminusmηa mod(I2C) which is holomorphic if and only
if m le 0 so then C moves in Xlowast contradicting that the foliation has general type
Hence we are in cases ni (1)a ni (2)a with g = microyazb b ge 1
(25) part0 = xpart
partx+ microyazb
part
partz partinfin = minusξ part
partξ+ ζ(m+ microξm(bminus1)ηaζbminus1)
part
partζ(mod(I2C))
Following notation from subsection IIII observe that C1 is the section of E1C which
is disjoint from the proper transform of the fiber of p In coordinates over 0
(26) x1 = x y1 = y z1 = zyminus1
And similarly over infin Using the previous equation and 25 on C1 we find
(27)
part01 = x1part
partx1+microya+bminus11 zb1
part
partz1 partinfin1 = minusξ1
part
partξ1+ζ1(m+microξ
m(bminus1)1 ηa+bminus11 ζbminus11 )
part
partζ1(mod(I2C1
))
In particular the transform of the nilpotent field is still nilpotent after blowing up in
C It follows that the eigenvalues of the semi-simple field at the two ends of C and
C1 are the same Using equation 23 we deduce that the normal bundle to C1X1 to
isomorphic to that of CX in particular it contains a trivial direct summand This
proves that width(C) =infin
Next we show that f must be net Consider the induced flat projection pD D rarr ∆
its general fiber cannot be a cuspidal curve since along such cusp the foliation sin-
gularity would be log-canonical but not canonical Hence if C has a cusp necessarily
the general fiber of pD is a nodal curve Let X rarr X denote the blow up of the
nodal locus of pD with exceptional divisor E ruled over ∆ In a neighborhood of E
we have sing(F ) = D cap E which projects to ∆ as a double cover ramified over lowastObserve that the foliation on Xlowast is again log-canonical and not canonical hence its
local structure is ni (2)a In that case however p is unramified along the foliation
singularity Contradiction
We state a general criterion for movability of KF -nil curves
Proposition IVI7 Let C be a connected KF -nil curve such that p(C ) = lowast isin ∆
Assume its dual graph is a chain that none of its irreducible components is double
38 FEDERICO BUONERBA
VI3 and that its two extremal ends are flat over ∆ Then C moves in a family flat
over ∆ and each of its irreducible components is embedded
Proof We work in a formal neighborhood of C After taking roots we can assume
C is net and since its dual graph is a chain it is actually embedded We proceed by
induction on its length l where the case l = 1 is Proposition IVI6 For l gt 1 let C1
be a component of C which is extremal in its dual graph If C1 moves transversely
to p then both its ends do and hence we can apply the induction hypothesis to
C C1 If C1 is rigid then it can be flopped It is straightforward to check that we
can apply the induction hypothesis to the transform C + C+1 and we are done
Now we deal with rigid curves inside the singular fiber
Proposition IVI8 (Singular fiber) Let f C rarr X be an embedded net KF -
nil curve with anti-ample normal bundle Then there exists a birational map φ
(X F ) 99K (X +F+) and a KF+-nil curve C+ such that
bull φ is an isomorphism away from C+
bull In a formal neighborhood of at least one among C and C+ there exist two
invariant hypersurfaces D1D2 locally defined by the vanishing of eigenfunc-
tions of the semi-simple field such that C (resp C+)= D1 capD2
bull If F middot C lt 0 for some hypersurface F then F+ middot C+ gt 0 In particular X +
is projective
Such φ is called flop
Proof Our assumption is that Nfsimminusrarr O(minusn)oplusO(minusm) is anti-ample namely nm gt
0 If two invariant hypersurfaces as in our statement do exist around C the flop is
easily constructed as a weighted blow-up followed by a weighted blow-down As such
let us assume that such hypersurfaces do not exist around C In particular C is not
double VI3 By [Ar70] there exists a formal contraction c X rarrX0 collapsing C
to a point and an isomorphism everywhere else By Proposition IVI3 the foliation
F0 is Gorenstein around the node of X0 For ease of exposition let us assume
n = m = 1 the general case is handled the same way only the notation becomes more
cumbersome due to the presence of weights The node has embedding dimension 4
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 39
and in suitable local coordinates x0 y0 w0 z0 can be defined by x0z0minusy0w0 = 0 The
morphism c can be identified with the blow up of the embedded surface (x0 = y0 = 0)
Explicitly in the chart y = y0 x = x0yminus10 it is defined by
(28) y0 = y x0 = xy z0 = zprime w0 = xzprime
Here x is a coordinate along C while y = 0 is the pull-back of (x0 = y0 = 0) and
zprime some function in the normal bundle to C By the previous Proposition IVI6
we know C cannot be contained in the smooth locus of p Since C is not double
we can assume that in this local chart p is defined by (x y zprime) rarr xy - the case
(x y zprime) rarr xzprime being isomorphic as it is isomorphic to blow-up (z0 = w0 = 0)
instead of (x0 = y0 = 0) The issue is as emphasized by the notation zprime 6= z that
zprime may fail to be an eigenfunction for partS if it were we would be done since zprime = 0
is the local equation for the global pullback of (z0 = w0 = 0) However we have
a b isin C such that
(29) partS0(y0) = minusy0 partS0(x0) = 0 partS0(z0) = ay0 + bz0 partS0(w0) = ax0 + (b+ 1)w0
Observe that the embedded surfaces D01 = (y0 = z0 = 0) and D0
2 = (x0 = w0 = 0)
are both foliation invariant As such let b X + rarr X0 denote the blow-up of X0
along D01 - which is isomorphic to that along D0
2 - and let Di = blowastD0i i = 1 2
Finally X + is projective by Nakai-Moishezon Indeed every C with anti-ample
normal bundle is contained in an irreducible component F of X0 such that F middotC lt 0
Then F+ middot C+ gt 0 and we can find an ample divisor of the form H+ + εF+ where
H+ is the proper transform of an ample on X
Remark IVI9 In the previous proof a 6= b+ 1 Indeed such identity would create
a non-trivial Jordan block of partS0 in the (x0 w0)-plane thus contradicting the semi-
simplicity of partS0 In particular by a straightforward computation it is impossible to
find eigenfunctions of the form wlowast0 = w0 + αx0 zlowast0 = z0 + βy0 with x0z
lowast0 minus y0wlowast0 = 0
unless a = 0
We can conclude by pointing out an important point understood in this section
A painful aspect of the theory is that log-canonical singularities which appear natu-
rally as analytic degenerations of canonical ones come along with cuspidal invariant
40 FEDERICO BUONERBA
curves There is in particular no a-priori obstruction to the existence of rigid
cuspidal KF -nil curves in a smooth fiber of our family of foliated surfaces p Quite
generally a rigid curve of positive arithmetic genus in a smooth family of surfaces can
never be contracted to a point Therefore this would have been a counter-example
to any reasonable foliated canonical model theory one may wish to achieve Fortu-
nately such phenomenon does not happen and this establishes the Main Theorem I
modulo finitely many rigid curves confined in the singular fiber X0
IVII Invariant curves inside sing(F ) In this subsection we study curves Z0 subeXlowast cap sing(F ) which are inside the foliation singularity and invariant By this we
mean that there exists a sequence fn Cn rarrX of not necessarily algebraic invariant
curves converging in the compact-open topology to Z0 In other words the map
(30) NorF rarr Ω1Z0
is trivial By Corollary IIIIII5 we know that Z0 is at worst nodal it is smooth
wherever p is smooth for every point z isin Z0 the semi-simple part of the gener-
ating vector field has exactly one eigenvalue The problem here is that the Jordan
decomposition need not extend uniformly along Z0 not even along an irreducible
component In case ni (1)a the functions x and g may develop essential singulari-
ties arbitrary close to z Nonetheless the function x is unique and this says that x
does extend along Z0
Proposition IVII1 Let Z0 be as above Then in a formal neighborhood of Z0
there exists a unique smooth invariant hypersurface D0 containing Z0 which restricts
around any point in Z0 to the unique eigenfunction for the semi-simple field whose
eigenvalue is non-zero
Proof The local structure of the foliation around a point z isin Z0 is described by
cases ni (1)a and ni (1)b In both cases partS has one non-zero eigenvalue with
eigenfunction x Such eigenfunction x is a-priori only defined in the normal bundle to
Z0 but it is clear that the equation partx = x has a unique up to constants solution in
the formal completion around z As such there exists a unique smooth hypersurface
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 41
D0 in the formal completion around Z0 which restricts to the eigenfunction x around
z
Observe that the previous argument goes through since we are assuming Z0 subX0
Keeping notations from case ni (1)a if say g(y z) = yz then in the hypersurface
y equiv q isin Qgt0 the foliation has a log-canonical singularity and the eigenfunction x
extends highly non-uniquely to a formal neighborhood of the point (x y z) = (0 q 0)
In particular the existence of D0 as in the previous Proposition might fail along
the component (x = z = 0) of the foliation singularity This phenomenon is called
the beast
Anyway uniqueness in the previous proposition yields
Corollary IVII2 Let Z prime be a connected invariant curve inside sing(F ) Then in
a formal neighborhood of Z prime there exists a unique smooth invariant hypersurface D prime
containing Z prime which restricts around any point in Z prime to the hypersurface constructed
in the previous proposition
Next we turn to the intrinsic structure of invariant singular curves
Proposition IVII3 Let Z0 be an irreducible invariant curve inside sing(F )
Then Z0 is smooth and rational
Proof We work in a formal neighborhood of Z0 Let F0 denote the unique component
of X0 containing Z0 For any other fiber component F intersecting Z0 non-trivially
blow-up the invariant curve F cap F0 with exceptional divisor EF A straightforward
computation using the local formula ni (1)b shows that the fiber of the natural
projection EF rarr F cap F0 intersecting Z0 is also contained in sing(F ) For Z prime the
maximal connected singular invariant curve containing Z0 let G denote the saturated
foliation induced on D prime It is canonical with reduced singularities and it satisfies
KG = KF |Dprime minus Zprime By adjunction
(31) 2g(Z0)minus 2 + sZG(Z0) = minusZ prime middot Z0
Observe that thanks to our initial sequence of blow-ups the singularities of G along
Z0 coincide with the intersection of Z0 and Z prime Z0 In particular since D prime is formally
42 FEDERICO BUONERBA
flat over ∆ we deduce Z prime middot Z0 = 0 and the previous formula becomes
(32) 2g(Z0)minus 2 + sZG(Z0) = 0
This implies that Z0 is rational or elliptic If Z0 were elliptic then sZG(Z0) = 0 and
D0 defines an invariant elliptic curve in the general fiber of p By Baum-Bott this
contradicts that KF is big and nef Now we show that Z0 is smooth If it has a node
then D0 moves it in a family of nodal rational curves flat over ∆ In particular D0
itself has a node in codimension 1 hence Xlowast is smooth around the node of Z0 In its
formal neighborhood the foliation must be as in case ni (1)a which implies that
Z0 is smooth contradiction
We can improve as follows
Proposition IVII4 Let Z prime sube sing F capXlowast be a connected invariant curve with
KF middot Z prime = 0 Then its dual graph is a chain
Proof Assume Z prime is a cycle Then necessarily Z prime = D prime capXlowast scheme-theoretically
and by the existence of Hilbert scheme Z prime moves in the general fiber Its general
member is either a cycle of smooth rational curves or an elliptic curve Arguing as
in the previous proof we see that both options are impossible
V Configurations
In this section we analyze in great detail all possible configurations of invariant
curves along which KF vanishes These can be divided into three groups those
that do not move those that move in a one-dimensional family covering a surface
those that move in a higher-dimensional family covering a surface Curves in the first
group can form rather complicated configurations while those in the second group
are more simple they either move in the general fiber or they cover an isolated
Riccati component in the singular fiber Those in the third group turn out to be
represented by the two rulings of P1timesP1 if they happen to be cohomologous in the
ambient stack First we will analyze rigid curves then those which move and finally
we will describe their configurations
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 43
VI Configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially In
this subsection we describe configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF
trivially which arise in the situation described by set-up IIVII4
First we focus on KF -nil curves At the end of the section we deal with the simpler
case in which a curve in the configuration is fully contained in sing(F ) The general
fiber was handled in Proposition IVI6
Proposition VI1 Let C be a connected KF -nil curve contained in the smooth
locus of a fiber of p Then it is a chain or a cycle and it moves in a family flat over
∆
In what follows we let C denote a connected KF -nil curve contained in the
singular fiber X0 all of whose sub-curves are rigid in X Observe a consequence of
equation 23
Proposition VI2 Let C = cupiCi be a connected KF -nil curve Then the eigen-
values of partS are all rational at every point of sing(F )capC if and only if they are all
rational at one point
We can deduce many non-trivial properties about configurations of KF -nil curves
First we need
Definition VI3 Let C subX0 be a curve It is called double if there exists formally
around C two components F F prime of X0 such that C = F cap F prime A point lowast isin C where
three fiber components intersect is called a triple point If C lies on exactly one fiber
component it is called non-double We denote by F (C) such component
Remark VI4 Let Csimminusrarr P1(d e) be double with two triple points Then we know
e+ λ+ micro = minusd+ (λ+ n) + (micro+m) = 0 whence we obtain
(33) n+m = d+ e
Which is called triple-point formula
Next we show that essentially KF -nil curves do not form cycles unless something
deforms in X0 First we show that there are no cycles of rigid non-double curves
44 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proposition VI5 Let C be a connected KF -nil curve contained in the singular
fiber X0 of p Assume that every component of C is non-double and that every
sub-curve is rigid Then C contains no cycles
Proof We work in a formal neighborhood of C which we assume is a cycle Let
us first consider the case in which all components C1 middot middot middot CN are smooth with no
orbifold points and denote lowasti = Ci cap Ci+1 with CN+1 = C1 Moreover let us
assume no lowasti lies in the smooth locus of p
Since no curve is double the semi-simple field at every lowasti is as in case i (3)b in
particular the eigenvalues along the branches of Ci and Ci+1 add up to zero More-
over let minusni denote the self-intersection of Ci sub F (Ci) Normalize the eigenvalues
of partS so that at lowastn they are 1 in the C1 direction minus1 in the CN direction λ in the
F (C1)capF (CN) direction It follows by induction that at lowasti the eigenvalues are minus1
in the Ci direction 1 in the Ci+1 direction λ+ n1 + middot middot middot+ ni in the F (Ci) cap F (Ci+1)
direction After traveling around the cycle we obtain n1+middot middot middot+nN = 0 contradicting
that ni gt 0 for every i
We established the Proposition assuming every Ci is an embedded scheme and ev-
ery lowasti is in the singular locus of p The case in which Cisimminusrarr P1(di ei) has orbifold
points is analogous we end up with a combination c1n1 + middot middot middot + cNnN = 0 with ci
the eigenvalue at lowasti in the Ci+1 direction Normalizing so that c1 = e1 gt 0 again by
induction on i we see that every ci isin Qgt0 Next we show that our assumption on lowastiis always satisfied
Claim VI6 Every lowasti must belong to the singular locus of p
Proof We give two essentially equivalent proofs
bull If N = 2 3 then the previous argument goes through indeed we can normal-
ize eigenvalues at lowasti to be negative in the Ciminus1 direction and positive in the
Ci-direction and argue as above Hence we can assume N ge 4 If say lowasti is in
the smooth locus of p then F (Ci) = F (Ci+1) If also F (Ciminus1) = F (Ci) then Ci
lies in the smooth locus of p and hence it moves Therefore F (Ciminus1) 6= F (Ci)
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 45
and Ciminus1 can be flopped inside F (Ci) Since N ge 4 this preserves the smooth-
ness of F (Ci) and Ci is now is the smooth locus of p - contradiction
bull If lowasti belongs to the smooth locus of p then the end through lowasti moves We
can form a partial net completion fi Xi rarrX by normalizing C in lowasti only
Then f lowasti C is a chain with movable ends and hence moves in the general fiber
of p fi
Finally the general case in which some among the Ci have cusps can be easily
reduced to the smooth case in a couple of ways
bull Eigenvalues at the singularities of any KF -nil curve satisfy the same relations
as in the smooth case
bull Upon taking roots and net completion we can find a foliated formal 3-fold
supported on a cycle of smooth KF -nil curves which is a ramified cover of a
formal neighborhood of our cycle
Similarly we can show that there are no rigid cycles of double curves
Proposition VI7 Let C be a nodal KF -nil curve which is double Then C
deforms inside X0 In particular there cannot exist a rigid cycle of KF -nil double
curves
Proof Following the previous notation we have 0 = infin and if C = (xy = z = 0)
around 0 then we have identities
(34) x = η y = ξ z = ζ
The last one of which implies m = 0 that is C deforms Since C is double necessarily
the surface it spans must be contained in X0
The statement about cycles follows since a cycle of double curves can be transformed
after finitely many flops into a chain of smooth double curves with a nodal one
attached at one end
46 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Later on we will show that the deformations of C cannot span an elliptic surface
but only a family of nodal rational curves with a special Riccati foliation on it
We are ready to organize a detailed description of the dual graph of C More pre-
cisely we only need to understand how double curves intersect non-double curves
Lemma VI8 There exists a sequence of flops X 99KX + such that if C + denotes
the transform of C every double curve supported on C + contains two triple points
Proof Let C sube C be an irreducible component with at most one triple point and
let X 99K X + be its flop Then its transform C+ is non-double and the number
of double curves contained in C descreases It is clear that after finitely many flops
all double curves contain exactly two triple points
From now on all double curves in C have two triple points Thanks to proposition
VI2 we know that there are two cases to consider those curves along which the
semi-simple field has not only rational eigenvalues and those along which the semi-
simple field has only rational eigenvalues The first case being strictly easier than
the second it is a good starting place to warm up
Proposition VI9 (irrational eigenvalues) Assume that for every foliation singu-
larity along C not all eigenvalues of partS are rational Then every component of C
is net with at most one node and 1-skeleton of its dual graph is at worst trivalent
Write C = C axes cup C free where
C axes is the union of double curves
C free is the union of non-double curves
Then one among C axes and C free is empty Moreover
bull If C free is non-empty then it is a chain of smooth curves with rational moduli
bull If C axes is non-empty there exists a sequence of flops X 99KX + and an ir-
reducible component of the fiber FC subX + such that X + is a smooth stack
the transform C+ of C is contained in FC Moreover the dual graph of C+
is a tree which by [McQ08 III32] becomes a chain inside the normalization
of FC
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 47
Proof The first sentence is just corollary IIIIII3
Observe that if a non-double curve intersects a double curve then the non-double
curve must be contained in an LC-center around such intersection This contradicts
that not all eigenvalues are rational and establishes that one among C axes and C free
is empty
In case C free is not empty then it is clearly a chain or a cycle the latter being
impossible by Proposition VI5
We are left to show the existence of flops in case C = C axes We remark that
every component is smooth Let C0 be such a component and S0 a component of
X0 containing it Let C1 be the collection of irreducible components of C which
intersect S0 but are not contained in it All the components of C1 are smooth hence
we can flop them in any order until the transform of C1 lies in the transform of S0
Since the number of irreducible components of C lying outside S0 decreases after
such flop by induction we deduce the existence of finitely many flops after which
the birational transform of C is fully contained in the transform of S0
Next we take care of rational eigenvalues The complication here arises from
the fact that there may be double and non-double curves intersecting each other
However the situation is best possible
Proposition VI10 (rational eigenvalues) Assume that for every foliation singu-
larity along C all eigenvalues of partS are rational Write C = C axes cup C free where
C axes is the union of double curves
C free is the union of non-double curves
Then there exists a sequence of flops X 99K X + and an irreducible component of
the fiber FC axes subX + such that
bull X + is a smooth stack
bull The union of double curves of C axes is contained in FC axes the 1-skeleton of
its dual graph is a tree and each of its components has two triple points
bull The 1-skeleton of the dual graph of the transform C free+ is a disjoint union of
trees
bull Each connected component of C free+ intersects C axes in exactly one point
48 FEDERICO BUONERBA
In particular the 1-skeleton of the dual graph of C is a tree
Proof Notice that for every point lowast isin C cap Z there exists one LC-center through lowastIndeed there are three rational eigenvalues and they cannot be all non-vanishing and
all with different signs at the same time Now C axes can be treated as in proposition
VI9 This proves the first two items of the statement The third item follows from
Proposition VI5 so we can focus on the fourth one The proof is based on the
following obvious
Remark VI11 let C be a double curve such that either it is KF -nil hence has
two triple points or it is fully contained in sing(F ) Let C0 sube C free intersect C
non-trivially in a point lowast then necessarily C0 sub LClowast
Now let C0 middot middot middot CN form a chain of non-double curves with C0 and CN both
intersecting double curves as in the remark Denote by lowasti = Ci cap Ci+1 Since
C1 sub LClowast necessarily C1 is transverse to LClowast1 otherwise C1 would deform in F (C1)
Inductively we see that Ci+1 sub LClowasti and is transverse to LClowasti+1 In particular CN
cannot touch a double curve This contradiction proves the fourth item
Let us add a remark about configurations featuring invariant curves inside sing(F )
Proposition VI12 Let C be an invariant curve with KF middot C = 0 such that
Z0 sube C for some component Z0 sube sing(F ) Then C = Z prime cup C where
Z prime is a connected invariant curve inside the foliation singularity with dual graph a
chain
C is the union of at most two pairwise disjoint KF -nil curves with anti-ample
normal bundle
If not empty C can only intersect Z prime at the two ends of its dual graph Moreover
perhaps after a flop the intersection of C with Z prime supports the foliation singularity
along C As such if C has two components Z prime cup C deforms in the general fiber
Proof The structure of Z prime is Proposition IVII3 while that of Co is Proposition
IVI6 Let C prime be a component of C intersecting Z0 in a point lowast If C prime and Z0 belong
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 49
to different components of X0 then by case ni (1)b the eigenvalue of partS along C prime
vanishes so supp(sing(F ) cap C prime) = lowast If C prime and Z0 belong to the same component
then we can flop C prime into a different component
Observe that the divisor D prime from op cit can be extended along C prime This implies
that C can only intersect Z prime at its ends Moreover if C touches both ends necessarily
D prime capX0 = C scheme-theoretically hence by the existence of Hilbert scheme IVI5
we conclude
Our new set-up is
Set-up VI13 Everything as in set-up IIVII4 and moreover for any connected
invariant curve C with KF middot C = 0 all of whose sub-curves are rigid we have
configurations computed in proposition VI9 VI10 and Lemma VI12
VII Configurations of non-rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
In this subsection we describe configurations of surfaces which are covered by KF -nil
curves The structure of each such surface is described by classification IIV1 IIV2
and Corollary IIVI17 Our first step is to simplify the situation by contracting
chains of ruled surfaces The next step is to try and exclude the possibility that
the singular fiber of p contains fibrations by elliptic or nodal rational curves with
at least one invariant fiber This can be achieved with good success indeed there
may be at most one such Riccati foliation which is anyway rather isolated from the
remaining KF -nil curves Finally we observe that the only class of surfaces we have
not mentioned is
Definition VII1 A irreducible component F of the singular fiber of p is called
small Kronecker if
bull (FFF ) is birational to a Kronecker vector field on P1 timesP1 and
bull The two rulings of this P1 timesP1 are cohomologous inside X
The name comes from the fact that contraction of a small Kronecker yields a node
in the ambient threefold which admits a small resolution In fact in many respects
these fiber components behave very much like rigid KF -nil curves
50 FEDERICO BUONERBA
We start by getting rid of some fiber components which are ruled by KF -nil gener-
ically smooth rational curves
Proposition VII2 Notation as in Set-up VI13 there exists a sequence of flops
and divisorial contractions c X 99KX + such that
bull X + is a smooth stack
bull let S+ sub X + be an irreducible invariant divisor that contains a positive-
dimensional family of invariant rational curves along which KF+ vanishes
Then S+ is either birationally ruled by nodal rational curves or it is a small
Kronecker
Proof We focus first on contracting components of the singular fiber of p Consider
the following algorithm If there is no birationally ruled component different from
the ones listed in the second item we are done otherwise pick one such F and let
C denote the general member of the ruling If the cohomology class [C] is inde-
composable F is minimal Otherwise [C] = [C1] + [C2] where Ci are rational and
intersect KF trivially After finitely many steps we have a decomposition as a finite
sum of indecomposables [C] =sumn
i=0 ni[Ci] where every Ci is rational intersects KF
trivially We have two cases
bull There exists k such that Ck deforms in a birationally ruled necessarily min-
imal surface Fk
bull Every Ci has anti-ample normal bundle
In the first case denote by X rarr X1 the contraction of Fk along |Ck| and relpace
X by X1 Since Fk is minimal smoothness of the ambient stack is preserved unless
Fk is a small Kronecker This is however impossible if n ge 2 if Fk were a small
Kronecker then Ck deforms away from Fkminus1 so then Fkminus1 middot Ck = 0 on the other
hand Fkminus1 intersects the other ruling of Fk positively
In the second case flop C1 middot middot middot Cn in this order The transform of F is minimal and
not a small Kronecker so it can be contracted along its ruling preserving ambient
smoothness By induction on the Picard rank of X after finitely many steps this
algorithm ends Call X the output of this algorithm
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 51
Let S subX be an invariant divisor with a generically smooth ruling Then pS S rarr∆ is flat and after flopping finitely many rational curves in S cap plowastS(0) the resulting
pS is smooth Hence we can contract S along pS After finitely many steps the
Proposition is proven
For ease of notation in the sequel we call X the output of the previous proposition
Notice that there might still be divisors carrying a pencil of nodal rational curves
both inside and outside the singular fiber of p
We can start analyzing configurations of fiber components where the restriction of
F is not of general type We need some notation whose reason to exist will be clear
shortly
Definition VII3 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
along which KF is not big F is called special Riccati if
bull F is minimal
bull There exists a morphism s F rarr B onto a curve whose fibers are nodal
rational curve
bull F is transverse to the general fiber of s in particular KF is numerically
trivial along s
bull At least one fiber of s is invariant
bull There exists a section σ of s which is invariant and does not coincide with
the nodal locus of F
In particular the intersections of σ with invariant fibers of s isolated singularities
of F the node of F all coincide There may be fibers of s fully contained in sing(F )
in which case they are everywhere transverse to the saturated foliation
The definition looks nasty but special Riccati components have a rather simple
origin as the following proof shows
Lemma VII4 Let F be special Riccati Up to base change by an etale double cover
Bprime rarr B there is a natural isomorphism F norm simminusrarr BprimetimesP1 and the restriction of F
to F norm is birational to the projection onto P1
52 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proof We work over the normalization F norm Denote by Bprime the pre-image of the
node of F which is an etale double cover of B and let f denote an invariant fiber
of s with lowast = σ cap f Observe that F norm carries a Riccati foliation with 3 invariant
curves through lowast - namely σ f and a component of Bprime Hence FF has a log-canonical
singularity in lowast On F norm perform a weighted blow-up in each log-canonical singu-
larity followed by the contraction of the transforms of the corresponding fibers Let
s+ F+ rarr B denote the output of this operation If the proper transform of Bprime is
connected replace F+ by its base change under Bprime rarr B Hence we can assume Bprime
is the disjoint union of two sections of s+ and the transform of σ is a third section
which is disjoint from Bprime Therefore F+ = P1 timesBprime and the foliation restricts to the
projection onto P1
Next we describe those surfaces which cannot appear as components of the sin-
gular fiber X0
Definition VII5 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
along which KF is not big F is called illusory if
bull there exists a morphism t F rarr B onto a curve
bull KF is trivial along t
bull For any other fiber component F prime the intersection F cap F prime is either empty or
contained in a fiber of t
We give examples of illusory fiber components
Lemma VII6 The following fiber components are necessarily illusory
bull t is elliptic the foliation is either parallel to t or turbolent with at least one
invariant fiber
bull t is a nodal ruling the foliation is either parallel to t or transverse to t with
at least one invariant fiber and not birational to a special Riccati VII3
Proof Let f = F cap F prime for some fiber component F prime It is F -invariant
Assume t and F are parallel and f is transverse to both Then necessarily f subesing(F ) and KF is positive along the fibers of t contradiction
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 53
Assume t and F are generically transverse and f is transverse to t Let e be an
invariant fiber of t then ecap f isin sing(F ) hence t must be a family of nodal rational
curves and ecapf coincides with the node of e - otherwise KF would be positive along
t But this implies F is special Riccati contradiction
We proceed to show that illusory fibers do not exist
Lemma VII7 Let F be an illusory fiber component then every fiber of t is irre-
ducible If F prime is any fiber component intersecting F non-trivially then F prime is illusory
Proof Assume t has a reducible fiber f Then we can write f = f prime cup f primeprime where f prime
is irreducible and f primeprime is a disjoint union of chains of rational curves In particular
every subscheme supported on f primeprime is rigid in X f prime is rational and smooth iff f is a
cycle of rational curves hence the foliation on F is parallel to t and the choice of f prime
is not unique otherwise f prime is nodal or elliptic Let X 99KX + denote the flop of the
irreducible components of f primeprime in any order The proper transform f prime+ (below in red)
is the irreducible fiber of the induced morphism t+ F+ rarr B Since f primeprime+ intersects
f prime+ and is not contained in F+ there exists a component F prime of the fiber of p+ such
that F+ cap f prime+ 6= empty Since F+ is illusory necessarily F+ cap F prime = f prime+ Moreover F+
and F prime are the only fiber components intersecting f prime+ again because F+ is illusory
We deduce that F+ middot f prime+ = F prime middot f prime+ = 0 and therefore f prime+ is nef inside F prime It follows
that he restriction of F+ to F prime is not of general type and by the classification of
foliated surfaces [McQ08] necessarily f prime+ deforms inside F prime and defines a fibration
u F prime rarr Bprime In particular f prime+ is an irreducible fiber of u This is however impossible
since u contracts all the components of f primeprime+ contained in F prime (below in blue) and by
definition of F prime there exists at least one such component This proves that every
fiber of t is irreducible The following depicts the situation
F prime F+
f prime+
f primeprime+
t+u
54 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Concerning the second statement we only need to check the third condition for F prime
to be illussory namely that every other fiber component F primeprime intersecting F prime does
so along the fibers of u If F primeprime intersects F prime transversely to u then F primeprime intersects F
non-trivially and transversely to t as well absurd
Corollary VII8 Illusory components do not exist
Proof By the above lemma the existence of one illusory component implies that
every irreducible component of the singular fiber of p is illusory contradicting that
KF is big
We can now focus on fiber components that do appear
Corollary VII9 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
containing an invariant curve C which moves and such that KF middot C = 0 Then
following the classification [McQ08] we have two cases
(1) The minimal model of F is a special Riccati component
(2) F is a small Kronecker
Proof Certainly the ones listed are the only cases where C is KF -nil We have to
exclude the possibility that C is invariant inside sing(F ) By Proposition IVII3
such C would be rational with at most one node Since we already contracted at
the beginning of the present subsection all ruled surfaces necessarily C is nodal
However by opcit C cannot intersect any other fiber component of X0 which
implies the absurdity that X0 = F
We proceed to show that special Riccati components are rather isolated in the
fiber
Lemma VII10 Let F be a special Riccati component If F prime is a fiber component
intersecting F non-trivially then it does so transversely to s Morover there is
exactly one such F prime
Proof After finitely many flops we can assume that every fiber of s is irreducible
By the non-existence of illusory components there exists a fiber component F lowast with
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 55
σprime = F cap F prime transverse to s If F primeprime is a fiber component with f = F cap F primeprime a fiber
of s then we claim f sube sing(F ) If not then since KF middot f = 0 and σprime is invariant
necessarily σprimecap f is the node of f But then the existence of F primeprime contradicts that p is
snc Hence f sube sing(F ) so then around the node of f there are 3 fiber components -
two branches coming from F one from F primeprime - and sing(F ) has 2 branches - namely f
This is impossible by our case analysis ni (1)c ni (2)c The very same reasoning
establishes the uniqueness of F prime
Lemma VII11 Let F be as in the previous Lemma If C is a connected curve
with KF middot C = 0 then it is disjoint from F
Proof After finitely many flops s is irreducible and C intersects F transversely away
from its node Moreover lowast = C cap F isin sing(F ) and we deduce that the fiber of s
through lowast is fully contained in the singular locus of F This contradicts Proposition
IVII3 since such fiber is nodal
We conclude by observing the obvious
Lemma VII12 Let F be a small Kronecker Then there exists a contraction
c X rarr X prime which is an isomorphism away from F and contracts F along one
of its rulings Necessarily X prime is not projective since every global Cartier divisor
intersects c(F ) trivially On the other hand in a formal neighborhood of c(F ) there
exist Cartier divisors intersecting it non-trivialliy
As such the contribution coming from non-rigid curves is rather poor there are
curves moving in the general fiber there are special Riccati components disjoint from
any other invariant curve intersecting KF trivially there are small Kroneckers who
can be contracted to curves We shall see in the next section that the complications
arising from the contraction of such non-rigid curves is purely psychological and
totally harmless
56 FEDERICO BUONERBA
VI Contractions and proof of the Main Theorem
In this section we contract all invariant curves along which KF is zero thereby
establishing the existence of canonical models I First we contract non-rigid curves
as described in the previous subsection
bull Small Kroneckers along either ruling Albeit this destroys projectivity of
the ambient threefold there still exist Cartier divisors defined in a formal
neighborhood of the base curve that intersect it non-trivially
bull Families of irreducible nodal rational curves which are flat over ∆ This
creates elliptic singularities on the general fiber of p which are disjoint from
other invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
bull Special Riccati again families of irreducible nodal rational curves fully con-
tained in X0 This creates elliptic singularities disjoint from other invariant
curves intersecting KF trivially
We can summarize our situation by way of
Set-up VI1 X is a 3-dimensional DM stack with at worst elliptic singularities
F a foliation by curves with canonical singularities which is not Q-Cartier in a
neighborhood of Xsing
There exists a proper morphism p X rarr ∆ smooth off 0 isin ∆ F restricts to a
foliation on every fiber of p it has canonical singularities on the very general fiber
of p and log-canonical singularities on every fiber of p KF is big and nef on every
irreducible component of every fiber of p
Let C be the invariant sub-scheme along which KF is not big then C is a curve
fully contained in the smooth locus X0capXsmooth every sub-curve of C has anti-ample
normal bundle the 1-simplex of its dual graph is a tree and detailed configurations
of such are referenced in set-up VI13
We proceed to contract such C We assume that along C the semi-simple field has
only rational eigenvalues and moreover no component of C is inside the foliation
singularity The other two cases - irrational eigenvalues and presence of singular
component - are strictly easier and can be obtained with the very same method
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 57
The proof takes place in the formal completion around C = C free cup C axes The
former is a disjoint union of trees of non-double curves For each non-double C let
F (C) denote the unique component of X0 containing it The latter is a tree of double
curves each with two triple points all contained in the same irreducible FC axes Each
tree of non-double curves touches C axes in one point through a LC-center In order
to construct the contraction we will use Artinrsquos celebrated criterion in the following
form
Fact VI1 ([Ar70]) Let X be an irreducible algebraic space i Y rarr X a closed
subspace of pure codimension 1 and f Y rarr Y0 a proper morphism with flowastOY = OY0
Let X denote the formal completion of X along Y and assume there exists a Cartier
divisor D in X which is supported on Y and is f -anti-ample Then there exists a
proper morphism of algebraic spaces F X rarr X0 which is an isomorphism away
from Y and such that ilowastF = f
Now we use the tree structure of C to construct a suitable divisor to which apply
Artinrsquos theorem Namely consider the following inductive defintion
(35) C0 = C axes F0 = FC axes
For k ge 0 assume Ck Fk are defined
bull Let Ck+1 denote the union of irreducible components of C that intersect Fk
non-trivially but are not contained in cupilekFibull Let Fk+1 denote the reduced sum (
sumCsubeCk+1
F (C))red
This process stops with a collection C1 middot middot middotCN of curves and F1 middot middot middot FN of reduced
divisors
Lemma VI1 We have the following identities
(36)
Fk middot C lt 0 for every C sube Ck
(F0 + F1) middot C le 0 for every C sube C0
(Fkminus1 + Fk + Fk+1) middot C = 0 for every C sube Ck 1 lt k lt N
(FNminus1 + FN) middot C lt 0 for every C sube CN
58 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proof The first is just the fact that every component of C is rigid The remaining
three follow from X0 middot C = 0 but the last one requires further justification Indeed
if C sube CN N gt 0 then C is one end of a tree of non-double curves In particular
there exists a foliation singularity lowast isin C disjoint from any other component of
C and LClowast is transverse to C This implies LClowast middotC gt 0 which together with
(FNminus1 + FN + LClowast) middot C = 0 concludes the proof
Let ε1 middot middot middot εN isin Qgt0 and define
(37) F Nminusk = (1 + ε1 + middot middot middot+ εk)FNminusk
bull If C sube CN we have
(38) (F Nminus1 + F
N) middot C = ε1FNminus1 middot C + (FNminus1 + FN) middot C
bull If C sube CNminusk 1 lt k lt N we have
(39)
(F Nminuskminus1 + F
Nminusk + F Nminusk+1) middot C =
(1 + middot middot middot+ εk)(FNminuskminus1 + FNminusk + FNminusk+1) middot C minus εkFNminusk+1 middot C + εk+1FNminuskminus1 middot C =
minus εkFNminusk+1 middot C + εk+1FNminuskminus1 middot C
bull If C sube C0 we have
(40) (F 0 + F
1) middot C = εNF0 middot C + (Nminus1sumj=0
εj)(F0 + F1) middot C
It is clear that provided
(41) 1 gtgt ε1 gtgt middot middot middot gtgt εN
the divisor F =sumF k is negative along every component of C
This proves the existence of the contraction and concludes the proof of the Main
Theorem I
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 59
VII Moduli space of foliated surfaces of general type
In this section we study the modular variation of foliated surfaces of general type
The upshot is that it is possible to define a functor which is representable separated
and every irreducible component is proper The main issue here is that the supporting
surface of a foliated canonical model may well fail to be projective indeed KF is not
Q-Gorenstein in general Hence in order to proceed via standard methods [Ko17]
we have to parametrize our canonical models together with a suitable projective
resolution
Definition VII13 Let (SF ) be a foliated proper reduced purely 2-dimensional
DM stack Assume S has only normal crossing singularities in codimension 1 that
F has log-canonical foliation singularities and that KF is big and nef on at least
one of the irreducible components of S If whenever KF middot C = 0 for some curve C
then C moves in an irreducible component of S and no member of such deformation
is F -invariant then (SF ) is called foliated canonical model of general type
Clearly foliated canonical models are exactly the stable degenerations appearing
as the central fiber of our Main Theorem I Their lack of projectivity has two sources
namely the contraction of cycles of smooth KF -nil curves and of trees of cuspidal
ones Singularities arising from cycles behave well in families namely they always
deform into the general fiber Those arising from cuspidal curves on the other hand
tend to be rather isolated inside the degenerate fiber
Observe that the deformation theory of a foliated surface is rather simple suppose
given an infinitesimal C-algebras extension 0 rarr J rarr Ae rarr A rarr 0 and (SF )
a foliated surface flat over Spec(A) then the obstruction to lifting to Ae can be
understood in three simple steps
(1) Deformation of the underlying surface S once a deformation Se rarr Spec(Ae)
is given
(2) Deformation of the line bundle KF by the exponential sequence
(42) 0rarr J otimes OS rarr OlowastSerarr OlowastS rarr 0
obstructions lie in H2(SOS)otimes J once a deformation of KF is given
60 FEDERICO BUONERBA
(3) Deformation of the defining section OS rarr KF otimes TS obstructions lie in
H1(SKF otimes TS)otimes J
Now we have
Definition VII14 Let (SF ) be a foliated canonical model of general type A
proper birational morphism q (SF )proj rarr (SF ) is called its projective resolution
if
bull Every irreducible component of Sproj is smooth
bull The exceptional locus of q is a disjoint union of cycles of KFproj-nil smooth
curves and trees of KFproj-nil curves each of which has a non-trivial cuspidal
singularity
bull In a neighborhood of every q-exceptional cycle not only Sproj but also its
moduli space is smooth
We need a few remarks about projective resolutions
(1) Projective resolutions are always unique Indeed the only possible ambiguity
could lie in some extra smooth irreducible components in the exceptional
locus This is forbidden by definition in the trees of cuspidal curves it is
also forbidden by way of the third item in cycles of smooth ones ie on
algebraic surfaces the minimal resolution is unique
(2) Denote by E the collection of q-exceptional cycles Then there exist ε δ isinQgt0 such that KFproj
minus εE + δKSprojis ample by Nakai-Moishezon
(3) Deformations of a projective resolution of a foliated canonical model are
canonically identified with deformations of the underlying birational mor-
phism q Sproj rarr S followed by a deformation of the foliation F
We are now ready to construct a moduli functor for foliated surfaces more precisely
for projective resolutions of foliated canonical models of general type For m dN isinN and ε δ isin Qgt0 let
(43) MmdNεδ (C-schemes)rarr (sets)
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 61
be defined by MmdNεδ(S) = Diagrams
(44) (X F )projqminusrarr (X F )
pminusrarr S
Where
bull Both p and p q are flat and proper
bull For every closed point s isin S the induced morphism qs is the projective
resolution of (X F )s which is a foliated canonical model of general type
bull Denote by Es the collection of exceptional cycles of qs By our Main Theorem
I there is a fibrewise divisor E subXproj flat over S restricting to Es for every
s isin S
bull Let j W rarr Xproj denote the maximal closed subscheme away from which
KFprojand KXprojS are locally free Then
(45) L [m] = (jlowast(KFprojotimes OXproj
(minusεE )otimesKδXprojS
)otimesm)oror
is flat over S and commutes with base-change
bull L [m] is very ample of degree d on every fiber and defines an embedding into
PNS
We are now ready for
Theorem VII15 The functor MmdNεδ is represented by a separated algebraic
space each of whose irreducible components is proper
Proof We show that our functor satisfies Artinrsquos conditions [Ar74 Corollary 54] By
definition condition 1) and 4) hold while our previous remark on foliated obstruction
theory shows that 3) is true
We proceed to show 2) namely effectivity of formal deformations for MmdNεδ
What follows owes much to Artinrsquos [A74rsquo] Let T be a complete C-algebra Tn its
n-truncation so that Tsimminusrarr limlarrminusTn and finally qn isinMmdNεδ(Spec(Tn)) a compatible
sequence For each n there is a maximal open set Un sube Xprojn where qn is an
isomorphism denote by sn Cn rarr Zn the restriction of qn to the complement of Un
Clearly sn is projective over Spec(Tn)
62 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Denote by X C etc the formal algebraic spaces obtained as limits of Xn Cn
etc Then Xproj sub PNˆSpec(T )
hence by Grothendieckrsquos existence Theorem we find
bull a flat projective family (X F )proj rarr Spec(T ) resp a closed subscheme
C subXproj whose completion is Xproj resp C
bull a scheme Z whose completion is Z and a morphism s C rarr Z everything
being projective over Spec(T )
Further we have a formal contraction limminusrarr qn C rarr Z hence the main theorem
of [Ar70] gives algebraic contraction (X F )proj rarr (X F ) This proves the repre-
sentability of MmdNεδ The properness and separability of each irreducible com-
ponent can be checked using valutative criteria indeed properness is the content of
our Main Theorem I separatedness follows from the uniqueness of foliated canonical
models of general type and their projective resolution
References
[Ar70] M Artin Algebraization of Formal Moduli II Existence of Modifications Ann
of Math Vol 91 No 1 (Jan 1970) pp 88-135 httpwwwjstororgstable
1970602
[Ar74] M Artin Versal Deformations and Algebraic Stacks Inventiones Math 27 165- 189
(1974) httpmathuchicagoedu~drinfeldArtin_on_stackspdf
[A74rsquo] M Artin Algebraic construction of Brieskornrsquos resolutions J Alg Vol 29 Issue
2 May 1974 pp 330-348 httpwwwsciencedirectcomsciencearticlepii
0021869374901021
[BB72] P Baum R Bott Singularities of holomorphic foliations J Diff Geom 7 (1972)
279-342 httpsprojecteuclidorgdownloadpdf_1euclidjdg1214431158
[Bo77] F Bogomolov Families of curves on a surface of general type Doklady Akademii Nauk
USSR (in Russian) 236 (5) 1041-1044
[Bo78] F Bogomolov Holomorphic tensors and vector bundles on projective varieties Math
USSR Izv 13 (1978) 499-555
[BM16] F Bogomolov M McQuillan Rational Curves on Foliated Varieties In Cascini
McKernan Pereira (eds) Foliation Theory in Algebraic Geometry Simons Symposia
Springer Cham pp 21-51 (2016) httpslinkspringercomchapter101007
978-3-319-24460-0_2
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 63
[Bu] F Buonerba Functorial resolution of tame quotient singularities in positive charac-
teristic httpsarxivorgabs151100550
[Ke99] S Keel Basepoint Freeness for Nef and Big Line Bundles in Positive Characteris-
tic Annals of Math 149 No 1 (Jan 1999) pp 253-286 httpwwwjstororg
stable121025 httpsarxivorgabsmath9901149
[KM97] S Keel S Mori Quotients by groupoids Annals of Math 145 (1997) pp
193-213 httpwwwjstororgstable2951828seq=1page_scan_tab_contents
httparxivorgabsalg-geom9508012
[Ko17] J Kollar Families of varieties of general type httpswebmathprincetonedu
~kollarbookmodbook20170720pdf
[LN02] A Lins Neto Some examples for the Poincare and Painleve problems Annales sci-
entifiques de lrsquoENS 352 (2002) 231-266 httparchivenumdamorgarticle
ASENS_2002_4_35_2_231_0pdf
[McQ12] M McQuillan Foliated Mori Theory amp Hyperbolicity of Algebraic Surfaces http
wwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillahomehtml
[McQ98] M McQuillan Diophantine approximation and foliations Inst Hautes Etudes Sci
Publ Math 87 (1998) 121-174 httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafiles
ihespdf
[McQ05rsquo] M McQuillan Bloch hyperbolicity preprint httpwwwmatuniroma2it
~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ05] M McQuillan Semi-stable reduction of foliations IHES pre-print IHESM0502
(2005) httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ05rdquo] M McQuillan Uniform Uniformisation IHES pre-print (2005) IHES M0503 http
wwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ08] M McQuillan Canonical models of foliations Pure Appl Math Q 4
(2008) no 3 Special Issue In honor of Fedor Bogomolov Part 2 877-1012
httpintlpresscomsitepubfiles_fulltextjournalspamq20080004
0003PAMQ-2008-0004-0003-a009pdf
[MP13] M McQuillan D Panazzolo Almost etale resolution of foliations J Diff Geom 95
(2013) pp 279-319 httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesmp1bispdf
[Pe02] JV Pereira On the Poincare Problem for Foliations of General Type Mathematische
Annalen 323 no 2 pp217-226 2002 httpsarxivorgabsmath0104185
[PS16] JV Pereira R Svaldi Effective algebraic integration in bounded genus preprint
httpsarxivorgabs161206932
64 FEDERICO BUONERBA
[Re83] M Reid Minimal models of canonical threefolds in rdquoAlgebraic Varieties and Ana-
lytic Varietiesrdquo Adv Stud Pure Math vol 1 S Iitaka ed Kinokuniya and North-
Holland 1983 pp 131-180 httpwwwmathsedacukcheltsovquotientpdf
reid2pdf
[Se67] A Seidenberg Reduction of singularities of the differential equation Ady = Bdx Amer
J Math 89 (1967) 248-269 httpwwwjstororgstable2373435
[SB83] N Shepherd-Barron Degenerations with numerically effective canonical divisor The
Birational Geometry of Degenerations (R Friedman and D Morrison eds) Progr
Math no 29 Birkhuser 1983 pp 33-84
[Vis89] A Vistoli Intersection theory on algebraic stacks and on their moduli spaces
Invent Math (1989) pp 613-670 httplinkspringercomarticle101007
2FBF01388892page-1
Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences New York University 251 Mercer
Street New York NY 10012 USA
E-mail address buonerbacimsnyuedu
- I Introduction
- II Preliminaries
-
- III Operations on Deligne-Mumford stacks
- IIII Width of embedded parabolic champs
- IIIII Gorenstein foliation singularities
- IIIV Foliated adjunction
- IIV Canonical models of foliated surfaces with canonical singularities
- IIVI Canonical models of foliated surfaces with log-canonical singularities
- IIVII Set-up
-
- III Invariant curves and singularities local description
-
- IIII `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F) not isolated
- IIIII `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F) isolated
- IIIIII Local consequences
-
- IV Invariant curves along which KF vanishes
-
- IVI KF-nil curves
- IVII Invariant curves inside `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F)
-
- V Configurations
-
- VI Configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
- VII Configurations of non-rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
-
- VI Contractions and proof of the Main Theorem
- VII Moduli space of foliated surfaces of general type
- References
-
10 FEDERICO BUONERBA
particular there exists an ideal sheaf I sub fminus1OX and an exact sequence of coherent
sheaves
(1) 0rarr I rarr fminus1OX rarr OY rarr 0
For every integer n define Ofn = fminus1OXI n By [McQ05][Ie1] the ringed space
Yn = (YOfn) is a scheme and the direct limit Y = limYn in the category of formal
schemes is the net completion along f More generally let f Y rarr X be a net
morphism ie etale-locally a closed embedding of DM stacks Let Y = [RrArr U ] be
a sufficiently fine presentation then we can define as above thickenings Un Rn along
f and moreover the induced relation [Rn rArr Un] is etale and defines thickenings
fn Yn rarrX
Definition III4 (Net completion) [McQ05 ie5] Notation as above we define the
net completion as Y = lim Yn It defines a factorization Y rarr Y rarr X where the
leftmost arrow is a closed embedding and the rightmost is net
IIII Width of embedded parabolic champs In this subsection we recall the
basic geometric properties of three-dimensional formal neighborhoods of smooth
champs with rational moduli We follow [Re83] and [McQ05rdquo] As such let X
be a three-dimensional smooth formal scheme with trace a smooth rational curve C
Our main concern is
(2) NCXsimminusrarr O(minusn)oplus O(minusm) n gt 0 m ge 0
In case m gt 0 the knowledge of (nm) determines X uniquely In fact there exists
by [Ar70] a contraction X rarrX0 of C to a point and an isomorphism everywhere
else In particular C is a complete intersection in X and everything can be made
explicit by way of embedding coordinates for X0 This is explained in the proof of
Proposition IVI8 On the other hand the case m = 0 is far more complicated
Definition IIII1 [Re83] The width width(C) of C is the maximal integer k
such that there exists an inclusion C times Spec(C[ε]εk) sub Xk the latter being the
infinitesimal neighborhood of order k
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 11
Clearly width(C) = 1 if and only if the normal bundle to C is anti-ample
width(C) ge 2 whenever such bundle is O oplus O(minusn) n gt 0 and width(C) = infinif and only if C moves in a scroll As explained in opcit width can be understood
in terms of blow ups as follows Let q1 X1 rarr X be the blow up in C Its excep-
tional divisor E1 is a Hirzebruch surface which is not a product hence q1 has two
natural sections when restricted to E1 Let C1 the negative section There are two
possibilities for its normal bundle in X1
bull it is a direct sum of strictly negative line bundles In this case width(C) = 2
bull It is a direct sum of a strictly negative line bundle and the trivial one
In the second case we can repeat the construction by blowing up C1 more generally
we can inductively construct Ck sub Ek sub Xk k isin N following the same pattern as
long as NCkminus1
simminusrarr O oplus O(minusnkminus1) Therefore width(C) is the minimal k such that
Ckminus1 has normal bundle splitting as a sum of strictly negative line bundles No-
tice that the exceptional divisor Ekminus1 neither is one of the formal surfaces defining
the complete intersection structure of Ck nor it is everywhere transverse to either
ie it has a tangency point with both This is clear by the description Reidrsquos
Pagoda [Re83] Observe that the pair (nwidth(C)) determines X uniquely there
exists a contraction X rarr X0 collapsing C to a point and an isomorphism every-
where else In particular X0 can be explicitly constructed as a ramified covering of
degree=width(C) of the contraction of a curve with anti-ample normal bundle
The notion of width can also be understood in terms of lifting sections of line bun-
dles along infinitesimal neighborhoods of C As shown in [McQ05rdquo II43] we have
assume NCp
simminusrarr O oplus O(minusnp) then the natural inclusion OC(n) rarr N orCX can be
lifted to a section OXp+2(n)rarr OXp+2
IIIII Gorenstein foliation singularities In this subsection we define certain
properties of foliation singularities which are well-suited for both local and global
considerations From now on we assume X is normal and give some definitions
taken from [McQ05] and [MP13] If Qoror is a Q-line bundle we say that F is Q-
foliated Gorenstein or simply Q-Gorenstein In this case we denote by KF = Qoror
and call it the canonical bundle of the foliation In the Gorenstein case there exists a
12 FEDERICO BUONERBA
codimension ge 2 subscheme Z subX such that Q = KF middot IZ Such Z will be referred
to as the singular locus of F We remark that Gorenstein means that the foliation
is locally defined by a saturated vector field
Next we define the notion of discrepancy of a divisorial valuation in this context let
(UF ) be a local germ of a Q-Gorenstein foliation and v a divisorial valuation on
k(U) there exists a birational morphism p U rarr U with exceptional divisor E such
that OU E is the valuation ring of v Certainly F lifts to a Q-Gorenstein foliation
F on U and we have
(3) KF = plowastKF + aF (v)E
Where aF (v) is said discrepancy For D an irreducible Weil divisor define ε(D) = 0
if D if F -invariant and ε(D) = 1 if not We are now ready to define
Definition IIIII1 The local germ (UF ) is said
bull Terminal if aF (v) gt ε(v)
bull Canonical if aF (v) ge ε(v)
bull Log-terminal if aF (v) gt 0
bull Log-canonical if aF (v) ge 0
For every divisorial valuation v on k(U)
These classes of singularities admit a rather clear local description If part denotes a
singular derivation of the local k-algebra O there is a natural k-linear linearization
(4) part mm2 rarr mm2
As such we have the following statements
Fact IIIII2 [MP13 Iii4 IIIi1 IIIi3] A Gorenstein foliation is
bull log-canonical if and only if it is smooth or its linearization is non-nilpotent
bull terminal if and only if it is log-terminal if and only if it is smooth and gener-
ically transverse to its singular locus
bull log-canonical but not canonical if and only if it is a radial foliation
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 13
Where a derivation on a complete local ring O is termed radial if there ex-
ist x1 middot middot middotxn isin m independent mod m2 and positive integers ni such that part =sumi nixi
partpartxi
In this case the singular locus is the center of a divisorial valuation with
zero discrepancy and non-invariant exceptional divisor
A very useful tool which is emplyed in the analysis of local properties of foliation
singularities is the Jordan decompositon [McQ08 I23] Notation as above the
linearization part admits a Jordan decomposition partS + partN into commuting semi-simple
and nilpotent part It is easy to see inductively that such decomposition lifts canon-
ically over successive infinitesimal neighborhoods Omn+1 rarr Omn and in the limit
we obtain a Jordan decomposition for the linear action of part on the whole complete
ring O
IIIV Foliated adjunction In this subsection we provide an adjunction formula
for foliation-invariant curves Let (X F ) be a Gorenstein foliation and f L rarrX the normalization of a F -invariant one-dimensional stack not contained in the
singular locus Z Denote by χ(L ) its topological Euler characteristic and by sZ(f)
the multiplicity of the ideal sheaf fminus1IZ We have
Fact IIIV1 [McQ05 IId4]
(5) KF middotL = minusχ(L )minus Ramf +sZ(f)
Which is a simple consequence of the isomorphism f lowastKF middotfminus1IZsimminusrarr Ω1
L (minusRamf )
The local contribution of sZ(f)minusRamf computed for a branch of f around a point
p in the support of fminus1IZ is np|Gp|minus1 with np a positive integer and Gp the local
monodromy of L at p Assume now that L has no generic stabilizer and let |L |denote its moduli The previous formula can be rewritten more usefully
Fact IIIV2
(6) KF middotL = 2g(|L |)minus 2 + fminus1IZ +sumf(p)isinZ
(np minus 1)|Gp|minus1 +sumf(p)isinZ
(1minus |Gp|minus1)
This can be easily deduced via a comparison between χ(L ) and χ(|L |) The
adjunction estimate 6 gives a complete description of invariant curves which are not
14 FEDERICO BUONERBA
contained in the singular locus and intersect the canonical KF non-positively A
complete analysis of the structure of KF -negative curves and much more is done
in [McQ05]
Definition IIIV3 A KF -nil curve is an invariant one-dimensional orbifold f
C rarr X such that KF middotf C = 0 and f does not factor through the singular locus
Z of the foliation
By adjunction 6 we have
Proposition IIIV4 The following is a complete list of possibilities for KF -nil
curves f
bull C is an elliptic curve without non-schematic points and f misses the singular
locus
bull |C| is a rational curve f hits the singular locus in two points with np = 1
there are no non-schematic points off the singular locus
bull |C| is a rational curve f hits the singular locus in one point with np = 1 there
are two non-schematic points off the singular locus with local monodromy
Z2Z
bull |C| is a rational curve f hits the singular locus in one point p there is at
most one non-schematic point q off the singular locus we have the identity
(np minus 1)|Gp|minus1 = |Gq|minus1
As shown in [McQ08] all these can happen In the sequel we will always assume
that a KF -nil curve is simply connected We remark that an invariant curve can have
rather bad singularities where it intersects the foliation singularities First it could
fail to be unibranch moreover each branch could acquire a cusp if going through
a radial singularity This phenomenon of deep ramification appears naturally in
presence of log-canonical singularities
IIV Canonical models of foliated surfaces with canonical singularities In
this subsection we provide a summary of the birational classification of Gorenstein
foliations with canonical singularities on algebraic surfaces obtained in [McQ08] Let
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 15
X be a two-dimensional smooth DM stack with projective moduli and F a foliation
with canonical singularities Since X is smooth certainly F is Q-Gorenstein If
KF is not pseudo-effective then foliated bend and break [BM16 Main Theorem]
shows that F is birationally a fibration by rational curves If KF is pseudo-effective
its Zariski decomposition has negative part a finite collection of invariant chains of
rational curves which can be contracted to a smooth DM stack with projective
moduli on which KF is nef At this point those foliations such that the Kodaira
dimension k(KF ) le 1 can be completely classified
Fact IIV1 [McQ08 IV3] Foliations with canonical singularities and Kodaira di-
mension zero are up to a ramified cover and birational transformations defined by
a global vector field The minimal models belong the following list
bull A Kronecker vector field on an abelian surface
bull The suspension of a representation π1(E)rarr PGL2(C) for E an elliptic curve
bull A Kronecker vector field on P1 timesP1
bull An isotrivial elliptic fibration
Fact IIV2 [McQ08 IV4] Foliations with canonical singularities and Kodaira di-
mension one are classified by their Kodaira fibration The linear system |KF | defines
a fibration onto a curve and the minimal models belong to the following list
bull The foliation and the fibration coincide so then the fibration is non-isotrivial
elliptic
bull The foliation is transverse to a projective bundle (Riccati)
bull The foliation is everywhere smooth and transverse to an isotrivial elliptic
fibration (turbolent)
bull The foliation is parallel to an isotrivial fibration in hyperbolic curves
On the other hand for foliations of general type the new phenomenon is that
global generation fails The problem is the appearence of elliptic Gorenstein leaves
these are cycles possibly irreducible of invariant rational curves around which KF
is numerically trivial but might fail to be torsion Assume that KF is big and nef
16 FEDERICO BUONERBA
and consider morphisms
(7) X rarrXe rarrXc
Where the composite is the contraction of all the KF -nil curves and the rightmost
is the minimal resolution of elliptic Gorenstein singularities
Fact IIV3 [McQ08 IV21 IV22] Xe is projective there exists an ample divisor
A and an effective divisor E supported on minimal elliptic Gorenstein leaves such
that KFe = A+E On the other hand Xc might fail to be projective and Fc is never
Q-Gorenstein
We refer to [McQ08 III32] for the descriptions of possible dual graphs of config-
urations of invariant KF -negative or nil curves
IIVI Canonical models of foliated surfaces with log-canonical singulari-
ties In this subsection we study Gorenstein foliations with log-canonical singulari-
ties on algebraic surfaces In particular we will classify the singularities appearing
on the underlying surface prove the existence of minimal and canonical models
describe the exceptional curves appearing in the contraction to the canonical model
Proposition IIVI1 Let (UF ) be a germ of Gorenstein log-canonical foliation
singularity Then U is a cone over a subvariety Y of a weighted projective space
whose weights are determined by the eigenvalues of F Moreover F is defined by
the rulings of the cone
Proof By Fact IIIII2 there exists a closed embedding i U rarr M - with M a
smooth local formal scheme - a regular system of parameters x1 middot middot middot xk on M and
positive integers n1 middot middot middotnk such that F is the restriction of the foliation defined by
part =sumnixi
partpartxi
to U Let I sub OM denote the ideal defining i(U) subM then part(I) sube I
We are going to prove that I is homogeneous where each xi has weight ni Let f isin I
and write f =sum
dge1 fd where fd is homogeneous of degree d in x1 middot middot middot xk - ie fd is
a k-linear combination of monomials xa11 xakk with d =
sumi aini For every N isin N
let FN = (xa11 xakk
sumi aini ge N) This collection of ideals defines a natural
filtration on OM For a = max ai we have mN sube FN sube mNa ie the FN -filtration
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 17
is equivalent to the one by powers of the maximal ideal and therefore OM is also
complete with respect to the FN -filtration
We will prove that if f isin I then fd isin I for every d
Let IN = (I + FN)FN Since OM is complete with respect to the FN -filtration
I = limlarrminus IN Therefore it is enough to show
Claim IIVI2 For every N gt 0 we have fd isin IN sub OMFN for all d lt N
Proof For every g isin IN denote by n(g) the unique integer such that g isin Fn(g) Fn(g)+1 (ie the minimal index d for which fd 6= 0) and by N(g) = N minus n(g)
We will prove the statement of the Claim by induction on N(f) If N(f) = 1 then
f = fNminus1 holds in OMFN and the statement is true If N(f) gt 1 we have part(f) =sumd d middot fd hence consider f1 = D(f)minus n(f)f =
sumdgtn(f)(dminus n(f))fd Tautologically
we have N(f1) lt N(f) and therefore fd isin IN for every d gt n(f) so then fn(f) =
f minussum
dgtn(f) fd isin IN as well
This implies that I is a homogeneous ideal and hence U is the germ of a cone over
a variety in the weighted projective space P(n1 nk)
Corollary IIVI3 If the germ U is normal then Y is normal If U is normal
of dimension 2 the weighted blow-up p U rarr U at the vertex of the cone has only
quotient singularities the exceptional divisor E(simminusrarr Y ) is smooth and everywhere
transverse to the induced foliation Moreover we have
(8) plowastKF = KF + E
Certainly the converse to Proposition IIVI1 fails even on surfaces indeed let
(X F ) be a Gorenstein foliated surface and let C sub X be a generic curve so
in particular smooth and not F -invariant We can assume perhaps after a finite
sequence of simple blow-ups along C that both X and F are smooth in a neigh-
borhood of C C and F are everywhere transverse and C2 lt 0
Proposition IIVI4 The formal contraction q X rarr X0 of C is isomorphic to
the cone over C the projected foliation F0 coincides with that by rulings on the cone
F0 is Q-Gorenstein if C rational or elliptic but not in general
18 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proof F0 is Q-Gorenstein if and only if the bundle KF (C) is trivial on the formal
completion of X along C The obstructions to lift the isomorphism OC(KF +C)simminusrarr
OC over infinitesimal neighborhoods of C lie in H1(C (1 minus n)C + KF ) for every
n isin N These groups vanish for every n isin N if 2g(C) minus 2 + C2 lt 0 (which is
always true for rational or elliptic curves) but do provide non-trivial obstructions in
general
We focus on the minimal model program for Gorenstein log-canonical foliations
on algebraic surfaces Let X be a DM stack of dimension 2 with projective moduli
and F a Gorenstein foliation with log-canonical singularities Denote by LC(F )
the set of points where F is log-canonical and not canonical and by Z the singular
sub-scheme of F We assume LC(F ) 6= empty since the empty case has been completely
settled Moreover we can assume that X is smooth outside LC(F ) Let f C rarrX
be a morphism from a 1-dimensional stack with trivial generic stabilizer such that
fminus1 LC(F ) 6= empty Since we will need them several times we formulate some technical
results
Lemma IIVI5 Let p X rarr X be the resolution of the log-canonical foliation
singularity intersecting C with exceptional divisor E Then
(9) KF middot C minus C middot E = KF middot C
Proof We have
(10) plowastC = C minus (C middot EE2)E
Intersecting this equation with equation 8 we obtain the result
This formula is important because it shows that passing from foliations with log-
canonical singularities to their canonical resolution increases the negativity of inter-
sections between invariant curves and the canonical bundle In fact the log-canonical
theory reduces to the canonical one after resolving the log-canonical singularities
Further we list some strong constraints given by invariant curves along which the
foliation is smooth
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 19
Fact IIVI6 [BB72 Baum-Bott] Let g C rarrX be an F -invariant curve missing
the foliation singularities Then C2 = NF middotg C = 0
Corollary IIVI7 Let g C rarr X be an F -invariant curve missing the foliation
singularities and such that KF middotg C lt 0 Then F is birationally a fibration by
rational curves
Proof By assumption KF middot C = minusχ(C) This together with Baum-Bott IIVI6
imply that KX middot C = minusχ(C) and from usual adjunction we get C2 = 0 Riemann-
Roch gives h0(X mC) ge 2 for m gtgt 0 so then |C| defines a fibration by rational
curves tangent to F
The rest of this subsection is devoted to the construction of minimal and canonical
models in presence of log-canonical singularities The only technique we use is
resolve the log-canonical singularities in order to reduce to the canonical case and
keep track of the exceptional divisor
We are now ready to handle the existence of minimal models
Theorem IIVI8 (Minimal models) Let X be a DM stack of dimension 2 with pro-
jective moduli and F a Gorenstein foliation with log-canonical singularities Then
either
bull F is birational to a fibration by rational curves or
bull There exist a birational contraction q X rarr X0 such that KF0 is nef
Moreover the exceptional curves of q donrsquot intersect LC(F )
Proof Let f be as above ie KF -negative and intersecting LC(F ) If f is not
F -invariant then KF middotC +C2 ge 0 so C moves and KF is not pseudo-effective We
conclude by foliated bend and break [BM16]
If f is F -invariant then foliated adjunction 6 implies that C is rational it intersects
the singular locus of F in exactly one point By Lemma IIVI5 after resolving the
log-canonical singularity KF middot C lt 0 and F is smooth along C We conlude by
Corollary IIVI7
20 FEDERICO BUONERBA
From now on we add the assumption that KF is nef and we want to analyze
those curves f satisfying KF middotf C = 0 By adjunction formula 6 we know that C
has rational moduli and fminus1Z is supported on two points
Remark IIVI9 If fminus1Z = fminus1 LC(F ) then F is birationally a fibration by ratio-
nal curves
Proof After resolving the log-canonical singularities of F along the image of C we
have KF middot C lt 0 and F smooth along C We conclude by Corollary IIVI7
Therefore we can assume that f satisfies the following condition
Definition IIVI10 An invariant curve f C rarr X is called log-contractible if
KF middot C = 0 and it intersects Z in two points one canonical and one log-canonical
not canonical
It follows that f(C) is everywhere unibranch but it might have a cusp in LC(F )
Definition IIVI11 A log-chain is a chain of invariant rational orbifolds C =
cupni=0Ci scheme-like outside the foliation singularities with KF middot C = 0 and such
that
bull C0 is log-contractible with lowast(C ) = C0 cap LC(F ) called the marking of C
bull Ci is disjoint from LC(F ) if i ge 1
There is a unique point t(C ) satisfying t(C ) isin Z cap (Cn Cnminus1) called the tail of
the log-chain
Proposition IIVI12 Let C1C2 be two log-chains intersecting non-trivially Then
lowast(C1) = lowast(C2) and C1 cap C2 = lowast(C1)
Proof It is enough to prove that the two log-chains cannot intersect in their tails
Replace X be the resolution of the at most two markings of the log-chains and Ci
by their proper transforms C1cupC2 = cupmi=0Ri is a connected chain of rational curves
intersecting Z outisde LC(F ) Moreover each of the two extremal curves R0 and
Rm intersects Z in one point only In particular KF middot Ri = 0 for i = 1 middot middot middot m minus 1
and KF middot Ri lt 0 for i = 0m Since we assumed F is not birational to a fibration
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 21
by rational curves there exists a contraction p X rarr X0 with exceptional curve
cupmminus1i=0 Ri However F0 is smooth along plowastRm so by adjunction formula KF0 middotplowastRm lt
0 and we find a contradiction by Corollary IIVI7
Corollary IIVI13 Let C be a maximal connected curve such that KF middotC = 0 and
C cap LC(F ) 6= empty Then C is a union of finitely many log-chains intersecting each
other in their common marking
The following shows a configuration of log-chains sharing the same marking col-
ored in black
We are now ready to state and prove the canonical model theorem in presence of
log-canonical singularities
Theorem IIVI14 (Canonical models) Let X be a proper DM stack of dimension
2 and F a foliation with isolated singularities Moreover assume that KF is nef
that every KF -nil curve is contained in a log-chain and that F is Gorenstein and
log-canonical in a neighborhood of every KF -nil curve Then either
bull There exists a birational contraction p X rarr X0 whose exceptional curves
are unions of log-chains If all the log-contractible curves contained in the log-
chains are smooth then F0 is Gorenstein and log-canonical If furthermore
X has projective moduli then X0 has projective moduli In any case KF0
is numerically ample
bull There exists a fibration p X rarr B over a curve whose fibers intersect
KF trivially Each F -invariant fiber of p intersecting LC(F ) is union of
mutually compatible log-chains
Proof If all the KF -nil curves can be contracted by a birational morphism we are in
the first case of the Theorem Else let C be a maximal connected curve withKF middotC =
0 and which is not contractible It is a union of pairwise compatible log-chains
22 FEDERICO BUONERBA
with marking lowast Replace (X F ) by the resolution of the log-canonical singularity
at lowast with exceptional divisor E Therefore F is Gorenstein and canonical in a
neighborhood of C cupE By equation 9 we have KF middotC = minusC middotE lt 0 and therefore
C can be contracted to a canonical foliation singularity Replace (X F ) by the
contraction of C We have a smooth curve E around which F is smooth and
nowhere tangent to E Moreover
(11) KF middot E = minusE2
And we distinguish cases
bull E2 gt 0 so KF is not pseudo-effective a contradiction
bull E2 lt 0 so the initial curve C is contractible a contradiction
bull E2 = 0 which we proceed to analyze
The following is what we need to handle the third case
Proposition IIVI15 Let (X F ) be a foliation with canonical singularities with
X a smooth 2-dimensional DM stack with projective moduli and KF nef If there
exists a smooth curve E everywhere transverse to F such that KF middot E = E2 = 0
then E moves in a pencil and defines a fibration p X rarr B onto a curve whose
fibers intersect KF trivially
Proof If KF has Kodaira dimension one then its linear system contains an effective
divisor and by Hodge index KF = cE as divisors for some c isin Q+ Hence there is
a fibration onto a curve with fiber E and F is transverse to it by assumption If
KF has Kodaira dimension zero we use the classification IIV1 in all cases but the
suspension over an elliptic curve E defines a product structure on the underlying
surface in the case of a suspension every section of the underlying projective bundle
is clearly F -invariant Therefore E is a fiber of the bundle
This concludes the proof of the Theorem
We remark that the second alternative in the above theorem is rather natural
let (X F ) be a foliation which is transverse to a fibration by rational or elliptic
curves ie a suspension over elliptic curve turbolent Riccati or isotrivial Pick a
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 23
general fiber E of the fibration and blow up any number of points on it The proper
transform E is certainly contractible By Proposition IIVI4 the contraction of E is
Gorenstein and log-canonical Moreover the fiber E has been replaced by a union of
compatible log-chains Note in particular that the number of log-chains appearing
is arbitrary
Corollary IIVI16 Let X be a proper DM stack of dimension 2 and F a Goren-
stein foliation with log-canonical singularities Assume that KF is big and pseudo-
effective Then there exists a birational morphism p X rarr X0 such that C is
exceptional if and only if KF middot C le 0 In particular KF0 is numerically ample
For future applications we spell out
Corollary IIVI17 Hypothesis as in Theorem IIVI14 assume further that X
is everywhere smooth Then in the second alternative of the theorem the fibration
p X rarr B is by rational curves
Proof Indeed in this case the curve E which appears in the proof above as the
exceptional locus for the resolution of the log-canonical singularity at lowast must be
rational By the previous Proposition p is defined by a pencil in |E|
IIVII Set-up In this subsection we prepare the set-up we will deal with in the
rest of the manuscript Briefly we want to handle the existence of canonical models
for a family of foliated surfaces parametrized by a one-dimensional base To this
end we will discuss the modular behavior of singularities of foliated surfaces with
Gorenstein singularities recall McQuillan-Panazzolorsquos resolution of foliation singu-
larities building on the existence of minimal models [McQ05] prepare the set-up
for the sequel
Let us begin with the modular behavior of Gorenstein singularities
Proposition IIVII1 Let (X F ) be a smooth DM stack with a foliation by
curves Assume there exists a flat proper morphism p X rarr C onto an algebraic
curve such that F restricts to a foliation on every fiber of p Then the set
(12) s isin C Fs is log-canonical
24 FEDERICO BUONERBA
is Zariski-open while the set
(13) s isin C Fs is canonical
is the complement to a countable subset of C lying on a real-analytic curve
Proof By Fact IIIII2 being log-canonical is equivalent to the linearized endomor-
phism part IZI2Z rarr IZI
2Z being non-nilpotent where Z is the singular sub-scheme
of the foliation Of course being non-nilpotent is a Zariski open condition The
second statement also follows from opcit since a log-canonical singularity which is
not canonical has linearization with all its eigenvalues positive and rational The
statement is optimal as shown by the vector field on A3xys
(14) part(s) =part
partx+ s
part
party
Next we recall the existence of a functorial canonical resolution of foliation singu-
larities for foliations by curves on 3-dimensional stacks
Fact IIVII2 [MP13] Let X = (XDF ) be a 3-dimensional DM stack with bound-
ary foliated by curves Then there exists a proper birational morphism Xprime rarr X such
that X prime is a smooth DM stack and F prime has only canonical foliation singularities
The original opcit contains a more refined statement including a detailed de-
scription of the claimed birational morphism
In order for our set-up to make sense we mention one last very important result
Fact IIVII3 [McQ05] Let X be a smooth DM stack with projective moduli and F
a foliation by curves with (log)canonical singularities Then there exists a birational
map X 99K Xm obtained as a composition of flips such that Xm is a smooth
DM stack with projective moduli the birational transform Fm has (log)canonical
singularities and one of the following happens
bull KFm is nef or
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 25
bull There exists a fibration Xm rarr B over a smooth base whose fibers are
weighted projective spaces such that Fm is tangent to the fibers and restricts
to a radial foliation on those
Finally we can organize our notation
Set-up IIVII4 (X F ) is a smooth 3-dimensional DM stack with projective mod-
uli F a foliation by curves with canonical singularities such that KF is big and nef
There exists a semi-stable morphism p X rarr ∆ whose moduli is projective onto
the (formal) unit disk F restricts to a foliation on every fiber of p it has canon-
ical singularities on the very general fiber of p and log-canonical singularities on
every fiber of p Our task from now on is to analyze and contract the maximal
foliation-invariant sub-scheme of X along which KF is not ample
III Invariant curves and singularities local description
In this section we give a complete decription of germs of invariant curves that
appear in the formal completion of any point in the set-up IIVII4 Let us replace
X by its formal completion in a point lowast where the foliation is singular F is defined
by a vector field part with Jordan decomposition partS + partN see the end of subsection
IIIII Since [partS partN ] = 0 partN preserves the eigenspaces of partS Moreover the fact that
F is tangent to p translates into
(15) partS(p) = partN(p) = 0
The description of invariant germs of curves through lowast will be achieved via case-by-
case analysis organized by computing what happens for all possible combinations
of the following informations whether the singular locus Z is isolated at lowast the
number of eigenvalues of partS the number of components of the fiber through p
IIII sing(F ) not isolated
ni (1) partS has one eigenvalue
bull We have partS = x partpartx
and partN = f partparty
+ g partpartz
for some functions f g isin (y z)
Moreover partN is non-trivial
26 FEDERICO BUONERBA
bull Z = (x = f = g = 0) is not isolated
(a) The fiber has one component y = 0 Then 0 = partN(y) = f hence
Z = (x = g = 0) The restriction on the fiber is part|(y=0) = x partpartx
+g|(y=0)partpartz
Z has a one-dimensional component contained in the fiber iff g isin (y) in
which case such component is smooth equal to (x = 0) moreover the
foliation on the fiber saturates to a smooth one with invariant curves
z = 0 transverse to Z
Otherwise the foliation is saturated on the fiber and has a saddle-node
singularity
(b) The fiber has two components yz = 0 Then 0 = partN(yz) = zf + yg
hence f = yh g = minuszh for some h and Z = (x = h = 0) The restriction
on a fiber component say y = 0 is part|(y=0) = x partpartxminus zh|(y=0)
partpartz
Z has an
irreducible component contained in y = 0 iff h isin (y) in which case such
component is smooth equal to (x = 0) moreover the foliation on the
fiber saturates to a smooth one with invariant curves z = 0 transverse
to Z
Otherwise the foliation is saturated on the fiber and has a saddle-node
singularity
(c) The fiber has three components xyz = 0 0 = partS(xyz) = xyz a contra-
diction
Summary with one eigenvalue there are either one or two components The
foliation might have a one-dimensional singularity when restricted to a fiber
component in this case such singularity is a smooth curve and the foliation
saturates to a smooth one with invariant curves transverse to the singular-
ity If the singularity is isolated on a fiber component then it is a canonical
saddle-node with at most two invariant branches
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 27
ni (2) partS has two eigenvalues
We have partS = x partpartx
+ λy partparty
and partN(x y z) = k partpartx
+ f partparty
+ g partpartz
for some func-
tions k f g
(a) The fiber has one component z = 0 Then g = 0 k f isin (x y) and
necessarily Z = (x = y = 0) is transverse to the fiber The restriction on
the fiber is saturated and non-degenerate It has canonical singularities
if either partN 6= 0 or λ isin Q+ otherwise it is log-canonical
(b) The fiber has two components xy = 0 Then 0 = partS(xy) hence λ = minus1
Also 0 = partN(xy) hence k = xh f = minusyh g isin (xy) and necessarily
Z = (x = y = 0) coincides with the intersection of the two fiber compo-
nents which is smooth the foliation saturates to a smooth one on each
component with invariant curves transverse to Z
(c) The fiber has three components xyz = 0 hence λ = minus1 Also k = xklowast
f = yf lowast g = zglowast with klowast + f lowast + glowast = 0 and glowast isin (xy) The singularity
Z = (x = y = 0) coincides with the intersection of two of the fiber
components The restriction to either such components saturates to a
smooth foliation with invariant curves transverse to Z the restriction
to z = 0 has a canonical non-degenerate singularity all the invariant
curves are those in xy = 0 transverse to Z
Summary with 2 eigenvalues there can be any number of components With
one component the foliation restricts to a saturated one with a (log)canonical
singularity which moves transversely to p With two components the folia-
tion is not saturated on either and saturates to a smooth one with invariant
curves transverse to the singularity With three components the foliation
is not saturated on two of them and saturates to a smooth one on both
with invariant curves transverse to the singularity the foliation is saturated
and has a canonical non-degenerate singularity on the third component In
28 FEDERICO BUONERBA
the last two cases the singularity is fully contained in an intersection of two
components
ni (3) partS has three eigenvalues But then the singularity is isolated a contradiction
IIIII sing(F ) isolated
i (1) partS has one eigenvalue
bull We have partS = x partpartx
and partN = xk partpartx
+ f partparty
+ g partpartz
for some functions
k f g isin (y z) Moreover partN is non-trivial
bull Z = (x = f = g = 0) is isolated
(a) The fiber has one component y = 0 Then 0 = partN(y) = f and Z cannot
be isolated a contradiction
(b) The fiber has two components yz = 0 Then 0 = partN(yz) = zf + yg so
f = yh g = minuszh with h non-constant Hence Z = (x = h = 0) is not
isolated a contradiction
(c) The fiber has three components xyz = 0 Then 0 = partS(xyz) = xyz a
contradiction
Summary the 1 eigenvalue case does not exist
i (2) partS has two eigenvalues
bull We have partS = x partpartx
+ λy partparty
partN = xk partpartx
+ f partparty
+ g partpartz
for some functions
k f g
bull g is non-trivial and g isin (x y)
bull Z = (x = y = g = 0) is isolated
(a) The fiber has one component z = 0 Then g = 0 a contradiction
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 29
(b) The fiber has two components xy = 0 hence λ = minus1 and g isin (xy z)
the restriction to y = 0 is part|(y=0) = x partpartx
+g|(y=0)partpartz
and necessarily g|(y=0)
is non-vanishing Therefore the restriction to either components is satu-
rated and the singularity is a canonical saddle-node on each of them
The invariant curves are among the axes x = y = 0 x = z = 0 y = z =
0
(c) The fiber has three components xyz = 0 hence λ = minus1 Necessarily
k = xklowast f = yf lowast g = zglowast with klowast + f lowast + glowast = 0 The restriction to
y = 0 is part|(y=0) = x(1 + klowast|(y=0))partpartx
+ zglowast|(y=0)partpartz
since g isin (x y) we have
glowast|(y=0) non-trivial Therefore the restriction to either x = 0 and y = 0
is saturated and the singularity is a canonical saddle-node on each of
them
The restriction to z = 0 is part|(z=0) = x(1 + klowast|(z=0))partpartx
+ y(minus1 + f lowast|(z=0))partparty
therefore the restriction is saturated and has a canonical non-degenerate
singularity
The invariant curves are among the axes x = y = 0 x = z = 0 y = z =
0
Summary with 2 eigenvalues there are either two or three components the
foliation restricts to a canonical saddle-node on two of them and to a non-
degenerate singularity on the third one if it exists All the invariant curves
are in the axes
i (3) partS has three eigenvalues We have partS = x partpartx
+ λy partparty
+ microz partpartz
(a) The fiber has one component y = 0 hence λ = 0 a contradiction
(b) The fiber has two components xy = 0 hence λ = minus1 The restriction to
y = 0 is part|(y=0) = x partpartx
+ microz partpartz
+ partN|(y=0) The singularity is log-canonical
30 FEDERICO BUONERBA
iff micro isin Qgt0 and partN|(y=0)= 0 and in this case the singularity on x = 0 is
canonical non-degenerate Invariant curves are those in y = 0 and the
axis x = z = 0
If the restriction to both fiber components is canonical then it non-
degenerate on both and the invariant curves are contained in the axes
x = y = 0 x = z = 0 y = z = 0
The fiber could be yz = 0 hence λ+micro = 0 It can be analyzed as in the
next item
(c) The fiber has three components xyz = 0 hence 1 + λ + micro = 0 In par-
ticular if λ = cmicro c isin Q+ then λ micro isin Q The restriction to y = 0
is part|(y=0) = x partpartx
+ microz partpartz
+ partN|(y=0) This singularity is log-canonical iff
micro isin Qgt0 and partN|(y=0)= 0 in which case the singularity on both x = 0
and z = 0 is canonical non-degenerate In particular if the singularity
is log-canonical on some fiber component then it is so on exactly one
component and all eigenvalues are rational Invariant curves are those
in y = 0 and the axis x = z = 0
If the restriction to all fiber components is canonical then it non-degenerate
on each of them and the invariant curves are contained in the axes
x = y = 0 x = z = 0 y = z = 0
Summary with 3 eigenvalues there are either two or three fiber components
the foliation restricts to a singular foliation on each of them and it has a
log-canonical singularity on at most one of them in this case all eigenvalues
of the semi-simple field are rational
IIIIII Local consequences We list some corollaries for future reference As al-
ways in this section the statements are local so everything happens in a formal
neighborhood of our point lowast First we state those corollaries we will need to describe
configurations of KF -nil curves
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 31
Definition IIIIII1 An LC-center Π sub X is an irreducible F -invariant formal
hypersurface such that the local vector field generating the foliation when restricted
to Π has semi-simple part with log-canonical singularity or a one-dimensional sin-
gular locus An LC-center with a log-canonical singularity is necessarily an algebraic
component of the singular fiber of p
Corollary IIIIII2 There is at most one LC-center with a log-canonical singularity
through lowast If it exists then all eigenvalues of the semi-simple field at lowast are rational
If there are at least two LC-centers through lowast then there are exactly two and the
foliation singularity is a smooth curve on each of them
Proof Possible cases in which an LC-center with log-canonical singularities appears
ni (2)a i (3)b i (3)c
Corollary IIIIII3 If there is no LC-center thorugh a point lowast then there are at
most three invariant curves through lowast all smooth Any number of them spans a sub-
space of the tangent space at lowast of maximal possible dimension
If there is an LC-center through lowast then there is at most one invariant curve through
lowast and not contained in the LC-center
If there is an LC-center with non-isolated singularity then the singularity is smooth
and all invariant curves contained in the LC-center intersect the singularity trans-
versely
Proof Invariant curves not in an LC-centers with log-canonical singularities are con-
tained in the three axes x = z = 0 x = y = 0 y = z = 0 mentioned in the above
classification The other statements are clear
Corollary IIIIII4 If p is smooth at lowast then Z is one dimensional around lowast
Proof Possible casesni (1)a ni (2)a
In particular if there is no LC-center the situation is the familiary
xz
32 FEDERICO BUONERBA
While if there is an LC-center (pink) with log-canonical singularity it will look like
y
LC-center
While if there is an LC-center with non-isolated singularity (red) it will look like
(the black arrows being invariant curves)
y
LC-center
The next corollary describes one-dimensional components of the foliation singularity
Corollary IIIIII5 If Z0 is a one-dimensional irreducible component of the folia-
tion singularity then it is at worst nodal The foliation when restricted to any fiber
component containing Z0 saturates to a smooth foliation in a neighborhood of Z0
and all the invariant curves are transverse to Z0
If Z0 is contained in exactly one fiber component then the semi-simple field has one
eigenvalue everywhere along Z0
If Z0 lies at the intersection of two fiber components then the semi-simple field has
two constant eigenvalues everywhere along Z0
Moreover if there exist a sequence of invariant curves converging in the compact-
open topology to Z0 then there is generically one eigenvalue along Z0
Proof Possible casesni (1)a ni (1)b ni (2)b ni (2)c Concerning the one-
eigenvalue case invariant curves converging to Z0 can be found in the formal hyper-
surface x = 0
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 33
IV Invariant curves along which KF vanishes
In this section we study in great detail a formal neighborhood of invariant curves
where KF is numerically trivial In the first subsection we deal with KF -nil curves
namely those whose generic point is not contained in the foliation singularity In this
case the normal bundle to the curve determines its formal neighborhood uniquely
and this has plenty of amazing consequences In the second subsection we study
those invariant curves which are contained in the foliation singularity In this case
we are not able to control the full formal neighborhood but important informations
can still be obtained
IVI KF -nil curves In this subsection we study in detail the structure of KF -
nil curves and their formal neighborhoods appearing in the set-up IIVII4 In
particular we will describe a simple process to replace cuspidal KF -nil curves by
net ones prove that the foliation is in the net completion around a net KF -nil curve
defined by a global vector field which admits a global Jordan decomposition deduce
that eigenfunctions for the semi-simple component of such field are also globally
defined on a formal neighborhood
The first important remark is of technical nature and explains how to deal with non-
net KF -nil curves By Proposition IIIV4 this is indeed possible and the images of
such curves will acquire cusp-like singularities It is hard to analyze the geometry
of F around such cuspidal curves and therefore necessary to remove them Let us
assume that C is simply connected with rational moduli f is ramified at 0 isin C
and and denote by X the formal completion along f(C) Then formally around
f(0) the curve f(C) has defining ideal (y xa minus zb) where y = 0 is a fiber of the
fibration p X rarr ∆ containing f(C) x z isin H0(X OX ) restrict to suitable local
coordinates on such fiber and a b ge 2 are coprime integers
Claim IVI1 Let r X ( aradicz = 0) rarr X be the a-th root of z = 0 III3 Then
(rlowastC)norm =∐a
1 C and the induced map rlowastf (rlowastC)norm rarrX ( aradicz = 0) is net
Proof Since r is etale away from z = 0 also rlowastC rarr C is etale away from 0 isin C
Since C 0 is simply connected we have rlowastC rminus1(0) =∐a
1 C 0 This proves
34 FEDERICO BUONERBA
the first statement Let ζ be a function on X ( aradicz = 0) such that ζa = z so then
rlowast(xa minus zb) =prod
ηa=1(x minus ηζb) Every branch is net in 0 and we obtain the second
statement as well
As such upon taking roots we can replace non-net KF -nil invariant curves with
rational moduli by net ones
We now proceed to study net KF -nil curves We will show that the foliation is
defined by a global vector field around a net KF -nil curve with rational moduli and
that such vector field admits a global Jordan decomposition
Proposition IVI2 Notation as in the set-up IIVII4 let f C rarrX be a KF -nil
curve Assume that f is net and let j C rarr C be the net completion along f Then
there exists an isomorphism
(16) OC(KF )simminusrarr OC
In particular there exists a global vector field partf on C that generates F
Proof Since C has rational moduli and is simply connected it has infinite-cyclic
Picard group and we have an isomorphism
(17) OC(KF )simminusrarr OC
Moreover we have a non-canonical splitting of the normal bundle Njsimminusrarr O(minusn) oplus
O(minusm) and we claim that both nm ge 0 Indeed consider the induced semi-stable
fibration C rarr ∆ and let F be the normalization of an irreducible component of a
fiber such that C sub F Consider the exact sequence
(18) 0rarr NCF rarr Nj rarr NFC|C rarr 0
Since KF is nef NCF is not ample since F is a fiber of a fibration also NFC|C is
not ample and this is enough to conclude even though nm may be different from
the degrees of such normal bundles
At this point we can lift the isomorphism 17 over infinitesimal neighborhoods of j
Indeed for every k ge 0 we have an exact sequence
(19) 0rarr Symk ICI2C rarr OCk+1
(KF )rarr OCk(KF )rarr 0
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 35
which shows that the obstruction to lifting the isomorphism lies in
(20) H1(C Symk ICI2C) = H1(C Symk(O(n)oplus O(m))) = 0
From this we can deduce
Proposition IVI3 The vector field partf admits a Jordan decomposition uniformly
along C
Proof The cohomology sequence attached to 19 is
(21) 0rarr H0(C Symk ICI2C)rarr H0(COCk+1
)rarr H0(COCk)rarr 0
Let partk+1 denote the image of partf in End(H0(COCk+1)) Looking at
H0(COCk+1) minusminusminusrarr H0(COCk
)
partk+1
y partk
yH0(COCk+1
) minusminusminusrarr H0(COCk)
we see the canonical Jordan deomposition of partk+1 restricts to that of partk
The above result describes a very useful interplay between normal bundles to
KF -nil curves and the structure of the semi-simple field It turns out that these
informations determine formal neighborhoods uniquely For simplicity let C be
an irreducible component of C without orbifold points Let us assume that part|C is
singular in 0infin Then there exist formal functions x y z at 0 isin C and ξ η ζ at
infin isin C such that x ξ are coordinates along C y η are local sections of OC(minusn)
so η = xny mod(I2C) z ζ are local sections of OC(minusm) so ζ = xmz mod(I2C)
Normalizing so that xminus1partS(x) = ε isin 0 1 we obtain
(22) part0S = εxpart
partx+ λy
part
party+ microz
part
partz partinfinS = minusεξ part
partξ+ (λ+ εn)η
part
partη+ (micro+ εm)ζ
part
partζ
More generally ie C = P1(d e) we have glueing rules x = te ξ = tminusd η = tny and
ζ = tmz mod(I2C) Normalizing so that tminus1partS(t) = ε isin 0 1 we obtain
(23) part0S = eεxpart
partx+ λy
part
party+ microz
part
partz partinfinS = minusdεξ part
partξ+ (λ+ εn)η
part
partη+ (micro+ εm)ζ
part
partζ
36 FEDERICO BUONERBA
It is worth remarking that the above relations hold between eigenvalues at the two
singular point of singular ie nodal or cuspidal KF -nil curves as well this is
easily seen by taking a root followed by net completion and keeping track of the
eigenvalues
Definition IVI4 Let C be a KF -nil curve The foliation singular points along C
are called ends
As well as the existence of Hilbert scheme in the following form
Fact IVI5 Let W sub Xlowast be a curve and D a divisor in the formal neighborhood
of W such that W = D capXlowast scheme-theoretically Then W moves in D
In what follows our main concern is to understand formal neighborhoods of KF -
nil curves Observe that the fibration p when restricted to the formal neighborhood
of such curves provides at least one eigenfunction of the semi-simple field Hence
in order to compute the width IIII we must study the behavior of the other eigen-
function on infinitesimal neighborhoods We first describe the situation inside the
smooth locus of p
Proposition IVI6 (Smooth fiber) Let f C rarrX be an irreducible KF -nil curve
which is contained in the smooth locus of a fiber Xlowast of p Then the end(s) on C are
flat over ∆ ni (1)b and ni (1)a with z2|g(y z) and C moves in a family flat over
∆
Proof Let us assume that f is net Then upon passing to net completion we can
actually assume it is embedded From our local classification of singularities we case
in case ni (1)a and ni (2)a We want to show that both ends have components
that move transversely to p hence we have to exclude case ni (1)a with g(y z) = ya
By way of contradiction say we have g(y z) = ya in the notation of opcit around
an end lowast isin C We proceed to compute what happens at the other end we find
formal coordinates ξ η ζ which by equation 23 satisfy
(24) ξ = xminus1 η = y ζ = xmz mod(I2C)
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 37
As such we compute part(ζ) = mζ + ξminusmηa mod(I2C) which is holomorphic if and only
if m le 0 so then C moves in Xlowast contradicting that the foliation has general type
Hence we are in cases ni (1)a ni (2)a with g = microyazb b ge 1
(25) part0 = xpart
partx+ microyazb
part
partz partinfin = minusξ part
partξ+ ζ(m+ microξm(bminus1)ηaζbminus1)
part
partζ(mod(I2C))
Following notation from subsection IIII observe that C1 is the section of E1C which
is disjoint from the proper transform of the fiber of p In coordinates over 0
(26) x1 = x y1 = y z1 = zyminus1
And similarly over infin Using the previous equation and 25 on C1 we find
(27)
part01 = x1part
partx1+microya+bminus11 zb1
part
partz1 partinfin1 = minusξ1
part
partξ1+ζ1(m+microξ
m(bminus1)1 ηa+bminus11 ζbminus11 )
part
partζ1(mod(I2C1
))
In particular the transform of the nilpotent field is still nilpotent after blowing up in
C It follows that the eigenvalues of the semi-simple field at the two ends of C and
C1 are the same Using equation 23 we deduce that the normal bundle to C1X1 to
isomorphic to that of CX in particular it contains a trivial direct summand This
proves that width(C) =infin
Next we show that f must be net Consider the induced flat projection pD D rarr ∆
its general fiber cannot be a cuspidal curve since along such cusp the foliation sin-
gularity would be log-canonical but not canonical Hence if C has a cusp necessarily
the general fiber of pD is a nodal curve Let X rarr X denote the blow up of the
nodal locus of pD with exceptional divisor E ruled over ∆ In a neighborhood of E
we have sing(F ) = D cap E which projects to ∆ as a double cover ramified over lowastObserve that the foliation on Xlowast is again log-canonical and not canonical hence its
local structure is ni (2)a In that case however p is unramified along the foliation
singularity Contradiction
We state a general criterion for movability of KF -nil curves
Proposition IVI7 Let C be a connected KF -nil curve such that p(C ) = lowast isin ∆
Assume its dual graph is a chain that none of its irreducible components is double
38 FEDERICO BUONERBA
VI3 and that its two extremal ends are flat over ∆ Then C moves in a family flat
over ∆ and each of its irreducible components is embedded
Proof We work in a formal neighborhood of C After taking roots we can assume
C is net and since its dual graph is a chain it is actually embedded We proceed by
induction on its length l where the case l = 1 is Proposition IVI6 For l gt 1 let C1
be a component of C which is extremal in its dual graph If C1 moves transversely
to p then both its ends do and hence we can apply the induction hypothesis to
C C1 If C1 is rigid then it can be flopped It is straightforward to check that we
can apply the induction hypothesis to the transform C + C+1 and we are done
Now we deal with rigid curves inside the singular fiber
Proposition IVI8 (Singular fiber) Let f C rarr X be an embedded net KF -
nil curve with anti-ample normal bundle Then there exists a birational map φ
(X F ) 99K (X +F+) and a KF+-nil curve C+ such that
bull φ is an isomorphism away from C+
bull In a formal neighborhood of at least one among C and C+ there exist two
invariant hypersurfaces D1D2 locally defined by the vanishing of eigenfunc-
tions of the semi-simple field such that C (resp C+)= D1 capD2
bull If F middot C lt 0 for some hypersurface F then F+ middot C+ gt 0 In particular X +
is projective
Such φ is called flop
Proof Our assumption is that Nfsimminusrarr O(minusn)oplusO(minusm) is anti-ample namely nm gt
0 If two invariant hypersurfaces as in our statement do exist around C the flop is
easily constructed as a weighted blow-up followed by a weighted blow-down As such
let us assume that such hypersurfaces do not exist around C In particular C is not
double VI3 By [Ar70] there exists a formal contraction c X rarrX0 collapsing C
to a point and an isomorphism everywhere else By Proposition IVI3 the foliation
F0 is Gorenstein around the node of X0 For ease of exposition let us assume
n = m = 1 the general case is handled the same way only the notation becomes more
cumbersome due to the presence of weights The node has embedding dimension 4
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 39
and in suitable local coordinates x0 y0 w0 z0 can be defined by x0z0minusy0w0 = 0 The
morphism c can be identified with the blow up of the embedded surface (x0 = y0 = 0)
Explicitly in the chart y = y0 x = x0yminus10 it is defined by
(28) y0 = y x0 = xy z0 = zprime w0 = xzprime
Here x is a coordinate along C while y = 0 is the pull-back of (x0 = y0 = 0) and
zprime some function in the normal bundle to C By the previous Proposition IVI6
we know C cannot be contained in the smooth locus of p Since C is not double
we can assume that in this local chart p is defined by (x y zprime) rarr xy - the case
(x y zprime) rarr xzprime being isomorphic as it is isomorphic to blow-up (z0 = w0 = 0)
instead of (x0 = y0 = 0) The issue is as emphasized by the notation zprime 6= z that
zprime may fail to be an eigenfunction for partS if it were we would be done since zprime = 0
is the local equation for the global pullback of (z0 = w0 = 0) However we have
a b isin C such that
(29) partS0(y0) = minusy0 partS0(x0) = 0 partS0(z0) = ay0 + bz0 partS0(w0) = ax0 + (b+ 1)w0
Observe that the embedded surfaces D01 = (y0 = z0 = 0) and D0
2 = (x0 = w0 = 0)
are both foliation invariant As such let b X + rarr X0 denote the blow-up of X0
along D01 - which is isomorphic to that along D0
2 - and let Di = blowastD0i i = 1 2
Finally X + is projective by Nakai-Moishezon Indeed every C with anti-ample
normal bundle is contained in an irreducible component F of X0 such that F middotC lt 0
Then F+ middot C+ gt 0 and we can find an ample divisor of the form H+ + εF+ where
H+ is the proper transform of an ample on X
Remark IVI9 In the previous proof a 6= b+ 1 Indeed such identity would create
a non-trivial Jordan block of partS0 in the (x0 w0)-plane thus contradicting the semi-
simplicity of partS0 In particular by a straightforward computation it is impossible to
find eigenfunctions of the form wlowast0 = w0 + αx0 zlowast0 = z0 + βy0 with x0z
lowast0 minus y0wlowast0 = 0
unless a = 0
We can conclude by pointing out an important point understood in this section
A painful aspect of the theory is that log-canonical singularities which appear natu-
rally as analytic degenerations of canonical ones come along with cuspidal invariant
40 FEDERICO BUONERBA
curves There is in particular no a-priori obstruction to the existence of rigid
cuspidal KF -nil curves in a smooth fiber of our family of foliated surfaces p Quite
generally a rigid curve of positive arithmetic genus in a smooth family of surfaces can
never be contracted to a point Therefore this would have been a counter-example
to any reasonable foliated canonical model theory one may wish to achieve Fortu-
nately such phenomenon does not happen and this establishes the Main Theorem I
modulo finitely many rigid curves confined in the singular fiber X0
IVII Invariant curves inside sing(F ) In this subsection we study curves Z0 subeXlowast cap sing(F ) which are inside the foliation singularity and invariant By this we
mean that there exists a sequence fn Cn rarrX of not necessarily algebraic invariant
curves converging in the compact-open topology to Z0 In other words the map
(30) NorF rarr Ω1Z0
is trivial By Corollary IIIIII5 we know that Z0 is at worst nodal it is smooth
wherever p is smooth for every point z isin Z0 the semi-simple part of the gener-
ating vector field has exactly one eigenvalue The problem here is that the Jordan
decomposition need not extend uniformly along Z0 not even along an irreducible
component In case ni (1)a the functions x and g may develop essential singulari-
ties arbitrary close to z Nonetheless the function x is unique and this says that x
does extend along Z0
Proposition IVII1 Let Z0 be as above Then in a formal neighborhood of Z0
there exists a unique smooth invariant hypersurface D0 containing Z0 which restricts
around any point in Z0 to the unique eigenfunction for the semi-simple field whose
eigenvalue is non-zero
Proof The local structure of the foliation around a point z isin Z0 is described by
cases ni (1)a and ni (1)b In both cases partS has one non-zero eigenvalue with
eigenfunction x Such eigenfunction x is a-priori only defined in the normal bundle to
Z0 but it is clear that the equation partx = x has a unique up to constants solution in
the formal completion around z As such there exists a unique smooth hypersurface
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 41
D0 in the formal completion around Z0 which restricts to the eigenfunction x around
z
Observe that the previous argument goes through since we are assuming Z0 subX0
Keeping notations from case ni (1)a if say g(y z) = yz then in the hypersurface
y equiv q isin Qgt0 the foliation has a log-canonical singularity and the eigenfunction x
extends highly non-uniquely to a formal neighborhood of the point (x y z) = (0 q 0)
In particular the existence of D0 as in the previous Proposition might fail along
the component (x = z = 0) of the foliation singularity This phenomenon is called
the beast
Anyway uniqueness in the previous proposition yields
Corollary IVII2 Let Z prime be a connected invariant curve inside sing(F ) Then in
a formal neighborhood of Z prime there exists a unique smooth invariant hypersurface D prime
containing Z prime which restricts around any point in Z prime to the hypersurface constructed
in the previous proposition
Next we turn to the intrinsic structure of invariant singular curves
Proposition IVII3 Let Z0 be an irreducible invariant curve inside sing(F )
Then Z0 is smooth and rational
Proof We work in a formal neighborhood of Z0 Let F0 denote the unique component
of X0 containing Z0 For any other fiber component F intersecting Z0 non-trivially
blow-up the invariant curve F cap F0 with exceptional divisor EF A straightforward
computation using the local formula ni (1)b shows that the fiber of the natural
projection EF rarr F cap F0 intersecting Z0 is also contained in sing(F ) For Z prime the
maximal connected singular invariant curve containing Z0 let G denote the saturated
foliation induced on D prime It is canonical with reduced singularities and it satisfies
KG = KF |Dprime minus Zprime By adjunction
(31) 2g(Z0)minus 2 + sZG(Z0) = minusZ prime middot Z0
Observe that thanks to our initial sequence of blow-ups the singularities of G along
Z0 coincide with the intersection of Z0 and Z prime Z0 In particular since D prime is formally
42 FEDERICO BUONERBA
flat over ∆ we deduce Z prime middot Z0 = 0 and the previous formula becomes
(32) 2g(Z0)minus 2 + sZG(Z0) = 0
This implies that Z0 is rational or elliptic If Z0 were elliptic then sZG(Z0) = 0 and
D0 defines an invariant elliptic curve in the general fiber of p By Baum-Bott this
contradicts that KF is big and nef Now we show that Z0 is smooth If it has a node
then D0 moves it in a family of nodal rational curves flat over ∆ In particular D0
itself has a node in codimension 1 hence Xlowast is smooth around the node of Z0 In its
formal neighborhood the foliation must be as in case ni (1)a which implies that
Z0 is smooth contradiction
We can improve as follows
Proposition IVII4 Let Z prime sube sing F capXlowast be a connected invariant curve with
KF middot Z prime = 0 Then its dual graph is a chain
Proof Assume Z prime is a cycle Then necessarily Z prime = D prime capXlowast scheme-theoretically
and by the existence of Hilbert scheme Z prime moves in the general fiber Its general
member is either a cycle of smooth rational curves or an elliptic curve Arguing as
in the previous proof we see that both options are impossible
V Configurations
In this section we analyze in great detail all possible configurations of invariant
curves along which KF vanishes These can be divided into three groups those
that do not move those that move in a one-dimensional family covering a surface
those that move in a higher-dimensional family covering a surface Curves in the first
group can form rather complicated configurations while those in the second group
are more simple they either move in the general fiber or they cover an isolated
Riccati component in the singular fiber Those in the third group turn out to be
represented by the two rulings of P1timesP1 if they happen to be cohomologous in the
ambient stack First we will analyze rigid curves then those which move and finally
we will describe their configurations
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 43
VI Configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially In
this subsection we describe configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF
trivially which arise in the situation described by set-up IIVII4
First we focus on KF -nil curves At the end of the section we deal with the simpler
case in which a curve in the configuration is fully contained in sing(F ) The general
fiber was handled in Proposition IVI6
Proposition VI1 Let C be a connected KF -nil curve contained in the smooth
locus of a fiber of p Then it is a chain or a cycle and it moves in a family flat over
∆
In what follows we let C denote a connected KF -nil curve contained in the
singular fiber X0 all of whose sub-curves are rigid in X Observe a consequence of
equation 23
Proposition VI2 Let C = cupiCi be a connected KF -nil curve Then the eigen-
values of partS are all rational at every point of sing(F )capC if and only if they are all
rational at one point
We can deduce many non-trivial properties about configurations of KF -nil curves
First we need
Definition VI3 Let C subX0 be a curve It is called double if there exists formally
around C two components F F prime of X0 such that C = F cap F prime A point lowast isin C where
three fiber components intersect is called a triple point If C lies on exactly one fiber
component it is called non-double We denote by F (C) such component
Remark VI4 Let Csimminusrarr P1(d e) be double with two triple points Then we know
e+ λ+ micro = minusd+ (λ+ n) + (micro+m) = 0 whence we obtain
(33) n+m = d+ e
Which is called triple-point formula
Next we show that essentially KF -nil curves do not form cycles unless something
deforms in X0 First we show that there are no cycles of rigid non-double curves
44 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proposition VI5 Let C be a connected KF -nil curve contained in the singular
fiber X0 of p Assume that every component of C is non-double and that every
sub-curve is rigid Then C contains no cycles
Proof We work in a formal neighborhood of C which we assume is a cycle Let
us first consider the case in which all components C1 middot middot middot CN are smooth with no
orbifold points and denote lowasti = Ci cap Ci+1 with CN+1 = C1 Moreover let us
assume no lowasti lies in the smooth locus of p
Since no curve is double the semi-simple field at every lowasti is as in case i (3)b in
particular the eigenvalues along the branches of Ci and Ci+1 add up to zero More-
over let minusni denote the self-intersection of Ci sub F (Ci) Normalize the eigenvalues
of partS so that at lowastn they are 1 in the C1 direction minus1 in the CN direction λ in the
F (C1)capF (CN) direction It follows by induction that at lowasti the eigenvalues are minus1
in the Ci direction 1 in the Ci+1 direction λ+ n1 + middot middot middot+ ni in the F (Ci) cap F (Ci+1)
direction After traveling around the cycle we obtain n1+middot middot middot+nN = 0 contradicting
that ni gt 0 for every i
We established the Proposition assuming every Ci is an embedded scheme and ev-
ery lowasti is in the singular locus of p The case in which Cisimminusrarr P1(di ei) has orbifold
points is analogous we end up with a combination c1n1 + middot middot middot + cNnN = 0 with ci
the eigenvalue at lowasti in the Ci+1 direction Normalizing so that c1 = e1 gt 0 again by
induction on i we see that every ci isin Qgt0 Next we show that our assumption on lowastiis always satisfied
Claim VI6 Every lowasti must belong to the singular locus of p
Proof We give two essentially equivalent proofs
bull If N = 2 3 then the previous argument goes through indeed we can normal-
ize eigenvalues at lowasti to be negative in the Ciminus1 direction and positive in the
Ci-direction and argue as above Hence we can assume N ge 4 If say lowasti is in
the smooth locus of p then F (Ci) = F (Ci+1) If also F (Ciminus1) = F (Ci) then Ci
lies in the smooth locus of p and hence it moves Therefore F (Ciminus1) 6= F (Ci)
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 45
and Ciminus1 can be flopped inside F (Ci) Since N ge 4 this preserves the smooth-
ness of F (Ci) and Ci is now is the smooth locus of p - contradiction
bull If lowasti belongs to the smooth locus of p then the end through lowasti moves We
can form a partial net completion fi Xi rarrX by normalizing C in lowasti only
Then f lowasti C is a chain with movable ends and hence moves in the general fiber
of p fi
Finally the general case in which some among the Ci have cusps can be easily
reduced to the smooth case in a couple of ways
bull Eigenvalues at the singularities of any KF -nil curve satisfy the same relations
as in the smooth case
bull Upon taking roots and net completion we can find a foliated formal 3-fold
supported on a cycle of smooth KF -nil curves which is a ramified cover of a
formal neighborhood of our cycle
Similarly we can show that there are no rigid cycles of double curves
Proposition VI7 Let C be a nodal KF -nil curve which is double Then C
deforms inside X0 In particular there cannot exist a rigid cycle of KF -nil double
curves
Proof Following the previous notation we have 0 = infin and if C = (xy = z = 0)
around 0 then we have identities
(34) x = η y = ξ z = ζ
The last one of which implies m = 0 that is C deforms Since C is double necessarily
the surface it spans must be contained in X0
The statement about cycles follows since a cycle of double curves can be transformed
after finitely many flops into a chain of smooth double curves with a nodal one
attached at one end
46 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Later on we will show that the deformations of C cannot span an elliptic surface
but only a family of nodal rational curves with a special Riccati foliation on it
We are ready to organize a detailed description of the dual graph of C More pre-
cisely we only need to understand how double curves intersect non-double curves
Lemma VI8 There exists a sequence of flops X 99KX + such that if C + denotes
the transform of C every double curve supported on C + contains two triple points
Proof Let C sube C be an irreducible component with at most one triple point and
let X 99K X + be its flop Then its transform C+ is non-double and the number
of double curves contained in C descreases It is clear that after finitely many flops
all double curves contain exactly two triple points
From now on all double curves in C have two triple points Thanks to proposition
VI2 we know that there are two cases to consider those curves along which the
semi-simple field has not only rational eigenvalues and those along which the semi-
simple field has only rational eigenvalues The first case being strictly easier than
the second it is a good starting place to warm up
Proposition VI9 (irrational eigenvalues) Assume that for every foliation singu-
larity along C not all eigenvalues of partS are rational Then every component of C
is net with at most one node and 1-skeleton of its dual graph is at worst trivalent
Write C = C axes cup C free where
C axes is the union of double curves
C free is the union of non-double curves
Then one among C axes and C free is empty Moreover
bull If C free is non-empty then it is a chain of smooth curves with rational moduli
bull If C axes is non-empty there exists a sequence of flops X 99KX + and an ir-
reducible component of the fiber FC subX + such that X + is a smooth stack
the transform C+ of C is contained in FC Moreover the dual graph of C+
is a tree which by [McQ08 III32] becomes a chain inside the normalization
of FC
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 47
Proof The first sentence is just corollary IIIIII3
Observe that if a non-double curve intersects a double curve then the non-double
curve must be contained in an LC-center around such intersection This contradicts
that not all eigenvalues are rational and establishes that one among C axes and C free
is empty
In case C free is not empty then it is clearly a chain or a cycle the latter being
impossible by Proposition VI5
We are left to show the existence of flops in case C = C axes We remark that
every component is smooth Let C0 be such a component and S0 a component of
X0 containing it Let C1 be the collection of irreducible components of C which
intersect S0 but are not contained in it All the components of C1 are smooth hence
we can flop them in any order until the transform of C1 lies in the transform of S0
Since the number of irreducible components of C lying outside S0 decreases after
such flop by induction we deduce the existence of finitely many flops after which
the birational transform of C is fully contained in the transform of S0
Next we take care of rational eigenvalues The complication here arises from
the fact that there may be double and non-double curves intersecting each other
However the situation is best possible
Proposition VI10 (rational eigenvalues) Assume that for every foliation singu-
larity along C all eigenvalues of partS are rational Write C = C axes cup C free where
C axes is the union of double curves
C free is the union of non-double curves
Then there exists a sequence of flops X 99K X + and an irreducible component of
the fiber FC axes subX + such that
bull X + is a smooth stack
bull The union of double curves of C axes is contained in FC axes the 1-skeleton of
its dual graph is a tree and each of its components has two triple points
bull The 1-skeleton of the dual graph of the transform C free+ is a disjoint union of
trees
bull Each connected component of C free+ intersects C axes in exactly one point
48 FEDERICO BUONERBA
In particular the 1-skeleton of the dual graph of C is a tree
Proof Notice that for every point lowast isin C cap Z there exists one LC-center through lowastIndeed there are three rational eigenvalues and they cannot be all non-vanishing and
all with different signs at the same time Now C axes can be treated as in proposition
VI9 This proves the first two items of the statement The third item follows from
Proposition VI5 so we can focus on the fourth one The proof is based on the
following obvious
Remark VI11 let C be a double curve such that either it is KF -nil hence has
two triple points or it is fully contained in sing(F ) Let C0 sube C free intersect C
non-trivially in a point lowast then necessarily C0 sub LClowast
Now let C0 middot middot middot CN form a chain of non-double curves with C0 and CN both
intersecting double curves as in the remark Denote by lowasti = Ci cap Ci+1 Since
C1 sub LClowast necessarily C1 is transverse to LClowast1 otherwise C1 would deform in F (C1)
Inductively we see that Ci+1 sub LClowasti and is transverse to LClowasti+1 In particular CN
cannot touch a double curve This contradiction proves the fourth item
Let us add a remark about configurations featuring invariant curves inside sing(F )
Proposition VI12 Let C be an invariant curve with KF middot C = 0 such that
Z0 sube C for some component Z0 sube sing(F ) Then C = Z prime cup C where
Z prime is a connected invariant curve inside the foliation singularity with dual graph a
chain
C is the union of at most two pairwise disjoint KF -nil curves with anti-ample
normal bundle
If not empty C can only intersect Z prime at the two ends of its dual graph Moreover
perhaps after a flop the intersection of C with Z prime supports the foliation singularity
along C As such if C has two components Z prime cup C deforms in the general fiber
Proof The structure of Z prime is Proposition IVII3 while that of Co is Proposition
IVI6 Let C prime be a component of C intersecting Z0 in a point lowast If C prime and Z0 belong
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 49
to different components of X0 then by case ni (1)b the eigenvalue of partS along C prime
vanishes so supp(sing(F ) cap C prime) = lowast If C prime and Z0 belong to the same component
then we can flop C prime into a different component
Observe that the divisor D prime from op cit can be extended along C prime This implies
that C can only intersect Z prime at its ends Moreover if C touches both ends necessarily
D prime capX0 = C scheme-theoretically hence by the existence of Hilbert scheme IVI5
we conclude
Our new set-up is
Set-up VI13 Everything as in set-up IIVII4 and moreover for any connected
invariant curve C with KF middot C = 0 all of whose sub-curves are rigid we have
configurations computed in proposition VI9 VI10 and Lemma VI12
VII Configurations of non-rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
In this subsection we describe configurations of surfaces which are covered by KF -nil
curves The structure of each such surface is described by classification IIV1 IIV2
and Corollary IIVI17 Our first step is to simplify the situation by contracting
chains of ruled surfaces The next step is to try and exclude the possibility that
the singular fiber of p contains fibrations by elliptic or nodal rational curves with
at least one invariant fiber This can be achieved with good success indeed there
may be at most one such Riccati foliation which is anyway rather isolated from the
remaining KF -nil curves Finally we observe that the only class of surfaces we have
not mentioned is
Definition VII1 A irreducible component F of the singular fiber of p is called
small Kronecker if
bull (FFF ) is birational to a Kronecker vector field on P1 timesP1 and
bull The two rulings of this P1 timesP1 are cohomologous inside X
The name comes from the fact that contraction of a small Kronecker yields a node
in the ambient threefold which admits a small resolution In fact in many respects
these fiber components behave very much like rigid KF -nil curves
50 FEDERICO BUONERBA
We start by getting rid of some fiber components which are ruled by KF -nil gener-
ically smooth rational curves
Proposition VII2 Notation as in Set-up VI13 there exists a sequence of flops
and divisorial contractions c X 99KX + such that
bull X + is a smooth stack
bull let S+ sub X + be an irreducible invariant divisor that contains a positive-
dimensional family of invariant rational curves along which KF+ vanishes
Then S+ is either birationally ruled by nodal rational curves or it is a small
Kronecker
Proof We focus first on contracting components of the singular fiber of p Consider
the following algorithm If there is no birationally ruled component different from
the ones listed in the second item we are done otherwise pick one such F and let
C denote the general member of the ruling If the cohomology class [C] is inde-
composable F is minimal Otherwise [C] = [C1] + [C2] where Ci are rational and
intersect KF trivially After finitely many steps we have a decomposition as a finite
sum of indecomposables [C] =sumn
i=0 ni[Ci] where every Ci is rational intersects KF
trivially We have two cases
bull There exists k such that Ck deforms in a birationally ruled necessarily min-
imal surface Fk
bull Every Ci has anti-ample normal bundle
In the first case denote by X rarr X1 the contraction of Fk along |Ck| and relpace
X by X1 Since Fk is minimal smoothness of the ambient stack is preserved unless
Fk is a small Kronecker This is however impossible if n ge 2 if Fk were a small
Kronecker then Ck deforms away from Fkminus1 so then Fkminus1 middot Ck = 0 on the other
hand Fkminus1 intersects the other ruling of Fk positively
In the second case flop C1 middot middot middot Cn in this order The transform of F is minimal and
not a small Kronecker so it can be contracted along its ruling preserving ambient
smoothness By induction on the Picard rank of X after finitely many steps this
algorithm ends Call X the output of this algorithm
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 51
Let S subX be an invariant divisor with a generically smooth ruling Then pS S rarr∆ is flat and after flopping finitely many rational curves in S cap plowastS(0) the resulting
pS is smooth Hence we can contract S along pS After finitely many steps the
Proposition is proven
For ease of notation in the sequel we call X the output of the previous proposition
Notice that there might still be divisors carrying a pencil of nodal rational curves
both inside and outside the singular fiber of p
We can start analyzing configurations of fiber components where the restriction of
F is not of general type We need some notation whose reason to exist will be clear
shortly
Definition VII3 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
along which KF is not big F is called special Riccati if
bull F is minimal
bull There exists a morphism s F rarr B onto a curve whose fibers are nodal
rational curve
bull F is transverse to the general fiber of s in particular KF is numerically
trivial along s
bull At least one fiber of s is invariant
bull There exists a section σ of s which is invariant and does not coincide with
the nodal locus of F
In particular the intersections of σ with invariant fibers of s isolated singularities
of F the node of F all coincide There may be fibers of s fully contained in sing(F )
in which case they are everywhere transverse to the saturated foliation
The definition looks nasty but special Riccati components have a rather simple
origin as the following proof shows
Lemma VII4 Let F be special Riccati Up to base change by an etale double cover
Bprime rarr B there is a natural isomorphism F norm simminusrarr BprimetimesP1 and the restriction of F
to F norm is birational to the projection onto P1
52 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proof We work over the normalization F norm Denote by Bprime the pre-image of the
node of F which is an etale double cover of B and let f denote an invariant fiber
of s with lowast = σ cap f Observe that F norm carries a Riccati foliation with 3 invariant
curves through lowast - namely σ f and a component of Bprime Hence FF has a log-canonical
singularity in lowast On F norm perform a weighted blow-up in each log-canonical singu-
larity followed by the contraction of the transforms of the corresponding fibers Let
s+ F+ rarr B denote the output of this operation If the proper transform of Bprime is
connected replace F+ by its base change under Bprime rarr B Hence we can assume Bprime
is the disjoint union of two sections of s+ and the transform of σ is a third section
which is disjoint from Bprime Therefore F+ = P1 timesBprime and the foliation restricts to the
projection onto P1
Next we describe those surfaces which cannot appear as components of the sin-
gular fiber X0
Definition VII5 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
along which KF is not big F is called illusory if
bull there exists a morphism t F rarr B onto a curve
bull KF is trivial along t
bull For any other fiber component F prime the intersection F cap F prime is either empty or
contained in a fiber of t
We give examples of illusory fiber components
Lemma VII6 The following fiber components are necessarily illusory
bull t is elliptic the foliation is either parallel to t or turbolent with at least one
invariant fiber
bull t is a nodal ruling the foliation is either parallel to t or transverse to t with
at least one invariant fiber and not birational to a special Riccati VII3
Proof Let f = F cap F prime for some fiber component F prime It is F -invariant
Assume t and F are parallel and f is transverse to both Then necessarily f subesing(F ) and KF is positive along the fibers of t contradiction
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 53
Assume t and F are generically transverse and f is transverse to t Let e be an
invariant fiber of t then ecap f isin sing(F ) hence t must be a family of nodal rational
curves and ecapf coincides with the node of e - otherwise KF would be positive along
t But this implies F is special Riccati contradiction
We proceed to show that illusory fibers do not exist
Lemma VII7 Let F be an illusory fiber component then every fiber of t is irre-
ducible If F prime is any fiber component intersecting F non-trivially then F prime is illusory
Proof Assume t has a reducible fiber f Then we can write f = f prime cup f primeprime where f prime
is irreducible and f primeprime is a disjoint union of chains of rational curves In particular
every subscheme supported on f primeprime is rigid in X f prime is rational and smooth iff f is a
cycle of rational curves hence the foliation on F is parallel to t and the choice of f prime
is not unique otherwise f prime is nodal or elliptic Let X 99KX + denote the flop of the
irreducible components of f primeprime in any order The proper transform f prime+ (below in red)
is the irreducible fiber of the induced morphism t+ F+ rarr B Since f primeprime+ intersects
f prime+ and is not contained in F+ there exists a component F prime of the fiber of p+ such
that F+ cap f prime+ 6= empty Since F+ is illusory necessarily F+ cap F prime = f prime+ Moreover F+
and F prime are the only fiber components intersecting f prime+ again because F+ is illusory
We deduce that F+ middot f prime+ = F prime middot f prime+ = 0 and therefore f prime+ is nef inside F prime It follows
that he restriction of F+ to F prime is not of general type and by the classification of
foliated surfaces [McQ08] necessarily f prime+ deforms inside F prime and defines a fibration
u F prime rarr Bprime In particular f prime+ is an irreducible fiber of u This is however impossible
since u contracts all the components of f primeprime+ contained in F prime (below in blue) and by
definition of F prime there exists at least one such component This proves that every
fiber of t is irreducible The following depicts the situation
F prime F+
f prime+
f primeprime+
t+u
54 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Concerning the second statement we only need to check the third condition for F prime
to be illussory namely that every other fiber component F primeprime intersecting F prime does
so along the fibers of u If F primeprime intersects F prime transversely to u then F primeprime intersects F
non-trivially and transversely to t as well absurd
Corollary VII8 Illusory components do not exist
Proof By the above lemma the existence of one illusory component implies that
every irreducible component of the singular fiber of p is illusory contradicting that
KF is big
We can now focus on fiber components that do appear
Corollary VII9 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
containing an invariant curve C which moves and such that KF middot C = 0 Then
following the classification [McQ08] we have two cases
(1) The minimal model of F is a special Riccati component
(2) F is a small Kronecker
Proof Certainly the ones listed are the only cases where C is KF -nil We have to
exclude the possibility that C is invariant inside sing(F ) By Proposition IVII3
such C would be rational with at most one node Since we already contracted at
the beginning of the present subsection all ruled surfaces necessarily C is nodal
However by opcit C cannot intersect any other fiber component of X0 which
implies the absurdity that X0 = F
We proceed to show that special Riccati components are rather isolated in the
fiber
Lemma VII10 Let F be a special Riccati component If F prime is a fiber component
intersecting F non-trivially then it does so transversely to s Morover there is
exactly one such F prime
Proof After finitely many flops we can assume that every fiber of s is irreducible
By the non-existence of illusory components there exists a fiber component F lowast with
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 55
σprime = F cap F prime transverse to s If F primeprime is a fiber component with f = F cap F primeprime a fiber
of s then we claim f sube sing(F ) If not then since KF middot f = 0 and σprime is invariant
necessarily σprimecap f is the node of f But then the existence of F primeprime contradicts that p is
snc Hence f sube sing(F ) so then around the node of f there are 3 fiber components -
two branches coming from F one from F primeprime - and sing(F ) has 2 branches - namely f
This is impossible by our case analysis ni (1)c ni (2)c The very same reasoning
establishes the uniqueness of F prime
Lemma VII11 Let F be as in the previous Lemma If C is a connected curve
with KF middot C = 0 then it is disjoint from F
Proof After finitely many flops s is irreducible and C intersects F transversely away
from its node Moreover lowast = C cap F isin sing(F ) and we deduce that the fiber of s
through lowast is fully contained in the singular locus of F This contradicts Proposition
IVII3 since such fiber is nodal
We conclude by observing the obvious
Lemma VII12 Let F be a small Kronecker Then there exists a contraction
c X rarr X prime which is an isomorphism away from F and contracts F along one
of its rulings Necessarily X prime is not projective since every global Cartier divisor
intersects c(F ) trivially On the other hand in a formal neighborhood of c(F ) there
exist Cartier divisors intersecting it non-trivialliy
As such the contribution coming from non-rigid curves is rather poor there are
curves moving in the general fiber there are special Riccati components disjoint from
any other invariant curve intersecting KF trivially there are small Kroneckers who
can be contracted to curves We shall see in the next section that the complications
arising from the contraction of such non-rigid curves is purely psychological and
totally harmless
56 FEDERICO BUONERBA
VI Contractions and proof of the Main Theorem
In this section we contract all invariant curves along which KF is zero thereby
establishing the existence of canonical models I First we contract non-rigid curves
as described in the previous subsection
bull Small Kroneckers along either ruling Albeit this destroys projectivity of
the ambient threefold there still exist Cartier divisors defined in a formal
neighborhood of the base curve that intersect it non-trivially
bull Families of irreducible nodal rational curves which are flat over ∆ This
creates elliptic singularities on the general fiber of p which are disjoint from
other invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
bull Special Riccati again families of irreducible nodal rational curves fully con-
tained in X0 This creates elliptic singularities disjoint from other invariant
curves intersecting KF trivially
We can summarize our situation by way of
Set-up VI1 X is a 3-dimensional DM stack with at worst elliptic singularities
F a foliation by curves with canonical singularities which is not Q-Cartier in a
neighborhood of Xsing
There exists a proper morphism p X rarr ∆ smooth off 0 isin ∆ F restricts to a
foliation on every fiber of p it has canonical singularities on the very general fiber
of p and log-canonical singularities on every fiber of p KF is big and nef on every
irreducible component of every fiber of p
Let C be the invariant sub-scheme along which KF is not big then C is a curve
fully contained in the smooth locus X0capXsmooth every sub-curve of C has anti-ample
normal bundle the 1-simplex of its dual graph is a tree and detailed configurations
of such are referenced in set-up VI13
We proceed to contract such C We assume that along C the semi-simple field has
only rational eigenvalues and moreover no component of C is inside the foliation
singularity The other two cases - irrational eigenvalues and presence of singular
component - are strictly easier and can be obtained with the very same method
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 57
The proof takes place in the formal completion around C = C free cup C axes The
former is a disjoint union of trees of non-double curves For each non-double C let
F (C) denote the unique component of X0 containing it The latter is a tree of double
curves each with two triple points all contained in the same irreducible FC axes Each
tree of non-double curves touches C axes in one point through a LC-center In order
to construct the contraction we will use Artinrsquos celebrated criterion in the following
form
Fact VI1 ([Ar70]) Let X be an irreducible algebraic space i Y rarr X a closed
subspace of pure codimension 1 and f Y rarr Y0 a proper morphism with flowastOY = OY0
Let X denote the formal completion of X along Y and assume there exists a Cartier
divisor D in X which is supported on Y and is f -anti-ample Then there exists a
proper morphism of algebraic spaces F X rarr X0 which is an isomorphism away
from Y and such that ilowastF = f
Now we use the tree structure of C to construct a suitable divisor to which apply
Artinrsquos theorem Namely consider the following inductive defintion
(35) C0 = C axes F0 = FC axes
For k ge 0 assume Ck Fk are defined
bull Let Ck+1 denote the union of irreducible components of C that intersect Fk
non-trivially but are not contained in cupilekFibull Let Fk+1 denote the reduced sum (
sumCsubeCk+1
F (C))red
This process stops with a collection C1 middot middot middotCN of curves and F1 middot middot middot FN of reduced
divisors
Lemma VI1 We have the following identities
(36)
Fk middot C lt 0 for every C sube Ck
(F0 + F1) middot C le 0 for every C sube C0
(Fkminus1 + Fk + Fk+1) middot C = 0 for every C sube Ck 1 lt k lt N
(FNminus1 + FN) middot C lt 0 for every C sube CN
58 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proof The first is just the fact that every component of C is rigid The remaining
three follow from X0 middot C = 0 but the last one requires further justification Indeed
if C sube CN N gt 0 then C is one end of a tree of non-double curves In particular
there exists a foliation singularity lowast isin C disjoint from any other component of
C and LClowast is transverse to C This implies LClowast middotC gt 0 which together with
(FNminus1 + FN + LClowast) middot C = 0 concludes the proof
Let ε1 middot middot middot εN isin Qgt0 and define
(37) F Nminusk = (1 + ε1 + middot middot middot+ εk)FNminusk
bull If C sube CN we have
(38) (F Nminus1 + F
N) middot C = ε1FNminus1 middot C + (FNminus1 + FN) middot C
bull If C sube CNminusk 1 lt k lt N we have
(39)
(F Nminuskminus1 + F
Nminusk + F Nminusk+1) middot C =
(1 + middot middot middot+ εk)(FNminuskminus1 + FNminusk + FNminusk+1) middot C minus εkFNminusk+1 middot C + εk+1FNminuskminus1 middot C =
minus εkFNminusk+1 middot C + εk+1FNminuskminus1 middot C
bull If C sube C0 we have
(40) (F 0 + F
1) middot C = εNF0 middot C + (Nminus1sumj=0
εj)(F0 + F1) middot C
It is clear that provided
(41) 1 gtgt ε1 gtgt middot middot middot gtgt εN
the divisor F =sumF k is negative along every component of C
This proves the existence of the contraction and concludes the proof of the Main
Theorem I
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 59
VII Moduli space of foliated surfaces of general type
In this section we study the modular variation of foliated surfaces of general type
The upshot is that it is possible to define a functor which is representable separated
and every irreducible component is proper The main issue here is that the supporting
surface of a foliated canonical model may well fail to be projective indeed KF is not
Q-Gorenstein in general Hence in order to proceed via standard methods [Ko17]
we have to parametrize our canonical models together with a suitable projective
resolution
Definition VII13 Let (SF ) be a foliated proper reduced purely 2-dimensional
DM stack Assume S has only normal crossing singularities in codimension 1 that
F has log-canonical foliation singularities and that KF is big and nef on at least
one of the irreducible components of S If whenever KF middot C = 0 for some curve C
then C moves in an irreducible component of S and no member of such deformation
is F -invariant then (SF ) is called foliated canonical model of general type
Clearly foliated canonical models are exactly the stable degenerations appearing
as the central fiber of our Main Theorem I Their lack of projectivity has two sources
namely the contraction of cycles of smooth KF -nil curves and of trees of cuspidal
ones Singularities arising from cycles behave well in families namely they always
deform into the general fiber Those arising from cuspidal curves on the other hand
tend to be rather isolated inside the degenerate fiber
Observe that the deformation theory of a foliated surface is rather simple suppose
given an infinitesimal C-algebras extension 0 rarr J rarr Ae rarr A rarr 0 and (SF )
a foliated surface flat over Spec(A) then the obstruction to lifting to Ae can be
understood in three simple steps
(1) Deformation of the underlying surface S once a deformation Se rarr Spec(Ae)
is given
(2) Deformation of the line bundle KF by the exponential sequence
(42) 0rarr J otimes OS rarr OlowastSerarr OlowastS rarr 0
obstructions lie in H2(SOS)otimes J once a deformation of KF is given
60 FEDERICO BUONERBA
(3) Deformation of the defining section OS rarr KF otimes TS obstructions lie in
H1(SKF otimes TS)otimes J
Now we have
Definition VII14 Let (SF ) be a foliated canonical model of general type A
proper birational morphism q (SF )proj rarr (SF ) is called its projective resolution
if
bull Every irreducible component of Sproj is smooth
bull The exceptional locus of q is a disjoint union of cycles of KFproj-nil smooth
curves and trees of KFproj-nil curves each of which has a non-trivial cuspidal
singularity
bull In a neighborhood of every q-exceptional cycle not only Sproj but also its
moduli space is smooth
We need a few remarks about projective resolutions
(1) Projective resolutions are always unique Indeed the only possible ambiguity
could lie in some extra smooth irreducible components in the exceptional
locus This is forbidden by definition in the trees of cuspidal curves it is
also forbidden by way of the third item in cycles of smooth ones ie on
algebraic surfaces the minimal resolution is unique
(2) Denote by E the collection of q-exceptional cycles Then there exist ε δ isinQgt0 such that KFproj
minus εE + δKSprojis ample by Nakai-Moishezon
(3) Deformations of a projective resolution of a foliated canonical model are
canonically identified with deformations of the underlying birational mor-
phism q Sproj rarr S followed by a deformation of the foliation F
We are now ready to construct a moduli functor for foliated surfaces more precisely
for projective resolutions of foliated canonical models of general type For m dN isinN and ε δ isin Qgt0 let
(43) MmdNεδ (C-schemes)rarr (sets)
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 61
be defined by MmdNεδ(S) = Diagrams
(44) (X F )projqminusrarr (X F )
pminusrarr S
Where
bull Both p and p q are flat and proper
bull For every closed point s isin S the induced morphism qs is the projective
resolution of (X F )s which is a foliated canonical model of general type
bull Denote by Es the collection of exceptional cycles of qs By our Main Theorem
I there is a fibrewise divisor E subXproj flat over S restricting to Es for every
s isin S
bull Let j W rarr Xproj denote the maximal closed subscheme away from which
KFprojand KXprojS are locally free Then
(45) L [m] = (jlowast(KFprojotimes OXproj
(minusεE )otimesKδXprojS
)otimesm)oror
is flat over S and commutes with base-change
bull L [m] is very ample of degree d on every fiber and defines an embedding into
PNS
We are now ready for
Theorem VII15 The functor MmdNεδ is represented by a separated algebraic
space each of whose irreducible components is proper
Proof We show that our functor satisfies Artinrsquos conditions [Ar74 Corollary 54] By
definition condition 1) and 4) hold while our previous remark on foliated obstruction
theory shows that 3) is true
We proceed to show 2) namely effectivity of formal deformations for MmdNεδ
What follows owes much to Artinrsquos [A74rsquo] Let T be a complete C-algebra Tn its
n-truncation so that Tsimminusrarr limlarrminusTn and finally qn isinMmdNεδ(Spec(Tn)) a compatible
sequence For each n there is a maximal open set Un sube Xprojn where qn is an
isomorphism denote by sn Cn rarr Zn the restriction of qn to the complement of Un
Clearly sn is projective over Spec(Tn)
62 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Denote by X C etc the formal algebraic spaces obtained as limits of Xn Cn
etc Then Xproj sub PNˆSpec(T )
hence by Grothendieckrsquos existence Theorem we find
bull a flat projective family (X F )proj rarr Spec(T ) resp a closed subscheme
C subXproj whose completion is Xproj resp C
bull a scheme Z whose completion is Z and a morphism s C rarr Z everything
being projective over Spec(T )
Further we have a formal contraction limminusrarr qn C rarr Z hence the main theorem
of [Ar70] gives algebraic contraction (X F )proj rarr (X F ) This proves the repre-
sentability of MmdNεδ The properness and separability of each irreducible com-
ponent can be checked using valutative criteria indeed properness is the content of
our Main Theorem I separatedness follows from the uniqueness of foliated canonical
models of general type and their projective resolution
References
[Ar70] M Artin Algebraization of Formal Moduli II Existence of Modifications Ann
of Math Vol 91 No 1 (Jan 1970) pp 88-135 httpwwwjstororgstable
1970602
[Ar74] M Artin Versal Deformations and Algebraic Stacks Inventiones Math 27 165- 189
(1974) httpmathuchicagoedu~drinfeldArtin_on_stackspdf
[A74rsquo] M Artin Algebraic construction of Brieskornrsquos resolutions J Alg Vol 29 Issue
2 May 1974 pp 330-348 httpwwwsciencedirectcomsciencearticlepii
0021869374901021
[BB72] P Baum R Bott Singularities of holomorphic foliations J Diff Geom 7 (1972)
279-342 httpsprojecteuclidorgdownloadpdf_1euclidjdg1214431158
[Bo77] F Bogomolov Families of curves on a surface of general type Doklady Akademii Nauk
USSR (in Russian) 236 (5) 1041-1044
[Bo78] F Bogomolov Holomorphic tensors and vector bundles on projective varieties Math
USSR Izv 13 (1978) 499-555
[BM16] F Bogomolov M McQuillan Rational Curves on Foliated Varieties In Cascini
McKernan Pereira (eds) Foliation Theory in Algebraic Geometry Simons Symposia
Springer Cham pp 21-51 (2016) httpslinkspringercomchapter101007
978-3-319-24460-0_2
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 63
[Bu] F Buonerba Functorial resolution of tame quotient singularities in positive charac-
teristic httpsarxivorgabs151100550
[Ke99] S Keel Basepoint Freeness for Nef and Big Line Bundles in Positive Characteris-
tic Annals of Math 149 No 1 (Jan 1999) pp 253-286 httpwwwjstororg
stable121025 httpsarxivorgabsmath9901149
[KM97] S Keel S Mori Quotients by groupoids Annals of Math 145 (1997) pp
193-213 httpwwwjstororgstable2951828seq=1page_scan_tab_contents
httparxivorgabsalg-geom9508012
[Ko17] J Kollar Families of varieties of general type httpswebmathprincetonedu
~kollarbookmodbook20170720pdf
[LN02] A Lins Neto Some examples for the Poincare and Painleve problems Annales sci-
entifiques de lrsquoENS 352 (2002) 231-266 httparchivenumdamorgarticle
ASENS_2002_4_35_2_231_0pdf
[McQ12] M McQuillan Foliated Mori Theory amp Hyperbolicity of Algebraic Surfaces http
wwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillahomehtml
[McQ98] M McQuillan Diophantine approximation and foliations Inst Hautes Etudes Sci
Publ Math 87 (1998) 121-174 httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafiles
ihespdf
[McQ05rsquo] M McQuillan Bloch hyperbolicity preprint httpwwwmatuniroma2it
~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ05] M McQuillan Semi-stable reduction of foliations IHES pre-print IHESM0502
(2005) httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ05rdquo] M McQuillan Uniform Uniformisation IHES pre-print (2005) IHES M0503 http
wwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ08] M McQuillan Canonical models of foliations Pure Appl Math Q 4
(2008) no 3 Special Issue In honor of Fedor Bogomolov Part 2 877-1012
httpintlpresscomsitepubfiles_fulltextjournalspamq20080004
0003PAMQ-2008-0004-0003-a009pdf
[MP13] M McQuillan D Panazzolo Almost etale resolution of foliations J Diff Geom 95
(2013) pp 279-319 httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesmp1bispdf
[Pe02] JV Pereira On the Poincare Problem for Foliations of General Type Mathematische
Annalen 323 no 2 pp217-226 2002 httpsarxivorgabsmath0104185
[PS16] JV Pereira R Svaldi Effective algebraic integration in bounded genus preprint
httpsarxivorgabs161206932
64 FEDERICO BUONERBA
[Re83] M Reid Minimal models of canonical threefolds in rdquoAlgebraic Varieties and Ana-
lytic Varietiesrdquo Adv Stud Pure Math vol 1 S Iitaka ed Kinokuniya and North-
Holland 1983 pp 131-180 httpwwwmathsedacukcheltsovquotientpdf
reid2pdf
[Se67] A Seidenberg Reduction of singularities of the differential equation Ady = Bdx Amer
J Math 89 (1967) 248-269 httpwwwjstororgstable2373435
[SB83] N Shepherd-Barron Degenerations with numerically effective canonical divisor The
Birational Geometry of Degenerations (R Friedman and D Morrison eds) Progr
Math no 29 Birkhuser 1983 pp 33-84
[Vis89] A Vistoli Intersection theory on algebraic stacks and on their moduli spaces
Invent Math (1989) pp 613-670 httplinkspringercomarticle101007
2FBF01388892page-1
Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences New York University 251 Mercer
Street New York NY 10012 USA
E-mail address buonerbacimsnyuedu
- I Introduction
- II Preliminaries
-
- III Operations on Deligne-Mumford stacks
- IIII Width of embedded parabolic champs
- IIIII Gorenstein foliation singularities
- IIIV Foliated adjunction
- IIV Canonical models of foliated surfaces with canonical singularities
- IIVI Canonical models of foliated surfaces with log-canonical singularities
- IIVII Set-up
-
- III Invariant curves and singularities local description
-
- IIII `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F) not isolated
- IIIII `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F) isolated
- IIIIII Local consequences
-
- IV Invariant curves along which KF vanishes
-
- IVI KF-nil curves
- IVII Invariant curves inside `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F)
-
- V Configurations
-
- VI Configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
- VII Configurations of non-rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
-
- VI Contractions and proof of the Main Theorem
- VII Moduli space of foliated surfaces of general type
- References
-
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 11
Clearly width(C) = 1 if and only if the normal bundle to C is anti-ample
width(C) ge 2 whenever such bundle is O oplus O(minusn) n gt 0 and width(C) = infinif and only if C moves in a scroll As explained in opcit width can be understood
in terms of blow ups as follows Let q1 X1 rarr X be the blow up in C Its excep-
tional divisor E1 is a Hirzebruch surface which is not a product hence q1 has two
natural sections when restricted to E1 Let C1 the negative section There are two
possibilities for its normal bundle in X1
bull it is a direct sum of strictly negative line bundles In this case width(C) = 2
bull It is a direct sum of a strictly negative line bundle and the trivial one
In the second case we can repeat the construction by blowing up C1 more generally
we can inductively construct Ck sub Ek sub Xk k isin N following the same pattern as
long as NCkminus1
simminusrarr O oplus O(minusnkminus1) Therefore width(C) is the minimal k such that
Ckminus1 has normal bundle splitting as a sum of strictly negative line bundles No-
tice that the exceptional divisor Ekminus1 neither is one of the formal surfaces defining
the complete intersection structure of Ck nor it is everywhere transverse to either
ie it has a tangency point with both This is clear by the description Reidrsquos
Pagoda [Re83] Observe that the pair (nwidth(C)) determines X uniquely there
exists a contraction X rarr X0 collapsing C to a point and an isomorphism every-
where else In particular X0 can be explicitly constructed as a ramified covering of
degree=width(C) of the contraction of a curve with anti-ample normal bundle
The notion of width can also be understood in terms of lifting sections of line bun-
dles along infinitesimal neighborhoods of C As shown in [McQ05rdquo II43] we have
assume NCp
simminusrarr O oplus O(minusnp) then the natural inclusion OC(n) rarr N orCX can be
lifted to a section OXp+2(n)rarr OXp+2
IIIII Gorenstein foliation singularities In this subsection we define certain
properties of foliation singularities which are well-suited for both local and global
considerations From now on we assume X is normal and give some definitions
taken from [McQ05] and [MP13] If Qoror is a Q-line bundle we say that F is Q-
foliated Gorenstein or simply Q-Gorenstein In this case we denote by KF = Qoror
and call it the canonical bundle of the foliation In the Gorenstein case there exists a
12 FEDERICO BUONERBA
codimension ge 2 subscheme Z subX such that Q = KF middot IZ Such Z will be referred
to as the singular locus of F We remark that Gorenstein means that the foliation
is locally defined by a saturated vector field
Next we define the notion of discrepancy of a divisorial valuation in this context let
(UF ) be a local germ of a Q-Gorenstein foliation and v a divisorial valuation on
k(U) there exists a birational morphism p U rarr U with exceptional divisor E such
that OU E is the valuation ring of v Certainly F lifts to a Q-Gorenstein foliation
F on U and we have
(3) KF = plowastKF + aF (v)E
Where aF (v) is said discrepancy For D an irreducible Weil divisor define ε(D) = 0
if D if F -invariant and ε(D) = 1 if not We are now ready to define
Definition IIIII1 The local germ (UF ) is said
bull Terminal if aF (v) gt ε(v)
bull Canonical if aF (v) ge ε(v)
bull Log-terminal if aF (v) gt 0
bull Log-canonical if aF (v) ge 0
For every divisorial valuation v on k(U)
These classes of singularities admit a rather clear local description If part denotes a
singular derivation of the local k-algebra O there is a natural k-linear linearization
(4) part mm2 rarr mm2
As such we have the following statements
Fact IIIII2 [MP13 Iii4 IIIi1 IIIi3] A Gorenstein foliation is
bull log-canonical if and only if it is smooth or its linearization is non-nilpotent
bull terminal if and only if it is log-terminal if and only if it is smooth and gener-
ically transverse to its singular locus
bull log-canonical but not canonical if and only if it is a radial foliation
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 13
Where a derivation on a complete local ring O is termed radial if there ex-
ist x1 middot middot middotxn isin m independent mod m2 and positive integers ni such that part =sumi nixi
partpartxi
In this case the singular locus is the center of a divisorial valuation with
zero discrepancy and non-invariant exceptional divisor
A very useful tool which is emplyed in the analysis of local properties of foliation
singularities is the Jordan decompositon [McQ08 I23] Notation as above the
linearization part admits a Jordan decomposition partS + partN into commuting semi-simple
and nilpotent part It is easy to see inductively that such decomposition lifts canon-
ically over successive infinitesimal neighborhoods Omn+1 rarr Omn and in the limit
we obtain a Jordan decomposition for the linear action of part on the whole complete
ring O
IIIV Foliated adjunction In this subsection we provide an adjunction formula
for foliation-invariant curves Let (X F ) be a Gorenstein foliation and f L rarrX the normalization of a F -invariant one-dimensional stack not contained in the
singular locus Z Denote by χ(L ) its topological Euler characteristic and by sZ(f)
the multiplicity of the ideal sheaf fminus1IZ We have
Fact IIIV1 [McQ05 IId4]
(5) KF middotL = minusχ(L )minus Ramf +sZ(f)
Which is a simple consequence of the isomorphism f lowastKF middotfminus1IZsimminusrarr Ω1
L (minusRamf )
The local contribution of sZ(f)minusRamf computed for a branch of f around a point
p in the support of fminus1IZ is np|Gp|minus1 with np a positive integer and Gp the local
monodromy of L at p Assume now that L has no generic stabilizer and let |L |denote its moduli The previous formula can be rewritten more usefully
Fact IIIV2
(6) KF middotL = 2g(|L |)minus 2 + fminus1IZ +sumf(p)isinZ
(np minus 1)|Gp|minus1 +sumf(p)isinZ
(1minus |Gp|minus1)
This can be easily deduced via a comparison between χ(L ) and χ(|L |) The
adjunction estimate 6 gives a complete description of invariant curves which are not
14 FEDERICO BUONERBA
contained in the singular locus and intersect the canonical KF non-positively A
complete analysis of the structure of KF -negative curves and much more is done
in [McQ05]
Definition IIIV3 A KF -nil curve is an invariant one-dimensional orbifold f
C rarr X such that KF middotf C = 0 and f does not factor through the singular locus
Z of the foliation
By adjunction 6 we have
Proposition IIIV4 The following is a complete list of possibilities for KF -nil
curves f
bull C is an elliptic curve without non-schematic points and f misses the singular
locus
bull |C| is a rational curve f hits the singular locus in two points with np = 1
there are no non-schematic points off the singular locus
bull |C| is a rational curve f hits the singular locus in one point with np = 1 there
are two non-schematic points off the singular locus with local monodromy
Z2Z
bull |C| is a rational curve f hits the singular locus in one point p there is at
most one non-schematic point q off the singular locus we have the identity
(np minus 1)|Gp|minus1 = |Gq|minus1
As shown in [McQ08] all these can happen In the sequel we will always assume
that a KF -nil curve is simply connected We remark that an invariant curve can have
rather bad singularities where it intersects the foliation singularities First it could
fail to be unibranch moreover each branch could acquire a cusp if going through
a radial singularity This phenomenon of deep ramification appears naturally in
presence of log-canonical singularities
IIV Canonical models of foliated surfaces with canonical singularities In
this subsection we provide a summary of the birational classification of Gorenstein
foliations with canonical singularities on algebraic surfaces obtained in [McQ08] Let
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 15
X be a two-dimensional smooth DM stack with projective moduli and F a foliation
with canonical singularities Since X is smooth certainly F is Q-Gorenstein If
KF is not pseudo-effective then foliated bend and break [BM16 Main Theorem]
shows that F is birationally a fibration by rational curves If KF is pseudo-effective
its Zariski decomposition has negative part a finite collection of invariant chains of
rational curves which can be contracted to a smooth DM stack with projective
moduli on which KF is nef At this point those foliations such that the Kodaira
dimension k(KF ) le 1 can be completely classified
Fact IIV1 [McQ08 IV3] Foliations with canonical singularities and Kodaira di-
mension zero are up to a ramified cover and birational transformations defined by
a global vector field The minimal models belong the following list
bull A Kronecker vector field on an abelian surface
bull The suspension of a representation π1(E)rarr PGL2(C) for E an elliptic curve
bull A Kronecker vector field on P1 timesP1
bull An isotrivial elliptic fibration
Fact IIV2 [McQ08 IV4] Foliations with canonical singularities and Kodaira di-
mension one are classified by their Kodaira fibration The linear system |KF | defines
a fibration onto a curve and the minimal models belong to the following list
bull The foliation and the fibration coincide so then the fibration is non-isotrivial
elliptic
bull The foliation is transverse to a projective bundle (Riccati)
bull The foliation is everywhere smooth and transverse to an isotrivial elliptic
fibration (turbolent)
bull The foliation is parallel to an isotrivial fibration in hyperbolic curves
On the other hand for foliations of general type the new phenomenon is that
global generation fails The problem is the appearence of elliptic Gorenstein leaves
these are cycles possibly irreducible of invariant rational curves around which KF
is numerically trivial but might fail to be torsion Assume that KF is big and nef
16 FEDERICO BUONERBA
and consider morphisms
(7) X rarrXe rarrXc
Where the composite is the contraction of all the KF -nil curves and the rightmost
is the minimal resolution of elliptic Gorenstein singularities
Fact IIV3 [McQ08 IV21 IV22] Xe is projective there exists an ample divisor
A and an effective divisor E supported on minimal elliptic Gorenstein leaves such
that KFe = A+E On the other hand Xc might fail to be projective and Fc is never
Q-Gorenstein
We refer to [McQ08 III32] for the descriptions of possible dual graphs of config-
urations of invariant KF -negative or nil curves
IIVI Canonical models of foliated surfaces with log-canonical singulari-
ties In this subsection we study Gorenstein foliations with log-canonical singulari-
ties on algebraic surfaces In particular we will classify the singularities appearing
on the underlying surface prove the existence of minimal and canonical models
describe the exceptional curves appearing in the contraction to the canonical model
Proposition IIVI1 Let (UF ) be a germ of Gorenstein log-canonical foliation
singularity Then U is a cone over a subvariety Y of a weighted projective space
whose weights are determined by the eigenvalues of F Moreover F is defined by
the rulings of the cone
Proof By Fact IIIII2 there exists a closed embedding i U rarr M - with M a
smooth local formal scheme - a regular system of parameters x1 middot middot middot xk on M and
positive integers n1 middot middot middotnk such that F is the restriction of the foliation defined by
part =sumnixi
partpartxi
to U Let I sub OM denote the ideal defining i(U) subM then part(I) sube I
We are going to prove that I is homogeneous where each xi has weight ni Let f isin I
and write f =sum
dge1 fd where fd is homogeneous of degree d in x1 middot middot middot xk - ie fd is
a k-linear combination of monomials xa11 xakk with d =
sumi aini For every N isin N
let FN = (xa11 xakk
sumi aini ge N) This collection of ideals defines a natural
filtration on OM For a = max ai we have mN sube FN sube mNa ie the FN -filtration
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 17
is equivalent to the one by powers of the maximal ideal and therefore OM is also
complete with respect to the FN -filtration
We will prove that if f isin I then fd isin I for every d
Let IN = (I + FN)FN Since OM is complete with respect to the FN -filtration
I = limlarrminus IN Therefore it is enough to show
Claim IIVI2 For every N gt 0 we have fd isin IN sub OMFN for all d lt N
Proof For every g isin IN denote by n(g) the unique integer such that g isin Fn(g) Fn(g)+1 (ie the minimal index d for which fd 6= 0) and by N(g) = N minus n(g)
We will prove the statement of the Claim by induction on N(f) If N(f) = 1 then
f = fNminus1 holds in OMFN and the statement is true If N(f) gt 1 we have part(f) =sumd d middot fd hence consider f1 = D(f)minus n(f)f =
sumdgtn(f)(dminus n(f))fd Tautologically
we have N(f1) lt N(f) and therefore fd isin IN for every d gt n(f) so then fn(f) =
f minussum
dgtn(f) fd isin IN as well
This implies that I is a homogeneous ideal and hence U is the germ of a cone over
a variety in the weighted projective space P(n1 nk)
Corollary IIVI3 If the germ U is normal then Y is normal If U is normal
of dimension 2 the weighted blow-up p U rarr U at the vertex of the cone has only
quotient singularities the exceptional divisor E(simminusrarr Y ) is smooth and everywhere
transverse to the induced foliation Moreover we have
(8) plowastKF = KF + E
Certainly the converse to Proposition IIVI1 fails even on surfaces indeed let
(X F ) be a Gorenstein foliated surface and let C sub X be a generic curve so
in particular smooth and not F -invariant We can assume perhaps after a finite
sequence of simple blow-ups along C that both X and F are smooth in a neigh-
borhood of C C and F are everywhere transverse and C2 lt 0
Proposition IIVI4 The formal contraction q X rarr X0 of C is isomorphic to
the cone over C the projected foliation F0 coincides with that by rulings on the cone
F0 is Q-Gorenstein if C rational or elliptic but not in general
18 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proof F0 is Q-Gorenstein if and only if the bundle KF (C) is trivial on the formal
completion of X along C The obstructions to lift the isomorphism OC(KF +C)simminusrarr
OC over infinitesimal neighborhoods of C lie in H1(C (1 minus n)C + KF ) for every
n isin N These groups vanish for every n isin N if 2g(C) minus 2 + C2 lt 0 (which is
always true for rational or elliptic curves) but do provide non-trivial obstructions in
general
We focus on the minimal model program for Gorenstein log-canonical foliations
on algebraic surfaces Let X be a DM stack of dimension 2 with projective moduli
and F a Gorenstein foliation with log-canonical singularities Denote by LC(F )
the set of points where F is log-canonical and not canonical and by Z the singular
sub-scheme of F We assume LC(F ) 6= empty since the empty case has been completely
settled Moreover we can assume that X is smooth outside LC(F ) Let f C rarrX
be a morphism from a 1-dimensional stack with trivial generic stabilizer such that
fminus1 LC(F ) 6= empty Since we will need them several times we formulate some technical
results
Lemma IIVI5 Let p X rarr X be the resolution of the log-canonical foliation
singularity intersecting C with exceptional divisor E Then
(9) KF middot C minus C middot E = KF middot C
Proof We have
(10) plowastC = C minus (C middot EE2)E
Intersecting this equation with equation 8 we obtain the result
This formula is important because it shows that passing from foliations with log-
canonical singularities to their canonical resolution increases the negativity of inter-
sections between invariant curves and the canonical bundle In fact the log-canonical
theory reduces to the canonical one after resolving the log-canonical singularities
Further we list some strong constraints given by invariant curves along which the
foliation is smooth
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 19
Fact IIVI6 [BB72 Baum-Bott] Let g C rarrX be an F -invariant curve missing
the foliation singularities Then C2 = NF middotg C = 0
Corollary IIVI7 Let g C rarr X be an F -invariant curve missing the foliation
singularities and such that KF middotg C lt 0 Then F is birationally a fibration by
rational curves
Proof By assumption KF middot C = minusχ(C) This together with Baum-Bott IIVI6
imply that KX middot C = minusχ(C) and from usual adjunction we get C2 = 0 Riemann-
Roch gives h0(X mC) ge 2 for m gtgt 0 so then |C| defines a fibration by rational
curves tangent to F
The rest of this subsection is devoted to the construction of minimal and canonical
models in presence of log-canonical singularities The only technique we use is
resolve the log-canonical singularities in order to reduce to the canonical case and
keep track of the exceptional divisor
We are now ready to handle the existence of minimal models
Theorem IIVI8 (Minimal models) Let X be a DM stack of dimension 2 with pro-
jective moduli and F a Gorenstein foliation with log-canonical singularities Then
either
bull F is birational to a fibration by rational curves or
bull There exist a birational contraction q X rarr X0 such that KF0 is nef
Moreover the exceptional curves of q donrsquot intersect LC(F )
Proof Let f be as above ie KF -negative and intersecting LC(F ) If f is not
F -invariant then KF middotC +C2 ge 0 so C moves and KF is not pseudo-effective We
conclude by foliated bend and break [BM16]
If f is F -invariant then foliated adjunction 6 implies that C is rational it intersects
the singular locus of F in exactly one point By Lemma IIVI5 after resolving the
log-canonical singularity KF middot C lt 0 and F is smooth along C We conlude by
Corollary IIVI7
20 FEDERICO BUONERBA
From now on we add the assumption that KF is nef and we want to analyze
those curves f satisfying KF middotf C = 0 By adjunction formula 6 we know that C
has rational moduli and fminus1Z is supported on two points
Remark IIVI9 If fminus1Z = fminus1 LC(F ) then F is birationally a fibration by ratio-
nal curves
Proof After resolving the log-canonical singularities of F along the image of C we
have KF middot C lt 0 and F smooth along C We conclude by Corollary IIVI7
Therefore we can assume that f satisfies the following condition
Definition IIVI10 An invariant curve f C rarr X is called log-contractible if
KF middot C = 0 and it intersects Z in two points one canonical and one log-canonical
not canonical
It follows that f(C) is everywhere unibranch but it might have a cusp in LC(F )
Definition IIVI11 A log-chain is a chain of invariant rational orbifolds C =
cupni=0Ci scheme-like outside the foliation singularities with KF middot C = 0 and such
that
bull C0 is log-contractible with lowast(C ) = C0 cap LC(F ) called the marking of C
bull Ci is disjoint from LC(F ) if i ge 1
There is a unique point t(C ) satisfying t(C ) isin Z cap (Cn Cnminus1) called the tail of
the log-chain
Proposition IIVI12 Let C1C2 be two log-chains intersecting non-trivially Then
lowast(C1) = lowast(C2) and C1 cap C2 = lowast(C1)
Proof It is enough to prove that the two log-chains cannot intersect in their tails
Replace X be the resolution of the at most two markings of the log-chains and Ci
by their proper transforms C1cupC2 = cupmi=0Ri is a connected chain of rational curves
intersecting Z outisde LC(F ) Moreover each of the two extremal curves R0 and
Rm intersects Z in one point only In particular KF middot Ri = 0 for i = 1 middot middot middot m minus 1
and KF middot Ri lt 0 for i = 0m Since we assumed F is not birational to a fibration
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 21
by rational curves there exists a contraction p X rarr X0 with exceptional curve
cupmminus1i=0 Ri However F0 is smooth along plowastRm so by adjunction formula KF0 middotplowastRm lt
0 and we find a contradiction by Corollary IIVI7
Corollary IIVI13 Let C be a maximal connected curve such that KF middotC = 0 and
C cap LC(F ) 6= empty Then C is a union of finitely many log-chains intersecting each
other in their common marking
The following shows a configuration of log-chains sharing the same marking col-
ored in black
We are now ready to state and prove the canonical model theorem in presence of
log-canonical singularities
Theorem IIVI14 (Canonical models) Let X be a proper DM stack of dimension
2 and F a foliation with isolated singularities Moreover assume that KF is nef
that every KF -nil curve is contained in a log-chain and that F is Gorenstein and
log-canonical in a neighborhood of every KF -nil curve Then either
bull There exists a birational contraction p X rarr X0 whose exceptional curves
are unions of log-chains If all the log-contractible curves contained in the log-
chains are smooth then F0 is Gorenstein and log-canonical If furthermore
X has projective moduli then X0 has projective moduli In any case KF0
is numerically ample
bull There exists a fibration p X rarr B over a curve whose fibers intersect
KF trivially Each F -invariant fiber of p intersecting LC(F ) is union of
mutually compatible log-chains
Proof If all the KF -nil curves can be contracted by a birational morphism we are in
the first case of the Theorem Else let C be a maximal connected curve withKF middotC =
0 and which is not contractible It is a union of pairwise compatible log-chains
22 FEDERICO BUONERBA
with marking lowast Replace (X F ) by the resolution of the log-canonical singularity
at lowast with exceptional divisor E Therefore F is Gorenstein and canonical in a
neighborhood of C cupE By equation 9 we have KF middotC = minusC middotE lt 0 and therefore
C can be contracted to a canonical foliation singularity Replace (X F ) by the
contraction of C We have a smooth curve E around which F is smooth and
nowhere tangent to E Moreover
(11) KF middot E = minusE2
And we distinguish cases
bull E2 gt 0 so KF is not pseudo-effective a contradiction
bull E2 lt 0 so the initial curve C is contractible a contradiction
bull E2 = 0 which we proceed to analyze
The following is what we need to handle the third case
Proposition IIVI15 Let (X F ) be a foliation with canonical singularities with
X a smooth 2-dimensional DM stack with projective moduli and KF nef If there
exists a smooth curve E everywhere transverse to F such that KF middot E = E2 = 0
then E moves in a pencil and defines a fibration p X rarr B onto a curve whose
fibers intersect KF trivially
Proof If KF has Kodaira dimension one then its linear system contains an effective
divisor and by Hodge index KF = cE as divisors for some c isin Q+ Hence there is
a fibration onto a curve with fiber E and F is transverse to it by assumption If
KF has Kodaira dimension zero we use the classification IIV1 in all cases but the
suspension over an elliptic curve E defines a product structure on the underlying
surface in the case of a suspension every section of the underlying projective bundle
is clearly F -invariant Therefore E is a fiber of the bundle
This concludes the proof of the Theorem
We remark that the second alternative in the above theorem is rather natural
let (X F ) be a foliation which is transverse to a fibration by rational or elliptic
curves ie a suspension over elliptic curve turbolent Riccati or isotrivial Pick a
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 23
general fiber E of the fibration and blow up any number of points on it The proper
transform E is certainly contractible By Proposition IIVI4 the contraction of E is
Gorenstein and log-canonical Moreover the fiber E has been replaced by a union of
compatible log-chains Note in particular that the number of log-chains appearing
is arbitrary
Corollary IIVI16 Let X be a proper DM stack of dimension 2 and F a Goren-
stein foliation with log-canonical singularities Assume that KF is big and pseudo-
effective Then there exists a birational morphism p X rarr X0 such that C is
exceptional if and only if KF middot C le 0 In particular KF0 is numerically ample
For future applications we spell out
Corollary IIVI17 Hypothesis as in Theorem IIVI14 assume further that X
is everywhere smooth Then in the second alternative of the theorem the fibration
p X rarr B is by rational curves
Proof Indeed in this case the curve E which appears in the proof above as the
exceptional locus for the resolution of the log-canonical singularity at lowast must be
rational By the previous Proposition p is defined by a pencil in |E|
IIVII Set-up In this subsection we prepare the set-up we will deal with in the
rest of the manuscript Briefly we want to handle the existence of canonical models
for a family of foliated surfaces parametrized by a one-dimensional base To this
end we will discuss the modular behavior of singularities of foliated surfaces with
Gorenstein singularities recall McQuillan-Panazzolorsquos resolution of foliation singu-
larities building on the existence of minimal models [McQ05] prepare the set-up
for the sequel
Let us begin with the modular behavior of Gorenstein singularities
Proposition IIVII1 Let (X F ) be a smooth DM stack with a foliation by
curves Assume there exists a flat proper morphism p X rarr C onto an algebraic
curve such that F restricts to a foliation on every fiber of p Then the set
(12) s isin C Fs is log-canonical
24 FEDERICO BUONERBA
is Zariski-open while the set
(13) s isin C Fs is canonical
is the complement to a countable subset of C lying on a real-analytic curve
Proof By Fact IIIII2 being log-canonical is equivalent to the linearized endomor-
phism part IZI2Z rarr IZI
2Z being non-nilpotent where Z is the singular sub-scheme
of the foliation Of course being non-nilpotent is a Zariski open condition The
second statement also follows from opcit since a log-canonical singularity which is
not canonical has linearization with all its eigenvalues positive and rational The
statement is optimal as shown by the vector field on A3xys
(14) part(s) =part
partx+ s
part
party
Next we recall the existence of a functorial canonical resolution of foliation singu-
larities for foliations by curves on 3-dimensional stacks
Fact IIVII2 [MP13] Let X = (XDF ) be a 3-dimensional DM stack with bound-
ary foliated by curves Then there exists a proper birational morphism Xprime rarr X such
that X prime is a smooth DM stack and F prime has only canonical foliation singularities
The original opcit contains a more refined statement including a detailed de-
scription of the claimed birational morphism
In order for our set-up to make sense we mention one last very important result
Fact IIVII3 [McQ05] Let X be a smooth DM stack with projective moduli and F
a foliation by curves with (log)canonical singularities Then there exists a birational
map X 99K Xm obtained as a composition of flips such that Xm is a smooth
DM stack with projective moduli the birational transform Fm has (log)canonical
singularities and one of the following happens
bull KFm is nef or
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 25
bull There exists a fibration Xm rarr B over a smooth base whose fibers are
weighted projective spaces such that Fm is tangent to the fibers and restricts
to a radial foliation on those
Finally we can organize our notation
Set-up IIVII4 (X F ) is a smooth 3-dimensional DM stack with projective mod-
uli F a foliation by curves with canonical singularities such that KF is big and nef
There exists a semi-stable morphism p X rarr ∆ whose moduli is projective onto
the (formal) unit disk F restricts to a foliation on every fiber of p it has canon-
ical singularities on the very general fiber of p and log-canonical singularities on
every fiber of p Our task from now on is to analyze and contract the maximal
foliation-invariant sub-scheme of X along which KF is not ample
III Invariant curves and singularities local description
In this section we give a complete decription of germs of invariant curves that
appear in the formal completion of any point in the set-up IIVII4 Let us replace
X by its formal completion in a point lowast where the foliation is singular F is defined
by a vector field part with Jordan decomposition partS + partN see the end of subsection
IIIII Since [partS partN ] = 0 partN preserves the eigenspaces of partS Moreover the fact that
F is tangent to p translates into
(15) partS(p) = partN(p) = 0
The description of invariant germs of curves through lowast will be achieved via case-by-
case analysis organized by computing what happens for all possible combinations
of the following informations whether the singular locus Z is isolated at lowast the
number of eigenvalues of partS the number of components of the fiber through p
IIII sing(F ) not isolated
ni (1) partS has one eigenvalue
bull We have partS = x partpartx
and partN = f partparty
+ g partpartz
for some functions f g isin (y z)
Moreover partN is non-trivial
26 FEDERICO BUONERBA
bull Z = (x = f = g = 0) is not isolated
(a) The fiber has one component y = 0 Then 0 = partN(y) = f hence
Z = (x = g = 0) The restriction on the fiber is part|(y=0) = x partpartx
+g|(y=0)partpartz
Z has a one-dimensional component contained in the fiber iff g isin (y) in
which case such component is smooth equal to (x = 0) moreover the
foliation on the fiber saturates to a smooth one with invariant curves
z = 0 transverse to Z
Otherwise the foliation is saturated on the fiber and has a saddle-node
singularity
(b) The fiber has two components yz = 0 Then 0 = partN(yz) = zf + yg
hence f = yh g = minuszh for some h and Z = (x = h = 0) The restriction
on a fiber component say y = 0 is part|(y=0) = x partpartxminus zh|(y=0)
partpartz
Z has an
irreducible component contained in y = 0 iff h isin (y) in which case such
component is smooth equal to (x = 0) moreover the foliation on the
fiber saturates to a smooth one with invariant curves z = 0 transverse
to Z
Otherwise the foliation is saturated on the fiber and has a saddle-node
singularity
(c) The fiber has three components xyz = 0 0 = partS(xyz) = xyz a contra-
diction
Summary with one eigenvalue there are either one or two components The
foliation might have a one-dimensional singularity when restricted to a fiber
component in this case such singularity is a smooth curve and the foliation
saturates to a smooth one with invariant curves transverse to the singular-
ity If the singularity is isolated on a fiber component then it is a canonical
saddle-node with at most two invariant branches
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 27
ni (2) partS has two eigenvalues
We have partS = x partpartx
+ λy partparty
and partN(x y z) = k partpartx
+ f partparty
+ g partpartz
for some func-
tions k f g
(a) The fiber has one component z = 0 Then g = 0 k f isin (x y) and
necessarily Z = (x = y = 0) is transverse to the fiber The restriction on
the fiber is saturated and non-degenerate It has canonical singularities
if either partN 6= 0 or λ isin Q+ otherwise it is log-canonical
(b) The fiber has two components xy = 0 Then 0 = partS(xy) hence λ = minus1
Also 0 = partN(xy) hence k = xh f = minusyh g isin (xy) and necessarily
Z = (x = y = 0) coincides with the intersection of the two fiber compo-
nents which is smooth the foliation saturates to a smooth one on each
component with invariant curves transverse to Z
(c) The fiber has three components xyz = 0 hence λ = minus1 Also k = xklowast
f = yf lowast g = zglowast with klowast + f lowast + glowast = 0 and glowast isin (xy) The singularity
Z = (x = y = 0) coincides with the intersection of two of the fiber
components The restriction to either such components saturates to a
smooth foliation with invariant curves transverse to Z the restriction
to z = 0 has a canonical non-degenerate singularity all the invariant
curves are those in xy = 0 transverse to Z
Summary with 2 eigenvalues there can be any number of components With
one component the foliation restricts to a saturated one with a (log)canonical
singularity which moves transversely to p With two components the folia-
tion is not saturated on either and saturates to a smooth one with invariant
curves transverse to the singularity With three components the foliation
is not saturated on two of them and saturates to a smooth one on both
with invariant curves transverse to the singularity the foliation is saturated
and has a canonical non-degenerate singularity on the third component In
28 FEDERICO BUONERBA
the last two cases the singularity is fully contained in an intersection of two
components
ni (3) partS has three eigenvalues But then the singularity is isolated a contradiction
IIIII sing(F ) isolated
i (1) partS has one eigenvalue
bull We have partS = x partpartx
and partN = xk partpartx
+ f partparty
+ g partpartz
for some functions
k f g isin (y z) Moreover partN is non-trivial
bull Z = (x = f = g = 0) is isolated
(a) The fiber has one component y = 0 Then 0 = partN(y) = f and Z cannot
be isolated a contradiction
(b) The fiber has two components yz = 0 Then 0 = partN(yz) = zf + yg so
f = yh g = minuszh with h non-constant Hence Z = (x = h = 0) is not
isolated a contradiction
(c) The fiber has three components xyz = 0 Then 0 = partS(xyz) = xyz a
contradiction
Summary the 1 eigenvalue case does not exist
i (2) partS has two eigenvalues
bull We have partS = x partpartx
+ λy partparty
partN = xk partpartx
+ f partparty
+ g partpartz
for some functions
k f g
bull g is non-trivial and g isin (x y)
bull Z = (x = y = g = 0) is isolated
(a) The fiber has one component z = 0 Then g = 0 a contradiction
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 29
(b) The fiber has two components xy = 0 hence λ = minus1 and g isin (xy z)
the restriction to y = 0 is part|(y=0) = x partpartx
+g|(y=0)partpartz
and necessarily g|(y=0)
is non-vanishing Therefore the restriction to either components is satu-
rated and the singularity is a canonical saddle-node on each of them
The invariant curves are among the axes x = y = 0 x = z = 0 y = z =
0
(c) The fiber has three components xyz = 0 hence λ = minus1 Necessarily
k = xklowast f = yf lowast g = zglowast with klowast + f lowast + glowast = 0 The restriction to
y = 0 is part|(y=0) = x(1 + klowast|(y=0))partpartx
+ zglowast|(y=0)partpartz
since g isin (x y) we have
glowast|(y=0) non-trivial Therefore the restriction to either x = 0 and y = 0
is saturated and the singularity is a canonical saddle-node on each of
them
The restriction to z = 0 is part|(z=0) = x(1 + klowast|(z=0))partpartx
+ y(minus1 + f lowast|(z=0))partparty
therefore the restriction is saturated and has a canonical non-degenerate
singularity
The invariant curves are among the axes x = y = 0 x = z = 0 y = z =
0
Summary with 2 eigenvalues there are either two or three components the
foliation restricts to a canonical saddle-node on two of them and to a non-
degenerate singularity on the third one if it exists All the invariant curves
are in the axes
i (3) partS has three eigenvalues We have partS = x partpartx
+ λy partparty
+ microz partpartz
(a) The fiber has one component y = 0 hence λ = 0 a contradiction
(b) The fiber has two components xy = 0 hence λ = minus1 The restriction to
y = 0 is part|(y=0) = x partpartx
+ microz partpartz
+ partN|(y=0) The singularity is log-canonical
30 FEDERICO BUONERBA
iff micro isin Qgt0 and partN|(y=0)= 0 and in this case the singularity on x = 0 is
canonical non-degenerate Invariant curves are those in y = 0 and the
axis x = z = 0
If the restriction to both fiber components is canonical then it non-
degenerate on both and the invariant curves are contained in the axes
x = y = 0 x = z = 0 y = z = 0
The fiber could be yz = 0 hence λ+micro = 0 It can be analyzed as in the
next item
(c) The fiber has three components xyz = 0 hence 1 + λ + micro = 0 In par-
ticular if λ = cmicro c isin Q+ then λ micro isin Q The restriction to y = 0
is part|(y=0) = x partpartx
+ microz partpartz
+ partN|(y=0) This singularity is log-canonical iff
micro isin Qgt0 and partN|(y=0)= 0 in which case the singularity on both x = 0
and z = 0 is canonical non-degenerate In particular if the singularity
is log-canonical on some fiber component then it is so on exactly one
component and all eigenvalues are rational Invariant curves are those
in y = 0 and the axis x = z = 0
If the restriction to all fiber components is canonical then it non-degenerate
on each of them and the invariant curves are contained in the axes
x = y = 0 x = z = 0 y = z = 0
Summary with 3 eigenvalues there are either two or three fiber components
the foliation restricts to a singular foliation on each of them and it has a
log-canonical singularity on at most one of them in this case all eigenvalues
of the semi-simple field are rational
IIIIII Local consequences We list some corollaries for future reference As al-
ways in this section the statements are local so everything happens in a formal
neighborhood of our point lowast First we state those corollaries we will need to describe
configurations of KF -nil curves
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 31
Definition IIIIII1 An LC-center Π sub X is an irreducible F -invariant formal
hypersurface such that the local vector field generating the foliation when restricted
to Π has semi-simple part with log-canonical singularity or a one-dimensional sin-
gular locus An LC-center with a log-canonical singularity is necessarily an algebraic
component of the singular fiber of p
Corollary IIIIII2 There is at most one LC-center with a log-canonical singularity
through lowast If it exists then all eigenvalues of the semi-simple field at lowast are rational
If there are at least two LC-centers through lowast then there are exactly two and the
foliation singularity is a smooth curve on each of them
Proof Possible cases in which an LC-center with log-canonical singularities appears
ni (2)a i (3)b i (3)c
Corollary IIIIII3 If there is no LC-center thorugh a point lowast then there are at
most three invariant curves through lowast all smooth Any number of them spans a sub-
space of the tangent space at lowast of maximal possible dimension
If there is an LC-center through lowast then there is at most one invariant curve through
lowast and not contained in the LC-center
If there is an LC-center with non-isolated singularity then the singularity is smooth
and all invariant curves contained in the LC-center intersect the singularity trans-
versely
Proof Invariant curves not in an LC-centers with log-canonical singularities are con-
tained in the three axes x = z = 0 x = y = 0 y = z = 0 mentioned in the above
classification The other statements are clear
Corollary IIIIII4 If p is smooth at lowast then Z is one dimensional around lowast
Proof Possible casesni (1)a ni (2)a
In particular if there is no LC-center the situation is the familiary
xz
32 FEDERICO BUONERBA
While if there is an LC-center (pink) with log-canonical singularity it will look like
y
LC-center
While if there is an LC-center with non-isolated singularity (red) it will look like
(the black arrows being invariant curves)
y
LC-center
The next corollary describes one-dimensional components of the foliation singularity
Corollary IIIIII5 If Z0 is a one-dimensional irreducible component of the folia-
tion singularity then it is at worst nodal The foliation when restricted to any fiber
component containing Z0 saturates to a smooth foliation in a neighborhood of Z0
and all the invariant curves are transverse to Z0
If Z0 is contained in exactly one fiber component then the semi-simple field has one
eigenvalue everywhere along Z0
If Z0 lies at the intersection of two fiber components then the semi-simple field has
two constant eigenvalues everywhere along Z0
Moreover if there exist a sequence of invariant curves converging in the compact-
open topology to Z0 then there is generically one eigenvalue along Z0
Proof Possible casesni (1)a ni (1)b ni (2)b ni (2)c Concerning the one-
eigenvalue case invariant curves converging to Z0 can be found in the formal hyper-
surface x = 0
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 33
IV Invariant curves along which KF vanishes
In this section we study in great detail a formal neighborhood of invariant curves
where KF is numerically trivial In the first subsection we deal with KF -nil curves
namely those whose generic point is not contained in the foliation singularity In this
case the normal bundle to the curve determines its formal neighborhood uniquely
and this has plenty of amazing consequences In the second subsection we study
those invariant curves which are contained in the foliation singularity In this case
we are not able to control the full formal neighborhood but important informations
can still be obtained
IVI KF -nil curves In this subsection we study in detail the structure of KF -
nil curves and their formal neighborhoods appearing in the set-up IIVII4 In
particular we will describe a simple process to replace cuspidal KF -nil curves by
net ones prove that the foliation is in the net completion around a net KF -nil curve
defined by a global vector field which admits a global Jordan decomposition deduce
that eigenfunctions for the semi-simple component of such field are also globally
defined on a formal neighborhood
The first important remark is of technical nature and explains how to deal with non-
net KF -nil curves By Proposition IIIV4 this is indeed possible and the images of
such curves will acquire cusp-like singularities It is hard to analyze the geometry
of F around such cuspidal curves and therefore necessary to remove them Let us
assume that C is simply connected with rational moduli f is ramified at 0 isin C
and and denote by X the formal completion along f(C) Then formally around
f(0) the curve f(C) has defining ideal (y xa minus zb) where y = 0 is a fiber of the
fibration p X rarr ∆ containing f(C) x z isin H0(X OX ) restrict to suitable local
coordinates on such fiber and a b ge 2 are coprime integers
Claim IVI1 Let r X ( aradicz = 0) rarr X be the a-th root of z = 0 III3 Then
(rlowastC)norm =∐a
1 C and the induced map rlowastf (rlowastC)norm rarrX ( aradicz = 0) is net
Proof Since r is etale away from z = 0 also rlowastC rarr C is etale away from 0 isin C
Since C 0 is simply connected we have rlowastC rminus1(0) =∐a
1 C 0 This proves
34 FEDERICO BUONERBA
the first statement Let ζ be a function on X ( aradicz = 0) such that ζa = z so then
rlowast(xa minus zb) =prod
ηa=1(x minus ηζb) Every branch is net in 0 and we obtain the second
statement as well
As such upon taking roots we can replace non-net KF -nil invariant curves with
rational moduli by net ones
We now proceed to study net KF -nil curves We will show that the foliation is
defined by a global vector field around a net KF -nil curve with rational moduli and
that such vector field admits a global Jordan decomposition
Proposition IVI2 Notation as in the set-up IIVII4 let f C rarrX be a KF -nil
curve Assume that f is net and let j C rarr C be the net completion along f Then
there exists an isomorphism
(16) OC(KF )simminusrarr OC
In particular there exists a global vector field partf on C that generates F
Proof Since C has rational moduli and is simply connected it has infinite-cyclic
Picard group and we have an isomorphism
(17) OC(KF )simminusrarr OC
Moreover we have a non-canonical splitting of the normal bundle Njsimminusrarr O(minusn) oplus
O(minusm) and we claim that both nm ge 0 Indeed consider the induced semi-stable
fibration C rarr ∆ and let F be the normalization of an irreducible component of a
fiber such that C sub F Consider the exact sequence
(18) 0rarr NCF rarr Nj rarr NFC|C rarr 0
Since KF is nef NCF is not ample since F is a fiber of a fibration also NFC|C is
not ample and this is enough to conclude even though nm may be different from
the degrees of such normal bundles
At this point we can lift the isomorphism 17 over infinitesimal neighborhoods of j
Indeed for every k ge 0 we have an exact sequence
(19) 0rarr Symk ICI2C rarr OCk+1
(KF )rarr OCk(KF )rarr 0
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 35
which shows that the obstruction to lifting the isomorphism lies in
(20) H1(C Symk ICI2C) = H1(C Symk(O(n)oplus O(m))) = 0
From this we can deduce
Proposition IVI3 The vector field partf admits a Jordan decomposition uniformly
along C
Proof The cohomology sequence attached to 19 is
(21) 0rarr H0(C Symk ICI2C)rarr H0(COCk+1
)rarr H0(COCk)rarr 0
Let partk+1 denote the image of partf in End(H0(COCk+1)) Looking at
H0(COCk+1) minusminusminusrarr H0(COCk
)
partk+1
y partk
yH0(COCk+1
) minusminusminusrarr H0(COCk)
we see the canonical Jordan deomposition of partk+1 restricts to that of partk
The above result describes a very useful interplay between normal bundles to
KF -nil curves and the structure of the semi-simple field It turns out that these
informations determine formal neighborhoods uniquely For simplicity let C be
an irreducible component of C without orbifold points Let us assume that part|C is
singular in 0infin Then there exist formal functions x y z at 0 isin C and ξ η ζ at
infin isin C such that x ξ are coordinates along C y η are local sections of OC(minusn)
so η = xny mod(I2C) z ζ are local sections of OC(minusm) so ζ = xmz mod(I2C)
Normalizing so that xminus1partS(x) = ε isin 0 1 we obtain
(22) part0S = εxpart
partx+ λy
part
party+ microz
part
partz partinfinS = minusεξ part
partξ+ (λ+ εn)η
part
partη+ (micro+ εm)ζ
part
partζ
More generally ie C = P1(d e) we have glueing rules x = te ξ = tminusd η = tny and
ζ = tmz mod(I2C) Normalizing so that tminus1partS(t) = ε isin 0 1 we obtain
(23) part0S = eεxpart
partx+ λy
part
party+ microz
part
partz partinfinS = minusdεξ part
partξ+ (λ+ εn)η
part
partη+ (micro+ εm)ζ
part
partζ
36 FEDERICO BUONERBA
It is worth remarking that the above relations hold between eigenvalues at the two
singular point of singular ie nodal or cuspidal KF -nil curves as well this is
easily seen by taking a root followed by net completion and keeping track of the
eigenvalues
Definition IVI4 Let C be a KF -nil curve The foliation singular points along C
are called ends
As well as the existence of Hilbert scheme in the following form
Fact IVI5 Let W sub Xlowast be a curve and D a divisor in the formal neighborhood
of W such that W = D capXlowast scheme-theoretically Then W moves in D
In what follows our main concern is to understand formal neighborhoods of KF -
nil curves Observe that the fibration p when restricted to the formal neighborhood
of such curves provides at least one eigenfunction of the semi-simple field Hence
in order to compute the width IIII we must study the behavior of the other eigen-
function on infinitesimal neighborhoods We first describe the situation inside the
smooth locus of p
Proposition IVI6 (Smooth fiber) Let f C rarrX be an irreducible KF -nil curve
which is contained in the smooth locus of a fiber Xlowast of p Then the end(s) on C are
flat over ∆ ni (1)b and ni (1)a with z2|g(y z) and C moves in a family flat over
∆
Proof Let us assume that f is net Then upon passing to net completion we can
actually assume it is embedded From our local classification of singularities we case
in case ni (1)a and ni (2)a We want to show that both ends have components
that move transversely to p hence we have to exclude case ni (1)a with g(y z) = ya
By way of contradiction say we have g(y z) = ya in the notation of opcit around
an end lowast isin C We proceed to compute what happens at the other end we find
formal coordinates ξ η ζ which by equation 23 satisfy
(24) ξ = xminus1 η = y ζ = xmz mod(I2C)
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 37
As such we compute part(ζ) = mζ + ξminusmηa mod(I2C) which is holomorphic if and only
if m le 0 so then C moves in Xlowast contradicting that the foliation has general type
Hence we are in cases ni (1)a ni (2)a with g = microyazb b ge 1
(25) part0 = xpart
partx+ microyazb
part
partz partinfin = minusξ part
partξ+ ζ(m+ microξm(bminus1)ηaζbminus1)
part
partζ(mod(I2C))
Following notation from subsection IIII observe that C1 is the section of E1C which
is disjoint from the proper transform of the fiber of p In coordinates over 0
(26) x1 = x y1 = y z1 = zyminus1
And similarly over infin Using the previous equation and 25 on C1 we find
(27)
part01 = x1part
partx1+microya+bminus11 zb1
part
partz1 partinfin1 = minusξ1
part
partξ1+ζ1(m+microξ
m(bminus1)1 ηa+bminus11 ζbminus11 )
part
partζ1(mod(I2C1
))
In particular the transform of the nilpotent field is still nilpotent after blowing up in
C It follows that the eigenvalues of the semi-simple field at the two ends of C and
C1 are the same Using equation 23 we deduce that the normal bundle to C1X1 to
isomorphic to that of CX in particular it contains a trivial direct summand This
proves that width(C) =infin
Next we show that f must be net Consider the induced flat projection pD D rarr ∆
its general fiber cannot be a cuspidal curve since along such cusp the foliation sin-
gularity would be log-canonical but not canonical Hence if C has a cusp necessarily
the general fiber of pD is a nodal curve Let X rarr X denote the blow up of the
nodal locus of pD with exceptional divisor E ruled over ∆ In a neighborhood of E
we have sing(F ) = D cap E which projects to ∆ as a double cover ramified over lowastObserve that the foliation on Xlowast is again log-canonical and not canonical hence its
local structure is ni (2)a In that case however p is unramified along the foliation
singularity Contradiction
We state a general criterion for movability of KF -nil curves
Proposition IVI7 Let C be a connected KF -nil curve such that p(C ) = lowast isin ∆
Assume its dual graph is a chain that none of its irreducible components is double
38 FEDERICO BUONERBA
VI3 and that its two extremal ends are flat over ∆ Then C moves in a family flat
over ∆ and each of its irreducible components is embedded
Proof We work in a formal neighborhood of C After taking roots we can assume
C is net and since its dual graph is a chain it is actually embedded We proceed by
induction on its length l where the case l = 1 is Proposition IVI6 For l gt 1 let C1
be a component of C which is extremal in its dual graph If C1 moves transversely
to p then both its ends do and hence we can apply the induction hypothesis to
C C1 If C1 is rigid then it can be flopped It is straightforward to check that we
can apply the induction hypothesis to the transform C + C+1 and we are done
Now we deal with rigid curves inside the singular fiber
Proposition IVI8 (Singular fiber) Let f C rarr X be an embedded net KF -
nil curve with anti-ample normal bundle Then there exists a birational map φ
(X F ) 99K (X +F+) and a KF+-nil curve C+ such that
bull φ is an isomorphism away from C+
bull In a formal neighborhood of at least one among C and C+ there exist two
invariant hypersurfaces D1D2 locally defined by the vanishing of eigenfunc-
tions of the semi-simple field such that C (resp C+)= D1 capD2
bull If F middot C lt 0 for some hypersurface F then F+ middot C+ gt 0 In particular X +
is projective
Such φ is called flop
Proof Our assumption is that Nfsimminusrarr O(minusn)oplusO(minusm) is anti-ample namely nm gt
0 If two invariant hypersurfaces as in our statement do exist around C the flop is
easily constructed as a weighted blow-up followed by a weighted blow-down As such
let us assume that such hypersurfaces do not exist around C In particular C is not
double VI3 By [Ar70] there exists a formal contraction c X rarrX0 collapsing C
to a point and an isomorphism everywhere else By Proposition IVI3 the foliation
F0 is Gorenstein around the node of X0 For ease of exposition let us assume
n = m = 1 the general case is handled the same way only the notation becomes more
cumbersome due to the presence of weights The node has embedding dimension 4
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 39
and in suitable local coordinates x0 y0 w0 z0 can be defined by x0z0minusy0w0 = 0 The
morphism c can be identified with the blow up of the embedded surface (x0 = y0 = 0)
Explicitly in the chart y = y0 x = x0yminus10 it is defined by
(28) y0 = y x0 = xy z0 = zprime w0 = xzprime
Here x is a coordinate along C while y = 0 is the pull-back of (x0 = y0 = 0) and
zprime some function in the normal bundle to C By the previous Proposition IVI6
we know C cannot be contained in the smooth locus of p Since C is not double
we can assume that in this local chart p is defined by (x y zprime) rarr xy - the case
(x y zprime) rarr xzprime being isomorphic as it is isomorphic to blow-up (z0 = w0 = 0)
instead of (x0 = y0 = 0) The issue is as emphasized by the notation zprime 6= z that
zprime may fail to be an eigenfunction for partS if it were we would be done since zprime = 0
is the local equation for the global pullback of (z0 = w0 = 0) However we have
a b isin C such that
(29) partS0(y0) = minusy0 partS0(x0) = 0 partS0(z0) = ay0 + bz0 partS0(w0) = ax0 + (b+ 1)w0
Observe that the embedded surfaces D01 = (y0 = z0 = 0) and D0
2 = (x0 = w0 = 0)
are both foliation invariant As such let b X + rarr X0 denote the blow-up of X0
along D01 - which is isomorphic to that along D0
2 - and let Di = blowastD0i i = 1 2
Finally X + is projective by Nakai-Moishezon Indeed every C with anti-ample
normal bundle is contained in an irreducible component F of X0 such that F middotC lt 0
Then F+ middot C+ gt 0 and we can find an ample divisor of the form H+ + εF+ where
H+ is the proper transform of an ample on X
Remark IVI9 In the previous proof a 6= b+ 1 Indeed such identity would create
a non-trivial Jordan block of partS0 in the (x0 w0)-plane thus contradicting the semi-
simplicity of partS0 In particular by a straightforward computation it is impossible to
find eigenfunctions of the form wlowast0 = w0 + αx0 zlowast0 = z0 + βy0 with x0z
lowast0 minus y0wlowast0 = 0
unless a = 0
We can conclude by pointing out an important point understood in this section
A painful aspect of the theory is that log-canonical singularities which appear natu-
rally as analytic degenerations of canonical ones come along with cuspidal invariant
40 FEDERICO BUONERBA
curves There is in particular no a-priori obstruction to the existence of rigid
cuspidal KF -nil curves in a smooth fiber of our family of foliated surfaces p Quite
generally a rigid curve of positive arithmetic genus in a smooth family of surfaces can
never be contracted to a point Therefore this would have been a counter-example
to any reasonable foliated canonical model theory one may wish to achieve Fortu-
nately such phenomenon does not happen and this establishes the Main Theorem I
modulo finitely many rigid curves confined in the singular fiber X0
IVII Invariant curves inside sing(F ) In this subsection we study curves Z0 subeXlowast cap sing(F ) which are inside the foliation singularity and invariant By this we
mean that there exists a sequence fn Cn rarrX of not necessarily algebraic invariant
curves converging in the compact-open topology to Z0 In other words the map
(30) NorF rarr Ω1Z0
is trivial By Corollary IIIIII5 we know that Z0 is at worst nodal it is smooth
wherever p is smooth for every point z isin Z0 the semi-simple part of the gener-
ating vector field has exactly one eigenvalue The problem here is that the Jordan
decomposition need not extend uniformly along Z0 not even along an irreducible
component In case ni (1)a the functions x and g may develop essential singulari-
ties arbitrary close to z Nonetheless the function x is unique and this says that x
does extend along Z0
Proposition IVII1 Let Z0 be as above Then in a formal neighborhood of Z0
there exists a unique smooth invariant hypersurface D0 containing Z0 which restricts
around any point in Z0 to the unique eigenfunction for the semi-simple field whose
eigenvalue is non-zero
Proof The local structure of the foliation around a point z isin Z0 is described by
cases ni (1)a and ni (1)b In both cases partS has one non-zero eigenvalue with
eigenfunction x Such eigenfunction x is a-priori only defined in the normal bundle to
Z0 but it is clear that the equation partx = x has a unique up to constants solution in
the formal completion around z As such there exists a unique smooth hypersurface
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 41
D0 in the formal completion around Z0 which restricts to the eigenfunction x around
z
Observe that the previous argument goes through since we are assuming Z0 subX0
Keeping notations from case ni (1)a if say g(y z) = yz then in the hypersurface
y equiv q isin Qgt0 the foliation has a log-canonical singularity and the eigenfunction x
extends highly non-uniquely to a formal neighborhood of the point (x y z) = (0 q 0)
In particular the existence of D0 as in the previous Proposition might fail along
the component (x = z = 0) of the foliation singularity This phenomenon is called
the beast
Anyway uniqueness in the previous proposition yields
Corollary IVII2 Let Z prime be a connected invariant curve inside sing(F ) Then in
a formal neighborhood of Z prime there exists a unique smooth invariant hypersurface D prime
containing Z prime which restricts around any point in Z prime to the hypersurface constructed
in the previous proposition
Next we turn to the intrinsic structure of invariant singular curves
Proposition IVII3 Let Z0 be an irreducible invariant curve inside sing(F )
Then Z0 is smooth and rational
Proof We work in a formal neighborhood of Z0 Let F0 denote the unique component
of X0 containing Z0 For any other fiber component F intersecting Z0 non-trivially
blow-up the invariant curve F cap F0 with exceptional divisor EF A straightforward
computation using the local formula ni (1)b shows that the fiber of the natural
projection EF rarr F cap F0 intersecting Z0 is also contained in sing(F ) For Z prime the
maximal connected singular invariant curve containing Z0 let G denote the saturated
foliation induced on D prime It is canonical with reduced singularities and it satisfies
KG = KF |Dprime minus Zprime By adjunction
(31) 2g(Z0)minus 2 + sZG(Z0) = minusZ prime middot Z0
Observe that thanks to our initial sequence of blow-ups the singularities of G along
Z0 coincide with the intersection of Z0 and Z prime Z0 In particular since D prime is formally
42 FEDERICO BUONERBA
flat over ∆ we deduce Z prime middot Z0 = 0 and the previous formula becomes
(32) 2g(Z0)minus 2 + sZG(Z0) = 0
This implies that Z0 is rational or elliptic If Z0 were elliptic then sZG(Z0) = 0 and
D0 defines an invariant elliptic curve in the general fiber of p By Baum-Bott this
contradicts that KF is big and nef Now we show that Z0 is smooth If it has a node
then D0 moves it in a family of nodal rational curves flat over ∆ In particular D0
itself has a node in codimension 1 hence Xlowast is smooth around the node of Z0 In its
formal neighborhood the foliation must be as in case ni (1)a which implies that
Z0 is smooth contradiction
We can improve as follows
Proposition IVII4 Let Z prime sube sing F capXlowast be a connected invariant curve with
KF middot Z prime = 0 Then its dual graph is a chain
Proof Assume Z prime is a cycle Then necessarily Z prime = D prime capXlowast scheme-theoretically
and by the existence of Hilbert scheme Z prime moves in the general fiber Its general
member is either a cycle of smooth rational curves or an elliptic curve Arguing as
in the previous proof we see that both options are impossible
V Configurations
In this section we analyze in great detail all possible configurations of invariant
curves along which KF vanishes These can be divided into three groups those
that do not move those that move in a one-dimensional family covering a surface
those that move in a higher-dimensional family covering a surface Curves in the first
group can form rather complicated configurations while those in the second group
are more simple they either move in the general fiber or they cover an isolated
Riccati component in the singular fiber Those in the third group turn out to be
represented by the two rulings of P1timesP1 if they happen to be cohomologous in the
ambient stack First we will analyze rigid curves then those which move and finally
we will describe their configurations
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 43
VI Configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially In
this subsection we describe configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF
trivially which arise in the situation described by set-up IIVII4
First we focus on KF -nil curves At the end of the section we deal with the simpler
case in which a curve in the configuration is fully contained in sing(F ) The general
fiber was handled in Proposition IVI6
Proposition VI1 Let C be a connected KF -nil curve contained in the smooth
locus of a fiber of p Then it is a chain or a cycle and it moves in a family flat over
∆
In what follows we let C denote a connected KF -nil curve contained in the
singular fiber X0 all of whose sub-curves are rigid in X Observe a consequence of
equation 23
Proposition VI2 Let C = cupiCi be a connected KF -nil curve Then the eigen-
values of partS are all rational at every point of sing(F )capC if and only if they are all
rational at one point
We can deduce many non-trivial properties about configurations of KF -nil curves
First we need
Definition VI3 Let C subX0 be a curve It is called double if there exists formally
around C two components F F prime of X0 such that C = F cap F prime A point lowast isin C where
three fiber components intersect is called a triple point If C lies on exactly one fiber
component it is called non-double We denote by F (C) such component
Remark VI4 Let Csimminusrarr P1(d e) be double with two triple points Then we know
e+ λ+ micro = minusd+ (λ+ n) + (micro+m) = 0 whence we obtain
(33) n+m = d+ e
Which is called triple-point formula
Next we show that essentially KF -nil curves do not form cycles unless something
deforms in X0 First we show that there are no cycles of rigid non-double curves
44 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proposition VI5 Let C be a connected KF -nil curve contained in the singular
fiber X0 of p Assume that every component of C is non-double and that every
sub-curve is rigid Then C contains no cycles
Proof We work in a formal neighborhood of C which we assume is a cycle Let
us first consider the case in which all components C1 middot middot middot CN are smooth with no
orbifold points and denote lowasti = Ci cap Ci+1 with CN+1 = C1 Moreover let us
assume no lowasti lies in the smooth locus of p
Since no curve is double the semi-simple field at every lowasti is as in case i (3)b in
particular the eigenvalues along the branches of Ci and Ci+1 add up to zero More-
over let minusni denote the self-intersection of Ci sub F (Ci) Normalize the eigenvalues
of partS so that at lowastn they are 1 in the C1 direction minus1 in the CN direction λ in the
F (C1)capF (CN) direction It follows by induction that at lowasti the eigenvalues are minus1
in the Ci direction 1 in the Ci+1 direction λ+ n1 + middot middot middot+ ni in the F (Ci) cap F (Ci+1)
direction After traveling around the cycle we obtain n1+middot middot middot+nN = 0 contradicting
that ni gt 0 for every i
We established the Proposition assuming every Ci is an embedded scheme and ev-
ery lowasti is in the singular locus of p The case in which Cisimminusrarr P1(di ei) has orbifold
points is analogous we end up with a combination c1n1 + middot middot middot + cNnN = 0 with ci
the eigenvalue at lowasti in the Ci+1 direction Normalizing so that c1 = e1 gt 0 again by
induction on i we see that every ci isin Qgt0 Next we show that our assumption on lowastiis always satisfied
Claim VI6 Every lowasti must belong to the singular locus of p
Proof We give two essentially equivalent proofs
bull If N = 2 3 then the previous argument goes through indeed we can normal-
ize eigenvalues at lowasti to be negative in the Ciminus1 direction and positive in the
Ci-direction and argue as above Hence we can assume N ge 4 If say lowasti is in
the smooth locus of p then F (Ci) = F (Ci+1) If also F (Ciminus1) = F (Ci) then Ci
lies in the smooth locus of p and hence it moves Therefore F (Ciminus1) 6= F (Ci)
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 45
and Ciminus1 can be flopped inside F (Ci) Since N ge 4 this preserves the smooth-
ness of F (Ci) and Ci is now is the smooth locus of p - contradiction
bull If lowasti belongs to the smooth locus of p then the end through lowasti moves We
can form a partial net completion fi Xi rarrX by normalizing C in lowasti only
Then f lowasti C is a chain with movable ends and hence moves in the general fiber
of p fi
Finally the general case in which some among the Ci have cusps can be easily
reduced to the smooth case in a couple of ways
bull Eigenvalues at the singularities of any KF -nil curve satisfy the same relations
as in the smooth case
bull Upon taking roots and net completion we can find a foliated formal 3-fold
supported on a cycle of smooth KF -nil curves which is a ramified cover of a
formal neighborhood of our cycle
Similarly we can show that there are no rigid cycles of double curves
Proposition VI7 Let C be a nodal KF -nil curve which is double Then C
deforms inside X0 In particular there cannot exist a rigid cycle of KF -nil double
curves
Proof Following the previous notation we have 0 = infin and if C = (xy = z = 0)
around 0 then we have identities
(34) x = η y = ξ z = ζ
The last one of which implies m = 0 that is C deforms Since C is double necessarily
the surface it spans must be contained in X0
The statement about cycles follows since a cycle of double curves can be transformed
after finitely many flops into a chain of smooth double curves with a nodal one
attached at one end
46 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Later on we will show that the deformations of C cannot span an elliptic surface
but only a family of nodal rational curves with a special Riccati foliation on it
We are ready to organize a detailed description of the dual graph of C More pre-
cisely we only need to understand how double curves intersect non-double curves
Lemma VI8 There exists a sequence of flops X 99KX + such that if C + denotes
the transform of C every double curve supported on C + contains two triple points
Proof Let C sube C be an irreducible component with at most one triple point and
let X 99K X + be its flop Then its transform C+ is non-double and the number
of double curves contained in C descreases It is clear that after finitely many flops
all double curves contain exactly two triple points
From now on all double curves in C have two triple points Thanks to proposition
VI2 we know that there are two cases to consider those curves along which the
semi-simple field has not only rational eigenvalues and those along which the semi-
simple field has only rational eigenvalues The first case being strictly easier than
the second it is a good starting place to warm up
Proposition VI9 (irrational eigenvalues) Assume that for every foliation singu-
larity along C not all eigenvalues of partS are rational Then every component of C
is net with at most one node and 1-skeleton of its dual graph is at worst trivalent
Write C = C axes cup C free where
C axes is the union of double curves
C free is the union of non-double curves
Then one among C axes and C free is empty Moreover
bull If C free is non-empty then it is a chain of smooth curves with rational moduli
bull If C axes is non-empty there exists a sequence of flops X 99KX + and an ir-
reducible component of the fiber FC subX + such that X + is a smooth stack
the transform C+ of C is contained in FC Moreover the dual graph of C+
is a tree which by [McQ08 III32] becomes a chain inside the normalization
of FC
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 47
Proof The first sentence is just corollary IIIIII3
Observe that if a non-double curve intersects a double curve then the non-double
curve must be contained in an LC-center around such intersection This contradicts
that not all eigenvalues are rational and establishes that one among C axes and C free
is empty
In case C free is not empty then it is clearly a chain or a cycle the latter being
impossible by Proposition VI5
We are left to show the existence of flops in case C = C axes We remark that
every component is smooth Let C0 be such a component and S0 a component of
X0 containing it Let C1 be the collection of irreducible components of C which
intersect S0 but are not contained in it All the components of C1 are smooth hence
we can flop them in any order until the transform of C1 lies in the transform of S0
Since the number of irreducible components of C lying outside S0 decreases after
such flop by induction we deduce the existence of finitely many flops after which
the birational transform of C is fully contained in the transform of S0
Next we take care of rational eigenvalues The complication here arises from
the fact that there may be double and non-double curves intersecting each other
However the situation is best possible
Proposition VI10 (rational eigenvalues) Assume that for every foliation singu-
larity along C all eigenvalues of partS are rational Write C = C axes cup C free where
C axes is the union of double curves
C free is the union of non-double curves
Then there exists a sequence of flops X 99K X + and an irreducible component of
the fiber FC axes subX + such that
bull X + is a smooth stack
bull The union of double curves of C axes is contained in FC axes the 1-skeleton of
its dual graph is a tree and each of its components has two triple points
bull The 1-skeleton of the dual graph of the transform C free+ is a disjoint union of
trees
bull Each connected component of C free+ intersects C axes in exactly one point
48 FEDERICO BUONERBA
In particular the 1-skeleton of the dual graph of C is a tree
Proof Notice that for every point lowast isin C cap Z there exists one LC-center through lowastIndeed there are three rational eigenvalues and they cannot be all non-vanishing and
all with different signs at the same time Now C axes can be treated as in proposition
VI9 This proves the first two items of the statement The third item follows from
Proposition VI5 so we can focus on the fourth one The proof is based on the
following obvious
Remark VI11 let C be a double curve such that either it is KF -nil hence has
two triple points or it is fully contained in sing(F ) Let C0 sube C free intersect C
non-trivially in a point lowast then necessarily C0 sub LClowast
Now let C0 middot middot middot CN form a chain of non-double curves with C0 and CN both
intersecting double curves as in the remark Denote by lowasti = Ci cap Ci+1 Since
C1 sub LClowast necessarily C1 is transverse to LClowast1 otherwise C1 would deform in F (C1)
Inductively we see that Ci+1 sub LClowasti and is transverse to LClowasti+1 In particular CN
cannot touch a double curve This contradiction proves the fourth item
Let us add a remark about configurations featuring invariant curves inside sing(F )
Proposition VI12 Let C be an invariant curve with KF middot C = 0 such that
Z0 sube C for some component Z0 sube sing(F ) Then C = Z prime cup C where
Z prime is a connected invariant curve inside the foliation singularity with dual graph a
chain
C is the union of at most two pairwise disjoint KF -nil curves with anti-ample
normal bundle
If not empty C can only intersect Z prime at the two ends of its dual graph Moreover
perhaps after a flop the intersection of C with Z prime supports the foliation singularity
along C As such if C has two components Z prime cup C deforms in the general fiber
Proof The structure of Z prime is Proposition IVII3 while that of Co is Proposition
IVI6 Let C prime be a component of C intersecting Z0 in a point lowast If C prime and Z0 belong
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 49
to different components of X0 then by case ni (1)b the eigenvalue of partS along C prime
vanishes so supp(sing(F ) cap C prime) = lowast If C prime and Z0 belong to the same component
then we can flop C prime into a different component
Observe that the divisor D prime from op cit can be extended along C prime This implies
that C can only intersect Z prime at its ends Moreover if C touches both ends necessarily
D prime capX0 = C scheme-theoretically hence by the existence of Hilbert scheme IVI5
we conclude
Our new set-up is
Set-up VI13 Everything as in set-up IIVII4 and moreover for any connected
invariant curve C with KF middot C = 0 all of whose sub-curves are rigid we have
configurations computed in proposition VI9 VI10 and Lemma VI12
VII Configurations of non-rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
In this subsection we describe configurations of surfaces which are covered by KF -nil
curves The structure of each such surface is described by classification IIV1 IIV2
and Corollary IIVI17 Our first step is to simplify the situation by contracting
chains of ruled surfaces The next step is to try and exclude the possibility that
the singular fiber of p contains fibrations by elliptic or nodal rational curves with
at least one invariant fiber This can be achieved with good success indeed there
may be at most one such Riccati foliation which is anyway rather isolated from the
remaining KF -nil curves Finally we observe that the only class of surfaces we have
not mentioned is
Definition VII1 A irreducible component F of the singular fiber of p is called
small Kronecker if
bull (FFF ) is birational to a Kronecker vector field on P1 timesP1 and
bull The two rulings of this P1 timesP1 are cohomologous inside X
The name comes from the fact that contraction of a small Kronecker yields a node
in the ambient threefold which admits a small resolution In fact in many respects
these fiber components behave very much like rigid KF -nil curves
50 FEDERICO BUONERBA
We start by getting rid of some fiber components which are ruled by KF -nil gener-
ically smooth rational curves
Proposition VII2 Notation as in Set-up VI13 there exists a sequence of flops
and divisorial contractions c X 99KX + such that
bull X + is a smooth stack
bull let S+ sub X + be an irreducible invariant divisor that contains a positive-
dimensional family of invariant rational curves along which KF+ vanishes
Then S+ is either birationally ruled by nodal rational curves or it is a small
Kronecker
Proof We focus first on contracting components of the singular fiber of p Consider
the following algorithm If there is no birationally ruled component different from
the ones listed in the second item we are done otherwise pick one such F and let
C denote the general member of the ruling If the cohomology class [C] is inde-
composable F is minimal Otherwise [C] = [C1] + [C2] where Ci are rational and
intersect KF trivially After finitely many steps we have a decomposition as a finite
sum of indecomposables [C] =sumn
i=0 ni[Ci] where every Ci is rational intersects KF
trivially We have two cases
bull There exists k such that Ck deforms in a birationally ruled necessarily min-
imal surface Fk
bull Every Ci has anti-ample normal bundle
In the first case denote by X rarr X1 the contraction of Fk along |Ck| and relpace
X by X1 Since Fk is minimal smoothness of the ambient stack is preserved unless
Fk is a small Kronecker This is however impossible if n ge 2 if Fk were a small
Kronecker then Ck deforms away from Fkminus1 so then Fkminus1 middot Ck = 0 on the other
hand Fkminus1 intersects the other ruling of Fk positively
In the second case flop C1 middot middot middot Cn in this order The transform of F is minimal and
not a small Kronecker so it can be contracted along its ruling preserving ambient
smoothness By induction on the Picard rank of X after finitely many steps this
algorithm ends Call X the output of this algorithm
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 51
Let S subX be an invariant divisor with a generically smooth ruling Then pS S rarr∆ is flat and after flopping finitely many rational curves in S cap plowastS(0) the resulting
pS is smooth Hence we can contract S along pS After finitely many steps the
Proposition is proven
For ease of notation in the sequel we call X the output of the previous proposition
Notice that there might still be divisors carrying a pencil of nodal rational curves
both inside and outside the singular fiber of p
We can start analyzing configurations of fiber components where the restriction of
F is not of general type We need some notation whose reason to exist will be clear
shortly
Definition VII3 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
along which KF is not big F is called special Riccati if
bull F is minimal
bull There exists a morphism s F rarr B onto a curve whose fibers are nodal
rational curve
bull F is transverse to the general fiber of s in particular KF is numerically
trivial along s
bull At least one fiber of s is invariant
bull There exists a section σ of s which is invariant and does not coincide with
the nodal locus of F
In particular the intersections of σ with invariant fibers of s isolated singularities
of F the node of F all coincide There may be fibers of s fully contained in sing(F )
in which case they are everywhere transverse to the saturated foliation
The definition looks nasty but special Riccati components have a rather simple
origin as the following proof shows
Lemma VII4 Let F be special Riccati Up to base change by an etale double cover
Bprime rarr B there is a natural isomorphism F norm simminusrarr BprimetimesP1 and the restriction of F
to F norm is birational to the projection onto P1
52 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proof We work over the normalization F norm Denote by Bprime the pre-image of the
node of F which is an etale double cover of B and let f denote an invariant fiber
of s with lowast = σ cap f Observe that F norm carries a Riccati foliation with 3 invariant
curves through lowast - namely σ f and a component of Bprime Hence FF has a log-canonical
singularity in lowast On F norm perform a weighted blow-up in each log-canonical singu-
larity followed by the contraction of the transforms of the corresponding fibers Let
s+ F+ rarr B denote the output of this operation If the proper transform of Bprime is
connected replace F+ by its base change under Bprime rarr B Hence we can assume Bprime
is the disjoint union of two sections of s+ and the transform of σ is a third section
which is disjoint from Bprime Therefore F+ = P1 timesBprime and the foliation restricts to the
projection onto P1
Next we describe those surfaces which cannot appear as components of the sin-
gular fiber X0
Definition VII5 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
along which KF is not big F is called illusory if
bull there exists a morphism t F rarr B onto a curve
bull KF is trivial along t
bull For any other fiber component F prime the intersection F cap F prime is either empty or
contained in a fiber of t
We give examples of illusory fiber components
Lemma VII6 The following fiber components are necessarily illusory
bull t is elliptic the foliation is either parallel to t or turbolent with at least one
invariant fiber
bull t is a nodal ruling the foliation is either parallel to t or transverse to t with
at least one invariant fiber and not birational to a special Riccati VII3
Proof Let f = F cap F prime for some fiber component F prime It is F -invariant
Assume t and F are parallel and f is transverse to both Then necessarily f subesing(F ) and KF is positive along the fibers of t contradiction
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 53
Assume t and F are generically transverse and f is transverse to t Let e be an
invariant fiber of t then ecap f isin sing(F ) hence t must be a family of nodal rational
curves and ecapf coincides with the node of e - otherwise KF would be positive along
t But this implies F is special Riccati contradiction
We proceed to show that illusory fibers do not exist
Lemma VII7 Let F be an illusory fiber component then every fiber of t is irre-
ducible If F prime is any fiber component intersecting F non-trivially then F prime is illusory
Proof Assume t has a reducible fiber f Then we can write f = f prime cup f primeprime where f prime
is irreducible and f primeprime is a disjoint union of chains of rational curves In particular
every subscheme supported on f primeprime is rigid in X f prime is rational and smooth iff f is a
cycle of rational curves hence the foliation on F is parallel to t and the choice of f prime
is not unique otherwise f prime is nodal or elliptic Let X 99KX + denote the flop of the
irreducible components of f primeprime in any order The proper transform f prime+ (below in red)
is the irreducible fiber of the induced morphism t+ F+ rarr B Since f primeprime+ intersects
f prime+ and is not contained in F+ there exists a component F prime of the fiber of p+ such
that F+ cap f prime+ 6= empty Since F+ is illusory necessarily F+ cap F prime = f prime+ Moreover F+
and F prime are the only fiber components intersecting f prime+ again because F+ is illusory
We deduce that F+ middot f prime+ = F prime middot f prime+ = 0 and therefore f prime+ is nef inside F prime It follows
that he restriction of F+ to F prime is not of general type and by the classification of
foliated surfaces [McQ08] necessarily f prime+ deforms inside F prime and defines a fibration
u F prime rarr Bprime In particular f prime+ is an irreducible fiber of u This is however impossible
since u contracts all the components of f primeprime+ contained in F prime (below in blue) and by
definition of F prime there exists at least one such component This proves that every
fiber of t is irreducible The following depicts the situation
F prime F+
f prime+
f primeprime+
t+u
54 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Concerning the second statement we only need to check the third condition for F prime
to be illussory namely that every other fiber component F primeprime intersecting F prime does
so along the fibers of u If F primeprime intersects F prime transversely to u then F primeprime intersects F
non-trivially and transversely to t as well absurd
Corollary VII8 Illusory components do not exist
Proof By the above lemma the existence of one illusory component implies that
every irreducible component of the singular fiber of p is illusory contradicting that
KF is big
We can now focus on fiber components that do appear
Corollary VII9 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
containing an invariant curve C which moves and such that KF middot C = 0 Then
following the classification [McQ08] we have two cases
(1) The minimal model of F is a special Riccati component
(2) F is a small Kronecker
Proof Certainly the ones listed are the only cases where C is KF -nil We have to
exclude the possibility that C is invariant inside sing(F ) By Proposition IVII3
such C would be rational with at most one node Since we already contracted at
the beginning of the present subsection all ruled surfaces necessarily C is nodal
However by opcit C cannot intersect any other fiber component of X0 which
implies the absurdity that X0 = F
We proceed to show that special Riccati components are rather isolated in the
fiber
Lemma VII10 Let F be a special Riccati component If F prime is a fiber component
intersecting F non-trivially then it does so transversely to s Morover there is
exactly one such F prime
Proof After finitely many flops we can assume that every fiber of s is irreducible
By the non-existence of illusory components there exists a fiber component F lowast with
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 55
σprime = F cap F prime transverse to s If F primeprime is a fiber component with f = F cap F primeprime a fiber
of s then we claim f sube sing(F ) If not then since KF middot f = 0 and σprime is invariant
necessarily σprimecap f is the node of f But then the existence of F primeprime contradicts that p is
snc Hence f sube sing(F ) so then around the node of f there are 3 fiber components -
two branches coming from F one from F primeprime - and sing(F ) has 2 branches - namely f
This is impossible by our case analysis ni (1)c ni (2)c The very same reasoning
establishes the uniqueness of F prime
Lemma VII11 Let F be as in the previous Lemma If C is a connected curve
with KF middot C = 0 then it is disjoint from F
Proof After finitely many flops s is irreducible and C intersects F transversely away
from its node Moreover lowast = C cap F isin sing(F ) and we deduce that the fiber of s
through lowast is fully contained in the singular locus of F This contradicts Proposition
IVII3 since such fiber is nodal
We conclude by observing the obvious
Lemma VII12 Let F be a small Kronecker Then there exists a contraction
c X rarr X prime which is an isomorphism away from F and contracts F along one
of its rulings Necessarily X prime is not projective since every global Cartier divisor
intersects c(F ) trivially On the other hand in a formal neighborhood of c(F ) there
exist Cartier divisors intersecting it non-trivialliy
As such the contribution coming from non-rigid curves is rather poor there are
curves moving in the general fiber there are special Riccati components disjoint from
any other invariant curve intersecting KF trivially there are small Kroneckers who
can be contracted to curves We shall see in the next section that the complications
arising from the contraction of such non-rigid curves is purely psychological and
totally harmless
56 FEDERICO BUONERBA
VI Contractions and proof of the Main Theorem
In this section we contract all invariant curves along which KF is zero thereby
establishing the existence of canonical models I First we contract non-rigid curves
as described in the previous subsection
bull Small Kroneckers along either ruling Albeit this destroys projectivity of
the ambient threefold there still exist Cartier divisors defined in a formal
neighborhood of the base curve that intersect it non-trivially
bull Families of irreducible nodal rational curves which are flat over ∆ This
creates elliptic singularities on the general fiber of p which are disjoint from
other invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
bull Special Riccati again families of irreducible nodal rational curves fully con-
tained in X0 This creates elliptic singularities disjoint from other invariant
curves intersecting KF trivially
We can summarize our situation by way of
Set-up VI1 X is a 3-dimensional DM stack with at worst elliptic singularities
F a foliation by curves with canonical singularities which is not Q-Cartier in a
neighborhood of Xsing
There exists a proper morphism p X rarr ∆ smooth off 0 isin ∆ F restricts to a
foliation on every fiber of p it has canonical singularities on the very general fiber
of p and log-canonical singularities on every fiber of p KF is big and nef on every
irreducible component of every fiber of p
Let C be the invariant sub-scheme along which KF is not big then C is a curve
fully contained in the smooth locus X0capXsmooth every sub-curve of C has anti-ample
normal bundle the 1-simplex of its dual graph is a tree and detailed configurations
of such are referenced in set-up VI13
We proceed to contract such C We assume that along C the semi-simple field has
only rational eigenvalues and moreover no component of C is inside the foliation
singularity The other two cases - irrational eigenvalues and presence of singular
component - are strictly easier and can be obtained with the very same method
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 57
The proof takes place in the formal completion around C = C free cup C axes The
former is a disjoint union of trees of non-double curves For each non-double C let
F (C) denote the unique component of X0 containing it The latter is a tree of double
curves each with two triple points all contained in the same irreducible FC axes Each
tree of non-double curves touches C axes in one point through a LC-center In order
to construct the contraction we will use Artinrsquos celebrated criterion in the following
form
Fact VI1 ([Ar70]) Let X be an irreducible algebraic space i Y rarr X a closed
subspace of pure codimension 1 and f Y rarr Y0 a proper morphism with flowastOY = OY0
Let X denote the formal completion of X along Y and assume there exists a Cartier
divisor D in X which is supported on Y and is f -anti-ample Then there exists a
proper morphism of algebraic spaces F X rarr X0 which is an isomorphism away
from Y and such that ilowastF = f
Now we use the tree structure of C to construct a suitable divisor to which apply
Artinrsquos theorem Namely consider the following inductive defintion
(35) C0 = C axes F0 = FC axes
For k ge 0 assume Ck Fk are defined
bull Let Ck+1 denote the union of irreducible components of C that intersect Fk
non-trivially but are not contained in cupilekFibull Let Fk+1 denote the reduced sum (
sumCsubeCk+1
F (C))red
This process stops with a collection C1 middot middot middotCN of curves and F1 middot middot middot FN of reduced
divisors
Lemma VI1 We have the following identities
(36)
Fk middot C lt 0 for every C sube Ck
(F0 + F1) middot C le 0 for every C sube C0
(Fkminus1 + Fk + Fk+1) middot C = 0 for every C sube Ck 1 lt k lt N
(FNminus1 + FN) middot C lt 0 for every C sube CN
58 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proof The first is just the fact that every component of C is rigid The remaining
three follow from X0 middot C = 0 but the last one requires further justification Indeed
if C sube CN N gt 0 then C is one end of a tree of non-double curves In particular
there exists a foliation singularity lowast isin C disjoint from any other component of
C and LClowast is transverse to C This implies LClowast middotC gt 0 which together with
(FNminus1 + FN + LClowast) middot C = 0 concludes the proof
Let ε1 middot middot middot εN isin Qgt0 and define
(37) F Nminusk = (1 + ε1 + middot middot middot+ εk)FNminusk
bull If C sube CN we have
(38) (F Nminus1 + F
N) middot C = ε1FNminus1 middot C + (FNminus1 + FN) middot C
bull If C sube CNminusk 1 lt k lt N we have
(39)
(F Nminuskminus1 + F
Nminusk + F Nminusk+1) middot C =
(1 + middot middot middot+ εk)(FNminuskminus1 + FNminusk + FNminusk+1) middot C minus εkFNminusk+1 middot C + εk+1FNminuskminus1 middot C =
minus εkFNminusk+1 middot C + εk+1FNminuskminus1 middot C
bull If C sube C0 we have
(40) (F 0 + F
1) middot C = εNF0 middot C + (Nminus1sumj=0
εj)(F0 + F1) middot C
It is clear that provided
(41) 1 gtgt ε1 gtgt middot middot middot gtgt εN
the divisor F =sumF k is negative along every component of C
This proves the existence of the contraction and concludes the proof of the Main
Theorem I
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 59
VII Moduli space of foliated surfaces of general type
In this section we study the modular variation of foliated surfaces of general type
The upshot is that it is possible to define a functor which is representable separated
and every irreducible component is proper The main issue here is that the supporting
surface of a foliated canonical model may well fail to be projective indeed KF is not
Q-Gorenstein in general Hence in order to proceed via standard methods [Ko17]
we have to parametrize our canonical models together with a suitable projective
resolution
Definition VII13 Let (SF ) be a foliated proper reduced purely 2-dimensional
DM stack Assume S has only normal crossing singularities in codimension 1 that
F has log-canonical foliation singularities and that KF is big and nef on at least
one of the irreducible components of S If whenever KF middot C = 0 for some curve C
then C moves in an irreducible component of S and no member of such deformation
is F -invariant then (SF ) is called foliated canonical model of general type
Clearly foliated canonical models are exactly the stable degenerations appearing
as the central fiber of our Main Theorem I Their lack of projectivity has two sources
namely the contraction of cycles of smooth KF -nil curves and of trees of cuspidal
ones Singularities arising from cycles behave well in families namely they always
deform into the general fiber Those arising from cuspidal curves on the other hand
tend to be rather isolated inside the degenerate fiber
Observe that the deformation theory of a foliated surface is rather simple suppose
given an infinitesimal C-algebras extension 0 rarr J rarr Ae rarr A rarr 0 and (SF )
a foliated surface flat over Spec(A) then the obstruction to lifting to Ae can be
understood in three simple steps
(1) Deformation of the underlying surface S once a deformation Se rarr Spec(Ae)
is given
(2) Deformation of the line bundle KF by the exponential sequence
(42) 0rarr J otimes OS rarr OlowastSerarr OlowastS rarr 0
obstructions lie in H2(SOS)otimes J once a deformation of KF is given
60 FEDERICO BUONERBA
(3) Deformation of the defining section OS rarr KF otimes TS obstructions lie in
H1(SKF otimes TS)otimes J
Now we have
Definition VII14 Let (SF ) be a foliated canonical model of general type A
proper birational morphism q (SF )proj rarr (SF ) is called its projective resolution
if
bull Every irreducible component of Sproj is smooth
bull The exceptional locus of q is a disjoint union of cycles of KFproj-nil smooth
curves and trees of KFproj-nil curves each of which has a non-trivial cuspidal
singularity
bull In a neighborhood of every q-exceptional cycle not only Sproj but also its
moduli space is smooth
We need a few remarks about projective resolutions
(1) Projective resolutions are always unique Indeed the only possible ambiguity
could lie in some extra smooth irreducible components in the exceptional
locus This is forbidden by definition in the trees of cuspidal curves it is
also forbidden by way of the third item in cycles of smooth ones ie on
algebraic surfaces the minimal resolution is unique
(2) Denote by E the collection of q-exceptional cycles Then there exist ε δ isinQgt0 such that KFproj
minus εE + δKSprojis ample by Nakai-Moishezon
(3) Deformations of a projective resolution of a foliated canonical model are
canonically identified with deformations of the underlying birational mor-
phism q Sproj rarr S followed by a deformation of the foliation F
We are now ready to construct a moduli functor for foliated surfaces more precisely
for projective resolutions of foliated canonical models of general type For m dN isinN and ε δ isin Qgt0 let
(43) MmdNεδ (C-schemes)rarr (sets)
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 61
be defined by MmdNεδ(S) = Diagrams
(44) (X F )projqminusrarr (X F )
pminusrarr S
Where
bull Both p and p q are flat and proper
bull For every closed point s isin S the induced morphism qs is the projective
resolution of (X F )s which is a foliated canonical model of general type
bull Denote by Es the collection of exceptional cycles of qs By our Main Theorem
I there is a fibrewise divisor E subXproj flat over S restricting to Es for every
s isin S
bull Let j W rarr Xproj denote the maximal closed subscheme away from which
KFprojand KXprojS are locally free Then
(45) L [m] = (jlowast(KFprojotimes OXproj
(minusεE )otimesKδXprojS
)otimesm)oror
is flat over S and commutes with base-change
bull L [m] is very ample of degree d on every fiber and defines an embedding into
PNS
We are now ready for
Theorem VII15 The functor MmdNεδ is represented by a separated algebraic
space each of whose irreducible components is proper
Proof We show that our functor satisfies Artinrsquos conditions [Ar74 Corollary 54] By
definition condition 1) and 4) hold while our previous remark on foliated obstruction
theory shows that 3) is true
We proceed to show 2) namely effectivity of formal deformations for MmdNεδ
What follows owes much to Artinrsquos [A74rsquo] Let T be a complete C-algebra Tn its
n-truncation so that Tsimminusrarr limlarrminusTn and finally qn isinMmdNεδ(Spec(Tn)) a compatible
sequence For each n there is a maximal open set Un sube Xprojn where qn is an
isomorphism denote by sn Cn rarr Zn the restriction of qn to the complement of Un
Clearly sn is projective over Spec(Tn)
62 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Denote by X C etc the formal algebraic spaces obtained as limits of Xn Cn
etc Then Xproj sub PNˆSpec(T )
hence by Grothendieckrsquos existence Theorem we find
bull a flat projective family (X F )proj rarr Spec(T ) resp a closed subscheme
C subXproj whose completion is Xproj resp C
bull a scheme Z whose completion is Z and a morphism s C rarr Z everything
being projective over Spec(T )
Further we have a formal contraction limminusrarr qn C rarr Z hence the main theorem
of [Ar70] gives algebraic contraction (X F )proj rarr (X F ) This proves the repre-
sentability of MmdNεδ The properness and separability of each irreducible com-
ponent can be checked using valutative criteria indeed properness is the content of
our Main Theorem I separatedness follows from the uniqueness of foliated canonical
models of general type and their projective resolution
References
[Ar70] M Artin Algebraization of Formal Moduli II Existence of Modifications Ann
of Math Vol 91 No 1 (Jan 1970) pp 88-135 httpwwwjstororgstable
1970602
[Ar74] M Artin Versal Deformations and Algebraic Stacks Inventiones Math 27 165- 189
(1974) httpmathuchicagoedu~drinfeldArtin_on_stackspdf
[A74rsquo] M Artin Algebraic construction of Brieskornrsquos resolutions J Alg Vol 29 Issue
2 May 1974 pp 330-348 httpwwwsciencedirectcomsciencearticlepii
0021869374901021
[BB72] P Baum R Bott Singularities of holomorphic foliations J Diff Geom 7 (1972)
279-342 httpsprojecteuclidorgdownloadpdf_1euclidjdg1214431158
[Bo77] F Bogomolov Families of curves on a surface of general type Doklady Akademii Nauk
USSR (in Russian) 236 (5) 1041-1044
[Bo78] F Bogomolov Holomorphic tensors and vector bundles on projective varieties Math
USSR Izv 13 (1978) 499-555
[BM16] F Bogomolov M McQuillan Rational Curves on Foliated Varieties In Cascini
McKernan Pereira (eds) Foliation Theory in Algebraic Geometry Simons Symposia
Springer Cham pp 21-51 (2016) httpslinkspringercomchapter101007
978-3-319-24460-0_2
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 63
[Bu] F Buonerba Functorial resolution of tame quotient singularities in positive charac-
teristic httpsarxivorgabs151100550
[Ke99] S Keel Basepoint Freeness for Nef and Big Line Bundles in Positive Characteris-
tic Annals of Math 149 No 1 (Jan 1999) pp 253-286 httpwwwjstororg
stable121025 httpsarxivorgabsmath9901149
[KM97] S Keel S Mori Quotients by groupoids Annals of Math 145 (1997) pp
193-213 httpwwwjstororgstable2951828seq=1page_scan_tab_contents
httparxivorgabsalg-geom9508012
[Ko17] J Kollar Families of varieties of general type httpswebmathprincetonedu
~kollarbookmodbook20170720pdf
[LN02] A Lins Neto Some examples for the Poincare and Painleve problems Annales sci-
entifiques de lrsquoENS 352 (2002) 231-266 httparchivenumdamorgarticle
ASENS_2002_4_35_2_231_0pdf
[McQ12] M McQuillan Foliated Mori Theory amp Hyperbolicity of Algebraic Surfaces http
wwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillahomehtml
[McQ98] M McQuillan Diophantine approximation and foliations Inst Hautes Etudes Sci
Publ Math 87 (1998) 121-174 httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafiles
ihespdf
[McQ05rsquo] M McQuillan Bloch hyperbolicity preprint httpwwwmatuniroma2it
~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ05] M McQuillan Semi-stable reduction of foliations IHES pre-print IHESM0502
(2005) httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ05rdquo] M McQuillan Uniform Uniformisation IHES pre-print (2005) IHES M0503 http
wwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ08] M McQuillan Canonical models of foliations Pure Appl Math Q 4
(2008) no 3 Special Issue In honor of Fedor Bogomolov Part 2 877-1012
httpintlpresscomsitepubfiles_fulltextjournalspamq20080004
0003PAMQ-2008-0004-0003-a009pdf
[MP13] M McQuillan D Panazzolo Almost etale resolution of foliations J Diff Geom 95
(2013) pp 279-319 httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesmp1bispdf
[Pe02] JV Pereira On the Poincare Problem for Foliations of General Type Mathematische
Annalen 323 no 2 pp217-226 2002 httpsarxivorgabsmath0104185
[PS16] JV Pereira R Svaldi Effective algebraic integration in bounded genus preprint
httpsarxivorgabs161206932
64 FEDERICO BUONERBA
[Re83] M Reid Minimal models of canonical threefolds in rdquoAlgebraic Varieties and Ana-
lytic Varietiesrdquo Adv Stud Pure Math vol 1 S Iitaka ed Kinokuniya and North-
Holland 1983 pp 131-180 httpwwwmathsedacukcheltsovquotientpdf
reid2pdf
[Se67] A Seidenberg Reduction of singularities of the differential equation Ady = Bdx Amer
J Math 89 (1967) 248-269 httpwwwjstororgstable2373435
[SB83] N Shepherd-Barron Degenerations with numerically effective canonical divisor The
Birational Geometry of Degenerations (R Friedman and D Morrison eds) Progr
Math no 29 Birkhuser 1983 pp 33-84
[Vis89] A Vistoli Intersection theory on algebraic stacks and on their moduli spaces
Invent Math (1989) pp 613-670 httplinkspringercomarticle101007
2FBF01388892page-1
Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences New York University 251 Mercer
Street New York NY 10012 USA
E-mail address buonerbacimsnyuedu
- I Introduction
- II Preliminaries
-
- III Operations on Deligne-Mumford stacks
- IIII Width of embedded parabolic champs
- IIIII Gorenstein foliation singularities
- IIIV Foliated adjunction
- IIV Canonical models of foliated surfaces with canonical singularities
- IIVI Canonical models of foliated surfaces with log-canonical singularities
- IIVII Set-up
-
- III Invariant curves and singularities local description
-
- IIII `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F) not isolated
- IIIII `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F) isolated
- IIIIII Local consequences
-
- IV Invariant curves along which KF vanishes
-
- IVI KF-nil curves
- IVII Invariant curves inside `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F)
-
- V Configurations
-
- VI Configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
- VII Configurations of non-rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
-
- VI Contractions and proof of the Main Theorem
- VII Moduli space of foliated surfaces of general type
- References
-
12 FEDERICO BUONERBA
codimension ge 2 subscheme Z subX such that Q = KF middot IZ Such Z will be referred
to as the singular locus of F We remark that Gorenstein means that the foliation
is locally defined by a saturated vector field
Next we define the notion of discrepancy of a divisorial valuation in this context let
(UF ) be a local germ of a Q-Gorenstein foliation and v a divisorial valuation on
k(U) there exists a birational morphism p U rarr U with exceptional divisor E such
that OU E is the valuation ring of v Certainly F lifts to a Q-Gorenstein foliation
F on U and we have
(3) KF = plowastKF + aF (v)E
Where aF (v) is said discrepancy For D an irreducible Weil divisor define ε(D) = 0
if D if F -invariant and ε(D) = 1 if not We are now ready to define
Definition IIIII1 The local germ (UF ) is said
bull Terminal if aF (v) gt ε(v)
bull Canonical if aF (v) ge ε(v)
bull Log-terminal if aF (v) gt 0
bull Log-canonical if aF (v) ge 0
For every divisorial valuation v on k(U)
These classes of singularities admit a rather clear local description If part denotes a
singular derivation of the local k-algebra O there is a natural k-linear linearization
(4) part mm2 rarr mm2
As such we have the following statements
Fact IIIII2 [MP13 Iii4 IIIi1 IIIi3] A Gorenstein foliation is
bull log-canonical if and only if it is smooth or its linearization is non-nilpotent
bull terminal if and only if it is log-terminal if and only if it is smooth and gener-
ically transverse to its singular locus
bull log-canonical but not canonical if and only if it is a radial foliation
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 13
Where a derivation on a complete local ring O is termed radial if there ex-
ist x1 middot middot middotxn isin m independent mod m2 and positive integers ni such that part =sumi nixi
partpartxi
In this case the singular locus is the center of a divisorial valuation with
zero discrepancy and non-invariant exceptional divisor
A very useful tool which is emplyed in the analysis of local properties of foliation
singularities is the Jordan decompositon [McQ08 I23] Notation as above the
linearization part admits a Jordan decomposition partS + partN into commuting semi-simple
and nilpotent part It is easy to see inductively that such decomposition lifts canon-
ically over successive infinitesimal neighborhoods Omn+1 rarr Omn and in the limit
we obtain a Jordan decomposition for the linear action of part on the whole complete
ring O
IIIV Foliated adjunction In this subsection we provide an adjunction formula
for foliation-invariant curves Let (X F ) be a Gorenstein foliation and f L rarrX the normalization of a F -invariant one-dimensional stack not contained in the
singular locus Z Denote by χ(L ) its topological Euler characteristic and by sZ(f)
the multiplicity of the ideal sheaf fminus1IZ We have
Fact IIIV1 [McQ05 IId4]
(5) KF middotL = minusχ(L )minus Ramf +sZ(f)
Which is a simple consequence of the isomorphism f lowastKF middotfminus1IZsimminusrarr Ω1
L (minusRamf )
The local contribution of sZ(f)minusRamf computed for a branch of f around a point
p in the support of fminus1IZ is np|Gp|minus1 with np a positive integer and Gp the local
monodromy of L at p Assume now that L has no generic stabilizer and let |L |denote its moduli The previous formula can be rewritten more usefully
Fact IIIV2
(6) KF middotL = 2g(|L |)minus 2 + fminus1IZ +sumf(p)isinZ
(np minus 1)|Gp|minus1 +sumf(p)isinZ
(1minus |Gp|minus1)
This can be easily deduced via a comparison between χ(L ) and χ(|L |) The
adjunction estimate 6 gives a complete description of invariant curves which are not
14 FEDERICO BUONERBA
contained in the singular locus and intersect the canonical KF non-positively A
complete analysis of the structure of KF -negative curves and much more is done
in [McQ05]
Definition IIIV3 A KF -nil curve is an invariant one-dimensional orbifold f
C rarr X such that KF middotf C = 0 and f does not factor through the singular locus
Z of the foliation
By adjunction 6 we have
Proposition IIIV4 The following is a complete list of possibilities for KF -nil
curves f
bull C is an elliptic curve without non-schematic points and f misses the singular
locus
bull |C| is a rational curve f hits the singular locus in two points with np = 1
there are no non-schematic points off the singular locus
bull |C| is a rational curve f hits the singular locus in one point with np = 1 there
are two non-schematic points off the singular locus with local monodromy
Z2Z
bull |C| is a rational curve f hits the singular locus in one point p there is at
most one non-schematic point q off the singular locus we have the identity
(np minus 1)|Gp|minus1 = |Gq|minus1
As shown in [McQ08] all these can happen In the sequel we will always assume
that a KF -nil curve is simply connected We remark that an invariant curve can have
rather bad singularities where it intersects the foliation singularities First it could
fail to be unibranch moreover each branch could acquire a cusp if going through
a radial singularity This phenomenon of deep ramification appears naturally in
presence of log-canonical singularities
IIV Canonical models of foliated surfaces with canonical singularities In
this subsection we provide a summary of the birational classification of Gorenstein
foliations with canonical singularities on algebraic surfaces obtained in [McQ08] Let
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 15
X be a two-dimensional smooth DM stack with projective moduli and F a foliation
with canonical singularities Since X is smooth certainly F is Q-Gorenstein If
KF is not pseudo-effective then foliated bend and break [BM16 Main Theorem]
shows that F is birationally a fibration by rational curves If KF is pseudo-effective
its Zariski decomposition has negative part a finite collection of invariant chains of
rational curves which can be contracted to a smooth DM stack with projective
moduli on which KF is nef At this point those foliations such that the Kodaira
dimension k(KF ) le 1 can be completely classified
Fact IIV1 [McQ08 IV3] Foliations with canonical singularities and Kodaira di-
mension zero are up to a ramified cover and birational transformations defined by
a global vector field The minimal models belong the following list
bull A Kronecker vector field on an abelian surface
bull The suspension of a representation π1(E)rarr PGL2(C) for E an elliptic curve
bull A Kronecker vector field on P1 timesP1
bull An isotrivial elliptic fibration
Fact IIV2 [McQ08 IV4] Foliations with canonical singularities and Kodaira di-
mension one are classified by their Kodaira fibration The linear system |KF | defines
a fibration onto a curve and the minimal models belong to the following list
bull The foliation and the fibration coincide so then the fibration is non-isotrivial
elliptic
bull The foliation is transverse to a projective bundle (Riccati)
bull The foliation is everywhere smooth and transverse to an isotrivial elliptic
fibration (turbolent)
bull The foliation is parallel to an isotrivial fibration in hyperbolic curves
On the other hand for foliations of general type the new phenomenon is that
global generation fails The problem is the appearence of elliptic Gorenstein leaves
these are cycles possibly irreducible of invariant rational curves around which KF
is numerically trivial but might fail to be torsion Assume that KF is big and nef
16 FEDERICO BUONERBA
and consider morphisms
(7) X rarrXe rarrXc
Where the composite is the contraction of all the KF -nil curves and the rightmost
is the minimal resolution of elliptic Gorenstein singularities
Fact IIV3 [McQ08 IV21 IV22] Xe is projective there exists an ample divisor
A and an effective divisor E supported on minimal elliptic Gorenstein leaves such
that KFe = A+E On the other hand Xc might fail to be projective and Fc is never
Q-Gorenstein
We refer to [McQ08 III32] for the descriptions of possible dual graphs of config-
urations of invariant KF -negative or nil curves
IIVI Canonical models of foliated surfaces with log-canonical singulari-
ties In this subsection we study Gorenstein foliations with log-canonical singulari-
ties on algebraic surfaces In particular we will classify the singularities appearing
on the underlying surface prove the existence of minimal and canonical models
describe the exceptional curves appearing in the contraction to the canonical model
Proposition IIVI1 Let (UF ) be a germ of Gorenstein log-canonical foliation
singularity Then U is a cone over a subvariety Y of a weighted projective space
whose weights are determined by the eigenvalues of F Moreover F is defined by
the rulings of the cone
Proof By Fact IIIII2 there exists a closed embedding i U rarr M - with M a
smooth local formal scheme - a regular system of parameters x1 middot middot middot xk on M and
positive integers n1 middot middot middotnk such that F is the restriction of the foliation defined by
part =sumnixi
partpartxi
to U Let I sub OM denote the ideal defining i(U) subM then part(I) sube I
We are going to prove that I is homogeneous where each xi has weight ni Let f isin I
and write f =sum
dge1 fd where fd is homogeneous of degree d in x1 middot middot middot xk - ie fd is
a k-linear combination of monomials xa11 xakk with d =
sumi aini For every N isin N
let FN = (xa11 xakk
sumi aini ge N) This collection of ideals defines a natural
filtration on OM For a = max ai we have mN sube FN sube mNa ie the FN -filtration
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 17
is equivalent to the one by powers of the maximal ideal and therefore OM is also
complete with respect to the FN -filtration
We will prove that if f isin I then fd isin I for every d
Let IN = (I + FN)FN Since OM is complete with respect to the FN -filtration
I = limlarrminus IN Therefore it is enough to show
Claim IIVI2 For every N gt 0 we have fd isin IN sub OMFN for all d lt N
Proof For every g isin IN denote by n(g) the unique integer such that g isin Fn(g) Fn(g)+1 (ie the minimal index d for which fd 6= 0) and by N(g) = N minus n(g)
We will prove the statement of the Claim by induction on N(f) If N(f) = 1 then
f = fNminus1 holds in OMFN and the statement is true If N(f) gt 1 we have part(f) =sumd d middot fd hence consider f1 = D(f)minus n(f)f =
sumdgtn(f)(dminus n(f))fd Tautologically
we have N(f1) lt N(f) and therefore fd isin IN for every d gt n(f) so then fn(f) =
f minussum
dgtn(f) fd isin IN as well
This implies that I is a homogeneous ideal and hence U is the germ of a cone over
a variety in the weighted projective space P(n1 nk)
Corollary IIVI3 If the germ U is normal then Y is normal If U is normal
of dimension 2 the weighted blow-up p U rarr U at the vertex of the cone has only
quotient singularities the exceptional divisor E(simminusrarr Y ) is smooth and everywhere
transverse to the induced foliation Moreover we have
(8) plowastKF = KF + E
Certainly the converse to Proposition IIVI1 fails even on surfaces indeed let
(X F ) be a Gorenstein foliated surface and let C sub X be a generic curve so
in particular smooth and not F -invariant We can assume perhaps after a finite
sequence of simple blow-ups along C that both X and F are smooth in a neigh-
borhood of C C and F are everywhere transverse and C2 lt 0
Proposition IIVI4 The formal contraction q X rarr X0 of C is isomorphic to
the cone over C the projected foliation F0 coincides with that by rulings on the cone
F0 is Q-Gorenstein if C rational or elliptic but not in general
18 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proof F0 is Q-Gorenstein if and only if the bundle KF (C) is trivial on the formal
completion of X along C The obstructions to lift the isomorphism OC(KF +C)simminusrarr
OC over infinitesimal neighborhoods of C lie in H1(C (1 minus n)C + KF ) for every
n isin N These groups vanish for every n isin N if 2g(C) minus 2 + C2 lt 0 (which is
always true for rational or elliptic curves) but do provide non-trivial obstructions in
general
We focus on the minimal model program for Gorenstein log-canonical foliations
on algebraic surfaces Let X be a DM stack of dimension 2 with projective moduli
and F a Gorenstein foliation with log-canonical singularities Denote by LC(F )
the set of points where F is log-canonical and not canonical and by Z the singular
sub-scheme of F We assume LC(F ) 6= empty since the empty case has been completely
settled Moreover we can assume that X is smooth outside LC(F ) Let f C rarrX
be a morphism from a 1-dimensional stack with trivial generic stabilizer such that
fminus1 LC(F ) 6= empty Since we will need them several times we formulate some technical
results
Lemma IIVI5 Let p X rarr X be the resolution of the log-canonical foliation
singularity intersecting C with exceptional divisor E Then
(9) KF middot C minus C middot E = KF middot C
Proof We have
(10) plowastC = C minus (C middot EE2)E
Intersecting this equation with equation 8 we obtain the result
This formula is important because it shows that passing from foliations with log-
canonical singularities to their canonical resolution increases the negativity of inter-
sections between invariant curves and the canonical bundle In fact the log-canonical
theory reduces to the canonical one after resolving the log-canonical singularities
Further we list some strong constraints given by invariant curves along which the
foliation is smooth
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 19
Fact IIVI6 [BB72 Baum-Bott] Let g C rarrX be an F -invariant curve missing
the foliation singularities Then C2 = NF middotg C = 0
Corollary IIVI7 Let g C rarr X be an F -invariant curve missing the foliation
singularities and such that KF middotg C lt 0 Then F is birationally a fibration by
rational curves
Proof By assumption KF middot C = minusχ(C) This together with Baum-Bott IIVI6
imply that KX middot C = minusχ(C) and from usual adjunction we get C2 = 0 Riemann-
Roch gives h0(X mC) ge 2 for m gtgt 0 so then |C| defines a fibration by rational
curves tangent to F
The rest of this subsection is devoted to the construction of minimal and canonical
models in presence of log-canonical singularities The only technique we use is
resolve the log-canonical singularities in order to reduce to the canonical case and
keep track of the exceptional divisor
We are now ready to handle the existence of minimal models
Theorem IIVI8 (Minimal models) Let X be a DM stack of dimension 2 with pro-
jective moduli and F a Gorenstein foliation with log-canonical singularities Then
either
bull F is birational to a fibration by rational curves or
bull There exist a birational contraction q X rarr X0 such that KF0 is nef
Moreover the exceptional curves of q donrsquot intersect LC(F )
Proof Let f be as above ie KF -negative and intersecting LC(F ) If f is not
F -invariant then KF middotC +C2 ge 0 so C moves and KF is not pseudo-effective We
conclude by foliated bend and break [BM16]
If f is F -invariant then foliated adjunction 6 implies that C is rational it intersects
the singular locus of F in exactly one point By Lemma IIVI5 after resolving the
log-canonical singularity KF middot C lt 0 and F is smooth along C We conlude by
Corollary IIVI7
20 FEDERICO BUONERBA
From now on we add the assumption that KF is nef and we want to analyze
those curves f satisfying KF middotf C = 0 By adjunction formula 6 we know that C
has rational moduli and fminus1Z is supported on two points
Remark IIVI9 If fminus1Z = fminus1 LC(F ) then F is birationally a fibration by ratio-
nal curves
Proof After resolving the log-canonical singularities of F along the image of C we
have KF middot C lt 0 and F smooth along C We conclude by Corollary IIVI7
Therefore we can assume that f satisfies the following condition
Definition IIVI10 An invariant curve f C rarr X is called log-contractible if
KF middot C = 0 and it intersects Z in two points one canonical and one log-canonical
not canonical
It follows that f(C) is everywhere unibranch but it might have a cusp in LC(F )
Definition IIVI11 A log-chain is a chain of invariant rational orbifolds C =
cupni=0Ci scheme-like outside the foliation singularities with KF middot C = 0 and such
that
bull C0 is log-contractible with lowast(C ) = C0 cap LC(F ) called the marking of C
bull Ci is disjoint from LC(F ) if i ge 1
There is a unique point t(C ) satisfying t(C ) isin Z cap (Cn Cnminus1) called the tail of
the log-chain
Proposition IIVI12 Let C1C2 be two log-chains intersecting non-trivially Then
lowast(C1) = lowast(C2) and C1 cap C2 = lowast(C1)
Proof It is enough to prove that the two log-chains cannot intersect in their tails
Replace X be the resolution of the at most two markings of the log-chains and Ci
by their proper transforms C1cupC2 = cupmi=0Ri is a connected chain of rational curves
intersecting Z outisde LC(F ) Moreover each of the two extremal curves R0 and
Rm intersects Z in one point only In particular KF middot Ri = 0 for i = 1 middot middot middot m minus 1
and KF middot Ri lt 0 for i = 0m Since we assumed F is not birational to a fibration
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 21
by rational curves there exists a contraction p X rarr X0 with exceptional curve
cupmminus1i=0 Ri However F0 is smooth along plowastRm so by adjunction formula KF0 middotplowastRm lt
0 and we find a contradiction by Corollary IIVI7
Corollary IIVI13 Let C be a maximal connected curve such that KF middotC = 0 and
C cap LC(F ) 6= empty Then C is a union of finitely many log-chains intersecting each
other in their common marking
The following shows a configuration of log-chains sharing the same marking col-
ored in black
We are now ready to state and prove the canonical model theorem in presence of
log-canonical singularities
Theorem IIVI14 (Canonical models) Let X be a proper DM stack of dimension
2 and F a foliation with isolated singularities Moreover assume that KF is nef
that every KF -nil curve is contained in a log-chain and that F is Gorenstein and
log-canonical in a neighborhood of every KF -nil curve Then either
bull There exists a birational contraction p X rarr X0 whose exceptional curves
are unions of log-chains If all the log-contractible curves contained in the log-
chains are smooth then F0 is Gorenstein and log-canonical If furthermore
X has projective moduli then X0 has projective moduli In any case KF0
is numerically ample
bull There exists a fibration p X rarr B over a curve whose fibers intersect
KF trivially Each F -invariant fiber of p intersecting LC(F ) is union of
mutually compatible log-chains
Proof If all the KF -nil curves can be contracted by a birational morphism we are in
the first case of the Theorem Else let C be a maximal connected curve withKF middotC =
0 and which is not contractible It is a union of pairwise compatible log-chains
22 FEDERICO BUONERBA
with marking lowast Replace (X F ) by the resolution of the log-canonical singularity
at lowast with exceptional divisor E Therefore F is Gorenstein and canonical in a
neighborhood of C cupE By equation 9 we have KF middotC = minusC middotE lt 0 and therefore
C can be contracted to a canonical foliation singularity Replace (X F ) by the
contraction of C We have a smooth curve E around which F is smooth and
nowhere tangent to E Moreover
(11) KF middot E = minusE2
And we distinguish cases
bull E2 gt 0 so KF is not pseudo-effective a contradiction
bull E2 lt 0 so the initial curve C is contractible a contradiction
bull E2 = 0 which we proceed to analyze
The following is what we need to handle the third case
Proposition IIVI15 Let (X F ) be a foliation with canonical singularities with
X a smooth 2-dimensional DM stack with projective moduli and KF nef If there
exists a smooth curve E everywhere transverse to F such that KF middot E = E2 = 0
then E moves in a pencil and defines a fibration p X rarr B onto a curve whose
fibers intersect KF trivially
Proof If KF has Kodaira dimension one then its linear system contains an effective
divisor and by Hodge index KF = cE as divisors for some c isin Q+ Hence there is
a fibration onto a curve with fiber E and F is transverse to it by assumption If
KF has Kodaira dimension zero we use the classification IIV1 in all cases but the
suspension over an elliptic curve E defines a product structure on the underlying
surface in the case of a suspension every section of the underlying projective bundle
is clearly F -invariant Therefore E is a fiber of the bundle
This concludes the proof of the Theorem
We remark that the second alternative in the above theorem is rather natural
let (X F ) be a foliation which is transverse to a fibration by rational or elliptic
curves ie a suspension over elliptic curve turbolent Riccati or isotrivial Pick a
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 23
general fiber E of the fibration and blow up any number of points on it The proper
transform E is certainly contractible By Proposition IIVI4 the contraction of E is
Gorenstein and log-canonical Moreover the fiber E has been replaced by a union of
compatible log-chains Note in particular that the number of log-chains appearing
is arbitrary
Corollary IIVI16 Let X be a proper DM stack of dimension 2 and F a Goren-
stein foliation with log-canonical singularities Assume that KF is big and pseudo-
effective Then there exists a birational morphism p X rarr X0 such that C is
exceptional if and only if KF middot C le 0 In particular KF0 is numerically ample
For future applications we spell out
Corollary IIVI17 Hypothesis as in Theorem IIVI14 assume further that X
is everywhere smooth Then in the second alternative of the theorem the fibration
p X rarr B is by rational curves
Proof Indeed in this case the curve E which appears in the proof above as the
exceptional locus for the resolution of the log-canonical singularity at lowast must be
rational By the previous Proposition p is defined by a pencil in |E|
IIVII Set-up In this subsection we prepare the set-up we will deal with in the
rest of the manuscript Briefly we want to handle the existence of canonical models
for a family of foliated surfaces parametrized by a one-dimensional base To this
end we will discuss the modular behavior of singularities of foliated surfaces with
Gorenstein singularities recall McQuillan-Panazzolorsquos resolution of foliation singu-
larities building on the existence of minimal models [McQ05] prepare the set-up
for the sequel
Let us begin with the modular behavior of Gorenstein singularities
Proposition IIVII1 Let (X F ) be a smooth DM stack with a foliation by
curves Assume there exists a flat proper morphism p X rarr C onto an algebraic
curve such that F restricts to a foliation on every fiber of p Then the set
(12) s isin C Fs is log-canonical
24 FEDERICO BUONERBA
is Zariski-open while the set
(13) s isin C Fs is canonical
is the complement to a countable subset of C lying on a real-analytic curve
Proof By Fact IIIII2 being log-canonical is equivalent to the linearized endomor-
phism part IZI2Z rarr IZI
2Z being non-nilpotent where Z is the singular sub-scheme
of the foliation Of course being non-nilpotent is a Zariski open condition The
second statement also follows from opcit since a log-canonical singularity which is
not canonical has linearization with all its eigenvalues positive and rational The
statement is optimal as shown by the vector field on A3xys
(14) part(s) =part
partx+ s
part
party
Next we recall the existence of a functorial canonical resolution of foliation singu-
larities for foliations by curves on 3-dimensional stacks
Fact IIVII2 [MP13] Let X = (XDF ) be a 3-dimensional DM stack with bound-
ary foliated by curves Then there exists a proper birational morphism Xprime rarr X such
that X prime is a smooth DM stack and F prime has only canonical foliation singularities
The original opcit contains a more refined statement including a detailed de-
scription of the claimed birational morphism
In order for our set-up to make sense we mention one last very important result
Fact IIVII3 [McQ05] Let X be a smooth DM stack with projective moduli and F
a foliation by curves with (log)canonical singularities Then there exists a birational
map X 99K Xm obtained as a composition of flips such that Xm is a smooth
DM stack with projective moduli the birational transform Fm has (log)canonical
singularities and one of the following happens
bull KFm is nef or
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 25
bull There exists a fibration Xm rarr B over a smooth base whose fibers are
weighted projective spaces such that Fm is tangent to the fibers and restricts
to a radial foliation on those
Finally we can organize our notation
Set-up IIVII4 (X F ) is a smooth 3-dimensional DM stack with projective mod-
uli F a foliation by curves with canonical singularities such that KF is big and nef
There exists a semi-stable morphism p X rarr ∆ whose moduli is projective onto
the (formal) unit disk F restricts to a foliation on every fiber of p it has canon-
ical singularities on the very general fiber of p and log-canonical singularities on
every fiber of p Our task from now on is to analyze and contract the maximal
foliation-invariant sub-scheme of X along which KF is not ample
III Invariant curves and singularities local description
In this section we give a complete decription of germs of invariant curves that
appear in the formal completion of any point in the set-up IIVII4 Let us replace
X by its formal completion in a point lowast where the foliation is singular F is defined
by a vector field part with Jordan decomposition partS + partN see the end of subsection
IIIII Since [partS partN ] = 0 partN preserves the eigenspaces of partS Moreover the fact that
F is tangent to p translates into
(15) partS(p) = partN(p) = 0
The description of invariant germs of curves through lowast will be achieved via case-by-
case analysis organized by computing what happens for all possible combinations
of the following informations whether the singular locus Z is isolated at lowast the
number of eigenvalues of partS the number of components of the fiber through p
IIII sing(F ) not isolated
ni (1) partS has one eigenvalue
bull We have partS = x partpartx
and partN = f partparty
+ g partpartz
for some functions f g isin (y z)
Moreover partN is non-trivial
26 FEDERICO BUONERBA
bull Z = (x = f = g = 0) is not isolated
(a) The fiber has one component y = 0 Then 0 = partN(y) = f hence
Z = (x = g = 0) The restriction on the fiber is part|(y=0) = x partpartx
+g|(y=0)partpartz
Z has a one-dimensional component contained in the fiber iff g isin (y) in
which case such component is smooth equal to (x = 0) moreover the
foliation on the fiber saturates to a smooth one with invariant curves
z = 0 transverse to Z
Otherwise the foliation is saturated on the fiber and has a saddle-node
singularity
(b) The fiber has two components yz = 0 Then 0 = partN(yz) = zf + yg
hence f = yh g = minuszh for some h and Z = (x = h = 0) The restriction
on a fiber component say y = 0 is part|(y=0) = x partpartxminus zh|(y=0)
partpartz
Z has an
irreducible component contained in y = 0 iff h isin (y) in which case such
component is smooth equal to (x = 0) moreover the foliation on the
fiber saturates to a smooth one with invariant curves z = 0 transverse
to Z
Otherwise the foliation is saturated on the fiber and has a saddle-node
singularity
(c) The fiber has three components xyz = 0 0 = partS(xyz) = xyz a contra-
diction
Summary with one eigenvalue there are either one or two components The
foliation might have a one-dimensional singularity when restricted to a fiber
component in this case such singularity is a smooth curve and the foliation
saturates to a smooth one with invariant curves transverse to the singular-
ity If the singularity is isolated on a fiber component then it is a canonical
saddle-node with at most two invariant branches
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 27
ni (2) partS has two eigenvalues
We have partS = x partpartx
+ λy partparty
and partN(x y z) = k partpartx
+ f partparty
+ g partpartz
for some func-
tions k f g
(a) The fiber has one component z = 0 Then g = 0 k f isin (x y) and
necessarily Z = (x = y = 0) is transverse to the fiber The restriction on
the fiber is saturated and non-degenerate It has canonical singularities
if either partN 6= 0 or λ isin Q+ otherwise it is log-canonical
(b) The fiber has two components xy = 0 Then 0 = partS(xy) hence λ = minus1
Also 0 = partN(xy) hence k = xh f = minusyh g isin (xy) and necessarily
Z = (x = y = 0) coincides with the intersection of the two fiber compo-
nents which is smooth the foliation saturates to a smooth one on each
component with invariant curves transverse to Z
(c) The fiber has three components xyz = 0 hence λ = minus1 Also k = xklowast
f = yf lowast g = zglowast with klowast + f lowast + glowast = 0 and glowast isin (xy) The singularity
Z = (x = y = 0) coincides with the intersection of two of the fiber
components The restriction to either such components saturates to a
smooth foliation with invariant curves transverse to Z the restriction
to z = 0 has a canonical non-degenerate singularity all the invariant
curves are those in xy = 0 transverse to Z
Summary with 2 eigenvalues there can be any number of components With
one component the foliation restricts to a saturated one with a (log)canonical
singularity which moves transversely to p With two components the folia-
tion is not saturated on either and saturates to a smooth one with invariant
curves transverse to the singularity With three components the foliation
is not saturated on two of them and saturates to a smooth one on both
with invariant curves transverse to the singularity the foliation is saturated
and has a canonical non-degenerate singularity on the third component In
28 FEDERICO BUONERBA
the last two cases the singularity is fully contained in an intersection of two
components
ni (3) partS has three eigenvalues But then the singularity is isolated a contradiction
IIIII sing(F ) isolated
i (1) partS has one eigenvalue
bull We have partS = x partpartx
and partN = xk partpartx
+ f partparty
+ g partpartz
for some functions
k f g isin (y z) Moreover partN is non-trivial
bull Z = (x = f = g = 0) is isolated
(a) The fiber has one component y = 0 Then 0 = partN(y) = f and Z cannot
be isolated a contradiction
(b) The fiber has two components yz = 0 Then 0 = partN(yz) = zf + yg so
f = yh g = minuszh with h non-constant Hence Z = (x = h = 0) is not
isolated a contradiction
(c) The fiber has three components xyz = 0 Then 0 = partS(xyz) = xyz a
contradiction
Summary the 1 eigenvalue case does not exist
i (2) partS has two eigenvalues
bull We have partS = x partpartx
+ λy partparty
partN = xk partpartx
+ f partparty
+ g partpartz
for some functions
k f g
bull g is non-trivial and g isin (x y)
bull Z = (x = y = g = 0) is isolated
(a) The fiber has one component z = 0 Then g = 0 a contradiction
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 29
(b) The fiber has two components xy = 0 hence λ = minus1 and g isin (xy z)
the restriction to y = 0 is part|(y=0) = x partpartx
+g|(y=0)partpartz
and necessarily g|(y=0)
is non-vanishing Therefore the restriction to either components is satu-
rated and the singularity is a canonical saddle-node on each of them
The invariant curves are among the axes x = y = 0 x = z = 0 y = z =
0
(c) The fiber has three components xyz = 0 hence λ = minus1 Necessarily
k = xklowast f = yf lowast g = zglowast with klowast + f lowast + glowast = 0 The restriction to
y = 0 is part|(y=0) = x(1 + klowast|(y=0))partpartx
+ zglowast|(y=0)partpartz
since g isin (x y) we have
glowast|(y=0) non-trivial Therefore the restriction to either x = 0 and y = 0
is saturated and the singularity is a canonical saddle-node on each of
them
The restriction to z = 0 is part|(z=0) = x(1 + klowast|(z=0))partpartx
+ y(minus1 + f lowast|(z=0))partparty
therefore the restriction is saturated and has a canonical non-degenerate
singularity
The invariant curves are among the axes x = y = 0 x = z = 0 y = z =
0
Summary with 2 eigenvalues there are either two or three components the
foliation restricts to a canonical saddle-node on two of them and to a non-
degenerate singularity on the third one if it exists All the invariant curves
are in the axes
i (3) partS has three eigenvalues We have partS = x partpartx
+ λy partparty
+ microz partpartz
(a) The fiber has one component y = 0 hence λ = 0 a contradiction
(b) The fiber has two components xy = 0 hence λ = minus1 The restriction to
y = 0 is part|(y=0) = x partpartx
+ microz partpartz
+ partN|(y=0) The singularity is log-canonical
30 FEDERICO BUONERBA
iff micro isin Qgt0 and partN|(y=0)= 0 and in this case the singularity on x = 0 is
canonical non-degenerate Invariant curves are those in y = 0 and the
axis x = z = 0
If the restriction to both fiber components is canonical then it non-
degenerate on both and the invariant curves are contained in the axes
x = y = 0 x = z = 0 y = z = 0
The fiber could be yz = 0 hence λ+micro = 0 It can be analyzed as in the
next item
(c) The fiber has three components xyz = 0 hence 1 + λ + micro = 0 In par-
ticular if λ = cmicro c isin Q+ then λ micro isin Q The restriction to y = 0
is part|(y=0) = x partpartx
+ microz partpartz
+ partN|(y=0) This singularity is log-canonical iff
micro isin Qgt0 and partN|(y=0)= 0 in which case the singularity on both x = 0
and z = 0 is canonical non-degenerate In particular if the singularity
is log-canonical on some fiber component then it is so on exactly one
component and all eigenvalues are rational Invariant curves are those
in y = 0 and the axis x = z = 0
If the restriction to all fiber components is canonical then it non-degenerate
on each of them and the invariant curves are contained in the axes
x = y = 0 x = z = 0 y = z = 0
Summary with 3 eigenvalues there are either two or three fiber components
the foliation restricts to a singular foliation on each of them and it has a
log-canonical singularity on at most one of them in this case all eigenvalues
of the semi-simple field are rational
IIIIII Local consequences We list some corollaries for future reference As al-
ways in this section the statements are local so everything happens in a formal
neighborhood of our point lowast First we state those corollaries we will need to describe
configurations of KF -nil curves
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 31
Definition IIIIII1 An LC-center Π sub X is an irreducible F -invariant formal
hypersurface such that the local vector field generating the foliation when restricted
to Π has semi-simple part with log-canonical singularity or a one-dimensional sin-
gular locus An LC-center with a log-canonical singularity is necessarily an algebraic
component of the singular fiber of p
Corollary IIIIII2 There is at most one LC-center with a log-canonical singularity
through lowast If it exists then all eigenvalues of the semi-simple field at lowast are rational
If there are at least two LC-centers through lowast then there are exactly two and the
foliation singularity is a smooth curve on each of them
Proof Possible cases in which an LC-center with log-canonical singularities appears
ni (2)a i (3)b i (3)c
Corollary IIIIII3 If there is no LC-center thorugh a point lowast then there are at
most three invariant curves through lowast all smooth Any number of them spans a sub-
space of the tangent space at lowast of maximal possible dimension
If there is an LC-center through lowast then there is at most one invariant curve through
lowast and not contained in the LC-center
If there is an LC-center with non-isolated singularity then the singularity is smooth
and all invariant curves contained in the LC-center intersect the singularity trans-
versely
Proof Invariant curves not in an LC-centers with log-canonical singularities are con-
tained in the three axes x = z = 0 x = y = 0 y = z = 0 mentioned in the above
classification The other statements are clear
Corollary IIIIII4 If p is smooth at lowast then Z is one dimensional around lowast
Proof Possible casesni (1)a ni (2)a
In particular if there is no LC-center the situation is the familiary
xz
32 FEDERICO BUONERBA
While if there is an LC-center (pink) with log-canonical singularity it will look like
y
LC-center
While if there is an LC-center with non-isolated singularity (red) it will look like
(the black arrows being invariant curves)
y
LC-center
The next corollary describes one-dimensional components of the foliation singularity
Corollary IIIIII5 If Z0 is a one-dimensional irreducible component of the folia-
tion singularity then it is at worst nodal The foliation when restricted to any fiber
component containing Z0 saturates to a smooth foliation in a neighborhood of Z0
and all the invariant curves are transverse to Z0
If Z0 is contained in exactly one fiber component then the semi-simple field has one
eigenvalue everywhere along Z0
If Z0 lies at the intersection of two fiber components then the semi-simple field has
two constant eigenvalues everywhere along Z0
Moreover if there exist a sequence of invariant curves converging in the compact-
open topology to Z0 then there is generically one eigenvalue along Z0
Proof Possible casesni (1)a ni (1)b ni (2)b ni (2)c Concerning the one-
eigenvalue case invariant curves converging to Z0 can be found in the formal hyper-
surface x = 0
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 33
IV Invariant curves along which KF vanishes
In this section we study in great detail a formal neighborhood of invariant curves
where KF is numerically trivial In the first subsection we deal with KF -nil curves
namely those whose generic point is not contained in the foliation singularity In this
case the normal bundle to the curve determines its formal neighborhood uniquely
and this has plenty of amazing consequences In the second subsection we study
those invariant curves which are contained in the foliation singularity In this case
we are not able to control the full formal neighborhood but important informations
can still be obtained
IVI KF -nil curves In this subsection we study in detail the structure of KF -
nil curves and their formal neighborhoods appearing in the set-up IIVII4 In
particular we will describe a simple process to replace cuspidal KF -nil curves by
net ones prove that the foliation is in the net completion around a net KF -nil curve
defined by a global vector field which admits a global Jordan decomposition deduce
that eigenfunctions for the semi-simple component of such field are also globally
defined on a formal neighborhood
The first important remark is of technical nature and explains how to deal with non-
net KF -nil curves By Proposition IIIV4 this is indeed possible and the images of
such curves will acquire cusp-like singularities It is hard to analyze the geometry
of F around such cuspidal curves and therefore necessary to remove them Let us
assume that C is simply connected with rational moduli f is ramified at 0 isin C
and and denote by X the formal completion along f(C) Then formally around
f(0) the curve f(C) has defining ideal (y xa minus zb) where y = 0 is a fiber of the
fibration p X rarr ∆ containing f(C) x z isin H0(X OX ) restrict to suitable local
coordinates on such fiber and a b ge 2 are coprime integers
Claim IVI1 Let r X ( aradicz = 0) rarr X be the a-th root of z = 0 III3 Then
(rlowastC)norm =∐a
1 C and the induced map rlowastf (rlowastC)norm rarrX ( aradicz = 0) is net
Proof Since r is etale away from z = 0 also rlowastC rarr C is etale away from 0 isin C
Since C 0 is simply connected we have rlowastC rminus1(0) =∐a
1 C 0 This proves
34 FEDERICO BUONERBA
the first statement Let ζ be a function on X ( aradicz = 0) such that ζa = z so then
rlowast(xa minus zb) =prod
ηa=1(x minus ηζb) Every branch is net in 0 and we obtain the second
statement as well
As such upon taking roots we can replace non-net KF -nil invariant curves with
rational moduli by net ones
We now proceed to study net KF -nil curves We will show that the foliation is
defined by a global vector field around a net KF -nil curve with rational moduli and
that such vector field admits a global Jordan decomposition
Proposition IVI2 Notation as in the set-up IIVII4 let f C rarrX be a KF -nil
curve Assume that f is net and let j C rarr C be the net completion along f Then
there exists an isomorphism
(16) OC(KF )simminusrarr OC
In particular there exists a global vector field partf on C that generates F
Proof Since C has rational moduli and is simply connected it has infinite-cyclic
Picard group and we have an isomorphism
(17) OC(KF )simminusrarr OC
Moreover we have a non-canonical splitting of the normal bundle Njsimminusrarr O(minusn) oplus
O(minusm) and we claim that both nm ge 0 Indeed consider the induced semi-stable
fibration C rarr ∆ and let F be the normalization of an irreducible component of a
fiber such that C sub F Consider the exact sequence
(18) 0rarr NCF rarr Nj rarr NFC|C rarr 0
Since KF is nef NCF is not ample since F is a fiber of a fibration also NFC|C is
not ample and this is enough to conclude even though nm may be different from
the degrees of such normal bundles
At this point we can lift the isomorphism 17 over infinitesimal neighborhoods of j
Indeed for every k ge 0 we have an exact sequence
(19) 0rarr Symk ICI2C rarr OCk+1
(KF )rarr OCk(KF )rarr 0
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 35
which shows that the obstruction to lifting the isomorphism lies in
(20) H1(C Symk ICI2C) = H1(C Symk(O(n)oplus O(m))) = 0
From this we can deduce
Proposition IVI3 The vector field partf admits a Jordan decomposition uniformly
along C
Proof The cohomology sequence attached to 19 is
(21) 0rarr H0(C Symk ICI2C)rarr H0(COCk+1
)rarr H0(COCk)rarr 0
Let partk+1 denote the image of partf in End(H0(COCk+1)) Looking at
H0(COCk+1) minusminusminusrarr H0(COCk
)
partk+1
y partk
yH0(COCk+1
) minusminusminusrarr H0(COCk)
we see the canonical Jordan deomposition of partk+1 restricts to that of partk
The above result describes a very useful interplay between normal bundles to
KF -nil curves and the structure of the semi-simple field It turns out that these
informations determine formal neighborhoods uniquely For simplicity let C be
an irreducible component of C without orbifold points Let us assume that part|C is
singular in 0infin Then there exist formal functions x y z at 0 isin C and ξ η ζ at
infin isin C such that x ξ are coordinates along C y η are local sections of OC(minusn)
so η = xny mod(I2C) z ζ are local sections of OC(minusm) so ζ = xmz mod(I2C)
Normalizing so that xminus1partS(x) = ε isin 0 1 we obtain
(22) part0S = εxpart
partx+ λy
part
party+ microz
part
partz partinfinS = minusεξ part
partξ+ (λ+ εn)η
part
partη+ (micro+ εm)ζ
part
partζ
More generally ie C = P1(d e) we have glueing rules x = te ξ = tminusd η = tny and
ζ = tmz mod(I2C) Normalizing so that tminus1partS(t) = ε isin 0 1 we obtain
(23) part0S = eεxpart
partx+ λy
part
party+ microz
part
partz partinfinS = minusdεξ part
partξ+ (λ+ εn)η
part
partη+ (micro+ εm)ζ
part
partζ
36 FEDERICO BUONERBA
It is worth remarking that the above relations hold between eigenvalues at the two
singular point of singular ie nodal or cuspidal KF -nil curves as well this is
easily seen by taking a root followed by net completion and keeping track of the
eigenvalues
Definition IVI4 Let C be a KF -nil curve The foliation singular points along C
are called ends
As well as the existence of Hilbert scheme in the following form
Fact IVI5 Let W sub Xlowast be a curve and D a divisor in the formal neighborhood
of W such that W = D capXlowast scheme-theoretically Then W moves in D
In what follows our main concern is to understand formal neighborhoods of KF -
nil curves Observe that the fibration p when restricted to the formal neighborhood
of such curves provides at least one eigenfunction of the semi-simple field Hence
in order to compute the width IIII we must study the behavior of the other eigen-
function on infinitesimal neighborhoods We first describe the situation inside the
smooth locus of p
Proposition IVI6 (Smooth fiber) Let f C rarrX be an irreducible KF -nil curve
which is contained in the smooth locus of a fiber Xlowast of p Then the end(s) on C are
flat over ∆ ni (1)b and ni (1)a with z2|g(y z) and C moves in a family flat over
∆
Proof Let us assume that f is net Then upon passing to net completion we can
actually assume it is embedded From our local classification of singularities we case
in case ni (1)a and ni (2)a We want to show that both ends have components
that move transversely to p hence we have to exclude case ni (1)a with g(y z) = ya
By way of contradiction say we have g(y z) = ya in the notation of opcit around
an end lowast isin C We proceed to compute what happens at the other end we find
formal coordinates ξ η ζ which by equation 23 satisfy
(24) ξ = xminus1 η = y ζ = xmz mod(I2C)
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 37
As such we compute part(ζ) = mζ + ξminusmηa mod(I2C) which is holomorphic if and only
if m le 0 so then C moves in Xlowast contradicting that the foliation has general type
Hence we are in cases ni (1)a ni (2)a with g = microyazb b ge 1
(25) part0 = xpart
partx+ microyazb
part
partz partinfin = minusξ part
partξ+ ζ(m+ microξm(bminus1)ηaζbminus1)
part
partζ(mod(I2C))
Following notation from subsection IIII observe that C1 is the section of E1C which
is disjoint from the proper transform of the fiber of p In coordinates over 0
(26) x1 = x y1 = y z1 = zyminus1
And similarly over infin Using the previous equation and 25 on C1 we find
(27)
part01 = x1part
partx1+microya+bminus11 zb1
part
partz1 partinfin1 = minusξ1
part
partξ1+ζ1(m+microξ
m(bminus1)1 ηa+bminus11 ζbminus11 )
part
partζ1(mod(I2C1
))
In particular the transform of the nilpotent field is still nilpotent after blowing up in
C It follows that the eigenvalues of the semi-simple field at the two ends of C and
C1 are the same Using equation 23 we deduce that the normal bundle to C1X1 to
isomorphic to that of CX in particular it contains a trivial direct summand This
proves that width(C) =infin
Next we show that f must be net Consider the induced flat projection pD D rarr ∆
its general fiber cannot be a cuspidal curve since along such cusp the foliation sin-
gularity would be log-canonical but not canonical Hence if C has a cusp necessarily
the general fiber of pD is a nodal curve Let X rarr X denote the blow up of the
nodal locus of pD with exceptional divisor E ruled over ∆ In a neighborhood of E
we have sing(F ) = D cap E which projects to ∆ as a double cover ramified over lowastObserve that the foliation on Xlowast is again log-canonical and not canonical hence its
local structure is ni (2)a In that case however p is unramified along the foliation
singularity Contradiction
We state a general criterion for movability of KF -nil curves
Proposition IVI7 Let C be a connected KF -nil curve such that p(C ) = lowast isin ∆
Assume its dual graph is a chain that none of its irreducible components is double
38 FEDERICO BUONERBA
VI3 and that its two extremal ends are flat over ∆ Then C moves in a family flat
over ∆ and each of its irreducible components is embedded
Proof We work in a formal neighborhood of C After taking roots we can assume
C is net and since its dual graph is a chain it is actually embedded We proceed by
induction on its length l where the case l = 1 is Proposition IVI6 For l gt 1 let C1
be a component of C which is extremal in its dual graph If C1 moves transversely
to p then both its ends do and hence we can apply the induction hypothesis to
C C1 If C1 is rigid then it can be flopped It is straightforward to check that we
can apply the induction hypothesis to the transform C + C+1 and we are done
Now we deal with rigid curves inside the singular fiber
Proposition IVI8 (Singular fiber) Let f C rarr X be an embedded net KF -
nil curve with anti-ample normal bundle Then there exists a birational map φ
(X F ) 99K (X +F+) and a KF+-nil curve C+ such that
bull φ is an isomorphism away from C+
bull In a formal neighborhood of at least one among C and C+ there exist two
invariant hypersurfaces D1D2 locally defined by the vanishing of eigenfunc-
tions of the semi-simple field such that C (resp C+)= D1 capD2
bull If F middot C lt 0 for some hypersurface F then F+ middot C+ gt 0 In particular X +
is projective
Such φ is called flop
Proof Our assumption is that Nfsimminusrarr O(minusn)oplusO(minusm) is anti-ample namely nm gt
0 If two invariant hypersurfaces as in our statement do exist around C the flop is
easily constructed as a weighted blow-up followed by a weighted blow-down As such
let us assume that such hypersurfaces do not exist around C In particular C is not
double VI3 By [Ar70] there exists a formal contraction c X rarrX0 collapsing C
to a point and an isomorphism everywhere else By Proposition IVI3 the foliation
F0 is Gorenstein around the node of X0 For ease of exposition let us assume
n = m = 1 the general case is handled the same way only the notation becomes more
cumbersome due to the presence of weights The node has embedding dimension 4
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 39
and in suitable local coordinates x0 y0 w0 z0 can be defined by x0z0minusy0w0 = 0 The
morphism c can be identified with the blow up of the embedded surface (x0 = y0 = 0)
Explicitly in the chart y = y0 x = x0yminus10 it is defined by
(28) y0 = y x0 = xy z0 = zprime w0 = xzprime
Here x is a coordinate along C while y = 0 is the pull-back of (x0 = y0 = 0) and
zprime some function in the normal bundle to C By the previous Proposition IVI6
we know C cannot be contained in the smooth locus of p Since C is not double
we can assume that in this local chart p is defined by (x y zprime) rarr xy - the case
(x y zprime) rarr xzprime being isomorphic as it is isomorphic to blow-up (z0 = w0 = 0)
instead of (x0 = y0 = 0) The issue is as emphasized by the notation zprime 6= z that
zprime may fail to be an eigenfunction for partS if it were we would be done since zprime = 0
is the local equation for the global pullback of (z0 = w0 = 0) However we have
a b isin C such that
(29) partS0(y0) = minusy0 partS0(x0) = 0 partS0(z0) = ay0 + bz0 partS0(w0) = ax0 + (b+ 1)w0
Observe that the embedded surfaces D01 = (y0 = z0 = 0) and D0
2 = (x0 = w0 = 0)
are both foliation invariant As such let b X + rarr X0 denote the blow-up of X0
along D01 - which is isomorphic to that along D0
2 - and let Di = blowastD0i i = 1 2
Finally X + is projective by Nakai-Moishezon Indeed every C with anti-ample
normal bundle is contained in an irreducible component F of X0 such that F middotC lt 0
Then F+ middot C+ gt 0 and we can find an ample divisor of the form H+ + εF+ where
H+ is the proper transform of an ample on X
Remark IVI9 In the previous proof a 6= b+ 1 Indeed such identity would create
a non-trivial Jordan block of partS0 in the (x0 w0)-plane thus contradicting the semi-
simplicity of partS0 In particular by a straightforward computation it is impossible to
find eigenfunctions of the form wlowast0 = w0 + αx0 zlowast0 = z0 + βy0 with x0z
lowast0 minus y0wlowast0 = 0
unless a = 0
We can conclude by pointing out an important point understood in this section
A painful aspect of the theory is that log-canonical singularities which appear natu-
rally as analytic degenerations of canonical ones come along with cuspidal invariant
40 FEDERICO BUONERBA
curves There is in particular no a-priori obstruction to the existence of rigid
cuspidal KF -nil curves in a smooth fiber of our family of foliated surfaces p Quite
generally a rigid curve of positive arithmetic genus in a smooth family of surfaces can
never be contracted to a point Therefore this would have been a counter-example
to any reasonable foliated canonical model theory one may wish to achieve Fortu-
nately such phenomenon does not happen and this establishes the Main Theorem I
modulo finitely many rigid curves confined in the singular fiber X0
IVII Invariant curves inside sing(F ) In this subsection we study curves Z0 subeXlowast cap sing(F ) which are inside the foliation singularity and invariant By this we
mean that there exists a sequence fn Cn rarrX of not necessarily algebraic invariant
curves converging in the compact-open topology to Z0 In other words the map
(30) NorF rarr Ω1Z0
is trivial By Corollary IIIIII5 we know that Z0 is at worst nodal it is smooth
wherever p is smooth for every point z isin Z0 the semi-simple part of the gener-
ating vector field has exactly one eigenvalue The problem here is that the Jordan
decomposition need not extend uniformly along Z0 not even along an irreducible
component In case ni (1)a the functions x and g may develop essential singulari-
ties arbitrary close to z Nonetheless the function x is unique and this says that x
does extend along Z0
Proposition IVII1 Let Z0 be as above Then in a formal neighborhood of Z0
there exists a unique smooth invariant hypersurface D0 containing Z0 which restricts
around any point in Z0 to the unique eigenfunction for the semi-simple field whose
eigenvalue is non-zero
Proof The local structure of the foliation around a point z isin Z0 is described by
cases ni (1)a and ni (1)b In both cases partS has one non-zero eigenvalue with
eigenfunction x Such eigenfunction x is a-priori only defined in the normal bundle to
Z0 but it is clear that the equation partx = x has a unique up to constants solution in
the formal completion around z As such there exists a unique smooth hypersurface
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 41
D0 in the formal completion around Z0 which restricts to the eigenfunction x around
z
Observe that the previous argument goes through since we are assuming Z0 subX0
Keeping notations from case ni (1)a if say g(y z) = yz then in the hypersurface
y equiv q isin Qgt0 the foliation has a log-canonical singularity and the eigenfunction x
extends highly non-uniquely to a formal neighborhood of the point (x y z) = (0 q 0)
In particular the existence of D0 as in the previous Proposition might fail along
the component (x = z = 0) of the foliation singularity This phenomenon is called
the beast
Anyway uniqueness in the previous proposition yields
Corollary IVII2 Let Z prime be a connected invariant curve inside sing(F ) Then in
a formal neighborhood of Z prime there exists a unique smooth invariant hypersurface D prime
containing Z prime which restricts around any point in Z prime to the hypersurface constructed
in the previous proposition
Next we turn to the intrinsic structure of invariant singular curves
Proposition IVII3 Let Z0 be an irreducible invariant curve inside sing(F )
Then Z0 is smooth and rational
Proof We work in a formal neighborhood of Z0 Let F0 denote the unique component
of X0 containing Z0 For any other fiber component F intersecting Z0 non-trivially
blow-up the invariant curve F cap F0 with exceptional divisor EF A straightforward
computation using the local formula ni (1)b shows that the fiber of the natural
projection EF rarr F cap F0 intersecting Z0 is also contained in sing(F ) For Z prime the
maximal connected singular invariant curve containing Z0 let G denote the saturated
foliation induced on D prime It is canonical with reduced singularities and it satisfies
KG = KF |Dprime minus Zprime By adjunction
(31) 2g(Z0)minus 2 + sZG(Z0) = minusZ prime middot Z0
Observe that thanks to our initial sequence of blow-ups the singularities of G along
Z0 coincide with the intersection of Z0 and Z prime Z0 In particular since D prime is formally
42 FEDERICO BUONERBA
flat over ∆ we deduce Z prime middot Z0 = 0 and the previous formula becomes
(32) 2g(Z0)minus 2 + sZG(Z0) = 0
This implies that Z0 is rational or elliptic If Z0 were elliptic then sZG(Z0) = 0 and
D0 defines an invariant elliptic curve in the general fiber of p By Baum-Bott this
contradicts that KF is big and nef Now we show that Z0 is smooth If it has a node
then D0 moves it in a family of nodal rational curves flat over ∆ In particular D0
itself has a node in codimension 1 hence Xlowast is smooth around the node of Z0 In its
formal neighborhood the foliation must be as in case ni (1)a which implies that
Z0 is smooth contradiction
We can improve as follows
Proposition IVII4 Let Z prime sube sing F capXlowast be a connected invariant curve with
KF middot Z prime = 0 Then its dual graph is a chain
Proof Assume Z prime is a cycle Then necessarily Z prime = D prime capXlowast scheme-theoretically
and by the existence of Hilbert scheme Z prime moves in the general fiber Its general
member is either a cycle of smooth rational curves or an elliptic curve Arguing as
in the previous proof we see that both options are impossible
V Configurations
In this section we analyze in great detail all possible configurations of invariant
curves along which KF vanishes These can be divided into three groups those
that do not move those that move in a one-dimensional family covering a surface
those that move in a higher-dimensional family covering a surface Curves in the first
group can form rather complicated configurations while those in the second group
are more simple they either move in the general fiber or they cover an isolated
Riccati component in the singular fiber Those in the third group turn out to be
represented by the two rulings of P1timesP1 if they happen to be cohomologous in the
ambient stack First we will analyze rigid curves then those which move and finally
we will describe their configurations
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 43
VI Configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially In
this subsection we describe configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF
trivially which arise in the situation described by set-up IIVII4
First we focus on KF -nil curves At the end of the section we deal with the simpler
case in which a curve in the configuration is fully contained in sing(F ) The general
fiber was handled in Proposition IVI6
Proposition VI1 Let C be a connected KF -nil curve contained in the smooth
locus of a fiber of p Then it is a chain or a cycle and it moves in a family flat over
∆
In what follows we let C denote a connected KF -nil curve contained in the
singular fiber X0 all of whose sub-curves are rigid in X Observe a consequence of
equation 23
Proposition VI2 Let C = cupiCi be a connected KF -nil curve Then the eigen-
values of partS are all rational at every point of sing(F )capC if and only if they are all
rational at one point
We can deduce many non-trivial properties about configurations of KF -nil curves
First we need
Definition VI3 Let C subX0 be a curve It is called double if there exists formally
around C two components F F prime of X0 such that C = F cap F prime A point lowast isin C where
three fiber components intersect is called a triple point If C lies on exactly one fiber
component it is called non-double We denote by F (C) such component
Remark VI4 Let Csimminusrarr P1(d e) be double with two triple points Then we know
e+ λ+ micro = minusd+ (λ+ n) + (micro+m) = 0 whence we obtain
(33) n+m = d+ e
Which is called triple-point formula
Next we show that essentially KF -nil curves do not form cycles unless something
deforms in X0 First we show that there are no cycles of rigid non-double curves
44 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proposition VI5 Let C be a connected KF -nil curve contained in the singular
fiber X0 of p Assume that every component of C is non-double and that every
sub-curve is rigid Then C contains no cycles
Proof We work in a formal neighborhood of C which we assume is a cycle Let
us first consider the case in which all components C1 middot middot middot CN are smooth with no
orbifold points and denote lowasti = Ci cap Ci+1 with CN+1 = C1 Moreover let us
assume no lowasti lies in the smooth locus of p
Since no curve is double the semi-simple field at every lowasti is as in case i (3)b in
particular the eigenvalues along the branches of Ci and Ci+1 add up to zero More-
over let minusni denote the self-intersection of Ci sub F (Ci) Normalize the eigenvalues
of partS so that at lowastn they are 1 in the C1 direction minus1 in the CN direction λ in the
F (C1)capF (CN) direction It follows by induction that at lowasti the eigenvalues are minus1
in the Ci direction 1 in the Ci+1 direction λ+ n1 + middot middot middot+ ni in the F (Ci) cap F (Ci+1)
direction After traveling around the cycle we obtain n1+middot middot middot+nN = 0 contradicting
that ni gt 0 for every i
We established the Proposition assuming every Ci is an embedded scheme and ev-
ery lowasti is in the singular locus of p The case in which Cisimminusrarr P1(di ei) has orbifold
points is analogous we end up with a combination c1n1 + middot middot middot + cNnN = 0 with ci
the eigenvalue at lowasti in the Ci+1 direction Normalizing so that c1 = e1 gt 0 again by
induction on i we see that every ci isin Qgt0 Next we show that our assumption on lowastiis always satisfied
Claim VI6 Every lowasti must belong to the singular locus of p
Proof We give two essentially equivalent proofs
bull If N = 2 3 then the previous argument goes through indeed we can normal-
ize eigenvalues at lowasti to be negative in the Ciminus1 direction and positive in the
Ci-direction and argue as above Hence we can assume N ge 4 If say lowasti is in
the smooth locus of p then F (Ci) = F (Ci+1) If also F (Ciminus1) = F (Ci) then Ci
lies in the smooth locus of p and hence it moves Therefore F (Ciminus1) 6= F (Ci)
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 45
and Ciminus1 can be flopped inside F (Ci) Since N ge 4 this preserves the smooth-
ness of F (Ci) and Ci is now is the smooth locus of p - contradiction
bull If lowasti belongs to the smooth locus of p then the end through lowasti moves We
can form a partial net completion fi Xi rarrX by normalizing C in lowasti only
Then f lowasti C is a chain with movable ends and hence moves in the general fiber
of p fi
Finally the general case in which some among the Ci have cusps can be easily
reduced to the smooth case in a couple of ways
bull Eigenvalues at the singularities of any KF -nil curve satisfy the same relations
as in the smooth case
bull Upon taking roots and net completion we can find a foliated formal 3-fold
supported on a cycle of smooth KF -nil curves which is a ramified cover of a
formal neighborhood of our cycle
Similarly we can show that there are no rigid cycles of double curves
Proposition VI7 Let C be a nodal KF -nil curve which is double Then C
deforms inside X0 In particular there cannot exist a rigid cycle of KF -nil double
curves
Proof Following the previous notation we have 0 = infin and if C = (xy = z = 0)
around 0 then we have identities
(34) x = η y = ξ z = ζ
The last one of which implies m = 0 that is C deforms Since C is double necessarily
the surface it spans must be contained in X0
The statement about cycles follows since a cycle of double curves can be transformed
after finitely many flops into a chain of smooth double curves with a nodal one
attached at one end
46 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Later on we will show that the deformations of C cannot span an elliptic surface
but only a family of nodal rational curves with a special Riccati foliation on it
We are ready to organize a detailed description of the dual graph of C More pre-
cisely we only need to understand how double curves intersect non-double curves
Lemma VI8 There exists a sequence of flops X 99KX + such that if C + denotes
the transform of C every double curve supported on C + contains two triple points
Proof Let C sube C be an irreducible component with at most one triple point and
let X 99K X + be its flop Then its transform C+ is non-double and the number
of double curves contained in C descreases It is clear that after finitely many flops
all double curves contain exactly two triple points
From now on all double curves in C have two triple points Thanks to proposition
VI2 we know that there are two cases to consider those curves along which the
semi-simple field has not only rational eigenvalues and those along which the semi-
simple field has only rational eigenvalues The first case being strictly easier than
the second it is a good starting place to warm up
Proposition VI9 (irrational eigenvalues) Assume that for every foliation singu-
larity along C not all eigenvalues of partS are rational Then every component of C
is net with at most one node and 1-skeleton of its dual graph is at worst trivalent
Write C = C axes cup C free where
C axes is the union of double curves
C free is the union of non-double curves
Then one among C axes and C free is empty Moreover
bull If C free is non-empty then it is a chain of smooth curves with rational moduli
bull If C axes is non-empty there exists a sequence of flops X 99KX + and an ir-
reducible component of the fiber FC subX + such that X + is a smooth stack
the transform C+ of C is contained in FC Moreover the dual graph of C+
is a tree which by [McQ08 III32] becomes a chain inside the normalization
of FC
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 47
Proof The first sentence is just corollary IIIIII3
Observe that if a non-double curve intersects a double curve then the non-double
curve must be contained in an LC-center around such intersection This contradicts
that not all eigenvalues are rational and establishes that one among C axes and C free
is empty
In case C free is not empty then it is clearly a chain or a cycle the latter being
impossible by Proposition VI5
We are left to show the existence of flops in case C = C axes We remark that
every component is smooth Let C0 be such a component and S0 a component of
X0 containing it Let C1 be the collection of irreducible components of C which
intersect S0 but are not contained in it All the components of C1 are smooth hence
we can flop them in any order until the transform of C1 lies in the transform of S0
Since the number of irreducible components of C lying outside S0 decreases after
such flop by induction we deduce the existence of finitely many flops after which
the birational transform of C is fully contained in the transform of S0
Next we take care of rational eigenvalues The complication here arises from
the fact that there may be double and non-double curves intersecting each other
However the situation is best possible
Proposition VI10 (rational eigenvalues) Assume that for every foliation singu-
larity along C all eigenvalues of partS are rational Write C = C axes cup C free where
C axes is the union of double curves
C free is the union of non-double curves
Then there exists a sequence of flops X 99K X + and an irreducible component of
the fiber FC axes subX + such that
bull X + is a smooth stack
bull The union of double curves of C axes is contained in FC axes the 1-skeleton of
its dual graph is a tree and each of its components has two triple points
bull The 1-skeleton of the dual graph of the transform C free+ is a disjoint union of
trees
bull Each connected component of C free+ intersects C axes in exactly one point
48 FEDERICO BUONERBA
In particular the 1-skeleton of the dual graph of C is a tree
Proof Notice that for every point lowast isin C cap Z there exists one LC-center through lowastIndeed there are three rational eigenvalues and they cannot be all non-vanishing and
all with different signs at the same time Now C axes can be treated as in proposition
VI9 This proves the first two items of the statement The third item follows from
Proposition VI5 so we can focus on the fourth one The proof is based on the
following obvious
Remark VI11 let C be a double curve such that either it is KF -nil hence has
two triple points or it is fully contained in sing(F ) Let C0 sube C free intersect C
non-trivially in a point lowast then necessarily C0 sub LClowast
Now let C0 middot middot middot CN form a chain of non-double curves with C0 and CN both
intersecting double curves as in the remark Denote by lowasti = Ci cap Ci+1 Since
C1 sub LClowast necessarily C1 is transverse to LClowast1 otherwise C1 would deform in F (C1)
Inductively we see that Ci+1 sub LClowasti and is transverse to LClowasti+1 In particular CN
cannot touch a double curve This contradiction proves the fourth item
Let us add a remark about configurations featuring invariant curves inside sing(F )
Proposition VI12 Let C be an invariant curve with KF middot C = 0 such that
Z0 sube C for some component Z0 sube sing(F ) Then C = Z prime cup C where
Z prime is a connected invariant curve inside the foliation singularity with dual graph a
chain
C is the union of at most two pairwise disjoint KF -nil curves with anti-ample
normal bundle
If not empty C can only intersect Z prime at the two ends of its dual graph Moreover
perhaps after a flop the intersection of C with Z prime supports the foliation singularity
along C As such if C has two components Z prime cup C deforms in the general fiber
Proof The structure of Z prime is Proposition IVII3 while that of Co is Proposition
IVI6 Let C prime be a component of C intersecting Z0 in a point lowast If C prime and Z0 belong
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 49
to different components of X0 then by case ni (1)b the eigenvalue of partS along C prime
vanishes so supp(sing(F ) cap C prime) = lowast If C prime and Z0 belong to the same component
then we can flop C prime into a different component
Observe that the divisor D prime from op cit can be extended along C prime This implies
that C can only intersect Z prime at its ends Moreover if C touches both ends necessarily
D prime capX0 = C scheme-theoretically hence by the existence of Hilbert scheme IVI5
we conclude
Our new set-up is
Set-up VI13 Everything as in set-up IIVII4 and moreover for any connected
invariant curve C with KF middot C = 0 all of whose sub-curves are rigid we have
configurations computed in proposition VI9 VI10 and Lemma VI12
VII Configurations of non-rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
In this subsection we describe configurations of surfaces which are covered by KF -nil
curves The structure of each such surface is described by classification IIV1 IIV2
and Corollary IIVI17 Our first step is to simplify the situation by contracting
chains of ruled surfaces The next step is to try and exclude the possibility that
the singular fiber of p contains fibrations by elliptic or nodal rational curves with
at least one invariant fiber This can be achieved with good success indeed there
may be at most one such Riccati foliation which is anyway rather isolated from the
remaining KF -nil curves Finally we observe that the only class of surfaces we have
not mentioned is
Definition VII1 A irreducible component F of the singular fiber of p is called
small Kronecker if
bull (FFF ) is birational to a Kronecker vector field on P1 timesP1 and
bull The two rulings of this P1 timesP1 are cohomologous inside X
The name comes from the fact that contraction of a small Kronecker yields a node
in the ambient threefold which admits a small resolution In fact in many respects
these fiber components behave very much like rigid KF -nil curves
50 FEDERICO BUONERBA
We start by getting rid of some fiber components which are ruled by KF -nil gener-
ically smooth rational curves
Proposition VII2 Notation as in Set-up VI13 there exists a sequence of flops
and divisorial contractions c X 99KX + such that
bull X + is a smooth stack
bull let S+ sub X + be an irreducible invariant divisor that contains a positive-
dimensional family of invariant rational curves along which KF+ vanishes
Then S+ is either birationally ruled by nodal rational curves or it is a small
Kronecker
Proof We focus first on contracting components of the singular fiber of p Consider
the following algorithm If there is no birationally ruled component different from
the ones listed in the second item we are done otherwise pick one such F and let
C denote the general member of the ruling If the cohomology class [C] is inde-
composable F is minimal Otherwise [C] = [C1] + [C2] where Ci are rational and
intersect KF trivially After finitely many steps we have a decomposition as a finite
sum of indecomposables [C] =sumn
i=0 ni[Ci] where every Ci is rational intersects KF
trivially We have two cases
bull There exists k such that Ck deforms in a birationally ruled necessarily min-
imal surface Fk
bull Every Ci has anti-ample normal bundle
In the first case denote by X rarr X1 the contraction of Fk along |Ck| and relpace
X by X1 Since Fk is minimal smoothness of the ambient stack is preserved unless
Fk is a small Kronecker This is however impossible if n ge 2 if Fk were a small
Kronecker then Ck deforms away from Fkminus1 so then Fkminus1 middot Ck = 0 on the other
hand Fkminus1 intersects the other ruling of Fk positively
In the second case flop C1 middot middot middot Cn in this order The transform of F is minimal and
not a small Kronecker so it can be contracted along its ruling preserving ambient
smoothness By induction on the Picard rank of X after finitely many steps this
algorithm ends Call X the output of this algorithm
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 51
Let S subX be an invariant divisor with a generically smooth ruling Then pS S rarr∆ is flat and after flopping finitely many rational curves in S cap plowastS(0) the resulting
pS is smooth Hence we can contract S along pS After finitely many steps the
Proposition is proven
For ease of notation in the sequel we call X the output of the previous proposition
Notice that there might still be divisors carrying a pencil of nodal rational curves
both inside and outside the singular fiber of p
We can start analyzing configurations of fiber components where the restriction of
F is not of general type We need some notation whose reason to exist will be clear
shortly
Definition VII3 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
along which KF is not big F is called special Riccati if
bull F is minimal
bull There exists a morphism s F rarr B onto a curve whose fibers are nodal
rational curve
bull F is transverse to the general fiber of s in particular KF is numerically
trivial along s
bull At least one fiber of s is invariant
bull There exists a section σ of s which is invariant and does not coincide with
the nodal locus of F
In particular the intersections of σ with invariant fibers of s isolated singularities
of F the node of F all coincide There may be fibers of s fully contained in sing(F )
in which case they are everywhere transverse to the saturated foliation
The definition looks nasty but special Riccati components have a rather simple
origin as the following proof shows
Lemma VII4 Let F be special Riccati Up to base change by an etale double cover
Bprime rarr B there is a natural isomorphism F norm simminusrarr BprimetimesP1 and the restriction of F
to F norm is birational to the projection onto P1
52 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proof We work over the normalization F norm Denote by Bprime the pre-image of the
node of F which is an etale double cover of B and let f denote an invariant fiber
of s with lowast = σ cap f Observe that F norm carries a Riccati foliation with 3 invariant
curves through lowast - namely σ f and a component of Bprime Hence FF has a log-canonical
singularity in lowast On F norm perform a weighted blow-up in each log-canonical singu-
larity followed by the contraction of the transforms of the corresponding fibers Let
s+ F+ rarr B denote the output of this operation If the proper transform of Bprime is
connected replace F+ by its base change under Bprime rarr B Hence we can assume Bprime
is the disjoint union of two sections of s+ and the transform of σ is a third section
which is disjoint from Bprime Therefore F+ = P1 timesBprime and the foliation restricts to the
projection onto P1
Next we describe those surfaces which cannot appear as components of the sin-
gular fiber X0
Definition VII5 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
along which KF is not big F is called illusory if
bull there exists a morphism t F rarr B onto a curve
bull KF is trivial along t
bull For any other fiber component F prime the intersection F cap F prime is either empty or
contained in a fiber of t
We give examples of illusory fiber components
Lemma VII6 The following fiber components are necessarily illusory
bull t is elliptic the foliation is either parallel to t or turbolent with at least one
invariant fiber
bull t is a nodal ruling the foliation is either parallel to t or transverse to t with
at least one invariant fiber and not birational to a special Riccati VII3
Proof Let f = F cap F prime for some fiber component F prime It is F -invariant
Assume t and F are parallel and f is transverse to both Then necessarily f subesing(F ) and KF is positive along the fibers of t contradiction
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 53
Assume t and F are generically transverse and f is transverse to t Let e be an
invariant fiber of t then ecap f isin sing(F ) hence t must be a family of nodal rational
curves and ecapf coincides with the node of e - otherwise KF would be positive along
t But this implies F is special Riccati contradiction
We proceed to show that illusory fibers do not exist
Lemma VII7 Let F be an illusory fiber component then every fiber of t is irre-
ducible If F prime is any fiber component intersecting F non-trivially then F prime is illusory
Proof Assume t has a reducible fiber f Then we can write f = f prime cup f primeprime where f prime
is irreducible and f primeprime is a disjoint union of chains of rational curves In particular
every subscheme supported on f primeprime is rigid in X f prime is rational and smooth iff f is a
cycle of rational curves hence the foliation on F is parallel to t and the choice of f prime
is not unique otherwise f prime is nodal or elliptic Let X 99KX + denote the flop of the
irreducible components of f primeprime in any order The proper transform f prime+ (below in red)
is the irreducible fiber of the induced morphism t+ F+ rarr B Since f primeprime+ intersects
f prime+ and is not contained in F+ there exists a component F prime of the fiber of p+ such
that F+ cap f prime+ 6= empty Since F+ is illusory necessarily F+ cap F prime = f prime+ Moreover F+
and F prime are the only fiber components intersecting f prime+ again because F+ is illusory
We deduce that F+ middot f prime+ = F prime middot f prime+ = 0 and therefore f prime+ is nef inside F prime It follows
that he restriction of F+ to F prime is not of general type and by the classification of
foliated surfaces [McQ08] necessarily f prime+ deforms inside F prime and defines a fibration
u F prime rarr Bprime In particular f prime+ is an irreducible fiber of u This is however impossible
since u contracts all the components of f primeprime+ contained in F prime (below in blue) and by
definition of F prime there exists at least one such component This proves that every
fiber of t is irreducible The following depicts the situation
F prime F+
f prime+
f primeprime+
t+u
54 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Concerning the second statement we only need to check the third condition for F prime
to be illussory namely that every other fiber component F primeprime intersecting F prime does
so along the fibers of u If F primeprime intersects F prime transversely to u then F primeprime intersects F
non-trivially and transversely to t as well absurd
Corollary VII8 Illusory components do not exist
Proof By the above lemma the existence of one illusory component implies that
every irreducible component of the singular fiber of p is illusory contradicting that
KF is big
We can now focus on fiber components that do appear
Corollary VII9 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
containing an invariant curve C which moves and such that KF middot C = 0 Then
following the classification [McQ08] we have two cases
(1) The minimal model of F is a special Riccati component
(2) F is a small Kronecker
Proof Certainly the ones listed are the only cases where C is KF -nil We have to
exclude the possibility that C is invariant inside sing(F ) By Proposition IVII3
such C would be rational with at most one node Since we already contracted at
the beginning of the present subsection all ruled surfaces necessarily C is nodal
However by opcit C cannot intersect any other fiber component of X0 which
implies the absurdity that X0 = F
We proceed to show that special Riccati components are rather isolated in the
fiber
Lemma VII10 Let F be a special Riccati component If F prime is a fiber component
intersecting F non-trivially then it does so transversely to s Morover there is
exactly one such F prime
Proof After finitely many flops we can assume that every fiber of s is irreducible
By the non-existence of illusory components there exists a fiber component F lowast with
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 55
σprime = F cap F prime transverse to s If F primeprime is a fiber component with f = F cap F primeprime a fiber
of s then we claim f sube sing(F ) If not then since KF middot f = 0 and σprime is invariant
necessarily σprimecap f is the node of f But then the existence of F primeprime contradicts that p is
snc Hence f sube sing(F ) so then around the node of f there are 3 fiber components -
two branches coming from F one from F primeprime - and sing(F ) has 2 branches - namely f
This is impossible by our case analysis ni (1)c ni (2)c The very same reasoning
establishes the uniqueness of F prime
Lemma VII11 Let F be as in the previous Lemma If C is a connected curve
with KF middot C = 0 then it is disjoint from F
Proof After finitely many flops s is irreducible and C intersects F transversely away
from its node Moreover lowast = C cap F isin sing(F ) and we deduce that the fiber of s
through lowast is fully contained in the singular locus of F This contradicts Proposition
IVII3 since such fiber is nodal
We conclude by observing the obvious
Lemma VII12 Let F be a small Kronecker Then there exists a contraction
c X rarr X prime which is an isomorphism away from F and contracts F along one
of its rulings Necessarily X prime is not projective since every global Cartier divisor
intersects c(F ) trivially On the other hand in a formal neighborhood of c(F ) there
exist Cartier divisors intersecting it non-trivialliy
As such the contribution coming from non-rigid curves is rather poor there are
curves moving in the general fiber there are special Riccati components disjoint from
any other invariant curve intersecting KF trivially there are small Kroneckers who
can be contracted to curves We shall see in the next section that the complications
arising from the contraction of such non-rigid curves is purely psychological and
totally harmless
56 FEDERICO BUONERBA
VI Contractions and proof of the Main Theorem
In this section we contract all invariant curves along which KF is zero thereby
establishing the existence of canonical models I First we contract non-rigid curves
as described in the previous subsection
bull Small Kroneckers along either ruling Albeit this destroys projectivity of
the ambient threefold there still exist Cartier divisors defined in a formal
neighborhood of the base curve that intersect it non-trivially
bull Families of irreducible nodal rational curves which are flat over ∆ This
creates elliptic singularities on the general fiber of p which are disjoint from
other invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
bull Special Riccati again families of irreducible nodal rational curves fully con-
tained in X0 This creates elliptic singularities disjoint from other invariant
curves intersecting KF trivially
We can summarize our situation by way of
Set-up VI1 X is a 3-dimensional DM stack with at worst elliptic singularities
F a foliation by curves with canonical singularities which is not Q-Cartier in a
neighborhood of Xsing
There exists a proper morphism p X rarr ∆ smooth off 0 isin ∆ F restricts to a
foliation on every fiber of p it has canonical singularities on the very general fiber
of p and log-canonical singularities on every fiber of p KF is big and nef on every
irreducible component of every fiber of p
Let C be the invariant sub-scheme along which KF is not big then C is a curve
fully contained in the smooth locus X0capXsmooth every sub-curve of C has anti-ample
normal bundle the 1-simplex of its dual graph is a tree and detailed configurations
of such are referenced in set-up VI13
We proceed to contract such C We assume that along C the semi-simple field has
only rational eigenvalues and moreover no component of C is inside the foliation
singularity The other two cases - irrational eigenvalues and presence of singular
component - are strictly easier and can be obtained with the very same method
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 57
The proof takes place in the formal completion around C = C free cup C axes The
former is a disjoint union of trees of non-double curves For each non-double C let
F (C) denote the unique component of X0 containing it The latter is a tree of double
curves each with two triple points all contained in the same irreducible FC axes Each
tree of non-double curves touches C axes in one point through a LC-center In order
to construct the contraction we will use Artinrsquos celebrated criterion in the following
form
Fact VI1 ([Ar70]) Let X be an irreducible algebraic space i Y rarr X a closed
subspace of pure codimension 1 and f Y rarr Y0 a proper morphism with flowastOY = OY0
Let X denote the formal completion of X along Y and assume there exists a Cartier
divisor D in X which is supported on Y and is f -anti-ample Then there exists a
proper morphism of algebraic spaces F X rarr X0 which is an isomorphism away
from Y and such that ilowastF = f
Now we use the tree structure of C to construct a suitable divisor to which apply
Artinrsquos theorem Namely consider the following inductive defintion
(35) C0 = C axes F0 = FC axes
For k ge 0 assume Ck Fk are defined
bull Let Ck+1 denote the union of irreducible components of C that intersect Fk
non-trivially but are not contained in cupilekFibull Let Fk+1 denote the reduced sum (
sumCsubeCk+1
F (C))red
This process stops with a collection C1 middot middot middotCN of curves and F1 middot middot middot FN of reduced
divisors
Lemma VI1 We have the following identities
(36)
Fk middot C lt 0 for every C sube Ck
(F0 + F1) middot C le 0 for every C sube C0
(Fkminus1 + Fk + Fk+1) middot C = 0 for every C sube Ck 1 lt k lt N
(FNminus1 + FN) middot C lt 0 for every C sube CN
58 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proof The first is just the fact that every component of C is rigid The remaining
three follow from X0 middot C = 0 but the last one requires further justification Indeed
if C sube CN N gt 0 then C is one end of a tree of non-double curves In particular
there exists a foliation singularity lowast isin C disjoint from any other component of
C and LClowast is transverse to C This implies LClowast middotC gt 0 which together with
(FNminus1 + FN + LClowast) middot C = 0 concludes the proof
Let ε1 middot middot middot εN isin Qgt0 and define
(37) F Nminusk = (1 + ε1 + middot middot middot+ εk)FNminusk
bull If C sube CN we have
(38) (F Nminus1 + F
N) middot C = ε1FNminus1 middot C + (FNminus1 + FN) middot C
bull If C sube CNminusk 1 lt k lt N we have
(39)
(F Nminuskminus1 + F
Nminusk + F Nminusk+1) middot C =
(1 + middot middot middot+ εk)(FNminuskminus1 + FNminusk + FNminusk+1) middot C minus εkFNminusk+1 middot C + εk+1FNminuskminus1 middot C =
minus εkFNminusk+1 middot C + εk+1FNminuskminus1 middot C
bull If C sube C0 we have
(40) (F 0 + F
1) middot C = εNF0 middot C + (Nminus1sumj=0
εj)(F0 + F1) middot C
It is clear that provided
(41) 1 gtgt ε1 gtgt middot middot middot gtgt εN
the divisor F =sumF k is negative along every component of C
This proves the existence of the contraction and concludes the proof of the Main
Theorem I
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 59
VII Moduli space of foliated surfaces of general type
In this section we study the modular variation of foliated surfaces of general type
The upshot is that it is possible to define a functor which is representable separated
and every irreducible component is proper The main issue here is that the supporting
surface of a foliated canonical model may well fail to be projective indeed KF is not
Q-Gorenstein in general Hence in order to proceed via standard methods [Ko17]
we have to parametrize our canonical models together with a suitable projective
resolution
Definition VII13 Let (SF ) be a foliated proper reduced purely 2-dimensional
DM stack Assume S has only normal crossing singularities in codimension 1 that
F has log-canonical foliation singularities and that KF is big and nef on at least
one of the irreducible components of S If whenever KF middot C = 0 for some curve C
then C moves in an irreducible component of S and no member of such deformation
is F -invariant then (SF ) is called foliated canonical model of general type
Clearly foliated canonical models are exactly the stable degenerations appearing
as the central fiber of our Main Theorem I Their lack of projectivity has two sources
namely the contraction of cycles of smooth KF -nil curves and of trees of cuspidal
ones Singularities arising from cycles behave well in families namely they always
deform into the general fiber Those arising from cuspidal curves on the other hand
tend to be rather isolated inside the degenerate fiber
Observe that the deformation theory of a foliated surface is rather simple suppose
given an infinitesimal C-algebras extension 0 rarr J rarr Ae rarr A rarr 0 and (SF )
a foliated surface flat over Spec(A) then the obstruction to lifting to Ae can be
understood in three simple steps
(1) Deformation of the underlying surface S once a deformation Se rarr Spec(Ae)
is given
(2) Deformation of the line bundle KF by the exponential sequence
(42) 0rarr J otimes OS rarr OlowastSerarr OlowastS rarr 0
obstructions lie in H2(SOS)otimes J once a deformation of KF is given
60 FEDERICO BUONERBA
(3) Deformation of the defining section OS rarr KF otimes TS obstructions lie in
H1(SKF otimes TS)otimes J
Now we have
Definition VII14 Let (SF ) be a foliated canonical model of general type A
proper birational morphism q (SF )proj rarr (SF ) is called its projective resolution
if
bull Every irreducible component of Sproj is smooth
bull The exceptional locus of q is a disjoint union of cycles of KFproj-nil smooth
curves and trees of KFproj-nil curves each of which has a non-trivial cuspidal
singularity
bull In a neighborhood of every q-exceptional cycle not only Sproj but also its
moduli space is smooth
We need a few remarks about projective resolutions
(1) Projective resolutions are always unique Indeed the only possible ambiguity
could lie in some extra smooth irreducible components in the exceptional
locus This is forbidden by definition in the trees of cuspidal curves it is
also forbidden by way of the third item in cycles of smooth ones ie on
algebraic surfaces the minimal resolution is unique
(2) Denote by E the collection of q-exceptional cycles Then there exist ε δ isinQgt0 such that KFproj
minus εE + δKSprojis ample by Nakai-Moishezon
(3) Deformations of a projective resolution of a foliated canonical model are
canonically identified with deformations of the underlying birational mor-
phism q Sproj rarr S followed by a deformation of the foliation F
We are now ready to construct a moduli functor for foliated surfaces more precisely
for projective resolutions of foliated canonical models of general type For m dN isinN and ε δ isin Qgt0 let
(43) MmdNεδ (C-schemes)rarr (sets)
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 61
be defined by MmdNεδ(S) = Diagrams
(44) (X F )projqminusrarr (X F )
pminusrarr S
Where
bull Both p and p q are flat and proper
bull For every closed point s isin S the induced morphism qs is the projective
resolution of (X F )s which is a foliated canonical model of general type
bull Denote by Es the collection of exceptional cycles of qs By our Main Theorem
I there is a fibrewise divisor E subXproj flat over S restricting to Es for every
s isin S
bull Let j W rarr Xproj denote the maximal closed subscheme away from which
KFprojand KXprojS are locally free Then
(45) L [m] = (jlowast(KFprojotimes OXproj
(minusεE )otimesKδXprojS
)otimesm)oror
is flat over S and commutes with base-change
bull L [m] is very ample of degree d on every fiber and defines an embedding into
PNS
We are now ready for
Theorem VII15 The functor MmdNεδ is represented by a separated algebraic
space each of whose irreducible components is proper
Proof We show that our functor satisfies Artinrsquos conditions [Ar74 Corollary 54] By
definition condition 1) and 4) hold while our previous remark on foliated obstruction
theory shows that 3) is true
We proceed to show 2) namely effectivity of formal deformations for MmdNεδ
What follows owes much to Artinrsquos [A74rsquo] Let T be a complete C-algebra Tn its
n-truncation so that Tsimminusrarr limlarrminusTn and finally qn isinMmdNεδ(Spec(Tn)) a compatible
sequence For each n there is a maximal open set Un sube Xprojn where qn is an
isomorphism denote by sn Cn rarr Zn the restriction of qn to the complement of Un
Clearly sn is projective over Spec(Tn)
62 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Denote by X C etc the formal algebraic spaces obtained as limits of Xn Cn
etc Then Xproj sub PNˆSpec(T )
hence by Grothendieckrsquos existence Theorem we find
bull a flat projective family (X F )proj rarr Spec(T ) resp a closed subscheme
C subXproj whose completion is Xproj resp C
bull a scheme Z whose completion is Z and a morphism s C rarr Z everything
being projective over Spec(T )
Further we have a formal contraction limminusrarr qn C rarr Z hence the main theorem
of [Ar70] gives algebraic contraction (X F )proj rarr (X F ) This proves the repre-
sentability of MmdNεδ The properness and separability of each irreducible com-
ponent can be checked using valutative criteria indeed properness is the content of
our Main Theorem I separatedness follows from the uniqueness of foliated canonical
models of general type and their projective resolution
References
[Ar70] M Artin Algebraization of Formal Moduli II Existence of Modifications Ann
of Math Vol 91 No 1 (Jan 1970) pp 88-135 httpwwwjstororgstable
1970602
[Ar74] M Artin Versal Deformations and Algebraic Stacks Inventiones Math 27 165- 189
(1974) httpmathuchicagoedu~drinfeldArtin_on_stackspdf
[A74rsquo] M Artin Algebraic construction of Brieskornrsquos resolutions J Alg Vol 29 Issue
2 May 1974 pp 330-348 httpwwwsciencedirectcomsciencearticlepii
0021869374901021
[BB72] P Baum R Bott Singularities of holomorphic foliations J Diff Geom 7 (1972)
279-342 httpsprojecteuclidorgdownloadpdf_1euclidjdg1214431158
[Bo77] F Bogomolov Families of curves on a surface of general type Doklady Akademii Nauk
USSR (in Russian) 236 (5) 1041-1044
[Bo78] F Bogomolov Holomorphic tensors and vector bundles on projective varieties Math
USSR Izv 13 (1978) 499-555
[BM16] F Bogomolov M McQuillan Rational Curves on Foliated Varieties In Cascini
McKernan Pereira (eds) Foliation Theory in Algebraic Geometry Simons Symposia
Springer Cham pp 21-51 (2016) httpslinkspringercomchapter101007
978-3-319-24460-0_2
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 63
[Bu] F Buonerba Functorial resolution of tame quotient singularities in positive charac-
teristic httpsarxivorgabs151100550
[Ke99] S Keel Basepoint Freeness for Nef and Big Line Bundles in Positive Characteris-
tic Annals of Math 149 No 1 (Jan 1999) pp 253-286 httpwwwjstororg
stable121025 httpsarxivorgabsmath9901149
[KM97] S Keel S Mori Quotients by groupoids Annals of Math 145 (1997) pp
193-213 httpwwwjstororgstable2951828seq=1page_scan_tab_contents
httparxivorgabsalg-geom9508012
[Ko17] J Kollar Families of varieties of general type httpswebmathprincetonedu
~kollarbookmodbook20170720pdf
[LN02] A Lins Neto Some examples for the Poincare and Painleve problems Annales sci-
entifiques de lrsquoENS 352 (2002) 231-266 httparchivenumdamorgarticle
ASENS_2002_4_35_2_231_0pdf
[McQ12] M McQuillan Foliated Mori Theory amp Hyperbolicity of Algebraic Surfaces http
wwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillahomehtml
[McQ98] M McQuillan Diophantine approximation and foliations Inst Hautes Etudes Sci
Publ Math 87 (1998) 121-174 httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafiles
ihespdf
[McQ05rsquo] M McQuillan Bloch hyperbolicity preprint httpwwwmatuniroma2it
~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ05] M McQuillan Semi-stable reduction of foliations IHES pre-print IHESM0502
(2005) httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ05rdquo] M McQuillan Uniform Uniformisation IHES pre-print (2005) IHES M0503 http
wwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ08] M McQuillan Canonical models of foliations Pure Appl Math Q 4
(2008) no 3 Special Issue In honor of Fedor Bogomolov Part 2 877-1012
httpintlpresscomsitepubfiles_fulltextjournalspamq20080004
0003PAMQ-2008-0004-0003-a009pdf
[MP13] M McQuillan D Panazzolo Almost etale resolution of foliations J Diff Geom 95
(2013) pp 279-319 httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesmp1bispdf
[Pe02] JV Pereira On the Poincare Problem for Foliations of General Type Mathematische
Annalen 323 no 2 pp217-226 2002 httpsarxivorgabsmath0104185
[PS16] JV Pereira R Svaldi Effective algebraic integration in bounded genus preprint
httpsarxivorgabs161206932
64 FEDERICO BUONERBA
[Re83] M Reid Minimal models of canonical threefolds in rdquoAlgebraic Varieties and Ana-
lytic Varietiesrdquo Adv Stud Pure Math vol 1 S Iitaka ed Kinokuniya and North-
Holland 1983 pp 131-180 httpwwwmathsedacukcheltsovquotientpdf
reid2pdf
[Se67] A Seidenberg Reduction of singularities of the differential equation Ady = Bdx Amer
J Math 89 (1967) 248-269 httpwwwjstororgstable2373435
[SB83] N Shepherd-Barron Degenerations with numerically effective canonical divisor The
Birational Geometry of Degenerations (R Friedman and D Morrison eds) Progr
Math no 29 Birkhuser 1983 pp 33-84
[Vis89] A Vistoli Intersection theory on algebraic stacks and on their moduli spaces
Invent Math (1989) pp 613-670 httplinkspringercomarticle101007
2FBF01388892page-1
Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences New York University 251 Mercer
Street New York NY 10012 USA
E-mail address buonerbacimsnyuedu
- I Introduction
- II Preliminaries
-
- III Operations on Deligne-Mumford stacks
- IIII Width of embedded parabolic champs
- IIIII Gorenstein foliation singularities
- IIIV Foliated adjunction
- IIV Canonical models of foliated surfaces with canonical singularities
- IIVI Canonical models of foliated surfaces with log-canonical singularities
- IIVII Set-up
-
- III Invariant curves and singularities local description
-
- IIII `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F) not isolated
- IIIII `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F) isolated
- IIIIII Local consequences
-
- IV Invariant curves along which KF vanishes
-
- IVI KF-nil curves
- IVII Invariant curves inside `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F)
-
- V Configurations
-
- VI Configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
- VII Configurations of non-rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
-
- VI Contractions and proof of the Main Theorem
- VII Moduli space of foliated surfaces of general type
- References
-
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 13
Where a derivation on a complete local ring O is termed radial if there ex-
ist x1 middot middot middotxn isin m independent mod m2 and positive integers ni such that part =sumi nixi
partpartxi
In this case the singular locus is the center of a divisorial valuation with
zero discrepancy and non-invariant exceptional divisor
A very useful tool which is emplyed in the analysis of local properties of foliation
singularities is the Jordan decompositon [McQ08 I23] Notation as above the
linearization part admits a Jordan decomposition partS + partN into commuting semi-simple
and nilpotent part It is easy to see inductively that such decomposition lifts canon-
ically over successive infinitesimal neighborhoods Omn+1 rarr Omn and in the limit
we obtain a Jordan decomposition for the linear action of part on the whole complete
ring O
IIIV Foliated adjunction In this subsection we provide an adjunction formula
for foliation-invariant curves Let (X F ) be a Gorenstein foliation and f L rarrX the normalization of a F -invariant one-dimensional stack not contained in the
singular locus Z Denote by χ(L ) its topological Euler characteristic and by sZ(f)
the multiplicity of the ideal sheaf fminus1IZ We have
Fact IIIV1 [McQ05 IId4]
(5) KF middotL = minusχ(L )minus Ramf +sZ(f)
Which is a simple consequence of the isomorphism f lowastKF middotfminus1IZsimminusrarr Ω1
L (minusRamf )
The local contribution of sZ(f)minusRamf computed for a branch of f around a point
p in the support of fminus1IZ is np|Gp|minus1 with np a positive integer and Gp the local
monodromy of L at p Assume now that L has no generic stabilizer and let |L |denote its moduli The previous formula can be rewritten more usefully
Fact IIIV2
(6) KF middotL = 2g(|L |)minus 2 + fminus1IZ +sumf(p)isinZ
(np minus 1)|Gp|minus1 +sumf(p)isinZ
(1minus |Gp|minus1)
This can be easily deduced via a comparison between χ(L ) and χ(|L |) The
adjunction estimate 6 gives a complete description of invariant curves which are not
14 FEDERICO BUONERBA
contained in the singular locus and intersect the canonical KF non-positively A
complete analysis of the structure of KF -negative curves and much more is done
in [McQ05]
Definition IIIV3 A KF -nil curve is an invariant one-dimensional orbifold f
C rarr X such that KF middotf C = 0 and f does not factor through the singular locus
Z of the foliation
By adjunction 6 we have
Proposition IIIV4 The following is a complete list of possibilities for KF -nil
curves f
bull C is an elliptic curve without non-schematic points and f misses the singular
locus
bull |C| is a rational curve f hits the singular locus in two points with np = 1
there are no non-schematic points off the singular locus
bull |C| is a rational curve f hits the singular locus in one point with np = 1 there
are two non-schematic points off the singular locus with local monodromy
Z2Z
bull |C| is a rational curve f hits the singular locus in one point p there is at
most one non-schematic point q off the singular locus we have the identity
(np minus 1)|Gp|minus1 = |Gq|minus1
As shown in [McQ08] all these can happen In the sequel we will always assume
that a KF -nil curve is simply connected We remark that an invariant curve can have
rather bad singularities where it intersects the foliation singularities First it could
fail to be unibranch moreover each branch could acquire a cusp if going through
a radial singularity This phenomenon of deep ramification appears naturally in
presence of log-canonical singularities
IIV Canonical models of foliated surfaces with canonical singularities In
this subsection we provide a summary of the birational classification of Gorenstein
foliations with canonical singularities on algebraic surfaces obtained in [McQ08] Let
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 15
X be a two-dimensional smooth DM stack with projective moduli and F a foliation
with canonical singularities Since X is smooth certainly F is Q-Gorenstein If
KF is not pseudo-effective then foliated bend and break [BM16 Main Theorem]
shows that F is birationally a fibration by rational curves If KF is pseudo-effective
its Zariski decomposition has negative part a finite collection of invariant chains of
rational curves which can be contracted to a smooth DM stack with projective
moduli on which KF is nef At this point those foliations such that the Kodaira
dimension k(KF ) le 1 can be completely classified
Fact IIV1 [McQ08 IV3] Foliations with canonical singularities and Kodaira di-
mension zero are up to a ramified cover and birational transformations defined by
a global vector field The minimal models belong the following list
bull A Kronecker vector field on an abelian surface
bull The suspension of a representation π1(E)rarr PGL2(C) for E an elliptic curve
bull A Kronecker vector field on P1 timesP1
bull An isotrivial elliptic fibration
Fact IIV2 [McQ08 IV4] Foliations with canonical singularities and Kodaira di-
mension one are classified by their Kodaira fibration The linear system |KF | defines
a fibration onto a curve and the minimal models belong to the following list
bull The foliation and the fibration coincide so then the fibration is non-isotrivial
elliptic
bull The foliation is transverse to a projective bundle (Riccati)
bull The foliation is everywhere smooth and transverse to an isotrivial elliptic
fibration (turbolent)
bull The foliation is parallel to an isotrivial fibration in hyperbolic curves
On the other hand for foliations of general type the new phenomenon is that
global generation fails The problem is the appearence of elliptic Gorenstein leaves
these are cycles possibly irreducible of invariant rational curves around which KF
is numerically trivial but might fail to be torsion Assume that KF is big and nef
16 FEDERICO BUONERBA
and consider morphisms
(7) X rarrXe rarrXc
Where the composite is the contraction of all the KF -nil curves and the rightmost
is the minimal resolution of elliptic Gorenstein singularities
Fact IIV3 [McQ08 IV21 IV22] Xe is projective there exists an ample divisor
A and an effective divisor E supported on minimal elliptic Gorenstein leaves such
that KFe = A+E On the other hand Xc might fail to be projective and Fc is never
Q-Gorenstein
We refer to [McQ08 III32] for the descriptions of possible dual graphs of config-
urations of invariant KF -negative or nil curves
IIVI Canonical models of foliated surfaces with log-canonical singulari-
ties In this subsection we study Gorenstein foliations with log-canonical singulari-
ties on algebraic surfaces In particular we will classify the singularities appearing
on the underlying surface prove the existence of minimal and canonical models
describe the exceptional curves appearing in the contraction to the canonical model
Proposition IIVI1 Let (UF ) be a germ of Gorenstein log-canonical foliation
singularity Then U is a cone over a subvariety Y of a weighted projective space
whose weights are determined by the eigenvalues of F Moreover F is defined by
the rulings of the cone
Proof By Fact IIIII2 there exists a closed embedding i U rarr M - with M a
smooth local formal scheme - a regular system of parameters x1 middot middot middot xk on M and
positive integers n1 middot middot middotnk such that F is the restriction of the foliation defined by
part =sumnixi
partpartxi
to U Let I sub OM denote the ideal defining i(U) subM then part(I) sube I
We are going to prove that I is homogeneous where each xi has weight ni Let f isin I
and write f =sum
dge1 fd where fd is homogeneous of degree d in x1 middot middot middot xk - ie fd is
a k-linear combination of monomials xa11 xakk with d =
sumi aini For every N isin N
let FN = (xa11 xakk
sumi aini ge N) This collection of ideals defines a natural
filtration on OM For a = max ai we have mN sube FN sube mNa ie the FN -filtration
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 17
is equivalent to the one by powers of the maximal ideal and therefore OM is also
complete with respect to the FN -filtration
We will prove that if f isin I then fd isin I for every d
Let IN = (I + FN)FN Since OM is complete with respect to the FN -filtration
I = limlarrminus IN Therefore it is enough to show
Claim IIVI2 For every N gt 0 we have fd isin IN sub OMFN for all d lt N
Proof For every g isin IN denote by n(g) the unique integer such that g isin Fn(g) Fn(g)+1 (ie the minimal index d for which fd 6= 0) and by N(g) = N minus n(g)
We will prove the statement of the Claim by induction on N(f) If N(f) = 1 then
f = fNminus1 holds in OMFN and the statement is true If N(f) gt 1 we have part(f) =sumd d middot fd hence consider f1 = D(f)minus n(f)f =
sumdgtn(f)(dminus n(f))fd Tautologically
we have N(f1) lt N(f) and therefore fd isin IN for every d gt n(f) so then fn(f) =
f minussum
dgtn(f) fd isin IN as well
This implies that I is a homogeneous ideal and hence U is the germ of a cone over
a variety in the weighted projective space P(n1 nk)
Corollary IIVI3 If the germ U is normal then Y is normal If U is normal
of dimension 2 the weighted blow-up p U rarr U at the vertex of the cone has only
quotient singularities the exceptional divisor E(simminusrarr Y ) is smooth and everywhere
transverse to the induced foliation Moreover we have
(8) plowastKF = KF + E
Certainly the converse to Proposition IIVI1 fails even on surfaces indeed let
(X F ) be a Gorenstein foliated surface and let C sub X be a generic curve so
in particular smooth and not F -invariant We can assume perhaps after a finite
sequence of simple blow-ups along C that both X and F are smooth in a neigh-
borhood of C C and F are everywhere transverse and C2 lt 0
Proposition IIVI4 The formal contraction q X rarr X0 of C is isomorphic to
the cone over C the projected foliation F0 coincides with that by rulings on the cone
F0 is Q-Gorenstein if C rational or elliptic but not in general
18 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proof F0 is Q-Gorenstein if and only if the bundle KF (C) is trivial on the formal
completion of X along C The obstructions to lift the isomorphism OC(KF +C)simminusrarr
OC over infinitesimal neighborhoods of C lie in H1(C (1 minus n)C + KF ) for every
n isin N These groups vanish for every n isin N if 2g(C) minus 2 + C2 lt 0 (which is
always true for rational or elliptic curves) but do provide non-trivial obstructions in
general
We focus on the minimal model program for Gorenstein log-canonical foliations
on algebraic surfaces Let X be a DM stack of dimension 2 with projective moduli
and F a Gorenstein foliation with log-canonical singularities Denote by LC(F )
the set of points where F is log-canonical and not canonical and by Z the singular
sub-scheme of F We assume LC(F ) 6= empty since the empty case has been completely
settled Moreover we can assume that X is smooth outside LC(F ) Let f C rarrX
be a morphism from a 1-dimensional stack with trivial generic stabilizer such that
fminus1 LC(F ) 6= empty Since we will need them several times we formulate some technical
results
Lemma IIVI5 Let p X rarr X be the resolution of the log-canonical foliation
singularity intersecting C with exceptional divisor E Then
(9) KF middot C minus C middot E = KF middot C
Proof We have
(10) plowastC = C minus (C middot EE2)E
Intersecting this equation with equation 8 we obtain the result
This formula is important because it shows that passing from foliations with log-
canonical singularities to their canonical resolution increases the negativity of inter-
sections between invariant curves and the canonical bundle In fact the log-canonical
theory reduces to the canonical one after resolving the log-canonical singularities
Further we list some strong constraints given by invariant curves along which the
foliation is smooth
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 19
Fact IIVI6 [BB72 Baum-Bott] Let g C rarrX be an F -invariant curve missing
the foliation singularities Then C2 = NF middotg C = 0
Corollary IIVI7 Let g C rarr X be an F -invariant curve missing the foliation
singularities and such that KF middotg C lt 0 Then F is birationally a fibration by
rational curves
Proof By assumption KF middot C = minusχ(C) This together with Baum-Bott IIVI6
imply that KX middot C = minusχ(C) and from usual adjunction we get C2 = 0 Riemann-
Roch gives h0(X mC) ge 2 for m gtgt 0 so then |C| defines a fibration by rational
curves tangent to F
The rest of this subsection is devoted to the construction of minimal and canonical
models in presence of log-canonical singularities The only technique we use is
resolve the log-canonical singularities in order to reduce to the canonical case and
keep track of the exceptional divisor
We are now ready to handle the existence of minimal models
Theorem IIVI8 (Minimal models) Let X be a DM stack of dimension 2 with pro-
jective moduli and F a Gorenstein foliation with log-canonical singularities Then
either
bull F is birational to a fibration by rational curves or
bull There exist a birational contraction q X rarr X0 such that KF0 is nef
Moreover the exceptional curves of q donrsquot intersect LC(F )
Proof Let f be as above ie KF -negative and intersecting LC(F ) If f is not
F -invariant then KF middotC +C2 ge 0 so C moves and KF is not pseudo-effective We
conclude by foliated bend and break [BM16]
If f is F -invariant then foliated adjunction 6 implies that C is rational it intersects
the singular locus of F in exactly one point By Lemma IIVI5 after resolving the
log-canonical singularity KF middot C lt 0 and F is smooth along C We conlude by
Corollary IIVI7
20 FEDERICO BUONERBA
From now on we add the assumption that KF is nef and we want to analyze
those curves f satisfying KF middotf C = 0 By adjunction formula 6 we know that C
has rational moduli and fminus1Z is supported on two points
Remark IIVI9 If fminus1Z = fminus1 LC(F ) then F is birationally a fibration by ratio-
nal curves
Proof After resolving the log-canonical singularities of F along the image of C we
have KF middot C lt 0 and F smooth along C We conclude by Corollary IIVI7
Therefore we can assume that f satisfies the following condition
Definition IIVI10 An invariant curve f C rarr X is called log-contractible if
KF middot C = 0 and it intersects Z in two points one canonical and one log-canonical
not canonical
It follows that f(C) is everywhere unibranch but it might have a cusp in LC(F )
Definition IIVI11 A log-chain is a chain of invariant rational orbifolds C =
cupni=0Ci scheme-like outside the foliation singularities with KF middot C = 0 and such
that
bull C0 is log-contractible with lowast(C ) = C0 cap LC(F ) called the marking of C
bull Ci is disjoint from LC(F ) if i ge 1
There is a unique point t(C ) satisfying t(C ) isin Z cap (Cn Cnminus1) called the tail of
the log-chain
Proposition IIVI12 Let C1C2 be two log-chains intersecting non-trivially Then
lowast(C1) = lowast(C2) and C1 cap C2 = lowast(C1)
Proof It is enough to prove that the two log-chains cannot intersect in their tails
Replace X be the resolution of the at most two markings of the log-chains and Ci
by their proper transforms C1cupC2 = cupmi=0Ri is a connected chain of rational curves
intersecting Z outisde LC(F ) Moreover each of the two extremal curves R0 and
Rm intersects Z in one point only In particular KF middot Ri = 0 for i = 1 middot middot middot m minus 1
and KF middot Ri lt 0 for i = 0m Since we assumed F is not birational to a fibration
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 21
by rational curves there exists a contraction p X rarr X0 with exceptional curve
cupmminus1i=0 Ri However F0 is smooth along plowastRm so by adjunction formula KF0 middotplowastRm lt
0 and we find a contradiction by Corollary IIVI7
Corollary IIVI13 Let C be a maximal connected curve such that KF middotC = 0 and
C cap LC(F ) 6= empty Then C is a union of finitely many log-chains intersecting each
other in their common marking
The following shows a configuration of log-chains sharing the same marking col-
ored in black
We are now ready to state and prove the canonical model theorem in presence of
log-canonical singularities
Theorem IIVI14 (Canonical models) Let X be a proper DM stack of dimension
2 and F a foliation with isolated singularities Moreover assume that KF is nef
that every KF -nil curve is contained in a log-chain and that F is Gorenstein and
log-canonical in a neighborhood of every KF -nil curve Then either
bull There exists a birational contraction p X rarr X0 whose exceptional curves
are unions of log-chains If all the log-contractible curves contained in the log-
chains are smooth then F0 is Gorenstein and log-canonical If furthermore
X has projective moduli then X0 has projective moduli In any case KF0
is numerically ample
bull There exists a fibration p X rarr B over a curve whose fibers intersect
KF trivially Each F -invariant fiber of p intersecting LC(F ) is union of
mutually compatible log-chains
Proof If all the KF -nil curves can be contracted by a birational morphism we are in
the first case of the Theorem Else let C be a maximal connected curve withKF middotC =
0 and which is not contractible It is a union of pairwise compatible log-chains
22 FEDERICO BUONERBA
with marking lowast Replace (X F ) by the resolution of the log-canonical singularity
at lowast with exceptional divisor E Therefore F is Gorenstein and canonical in a
neighborhood of C cupE By equation 9 we have KF middotC = minusC middotE lt 0 and therefore
C can be contracted to a canonical foliation singularity Replace (X F ) by the
contraction of C We have a smooth curve E around which F is smooth and
nowhere tangent to E Moreover
(11) KF middot E = minusE2
And we distinguish cases
bull E2 gt 0 so KF is not pseudo-effective a contradiction
bull E2 lt 0 so the initial curve C is contractible a contradiction
bull E2 = 0 which we proceed to analyze
The following is what we need to handle the third case
Proposition IIVI15 Let (X F ) be a foliation with canonical singularities with
X a smooth 2-dimensional DM stack with projective moduli and KF nef If there
exists a smooth curve E everywhere transverse to F such that KF middot E = E2 = 0
then E moves in a pencil and defines a fibration p X rarr B onto a curve whose
fibers intersect KF trivially
Proof If KF has Kodaira dimension one then its linear system contains an effective
divisor and by Hodge index KF = cE as divisors for some c isin Q+ Hence there is
a fibration onto a curve with fiber E and F is transverse to it by assumption If
KF has Kodaira dimension zero we use the classification IIV1 in all cases but the
suspension over an elliptic curve E defines a product structure on the underlying
surface in the case of a suspension every section of the underlying projective bundle
is clearly F -invariant Therefore E is a fiber of the bundle
This concludes the proof of the Theorem
We remark that the second alternative in the above theorem is rather natural
let (X F ) be a foliation which is transverse to a fibration by rational or elliptic
curves ie a suspension over elliptic curve turbolent Riccati or isotrivial Pick a
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 23
general fiber E of the fibration and blow up any number of points on it The proper
transform E is certainly contractible By Proposition IIVI4 the contraction of E is
Gorenstein and log-canonical Moreover the fiber E has been replaced by a union of
compatible log-chains Note in particular that the number of log-chains appearing
is arbitrary
Corollary IIVI16 Let X be a proper DM stack of dimension 2 and F a Goren-
stein foliation with log-canonical singularities Assume that KF is big and pseudo-
effective Then there exists a birational morphism p X rarr X0 such that C is
exceptional if and only if KF middot C le 0 In particular KF0 is numerically ample
For future applications we spell out
Corollary IIVI17 Hypothesis as in Theorem IIVI14 assume further that X
is everywhere smooth Then in the second alternative of the theorem the fibration
p X rarr B is by rational curves
Proof Indeed in this case the curve E which appears in the proof above as the
exceptional locus for the resolution of the log-canonical singularity at lowast must be
rational By the previous Proposition p is defined by a pencil in |E|
IIVII Set-up In this subsection we prepare the set-up we will deal with in the
rest of the manuscript Briefly we want to handle the existence of canonical models
for a family of foliated surfaces parametrized by a one-dimensional base To this
end we will discuss the modular behavior of singularities of foliated surfaces with
Gorenstein singularities recall McQuillan-Panazzolorsquos resolution of foliation singu-
larities building on the existence of minimal models [McQ05] prepare the set-up
for the sequel
Let us begin with the modular behavior of Gorenstein singularities
Proposition IIVII1 Let (X F ) be a smooth DM stack with a foliation by
curves Assume there exists a flat proper morphism p X rarr C onto an algebraic
curve such that F restricts to a foliation on every fiber of p Then the set
(12) s isin C Fs is log-canonical
24 FEDERICO BUONERBA
is Zariski-open while the set
(13) s isin C Fs is canonical
is the complement to a countable subset of C lying on a real-analytic curve
Proof By Fact IIIII2 being log-canonical is equivalent to the linearized endomor-
phism part IZI2Z rarr IZI
2Z being non-nilpotent where Z is the singular sub-scheme
of the foliation Of course being non-nilpotent is a Zariski open condition The
second statement also follows from opcit since a log-canonical singularity which is
not canonical has linearization with all its eigenvalues positive and rational The
statement is optimal as shown by the vector field on A3xys
(14) part(s) =part
partx+ s
part
party
Next we recall the existence of a functorial canonical resolution of foliation singu-
larities for foliations by curves on 3-dimensional stacks
Fact IIVII2 [MP13] Let X = (XDF ) be a 3-dimensional DM stack with bound-
ary foliated by curves Then there exists a proper birational morphism Xprime rarr X such
that X prime is a smooth DM stack and F prime has only canonical foliation singularities
The original opcit contains a more refined statement including a detailed de-
scription of the claimed birational morphism
In order for our set-up to make sense we mention one last very important result
Fact IIVII3 [McQ05] Let X be a smooth DM stack with projective moduli and F
a foliation by curves with (log)canonical singularities Then there exists a birational
map X 99K Xm obtained as a composition of flips such that Xm is a smooth
DM stack with projective moduli the birational transform Fm has (log)canonical
singularities and one of the following happens
bull KFm is nef or
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 25
bull There exists a fibration Xm rarr B over a smooth base whose fibers are
weighted projective spaces such that Fm is tangent to the fibers and restricts
to a radial foliation on those
Finally we can organize our notation
Set-up IIVII4 (X F ) is a smooth 3-dimensional DM stack with projective mod-
uli F a foliation by curves with canonical singularities such that KF is big and nef
There exists a semi-stable morphism p X rarr ∆ whose moduli is projective onto
the (formal) unit disk F restricts to a foliation on every fiber of p it has canon-
ical singularities on the very general fiber of p and log-canonical singularities on
every fiber of p Our task from now on is to analyze and contract the maximal
foliation-invariant sub-scheme of X along which KF is not ample
III Invariant curves and singularities local description
In this section we give a complete decription of germs of invariant curves that
appear in the formal completion of any point in the set-up IIVII4 Let us replace
X by its formal completion in a point lowast where the foliation is singular F is defined
by a vector field part with Jordan decomposition partS + partN see the end of subsection
IIIII Since [partS partN ] = 0 partN preserves the eigenspaces of partS Moreover the fact that
F is tangent to p translates into
(15) partS(p) = partN(p) = 0
The description of invariant germs of curves through lowast will be achieved via case-by-
case analysis organized by computing what happens for all possible combinations
of the following informations whether the singular locus Z is isolated at lowast the
number of eigenvalues of partS the number of components of the fiber through p
IIII sing(F ) not isolated
ni (1) partS has one eigenvalue
bull We have partS = x partpartx
and partN = f partparty
+ g partpartz
for some functions f g isin (y z)
Moreover partN is non-trivial
26 FEDERICO BUONERBA
bull Z = (x = f = g = 0) is not isolated
(a) The fiber has one component y = 0 Then 0 = partN(y) = f hence
Z = (x = g = 0) The restriction on the fiber is part|(y=0) = x partpartx
+g|(y=0)partpartz
Z has a one-dimensional component contained in the fiber iff g isin (y) in
which case such component is smooth equal to (x = 0) moreover the
foliation on the fiber saturates to a smooth one with invariant curves
z = 0 transverse to Z
Otherwise the foliation is saturated on the fiber and has a saddle-node
singularity
(b) The fiber has two components yz = 0 Then 0 = partN(yz) = zf + yg
hence f = yh g = minuszh for some h and Z = (x = h = 0) The restriction
on a fiber component say y = 0 is part|(y=0) = x partpartxminus zh|(y=0)
partpartz
Z has an
irreducible component contained in y = 0 iff h isin (y) in which case such
component is smooth equal to (x = 0) moreover the foliation on the
fiber saturates to a smooth one with invariant curves z = 0 transverse
to Z
Otherwise the foliation is saturated on the fiber and has a saddle-node
singularity
(c) The fiber has three components xyz = 0 0 = partS(xyz) = xyz a contra-
diction
Summary with one eigenvalue there are either one or two components The
foliation might have a one-dimensional singularity when restricted to a fiber
component in this case such singularity is a smooth curve and the foliation
saturates to a smooth one with invariant curves transverse to the singular-
ity If the singularity is isolated on a fiber component then it is a canonical
saddle-node with at most two invariant branches
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 27
ni (2) partS has two eigenvalues
We have partS = x partpartx
+ λy partparty
and partN(x y z) = k partpartx
+ f partparty
+ g partpartz
for some func-
tions k f g
(a) The fiber has one component z = 0 Then g = 0 k f isin (x y) and
necessarily Z = (x = y = 0) is transverse to the fiber The restriction on
the fiber is saturated and non-degenerate It has canonical singularities
if either partN 6= 0 or λ isin Q+ otherwise it is log-canonical
(b) The fiber has two components xy = 0 Then 0 = partS(xy) hence λ = minus1
Also 0 = partN(xy) hence k = xh f = minusyh g isin (xy) and necessarily
Z = (x = y = 0) coincides with the intersection of the two fiber compo-
nents which is smooth the foliation saturates to a smooth one on each
component with invariant curves transverse to Z
(c) The fiber has three components xyz = 0 hence λ = minus1 Also k = xklowast
f = yf lowast g = zglowast with klowast + f lowast + glowast = 0 and glowast isin (xy) The singularity
Z = (x = y = 0) coincides with the intersection of two of the fiber
components The restriction to either such components saturates to a
smooth foliation with invariant curves transverse to Z the restriction
to z = 0 has a canonical non-degenerate singularity all the invariant
curves are those in xy = 0 transverse to Z
Summary with 2 eigenvalues there can be any number of components With
one component the foliation restricts to a saturated one with a (log)canonical
singularity which moves transversely to p With two components the folia-
tion is not saturated on either and saturates to a smooth one with invariant
curves transverse to the singularity With three components the foliation
is not saturated on two of them and saturates to a smooth one on both
with invariant curves transverse to the singularity the foliation is saturated
and has a canonical non-degenerate singularity on the third component In
28 FEDERICO BUONERBA
the last two cases the singularity is fully contained in an intersection of two
components
ni (3) partS has three eigenvalues But then the singularity is isolated a contradiction
IIIII sing(F ) isolated
i (1) partS has one eigenvalue
bull We have partS = x partpartx
and partN = xk partpartx
+ f partparty
+ g partpartz
for some functions
k f g isin (y z) Moreover partN is non-trivial
bull Z = (x = f = g = 0) is isolated
(a) The fiber has one component y = 0 Then 0 = partN(y) = f and Z cannot
be isolated a contradiction
(b) The fiber has two components yz = 0 Then 0 = partN(yz) = zf + yg so
f = yh g = minuszh with h non-constant Hence Z = (x = h = 0) is not
isolated a contradiction
(c) The fiber has three components xyz = 0 Then 0 = partS(xyz) = xyz a
contradiction
Summary the 1 eigenvalue case does not exist
i (2) partS has two eigenvalues
bull We have partS = x partpartx
+ λy partparty
partN = xk partpartx
+ f partparty
+ g partpartz
for some functions
k f g
bull g is non-trivial and g isin (x y)
bull Z = (x = y = g = 0) is isolated
(a) The fiber has one component z = 0 Then g = 0 a contradiction
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 29
(b) The fiber has two components xy = 0 hence λ = minus1 and g isin (xy z)
the restriction to y = 0 is part|(y=0) = x partpartx
+g|(y=0)partpartz
and necessarily g|(y=0)
is non-vanishing Therefore the restriction to either components is satu-
rated and the singularity is a canonical saddle-node on each of them
The invariant curves are among the axes x = y = 0 x = z = 0 y = z =
0
(c) The fiber has three components xyz = 0 hence λ = minus1 Necessarily
k = xklowast f = yf lowast g = zglowast with klowast + f lowast + glowast = 0 The restriction to
y = 0 is part|(y=0) = x(1 + klowast|(y=0))partpartx
+ zglowast|(y=0)partpartz
since g isin (x y) we have
glowast|(y=0) non-trivial Therefore the restriction to either x = 0 and y = 0
is saturated and the singularity is a canonical saddle-node on each of
them
The restriction to z = 0 is part|(z=0) = x(1 + klowast|(z=0))partpartx
+ y(minus1 + f lowast|(z=0))partparty
therefore the restriction is saturated and has a canonical non-degenerate
singularity
The invariant curves are among the axes x = y = 0 x = z = 0 y = z =
0
Summary with 2 eigenvalues there are either two or three components the
foliation restricts to a canonical saddle-node on two of them and to a non-
degenerate singularity on the third one if it exists All the invariant curves
are in the axes
i (3) partS has three eigenvalues We have partS = x partpartx
+ λy partparty
+ microz partpartz
(a) The fiber has one component y = 0 hence λ = 0 a contradiction
(b) The fiber has two components xy = 0 hence λ = minus1 The restriction to
y = 0 is part|(y=0) = x partpartx
+ microz partpartz
+ partN|(y=0) The singularity is log-canonical
30 FEDERICO BUONERBA
iff micro isin Qgt0 and partN|(y=0)= 0 and in this case the singularity on x = 0 is
canonical non-degenerate Invariant curves are those in y = 0 and the
axis x = z = 0
If the restriction to both fiber components is canonical then it non-
degenerate on both and the invariant curves are contained in the axes
x = y = 0 x = z = 0 y = z = 0
The fiber could be yz = 0 hence λ+micro = 0 It can be analyzed as in the
next item
(c) The fiber has three components xyz = 0 hence 1 + λ + micro = 0 In par-
ticular if λ = cmicro c isin Q+ then λ micro isin Q The restriction to y = 0
is part|(y=0) = x partpartx
+ microz partpartz
+ partN|(y=0) This singularity is log-canonical iff
micro isin Qgt0 and partN|(y=0)= 0 in which case the singularity on both x = 0
and z = 0 is canonical non-degenerate In particular if the singularity
is log-canonical on some fiber component then it is so on exactly one
component and all eigenvalues are rational Invariant curves are those
in y = 0 and the axis x = z = 0
If the restriction to all fiber components is canonical then it non-degenerate
on each of them and the invariant curves are contained in the axes
x = y = 0 x = z = 0 y = z = 0
Summary with 3 eigenvalues there are either two or three fiber components
the foliation restricts to a singular foliation on each of them and it has a
log-canonical singularity on at most one of them in this case all eigenvalues
of the semi-simple field are rational
IIIIII Local consequences We list some corollaries for future reference As al-
ways in this section the statements are local so everything happens in a formal
neighborhood of our point lowast First we state those corollaries we will need to describe
configurations of KF -nil curves
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 31
Definition IIIIII1 An LC-center Π sub X is an irreducible F -invariant formal
hypersurface such that the local vector field generating the foliation when restricted
to Π has semi-simple part with log-canonical singularity or a one-dimensional sin-
gular locus An LC-center with a log-canonical singularity is necessarily an algebraic
component of the singular fiber of p
Corollary IIIIII2 There is at most one LC-center with a log-canonical singularity
through lowast If it exists then all eigenvalues of the semi-simple field at lowast are rational
If there are at least two LC-centers through lowast then there are exactly two and the
foliation singularity is a smooth curve on each of them
Proof Possible cases in which an LC-center with log-canonical singularities appears
ni (2)a i (3)b i (3)c
Corollary IIIIII3 If there is no LC-center thorugh a point lowast then there are at
most three invariant curves through lowast all smooth Any number of them spans a sub-
space of the tangent space at lowast of maximal possible dimension
If there is an LC-center through lowast then there is at most one invariant curve through
lowast and not contained in the LC-center
If there is an LC-center with non-isolated singularity then the singularity is smooth
and all invariant curves contained in the LC-center intersect the singularity trans-
versely
Proof Invariant curves not in an LC-centers with log-canonical singularities are con-
tained in the three axes x = z = 0 x = y = 0 y = z = 0 mentioned in the above
classification The other statements are clear
Corollary IIIIII4 If p is smooth at lowast then Z is one dimensional around lowast
Proof Possible casesni (1)a ni (2)a
In particular if there is no LC-center the situation is the familiary
xz
32 FEDERICO BUONERBA
While if there is an LC-center (pink) with log-canonical singularity it will look like
y
LC-center
While if there is an LC-center with non-isolated singularity (red) it will look like
(the black arrows being invariant curves)
y
LC-center
The next corollary describes one-dimensional components of the foliation singularity
Corollary IIIIII5 If Z0 is a one-dimensional irreducible component of the folia-
tion singularity then it is at worst nodal The foliation when restricted to any fiber
component containing Z0 saturates to a smooth foliation in a neighborhood of Z0
and all the invariant curves are transverse to Z0
If Z0 is contained in exactly one fiber component then the semi-simple field has one
eigenvalue everywhere along Z0
If Z0 lies at the intersection of two fiber components then the semi-simple field has
two constant eigenvalues everywhere along Z0
Moreover if there exist a sequence of invariant curves converging in the compact-
open topology to Z0 then there is generically one eigenvalue along Z0
Proof Possible casesni (1)a ni (1)b ni (2)b ni (2)c Concerning the one-
eigenvalue case invariant curves converging to Z0 can be found in the formal hyper-
surface x = 0
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 33
IV Invariant curves along which KF vanishes
In this section we study in great detail a formal neighborhood of invariant curves
where KF is numerically trivial In the first subsection we deal with KF -nil curves
namely those whose generic point is not contained in the foliation singularity In this
case the normal bundle to the curve determines its formal neighborhood uniquely
and this has plenty of amazing consequences In the second subsection we study
those invariant curves which are contained in the foliation singularity In this case
we are not able to control the full formal neighborhood but important informations
can still be obtained
IVI KF -nil curves In this subsection we study in detail the structure of KF -
nil curves and their formal neighborhoods appearing in the set-up IIVII4 In
particular we will describe a simple process to replace cuspidal KF -nil curves by
net ones prove that the foliation is in the net completion around a net KF -nil curve
defined by a global vector field which admits a global Jordan decomposition deduce
that eigenfunctions for the semi-simple component of such field are also globally
defined on a formal neighborhood
The first important remark is of technical nature and explains how to deal with non-
net KF -nil curves By Proposition IIIV4 this is indeed possible and the images of
such curves will acquire cusp-like singularities It is hard to analyze the geometry
of F around such cuspidal curves and therefore necessary to remove them Let us
assume that C is simply connected with rational moduli f is ramified at 0 isin C
and and denote by X the formal completion along f(C) Then formally around
f(0) the curve f(C) has defining ideal (y xa minus zb) where y = 0 is a fiber of the
fibration p X rarr ∆ containing f(C) x z isin H0(X OX ) restrict to suitable local
coordinates on such fiber and a b ge 2 are coprime integers
Claim IVI1 Let r X ( aradicz = 0) rarr X be the a-th root of z = 0 III3 Then
(rlowastC)norm =∐a
1 C and the induced map rlowastf (rlowastC)norm rarrX ( aradicz = 0) is net
Proof Since r is etale away from z = 0 also rlowastC rarr C is etale away from 0 isin C
Since C 0 is simply connected we have rlowastC rminus1(0) =∐a
1 C 0 This proves
34 FEDERICO BUONERBA
the first statement Let ζ be a function on X ( aradicz = 0) such that ζa = z so then
rlowast(xa minus zb) =prod
ηa=1(x minus ηζb) Every branch is net in 0 and we obtain the second
statement as well
As such upon taking roots we can replace non-net KF -nil invariant curves with
rational moduli by net ones
We now proceed to study net KF -nil curves We will show that the foliation is
defined by a global vector field around a net KF -nil curve with rational moduli and
that such vector field admits a global Jordan decomposition
Proposition IVI2 Notation as in the set-up IIVII4 let f C rarrX be a KF -nil
curve Assume that f is net and let j C rarr C be the net completion along f Then
there exists an isomorphism
(16) OC(KF )simminusrarr OC
In particular there exists a global vector field partf on C that generates F
Proof Since C has rational moduli and is simply connected it has infinite-cyclic
Picard group and we have an isomorphism
(17) OC(KF )simminusrarr OC
Moreover we have a non-canonical splitting of the normal bundle Njsimminusrarr O(minusn) oplus
O(minusm) and we claim that both nm ge 0 Indeed consider the induced semi-stable
fibration C rarr ∆ and let F be the normalization of an irreducible component of a
fiber such that C sub F Consider the exact sequence
(18) 0rarr NCF rarr Nj rarr NFC|C rarr 0
Since KF is nef NCF is not ample since F is a fiber of a fibration also NFC|C is
not ample and this is enough to conclude even though nm may be different from
the degrees of such normal bundles
At this point we can lift the isomorphism 17 over infinitesimal neighborhoods of j
Indeed for every k ge 0 we have an exact sequence
(19) 0rarr Symk ICI2C rarr OCk+1
(KF )rarr OCk(KF )rarr 0
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 35
which shows that the obstruction to lifting the isomorphism lies in
(20) H1(C Symk ICI2C) = H1(C Symk(O(n)oplus O(m))) = 0
From this we can deduce
Proposition IVI3 The vector field partf admits a Jordan decomposition uniformly
along C
Proof The cohomology sequence attached to 19 is
(21) 0rarr H0(C Symk ICI2C)rarr H0(COCk+1
)rarr H0(COCk)rarr 0
Let partk+1 denote the image of partf in End(H0(COCk+1)) Looking at
H0(COCk+1) minusminusminusrarr H0(COCk
)
partk+1
y partk
yH0(COCk+1
) minusminusminusrarr H0(COCk)
we see the canonical Jordan deomposition of partk+1 restricts to that of partk
The above result describes a very useful interplay between normal bundles to
KF -nil curves and the structure of the semi-simple field It turns out that these
informations determine formal neighborhoods uniquely For simplicity let C be
an irreducible component of C without orbifold points Let us assume that part|C is
singular in 0infin Then there exist formal functions x y z at 0 isin C and ξ η ζ at
infin isin C such that x ξ are coordinates along C y η are local sections of OC(minusn)
so η = xny mod(I2C) z ζ are local sections of OC(minusm) so ζ = xmz mod(I2C)
Normalizing so that xminus1partS(x) = ε isin 0 1 we obtain
(22) part0S = εxpart
partx+ λy
part
party+ microz
part
partz partinfinS = minusεξ part
partξ+ (λ+ εn)η
part
partη+ (micro+ εm)ζ
part
partζ
More generally ie C = P1(d e) we have glueing rules x = te ξ = tminusd η = tny and
ζ = tmz mod(I2C) Normalizing so that tminus1partS(t) = ε isin 0 1 we obtain
(23) part0S = eεxpart
partx+ λy
part
party+ microz
part
partz partinfinS = minusdεξ part
partξ+ (λ+ εn)η
part
partη+ (micro+ εm)ζ
part
partζ
36 FEDERICO BUONERBA
It is worth remarking that the above relations hold between eigenvalues at the two
singular point of singular ie nodal or cuspidal KF -nil curves as well this is
easily seen by taking a root followed by net completion and keeping track of the
eigenvalues
Definition IVI4 Let C be a KF -nil curve The foliation singular points along C
are called ends
As well as the existence of Hilbert scheme in the following form
Fact IVI5 Let W sub Xlowast be a curve and D a divisor in the formal neighborhood
of W such that W = D capXlowast scheme-theoretically Then W moves in D
In what follows our main concern is to understand formal neighborhoods of KF -
nil curves Observe that the fibration p when restricted to the formal neighborhood
of such curves provides at least one eigenfunction of the semi-simple field Hence
in order to compute the width IIII we must study the behavior of the other eigen-
function on infinitesimal neighborhoods We first describe the situation inside the
smooth locus of p
Proposition IVI6 (Smooth fiber) Let f C rarrX be an irreducible KF -nil curve
which is contained in the smooth locus of a fiber Xlowast of p Then the end(s) on C are
flat over ∆ ni (1)b and ni (1)a with z2|g(y z) and C moves in a family flat over
∆
Proof Let us assume that f is net Then upon passing to net completion we can
actually assume it is embedded From our local classification of singularities we case
in case ni (1)a and ni (2)a We want to show that both ends have components
that move transversely to p hence we have to exclude case ni (1)a with g(y z) = ya
By way of contradiction say we have g(y z) = ya in the notation of opcit around
an end lowast isin C We proceed to compute what happens at the other end we find
formal coordinates ξ η ζ which by equation 23 satisfy
(24) ξ = xminus1 η = y ζ = xmz mod(I2C)
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 37
As such we compute part(ζ) = mζ + ξminusmηa mod(I2C) which is holomorphic if and only
if m le 0 so then C moves in Xlowast contradicting that the foliation has general type
Hence we are in cases ni (1)a ni (2)a with g = microyazb b ge 1
(25) part0 = xpart
partx+ microyazb
part
partz partinfin = minusξ part
partξ+ ζ(m+ microξm(bminus1)ηaζbminus1)
part
partζ(mod(I2C))
Following notation from subsection IIII observe that C1 is the section of E1C which
is disjoint from the proper transform of the fiber of p In coordinates over 0
(26) x1 = x y1 = y z1 = zyminus1
And similarly over infin Using the previous equation and 25 on C1 we find
(27)
part01 = x1part
partx1+microya+bminus11 zb1
part
partz1 partinfin1 = minusξ1
part
partξ1+ζ1(m+microξ
m(bminus1)1 ηa+bminus11 ζbminus11 )
part
partζ1(mod(I2C1
))
In particular the transform of the nilpotent field is still nilpotent after blowing up in
C It follows that the eigenvalues of the semi-simple field at the two ends of C and
C1 are the same Using equation 23 we deduce that the normal bundle to C1X1 to
isomorphic to that of CX in particular it contains a trivial direct summand This
proves that width(C) =infin
Next we show that f must be net Consider the induced flat projection pD D rarr ∆
its general fiber cannot be a cuspidal curve since along such cusp the foliation sin-
gularity would be log-canonical but not canonical Hence if C has a cusp necessarily
the general fiber of pD is a nodal curve Let X rarr X denote the blow up of the
nodal locus of pD with exceptional divisor E ruled over ∆ In a neighborhood of E
we have sing(F ) = D cap E which projects to ∆ as a double cover ramified over lowastObserve that the foliation on Xlowast is again log-canonical and not canonical hence its
local structure is ni (2)a In that case however p is unramified along the foliation
singularity Contradiction
We state a general criterion for movability of KF -nil curves
Proposition IVI7 Let C be a connected KF -nil curve such that p(C ) = lowast isin ∆
Assume its dual graph is a chain that none of its irreducible components is double
38 FEDERICO BUONERBA
VI3 and that its two extremal ends are flat over ∆ Then C moves in a family flat
over ∆ and each of its irreducible components is embedded
Proof We work in a formal neighborhood of C After taking roots we can assume
C is net and since its dual graph is a chain it is actually embedded We proceed by
induction on its length l where the case l = 1 is Proposition IVI6 For l gt 1 let C1
be a component of C which is extremal in its dual graph If C1 moves transversely
to p then both its ends do and hence we can apply the induction hypothesis to
C C1 If C1 is rigid then it can be flopped It is straightforward to check that we
can apply the induction hypothesis to the transform C + C+1 and we are done
Now we deal with rigid curves inside the singular fiber
Proposition IVI8 (Singular fiber) Let f C rarr X be an embedded net KF -
nil curve with anti-ample normal bundle Then there exists a birational map φ
(X F ) 99K (X +F+) and a KF+-nil curve C+ such that
bull φ is an isomorphism away from C+
bull In a formal neighborhood of at least one among C and C+ there exist two
invariant hypersurfaces D1D2 locally defined by the vanishing of eigenfunc-
tions of the semi-simple field such that C (resp C+)= D1 capD2
bull If F middot C lt 0 for some hypersurface F then F+ middot C+ gt 0 In particular X +
is projective
Such φ is called flop
Proof Our assumption is that Nfsimminusrarr O(minusn)oplusO(minusm) is anti-ample namely nm gt
0 If two invariant hypersurfaces as in our statement do exist around C the flop is
easily constructed as a weighted blow-up followed by a weighted blow-down As such
let us assume that such hypersurfaces do not exist around C In particular C is not
double VI3 By [Ar70] there exists a formal contraction c X rarrX0 collapsing C
to a point and an isomorphism everywhere else By Proposition IVI3 the foliation
F0 is Gorenstein around the node of X0 For ease of exposition let us assume
n = m = 1 the general case is handled the same way only the notation becomes more
cumbersome due to the presence of weights The node has embedding dimension 4
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 39
and in suitable local coordinates x0 y0 w0 z0 can be defined by x0z0minusy0w0 = 0 The
morphism c can be identified with the blow up of the embedded surface (x0 = y0 = 0)
Explicitly in the chart y = y0 x = x0yminus10 it is defined by
(28) y0 = y x0 = xy z0 = zprime w0 = xzprime
Here x is a coordinate along C while y = 0 is the pull-back of (x0 = y0 = 0) and
zprime some function in the normal bundle to C By the previous Proposition IVI6
we know C cannot be contained in the smooth locus of p Since C is not double
we can assume that in this local chart p is defined by (x y zprime) rarr xy - the case
(x y zprime) rarr xzprime being isomorphic as it is isomorphic to blow-up (z0 = w0 = 0)
instead of (x0 = y0 = 0) The issue is as emphasized by the notation zprime 6= z that
zprime may fail to be an eigenfunction for partS if it were we would be done since zprime = 0
is the local equation for the global pullback of (z0 = w0 = 0) However we have
a b isin C such that
(29) partS0(y0) = minusy0 partS0(x0) = 0 partS0(z0) = ay0 + bz0 partS0(w0) = ax0 + (b+ 1)w0
Observe that the embedded surfaces D01 = (y0 = z0 = 0) and D0
2 = (x0 = w0 = 0)
are both foliation invariant As such let b X + rarr X0 denote the blow-up of X0
along D01 - which is isomorphic to that along D0
2 - and let Di = blowastD0i i = 1 2
Finally X + is projective by Nakai-Moishezon Indeed every C with anti-ample
normal bundle is contained in an irreducible component F of X0 such that F middotC lt 0
Then F+ middot C+ gt 0 and we can find an ample divisor of the form H+ + εF+ where
H+ is the proper transform of an ample on X
Remark IVI9 In the previous proof a 6= b+ 1 Indeed such identity would create
a non-trivial Jordan block of partS0 in the (x0 w0)-plane thus contradicting the semi-
simplicity of partS0 In particular by a straightforward computation it is impossible to
find eigenfunctions of the form wlowast0 = w0 + αx0 zlowast0 = z0 + βy0 with x0z
lowast0 minus y0wlowast0 = 0
unless a = 0
We can conclude by pointing out an important point understood in this section
A painful aspect of the theory is that log-canonical singularities which appear natu-
rally as analytic degenerations of canonical ones come along with cuspidal invariant
40 FEDERICO BUONERBA
curves There is in particular no a-priori obstruction to the existence of rigid
cuspidal KF -nil curves in a smooth fiber of our family of foliated surfaces p Quite
generally a rigid curve of positive arithmetic genus in a smooth family of surfaces can
never be contracted to a point Therefore this would have been a counter-example
to any reasonable foliated canonical model theory one may wish to achieve Fortu-
nately such phenomenon does not happen and this establishes the Main Theorem I
modulo finitely many rigid curves confined in the singular fiber X0
IVII Invariant curves inside sing(F ) In this subsection we study curves Z0 subeXlowast cap sing(F ) which are inside the foliation singularity and invariant By this we
mean that there exists a sequence fn Cn rarrX of not necessarily algebraic invariant
curves converging in the compact-open topology to Z0 In other words the map
(30) NorF rarr Ω1Z0
is trivial By Corollary IIIIII5 we know that Z0 is at worst nodal it is smooth
wherever p is smooth for every point z isin Z0 the semi-simple part of the gener-
ating vector field has exactly one eigenvalue The problem here is that the Jordan
decomposition need not extend uniformly along Z0 not even along an irreducible
component In case ni (1)a the functions x and g may develop essential singulari-
ties arbitrary close to z Nonetheless the function x is unique and this says that x
does extend along Z0
Proposition IVII1 Let Z0 be as above Then in a formal neighborhood of Z0
there exists a unique smooth invariant hypersurface D0 containing Z0 which restricts
around any point in Z0 to the unique eigenfunction for the semi-simple field whose
eigenvalue is non-zero
Proof The local structure of the foliation around a point z isin Z0 is described by
cases ni (1)a and ni (1)b In both cases partS has one non-zero eigenvalue with
eigenfunction x Such eigenfunction x is a-priori only defined in the normal bundle to
Z0 but it is clear that the equation partx = x has a unique up to constants solution in
the formal completion around z As such there exists a unique smooth hypersurface
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 41
D0 in the formal completion around Z0 which restricts to the eigenfunction x around
z
Observe that the previous argument goes through since we are assuming Z0 subX0
Keeping notations from case ni (1)a if say g(y z) = yz then in the hypersurface
y equiv q isin Qgt0 the foliation has a log-canonical singularity and the eigenfunction x
extends highly non-uniquely to a formal neighborhood of the point (x y z) = (0 q 0)
In particular the existence of D0 as in the previous Proposition might fail along
the component (x = z = 0) of the foliation singularity This phenomenon is called
the beast
Anyway uniqueness in the previous proposition yields
Corollary IVII2 Let Z prime be a connected invariant curve inside sing(F ) Then in
a formal neighborhood of Z prime there exists a unique smooth invariant hypersurface D prime
containing Z prime which restricts around any point in Z prime to the hypersurface constructed
in the previous proposition
Next we turn to the intrinsic structure of invariant singular curves
Proposition IVII3 Let Z0 be an irreducible invariant curve inside sing(F )
Then Z0 is smooth and rational
Proof We work in a formal neighborhood of Z0 Let F0 denote the unique component
of X0 containing Z0 For any other fiber component F intersecting Z0 non-trivially
blow-up the invariant curve F cap F0 with exceptional divisor EF A straightforward
computation using the local formula ni (1)b shows that the fiber of the natural
projection EF rarr F cap F0 intersecting Z0 is also contained in sing(F ) For Z prime the
maximal connected singular invariant curve containing Z0 let G denote the saturated
foliation induced on D prime It is canonical with reduced singularities and it satisfies
KG = KF |Dprime minus Zprime By adjunction
(31) 2g(Z0)minus 2 + sZG(Z0) = minusZ prime middot Z0
Observe that thanks to our initial sequence of blow-ups the singularities of G along
Z0 coincide with the intersection of Z0 and Z prime Z0 In particular since D prime is formally
42 FEDERICO BUONERBA
flat over ∆ we deduce Z prime middot Z0 = 0 and the previous formula becomes
(32) 2g(Z0)minus 2 + sZG(Z0) = 0
This implies that Z0 is rational or elliptic If Z0 were elliptic then sZG(Z0) = 0 and
D0 defines an invariant elliptic curve in the general fiber of p By Baum-Bott this
contradicts that KF is big and nef Now we show that Z0 is smooth If it has a node
then D0 moves it in a family of nodal rational curves flat over ∆ In particular D0
itself has a node in codimension 1 hence Xlowast is smooth around the node of Z0 In its
formal neighborhood the foliation must be as in case ni (1)a which implies that
Z0 is smooth contradiction
We can improve as follows
Proposition IVII4 Let Z prime sube sing F capXlowast be a connected invariant curve with
KF middot Z prime = 0 Then its dual graph is a chain
Proof Assume Z prime is a cycle Then necessarily Z prime = D prime capXlowast scheme-theoretically
and by the existence of Hilbert scheme Z prime moves in the general fiber Its general
member is either a cycle of smooth rational curves or an elliptic curve Arguing as
in the previous proof we see that both options are impossible
V Configurations
In this section we analyze in great detail all possible configurations of invariant
curves along which KF vanishes These can be divided into three groups those
that do not move those that move in a one-dimensional family covering a surface
those that move in a higher-dimensional family covering a surface Curves in the first
group can form rather complicated configurations while those in the second group
are more simple they either move in the general fiber or they cover an isolated
Riccati component in the singular fiber Those in the third group turn out to be
represented by the two rulings of P1timesP1 if they happen to be cohomologous in the
ambient stack First we will analyze rigid curves then those which move and finally
we will describe their configurations
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 43
VI Configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially In
this subsection we describe configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF
trivially which arise in the situation described by set-up IIVII4
First we focus on KF -nil curves At the end of the section we deal with the simpler
case in which a curve in the configuration is fully contained in sing(F ) The general
fiber was handled in Proposition IVI6
Proposition VI1 Let C be a connected KF -nil curve contained in the smooth
locus of a fiber of p Then it is a chain or a cycle and it moves in a family flat over
∆
In what follows we let C denote a connected KF -nil curve contained in the
singular fiber X0 all of whose sub-curves are rigid in X Observe a consequence of
equation 23
Proposition VI2 Let C = cupiCi be a connected KF -nil curve Then the eigen-
values of partS are all rational at every point of sing(F )capC if and only if they are all
rational at one point
We can deduce many non-trivial properties about configurations of KF -nil curves
First we need
Definition VI3 Let C subX0 be a curve It is called double if there exists formally
around C two components F F prime of X0 such that C = F cap F prime A point lowast isin C where
three fiber components intersect is called a triple point If C lies on exactly one fiber
component it is called non-double We denote by F (C) such component
Remark VI4 Let Csimminusrarr P1(d e) be double with two triple points Then we know
e+ λ+ micro = minusd+ (λ+ n) + (micro+m) = 0 whence we obtain
(33) n+m = d+ e
Which is called triple-point formula
Next we show that essentially KF -nil curves do not form cycles unless something
deforms in X0 First we show that there are no cycles of rigid non-double curves
44 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proposition VI5 Let C be a connected KF -nil curve contained in the singular
fiber X0 of p Assume that every component of C is non-double and that every
sub-curve is rigid Then C contains no cycles
Proof We work in a formal neighborhood of C which we assume is a cycle Let
us first consider the case in which all components C1 middot middot middot CN are smooth with no
orbifold points and denote lowasti = Ci cap Ci+1 with CN+1 = C1 Moreover let us
assume no lowasti lies in the smooth locus of p
Since no curve is double the semi-simple field at every lowasti is as in case i (3)b in
particular the eigenvalues along the branches of Ci and Ci+1 add up to zero More-
over let minusni denote the self-intersection of Ci sub F (Ci) Normalize the eigenvalues
of partS so that at lowastn they are 1 in the C1 direction minus1 in the CN direction λ in the
F (C1)capF (CN) direction It follows by induction that at lowasti the eigenvalues are minus1
in the Ci direction 1 in the Ci+1 direction λ+ n1 + middot middot middot+ ni in the F (Ci) cap F (Ci+1)
direction After traveling around the cycle we obtain n1+middot middot middot+nN = 0 contradicting
that ni gt 0 for every i
We established the Proposition assuming every Ci is an embedded scheme and ev-
ery lowasti is in the singular locus of p The case in which Cisimminusrarr P1(di ei) has orbifold
points is analogous we end up with a combination c1n1 + middot middot middot + cNnN = 0 with ci
the eigenvalue at lowasti in the Ci+1 direction Normalizing so that c1 = e1 gt 0 again by
induction on i we see that every ci isin Qgt0 Next we show that our assumption on lowastiis always satisfied
Claim VI6 Every lowasti must belong to the singular locus of p
Proof We give two essentially equivalent proofs
bull If N = 2 3 then the previous argument goes through indeed we can normal-
ize eigenvalues at lowasti to be negative in the Ciminus1 direction and positive in the
Ci-direction and argue as above Hence we can assume N ge 4 If say lowasti is in
the smooth locus of p then F (Ci) = F (Ci+1) If also F (Ciminus1) = F (Ci) then Ci
lies in the smooth locus of p and hence it moves Therefore F (Ciminus1) 6= F (Ci)
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 45
and Ciminus1 can be flopped inside F (Ci) Since N ge 4 this preserves the smooth-
ness of F (Ci) and Ci is now is the smooth locus of p - contradiction
bull If lowasti belongs to the smooth locus of p then the end through lowasti moves We
can form a partial net completion fi Xi rarrX by normalizing C in lowasti only
Then f lowasti C is a chain with movable ends and hence moves in the general fiber
of p fi
Finally the general case in which some among the Ci have cusps can be easily
reduced to the smooth case in a couple of ways
bull Eigenvalues at the singularities of any KF -nil curve satisfy the same relations
as in the smooth case
bull Upon taking roots and net completion we can find a foliated formal 3-fold
supported on a cycle of smooth KF -nil curves which is a ramified cover of a
formal neighborhood of our cycle
Similarly we can show that there are no rigid cycles of double curves
Proposition VI7 Let C be a nodal KF -nil curve which is double Then C
deforms inside X0 In particular there cannot exist a rigid cycle of KF -nil double
curves
Proof Following the previous notation we have 0 = infin and if C = (xy = z = 0)
around 0 then we have identities
(34) x = η y = ξ z = ζ
The last one of which implies m = 0 that is C deforms Since C is double necessarily
the surface it spans must be contained in X0
The statement about cycles follows since a cycle of double curves can be transformed
after finitely many flops into a chain of smooth double curves with a nodal one
attached at one end
46 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Later on we will show that the deformations of C cannot span an elliptic surface
but only a family of nodal rational curves with a special Riccati foliation on it
We are ready to organize a detailed description of the dual graph of C More pre-
cisely we only need to understand how double curves intersect non-double curves
Lemma VI8 There exists a sequence of flops X 99KX + such that if C + denotes
the transform of C every double curve supported on C + contains two triple points
Proof Let C sube C be an irreducible component with at most one triple point and
let X 99K X + be its flop Then its transform C+ is non-double and the number
of double curves contained in C descreases It is clear that after finitely many flops
all double curves contain exactly two triple points
From now on all double curves in C have two triple points Thanks to proposition
VI2 we know that there are two cases to consider those curves along which the
semi-simple field has not only rational eigenvalues and those along which the semi-
simple field has only rational eigenvalues The first case being strictly easier than
the second it is a good starting place to warm up
Proposition VI9 (irrational eigenvalues) Assume that for every foliation singu-
larity along C not all eigenvalues of partS are rational Then every component of C
is net with at most one node and 1-skeleton of its dual graph is at worst trivalent
Write C = C axes cup C free where
C axes is the union of double curves
C free is the union of non-double curves
Then one among C axes and C free is empty Moreover
bull If C free is non-empty then it is a chain of smooth curves with rational moduli
bull If C axes is non-empty there exists a sequence of flops X 99KX + and an ir-
reducible component of the fiber FC subX + such that X + is a smooth stack
the transform C+ of C is contained in FC Moreover the dual graph of C+
is a tree which by [McQ08 III32] becomes a chain inside the normalization
of FC
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 47
Proof The first sentence is just corollary IIIIII3
Observe that if a non-double curve intersects a double curve then the non-double
curve must be contained in an LC-center around such intersection This contradicts
that not all eigenvalues are rational and establishes that one among C axes and C free
is empty
In case C free is not empty then it is clearly a chain or a cycle the latter being
impossible by Proposition VI5
We are left to show the existence of flops in case C = C axes We remark that
every component is smooth Let C0 be such a component and S0 a component of
X0 containing it Let C1 be the collection of irreducible components of C which
intersect S0 but are not contained in it All the components of C1 are smooth hence
we can flop them in any order until the transform of C1 lies in the transform of S0
Since the number of irreducible components of C lying outside S0 decreases after
such flop by induction we deduce the existence of finitely many flops after which
the birational transform of C is fully contained in the transform of S0
Next we take care of rational eigenvalues The complication here arises from
the fact that there may be double and non-double curves intersecting each other
However the situation is best possible
Proposition VI10 (rational eigenvalues) Assume that for every foliation singu-
larity along C all eigenvalues of partS are rational Write C = C axes cup C free where
C axes is the union of double curves
C free is the union of non-double curves
Then there exists a sequence of flops X 99K X + and an irreducible component of
the fiber FC axes subX + such that
bull X + is a smooth stack
bull The union of double curves of C axes is contained in FC axes the 1-skeleton of
its dual graph is a tree and each of its components has two triple points
bull The 1-skeleton of the dual graph of the transform C free+ is a disjoint union of
trees
bull Each connected component of C free+ intersects C axes in exactly one point
48 FEDERICO BUONERBA
In particular the 1-skeleton of the dual graph of C is a tree
Proof Notice that for every point lowast isin C cap Z there exists one LC-center through lowastIndeed there are three rational eigenvalues and they cannot be all non-vanishing and
all with different signs at the same time Now C axes can be treated as in proposition
VI9 This proves the first two items of the statement The third item follows from
Proposition VI5 so we can focus on the fourth one The proof is based on the
following obvious
Remark VI11 let C be a double curve such that either it is KF -nil hence has
two triple points or it is fully contained in sing(F ) Let C0 sube C free intersect C
non-trivially in a point lowast then necessarily C0 sub LClowast
Now let C0 middot middot middot CN form a chain of non-double curves with C0 and CN both
intersecting double curves as in the remark Denote by lowasti = Ci cap Ci+1 Since
C1 sub LClowast necessarily C1 is transverse to LClowast1 otherwise C1 would deform in F (C1)
Inductively we see that Ci+1 sub LClowasti and is transverse to LClowasti+1 In particular CN
cannot touch a double curve This contradiction proves the fourth item
Let us add a remark about configurations featuring invariant curves inside sing(F )
Proposition VI12 Let C be an invariant curve with KF middot C = 0 such that
Z0 sube C for some component Z0 sube sing(F ) Then C = Z prime cup C where
Z prime is a connected invariant curve inside the foliation singularity with dual graph a
chain
C is the union of at most two pairwise disjoint KF -nil curves with anti-ample
normal bundle
If not empty C can only intersect Z prime at the two ends of its dual graph Moreover
perhaps after a flop the intersection of C with Z prime supports the foliation singularity
along C As such if C has two components Z prime cup C deforms in the general fiber
Proof The structure of Z prime is Proposition IVII3 while that of Co is Proposition
IVI6 Let C prime be a component of C intersecting Z0 in a point lowast If C prime and Z0 belong
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 49
to different components of X0 then by case ni (1)b the eigenvalue of partS along C prime
vanishes so supp(sing(F ) cap C prime) = lowast If C prime and Z0 belong to the same component
then we can flop C prime into a different component
Observe that the divisor D prime from op cit can be extended along C prime This implies
that C can only intersect Z prime at its ends Moreover if C touches both ends necessarily
D prime capX0 = C scheme-theoretically hence by the existence of Hilbert scheme IVI5
we conclude
Our new set-up is
Set-up VI13 Everything as in set-up IIVII4 and moreover for any connected
invariant curve C with KF middot C = 0 all of whose sub-curves are rigid we have
configurations computed in proposition VI9 VI10 and Lemma VI12
VII Configurations of non-rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
In this subsection we describe configurations of surfaces which are covered by KF -nil
curves The structure of each such surface is described by classification IIV1 IIV2
and Corollary IIVI17 Our first step is to simplify the situation by contracting
chains of ruled surfaces The next step is to try and exclude the possibility that
the singular fiber of p contains fibrations by elliptic or nodal rational curves with
at least one invariant fiber This can be achieved with good success indeed there
may be at most one such Riccati foliation which is anyway rather isolated from the
remaining KF -nil curves Finally we observe that the only class of surfaces we have
not mentioned is
Definition VII1 A irreducible component F of the singular fiber of p is called
small Kronecker if
bull (FFF ) is birational to a Kronecker vector field on P1 timesP1 and
bull The two rulings of this P1 timesP1 are cohomologous inside X
The name comes from the fact that contraction of a small Kronecker yields a node
in the ambient threefold which admits a small resolution In fact in many respects
these fiber components behave very much like rigid KF -nil curves
50 FEDERICO BUONERBA
We start by getting rid of some fiber components which are ruled by KF -nil gener-
ically smooth rational curves
Proposition VII2 Notation as in Set-up VI13 there exists a sequence of flops
and divisorial contractions c X 99KX + such that
bull X + is a smooth stack
bull let S+ sub X + be an irreducible invariant divisor that contains a positive-
dimensional family of invariant rational curves along which KF+ vanishes
Then S+ is either birationally ruled by nodal rational curves or it is a small
Kronecker
Proof We focus first on contracting components of the singular fiber of p Consider
the following algorithm If there is no birationally ruled component different from
the ones listed in the second item we are done otherwise pick one such F and let
C denote the general member of the ruling If the cohomology class [C] is inde-
composable F is minimal Otherwise [C] = [C1] + [C2] where Ci are rational and
intersect KF trivially After finitely many steps we have a decomposition as a finite
sum of indecomposables [C] =sumn
i=0 ni[Ci] where every Ci is rational intersects KF
trivially We have two cases
bull There exists k such that Ck deforms in a birationally ruled necessarily min-
imal surface Fk
bull Every Ci has anti-ample normal bundle
In the first case denote by X rarr X1 the contraction of Fk along |Ck| and relpace
X by X1 Since Fk is minimal smoothness of the ambient stack is preserved unless
Fk is a small Kronecker This is however impossible if n ge 2 if Fk were a small
Kronecker then Ck deforms away from Fkminus1 so then Fkminus1 middot Ck = 0 on the other
hand Fkminus1 intersects the other ruling of Fk positively
In the second case flop C1 middot middot middot Cn in this order The transform of F is minimal and
not a small Kronecker so it can be contracted along its ruling preserving ambient
smoothness By induction on the Picard rank of X after finitely many steps this
algorithm ends Call X the output of this algorithm
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 51
Let S subX be an invariant divisor with a generically smooth ruling Then pS S rarr∆ is flat and after flopping finitely many rational curves in S cap plowastS(0) the resulting
pS is smooth Hence we can contract S along pS After finitely many steps the
Proposition is proven
For ease of notation in the sequel we call X the output of the previous proposition
Notice that there might still be divisors carrying a pencil of nodal rational curves
both inside and outside the singular fiber of p
We can start analyzing configurations of fiber components where the restriction of
F is not of general type We need some notation whose reason to exist will be clear
shortly
Definition VII3 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
along which KF is not big F is called special Riccati if
bull F is minimal
bull There exists a morphism s F rarr B onto a curve whose fibers are nodal
rational curve
bull F is transverse to the general fiber of s in particular KF is numerically
trivial along s
bull At least one fiber of s is invariant
bull There exists a section σ of s which is invariant and does not coincide with
the nodal locus of F
In particular the intersections of σ with invariant fibers of s isolated singularities
of F the node of F all coincide There may be fibers of s fully contained in sing(F )
in which case they are everywhere transverse to the saturated foliation
The definition looks nasty but special Riccati components have a rather simple
origin as the following proof shows
Lemma VII4 Let F be special Riccati Up to base change by an etale double cover
Bprime rarr B there is a natural isomorphism F norm simminusrarr BprimetimesP1 and the restriction of F
to F norm is birational to the projection onto P1
52 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proof We work over the normalization F norm Denote by Bprime the pre-image of the
node of F which is an etale double cover of B and let f denote an invariant fiber
of s with lowast = σ cap f Observe that F norm carries a Riccati foliation with 3 invariant
curves through lowast - namely σ f and a component of Bprime Hence FF has a log-canonical
singularity in lowast On F norm perform a weighted blow-up in each log-canonical singu-
larity followed by the contraction of the transforms of the corresponding fibers Let
s+ F+ rarr B denote the output of this operation If the proper transform of Bprime is
connected replace F+ by its base change under Bprime rarr B Hence we can assume Bprime
is the disjoint union of two sections of s+ and the transform of σ is a third section
which is disjoint from Bprime Therefore F+ = P1 timesBprime and the foliation restricts to the
projection onto P1
Next we describe those surfaces which cannot appear as components of the sin-
gular fiber X0
Definition VII5 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
along which KF is not big F is called illusory if
bull there exists a morphism t F rarr B onto a curve
bull KF is trivial along t
bull For any other fiber component F prime the intersection F cap F prime is either empty or
contained in a fiber of t
We give examples of illusory fiber components
Lemma VII6 The following fiber components are necessarily illusory
bull t is elliptic the foliation is either parallel to t or turbolent with at least one
invariant fiber
bull t is a nodal ruling the foliation is either parallel to t or transverse to t with
at least one invariant fiber and not birational to a special Riccati VII3
Proof Let f = F cap F prime for some fiber component F prime It is F -invariant
Assume t and F are parallel and f is transverse to both Then necessarily f subesing(F ) and KF is positive along the fibers of t contradiction
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 53
Assume t and F are generically transverse and f is transverse to t Let e be an
invariant fiber of t then ecap f isin sing(F ) hence t must be a family of nodal rational
curves and ecapf coincides with the node of e - otherwise KF would be positive along
t But this implies F is special Riccati contradiction
We proceed to show that illusory fibers do not exist
Lemma VII7 Let F be an illusory fiber component then every fiber of t is irre-
ducible If F prime is any fiber component intersecting F non-trivially then F prime is illusory
Proof Assume t has a reducible fiber f Then we can write f = f prime cup f primeprime where f prime
is irreducible and f primeprime is a disjoint union of chains of rational curves In particular
every subscheme supported on f primeprime is rigid in X f prime is rational and smooth iff f is a
cycle of rational curves hence the foliation on F is parallel to t and the choice of f prime
is not unique otherwise f prime is nodal or elliptic Let X 99KX + denote the flop of the
irreducible components of f primeprime in any order The proper transform f prime+ (below in red)
is the irreducible fiber of the induced morphism t+ F+ rarr B Since f primeprime+ intersects
f prime+ and is not contained in F+ there exists a component F prime of the fiber of p+ such
that F+ cap f prime+ 6= empty Since F+ is illusory necessarily F+ cap F prime = f prime+ Moreover F+
and F prime are the only fiber components intersecting f prime+ again because F+ is illusory
We deduce that F+ middot f prime+ = F prime middot f prime+ = 0 and therefore f prime+ is nef inside F prime It follows
that he restriction of F+ to F prime is not of general type and by the classification of
foliated surfaces [McQ08] necessarily f prime+ deforms inside F prime and defines a fibration
u F prime rarr Bprime In particular f prime+ is an irreducible fiber of u This is however impossible
since u contracts all the components of f primeprime+ contained in F prime (below in blue) and by
definition of F prime there exists at least one such component This proves that every
fiber of t is irreducible The following depicts the situation
F prime F+
f prime+
f primeprime+
t+u
54 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Concerning the second statement we only need to check the third condition for F prime
to be illussory namely that every other fiber component F primeprime intersecting F prime does
so along the fibers of u If F primeprime intersects F prime transversely to u then F primeprime intersects F
non-trivially and transversely to t as well absurd
Corollary VII8 Illusory components do not exist
Proof By the above lemma the existence of one illusory component implies that
every irreducible component of the singular fiber of p is illusory contradicting that
KF is big
We can now focus on fiber components that do appear
Corollary VII9 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
containing an invariant curve C which moves and such that KF middot C = 0 Then
following the classification [McQ08] we have two cases
(1) The minimal model of F is a special Riccati component
(2) F is a small Kronecker
Proof Certainly the ones listed are the only cases where C is KF -nil We have to
exclude the possibility that C is invariant inside sing(F ) By Proposition IVII3
such C would be rational with at most one node Since we already contracted at
the beginning of the present subsection all ruled surfaces necessarily C is nodal
However by opcit C cannot intersect any other fiber component of X0 which
implies the absurdity that X0 = F
We proceed to show that special Riccati components are rather isolated in the
fiber
Lemma VII10 Let F be a special Riccati component If F prime is a fiber component
intersecting F non-trivially then it does so transversely to s Morover there is
exactly one such F prime
Proof After finitely many flops we can assume that every fiber of s is irreducible
By the non-existence of illusory components there exists a fiber component F lowast with
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 55
σprime = F cap F prime transverse to s If F primeprime is a fiber component with f = F cap F primeprime a fiber
of s then we claim f sube sing(F ) If not then since KF middot f = 0 and σprime is invariant
necessarily σprimecap f is the node of f But then the existence of F primeprime contradicts that p is
snc Hence f sube sing(F ) so then around the node of f there are 3 fiber components -
two branches coming from F one from F primeprime - and sing(F ) has 2 branches - namely f
This is impossible by our case analysis ni (1)c ni (2)c The very same reasoning
establishes the uniqueness of F prime
Lemma VII11 Let F be as in the previous Lemma If C is a connected curve
with KF middot C = 0 then it is disjoint from F
Proof After finitely many flops s is irreducible and C intersects F transversely away
from its node Moreover lowast = C cap F isin sing(F ) and we deduce that the fiber of s
through lowast is fully contained in the singular locus of F This contradicts Proposition
IVII3 since such fiber is nodal
We conclude by observing the obvious
Lemma VII12 Let F be a small Kronecker Then there exists a contraction
c X rarr X prime which is an isomorphism away from F and contracts F along one
of its rulings Necessarily X prime is not projective since every global Cartier divisor
intersects c(F ) trivially On the other hand in a formal neighborhood of c(F ) there
exist Cartier divisors intersecting it non-trivialliy
As such the contribution coming from non-rigid curves is rather poor there are
curves moving in the general fiber there are special Riccati components disjoint from
any other invariant curve intersecting KF trivially there are small Kroneckers who
can be contracted to curves We shall see in the next section that the complications
arising from the contraction of such non-rigid curves is purely psychological and
totally harmless
56 FEDERICO BUONERBA
VI Contractions and proof of the Main Theorem
In this section we contract all invariant curves along which KF is zero thereby
establishing the existence of canonical models I First we contract non-rigid curves
as described in the previous subsection
bull Small Kroneckers along either ruling Albeit this destroys projectivity of
the ambient threefold there still exist Cartier divisors defined in a formal
neighborhood of the base curve that intersect it non-trivially
bull Families of irreducible nodal rational curves which are flat over ∆ This
creates elliptic singularities on the general fiber of p which are disjoint from
other invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
bull Special Riccati again families of irreducible nodal rational curves fully con-
tained in X0 This creates elliptic singularities disjoint from other invariant
curves intersecting KF trivially
We can summarize our situation by way of
Set-up VI1 X is a 3-dimensional DM stack with at worst elliptic singularities
F a foliation by curves with canonical singularities which is not Q-Cartier in a
neighborhood of Xsing
There exists a proper morphism p X rarr ∆ smooth off 0 isin ∆ F restricts to a
foliation on every fiber of p it has canonical singularities on the very general fiber
of p and log-canonical singularities on every fiber of p KF is big and nef on every
irreducible component of every fiber of p
Let C be the invariant sub-scheme along which KF is not big then C is a curve
fully contained in the smooth locus X0capXsmooth every sub-curve of C has anti-ample
normal bundle the 1-simplex of its dual graph is a tree and detailed configurations
of such are referenced in set-up VI13
We proceed to contract such C We assume that along C the semi-simple field has
only rational eigenvalues and moreover no component of C is inside the foliation
singularity The other two cases - irrational eigenvalues and presence of singular
component - are strictly easier and can be obtained with the very same method
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 57
The proof takes place in the formal completion around C = C free cup C axes The
former is a disjoint union of trees of non-double curves For each non-double C let
F (C) denote the unique component of X0 containing it The latter is a tree of double
curves each with two triple points all contained in the same irreducible FC axes Each
tree of non-double curves touches C axes in one point through a LC-center In order
to construct the contraction we will use Artinrsquos celebrated criterion in the following
form
Fact VI1 ([Ar70]) Let X be an irreducible algebraic space i Y rarr X a closed
subspace of pure codimension 1 and f Y rarr Y0 a proper morphism with flowastOY = OY0
Let X denote the formal completion of X along Y and assume there exists a Cartier
divisor D in X which is supported on Y and is f -anti-ample Then there exists a
proper morphism of algebraic spaces F X rarr X0 which is an isomorphism away
from Y and such that ilowastF = f
Now we use the tree structure of C to construct a suitable divisor to which apply
Artinrsquos theorem Namely consider the following inductive defintion
(35) C0 = C axes F0 = FC axes
For k ge 0 assume Ck Fk are defined
bull Let Ck+1 denote the union of irreducible components of C that intersect Fk
non-trivially but are not contained in cupilekFibull Let Fk+1 denote the reduced sum (
sumCsubeCk+1
F (C))red
This process stops with a collection C1 middot middot middotCN of curves and F1 middot middot middot FN of reduced
divisors
Lemma VI1 We have the following identities
(36)
Fk middot C lt 0 for every C sube Ck
(F0 + F1) middot C le 0 for every C sube C0
(Fkminus1 + Fk + Fk+1) middot C = 0 for every C sube Ck 1 lt k lt N
(FNminus1 + FN) middot C lt 0 for every C sube CN
58 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proof The first is just the fact that every component of C is rigid The remaining
three follow from X0 middot C = 0 but the last one requires further justification Indeed
if C sube CN N gt 0 then C is one end of a tree of non-double curves In particular
there exists a foliation singularity lowast isin C disjoint from any other component of
C and LClowast is transverse to C This implies LClowast middotC gt 0 which together with
(FNminus1 + FN + LClowast) middot C = 0 concludes the proof
Let ε1 middot middot middot εN isin Qgt0 and define
(37) F Nminusk = (1 + ε1 + middot middot middot+ εk)FNminusk
bull If C sube CN we have
(38) (F Nminus1 + F
N) middot C = ε1FNminus1 middot C + (FNminus1 + FN) middot C
bull If C sube CNminusk 1 lt k lt N we have
(39)
(F Nminuskminus1 + F
Nminusk + F Nminusk+1) middot C =
(1 + middot middot middot+ εk)(FNminuskminus1 + FNminusk + FNminusk+1) middot C minus εkFNminusk+1 middot C + εk+1FNminuskminus1 middot C =
minus εkFNminusk+1 middot C + εk+1FNminuskminus1 middot C
bull If C sube C0 we have
(40) (F 0 + F
1) middot C = εNF0 middot C + (Nminus1sumj=0
εj)(F0 + F1) middot C
It is clear that provided
(41) 1 gtgt ε1 gtgt middot middot middot gtgt εN
the divisor F =sumF k is negative along every component of C
This proves the existence of the contraction and concludes the proof of the Main
Theorem I
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 59
VII Moduli space of foliated surfaces of general type
In this section we study the modular variation of foliated surfaces of general type
The upshot is that it is possible to define a functor which is representable separated
and every irreducible component is proper The main issue here is that the supporting
surface of a foliated canonical model may well fail to be projective indeed KF is not
Q-Gorenstein in general Hence in order to proceed via standard methods [Ko17]
we have to parametrize our canonical models together with a suitable projective
resolution
Definition VII13 Let (SF ) be a foliated proper reduced purely 2-dimensional
DM stack Assume S has only normal crossing singularities in codimension 1 that
F has log-canonical foliation singularities and that KF is big and nef on at least
one of the irreducible components of S If whenever KF middot C = 0 for some curve C
then C moves in an irreducible component of S and no member of such deformation
is F -invariant then (SF ) is called foliated canonical model of general type
Clearly foliated canonical models are exactly the stable degenerations appearing
as the central fiber of our Main Theorem I Their lack of projectivity has two sources
namely the contraction of cycles of smooth KF -nil curves and of trees of cuspidal
ones Singularities arising from cycles behave well in families namely they always
deform into the general fiber Those arising from cuspidal curves on the other hand
tend to be rather isolated inside the degenerate fiber
Observe that the deformation theory of a foliated surface is rather simple suppose
given an infinitesimal C-algebras extension 0 rarr J rarr Ae rarr A rarr 0 and (SF )
a foliated surface flat over Spec(A) then the obstruction to lifting to Ae can be
understood in three simple steps
(1) Deformation of the underlying surface S once a deformation Se rarr Spec(Ae)
is given
(2) Deformation of the line bundle KF by the exponential sequence
(42) 0rarr J otimes OS rarr OlowastSerarr OlowastS rarr 0
obstructions lie in H2(SOS)otimes J once a deformation of KF is given
60 FEDERICO BUONERBA
(3) Deformation of the defining section OS rarr KF otimes TS obstructions lie in
H1(SKF otimes TS)otimes J
Now we have
Definition VII14 Let (SF ) be a foliated canonical model of general type A
proper birational morphism q (SF )proj rarr (SF ) is called its projective resolution
if
bull Every irreducible component of Sproj is smooth
bull The exceptional locus of q is a disjoint union of cycles of KFproj-nil smooth
curves and trees of KFproj-nil curves each of which has a non-trivial cuspidal
singularity
bull In a neighborhood of every q-exceptional cycle not only Sproj but also its
moduli space is smooth
We need a few remarks about projective resolutions
(1) Projective resolutions are always unique Indeed the only possible ambiguity
could lie in some extra smooth irreducible components in the exceptional
locus This is forbidden by definition in the trees of cuspidal curves it is
also forbidden by way of the third item in cycles of smooth ones ie on
algebraic surfaces the minimal resolution is unique
(2) Denote by E the collection of q-exceptional cycles Then there exist ε δ isinQgt0 such that KFproj
minus εE + δKSprojis ample by Nakai-Moishezon
(3) Deformations of a projective resolution of a foliated canonical model are
canonically identified with deformations of the underlying birational mor-
phism q Sproj rarr S followed by a deformation of the foliation F
We are now ready to construct a moduli functor for foliated surfaces more precisely
for projective resolutions of foliated canonical models of general type For m dN isinN and ε δ isin Qgt0 let
(43) MmdNεδ (C-schemes)rarr (sets)
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 61
be defined by MmdNεδ(S) = Diagrams
(44) (X F )projqminusrarr (X F )
pminusrarr S
Where
bull Both p and p q are flat and proper
bull For every closed point s isin S the induced morphism qs is the projective
resolution of (X F )s which is a foliated canonical model of general type
bull Denote by Es the collection of exceptional cycles of qs By our Main Theorem
I there is a fibrewise divisor E subXproj flat over S restricting to Es for every
s isin S
bull Let j W rarr Xproj denote the maximal closed subscheme away from which
KFprojand KXprojS are locally free Then
(45) L [m] = (jlowast(KFprojotimes OXproj
(minusεE )otimesKδXprojS
)otimesm)oror
is flat over S and commutes with base-change
bull L [m] is very ample of degree d on every fiber and defines an embedding into
PNS
We are now ready for
Theorem VII15 The functor MmdNεδ is represented by a separated algebraic
space each of whose irreducible components is proper
Proof We show that our functor satisfies Artinrsquos conditions [Ar74 Corollary 54] By
definition condition 1) and 4) hold while our previous remark on foliated obstruction
theory shows that 3) is true
We proceed to show 2) namely effectivity of formal deformations for MmdNεδ
What follows owes much to Artinrsquos [A74rsquo] Let T be a complete C-algebra Tn its
n-truncation so that Tsimminusrarr limlarrminusTn and finally qn isinMmdNεδ(Spec(Tn)) a compatible
sequence For each n there is a maximal open set Un sube Xprojn where qn is an
isomorphism denote by sn Cn rarr Zn the restriction of qn to the complement of Un
Clearly sn is projective over Spec(Tn)
62 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Denote by X C etc the formal algebraic spaces obtained as limits of Xn Cn
etc Then Xproj sub PNˆSpec(T )
hence by Grothendieckrsquos existence Theorem we find
bull a flat projective family (X F )proj rarr Spec(T ) resp a closed subscheme
C subXproj whose completion is Xproj resp C
bull a scheme Z whose completion is Z and a morphism s C rarr Z everything
being projective over Spec(T )
Further we have a formal contraction limminusrarr qn C rarr Z hence the main theorem
of [Ar70] gives algebraic contraction (X F )proj rarr (X F ) This proves the repre-
sentability of MmdNεδ The properness and separability of each irreducible com-
ponent can be checked using valutative criteria indeed properness is the content of
our Main Theorem I separatedness follows from the uniqueness of foliated canonical
models of general type and their projective resolution
References
[Ar70] M Artin Algebraization of Formal Moduli II Existence of Modifications Ann
of Math Vol 91 No 1 (Jan 1970) pp 88-135 httpwwwjstororgstable
1970602
[Ar74] M Artin Versal Deformations and Algebraic Stacks Inventiones Math 27 165- 189
(1974) httpmathuchicagoedu~drinfeldArtin_on_stackspdf
[A74rsquo] M Artin Algebraic construction of Brieskornrsquos resolutions J Alg Vol 29 Issue
2 May 1974 pp 330-348 httpwwwsciencedirectcomsciencearticlepii
0021869374901021
[BB72] P Baum R Bott Singularities of holomorphic foliations J Diff Geom 7 (1972)
279-342 httpsprojecteuclidorgdownloadpdf_1euclidjdg1214431158
[Bo77] F Bogomolov Families of curves on a surface of general type Doklady Akademii Nauk
USSR (in Russian) 236 (5) 1041-1044
[Bo78] F Bogomolov Holomorphic tensors and vector bundles on projective varieties Math
USSR Izv 13 (1978) 499-555
[BM16] F Bogomolov M McQuillan Rational Curves on Foliated Varieties In Cascini
McKernan Pereira (eds) Foliation Theory in Algebraic Geometry Simons Symposia
Springer Cham pp 21-51 (2016) httpslinkspringercomchapter101007
978-3-319-24460-0_2
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 63
[Bu] F Buonerba Functorial resolution of tame quotient singularities in positive charac-
teristic httpsarxivorgabs151100550
[Ke99] S Keel Basepoint Freeness for Nef and Big Line Bundles in Positive Characteris-
tic Annals of Math 149 No 1 (Jan 1999) pp 253-286 httpwwwjstororg
stable121025 httpsarxivorgabsmath9901149
[KM97] S Keel S Mori Quotients by groupoids Annals of Math 145 (1997) pp
193-213 httpwwwjstororgstable2951828seq=1page_scan_tab_contents
httparxivorgabsalg-geom9508012
[Ko17] J Kollar Families of varieties of general type httpswebmathprincetonedu
~kollarbookmodbook20170720pdf
[LN02] A Lins Neto Some examples for the Poincare and Painleve problems Annales sci-
entifiques de lrsquoENS 352 (2002) 231-266 httparchivenumdamorgarticle
ASENS_2002_4_35_2_231_0pdf
[McQ12] M McQuillan Foliated Mori Theory amp Hyperbolicity of Algebraic Surfaces http
wwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillahomehtml
[McQ98] M McQuillan Diophantine approximation and foliations Inst Hautes Etudes Sci
Publ Math 87 (1998) 121-174 httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafiles
ihespdf
[McQ05rsquo] M McQuillan Bloch hyperbolicity preprint httpwwwmatuniroma2it
~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ05] M McQuillan Semi-stable reduction of foliations IHES pre-print IHESM0502
(2005) httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ05rdquo] M McQuillan Uniform Uniformisation IHES pre-print (2005) IHES M0503 http
wwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ08] M McQuillan Canonical models of foliations Pure Appl Math Q 4
(2008) no 3 Special Issue In honor of Fedor Bogomolov Part 2 877-1012
httpintlpresscomsitepubfiles_fulltextjournalspamq20080004
0003PAMQ-2008-0004-0003-a009pdf
[MP13] M McQuillan D Panazzolo Almost etale resolution of foliations J Diff Geom 95
(2013) pp 279-319 httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesmp1bispdf
[Pe02] JV Pereira On the Poincare Problem for Foliations of General Type Mathematische
Annalen 323 no 2 pp217-226 2002 httpsarxivorgabsmath0104185
[PS16] JV Pereira R Svaldi Effective algebraic integration in bounded genus preprint
httpsarxivorgabs161206932
64 FEDERICO BUONERBA
[Re83] M Reid Minimal models of canonical threefolds in rdquoAlgebraic Varieties and Ana-
lytic Varietiesrdquo Adv Stud Pure Math vol 1 S Iitaka ed Kinokuniya and North-
Holland 1983 pp 131-180 httpwwwmathsedacukcheltsovquotientpdf
reid2pdf
[Se67] A Seidenberg Reduction of singularities of the differential equation Ady = Bdx Amer
J Math 89 (1967) 248-269 httpwwwjstororgstable2373435
[SB83] N Shepherd-Barron Degenerations with numerically effective canonical divisor The
Birational Geometry of Degenerations (R Friedman and D Morrison eds) Progr
Math no 29 Birkhuser 1983 pp 33-84
[Vis89] A Vistoli Intersection theory on algebraic stacks and on their moduli spaces
Invent Math (1989) pp 613-670 httplinkspringercomarticle101007
2FBF01388892page-1
Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences New York University 251 Mercer
Street New York NY 10012 USA
E-mail address buonerbacimsnyuedu
- I Introduction
- II Preliminaries
-
- III Operations on Deligne-Mumford stacks
- IIII Width of embedded parabolic champs
- IIIII Gorenstein foliation singularities
- IIIV Foliated adjunction
- IIV Canonical models of foliated surfaces with canonical singularities
- IIVI Canonical models of foliated surfaces with log-canonical singularities
- IIVII Set-up
-
- III Invariant curves and singularities local description
-
- IIII `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F) not isolated
- IIIII `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F) isolated
- IIIIII Local consequences
-
- IV Invariant curves along which KF vanishes
-
- IVI KF-nil curves
- IVII Invariant curves inside `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F)
-
- V Configurations
-
- VI Configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
- VII Configurations of non-rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
-
- VI Contractions and proof of the Main Theorem
- VII Moduli space of foliated surfaces of general type
- References
-
14 FEDERICO BUONERBA
contained in the singular locus and intersect the canonical KF non-positively A
complete analysis of the structure of KF -negative curves and much more is done
in [McQ05]
Definition IIIV3 A KF -nil curve is an invariant one-dimensional orbifold f
C rarr X such that KF middotf C = 0 and f does not factor through the singular locus
Z of the foliation
By adjunction 6 we have
Proposition IIIV4 The following is a complete list of possibilities for KF -nil
curves f
bull C is an elliptic curve without non-schematic points and f misses the singular
locus
bull |C| is a rational curve f hits the singular locus in two points with np = 1
there are no non-schematic points off the singular locus
bull |C| is a rational curve f hits the singular locus in one point with np = 1 there
are two non-schematic points off the singular locus with local monodromy
Z2Z
bull |C| is a rational curve f hits the singular locus in one point p there is at
most one non-schematic point q off the singular locus we have the identity
(np minus 1)|Gp|minus1 = |Gq|minus1
As shown in [McQ08] all these can happen In the sequel we will always assume
that a KF -nil curve is simply connected We remark that an invariant curve can have
rather bad singularities where it intersects the foliation singularities First it could
fail to be unibranch moreover each branch could acquire a cusp if going through
a radial singularity This phenomenon of deep ramification appears naturally in
presence of log-canonical singularities
IIV Canonical models of foliated surfaces with canonical singularities In
this subsection we provide a summary of the birational classification of Gorenstein
foliations with canonical singularities on algebraic surfaces obtained in [McQ08] Let
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 15
X be a two-dimensional smooth DM stack with projective moduli and F a foliation
with canonical singularities Since X is smooth certainly F is Q-Gorenstein If
KF is not pseudo-effective then foliated bend and break [BM16 Main Theorem]
shows that F is birationally a fibration by rational curves If KF is pseudo-effective
its Zariski decomposition has negative part a finite collection of invariant chains of
rational curves which can be contracted to a smooth DM stack with projective
moduli on which KF is nef At this point those foliations such that the Kodaira
dimension k(KF ) le 1 can be completely classified
Fact IIV1 [McQ08 IV3] Foliations with canonical singularities and Kodaira di-
mension zero are up to a ramified cover and birational transformations defined by
a global vector field The minimal models belong the following list
bull A Kronecker vector field on an abelian surface
bull The suspension of a representation π1(E)rarr PGL2(C) for E an elliptic curve
bull A Kronecker vector field on P1 timesP1
bull An isotrivial elliptic fibration
Fact IIV2 [McQ08 IV4] Foliations with canonical singularities and Kodaira di-
mension one are classified by their Kodaira fibration The linear system |KF | defines
a fibration onto a curve and the minimal models belong to the following list
bull The foliation and the fibration coincide so then the fibration is non-isotrivial
elliptic
bull The foliation is transverse to a projective bundle (Riccati)
bull The foliation is everywhere smooth and transverse to an isotrivial elliptic
fibration (turbolent)
bull The foliation is parallel to an isotrivial fibration in hyperbolic curves
On the other hand for foliations of general type the new phenomenon is that
global generation fails The problem is the appearence of elliptic Gorenstein leaves
these are cycles possibly irreducible of invariant rational curves around which KF
is numerically trivial but might fail to be torsion Assume that KF is big and nef
16 FEDERICO BUONERBA
and consider morphisms
(7) X rarrXe rarrXc
Where the composite is the contraction of all the KF -nil curves and the rightmost
is the minimal resolution of elliptic Gorenstein singularities
Fact IIV3 [McQ08 IV21 IV22] Xe is projective there exists an ample divisor
A and an effective divisor E supported on minimal elliptic Gorenstein leaves such
that KFe = A+E On the other hand Xc might fail to be projective and Fc is never
Q-Gorenstein
We refer to [McQ08 III32] for the descriptions of possible dual graphs of config-
urations of invariant KF -negative or nil curves
IIVI Canonical models of foliated surfaces with log-canonical singulari-
ties In this subsection we study Gorenstein foliations with log-canonical singulari-
ties on algebraic surfaces In particular we will classify the singularities appearing
on the underlying surface prove the existence of minimal and canonical models
describe the exceptional curves appearing in the contraction to the canonical model
Proposition IIVI1 Let (UF ) be a germ of Gorenstein log-canonical foliation
singularity Then U is a cone over a subvariety Y of a weighted projective space
whose weights are determined by the eigenvalues of F Moreover F is defined by
the rulings of the cone
Proof By Fact IIIII2 there exists a closed embedding i U rarr M - with M a
smooth local formal scheme - a regular system of parameters x1 middot middot middot xk on M and
positive integers n1 middot middot middotnk such that F is the restriction of the foliation defined by
part =sumnixi
partpartxi
to U Let I sub OM denote the ideal defining i(U) subM then part(I) sube I
We are going to prove that I is homogeneous where each xi has weight ni Let f isin I
and write f =sum
dge1 fd where fd is homogeneous of degree d in x1 middot middot middot xk - ie fd is
a k-linear combination of monomials xa11 xakk with d =
sumi aini For every N isin N
let FN = (xa11 xakk
sumi aini ge N) This collection of ideals defines a natural
filtration on OM For a = max ai we have mN sube FN sube mNa ie the FN -filtration
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 17
is equivalent to the one by powers of the maximal ideal and therefore OM is also
complete with respect to the FN -filtration
We will prove that if f isin I then fd isin I for every d
Let IN = (I + FN)FN Since OM is complete with respect to the FN -filtration
I = limlarrminus IN Therefore it is enough to show
Claim IIVI2 For every N gt 0 we have fd isin IN sub OMFN for all d lt N
Proof For every g isin IN denote by n(g) the unique integer such that g isin Fn(g) Fn(g)+1 (ie the minimal index d for which fd 6= 0) and by N(g) = N minus n(g)
We will prove the statement of the Claim by induction on N(f) If N(f) = 1 then
f = fNminus1 holds in OMFN and the statement is true If N(f) gt 1 we have part(f) =sumd d middot fd hence consider f1 = D(f)minus n(f)f =
sumdgtn(f)(dminus n(f))fd Tautologically
we have N(f1) lt N(f) and therefore fd isin IN for every d gt n(f) so then fn(f) =
f minussum
dgtn(f) fd isin IN as well
This implies that I is a homogeneous ideal and hence U is the germ of a cone over
a variety in the weighted projective space P(n1 nk)
Corollary IIVI3 If the germ U is normal then Y is normal If U is normal
of dimension 2 the weighted blow-up p U rarr U at the vertex of the cone has only
quotient singularities the exceptional divisor E(simminusrarr Y ) is smooth and everywhere
transverse to the induced foliation Moreover we have
(8) plowastKF = KF + E
Certainly the converse to Proposition IIVI1 fails even on surfaces indeed let
(X F ) be a Gorenstein foliated surface and let C sub X be a generic curve so
in particular smooth and not F -invariant We can assume perhaps after a finite
sequence of simple blow-ups along C that both X and F are smooth in a neigh-
borhood of C C and F are everywhere transverse and C2 lt 0
Proposition IIVI4 The formal contraction q X rarr X0 of C is isomorphic to
the cone over C the projected foliation F0 coincides with that by rulings on the cone
F0 is Q-Gorenstein if C rational or elliptic but not in general
18 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proof F0 is Q-Gorenstein if and only if the bundle KF (C) is trivial on the formal
completion of X along C The obstructions to lift the isomorphism OC(KF +C)simminusrarr
OC over infinitesimal neighborhoods of C lie in H1(C (1 minus n)C + KF ) for every
n isin N These groups vanish for every n isin N if 2g(C) minus 2 + C2 lt 0 (which is
always true for rational or elliptic curves) but do provide non-trivial obstructions in
general
We focus on the minimal model program for Gorenstein log-canonical foliations
on algebraic surfaces Let X be a DM stack of dimension 2 with projective moduli
and F a Gorenstein foliation with log-canonical singularities Denote by LC(F )
the set of points where F is log-canonical and not canonical and by Z the singular
sub-scheme of F We assume LC(F ) 6= empty since the empty case has been completely
settled Moreover we can assume that X is smooth outside LC(F ) Let f C rarrX
be a morphism from a 1-dimensional stack with trivial generic stabilizer such that
fminus1 LC(F ) 6= empty Since we will need them several times we formulate some technical
results
Lemma IIVI5 Let p X rarr X be the resolution of the log-canonical foliation
singularity intersecting C with exceptional divisor E Then
(9) KF middot C minus C middot E = KF middot C
Proof We have
(10) plowastC = C minus (C middot EE2)E
Intersecting this equation with equation 8 we obtain the result
This formula is important because it shows that passing from foliations with log-
canonical singularities to their canonical resolution increases the negativity of inter-
sections between invariant curves and the canonical bundle In fact the log-canonical
theory reduces to the canonical one after resolving the log-canonical singularities
Further we list some strong constraints given by invariant curves along which the
foliation is smooth
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 19
Fact IIVI6 [BB72 Baum-Bott] Let g C rarrX be an F -invariant curve missing
the foliation singularities Then C2 = NF middotg C = 0
Corollary IIVI7 Let g C rarr X be an F -invariant curve missing the foliation
singularities and such that KF middotg C lt 0 Then F is birationally a fibration by
rational curves
Proof By assumption KF middot C = minusχ(C) This together with Baum-Bott IIVI6
imply that KX middot C = minusχ(C) and from usual adjunction we get C2 = 0 Riemann-
Roch gives h0(X mC) ge 2 for m gtgt 0 so then |C| defines a fibration by rational
curves tangent to F
The rest of this subsection is devoted to the construction of minimal and canonical
models in presence of log-canonical singularities The only technique we use is
resolve the log-canonical singularities in order to reduce to the canonical case and
keep track of the exceptional divisor
We are now ready to handle the existence of minimal models
Theorem IIVI8 (Minimal models) Let X be a DM stack of dimension 2 with pro-
jective moduli and F a Gorenstein foliation with log-canonical singularities Then
either
bull F is birational to a fibration by rational curves or
bull There exist a birational contraction q X rarr X0 such that KF0 is nef
Moreover the exceptional curves of q donrsquot intersect LC(F )
Proof Let f be as above ie KF -negative and intersecting LC(F ) If f is not
F -invariant then KF middotC +C2 ge 0 so C moves and KF is not pseudo-effective We
conclude by foliated bend and break [BM16]
If f is F -invariant then foliated adjunction 6 implies that C is rational it intersects
the singular locus of F in exactly one point By Lemma IIVI5 after resolving the
log-canonical singularity KF middot C lt 0 and F is smooth along C We conlude by
Corollary IIVI7
20 FEDERICO BUONERBA
From now on we add the assumption that KF is nef and we want to analyze
those curves f satisfying KF middotf C = 0 By adjunction formula 6 we know that C
has rational moduli and fminus1Z is supported on two points
Remark IIVI9 If fminus1Z = fminus1 LC(F ) then F is birationally a fibration by ratio-
nal curves
Proof After resolving the log-canonical singularities of F along the image of C we
have KF middot C lt 0 and F smooth along C We conclude by Corollary IIVI7
Therefore we can assume that f satisfies the following condition
Definition IIVI10 An invariant curve f C rarr X is called log-contractible if
KF middot C = 0 and it intersects Z in two points one canonical and one log-canonical
not canonical
It follows that f(C) is everywhere unibranch but it might have a cusp in LC(F )
Definition IIVI11 A log-chain is a chain of invariant rational orbifolds C =
cupni=0Ci scheme-like outside the foliation singularities with KF middot C = 0 and such
that
bull C0 is log-contractible with lowast(C ) = C0 cap LC(F ) called the marking of C
bull Ci is disjoint from LC(F ) if i ge 1
There is a unique point t(C ) satisfying t(C ) isin Z cap (Cn Cnminus1) called the tail of
the log-chain
Proposition IIVI12 Let C1C2 be two log-chains intersecting non-trivially Then
lowast(C1) = lowast(C2) and C1 cap C2 = lowast(C1)
Proof It is enough to prove that the two log-chains cannot intersect in their tails
Replace X be the resolution of the at most two markings of the log-chains and Ci
by their proper transforms C1cupC2 = cupmi=0Ri is a connected chain of rational curves
intersecting Z outisde LC(F ) Moreover each of the two extremal curves R0 and
Rm intersects Z in one point only In particular KF middot Ri = 0 for i = 1 middot middot middot m minus 1
and KF middot Ri lt 0 for i = 0m Since we assumed F is not birational to a fibration
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 21
by rational curves there exists a contraction p X rarr X0 with exceptional curve
cupmminus1i=0 Ri However F0 is smooth along plowastRm so by adjunction formula KF0 middotplowastRm lt
0 and we find a contradiction by Corollary IIVI7
Corollary IIVI13 Let C be a maximal connected curve such that KF middotC = 0 and
C cap LC(F ) 6= empty Then C is a union of finitely many log-chains intersecting each
other in their common marking
The following shows a configuration of log-chains sharing the same marking col-
ored in black
We are now ready to state and prove the canonical model theorem in presence of
log-canonical singularities
Theorem IIVI14 (Canonical models) Let X be a proper DM stack of dimension
2 and F a foliation with isolated singularities Moreover assume that KF is nef
that every KF -nil curve is contained in a log-chain and that F is Gorenstein and
log-canonical in a neighborhood of every KF -nil curve Then either
bull There exists a birational contraction p X rarr X0 whose exceptional curves
are unions of log-chains If all the log-contractible curves contained in the log-
chains are smooth then F0 is Gorenstein and log-canonical If furthermore
X has projective moduli then X0 has projective moduli In any case KF0
is numerically ample
bull There exists a fibration p X rarr B over a curve whose fibers intersect
KF trivially Each F -invariant fiber of p intersecting LC(F ) is union of
mutually compatible log-chains
Proof If all the KF -nil curves can be contracted by a birational morphism we are in
the first case of the Theorem Else let C be a maximal connected curve withKF middotC =
0 and which is not contractible It is a union of pairwise compatible log-chains
22 FEDERICO BUONERBA
with marking lowast Replace (X F ) by the resolution of the log-canonical singularity
at lowast with exceptional divisor E Therefore F is Gorenstein and canonical in a
neighborhood of C cupE By equation 9 we have KF middotC = minusC middotE lt 0 and therefore
C can be contracted to a canonical foliation singularity Replace (X F ) by the
contraction of C We have a smooth curve E around which F is smooth and
nowhere tangent to E Moreover
(11) KF middot E = minusE2
And we distinguish cases
bull E2 gt 0 so KF is not pseudo-effective a contradiction
bull E2 lt 0 so the initial curve C is contractible a contradiction
bull E2 = 0 which we proceed to analyze
The following is what we need to handle the third case
Proposition IIVI15 Let (X F ) be a foliation with canonical singularities with
X a smooth 2-dimensional DM stack with projective moduli and KF nef If there
exists a smooth curve E everywhere transverse to F such that KF middot E = E2 = 0
then E moves in a pencil and defines a fibration p X rarr B onto a curve whose
fibers intersect KF trivially
Proof If KF has Kodaira dimension one then its linear system contains an effective
divisor and by Hodge index KF = cE as divisors for some c isin Q+ Hence there is
a fibration onto a curve with fiber E and F is transverse to it by assumption If
KF has Kodaira dimension zero we use the classification IIV1 in all cases but the
suspension over an elliptic curve E defines a product structure on the underlying
surface in the case of a suspension every section of the underlying projective bundle
is clearly F -invariant Therefore E is a fiber of the bundle
This concludes the proof of the Theorem
We remark that the second alternative in the above theorem is rather natural
let (X F ) be a foliation which is transverse to a fibration by rational or elliptic
curves ie a suspension over elliptic curve turbolent Riccati or isotrivial Pick a
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 23
general fiber E of the fibration and blow up any number of points on it The proper
transform E is certainly contractible By Proposition IIVI4 the contraction of E is
Gorenstein and log-canonical Moreover the fiber E has been replaced by a union of
compatible log-chains Note in particular that the number of log-chains appearing
is arbitrary
Corollary IIVI16 Let X be a proper DM stack of dimension 2 and F a Goren-
stein foliation with log-canonical singularities Assume that KF is big and pseudo-
effective Then there exists a birational morphism p X rarr X0 such that C is
exceptional if and only if KF middot C le 0 In particular KF0 is numerically ample
For future applications we spell out
Corollary IIVI17 Hypothesis as in Theorem IIVI14 assume further that X
is everywhere smooth Then in the second alternative of the theorem the fibration
p X rarr B is by rational curves
Proof Indeed in this case the curve E which appears in the proof above as the
exceptional locus for the resolution of the log-canonical singularity at lowast must be
rational By the previous Proposition p is defined by a pencil in |E|
IIVII Set-up In this subsection we prepare the set-up we will deal with in the
rest of the manuscript Briefly we want to handle the existence of canonical models
for a family of foliated surfaces parametrized by a one-dimensional base To this
end we will discuss the modular behavior of singularities of foliated surfaces with
Gorenstein singularities recall McQuillan-Panazzolorsquos resolution of foliation singu-
larities building on the existence of minimal models [McQ05] prepare the set-up
for the sequel
Let us begin with the modular behavior of Gorenstein singularities
Proposition IIVII1 Let (X F ) be a smooth DM stack with a foliation by
curves Assume there exists a flat proper morphism p X rarr C onto an algebraic
curve such that F restricts to a foliation on every fiber of p Then the set
(12) s isin C Fs is log-canonical
24 FEDERICO BUONERBA
is Zariski-open while the set
(13) s isin C Fs is canonical
is the complement to a countable subset of C lying on a real-analytic curve
Proof By Fact IIIII2 being log-canonical is equivalent to the linearized endomor-
phism part IZI2Z rarr IZI
2Z being non-nilpotent where Z is the singular sub-scheme
of the foliation Of course being non-nilpotent is a Zariski open condition The
second statement also follows from opcit since a log-canonical singularity which is
not canonical has linearization with all its eigenvalues positive and rational The
statement is optimal as shown by the vector field on A3xys
(14) part(s) =part
partx+ s
part
party
Next we recall the existence of a functorial canonical resolution of foliation singu-
larities for foliations by curves on 3-dimensional stacks
Fact IIVII2 [MP13] Let X = (XDF ) be a 3-dimensional DM stack with bound-
ary foliated by curves Then there exists a proper birational morphism Xprime rarr X such
that X prime is a smooth DM stack and F prime has only canonical foliation singularities
The original opcit contains a more refined statement including a detailed de-
scription of the claimed birational morphism
In order for our set-up to make sense we mention one last very important result
Fact IIVII3 [McQ05] Let X be a smooth DM stack with projective moduli and F
a foliation by curves with (log)canonical singularities Then there exists a birational
map X 99K Xm obtained as a composition of flips such that Xm is a smooth
DM stack with projective moduli the birational transform Fm has (log)canonical
singularities and one of the following happens
bull KFm is nef or
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 25
bull There exists a fibration Xm rarr B over a smooth base whose fibers are
weighted projective spaces such that Fm is tangent to the fibers and restricts
to a radial foliation on those
Finally we can organize our notation
Set-up IIVII4 (X F ) is a smooth 3-dimensional DM stack with projective mod-
uli F a foliation by curves with canonical singularities such that KF is big and nef
There exists a semi-stable morphism p X rarr ∆ whose moduli is projective onto
the (formal) unit disk F restricts to a foliation on every fiber of p it has canon-
ical singularities on the very general fiber of p and log-canonical singularities on
every fiber of p Our task from now on is to analyze and contract the maximal
foliation-invariant sub-scheme of X along which KF is not ample
III Invariant curves and singularities local description
In this section we give a complete decription of germs of invariant curves that
appear in the formal completion of any point in the set-up IIVII4 Let us replace
X by its formal completion in a point lowast where the foliation is singular F is defined
by a vector field part with Jordan decomposition partS + partN see the end of subsection
IIIII Since [partS partN ] = 0 partN preserves the eigenspaces of partS Moreover the fact that
F is tangent to p translates into
(15) partS(p) = partN(p) = 0
The description of invariant germs of curves through lowast will be achieved via case-by-
case analysis organized by computing what happens for all possible combinations
of the following informations whether the singular locus Z is isolated at lowast the
number of eigenvalues of partS the number of components of the fiber through p
IIII sing(F ) not isolated
ni (1) partS has one eigenvalue
bull We have partS = x partpartx
and partN = f partparty
+ g partpartz
for some functions f g isin (y z)
Moreover partN is non-trivial
26 FEDERICO BUONERBA
bull Z = (x = f = g = 0) is not isolated
(a) The fiber has one component y = 0 Then 0 = partN(y) = f hence
Z = (x = g = 0) The restriction on the fiber is part|(y=0) = x partpartx
+g|(y=0)partpartz
Z has a one-dimensional component contained in the fiber iff g isin (y) in
which case such component is smooth equal to (x = 0) moreover the
foliation on the fiber saturates to a smooth one with invariant curves
z = 0 transverse to Z
Otherwise the foliation is saturated on the fiber and has a saddle-node
singularity
(b) The fiber has two components yz = 0 Then 0 = partN(yz) = zf + yg
hence f = yh g = minuszh for some h and Z = (x = h = 0) The restriction
on a fiber component say y = 0 is part|(y=0) = x partpartxminus zh|(y=0)
partpartz
Z has an
irreducible component contained in y = 0 iff h isin (y) in which case such
component is smooth equal to (x = 0) moreover the foliation on the
fiber saturates to a smooth one with invariant curves z = 0 transverse
to Z
Otherwise the foliation is saturated on the fiber and has a saddle-node
singularity
(c) The fiber has three components xyz = 0 0 = partS(xyz) = xyz a contra-
diction
Summary with one eigenvalue there are either one or two components The
foliation might have a one-dimensional singularity when restricted to a fiber
component in this case such singularity is a smooth curve and the foliation
saturates to a smooth one with invariant curves transverse to the singular-
ity If the singularity is isolated on a fiber component then it is a canonical
saddle-node with at most two invariant branches
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 27
ni (2) partS has two eigenvalues
We have partS = x partpartx
+ λy partparty
and partN(x y z) = k partpartx
+ f partparty
+ g partpartz
for some func-
tions k f g
(a) The fiber has one component z = 0 Then g = 0 k f isin (x y) and
necessarily Z = (x = y = 0) is transverse to the fiber The restriction on
the fiber is saturated and non-degenerate It has canonical singularities
if either partN 6= 0 or λ isin Q+ otherwise it is log-canonical
(b) The fiber has two components xy = 0 Then 0 = partS(xy) hence λ = minus1
Also 0 = partN(xy) hence k = xh f = minusyh g isin (xy) and necessarily
Z = (x = y = 0) coincides with the intersection of the two fiber compo-
nents which is smooth the foliation saturates to a smooth one on each
component with invariant curves transverse to Z
(c) The fiber has three components xyz = 0 hence λ = minus1 Also k = xklowast
f = yf lowast g = zglowast with klowast + f lowast + glowast = 0 and glowast isin (xy) The singularity
Z = (x = y = 0) coincides with the intersection of two of the fiber
components The restriction to either such components saturates to a
smooth foliation with invariant curves transverse to Z the restriction
to z = 0 has a canonical non-degenerate singularity all the invariant
curves are those in xy = 0 transverse to Z
Summary with 2 eigenvalues there can be any number of components With
one component the foliation restricts to a saturated one with a (log)canonical
singularity which moves transversely to p With two components the folia-
tion is not saturated on either and saturates to a smooth one with invariant
curves transverse to the singularity With three components the foliation
is not saturated on two of them and saturates to a smooth one on both
with invariant curves transverse to the singularity the foliation is saturated
and has a canonical non-degenerate singularity on the third component In
28 FEDERICO BUONERBA
the last two cases the singularity is fully contained in an intersection of two
components
ni (3) partS has three eigenvalues But then the singularity is isolated a contradiction
IIIII sing(F ) isolated
i (1) partS has one eigenvalue
bull We have partS = x partpartx
and partN = xk partpartx
+ f partparty
+ g partpartz
for some functions
k f g isin (y z) Moreover partN is non-trivial
bull Z = (x = f = g = 0) is isolated
(a) The fiber has one component y = 0 Then 0 = partN(y) = f and Z cannot
be isolated a contradiction
(b) The fiber has two components yz = 0 Then 0 = partN(yz) = zf + yg so
f = yh g = minuszh with h non-constant Hence Z = (x = h = 0) is not
isolated a contradiction
(c) The fiber has three components xyz = 0 Then 0 = partS(xyz) = xyz a
contradiction
Summary the 1 eigenvalue case does not exist
i (2) partS has two eigenvalues
bull We have partS = x partpartx
+ λy partparty
partN = xk partpartx
+ f partparty
+ g partpartz
for some functions
k f g
bull g is non-trivial and g isin (x y)
bull Z = (x = y = g = 0) is isolated
(a) The fiber has one component z = 0 Then g = 0 a contradiction
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 29
(b) The fiber has two components xy = 0 hence λ = minus1 and g isin (xy z)
the restriction to y = 0 is part|(y=0) = x partpartx
+g|(y=0)partpartz
and necessarily g|(y=0)
is non-vanishing Therefore the restriction to either components is satu-
rated and the singularity is a canonical saddle-node on each of them
The invariant curves are among the axes x = y = 0 x = z = 0 y = z =
0
(c) The fiber has three components xyz = 0 hence λ = minus1 Necessarily
k = xklowast f = yf lowast g = zglowast with klowast + f lowast + glowast = 0 The restriction to
y = 0 is part|(y=0) = x(1 + klowast|(y=0))partpartx
+ zglowast|(y=0)partpartz
since g isin (x y) we have
glowast|(y=0) non-trivial Therefore the restriction to either x = 0 and y = 0
is saturated and the singularity is a canonical saddle-node on each of
them
The restriction to z = 0 is part|(z=0) = x(1 + klowast|(z=0))partpartx
+ y(minus1 + f lowast|(z=0))partparty
therefore the restriction is saturated and has a canonical non-degenerate
singularity
The invariant curves are among the axes x = y = 0 x = z = 0 y = z =
0
Summary with 2 eigenvalues there are either two or three components the
foliation restricts to a canonical saddle-node on two of them and to a non-
degenerate singularity on the third one if it exists All the invariant curves
are in the axes
i (3) partS has three eigenvalues We have partS = x partpartx
+ λy partparty
+ microz partpartz
(a) The fiber has one component y = 0 hence λ = 0 a contradiction
(b) The fiber has two components xy = 0 hence λ = minus1 The restriction to
y = 0 is part|(y=0) = x partpartx
+ microz partpartz
+ partN|(y=0) The singularity is log-canonical
30 FEDERICO BUONERBA
iff micro isin Qgt0 and partN|(y=0)= 0 and in this case the singularity on x = 0 is
canonical non-degenerate Invariant curves are those in y = 0 and the
axis x = z = 0
If the restriction to both fiber components is canonical then it non-
degenerate on both and the invariant curves are contained in the axes
x = y = 0 x = z = 0 y = z = 0
The fiber could be yz = 0 hence λ+micro = 0 It can be analyzed as in the
next item
(c) The fiber has three components xyz = 0 hence 1 + λ + micro = 0 In par-
ticular if λ = cmicro c isin Q+ then λ micro isin Q The restriction to y = 0
is part|(y=0) = x partpartx
+ microz partpartz
+ partN|(y=0) This singularity is log-canonical iff
micro isin Qgt0 and partN|(y=0)= 0 in which case the singularity on both x = 0
and z = 0 is canonical non-degenerate In particular if the singularity
is log-canonical on some fiber component then it is so on exactly one
component and all eigenvalues are rational Invariant curves are those
in y = 0 and the axis x = z = 0
If the restriction to all fiber components is canonical then it non-degenerate
on each of them and the invariant curves are contained in the axes
x = y = 0 x = z = 0 y = z = 0
Summary with 3 eigenvalues there are either two or three fiber components
the foliation restricts to a singular foliation on each of them and it has a
log-canonical singularity on at most one of them in this case all eigenvalues
of the semi-simple field are rational
IIIIII Local consequences We list some corollaries for future reference As al-
ways in this section the statements are local so everything happens in a formal
neighborhood of our point lowast First we state those corollaries we will need to describe
configurations of KF -nil curves
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 31
Definition IIIIII1 An LC-center Π sub X is an irreducible F -invariant formal
hypersurface such that the local vector field generating the foliation when restricted
to Π has semi-simple part with log-canonical singularity or a one-dimensional sin-
gular locus An LC-center with a log-canonical singularity is necessarily an algebraic
component of the singular fiber of p
Corollary IIIIII2 There is at most one LC-center with a log-canonical singularity
through lowast If it exists then all eigenvalues of the semi-simple field at lowast are rational
If there are at least two LC-centers through lowast then there are exactly two and the
foliation singularity is a smooth curve on each of them
Proof Possible cases in which an LC-center with log-canonical singularities appears
ni (2)a i (3)b i (3)c
Corollary IIIIII3 If there is no LC-center thorugh a point lowast then there are at
most three invariant curves through lowast all smooth Any number of them spans a sub-
space of the tangent space at lowast of maximal possible dimension
If there is an LC-center through lowast then there is at most one invariant curve through
lowast and not contained in the LC-center
If there is an LC-center with non-isolated singularity then the singularity is smooth
and all invariant curves contained in the LC-center intersect the singularity trans-
versely
Proof Invariant curves not in an LC-centers with log-canonical singularities are con-
tained in the three axes x = z = 0 x = y = 0 y = z = 0 mentioned in the above
classification The other statements are clear
Corollary IIIIII4 If p is smooth at lowast then Z is one dimensional around lowast
Proof Possible casesni (1)a ni (2)a
In particular if there is no LC-center the situation is the familiary
xz
32 FEDERICO BUONERBA
While if there is an LC-center (pink) with log-canonical singularity it will look like
y
LC-center
While if there is an LC-center with non-isolated singularity (red) it will look like
(the black arrows being invariant curves)
y
LC-center
The next corollary describes one-dimensional components of the foliation singularity
Corollary IIIIII5 If Z0 is a one-dimensional irreducible component of the folia-
tion singularity then it is at worst nodal The foliation when restricted to any fiber
component containing Z0 saturates to a smooth foliation in a neighborhood of Z0
and all the invariant curves are transverse to Z0
If Z0 is contained in exactly one fiber component then the semi-simple field has one
eigenvalue everywhere along Z0
If Z0 lies at the intersection of two fiber components then the semi-simple field has
two constant eigenvalues everywhere along Z0
Moreover if there exist a sequence of invariant curves converging in the compact-
open topology to Z0 then there is generically one eigenvalue along Z0
Proof Possible casesni (1)a ni (1)b ni (2)b ni (2)c Concerning the one-
eigenvalue case invariant curves converging to Z0 can be found in the formal hyper-
surface x = 0
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 33
IV Invariant curves along which KF vanishes
In this section we study in great detail a formal neighborhood of invariant curves
where KF is numerically trivial In the first subsection we deal with KF -nil curves
namely those whose generic point is not contained in the foliation singularity In this
case the normal bundle to the curve determines its formal neighborhood uniquely
and this has plenty of amazing consequences In the second subsection we study
those invariant curves which are contained in the foliation singularity In this case
we are not able to control the full formal neighborhood but important informations
can still be obtained
IVI KF -nil curves In this subsection we study in detail the structure of KF -
nil curves and their formal neighborhoods appearing in the set-up IIVII4 In
particular we will describe a simple process to replace cuspidal KF -nil curves by
net ones prove that the foliation is in the net completion around a net KF -nil curve
defined by a global vector field which admits a global Jordan decomposition deduce
that eigenfunctions for the semi-simple component of such field are also globally
defined on a formal neighborhood
The first important remark is of technical nature and explains how to deal with non-
net KF -nil curves By Proposition IIIV4 this is indeed possible and the images of
such curves will acquire cusp-like singularities It is hard to analyze the geometry
of F around such cuspidal curves and therefore necessary to remove them Let us
assume that C is simply connected with rational moduli f is ramified at 0 isin C
and and denote by X the formal completion along f(C) Then formally around
f(0) the curve f(C) has defining ideal (y xa minus zb) where y = 0 is a fiber of the
fibration p X rarr ∆ containing f(C) x z isin H0(X OX ) restrict to suitable local
coordinates on such fiber and a b ge 2 are coprime integers
Claim IVI1 Let r X ( aradicz = 0) rarr X be the a-th root of z = 0 III3 Then
(rlowastC)norm =∐a
1 C and the induced map rlowastf (rlowastC)norm rarrX ( aradicz = 0) is net
Proof Since r is etale away from z = 0 also rlowastC rarr C is etale away from 0 isin C
Since C 0 is simply connected we have rlowastC rminus1(0) =∐a
1 C 0 This proves
34 FEDERICO BUONERBA
the first statement Let ζ be a function on X ( aradicz = 0) such that ζa = z so then
rlowast(xa minus zb) =prod
ηa=1(x minus ηζb) Every branch is net in 0 and we obtain the second
statement as well
As such upon taking roots we can replace non-net KF -nil invariant curves with
rational moduli by net ones
We now proceed to study net KF -nil curves We will show that the foliation is
defined by a global vector field around a net KF -nil curve with rational moduli and
that such vector field admits a global Jordan decomposition
Proposition IVI2 Notation as in the set-up IIVII4 let f C rarrX be a KF -nil
curve Assume that f is net and let j C rarr C be the net completion along f Then
there exists an isomorphism
(16) OC(KF )simminusrarr OC
In particular there exists a global vector field partf on C that generates F
Proof Since C has rational moduli and is simply connected it has infinite-cyclic
Picard group and we have an isomorphism
(17) OC(KF )simminusrarr OC
Moreover we have a non-canonical splitting of the normal bundle Njsimminusrarr O(minusn) oplus
O(minusm) and we claim that both nm ge 0 Indeed consider the induced semi-stable
fibration C rarr ∆ and let F be the normalization of an irreducible component of a
fiber such that C sub F Consider the exact sequence
(18) 0rarr NCF rarr Nj rarr NFC|C rarr 0
Since KF is nef NCF is not ample since F is a fiber of a fibration also NFC|C is
not ample and this is enough to conclude even though nm may be different from
the degrees of such normal bundles
At this point we can lift the isomorphism 17 over infinitesimal neighborhoods of j
Indeed for every k ge 0 we have an exact sequence
(19) 0rarr Symk ICI2C rarr OCk+1
(KF )rarr OCk(KF )rarr 0
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 35
which shows that the obstruction to lifting the isomorphism lies in
(20) H1(C Symk ICI2C) = H1(C Symk(O(n)oplus O(m))) = 0
From this we can deduce
Proposition IVI3 The vector field partf admits a Jordan decomposition uniformly
along C
Proof The cohomology sequence attached to 19 is
(21) 0rarr H0(C Symk ICI2C)rarr H0(COCk+1
)rarr H0(COCk)rarr 0
Let partk+1 denote the image of partf in End(H0(COCk+1)) Looking at
H0(COCk+1) minusminusminusrarr H0(COCk
)
partk+1
y partk
yH0(COCk+1
) minusminusminusrarr H0(COCk)
we see the canonical Jordan deomposition of partk+1 restricts to that of partk
The above result describes a very useful interplay between normal bundles to
KF -nil curves and the structure of the semi-simple field It turns out that these
informations determine formal neighborhoods uniquely For simplicity let C be
an irreducible component of C without orbifold points Let us assume that part|C is
singular in 0infin Then there exist formal functions x y z at 0 isin C and ξ η ζ at
infin isin C such that x ξ are coordinates along C y η are local sections of OC(minusn)
so η = xny mod(I2C) z ζ are local sections of OC(minusm) so ζ = xmz mod(I2C)
Normalizing so that xminus1partS(x) = ε isin 0 1 we obtain
(22) part0S = εxpart
partx+ λy
part
party+ microz
part
partz partinfinS = minusεξ part
partξ+ (λ+ εn)η
part
partη+ (micro+ εm)ζ
part
partζ
More generally ie C = P1(d e) we have glueing rules x = te ξ = tminusd η = tny and
ζ = tmz mod(I2C) Normalizing so that tminus1partS(t) = ε isin 0 1 we obtain
(23) part0S = eεxpart
partx+ λy
part
party+ microz
part
partz partinfinS = minusdεξ part
partξ+ (λ+ εn)η
part
partη+ (micro+ εm)ζ
part
partζ
36 FEDERICO BUONERBA
It is worth remarking that the above relations hold between eigenvalues at the two
singular point of singular ie nodal or cuspidal KF -nil curves as well this is
easily seen by taking a root followed by net completion and keeping track of the
eigenvalues
Definition IVI4 Let C be a KF -nil curve The foliation singular points along C
are called ends
As well as the existence of Hilbert scheme in the following form
Fact IVI5 Let W sub Xlowast be a curve and D a divisor in the formal neighborhood
of W such that W = D capXlowast scheme-theoretically Then W moves in D
In what follows our main concern is to understand formal neighborhoods of KF -
nil curves Observe that the fibration p when restricted to the formal neighborhood
of such curves provides at least one eigenfunction of the semi-simple field Hence
in order to compute the width IIII we must study the behavior of the other eigen-
function on infinitesimal neighborhoods We first describe the situation inside the
smooth locus of p
Proposition IVI6 (Smooth fiber) Let f C rarrX be an irreducible KF -nil curve
which is contained in the smooth locus of a fiber Xlowast of p Then the end(s) on C are
flat over ∆ ni (1)b and ni (1)a with z2|g(y z) and C moves in a family flat over
∆
Proof Let us assume that f is net Then upon passing to net completion we can
actually assume it is embedded From our local classification of singularities we case
in case ni (1)a and ni (2)a We want to show that both ends have components
that move transversely to p hence we have to exclude case ni (1)a with g(y z) = ya
By way of contradiction say we have g(y z) = ya in the notation of opcit around
an end lowast isin C We proceed to compute what happens at the other end we find
formal coordinates ξ η ζ which by equation 23 satisfy
(24) ξ = xminus1 η = y ζ = xmz mod(I2C)
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 37
As such we compute part(ζ) = mζ + ξminusmηa mod(I2C) which is holomorphic if and only
if m le 0 so then C moves in Xlowast contradicting that the foliation has general type
Hence we are in cases ni (1)a ni (2)a with g = microyazb b ge 1
(25) part0 = xpart
partx+ microyazb
part
partz partinfin = minusξ part
partξ+ ζ(m+ microξm(bminus1)ηaζbminus1)
part
partζ(mod(I2C))
Following notation from subsection IIII observe that C1 is the section of E1C which
is disjoint from the proper transform of the fiber of p In coordinates over 0
(26) x1 = x y1 = y z1 = zyminus1
And similarly over infin Using the previous equation and 25 on C1 we find
(27)
part01 = x1part
partx1+microya+bminus11 zb1
part
partz1 partinfin1 = minusξ1
part
partξ1+ζ1(m+microξ
m(bminus1)1 ηa+bminus11 ζbminus11 )
part
partζ1(mod(I2C1
))
In particular the transform of the nilpotent field is still nilpotent after blowing up in
C It follows that the eigenvalues of the semi-simple field at the two ends of C and
C1 are the same Using equation 23 we deduce that the normal bundle to C1X1 to
isomorphic to that of CX in particular it contains a trivial direct summand This
proves that width(C) =infin
Next we show that f must be net Consider the induced flat projection pD D rarr ∆
its general fiber cannot be a cuspidal curve since along such cusp the foliation sin-
gularity would be log-canonical but not canonical Hence if C has a cusp necessarily
the general fiber of pD is a nodal curve Let X rarr X denote the blow up of the
nodal locus of pD with exceptional divisor E ruled over ∆ In a neighborhood of E
we have sing(F ) = D cap E which projects to ∆ as a double cover ramified over lowastObserve that the foliation on Xlowast is again log-canonical and not canonical hence its
local structure is ni (2)a In that case however p is unramified along the foliation
singularity Contradiction
We state a general criterion for movability of KF -nil curves
Proposition IVI7 Let C be a connected KF -nil curve such that p(C ) = lowast isin ∆
Assume its dual graph is a chain that none of its irreducible components is double
38 FEDERICO BUONERBA
VI3 and that its two extremal ends are flat over ∆ Then C moves in a family flat
over ∆ and each of its irreducible components is embedded
Proof We work in a formal neighborhood of C After taking roots we can assume
C is net and since its dual graph is a chain it is actually embedded We proceed by
induction on its length l where the case l = 1 is Proposition IVI6 For l gt 1 let C1
be a component of C which is extremal in its dual graph If C1 moves transversely
to p then both its ends do and hence we can apply the induction hypothesis to
C C1 If C1 is rigid then it can be flopped It is straightforward to check that we
can apply the induction hypothesis to the transform C + C+1 and we are done
Now we deal with rigid curves inside the singular fiber
Proposition IVI8 (Singular fiber) Let f C rarr X be an embedded net KF -
nil curve with anti-ample normal bundle Then there exists a birational map φ
(X F ) 99K (X +F+) and a KF+-nil curve C+ such that
bull φ is an isomorphism away from C+
bull In a formal neighborhood of at least one among C and C+ there exist two
invariant hypersurfaces D1D2 locally defined by the vanishing of eigenfunc-
tions of the semi-simple field such that C (resp C+)= D1 capD2
bull If F middot C lt 0 for some hypersurface F then F+ middot C+ gt 0 In particular X +
is projective
Such φ is called flop
Proof Our assumption is that Nfsimminusrarr O(minusn)oplusO(minusm) is anti-ample namely nm gt
0 If two invariant hypersurfaces as in our statement do exist around C the flop is
easily constructed as a weighted blow-up followed by a weighted blow-down As such
let us assume that such hypersurfaces do not exist around C In particular C is not
double VI3 By [Ar70] there exists a formal contraction c X rarrX0 collapsing C
to a point and an isomorphism everywhere else By Proposition IVI3 the foliation
F0 is Gorenstein around the node of X0 For ease of exposition let us assume
n = m = 1 the general case is handled the same way only the notation becomes more
cumbersome due to the presence of weights The node has embedding dimension 4
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 39
and in suitable local coordinates x0 y0 w0 z0 can be defined by x0z0minusy0w0 = 0 The
morphism c can be identified with the blow up of the embedded surface (x0 = y0 = 0)
Explicitly in the chart y = y0 x = x0yminus10 it is defined by
(28) y0 = y x0 = xy z0 = zprime w0 = xzprime
Here x is a coordinate along C while y = 0 is the pull-back of (x0 = y0 = 0) and
zprime some function in the normal bundle to C By the previous Proposition IVI6
we know C cannot be contained in the smooth locus of p Since C is not double
we can assume that in this local chart p is defined by (x y zprime) rarr xy - the case
(x y zprime) rarr xzprime being isomorphic as it is isomorphic to blow-up (z0 = w0 = 0)
instead of (x0 = y0 = 0) The issue is as emphasized by the notation zprime 6= z that
zprime may fail to be an eigenfunction for partS if it were we would be done since zprime = 0
is the local equation for the global pullback of (z0 = w0 = 0) However we have
a b isin C such that
(29) partS0(y0) = minusy0 partS0(x0) = 0 partS0(z0) = ay0 + bz0 partS0(w0) = ax0 + (b+ 1)w0
Observe that the embedded surfaces D01 = (y0 = z0 = 0) and D0
2 = (x0 = w0 = 0)
are both foliation invariant As such let b X + rarr X0 denote the blow-up of X0
along D01 - which is isomorphic to that along D0
2 - and let Di = blowastD0i i = 1 2
Finally X + is projective by Nakai-Moishezon Indeed every C with anti-ample
normal bundle is contained in an irreducible component F of X0 such that F middotC lt 0
Then F+ middot C+ gt 0 and we can find an ample divisor of the form H+ + εF+ where
H+ is the proper transform of an ample on X
Remark IVI9 In the previous proof a 6= b+ 1 Indeed such identity would create
a non-trivial Jordan block of partS0 in the (x0 w0)-plane thus contradicting the semi-
simplicity of partS0 In particular by a straightforward computation it is impossible to
find eigenfunctions of the form wlowast0 = w0 + αx0 zlowast0 = z0 + βy0 with x0z
lowast0 minus y0wlowast0 = 0
unless a = 0
We can conclude by pointing out an important point understood in this section
A painful aspect of the theory is that log-canonical singularities which appear natu-
rally as analytic degenerations of canonical ones come along with cuspidal invariant
40 FEDERICO BUONERBA
curves There is in particular no a-priori obstruction to the existence of rigid
cuspidal KF -nil curves in a smooth fiber of our family of foliated surfaces p Quite
generally a rigid curve of positive arithmetic genus in a smooth family of surfaces can
never be contracted to a point Therefore this would have been a counter-example
to any reasonable foliated canonical model theory one may wish to achieve Fortu-
nately such phenomenon does not happen and this establishes the Main Theorem I
modulo finitely many rigid curves confined in the singular fiber X0
IVII Invariant curves inside sing(F ) In this subsection we study curves Z0 subeXlowast cap sing(F ) which are inside the foliation singularity and invariant By this we
mean that there exists a sequence fn Cn rarrX of not necessarily algebraic invariant
curves converging in the compact-open topology to Z0 In other words the map
(30) NorF rarr Ω1Z0
is trivial By Corollary IIIIII5 we know that Z0 is at worst nodal it is smooth
wherever p is smooth for every point z isin Z0 the semi-simple part of the gener-
ating vector field has exactly one eigenvalue The problem here is that the Jordan
decomposition need not extend uniformly along Z0 not even along an irreducible
component In case ni (1)a the functions x and g may develop essential singulari-
ties arbitrary close to z Nonetheless the function x is unique and this says that x
does extend along Z0
Proposition IVII1 Let Z0 be as above Then in a formal neighborhood of Z0
there exists a unique smooth invariant hypersurface D0 containing Z0 which restricts
around any point in Z0 to the unique eigenfunction for the semi-simple field whose
eigenvalue is non-zero
Proof The local structure of the foliation around a point z isin Z0 is described by
cases ni (1)a and ni (1)b In both cases partS has one non-zero eigenvalue with
eigenfunction x Such eigenfunction x is a-priori only defined in the normal bundle to
Z0 but it is clear that the equation partx = x has a unique up to constants solution in
the formal completion around z As such there exists a unique smooth hypersurface
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 41
D0 in the formal completion around Z0 which restricts to the eigenfunction x around
z
Observe that the previous argument goes through since we are assuming Z0 subX0
Keeping notations from case ni (1)a if say g(y z) = yz then in the hypersurface
y equiv q isin Qgt0 the foliation has a log-canonical singularity and the eigenfunction x
extends highly non-uniquely to a formal neighborhood of the point (x y z) = (0 q 0)
In particular the existence of D0 as in the previous Proposition might fail along
the component (x = z = 0) of the foliation singularity This phenomenon is called
the beast
Anyway uniqueness in the previous proposition yields
Corollary IVII2 Let Z prime be a connected invariant curve inside sing(F ) Then in
a formal neighborhood of Z prime there exists a unique smooth invariant hypersurface D prime
containing Z prime which restricts around any point in Z prime to the hypersurface constructed
in the previous proposition
Next we turn to the intrinsic structure of invariant singular curves
Proposition IVII3 Let Z0 be an irreducible invariant curve inside sing(F )
Then Z0 is smooth and rational
Proof We work in a formal neighborhood of Z0 Let F0 denote the unique component
of X0 containing Z0 For any other fiber component F intersecting Z0 non-trivially
blow-up the invariant curve F cap F0 with exceptional divisor EF A straightforward
computation using the local formula ni (1)b shows that the fiber of the natural
projection EF rarr F cap F0 intersecting Z0 is also contained in sing(F ) For Z prime the
maximal connected singular invariant curve containing Z0 let G denote the saturated
foliation induced on D prime It is canonical with reduced singularities and it satisfies
KG = KF |Dprime minus Zprime By adjunction
(31) 2g(Z0)minus 2 + sZG(Z0) = minusZ prime middot Z0
Observe that thanks to our initial sequence of blow-ups the singularities of G along
Z0 coincide with the intersection of Z0 and Z prime Z0 In particular since D prime is formally
42 FEDERICO BUONERBA
flat over ∆ we deduce Z prime middot Z0 = 0 and the previous formula becomes
(32) 2g(Z0)minus 2 + sZG(Z0) = 0
This implies that Z0 is rational or elliptic If Z0 were elliptic then sZG(Z0) = 0 and
D0 defines an invariant elliptic curve in the general fiber of p By Baum-Bott this
contradicts that KF is big and nef Now we show that Z0 is smooth If it has a node
then D0 moves it in a family of nodal rational curves flat over ∆ In particular D0
itself has a node in codimension 1 hence Xlowast is smooth around the node of Z0 In its
formal neighborhood the foliation must be as in case ni (1)a which implies that
Z0 is smooth contradiction
We can improve as follows
Proposition IVII4 Let Z prime sube sing F capXlowast be a connected invariant curve with
KF middot Z prime = 0 Then its dual graph is a chain
Proof Assume Z prime is a cycle Then necessarily Z prime = D prime capXlowast scheme-theoretically
and by the existence of Hilbert scheme Z prime moves in the general fiber Its general
member is either a cycle of smooth rational curves or an elliptic curve Arguing as
in the previous proof we see that both options are impossible
V Configurations
In this section we analyze in great detail all possible configurations of invariant
curves along which KF vanishes These can be divided into three groups those
that do not move those that move in a one-dimensional family covering a surface
those that move in a higher-dimensional family covering a surface Curves in the first
group can form rather complicated configurations while those in the second group
are more simple they either move in the general fiber or they cover an isolated
Riccati component in the singular fiber Those in the third group turn out to be
represented by the two rulings of P1timesP1 if they happen to be cohomologous in the
ambient stack First we will analyze rigid curves then those which move and finally
we will describe their configurations
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 43
VI Configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially In
this subsection we describe configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF
trivially which arise in the situation described by set-up IIVII4
First we focus on KF -nil curves At the end of the section we deal with the simpler
case in which a curve in the configuration is fully contained in sing(F ) The general
fiber was handled in Proposition IVI6
Proposition VI1 Let C be a connected KF -nil curve contained in the smooth
locus of a fiber of p Then it is a chain or a cycle and it moves in a family flat over
∆
In what follows we let C denote a connected KF -nil curve contained in the
singular fiber X0 all of whose sub-curves are rigid in X Observe a consequence of
equation 23
Proposition VI2 Let C = cupiCi be a connected KF -nil curve Then the eigen-
values of partS are all rational at every point of sing(F )capC if and only if they are all
rational at one point
We can deduce many non-trivial properties about configurations of KF -nil curves
First we need
Definition VI3 Let C subX0 be a curve It is called double if there exists formally
around C two components F F prime of X0 such that C = F cap F prime A point lowast isin C where
three fiber components intersect is called a triple point If C lies on exactly one fiber
component it is called non-double We denote by F (C) such component
Remark VI4 Let Csimminusrarr P1(d e) be double with two triple points Then we know
e+ λ+ micro = minusd+ (λ+ n) + (micro+m) = 0 whence we obtain
(33) n+m = d+ e
Which is called triple-point formula
Next we show that essentially KF -nil curves do not form cycles unless something
deforms in X0 First we show that there are no cycles of rigid non-double curves
44 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proposition VI5 Let C be a connected KF -nil curve contained in the singular
fiber X0 of p Assume that every component of C is non-double and that every
sub-curve is rigid Then C contains no cycles
Proof We work in a formal neighborhood of C which we assume is a cycle Let
us first consider the case in which all components C1 middot middot middot CN are smooth with no
orbifold points and denote lowasti = Ci cap Ci+1 with CN+1 = C1 Moreover let us
assume no lowasti lies in the smooth locus of p
Since no curve is double the semi-simple field at every lowasti is as in case i (3)b in
particular the eigenvalues along the branches of Ci and Ci+1 add up to zero More-
over let minusni denote the self-intersection of Ci sub F (Ci) Normalize the eigenvalues
of partS so that at lowastn they are 1 in the C1 direction minus1 in the CN direction λ in the
F (C1)capF (CN) direction It follows by induction that at lowasti the eigenvalues are minus1
in the Ci direction 1 in the Ci+1 direction λ+ n1 + middot middot middot+ ni in the F (Ci) cap F (Ci+1)
direction After traveling around the cycle we obtain n1+middot middot middot+nN = 0 contradicting
that ni gt 0 for every i
We established the Proposition assuming every Ci is an embedded scheme and ev-
ery lowasti is in the singular locus of p The case in which Cisimminusrarr P1(di ei) has orbifold
points is analogous we end up with a combination c1n1 + middot middot middot + cNnN = 0 with ci
the eigenvalue at lowasti in the Ci+1 direction Normalizing so that c1 = e1 gt 0 again by
induction on i we see that every ci isin Qgt0 Next we show that our assumption on lowastiis always satisfied
Claim VI6 Every lowasti must belong to the singular locus of p
Proof We give two essentially equivalent proofs
bull If N = 2 3 then the previous argument goes through indeed we can normal-
ize eigenvalues at lowasti to be negative in the Ciminus1 direction and positive in the
Ci-direction and argue as above Hence we can assume N ge 4 If say lowasti is in
the smooth locus of p then F (Ci) = F (Ci+1) If also F (Ciminus1) = F (Ci) then Ci
lies in the smooth locus of p and hence it moves Therefore F (Ciminus1) 6= F (Ci)
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 45
and Ciminus1 can be flopped inside F (Ci) Since N ge 4 this preserves the smooth-
ness of F (Ci) and Ci is now is the smooth locus of p - contradiction
bull If lowasti belongs to the smooth locus of p then the end through lowasti moves We
can form a partial net completion fi Xi rarrX by normalizing C in lowasti only
Then f lowasti C is a chain with movable ends and hence moves in the general fiber
of p fi
Finally the general case in which some among the Ci have cusps can be easily
reduced to the smooth case in a couple of ways
bull Eigenvalues at the singularities of any KF -nil curve satisfy the same relations
as in the smooth case
bull Upon taking roots and net completion we can find a foliated formal 3-fold
supported on a cycle of smooth KF -nil curves which is a ramified cover of a
formal neighborhood of our cycle
Similarly we can show that there are no rigid cycles of double curves
Proposition VI7 Let C be a nodal KF -nil curve which is double Then C
deforms inside X0 In particular there cannot exist a rigid cycle of KF -nil double
curves
Proof Following the previous notation we have 0 = infin and if C = (xy = z = 0)
around 0 then we have identities
(34) x = η y = ξ z = ζ
The last one of which implies m = 0 that is C deforms Since C is double necessarily
the surface it spans must be contained in X0
The statement about cycles follows since a cycle of double curves can be transformed
after finitely many flops into a chain of smooth double curves with a nodal one
attached at one end
46 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Later on we will show that the deformations of C cannot span an elliptic surface
but only a family of nodal rational curves with a special Riccati foliation on it
We are ready to organize a detailed description of the dual graph of C More pre-
cisely we only need to understand how double curves intersect non-double curves
Lemma VI8 There exists a sequence of flops X 99KX + such that if C + denotes
the transform of C every double curve supported on C + contains two triple points
Proof Let C sube C be an irreducible component with at most one triple point and
let X 99K X + be its flop Then its transform C+ is non-double and the number
of double curves contained in C descreases It is clear that after finitely many flops
all double curves contain exactly two triple points
From now on all double curves in C have two triple points Thanks to proposition
VI2 we know that there are two cases to consider those curves along which the
semi-simple field has not only rational eigenvalues and those along which the semi-
simple field has only rational eigenvalues The first case being strictly easier than
the second it is a good starting place to warm up
Proposition VI9 (irrational eigenvalues) Assume that for every foliation singu-
larity along C not all eigenvalues of partS are rational Then every component of C
is net with at most one node and 1-skeleton of its dual graph is at worst trivalent
Write C = C axes cup C free where
C axes is the union of double curves
C free is the union of non-double curves
Then one among C axes and C free is empty Moreover
bull If C free is non-empty then it is a chain of smooth curves with rational moduli
bull If C axes is non-empty there exists a sequence of flops X 99KX + and an ir-
reducible component of the fiber FC subX + such that X + is a smooth stack
the transform C+ of C is contained in FC Moreover the dual graph of C+
is a tree which by [McQ08 III32] becomes a chain inside the normalization
of FC
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 47
Proof The first sentence is just corollary IIIIII3
Observe that if a non-double curve intersects a double curve then the non-double
curve must be contained in an LC-center around such intersection This contradicts
that not all eigenvalues are rational and establishes that one among C axes and C free
is empty
In case C free is not empty then it is clearly a chain or a cycle the latter being
impossible by Proposition VI5
We are left to show the existence of flops in case C = C axes We remark that
every component is smooth Let C0 be such a component and S0 a component of
X0 containing it Let C1 be the collection of irreducible components of C which
intersect S0 but are not contained in it All the components of C1 are smooth hence
we can flop them in any order until the transform of C1 lies in the transform of S0
Since the number of irreducible components of C lying outside S0 decreases after
such flop by induction we deduce the existence of finitely many flops after which
the birational transform of C is fully contained in the transform of S0
Next we take care of rational eigenvalues The complication here arises from
the fact that there may be double and non-double curves intersecting each other
However the situation is best possible
Proposition VI10 (rational eigenvalues) Assume that for every foliation singu-
larity along C all eigenvalues of partS are rational Write C = C axes cup C free where
C axes is the union of double curves
C free is the union of non-double curves
Then there exists a sequence of flops X 99K X + and an irreducible component of
the fiber FC axes subX + such that
bull X + is a smooth stack
bull The union of double curves of C axes is contained in FC axes the 1-skeleton of
its dual graph is a tree and each of its components has two triple points
bull The 1-skeleton of the dual graph of the transform C free+ is a disjoint union of
trees
bull Each connected component of C free+ intersects C axes in exactly one point
48 FEDERICO BUONERBA
In particular the 1-skeleton of the dual graph of C is a tree
Proof Notice that for every point lowast isin C cap Z there exists one LC-center through lowastIndeed there are three rational eigenvalues and they cannot be all non-vanishing and
all with different signs at the same time Now C axes can be treated as in proposition
VI9 This proves the first two items of the statement The third item follows from
Proposition VI5 so we can focus on the fourth one The proof is based on the
following obvious
Remark VI11 let C be a double curve such that either it is KF -nil hence has
two triple points or it is fully contained in sing(F ) Let C0 sube C free intersect C
non-trivially in a point lowast then necessarily C0 sub LClowast
Now let C0 middot middot middot CN form a chain of non-double curves with C0 and CN both
intersecting double curves as in the remark Denote by lowasti = Ci cap Ci+1 Since
C1 sub LClowast necessarily C1 is transverse to LClowast1 otherwise C1 would deform in F (C1)
Inductively we see that Ci+1 sub LClowasti and is transverse to LClowasti+1 In particular CN
cannot touch a double curve This contradiction proves the fourth item
Let us add a remark about configurations featuring invariant curves inside sing(F )
Proposition VI12 Let C be an invariant curve with KF middot C = 0 such that
Z0 sube C for some component Z0 sube sing(F ) Then C = Z prime cup C where
Z prime is a connected invariant curve inside the foliation singularity with dual graph a
chain
C is the union of at most two pairwise disjoint KF -nil curves with anti-ample
normal bundle
If not empty C can only intersect Z prime at the two ends of its dual graph Moreover
perhaps after a flop the intersection of C with Z prime supports the foliation singularity
along C As such if C has two components Z prime cup C deforms in the general fiber
Proof The structure of Z prime is Proposition IVII3 while that of Co is Proposition
IVI6 Let C prime be a component of C intersecting Z0 in a point lowast If C prime and Z0 belong
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 49
to different components of X0 then by case ni (1)b the eigenvalue of partS along C prime
vanishes so supp(sing(F ) cap C prime) = lowast If C prime and Z0 belong to the same component
then we can flop C prime into a different component
Observe that the divisor D prime from op cit can be extended along C prime This implies
that C can only intersect Z prime at its ends Moreover if C touches both ends necessarily
D prime capX0 = C scheme-theoretically hence by the existence of Hilbert scheme IVI5
we conclude
Our new set-up is
Set-up VI13 Everything as in set-up IIVII4 and moreover for any connected
invariant curve C with KF middot C = 0 all of whose sub-curves are rigid we have
configurations computed in proposition VI9 VI10 and Lemma VI12
VII Configurations of non-rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
In this subsection we describe configurations of surfaces which are covered by KF -nil
curves The structure of each such surface is described by classification IIV1 IIV2
and Corollary IIVI17 Our first step is to simplify the situation by contracting
chains of ruled surfaces The next step is to try and exclude the possibility that
the singular fiber of p contains fibrations by elliptic or nodal rational curves with
at least one invariant fiber This can be achieved with good success indeed there
may be at most one such Riccati foliation which is anyway rather isolated from the
remaining KF -nil curves Finally we observe that the only class of surfaces we have
not mentioned is
Definition VII1 A irreducible component F of the singular fiber of p is called
small Kronecker if
bull (FFF ) is birational to a Kronecker vector field on P1 timesP1 and
bull The two rulings of this P1 timesP1 are cohomologous inside X
The name comes from the fact that contraction of a small Kronecker yields a node
in the ambient threefold which admits a small resolution In fact in many respects
these fiber components behave very much like rigid KF -nil curves
50 FEDERICO BUONERBA
We start by getting rid of some fiber components which are ruled by KF -nil gener-
ically smooth rational curves
Proposition VII2 Notation as in Set-up VI13 there exists a sequence of flops
and divisorial contractions c X 99KX + such that
bull X + is a smooth stack
bull let S+ sub X + be an irreducible invariant divisor that contains a positive-
dimensional family of invariant rational curves along which KF+ vanishes
Then S+ is either birationally ruled by nodal rational curves or it is a small
Kronecker
Proof We focus first on contracting components of the singular fiber of p Consider
the following algorithm If there is no birationally ruled component different from
the ones listed in the second item we are done otherwise pick one such F and let
C denote the general member of the ruling If the cohomology class [C] is inde-
composable F is minimal Otherwise [C] = [C1] + [C2] where Ci are rational and
intersect KF trivially After finitely many steps we have a decomposition as a finite
sum of indecomposables [C] =sumn
i=0 ni[Ci] where every Ci is rational intersects KF
trivially We have two cases
bull There exists k such that Ck deforms in a birationally ruled necessarily min-
imal surface Fk
bull Every Ci has anti-ample normal bundle
In the first case denote by X rarr X1 the contraction of Fk along |Ck| and relpace
X by X1 Since Fk is minimal smoothness of the ambient stack is preserved unless
Fk is a small Kronecker This is however impossible if n ge 2 if Fk were a small
Kronecker then Ck deforms away from Fkminus1 so then Fkminus1 middot Ck = 0 on the other
hand Fkminus1 intersects the other ruling of Fk positively
In the second case flop C1 middot middot middot Cn in this order The transform of F is minimal and
not a small Kronecker so it can be contracted along its ruling preserving ambient
smoothness By induction on the Picard rank of X after finitely many steps this
algorithm ends Call X the output of this algorithm
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 51
Let S subX be an invariant divisor with a generically smooth ruling Then pS S rarr∆ is flat and after flopping finitely many rational curves in S cap plowastS(0) the resulting
pS is smooth Hence we can contract S along pS After finitely many steps the
Proposition is proven
For ease of notation in the sequel we call X the output of the previous proposition
Notice that there might still be divisors carrying a pencil of nodal rational curves
both inside and outside the singular fiber of p
We can start analyzing configurations of fiber components where the restriction of
F is not of general type We need some notation whose reason to exist will be clear
shortly
Definition VII3 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
along which KF is not big F is called special Riccati if
bull F is minimal
bull There exists a morphism s F rarr B onto a curve whose fibers are nodal
rational curve
bull F is transverse to the general fiber of s in particular KF is numerically
trivial along s
bull At least one fiber of s is invariant
bull There exists a section σ of s which is invariant and does not coincide with
the nodal locus of F
In particular the intersections of σ with invariant fibers of s isolated singularities
of F the node of F all coincide There may be fibers of s fully contained in sing(F )
in which case they are everywhere transverse to the saturated foliation
The definition looks nasty but special Riccati components have a rather simple
origin as the following proof shows
Lemma VII4 Let F be special Riccati Up to base change by an etale double cover
Bprime rarr B there is a natural isomorphism F norm simminusrarr BprimetimesP1 and the restriction of F
to F norm is birational to the projection onto P1
52 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proof We work over the normalization F norm Denote by Bprime the pre-image of the
node of F which is an etale double cover of B and let f denote an invariant fiber
of s with lowast = σ cap f Observe that F norm carries a Riccati foliation with 3 invariant
curves through lowast - namely σ f and a component of Bprime Hence FF has a log-canonical
singularity in lowast On F norm perform a weighted blow-up in each log-canonical singu-
larity followed by the contraction of the transforms of the corresponding fibers Let
s+ F+ rarr B denote the output of this operation If the proper transform of Bprime is
connected replace F+ by its base change under Bprime rarr B Hence we can assume Bprime
is the disjoint union of two sections of s+ and the transform of σ is a third section
which is disjoint from Bprime Therefore F+ = P1 timesBprime and the foliation restricts to the
projection onto P1
Next we describe those surfaces which cannot appear as components of the sin-
gular fiber X0
Definition VII5 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
along which KF is not big F is called illusory if
bull there exists a morphism t F rarr B onto a curve
bull KF is trivial along t
bull For any other fiber component F prime the intersection F cap F prime is either empty or
contained in a fiber of t
We give examples of illusory fiber components
Lemma VII6 The following fiber components are necessarily illusory
bull t is elliptic the foliation is either parallel to t or turbolent with at least one
invariant fiber
bull t is a nodal ruling the foliation is either parallel to t or transverse to t with
at least one invariant fiber and not birational to a special Riccati VII3
Proof Let f = F cap F prime for some fiber component F prime It is F -invariant
Assume t and F are parallel and f is transverse to both Then necessarily f subesing(F ) and KF is positive along the fibers of t contradiction
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 53
Assume t and F are generically transverse and f is transverse to t Let e be an
invariant fiber of t then ecap f isin sing(F ) hence t must be a family of nodal rational
curves and ecapf coincides with the node of e - otherwise KF would be positive along
t But this implies F is special Riccati contradiction
We proceed to show that illusory fibers do not exist
Lemma VII7 Let F be an illusory fiber component then every fiber of t is irre-
ducible If F prime is any fiber component intersecting F non-trivially then F prime is illusory
Proof Assume t has a reducible fiber f Then we can write f = f prime cup f primeprime where f prime
is irreducible and f primeprime is a disjoint union of chains of rational curves In particular
every subscheme supported on f primeprime is rigid in X f prime is rational and smooth iff f is a
cycle of rational curves hence the foliation on F is parallel to t and the choice of f prime
is not unique otherwise f prime is nodal or elliptic Let X 99KX + denote the flop of the
irreducible components of f primeprime in any order The proper transform f prime+ (below in red)
is the irreducible fiber of the induced morphism t+ F+ rarr B Since f primeprime+ intersects
f prime+ and is not contained in F+ there exists a component F prime of the fiber of p+ such
that F+ cap f prime+ 6= empty Since F+ is illusory necessarily F+ cap F prime = f prime+ Moreover F+
and F prime are the only fiber components intersecting f prime+ again because F+ is illusory
We deduce that F+ middot f prime+ = F prime middot f prime+ = 0 and therefore f prime+ is nef inside F prime It follows
that he restriction of F+ to F prime is not of general type and by the classification of
foliated surfaces [McQ08] necessarily f prime+ deforms inside F prime and defines a fibration
u F prime rarr Bprime In particular f prime+ is an irreducible fiber of u This is however impossible
since u contracts all the components of f primeprime+ contained in F prime (below in blue) and by
definition of F prime there exists at least one such component This proves that every
fiber of t is irreducible The following depicts the situation
F prime F+
f prime+
f primeprime+
t+u
54 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Concerning the second statement we only need to check the third condition for F prime
to be illussory namely that every other fiber component F primeprime intersecting F prime does
so along the fibers of u If F primeprime intersects F prime transversely to u then F primeprime intersects F
non-trivially and transversely to t as well absurd
Corollary VII8 Illusory components do not exist
Proof By the above lemma the existence of one illusory component implies that
every irreducible component of the singular fiber of p is illusory contradicting that
KF is big
We can now focus on fiber components that do appear
Corollary VII9 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
containing an invariant curve C which moves and such that KF middot C = 0 Then
following the classification [McQ08] we have two cases
(1) The minimal model of F is a special Riccati component
(2) F is a small Kronecker
Proof Certainly the ones listed are the only cases where C is KF -nil We have to
exclude the possibility that C is invariant inside sing(F ) By Proposition IVII3
such C would be rational with at most one node Since we already contracted at
the beginning of the present subsection all ruled surfaces necessarily C is nodal
However by opcit C cannot intersect any other fiber component of X0 which
implies the absurdity that X0 = F
We proceed to show that special Riccati components are rather isolated in the
fiber
Lemma VII10 Let F be a special Riccati component If F prime is a fiber component
intersecting F non-trivially then it does so transversely to s Morover there is
exactly one such F prime
Proof After finitely many flops we can assume that every fiber of s is irreducible
By the non-existence of illusory components there exists a fiber component F lowast with
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 55
σprime = F cap F prime transverse to s If F primeprime is a fiber component with f = F cap F primeprime a fiber
of s then we claim f sube sing(F ) If not then since KF middot f = 0 and σprime is invariant
necessarily σprimecap f is the node of f But then the existence of F primeprime contradicts that p is
snc Hence f sube sing(F ) so then around the node of f there are 3 fiber components -
two branches coming from F one from F primeprime - and sing(F ) has 2 branches - namely f
This is impossible by our case analysis ni (1)c ni (2)c The very same reasoning
establishes the uniqueness of F prime
Lemma VII11 Let F be as in the previous Lemma If C is a connected curve
with KF middot C = 0 then it is disjoint from F
Proof After finitely many flops s is irreducible and C intersects F transversely away
from its node Moreover lowast = C cap F isin sing(F ) and we deduce that the fiber of s
through lowast is fully contained in the singular locus of F This contradicts Proposition
IVII3 since such fiber is nodal
We conclude by observing the obvious
Lemma VII12 Let F be a small Kronecker Then there exists a contraction
c X rarr X prime which is an isomorphism away from F and contracts F along one
of its rulings Necessarily X prime is not projective since every global Cartier divisor
intersects c(F ) trivially On the other hand in a formal neighborhood of c(F ) there
exist Cartier divisors intersecting it non-trivialliy
As such the contribution coming from non-rigid curves is rather poor there are
curves moving in the general fiber there are special Riccati components disjoint from
any other invariant curve intersecting KF trivially there are small Kroneckers who
can be contracted to curves We shall see in the next section that the complications
arising from the contraction of such non-rigid curves is purely psychological and
totally harmless
56 FEDERICO BUONERBA
VI Contractions and proof of the Main Theorem
In this section we contract all invariant curves along which KF is zero thereby
establishing the existence of canonical models I First we contract non-rigid curves
as described in the previous subsection
bull Small Kroneckers along either ruling Albeit this destroys projectivity of
the ambient threefold there still exist Cartier divisors defined in a formal
neighborhood of the base curve that intersect it non-trivially
bull Families of irreducible nodal rational curves which are flat over ∆ This
creates elliptic singularities on the general fiber of p which are disjoint from
other invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
bull Special Riccati again families of irreducible nodal rational curves fully con-
tained in X0 This creates elliptic singularities disjoint from other invariant
curves intersecting KF trivially
We can summarize our situation by way of
Set-up VI1 X is a 3-dimensional DM stack with at worst elliptic singularities
F a foliation by curves with canonical singularities which is not Q-Cartier in a
neighborhood of Xsing
There exists a proper morphism p X rarr ∆ smooth off 0 isin ∆ F restricts to a
foliation on every fiber of p it has canonical singularities on the very general fiber
of p and log-canonical singularities on every fiber of p KF is big and nef on every
irreducible component of every fiber of p
Let C be the invariant sub-scheme along which KF is not big then C is a curve
fully contained in the smooth locus X0capXsmooth every sub-curve of C has anti-ample
normal bundle the 1-simplex of its dual graph is a tree and detailed configurations
of such are referenced in set-up VI13
We proceed to contract such C We assume that along C the semi-simple field has
only rational eigenvalues and moreover no component of C is inside the foliation
singularity The other two cases - irrational eigenvalues and presence of singular
component - are strictly easier and can be obtained with the very same method
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 57
The proof takes place in the formal completion around C = C free cup C axes The
former is a disjoint union of trees of non-double curves For each non-double C let
F (C) denote the unique component of X0 containing it The latter is a tree of double
curves each with two triple points all contained in the same irreducible FC axes Each
tree of non-double curves touches C axes in one point through a LC-center In order
to construct the contraction we will use Artinrsquos celebrated criterion in the following
form
Fact VI1 ([Ar70]) Let X be an irreducible algebraic space i Y rarr X a closed
subspace of pure codimension 1 and f Y rarr Y0 a proper morphism with flowastOY = OY0
Let X denote the formal completion of X along Y and assume there exists a Cartier
divisor D in X which is supported on Y and is f -anti-ample Then there exists a
proper morphism of algebraic spaces F X rarr X0 which is an isomorphism away
from Y and such that ilowastF = f
Now we use the tree structure of C to construct a suitable divisor to which apply
Artinrsquos theorem Namely consider the following inductive defintion
(35) C0 = C axes F0 = FC axes
For k ge 0 assume Ck Fk are defined
bull Let Ck+1 denote the union of irreducible components of C that intersect Fk
non-trivially but are not contained in cupilekFibull Let Fk+1 denote the reduced sum (
sumCsubeCk+1
F (C))red
This process stops with a collection C1 middot middot middotCN of curves and F1 middot middot middot FN of reduced
divisors
Lemma VI1 We have the following identities
(36)
Fk middot C lt 0 for every C sube Ck
(F0 + F1) middot C le 0 for every C sube C0
(Fkminus1 + Fk + Fk+1) middot C = 0 for every C sube Ck 1 lt k lt N
(FNminus1 + FN) middot C lt 0 for every C sube CN
58 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proof The first is just the fact that every component of C is rigid The remaining
three follow from X0 middot C = 0 but the last one requires further justification Indeed
if C sube CN N gt 0 then C is one end of a tree of non-double curves In particular
there exists a foliation singularity lowast isin C disjoint from any other component of
C and LClowast is transverse to C This implies LClowast middotC gt 0 which together with
(FNminus1 + FN + LClowast) middot C = 0 concludes the proof
Let ε1 middot middot middot εN isin Qgt0 and define
(37) F Nminusk = (1 + ε1 + middot middot middot+ εk)FNminusk
bull If C sube CN we have
(38) (F Nminus1 + F
N) middot C = ε1FNminus1 middot C + (FNminus1 + FN) middot C
bull If C sube CNminusk 1 lt k lt N we have
(39)
(F Nminuskminus1 + F
Nminusk + F Nminusk+1) middot C =
(1 + middot middot middot+ εk)(FNminuskminus1 + FNminusk + FNminusk+1) middot C minus εkFNminusk+1 middot C + εk+1FNminuskminus1 middot C =
minus εkFNminusk+1 middot C + εk+1FNminuskminus1 middot C
bull If C sube C0 we have
(40) (F 0 + F
1) middot C = εNF0 middot C + (Nminus1sumj=0
εj)(F0 + F1) middot C
It is clear that provided
(41) 1 gtgt ε1 gtgt middot middot middot gtgt εN
the divisor F =sumF k is negative along every component of C
This proves the existence of the contraction and concludes the proof of the Main
Theorem I
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 59
VII Moduli space of foliated surfaces of general type
In this section we study the modular variation of foliated surfaces of general type
The upshot is that it is possible to define a functor which is representable separated
and every irreducible component is proper The main issue here is that the supporting
surface of a foliated canonical model may well fail to be projective indeed KF is not
Q-Gorenstein in general Hence in order to proceed via standard methods [Ko17]
we have to parametrize our canonical models together with a suitable projective
resolution
Definition VII13 Let (SF ) be a foliated proper reduced purely 2-dimensional
DM stack Assume S has only normal crossing singularities in codimension 1 that
F has log-canonical foliation singularities and that KF is big and nef on at least
one of the irreducible components of S If whenever KF middot C = 0 for some curve C
then C moves in an irreducible component of S and no member of such deformation
is F -invariant then (SF ) is called foliated canonical model of general type
Clearly foliated canonical models are exactly the stable degenerations appearing
as the central fiber of our Main Theorem I Their lack of projectivity has two sources
namely the contraction of cycles of smooth KF -nil curves and of trees of cuspidal
ones Singularities arising from cycles behave well in families namely they always
deform into the general fiber Those arising from cuspidal curves on the other hand
tend to be rather isolated inside the degenerate fiber
Observe that the deformation theory of a foliated surface is rather simple suppose
given an infinitesimal C-algebras extension 0 rarr J rarr Ae rarr A rarr 0 and (SF )
a foliated surface flat over Spec(A) then the obstruction to lifting to Ae can be
understood in three simple steps
(1) Deformation of the underlying surface S once a deformation Se rarr Spec(Ae)
is given
(2) Deformation of the line bundle KF by the exponential sequence
(42) 0rarr J otimes OS rarr OlowastSerarr OlowastS rarr 0
obstructions lie in H2(SOS)otimes J once a deformation of KF is given
60 FEDERICO BUONERBA
(3) Deformation of the defining section OS rarr KF otimes TS obstructions lie in
H1(SKF otimes TS)otimes J
Now we have
Definition VII14 Let (SF ) be a foliated canonical model of general type A
proper birational morphism q (SF )proj rarr (SF ) is called its projective resolution
if
bull Every irreducible component of Sproj is smooth
bull The exceptional locus of q is a disjoint union of cycles of KFproj-nil smooth
curves and trees of KFproj-nil curves each of which has a non-trivial cuspidal
singularity
bull In a neighborhood of every q-exceptional cycle not only Sproj but also its
moduli space is smooth
We need a few remarks about projective resolutions
(1) Projective resolutions are always unique Indeed the only possible ambiguity
could lie in some extra smooth irreducible components in the exceptional
locus This is forbidden by definition in the trees of cuspidal curves it is
also forbidden by way of the third item in cycles of smooth ones ie on
algebraic surfaces the minimal resolution is unique
(2) Denote by E the collection of q-exceptional cycles Then there exist ε δ isinQgt0 such that KFproj
minus εE + δKSprojis ample by Nakai-Moishezon
(3) Deformations of a projective resolution of a foliated canonical model are
canonically identified with deformations of the underlying birational mor-
phism q Sproj rarr S followed by a deformation of the foliation F
We are now ready to construct a moduli functor for foliated surfaces more precisely
for projective resolutions of foliated canonical models of general type For m dN isinN and ε δ isin Qgt0 let
(43) MmdNεδ (C-schemes)rarr (sets)
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 61
be defined by MmdNεδ(S) = Diagrams
(44) (X F )projqminusrarr (X F )
pminusrarr S
Where
bull Both p and p q are flat and proper
bull For every closed point s isin S the induced morphism qs is the projective
resolution of (X F )s which is a foliated canonical model of general type
bull Denote by Es the collection of exceptional cycles of qs By our Main Theorem
I there is a fibrewise divisor E subXproj flat over S restricting to Es for every
s isin S
bull Let j W rarr Xproj denote the maximal closed subscheme away from which
KFprojand KXprojS are locally free Then
(45) L [m] = (jlowast(KFprojotimes OXproj
(minusεE )otimesKδXprojS
)otimesm)oror
is flat over S and commutes with base-change
bull L [m] is very ample of degree d on every fiber and defines an embedding into
PNS
We are now ready for
Theorem VII15 The functor MmdNεδ is represented by a separated algebraic
space each of whose irreducible components is proper
Proof We show that our functor satisfies Artinrsquos conditions [Ar74 Corollary 54] By
definition condition 1) and 4) hold while our previous remark on foliated obstruction
theory shows that 3) is true
We proceed to show 2) namely effectivity of formal deformations for MmdNεδ
What follows owes much to Artinrsquos [A74rsquo] Let T be a complete C-algebra Tn its
n-truncation so that Tsimminusrarr limlarrminusTn and finally qn isinMmdNεδ(Spec(Tn)) a compatible
sequence For each n there is a maximal open set Un sube Xprojn where qn is an
isomorphism denote by sn Cn rarr Zn the restriction of qn to the complement of Un
Clearly sn is projective over Spec(Tn)
62 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Denote by X C etc the formal algebraic spaces obtained as limits of Xn Cn
etc Then Xproj sub PNˆSpec(T )
hence by Grothendieckrsquos existence Theorem we find
bull a flat projective family (X F )proj rarr Spec(T ) resp a closed subscheme
C subXproj whose completion is Xproj resp C
bull a scheme Z whose completion is Z and a morphism s C rarr Z everything
being projective over Spec(T )
Further we have a formal contraction limminusrarr qn C rarr Z hence the main theorem
of [Ar70] gives algebraic contraction (X F )proj rarr (X F ) This proves the repre-
sentability of MmdNεδ The properness and separability of each irreducible com-
ponent can be checked using valutative criteria indeed properness is the content of
our Main Theorem I separatedness follows from the uniqueness of foliated canonical
models of general type and their projective resolution
References
[Ar70] M Artin Algebraization of Formal Moduli II Existence of Modifications Ann
of Math Vol 91 No 1 (Jan 1970) pp 88-135 httpwwwjstororgstable
1970602
[Ar74] M Artin Versal Deformations and Algebraic Stacks Inventiones Math 27 165- 189
(1974) httpmathuchicagoedu~drinfeldArtin_on_stackspdf
[A74rsquo] M Artin Algebraic construction of Brieskornrsquos resolutions J Alg Vol 29 Issue
2 May 1974 pp 330-348 httpwwwsciencedirectcomsciencearticlepii
0021869374901021
[BB72] P Baum R Bott Singularities of holomorphic foliations J Diff Geom 7 (1972)
279-342 httpsprojecteuclidorgdownloadpdf_1euclidjdg1214431158
[Bo77] F Bogomolov Families of curves on a surface of general type Doklady Akademii Nauk
USSR (in Russian) 236 (5) 1041-1044
[Bo78] F Bogomolov Holomorphic tensors and vector bundles on projective varieties Math
USSR Izv 13 (1978) 499-555
[BM16] F Bogomolov M McQuillan Rational Curves on Foliated Varieties In Cascini
McKernan Pereira (eds) Foliation Theory in Algebraic Geometry Simons Symposia
Springer Cham pp 21-51 (2016) httpslinkspringercomchapter101007
978-3-319-24460-0_2
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 63
[Bu] F Buonerba Functorial resolution of tame quotient singularities in positive charac-
teristic httpsarxivorgabs151100550
[Ke99] S Keel Basepoint Freeness for Nef and Big Line Bundles in Positive Characteris-
tic Annals of Math 149 No 1 (Jan 1999) pp 253-286 httpwwwjstororg
stable121025 httpsarxivorgabsmath9901149
[KM97] S Keel S Mori Quotients by groupoids Annals of Math 145 (1997) pp
193-213 httpwwwjstororgstable2951828seq=1page_scan_tab_contents
httparxivorgabsalg-geom9508012
[Ko17] J Kollar Families of varieties of general type httpswebmathprincetonedu
~kollarbookmodbook20170720pdf
[LN02] A Lins Neto Some examples for the Poincare and Painleve problems Annales sci-
entifiques de lrsquoENS 352 (2002) 231-266 httparchivenumdamorgarticle
ASENS_2002_4_35_2_231_0pdf
[McQ12] M McQuillan Foliated Mori Theory amp Hyperbolicity of Algebraic Surfaces http
wwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillahomehtml
[McQ98] M McQuillan Diophantine approximation and foliations Inst Hautes Etudes Sci
Publ Math 87 (1998) 121-174 httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafiles
ihespdf
[McQ05rsquo] M McQuillan Bloch hyperbolicity preprint httpwwwmatuniroma2it
~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ05] M McQuillan Semi-stable reduction of foliations IHES pre-print IHESM0502
(2005) httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ05rdquo] M McQuillan Uniform Uniformisation IHES pre-print (2005) IHES M0503 http
wwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ08] M McQuillan Canonical models of foliations Pure Appl Math Q 4
(2008) no 3 Special Issue In honor of Fedor Bogomolov Part 2 877-1012
httpintlpresscomsitepubfiles_fulltextjournalspamq20080004
0003PAMQ-2008-0004-0003-a009pdf
[MP13] M McQuillan D Panazzolo Almost etale resolution of foliations J Diff Geom 95
(2013) pp 279-319 httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesmp1bispdf
[Pe02] JV Pereira On the Poincare Problem for Foliations of General Type Mathematische
Annalen 323 no 2 pp217-226 2002 httpsarxivorgabsmath0104185
[PS16] JV Pereira R Svaldi Effective algebraic integration in bounded genus preprint
httpsarxivorgabs161206932
64 FEDERICO BUONERBA
[Re83] M Reid Minimal models of canonical threefolds in rdquoAlgebraic Varieties and Ana-
lytic Varietiesrdquo Adv Stud Pure Math vol 1 S Iitaka ed Kinokuniya and North-
Holland 1983 pp 131-180 httpwwwmathsedacukcheltsovquotientpdf
reid2pdf
[Se67] A Seidenberg Reduction of singularities of the differential equation Ady = Bdx Amer
J Math 89 (1967) 248-269 httpwwwjstororgstable2373435
[SB83] N Shepherd-Barron Degenerations with numerically effective canonical divisor The
Birational Geometry of Degenerations (R Friedman and D Morrison eds) Progr
Math no 29 Birkhuser 1983 pp 33-84
[Vis89] A Vistoli Intersection theory on algebraic stacks and on their moduli spaces
Invent Math (1989) pp 613-670 httplinkspringercomarticle101007
2FBF01388892page-1
Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences New York University 251 Mercer
Street New York NY 10012 USA
E-mail address buonerbacimsnyuedu
- I Introduction
- II Preliminaries
-
- III Operations on Deligne-Mumford stacks
- IIII Width of embedded parabolic champs
- IIIII Gorenstein foliation singularities
- IIIV Foliated adjunction
- IIV Canonical models of foliated surfaces with canonical singularities
- IIVI Canonical models of foliated surfaces with log-canonical singularities
- IIVII Set-up
-
- III Invariant curves and singularities local description
-
- IIII `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F) not isolated
- IIIII `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F) isolated
- IIIIII Local consequences
-
- IV Invariant curves along which KF vanishes
-
- IVI KF-nil curves
- IVII Invariant curves inside `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F)
-
- V Configurations
-
- VI Configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
- VII Configurations of non-rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
-
- VI Contractions and proof of the Main Theorem
- VII Moduli space of foliated surfaces of general type
- References
-
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 15
X be a two-dimensional smooth DM stack with projective moduli and F a foliation
with canonical singularities Since X is smooth certainly F is Q-Gorenstein If
KF is not pseudo-effective then foliated bend and break [BM16 Main Theorem]
shows that F is birationally a fibration by rational curves If KF is pseudo-effective
its Zariski decomposition has negative part a finite collection of invariant chains of
rational curves which can be contracted to a smooth DM stack with projective
moduli on which KF is nef At this point those foliations such that the Kodaira
dimension k(KF ) le 1 can be completely classified
Fact IIV1 [McQ08 IV3] Foliations with canonical singularities and Kodaira di-
mension zero are up to a ramified cover and birational transformations defined by
a global vector field The minimal models belong the following list
bull A Kronecker vector field on an abelian surface
bull The suspension of a representation π1(E)rarr PGL2(C) for E an elliptic curve
bull A Kronecker vector field on P1 timesP1
bull An isotrivial elliptic fibration
Fact IIV2 [McQ08 IV4] Foliations with canonical singularities and Kodaira di-
mension one are classified by their Kodaira fibration The linear system |KF | defines
a fibration onto a curve and the minimal models belong to the following list
bull The foliation and the fibration coincide so then the fibration is non-isotrivial
elliptic
bull The foliation is transverse to a projective bundle (Riccati)
bull The foliation is everywhere smooth and transverse to an isotrivial elliptic
fibration (turbolent)
bull The foliation is parallel to an isotrivial fibration in hyperbolic curves
On the other hand for foliations of general type the new phenomenon is that
global generation fails The problem is the appearence of elliptic Gorenstein leaves
these are cycles possibly irreducible of invariant rational curves around which KF
is numerically trivial but might fail to be torsion Assume that KF is big and nef
16 FEDERICO BUONERBA
and consider morphisms
(7) X rarrXe rarrXc
Where the composite is the contraction of all the KF -nil curves and the rightmost
is the minimal resolution of elliptic Gorenstein singularities
Fact IIV3 [McQ08 IV21 IV22] Xe is projective there exists an ample divisor
A and an effective divisor E supported on minimal elliptic Gorenstein leaves such
that KFe = A+E On the other hand Xc might fail to be projective and Fc is never
Q-Gorenstein
We refer to [McQ08 III32] for the descriptions of possible dual graphs of config-
urations of invariant KF -negative or nil curves
IIVI Canonical models of foliated surfaces with log-canonical singulari-
ties In this subsection we study Gorenstein foliations with log-canonical singulari-
ties on algebraic surfaces In particular we will classify the singularities appearing
on the underlying surface prove the existence of minimal and canonical models
describe the exceptional curves appearing in the contraction to the canonical model
Proposition IIVI1 Let (UF ) be a germ of Gorenstein log-canonical foliation
singularity Then U is a cone over a subvariety Y of a weighted projective space
whose weights are determined by the eigenvalues of F Moreover F is defined by
the rulings of the cone
Proof By Fact IIIII2 there exists a closed embedding i U rarr M - with M a
smooth local formal scheme - a regular system of parameters x1 middot middot middot xk on M and
positive integers n1 middot middot middotnk such that F is the restriction of the foliation defined by
part =sumnixi
partpartxi
to U Let I sub OM denote the ideal defining i(U) subM then part(I) sube I
We are going to prove that I is homogeneous where each xi has weight ni Let f isin I
and write f =sum
dge1 fd where fd is homogeneous of degree d in x1 middot middot middot xk - ie fd is
a k-linear combination of monomials xa11 xakk with d =
sumi aini For every N isin N
let FN = (xa11 xakk
sumi aini ge N) This collection of ideals defines a natural
filtration on OM For a = max ai we have mN sube FN sube mNa ie the FN -filtration
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 17
is equivalent to the one by powers of the maximal ideal and therefore OM is also
complete with respect to the FN -filtration
We will prove that if f isin I then fd isin I for every d
Let IN = (I + FN)FN Since OM is complete with respect to the FN -filtration
I = limlarrminus IN Therefore it is enough to show
Claim IIVI2 For every N gt 0 we have fd isin IN sub OMFN for all d lt N
Proof For every g isin IN denote by n(g) the unique integer such that g isin Fn(g) Fn(g)+1 (ie the minimal index d for which fd 6= 0) and by N(g) = N minus n(g)
We will prove the statement of the Claim by induction on N(f) If N(f) = 1 then
f = fNminus1 holds in OMFN and the statement is true If N(f) gt 1 we have part(f) =sumd d middot fd hence consider f1 = D(f)minus n(f)f =
sumdgtn(f)(dminus n(f))fd Tautologically
we have N(f1) lt N(f) and therefore fd isin IN for every d gt n(f) so then fn(f) =
f minussum
dgtn(f) fd isin IN as well
This implies that I is a homogeneous ideal and hence U is the germ of a cone over
a variety in the weighted projective space P(n1 nk)
Corollary IIVI3 If the germ U is normal then Y is normal If U is normal
of dimension 2 the weighted blow-up p U rarr U at the vertex of the cone has only
quotient singularities the exceptional divisor E(simminusrarr Y ) is smooth and everywhere
transverse to the induced foliation Moreover we have
(8) plowastKF = KF + E
Certainly the converse to Proposition IIVI1 fails even on surfaces indeed let
(X F ) be a Gorenstein foliated surface and let C sub X be a generic curve so
in particular smooth and not F -invariant We can assume perhaps after a finite
sequence of simple blow-ups along C that both X and F are smooth in a neigh-
borhood of C C and F are everywhere transverse and C2 lt 0
Proposition IIVI4 The formal contraction q X rarr X0 of C is isomorphic to
the cone over C the projected foliation F0 coincides with that by rulings on the cone
F0 is Q-Gorenstein if C rational or elliptic but not in general
18 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proof F0 is Q-Gorenstein if and only if the bundle KF (C) is trivial on the formal
completion of X along C The obstructions to lift the isomorphism OC(KF +C)simminusrarr
OC over infinitesimal neighborhoods of C lie in H1(C (1 minus n)C + KF ) for every
n isin N These groups vanish for every n isin N if 2g(C) minus 2 + C2 lt 0 (which is
always true for rational or elliptic curves) but do provide non-trivial obstructions in
general
We focus on the minimal model program for Gorenstein log-canonical foliations
on algebraic surfaces Let X be a DM stack of dimension 2 with projective moduli
and F a Gorenstein foliation with log-canonical singularities Denote by LC(F )
the set of points where F is log-canonical and not canonical and by Z the singular
sub-scheme of F We assume LC(F ) 6= empty since the empty case has been completely
settled Moreover we can assume that X is smooth outside LC(F ) Let f C rarrX
be a morphism from a 1-dimensional stack with trivial generic stabilizer such that
fminus1 LC(F ) 6= empty Since we will need them several times we formulate some technical
results
Lemma IIVI5 Let p X rarr X be the resolution of the log-canonical foliation
singularity intersecting C with exceptional divisor E Then
(9) KF middot C minus C middot E = KF middot C
Proof We have
(10) plowastC = C minus (C middot EE2)E
Intersecting this equation with equation 8 we obtain the result
This formula is important because it shows that passing from foliations with log-
canonical singularities to their canonical resolution increases the negativity of inter-
sections between invariant curves and the canonical bundle In fact the log-canonical
theory reduces to the canonical one after resolving the log-canonical singularities
Further we list some strong constraints given by invariant curves along which the
foliation is smooth
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 19
Fact IIVI6 [BB72 Baum-Bott] Let g C rarrX be an F -invariant curve missing
the foliation singularities Then C2 = NF middotg C = 0
Corollary IIVI7 Let g C rarr X be an F -invariant curve missing the foliation
singularities and such that KF middotg C lt 0 Then F is birationally a fibration by
rational curves
Proof By assumption KF middot C = minusχ(C) This together with Baum-Bott IIVI6
imply that KX middot C = minusχ(C) and from usual adjunction we get C2 = 0 Riemann-
Roch gives h0(X mC) ge 2 for m gtgt 0 so then |C| defines a fibration by rational
curves tangent to F
The rest of this subsection is devoted to the construction of minimal and canonical
models in presence of log-canonical singularities The only technique we use is
resolve the log-canonical singularities in order to reduce to the canonical case and
keep track of the exceptional divisor
We are now ready to handle the existence of minimal models
Theorem IIVI8 (Minimal models) Let X be a DM stack of dimension 2 with pro-
jective moduli and F a Gorenstein foliation with log-canonical singularities Then
either
bull F is birational to a fibration by rational curves or
bull There exist a birational contraction q X rarr X0 such that KF0 is nef
Moreover the exceptional curves of q donrsquot intersect LC(F )
Proof Let f be as above ie KF -negative and intersecting LC(F ) If f is not
F -invariant then KF middotC +C2 ge 0 so C moves and KF is not pseudo-effective We
conclude by foliated bend and break [BM16]
If f is F -invariant then foliated adjunction 6 implies that C is rational it intersects
the singular locus of F in exactly one point By Lemma IIVI5 after resolving the
log-canonical singularity KF middot C lt 0 and F is smooth along C We conlude by
Corollary IIVI7
20 FEDERICO BUONERBA
From now on we add the assumption that KF is nef and we want to analyze
those curves f satisfying KF middotf C = 0 By adjunction formula 6 we know that C
has rational moduli and fminus1Z is supported on two points
Remark IIVI9 If fminus1Z = fminus1 LC(F ) then F is birationally a fibration by ratio-
nal curves
Proof After resolving the log-canonical singularities of F along the image of C we
have KF middot C lt 0 and F smooth along C We conclude by Corollary IIVI7
Therefore we can assume that f satisfies the following condition
Definition IIVI10 An invariant curve f C rarr X is called log-contractible if
KF middot C = 0 and it intersects Z in two points one canonical and one log-canonical
not canonical
It follows that f(C) is everywhere unibranch but it might have a cusp in LC(F )
Definition IIVI11 A log-chain is a chain of invariant rational orbifolds C =
cupni=0Ci scheme-like outside the foliation singularities with KF middot C = 0 and such
that
bull C0 is log-contractible with lowast(C ) = C0 cap LC(F ) called the marking of C
bull Ci is disjoint from LC(F ) if i ge 1
There is a unique point t(C ) satisfying t(C ) isin Z cap (Cn Cnminus1) called the tail of
the log-chain
Proposition IIVI12 Let C1C2 be two log-chains intersecting non-trivially Then
lowast(C1) = lowast(C2) and C1 cap C2 = lowast(C1)
Proof It is enough to prove that the two log-chains cannot intersect in their tails
Replace X be the resolution of the at most two markings of the log-chains and Ci
by their proper transforms C1cupC2 = cupmi=0Ri is a connected chain of rational curves
intersecting Z outisde LC(F ) Moreover each of the two extremal curves R0 and
Rm intersects Z in one point only In particular KF middot Ri = 0 for i = 1 middot middot middot m minus 1
and KF middot Ri lt 0 for i = 0m Since we assumed F is not birational to a fibration
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 21
by rational curves there exists a contraction p X rarr X0 with exceptional curve
cupmminus1i=0 Ri However F0 is smooth along plowastRm so by adjunction formula KF0 middotplowastRm lt
0 and we find a contradiction by Corollary IIVI7
Corollary IIVI13 Let C be a maximal connected curve such that KF middotC = 0 and
C cap LC(F ) 6= empty Then C is a union of finitely many log-chains intersecting each
other in their common marking
The following shows a configuration of log-chains sharing the same marking col-
ored in black
We are now ready to state and prove the canonical model theorem in presence of
log-canonical singularities
Theorem IIVI14 (Canonical models) Let X be a proper DM stack of dimension
2 and F a foliation with isolated singularities Moreover assume that KF is nef
that every KF -nil curve is contained in a log-chain and that F is Gorenstein and
log-canonical in a neighborhood of every KF -nil curve Then either
bull There exists a birational contraction p X rarr X0 whose exceptional curves
are unions of log-chains If all the log-contractible curves contained in the log-
chains are smooth then F0 is Gorenstein and log-canonical If furthermore
X has projective moduli then X0 has projective moduli In any case KF0
is numerically ample
bull There exists a fibration p X rarr B over a curve whose fibers intersect
KF trivially Each F -invariant fiber of p intersecting LC(F ) is union of
mutually compatible log-chains
Proof If all the KF -nil curves can be contracted by a birational morphism we are in
the first case of the Theorem Else let C be a maximal connected curve withKF middotC =
0 and which is not contractible It is a union of pairwise compatible log-chains
22 FEDERICO BUONERBA
with marking lowast Replace (X F ) by the resolution of the log-canonical singularity
at lowast with exceptional divisor E Therefore F is Gorenstein and canonical in a
neighborhood of C cupE By equation 9 we have KF middotC = minusC middotE lt 0 and therefore
C can be contracted to a canonical foliation singularity Replace (X F ) by the
contraction of C We have a smooth curve E around which F is smooth and
nowhere tangent to E Moreover
(11) KF middot E = minusE2
And we distinguish cases
bull E2 gt 0 so KF is not pseudo-effective a contradiction
bull E2 lt 0 so the initial curve C is contractible a contradiction
bull E2 = 0 which we proceed to analyze
The following is what we need to handle the third case
Proposition IIVI15 Let (X F ) be a foliation with canonical singularities with
X a smooth 2-dimensional DM stack with projective moduli and KF nef If there
exists a smooth curve E everywhere transverse to F such that KF middot E = E2 = 0
then E moves in a pencil and defines a fibration p X rarr B onto a curve whose
fibers intersect KF trivially
Proof If KF has Kodaira dimension one then its linear system contains an effective
divisor and by Hodge index KF = cE as divisors for some c isin Q+ Hence there is
a fibration onto a curve with fiber E and F is transverse to it by assumption If
KF has Kodaira dimension zero we use the classification IIV1 in all cases but the
suspension over an elliptic curve E defines a product structure on the underlying
surface in the case of a suspension every section of the underlying projective bundle
is clearly F -invariant Therefore E is a fiber of the bundle
This concludes the proof of the Theorem
We remark that the second alternative in the above theorem is rather natural
let (X F ) be a foliation which is transverse to a fibration by rational or elliptic
curves ie a suspension over elliptic curve turbolent Riccati or isotrivial Pick a
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 23
general fiber E of the fibration and blow up any number of points on it The proper
transform E is certainly contractible By Proposition IIVI4 the contraction of E is
Gorenstein and log-canonical Moreover the fiber E has been replaced by a union of
compatible log-chains Note in particular that the number of log-chains appearing
is arbitrary
Corollary IIVI16 Let X be a proper DM stack of dimension 2 and F a Goren-
stein foliation with log-canonical singularities Assume that KF is big and pseudo-
effective Then there exists a birational morphism p X rarr X0 such that C is
exceptional if and only if KF middot C le 0 In particular KF0 is numerically ample
For future applications we spell out
Corollary IIVI17 Hypothesis as in Theorem IIVI14 assume further that X
is everywhere smooth Then in the second alternative of the theorem the fibration
p X rarr B is by rational curves
Proof Indeed in this case the curve E which appears in the proof above as the
exceptional locus for the resolution of the log-canonical singularity at lowast must be
rational By the previous Proposition p is defined by a pencil in |E|
IIVII Set-up In this subsection we prepare the set-up we will deal with in the
rest of the manuscript Briefly we want to handle the existence of canonical models
for a family of foliated surfaces parametrized by a one-dimensional base To this
end we will discuss the modular behavior of singularities of foliated surfaces with
Gorenstein singularities recall McQuillan-Panazzolorsquos resolution of foliation singu-
larities building on the existence of minimal models [McQ05] prepare the set-up
for the sequel
Let us begin with the modular behavior of Gorenstein singularities
Proposition IIVII1 Let (X F ) be a smooth DM stack with a foliation by
curves Assume there exists a flat proper morphism p X rarr C onto an algebraic
curve such that F restricts to a foliation on every fiber of p Then the set
(12) s isin C Fs is log-canonical
24 FEDERICO BUONERBA
is Zariski-open while the set
(13) s isin C Fs is canonical
is the complement to a countable subset of C lying on a real-analytic curve
Proof By Fact IIIII2 being log-canonical is equivalent to the linearized endomor-
phism part IZI2Z rarr IZI
2Z being non-nilpotent where Z is the singular sub-scheme
of the foliation Of course being non-nilpotent is a Zariski open condition The
second statement also follows from opcit since a log-canonical singularity which is
not canonical has linearization with all its eigenvalues positive and rational The
statement is optimal as shown by the vector field on A3xys
(14) part(s) =part
partx+ s
part
party
Next we recall the existence of a functorial canonical resolution of foliation singu-
larities for foliations by curves on 3-dimensional stacks
Fact IIVII2 [MP13] Let X = (XDF ) be a 3-dimensional DM stack with bound-
ary foliated by curves Then there exists a proper birational morphism Xprime rarr X such
that X prime is a smooth DM stack and F prime has only canonical foliation singularities
The original opcit contains a more refined statement including a detailed de-
scription of the claimed birational morphism
In order for our set-up to make sense we mention one last very important result
Fact IIVII3 [McQ05] Let X be a smooth DM stack with projective moduli and F
a foliation by curves with (log)canonical singularities Then there exists a birational
map X 99K Xm obtained as a composition of flips such that Xm is a smooth
DM stack with projective moduli the birational transform Fm has (log)canonical
singularities and one of the following happens
bull KFm is nef or
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 25
bull There exists a fibration Xm rarr B over a smooth base whose fibers are
weighted projective spaces such that Fm is tangent to the fibers and restricts
to a radial foliation on those
Finally we can organize our notation
Set-up IIVII4 (X F ) is a smooth 3-dimensional DM stack with projective mod-
uli F a foliation by curves with canonical singularities such that KF is big and nef
There exists a semi-stable morphism p X rarr ∆ whose moduli is projective onto
the (formal) unit disk F restricts to a foliation on every fiber of p it has canon-
ical singularities on the very general fiber of p and log-canonical singularities on
every fiber of p Our task from now on is to analyze and contract the maximal
foliation-invariant sub-scheme of X along which KF is not ample
III Invariant curves and singularities local description
In this section we give a complete decription of germs of invariant curves that
appear in the formal completion of any point in the set-up IIVII4 Let us replace
X by its formal completion in a point lowast where the foliation is singular F is defined
by a vector field part with Jordan decomposition partS + partN see the end of subsection
IIIII Since [partS partN ] = 0 partN preserves the eigenspaces of partS Moreover the fact that
F is tangent to p translates into
(15) partS(p) = partN(p) = 0
The description of invariant germs of curves through lowast will be achieved via case-by-
case analysis organized by computing what happens for all possible combinations
of the following informations whether the singular locus Z is isolated at lowast the
number of eigenvalues of partS the number of components of the fiber through p
IIII sing(F ) not isolated
ni (1) partS has one eigenvalue
bull We have partS = x partpartx
and partN = f partparty
+ g partpartz
for some functions f g isin (y z)
Moreover partN is non-trivial
26 FEDERICO BUONERBA
bull Z = (x = f = g = 0) is not isolated
(a) The fiber has one component y = 0 Then 0 = partN(y) = f hence
Z = (x = g = 0) The restriction on the fiber is part|(y=0) = x partpartx
+g|(y=0)partpartz
Z has a one-dimensional component contained in the fiber iff g isin (y) in
which case such component is smooth equal to (x = 0) moreover the
foliation on the fiber saturates to a smooth one with invariant curves
z = 0 transverse to Z
Otherwise the foliation is saturated on the fiber and has a saddle-node
singularity
(b) The fiber has two components yz = 0 Then 0 = partN(yz) = zf + yg
hence f = yh g = minuszh for some h and Z = (x = h = 0) The restriction
on a fiber component say y = 0 is part|(y=0) = x partpartxminus zh|(y=0)
partpartz
Z has an
irreducible component contained in y = 0 iff h isin (y) in which case such
component is smooth equal to (x = 0) moreover the foliation on the
fiber saturates to a smooth one with invariant curves z = 0 transverse
to Z
Otherwise the foliation is saturated on the fiber and has a saddle-node
singularity
(c) The fiber has three components xyz = 0 0 = partS(xyz) = xyz a contra-
diction
Summary with one eigenvalue there are either one or two components The
foliation might have a one-dimensional singularity when restricted to a fiber
component in this case such singularity is a smooth curve and the foliation
saturates to a smooth one with invariant curves transverse to the singular-
ity If the singularity is isolated on a fiber component then it is a canonical
saddle-node with at most two invariant branches
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 27
ni (2) partS has two eigenvalues
We have partS = x partpartx
+ λy partparty
and partN(x y z) = k partpartx
+ f partparty
+ g partpartz
for some func-
tions k f g
(a) The fiber has one component z = 0 Then g = 0 k f isin (x y) and
necessarily Z = (x = y = 0) is transverse to the fiber The restriction on
the fiber is saturated and non-degenerate It has canonical singularities
if either partN 6= 0 or λ isin Q+ otherwise it is log-canonical
(b) The fiber has two components xy = 0 Then 0 = partS(xy) hence λ = minus1
Also 0 = partN(xy) hence k = xh f = minusyh g isin (xy) and necessarily
Z = (x = y = 0) coincides with the intersection of the two fiber compo-
nents which is smooth the foliation saturates to a smooth one on each
component with invariant curves transverse to Z
(c) The fiber has three components xyz = 0 hence λ = minus1 Also k = xklowast
f = yf lowast g = zglowast with klowast + f lowast + glowast = 0 and glowast isin (xy) The singularity
Z = (x = y = 0) coincides with the intersection of two of the fiber
components The restriction to either such components saturates to a
smooth foliation with invariant curves transverse to Z the restriction
to z = 0 has a canonical non-degenerate singularity all the invariant
curves are those in xy = 0 transverse to Z
Summary with 2 eigenvalues there can be any number of components With
one component the foliation restricts to a saturated one with a (log)canonical
singularity which moves transversely to p With two components the folia-
tion is not saturated on either and saturates to a smooth one with invariant
curves transverse to the singularity With three components the foliation
is not saturated on two of them and saturates to a smooth one on both
with invariant curves transverse to the singularity the foliation is saturated
and has a canonical non-degenerate singularity on the third component In
28 FEDERICO BUONERBA
the last two cases the singularity is fully contained in an intersection of two
components
ni (3) partS has three eigenvalues But then the singularity is isolated a contradiction
IIIII sing(F ) isolated
i (1) partS has one eigenvalue
bull We have partS = x partpartx
and partN = xk partpartx
+ f partparty
+ g partpartz
for some functions
k f g isin (y z) Moreover partN is non-trivial
bull Z = (x = f = g = 0) is isolated
(a) The fiber has one component y = 0 Then 0 = partN(y) = f and Z cannot
be isolated a contradiction
(b) The fiber has two components yz = 0 Then 0 = partN(yz) = zf + yg so
f = yh g = minuszh with h non-constant Hence Z = (x = h = 0) is not
isolated a contradiction
(c) The fiber has three components xyz = 0 Then 0 = partS(xyz) = xyz a
contradiction
Summary the 1 eigenvalue case does not exist
i (2) partS has two eigenvalues
bull We have partS = x partpartx
+ λy partparty
partN = xk partpartx
+ f partparty
+ g partpartz
for some functions
k f g
bull g is non-trivial and g isin (x y)
bull Z = (x = y = g = 0) is isolated
(a) The fiber has one component z = 0 Then g = 0 a contradiction
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 29
(b) The fiber has two components xy = 0 hence λ = minus1 and g isin (xy z)
the restriction to y = 0 is part|(y=0) = x partpartx
+g|(y=0)partpartz
and necessarily g|(y=0)
is non-vanishing Therefore the restriction to either components is satu-
rated and the singularity is a canonical saddle-node on each of them
The invariant curves are among the axes x = y = 0 x = z = 0 y = z =
0
(c) The fiber has three components xyz = 0 hence λ = minus1 Necessarily
k = xklowast f = yf lowast g = zglowast with klowast + f lowast + glowast = 0 The restriction to
y = 0 is part|(y=0) = x(1 + klowast|(y=0))partpartx
+ zglowast|(y=0)partpartz
since g isin (x y) we have
glowast|(y=0) non-trivial Therefore the restriction to either x = 0 and y = 0
is saturated and the singularity is a canonical saddle-node on each of
them
The restriction to z = 0 is part|(z=0) = x(1 + klowast|(z=0))partpartx
+ y(minus1 + f lowast|(z=0))partparty
therefore the restriction is saturated and has a canonical non-degenerate
singularity
The invariant curves are among the axes x = y = 0 x = z = 0 y = z =
0
Summary with 2 eigenvalues there are either two or three components the
foliation restricts to a canonical saddle-node on two of them and to a non-
degenerate singularity on the third one if it exists All the invariant curves
are in the axes
i (3) partS has three eigenvalues We have partS = x partpartx
+ λy partparty
+ microz partpartz
(a) The fiber has one component y = 0 hence λ = 0 a contradiction
(b) The fiber has two components xy = 0 hence λ = minus1 The restriction to
y = 0 is part|(y=0) = x partpartx
+ microz partpartz
+ partN|(y=0) The singularity is log-canonical
30 FEDERICO BUONERBA
iff micro isin Qgt0 and partN|(y=0)= 0 and in this case the singularity on x = 0 is
canonical non-degenerate Invariant curves are those in y = 0 and the
axis x = z = 0
If the restriction to both fiber components is canonical then it non-
degenerate on both and the invariant curves are contained in the axes
x = y = 0 x = z = 0 y = z = 0
The fiber could be yz = 0 hence λ+micro = 0 It can be analyzed as in the
next item
(c) The fiber has three components xyz = 0 hence 1 + λ + micro = 0 In par-
ticular if λ = cmicro c isin Q+ then λ micro isin Q The restriction to y = 0
is part|(y=0) = x partpartx
+ microz partpartz
+ partN|(y=0) This singularity is log-canonical iff
micro isin Qgt0 and partN|(y=0)= 0 in which case the singularity on both x = 0
and z = 0 is canonical non-degenerate In particular if the singularity
is log-canonical on some fiber component then it is so on exactly one
component and all eigenvalues are rational Invariant curves are those
in y = 0 and the axis x = z = 0
If the restriction to all fiber components is canonical then it non-degenerate
on each of them and the invariant curves are contained in the axes
x = y = 0 x = z = 0 y = z = 0
Summary with 3 eigenvalues there are either two or three fiber components
the foliation restricts to a singular foliation on each of them and it has a
log-canonical singularity on at most one of them in this case all eigenvalues
of the semi-simple field are rational
IIIIII Local consequences We list some corollaries for future reference As al-
ways in this section the statements are local so everything happens in a formal
neighborhood of our point lowast First we state those corollaries we will need to describe
configurations of KF -nil curves
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 31
Definition IIIIII1 An LC-center Π sub X is an irreducible F -invariant formal
hypersurface such that the local vector field generating the foliation when restricted
to Π has semi-simple part with log-canonical singularity or a one-dimensional sin-
gular locus An LC-center with a log-canonical singularity is necessarily an algebraic
component of the singular fiber of p
Corollary IIIIII2 There is at most one LC-center with a log-canonical singularity
through lowast If it exists then all eigenvalues of the semi-simple field at lowast are rational
If there are at least two LC-centers through lowast then there are exactly two and the
foliation singularity is a smooth curve on each of them
Proof Possible cases in which an LC-center with log-canonical singularities appears
ni (2)a i (3)b i (3)c
Corollary IIIIII3 If there is no LC-center thorugh a point lowast then there are at
most three invariant curves through lowast all smooth Any number of them spans a sub-
space of the tangent space at lowast of maximal possible dimension
If there is an LC-center through lowast then there is at most one invariant curve through
lowast and not contained in the LC-center
If there is an LC-center with non-isolated singularity then the singularity is smooth
and all invariant curves contained in the LC-center intersect the singularity trans-
versely
Proof Invariant curves not in an LC-centers with log-canonical singularities are con-
tained in the three axes x = z = 0 x = y = 0 y = z = 0 mentioned in the above
classification The other statements are clear
Corollary IIIIII4 If p is smooth at lowast then Z is one dimensional around lowast
Proof Possible casesni (1)a ni (2)a
In particular if there is no LC-center the situation is the familiary
xz
32 FEDERICO BUONERBA
While if there is an LC-center (pink) with log-canonical singularity it will look like
y
LC-center
While if there is an LC-center with non-isolated singularity (red) it will look like
(the black arrows being invariant curves)
y
LC-center
The next corollary describes one-dimensional components of the foliation singularity
Corollary IIIIII5 If Z0 is a one-dimensional irreducible component of the folia-
tion singularity then it is at worst nodal The foliation when restricted to any fiber
component containing Z0 saturates to a smooth foliation in a neighborhood of Z0
and all the invariant curves are transverse to Z0
If Z0 is contained in exactly one fiber component then the semi-simple field has one
eigenvalue everywhere along Z0
If Z0 lies at the intersection of two fiber components then the semi-simple field has
two constant eigenvalues everywhere along Z0
Moreover if there exist a sequence of invariant curves converging in the compact-
open topology to Z0 then there is generically one eigenvalue along Z0
Proof Possible casesni (1)a ni (1)b ni (2)b ni (2)c Concerning the one-
eigenvalue case invariant curves converging to Z0 can be found in the formal hyper-
surface x = 0
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 33
IV Invariant curves along which KF vanishes
In this section we study in great detail a formal neighborhood of invariant curves
where KF is numerically trivial In the first subsection we deal with KF -nil curves
namely those whose generic point is not contained in the foliation singularity In this
case the normal bundle to the curve determines its formal neighborhood uniquely
and this has plenty of amazing consequences In the second subsection we study
those invariant curves which are contained in the foliation singularity In this case
we are not able to control the full formal neighborhood but important informations
can still be obtained
IVI KF -nil curves In this subsection we study in detail the structure of KF -
nil curves and their formal neighborhoods appearing in the set-up IIVII4 In
particular we will describe a simple process to replace cuspidal KF -nil curves by
net ones prove that the foliation is in the net completion around a net KF -nil curve
defined by a global vector field which admits a global Jordan decomposition deduce
that eigenfunctions for the semi-simple component of such field are also globally
defined on a formal neighborhood
The first important remark is of technical nature and explains how to deal with non-
net KF -nil curves By Proposition IIIV4 this is indeed possible and the images of
such curves will acquire cusp-like singularities It is hard to analyze the geometry
of F around such cuspidal curves and therefore necessary to remove them Let us
assume that C is simply connected with rational moduli f is ramified at 0 isin C
and and denote by X the formal completion along f(C) Then formally around
f(0) the curve f(C) has defining ideal (y xa minus zb) where y = 0 is a fiber of the
fibration p X rarr ∆ containing f(C) x z isin H0(X OX ) restrict to suitable local
coordinates on such fiber and a b ge 2 are coprime integers
Claim IVI1 Let r X ( aradicz = 0) rarr X be the a-th root of z = 0 III3 Then
(rlowastC)norm =∐a
1 C and the induced map rlowastf (rlowastC)norm rarrX ( aradicz = 0) is net
Proof Since r is etale away from z = 0 also rlowastC rarr C is etale away from 0 isin C
Since C 0 is simply connected we have rlowastC rminus1(0) =∐a
1 C 0 This proves
34 FEDERICO BUONERBA
the first statement Let ζ be a function on X ( aradicz = 0) such that ζa = z so then
rlowast(xa minus zb) =prod
ηa=1(x minus ηζb) Every branch is net in 0 and we obtain the second
statement as well
As such upon taking roots we can replace non-net KF -nil invariant curves with
rational moduli by net ones
We now proceed to study net KF -nil curves We will show that the foliation is
defined by a global vector field around a net KF -nil curve with rational moduli and
that such vector field admits a global Jordan decomposition
Proposition IVI2 Notation as in the set-up IIVII4 let f C rarrX be a KF -nil
curve Assume that f is net and let j C rarr C be the net completion along f Then
there exists an isomorphism
(16) OC(KF )simminusrarr OC
In particular there exists a global vector field partf on C that generates F
Proof Since C has rational moduli and is simply connected it has infinite-cyclic
Picard group and we have an isomorphism
(17) OC(KF )simminusrarr OC
Moreover we have a non-canonical splitting of the normal bundle Njsimminusrarr O(minusn) oplus
O(minusm) and we claim that both nm ge 0 Indeed consider the induced semi-stable
fibration C rarr ∆ and let F be the normalization of an irreducible component of a
fiber such that C sub F Consider the exact sequence
(18) 0rarr NCF rarr Nj rarr NFC|C rarr 0
Since KF is nef NCF is not ample since F is a fiber of a fibration also NFC|C is
not ample and this is enough to conclude even though nm may be different from
the degrees of such normal bundles
At this point we can lift the isomorphism 17 over infinitesimal neighborhoods of j
Indeed for every k ge 0 we have an exact sequence
(19) 0rarr Symk ICI2C rarr OCk+1
(KF )rarr OCk(KF )rarr 0
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 35
which shows that the obstruction to lifting the isomorphism lies in
(20) H1(C Symk ICI2C) = H1(C Symk(O(n)oplus O(m))) = 0
From this we can deduce
Proposition IVI3 The vector field partf admits a Jordan decomposition uniformly
along C
Proof The cohomology sequence attached to 19 is
(21) 0rarr H0(C Symk ICI2C)rarr H0(COCk+1
)rarr H0(COCk)rarr 0
Let partk+1 denote the image of partf in End(H0(COCk+1)) Looking at
H0(COCk+1) minusminusminusrarr H0(COCk
)
partk+1
y partk
yH0(COCk+1
) minusminusminusrarr H0(COCk)
we see the canonical Jordan deomposition of partk+1 restricts to that of partk
The above result describes a very useful interplay between normal bundles to
KF -nil curves and the structure of the semi-simple field It turns out that these
informations determine formal neighborhoods uniquely For simplicity let C be
an irreducible component of C without orbifold points Let us assume that part|C is
singular in 0infin Then there exist formal functions x y z at 0 isin C and ξ η ζ at
infin isin C such that x ξ are coordinates along C y η are local sections of OC(minusn)
so η = xny mod(I2C) z ζ are local sections of OC(minusm) so ζ = xmz mod(I2C)
Normalizing so that xminus1partS(x) = ε isin 0 1 we obtain
(22) part0S = εxpart
partx+ λy
part
party+ microz
part
partz partinfinS = minusεξ part
partξ+ (λ+ εn)η
part
partη+ (micro+ εm)ζ
part
partζ
More generally ie C = P1(d e) we have glueing rules x = te ξ = tminusd η = tny and
ζ = tmz mod(I2C) Normalizing so that tminus1partS(t) = ε isin 0 1 we obtain
(23) part0S = eεxpart
partx+ λy
part
party+ microz
part
partz partinfinS = minusdεξ part
partξ+ (λ+ εn)η
part
partη+ (micro+ εm)ζ
part
partζ
36 FEDERICO BUONERBA
It is worth remarking that the above relations hold between eigenvalues at the two
singular point of singular ie nodal or cuspidal KF -nil curves as well this is
easily seen by taking a root followed by net completion and keeping track of the
eigenvalues
Definition IVI4 Let C be a KF -nil curve The foliation singular points along C
are called ends
As well as the existence of Hilbert scheme in the following form
Fact IVI5 Let W sub Xlowast be a curve and D a divisor in the formal neighborhood
of W such that W = D capXlowast scheme-theoretically Then W moves in D
In what follows our main concern is to understand formal neighborhoods of KF -
nil curves Observe that the fibration p when restricted to the formal neighborhood
of such curves provides at least one eigenfunction of the semi-simple field Hence
in order to compute the width IIII we must study the behavior of the other eigen-
function on infinitesimal neighborhoods We first describe the situation inside the
smooth locus of p
Proposition IVI6 (Smooth fiber) Let f C rarrX be an irreducible KF -nil curve
which is contained in the smooth locus of a fiber Xlowast of p Then the end(s) on C are
flat over ∆ ni (1)b and ni (1)a with z2|g(y z) and C moves in a family flat over
∆
Proof Let us assume that f is net Then upon passing to net completion we can
actually assume it is embedded From our local classification of singularities we case
in case ni (1)a and ni (2)a We want to show that both ends have components
that move transversely to p hence we have to exclude case ni (1)a with g(y z) = ya
By way of contradiction say we have g(y z) = ya in the notation of opcit around
an end lowast isin C We proceed to compute what happens at the other end we find
formal coordinates ξ η ζ which by equation 23 satisfy
(24) ξ = xminus1 η = y ζ = xmz mod(I2C)
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 37
As such we compute part(ζ) = mζ + ξminusmηa mod(I2C) which is holomorphic if and only
if m le 0 so then C moves in Xlowast contradicting that the foliation has general type
Hence we are in cases ni (1)a ni (2)a with g = microyazb b ge 1
(25) part0 = xpart
partx+ microyazb
part
partz partinfin = minusξ part
partξ+ ζ(m+ microξm(bminus1)ηaζbminus1)
part
partζ(mod(I2C))
Following notation from subsection IIII observe that C1 is the section of E1C which
is disjoint from the proper transform of the fiber of p In coordinates over 0
(26) x1 = x y1 = y z1 = zyminus1
And similarly over infin Using the previous equation and 25 on C1 we find
(27)
part01 = x1part
partx1+microya+bminus11 zb1
part
partz1 partinfin1 = minusξ1
part
partξ1+ζ1(m+microξ
m(bminus1)1 ηa+bminus11 ζbminus11 )
part
partζ1(mod(I2C1
))
In particular the transform of the nilpotent field is still nilpotent after blowing up in
C It follows that the eigenvalues of the semi-simple field at the two ends of C and
C1 are the same Using equation 23 we deduce that the normal bundle to C1X1 to
isomorphic to that of CX in particular it contains a trivial direct summand This
proves that width(C) =infin
Next we show that f must be net Consider the induced flat projection pD D rarr ∆
its general fiber cannot be a cuspidal curve since along such cusp the foliation sin-
gularity would be log-canonical but not canonical Hence if C has a cusp necessarily
the general fiber of pD is a nodal curve Let X rarr X denote the blow up of the
nodal locus of pD with exceptional divisor E ruled over ∆ In a neighborhood of E
we have sing(F ) = D cap E which projects to ∆ as a double cover ramified over lowastObserve that the foliation on Xlowast is again log-canonical and not canonical hence its
local structure is ni (2)a In that case however p is unramified along the foliation
singularity Contradiction
We state a general criterion for movability of KF -nil curves
Proposition IVI7 Let C be a connected KF -nil curve such that p(C ) = lowast isin ∆
Assume its dual graph is a chain that none of its irreducible components is double
38 FEDERICO BUONERBA
VI3 and that its two extremal ends are flat over ∆ Then C moves in a family flat
over ∆ and each of its irreducible components is embedded
Proof We work in a formal neighborhood of C After taking roots we can assume
C is net and since its dual graph is a chain it is actually embedded We proceed by
induction on its length l where the case l = 1 is Proposition IVI6 For l gt 1 let C1
be a component of C which is extremal in its dual graph If C1 moves transversely
to p then both its ends do and hence we can apply the induction hypothesis to
C C1 If C1 is rigid then it can be flopped It is straightforward to check that we
can apply the induction hypothesis to the transform C + C+1 and we are done
Now we deal with rigid curves inside the singular fiber
Proposition IVI8 (Singular fiber) Let f C rarr X be an embedded net KF -
nil curve with anti-ample normal bundle Then there exists a birational map φ
(X F ) 99K (X +F+) and a KF+-nil curve C+ such that
bull φ is an isomorphism away from C+
bull In a formal neighborhood of at least one among C and C+ there exist two
invariant hypersurfaces D1D2 locally defined by the vanishing of eigenfunc-
tions of the semi-simple field such that C (resp C+)= D1 capD2
bull If F middot C lt 0 for some hypersurface F then F+ middot C+ gt 0 In particular X +
is projective
Such φ is called flop
Proof Our assumption is that Nfsimminusrarr O(minusn)oplusO(minusm) is anti-ample namely nm gt
0 If two invariant hypersurfaces as in our statement do exist around C the flop is
easily constructed as a weighted blow-up followed by a weighted blow-down As such
let us assume that such hypersurfaces do not exist around C In particular C is not
double VI3 By [Ar70] there exists a formal contraction c X rarrX0 collapsing C
to a point and an isomorphism everywhere else By Proposition IVI3 the foliation
F0 is Gorenstein around the node of X0 For ease of exposition let us assume
n = m = 1 the general case is handled the same way only the notation becomes more
cumbersome due to the presence of weights The node has embedding dimension 4
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 39
and in suitable local coordinates x0 y0 w0 z0 can be defined by x0z0minusy0w0 = 0 The
morphism c can be identified with the blow up of the embedded surface (x0 = y0 = 0)
Explicitly in the chart y = y0 x = x0yminus10 it is defined by
(28) y0 = y x0 = xy z0 = zprime w0 = xzprime
Here x is a coordinate along C while y = 0 is the pull-back of (x0 = y0 = 0) and
zprime some function in the normal bundle to C By the previous Proposition IVI6
we know C cannot be contained in the smooth locus of p Since C is not double
we can assume that in this local chart p is defined by (x y zprime) rarr xy - the case
(x y zprime) rarr xzprime being isomorphic as it is isomorphic to blow-up (z0 = w0 = 0)
instead of (x0 = y0 = 0) The issue is as emphasized by the notation zprime 6= z that
zprime may fail to be an eigenfunction for partS if it were we would be done since zprime = 0
is the local equation for the global pullback of (z0 = w0 = 0) However we have
a b isin C such that
(29) partS0(y0) = minusy0 partS0(x0) = 0 partS0(z0) = ay0 + bz0 partS0(w0) = ax0 + (b+ 1)w0
Observe that the embedded surfaces D01 = (y0 = z0 = 0) and D0
2 = (x0 = w0 = 0)
are both foliation invariant As such let b X + rarr X0 denote the blow-up of X0
along D01 - which is isomorphic to that along D0
2 - and let Di = blowastD0i i = 1 2
Finally X + is projective by Nakai-Moishezon Indeed every C with anti-ample
normal bundle is contained in an irreducible component F of X0 such that F middotC lt 0
Then F+ middot C+ gt 0 and we can find an ample divisor of the form H+ + εF+ where
H+ is the proper transform of an ample on X
Remark IVI9 In the previous proof a 6= b+ 1 Indeed such identity would create
a non-trivial Jordan block of partS0 in the (x0 w0)-plane thus contradicting the semi-
simplicity of partS0 In particular by a straightforward computation it is impossible to
find eigenfunctions of the form wlowast0 = w0 + αx0 zlowast0 = z0 + βy0 with x0z
lowast0 minus y0wlowast0 = 0
unless a = 0
We can conclude by pointing out an important point understood in this section
A painful aspect of the theory is that log-canonical singularities which appear natu-
rally as analytic degenerations of canonical ones come along with cuspidal invariant
40 FEDERICO BUONERBA
curves There is in particular no a-priori obstruction to the existence of rigid
cuspidal KF -nil curves in a smooth fiber of our family of foliated surfaces p Quite
generally a rigid curve of positive arithmetic genus in a smooth family of surfaces can
never be contracted to a point Therefore this would have been a counter-example
to any reasonable foliated canonical model theory one may wish to achieve Fortu-
nately such phenomenon does not happen and this establishes the Main Theorem I
modulo finitely many rigid curves confined in the singular fiber X0
IVII Invariant curves inside sing(F ) In this subsection we study curves Z0 subeXlowast cap sing(F ) which are inside the foliation singularity and invariant By this we
mean that there exists a sequence fn Cn rarrX of not necessarily algebraic invariant
curves converging in the compact-open topology to Z0 In other words the map
(30) NorF rarr Ω1Z0
is trivial By Corollary IIIIII5 we know that Z0 is at worst nodal it is smooth
wherever p is smooth for every point z isin Z0 the semi-simple part of the gener-
ating vector field has exactly one eigenvalue The problem here is that the Jordan
decomposition need not extend uniformly along Z0 not even along an irreducible
component In case ni (1)a the functions x and g may develop essential singulari-
ties arbitrary close to z Nonetheless the function x is unique and this says that x
does extend along Z0
Proposition IVII1 Let Z0 be as above Then in a formal neighborhood of Z0
there exists a unique smooth invariant hypersurface D0 containing Z0 which restricts
around any point in Z0 to the unique eigenfunction for the semi-simple field whose
eigenvalue is non-zero
Proof The local structure of the foliation around a point z isin Z0 is described by
cases ni (1)a and ni (1)b In both cases partS has one non-zero eigenvalue with
eigenfunction x Such eigenfunction x is a-priori only defined in the normal bundle to
Z0 but it is clear that the equation partx = x has a unique up to constants solution in
the formal completion around z As such there exists a unique smooth hypersurface
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 41
D0 in the formal completion around Z0 which restricts to the eigenfunction x around
z
Observe that the previous argument goes through since we are assuming Z0 subX0
Keeping notations from case ni (1)a if say g(y z) = yz then in the hypersurface
y equiv q isin Qgt0 the foliation has a log-canonical singularity and the eigenfunction x
extends highly non-uniquely to a formal neighborhood of the point (x y z) = (0 q 0)
In particular the existence of D0 as in the previous Proposition might fail along
the component (x = z = 0) of the foliation singularity This phenomenon is called
the beast
Anyway uniqueness in the previous proposition yields
Corollary IVII2 Let Z prime be a connected invariant curve inside sing(F ) Then in
a formal neighborhood of Z prime there exists a unique smooth invariant hypersurface D prime
containing Z prime which restricts around any point in Z prime to the hypersurface constructed
in the previous proposition
Next we turn to the intrinsic structure of invariant singular curves
Proposition IVII3 Let Z0 be an irreducible invariant curve inside sing(F )
Then Z0 is smooth and rational
Proof We work in a formal neighborhood of Z0 Let F0 denote the unique component
of X0 containing Z0 For any other fiber component F intersecting Z0 non-trivially
blow-up the invariant curve F cap F0 with exceptional divisor EF A straightforward
computation using the local formula ni (1)b shows that the fiber of the natural
projection EF rarr F cap F0 intersecting Z0 is also contained in sing(F ) For Z prime the
maximal connected singular invariant curve containing Z0 let G denote the saturated
foliation induced on D prime It is canonical with reduced singularities and it satisfies
KG = KF |Dprime minus Zprime By adjunction
(31) 2g(Z0)minus 2 + sZG(Z0) = minusZ prime middot Z0
Observe that thanks to our initial sequence of blow-ups the singularities of G along
Z0 coincide with the intersection of Z0 and Z prime Z0 In particular since D prime is formally
42 FEDERICO BUONERBA
flat over ∆ we deduce Z prime middot Z0 = 0 and the previous formula becomes
(32) 2g(Z0)minus 2 + sZG(Z0) = 0
This implies that Z0 is rational or elliptic If Z0 were elliptic then sZG(Z0) = 0 and
D0 defines an invariant elliptic curve in the general fiber of p By Baum-Bott this
contradicts that KF is big and nef Now we show that Z0 is smooth If it has a node
then D0 moves it in a family of nodal rational curves flat over ∆ In particular D0
itself has a node in codimension 1 hence Xlowast is smooth around the node of Z0 In its
formal neighborhood the foliation must be as in case ni (1)a which implies that
Z0 is smooth contradiction
We can improve as follows
Proposition IVII4 Let Z prime sube sing F capXlowast be a connected invariant curve with
KF middot Z prime = 0 Then its dual graph is a chain
Proof Assume Z prime is a cycle Then necessarily Z prime = D prime capXlowast scheme-theoretically
and by the existence of Hilbert scheme Z prime moves in the general fiber Its general
member is either a cycle of smooth rational curves or an elliptic curve Arguing as
in the previous proof we see that both options are impossible
V Configurations
In this section we analyze in great detail all possible configurations of invariant
curves along which KF vanishes These can be divided into three groups those
that do not move those that move in a one-dimensional family covering a surface
those that move in a higher-dimensional family covering a surface Curves in the first
group can form rather complicated configurations while those in the second group
are more simple they either move in the general fiber or they cover an isolated
Riccati component in the singular fiber Those in the third group turn out to be
represented by the two rulings of P1timesP1 if they happen to be cohomologous in the
ambient stack First we will analyze rigid curves then those which move and finally
we will describe their configurations
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 43
VI Configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially In
this subsection we describe configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF
trivially which arise in the situation described by set-up IIVII4
First we focus on KF -nil curves At the end of the section we deal with the simpler
case in which a curve in the configuration is fully contained in sing(F ) The general
fiber was handled in Proposition IVI6
Proposition VI1 Let C be a connected KF -nil curve contained in the smooth
locus of a fiber of p Then it is a chain or a cycle and it moves in a family flat over
∆
In what follows we let C denote a connected KF -nil curve contained in the
singular fiber X0 all of whose sub-curves are rigid in X Observe a consequence of
equation 23
Proposition VI2 Let C = cupiCi be a connected KF -nil curve Then the eigen-
values of partS are all rational at every point of sing(F )capC if and only if they are all
rational at one point
We can deduce many non-trivial properties about configurations of KF -nil curves
First we need
Definition VI3 Let C subX0 be a curve It is called double if there exists formally
around C two components F F prime of X0 such that C = F cap F prime A point lowast isin C where
three fiber components intersect is called a triple point If C lies on exactly one fiber
component it is called non-double We denote by F (C) such component
Remark VI4 Let Csimminusrarr P1(d e) be double with two triple points Then we know
e+ λ+ micro = minusd+ (λ+ n) + (micro+m) = 0 whence we obtain
(33) n+m = d+ e
Which is called triple-point formula
Next we show that essentially KF -nil curves do not form cycles unless something
deforms in X0 First we show that there are no cycles of rigid non-double curves
44 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proposition VI5 Let C be a connected KF -nil curve contained in the singular
fiber X0 of p Assume that every component of C is non-double and that every
sub-curve is rigid Then C contains no cycles
Proof We work in a formal neighborhood of C which we assume is a cycle Let
us first consider the case in which all components C1 middot middot middot CN are smooth with no
orbifold points and denote lowasti = Ci cap Ci+1 with CN+1 = C1 Moreover let us
assume no lowasti lies in the smooth locus of p
Since no curve is double the semi-simple field at every lowasti is as in case i (3)b in
particular the eigenvalues along the branches of Ci and Ci+1 add up to zero More-
over let minusni denote the self-intersection of Ci sub F (Ci) Normalize the eigenvalues
of partS so that at lowastn they are 1 in the C1 direction minus1 in the CN direction λ in the
F (C1)capF (CN) direction It follows by induction that at lowasti the eigenvalues are minus1
in the Ci direction 1 in the Ci+1 direction λ+ n1 + middot middot middot+ ni in the F (Ci) cap F (Ci+1)
direction After traveling around the cycle we obtain n1+middot middot middot+nN = 0 contradicting
that ni gt 0 for every i
We established the Proposition assuming every Ci is an embedded scheme and ev-
ery lowasti is in the singular locus of p The case in which Cisimminusrarr P1(di ei) has orbifold
points is analogous we end up with a combination c1n1 + middot middot middot + cNnN = 0 with ci
the eigenvalue at lowasti in the Ci+1 direction Normalizing so that c1 = e1 gt 0 again by
induction on i we see that every ci isin Qgt0 Next we show that our assumption on lowastiis always satisfied
Claim VI6 Every lowasti must belong to the singular locus of p
Proof We give two essentially equivalent proofs
bull If N = 2 3 then the previous argument goes through indeed we can normal-
ize eigenvalues at lowasti to be negative in the Ciminus1 direction and positive in the
Ci-direction and argue as above Hence we can assume N ge 4 If say lowasti is in
the smooth locus of p then F (Ci) = F (Ci+1) If also F (Ciminus1) = F (Ci) then Ci
lies in the smooth locus of p and hence it moves Therefore F (Ciminus1) 6= F (Ci)
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 45
and Ciminus1 can be flopped inside F (Ci) Since N ge 4 this preserves the smooth-
ness of F (Ci) and Ci is now is the smooth locus of p - contradiction
bull If lowasti belongs to the smooth locus of p then the end through lowasti moves We
can form a partial net completion fi Xi rarrX by normalizing C in lowasti only
Then f lowasti C is a chain with movable ends and hence moves in the general fiber
of p fi
Finally the general case in which some among the Ci have cusps can be easily
reduced to the smooth case in a couple of ways
bull Eigenvalues at the singularities of any KF -nil curve satisfy the same relations
as in the smooth case
bull Upon taking roots and net completion we can find a foliated formal 3-fold
supported on a cycle of smooth KF -nil curves which is a ramified cover of a
formal neighborhood of our cycle
Similarly we can show that there are no rigid cycles of double curves
Proposition VI7 Let C be a nodal KF -nil curve which is double Then C
deforms inside X0 In particular there cannot exist a rigid cycle of KF -nil double
curves
Proof Following the previous notation we have 0 = infin and if C = (xy = z = 0)
around 0 then we have identities
(34) x = η y = ξ z = ζ
The last one of which implies m = 0 that is C deforms Since C is double necessarily
the surface it spans must be contained in X0
The statement about cycles follows since a cycle of double curves can be transformed
after finitely many flops into a chain of smooth double curves with a nodal one
attached at one end
46 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Later on we will show that the deformations of C cannot span an elliptic surface
but only a family of nodal rational curves with a special Riccati foliation on it
We are ready to organize a detailed description of the dual graph of C More pre-
cisely we only need to understand how double curves intersect non-double curves
Lemma VI8 There exists a sequence of flops X 99KX + such that if C + denotes
the transform of C every double curve supported on C + contains two triple points
Proof Let C sube C be an irreducible component with at most one triple point and
let X 99K X + be its flop Then its transform C+ is non-double and the number
of double curves contained in C descreases It is clear that after finitely many flops
all double curves contain exactly two triple points
From now on all double curves in C have two triple points Thanks to proposition
VI2 we know that there are two cases to consider those curves along which the
semi-simple field has not only rational eigenvalues and those along which the semi-
simple field has only rational eigenvalues The first case being strictly easier than
the second it is a good starting place to warm up
Proposition VI9 (irrational eigenvalues) Assume that for every foliation singu-
larity along C not all eigenvalues of partS are rational Then every component of C
is net with at most one node and 1-skeleton of its dual graph is at worst trivalent
Write C = C axes cup C free where
C axes is the union of double curves
C free is the union of non-double curves
Then one among C axes and C free is empty Moreover
bull If C free is non-empty then it is a chain of smooth curves with rational moduli
bull If C axes is non-empty there exists a sequence of flops X 99KX + and an ir-
reducible component of the fiber FC subX + such that X + is a smooth stack
the transform C+ of C is contained in FC Moreover the dual graph of C+
is a tree which by [McQ08 III32] becomes a chain inside the normalization
of FC
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 47
Proof The first sentence is just corollary IIIIII3
Observe that if a non-double curve intersects a double curve then the non-double
curve must be contained in an LC-center around such intersection This contradicts
that not all eigenvalues are rational and establishes that one among C axes and C free
is empty
In case C free is not empty then it is clearly a chain or a cycle the latter being
impossible by Proposition VI5
We are left to show the existence of flops in case C = C axes We remark that
every component is smooth Let C0 be such a component and S0 a component of
X0 containing it Let C1 be the collection of irreducible components of C which
intersect S0 but are not contained in it All the components of C1 are smooth hence
we can flop them in any order until the transform of C1 lies in the transform of S0
Since the number of irreducible components of C lying outside S0 decreases after
such flop by induction we deduce the existence of finitely many flops after which
the birational transform of C is fully contained in the transform of S0
Next we take care of rational eigenvalues The complication here arises from
the fact that there may be double and non-double curves intersecting each other
However the situation is best possible
Proposition VI10 (rational eigenvalues) Assume that for every foliation singu-
larity along C all eigenvalues of partS are rational Write C = C axes cup C free where
C axes is the union of double curves
C free is the union of non-double curves
Then there exists a sequence of flops X 99K X + and an irreducible component of
the fiber FC axes subX + such that
bull X + is a smooth stack
bull The union of double curves of C axes is contained in FC axes the 1-skeleton of
its dual graph is a tree and each of its components has two triple points
bull The 1-skeleton of the dual graph of the transform C free+ is a disjoint union of
trees
bull Each connected component of C free+ intersects C axes in exactly one point
48 FEDERICO BUONERBA
In particular the 1-skeleton of the dual graph of C is a tree
Proof Notice that for every point lowast isin C cap Z there exists one LC-center through lowastIndeed there are three rational eigenvalues and they cannot be all non-vanishing and
all with different signs at the same time Now C axes can be treated as in proposition
VI9 This proves the first two items of the statement The third item follows from
Proposition VI5 so we can focus on the fourth one The proof is based on the
following obvious
Remark VI11 let C be a double curve such that either it is KF -nil hence has
two triple points or it is fully contained in sing(F ) Let C0 sube C free intersect C
non-trivially in a point lowast then necessarily C0 sub LClowast
Now let C0 middot middot middot CN form a chain of non-double curves with C0 and CN both
intersecting double curves as in the remark Denote by lowasti = Ci cap Ci+1 Since
C1 sub LClowast necessarily C1 is transverse to LClowast1 otherwise C1 would deform in F (C1)
Inductively we see that Ci+1 sub LClowasti and is transverse to LClowasti+1 In particular CN
cannot touch a double curve This contradiction proves the fourth item
Let us add a remark about configurations featuring invariant curves inside sing(F )
Proposition VI12 Let C be an invariant curve with KF middot C = 0 such that
Z0 sube C for some component Z0 sube sing(F ) Then C = Z prime cup C where
Z prime is a connected invariant curve inside the foliation singularity with dual graph a
chain
C is the union of at most two pairwise disjoint KF -nil curves with anti-ample
normal bundle
If not empty C can only intersect Z prime at the two ends of its dual graph Moreover
perhaps after a flop the intersection of C with Z prime supports the foliation singularity
along C As such if C has two components Z prime cup C deforms in the general fiber
Proof The structure of Z prime is Proposition IVII3 while that of Co is Proposition
IVI6 Let C prime be a component of C intersecting Z0 in a point lowast If C prime and Z0 belong
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 49
to different components of X0 then by case ni (1)b the eigenvalue of partS along C prime
vanishes so supp(sing(F ) cap C prime) = lowast If C prime and Z0 belong to the same component
then we can flop C prime into a different component
Observe that the divisor D prime from op cit can be extended along C prime This implies
that C can only intersect Z prime at its ends Moreover if C touches both ends necessarily
D prime capX0 = C scheme-theoretically hence by the existence of Hilbert scheme IVI5
we conclude
Our new set-up is
Set-up VI13 Everything as in set-up IIVII4 and moreover for any connected
invariant curve C with KF middot C = 0 all of whose sub-curves are rigid we have
configurations computed in proposition VI9 VI10 and Lemma VI12
VII Configurations of non-rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
In this subsection we describe configurations of surfaces which are covered by KF -nil
curves The structure of each such surface is described by classification IIV1 IIV2
and Corollary IIVI17 Our first step is to simplify the situation by contracting
chains of ruled surfaces The next step is to try and exclude the possibility that
the singular fiber of p contains fibrations by elliptic or nodal rational curves with
at least one invariant fiber This can be achieved with good success indeed there
may be at most one such Riccati foliation which is anyway rather isolated from the
remaining KF -nil curves Finally we observe that the only class of surfaces we have
not mentioned is
Definition VII1 A irreducible component F of the singular fiber of p is called
small Kronecker if
bull (FFF ) is birational to a Kronecker vector field on P1 timesP1 and
bull The two rulings of this P1 timesP1 are cohomologous inside X
The name comes from the fact that contraction of a small Kronecker yields a node
in the ambient threefold which admits a small resolution In fact in many respects
these fiber components behave very much like rigid KF -nil curves
50 FEDERICO BUONERBA
We start by getting rid of some fiber components which are ruled by KF -nil gener-
ically smooth rational curves
Proposition VII2 Notation as in Set-up VI13 there exists a sequence of flops
and divisorial contractions c X 99KX + such that
bull X + is a smooth stack
bull let S+ sub X + be an irreducible invariant divisor that contains a positive-
dimensional family of invariant rational curves along which KF+ vanishes
Then S+ is either birationally ruled by nodal rational curves or it is a small
Kronecker
Proof We focus first on contracting components of the singular fiber of p Consider
the following algorithm If there is no birationally ruled component different from
the ones listed in the second item we are done otherwise pick one such F and let
C denote the general member of the ruling If the cohomology class [C] is inde-
composable F is minimal Otherwise [C] = [C1] + [C2] where Ci are rational and
intersect KF trivially After finitely many steps we have a decomposition as a finite
sum of indecomposables [C] =sumn
i=0 ni[Ci] where every Ci is rational intersects KF
trivially We have two cases
bull There exists k such that Ck deforms in a birationally ruled necessarily min-
imal surface Fk
bull Every Ci has anti-ample normal bundle
In the first case denote by X rarr X1 the contraction of Fk along |Ck| and relpace
X by X1 Since Fk is minimal smoothness of the ambient stack is preserved unless
Fk is a small Kronecker This is however impossible if n ge 2 if Fk were a small
Kronecker then Ck deforms away from Fkminus1 so then Fkminus1 middot Ck = 0 on the other
hand Fkminus1 intersects the other ruling of Fk positively
In the second case flop C1 middot middot middot Cn in this order The transform of F is minimal and
not a small Kronecker so it can be contracted along its ruling preserving ambient
smoothness By induction on the Picard rank of X after finitely many steps this
algorithm ends Call X the output of this algorithm
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 51
Let S subX be an invariant divisor with a generically smooth ruling Then pS S rarr∆ is flat and after flopping finitely many rational curves in S cap plowastS(0) the resulting
pS is smooth Hence we can contract S along pS After finitely many steps the
Proposition is proven
For ease of notation in the sequel we call X the output of the previous proposition
Notice that there might still be divisors carrying a pencil of nodal rational curves
both inside and outside the singular fiber of p
We can start analyzing configurations of fiber components where the restriction of
F is not of general type We need some notation whose reason to exist will be clear
shortly
Definition VII3 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
along which KF is not big F is called special Riccati if
bull F is minimal
bull There exists a morphism s F rarr B onto a curve whose fibers are nodal
rational curve
bull F is transverse to the general fiber of s in particular KF is numerically
trivial along s
bull At least one fiber of s is invariant
bull There exists a section σ of s which is invariant and does not coincide with
the nodal locus of F
In particular the intersections of σ with invariant fibers of s isolated singularities
of F the node of F all coincide There may be fibers of s fully contained in sing(F )
in which case they are everywhere transverse to the saturated foliation
The definition looks nasty but special Riccati components have a rather simple
origin as the following proof shows
Lemma VII4 Let F be special Riccati Up to base change by an etale double cover
Bprime rarr B there is a natural isomorphism F norm simminusrarr BprimetimesP1 and the restriction of F
to F norm is birational to the projection onto P1
52 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proof We work over the normalization F norm Denote by Bprime the pre-image of the
node of F which is an etale double cover of B and let f denote an invariant fiber
of s with lowast = σ cap f Observe that F norm carries a Riccati foliation with 3 invariant
curves through lowast - namely σ f and a component of Bprime Hence FF has a log-canonical
singularity in lowast On F norm perform a weighted blow-up in each log-canonical singu-
larity followed by the contraction of the transforms of the corresponding fibers Let
s+ F+ rarr B denote the output of this operation If the proper transform of Bprime is
connected replace F+ by its base change under Bprime rarr B Hence we can assume Bprime
is the disjoint union of two sections of s+ and the transform of σ is a third section
which is disjoint from Bprime Therefore F+ = P1 timesBprime and the foliation restricts to the
projection onto P1
Next we describe those surfaces which cannot appear as components of the sin-
gular fiber X0
Definition VII5 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
along which KF is not big F is called illusory if
bull there exists a morphism t F rarr B onto a curve
bull KF is trivial along t
bull For any other fiber component F prime the intersection F cap F prime is either empty or
contained in a fiber of t
We give examples of illusory fiber components
Lemma VII6 The following fiber components are necessarily illusory
bull t is elliptic the foliation is either parallel to t or turbolent with at least one
invariant fiber
bull t is a nodal ruling the foliation is either parallel to t or transverse to t with
at least one invariant fiber and not birational to a special Riccati VII3
Proof Let f = F cap F prime for some fiber component F prime It is F -invariant
Assume t and F are parallel and f is transverse to both Then necessarily f subesing(F ) and KF is positive along the fibers of t contradiction
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 53
Assume t and F are generically transverse and f is transverse to t Let e be an
invariant fiber of t then ecap f isin sing(F ) hence t must be a family of nodal rational
curves and ecapf coincides with the node of e - otherwise KF would be positive along
t But this implies F is special Riccati contradiction
We proceed to show that illusory fibers do not exist
Lemma VII7 Let F be an illusory fiber component then every fiber of t is irre-
ducible If F prime is any fiber component intersecting F non-trivially then F prime is illusory
Proof Assume t has a reducible fiber f Then we can write f = f prime cup f primeprime where f prime
is irreducible and f primeprime is a disjoint union of chains of rational curves In particular
every subscheme supported on f primeprime is rigid in X f prime is rational and smooth iff f is a
cycle of rational curves hence the foliation on F is parallel to t and the choice of f prime
is not unique otherwise f prime is nodal or elliptic Let X 99KX + denote the flop of the
irreducible components of f primeprime in any order The proper transform f prime+ (below in red)
is the irreducible fiber of the induced morphism t+ F+ rarr B Since f primeprime+ intersects
f prime+ and is not contained in F+ there exists a component F prime of the fiber of p+ such
that F+ cap f prime+ 6= empty Since F+ is illusory necessarily F+ cap F prime = f prime+ Moreover F+
and F prime are the only fiber components intersecting f prime+ again because F+ is illusory
We deduce that F+ middot f prime+ = F prime middot f prime+ = 0 and therefore f prime+ is nef inside F prime It follows
that he restriction of F+ to F prime is not of general type and by the classification of
foliated surfaces [McQ08] necessarily f prime+ deforms inside F prime and defines a fibration
u F prime rarr Bprime In particular f prime+ is an irreducible fiber of u This is however impossible
since u contracts all the components of f primeprime+ contained in F prime (below in blue) and by
definition of F prime there exists at least one such component This proves that every
fiber of t is irreducible The following depicts the situation
F prime F+
f prime+
f primeprime+
t+u
54 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Concerning the second statement we only need to check the third condition for F prime
to be illussory namely that every other fiber component F primeprime intersecting F prime does
so along the fibers of u If F primeprime intersects F prime transversely to u then F primeprime intersects F
non-trivially and transversely to t as well absurd
Corollary VII8 Illusory components do not exist
Proof By the above lemma the existence of one illusory component implies that
every irreducible component of the singular fiber of p is illusory contradicting that
KF is big
We can now focus on fiber components that do appear
Corollary VII9 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
containing an invariant curve C which moves and such that KF middot C = 0 Then
following the classification [McQ08] we have two cases
(1) The minimal model of F is a special Riccati component
(2) F is a small Kronecker
Proof Certainly the ones listed are the only cases where C is KF -nil We have to
exclude the possibility that C is invariant inside sing(F ) By Proposition IVII3
such C would be rational with at most one node Since we already contracted at
the beginning of the present subsection all ruled surfaces necessarily C is nodal
However by opcit C cannot intersect any other fiber component of X0 which
implies the absurdity that X0 = F
We proceed to show that special Riccati components are rather isolated in the
fiber
Lemma VII10 Let F be a special Riccati component If F prime is a fiber component
intersecting F non-trivially then it does so transversely to s Morover there is
exactly one such F prime
Proof After finitely many flops we can assume that every fiber of s is irreducible
By the non-existence of illusory components there exists a fiber component F lowast with
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 55
σprime = F cap F prime transverse to s If F primeprime is a fiber component with f = F cap F primeprime a fiber
of s then we claim f sube sing(F ) If not then since KF middot f = 0 and σprime is invariant
necessarily σprimecap f is the node of f But then the existence of F primeprime contradicts that p is
snc Hence f sube sing(F ) so then around the node of f there are 3 fiber components -
two branches coming from F one from F primeprime - and sing(F ) has 2 branches - namely f
This is impossible by our case analysis ni (1)c ni (2)c The very same reasoning
establishes the uniqueness of F prime
Lemma VII11 Let F be as in the previous Lemma If C is a connected curve
with KF middot C = 0 then it is disjoint from F
Proof After finitely many flops s is irreducible and C intersects F transversely away
from its node Moreover lowast = C cap F isin sing(F ) and we deduce that the fiber of s
through lowast is fully contained in the singular locus of F This contradicts Proposition
IVII3 since such fiber is nodal
We conclude by observing the obvious
Lemma VII12 Let F be a small Kronecker Then there exists a contraction
c X rarr X prime which is an isomorphism away from F and contracts F along one
of its rulings Necessarily X prime is not projective since every global Cartier divisor
intersects c(F ) trivially On the other hand in a formal neighborhood of c(F ) there
exist Cartier divisors intersecting it non-trivialliy
As such the contribution coming from non-rigid curves is rather poor there are
curves moving in the general fiber there are special Riccati components disjoint from
any other invariant curve intersecting KF trivially there are small Kroneckers who
can be contracted to curves We shall see in the next section that the complications
arising from the contraction of such non-rigid curves is purely psychological and
totally harmless
56 FEDERICO BUONERBA
VI Contractions and proof of the Main Theorem
In this section we contract all invariant curves along which KF is zero thereby
establishing the existence of canonical models I First we contract non-rigid curves
as described in the previous subsection
bull Small Kroneckers along either ruling Albeit this destroys projectivity of
the ambient threefold there still exist Cartier divisors defined in a formal
neighborhood of the base curve that intersect it non-trivially
bull Families of irreducible nodal rational curves which are flat over ∆ This
creates elliptic singularities on the general fiber of p which are disjoint from
other invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
bull Special Riccati again families of irreducible nodal rational curves fully con-
tained in X0 This creates elliptic singularities disjoint from other invariant
curves intersecting KF trivially
We can summarize our situation by way of
Set-up VI1 X is a 3-dimensional DM stack with at worst elliptic singularities
F a foliation by curves with canonical singularities which is not Q-Cartier in a
neighborhood of Xsing
There exists a proper morphism p X rarr ∆ smooth off 0 isin ∆ F restricts to a
foliation on every fiber of p it has canonical singularities on the very general fiber
of p and log-canonical singularities on every fiber of p KF is big and nef on every
irreducible component of every fiber of p
Let C be the invariant sub-scheme along which KF is not big then C is a curve
fully contained in the smooth locus X0capXsmooth every sub-curve of C has anti-ample
normal bundle the 1-simplex of its dual graph is a tree and detailed configurations
of such are referenced in set-up VI13
We proceed to contract such C We assume that along C the semi-simple field has
only rational eigenvalues and moreover no component of C is inside the foliation
singularity The other two cases - irrational eigenvalues and presence of singular
component - are strictly easier and can be obtained with the very same method
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 57
The proof takes place in the formal completion around C = C free cup C axes The
former is a disjoint union of trees of non-double curves For each non-double C let
F (C) denote the unique component of X0 containing it The latter is a tree of double
curves each with two triple points all contained in the same irreducible FC axes Each
tree of non-double curves touches C axes in one point through a LC-center In order
to construct the contraction we will use Artinrsquos celebrated criterion in the following
form
Fact VI1 ([Ar70]) Let X be an irreducible algebraic space i Y rarr X a closed
subspace of pure codimension 1 and f Y rarr Y0 a proper morphism with flowastOY = OY0
Let X denote the formal completion of X along Y and assume there exists a Cartier
divisor D in X which is supported on Y and is f -anti-ample Then there exists a
proper morphism of algebraic spaces F X rarr X0 which is an isomorphism away
from Y and such that ilowastF = f
Now we use the tree structure of C to construct a suitable divisor to which apply
Artinrsquos theorem Namely consider the following inductive defintion
(35) C0 = C axes F0 = FC axes
For k ge 0 assume Ck Fk are defined
bull Let Ck+1 denote the union of irreducible components of C that intersect Fk
non-trivially but are not contained in cupilekFibull Let Fk+1 denote the reduced sum (
sumCsubeCk+1
F (C))red
This process stops with a collection C1 middot middot middotCN of curves and F1 middot middot middot FN of reduced
divisors
Lemma VI1 We have the following identities
(36)
Fk middot C lt 0 for every C sube Ck
(F0 + F1) middot C le 0 for every C sube C0
(Fkminus1 + Fk + Fk+1) middot C = 0 for every C sube Ck 1 lt k lt N
(FNminus1 + FN) middot C lt 0 for every C sube CN
58 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proof The first is just the fact that every component of C is rigid The remaining
three follow from X0 middot C = 0 but the last one requires further justification Indeed
if C sube CN N gt 0 then C is one end of a tree of non-double curves In particular
there exists a foliation singularity lowast isin C disjoint from any other component of
C and LClowast is transverse to C This implies LClowast middotC gt 0 which together with
(FNminus1 + FN + LClowast) middot C = 0 concludes the proof
Let ε1 middot middot middot εN isin Qgt0 and define
(37) F Nminusk = (1 + ε1 + middot middot middot+ εk)FNminusk
bull If C sube CN we have
(38) (F Nminus1 + F
N) middot C = ε1FNminus1 middot C + (FNminus1 + FN) middot C
bull If C sube CNminusk 1 lt k lt N we have
(39)
(F Nminuskminus1 + F
Nminusk + F Nminusk+1) middot C =
(1 + middot middot middot+ εk)(FNminuskminus1 + FNminusk + FNminusk+1) middot C minus εkFNminusk+1 middot C + εk+1FNminuskminus1 middot C =
minus εkFNminusk+1 middot C + εk+1FNminuskminus1 middot C
bull If C sube C0 we have
(40) (F 0 + F
1) middot C = εNF0 middot C + (Nminus1sumj=0
εj)(F0 + F1) middot C
It is clear that provided
(41) 1 gtgt ε1 gtgt middot middot middot gtgt εN
the divisor F =sumF k is negative along every component of C
This proves the existence of the contraction and concludes the proof of the Main
Theorem I
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 59
VII Moduli space of foliated surfaces of general type
In this section we study the modular variation of foliated surfaces of general type
The upshot is that it is possible to define a functor which is representable separated
and every irreducible component is proper The main issue here is that the supporting
surface of a foliated canonical model may well fail to be projective indeed KF is not
Q-Gorenstein in general Hence in order to proceed via standard methods [Ko17]
we have to parametrize our canonical models together with a suitable projective
resolution
Definition VII13 Let (SF ) be a foliated proper reduced purely 2-dimensional
DM stack Assume S has only normal crossing singularities in codimension 1 that
F has log-canonical foliation singularities and that KF is big and nef on at least
one of the irreducible components of S If whenever KF middot C = 0 for some curve C
then C moves in an irreducible component of S and no member of such deformation
is F -invariant then (SF ) is called foliated canonical model of general type
Clearly foliated canonical models are exactly the stable degenerations appearing
as the central fiber of our Main Theorem I Their lack of projectivity has two sources
namely the contraction of cycles of smooth KF -nil curves and of trees of cuspidal
ones Singularities arising from cycles behave well in families namely they always
deform into the general fiber Those arising from cuspidal curves on the other hand
tend to be rather isolated inside the degenerate fiber
Observe that the deformation theory of a foliated surface is rather simple suppose
given an infinitesimal C-algebras extension 0 rarr J rarr Ae rarr A rarr 0 and (SF )
a foliated surface flat over Spec(A) then the obstruction to lifting to Ae can be
understood in three simple steps
(1) Deformation of the underlying surface S once a deformation Se rarr Spec(Ae)
is given
(2) Deformation of the line bundle KF by the exponential sequence
(42) 0rarr J otimes OS rarr OlowastSerarr OlowastS rarr 0
obstructions lie in H2(SOS)otimes J once a deformation of KF is given
60 FEDERICO BUONERBA
(3) Deformation of the defining section OS rarr KF otimes TS obstructions lie in
H1(SKF otimes TS)otimes J
Now we have
Definition VII14 Let (SF ) be a foliated canonical model of general type A
proper birational morphism q (SF )proj rarr (SF ) is called its projective resolution
if
bull Every irreducible component of Sproj is smooth
bull The exceptional locus of q is a disjoint union of cycles of KFproj-nil smooth
curves and trees of KFproj-nil curves each of which has a non-trivial cuspidal
singularity
bull In a neighborhood of every q-exceptional cycle not only Sproj but also its
moduli space is smooth
We need a few remarks about projective resolutions
(1) Projective resolutions are always unique Indeed the only possible ambiguity
could lie in some extra smooth irreducible components in the exceptional
locus This is forbidden by definition in the trees of cuspidal curves it is
also forbidden by way of the third item in cycles of smooth ones ie on
algebraic surfaces the minimal resolution is unique
(2) Denote by E the collection of q-exceptional cycles Then there exist ε δ isinQgt0 such that KFproj
minus εE + δKSprojis ample by Nakai-Moishezon
(3) Deformations of a projective resolution of a foliated canonical model are
canonically identified with deformations of the underlying birational mor-
phism q Sproj rarr S followed by a deformation of the foliation F
We are now ready to construct a moduli functor for foliated surfaces more precisely
for projective resolutions of foliated canonical models of general type For m dN isinN and ε δ isin Qgt0 let
(43) MmdNεδ (C-schemes)rarr (sets)
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 61
be defined by MmdNεδ(S) = Diagrams
(44) (X F )projqminusrarr (X F )
pminusrarr S
Where
bull Both p and p q are flat and proper
bull For every closed point s isin S the induced morphism qs is the projective
resolution of (X F )s which is a foliated canonical model of general type
bull Denote by Es the collection of exceptional cycles of qs By our Main Theorem
I there is a fibrewise divisor E subXproj flat over S restricting to Es for every
s isin S
bull Let j W rarr Xproj denote the maximal closed subscheme away from which
KFprojand KXprojS are locally free Then
(45) L [m] = (jlowast(KFprojotimes OXproj
(minusεE )otimesKδXprojS
)otimesm)oror
is flat over S and commutes with base-change
bull L [m] is very ample of degree d on every fiber and defines an embedding into
PNS
We are now ready for
Theorem VII15 The functor MmdNεδ is represented by a separated algebraic
space each of whose irreducible components is proper
Proof We show that our functor satisfies Artinrsquos conditions [Ar74 Corollary 54] By
definition condition 1) and 4) hold while our previous remark on foliated obstruction
theory shows that 3) is true
We proceed to show 2) namely effectivity of formal deformations for MmdNεδ
What follows owes much to Artinrsquos [A74rsquo] Let T be a complete C-algebra Tn its
n-truncation so that Tsimminusrarr limlarrminusTn and finally qn isinMmdNεδ(Spec(Tn)) a compatible
sequence For each n there is a maximal open set Un sube Xprojn where qn is an
isomorphism denote by sn Cn rarr Zn the restriction of qn to the complement of Un
Clearly sn is projective over Spec(Tn)
62 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Denote by X C etc the formal algebraic spaces obtained as limits of Xn Cn
etc Then Xproj sub PNˆSpec(T )
hence by Grothendieckrsquos existence Theorem we find
bull a flat projective family (X F )proj rarr Spec(T ) resp a closed subscheme
C subXproj whose completion is Xproj resp C
bull a scheme Z whose completion is Z and a morphism s C rarr Z everything
being projective over Spec(T )
Further we have a formal contraction limminusrarr qn C rarr Z hence the main theorem
of [Ar70] gives algebraic contraction (X F )proj rarr (X F ) This proves the repre-
sentability of MmdNεδ The properness and separability of each irreducible com-
ponent can be checked using valutative criteria indeed properness is the content of
our Main Theorem I separatedness follows from the uniqueness of foliated canonical
models of general type and their projective resolution
References
[Ar70] M Artin Algebraization of Formal Moduli II Existence of Modifications Ann
of Math Vol 91 No 1 (Jan 1970) pp 88-135 httpwwwjstororgstable
1970602
[Ar74] M Artin Versal Deformations and Algebraic Stacks Inventiones Math 27 165- 189
(1974) httpmathuchicagoedu~drinfeldArtin_on_stackspdf
[A74rsquo] M Artin Algebraic construction of Brieskornrsquos resolutions J Alg Vol 29 Issue
2 May 1974 pp 330-348 httpwwwsciencedirectcomsciencearticlepii
0021869374901021
[BB72] P Baum R Bott Singularities of holomorphic foliations J Diff Geom 7 (1972)
279-342 httpsprojecteuclidorgdownloadpdf_1euclidjdg1214431158
[Bo77] F Bogomolov Families of curves on a surface of general type Doklady Akademii Nauk
USSR (in Russian) 236 (5) 1041-1044
[Bo78] F Bogomolov Holomorphic tensors and vector bundles on projective varieties Math
USSR Izv 13 (1978) 499-555
[BM16] F Bogomolov M McQuillan Rational Curves on Foliated Varieties In Cascini
McKernan Pereira (eds) Foliation Theory in Algebraic Geometry Simons Symposia
Springer Cham pp 21-51 (2016) httpslinkspringercomchapter101007
978-3-319-24460-0_2
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 63
[Bu] F Buonerba Functorial resolution of tame quotient singularities in positive charac-
teristic httpsarxivorgabs151100550
[Ke99] S Keel Basepoint Freeness for Nef and Big Line Bundles in Positive Characteris-
tic Annals of Math 149 No 1 (Jan 1999) pp 253-286 httpwwwjstororg
stable121025 httpsarxivorgabsmath9901149
[KM97] S Keel S Mori Quotients by groupoids Annals of Math 145 (1997) pp
193-213 httpwwwjstororgstable2951828seq=1page_scan_tab_contents
httparxivorgabsalg-geom9508012
[Ko17] J Kollar Families of varieties of general type httpswebmathprincetonedu
~kollarbookmodbook20170720pdf
[LN02] A Lins Neto Some examples for the Poincare and Painleve problems Annales sci-
entifiques de lrsquoENS 352 (2002) 231-266 httparchivenumdamorgarticle
ASENS_2002_4_35_2_231_0pdf
[McQ12] M McQuillan Foliated Mori Theory amp Hyperbolicity of Algebraic Surfaces http
wwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillahomehtml
[McQ98] M McQuillan Diophantine approximation and foliations Inst Hautes Etudes Sci
Publ Math 87 (1998) 121-174 httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafiles
ihespdf
[McQ05rsquo] M McQuillan Bloch hyperbolicity preprint httpwwwmatuniroma2it
~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ05] M McQuillan Semi-stable reduction of foliations IHES pre-print IHESM0502
(2005) httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ05rdquo] M McQuillan Uniform Uniformisation IHES pre-print (2005) IHES M0503 http
wwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ08] M McQuillan Canonical models of foliations Pure Appl Math Q 4
(2008) no 3 Special Issue In honor of Fedor Bogomolov Part 2 877-1012
httpintlpresscomsitepubfiles_fulltextjournalspamq20080004
0003PAMQ-2008-0004-0003-a009pdf
[MP13] M McQuillan D Panazzolo Almost etale resolution of foliations J Diff Geom 95
(2013) pp 279-319 httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesmp1bispdf
[Pe02] JV Pereira On the Poincare Problem for Foliations of General Type Mathematische
Annalen 323 no 2 pp217-226 2002 httpsarxivorgabsmath0104185
[PS16] JV Pereira R Svaldi Effective algebraic integration in bounded genus preprint
httpsarxivorgabs161206932
64 FEDERICO BUONERBA
[Re83] M Reid Minimal models of canonical threefolds in rdquoAlgebraic Varieties and Ana-
lytic Varietiesrdquo Adv Stud Pure Math vol 1 S Iitaka ed Kinokuniya and North-
Holland 1983 pp 131-180 httpwwwmathsedacukcheltsovquotientpdf
reid2pdf
[Se67] A Seidenberg Reduction of singularities of the differential equation Ady = Bdx Amer
J Math 89 (1967) 248-269 httpwwwjstororgstable2373435
[SB83] N Shepherd-Barron Degenerations with numerically effective canonical divisor The
Birational Geometry of Degenerations (R Friedman and D Morrison eds) Progr
Math no 29 Birkhuser 1983 pp 33-84
[Vis89] A Vistoli Intersection theory on algebraic stacks and on their moduli spaces
Invent Math (1989) pp 613-670 httplinkspringercomarticle101007
2FBF01388892page-1
Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences New York University 251 Mercer
Street New York NY 10012 USA
E-mail address buonerbacimsnyuedu
- I Introduction
- II Preliminaries
-
- III Operations on Deligne-Mumford stacks
- IIII Width of embedded parabolic champs
- IIIII Gorenstein foliation singularities
- IIIV Foliated adjunction
- IIV Canonical models of foliated surfaces with canonical singularities
- IIVI Canonical models of foliated surfaces with log-canonical singularities
- IIVII Set-up
-
- III Invariant curves and singularities local description
-
- IIII `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F) not isolated
- IIIII `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F) isolated
- IIIIII Local consequences
-
- IV Invariant curves along which KF vanishes
-
- IVI KF-nil curves
- IVII Invariant curves inside `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F)
-
- V Configurations
-
- VI Configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
- VII Configurations of non-rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
-
- VI Contractions and proof of the Main Theorem
- VII Moduli space of foliated surfaces of general type
- References
-
16 FEDERICO BUONERBA
and consider morphisms
(7) X rarrXe rarrXc
Where the composite is the contraction of all the KF -nil curves and the rightmost
is the minimal resolution of elliptic Gorenstein singularities
Fact IIV3 [McQ08 IV21 IV22] Xe is projective there exists an ample divisor
A and an effective divisor E supported on minimal elliptic Gorenstein leaves such
that KFe = A+E On the other hand Xc might fail to be projective and Fc is never
Q-Gorenstein
We refer to [McQ08 III32] for the descriptions of possible dual graphs of config-
urations of invariant KF -negative or nil curves
IIVI Canonical models of foliated surfaces with log-canonical singulari-
ties In this subsection we study Gorenstein foliations with log-canonical singulari-
ties on algebraic surfaces In particular we will classify the singularities appearing
on the underlying surface prove the existence of minimal and canonical models
describe the exceptional curves appearing in the contraction to the canonical model
Proposition IIVI1 Let (UF ) be a germ of Gorenstein log-canonical foliation
singularity Then U is a cone over a subvariety Y of a weighted projective space
whose weights are determined by the eigenvalues of F Moreover F is defined by
the rulings of the cone
Proof By Fact IIIII2 there exists a closed embedding i U rarr M - with M a
smooth local formal scheme - a regular system of parameters x1 middot middot middot xk on M and
positive integers n1 middot middot middotnk such that F is the restriction of the foliation defined by
part =sumnixi
partpartxi
to U Let I sub OM denote the ideal defining i(U) subM then part(I) sube I
We are going to prove that I is homogeneous where each xi has weight ni Let f isin I
and write f =sum
dge1 fd where fd is homogeneous of degree d in x1 middot middot middot xk - ie fd is
a k-linear combination of monomials xa11 xakk with d =
sumi aini For every N isin N
let FN = (xa11 xakk
sumi aini ge N) This collection of ideals defines a natural
filtration on OM For a = max ai we have mN sube FN sube mNa ie the FN -filtration
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 17
is equivalent to the one by powers of the maximal ideal and therefore OM is also
complete with respect to the FN -filtration
We will prove that if f isin I then fd isin I for every d
Let IN = (I + FN)FN Since OM is complete with respect to the FN -filtration
I = limlarrminus IN Therefore it is enough to show
Claim IIVI2 For every N gt 0 we have fd isin IN sub OMFN for all d lt N
Proof For every g isin IN denote by n(g) the unique integer such that g isin Fn(g) Fn(g)+1 (ie the minimal index d for which fd 6= 0) and by N(g) = N minus n(g)
We will prove the statement of the Claim by induction on N(f) If N(f) = 1 then
f = fNminus1 holds in OMFN and the statement is true If N(f) gt 1 we have part(f) =sumd d middot fd hence consider f1 = D(f)minus n(f)f =
sumdgtn(f)(dminus n(f))fd Tautologically
we have N(f1) lt N(f) and therefore fd isin IN for every d gt n(f) so then fn(f) =
f minussum
dgtn(f) fd isin IN as well
This implies that I is a homogeneous ideal and hence U is the germ of a cone over
a variety in the weighted projective space P(n1 nk)
Corollary IIVI3 If the germ U is normal then Y is normal If U is normal
of dimension 2 the weighted blow-up p U rarr U at the vertex of the cone has only
quotient singularities the exceptional divisor E(simminusrarr Y ) is smooth and everywhere
transverse to the induced foliation Moreover we have
(8) plowastKF = KF + E
Certainly the converse to Proposition IIVI1 fails even on surfaces indeed let
(X F ) be a Gorenstein foliated surface and let C sub X be a generic curve so
in particular smooth and not F -invariant We can assume perhaps after a finite
sequence of simple blow-ups along C that both X and F are smooth in a neigh-
borhood of C C and F are everywhere transverse and C2 lt 0
Proposition IIVI4 The formal contraction q X rarr X0 of C is isomorphic to
the cone over C the projected foliation F0 coincides with that by rulings on the cone
F0 is Q-Gorenstein if C rational or elliptic but not in general
18 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proof F0 is Q-Gorenstein if and only if the bundle KF (C) is trivial on the formal
completion of X along C The obstructions to lift the isomorphism OC(KF +C)simminusrarr
OC over infinitesimal neighborhoods of C lie in H1(C (1 minus n)C + KF ) for every
n isin N These groups vanish for every n isin N if 2g(C) minus 2 + C2 lt 0 (which is
always true for rational or elliptic curves) but do provide non-trivial obstructions in
general
We focus on the minimal model program for Gorenstein log-canonical foliations
on algebraic surfaces Let X be a DM stack of dimension 2 with projective moduli
and F a Gorenstein foliation with log-canonical singularities Denote by LC(F )
the set of points where F is log-canonical and not canonical and by Z the singular
sub-scheme of F We assume LC(F ) 6= empty since the empty case has been completely
settled Moreover we can assume that X is smooth outside LC(F ) Let f C rarrX
be a morphism from a 1-dimensional stack with trivial generic stabilizer such that
fminus1 LC(F ) 6= empty Since we will need them several times we formulate some technical
results
Lemma IIVI5 Let p X rarr X be the resolution of the log-canonical foliation
singularity intersecting C with exceptional divisor E Then
(9) KF middot C minus C middot E = KF middot C
Proof We have
(10) plowastC = C minus (C middot EE2)E
Intersecting this equation with equation 8 we obtain the result
This formula is important because it shows that passing from foliations with log-
canonical singularities to their canonical resolution increases the negativity of inter-
sections between invariant curves and the canonical bundle In fact the log-canonical
theory reduces to the canonical one after resolving the log-canonical singularities
Further we list some strong constraints given by invariant curves along which the
foliation is smooth
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 19
Fact IIVI6 [BB72 Baum-Bott] Let g C rarrX be an F -invariant curve missing
the foliation singularities Then C2 = NF middotg C = 0
Corollary IIVI7 Let g C rarr X be an F -invariant curve missing the foliation
singularities and such that KF middotg C lt 0 Then F is birationally a fibration by
rational curves
Proof By assumption KF middot C = minusχ(C) This together with Baum-Bott IIVI6
imply that KX middot C = minusχ(C) and from usual adjunction we get C2 = 0 Riemann-
Roch gives h0(X mC) ge 2 for m gtgt 0 so then |C| defines a fibration by rational
curves tangent to F
The rest of this subsection is devoted to the construction of minimal and canonical
models in presence of log-canonical singularities The only technique we use is
resolve the log-canonical singularities in order to reduce to the canonical case and
keep track of the exceptional divisor
We are now ready to handle the existence of minimal models
Theorem IIVI8 (Minimal models) Let X be a DM stack of dimension 2 with pro-
jective moduli and F a Gorenstein foliation with log-canonical singularities Then
either
bull F is birational to a fibration by rational curves or
bull There exist a birational contraction q X rarr X0 such that KF0 is nef
Moreover the exceptional curves of q donrsquot intersect LC(F )
Proof Let f be as above ie KF -negative and intersecting LC(F ) If f is not
F -invariant then KF middotC +C2 ge 0 so C moves and KF is not pseudo-effective We
conclude by foliated bend and break [BM16]
If f is F -invariant then foliated adjunction 6 implies that C is rational it intersects
the singular locus of F in exactly one point By Lemma IIVI5 after resolving the
log-canonical singularity KF middot C lt 0 and F is smooth along C We conlude by
Corollary IIVI7
20 FEDERICO BUONERBA
From now on we add the assumption that KF is nef and we want to analyze
those curves f satisfying KF middotf C = 0 By adjunction formula 6 we know that C
has rational moduli and fminus1Z is supported on two points
Remark IIVI9 If fminus1Z = fminus1 LC(F ) then F is birationally a fibration by ratio-
nal curves
Proof After resolving the log-canonical singularities of F along the image of C we
have KF middot C lt 0 and F smooth along C We conclude by Corollary IIVI7
Therefore we can assume that f satisfies the following condition
Definition IIVI10 An invariant curve f C rarr X is called log-contractible if
KF middot C = 0 and it intersects Z in two points one canonical and one log-canonical
not canonical
It follows that f(C) is everywhere unibranch but it might have a cusp in LC(F )
Definition IIVI11 A log-chain is a chain of invariant rational orbifolds C =
cupni=0Ci scheme-like outside the foliation singularities with KF middot C = 0 and such
that
bull C0 is log-contractible with lowast(C ) = C0 cap LC(F ) called the marking of C
bull Ci is disjoint from LC(F ) if i ge 1
There is a unique point t(C ) satisfying t(C ) isin Z cap (Cn Cnminus1) called the tail of
the log-chain
Proposition IIVI12 Let C1C2 be two log-chains intersecting non-trivially Then
lowast(C1) = lowast(C2) and C1 cap C2 = lowast(C1)
Proof It is enough to prove that the two log-chains cannot intersect in their tails
Replace X be the resolution of the at most two markings of the log-chains and Ci
by their proper transforms C1cupC2 = cupmi=0Ri is a connected chain of rational curves
intersecting Z outisde LC(F ) Moreover each of the two extremal curves R0 and
Rm intersects Z in one point only In particular KF middot Ri = 0 for i = 1 middot middot middot m minus 1
and KF middot Ri lt 0 for i = 0m Since we assumed F is not birational to a fibration
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 21
by rational curves there exists a contraction p X rarr X0 with exceptional curve
cupmminus1i=0 Ri However F0 is smooth along plowastRm so by adjunction formula KF0 middotplowastRm lt
0 and we find a contradiction by Corollary IIVI7
Corollary IIVI13 Let C be a maximal connected curve such that KF middotC = 0 and
C cap LC(F ) 6= empty Then C is a union of finitely many log-chains intersecting each
other in their common marking
The following shows a configuration of log-chains sharing the same marking col-
ored in black
We are now ready to state and prove the canonical model theorem in presence of
log-canonical singularities
Theorem IIVI14 (Canonical models) Let X be a proper DM stack of dimension
2 and F a foliation with isolated singularities Moreover assume that KF is nef
that every KF -nil curve is contained in a log-chain and that F is Gorenstein and
log-canonical in a neighborhood of every KF -nil curve Then either
bull There exists a birational contraction p X rarr X0 whose exceptional curves
are unions of log-chains If all the log-contractible curves contained in the log-
chains are smooth then F0 is Gorenstein and log-canonical If furthermore
X has projective moduli then X0 has projective moduli In any case KF0
is numerically ample
bull There exists a fibration p X rarr B over a curve whose fibers intersect
KF trivially Each F -invariant fiber of p intersecting LC(F ) is union of
mutually compatible log-chains
Proof If all the KF -nil curves can be contracted by a birational morphism we are in
the first case of the Theorem Else let C be a maximal connected curve withKF middotC =
0 and which is not contractible It is a union of pairwise compatible log-chains
22 FEDERICO BUONERBA
with marking lowast Replace (X F ) by the resolution of the log-canonical singularity
at lowast with exceptional divisor E Therefore F is Gorenstein and canonical in a
neighborhood of C cupE By equation 9 we have KF middotC = minusC middotE lt 0 and therefore
C can be contracted to a canonical foliation singularity Replace (X F ) by the
contraction of C We have a smooth curve E around which F is smooth and
nowhere tangent to E Moreover
(11) KF middot E = minusE2
And we distinguish cases
bull E2 gt 0 so KF is not pseudo-effective a contradiction
bull E2 lt 0 so the initial curve C is contractible a contradiction
bull E2 = 0 which we proceed to analyze
The following is what we need to handle the third case
Proposition IIVI15 Let (X F ) be a foliation with canonical singularities with
X a smooth 2-dimensional DM stack with projective moduli and KF nef If there
exists a smooth curve E everywhere transverse to F such that KF middot E = E2 = 0
then E moves in a pencil and defines a fibration p X rarr B onto a curve whose
fibers intersect KF trivially
Proof If KF has Kodaira dimension one then its linear system contains an effective
divisor and by Hodge index KF = cE as divisors for some c isin Q+ Hence there is
a fibration onto a curve with fiber E and F is transverse to it by assumption If
KF has Kodaira dimension zero we use the classification IIV1 in all cases but the
suspension over an elliptic curve E defines a product structure on the underlying
surface in the case of a suspension every section of the underlying projective bundle
is clearly F -invariant Therefore E is a fiber of the bundle
This concludes the proof of the Theorem
We remark that the second alternative in the above theorem is rather natural
let (X F ) be a foliation which is transverse to a fibration by rational or elliptic
curves ie a suspension over elliptic curve turbolent Riccati or isotrivial Pick a
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 23
general fiber E of the fibration and blow up any number of points on it The proper
transform E is certainly contractible By Proposition IIVI4 the contraction of E is
Gorenstein and log-canonical Moreover the fiber E has been replaced by a union of
compatible log-chains Note in particular that the number of log-chains appearing
is arbitrary
Corollary IIVI16 Let X be a proper DM stack of dimension 2 and F a Goren-
stein foliation with log-canonical singularities Assume that KF is big and pseudo-
effective Then there exists a birational morphism p X rarr X0 such that C is
exceptional if and only if KF middot C le 0 In particular KF0 is numerically ample
For future applications we spell out
Corollary IIVI17 Hypothesis as in Theorem IIVI14 assume further that X
is everywhere smooth Then in the second alternative of the theorem the fibration
p X rarr B is by rational curves
Proof Indeed in this case the curve E which appears in the proof above as the
exceptional locus for the resolution of the log-canonical singularity at lowast must be
rational By the previous Proposition p is defined by a pencil in |E|
IIVII Set-up In this subsection we prepare the set-up we will deal with in the
rest of the manuscript Briefly we want to handle the existence of canonical models
for a family of foliated surfaces parametrized by a one-dimensional base To this
end we will discuss the modular behavior of singularities of foliated surfaces with
Gorenstein singularities recall McQuillan-Panazzolorsquos resolution of foliation singu-
larities building on the existence of minimal models [McQ05] prepare the set-up
for the sequel
Let us begin with the modular behavior of Gorenstein singularities
Proposition IIVII1 Let (X F ) be a smooth DM stack with a foliation by
curves Assume there exists a flat proper morphism p X rarr C onto an algebraic
curve such that F restricts to a foliation on every fiber of p Then the set
(12) s isin C Fs is log-canonical
24 FEDERICO BUONERBA
is Zariski-open while the set
(13) s isin C Fs is canonical
is the complement to a countable subset of C lying on a real-analytic curve
Proof By Fact IIIII2 being log-canonical is equivalent to the linearized endomor-
phism part IZI2Z rarr IZI
2Z being non-nilpotent where Z is the singular sub-scheme
of the foliation Of course being non-nilpotent is a Zariski open condition The
second statement also follows from opcit since a log-canonical singularity which is
not canonical has linearization with all its eigenvalues positive and rational The
statement is optimal as shown by the vector field on A3xys
(14) part(s) =part
partx+ s
part
party
Next we recall the existence of a functorial canonical resolution of foliation singu-
larities for foliations by curves on 3-dimensional stacks
Fact IIVII2 [MP13] Let X = (XDF ) be a 3-dimensional DM stack with bound-
ary foliated by curves Then there exists a proper birational morphism Xprime rarr X such
that X prime is a smooth DM stack and F prime has only canonical foliation singularities
The original opcit contains a more refined statement including a detailed de-
scription of the claimed birational morphism
In order for our set-up to make sense we mention one last very important result
Fact IIVII3 [McQ05] Let X be a smooth DM stack with projective moduli and F
a foliation by curves with (log)canonical singularities Then there exists a birational
map X 99K Xm obtained as a composition of flips such that Xm is a smooth
DM stack with projective moduli the birational transform Fm has (log)canonical
singularities and one of the following happens
bull KFm is nef or
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 25
bull There exists a fibration Xm rarr B over a smooth base whose fibers are
weighted projective spaces such that Fm is tangent to the fibers and restricts
to a radial foliation on those
Finally we can organize our notation
Set-up IIVII4 (X F ) is a smooth 3-dimensional DM stack with projective mod-
uli F a foliation by curves with canonical singularities such that KF is big and nef
There exists a semi-stable morphism p X rarr ∆ whose moduli is projective onto
the (formal) unit disk F restricts to a foliation on every fiber of p it has canon-
ical singularities on the very general fiber of p and log-canonical singularities on
every fiber of p Our task from now on is to analyze and contract the maximal
foliation-invariant sub-scheme of X along which KF is not ample
III Invariant curves and singularities local description
In this section we give a complete decription of germs of invariant curves that
appear in the formal completion of any point in the set-up IIVII4 Let us replace
X by its formal completion in a point lowast where the foliation is singular F is defined
by a vector field part with Jordan decomposition partS + partN see the end of subsection
IIIII Since [partS partN ] = 0 partN preserves the eigenspaces of partS Moreover the fact that
F is tangent to p translates into
(15) partS(p) = partN(p) = 0
The description of invariant germs of curves through lowast will be achieved via case-by-
case analysis organized by computing what happens for all possible combinations
of the following informations whether the singular locus Z is isolated at lowast the
number of eigenvalues of partS the number of components of the fiber through p
IIII sing(F ) not isolated
ni (1) partS has one eigenvalue
bull We have partS = x partpartx
and partN = f partparty
+ g partpartz
for some functions f g isin (y z)
Moreover partN is non-trivial
26 FEDERICO BUONERBA
bull Z = (x = f = g = 0) is not isolated
(a) The fiber has one component y = 0 Then 0 = partN(y) = f hence
Z = (x = g = 0) The restriction on the fiber is part|(y=0) = x partpartx
+g|(y=0)partpartz
Z has a one-dimensional component contained in the fiber iff g isin (y) in
which case such component is smooth equal to (x = 0) moreover the
foliation on the fiber saturates to a smooth one with invariant curves
z = 0 transverse to Z
Otherwise the foliation is saturated on the fiber and has a saddle-node
singularity
(b) The fiber has two components yz = 0 Then 0 = partN(yz) = zf + yg
hence f = yh g = minuszh for some h and Z = (x = h = 0) The restriction
on a fiber component say y = 0 is part|(y=0) = x partpartxminus zh|(y=0)
partpartz
Z has an
irreducible component contained in y = 0 iff h isin (y) in which case such
component is smooth equal to (x = 0) moreover the foliation on the
fiber saturates to a smooth one with invariant curves z = 0 transverse
to Z
Otherwise the foliation is saturated on the fiber and has a saddle-node
singularity
(c) The fiber has three components xyz = 0 0 = partS(xyz) = xyz a contra-
diction
Summary with one eigenvalue there are either one or two components The
foliation might have a one-dimensional singularity when restricted to a fiber
component in this case such singularity is a smooth curve and the foliation
saturates to a smooth one with invariant curves transverse to the singular-
ity If the singularity is isolated on a fiber component then it is a canonical
saddle-node with at most two invariant branches
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 27
ni (2) partS has two eigenvalues
We have partS = x partpartx
+ λy partparty
and partN(x y z) = k partpartx
+ f partparty
+ g partpartz
for some func-
tions k f g
(a) The fiber has one component z = 0 Then g = 0 k f isin (x y) and
necessarily Z = (x = y = 0) is transverse to the fiber The restriction on
the fiber is saturated and non-degenerate It has canonical singularities
if either partN 6= 0 or λ isin Q+ otherwise it is log-canonical
(b) The fiber has two components xy = 0 Then 0 = partS(xy) hence λ = minus1
Also 0 = partN(xy) hence k = xh f = minusyh g isin (xy) and necessarily
Z = (x = y = 0) coincides with the intersection of the two fiber compo-
nents which is smooth the foliation saturates to a smooth one on each
component with invariant curves transverse to Z
(c) The fiber has three components xyz = 0 hence λ = minus1 Also k = xklowast
f = yf lowast g = zglowast with klowast + f lowast + glowast = 0 and glowast isin (xy) The singularity
Z = (x = y = 0) coincides with the intersection of two of the fiber
components The restriction to either such components saturates to a
smooth foliation with invariant curves transverse to Z the restriction
to z = 0 has a canonical non-degenerate singularity all the invariant
curves are those in xy = 0 transverse to Z
Summary with 2 eigenvalues there can be any number of components With
one component the foliation restricts to a saturated one with a (log)canonical
singularity which moves transversely to p With two components the folia-
tion is not saturated on either and saturates to a smooth one with invariant
curves transverse to the singularity With three components the foliation
is not saturated on two of them and saturates to a smooth one on both
with invariant curves transverse to the singularity the foliation is saturated
and has a canonical non-degenerate singularity on the third component In
28 FEDERICO BUONERBA
the last two cases the singularity is fully contained in an intersection of two
components
ni (3) partS has three eigenvalues But then the singularity is isolated a contradiction
IIIII sing(F ) isolated
i (1) partS has one eigenvalue
bull We have partS = x partpartx
and partN = xk partpartx
+ f partparty
+ g partpartz
for some functions
k f g isin (y z) Moreover partN is non-trivial
bull Z = (x = f = g = 0) is isolated
(a) The fiber has one component y = 0 Then 0 = partN(y) = f and Z cannot
be isolated a contradiction
(b) The fiber has two components yz = 0 Then 0 = partN(yz) = zf + yg so
f = yh g = minuszh with h non-constant Hence Z = (x = h = 0) is not
isolated a contradiction
(c) The fiber has three components xyz = 0 Then 0 = partS(xyz) = xyz a
contradiction
Summary the 1 eigenvalue case does not exist
i (2) partS has two eigenvalues
bull We have partS = x partpartx
+ λy partparty
partN = xk partpartx
+ f partparty
+ g partpartz
for some functions
k f g
bull g is non-trivial and g isin (x y)
bull Z = (x = y = g = 0) is isolated
(a) The fiber has one component z = 0 Then g = 0 a contradiction
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 29
(b) The fiber has two components xy = 0 hence λ = minus1 and g isin (xy z)
the restriction to y = 0 is part|(y=0) = x partpartx
+g|(y=0)partpartz
and necessarily g|(y=0)
is non-vanishing Therefore the restriction to either components is satu-
rated and the singularity is a canonical saddle-node on each of them
The invariant curves are among the axes x = y = 0 x = z = 0 y = z =
0
(c) The fiber has three components xyz = 0 hence λ = minus1 Necessarily
k = xklowast f = yf lowast g = zglowast with klowast + f lowast + glowast = 0 The restriction to
y = 0 is part|(y=0) = x(1 + klowast|(y=0))partpartx
+ zglowast|(y=0)partpartz
since g isin (x y) we have
glowast|(y=0) non-trivial Therefore the restriction to either x = 0 and y = 0
is saturated and the singularity is a canonical saddle-node on each of
them
The restriction to z = 0 is part|(z=0) = x(1 + klowast|(z=0))partpartx
+ y(minus1 + f lowast|(z=0))partparty
therefore the restriction is saturated and has a canonical non-degenerate
singularity
The invariant curves are among the axes x = y = 0 x = z = 0 y = z =
0
Summary with 2 eigenvalues there are either two or three components the
foliation restricts to a canonical saddle-node on two of them and to a non-
degenerate singularity on the third one if it exists All the invariant curves
are in the axes
i (3) partS has three eigenvalues We have partS = x partpartx
+ λy partparty
+ microz partpartz
(a) The fiber has one component y = 0 hence λ = 0 a contradiction
(b) The fiber has two components xy = 0 hence λ = minus1 The restriction to
y = 0 is part|(y=0) = x partpartx
+ microz partpartz
+ partN|(y=0) The singularity is log-canonical
30 FEDERICO BUONERBA
iff micro isin Qgt0 and partN|(y=0)= 0 and in this case the singularity on x = 0 is
canonical non-degenerate Invariant curves are those in y = 0 and the
axis x = z = 0
If the restriction to both fiber components is canonical then it non-
degenerate on both and the invariant curves are contained in the axes
x = y = 0 x = z = 0 y = z = 0
The fiber could be yz = 0 hence λ+micro = 0 It can be analyzed as in the
next item
(c) The fiber has three components xyz = 0 hence 1 + λ + micro = 0 In par-
ticular if λ = cmicro c isin Q+ then λ micro isin Q The restriction to y = 0
is part|(y=0) = x partpartx
+ microz partpartz
+ partN|(y=0) This singularity is log-canonical iff
micro isin Qgt0 and partN|(y=0)= 0 in which case the singularity on both x = 0
and z = 0 is canonical non-degenerate In particular if the singularity
is log-canonical on some fiber component then it is so on exactly one
component and all eigenvalues are rational Invariant curves are those
in y = 0 and the axis x = z = 0
If the restriction to all fiber components is canonical then it non-degenerate
on each of them and the invariant curves are contained in the axes
x = y = 0 x = z = 0 y = z = 0
Summary with 3 eigenvalues there are either two or three fiber components
the foliation restricts to a singular foliation on each of them and it has a
log-canonical singularity on at most one of them in this case all eigenvalues
of the semi-simple field are rational
IIIIII Local consequences We list some corollaries for future reference As al-
ways in this section the statements are local so everything happens in a formal
neighborhood of our point lowast First we state those corollaries we will need to describe
configurations of KF -nil curves
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 31
Definition IIIIII1 An LC-center Π sub X is an irreducible F -invariant formal
hypersurface such that the local vector field generating the foliation when restricted
to Π has semi-simple part with log-canonical singularity or a one-dimensional sin-
gular locus An LC-center with a log-canonical singularity is necessarily an algebraic
component of the singular fiber of p
Corollary IIIIII2 There is at most one LC-center with a log-canonical singularity
through lowast If it exists then all eigenvalues of the semi-simple field at lowast are rational
If there are at least two LC-centers through lowast then there are exactly two and the
foliation singularity is a smooth curve on each of them
Proof Possible cases in which an LC-center with log-canonical singularities appears
ni (2)a i (3)b i (3)c
Corollary IIIIII3 If there is no LC-center thorugh a point lowast then there are at
most three invariant curves through lowast all smooth Any number of them spans a sub-
space of the tangent space at lowast of maximal possible dimension
If there is an LC-center through lowast then there is at most one invariant curve through
lowast and not contained in the LC-center
If there is an LC-center with non-isolated singularity then the singularity is smooth
and all invariant curves contained in the LC-center intersect the singularity trans-
versely
Proof Invariant curves not in an LC-centers with log-canonical singularities are con-
tained in the three axes x = z = 0 x = y = 0 y = z = 0 mentioned in the above
classification The other statements are clear
Corollary IIIIII4 If p is smooth at lowast then Z is one dimensional around lowast
Proof Possible casesni (1)a ni (2)a
In particular if there is no LC-center the situation is the familiary
xz
32 FEDERICO BUONERBA
While if there is an LC-center (pink) with log-canonical singularity it will look like
y
LC-center
While if there is an LC-center with non-isolated singularity (red) it will look like
(the black arrows being invariant curves)
y
LC-center
The next corollary describes one-dimensional components of the foliation singularity
Corollary IIIIII5 If Z0 is a one-dimensional irreducible component of the folia-
tion singularity then it is at worst nodal The foliation when restricted to any fiber
component containing Z0 saturates to a smooth foliation in a neighborhood of Z0
and all the invariant curves are transverse to Z0
If Z0 is contained in exactly one fiber component then the semi-simple field has one
eigenvalue everywhere along Z0
If Z0 lies at the intersection of two fiber components then the semi-simple field has
two constant eigenvalues everywhere along Z0
Moreover if there exist a sequence of invariant curves converging in the compact-
open topology to Z0 then there is generically one eigenvalue along Z0
Proof Possible casesni (1)a ni (1)b ni (2)b ni (2)c Concerning the one-
eigenvalue case invariant curves converging to Z0 can be found in the formal hyper-
surface x = 0
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 33
IV Invariant curves along which KF vanishes
In this section we study in great detail a formal neighborhood of invariant curves
where KF is numerically trivial In the first subsection we deal with KF -nil curves
namely those whose generic point is not contained in the foliation singularity In this
case the normal bundle to the curve determines its formal neighborhood uniquely
and this has plenty of amazing consequences In the second subsection we study
those invariant curves which are contained in the foliation singularity In this case
we are not able to control the full formal neighborhood but important informations
can still be obtained
IVI KF -nil curves In this subsection we study in detail the structure of KF -
nil curves and their formal neighborhoods appearing in the set-up IIVII4 In
particular we will describe a simple process to replace cuspidal KF -nil curves by
net ones prove that the foliation is in the net completion around a net KF -nil curve
defined by a global vector field which admits a global Jordan decomposition deduce
that eigenfunctions for the semi-simple component of such field are also globally
defined on a formal neighborhood
The first important remark is of technical nature and explains how to deal with non-
net KF -nil curves By Proposition IIIV4 this is indeed possible and the images of
such curves will acquire cusp-like singularities It is hard to analyze the geometry
of F around such cuspidal curves and therefore necessary to remove them Let us
assume that C is simply connected with rational moduli f is ramified at 0 isin C
and and denote by X the formal completion along f(C) Then formally around
f(0) the curve f(C) has defining ideal (y xa minus zb) where y = 0 is a fiber of the
fibration p X rarr ∆ containing f(C) x z isin H0(X OX ) restrict to suitable local
coordinates on such fiber and a b ge 2 are coprime integers
Claim IVI1 Let r X ( aradicz = 0) rarr X be the a-th root of z = 0 III3 Then
(rlowastC)norm =∐a
1 C and the induced map rlowastf (rlowastC)norm rarrX ( aradicz = 0) is net
Proof Since r is etale away from z = 0 also rlowastC rarr C is etale away from 0 isin C
Since C 0 is simply connected we have rlowastC rminus1(0) =∐a
1 C 0 This proves
34 FEDERICO BUONERBA
the first statement Let ζ be a function on X ( aradicz = 0) such that ζa = z so then
rlowast(xa minus zb) =prod
ηa=1(x minus ηζb) Every branch is net in 0 and we obtain the second
statement as well
As such upon taking roots we can replace non-net KF -nil invariant curves with
rational moduli by net ones
We now proceed to study net KF -nil curves We will show that the foliation is
defined by a global vector field around a net KF -nil curve with rational moduli and
that such vector field admits a global Jordan decomposition
Proposition IVI2 Notation as in the set-up IIVII4 let f C rarrX be a KF -nil
curve Assume that f is net and let j C rarr C be the net completion along f Then
there exists an isomorphism
(16) OC(KF )simminusrarr OC
In particular there exists a global vector field partf on C that generates F
Proof Since C has rational moduli and is simply connected it has infinite-cyclic
Picard group and we have an isomorphism
(17) OC(KF )simminusrarr OC
Moreover we have a non-canonical splitting of the normal bundle Njsimminusrarr O(minusn) oplus
O(minusm) and we claim that both nm ge 0 Indeed consider the induced semi-stable
fibration C rarr ∆ and let F be the normalization of an irreducible component of a
fiber such that C sub F Consider the exact sequence
(18) 0rarr NCF rarr Nj rarr NFC|C rarr 0
Since KF is nef NCF is not ample since F is a fiber of a fibration also NFC|C is
not ample and this is enough to conclude even though nm may be different from
the degrees of such normal bundles
At this point we can lift the isomorphism 17 over infinitesimal neighborhoods of j
Indeed for every k ge 0 we have an exact sequence
(19) 0rarr Symk ICI2C rarr OCk+1
(KF )rarr OCk(KF )rarr 0
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 35
which shows that the obstruction to lifting the isomorphism lies in
(20) H1(C Symk ICI2C) = H1(C Symk(O(n)oplus O(m))) = 0
From this we can deduce
Proposition IVI3 The vector field partf admits a Jordan decomposition uniformly
along C
Proof The cohomology sequence attached to 19 is
(21) 0rarr H0(C Symk ICI2C)rarr H0(COCk+1
)rarr H0(COCk)rarr 0
Let partk+1 denote the image of partf in End(H0(COCk+1)) Looking at
H0(COCk+1) minusminusminusrarr H0(COCk
)
partk+1
y partk
yH0(COCk+1
) minusminusminusrarr H0(COCk)
we see the canonical Jordan deomposition of partk+1 restricts to that of partk
The above result describes a very useful interplay between normal bundles to
KF -nil curves and the structure of the semi-simple field It turns out that these
informations determine formal neighborhoods uniquely For simplicity let C be
an irreducible component of C without orbifold points Let us assume that part|C is
singular in 0infin Then there exist formal functions x y z at 0 isin C and ξ η ζ at
infin isin C such that x ξ are coordinates along C y η are local sections of OC(minusn)
so η = xny mod(I2C) z ζ are local sections of OC(minusm) so ζ = xmz mod(I2C)
Normalizing so that xminus1partS(x) = ε isin 0 1 we obtain
(22) part0S = εxpart
partx+ λy
part
party+ microz
part
partz partinfinS = minusεξ part
partξ+ (λ+ εn)η
part
partη+ (micro+ εm)ζ
part
partζ
More generally ie C = P1(d e) we have glueing rules x = te ξ = tminusd η = tny and
ζ = tmz mod(I2C) Normalizing so that tminus1partS(t) = ε isin 0 1 we obtain
(23) part0S = eεxpart
partx+ λy
part
party+ microz
part
partz partinfinS = minusdεξ part
partξ+ (λ+ εn)η
part
partη+ (micro+ εm)ζ
part
partζ
36 FEDERICO BUONERBA
It is worth remarking that the above relations hold between eigenvalues at the two
singular point of singular ie nodal or cuspidal KF -nil curves as well this is
easily seen by taking a root followed by net completion and keeping track of the
eigenvalues
Definition IVI4 Let C be a KF -nil curve The foliation singular points along C
are called ends
As well as the existence of Hilbert scheme in the following form
Fact IVI5 Let W sub Xlowast be a curve and D a divisor in the formal neighborhood
of W such that W = D capXlowast scheme-theoretically Then W moves in D
In what follows our main concern is to understand formal neighborhoods of KF -
nil curves Observe that the fibration p when restricted to the formal neighborhood
of such curves provides at least one eigenfunction of the semi-simple field Hence
in order to compute the width IIII we must study the behavior of the other eigen-
function on infinitesimal neighborhoods We first describe the situation inside the
smooth locus of p
Proposition IVI6 (Smooth fiber) Let f C rarrX be an irreducible KF -nil curve
which is contained in the smooth locus of a fiber Xlowast of p Then the end(s) on C are
flat over ∆ ni (1)b and ni (1)a with z2|g(y z) and C moves in a family flat over
∆
Proof Let us assume that f is net Then upon passing to net completion we can
actually assume it is embedded From our local classification of singularities we case
in case ni (1)a and ni (2)a We want to show that both ends have components
that move transversely to p hence we have to exclude case ni (1)a with g(y z) = ya
By way of contradiction say we have g(y z) = ya in the notation of opcit around
an end lowast isin C We proceed to compute what happens at the other end we find
formal coordinates ξ η ζ which by equation 23 satisfy
(24) ξ = xminus1 η = y ζ = xmz mod(I2C)
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 37
As such we compute part(ζ) = mζ + ξminusmηa mod(I2C) which is holomorphic if and only
if m le 0 so then C moves in Xlowast contradicting that the foliation has general type
Hence we are in cases ni (1)a ni (2)a with g = microyazb b ge 1
(25) part0 = xpart
partx+ microyazb
part
partz partinfin = minusξ part
partξ+ ζ(m+ microξm(bminus1)ηaζbminus1)
part
partζ(mod(I2C))
Following notation from subsection IIII observe that C1 is the section of E1C which
is disjoint from the proper transform of the fiber of p In coordinates over 0
(26) x1 = x y1 = y z1 = zyminus1
And similarly over infin Using the previous equation and 25 on C1 we find
(27)
part01 = x1part
partx1+microya+bminus11 zb1
part
partz1 partinfin1 = minusξ1
part
partξ1+ζ1(m+microξ
m(bminus1)1 ηa+bminus11 ζbminus11 )
part
partζ1(mod(I2C1
))
In particular the transform of the nilpotent field is still nilpotent after blowing up in
C It follows that the eigenvalues of the semi-simple field at the two ends of C and
C1 are the same Using equation 23 we deduce that the normal bundle to C1X1 to
isomorphic to that of CX in particular it contains a trivial direct summand This
proves that width(C) =infin
Next we show that f must be net Consider the induced flat projection pD D rarr ∆
its general fiber cannot be a cuspidal curve since along such cusp the foliation sin-
gularity would be log-canonical but not canonical Hence if C has a cusp necessarily
the general fiber of pD is a nodal curve Let X rarr X denote the blow up of the
nodal locus of pD with exceptional divisor E ruled over ∆ In a neighborhood of E
we have sing(F ) = D cap E which projects to ∆ as a double cover ramified over lowastObserve that the foliation on Xlowast is again log-canonical and not canonical hence its
local structure is ni (2)a In that case however p is unramified along the foliation
singularity Contradiction
We state a general criterion for movability of KF -nil curves
Proposition IVI7 Let C be a connected KF -nil curve such that p(C ) = lowast isin ∆
Assume its dual graph is a chain that none of its irreducible components is double
38 FEDERICO BUONERBA
VI3 and that its two extremal ends are flat over ∆ Then C moves in a family flat
over ∆ and each of its irreducible components is embedded
Proof We work in a formal neighborhood of C After taking roots we can assume
C is net and since its dual graph is a chain it is actually embedded We proceed by
induction on its length l where the case l = 1 is Proposition IVI6 For l gt 1 let C1
be a component of C which is extremal in its dual graph If C1 moves transversely
to p then both its ends do and hence we can apply the induction hypothesis to
C C1 If C1 is rigid then it can be flopped It is straightforward to check that we
can apply the induction hypothesis to the transform C + C+1 and we are done
Now we deal with rigid curves inside the singular fiber
Proposition IVI8 (Singular fiber) Let f C rarr X be an embedded net KF -
nil curve with anti-ample normal bundle Then there exists a birational map φ
(X F ) 99K (X +F+) and a KF+-nil curve C+ such that
bull φ is an isomorphism away from C+
bull In a formal neighborhood of at least one among C and C+ there exist two
invariant hypersurfaces D1D2 locally defined by the vanishing of eigenfunc-
tions of the semi-simple field such that C (resp C+)= D1 capD2
bull If F middot C lt 0 for some hypersurface F then F+ middot C+ gt 0 In particular X +
is projective
Such φ is called flop
Proof Our assumption is that Nfsimminusrarr O(minusn)oplusO(minusm) is anti-ample namely nm gt
0 If two invariant hypersurfaces as in our statement do exist around C the flop is
easily constructed as a weighted blow-up followed by a weighted blow-down As such
let us assume that such hypersurfaces do not exist around C In particular C is not
double VI3 By [Ar70] there exists a formal contraction c X rarrX0 collapsing C
to a point and an isomorphism everywhere else By Proposition IVI3 the foliation
F0 is Gorenstein around the node of X0 For ease of exposition let us assume
n = m = 1 the general case is handled the same way only the notation becomes more
cumbersome due to the presence of weights The node has embedding dimension 4
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 39
and in suitable local coordinates x0 y0 w0 z0 can be defined by x0z0minusy0w0 = 0 The
morphism c can be identified with the blow up of the embedded surface (x0 = y0 = 0)
Explicitly in the chart y = y0 x = x0yminus10 it is defined by
(28) y0 = y x0 = xy z0 = zprime w0 = xzprime
Here x is a coordinate along C while y = 0 is the pull-back of (x0 = y0 = 0) and
zprime some function in the normal bundle to C By the previous Proposition IVI6
we know C cannot be contained in the smooth locus of p Since C is not double
we can assume that in this local chart p is defined by (x y zprime) rarr xy - the case
(x y zprime) rarr xzprime being isomorphic as it is isomorphic to blow-up (z0 = w0 = 0)
instead of (x0 = y0 = 0) The issue is as emphasized by the notation zprime 6= z that
zprime may fail to be an eigenfunction for partS if it were we would be done since zprime = 0
is the local equation for the global pullback of (z0 = w0 = 0) However we have
a b isin C such that
(29) partS0(y0) = minusy0 partS0(x0) = 0 partS0(z0) = ay0 + bz0 partS0(w0) = ax0 + (b+ 1)w0
Observe that the embedded surfaces D01 = (y0 = z0 = 0) and D0
2 = (x0 = w0 = 0)
are both foliation invariant As such let b X + rarr X0 denote the blow-up of X0
along D01 - which is isomorphic to that along D0
2 - and let Di = blowastD0i i = 1 2
Finally X + is projective by Nakai-Moishezon Indeed every C with anti-ample
normal bundle is contained in an irreducible component F of X0 such that F middotC lt 0
Then F+ middot C+ gt 0 and we can find an ample divisor of the form H+ + εF+ where
H+ is the proper transform of an ample on X
Remark IVI9 In the previous proof a 6= b+ 1 Indeed such identity would create
a non-trivial Jordan block of partS0 in the (x0 w0)-plane thus contradicting the semi-
simplicity of partS0 In particular by a straightforward computation it is impossible to
find eigenfunctions of the form wlowast0 = w0 + αx0 zlowast0 = z0 + βy0 with x0z
lowast0 minus y0wlowast0 = 0
unless a = 0
We can conclude by pointing out an important point understood in this section
A painful aspect of the theory is that log-canonical singularities which appear natu-
rally as analytic degenerations of canonical ones come along with cuspidal invariant
40 FEDERICO BUONERBA
curves There is in particular no a-priori obstruction to the existence of rigid
cuspidal KF -nil curves in a smooth fiber of our family of foliated surfaces p Quite
generally a rigid curve of positive arithmetic genus in a smooth family of surfaces can
never be contracted to a point Therefore this would have been a counter-example
to any reasonable foliated canonical model theory one may wish to achieve Fortu-
nately such phenomenon does not happen and this establishes the Main Theorem I
modulo finitely many rigid curves confined in the singular fiber X0
IVII Invariant curves inside sing(F ) In this subsection we study curves Z0 subeXlowast cap sing(F ) which are inside the foliation singularity and invariant By this we
mean that there exists a sequence fn Cn rarrX of not necessarily algebraic invariant
curves converging in the compact-open topology to Z0 In other words the map
(30) NorF rarr Ω1Z0
is trivial By Corollary IIIIII5 we know that Z0 is at worst nodal it is smooth
wherever p is smooth for every point z isin Z0 the semi-simple part of the gener-
ating vector field has exactly one eigenvalue The problem here is that the Jordan
decomposition need not extend uniformly along Z0 not even along an irreducible
component In case ni (1)a the functions x and g may develop essential singulari-
ties arbitrary close to z Nonetheless the function x is unique and this says that x
does extend along Z0
Proposition IVII1 Let Z0 be as above Then in a formal neighborhood of Z0
there exists a unique smooth invariant hypersurface D0 containing Z0 which restricts
around any point in Z0 to the unique eigenfunction for the semi-simple field whose
eigenvalue is non-zero
Proof The local structure of the foliation around a point z isin Z0 is described by
cases ni (1)a and ni (1)b In both cases partS has one non-zero eigenvalue with
eigenfunction x Such eigenfunction x is a-priori only defined in the normal bundle to
Z0 but it is clear that the equation partx = x has a unique up to constants solution in
the formal completion around z As such there exists a unique smooth hypersurface
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 41
D0 in the formal completion around Z0 which restricts to the eigenfunction x around
z
Observe that the previous argument goes through since we are assuming Z0 subX0
Keeping notations from case ni (1)a if say g(y z) = yz then in the hypersurface
y equiv q isin Qgt0 the foliation has a log-canonical singularity and the eigenfunction x
extends highly non-uniquely to a formal neighborhood of the point (x y z) = (0 q 0)
In particular the existence of D0 as in the previous Proposition might fail along
the component (x = z = 0) of the foliation singularity This phenomenon is called
the beast
Anyway uniqueness in the previous proposition yields
Corollary IVII2 Let Z prime be a connected invariant curve inside sing(F ) Then in
a formal neighborhood of Z prime there exists a unique smooth invariant hypersurface D prime
containing Z prime which restricts around any point in Z prime to the hypersurface constructed
in the previous proposition
Next we turn to the intrinsic structure of invariant singular curves
Proposition IVII3 Let Z0 be an irreducible invariant curve inside sing(F )
Then Z0 is smooth and rational
Proof We work in a formal neighborhood of Z0 Let F0 denote the unique component
of X0 containing Z0 For any other fiber component F intersecting Z0 non-trivially
blow-up the invariant curve F cap F0 with exceptional divisor EF A straightforward
computation using the local formula ni (1)b shows that the fiber of the natural
projection EF rarr F cap F0 intersecting Z0 is also contained in sing(F ) For Z prime the
maximal connected singular invariant curve containing Z0 let G denote the saturated
foliation induced on D prime It is canonical with reduced singularities and it satisfies
KG = KF |Dprime minus Zprime By adjunction
(31) 2g(Z0)minus 2 + sZG(Z0) = minusZ prime middot Z0
Observe that thanks to our initial sequence of blow-ups the singularities of G along
Z0 coincide with the intersection of Z0 and Z prime Z0 In particular since D prime is formally
42 FEDERICO BUONERBA
flat over ∆ we deduce Z prime middot Z0 = 0 and the previous formula becomes
(32) 2g(Z0)minus 2 + sZG(Z0) = 0
This implies that Z0 is rational or elliptic If Z0 were elliptic then sZG(Z0) = 0 and
D0 defines an invariant elliptic curve in the general fiber of p By Baum-Bott this
contradicts that KF is big and nef Now we show that Z0 is smooth If it has a node
then D0 moves it in a family of nodal rational curves flat over ∆ In particular D0
itself has a node in codimension 1 hence Xlowast is smooth around the node of Z0 In its
formal neighborhood the foliation must be as in case ni (1)a which implies that
Z0 is smooth contradiction
We can improve as follows
Proposition IVII4 Let Z prime sube sing F capXlowast be a connected invariant curve with
KF middot Z prime = 0 Then its dual graph is a chain
Proof Assume Z prime is a cycle Then necessarily Z prime = D prime capXlowast scheme-theoretically
and by the existence of Hilbert scheme Z prime moves in the general fiber Its general
member is either a cycle of smooth rational curves or an elliptic curve Arguing as
in the previous proof we see that both options are impossible
V Configurations
In this section we analyze in great detail all possible configurations of invariant
curves along which KF vanishes These can be divided into three groups those
that do not move those that move in a one-dimensional family covering a surface
those that move in a higher-dimensional family covering a surface Curves in the first
group can form rather complicated configurations while those in the second group
are more simple they either move in the general fiber or they cover an isolated
Riccati component in the singular fiber Those in the third group turn out to be
represented by the two rulings of P1timesP1 if they happen to be cohomologous in the
ambient stack First we will analyze rigid curves then those which move and finally
we will describe their configurations
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 43
VI Configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially In
this subsection we describe configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF
trivially which arise in the situation described by set-up IIVII4
First we focus on KF -nil curves At the end of the section we deal with the simpler
case in which a curve in the configuration is fully contained in sing(F ) The general
fiber was handled in Proposition IVI6
Proposition VI1 Let C be a connected KF -nil curve contained in the smooth
locus of a fiber of p Then it is a chain or a cycle and it moves in a family flat over
∆
In what follows we let C denote a connected KF -nil curve contained in the
singular fiber X0 all of whose sub-curves are rigid in X Observe a consequence of
equation 23
Proposition VI2 Let C = cupiCi be a connected KF -nil curve Then the eigen-
values of partS are all rational at every point of sing(F )capC if and only if they are all
rational at one point
We can deduce many non-trivial properties about configurations of KF -nil curves
First we need
Definition VI3 Let C subX0 be a curve It is called double if there exists formally
around C two components F F prime of X0 such that C = F cap F prime A point lowast isin C where
three fiber components intersect is called a triple point If C lies on exactly one fiber
component it is called non-double We denote by F (C) such component
Remark VI4 Let Csimminusrarr P1(d e) be double with two triple points Then we know
e+ λ+ micro = minusd+ (λ+ n) + (micro+m) = 0 whence we obtain
(33) n+m = d+ e
Which is called triple-point formula
Next we show that essentially KF -nil curves do not form cycles unless something
deforms in X0 First we show that there are no cycles of rigid non-double curves
44 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proposition VI5 Let C be a connected KF -nil curve contained in the singular
fiber X0 of p Assume that every component of C is non-double and that every
sub-curve is rigid Then C contains no cycles
Proof We work in a formal neighborhood of C which we assume is a cycle Let
us first consider the case in which all components C1 middot middot middot CN are smooth with no
orbifold points and denote lowasti = Ci cap Ci+1 with CN+1 = C1 Moreover let us
assume no lowasti lies in the smooth locus of p
Since no curve is double the semi-simple field at every lowasti is as in case i (3)b in
particular the eigenvalues along the branches of Ci and Ci+1 add up to zero More-
over let minusni denote the self-intersection of Ci sub F (Ci) Normalize the eigenvalues
of partS so that at lowastn they are 1 in the C1 direction minus1 in the CN direction λ in the
F (C1)capF (CN) direction It follows by induction that at lowasti the eigenvalues are minus1
in the Ci direction 1 in the Ci+1 direction λ+ n1 + middot middot middot+ ni in the F (Ci) cap F (Ci+1)
direction After traveling around the cycle we obtain n1+middot middot middot+nN = 0 contradicting
that ni gt 0 for every i
We established the Proposition assuming every Ci is an embedded scheme and ev-
ery lowasti is in the singular locus of p The case in which Cisimminusrarr P1(di ei) has orbifold
points is analogous we end up with a combination c1n1 + middot middot middot + cNnN = 0 with ci
the eigenvalue at lowasti in the Ci+1 direction Normalizing so that c1 = e1 gt 0 again by
induction on i we see that every ci isin Qgt0 Next we show that our assumption on lowastiis always satisfied
Claim VI6 Every lowasti must belong to the singular locus of p
Proof We give two essentially equivalent proofs
bull If N = 2 3 then the previous argument goes through indeed we can normal-
ize eigenvalues at lowasti to be negative in the Ciminus1 direction and positive in the
Ci-direction and argue as above Hence we can assume N ge 4 If say lowasti is in
the smooth locus of p then F (Ci) = F (Ci+1) If also F (Ciminus1) = F (Ci) then Ci
lies in the smooth locus of p and hence it moves Therefore F (Ciminus1) 6= F (Ci)
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 45
and Ciminus1 can be flopped inside F (Ci) Since N ge 4 this preserves the smooth-
ness of F (Ci) and Ci is now is the smooth locus of p - contradiction
bull If lowasti belongs to the smooth locus of p then the end through lowasti moves We
can form a partial net completion fi Xi rarrX by normalizing C in lowasti only
Then f lowasti C is a chain with movable ends and hence moves in the general fiber
of p fi
Finally the general case in which some among the Ci have cusps can be easily
reduced to the smooth case in a couple of ways
bull Eigenvalues at the singularities of any KF -nil curve satisfy the same relations
as in the smooth case
bull Upon taking roots and net completion we can find a foliated formal 3-fold
supported on a cycle of smooth KF -nil curves which is a ramified cover of a
formal neighborhood of our cycle
Similarly we can show that there are no rigid cycles of double curves
Proposition VI7 Let C be a nodal KF -nil curve which is double Then C
deforms inside X0 In particular there cannot exist a rigid cycle of KF -nil double
curves
Proof Following the previous notation we have 0 = infin and if C = (xy = z = 0)
around 0 then we have identities
(34) x = η y = ξ z = ζ
The last one of which implies m = 0 that is C deforms Since C is double necessarily
the surface it spans must be contained in X0
The statement about cycles follows since a cycle of double curves can be transformed
after finitely many flops into a chain of smooth double curves with a nodal one
attached at one end
46 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Later on we will show that the deformations of C cannot span an elliptic surface
but only a family of nodal rational curves with a special Riccati foliation on it
We are ready to organize a detailed description of the dual graph of C More pre-
cisely we only need to understand how double curves intersect non-double curves
Lemma VI8 There exists a sequence of flops X 99KX + such that if C + denotes
the transform of C every double curve supported on C + contains two triple points
Proof Let C sube C be an irreducible component with at most one triple point and
let X 99K X + be its flop Then its transform C+ is non-double and the number
of double curves contained in C descreases It is clear that after finitely many flops
all double curves contain exactly two triple points
From now on all double curves in C have two triple points Thanks to proposition
VI2 we know that there are two cases to consider those curves along which the
semi-simple field has not only rational eigenvalues and those along which the semi-
simple field has only rational eigenvalues The first case being strictly easier than
the second it is a good starting place to warm up
Proposition VI9 (irrational eigenvalues) Assume that for every foliation singu-
larity along C not all eigenvalues of partS are rational Then every component of C
is net with at most one node and 1-skeleton of its dual graph is at worst trivalent
Write C = C axes cup C free where
C axes is the union of double curves
C free is the union of non-double curves
Then one among C axes and C free is empty Moreover
bull If C free is non-empty then it is a chain of smooth curves with rational moduli
bull If C axes is non-empty there exists a sequence of flops X 99KX + and an ir-
reducible component of the fiber FC subX + such that X + is a smooth stack
the transform C+ of C is contained in FC Moreover the dual graph of C+
is a tree which by [McQ08 III32] becomes a chain inside the normalization
of FC
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 47
Proof The first sentence is just corollary IIIIII3
Observe that if a non-double curve intersects a double curve then the non-double
curve must be contained in an LC-center around such intersection This contradicts
that not all eigenvalues are rational and establishes that one among C axes and C free
is empty
In case C free is not empty then it is clearly a chain or a cycle the latter being
impossible by Proposition VI5
We are left to show the existence of flops in case C = C axes We remark that
every component is smooth Let C0 be such a component and S0 a component of
X0 containing it Let C1 be the collection of irreducible components of C which
intersect S0 but are not contained in it All the components of C1 are smooth hence
we can flop them in any order until the transform of C1 lies in the transform of S0
Since the number of irreducible components of C lying outside S0 decreases after
such flop by induction we deduce the existence of finitely many flops after which
the birational transform of C is fully contained in the transform of S0
Next we take care of rational eigenvalues The complication here arises from
the fact that there may be double and non-double curves intersecting each other
However the situation is best possible
Proposition VI10 (rational eigenvalues) Assume that for every foliation singu-
larity along C all eigenvalues of partS are rational Write C = C axes cup C free where
C axes is the union of double curves
C free is the union of non-double curves
Then there exists a sequence of flops X 99K X + and an irreducible component of
the fiber FC axes subX + such that
bull X + is a smooth stack
bull The union of double curves of C axes is contained in FC axes the 1-skeleton of
its dual graph is a tree and each of its components has two triple points
bull The 1-skeleton of the dual graph of the transform C free+ is a disjoint union of
trees
bull Each connected component of C free+ intersects C axes in exactly one point
48 FEDERICO BUONERBA
In particular the 1-skeleton of the dual graph of C is a tree
Proof Notice that for every point lowast isin C cap Z there exists one LC-center through lowastIndeed there are three rational eigenvalues and they cannot be all non-vanishing and
all with different signs at the same time Now C axes can be treated as in proposition
VI9 This proves the first two items of the statement The third item follows from
Proposition VI5 so we can focus on the fourth one The proof is based on the
following obvious
Remark VI11 let C be a double curve such that either it is KF -nil hence has
two triple points or it is fully contained in sing(F ) Let C0 sube C free intersect C
non-trivially in a point lowast then necessarily C0 sub LClowast
Now let C0 middot middot middot CN form a chain of non-double curves with C0 and CN both
intersecting double curves as in the remark Denote by lowasti = Ci cap Ci+1 Since
C1 sub LClowast necessarily C1 is transverse to LClowast1 otherwise C1 would deform in F (C1)
Inductively we see that Ci+1 sub LClowasti and is transverse to LClowasti+1 In particular CN
cannot touch a double curve This contradiction proves the fourth item
Let us add a remark about configurations featuring invariant curves inside sing(F )
Proposition VI12 Let C be an invariant curve with KF middot C = 0 such that
Z0 sube C for some component Z0 sube sing(F ) Then C = Z prime cup C where
Z prime is a connected invariant curve inside the foliation singularity with dual graph a
chain
C is the union of at most two pairwise disjoint KF -nil curves with anti-ample
normal bundle
If not empty C can only intersect Z prime at the two ends of its dual graph Moreover
perhaps after a flop the intersection of C with Z prime supports the foliation singularity
along C As such if C has two components Z prime cup C deforms in the general fiber
Proof The structure of Z prime is Proposition IVII3 while that of Co is Proposition
IVI6 Let C prime be a component of C intersecting Z0 in a point lowast If C prime and Z0 belong
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 49
to different components of X0 then by case ni (1)b the eigenvalue of partS along C prime
vanishes so supp(sing(F ) cap C prime) = lowast If C prime and Z0 belong to the same component
then we can flop C prime into a different component
Observe that the divisor D prime from op cit can be extended along C prime This implies
that C can only intersect Z prime at its ends Moreover if C touches both ends necessarily
D prime capX0 = C scheme-theoretically hence by the existence of Hilbert scheme IVI5
we conclude
Our new set-up is
Set-up VI13 Everything as in set-up IIVII4 and moreover for any connected
invariant curve C with KF middot C = 0 all of whose sub-curves are rigid we have
configurations computed in proposition VI9 VI10 and Lemma VI12
VII Configurations of non-rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
In this subsection we describe configurations of surfaces which are covered by KF -nil
curves The structure of each such surface is described by classification IIV1 IIV2
and Corollary IIVI17 Our first step is to simplify the situation by contracting
chains of ruled surfaces The next step is to try and exclude the possibility that
the singular fiber of p contains fibrations by elliptic or nodal rational curves with
at least one invariant fiber This can be achieved with good success indeed there
may be at most one such Riccati foliation which is anyway rather isolated from the
remaining KF -nil curves Finally we observe that the only class of surfaces we have
not mentioned is
Definition VII1 A irreducible component F of the singular fiber of p is called
small Kronecker if
bull (FFF ) is birational to a Kronecker vector field on P1 timesP1 and
bull The two rulings of this P1 timesP1 are cohomologous inside X
The name comes from the fact that contraction of a small Kronecker yields a node
in the ambient threefold which admits a small resolution In fact in many respects
these fiber components behave very much like rigid KF -nil curves
50 FEDERICO BUONERBA
We start by getting rid of some fiber components which are ruled by KF -nil gener-
ically smooth rational curves
Proposition VII2 Notation as in Set-up VI13 there exists a sequence of flops
and divisorial contractions c X 99KX + such that
bull X + is a smooth stack
bull let S+ sub X + be an irreducible invariant divisor that contains a positive-
dimensional family of invariant rational curves along which KF+ vanishes
Then S+ is either birationally ruled by nodal rational curves or it is a small
Kronecker
Proof We focus first on contracting components of the singular fiber of p Consider
the following algorithm If there is no birationally ruled component different from
the ones listed in the second item we are done otherwise pick one such F and let
C denote the general member of the ruling If the cohomology class [C] is inde-
composable F is minimal Otherwise [C] = [C1] + [C2] where Ci are rational and
intersect KF trivially After finitely many steps we have a decomposition as a finite
sum of indecomposables [C] =sumn
i=0 ni[Ci] where every Ci is rational intersects KF
trivially We have two cases
bull There exists k such that Ck deforms in a birationally ruled necessarily min-
imal surface Fk
bull Every Ci has anti-ample normal bundle
In the first case denote by X rarr X1 the contraction of Fk along |Ck| and relpace
X by X1 Since Fk is minimal smoothness of the ambient stack is preserved unless
Fk is a small Kronecker This is however impossible if n ge 2 if Fk were a small
Kronecker then Ck deforms away from Fkminus1 so then Fkminus1 middot Ck = 0 on the other
hand Fkminus1 intersects the other ruling of Fk positively
In the second case flop C1 middot middot middot Cn in this order The transform of F is minimal and
not a small Kronecker so it can be contracted along its ruling preserving ambient
smoothness By induction on the Picard rank of X after finitely many steps this
algorithm ends Call X the output of this algorithm
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 51
Let S subX be an invariant divisor with a generically smooth ruling Then pS S rarr∆ is flat and after flopping finitely many rational curves in S cap plowastS(0) the resulting
pS is smooth Hence we can contract S along pS After finitely many steps the
Proposition is proven
For ease of notation in the sequel we call X the output of the previous proposition
Notice that there might still be divisors carrying a pencil of nodal rational curves
both inside and outside the singular fiber of p
We can start analyzing configurations of fiber components where the restriction of
F is not of general type We need some notation whose reason to exist will be clear
shortly
Definition VII3 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
along which KF is not big F is called special Riccati if
bull F is minimal
bull There exists a morphism s F rarr B onto a curve whose fibers are nodal
rational curve
bull F is transverse to the general fiber of s in particular KF is numerically
trivial along s
bull At least one fiber of s is invariant
bull There exists a section σ of s which is invariant and does not coincide with
the nodal locus of F
In particular the intersections of σ with invariant fibers of s isolated singularities
of F the node of F all coincide There may be fibers of s fully contained in sing(F )
in which case they are everywhere transverse to the saturated foliation
The definition looks nasty but special Riccati components have a rather simple
origin as the following proof shows
Lemma VII4 Let F be special Riccati Up to base change by an etale double cover
Bprime rarr B there is a natural isomorphism F norm simminusrarr BprimetimesP1 and the restriction of F
to F norm is birational to the projection onto P1
52 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proof We work over the normalization F norm Denote by Bprime the pre-image of the
node of F which is an etale double cover of B and let f denote an invariant fiber
of s with lowast = σ cap f Observe that F norm carries a Riccati foliation with 3 invariant
curves through lowast - namely σ f and a component of Bprime Hence FF has a log-canonical
singularity in lowast On F norm perform a weighted blow-up in each log-canonical singu-
larity followed by the contraction of the transforms of the corresponding fibers Let
s+ F+ rarr B denote the output of this operation If the proper transform of Bprime is
connected replace F+ by its base change under Bprime rarr B Hence we can assume Bprime
is the disjoint union of two sections of s+ and the transform of σ is a third section
which is disjoint from Bprime Therefore F+ = P1 timesBprime and the foliation restricts to the
projection onto P1
Next we describe those surfaces which cannot appear as components of the sin-
gular fiber X0
Definition VII5 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
along which KF is not big F is called illusory if
bull there exists a morphism t F rarr B onto a curve
bull KF is trivial along t
bull For any other fiber component F prime the intersection F cap F prime is either empty or
contained in a fiber of t
We give examples of illusory fiber components
Lemma VII6 The following fiber components are necessarily illusory
bull t is elliptic the foliation is either parallel to t or turbolent with at least one
invariant fiber
bull t is a nodal ruling the foliation is either parallel to t or transverse to t with
at least one invariant fiber and not birational to a special Riccati VII3
Proof Let f = F cap F prime for some fiber component F prime It is F -invariant
Assume t and F are parallel and f is transverse to both Then necessarily f subesing(F ) and KF is positive along the fibers of t contradiction
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 53
Assume t and F are generically transverse and f is transverse to t Let e be an
invariant fiber of t then ecap f isin sing(F ) hence t must be a family of nodal rational
curves and ecapf coincides with the node of e - otherwise KF would be positive along
t But this implies F is special Riccati contradiction
We proceed to show that illusory fibers do not exist
Lemma VII7 Let F be an illusory fiber component then every fiber of t is irre-
ducible If F prime is any fiber component intersecting F non-trivially then F prime is illusory
Proof Assume t has a reducible fiber f Then we can write f = f prime cup f primeprime where f prime
is irreducible and f primeprime is a disjoint union of chains of rational curves In particular
every subscheme supported on f primeprime is rigid in X f prime is rational and smooth iff f is a
cycle of rational curves hence the foliation on F is parallel to t and the choice of f prime
is not unique otherwise f prime is nodal or elliptic Let X 99KX + denote the flop of the
irreducible components of f primeprime in any order The proper transform f prime+ (below in red)
is the irreducible fiber of the induced morphism t+ F+ rarr B Since f primeprime+ intersects
f prime+ and is not contained in F+ there exists a component F prime of the fiber of p+ such
that F+ cap f prime+ 6= empty Since F+ is illusory necessarily F+ cap F prime = f prime+ Moreover F+
and F prime are the only fiber components intersecting f prime+ again because F+ is illusory
We deduce that F+ middot f prime+ = F prime middot f prime+ = 0 and therefore f prime+ is nef inside F prime It follows
that he restriction of F+ to F prime is not of general type and by the classification of
foliated surfaces [McQ08] necessarily f prime+ deforms inside F prime and defines a fibration
u F prime rarr Bprime In particular f prime+ is an irreducible fiber of u This is however impossible
since u contracts all the components of f primeprime+ contained in F prime (below in blue) and by
definition of F prime there exists at least one such component This proves that every
fiber of t is irreducible The following depicts the situation
F prime F+
f prime+
f primeprime+
t+u
54 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Concerning the second statement we only need to check the third condition for F prime
to be illussory namely that every other fiber component F primeprime intersecting F prime does
so along the fibers of u If F primeprime intersects F prime transversely to u then F primeprime intersects F
non-trivially and transversely to t as well absurd
Corollary VII8 Illusory components do not exist
Proof By the above lemma the existence of one illusory component implies that
every irreducible component of the singular fiber of p is illusory contradicting that
KF is big
We can now focus on fiber components that do appear
Corollary VII9 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
containing an invariant curve C which moves and such that KF middot C = 0 Then
following the classification [McQ08] we have two cases
(1) The minimal model of F is a special Riccati component
(2) F is a small Kronecker
Proof Certainly the ones listed are the only cases where C is KF -nil We have to
exclude the possibility that C is invariant inside sing(F ) By Proposition IVII3
such C would be rational with at most one node Since we already contracted at
the beginning of the present subsection all ruled surfaces necessarily C is nodal
However by opcit C cannot intersect any other fiber component of X0 which
implies the absurdity that X0 = F
We proceed to show that special Riccati components are rather isolated in the
fiber
Lemma VII10 Let F be a special Riccati component If F prime is a fiber component
intersecting F non-trivially then it does so transversely to s Morover there is
exactly one such F prime
Proof After finitely many flops we can assume that every fiber of s is irreducible
By the non-existence of illusory components there exists a fiber component F lowast with
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 55
σprime = F cap F prime transverse to s If F primeprime is a fiber component with f = F cap F primeprime a fiber
of s then we claim f sube sing(F ) If not then since KF middot f = 0 and σprime is invariant
necessarily σprimecap f is the node of f But then the existence of F primeprime contradicts that p is
snc Hence f sube sing(F ) so then around the node of f there are 3 fiber components -
two branches coming from F one from F primeprime - and sing(F ) has 2 branches - namely f
This is impossible by our case analysis ni (1)c ni (2)c The very same reasoning
establishes the uniqueness of F prime
Lemma VII11 Let F be as in the previous Lemma If C is a connected curve
with KF middot C = 0 then it is disjoint from F
Proof After finitely many flops s is irreducible and C intersects F transversely away
from its node Moreover lowast = C cap F isin sing(F ) and we deduce that the fiber of s
through lowast is fully contained in the singular locus of F This contradicts Proposition
IVII3 since such fiber is nodal
We conclude by observing the obvious
Lemma VII12 Let F be a small Kronecker Then there exists a contraction
c X rarr X prime which is an isomorphism away from F and contracts F along one
of its rulings Necessarily X prime is not projective since every global Cartier divisor
intersects c(F ) trivially On the other hand in a formal neighborhood of c(F ) there
exist Cartier divisors intersecting it non-trivialliy
As such the contribution coming from non-rigid curves is rather poor there are
curves moving in the general fiber there are special Riccati components disjoint from
any other invariant curve intersecting KF trivially there are small Kroneckers who
can be contracted to curves We shall see in the next section that the complications
arising from the contraction of such non-rigid curves is purely psychological and
totally harmless
56 FEDERICO BUONERBA
VI Contractions and proof of the Main Theorem
In this section we contract all invariant curves along which KF is zero thereby
establishing the existence of canonical models I First we contract non-rigid curves
as described in the previous subsection
bull Small Kroneckers along either ruling Albeit this destroys projectivity of
the ambient threefold there still exist Cartier divisors defined in a formal
neighborhood of the base curve that intersect it non-trivially
bull Families of irreducible nodal rational curves which are flat over ∆ This
creates elliptic singularities on the general fiber of p which are disjoint from
other invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
bull Special Riccati again families of irreducible nodal rational curves fully con-
tained in X0 This creates elliptic singularities disjoint from other invariant
curves intersecting KF trivially
We can summarize our situation by way of
Set-up VI1 X is a 3-dimensional DM stack with at worst elliptic singularities
F a foliation by curves with canonical singularities which is not Q-Cartier in a
neighborhood of Xsing
There exists a proper morphism p X rarr ∆ smooth off 0 isin ∆ F restricts to a
foliation on every fiber of p it has canonical singularities on the very general fiber
of p and log-canonical singularities on every fiber of p KF is big and nef on every
irreducible component of every fiber of p
Let C be the invariant sub-scheme along which KF is not big then C is a curve
fully contained in the smooth locus X0capXsmooth every sub-curve of C has anti-ample
normal bundle the 1-simplex of its dual graph is a tree and detailed configurations
of such are referenced in set-up VI13
We proceed to contract such C We assume that along C the semi-simple field has
only rational eigenvalues and moreover no component of C is inside the foliation
singularity The other two cases - irrational eigenvalues and presence of singular
component - are strictly easier and can be obtained with the very same method
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 57
The proof takes place in the formal completion around C = C free cup C axes The
former is a disjoint union of trees of non-double curves For each non-double C let
F (C) denote the unique component of X0 containing it The latter is a tree of double
curves each with two triple points all contained in the same irreducible FC axes Each
tree of non-double curves touches C axes in one point through a LC-center In order
to construct the contraction we will use Artinrsquos celebrated criterion in the following
form
Fact VI1 ([Ar70]) Let X be an irreducible algebraic space i Y rarr X a closed
subspace of pure codimension 1 and f Y rarr Y0 a proper morphism with flowastOY = OY0
Let X denote the formal completion of X along Y and assume there exists a Cartier
divisor D in X which is supported on Y and is f -anti-ample Then there exists a
proper morphism of algebraic spaces F X rarr X0 which is an isomorphism away
from Y and such that ilowastF = f
Now we use the tree structure of C to construct a suitable divisor to which apply
Artinrsquos theorem Namely consider the following inductive defintion
(35) C0 = C axes F0 = FC axes
For k ge 0 assume Ck Fk are defined
bull Let Ck+1 denote the union of irreducible components of C that intersect Fk
non-trivially but are not contained in cupilekFibull Let Fk+1 denote the reduced sum (
sumCsubeCk+1
F (C))red
This process stops with a collection C1 middot middot middotCN of curves and F1 middot middot middot FN of reduced
divisors
Lemma VI1 We have the following identities
(36)
Fk middot C lt 0 for every C sube Ck
(F0 + F1) middot C le 0 for every C sube C0
(Fkminus1 + Fk + Fk+1) middot C = 0 for every C sube Ck 1 lt k lt N
(FNminus1 + FN) middot C lt 0 for every C sube CN
58 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proof The first is just the fact that every component of C is rigid The remaining
three follow from X0 middot C = 0 but the last one requires further justification Indeed
if C sube CN N gt 0 then C is one end of a tree of non-double curves In particular
there exists a foliation singularity lowast isin C disjoint from any other component of
C and LClowast is transverse to C This implies LClowast middotC gt 0 which together with
(FNminus1 + FN + LClowast) middot C = 0 concludes the proof
Let ε1 middot middot middot εN isin Qgt0 and define
(37) F Nminusk = (1 + ε1 + middot middot middot+ εk)FNminusk
bull If C sube CN we have
(38) (F Nminus1 + F
N) middot C = ε1FNminus1 middot C + (FNminus1 + FN) middot C
bull If C sube CNminusk 1 lt k lt N we have
(39)
(F Nminuskminus1 + F
Nminusk + F Nminusk+1) middot C =
(1 + middot middot middot+ εk)(FNminuskminus1 + FNminusk + FNminusk+1) middot C minus εkFNminusk+1 middot C + εk+1FNminuskminus1 middot C =
minus εkFNminusk+1 middot C + εk+1FNminuskminus1 middot C
bull If C sube C0 we have
(40) (F 0 + F
1) middot C = εNF0 middot C + (Nminus1sumj=0
εj)(F0 + F1) middot C
It is clear that provided
(41) 1 gtgt ε1 gtgt middot middot middot gtgt εN
the divisor F =sumF k is negative along every component of C
This proves the existence of the contraction and concludes the proof of the Main
Theorem I
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 59
VII Moduli space of foliated surfaces of general type
In this section we study the modular variation of foliated surfaces of general type
The upshot is that it is possible to define a functor which is representable separated
and every irreducible component is proper The main issue here is that the supporting
surface of a foliated canonical model may well fail to be projective indeed KF is not
Q-Gorenstein in general Hence in order to proceed via standard methods [Ko17]
we have to parametrize our canonical models together with a suitable projective
resolution
Definition VII13 Let (SF ) be a foliated proper reduced purely 2-dimensional
DM stack Assume S has only normal crossing singularities in codimension 1 that
F has log-canonical foliation singularities and that KF is big and nef on at least
one of the irreducible components of S If whenever KF middot C = 0 for some curve C
then C moves in an irreducible component of S and no member of such deformation
is F -invariant then (SF ) is called foliated canonical model of general type
Clearly foliated canonical models are exactly the stable degenerations appearing
as the central fiber of our Main Theorem I Their lack of projectivity has two sources
namely the contraction of cycles of smooth KF -nil curves and of trees of cuspidal
ones Singularities arising from cycles behave well in families namely they always
deform into the general fiber Those arising from cuspidal curves on the other hand
tend to be rather isolated inside the degenerate fiber
Observe that the deformation theory of a foliated surface is rather simple suppose
given an infinitesimal C-algebras extension 0 rarr J rarr Ae rarr A rarr 0 and (SF )
a foliated surface flat over Spec(A) then the obstruction to lifting to Ae can be
understood in three simple steps
(1) Deformation of the underlying surface S once a deformation Se rarr Spec(Ae)
is given
(2) Deformation of the line bundle KF by the exponential sequence
(42) 0rarr J otimes OS rarr OlowastSerarr OlowastS rarr 0
obstructions lie in H2(SOS)otimes J once a deformation of KF is given
60 FEDERICO BUONERBA
(3) Deformation of the defining section OS rarr KF otimes TS obstructions lie in
H1(SKF otimes TS)otimes J
Now we have
Definition VII14 Let (SF ) be a foliated canonical model of general type A
proper birational morphism q (SF )proj rarr (SF ) is called its projective resolution
if
bull Every irreducible component of Sproj is smooth
bull The exceptional locus of q is a disjoint union of cycles of KFproj-nil smooth
curves and trees of KFproj-nil curves each of which has a non-trivial cuspidal
singularity
bull In a neighborhood of every q-exceptional cycle not only Sproj but also its
moduli space is smooth
We need a few remarks about projective resolutions
(1) Projective resolutions are always unique Indeed the only possible ambiguity
could lie in some extra smooth irreducible components in the exceptional
locus This is forbidden by definition in the trees of cuspidal curves it is
also forbidden by way of the third item in cycles of smooth ones ie on
algebraic surfaces the minimal resolution is unique
(2) Denote by E the collection of q-exceptional cycles Then there exist ε δ isinQgt0 such that KFproj
minus εE + δKSprojis ample by Nakai-Moishezon
(3) Deformations of a projective resolution of a foliated canonical model are
canonically identified with deformations of the underlying birational mor-
phism q Sproj rarr S followed by a deformation of the foliation F
We are now ready to construct a moduli functor for foliated surfaces more precisely
for projective resolutions of foliated canonical models of general type For m dN isinN and ε δ isin Qgt0 let
(43) MmdNεδ (C-schemes)rarr (sets)
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 61
be defined by MmdNεδ(S) = Diagrams
(44) (X F )projqminusrarr (X F )
pminusrarr S
Where
bull Both p and p q are flat and proper
bull For every closed point s isin S the induced morphism qs is the projective
resolution of (X F )s which is a foliated canonical model of general type
bull Denote by Es the collection of exceptional cycles of qs By our Main Theorem
I there is a fibrewise divisor E subXproj flat over S restricting to Es for every
s isin S
bull Let j W rarr Xproj denote the maximal closed subscheme away from which
KFprojand KXprojS are locally free Then
(45) L [m] = (jlowast(KFprojotimes OXproj
(minusεE )otimesKδXprojS
)otimesm)oror
is flat over S and commutes with base-change
bull L [m] is very ample of degree d on every fiber and defines an embedding into
PNS
We are now ready for
Theorem VII15 The functor MmdNεδ is represented by a separated algebraic
space each of whose irreducible components is proper
Proof We show that our functor satisfies Artinrsquos conditions [Ar74 Corollary 54] By
definition condition 1) and 4) hold while our previous remark on foliated obstruction
theory shows that 3) is true
We proceed to show 2) namely effectivity of formal deformations for MmdNεδ
What follows owes much to Artinrsquos [A74rsquo] Let T be a complete C-algebra Tn its
n-truncation so that Tsimminusrarr limlarrminusTn and finally qn isinMmdNεδ(Spec(Tn)) a compatible
sequence For each n there is a maximal open set Un sube Xprojn where qn is an
isomorphism denote by sn Cn rarr Zn the restriction of qn to the complement of Un
Clearly sn is projective over Spec(Tn)
62 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Denote by X C etc the formal algebraic spaces obtained as limits of Xn Cn
etc Then Xproj sub PNˆSpec(T )
hence by Grothendieckrsquos existence Theorem we find
bull a flat projective family (X F )proj rarr Spec(T ) resp a closed subscheme
C subXproj whose completion is Xproj resp C
bull a scheme Z whose completion is Z and a morphism s C rarr Z everything
being projective over Spec(T )
Further we have a formal contraction limminusrarr qn C rarr Z hence the main theorem
of [Ar70] gives algebraic contraction (X F )proj rarr (X F ) This proves the repre-
sentability of MmdNεδ The properness and separability of each irreducible com-
ponent can be checked using valutative criteria indeed properness is the content of
our Main Theorem I separatedness follows from the uniqueness of foliated canonical
models of general type and their projective resolution
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wwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillahomehtml
[McQ98] M McQuillan Diophantine approximation and foliations Inst Hautes Etudes Sci
Publ Math 87 (1998) 121-174 httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafiles
ihespdf
[McQ05rsquo] M McQuillan Bloch hyperbolicity preprint httpwwwmatuniroma2it
~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ05] M McQuillan Semi-stable reduction of foliations IHES pre-print IHESM0502
(2005) httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ05rdquo] M McQuillan Uniform Uniformisation IHES pre-print (2005) IHES M0503 http
wwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ08] M McQuillan Canonical models of foliations Pure Appl Math Q 4
(2008) no 3 Special Issue In honor of Fedor Bogomolov Part 2 877-1012
httpintlpresscomsitepubfiles_fulltextjournalspamq20080004
0003PAMQ-2008-0004-0003-a009pdf
[MP13] M McQuillan D Panazzolo Almost etale resolution of foliations J Diff Geom 95
(2013) pp 279-319 httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesmp1bispdf
[Pe02] JV Pereira On the Poincare Problem for Foliations of General Type Mathematische
Annalen 323 no 2 pp217-226 2002 httpsarxivorgabsmath0104185
[PS16] JV Pereira R Svaldi Effective algebraic integration in bounded genus preprint
httpsarxivorgabs161206932
64 FEDERICO BUONERBA
[Re83] M Reid Minimal models of canonical threefolds in rdquoAlgebraic Varieties and Ana-
lytic Varietiesrdquo Adv Stud Pure Math vol 1 S Iitaka ed Kinokuniya and North-
Holland 1983 pp 131-180 httpwwwmathsedacukcheltsovquotientpdf
reid2pdf
[Se67] A Seidenberg Reduction of singularities of the differential equation Ady = Bdx Amer
J Math 89 (1967) 248-269 httpwwwjstororgstable2373435
[SB83] N Shepherd-Barron Degenerations with numerically effective canonical divisor The
Birational Geometry of Degenerations (R Friedman and D Morrison eds) Progr
Math no 29 Birkhuser 1983 pp 33-84
[Vis89] A Vistoli Intersection theory on algebraic stacks and on their moduli spaces
Invent Math (1989) pp 613-670 httplinkspringercomarticle101007
2FBF01388892page-1
Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences New York University 251 Mercer
Street New York NY 10012 USA
E-mail address buonerbacimsnyuedu
- I Introduction
- II Preliminaries
-
- III Operations on Deligne-Mumford stacks
- IIII Width of embedded parabolic champs
- IIIII Gorenstein foliation singularities
- IIIV Foliated adjunction
- IIV Canonical models of foliated surfaces with canonical singularities
- IIVI Canonical models of foliated surfaces with log-canonical singularities
- IIVII Set-up
-
- III Invariant curves and singularities local description
-
- IIII `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F) not isolated
- IIIII `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F) isolated
- IIIIII Local consequences
-
- IV Invariant curves along which KF vanishes
-
- IVI KF-nil curves
- IVII Invariant curves inside `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F)
-
- V Configurations
-
- VI Configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
- VII Configurations of non-rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
-
- VI Contractions and proof of the Main Theorem
- VII Moduli space of foliated surfaces of general type
- References
-
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 17
is equivalent to the one by powers of the maximal ideal and therefore OM is also
complete with respect to the FN -filtration
We will prove that if f isin I then fd isin I for every d
Let IN = (I + FN)FN Since OM is complete with respect to the FN -filtration
I = limlarrminus IN Therefore it is enough to show
Claim IIVI2 For every N gt 0 we have fd isin IN sub OMFN for all d lt N
Proof For every g isin IN denote by n(g) the unique integer such that g isin Fn(g) Fn(g)+1 (ie the minimal index d for which fd 6= 0) and by N(g) = N minus n(g)
We will prove the statement of the Claim by induction on N(f) If N(f) = 1 then
f = fNminus1 holds in OMFN and the statement is true If N(f) gt 1 we have part(f) =sumd d middot fd hence consider f1 = D(f)minus n(f)f =
sumdgtn(f)(dminus n(f))fd Tautologically
we have N(f1) lt N(f) and therefore fd isin IN for every d gt n(f) so then fn(f) =
f minussum
dgtn(f) fd isin IN as well
This implies that I is a homogeneous ideal and hence U is the germ of a cone over
a variety in the weighted projective space P(n1 nk)
Corollary IIVI3 If the germ U is normal then Y is normal If U is normal
of dimension 2 the weighted blow-up p U rarr U at the vertex of the cone has only
quotient singularities the exceptional divisor E(simminusrarr Y ) is smooth and everywhere
transverse to the induced foliation Moreover we have
(8) plowastKF = KF + E
Certainly the converse to Proposition IIVI1 fails even on surfaces indeed let
(X F ) be a Gorenstein foliated surface and let C sub X be a generic curve so
in particular smooth and not F -invariant We can assume perhaps after a finite
sequence of simple blow-ups along C that both X and F are smooth in a neigh-
borhood of C C and F are everywhere transverse and C2 lt 0
Proposition IIVI4 The formal contraction q X rarr X0 of C is isomorphic to
the cone over C the projected foliation F0 coincides with that by rulings on the cone
F0 is Q-Gorenstein if C rational or elliptic but not in general
18 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proof F0 is Q-Gorenstein if and only if the bundle KF (C) is trivial on the formal
completion of X along C The obstructions to lift the isomorphism OC(KF +C)simminusrarr
OC over infinitesimal neighborhoods of C lie in H1(C (1 minus n)C + KF ) for every
n isin N These groups vanish for every n isin N if 2g(C) minus 2 + C2 lt 0 (which is
always true for rational or elliptic curves) but do provide non-trivial obstructions in
general
We focus on the minimal model program for Gorenstein log-canonical foliations
on algebraic surfaces Let X be a DM stack of dimension 2 with projective moduli
and F a Gorenstein foliation with log-canonical singularities Denote by LC(F )
the set of points where F is log-canonical and not canonical and by Z the singular
sub-scheme of F We assume LC(F ) 6= empty since the empty case has been completely
settled Moreover we can assume that X is smooth outside LC(F ) Let f C rarrX
be a morphism from a 1-dimensional stack with trivial generic stabilizer such that
fminus1 LC(F ) 6= empty Since we will need them several times we formulate some technical
results
Lemma IIVI5 Let p X rarr X be the resolution of the log-canonical foliation
singularity intersecting C with exceptional divisor E Then
(9) KF middot C minus C middot E = KF middot C
Proof We have
(10) plowastC = C minus (C middot EE2)E
Intersecting this equation with equation 8 we obtain the result
This formula is important because it shows that passing from foliations with log-
canonical singularities to their canonical resolution increases the negativity of inter-
sections between invariant curves and the canonical bundle In fact the log-canonical
theory reduces to the canonical one after resolving the log-canonical singularities
Further we list some strong constraints given by invariant curves along which the
foliation is smooth
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 19
Fact IIVI6 [BB72 Baum-Bott] Let g C rarrX be an F -invariant curve missing
the foliation singularities Then C2 = NF middotg C = 0
Corollary IIVI7 Let g C rarr X be an F -invariant curve missing the foliation
singularities and such that KF middotg C lt 0 Then F is birationally a fibration by
rational curves
Proof By assumption KF middot C = minusχ(C) This together with Baum-Bott IIVI6
imply that KX middot C = minusχ(C) and from usual adjunction we get C2 = 0 Riemann-
Roch gives h0(X mC) ge 2 for m gtgt 0 so then |C| defines a fibration by rational
curves tangent to F
The rest of this subsection is devoted to the construction of minimal and canonical
models in presence of log-canonical singularities The only technique we use is
resolve the log-canonical singularities in order to reduce to the canonical case and
keep track of the exceptional divisor
We are now ready to handle the existence of minimal models
Theorem IIVI8 (Minimal models) Let X be a DM stack of dimension 2 with pro-
jective moduli and F a Gorenstein foliation with log-canonical singularities Then
either
bull F is birational to a fibration by rational curves or
bull There exist a birational contraction q X rarr X0 such that KF0 is nef
Moreover the exceptional curves of q donrsquot intersect LC(F )
Proof Let f be as above ie KF -negative and intersecting LC(F ) If f is not
F -invariant then KF middotC +C2 ge 0 so C moves and KF is not pseudo-effective We
conclude by foliated bend and break [BM16]
If f is F -invariant then foliated adjunction 6 implies that C is rational it intersects
the singular locus of F in exactly one point By Lemma IIVI5 after resolving the
log-canonical singularity KF middot C lt 0 and F is smooth along C We conlude by
Corollary IIVI7
20 FEDERICO BUONERBA
From now on we add the assumption that KF is nef and we want to analyze
those curves f satisfying KF middotf C = 0 By adjunction formula 6 we know that C
has rational moduli and fminus1Z is supported on two points
Remark IIVI9 If fminus1Z = fminus1 LC(F ) then F is birationally a fibration by ratio-
nal curves
Proof After resolving the log-canonical singularities of F along the image of C we
have KF middot C lt 0 and F smooth along C We conclude by Corollary IIVI7
Therefore we can assume that f satisfies the following condition
Definition IIVI10 An invariant curve f C rarr X is called log-contractible if
KF middot C = 0 and it intersects Z in two points one canonical and one log-canonical
not canonical
It follows that f(C) is everywhere unibranch but it might have a cusp in LC(F )
Definition IIVI11 A log-chain is a chain of invariant rational orbifolds C =
cupni=0Ci scheme-like outside the foliation singularities with KF middot C = 0 and such
that
bull C0 is log-contractible with lowast(C ) = C0 cap LC(F ) called the marking of C
bull Ci is disjoint from LC(F ) if i ge 1
There is a unique point t(C ) satisfying t(C ) isin Z cap (Cn Cnminus1) called the tail of
the log-chain
Proposition IIVI12 Let C1C2 be two log-chains intersecting non-trivially Then
lowast(C1) = lowast(C2) and C1 cap C2 = lowast(C1)
Proof It is enough to prove that the two log-chains cannot intersect in their tails
Replace X be the resolution of the at most two markings of the log-chains and Ci
by their proper transforms C1cupC2 = cupmi=0Ri is a connected chain of rational curves
intersecting Z outisde LC(F ) Moreover each of the two extremal curves R0 and
Rm intersects Z in one point only In particular KF middot Ri = 0 for i = 1 middot middot middot m minus 1
and KF middot Ri lt 0 for i = 0m Since we assumed F is not birational to a fibration
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 21
by rational curves there exists a contraction p X rarr X0 with exceptional curve
cupmminus1i=0 Ri However F0 is smooth along plowastRm so by adjunction formula KF0 middotplowastRm lt
0 and we find a contradiction by Corollary IIVI7
Corollary IIVI13 Let C be a maximal connected curve such that KF middotC = 0 and
C cap LC(F ) 6= empty Then C is a union of finitely many log-chains intersecting each
other in their common marking
The following shows a configuration of log-chains sharing the same marking col-
ored in black
We are now ready to state and prove the canonical model theorem in presence of
log-canonical singularities
Theorem IIVI14 (Canonical models) Let X be a proper DM stack of dimension
2 and F a foliation with isolated singularities Moreover assume that KF is nef
that every KF -nil curve is contained in a log-chain and that F is Gorenstein and
log-canonical in a neighborhood of every KF -nil curve Then either
bull There exists a birational contraction p X rarr X0 whose exceptional curves
are unions of log-chains If all the log-contractible curves contained in the log-
chains are smooth then F0 is Gorenstein and log-canonical If furthermore
X has projective moduli then X0 has projective moduli In any case KF0
is numerically ample
bull There exists a fibration p X rarr B over a curve whose fibers intersect
KF trivially Each F -invariant fiber of p intersecting LC(F ) is union of
mutually compatible log-chains
Proof If all the KF -nil curves can be contracted by a birational morphism we are in
the first case of the Theorem Else let C be a maximal connected curve withKF middotC =
0 and which is not contractible It is a union of pairwise compatible log-chains
22 FEDERICO BUONERBA
with marking lowast Replace (X F ) by the resolution of the log-canonical singularity
at lowast with exceptional divisor E Therefore F is Gorenstein and canonical in a
neighborhood of C cupE By equation 9 we have KF middotC = minusC middotE lt 0 and therefore
C can be contracted to a canonical foliation singularity Replace (X F ) by the
contraction of C We have a smooth curve E around which F is smooth and
nowhere tangent to E Moreover
(11) KF middot E = minusE2
And we distinguish cases
bull E2 gt 0 so KF is not pseudo-effective a contradiction
bull E2 lt 0 so the initial curve C is contractible a contradiction
bull E2 = 0 which we proceed to analyze
The following is what we need to handle the third case
Proposition IIVI15 Let (X F ) be a foliation with canonical singularities with
X a smooth 2-dimensional DM stack with projective moduli and KF nef If there
exists a smooth curve E everywhere transverse to F such that KF middot E = E2 = 0
then E moves in a pencil and defines a fibration p X rarr B onto a curve whose
fibers intersect KF trivially
Proof If KF has Kodaira dimension one then its linear system contains an effective
divisor and by Hodge index KF = cE as divisors for some c isin Q+ Hence there is
a fibration onto a curve with fiber E and F is transverse to it by assumption If
KF has Kodaira dimension zero we use the classification IIV1 in all cases but the
suspension over an elliptic curve E defines a product structure on the underlying
surface in the case of a suspension every section of the underlying projective bundle
is clearly F -invariant Therefore E is a fiber of the bundle
This concludes the proof of the Theorem
We remark that the second alternative in the above theorem is rather natural
let (X F ) be a foliation which is transverse to a fibration by rational or elliptic
curves ie a suspension over elliptic curve turbolent Riccati or isotrivial Pick a
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 23
general fiber E of the fibration and blow up any number of points on it The proper
transform E is certainly contractible By Proposition IIVI4 the contraction of E is
Gorenstein and log-canonical Moreover the fiber E has been replaced by a union of
compatible log-chains Note in particular that the number of log-chains appearing
is arbitrary
Corollary IIVI16 Let X be a proper DM stack of dimension 2 and F a Goren-
stein foliation with log-canonical singularities Assume that KF is big and pseudo-
effective Then there exists a birational morphism p X rarr X0 such that C is
exceptional if and only if KF middot C le 0 In particular KF0 is numerically ample
For future applications we spell out
Corollary IIVI17 Hypothesis as in Theorem IIVI14 assume further that X
is everywhere smooth Then in the second alternative of the theorem the fibration
p X rarr B is by rational curves
Proof Indeed in this case the curve E which appears in the proof above as the
exceptional locus for the resolution of the log-canonical singularity at lowast must be
rational By the previous Proposition p is defined by a pencil in |E|
IIVII Set-up In this subsection we prepare the set-up we will deal with in the
rest of the manuscript Briefly we want to handle the existence of canonical models
for a family of foliated surfaces parametrized by a one-dimensional base To this
end we will discuss the modular behavior of singularities of foliated surfaces with
Gorenstein singularities recall McQuillan-Panazzolorsquos resolution of foliation singu-
larities building on the existence of minimal models [McQ05] prepare the set-up
for the sequel
Let us begin with the modular behavior of Gorenstein singularities
Proposition IIVII1 Let (X F ) be a smooth DM stack with a foliation by
curves Assume there exists a flat proper morphism p X rarr C onto an algebraic
curve such that F restricts to a foliation on every fiber of p Then the set
(12) s isin C Fs is log-canonical
24 FEDERICO BUONERBA
is Zariski-open while the set
(13) s isin C Fs is canonical
is the complement to a countable subset of C lying on a real-analytic curve
Proof By Fact IIIII2 being log-canonical is equivalent to the linearized endomor-
phism part IZI2Z rarr IZI
2Z being non-nilpotent where Z is the singular sub-scheme
of the foliation Of course being non-nilpotent is a Zariski open condition The
second statement also follows from opcit since a log-canonical singularity which is
not canonical has linearization with all its eigenvalues positive and rational The
statement is optimal as shown by the vector field on A3xys
(14) part(s) =part
partx+ s
part
party
Next we recall the existence of a functorial canonical resolution of foliation singu-
larities for foliations by curves on 3-dimensional stacks
Fact IIVII2 [MP13] Let X = (XDF ) be a 3-dimensional DM stack with bound-
ary foliated by curves Then there exists a proper birational morphism Xprime rarr X such
that X prime is a smooth DM stack and F prime has only canonical foliation singularities
The original opcit contains a more refined statement including a detailed de-
scription of the claimed birational morphism
In order for our set-up to make sense we mention one last very important result
Fact IIVII3 [McQ05] Let X be a smooth DM stack with projective moduli and F
a foliation by curves with (log)canonical singularities Then there exists a birational
map X 99K Xm obtained as a composition of flips such that Xm is a smooth
DM stack with projective moduli the birational transform Fm has (log)canonical
singularities and one of the following happens
bull KFm is nef or
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 25
bull There exists a fibration Xm rarr B over a smooth base whose fibers are
weighted projective spaces such that Fm is tangent to the fibers and restricts
to a radial foliation on those
Finally we can organize our notation
Set-up IIVII4 (X F ) is a smooth 3-dimensional DM stack with projective mod-
uli F a foliation by curves with canonical singularities such that KF is big and nef
There exists a semi-stable morphism p X rarr ∆ whose moduli is projective onto
the (formal) unit disk F restricts to a foliation on every fiber of p it has canon-
ical singularities on the very general fiber of p and log-canonical singularities on
every fiber of p Our task from now on is to analyze and contract the maximal
foliation-invariant sub-scheme of X along which KF is not ample
III Invariant curves and singularities local description
In this section we give a complete decription of germs of invariant curves that
appear in the formal completion of any point in the set-up IIVII4 Let us replace
X by its formal completion in a point lowast where the foliation is singular F is defined
by a vector field part with Jordan decomposition partS + partN see the end of subsection
IIIII Since [partS partN ] = 0 partN preserves the eigenspaces of partS Moreover the fact that
F is tangent to p translates into
(15) partS(p) = partN(p) = 0
The description of invariant germs of curves through lowast will be achieved via case-by-
case analysis organized by computing what happens for all possible combinations
of the following informations whether the singular locus Z is isolated at lowast the
number of eigenvalues of partS the number of components of the fiber through p
IIII sing(F ) not isolated
ni (1) partS has one eigenvalue
bull We have partS = x partpartx
and partN = f partparty
+ g partpartz
for some functions f g isin (y z)
Moreover partN is non-trivial
26 FEDERICO BUONERBA
bull Z = (x = f = g = 0) is not isolated
(a) The fiber has one component y = 0 Then 0 = partN(y) = f hence
Z = (x = g = 0) The restriction on the fiber is part|(y=0) = x partpartx
+g|(y=0)partpartz
Z has a one-dimensional component contained in the fiber iff g isin (y) in
which case such component is smooth equal to (x = 0) moreover the
foliation on the fiber saturates to a smooth one with invariant curves
z = 0 transverse to Z
Otherwise the foliation is saturated on the fiber and has a saddle-node
singularity
(b) The fiber has two components yz = 0 Then 0 = partN(yz) = zf + yg
hence f = yh g = minuszh for some h and Z = (x = h = 0) The restriction
on a fiber component say y = 0 is part|(y=0) = x partpartxminus zh|(y=0)
partpartz
Z has an
irreducible component contained in y = 0 iff h isin (y) in which case such
component is smooth equal to (x = 0) moreover the foliation on the
fiber saturates to a smooth one with invariant curves z = 0 transverse
to Z
Otherwise the foliation is saturated on the fiber and has a saddle-node
singularity
(c) The fiber has three components xyz = 0 0 = partS(xyz) = xyz a contra-
diction
Summary with one eigenvalue there are either one or two components The
foliation might have a one-dimensional singularity when restricted to a fiber
component in this case such singularity is a smooth curve and the foliation
saturates to a smooth one with invariant curves transverse to the singular-
ity If the singularity is isolated on a fiber component then it is a canonical
saddle-node with at most two invariant branches
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 27
ni (2) partS has two eigenvalues
We have partS = x partpartx
+ λy partparty
and partN(x y z) = k partpartx
+ f partparty
+ g partpartz
for some func-
tions k f g
(a) The fiber has one component z = 0 Then g = 0 k f isin (x y) and
necessarily Z = (x = y = 0) is transverse to the fiber The restriction on
the fiber is saturated and non-degenerate It has canonical singularities
if either partN 6= 0 or λ isin Q+ otherwise it is log-canonical
(b) The fiber has two components xy = 0 Then 0 = partS(xy) hence λ = minus1
Also 0 = partN(xy) hence k = xh f = minusyh g isin (xy) and necessarily
Z = (x = y = 0) coincides with the intersection of the two fiber compo-
nents which is smooth the foliation saturates to a smooth one on each
component with invariant curves transverse to Z
(c) The fiber has three components xyz = 0 hence λ = minus1 Also k = xklowast
f = yf lowast g = zglowast with klowast + f lowast + glowast = 0 and glowast isin (xy) The singularity
Z = (x = y = 0) coincides with the intersection of two of the fiber
components The restriction to either such components saturates to a
smooth foliation with invariant curves transverse to Z the restriction
to z = 0 has a canonical non-degenerate singularity all the invariant
curves are those in xy = 0 transverse to Z
Summary with 2 eigenvalues there can be any number of components With
one component the foliation restricts to a saturated one with a (log)canonical
singularity which moves transversely to p With two components the folia-
tion is not saturated on either and saturates to a smooth one with invariant
curves transverse to the singularity With three components the foliation
is not saturated on two of them and saturates to a smooth one on both
with invariant curves transverse to the singularity the foliation is saturated
and has a canonical non-degenerate singularity on the third component In
28 FEDERICO BUONERBA
the last two cases the singularity is fully contained in an intersection of two
components
ni (3) partS has three eigenvalues But then the singularity is isolated a contradiction
IIIII sing(F ) isolated
i (1) partS has one eigenvalue
bull We have partS = x partpartx
and partN = xk partpartx
+ f partparty
+ g partpartz
for some functions
k f g isin (y z) Moreover partN is non-trivial
bull Z = (x = f = g = 0) is isolated
(a) The fiber has one component y = 0 Then 0 = partN(y) = f and Z cannot
be isolated a contradiction
(b) The fiber has two components yz = 0 Then 0 = partN(yz) = zf + yg so
f = yh g = minuszh with h non-constant Hence Z = (x = h = 0) is not
isolated a contradiction
(c) The fiber has three components xyz = 0 Then 0 = partS(xyz) = xyz a
contradiction
Summary the 1 eigenvalue case does not exist
i (2) partS has two eigenvalues
bull We have partS = x partpartx
+ λy partparty
partN = xk partpartx
+ f partparty
+ g partpartz
for some functions
k f g
bull g is non-trivial and g isin (x y)
bull Z = (x = y = g = 0) is isolated
(a) The fiber has one component z = 0 Then g = 0 a contradiction
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 29
(b) The fiber has two components xy = 0 hence λ = minus1 and g isin (xy z)
the restriction to y = 0 is part|(y=0) = x partpartx
+g|(y=0)partpartz
and necessarily g|(y=0)
is non-vanishing Therefore the restriction to either components is satu-
rated and the singularity is a canonical saddle-node on each of them
The invariant curves are among the axes x = y = 0 x = z = 0 y = z =
0
(c) The fiber has three components xyz = 0 hence λ = minus1 Necessarily
k = xklowast f = yf lowast g = zglowast with klowast + f lowast + glowast = 0 The restriction to
y = 0 is part|(y=0) = x(1 + klowast|(y=0))partpartx
+ zglowast|(y=0)partpartz
since g isin (x y) we have
glowast|(y=0) non-trivial Therefore the restriction to either x = 0 and y = 0
is saturated and the singularity is a canonical saddle-node on each of
them
The restriction to z = 0 is part|(z=0) = x(1 + klowast|(z=0))partpartx
+ y(minus1 + f lowast|(z=0))partparty
therefore the restriction is saturated and has a canonical non-degenerate
singularity
The invariant curves are among the axes x = y = 0 x = z = 0 y = z =
0
Summary with 2 eigenvalues there are either two or three components the
foliation restricts to a canonical saddle-node on two of them and to a non-
degenerate singularity on the third one if it exists All the invariant curves
are in the axes
i (3) partS has three eigenvalues We have partS = x partpartx
+ λy partparty
+ microz partpartz
(a) The fiber has one component y = 0 hence λ = 0 a contradiction
(b) The fiber has two components xy = 0 hence λ = minus1 The restriction to
y = 0 is part|(y=0) = x partpartx
+ microz partpartz
+ partN|(y=0) The singularity is log-canonical
30 FEDERICO BUONERBA
iff micro isin Qgt0 and partN|(y=0)= 0 and in this case the singularity on x = 0 is
canonical non-degenerate Invariant curves are those in y = 0 and the
axis x = z = 0
If the restriction to both fiber components is canonical then it non-
degenerate on both and the invariant curves are contained in the axes
x = y = 0 x = z = 0 y = z = 0
The fiber could be yz = 0 hence λ+micro = 0 It can be analyzed as in the
next item
(c) The fiber has three components xyz = 0 hence 1 + λ + micro = 0 In par-
ticular if λ = cmicro c isin Q+ then λ micro isin Q The restriction to y = 0
is part|(y=0) = x partpartx
+ microz partpartz
+ partN|(y=0) This singularity is log-canonical iff
micro isin Qgt0 and partN|(y=0)= 0 in which case the singularity on both x = 0
and z = 0 is canonical non-degenerate In particular if the singularity
is log-canonical on some fiber component then it is so on exactly one
component and all eigenvalues are rational Invariant curves are those
in y = 0 and the axis x = z = 0
If the restriction to all fiber components is canonical then it non-degenerate
on each of them and the invariant curves are contained in the axes
x = y = 0 x = z = 0 y = z = 0
Summary with 3 eigenvalues there are either two or three fiber components
the foliation restricts to a singular foliation on each of them and it has a
log-canonical singularity on at most one of them in this case all eigenvalues
of the semi-simple field are rational
IIIIII Local consequences We list some corollaries for future reference As al-
ways in this section the statements are local so everything happens in a formal
neighborhood of our point lowast First we state those corollaries we will need to describe
configurations of KF -nil curves
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 31
Definition IIIIII1 An LC-center Π sub X is an irreducible F -invariant formal
hypersurface such that the local vector field generating the foliation when restricted
to Π has semi-simple part with log-canonical singularity or a one-dimensional sin-
gular locus An LC-center with a log-canonical singularity is necessarily an algebraic
component of the singular fiber of p
Corollary IIIIII2 There is at most one LC-center with a log-canonical singularity
through lowast If it exists then all eigenvalues of the semi-simple field at lowast are rational
If there are at least two LC-centers through lowast then there are exactly two and the
foliation singularity is a smooth curve on each of them
Proof Possible cases in which an LC-center with log-canonical singularities appears
ni (2)a i (3)b i (3)c
Corollary IIIIII3 If there is no LC-center thorugh a point lowast then there are at
most three invariant curves through lowast all smooth Any number of them spans a sub-
space of the tangent space at lowast of maximal possible dimension
If there is an LC-center through lowast then there is at most one invariant curve through
lowast and not contained in the LC-center
If there is an LC-center with non-isolated singularity then the singularity is smooth
and all invariant curves contained in the LC-center intersect the singularity trans-
versely
Proof Invariant curves not in an LC-centers with log-canonical singularities are con-
tained in the three axes x = z = 0 x = y = 0 y = z = 0 mentioned in the above
classification The other statements are clear
Corollary IIIIII4 If p is smooth at lowast then Z is one dimensional around lowast
Proof Possible casesni (1)a ni (2)a
In particular if there is no LC-center the situation is the familiary
xz
32 FEDERICO BUONERBA
While if there is an LC-center (pink) with log-canonical singularity it will look like
y
LC-center
While if there is an LC-center with non-isolated singularity (red) it will look like
(the black arrows being invariant curves)
y
LC-center
The next corollary describes one-dimensional components of the foliation singularity
Corollary IIIIII5 If Z0 is a one-dimensional irreducible component of the folia-
tion singularity then it is at worst nodal The foliation when restricted to any fiber
component containing Z0 saturates to a smooth foliation in a neighborhood of Z0
and all the invariant curves are transverse to Z0
If Z0 is contained in exactly one fiber component then the semi-simple field has one
eigenvalue everywhere along Z0
If Z0 lies at the intersection of two fiber components then the semi-simple field has
two constant eigenvalues everywhere along Z0
Moreover if there exist a sequence of invariant curves converging in the compact-
open topology to Z0 then there is generically one eigenvalue along Z0
Proof Possible casesni (1)a ni (1)b ni (2)b ni (2)c Concerning the one-
eigenvalue case invariant curves converging to Z0 can be found in the formal hyper-
surface x = 0
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 33
IV Invariant curves along which KF vanishes
In this section we study in great detail a formal neighborhood of invariant curves
where KF is numerically trivial In the first subsection we deal with KF -nil curves
namely those whose generic point is not contained in the foliation singularity In this
case the normal bundle to the curve determines its formal neighborhood uniquely
and this has plenty of amazing consequences In the second subsection we study
those invariant curves which are contained in the foliation singularity In this case
we are not able to control the full formal neighborhood but important informations
can still be obtained
IVI KF -nil curves In this subsection we study in detail the structure of KF -
nil curves and their formal neighborhoods appearing in the set-up IIVII4 In
particular we will describe a simple process to replace cuspidal KF -nil curves by
net ones prove that the foliation is in the net completion around a net KF -nil curve
defined by a global vector field which admits a global Jordan decomposition deduce
that eigenfunctions for the semi-simple component of such field are also globally
defined on a formal neighborhood
The first important remark is of technical nature and explains how to deal with non-
net KF -nil curves By Proposition IIIV4 this is indeed possible and the images of
such curves will acquire cusp-like singularities It is hard to analyze the geometry
of F around such cuspidal curves and therefore necessary to remove them Let us
assume that C is simply connected with rational moduli f is ramified at 0 isin C
and and denote by X the formal completion along f(C) Then formally around
f(0) the curve f(C) has defining ideal (y xa minus zb) where y = 0 is a fiber of the
fibration p X rarr ∆ containing f(C) x z isin H0(X OX ) restrict to suitable local
coordinates on such fiber and a b ge 2 are coprime integers
Claim IVI1 Let r X ( aradicz = 0) rarr X be the a-th root of z = 0 III3 Then
(rlowastC)norm =∐a
1 C and the induced map rlowastf (rlowastC)norm rarrX ( aradicz = 0) is net
Proof Since r is etale away from z = 0 also rlowastC rarr C is etale away from 0 isin C
Since C 0 is simply connected we have rlowastC rminus1(0) =∐a
1 C 0 This proves
34 FEDERICO BUONERBA
the first statement Let ζ be a function on X ( aradicz = 0) such that ζa = z so then
rlowast(xa minus zb) =prod
ηa=1(x minus ηζb) Every branch is net in 0 and we obtain the second
statement as well
As such upon taking roots we can replace non-net KF -nil invariant curves with
rational moduli by net ones
We now proceed to study net KF -nil curves We will show that the foliation is
defined by a global vector field around a net KF -nil curve with rational moduli and
that such vector field admits a global Jordan decomposition
Proposition IVI2 Notation as in the set-up IIVII4 let f C rarrX be a KF -nil
curve Assume that f is net and let j C rarr C be the net completion along f Then
there exists an isomorphism
(16) OC(KF )simminusrarr OC
In particular there exists a global vector field partf on C that generates F
Proof Since C has rational moduli and is simply connected it has infinite-cyclic
Picard group and we have an isomorphism
(17) OC(KF )simminusrarr OC
Moreover we have a non-canonical splitting of the normal bundle Njsimminusrarr O(minusn) oplus
O(minusm) and we claim that both nm ge 0 Indeed consider the induced semi-stable
fibration C rarr ∆ and let F be the normalization of an irreducible component of a
fiber such that C sub F Consider the exact sequence
(18) 0rarr NCF rarr Nj rarr NFC|C rarr 0
Since KF is nef NCF is not ample since F is a fiber of a fibration also NFC|C is
not ample and this is enough to conclude even though nm may be different from
the degrees of such normal bundles
At this point we can lift the isomorphism 17 over infinitesimal neighborhoods of j
Indeed for every k ge 0 we have an exact sequence
(19) 0rarr Symk ICI2C rarr OCk+1
(KF )rarr OCk(KF )rarr 0
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 35
which shows that the obstruction to lifting the isomorphism lies in
(20) H1(C Symk ICI2C) = H1(C Symk(O(n)oplus O(m))) = 0
From this we can deduce
Proposition IVI3 The vector field partf admits a Jordan decomposition uniformly
along C
Proof The cohomology sequence attached to 19 is
(21) 0rarr H0(C Symk ICI2C)rarr H0(COCk+1
)rarr H0(COCk)rarr 0
Let partk+1 denote the image of partf in End(H0(COCk+1)) Looking at
H0(COCk+1) minusminusminusrarr H0(COCk
)
partk+1
y partk
yH0(COCk+1
) minusminusminusrarr H0(COCk)
we see the canonical Jordan deomposition of partk+1 restricts to that of partk
The above result describes a very useful interplay between normal bundles to
KF -nil curves and the structure of the semi-simple field It turns out that these
informations determine formal neighborhoods uniquely For simplicity let C be
an irreducible component of C without orbifold points Let us assume that part|C is
singular in 0infin Then there exist formal functions x y z at 0 isin C and ξ η ζ at
infin isin C such that x ξ are coordinates along C y η are local sections of OC(minusn)
so η = xny mod(I2C) z ζ are local sections of OC(minusm) so ζ = xmz mod(I2C)
Normalizing so that xminus1partS(x) = ε isin 0 1 we obtain
(22) part0S = εxpart
partx+ λy
part
party+ microz
part
partz partinfinS = minusεξ part
partξ+ (λ+ εn)η
part
partη+ (micro+ εm)ζ
part
partζ
More generally ie C = P1(d e) we have glueing rules x = te ξ = tminusd η = tny and
ζ = tmz mod(I2C) Normalizing so that tminus1partS(t) = ε isin 0 1 we obtain
(23) part0S = eεxpart
partx+ λy
part
party+ microz
part
partz partinfinS = minusdεξ part
partξ+ (λ+ εn)η
part
partη+ (micro+ εm)ζ
part
partζ
36 FEDERICO BUONERBA
It is worth remarking that the above relations hold between eigenvalues at the two
singular point of singular ie nodal or cuspidal KF -nil curves as well this is
easily seen by taking a root followed by net completion and keeping track of the
eigenvalues
Definition IVI4 Let C be a KF -nil curve The foliation singular points along C
are called ends
As well as the existence of Hilbert scheme in the following form
Fact IVI5 Let W sub Xlowast be a curve and D a divisor in the formal neighborhood
of W such that W = D capXlowast scheme-theoretically Then W moves in D
In what follows our main concern is to understand formal neighborhoods of KF -
nil curves Observe that the fibration p when restricted to the formal neighborhood
of such curves provides at least one eigenfunction of the semi-simple field Hence
in order to compute the width IIII we must study the behavior of the other eigen-
function on infinitesimal neighborhoods We first describe the situation inside the
smooth locus of p
Proposition IVI6 (Smooth fiber) Let f C rarrX be an irreducible KF -nil curve
which is contained in the smooth locus of a fiber Xlowast of p Then the end(s) on C are
flat over ∆ ni (1)b and ni (1)a with z2|g(y z) and C moves in a family flat over
∆
Proof Let us assume that f is net Then upon passing to net completion we can
actually assume it is embedded From our local classification of singularities we case
in case ni (1)a and ni (2)a We want to show that both ends have components
that move transversely to p hence we have to exclude case ni (1)a with g(y z) = ya
By way of contradiction say we have g(y z) = ya in the notation of opcit around
an end lowast isin C We proceed to compute what happens at the other end we find
formal coordinates ξ η ζ which by equation 23 satisfy
(24) ξ = xminus1 η = y ζ = xmz mod(I2C)
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 37
As such we compute part(ζ) = mζ + ξminusmηa mod(I2C) which is holomorphic if and only
if m le 0 so then C moves in Xlowast contradicting that the foliation has general type
Hence we are in cases ni (1)a ni (2)a with g = microyazb b ge 1
(25) part0 = xpart
partx+ microyazb
part
partz partinfin = minusξ part
partξ+ ζ(m+ microξm(bminus1)ηaζbminus1)
part
partζ(mod(I2C))
Following notation from subsection IIII observe that C1 is the section of E1C which
is disjoint from the proper transform of the fiber of p In coordinates over 0
(26) x1 = x y1 = y z1 = zyminus1
And similarly over infin Using the previous equation and 25 on C1 we find
(27)
part01 = x1part
partx1+microya+bminus11 zb1
part
partz1 partinfin1 = minusξ1
part
partξ1+ζ1(m+microξ
m(bminus1)1 ηa+bminus11 ζbminus11 )
part
partζ1(mod(I2C1
))
In particular the transform of the nilpotent field is still nilpotent after blowing up in
C It follows that the eigenvalues of the semi-simple field at the two ends of C and
C1 are the same Using equation 23 we deduce that the normal bundle to C1X1 to
isomorphic to that of CX in particular it contains a trivial direct summand This
proves that width(C) =infin
Next we show that f must be net Consider the induced flat projection pD D rarr ∆
its general fiber cannot be a cuspidal curve since along such cusp the foliation sin-
gularity would be log-canonical but not canonical Hence if C has a cusp necessarily
the general fiber of pD is a nodal curve Let X rarr X denote the blow up of the
nodal locus of pD with exceptional divisor E ruled over ∆ In a neighborhood of E
we have sing(F ) = D cap E which projects to ∆ as a double cover ramified over lowastObserve that the foliation on Xlowast is again log-canonical and not canonical hence its
local structure is ni (2)a In that case however p is unramified along the foliation
singularity Contradiction
We state a general criterion for movability of KF -nil curves
Proposition IVI7 Let C be a connected KF -nil curve such that p(C ) = lowast isin ∆
Assume its dual graph is a chain that none of its irreducible components is double
38 FEDERICO BUONERBA
VI3 and that its two extremal ends are flat over ∆ Then C moves in a family flat
over ∆ and each of its irreducible components is embedded
Proof We work in a formal neighborhood of C After taking roots we can assume
C is net and since its dual graph is a chain it is actually embedded We proceed by
induction on its length l where the case l = 1 is Proposition IVI6 For l gt 1 let C1
be a component of C which is extremal in its dual graph If C1 moves transversely
to p then both its ends do and hence we can apply the induction hypothesis to
C C1 If C1 is rigid then it can be flopped It is straightforward to check that we
can apply the induction hypothesis to the transform C + C+1 and we are done
Now we deal with rigid curves inside the singular fiber
Proposition IVI8 (Singular fiber) Let f C rarr X be an embedded net KF -
nil curve with anti-ample normal bundle Then there exists a birational map φ
(X F ) 99K (X +F+) and a KF+-nil curve C+ such that
bull φ is an isomorphism away from C+
bull In a formal neighborhood of at least one among C and C+ there exist two
invariant hypersurfaces D1D2 locally defined by the vanishing of eigenfunc-
tions of the semi-simple field such that C (resp C+)= D1 capD2
bull If F middot C lt 0 for some hypersurface F then F+ middot C+ gt 0 In particular X +
is projective
Such φ is called flop
Proof Our assumption is that Nfsimminusrarr O(minusn)oplusO(minusm) is anti-ample namely nm gt
0 If two invariant hypersurfaces as in our statement do exist around C the flop is
easily constructed as a weighted blow-up followed by a weighted blow-down As such
let us assume that such hypersurfaces do not exist around C In particular C is not
double VI3 By [Ar70] there exists a formal contraction c X rarrX0 collapsing C
to a point and an isomorphism everywhere else By Proposition IVI3 the foliation
F0 is Gorenstein around the node of X0 For ease of exposition let us assume
n = m = 1 the general case is handled the same way only the notation becomes more
cumbersome due to the presence of weights The node has embedding dimension 4
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 39
and in suitable local coordinates x0 y0 w0 z0 can be defined by x0z0minusy0w0 = 0 The
morphism c can be identified with the blow up of the embedded surface (x0 = y0 = 0)
Explicitly in the chart y = y0 x = x0yminus10 it is defined by
(28) y0 = y x0 = xy z0 = zprime w0 = xzprime
Here x is a coordinate along C while y = 0 is the pull-back of (x0 = y0 = 0) and
zprime some function in the normal bundle to C By the previous Proposition IVI6
we know C cannot be contained in the smooth locus of p Since C is not double
we can assume that in this local chart p is defined by (x y zprime) rarr xy - the case
(x y zprime) rarr xzprime being isomorphic as it is isomorphic to blow-up (z0 = w0 = 0)
instead of (x0 = y0 = 0) The issue is as emphasized by the notation zprime 6= z that
zprime may fail to be an eigenfunction for partS if it were we would be done since zprime = 0
is the local equation for the global pullback of (z0 = w0 = 0) However we have
a b isin C such that
(29) partS0(y0) = minusy0 partS0(x0) = 0 partS0(z0) = ay0 + bz0 partS0(w0) = ax0 + (b+ 1)w0
Observe that the embedded surfaces D01 = (y0 = z0 = 0) and D0
2 = (x0 = w0 = 0)
are both foliation invariant As such let b X + rarr X0 denote the blow-up of X0
along D01 - which is isomorphic to that along D0
2 - and let Di = blowastD0i i = 1 2
Finally X + is projective by Nakai-Moishezon Indeed every C with anti-ample
normal bundle is contained in an irreducible component F of X0 such that F middotC lt 0
Then F+ middot C+ gt 0 and we can find an ample divisor of the form H+ + εF+ where
H+ is the proper transform of an ample on X
Remark IVI9 In the previous proof a 6= b+ 1 Indeed such identity would create
a non-trivial Jordan block of partS0 in the (x0 w0)-plane thus contradicting the semi-
simplicity of partS0 In particular by a straightforward computation it is impossible to
find eigenfunctions of the form wlowast0 = w0 + αx0 zlowast0 = z0 + βy0 with x0z
lowast0 minus y0wlowast0 = 0
unless a = 0
We can conclude by pointing out an important point understood in this section
A painful aspect of the theory is that log-canonical singularities which appear natu-
rally as analytic degenerations of canonical ones come along with cuspidal invariant
40 FEDERICO BUONERBA
curves There is in particular no a-priori obstruction to the existence of rigid
cuspidal KF -nil curves in a smooth fiber of our family of foliated surfaces p Quite
generally a rigid curve of positive arithmetic genus in a smooth family of surfaces can
never be contracted to a point Therefore this would have been a counter-example
to any reasonable foliated canonical model theory one may wish to achieve Fortu-
nately such phenomenon does not happen and this establishes the Main Theorem I
modulo finitely many rigid curves confined in the singular fiber X0
IVII Invariant curves inside sing(F ) In this subsection we study curves Z0 subeXlowast cap sing(F ) which are inside the foliation singularity and invariant By this we
mean that there exists a sequence fn Cn rarrX of not necessarily algebraic invariant
curves converging in the compact-open topology to Z0 In other words the map
(30) NorF rarr Ω1Z0
is trivial By Corollary IIIIII5 we know that Z0 is at worst nodal it is smooth
wherever p is smooth for every point z isin Z0 the semi-simple part of the gener-
ating vector field has exactly one eigenvalue The problem here is that the Jordan
decomposition need not extend uniformly along Z0 not even along an irreducible
component In case ni (1)a the functions x and g may develop essential singulari-
ties arbitrary close to z Nonetheless the function x is unique and this says that x
does extend along Z0
Proposition IVII1 Let Z0 be as above Then in a formal neighborhood of Z0
there exists a unique smooth invariant hypersurface D0 containing Z0 which restricts
around any point in Z0 to the unique eigenfunction for the semi-simple field whose
eigenvalue is non-zero
Proof The local structure of the foliation around a point z isin Z0 is described by
cases ni (1)a and ni (1)b In both cases partS has one non-zero eigenvalue with
eigenfunction x Such eigenfunction x is a-priori only defined in the normal bundle to
Z0 but it is clear that the equation partx = x has a unique up to constants solution in
the formal completion around z As such there exists a unique smooth hypersurface
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 41
D0 in the formal completion around Z0 which restricts to the eigenfunction x around
z
Observe that the previous argument goes through since we are assuming Z0 subX0
Keeping notations from case ni (1)a if say g(y z) = yz then in the hypersurface
y equiv q isin Qgt0 the foliation has a log-canonical singularity and the eigenfunction x
extends highly non-uniquely to a formal neighborhood of the point (x y z) = (0 q 0)
In particular the existence of D0 as in the previous Proposition might fail along
the component (x = z = 0) of the foliation singularity This phenomenon is called
the beast
Anyway uniqueness in the previous proposition yields
Corollary IVII2 Let Z prime be a connected invariant curve inside sing(F ) Then in
a formal neighborhood of Z prime there exists a unique smooth invariant hypersurface D prime
containing Z prime which restricts around any point in Z prime to the hypersurface constructed
in the previous proposition
Next we turn to the intrinsic structure of invariant singular curves
Proposition IVII3 Let Z0 be an irreducible invariant curve inside sing(F )
Then Z0 is smooth and rational
Proof We work in a formal neighborhood of Z0 Let F0 denote the unique component
of X0 containing Z0 For any other fiber component F intersecting Z0 non-trivially
blow-up the invariant curve F cap F0 with exceptional divisor EF A straightforward
computation using the local formula ni (1)b shows that the fiber of the natural
projection EF rarr F cap F0 intersecting Z0 is also contained in sing(F ) For Z prime the
maximal connected singular invariant curve containing Z0 let G denote the saturated
foliation induced on D prime It is canonical with reduced singularities and it satisfies
KG = KF |Dprime minus Zprime By adjunction
(31) 2g(Z0)minus 2 + sZG(Z0) = minusZ prime middot Z0
Observe that thanks to our initial sequence of blow-ups the singularities of G along
Z0 coincide with the intersection of Z0 and Z prime Z0 In particular since D prime is formally
42 FEDERICO BUONERBA
flat over ∆ we deduce Z prime middot Z0 = 0 and the previous formula becomes
(32) 2g(Z0)minus 2 + sZG(Z0) = 0
This implies that Z0 is rational or elliptic If Z0 were elliptic then sZG(Z0) = 0 and
D0 defines an invariant elliptic curve in the general fiber of p By Baum-Bott this
contradicts that KF is big and nef Now we show that Z0 is smooth If it has a node
then D0 moves it in a family of nodal rational curves flat over ∆ In particular D0
itself has a node in codimension 1 hence Xlowast is smooth around the node of Z0 In its
formal neighborhood the foliation must be as in case ni (1)a which implies that
Z0 is smooth contradiction
We can improve as follows
Proposition IVII4 Let Z prime sube sing F capXlowast be a connected invariant curve with
KF middot Z prime = 0 Then its dual graph is a chain
Proof Assume Z prime is a cycle Then necessarily Z prime = D prime capXlowast scheme-theoretically
and by the existence of Hilbert scheme Z prime moves in the general fiber Its general
member is either a cycle of smooth rational curves or an elliptic curve Arguing as
in the previous proof we see that both options are impossible
V Configurations
In this section we analyze in great detail all possible configurations of invariant
curves along which KF vanishes These can be divided into three groups those
that do not move those that move in a one-dimensional family covering a surface
those that move in a higher-dimensional family covering a surface Curves in the first
group can form rather complicated configurations while those in the second group
are more simple they either move in the general fiber or they cover an isolated
Riccati component in the singular fiber Those in the third group turn out to be
represented by the two rulings of P1timesP1 if they happen to be cohomologous in the
ambient stack First we will analyze rigid curves then those which move and finally
we will describe their configurations
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 43
VI Configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially In
this subsection we describe configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF
trivially which arise in the situation described by set-up IIVII4
First we focus on KF -nil curves At the end of the section we deal with the simpler
case in which a curve in the configuration is fully contained in sing(F ) The general
fiber was handled in Proposition IVI6
Proposition VI1 Let C be a connected KF -nil curve contained in the smooth
locus of a fiber of p Then it is a chain or a cycle and it moves in a family flat over
∆
In what follows we let C denote a connected KF -nil curve contained in the
singular fiber X0 all of whose sub-curves are rigid in X Observe a consequence of
equation 23
Proposition VI2 Let C = cupiCi be a connected KF -nil curve Then the eigen-
values of partS are all rational at every point of sing(F )capC if and only if they are all
rational at one point
We can deduce many non-trivial properties about configurations of KF -nil curves
First we need
Definition VI3 Let C subX0 be a curve It is called double if there exists formally
around C two components F F prime of X0 such that C = F cap F prime A point lowast isin C where
three fiber components intersect is called a triple point If C lies on exactly one fiber
component it is called non-double We denote by F (C) such component
Remark VI4 Let Csimminusrarr P1(d e) be double with two triple points Then we know
e+ λ+ micro = minusd+ (λ+ n) + (micro+m) = 0 whence we obtain
(33) n+m = d+ e
Which is called triple-point formula
Next we show that essentially KF -nil curves do not form cycles unless something
deforms in X0 First we show that there are no cycles of rigid non-double curves
44 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proposition VI5 Let C be a connected KF -nil curve contained in the singular
fiber X0 of p Assume that every component of C is non-double and that every
sub-curve is rigid Then C contains no cycles
Proof We work in a formal neighborhood of C which we assume is a cycle Let
us first consider the case in which all components C1 middot middot middot CN are smooth with no
orbifold points and denote lowasti = Ci cap Ci+1 with CN+1 = C1 Moreover let us
assume no lowasti lies in the smooth locus of p
Since no curve is double the semi-simple field at every lowasti is as in case i (3)b in
particular the eigenvalues along the branches of Ci and Ci+1 add up to zero More-
over let minusni denote the self-intersection of Ci sub F (Ci) Normalize the eigenvalues
of partS so that at lowastn they are 1 in the C1 direction minus1 in the CN direction λ in the
F (C1)capF (CN) direction It follows by induction that at lowasti the eigenvalues are minus1
in the Ci direction 1 in the Ci+1 direction λ+ n1 + middot middot middot+ ni in the F (Ci) cap F (Ci+1)
direction After traveling around the cycle we obtain n1+middot middot middot+nN = 0 contradicting
that ni gt 0 for every i
We established the Proposition assuming every Ci is an embedded scheme and ev-
ery lowasti is in the singular locus of p The case in which Cisimminusrarr P1(di ei) has orbifold
points is analogous we end up with a combination c1n1 + middot middot middot + cNnN = 0 with ci
the eigenvalue at lowasti in the Ci+1 direction Normalizing so that c1 = e1 gt 0 again by
induction on i we see that every ci isin Qgt0 Next we show that our assumption on lowastiis always satisfied
Claim VI6 Every lowasti must belong to the singular locus of p
Proof We give two essentially equivalent proofs
bull If N = 2 3 then the previous argument goes through indeed we can normal-
ize eigenvalues at lowasti to be negative in the Ciminus1 direction and positive in the
Ci-direction and argue as above Hence we can assume N ge 4 If say lowasti is in
the smooth locus of p then F (Ci) = F (Ci+1) If also F (Ciminus1) = F (Ci) then Ci
lies in the smooth locus of p and hence it moves Therefore F (Ciminus1) 6= F (Ci)
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 45
and Ciminus1 can be flopped inside F (Ci) Since N ge 4 this preserves the smooth-
ness of F (Ci) and Ci is now is the smooth locus of p - contradiction
bull If lowasti belongs to the smooth locus of p then the end through lowasti moves We
can form a partial net completion fi Xi rarrX by normalizing C in lowasti only
Then f lowasti C is a chain with movable ends and hence moves in the general fiber
of p fi
Finally the general case in which some among the Ci have cusps can be easily
reduced to the smooth case in a couple of ways
bull Eigenvalues at the singularities of any KF -nil curve satisfy the same relations
as in the smooth case
bull Upon taking roots and net completion we can find a foliated formal 3-fold
supported on a cycle of smooth KF -nil curves which is a ramified cover of a
formal neighborhood of our cycle
Similarly we can show that there are no rigid cycles of double curves
Proposition VI7 Let C be a nodal KF -nil curve which is double Then C
deforms inside X0 In particular there cannot exist a rigid cycle of KF -nil double
curves
Proof Following the previous notation we have 0 = infin and if C = (xy = z = 0)
around 0 then we have identities
(34) x = η y = ξ z = ζ
The last one of which implies m = 0 that is C deforms Since C is double necessarily
the surface it spans must be contained in X0
The statement about cycles follows since a cycle of double curves can be transformed
after finitely many flops into a chain of smooth double curves with a nodal one
attached at one end
46 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Later on we will show that the deformations of C cannot span an elliptic surface
but only a family of nodal rational curves with a special Riccati foliation on it
We are ready to organize a detailed description of the dual graph of C More pre-
cisely we only need to understand how double curves intersect non-double curves
Lemma VI8 There exists a sequence of flops X 99KX + such that if C + denotes
the transform of C every double curve supported on C + contains two triple points
Proof Let C sube C be an irreducible component with at most one triple point and
let X 99K X + be its flop Then its transform C+ is non-double and the number
of double curves contained in C descreases It is clear that after finitely many flops
all double curves contain exactly two triple points
From now on all double curves in C have two triple points Thanks to proposition
VI2 we know that there are two cases to consider those curves along which the
semi-simple field has not only rational eigenvalues and those along which the semi-
simple field has only rational eigenvalues The first case being strictly easier than
the second it is a good starting place to warm up
Proposition VI9 (irrational eigenvalues) Assume that for every foliation singu-
larity along C not all eigenvalues of partS are rational Then every component of C
is net with at most one node and 1-skeleton of its dual graph is at worst trivalent
Write C = C axes cup C free where
C axes is the union of double curves
C free is the union of non-double curves
Then one among C axes and C free is empty Moreover
bull If C free is non-empty then it is a chain of smooth curves with rational moduli
bull If C axes is non-empty there exists a sequence of flops X 99KX + and an ir-
reducible component of the fiber FC subX + such that X + is a smooth stack
the transform C+ of C is contained in FC Moreover the dual graph of C+
is a tree which by [McQ08 III32] becomes a chain inside the normalization
of FC
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 47
Proof The first sentence is just corollary IIIIII3
Observe that if a non-double curve intersects a double curve then the non-double
curve must be contained in an LC-center around such intersection This contradicts
that not all eigenvalues are rational and establishes that one among C axes and C free
is empty
In case C free is not empty then it is clearly a chain or a cycle the latter being
impossible by Proposition VI5
We are left to show the existence of flops in case C = C axes We remark that
every component is smooth Let C0 be such a component and S0 a component of
X0 containing it Let C1 be the collection of irreducible components of C which
intersect S0 but are not contained in it All the components of C1 are smooth hence
we can flop them in any order until the transform of C1 lies in the transform of S0
Since the number of irreducible components of C lying outside S0 decreases after
such flop by induction we deduce the existence of finitely many flops after which
the birational transform of C is fully contained in the transform of S0
Next we take care of rational eigenvalues The complication here arises from
the fact that there may be double and non-double curves intersecting each other
However the situation is best possible
Proposition VI10 (rational eigenvalues) Assume that for every foliation singu-
larity along C all eigenvalues of partS are rational Write C = C axes cup C free where
C axes is the union of double curves
C free is the union of non-double curves
Then there exists a sequence of flops X 99K X + and an irreducible component of
the fiber FC axes subX + such that
bull X + is a smooth stack
bull The union of double curves of C axes is contained in FC axes the 1-skeleton of
its dual graph is a tree and each of its components has two triple points
bull The 1-skeleton of the dual graph of the transform C free+ is a disjoint union of
trees
bull Each connected component of C free+ intersects C axes in exactly one point
48 FEDERICO BUONERBA
In particular the 1-skeleton of the dual graph of C is a tree
Proof Notice that for every point lowast isin C cap Z there exists one LC-center through lowastIndeed there are three rational eigenvalues and they cannot be all non-vanishing and
all with different signs at the same time Now C axes can be treated as in proposition
VI9 This proves the first two items of the statement The third item follows from
Proposition VI5 so we can focus on the fourth one The proof is based on the
following obvious
Remark VI11 let C be a double curve such that either it is KF -nil hence has
two triple points or it is fully contained in sing(F ) Let C0 sube C free intersect C
non-trivially in a point lowast then necessarily C0 sub LClowast
Now let C0 middot middot middot CN form a chain of non-double curves with C0 and CN both
intersecting double curves as in the remark Denote by lowasti = Ci cap Ci+1 Since
C1 sub LClowast necessarily C1 is transverse to LClowast1 otherwise C1 would deform in F (C1)
Inductively we see that Ci+1 sub LClowasti and is transverse to LClowasti+1 In particular CN
cannot touch a double curve This contradiction proves the fourth item
Let us add a remark about configurations featuring invariant curves inside sing(F )
Proposition VI12 Let C be an invariant curve with KF middot C = 0 such that
Z0 sube C for some component Z0 sube sing(F ) Then C = Z prime cup C where
Z prime is a connected invariant curve inside the foliation singularity with dual graph a
chain
C is the union of at most two pairwise disjoint KF -nil curves with anti-ample
normal bundle
If not empty C can only intersect Z prime at the two ends of its dual graph Moreover
perhaps after a flop the intersection of C with Z prime supports the foliation singularity
along C As such if C has two components Z prime cup C deforms in the general fiber
Proof The structure of Z prime is Proposition IVII3 while that of Co is Proposition
IVI6 Let C prime be a component of C intersecting Z0 in a point lowast If C prime and Z0 belong
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 49
to different components of X0 then by case ni (1)b the eigenvalue of partS along C prime
vanishes so supp(sing(F ) cap C prime) = lowast If C prime and Z0 belong to the same component
then we can flop C prime into a different component
Observe that the divisor D prime from op cit can be extended along C prime This implies
that C can only intersect Z prime at its ends Moreover if C touches both ends necessarily
D prime capX0 = C scheme-theoretically hence by the existence of Hilbert scheme IVI5
we conclude
Our new set-up is
Set-up VI13 Everything as in set-up IIVII4 and moreover for any connected
invariant curve C with KF middot C = 0 all of whose sub-curves are rigid we have
configurations computed in proposition VI9 VI10 and Lemma VI12
VII Configurations of non-rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
In this subsection we describe configurations of surfaces which are covered by KF -nil
curves The structure of each such surface is described by classification IIV1 IIV2
and Corollary IIVI17 Our first step is to simplify the situation by contracting
chains of ruled surfaces The next step is to try and exclude the possibility that
the singular fiber of p contains fibrations by elliptic or nodal rational curves with
at least one invariant fiber This can be achieved with good success indeed there
may be at most one such Riccati foliation which is anyway rather isolated from the
remaining KF -nil curves Finally we observe that the only class of surfaces we have
not mentioned is
Definition VII1 A irreducible component F of the singular fiber of p is called
small Kronecker if
bull (FFF ) is birational to a Kronecker vector field on P1 timesP1 and
bull The two rulings of this P1 timesP1 are cohomologous inside X
The name comes from the fact that contraction of a small Kronecker yields a node
in the ambient threefold which admits a small resolution In fact in many respects
these fiber components behave very much like rigid KF -nil curves
50 FEDERICO BUONERBA
We start by getting rid of some fiber components which are ruled by KF -nil gener-
ically smooth rational curves
Proposition VII2 Notation as in Set-up VI13 there exists a sequence of flops
and divisorial contractions c X 99KX + such that
bull X + is a smooth stack
bull let S+ sub X + be an irreducible invariant divisor that contains a positive-
dimensional family of invariant rational curves along which KF+ vanishes
Then S+ is either birationally ruled by nodal rational curves or it is a small
Kronecker
Proof We focus first on contracting components of the singular fiber of p Consider
the following algorithm If there is no birationally ruled component different from
the ones listed in the second item we are done otherwise pick one such F and let
C denote the general member of the ruling If the cohomology class [C] is inde-
composable F is minimal Otherwise [C] = [C1] + [C2] where Ci are rational and
intersect KF trivially After finitely many steps we have a decomposition as a finite
sum of indecomposables [C] =sumn
i=0 ni[Ci] where every Ci is rational intersects KF
trivially We have two cases
bull There exists k such that Ck deforms in a birationally ruled necessarily min-
imal surface Fk
bull Every Ci has anti-ample normal bundle
In the first case denote by X rarr X1 the contraction of Fk along |Ck| and relpace
X by X1 Since Fk is minimal smoothness of the ambient stack is preserved unless
Fk is a small Kronecker This is however impossible if n ge 2 if Fk were a small
Kronecker then Ck deforms away from Fkminus1 so then Fkminus1 middot Ck = 0 on the other
hand Fkminus1 intersects the other ruling of Fk positively
In the second case flop C1 middot middot middot Cn in this order The transform of F is minimal and
not a small Kronecker so it can be contracted along its ruling preserving ambient
smoothness By induction on the Picard rank of X after finitely many steps this
algorithm ends Call X the output of this algorithm
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 51
Let S subX be an invariant divisor with a generically smooth ruling Then pS S rarr∆ is flat and after flopping finitely many rational curves in S cap plowastS(0) the resulting
pS is smooth Hence we can contract S along pS After finitely many steps the
Proposition is proven
For ease of notation in the sequel we call X the output of the previous proposition
Notice that there might still be divisors carrying a pencil of nodal rational curves
both inside and outside the singular fiber of p
We can start analyzing configurations of fiber components where the restriction of
F is not of general type We need some notation whose reason to exist will be clear
shortly
Definition VII3 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
along which KF is not big F is called special Riccati if
bull F is minimal
bull There exists a morphism s F rarr B onto a curve whose fibers are nodal
rational curve
bull F is transverse to the general fiber of s in particular KF is numerically
trivial along s
bull At least one fiber of s is invariant
bull There exists a section σ of s which is invariant and does not coincide with
the nodal locus of F
In particular the intersections of σ with invariant fibers of s isolated singularities
of F the node of F all coincide There may be fibers of s fully contained in sing(F )
in which case they are everywhere transverse to the saturated foliation
The definition looks nasty but special Riccati components have a rather simple
origin as the following proof shows
Lemma VII4 Let F be special Riccati Up to base change by an etale double cover
Bprime rarr B there is a natural isomorphism F norm simminusrarr BprimetimesP1 and the restriction of F
to F norm is birational to the projection onto P1
52 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proof We work over the normalization F norm Denote by Bprime the pre-image of the
node of F which is an etale double cover of B and let f denote an invariant fiber
of s with lowast = σ cap f Observe that F norm carries a Riccati foliation with 3 invariant
curves through lowast - namely σ f and a component of Bprime Hence FF has a log-canonical
singularity in lowast On F norm perform a weighted blow-up in each log-canonical singu-
larity followed by the contraction of the transforms of the corresponding fibers Let
s+ F+ rarr B denote the output of this operation If the proper transform of Bprime is
connected replace F+ by its base change under Bprime rarr B Hence we can assume Bprime
is the disjoint union of two sections of s+ and the transform of σ is a third section
which is disjoint from Bprime Therefore F+ = P1 timesBprime and the foliation restricts to the
projection onto P1
Next we describe those surfaces which cannot appear as components of the sin-
gular fiber X0
Definition VII5 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
along which KF is not big F is called illusory if
bull there exists a morphism t F rarr B onto a curve
bull KF is trivial along t
bull For any other fiber component F prime the intersection F cap F prime is either empty or
contained in a fiber of t
We give examples of illusory fiber components
Lemma VII6 The following fiber components are necessarily illusory
bull t is elliptic the foliation is either parallel to t or turbolent with at least one
invariant fiber
bull t is a nodal ruling the foliation is either parallel to t or transverse to t with
at least one invariant fiber and not birational to a special Riccati VII3
Proof Let f = F cap F prime for some fiber component F prime It is F -invariant
Assume t and F are parallel and f is transverse to both Then necessarily f subesing(F ) and KF is positive along the fibers of t contradiction
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 53
Assume t and F are generically transverse and f is transverse to t Let e be an
invariant fiber of t then ecap f isin sing(F ) hence t must be a family of nodal rational
curves and ecapf coincides with the node of e - otherwise KF would be positive along
t But this implies F is special Riccati contradiction
We proceed to show that illusory fibers do not exist
Lemma VII7 Let F be an illusory fiber component then every fiber of t is irre-
ducible If F prime is any fiber component intersecting F non-trivially then F prime is illusory
Proof Assume t has a reducible fiber f Then we can write f = f prime cup f primeprime where f prime
is irreducible and f primeprime is a disjoint union of chains of rational curves In particular
every subscheme supported on f primeprime is rigid in X f prime is rational and smooth iff f is a
cycle of rational curves hence the foliation on F is parallel to t and the choice of f prime
is not unique otherwise f prime is nodal or elliptic Let X 99KX + denote the flop of the
irreducible components of f primeprime in any order The proper transform f prime+ (below in red)
is the irreducible fiber of the induced morphism t+ F+ rarr B Since f primeprime+ intersects
f prime+ and is not contained in F+ there exists a component F prime of the fiber of p+ such
that F+ cap f prime+ 6= empty Since F+ is illusory necessarily F+ cap F prime = f prime+ Moreover F+
and F prime are the only fiber components intersecting f prime+ again because F+ is illusory
We deduce that F+ middot f prime+ = F prime middot f prime+ = 0 and therefore f prime+ is nef inside F prime It follows
that he restriction of F+ to F prime is not of general type and by the classification of
foliated surfaces [McQ08] necessarily f prime+ deforms inside F prime and defines a fibration
u F prime rarr Bprime In particular f prime+ is an irreducible fiber of u This is however impossible
since u contracts all the components of f primeprime+ contained in F prime (below in blue) and by
definition of F prime there exists at least one such component This proves that every
fiber of t is irreducible The following depicts the situation
F prime F+
f prime+
f primeprime+
t+u
54 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Concerning the second statement we only need to check the third condition for F prime
to be illussory namely that every other fiber component F primeprime intersecting F prime does
so along the fibers of u If F primeprime intersects F prime transversely to u then F primeprime intersects F
non-trivially and transversely to t as well absurd
Corollary VII8 Illusory components do not exist
Proof By the above lemma the existence of one illusory component implies that
every irreducible component of the singular fiber of p is illusory contradicting that
KF is big
We can now focus on fiber components that do appear
Corollary VII9 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
containing an invariant curve C which moves and such that KF middot C = 0 Then
following the classification [McQ08] we have two cases
(1) The minimal model of F is a special Riccati component
(2) F is a small Kronecker
Proof Certainly the ones listed are the only cases where C is KF -nil We have to
exclude the possibility that C is invariant inside sing(F ) By Proposition IVII3
such C would be rational with at most one node Since we already contracted at
the beginning of the present subsection all ruled surfaces necessarily C is nodal
However by opcit C cannot intersect any other fiber component of X0 which
implies the absurdity that X0 = F
We proceed to show that special Riccati components are rather isolated in the
fiber
Lemma VII10 Let F be a special Riccati component If F prime is a fiber component
intersecting F non-trivially then it does so transversely to s Morover there is
exactly one such F prime
Proof After finitely many flops we can assume that every fiber of s is irreducible
By the non-existence of illusory components there exists a fiber component F lowast with
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 55
σprime = F cap F prime transverse to s If F primeprime is a fiber component with f = F cap F primeprime a fiber
of s then we claim f sube sing(F ) If not then since KF middot f = 0 and σprime is invariant
necessarily σprimecap f is the node of f But then the existence of F primeprime contradicts that p is
snc Hence f sube sing(F ) so then around the node of f there are 3 fiber components -
two branches coming from F one from F primeprime - and sing(F ) has 2 branches - namely f
This is impossible by our case analysis ni (1)c ni (2)c The very same reasoning
establishes the uniqueness of F prime
Lemma VII11 Let F be as in the previous Lemma If C is a connected curve
with KF middot C = 0 then it is disjoint from F
Proof After finitely many flops s is irreducible and C intersects F transversely away
from its node Moreover lowast = C cap F isin sing(F ) and we deduce that the fiber of s
through lowast is fully contained in the singular locus of F This contradicts Proposition
IVII3 since such fiber is nodal
We conclude by observing the obvious
Lemma VII12 Let F be a small Kronecker Then there exists a contraction
c X rarr X prime which is an isomorphism away from F and contracts F along one
of its rulings Necessarily X prime is not projective since every global Cartier divisor
intersects c(F ) trivially On the other hand in a formal neighborhood of c(F ) there
exist Cartier divisors intersecting it non-trivialliy
As such the contribution coming from non-rigid curves is rather poor there are
curves moving in the general fiber there are special Riccati components disjoint from
any other invariant curve intersecting KF trivially there are small Kroneckers who
can be contracted to curves We shall see in the next section that the complications
arising from the contraction of such non-rigid curves is purely psychological and
totally harmless
56 FEDERICO BUONERBA
VI Contractions and proof of the Main Theorem
In this section we contract all invariant curves along which KF is zero thereby
establishing the existence of canonical models I First we contract non-rigid curves
as described in the previous subsection
bull Small Kroneckers along either ruling Albeit this destroys projectivity of
the ambient threefold there still exist Cartier divisors defined in a formal
neighborhood of the base curve that intersect it non-trivially
bull Families of irreducible nodal rational curves which are flat over ∆ This
creates elliptic singularities on the general fiber of p which are disjoint from
other invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
bull Special Riccati again families of irreducible nodal rational curves fully con-
tained in X0 This creates elliptic singularities disjoint from other invariant
curves intersecting KF trivially
We can summarize our situation by way of
Set-up VI1 X is a 3-dimensional DM stack with at worst elliptic singularities
F a foliation by curves with canonical singularities which is not Q-Cartier in a
neighborhood of Xsing
There exists a proper morphism p X rarr ∆ smooth off 0 isin ∆ F restricts to a
foliation on every fiber of p it has canonical singularities on the very general fiber
of p and log-canonical singularities on every fiber of p KF is big and nef on every
irreducible component of every fiber of p
Let C be the invariant sub-scheme along which KF is not big then C is a curve
fully contained in the smooth locus X0capXsmooth every sub-curve of C has anti-ample
normal bundle the 1-simplex of its dual graph is a tree and detailed configurations
of such are referenced in set-up VI13
We proceed to contract such C We assume that along C the semi-simple field has
only rational eigenvalues and moreover no component of C is inside the foliation
singularity The other two cases - irrational eigenvalues and presence of singular
component - are strictly easier and can be obtained with the very same method
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 57
The proof takes place in the formal completion around C = C free cup C axes The
former is a disjoint union of trees of non-double curves For each non-double C let
F (C) denote the unique component of X0 containing it The latter is a tree of double
curves each with two triple points all contained in the same irreducible FC axes Each
tree of non-double curves touches C axes in one point through a LC-center In order
to construct the contraction we will use Artinrsquos celebrated criterion in the following
form
Fact VI1 ([Ar70]) Let X be an irreducible algebraic space i Y rarr X a closed
subspace of pure codimension 1 and f Y rarr Y0 a proper morphism with flowastOY = OY0
Let X denote the formal completion of X along Y and assume there exists a Cartier
divisor D in X which is supported on Y and is f -anti-ample Then there exists a
proper morphism of algebraic spaces F X rarr X0 which is an isomorphism away
from Y and such that ilowastF = f
Now we use the tree structure of C to construct a suitable divisor to which apply
Artinrsquos theorem Namely consider the following inductive defintion
(35) C0 = C axes F0 = FC axes
For k ge 0 assume Ck Fk are defined
bull Let Ck+1 denote the union of irreducible components of C that intersect Fk
non-trivially but are not contained in cupilekFibull Let Fk+1 denote the reduced sum (
sumCsubeCk+1
F (C))red
This process stops with a collection C1 middot middot middotCN of curves and F1 middot middot middot FN of reduced
divisors
Lemma VI1 We have the following identities
(36)
Fk middot C lt 0 for every C sube Ck
(F0 + F1) middot C le 0 for every C sube C0
(Fkminus1 + Fk + Fk+1) middot C = 0 for every C sube Ck 1 lt k lt N
(FNminus1 + FN) middot C lt 0 for every C sube CN
58 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proof The first is just the fact that every component of C is rigid The remaining
three follow from X0 middot C = 0 but the last one requires further justification Indeed
if C sube CN N gt 0 then C is one end of a tree of non-double curves In particular
there exists a foliation singularity lowast isin C disjoint from any other component of
C and LClowast is transverse to C This implies LClowast middotC gt 0 which together with
(FNminus1 + FN + LClowast) middot C = 0 concludes the proof
Let ε1 middot middot middot εN isin Qgt0 and define
(37) F Nminusk = (1 + ε1 + middot middot middot+ εk)FNminusk
bull If C sube CN we have
(38) (F Nminus1 + F
N) middot C = ε1FNminus1 middot C + (FNminus1 + FN) middot C
bull If C sube CNminusk 1 lt k lt N we have
(39)
(F Nminuskminus1 + F
Nminusk + F Nminusk+1) middot C =
(1 + middot middot middot+ εk)(FNminuskminus1 + FNminusk + FNminusk+1) middot C minus εkFNminusk+1 middot C + εk+1FNminuskminus1 middot C =
minus εkFNminusk+1 middot C + εk+1FNminuskminus1 middot C
bull If C sube C0 we have
(40) (F 0 + F
1) middot C = εNF0 middot C + (Nminus1sumj=0
εj)(F0 + F1) middot C
It is clear that provided
(41) 1 gtgt ε1 gtgt middot middot middot gtgt εN
the divisor F =sumF k is negative along every component of C
This proves the existence of the contraction and concludes the proof of the Main
Theorem I
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 59
VII Moduli space of foliated surfaces of general type
In this section we study the modular variation of foliated surfaces of general type
The upshot is that it is possible to define a functor which is representable separated
and every irreducible component is proper The main issue here is that the supporting
surface of a foliated canonical model may well fail to be projective indeed KF is not
Q-Gorenstein in general Hence in order to proceed via standard methods [Ko17]
we have to parametrize our canonical models together with a suitable projective
resolution
Definition VII13 Let (SF ) be a foliated proper reduced purely 2-dimensional
DM stack Assume S has only normal crossing singularities in codimension 1 that
F has log-canonical foliation singularities and that KF is big and nef on at least
one of the irreducible components of S If whenever KF middot C = 0 for some curve C
then C moves in an irreducible component of S and no member of such deformation
is F -invariant then (SF ) is called foliated canonical model of general type
Clearly foliated canonical models are exactly the stable degenerations appearing
as the central fiber of our Main Theorem I Their lack of projectivity has two sources
namely the contraction of cycles of smooth KF -nil curves and of trees of cuspidal
ones Singularities arising from cycles behave well in families namely they always
deform into the general fiber Those arising from cuspidal curves on the other hand
tend to be rather isolated inside the degenerate fiber
Observe that the deformation theory of a foliated surface is rather simple suppose
given an infinitesimal C-algebras extension 0 rarr J rarr Ae rarr A rarr 0 and (SF )
a foliated surface flat over Spec(A) then the obstruction to lifting to Ae can be
understood in three simple steps
(1) Deformation of the underlying surface S once a deformation Se rarr Spec(Ae)
is given
(2) Deformation of the line bundle KF by the exponential sequence
(42) 0rarr J otimes OS rarr OlowastSerarr OlowastS rarr 0
obstructions lie in H2(SOS)otimes J once a deformation of KF is given
60 FEDERICO BUONERBA
(3) Deformation of the defining section OS rarr KF otimes TS obstructions lie in
H1(SKF otimes TS)otimes J
Now we have
Definition VII14 Let (SF ) be a foliated canonical model of general type A
proper birational morphism q (SF )proj rarr (SF ) is called its projective resolution
if
bull Every irreducible component of Sproj is smooth
bull The exceptional locus of q is a disjoint union of cycles of KFproj-nil smooth
curves and trees of KFproj-nil curves each of which has a non-trivial cuspidal
singularity
bull In a neighborhood of every q-exceptional cycle not only Sproj but also its
moduli space is smooth
We need a few remarks about projective resolutions
(1) Projective resolutions are always unique Indeed the only possible ambiguity
could lie in some extra smooth irreducible components in the exceptional
locus This is forbidden by definition in the trees of cuspidal curves it is
also forbidden by way of the third item in cycles of smooth ones ie on
algebraic surfaces the minimal resolution is unique
(2) Denote by E the collection of q-exceptional cycles Then there exist ε δ isinQgt0 such that KFproj
minus εE + δKSprojis ample by Nakai-Moishezon
(3) Deformations of a projective resolution of a foliated canonical model are
canonically identified with deformations of the underlying birational mor-
phism q Sproj rarr S followed by a deformation of the foliation F
We are now ready to construct a moduli functor for foliated surfaces more precisely
for projective resolutions of foliated canonical models of general type For m dN isinN and ε δ isin Qgt0 let
(43) MmdNεδ (C-schemes)rarr (sets)
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 61
be defined by MmdNεδ(S) = Diagrams
(44) (X F )projqminusrarr (X F )
pminusrarr S
Where
bull Both p and p q are flat and proper
bull For every closed point s isin S the induced morphism qs is the projective
resolution of (X F )s which is a foliated canonical model of general type
bull Denote by Es the collection of exceptional cycles of qs By our Main Theorem
I there is a fibrewise divisor E subXproj flat over S restricting to Es for every
s isin S
bull Let j W rarr Xproj denote the maximal closed subscheme away from which
KFprojand KXprojS are locally free Then
(45) L [m] = (jlowast(KFprojotimes OXproj
(minusεE )otimesKδXprojS
)otimesm)oror
is flat over S and commutes with base-change
bull L [m] is very ample of degree d on every fiber and defines an embedding into
PNS
We are now ready for
Theorem VII15 The functor MmdNεδ is represented by a separated algebraic
space each of whose irreducible components is proper
Proof We show that our functor satisfies Artinrsquos conditions [Ar74 Corollary 54] By
definition condition 1) and 4) hold while our previous remark on foliated obstruction
theory shows that 3) is true
We proceed to show 2) namely effectivity of formal deformations for MmdNεδ
What follows owes much to Artinrsquos [A74rsquo] Let T be a complete C-algebra Tn its
n-truncation so that Tsimminusrarr limlarrminusTn and finally qn isinMmdNεδ(Spec(Tn)) a compatible
sequence For each n there is a maximal open set Un sube Xprojn where qn is an
isomorphism denote by sn Cn rarr Zn the restriction of qn to the complement of Un
Clearly sn is projective over Spec(Tn)
62 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Denote by X C etc the formal algebraic spaces obtained as limits of Xn Cn
etc Then Xproj sub PNˆSpec(T )
hence by Grothendieckrsquos existence Theorem we find
bull a flat projective family (X F )proj rarr Spec(T ) resp a closed subscheme
C subXproj whose completion is Xproj resp C
bull a scheme Z whose completion is Z and a morphism s C rarr Z everything
being projective over Spec(T )
Further we have a formal contraction limminusrarr qn C rarr Z hence the main theorem
of [Ar70] gives algebraic contraction (X F )proj rarr (X F ) This proves the repre-
sentability of MmdNεδ The properness and separability of each irreducible com-
ponent can be checked using valutative criteria indeed properness is the content of
our Main Theorem I separatedness follows from the uniqueness of foliated canonical
models of general type and their projective resolution
References
[Ar70] M Artin Algebraization of Formal Moduli II Existence of Modifications Ann
of Math Vol 91 No 1 (Jan 1970) pp 88-135 httpwwwjstororgstable
1970602
[Ar74] M Artin Versal Deformations and Algebraic Stacks Inventiones Math 27 165- 189
(1974) httpmathuchicagoedu~drinfeldArtin_on_stackspdf
[A74rsquo] M Artin Algebraic construction of Brieskornrsquos resolutions J Alg Vol 29 Issue
2 May 1974 pp 330-348 httpwwwsciencedirectcomsciencearticlepii
0021869374901021
[BB72] P Baum R Bott Singularities of holomorphic foliations J Diff Geom 7 (1972)
279-342 httpsprojecteuclidorgdownloadpdf_1euclidjdg1214431158
[Bo77] F Bogomolov Families of curves on a surface of general type Doklady Akademii Nauk
USSR (in Russian) 236 (5) 1041-1044
[Bo78] F Bogomolov Holomorphic tensors and vector bundles on projective varieties Math
USSR Izv 13 (1978) 499-555
[BM16] F Bogomolov M McQuillan Rational Curves on Foliated Varieties In Cascini
McKernan Pereira (eds) Foliation Theory in Algebraic Geometry Simons Symposia
Springer Cham pp 21-51 (2016) httpslinkspringercomchapter101007
978-3-319-24460-0_2
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 63
[Bu] F Buonerba Functorial resolution of tame quotient singularities in positive charac-
teristic httpsarxivorgabs151100550
[Ke99] S Keel Basepoint Freeness for Nef and Big Line Bundles in Positive Characteris-
tic Annals of Math 149 No 1 (Jan 1999) pp 253-286 httpwwwjstororg
stable121025 httpsarxivorgabsmath9901149
[KM97] S Keel S Mori Quotients by groupoids Annals of Math 145 (1997) pp
193-213 httpwwwjstororgstable2951828seq=1page_scan_tab_contents
httparxivorgabsalg-geom9508012
[Ko17] J Kollar Families of varieties of general type httpswebmathprincetonedu
~kollarbookmodbook20170720pdf
[LN02] A Lins Neto Some examples for the Poincare and Painleve problems Annales sci-
entifiques de lrsquoENS 352 (2002) 231-266 httparchivenumdamorgarticle
ASENS_2002_4_35_2_231_0pdf
[McQ12] M McQuillan Foliated Mori Theory amp Hyperbolicity of Algebraic Surfaces http
wwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillahomehtml
[McQ98] M McQuillan Diophantine approximation and foliations Inst Hautes Etudes Sci
Publ Math 87 (1998) 121-174 httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafiles
ihespdf
[McQ05rsquo] M McQuillan Bloch hyperbolicity preprint httpwwwmatuniroma2it
~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ05] M McQuillan Semi-stable reduction of foliations IHES pre-print IHESM0502
(2005) httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ05rdquo] M McQuillan Uniform Uniformisation IHES pre-print (2005) IHES M0503 http
wwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ08] M McQuillan Canonical models of foliations Pure Appl Math Q 4
(2008) no 3 Special Issue In honor of Fedor Bogomolov Part 2 877-1012
httpintlpresscomsitepubfiles_fulltextjournalspamq20080004
0003PAMQ-2008-0004-0003-a009pdf
[MP13] M McQuillan D Panazzolo Almost etale resolution of foliations J Diff Geom 95
(2013) pp 279-319 httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesmp1bispdf
[Pe02] JV Pereira On the Poincare Problem for Foliations of General Type Mathematische
Annalen 323 no 2 pp217-226 2002 httpsarxivorgabsmath0104185
[PS16] JV Pereira R Svaldi Effective algebraic integration in bounded genus preprint
httpsarxivorgabs161206932
64 FEDERICO BUONERBA
[Re83] M Reid Minimal models of canonical threefolds in rdquoAlgebraic Varieties and Ana-
lytic Varietiesrdquo Adv Stud Pure Math vol 1 S Iitaka ed Kinokuniya and North-
Holland 1983 pp 131-180 httpwwwmathsedacukcheltsovquotientpdf
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[Se67] A Seidenberg Reduction of singularities of the differential equation Ady = Bdx Amer
J Math 89 (1967) 248-269 httpwwwjstororgstable2373435
[SB83] N Shepherd-Barron Degenerations with numerically effective canonical divisor The
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[Vis89] A Vistoli Intersection theory on algebraic stacks and on their moduli spaces
Invent Math (1989) pp 613-670 httplinkspringercomarticle101007
2FBF01388892page-1
Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences New York University 251 Mercer
Street New York NY 10012 USA
E-mail address buonerbacimsnyuedu
- I Introduction
- II Preliminaries
-
- III Operations on Deligne-Mumford stacks
- IIII Width of embedded parabolic champs
- IIIII Gorenstein foliation singularities
- IIIV Foliated adjunction
- IIV Canonical models of foliated surfaces with canonical singularities
- IIVI Canonical models of foliated surfaces with log-canonical singularities
- IIVII Set-up
-
- III Invariant curves and singularities local description
-
- IIII `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F) not isolated
- IIIII `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F) isolated
- IIIIII Local consequences
-
- IV Invariant curves along which KF vanishes
-
- IVI KF-nil curves
- IVII Invariant curves inside `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F)
-
- V Configurations
-
- VI Configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
- VII Configurations of non-rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
-
- VI Contractions and proof of the Main Theorem
- VII Moduli space of foliated surfaces of general type
- References
-
18 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proof F0 is Q-Gorenstein if and only if the bundle KF (C) is trivial on the formal
completion of X along C The obstructions to lift the isomorphism OC(KF +C)simminusrarr
OC over infinitesimal neighborhoods of C lie in H1(C (1 minus n)C + KF ) for every
n isin N These groups vanish for every n isin N if 2g(C) minus 2 + C2 lt 0 (which is
always true for rational or elliptic curves) but do provide non-trivial obstructions in
general
We focus on the minimal model program for Gorenstein log-canonical foliations
on algebraic surfaces Let X be a DM stack of dimension 2 with projective moduli
and F a Gorenstein foliation with log-canonical singularities Denote by LC(F )
the set of points where F is log-canonical and not canonical and by Z the singular
sub-scheme of F We assume LC(F ) 6= empty since the empty case has been completely
settled Moreover we can assume that X is smooth outside LC(F ) Let f C rarrX
be a morphism from a 1-dimensional stack with trivial generic stabilizer such that
fminus1 LC(F ) 6= empty Since we will need them several times we formulate some technical
results
Lemma IIVI5 Let p X rarr X be the resolution of the log-canonical foliation
singularity intersecting C with exceptional divisor E Then
(9) KF middot C minus C middot E = KF middot C
Proof We have
(10) plowastC = C minus (C middot EE2)E
Intersecting this equation with equation 8 we obtain the result
This formula is important because it shows that passing from foliations with log-
canonical singularities to their canonical resolution increases the negativity of inter-
sections between invariant curves and the canonical bundle In fact the log-canonical
theory reduces to the canonical one after resolving the log-canonical singularities
Further we list some strong constraints given by invariant curves along which the
foliation is smooth
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 19
Fact IIVI6 [BB72 Baum-Bott] Let g C rarrX be an F -invariant curve missing
the foliation singularities Then C2 = NF middotg C = 0
Corollary IIVI7 Let g C rarr X be an F -invariant curve missing the foliation
singularities and such that KF middotg C lt 0 Then F is birationally a fibration by
rational curves
Proof By assumption KF middot C = minusχ(C) This together with Baum-Bott IIVI6
imply that KX middot C = minusχ(C) and from usual adjunction we get C2 = 0 Riemann-
Roch gives h0(X mC) ge 2 for m gtgt 0 so then |C| defines a fibration by rational
curves tangent to F
The rest of this subsection is devoted to the construction of minimal and canonical
models in presence of log-canonical singularities The only technique we use is
resolve the log-canonical singularities in order to reduce to the canonical case and
keep track of the exceptional divisor
We are now ready to handle the existence of minimal models
Theorem IIVI8 (Minimal models) Let X be a DM stack of dimension 2 with pro-
jective moduli and F a Gorenstein foliation with log-canonical singularities Then
either
bull F is birational to a fibration by rational curves or
bull There exist a birational contraction q X rarr X0 such that KF0 is nef
Moreover the exceptional curves of q donrsquot intersect LC(F )
Proof Let f be as above ie KF -negative and intersecting LC(F ) If f is not
F -invariant then KF middotC +C2 ge 0 so C moves and KF is not pseudo-effective We
conclude by foliated bend and break [BM16]
If f is F -invariant then foliated adjunction 6 implies that C is rational it intersects
the singular locus of F in exactly one point By Lemma IIVI5 after resolving the
log-canonical singularity KF middot C lt 0 and F is smooth along C We conlude by
Corollary IIVI7
20 FEDERICO BUONERBA
From now on we add the assumption that KF is nef and we want to analyze
those curves f satisfying KF middotf C = 0 By adjunction formula 6 we know that C
has rational moduli and fminus1Z is supported on two points
Remark IIVI9 If fminus1Z = fminus1 LC(F ) then F is birationally a fibration by ratio-
nal curves
Proof After resolving the log-canonical singularities of F along the image of C we
have KF middot C lt 0 and F smooth along C We conclude by Corollary IIVI7
Therefore we can assume that f satisfies the following condition
Definition IIVI10 An invariant curve f C rarr X is called log-contractible if
KF middot C = 0 and it intersects Z in two points one canonical and one log-canonical
not canonical
It follows that f(C) is everywhere unibranch but it might have a cusp in LC(F )
Definition IIVI11 A log-chain is a chain of invariant rational orbifolds C =
cupni=0Ci scheme-like outside the foliation singularities with KF middot C = 0 and such
that
bull C0 is log-contractible with lowast(C ) = C0 cap LC(F ) called the marking of C
bull Ci is disjoint from LC(F ) if i ge 1
There is a unique point t(C ) satisfying t(C ) isin Z cap (Cn Cnminus1) called the tail of
the log-chain
Proposition IIVI12 Let C1C2 be two log-chains intersecting non-trivially Then
lowast(C1) = lowast(C2) and C1 cap C2 = lowast(C1)
Proof It is enough to prove that the two log-chains cannot intersect in their tails
Replace X be the resolution of the at most two markings of the log-chains and Ci
by their proper transforms C1cupC2 = cupmi=0Ri is a connected chain of rational curves
intersecting Z outisde LC(F ) Moreover each of the two extremal curves R0 and
Rm intersects Z in one point only In particular KF middot Ri = 0 for i = 1 middot middot middot m minus 1
and KF middot Ri lt 0 for i = 0m Since we assumed F is not birational to a fibration
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 21
by rational curves there exists a contraction p X rarr X0 with exceptional curve
cupmminus1i=0 Ri However F0 is smooth along plowastRm so by adjunction formula KF0 middotplowastRm lt
0 and we find a contradiction by Corollary IIVI7
Corollary IIVI13 Let C be a maximal connected curve such that KF middotC = 0 and
C cap LC(F ) 6= empty Then C is a union of finitely many log-chains intersecting each
other in their common marking
The following shows a configuration of log-chains sharing the same marking col-
ored in black
We are now ready to state and prove the canonical model theorem in presence of
log-canonical singularities
Theorem IIVI14 (Canonical models) Let X be a proper DM stack of dimension
2 and F a foliation with isolated singularities Moreover assume that KF is nef
that every KF -nil curve is contained in a log-chain and that F is Gorenstein and
log-canonical in a neighborhood of every KF -nil curve Then either
bull There exists a birational contraction p X rarr X0 whose exceptional curves
are unions of log-chains If all the log-contractible curves contained in the log-
chains are smooth then F0 is Gorenstein and log-canonical If furthermore
X has projective moduli then X0 has projective moduli In any case KF0
is numerically ample
bull There exists a fibration p X rarr B over a curve whose fibers intersect
KF trivially Each F -invariant fiber of p intersecting LC(F ) is union of
mutually compatible log-chains
Proof If all the KF -nil curves can be contracted by a birational morphism we are in
the first case of the Theorem Else let C be a maximal connected curve withKF middotC =
0 and which is not contractible It is a union of pairwise compatible log-chains
22 FEDERICO BUONERBA
with marking lowast Replace (X F ) by the resolution of the log-canonical singularity
at lowast with exceptional divisor E Therefore F is Gorenstein and canonical in a
neighborhood of C cupE By equation 9 we have KF middotC = minusC middotE lt 0 and therefore
C can be contracted to a canonical foliation singularity Replace (X F ) by the
contraction of C We have a smooth curve E around which F is smooth and
nowhere tangent to E Moreover
(11) KF middot E = minusE2
And we distinguish cases
bull E2 gt 0 so KF is not pseudo-effective a contradiction
bull E2 lt 0 so the initial curve C is contractible a contradiction
bull E2 = 0 which we proceed to analyze
The following is what we need to handle the third case
Proposition IIVI15 Let (X F ) be a foliation with canonical singularities with
X a smooth 2-dimensional DM stack with projective moduli and KF nef If there
exists a smooth curve E everywhere transverse to F such that KF middot E = E2 = 0
then E moves in a pencil and defines a fibration p X rarr B onto a curve whose
fibers intersect KF trivially
Proof If KF has Kodaira dimension one then its linear system contains an effective
divisor and by Hodge index KF = cE as divisors for some c isin Q+ Hence there is
a fibration onto a curve with fiber E and F is transverse to it by assumption If
KF has Kodaira dimension zero we use the classification IIV1 in all cases but the
suspension over an elliptic curve E defines a product structure on the underlying
surface in the case of a suspension every section of the underlying projective bundle
is clearly F -invariant Therefore E is a fiber of the bundle
This concludes the proof of the Theorem
We remark that the second alternative in the above theorem is rather natural
let (X F ) be a foliation which is transverse to a fibration by rational or elliptic
curves ie a suspension over elliptic curve turbolent Riccati or isotrivial Pick a
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 23
general fiber E of the fibration and blow up any number of points on it The proper
transform E is certainly contractible By Proposition IIVI4 the contraction of E is
Gorenstein and log-canonical Moreover the fiber E has been replaced by a union of
compatible log-chains Note in particular that the number of log-chains appearing
is arbitrary
Corollary IIVI16 Let X be a proper DM stack of dimension 2 and F a Goren-
stein foliation with log-canonical singularities Assume that KF is big and pseudo-
effective Then there exists a birational morphism p X rarr X0 such that C is
exceptional if and only if KF middot C le 0 In particular KF0 is numerically ample
For future applications we spell out
Corollary IIVI17 Hypothesis as in Theorem IIVI14 assume further that X
is everywhere smooth Then in the second alternative of the theorem the fibration
p X rarr B is by rational curves
Proof Indeed in this case the curve E which appears in the proof above as the
exceptional locus for the resolution of the log-canonical singularity at lowast must be
rational By the previous Proposition p is defined by a pencil in |E|
IIVII Set-up In this subsection we prepare the set-up we will deal with in the
rest of the manuscript Briefly we want to handle the existence of canonical models
for a family of foliated surfaces parametrized by a one-dimensional base To this
end we will discuss the modular behavior of singularities of foliated surfaces with
Gorenstein singularities recall McQuillan-Panazzolorsquos resolution of foliation singu-
larities building on the existence of minimal models [McQ05] prepare the set-up
for the sequel
Let us begin with the modular behavior of Gorenstein singularities
Proposition IIVII1 Let (X F ) be a smooth DM stack with a foliation by
curves Assume there exists a flat proper morphism p X rarr C onto an algebraic
curve such that F restricts to a foliation on every fiber of p Then the set
(12) s isin C Fs is log-canonical
24 FEDERICO BUONERBA
is Zariski-open while the set
(13) s isin C Fs is canonical
is the complement to a countable subset of C lying on a real-analytic curve
Proof By Fact IIIII2 being log-canonical is equivalent to the linearized endomor-
phism part IZI2Z rarr IZI
2Z being non-nilpotent where Z is the singular sub-scheme
of the foliation Of course being non-nilpotent is a Zariski open condition The
second statement also follows from opcit since a log-canonical singularity which is
not canonical has linearization with all its eigenvalues positive and rational The
statement is optimal as shown by the vector field on A3xys
(14) part(s) =part
partx+ s
part
party
Next we recall the existence of a functorial canonical resolution of foliation singu-
larities for foliations by curves on 3-dimensional stacks
Fact IIVII2 [MP13] Let X = (XDF ) be a 3-dimensional DM stack with bound-
ary foliated by curves Then there exists a proper birational morphism Xprime rarr X such
that X prime is a smooth DM stack and F prime has only canonical foliation singularities
The original opcit contains a more refined statement including a detailed de-
scription of the claimed birational morphism
In order for our set-up to make sense we mention one last very important result
Fact IIVII3 [McQ05] Let X be a smooth DM stack with projective moduli and F
a foliation by curves with (log)canonical singularities Then there exists a birational
map X 99K Xm obtained as a composition of flips such that Xm is a smooth
DM stack with projective moduli the birational transform Fm has (log)canonical
singularities and one of the following happens
bull KFm is nef or
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 25
bull There exists a fibration Xm rarr B over a smooth base whose fibers are
weighted projective spaces such that Fm is tangent to the fibers and restricts
to a radial foliation on those
Finally we can organize our notation
Set-up IIVII4 (X F ) is a smooth 3-dimensional DM stack with projective mod-
uli F a foliation by curves with canonical singularities such that KF is big and nef
There exists a semi-stable morphism p X rarr ∆ whose moduli is projective onto
the (formal) unit disk F restricts to a foliation on every fiber of p it has canon-
ical singularities on the very general fiber of p and log-canonical singularities on
every fiber of p Our task from now on is to analyze and contract the maximal
foliation-invariant sub-scheme of X along which KF is not ample
III Invariant curves and singularities local description
In this section we give a complete decription of germs of invariant curves that
appear in the formal completion of any point in the set-up IIVII4 Let us replace
X by its formal completion in a point lowast where the foliation is singular F is defined
by a vector field part with Jordan decomposition partS + partN see the end of subsection
IIIII Since [partS partN ] = 0 partN preserves the eigenspaces of partS Moreover the fact that
F is tangent to p translates into
(15) partS(p) = partN(p) = 0
The description of invariant germs of curves through lowast will be achieved via case-by-
case analysis organized by computing what happens for all possible combinations
of the following informations whether the singular locus Z is isolated at lowast the
number of eigenvalues of partS the number of components of the fiber through p
IIII sing(F ) not isolated
ni (1) partS has one eigenvalue
bull We have partS = x partpartx
and partN = f partparty
+ g partpartz
for some functions f g isin (y z)
Moreover partN is non-trivial
26 FEDERICO BUONERBA
bull Z = (x = f = g = 0) is not isolated
(a) The fiber has one component y = 0 Then 0 = partN(y) = f hence
Z = (x = g = 0) The restriction on the fiber is part|(y=0) = x partpartx
+g|(y=0)partpartz
Z has a one-dimensional component contained in the fiber iff g isin (y) in
which case such component is smooth equal to (x = 0) moreover the
foliation on the fiber saturates to a smooth one with invariant curves
z = 0 transverse to Z
Otherwise the foliation is saturated on the fiber and has a saddle-node
singularity
(b) The fiber has two components yz = 0 Then 0 = partN(yz) = zf + yg
hence f = yh g = minuszh for some h and Z = (x = h = 0) The restriction
on a fiber component say y = 0 is part|(y=0) = x partpartxminus zh|(y=0)
partpartz
Z has an
irreducible component contained in y = 0 iff h isin (y) in which case such
component is smooth equal to (x = 0) moreover the foliation on the
fiber saturates to a smooth one with invariant curves z = 0 transverse
to Z
Otherwise the foliation is saturated on the fiber and has a saddle-node
singularity
(c) The fiber has three components xyz = 0 0 = partS(xyz) = xyz a contra-
diction
Summary with one eigenvalue there are either one or two components The
foliation might have a one-dimensional singularity when restricted to a fiber
component in this case such singularity is a smooth curve and the foliation
saturates to a smooth one with invariant curves transverse to the singular-
ity If the singularity is isolated on a fiber component then it is a canonical
saddle-node with at most two invariant branches
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 27
ni (2) partS has two eigenvalues
We have partS = x partpartx
+ λy partparty
and partN(x y z) = k partpartx
+ f partparty
+ g partpartz
for some func-
tions k f g
(a) The fiber has one component z = 0 Then g = 0 k f isin (x y) and
necessarily Z = (x = y = 0) is transverse to the fiber The restriction on
the fiber is saturated and non-degenerate It has canonical singularities
if either partN 6= 0 or λ isin Q+ otherwise it is log-canonical
(b) The fiber has two components xy = 0 Then 0 = partS(xy) hence λ = minus1
Also 0 = partN(xy) hence k = xh f = minusyh g isin (xy) and necessarily
Z = (x = y = 0) coincides with the intersection of the two fiber compo-
nents which is smooth the foliation saturates to a smooth one on each
component with invariant curves transverse to Z
(c) The fiber has three components xyz = 0 hence λ = minus1 Also k = xklowast
f = yf lowast g = zglowast with klowast + f lowast + glowast = 0 and glowast isin (xy) The singularity
Z = (x = y = 0) coincides with the intersection of two of the fiber
components The restriction to either such components saturates to a
smooth foliation with invariant curves transverse to Z the restriction
to z = 0 has a canonical non-degenerate singularity all the invariant
curves are those in xy = 0 transverse to Z
Summary with 2 eigenvalues there can be any number of components With
one component the foliation restricts to a saturated one with a (log)canonical
singularity which moves transversely to p With two components the folia-
tion is not saturated on either and saturates to a smooth one with invariant
curves transverse to the singularity With three components the foliation
is not saturated on two of them and saturates to a smooth one on both
with invariant curves transverse to the singularity the foliation is saturated
and has a canonical non-degenerate singularity on the third component In
28 FEDERICO BUONERBA
the last two cases the singularity is fully contained in an intersection of two
components
ni (3) partS has three eigenvalues But then the singularity is isolated a contradiction
IIIII sing(F ) isolated
i (1) partS has one eigenvalue
bull We have partS = x partpartx
and partN = xk partpartx
+ f partparty
+ g partpartz
for some functions
k f g isin (y z) Moreover partN is non-trivial
bull Z = (x = f = g = 0) is isolated
(a) The fiber has one component y = 0 Then 0 = partN(y) = f and Z cannot
be isolated a contradiction
(b) The fiber has two components yz = 0 Then 0 = partN(yz) = zf + yg so
f = yh g = minuszh with h non-constant Hence Z = (x = h = 0) is not
isolated a contradiction
(c) The fiber has three components xyz = 0 Then 0 = partS(xyz) = xyz a
contradiction
Summary the 1 eigenvalue case does not exist
i (2) partS has two eigenvalues
bull We have partS = x partpartx
+ λy partparty
partN = xk partpartx
+ f partparty
+ g partpartz
for some functions
k f g
bull g is non-trivial and g isin (x y)
bull Z = (x = y = g = 0) is isolated
(a) The fiber has one component z = 0 Then g = 0 a contradiction
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 29
(b) The fiber has two components xy = 0 hence λ = minus1 and g isin (xy z)
the restriction to y = 0 is part|(y=0) = x partpartx
+g|(y=0)partpartz
and necessarily g|(y=0)
is non-vanishing Therefore the restriction to either components is satu-
rated and the singularity is a canonical saddle-node on each of them
The invariant curves are among the axes x = y = 0 x = z = 0 y = z =
0
(c) The fiber has three components xyz = 0 hence λ = minus1 Necessarily
k = xklowast f = yf lowast g = zglowast with klowast + f lowast + glowast = 0 The restriction to
y = 0 is part|(y=0) = x(1 + klowast|(y=0))partpartx
+ zglowast|(y=0)partpartz
since g isin (x y) we have
glowast|(y=0) non-trivial Therefore the restriction to either x = 0 and y = 0
is saturated and the singularity is a canonical saddle-node on each of
them
The restriction to z = 0 is part|(z=0) = x(1 + klowast|(z=0))partpartx
+ y(minus1 + f lowast|(z=0))partparty
therefore the restriction is saturated and has a canonical non-degenerate
singularity
The invariant curves are among the axes x = y = 0 x = z = 0 y = z =
0
Summary with 2 eigenvalues there are either two or three components the
foliation restricts to a canonical saddle-node on two of them and to a non-
degenerate singularity on the third one if it exists All the invariant curves
are in the axes
i (3) partS has three eigenvalues We have partS = x partpartx
+ λy partparty
+ microz partpartz
(a) The fiber has one component y = 0 hence λ = 0 a contradiction
(b) The fiber has two components xy = 0 hence λ = minus1 The restriction to
y = 0 is part|(y=0) = x partpartx
+ microz partpartz
+ partN|(y=0) The singularity is log-canonical
30 FEDERICO BUONERBA
iff micro isin Qgt0 and partN|(y=0)= 0 and in this case the singularity on x = 0 is
canonical non-degenerate Invariant curves are those in y = 0 and the
axis x = z = 0
If the restriction to both fiber components is canonical then it non-
degenerate on both and the invariant curves are contained in the axes
x = y = 0 x = z = 0 y = z = 0
The fiber could be yz = 0 hence λ+micro = 0 It can be analyzed as in the
next item
(c) The fiber has three components xyz = 0 hence 1 + λ + micro = 0 In par-
ticular if λ = cmicro c isin Q+ then λ micro isin Q The restriction to y = 0
is part|(y=0) = x partpartx
+ microz partpartz
+ partN|(y=0) This singularity is log-canonical iff
micro isin Qgt0 and partN|(y=0)= 0 in which case the singularity on both x = 0
and z = 0 is canonical non-degenerate In particular if the singularity
is log-canonical on some fiber component then it is so on exactly one
component and all eigenvalues are rational Invariant curves are those
in y = 0 and the axis x = z = 0
If the restriction to all fiber components is canonical then it non-degenerate
on each of them and the invariant curves are contained in the axes
x = y = 0 x = z = 0 y = z = 0
Summary with 3 eigenvalues there are either two or three fiber components
the foliation restricts to a singular foliation on each of them and it has a
log-canonical singularity on at most one of them in this case all eigenvalues
of the semi-simple field are rational
IIIIII Local consequences We list some corollaries for future reference As al-
ways in this section the statements are local so everything happens in a formal
neighborhood of our point lowast First we state those corollaries we will need to describe
configurations of KF -nil curves
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 31
Definition IIIIII1 An LC-center Π sub X is an irreducible F -invariant formal
hypersurface such that the local vector field generating the foliation when restricted
to Π has semi-simple part with log-canonical singularity or a one-dimensional sin-
gular locus An LC-center with a log-canonical singularity is necessarily an algebraic
component of the singular fiber of p
Corollary IIIIII2 There is at most one LC-center with a log-canonical singularity
through lowast If it exists then all eigenvalues of the semi-simple field at lowast are rational
If there are at least two LC-centers through lowast then there are exactly two and the
foliation singularity is a smooth curve on each of them
Proof Possible cases in which an LC-center with log-canonical singularities appears
ni (2)a i (3)b i (3)c
Corollary IIIIII3 If there is no LC-center thorugh a point lowast then there are at
most three invariant curves through lowast all smooth Any number of them spans a sub-
space of the tangent space at lowast of maximal possible dimension
If there is an LC-center through lowast then there is at most one invariant curve through
lowast and not contained in the LC-center
If there is an LC-center with non-isolated singularity then the singularity is smooth
and all invariant curves contained in the LC-center intersect the singularity trans-
versely
Proof Invariant curves not in an LC-centers with log-canonical singularities are con-
tained in the three axes x = z = 0 x = y = 0 y = z = 0 mentioned in the above
classification The other statements are clear
Corollary IIIIII4 If p is smooth at lowast then Z is one dimensional around lowast
Proof Possible casesni (1)a ni (2)a
In particular if there is no LC-center the situation is the familiary
xz
32 FEDERICO BUONERBA
While if there is an LC-center (pink) with log-canonical singularity it will look like
y
LC-center
While if there is an LC-center with non-isolated singularity (red) it will look like
(the black arrows being invariant curves)
y
LC-center
The next corollary describes one-dimensional components of the foliation singularity
Corollary IIIIII5 If Z0 is a one-dimensional irreducible component of the folia-
tion singularity then it is at worst nodal The foliation when restricted to any fiber
component containing Z0 saturates to a smooth foliation in a neighborhood of Z0
and all the invariant curves are transverse to Z0
If Z0 is contained in exactly one fiber component then the semi-simple field has one
eigenvalue everywhere along Z0
If Z0 lies at the intersection of two fiber components then the semi-simple field has
two constant eigenvalues everywhere along Z0
Moreover if there exist a sequence of invariant curves converging in the compact-
open topology to Z0 then there is generically one eigenvalue along Z0
Proof Possible casesni (1)a ni (1)b ni (2)b ni (2)c Concerning the one-
eigenvalue case invariant curves converging to Z0 can be found in the formal hyper-
surface x = 0
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 33
IV Invariant curves along which KF vanishes
In this section we study in great detail a formal neighborhood of invariant curves
where KF is numerically trivial In the first subsection we deal with KF -nil curves
namely those whose generic point is not contained in the foliation singularity In this
case the normal bundle to the curve determines its formal neighborhood uniquely
and this has plenty of amazing consequences In the second subsection we study
those invariant curves which are contained in the foliation singularity In this case
we are not able to control the full formal neighborhood but important informations
can still be obtained
IVI KF -nil curves In this subsection we study in detail the structure of KF -
nil curves and their formal neighborhoods appearing in the set-up IIVII4 In
particular we will describe a simple process to replace cuspidal KF -nil curves by
net ones prove that the foliation is in the net completion around a net KF -nil curve
defined by a global vector field which admits a global Jordan decomposition deduce
that eigenfunctions for the semi-simple component of such field are also globally
defined on a formal neighborhood
The first important remark is of technical nature and explains how to deal with non-
net KF -nil curves By Proposition IIIV4 this is indeed possible and the images of
such curves will acquire cusp-like singularities It is hard to analyze the geometry
of F around such cuspidal curves and therefore necessary to remove them Let us
assume that C is simply connected with rational moduli f is ramified at 0 isin C
and and denote by X the formal completion along f(C) Then formally around
f(0) the curve f(C) has defining ideal (y xa minus zb) where y = 0 is a fiber of the
fibration p X rarr ∆ containing f(C) x z isin H0(X OX ) restrict to suitable local
coordinates on such fiber and a b ge 2 are coprime integers
Claim IVI1 Let r X ( aradicz = 0) rarr X be the a-th root of z = 0 III3 Then
(rlowastC)norm =∐a
1 C and the induced map rlowastf (rlowastC)norm rarrX ( aradicz = 0) is net
Proof Since r is etale away from z = 0 also rlowastC rarr C is etale away from 0 isin C
Since C 0 is simply connected we have rlowastC rminus1(0) =∐a
1 C 0 This proves
34 FEDERICO BUONERBA
the first statement Let ζ be a function on X ( aradicz = 0) such that ζa = z so then
rlowast(xa minus zb) =prod
ηa=1(x minus ηζb) Every branch is net in 0 and we obtain the second
statement as well
As such upon taking roots we can replace non-net KF -nil invariant curves with
rational moduli by net ones
We now proceed to study net KF -nil curves We will show that the foliation is
defined by a global vector field around a net KF -nil curve with rational moduli and
that such vector field admits a global Jordan decomposition
Proposition IVI2 Notation as in the set-up IIVII4 let f C rarrX be a KF -nil
curve Assume that f is net and let j C rarr C be the net completion along f Then
there exists an isomorphism
(16) OC(KF )simminusrarr OC
In particular there exists a global vector field partf on C that generates F
Proof Since C has rational moduli and is simply connected it has infinite-cyclic
Picard group and we have an isomorphism
(17) OC(KF )simminusrarr OC
Moreover we have a non-canonical splitting of the normal bundle Njsimminusrarr O(minusn) oplus
O(minusm) and we claim that both nm ge 0 Indeed consider the induced semi-stable
fibration C rarr ∆ and let F be the normalization of an irreducible component of a
fiber such that C sub F Consider the exact sequence
(18) 0rarr NCF rarr Nj rarr NFC|C rarr 0
Since KF is nef NCF is not ample since F is a fiber of a fibration also NFC|C is
not ample and this is enough to conclude even though nm may be different from
the degrees of such normal bundles
At this point we can lift the isomorphism 17 over infinitesimal neighborhoods of j
Indeed for every k ge 0 we have an exact sequence
(19) 0rarr Symk ICI2C rarr OCk+1
(KF )rarr OCk(KF )rarr 0
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 35
which shows that the obstruction to lifting the isomorphism lies in
(20) H1(C Symk ICI2C) = H1(C Symk(O(n)oplus O(m))) = 0
From this we can deduce
Proposition IVI3 The vector field partf admits a Jordan decomposition uniformly
along C
Proof The cohomology sequence attached to 19 is
(21) 0rarr H0(C Symk ICI2C)rarr H0(COCk+1
)rarr H0(COCk)rarr 0
Let partk+1 denote the image of partf in End(H0(COCk+1)) Looking at
H0(COCk+1) minusminusminusrarr H0(COCk
)
partk+1
y partk
yH0(COCk+1
) minusminusminusrarr H0(COCk)
we see the canonical Jordan deomposition of partk+1 restricts to that of partk
The above result describes a very useful interplay between normal bundles to
KF -nil curves and the structure of the semi-simple field It turns out that these
informations determine formal neighborhoods uniquely For simplicity let C be
an irreducible component of C without orbifold points Let us assume that part|C is
singular in 0infin Then there exist formal functions x y z at 0 isin C and ξ η ζ at
infin isin C such that x ξ are coordinates along C y η are local sections of OC(minusn)
so η = xny mod(I2C) z ζ are local sections of OC(minusm) so ζ = xmz mod(I2C)
Normalizing so that xminus1partS(x) = ε isin 0 1 we obtain
(22) part0S = εxpart
partx+ λy
part
party+ microz
part
partz partinfinS = minusεξ part
partξ+ (λ+ εn)η
part
partη+ (micro+ εm)ζ
part
partζ
More generally ie C = P1(d e) we have glueing rules x = te ξ = tminusd η = tny and
ζ = tmz mod(I2C) Normalizing so that tminus1partS(t) = ε isin 0 1 we obtain
(23) part0S = eεxpart
partx+ λy
part
party+ microz
part
partz partinfinS = minusdεξ part
partξ+ (λ+ εn)η
part
partη+ (micro+ εm)ζ
part
partζ
36 FEDERICO BUONERBA
It is worth remarking that the above relations hold between eigenvalues at the two
singular point of singular ie nodal or cuspidal KF -nil curves as well this is
easily seen by taking a root followed by net completion and keeping track of the
eigenvalues
Definition IVI4 Let C be a KF -nil curve The foliation singular points along C
are called ends
As well as the existence of Hilbert scheme in the following form
Fact IVI5 Let W sub Xlowast be a curve and D a divisor in the formal neighborhood
of W such that W = D capXlowast scheme-theoretically Then W moves in D
In what follows our main concern is to understand formal neighborhoods of KF -
nil curves Observe that the fibration p when restricted to the formal neighborhood
of such curves provides at least one eigenfunction of the semi-simple field Hence
in order to compute the width IIII we must study the behavior of the other eigen-
function on infinitesimal neighborhoods We first describe the situation inside the
smooth locus of p
Proposition IVI6 (Smooth fiber) Let f C rarrX be an irreducible KF -nil curve
which is contained in the smooth locus of a fiber Xlowast of p Then the end(s) on C are
flat over ∆ ni (1)b and ni (1)a with z2|g(y z) and C moves in a family flat over
∆
Proof Let us assume that f is net Then upon passing to net completion we can
actually assume it is embedded From our local classification of singularities we case
in case ni (1)a and ni (2)a We want to show that both ends have components
that move transversely to p hence we have to exclude case ni (1)a with g(y z) = ya
By way of contradiction say we have g(y z) = ya in the notation of opcit around
an end lowast isin C We proceed to compute what happens at the other end we find
formal coordinates ξ η ζ which by equation 23 satisfy
(24) ξ = xminus1 η = y ζ = xmz mod(I2C)
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 37
As such we compute part(ζ) = mζ + ξminusmηa mod(I2C) which is holomorphic if and only
if m le 0 so then C moves in Xlowast contradicting that the foliation has general type
Hence we are in cases ni (1)a ni (2)a with g = microyazb b ge 1
(25) part0 = xpart
partx+ microyazb
part
partz partinfin = minusξ part
partξ+ ζ(m+ microξm(bminus1)ηaζbminus1)
part
partζ(mod(I2C))
Following notation from subsection IIII observe that C1 is the section of E1C which
is disjoint from the proper transform of the fiber of p In coordinates over 0
(26) x1 = x y1 = y z1 = zyminus1
And similarly over infin Using the previous equation and 25 on C1 we find
(27)
part01 = x1part
partx1+microya+bminus11 zb1
part
partz1 partinfin1 = minusξ1
part
partξ1+ζ1(m+microξ
m(bminus1)1 ηa+bminus11 ζbminus11 )
part
partζ1(mod(I2C1
))
In particular the transform of the nilpotent field is still nilpotent after blowing up in
C It follows that the eigenvalues of the semi-simple field at the two ends of C and
C1 are the same Using equation 23 we deduce that the normal bundle to C1X1 to
isomorphic to that of CX in particular it contains a trivial direct summand This
proves that width(C) =infin
Next we show that f must be net Consider the induced flat projection pD D rarr ∆
its general fiber cannot be a cuspidal curve since along such cusp the foliation sin-
gularity would be log-canonical but not canonical Hence if C has a cusp necessarily
the general fiber of pD is a nodal curve Let X rarr X denote the blow up of the
nodal locus of pD with exceptional divisor E ruled over ∆ In a neighborhood of E
we have sing(F ) = D cap E which projects to ∆ as a double cover ramified over lowastObserve that the foliation on Xlowast is again log-canonical and not canonical hence its
local structure is ni (2)a In that case however p is unramified along the foliation
singularity Contradiction
We state a general criterion for movability of KF -nil curves
Proposition IVI7 Let C be a connected KF -nil curve such that p(C ) = lowast isin ∆
Assume its dual graph is a chain that none of its irreducible components is double
38 FEDERICO BUONERBA
VI3 and that its two extremal ends are flat over ∆ Then C moves in a family flat
over ∆ and each of its irreducible components is embedded
Proof We work in a formal neighborhood of C After taking roots we can assume
C is net and since its dual graph is a chain it is actually embedded We proceed by
induction on its length l where the case l = 1 is Proposition IVI6 For l gt 1 let C1
be a component of C which is extremal in its dual graph If C1 moves transversely
to p then both its ends do and hence we can apply the induction hypothesis to
C C1 If C1 is rigid then it can be flopped It is straightforward to check that we
can apply the induction hypothesis to the transform C + C+1 and we are done
Now we deal with rigid curves inside the singular fiber
Proposition IVI8 (Singular fiber) Let f C rarr X be an embedded net KF -
nil curve with anti-ample normal bundle Then there exists a birational map φ
(X F ) 99K (X +F+) and a KF+-nil curve C+ such that
bull φ is an isomorphism away from C+
bull In a formal neighborhood of at least one among C and C+ there exist two
invariant hypersurfaces D1D2 locally defined by the vanishing of eigenfunc-
tions of the semi-simple field such that C (resp C+)= D1 capD2
bull If F middot C lt 0 for some hypersurface F then F+ middot C+ gt 0 In particular X +
is projective
Such φ is called flop
Proof Our assumption is that Nfsimminusrarr O(minusn)oplusO(minusm) is anti-ample namely nm gt
0 If two invariant hypersurfaces as in our statement do exist around C the flop is
easily constructed as a weighted blow-up followed by a weighted blow-down As such
let us assume that such hypersurfaces do not exist around C In particular C is not
double VI3 By [Ar70] there exists a formal contraction c X rarrX0 collapsing C
to a point and an isomorphism everywhere else By Proposition IVI3 the foliation
F0 is Gorenstein around the node of X0 For ease of exposition let us assume
n = m = 1 the general case is handled the same way only the notation becomes more
cumbersome due to the presence of weights The node has embedding dimension 4
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 39
and in suitable local coordinates x0 y0 w0 z0 can be defined by x0z0minusy0w0 = 0 The
morphism c can be identified with the blow up of the embedded surface (x0 = y0 = 0)
Explicitly in the chart y = y0 x = x0yminus10 it is defined by
(28) y0 = y x0 = xy z0 = zprime w0 = xzprime
Here x is a coordinate along C while y = 0 is the pull-back of (x0 = y0 = 0) and
zprime some function in the normal bundle to C By the previous Proposition IVI6
we know C cannot be contained in the smooth locus of p Since C is not double
we can assume that in this local chart p is defined by (x y zprime) rarr xy - the case
(x y zprime) rarr xzprime being isomorphic as it is isomorphic to blow-up (z0 = w0 = 0)
instead of (x0 = y0 = 0) The issue is as emphasized by the notation zprime 6= z that
zprime may fail to be an eigenfunction for partS if it were we would be done since zprime = 0
is the local equation for the global pullback of (z0 = w0 = 0) However we have
a b isin C such that
(29) partS0(y0) = minusy0 partS0(x0) = 0 partS0(z0) = ay0 + bz0 partS0(w0) = ax0 + (b+ 1)w0
Observe that the embedded surfaces D01 = (y0 = z0 = 0) and D0
2 = (x0 = w0 = 0)
are both foliation invariant As such let b X + rarr X0 denote the blow-up of X0
along D01 - which is isomorphic to that along D0
2 - and let Di = blowastD0i i = 1 2
Finally X + is projective by Nakai-Moishezon Indeed every C with anti-ample
normal bundle is contained in an irreducible component F of X0 such that F middotC lt 0
Then F+ middot C+ gt 0 and we can find an ample divisor of the form H+ + εF+ where
H+ is the proper transform of an ample on X
Remark IVI9 In the previous proof a 6= b+ 1 Indeed such identity would create
a non-trivial Jordan block of partS0 in the (x0 w0)-plane thus contradicting the semi-
simplicity of partS0 In particular by a straightforward computation it is impossible to
find eigenfunctions of the form wlowast0 = w0 + αx0 zlowast0 = z0 + βy0 with x0z
lowast0 minus y0wlowast0 = 0
unless a = 0
We can conclude by pointing out an important point understood in this section
A painful aspect of the theory is that log-canonical singularities which appear natu-
rally as analytic degenerations of canonical ones come along with cuspidal invariant
40 FEDERICO BUONERBA
curves There is in particular no a-priori obstruction to the existence of rigid
cuspidal KF -nil curves in a smooth fiber of our family of foliated surfaces p Quite
generally a rigid curve of positive arithmetic genus in a smooth family of surfaces can
never be contracted to a point Therefore this would have been a counter-example
to any reasonable foliated canonical model theory one may wish to achieve Fortu-
nately such phenomenon does not happen and this establishes the Main Theorem I
modulo finitely many rigid curves confined in the singular fiber X0
IVII Invariant curves inside sing(F ) In this subsection we study curves Z0 subeXlowast cap sing(F ) which are inside the foliation singularity and invariant By this we
mean that there exists a sequence fn Cn rarrX of not necessarily algebraic invariant
curves converging in the compact-open topology to Z0 In other words the map
(30) NorF rarr Ω1Z0
is trivial By Corollary IIIIII5 we know that Z0 is at worst nodal it is smooth
wherever p is smooth for every point z isin Z0 the semi-simple part of the gener-
ating vector field has exactly one eigenvalue The problem here is that the Jordan
decomposition need not extend uniformly along Z0 not even along an irreducible
component In case ni (1)a the functions x and g may develop essential singulari-
ties arbitrary close to z Nonetheless the function x is unique and this says that x
does extend along Z0
Proposition IVII1 Let Z0 be as above Then in a formal neighborhood of Z0
there exists a unique smooth invariant hypersurface D0 containing Z0 which restricts
around any point in Z0 to the unique eigenfunction for the semi-simple field whose
eigenvalue is non-zero
Proof The local structure of the foliation around a point z isin Z0 is described by
cases ni (1)a and ni (1)b In both cases partS has one non-zero eigenvalue with
eigenfunction x Such eigenfunction x is a-priori only defined in the normal bundle to
Z0 but it is clear that the equation partx = x has a unique up to constants solution in
the formal completion around z As such there exists a unique smooth hypersurface
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 41
D0 in the formal completion around Z0 which restricts to the eigenfunction x around
z
Observe that the previous argument goes through since we are assuming Z0 subX0
Keeping notations from case ni (1)a if say g(y z) = yz then in the hypersurface
y equiv q isin Qgt0 the foliation has a log-canonical singularity and the eigenfunction x
extends highly non-uniquely to a formal neighborhood of the point (x y z) = (0 q 0)
In particular the existence of D0 as in the previous Proposition might fail along
the component (x = z = 0) of the foliation singularity This phenomenon is called
the beast
Anyway uniqueness in the previous proposition yields
Corollary IVII2 Let Z prime be a connected invariant curve inside sing(F ) Then in
a formal neighborhood of Z prime there exists a unique smooth invariant hypersurface D prime
containing Z prime which restricts around any point in Z prime to the hypersurface constructed
in the previous proposition
Next we turn to the intrinsic structure of invariant singular curves
Proposition IVII3 Let Z0 be an irreducible invariant curve inside sing(F )
Then Z0 is smooth and rational
Proof We work in a formal neighborhood of Z0 Let F0 denote the unique component
of X0 containing Z0 For any other fiber component F intersecting Z0 non-trivially
blow-up the invariant curve F cap F0 with exceptional divisor EF A straightforward
computation using the local formula ni (1)b shows that the fiber of the natural
projection EF rarr F cap F0 intersecting Z0 is also contained in sing(F ) For Z prime the
maximal connected singular invariant curve containing Z0 let G denote the saturated
foliation induced on D prime It is canonical with reduced singularities and it satisfies
KG = KF |Dprime minus Zprime By adjunction
(31) 2g(Z0)minus 2 + sZG(Z0) = minusZ prime middot Z0
Observe that thanks to our initial sequence of blow-ups the singularities of G along
Z0 coincide with the intersection of Z0 and Z prime Z0 In particular since D prime is formally
42 FEDERICO BUONERBA
flat over ∆ we deduce Z prime middot Z0 = 0 and the previous formula becomes
(32) 2g(Z0)minus 2 + sZG(Z0) = 0
This implies that Z0 is rational or elliptic If Z0 were elliptic then sZG(Z0) = 0 and
D0 defines an invariant elliptic curve in the general fiber of p By Baum-Bott this
contradicts that KF is big and nef Now we show that Z0 is smooth If it has a node
then D0 moves it in a family of nodal rational curves flat over ∆ In particular D0
itself has a node in codimension 1 hence Xlowast is smooth around the node of Z0 In its
formal neighborhood the foliation must be as in case ni (1)a which implies that
Z0 is smooth contradiction
We can improve as follows
Proposition IVII4 Let Z prime sube sing F capXlowast be a connected invariant curve with
KF middot Z prime = 0 Then its dual graph is a chain
Proof Assume Z prime is a cycle Then necessarily Z prime = D prime capXlowast scheme-theoretically
and by the existence of Hilbert scheme Z prime moves in the general fiber Its general
member is either a cycle of smooth rational curves or an elliptic curve Arguing as
in the previous proof we see that both options are impossible
V Configurations
In this section we analyze in great detail all possible configurations of invariant
curves along which KF vanishes These can be divided into three groups those
that do not move those that move in a one-dimensional family covering a surface
those that move in a higher-dimensional family covering a surface Curves in the first
group can form rather complicated configurations while those in the second group
are more simple they either move in the general fiber or they cover an isolated
Riccati component in the singular fiber Those in the third group turn out to be
represented by the two rulings of P1timesP1 if they happen to be cohomologous in the
ambient stack First we will analyze rigid curves then those which move and finally
we will describe their configurations
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 43
VI Configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially In
this subsection we describe configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF
trivially which arise in the situation described by set-up IIVII4
First we focus on KF -nil curves At the end of the section we deal with the simpler
case in which a curve in the configuration is fully contained in sing(F ) The general
fiber was handled in Proposition IVI6
Proposition VI1 Let C be a connected KF -nil curve contained in the smooth
locus of a fiber of p Then it is a chain or a cycle and it moves in a family flat over
∆
In what follows we let C denote a connected KF -nil curve contained in the
singular fiber X0 all of whose sub-curves are rigid in X Observe a consequence of
equation 23
Proposition VI2 Let C = cupiCi be a connected KF -nil curve Then the eigen-
values of partS are all rational at every point of sing(F )capC if and only if they are all
rational at one point
We can deduce many non-trivial properties about configurations of KF -nil curves
First we need
Definition VI3 Let C subX0 be a curve It is called double if there exists formally
around C two components F F prime of X0 such that C = F cap F prime A point lowast isin C where
three fiber components intersect is called a triple point If C lies on exactly one fiber
component it is called non-double We denote by F (C) such component
Remark VI4 Let Csimminusrarr P1(d e) be double with two triple points Then we know
e+ λ+ micro = minusd+ (λ+ n) + (micro+m) = 0 whence we obtain
(33) n+m = d+ e
Which is called triple-point formula
Next we show that essentially KF -nil curves do not form cycles unless something
deforms in X0 First we show that there are no cycles of rigid non-double curves
44 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proposition VI5 Let C be a connected KF -nil curve contained in the singular
fiber X0 of p Assume that every component of C is non-double and that every
sub-curve is rigid Then C contains no cycles
Proof We work in a formal neighborhood of C which we assume is a cycle Let
us first consider the case in which all components C1 middot middot middot CN are smooth with no
orbifold points and denote lowasti = Ci cap Ci+1 with CN+1 = C1 Moreover let us
assume no lowasti lies in the smooth locus of p
Since no curve is double the semi-simple field at every lowasti is as in case i (3)b in
particular the eigenvalues along the branches of Ci and Ci+1 add up to zero More-
over let minusni denote the self-intersection of Ci sub F (Ci) Normalize the eigenvalues
of partS so that at lowastn they are 1 in the C1 direction minus1 in the CN direction λ in the
F (C1)capF (CN) direction It follows by induction that at lowasti the eigenvalues are minus1
in the Ci direction 1 in the Ci+1 direction λ+ n1 + middot middot middot+ ni in the F (Ci) cap F (Ci+1)
direction After traveling around the cycle we obtain n1+middot middot middot+nN = 0 contradicting
that ni gt 0 for every i
We established the Proposition assuming every Ci is an embedded scheme and ev-
ery lowasti is in the singular locus of p The case in which Cisimminusrarr P1(di ei) has orbifold
points is analogous we end up with a combination c1n1 + middot middot middot + cNnN = 0 with ci
the eigenvalue at lowasti in the Ci+1 direction Normalizing so that c1 = e1 gt 0 again by
induction on i we see that every ci isin Qgt0 Next we show that our assumption on lowastiis always satisfied
Claim VI6 Every lowasti must belong to the singular locus of p
Proof We give two essentially equivalent proofs
bull If N = 2 3 then the previous argument goes through indeed we can normal-
ize eigenvalues at lowasti to be negative in the Ciminus1 direction and positive in the
Ci-direction and argue as above Hence we can assume N ge 4 If say lowasti is in
the smooth locus of p then F (Ci) = F (Ci+1) If also F (Ciminus1) = F (Ci) then Ci
lies in the smooth locus of p and hence it moves Therefore F (Ciminus1) 6= F (Ci)
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 45
and Ciminus1 can be flopped inside F (Ci) Since N ge 4 this preserves the smooth-
ness of F (Ci) and Ci is now is the smooth locus of p - contradiction
bull If lowasti belongs to the smooth locus of p then the end through lowasti moves We
can form a partial net completion fi Xi rarrX by normalizing C in lowasti only
Then f lowasti C is a chain with movable ends and hence moves in the general fiber
of p fi
Finally the general case in which some among the Ci have cusps can be easily
reduced to the smooth case in a couple of ways
bull Eigenvalues at the singularities of any KF -nil curve satisfy the same relations
as in the smooth case
bull Upon taking roots and net completion we can find a foliated formal 3-fold
supported on a cycle of smooth KF -nil curves which is a ramified cover of a
formal neighborhood of our cycle
Similarly we can show that there are no rigid cycles of double curves
Proposition VI7 Let C be a nodal KF -nil curve which is double Then C
deforms inside X0 In particular there cannot exist a rigid cycle of KF -nil double
curves
Proof Following the previous notation we have 0 = infin and if C = (xy = z = 0)
around 0 then we have identities
(34) x = η y = ξ z = ζ
The last one of which implies m = 0 that is C deforms Since C is double necessarily
the surface it spans must be contained in X0
The statement about cycles follows since a cycle of double curves can be transformed
after finitely many flops into a chain of smooth double curves with a nodal one
attached at one end
46 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Later on we will show that the deformations of C cannot span an elliptic surface
but only a family of nodal rational curves with a special Riccati foliation on it
We are ready to organize a detailed description of the dual graph of C More pre-
cisely we only need to understand how double curves intersect non-double curves
Lemma VI8 There exists a sequence of flops X 99KX + such that if C + denotes
the transform of C every double curve supported on C + contains two triple points
Proof Let C sube C be an irreducible component with at most one triple point and
let X 99K X + be its flop Then its transform C+ is non-double and the number
of double curves contained in C descreases It is clear that after finitely many flops
all double curves contain exactly two triple points
From now on all double curves in C have two triple points Thanks to proposition
VI2 we know that there are two cases to consider those curves along which the
semi-simple field has not only rational eigenvalues and those along which the semi-
simple field has only rational eigenvalues The first case being strictly easier than
the second it is a good starting place to warm up
Proposition VI9 (irrational eigenvalues) Assume that for every foliation singu-
larity along C not all eigenvalues of partS are rational Then every component of C
is net with at most one node and 1-skeleton of its dual graph is at worst trivalent
Write C = C axes cup C free where
C axes is the union of double curves
C free is the union of non-double curves
Then one among C axes and C free is empty Moreover
bull If C free is non-empty then it is a chain of smooth curves with rational moduli
bull If C axes is non-empty there exists a sequence of flops X 99KX + and an ir-
reducible component of the fiber FC subX + such that X + is a smooth stack
the transform C+ of C is contained in FC Moreover the dual graph of C+
is a tree which by [McQ08 III32] becomes a chain inside the normalization
of FC
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 47
Proof The first sentence is just corollary IIIIII3
Observe that if a non-double curve intersects a double curve then the non-double
curve must be contained in an LC-center around such intersection This contradicts
that not all eigenvalues are rational and establishes that one among C axes and C free
is empty
In case C free is not empty then it is clearly a chain or a cycle the latter being
impossible by Proposition VI5
We are left to show the existence of flops in case C = C axes We remark that
every component is smooth Let C0 be such a component and S0 a component of
X0 containing it Let C1 be the collection of irreducible components of C which
intersect S0 but are not contained in it All the components of C1 are smooth hence
we can flop them in any order until the transform of C1 lies in the transform of S0
Since the number of irreducible components of C lying outside S0 decreases after
such flop by induction we deduce the existence of finitely many flops after which
the birational transform of C is fully contained in the transform of S0
Next we take care of rational eigenvalues The complication here arises from
the fact that there may be double and non-double curves intersecting each other
However the situation is best possible
Proposition VI10 (rational eigenvalues) Assume that for every foliation singu-
larity along C all eigenvalues of partS are rational Write C = C axes cup C free where
C axes is the union of double curves
C free is the union of non-double curves
Then there exists a sequence of flops X 99K X + and an irreducible component of
the fiber FC axes subX + such that
bull X + is a smooth stack
bull The union of double curves of C axes is contained in FC axes the 1-skeleton of
its dual graph is a tree and each of its components has two triple points
bull The 1-skeleton of the dual graph of the transform C free+ is a disjoint union of
trees
bull Each connected component of C free+ intersects C axes in exactly one point
48 FEDERICO BUONERBA
In particular the 1-skeleton of the dual graph of C is a tree
Proof Notice that for every point lowast isin C cap Z there exists one LC-center through lowastIndeed there are three rational eigenvalues and they cannot be all non-vanishing and
all with different signs at the same time Now C axes can be treated as in proposition
VI9 This proves the first two items of the statement The third item follows from
Proposition VI5 so we can focus on the fourth one The proof is based on the
following obvious
Remark VI11 let C be a double curve such that either it is KF -nil hence has
two triple points or it is fully contained in sing(F ) Let C0 sube C free intersect C
non-trivially in a point lowast then necessarily C0 sub LClowast
Now let C0 middot middot middot CN form a chain of non-double curves with C0 and CN both
intersecting double curves as in the remark Denote by lowasti = Ci cap Ci+1 Since
C1 sub LClowast necessarily C1 is transverse to LClowast1 otherwise C1 would deform in F (C1)
Inductively we see that Ci+1 sub LClowasti and is transverse to LClowasti+1 In particular CN
cannot touch a double curve This contradiction proves the fourth item
Let us add a remark about configurations featuring invariant curves inside sing(F )
Proposition VI12 Let C be an invariant curve with KF middot C = 0 such that
Z0 sube C for some component Z0 sube sing(F ) Then C = Z prime cup C where
Z prime is a connected invariant curve inside the foliation singularity with dual graph a
chain
C is the union of at most two pairwise disjoint KF -nil curves with anti-ample
normal bundle
If not empty C can only intersect Z prime at the two ends of its dual graph Moreover
perhaps after a flop the intersection of C with Z prime supports the foliation singularity
along C As such if C has two components Z prime cup C deforms in the general fiber
Proof The structure of Z prime is Proposition IVII3 while that of Co is Proposition
IVI6 Let C prime be a component of C intersecting Z0 in a point lowast If C prime and Z0 belong
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 49
to different components of X0 then by case ni (1)b the eigenvalue of partS along C prime
vanishes so supp(sing(F ) cap C prime) = lowast If C prime and Z0 belong to the same component
then we can flop C prime into a different component
Observe that the divisor D prime from op cit can be extended along C prime This implies
that C can only intersect Z prime at its ends Moreover if C touches both ends necessarily
D prime capX0 = C scheme-theoretically hence by the existence of Hilbert scheme IVI5
we conclude
Our new set-up is
Set-up VI13 Everything as in set-up IIVII4 and moreover for any connected
invariant curve C with KF middot C = 0 all of whose sub-curves are rigid we have
configurations computed in proposition VI9 VI10 and Lemma VI12
VII Configurations of non-rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
In this subsection we describe configurations of surfaces which are covered by KF -nil
curves The structure of each such surface is described by classification IIV1 IIV2
and Corollary IIVI17 Our first step is to simplify the situation by contracting
chains of ruled surfaces The next step is to try and exclude the possibility that
the singular fiber of p contains fibrations by elliptic or nodal rational curves with
at least one invariant fiber This can be achieved with good success indeed there
may be at most one such Riccati foliation which is anyway rather isolated from the
remaining KF -nil curves Finally we observe that the only class of surfaces we have
not mentioned is
Definition VII1 A irreducible component F of the singular fiber of p is called
small Kronecker if
bull (FFF ) is birational to a Kronecker vector field on P1 timesP1 and
bull The two rulings of this P1 timesP1 are cohomologous inside X
The name comes from the fact that contraction of a small Kronecker yields a node
in the ambient threefold which admits a small resolution In fact in many respects
these fiber components behave very much like rigid KF -nil curves
50 FEDERICO BUONERBA
We start by getting rid of some fiber components which are ruled by KF -nil gener-
ically smooth rational curves
Proposition VII2 Notation as in Set-up VI13 there exists a sequence of flops
and divisorial contractions c X 99KX + such that
bull X + is a smooth stack
bull let S+ sub X + be an irreducible invariant divisor that contains a positive-
dimensional family of invariant rational curves along which KF+ vanishes
Then S+ is either birationally ruled by nodal rational curves or it is a small
Kronecker
Proof We focus first on contracting components of the singular fiber of p Consider
the following algorithm If there is no birationally ruled component different from
the ones listed in the second item we are done otherwise pick one such F and let
C denote the general member of the ruling If the cohomology class [C] is inde-
composable F is minimal Otherwise [C] = [C1] + [C2] where Ci are rational and
intersect KF trivially After finitely many steps we have a decomposition as a finite
sum of indecomposables [C] =sumn
i=0 ni[Ci] where every Ci is rational intersects KF
trivially We have two cases
bull There exists k such that Ck deforms in a birationally ruled necessarily min-
imal surface Fk
bull Every Ci has anti-ample normal bundle
In the first case denote by X rarr X1 the contraction of Fk along |Ck| and relpace
X by X1 Since Fk is minimal smoothness of the ambient stack is preserved unless
Fk is a small Kronecker This is however impossible if n ge 2 if Fk were a small
Kronecker then Ck deforms away from Fkminus1 so then Fkminus1 middot Ck = 0 on the other
hand Fkminus1 intersects the other ruling of Fk positively
In the second case flop C1 middot middot middot Cn in this order The transform of F is minimal and
not a small Kronecker so it can be contracted along its ruling preserving ambient
smoothness By induction on the Picard rank of X after finitely many steps this
algorithm ends Call X the output of this algorithm
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 51
Let S subX be an invariant divisor with a generically smooth ruling Then pS S rarr∆ is flat and after flopping finitely many rational curves in S cap plowastS(0) the resulting
pS is smooth Hence we can contract S along pS After finitely many steps the
Proposition is proven
For ease of notation in the sequel we call X the output of the previous proposition
Notice that there might still be divisors carrying a pencil of nodal rational curves
both inside and outside the singular fiber of p
We can start analyzing configurations of fiber components where the restriction of
F is not of general type We need some notation whose reason to exist will be clear
shortly
Definition VII3 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
along which KF is not big F is called special Riccati if
bull F is minimal
bull There exists a morphism s F rarr B onto a curve whose fibers are nodal
rational curve
bull F is transverse to the general fiber of s in particular KF is numerically
trivial along s
bull At least one fiber of s is invariant
bull There exists a section σ of s which is invariant and does not coincide with
the nodal locus of F
In particular the intersections of σ with invariant fibers of s isolated singularities
of F the node of F all coincide There may be fibers of s fully contained in sing(F )
in which case they are everywhere transverse to the saturated foliation
The definition looks nasty but special Riccati components have a rather simple
origin as the following proof shows
Lemma VII4 Let F be special Riccati Up to base change by an etale double cover
Bprime rarr B there is a natural isomorphism F norm simminusrarr BprimetimesP1 and the restriction of F
to F norm is birational to the projection onto P1
52 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proof We work over the normalization F norm Denote by Bprime the pre-image of the
node of F which is an etale double cover of B and let f denote an invariant fiber
of s with lowast = σ cap f Observe that F norm carries a Riccati foliation with 3 invariant
curves through lowast - namely σ f and a component of Bprime Hence FF has a log-canonical
singularity in lowast On F norm perform a weighted blow-up in each log-canonical singu-
larity followed by the contraction of the transforms of the corresponding fibers Let
s+ F+ rarr B denote the output of this operation If the proper transform of Bprime is
connected replace F+ by its base change under Bprime rarr B Hence we can assume Bprime
is the disjoint union of two sections of s+ and the transform of σ is a third section
which is disjoint from Bprime Therefore F+ = P1 timesBprime and the foliation restricts to the
projection onto P1
Next we describe those surfaces which cannot appear as components of the sin-
gular fiber X0
Definition VII5 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
along which KF is not big F is called illusory if
bull there exists a morphism t F rarr B onto a curve
bull KF is trivial along t
bull For any other fiber component F prime the intersection F cap F prime is either empty or
contained in a fiber of t
We give examples of illusory fiber components
Lemma VII6 The following fiber components are necessarily illusory
bull t is elliptic the foliation is either parallel to t or turbolent with at least one
invariant fiber
bull t is a nodal ruling the foliation is either parallel to t or transverse to t with
at least one invariant fiber and not birational to a special Riccati VII3
Proof Let f = F cap F prime for some fiber component F prime It is F -invariant
Assume t and F are parallel and f is transverse to both Then necessarily f subesing(F ) and KF is positive along the fibers of t contradiction
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 53
Assume t and F are generically transverse and f is transverse to t Let e be an
invariant fiber of t then ecap f isin sing(F ) hence t must be a family of nodal rational
curves and ecapf coincides with the node of e - otherwise KF would be positive along
t But this implies F is special Riccati contradiction
We proceed to show that illusory fibers do not exist
Lemma VII7 Let F be an illusory fiber component then every fiber of t is irre-
ducible If F prime is any fiber component intersecting F non-trivially then F prime is illusory
Proof Assume t has a reducible fiber f Then we can write f = f prime cup f primeprime where f prime
is irreducible and f primeprime is a disjoint union of chains of rational curves In particular
every subscheme supported on f primeprime is rigid in X f prime is rational and smooth iff f is a
cycle of rational curves hence the foliation on F is parallel to t and the choice of f prime
is not unique otherwise f prime is nodal or elliptic Let X 99KX + denote the flop of the
irreducible components of f primeprime in any order The proper transform f prime+ (below in red)
is the irreducible fiber of the induced morphism t+ F+ rarr B Since f primeprime+ intersects
f prime+ and is not contained in F+ there exists a component F prime of the fiber of p+ such
that F+ cap f prime+ 6= empty Since F+ is illusory necessarily F+ cap F prime = f prime+ Moreover F+
and F prime are the only fiber components intersecting f prime+ again because F+ is illusory
We deduce that F+ middot f prime+ = F prime middot f prime+ = 0 and therefore f prime+ is nef inside F prime It follows
that he restriction of F+ to F prime is not of general type and by the classification of
foliated surfaces [McQ08] necessarily f prime+ deforms inside F prime and defines a fibration
u F prime rarr Bprime In particular f prime+ is an irreducible fiber of u This is however impossible
since u contracts all the components of f primeprime+ contained in F prime (below in blue) and by
definition of F prime there exists at least one such component This proves that every
fiber of t is irreducible The following depicts the situation
F prime F+
f prime+
f primeprime+
t+u
54 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Concerning the second statement we only need to check the third condition for F prime
to be illussory namely that every other fiber component F primeprime intersecting F prime does
so along the fibers of u If F primeprime intersects F prime transversely to u then F primeprime intersects F
non-trivially and transversely to t as well absurd
Corollary VII8 Illusory components do not exist
Proof By the above lemma the existence of one illusory component implies that
every irreducible component of the singular fiber of p is illusory contradicting that
KF is big
We can now focus on fiber components that do appear
Corollary VII9 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
containing an invariant curve C which moves and such that KF middot C = 0 Then
following the classification [McQ08] we have two cases
(1) The minimal model of F is a special Riccati component
(2) F is a small Kronecker
Proof Certainly the ones listed are the only cases where C is KF -nil We have to
exclude the possibility that C is invariant inside sing(F ) By Proposition IVII3
such C would be rational with at most one node Since we already contracted at
the beginning of the present subsection all ruled surfaces necessarily C is nodal
However by opcit C cannot intersect any other fiber component of X0 which
implies the absurdity that X0 = F
We proceed to show that special Riccati components are rather isolated in the
fiber
Lemma VII10 Let F be a special Riccati component If F prime is a fiber component
intersecting F non-trivially then it does so transversely to s Morover there is
exactly one such F prime
Proof After finitely many flops we can assume that every fiber of s is irreducible
By the non-existence of illusory components there exists a fiber component F lowast with
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 55
σprime = F cap F prime transverse to s If F primeprime is a fiber component with f = F cap F primeprime a fiber
of s then we claim f sube sing(F ) If not then since KF middot f = 0 and σprime is invariant
necessarily σprimecap f is the node of f But then the existence of F primeprime contradicts that p is
snc Hence f sube sing(F ) so then around the node of f there are 3 fiber components -
two branches coming from F one from F primeprime - and sing(F ) has 2 branches - namely f
This is impossible by our case analysis ni (1)c ni (2)c The very same reasoning
establishes the uniqueness of F prime
Lemma VII11 Let F be as in the previous Lemma If C is a connected curve
with KF middot C = 0 then it is disjoint from F
Proof After finitely many flops s is irreducible and C intersects F transversely away
from its node Moreover lowast = C cap F isin sing(F ) and we deduce that the fiber of s
through lowast is fully contained in the singular locus of F This contradicts Proposition
IVII3 since such fiber is nodal
We conclude by observing the obvious
Lemma VII12 Let F be a small Kronecker Then there exists a contraction
c X rarr X prime which is an isomorphism away from F and contracts F along one
of its rulings Necessarily X prime is not projective since every global Cartier divisor
intersects c(F ) trivially On the other hand in a formal neighborhood of c(F ) there
exist Cartier divisors intersecting it non-trivialliy
As such the contribution coming from non-rigid curves is rather poor there are
curves moving in the general fiber there are special Riccati components disjoint from
any other invariant curve intersecting KF trivially there are small Kroneckers who
can be contracted to curves We shall see in the next section that the complications
arising from the contraction of such non-rigid curves is purely psychological and
totally harmless
56 FEDERICO BUONERBA
VI Contractions and proof of the Main Theorem
In this section we contract all invariant curves along which KF is zero thereby
establishing the existence of canonical models I First we contract non-rigid curves
as described in the previous subsection
bull Small Kroneckers along either ruling Albeit this destroys projectivity of
the ambient threefold there still exist Cartier divisors defined in a formal
neighborhood of the base curve that intersect it non-trivially
bull Families of irreducible nodal rational curves which are flat over ∆ This
creates elliptic singularities on the general fiber of p which are disjoint from
other invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
bull Special Riccati again families of irreducible nodal rational curves fully con-
tained in X0 This creates elliptic singularities disjoint from other invariant
curves intersecting KF trivially
We can summarize our situation by way of
Set-up VI1 X is a 3-dimensional DM stack with at worst elliptic singularities
F a foliation by curves with canonical singularities which is not Q-Cartier in a
neighborhood of Xsing
There exists a proper morphism p X rarr ∆ smooth off 0 isin ∆ F restricts to a
foliation on every fiber of p it has canonical singularities on the very general fiber
of p and log-canonical singularities on every fiber of p KF is big and nef on every
irreducible component of every fiber of p
Let C be the invariant sub-scheme along which KF is not big then C is a curve
fully contained in the smooth locus X0capXsmooth every sub-curve of C has anti-ample
normal bundle the 1-simplex of its dual graph is a tree and detailed configurations
of such are referenced in set-up VI13
We proceed to contract such C We assume that along C the semi-simple field has
only rational eigenvalues and moreover no component of C is inside the foliation
singularity The other two cases - irrational eigenvalues and presence of singular
component - are strictly easier and can be obtained with the very same method
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 57
The proof takes place in the formal completion around C = C free cup C axes The
former is a disjoint union of trees of non-double curves For each non-double C let
F (C) denote the unique component of X0 containing it The latter is a tree of double
curves each with two triple points all contained in the same irreducible FC axes Each
tree of non-double curves touches C axes in one point through a LC-center In order
to construct the contraction we will use Artinrsquos celebrated criterion in the following
form
Fact VI1 ([Ar70]) Let X be an irreducible algebraic space i Y rarr X a closed
subspace of pure codimension 1 and f Y rarr Y0 a proper morphism with flowastOY = OY0
Let X denote the formal completion of X along Y and assume there exists a Cartier
divisor D in X which is supported on Y and is f -anti-ample Then there exists a
proper morphism of algebraic spaces F X rarr X0 which is an isomorphism away
from Y and such that ilowastF = f
Now we use the tree structure of C to construct a suitable divisor to which apply
Artinrsquos theorem Namely consider the following inductive defintion
(35) C0 = C axes F0 = FC axes
For k ge 0 assume Ck Fk are defined
bull Let Ck+1 denote the union of irreducible components of C that intersect Fk
non-trivially but are not contained in cupilekFibull Let Fk+1 denote the reduced sum (
sumCsubeCk+1
F (C))red
This process stops with a collection C1 middot middot middotCN of curves and F1 middot middot middot FN of reduced
divisors
Lemma VI1 We have the following identities
(36)
Fk middot C lt 0 for every C sube Ck
(F0 + F1) middot C le 0 for every C sube C0
(Fkminus1 + Fk + Fk+1) middot C = 0 for every C sube Ck 1 lt k lt N
(FNminus1 + FN) middot C lt 0 for every C sube CN
58 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proof The first is just the fact that every component of C is rigid The remaining
three follow from X0 middot C = 0 but the last one requires further justification Indeed
if C sube CN N gt 0 then C is one end of a tree of non-double curves In particular
there exists a foliation singularity lowast isin C disjoint from any other component of
C and LClowast is transverse to C This implies LClowast middotC gt 0 which together with
(FNminus1 + FN + LClowast) middot C = 0 concludes the proof
Let ε1 middot middot middot εN isin Qgt0 and define
(37) F Nminusk = (1 + ε1 + middot middot middot+ εk)FNminusk
bull If C sube CN we have
(38) (F Nminus1 + F
N) middot C = ε1FNminus1 middot C + (FNminus1 + FN) middot C
bull If C sube CNminusk 1 lt k lt N we have
(39)
(F Nminuskminus1 + F
Nminusk + F Nminusk+1) middot C =
(1 + middot middot middot+ εk)(FNminuskminus1 + FNminusk + FNminusk+1) middot C minus εkFNminusk+1 middot C + εk+1FNminuskminus1 middot C =
minus εkFNminusk+1 middot C + εk+1FNminuskminus1 middot C
bull If C sube C0 we have
(40) (F 0 + F
1) middot C = εNF0 middot C + (Nminus1sumj=0
εj)(F0 + F1) middot C
It is clear that provided
(41) 1 gtgt ε1 gtgt middot middot middot gtgt εN
the divisor F =sumF k is negative along every component of C
This proves the existence of the contraction and concludes the proof of the Main
Theorem I
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 59
VII Moduli space of foliated surfaces of general type
In this section we study the modular variation of foliated surfaces of general type
The upshot is that it is possible to define a functor which is representable separated
and every irreducible component is proper The main issue here is that the supporting
surface of a foliated canonical model may well fail to be projective indeed KF is not
Q-Gorenstein in general Hence in order to proceed via standard methods [Ko17]
we have to parametrize our canonical models together with a suitable projective
resolution
Definition VII13 Let (SF ) be a foliated proper reduced purely 2-dimensional
DM stack Assume S has only normal crossing singularities in codimension 1 that
F has log-canonical foliation singularities and that KF is big and nef on at least
one of the irreducible components of S If whenever KF middot C = 0 for some curve C
then C moves in an irreducible component of S and no member of such deformation
is F -invariant then (SF ) is called foliated canonical model of general type
Clearly foliated canonical models are exactly the stable degenerations appearing
as the central fiber of our Main Theorem I Their lack of projectivity has two sources
namely the contraction of cycles of smooth KF -nil curves and of trees of cuspidal
ones Singularities arising from cycles behave well in families namely they always
deform into the general fiber Those arising from cuspidal curves on the other hand
tend to be rather isolated inside the degenerate fiber
Observe that the deformation theory of a foliated surface is rather simple suppose
given an infinitesimal C-algebras extension 0 rarr J rarr Ae rarr A rarr 0 and (SF )
a foliated surface flat over Spec(A) then the obstruction to lifting to Ae can be
understood in three simple steps
(1) Deformation of the underlying surface S once a deformation Se rarr Spec(Ae)
is given
(2) Deformation of the line bundle KF by the exponential sequence
(42) 0rarr J otimes OS rarr OlowastSerarr OlowastS rarr 0
obstructions lie in H2(SOS)otimes J once a deformation of KF is given
60 FEDERICO BUONERBA
(3) Deformation of the defining section OS rarr KF otimes TS obstructions lie in
H1(SKF otimes TS)otimes J
Now we have
Definition VII14 Let (SF ) be a foliated canonical model of general type A
proper birational morphism q (SF )proj rarr (SF ) is called its projective resolution
if
bull Every irreducible component of Sproj is smooth
bull The exceptional locus of q is a disjoint union of cycles of KFproj-nil smooth
curves and trees of KFproj-nil curves each of which has a non-trivial cuspidal
singularity
bull In a neighborhood of every q-exceptional cycle not only Sproj but also its
moduli space is smooth
We need a few remarks about projective resolutions
(1) Projective resolutions are always unique Indeed the only possible ambiguity
could lie in some extra smooth irreducible components in the exceptional
locus This is forbidden by definition in the trees of cuspidal curves it is
also forbidden by way of the third item in cycles of smooth ones ie on
algebraic surfaces the minimal resolution is unique
(2) Denote by E the collection of q-exceptional cycles Then there exist ε δ isinQgt0 such that KFproj
minus εE + δKSprojis ample by Nakai-Moishezon
(3) Deformations of a projective resolution of a foliated canonical model are
canonically identified with deformations of the underlying birational mor-
phism q Sproj rarr S followed by a deformation of the foliation F
We are now ready to construct a moduli functor for foliated surfaces more precisely
for projective resolutions of foliated canonical models of general type For m dN isinN and ε δ isin Qgt0 let
(43) MmdNεδ (C-schemes)rarr (sets)
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 61
be defined by MmdNεδ(S) = Diagrams
(44) (X F )projqminusrarr (X F )
pminusrarr S
Where
bull Both p and p q are flat and proper
bull For every closed point s isin S the induced morphism qs is the projective
resolution of (X F )s which is a foliated canonical model of general type
bull Denote by Es the collection of exceptional cycles of qs By our Main Theorem
I there is a fibrewise divisor E subXproj flat over S restricting to Es for every
s isin S
bull Let j W rarr Xproj denote the maximal closed subscheme away from which
KFprojand KXprojS are locally free Then
(45) L [m] = (jlowast(KFprojotimes OXproj
(minusεE )otimesKδXprojS
)otimesm)oror
is flat over S and commutes with base-change
bull L [m] is very ample of degree d on every fiber and defines an embedding into
PNS
We are now ready for
Theorem VII15 The functor MmdNεδ is represented by a separated algebraic
space each of whose irreducible components is proper
Proof We show that our functor satisfies Artinrsquos conditions [Ar74 Corollary 54] By
definition condition 1) and 4) hold while our previous remark on foliated obstruction
theory shows that 3) is true
We proceed to show 2) namely effectivity of formal deformations for MmdNεδ
What follows owes much to Artinrsquos [A74rsquo] Let T be a complete C-algebra Tn its
n-truncation so that Tsimminusrarr limlarrminusTn and finally qn isinMmdNεδ(Spec(Tn)) a compatible
sequence For each n there is a maximal open set Un sube Xprojn where qn is an
isomorphism denote by sn Cn rarr Zn the restriction of qn to the complement of Un
Clearly sn is projective over Spec(Tn)
62 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Denote by X C etc the formal algebraic spaces obtained as limits of Xn Cn
etc Then Xproj sub PNˆSpec(T )
hence by Grothendieckrsquos existence Theorem we find
bull a flat projective family (X F )proj rarr Spec(T ) resp a closed subscheme
C subXproj whose completion is Xproj resp C
bull a scheme Z whose completion is Z and a morphism s C rarr Z everything
being projective over Spec(T )
Further we have a formal contraction limminusrarr qn C rarr Z hence the main theorem
of [Ar70] gives algebraic contraction (X F )proj rarr (X F ) This proves the repre-
sentability of MmdNεδ The properness and separability of each irreducible com-
ponent can be checked using valutative criteria indeed properness is the content of
our Main Theorem I separatedness follows from the uniqueness of foliated canonical
models of general type and their projective resolution
References
[Ar70] M Artin Algebraization of Formal Moduli II Existence of Modifications Ann
of Math Vol 91 No 1 (Jan 1970) pp 88-135 httpwwwjstororgstable
1970602
[Ar74] M Artin Versal Deformations and Algebraic Stacks Inventiones Math 27 165- 189
(1974) httpmathuchicagoedu~drinfeldArtin_on_stackspdf
[A74rsquo] M Artin Algebraic construction of Brieskornrsquos resolutions J Alg Vol 29 Issue
2 May 1974 pp 330-348 httpwwwsciencedirectcomsciencearticlepii
0021869374901021
[BB72] P Baum R Bott Singularities of holomorphic foliations J Diff Geom 7 (1972)
279-342 httpsprojecteuclidorgdownloadpdf_1euclidjdg1214431158
[Bo77] F Bogomolov Families of curves on a surface of general type Doklady Akademii Nauk
USSR (in Russian) 236 (5) 1041-1044
[Bo78] F Bogomolov Holomorphic tensors and vector bundles on projective varieties Math
USSR Izv 13 (1978) 499-555
[BM16] F Bogomolov M McQuillan Rational Curves on Foliated Varieties In Cascini
McKernan Pereira (eds) Foliation Theory in Algebraic Geometry Simons Symposia
Springer Cham pp 21-51 (2016) httpslinkspringercomchapter101007
978-3-319-24460-0_2
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 63
[Bu] F Buonerba Functorial resolution of tame quotient singularities in positive charac-
teristic httpsarxivorgabs151100550
[Ke99] S Keel Basepoint Freeness for Nef and Big Line Bundles in Positive Characteris-
tic Annals of Math 149 No 1 (Jan 1999) pp 253-286 httpwwwjstororg
stable121025 httpsarxivorgabsmath9901149
[KM97] S Keel S Mori Quotients by groupoids Annals of Math 145 (1997) pp
193-213 httpwwwjstororgstable2951828seq=1page_scan_tab_contents
httparxivorgabsalg-geom9508012
[Ko17] J Kollar Families of varieties of general type httpswebmathprincetonedu
~kollarbookmodbook20170720pdf
[LN02] A Lins Neto Some examples for the Poincare and Painleve problems Annales sci-
entifiques de lrsquoENS 352 (2002) 231-266 httparchivenumdamorgarticle
ASENS_2002_4_35_2_231_0pdf
[McQ12] M McQuillan Foliated Mori Theory amp Hyperbolicity of Algebraic Surfaces http
wwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillahomehtml
[McQ98] M McQuillan Diophantine approximation and foliations Inst Hautes Etudes Sci
Publ Math 87 (1998) 121-174 httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafiles
ihespdf
[McQ05rsquo] M McQuillan Bloch hyperbolicity preprint httpwwwmatuniroma2it
~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ05] M McQuillan Semi-stable reduction of foliations IHES pre-print IHESM0502
(2005) httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ05rdquo] M McQuillan Uniform Uniformisation IHES pre-print (2005) IHES M0503 http
wwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ08] M McQuillan Canonical models of foliations Pure Appl Math Q 4
(2008) no 3 Special Issue In honor of Fedor Bogomolov Part 2 877-1012
httpintlpresscomsitepubfiles_fulltextjournalspamq20080004
0003PAMQ-2008-0004-0003-a009pdf
[MP13] M McQuillan D Panazzolo Almost etale resolution of foliations J Diff Geom 95
(2013) pp 279-319 httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesmp1bispdf
[Pe02] JV Pereira On the Poincare Problem for Foliations of General Type Mathematische
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httpsarxivorgabs161206932
64 FEDERICO BUONERBA
[Re83] M Reid Minimal models of canonical threefolds in rdquoAlgebraic Varieties and Ana-
lytic Varietiesrdquo Adv Stud Pure Math vol 1 S Iitaka ed Kinokuniya and North-
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[Se67] A Seidenberg Reduction of singularities of the differential equation Ady = Bdx Amer
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2FBF01388892page-1
Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences New York University 251 Mercer
Street New York NY 10012 USA
E-mail address buonerbacimsnyuedu
- I Introduction
- II Preliminaries
-
- III Operations on Deligne-Mumford stacks
- IIII Width of embedded parabolic champs
- IIIII Gorenstein foliation singularities
- IIIV Foliated adjunction
- IIV Canonical models of foliated surfaces with canonical singularities
- IIVI Canonical models of foliated surfaces with log-canonical singularities
- IIVII Set-up
-
- III Invariant curves and singularities local description
-
- IIII `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F) not isolated
- IIIII `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F) isolated
- IIIIII Local consequences
-
- IV Invariant curves along which KF vanishes
-
- IVI KF-nil curves
- IVII Invariant curves inside `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F)
-
- V Configurations
-
- VI Configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
- VII Configurations of non-rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
-
- VI Contractions and proof of the Main Theorem
- VII Moduli space of foliated surfaces of general type
- References
-
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 19
Fact IIVI6 [BB72 Baum-Bott] Let g C rarrX be an F -invariant curve missing
the foliation singularities Then C2 = NF middotg C = 0
Corollary IIVI7 Let g C rarr X be an F -invariant curve missing the foliation
singularities and such that KF middotg C lt 0 Then F is birationally a fibration by
rational curves
Proof By assumption KF middot C = minusχ(C) This together with Baum-Bott IIVI6
imply that KX middot C = minusχ(C) and from usual adjunction we get C2 = 0 Riemann-
Roch gives h0(X mC) ge 2 for m gtgt 0 so then |C| defines a fibration by rational
curves tangent to F
The rest of this subsection is devoted to the construction of minimal and canonical
models in presence of log-canonical singularities The only technique we use is
resolve the log-canonical singularities in order to reduce to the canonical case and
keep track of the exceptional divisor
We are now ready to handle the existence of minimal models
Theorem IIVI8 (Minimal models) Let X be a DM stack of dimension 2 with pro-
jective moduli and F a Gorenstein foliation with log-canonical singularities Then
either
bull F is birational to a fibration by rational curves or
bull There exist a birational contraction q X rarr X0 such that KF0 is nef
Moreover the exceptional curves of q donrsquot intersect LC(F )
Proof Let f be as above ie KF -negative and intersecting LC(F ) If f is not
F -invariant then KF middotC +C2 ge 0 so C moves and KF is not pseudo-effective We
conclude by foliated bend and break [BM16]
If f is F -invariant then foliated adjunction 6 implies that C is rational it intersects
the singular locus of F in exactly one point By Lemma IIVI5 after resolving the
log-canonical singularity KF middot C lt 0 and F is smooth along C We conlude by
Corollary IIVI7
20 FEDERICO BUONERBA
From now on we add the assumption that KF is nef and we want to analyze
those curves f satisfying KF middotf C = 0 By adjunction formula 6 we know that C
has rational moduli and fminus1Z is supported on two points
Remark IIVI9 If fminus1Z = fminus1 LC(F ) then F is birationally a fibration by ratio-
nal curves
Proof After resolving the log-canonical singularities of F along the image of C we
have KF middot C lt 0 and F smooth along C We conclude by Corollary IIVI7
Therefore we can assume that f satisfies the following condition
Definition IIVI10 An invariant curve f C rarr X is called log-contractible if
KF middot C = 0 and it intersects Z in two points one canonical and one log-canonical
not canonical
It follows that f(C) is everywhere unibranch but it might have a cusp in LC(F )
Definition IIVI11 A log-chain is a chain of invariant rational orbifolds C =
cupni=0Ci scheme-like outside the foliation singularities with KF middot C = 0 and such
that
bull C0 is log-contractible with lowast(C ) = C0 cap LC(F ) called the marking of C
bull Ci is disjoint from LC(F ) if i ge 1
There is a unique point t(C ) satisfying t(C ) isin Z cap (Cn Cnminus1) called the tail of
the log-chain
Proposition IIVI12 Let C1C2 be two log-chains intersecting non-trivially Then
lowast(C1) = lowast(C2) and C1 cap C2 = lowast(C1)
Proof It is enough to prove that the two log-chains cannot intersect in their tails
Replace X be the resolution of the at most two markings of the log-chains and Ci
by their proper transforms C1cupC2 = cupmi=0Ri is a connected chain of rational curves
intersecting Z outisde LC(F ) Moreover each of the two extremal curves R0 and
Rm intersects Z in one point only In particular KF middot Ri = 0 for i = 1 middot middot middot m minus 1
and KF middot Ri lt 0 for i = 0m Since we assumed F is not birational to a fibration
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 21
by rational curves there exists a contraction p X rarr X0 with exceptional curve
cupmminus1i=0 Ri However F0 is smooth along plowastRm so by adjunction formula KF0 middotplowastRm lt
0 and we find a contradiction by Corollary IIVI7
Corollary IIVI13 Let C be a maximal connected curve such that KF middotC = 0 and
C cap LC(F ) 6= empty Then C is a union of finitely many log-chains intersecting each
other in their common marking
The following shows a configuration of log-chains sharing the same marking col-
ored in black
We are now ready to state and prove the canonical model theorem in presence of
log-canonical singularities
Theorem IIVI14 (Canonical models) Let X be a proper DM stack of dimension
2 and F a foliation with isolated singularities Moreover assume that KF is nef
that every KF -nil curve is contained in a log-chain and that F is Gorenstein and
log-canonical in a neighborhood of every KF -nil curve Then either
bull There exists a birational contraction p X rarr X0 whose exceptional curves
are unions of log-chains If all the log-contractible curves contained in the log-
chains are smooth then F0 is Gorenstein and log-canonical If furthermore
X has projective moduli then X0 has projective moduli In any case KF0
is numerically ample
bull There exists a fibration p X rarr B over a curve whose fibers intersect
KF trivially Each F -invariant fiber of p intersecting LC(F ) is union of
mutually compatible log-chains
Proof If all the KF -nil curves can be contracted by a birational morphism we are in
the first case of the Theorem Else let C be a maximal connected curve withKF middotC =
0 and which is not contractible It is a union of pairwise compatible log-chains
22 FEDERICO BUONERBA
with marking lowast Replace (X F ) by the resolution of the log-canonical singularity
at lowast with exceptional divisor E Therefore F is Gorenstein and canonical in a
neighborhood of C cupE By equation 9 we have KF middotC = minusC middotE lt 0 and therefore
C can be contracted to a canonical foliation singularity Replace (X F ) by the
contraction of C We have a smooth curve E around which F is smooth and
nowhere tangent to E Moreover
(11) KF middot E = minusE2
And we distinguish cases
bull E2 gt 0 so KF is not pseudo-effective a contradiction
bull E2 lt 0 so the initial curve C is contractible a contradiction
bull E2 = 0 which we proceed to analyze
The following is what we need to handle the third case
Proposition IIVI15 Let (X F ) be a foliation with canonical singularities with
X a smooth 2-dimensional DM stack with projective moduli and KF nef If there
exists a smooth curve E everywhere transverse to F such that KF middot E = E2 = 0
then E moves in a pencil and defines a fibration p X rarr B onto a curve whose
fibers intersect KF trivially
Proof If KF has Kodaira dimension one then its linear system contains an effective
divisor and by Hodge index KF = cE as divisors for some c isin Q+ Hence there is
a fibration onto a curve with fiber E and F is transverse to it by assumption If
KF has Kodaira dimension zero we use the classification IIV1 in all cases but the
suspension over an elliptic curve E defines a product structure on the underlying
surface in the case of a suspension every section of the underlying projective bundle
is clearly F -invariant Therefore E is a fiber of the bundle
This concludes the proof of the Theorem
We remark that the second alternative in the above theorem is rather natural
let (X F ) be a foliation which is transverse to a fibration by rational or elliptic
curves ie a suspension over elliptic curve turbolent Riccati or isotrivial Pick a
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 23
general fiber E of the fibration and blow up any number of points on it The proper
transform E is certainly contractible By Proposition IIVI4 the contraction of E is
Gorenstein and log-canonical Moreover the fiber E has been replaced by a union of
compatible log-chains Note in particular that the number of log-chains appearing
is arbitrary
Corollary IIVI16 Let X be a proper DM stack of dimension 2 and F a Goren-
stein foliation with log-canonical singularities Assume that KF is big and pseudo-
effective Then there exists a birational morphism p X rarr X0 such that C is
exceptional if and only if KF middot C le 0 In particular KF0 is numerically ample
For future applications we spell out
Corollary IIVI17 Hypothesis as in Theorem IIVI14 assume further that X
is everywhere smooth Then in the second alternative of the theorem the fibration
p X rarr B is by rational curves
Proof Indeed in this case the curve E which appears in the proof above as the
exceptional locus for the resolution of the log-canonical singularity at lowast must be
rational By the previous Proposition p is defined by a pencil in |E|
IIVII Set-up In this subsection we prepare the set-up we will deal with in the
rest of the manuscript Briefly we want to handle the existence of canonical models
for a family of foliated surfaces parametrized by a one-dimensional base To this
end we will discuss the modular behavior of singularities of foliated surfaces with
Gorenstein singularities recall McQuillan-Panazzolorsquos resolution of foliation singu-
larities building on the existence of minimal models [McQ05] prepare the set-up
for the sequel
Let us begin with the modular behavior of Gorenstein singularities
Proposition IIVII1 Let (X F ) be a smooth DM stack with a foliation by
curves Assume there exists a flat proper morphism p X rarr C onto an algebraic
curve such that F restricts to a foliation on every fiber of p Then the set
(12) s isin C Fs is log-canonical
24 FEDERICO BUONERBA
is Zariski-open while the set
(13) s isin C Fs is canonical
is the complement to a countable subset of C lying on a real-analytic curve
Proof By Fact IIIII2 being log-canonical is equivalent to the linearized endomor-
phism part IZI2Z rarr IZI
2Z being non-nilpotent where Z is the singular sub-scheme
of the foliation Of course being non-nilpotent is a Zariski open condition The
second statement also follows from opcit since a log-canonical singularity which is
not canonical has linearization with all its eigenvalues positive and rational The
statement is optimal as shown by the vector field on A3xys
(14) part(s) =part
partx+ s
part
party
Next we recall the existence of a functorial canonical resolution of foliation singu-
larities for foliations by curves on 3-dimensional stacks
Fact IIVII2 [MP13] Let X = (XDF ) be a 3-dimensional DM stack with bound-
ary foliated by curves Then there exists a proper birational morphism Xprime rarr X such
that X prime is a smooth DM stack and F prime has only canonical foliation singularities
The original opcit contains a more refined statement including a detailed de-
scription of the claimed birational morphism
In order for our set-up to make sense we mention one last very important result
Fact IIVII3 [McQ05] Let X be a smooth DM stack with projective moduli and F
a foliation by curves with (log)canonical singularities Then there exists a birational
map X 99K Xm obtained as a composition of flips such that Xm is a smooth
DM stack with projective moduli the birational transform Fm has (log)canonical
singularities and one of the following happens
bull KFm is nef or
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 25
bull There exists a fibration Xm rarr B over a smooth base whose fibers are
weighted projective spaces such that Fm is tangent to the fibers and restricts
to a radial foliation on those
Finally we can organize our notation
Set-up IIVII4 (X F ) is a smooth 3-dimensional DM stack with projective mod-
uli F a foliation by curves with canonical singularities such that KF is big and nef
There exists a semi-stable morphism p X rarr ∆ whose moduli is projective onto
the (formal) unit disk F restricts to a foliation on every fiber of p it has canon-
ical singularities on the very general fiber of p and log-canonical singularities on
every fiber of p Our task from now on is to analyze and contract the maximal
foliation-invariant sub-scheme of X along which KF is not ample
III Invariant curves and singularities local description
In this section we give a complete decription of germs of invariant curves that
appear in the formal completion of any point in the set-up IIVII4 Let us replace
X by its formal completion in a point lowast where the foliation is singular F is defined
by a vector field part with Jordan decomposition partS + partN see the end of subsection
IIIII Since [partS partN ] = 0 partN preserves the eigenspaces of partS Moreover the fact that
F is tangent to p translates into
(15) partS(p) = partN(p) = 0
The description of invariant germs of curves through lowast will be achieved via case-by-
case analysis organized by computing what happens for all possible combinations
of the following informations whether the singular locus Z is isolated at lowast the
number of eigenvalues of partS the number of components of the fiber through p
IIII sing(F ) not isolated
ni (1) partS has one eigenvalue
bull We have partS = x partpartx
and partN = f partparty
+ g partpartz
for some functions f g isin (y z)
Moreover partN is non-trivial
26 FEDERICO BUONERBA
bull Z = (x = f = g = 0) is not isolated
(a) The fiber has one component y = 0 Then 0 = partN(y) = f hence
Z = (x = g = 0) The restriction on the fiber is part|(y=0) = x partpartx
+g|(y=0)partpartz
Z has a one-dimensional component contained in the fiber iff g isin (y) in
which case such component is smooth equal to (x = 0) moreover the
foliation on the fiber saturates to a smooth one with invariant curves
z = 0 transverse to Z
Otherwise the foliation is saturated on the fiber and has a saddle-node
singularity
(b) The fiber has two components yz = 0 Then 0 = partN(yz) = zf + yg
hence f = yh g = minuszh for some h and Z = (x = h = 0) The restriction
on a fiber component say y = 0 is part|(y=0) = x partpartxminus zh|(y=0)
partpartz
Z has an
irreducible component contained in y = 0 iff h isin (y) in which case such
component is smooth equal to (x = 0) moreover the foliation on the
fiber saturates to a smooth one with invariant curves z = 0 transverse
to Z
Otherwise the foliation is saturated on the fiber and has a saddle-node
singularity
(c) The fiber has three components xyz = 0 0 = partS(xyz) = xyz a contra-
diction
Summary with one eigenvalue there are either one or two components The
foliation might have a one-dimensional singularity when restricted to a fiber
component in this case such singularity is a smooth curve and the foliation
saturates to a smooth one with invariant curves transverse to the singular-
ity If the singularity is isolated on a fiber component then it is a canonical
saddle-node with at most two invariant branches
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 27
ni (2) partS has two eigenvalues
We have partS = x partpartx
+ λy partparty
and partN(x y z) = k partpartx
+ f partparty
+ g partpartz
for some func-
tions k f g
(a) The fiber has one component z = 0 Then g = 0 k f isin (x y) and
necessarily Z = (x = y = 0) is transverse to the fiber The restriction on
the fiber is saturated and non-degenerate It has canonical singularities
if either partN 6= 0 or λ isin Q+ otherwise it is log-canonical
(b) The fiber has two components xy = 0 Then 0 = partS(xy) hence λ = minus1
Also 0 = partN(xy) hence k = xh f = minusyh g isin (xy) and necessarily
Z = (x = y = 0) coincides with the intersection of the two fiber compo-
nents which is smooth the foliation saturates to a smooth one on each
component with invariant curves transverse to Z
(c) The fiber has three components xyz = 0 hence λ = minus1 Also k = xklowast
f = yf lowast g = zglowast with klowast + f lowast + glowast = 0 and glowast isin (xy) The singularity
Z = (x = y = 0) coincides with the intersection of two of the fiber
components The restriction to either such components saturates to a
smooth foliation with invariant curves transverse to Z the restriction
to z = 0 has a canonical non-degenerate singularity all the invariant
curves are those in xy = 0 transverse to Z
Summary with 2 eigenvalues there can be any number of components With
one component the foliation restricts to a saturated one with a (log)canonical
singularity which moves transversely to p With two components the folia-
tion is not saturated on either and saturates to a smooth one with invariant
curves transverse to the singularity With three components the foliation
is not saturated on two of them and saturates to a smooth one on both
with invariant curves transverse to the singularity the foliation is saturated
and has a canonical non-degenerate singularity on the third component In
28 FEDERICO BUONERBA
the last two cases the singularity is fully contained in an intersection of two
components
ni (3) partS has three eigenvalues But then the singularity is isolated a contradiction
IIIII sing(F ) isolated
i (1) partS has one eigenvalue
bull We have partS = x partpartx
and partN = xk partpartx
+ f partparty
+ g partpartz
for some functions
k f g isin (y z) Moreover partN is non-trivial
bull Z = (x = f = g = 0) is isolated
(a) The fiber has one component y = 0 Then 0 = partN(y) = f and Z cannot
be isolated a contradiction
(b) The fiber has two components yz = 0 Then 0 = partN(yz) = zf + yg so
f = yh g = minuszh with h non-constant Hence Z = (x = h = 0) is not
isolated a contradiction
(c) The fiber has three components xyz = 0 Then 0 = partS(xyz) = xyz a
contradiction
Summary the 1 eigenvalue case does not exist
i (2) partS has two eigenvalues
bull We have partS = x partpartx
+ λy partparty
partN = xk partpartx
+ f partparty
+ g partpartz
for some functions
k f g
bull g is non-trivial and g isin (x y)
bull Z = (x = y = g = 0) is isolated
(a) The fiber has one component z = 0 Then g = 0 a contradiction
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 29
(b) The fiber has two components xy = 0 hence λ = minus1 and g isin (xy z)
the restriction to y = 0 is part|(y=0) = x partpartx
+g|(y=0)partpartz
and necessarily g|(y=0)
is non-vanishing Therefore the restriction to either components is satu-
rated and the singularity is a canonical saddle-node on each of them
The invariant curves are among the axes x = y = 0 x = z = 0 y = z =
0
(c) The fiber has three components xyz = 0 hence λ = minus1 Necessarily
k = xklowast f = yf lowast g = zglowast with klowast + f lowast + glowast = 0 The restriction to
y = 0 is part|(y=0) = x(1 + klowast|(y=0))partpartx
+ zglowast|(y=0)partpartz
since g isin (x y) we have
glowast|(y=0) non-trivial Therefore the restriction to either x = 0 and y = 0
is saturated and the singularity is a canonical saddle-node on each of
them
The restriction to z = 0 is part|(z=0) = x(1 + klowast|(z=0))partpartx
+ y(minus1 + f lowast|(z=0))partparty
therefore the restriction is saturated and has a canonical non-degenerate
singularity
The invariant curves are among the axes x = y = 0 x = z = 0 y = z =
0
Summary with 2 eigenvalues there are either two or three components the
foliation restricts to a canonical saddle-node on two of them and to a non-
degenerate singularity on the third one if it exists All the invariant curves
are in the axes
i (3) partS has three eigenvalues We have partS = x partpartx
+ λy partparty
+ microz partpartz
(a) The fiber has one component y = 0 hence λ = 0 a contradiction
(b) The fiber has two components xy = 0 hence λ = minus1 The restriction to
y = 0 is part|(y=0) = x partpartx
+ microz partpartz
+ partN|(y=0) The singularity is log-canonical
30 FEDERICO BUONERBA
iff micro isin Qgt0 and partN|(y=0)= 0 and in this case the singularity on x = 0 is
canonical non-degenerate Invariant curves are those in y = 0 and the
axis x = z = 0
If the restriction to both fiber components is canonical then it non-
degenerate on both and the invariant curves are contained in the axes
x = y = 0 x = z = 0 y = z = 0
The fiber could be yz = 0 hence λ+micro = 0 It can be analyzed as in the
next item
(c) The fiber has three components xyz = 0 hence 1 + λ + micro = 0 In par-
ticular if λ = cmicro c isin Q+ then λ micro isin Q The restriction to y = 0
is part|(y=0) = x partpartx
+ microz partpartz
+ partN|(y=0) This singularity is log-canonical iff
micro isin Qgt0 and partN|(y=0)= 0 in which case the singularity on both x = 0
and z = 0 is canonical non-degenerate In particular if the singularity
is log-canonical on some fiber component then it is so on exactly one
component and all eigenvalues are rational Invariant curves are those
in y = 0 and the axis x = z = 0
If the restriction to all fiber components is canonical then it non-degenerate
on each of them and the invariant curves are contained in the axes
x = y = 0 x = z = 0 y = z = 0
Summary with 3 eigenvalues there are either two or three fiber components
the foliation restricts to a singular foliation on each of them and it has a
log-canonical singularity on at most one of them in this case all eigenvalues
of the semi-simple field are rational
IIIIII Local consequences We list some corollaries for future reference As al-
ways in this section the statements are local so everything happens in a formal
neighborhood of our point lowast First we state those corollaries we will need to describe
configurations of KF -nil curves
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 31
Definition IIIIII1 An LC-center Π sub X is an irreducible F -invariant formal
hypersurface such that the local vector field generating the foliation when restricted
to Π has semi-simple part with log-canonical singularity or a one-dimensional sin-
gular locus An LC-center with a log-canonical singularity is necessarily an algebraic
component of the singular fiber of p
Corollary IIIIII2 There is at most one LC-center with a log-canonical singularity
through lowast If it exists then all eigenvalues of the semi-simple field at lowast are rational
If there are at least two LC-centers through lowast then there are exactly two and the
foliation singularity is a smooth curve on each of them
Proof Possible cases in which an LC-center with log-canonical singularities appears
ni (2)a i (3)b i (3)c
Corollary IIIIII3 If there is no LC-center thorugh a point lowast then there are at
most three invariant curves through lowast all smooth Any number of them spans a sub-
space of the tangent space at lowast of maximal possible dimension
If there is an LC-center through lowast then there is at most one invariant curve through
lowast and not contained in the LC-center
If there is an LC-center with non-isolated singularity then the singularity is smooth
and all invariant curves contained in the LC-center intersect the singularity trans-
versely
Proof Invariant curves not in an LC-centers with log-canonical singularities are con-
tained in the three axes x = z = 0 x = y = 0 y = z = 0 mentioned in the above
classification The other statements are clear
Corollary IIIIII4 If p is smooth at lowast then Z is one dimensional around lowast
Proof Possible casesni (1)a ni (2)a
In particular if there is no LC-center the situation is the familiary
xz
32 FEDERICO BUONERBA
While if there is an LC-center (pink) with log-canonical singularity it will look like
y
LC-center
While if there is an LC-center with non-isolated singularity (red) it will look like
(the black arrows being invariant curves)
y
LC-center
The next corollary describes one-dimensional components of the foliation singularity
Corollary IIIIII5 If Z0 is a one-dimensional irreducible component of the folia-
tion singularity then it is at worst nodal The foliation when restricted to any fiber
component containing Z0 saturates to a smooth foliation in a neighborhood of Z0
and all the invariant curves are transverse to Z0
If Z0 is contained in exactly one fiber component then the semi-simple field has one
eigenvalue everywhere along Z0
If Z0 lies at the intersection of two fiber components then the semi-simple field has
two constant eigenvalues everywhere along Z0
Moreover if there exist a sequence of invariant curves converging in the compact-
open topology to Z0 then there is generically one eigenvalue along Z0
Proof Possible casesni (1)a ni (1)b ni (2)b ni (2)c Concerning the one-
eigenvalue case invariant curves converging to Z0 can be found in the formal hyper-
surface x = 0
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 33
IV Invariant curves along which KF vanishes
In this section we study in great detail a formal neighborhood of invariant curves
where KF is numerically trivial In the first subsection we deal with KF -nil curves
namely those whose generic point is not contained in the foliation singularity In this
case the normal bundle to the curve determines its formal neighborhood uniquely
and this has plenty of amazing consequences In the second subsection we study
those invariant curves which are contained in the foliation singularity In this case
we are not able to control the full formal neighborhood but important informations
can still be obtained
IVI KF -nil curves In this subsection we study in detail the structure of KF -
nil curves and their formal neighborhoods appearing in the set-up IIVII4 In
particular we will describe a simple process to replace cuspidal KF -nil curves by
net ones prove that the foliation is in the net completion around a net KF -nil curve
defined by a global vector field which admits a global Jordan decomposition deduce
that eigenfunctions for the semi-simple component of such field are also globally
defined on a formal neighborhood
The first important remark is of technical nature and explains how to deal with non-
net KF -nil curves By Proposition IIIV4 this is indeed possible and the images of
such curves will acquire cusp-like singularities It is hard to analyze the geometry
of F around such cuspidal curves and therefore necessary to remove them Let us
assume that C is simply connected with rational moduli f is ramified at 0 isin C
and and denote by X the formal completion along f(C) Then formally around
f(0) the curve f(C) has defining ideal (y xa minus zb) where y = 0 is a fiber of the
fibration p X rarr ∆ containing f(C) x z isin H0(X OX ) restrict to suitable local
coordinates on such fiber and a b ge 2 are coprime integers
Claim IVI1 Let r X ( aradicz = 0) rarr X be the a-th root of z = 0 III3 Then
(rlowastC)norm =∐a
1 C and the induced map rlowastf (rlowastC)norm rarrX ( aradicz = 0) is net
Proof Since r is etale away from z = 0 also rlowastC rarr C is etale away from 0 isin C
Since C 0 is simply connected we have rlowastC rminus1(0) =∐a
1 C 0 This proves
34 FEDERICO BUONERBA
the first statement Let ζ be a function on X ( aradicz = 0) such that ζa = z so then
rlowast(xa minus zb) =prod
ηa=1(x minus ηζb) Every branch is net in 0 and we obtain the second
statement as well
As such upon taking roots we can replace non-net KF -nil invariant curves with
rational moduli by net ones
We now proceed to study net KF -nil curves We will show that the foliation is
defined by a global vector field around a net KF -nil curve with rational moduli and
that such vector field admits a global Jordan decomposition
Proposition IVI2 Notation as in the set-up IIVII4 let f C rarrX be a KF -nil
curve Assume that f is net and let j C rarr C be the net completion along f Then
there exists an isomorphism
(16) OC(KF )simminusrarr OC
In particular there exists a global vector field partf on C that generates F
Proof Since C has rational moduli and is simply connected it has infinite-cyclic
Picard group and we have an isomorphism
(17) OC(KF )simminusrarr OC
Moreover we have a non-canonical splitting of the normal bundle Njsimminusrarr O(minusn) oplus
O(minusm) and we claim that both nm ge 0 Indeed consider the induced semi-stable
fibration C rarr ∆ and let F be the normalization of an irreducible component of a
fiber such that C sub F Consider the exact sequence
(18) 0rarr NCF rarr Nj rarr NFC|C rarr 0
Since KF is nef NCF is not ample since F is a fiber of a fibration also NFC|C is
not ample and this is enough to conclude even though nm may be different from
the degrees of such normal bundles
At this point we can lift the isomorphism 17 over infinitesimal neighborhoods of j
Indeed for every k ge 0 we have an exact sequence
(19) 0rarr Symk ICI2C rarr OCk+1
(KF )rarr OCk(KF )rarr 0
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 35
which shows that the obstruction to lifting the isomorphism lies in
(20) H1(C Symk ICI2C) = H1(C Symk(O(n)oplus O(m))) = 0
From this we can deduce
Proposition IVI3 The vector field partf admits a Jordan decomposition uniformly
along C
Proof The cohomology sequence attached to 19 is
(21) 0rarr H0(C Symk ICI2C)rarr H0(COCk+1
)rarr H0(COCk)rarr 0
Let partk+1 denote the image of partf in End(H0(COCk+1)) Looking at
H0(COCk+1) minusminusminusrarr H0(COCk
)
partk+1
y partk
yH0(COCk+1
) minusminusminusrarr H0(COCk)
we see the canonical Jordan deomposition of partk+1 restricts to that of partk
The above result describes a very useful interplay between normal bundles to
KF -nil curves and the structure of the semi-simple field It turns out that these
informations determine formal neighborhoods uniquely For simplicity let C be
an irreducible component of C without orbifold points Let us assume that part|C is
singular in 0infin Then there exist formal functions x y z at 0 isin C and ξ η ζ at
infin isin C such that x ξ are coordinates along C y η are local sections of OC(minusn)
so η = xny mod(I2C) z ζ are local sections of OC(minusm) so ζ = xmz mod(I2C)
Normalizing so that xminus1partS(x) = ε isin 0 1 we obtain
(22) part0S = εxpart
partx+ λy
part
party+ microz
part
partz partinfinS = minusεξ part
partξ+ (λ+ εn)η
part
partη+ (micro+ εm)ζ
part
partζ
More generally ie C = P1(d e) we have glueing rules x = te ξ = tminusd η = tny and
ζ = tmz mod(I2C) Normalizing so that tminus1partS(t) = ε isin 0 1 we obtain
(23) part0S = eεxpart
partx+ λy
part
party+ microz
part
partz partinfinS = minusdεξ part
partξ+ (λ+ εn)η
part
partη+ (micro+ εm)ζ
part
partζ
36 FEDERICO BUONERBA
It is worth remarking that the above relations hold between eigenvalues at the two
singular point of singular ie nodal or cuspidal KF -nil curves as well this is
easily seen by taking a root followed by net completion and keeping track of the
eigenvalues
Definition IVI4 Let C be a KF -nil curve The foliation singular points along C
are called ends
As well as the existence of Hilbert scheme in the following form
Fact IVI5 Let W sub Xlowast be a curve and D a divisor in the formal neighborhood
of W such that W = D capXlowast scheme-theoretically Then W moves in D
In what follows our main concern is to understand formal neighborhoods of KF -
nil curves Observe that the fibration p when restricted to the formal neighborhood
of such curves provides at least one eigenfunction of the semi-simple field Hence
in order to compute the width IIII we must study the behavior of the other eigen-
function on infinitesimal neighborhoods We first describe the situation inside the
smooth locus of p
Proposition IVI6 (Smooth fiber) Let f C rarrX be an irreducible KF -nil curve
which is contained in the smooth locus of a fiber Xlowast of p Then the end(s) on C are
flat over ∆ ni (1)b and ni (1)a with z2|g(y z) and C moves in a family flat over
∆
Proof Let us assume that f is net Then upon passing to net completion we can
actually assume it is embedded From our local classification of singularities we case
in case ni (1)a and ni (2)a We want to show that both ends have components
that move transversely to p hence we have to exclude case ni (1)a with g(y z) = ya
By way of contradiction say we have g(y z) = ya in the notation of opcit around
an end lowast isin C We proceed to compute what happens at the other end we find
formal coordinates ξ η ζ which by equation 23 satisfy
(24) ξ = xminus1 η = y ζ = xmz mod(I2C)
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 37
As such we compute part(ζ) = mζ + ξminusmηa mod(I2C) which is holomorphic if and only
if m le 0 so then C moves in Xlowast contradicting that the foliation has general type
Hence we are in cases ni (1)a ni (2)a with g = microyazb b ge 1
(25) part0 = xpart
partx+ microyazb
part
partz partinfin = minusξ part
partξ+ ζ(m+ microξm(bminus1)ηaζbminus1)
part
partζ(mod(I2C))
Following notation from subsection IIII observe that C1 is the section of E1C which
is disjoint from the proper transform of the fiber of p In coordinates over 0
(26) x1 = x y1 = y z1 = zyminus1
And similarly over infin Using the previous equation and 25 on C1 we find
(27)
part01 = x1part
partx1+microya+bminus11 zb1
part
partz1 partinfin1 = minusξ1
part
partξ1+ζ1(m+microξ
m(bminus1)1 ηa+bminus11 ζbminus11 )
part
partζ1(mod(I2C1
))
In particular the transform of the nilpotent field is still nilpotent after blowing up in
C It follows that the eigenvalues of the semi-simple field at the two ends of C and
C1 are the same Using equation 23 we deduce that the normal bundle to C1X1 to
isomorphic to that of CX in particular it contains a trivial direct summand This
proves that width(C) =infin
Next we show that f must be net Consider the induced flat projection pD D rarr ∆
its general fiber cannot be a cuspidal curve since along such cusp the foliation sin-
gularity would be log-canonical but not canonical Hence if C has a cusp necessarily
the general fiber of pD is a nodal curve Let X rarr X denote the blow up of the
nodal locus of pD with exceptional divisor E ruled over ∆ In a neighborhood of E
we have sing(F ) = D cap E which projects to ∆ as a double cover ramified over lowastObserve that the foliation on Xlowast is again log-canonical and not canonical hence its
local structure is ni (2)a In that case however p is unramified along the foliation
singularity Contradiction
We state a general criterion for movability of KF -nil curves
Proposition IVI7 Let C be a connected KF -nil curve such that p(C ) = lowast isin ∆
Assume its dual graph is a chain that none of its irreducible components is double
38 FEDERICO BUONERBA
VI3 and that its two extremal ends are flat over ∆ Then C moves in a family flat
over ∆ and each of its irreducible components is embedded
Proof We work in a formal neighborhood of C After taking roots we can assume
C is net and since its dual graph is a chain it is actually embedded We proceed by
induction on its length l where the case l = 1 is Proposition IVI6 For l gt 1 let C1
be a component of C which is extremal in its dual graph If C1 moves transversely
to p then both its ends do and hence we can apply the induction hypothesis to
C C1 If C1 is rigid then it can be flopped It is straightforward to check that we
can apply the induction hypothesis to the transform C + C+1 and we are done
Now we deal with rigid curves inside the singular fiber
Proposition IVI8 (Singular fiber) Let f C rarr X be an embedded net KF -
nil curve with anti-ample normal bundle Then there exists a birational map φ
(X F ) 99K (X +F+) and a KF+-nil curve C+ such that
bull φ is an isomorphism away from C+
bull In a formal neighborhood of at least one among C and C+ there exist two
invariant hypersurfaces D1D2 locally defined by the vanishing of eigenfunc-
tions of the semi-simple field such that C (resp C+)= D1 capD2
bull If F middot C lt 0 for some hypersurface F then F+ middot C+ gt 0 In particular X +
is projective
Such φ is called flop
Proof Our assumption is that Nfsimminusrarr O(minusn)oplusO(minusm) is anti-ample namely nm gt
0 If two invariant hypersurfaces as in our statement do exist around C the flop is
easily constructed as a weighted blow-up followed by a weighted blow-down As such
let us assume that such hypersurfaces do not exist around C In particular C is not
double VI3 By [Ar70] there exists a formal contraction c X rarrX0 collapsing C
to a point and an isomorphism everywhere else By Proposition IVI3 the foliation
F0 is Gorenstein around the node of X0 For ease of exposition let us assume
n = m = 1 the general case is handled the same way only the notation becomes more
cumbersome due to the presence of weights The node has embedding dimension 4
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 39
and in suitable local coordinates x0 y0 w0 z0 can be defined by x0z0minusy0w0 = 0 The
morphism c can be identified with the blow up of the embedded surface (x0 = y0 = 0)
Explicitly in the chart y = y0 x = x0yminus10 it is defined by
(28) y0 = y x0 = xy z0 = zprime w0 = xzprime
Here x is a coordinate along C while y = 0 is the pull-back of (x0 = y0 = 0) and
zprime some function in the normal bundle to C By the previous Proposition IVI6
we know C cannot be contained in the smooth locus of p Since C is not double
we can assume that in this local chart p is defined by (x y zprime) rarr xy - the case
(x y zprime) rarr xzprime being isomorphic as it is isomorphic to blow-up (z0 = w0 = 0)
instead of (x0 = y0 = 0) The issue is as emphasized by the notation zprime 6= z that
zprime may fail to be an eigenfunction for partS if it were we would be done since zprime = 0
is the local equation for the global pullback of (z0 = w0 = 0) However we have
a b isin C such that
(29) partS0(y0) = minusy0 partS0(x0) = 0 partS0(z0) = ay0 + bz0 partS0(w0) = ax0 + (b+ 1)w0
Observe that the embedded surfaces D01 = (y0 = z0 = 0) and D0
2 = (x0 = w0 = 0)
are both foliation invariant As such let b X + rarr X0 denote the blow-up of X0
along D01 - which is isomorphic to that along D0
2 - and let Di = blowastD0i i = 1 2
Finally X + is projective by Nakai-Moishezon Indeed every C with anti-ample
normal bundle is contained in an irreducible component F of X0 such that F middotC lt 0
Then F+ middot C+ gt 0 and we can find an ample divisor of the form H+ + εF+ where
H+ is the proper transform of an ample on X
Remark IVI9 In the previous proof a 6= b+ 1 Indeed such identity would create
a non-trivial Jordan block of partS0 in the (x0 w0)-plane thus contradicting the semi-
simplicity of partS0 In particular by a straightforward computation it is impossible to
find eigenfunctions of the form wlowast0 = w0 + αx0 zlowast0 = z0 + βy0 with x0z
lowast0 minus y0wlowast0 = 0
unless a = 0
We can conclude by pointing out an important point understood in this section
A painful aspect of the theory is that log-canonical singularities which appear natu-
rally as analytic degenerations of canonical ones come along with cuspidal invariant
40 FEDERICO BUONERBA
curves There is in particular no a-priori obstruction to the existence of rigid
cuspidal KF -nil curves in a smooth fiber of our family of foliated surfaces p Quite
generally a rigid curve of positive arithmetic genus in a smooth family of surfaces can
never be contracted to a point Therefore this would have been a counter-example
to any reasonable foliated canonical model theory one may wish to achieve Fortu-
nately such phenomenon does not happen and this establishes the Main Theorem I
modulo finitely many rigid curves confined in the singular fiber X0
IVII Invariant curves inside sing(F ) In this subsection we study curves Z0 subeXlowast cap sing(F ) which are inside the foliation singularity and invariant By this we
mean that there exists a sequence fn Cn rarrX of not necessarily algebraic invariant
curves converging in the compact-open topology to Z0 In other words the map
(30) NorF rarr Ω1Z0
is trivial By Corollary IIIIII5 we know that Z0 is at worst nodal it is smooth
wherever p is smooth for every point z isin Z0 the semi-simple part of the gener-
ating vector field has exactly one eigenvalue The problem here is that the Jordan
decomposition need not extend uniformly along Z0 not even along an irreducible
component In case ni (1)a the functions x and g may develop essential singulari-
ties arbitrary close to z Nonetheless the function x is unique and this says that x
does extend along Z0
Proposition IVII1 Let Z0 be as above Then in a formal neighborhood of Z0
there exists a unique smooth invariant hypersurface D0 containing Z0 which restricts
around any point in Z0 to the unique eigenfunction for the semi-simple field whose
eigenvalue is non-zero
Proof The local structure of the foliation around a point z isin Z0 is described by
cases ni (1)a and ni (1)b In both cases partS has one non-zero eigenvalue with
eigenfunction x Such eigenfunction x is a-priori only defined in the normal bundle to
Z0 but it is clear that the equation partx = x has a unique up to constants solution in
the formal completion around z As such there exists a unique smooth hypersurface
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 41
D0 in the formal completion around Z0 which restricts to the eigenfunction x around
z
Observe that the previous argument goes through since we are assuming Z0 subX0
Keeping notations from case ni (1)a if say g(y z) = yz then in the hypersurface
y equiv q isin Qgt0 the foliation has a log-canonical singularity and the eigenfunction x
extends highly non-uniquely to a formal neighborhood of the point (x y z) = (0 q 0)
In particular the existence of D0 as in the previous Proposition might fail along
the component (x = z = 0) of the foliation singularity This phenomenon is called
the beast
Anyway uniqueness in the previous proposition yields
Corollary IVII2 Let Z prime be a connected invariant curve inside sing(F ) Then in
a formal neighborhood of Z prime there exists a unique smooth invariant hypersurface D prime
containing Z prime which restricts around any point in Z prime to the hypersurface constructed
in the previous proposition
Next we turn to the intrinsic structure of invariant singular curves
Proposition IVII3 Let Z0 be an irreducible invariant curve inside sing(F )
Then Z0 is smooth and rational
Proof We work in a formal neighborhood of Z0 Let F0 denote the unique component
of X0 containing Z0 For any other fiber component F intersecting Z0 non-trivially
blow-up the invariant curve F cap F0 with exceptional divisor EF A straightforward
computation using the local formula ni (1)b shows that the fiber of the natural
projection EF rarr F cap F0 intersecting Z0 is also contained in sing(F ) For Z prime the
maximal connected singular invariant curve containing Z0 let G denote the saturated
foliation induced on D prime It is canonical with reduced singularities and it satisfies
KG = KF |Dprime minus Zprime By adjunction
(31) 2g(Z0)minus 2 + sZG(Z0) = minusZ prime middot Z0
Observe that thanks to our initial sequence of blow-ups the singularities of G along
Z0 coincide with the intersection of Z0 and Z prime Z0 In particular since D prime is formally
42 FEDERICO BUONERBA
flat over ∆ we deduce Z prime middot Z0 = 0 and the previous formula becomes
(32) 2g(Z0)minus 2 + sZG(Z0) = 0
This implies that Z0 is rational or elliptic If Z0 were elliptic then sZG(Z0) = 0 and
D0 defines an invariant elliptic curve in the general fiber of p By Baum-Bott this
contradicts that KF is big and nef Now we show that Z0 is smooth If it has a node
then D0 moves it in a family of nodal rational curves flat over ∆ In particular D0
itself has a node in codimension 1 hence Xlowast is smooth around the node of Z0 In its
formal neighborhood the foliation must be as in case ni (1)a which implies that
Z0 is smooth contradiction
We can improve as follows
Proposition IVII4 Let Z prime sube sing F capXlowast be a connected invariant curve with
KF middot Z prime = 0 Then its dual graph is a chain
Proof Assume Z prime is a cycle Then necessarily Z prime = D prime capXlowast scheme-theoretically
and by the existence of Hilbert scheme Z prime moves in the general fiber Its general
member is either a cycle of smooth rational curves or an elliptic curve Arguing as
in the previous proof we see that both options are impossible
V Configurations
In this section we analyze in great detail all possible configurations of invariant
curves along which KF vanishes These can be divided into three groups those
that do not move those that move in a one-dimensional family covering a surface
those that move in a higher-dimensional family covering a surface Curves in the first
group can form rather complicated configurations while those in the second group
are more simple they either move in the general fiber or they cover an isolated
Riccati component in the singular fiber Those in the third group turn out to be
represented by the two rulings of P1timesP1 if they happen to be cohomologous in the
ambient stack First we will analyze rigid curves then those which move and finally
we will describe their configurations
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 43
VI Configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially In
this subsection we describe configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF
trivially which arise in the situation described by set-up IIVII4
First we focus on KF -nil curves At the end of the section we deal with the simpler
case in which a curve in the configuration is fully contained in sing(F ) The general
fiber was handled in Proposition IVI6
Proposition VI1 Let C be a connected KF -nil curve contained in the smooth
locus of a fiber of p Then it is a chain or a cycle and it moves in a family flat over
∆
In what follows we let C denote a connected KF -nil curve contained in the
singular fiber X0 all of whose sub-curves are rigid in X Observe a consequence of
equation 23
Proposition VI2 Let C = cupiCi be a connected KF -nil curve Then the eigen-
values of partS are all rational at every point of sing(F )capC if and only if they are all
rational at one point
We can deduce many non-trivial properties about configurations of KF -nil curves
First we need
Definition VI3 Let C subX0 be a curve It is called double if there exists formally
around C two components F F prime of X0 such that C = F cap F prime A point lowast isin C where
three fiber components intersect is called a triple point If C lies on exactly one fiber
component it is called non-double We denote by F (C) such component
Remark VI4 Let Csimminusrarr P1(d e) be double with two triple points Then we know
e+ λ+ micro = minusd+ (λ+ n) + (micro+m) = 0 whence we obtain
(33) n+m = d+ e
Which is called triple-point formula
Next we show that essentially KF -nil curves do not form cycles unless something
deforms in X0 First we show that there are no cycles of rigid non-double curves
44 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proposition VI5 Let C be a connected KF -nil curve contained in the singular
fiber X0 of p Assume that every component of C is non-double and that every
sub-curve is rigid Then C contains no cycles
Proof We work in a formal neighborhood of C which we assume is a cycle Let
us first consider the case in which all components C1 middot middot middot CN are smooth with no
orbifold points and denote lowasti = Ci cap Ci+1 with CN+1 = C1 Moreover let us
assume no lowasti lies in the smooth locus of p
Since no curve is double the semi-simple field at every lowasti is as in case i (3)b in
particular the eigenvalues along the branches of Ci and Ci+1 add up to zero More-
over let minusni denote the self-intersection of Ci sub F (Ci) Normalize the eigenvalues
of partS so that at lowastn they are 1 in the C1 direction minus1 in the CN direction λ in the
F (C1)capF (CN) direction It follows by induction that at lowasti the eigenvalues are minus1
in the Ci direction 1 in the Ci+1 direction λ+ n1 + middot middot middot+ ni in the F (Ci) cap F (Ci+1)
direction After traveling around the cycle we obtain n1+middot middot middot+nN = 0 contradicting
that ni gt 0 for every i
We established the Proposition assuming every Ci is an embedded scheme and ev-
ery lowasti is in the singular locus of p The case in which Cisimminusrarr P1(di ei) has orbifold
points is analogous we end up with a combination c1n1 + middot middot middot + cNnN = 0 with ci
the eigenvalue at lowasti in the Ci+1 direction Normalizing so that c1 = e1 gt 0 again by
induction on i we see that every ci isin Qgt0 Next we show that our assumption on lowastiis always satisfied
Claim VI6 Every lowasti must belong to the singular locus of p
Proof We give two essentially equivalent proofs
bull If N = 2 3 then the previous argument goes through indeed we can normal-
ize eigenvalues at lowasti to be negative in the Ciminus1 direction and positive in the
Ci-direction and argue as above Hence we can assume N ge 4 If say lowasti is in
the smooth locus of p then F (Ci) = F (Ci+1) If also F (Ciminus1) = F (Ci) then Ci
lies in the smooth locus of p and hence it moves Therefore F (Ciminus1) 6= F (Ci)
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 45
and Ciminus1 can be flopped inside F (Ci) Since N ge 4 this preserves the smooth-
ness of F (Ci) and Ci is now is the smooth locus of p - contradiction
bull If lowasti belongs to the smooth locus of p then the end through lowasti moves We
can form a partial net completion fi Xi rarrX by normalizing C in lowasti only
Then f lowasti C is a chain with movable ends and hence moves in the general fiber
of p fi
Finally the general case in which some among the Ci have cusps can be easily
reduced to the smooth case in a couple of ways
bull Eigenvalues at the singularities of any KF -nil curve satisfy the same relations
as in the smooth case
bull Upon taking roots and net completion we can find a foliated formal 3-fold
supported on a cycle of smooth KF -nil curves which is a ramified cover of a
formal neighborhood of our cycle
Similarly we can show that there are no rigid cycles of double curves
Proposition VI7 Let C be a nodal KF -nil curve which is double Then C
deforms inside X0 In particular there cannot exist a rigid cycle of KF -nil double
curves
Proof Following the previous notation we have 0 = infin and if C = (xy = z = 0)
around 0 then we have identities
(34) x = η y = ξ z = ζ
The last one of which implies m = 0 that is C deforms Since C is double necessarily
the surface it spans must be contained in X0
The statement about cycles follows since a cycle of double curves can be transformed
after finitely many flops into a chain of smooth double curves with a nodal one
attached at one end
46 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Later on we will show that the deformations of C cannot span an elliptic surface
but only a family of nodal rational curves with a special Riccati foliation on it
We are ready to organize a detailed description of the dual graph of C More pre-
cisely we only need to understand how double curves intersect non-double curves
Lemma VI8 There exists a sequence of flops X 99KX + such that if C + denotes
the transform of C every double curve supported on C + contains two triple points
Proof Let C sube C be an irreducible component with at most one triple point and
let X 99K X + be its flop Then its transform C+ is non-double and the number
of double curves contained in C descreases It is clear that after finitely many flops
all double curves contain exactly two triple points
From now on all double curves in C have two triple points Thanks to proposition
VI2 we know that there are two cases to consider those curves along which the
semi-simple field has not only rational eigenvalues and those along which the semi-
simple field has only rational eigenvalues The first case being strictly easier than
the second it is a good starting place to warm up
Proposition VI9 (irrational eigenvalues) Assume that for every foliation singu-
larity along C not all eigenvalues of partS are rational Then every component of C
is net with at most one node and 1-skeleton of its dual graph is at worst trivalent
Write C = C axes cup C free where
C axes is the union of double curves
C free is the union of non-double curves
Then one among C axes and C free is empty Moreover
bull If C free is non-empty then it is a chain of smooth curves with rational moduli
bull If C axes is non-empty there exists a sequence of flops X 99KX + and an ir-
reducible component of the fiber FC subX + such that X + is a smooth stack
the transform C+ of C is contained in FC Moreover the dual graph of C+
is a tree which by [McQ08 III32] becomes a chain inside the normalization
of FC
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 47
Proof The first sentence is just corollary IIIIII3
Observe that if a non-double curve intersects a double curve then the non-double
curve must be contained in an LC-center around such intersection This contradicts
that not all eigenvalues are rational and establishes that one among C axes and C free
is empty
In case C free is not empty then it is clearly a chain or a cycle the latter being
impossible by Proposition VI5
We are left to show the existence of flops in case C = C axes We remark that
every component is smooth Let C0 be such a component and S0 a component of
X0 containing it Let C1 be the collection of irreducible components of C which
intersect S0 but are not contained in it All the components of C1 are smooth hence
we can flop them in any order until the transform of C1 lies in the transform of S0
Since the number of irreducible components of C lying outside S0 decreases after
such flop by induction we deduce the existence of finitely many flops after which
the birational transform of C is fully contained in the transform of S0
Next we take care of rational eigenvalues The complication here arises from
the fact that there may be double and non-double curves intersecting each other
However the situation is best possible
Proposition VI10 (rational eigenvalues) Assume that for every foliation singu-
larity along C all eigenvalues of partS are rational Write C = C axes cup C free where
C axes is the union of double curves
C free is the union of non-double curves
Then there exists a sequence of flops X 99K X + and an irreducible component of
the fiber FC axes subX + such that
bull X + is a smooth stack
bull The union of double curves of C axes is contained in FC axes the 1-skeleton of
its dual graph is a tree and each of its components has two triple points
bull The 1-skeleton of the dual graph of the transform C free+ is a disjoint union of
trees
bull Each connected component of C free+ intersects C axes in exactly one point
48 FEDERICO BUONERBA
In particular the 1-skeleton of the dual graph of C is a tree
Proof Notice that for every point lowast isin C cap Z there exists one LC-center through lowastIndeed there are three rational eigenvalues and they cannot be all non-vanishing and
all with different signs at the same time Now C axes can be treated as in proposition
VI9 This proves the first two items of the statement The third item follows from
Proposition VI5 so we can focus on the fourth one The proof is based on the
following obvious
Remark VI11 let C be a double curve such that either it is KF -nil hence has
two triple points or it is fully contained in sing(F ) Let C0 sube C free intersect C
non-trivially in a point lowast then necessarily C0 sub LClowast
Now let C0 middot middot middot CN form a chain of non-double curves with C0 and CN both
intersecting double curves as in the remark Denote by lowasti = Ci cap Ci+1 Since
C1 sub LClowast necessarily C1 is transverse to LClowast1 otherwise C1 would deform in F (C1)
Inductively we see that Ci+1 sub LClowasti and is transverse to LClowasti+1 In particular CN
cannot touch a double curve This contradiction proves the fourth item
Let us add a remark about configurations featuring invariant curves inside sing(F )
Proposition VI12 Let C be an invariant curve with KF middot C = 0 such that
Z0 sube C for some component Z0 sube sing(F ) Then C = Z prime cup C where
Z prime is a connected invariant curve inside the foliation singularity with dual graph a
chain
C is the union of at most two pairwise disjoint KF -nil curves with anti-ample
normal bundle
If not empty C can only intersect Z prime at the two ends of its dual graph Moreover
perhaps after a flop the intersection of C with Z prime supports the foliation singularity
along C As such if C has two components Z prime cup C deforms in the general fiber
Proof The structure of Z prime is Proposition IVII3 while that of Co is Proposition
IVI6 Let C prime be a component of C intersecting Z0 in a point lowast If C prime and Z0 belong
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 49
to different components of X0 then by case ni (1)b the eigenvalue of partS along C prime
vanishes so supp(sing(F ) cap C prime) = lowast If C prime and Z0 belong to the same component
then we can flop C prime into a different component
Observe that the divisor D prime from op cit can be extended along C prime This implies
that C can only intersect Z prime at its ends Moreover if C touches both ends necessarily
D prime capX0 = C scheme-theoretically hence by the existence of Hilbert scheme IVI5
we conclude
Our new set-up is
Set-up VI13 Everything as in set-up IIVII4 and moreover for any connected
invariant curve C with KF middot C = 0 all of whose sub-curves are rigid we have
configurations computed in proposition VI9 VI10 and Lemma VI12
VII Configurations of non-rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
In this subsection we describe configurations of surfaces which are covered by KF -nil
curves The structure of each such surface is described by classification IIV1 IIV2
and Corollary IIVI17 Our first step is to simplify the situation by contracting
chains of ruled surfaces The next step is to try and exclude the possibility that
the singular fiber of p contains fibrations by elliptic or nodal rational curves with
at least one invariant fiber This can be achieved with good success indeed there
may be at most one such Riccati foliation which is anyway rather isolated from the
remaining KF -nil curves Finally we observe that the only class of surfaces we have
not mentioned is
Definition VII1 A irreducible component F of the singular fiber of p is called
small Kronecker if
bull (FFF ) is birational to a Kronecker vector field on P1 timesP1 and
bull The two rulings of this P1 timesP1 are cohomologous inside X
The name comes from the fact that contraction of a small Kronecker yields a node
in the ambient threefold which admits a small resolution In fact in many respects
these fiber components behave very much like rigid KF -nil curves
50 FEDERICO BUONERBA
We start by getting rid of some fiber components which are ruled by KF -nil gener-
ically smooth rational curves
Proposition VII2 Notation as in Set-up VI13 there exists a sequence of flops
and divisorial contractions c X 99KX + such that
bull X + is a smooth stack
bull let S+ sub X + be an irreducible invariant divisor that contains a positive-
dimensional family of invariant rational curves along which KF+ vanishes
Then S+ is either birationally ruled by nodal rational curves or it is a small
Kronecker
Proof We focus first on contracting components of the singular fiber of p Consider
the following algorithm If there is no birationally ruled component different from
the ones listed in the second item we are done otherwise pick one such F and let
C denote the general member of the ruling If the cohomology class [C] is inde-
composable F is minimal Otherwise [C] = [C1] + [C2] where Ci are rational and
intersect KF trivially After finitely many steps we have a decomposition as a finite
sum of indecomposables [C] =sumn
i=0 ni[Ci] where every Ci is rational intersects KF
trivially We have two cases
bull There exists k such that Ck deforms in a birationally ruled necessarily min-
imal surface Fk
bull Every Ci has anti-ample normal bundle
In the first case denote by X rarr X1 the contraction of Fk along |Ck| and relpace
X by X1 Since Fk is minimal smoothness of the ambient stack is preserved unless
Fk is a small Kronecker This is however impossible if n ge 2 if Fk were a small
Kronecker then Ck deforms away from Fkminus1 so then Fkminus1 middot Ck = 0 on the other
hand Fkminus1 intersects the other ruling of Fk positively
In the second case flop C1 middot middot middot Cn in this order The transform of F is minimal and
not a small Kronecker so it can be contracted along its ruling preserving ambient
smoothness By induction on the Picard rank of X after finitely many steps this
algorithm ends Call X the output of this algorithm
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 51
Let S subX be an invariant divisor with a generically smooth ruling Then pS S rarr∆ is flat and after flopping finitely many rational curves in S cap plowastS(0) the resulting
pS is smooth Hence we can contract S along pS After finitely many steps the
Proposition is proven
For ease of notation in the sequel we call X the output of the previous proposition
Notice that there might still be divisors carrying a pencil of nodal rational curves
both inside and outside the singular fiber of p
We can start analyzing configurations of fiber components where the restriction of
F is not of general type We need some notation whose reason to exist will be clear
shortly
Definition VII3 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
along which KF is not big F is called special Riccati if
bull F is minimal
bull There exists a morphism s F rarr B onto a curve whose fibers are nodal
rational curve
bull F is transverse to the general fiber of s in particular KF is numerically
trivial along s
bull At least one fiber of s is invariant
bull There exists a section σ of s which is invariant and does not coincide with
the nodal locus of F
In particular the intersections of σ with invariant fibers of s isolated singularities
of F the node of F all coincide There may be fibers of s fully contained in sing(F )
in which case they are everywhere transverse to the saturated foliation
The definition looks nasty but special Riccati components have a rather simple
origin as the following proof shows
Lemma VII4 Let F be special Riccati Up to base change by an etale double cover
Bprime rarr B there is a natural isomorphism F norm simminusrarr BprimetimesP1 and the restriction of F
to F norm is birational to the projection onto P1
52 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proof We work over the normalization F norm Denote by Bprime the pre-image of the
node of F which is an etale double cover of B and let f denote an invariant fiber
of s with lowast = σ cap f Observe that F norm carries a Riccati foliation with 3 invariant
curves through lowast - namely σ f and a component of Bprime Hence FF has a log-canonical
singularity in lowast On F norm perform a weighted blow-up in each log-canonical singu-
larity followed by the contraction of the transforms of the corresponding fibers Let
s+ F+ rarr B denote the output of this operation If the proper transform of Bprime is
connected replace F+ by its base change under Bprime rarr B Hence we can assume Bprime
is the disjoint union of two sections of s+ and the transform of σ is a third section
which is disjoint from Bprime Therefore F+ = P1 timesBprime and the foliation restricts to the
projection onto P1
Next we describe those surfaces which cannot appear as components of the sin-
gular fiber X0
Definition VII5 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
along which KF is not big F is called illusory if
bull there exists a morphism t F rarr B onto a curve
bull KF is trivial along t
bull For any other fiber component F prime the intersection F cap F prime is either empty or
contained in a fiber of t
We give examples of illusory fiber components
Lemma VII6 The following fiber components are necessarily illusory
bull t is elliptic the foliation is either parallel to t or turbolent with at least one
invariant fiber
bull t is a nodal ruling the foliation is either parallel to t or transverse to t with
at least one invariant fiber and not birational to a special Riccati VII3
Proof Let f = F cap F prime for some fiber component F prime It is F -invariant
Assume t and F are parallel and f is transverse to both Then necessarily f subesing(F ) and KF is positive along the fibers of t contradiction
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 53
Assume t and F are generically transverse and f is transverse to t Let e be an
invariant fiber of t then ecap f isin sing(F ) hence t must be a family of nodal rational
curves and ecapf coincides with the node of e - otherwise KF would be positive along
t But this implies F is special Riccati contradiction
We proceed to show that illusory fibers do not exist
Lemma VII7 Let F be an illusory fiber component then every fiber of t is irre-
ducible If F prime is any fiber component intersecting F non-trivially then F prime is illusory
Proof Assume t has a reducible fiber f Then we can write f = f prime cup f primeprime where f prime
is irreducible and f primeprime is a disjoint union of chains of rational curves In particular
every subscheme supported on f primeprime is rigid in X f prime is rational and smooth iff f is a
cycle of rational curves hence the foliation on F is parallel to t and the choice of f prime
is not unique otherwise f prime is nodal or elliptic Let X 99KX + denote the flop of the
irreducible components of f primeprime in any order The proper transform f prime+ (below in red)
is the irreducible fiber of the induced morphism t+ F+ rarr B Since f primeprime+ intersects
f prime+ and is not contained in F+ there exists a component F prime of the fiber of p+ such
that F+ cap f prime+ 6= empty Since F+ is illusory necessarily F+ cap F prime = f prime+ Moreover F+
and F prime are the only fiber components intersecting f prime+ again because F+ is illusory
We deduce that F+ middot f prime+ = F prime middot f prime+ = 0 and therefore f prime+ is nef inside F prime It follows
that he restriction of F+ to F prime is not of general type and by the classification of
foliated surfaces [McQ08] necessarily f prime+ deforms inside F prime and defines a fibration
u F prime rarr Bprime In particular f prime+ is an irreducible fiber of u This is however impossible
since u contracts all the components of f primeprime+ contained in F prime (below in blue) and by
definition of F prime there exists at least one such component This proves that every
fiber of t is irreducible The following depicts the situation
F prime F+
f prime+
f primeprime+
t+u
54 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Concerning the second statement we only need to check the third condition for F prime
to be illussory namely that every other fiber component F primeprime intersecting F prime does
so along the fibers of u If F primeprime intersects F prime transversely to u then F primeprime intersects F
non-trivially and transversely to t as well absurd
Corollary VII8 Illusory components do not exist
Proof By the above lemma the existence of one illusory component implies that
every irreducible component of the singular fiber of p is illusory contradicting that
KF is big
We can now focus on fiber components that do appear
Corollary VII9 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
containing an invariant curve C which moves and such that KF middot C = 0 Then
following the classification [McQ08] we have two cases
(1) The minimal model of F is a special Riccati component
(2) F is a small Kronecker
Proof Certainly the ones listed are the only cases where C is KF -nil We have to
exclude the possibility that C is invariant inside sing(F ) By Proposition IVII3
such C would be rational with at most one node Since we already contracted at
the beginning of the present subsection all ruled surfaces necessarily C is nodal
However by opcit C cannot intersect any other fiber component of X0 which
implies the absurdity that X0 = F
We proceed to show that special Riccati components are rather isolated in the
fiber
Lemma VII10 Let F be a special Riccati component If F prime is a fiber component
intersecting F non-trivially then it does so transversely to s Morover there is
exactly one such F prime
Proof After finitely many flops we can assume that every fiber of s is irreducible
By the non-existence of illusory components there exists a fiber component F lowast with
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 55
σprime = F cap F prime transverse to s If F primeprime is a fiber component with f = F cap F primeprime a fiber
of s then we claim f sube sing(F ) If not then since KF middot f = 0 and σprime is invariant
necessarily σprimecap f is the node of f But then the existence of F primeprime contradicts that p is
snc Hence f sube sing(F ) so then around the node of f there are 3 fiber components -
two branches coming from F one from F primeprime - and sing(F ) has 2 branches - namely f
This is impossible by our case analysis ni (1)c ni (2)c The very same reasoning
establishes the uniqueness of F prime
Lemma VII11 Let F be as in the previous Lemma If C is a connected curve
with KF middot C = 0 then it is disjoint from F
Proof After finitely many flops s is irreducible and C intersects F transversely away
from its node Moreover lowast = C cap F isin sing(F ) and we deduce that the fiber of s
through lowast is fully contained in the singular locus of F This contradicts Proposition
IVII3 since such fiber is nodal
We conclude by observing the obvious
Lemma VII12 Let F be a small Kronecker Then there exists a contraction
c X rarr X prime which is an isomorphism away from F and contracts F along one
of its rulings Necessarily X prime is not projective since every global Cartier divisor
intersects c(F ) trivially On the other hand in a formal neighborhood of c(F ) there
exist Cartier divisors intersecting it non-trivialliy
As such the contribution coming from non-rigid curves is rather poor there are
curves moving in the general fiber there are special Riccati components disjoint from
any other invariant curve intersecting KF trivially there are small Kroneckers who
can be contracted to curves We shall see in the next section that the complications
arising from the contraction of such non-rigid curves is purely psychological and
totally harmless
56 FEDERICO BUONERBA
VI Contractions and proof of the Main Theorem
In this section we contract all invariant curves along which KF is zero thereby
establishing the existence of canonical models I First we contract non-rigid curves
as described in the previous subsection
bull Small Kroneckers along either ruling Albeit this destroys projectivity of
the ambient threefold there still exist Cartier divisors defined in a formal
neighborhood of the base curve that intersect it non-trivially
bull Families of irreducible nodal rational curves which are flat over ∆ This
creates elliptic singularities on the general fiber of p which are disjoint from
other invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
bull Special Riccati again families of irreducible nodal rational curves fully con-
tained in X0 This creates elliptic singularities disjoint from other invariant
curves intersecting KF trivially
We can summarize our situation by way of
Set-up VI1 X is a 3-dimensional DM stack with at worst elliptic singularities
F a foliation by curves with canonical singularities which is not Q-Cartier in a
neighborhood of Xsing
There exists a proper morphism p X rarr ∆ smooth off 0 isin ∆ F restricts to a
foliation on every fiber of p it has canonical singularities on the very general fiber
of p and log-canonical singularities on every fiber of p KF is big and nef on every
irreducible component of every fiber of p
Let C be the invariant sub-scheme along which KF is not big then C is a curve
fully contained in the smooth locus X0capXsmooth every sub-curve of C has anti-ample
normal bundle the 1-simplex of its dual graph is a tree and detailed configurations
of such are referenced in set-up VI13
We proceed to contract such C We assume that along C the semi-simple field has
only rational eigenvalues and moreover no component of C is inside the foliation
singularity The other two cases - irrational eigenvalues and presence of singular
component - are strictly easier and can be obtained with the very same method
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 57
The proof takes place in the formal completion around C = C free cup C axes The
former is a disjoint union of trees of non-double curves For each non-double C let
F (C) denote the unique component of X0 containing it The latter is a tree of double
curves each with two triple points all contained in the same irreducible FC axes Each
tree of non-double curves touches C axes in one point through a LC-center In order
to construct the contraction we will use Artinrsquos celebrated criterion in the following
form
Fact VI1 ([Ar70]) Let X be an irreducible algebraic space i Y rarr X a closed
subspace of pure codimension 1 and f Y rarr Y0 a proper morphism with flowastOY = OY0
Let X denote the formal completion of X along Y and assume there exists a Cartier
divisor D in X which is supported on Y and is f -anti-ample Then there exists a
proper morphism of algebraic spaces F X rarr X0 which is an isomorphism away
from Y and such that ilowastF = f
Now we use the tree structure of C to construct a suitable divisor to which apply
Artinrsquos theorem Namely consider the following inductive defintion
(35) C0 = C axes F0 = FC axes
For k ge 0 assume Ck Fk are defined
bull Let Ck+1 denote the union of irreducible components of C that intersect Fk
non-trivially but are not contained in cupilekFibull Let Fk+1 denote the reduced sum (
sumCsubeCk+1
F (C))red
This process stops with a collection C1 middot middot middotCN of curves and F1 middot middot middot FN of reduced
divisors
Lemma VI1 We have the following identities
(36)
Fk middot C lt 0 for every C sube Ck
(F0 + F1) middot C le 0 for every C sube C0
(Fkminus1 + Fk + Fk+1) middot C = 0 for every C sube Ck 1 lt k lt N
(FNminus1 + FN) middot C lt 0 for every C sube CN
58 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proof The first is just the fact that every component of C is rigid The remaining
three follow from X0 middot C = 0 but the last one requires further justification Indeed
if C sube CN N gt 0 then C is one end of a tree of non-double curves In particular
there exists a foliation singularity lowast isin C disjoint from any other component of
C and LClowast is transverse to C This implies LClowast middotC gt 0 which together with
(FNminus1 + FN + LClowast) middot C = 0 concludes the proof
Let ε1 middot middot middot εN isin Qgt0 and define
(37) F Nminusk = (1 + ε1 + middot middot middot+ εk)FNminusk
bull If C sube CN we have
(38) (F Nminus1 + F
N) middot C = ε1FNminus1 middot C + (FNminus1 + FN) middot C
bull If C sube CNminusk 1 lt k lt N we have
(39)
(F Nminuskminus1 + F
Nminusk + F Nminusk+1) middot C =
(1 + middot middot middot+ εk)(FNminuskminus1 + FNminusk + FNminusk+1) middot C minus εkFNminusk+1 middot C + εk+1FNminuskminus1 middot C =
minus εkFNminusk+1 middot C + εk+1FNminuskminus1 middot C
bull If C sube C0 we have
(40) (F 0 + F
1) middot C = εNF0 middot C + (Nminus1sumj=0
εj)(F0 + F1) middot C
It is clear that provided
(41) 1 gtgt ε1 gtgt middot middot middot gtgt εN
the divisor F =sumF k is negative along every component of C
This proves the existence of the contraction and concludes the proof of the Main
Theorem I
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 59
VII Moduli space of foliated surfaces of general type
In this section we study the modular variation of foliated surfaces of general type
The upshot is that it is possible to define a functor which is representable separated
and every irreducible component is proper The main issue here is that the supporting
surface of a foliated canonical model may well fail to be projective indeed KF is not
Q-Gorenstein in general Hence in order to proceed via standard methods [Ko17]
we have to parametrize our canonical models together with a suitable projective
resolution
Definition VII13 Let (SF ) be a foliated proper reduced purely 2-dimensional
DM stack Assume S has only normal crossing singularities in codimension 1 that
F has log-canonical foliation singularities and that KF is big and nef on at least
one of the irreducible components of S If whenever KF middot C = 0 for some curve C
then C moves in an irreducible component of S and no member of such deformation
is F -invariant then (SF ) is called foliated canonical model of general type
Clearly foliated canonical models are exactly the stable degenerations appearing
as the central fiber of our Main Theorem I Their lack of projectivity has two sources
namely the contraction of cycles of smooth KF -nil curves and of trees of cuspidal
ones Singularities arising from cycles behave well in families namely they always
deform into the general fiber Those arising from cuspidal curves on the other hand
tend to be rather isolated inside the degenerate fiber
Observe that the deformation theory of a foliated surface is rather simple suppose
given an infinitesimal C-algebras extension 0 rarr J rarr Ae rarr A rarr 0 and (SF )
a foliated surface flat over Spec(A) then the obstruction to lifting to Ae can be
understood in three simple steps
(1) Deformation of the underlying surface S once a deformation Se rarr Spec(Ae)
is given
(2) Deformation of the line bundle KF by the exponential sequence
(42) 0rarr J otimes OS rarr OlowastSerarr OlowastS rarr 0
obstructions lie in H2(SOS)otimes J once a deformation of KF is given
60 FEDERICO BUONERBA
(3) Deformation of the defining section OS rarr KF otimes TS obstructions lie in
H1(SKF otimes TS)otimes J
Now we have
Definition VII14 Let (SF ) be a foliated canonical model of general type A
proper birational morphism q (SF )proj rarr (SF ) is called its projective resolution
if
bull Every irreducible component of Sproj is smooth
bull The exceptional locus of q is a disjoint union of cycles of KFproj-nil smooth
curves and trees of KFproj-nil curves each of which has a non-trivial cuspidal
singularity
bull In a neighborhood of every q-exceptional cycle not only Sproj but also its
moduli space is smooth
We need a few remarks about projective resolutions
(1) Projective resolutions are always unique Indeed the only possible ambiguity
could lie in some extra smooth irreducible components in the exceptional
locus This is forbidden by definition in the trees of cuspidal curves it is
also forbidden by way of the third item in cycles of smooth ones ie on
algebraic surfaces the minimal resolution is unique
(2) Denote by E the collection of q-exceptional cycles Then there exist ε δ isinQgt0 such that KFproj
minus εE + δKSprojis ample by Nakai-Moishezon
(3) Deformations of a projective resolution of a foliated canonical model are
canonically identified with deformations of the underlying birational mor-
phism q Sproj rarr S followed by a deformation of the foliation F
We are now ready to construct a moduli functor for foliated surfaces more precisely
for projective resolutions of foliated canonical models of general type For m dN isinN and ε δ isin Qgt0 let
(43) MmdNεδ (C-schemes)rarr (sets)
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 61
be defined by MmdNεδ(S) = Diagrams
(44) (X F )projqminusrarr (X F )
pminusrarr S
Where
bull Both p and p q are flat and proper
bull For every closed point s isin S the induced morphism qs is the projective
resolution of (X F )s which is a foliated canonical model of general type
bull Denote by Es the collection of exceptional cycles of qs By our Main Theorem
I there is a fibrewise divisor E subXproj flat over S restricting to Es for every
s isin S
bull Let j W rarr Xproj denote the maximal closed subscheme away from which
KFprojand KXprojS are locally free Then
(45) L [m] = (jlowast(KFprojotimes OXproj
(minusεE )otimesKδXprojS
)otimesm)oror
is flat over S and commutes with base-change
bull L [m] is very ample of degree d on every fiber and defines an embedding into
PNS
We are now ready for
Theorem VII15 The functor MmdNεδ is represented by a separated algebraic
space each of whose irreducible components is proper
Proof We show that our functor satisfies Artinrsquos conditions [Ar74 Corollary 54] By
definition condition 1) and 4) hold while our previous remark on foliated obstruction
theory shows that 3) is true
We proceed to show 2) namely effectivity of formal deformations for MmdNεδ
What follows owes much to Artinrsquos [A74rsquo] Let T be a complete C-algebra Tn its
n-truncation so that Tsimminusrarr limlarrminusTn and finally qn isinMmdNεδ(Spec(Tn)) a compatible
sequence For each n there is a maximal open set Un sube Xprojn where qn is an
isomorphism denote by sn Cn rarr Zn the restriction of qn to the complement of Un
Clearly sn is projective over Spec(Tn)
62 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Denote by X C etc the formal algebraic spaces obtained as limits of Xn Cn
etc Then Xproj sub PNˆSpec(T )
hence by Grothendieckrsquos existence Theorem we find
bull a flat projective family (X F )proj rarr Spec(T ) resp a closed subscheme
C subXproj whose completion is Xproj resp C
bull a scheme Z whose completion is Z and a morphism s C rarr Z everything
being projective over Spec(T )
Further we have a formal contraction limminusrarr qn C rarr Z hence the main theorem
of [Ar70] gives algebraic contraction (X F )proj rarr (X F ) This proves the repre-
sentability of MmdNεδ The properness and separability of each irreducible com-
ponent can be checked using valutative criteria indeed properness is the content of
our Main Theorem I separatedness follows from the uniqueness of foliated canonical
models of general type and their projective resolution
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httparxivorgabsalg-geom9508012
[Ko17] J Kollar Families of varieties of general type httpswebmathprincetonedu
~kollarbookmodbook20170720pdf
[LN02] A Lins Neto Some examples for the Poincare and Painleve problems Annales sci-
entifiques de lrsquoENS 352 (2002) 231-266 httparchivenumdamorgarticle
ASENS_2002_4_35_2_231_0pdf
[McQ12] M McQuillan Foliated Mori Theory amp Hyperbolicity of Algebraic Surfaces http
wwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillahomehtml
[McQ98] M McQuillan Diophantine approximation and foliations Inst Hautes Etudes Sci
Publ Math 87 (1998) 121-174 httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafiles
ihespdf
[McQ05rsquo] M McQuillan Bloch hyperbolicity preprint httpwwwmatuniroma2it
~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ05] M McQuillan Semi-stable reduction of foliations IHES pre-print IHESM0502
(2005) httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ05rdquo] M McQuillan Uniform Uniformisation IHES pre-print (2005) IHES M0503 http
wwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ08] M McQuillan Canonical models of foliations Pure Appl Math Q 4
(2008) no 3 Special Issue In honor of Fedor Bogomolov Part 2 877-1012
httpintlpresscomsitepubfiles_fulltextjournalspamq20080004
0003PAMQ-2008-0004-0003-a009pdf
[MP13] M McQuillan D Panazzolo Almost etale resolution of foliations J Diff Geom 95
(2013) pp 279-319 httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesmp1bispdf
[Pe02] JV Pereira On the Poincare Problem for Foliations of General Type Mathematische
Annalen 323 no 2 pp217-226 2002 httpsarxivorgabsmath0104185
[PS16] JV Pereira R Svaldi Effective algebraic integration in bounded genus preprint
httpsarxivorgabs161206932
64 FEDERICO BUONERBA
[Re83] M Reid Minimal models of canonical threefolds in rdquoAlgebraic Varieties and Ana-
lytic Varietiesrdquo Adv Stud Pure Math vol 1 S Iitaka ed Kinokuniya and North-
Holland 1983 pp 131-180 httpwwwmathsedacukcheltsovquotientpdf
reid2pdf
[Se67] A Seidenberg Reduction of singularities of the differential equation Ady = Bdx Amer
J Math 89 (1967) 248-269 httpwwwjstororgstable2373435
[SB83] N Shepherd-Barron Degenerations with numerically effective canonical divisor The
Birational Geometry of Degenerations (R Friedman and D Morrison eds) Progr
Math no 29 Birkhuser 1983 pp 33-84
[Vis89] A Vistoli Intersection theory on algebraic stacks and on their moduli spaces
Invent Math (1989) pp 613-670 httplinkspringercomarticle101007
2FBF01388892page-1
Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences New York University 251 Mercer
Street New York NY 10012 USA
E-mail address buonerbacimsnyuedu
- I Introduction
- II Preliminaries
-
- III Operations on Deligne-Mumford stacks
- IIII Width of embedded parabolic champs
- IIIII Gorenstein foliation singularities
- IIIV Foliated adjunction
- IIV Canonical models of foliated surfaces with canonical singularities
- IIVI Canonical models of foliated surfaces with log-canonical singularities
- IIVII Set-up
-
- III Invariant curves and singularities local description
-
- IIII `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F) not isolated
- IIIII `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F) isolated
- IIIIII Local consequences
-
- IV Invariant curves along which KF vanishes
-
- IVI KF-nil curves
- IVII Invariant curves inside `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F)
-
- V Configurations
-
- VI Configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
- VII Configurations of non-rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
-
- VI Contractions and proof of the Main Theorem
- VII Moduli space of foliated surfaces of general type
- References
-
20 FEDERICO BUONERBA
From now on we add the assumption that KF is nef and we want to analyze
those curves f satisfying KF middotf C = 0 By adjunction formula 6 we know that C
has rational moduli and fminus1Z is supported on two points
Remark IIVI9 If fminus1Z = fminus1 LC(F ) then F is birationally a fibration by ratio-
nal curves
Proof After resolving the log-canonical singularities of F along the image of C we
have KF middot C lt 0 and F smooth along C We conclude by Corollary IIVI7
Therefore we can assume that f satisfies the following condition
Definition IIVI10 An invariant curve f C rarr X is called log-contractible if
KF middot C = 0 and it intersects Z in two points one canonical and one log-canonical
not canonical
It follows that f(C) is everywhere unibranch but it might have a cusp in LC(F )
Definition IIVI11 A log-chain is a chain of invariant rational orbifolds C =
cupni=0Ci scheme-like outside the foliation singularities with KF middot C = 0 and such
that
bull C0 is log-contractible with lowast(C ) = C0 cap LC(F ) called the marking of C
bull Ci is disjoint from LC(F ) if i ge 1
There is a unique point t(C ) satisfying t(C ) isin Z cap (Cn Cnminus1) called the tail of
the log-chain
Proposition IIVI12 Let C1C2 be two log-chains intersecting non-trivially Then
lowast(C1) = lowast(C2) and C1 cap C2 = lowast(C1)
Proof It is enough to prove that the two log-chains cannot intersect in their tails
Replace X be the resolution of the at most two markings of the log-chains and Ci
by their proper transforms C1cupC2 = cupmi=0Ri is a connected chain of rational curves
intersecting Z outisde LC(F ) Moreover each of the two extremal curves R0 and
Rm intersects Z in one point only In particular KF middot Ri = 0 for i = 1 middot middot middot m minus 1
and KF middot Ri lt 0 for i = 0m Since we assumed F is not birational to a fibration
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 21
by rational curves there exists a contraction p X rarr X0 with exceptional curve
cupmminus1i=0 Ri However F0 is smooth along plowastRm so by adjunction formula KF0 middotplowastRm lt
0 and we find a contradiction by Corollary IIVI7
Corollary IIVI13 Let C be a maximal connected curve such that KF middotC = 0 and
C cap LC(F ) 6= empty Then C is a union of finitely many log-chains intersecting each
other in their common marking
The following shows a configuration of log-chains sharing the same marking col-
ored in black
We are now ready to state and prove the canonical model theorem in presence of
log-canonical singularities
Theorem IIVI14 (Canonical models) Let X be a proper DM stack of dimension
2 and F a foliation with isolated singularities Moreover assume that KF is nef
that every KF -nil curve is contained in a log-chain and that F is Gorenstein and
log-canonical in a neighborhood of every KF -nil curve Then either
bull There exists a birational contraction p X rarr X0 whose exceptional curves
are unions of log-chains If all the log-contractible curves contained in the log-
chains are smooth then F0 is Gorenstein and log-canonical If furthermore
X has projective moduli then X0 has projective moduli In any case KF0
is numerically ample
bull There exists a fibration p X rarr B over a curve whose fibers intersect
KF trivially Each F -invariant fiber of p intersecting LC(F ) is union of
mutually compatible log-chains
Proof If all the KF -nil curves can be contracted by a birational morphism we are in
the first case of the Theorem Else let C be a maximal connected curve withKF middotC =
0 and which is not contractible It is a union of pairwise compatible log-chains
22 FEDERICO BUONERBA
with marking lowast Replace (X F ) by the resolution of the log-canonical singularity
at lowast with exceptional divisor E Therefore F is Gorenstein and canonical in a
neighborhood of C cupE By equation 9 we have KF middotC = minusC middotE lt 0 and therefore
C can be contracted to a canonical foliation singularity Replace (X F ) by the
contraction of C We have a smooth curve E around which F is smooth and
nowhere tangent to E Moreover
(11) KF middot E = minusE2
And we distinguish cases
bull E2 gt 0 so KF is not pseudo-effective a contradiction
bull E2 lt 0 so the initial curve C is contractible a contradiction
bull E2 = 0 which we proceed to analyze
The following is what we need to handle the third case
Proposition IIVI15 Let (X F ) be a foliation with canonical singularities with
X a smooth 2-dimensional DM stack with projective moduli and KF nef If there
exists a smooth curve E everywhere transverse to F such that KF middot E = E2 = 0
then E moves in a pencil and defines a fibration p X rarr B onto a curve whose
fibers intersect KF trivially
Proof If KF has Kodaira dimension one then its linear system contains an effective
divisor and by Hodge index KF = cE as divisors for some c isin Q+ Hence there is
a fibration onto a curve with fiber E and F is transverse to it by assumption If
KF has Kodaira dimension zero we use the classification IIV1 in all cases but the
suspension over an elliptic curve E defines a product structure on the underlying
surface in the case of a suspension every section of the underlying projective bundle
is clearly F -invariant Therefore E is a fiber of the bundle
This concludes the proof of the Theorem
We remark that the second alternative in the above theorem is rather natural
let (X F ) be a foliation which is transverse to a fibration by rational or elliptic
curves ie a suspension over elliptic curve turbolent Riccati or isotrivial Pick a
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 23
general fiber E of the fibration and blow up any number of points on it The proper
transform E is certainly contractible By Proposition IIVI4 the contraction of E is
Gorenstein and log-canonical Moreover the fiber E has been replaced by a union of
compatible log-chains Note in particular that the number of log-chains appearing
is arbitrary
Corollary IIVI16 Let X be a proper DM stack of dimension 2 and F a Goren-
stein foliation with log-canonical singularities Assume that KF is big and pseudo-
effective Then there exists a birational morphism p X rarr X0 such that C is
exceptional if and only if KF middot C le 0 In particular KF0 is numerically ample
For future applications we spell out
Corollary IIVI17 Hypothesis as in Theorem IIVI14 assume further that X
is everywhere smooth Then in the second alternative of the theorem the fibration
p X rarr B is by rational curves
Proof Indeed in this case the curve E which appears in the proof above as the
exceptional locus for the resolution of the log-canonical singularity at lowast must be
rational By the previous Proposition p is defined by a pencil in |E|
IIVII Set-up In this subsection we prepare the set-up we will deal with in the
rest of the manuscript Briefly we want to handle the existence of canonical models
for a family of foliated surfaces parametrized by a one-dimensional base To this
end we will discuss the modular behavior of singularities of foliated surfaces with
Gorenstein singularities recall McQuillan-Panazzolorsquos resolution of foliation singu-
larities building on the existence of minimal models [McQ05] prepare the set-up
for the sequel
Let us begin with the modular behavior of Gorenstein singularities
Proposition IIVII1 Let (X F ) be a smooth DM stack with a foliation by
curves Assume there exists a flat proper morphism p X rarr C onto an algebraic
curve such that F restricts to a foliation on every fiber of p Then the set
(12) s isin C Fs is log-canonical
24 FEDERICO BUONERBA
is Zariski-open while the set
(13) s isin C Fs is canonical
is the complement to a countable subset of C lying on a real-analytic curve
Proof By Fact IIIII2 being log-canonical is equivalent to the linearized endomor-
phism part IZI2Z rarr IZI
2Z being non-nilpotent where Z is the singular sub-scheme
of the foliation Of course being non-nilpotent is a Zariski open condition The
second statement also follows from opcit since a log-canonical singularity which is
not canonical has linearization with all its eigenvalues positive and rational The
statement is optimal as shown by the vector field on A3xys
(14) part(s) =part
partx+ s
part
party
Next we recall the existence of a functorial canonical resolution of foliation singu-
larities for foliations by curves on 3-dimensional stacks
Fact IIVII2 [MP13] Let X = (XDF ) be a 3-dimensional DM stack with bound-
ary foliated by curves Then there exists a proper birational morphism Xprime rarr X such
that X prime is a smooth DM stack and F prime has only canonical foliation singularities
The original opcit contains a more refined statement including a detailed de-
scription of the claimed birational morphism
In order for our set-up to make sense we mention one last very important result
Fact IIVII3 [McQ05] Let X be a smooth DM stack with projective moduli and F
a foliation by curves with (log)canonical singularities Then there exists a birational
map X 99K Xm obtained as a composition of flips such that Xm is a smooth
DM stack with projective moduli the birational transform Fm has (log)canonical
singularities and one of the following happens
bull KFm is nef or
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 25
bull There exists a fibration Xm rarr B over a smooth base whose fibers are
weighted projective spaces such that Fm is tangent to the fibers and restricts
to a radial foliation on those
Finally we can organize our notation
Set-up IIVII4 (X F ) is a smooth 3-dimensional DM stack with projective mod-
uli F a foliation by curves with canonical singularities such that KF is big and nef
There exists a semi-stable morphism p X rarr ∆ whose moduli is projective onto
the (formal) unit disk F restricts to a foliation on every fiber of p it has canon-
ical singularities on the very general fiber of p and log-canonical singularities on
every fiber of p Our task from now on is to analyze and contract the maximal
foliation-invariant sub-scheme of X along which KF is not ample
III Invariant curves and singularities local description
In this section we give a complete decription of germs of invariant curves that
appear in the formal completion of any point in the set-up IIVII4 Let us replace
X by its formal completion in a point lowast where the foliation is singular F is defined
by a vector field part with Jordan decomposition partS + partN see the end of subsection
IIIII Since [partS partN ] = 0 partN preserves the eigenspaces of partS Moreover the fact that
F is tangent to p translates into
(15) partS(p) = partN(p) = 0
The description of invariant germs of curves through lowast will be achieved via case-by-
case analysis organized by computing what happens for all possible combinations
of the following informations whether the singular locus Z is isolated at lowast the
number of eigenvalues of partS the number of components of the fiber through p
IIII sing(F ) not isolated
ni (1) partS has one eigenvalue
bull We have partS = x partpartx
and partN = f partparty
+ g partpartz
for some functions f g isin (y z)
Moreover partN is non-trivial
26 FEDERICO BUONERBA
bull Z = (x = f = g = 0) is not isolated
(a) The fiber has one component y = 0 Then 0 = partN(y) = f hence
Z = (x = g = 0) The restriction on the fiber is part|(y=0) = x partpartx
+g|(y=0)partpartz
Z has a one-dimensional component contained in the fiber iff g isin (y) in
which case such component is smooth equal to (x = 0) moreover the
foliation on the fiber saturates to a smooth one with invariant curves
z = 0 transverse to Z
Otherwise the foliation is saturated on the fiber and has a saddle-node
singularity
(b) The fiber has two components yz = 0 Then 0 = partN(yz) = zf + yg
hence f = yh g = minuszh for some h and Z = (x = h = 0) The restriction
on a fiber component say y = 0 is part|(y=0) = x partpartxminus zh|(y=0)
partpartz
Z has an
irreducible component contained in y = 0 iff h isin (y) in which case such
component is smooth equal to (x = 0) moreover the foliation on the
fiber saturates to a smooth one with invariant curves z = 0 transverse
to Z
Otherwise the foliation is saturated on the fiber and has a saddle-node
singularity
(c) The fiber has three components xyz = 0 0 = partS(xyz) = xyz a contra-
diction
Summary with one eigenvalue there are either one or two components The
foliation might have a one-dimensional singularity when restricted to a fiber
component in this case such singularity is a smooth curve and the foliation
saturates to a smooth one with invariant curves transverse to the singular-
ity If the singularity is isolated on a fiber component then it is a canonical
saddle-node with at most two invariant branches
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 27
ni (2) partS has two eigenvalues
We have partS = x partpartx
+ λy partparty
and partN(x y z) = k partpartx
+ f partparty
+ g partpartz
for some func-
tions k f g
(a) The fiber has one component z = 0 Then g = 0 k f isin (x y) and
necessarily Z = (x = y = 0) is transverse to the fiber The restriction on
the fiber is saturated and non-degenerate It has canonical singularities
if either partN 6= 0 or λ isin Q+ otherwise it is log-canonical
(b) The fiber has two components xy = 0 Then 0 = partS(xy) hence λ = minus1
Also 0 = partN(xy) hence k = xh f = minusyh g isin (xy) and necessarily
Z = (x = y = 0) coincides with the intersection of the two fiber compo-
nents which is smooth the foliation saturates to a smooth one on each
component with invariant curves transverse to Z
(c) The fiber has three components xyz = 0 hence λ = minus1 Also k = xklowast
f = yf lowast g = zglowast with klowast + f lowast + glowast = 0 and glowast isin (xy) The singularity
Z = (x = y = 0) coincides with the intersection of two of the fiber
components The restriction to either such components saturates to a
smooth foliation with invariant curves transverse to Z the restriction
to z = 0 has a canonical non-degenerate singularity all the invariant
curves are those in xy = 0 transverse to Z
Summary with 2 eigenvalues there can be any number of components With
one component the foliation restricts to a saturated one with a (log)canonical
singularity which moves transversely to p With two components the folia-
tion is not saturated on either and saturates to a smooth one with invariant
curves transverse to the singularity With three components the foliation
is not saturated on two of them and saturates to a smooth one on both
with invariant curves transverse to the singularity the foliation is saturated
and has a canonical non-degenerate singularity on the third component In
28 FEDERICO BUONERBA
the last two cases the singularity is fully contained in an intersection of two
components
ni (3) partS has three eigenvalues But then the singularity is isolated a contradiction
IIIII sing(F ) isolated
i (1) partS has one eigenvalue
bull We have partS = x partpartx
and partN = xk partpartx
+ f partparty
+ g partpartz
for some functions
k f g isin (y z) Moreover partN is non-trivial
bull Z = (x = f = g = 0) is isolated
(a) The fiber has one component y = 0 Then 0 = partN(y) = f and Z cannot
be isolated a contradiction
(b) The fiber has two components yz = 0 Then 0 = partN(yz) = zf + yg so
f = yh g = minuszh with h non-constant Hence Z = (x = h = 0) is not
isolated a contradiction
(c) The fiber has three components xyz = 0 Then 0 = partS(xyz) = xyz a
contradiction
Summary the 1 eigenvalue case does not exist
i (2) partS has two eigenvalues
bull We have partS = x partpartx
+ λy partparty
partN = xk partpartx
+ f partparty
+ g partpartz
for some functions
k f g
bull g is non-trivial and g isin (x y)
bull Z = (x = y = g = 0) is isolated
(a) The fiber has one component z = 0 Then g = 0 a contradiction
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 29
(b) The fiber has two components xy = 0 hence λ = minus1 and g isin (xy z)
the restriction to y = 0 is part|(y=0) = x partpartx
+g|(y=0)partpartz
and necessarily g|(y=0)
is non-vanishing Therefore the restriction to either components is satu-
rated and the singularity is a canonical saddle-node on each of them
The invariant curves are among the axes x = y = 0 x = z = 0 y = z =
0
(c) The fiber has three components xyz = 0 hence λ = minus1 Necessarily
k = xklowast f = yf lowast g = zglowast with klowast + f lowast + glowast = 0 The restriction to
y = 0 is part|(y=0) = x(1 + klowast|(y=0))partpartx
+ zglowast|(y=0)partpartz
since g isin (x y) we have
glowast|(y=0) non-trivial Therefore the restriction to either x = 0 and y = 0
is saturated and the singularity is a canonical saddle-node on each of
them
The restriction to z = 0 is part|(z=0) = x(1 + klowast|(z=0))partpartx
+ y(minus1 + f lowast|(z=0))partparty
therefore the restriction is saturated and has a canonical non-degenerate
singularity
The invariant curves are among the axes x = y = 0 x = z = 0 y = z =
0
Summary with 2 eigenvalues there are either two or three components the
foliation restricts to a canonical saddle-node on two of them and to a non-
degenerate singularity on the third one if it exists All the invariant curves
are in the axes
i (3) partS has three eigenvalues We have partS = x partpartx
+ λy partparty
+ microz partpartz
(a) The fiber has one component y = 0 hence λ = 0 a contradiction
(b) The fiber has two components xy = 0 hence λ = minus1 The restriction to
y = 0 is part|(y=0) = x partpartx
+ microz partpartz
+ partN|(y=0) The singularity is log-canonical
30 FEDERICO BUONERBA
iff micro isin Qgt0 and partN|(y=0)= 0 and in this case the singularity on x = 0 is
canonical non-degenerate Invariant curves are those in y = 0 and the
axis x = z = 0
If the restriction to both fiber components is canonical then it non-
degenerate on both and the invariant curves are contained in the axes
x = y = 0 x = z = 0 y = z = 0
The fiber could be yz = 0 hence λ+micro = 0 It can be analyzed as in the
next item
(c) The fiber has three components xyz = 0 hence 1 + λ + micro = 0 In par-
ticular if λ = cmicro c isin Q+ then λ micro isin Q The restriction to y = 0
is part|(y=0) = x partpartx
+ microz partpartz
+ partN|(y=0) This singularity is log-canonical iff
micro isin Qgt0 and partN|(y=0)= 0 in which case the singularity on both x = 0
and z = 0 is canonical non-degenerate In particular if the singularity
is log-canonical on some fiber component then it is so on exactly one
component and all eigenvalues are rational Invariant curves are those
in y = 0 and the axis x = z = 0
If the restriction to all fiber components is canonical then it non-degenerate
on each of them and the invariant curves are contained in the axes
x = y = 0 x = z = 0 y = z = 0
Summary with 3 eigenvalues there are either two or three fiber components
the foliation restricts to a singular foliation on each of them and it has a
log-canonical singularity on at most one of them in this case all eigenvalues
of the semi-simple field are rational
IIIIII Local consequences We list some corollaries for future reference As al-
ways in this section the statements are local so everything happens in a formal
neighborhood of our point lowast First we state those corollaries we will need to describe
configurations of KF -nil curves
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 31
Definition IIIIII1 An LC-center Π sub X is an irreducible F -invariant formal
hypersurface such that the local vector field generating the foliation when restricted
to Π has semi-simple part with log-canonical singularity or a one-dimensional sin-
gular locus An LC-center with a log-canonical singularity is necessarily an algebraic
component of the singular fiber of p
Corollary IIIIII2 There is at most one LC-center with a log-canonical singularity
through lowast If it exists then all eigenvalues of the semi-simple field at lowast are rational
If there are at least two LC-centers through lowast then there are exactly two and the
foliation singularity is a smooth curve on each of them
Proof Possible cases in which an LC-center with log-canonical singularities appears
ni (2)a i (3)b i (3)c
Corollary IIIIII3 If there is no LC-center thorugh a point lowast then there are at
most three invariant curves through lowast all smooth Any number of them spans a sub-
space of the tangent space at lowast of maximal possible dimension
If there is an LC-center through lowast then there is at most one invariant curve through
lowast and not contained in the LC-center
If there is an LC-center with non-isolated singularity then the singularity is smooth
and all invariant curves contained in the LC-center intersect the singularity trans-
versely
Proof Invariant curves not in an LC-centers with log-canonical singularities are con-
tained in the three axes x = z = 0 x = y = 0 y = z = 0 mentioned in the above
classification The other statements are clear
Corollary IIIIII4 If p is smooth at lowast then Z is one dimensional around lowast
Proof Possible casesni (1)a ni (2)a
In particular if there is no LC-center the situation is the familiary
xz
32 FEDERICO BUONERBA
While if there is an LC-center (pink) with log-canonical singularity it will look like
y
LC-center
While if there is an LC-center with non-isolated singularity (red) it will look like
(the black arrows being invariant curves)
y
LC-center
The next corollary describes one-dimensional components of the foliation singularity
Corollary IIIIII5 If Z0 is a one-dimensional irreducible component of the folia-
tion singularity then it is at worst nodal The foliation when restricted to any fiber
component containing Z0 saturates to a smooth foliation in a neighborhood of Z0
and all the invariant curves are transverse to Z0
If Z0 is contained in exactly one fiber component then the semi-simple field has one
eigenvalue everywhere along Z0
If Z0 lies at the intersection of two fiber components then the semi-simple field has
two constant eigenvalues everywhere along Z0
Moreover if there exist a sequence of invariant curves converging in the compact-
open topology to Z0 then there is generically one eigenvalue along Z0
Proof Possible casesni (1)a ni (1)b ni (2)b ni (2)c Concerning the one-
eigenvalue case invariant curves converging to Z0 can be found in the formal hyper-
surface x = 0
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 33
IV Invariant curves along which KF vanishes
In this section we study in great detail a formal neighborhood of invariant curves
where KF is numerically trivial In the first subsection we deal with KF -nil curves
namely those whose generic point is not contained in the foliation singularity In this
case the normal bundle to the curve determines its formal neighborhood uniquely
and this has plenty of amazing consequences In the second subsection we study
those invariant curves which are contained in the foliation singularity In this case
we are not able to control the full formal neighborhood but important informations
can still be obtained
IVI KF -nil curves In this subsection we study in detail the structure of KF -
nil curves and their formal neighborhoods appearing in the set-up IIVII4 In
particular we will describe a simple process to replace cuspidal KF -nil curves by
net ones prove that the foliation is in the net completion around a net KF -nil curve
defined by a global vector field which admits a global Jordan decomposition deduce
that eigenfunctions for the semi-simple component of such field are also globally
defined on a formal neighborhood
The first important remark is of technical nature and explains how to deal with non-
net KF -nil curves By Proposition IIIV4 this is indeed possible and the images of
such curves will acquire cusp-like singularities It is hard to analyze the geometry
of F around such cuspidal curves and therefore necessary to remove them Let us
assume that C is simply connected with rational moduli f is ramified at 0 isin C
and and denote by X the formal completion along f(C) Then formally around
f(0) the curve f(C) has defining ideal (y xa minus zb) where y = 0 is a fiber of the
fibration p X rarr ∆ containing f(C) x z isin H0(X OX ) restrict to suitable local
coordinates on such fiber and a b ge 2 are coprime integers
Claim IVI1 Let r X ( aradicz = 0) rarr X be the a-th root of z = 0 III3 Then
(rlowastC)norm =∐a
1 C and the induced map rlowastf (rlowastC)norm rarrX ( aradicz = 0) is net
Proof Since r is etale away from z = 0 also rlowastC rarr C is etale away from 0 isin C
Since C 0 is simply connected we have rlowastC rminus1(0) =∐a
1 C 0 This proves
34 FEDERICO BUONERBA
the first statement Let ζ be a function on X ( aradicz = 0) such that ζa = z so then
rlowast(xa minus zb) =prod
ηa=1(x minus ηζb) Every branch is net in 0 and we obtain the second
statement as well
As such upon taking roots we can replace non-net KF -nil invariant curves with
rational moduli by net ones
We now proceed to study net KF -nil curves We will show that the foliation is
defined by a global vector field around a net KF -nil curve with rational moduli and
that such vector field admits a global Jordan decomposition
Proposition IVI2 Notation as in the set-up IIVII4 let f C rarrX be a KF -nil
curve Assume that f is net and let j C rarr C be the net completion along f Then
there exists an isomorphism
(16) OC(KF )simminusrarr OC
In particular there exists a global vector field partf on C that generates F
Proof Since C has rational moduli and is simply connected it has infinite-cyclic
Picard group and we have an isomorphism
(17) OC(KF )simminusrarr OC
Moreover we have a non-canonical splitting of the normal bundle Njsimminusrarr O(minusn) oplus
O(minusm) and we claim that both nm ge 0 Indeed consider the induced semi-stable
fibration C rarr ∆ and let F be the normalization of an irreducible component of a
fiber such that C sub F Consider the exact sequence
(18) 0rarr NCF rarr Nj rarr NFC|C rarr 0
Since KF is nef NCF is not ample since F is a fiber of a fibration also NFC|C is
not ample and this is enough to conclude even though nm may be different from
the degrees of such normal bundles
At this point we can lift the isomorphism 17 over infinitesimal neighborhoods of j
Indeed for every k ge 0 we have an exact sequence
(19) 0rarr Symk ICI2C rarr OCk+1
(KF )rarr OCk(KF )rarr 0
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 35
which shows that the obstruction to lifting the isomorphism lies in
(20) H1(C Symk ICI2C) = H1(C Symk(O(n)oplus O(m))) = 0
From this we can deduce
Proposition IVI3 The vector field partf admits a Jordan decomposition uniformly
along C
Proof The cohomology sequence attached to 19 is
(21) 0rarr H0(C Symk ICI2C)rarr H0(COCk+1
)rarr H0(COCk)rarr 0
Let partk+1 denote the image of partf in End(H0(COCk+1)) Looking at
H0(COCk+1) minusminusminusrarr H0(COCk
)
partk+1
y partk
yH0(COCk+1
) minusminusminusrarr H0(COCk)
we see the canonical Jordan deomposition of partk+1 restricts to that of partk
The above result describes a very useful interplay between normal bundles to
KF -nil curves and the structure of the semi-simple field It turns out that these
informations determine formal neighborhoods uniquely For simplicity let C be
an irreducible component of C without orbifold points Let us assume that part|C is
singular in 0infin Then there exist formal functions x y z at 0 isin C and ξ η ζ at
infin isin C such that x ξ are coordinates along C y η are local sections of OC(minusn)
so η = xny mod(I2C) z ζ are local sections of OC(minusm) so ζ = xmz mod(I2C)
Normalizing so that xminus1partS(x) = ε isin 0 1 we obtain
(22) part0S = εxpart
partx+ λy
part
party+ microz
part
partz partinfinS = minusεξ part
partξ+ (λ+ εn)η
part
partη+ (micro+ εm)ζ
part
partζ
More generally ie C = P1(d e) we have glueing rules x = te ξ = tminusd η = tny and
ζ = tmz mod(I2C) Normalizing so that tminus1partS(t) = ε isin 0 1 we obtain
(23) part0S = eεxpart
partx+ λy
part
party+ microz
part
partz partinfinS = minusdεξ part
partξ+ (λ+ εn)η
part
partη+ (micro+ εm)ζ
part
partζ
36 FEDERICO BUONERBA
It is worth remarking that the above relations hold between eigenvalues at the two
singular point of singular ie nodal or cuspidal KF -nil curves as well this is
easily seen by taking a root followed by net completion and keeping track of the
eigenvalues
Definition IVI4 Let C be a KF -nil curve The foliation singular points along C
are called ends
As well as the existence of Hilbert scheme in the following form
Fact IVI5 Let W sub Xlowast be a curve and D a divisor in the formal neighborhood
of W such that W = D capXlowast scheme-theoretically Then W moves in D
In what follows our main concern is to understand formal neighborhoods of KF -
nil curves Observe that the fibration p when restricted to the formal neighborhood
of such curves provides at least one eigenfunction of the semi-simple field Hence
in order to compute the width IIII we must study the behavior of the other eigen-
function on infinitesimal neighborhoods We first describe the situation inside the
smooth locus of p
Proposition IVI6 (Smooth fiber) Let f C rarrX be an irreducible KF -nil curve
which is contained in the smooth locus of a fiber Xlowast of p Then the end(s) on C are
flat over ∆ ni (1)b and ni (1)a with z2|g(y z) and C moves in a family flat over
∆
Proof Let us assume that f is net Then upon passing to net completion we can
actually assume it is embedded From our local classification of singularities we case
in case ni (1)a and ni (2)a We want to show that both ends have components
that move transversely to p hence we have to exclude case ni (1)a with g(y z) = ya
By way of contradiction say we have g(y z) = ya in the notation of opcit around
an end lowast isin C We proceed to compute what happens at the other end we find
formal coordinates ξ η ζ which by equation 23 satisfy
(24) ξ = xminus1 η = y ζ = xmz mod(I2C)
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 37
As such we compute part(ζ) = mζ + ξminusmηa mod(I2C) which is holomorphic if and only
if m le 0 so then C moves in Xlowast contradicting that the foliation has general type
Hence we are in cases ni (1)a ni (2)a with g = microyazb b ge 1
(25) part0 = xpart
partx+ microyazb
part
partz partinfin = minusξ part
partξ+ ζ(m+ microξm(bminus1)ηaζbminus1)
part
partζ(mod(I2C))
Following notation from subsection IIII observe that C1 is the section of E1C which
is disjoint from the proper transform of the fiber of p In coordinates over 0
(26) x1 = x y1 = y z1 = zyminus1
And similarly over infin Using the previous equation and 25 on C1 we find
(27)
part01 = x1part
partx1+microya+bminus11 zb1
part
partz1 partinfin1 = minusξ1
part
partξ1+ζ1(m+microξ
m(bminus1)1 ηa+bminus11 ζbminus11 )
part
partζ1(mod(I2C1
))
In particular the transform of the nilpotent field is still nilpotent after blowing up in
C It follows that the eigenvalues of the semi-simple field at the two ends of C and
C1 are the same Using equation 23 we deduce that the normal bundle to C1X1 to
isomorphic to that of CX in particular it contains a trivial direct summand This
proves that width(C) =infin
Next we show that f must be net Consider the induced flat projection pD D rarr ∆
its general fiber cannot be a cuspidal curve since along such cusp the foliation sin-
gularity would be log-canonical but not canonical Hence if C has a cusp necessarily
the general fiber of pD is a nodal curve Let X rarr X denote the blow up of the
nodal locus of pD with exceptional divisor E ruled over ∆ In a neighborhood of E
we have sing(F ) = D cap E which projects to ∆ as a double cover ramified over lowastObserve that the foliation on Xlowast is again log-canonical and not canonical hence its
local structure is ni (2)a In that case however p is unramified along the foliation
singularity Contradiction
We state a general criterion for movability of KF -nil curves
Proposition IVI7 Let C be a connected KF -nil curve such that p(C ) = lowast isin ∆
Assume its dual graph is a chain that none of its irreducible components is double
38 FEDERICO BUONERBA
VI3 and that its two extremal ends are flat over ∆ Then C moves in a family flat
over ∆ and each of its irreducible components is embedded
Proof We work in a formal neighborhood of C After taking roots we can assume
C is net and since its dual graph is a chain it is actually embedded We proceed by
induction on its length l where the case l = 1 is Proposition IVI6 For l gt 1 let C1
be a component of C which is extremal in its dual graph If C1 moves transversely
to p then both its ends do and hence we can apply the induction hypothesis to
C C1 If C1 is rigid then it can be flopped It is straightforward to check that we
can apply the induction hypothesis to the transform C + C+1 and we are done
Now we deal with rigid curves inside the singular fiber
Proposition IVI8 (Singular fiber) Let f C rarr X be an embedded net KF -
nil curve with anti-ample normal bundle Then there exists a birational map φ
(X F ) 99K (X +F+) and a KF+-nil curve C+ such that
bull φ is an isomorphism away from C+
bull In a formal neighborhood of at least one among C and C+ there exist two
invariant hypersurfaces D1D2 locally defined by the vanishing of eigenfunc-
tions of the semi-simple field such that C (resp C+)= D1 capD2
bull If F middot C lt 0 for some hypersurface F then F+ middot C+ gt 0 In particular X +
is projective
Such φ is called flop
Proof Our assumption is that Nfsimminusrarr O(minusn)oplusO(minusm) is anti-ample namely nm gt
0 If two invariant hypersurfaces as in our statement do exist around C the flop is
easily constructed as a weighted blow-up followed by a weighted blow-down As such
let us assume that such hypersurfaces do not exist around C In particular C is not
double VI3 By [Ar70] there exists a formal contraction c X rarrX0 collapsing C
to a point and an isomorphism everywhere else By Proposition IVI3 the foliation
F0 is Gorenstein around the node of X0 For ease of exposition let us assume
n = m = 1 the general case is handled the same way only the notation becomes more
cumbersome due to the presence of weights The node has embedding dimension 4
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 39
and in suitable local coordinates x0 y0 w0 z0 can be defined by x0z0minusy0w0 = 0 The
morphism c can be identified with the blow up of the embedded surface (x0 = y0 = 0)
Explicitly in the chart y = y0 x = x0yminus10 it is defined by
(28) y0 = y x0 = xy z0 = zprime w0 = xzprime
Here x is a coordinate along C while y = 0 is the pull-back of (x0 = y0 = 0) and
zprime some function in the normal bundle to C By the previous Proposition IVI6
we know C cannot be contained in the smooth locus of p Since C is not double
we can assume that in this local chart p is defined by (x y zprime) rarr xy - the case
(x y zprime) rarr xzprime being isomorphic as it is isomorphic to blow-up (z0 = w0 = 0)
instead of (x0 = y0 = 0) The issue is as emphasized by the notation zprime 6= z that
zprime may fail to be an eigenfunction for partS if it were we would be done since zprime = 0
is the local equation for the global pullback of (z0 = w0 = 0) However we have
a b isin C such that
(29) partS0(y0) = minusy0 partS0(x0) = 0 partS0(z0) = ay0 + bz0 partS0(w0) = ax0 + (b+ 1)w0
Observe that the embedded surfaces D01 = (y0 = z0 = 0) and D0
2 = (x0 = w0 = 0)
are both foliation invariant As such let b X + rarr X0 denote the blow-up of X0
along D01 - which is isomorphic to that along D0
2 - and let Di = blowastD0i i = 1 2
Finally X + is projective by Nakai-Moishezon Indeed every C with anti-ample
normal bundle is contained in an irreducible component F of X0 such that F middotC lt 0
Then F+ middot C+ gt 0 and we can find an ample divisor of the form H+ + εF+ where
H+ is the proper transform of an ample on X
Remark IVI9 In the previous proof a 6= b+ 1 Indeed such identity would create
a non-trivial Jordan block of partS0 in the (x0 w0)-plane thus contradicting the semi-
simplicity of partS0 In particular by a straightforward computation it is impossible to
find eigenfunctions of the form wlowast0 = w0 + αx0 zlowast0 = z0 + βy0 with x0z
lowast0 minus y0wlowast0 = 0
unless a = 0
We can conclude by pointing out an important point understood in this section
A painful aspect of the theory is that log-canonical singularities which appear natu-
rally as analytic degenerations of canonical ones come along with cuspidal invariant
40 FEDERICO BUONERBA
curves There is in particular no a-priori obstruction to the existence of rigid
cuspidal KF -nil curves in a smooth fiber of our family of foliated surfaces p Quite
generally a rigid curve of positive arithmetic genus in a smooth family of surfaces can
never be contracted to a point Therefore this would have been a counter-example
to any reasonable foliated canonical model theory one may wish to achieve Fortu-
nately such phenomenon does not happen and this establishes the Main Theorem I
modulo finitely many rigid curves confined in the singular fiber X0
IVII Invariant curves inside sing(F ) In this subsection we study curves Z0 subeXlowast cap sing(F ) which are inside the foliation singularity and invariant By this we
mean that there exists a sequence fn Cn rarrX of not necessarily algebraic invariant
curves converging in the compact-open topology to Z0 In other words the map
(30) NorF rarr Ω1Z0
is trivial By Corollary IIIIII5 we know that Z0 is at worst nodal it is smooth
wherever p is smooth for every point z isin Z0 the semi-simple part of the gener-
ating vector field has exactly one eigenvalue The problem here is that the Jordan
decomposition need not extend uniformly along Z0 not even along an irreducible
component In case ni (1)a the functions x and g may develop essential singulari-
ties arbitrary close to z Nonetheless the function x is unique and this says that x
does extend along Z0
Proposition IVII1 Let Z0 be as above Then in a formal neighborhood of Z0
there exists a unique smooth invariant hypersurface D0 containing Z0 which restricts
around any point in Z0 to the unique eigenfunction for the semi-simple field whose
eigenvalue is non-zero
Proof The local structure of the foliation around a point z isin Z0 is described by
cases ni (1)a and ni (1)b In both cases partS has one non-zero eigenvalue with
eigenfunction x Such eigenfunction x is a-priori only defined in the normal bundle to
Z0 but it is clear that the equation partx = x has a unique up to constants solution in
the formal completion around z As such there exists a unique smooth hypersurface
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 41
D0 in the formal completion around Z0 which restricts to the eigenfunction x around
z
Observe that the previous argument goes through since we are assuming Z0 subX0
Keeping notations from case ni (1)a if say g(y z) = yz then in the hypersurface
y equiv q isin Qgt0 the foliation has a log-canonical singularity and the eigenfunction x
extends highly non-uniquely to a formal neighborhood of the point (x y z) = (0 q 0)
In particular the existence of D0 as in the previous Proposition might fail along
the component (x = z = 0) of the foliation singularity This phenomenon is called
the beast
Anyway uniqueness in the previous proposition yields
Corollary IVII2 Let Z prime be a connected invariant curve inside sing(F ) Then in
a formal neighborhood of Z prime there exists a unique smooth invariant hypersurface D prime
containing Z prime which restricts around any point in Z prime to the hypersurface constructed
in the previous proposition
Next we turn to the intrinsic structure of invariant singular curves
Proposition IVII3 Let Z0 be an irreducible invariant curve inside sing(F )
Then Z0 is smooth and rational
Proof We work in a formal neighborhood of Z0 Let F0 denote the unique component
of X0 containing Z0 For any other fiber component F intersecting Z0 non-trivially
blow-up the invariant curve F cap F0 with exceptional divisor EF A straightforward
computation using the local formula ni (1)b shows that the fiber of the natural
projection EF rarr F cap F0 intersecting Z0 is also contained in sing(F ) For Z prime the
maximal connected singular invariant curve containing Z0 let G denote the saturated
foliation induced on D prime It is canonical with reduced singularities and it satisfies
KG = KF |Dprime minus Zprime By adjunction
(31) 2g(Z0)minus 2 + sZG(Z0) = minusZ prime middot Z0
Observe that thanks to our initial sequence of blow-ups the singularities of G along
Z0 coincide with the intersection of Z0 and Z prime Z0 In particular since D prime is formally
42 FEDERICO BUONERBA
flat over ∆ we deduce Z prime middot Z0 = 0 and the previous formula becomes
(32) 2g(Z0)minus 2 + sZG(Z0) = 0
This implies that Z0 is rational or elliptic If Z0 were elliptic then sZG(Z0) = 0 and
D0 defines an invariant elliptic curve in the general fiber of p By Baum-Bott this
contradicts that KF is big and nef Now we show that Z0 is smooth If it has a node
then D0 moves it in a family of nodal rational curves flat over ∆ In particular D0
itself has a node in codimension 1 hence Xlowast is smooth around the node of Z0 In its
formal neighborhood the foliation must be as in case ni (1)a which implies that
Z0 is smooth contradiction
We can improve as follows
Proposition IVII4 Let Z prime sube sing F capXlowast be a connected invariant curve with
KF middot Z prime = 0 Then its dual graph is a chain
Proof Assume Z prime is a cycle Then necessarily Z prime = D prime capXlowast scheme-theoretically
and by the existence of Hilbert scheme Z prime moves in the general fiber Its general
member is either a cycle of smooth rational curves or an elliptic curve Arguing as
in the previous proof we see that both options are impossible
V Configurations
In this section we analyze in great detail all possible configurations of invariant
curves along which KF vanishes These can be divided into three groups those
that do not move those that move in a one-dimensional family covering a surface
those that move in a higher-dimensional family covering a surface Curves in the first
group can form rather complicated configurations while those in the second group
are more simple they either move in the general fiber or they cover an isolated
Riccati component in the singular fiber Those in the third group turn out to be
represented by the two rulings of P1timesP1 if they happen to be cohomologous in the
ambient stack First we will analyze rigid curves then those which move and finally
we will describe their configurations
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 43
VI Configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially In
this subsection we describe configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF
trivially which arise in the situation described by set-up IIVII4
First we focus on KF -nil curves At the end of the section we deal with the simpler
case in which a curve in the configuration is fully contained in sing(F ) The general
fiber was handled in Proposition IVI6
Proposition VI1 Let C be a connected KF -nil curve contained in the smooth
locus of a fiber of p Then it is a chain or a cycle and it moves in a family flat over
∆
In what follows we let C denote a connected KF -nil curve contained in the
singular fiber X0 all of whose sub-curves are rigid in X Observe a consequence of
equation 23
Proposition VI2 Let C = cupiCi be a connected KF -nil curve Then the eigen-
values of partS are all rational at every point of sing(F )capC if and only if they are all
rational at one point
We can deduce many non-trivial properties about configurations of KF -nil curves
First we need
Definition VI3 Let C subX0 be a curve It is called double if there exists formally
around C two components F F prime of X0 such that C = F cap F prime A point lowast isin C where
three fiber components intersect is called a triple point If C lies on exactly one fiber
component it is called non-double We denote by F (C) such component
Remark VI4 Let Csimminusrarr P1(d e) be double with two triple points Then we know
e+ λ+ micro = minusd+ (λ+ n) + (micro+m) = 0 whence we obtain
(33) n+m = d+ e
Which is called triple-point formula
Next we show that essentially KF -nil curves do not form cycles unless something
deforms in X0 First we show that there are no cycles of rigid non-double curves
44 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proposition VI5 Let C be a connected KF -nil curve contained in the singular
fiber X0 of p Assume that every component of C is non-double and that every
sub-curve is rigid Then C contains no cycles
Proof We work in a formal neighborhood of C which we assume is a cycle Let
us first consider the case in which all components C1 middot middot middot CN are smooth with no
orbifold points and denote lowasti = Ci cap Ci+1 with CN+1 = C1 Moreover let us
assume no lowasti lies in the smooth locus of p
Since no curve is double the semi-simple field at every lowasti is as in case i (3)b in
particular the eigenvalues along the branches of Ci and Ci+1 add up to zero More-
over let minusni denote the self-intersection of Ci sub F (Ci) Normalize the eigenvalues
of partS so that at lowastn they are 1 in the C1 direction minus1 in the CN direction λ in the
F (C1)capF (CN) direction It follows by induction that at lowasti the eigenvalues are minus1
in the Ci direction 1 in the Ci+1 direction λ+ n1 + middot middot middot+ ni in the F (Ci) cap F (Ci+1)
direction After traveling around the cycle we obtain n1+middot middot middot+nN = 0 contradicting
that ni gt 0 for every i
We established the Proposition assuming every Ci is an embedded scheme and ev-
ery lowasti is in the singular locus of p The case in which Cisimminusrarr P1(di ei) has orbifold
points is analogous we end up with a combination c1n1 + middot middot middot + cNnN = 0 with ci
the eigenvalue at lowasti in the Ci+1 direction Normalizing so that c1 = e1 gt 0 again by
induction on i we see that every ci isin Qgt0 Next we show that our assumption on lowastiis always satisfied
Claim VI6 Every lowasti must belong to the singular locus of p
Proof We give two essentially equivalent proofs
bull If N = 2 3 then the previous argument goes through indeed we can normal-
ize eigenvalues at lowasti to be negative in the Ciminus1 direction and positive in the
Ci-direction and argue as above Hence we can assume N ge 4 If say lowasti is in
the smooth locus of p then F (Ci) = F (Ci+1) If also F (Ciminus1) = F (Ci) then Ci
lies in the smooth locus of p and hence it moves Therefore F (Ciminus1) 6= F (Ci)
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 45
and Ciminus1 can be flopped inside F (Ci) Since N ge 4 this preserves the smooth-
ness of F (Ci) and Ci is now is the smooth locus of p - contradiction
bull If lowasti belongs to the smooth locus of p then the end through lowasti moves We
can form a partial net completion fi Xi rarrX by normalizing C in lowasti only
Then f lowasti C is a chain with movable ends and hence moves in the general fiber
of p fi
Finally the general case in which some among the Ci have cusps can be easily
reduced to the smooth case in a couple of ways
bull Eigenvalues at the singularities of any KF -nil curve satisfy the same relations
as in the smooth case
bull Upon taking roots and net completion we can find a foliated formal 3-fold
supported on a cycle of smooth KF -nil curves which is a ramified cover of a
formal neighborhood of our cycle
Similarly we can show that there are no rigid cycles of double curves
Proposition VI7 Let C be a nodal KF -nil curve which is double Then C
deforms inside X0 In particular there cannot exist a rigid cycle of KF -nil double
curves
Proof Following the previous notation we have 0 = infin and if C = (xy = z = 0)
around 0 then we have identities
(34) x = η y = ξ z = ζ
The last one of which implies m = 0 that is C deforms Since C is double necessarily
the surface it spans must be contained in X0
The statement about cycles follows since a cycle of double curves can be transformed
after finitely many flops into a chain of smooth double curves with a nodal one
attached at one end
46 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Later on we will show that the deformations of C cannot span an elliptic surface
but only a family of nodal rational curves with a special Riccati foliation on it
We are ready to organize a detailed description of the dual graph of C More pre-
cisely we only need to understand how double curves intersect non-double curves
Lemma VI8 There exists a sequence of flops X 99KX + such that if C + denotes
the transform of C every double curve supported on C + contains two triple points
Proof Let C sube C be an irreducible component with at most one triple point and
let X 99K X + be its flop Then its transform C+ is non-double and the number
of double curves contained in C descreases It is clear that after finitely many flops
all double curves contain exactly two triple points
From now on all double curves in C have two triple points Thanks to proposition
VI2 we know that there are two cases to consider those curves along which the
semi-simple field has not only rational eigenvalues and those along which the semi-
simple field has only rational eigenvalues The first case being strictly easier than
the second it is a good starting place to warm up
Proposition VI9 (irrational eigenvalues) Assume that for every foliation singu-
larity along C not all eigenvalues of partS are rational Then every component of C
is net with at most one node and 1-skeleton of its dual graph is at worst trivalent
Write C = C axes cup C free where
C axes is the union of double curves
C free is the union of non-double curves
Then one among C axes and C free is empty Moreover
bull If C free is non-empty then it is a chain of smooth curves with rational moduli
bull If C axes is non-empty there exists a sequence of flops X 99KX + and an ir-
reducible component of the fiber FC subX + such that X + is a smooth stack
the transform C+ of C is contained in FC Moreover the dual graph of C+
is a tree which by [McQ08 III32] becomes a chain inside the normalization
of FC
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 47
Proof The first sentence is just corollary IIIIII3
Observe that if a non-double curve intersects a double curve then the non-double
curve must be contained in an LC-center around such intersection This contradicts
that not all eigenvalues are rational and establishes that one among C axes and C free
is empty
In case C free is not empty then it is clearly a chain or a cycle the latter being
impossible by Proposition VI5
We are left to show the existence of flops in case C = C axes We remark that
every component is smooth Let C0 be such a component and S0 a component of
X0 containing it Let C1 be the collection of irreducible components of C which
intersect S0 but are not contained in it All the components of C1 are smooth hence
we can flop them in any order until the transform of C1 lies in the transform of S0
Since the number of irreducible components of C lying outside S0 decreases after
such flop by induction we deduce the existence of finitely many flops after which
the birational transform of C is fully contained in the transform of S0
Next we take care of rational eigenvalues The complication here arises from
the fact that there may be double and non-double curves intersecting each other
However the situation is best possible
Proposition VI10 (rational eigenvalues) Assume that for every foliation singu-
larity along C all eigenvalues of partS are rational Write C = C axes cup C free where
C axes is the union of double curves
C free is the union of non-double curves
Then there exists a sequence of flops X 99K X + and an irreducible component of
the fiber FC axes subX + such that
bull X + is a smooth stack
bull The union of double curves of C axes is contained in FC axes the 1-skeleton of
its dual graph is a tree and each of its components has two triple points
bull The 1-skeleton of the dual graph of the transform C free+ is a disjoint union of
trees
bull Each connected component of C free+ intersects C axes in exactly one point
48 FEDERICO BUONERBA
In particular the 1-skeleton of the dual graph of C is a tree
Proof Notice that for every point lowast isin C cap Z there exists one LC-center through lowastIndeed there are three rational eigenvalues and they cannot be all non-vanishing and
all with different signs at the same time Now C axes can be treated as in proposition
VI9 This proves the first two items of the statement The third item follows from
Proposition VI5 so we can focus on the fourth one The proof is based on the
following obvious
Remark VI11 let C be a double curve such that either it is KF -nil hence has
two triple points or it is fully contained in sing(F ) Let C0 sube C free intersect C
non-trivially in a point lowast then necessarily C0 sub LClowast
Now let C0 middot middot middot CN form a chain of non-double curves with C0 and CN both
intersecting double curves as in the remark Denote by lowasti = Ci cap Ci+1 Since
C1 sub LClowast necessarily C1 is transverse to LClowast1 otherwise C1 would deform in F (C1)
Inductively we see that Ci+1 sub LClowasti and is transverse to LClowasti+1 In particular CN
cannot touch a double curve This contradiction proves the fourth item
Let us add a remark about configurations featuring invariant curves inside sing(F )
Proposition VI12 Let C be an invariant curve with KF middot C = 0 such that
Z0 sube C for some component Z0 sube sing(F ) Then C = Z prime cup C where
Z prime is a connected invariant curve inside the foliation singularity with dual graph a
chain
C is the union of at most two pairwise disjoint KF -nil curves with anti-ample
normal bundle
If not empty C can only intersect Z prime at the two ends of its dual graph Moreover
perhaps after a flop the intersection of C with Z prime supports the foliation singularity
along C As such if C has two components Z prime cup C deforms in the general fiber
Proof The structure of Z prime is Proposition IVII3 while that of Co is Proposition
IVI6 Let C prime be a component of C intersecting Z0 in a point lowast If C prime and Z0 belong
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 49
to different components of X0 then by case ni (1)b the eigenvalue of partS along C prime
vanishes so supp(sing(F ) cap C prime) = lowast If C prime and Z0 belong to the same component
then we can flop C prime into a different component
Observe that the divisor D prime from op cit can be extended along C prime This implies
that C can only intersect Z prime at its ends Moreover if C touches both ends necessarily
D prime capX0 = C scheme-theoretically hence by the existence of Hilbert scheme IVI5
we conclude
Our new set-up is
Set-up VI13 Everything as in set-up IIVII4 and moreover for any connected
invariant curve C with KF middot C = 0 all of whose sub-curves are rigid we have
configurations computed in proposition VI9 VI10 and Lemma VI12
VII Configurations of non-rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
In this subsection we describe configurations of surfaces which are covered by KF -nil
curves The structure of each such surface is described by classification IIV1 IIV2
and Corollary IIVI17 Our first step is to simplify the situation by contracting
chains of ruled surfaces The next step is to try and exclude the possibility that
the singular fiber of p contains fibrations by elliptic or nodal rational curves with
at least one invariant fiber This can be achieved with good success indeed there
may be at most one such Riccati foliation which is anyway rather isolated from the
remaining KF -nil curves Finally we observe that the only class of surfaces we have
not mentioned is
Definition VII1 A irreducible component F of the singular fiber of p is called
small Kronecker if
bull (FFF ) is birational to a Kronecker vector field on P1 timesP1 and
bull The two rulings of this P1 timesP1 are cohomologous inside X
The name comes from the fact that contraction of a small Kronecker yields a node
in the ambient threefold which admits a small resolution In fact in many respects
these fiber components behave very much like rigid KF -nil curves
50 FEDERICO BUONERBA
We start by getting rid of some fiber components which are ruled by KF -nil gener-
ically smooth rational curves
Proposition VII2 Notation as in Set-up VI13 there exists a sequence of flops
and divisorial contractions c X 99KX + such that
bull X + is a smooth stack
bull let S+ sub X + be an irreducible invariant divisor that contains a positive-
dimensional family of invariant rational curves along which KF+ vanishes
Then S+ is either birationally ruled by nodal rational curves or it is a small
Kronecker
Proof We focus first on contracting components of the singular fiber of p Consider
the following algorithm If there is no birationally ruled component different from
the ones listed in the second item we are done otherwise pick one such F and let
C denote the general member of the ruling If the cohomology class [C] is inde-
composable F is minimal Otherwise [C] = [C1] + [C2] where Ci are rational and
intersect KF trivially After finitely many steps we have a decomposition as a finite
sum of indecomposables [C] =sumn
i=0 ni[Ci] where every Ci is rational intersects KF
trivially We have two cases
bull There exists k such that Ck deforms in a birationally ruled necessarily min-
imal surface Fk
bull Every Ci has anti-ample normal bundle
In the first case denote by X rarr X1 the contraction of Fk along |Ck| and relpace
X by X1 Since Fk is minimal smoothness of the ambient stack is preserved unless
Fk is a small Kronecker This is however impossible if n ge 2 if Fk were a small
Kronecker then Ck deforms away from Fkminus1 so then Fkminus1 middot Ck = 0 on the other
hand Fkminus1 intersects the other ruling of Fk positively
In the second case flop C1 middot middot middot Cn in this order The transform of F is minimal and
not a small Kronecker so it can be contracted along its ruling preserving ambient
smoothness By induction on the Picard rank of X after finitely many steps this
algorithm ends Call X the output of this algorithm
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 51
Let S subX be an invariant divisor with a generically smooth ruling Then pS S rarr∆ is flat and after flopping finitely many rational curves in S cap plowastS(0) the resulting
pS is smooth Hence we can contract S along pS After finitely many steps the
Proposition is proven
For ease of notation in the sequel we call X the output of the previous proposition
Notice that there might still be divisors carrying a pencil of nodal rational curves
both inside and outside the singular fiber of p
We can start analyzing configurations of fiber components where the restriction of
F is not of general type We need some notation whose reason to exist will be clear
shortly
Definition VII3 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
along which KF is not big F is called special Riccati if
bull F is minimal
bull There exists a morphism s F rarr B onto a curve whose fibers are nodal
rational curve
bull F is transverse to the general fiber of s in particular KF is numerically
trivial along s
bull At least one fiber of s is invariant
bull There exists a section σ of s which is invariant and does not coincide with
the nodal locus of F
In particular the intersections of σ with invariant fibers of s isolated singularities
of F the node of F all coincide There may be fibers of s fully contained in sing(F )
in which case they are everywhere transverse to the saturated foliation
The definition looks nasty but special Riccati components have a rather simple
origin as the following proof shows
Lemma VII4 Let F be special Riccati Up to base change by an etale double cover
Bprime rarr B there is a natural isomorphism F norm simminusrarr BprimetimesP1 and the restriction of F
to F norm is birational to the projection onto P1
52 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proof We work over the normalization F norm Denote by Bprime the pre-image of the
node of F which is an etale double cover of B and let f denote an invariant fiber
of s with lowast = σ cap f Observe that F norm carries a Riccati foliation with 3 invariant
curves through lowast - namely σ f and a component of Bprime Hence FF has a log-canonical
singularity in lowast On F norm perform a weighted blow-up in each log-canonical singu-
larity followed by the contraction of the transforms of the corresponding fibers Let
s+ F+ rarr B denote the output of this operation If the proper transform of Bprime is
connected replace F+ by its base change under Bprime rarr B Hence we can assume Bprime
is the disjoint union of two sections of s+ and the transform of σ is a third section
which is disjoint from Bprime Therefore F+ = P1 timesBprime and the foliation restricts to the
projection onto P1
Next we describe those surfaces which cannot appear as components of the sin-
gular fiber X0
Definition VII5 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
along which KF is not big F is called illusory if
bull there exists a morphism t F rarr B onto a curve
bull KF is trivial along t
bull For any other fiber component F prime the intersection F cap F prime is either empty or
contained in a fiber of t
We give examples of illusory fiber components
Lemma VII6 The following fiber components are necessarily illusory
bull t is elliptic the foliation is either parallel to t or turbolent with at least one
invariant fiber
bull t is a nodal ruling the foliation is either parallel to t or transverse to t with
at least one invariant fiber and not birational to a special Riccati VII3
Proof Let f = F cap F prime for some fiber component F prime It is F -invariant
Assume t and F are parallel and f is transverse to both Then necessarily f subesing(F ) and KF is positive along the fibers of t contradiction
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 53
Assume t and F are generically transverse and f is transverse to t Let e be an
invariant fiber of t then ecap f isin sing(F ) hence t must be a family of nodal rational
curves and ecapf coincides with the node of e - otherwise KF would be positive along
t But this implies F is special Riccati contradiction
We proceed to show that illusory fibers do not exist
Lemma VII7 Let F be an illusory fiber component then every fiber of t is irre-
ducible If F prime is any fiber component intersecting F non-trivially then F prime is illusory
Proof Assume t has a reducible fiber f Then we can write f = f prime cup f primeprime where f prime
is irreducible and f primeprime is a disjoint union of chains of rational curves In particular
every subscheme supported on f primeprime is rigid in X f prime is rational and smooth iff f is a
cycle of rational curves hence the foliation on F is parallel to t and the choice of f prime
is not unique otherwise f prime is nodal or elliptic Let X 99KX + denote the flop of the
irreducible components of f primeprime in any order The proper transform f prime+ (below in red)
is the irreducible fiber of the induced morphism t+ F+ rarr B Since f primeprime+ intersects
f prime+ and is not contained in F+ there exists a component F prime of the fiber of p+ such
that F+ cap f prime+ 6= empty Since F+ is illusory necessarily F+ cap F prime = f prime+ Moreover F+
and F prime are the only fiber components intersecting f prime+ again because F+ is illusory
We deduce that F+ middot f prime+ = F prime middot f prime+ = 0 and therefore f prime+ is nef inside F prime It follows
that he restriction of F+ to F prime is not of general type and by the classification of
foliated surfaces [McQ08] necessarily f prime+ deforms inside F prime and defines a fibration
u F prime rarr Bprime In particular f prime+ is an irreducible fiber of u This is however impossible
since u contracts all the components of f primeprime+ contained in F prime (below in blue) and by
definition of F prime there exists at least one such component This proves that every
fiber of t is irreducible The following depicts the situation
F prime F+
f prime+
f primeprime+
t+u
54 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Concerning the second statement we only need to check the third condition for F prime
to be illussory namely that every other fiber component F primeprime intersecting F prime does
so along the fibers of u If F primeprime intersects F prime transversely to u then F primeprime intersects F
non-trivially and transversely to t as well absurd
Corollary VII8 Illusory components do not exist
Proof By the above lemma the existence of one illusory component implies that
every irreducible component of the singular fiber of p is illusory contradicting that
KF is big
We can now focus on fiber components that do appear
Corollary VII9 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
containing an invariant curve C which moves and such that KF middot C = 0 Then
following the classification [McQ08] we have two cases
(1) The minimal model of F is a special Riccati component
(2) F is a small Kronecker
Proof Certainly the ones listed are the only cases where C is KF -nil We have to
exclude the possibility that C is invariant inside sing(F ) By Proposition IVII3
such C would be rational with at most one node Since we already contracted at
the beginning of the present subsection all ruled surfaces necessarily C is nodal
However by opcit C cannot intersect any other fiber component of X0 which
implies the absurdity that X0 = F
We proceed to show that special Riccati components are rather isolated in the
fiber
Lemma VII10 Let F be a special Riccati component If F prime is a fiber component
intersecting F non-trivially then it does so transversely to s Morover there is
exactly one such F prime
Proof After finitely many flops we can assume that every fiber of s is irreducible
By the non-existence of illusory components there exists a fiber component F lowast with
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 55
σprime = F cap F prime transverse to s If F primeprime is a fiber component with f = F cap F primeprime a fiber
of s then we claim f sube sing(F ) If not then since KF middot f = 0 and σprime is invariant
necessarily σprimecap f is the node of f But then the existence of F primeprime contradicts that p is
snc Hence f sube sing(F ) so then around the node of f there are 3 fiber components -
two branches coming from F one from F primeprime - and sing(F ) has 2 branches - namely f
This is impossible by our case analysis ni (1)c ni (2)c The very same reasoning
establishes the uniqueness of F prime
Lemma VII11 Let F be as in the previous Lemma If C is a connected curve
with KF middot C = 0 then it is disjoint from F
Proof After finitely many flops s is irreducible and C intersects F transversely away
from its node Moreover lowast = C cap F isin sing(F ) and we deduce that the fiber of s
through lowast is fully contained in the singular locus of F This contradicts Proposition
IVII3 since such fiber is nodal
We conclude by observing the obvious
Lemma VII12 Let F be a small Kronecker Then there exists a contraction
c X rarr X prime which is an isomorphism away from F and contracts F along one
of its rulings Necessarily X prime is not projective since every global Cartier divisor
intersects c(F ) trivially On the other hand in a formal neighborhood of c(F ) there
exist Cartier divisors intersecting it non-trivialliy
As such the contribution coming from non-rigid curves is rather poor there are
curves moving in the general fiber there are special Riccati components disjoint from
any other invariant curve intersecting KF trivially there are small Kroneckers who
can be contracted to curves We shall see in the next section that the complications
arising from the contraction of such non-rigid curves is purely psychological and
totally harmless
56 FEDERICO BUONERBA
VI Contractions and proof of the Main Theorem
In this section we contract all invariant curves along which KF is zero thereby
establishing the existence of canonical models I First we contract non-rigid curves
as described in the previous subsection
bull Small Kroneckers along either ruling Albeit this destroys projectivity of
the ambient threefold there still exist Cartier divisors defined in a formal
neighborhood of the base curve that intersect it non-trivially
bull Families of irreducible nodal rational curves which are flat over ∆ This
creates elliptic singularities on the general fiber of p which are disjoint from
other invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
bull Special Riccati again families of irreducible nodal rational curves fully con-
tained in X0 This creates elliptic singularities disjoint from other invariant
curves intersecting KF trivially
We can summarize our situation by way of
Set-up VI1 X is a 3-dimensional DM stack with at worst elliptic singularities
F a foliation by curves with canonical singularities which is not Q-Cartier in a
neighborhood of Xsing
There exists a proper morphism p X rarr ∆ smooth off 0 isin ∆ F restricts to a
foliation on every fiber of p it has canonical singularities on the very general fiber
of p and log-canonical singularities on every fiber of p KF is big and nef on every
irreducible component of every fiber of p
Let C be the invariant sub-scheme along which KF is not big then C is a curve
fully contained in the smooth locus X0capXsmooth every sub-curve of C has anti-ample
normal bundle the 1-simplex of its dual graph is a tree and detailed configurations
of such are referenced in set-up VI13
We proceed to contract such C We assume that along C the semi-simple field has
only rational eigenvalues and moreover no component of C is inside the foliation
singularity The other two cases - irrational eigenvalues and presence of singular
component - are strictly easier and can be obtained with the very same method
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 57
The proof takes place in the formal completion around C = C free cup C axes The
former is a disjoint union of trees of non-double curves For each non-double C let
F (C) denote the unique component of X0 containing it The latter is a tree of double
curves each with two triple points all contained in the same irreducible FC axes Each
tree of non-double curves touches C axes in one point through a LC-center In order
to construct the contraction we will use Artinrsquos celebrated criterion in the following
form
Fact VI1 ([Ar70]) Let X be an irreducible algebraic space i Y rarr X a closed
subspace of pure codimension 1 and f Y rarr Y0 a proper morphism with flowastOY = OY0
Let X denote the formal completion of X along Y and assume there exists a Cartier
divisor D in X which is supported on Y and is f -anti-ample Then there exists a
proper morphism of algebraic spaces F X rarr X0 which is an isomorphism away
from Y and such that ilowastF = f
Now we use the tree structure of C to construct a suitable divisor to which apply
Artinrsquos theorem Namely consider the following inductive defintion
(35) C0 = C axes F0 = FC axes
For k ge 0 assume Ck Fk are defined
bull Let Ck+1 denote the union of irreducible components of C that intersect Fk
non-trivially but are not contained in cupilekFibull Let Fk+1 denote the reduced sum (
sumCsubeCk+1
F (C))red
This process stops with a collection C1 middot middot middotCN of curves and F1 middot middot middot FN of reduced
divisors
Lemma VI1 We have the following identities
(36)
Fk middot C lt 0 for every C sube Ck
(F0 + F1) middot C le 0 for every C sube C0
(Fkminus1 + Fk + Fk+1) middot C = 0 for every C sube Ck 1 lt k lt N
(FNminus1 + FN) middot C lt 0 for every C sube CN
58 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proof The first is just the fact that every component of C is rigid The remaining
three follow from X0 middot C = 0 but the last one requires further justification Indeed
if C sube CN N gt 0 then C is one end of a tree of non-double curves In particular
there exists a foliation singularity lowast isin C disjoint from any other component of
C and LClowast is transverse to C This implies LClowast middotC gt 0 which together with
(FNminus1 + FN + LClowast) middot C = 0 concludes the proof
Let ε1 middot middot middot εN isin Qgt0 and define
(37) F Nminusk = (1 + ε1 + middot middot middot+ εk)FNminusk
bull If C sube CN we have
(38) (F Nminus1 + F
N) middot C = ε1FNminus1 middot C + (FNminus1 + FN) middot C
bull If C sube CNminusk 1 lt k lt N we have
(39)
(F Nminuskminus1 + F
Nminusk + F Nminusk+1) middot C =
(1 + middot middot middot+ εk)(FNminuskminus1 + FNminusk + FNminusk+1) middot C minus εkFNminusk+1 middot C + εk+1FNminuskminus1 middot C =
minus εkFNminusk+1 middot C + εk+1FNminuskminus1 middot C
bull If C sube C0 we have
(40) (F 0 + F
1) middot C = εNF0 middot C + (Nminus1sumj=0
εj)(F0 + F1) middot C
It is clear that provided
(41) 1 gtgt ε1 gtgt middot middot middot gtgt εN
the divisor F =sumF k is negative along every component of C
This proves the existence of the contraction and concludes the proof of the Main
Theorem I
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 59
VII Moduli space of foliated surfaces of general type
In this section we study the modular variation of foliated surfaces of general type
The upshot is that it is possible to define a functor which is representable separated
and every irreducible component is proper The main issue here is that the supporting
surface of a foliated canonical model may well fail to be projective indeed KF is not
Q-Gorenstein in general Hence in order to proceed via standard methods [Ko17]
we have to parametrize our canonical models together with a suitable projective
resolution
Definition VII13 Let (SF ) be a foliated proper reduced purely 2-dimensional
DM stack Assume S has only normal crossing singularities in codimension 1 that
F has log-canonical foliation singularities and that KF is big and nef on at least
one of the irreducible components of S If whenever KF middot C = 0 for some curve C
then C moves in an irreducible component of S and no member of such deformation
is F -invariant then (SF ) is called foliated canonical model of general type
Clearly foliated canonical models are exactly the stable degenerations appearing
as the central fiber of our Main Theorem I Their lack of projectivity has two sources
namely the contraction of cycles of smooth KF -nil curves and of trees of cuspidal
ones Singularities arising from cycles behave well in families namely they always
deform into the general fiber Those arising from cuspidal curves on the other hand
tend to be rather isolated inside the degenerate fiber
Observe that the deformation theory of a foliated surface is rather simple suppose
given an infinitesimal C-algebras extension 0 rarr J rarr Ae rarr A rarr 0 and (SF )
a foliated surface flat over Spec(A) then the obstruction to lifting to Ae can be
understood in three simple steps
(1) Deformation of the underlying surface S once a deformation Se rarr Spec(Ae)
is given
(2) Deformation of the line bundle KF by the exponential sequence
(42) 0rarr J otimes OS rarr OlowastSerarr OlowastS rarr 0
obstructions lie in H2(SOS)otimes J once a deformation of KF is given
60 FEDERICO BUONERBA
(3) Deformation of the defining section OS rarr KF otimes TS obstructions lie in
H1(SKF otimes TS)otimes J
Now we have
Definition VII14 Let (SF ) be a foliated canonical model of general type A
proper birational morphism q (SF )proj rarr (SF ) is called its projective resolution
if
bull Every irreducible component of Sproj is smooth
bull The exceptional locus of q is a disjoint union of cycles of KFproj-nil smooth
curves and trees of KFproj-nil curves each of which has a non-trivial cuspidal
singularity
bull In a neighborhood of every q-exceptional cycle not only Sproj but also its
moduli space is smooth
We need a few remarks about projective resolutions
(1) Projective resolutions are always unique Indeed the only possible ambiguity
could lie in some extra smooth irreducible components in the exceptional
locus This is forbidden by definition in the trees of cuspidal curves it is
also forbidden by way of the third item in cycles of smooth ones ie on
algebraic surfaces the minimal resolution is unique
(2) Denote by E the collection of q-exceptional cycles Then there exist ε δ isinQgt0 such that KFproj
minus εE + δKSprojis ample by Nakai-Moishezon
(3) Deformations of a projective resolution of a foliated canonical model are
canonically identified with deformations of the underlying birational mor-
phism q Sproj rarr S followed by a deformation of the foliation F
We are now ready to construct a moduli functor for foliated surfaces more precisely
for projective resolutions of foliated canonical models of general type For m dN isinN and ε δ isin Qgt0 let
(43) MmdNεδ (C-schemes)rarr (sets)
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 61
be defined by MmdNεδ(S) = Diagrams
(44) (X F )projqminusrarr (X F )
pminusrarr S
Where
bull Both p and p q are flat and proper
bull For every closed point s isin S the induced morphism qs is the projective
resolution of (X F )s which is a foliated canonical model of general type
bull Denote by Es the collection of exceptional cycles of qs By our Main Theorem
I there is a fibrewise divisor E subXproj flat over S restricting to Es for every
s isin S
bull Let j W rarr Xproj denote the maximal closed subscheme away from which
KFprojand KXprojS are locally free Then
(45) L [m] = (jlowast(KFprojotimes OXproj
(minusεE )otimesKδXprojS
)otimesm)oror
is flat over S and commutes with base-change
bull L [m] is very ample of degree d on every fiber and defines an embedding into
PNS
We are now ready for
Theorem VII15 The functor MmdNεδ is represented by a separated algebraic
space each of whose irreducible components is proper
Proof We show that our functor satisfies Artinrsquos conditions [Ar74 Corollary 54] By
definition condition 1) and 4) hold while our previous remark on foliated obstruction
theory shows that 3) is true
We proceed to show 2) namely effectivity of formal deformations for MmdNεδ
What follows owes much to Artinrsquos [A74rsquo] Let T be a complete C-algebra Tn its
n-truncation so that Tsimminusrarr limlarrminusTn and finally qn isinMmdNεδ(Spec(Tn)) a compatible
sequence For each n there is a maximal open set Un sube Xprojn where qn is an
isomorphism denote by sn Cn rarr Zn the restriction of qn to the complement of Un
Clearly sn is projective over Spec(Tn)
62 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Denote by X C etc the formal algebraic spaces obtained as limits of Xn Cn
etc Then Xproj sub PNˆSpec(T )
hence by Grothendieckrsquos existence Theorem we find
bull a flat projective family (X F )proj rarr Spec(T ) resp a closed subscheme
C subXproj whose completion is Xproj resp C
bull a scheme Z whose completion is Z and a morphism s C rarr Z everything
being projective over Spec(T )
Further we have a formal contraction limminusrarr qn C rarr Z hence the main theorem
of [Ar70] gives algebraic contraction (X F )proj rarr (X F ) This proves the repre-
sentability of MmdNεδ The properness and separability of each irreducible com-
ponent can be checked using valutative criteria indeed properness is the content of
our Main Theorem I separatedness follows from the uniqueness of foliated canonical
models of general type and their projective resolution
References
[Ar70] M Artin Algebraization of Formal Moduli II Existence of Modifications Ann
of Math Vol 91 No 1 (Jan 1970) pp 88-135 httpwwwjstororgstable
1970602
[Ar74] M Artin Versal Deformations and Algebraic Stacks Inventiones Math 27 165- 189
(1974) httpmathuchicagoedu~drinfeldArtin_on_stackspdf
[A74rsquo] M Artin Algebraic construction of Brieskornrsquos resolutions J Alg Vol 29 Issue
2 May 1974 pp 330-348 httpwwwsciencedirectcomsciencearticlepii
0021869374901021
[BB72] P Baum R Bott Singularities of holomorphic foliations J Diff Geom 7 (1972)
279-342 httpsprojecteuclidorgdownloadpdf_1euclidjdg1214431158
[Bo77] F Bogomolov Families of curves on a surface of general type Doklady Akademii Nauk
USSR (in Russian) 236 (5) 1041-1044
[Bo78] F Bogomolov Holomorphic tensors and vector bundles on projective varieties Math
USSR Izv 13 (1978) 499-555
[BM16] F Bogomolov M McQuillan Rational Curves on Foliated Varieties In Cascini
McKernan Pereira (eds) Foliation Theory in Algebraic Geometry Simons Symposia
Springer Cham pp 21-51 (2016) httpslinkspringercomchapter101007
978-3-319-24460-0_2
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 63
[Bu] F Buonerba Functorial resolution of tame quotient singularities in positive charac-
teristic httpsarxivorgabs151100550
[Ke99] S Keel Basepoint Freeness for Nef and Big Line Bundles in Positive Characteris-
tic Annals of Math 149 No 1 (Jan 1999) pp 253-286 httpwwwjstororg
stable121025 httpsarxivorgabsmath9901149
[KM97] S Keel S Mori Quotients by groupoids Annals of Math 145 (1997) pp
193-213 httpwwwjstororgstable2951828seq=1page_scan_tab_contents
httparxivorgabsalg-geom9508012
[Ko17] J Kollar Families of varieties of general type httpswebmathprincetonedu
~kollarbookmodbook20170720pdf
[LN02] A Lins Neto Some examples for the Poincare and Painleve problems Annales sci-
entifiques de lrsquoENS 352 (2002) 231-266 httparchivenumdamorgarticle
ASENS_2002_4_35_2_231_0pdf
[McQ12] M McQuillan Foliated Mori Theory amp Hyperbolicity of Algebraic Surfaces http
wwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillahomehtml
[McQ98] M McQuillan Diophantine approximation and foliations Inst Hautes Etudes Sci
Publ Math 87 (1998) 121-174 httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafiles
ihespdf
[McQ05rsquo] M McQuillan Bloch hyperbolicity preprint httpwwwmatuniroma2it
~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ05] M McQuillan Semi-stable reduction of foliations IHES pre-print IHESM0502
(2005) httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ05rdquo] M McQuillan Uniform Uniformisation IHES pre-print (2005) IHES M0503 http
wwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ08] M McQuillan Canonical models of foliations Pure Appl Math Q 4
(2008) no 3 Special Issue In honor of Fedor Bogomolov Part 2 877-1012
httpintlpresscomsitepubfiles_fulltextjournalspamq20080004
0003PAMQ-2008-0004-0003-a009pdf
[MP13] M McQuillan D Panazzolo Almost etale resolution of foliations J Diff Geom 95
(2013) pp 279-319 httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesmp1bispdf
[Pe02] JV Pereira On the Poincare Problem for Foliations of General Type Mathematische
Annalen 323 no 2 pp217-226 2002 httpsarxivorgabsmath0104185
[PS16] JV Pereira R Svaldi Effective algebraic integration in bounded genus preprint
httpsarxivorgabs161206932
64 FEDERICO BUONERBA
[Re83] M Reid Minimal models of canonical threefolds in rdquoAlgebraic Varieties and Ana-
lytic Varietiesrdquo Adv Stud Pure Math vol 1 S Iitaka ed Kinokuniya and North-
Holland 1983 pp 131-180 httpwwwmathsedacukcheltsovquotientpdf
reid2pdf
[Se67] A Seidenberg Reduction of singularities of the differential equation Ady = Bdx Amer
J Math 89 (1967) 248-269 httpwwwjstororgstable2373435
[SB83] N Shepherd-Barron Degenerations with numerically effective canonical divisor The
Birational Geometry of Degenerations (R Friedman and D Morrison eds) Progr
Math no 29 Birkhuser 1983 pp 33-84
[Vis89] A Vistoli Intersection theory on algebraic stacks and on their moduli spaces
Invent Math (1989) pp 613-670 httplinkspringercomarticle101007
2FBF01388892page-1
Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences New York University 251 Mercer
Street New York NY 10012 USA
E-mail address buonerbacimsnyuedu
- I Introduction
- II Preliminaries
-
- III Operations on Deligne-Mumford stacks
- IIII Width of embedded parabolic champs
- IIIII Gorenstein foliation singularities
- IIIV Foliated adjunction
- IIV Canonical models of foliated surfaces with canonical singularities
- IIVI Canonical models of foliated surfaces with log-canonical singularities
- IIVII Set-up
-
- III Invariant curves and singularities local description
-
- IIII `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F) not isolated
- IIIII `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F) isolated
- IIIIII Local consequences
-
- IV Invariant curves along which KF vanishes
-
- IVI KF-nil curves
- IVII Invariant curves inside `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F)
-
- V Configurations
-
- VI Configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
- VII Configurations of non-rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
-
- VI Contractions and proof of the Main Theorem
- VII Moduli space of foliated surfaces of general type
- References
-
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 21
by rational curves there exists a contraction p X rarr X0 with exceptional curve
cupmminus1i=0 Ri However F0 is smooth along plowastRm so by adjunction formula KF0 middotplowastRm lt
0 and we find a contradiction by Corollary IIVI7
Corollary IIVI13 Let C be a maximal connected curve such that KF middotC = 0 and
C cap LC(F ) 6= empty Then C is a union of finitely many log-chains intersecting each
other in their common marking
The following shows a configuration of log-chains sharing the same marking col-
ored in black
We are now ready to state and prove the canonical model theorem in presence of
log-canonical singularities
Theorem IIVI14 (Canonical models) Let X be a proper DM stack of dimension
2 and F a foliation with isolated singularities Moreover assume that KF is nef
that every KF -nil curve is contained in a log-chain and that F is Gorenstein and
log-canonical in a neighborhood of every KF -nil curve Then either
bull There exists a birational contraction p X rarr X0 whose exceptional curves
are unions of log-chains If all the log-contractible curves contained in the log-
chains are smooth then F0 is Gorenstein and log-canonical If furthermore
X has projective moduli then X0 has projective moduli In any case KF0
is numerically ample
bull There exists a fibration p X rarr B over a curve whose fibers intersect
KF trivially Each F -invariant fiber of p intersecting LC(F ) is union of
mutually compatible log-chains
Proof If all the KF -nil curves can be contracted by a birational morphism we are in
the first case of the Theorem Else let C be a maximal connected curve withKF middotC =
0 and which is not contractible It is a union of pairwise compatible log-chains
22 FEDERICO BUONERBA
with marking lowast Replace (X F ) by the resolution of the log-canonical singularity
at lowast with exceptional divisor E Therefore F is Gorenstein and canonical in a
neighborhood of C cupE By equation 9 we have KF middotC = minusC middotE lt 0 and therefore
C can be contracted to a canonical foliation singularity Replace (X F ) by the
contraction of C We have a smooth curve E around which F is smooth and
nowhere tangent to E Moreover
(11) KF middot E = minusE2
And we distinguish cases
bull E2 gt 0 so KF is not pseudo-effective a contradiction
bull E2 lt 0 so the initial curve C is contractible a contradiction
bull E2 = 0 which we proceed to analyze
The following is what we need to handle the third case
Proposition IIVI15 Let (X F ) be a foliation with canonical singularities with
X a smooth 2-dimensional DM stack with projective moduli and KF nef If there
exists a smooth curve E everywhere transverse to F such that KF middot E = E2 = 0
then E moves in a pencil and defines a fibration p X rarr B onto a curve whose
fibers intersect KF trivially
Proof If KF has Kodaira dimension one then its linear system contains an effective
divisor and by Hodge index KF = cE as divisors for some c isin Q+ Hence there is
a fibration onto a curve with fiber E and F is transverse to it by assumption If
KF has Kodaira dimension zero we use the classification IIV1 in all cases but the
suspension over an elliptic curve E defines a product structure on the underlying
surface in the case of a suspension every section of the underlying projective bundle
is clearly F -invariant Therefore E is a fiber of the bundle
This concludes the proof of the Theorem
We remark that the second alternative in the above theorem is rather natural
let (X F ) be a foliation which is transverse to a fibration by rational or elliptic
curves ie a suspension over elliptic curve turbolent Riccati or isotrivial Pick a
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 23
general fiber E of the fibration and blow up any number of points on it The proper
transform E is certainly contractible By Proposition IIVI4 the contraction of E is
Gorenstein and log-canonical Moreover the fiber E has been replaced by a union of
compatible log-chains Note in particular that the number of log-chains appearing
is arbitrary
Corollary IIVI16 Let X be a proper DM stack of dimension 2 and F a Goren-
stein foliation with log-canonical singularities Assume that KF is big and pseudo-
effective Then there exists a birational morphism p X rarr X0 such that C is
exceptional if and only if KF middot C le 0 In particular KF0 is numerically ample
For future applications we spell out
Corollary IIVI17 Hypothesis as in Theorem IIVI14 assume further that X
is everywhere smooth Then in the second alternative of the theorem the fibration
p X rarr B is by rational curves
Proof Indeed in this case the curve E which appears in the proof above as the
exceptional locus for the resolution of the log-canonical singularity at lowast must be
rational By the previous Proposition p is defined by a pencil in |E|
IIVII Set-up In this subsection we prepare the set-up we will deal with in the
rest of the manuscript Briefly we want to handle the existence of canonical models
for a family of foliated surfaces parametrized by a one-dimensional base To this
end we will discuss the modular behavior of singularities of foliated surfaces with
Gorenstein singularities recall McQuillan-Panazzolorsquos resolution of foliation singu-
larities building on the existence of minimal models [McQ05] prepare the set-up
for the sequel
Let us begin with the modular behavior of Gorenstein singularities
Proposition IIVII1 Let (X F ) be a smooth DM stack with a foliation by
curves Assume there exists a flat proper morphism p X rarr C onto an algebraic
curve such that F restricts to a foliation on every fiber of p Then the set
(12) s isin C Fs is log-canonical
24 FEDERICO BUONERBA
is Zariski-open while the set
(13) s isin C Fs is canonical
is the complement to a countable subset of C lying on a real-analytic curve
Proof By Fact IIIII2 being log-canonical is equivalent to the linearized endomor-
phism part IZI2Z rarr IZI
2Z being non-nilpotent where Z is the singular sub-scheme
of the foliation Of course being non-nilpotent is a Zariski open condition The
second statement also follows from opcit since a log-canonical singularity which is
not canonical has linearization with all its eigenvalues positive and rational The
statement is optimal as shown by the vector field on A3xys
(14) part(s) =part
partx+ s
part
party
Next we recall the existence of a functorial canonical resolution of foliation singu-
larities for foliations by curves on 3-dimensional stacks
Fact IIVII2 [MP13] Let X = (XDF ) be a 3-dimensional DM stack with bound-
ary foliated by curves Then there exists a proper birational morphism Xprime rarr X such
that X prime is a smooth DM stack and F prime has only canonical foliation singularities
The original opcit contains a more refined statement including a detailed de-
scription of the claimed birational morphism
In order for our set-up to make sense we mention one last very important result
Fact IIVII3 [McQ05] Let X be a smooth DM stack with projective moduli and F
a foliation by curves with (log)canonical singularities Then there exists a birational
map X 99K Xm obtained as a composition of flips such that Xm is a smooth
DM stack with projective moduli the birational transform Fm has (log)canonical
singularities and one of the following happens
bull KFm is nef or
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 25
bull There exists a fibration Xm rarr B over a smooth base whose fibers are
weighted projective spaces such that Fm is tangent to the fibers and restricts
to a radial foliation on those
Finally we can organize our notation
Set-up IIVII4 (X F ) is a smooth 3-dimensional DM stack with projective mod-
uli F a foliation by curves with canonical singularities such that KF is big and nef
There exists a semi-stable morphism p X rarr ∆ whose moduli is projective onto
the (formal) unit disk F restricts to a foliation on every fiber of p it has canon-
ical singularities on the very general fiber of p and log-canonical singularities on
every fiber of p Our task from now on is to analyze and contract the maximal
foliation-invariant sub-scheme of X along which KF is not ample
III Invariant curves and singularities local description
In this section we give a complete decription of germs of invariant curves that
appear in the formal completion of any point in the set-up IIVII4 Let us replace
X by its formal completion in a point lowast where the foliation is singular F is defined
by a vector field part with Jordan decomposition partS + partN see the end of subsection
IIIII Since [partS partN ] = 0 partN preserves the eigenspaces of partS Moreover the fact that
F is tangent to p translates into
(15) partS(p) = partN(p) = 0
The description of invariant germs of curves through lowast will be achieved via case-by-
case analysis organized by computing what happens for all possible combinations
of the following informations whether the singular locus Z is isolated at lowast the
number of eigenvalues of partS the number of components of the fiber through p
IIII sing(F ) not isolated
ni (1) partS has one eigenvalue
bull We have partS = x partpartx
and partN = f partparty
+ g partpartz
for some functions f g isin (y z)
Moreover partN is non-trivial
26 FEDERICO BUONERBA
bull Z = (x = f = g = 0) is not isolated
(a) The fiber has one component y = 0 Then 0 = partN(y) = f hence
Z = (x = g = 0) The restriction on the fiber is part|(y=0) = x partpartx
+g|(y=0)partpartz
Z has a one-dimensional component contained in the fiber iff g isin (y) in
which case such component is smooth equal to (x = 0) moreover the
foliation on the fiber saturates to a smooth one with invariant curves
z = 0 transverse to Z
Otherwise the foliation is saturated on the fiber and has a saddle-node
singularity
(b) The fiber has two components yz = 0 Then 0 = partN(yz) = zf + yg
hence f = yh g = minuszh for some h and Z = (x = h = 0) The restriction
on a fiber component say y = 0 is part|(y=0) = x partpartxminus zh|(y=0)
partpartz
Z has an
irreducible component contained in y = 0 iff h isin (y) in which case such
component is smooth equal to (x = 0) moreover the foliation on the
fiber saturates to a smooth one with invariant curves z = 0 transverse
to Z
Otherwise the foliation is saturated on the fiber and has a saddle-node
singularity
(c) The fiber has three components xyz = 0 0 = partS(xyz) = xyz a contra-
diction
Summary with one eigenvalue there are either one or two components The
foliation might have a one-dimensional singularity when restricted to a fiber
component in this case such singularity is a smooth curve and the foliation
saturates to a smooth one with invariant curves transverse to the singular-
ity If the singularity is isolated on a fiber component then it is a canonical
saddle-node with at most two invariant branches
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 27
ni (2) partS has two eigenvalues
We have partS = x partpartx
+ λy partparty
and partN(x y z) = k partpartx
+ f partparty
+ g partpartz
for some func-
tions k f g
(a) The fiber has one component z = 0 Then g = 0 k f isin (x y) and
necessarily Z = (x = y = 0) is transverse to the fiber The restriction on
the fiber is saturated and non-degenerate It has canonical singularities
if either partN 6= 0 or λ isin Q+ otherwise it is log-canonical
(b) The fiber has two components xy = 0 Then 0 = partS(xy) hence λ = minus1
Also 0 = partN(xy) hence k = xh f = minusyh g isin (xy) and necessarily
Z = (x = y = 0) coincides with the intersection of the two fiber compo-
nents which is smooth the foliation saturates to a smooth one on each
component with invariant curves transverse to Z
(c) The fiber has three components xyz = 0 hence λ = minus1 Also k = xklowast
f = yf lowast g = zglowast with klowast + f lowast + glowast = 0 and glowast isin (xy) The singularity
Z = (x = y = 0) coincides with the intersection of two of the fiber
components The restriction to either such components saturates to a
smooth foliation with invariant curves transverse to Z the restriction
to z = 0 has a canonical non-degenerate singularity all the invariant
curves are those in xy = 0 transverse to Z
Summary with 2 eigenvalues there can be any number of components With
one component the foliation restricts to a saturated one with a (log)canonical
singularity which moves transversely to p With two components the folia-
tion is not saturated on either and saturates to a smooth one with invariant
curves transverse to the singularity With three components the foliation
is not saturated on two of them and saturates to a smooth one on both
with invariant curves transverse to the singularity the foliation is saturated
and has a canonical non-degenerate singularity on the third component In
28 FEDERICO BUONERBA
the last two cases the singularity is fully contained in an intersection of two
components
ni (3) partS has three eigenvalues But then the singularity is isolated a contradiction
IIIII sing(F ) isolated
i (1) partS has one eigenvalue
bull We have partS = x partpartx
and partN = xk partpartx
+ f partparty
+ g partpartz
for some functions
k f g isin (y z) Moreover partN is non-trivial
bull Z = (x = f = g = 0) is isolated
(a) The fiber has one component y = 0 Then 0 = partN(y) = f and Z cannot
be isolated a contradiction
(b) The fiber has two components yz = 0 Then 0 = partN(yz) = zf + yg so
f = yh g = minuszh with h non-constant Hence Z = (x = h = 0) is not
isolated a contradiction
(c) The fiber has three components xyz = 0 Then 0 = partS(xyz) = xyz a
contradiction
Summary the 1 eigenvalue case does not exist
i (2) partS has two eigenvalues
bull We have partS = x partpartx
+ λy partparty
partN = xk partpartx
+ f partparty
+ g partpartz
for some functions
k f g
bull g is non-trivial and g isin (x y)
bull Z = (x = y = g = 0) is isolated
(a) The fiber has one component z = 0 Then g = 0 a contradiction
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 29
(b) The fiber has two components xy = 0 hence λ = minus1 and g isin (xy z)
the restriction to y = 0 is part|(y=0) = x partpartx
+g|(y=0)partpartz
and necessarily g|(y=0)
is non-vanishing Therefore the restriction to either components is satu-
rated and the singularity is a canonical saddle-node on each of them
The invariant curves are among the axes x = y = 0 x = z = 0 y = z =
0
(c) The fiber has three components xyz = 0 hence λ = minus1 Necessarily
k = xklowast f = yf lowast g = zglowast with klowast + f lowast + glowast = 0 The restriction to
y = 0 is part|(y=0) = x(1 + klowast|(y=0))partpartx
+ zglowast|(y=0)partpartz
since g isin (x y) we have
glowast|(y=0) non-trivial Therefore the restriction to either x = 0 and y = 0
is saturated and the singularity is a canonical saddle-node on each of
them
The restriction to z = 0 is part|(z=0) = x(1 + klowast|(z=0))partpartx
+ y(minus1 + f lowast|(z=0))partparty
therefore the restriction is saturated and has a canonical non-degenerate
singularity
The invariant curves are among the axes x = y = 0 x = z = 0 y = z =
0
Summary with 2 eigenvalues there are either two or three components the
foliation restricts to a canonical saddle-node on two of them and to a non-
degenerate singularity on the third one if it exists All the invariant curves
are in the axes
i (3) partS has three eigenvalues We have partS = x partpartx
+ λy partparty
+ microz partpartz
(a) The fiber has one component y = 0 hence λ = 0 a contradiction
(b) The fiber has two components xy = 0 hence λ = minus1 The restriction to
y = 0 is part|(y=0) = x partpartx
+ microz partpartz
+ partN|(y=0) The singularity is log-canonical
30 FEDERICO BUONERBA
iff micro isin Qgt0 and partN|(y=0)= 0 and in this case the singularity on x = 0 is
canonical non-degenerate Invariant curves are those in y = 0 and the
axis x = z = 0
If the restriction to both fiber components is canonical then it non-
degenerate on both and the invariant curves are contained in the axes
x = y = 0 x = z = 0 y = z = 0
The fiber could be yz = 0 hence λ+micro = 0 It can be analyzed as in the
next item
(c) The fiber has three components xyz = 0 hence 1 + λ + micro = 0 In par-
ticular if λ = cmicro c isin Q+ then λ micro isin Q The restriction to y = 0
is part|(y=0) = x partpartx
+ microz partpartz
+ partN|(y=0) This singularity is log-canonical iff
micro isin Qgt0 and partN|(y=0)= 0 in which case the singularity on both x = 0
and z = 0 is canonical non-degenerate In particular if the singularity
is log-canonical on some fiber component then it is so on exactly one
component and all eigenvalues are rational Invariant curves are those
in y = 0 and the axis x = z = 0
If the restriction to all fiber components is canonical then it non-degenerate
on each of them and the invariant curves are contained in the axes
x = y = 0 x = z = 0 y = z = 0
Summary with 3 eigenvalues there are either two or three fiber components
the foliation restricts to a singular foliation on each of them and it has a
log-canonical singularity on at most one of them in this case all eigenvalues
of the semi-simple field are rational
IIIIII Local consequences We list some corollaries for future reference As al-
ways in this section the statements are local so everything happens in a formal
neighborhood of our point lowast First we state those corollaries we will need to describe
configurations of KF -nil curves
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 31
Definition IIIIII1 An LC-center Π sub X is an irreducible F -invariant formal
hypersurface such that the local vector field generating the foliation when restricted
to Π has semi-simple part with log-canonical singularity or a one-dimensional sin-
gular locus An LC-center with a log-canonical singularity is necessarily an algebraic
component of the singular fiber of p
Corollary IIIIII2 There is at most one LC-center with a log-canonical singularity
through lowast If it exists then all eigenvalues of the semi-simple field at lowast are rational
If there are at least two LC-centers through lowast then there are exactly two and the
foliation singularity is a smooth curve on each of them
Proof Possible cases in which an LC-center with log-canonical singularities appears
ni (2)a i (3)b i (3)c
Corollary IIIIII3 If there is no LC-center thorugh a point lowast then there are at
most three invariant curves through lowast all smooth Any number of them spans a sub-
space of the tangent space at lowast of maximal possible dimension
If there is an LC-center through lowast then there is at most one invariant curve through
lowast and not contained in the LC-center
If there is an LC-center with non-isolated singularity then the singularity is smooth
and all invariant curves contained in the LC-center intersect the singularity trans-
versely
Proof Invariant curves not in an LC-centers with log-canonical singularities are con-
tained in the three axes x = z = 0 x = y = 0 y = z = 0 mentioned in the above
classification The other statements are clear
Corollary IIIIII4 If p is smooth at lowast then Z is one dimensional around lowast
Proof Possible casesni (1)a ni (2)a
In particular if there is no LC-center the situation is the familiary
xz
32 FEDERICO BUONERBA
While if there is an LC-center (pink) with log-canonical singularity it will look like
y
LC-center
While if there is an LC-center with non-isolated singularity (red) it will look like
(the black arrows being invariant curves)
y
LC-center
The next corollary describes one-dimensional components of the foliation singularity
Corollary IIIIII5 If Z0 is a one-dimensional irreducible component of the folia-
tion singularity then it is at worst nodal The foliation when restricted to any fiber
component containing Z0 saturates to a smooth foliation in a neighborhood of Z0
and all the invariant curves are transverse to Z0
If Z0 is contained in exactly one fiber component then the semi-simple field has one
eigenvalue everywhere along Z0
If Z0 lies at the intersection of two fiber components then the semi-simple field has
two constant eigenvalues everywhere along Z0
Moreover if there exist a sequence of invariant curves converging in the compact-
open topology to Z0 then there is generically one eigenvalue along Z0
Proof Possible casesni (1)a ni (1)b ni (2)b ni (2)c Concerning the one-
eigenvalue case invariant curves converging to Z0 can be found in the formal hyper-
surface x = 0
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 33
IV Invariant curves along which KF vanishes
In this section we study in great detail a formal neighborhood of invariant curves
where KF is numerically trivial In the first subsection we deal with KF -nil curves
namely those whose generic point is not contained in the foliation singularity In this
case the normal bundle to the curve determines its formal neighborhood uniquely
and this has plenty of amazing consequences In the second subsection we study
those invariant curves which are contained in the foliation singularity In this case
we are not able to control the full formal neighborhood but important informations
can still be obtained
IVI KF -nil curves In this subsection we study in detail the structure of KF -
nil curves and their formal neighborhoods appearing in the set-up IIVII4 In
particular we will describe a simple process to replace cuspidal KF -nil curves by
net ones prove that the foliation is in the net completion around a net KF -nil curve
defined by a global vector field which admits a global Jordan decomposition deduce
that eigenfunctions for the semi-simple component of such field are also globally
defined on a formal neighborhood
The first important remark is of technical nature and explains how to deal with non-
net KF -nil curves By Proposition IIIV4 this is indeed possible and the images of
such curves will acquire cusp-like singularities It is hard to analyze the geometry
of F around such cuspidal curves and therefore necessary to remove them Let us
assume that C is simply connected with rational moduli f is ramified at 0 isin C
and and denote by X the formal completion along f(C) Then formally around
f(0) the curve f(C) has defining ideal (y xa minus zb) where y = 0 is a fiber of the
fibration p X rarr ∆ containing f(C) x z isin H0(X OX ) restrict to suitable local
coordinates on such fiber and a b ge 2 are coprime integers
Claim IVI1 Let r X ( aradicz = 0) rarr X be the a-th root of z = 0 III3 Then
(rlowastC)norm =∐a
1 C and the induced map rlowastf (rlowastC)norm rarrX ( aradicz = 0) is net
Proof Since r is etale away from z = 0 also rlowastC rarr C is etale away from 0 isin C
Since C 0 is simply connected we have rlowastC rminus1(0) =∐a
1 C 0 This proves
34 FEDERICO BUONERBA
the first statement Let ζ be a function on X ( aradicz = 0) such that ζa = z so then
rlowast(xa minus zb) =prod
ηa=1(x minus ηζb) Every branch is net in 0 and we obtain the second
statement as well
As such upon taking roots we can replace non-net KF -nil invariant curves with
rational moduli by net ones
We now proceed to study net KF -nil curves We will show that the foliation is
defined by a global vector field around a net KF -nil curve with rational moduli and
that such vector field admits a global Jordan decomposition
Proposition IVI2 Notation as in the set-up IIVII4 let f C rarrX be a KF -nil
curve Assume that f is net and let j C rarr C be the net completion along f Then
there exists an isomorphism
(16) OC(KF )simminusrarr OC
In particular there exists a global vector field partf on C that generates F
Proof Since C has rational moduli and is simply connected it has infinite-cyclic
Picard group and we have an isomorphism
(17) OC(KF )simminusrarr OC
Moreover we have a non-canonical splitting of the normal bundle Njsimminusrarr O(minusn) oplus
O(minusm) and we claim that both nm ge 0 Indeed consider the induced semi-stable
fibration C rarr ∆ and let F be the normalization of an irreducible component of a
fiber such that C sub F Consider the exact sequence
(18) 0rarr NCF rarr Nj rarr NFC|C rarr 0
Since KF is nef NCF is not ample since F is a fiber of a fibration also NFC|C is
not ample and this is enough to conclude even though nm may be different from
the degrees of such normal bundles
At this point we can lift the isomorphism 17 over infinitesimal neighborhoods of j
Indeed for every k ge 0 we have an exact sequence
(19) 0rarr Symk ICI2C rarr OCk+1
(KF )rarr OCk(KF )rarr 0
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 35
which shows that the obstruction to lifting the isomorphism lies in
(20) H1(C Symk ICI2C) = H1(C Symk(O(n)oplus O(m))) = 0
From this we can deduce
Proposition IVI3 The vector field partf admits a Jordan decomposition uniformly
along C
Proof The cohomology sequence attached to 19 is
(21) 0rarr H0(C Symk ICI2C)rarr H0(COCk+1
)rarr H0(COCk)rarr 0
Let partk+1 denote the image of partf in End(H0(COCk+1)) Looking at
H0(COCk+1) minusminusminusrarr H0(COCk
)
partk+1
y partk
yH0(COCk+1
) minusminusminusrarr H0(COCk)
we see the canonical Jordan deomposition of partk+1 restricts to that of partk
The above result describes a very useful interplay between normal bundles to
KF -nil curves and the structure of the semi-simple field It turns out that these
informations determine formal neighborhoods uniquely For simplicity let C be
an irreducible component of C without orbifold points Let us assume that part|C is
singular in 0infin Then there exist formal functions x y z at 0 isin C and ξ η ζ at
infin isin C such that x ξ are coordinates along C y η are local sections of OC(minusn)
so η = xny mod(I2C) z ζ are local sections of OC(minusm) so ζ = xmz mod(I2C)
Normalizing so that xminus1partS(x) = ε isin 0 1 we obtain
(22) part0S = εxpart
partx+ λy
part
party+ microz
part
partz partinfinS = minusεξ part
partξ+ (λ+ εn)η
part
partη+ (micro+ εm)ζ
part
partζ
More generally ie C = P1(d e) we have glueing rules x = te ξ = tminusd η = tny and
ζ = tmz mod(I2C) Normalizing so that tminus1partS(t) = ε isin 0 1 we obtain
(23) part0S = eεxpart
partx+ λy
part
party+ microz
part
partz partinfinS = minusdεξ part
partξ+ (λ+ εn)η
part
partη+ (micro+ εm)ζ
part
partζ
36 FEDERICO BUONERBA
It is worth remarking that the above relations hold between eigenvalues at the two
singular point of singular ie nodal or cuspidal KF -nil curves as well this is
easily seen by taking a root followed by net completion and keeping track of the
eigenvalues
Definition IVI4 Let C be a KF -nil curve The foliation singular points along C
are called ends
As well as the existence of Hilbert scheme in the following form
Fact IVI5 Let W sub Xlowast be a curve and D a divisor in the formal neighborhood
of W such that W = D capXlowast scheme-theoretically Then W moves in D
In what follows our main concern is to understand formal neighborhoods of KF -
nil curves Observe that the fibration p when restricted to the formal neighborhood
of such curves provides at least one eigenfunction of the semi-simple field Hence
in order to compute the width IIII we must study the behavior of the other eigen-
function on infinitesimal neighborhoods We first describe the situation inside the
smooth locus of p
Proposition IVI6 (Smooth fiber) Let f C rarrX be an irreducible KF -nil curve
which is contained in the smooth locus of a fiber Xlowast of p Then the end(s) on C are
flat over ∆ ni (1)b and ni (1)a with z2|g(y z) and C moves in a family flat over
∆
Proof Let us assume that f is net Then upon passing to net completion we can
actually assume it is embedded From our local classification of singularities we case
in case ni (1)a and ni (2)a We want to show that both ends have components
that move transversely to p hence we have to exclude case ni (1)a with g(y z) = ya
By way of contradiction say we have g(y z) = ya in the notation of opcit around
an end lowast isin C We proceed to compute what happens at the other end we find
formal coordinates ξ η ζ which by equation 23 satisfy
(24) ξ = xminus1 η = y ζ = xmz mod(I2C)
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 37
As such we compute part(ζ) = mζ + ξminusmηa mod(I2C) which is holomorphic if and only
if m le 0 so then C moves in Xlowast contradicting that the foliation has general type
Hence we are in cases ni (1)a ni (2)a with g = microyazb b ge 1
(25) part0 = xpart
partx+ microyazb
part
partz partinfin = minusξ part
partξ+ ζ(m+ microξm(bminus1)ηaζbminus1)
part
partζ(mod(I2C))
Following notation from subsection IIII observe that C1 is the section of E1C which
is disjoint from the proper transform of the fiber of p In coordinates over 0
(26) x1 = x y1 = y z1 = zyminus1
And similarly over infin Using the previous equation and 25 on C1 we find
(27)
part01 = x1part
partx1+microya+bminus11 zb1
part
partz1 partinfin1 = minusξ1
part
partξ1+ζ1(m+microξ
m(bminus1)1 ηa+bminus11 ζbminus11 )
part
partζ1(mod(I2C1
))
In particular the transform of the nilpotent field is still nilpotent after blowing up in
C It follows that the eigenvalues of the semi-simple field at the two ends of C and
C1 are the same Using equation 23 we deduce that the normal bundle to C1X1 to
isomorphic to that of CX in particular it contains a trivial direct summand This
proves that width(C) =infin
Next we show that f must be net Consider the induced flat projection pD D rarr ∆
its general fiber cannot be a cuspidal curve since along such cusp the foliation sin-
gularity would be log-canonical but not canonical Hence if C has a cusp necessarily
the general fiber of pD is a nodal curve Let X rarr X denote the blow up of the
nodal locus of pD with exceptional divisor E ruled over ∆ In a neighborhood of E
we have sing(F ) = D cap E which projects to ∆ as a double cover ramified over lowastObserve that the foliation on Xlowast is again log-canonical and not canonical hence its
local structure is ni (2)a In that case however p is unramified along the foliation
singularity Contradiction
We state a general criterion for movability of KF -nil curves
Proposition IVI7 Let C be a connected KF -nil curve such that p(C ) = lowast isin ∆
Assume its dual graph is a chain that none of its irreducible components is double
38 FEDERICO BUONERBA
VI3 and that its two extremal ends are flat over ∆ Then C moves in a family flat
over ∆ and each of its irreducible components is embedded
Proof We work in a formal neighborhood of C After taking roots we can assume
C is net and since its dual graph is a chain it is actually embedded We proceed by
induction on its length l where the case l = 1 is Proposition IVI6 For l gt 1 let C1
be a component of C which is extremal in its dual graph If C1 moves transversely
to p then both its ends do and hence we can apply the induction hypothesis to
C C1 If C1 is rigid then it can be flopped It is straightforward to check that we
can apply the induction hypothesis to the transform C + C+1 and we are done
Now we deal with rigid curves inside the singular fiber
Proposition IVI8 (Singular fiber) Let f C rarr X be an embedded net KF -
nil curve with anti-ample normal bundle Then there exists a birational map φ
(X F ) 99K (X +F+) and a KF+-nil curve C+ such that
bull φ is an isomorphism away from C+
bull In a formal neighborhood of at least one among C and C+ there exist two
invariant hypersurfaces D1D2 locally defined by the vanishing of eigenfunc-
tions of the semi-simple field such that C (resp C+)= D1 capD2
bull If F middot C lt 0 for some hypersurface F then F+ middot C+ gt 0 In particular X +
is projective
Such φ is called flop
Proof Our assumption is that Nfsimminusrarr O(minusn)oplusO(minusm) is anti-ample namely nm gt
0 If two invariant hypersurfaces as in our statement do exist around C the flop is
easily constructed as a weighted blow-up followed by a weighted blow-down As such
let us assume that such hypersurfaces do not exist around C In particular C is not
double VI3 By [Ar70] there exists a formal contraction c X rarrX0 collapsing C
to a point and an isomorphism everywhere else By Proposition IVI3 the foliation
F0 is Gorenstein around the node of X0 For ease of exposition let us assume
n = m = 1 the general case is handled the same way only the notation becomes more
cumbersome due to the presence of weights The node has embedding dimension 4
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 39
and in suitable local coordinates x0 y0 w0 z0 can be defined by x0z0minusy0w0 = 0 The
morphism c can be identified with the blow up of the embedded surface (x0 = y0 = 0)
Explicitly in the chart y = y0 x = x0yminus10 it is defined by
(28) y0 = y x0 = xy z0 = zprime w0 = xzprime
Here x is a coordinate along C while y = 0 is the pull-back of (x0 = y0 = 0) and
zprime some function in the normal bundle to C By the previous Proposition IVI6
we know C cannot be contained in the smooth locus of p Since C is not double
we can assume that in this local chart p is defined by (x y zprime) rarr xy - the case
(x y zprime) rarr xzprime being isomorphic as it is isomorphic to blow-up (z0 = w0 = 0)
instead of (x0 = y0 = 0) The issue is as emphasized by the notation zprime 6= z that
zprime may fail to be an eigenfunction for partS if it were we would be done since zprime = 0
is the local equation for the global pullback of (z0 = w0 = 0) However we have
a b isin C such that
(29) partS0(y0) = minusy0 partS0(x0) = 0 partS0(z0) = ay0 + bz0 partS0(w0) = ax0 + (b+ 1)w0
Observe that the embedded surfaces D01 = (y0 = z0 = 0) and D0
2 = (x0 = w0 = 0)
are both foliation invariant As such let b X + rarr X0 denote the blow-up of X0
along D01 - which is isomorphic to that along D0
2 - and let Di = blowastD0i i = 1 2
Finally X + is projective by Nakai-Moishezon Indeed every C with anti-ample
normal bundle is contained in an irreducible component F of X0 such that F middotC lt 0
Then F+ middot C+ gt 0 and we can find an ample divisor of the form H+ + εF+ where
H+ is the proper transform of an ample on X
Remark IVI9 In the previous proof a 6= b+ 1 Indeed such identity would create
a non-trivial Jordan block of partS0 in the (x0 w0)-plane thus contradicting the semi-
simplicity of partS0 In particular by a straightforward computation it is impossible to
find eigenfunctions of the form wlowast0 = w0 + αx0 zlowast0 = z0 + βy0 with x0z
lowast0 minus y0wlowast0 = 0
unless a = 0
We can conclude by pointing out an important point understood in this section
A painful aspect of the theory is that log-canonical singularities which appear natu-
rally as analytic degenerations of canonical ones come along with cuspidal invariant
40 FEDERICO BUONERBA
curves There is in particular no a-priori obstruction to the existence of rigid
cuspidal KF -nil curves in a smooth fiber of our family of foliated surfaces p Quite
generally a rigid curve of positive arithmetic genus in a smooth family of surfaces can
never be contracted to a point Therefore this would have been a counter-example
to any reasonable foliated canonical model theory one may wish to achieve Fortu-
nately such phenomenon does not happen and this establishes the Main Theorem I
modulo finitely many rigid curves confined in the singular fiber X0
IVII Invariant curves inside sing(F ) In this subsection we study curves Z0 subeXlowast cap sing(F ) which are inside the foliation singularity and invariant By this we
mean that there exists a sequence fn Cn rarrX of not necessarily algebraic invariant
curves converging in the compact-open topology to Z0 In other words the map
(30) NorF rarr Ω1Z0
is trivial By Corollary IIIIII5 we know that Z0 is at worst nodal it is smooth
wherever p is smooth for every point z isin Z0 the semi-simple part of the gener-
ating vector field has exactly one eigenvalue The problem here is that the Jordan
decomposition need not extend uniformly along Z0 not even along an irreducible
component In case ni (1)a the functions x and g may develop essential singulari-
ties arbitrary close to z Nonetheless the function x is unique and this says that x
does extend along Z0
Proposition IVII1 Let Z0 be as above Then in a formal neighborhood of Z0
there exists a unique smooth invariant hypersurface D0 containing Z0 which restricts
around any point in Z0 to the unique eigenfunction for the semi-simple field whose
eigenvalue is non-zero
Proof The local structure of the foliation around a point z isin Z0 is described by
cases ni (1)a and ni (1)b In both cases partS has one non-zero eigenvalue with
eigenfunction x Such eigenfunction x is a-priori only defined in the normal bundle to
Z0 but it is clear that the equation partx = x has a unique up to constants solution in
the formal completion around z As such there exists a unique smooth hypersurface
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 41
D0 in the formal completion around Z0 which restricts to the eigenfunction x around
z
Observe that the previous argument goes through since we are assuming Z0 subX0
Keeping notations from case ni (1)a if say g(y z) = yz then in the hypersurface
y equiv q isin Qgt0 the foliation has a log-canonical singularity and the eigenfunction x
extends highly non-uniquely to a formal neighborhood of the point (x y z) = (0 q 0)
In particular the existence of D0 as in the previous Proposition might fail along
the component (x = z = 0) of the foliation singularity This phenomenon is called
the beast
Anyway uniqueness in the previous proposition yields
Corollary IVII2 Let Z prime be a connected invariant curve inside sing(F ) Then in
a formal neighborhood of Z prime there exists a unique smooth invariant hypersurface D prime
containing Z prime which restricts around any point in Z prime to the hypersurface constructed
in the previous proposition
Next we turn to the intrinsic structure of invariant singular curves
Proposition IVII3 Let Z0 be an irreducible invariant curve inside sing(F )
Then Z0 is smooth and rational
Proof We work in a formal neighborhood of Z0 Let F0 denote the unique component
of X0 containing Z0 For any other fiber component F intersecting Z0 non-trivially
blow-up the invariant curve F cap F0 with exceptional divisor EF A straightforward
computation using the local formula ni (1)b shows that the fiber of the natural
projection EF rarr F cap F0 intersecting Z0 is also contained in sing(F ) For Z prime the
maximal connected singular invariant curve containing Z0 let G denote the saturated
foliation induced on D prime It is canonical with reduced singularities and it satisfies
KG = KF |Dprime minus Zprime By adjunction
(31) 2g(Z0)minus 2 + sZG(Z0) = minusZ prime middot Z0
Observe that thanks to our initial sequence of blow-ups the singularities of G along
Z0 coincide with the intersection of Z0 and Z prime Z0 In particular since D prime is formally
42 FEDERICO BUONERBA
flat over ∆ we deduce Z prime middot Z0 = 0 and the previous formula becomes
(32) 2g(Z0)minus 2 + sZG(Z0) = 0
This implies that Z0 is rational or elliptic If Z0 were elliptic then sZG(Z0) = 0 and
D0 defines an invariant elliptic curve in the general fiber of p By Baum-Bott this
contradicts that KF is big and nef Now we show that Z0 is smooth If it has a node
then D0 moves it in a family of nodal rational curves flat over ∆ In particular D0
itself has a node in codimension 1 hence Xlowast is smooth around the node of Z0 In its
formal neighborhood the foliation must be as in case ni (1)a which implies that
Z0 is smooth contradiction
We can improve as follows
Proposition IVII4 Let Z prime sube sing F capXlowast be a connected invariant curve with
KF middot Z prime = 0 Then its dual graph is a chain
Proof Assume Z prime is a cycle Then necessarily Z prime = D prime capXlowast scheme-theoretically
and by the existence of Hilbert scheme Z prime moves in the general fiber Its general
member is either a cycle of smooth rational curves or an elliptic curve Arguing as
in the previous proof we see that both options are impossible
V Configurations
In this section we analyze in great detail all possible configurations of invariant
curves along which KF vanishes These can be divided into three groups those
that do not move those that move in a one-dimensional family covering a surface
those that move in a higher-dimensional family covering a surface Curves in the first
group can form rather complicated configurations while those in the second group
are more simple they either move in the general fiber or they cover an isolated
Riccati component in the singular fiber Those in the third group turn out to be
represented by the two rulings of P1timesP1 if they happen to be cohomologous in the
ambient stack First we will analyze rigid curves then those which move and finally
we will describe their configurations
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 43
VI Configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially In
this subsection we describe configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF
trivially which arise in the situation described by set-up IIVII4
First we focus on KF -nil curves At the end of the section we deal with the simpler
case in which a curve in the configuration is fully contained in sing(F ) The general
fiber was handled in Proposition IVI6
Proposition VI1 Let C be a connected KF -nil curve contained in the smooth
locus of a fiber of p Then it is a chain or a cycle and it moves in a family flat over
∆
In what follows we let C denote a connected KF -nil curve contained in the
singular fiber X0 all of whose sub-curves are rigid in X Observe a consequence of
equation 23
Proposition VI2 Let C = cupiCi be a connected KF -nil curve Then the eigen-
values of partS are all rational at every point of sing(F )capC if and only if they are all
rational at one point
We can deduce many non-trivial properties about configurations of KF -nil curves
First we need
Definition VI3 Let C subX0 be a curve It is called double if there exists formally
around C two components F F prime of X0 such that C = F cap F prime A point lowast isin C where
three fiber components intersect is called a triple point If C lies on exactly one fiber
component it is called non-double We denote by F (C) such component
Remark VI4 Let Csimminusrarr P1(d e) be double with two triple points Then we know
e+ λ+ micro = minusd+ (λ+ n) + (micro+m) = 0 whence we obtain
(33) n+m = d+ e
Which is called triple-point formula
Next we show that essentially KF -nil curves do not form cycles unless something
deforms in X0 First we show that there are no cycles of rigid non-double curves
44 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proposition VI5 Let C be a connected KF -nil curve contained in the singular
fiber X0 of p Assume that every component of C is non-double and that every
sub-curve is rigid Then C contains no cycles
Proof We work in a formal neighborhood of C which we assume is a cycle Let
us first consider the case in which all components C1 middot middot middot CN are smooth with no
orbifold points and denote lowasti = Ci cap Ci+1 with CN+1 = C1 Moreover let us
assume no lowasti lies in the smooth locus of p
Since no curve is double the semi-simple field at every lowasti is as in case i (3)b in
particular the eigenvalues along the branches of Ci and Ci+1 add up to zero More-
over let minusni denote the self-intersection of Ci sub F (Ci) Normalize the eigenvalues
of partS so that at lowastn they are 1 in the C1 direction minus1 in the CN direction λ in the
F (C1)capF (CN) direction It follows by induction that at lowasti the eigenvalues are minus1
in the Ci direction 1 in the Ci+1 direction λ+ n1 + middot middot middot+ ni in the F (Ci) cap F (Ci+1)
direction After traveling around the cycle we obtain n1+middot middot middot+nN = 0 contradicting
that ni gt 0 for every i
We established the Proposition assuming every Ci is an embedded scheme and ev-
ery lowasti is in the singular locus of p The case in which Cisimminusrarr P1(di ei) has orbifold
points is analogous we end up with a combination c1n1 + middot middot middot + cNnN = 0 with ci
the eigenvalue at lowasti in the Ci+1 direction Normalizing so that c1 = e1 gt 0 again by
induction on i we see that every ci isin Qgt0 Next we show that our assumption on lowastiis always satisfied
Claim VI6 Every lowasti must belong to the singular locus of p
Proof We give two essentially equivalent proofs
bull If N = 2 3 then the previous argument goes through indeed we can normal-
ize eigenvalues at lowasti to be negative in the Ciminus1 direction and positive in the
Ci-direction and argue as above Hence we can assume N ge 4 If say lowasti is in
the smooth locus of p then F (Ci) = F (Ci+1) If also F (Ciminus1) = F (Ci) then Ci
lies in the smooth locus of p and hence it moves Therefore F (Ciminus1) 6= F (Ci)
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 45
and Ciminus1 can be flopped inside F (Ci) Since N ge 4 this preserves the smooth-
ness of F (Ci) and Ci is now is the smooth locus of p - contradiction
bull If lowasti belongs to the smooth locus of p then the end through lowasti moves We
can form a partial net completion fi Xi rarrX by normalizing C in lowasti only
Then f lowasti C is a chain with movable ends and hence moves in the general fiber
of p fi
Finally the general case in which some among the Ci have cusps can be easily
reduced to the smooth case in a couple of ways
bull Eigenvalues at the singularities of any KF -nil curve satisfy the same relations
as in the smooth case
bull Upon taking roots and net completion we can find a foliated formal 3-fold
supported on a cycle of smooth KF -nil curves which is a ramified cover of a
formal neighborhood of our cycle
Similarly we can show that there are no rigid cycles of double curves
Proposition VI7 Let C be a nodal KF -nil curve which is double Then C
deforms inside X0 In particular there cannot exist a rigid cycle of KF -nil double
curves
Proof Following the previous notation we have 0 = infin and if C = (xy = z = 0)
around 0 then we have identities
(34) x = η y = ξ z = ζ
The last one of which implies m = 0 that is C deforms Since C is double necessarily
the surface it spans must be contained in X0
The statement about cycles follows since a cycle of double curves can be transformed
after finitely many flops into a chain of smooth double curves with a nodal one
attached at one end
46 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Later on we will show that the deformations of C cannot span an elliptic surface
but only a family of nodal rational curves with a special Riccati foliation on it
We are ready to organize a detailed description of the dual graph of C More pre-
cisely we only need to understand how double curves intersect non-double curves
Lemma VI8 There exists a sequence of flops X 99KX + such that if C + denotes
the transform of C every double curve supported on C + contains two triple points
Proof Let C sube C be an irreducible component with at most one triple point and
let X 99K X + be its flop Then its transform C+ is non-double and the number
of double curves contained in C descreases It is clear that after finitely many flops
all double curves contain exactly two triple points
From now on all double curves in C have two triple points Thanks to proposition
VI2 we know that there are two cases to consider those curves along which the
semi-simple field has not only rational eigenvalues and those along which the semi-
simple field has only rational eigenvalues The first case being strictly easier than
the second it is a good starting place to warm up
Proposition VI9 (irrational eigenvalues) Assume that for every foliation singu-
larity along C not all eigenvalues of partS are rational Then every component of C
is net with at most one node and 1-skeleton of its dual graph is at worst trivalent
Write C = C axes cup C free where
C axes is the union of double curves
C free is the union of non-double curves
Then one among C axes and C free is empty Moreover
bull If C free is non-empty then it is a chain of smooth curves with rational moduli
bull If C axes is non-empty there exists a sequence of flops X 99KX + and an ir-
reducible component of the fiber FC subX + such that X + is a smooth stack
the transform C+ of C is contained in FC Moreover the dual graph of C+
is a tree which by [McQ08 III32] becomes a chain inside the normalization
of FC
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 47
Proof The first sentence is just corollary IIIIII3
Observe that if a non-double curve intersects a double curve then the non-double
curve must be contained in an LC-center around such intersection This contradicts
that not all eigenvalues are rational and establishes that one among C axes and C free
is empty
In case C free is not empty then it is clearly a chain or a cycle the latter being
impossible by Proposition VI5
We are left to show the existence of flops in case C = C axes We remark that
every component is smooth Let C0 be such a component and S0 a component of
X0 containing it Let C1 be the collection of irreducible components of C which
intersect S0 but are not contained in it All the components of C1 are smooth hence
we can flop them in any order until the transform of C1 lies in the transform of S0
Since the number of irreducible components of C lying outside S0 decreases after
such flop by induction we deduce the existence of finitely many flops after which
the birational transform of C is fully contained in the transform of S0
Next we take care of rational eigenvalues The complication here arises from
the fact that there may be double and non-double curves intersecting each other
However the situation is best possible
Proposition VI10 (rational eigenvalues) Assume that for every foliation singu-
larity along C all eigenvalues of partS are rational Write C = C axes cup C free where
C axes is the union of double curves
C free is the union of non-double curves
Then there exists a sequence of flops X 99K X + and an irreducible component of
the fiber FC axes subX + such that
bull X + is a smooth stack
bull The union of double curves of C axes is contained in FC axes the 1-skeleton of
its dual graph is a tree and each of its components has two triple points
bull The 1-skeleton of the dual graph of the transform C free+ is a disjoint union of
trees
bull Each connected component of C free+ intersects C axes in exactly one point
48 FEDERICO BUONERBA
In particular the 1-skeleton of the dual graph of C is a tree
Proof Notice that for every point lowast isin C cap Z there exists one LC-center through lowastIndeed there are three rational eigenvalues and they cannot be all non-vanishing and
all with different signs at the same time Now C axes can be treated as in proposition
VI9 This proves the first two items of the statement The third item follows from
Proposition VI5 so we can focus on the fourth one The proof is based on the
following obvious
Remark VI11 let C be a double curve such that either it is KF -nil hence has
two triple points or it is fully contained in sing(F ) Let C0 sube C free intersect C
non-trivially in a point lowast then necessarily C0 sub LClowast
Now let C0 middot middot middot CN form a chain of non-double curves with C0 and CN both
intersecting double curves as in the remark Denote by lowasti = Ci cap Ci+1 Since
C1 sub LClowast necessarily C1 is transverse to LClowast1 otherwise C1 would deform in F (C1)
Inductively we see that Ci+1 sub LClowasti and is transverse to LClowasti+1 In particular CN
cannot touch a double curve This contradiction proves the fourth item
Let us add a remark about configurations featuring invariant curves inside sing(F )
Proposition VI12 Let C be an invariant curve with KF middot C = 0 such that
Z0 sube C for some component Z0 sube sing(F ) Then C = Z prime cup C where
Z prime is a connected invariant curve inside the foliation singularity with dual graph a
chain
C is the union of at most two pairwise disjoint KF -nil curves with anti-ample
normal bundle
If not empty C can only intersect Z prime at the two ends of its dual graph Moreover
perhaps after a flop the intersection of C with Z prime supports the foliation singularity
along C As such if C has two components Z prime cup C deforms in the general fiber
Proof The structure of Z prime is Proposition IVII3 while that of Co is Proposition
IVI6 Let C prime be a component of C intersecting Z0 in a point lowast If C prime and Z0 belong
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 49
to different components of X0 then by case ni (1)b the eigenvalue of partS along C prime
vanishes so supp(sing(F ) cap C prime) = lowast If C prime and Z0 belong to the same component
then we can flop C prime into a different component
Observe that the divisor D prime from op cit can be extended along C prime This implies
that C can only intersect Z prime at its ends Moreover if C touches both ends necessarily
D prime capX0 = C scheme-theoretically hence by the existence of Hilbert scheme IVI5
we conclude
Our new set-up is
Set-up VI13 Everything as in set-up IIVII4 and moreover for any connected
invariant curve C with KF middot C = 0 all of whose sub-curves are rigid we have
configurations computed in proposition VI9 VI10 and Lemma VI12
VII Configurations of non-rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
In this subsection we describe configurations of surfaces which are covered by KF -nil
curves The structure of each such surface is described by classification IIV1 IIV2
and Corollary IIVI17 Our first step is to simplify the situation by contracting
chains of ruled surfaces The next step is to try and exclude the possibility that
the singular fiber of p contains fibrations by elliptic or nodal rational curves with
at least one invariant fiber This can be achieved with good success indeed there
may be at most one such Riccati foliation which is anyway rather isolated from the
remaining KF -nil curves Finally we observe that the only class of surfaces we have
not mentioned is
Definition VII1 A irreducible component F of the singular fiber of p is called
small Kronecker if
bull (FFF ) is birational to a Kronecker vector field on P1 timesP1 and
bull The two rulings of this P1 timesP1 are cohomologous inside X
The name comes from the fact that contraction of a small Kronecker yields a node
in the ambient threefold which admits a small resolution In fact in many respects
these fiber components behave very much like rigid KF -nil curves
50 FEDERICO BUONERBA
We start by getting rid of some fiber components which are ruled by KF -nil gener-
ically smooth rational curves
Proposition VII2 Notation as in Set-up VI13 there exists a sequence of flops
and divisorial contractions c X 99KX + such that
bull X + is a smooth stack
bull let S+ sub X + be an irreducible invariant divisor that contains a positive-
dimensional family of invariant rational curves along which KF+ vanishes
Then S+ is either birationally ruled by nodal rational curves or it is a small
Kronecker
Proof We focus first on contracting components of the singular fiber of p Consider
the following algorithm If there is no birationally ruled component different from
the ones listed in the second item we are done otherwise pick one such F and let
C denote the general member of the ruling If the cohomology class [C] is inde-
composable F is minimal Otherwise [C] = [C1] + [C2] where Ci are rational and
intersect KF trivially After finitely many steps we have a decomposition as a finite
sum of indecomposables [C] =sumn
i=0 ni[Ci] where every Ci is rational intersects KF
trivially We have two cases
bull There exists k such that Ck deforms in a birationally ruled necessarily min-
imal surface Fk
bull Every Ci has anti-ample normal bundle
In the first case denote by X rarr X1 the contraction of Fk along |Ck| and relpace
X by X1 Since Fk is minimal smoothness of the ambient stack is preserved unless
Fk is a small Kronecker This is however impossible if n ge 2 if Fk were a small
Kronecker then Ck deforms away from Fkminus1 so then Fkminus1 middot Ck = 0 on the other
hand Fkminus1 intersects the other ruling of Fk positively
In the second case flop C1 middot middot middot Cn in this order The transform of F is minimal and
not a small Kronecker so it can be contracted along its ruling preserving ambient
smoothness By induction on the Picard rank of X after finitely many steps this
algorithm ends Call X the output of this algorithm
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 51
Let S subX be an invariant divisor with a generically smooth ruling Then pS S rarr∆ is flat and after flopping finitely many rational curves in S cap plowastS(0) the resulting
pS is smooth Hence we can contract S along pS After finitely many steps the
Proposition is proven
For ease of notation in the sequel we call X the output of the previous proposition
Notice that there might still be divisors carrying a pencil of nodal rational curves
both inside and outside the singular fiber of p
We can start analyzing configurations of fiber components where the restriction of
F is not of general type We need some notation whose reason to exist will be clear
shortly
Definition VII3 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
along which KF is not big F is called special Riccati if
bull F is minimal
bull There exists a morphism s F rarr B onto a curve whose fibers are nodal
rational curve
bull F is transverse to the general fiber of s in particular KF is numerically
trivial along s
bull At least one fiber of s is invariant
bull There exists a section σ of s which is invariant and does not coincide with
the nodal locus of F
In particular the intersections of σ with invariant fibers of s isolated singularities
of F the node of F all coincide There may be fibers of s fully contained in sing(F )
in which case they are everywhere transverse to the saturated foliation
The definition looks nasty but special Riccati components have a rather simple
origin as the following proof shows
Lemma VII4 Let F be special Riccati Up to base change by an etale double cover
Bprime rarr B there is a natural isomorphism F norm simminusrarr BprimetimesP1 and the restriction of F
to F norm is birational to the projection onto P1
52 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proof We work over the normalization F norm Denote by Bprime the pre-image of the
node of F which is an etale double cover of B and let f denote an invariant fiber
of s with lowast = σ cap f Observe that F norm carries a Riccati foliation with 3 invariant
curves through lowast - namely σ f and a component of Bprime Hence FF has a log-canonical
singularity in lowast On F norm perform a weighted blow-up in each log-canonical singu-
larity followed by the contraction of the transforms of the corresponding fibers Let
s+ F+ rarr B denote the output of this operation If the proper transform of Bprime is
connected replace F+ by its base change under Bprime rarr B Hence we can assume Bprime
is the disjoint union of two sections of s+ and the transform of σ is a third section
which is disjoint from Bprime Therefore F+ = P1 timesBprime and the foliation restricts to the
projection onto P1
Next we describe those surfaces which cannot appear as components of the sin-
gular fiber X0
Definition VII5 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
along which KF is not big F is called illusory if
bull there exists a morphism t F rarr B onto a curve
bull KF is trivial along t
bull For any other fiber component F prime the intersection F cap F prime is either empty or
contained in a fiber of t
We give examples of illusory fiber components
Lemma VII6 The following fiber components are necessarily illusory
bull t is elliptic the foliation is either parallel to t or turbolent with at least one
invariant fiber
bull t is a nodal ruling the foliation is either parallel to t or transverse to t with
at least one invariant fiber and not birational to a special Riccati VII3
Proof Let f = F cap F prime for some fiber component F prime It is F -invariant
Assume t and F are parallel and f is transverse to both Then necessarily f subesing(F ) and KF is positive along the fibers of t contradiction
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 53
Assume t and F are generically transverse and f is transverse to t Let e be an
invariant fiber of t then ecap f isin sing(F ) hence t must be a family of nodal rational
curves and ecapf coincides with the node of e - otherwise KF would be positive along
t But this implies F is special Riccati contradiction
We proceed to show that illusory fibers do not exist
Lemma VII7 Let F be an illusory fiber component then every fiber of t is irre-
ducible If F prime is any fiber component intersecting F non-trivially then F prime is illusory
Proof Assume t has a reducible fiber f Then we can write f = f prime cup f primeprime where f prime
is irreducible and f primeprime is a disjoint union of chains of rational curves In particular
every subscheme supported on f primeprime is rigid in X f prime is rational and smooth iff f is a
cycle of rational curves hence the foliation on F is parallel to t and the choice of f prime
is not unique otherwise f prime is nodal or elliptic Let X 99KX + denote the flop of the
irreducible components of f primeprime in any order The proper transform f prime+ (below in red)
is the irreducible fiber of the induced morphism t+ F+ rarr B Since f primeprime+ intersects
f prime+ and is not contained in F+ there exists a component F prime of the fiber of p+ such
that F+ cap f prime+ 6= empty Since F+ is illusory necessarily F+ cap F prime = f prime+ Moreover F+
and F prime are the only fiber components intersecting f prime+ again because F+ is illusory
We deduce that F+ middot f prime+ = F prime middot f prime+ = 0 and therefore f prime+ is nef inside F prime It follows
that he restriction of F+ to F prime is not of general type and by the classification of
foliated surfaces [McQ08] necessarily f prime+ deforms inside F prime and defines a fibration
u F prime rarr Bprime In particular f prime+ is an irreducible fiber of u This is however impossible
since u contracts all the components of f primeprime+ contained in F prime (below in blue) and by
definition of F prime there exists at least one such component This proves that every
fiber of t is irreducible The following depicts the situation
F prime F+
f prime+
f primeprime+
t+u
54 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Concerning the second statement we only need to check the third condition for F prime
to be illussory namely that every other fiber component F primeprime intersecting F prime does
so along the fibers of u If F primeprime intersects F prime transversely to u then F primeprime intersects F
non-trivially and transversely to t as well absurd
Corollary VII8 Illusory components do not exist
Proof By the above lemma the existence of one illusory component implies that
every irreducible component of the singular fiber of p is illusory contradicting that
KF is big
We can now focus on fiber components that do appear
Corollary VII9 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
containing an invariant curve C which moves and such that KF middot C = 0 Then
following the classification [McQ08] we have two cases
(1) The minimal model of F is a special Riccati component
(2) F is a small Kronecker
Proof Certainly the ones listed are the only cases where C is KF -nil We have to
exclude the possibility that C is invariant inside sing(F ) By Proposition IVII3
such C would be rational with at most one node Since we already contracted at
the beginning of the present subsection all ruled surfaces necessarily C is nodal
However by opcit C cannot intersect any other fiber component of X0 which
implies the absurdity that X0 = F
We proceed to show that special Riccati components are rather isolated in the
fiber
Lemma VII10 Let F be a special Riccati component If F prime is a fiber component
intersecting F non-trivially then it does so transversely to s Morover there is
exactly one such F prime
Proof After finitely many flops we can assume that every fiber of s is irreducible
By the non-existence of illusory components there exists a fiber component F lowast with
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 55
σprime = F cap F prime transverse to s If F primeprime is a fiber component with f = F cap F primeprime a fiber
of s then we claim f sube sing(F ) If not then since KF middot f = 0 and σprime is invariant
necessarily σprimecap f is the node of f But then the existence of F primeprime contradicts that p is
snc Hence f sube sing(F ) so then around the node of f there are 3 fiber components -
two branches coming from F one from F primeprime - and sing(F ) has 2 branches - namely f
This is impossible by our case analysis ni (1)c ni (2)c The very same reasoning
establishes the uniqueness of F prime
Lemma VII11 Let F be as in the previous Lemma If C is a connected curve
with KF middot C = 0 then it is disjoint from F
Proof After finitely many flops s is irreducible and C intersects F transversely away
from its node Moreover lowast = C cap F isin sing(F ) and we deduce that the fiber of s
through lowast is fully contained in the singular locus of F This contradicts Proposition
IVII3 since such fiber is nodal
We conclude by observing the obvious
Lemma VII12 Let F be a small Kronecker Then there exists a contraction
c X rarr X prime which is an isomorphism away from F and contracts F along one
of its rulings Necessarily X prime is not projective since every global Cartier divisor
intersects c(F ) trivially On the other hand in a formal neighborhood of c(F ) there
exist Cartier divisors intersecting it non-trivialliy
As such the contribution coming from non-rigid curves is rather poor there are
curves moving in the general fiber there are special Riccati components disjoint from
any other invariant curve intersecting KF trivially there are small Kroneckers who
can be contracted to curves We shall see in the next section that the complications
arising from the contraction of such non-rigid curves is purely psychological and
totally harmless
56 FEDERICO BUONERBA
VI Contractions and proof of the Main Theorem
In this section we contract all invariant curves along which KF is zero thereby
establishing the existence of canonical models I First we contract non-rigid curves
as described in the previous subsection
bull Small Kroneckers along either ruling Albeit this destroys projectivity of
the ambient threefold there still exist Cartier divisors defined in a formal
neighborhood of the base curve that intersect it non-trivially
bull Families of irreducible nodal rational curves which are flat over ∆ This
creates elliptic singularities on the general fiber of p which are disjoint from
other invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
bull Special Riccati again families of irreducible nodal rational curves fully con-
tained in X0 This creates elliptic singularities disjoint from other invariant
curves intersecting KF trivially
We can summarize our situation by way of
Set-up VI1 X is a 3-dimensional DM stack with at worst elliptic singularities
F a foliation by curves with canonical singularities which is not Q-Cartier in a
neighborhood of Xsing
There exists a proper morphism p X rarr ∆ smooth off 0 isin ∆ F restricts to a
foliation on every fiber of p it has canonical singularities on the very general fiber
of p and log-canonical singularities on every fiber of p KF is big and nef on every
irreducible component of every fiber of p
Let C be the invariant sub-scheme along which KF is not big then C is a curve
fully contained in the smooth locus X0capXsmooth every sub-curve of C has anti-ample
normal bundle the 1-simplex of its dual graph is a tree and detailed configurations
of such are referenced in set-up VI13
We proceed to contract such C We assume that along C the semi-simple field has
only rational eigenvalues and moreover no component of C is inside the foliation
singularity The other two cases - irrational eigenvalues and presence of singular
component - are strictly easier and can be obtained with the very same method
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 57
The proof takes place in the formal completion around C = C free cup C axes The
former is a disjoint union of trees of non-double curves For each non-double C let
F (C) denote the unique component of X0 containing it The latter is a tree of double
curves each with two triple points all contained in the same irreducible FC axes Each
tree of non-double curves touches C axes in one point through a LC-center In order
to construct the contraction we will use Artinrsquos celebrated criterion in the following
form
Fact VI1 ([Ar70]) Let X be an irreducible algebraic space i Y rarr X a closed
subspace of pure codimension 1 and f Y rarr Y0 a proper morphism with flowastOY = OY0
Let X denote the formal completion of X along Y and assume there exists a Cartier
divisor D in X which is supported on Y and is f -anti-ample Then there exists a
proper morphism of algebraic spaces F X rarr X0 which is an isomorphism away
from Y and such that ilowastF = f
Now we use the tree structure of C to construct a suitable divisor to which apply
Artinrsquos theorem Namely consider the following inductive defintion
(35) C0 = C axes F0 = FC axes
For k ge 0 assume Ck Fk are defined
bull Let Ck+1 denote the union of irreducible components of C that intersect Fk
non-trivially but are not contained in cupilekFibull Let Fk+1 denote the reduced sum (
sumCsubeCk+1
F (C))red
This process stops with a collection C1 middot middot middotCN of curves and F1 middot middot middot FN of reduced
divisors
Lemma VI1 We have the following identities
(36)
Fk middot C lt 0 for every C sube Ck
(F0 + F1) middot C le 0 for every C sube C0
(Fkminus1 + Fk + Fk+1) middot C = 0 for every C sube Ck 1 lt k lt N
(FNminus1 + FN) middot C lt 0 for every C sube CN
58 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proof The first is just the fact that every component of C is rigid The remaining
three follow from X0 middot C = 0 but the last one requires further justification Indeed
if C sube CN N gt 0 then C is one end of a tree of non-double curves In particular
there exists a foliation singularity lowast isin C disjoint from any other component of
C and LClowast is transverse to C This implies LClowast middotC gt 0 which together with
(FNminus1 + FN + LClowast) middot C = 0 concludes the proof
Let ε1 middot middot middot εN isin Qgt0 and define
(37) F Nminusk = (1 + ε1 + middot middot middot+ εk)FNminusk
bull If C sube CN we have
(38) (F Nminus1 + F
N) middot C = ε1FNminus1 middot C + (FNminus1 + FN) middot C
bull If C sube CNminusk 1 lt k lt N we have
(39)
(F Nminuskminus1 + F
Nminusk + F Nminusk+1) middot C =
(1 + middot middot middot+ εk)(FNminuskminus1 + FNminusk + FNminusk+1) middot C minus εkFNminusk+1 middot C + εk+1FNminuskminus1 middot C =
minus εkFNminusk+1 middot C + εk+1FNminuskminus1 middot C
bull If C sube C0 we have
(40) (F 0 + F
1) middot C = εNF0 middot C + (Nminus1sumj=0
εj)(F0 + F1) middot C
It is clear that provided
(41) 1 gtgt ε1 gtgt middot middot middot gtgt εN
the divisor F =sumF k is negative along every component of C
This proves the existence of the contraction and concludes the proof of the Main
Theorem I
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 59
VII Moduli space of foliated surfaces of general type
In this section we study the modular variation of foliated surfaces of general type
The upshot is that it is possible to define a functor which is representable separated
and every irreducible component is proper The main issue here is that the supporting
surface of a foliated canonical model may well fail to be projective indeed KF is not
Q-Gorenstein in general Hence in order to proceed via standard methods [Ko17]
we have to parametrize our canonical models together with a suitable projective
resolution
Definition VII13 Let (SF ) be a foliated proper reduced purely 2-dimensional
DM stack Assume S has only normal crossing singularities in codimension 1 that
F has log-canonical foliation singularities and that KF is big and nef on at least
one of the irreducible components of S If whenever KF middot C = 0 for some curve C
then C moves in an irreducible component of S and no member of such deformation
is F -invariant then (SF ) is called foliated canonical model of general type
Clearly foliated canonical models are exactly the stable degenerations appearing
as the central fiber of our Main Theorem I Their lack of projectivity has two sources
namely the contraction of cycles of smooth KF -nil curves and of trees of cuspidal
ones Singularities arising from cycles behave well in families namely they always
deform into the general fiber Those arising from cuspidal curves on the other hand
tend to be rather isolated inside the degenerate fiber
Observe that the deformation theory of a foliated surface is rather simple suppose
given an infinitesimal C-algebras extension 0 rarr J rarr Ae rarr A rarr 0 and (SF )
a foliated surface flat over Spec(A) then the obstruction to lifting to Ae can be
understood in three simple steps
(1) Deformation of the underlying surface S once a deformation Se rarr Spec(Ae)
is given
(2) Deformation of the line bundle KF by the exponential sequence
(42) 0rarr J otimes OS rarr OlowastSerarr OlowastS rarr 0
obstructions lie in H2(SOS)otimes J once a deformation of KF is given
60 FEDERICO BUONERBA
(3) Deformation of the defining section OS rarr KF otimes TS obstructions lie in
H1(SKF otimes TS)otimes J
Now we have
Definition VII14 Let (SF ) be a foliated canonical model of general type A
proper birational morphism q (SF )proj rarr (SF ) is called its projective resolution
if
bull Every irreducible component of Sproj is smooth
bull The exceptional locus of q is a disjoint union of cycles of KFproj-nil smooth
curves and trees of KFproj-nil curves each of which has a non-trivial cuspidal
singularity
bull In a neighborhood of every q-exceptional cycle not only Sproj but also its
moduli space is smooth
We need a few remarks about projective resolutions
(1) Projective resolutions are always unique Indeed the only possible ambiguity
could lie in some extra smooth irreducible components in the exceptional
locus This is forbidden by definition in the trees of cuspidal curves it is
also forbidden by way of the third item in cycles of smooth ones ie on
algebraic surfaces the minimal resolution is unique
(2) Denote by E the collection of q-exceptional cycles Then there exist ε δ isinQgt0 such that KFproj
minus εE + δKSprojis ample by Nakai-Moishezon
(3) Deformations of a projective resolution of a foliated canonical model are
canonically identified with deformations of the underlying birational mor-
phism q Sproj rarr S followed by a deformation of the foliation F
We are now ready to construct a moduli functor for foliated surfaces more precisely
for projective resolutions of foliated canonical models of general type For m dN isinN and ε δ isin Qgt0 let
(43) MmdNεδ (C-schemes)rarr (sets)
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 61
be defined by MmdNεδ(S) = Diagrams
(44) (X F )projqminusrarr (X F )
pminusrarr S
Where
bull Both p and p q are flat and proper
bull For every closed point s isin S the induced morphism qs is the projective
resolution of (X F )s which is a foliated canonical model of general type
bull Denote by Es the collection of exceptional cycles of qs By our Main Theorem
I there is a fibrewise divisor E subXproj flat over S restricting to Es for every
s isin S
bull Let j W rarr Xproj denote the maximal closed subscheme away from which
KFprojand KXprojS are locally free Then
(45) L [m] = (jlowast(KFprojotimes OXproj
(minusεE )otimesKδXprojS
)otimesm)oror
is flat over S and commutes with base-change
bull L [m] is very ample of degree d on every fiber and defines an embedding into
PNS
We are now ready for
Theorem VII15 The functor MmdNεδ is represented by a separated algebraic
space each of whose irreducible components is proper
Proof We show that our functor satisfies Artinrsquos conditions [Ar74 Corollary 54] By
definition condition 1) and 4) hold while our previous remark on foliated obstruction
theory shows that 3) is true
We proceed to show 2) namely effectivity of formal deformations for MmdNεδ
What follows owes much to Artinrsquos [A74rsquo] Let T be a complete C-algebra Tn its
n-truncation so that Tsimminusrarr limlarrminusTn and finally qn isinMmdNεδ(Spec(Tn)) a compatible
sequence For each n there is a maximal open set Un sube Xprojn where qn is an
isomorphism denote by sn Cn rarr Zn the restriction of qn to the complement of Un
Clearly sn is projective over Spec(Tn)
62 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Denote by X C etc the formal algebraic spaces obtained as limits of Xn Cn
etc Then Xproj sub PNˆSpec(T )
hence by Grothendieckrsquos existence Theorem we find
bull a flat projective family (X F )proj rarr Spec(T ) resp a closed subscheme
C subXproj whose completion is Xproj resp C
bull a scheme Z whose completion is Z and a morphism s C rarr Z everything
being projective over Spec(T )
Further we have a formal contraction limminusrarr qn C rarr Z hence the main theorem
of [Ar70] gives algebraic contraction (X F )proj rarr (X F ) This proves the repre-
sentability of MmdNεδ The properness and separability of each irreducible com-
ponent can be checked using valutative criteria indeed properness is the content of
our Main Theorem I separatedness follows from the uniqueness of foliated canonical
models of general type and their projective resolution
References
[Ar70] M Artin Algebraization of Formal Moduli II Existence of Modifications Ann
of Math Vol 91 No 1 (Jan 1970) pp 88-135 httpwwwjstororgstable
1970602
[Ar74] M Artin Versal Deformations and Algebraic Stacks Inventiones Math 27 165- 189
(1974) httpmathuchicagoedu~drinfeldArtin_on_stackspdf
[A74rsquo] M Artin Algebraic construction of Brieskornrsquos resolutions J Alg Vol 29 Issue
2 May 1974 pp 330-348 httpwwwsciencedirectcomsciencearticlepii
0021869374901021
[BB72] P Baum R Bott Singularities of holomorphic foliations J Diff Geom 7 (1972)
279-342 httpsprojecteuclidorgdownloadpdf_1euclidjdg1214431158
[Bo77] F Bogomolov Families of curves on a surface of general type Doklady Akademii Nauk
USSR (in Russian) 236 (5) 1041-1044
[Bo78] F Bogomolov Holomorphic tensors and vector bundles on projective varieties Math
USSR Izv 13 (1978) 499-555
[BM16] F Bogomolov M McQuillan Rational Curves on Foliated Varieties In Cascini
McKernan Pereira (eds) Foliation Theory in Algebraic Geometry Simons Symposia
Springer Cham pp 21-51 (2016) httpslinkspringercomchapter101007
978-3-319-24460-0_2
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 63
[Bu] F Buonerba Functorial resolution of tame quotient singularities in positive charac-
teristic httpsarxivorgabs151100550
[Ke99] S Keel Basepoint Freeness for Nef and Big Line Bundles in Positive Characteris-
tic Annals of Math 149 No 1 (Jan 1999) pp 253-286 httpwwwjstororg
stable121025 httpsarxivorgabsmath9901149
[KM97] S Keel S Mori Quotients by groupoids Annals of Math 145 (1997) pp
193-213 httpwwwjstororgstable2951828seq=1page_scan_tab_contents
httparxivorgabsalg-geom9508012
[Ko17] J Kollar Families of varieties of general type httpswebmathprincetonedu
~kollarbookmodbook20170720pdf
[LN02] A Lins Neto Some examples for the Poincare and Painleve problems Annales sci-
entifiques de lrsquoENS 352 (2002) 231-266 httparchivenumdamorgarticle
ASENS_2002_4_35_2_231_0pdf
[McQ12] M McQuillan Foliated Mori Theory amp Hyperbolicity of Algebraic Surfaces http
wwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillahomehtml
[McQ98] M McQuillan Diophantine approximation and foliations Inst Hautes Etudes Sci
Publ Math 87 (1998) 121-174 httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafiles
ihespdf
[McQ05rsquo] M McQuillan Bloch hyperbolicity preprint httpwwwmatuniroma2it
~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ05] M McQuillan Semi-stable reduction of foliations IHES pre-print IHESM0502
(2005) httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ05rdquo] M McQuillan Uniform Uniformisation IHES pre-print (2005) IHES M0503 http
wwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ08] M McQuillan Canonical models of foliations Pure Appl Math Q 4
(2008) no 3 Special Issue In honor of Fedor Bogomolov Part 2 877-1012
httpintlpresscomsitepubfiles_fulltextjournalspamq20080004
0003PAMQ-2008-0004-0003-a009pdf
[MP13] M McQuillan D Panazzolo Almost etale resolution of foliations J Diff Geom 95
(2013) pp 279-319 httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesmp1bispdf
[Pe02] JV Pereira On the Poincare Problem for Foliations of General Type Mathematische
Annalen 323 no 2 pp217-226 2002 httpsarxivorgabsmath0104185
[PS16] JV Pereira R Svaldi Effective algebraic integration in bounded genus preprint
httpsarxivorgabs161206932
64 FEDERICO BUONERBA
[Re83] M Reid Minimal models of canonical threefolds in rdquoAlgebraic Varieties and Ana-
lytic Varietiesrdquo Adv Stud Pure Math vol 1 S Iitaka ed Kinokuniya and North-
Holland 1983 pp 131-180 httpwwwmathsedacukcheltsovquotientpdf
reid2pdf
[Se67] A Seidenberg Reduction of singularities of the differential equation Ady = Bdx Amer
J Math 89 (1967) 248-269 httpwwwjstororgstable2373435
[SB83] N Shepherd-Barron Degenerations with numerically effective canonical divisor The
Birational Geometry of Degenerations (R Friedman and D Morrison eds) Progr
Math no 29 Birkhuser 1983 pp 33-84
[Vis89] A Vistoli Intersection theory on algebraic stacks and on their moduli spaces
Invent Math (1989) pp 613-670 httplinkspringercomarticle101007
2FBF01388892page-1
Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences New York University 251 Mercer
Street New York NY 10012 USA
E-mail address buonerbacimsnyuedu
- I Introduction
- II Preliminaries
-
- III Operations on Deligne-Mumford stacks
- IIII Width of embedded parabolic champs
- IIIII Gorenstein foliation singularities
- IIIV Foliated adjunction
- IIV Canonical models of foliated surfaces with canonical singularities
- IIVI Canonical models of foliated surfaces with log-canonical singularities
- IIVII Set-up
-
- III Invariant curves and singularities local description
-
- IIII `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F) not isolated
- IIIII `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F) isolated
- IIIIII Local consequences
-
- IV Invariant curves along which KF vanishes
-
- IVI KF-nil curves
- IVII Invariant curves inside `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F)
-
- V Configurations
-
- VI Configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
- VII Configurations of non-rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
-
- VI Contractions and proof of the Main Theorem
- VII Moduli space of foliated surfaces of general type
- References
-
22 FEDERICO BUONERBA
with marking lowast Replace (X F ) by the resolution of the log-canonical singularity
at lowast with exceptional divisor E Therefore F is Gorenstein and canonical in a
neighborhood of C cupE By equation 9 we have KF middotC = minusC middotE lt 0 and therefore
C can be contracted to a canonical foliation singularity Replace (X F ) by the
contraction of C We have a smooth curve E around which F is smooth and
nowhere tangent to E Moreover
(11) KF middot E = minusE2
And we distinguish cases
bull E2 gt 0 so KF is not pseudo-effective a contradiction
bull E2 lt 0 so the initial curve C is contractible a contradiction
bull E2 = 0 which we proceed to analyze
The following is what we need to handle the third case
Proposition IIVI15 Let (X F ) be a foliation with canonical singularities with
X a smooth 2-dimensional DM stack with projective moduli and KF nef If there
exists a smooth curve E everywhere transverse to F such that KF middot E = E2 = 0
then E moves in a pencil and defines a fibration p X rarr B onto a curve whose
fibers intersect KF trivially
Proof If KF has Kodaira dimension one then its linear system contains an effective
divisor and by Hodge index KF = cE as divisors for some c isin Q+ Hence there is
a fibration onto a curve with fiber E and F is transverse to it by assumption If
KF has Kodaira dimension zero we use the classification IIV1 in all cases but the
suspension over an elliptic curve E defines a product structure on the underlying
surface in the case of a suspension every section of the underlying projective bundle
is clearly F -invariant Therefore E is a fiber of the bundle
This concludes the proof of the Theorem
We remark that the second alternative in the above theorem is rather natural
let (X F ) be a foliation which is transverse to a fibration by rational or elliptic
curves ie a suspension over elliptic curve turbolent Riccati or isotrivial Pick a
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 23
general fiber E of the fibration and blow up any number of points on it The proper
transform E is certainly contractible By Proposition IIVI4 the contraction of E is
Gorenstein and log-canonical Moreover the fiber E has been replaced by a union of
compatible log-chains Note in particular that the number of log-chains appearing
is arbitrary
Corollary IIVI16 Let X be a proper DM stack of dimension 2 and F a Goren-
stein foliation with log-canonical singularities Assume that KF is big and pseudo-
effective Then there exists a birational morphism p X rarr X0 such that C is
exceptional if and only if KF middot C le 0 In particular KF0 is numerically ample
For future applications we spell out
Corollary IIVI17 Hypothesis as in Theorem IIVI14 assume further that X
is everywhere smooth Then in the second alternative of the theorem the fibration
p X rarr B is by rational curves
Proof Indeed in this case the curve E which appears in the proof above as the
exceptional locus for the resolution of the log-canonical singularity at lowast must be
rational By the previous Proposition p is defined by a pencil in |E|
IIVII Set-up In this subsection we prepare the set-up we will deal with in the
rest of the manuscript Briefly we want to handle the existence of canonical models
for a family of foliated surfaces parametrized by a one-dimensional base To this
end we will discuss the modular behavior of singularities of foliated surfaces with
Gorenstein singularities recall McQuillan-Panazzolorsquos resolution of foliation singu-
larities building on the existence of minimal models [McQ05] prepare the set-up
for the sequel
Let us begin with the modular behavior of Gorenstein singularities
Proposition IIVII1 Let (X F ) be a smooth DM stack with a foliation by
curves Assume there exists a flat proper morphism p X rarr C onto an algebraic
curve such that F restricts to a foliation on every fiber of p Then the set
(12) s isin C Fs is log-canonical
24 FEDERICO BUONERBA
is Zariski-open while the set
(13) s isin C Fs is canonical
is the complement to a countable subset of C lying on a real-analytic curve
Proof By Fact IIIII2 being log-canonical is equivalent to the linearized endomor-
phism part IZI2Z rarr IZI
2Z being non-nilpotent where Z is the singular sub-scheme
of the foliation Of course being non-nilpotent is a Zariski open condition The
second statement also follows from opcit since a log-canonical singularity which is
not canonical has linearization with all its eigenvalues positive and rational The
statement is optimal as shown by the vector field on A3xys
(14) part(s) =part
partx+ s
part
party
Next we recall the existence of a functorial canonical resolution of foliation singu-
larities for foliations by curves on 3-dimensional stacks
Fact IIVII2 [MP13] Let X = (XDF ) be a 3-dimensional DM stack with bound-
ary foliated by curves Then there exists a proper birational morphism Xprime rarr X such
that X prime is a smooth DM stack and F prime has only canonical foliation singularities
The original opcit contains a more refined statement including a detailed de-
scription of the claimed birational morphism
In order for our set-up to make sense we mention one last very important result
Fact IIVII3 [McQ05] Let X be a smooth DM stack with projective moduli and F
a foliation by curves with (log)canonical singularities Then there exists a birational
map X 99K Xm obtained as a composition of flips such that Xm is a smooth
DM stack with projective moduli the birational transform Fm has (log)canonical
singularities and one of the following happens
bull KFm is nef or
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 25
bull There exists a fibration Xm rarr B over a smooth base whose fibers are
weighted projective spaces such that Fm is tangent to the fibers and restricts
to a radial foliation on those
Finally we can organize our notation
Set-up IIVII4 (X F ) is a smooth 3-dimensional DM stack with projective mod-
uli F a foliation by curves with canonical singularities such that KF is big and nef
There exists a semi-stable morphism p X rarr ∆ whose moduli is projective onto
the (formal) unit disk F restricts to a foliation on every fiber of p it has canon-
ical singularities on the very general fiber of p and log-canonical singularities on
every fiber of p Our task from now on is to analyze and contract the maximal
foliation-invariant sub-scheme of X along which KF is not ample
III Invariant curves and singularities local description
In this section we give a complete decription of germs of invariant curves that
appear in the formal completion of any point in the set-up IIVII4 Let us replace
X by its formal completion in a point lowast where the foliation is singular F is defined
by a vector field part with Jordan decomposition partS + partN see the end of subsection
IIIII Since [partS partN ] = 0 partN preserves the eigenspaces of partS Moreover the fact that
F is tangent to p translates into
(15) partS(p) = partN(p) = 0
The description of invariant germs of curves through lowast will be achieved via case-by-
case analysis organized by computing what happens for all possible combinations
of the following informations whether the singular locus Z is isolated at lowast the
number of eigenvalues of partS the number of components of the fiber through p
IIII sing(F ) not isolated
ni (1) partS has one eigenvalue
bull We have partS = x partpartx
and partN = f partparty
+ g partpartz
for some functions f g isin (y z)
Moreover partN is non-trivial
26 FEDERICO BUONERBA
bull Z = (x = f = g = 0) is not isolated
(a) The fiber has one component y = 0 Then 0 = partN(y) = f hence
Z = (x = g = 0) The restriction on the fiber is part|(y=0) = x partpartx
+g|(y=0)partpartz
Z has a one-dimensional component contained in the fiber iff g isin (y) in
which case such component is smooth equal to (x = 0) moreover the
foliation on the fiber saturates to a smooth one with invariant curves
z = 0 transverse to Z
Otherwise the foliation is saturated on the fiber and has a saddle-node
singularity
(b) The fiber has two components yz = 0 Then 0 = partN(yz) = zf + yg
hence f = yh g = minuszh for some h and Z = (x = h = 0) The restriction
on a fiber component say y = 0 is part|(y=0) = x partpartxminus zh|(y=0)
partpartz
Z has an
irreducible component contained in y = 0 iff h isin (y) in which case such
component is smooth equal to (x = 0) moreover the foliation on the
fiber saturates to a smooth one with invariant curves z = 0 transverse
to Z
Otherwise the foliation is saturated on the fiber and has a saddle-node
singularity
(c) The fiber has three components xyz = 0 0 = partS(xyz) = xyz a contra-
diction
Summary with one eigenvalue there are either one or two components The
foliation might have a one-dimensional singularity when restricted to a fiber
component in this case such singularity is a smooth curve and the foliation
saturates to a smooth one with invariant curves transverse to the singular-
ity If the singularity is isolated on a fiber component then it is a canonical
saddle-node with at most two invariant branches
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 27
ni (2) partS has two eigenvalues
We have partS = x partpartx
+ λy partparty
and partN(x y z) = k partpartx
+ f partparty
+ g partpartz
for some func-
tions k f g
(a) The fiber has one component z = 0 Then g = 0 k f isin (x y) and
necessarily Z = (x = y = 0) is transverse to the fiber The restriction on
the fiber is saturated and non-degenerate It has canonical singularities
if either partN 6= 0 or λ isin Q+ otherwise it is log-canonical
(b) The fiber has two components xy = 0 Then 0 = partS(xy) hence λ = minus1
Also 0 = partN(xy) hence k = xh f = minusyh g isin (xy) and necessarily
Z = (x = y = 0) coincides with the intersection of the two fiber compo-
nents which is smooth the foliation saturates to a smooth one on each
component with invariant curves transverse to Z
(c) The fiber has three components xyz = 0 hence λ = minus1 Also k = xklowast
f = yf lowast g = zglowast with klowast + f lowast + glowast = 0 and glowast isin (xy) The singularity
Z = (x = y = 0) coincides with the intersection of two of the fiber
components The restriction to either such components saturates to a
smooth foliation with invariant curves transverse to Z the restriction
to z = 0 has a canonical non-degenerate singularity all the invariant
curves are those in xy = 0 transverse to Z
Summary with 2 eigenvalues there can be any number of components With
one component the foliation restricts to a saturated one with a (log)canonical
singularity which moves transversely to p With two components the folia-
tion is not saturated on either and saturates to a smooth one with invariant
curves transverse to the singularity With three components the foliation
is not saturated on two of them and saturates to a smooth one on both
with invariant curves transverse to the singularity the foliation is saturated
and has a canonical non-degenerate singularity on the third component In
28 FEDERICO BUONERBA
the last two cases the singularity is fully contained in an intersection of two
components
ni (3) partS has three eigenvalues But then the singularity is isolated a contradiction
IIIII sing(F ) isolated
i (1) partS has one eigenvalue
bull We have partS = x partpartx
and partN = xk partpartx
+ f partparty
+ g partpartz
for some functions
k f g isin (y z) Moreover partN is non-trivial
bull Z = (x = f = g = 0) is isolated
(a) The fiber has one component y = 0 Then 0 = partN(y) = f and Z cannot
be isolated a contradiction
(b) The fiber has two components yz = 0 Then 0 = partN(yz) = zf + yg so
f = yh g = minuszh with h non-constant Hence Z = (x = h = 0) is not
isolated a contradiction
(c) The fiber has three components xyz = 0 Then 0 = partS(xyz) = xyz a
contradiction
Summary the 1 eigenvalue case does not exist
i (2) partS has two eigenvalues
bull We have partS = x partpartx
+ λy partparty
partN = xk partpartx
+ f partparty
+ g partpartz
for some functions
k f g
bull g is non-trivial and g isin (x y)
bull Z = (x = y = g = 0) is isolated
(a) The fiber has one component z = 0 Then g = 0 a contradiction
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 29
(b) The fiber has two components xy = 0 hence λ = minus1 and g isin (xy z)
the restriction to y = 0 is part|(y=0) = x partpartx
+g|(y=0)partpartz
and necessarily g|(y=0)
is non-vanishing Therefore the restriction to either components is satu-
rated and the singularity is a canonical saddle-node on each of them
The invariant curves are among the axes x = y = 0 x = z = 0 y = z =
0
(c) The fiber has three components xyz = 0 hence λ = minus1 Necessarily
k = xklowast f = yf lowast g = zglowast with klowast + f lowast + glowast = 0 The restriction to
y = 0 is part|(y=0) = x(1 + klowast|(y=0))partpartx
+ zglowast|(y=0)partpartz
since g isin (x y) we have
glowast|(y=0) non-trivial Therefore the restriction to either x = 0 and y = 0
is saturated and the singularity is a canonical saddle-node on each of
them
The restriction to z = 0 is part|(z=0) = x(1 + klowast|(z=0))partpartx
+ y(minus1 + f lowast|(z=0))partparty
therefore the restriction is saturated and has a canonical non-degenerate
singularity
The invariant curves are among the axes x = y = 0 x = z = 0 y = z =
0
Summary with 2 eigenvalues there are either two or three components the
foliation restricts to a canonical saddle-node on two of them and to a non-
degenerate singularity on the third one if it exists All the invariant curves
are in the axes
i (3) partS has three eigenvalues We have partS = x partpartx
+ λy partparty
+ microz partpartz
(a) The fiber has one component y = 0 hence λ = 0 a contradiction
(b) The fiber has two components xy = 0 hence λ = minus1 The restriction to
y = 0 is part|(y=0) = x partpartx
+ microz partpartz
+ partN|(y=0) The singularity is log-canonical
30 FEDERICO BUONERBA
iff micro isin Qgt0 and partN|(y=0)= 0 and in this case the singularity on x = 0 is
canonical non-degenerate Invariant curves are those in y = 0 and the
axis x = z = 0
If the restriction to both fiber components is canonical then it non-
degenerate on both and the invariant curves are contained in the axes
x = y = 0 x = z = 0 y = z = 0
The fiber could be yz = 0 hence λ+micro = 0 It can be analyzed as in the
next item
(c) The fiber has three components xyz = 0 hence 1 + λ + micro = 0 In par-
ticular if λ = cmicro c isin Q+ then λ micro isin Q The restriction to y = 0
is part|(y=0) = x partpartx
+ microz partpartz
+ partN|(y=0) This singularity is log-canonical iff
micro isin Qgt0 and partN|(y=0)= 0 in which case the singularity on both x = 0
and z = 0 is canonical non-degenerate In particular if the singularity
is log-canonical on some fiber component then it is so on exactly one
component and all eigenvalues are rational Invariant curves are those
in y = 0 and the axis x = z = 0
If the restriction to all fiber components is canonical then it non-degenerate
on each of them and the invariant curves are contained in the axes
x = y = 0 x = z = 0 y = z = 0
Summary with 3 eigenvalues there are either two or three fiber components
the foliation restricts to a singular foliation on each of them and it has a
log-canonical singularity on at most one of them in this case all eigenvalues
of the semi-simple field are rational
IIIIII Local consequences We list some corollaries for future reference As al-
ways in this section the statements are local so everything happens in a formal
neighborhood of our point lowast First we state those corollaries we will need to describe
configurations of KF -nil curves
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 31
Definition IIIIII1 An LC-center Π sub X is an irreducible F -invariant formal
hypersurface such that the local vector field generating the foliation when restricted
to Π has semi-simple part with log-canonical singularity or a one-dimensional sin-
gular locus An LC-center with a log-canonical singularity is necessarily an algebraic
component of the singular fiber of p
Corollary IIIIII2 There is at most one LC-center with a log-canonical singularity
through lowast If it exists then all eigenvalues of the semi-simple field at lowast are rational
If there are at least two LC-centers through lowast then there are exactly two and the
foliation singularity is a smooth curve on each of them
Proof Possible cases in which an LC-center with log-canonical singularities appears
ni (2)a i (3)b i (3)c
Corollary IIIIII3 If there is no LC-center thorugh a point lowast then there are at
most three invariant curves through lowast all smooth Any number of them spans a sub-
space of the tangent space at lowast of maximal possible dimension
If there is an LC-center through lowast then there is at most one invariant curve through
lowast and not contained in the LC-center
If there is an LC-center with non-isolated singularity then the singularity is smooth
and all invariant curves contained in the LC-center intersect the singularity trans-
versely
Proof Invariant curves not in an LC-centers with log-canonical singularities are con-
tained in the three axes x = z = 0 x = y = 0 y = z = 0 mentioned in the above
classification The other statements are clear
Corollary IIIIII4 If p is smooth at lowast then Z is one dimensional around lowast
Proof Possible casesni (1)a ni (2)a
In particular if there is no LC-center the situation is the familiary
xz
32 FEDERICO BUONERBA
While if there is an LC-center (pink) with log-canonical singularity it will look like
y
LC-center
While if there is an LC-center with non-isolated singularity (red) it will look like
(the black arrows being invariant curves)
y
LC-center
The next corollary describes one-dimensional components of the foliation singularity
Corollary IIIIII5 If Z0 is a one-dimensional irreducible component of the folia-
tion singularity then it is at worst nodal The foliation when restricted to any fiber
component containing Z0 saturates to a smooth foliation in a neighborhood of Z0
and all the invariant curves are transverse to Z0
If Z0 is contained in exactly one fiber component then the semi-simple field has one
eigenvalue everywhere along Z0
If Z0 lies at the intersection of two fiber components then the semi-simple field has
two constant eigenvalues everywhere along Z0
Moreover if there exist a sequence of invariant curves converging in the compact-
open topology to Z0 then there is generically one eigenvalue along Z0
Proof Possible casesni (1)a ni (1)b ni (2)b ni (2)c Concerning the one-
eigenvalue case invariant curves converging to Z0 can be found in the formal hyper-
surface x = 0
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 33
IV Invariant curves along which KF vanishes
In this section we study in great detail a formal neighborhood of invariant curves
where KF is numerically trivial In the first subsection we deal with KF -nil curves
namely those whose generic point is not contained in the foliation singularity In this
case the normal bundle to the curve determines its formal neighborhood uniquely
and this has plenty of amazing consequences In the second subsection we study
those invariant curves which are contained in the foliation singularity In this case
we are not able to control the full formal neighborhood but important informations
can still be obtained
IVI KF -nil curves In this subsection we study in detail the structure of KF -
nil curves and their formal neighborhoods appearing in the set-up IIVII4 In
particular we will describe a simple process to replace cuspidal KF -nil curves by
net ones prove that the foliation is in the net completion around a net KF -nil curve
defined by a global vector field which admits a global Jordan decomposition deduce
that eigenfunctions for the semi-simple component of such field are also globally
defined on a formal neighborhood
The first important remark is of technical nature and explains how to deal with non-
net KF -nil curves By Proposition IIIV4 this is indeed possible and the images of
such curves will acquire cusp-like singularities It is hard to analyze the geometry
of F around such cuspidal curves and therefore necessary to remove them Let us
assume that C is simply connected with rational moduli f is ramified at 0 isin C
and and denote by X the formal completion along f(C) Then formally around
f(0) the curve f(C) has defining ideal (y xa minus zb) where y = 0 is a fiber of the
fibration p X rarr ∆ containing f(C) x z isin H0(X OX ) restrict to suitable local
coordinates on such fiber and a b ge 2 are coprime integers
Claim IVI1 Let r X ( aradicz = 0) rarr X be the a-th root of z = 0 III3 Then
(rlowastC)norm =∐a
1 C and the induced map rlowastf (rlowastC)norm rarrX ( aradicz = 0) is net
Proof Since r is etale away from z = 0 also rlowastC rarr C is etale away from 0 isin C
Since C 0 is simply connected we have rlowastC rminus1(0) =∐a
1 C 0 This proves
34 FEDERICO BUONERBA
the first statement Let ζ be a function on X ( aradicz = 0) such that ζa = z so then
rlowast(xa minus zb) =prod
ηa=1(x minus ηζb) Every branch is net in 0 and we obtain the second
statement as well
As such upon taking roots we can replace non-net KF -nil invariant curves with
rational moduli by net ones
We now proceed to study net KF -nil curves We will show that the foliation is
defined by a global vector field around a net KF -nil curve with rational moduli and
that such vector field admits a global Jordan decomposition
Proposition IVI2 Notation as in the set-up IIVII4 let f C rarrX be a KF -nil
curve Assume that f is net and let j C rarr C be the net completion along f Then
there exists an isomorphism
(16) OC(KF )simminusrarr OC
In particular there exists a global vector field partf on C that generates F
Proof Since C has rational moduli and is simply connected it has infinite-cyclic
Picard group and we have an isomorphism
(17) OC(KF )simminusrarr OC
Moreover we have a non-canonical splitting of the normal bundle Njsimminusrarr O(minusn) oplus
O(minusm) and we claim that both nm ge 0 Indeed consider the induced semi-stable
fibration C rarr ∆ and let F be the normalization of an irreducible component of a
fiber such that C sub F Consider the exact sequence
(18) 0rarr NCF rarr Nj rarr NFC|C rarr 0
Since KF is nef NCF is not ample since F is a fiber of a fibration also NFC|C is
not ample and this is enough to conclude even though nm may be different from
the degrees of such normal bundles
At this point we can lift the isomorphism 17 over infinitesimal neighborhoods of j
Indeed for every k ge 0 we have an exact sequence
(19) 0rarr Symk ICI2C rarr OCk+1
(KF )rarr OCk(KF )rarr 0
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 35
which shows that the obstruction to lifting the isomorphism lies in
(20) H1(C Symk ICI2C) = H1(C Symk(O(n)oplus O(m))) = 0
From this we can deduce
Proposition IVI3 The vector field partf admits a Jordan decomposition uniformly
along C
Proof The cohomology sequence attached to 19 is
(21) 0rarr H0(C Symk ICI2C)rarr H0(COCk+1
)rarr H0(COCk)rarr 0
Let partk+1 denote the image of partf in End(H0(COCk+1)) Looking at
H0(COCk+1) minusminusminusrarr H0(COCk
)
partk+1
y partk
yH0(COCk+1
) minusminusminusrarr H0(COCk)
we see the canonical Jordan deomposition of partk+1 restricts to that of partk
The above result describes a very useful interplay between normal bundles to
KF -nil curves and the structure of the semi-simple field It turns out that these
informations determine formal neighborhoods uniquely For simplicity let C be
an irreducible component of C without orbifold points Let us assume that part|C is
singular in 0infin Then there exist formal functions x y z at 0 isin C and ξ η ζ at
infin isin C such that x ξ are coordinates along C y η are local sections of OC(minusn)
so η = xny mod(I2C) z ζ are local sections of OC(minusm) so ζ = xmz mod(I2C)
Normalizing so that xminus1partS(x) = ε isin 0 1 we obtain
(22) part0S = εxpart
partx+ λy
part
party+ microz
part
partz partinfinS = minusεξ part
partξ+ (λ+ εn)η
part
partη+ (micro+ εm)ζ
part
partζ
More generally ie C = P1(d e) we have glueing rules x = te ξ = tminusd η = tny and
ζ = tmz mod(I2C) Normalizing so that tminus1partS(t) = ε isin 0 1 we obtain
(23) part0S = eεxpart
partx+ λy
part
party+ microz
part
partz partinfinS = minusdεξ part
partξ+ (λ+ εn)η
part
partη+ (micro+ εm)ζ
part
partζ
36 FEDERICO BUONERBA
It is worth remarking that the above relations hold between eigenvalues at the two
singular point of singular ie nodal or cuspidal KF -nil curves as well this is
easily seen by taking a root followed by net completion and keeping track of the
eigenvalues
Definition IVI4 Let C be a KF -nil curve The foliation singular points along C
are called ends
As well as the existence of Hilbert scheme in the following form
Fact IVI5 Let W sub Xlowast be a curve and D a divisor in the formal neighborhood
of W such that W = D capXlowast scheme-theoretically Then W moves in D
In what follows our main concern is to understand formal neighborhoods of KF -
nil curves Observe that the fibration p when restricted to the formal neighborhood
of such curves provides at least one eigenfunction of the semi-simple field Hence
in order to compute the width IIII we must study the behavior of the other eigen-
function on infinitesimal neighborhoods We first describe the situation inside the
smooth locus of p
Proposition IVI6 (Smooth fiber) Let f C rarrX be an irreducible KF -nil curve
which is contained in the smooth locus of a fiber Xlowast of p Then the end(s) on C are
flat over ∆ ni (1)b and ni (1)a with z2|g(y z) and C moves in a family flat over
∆
Proof Let us assume that f is net Then upon passing to net completion we can
actually assume it is embedded From our local classification of singularities we case
in case ni (1)a and ni (2)a We want to show that both ends have components
that move transversely to p hence we have to exclude case ni (1)a with g(y z) = ya
By way of contradiction say we have g(y z) = ya in the notation of opcit around
an end lowast isin C We proceed to compute what happens at the other end we find
formal coordinates ξ η ζ which by equation 23 satisfy
(24) ξ = xminus1 η = y ζ = xmz mod(I2C)
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 37
As such we compute part(ζ) = mζ + ξminusmηa mod(I2C) which is holomorphic if and only
if m le 0 so then C moves in Xlowast contradicting that the foliation has general type
Hence we are in cases ni (1)a ni (2)a with g = microyazb b ge 1
(25) part0 = xpart
partx+ microyazb
part
partz partinfin = minusξ part
partξ+ ζ(m+ microξm(bminus1)ηaζbminus1)
part
partζ(mod(I2C))
Following notation from subsection IIII observe that C1 is the section of E1C which
is disjoint from the proper transform of the fiber of p In coordinates over 0
(26) x1 = x y1 = y z1 = zyminus1
And similarly over infin Using the previous equation and 25 on C1 we find
(27)
part01 = x1part
partx1+microya+bminus11 zb1
part
partz1 partinfin1 = minusξ1
part
partξ1+ζ1(m+microξ
m(bminus1)1 ηa+bminus11 ζbminus11 )
part
partζ1(mod(I2C1
))
In particular the transform of the nilpotent field is still nilpotent after blowing up in
C It follows that the eigenvalues of the semi-simple field at the two ends of C and
C1 are the same Using equation 23 we deduce that the normal bundle to C1X1 to
isomorphic to that of CX in particular it contains a trivial direct summand This
proves that width(C) =infin
Next we show that f must be net Consider the induced flat projection pD D rarr ∆
its general fiber cannot be a cuspidal curve since along such cusp the foliation sin-
gularity would be log-canonical but not canonical Hence if C has a cusp necessarily
the general fiber of pD is a nodal curve Let X rarr X denote the blow up of the
nodal locus of pD with exceptional divisor E ruled over ∆ In a neighborhood of E
we have sing(F ) = D cap E which projects to ∆ as a double cover ramified over lowastObserve that the foliation on Xlowast is again log-canonical and not canonical hence its
local structure is ni (2)a In that case however p is unramified along the foliation
singularity Contradiction
We state a general criterion for movability of KF -nil curves
Proposition IVI7 Let C be a connected KF -nil curve such that p(C ) = lowast isin ∆
Assume its dual graph is a chain that none of its irreducible components is double
38 FEDERICO BUONERBA
VI3 and that its two extremal ends are flat over ∆ Then C moves in a family flat
over ∆ and each of its irreducible components is embedded
Proof We work in a formal neighborhood of C After taking roots we can assume
C is net and since its dual graph is a chain it is actually embedded We proceed by
induction on its length l where the case l = 1 is Proposition IVI6 For l gt 1 let C1
be a component of C which is extremal in its dual graph If C1 moves transversely
to p then both its ends do and hence we can apply the induction hypothesis to
C C1 If C1 is rigid then it can be flopped It is straightforward to check that we
can apply the induction hypothesis to the transform C + C+1 and we are done
Now we deal with rigid curves inside the singular fiber
Proposition IVI8 (Singular fiber) Let f C rarr X be an embedded net KF -
nil curve with anti-ample normal bundle Then there exists a birational map φ
(X F ) 99K (X +F+) and a KF+-nil curve C+ such that
bull φ is an isomorphism away from C+
bull In a formal neighborhood of at least one among C and C+ there exist two
invariant hypersurfaces D1D2 locally defined by the vanishing of eigenfunc-
tions of the semi-simple field such that C (resp C+)= D1 capD2
bull If F middot C lt 0 for some hypersurface F then F+ middot C+ gt 0 In particular X +
is projective
Such φ is called flop
Proof Our assumption is that Nfsimminusrarr O(minusn)oplusO(minusm) is anti-ample namely nm gt
0 If two invariant hypersurfaces as in our statement do exist around C the flop is
easily constructed as a weighted blow-up followed by a weighted blow-down As such
let us assume that such hypersurfaces do not exist around C In particular C is not
double VI3 By [Ar70] there exists a formal contraction c X rarrX0 collapsing C
to a point and an isomorphism everywhere else By Proposition IVI3 the foliation
F0 is Gorenstein around the node of X0 For ease of exposition let us assume
n = m = 1 the general case is handled the same way only the notation becomes more
cumbersome due to the presence of weights The node has embedding dimension 4
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 39
and in suitable local coordinates x0 y0 w0 z0 can be defined by x0z0minusy0w0 = 0 The
morphism c can be identified with the blow up of the embedded surface (x0 = y0 = 0)
Explicitly in the chart y = y0 x = x0yminus10 it is defined by
(28) y0 = y x0 = xy z0 = zprime w0 = xzprime
Here x is a coordinate along C while y = 0 is the pull-back of (x0 = y0 = 0) and
zprime some function in the normal bundle to C By the previous Proposition IVI6
we know C cannot be contained in the smooth locus of p Since C is not double
we can assume that in this local chart p is defined by (x y zprime) rarr xy - the case
(x y zprime) rarr xzprime being isomorphic as it is isomorphic to blow-up (z0 = w0 = 0)
instead of (x0 = y0 = 0) The issue is as emphasized by the notation zprime 6= z that
zprime may fail to be an eigenfunction for partS if it were we would be done since zprime = 0
is the local equation for the global pullback of (z0 = w0 = 0) However we have
a b isin C such that
(29) partS0(y0) = minusy0 partS0(x0) = 0 partS0(z0) = ay0 + bz0 partS0(w0) = ax0 + (b+ 1)w0
Observe that the embedded surfaces D01 = (y0 = z0 = 0) and D0
2 = (x0 = w0 = 0)
are both foliation invariant As such let b X + rarr X0 denote the blow-up of X0
along D01 - which is isomorphic to that along D0
2 - and let Di = blowastD0i i = 1 2
Finally X + is projective by Nakai-Moishezon Indeed every C with anti-ample
normal bundle is contained in an irreducible component F of X0 such that F middotC lt 0
Then F+ middot C+ gt 0 and we can find an ample divisor of the form H+ + εF+ where
H+ is the proper transform of an ample on X
Remark IVI9 In the previous proof a 6= b+ 1 Indeed such identity would create
a non-trivial Jordan block of partS0 in the (x0 w0)-plane thus contradicting the semi-
simplicity of partS0 In particular by a straightforward computation it is impossible to
find eigenfunctions of the form wlowast0 = w0 + αx0 zlowast0 = z0 + βy0 with x0z
lowast0 minus y0wlowast0 = 0
unless a = 0
We can conclude by pointing out an important point understood in this section
A painful aspect of the theory is that log-canonical singularities which appear natu-
rally as analytic degenerations of canonical ones come along with cuspidal invariant
40 FEDERICO BUONERBA
curves There is in particular no a-priori obstruction to the existence of rigid
cuspidal KF -nil curves in a smooth fiber of our family of foliated surfaces p Quite
generally a rigid curve of positive arithmetic genus in a smooth family of surfaces can
never be contracted to a point Therefore this would have been a counter-example
to any reasonable foliated canonical model theory one may wish to achieve Fortu-
nately such phenomenon does not happen and this establishes the Main Theorem I
modulo finitely many rigid curves confined in the singular fiber X0
IVII Invariant curves inside sing(F ) In this subsection we study curves Z0 subeXlowast cap sing(F ) which are inside the foliation singularity and invariant By this we
mean that there exists a sequence fn Cn rarrX of not necessarily algebraic invariant
curves converging in the compact-open topology to Z0 In other words the map
(30) NorF rarr Ω1Z0
is trivial By Corollary IIIIII5 we know that Z0 is at worst nodal it is smooth
wherever p is smooth for every point z isin Z0 the semi-simple part of the gener-
ating vector field has exactly one eigenvalue The problem here is that the Jordan
decomposition need not extend uniformly along Z0 not even along an irreducible
component In case ni (1)a the functions x and g may develop essential singulari-
ties arbitrary close to z Nonetheless the function x is unique and this says that x
does extend along Z0
Proposition IVII1 Let Z0 be as above Then in a formal neighborhood of Z0
there exists a unique smooth invariant hypersurface D0 containing Z0 which restricts
around any point in Z0 to the unique eigenfunction for the semi-simple field whose
eigenvalue is non-zero
Proof The local structure of the foliation around a point z isin Z0 is described by
cases ni (1)a and ni (1)b In both cases partS has one non-zero eigenvalue with
eigenfunction x Such eigenfunction x is a-priori only defined in the normal bundle to
Z0 but it is clear that the equation partx = x has a unique up to constants solution in
the formal completion around z As such there exists a unique smooth hypersurface
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 41
D0 in the formal completion around Z0 which restricts to the eigenfunction x around
z
Observe that the previous argument goes through since we are assuming Z0 subX0
Keeping notations from case ni (1)a if say g(y z) = yz then in the hypersurface
y equiv q isin Qgt0 the foliation has a log-canonical singularity and the eigenfunction x
extends highly non-uniquely to a formal neighborhood of the point (x y z) = (0 q 0)
In particular the existence of D0 as in the previous Proposition might fail along
the component (x = z = 0) of the foliation singularity This phenomenon is called
the beast
Anyway uniqueness in the previous proposition yields
Corollary IVII2 Let Z prime be a connected invariant curve inside sing(F ) Then in
a formal neighborhood of Z prime there exists a unique smooth invariant hypersurface D prime
containing Z prime which restricts around any point in Z prime to the hypersurface constructed
in the previous proposition
Next we turn to the intrinsic structure of invariant singular curves
Proposition IVII3 Let Z0 be an irreducible invariant curve inside sing(F )
Then Z0 is smooth and rational
Proof We work in a formal neighborhood of Z0 Let F0 denote the unique component
of X0 containing Z0 For any other fiber component F intersecting Z0 non-trivially
blow-up the invariant curve F cap F0 with exceptional divisor EF A straightforward
computation using the local formula ni (1)b shows that the fiber of the natural
projection EF rarr F cap F0 intersecting Z0 is also contained in sing(F ) For Z prime the
maximal connected singular invariant curve containing Z0 let G denote the saturated
foliation induced on D prime It is canonical with reduced singularities and it satisfies
KG = KF |Dprime minus Zprime By adjunction
(31) 2g(Z0)minus 2 + sZG(Z0) = minusZ prime middot Z0
Observe that thanks to our initial sequence of blow-ups the singularities of G along
Z0 coincide with the intersection of Z0 and Z prime Z0 In particular since D prime is formally
42 FEDERICO BUONERBA
flat over ∆ we deduce Z prime middot Z0 = 0 and the previous formula becomes
(32) 2g(Z0)minus 2 + sZG(Z0) = 0
This implies that Z0 is rational or elliptic If Z0 were elliptic then sZG(Z0) = 0 and
D0 defines an invariant elliptic curve in the general fiber of p By Baum-Bott this
contradicts that KF is big and nef Now we show that Z0 is smooth If it has a node
then D0 moves it in a family of nodal rational curves flat over ∆ In particular D0
itself has a node in codimension 1 hence Xlowast is smooth around the node of Z0 In its
formal neighborhood the foliation must be as in case ni (1)a which implies that
Z0 is smooth contradiction
We can improve as follows
Proposition IVII4 Let Z prime sube sing F capXlowast be a connected invariant curve with
KF middot Z prime = 0 Then its dual graph is a chain
Proof Assume Z prime is a cycle Then necessarily Z prime = D prime capXlowast scheme-theoretically
and by the existence of Hilbert scheme Z prime moves in the general fiber Its general
member is either a cycle of smooth rational curves or an elliptic curve Arguing as
in the previous proof we see that both options are impossible
V Configurations
In this section we analyze in great detail all possible configurations of invariant
curves along which KF vanishes These can be divided into three groups those
that do not move those that move in a one-dimensional family covering a surface
those that move in a higher-dimensional family covering a surface Curves in the first
group can form rather complicated configurations while those in the second group
are more simple they either move in the general fiber or they cover an isolated
Riccati component in the singular fiber Those in the third group turn out to be
represented by the two rulings of P1timesP1 if they happen to be cohomologous in the
ambient stack First we will analyze rigid curves then those which move and finally
we will describe their configurations
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 43
VI Configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially In
this subsection we describe configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF
trivially which arise in the situation described by set-up IIVII4
First we focus on KF -nil curves At the end of the section we deal with the simpler
case in which a curve in the configuration is fully contained in sing(F ) The general
fiber was handled in Proposition IVI6
Proposition VI1 Let C be a connected KF -nil curve contained in the smooth
locus of a fiber of p Then it is a chain or a cycle and it moves in a family flat over
∆
In what follows we let C denote a connected KF -nil curve contained in the
singular fiber X0 all of whose sub-curves are rigid in X Observe a consequence of
equation 23
Proposition VI2 Let C = cupiCi be a connected KF -nil curve Then the eigen-
values of partS are all rational at every point of sing(F )capC if and only if they are all
rational at one point
We can deduce many non-trivial properties about configurations of KF -nil curves
First we need
Definition VI3 Let C subX0 be a curve It is called double if there exists formally
around C two components F F prime of X0 such that C = F cap F prime A point lowast isin C where
three fiber components intersect is called a triple point If C lies on exactly one fiber
component it is called non-double We denote by F (C) such component
Remark VI4 Let Csimminusrarr P1(d e) be double with two triple points Then we know
e+ λ+ micro = minusd+ (λ+ n) + (micro+m) = 0 whence we obtain
(33) n+m = d+ e
Which is called triple-point formula
Next we show that essentially KF -nil curves do not form cycles unless something
deforms in X0 First we show that there are no cycles of rigid non-double curves
44 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proposition VI5 Let C be a connected KF -nil curve contained in the singular
fiber X0 of p Assume that every component of C is non-double and that every
sub-curve is rigid Then C contains no cycles
Proof We work in a formal neighborhood of C which we assume is a cycle Let
us first consider the case in which all components C1 middot middot middot CN are smooth with no
orbifold points and denote lowasti = Ci cap Ci+1 with CN+1 = C1 Moreover let us
assume no lowasti lies in the smooth locus of p
Since no curve is double the semi-simple field at every lowasti is as in case i (3)b in
particular the eigenvalues along the branches of Ci and Ci+1 add up to zero More-
over let minusni denote the self-intersection of Ci sub F (Ci) Normalize the eigenvalues
of partS so that at lowastn they are 1 in the C1 direction minus1 in the CN direction λ in the
F (C1)capF (CN) direction It follows by induction that at lowasti the eigenvalues are minus1
in the Ci direction 1 in the Ci+1 direction λ+ n1 + middot middot middot+ ni in the F (Ci) cap F (Ci+1)
direction After traveling around the cycle we obtain n1+middot middot middot+nN = 0 contradicting
that ni gt 0 for every i
We established the Proposition assuming every Ci is an embedded scheme and ev-
ery lowasti is in the singular locus of p The case in which Cisimminusrarr P1(di ei) has orbifold
points is analogous we end up with a combination c1n1 + middot middot middot + cNnN = 0 with ci
the eigenvalue at lowasti in the Ci+1 direction Normalizing so that c1 = e1 gt 0 again by
induction on i we see that every ci isin Qgt0 Next we show that our assumption on lowastiis always satisfied
Claim VI6 Every lowasti must belong to the singular locus of p
Proof We give two essentially equivalent proofs
bull If N = 2 3 then the previous argument goes through indeed we can normal-
ize eigenvalues at lowasti to be negative in the Ciminus1 direction and positive in the
Ci-direction and argue as above Hence we can assume N ge 4 If say lowasti is in
the smooth locus of p then F (Ci) = F (Ci+1) If also F (Ciminus1) = F (Ci) then Ci
lies in the smooth locus of p and hence it moves Therefore F (Ciminus1) 6= F (Ci)
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 45
and Ciminus1 can be flopped inside F (Ci) Since N ge 4 this preserves the smooth-
ness of F (Ci) and Ci is now is the smooth locus of p - contradiction
bull If lowasti belongs to the smooth locus of p then the end through lowasti moves We
can form a partial net completion fi Xi rarrX by normalizing C in lowasti only
Then f lowasti C is a chain with movable ends and hence moves in the general fiber
of p fi
Finally the general case in which some among the Ci have cusps can be easily
reduced to the smooth case in a couple of ways
bull Eigenvalues at the singularities of any KF -nil curve satisfy the same relations
as in the smooth case
bull Upon taking roots and net completion we can find a foliated formal 3-fold
supported on a cycle of smooth KF -nil curves which is a ramified cover of a
formal neighborhood of our cycle
Similarly we can show that there are no rigid cycles of double curves
Proposition VI7 Let C be a nodal KF -nil curve which is double Then C
deforms inside X0 In particular there cannot exist a rigid cycle of KF -nil double
curves
Proof Following the previous notation we have 0 = infin and if C = (xy = z = 0)
around 0 then we have identities
(34) x = η y = ξ z = ζ
The last one of which implies m = 0 that is C deforms Since C is double necessarily
the surface it spans must be contained in X0
The statement about cycles follows since a cycle of double curves can be transformed
after finitely many flops into a chain of smooth double curves with a nodal one
attached at one end
46 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Later on we will show that the deformations of C cannot span an elliptic surface
but only a family of nodal rational curves with a special Riccati foliation on it
We are ready to organize a detailed description of the dual graph of C More pre-
cisely we only need to understand how double curves intersect non-double curves
Lemma VI8 There exists a sequence of flops X 99KX + such that if C + denotes
the transform of C every double curve supported on C + contains two triple points
Proof Let C sube C be an irreducible component with at most one triple point and
let X 99K X + be its flop Then its transform C+ is non-double and the number
of double curves contained in C descreases It is clear that after finitely many flops
all double curves contain exactly two triple points
From now on all double curves in C have two triple points Thanks to proposition
VI2 we know that there are two cases to consider those curves along which the
semi-simple field has not only rational eigenvalues and those along which the semi-
simple field has only rational eigenvalues The first case being strictly easier than
the second it is a good starting place to warm up
Proposition VI9 (irrational eigenvalues) Assume that for every foliation singu-
larity along C not all eigenvalues of partS are rational Then every component of C
is net with at most one node and 1-skeleton of its dual graph is at worst trivalent
Write C = C axes cup C free where
C axes is the union of double curves
C free is the union of non-double curves
Then one among C axes and C free is empty Moreover
bull If C free is non-empty then it is a chain of smooth curves with rational moduli
bull If C axes is non-empty there exists a sequence of flops X 99KX + and an ir-
reducible component of the fiber FC subX + such that X + is a smooth stack
the transform C+ of C is contained in FC Moreover the dual graph of C+
is a tree which by [McQ08 III32] becomes a chain inside the normalization
of FC
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 47
Proof The first sentence is just corollary IIIIII3
Observe that if a non-double curve intersects a double curve then the non-double
curve must be contained in an LC-center around such intersection This contradicts
that not all eigenvalues are rational and establishes that one among C axes and C free
is empty
In case C free is not empty then it is clearly a chain or a cycle the latter being
impossible by Proposition VI5
We are left to show the existence of flops in case C = C axes We remark that
every component is smooth Let C0 be such a component and S0 a component of
X0 containing it Let C1 be the collection of irreducible components of C which
intersect S0 but are not contained in it All the components of C1 are smooth hence
we can flop them in any order until the transform of C1 lies in the transform of S0
Since the number of irreducible components of C lying outside S0 decreases after
such flop by induction we deduce the existence of finitely many flops after which
the birational transform of C is fully contained in the transform of S0
Next we take care of rational eigenvalues The complication here arises from
the fact that there may be double and non-double curves intersecting each other
However the situation is best possible
Proposition VI10 (rational eigenvalues) Assume that for every foliation singu-
larity along C all eigenvalues of partS are rational Write C = C axes cup C free where
C axes is the union of double curves
C free is the union of non-double curves
Then there exists a sequence of flops X 99K X + and an irreducible component of
the fiber FC axes subX + such that
bull X + is a smooth stack
bull The union of double curves of C axes is contained in FC axes the 1-skeleton of
its dual graph is a tree and each of its components has two triple points
bull The 1-skeleton of the dual graph of the transform C free+ is a disjoint union of
trees
bull Each connected component of C free+ intersects C axes in exactly one point
48 FEDERICO BUONERBA
In particular the 1-skeleton of the dual graph of C is a tree
Proof Notice that for every point lowast isin C cap Z there exists one LC-center through lowastIndeed there are three rational eigenvalues and they cannot be all non-vanishing and
all with different signs at the same time Now C axes can be treated as in proposition
VI9 This proves the first two items of the statement The third item follows from
Proposition VI5 so we can focus on the fourth one The proof is based on the
following obvious
Remark VI11 let C be a double curve such that either it is KF -nil hence has
two triple points or it is fully contained in sing(F ) Let C0 sube C free intersect C
non-trivially in a point lowast then necessarily C0 sub LClowast
Now let C0 middot middot middot CN form a chain of non-double curves with C0 and CN both
intersecting double curves as in the remark Denote by lowasti = Ci cap Ci+1 Since
C1 sub LClowast necessarily C1 is transverse to LClowast1 otherwise C1 would deform in F (C1)
Inductively we see that Ci+1 sub LClowasti and is transverse to LClowasti+1 In particular CN
cannot touch a double curve This contradiction proves the fourth item
Let us add a remark about configurations featuring invariant curves inside sing(F )
Proposition VI12 Let C be an invariant curve with KF middot C = 0 such that
Z0 sube C for some component Z0 sube sing(F ) Then C = Z prime cup C where
Z prime is a connected invariant curve inside the foliation singularity with dual graph a
chain
C is the union of at most two pairwise disjoint KF -nil curves with anti-ample
normal bundle
If not empty C can only intersect Z prime at the two ends of its dual graph Moreover
perhaps after a flop the intersection of C with Z prime supports the foliation singularity
along C As such if C has two components Z prime cup C deforms in the general fiber
Proof The structure of Z prime is Proposition IVII3 while that of Co is Proposition
IVI6 Let C prime be a component of C intersecting Z0 in a point lowast If C prime and Z0 belong
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 49
to different components of X0 then by case ni (1)b the eigenvalue of partS along C prime
vanishes so supp(sing(F ) cap C prime) = lowast If C prime and Z0 belong to the same component
then we can flop C prime into a different component
Observe that the divisor D prime from op cit can be extended along C prime This implies
that C can only intersect Z prime at its ends Moreover if C touches both ends necessarily
D prime capX0 = C scheme-theoretically hence by the existence of Hilbert scheme IVI5
we conclude
Our new set-up is
Set-up VI13 Everything as in set-up IIVII4 and moreover for any connected
invariant curve C with KF middot C = 0 all of whose sub-curves are rigid we have
configurations computed in proposition VI9 VI10 and Lemma VI12
VII Configurations of non-rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
In this subsection we describe configurations of surfaces which are covered by KF -nil
curves The structure of each such surface is described by classification IIV1 IIV2
and Corollary IIVI17 Our first step is to simplify the situation by contracting
chains of ruled surfaces The next step is to try and exclude the possibility that
the singular fiber of p contains fibrations by elliptic or nodal rational curves with
at least one invariant fiber This can be achieved with good success indeed there
may be at most one such Riccati foliation which is anyway rather isolated from the
remaining KF -nil curves Finally we observe that the only class of surfaces we have
not mentioned is
Definition VII1 A irreducible component F of the singular fiber of p is called
small Kronecker if
bull (FFF ) is birational to a Kronecker vector field on P1 timesP1 and
bull The two rulings of this P1 timesP1 are cohomologous inside X
The name comes from the fact that contraction of a small Kronecker yields a node
in the ambient threefold which admits a small resolution In fact in many respects
these fiber components behave very much like rigid KF -nil curves
50 FEDERICO BUONERBA
We start by getting rid of some fiber components which are ruled by KF -nil gener-
ically smooth rational curves
Proposition VII2 Notation as in Set-up VI13 there exists a sequence of flops
and divisorial contractions c X 99KX + such that
bull X + is a smooth stack
bull let S+ sub X + be an irreducible invariant divisor that contains a positive-
dimensional family of invariant rational curves along which KF+ vanishes
Then S+ is either birationally ruled by nodal rational curves or it is a small
Kronecker
Proof We focus first on contracting components of the singular fiber of p Consider
the following algorithm If there is no birationally ruled component different from
the ones listed in the second item we are done otherwise pick one such F and let
C denote the general member of the ruling If the cohomology class [C] is inde-
composable F is minimal Otherwise [C] = [C1] + [C2] where Ci are rational and
intersect KF trivially After finitely many steps we have a decomposition as a finite
sum of indecomposables [C] =sumn
i=0 ni[Ci] where every Ci is rational intersects KF
trivially We have two cases
bull There exists k such that Ck deforms in a birationally ruled necessarily min-
imal surface Fk
bull Every Ci has anti-ample normal bundle
In the first case denote by X rarr X1 the contraction of Fk along |Ck| and relpace
X by X1 Since Fk is minimal smoothness of the ambient stack is preserved unless
Fk is a small Kronecker This is however impossible if n ge 2 if Fk were a small
Kronecker then Ck deforms away from Fkminus1 so then Fkminus1 middot Ck = 0 on the other
hand Fkminus1 intersects the other ruling of Fk positively
In the second case flop C1 middot middot middot Cn in this order The transform of F is minimal and
not a small Kronecker so it can be contracted along its ruling preserving ambient
smoothness By induction on the Picard rank of X after finitely many steps this
algorithm ends Call X the output of this algorithm
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 51
Let S subX be an invariant divisor with a generically smooth ruling Then pS S rarr∆ is flat and after flopping finitely many rational curves in S cap plowastS(0) the resulting
pS is smooth Hence we can contract S along pS After finitely many steps the
Proposition is proven
For ease of notation in the sequel we call X the output of the previous proposition
Notice that there might still be divisors carrying a pencil of nodal rational curves
both inside and outside the singular fiber of p
We can start analyzing configurations of fiber components where the restriction of
F is not of general type We need some notation whose reason to exist will be clear
shortly
Definition VII3 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
along which KF is not big F is called special Riccati if
bull F is minimal
bull There exists a morphism s F rarr B onto a curve whose fibers are nodal
rational curve
bull F is transverse to the general fiber of s in particular KF is numerically
trivial along s
bull At least one fiber of s is invariant
bull There exists a section σ of s which is invariant and does not coincide with
the nodal locus of F
In particular the intersections of σ with invariant fibers of s isolated singularities
of F the node of F all coincide There may be fibers of s fully contained in sing(F )
in which case they are everywhere transverse to the saturated foliation
The definition looks nasty but special Riccati components have a rather simple
origin as the following proof shows
Lemma VII4 Let F be special Riccati Up to base change by an etale double cover
Bprime rarr B there is a natural isomorphism F norm simminusrarr BprimetimesP1 and the restriction of F
to F norm is birational to the projection onto P1
52 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proof We work over the normalization F norm Denote by Bprime the pre-image of the
node of F which is an etale double cover of B and let f denote an invariant fiber
of s with lowast = σ cap f Observe that F norm carries a Riccati foliation with 3 invariant
curves through lowast - namely σ f and a component of Bprime Hence FF has a log-canonical
singularity in lowast On F norm perform a weighted blow-up in each log-canonical singu-
larity followed by the contraction of the transforms of the corresponding fibers Let
s+ F+ rarr B denote the output of this operation If the proper transform of Bprime is
connected replace F+ by its base change under Bprime rarr B Hence we can assume Bprime
is the disjoint union of two sections of s+ and the transform of σ is a third section
which is disjoint from Bprime Therefore F+ = P1 timesBprime and the foliation restricts to the
projection onto P1
Next we describe those surfaces which cannot appear as components of the sin-
gular fiber X0
Definition VII5 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
along which KF is not big F is called illusory if
bull there exists a morphism t F rarr B onto a curve
bull KF is trivial along t
bull For any other fiber component F prime the intersection F cap F prime is either empty or
contained in a fiber of t
We give examples of illusory fiber components
Lemma VII6 The following fiber components are necessarily illusory
bull t is elliptic the foliation is either parallel to t or turbolent with at least one
invariant fiber
bull t is a nodal ruling the foliation is either parallel to t or transverse to t with
at least one invariant fiber and not birational to a special Riccati VII3
Proof Let f = F cap F prime for some fiber component F prime It is F -invariant
Assume t and F are parallel and f is transverse to both Then necessarily f subesing(F ) and KF is positive along the fibers of t contradiction
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 53
Assume t and F are generically transverse and f is transverse to t Let e be an
invariant fiber of t then ecap f isin sing(F ) hence t must be a family of nodal rational
curves and ecapf coincides with the node of e - otherwise KF would be positive along
t But this implies F is special Riccati contradiction
We proceed to show that illusory fibers do not exist
Lemma VII7 Let F be an illusory fiber component then every fiber of t is irre-
ducible If F prime is any fiber component intersecting F non-trivially then F prime is illusory
Proof Assume t has a reducible fiber f Then we can write f = f prime cup f primeprime where f prime
is irreducible and f primeprime is a disjoint union of chains of rational curves In particular
every subscheme supported on f primeprime is rigid in X f prime is rational and smooth iff f is a
cycle of rational curves hence the foliation on F is parallel to t and the choice of f prime
is not unique otherwise f prime is nodal or elliptic Let X 99KX + denote the flop of the
irreducible components of f primeprime in any order The proper transform f prime+ (below in red)
is the irreducible fiber of the induced morphism t+ F+ rarr B Since f primeprime+ intersects
f prime+ and is not contained in F+ there exists a component F prime of the fiber of p+ such
that F+ cap f prime+ 6= empty Since F+ is illusory necessarily F+ cap F prime = f prime+ Moreover F+
and F prime are the only fiber components intersecting f prime+ again because F+ is illusory
We deduce that F+ middot f prime+ = F prime middot f prime+ = 0 and therefore f prime+ is nef inside F prime It follows
that he restriction of F+ to F prime is not of general type and by the classification of
foliated surfaces [McQ08] necessarily f prime+ deforms inside F prime and defines a fibration
u F prime rarr Bprime In particular f prime+ is an irreducible fiber of u This is however impossible
since u contracts all the components of f primeprime+ contained in F prime (below in blue) and by
definition of F prime there exists at least one such component This proves that every
fiber of t is irreducible The following depicts the situation
F prime F+
f prime+
f primeprime+
t+u
54 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Concerning the second statement we only need to check the third condition for F prime
to be illussory namely that every other fiber component F primeprime intersecting F prime does
so along the fibers of u If F primeprime intersects F prime transversely to u then F primeprime intersects F
non-trivially and transversely to t as well absurd
Corollary VII8 Illusory components do not exist
Proof By the above lemma the existence of one illusory component implies that
every irreducible component of the singular fiber of p is illusory contradicting that
KF is big
We can now focus on fiber components that do appear
Corollary VII9 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
containing an invariant curve C which moves and such that KF middot C = 0 Then
following the classification [McQ08] we have two cases
(1) The minimal model of F is a special Riccati component
(2) F is a small Kronecker
Proof Certainly the ones listed are the only cases where C is KF -nil We have to
exclude the possibility that C is invariant inside sing(F ) By Proposition IVII3
such C would be rational with at most one node Since we already contracted at
the beginning of the present subsection all ruled surfaces necessarily C is nodal
However by opcit C cannot intersect any other fiber component of X0 which
implies the absurdity that X0 = F
We proceed to show that special Riccati components are rather isolated in the
fiber
Lemma VII10 Let F be a special Riccati component If F prime is a fiber component
intersecting F non-trivially then it does so transversely to s Morover there is
exactly one such F prime
Proof After finitely many flops we can assume that every fiber of s is irreducible
By the non-existence of illusory components there exists a fiber component F lowast with
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 55
σprime = F cap F prime transverse to s If F primeprime is a fiber component with f = F cap F primeprime a fiber
of s then we claim f sube sing(F ) If not then since KF middot f = 0 and σprime is invariant
necessarily σprimecap f is the node of f But then the existence of F primeprime contradicts that p is
snc Hence f sube sing(F ) so then around the node of f there are 3 fiber components -
two branches coming from F one from F primeprime - and sing(F ) has 2 branches - namely f
This is impossible by our case analysis ni (1)c ni (2)c The very same reasoning
establishes the uniqueness of F prime
Lemma VII11 Let F be as in the previous Lemma If C is a connected curve
with KF middot C = 0 then it is disjoint from F
Proof After finitely many flops s is irreducible and C intersects F transversely away
from its node Moreover lowast = C cap F isin sing(F ) and we deduce that the fiber of s
through lowast is fully contained in the singular locus of F This contradicts Proposition
IVII3 since such fiber is nodal
We conclude by observing the obvious
Lemma VII12 Let F be a small Kronecker Then there exists a contraction
c X rarr X prime which is an isomorphism away from F and contracts F along one
of its rulings Necessarily X prime is not projective since every global Cartier divisor
intersects c(F ) trivially On the other hand in a formal neighborhood of c(F ) there
exist Cartier divisors intersecting it non-trivialliy
As such the contribution coming from non-rigid curves is rather poor there are
curves moving in the general fiber there are special Riccati components disjoint from
any other invariant curve intersecting KF trivially there are small Kroneckers who
can be contracted to curves We shall see in the next section that the complications
arising from the contraction of such non-rigid curves is purely psychological and
totally harmless
56 FEDERICO BUONERBA
VI Contractions and proof of the Main Theorem
In this section we contract all invariant curves along which KF is zero thereby
establishing the existence of canonical models I First we contract non-rigid curves
as described in the previous subsection
bull Small Kroneckers along either ruling Albeit this destroys projectivity of
the ambient threefold there still exist Cartier divisors defined in a formal
neighborhood of the base curve that intersect it non-trivially
bull Families of irreducible nodal rational curves which are flat over ∆ This
creates elliptic singularities on the general fiber of p which are disjoint from
other invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
bull Special Riccati again families of irreducible nodal rational curves fully con-
tained in X0 This creates elliptic singularities disjoint from other invariant
curves intersecting KF trivially
We can summarize our situation by way of
Set-up VI1 X is a 3-dimensional DM stack with at worst elliptic singularities
F a foliation by curves with canonical singularities which is not Q-Cartier in a
neighborhood of Xsing
There exists a proper morphism p X rarr ∆ smooth off 0 isin ∆ F restricts to a
foliation on every fiber of p it has canonical singularities on the very general fiber
of p and log-canonical singularities on every fiber of p KF is big and nef on every
irreducible component of every fiber of p
Let C be the invariant sub-scheme along which KF is not big then C is a curve
fully contained in the smooth locus X0capXsmooth every sub-curve of C has anti-ample
normal bundle the 1-simplex of its dual graph is a tree and detailed configurations
of such are referenced in set-up VI13
We proceed to contract such C We assume that along C the semi-simple field has
only rational eigenvalues and moreover no component of C is inside the foliation
singularity The other two cases - irrational eigenvalues and presence of singular
component - are strictly easier and can be obtained with the very same method
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 57
The proof takes place in the formal completion around C = C free cup C axes The
former is a disjoint union of trees of non-double curves For each non-double C let
F (C) denote the unique component of X0 containing it The latter is a tree of double
curves each with two triple points all contained in the same irreducible FC axes Each
tree of non-double curves touches C axes in one point through a LC-center In order
to construct the contraction we will use Artinrsquos celebrated criterion in the following
form
Fact VI1 ([Ar70]) Let X be an irreducible algebraic space i Y rarr X a closed
subspace of pure codimension 1 and f Y rarr Y0 a proper morphism with flowastOY = OY0
Let X denote the formal completion of X along Y and assume there exists a Cartier
divisor D in X which is supported on Y and is f -anti-ample Then there exists a
proper morphism of algebraic spaces F X rarr X0 which is an isomorphism away
from Y and such that ilowastF = f
Now we use the tree structure of C to construct a suitable divisor to which apply
Artinrsquos theorem Namely consider the following inductive defintion
(35) C0 = C axes F0 = FC axes
For k ge 0 assume Ck Fk are defined
bull Let Ck+1 denote the union of irreducible components of C that intersect Fk
non-trivially but are not contained in cupilekFibull Let Fk+1 denote the reduced sum (
sumCsubeCk+1
F (C))red
This process stops with a collection C1 middot middot middotCN of curves and F1 middot middot middot FN of reduced
divisors
Lemma VI1 We have the following identities
(36)
Fk middot C lt 0 for every C sube Ck
(F0 + F1) middot C le 0 for every C sube C0
(Fkminus1 + Fk + Fk+1) middot C = 0 for every C sube Ck 1 lt k lt N
(FNminus1 + FN) middot C lt 0 for every C sube CN
58 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proof The first is just the fact that every component of C is rigid The remaining
three follow from X0 middot C = 0 but the last one requires further justification Indeed
if C sube CN N gt 0 then C is one end of a tree of non-double curves In particular
there exists a foliation singularity lowast isin C disjoint from any other component of
C and LClowast is transverse to C This implies LClowast middotC gt 0 which together with
(FNminus1 + FN + LClowast) middot C = 0 concludes the proof
Let ε1 middot middot middot εN isin Qgt0 and define
(37) F Nminusk = (1 + ε1 + middot middot middot+ εk)FNminusk
bull If C sube CN we have
(38) (F Nminus1 + F
N) middot C = ε1FNminus1 middot C + (FNminus1 + FN) middot C
bull If C sube CNminusk 1 lt k lt N we have
(39)
(F Nminuskminus1 + F
Nminusk + F Nminusk+1) middot C =
(1 + middot middot middot+ εk)(FNminuskminus1 + FNminusk + FNminusk+1) middot C minus εkFNminusk+1 middot C + εk+1FNminuskminus1 middot C =
minus εkFNminusk+1 middot C + εk+1FNminuskminus1 middot C
bull If C sube C0 we have
(40) (F 0 + F
1) middot C = εNF0 middot C + (Nminus1sumj=0
εj)(F0 + F1) middot C
It is clear that provided
(41) 1 gtgt ε1 gtgt middot middot middot gtgt εN
the divisor F =sumF k is negative along every component of C
This proves the existence of the contraction and concludes the proof of the Main
Theorem I
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 59
VII Moduli space of foliated surfaces of general type
In this section we study the modular variation of foliated surfaces of general type
The upshot is that it is possible to define a functor which is representable separated
and every irreducible component is proper The main issue here is that the supporting
surface of a foliated canonical model may well fail to be projective indeed KF is not
Q-Gorenstein in general Hence in order to proceed via standard methods [Ko17]
we have to parametrize our canonical models together with a suitable projective
resolution
Definition VII13 Let (SF ) be a foliated proper reduced purely 2-dimensional
DM stack Assume S has only normal crossing singularities in codimension 1 that
F has log-canonical foliation singularities and that KF is big and nef on at least
one of the irreducible components of S If whenever KF middot C = 0 for some curve C
then C moves in an irreducible component of S and no member of such deformation
is F -invariant then (SF ) is called foliated canonical model of general type
Clearly foliated canonical models are exactly the stable degenerations appearing
as the central fiber of our Main Theorem I Their lack of projectivity has two sources
namely the contraction of cycles of smooth KF -nil curves and of trees of cuspidal
ones Singularities arising from cycles behave well in families namely they always
deform into the general fiber Those arising from cuspidal curves on the other hand
tend to be rather isolated inside the degenerate fiber
Observe that the deformation theory of a foliated surface is rather simple suppose
given an infinitesimal C-algebras extension 0 rarr J rarr Ae rarr A rarr 0 and (SF )
a foliated surface flat over Spec(A) then the obstruction to lifting to Ae can be
understood in three simple steps
(1) Deformation of the underlying surface S once a deformation Se rarr Spec(Ae)
is given
(2) Deformation of the line bundle KF by the exponential sequence
(42) 0rarr J otimes OS rarr OlowastSerarr OlowastS rarr 0
obstructions lie in H2(SOS)otimes J once a deformation of KF is given
60 FEDERICO BUONERBA
(3) Deformation of the defining section OS rarr KF otimes TS obstructions lie in
H1(SKF otimes TS)otimes J
Now we have
Definition VII14 Let (SF ) be a foliated canonical model of general type A
proper birational morphism q (SF )proj rarr (SF ) is called its projective resolution
if
bull Every irreducible component of Sproj is smooth
bull The exceptional locus of q is a disjoint union of cycles of KFproj-nil smooth
curves and trees of KFproj-nil curves each of which has a non-trivial cuspidal
singularity
bull In a neighborhood of every q-exceptional cycle not only Sproj but also its
moduli space is smooth
We need a few remarks about projective resolutions
(1) Projective resolutions are always unique Indeed the only possible ambiguity
could lie in some extra smooth irreducible components in the exceptional
locus This is forbidden by definition in the trees of cuspidal curves it is
also forbidden by way of the third item in cycles of smooth ones ie on
algebraic surfaces the minimal resolution is unique
(2) Denote by E the collection of q-exceptional cycles Then there exist ε δ isinQgt0 such that KFproj
minus εE + δKSprojis ample by Nakai-Moishezon
(3) Deformations of a projective resolution of a foliated canonical model are
canonically identified with deformations of the underlying birational mor-
phism q Sproj rarr S followed by a deformation of the foliation F
We are now ready to construct a moduli functor for foliated surfaces more precisely
for projective resolutions of foliated canonical models of general type For m dN isinN and ε δ isin Qgt0 let
(43) MmdNεδ (C-schemes)rarr (sets)
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 61
be defined by MmdNεδ(S) = Diagrams
(44) (X F )projqminusrarr (X F )
pminusrarr S
Where
bull Both p and p q are flat and proper
bull For every closed point s isin S the induced morphism qs is the projective
resolution of (X F )s which is a foliated canonical model of general type
bull Denote by Es the collection of exceptional cycles of qs By our Main Theorem
I there is a fibrewise divisor E subXproj flat over S restricting to Es for every
s isin S
bull Let j W rarr Xproj denote the maximal closed subscheme away from which
KFprojand KXprojS are locally free Then
(45) L [m] = (jlowast(KFprojotimes OXproj
(minusεE )otimesKδXprojS
)otimesm)oror
is flat over S and commutes with base-change
bull L [m] is very ample of degree d on every fiber and defines an embedding into
PNS
We are now ready for
Theorem VII15 The functor MmdNεδ is represented by a separated algebraic
space each of whose irreducible components is proper
Proof We show that our functor satisfies Artinrsquos conditions [Ar74 Corollary 54] By
definition condition 1) and 4) hold while our previous remark on foliated obstruction
theory shows that 3) is true
We proceed to show 2) namely effectivity of formal deformations for MmdNεδ
What follows owes much to Artinrsquos [A74rsquo] Let T be a complete C-algebra Tn its
n-truncation so that Tsimminusrarr limlarrminusTn and finally qn isinMmdNεδ(Spec(Tn)) a compatible
sequence For each n there is a maximal open set Un sube Xprojn where qn is an
isomorphism denote by sn Cn rarr Zn the restriction of qn to the complement of Un
Clearly sn is projective over Spec(Tn)
62 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Denote by X C etc the formal algebraic spaces obtained as limits of Xn Cn
etc Then Xproj sub PNˆSpec(T )
hence by Grothendieckrsquos existence Theorem we find
bull a flat projective family (X F )proj rarr Spec(T ) resp a closed subscheme
C subXproj whose completion is Xproj resp C
bull a scheme Z whose completion is Z and a morphism s C rarr Z everything
being projective over Spec(T )
Further we have a formal contraction limminusrarr qn C rarr Z hence the main theorem
of [Ar70] gives algebraic contraction (X F )proj rarr (X F ) This proves the repre-
sentability of MmdNεδ The properness and separability of each irreducible com-
ponent can be checked using valutative criteria indeed properness is the content of
our Main Theorem I separatedness follows from the uniqueness of foliated canonical
models of general type and their projective resolution
References
[Ar70] M Artin Algebraization of Formal Moduli II Existence of Modifications Ann
of Math Vol 91 No 1 (Jan 1970) pp 88-135 httpwwwjstororgstable
1970602
[Ar74] M Artin Versal Deformations and Algebraic Stacks Inventiones Math 27 165- 189
(1974) httpmathuchicagoedu~drinfeldArtin_on_stackspdf
[A74rsquo] M Artin Algebraic construction of Brieskornrsquos resolutions J Alg Vol 29 Issue
2 May 1974 pp 330-348 httpwwwsciencedirectcomsciencearticlepii
0021869374901021
[BB72] P Baum R Bott Singularities of holomorphic foliations J Diff Geom 7 (1972)
279-342 httpsprojecteuclidorgdownloadpdf_1euclidjdg1214431158
[Bo77] F Bogomolov Families of curves on a surface of general type Doklady Akademii Nauk
USSR (in Russian) 236 (5) 1041-1044
[Bo78] F Bogomolov Holomorphic tensors and vector bundles on projective varieties Math
USSR Izv 13 (1978) 499-555
[BM16] F Bogomolov M McQuillan Rational Curves on Foliated Varieties In Cascini
McKernan Pereira (eds) Foliation Theory in Algebraic Geometry Simons Symposia
Springer Cham pp 21-51 (2016) httpslinkspringercomchapter101007
978-3-319-24460-0_2
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 63
[Bu] F Buonerba Functorial resolution of tame quotient singularities in positive charac-
teristic httpsarxivorgabs151100550
[Ke99] S Keel Basepoint Freeness for Nef and Big Line Bundles in Positive Characteris-
tic Annals of Math 149 No 1 (Jan 1999) pp 253-286 httpwwwjstororg
stable121025 httpsarxivorgabsmath9901149
[KM97] S Keel S Mori Quotients by groupoids Annals of Math 145 (1997) pp
193-213 httpwwwjstororgstable2951828seq=1page_scan_tab_contents
httparxivorgabsalg-geom9508012
[Ko17] J Kollar Families of varieties of general type httpswebmathprincetonedu
~kollarbookmodbook20170720pdf
[LN02] A Lins Neto Some examples for the Poincare and Painleve problems Annales sci-
entifiques de lrsquoENS 352 (2002) 231-266 httparchivenumdamorgarticle
ASENS_2002_4_35_2_231_0pdf
[McQ12] M McQuillan Foliated Mori Theory amp Hyperbolicity of Algebraic Surfaces http
wwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillahomehtml
[McQ98] M McQuillan Diophantine approximation and foliations Inst Hautes Etudes Sci
Publ Math 87 (1998) 121-174 httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafiles
ihespdf
[McQ05rsquo] M McQuillan Bloch hyperbolicity preprint httpwwwmatuniroma2it
~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ05] M McQuillan Semi-stable reduction of foliations IHES pre-print IHESM0502
(2005) httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ05rdquo] M McQuillan Uniform Uniformisation IHES pre-print (2005) IHES M0503 http
wwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ08] M McQuillan Canonical models of foliations Pure Appl Math Q 4
(2008) no 3 Special Issue In honor of Fedor Bogomolov Part 2 877-1012
httpintlpresscomsitepubfiles_fulltextjournalspamq20080004
0003PAMQ-2008-0004-0003-a009pdf
[MP13] M McQuillan D Panazzolo Almost etale resolution of foliations J Diff Geom 95
(2013) pp 279-319 httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesmp1bispdf
[Pe02] JV Pereira On the Poincare Problem for Foliations of General Type Mathematische
Annalen 323 no 2 pp217-226 2002 httpsarxivorgabsmath0104185
[PS16] JV Pereira R Svaldi Effective algebraic integration in bounded genus preprint
httpsarxivorgabs161206932
64 FEDERICO BUONERBA
[Re83] M Reid Minimal models of canonical threefolds in rdquoAlgebraic Varieties and Ana-
lytic Varietiesrdquo Adv Stud Pure Math vol 1 S Iitaka ed Kinokuniya and North-
Holland 1983 pp 131-180 httpwwwmathsedacukcheltsovquotientpdf
reid2pdf
[Se67] A Seidenberg Reduction of singularities of the differential equation Ady = Bdx Amer
J Math 89 (1967) 248-269 httpwwwjstororgstable2373435
[SB83] N Shepherd-Barron Degenerations with numerically effective canonical divisor The
Birational Geometry of Degenerations (R Friedman and D Morrison eds) Progr
Math no 29 Birkhuser 1983 pp 33-84
[Vis89] A Vistoli Intersection theory on algebraic stacks and on their moduli spaces
Invent Math (1989) pp 613-670 httplinkspringercomarticle101007
2FBF01388892page-1
Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences New York University 251 Mercer
Street New York NY 10012 USA
E-mail address buonerbacimsnyuedu
- I Introduction
- II Preliminaries
-
- III Operations on Deligne-Mumford stacks
- IIII Width of embedded parabolic champs
- IIIII Gorenstein foliation singularities
- IIIV Foliated adjunction
- IIV Canonical models of foliated surfaces with canonical singularities
- IIVI Canonical models of foliated surfaces with log-canonical singularities
- IIVII Set-up
-
- III Invariant curves and singularities local description
-
- IIII `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F) not isolated
- IIIII `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F) isolated
- IIIIII Local consequences
-
- IV Invariant curves along which KF vanishes
-
- IVI KF-nil curves
- IVII Invariant curves inside `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F)
-
- V Configurations
-
- VI Configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
- VII Configurations of non-rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
-
- VI Contractions and proof of the Main Theorem
- VII Moduli space of foliated surfaces of general type
- References
-
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 23
general fiber E of the fibration and blow up any number of points on it The proper
transform E is certainly contractible By Proposition IIVI4 the contraction of E is
Gorenstein and log-canonical Moreover the fiber E has been replaced by a union of
compatible log-chains Note in particular that the number of log-chains appearing
is arbitrary
Corollary IIVI16 Let X be a proper DM stack of dimension 2 and F a Goren-
stein foliation with log-canonical singularities Assume that KF is big and pseudo-
effective Then there exists a birational morphism p X rarr X0 such that C is
exceptional if and only if KF middot C le 0 In particular KF0 is numerically ample
For future applications we spell out
Corollary IIVI17 Hypothesis as in Theorem IIVI14 assume further that X
is everywhere smooth Then in the second alternative of the theorem the fibration
p X rarr B is by rational curves
Proof Indeed in this case the curve E which appears in the proof above as the
exceptional locus for the resolution of the log-canonical singularity at lowast must be
rational By the previous Proposition p is defined by a pencil in |E|
IIVII Set-up In this subsection we prepare the set-up we will deal with in the
rest of the manuscript Briefly we want to handle the existence of canonical models
for a family of foliated surfaces parametrized by a one-dimensional base To this
end we will discuss the modular behavior of singularities of foliated surfaces with
Gorenstein singularities recall McQuillan-Panazzolorsquos resolution of foliation singu-
larities building on the existence of minimal models [McQ05] prepare the set-up
for the sequel
Let us begin with the modular behavior of Gorenstein singularities
Proposition IIVII1 Let (X F ) be a smooth DM stack with a foliation by
curves Assume there exists a flat proper morphism p X rarr C onto an algebraic
curve such that F restricts to a foliation on every fiber of p Then the set
(12) s isin C Fs is log-canonical
24 FEDERICO BUONERBA
is Zariski-open while the set
(13) s isin C Fs is canonical
is the complement to a countable subset of C lying on a real-analytic curve
Proof By Fact IIIII2 being log-canonical is equivalent to the linearized endomor-
phism part IZI2Z rarr IZI
2Z being non-nilpotent where Z is the singular sub-scheme
of the foliation Of course being non-nilpotent is a Zariski open condition The
second statement also follows from opcit since a log-canonical singularity which is
not canonical has linearization with all its eigenvalues positive and rational The
statement is optimal as shown by the vector field on A3xys
(14) part(s) =part
partx+ s
part
party
Next we recall the existence of a functorial canonical resolution of foliation singu-
larities for foliations by curves on 3-dimensional stacks
Fact IIVII2 [MP13] Let X = (XDF ) be a 3-dimensional DM stack with bound-
ary foliated by curves Then there exists a proper birational morphism Xprime rarr X such
that X prime is a smooth DM stack and F prime has only canonical foliation singularities
The original opcit contains a more refined statement including a detailed de-
scription of the claimed birational morphism
In order for our set-up to make sense we mention one last very important result
Fact IIVII3 [McQ05] Let X be a smooth DM stack with projective moduli and F
a foliation by curves with (log)canonical singularities Then there exists a birational
map X 99K Xm obtained as a composition of flips such that Xm is a smooth
DM stack with projective moduli the birational transform Fm has (log)canonical
singularities and one of the following happens
bull KFm is nef or
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 25
bull There exists a fibration Xm rarr B over a smooth base whose fibers are
weighted projective spaces such that Fm is tangent to the fibers and restricts
to a radial foliation on those
Finally we can organize our notation
Set-up IIVII4 (X F ) is a smooth 3-dimensional DM stack with projective mod-
uli F a foliation by curves with canonical singularities such that KF is big and nef
There exists a semi-stable morphism p X rarr ∆ whose moduli is projective onto
the (formal) unit disk F restricts to a foliation on every fiber of p it has canon-
ical singularities on the very general fiber of p and log-canonical singularities on
every fiber of p Our task from now on is to analyze and contract the maximal
foliation-invariant sub-scheme of X along which KF is not ample
III Invariant curves and singularities local description
In this section we give a complete decription of germs of invariant curves that
appear in the formal completion of any point in the set-up IIVII4 Let us replace
X by its formal completion in a point lowast where the foliation is singular F is defined
by a vector field part with Jordan decomposition partS + partN see the end of subsection
IIIII Since [partS partN ] = 0 partN preserves the eigenspaces of partS Moreover the fact that
F is tangent to p translates into
(15) partS(p) = partN(p) = 0
The description of invariant germs of curves through lowast will be achieved via case-by-
case analysis organized by computing what happens for all possible combinations
of the following informations whether the singular locus Z is isolated at lowast the
number of eigenvalues of partS the number of components of the fiber through p
IIII sing(F ) not isolated
ni (1) partS has one eigenvalue
bull We have partS = x partpartx
and partN = f partparty
+ g partpartz
for some functions f g isin (y z)
Moreover partN is non-trivial
26 FEDERICO BUONERBA
bull Z = (x = f = g = 0) is not isolated
(a) The fiber has one component y = 0 Then 0 = partN(y) = f hence
Z = (x = g = 0) The restriction on the fiber is part|(y=0) = x partpartx
+g|(y=0)partpartz
Z has a one-dimensional component contained in the fiber iff g isin (y) in
which case such component is smooth equal to (x = 0) moreover the
foliation on the fiber saturates to a smooth one with invariant curves
z = 0 transverse to Z
Otherwise the foliation is saturated on the fiber and has a saddle-node
singularity
(b) The fiber has two components yz = 0 Then 0 = partN(yz) = zf + yg
hence f = yh g = minuszh for some h and Z = (x = h = 0) The restriction
on a fiber component say y = 0 is part|(y=0) = x partpartxminus zh|(y=0)
partpartz
Z has an
irreducible component contained in y = 0 iff h isin (y) in which case such
component is smooth equal to (x = 0) moreover the foliation on the
fiber saturates to a smooth one with invariant curves z = 0 transverse
to Z
Otherwise the foliation is saturated on the fiber and has a saddle-node
singularity
(c) The fiber has three components xyz = 0 0 = partS(xyz) = xyz a contra-
diction
Summary with one eigenvalue there are either one or two components The
foliation might have a one-dimensional singularity when restricted to a fiber
component in this case such singularity is a smooth curve and the foliation
saturates to a smooth one with invariant curves transverse to the singular-
ity If the singularity is isolated on a fiber component then it is a canonical
saddle-node with at most two invariant branches
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 27
ni (2) partS has two eigenvalues
We have partS = x partpartx
+ λy partparty
and partN(x y z) = k partpartx
+ f partparty
+ g partpartz
for some func-
tions k f g
(a) The fiber has one component z = 0 Then g = 0 k f isin (x y) and
necessarily Z = (x = y = 0) is transverse to the fiber The restriction on
the fiber is saturated and non-degenerate It has canonical singularities
if either partN 6= 0 or λ isin Q+ otherwise it is log-canonical
(b) The fiber has two components xy = 0 Then 0 = partS(xy) hence λ = minus1
Also 0 = partN(xy) hence k = xh f = minusyh g isin (xy) and necessarily
Z = (x = y = 0) coincides with the intersection of the two fiber compo-
nents which is smooth the foliation saturates to a smooth one on each
component with invariant curves transverse to Z
(c) The fiber has three components xyz = 0 hence λ = minus1 Also k = xklowast
f = yf lowast g = zglowast with klowast + f lowast + glowast = 0 and glowast isin (xy) The singularity
Z = (x = y = 0) coincides with the intersection of two of the fiber
components The restriction to either such components saturates to a
smooth foliation with invariant curves transverse to Z the restriction
to z = 0 has a canonical non-degenerate singularity all the invariant
curves are those in xy = 0 transverse to Z
Summary with 2 eigenvalues there can be any number of components With
one component the foliation restricts to a saturated one with a (log)canonical
singularity which moves transversely to p With two components the folia-
tion is not saturated on either and saturates to a smooth one with invariant
curves transverse to the singularity With three components the foliation
is not saturated on two of them and saturates to a smooth one on both
with invariant curves transverse to the singularity the foliation is saturated
and has a canonical non-degenerate singularity on the third component In
28 FEDERICO BUONERBA
the last two cases the singularity is fully contained in an intersection of two
components
ni (3) partS has three eigenvalues But then the singularity is isolated a contradiction
IIIII sing(F ) isolated
i (1) partS has one eigenvalue
bull We have partS = x partpartx
and partN = xk partpartx
+ f partparty
+ g partpartz
for some functions
k f g isin (y z) Moreover partN is non-trivial
bull Z = (x = f = g = 0) is isolated
(a) The fiber has one component y = 0 Then 0 = partN(y) = f and Z cannot
be isolated a contradiction
(b) The fiber has two components yz = 0 Then 0 = partN(yz) = zf + yg so
f = yh g = minuszh with h non-constant Hence Z = (x = h = 0) is not
isolated a contradiction
(c) The fiber has three components xyz = 0 Then 0 = partS(xyz) = xyz a
contradiction
Summary the 1 eigenvalue case does not exist
i (2) partS has two eigenvalues
bull We have partS = x partpartx
+ λy partparty
partN = xk partpartx
+ f partparty
+ g partpartz
for some functions
k f g
bull g is non-trivial and g isin (x y)
bull Z = (x = y = g = 0) is isolated
(a) The fiber has one component z = 0 Then g = 0 a contradiction
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 29
(b) The fiber has two components xy = 0 hence λ = minus1 and g isin (xy z)
the restriction to y = 0 is part|(y=0) = x partpartx
+g|(y=0)partpartz
and necessarily g|(y=0)
is non-vanishing Therefore the restriction to either components is satu-
rated and the singularity is a canonical saddle-node on each of them
The invariant curves are among the axes x = y = 0 x = z = 0 y = z =
0
(c) The fiber has three components xyz = 0 hence λ = minus1 Necessarily
k = xklowast f = yf lowast g = zglowast with klowast + f lowast + glowast = 0 The restriction to
y = 0 is part|(y=0) = x(1 + klowast|(y=0))partpartx
+ zglowast|(y=0)partpartz
since g isin (x y) we have
glowast|(y=0) non-trivial Therefore the restriction to either x = 0 and y = 0
is saturated and the singularity is a canonical saddle-node on each of
them
The restriction to z = 0 is part|(z=0) = x(1 + klowast|(z=0))partpartx
+ y(minus1 + f lowast|(z=0))partparty
therefore the restriction is saturated and has a canonical non-degenerate
singularity
The invariant curves are among the axes x = y = 0 x = z = 0 y = z =
0
Summary with 2 eigenvalues there are either two or three components the
foliation restricts to a canonical saddle-node on two of them and to a non-
degenerate singularity on the third one if it exists All the invariant curves
are in the axes
i (3) partS has three eigenvalues We have partS = x partpartx
+ λy partparty
+ microz partpartz
(a) The fiber has one component y = 0 hence λ = 0 a contradiction
(b) The fiber has two components xy = 0 hence λ = minus1 The restriction to
y = 0 is part|(y=0) = x partpartx
+ microz partpartz
+ partN|(y=0) The singularity is log-canonical
30 FEDERICO BUONERBA
iff micro isin Qgt0 and partN|(y=0)= 0 and in this case the singularity on x = 0 is
canonical non-degenerate Invariant curves are those in y = 0 and the
axis x = z = 0
If the restriction to both fiber components is canonical then it non-
degenerate on both and the invariant curves are contained in the axes
x = y = 0 x = z = 0 y = z = 0
The fiber could be yz = 0 hence λ+micro = 0 It can be analyzed as in the
next item
(c) The fiber has three components xyz = 0 hence 1 + λ + micro = 0 In par-
ticular if λ = cmicro c isin Q+ then λ micro isin Q The restriction to y = 0
is part|(y=0) = x partpartx
+ microz partpartz
+ partN|(y=0) This singularity is log-canonical iff
micro isin Qgt0 and partN|(y=0)= 0 in which case the singularity on both x = 0
and z = 0 is canonical non-degenerate In particular if the singularity
is log-canonical on some fiber component then it is so on exactly one
component and all eigenvalues are rational Invariant curves are those
in y = 0 and the axis x = z = 0
If the restriction to all fiber components is canonical then it non-degenerate
on each of them and the invariant curves are contained in the axes
x = y = 0 x = z = 0 y = z = 0
Summary with 3 eigenvalues there are either two or three fiber components
the foliation restricts to a singular foliation on each of them and it has a
log-canonical singularity on at most one of them in this case all eigenvalues
of the semi-simple field are rational
IIIIII Local consequences We list some corollaries for future reference As al-
ways in this section the statements are local so everything happens in a formal
neighborhood of our point lowast First we state those corollaries we will need to describe
configurations of KF -nil curves
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 31
Definition IIIIII1 An LC-center Π sub X is an irreducible F -invariant formal
hypersurface such that the local vector field generating the foliation when restricted
to Π has semi-simple part with log-canonical singularity or a one-dimensional sin-
gular locus An LC-center with a log-canonical singularity is necessarily an algebraic
component of the singular fiber of p
Corollary IIIIII2 There is at most one LC-center with a log-canonical singularity
through lowast If it exists then all eigenvalues of the semi-simple field at lowast are rational
If there are at least two LC-centers through lowast then there are exactly two and the
foliation singularity is a smooth curve on each of them
Proof Possible cases in which an LC-center with log-canonical singularities appears
ni (2)a i (3)b i (3)c
Corollary IIIIII3 If there is no LC-center thorugh a point lowast then there are at
most three invariant curves through lowast all smooth Any number of them spans a sub-
space of the tangent space at lowast of maximal possible dimension
If there is an LC-center through lowast then there is at most one invariant curve through
lowast and not contained in the LC-center
If there is an LC-center with non-isolated singularity then the singularity is smooth
and all invariant curves contained in the LC-center intersect the singularity trans-
versely
Proof Invariant curves not in an LC-centers with log-canonical singularities are con-
tained in the three axes x = z = 0 x = y = 0 y = z = 0 mentioned in the above
classification The other statements are clear
Corollary IIIIII4 If p is smooth at lowast then Z is one dimensional around lowast
Proof Possible casesni (1)a ni (2)a
In particular if there is no LC-center the situation is the familiary
xz
32 FEDERICO BUONERBA
While if there is an LC-center (pink) with log-canonical singularity it will look like
y
LC-center
While if there is an LC-center with non-isolated singularity (red) it will look like
(the black arrows being invariant curves)
y
LC-center
The next corollary describes one-dimensional components of the foliation singularity
Corollary IIIIII5 If Z0 is a one-dimensional irreducible component of the folia-
tion singularity then it is at worst nodal The foliation when restricted to any fiber
component containing Z0 saturates to a smooth foliation in a neighborhood of Z0
and all the invariant curves are transverse to Z0
If Z0 is contained in exactly one fiber component then the semi-simple field has one
eigenvalue everywhere along Z0
If Z0 lies at the intersection of two fiber components then the semi-simple field has
two constant eigenvalues everywhere along Z0
Moreover if there exist a sequence of invariant curves converging in the compact-
open topology to Z0 then there is generically one eigenvalue along Z0
Proof Possible casesni (1)a ni (1)b ni (2)b ni (2)c Concerning the one-
eigenvalue case invariant curves converging to Z0 can be found in the formal hyper-
surface x = 0
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 33
IV Invariant curves along which KF vanishes
In this section we study in great detail a formal neighborhood of invariant curves
where KF is numerically trivial In the first subsection we deal with KF -nil curves
namely those whose generic point is not contained in the foliation singularity In this
case the normal bundle to the curve determines its formal neighborhood uniquely
and this has plenty of amazing consequences In the second subsection we study
those invariant curves which are contained in the foliation singularity In this case
we are not able to control the full formal neighborhood but important informations
can still be obtained
IVI KF -nil curves In this subsection we study in detail the structure of KF -
nil curves and their formal neighborhoods appearing in the set-up IIVII4 In
particular we will describe a simple process to replace cuspidal KF -nil curves by
net ones prove that the foliation is in the net completion around a net KF -nil curve
defined by a global vector field which admits a global Jordan decomposition deduce
that eigenfunctions for the semi-simple component of such field are also globally
defined on a formal neighborhood
The first important remark is of technical nature and explains how to deal with non-
net KF -nil curves By Proposition IIIV4 this is indeed possible and the images of
such curves will acquire cusp-like singularities It is hard to analyze the geometry
of F around such cuspidal curves and therefore necessary to remove them Let us
assume that C is simply connected with rational moduli f is ramified at 0 isin C
and and denote by X the formal completion along f(C) Then formally around
f(0) the curve f(C) has defining ideal (y xa minus zb) where y = 0 is a fiber of the
fibration p X rarr ∆ containing f(C) x z isin H0(X OX ) restrict to suitable local
coordinates on such fiber and a b ge 2 are coprime integers
Claim IVI1 Let r X ( aradicz = 0) rarr X be the a-th root of z = 0 III3 Then
(rlowastC)norm =∐a
1 C and the induced map rlowastf (rlowastC)norm rarrX ( aradicz = 0) is net
Proof Since r is etale away from z = 0 also rlowastC rarr C is etale away from 0 isin C
Since C 0 is simply connected we have rlowastC rminus1(0) =∐a
1 C 0 This proves
34 FEDERICO BUONERBA
the first statement Let ζ be a function on X ( aradicz = 0) such that ζa = z so then
rlowast(xa minus zb) =prod
ηa=1(x minus ηζb) Every branch is net in 0 and we obtain the second
statement as well
As such upon taking roots we can replace non-net KF -nil invariant curves with
rational moduli by net ones
We now proceed to study net KF -nil curves We will show that the foliation is
defined by a global vector field around a net KF -nil curve with rational moduli and
that such vector field admits a global Jordan decomposition
Proposition IVI2 Notation as in the set-up IIVII4 let f C rarrX be a KF -nil
curve Assume that f is net and let j C rarr C be the net completion along f Then
there exists an isomorphism
(16) OC(KF )simminusrarr OC
In particular there exists a global vector field partf on C that generates F
Proof Since C has rational moduli and is simply connected it has infinite-cyclic
Picard group and we have an isomorphism
(17) OC(KF )simminusrarr OC
Moreover we have a non-canonical splitting of the normal bundle Njsimminusrarr O(minusn) oplus
O(minusm) and we claim that both nm ge 0 Indeed consider the induced semi-stable
fibration C rarr ∆ and let F be the normalization of an irreducible component of a
fiber such that C sub F Consider the exact sequence
(18) 0rarr NCF rarr Nj rarr NFC|C rarr 0
Since KF is nef NCF is not ample since F is a fiber of a fibration also NFC|C is
not ample and this is enough to conclude even though nm may be different from
the degrees of such normal bundles
At this point we can lift the isomorphism 17 over infinitesimal neighborhoods of j
Indeed for every k ge 0 we have an exact sequence
(19) 0rarr Symk ICI2C rarr OCk+1
(KF )rarr OCk(KF )rarr 0
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 35
which shows that the obstruction to lifting the isomorphism lies in
(20) H1(C Symk ICI2C) = H1(C Symk(O(n)oplus O(m))) = 0
From this we can deduce
Proposition IVI3 The vector field partf admits a Jordan decomposition uniformly
along C
Proof The cohomology sequence attached to 19 is
(21) 0rarr H0(C Symk ICI2C)rarr H0(COCk+1
)rarr H0(COCk)rarr 0
Let partk+1 denote the image of partf in End(H0(COCk+1)) Looking at
H0(COCk+1) minusminusminusrarr H0(COCk
)
partk+1
y partk
yH0(COCk+1
) minusminusminusrarr H0(COCk)
we see the canonical Jordan deomposition of partk+1 restricts to that of partk
The above result describes a very useful interplay between normal bundles to
KF -nil curves and the structure of the semi-simple field It turns out that these
informations determine formal neighborhoods uniquely For simplicity let C be
an irreducible component of C without orbifold points Let us assume that part|C is
singular in 0infin Then there exist formal functions x y z at 0 isin C and ξ η ζ at
infin isin C such that x ξ are coordinates along C y η are local sections of OC(minusn)
so η = xny mod(I2C) z ζ are local sections of OC(minusm) so ζ = xmz mod(I2C)
Normalizing so that xminus1partS(x) = ε isin 0 1 we obtain
(22) part0S = εxpart
partx+ λy
part
party+ microz
part
partz partinfinS = minusεξ part
partξ+ (λ+ εn)η
part
partη+ (micro+ εm)ζ
part
partζ
More generally ie C = P1(d e) we have glueing rules x = te ξ = tminusd η = tny and
ζ = tmz mod(I2C) Normalizing so that tminus1partS(t) = ε isin 0 1 we obtain
(23) part0S = eεxpart
partx+ λy
part
party+ microz
part
partz partinfinS = minusdεξ part
partξ+ (λ+ εn)η
part
partη+ (micro+ εm)ζ
part
partζ
36 FEDERICO BUONERBA
It is worth remarking that the above relations hold between eigenvalues at the two
singular point of singular ie nodal or cuspidal KF -nil curves as well this is
easily seen by taking a root followed by net completion and keeping track of the
eigenvalues
Definition IVI4 Let C be a KF -nil curve The foliation singular points along C
are called ends
As well as the existence of Hilbert scheme in the following form
Fact IVI5 Let W sub Xlowast be a curve and D a divisor in the formal neighborhood
of W such that W = D capXlowast scheme-theoretically Then W moves in D
In what follows our main concern is to understand formal neighborhoods of KF -
nil curves Observe that the fibration p when restricted to the formal neighborhood
of such curves provides at least one eigenfunction of the semi-simple field Hence
in order to compute the width IIII we must study the behavior of the other eigen-
function on infinitesimal neighborhoods We first describe the situation inside the
smooth locus of p
Proposition IVI6 (Smooth fiber) Let f C rarrX be an irreducible KF -nil curve
which is contained in the smooth locus of a fiber Xlowast of p Then the end(s) on C are
flat over ∆ ni (1)b and ni (1)a with z2|g(y z) and C moves in a family flat over
∆
Proof Let us assume that f is net Then upon passing to net completion we can
actually assume it is embedded From our local classification of singularities we case
in case ni (1)a and ni (2)a We want to show that both ends have components
that move transversely to p hence we have to exclude case ni (1)a with g(y z) = ya
By way of contradiction say we have g(y z) = ya in the notation of opcit around
an end lowast isin C We proceed to compute what happens at the other end we find
formal coordinates ξ η ζ which by equation 23 satisfy
(24) ξ = xminus1 η = y ζ = xmz mod(I2C)
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 37
As such we compute part(ζ) = mζ + ξminusmηa mod(I2C) which is holomorphic if and only
if m le 0 so then C moves in Xlowast contradicting that the foliation has general type
Hence we are in cases ni (1)a ni (2)a with g = microyazb b ge 1
(25) part0 = xpart
partx+ microyazb
part
partz partinfin = minusξ part
partξ+ ζ(m+ microξm(bminus1)ηaζbminus1)
part
partζ(mod(I2C))
Following notation from subsection IIII observe that C1 is the section of E1C which
is disjoint from the proper transform of the fiber of p In coordinates over 0
(26) x1 = x y1 = y z1 = zyminus1
And similarly over infin Using the previous equation and 25 on C1 we find
(27)
part01 = x1part
partx1+microya+bminus11 zb1
part
partz1 partinfin1 = minusξ1
part
partξ1+ζ1(m+microξ
m(bminus1)1 ηa+bminus11 ζbminus11 )
part
partζ1(mod(I2C1
))
In particular the transform of the nilpotent field is still nilpotent after blowing up in
C It follows that the eigenvalues of the semi-simple field at the two ends of C and
C1 are the same Using equation 23 we deduce that the normal bundle to C1X1 to
isomorphic to that of CX in particular it contains a trivial direct summand This
proves that width(C) =infin
Next we show that f must be net Consider the induced flat projection pD D rarr ∆
its general fiber cannot be a cuspidal curve since along such cusp the foliation sin-
gularity would be log-canonical but not canonical Hence if C has a cusp necessarily
the general fiber of pD is a nodal curve Let X rarr X denote the blow up of the
nodal locus of pD with exceptional divisor E ruled over ∆ In a neighborhood of E
we have sing(F ) = D cap E which projects to ∆ as a double cover ramified over lowastObserve that the foliation on Xlowast is again log-canonical and not canonical hence its
local structure is ni (2)a In that case however p is unramified along the foliation
singularity Contradiction
We state a general criterion for movability of KF -nil curves
Proposition IVI7 Let C be a connected KF -nil curve such that p(C ) = lowast isin ∆
Assume its dual graph is a chain that none of its irreducible components is double
38 FEDERICO BUONERBA
VI3 and that its two extremal ends are flat over ∆ Then C moves in a family flat
over ∆ and each of its irreducible components is embedded
Proof We work in a formal neighborhood of C After taking roots we can assume
C is net and since its dual graph is a chain it is actually embedded We proceed by
induction on its length l where the case l = 1 is Proposition IVI6 For l gt 1 let C1
be a component of C which is extremal in its dual graph If C1 moves transversely
to p then both its ends do and hence we can apply the induction hypothesis to
C C1 If C1 is rigid then it can be flopped It is straightforward to check that we
can apply the induction hypothesis to the transform C + C+1 and we are done
Now we deal with rigid curves inside the singular fiber
Proposition IVI8 (Singular fiber) Let f C rarr X be an embedded net KF -
nil curve with anti-ample normal bundle Then there exists a birational map φ
(X F ) 99K (X +F+) and a KF+-nil curve C+ such that
bull φ is an isomorphism away from C+
bull In a formal neighborhood of at least one among C and C+ there exist two
invariant hypersurfaces D1D2 locally defined by the vanishing of eigenfunc-
tions of the semi-simple field such that C (resp C+)= D1 capD2
bull If F middot C lt 0 for some hypersurface F then F+ middot C+ gt 0 In particular X +
is projective
Such φ is called flop
Proof Our assumption is that Nfsimminusrarr O(minusn)oplusO(minusm) is anti-ample namely nm gt
0 If two invariant hypersurfaces as in our statement do exist around C the flop is
easily constructed as a weighted blow-up followed by a weighted blow-down As such
let us assume that such hypersurfaces do not exist around C In particular C is not
double VI3 By [Ar70] there exists a formal contraction c X rarrX0 collapsing C
to a point and an isomorphism everywhere else By Proposition IVI3 the foliation
F0 is Gorenstein around the node of X0 For ease of exposition let us assume
n = m = 1 the general case is handled the same way only the notation becomes more
cumbersome due to the presence of weights The node has embedding dimension 4
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 39
and in suitable local coordinates x0 y0 w0 z0 can be defined by x0z0minusy0w0 = 0 The
morphism c can be identified with the blow up of the embedded surface (x0 = y0 = 0)
Explicitly in the chart y = y0 x = x0yminus10 it is defined by
(28) y0 = y x0 = xy z0 = zprime w0 = xzprime
Here x is a coordinate along C while y = 0 is the pull-back of (x0 = y0 = 0) and
zprime some function in the normal bundle to C By the previous Proposition IVI6
we know C cannot be contained in the smooth locus of p Since C is not double
we can assume that in this local chart p is defined by (x y zprime) rarr xy - the case
(x y zprime) rarr xzprime being isomorphic as it is isomorphic to blow-up (z0 = w0 = 0)
instead of (x0 = y0 = 0) The issue is as emphasized by the notation zprime 6= z that
zprime may fail to be an eigenfunction for partS if it were we would be done since zprime = 0
is the local equation for the global pullback of (z0 = w0 = 0) However we have
a b isin C such that
(29) partS0(y0) = minusy0 partS0(x0) = 0 partS0(z0) = ay0 + bz0 partS0(w0) = ax0 + (b+ 1)w0
Observe that the embedded surfaces D01 = (y0 = z0 = 0) and D0
2 = (x0 = w0 = 0)
are both foliation invariant As such let b X + rarr X0 denote the blow-up of X0
along D01 - which is isomorphic to that along D0
2 - and let Di = blowastD0i i = 1 2
Finally X + is projective by Nakai-Moishezon Indeed every C with anti-ample
normal bundle is contained in an irreducible component F of X0 such that F middotC lt 0
Then F+ middot C+ gt 0 and we can find an ample divisor of the form H+ + εF+ where
H+ is the proper transform of an ample on X
Remark IVI9 In the previous proof a 6= b+ 1 Indeed such identity would create
a non-trivial Jordan block of partS0 in the (x0 w0)-plane thus contradicting the semi-
simplicity of partS0 In particular by a straightforward computation it is impossible to
find eigenfunctions of the form wlowast0 = w0 + αx0 zlowast0 = z0 + βy0 with x0z
lowast0 minus y0wlowast0 = 0
unless a = 0
We can conclude by pointing out an important point understood in this section
A painful aspect of the theory is that log-canonical singularities which appear natu-
rally as analytic degenerations of canonical ones come along with cuspidal invariant
40 FEDERICO BUONERBA
curves There is in particular no a-priori obstruction to the existence of rigid
cuspidal KF -nil curves in a smooth fiber of our family of foliated surfaces p Quite
generally a rigid curve of positive arithmetic genus in a smooth family of surfaces can
never be contracted to a point Therefore this would have been a counter-example
to any reasonable foliated canonical model theory one may wish to achieve Fortu-
nately such phenomenon does not happen and this establishes the Main Theorem I
modulo finitely many rigid curves confined in the singular fiber X0
IVII Invariant curves inside sing(F ) In this subsection we study curves Z0 subeXlowast cap sing(F ) which are inside the foliation singularity and invariant By this we
mean that there exists a sequence fn Cn rarrX of not necessarily algebraic invariant
curves converging in the compact-open topology to Z0 In other words the map
(30) NorF rarr Ω1Z0
is trivial By Corollary IIIIII5 we know that Z0 is at worst nodal it is smooth
wherever p is smooth for every point z isin Z0 the semi-simple part of the gener-
ating vector field has exactly one eigenvalue The problem here is that the Jordan
decomposition need not extend uniformly along Z0 not even along an irreducible
component In case ni (1)a the functions x and g may develop essential singulari-
ties arbitrary close to z Nonetheless the function x is unique and this says that x
does extend along Z0
Proposition IVII1 Let Z0 be as above Then in a formal neighborhood of Z0
there exists a unique smooth invariant hypersurface D0 containing Z0 which restricts
around any point in Z0 to the unique eigenfunction for the semi-simple field whose
eigenvalue is non-zero
Proof The local structure of the foliation around a point z isin Z0 is described by
cases ni (1)a and ni (1)b In both cases partS has one non-zero eigenvalue with
eigenfunction x Such eigenfunction x is a-priori only defined in the normal bundle to
Z0 but it is clear that the equation partx = x has a unique up to constants solution in
the formal completion around z As such there exists a unique smooth hypersurface
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 41
D0 in the formal completion around Z0 which restricts to the eigenfunction x around
z
Observe that the previous argument goes through since we are assuming Z0 subX0
Keeping notations from case ni (1)a if say g(y z) = yz then in the hypersurface
y equiv q isin Qgt0 the foliation has a log-canonical singularity and the eigenfunction x
extends highly non-uniquely to a formal neighborhood of the point (x y z) = (0 q 0)
In particular the existence of D0 as in the previous Proposition might fail along
the component (x = z = 0) of the foliation singularity This phenomenon is called
the beast
Anyway uniqueness in the previous proposition yields
Corollary IVII2 Let Z prime be a connected invariant curve inside sing(F ) Then in
a formal neighborhood of Z prime there exists a unique smooth invariant hypersurface D prime
containing Z prime which restricts around any point in Z prime to the hypersurface constructed
in the previous proposition
Next we turn to the intrinsic structure of invariant singular curves
Proposition IVII3 Let Z0 be an irreducible invariant curve inside sing(F )
Then Z0 is smooth and rational
Proof We work in a formal neighborhood of Z0 Let F0 denote the unique component
of X0 containing Z0 For any other fiber component F intersecting Z0 non-trivially
blow-up the invariant curve F cap F0 with exceptional divisor EF A straightforward
computation using the local formula ni (1)b shows that the fiber of the natural
projection EF rarr F cap F0 intersecting Z0 is also contained in sing(F ) For Z prime the
maximal connected singular invariant curve containing Z0 let G denote the saturated
foliation induced on D prime It is canonical with reduced singularities and it satisfies
KG = KF |Dprime minus Zprime By adjunction
(31) 2g(Z0)minus 2 + sZG(Z0) = minusZ prime middot Z0
Observe that thanks to our initial sequence of blow-ups the singularities of G along
Z0 coincide with the intersection of Z0 and Z prime Z0 In particular since D prime is formally
42 FEDERICO BUONERBA
flat over ∆ we deduce Z prime middot Z0 = 0 and the previous formula becomes
(32) 2g(Z0)minus 2 + sZG(Z0) = 0
This implies that Z0 is rational or elliptic If Z0 were elliptic then sZG(Z0) = 0 and
D0 defines an invariant elliptic curve in the general fiber of p By Baum-Bott this
contradicts that KF is big and nef Now we show that Z0 is smooth If it has a node
then D0 moves it in a family of nodal rational curves flat over ∆ In particular D0
itself has a node in codimension 1 hence Xlowast is smooth around the node of Z0 In its
formal neighborhood the foliation must be as in case ni (1)a which implies that
Z0 is smooth contradiction
We can improve as follows
Proposition IVII4 Let Z prime sube sing F capXlowast be a connected invariant curve with
KF middot Z prime = 0 Then its dual graph is a chain
Proof Assume Z prime is a cycle Then necessarily Z prime = D prime capXlowast scheme-theoretically
and by the existence of Hilbert scheme Z prime moves in the general fiber Its general
member is either a cycle of smooth rational curves or an elliptic curve Arguing as
in the previous proof we see that both options are impossible
V Configurations
In this section we analyze in great detail all possible configurations of invariant
curves along which KF vanishes These can be divided into three groups those
that do not move those that move in a one-dimensional family covering a surface
those that move in a higher-dimensional family covering a surface Curves in the first
group can form rather complicated configurations while those in the second group
are more simple they either move in the general fiber or they cover an isolated
Riccati component in the singular fiber Those in the third group turn out to be
represented by the two rulings of P1timesP1 if they happen to be cohomologous in the
ambient stack First we will analyze rigid curves then those which move and finally
we will describe their configurations
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 43
VI Configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially In
this subsection we describe configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF
trivially which arise in the situation described by set-up IIVII4
First we focus on KF -nil curves At the end of the section we deal with the simpler
case in which a curve in the configuration is fully contained in sing(F ) The general
fiber was handled in Proposition IVI6
Proposition VI1 Let C be a connected KF -nil curve contained in the smooth
locus of a fiber of p Then it is a chain or a cycle and it moves in a family flat over
∆
In what follows we let C denote a connected KF -nil curve contained in the
singular fiber X0 all of whose sub-curves are rigid in X Observe a consequence of
equation 23
Proposition VI2 Let C = cupiCi be a connected KF -nil curve Then the eigen-
values of partS are all rational at every point of sing(F )capC if and only if they are all
rational at one point
We can deduce many non-trivial properties about configurations of KF -nil curves
First we need
Definition VI3 Let C subX0 be a curve It is called double if there exists formally
around C two components F F prime of X0 such that C = F cap F prime A point lowast isin C where
three fiber components intersect is called a triple point If C lies on exactly one fiber
component it is called non-double We denote by F (C) such component
Remark VI4 Let Csimminusrarr P1(d e) be double with two triple points Then we know
e+ λ+ micro = minusd+ (λ+ n) + (micro+m) = 0 whence we obtain
(33) n+m = d+ e
Which is called triple-point formula
Next we show that essentially KF -nil curves do not form cycles unless something
deforms in X0 First we show that there are no cycles of rigid non-double curves
44 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proposition VI5 Let C be a connected KF -nil curve contained in the singular
fiber X0 of p Assume that every component of C is non-double and that every
sub-curve is rigid Then C contains no cycles
Proof We work in a formal neighborhood of C which we assume is a cycle Let
us first consider the case in which all components C1 middot middot middot CN are smooth with no
orbifold points and denote lowasti = Ci cap Ci+1 with CN+1 = C1 Moreover let us
assume no lowasti lies in the smooth locus of p
Since no curve is double the semi-simple field at every lowasti is as in case i (3)b in
particular the eigenvalues along the branches of Ci and Ci+1 add up to zero More-
over let minusni denote the self-intersection of Ci sub F (Ci) Normalize the eigenvalues
of partS so that at lowastn they are 1 in the C1 direction minus1 in the CN direction λ in the
F (C1)capF (CN) direction It follows by induction that at lowasti the eigenvalues are minus1
in the Ci direction 1 in the Ci+1 direction λ+ n1 + middot middot middot+ ni in the F (Ci) cap F (Ci+1)
direction After traveling around the cycle we obtain n1+middot middot middot+nN = 0 contradicting
that ni gt 0 for every i
We established the Proposition assuming every Ci is an embedded scheme and ev-
ery lowasti is in the singular locus of p The case in which Cisimminusrarr P1(di ei) has orbifold
points is analogous we end up with a combination c1n1 + middot middot middot + cNnN = 0 with ci
the eigenvalue at lowasti in the Ci+1 direction Normalizing so that c1 = e1 gt 0 again by
induction on i we see that every ci isin Qgt0 Next we show that our assumption on lowastiis always satisfied
Claim VI6 Every lowasti must belong to the singular locus of p
Proof We give two essentially equivalent proofs
bull If N = 2 3 then the previous argument goes through indeed we can normal-
ize eigenvalues at lowasti to be negative in the Ciminus1 direction and positive in the
Ci-direction and argue as above Hence we can assume N ge 4 If say lowasti is in
the smooth locus of p then F (Ci) = F (Ci+1) If also F (Ciminus1) = F (Ci) then Ci
lies in the smooth locus of p and hence it moves Therefore F (Ciminus1) 6= F (Ci)
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 45
and Ciminus1 can be flopped inside F (Ci) Since N ge 4 this preserves the smooth-
ness of F (Ci) and Ci is now is the smooth locus of p - contradiction
bull If lowasti belongs to the smooth locus of p then the end through lowasti moves We
can form a partial net completion fi Xi rarrX by normalizing C in lowasti only
Then f lowasti C is a chain with movable ends and hence moves in the general fiber
of p fi
Finally the general case in which some among the Ci have cusps can be easily
reduced to the smooth case in a couple of ways
bull Eigenvalues at the singularities of any KF -nil curve satisfy the same relations
as in the smooth case
bull Upon taking roots and net completion we can find a foliated formal 3-fold
supported on a cycle of smooth KF -nil curves which is a ramified cover of a
formal neighborhood of our cycle
Similarly we can show that there are no rigid cycles of double curves
Proposition VI7 Let C be a nodal KF -nil curve which is double Then C
deforms inside X0 In particular there cannot exist a rigid cycle of KF -nil double
curves
Proof Following the previous notation we have 0 = infin and if C = (xy = z = 0)
around 0 then we have identities
(34) x = η y = ξ z = ζ
The last one of which implies m = 0 that is C deforms Since C is double necessarily
the surface it spans must be contained in X0
The statement about cycles follows since a cycle of double curves can be transformed
after finitely many flops into a chain of smooth double curves with a nodal one
attached at one end
46 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Later on we will show that the deformations of C cannot span an elliptic surface
but only a family of nodal rational curves with a special Riccati foliation on it
We are ready to organize a detailed description of the dual graph of C More pre-
cisely we only need to understand how double curves intersect non-double curves
Lemma VI8 There exists a sequence of flops X 99KX + such that if C + denotes
the transform of C every double curve supported on C + contains two triple points
Proof Let C sube C be an irreducible component with at most one triple point and
let X 99K X + be its flop Then its transform C+ is non-double and the number
of double curves contained in C descreases It is clear that after finitely many flops
all double curves contain exactly two triple points
From now on all double curves in C have two triple points Thanks to proposition
VI2 we know that there are two cases to consider those curves along which the
semi-simple field has not only rational eigenvalues and those along which the semi-
simple field has only rational eigenvalues The first case being strictly easier than
the second it is a good starting place to warm up
Proposition VI9 (irrational eigenvalues) Assume that for every foliation singu-
larity along C not all eigenvalues of partS are rational Then every component of C
is net with at most one node and 1-skeleton of its dual graph is at worst trivalent
Write C = C axes cup C free where
C axes is the union of double curves
C free is the union of non-double curves
Then one among C axes and C free is empty Moreover
bull If C free is non-empty then it is a chain of smooth curves with rational moduli
bull If C axes is non-empty there exists a sequence of flops X 99KX + and an ir-
reducible component of the fiber FC subX + such that X + is a smooth stack
the transform C+ of C is contained in FC Moreover the dual graph of C+
is a tree which by [McQ08 III32] becomes a chain inside the normalization
of FC
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 47
Proof The first sentence is just corollary IIIIII3
Observe that if a non-double curve intersects a double curve then the non-double
curve must be contained in an LC-center around such intersection This contradicts
that not all eigenvalues are rational and establishes that one among C axes and C free
is empty
In case C free is not empty then it is clearly a chain or a cycle the latter being
impossible by Proposition VI5
We are left to show the existence of flops in case C = C axes We remark that
every component is smooth Let C0 be such a component and S0 a component of
X0 containing it Let C1 be the collection of irreducible components of C which
intersect S0 but are not contained in it All the components of C1 are smooth hence
we can flop them in any order until the transform of C1 lies in the transform of S0
Since the number of irreducible components of C lying outside S0 decreases after
such flop by induction we deduce the existence of finitely many flops after which
the birational transform of C is fully contained in the transform of S0
Next we take care of rational eigenvalues The complication here arises from
the fact that there may be double and non-double curves intersecting each other
However the situation is best possible
Proposition VI10 (rational eigenvalues) Assume that for every foliation singu-
larity along C all eigenvalues of partS are rational Write C = C axes cup C free where
C axes is the union of double curves
C free is the union of non-double curves
Then there exists a sequence of flops X 99K X + and an irreducible component of
the fiber FC axes subX + such that
bull X + is a smooth stack
bull The union of double curves of C axes is contained in FC axes the 1-skeleton of
its dual graph is a tree and each of its components has two triple points
bull The 1-skeleton of the dual graph of the transform C free+ is a disjoint union of
trees
bull Each connected component of C free+ intersects C axes in exactly one point
48 FEDERICO BUONERBA
In particular the 1-skeleton of the dual graph of C is a tree
Proof Notice that for every point lowast isin C cap Z there exists one LC-center through lowastIndeed there are three rational eigenvalues and they cannot be all non-vanishing and
all with different signs at the same time Now C axes can be treated as in proposition
VI9 This proves the first two items of the statement The third item follows from
Proposition VI5 so we can focus on the fourth one The proof is based on the
following obvious
Remark VI11 let C be a double curve such that either it is KF -nil hence has
two triple points or it is fully contained in sing(F ) Let C0 sube C free intersect C
non-trivially in a point lowast then necessarily C0 sub LClowast
Now let C0 middot middot middot CN form a chain of non-double curves with C0 and CN both
intersecting double curves as in the remark Denote by lowasti = Ci cap Ci+1 Since
C1 sub LClowast necessarily C1 is transverse to LClowast1 otherwise C1 would deform in F (C1)
Inductively we see that Ci+1 sub LClowasti and is transverse to LClowasti+1 In particular CN
cannot touch a double curve This contradiction proves the fourth item
Let us add a remark about configurations featuring invariant curves inside sing(F )
Proposition VI12 Let C be an invariant curve with KF middot C = 0 such that
Z0 sube C for some component Z0 sube sing(F ) Then C = Z prime cup C where
Z prime is a connected invariant curve inside the foliation singularity with dual graph a
chain
C is the union of at most two pairwise disjoint KF -nil curves with anti-ample
normal bundle
If not empty C can only intersect Z prime at the two ends of its dual graph Moreover
perhaps after a flop the intersection of C with Z prime supports the foliation singularity
along C As such if C has two components Z prime cup C deforms in the general fiber
Proof The structure of Z prime is Proposition IVII3 while that of Co is Proposition
IVI6 Let C prime be a component of C intersecting Z0 in a point lowast If C prime and Z0 belong
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 49
to different components of X0 then by case ni (1)b the eigenvalue of partS along C prime
vanishes so supp(sing(F ) cap C prime) = lowast If C prime and Z0 belong to the same component
then we can flop C prime into a different component
Observe that the divisor D prime from op cit can be extended along C prime This implies
that C can only intersect Z prime at its ends Moreover if C touches both ends necessarily
D prime capX0 = C scheme-theoretically hence by the existence of Hilbert scheme IVI5
we conclude
Our new set-up is
Set-up VI13 Everything as in set-up IIVII4 and moreover for any connected
invariant curve C with KF middot C = 0 all of whose sub-curves are rigid we have
configurations computed in proposition VI9 VI10 and Lemma VI12
VII Configurations of non-rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
In this subsection we describe configurations of surfaces which are covered by KF -nil
curves The structure of each such surface is described by classification IIV1 IIV2
and Corollary IIVI17 Our first step is to simplify the situation by contracting
chains of ruled surfaces The next step is to try and exclude the possibility that
the singular fiber of p contains fibrations by elliptic or nodal rational curves with
at least one invariant fiber This can be achieved with good success indeed there
may be at most one such Riccati foliation which is anyway rather isolated from the
remaining KF -nil curves Finally we observe that the only class of surfaces we have
not mentioned is
Definition VII1 A irreducible component F of the singular fiber of p is called
small Kronecker if
bull (FFF ) is birational to a Kronecker vector field on P1 timesP1 and
bull The two rulings of this P1 timesP1 are cohomologous inside X
The name comes from the fact that contraction of a small Kronecker yields a node
in the ambient threefold which admits a small resolution In fact in many respects
these fiber components behave very much like rigid KF -nil curves
50 FEDERICO BUONERBA
We start by getting rid of some fiber components which are ruled by KF -nil gener-
ically smooth rational curves
Proposition VII2 Notation as in Set-up VI13 there exists a sequence of flops
and divisorial contractions c X 99KX + such that
bull X + is a smooth stack
bull let S+ sub X + be an irreducible invariant divisor that contains a positive-
dimensional family of invariant rational curves along which KF+ vanishes
Then S+ is either birationally ruled by nodal rational curves or it is a small
Kronecker
Proof We focus first on contracting components of the singular fiber of p Consider
the following algorithm If there is no birationally ruled component different from
the ones listed in the second item we are done otherwise pick one such F and let
C denote the general member of the ruling If the cohomology class [C] is inde-
composable F is minimal Otherwise [C] = [C1] + [C2] where Ci are rational and
intersect KF trivially After finitely many steps we have a decomposition as a finite
sum of indecomposables [C] =sumn
i=0 ni[Ci] where every Ci is rational intersects KF
trivially We have two cases
bull There exists k such that Ck deforms in a birationally ruled necessarily min-
imal surface Fk
bull Every Ci has anti-ample normal bundle
In the first case denote by X rarr X1 the contraction of Fk along |Ck| and relpace
X by X1 Since Fk is minimal smoothness of the ambient stack is preserved unless
Fk is a small Kronecker This is however impossible if n ge 2 if Fk were a small
Kronecker then Ck deforms away from Fkminus1 so then Fkminus1 middot Ck = 0 on the other
hand Fkminus1 intersects the other ruling of Fk positively
In the second case flop C1 middot middot middot Cn in this order The transform of F is minimal and
not a small Kronecker so it can be contracted along its ruling preserving ambient
smoothness By induction on the Picard rank of X after finitely many steps this
algorithm ends Call X the output of this algorithm
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 51
Let S subX be an invariant divisor with a generically smooth ruling Then pS S rarr∆ is flat and after flopping finitely many rational curves in S cap plowastS(0) the resulting
pS is smooth Hence we can contract S along pS After finitely many steps the
Proposition is proven
For ease of notation in the sequel we call X the output of the previous proposition
Notice that there might still be divisors carrying a pencil of nodal rational curves
both inside and outside the singular fiber of p
We can start analyzing configurations of fiber components where the restriction of
F is not of general type We need some notation whose reason to exist will be clear
shortly
Definition VII3 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
along which KF is not big F is called special Riccati if
bull F is minimal
bull There exists a morphism s F rarr B onto a curve whose fibers are nodal
rational curve
bull F is transverse to the general fiber of s in particular KF is numerically
trivial along s
bull At least one fiber of s is invariant
bull There exists a section σ of s which is invariant and does not coincide with
the nodal locus of F
In particular the intersections of σ with invariant fibers of s isolated singularities
of F the node of F all coincide There may be fibers of s fully contained in sing(F )
in which case they are everywhere transverse to the saturated foliation
The definition looks nasty but special Riccati components have a rather simple
origin as the following proof shows
Lemma VII4 Let F be special Riccati Up to base change by an etale double cover
Bprime rarr B there is a natural isomorphism F norm simminusrarr BprimetimesP1 and the restriction of F
to F norm is birational to the projection onto P1
52 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proof We work over the normalization F norm Denote by Bprime the pre-image of the
node of F which is an etale double cover of B and let f denote an invariant fiber
of s with lowast = σ cap f Observe that F norm carries a Riccati foliation with 3 invariant
curves through lowast - namely σ f and a component of Bprime Hence FF has a log-canonical
singularity in lowast On F norm perform a weighted blow-up in each log-canonical singu-
larity followed by the contraction of the transforms of the corresponding fibers Let
s+ F+ rarr B denote the output of this operation If the proper transform of Bprime is
connected replace F+ by its base change under Bprime rarr B Hence we can assume Bprime
is the disjoint union of two sections of s+ and the transform of σ is a third section
which is disjoint from Bprime Therefore F+ = P1 timesBprime and the foliation restricts to the
projection onto P1
Next we describe those surfaces which cannot appear as components of the sin-
gular fiber X0
Definition VII5 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
along which KF is not big F is called illusory if
bull there exists a morphism t F rarr B onto a curve
bull KF is trivial along t
bull For any other fiber component F prime the intersection F cap F prime is either empty or
contained in a fiber of t
We give examples of illusory fiber components
Lemma VII6 The following fiber components are necessarily illusory
bull t is elliptic the foliation is either parallel to t or turbolent with at least one
invariant fiber
bull t is a nodal ruling the foliation is either parallel to t or transverse to t with
at least one invariant fiber and not birational to a special Riccati VII3
Proof Let f = F cap F prime for some fiber component F prime It is F -invariant
Assume t and F are parallel and f is transverse to both Then necessarily f subesing(F ) and KF is positive along the fibers of t contradiction
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 53
Assume t and F are generically transverse and f is transverse to t Let e be an
invariant fiber of t then ecap f isin sing(F ) hence t must be a family of nodal rational
curves and ecapf coincides with the node of e - otherwise KF would be positive along
t But this implies F is special Riccati contradiction
We proceed to show that illusory fibers do not exist
Lemma VII7 Let F be an illusory fiber component then every fiber of t is irre-
ducible If F prime is any fiber component intersecting F non-trivially then F prime is illusory
Proof Assume t has a reducible fiber f Then we can write f = f prime cup f primeprime where f prime
is irreducible and f primeprime is a disjoint union of chains of rational curves In particular
every subscheme supported on f primeprime is rigid in X f prime is rational and smooth iff f is a
cycle of rational curves hence the foliation on F is parallel to t and the choice of f prime
is not unique otherwise f prime is nodal or elliptic Let X 99KX + denote the flop of the
irreducible components of f primeprime in any order The proper transform f prime+ (below in red)
is the irreducible fiber of the induced morphism t+ F+ rarr B Since f primeprime+ intersects
f prime+ and is not contained in F+ there exists a component F prime of the fiber of p+ such
that F+ cap f prime+ 6= empty Since F+ is illusory necessarily F+ cap F prime = f prime+ Moreover F+
and F prime are the only fiber components intersecting f prime+ again because F+ is illusory
We deduce that F+ middot f prime+ = F prime middot f prime+ = 0 and therefore f prime+ is nef inside F prime It follows
that he restriction of F+ to F prime is not of general type and by the classification of
foliated surfaces [McQ08] necessarily f prime+ deforms inside F prime and defines a fibration
u F prime rarr Bprime In particular f prime+ is an irreducible fiber of u This is however impossible
since u contracts all the components of f primeprime+ contained in F prime (below in blue) and by
definition of F prime there exists at least one such component This proves that every
fiber of t is irreducible The following depicts the situation
F prime F+
f prime+
f primeprime+
t+u
54 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Concerning the second statement we only need to check the third condition for F prime
to be illussory namely that every other fiber component F primeprime intersecting F prime does
so along the fibers of u If F primeprime intersects F prime transversely to u then F primeprime intersects F
non-trivially and transversely to t as well absurd
Corollary VII8 Illusory components do not exist
Proof By the above lemma the existence of one illusory component implies that
every irreducible component of the singular fiber of p is illusory contradicting that
KF is big
We can now focus on fiber components that do appear
Corollary VII9 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
containing an invariant curve C which moves and such that KF middot C = 0 Then
following the classification [McQ08] we have two cases
(1) The minimal model of F is a special Riccati component
(2) F is a small Kronecker
Proof Certainly the ones listed are the only cases where C is KF -nil We have to
exclude the possibility that C is invariant inside sing(F ) By Proposition IVII3
such C would be rational with at most one node Since we already contracted at
the beginning of the present subsection all ruled surfaces necessarily C is nodal
However by opcit C cannot intersect any other fiber component of X0 which
implies the absurdity that X0 = F
We proceed to show that special Riccati components are rather isolated in the
fiber
Lemma VII10 Let F be a special Riccati component If F prime is a fiber component
intersecting F non-trivially then it does so transversely to s Morover there is
exactly one such F prime
Proof After finitely many flops we can assume that every fiber of s is irreducible
By the non-existence of illusory components there exists a fiber component F lowast with
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 55
σprime = F cap F prime transverse to s If F primeprime is a fiber component with f = F cap F primeprime a fiber
of s then we claim f sube sing(F ) If not then since KF middot f = 0 and σprime is invariant
necessarily σprimecap f is the node of f But then the existence of F primeprime contradicts that p is
snc Hence f sube sing(F ) so then around the node of f there are 3 fiber components -
two branches coming from F one from F primeprime - and sing(F ) has 2 branches - namely f
This is impossible by our case analysis ni (1)c ni (2)c The very same reasoning
establishes the uniqueness of F prime
Lemma VII11 Let F be as in the previous Lemma If C is a connected curve
with KF middot C = 0 then it is disjoint from F
Proof After finitely many flops s is irreducible and C intersects F transversely away
from its node Moreover lowast = C cap F isin sing(F ) and we deduce that the fiber of s
through lowast is fully contained in the singular locus of F This contradicts Proposition
IVII3 since such fiber is nodal
We conclude by observing the obvious
Lemma VII12 Let F be a small Kronecker Then there exists a contraction
c X rarr X prime which is an isomorphism away from F and contracts F along one
of its rulings Necessarily X prime is not projective since every global Cartier divisor
intersects c(F ) trivially On the other hand in a formal neighborhood of c(F ) there
exist Cartier divisors intersecting it non-trivialliy
As such the contribution coming from non-rigid curves is rather poor there are
curves moving in the general fiber there are special Riccati components disjoint from
any other invariant curve intersecting KF trivially there are small Kroneckers who
can be contracted to curves We shall see in the next section that the complications
arising from the contraction of such non-rigid curves is purely psychological and
totally harmless
56 FEDERICO BUONERBA
VI Contractions and proof of the Main Theorem
In this section we contract all invariant curves along which KF is zero thereby
establishing the existence of canonical models I First we contract non-rigid curves
as described in the previous subsection
bull Small Kroneckers along either ruling Albeit this destroys projectivity of
the ambient threefold there still exist Cartier divisors defined in a formal
neighborhood of the base curve that intersect it non-trivially
bull Families of irreducible nodal rational curves which are flat over ∆ This
creates elliptic singularities on the general fiber of p which are disjoint from
other invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
bull Special Riccati again families of irreducible nodal rational curves fully con-
tained in X0 This creates elliptic singularities disjoint from other invariant
curves intersecting KF trivially
We can summarize our situation by way of
Set-up VI1 X is a 3-dimensional DM stack with at worst elliptic singularities
F a foliation by curves with canonical singularities which is not Q-Cartier in a
neighborhood of Xsing
There exists a proper morphism p X rarr ∆ smooth off 0 isin ∆ F restricts to a
foliation on every fiber of p it has canonical singularities on the very general fiber
of p and log-canonical singularities on every fiber of p KF is big and nef on every
irreducible component of every fiber of p
Let C be the invariant sub-scheme along which KF is not big then C is a curve
fully contained in the smooth locus X0capXsmooth every sub-curve of C has anti-ample
normal bundle the 1-simplex of its dual graph is a tree and detailed configurations
of such are referenced in set-up VI13
We proceed to contract such C We assume that along C the semi-simple field has
only rational eigenvalues and moreover no component of C is inside the foliation
singularity The other two cases - irrational eigenvalues and presence of singular
component - are strictly easier and can be obtained with the very same method
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 57
The proof takes place in the formal completion around C = C free cup C axes The
former is a disjoint union of trees of non-double curves For each non-double C let
F (C) denote the unique component of X0 containing it The latter is a tree of double
curves each with two triple points all contained in the same irreducible FC axes Each
tree of non-double curves touches C axes in one point through a LC-center In order
to construct the contraction we will use Artinrsquos celebrated criterion in the following
form
Fact VI1 ([Ar70]) Let X be an irreducible algebraic space i Y rarr X a closed
subspace of pure codimension 1 and f Y rarr Y0 a proper morphism with flowastOY = OY0
Let X denote the formal completion of X along Y and assume there exists a Cartier
divisor D in X which is supported on Y and is f -anti-ample Then there exists a
proper morphism of algebraic spaces F X rarr X0 which is an isomorphism away
from Y and such that ilowastF = f
Now we use the tree structure of C to construct a suitable divisor to which apply
Artinrsquos theorem Namely consider the following inductive defintion
(35) C0 = C axes F0 = FC axes
For k ge 0 assume Ck Fk are defined
bull Let Ck+1 denote the union of irreducible components of C that intersect Fk
non-trivially but are not contained in cupilekFibull Let Fk+1 denote the reduced sum (
sumCsubeCk+1
F (C))red
This process stops with a collection C1 middot middot middotCN of curves and F1 middot middot middot FN of reduced
divisors
Lemma VI1 We have the following identities
(36)
Fk middot C lt 0 for every C sube Ck
(F0 + F1) middot C le 0 for every C sube C0
(Fkminus1 + Fk + Fk+1) middot C = 0 for every C sube Ck 1 lt k lt N
(FNminus1 + FN) middot C lt 0 for every C sube CN
58 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proof The first is just the fact that every component of C is rigid The remaining
three follow from X0 middot C = 0 but the last one requires further justification Indeed
if C sube CN N gt 0 then C is one end of a tree of non-double curves In particular
there exists a foliation singularity lowast isin C disjoint from any other component of
C and LClowast is transverse to C This implies LClowast middotC gt 0 which together with
(FNminus1 + FN + LClowast) middot C = 0 concludes the proof
Let ε1 middot middot middot εN isin Qgt0 and define
(37) F Nminusk = (1 + ε1 + middot middot middot+ εk)FNminusk
bull If C sube CN we have
(38) (F Nminus1 + F
N) middot C = ε1FNminus1 middot C + (FNminus1 + FN) middot C
bull If C sube CNminusk 1 lt k lt N we have
(39)
(F Nminuskminus1 + F
Nminusk + F Nminusk+1) middot C =
(1 + middot middot middot+ εk)(FNminuskminus1 + FNminusk + FNminusk+1) middot C minus εkFNminusk+1 middot C + εk+1FNminuskminus1 middot C =
minus εkFNminusk+1 middot C + εk+1FNminuskminus1 middot C
bull If C sube C0 we have
(40) (F 0 + F
1) middot C = εNF0 middot C + (Nminus1sumj=0
εj)(F0 + F1) middot C
It is clear that provided
(41) 1 gtgt ε1 gtgt middot middot middot gtgt εN
the divisor F =sumF k is negative along every component of C
This proves the existence of the contraction and concludes the proof of the Main
Theorem I
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 59
VII Moduli space of foliated surfaces of general type
In this section we study the modular variation of foliated surfaces of general type
The upshot is that it is possible to define a functor which is representable separated
and every irreducible component is proper The main issue here is that the supporting
surface of a foliated canonical model may well fail to be projective indeed KF is not
Q-Gorenstein in general Hence in order to proceed via standard methods [Ko17]
we have to parametrize our canonical models together with a suitable projective
resolution
Definition VII13 Let (SF ) be a foliated proper reduced purely 2-dimensional
DM stack Assume S has only normal crossing singularities in codimension 1 that
F has log-canonical foliation singularities and that KF is big and nef on at least
one of the irreducible components of S If whenever KF middot C = 0 for some curve C
then C moves in an irreducible component of S and no member of such deformation
is F -invariant then (SF ) is called foliated canonical model of general type
Clearly foliated canonical models are exactly the stable degenerations appearing
as the central fiber of our Main Theorem I Their lack of projectivity has two sources
namely the contraction of cycles of smooth KF -nil curves and of trees of cuspidal
ones Singularities arising from cycles behave well in families namely they always
deform into the general fiber Those arising from cuspidal curves on the other hand
tend to be rather isolated inside the degenerate fiber
Observe that the deformation theory of a foliated surface is rather simple suppose
given an infinitesimal C-algebras extension 0 rarr J rarr Ae rarr A rarr 0 and (SF )
a foliated surface flat over Spec(A) then the obstruction to lifting to Ae can be
understood in three simple steps
(1) Deformation of the underlying surface S once a deformation Se rarr Spec(Ae)
is given
(2) Deformation of the line bundle KF by the exponential sequence
(42) 0rarr J otimes OS rarr OlowastSerarr OlowastS rarr 0
obstructions lie in H2(SOS)otimes J once a deformation of KF is given
60 FEDERICO BUONERBA
(3) Deformation of the defining section OS rarr KF otimes TS obstructions lie in
H1(SKF otimes TS)otimes J
Now we have
Definition VII14 Let (SF ) be a foliated canonical model of general type A
proper birational morphism q (SF )proj rarr (SF ) is called its projective resolution
if
bull Every irreducible component of Sproj is smooth
bull The exceptional locus of q is a disjoint union of cycles of KFproj-nil smooth
curves and trees of KFproj-nil curves each of which has a non-trivial cuspidal
singularity
bull In a neighborhood of every q-exceptional cycle not only Sproj but also its
moduli space is smooth
We need a few remarks about projective resolutions
(1) Projective resolutions are always unique Indeed the only possible ambiguity
could lie in some extra smooth irreducible components in the exceptional
locus This is forbidden by definition in the trees of cuspidal curves it is
also forbidden by way of the third item in cycles of smooth ones ie on
algebraic surfaces the minimal resolution is unique
(2) Denote by E the collection of q-exceptional cycles Then there exist ε δ isinQgt0 such that KFproj
minus εE + δKSprojis ample by Nakai-Moishezon
(3) Deformations of a projective resolution of a foliated canonical model are
canonically identified with deformations of the underlying birational mor-
phism q Sproj rarr S followed by a deformation of the foliation F
We are now ready to construct a moduli functor for foliated surfaces more precisely
for projective resolutions of foliated canonical models of general type For m dN isinN and ε δ isin Qgt0 let
(43) MmdNεδ (C-schemes)rarr (sets)
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 61
be defined by MmdNεδ(S) = Diagrams
(44) (X F )projqminusrarr (X F )
pminusrarr S
Where
bull Both p and p q are flat and proper
bull For every closed point s isin S the induced morphism qs is the projective
resolution of (X F )s which is a foliated canonical model of general type
bull Denote by Es the collection of exceptional cycles of qs By our Main Theorem
I there is a fibrewise divisor E subXproj flat over S restricting to Es for every
s isin S
bull Let j W rarr Xproj denote the maximal closed subscheme away from which
KFprojand KXprojS are locally free Then
(45) L [m] = (jlowast(KFprojotimes OXproj
(minusεE )otimesKδXprojS
)otimesm)oror
is flat over S and commutes with base-change
bull L [m] is very ample of degree d on every fiber and defines an embedding into
PNS
We are now ready for
Theorem VII15 The functor MmdNεδ is represented by a separated algebraic
space each of whose irreducible components is proper
Proof We show that our functor satisfies Artinrsquos conditions [Ar74 Corollary 54] By
definition condition 1) and 4) hold while our previous remark on foliated obstruction
theory shows that 3) is true
We proceed to show 2) namely effectivity of formal deformations for MmdNεδ
What follows owes much to Artinrsquos [A74rsquo] Let T be a complete C-algebra Tn its
n-truncation so that Tsimminusrarr limlarrminusTn and finally qn isinMmdNεδ(Spec(Tn)) a compatible
sequence For each n there is a maximal open set Un sube Xprojn where qn is an
isomorphism denote by sn Cn rarr Zn the restriction of qn to the complement of Un
Clearly sn is projective over Spec(Tn)
62 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Denote by X C etc the formal algebraic spaces obtained as limits of Xn Cn
etc Then Xproj sub PNˆSpec(T )
hence by Grothendieckrsquos existence Theorem we find
bull a flat projective family (X F )proj rarr Spec(T ) resp a closed subscheme
C subXproj whose completion is Xproj resp C
bull a scheme Z whose completion is Z and a morphism s C rarr Z everything
being projective over Spec(T )
Further we have a formal contraction limminusrarr qn C rarr Z hence the main theorem
of [Ar70] gives algebraic contraction (X F )proj rarr (X F ) This proves the repre-
sentability of MmdNεδ The properness and separability of each irreducible com-
ponent can be checked using valutative criteria indeed properness is the content of
our Main Theorem I separatedness follows from the uniqueness of foliated canonical
models of general type and their projective resolution
References
[Ar70] M Artin Algebraization of Formal Moduli II Existence of Modifications Ann
of Math Vol 91 No 1 (Jan 1970) pp 88-135 httpwwwjstororgstable
1970602
[Ar74] M Artin Versal Deformations and Algebraic Stacks Inventiones Math 27 165- 189
(1974) httpmathuchicagoedu~drinfeldArtin_on_stackspdf
[A74rsquo] M Artin Algebraic construction of Brieskornrsquos resolutions J Alg Vol 29 Issue
2 May 1974 pp 330-348 httpwwwsciencedirectcomsciencearticlepii
0021869374901021
[BB72] P Baum R Bott Singularities of holomorphic foliations J Diff Geom 7 (1972)
279-342 httpsprojecteuclidorgdownloadpdf_1euclidjdg1214431158
[Bo77] F Bogomolov Families of curves on a surface of general type Doklady Akademii Nauk
USSR (in Russian) 236 (5) 1041-1044
[Bo78] F Bogomolov Holomorphic tensors and vector bundles on projective varieties Math
USSR Izv 13 (1978) 499-555
[BM16] F Bogomolov M McQuillan Rational Curves on Foliated Varieties In Cascini
McKernan Pereira (eds) Foliation Theory in Algebraic Geometry Simons Symposia
Springer Cham pp 21-51 (2016) httpslinkspringercomchapter101007
978-3-319-24460-0_2
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 63
[Bu] F Buonerba Functorial resolution of tame quotient singularities in positive charac-
teristic httpsarxivorgabs151100550
[Ke99] S Keel Basepoint Freeness for Nef and Big Line Bundles in Positive Characteris-
tic Annals of Math 149 No 1 (Jan 1999) pp 253-286 httpwwwjstororg
stable121025 httpsarxivorgabsmath9901149
[KM97] S Keel S Mori Quotients by groupoids Annals of Math 145 (1997) pp
193-213 httpwwwjstororgstable2951828seq=1page_scan_tab_contents
httparxivorgabsalg-geom9508012
[Ko17] J Kollar Families of varieties of general type httpswebmathprincetonedu
~kollarbookmodbook20170720pdf
[LN02] A Lins Neto Some examples for the Poincare and Painleve problems Annales sci-
entifiques de lrsquoENS 352 (2002) 231-266 httparchivenumdamorgarticle
ASENS_2002_4_35_2_231_0pdf
[McQ12] M McQuillan Foliated Mori Theory amp Hyperbolicity of Algebraic Surfaces http
wwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillahomehtml
[McQ98] M McQuillan Diophantine approximation and foliations Inst Hautes Etudes Sci
Publ Math 87 (1998) 121-174 httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafiles
ihespdf
[McQ05rsquo] M McQuillan Bloch hyperbolicity preprint httpwwwmatuniroma2it
~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ05] M McQuillan Semi-stable reduction of foliations IHES pre-print IHESM0502
(2005) httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ05rdquo] M McQuillan Uniform Uniformisation IHES pre-print (2005) IHES M0503 http
wwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ08] M McQuillan Canonical models of foliations Pure Appl Math Q 4
(2008) no 3 Special Issue In honor of Fedor Bogomolov Part 2 877-1012
httpintlpresscomsitepubfiles_fulltextjournalspamq20080004
0003PAMQ-2008-0004-0003-a009pdf
[MP13] M McQuillan D Panazzolo Almost etale resolution of foliations J Diff Geom 95
(2013) pp 279-319 httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesmp1bispdf
[Pe02] JV Pereira On the Poincare Problem for Foliations of General Type Mathematische
Annalen 323 no 2 pp217-226 2002 httpsarxivorgabsmath0104185
[PS16] JV Pereira R Svaldi Effective algebraic integration in bounded genus preprint
httpsarxivorgabs161206932
64 FEDERICO BUONERBA
[Re83] M Reid Minimal models of canonical threefolds in rdquoAlgebraic Varieties and Ana-
lytic Varietiesrdquo Adv Stud Pure Math vol 1 S Iitaka ed Kinokuniya and North-
Holland 1983 pp 131-180 httpwwwmathsedacukcheltsovquotientpdf
reid2pdf
[Se67] A Seidenberg Reduction of singularities of the differential equation Ady = Bdx Amer
J Math 89 (1967) 248-269 httpwwwjstororgstable2373435
[SB83] N Shepherd-Barron Degenerations with numerically effective canonical divisor The
Birational Geometry of Degenerations (R Friedman and D Morrison eds) Progr
Math no 29 Birkhuser 1983 pp 33-84
[Vis89] A Vistoli Intersection theory on algebraic stacks and on their moduli spaces
Invent Math (1989) pp 613-670 httplinkspringercomarticle101007
2FBF01388892page-1
Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences New York University 251 Mercer
Street New York NY 10012 USA
E-mail address buonerbacimsnyuedu
- I Introduction
- II Preliminaries
-
- III Operations on Deligne-Mumford stacks
- IIII Width of embedded parabolic champs
- IIIII Gorenstein foliation singularities
- IIIV Foliated adjunction
- IIV Canonical models of foliated surfaces with canonical singularities
- IIVI Canonical models of foliated surfaces with log-canonical singularities
- IIVII Set-up
-
- III Invariant curves and singularities local description
-
- IIII `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F) not isolated
- IIIII `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F) isolated
- IIIIII Local consequences
-
- IV Invariant curves along which KF vanishes
-
- IVI KF-nil curves
- IVII Invariant curves inside `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F)
-
- V Configurations
-
- VI Configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
- VII Configurations of non-rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
-
- VI Contractions and proof of the Main Theorem
- VII Moduli space of foliated surfaces of general type
- References
-
24 FEDERICO BUONERBA
is Zariski-open while the set
(13) s isin C Fs is canonical
is the complement to a countable subset of C lying on a real-analytic curve
Proof By Fact IIIII2 being log-canonical is equivalent to the linearized endomor-
phism part IZI2Z rarr IZI
2Z being non-nilpotent where Z is the singular sub-scheme
of the foliation Of course being non-nilpotent is a Zariski open condition The
second statement also follows from opcit since a log-canonical singularity which is
not canonical has linearization with all its eigenvalues positive and rational The
statement is optimal as shown by the vector field on A3xys
(14) part(s) =part
partx+ s
part
party
Next we recall the existence of a functorial canonical resolution of foliation singu-
larities for foliations by curves on 3-dimensional stacks
Fact IIVII2 [MP13] Let X = (XDF ) be a 3-dimensional DM stack with bound-
ary foliated by curves Then there exists a proper birational morphism Xprime rarr X such
that X prime is a smooth DM stack and F prime has only canonical foliation singularities
The original opcit contains a more refined statement including a detailed de-
scription of the claimed birational morphism
In order for our set-up to make sense we mention one last very important result
Fact IIVII3 [McQ05] Let X be a smooth DM stack with projective moduli and F
a foliation by curves with (log)canonical singularities Then there exists a birational
map X 99K Xm obtained as a composition of flips such that Xm is a smooth
DM stack with projective moduli the birational transform Fm has (log)canonical
singularities and one of the following happens
bull KFm is nef or
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 25
bull There exists a fibration Xm rarr B over a smooth base whose fibers are
weighted projective spaces such that Fm is tangent to the fibers and restricts
to a radial foliation on those
Finally we can organize our notation
Set-up IIVII4 (X F ) is a smooth 3-dimensional DM stack with projective mod-
uli F a foliation by curves with canonical singularities such that KF is big and nef
There exists a semi-stable morphism p X rarr ∆ whose moduli is projective onto
the (formal) unit disk F restricts to a foliation on every fiber of p it has canon-
ical singularities on the very general fiber of p and log-canonical singularities on
every fiber of p Our task from now on is to analyze and contract the maximal
foliation-invariant sub-scheme of X along which KF is not ample
III Invariant curves and singularities local description
In this section we give a complete decription of germs of invariant curves that
appear in the formal completion of any point in the set-up IIVII4 Let us replace
X by its formal completion in a point lowast where the foliation is singular F is defined
by a vector field part with Jordan decomposition partS + partN see the end of subsection
IIIII Since [partS partN ] = 0 partN preserves the eigenspaces of partS Moreover the fact that
F is tangent to p translates into
(15) partS(p) = partN(p) = 0
The description of invariant germs of curves through lowast will be achieved via case-by-
case analysis organized by computing what happens for all possible combinations
of the following informations whether the singular locus Z is isolated at lowast the
number of eigenvalues of partS the number of components of the fiber through p
IIII sing(F ) not isolated
ni (1) partS has one eigenvalue
bull We have partS = x partpartx
and partN = f partparty
+ g partpartz
for some functions f g isin (y z)
Moreover partN is non-trivial
26 FEDERICO BUONERBA
bull Z = (x = f = g = 0) is not isolated
(a) The fiber has one component y = 0 Then 0 = partN(y) = f hence
Z = (x = g = 0) The restriction on the fiber is part|(y=0) = x partpartx
+g|(y=0)partpartz
Z has a one-dimensional component contained in the fiber iff g isin (y) in
which case such component is smooth equal to (x = 0) moreover the
foliation on the fiber saturates to a smooth one with invariant curves
z = 0 transverse to Z
Otherwise the foliation is saturated on the fiber and has a saddle-node
singularity
(b) The fiber has two components yz = 0 Then 0 = partN(yz) = zf + yg
hence f = yh g = minuszh for some h and Z = (x = h = 0) The restriction
on a fiber component say y = 0 is part|(y=0) = x partpartxminus zh|(y=0)
partpartz
Z has an
irreducible component contained in y = 0 iff h isin (y) in which case such
component is smooth equal to (x = 0) moreover the foliation on the
fiber saturates to a smooth one with invariant curves z = 0 transverse
to Z
Otherwise the foliation is saturated on the fiber and has a saddle-node
singularity
(c) The fiber has three components xyz = 0 0 = partS(xyz) = xyz a contra-
diction
Summary with one eigenvalue there are either one or two components The
foliation might have a one-dimensional singularity when restricted to a fiber
component in this case such singularity is a smooth curve and the foliation
saturates to a smooth one with invariant curves transverse to the singular-
ity If the singularity is isolated on a fiber component then it is a canonical
saddle-node with at most two invariant branches
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 27
ni (2) partS has two eigenvalues
We have partS = x partpartx
+ λy partparty
and partN(x y z) = k partpartx
+ f partparty
+ g partpartz
for some func-
tions k f g
(a) The fiber has one component z = 0 Then g = 0 k f isin (x y) and
necessarily Z = (x = y = 0) is transverse to the fiber The restriction on
the fiber is saturated and non-degenerate It has canonical singularities
if either partN 6= 0 or λ isin Q+ otherwise it is log-canonical
(b) The fiber has two components xy = 0 Then 0 = partS(xy) hence λ = minus1
Also 0 = partN(xy) hence k = xh f = minusyh g isin (xy) and necessarily
Z = (x = y = 0) coincides with the intersection of the two fiber compo-
nents which is smooth the foliation saturates to a smooth one on each
component with invariant curves transverse to Z
(c) The fiber has three components xyz = 0 hence λ = minus1 Also k = xklowast
f = yf lowast g = zglowast with klowast + f lowast + glowast = 0 and glowast isin (xy) The singularity
Z = (x = y = 0) coincides with the intersection of two of the fiber
components The restriction to either such components saturates to a
smooth foliation with invariant curves transverse to Z the restriction
to z = 0 has a canonical non-degenerate singularity all the invariant
curves are those in xy = 0 transverse to Z
Summary with 2 eigenvalues there can be any number of components With
one component the foliation restricts to a saturated one with a (log)canonical
singularity which moves transversely to p With two components the folia-
tion is not saturated on either and saturates to a smooth one with invariant
curves transverse to the singularity With three components the foliation
is not saturated on two of them and saturates to a smooth one on both
with invariant curves transverse to the singularity the foliation is saturated
and has a canonical non-degenerate singularity on the third component In
28 FEDERICO BUONERBA
the last two cases the singularity is fully contained in an intersection of two
components
ni (3) partS has three eigenvalues But then the singularity is isolated a contradiction
IIIII sing(F ) isolated
i (1) partS has one eigenvalue
bull We have partS = x partpartx
and partN = xk partpartx
+ f partparty
+ g partpartz
for some functions
k f g isin (y z) Moreover partN is non-trivial
bull Z = (x = f = g = 0) is isolated
(a) The fiber has one component y = 0 Then 0 = partN(y) = f and Z cannot
be isolated a contradiction
(b) The fiber has two components yz = 0 Then 0 = partN(yz) = zf + yg so
f = yh g = minuszh with h non-constant Hence Z = (x = h = 0) is not
isolated a contradiction
(c) The fiber has three components xyz = 0 Then 0 = partS(xyz) = xyz a
contradiction
Summary the 1 eigenvalue case does not exist
i (2) partS has two eigenvalues
bull We have partS = x partpartx
+ λy partparty
partN = xk partpartx
+ f partparty
+ g partpartz
for some functions
k f g
bull g is non-trivial and g isin (x y)
bull Z = (x = y = g = 0) is isolated
(a) The fiber has one component z = 0 Then g = 0 a contradiction
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 29
(b) The fiber has two components xy = 0 hence λ = minus1 and g isin (xy z)
the restriction to y = 0 is part|(y=0) = x partpartx
+g|(y=0)partpartz
and necessarily g|(y=0)
is non-vanishing Therefore the restriction to either components is satu-
rated and the singularity is a canonical saddle-node on each of them
The invariant curves are among the axes x = y = 0 x = z = 0 y = z =
0
(c) The fiber has three components xyz = 0 hence λ = minus1 Necessarily
k = xklowast f = yf lowast g = zglowast with klowast + f lowast + glowast = 0 The restriction to
y = 0 is part|(y=0) = x(1 + klowast|(y=0))partpartx
+ zglowast|(y=0)partpartz
since g isin (x y) we have
glowast|(y=0) non-trivial Therefore the restriction to either x = 0 and y = 0
is saturated and the singularity is a canonical saddle-node on each of
them
The restriction to z = 0 is part|(z=0) = x(1 + klowast|(z=0))partpartx
+ y(minus1 + f lowast|(z=0))partparty
therefore the restriction is saturated and has a canonical non-degenerate
singularity
The invariant curves are among the axes x = y = 0 x = z = 0 y = z =
0
Summary with 2 eigenvalues there are either two or three components the
foliation restricts to a canonical saddle-node on two of them and to a non-
degenerate singularity on the third one if it exists All the invariant curves
are in the axes
i (3) partS has three eigenvalues We have partS = x partpartx
+ λy partparty
+ microz partpartz
(a) The fiber has one component y = 0 hence λ = 0 a contradiction
(b) The fiber has two components xy = 0 hence λ = minus1 The restriction to
y = 0 is part|(y=0) = x partpartx
+ microz partpartz
+ partN|(y=0) The singularity is log-canonical
30 FEDERICO BUONERBA
iff micro isin Qgt0 and partN|(y=0)= 0 and in this case the singularity on x = 0 is
canonical non-degenerate Invariant curves are those in y = 0 and the
axis x = z = 0
If the restriction to both fiber components is canonical then it non-
degenerate on both and the invariant curves are contained in the axes
x = y = 0 x = z = 0 y = z = 0
The fiber could be yz = 0 hence λ+micro = 0 It can be analyzed as in the
next item
(c) The fiber has three components xyz = 0 hence 1 + λ + micro = 0 In par-
ticular if λ = cmicro c isin Q+ then λ micro isin Q The restriction to y = 0
is part|(y=0) = x partpartx
+ microz partpartz
+ partN|(y=0) This singularity is log-canonical iff
micro isin Qgt0 and partN|(y=0)= 0 in which case the singularity on both x = 0
and z = 0 is canonical non-degenerate In particular if the singularity
is log-canonical on some fiber component then it is so on exactly one
component and all eigenvalues are rational Invariant curves are those
in y = 0 and the axis x = z = 0
If the restriction to all fiber components is canonical then it non-degenerate
on each of them and the invariant curves are contained in the axes
x = y = 0 x = z = 0 y = z = 0
Summary with 3 eigenvalues there are either two or three fiber components
the foliation restricts to a singular foliation on each of them and it has a
log-canonical singularity on at most one of them in this case all eigenvalues
of the semi-simple field are rational
IIIIII Local consequences We list some corollaries for future reference As al-
ways in this section the statements are local so everything happens in a formal
neighborhood of our point lowast First we state those corollaries we will need to describe
configurations of KF -nil curves
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 31
Definition IIIIII1 An LC-center Π sub X is an irreducible F -invariant formal
hypersurface such that the local vector field generating the foliation when restricted
to Π has semi-simple part with log-canonical singularity or a one-dimensional sin-
gular locus An LC-center with a log-canonical singularity is necessarily an algebraic
component of the singular fiber of p
Corollary IIIIII2 There is at most one LC-center with a log-canonical singularity
through lowast If it exists then all eigenvalues of the semi-simple field at lowast are rational
If there are at least two LC-centers through lowast then there are exactly two and the
foliation singularity is a smooth curve on each of them
Proof Possible cases in which an LC-center with log-canonical singularities appears
ni (2)a i (3)b i (3)c
Corollary IIIIII3 If there is no LC-center thorugh a point lowast then there are at
most three invariant curves through lowast all smooth Any number of them spans a sub-
space of the tangent space at lowast of maximal possible dimension
If there is an LC-center through lowast then there is at most one invariant curve through
lowast and not contained in the LC-center
If there is an LC-center with non-isolated singularity then the singularity is smooth
and all invariant curves contained in the LC-center intersect the singularity trans-
versely
Proof Invariant curves not in an LC-centers with log-canonical singularities are con-
tained in the three axes x = z = 0 x = y = 0 y = z = 0 mentioned in the above
classification The other statements are clear
Corollary IIIIII4 If p is smooth at lowast then Z is one dimensional around lowast
Proof Possible casesni (1)a ni (2)a
In particular if there is no LC-center the situation is the familiary
xz
32 FEDERICO BUONERBA
While if there is an LC-center (pink) with log-canonical singularity it will look like
y
LC-center
While if there is an LC-center with non-isolated singularity (red) it will look like
(the black arrows being invariant curves)
y
LC-center
The next corollary describes one-dimensional components of the foliation singularity
Corollary IIIIII5 If Z0 is a one-dimensional irreducible component of the folia-
tion singularity then it is at worst nodal The foliation when restricted to any fiber
component containing Z0 saturates to a smooth foliation in a neighborhood of Z0
and all the invariant curves are transverse to Z0
If Z0 is contained in exactly one fiber component then the semi-simple field has one
eigenvalue everywhere along Z0
If Z0 lies at the intersection of two fiber components then the semi-simple field has
two constant eigenvalues everywhere along Z0
Moreover if there exist a sequence of invariant curves converging in the compact-
open topology to Z0 then there is generically one eigenvalue along Z0
Proof Possible casesni (1)a ni (1)b ni (2)b ni (2)c Concerning the one-
eigenvalue case invariant curves converging to Z0 can be found in the formal hyper-
surface x = 0
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 33
IV Invariant curves along which KF vanishes
In this section we study in great detail a formal neighborhood of invariant curves
where KF is numerically trivial In the first subsection we deal with KF -nil curves
namely those whose generic point is not contained in the foliation singularity In this
case the normal bundle to the curve determines its formal neighborhood uniquely
and this has plenty of amazing consequences In the second subsection we study
those invariant curves which are contained in the foliation singularity In this case
we are not able to control the full formal neighborhood but important informations
can still be obtained
IVI KF -nil curves In this subsection we study in detail the structure of KF -
nil curves and their formal neighborhoods appearing in the set-up IIVII4 In
particular we will describe a simple process to replace cuspidal KF -nil curves by
net ones prove that the foliation is in the net completion around a net KF -nil curve
defined by a global vector field which admits a global Jordan decomposition deduce
that eigenfunctions for the semi-simple component of such field are also globally
defined on a formal neighborhood
The first important remark is of technical nature and explains how to deal with non-
net KF -nil curves By Proposition IIIV4 this is indeed possible and the images of
such curves will acquire cusp-like singularities It is hard to analyze the geometry
of F around such cuspidal curves and therefore necessary to remove them Let us
assume that C is simply connected with rational moduli f is ramified at 0 isin C
and and denote by X the formal completion along f(C) Then formally around
f(0) the curve f(C) has defining ideal (y xa minus zb) where y = 0 is a fiber of the
fibration p X rarr ∆ containing f(C) x z isin H0(X OX ) restrict to suitable local
coordinates on such fiber and a b ge 2 are coprime integers
Claim IVI1 Let r X ( aradicz = 0) rarr X be the a-th root of z = 0 III3 Then
(rlowastC)norm =∐a
1 C and the induced map rlowastf (rlowastC)norm rarrX ( aradicz = 0) is net
Proof Since r is etale away from z = 0 also rlowastC rarr C is etale away from 0 isin C
Since C 0 is simply connected we have rlowastC rminus1(0) =∐a
1 C 0 This proves
34 FEDERICO BUONERBA
the first statement Let ζ be a function on X ( aradicz = 0) such that ζa = z so then
rlowast(xa minus zb) =prod
ηa=1(x minus ηζb) Every branch is net in 0 and we obtain the second
statement as well
As such upon taking roots we can replace non-net KF -nil invariant curves with
rational moduli by net ones
We now proceed to study net KF -nil curves We will show that the foliation is
defined by a global vector field around a net KF -nil curve with rational moduli and
that such vector field admits a global Jordan decomposition
Proposition IVI2 Notation as in the set-up IIVII4 let f C rarrX be a KF -nil
curve Assume that f is net and let j C rarr C be the net completion along f Then
there exists an isomorphism
(16) OC(KF )simminusrarr OC
In particular there exists a global vector field partf on C that generates F
Proof Since C has rational moduli and is simply connected it has infinite-cyclic
Picard group and we have an isomorphism
(17) OC(KF )simminusrarr OC
Moreover we have a non-canonical splitting of the normal bundle Njsimminusrarr O(minusn) oplus
O(minusm) and we claim that both nm ge 0 Indeed consider the induced semi-stable
fibration C rarr ∆ and let F be the normalization of an irreducible component of a
fiber such that C sub F Consider the exact sequence
(18) 0rarr NCF rarr Nj rarr NFC|C rarr 0
Since KF is nef NCF is not ample since F is a fiber of a fibration also NFC|C is
not ample and this is enough to conclude even though nm may be different from
the degrees of such normal bundles
At this point we can lift the isomorphism 17 over infinitesimal neighborhoods of j
Indeed for every k ge 0 we have an exact sequence
(19) 0rarr Symk ICI2C rarr OCk+1
(KF )rarr OCk(KF )rarr 0
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 35
which shows that the obstruction to lifting the isomorphism lies in
(20) H1(C Symk ICI2C) = H1(C Symk(O(n)oplus O(m))) = 0
From this we can deduce
Proposition IVI3 The vector field partf admits a Jordan decomposition uniformly
along C
Proof The cohomology sequence attached to 19 is
(21) 0rarr H0(C Symk ICI2C)rarr H0(COCk+1
)rarr H0(COCk)rarr 0
Let partk+1 denote the image of partf in End(H0(COCk+1)) Looking at
H0(COCk+1) minusminusminusrarr H0(COCk
)
partk+1
y partk
yH0(COCk+1
) minusminusminusrarr H0(COCk)
we see the canonical Jordan deomposition of partk+1 restricts to that of partk
The above result describes a very useful interplay between normal bundles to
KF -nil curves and the structure of the semi-simple field It turns out that these
informations determine formal neighborhoods uniquely For simplicity let C be
an irreducible component of C without orbifold points Let us assume that part|C is
singular in 0infin Then there exist formal functions x y z at 0 isin C and ξ η ζ at
infin isin C such that x ξ are coordinates along C y η are local sections of OC(minusn)
so η = xny mod(I2C) z ζ are local sections of OC(minusm) so ζ = xmz mod(I2C)
Normalizing so that xminus1partS(x) = ε isin 0 1 we obtain
(22) part0S = εxpart
partx+ λy
part
party+ microz
part
partz partinfinS = minusεξ part
partξ+ (λ+ εn)η
part
partη+ (micro+ εm)ζ
part
partζ
More generally ie C = P1(d e) we have glueing rules x = te ξ = tminusd η = tny and
ζ = tmz mod(I2C) Normalizing so that tminus1partS(t) = ε isin 0 1 we obtain
(23) part0S = eεxpart
partx+ λy
part
party+ microz
part
partz partinfinS = minusdεξ part
partξ+ (λ+ εn)η
part
partη+ (micro+ εm)ζ
part
partζ
36 FEDERICO BUONERBA
It is worth remarking that the above relations hold between eigenvalues at the two
singular point of singular ie nodal or cuspidal KF -nil curves as well this is
easily seen by taking a root followed by net completion and keeping track of the
eigenvalues
Definition IVI4 Let C be a KF -nil curve The foliation singular points along C
are called ends
As well as the existence of Hilbert scheme in the following form
Fact IVI5 Let W sub Xlowast be a curve and D a divisor in the formal neighborhood
of W such that W = D capXlowast scheme-theoretically Then W moves in D
In what follows our main concern is to understand formal neighborhoods of KF -
nil curves Observe that the fibration p when restricted to the formal neighborhood
of such curves provides at least one eigenfunction of the semi-simple field Hence
in order to compute the width IIII we must study the behavior of the other eigen-
function on infinitesimal neighborhoods We first describe the situation inside the
smooth locus of p
Proposition IVI6 (Smooth fiber) Let f C rarrX be an irreducible KF -nil curve
which is contained in the smooth locus of a fiber Xlowast of p Then the end(s) on C are
flat over ∆ ni (1)b and ni (1)a with z2|g(y z) and C moves in a family flat over
∆
Proof Let us assume that f is net Then upon passing to net completion we can
actually assume it is embedded From our local classification of singularities we case
in case ni (1)a and ni (2)a We want to show that both ends have components
that move transversely to p hence we have to exclude case ni (1)a with g(y z) = ya
By way of contradiction say we have g(y z) = ya in the notation of opcit around
an end lowast isin C We proceed to compute what happens at the other end we find
formal coordinates ξ η ζ which by equation 23 satisfy
(24) ξ = xminus1 η = y ζ = xmz mod(I2C)
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 37
As such we compute part(ζ) = mζ + ξminusmηa mod(I2C) which is holomorphic if and only
if m le 0 so then C moves in Xlowast contradicting that the foliation has general type
Hence we are in cases ni (1)a ni (2)a with g = microyazb b ge 1
(25) part0 = xpart
partx+ microyazb
part
partz partinfin = minusξ part
partξ+ ζ(m+ microξm(bminus1)ηaζbminus1)
part
partζ(mod(I2C))
Following notation from subsection IIII observe that C1 is the section of E1C which
is disjoint from the proper transform of the fiber of p In coordinates over 0
(26) x1 = x y1 = y z1 = zyminus1
And similarly over infin Using the previous equation and 25 on C1 we find
(27)
part01 = x1part
partx1+microya+bminus11 zb1
part
partz1 partinfin1 = minusξ1
part
partξ1+ζ1(m+microξ
m(bminus1)1 ηa+bminus11 ζbminus11 )
part
partζ1(mod(I2C1
))
In particular the transform of the nilpotent field is still nilpotent after blowing up in
C It follows that the eigenvalues of the semi-simple field at the two ends of C and
C1 are the same Using equation 23 we deduce that the normal bundle to C1X1 to
isomorphic to that of CX in particular it contains a trivial direct summand This
proves that width(C) =infin
Next we show that f must be net Consider the induced flat projection pD D rarr ∆
its general fiber cannot be a cuspidal curve since along such cusp the foliation sin-
gularity would be log-canonical but not canonical Hence if C has a cusp necessarily
the general fiber of pD is a nodal curve Let X rarr X denote the blow up of the
nodal locus of pD with exceptional divisor E ruled over ∆ In a neighborhood of E
we have sing(F ) = D cap E which projects to ∆ as a double cover ramified over lowastObserve that the foliation on Xlowast is again log-canonical and not canonical hence its
local structure is ni (2)a In that case however p is unramified along the foliation
singularity Contradiction
We state a general criterion for movability of KF -nil curves
Proposition IVI7 Let C be a connected KF -nil curve such that p(C ) = lowast isin ∆
Assume its dual graph is a chain that none of its irreducible components is double
38 FEDERICO BUONERBA
VI3 and that its two extremal ends are flat over ∆ Then C moves in a family flat
over ∆ and each of its irreducible components is embedded
Proof We work in a formal neighborhood of C After taking roots we can assume
C is net and since its dual graph is a chain it is actually embedded We proceed by
induction on its length l where the case l = 1 is Proposition IVI6 For l gt 1 let C1
be a component of C which is extremal in its dual graph If C1 moves transversely
to p then both its ends do and hence we can apply the induction hypothesis to
C C1 If C1 is rigid then it can be flopped It is straightforward to check that we
can apply the induction hypothesis to the transform C + C+1 and we are done
Now we deal with rigid curves inside the singular fiber
Proposition IVI8 (Singular fiber) Let f C rarr X be an embedded net KF -
nil curve with anti-ample normal bundle Then there exists a birational map φ
(X F ) 99K (X +F+) and a KF+-nil curve C+ such that
bull φ is an isomorphism away from C+
bull In a formal neighborhood of at least one among C and C+ there exist two
invariant hypersurfaces D1D2 locally defined by the vanishing of eigenfunc-
tions of the semi-simple field such that C (resp C+)= D1 capD2
bull If F middot C lt 0 for some hypersurface F then F+ middot C+ gt 0 In particular X +
is projective
Such φ is called flop
Proof Our assumption is that Nfsimminusrarr O(minusn)oplusO(minusm) is anti-ample namely nm gt
0 If two invariant hypersurfaces as in our statement do exist around C the flop is
easily constructed as a weighted blow-up followed by a weighted blow-down As such
let us assume that such hypersurfaces do not exist around C In particular C is not
double VI3 By [Ar70] there exists a formal contraction c X rarrX0 collapsing C
to a point and an isomorphism everywhere else By Proposition IVI3 the foliation
F0 is Gorenstein around the node of X0 For ease of exposition let us assume
n = m = 1 the general case is handled the same way only the notation becomes more
cumbersome due to the presence of weights The node has embedding dimension 4
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 39
and in suitable local coordinates x0 y0 w0 z0 can be defined by x0z0minusy0w0 = 0 The
morphism c can be identified with the blow up of the embedded surface (x0 = y0 = 0)
Explicitly in the chart y = y0 x = x0yminus10 it is defined by
(28) y0 = y x0 = xy z0 = zprime w0 = xzprime
Here x is a coordinate along C while y = 0 is the pull-back of (x0 = y0 = 0) and
zprime some function in the normal bundle to C By the previous Proposition IVI6
we know C cannot be contained in the smooth locus of p Since C is not double
we can assume that in this local chart p is defined by (x y zprime) rarr xy - the case
(x y zprime) rarr xzprime being isomorphic as it is isomorphic to blow-up (z0 = w0 = 0)
instead of (x0 = y0 = 0) The issue is as emphasized by the notation zprime 6= z that
zprime may fail to be an eigenfunction for partS if it were we would be done since zprime = 0
is the local equation for the global pullback of (z0 = w0 = 0) However we have
a b isin C such that
(29) partS0(y0) = minusy0 partS0(x0) = 0 partS0(z0) = ay0 + bz0 partS0(w0) = ax0 + (b+ 1)w0
Observe that the embedded surfaces D01 = (y0 = z0 = 0) and D0
2 = (x0 = w0 = 0)
are both foliation invariant As such let b X + rarr X0 denote the blow-up of X0
along D01 - which is isomorphic to that along D0
2 - and let Di = blowastD0i i = 1 2
Finally X + is projective by Nakai-Moishezon Indeed every C with anti-ample
normal bundle is contained in an irreducible component F of X0 such that F middotC lt 0
Then F+ middot C+ gt 0 and we can find an ample divisor of the form H+ + εF+ where
H+ is the proper transform of an ample on X
Remark IVI9 In the previous proof a 6= b+ 1 Indeed such identity would create
a non-trivial Jordan block of partS0 in the (x0 w0)-plane thus contradicting the semi-
simplicity of partS0 In particular by a straightforward computation it is impossible to
find eigenfunctions of the form wlowast0 = w0 + αx0 zlowast0 = z0 + βy0 with x0z
lowast0 minus y0wlowast0 = 0
unless a = 0
We can conclude by pointing out an important point understood in this section
A painful aspect of the theory is that log-canonical singularities which appear natu-
rally as analytic degenerations of canonical ones come along with cuspidal invariant
40 FEDERICO BUONERBA
curves There is in particular no a-priori obstruction to the existence of rigid
cuspidal KF -nil curves in a smooth fiber of our family of foliated surfaces p Quite
generally a rigid curve of positive arithmetic genus in a smooth family of surfaces can
never be contracted to a point Therefore this would have been a counter-example
to any reasonable foliated canonical model theory one may wish to achieve Fortu-
nately such phenomenon does not happen and this establishes the Main Theorem I
modulo finitely many rigid curves confined in the singular fiber X0
IVII Invariant curves inside sing(F ) In this subsection we study curves Z0 subeXlowast cap sing(F ) which are inside the foliation singularity and invariant By this we
mean that there exists a sequence fn Cn rarrX of not necessarily algebraic invariant
curves converging in the compact-open topology to Z0 In other words the map
(30) NorF rarr Ω1Z0
is trivial By Corollary IIIIII5 we know that Z0 is at worst nodal it is smooth
wherever p is smooth for every point z isin Z0 the semi-simple part of the gener-
ating vector field has exactly one eigenvalue The problem here is that the Jordan
decomposition need not extend uniformly along Z0 not even along an irreducible
component In case ni (1)a the functions x and g may develop essential singulari-
ties arbitrary close to z Nonetheless the function x is unique and this says that x
does extend along Z0
Proposition IVII1 Let Z0 be as above Then in a formal neighborhood of Z0
there exists a unique smooth invariant hypersurface D0 containing Z0 which restricts
around any point in Z0 to the unique eigenfunction for the semi-simple field whose
eigenvalue is non-zero
Proof The local structure of the foliation around a point z isin Z0 is described by
cases ni (1)a and ni (1)b In both cases partS has one non-zero eigenvalue with
eigenfunction x Such eigenfunction x is a-priori only defined in the normal bundle to
Z0 but it is clear that the equation partx = x has a unique up to constants solution in
the formal completion around z As such there exists a unique smooth hypersurface
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 41
D0 in the formal completion around Z0 which restricts to the eigenfunction x around
z
Observe that the previous argument goes through since we are assuming Z0 subX0
Keeping notations from case ni (1)a if say g(y z) = yz then in the hypersurface
y equiv q isin Qgt0 the foliation has a log-canonical singularity and the eigenfunction x
extends highly non-uniquely to a formal neighborhood of the point (x y z) = (0 q 0)
In particular the existence of D0 as in the previous Proposition might fail along
the component (x = z = 0) of the foliation singularity This phenomenon is called
the beast
Anyway uniqueness in the previous proposition yields
Corollary IVII2 Let Z prime be a connected invariant curve inside sing(F ) Then in
a formal neighborhood of Z prime there exists a unique smooth invariant hypersurface D prime
containing Z prime which restricts around any point in Z prime to the hypersurface constructed
in the previous proposition
Next we turn to the intrinsic structure of invariant singular curves
Proposition IVII3 Let Z0 be an irreducible invariant curve inside sing(F )
Then Z0 is smooth and rational
Proof We work in a formal neighborhood of Z0 Let F0 denote the unique component
of X0 containing Z0 For any other fiber component F intersecting Z0 non-trivially
blow-up the invariant curve F cap F0 with exceptional divisor EF A straightforward
computation using the local formula ni (1)b shows that the fiber of the natural
projection EF rarr F cap F0 intersecting Z0 is also contained in sing(F ) For Z prime the
maximal connected singular invariant curve containing Z0 let G denote the saturated
foliation induced on D prime It is canonical with reduced singularities and it satisfies
KG = KF |Dprime minus Zprime By adjunction
(31) 2g(Z0)minus 2 + sZG(Z0) = minusZ prime middot Z0
Observe that thanks to our initial sequence of blow-ups the singularities of G along
Z0 coincide with the intersection of Z0 and Z prime Z0 In particular since D prime is formally
42 FEDERICO BUONERBA
flat over ∆ we deduce Z prime middot Z0 = 0 and the previous formula becomes
(32) 2g(Z0)minus 2 + sZG(Z0) = 0
This implies that Z0 is rational or elliptic If Z0 were elliptic then sZG(Z0) = 0 and
D0 defines an invariant elliptic curve in the general fiber of p By Baum-Bott this
contradicts that KF is big and nef Now we show that Z0 is smooth If it has a node
then D0 moves it in a family of nodal rational curves flat over ∆ In particular D0
itself has a node in codimension 1 hence Xlowast is smooth around the node of Z0 In its
formal neighborhood the foliation must be as in case ni (1)a which implies that
Z0 is smooth contradiction
We can improve as follows
Proposition IVII4 Let Z prime sube sing F capXlowast be a connected invariant curve with
KF middot Z prime = 0 Then its dual graph is a chain
Proof Assume Z prime is a cycle Then necessarily Z prime = D prime capXlowast scheme-theoretically
and by the existence of Hilbert scheme Z prime moves in the general fiber Its general
member is either a cycle of smooth rational curves or an elliptic curve Arguing as
in the previous proof we see that both options are impossible
V Configurations
In this section we analyze in great detail all possible configurations of invariant
curves along which KF vanishes These can be divided into three groups those
that do not move those that move in a one-dimensional family covering a surface
those that move in a higher-dimensional family covering a surface Curves in the first
group can form rather complicated configurations while those in the second group
are more simple they either move in the general fiber or they cover an isolated
Riccati component in the singular fiber Those in the third group turn out to be
represented by the two rulings of P1timesP1 if they happen to be cohomologous in the
ambient stack First we will analyze rigid curves then those which move and finally
we will describe their configurations
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 43
VI Configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially In
this subsection we describe configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF
trivially which arise in the situation described by set-up IIVII4
First we focus on KF -nil curves At the end of the section we deal with the simpler
case in which a curve in the configuration is fully contained in sing(F ) The general
fiber was handled in Proposition IVI6
Proposition VI1 Let C be a connected KF -nil curve contained in the smooth
locus of a fiber of p Then it is a chain or a cycle and it moves in a family flat over
∆
In what follows we let C denote a connected KF -nil curve contained in the
singular fiber X0 all of whose sub-curves are rigid in X Observe a consequence of
equation 23
Proposition VI2 Let C = cupiCi be a connected KF -nil curve Then the eigen-
values of partS are all rational at every point of sing(F )capC if and only if they are all
rational at one point
We can deduce many non-trivial properties about configurations of KF -nil curves
First we need
Definition VI3 Let C subX0 be a curve It is called double if there exists formally
around C two components F F prime of X0 such that C = F cap F prime A point lowast isin C where
three fiber components intersect is called a triple point If C lies on exactly one fiber
component it is called non-double We denote by F (C) such component
Remark VI4 Let Csimminusrarr P1(d e) be double with two triple points Then we know
e+ λ+ micro = minusd+ (λ+ n) + (micro+m) = 0 whence we obtain
(33) n+m = d+ e
Which is called triple-point formula
Next we show that essentially KF -nil curves do not form cycles unless something
deforms in X0 First we show that there are no cycles of rigid non-double curves
44 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proposition VI5 Let C be a connected KF -nil curve contained in the singular
fiber X0 of p Assume that every component of C is non-double and that every
sub-curve is rigid Then C contains no cycles
Proof We work in a formal neighborhood of C which we assume is a cycle Let
us first consider the case in which all components C1 middot middot middot CN are smooth with no
orbifold points and denote lowasti = Ci cap Ci+1 with CN+1 = C1 Moreover let us
assume no lowasti lies in the smooth locus of p
Since no curve is double the semi-simple field at every lowasti is as in case i (3)b in
particular the eigenvalues along the branches of Ci and Ci+1 add up to zero More-
over let minusni denote the self-intersection of Ci sub F (Ci) Normalize the eigenvalues
of partS so that at lowastn they are 1 in the C1 direction minus1 in the CN direction λ in the
F (C1)capF (CN) direction It follows by induction that at lowasti the eigenvalues are minus1
in the Ci direction 1 in the Ci+1 direction λ+ n1 + middot middot middot+ ni in the F (Ci) cap F (Ci+1)
direction After traveling around the cycle we obtain n1+middot middot middot+nN = 0 contradicting
that ni gt 0 for every i
We established the Proposition assuming every Ci is an embedded scheme and ev-
ery lowasti is in the singular locus of p The case in which Cisimminusrarr P1(di ei) has orbifold
points is analogous we end up with a combination c1n1 + middot middot middot + cNnN = 0 with ci
the eigenvalue at lowasti in the Ci+1 direction Normalizing so that c1 = e1 gt 0 again by
induction on i we see that every ci isin Qgt0 Next we show that our assumption on lowastiis always satisfied
Claim VI6 Every lowasti must belong to the singular locus of p
Proof We give two essentially equivalent proofs
bull If N = 2 3 then the previous argument goes through indeed we can normal-
ize eigenvalues at lowasti to be negative in the Ciminus1 direction and positive in the
Ci-direction and argue as above Hence we can assume N ge 4 If say lowasti is in
the smooth locus of p then F (Ci) = F (Ci+1) If also F (Ciminus1) = F (Ci) then Ci
lies in the smooth locus of p and hence it moves Therefore F (Ciminus1) 6= F (Ci)
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 45
and Ciminus1 can be flopped inside F (Ci) Since N ge 4 this preserves the smooth-
ness of F (Ci) and Ci is now is the smooth locus of p - contradiction
bull If lowasti belongs to the smooth locus of p then the end through lowasti moves We
can form a partial net completion fi Xi rarrX by normalizing C in lowasti only
Then f lowasti C is a chain with movable ends and hence moves in the general fiber
of p fi
Finally the general case in which some among the Ci have cusps can be easily
reduced to the smooth case in a couple of ways
bull Eigenvalues at the singularities of any KF -nil curve satisfy the same relations
as in the smooth case
bull Upon taking roots and net completion we can find a foliated formal 3-fold
supported on a cycle of smooth KF -nil curves which is a ramified cover of a
formal neighborhood of our cycle
Similarly we can show that there are no rigid cycles of double curves
Proposition VI7 Let C be a nodal KF -nil curve which is double Then C
deforms inside X0 In particular there cannot exist a rigid cycle of KF -nil double
curves
Proof Following the previous notation we have 0 = infin and if C = (xy = z = 0)
around 0 then we have identities
(34) x = η y = ξ z = ζ
The last one of which implies m = 0 that is C deforms Since C is double necessarily
the surface it spans must be contained in X0
The statement about cycles follows since a cycle of double curves can be transformed
after finitely many flops into a chain of smooth double curves with a nodal one
attached at one end
46 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Later on we will show that the deformations of C cannot span an elliptic surface
but only a family of nodal rational curves with a special Riccati foliation on it
We are ready to organize a detailed description of the dual graph of C More pre-
cisely we only need to understand how double curves intersect non-double curves
Lemma VI8 There exists a sequence of flops X 99KX + such that if C + denotes
the transform of C every double curve supported on C + contains two triple points
Proof Let C sube C be an irreducible component with at most one triple point and
let X 99K X + be its flop Then its transform C+ is non-double and the number
of double curves contained in C descreases It is clear that after finitely many flops
all double curves contain exactly two triple points
From now on all double curves in C have two triple points Thanks to proposition
VI2 we know that there are two cases to consider those curves along which the
semi-simple field has not only rational eigenvalues and those along which the semi-
simple field has only rational eigenvalues The first case being strictly easier than
the second it is a good starting place to warm up
Proposition VI9 (irrational eigenvalues) Assume that for every foliation singu-
larity along C not all eigenvalues of partS are rational Then every component of C
is net with at most one node and 1-skeleton of its dual graph is at worst trivalent
Write C = C axes cup C free where
C axes is the union of double curves
C free is the union of non-double curves
Then one among C axes and C free is empty Moreover
bull If C free is non-empty then it is a chain of smooth curves with rational moduli
bull If C axes is non-empty there exists a sequence of flops X 99KX + and an ir-
reducible component of the fiber FC subX + such that X + is a smooth stack
the transform C+ of C is contained in FC Moreover the dual graph of C+
is a tree which by [McQ08 III32] becomes a chain inside the normalization
of FC
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 47
Proof The first sentence is just corollary IIIIII3
Observe that if a non-double curve intersects a double curve then the non-double
curve must be contained in an LC-center around such intersection This contradicts
that not all eigenvalues are rational and establishes that one among C axes and C free
is empty
In case C free is not empty then it is clearly a chain or a cycle the latter being
impossible by Proposition VI5
We are left to show the existence of flops in case C = C axes We remark that
every component is smooth Let C0 be such a component and S0 a component of
X0 containing it Let C1 be the collection of irreducible components of C which
intersect S0 but are not contained in it All the components of C1 are smooth hence
we can flop them in any order until the transform of C1 lies in the transform of S0
Since the number of irreducible components of C lying outside S0 decreases after
such flop by induction we deduce the existence of finitely many flops after which
the birational transform of C is fully contained in the transform of S0
Next we take care of rational eigenvalues The complication here arises from
the fact that there may be double and non-double curves intersecting each other
However the situation is best possible
Proposition VI10 (rational eigenvalues) Assume that for every foliation singu-
larity along C all eigenvalues of partS are rational Write C = C axes cup C free where
C axes is the union of double curves
C free is the union of non-double curves
Then there exists a sequence of flops X 99K X + and an irreducible component of
the fiber FC axes subX + such that
bull X + is a smooth stack
bull The union of double curves of C axes is contained in FC axes the 1-skeleton of
its dual graph is a tree and each of its components has two triple points
bull The 1-skeleton of the dual graph of the transform C free+ is a disjoint union of
trees
bull Each connected component of C free+ intersects C axes in exactly one point
48 FEDERICO BUONERBA
In particular the 1-skeleton of the dual graph of C is a tree
Proof Notice that for every point lowast isin C cap Z there exists one LC-center through lowastIndeed there are three rational eigenvalues and they cannot be all non-vanishing and
all with different signs at the same time Now C axes can be treated as in proposition
VI9 This proves the first two items of the statement The third item follows from
Proposition VI5 so we can focus on the fourth one The proof is based on the
following obvious
Remark VI11 let C be a double curve such that either it is KF -nil hence has
two triple points or it is fully contained in sing(F ) Let C0 sube C free intersect C
non-trivially in a point lowast then necessarily C0 sub LClowast
Now let C0 middot middot middot CN form a chain of non-double curves with C0 and CN both
intersecting double curves as in the remark Denote by lowasti = Ci cap Ci+1 Since
C1 sub LClowast necessarily C1 is transverse to LClowast1 otherwise C1 would deform in F (C1)
Inductively we see that Ci+1 sub LClowasti and is transverse to LClowasti+1 In particular CN
cannot touch a double curve This contradiction proves the fourth item
Let us add a remark about configurations featuring invariant curves inside sing(F )
Proposition VI12 Let C be an invariant curve with KF middot C = 0 such that
Z0 sube C for some component Z0 sube sing(F ) Then C = Z prime cup C where
Z prime is a connected invariant curve inside the foliation singularity with dual graph a
chain
C is the union of at most two pairwise disjoint KF -nil curves with anti-ample
normal bundle
If not empty C can only intersect Z prime at the two ends of its dual graph Moreover
perhaps after a flop the intersection of C with Z prime supports the foliation singularity
along C As such if C has two components Z prime cup C deforms in the general fiber
Proof The structure of Z prime is Proposition IVII3 while that of Co is Proposition
IVI6 Let C prime be a component of C intersecting Z0 in a point lowast If C prime and Z0 belong
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 49
to different components of X0 then by case ni (1)b the eigenvalue of partS along C prime
vanishes so supp(sing(F ) cap C prime) = lowast If C prime and Z0 belong to the same component
then we can flop C prime into a different component
Observe that the divisor D prime from op cit can be extended along C prime This implies
that C can only intersect Z prime at its ends Moreover if C touches both ends necessarily
D prime capX0 = C scheme-theoretically hence by the existence of Hilbert scheme IVI5
we conclude
Our new set-up is
Set-up VI13 Everything as in set-up IIVII4 and moreover for any connected
invariant curve C with KF middot C = 0 all of whose sub-curves are rigid we have
configurations computed in proposition VI9 VI10 and Lemma VI12
VII Configurations of non-rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
In this subsection we describe configurations of surfaces which are covered by KF -nil
curves The structure of each such surface is described by classification IIV1 IIV2
and Corollary IIVI17 Our first step is to simplify the situation by contracting
chains of ruled surfaces The next step is to try and exclude the possibility that
the singular fiber of p contains fibrations by elliptic or nodal rational curves with
at least one invariant fiber This can be achieved with good success indeed there
may be at most one such Riccati foliation which is anyway rather isolated from the
remaining KF -nil curves Finally we observe that the only class of surfaces we have
not mentioned is
Definition VII1 A irreducible component F of the singular fiber of p is called
small Kronecker if
bull (FFF ) is birational to a Kronecker vector field on P1 timesP1 and
bull The two rulings of this P1 timesP1 are cohomologous inside X
The name comes from the fact that contraction of a small Kronecker yields a node
in the ambient threefold which admits a small resolution In fact in many respects
these fiber components behave very much like rigid KF -nil curves
50 FEDERICO BUONERBA
We start by getting rid of some fiber components which are ruled by KF -nil gener-
ically smooth rational curves
Proposition VII2 Notation as in Set-up VI13 there exists a sequence of flops
and divisorial contractions c X 99KX + such that
bull X + is a smooth stack
bull let S+ sub X + be an irreducible invariant divisor that contains a positive-
dimensional family of invariant rational curves along which KF+ vanishes
Then S+ is either birationally ruled by nodal rational curves or it is a small
Kronecker
Proof We focus first on contracting components of the singular fiber of p Consider
the following algorithm If there is no birationally ruled component different from
the ones listed in the second item we are done otherwise pick one such F and let
C denote the general member of the ruling If the cohomology class [C] is inde-
composable F is minimal Otherwise [C] = [C1] + [C2] where Ci are rational and
intersect KF trivially After finitely many steps we have a decomposition as a finite
sum of indecomposables [C] =sumn
i=0 ni[Ci] where every Ci is rational intersects KF
trivially We have two cases
bull There exists k such that Ck deforms in a birationally ruled necessarily min-
imal surface Fk
bull Every Ci has anti-ample normal bundle
In the first case denote by X rarr X1 the contraction of Fk along |Ck| and relpace
X by X1 Since Fk is minimal smoothness of the ambient stack is preserved unless
Fk is a small Kronecker This is however impossible if n ge 2 if Fk were a small
Kronecker then Ck deforms away from Fkminus1 so then Fkminus1 middot Ck = 0 on the other
hand Fkminus1 intersects the other ruling of Fk positively
In the second case flop C1 middot middot middot Cn in this order The transform of F is minimal and
not a small Kronecker so it can be contracted along its ruling preserving ambient
smoothness By induction on the Picard rank of X after finitely many steps this
algorithm ends Call X the output of this algorithm
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 51
Let S subX be an invariant divisor with a generically smooth ruling Then pS S rarr∆ is flat and after flopping finitely many rational curves in S cap plowastS(0) the resulting
pS is smooth Hence we can contract S along pS After finitely many steps the
Proposition is proven
For ease of notation in the sequel we call X the output of the previous proposition
Notice that there might still be divisors carrying a pencil of nodal rational curves
both inside and outside the singular fiber of p
We can start analyzing configurations of fiber components where the restriction of
F is not of general type We need some notation whose reason to exist will be clear
shortly
Definition VII3 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
along which KF is not big F is called special Riccati if
bull F is minimal
bull There exists a morphism s F rarr B onto a curve whose fibers are nodal
rational curve
bull F is transverse to the general fiber of s in particular KF is numerically
trivial along s
bull At least one fiber of s is invariant
bull There exists a section σ of s which is invariant and does not coincide with
the nodal locus of F
In particular the intersections of σ with invariant fibers of s isolated singularities
of F the node of F all coincide There may be fibers of s fully contained in sing(F )
in which case they are everywhere transverse to the saturated foliation
The definition looks nasty but special Riccati components have a rather simple
origin as the following proof shows
Lemma VII4 Let F be special Riccati Up to base change by an etale double cover
Bprime rarr B there is a natural isomorphism F norm simminusrarr BprimetimesP1 and the restriction of F
to F norm is birational to the projection onto P1
52 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proof We work over the normalization F norm Denote by Bprime the pre-image of the
node of F which is an etale double cover of B and let f denote an invariant fiber
of s with lowast = σ cap f Observe that F norm carries a Riccati foliation with 3 invariant
curves through lowast - namely σ f and a component of Bprime Hence FF has a log-canonical
singularity in lowast On F norm perform a weighted blow-up in each log-canonical singu-
larity followed by the contraction of the transforms of the corresponding fibers Let
s+ F+ rarr B denote the output of this operation If the proper transform of Bprime is
connected replace F+ by its base change under Bprime rarr B Hence we can assume Bprime
is the disjoint union of two sections of s+ and the transform of σ is a third section
which is disjoint from Bprime Therefore F+ = P1 timesBprime and the foliation restricts to the
projection onto P1
Next we describe those surfaces which cannot appear as components of the sin-
gular fiber X0
Definition VII5 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
along which KF is not big F is called illusory if
bull there exists a morphism t F rarr B onto a curve
bull KF is trivial along t
bull For any other fiber component F prime the intersection F cap F prime is either empty or
contained in a fiber of t
We give examples of illusory fiber components
Lemma VII6 The following fiber components are necessarily illusory
bull t is elliptic the foliation is either parallel to t or turbolent with at least one
invariant fiber
bull t is a nodal ruling the foliation is either parallel to t or transverse to t with
at least one invariant fiber and not birational to a special Riccati VII3
Proof Let f = F cap F prime for some fiber component F prime It is F -invariant
Assume t and F are parallel and f is transverse to both Then necessarily f subesing(F ) and KF is positive along the fibers of t contradiction
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 53
Assume t and F are generically transverse and f is transverse to t Let e be an
invariant fiber of t then ecap f isin sing(F ) hence t must be a family of nodal rational
curves and ecapf coincides with the node of e - otherwise KF would be positive along
t But this implies F is special Riccati contradiction
We proceed to show that illusory fibers do not exist
Lemma VII7 Let F be an illusory fiber component then every fiber of t is irre-
ducible If F prime is any fiber component intersecting F non-trivially then F prime is illusory
Proof Assume t has a reducible fiber f Then we can write f = f prime cup f primeprime where f prime
is irreducible and f primeprime is a disjoint union of chains of rational curves In particular
every subscheme supported on f primeprime is rigid in X f prime is rational and smooth iff f is a
cycle of rational curves hence the foliation on F is parallel to t and the choice of f prime
is not unique otherwise f prime is nodal or elliptic Let X 99KX + denote the flop of the
irreducible components of f primeprime in any order The proper transform f prime+ (below in red)
is the irreducible fiber of the induced morphism t+ F+ rarr B Since f primeprime+ intersects
f prime+ and is not contained in F+ there exists a component F prime of the fiber of p+ such
that F+ cap f prime+ 6= empty Since F+ is illusory necessarily F+ cap F prime = f prime+ Moreover F+
and F prime are the only fiber components intersecting f prime+ again because F+ is illusory
We deduce that F+ middot f prime+ = F prime middot f prime+ = 0 and therefore f prime+ is nef inside F prime It follows
that he restriction of F+ to F prime is not of general type and by the classification of
foliated surfaces [McQ08] necessarily f prime+ deforms inside F prime and defines a fibration
u F prime rarr Bprime In particular f prime+ is an irreducible fiber of u This is however impossible
since u contracts all the components of f primeprime+ contained in F prime (below in blue) and by
definition of F prime there exists at least one such component This proves that every
fiber of t is irreducible The following depicts the situation
F prime F+
f prime+
f primeprime+
t+u
54 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Concerning the second statement we only need to check the third condition for F prime
to be illussory namely that every other fiber component F primeprime intersecting F prime does
so along the fibers of u If F primeprime intersects F prime transversely to u then F primeprime intersects F
non-trivially and transversely to t as well absurd
Corollary VII8 Illusory components do not exist
Proof By the above lemma the existence of one illusory component implies that
every irreducible component of the singular fiber of p is illusory contradicting that
KF is big
We can now focus on fiber components that do appear
Corollary VII9 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
containing an invariant curve C which moves and such that KF middot C = 0 Then
following the classification [McQ08] we have two cases
(1) The minimal model of F is a special Riccati component
(2) F is a small Kronecker
Proof Certainly the ones listed are the only cases where C is KF -nil We have to
exclude the possibility that C is invariant inside sing(F ) By Proposition IVII3
such C would be rational with at most one node Since we already contracted at
the beginning of the present subsection all ruled surfaces necessarily C is nodal
However by opcit C cannot intersect any other fiber component of X0 which
implies the absurdity that X0 = F
We proceed to show that special Riccati components are rather isolated in the
fiber
Lemma VII10 Let F be a special Riccati component If F prime is a fiber component
intersecting F non-trivially then it does so transversely to s Morover there is
exactly one such F prime
Proof After finitely many flops we can assume that every fiber of s is irreducible
By the non-existence of illusory components there exists a fiber component F lowast with
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 55
σprime = F cap F prime transverse to s If F primeprime is a fiber component with f = F cap F primeprime a fiber
of s then we claim f sube sing(F ) If not then since KF middot f = 0 and σprime is invariant
necessarily σprimecap f is the node of f But then the existence of F primeprime contradicts that p is
snc Hence f sube sing(F ) so then around the node of f there are 3 fiber components -
two branches coming from F one from F primeprime - and sing(F ) has 2 branches - namely f
This is impossible by our case analysis ni (1)c ni (2)c The very same reasoning
establishes the uniqueness of F prime
Lemma VII11 Let F be as in the previous Lemma If C is a connected curve
with KF middot C = 0 then it is disjoint from F
Proof After finitely many flops s is irreducible and C intersects F transversely away
from its node Moreover lowast = C cap F isin sing(F ) and we deduce that the fiber of s
through lowast is fully contained in the singular locus of F This contradicts Proposition
IVII3 since such fiber is nodal
We conclude by observing the obvious
Lemma VII12 Let F be a small Kronecker Then there exists a contraction
c X rarr X prime which is an isomorphism away from F and contracts F along one
of its rulings Necessarily X prime is not projective since every global Cartier divisor
intersects c(F ) trivially On the other hand in a formal neighborhood of c(F ) there
exist Cartier divisors intersecting it non-trivialliy
As such the contribution coming from non-rigid curves is rather poor there are
curves moving in the general fiber there are special Riccati components disjoint from
any other invariant curve intersecting KF trivially there are small Kroneckers who
can be contracted to curves We shall see in the next section that the complications
arising from the contraction of such non-rigid curves is purely psychological and
totally harmless
56 FEDERICO BUONERBA
VI Contractions and proof of the Main Theorem
In this section we contract all invariant curves along which KF is zero thereby
establishing the existence of canonical models I First we contract non-rigid curves
as described in the previous subsection
bull Small Kroneckers along either ruling Albeit this destroys projectivity of
the ambient threefold there still exist Cartier divisors defined in a formal
neighborhood of the base curve that intersect it non-trivially
bull Families of irreducible nodal rational curves which are flat over ∆ This
creates elliptic singularities on the general fiber of p which are disjoint from
other invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
bull Special Riccati again families of irreducible nodal rational curves fully con-
tained in X0 This creates elliptic singularities disjoint from other invariant
curves intersecting KF trivially
We can summarize our situation by way of
Set-up VI1 X is a 3-dimensional DM stack with at worst elliptic singularities
F a foliation by curves with canonical singularities which is not Q-Cartier in a
neighborhood of Xsing
There exists a proper morphism p X rarr ∆ smooth off 0 isin ∆ F restricts to a
foliation on every fiber of p it has canonical singularities on the very general fiber
of p and log-canonical singularities on every fiber of p KF is big and nef on every
irreducible component of every fiber of p
Let C be the invariant sub-scheme along which KF is not big then C is a curve
fully contained in the smooth locus X0capXsmooth every sub-curve of C has anti-ample
normal bundle the 1-simplex of its dual graph is a tree and detailed configurations
of such are referenced in set-up VI13
We proceed to contract such C We assume that along C the semi-simple field has
only rational eigenvalues and moreover no component of C is inside the foliation
singularity The other two cases - irrational eigenvalues and presence of singular
component - are strictly easier and can be obtained with the very same method
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 57
The proof takes place in the formal completion around C = C free cup C axes The
former is a disjoint union of trees of non-double curves For each non-double C let
F (C) denote the unique component of X0 containing it The latter is a tree of double
curves each with two triple points all contained in the same irreducible FC axes Each
tree of non-double curves touches C axes in one point through a LC-center In order
to construct the contraction we will use Artinrsquos celebrated criterion in the following
form
Fact VI1 ([Ar70]) Let X be an irreducible algebraic space i Y rarr X a closed
subspace of pure codimension 1 and f Y rarr Y0 a proper morphism with flowastOY = OY0
Let X denote the formal completion of X along Y and assume there exists a Cartier
divisor D in X which is supported on Y and is f -anti-ample Then there exists a
proper morphism of algebraic spaces F X rarr X0 which is an isomorphism away
from Y and such that ilowastF = f
Now we use the tree structure of C to construct a suitable divisor to which apply
Artinrsquos theorem Namely consider the following inductive defintion
(35) C0 = C axes F0 = FC axes
For k ge 0 assume Ck Fk are defined
bull Let Ck+1 denote the union of irreducible components of C that intersect Fk
non-trivially but are not contained in cupilekFibull Let Fk+1 denote the reduced sum (
sumCsubeCk+1
F (C))red
This process stops with a collection C1 middot middot middotCN of curves and F1 middot middot middot FN of reduced
divisors
Lemma VI1 We have the following identities
(36)
Fk middot C lt 0 for every C sube Ck
(F0 + F1) middot C le 0 for every C sube C0
(Fkminus1 + Fk + Fk+1) middot C = 0 for every C sube Ck 1 lt k lt N
(FNminus1 + FN) middot C lt 0 for every C sube CN
58 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proof The first is just the fact that every component of C is rigid The remaining
three follow from X0 middot C = 0 but the last one requires further justification Indeed
if C sube CN N gt 0 then C is one end of a tree of non-double curves In particular
there exists a foliation singularity lowast isin C disjoint from any other component of
C and LClowast is transverse to C This implies LClowast middotC gt 0 which together with
(FNminus1 + FN + LClowast) middot C = 0 concludes the proof
Let ε1 middot middot middot εN isin Qgt0 and define
(37) F Nminusk = (1 + ε1 + middot middot middot+ εk)FNminusk
bull If C sube CN we have
(38) (F Nminus1 + F
N) middot C = ε1FNminus1 middot C + (FNminus1 + FN) middot C
bull If C sube CNminusk 1 lt k lt N we have
(39)
(F Nminuskminus1 + F
Nminusk + F Nminusk+1) middot C =
(1 + middot middot middot+ εk)(FNminuskminus1 + FNminusk + FNminusk+1) middot C minus εkFNminusk+1 middot C + εk+1FNminuskminus1 middot C =
minus εkFNminusk+1 middot C + εk+1FNminuskminus1 middot C
bull If C sube C0 we have
(40) (F 0 + F
1) middot C = εNF0 middot C + (Nminus1sumj=0
εj)(F0 + F1) middot C
It is clear that provided
(41) 1 gtgt ε1 gtgt middot middot middot gtgt εN
the divisor F =sumF k is negative along every component of C
This proves the existence of the contraction and concludes the proof of the Main
Theorem I
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 59
VII Moduli space of foliated surfaces of general type
In this section we study the modular variation of foliated surfaces of general type
The upshot is that it is possible to define a functor which is representable separated
and every irreducible component is proper The main issue here is that the supporting
surface of a foliated canonical model may well fail to be projective indeed KF is not
Q-Gorenstein in general Hence in order to proceed via standard methods [Ko17]
we have to parametrize our canonical models together with a suitable projective
resolution
Definition VII13 Let (SF ) be a foliated proper reduced purely 2-dimensional
DM stack Assume S has only normal crossing singularities in codimension 1 that
F has log-canonical foliation singularities and that KF is big and nef on at least
one of the irreducible components of S If whenever KF middot C = 0 for some curve C
then C moves in an irreducible component of S and no member of such deformation
is F -invariant then (SF ) is called foliated canonical model of general type
Clearly foliated canonical models are exactly the stable degenerations appearing
as the central fiber of our Main Theorem I Their lack of projectivity has two sources
namely the contraction of cycles of smooth KF -nil curves and of trees of cuspidal
ones Singularities arising from cycles behave well in families namely they always
deform into the general fiber Those arising from cuspidal curves on the other hand
tend to be rather isolated inside the degenerate fiber
Observe that the deformation theory of a foliated surface is rather simple suppose
given an infinitesimal C-algebras extension 0 rarr J rarr Ae rarr A rarr 0 and (SF )
a foliated surface flat over Spec(A) then the obstruction to lifting to Ae can be
understood in three simple steps
(1) Deformation of the underlying surface S once a deformation Se rarr Spec(Ae)
is given
(2) Deformation of the line bundle KF by the exponential sequence
(42) 0rarr J otimes OS rarr OlowastSerarr OlowastS rarr 0
obstructions lie in H2(SOS)otimes J once a deformation of KF is given
60 FEDERICO BUONERBA
(3) Deformation of the defining section OS rarr KF otimes TS obstructions lie in
H1(SKF otimes TS)otimes J
Now we have
Definition VII14 Let (SF ) be a foliated canonical model of general type A
proper birational morphism q (SF )proj rarr (SF ) is called its projective resolution
if
bull Every irreducible component of Sproj is smooth
bull The exceptional locus of q is a disjoint union of cycles of KFproj-nil smooth
curves and trees of KFproj-nil curves each of which has a non-trivial cuspidal
singularity
bull In a neighborhood of every q-exceptional cycle not only Sproj but also its
moduli space is smooth
We need a few remarks about projective resolutions
(1) Projective resolutions are always unique Indeed the only possible ambiguity
could lie in some extra smooth irreducible components in the exceptional
locus This is forbidden by definition in the trees of cuspidal curves it is
also forbidden by way of the third item in cycles of smooth ones ie on
algebraic surfaces the minimal resolution is unique
(2) Denote by E the collection of q-exceptional cycles Then there exist ε δ isinQgt0 such that KFproj
minus εE + δKSprojis ample by Nakai-Moishezon
(3) Deformations of a projective resolution of a foliated canonical model are
canonically identified with deformations of the underlying birational mor-
phism q Sproj rarr S followed by a deformation of the foliation F
We are now ready to construct a moduli functor for foliated surfaces more precisely
for projective resolutions of foliated canonical models of general type For m dN isinN and ε δ isin Qgt0 let
(43) MmdNεδ (C-schemes)rarr (sets)
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 61
be defined by MmdNεδ(S) = Diagrams
(44) (X F )projqminusrarr (X F )
pminusrarr S
Where
bull Both p and p q are flat and proper
bull For every closed point s isin S the induced morphism qs is the projective
resolution of (X F )s which is a foliated canonical model of general type
bull Denote by Es the collection of exceptional cycles of qs By our Main Theorem
I there is a fibrewise divisor E subXproj flat over S restricting to Es for every
s isin S
bull Let j W rarr Xproj denote the maximal closed subscheme away from which
KFprojand KXprojS are locally free Then
(45) L [m] = (jlowast(KFprojotimes OXproj
(minusεE )otimesKδXprojS
)otimesm)oror
is flat over S and commutes with base-change
bull L [m] is very ample of degree d on every fiber and defines an embedding into
PNS
We are now ready for
Theorem VII15 The functor MmdNεδ is represented by a separated algebraic
space each of whose irreducible components is proper
Proof We show that our functor satisfies Artinrsquos conditions [Ar74 Corollary 54] By
definition condition 1) and 4) hold while our previous remark on foliated obstruction
theory shows that 3) is true
We proceed to show 2) namely effectivity of formal deformations for MmdNεδ
What follows owes much to Artinrsquos [A74rsquo] Let T be a complete C-algebra Tn its
n-truncation so that Tsimminusrarr limlarrminusTn and finally qn isinMmdNεδ(Spec(Tn)) a compatible
sequence For each n there is a maximal open set Un sube Xprojn where qn is an
isomorphism denote by sn Cn rarr Zn the restriction of qn to the complement of Un
Clearly sn is projective over Spec(Tn)
62 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Denote by X C etc the formal algebraic spaces obtained as limits of Xn Cn
etc Then Xproj sub PNˆSpec(T )
hence by Grothendieckrsquos existence Theorem we find
bull a flat projective family (X F )proj rarr Spec(T ) resp a closed subscheme
C subXproj whose completion is Xproj resp C
bull a scheme Z whose completion is Z and a morphism s C rarr Z everything
being projective over Spec(T )
Further we have a formal contraction limminusrarr qn C rarr Z hence the main theorem
of [Ar70] gives algebraic contraction (X F )proj rarr (X F ) This proves the repre-
sentability of MmdNεδ The properness and separability of each irreducible com-
ponent can be checked using valutative criteria indeed properness is the content of
our Main Theorem I separatedness follows from the uniqueness of foliated canonical
models of general type and their projective resolution
References
[Ar70] M Artin Algebraization of Formal Moduli II Existence of Modifications Ann
of Math Vol 91 No 1 (Jan 1970) pp 88-135 httpwwwjstororgstable
1970602
[Ar74] M Artin Versal Deformations and Algebraic Stacks Inventiones Math 27 165- 189
(1974) httpmathuchicagoedu~drinfeldArtin_on_stackspdf
[A74rsquo] M Artin Algebraic construction of Brieskornrsquos resolutions J Alg Vol 29 Issue
2 May 1974 pp 330-348 httpwwwsciencedirectcomsciencearticlepii
0021869374901021
[BB72] P Baum R Bott Singularities of holomorphic foliations J Diff Geom 7 (1972)
279-342 httpsprojecteuclidorgdownloadpdf_1euclidjdg1214431158
[Bo77] F Bogomolov Families of curves on a surface of general type Doklady Akademii Nauk
USSR (in Russian) 236 (5) 1041-1044
[Bo78] F Bogomolov Holomorphic tensors and vector bundles on projective varieties Math
USSR Izv 13 (1978) 499-555
[BM16] F Bogomolov M McQuillan Rational Curves on Foliated Varieties In Cascini
McKernan Pereira (eds) Foliation Theory in Algebraic Geometry Simons Symposia
Springer Cham pp 21-51 (2016) httpslinkspringercomchapter101007
978-3-319-24460-0_2
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 63
[Bu] F Buonerba Functorial resolution of tame quotient singularities in positive charac-
teristic httpsarxivorgabs151100550
[Ke99] S Keel Basepoint Freeness for Nef and Big Line Bundles in Positive Characteris-
tic Annals of Math 149 No 1 (Jan 1999) pp 253-286 httpwwwjstororg
stable121025 httpsarxivorgabsmath9901149
[KM97] S Keel S Mori Quotients by groupoids Annals of Math 145 (1997) pp
193-213 httpwwwjstororgstable2951828seq=1page_scan_tab_contents
httparxivorgabsalg-geom9508012
[Ko17] J Kollar Families of varieties of general type httpswebmathprincetonedu
~kollarbookmodbook20170720pdf
[LN02] A Lins Neto Some examples for the Poincare and Painleve problems Annales sci-
entifiques de lrsquoENS 352 (2002) 231-266 httparchivenumdamorgarticle
ASENS_2002_4_35_2_231_0pdf
[McQ12] M McQuillan Foliated Mori Theory amp Hyperbolicity of Algebraic Surfaces http
wwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillahomehtml
[McQ98] M McQuillan Diophantine approximation and foliations Inst Hautes Etudes Sci
Publ Math 87 (1998) 121-174 httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafiles
ihespdf
[McQ05rsquo] M McQuillan Bloch hyperbolicity preprint httpwwwmatuniroma2it
~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ05] M McQuillan Semi-stable reduction of foliations IHES pre-print IHESM0502
(2005) httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ05rdquo] M McQuillan Uniform Uniformisation IHES pre-print (2005) IHES M0503 http
wwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ08] M McQuillan Canonical models of foliations Pure Appl Math Q 4
(2008) no 3 Special Issue In honor of Fedor Bogomolov Part 2 877-1012
httpintlpresscomsitepubfiles_fulltextjournalspamq20080004
0003PAMQ-2008-0004-0003-a009pdf
[MP13] M McQuillan D Panazzolo Almost etale resolution of foliations J Diff Geom 95
(2013) pp 279-319 httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesmp1bispdf
[Pe02] JV Pereira On the Poincare Problem for Foliations of General Type Mathematische
Annalen 323 no 2 pp217-226 2002 httpsarxivorgabsmath0104185
[PS16] JV Pereira R Svaldi Effective algebraic integration in bounded genus preprint
httpsarxivorgabs161206932
64 FEDERICO BUONERBA
[Re83] M Reid Minimal models of canonical threefolds in rdquoAlgebraic Varieties and Ana-
lytic Varietiesrdquo Adv Stud Pure Math vol 1 S Iitaka ed Kinokuniya and North-
Holland 1983 pp 131-180 httpwwwmathsedacukcheltsovquotientpdf
reid2pdf
[Se67] A Seidenberg Reduction of singularities of the differential equation Ady = Bdx Amer
J Math 89 (1967) 248-269 httpwwwjstororgstable2373435
[SB83] N Shepherd-Barron Degenerations with numerically effective canonical divisor The
Birational Geometry of Degenerations (R Friedman and D Morrison eds) Progr
Math no 29 Birkhuser 1983 pp 33-84
[Vis89] A Vistoli Intersection theory on algebraic stacks and on their moduli spaces
Invent Math (1989) pp 613-670 httplinkspringercomarticle101007
2FBF01388892page-1
Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences New York University 251 Mercer
Street New York NY 10012 USA
E-mail address buonerbacimsnyuedu
- I Introduction
- II Preliminaries
-
- III Operations on Deligne-Mumford stacks
- IIII Width of embedded parabolic champs
- IIIII Gorenstein foliation singularities
- IIIV Foliated adjunction
- IIV Canonical models of foliated surfaces with canonical singularities
- IIVI Canonical models of foliated surfaces with log-canonical singularities
- IIVII Set-up
-
- III Invariant curves and singularities local description
-
- IIII `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F) not isolated
- IIIII `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F) isolated
- IIIIII Local consequences
-
- IV Invariant curves along which KF vanishes
-
- IVI KF-nil curves
- IVII Invariant curves inside `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F)
-
- V Configurations
-
- VI Configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
- VII Configurations of non-rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
-
- VI Contractions and proof of the Main Theorem
- VII Moduli space of foliated surfaces of general type
- References
-
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 25
bull There exists a fibration Xm rarr B over a smooth base whose fibers are
weighted projective spaces such that Fm is tangent to the fibers and restricts
to a radial foliation on those
Finally we can organize our notation
Set-up IIVII4 (X F ) is a smooth 3-dimensional DM stack with projective mod-
uli F a foliation by curves with canonical singularities such that KF is big and nef
There exists a semi-stable morphism p X rarr ∆ whose moduli is projective onto
the (formal) unit disk F restricts to a foliation on every fiber of p it has canon-
ical singularities on the very general fiber of p and log-canonical singularities on
every fiber of p Our task from now on is to analyze and contract the maximal
foliation-invariant sub-scheme of X along which KF is not ample
III Invariant curves and singularities local description
In this section we give a complete decription of germs of invariant curves that
appear in the formal completion of any point in the set-up IIVII4 Let us replace
X by its formal completion in a point lowast where the foliation is singular F is defined
by a vector field part with Jordan decomposition partS + partN see the end of subsection
IIIII Since [partS partN ] = 0 partN preserves the eigenspaces of partS Moreover the fact that
F is tangent to p translates into
(15) partS(p) = partN(p) = 0
The description of invariant germs of curves through lowast will be achieved via case-by-
case analysis organized by computing what happens for all possible combinations
of the following informations whether the singular locus Z is isolated at lowast the
number of eigenvalues of partS the number of components of the fiber through p
IIII sing(F ) not isolated
ni (1) partS has one eigenvalue
bull We have partS = x partpartx
and partN = f partparty
+ g partpartz
for some functions f g isin (y z)
Moreover partN is non-trivial
26 FEDERICO BUONERBA
bull Z = (x = f = g = 0) is not isolated
(a) The fiber has one component y = 0 Then 0 = partN(y) = f hence
Z = (x = g = 0) The restriction on the fiber is part|(y=0) = x partpartx
+g|(y=0)partpartz
Z has a one-dimensional component contained in the fiber iff g isin (y) in
which case such component is smooth equal to (x = 0) moreover the
foliation on the fiber saturates to a smooth one with invariant curves
z = 0 transverse to Z
Otherwise the foliation is saturated on the fiber and has a saddle-node
singularity
(b) The fiber has two components yz = 0 Then 0 = partN(yz) = zf + yg
hence f = yh g = minuszh for some h and Z = (x = h = 0) The restriction
on a fiber component say y = 0 is part|(y=0) = x partpartxminus zh|(y=0)
partpartz
Z has an
irreducible component contained in y = 0 iff h isin (y) in which case such
component is smooth equal to (x = 0) moreover the foliation on the
fiber saturates to a smooth one with invariant curves z = 0 transverse
to Z
Otherwise the foliation is saturated on the fiber and has a saddle-node
singularity
(c) The fiber has three components xyz = 0 0 = partS(xyz) = xyz a contra-
diction
Summary with one eigenvalue there are either one or two components The
foliation might have a one-dimensional singularity when restricted to a fiber
component in this case such singularity is a smooth curve and the foliation
saturates to a smooth one with invariant curves transverse to the singular-
ity If the singularity is isolated on a fiber component then it is a canonical
saddle-node with at most two invariant branches
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 27
ni (2) partS has two eigenvalues
We have partS = x partpartx
+ λy partparty
and partN(x y z) = k partpartx
+ f partparty
+ g partpartz
for some func-
tions k f g
(a) The fiber has one component z = 0 Then g = 0 k f isin (x y) and
necessarily Z = (x = y = 0) is transverse to the fiber The restriction on
the fiber is saturated and non-degenerate It has canonical singularities
if either partN 6= 0 or λ isin Q+ otherwise it is log-canonical
(b) The fiber has two components xy = 0 Then 0 = partS(xy) hence λ = minus1
Also 0 = partN(xy) hence k = xh f = minusyh g isin (xy) and necessarily
Z = (x = y = 0) coincides with the intersection of the two fiber compo-
nents which is smooth the foliation saturates to a smooth one on each
component with invariant curves transverse to Z
(c) The fiber has three components xyz = 0 hence λ = minus1 Also k = xklowast
f = yf lowast g = zglowast with klowast + f lowast + glowast = 0 and glowast isin (xy) The singularity
Z = (x = y = 0) coincides with the intersection of two of the fiber
components The restriction to either such components saturates to a
smooth foliation with invariant curves transverse to Z the restriction
to z = 0 has a canonical non-degenerate singularity all the invariant
curves are those in xy = 0 transverse to Z
Summary with 2 eigenvalues there can be any number of components With
one component the foliation restricts to a saturated one with a (log)canonical
singularity which moves transversely to p With two components the folia-
tion is not saturated on either and saturates to a smooth one with invariant
curves transverse to the singularity With three components the foliation
is not saturated on two of them and saturates to a smooth one on both
with invariant curves transverse to the singularity the foliation is saturated
and has a canonical non-degenerate singularity on the third component In
28 FEDERICO BUONERBA
the last two cases the singularity is fully contained in an intersection of two
components
ni (3) partS has three eigenvalues But then the singularity is isolated a contradiction
IIIII sing(F ) isolated
i (1) partS has one eigenvalue
bull We have partS = x partpartx
and partN = xk partpartx
+ f partparty
+ g partpartz
for some functions
k f g isin (y z) Moreover partN is non-trivial
bull Z = (x = f = g = 0) is isolated
(a) The fiber has one component y = 0 Then 0 = partN(y) = f and Z cannot
be isolated a contradiction
(b) The fiber has two components yz = 0 Then 0 = partN(yz) = zf + yg so
f = yh g = minuszh with h non-constant Hence Z = (x = h = 0) is not
isolated a contradiction
(c) The fiber has three components xyz = 0 Then 0 = partS(xyz) = xyz a
contradiction
Summary the 1 eigenvalue case does not exist
i (2) partS has two eigenvalues
bull We have partS = x partpartx
+ λy partparty
partN = xk partpartx
+ f partparty
+ g partpartz
for some functions
k f g
bull g is non-trivial and g isin (x y)
bull Z = (x = y = g = 0) is isolated
(a) The fiber has one component z = 0 Then g = 0 a contradiction
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 29
(b) The fiber has two components xy = 0 hence λ = minus1 and g isin (xy z)
the restriction to y = 0 is part|(y=0) = x partpartx
+g|(y=0)partpartz
and necessarily g|(y=0)
is non-vanishing Therefore the restriction to either components is satu-
rated and the singularity is a canonical saddle-node on each of them
The invariant curves are among the axes x = y = 0 x = z = 0 y = z =
0
(c) The fiber has three components xyz = 0 hence λ = minus1 Necessarily
k = xklowast f = yf lowast g = zglowast with klowast + f lowast + glowast = 0 The restriction to
y = 0 is part|(y=0) = x(1 + klowast|(y=0))partpartx
+ zglowast|(y=0)partpartz
since g isin (x y) we have
glowast|(y=0) non-trivial Therefore the restriction to either x = 0 and y = 0
is saturated and the singularity is a canonical saddle-node on each of
them
The restriction to z = 0 is part|(z=0) = x(1 + klowast|(z=0))partpartx
+ y(minus1 + f lowast|(z=0))partparty
therefore the restriction is saturated and has a canonical non-degenerate
singularity
The invariant curves are among the axes x = y = 0 x = z = 0 y = z =
0
Summary with 2 eigenvalues there are either two or three components the
foliation restricts to a canonical saddle-node on two of them and to a non-
degenerate singularity on the third one if it exists All the invariant curves
are in the axes
i (3) partS has three eigenvalues We have partS = x partpartx
+ λy partparty
+ microz partpartz
(a) The fiber has one component y = 0 hence λ = 0 a contradiction
(b) The fiber has two components xy = 0 hence λ = minus1 The restriction to
y = 0 is part|(y=0) = x partpartx
+ microz partpartz
+ partN|(y=0) The singularity is log-canonical
30 FEDERICO BUONERBA
iff micro isin Qgt0 and partN|(y=0)= 0 and in this case the singularity on x = 0 is
canonical non-degenerate Invariant curves are those in y = 0 and the
axis x = z = 0
If the restriction to both fiber components is canonical then it non-
degenerate on both and the invariant curves are contained in the axes
x = y = 0 x = z = 0 y = z = 0
The fiber could be yz = 0 hence λ+micro = 0 It can be analyzed as in the
next item
(c) The fiber has three components xyz = 0 hence 1 + λ + micro = 0 In par-
ticular if λ = cmicro c isin Q+ then λ micro isin Q The restriction to y = 0
is part|(y=0) = x partpartx
+ microz partpartz
+ partN|(y=0) This singularity is log-canonical iff
micro isin Qgt0 and partN|(y=0)= 0 in which case the singularity on both x = 0
and z = 0 is canonical non-degenerate In particular if the singularity
is log-canonical on some fiber component then it is so on exactly one
component and all eigenvalues are rational Invariant curves are those
in y = 0 and the axis x = z = 0
If the restriction to all fiber components is canonical then it non-degenerate
on each of them and the invariant curves are contained in the axes
x = y = 0 x = z = 0 y = z = 0
Summary with 3 eigenvalues there are either two or three fiber components
the foliation restricts to a singular foliation on each of them and it has a
log-canonical singularity on at most one of them in this case all eigenvalues
of the semi-simple field are rational
IIIIII Local consequences We list some corollaries for future reference As al-
ways in this section the statements are local so everything happens in a formal
neighborhood of our point lowast First we state those corollaries we will need to describe
configurations of KF -nil curves
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 31
Definition IIIIII1 An LC-center Π sub X is an irreducible F -invariant formal
hypersurface such that the local vector field generating the foliation when restricted
to Π has semi-simple part with log-canonical singularity or a one-dimensional sin-
gular locus An LC-center with a log-canonical singularity is necessarily an algebraic
component of the singular fiber of p
Corollary IIIIII2 There is at most one LC-center with a log-canonical singularity
through lowast If it exists then all eigenvalues of the semi-simple field at lowast are rational
If there are at least two LC-centers through lowast then there are exactly two and the
foliation singularity is a smooth curve on each of them
Proof Possible cases in which an LC-center with log-canonical singularities appears
ni (2)a i (3)b i (3)c
Corollary IIIIII3 If there is no LC-center thorugh a point lowast then there are at
most three invariant curves through lowast all smooth Any number of them spans a sub-
space of the tangent space at lowast of maximal possible dimension
If there is an LC-center through lowast then there is at most one invariant curve through
lowast and not contained in the LC-center
If there is an LC-center with non-isolated singularity then the singularity is smooth
and all invariant curves contained in the LC-center intersect the singularity trans-
versely
Proof Invariant curves not in an LC-centers with log-canonical singularities are con-
tained in the three axes x = z = 0 x = y = 0 y = z = 0 mentioned in the above
classification The other statements are clear
Corollary IIIIII4 If p is smooth at lowast then Z is one dimensional around lowast
Proof Possible casesni (1)a ni (2)a
In particular if there is no LC-center the situation is the familiary
xz
32 FEDERICO BUONERBA
While if there is an LC-center (pink) with log-canonical singularity it will look like
y
LC-center
While if there is an LC-center with non-isolated singularity (red) it will look like
(the black arrows being invariant curves)
y
LC-center
The next corollary describes one-dimensional components of the foliation singularity
Corollary IIIIII5 If Z0 is a one-dimensional irreducible component of the folia-
tion singularity then it is at worst nodal The foliation when restricted to any fiber
component containing Z0 saturates to a smooth foliation in a neighborhood of Z0
and all the invariant curves are transverse to Z0
If Z0 is contained in exactly one fiber component then the semi-simple field has one
eigenvalue everywhere along Z0
If Z0 lies at the intersection of two fiber components then the semi-simple field has
two constant eigenvalues everywhere along Z0
Moreover if there exist a sequence of invariant curves converging in the compact-
open topology to Z0 then there is generically one eigenvalue along Z0
Proof Possible casesni (1)a ni (1)b ni (2)b ni (2)c Concerning the one-
eigenvalue case invariant curves converging to Z0 can be found in the formal hyper-
surface x = 0
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 33
IV Invariant curves along which KF vanishes
In this section we study in great detail a formal neighborhood of invariant curves
where KF is numerically trivial In the first subsection we deal with KF -nil curves
namely those whose generic point is not contained in the foliation singularity In this
case the normal bundle to the curve determines its formal neighborhood uniquely
and this has plenty of amazing consequences In the second subsection we study
those invariant curves which are contained in the foliation singularity In this case
we are not able to control the full formal neighborhood but important informations
can still be obtained
IVI KF -nil curves In this subsection we study in detail the structure of KF -
nil curves and their formal neighborhoods appearing in the set-up IIVII4 In
particular we will describe a simple process to replace cuspidal KF -nil curves by
net ones prove that the foliation is in the net completion around a net KF -nil curve
defined by a global vector field which admits a global Jordan decomposition deduce
that eigenfunctions for the semi-simple component of such field are also globally
defined on a formal neighborhood
The first important remark is of technical nature and explains how to deal with non-
net KF -nil curves By Proposition IIIV4 this is indeed possible and the images of
such curves will acquire cusp-like singularities It is hard to analyze the geometry
of F around such cuspidal curves and therefore necessary to remove them Let us
assume that C is simply connected with rational moduli f is ramified at 0 isin C
and and denote by X the formal completion along f(C) Then formally around
f(0) the curve f(C) has defining ideal (y xa minus zb) where y = 0 is a fiber of the
fibration p X rarr ∆ containing f(C) x z isin H0(X OX ) restrict to suitable local
coordinates on such fiber and a b ge 2 are coprime integers
Claim IVI1 Let r X ( aradicz = 0) rarr X be the a-th root of z = 0 III3 Then
(rlowastC)norm =∐a
1 C and the induced map rlowastf (rlowastC)norm rarrX ( aradicz = 0) is net
Proof Since r is etale away from z = 0 also rlowastC rarr C is etale away from 0 isin C
Since C 0 is simply connected we have rlowastC rminus1(0) =∐a
1 C 0 This proves
34 FEDERICO BUONERBA
the first statement Let ζ be a function on X ( aradicz = 0) such that ζa = z so then
rlowast(xa minus zb) =prod
ηa=1(x minus ηζb) Every branch is net in 0 and we obtain the second
statement as well
As such upon taking roots we can replace non-net KF -nil invariant curves with
rational moduli by net ones
We now proceed to study net KF -nil curves We will show that the foliation is
defined by a global vector field around a net KF -nil curve with rational moduli and
that such vector field admits a global Jordan decomposition
Proposition IVI2 Notation as in the set-up IIVII4 let f C rarrX be a KF -nil
curve Assume that f is net and let j C rarr C be the net completion along f Then
there exists an isomorphism
(16) OC(KF )simminusrarr OC
In particular there exists a global vector field partf on C that generates F
Proof Since C has rational moduli and is simply connected it has infinite-cyclic
Picard group and we have an isomorphism
(17) OC(KF )simminusrarr OC
Moreover we have a non-canonical splitting of the normal bundle Njsimminusrarr O(minusn) oplus
O(minusm) and we claim that both nm ge 0 Indeed consider the induced semi-stable
fibration C rarr ∆ and let F be the normalization of an irreducible component of a
fiber such that C sub F Consider the exact sequence
(18) 0rarr NCF rarr Nj rarr NFC|C rarr 0
Since KF is nef NCF is not ample since F is a fiber of a fibration also NFC|C is
not ample and this is enough to conclude even though nm may be different from
the degrees of such normal bundles
At this point we can lift the isomorphism 17 over infinitesimal neighborhoods of j
Indeed for every k ge 0 we have an exact sequence
(19) 0rarr Symk ICI2C rarr OCk+1
(KF )rarr OCk(KF )rarr 0
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 35
which shows that the obstruction to lifting the isomorphism lies in
(20) H1(C Symk ICI2C) = H1(C Symk(O(n)oplus O(m))) = 0
From this we can deduce
Proposition IVI3 The vector field partf admits a Jordan decomposition uniformly
along C
Proof The cohomology sequence attached to 19 is
(21) 0rarr H0(C Symk ICI2C)rarr H0(COCk+1
)rarr H0(COCk)rarr 0
Let partk+1 denote the image of partf in End(H0(COCk+1)) Looking at
H0(COCk+1) minusminusminusrarr H0(COCk
)
partk+1
y partk
yH0(COCk+1
) minusminusminusrarr H0(COCk)
we see the canonical Jordan deomposition of partk+1 restricts to that of partk
The above result describes a very useful interplay between normal bundles to
KF -nil curves and the structure of the semi-simple field It turns out that these
informations determine formal neighborhoods uniquely For simplicity let C be
an irreducible component of C without orbifold points Let us assume that part|C is
singular in 0infin Then there exist formal functions x y z at 0 isin C and ξ η ζ at
infin isin C such that x ξ are coordinates along C y η are local sections of OC(minusn)
so η = xny mod(I2C) z ζ are local sections of OC(minusm) so ζ = xmz mod(I2C)
Normalizing so that xminus1partS(x) = ε isin 0 1 we obtain
(22) part0S = εxpart
partx+ λy
part
party+ microz
part
partz partinfinS = minusεξ part
partξ+ (λ+ εn)η
part
partη+ (micro+ εm)ζ
part
partζ
More generally ie C = P1(d e) we have glueing rules x = te ξ = tminusd η = tny and
ζ = tmz mod(I2C) Normalizing so that tminus1partS(t) = ε isin 0 1 we obtain
(23) part0S = eεxpart
partx+ λy
part
party+ microz
part
partz partinfinS = minusdεξ part
partξ+ (λ+ εn)η
part
partη+ (micro+ εm)ζ
part
partζ
36 FEDERICO BUONERBA
It is worth remarking that the above relations hold between eigenvalues at the two
singular point of singular ie nodal or cuspidal KF -nil curves as well this is
easily seen by taking a root followed by net completion and keeping track of the
eigenvalues
Definition IVI4 Let C be a KF -nil curve The foliation singular points along C
are called ends
As well as the existence of Hilbert scheme in the following form
Fact IVI5 Let W sub Xlowast be a curve and D a divisor in the formal neighborhood
of W such that W = D capXlowast scheme-theoretically Then W moves in D
In what follows our main concern is to understand formal neighborhoods of KF -
nil curves Observe that the fibration p when restricted to the formal neighborhood
of such curves provides at least one eigenfunction of the semi-simple field Hence
in order to compute the width IIII we must study the behavior of the other eigen-
function on infinitesimal neighborhoods We first describe the situation inside the
smooth locus of p
Proposition IVI6 (Smooth fiber) Let f C rarrX be an irreducible KF -nil curve
which is contained in the smooth locus of a fiber Xlowast of p Then the end(s) on C are
flat over ∆ ni (1)b and ni (1)a with z2|g(y z) and C moves in a family flat over
∆
Proof Let us assume that f is net Then upon passing to net completion we can
actually assume it is embedded From our local classification of singularities we case
in case ni (1)a and ni (2)a We want to show that both ends have components
that move transversely to p hence we have to exclude case ni (1)a with g(y z) = ya
By way of contradiction say we have g(y z) = ya in the notation of opcit around
an end lowast isin C We proceed to compute what happens at the other end we find
formal coordinates ξ η ζ which by equation 23 satisfy
(24) ξ = xminus1 η = y ζ = xmz mod(I2C)
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 37
As such we compute part(ζ) = mζ + ξminusmηa mod(I2C) which is holomorphic if and only
if m le 0 so then C moves in Xlowast contradicting that the foliation has general type
Hence we are in cases ni (1)a ni (2)a with g = microyazb b ge 1
(25) part0 = xpart
partx+ microyazb
part
partz partinfin = minusξ part
partξ+ ζ(m+ microξm(bminus1)ηaζbminus1)
part
partζ(mod(I2C))
Following notation from subsection IIII observe that C1 is the section of E1C which
is disjoint from the proper transform of the fiber of p In coordinates over 0
(26) x1 = x y1 = y z1 = zyminus1
And similarly over infin Using the previous equation and 25 on C1 we find
(27)
part01 = x1part
partx1+microya+bminus11 zb1
part
partz1 partinfin1 = minusξ1
part
partξ1+ζ1(m+microξ
m(bminus1)1 ηa+bminus11 ζbminus11 )
part
partζ1(mod(I2C1
))
In particular the transform of the nilpotent field is still nilpotent after blowing up in
C It follows that the eigenvalues of the semi-simple field at the two ends of C and
C1 are the same Using equation 23 we deduce that the normal bundle to C1X1 to
isomorphic to that of CX in particular it contains a trivial direct summand This
proves that width(C) =infin
Next we show that f must be net Consider the induced flat projection pD D rarr ∆
its general fiber cannot be a cuspidal curve since along such cusp the foliation sin-
gularity would be log-canonical but not canonical Hence if C has a cusp necessarily
the general fiber of pD is a nodal curve Let X rarr X denote the blow up of the
nodal locus of pD with exceptional divisor E ruled over ∆ In a neighborhood of E
we have sing(F ) = D cap E which projects to ∆ as a double cover ramified over lowastObserve that the foliation on Xlowast is again log-canonical and not canonical hence its
local structure is ni (2)a In that case however p is unramified along the foliation
singularity Contradiction
We state a general criterion for movability of KF -nil curves
Proposition IVI7 Let C be a connected KF -nil curve such that p(C ) = lowast isin ∆
Assume its dual graph is a chain that none of its irreducible components is double
38 FEDERICO BUONERBA
VI3 and that its two extremal ends are flat over ∆ Then C moves in a family flat
over ∆ and each of its irreducible components is embedded
Proof We work in a formal neighborhood of C After taking roots we can assume
C is net and since its dual graph is a chain it is actually embedded We proceed by
induction on its length l where the case l = 1 is Proposition IVI6 For l gt 1 let C1
be a component of C which is extremal in its dual graph If C1 moves transversely
to p then both its ends do and hence we can apply the induction hypothesis to
C C1 If C1 is rigid then it can be flopped It is straightforward to check that we
can apply the induction hypothesis to the transform C + C+1 and we are done
Now we deal with rigid curves inside the singular fiber
Proposition IVI8 (Singular fiber) Let f C rarr X be an embedded net KF -
nil curve with anti-ample normal bundle Then there exists a birational map φ
(X F ) 99K (X +F+) and a KF+-nil curve C+ such that
bull φ is an isomorphism away from C+
bull In a formal neighborhood of at least one among C and C+ there exist two
invariant hypersurfaces D1D2 locally defined by the vanishing of eigenfunc-
tions of the semi-simple field such that C (resp C+)= D1 capD2
bull If F middot C lt 0 for some hypersurface F then F+ middot C+ gt 0 In particular X +
is projective
Such φ is called flop
Proof Our assumption is that Nfsimminusrarr O(minusn)oplusO(minusm) is anti-ample namely nm gt
0 If two invariant hypersurfaces as in our statement do exist around C the flop is
easily constructed as a weighted blow-up followed by a weighted blow-down As such
let us assume that such hypersurfaces do not exist around C In particular C is not
double VI3 By [Ar70] there exists a formal contraction c X rarrX0 collapsing C
to a point and an isomorphism everywhere else By Proposition IVI3 the foliation
F0 is Gorenstein around the node of X0 For ease of exposition let us assume
n = m = 1 the general case is handled the same way only the notation becomes more
cumbersome due to the presence of weights The node has embedding dimension 4
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 39
and in suitable local coordinates x0 y0 w0 z0 can be defined by x0z0minusy0w0 = 0 The
morphism c can be identified with the blow up of the embedded surface (x0 = y0 = 0)
Explicitly in the chart y = y0 x = x0yminus10 it is defined by
(28) y0 = y x0 = xy z0 = zprime w0 = xzprime
Here x is a coordinate along C while y = 0 is the pull-back of (x0 = y0 = 0) and
zprime some function in the normal bundle to C By the previous Proposition IVI6
we know C cannot be contained in the smooth locus of p Since C is not double
we can assume that in this local chart p is defined by (x y zprime) rarr xy - the case
(x y zprime) rarr xzprime being isomorphic as it is isomorphic to blow-up (z0 = w0 = 0)
instead of (x0 = y0 = 0) The issue is as emphasized by the notation zprime 6= z that
zprime may fail to be an eigenfunction for partS if it were we would be done since zprime = 0
is the local equation for the global pullback of (z0 = w0 = 0) However we have
a b isin C such that
(29) partS0(y0) = minusy0 partS0(x0) = 0 partS0(z0) = ay0 + bz0 partS0(w0) = ax0 + (b+ 1)w0
Observe that the embedded surfaces D01 = (y0 = z0 = 0) and D0
2 = (x0 = w0 = 0)
are both foliation invariant As such let b X + rarr X0 denote the blow-up of X0
along D01 - which is isomorphic to that along D0
2 - and let Di = blowastD0i i = 1 2
Finally X + is projective by Nakai-Moishezon Indeed every C with anti-ample
normal bundle is contained in an irreducible component F of X0 such that F middotC lt 0
Then F+ middot C+ gt 0 and we can find an ample divisor of the form H+ + εF+ where
H+ is the proper transform of an ample on X
Remark IVI9 In the previous proof a 6= b+ 1 Indeed such identity would create
a non-trivial Jordan block of partS0 in the (x0 w0)-plane thus contradicting the semi-
simplicity of partS0 In particular by a straightforward computation it is impossible to
find eigenfunctions of the form wlowast0 = w0 + αx0 zlowast0 = z0 + βy0 with x0z
lowast0 minus y0wlowast0 = 0
unless a = 0
We can conclude by pointing out an important point understood in this section
A painful aspect of the theory is that log-canonical singularities which appear natu-
rally as analytic degenerations of canonical ones come along with cuspidal invariant
40 FEDERICO BUONERBA
curves There is in particular no a-priori obstruction to the existence of rigid
cuspidal KF -nil curves in a smooth fiber of our family of foliated surfaces p Quite
generally a rigid curve of positive arithmetic genus in a smooth family of surfaces can
never be contracted to a point Therefore this would have been a counter-example
to any reasonable foliated canonical model theory one may wish to achieve Fortu-
nately such phenomenon does not happen and this establishes the Main Theorem I
modulo finitely many rigid curves confined in the singular fiber X0
IVII Invariant curves inside sing(F ) In this subsection we study curves Z0 subeXlowast cap sing(F ) which are inside the foliation singularity and invariant By this we
mean that there exists a sequence fn Cn rarrX of not necessarily algebraic invariant
curves converging in the compact-open topology to Z0 In other words the map
(30) NorF rarr Ω1Z0
is trivial By Corollary IIIIII5 we know that Z0 is at worst nodal it is smooth
wherever p is smooth for every point z isin Z0 the semi-simple part of the gener-
ating vector field has exactly one eigenvalue The problem here is that the Jordan
decomposition need not extend uniformly along Z0 not even along an irreducible
component In case ni (1)a the functions x and g may develop essential singulari-
ties arbitrary close to z Nonetheless the function x is unique and this says that x
does extend along Z0
Proposition IVII1 Let Z0 be as above Then in a formal neighborhood of Z0
there exists a unique smooth invariant hypersurface D0 containing Z0 which restricts
around any point in Z0 to the unique eigenfunction for the semi-simple field whose
eigenvalue is non-zero
Proof The local structure of the foliation around a point z isin Z0 is described by
cases ni (1)a and ni (1)b In both cases partS has one non-zero eigenvalue with
eigenfunction x Such eigenfunction x is a-priori only defined in the normal bundle to
Z0 but it is clear that the equation partx = x has a unique up to constants solution in
the formal completion around z As such there exists a unique smooth hypersurface
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 41
D0 in the formal completion around Z0 which restricts to the eigenfunction x around
z
Observe that the previous argument goes through since we are assuming Z0 subX0
Keeping notations from case ni (1)a if say g(y z) = yz then in the hypersurface
y equiv q isin Qgt0 the foliation has a log-canonical singularity and the eigenfunction x
extends highly non-uniquely to a formal neighborhood of the point (x y z) = (0 q 0)
In particular the existence of D0 as in the previous Proposition might fail along
the component (x = z = 0) of the foliation singularity This phenomenon is called
the beast
Anyway uniqueness in the previous proposition yields
Corollary IVII2 Let Z prime be a connected invariant curve inside sing(F ) Then in
a formal neighborhood of Z prime there exists a unique smooth invariant hypersurface D prime
containing Z prime which restricts around any point in Z prime to the hypersurface constructed
in the previous proposition
Next we turn to the intrinsic structure of invariant singular curves
Proposition IVII3 Let Z0 be an irreducible invariant curve inside sing(F )
Then Z0 is smooth and rational
Proof We work in a formal neighborhood of Z0 Let F0 denote the unique component
of X0 containing Z0 For any other fiber component F intersecting Z0 non-trivially
blow-up the invariant curve F cap F0 with exceptional divisor EF A straightforward
computation using the local formula ni (1)b shows that the fiber of the natural
projection EF rarr F cap F0 intersecting Z0 is also contained in sing(F ) For Z prime the
maximal connected singular invariant curve containing Z0 let G denote the saturated
foliation induced on D prime It is canonical with reduced singularities and it satisfies
KG = KF |Dprime minus Zprime By adjunction
(31) 2g(Z0)minus 2 + sZG(Z0) = minusZ prime middot Z0
Observe that thanks to our initial sequence of blow-ups the singularities of G along
Z0 coincide with the intersection of Z0 and Z prime Z0 In particular since D prime is formally
42 FEDERICO BUONERBA
flat over ∆ we deduce Z prime middot Z0 = 0 and the previous formula becomes
(32) 2g(Z0)minus 2 + sZG(Z0) = 0
This implies that Z0 is rational or elliptic If Z0 were elliptic then sZG(Z0) = 0 and
D0 defines an invariant elliptic curve in the general fiber of p By Baum-Bott this
contradicts that KF is big and nef Now we show that Z0 is smooth If it has a node
then D0 moves it in a family of nodal rational curves flat over ∆ In particular D0
itself has a node in codimension 1 hence Xlowast is smooth around the node of Z0 In its
formal neighborhood the foliation must be as in case ni (1)a which implies that
Z0 is smooth contradiction
We can improve as follows
Proposition IVII4 Let Z prime sube sing F capXlowast be a connected invariant curve with
KF middot Z prime = 0 Then its dual graph is a chain
Proof Assume Z prime is a cycle Then necessarily Z prime = D prime capXlowast scheme-theoretically
and by the existence of Hilbert scheme Z prime moves in the general fiber Its general
member is either a cycle of smooth rational curves or an elliptic curve Arguing as
in the previous proof we see that both options are impossible
V Configurations
In this section we analyze in great detail all possible configurations of invariant
curves along which KF vanishes These can be divided into three groups those
that do not move those that move in a one-dimensional family covering a surface
those that move in a higher-dimensional family covering a surface Curves in the first
group can form rather complicated configurations while those in the second group
are more simple they either move in the general fiber or they cover an isolated
Riccati component in the singular fiber Those in the third group turn out to be
represented by the two rulings of P1timesP1 if they happen to be cohomologous in the
ambient stack First we will analyze rigid curves then those which move and finally
we will describe their configurations
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 43
VI Configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially In
this subsection we describe configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF
trivially which arise in the situation described by set-up IIVII4
First we focus on KF -nil curves At the end of the section we deal with the simpler
case in which a curve in the configuration is fully contained in sing(F ) The general
fiber was handled in Proposition IVI6
Proposition VI1 Let C be a connected KF -nil curve contained in the smooth
locus of a fiber of p Then it is a chain or a cycle and it moves in a family flat over
∆
In what follows we let C denote a connected KF -nil curve contained in the
singular fiber X0 all of whose sub-curves are rigid in X Observe a consequence of
equation 23
Proposition VI2 Let C = cupiCi be a connected KF -nil curve Then the eigen-
values of partS are all rational at every point of sing(F )capC if and only if they are all
rational at one point
We can deduce many non-trivial properties about configurations of KF -nil curves
First we need
Definition VI3 Let C subX0 be a curve It is called double if there exists formally
around C two components F F prime of X0 such that C = F cap F prime A point lowast isin C where
three fiber components intersect is called a triple point If C lies on exactly one fiber
component it is called non-double We denote by F (C) such component
Remark VI4 Let Csimminusrarr P1(d e) be double with two triple points Then we know
e+ λ+ micro = minusd+ (λ+ n) + (micro+m) = 0 whence we obtain
(33) n+m = d+ e
Which is called triple-point formula
Next we show that essentially KF -nil curves do not form cycles unless something
deforms in X0 First we show that there are no cycles of rigid non-double curves
44 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proposition VI5 Let C be a connected KF -nil curve contained in the singular
fiber X0 of p Assume that every component of C is non-double and that every
sub-curve is rigid Then C contains no cycles
Proof We work in a formal neighborhood of C which we assume is a cycle Let
us first consider the case in which all components C1 middot middot middot CN are smooth with no
orbifold points and denote lowasti = Ci cap Ci+1 with CN+1 = C1 Moreover let us
assume no lowasti lies in the smooth locus of p
Since no curve is double the semi-simple field at every lowasti is as in case i (3)b in
particular the eigenvalues along the branches of Ci and Ci+1 add up to zero More-
over let minusni denote the self-intersection of Ci sub F (Ci) Normalize the eigenvalues
of partS so that at lowastn they are 1 in the C1 direction minus1 in the CN direction λ in the
F (C1)capF (CN) direction It follows by induction that at lowasti the eigenvalues are minus1
in the Ci direction 1 in the Ci+1 direction λ+ n1 + middot middot middot+ ni in the F (Ci) cap F (Ci+1)
direction After traveling around the cycle we obtain n1+middot middot middot+nN = 0 contradicting
that ni gt 0 for every i
We established the Proposition assuming every Ci is an embedded scheme and ev-
ery lowasti is in the singular locus of p The case in which Cisimminusrarr P1(di ei) has orbifold
points is analogous we end up with a combination c1n1 + middot middot middot + cNnN = 0 with ci
the eigenvalue at lowasti in the Ci+1 direction Normalizing so that c1 = e1 gt 0 again by
induction on i we see that every ci isin Qgt0 Next we show that our assumption on lowastiis always satisfied
Claim VI6 Every lowasti must belong to the singular locus of p
Proof We give two essentially equivalent proofs
bull If N = 2 3 then the previous argument goes through indeed we can normal-
ize eigenvalues at lowasti to be negative in the Ciminus1 direction and positive in the
Ci-direction and argue as above Hence we can assume N ge 4 If say lowasti is in
the smooth locus of p then F (Ci) = F (Ci+1) If also F (Ciminus1) = F (Ci) then Ci
lies in the smooth locus of p and hence it moves Therefore F (Ciminus1) 6= F (Ci)
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 45
and Ciminus1 can be flopped inside F (Ci) Since N ge 4 this preserves the smooth-
ness of F (Ci) and Ci is now is the smooth locus of p - contradiction
bull If lowasti belongs to the smooth locus of p then the end through lowasti moves We
can form a partial net completion fi Xi rarrX by normalizing C in lowasti only
Then f lowasti C is a chain with movable ends and hence moves in the general fiber
of p fi
Finally the general case in which some among the Ci have cusps can be easily
reduced to the smooth case in a couple of ways
bull Eigenvalues at the singularities of any KF -nil curve satisfy the same relations
as in the smooth case
bull Upon taking roots and net completion we can find a foliated formal 3-fold
supported on a cycle of smooth KF -nil curves which is a ramified cover of a
formal neighborhood of our cycle
Similarly we can show that there are no rigid cycles of double curves
Proposition VI7 Let C be a nodal KF -nil curve which is double Then C
deforms inside X0 In particular there cannot exist a rigid cycle of KF -nil double
curves
Proof Following the previous notation we have 0 = infin and if C = (xy = z = 0)
around 0 then we have identities
(34) x = η y = ξ z = ζ
The last one of which implies m = 0 that is C deforms Since C is double necessarily
the surface it spans must be contained in X0
The statement about cycles follows since a cycle of double curves can be transformed
after finitely many flops into a chain of smooth double curves with a nodal one
attached at one end
46 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Later on we will show that the deformations of C cannot span an elliptic surface
but only a family of nodal rational curves with a special Riccati foliation on it
We are ready to organize a detailed description of the dual graph of C More pre-
cisely we only need to understand how double curves intersect non-double curves
Lemma VI8 There exists a sequence of flops X 99KX + such that if C + denotes
the transform of C every double curve supported on C + contains two triple points
Proof Let C sube C be an irreducible component with at most one triple point and
let X 99K X + be its flop Then its transform C+ is non-double and the number
of double curves contained in C descreases It is clear that after finitely many flops
all double curves contain exactly two triple points
From now on all double curves in C have two triple points Thanks to proposition
VI2 we know that there are two cases to consider those curves along which the
semi-simple field has not only rational eigenvalues and those along which the semi-
simple field has only rational eigenvalues The first case being strictly easier than
the second it is a good starting place to warm up
Proposition VI9 (irrational eigenvalues) Assume that for every foliation singu-
larity along C not all eigenvalues of partS are rational Then every component of C
is net with at most one node and 1-skeleton of its dual graph is at worst trivalent
Write C = C axes cup C free where
C axes is the union of double curves
C free is the union of non-double curves
Then one among C axes and C free is empty Moreover
bull If C free is non-empty then it is a chain of smooth curves with rational moduli
bull If C axes is non-empty there exists a sequence of flops X 99KX + and an ir-
reducible component of the fiber FC subX + such that X + is a smooth stack
the transform C+ of C is contained in FC Moreover the dual graph of C+
is a tree which by [McQ08 III32] becomes a chain inside the normalization
of FC
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 47
Proof The first sentence is just corollary IIIIII3
Observe that if a non-double curve intersects a double curve then the non-double
curve must be contained in an LC-center around such intersection This contradicts
that not all eigenvalues are rational and establishes that one among C axes and C free
is empty
In case C free is not empty then it is clearly a chain or a cycle the latter being
impossible by Proposition VI5
We are left to show the existence of flops in case C = C axes We remark that
every component is smooth Let C0 be such a component and S0 a component of
X0 containing it Let C1 be the collection of irreducible components of C which
intersect S0 but are not contained in it All the components of C1 are smooth hence
we can flop them in any order until the transform of C1 lies in the transform of S0
Since the number of irreducible components of C lying outside S0 decreases after
such flop by induction we deduce the existence of finitely many flops after which
the birational transform of C is fully contained in the transform of S0
Next we take care of rational eigenvalues The complication here arises from
the fact that there may be double and non-double curves intersecting each other
However the situation is best possible
Proposition VI10 (rational eigenvalues) Assume that for every foliation singu-
larity along C all eigenvalues of partS are rational Write C = C axes cup C free where
C axes is the union of double curves
C free is the union of non-double curves
Then there exists a sequence of flops X 99K X + and an irreducible component of
the fiber FC axes subX + such that
bull X + is a smooth stack
bull The union of double curves of C axes is contained in FC axes the 1-skeleton of
its dual graph is a tree and each of its components has two triple points
bull The 1-skeleton of the dual graph of the transform C free+ is a disjoint union of
trees
bull Each connected component of C free+ intersects C axes in exactly one point
48 FEDERICO BUONERBA
In particular the 1-skeleton of the dual graph of C is a tree
Proof Notice that for every point lowast isin C cap Z there exists one LC-center through lowastIndeed there are three rational eigenvalues and they cannot be all non-vanishing and
all with different signs at the same time Now C axes can be treated as in proposition
VI9 This proves the first two items of the statement The third item follows from
Proposition VI5 so we can focus on the fourth one The proof is based on the
following obvious
Remark VI11 let C be a double curve such that either it is KF -nil hence has
two triple points or it is fully contained in sing(F ) Let C0 sube C free intersect C
non-trivially in a point lowast then necessarily C0 sub LClowast
Now let C0 middot middot middot CN form a chain of non-double curves with C0 and CN both
intersecting double curves as in the remark Denote by lowasti = Ci cap Ci+1 Since
C1 sub LClowast necessarily C1 is transverse to LClowast1 otherwise C1 would deform in F (C1)
Inductively we see that Ci+1 sub LClowasti and is transverse to LClowasti+1 In particular CN
cannot touch a double curve This contradiction proves the fourth item
Let us add a remark about configurations featuring invariant curves inside sing(F )
Proposition VI12 Let C be an invariant curve with KF middot C = 0 such that
Z0 sube C for some component Z0 sube sing(F ) Then C = Z prime cup C where
Z prime is a connected invariant curve inside the foliation singularity with dual graph a
chain
C is the union of at most two pairwise disjoint KF -nil curves with anti-ample
normal bundle
If not empty C can only intersect Z prime at the two ends of its dual graph Moreover
perhaps after a flop the intersection of C with Z prime supports the foliation singularity
along C As such if C has two components Z prime cup C deforms in the general fiber
Proof The structure of Z prime is Proposition IVII3 while that of Co is Proposition
IVI6 Let C prime be a component of C intersecting Z0 in a point lowast If C prime and Z0 belong
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 49
to different components of X0 then by case ni (1)b the eigenvalue of partS along C prime
vanishes so supp(sing(F ) cap C prime) = lowast If C prime and Z0 belong to the same component
then we can flop C prime into a different component
Observe that the divisor D prime from op cit can be extended along C prime This implies
that C can only intersect Z prime at its ends Moreover if C touches both ends necessarily
D prime capX0 = C scheme-theoretically hence by the existence of Hilbert scheme IVI5
we conclude
Our new set-up is
Set-up VI13 Everything as in set-up IIVII4 and moreover for any connected
invariant curve C with KF middot C = 0 all of whose sub-curves are rigid we have
configurations computed in proposition VI9 VI10 and Lemma VI12
VII Configurations of non-rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
In this subsection we describe configurations of surfaces which are covered by KF -nil
curves The structure of each such surface is described by classification IIV1 IIV2
and Corollary IIVI17 Our first step is to simplify the situation by contracting
chains of ruled surfaces The next step is to try and exclude the possibility that
the singular fiber of p contains fibrations by elliptic or nodal rational curves with
at least one invariant fiber This can be achieved with good success indeed there
may be at most one such Riccati foliation which is anyway rather isolated from the
remaining KF -nil curves Finally we observe that the only class of surfaces we have
not mentioned is
Definition VII1 A irreducible component F of the singular fiber of p is called
small Kronecker if
bull (FFF ) is birational to a Kronecker vector field on P1 timesP1 and
bull The two rulings of this P1 timesP1 are cohomologous inside X
The name comes from the fact that contraction of a small Kronecker yields a node
in the ambient threefold which admits a small resolution In fact in many respects
these fiber components behave very much like rigid KF -nil curves
50 FEDERICO BUONERBA
We start by getting rid of some fiber components which are ruled by KF -nil gener-
ically smooth rational curves
Proposition VII2 Notation as in Set-up VI13 there exists a sequence of flops
and divisorial contractions c X 99KX + such that
bull X + is a smooth stack
bull let S+ sub X + be an irreducible invariant divisor that contains a positive-
dimensional family of invariant rational curves along which KF+ vanishes
Then S+ is either birationally ruled by nodal rational curves or it is a small
Kronecker
Proof We focus first on contracting components of the singular fiber of p Consider
the following algorithm If there is no birationally ruled component different from
the ones listed in the second item we are done otherwise pick one such F and let
C denote the general member of the ruling If the cohomology class [C] is inde-
composable F is minimal Otherwise [C] = [C1] + [C2] where Ci are rational and
intersect KF trivially After finitely many steps we have a decomposition as a finite
sum of indecomposables [C] =sumn
i=0 ni[Ci] where every Ci is rational intersects KF
trivially We have two cases
bull There exists k such that Ck deforms in a birationally ruled necessarily min-
imal surface Fk
bull Every Ci has anti-ample normal bundle
In the first case denote by X rarr X1 the contraction of Fk along |Ck| and relpace
X by X1 Since Fk is minimal smoothness of the ambient stack is preserved unless
Fk is a small Kronecker This is however impossible if n ge 2 if Fk were a small
Kronecker then Ck deforms away from Fkminus1 so then Fkminus1 middot Ck = 0 on the other
hand Fkminus1 intersects the other ruling of Fk positively
In the second case flop C1 middot middot middot Cn in this order The transform of F is minimal and
not a small Kronecker so it can be contracted along its ruling preserving ambient
smoothness By induction on the Picard rank of X after finitely many steps this
algorithm ends Call X the output of this algorithm
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 51
Let S subX be an invariant divisor with a generically smooth ruling Then pS S rarr∆ is flat and after flopping finitely many rational curves in S cap plowastS(0) the resulting
pS is smooth Hence we can contract S along pS After finitely many steps the
Proposition is proven
For ease of notation in the sequel we call X the output of the previous proposition
Notice that there might still be divisors carrying a pencil of nodal rational curves
both inside and outside the singular fiber of p
We can start analyzing configurations of fiber components where the restriction of
F is not of general type We need some notation whose reason to exist will be clear
shortly
Definition VII3 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
along which KF is not big F is called special Riccati if
bull F is minimal
bull There exists a morphism s F rarr B onto a curve whose fibers are nodal
rational curve
bull F is transverse to the general fiber of s in particular KF is numerically
trivial along s
bull At least one fiber of s is invariant
bull There exists a section σ of s which is invariant and does not coincide with
the nodal locus of F
In particular the intersections of σ with invariant fibers of s isolated singularities
of F the node of F all coincide There may be fibers of s fully contained in sing(F )
in which case they are everywhere transverse to the saturated foliation
The definition looks nasty but special Riccati components have a rather simple
origin as the following proof shows
Lemma VII4 Let F be special Riccati Up to base change by an etale double cover
Bprime rarr B there is a natural isomorphism F norm simminusrarr BprimetimesP1 and the restriction of F
to F norm is birational to the projection onto P1
52 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proof We work over the normalization F norm Denote by Bprime the pre-image of the
node of F which is an etale double cover of B and let f denote an invariant fiber
of s with lowast = σ cap f Observe that F norm carries a Riccati foliation with 3 invariant
curves through lowast - namely σ f and a component of Bprime Hence FF has a log-canonical
singularity in lowast On F norm perform a weighted blow-up in each log-canonical singu-
larity followed by the contraction of the transforms of the corresponding fibers Let
s+ F+ rarr B denote the output of this operation If the proper transform of Bprime is
connected replace F+ by its base change under Bprime rarr B Hence we can assume Bprime
is the disjoint union of two sections of s+ and the transform of σ is a third section
which is disjoint from Bprime Therefore F+ = P1 timesBprime and the foliation restricts to the
projection onto P1
Next we describe those surfaces which cannot appear as components of the sin-
gular fiber X0
Definition VII5 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
along which KF is not big F is called illusory if
bull there exists a morphism t F rarr B onto a curve
bull KF is trivial along t
bull For any other fiber component F prime the intersection F cap F prime is either empty or
contained in a fiber of t
We give examples of illusory fiber components
Lemma VII6 The following fiber components are necessarily illusory
bull t is elliptic the foliation is either parallel to t or turbolent with at least one
invariant fiber
bull t is a nodal ruling the foliation is either parallel to t or transverse to t with
at least one invariant fiber and not birational to a special Riccati VII3
Proof Let f = F cap F prime for some fiber component F prime It is F -invariant
Assume t and F are parallel and f is transverse to both Then necessarily f subesing(F ) and KF is positive along the fibers of t contradiction
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 53
Assume t and F are generically transverse and f is transverse to t Let e be an
invariant fiber of t then ecap f isin sing(F ) hence t must be a family of nodal rational
curves and ecapf coincides with the node of e - otherwise KF would be positive along
t But this implies F is special Riccati contradiction
We proceed to show that illusory fibers do not exist
Lemma VII7 Let F be an illusory fiber component then every fiber of t is irre-
ducible If F prime is any fiber component intersecting F non-trivially then F prime is illusory
Proof Assume t has a reducible fiber f Then we can write f = f prime cup f primeprime where f prime
is irreducible and f primeprime is a disjoint union of chains of rational curves In particular
every subscheme supported on f primeprime is rigid in X f prime is rational and smooth iff f is a
cycle of rational curves hence the foliation on F is parallel to t and the choice of f prime
is not unique otherwise f prime is nodal or elliptic Let X 99KX + denote the flop of the
irreducible components of f primeprime in any order The proper transform f prime+ (below in red)
is the irreducible fiber of the induced morphism t+ F+ rarr B Since f primeprime+ intersects
f prime+ and is not contained in F+ there exists a component F prime of the fiber of p+ such
that F+ cap f prime+ 6= empty Since F+ is illusory necessarily F+ cap F prime = f prime+ Moreover F+
and F prime are the only fiber components intersecting f prime+ again because F+ is illusory
We deduce that F+ middot f prime+ = F prime middot f prime+ = 0 and therefore f prime+ is nef inside F prime It follows
that he restriction of F+ to F prime is not of general type and by the classification of
foliated surfaces [McQ08] necessarily f prime+ deforms inside F prime and defines a fibration
u F prime rarr Bprime In particular f prime+ is an irreducible fiber of u This is however impossible
since u contracts all the components of f primeprime+ contained in F prime (below in blue) and by
definition of F prime there exists at least one such component This proves that every
fiber of t is irreducible The following depicts the situation
F prime F+
f prime+
f primeprime+
t+u
54 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Concerning the second statement we only need to check the third condition for F prime
to be illussory namely that every other fiber component F primeprime intersecting F prime does
so along the fibers of u If F primeprime intersects F prime transversely to u then F primeprime intersects F
non-trivially and transversely to t as well absurd
Corollary VII8 Illusory components do not exist
Proof By the above lemma the existence of one illusory component implies that
every irreducible component of the singular fiber of p is illusory contradicting that
KF is big
We can now focus on fiber components that do appear
Corollary VII9 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
containing an invariant curve C which moves and such that KF middot C = 0 Then
following the classification [McQ08] we have two cases
(1) The minimal model of F is a special Riccati component
(2) F is a small Kronecker
Proof Certainly the ones listed are the only cases where C is KF -nil We have to
exclude the possibility that C is invariant inside sing(F ) By Proposition IVII3
such C would be rational with at most one node Since we already contracted at
the beginning of the present subsection all ruled surfaces necessarily C is nodal
However by opcit C cannot intersect any other fiber component of X0 which
implies the absurdity that X0 = F
We proceed to show that special Riccati components are rather isolated in the
fiber
Lemma VII10 Let F be a special Riccati component If F prime is a fiber component
intersecting F non-trivially then it does so transversely to s Morover there is
exactly one such F prime
Proof After finitely many flops we can assume that every fiber of s is irreducible
By the non-existence of illusory components there exists a fiber component F lowast with
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 55
σprime = F cap F prime transverse to s If F primeprime is a fiber component with f = F cap F primeprime a fiber
of s then we claim f sube sing(F ) If not then since KF middot f = 0 and σprime is invariant
necessarily σprimecap f is the node of f But then the existence of F primeprime contradicts that p is
snc Hence f sube sing(F ) so then around the node of f there are 3 fiber components -
two branches coming from F one from F primeprime - and sing(F ) has 2 branches - namely f
This is impossible by our case analysis ni (1)c ni (2)c The very same reasoning
establishes the uniqueness of F prime
Lemma VII11 Let F be as in the previous Lemma If C is a connected curve
with KF middot C = 0 then it is disjoint from F
Proof After finitely many flops s is irreducible and C intersects F transversely away
from its node Moreover lowast = C cap F isin sing(F ) and we deduce that the fiber of s
through lowast is fully contained in the singular locus of F This contradicts Proposition
IVII3 since such fiber is nodal
We conclude by observing the obvious
Lemma VII12 Let F be a small Kronecker Then there exists a contraction
c X rarr X prime which is an isomorphism away from F and contracts F along one
of its rulings Necessarily X prime is not projective since every global Cartier divisor
intersects c(F ) trivially On the other hand in a formal neighborhood of c(F ) there
exist Cartier divisors intersecting it non-trivialliy
As such the contribution coming from non-rigid curves is rather poor there are
curves moving in the general fiber there are special Riccati components disjoint from
any other invariant curve intersecting KF trivially there are small Kroneckers who
can be contracted to curves We shall see in the next section that the complications
arising from the contraction of such non-rigid curves is purely psychological and
totally harmless
56 FEDERICO BUONERBA
VI Contractions and proof of the Main Theorem
In this section we contract all invariant curves along which KF is zero thereby
establishing the existence of canonical models I First we contract non-rigid curves
as described in the previous subsection
bull Small Kroneckers along either ruling Albeit this destroys projectivity of
the ambient threefold there still exist Cartier divisors defined in a formal
neighborhood of the base curve that intersect it non-trivially
bull Families of irreducible nodal rational curves which are flat over ∆ This
creates elliptic singularities on the general fiber of p which are disjoint from
other invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
bull Special Riccati again families of irreducible nodal rational curves fully con-
tained in X0 This creates elliptic singularities disjoint from other invariant
curves intersecting KF trivially
We can summarize our situation by way of
Set-up VI1 X is a 3-dimensional DM stack with at worst elliptic singularities
F a foliation by curves with canonical singularities which is not Q-Cartier in a
neighborhood of Xsing
There exists a proper morphism p X rarr ∆ smooth off 0 isin ∆ F restricts to a
foliation on every fiber of p it has canonical singularities on the very general fiber
of p and log-canonical singularities on every fiber of p KF is big and nef on every
irreducible component of every fiber of p
Let C be the invariant sub-scheme along which KF is not big then C is a curve
fully contained in the smooth locus X0capXsmooth every sub-curve of C has anti-ample
normal bundle the 1-simplex of its dual graph is a tree and detailed configurations
of such are referenced in set-up VI13
We proceed to contract such C We assume that along C the semi-simple field has
only rational eigenvalues and moreover no component of C is inside the foliation
singularity The other two cases - irrational eigenvalues and presence of singular
component - are strictly easier and can be obtained with the very same method
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 57
The proof takes place in the formal completion around C = C free cup C axes The
former is a disjoint union of trees of non-double curves For each non-double C let
F (C) denote the unique component of X0 containing it The latter is a tree of double
curves each with two triple points all contained in the same irreducible FC axes Each
tree of non-double curves touches C axes in one point through a LC-center In order
to construct the contraction we will use Artinrsquos celebrated criterion in the following
form
Fact VI1 ([Ar70]) Let X be an irreducible algebraic space i Y rarr X a closed
subspace of pure codimension 1 and f Y rarr Y0 a proper morphism with flowastOY = OY0
Let X denote the formal completion of X along Y and assume there exists a Cartier
divisor D in X which is supported on Y and is f -anti-ample Then there exists a
proper morphism of algebraic spaces F X rarr X0 which is an isomorphism away
from Y and such that ilowastF = f
Now we use the tree structure of C to construct a suitable divisor to which apply
Artinrsquos theorem Namely consider the following inductive defintion
(35) C0 = C axes F0 = FC axes
For k ge 0 assume Ck Fk are defined
bull Let Ck+1 denote the union of irreducible components of C that intersect Fk
non-trivially but are not contained in cupilekFibull Let Fk+1 denote the reduced sum (
sumCsubeCk+1
F (C))red
This process stops with a collection C1 middot middot middotCN of curves and F1 middot middot middot FN of reduced
divisors
Lemma VI1 We have the following identities
(36)
Fk middot C lt 0 for every C sube Ck
(F0 + F1) middot C le 0 for every C sube C0
(Fkminus1 + Fk + Fk+1) middot C = 0 for every C sube Ck 1 lt k lt N
(FNminus1 + FN) middot C lt 0 for every C sube CN
58 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proof The first is just the fact that every component of C is rigid The remaining
three follow from X0 middot C = 0 but the last one requires further justification Indeed
if C sube CN N gt 0 then C is one end of a tree of non-double curves In particular
there exists a foliation singularity lowast isin C disjoint from any other component of
C and LClowast is transverse to C This implies LClowast middotC gt 0 which together with
(FNminus1 + FN + LClowast) middot C = 0 concludes the proof
Let ε1 middot middot middot εN isin Qgt0 and define
(37) F Nminusk = (1 + ε1 + middot middot middot+ εk)FNminusk
bull If C sube CN we have
(38) (F Nminus1 + F
N) middot C = ε1FNminus1 middot C + (FNminus1 + FN) middot C
bull If C sube CNminusk 1 lt k lt N we have
(39)
(F Nminuskminus1 + F
Nminusk + F Nminusk+1) middot C =
(1 + middot middot middot+ εk)(FNminuskminus1 + FNminusk + FNminusk+1) middot C minus εkFNminusk+1 middot C + εk+1FNminuskminus1 middot C =
minus εkFNminusk+1 middot C + εk+1FNminuskminus1 middot C
bull If C sube C0 we have
(40) (F 0 + F
1) middot C = εNF0 middot C + (Nminus1sumj=0
εj)(F0 + F1) middot C
It is clear that provided
(41) 1 gtgt ε1 gtgt middot middot middot gtgt εN
the divisor F =sumF k is negative along every component of C
This proves the existence of the contraction and concludes the proof of the Main
Theorem I
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 59
VII Moduli space of foliated surfaces of general type
In this section we study the modular variation of foliated surfaces of general type
The upshot is that it is possible to define a functor which is representable separated
and every irreducible component is proper The main issue here is that the supporting
surface of a foliated canonical model may well fail to be projective indeed KF is not
Q-Gorenstein in general Hence in order to proceed via standard methods [Ko17]
we have to parametrize our canonical models together with a suitable projective
resolution
Definition VII13 Let (SF ) be a foliated proper reduced purely 2-dimensional
DM stack Assume S has only normal crossing singularities in codimension 1 that
F has log-canonical foliation singularities and that KF is big and nef on at least
one of the irreducible components of S If whenever KF middot C = 0 for some curve C
then C moves in an irreducible component of S and no member of such deformation
is F -invariant then (SF ) is called foliated canonical model of general type
Clearly foliated canonical models are exactly the stable degenerations appearing
as the central fiber of our Main Theorem I Their lack of projectivity has two sources
namely the contraction of cycles of smooth KF -nil curves and of trees of cuspidal
ones Singularities arising from cycles behave well in families namely they always
deform into the general fiber Those arising from cuspidal curves on the other hand
tend to be rather isolated inside the degenerate fiber
Observe that the deformation theory of a foliated surface is rather simple suppose
given an infinitesimal C-algebras extension 0 rarr J rarr Ae rarr A rarr 0 and (SF )
a foliated surface flat over Spec(A) then the obstruction to lifting to Ae can be
understood in three simple steps
(1) Deformation of the underlying surface S once a deformation Se rarr Spec(Ae)
is given
(2) Deformation of the line bundle KF by the exponential sequence
(42) 0rarr J otimes OS rarr OlowastSerarr OlowastS rarr 0
obstructions lie in H2(SOS)otimes J once a deformation of KF is given
60 FEDERICO BUONERBA
(3) Deformation of the defining section OS rarr KF otimes TS obstructions lie in
H1(SKF otimes TS)otimes J
Now we have
Definition VII14 Let (SF ) be a foliated canonical model of general type A
proper birational morphism q (SF )proj rarr (SF ) is called its projective resolution
if
bull Every irreducible component of Sproj is smooth
bull The exceptional locus of q is a disjoint union of cycles of KFproj-nil smooth
curves and trees of KFproj-nil curves each of which has a non-trivial cuspidal
singularity
bull In a neighborhood of every q-exceptional cycle not only Sproj but also its
moduli space is smooth
We need a few remarks about projective resolutions
(1) Projective resolutions are always unique Indeed the only possible ambiguity
could lie in some extra smooth irreducible components in the exceptional
locus This is forbidden by definition in the trees of cuspidal curves it is
also forbidden by way of the third item in cycles of smooth ones ie on
algebraic surfaces the minimal resolution is unique
(2) Denote by E the collection of q-exceptional cycles Then there exist ε δ isinQgt0 such that KFproj
minus εE + δKSprojis ample by Nakai-Moishezon
(3) Deformations of a projective resolution of a foliated canonical model are
canonically identified with deformations of the underlying birational mor-
phism q Sproj rarr S followed by a deformation of the foliation F
We are now ready to construct a moduli functor for foliated surfaces more precisely
for projective resolutions of foliated canonical models of general type For m dN isinN and ε δ isin Qgt0 let
(43) MmdNεδ (C-schemes)rarr (sets)
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 61
be defined by MmdNεδ(S) = Diagrams
(44) (X F )projqminusrarr (X F )
pminusrarr S
Where
bull Both p and p q are flat and proper
bull For every closed point s isin S the induced morphism qs is the projective
resolution of (X F )s which is a foliated canonical model of general type
bull Denote by Es the collection of exceptional cycles of qs By our Main Theorem
I there is a fibrewise divisor E subXproj flat over S restricting to Es for every
s isin S
bull Let j W rarr Xproj denote the maximal closed subscheme away from which
KFprojand KXprojS are locally free Then
(45) L [m] = (jlowast(KFprojotimes OXproj
(minusεE )otimesKδXprojS
)otimesm)oror
is flat over S and commutes with base-change
bull L [m] is very ample of degree d on every fiber and defines an embedding into
PNS
We are now ready for
Theorem VII15 The functor MmdNεδ is represented by a separated algebraic
space each of whose irreducible components is proper
Proof We show that our functor satisfies Artinrsquos conditions [Ar74 Corollary 54] By
definition condition 1) and 4) hold while our previous remark on foliated obstruction
theory shows that 3) is true
We proceed to show 2) namely effectivity of formal deformations for MmdNεδ
What follows owes much to Artinrsquos [A74rsquo] Let T be a complete C-algebra Tn its
n-truncation so that Tsimminusrarr limlarrminusTn and finally qn isinMmdNεδ(Spec(Tn)) a compatible
sequence For each n there is a maximal open set Un sube Xprojn where qn is an
isomorphism denote by sn Cn rarr Zn the restriction of qn to the complement of Un
Clearly sn is projective over Spec(Tn)
62 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Denote by X C etc the formal algebraic spaces obtained as limits of Xn Cn
etc Then Xproj sub PNˆSpec(T )
hence by Grothendieckrsquos existence Theorem we find
bull a flat projective family (X F )proj rarr Spec(T ) resp a closed subscheme
C subXproj whose completion is Xproj resp C
bull a scheme Z whose completion is Z and a morphism s C rarr Z everything
being projective over Spec(T )
Further we have a formal contraction limminusrarr qn C rarr Z hence the main theorem
of [Ar70] gives algebraic contraction (X F )proj rarr (X F ) This proves the repre-
sentability of MmdNεδ The properness and separability of each irreducible com-
ponent can be checked using valutative criteria indeed properness is the content of
our Main Theorem I separatedness follows from the uniqueness of foliated canonical
models of general type and their projective resolution
References
[Ar70] M Artin Algebraization of Formal Moduli II Existence of Modifications Ann
of Math Vol 91 No 1 (Jan 1970) pp 88-135 httpwwwjstororgstable
1970602
[Ar74] M Artin Versal Deformations and Algebraic Stacks Inventiones Math 27 165- 189
(1974) httpmathuchicagoedu~drinfeldArtin_on_stackspdf
[A74rsquo] M Artin Algebraic construction of Brieskornrsquos resolutions J Alg Vol 29 Issue
2 May 1974 pp 330-348 httpwwwsciencedirectcomsciencearticlepii
0021869374901021
[BB72] P Baum R Bott Singularities of holomorphic foliations J Diff Geom 7 (1972)
279-342 httpsprojecteuclidorgdownloadpdf_1euclidjdg1214431158
[Bo77] F Bogomolov Families of curves on a surface of general type Doklady Akademii Nauk
USSR (in Russian) 236 (5) 1041-1044
[Bo78] F Bogomolov Holomorphic tensors and vector bundles on projective varieties Math
USSR Izv 13 (1978) 499-555
[BM16] F Bogomolov M McQuillan Rational Curves on Foliated Varieties In Cascini
McKernan Pereira (eds) Foliation Theory in Algebraic Geometry Simons Symposia
Springer Cham pp 21-51 (2016) httpslinkspringercomchapter101007
978-3-319-24460-0_2
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 63
[Bu] F Buonerba Functorial resolution of tame quotient singularities in positive charac-
teristic httpsarxivorgabs151100550
[Ke99] S Keel Basepoint Freeness for Nef and Big Line Bundles in Positive Characteris-
tic Annals of Math 149 No 1 (Jan 1999) pp 253-286 httpwwwjstororg
stable121025 httpsarxivorgabsmath9901149
[KM97] S Keel S Mori Quotients by groupoids Annals of Math 145 (1997) pp
193-213 httpwwwjstororgstable2951828seq=1page_scan_tab_contents
httparxivorgabsalg-geom9508012
[Ko17] J Kollar Families of varieties of general type httpswebmathprincetonedu
~kollarbookmodbook20170720pdf
[LN02] A Lins Neto Some examples for the Poincare and Painleve problems Annales sci-
entifiques de lrsquoENS 352 (2002) 231-266 httparchivenumdamorgarticle
ASENS_2002_4_35_2_231_0pdf
[McQ12] M McQuillan Foliated Mori Theory amp Hyperbolicity of Algebraic Surfaces http
wwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillahomehtml
[McQ98] M McQuillan Diophantine approximation and foliations Inst Hautes Etudes Sci
Publ Math 87 (1998) 121-174 httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafiles
ihespdf
[McQ05rsquo] M McQuillan Bloch hyperbolicity preprint httpwwwmatuniroma2it
~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ05] M McQuillan Semi-stable reduction of foliations IHES pre-print IHESM0502
(2005) httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ05rdquo] M McQuillan Uniform Uniformisation IHES pre-print (2005) IHES M0503 http
wwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ08] M McQuillan Canonical models of foliations Pure Appl Math Q 4
(2008) no 3 Special Issue In honor of Fedor Bogomolov Part 2 877-1012
httpintlpresscomsitepubfiles_fulltextjournalspamq20080004
0003PAMQ-2008-0004-0003-a009pdf
[MP13] M McQuillan D Panazzolo Almost etale resolution of foliations J Diff Geom 95
(2013) pp 279-319 httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesmp1bispdf
[Pe02] JV Pereira On the Poincare Problem for Foliations of General Type Mathematische
Annalen 323 no 2 pp217-226 2002 httpsarxivorgabsmath0104185
[PS16] JV Pereira R Svaldi Effective algebraic integration in bounded genus preprint
httpsarxivorgabs161206932
64 FEDERICO BUONERBA
[Re83] M Reid Minimal models of canonical threefolds in rdquoAlgebraic Varieties and Ana-
lytic Varietiesrdquo Adv Stud Pure Math vol 1 S Iitaka ed Kinokuniya and North-
Holland 1983 pp 131-180 httpwwwmathsedacukcheltsovquotientpdf
reid2pdf
[Se67] A Seidenberg Reduction of singularities of the differential equation Ady = Bdx Amer
J Math 89 (1967) 248-269 httpwwwjstororgstable2373435
[SB83] N Shepherd-Barron Degenerations with numerically effective canonical divisor The
Birational Geometry of Degenerations (R Friedman and D Morrison eds) Progr
Math no 29 Birkhuser 1983 pp 33-84
[Vis89] A Vistoli Intersection theory on algebraic stacks and on their moduli spaces
Invent Math (1989) pp 613-670 httplinkspringercomarticle101007
2FBF01388892page-1
Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences New York University 251 Mercer
Street New York NY 10012 USA
E-mail address buonerbacimsnyuedu
- I Introduction
- II Preliminaries
-
- III Operations on Deligne-Mumford stacks
- IIII Width of embedded parabolic champs
- IIIII Gorenstein foliation singularities
- IIIV Foliated adjunction
- IIV Canonical models of foliated surfaces with canonical singularities
- IIVI Canonical models of foliated surfaces with log-canonical singularities
- IIVII Set-up
-
- III Invariant curves and singularities local description
-
- IIII `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F) not isolated
- IIIII `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F) isolated
- IIIIII Local consequences
-
- IV Invariant curves along which KF vanishes
-
- IVI KF-nil curves
- IVII Invariant curves inside `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F)
-
- V Configurations
-
- VI Configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
- VII Configurations of non-rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
-
- VI Contractions and proof of the Main Theorem
- VII Moduli space of foliated surfaces of general type
- References
-
26 FEDERICO BUONERBA
bull Z = (x = f = g = 0) is not isolated
(a) The fiber has one component y = 0 Then 0 = partN(y) = f hence
Z = (x = g = 0) The restriction on the fiber is part|(y=0) = x partpartx
+g|(y=0)partpartz
Z has a one-dimensional component contained in the fiber iff g isin (y) in
which case such component is smooth equal to (x = 0) moreover the
foliation on the fiber saturates to a smooth one with invariant curves
z = 0 transverse to Z
Otherwise the foliation is saturated on the fiber and has a saddle-node
singularity
(b) The fiber has two components yz = 0 Then 0 = partN(yz) = zf + yg
hence f = yh g = minuszh for some h and Z = (x = h = 0) The restriction
on a fiber component say y = 0 is part|(y=0) = x partpartxminus zh|(y=0)
partpartz
Z has an
irreducible component contained in y = 0 iff h isin (y) in which case such
component is smooth equal to (x = 0) moreover the foliation on the
fiber saturates to a smooth one with invariant curves z = 0 transverse
to Z
Otherwise the foliation is saturated on the fiber and has a saddle-node
singularity
(c) The fiber has three components xyz = 0 0 = partS(xyz) = xyz a contra-
diction
Summary with one eigenvalue there are either one or two components The
foliation might have a one-dimensional singularity when restricted to a fiber
component in this case such singularity is a smooth curve and the foliation
saturates to a smooth one with invariant curves transverse to the singular-
ity If the singularity is isolated on a fiber component then it is a canonical
saddle-node with at most two invariant branches
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 27
ni (2) partS has two eigenvalues
We have partS = x partpartx
+ λy partparty
and partN(x y z) = k partpartx
+ f partparty
+ g partpartz
for some func-
tions k f g
(a) The fiber has one component z = 0 Then g = 0 k f isin (x y) and
necessarily Z = (x = y = 0) is transverse to the fiber The restriction on
the fiber is saturated and non-degenerate It has canonical singularities
if either partN 6= 0 or λ isin Q+ otherwise it is log-canonical
(b) The fiber has two components xy = 0 Then 0 = partS(xy) hence λ = minus1
Also 0 = partN(xy) hence k = xh f = minusyh g isin (xy) and necessarily
Z = (x = y = 0) coincides with the intersection of the two fiber compo-
nents which is smooth the foliation saturates to a smooth one on each
component with invariant curves transverse to Z
(c) The fiber has three components xyz = 0 hence λ = minus1 Also k = xklowast
f = yf lowast g = zglowast with klowast + f lowast + glowast = 0 and glowast isin (xy) The singularity
Z = (x = y = 0) coincides with the intersection of two of the fiber
components The restriction to either such components saturates to a
smooth foliation with invariant curves transverse to Z the restriction
to z = 0 has a canonical non-degenerate singularity all the invariant
curves are those in xy = 0 transverse to Z
Summary with 2 eigenvalues there can be any number of components With
one component the foliation restricts to a saturated one with a (log)canonical
singularity which moves transversely to p With two components the folia-
tion is not saturated on either and saturates to a smooth one with invariant
curves transverse to the singularity With three components the foliation
is not saturated on two of them and saturates to a smooth one on both
with invariant curves transverse to the singularity the foliation is saturated
and has a canonical non-degenerate singularity on the third component In
28 FEDERICO BUONERBA
the last two cases the singularity is fully contained in an intersection of two
components
ni (3) partS has three eigenvalues But then the singularity is isolated a contradiction
IIIII sing(F ) isolated
i (1) partS has one eigenvalue
bull We have partS = x partpartx
and partN = xk partpartx
+ f partparty
+ g partpartz
for some functions
k f g isin (y z) Moreover partN is non-trivial
bull Z = (x = f = g = 0) is isolated
(a) The fiber has one component y = 0 Then 0 = partN(y) = f and Z cannot
be isolated a contradiction
(b) The fiber has two components yz = 0 Then 0 = partN(yz) = zf + yg so
f = yh g = minuszh with h non-constant Hence Z = (x = h = 0) is not
isolated a contradiction
(c) The fiber has three components xyz = 0 Then 0 = partS(xyz) = xyz a
contradiction
Summary the 1 eigenvalue case does not exist
i (2) partS has two eigenvalues
bull We have partS = x partpartx
+ λy partparty
partN = xk partpartx
+ f partparty
+ g partpartz
for some functions
k f g
bull g is non-trivial and g isin (x y)
bull Z = (x = y = g = 0) is isolated
(a) The fiber has one component z = 0 Then g = 0 a contradiction
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 29
(b) The fiber has two components xy = 0 hence λ = minus1 and g isin (xy z)
the restriction to y = 0 is part|(y=0) = x partpartx
+g|(y=0)partpartz
and necessarily g|(y=0)
is non-vanishing Therefore the restriction to either components is satu-
rated and the singularity is a canonical saddle-node on each of them
The invariant curves are among the axes x = y = 0 x = z = 0 y = z =
0
(c) The fiber has three components xyz = 0 hence λ = minus1 Necessarily
k = xklowast f = yf lowast g = zglowast with klowast + f lowast + glowast = 0 The restriction to
y = 0 is part|(y=0) = x(1 + klowast|(y=0))partpartx
+ zglowast|(y=0)partpartz
since g isin (x y) we have
glowast|(y=0) non-trivial Therefore the restriction to either x = 0 and y = 0
is saturated and the singularity is a canonical saddle-node on each of
them
The restriction to z = 0 is part|(z=0) = x(1 + klowast|(z=0))partpartx
+ y(minus1 + f lowast|(z=0))partparty
therefore the restriction is saturated and has a canonical non-degenerate
singularity
The invariant curves are among the axes x = y = 0 x = z = 0 y = z =
0
Summary with 2 eigenvalues there are either two or three components the
foliation restricts to a canonical saddle-node on two of them and to a non-
degenerate singularity on the third one if it exists All the invariant curves
are in the axes
i (3) partS has three eigenvalues We have partS = x partpartx
+ λy partparty
+ microz partpartz
(a) The fiber has one component y = 0 hence λ = 0 a contradiction
(b) The fiber has two components xy = 0 hence λ = minus1 The restriction to
y = 0 is part|(y=0) = x partpartx
+ microz partpartz
+ partN|(y=0) The singularity is log-canonical
30 FEDERICO BUONERBA
iff micro isin Qgt0 and partN|(y=0)= 0 and in this case the singularity on x = 0 is
canonical non-degenerate Invariant curves are those in y = 0 and the
axis x = z = 0
If the restriction to both fiber components is canonical then it non-
degenerate on both and the invariant curves are contained in the axes
x = y = 0 x = z = 0 y = z = 0
The fiber could be yz = 0 hence λ+micro = 0 It can be analyzed as in the
next item
(c) The fiber has three components xyz = 0 hence 1 + λ + micro = 0 In par-
ticular if λ = cmicro c isin Q+ then λ micro isin Q The restriction to y = 0
is part|(y=0) = x partpartx
+ microz partpartz
+ partN|(y=0) This singularity is log-canonical iff
micro isin Qgt0 and partN|(y=0)= 0 in which case the singularity on both x = 0
and z = 0 is canonical non-degenerate In particular if the singularity
is log-canonical on some fiber component then it is so on exactly one
component and all eigenvalues are rational Invariant curves are those
in y = 0 and the axis x = z = 0
If the restriction to all fiber components is canonical then it non-degenerate
on each of them and the invariant curves are contained in the axes
x = y = 0 x = z = 0 y = z = 0
Summary with 3 eigenvalues there are either two or three fiber components
the foliation restricts to a singular foliation on each of them and it has a
log-canonical singularity on at most one of them in this case all eigenvalues
of the semi-simple field are rational
IIIIII Local consequences We list some corollaries for future reference As al-
ways in this section the statements are local so everything happens in a formal
neighborhood of our point lowast First we state those corollaries we will need to describe
configurations of KF -nil curves
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 31
Definition IIIIII1 An LC-center Π sub X is an irreducible F -invariant formal
hypersurface such that the local vector field generating the foliation when restricted
to Π has semi-simple part with log-canonical singularity or a one-dimensional sin-
gular locus An LC-center with a log-canonical singularity is necessarily an algebraic
component of the singular fiber of p
Corollary IIIIII2 There is at most one LC-center with a log-canonical singularity
through lowast If it exists then all eigenvalues of the semi-simple field at lowast are rational
If there are at least two LC-centers through lowast then there are exactly two and the
foliation singularity is a smooth curve on each of them
Proof Possible cases in which an LC-center with log-canonical singularities appears
ni (2)a i (3)b i (3)c
Corollary IIIIII3 If there is no LC-center thorugh a point lowast then there are at
most three invariant curves through lowast all smooth Any number of them spans a sub-
space of the tangent space at lowast of maximal possible dimension
If there is an LC-center through lowast then there is at most one invariant curve through
lowast and not contained in the LC-center
If there is an LC-center with non-isolated singularity then the singularity is smooth
and all invariant curves contained in the LC-center intersect the singularity trans-
versely
Proof Invariant curves not in an LC-centers with log-canonical singularities are con-
tained in the three axes x = z = 0 x = y = 0 y = z = 0 mentioned in the above
classification The other statements are clear
Corollary IIIIII4 If p is smooth at lowast then Z is one dimensional around lowast
Proof Possible casesni (1)a ni (2)a
In particular if there is no LC-center the situation is the familiary
xz
32 FEDERICO BUONERBA
While if there is an LC-center (pink) with log-canonical singularity it will look like
y
LC-center
While if there is an LC-center with non-isolated singularity (red) it will look like
(the black arrows being invariant curves)
y
LC-center
The next corollary describes one-dimensional components of the foliation singularity
Corollary IIIIII5 If Z0 is a one-dimensional irreducible component of the folia-
tion singularity then it is at worst nodal The foliation when restricted to any fiber
component containing Z0 saturates to a smooth foliation in a neighborhood of Z0
and all the invariant curves are transverse to Z0
If Z0 is contained in exactly one fiber component then the semi-simple field has one
eigenvalue everywhere along Z0
If Z0 lies at the intersection of two fiber components then the semi-simple field has
two constant eigenvalues everywhere along Z0
Moreover if there exist a sequence of invariant curves converging in the compact-
open topology to Z0 then there is generically one eigenvalue along Z0
Proof Possible casesni (1)a ni (1)b ni (2)b ni (2)c Concerning the one-
eigenvalue case invariant curves converging to Z0 can be found in the formal hyper-
surface x = 0
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 33
IV Invariant curves along which KF vanishes
In this section we study in great detail a formal neighborhood of invariant curves
where KF is numerically trivial In the first subsection we deal with KF -nil curves
namely those whose generic point is not contained in the foliation singularity In this
case the normal bundle to the curve determines its formal neighborhood uniquely
and this has plenty of amazing consequences In the second subsection we study
those invariant curves which are contained in the foliation singularity In this case
we are not able to control the full formal neighborhood but important informations
can still be obtained
IVI KF -nil curves In this subsection we study in detail the structure of KF -
nil curves and their formal neighborhoods appearing in the set-up IIVII4 In
particular we will describe a simple process to replace cuspidal KF -nil curves by
net ones prove that the foliation is in the net completion around a net KF -nil curve
defined by a global vector field which admits a global Jordan decomposition deduce
that eigenfunctions for the semi-simple component of such field are also globally
defined on a formal neighborhood
The first important remark is of technical nature and explains how to deal with non-
net KF -nil curves By Proposition IIIV4 this is indeed possible and the images of
such curves will acquire cusp-like singularities It is hard to analyze the geometry
of F around such cuspidal curves and therefore necessary to remove them Let us
assume that C is simply connected with rational moduli f is ramified at 0 isin C
and and denote by X the formal completion along f(C) Then formally around
f(0) the curve f(C) has defining ideal (y xa minus zb) where y = 0 is a fiber of the
fibration p X rarr ∆ containing f(C) x z isin H0(X OX ) restrict to suitable local
coordinates on such fiber and a b ge 2 are coprime integers
Claim IVI1 Let r X ( aradicz = 0) rarr X be the a-th root of z = 0 III3 Then
(rlowastC)norm =∐a
1 C and the induced map rlowastf (rlowastC)norm rarrX ( aradicz = 0) is net
Proof Since r is etale away from z = 0 also rlowastC rarr C is etale away from 0 isin C
Since C 0 is simply connected we have rlowastC rminus1(0) =∐a
1 C 0 This proves
34 FEDERICO BUONERBA
the first statement Let ζ be a function on X ( aradicz = 0) such that ζa = z so then
rlowast(xa minus zb) =prod
ηa=1(x minus ηζb) Every branch is net in 0 and we obtain the second
statement as well
As such upon taking roots we can replace non-net KF -nil invariant curves with
rational moduli by net ones
We now proceed to study net KF -nil curves We will show that the foliation is
defined by a global vector field around a net KF -nil curve with rational moduli and
that such vector field admits a global Jordan decomposition
Proposition IVI2 Notation as in the set-up IIVII4 let f C rarrX be a KF -nil
curve Assume that f is net and let j C rarr C be the net completion along f Then
there exists an isomorphism
(16) OC(KF )simminusrarr OC
In particular there exists a global vector field partf on C that generates F
Proof Since C has rational moduli and is simply connected it has infinite-cyclic
Picard group and we have an isomorphism
(17) OC(KF )simminusrarr OC
Moreover we have a non-canonical splitting of the normal bundle Njsimminusrarr O(minusn) oplus
O(minusm) and we claim that both nm ge 0 Indeed consider the induced semi-stable
fibration C rarr ∆ and let F be the normalization of an irreducible component of a
fiber such that C sub F Consider the exact sequence
(18) 0rarr NCF rarr Nj rarr NFC|C rarr 0
Since KF is nef NCF is not ample since F is a fiber of a fibration also NFC|C is
not ample and this is enough to conclude even though nm may be different from
the degrees of such normal bundles
At this point we can lift the isomorphism 17 over infinitesimal neighborhoods of j
Indeed for every k ge 0 we have an exact sequence
(19) 0rarr Symk ICI2C rarr OCk+1
(KF )rarr OCk(KF )rarr 0
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 35
which shows that the obstruction to lifting the isomorphism lies in
(20) H1(C Symk ICI2C) = H1(C Symk(O(n)oplus O(m))) = 0
From this we can deduce
Proposition IVI3 The vector field partf admits a Jordan decomposition uniformly
along C
Proof The cohomology sequence attached to 19 is
(21) 0rarr H0(C Symk ICI2C)rarr H0(COCk+1
)rarr H0(COCk)rarr 0
Let partk+1 denote the image of partf in End(H0(COCk+1)) Looking at
H0(COCk+1) minusminusminusrarr H0(COCk
)
partk+1
y partk
yH0(COCk+1
) minusminusminusrarr H0(COCk)
we see the canonical Jordan deomposition of partk+1 restricts to that of partk
The above result describes a very useful interplay between normal bundles to
KF -nil curves and the structure of the semi-simple field It turns out that these
informations determine formal neighborhoods uniquely For simplicity let C be
an irreducible component of C without orbifold points Let us assume that part|C is
singular in 0infin Then there exist formal functions x y z at 0 isin C and ξ η ζ at
infin isin C such that x ξ are coordinates along C y η are local sections of OC(minusn)
so η = xny mod(I2C) z ζ are local sections of OC(minusm) so ζ = xmz mod(I2C)
Normalizing so that xminus1partS(x) = ε isin 0 1 we obtain
(22) part0S = εxpart
partx+ λy
part
party+ microz
part
partz partinfinS = minusεξ part
partξ+ (λ+ εn)η
part
partη+ (micro+ εm)ζ
part
partζ
More generally ie C = P1(d e) we have glueing rules x = te ξ = tminusd η = tny and
ζ = tmz mod(I2C) Normalizing so that tminus1partS(t) = ε isin 0 1 we obtain
(23) part0S = eεxpart
partx+ λy
part
party+ microz
part
partz partinfinS = minusdεξ part
partξ+ (λ+ εn)η
part
partη+ (micro+ εm)ζ
part
partζ
36 FEDERICO BUONERBA
It is worth remarking that the above relations hold between eigenvalues at the two
singular point of singular ie nodal or cuspidal KF -nil curves as well this is
easily seen by taking a root followed by net completion and keeping track of the
eigenvalues
Definition IVI4 Let C be a KF -nil curve The foliation singular points along C
are called ends
As well as the existence of Hilbert scheme in the following form
Fact IVI5 Let W sub Xlowast be a curve and D a divisor in the formal neighborhood
of W such that W = D capXlowast scheme-theoretically Then W moves in D
In what follows our main concern is to understand formal neighborhoods of KF -
nil curves Observe that the fibration p when restricted to the formal neighborhood
of such curves provides at least one eigenfunction of the semi-simple field Hence
in order to compute the width IIII we must study the behavior of the other eigen-
function on infinitesimal neighborhoods We first describe the situation inside the
smooth locus of p
Proposition IVI6 (Smooth fiber) Let f C rarrX be an irreducible KF -nil curve
which is contained in the smooth locus of a fiber Xlowast of p Then the end(s) on C are
flat over ∆ ni (1)b and ni (1)a with z2|g(y z) and C moves in a family flat over
∆
Proof Let us assume that f is net Then upon passing to net completion we can
actually assume it is embedded From our local classification of singularities we case
in case ni (1)a and ni (2)a We want to show that both ends have components
that move transversely to p hence we have to exclude case ni (1)a with g(y z) = ya
By way of contradiction say we have g(y z) = ya in the notation of opcit around
an end lowast isin C We proceed to compute what happens at the other end we find
formal coordinates ξ η ζ which by equation 23 satisfy
(24) ξ = xminus1 η = y ζ = xmz mod(I2C)
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 37
As such we compute part(ζ) = mζ + ξminusmηa mod(I2C) which is holomorphic if and only
if m le 0 so then C moves in Xlowast contradicting that the foliation has general type
Hence we are in cases ni (1)a ni (2)a with g = microyazb b ge 1
(25) part0 = xpart
partx+ microyazb
part
partz partinfin = minusξ part
partξ+ ζ(m+ microξm(bminus1)ηaζbminus1)
part
partζ(mod(I2C))
Following notation from subsection IIII observe that C1 is the section of E1C which
is disjoint from the proper transform of the fiber of p In coordinates over 0
(26) x1 = x y1 = y z1 = zyminus1
And similarly over infin Using the previous equation and 25 on C1 we find
(27)
part01 = x1part
partx1+microya+bminus11 zb1
part
partz1 partinfin1 = minusξ1
part
partξ1+ζ1(m+microξ
m(bminus1)1 ηa+bminus11 ζbminus11 )
part
partζ1(mod(I2C1
))
In particular the transform of the nilpotent field is still nilpotent after blowing up in
C It follows that the eigenvalues of the semi-simple field at the two ends of C and
C1 are the same Using equation 23 we deduce that the normal bundle to C1X1 to
isomorphic to that of CX in particular it contains a trivial direct summand This
proves that width(C) =infin
Next we show that f must be net Consider the induced flat projection pD D rarr ∆
its general fiber cannot be a cuspidal curve since along such cusp the foliation sin-
gularity would be log-canonical but not canonical Hence if C has a cusp necessarily
the general fiber of pD is a nodal curve Let X rarr X denote the blow up of the
nodal locus of pD with exceptional divisor E ruled over ∆ In a neighborhood of E
we have sing(F ) = D cap E which projects to ∆ as a double cover ramified over lowastObserve that the foliation on Xlowast is again log-canonical and not canonical hence its
local structure is ni (2)a In that case however p is unramified along the foliation
singularity Contradiction
We state a general criterion for movability of KF -nil curves
Proposition IVI7 Let C be a connected KF -nil curve such that p(C ) = lowast isin ∆
Assume its dual graph is a chain that none of its irreducible components is double
38 FEDERICO BUONERBA
VI3 and that its two extremal ends are flat over ∆ Then C moves in a family flat
over ∆ and each of its irreducible components is embedded
Proof We work in a formal neighborhood of C After taking roots we can assume
C is net and since its dual graph is a chain it is actually embedded We proceed by
induction on its length l where the case l = 1 is Proposition IVI6 For l gt 1 let C1
be a component of C which is extremal in its dual graph If C1 moves transversely
to p then both its ends do and hence we can apply the induction hypothesis to
C C1 If C1 is rigid then it can be flopped It is straightforward to check that we
can apply the induction hypothesis to the transform C + C+1 and we are done
Now we deal with rigid curves inside the singular fiber
Proposition IVI8 (Singular fiber) Let f C rarr X be an embedded net KF -
nil curve with anti-ample normal bundle Then there exists a birational map φ
(X F ) 99K (X +F+) and a KF+-nil curve C+ such that
bull φ is an isomorphism away from C+
bull In a formal neighborhood of at least one among C and C+ there exist two
invariant hypersurfaces D1D2 locally defined by the vanishing of eigenfunc-
tions of the semi-simple field such that C (resp C+)= D1 capD2
bull If F middot C lt 0 for some hypersurface F then F+ middot C+ gt 0 In particular X +
is projective
Such φ is called flop
Proof Our assumption is that Nfsimminusrarr O(minusn)oplusO(minusm) is anti-ample namely nm gt
0 If two invariant hypersurfaces as in our statement do exist around C the flop is
easily constructed as a weighted blow-up followed by a weighted blow-down As such
let us assume that such hypersurfaces do not exist around C In particular C is not
double VI3 By [Ar70] there exists a formal contraction c X rarrX0 collapsing C
to a point and an isomorphism everywhere else By Proposition IVI3 the foliation
F0 is Gorenstein around the node of X0 For ease of exposition let us assume
n = m = 1 the general case is handled the same way only the notation becomes more
cumbersome due to the presence of weights The node has embedding dimension 4
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 39
and in suitable local coordinates x0 y0 w0 z0 can be defined by x0z0minusy0w0 = 0 The
morphism c can be identified with the blow up of the embedded surface (x0 = y0 = 0)
Explicitly in the chart y = y0 x = x0yminus10 it is defined by
(28) y0 = y x0 = xy z0 = zprime w0 = xzprime
Here x is a coordinate along C while y = 0 is the pull-back of (x0 = y0 = 0) and
zprime some function in the normal bundle to C By the previous Proposition IVI6
we know C cannot be contained in the smooth locus of p Since C is not double
we can assume that in this local chart p is defined by (x y zprime) rarr xy - the case
(x y zprime) rarr xzprime being isomorphic as it is isomorphic to blow-up (z0 = w0 = 0)
instead of (x0 = y0 = 0) The issue is as emphasized by the notation zprime 6= z that
zprime may fail to be an eigenfunction for partS if it were we would be done since zprime = 0
is the local equation for the global pullback of (z0 = w0 = 0) However we have
a b isin C such that
(29) partS0(y0) = minusy0 partS0(x0) = 0 partS0(z0) = ay0 + bz0 partS0(w0) = ax0 + (b+ 1)w0
Observe that the embedded surfaces D01 = (y0 = z0 = 0) and D0
2 = (x0 = w0 = 0)
are both foliation invariant As such let b X + rarr X0 denote the blow-up of X0
along D01 - which is isomorphic to that along D0
2 - and let Di = blowastD0i i = 1 2
Finally X + is projective by Nakai-Moishezon Indeed every C with anti-ample
normal bundle is contained in an irreducible component F of X0 such that F middotC lt 0
Then F+ middot C+ gt 0 and we can find an ample divisor of the form H+ + εF+ where
H+ is the proper transform of an ample on X
Remark IVI9 In the previous proof a 6= b+ 1 Indeed such identity would create
a non-trivial Jordan block of partS0 in the (x0 w0)-plane thus contradicting the semi-
simplicity of partS0 In particular by a straightforward computation it is impossible to
find eigenfunctions of the form wlowast0 = w0 + αx0 zlowast0 = z0 + βy0 with x0z
lowast0 minus y0wlowast0 = 0
unless a = 0
We can conclude by pointing out an important point understood in this section
A painful aspect of the theory is that log-canonical singularities which appear natu-
rally as analytic degenerations of canonical ones come along with cuspidal invariant
40 FEDERICO BUONERBA
curves There is in particular no a-priori obstruction to the existence of rigid
cuspidal KF -nil curves in a smooth fiber of our family of foliated surfaces p Quite
generally a rigid curve of positive arithmetic genus in a smooth family of surfaces can
never be contracted to a point Therefore this would have been a counter-example
to any reasonable foliated canonical model theory one may wish to achieve Fortu-
nately such phenomenon does not happen and this establishes the Main Theorem I
modulo finitely many rigid curves confined in the singular fiber X0
IVII Invariant curves inside sing(F ) In this subsection we study curves Z0 subeXlowast cap sing(F ) which are inside the foliation singularity and invariant By this we
mean that there exists a sequence fn Cn rarrX of not necessarily algebraic invariant
curves converging in the compact-open topology to Z0 In other words the map
(30) NorF rarr Ω1Z0
is trivial By Corollary IIIIII5 we know that Z0 is at worst nodal it is smooth
wherever p is smooth for every point z isin Z0 the semi-simple part of the gener-
ating vector field has exactly one eigenvalue The problem here is that the Jordan
decomposition need not extend uniformly along Z0 not even along an irreducible
component In case ni (1)a the functions x and g may develop essential singulari-
ties arbitrary close to z Nonetheless the function x is unique and this says that x
does extend along Z0
Proposition IVII1 Let Z0 be as above Then in a formal neighborhood of Z0
there exists a unique smooth invariant hypersurface D0 containing Z0 which restricts
around any point in Z0 to the unique eigenfunction for the semi-simple field whose
eigenvalue is non-zero
Proof The local structure of the foliation around a point z isin Z0 is described by
cases ni (1)a and ni (1)b In both cases partS has one non-zero eigenvalue with
eigenfunction x Such eigenfunction x is a-priori only defined in the normal bundle to
Z0 but it is clear that the equation partx = x has a unique up to constants solution in
the formal completion around z As such there exists a unique smooth hypersurface
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 41
D0 in the formal completion around Z0 which restricts to the eigenfunction x around
z
Observe that the previous argument goes through since we are assuming Z0 subX0
Keeping notations from case ni (1)a if say g(y z) = yz then in the hypersurface
y equiv q isin Qgt0 the foliation has a log-canonical singularity and the eigenfunction x
extends highly non-uniquely to a formal neighborhood of the point (x y z) = (0 q 0)
In particular the existence of D0 as in the previous Proposition might fail along
the component (x = z = 0) of the foliation singularity This phenomenon is called
the beast
Anyway uniqueness in the previous proposition yields
Corollary IVII2 Let Z prime be a connected invariant curve inside sing(F ) Then in
a formal neighborhood of Z prime there exists a unique smooth invariant hypersurface D prime
containing Z prime which restricts around any point in Z prime to the hypersurface constructed
in the previous proposition
Next we turn to the intrinsic structure of invariant singular curves
Proposition IVII3 Let Z0 be an irreducible invariant curve inside sing(F )
Then Z0 is smooth and rational
Proof We work in a formal neighborhood of Z0 Let F0 denote the unique component
of X0 containing Z0 For any other fiber component F intersecting Z0 non-trivially
blow-up the invariant curve F cap F0 with exceptional divisor EF A straightforward
computation using the local formula ni (1)b shows that the fiber of the natural
projection EF rarr F cap F0 intersecting Z0 is also contained in sing(F ) For Z prime the
maximal connected singular invariant curve containing Z0 let G denote the saturated
foliation induced on D prime It is canonical with reduced singularities and it satisfies
KG = KF |Dprime minus Zprime By adjunction
(31) 2g(Z0)minus 2 + sZG(Z0) = minusZ prime middot Z0
Observe that thanks to our initial sequence of blow-ups the singularities of G along
Z0 coincide with the intersection of Z0 and Z prime Z0 In particular since D prime is formally
42 FEDERICO BUONERBA
flat over ∆ we deduce Z prime middot Z0 = 0 and the previous formula becomes
(32) 2g(Z0)minus 2 + sZG(Z0) = 0
This implies that Z0 is rational or elliptic If Z0 were elliptic then sZG(Z0) = 0 and
D0 defines an invariant elliptic curve in the general fiber of p By Baum-Bott this
contradicts that KF is big and nef Now we show that Z0 is smooth If it has a node
then D0 moves it in a family of nodal rational curves flat over ∆ In particular D0
itself has a node in codimension 1 hence Xlowast is smooth around the node of Z0 In its
formal neighborhood the foliation must be as in case ni (1)a which implies that
Z0 is smooth contradiction
We can improve as follows
Proposition IVII4 Let Z prime sube sing F capXlowast be a connected invariant curve with
KF middot Z prime = 0 Then its dual graph is a chain
Proof Assume Z prime is a cycle Then necessarily Z prime = D prime capXlowast scheme-theoretically
and by the existence of Hilbert scheme Z prime moves in the general fiber Its general
member is either a cycle of smooth rational curves or an elliptic curve Arguing as
in the previous proof we see that both options are impossible
V Configurations
In this section we analyze in great detail all possible configurations of invariant
curves along which KF vanishes These can be divided into three groups those
that do not move those that move in a one-dimensional family covering a surface
those that move in a higher-dimensional family covering a surface Curves in the first
group can form rather complicated configurations while those in the second group
are more simple they either move in the general fiber or they cover an isolated
Riccati component in the singular fiber Those in the third group turn out to be
represented by the two rulings of P1timesP1 if they happen to be cohomologous in the
ambient stack First we will analyze rigid curves then those which move and finally
we will describe their configurations
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 43
VI Configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially In
this subsection we describe configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF
trivially which arise in the situation described by set-up IIVII4
First we focus on KF -nil curves At the end of the section we deal with the simpler
case in which a curve in the configuration is fully contained in sing(F ) The general
fiber was handled in Proposition IVI6
Proposition VI1 Let C be a connected KF -nil curve contained in the smooth
locus of a fiber of p Then it is a chain or a cycle and it moves in a family flat over
∆
In what follows we let C denote a connected KF -nil curve contained in the
singular fiber X0 all of whose sub-curves are rigid in X Observe a consequence of
equation 23
Proposition VI2 Let C = cupiCi be a connected KF -nil curve Then the eigen-
values of partS are all rational at every point of sing(F )capC if and only if they are all
rational at one point
We can deduce many non-trivial properties about configurations of KF -nil curves
First we need
Definition VI3 Let C subX0 be a curve It is called double if there exists formally
around C two components F F prime of X0 such that C = F cap F prime A point lowast isin C where
three fiber components intersect is called a triple point If C lies on exactly one fiber
component it is called non-double We denote by F (C) such component
Remark VI4 Let Csimminusrarr P1(d e) be double with two triple points Then we know
e+ λ+ micro = minusd+ (λ+ n) + (micro+m) = 0 whence we obtain
(33) n+m = d+ e
Which is called triple-point formula
Next we show that essentially KF -nil curves do not form cycles unless something
deforms in X0 First we show that there are no cycles of rigid non-double curves
44 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proposition VI5 Let C be a connected KF -nil curve contained in the singular
fiber X0 of p Assume that every component of C is non-double and that every
sub-curve is rigid Then C contains no cycles
Proof We work in a formal neighborhood of C which we assume is a cycle Let
us first consider the case in which all components C1 middot middot middot CN are smooth with no
orbifold points and denote lowasti = Ci cap Ci+1 with CN+1 = C1 Moreover let us
assume no lowasti lies in the smooth locus of p
Since no curve is double the semi-simple field at every lowasti is as in case i (3)b in
particular the eigenvalues along the branches of Ci and Ci+1 add up to zero More-
over let minusni denote the self-intersection of Ci sub F (Ci) Normalize the eigenvalues
of partS so that at lowastn they are 1 in the C1 direction minus1 in the CN direction λ in the
F (C1)capF (CN) direction It follows by induction that at lowasti the eigenvalues are minus1
in the Ci direction 1 in the Ci+1 direction λ+ n1 + middot middot middot+ ni in the F (Ci) cap F (Ci+1)
direction After traveling around the cycle we obtain n1+middot middot middot+nN = 0 contradicting
that ni gt 0 for every i
We established the Proposition assuming every Ci is an embedded scheme and ev-
ery lowasti is in the singular locus of p The case in which Cisimminusrarr P1(di ei) has orbifold
points is analogous we end up with a combination c1n1 + middot middot middot + cNnN = 0 with ci
the eigenvalue at lowasti in the Ci+1 direction Normalizing so that c1 = e1 gt 0 again by
induction on i we see that every ci isin Qgt0 Next we show that our assumption on lowastiis always satisfied
Claim VI6 Every lowasti must belong to the singular locus of p
Proof We give two essentially equivalent proofs
bull If N = 2 3 then the previous argument goes through indeed we can normal-
ize eigenvalues at lowasti to be negative in the Ciminus1 direction and positive in the
Ci-direction and argue as above Hence we can assume N ge 4 If say lowasti is in
the smooth locus of p then F (Ci) = F (Ci+1) If also F (Ciminus1) = F (Ci) then Ci
lies in the smooth locus of p and hence it moves Therefore F (Ciminus1) 6= F (Ci)
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 45
and Ciminus1 can be flopped inside F (Ci) Since N ge 4 this preserves the smooth-
ness of F (Ci) and Ci is now is the smooth locus of p - contradiction
bull If lowasti belongs to the smooth locus of p then the end through lowasti moves We
can form a partial net completion fi Xi rarrX by normalizing C in lowasti only
Then f lowasti C is a chain with movable ends and hence moves in the general fiber
of p fi
Finally the general case in which some among the Ci have cusps can be easily
reduced to the smooth case in a couple of ways
bull Eigenvalues at the singularities of any KF -nil curve satisfy the same relations
as in the smooth case
bull Upon taking roots and net completion we can find a foliated formal 3-fold
supported on a cycle of smooth KF -nil curves which is a ramified cover of a
formal neighborhood of our cycle
Similarly we can show that there are no rigid cycles of double curves
Proposition VI7 Let C be a nodal KF -nil curve which is double Then C
deforms inside X0 In particular there cannot exist a rigid cycle of KF -nil double
curves
Proof Following the previous notation we have 0 = infin and if C = (xy = z = 0)
around 0 then we have identities
(34) x = η y = ξ z = ζ
The last one of which implies m = 0 that is C deforms Since C is double necessarily
the surface it spans must be contained in X0
The statement about cycles follows since a cycle of double curves can be transformed
after finitely many flops into a chain of smooth double curves with a nodal one
attached at one end
46 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Later on we will show that the deformations of C cannot span an elliptic surface
but only a family of nodal rational curves with a special Riccati foliation on it
We are ready to organize a detailed description of the dual graph of C More pre-
cisely we only need to understand how double curves intersect non-double curves
Lemma VI8 There exists a sequence of flops X 99KX + such that if C + denotes
the transform of C every double curve supported on C + contains two triple points
Proof Let C sube C be an irreducible component with at most one triple point and
let X 99K X + be its flop Then its transform C+ is non-double and the number
of double curves contained in C descreases It is clear that after finitely many flops
all double curves contain exactly two triple points
From now on all double curves in C have two triple points Thanks to proposition
VI2 we know that there are two cases to consider those curves along which the
semi-simple field has not only rational eigenvalues and those along which the semi-
simple field has only rational eigenvalues The first case being strictly easier than
the second it is a good starting place to warm up
Proposition VI9 (irrational eigenvalues) Assume that for every foliation singu-
larity along C not all eigenvalues of partS are rational Then every component of C
is net with at most one node and 1-skeleton of its dual graph is at worst trivalent
Write C = C axes cup C free where
C axes is the union of double curves
C free is the union of non-double curves
Then one among C axes and C free is empty Moreover
bull If C free is non-empty then it is a chain of smooth curves with rational moduli
bull If C axes is non-empty there exists a sequence of flops X 99KX + and an ir-
reducible component of the fiber FC subX + such that X + is a smooth stack
the transform C+ of C is contained in FC Moreover the dual graph of C+
is a tree which by [McQ08 III32] becomes a chain inside the normalization
of FC
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 47
Proof The first sentence is just corollary IIIIII3
Observe that if a non-double curve intersects a double curve then the non-double
curve must be contained in an LC-center around such intersection This contradicts
that not all eigenvalues are rational and establishes that one among C axes and C free
is empty
In case C free is not empty then it is clearly a chain or a cycle the latter being
impossible by Proposition VI5
We are left to show the existence of flops in case C = C axes We remark that
every component is smooth Let C0 be such a component and S0 a component of
X0 containing it Let C1 be the collection of irreducible components of C which
intersect S0 but are not contained in it All the components of C1 are smooth hence
we can flop them in any order until the transform of C1 lies in the transform of S0
Since the number of irreducible components of C lying outside S0 decreases after
such flop by induction we deduce the existence of finitely many flops after which
the birational transform of C is fully contained in the transform of S0
Next we take care of rational eigenvalues The complication here arises from
the fact that there may be double and non-double curves intersecting each other
However the situation is best possible
Proposition VI10 (rational eigenvalues) Assume that for every foliation singu-
larity along C all eigenvalues of partS are rational Write C = C axes cup C free where
C axes is the union of double curves
C free is the union of non-double curves
Then there exists a sequence of flops X 99K X + and an irreducible component of
the fiber FC axes subX + such that
bull X + is a smooth stack
bull The union of double curves of C axes is contained in FC axes the 1-skeleton of
its dual graph is a tree and each of its components has two triple points
bull The 1-skeleton of the dual graph of the transform C free+ is a disjoint union of
trees
bull Each connected component of C free+ intersects C axes in exactly one point
48 FEDERICO BUONERBA
In particular the 1-skeleton of the dual graph of C is a tree
Proof Notice that for every point lowast isin C cap Z there exists one LC-center through lowastIndeed there are three rational eigenvalues and they cannot be all non-vanishing and
all with different signs at the same time Now C axes can be treated as in proposition
VI9 This proves the first two items of the statement The third item follows from
Proposition VI5 so we can focus on the fourth one The proof is based on the
following obvious
Remark VI11 let C be a double curve such that either it is KF -nil hence has
two triple points or it is fully contained in sing(F ) Let C0 sube C free intersect C
non-trivially in a point lowast then necessarily C0 sub LClowast
Now let C0 middot middot middot CN form a chain of non-double curves with C0 and CN both
intersecting double curves as in the remark Denote by lowasti = Ci cap Ci+1 Since
C1 sub LClowast necessarily C1 is transverse to LClowast1 otherwise C1 would deform in F (C1)
Inductively we see that Ci+1 sub LClowasti and is transverse to LClowasti+1 In particular CN
cannot touch a double curve This contradiction proves the fourth item
Let us add a remark about configurations featuring invariant curves inside sing(F )
Proposition VI12 Let C be an invariant curve with KF middot C = 0 such that
Z0 sube C for some component Z0 sube sing(F ) Then C = Z prime cup C where
Z prime is a connected invariant curve inside the foliation singularity with dual graph a
chain
C is the union of at most two pairwise disjoint KF -nil curves with anti-ample
normal bundle
If not empty C can only intersect Z prime at the two ends of its dual graph Moreover
perhaps after a flop the intersection of C with Z prime supports the foliation singularity
along C As such if C has two components Z prime cup C deforms in the general fiber
Proof The structure of Z prime is Proposition IVII3 while that of Co is Proposition
IVI6 Let C prime be a component of C intersecting Z0 in a point lowast If C prime and Z0 belong
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 49
to different components of X0 then by case ni (1)b the eigenvalue of partS along C prime
vanishes so supp(sing(F ) cap C prime) = lowast If C prime and Z0 belong to the same component
then we can flop C prime into a different component
Observe that the divisor D prime from op cit can be extended along C prime This implies
that C can only intersect Z prime at its ends Moreover if C touches both ends necessarily
D prime capX0 = C scheme-theoretically hence by the existence of Hilbert scheme IVI5
we conclude
Our new set-up is
Set-up VI13 Everything as in set-up IIVII4 and moreover for any connected
invariant curve C with KF middot C = 0 all of whose sub-curves are rigid we have
configurations computed in proposition VI9 VI10 and Lemma VI12
VII Configurations of non-rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
In this subsection we describe configurations of surfaces which are covered by KF -nil
curves The structure of each such surface is described by classification IIV1 IIV2
and Corollary IIVI17 Our first step is to simplify the situation by contracting
chains of ruled surfaces The next step is to try and exclude the possibility that
the singular fiber of p contains fibrations by elliptic or nodal rational curves with
at least one invariant fiber This can be achieved with good success indeed there
may be at most one such Riccati foliation which is anyway rather isolated from the
remaining KF -nil curves Finally we observe that the only class of surfaces we have
not mentioned is
Definition VII1 A irreducible component F of the singular fiber of p is called
small Kronecker if
bull (FFF ) is birational to a Kronecker vector field on P1 timesP1 and
bull The two rulings of this P1 timesP1 are cohomologous inside X
The name comes from the fact that contraction of a small Kronecker yields a node
in the ambient threefold which admits a small resolution In fact in many respects
these fiber components behave very much like rigid KF -nil curves
50 FEDERICO BUONERBA
We start by getting rid of some fiber components which are ruled by KF -nil gener-
ically smooth rational curves
Proposition VII2 Notation as in Set-up VI13 there exists a sequence of flops
and divisorial contractions c X 99KX + such that
bull X + is a smooth stack
bull let S+ sub X + be an irreducible invariant divisor that contains a positive-
dimensional family of invariant rational curves along which KF+ vanishes
Then S+ is either birationally ruled by nodal rational curves or it is a small
Kronecker
Proof We focus first on contracting components of the singular fiber of p Consider
the following algorithm If there is no birationally ruled component different from
the ones listed in the second item we are done otherwise pick one such F and let
C denote the general member of the ruling If the cohomology class [C] is inde-
composable F is minimal Otherwise [C] = [C1] + [C2] where Ci are rational and
intersect KF trivially After finitely many steps we have a decomposition as a finite
sum of indecomposables [C] =sumn
i=0 ni[Ci] where every Ci is rational intersects KF
trivially We have two cases
bull There exists k such that Ck deforms in a birationally ruled necessarily min-
imal surface Fk
bull Every Ci has anti-ample normal bundle
In the first case denote by X rarr X1 the contraction of Fk along |Ck| and relpace
X by X1 Since Fk is minimal smoothness of the ambient stack is preserved unless
Fk is a small Kronecker This is however impossible if n ge 2 if Fk were a small
Kronecker then Ck deforms away from Fkminus1 so then Fkminus1 middot Ck = 0 on the other
hand Fkminus1 intersects the other ruling of Fk positively
In the second case flop C1 middot middot middot Cn in this order The transform of F is minimal and
not a small Kronecker so it can be contracted along its ruling preserving ambient
smoothness By induction on the Picard rank of X after finitely many steps this
algorithm ends Call X the output of this algorithm
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 51
Let S subX be an invariant divisor with a generically smooth ruling Then pS S rarr∆ is flat and after flopping finitely many rational curves in S cap plowastS(0) the resulting
pS is smooth Hence we can contract S along pS After finitely many steps the
Proposition is proven
For ease of notation in the sequel we call X the output of the previous proposition
Notice that there might still be divisors carrying a pencil of nodal rational curves
both inside and outside the singular fiber of p
We can start analyzing configurations of fiber components where the restriction of
F is not of general type We need some notation whose reason to exist will be clear
shortly
Definition VII3 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
along which KF is not big F is called special Riccati if
bull F is minimal
bull There exists a morphism s F rarr B onto a curve whose fibers are nodal
rational curve
bull F is transverse to the general fiber of s in particular KF is numerically
trivial along s
bull At least one fiber of s is invariant
bull There exists a section σ of s which is invariant and does not coincide with
the nodal locus of F
In particular the intersections of σ with invariant fibers of s isolated singularities
of F the node of F all coincide There may be fibers of s fully contained in sing(F )
in which case they are everywhere transverse to the saturated foliation
The definition looks nasty but special Riccati components have a rather simple
origin as the following proof shows
Lemma VII4 Let F be special Riccati Up to base change by an etale double cover
Bprime rarr B there is a natural isomorphism F norm simminusrarr BprimetimesP1 and the restriction of F
to F norm is birational to the projection onto P1
52 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proof We work over the normalization F norm Denote by Bprime the pre-image of the
node of F which is an etale double cover of B and let f denote an invariant fiber
of s with lowast = σ cap f Observe that F norm carries a Riccati foliation with 3 invariant
curves through lowast - namely σ f and a component of Bprime Hence FF has a log-canonical
singularity in lowast On F norm perform a weighted blow-up in each log-canonical singu-
larity followed by the contraction of the transforms of the corresponding fibers Let
s+ F+ rarr B denote the output of this operation If the proper transform of Bprime is
connected replace F+ by its base change under Bprime rarr B Hence we can assume Bprime
is the disjoint union of two sections of s+ and the transform of σ is a third section
which is disjoint from Bprime Therefore F+ = P1 timesBprime and the foliation restricts to the
projection onto P1
Next we describe those surfaces which cannot appear as components of the sin-
gular fiber X0
Definition VII5 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
along which KF is not big F is called illusory if
bull there exists a morphism t F rarr B onto a curve
bull KF is trivial along t
bull For any other fiber component F prime the intersection F cap F prime is either empty or
contained in a fiber of t
We give examples of illusory fiber components
Lemma VII6 The following fiber components are necessarily illusory
bull t is elliptic the foliation is either parallel to t or turbolent with at least one
invariant fiber
bull t is a nodal ruling the foliation is either parallel to t or transverse to t with
at least one invariant fiber and not birational to a special Riccati VII3
Proof Let f = F cap F prime for some fiber component F prime It is F -invariant
Assume t and F are parallel and f is transverse to both Then necessarily f subesing(F ) and KF is positive along the fibers of t contradiction
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 53
Assume t and F are generically transverse and f is transverse to t Let e be an
invariant fiber of t then ecap f isin sing(F ) hence t must be a family of nodal rational
curves and ecapf coincides with the node of e - otherwise KF would be positive along
t But this implies F is special Riccati contradiction
We proceed to show that illusory fibers do not exist
Lemma VII7 Let F be an illusory fiber component then every fiber of t is irre-
ducible If F prime is any fiber component intersecting F non-trivially then F prime is illusory
Proof Assume t has a reducible fiber f Then we can write f = f prime cup f primeprime where f prime
is irreducible and f primeprime is a disjoint union of chains of rational curves In particular
every subscheme supported on f primeprime is rigid in X f prime is rational and smooth iff f is a
cycle of rational curves hence the foliation on F is parallel to t and the choice of f prime
is not unique otherwise f prime is nodal or elliptic Let X 99KX + denote the flop of the
irreducible components of f primeprime in any order The proper transform f prime+ (below in red)
is the irreducible fiber of the induced morphism t+ F+ rarr B Since f primeprime+ intersects
f prime+ and is not contained in F+ there exists a component F prime of the fiber of p+ such
that F+ cap f prime+ 6= empty Since F+ is illusory necessarily F+ cap F prime = f prime+ Moreover F+
and F prime are the only fiber components intersecting f prime+ again because F+ is illusory
We deduce that F+ middot f prime+ = F prime middot f prime+ = 0 and therefore f prime+ is nef inside F prime It follows
that he restriction of F+ to F prime is not of general type and by the classification of
foliated surfaces [McQ08] necessarily f prime+ deforms inside F prime and defines a fibration
u F prime rarr Bprime In particular f prime+ is an irreducible fiber of u This is however impossible
since u contracts all the components of f primeprime+ contained in F prime (below in blue) and by
definition of F prime there exists at least one such component This proves that every
fiber of t is irreducible The following depicts the situation
F prime F+
f prime+
f primeprime+
t+u
54 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Concerning the second statement we only need to check the third condition for F prime
to be illussory namely that every other fiber component F primeprime intersecting F prime does
so along the fibers of u If F primeprime intersects F prime transversely to u then F primeprime intersects F
non-trivially and transversely to t as well absurd
Corollary VII8 Illusory components do not exist
Proof By the above lemma the existence of one illusory component implies that
every irreducible component of the singular fiber of p is illusory contradicting that
KF is big
We can now focus on fiber components that do appear
Corollary VII9 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
containing an invariant curve C which moves and such that KF middot C = 0 Then
following the classification [McQ08] we have two cases
(1) The minimal model of F is a special Riccati component
(2) F is a small Kronecker
Proof Certainly the ones listed are the only cases where C is KF -nil We have to
exclude the possibility that C is invariant inside sing(F ) By Proposition IVII3
such C would be rational with at most one node Since we already contracted at
the beginning of the present subsection all ruled surfaces necessarily C is nodal
However by opcit C cannot intersect any other fiber component of X0 which
implies the absurdity that X0 = F
We proceed to show that special Riccati components are rather isolated in the
fiber
Lemma VII10 Let F be a special Riccati component If F prime is a fiber component
intersecting F non-trivially then it does so transversely to s Morover there is
exactly one such F prime
Proof After finitely many flops we can assume that every fiber of s is irreducible
By the non-existence of illusory components there exists a fiber component F lowast with
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 55
σprime = F cap F prime transverse to s If F primeprime is a fiber component with f = F cap F primeprime a fiber
of s then we claim f sube sing(F ) If not then since KF middot f = 0 and σprime is invariant
necessarily σprimecap f is the node of f But then the existence of F primeprime contradicts that p is
snc Hence f sube sing(F ) so then around the node of f there are 3 fiber components -
two branches coming from F one from F primeprime - and sing(F ) has 2 branches - namely f
This is impossible by our case analysis ni (1)c ni (2)c The very same reasoning
establishes the uniqueness of F prime
Lemma VII11 Let F be as in the previous Lemma If C is a connected curve
with KF middot C = 0 then it is disjoint from F
Proof After finitely many flops s is irreducible and C intersects F transversely away
from its node Moreover lowast = C cap F isin sing(F ) and we deduce that the fiber of s
through lowast is fully contained in the singular locus of F This contradicts Proposition
IVII3 since such fiber is nodal
We conclude by observing the obvious
Lemma VII12 Let F be a small Kronecker Then there exists a contraction
c X rarr X prime which is an isomorphism away from F and contracts F along one
of its rulings Necessarily X prime is not projective since every global Cartier divisor
intersects c(F ) trivially On the other hand in a formal neighborhood of c(F ) there
exist Cartier divisors intersecting it non-trivialliy
As such the contribution coming from non-rigid curves is rather poor there are
curves moving in the general fiber there are special Riccati components disjoint from
any other invariant curve intersecting KF trivially there are small Kroneckers who
can be contracted to curves We shall see in the next section that the complications
arising from the contraction of such non-rigid curves is purely psychological and
totally harmless
56 FEDERICO BUONERBA
VI Contractions and proof of the Main Theorem
In this section we contract all invariant curves along which KF is zero thereby
establishing the existence of canonical models I First we contract non-rigid curves
as described in the previous subsection
bull Small Kroneckers along either ruling Albeit this destroys projectivity of
the ambient threefold there still exist Cartier divisors defined in a formal
neighborhood of the base curve that intersect it non-trivially
bull Families of irreducible nodal rational curves which are flat over ∆ This
creates elliptic singularities on the general fiber of p which are disjoint from
other invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
bull Special Riccati again families of irreducible nodal rational curves fully con-
tained in X0 This creates elliptic singularities disjoint from other invariant
curves intersecting KF trivially
We can summarize our situation by way of
Set-up VI1 X is a 3-dimensional DM stack with at worst elliptic singularities
F a foliation by curves with canonical singularities which is not Q-Cartier in a
neighborhood of Xsing
There exists a proper morphism p X rarr ∆ smooth off 0 isin ∆ F restricts to a
foliation on every fiber of p it has canonical singularities on the very general fiber
of p and log-canonical singularities on every fiber of p KF is big and nef on every
irreducible component of every fiber of p
Let C be the invariant sub-scheme along which KF is not big then C is a curve
fully contained in the smooth locus X0capXsmooth every sub-curve of C has anti-ample
normal bundle the 1-simplex of its dual graph is a tree and detailed configurations
of such are referenced in set-up VI13
We proceed to contract such C We assume that along C the semi-simple field has
only rational eigenvalues and moreover no component of C is inside the foliation
singularity The other two cases - irrational eigenvalues and presence of singular
component - are strictly easier and can be obtained with the very same method
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 57
The proof takes place in the formal completion around C = C free cup C axes The
former is a disjoint union of trees of non-double curves For each non-double C let
F (C) denote the unique component of X0 containing it The latter is a tree of double
curves each with two triple points all contained in the same irreducible FC axes Each
tree of non-double curves touches C axes in one point through a LC-center In order
to construct the contraction we will use Artinrsquos celebrated criterion in the following
form
Fact VI1 ([Ar70]) Let X be an irreducible algebraic space i Y rarr X a closed
subspace of pure codimension 1 and f Y rarr Y0 a proper morphism with flowastOY = OY0
Let X denote the formal completion of X along Y and assume there exists a Cartier
divisor D in X which is supported on Y and is f -anti-ample Then there exists a
proper morphism of algebraic spaces F X rarr X0 which is an isomorphism away
from Y and such that ilowastF = f
Now we use the tree structure of C to construct a suitable divisor to which apply
Artinrsquos theorem Namely consider the following inductive defintion
(35) C0 = C axes F0 = FC axes
For k ge 0 assume Ck Fk are defined
bull Let Ck+1 denote the union of irreducible components of C that intersect Fk
non-trivially but are not contained in cupilekFibull Let Fk+1 denote the reduced sum (
sumCsubeCk+1
F (C))red
This process stops with a collection C1 middot middot middotCN of curves and F1 middot middot middot FN of reduced
divisors
Lemma VI1 We have the following identities
(36)
Fk middot C lt 0 for every C sube Ck
(F0 + F1) middot C le 0 for every C sube C0
(Fkminus1 + Fk + Fk+1) middot C = 0 for every C sube Ck 1 lt k lt N
(FNminus1 + FN) middot C lt 0 for every C sube CN
58 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proof The first is just the fact that every component of C is rigid The remaining
three follow from X0 middot C = 0 but the last one requires further justification Indeed
if C sube CN N gt 0 then C is one end of a tree of non-double curves In particular
there exists a foliation singularity lowast isin C disjoint from any other component of
C and LClowast is transverse to C This implies LClowast middotC gt 0 which together with
(FNminus1 + FN + LClowast) middot C = 0 concludes the proof
Let ε1 middot middot middot εN isin Qgt0 and define
(37) F Nminusk = (1 + ε1 + middot middot middot+ εk)FNminusk
bull If C sube CN we have
(38) (F Nminus1 + F
N) middot C = ε1FNminus1 middot C + (FNminus1 + FN) middot C
bull If C sube CNminusk 1 lt k lt N we have
(39)
(F Nminuskminus1 + F
Nminusk + F Nminusk+1) middot C =
(1 + middot middot middot+ εk)(FNminuskminus1 + FNminusk + FNminusk+1) middot C minus εkFNminusk+1 middot C + εk+1FNminuskminus1 middot C =
minus εkFNminusk+1 middot C + εk+1FNminuskminus1 middot C
bull If C sube C0 we have
(40) (F 0 + F
1) middot C = εNF0 middot C + (Nminus1sumj=0
εj)(F0 + F1) middot C
It is clear that provided
(41) 1 gtgt ε1 gtgt middot middot middot gtgt εN
the divisor F =sumF k is negative along every component of C
This proves the existence of the contraction and concludes the proof of the Main
Theorem I
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 59
VII Moduli space of foliated surfaces of general type
In this section we study the modular variation of foliated surfaces of general type
The upshot is that it is possible to define a functor which is representable separated
and every irreducible component is proper The main issue here is that the supporting
surface of a foliated canonical model may well fail to be projective indeed KF is not
Q-Gorenstein in general Hence in order to proceed via standard methods [Ko17]
we have to parametrize our canonical models together with a suitable projective
resolution
Definition VII13 Let (SF ) be a foliated proper reduced purely 2-dimensional
DM stack Assume S has only normal crossing singularities in codimension 1 that
F has log-canonical foliation singularities and that KF is big and nef on at least
one of the irreducible components of S If whenever KF middot C = 0 for some curve C
then C moves in an irreducible component of S and no member of such deformation
is F -invariant then (SF ) is called foliated canonical model of general type
Clearly foliated canonical models are exactly the stable degenerations appearing
as the central fiber of our Main Theorem I Their lack of projectivity has two sources
namely the contraction of cycles of smooth KF -nil curves and of trees of cuspidal
ones Singularities arising from cycles behave well in families namely they always
deform into the general fiber Those arising from cuspidal curves on the other hand
tend to be rather isolated inside the degenerate fiber
Observe that the deformation theory of a foliated surface is rather simple suppose
given an infinitesimal C-algebras extension 0 rarr J rarr Ae rarr A rarr 0 and (SF )
a foliated surface flat over Spec(A) then the obstruction to lifting to Ae can be
understood in three simple steps
(1) Deformation of the underlying surface S once a deformation Se rarr Spec(Ae)
is given
(2) Deformation of the line bundle KF by the exponential sequence
(42) 0rarr J otimes OS rarr OlowastSerarr OlowastS rarr 0
obstructions lie in H2(SOS)otimes J once a deformation of KF is given
60 FEDERICO BUONERBA
(3) Deformation of the defining section OS rarr KF otimes TS obstructions lie in
H1(SKF otimes TS)otimes J
Now we have
Definition VII14 Let (SF ) be a foliated canonical model of general type A
proper birational morphism q (SF )proj rarr (SF ) is called its projective resolution
if
bull Every irreducible component of Sproj is smooth
bull The exceptional locus of q is a disjoint union of cycles of KFproj-nil smooth
curves and trees of KFproj-nil curves each of which has a non-trivial cuspidal
singularity
bull In a neighborhood of every q-exceptional cycle not only Sproj but also its
moduli space is smooth
We need a few remarks about projective resolutions
(1) Projective resolutions are always unique Indeed the only possible ambiguity
could lie in some extra smooth irreducible components in the exceptional
locus This is forbidden by definition in the trees of cuspidal curves it is
also forbidden by way of the third item in cycles of smooth ones ie on
algebraic surfaces the minimal resolution is unique
(2) Denote by E the collection of q-exceptional cycles Then there exist ε δ isinQgt0 such that KFproj
minus εE + δKSprojis ample by Nakai-Moishezon
(3) Deformations of a projective resolution of a foliated canonical model are
canonically identified with deformations of the underlying birational mor-
phism q Sproj rarr S followed by a deformation of the foliation F
We are now ready to construct a moduli functor for foliated surfaces more precisely
for projective resolutions of foliated canonical models of general type For m dN isinN and ε δ isin Qgt0 let
(43) MmdNεδ (C-schemes)rarr (sets)
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 61
be defined by MmdNεδ(S) = Diagrams
(44) (X F )projqminusrarr (X F )
pminusrarr S
Where
bull Both p and p q are flat and proper
bull For every closed point s isin S the induced morphism qs is the projective
resolution of (X F )s which is a foliated canonical model of general type
bull Denote by Es the collection of exceptional cycles of qs By our Main Theorem
I there is a fibrewise divisor E subXproj flat over S restricting to Es for every
s isin S
bull Let j W rarr Xproj denote the maximal closed subscheme away from which
KFprojand KXprojS are locally free Then
(45) L [m] = (jlowast(KFprojotimes OXproj
(minusεE )otimesKδXprojS
)otimesm)oror
is flat over S and commutes with base-change
bull L [m] is very ample of degree d on every fiber and defines an embedding into
PNS
We are now ready for
Theorem VII15 The functor MmdNεδ is represented by a separated algebraic
space each of whose irreducible components is proper
Proof We show that our functor satisfies Artinrsquos conditions [Ar74 Corollary 54] By
definition condition 1) and 4) hold while our previous remark on foliated obstruction
theory shows that 3) is true
We proceed to show 2) namely effectivity of formal deformations for MmdNεδ
What follows owes much to Artinrsquos [A74rsquo] Let T be a complete C-algebra Tn its
n-truncation so that Tsimminusrarr limlarrminusTn and finally qn isinMmdNεδ(Spec(Tn)) a compatible
sequence For each n there is a maximal open set Un sube Xprojn where qn is an
isomorphism denote by sn Cn rarr Zn the restriction of qn to the complement of Un
Clearly sn is projective over Spec(Tn)
62 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Denote by X C etc the formal algebraic spaces obtained as limits of Xn Cn
etc Then Xproj sub PNˆSpec(T )
hence by Grothendieckrsquos existence Theorem we find
bull a flat projective family (X F )proj rarr Spec(T ) resp a closed subscheme
C subXproj whose completion is Xproj resp C
bull a scheme Z whose completion is Z and a morphism s C rarr Z everything
being projective over Spec(T )
Further we have a formal contraction limminusrarr qn C rarr Z hence the main theorem
of [Ar70] gives algebraic contraction (X F )proj rarr (X F ) This proves the repre-
sentability of MmdNεδ The properness and separability of each irreducible com-
ponent can be checked using valutative criteria indeed properness is the content of
our Main Theorem I separatedness follows from the uniqueness of foliated canonical
models of general type and their projective resolution
References
[Ar70] M Artin Algebraization of Formal Moduli II Existence of Modifications Ann
of Math Vol 91 No 1 (Jan 1970) pp 88-135 httpwwwjstororgstable
1970602
[Ar74] M Artin Versal Deformations and Algebraic Stacks Inventiones Math 27 165- 189
(1974) httpmathuchicagoedu~drinfeldArtin_on_stackspdf
[A74rsquo] M Artin Algebraic construction of Brieskornrsquos resolutions J Alg Vol 29 Issue
2 May 1974 pp 330-348 httpwwwsciencedirectcomsciencearticlepii
0021869374901021
[BB72] P Baum R Bott Singularities of holomorphic foliations J Diff Geom 7 (1972)
279-342 httpsprojecteuclidorgdownloadpdf_1euclidjdg1214431158
[Bo77] F Bogomolov Families of curves on a surface of general type Doklady Akademii Nauk
USSR (in Russian) 236 (5) 1041-1044
[Bo78] F Bogomolov Holomorphic tensors and vector bundles on projective varieties Math
USSR Izv 13 (1978) 499-555
[BM16] F Bogomolov M McQuillan Rational Curves on Foliated Varieties In Cascini
McKernan Pereira (eds) Foliation Theory in Algebraic Geometry Simons Symposia
Springer Cham pp 21-51 (2016) httpslinkspringercomchapter101007
978-3-319-24460-0_2
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 63
[Bu] F Buonerba Functorial resolution of tame quotient singularities in positive charac-
teristic httpsarxivorgabs151100550
[Ke99] S Keel Basepoint Freeness for Nef and Big Line Bundles in Positive Characteris-
tic Annals of Math 149 No 1 (Jan 1999) pp 253-286 httpwwwjstororg
stable121025 httpsarxivorgabsmath9901149
[KM97] S Keel S Mori Quotients by groupoids Annals of Math 145 (1997) pp
193-213 httpwwwjstororgstable2951828seq=1page_scan_tab_contents
httparxivorgabsalg-geom9508012
[Ko17] J Kollar Families of varieties of general type httpswebmathprincetonedu
~kollarbookmodbook20170720pdf
[LN02] A Lins Neto Some examples for the Poincare and Painleve problems Annales sci-
entifiques de lrsquoENS 352 (2002) 231-266 httparchivenumdamorgarticle
ASENS_2002_4_35_2_231_0pdf
[McQ12] M McQuillan Foliated Mori Theory amp Hyperbolicity of Algebraic Surfaces http
wwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillahomehtml
[McQ98] M McQuillan Diophantine approximation and foliations Inst Hautes Etudes Sci
Publ Math 87 (1998) 121-174 httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafiles
ihespdf
[McQ05rsquo] M McQuillan Bloch hyperbolicity preprint httpwwwmatuniroma2it
~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ05] M McQuillan Semi-stable reduction of foliations IHES pre-print IHESM0502
(2005) httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ05rdquo] M McQuillan Uniform Uniformisation IHES pre-print (2005) IHES M0503 http
wwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ08] M McQuillan Canonical models of foliations Pure Appl Math Q 4
(2008) no 3 Special Issue In honor of Fedor Bogomolov Part 2 877-1012
httpintlpresscomsitepubfiles_fulltextjournalspamq20080004
0003PAMQ-2008-0004-0003-a009pdf
[MP13] M McQuillan D Panazzolo Almost etale resolution of foliations J Diff Geom 95
(2013) pp 279-319 httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesmp1bispdf
[Pe02] JV Pereira On the Poincare Problem for Foliations of General Type Mathematische
Annalen 323 no 2 pp217-226 2002 httpsarxivorgabsmath0104185
[PS16] JV Pereira R Svaldi Effective algebraic integration in bounded genus preprint
httpsarxivorgabs161206932
64 FEDERICO BUONERBA
[Re83] M Reid Minimal models of canonical threefolds in rdquoAlgebraic Varieties and Ana-
lytic Varietiesrdquo Adv Stud Pure Math vol 1 S Iitaka ed Kinokuniya and North-
Holland 1983 pp 131-180 httpwwwmathsedacukcheltsovquotientpdf
reid2pdf
[Se67] A Seidenberg Reduction of singularities of the differential equation Ady = Bdx Amer
J Math 89 (1967) 248-269 httpwwwjstororgstable2373435
[SB83] N Shepherd-Barron Degenerations with numerically effective canonical divisor The
Birational Geometry of Degenerations (R Friedman and D Morrison eds) Progr
Math no 29 Birkhuser 1983 pp 33-84
[Vis89] A Vistoli Intersection theory on algebraic stacks and on their moduli spaces
Invent Math (1989) pp 613-670 httplinkspringercomarticle101007
2FBF01388892page-1
Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences New York University 251 Mercer
Street New York NY 10012 USA
E-mail address buonerbacimsnyuedu
- I Introduction
- II Preliminaries
-
- III Operations on Deligne-Mumford stacks
- IIII Width of embedded parabolic champs
- IIIII Gorenstein foliation singularities
- IIIV Foliated adjunction
- IIV Canonical models of foliated surfaces with canonical singularities
- IIVI Canonical models of foliated surfaces with log-canonical singularities
- IIVII Set-up
-
- III Invariant curves and singularities local description
-
- IIII `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F) not isolated
- IIIII `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F) isolated
- IIIIII Local consequences
-
- IV Invariant curves along which KF vanishes
-
- IVI KF-nil curves
- IVII Invariant curves inside `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F)
-
- V Configurations
-
- VI Configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
- VII Configurations of non-rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
-
- VI Contractions and proof of the Main Theorem
- VII Moduli space of foliated surfaces of general type
- References
-
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 27
ni (2) partS has two eigenvalues
We have partS = x partpartx
+ λy partparty
and partN(x y z) = k partpartx
+ f partparty
+ g partpartz
for some func-
tions k f g
(a) The fiber has one component z = 0 Then g = 0 k f isin (x y) and
necessarily Z = (x = y = 0) is transverse to the fiber The restriction on
the fiber is saturated and non-degenerate It has canonical singularities
if either partN 6= 0 or λ isin Q+ otherwise it is log-canonical
(b) The fiber has two components xy = 0 Then 0 = partS(xy) hence λ = minus1
Also 0 = partN(xy) hence k = xh f = minusyh g isin (xy) and necessarily
Z = (x = y = 0) coincides with the intersection of the two fiber compo-
nents which is smooth the foliation saturates to a smooth one on each
component with invariant curves transverse to Z
(c) The fiber has three components xyz = 0 hence λ = minus1 Also k = xklowast
f = yf lowast g = zglowast with klowast + f lowast + glowast = 0 and glowast isin (xy) The singularity
Z = (x = y = 0) coincides with the intersection of two of the fiber
components The restriction to either such components saturates to a
smooth foliation with invariant curves transverse to Z the restriction
to z = 0 has a canonical non-degenerate singularity all the invariant
curves are those in xy = 0 transverse to Z
Summary with 2 eigenvalues there can be any number of components With
one component the foliation restricts to a saturated one with a (log)canonical
singularity which moves transversely to p With two components the folia-
tion is not saturated on either and saturates to a smooth one with invariant
curves transverse to the singularity With three components the foliation
is not saturated on two of them and saturates to a smooth one on both
with invariant curves transverse to the singularity the foliation is saturated
and has a canonical non-degenerate singularity on the third component In
28 FEDERICO BUONERBA
the last two cases the singularity is fully contained in an intersection of two
components
ni (3) partS has three eigenvalues But then the singularity is isolated a contradiction
IIIII sing(F ) isolated
i (1) partS has one eigenvalue
bull We have partS = x partpartx
and partN = xk partpartx
+ f partparty
+ g partpartz
for some functions
k f g isin (y z) Moreover partN is non-trivial
bull Z = (x = f = g = 0) is isolated
(a) The fiber has one component y = 0 Then 0 = partN(y) = f and Z cannot
be isolated a contradiction
(b) The fiber has two components yz = 0 Then 0 = partN(yz) = zf + yg so
f = yh g = minuszh with h non-constant Hence Z = (x = h = 0) is not
isolated a contradiction
(c) The fiber has three components xyz = 0 Then 0 = partS(xyz) = xyz a
contradiction
Summary the 1 eigenvalue case does not exist
i (2) partS has two eigenvalues
bull We have partS = x partpartx
+ λy partparty
partN = xk partpartx
+ f partparty
+ g partpartz
for some functions
k f g
bull g is non-trivial and g isin (x y)
bull Z = (x = y = g = 0) is isolated
(a) The fiber has one component z = 0 Then g = 0 a contradiction
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 29
(b) The fiber has two components xy = 0 hence λ = minus1 and g isin (xy z)
the restriction to y = 0 is part|(y=0) = x partpartx
+g|(y=0)partpartz
and necessarily g|(y=0)
is non-vanishing Therefore the restriction to either components is satu-
rated and the singularity is a canonical saddle-node on each of them
The invariant curves are among the axes x = y = 0 x = z = 0 y = z =
0
(c) The fiber has three components xyz = 0 hence λ = minus1 Necessarily
k = xklowast f = yf lowast g = zglowast with klowast + f lowast + glowast = 0 The restriction to
y = 0 is part|(y=0) = x(1 + klowast|(y=0))partpartx
+ zglowast|(y=0)partpartz
since g isin (x y) we have
glowast|(y=0) non-trivial Therefore the restriction to either x = 0 and y = 0
is saturated and the singularity is a canonical saddle-node on each of
them
The restriction to z = 0 is part|(z=0) = x(1 + klowast|(z=0))partpartx
+ y(minus1 + f lowast|(z=0))partparty
therefore the restriction is saturated and has a canonical non-degenerate
singularity
The invariant curves are among the axes x = y = 0 x = z = 0 y = z =
0
Summary with 2 eigenvalues there are either two or three components the
foliation restricts to a canonical saddle-node on two of them and to a non-
degenerate singularity on the third one if it exists All the invariant curves
are in the axes
i (3) partS has three eigenvalues We have partS = x partpartx
+ λy partparty
+ microz partpartz
(a) The fiber has one component y = 0 hence λ = 0 a contradiction
(b) The fiber has two components xy = 0 hence λ = minus1 The restriction to
y = 0 is part|(y=0) = x partpartx
+ microz partpartz
+ partN|(y=0) The singularity is log-canonical
30 FEDERICO BUONERBA
iff micro isin Qgt0 and partN|(y=0)= 0 and in this case the singularity on x = 0 is
canonical non-degenerate Invariant curves are those in y = 0 and the
axis x = z = 0
If the restriction to both fiber components is canonical then it non-
degenerate on both and the invariant curves are contained in the axes
x = y = 0 x = z = 0 y = z = 0
The fiber could be yz = 0 hence λ+micro = 0 It can be analyzed as in the
next item
(c) The fiber has three components xyz = 0 hence 1 + λ + micro = 0 In par-
ticular if λ = cmicro c isin Q+ then λ micro isin Q The restriction to y = 0
is part|(y=0) = x partpartx
+ microz partpartz
+ partN|(y=0) This singularity is log-canonical iff
micro isin Qgt0 and partN|(y=0)= 0 in which case the singularity on both x = 0
and z = 0 is canonical non-degenerate In particular if the singularity
is log-canonical on some fiber component then it is so on exactly one
component and all eigenvalues are rational Invariant curves are those
in y = 0 and the axis x = z = 0
If the restriction to all fiber components is canonical then it non-degenerate
on each of them and the invariant curves are contained in the axes
x = y = 0 x = z = 0 y = z = 0
Summary with 3 eigenvalues there are either two or three fiber components
the foliation restricts to a singular foliation on each of them and it has a
log-canonical singularity on at most one of them in this case all eigenvalues
of the semi-simple field are rational
IIIIII Local consequences We list some corollaries for future reference As al-
ways in this section the statements are local so everything happens in a formal
neighborhood of our point lowast First we state those corollaries we will need to describe
configurations of KF -nil curves
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 31
Definition IIIIII1 An LC-center Π sub X is an irreducible F -invariant formal
hypersurface such that the local vector field generating the foliation when restricted
to Π has semi-simple part with log-canonical singularity or a one-dimensional sin-
gular locus An LC-center with a log-canonical singularity is necessarily an algebraic
component of the singular fiber of p
Corollary IIIIII2 There is at most one LC-center with a log-canonical singularity
through lowast If it exists then all eigenvalues of the semi-simple field at lowast are rational
If there are at least two LC-centers through lowast then there are exactly two and the
foliation singularity is a smooth curve on each of them
Proof Possible cases in which an LC-center with log-canonical singularities appears
ni (2)a i (3)b i (3)c
Corollary IIIIII3 If there is no LC-center thorugh a point lowast then there are at
most three invariant curves through lowast all smooth Any number of them spans a sub-
space of the tangent space at lowast of maximal possible dimension
If there is an LC-center through lowast then there is at most one invariant curve through
lowast and not contained in the LC-center
If there is an LC-center with non-isolated singularity then the singularity is smooth
and all invariant curves contained in the LC-center intersect the singularity trans-
versely
Proof Invariant curves not in an LC-centers with log-canonical singularities are con-
tained in the three axes x = z = 0 x = y = 0 y = z = 0 mentioned in the above
classification The other statements are clear
Corollary IIIIII4 If p is smooth at lowast then Z is one dimensional around lowast
Proof Possible casesni (1)a ni (2)a
In particular if there is no LC-center the situation is the familiary
xz
32 FEDERICO BUONERBA
While if there is an LC-center (pink) with log-canonical singularity it will look like
y
LC-center
While if there is an LC-center with non-isolated singularity (red) it will look like
(the black arrows being invariant curves)
y
LC-center
The next corollary describes one-dimensional components of the foliation singularity
Corollary IIIIII5 If Z0 is a one-dimensional irreducible component of the folia-
tion singularity then it is at worst nodal The foliation when restricted to any fiber
component containing Z0 saturates to a smooth foliation in a neighborhood of Z0
and all the invariant curves are transverse to Z0
If Z0 is contained in exactly one fiber component then the semi-simple field has one
eigenvalue everywhere along Z0
If Z0 lies at the intersection of two fiber components then the semi-simple field has
two constant eigenvalues everywhere along Z0
Moreover if there exist a sequence of invariant curves converging in the compact-
open topology to Z0 then there is generically one eigenvalue along Z0
Proof Possible casesni (1)a ni (1)b ni (2)b ni (2)c Concerning the one-
eigenvalue case invariant curves converging to Z0 can be found in the formal hyper-
surface x = 0
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 33
IV Invariant curves along which KF vanishes
In this section we study in great detail a formal neighborhood of invariant curves
where KF is numerically trivial In the first subsection we deal with KF -nil curves
namely those whose generic point is not contained in the foliation singularity In this
case the normal bundle to the curve determines its formal neighborhood uniquely
and this has plenty of amazing consequences In the second subsection we study
those invariant curves which are contained in the foliation singularity In this case
we are not able to control the full formal neighborhood but important informations
can still be obtained
IVI KF -nil curves In this subsection we study in detail the structure of KF -
nil curves and their formal neighborhoods appearing in the set-up IIVII4 In
particular we will describe a simple process to replace cuspidal KF -nil curves by
net ones prove that the foliation is in the net completion around a net KF -nil curve
defined by a global vector field which admits a global Jordan decomposition deduce
that eigenfunctions for the semi-simple component of such field are also globally
defined on a formal neighborhood
The first important remark is of technical nature and explains how to deal with non-
net KF -nil curves By Proposition IIIV4 this is indeed possible and the images of
such curves will acquire cusp-like singularities It is hard to analyze the geometry
of F around such cuspidal curves and therefore necessary to remove them Let us
assume that C is simply connected with rational moduli f is ramified at 0 isin C
and and denote by X the formal completion along f(C) Then formally around
f(0) the curve f(C) has defining ideal (y xa minus zb) where y = 0 is a fiber of the
fibration p X rarr ∆ containing f(C) x z isin H0(X OX ) restrict to suitable local
coordinates on such fiber and a b ge 2 are coprime integers
Claim IVI1 Let r X ( aradicz = 0) rarr X be the a-th root of z = 0 III3 Then
(rlowastC)norm =∐a
1 C and the induced map rlowastf (rlowastC)norm rarrX ( aradicz = 0) is net
Proof Since r is etale away from z = 0 also rlowastC rarr C is etale away from 0 isin C
Since C 0 is simply connected we have rlowastC rminus1(0) =∐a
1 C 0 This proves
34 FEDERICO BUONERBA
the first statement Let ζ be a function on X ( aradicz = 0) such that ζa = z so then
rlowast(xa minus zb) =prod
ηa=1(x minus ηζb) Every branch is net in 0 and we obtain the second
statement as well
As such upon taking roots we can replace non-net KF -nil invariant curves with
rational moduli by net ones
We now proceed to study net KF -nil curves We will show that the foliation is
defined by a global vector field around a net KF -nil curve with rational moduli and
that such vector field admits a global Jordan decomposition
Proposition IVI2 Notation as in the set-up IIVII4 let f C rarrX be a KF -nil
curve Assume that f is net and let j C rarr C be the net completion along f Then
there exists an isomorphism
(16) OC(KF )simminusrarr OC
In particular there exists a global vector field partf on C that generates F
Proof Since C has rational moduli and is simply connected it has infinite-cyclic
Picard group and we have an isomorphism
(17) OC(KF )simminusrarr OC
Moreover we have a non-canonical splitting of the normal bundle Njsimminusrarr O(minusn) oplus
O(minusm) and we claim that both nm ge 0 Indeed consider the induced semi-stable
fibration C rarr ∆ and let F be the normalization of an irreducible component of a
fiber such that C sub F Consider the exact sequence
(18) 0rarr NCF rarr Nj rarr NFC|C rarr 0
Since KF is nef NCF is not ample since F is a fiber of a fibration also NFC|C is
not ample and this is enough to conclude even though nm may be different from
the degrees of such normal bundles
At this point we can lift the isomorphism 17 over infinitesimal neighborhoods of j
Indeed for every k ge 0 we have an exact sequence
(19) 0rarr Symk ICI2C rarr OCk+1
(KF )rarr OCk(KF )rarr 0
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 35
which shows that the obstruction to lifting the isomorphism lies in
(20) H1(C Symk ICI2C) = H1(C Symk(O(n)oplus O(m))) = 0
From this we can deduce
Proposition IVI3 The vector field partf admits a Jordan decomposition uniformly
along C
Proof The cohomology sequence attached to 19 is
(21) 0rarr H0(C Symk ICI2C)rarr H0(COCk+1
)rarr H0(COCk)rarr 0
Let partk+1 denote the image of partf in End(H0(COCk+1)) Looking at
H0(COCk+1) minusminusminusrarr H0(COCk
)
partk+1
y partk
yH0(COCk+1
) minusminusminusrarr H0(COCk)
we see the canonical Jordan deomposition of partk+1 restricts to that of partk
The above result describes a very useful interplay between normal bundles to
KF -nil curves and the structure of the semi-simple field It turns out that these
informations determine formal neighborhoods uniquely For simplicity let C be
an irreducible component of C without orbifold points Let us assume that part|C is
singular in 0infin Then there exist formal functions x y z at 0 isin C and ξ η ζ at
infin isin C such that x ξ are coordinates along C y η are local sections of OC(minusn)
so η = xny mod(I2C) z ζ are local sections of OC(minusm) so ζ = xmz mod(I2C)
Normalizing so that xminus1partS(x) = ε isin 0 1 we obtain
(22) part0S = εxpart
partx+ λy
part
party+ microz
part
partz partinfinS = minusεξ part
partξ+ (λ+ εn)η
part
partη+ (micro+ εm)ζ
part
partζ
More generally ie C = P1(d e) we have glueing rules x = te ξ = tminusd η = tny and
ζ = tmz mod(I2C) Normalizing so that tminus1partS(t) = ε isin 0 1 we obtain
(23) part0S = eεxpart
partx+ λy
part
party+ microz
part
partz partinfinS = minusdεξ part
partξ+ (λ+ εn)η
part
partη+ (micro+ εm)ζ
part
partζ
36 FEDERICO BUONERBA
It is worth remarking that the above relations hold between eigenvalues at the two
singular point of singular ie nodal or cuspidal KF -nil curves as well this is
easily seen by taking a root followed by net completion and keeping track of the
eigenvalues
Definition IVI4 Let C be a KF -nil curve The foliation singular points along C
are called ends
As well as the existence of Hilbert scheme in the following form
Fact IVI5 Let W sub Xlowast be a curve and D a divisor in the formal neighborhood
of W such that W = D capXlowast scheme-theoretically Then W moves in D
In what follows our main concern is to understand formal neighborhoods of KF -
nil curves Observe that the fibration p when restricted to the formal neighborhood
of such curves provides at least one eigenfunction of the semi-simple field Hence
in order to compute the width IIII we must study the behavior of the other eigen-
function on infinitesimal neighborhoods We first describe the situation inside the
smooth locus of p
Proposition IVI6 (Smooth fiber) Let f C rarrX be an irreducible KF -nil curve
which is contained in the smooth locus of a fiber Xlowast of p Then the end(s) on C are
flat over ∆ ni (1)b and ni (1)a with z2|g(y z) and C moves in a family flat over
∆
Proof Let us assume that f is net Then upon passing to net completion we can
actually assume it is embedded From our local classification of singularities we case
in case ni (1)a and ni (2)a We want to show that both ends have components
that move transversely to p hence we have to exclude case ni (1)a with g(y z) = ya
By way of contradiction say we have g(y z) = ya in the notation of opcit around
an end lowast isin C We proceed to compute what happens at the other end we find
formal coordinates ξ η ζ which by equation 23 satisfy
(24) ξ = xminus1 η = y ζ = xmz mod(I2C)
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 37
As such we compute part(ζ) = mζ + ξminusmηa mod(I2C) which is holomorphic if and only
if m le 0 so then C moves in Xlowast contradicting that the foliation has general type
Hence we are in cases ni (1)a ni (2)a with g = microyazb b ge 1
(25) part0 = xpart
partx+ microyazb
part
partz partinfin = minusξ part
partξ+ ζ(m+ microξm(bminus1)ηaζbminus1)
part
partζ(mod(I2C))
Following notation from subsection IIII observe that C1 is the section of E1C which
is disjoint from the proper transform of the fiber of p In coordinates over 0
(26) x1 = x y1 = y z1 = zyminus1
And similarly over infin Using the previous equation and 25 on C1 we find
(27)
part01 = x1part
partx1+microya+bminus11 zb1
part
partz1 partinfin1 = minusξ1
part
partξ1+ζ1(m+microξ
m(bminus1)1 ηa+bminus11 ζbminus11 )
part
partζ1(mod(I2C1
))
In particular the transform of the nilpotent field is still nilpotent after blowing up in
C It follows that the eigenvalues of the semi-simple field at the two ends of C and
C1 are the same Using equation 23 we deduce that the normal bundle to C1X1 to
isomorphic to that of CX in particular it contains a trivial direct summand This
proves that width(C) =infin
Next we show that f must be net Consider the induced flat projection pD D rarr ∆
its general fiber cannot be a cuspidal curve since along such cusp the foliation sin-
gularity would be log-canonical but not canonical Hence if C has a cusp necessarily
the general fiber of pD is a nodal curve Let X rarr X denote the blow up of the
nodal locus of pD with exceptional divisor E ruled over ∆ In a neighborhood of E
we have sing(F ) = D cap E which projects to ∆ as a double cover ramified over lowastObserve that the foliation on Xlowast is again log-canonical and not canonical hence its
local structure is ni (2)a In that case however p is unramified along the foliation
singularity Contradiction
We state a general criterion for movability of KF -nil curves
Proposition IVI7 Let C be a connected KF -nil curve such that p(C ) = lowast isin ∆
Assume its dual graph is a chain that none of its irreducible components is double
38 FEDERICO BUONERBA
VI3 and that its two extremal ends are flat over ∆ Then C moves in a family flat
over ∆ and each of its irreducible components is embedded
Proof We work in a formal neighborhood of C After taking roots we can assume
C is net and since its dual graph is a chain it is actually embedded We proceed by
induction on its length l where the case l = 1 is Proposition IVI6 For l gt 1 let C1
be a component of C which is extremal in its dual graph If C1 moves transversely
to p then both its ends do and hence we can apply the induction hypothesis to
C C1 If C1 is rigid then it can be flopped It is straightforward to check that we
can apply the induction hypothesis to the transform C + C+1 and we are done
Now we deal with rigid curves inside the singular fiber
Proposition IVI8 (Singular fiber) Let f C rarr X be an embedded net KF -
nil curve with anti-ample normal bundle Then there exists a birational map φ
(X F ) 99K (X +F+) and a KF+-nil curve C+ such that
bull φ is an isomorphism away from C+
bull In a formal neighborhood of at least one among C and C+ there exist two
invariant hypersurfaces D1D2 locally defined by the vanishing of eigenfunc-
tions of the semi-simple field such that C (resp C+)= D1 capD2
bull If F middot C lt 0 for some hypersurface F then F+ middot C+ gt 0 In particular X +
is projective
Such φ is called flop
Proof Our assumption is that Nfsimminusrarr O(minusn)oplusO(minusm) is anti-ample namely nm gt
0 If two invariant hypersurfaces as in our statement do exist around C the flop is
easily constructed as a weighted blow-up followed by a weighted blow-down As such
let us assume that such hypersurfaces do not exist around C In particular C is not
double VI3 By [Ar70] there exists a formal contraction c X rarrX0 collapsing C
to a point and an isomorphism everywhere else By Proposition IVI3 the foliation
F0 is Gorenstein around the node of X0 For ease of exposition let us assume
n = m = 1 the general case is handled the same way only the notation becomes more
cumbersome due to the presence of weights The node has embedding dimension 4
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 39
and in suitable local coordinates x0 y0 w0 z0 can be defined by x0z0minusy0w0 = 0 The
morphism c can be identified with the blow up of the embedded surface (x0 = y0 = 0)
Explicitly in the chart y = y0 x = x0yminus10 it is defined by
(28) y0 = y x0 = xy z0 = zprime w0 = xzprime
Here x is a coordinate along C while y = 0 is the pull-back of (x0 = y0 = 0) and
zprime some function in the normal bundle to C By the previous Proposition IVI6
we know C cannot be contained in the smooth locus of p Since C is not double
we can assume that in this local chart p is defined by (x y zprime) rarr xy - the case
(x y zprime) rarr xzprime being isomorphic as it is isomorphic to blow-up (z0 = w0 = 0)
instead of (x0 = y0 = 0) The issue is as emphasized by the notation zprime 6= z that
zprime may fail to be an eigenfunction for partS if it were we would be done since zprime = 0
is the local equation for the global pullback of (z0 = w0 = 0) However we have
a b isin C such that
(29) partS0(y0) = minusy0 partS0(x0) = 0 partS0(z0) = ay0 + bz0 partS0(w0) = ax0 + (b+ 1)w0
Observe that the embedded surfaces D01 = (y0 = z0 = 0) and D0
2 = (x0 = w0 = 0)
are both foliation invariant As such let b X + rarr X0 denote the blow-up of X0
along D01 - which is isomorphic to that along D0
2 - and let Di = blowastD0i i = 1 2
Finally X + is projective by Nakai-Moishezon Indeed every C with anti-ample
normal bundle is contained in an irreducible component F of X0 such that F middotC lt 0
Then F+ middot C+ gt 0 and we can find an ample divisor of the form H+ + εF+ where
H+ is the proper transform of an ample on X
Remark IVI9 In the previous proof a 6= b+ 1 Indeed such identity would create
a non-trivial Jordan block of partS0 in the (x0 w0)-plane thus contradicting the semi-
simplicity of partS0 In particular by a straightforward computation it is impossible to
find eigenfunctions of the form wlowast0 = w0 + αx0 zlowast0 = z0 + βy0 with x0z
lowast0 minus y0wlowast0 = 0
unless a = 0
We can conclude by pointing out an important point understood in this section
A painful aspect of the theory is that log-canonical singularities which appear natu-
rally as analytic degenerations of canonical ones come along with cuspidal invariant
40 FEDERICO BUONERBA
curves There is in particular no a-priori obstruction to the existence of rigid
cuspidal KF -nil curves in a smooth fiber of our family of foliated surfaces p Quite
generally a rigid curve of positive arithmetic genus in a smooth family of surfaces can
never be contracted to a point Therefore this would have been a counter-example
to any reasonable foliated canonical model theory one may wish to achieve Fortu-
nately such phenomenon does not happen and this establishes the Main Theorem I
modulo finitely many rigid curves confined in the singular fiber X0
IVII Invariant curves inside sing(F ) In this subsection we study curves Z0 subeXlowast cap sing(F ) which are inside the foliation singularity and invariant By this we
mean that there exists a sequence fn Cn rarrX of not necessarily algebraic invariant
curves converging in the compact-open topology to Z0 In other words the map
(30) NorF rarr Ω1Z0
is trivial By Corollary IIIIII5 we know that Z0 is at worst nodal it is smooth
wherever p is smooth for every point z isin Z0 the semi-simple part of the gener-
ating vector field has exactly one eigenvalue The problem here is that the Jordan
decomposition need not extend uniformly along Z0 not even along an irreducible
component In case ni (1)a the functions x and g may develop essential singulari-
ties arbitrary close to z Nonetheless the function x is unique and this says that x
does extend along Z0
Proposition IVII1 Let Z0 be as above Then in a formal neighborhood of Z0
there exists a unique smooth invariant hypersurface D0 containing Z0 which restricts
around any point in Z0 to the unique eigenfunction for the semi-simple field whose
eigenvalue is non-zero
Proof The local structure of the foliation around a point z isin Z0 is described by
cases ni (1)a and ni (1)b In both cases partS has one non-zero eigenvalue with
eigenfunction x Such eigenfunction x is a-priori only defined in the normal bundle to
Z0 but it is clear that the equation partx = x has a unique up to constants solution in
the formal completion around z As such there exists a unique smooth hypersurface
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 41
D0 in the formal completion around Z0 which restricts to the eigenfunction x around
z
Observe that the previous argument goes through since we are assuming Z0 subX0
Keeping notations from case ni (1)a if say g(y z) = yz then in the hypersurface
y equiv q isin Qgt0 the foliation has a log-canonical singularity and the eigenfunction x
extends highly non-uniquely to a formal neighborhood of the point (x y z) = (0 q 0)
In particular the existence of D0 as in the previous Proposition might fail along
the component (x = z = 0) of the foliation singularity This phenomenon is called
the beast
Anyway uniqueness in the previous proposition yields
Corollary IVII2 Let Z prime be a connected invariant curve inside sing(F ) Then in
a formal neighborhood of Z prime there exists a unique smooth invariant hypersurface D prime
containing Z prime which restricts around any point in Z prime to the hypersurface constructed
in the previous proposition
Next we turn to the intrinsic structure of invariant singular curves
Proposition IVII3 Let Z0 be an irreducible invariant curve inside sing(F )
Then Z0 is smooth and rational
Proof We work in a formal neighborhood of Z0 Let F0 denote the unique component
of X0 containing Z0 For any other fiber component F intersecting Z0 non-trivially
blow-up the invariant curve F cap F0 with exceptional divisor EF A straightforward
computation using the local formula ni (1)b shows that the fiber of the natural
projection EF rarr F cap F0 intersecting Z0 is also contained in sing(F ) For Z prime the
maximal connected singular invariant curve containing Z0 let G denote the saturated
foliation induced on D prime It is canonical with reduced singularities and it satisfies
KG = KF |Dprime minus Zprime By adjunction
(31) 2g(Z0)minus 2 + sZG(Z0) = minusZ prime middot Z0
Observe that thanks to our initial sequence of blow-ups the singularities of G along
Z0 coincide with the intersection of Z0 and Z prime Z0 In particular since D prime is formally
42 FEDERICO BUONERBA
flat over ∆ we deduce Z prime middot Z0 = 0 and the previous formula becomes
(32) 2g(Z0)minus 2 + sZG(Z0) = 0
This implies that Z0 is rational or elliptic If Z0 were elliptic then sZG(Z0) = 0 and
D0 defines an invariant elliptic curve in the general fiber of p By Baum-Bott this
contradicts that KF is big and nef Now we show that Z0 is smooth If it has a node
then D0 moves it in a family of nodal rational curves flat over ∆ In particular D0
itself has a node in codimension 1 hence Xlowast is smooth around the node of Z0 In its
formal neighborhood the foliation must be as in case ni (1)a which implies that
Z0 is smooth contradiction
We can improve as follows
Proposition IVII4 Let Z prime sube sing F capXlowast be a connected invariant curve with
KF middot Z prime = 0 Then its dual graph is a chain
Proof Assume Z prime is a cycle Then necessarily Z prime = D prime capXlowast scheme-theoretically
and by the existence of Hilbert scheme Z prime moves in the general fiber Its general
member is either a cycle of smooth rational curves or an elliptic curve Arguing as
in the previous proof we see that both options are impossible
V Configurations
In this section we analyze in great detail all possible configurations of invariant
curves along which KF vanishes These can be divided into three groups those
that do not move those that move in a one-dimensional family covering a surface
those that move in a higher-dimensional family covering a surface Curves in the first
group can form rather complicated configurations while those in the second group
are more simple they either move in the general fiber or they cover an isolated
Riccati component in the singular fiber Those in the third group turn out to be
represented by the two rulings of P1timesP1 if they happen to be cohomologous in the
ambient stack First we will analyze rigid curves then those which move and finally
we will describe their configurations
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 43
VI Configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially In
this subsection we describe configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF
trivially which arise in the situation described by set-up IIVII4
First we focus on KF -nil curves At the end of the section we deal with the simpler
case in which a curve in the configuration is fully contained in sing(F ) The general
fiber was handled in Proposition IVI6
Proposition VI1 Let C be a connected KF -nil curve contained in the smooth
locus of a fiber of p Then it is a chain or a cycle and it moves in a family flat over
∆
In what follows we let C denote a connected KF -nil curve contained in the
singular fiber X0 all of whose sub-curves are rigid in X Observe a consequence of
equation 23
Proposition VI2 Let C = cupiCi be a connected KF -nil curve Then the eigen-
values of partS are all rational at every point of sing(F )capC if and only if they are all
rational at one point
We can deduce many non-trivial properties about configurations of KF -nil curves
First we need
Definition VI3 Let C subX0 be a curve It is called double if there exists formally
around C two components F F prime of X0 such that C = F cap F prime A point lowast isin C where
three fiber components intersect is called a triple point If C lies on exactly one fiber
component it is called non-double We denote by F (C) such component
Remark VI4 Let Csimminusrarr P1(d e) be double with two triple points Then we know
e+ λ+ micro = minusd+ (λ+ n) + (micro+m) = 0 whence we obtain
(33) n+m = d+ e
Which is called triple-point formula
Next we show that essentially KF -nil curves do not form cycles unless something
deforms in X0 First we show that there are no cycles of rigid non-double curves
44 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proposition VI5 Let C be a connected KF -nil curve contained in the singular
fiber X0 of p Assume that every component of C is non-double and that every
sub-curve is rigid Then C contains no cycles
Proof We work in a formal neighborhood of C which we assume is a cycle Let
us first consider the case in which all components C1 middot middot middot CN are smooth with no
orbifold points and denote lowasti = Ci cap Ci+1 with CN+1 = C1 Moreover let us
assume no lowasti lies in the smooth locus of p
Since no curve is double the semi-simple field at every lowasti is as in case i (3)b in
particular the eigenvalues along the branches of Ci and Ci+1 add up to zero More-
over let minusni denote the self-intersection of Ci sub F (Ci) Normalize the eigenvalues
of partS so that at lowastn they are 1 in the C1 direction minus1 in the CN direction λ in the
F (C1)capF (CN) direction It follows by induction that at lowasti the eigenvalues are minus1
in the Ci direction 1 in the Ci+1 direction λ+ n1 + middot middot middot+ ni in the F (Ci) cap F (Ci+1)
direction After traveling around the cycle we obtain n1+middot middot middot+nN = 0 contradicting
that ni gt 0 for every i
We established the Proposition assuming every Ci is an embedded scheme and ev-
ery lowasti is in the singular locus of p The case in which Cisimminusrarr P1(di ei) has orbifold
points is analogous we end up with a combination c1n1 + middot middot middot + cNnN = 0 with ci
the eigenvalue at lowasti in the Ci+1 direction Normalizing so that c1 = e1 gt 0 again by
induction on i we see that every ci isin Qgt0 Next we show that our assumption on lowastiis always satisfied
Claim VI6 Every lowasti must belong to the singular locus of p
Proof We give two essentially equivalent proofs
bull If N = 2 3 then the previous argument goes through indeed we can normal-
ize eigenvalues at lowasti to be negative in the Ciminus1 direction and positive in the
Ci-direction and argue as above Hence we can assume N ge 4 If say lowasti is in
the smooth locus of p then F (Ci) = F (Ci+1) If also F (Ciminus1) = F (Ci) then Ci
lies in the smooth locus of p and hence it moves Therefore F (Ciminus1) 6= F (Ci)
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 45
and Ciminus1 can be flopped inside F (Ci) Since N ge 4 this preserves the smooth-
ness of F (Ci) and Ci is now is the smooth locus of p - contradiction
bull If lowasti belongs to the smooth locus of p then the end through lowasti moves We
can form a partial net completion fi Xi rarrX by normalizing C in lowasti only
Then f lowasti C is a chain with movable ends and hence moves in the general fiber
of p fi
Finally the general case in which some among the Ci have cusps can be easily
reduced to the smooth case in a couple of ways
bull Eigenvalues at the singularities of any KF -nil curve satisfy the same relations
as in the smooth case
bull Upon taking roots and net completion we can find a foliated formal 3-fold
supported on a cycle of smooth KF -nil curves which is a ramified cover of a
formal neighborhood of our cycle
Similarly we can show that there are no rigid cycles of double curves
Proposition VI7 Let C be a nodal KF -nil curve which is double Then C
deforms inside X0 In particular there cannot exist a rigid cycle of KF -nil double
curves
Proof Following the previous notation we have 0 = infin and if C = (xy = z = 0)
around 0 then we have identities
(34) x = η y = ξ z = ζ
The last one of which implies m = 0 that is C deforms Since C is double necessarily
the surface it spans must be contained in X0
The statement about cycles follows since a cycle of double curves can be transformed
after finitely many flops into a chain of smooth double curves with a nodal one
attached at one end
46 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Later on we will show that the deformations of C cannot span an elliptic surface
but only a family of nodal rational curves with a special Riccati foliation on it
We are ready to organize a detailed description of the dual graph of C More pre-
cisely we only need to understand how double curves intersect non-double curves
Lemma VI8 There exists a sequence of flops X 99KX + such that if C + denotes
the transform of C every double curve supported on C + contains two triple points
Proof Let C sube C be an irreducible component with at most one triple point and
let X 99K X + be its flop Then its transform C+ is non-double and the number
of double curves contained in C descreases It is clear that after finitely many flops
all double curves contain exactly two triple points
From now on all double curves in C have two triple points Thanks to proposition
VI2 we know that there are two cases to consider those curves along which the
semi-simple field has not only rational eigenvalues and those along which the semi-
simple field has only rational eigenvalues The first case being strictly easier than
the second it is a good starting place to warm up
Proposition VI9 (irrational eigenvalues) Assume that for every foliation singu-
larity along C not all eigenvalues of partS are rational Then every component of C
is net with at most one node and 1-skeleton of its dual graph is at worst trivalent
Write C = C axes cup C free where
C axes is the union of double curves
C free is the union of non-double curves
Then one among C axes and C free is empty Moreover
bull If C free is non-empty then it is a chain of smooth curves with rational moduli
bull If C axes is non-empty there exists a sequence of flops X 99KX + and an ir-
reducible component of the fiber FC subX + such that X + is a smooth stack
the transform C+ of C is contained in FC Moreover the dual graph of C+
is a tree which by [McQ08 III32] becomes a chain inside the normalization
of FC
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 47
Proof The first sentence is just corollary IIIIII3
Observe that if a non-double curve intersects a double curve then the non-double
curve must be contained in an LC-center around such intersection This contradicts
that not all eigenvalues are rational and establishes that one among C axes and C free
is empty
In case C free is not empty then it is clearly a chain or a cycle the latter being
impossible by Proposition VI5
We are left to show the existence of flops in case C = C axes We remark that
every component is smooth Let C0 be such a component and S0 a component of
X0 containing it Let C1 be the collection of irreducible components of C which
intersect S0 but are not contained in it All the components of C1 are smooth hence
we can flop them in any order until the transform of C1 lies in the transform of S0
Since the number of irreducible components of C lying outside S0 decreases after
such flop by induction we deduce the existence of finitely many flops after which
the birational transform of C is fully contained in the transform of S0
Next we take care of rational eigenvalues The complication here arises from
the fact that there may be double and non-double curves intersecting each other
However the situation is best possible
Proposition VI10 (rational eigenvalues) Assume that for every foliation singu-
larity along C all eigenvalues of partS are rational Write C = C axes cup C free where
C axes is the union of double curves
C free is the union of non-double curves
Then there exists a sequence of flops X 99K X + and an irreducible component of
the fiber FC axes subX + such that
bull X + is a smooth stack
bull The union of double curves of C axes is contained in FC axes the 1-skeleton of
its dual graph is a tree and each of its components has two triple points
bull The 1-skeleton of the dual graph of the transform C free+ is a disjoint union of
trees
bull Each connected component of C free+ intersects C axes in exactly one point
48 FEDERICO BUONERBA
In particular the 1-skeleton of the dual graph of C is a tree
Proof Notice that for every point lowast isin C cap Z there exists one LC-center through lowastIndeed there are three rational eigenvalues and they cannot be all non-vanishing and
all with different signs at the same time Now C axes can be treated as in proposition
VI9 This proves the first two items of the statement The third item follows from
Proposition VI5 so we can focus on the fourth one The proof is based on the
following obvious
Remark VI11 let C be a double curve such that either it is KF -nil hence has
two triple points or it is fully contained in sing(F ) Let C0 sube C free intersect C
non-trivially in a point lowast then necessarily C0 sub LClowast
Now let C0 middot middot middot CN form a chain of non-double curves with C0 and CN both
intersecting double curves as in the remark Denote by lowasti = Ci cap Ci+1 Since
C1 sub LClowast necessarily C1 is transverse to LClowast1 otherwise C1 would deform in F (C1)
Inductively we see that Ci+1 sub LClowasti and is transverse to LClowasti+1 In particular CN
cannot touch a double curve This contradiction proves the fourth item
Let us add a remark about configurations featuring invariant curves inside sing(F )
Proposition VI12 Let C be an invariant curve with KF middot C = 0 such that
Z0 sube C for some component Z0 sube sing(F ) Then C = Z prime cup C where
Z prime is a connected invariant curve inside the foliation singularity with dual graph a
chain
C is the union of at most two pairwise disjoint KF -nil curves with anti-ample
normal bundle
If not empty C can only intersect Z prime at the two ends of its dual graph Moreover
perhaps after a flop the intersection of C with Z prime supports the foliation singularity
along C As such if C has two components Z prime cup C deforms in the general fiber
Proof The structure of Z prime is Proposition IVII3 while that of Co is Proposition
IVI6 Let C prime be a component of C intersecting Z0 in a point lowast If C prime and Z0 belong
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 49
to different components of X0 then by case ni (1)b the eigenvalue of partS along C prime
vanishes so supp(sing(F ) cap C prime) = lowast If C prime and Z0 belong to the same component
then we can flop C prime into a different component
Observe that the divisor D prime from op cit can be extended along C prime This implies
that C can only intersect Z prime at its ends Moreover if C touches both ends necessarily
D prime capX0 = C scheme-theoretically hence by the existence of Hilbert scheme IVI5
we conclude
Our new set-up is
Set-up VI13 Everything as in set-up IIVII4 and moreover for any connected
invariant curve C with KF middot C = 0 all of whose sub-curves are rigid we have
configurations computed in proposition VI9 VI10 and Lemma VI12
VII Configurations of non-rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
In this subsection we describe configurations of surfaces which are covered by KF -nil
curves The structure of each such surface is described by classification IIV1 IIV2
and Corollary IIVI17 Our first step is to simplify the situation by contracting
chains of ruled surfaces The next step is to try and exclude the possibility that
the singular fiber of p contains fibrations by elliptic or nodal rational curves with
at least one invariant fiber This can be achieved with good success indeed there
may be at most one such Riccati foliation which is anyway rather isolated from the
remaining KF -nil curves Finally we observe that the only class of surfaces we have
not mentioned is
Definition VII1 A irreducible component F of the singular fiber of p is called
small Kronecker if
bull (FFF ) is birational to a Kronecker vector field on P1 timesP1 and
bull The two rulings of this P1 timesP1 are cohomologous inside X
The name comes from the fact that contraction of a small Kronecker yields a node
in the ambient threefold which admits a small resolution In fact in many respects
these fiber components behave very much like rigid KF -nil curves
50 FEDERICO BUONERBA
We start by getting rid of some fiber components which are ruled by KF -nil gener-
ically smooth rational curves
Proposition VII2 Notation as in Set-up VI13 there exists a sequence of flops
and divisorial contractions c X 99KX + such that
bull X + is a smooth stack
bull let S+ sub X + be an irreducible invariant divisor that contains a positive-
dimensional family of invariant rational curves along which KF+ vanishes
Then S+ is either birationally ruled by nodal rational curves or it is a small
Kronecker
Proof We focus first on contracting components of the singular fiber of p Consider
the following algorithm If there is no birationally ruled component different from
the ones listed in the second item we are done otherwise pick one such F and let
C denote the general member of the ruling If the cohomology class [C] is inde-
composable F is minimal Otherwise [C] = [C1] + [C2] where Ci are rational and
intersect KF trivially After finitely many steps we have a decomposition as a finite
sum of indecomposables [C] =sumn
i=0 ni[Ci] where every Ci is rational intersects KF
trivially We have two cases
bull There exists k such that Ck deforms in a birationally ruled necessarily min-
imal surface Fk
bull Every Ci has anti-ample normal bundle
In the first case denote by X rarr X1 the contraction of Fk along |Ck| and relpace
X by X1 Since Fk is minimal smoothness of the ambient stack is preserved unless
Fk is a small Kronecker This is however impossible if n ge 2 if Fk were a small
Kronecker then Ck deforms away from Fkminus1 so then Fkminus1 middot Ck = 0 on the other
hand Fkminus1 intersects the other ruling of Fk positively
In the second case flop C1 middot middot middot Cn in this order The transform of F is minimal and
not a small Kronecker so it can be contracted along its ruling preserving ambient
smoothness By induction on the Picard rank of X after finitely many steps this
algorithm ends Call X the output of this algorithm
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 51
Let S subX be an invariant divisor with a generically smooth ruling Then pS S rarr∆ is flat and after flopping finitely many rational curves in S cap plowastS(0) the resulting
pS is smooth Hence we can contract S along pS After finitely many steps the
Proposition is proven
For ease of notation in the sequel we call X the output of the previous proposition
Notice that there might still be divisors carrying a pencil of nodal rational curves
both inside and outside the singular fiber of p
We can start analyzing configurations of fiber components where the restriction of
F is not of general type We need some notation whose reason to exist will be clear
shortly
Definition VII3 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
along which KF is not big F is called special Riccati if
bull F is minimal
bull There exists a morphism s F rarr B onto a curve whose fibers are nodal
rational curve
bull F is transverse to the general fiber of s in particular KF is numerically
trivial along s
bull At least one fiber of s is invariant
bull There exists a section σ of s which is invariant and does not coincide with
the nodal locus of F
In particular the intersections of σ with invariant fibers of s isolated singularities
of F the node of F all coincide There may be fibers of s fully contained in sing(F )
in which case they are everywhere transverse to the saturated foliation
The definition looks nasty but special Riccati components have a rather simple
origin as the following proof shows
Lemma VII4 Let F be special Riccati Up to base change by an etale double cover
Bprime rarr B there is a natural isomorphism F norm simminusrarr BprimetimesP1 and the restriction of F
to F norm is birational to the projection onto P1
52 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proof We work over the normalization F norm Denote by Bprime the pre-image of the
node of F which is an etale double cover of B and let f denote an invariant fiber
of s with lowast = σ cap f Observe that F norm carries a Riccati foliation with 3 invariant
curves through lowast - namely σ f and a component of Bprime Hence FF has a log-canonical
singularity in lowast On F norm perform a weighted blow-up in each log-canonical singu-
larity followed by the contraction of the transforms of the corresponding fibers Let
s+ F+ rarr B denote the output of this operation If the proper transform of Bprime is
connected replace F+ by its base change under Bprime rarr B Hence we can assume Bprime
is the disjoint union of two sections of s+ and the transform of σ is a third section
which is disjoint from Bprime Therefore F+ = P1 timesBprime and the foliation restricts to the
projection onto P1
Next we describe those surfaces which cannot appear as components of the sin-
gular fiber X0
Definition VII5 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
along which KF is not big F is called illusory if
bull there exists a morphism t F rarr B onto a curve
bull KF is trivial along t
bull For any other fiber component F prime the intersection F cap F prime is either empty or
contained in a fiber of t
We give examples of illusory fiber components
Lemma VII6 The following fiber components are necessarily illusory
bull t is elliptic the foliation is either parallel to t or turbolent with at least one
invariant fiber
bull t is a nodal ruling the foliation is either parallel to t or transverse to t with
at least one invariant fiber and not birational to a special Riccati VII3
Proof Let f = F cap F prime for some fiber component F prime It is F -invariant
Assume t and F are parallel and f is transverse to both Then necessarily f subesing(F ) and KF is positive along the fibers of t contradiction
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 53
Assume t and F are generically transverse and f is transverse to t Let e be an
invariant fiber of t then ecap f isin sing(F ) hence t must be a family of nodal rational
curves and ecapf coincides with the node of e - otherwise KF would be positive along
t But this implies F is special Riccati contradiction
We proceed to show that illusory fibers do not exist
Lemma VII7 Let F be an illusory fiber component then every fiber of t is irre-
ducible If F prime is any fiber component intersecting F non-trivially then F prime is illusory
Proof Assume t has a reducible fiber f Then we can write f = f prime cup f primeprime where f prime
is irreducible and f primeprime is a disjoint union of chains of rational curves In particular
every subscheme supported on f primeprime is rigid in X f prime is rational and smooth iff f is a
cycle of rational curves hence the foliation on F is parallel to t and the choice of f prime
is not unique otherwise f prime is nodal or elliptic Let X 99KX + denote the flop of the
irreducible components of f primeprime in any order The proper transform f prime+ (below in red)
is the irreducible fiber of the induced morphism t+ F+ rarr B Since f primeprime+ intersects
f prime+ and is not contained in F+ there exists a component F prime of the fiber of p+ such
that F+ cap f prime+ 6= empty Since F+ is illusory necessarily F+ cap F prime = f prime+ Moreover F+
and F prime are the only fiber components intersecting f prime+ again because F+ is illusory
We deduce that F+ middot f prime+ = F prime middot f prime+ = 0 and therefore f prime+ is nef inside F prime It follows
that he restriction of F+ to F prime is not of general type and by the classification of
foliated surfaces [McQ08] necessarily f prime+ deforms inside F prime and defines a fibration
u F prime rarr Bprime In particular f prime+ is an irreducible fiber of u This is however impossible
since u contracts all the components of f primeprime+ contained in F prime (below in blue) and by
definition of F prime there exists at least one such component This proves that every
fiber of t is irreducible The following depicts the situation
F prime F+
f prime+
f primeprime+
t+u
54 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Concerning the second statement we only need to check the third condition for F prime
to be illussory namely that every other fiber component F primeprime intersecting F prime does
so along the fibers of u If F primeprime intersects F prime transversely to u then F primeprime intersects F
non-trivially and transversely to t as well absurd
Corollary VII8 Illusory components do not exist
Proof By the above lemma the existence of one illusory component implies that
every irreducible component of the singular fiber of p is illusory contradicting that
KF is big
We can now focus on fiber components that do appear
Corollary VII9 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
containing an invariant curve C which moves and such that KF middot C = 0 Then
following the classification [McQ08] we have two cases
(1) The minimal model of F is a special Riccati component
(2) F is a small Kronecker
Proof Certainly the ones listed are the only cases where C is KF -nil We have to
exclude the possibility that C is invariant inside sing(F ) By Proposition IVII3
such C would be rational with at most one node Since we already contracted at
the beginning of the present subsection all ruled surfaces necessarily C is nodal
However by opcit C cannot intersect any other fiber component of X0 which
implies the absurdity that X0 = F
We proceed to show that special Riccati components are rather isolated in the
fiber
Lemma VII10 Let F be a special Riccati component If F prime is a fiber component
intersecting F non-trivially then it does so transversely to s Morover there is
exactly one such F prime
Proof After finitely many flops we can assume that every fiber of s is irreducible
By the non-existence of illusory components there exists a fiber component F lowast with
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 55
σprime = F cap F prime transverse to s If F primeprime is a fiber component with f = F cap F primeprime a fiber
of s then we claim f sube sing(F ) If not then since KF middot f = 0 and σprime is invariant
necessarily σprimecap f is the node of f But then the existence of F primeprime contradicts that p is
snc Hence f sube sing(F ) so then around the node of f there are 3 fiber components -
two branches coming from F one from F primeprime - and sing(F ) has 2 branches - namely f
This is impossible by our case analysis ni (1)c ni (2)c The very same reasoning
establishes the uniqueness of F prime
Lemma VII11 Let F be as in the previous Lemma If C is a connected curve
with KF middot C = 0 then it is disjoint from F
Proof After finitely many flops s is irreducible and C intersects F transversely away
from its node Moreover lowast = C cap F isin sing(F ) and we deduce that the fiber of s
through lowast is fully contained in the singular locus of F This contradicts Proposition
IVII3 since such fiber is nodal
We conclude by observing the obvious
Lemma VII12 Let F be a small Kronecker Then there exists a contraction
c X rarr X prime which is an isomorphism away from F and contracts F along one
of its rulings Necessarily X prime is not projective since every global Cartier divisor
intersects c(F ) trivially On the other hand in a formal neighborhood of c(F ) there
exist Cartier divisors intersecting it non-trivialliy
As such the contribution coming from non-rigid curves is rather poor there are
curves moving in the general fiber there are special Riccati components disjoint from
any other invariant curve intersecting KF trivially there are small Kroneckers who
can be contracted to curves We shall see in the next section that the complications
arising from the contraction of such non-rigid curves is purely psychological and
totally harmless
56 FEDERICO BUONERBA
VI Contractions and proof of the Main Theorem
In this section we contract all invariant curves along which KF is zero thereby
establishing the existence of canonical models I First we contract non-rigid curves
as described in the previous subsection
bull Small Kroneckers along either ruling Albeit this destroys projectivity of
the ambient threefold there still exist Cartier divisors defined in a formal
neighborhood of the base curve that intersect it non-trivially
bull Families of irreducible nodal rational curves which are flat over ∆ This
creates elliptic singularities on the general fiber of p which are disjoint from
other invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
bull Special Riccati again families of irreducible nodal rational curves fully con-
tained in X0 This creates elliptic singularities disjoint from other invariant
curves intersecting KF trivially
We can summarize our situation by way of
Set-up VI1 X is a 3-dimensional DM stack with at worst elliptic singularities
F a foliation by curves with canonical singularities which is not Q-Cartier in a
neighborhood of Xsing
There exists a proper morphism p X rarr ∆ smooth off 0 isin ∆ F restricts to a
foliation on every fiber of p it has canonical singularities on the very general fiber
of p and log-canonical singularities on every fiber of p KF is big and nef on every
irreducible component of every fiber of p
Let C be the invariant sub-scheme along which KF is not big then C is a curve
fully contained in the smooth locus X0capXsmooth every sub-curve of C has anti-ample
normal bundle the 1-simplex of its dual graph is a tree and detailed configurations
of such are referenced in set-up VI13
We proceed to contract such C We assume that along C the semi-simple field has
only rational eigenvalues and moreover no component of C is inside the foliation
singularity The other two cases - irrational eigenvalues and presence of singular
component - are strictly easier and can be obtained with the very same method
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 57
The proof takes place in the formal completion around C = C free cup C axes The
former is a disjoint union of trees of non-double curves For each non-double C let
F (C) denote the unique component of X0 containing it The latter is a tree of double
curves each with two triple points all contained in the same irreducible FC axes Each
tree of non-double curves touches C axes in one point through a LC-center In order
to construct the contraction we will use Artinrsquos celebrated criterion in the following
form
Fact VI1 ([Ar70]) Let X be an irreducible algebraic space i Y rarr X a closed
subspace of pure codimension 1 and f Y rarr Y0 a proper morphism with flowastOY = OY0
Let X denote the formal completion of X along Y and assume there exists a Cartier
divisor D in X which is supported on Y and is f -anti-ample Then there exists a
proper morphism of algebraic spaces F X rarr X0 which is an isomorphism away
from Y and such that ilowastF = f
Now we use the tree structure of C to construct a suitable divisor to which apply
Artinrsquos theorem Namely consider the following inductive defintion
(35) C0 = C axes F0 = FC axes
For k ge 0 assume Ck Fk are defined
bull Let Ck+1 denote the union of irreducible components of C that intersect Fk
non-trivially but are not contained in cupilekFibull Let Fk+1 denote the reduced sum (
sumCsubeCk+1
F (C))red
This process stops with a collection C1 middot middot middotCN of curves and F1 middot middot middot FN of reduced
divisors
Lemma VI1 We have the following identities
(36)
Fk middot C lt 0 for every C sube Ck
(F0 + F1) middot C le 0 for every C sube C0
(Fkminus1 + Fk + Fk+1) middot C = 0 for every C sube Ck 1 lt k lt N
(FNminus1 + FN) middot C lt 0 for every C sube CN
58 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proof The first is just the fact that every component of C is rigid The remaining
three follow from X0 middot C = 0 but the last one requires further justification Indeed
if C sube CN N gt 0 then C is one end of a tree of non-double curves In particular
there exists a foliation singularity lowast isin C disjoint from any other component of
C and LClowast is transverse to C This implies LClowast middotC gt 0 which together with
(FNminus1 + FN + LClowast) middot C = 0 concludes the proof
Let ε1 middot middot middot εN isin Qgt0 and define
(37) F Nminusk = (1 + ε1 + middot middot middot+ εk)FNminusk
bull If C sube CN we have
(38) (F Nminus1 + F
N) middot C = ε1FNminus1 middot C + (FNminus1 + FN) middot C
bull If C sube CNminusk 1 lt k lt N we have
(39)
(F Nminuskminus1 + F
Nminusk + F Nminusk+1) middot C =
(1 + middot middot middot+ εk)(FNminuskminus1 + FNminusk + FNminusk+1) middot C minus εkFNminusk+1 middot C + εk+1FNminuskminus1 middot C =
minus εkFNminusk+1 middot C + εk+1FNminuskminus1 middot C
bull If C sube C0 we have
(40) (F 0 + F
1) middot C = εNF0 middot C + (Nminus1sumj=0
εj)(F0 + F1) middot C
It is clear that provided
(41) 1 gtgt ε1 gtgt middot middot middot gtgt εN
the divisor F =sumF k is negative along every component of C
This proves the existence of the contraction and concludes the proof of the Main
Theorem I
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 59
VII Moduli space of foliated surfaces of general type
In this section we study the modular variation of foliated surfaces of general type
The upshot is that it is possible to define a functor which is representable separated
and every irreducible component is proper The main issue here is that the supporting
surface of a foliated canonical model may well fail to be projective indeed KF is not
Q-Gorenstein in general Hence in order to proceed via standard methods [Ko17]
we have to parametrize our canonical models together with a suitable projective
resolution
Definition VII13 Let (SF ) be a foliated proper reduced purely 2-dimensional
DM stack Assume S has only normal crossing singularities in codimension 1 that
F has log-canonical foliation singularities and that KF is big and nef on at least
one of the irreducible components of S If whenever KF middot C = 0 for some curve C
then C moves in an irreducible component of S and no member of such deformation
is F -invariant then (SF ) is called foliated canonical model of general type
Clearly foliated canonical models are exactly the stable degenerations appearing
as the central fiber of our Main Theorem I Their lack of projectivity has two sources
namely the contraction of cycles of smooth KF -nil curves and of trees of cuspidal
ones Singularities arising from cycles behave well in families namely they always
deform into the general fiber Those arising from cuspidal curves on the other hand
tend to be rather isolated inside the degenerate fiber
Observe that the deformation theory of a foliated surface is rather simple suppose
given an infinitesimal C-algebras extension 0 rarr J rarr Ae rarr A rarr 0 and (SF )
a foliated surface flat over Spec(A) then the obstruction to lifting to Ae can be
understood in three simple steps
(1) Deformation of the underlying surface S once a deformation Se rarr Spec(Ae)
is given
(2) Deformation of the line bundle KF by the exponential sequence
(42) 0rarr J otimes OS rarr OlowastSerarr OlowastS rarr 0
obstructions lie in H2(SOS)otimes J once a deformation of KF is given
60 FEDERICO BUONERBA
(3) Deformation of the defining section OS rarr KF otimes TS obstructions lie in
H1(SKF otimes TS)otimes J
Now we have
Definition VII14 Let (SF ) be a foliated canonical model of general type A
proper birational morphism q (SF )proj rarr (SF ) is called its projective resolution
if
bull Every irreducible component of Sproj is smooth
bull The exceptional locus of q is a disjoint union of cycles of KFproj-nil smooth
curves and trees of KFproj-nil curves each of which has a non-trivial cuspidal
singularity
bull In a neighborhood of every q-exceptional cycle not only Sproj but also its
moduli space is smooth
We need a few remarks about projective resolutions
(1) Projective resolutions are always unique Indeed the only possible ambiguity
could lie in some extra smooth irreducible components in the exceptional
locus This is forbidden by definition in the trees of cuspidal curves it is
also forbidden by way of the third item in cycles of smooth ones ie on
algebraic surfaces the minimal resolution is unique
(2) Denote by E the collection of q-exceptional cycles Then there exist ε δ isinQgt0 such that KFproj
minus εE + δKSprojis ample by Nakai-Moishezon
(3) Deformations of a projective resolution of a foliated canonical model are
canonically identified with deformations of the underlying birational mor-
phism q Sproj rarr S followed by a deformation of the foliation F
We are now ready to construct a moduli functor for foliated surfaces more precisely
for projective resolutions of foliated canonical models of general type For m dN isinN and ε δ isin Qgt0 let
(43) MmdNεδ (C-schemes)rarr (sets)
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 61
be defined by MmdNεδ(S) = Diagrams
(44) (X F )projqminusrarr (X F )
pminusrarr S
Where
bull Both p and p q are flat and proper
bull For every closed point s isin S the induced morphism qs is the projective
resolution of (X F )s which is a foliated canonical model of general type
bull Denote by Es the collection of exceptional cycles of qs By our Main Theorem
I there is a fibrewise divisor E subXproj flat over S restricting to Es for every
s isin S
bull Let j W rarr Xproj denote the maximal closed subscheme away from which
KFprojand KXprojS are locally free Then
(45) L [m] = (jlowast(KFprojotimes OXproj
(minusεE )otimesKδXprojS
)otimesm)oror
is flat over S and commutes with base-change
bull L [m] is very ample of degree d on every fiber and defines an embedding into
PNS
We are now ready for
Theorem VII15 The functor MmdNεδ is represented by a separated algebraic
space each of whose irreducible components is proper
Proof We show that our functor satisfies Artinrsquos conditions [Ar74 Corollary 54] By
definition condition 1) and 4) hold while our previous remark on foliated obstruction
theory shows that 3) is true
We proceed to show 2) namely effectivity of formal deformations for MmdNεδ
What follows owes much to Artinrsquos [A74rsquo] Let T be a complete C-algebra Tn its
n-truncation so that Tsimminusrarr limlarrminusTn and finally qn isinMmdNεδ(Spec(Tn)) a compatible
sequence For each n there is a maximal open set Un sube Xprojn where qn is an
isomorphism denote by sn Cn rarr Zn the restriction of qn to the complement of Un
Clearly sn is projective over Spec(Tn)
62 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Denote by X C etc the formal algebraic spaces obtained as limits of Xn Cn
etc Then Xproj sub PNˆSpec(T )
hence by Grothendieckrsquos existence Theorem we find
bull a flat projective family (X F )proj rarr Spec(T ) resp a closed subscheme
C subXproj whose completion is Xproj resp C
bull a scheme Z whose completion is Z and a morphism s C rarr Z everything
being projective over Spec(T )
Further we have a formal contraction limminusrarr qn C rarr Z hence the main theorem
of [Ar70] gives algebraic contraction (X F )proj rarr (X F ) This proves the repre-
sentability of MmdNεδ The properness and separability of each irreducible com-
ponent can be checked using valutative criteria indeed properness is the content of
our Main Theorem I separatedness follows from the uniqueness of foliated canonical
models of general type and their projective resolution
References
[Ar70] M Artin Algebraization of Formal Moduli II Existence of Modifications Ann
of Math Vol 91 No 1 (Jan 1970) pp 88-135 httpwwwjstororgstable
1970602
[Ar74] M Artin Versal Deformations and Algebraic Stacks Inventiones Math 27 165- 189
(1974) httpmathuchicagoedu~drinfeldArtin_on_stackspdf
[A74rsquo] M Artin Algebraic construction of Brieskornrsquos resolutions J Alg Vol 29 Issue
2 May 1974 pp 330-348 httpwwwsciencedirectcomsciencearticlepii
0021869374901021
[BB72] P Baum R Bott Singularities of holomorphic foliations J Diff Geom 7 (1972)
279-342 httpsprojecteuclidorgdownloadpdf_1euclidjdg1214431158
[Bo77] F Bogomolov Families of curves on a surface of general type Doklady Akademii Nauk
USSR (in Russian) 236 (5) 1041-1044
[Bo78] F Bogomolov Holomorphic tensors and vector bundles on projective varieties Math
USSR Izv 13 (1978) 499-555
[BM16] F Bogomolov M McQuillan Rational Curves on Foliated Varieties In Cascini
McKernan Pereira (eds) Foliation Theory in Algebraic Geometry Simons Symposia
Springer Cham pp 21-51 (2016) httpslinkspringercomchapter101007
978-3-319-24460-0_2
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 63
[Bu] F Buonerba Functorial resolution of tame quotient singularities in positive charac-
teristic httpsarxivorgabs151100550
[Ke99] S Keel Basepoint Freeness for Nef and Big Line Bundles in Positive Characteris-
tic Annals of Math 149 No 1 (Jan 1999) pp 253-286 httpwwwjstororg
stable121025 httpsarxivorgabsmath9901149
[KM97] S Keel S Mori Quotients by groupoids Annals of Math 145 (1997) pp
193-213 httpwwwjstororgstable2951828seq=1page_scan_tab_contents
httparxivorgabsalg-geom9508012
[Ko17] J Kollar Families of varieties of general type httpswebmathprincetonedu
~kollarbookmodbook20170720pdf
[LN02] A Lins Neto Some examples for the Poincare and Painleve problems Annales sci-
entifiques de lrsquoENS 352 (2002) 231-266 httparchivenumdamorgarticle
ASENS_2002_4_35_2_231_0pdf
[McQ12] M McQuillan Foliated Mori Theory amp Hyperbolicity of Algebraic Surfaces http
wwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillahomehtml
[McQ98] M McQuillan Diophantine approximation and foliations Inst Hautes Etudes Sci
Publ Math 87 (1998) 121-174 httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafiles
ihespdf
[McQ05rsquo] M McQuillan Bloch hyperbolicity preprint httpwwwmatuniroma2it
~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ05] M McQuillan Semi-stable reduction of foliations IHES pre-print IHESM0502
(2005) httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ05rdquo] M McQuillan Uniform Uniformisation IHES pre-print (2005) IHES M0503 http
wwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ08] M McQuillan Canonical models of foliations Pure Appl Math Q 4
(2008) no 3 Special Issue In honor of Fedor Bogomolov Part 2 877-1012
httpintlpresscomsitepubfiles_fulltextjournalspamq20080004
0003PAMQ-2008-0004-0003-a009pdf
[MP13] M McQuillan D Panazzolo Almost etale resolution of foliations J Diff Geom 95
(2013) pp 279-319 httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesmp1bispdf
[Pe02] JV Pereira On the Poincare Problem for Foliations of General Type Mathematische
Annalen 323 no 2 pp217-226 2002 httpsarxivorgabsmath0104185
[PS16] JV Pereira R Svaldi Effective algebraic integration in bounded genus preprint
httpsarxivorgabs161206932
64 FEDERICO BUONERBA
[Re83] M Reid Minimal models of canonical threefolds in rdquoAlgebraic Varieties and Ana-
lytic Varietiesrdquo Adv Stud Pure Math vol 1 S Iitaka ed Kinokuniya and North-
Holland 1983 pp 131-180 httpwwwmathsedacukcheltsovquotientpdf
reid2pdf
[Se67] A Seidenberg Reduction of singularities of the differential equation Ady = Bdx Amer
J Math 89 (1967) 248-269 httpwwwjstororgstable2373435
[SB83] N Shepherd-Barron Degenerations with numerically effective canonical divisor The
Birational Geometry of Degenerations (R Friedman and D Morrison eds) Progr
Math no 29 Birkhuser 1983 pp 33-84
[Vis89] A Vistoli Intersection theory on algebraic stacks and on their moduli spaces
Invent Math (1989) pp 613-670 httplinkspringercomarticle101007
2FBF01388892page-1
Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences New York University 251 Mercer
Street New York NY 10012 USA
E-mail address buonerbacimsnyuedu
- I Introduction
- II Preliminaries
-
- III Operations on Deligne-Mumford stacks
- IIII Width of embedded parabolic champs
- IIIII Gorenstein foliation singularities
- IIIV Foliated adjunction
- IIV Canonical models of foliated surfaces with canonical singularities
- IIVI Canonical models of foliated surfaces with log-canonical singularities
- IIVII Set-up
-
- III Invariant curves and singularities local description
-
- IIII `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F) not isolated
- IIIII `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F) isolated
- IIIIII Local consequences
-
- IV Invariant curves along which KF vanishes
-
- IVI KF-nil curves
- IVII Invariant curves inside `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F)
-
- V Configurations
-
- VI Configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
- VII Configurations of non-rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
-
- VI Contractions and proof of the Main Theorem
- VII Moduli space of foliated surfaces of general type
- References
-
28 FEDERICO BUONERBA
the last two cases the singularity is fully contained in an intersection of two
components
ni (3) partS has three eigenvalues But then the singularity is isolated a contradiction
IIIII sing(F ) isolated
i (1) partS has one eigenvalue
bull We have partS = x partpartx
and partN = xk partpartx
+ f partparty
+ g partpartz
for some functions
k f g isin (y z) Moreover partN is non-trivial
bull Z = (x = f = g = 0) is isolated
(a) The fiber has one component y = 0 Then 0 = partN(y) = f and Z cannot
be isolated a contradiction
(b) The fiber has two components yz = 0 Then 0 = partN(yz) = zf + yg so
f = yh g = minuszh with h non-constant Hence Z = (x = h = 0) is not
isolated a contradiction
(c) The fiber has three components xyz = 0 Then 0 = partS(xyz) = xyz a
contradiction
Summary the 1 eigenvalue case does not exist
i (2) partS has two eigenvalues
bull We have partS = x partpartx
+ λy partparty
partN = xk partpartx
+ f partparty
+ g partpartz
for some functions
k f g
bull g is non-trivial and g isin (x y)
bull Z = (x = y = g = 0) is isolated
(a) The fiber has one component z = 0 Then g = 0 a contradiction
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 29
(b) The fiber has two components xy = 0 hence λ = minus1 and g isin (xy z)
the restriction to y = 0 is part|(y=0) = x partpartx
+g|(y=0)partpartz
and necessarily g|(y=0)
is non-vanishing Therefore the restriction to either components is satu-
rated and the singularity is a canonical saddle-node on each of them
The invariant curves are among the axes x = y = 0 x = z = 0 y = z =
0
(c) The fiber has three components xyz = 0 hence λ = minus1 Necessarily
k = xklowast f = yf lowast g = zglowast with klowast + f lowast + glowast = 0 The restriction to
y = 0 is part|(y=0) = x(1 + klowast|(y=0))partpartx
+ zglowast|(y=0)partpartz
since g isin (x y) we have
glowast|(y=0) non-trivial Therefore the restriction to either x = 0 and y = 0
is saturated and the singularity is a canonical saddle-node on each of
them
The restriction to z = 0 is part|(z=0) = x(1 + klowast|(z=0))partpartx
+ y(minus1 + f lowast|(z=0))partparty
therefore the restriction is saturated and has a canonical non-degenerate
singularity
The invariant curves are among the axes x = y = 0 x = z = 0 y = z =
0
Summary with 2 eigenvalues there are either two or three components the
foliation restricts to a canonical saddle-node on two of them and to a non-
degenerate singularity on the third one if it exists All the invariant curves
are in the axes
i (3) partS has three eigenvalues We have partS = x partpartx
+ λy partparty
+ microz partpartz
(a) The fiber has one component y = 0 hence λ = 0 a contradiction
(b) The fiber has two components xy = 0 hence λ = minus1 The restriction to
y = 0 is part|(y=0) = x partpartx
+ microz partpartz
+ partN|(y=0) The singularity is log-canonical
30 FEDERICO BUONERBA
iff micro isin Qgt0 and partN|(y=0)= 0 and in this case the singularity on x = 0 is
canonical non-degenerate Invariant curves are those in y = 0 and the
axis x = z = 0
If the restriction to both fiber components is canonical then it non-
degenerate on both and the invariant curves are contained in the axes
x = y = 0 x = z = 0 y = z = 0
The fiber could be yz = 0 hence λ+micro = 0 It can be analyzed as in the
next item
(c) The fiber has three components xyz = 0 hence 1 + λ + micro = 0 In par-
ticular if λ = cmicro c isin Q+ then λ micro isin Q The restriction to y = 0
is part|(y=0) = x partpartx
+ microz partpartz
+ partN|(y=0) This singularity is log-canonical iff
micro isin Qgt0 and partN|(y=0)= 0 in which case the singularity on both x = 0
and z = 0 is canonical non-degenerate In particular if the singularity
is log-canonical on some fiber component then it is so on exactly one
component and all eigenvalues are rational Invariant curves are those
in y = 0 and the axis x = z = 0
If the restriction to all fiber components is canonical then it non-degenerate
on each of them and the invariant curves are contained in the axes
x = y = 0 x = z = 0 y = z = 0
Summary with 3 eigenvalues there are either two or three fiber components
the foliation restricts to a singular foliation on each of them and it has a
log-canonical singularity on at most one of them in this case all eigenvalues
of the semi-simple field are rational
IIIIII Local consequences We list some corollaries for future reference As al-
ways in this section the statements are local so everything happens in a formal
neighborhood of our point lowast First we state those corollaries we will need to describe
configurations of KF -nil curves
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 31
Definition IIIIII1 An LC-center Π sub X is an irreducible F -invariant formal
hypersurface such that the local vector field generating the foliation when restricted
to Π has semi-simple part with log-canonical singularity or a one-dimensional sin-
gular locus An LC-center with a log-canonical singularity is necessarily an algebraic
component of the singular fiber of p
Corollary IIIIII2 There is at most one LC-center with a log-canonical singularity
through lowast If it exists then all eigenvalues of the semi-simple field at lowast are rational
If there are at least two LC-centers through lowast then there are exactly two and the
foliation singularity is a smooth curve on each of them
Proof Possible cases in which an LC-center with log-canonical singularities appears
ni (2)a i (3)b i (3)c
Corollary IIIIII3 If there is no LC-center thorugh a point lowast then there are at
most three invariant curves through lowast all smooth Any number of them spans a sub-
space of the tangent space at lowast of maximal possible dimension
If there is an LC-center through lowast then there is at most one invariant curve through
lowast and not contained in the LC-center
If there is an LC-center with non-isolated singularity then the singularity is smooth
and all invariant curves contained in the LC-center intersect the singularity trans-
versely
Proof Invariant curves not in an LC-centers with log-canonical singularities are con-
tained in the three axes x = z = 0 x = y = 0 y = z = 0 mentioned in the above
classification The other statements are clear
Corollary IIIIII4 If p is smooth at lowast then Z is one dimensional around lowast
Proof Possible casesni (1)a ni (2)a
In particular if there is no LC-center the situation is the familiary
xz
32 FEDERICO BUONERBA
While if there is an LC-center (pink) with log-canonical singularity it will look like
y
LC-center
While if there is an LC-center with non-isolated singularity (red) it will look like
(the black arrows being invariant curves)
y
LC-center
The next corollary describes one-dimensional components of the foliation singularity
Corollary IIIIII5 If Z0 is a one-dimensional irreducible component of the folia-
tion singularity then it is at worst nodal The foliation when restricted to any fiber
component containing Z0 saturates to a smooth foliation in a neighborhood of Z0
and all the invariant curves are transverse to Z0
If Z0 is contained in exactly one fiber component then the semi-simple field has one
eigenvalue everywhere along Z0
If Z0 lies at the intersection of two fiber components then the semi-simple field has
two constant eigenvalues everywhere along Z0
Moreover if there exist a sequence of invariant curves converging in the compact-
open topology to Z0 then there is generically one eigenvalue along Z0
Proof Possible casesni (1)a ni (1)b ni (2)b ni (2)c Concerning the one-
eigenvalue case invariant curves converging to Z0 can be found in the formal hyper-
surface x = 0
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 33
IV Invariant curves along which KF vanishes
In this section we study in great detail a formal neighborhood of invariant curves
where KF is numerically trivial In the first subsection we deal with KF -nil curves
namely those whose generic point is not contained in the foliation singularity In this
case the normal bundle to the curve determines its formal neighborhood uniquely
and this has plenty of amazing consequences In the second subsection we study
those invariant curves which are contained in the foliation singularity In this case
we are not able to control the full formal neighborhood but important informations
can still be obtained
IVI KF -nil curves In this subsection we study in detail the structure of KF -
nil curves and their formal neighborhoods appearing in the set-up IIVII4 In
particular we will describe a simple process to replace cuspidal KF -nil curves by
net ones prove that the foliation is in the net completion around a net KF -nil curve
defined by a global vector field which admits a global Jordan decomposition deduce
that eigenfunctions for the semi-simple component of such field are also globally
defined on a formal neighborhood
The first important remark is of technical nature and explains how to deal with non-
net KF -nil curves By Proposition IIIV4 this is indeed possible and the images of
such curves will acquire cusp-like singularities It is hard to analyze the geometry
of F around such cuspidal curves and therefore necessary to remove them Let us
assume that C is simply connected with rational moduli f is ramified at 0 isin C
and and denote by X the formal completion along f(C) Then formally around
f(0) the curve f(C) has defining ideal (y xa minus zb) where y = 0 is a fiber of the
fibration p X rarr ∆ containing f(C) x z isin H0(X OX ) restrict to suitable local
coordinates on such fiber and a b ge 2 are coprime integers
Claim IVI1 Let r X ( aradicz = 0) rarr X be the a-th root of z = 0 III3 Then
(rlowastC)norm =∐a
1 C and the induced map rlowastf (rlowastC)norm rarrX ( aradicz = 0) is net
Proof Since r is etale away from z = 0 also rlowastC rarr C is etale away from 0 isin C
Since C 0 is simply connected we have rlowastC rminus1(0) =∐a
1 C 0 This proves
34 FEDERICO BUONERBA
the first statement Let ζ be a function on X ( aradicz = 0) such that ζa = z so then
rlowast(xa minus zb) =prod
ηa=1(x minus ηζb) Every branch is net in 0 and we obtain the second
statement as well
As such upon taking roots we can replace non-net KF -nil invariant curves with
rational moduli by net ones
We now proceed to study net KF -nil curves We will show that the foliation is
defined by a global vector field around a net KF -nil curve with rational moduli and
that such vector field admits a global Jordan decomposition
Proposition IVI2 Notation as in the set-up IIVII4 let f C rarrX be a KF -nil
curve Assume that f is net and let j C rarr C be the net completion along f Then
there exists an isomorphism
(16) OC(KF )simminusrarr OC
In particular there exists a global vector field partf on C that generates F
Proof Since C has rational moduli and is simply connected it has infinite-cyclic
Picard group and we have an isomorphism
(17) OC(KF )simminusrarr OC
Moreover we have a non-canonical splitting of the normal bundle Njsimminusrarr O(minusn) oplus
O(minusm) and we claim that both nm ge 0 Indeed consider the induced semi-stable
fibration C rarr ∆ and let F be the normalization of an irreducible component of a
fiber such that C sub F Consider the exact sequence
(18) 0rarr NCF rarr Nj rarr NFC|C rarr 0
Since KF is nef NCF is not ample since F is a fiber of a fibration also NFC|C is
not ample and this is enough to conclude even though nm may be different from
the degrees of such normal bundles
At this point we can lift the isomorphism 17 over infinitesimal neighborhoods of j
Indeed for every k ge 0 we have an exact sequence
(19) 0rarr Symk ICI2C rarr OCk+1
(KF )rarr OCk(KF )rarr 0
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 35
which shows that the obstruction to lifting the isomorphism lies in
(20) H1(C Symk ICI2C) = H1(C Symk(O(n)oplus O(m))) = 0
From this we can deduce
Proposition IVI3 The vector field partf admits a Jordan decomposition uniformly
along C
Proof The cohomology sequence attached to 19 is
(21) 0rarr H0(C Symk ICI2C)rarr H0(COCk+1
)rarr H0(COCk)rarr 0
Let partk+1 denote the image of partf in End(H0(COCk+1)) Looking at
H0(COCk+1) minusminusminusrarr H0(COCk
)
partk+1
y partk
yH0(COCk+1
) minusminusminusrarr H0(COCk)
we see the canonical Jordan deomposition of partk+1 restricts to that of partk
The above result describes a very useful interplay between normal bundles to
KF -nil curves and the structure of the semi-simple field It turns out that these
informations determine formal neighborhoods uniquely For simplicity let C be
an irreducible component of C without orbifold points Let us assume that part|C is
singular in 0infin Then there exist formal functions x y z at 0 isin C and ξ η ζ at
infin isin C such that x ξ are coordinates along C y η are local sections of OC(minusn)
so η = xny mod(I2C) z ζ are local sections of OC(minusm) so ζ = xmz mod(I2C)
Normalizing so that xminus1partS(x) = ε isin 0 1 we obtain
(22) part0S = εxpart
partx+ λy
part
party+ microz
part
partz partinfinS = minusεξ part
partξ+ (λ+ εn)η
part
partη+ (micro+ εm)ζ
part
partζ
More generally ie C = P1(d e) we have glueing rules x = te ξ = tminusd η = tny and
ζ = tmz mod(I2C) Normalizing so that tminus1partS(t) = ε isin 0 1 we obtain
(23) part0S = eεxpart
partx+ λy
part
party+ microz
part
partz partinfinS = minusdεξ part
partξ+ (λ+ εn)η
part
partη+ (micro+ εm)ζ
part
partζ
36 FEDERICO BUONERBA
It is worth remarking that the above relations hold between eigenvalues at the two
singular point of singular ie nodal or cuspidal KF -nil curves as well this is
easily seen by taking a root followed by net completion and keeping track of the
eigenvalues
Definition IVI4 Let C be a KF -nil curve The foliation singular points along C
are called ends
As well as the existence of Hilbert scheme in the following form
Fact IVI5 Let W sub Xlowast be a curve and D a divisor in the formal neighborhood
of W such that W = D capXlowast scheme-theoretically Then W moves in D
In what follows our main concern is to understand formal neighborhoods of KF -
nil curves Observe that the fibration p when restricted to the formal neighborhood
of such curves provides at least one eigenfunction of the semi-simple field Hence
in order to compute the width IIII we must study the behavior of the other eigen-
function on infinitesimal neighborhoods We first describe the situation inside the
smooth locus of p
Proposition IVI6 (Smooth fiber) Let f C rarrX be an irreducible KF -nil curve
which is contained in the smooth locus of a fiber Xlowast of p Then the end(s) on C are
flat over ∆ ni (1)b and ni (1)a with z2|g(y z) and C moves in a family flat over
∆
Proof Let us assume that f is net Then upon passing to net completion we can
actually assume it is embedded From our local classification of singularities we case
in case ni (1)a and ni (2)a We want to show that both ends have components
that move transversely to p hence we have to exclude case ni (1)a with g(y z) = ya
By way of contradiction say we have g(y z) = ya in the notation of opcit around
an end lowast isin C We proceed to compute what happens at the other end we find
formal coordinates ξ η ζ which by equation 23 satisfy
(24) ξ = xminus1 η = y ζ = xmz mod(I2C)
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 37
As such we compute part(ζ) = mζ + ξminusmηa mod(I2C) which is holomorphic if and only
if m le 0 so then C moves in Xlowast contradicting that the foliation has general type
Hence we are in cases ni (1)a ni (2)a with g = microyazb b ge 1
(25) part0 = xpart
partx+ microyazb
part
partz partinfin = minusξ part
partξ+ ζ(m+ microξm(bminus1)ηaζbminus1)
part
partζ(mod(I2C))
Following notation from subsection IIII observe that C1 is the section of E1C which
is disjoint from the proper transform of the fiber of p In coordinates over 0
(26) x1 = x y1 = y z1 = zyminus1
And similarly over infin Using the previous equation and 25 on C1 we find
(27)
part01 = x1part
partx1+microya+bminus11 zb1
part
partz1 partinfin1 = minusξ1
part
partξ1+ζ1(m+microξ
m(bminus1)1 ηa+bminus11 ζbminus11 )
part
partζ1(mod(I2C1
))
In particular the transform of the nilpotent field is still nilpotent after blowing up in
C It follows that the eigenvalues of the semi-simple field at the two ends of C and
C1 are the same Using equation 23 we deduce that the normal bundle to C1X1 to
isomorphic to that of CX in particular it contains a trivial direct summand This
proves that width(C) =infin
Next we show that f must be net Consider the induced flat projection pD D rarr ∆
its general fiber cannot be a cuspidal curve since along such cusp the foliation sin-
gularity would be log-canonical but not canonical Hence if C has a cusp necessarily
the general fiber of pD is a nodal curve Let X rarr X denote the blow up of the
nodal locus of pD with exceptional divisor E ruled over ∆ In a neighborhood of E
we have sing(F ) = D cap E which projects to ∆ as a double cover ramified over lowastObserve that the foliation on Xlowast is again log-canonical and not canonical hence its
local structure is ni (2)a In that case however p is unramified along the foliation
singularity Contradiction
We state a general criterion for movability of KF -nil curves
Proposition IVI7 Let C be a connected KF -nil curve such that p(C ) = lowast isin ∆
Assume its dual graph is a chain that none of its irreducible components is double
38 FEDERICO BUONERBA
VI3 and that its two extremal ends are flat over ∆ Then C moves in a family flat
over ∆ and each of its irreducible components is embedded
Proof We work in a formal neighborhood of C After taking roots we can assume
C is net and since its dual graph is a chain it is actually embedded We proceed by
induction on its length l where the case l = 1 is Proposition IVI6 For l gt 1 let C1
be a component of C which is extremal in its dual graph If C1 moves transversely
to p then both its ends do and hence we can apply the induction hypothesis to
C C1 If C1 is rigid then it can be flopped It is straightforward to check that we
can apply the induction hypothesis to the transform C + C+1 and we are done
Now we deal with rigid curves inside the singular fiber
Proposition IVI8 (Singular fiber) Let f C rarr X be an embedded net KF -
nil curve with anti-ample normal bundle Then there exists a birational map φ
(X F ) 99K (X +F+) and a KF+-nil curve C+ such that
bull φ is an isomorphism away from C+
bull In a formal neighborhood of at least one among C and C+ there exist two
invariant hypersurfaces D1D2 locally defined by the vanishing of eigenfunc-
tions of the semi-simple field such that C (resp C+)= D1 capD2
bull If F middot C lt 0 for some hypersurface F then F+ middot C+ gt 0 In particular X +
is projective
Such φ is called flop
Proof Our assumption is that Nfsimminusrarr O(minusn)oplusO(minusm) is anti-ample namely nm gt
0 If two invariant hypersurfaces as in our statement do exist around C the flop is
easily constructed as a weighted blow-up followed by a weighted blow-down As such
let us assume that such hypersurfaces do not exist around C In particular C is not
double VI3 By [Ar70] there exists a formal contraction c X rarrX0 collapsing C
to a point and an isomorphism everywhere else By Proposition IVI3 the foliation
F0 is Gorenstein around the node of X0 For ease of exposition let us assume
n = m = 1 the general case is handled the same way only the notation becomes more
cumbersome due to the presence of weights The node has embedding dimension 4
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 39
and in suitable local coordinates x0 y0 w0 z0 can be defined by x0z0minusy0w0 = 0 The
morphism c can be identified with the blow up of the embedded surface (x0 = y0 = 0)
Explicitly in the chart y = y0 x = x0yminus10 it is defined by
(28) y0 = y x0 = xy z0 = zprime w0 = xzprime
Here x is a coordinate along C while y = 0 is the pull-back of (x0 = y0 = 0) and
zprime some function in the normal bundle to C By the previous Proposition IVI6
we know C cannot be contained in the smooth locus of p Since C is not double
we can assume that in this local chart p is defined by (x y zprime) rarr xy - the case
(x y zprime) rarr xzprime being isomorphic as it is isomorphic to blow-up (z0 = w0 = 0)
instead of (x0 = y0 = 0) The issue is as emphasized by the notation zprime 6= z that
zprime may fail to be an eigenfunction for partS if it were we would be done since zprime = 0
is the local equation for the global pullback of (z0 = w0 = 0) However we have
a b isin C such that
(29) partS0(y0) = minusy0 partS0(x0) = 0 partS0(z0) = ay0 + bz0 partS0(w0) = ax0 + (b+ 1)w0
Observe that the embedded surfaces D01 = (y0 = z0 = 0) and D0
2 = (x0 = w0 = 0)
are both foliation invariant As such let b X + rarr X0 denote the blow-up of X0
along D01 - which is isomorphic to that along D0
2 - and let Di = blowastD0i i = 1 2
Finally X + is projective by Nakai-Moishezon Indeed every C with anti-ample
normal bundle is contained in an irreducible component F of X0 such that F middotC lt 0
Then F+ middot C+ gt 0 and we can find an ample divisor of the form H+ + εF+ where
H+ is the proper transform of an ample on X
Remark IVI9 In the previous proof a 6= b+ 1 Indeed such identity would create
a non-trivial Jordan block of partS0 in the (x0 w0)-plane thus contradicting the semi-
simplicity of partS0 In particular by a straightforward computation it is impossible to
find eigenfunctions of the form wlowast0 = w0 + αx0 zlowast0 = z0 + βy0 with x0z
lowast0 minus y0wlowast0 = 0
unless a = 0
We can conclude by pointing out an important point understood in this section
A painful aspect of the theory is that log-canonical singularities which appear natu-
rally as analytic degenerations of canonical ones come along with cuspidal invariant
40 FEDERICO BUONERBA
curves There is in particular no a-priori obstruction to the existence of rigid
cuspidal KF -nil curves in a smooth fiber of our family of foliated surfaces p Quite
generally a rigid curve of positive arithmetic genus in a smooth family of surfaces can
never be contracted to a point Therefore this would have been a counter-example
to any reasonable foliated canonical model theory one may wish to achieve Fortu-
nately such phenomenon does not happen and this establishes the Main Theorem I
modulo finitely many rigid curves confined in the singular fiber X0
IVII Invariant curves inside sing(F ) In this subsection we study curves Z0 subeXlowast cap sing(F ) which are inside the foliation singularity and invariant By this we
mean that there exists a sequence fn Cn rarrX of not necessarily algebraic invariant
curves converging in the compact-open topology to Z0 In other words the map
(30) NorF rarr Ω1Z0
is trivial By Corollary IIIIII5 we know that Z0 is at worst nodal it is smooth
wherever p is smooth for every point z isin Z0 the semi-simple part of the gener-
ating vector field has exactly one eigenvalue The problem here is that the Jordan
decomposition need not extend uniformly along Z0 not even along an irreducible
component In case ni (1)a the functions x and g may develop essential singulari-
ties arbitrary close to z Nonetheless the function x is unique and this says that x
does extend along Z0
Proposition IVII1 Let Z0 be as above Then in a formal neighborhood of Z0
there exists a unique smooth invariant hypersurface D0 containing Z0 which restricts
around any point in Z0 to the unique eigenfunction for the semi-simple field whose
eigenvalue is non-zero
Proof The local structure of the foliation around a point z isin Z0 is described by
cases ni (1)a and ni (1)b In both cases partS has one non-zero eigenvalue with
eigenfunction x Such eigenfunction x is a-priori only defined in the normal bundle to
Z0 but it is clear that the equation partx = x has a unique up to constants solution in
the formal completion around z As such there exists a unique smooth hypersurface
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 41
D0 in the formal completion around Z0 which restricts to the eigenfunction x around
z
Observe that the previous argument goes through since we are assuming Z0 subX0
Keeping notations from case ni (1)a if say g(y z) = yz then in the hypersurface
y equiv q isin Qgt0 the foliation has a log-canonical singularity and the eigenfunction x
extends highly non-uniquely to a formal neighborhood of the point (x y z) = (0 q 0)
In particular the existence of D0 as in the previous Proposition might fail along
the component (x = z = 0) of the foliation singularity This phenomenon is called
the beast
Anyway uniqueness in the previous proposition yields
Corollary IVII2 Let Z prime be a connected invariant curve inside sing(F ) Then in
a formal neighborhood of Z prime there exists a unique smooth invariant hypersurface D prime
containing Z prime which restricts around any point in Z prime to the hypersurface constructed
in the previous proposition
Next we turn to the intrinsic structure of invariant singular curves
Proposition IVII3 Let Z0 be an irreducible invariant curve inside sing(F )
Then Z0 is smooth and rational
Proof We work in a formal neighborhood of Z0 Let F0 denote the unique component
of X0 containing Z0 For any other fiber component F intersecting Z0 non-trivially
blow-up the invariant curve F cap F0 with exceptional divisor EF A straightforward
computation using the local formula ni (1)b shows that the fiber of the natural
projection EF rarr F cap F0 intersecting Z0 is also contained in sing(F ) For Z prime the
maximal connected singular invariant curve containing Z0 let G denote the saturated
foliation induced on D prime It is canonical with reduced singularities and it satisfies
KG = KF |Dprime minus Zprime By adjunction
(31) 2g(Z0)minus 2 + sZG(Z0) = minusZ prime middot Z0
Observe that thanks to our initial sequence of blow-ups the singularities of G along
Z0 coincide with the intersection of Z0 and Z prime Z0 In particular since D prime is formally
42 FEDERICO BUONERBA
flat over ∆ we deduce Z prime middot Z0 = 0 and the previous formula becomes
(32) 2g(Z0)minus 2 + sZG(Z0) = 0
This implies that Z0 is rational or elliptic If Z0 were elliptic then sZG(Z0) = 0 and
D0 defines an invariant elliptic curve in the general fiber of p By Baum-Bott this
contradicts that KF is big and nef Now we show that Z0 is smooth If it has a node
then D0 moves it in a family of nodal rational curves flat over ∆ In particular D0
itself has a node in codimension 1 hence Xlowast is smooth around the node of Z0 In its
formal neighborhood the foliation must be as in case ni (1)a which implies that
Z0 is smooth contradiction
We can improve as follows
Proposition IVII4 Let Z prime sube sing F capXlowast be a connected invariant curve with
KF middot Z prime = 0 Then its dual graph is a chain
Proof Assume Z prime is a cycle Then necessarily Z prime = D prime capXlowast scheme-theoretically
and by the existence of Hilbert scheme Z prime moves in the general fiber Its general
member is either a cycle of smooth rational curves or an elliptic curve Arguing as
in the previous proof we see that both options are impossible
V Configurations
In this section we analyze in great detail all possible configurations of invariant
curves along which KF vanishes These can be divided into three groups those
that do not move those that move in a one-dimensional family covering a surface
those that move in a higher-dimensional family covering a surface Curves in the first
group can form rather complicated configurations while those in the second group
are more simple they either move in the general fiber or they cover an isolated
Riccati component in the singular fiber Those in the third group turn out to be
represented by the two rulings of P1timesP1 if they happen to be cohomologous in the
ambient stack First we will analyze rigid curves then those which move and finally
we will describe their configurations
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 43
VI Configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially In
this subsection we describe configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF
trivially which arise in the situation described by set-up IIVII4
First we focus on KF -nil curves At the end of the section we deal with the simpler
case in which a curve in the configuration is fully contained in sing(F ) The general
fiber was handled in Proposition IVI6
Proposition VI1 Let C be a connected KF -nil curve contained in the smooth
locus of a fiber of p Then it is a chain or a cycle and it moves in a family flat over
∆
In what follows we let C denote a connected KF -nil curve contained in the
singular fiber X0 all of whose sub-curves are rigid in X Observe a consequence of
equation 23
Proposition VI2 Let C = cupiCi be a connected KF -nil curve Then the eigen-
values of partS are all rational at every point of sing(F )capC if and only if they are all
rational at one point
We can deduce many non-trivial properties about configurations of KF -nil curves
First we need
Definition VI3 Let C subX0 be a curve It is called double if there exists formally
around C two components F F prime of X0 such that C = F cap F prime A point lowast isin C where
three fiber components intersect is called a triple point If C lies on exactly one fiber
component it is called non-double We denote by F (C) such component
Remark VI4 Let Csimminusrarr P1(d e) be double with two triple points Then we know
e+ λ+ micro = minusd+ (λ+ n) + (micro+m) = 0 whence we obtain
(33) n+m = d+ e
Which is called triple-point formula
Next we show that essentially KF -nil curves do not form cycles unless something
deforms in X0 First we show that there are no cycles of rigid non-double curves
44 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proposition VI5 Let C be a connected KF -nil curve contained in the singular
fiber X0 of p Assume that every component of C is non-double and that every
sub-curve is rigid Then C contains no cycles
Proof We work in a formal neighborhood of C which we assume is a cycle Let
us first consider the case in which all components C1 middot middot middot CN are smooth with no
orbifold points and denote lowasti = Ci cap Ci+1 with CN+1 = C1 Moreover let us
assume no lowasti lies in the smooth locus of p
Since no curve is double the semi-simple field at every lowasti is as in case i (3)b in
particular the eigenvalues along the branches of Ci and Ci+1 add up to zero More-
over let minusni denote the self-intersection of Ci sub F (Ci) Normalize the eigenvalues
of partS so that at lowastn they are 1 in the C1 direction minus1 in the CN direction λ in the
F (C1)capF (CN) direction It follows by induction that at lowasti the eigenvalues are minus1
in the Ci direction 1 in the Ci+1 direction λ+ n1 + middot middot middot+ ni in the F (Ci) cap F (Ci+1)
direction After traveling around the cycle we obtain n1+middot middot middot+nN = 0 contradicting
that ni gt 0 for every i
We established the Proposition assuming every Ci is an embedded scheme and ev-
ery lowasti is in the singular locus of p The case in which Cisimminusrarr P1(di ei) has orbifold
points is analogous we end up with a combination c1n1 + middot middot middot + cNnN = 0 with ci
the eigenvalue at lowasti in the Ci+1 direction Normalizing so that c1 = e1 gt 0 again by
induction on i we see that every ci isin Qgt0 Next we show that our assumption on lowastiis always satisfied
Claim VI6 Every lowasti must belong to the singular locus of p
Proof We give two essentially equivalent proofs
bull If N = 2 3 then the previous argument goes through indeed we can normal-
ize eigenvalues at lowasti to be negative in the Ciminus1 direction and positive in the
Ci-direction and argue as above Hence we can assume N ge 4 If say lowasti is in
the smooth locus of p then F (Ci) = F (Ci+1) If also F (Ciminus1) = F (Ci) then Ci
lies in the smooth locus of p and hence it moves Therefore F (Ciminus1) 6= F (Ci)
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 45
and Ciminus1 can be flopped inside F (Ci) Since N ge 4 this preserves the smooth-
ness of F (Ci) and Ci is now is the smooth locus of p - contradiction
bull If lowasti belongs to the smooth locus of p then the end through lowasti moves We
can form a partial net completion fi Xi rarrX by normalizing C in lowasti only
Then f lowasti C is a chain with movable ends and hence moves in the general fiber
of p fi
Finally the general case in which some among the Ci have cusps can be easily
reduced to the smooth case in a couple of ways
bull Eigenvalues at the singularities of any KF -nil curve satisfy the same relations
as in the smooth case
bull Upon taking roots and net completion we can find a foliated formal 3-fold
supported on a cycle of smooth KF -nil curves which is a ramified cover of a
formal neighborhood of our cycle
Similarly we can show that there are no rigid cycles of double curves
Proposition VI7 Let C be a nodal KF -nil curve which is double Then C
deforms inside X0 In particular there cannot exist a rigid cycle of KF -nil double
curves
Proof Following the previous notation we have 0 = infin and if C = (xy = z = 0)
around 0 then we have identities
(34) x = η y = ξ z = ζ
The last one of which implies m = 0 that is C deforms Since C is double necessarily
the surface it spans must be contained in X0
The statement about cycles follows since a cycle of double curves can be transformed
after finitely many flops into a chain of smooth double curves with a nodal one
attached at one end
46 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Later on we will show that the deformations of C cannot span an elliptic surface
but only a family of nodal rational curves with a special Riccati foliation on it
We are ready to organize a detailed description of the dual graph of C More pre-
cisely we only need to understand how double curves intersect non-double curves
Lemma VI8 There exists a sequence of flops X 99KX + such that if C + denotes
the transform of C every double curve supported on C + contains two triple points
Proof Let C sube C be an irreducible component with at most one triple point and
let X 99K X + be its flop Then its transform C+ is non-double and the number
of double curves contained in C descreases It is clear that after finitely many flops
all double curves contain exactly two triple points
From now on all double curves in C have two triple points Thanks to proposition
VI2 we know that there are two cases to consider those curves along which the
semi-simple field has not only rational eigenvalues and those along which the semi-
simple field has only rational eigenvalues The first case being strictly easier than
the second it is a good starting place to warm up
Proposition VI9 (irrational eigenvalues) Assume that for every foliation singu-
larity along C not all eigenvalues of partS are rational Then every component of C
is net with at most one node and 1-skeleton of its dual graph is at worst trivalent
Write C = C axes cup C free where
C axes is the union of double curves
C free is the union of non-double curves
Then one among C axes and C free is empty Moreover
bull If C free is non-empty then it is a chain of smooth curves with rational moduli
bull If C axes is non-empty there exists a sequence of flops X 99KX + and an ir-
reducible component of the fiber FC subX + such that X + is a smooth stack
the transform C+ of C is contained in FC Moreover the dual graph of C+
is a tree which by [McQ08 III32] becomes a chain inside the normalization
of FC
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 47
Proof The first sentence is just corollary IIIIII3
Observe that if a non-double curve intersects a double curve then the non-double
curve must be contained in an LC-center around such intersection This contradicts
that not all eigenvalues are rational and establishes that one among C axes and C free
is empty
In case C free is not empty then it is clearly a chain or a cycle the latter being
impossible by Proposition VI5
We are left to show the existence of flops in case C = C axes We remark that
every component is smooth Let C0 be such a component and S0 a component of
X0 containing it Let C1 be the collection of irreducible components of C which
intersect S0 but are not contained in it All the components of C1 are smooth hence
we can flop them in any order until the transform of C1 lies in the transform of S0
Since the number of irreducible components of C lying outside S0 decreases after
such flop by induction we deduce the existence of finitely many flops after which
the birational transform of C is fully contained in the transform of S0
Next we take care of rational eigenvalues The complication here arises from
the fact that there may be double and non-double curves intersecting each other
However the situation is best possible
Proposition VI10 (rational eigenvalues) Assume that for every foliation singu-
larity along C all eigenvalues of partS are rational Write C = C axes cup C free where
C axes is the union of double curves
C free is the union of non-double curves
Then there exists a sequence of flops X 99K X + and an irreducible component of
the fiber FC axes subX + such that
bull X + is a smooth stack
bull The union of double curves of C axes is contained in FC axes the 1-skeleton of
its dual graph is a tree and each of its components has two triple points
bull The 1-skeleton of the dual graph of the transform C free+ is a disjoint union of
trees
bull Each connected component of C free+ intersects C axes in exactly one point
48 FEDERICO BUONERBA
In particular the 1-skeleton of the dual graph of C is a tree
Proof Notice that for every point lowast isin C cap Z there exists one LC-center through lowastIndeed there are three rational eigenvalues and they cannot be all non-vanishing and
all with different signs at the same time Now C axes can be treated as in proposition
VI9 This proves the first two items of the statement The third item follows from
Proposition VI5 so we can focus on the fourth one The proof is based on the
following obvious
Remark VI11 let C be a double curve such that either it is KF -nil hence has
two triple points or it is fully contained in sing(F ) Let C0 sube C free intersect C
non-trivially in a point lowast then necessarily C0 sub LClowast
Now let C0 middot middot middot CN form a chain of non-double curves with C0 and CN both
intersecting double curves as in the remark Denote by lowasti = Ci cap Ci+1 Since
C1 sub LClowast necessarily C1 is transverse to LClowast1 otherwise C1 would deform in F (C1)
Inductively we see that Ci+1 sub LClowasti and is transverse to LClowasti+1 In particular CN
cannot touch a double curve This contradiction proves the fourth item
Let us add a remark about configurations featuring invariant curves inside sing(F )
Proposition VI12 Let C be an invariant curve with KF middot C = 0 such that
Z0 sube C for some component Z0 sube sing(F ) Then C = Z prime cup C where
Z prime is a connected invariant curve inside the foliation singularity with dual graph a
chain
C is the union of at most two pairwise disjoint KF -nil curves with anti-ample
normal bundle
If not empty C can only intersect Z prime at the two ends of its dual graph Moreover
perhaps after a flop the intersection of C with Z prime supports the foliation singularity
along C As such if C has two components Z prime cup C deforms in the general fiber
Proof The structure of Z prime is Proposition IVII3 while that of Co is Proposition
IVI6 Let C prime be a component of C intersecting Z0 in a point lowast If C prime and Z0 belong
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 49
to different components of X0 then by case ni (1)b the eigenvalue of partS along C prime
vanishes so supp(sing(F ) cap C prime) = lowast If C prime and Z0 belong to the same component
then we can flop C prime into a different component
Observe that the divisor D prime from op cit can be extended along C prime This implies
that C can only intersect Z prime at its ends Moreover if C touches both ends necessarily
D prime capX0 = C scheme-theoretically hence by the existence of Hilbert scheme IVI5
we conclude
Our new set-up is
Set-up VI13 Everything as in set-up IIVII4 and moreover for any connected
invariant curve C with KF middot C = 0 all of whose sub-curves are rigid we have
configurations computed in proposition VI9 VI10 and Lemma VI12
VII Configurations of non-rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
In this subsection we describe configurations of surfaces which are covered by KF -nil
curves The structure of each such surface is described by classification IIV1 IIV2
and Corollary IIVI17 Our first step is to simplify the situation by contracting
chains of ruled surfaces The next step is to try and exclude the possibility that
the singular fiber of p contains fibrations by elliptic or nodal rational curves with
at least one invariant fiber This can be achieved with good success indeed there
may be at most one such Riccati foliation which is anyway rather isolated from the
remaining KF -nil curves Finally we observe that the only class of surfaces we have
not mentioned is
Definition VII1 A irreducible component F of the singular fiber of p is called
small Kronecker if
bull (FFF ) is birational to a Kronecker vector field on P1 timesP1 and
bull The two rulings of this P1 timesP1 are cohomologous inside X
The name comes from the fact that contraction of a small Kronecker yields a node
in the ambient threefold which admits a small resolution In fact in many respects
these fiber components behave very much like rigid KF -nil curves
50 FEDERICO BUONERBA
We start by getting rid of some fiber components which are ruled by KF -nil gener-
ically smooth rational curves
Proposition VII2 Notation as in Set-up VI13 there exists a sequence of flops
and divisorial contractions c X 99KX + such that
bull X + is a smooth stack
bull let S+ sub X + be an irreducible invariant divisor that contains a positive-
dimensional family of invariant rational curves along which KF+ vanishes
Then S+ is either birationally ruled by nodal rational curves or it is a small
Kronecker
Proof We focus first on contracting components of the singular fiber of p Consider
the following algorithm If there is no birationally ruled component different from
the ones listed in the second item we are done otherwise pick one such F and let
C denote the general member of the ruling If the cohomology class [C] is inde-
composable F is minimal Otherwise [C] = [C1] + [C2] where Ci are rational and
intersect KF trivially After finitely many steps we have a decomposition as a finite
sum of indecomposables [C] =sumn
i=0 ni[Ci] where every Ci is rational intersects KF
trivially We have two cases
bull There exists k such that Ck deforms in a birationally ruled necessarily min-
imal surface Fk
bull Every Ci has anti-ample normal bundle
In the first case denote by X rarr X1 the contraction of Fk along |Ck| and relpace
X by X1 Since Fk is minimal smoothness of the ambient stack is preserved unless
Fk is a small Kronecker This is however impossible if n ge 2 if Fk were a small
Kronecker then Ck deforms away from Fkminus1 so then Fkminus1 middot Ck = 0 on the other
hand Fkminus1 intersects the other ruling of Fk positively
In the second case flop C1 middot middot middot Cn in this order The transform of F is minimal and
not a small Kronecker so it can be contracted along its ruling preserving ambient
smoothness By induction on the Picard rank of X after finitely many steps this
algorithm ends Call X the output of this algorithm
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 51
Let S subX be an invariant divisor with a generically smooth ruling Then pS S rarr∆ is flat and after flopping finitely many rational curves in S cap plowastS(0) the resulting
pS is smooth Hence we can contract S along pS After finitely many steps the
Proposition is proven
For ease of notation in the sequel we call X the output of the previous proposition
Notice that there might still be divisors carrying a pencil of nodal rational curves
both inside and outside the singular fiber of p
We can start analyzing configurations of fiber components where the restriction of
F is not of general type We need some notation whose reason to exist will be clear
shortly
Definition VII3 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
along which KF is not big F is called special Riccati if
bull F is minimal
bull There exists a morphism s F rarr B onto a curve whose fibers are nodal
rational curve
bull F is transverse to the general fiber of s in particular KF is numerically
trivial along s
bull At least one fiber of s is invariant
bull There exists a section σ of s which is invariant and does not coincide with
the nodal locus of F
In particular the intersections of σ with invariant fibers of s isolated singularities
of F the node of F all coincide There may be fibers of s fully contained in sing(F )
in which case they are everywhere transverse to the saturated foliation
The definition looks nasty but special Riccati components have a rather simple
origin as the following proof shows
Lemma VII4 Let F be special Riccati Up to base change by an etale double cover
Bprime rarr B there is a natural isomorphism F norm simminusrarr BprimetimesP1 and the restriction of F
to F norm is birational to the projection onto P1
52 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proof We work over the normalization F norm Denote by Bprime the pre-image of the
node of F which is an etale double cover of B and let f denote an invariant fiber
of s with lowast = σ cap f Observe that F norm carries a Riccati foliation with 3 invariant
curves through lowast - namely σ f and a component of Bprime Hence FF has a log-canonical
singularity in lowast On F norm perform a weighted blow-up in each log-canonical singu-
larity followed by the contraction of the transforms of the corresponding fibers Let
s+ F+ rarr B denote the output of this operation If the proper transform of Bprime is
connected replace F+ by its base change under Bprime rarr B Hence we can assume Bprime
is the disjoint union of two sections of s+ and the transform of σ is a third section
which is disjoint from Bprime Therefore F+ = P1 timesBprime and the foliation restricts to the
projection onto P1
Next we describe those surfaces which cannot appear as components of the sin-
gular fiber X0
Definition VII5 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
along which KF is not big F is called illusory if
bull there exists a morphism t F rarr B onto a curve
bull KF is trivial along t
bull For any other fiber component F prime the intersection F cap F prime is either empty or
contained in a fiber of t
We give examples of illusory fiber components
Lemma VII6 The following fiber components are necessarily illusory
bull t is elliptic the foliation is either parallel to t or turbolent with at least one
invariant fiber
bull t is a nodal ruling the foliation is either parallel to t or transverse to t with
at least one invariant fiber and not birational to a special Riccati VII3
Proof Let f = F cap F prime for some fiber component F prime It is F -invariant
Assume t and F are parallel and f is transverse to both Then necessarily f subesing(F ) and KF is positive along the fibers of t contradiction
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 53
Assume t and F are generically transverse and f is transverse to t Let e be an
invariant fiber of t then ecap f isin sing(F ) hence t must be a family of nodal rational
curves and ecapf coincides with the node of e - otherwise KF would be positive along
t But this implies F is special Riccati contradiction
We proceed to show that illusory fibers do not exist
Lemma VII7 Let F be an illusory fiber component then every fiber of t is irre-
ducible If F prime is any fiber component intersecting F non-trivially then F prime is illusory
Proof Assume t has a reducible fiber f Then we can write f = f prime cup f primeprime where f prime
is irreducible and f primeprime is a disjoint union of chains of rational curves In particular
every subscheme supported on f primeprime is rigid in X f prime is rational and smooth iff f is a
cycle of rational curves hence the foliation on F is parallel to t and the choice of f prime
is not unique otherwise f prime is nodal or elliptic Let X 99KX + denote the flop of the
irreducible components of f primeprime in any order The proper transform f prime+ (below in red)
is the irreducible fiber of the induced morphism t+ F+ rarr B Since f primeprime+ intersects
f prime+ and is not contained in F+ there exists a component F prime of the fiber of p+ such
that F+ cap f prime+ 6= empty Since F+ is illusory necessarily F+ cap F prime = f prime+ Moreover F+
and F prime are the only fiber components intersecting f prime+ again because F+ is illusory
We deduce that F+ middot f prime+ = F prime middot f prime+ = 0 and therefore f prime+ is nef inside F prime It follows
that he restriction of F+ to F prime is not of general type and by the classification of
foliated surfaces [McQ08] necessarily f prime+ deforms inside F prime and defines a fibration
u F prime rarr Bprime In particular f prime+ is an irreducible fiber of u This is however impossible
since u contracts all the components of f primeprime+ contained in F prime (below in blue) and by
definition of F prime there exists at least one such component This proves that every
fiber of t is irreducible The following depicts the situation
F prime F+
f prime+
f primeprime+
t+u
54 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Concerning the second statement we only need to check the third condition for F prime
to be illussory namely that every other fiber component F primeprime intersecting F prime does
so along the fibers of u If F primeprime intersects F prime transversely to u then F primeprime intersects F
non-trivially and transversely to t as well absurd
Corollary VII8 Illusory components do not exist
Proof By the above lemma the existence of one illusory component implies that
every irreducible component of the singular fiber of p is illusory contradicting that
KF is big
We can now focus on fiber components that do appear
Corollary VII9 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
containing an invariant curve C which moves and such that KF middot C = 0 Then
following the classification [McQ08] we have two cases
(1) The minimal model of F is a special Riccati component
(2) F is a small Kronecker
Proof Certainly the ones listed are the only cases where C is KF -nil We have to
exclude the possibility that C is invariant inside sing(F ) By Proposition IVII3
such C would be rational with at most one node Since we already contracted at
the beginning of the present subsection all ruled surfaces necessarily C is nodal
However by opcit C cannot intersect any other fiber component of X0 which
implies the absurdity that X0 = F
We proceed to show that special Riccati components are rather isolated in the
fiber
Lemma VII10 Let F be a special Riccati component If F prime is a fiber component
intersecting F non-trivially then it does so transversely to s Morover there is
exactly one such F prime
Proof After finitely many flops we can assume that every fiber of s is irreducible
By the non-existence of illusory components there exists a fiber component F lowast with
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 55
σprime = F cap F prime transverse to s If F primeprime is a fiber component with f = F cap F primeprime a fiber
of s then we claim f sube sing(F ) If not then since KF middot f = 0 and σprime is invariant
necessarily σprimecap f is the node of f But then the existence of F primeprime contradicts that p is
snc Hence f sube sing(F ) so then around the node of f there are 3 fiber components -
two branches coming from F one from F primeprime - and sing(F ) has 2 branches - namely f
This is impossible by our case analysis ni (1)c ni (2)c The very same reasoning
establishes the uniqueness of F prime
Lemma VII11 Let F be as in the previous Lemma If C is a connected curve
with KF middot C = 0 then it is disjoint from F
Proof After finitely many flops s is irreducible and C intersects F transversely away
from its node Moreover lowast = C cap F isin sing(F ) and we deduce that the fiber of s
through lowast is fully contained in the singular locus of F This contradicts Proposition
IVII3 since such fiber is nodal
We conclude by observing the obvious
Lemma VII12 Let F be a small Kronecker Then there exists a contraction
c X rarr X prime which is an isomorphism away from F and contracts F along one
of its rulings Necessarily X prime is not projective since every global Cartier divisor
intersects c(F ) trivially On the other hand in a formal neighborhood of c(F ) there
exist Cartier divisors intersecting it non-trivialliy
As such the contribution coming from non-rigid curves is rather poor there are
curves moving in the general fiber there are special Riccati components disjoint from
any other invariant curve intersecting KF trivially there are small Kroneckers who
can be contracted to curves We shall see in the next section that the complications
arising from the contraction of such non-rigid curves is purely psychological and
totally harmless
56 FEDERICO BUONERBA
VI Contractions and proof of the Main Theorem
In this section we contract all invariant curves along which KF is zero thereby
establishing the existence of canonical models I First we contract non-rigid curves
as described in the previous subsection
bull Small Kroneckers along either ruling Albeit this destroys projectivity of
the ambient threefold there still exist Cartier divisors defined in a formal
neighborhood of the base curve that intersect it non-trivially
bull Families of irreducible nodal rational curves which are flat over ∆ This
creates elliptic singularities on the general fiber of p which are disjoint from
other invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
bull Special Riccati again families of irreducible nodal rational curves fully con-
tained in X0 This creates elliptic singularities disjoint from other invariant
curves intersecting KF trivially
We can summarize our situation by way of
Set-up VI1 X is a 3-dimensional DM stack with at worst elliptic singularities
F a foliation by curves with canonical singularities which is not Q-Cartier in a
neighborhood of Xsing
There exists a proper morphism p X rarr ∆ smooth off 0 isin ∆ F restricts to a
foliation on every fiber of p it has canonical singularities on the very general fiber
of p and log-canonical singularities on every fiber of p KF is big and nef on every
irreducible component of every fiber of p
Let C be the invariant sub-scheme along which KF is not big then C is a curve
fully contained in the smooth locus X0capXsmooth every sub-curve of C has anti-ample
normal bundle the 1-simplex of its dual graph is a tree and detailed configurations
of such are referenced in set-up VI13
We proceed to contract such C We assume that along C the semi-simple field has
only rational eigenvalues and moreover no component of C is inside the foliation
singularity The other two cases - irrational eigenvalues and presence of singular
component - are strictly easier and can be obtained with the very same method
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 57
The proof takes place in the formal completion around C = C free cup C axes The
former is a disjoint union of trees of non-double curves For each non-double C let
F (C) denote the unique component of X0 containing it The latter is a tree of double
curves each with two triple points all contained in the same irreducible FC axes Each
tree of non-double curves touches C axes in one point through a LC-center In order
to construct the contraction we will use Artinrsquos celebrated criterion in the following
form
Fact VI1 ([Ar70]) Let X be an irreducible algebraic space i Y rarr X a closed
subspace of pure codimension 1 and f Y rarr Y0 a proper morphism with flowastOY = OY0
Let X denote the formal completion of X along Y and assume there exists a Cartier
divisor D in X which is supported on Y and is f -anti-ample Then there exists a
proper morphism of algebraic spaces F X rarr X0 which is an isomorphism away
from Y and such that ilowastF = f
Now we use the tree structure of C to construct a suitable divisor to which apply
Artinrsquos theorem Namely consider the following inductive defintion
(35) C0 = C axes F0 = FC axes
For k ge 0 assume Ck Fk are defined
bull Let Ck+1 denote the union of irreducible components of C that intersect Fk
non-trivially but are not contained in cupilekFibull Let Fk+1 denote the reduced sum (
sumCsubeCk+1
F (C))red
This process stops with a collection C1 middot middot middotCN of curves and F1 middot middot middot FN of reduced
divisors
Lemma VI1 We have the following identities
(36)
Fk middot C lt 0 for every C sube Ck
(F0 + F1) middot C le 0 for every C sube C0
(Fkminus1 + Fk + Fk+1) middot C = 0 for every C sube Ck 1 lt k lt N
(FNminus1 + FN) middot C lt 0 for every C sube CN
58 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proof The first is just the fact that every component of C is rigid The remaining
three follow from X0 middot C = 0 but the last one requires further justification Indeed
if C sube CN N gt 0 then C is one end of a tree of non-double curves In particular
there exists a foliation singularity lowast isin C disjoint from any other component of
C and LClowast is transverse to C This implies LClowast middotC gt 0 which together with
(FNminus1 + FN + LClowast) middot C = 0 concludes the proof
Let ε1 middot middot middot εN isin Qgt0 and define
(37) F Nminusk = (1 + ε1 + middot middot middot+ εk)FNminusk
bull If C sube CN we have
(38) (F Nminus1 + F
N) middot C = ε1FNminus1 middot C + (FNminus1 + FN) middot C
bull If C sube CNminusk 1 lt k lt N we have
(39)
(F Nminuskminus1 + F
Nminusk + F Nminusk+1) middot C =
(1 + middot middot middot+ εk)(FNminuskminus1 + FNminusk + FNminusk+1) middot C minus εkFNminusk+1 middot C + εk+1FNminuskminus1 middot C =
minus εkFNminusk+1 middot C + εk+1FNminuskminus1 middot C
bull If C sube C0 we have
(40) (F 0 + F
1) middot C = εNF0 middot C + (Nminus1sumj=0
εj)(F0 + F1) middot C
It is clear that provided
(41) 1 gtgt ε1 gtgt middot middot middot gtgt εN
the divisor F =sumF k is negative along every component of C
This proves the existence of the contraction and concludes the proof of the Main
Theorem I
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 59
VII Moduli space of foliated surfaces of general type
In this section we study the modular variation of foliated surfaces of general type
The upshot is that it is possible to define a functor which is representable separated
and every irreducible component is proper The main issue here is that the supporting
surface of a foliated canonical model may well fail to be projective indeed KF is not
Q-Gorenstein in general Hence in order to proceed via standard methods [Ko17]
we have to parametrize our canonical models together with a suitable projective
resolution
Definition VII13 Let (SF ) be a foliated proper reduced purely 2-dimensional
DM stack Assume S has only normal crossing singularities in codimension 1 that
F has log-canonical foliation singularities and that KF is big and nef on at least
one of the irreducible components of S If whenever KF middot C = 0 for some curve C
then C moves in an irreducible component of S and no member of such deformation
is F -invariant then (SF ) is called foliated canonical model of general type
Clearly foliated canonical models are exactly the stable degenerations appearing
as the central fiber of our Main Theorem I Their lack of projectivity has two sources
namely the contraction of cycles of smooth KF -nil curves and of trees of cuspidal
ones Singularities arising from cycles behave well in families namely they always
deform into the general fiber Those arising from cuspidal curves on the other hand
tend to be rather isolated inside the degenerate fiber
Observe that the deformation theory of a foliated surface is rather simple suppose
given an infinitesimal C-algebras extension 0 rarr J rarr Ae rarr A rarr 0 and (SF )
a foliated surface flat over Spec(A) then the obstruction to lifting to Ae can be
understood in three simple steps
(1) Deformation of the underlying surface S once a deformation Se rarr Spec(Ae)
is given
(2) Deformation of the line bundle KF by the exponential sequence
(42) 0rarr J otimes OS rarr OlowastSerarr OlowastS rarr 0
obstructions lie in H2(SOS)otimes J once a deformation of KF is given
60 FEDERICO BUONERBA
(3) Deformation of the defining section OS rarr KF otimes TS obstructions lie in
H1(SKF otimes TS)otimes J
Now we have
Definition VII14 Let (SF ) be a foliated canonical model of general type A
proper birational morphism q (SF )proj rarr (SF ) is called its projective resolution
if
bull Every irreducible component of Sproj is smooth
bull The exceptional locus of q is a disjoint union of cycles of KFproj-nil smooth
curves and trees of KFproj-nil curves each of which has a non-trivial cuspidal
singularity
bull In a neighborhood of every q-exceptional cycle not only Sproj but also its
moduli space is smooth
We need a few remarks about projective resolutions
(1) Projective resolutions are always unique Indeed the only possible ambiguity
could lie in some extra smooth irreducible components in the exceptional
locus This is forbidden by definition in the trees of cuspidal curves it is
also forbidden by way of the third item in cycles of smooth ones ie on
algebraic surfaces the minimal resolution is unique
(2) Denote by E the collection of q-exceptional cycles Then there exist ε δ isinQgt0 such that KFproj
minus εE + δKSprojis ample by Nakai-Moishezon
(3) Deformations of a projective resolution of a foliated canonical model are
canonically identified with deformations of the underlying birational mor-
phism q Sproj rarr S followed by a deformation of the foliation F
We are now ready to construct a moduli functor for foliated surfaces more precisely
for projective resolutions of foliated canonical models of general type For m dN isinN and ε δ isin Qgt0 let
(43) MmdNεδ (C-schemes)rarr (sets)
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 61
be defined by MmdNεδ(S) = Diagrams
(44) (X F )projqminusrarr (X F )
pminusrarr S
Where
bull Both p and p q are flat and proper
bull For every closed point s isin S the induced morphism qs is the projective
resolution of (X F )s which is a foliated canonical model of general type
bull Denote by Es the collection of exceptional cycles of qs By our Main Theorem
I there is a fibrewise divisor E subXproj flat over S restricting to Es for every
s isin S
bull Let j W rarr Xproj denote the maximal closed subscheme away from which
KFprojand KXprojS are locally free Then
(45) L [m] = (jlowast(KFprojotimes OXproj
(minusεE )otimesKδXprojS
)otimesm)oror
is flat over S and commutes with base-change
bull L [m] is very ample of degree d on every fiber and defines an embedding into
PNS
We are now ready for
Theorem VII15 The functor MmdNεδ is represented by a separated algebraic
space each of whose irreducible components is proper
Proof We show that our functor satisfies Artinrsquos conditions [Ar74 Corollary 54] By
definition condition 1) and 4) hold while our previous remark on foliated obstruction
theory shows that 3) is true
We proceed to show 2) namely effectivity of formal deformations for MmdNεδ
What follows owes much to Artinrsquos [A74rsquo] Let T be a complete C-algebra Tn its
n-truncation so that Tsimminusrarr limlarrminusTn and finally qn isinMmdNεδ(Spec(Tn)) a compatible
sequence For each n there is a maximal open set Un sube Xprojn where qn is an
isomorphism denote by sn Cn rarr Zn the restriction of qn to the complement of Un
Clearly sn is projective over Spec(Tn)
62 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Denote by X C etc the formal algebraic spaces obtained as limits of Xn Cn
etc Then Xproj sub PNˆSpec(T )
hence by Grothendieckrsquos existence Theorem we find
bull a flat projective family (X F )proj rarr Spec(T ) resp a closed subscheme
C subXproj whose completion is Xproj resp C
bull a scheme Z whose completion is Z and a morphism s C rarr Z everything
being projective over Spec(T )
Further we have a formal contraction limminusrarr qn C rarr Z hence the main theorem
of [Ar70] gives algebraic contraction (X F )proj rarr (X F ) This proves the repre-
sentability of MmdNεδ The properness and separability of each irreducible com-
ponent can be checked using valutative criteria indeed properness is the content of
our Main Theorem I separatedness follows from the uniqueness of foliated canonical
models of general type and their projective resolution
References
[Ar70] M Artin Algebraization of Formal Moduli II Existence of Modifications Ann
of Math Vol 91 No 1 (Jan 1970) pp 88-135 httpwwwjstororgstable
1970602
[Ar74] M Artin Versal Deformations and Algebraic Stacks Inventiones Math 27 165- 189
(1974) httpmathuchicagoedu~drinfeldArtin_on_stackspdf
[A74rsquo] M Artin Algebraic construction of Brieskornrsquos resolutions J Alg Vol 29 Issue
2 May 1974 pp 330-348 httpwwwsciencedirectcomsciencearticlepii
0021869374901021
[BB72] P Baum R Bott Singularities of holomorphic foliations J Diff Geom 7 (1972)
279-342 httpsprojecteuclidorgdownloadpdf_1euclidjdg1214431158
[Bo77] F Bogomolov Families of curves on a surface of general type Doklady Akademii Nauk
USSR (in Russian) 236 (5) 1041-1044
[Bo78] F Bogomolov Holomorphic tensors and vector bundles on projective varieties Math
USSR Izv 13 (1978) 499-555
[BM16] F Bogomolov M McQuillan Rational Curves on Foliated Varieties In Cascini
McKernan Pereira (eds) Foliation Theory in Algebraic Geometry Simons Symposia
Springer Cham pp 21-51 (2016) httpslinkspringercomchapter101007
978-3-319-24460-0_2
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 63
[Bu] F Buonerba Functorial resolution of tame quotient singularities in positive charac-
teristic httpsarxivorgabs151100550
[Ke99] S Keel Basepoint Freeness for Nef and Big Line Bundles in Positive Characteris-
tic Annals of Math 149 No 1 (Jan 1999) pp 253-286 httpwwwjstororg
stable121025 httpsarxivorgabsmath9901149
[KM97] S Keel S Mori Quotients by groupoids Annals of Math 145 (1997) pp
193-213 httpwwwjstororgstable2951828seq=1page_scan_tab_contents
httparxivorgabsalg-geom9508012
[Ko17] J Kollar Families of varieties of general type httpswebmathprincetonedu
~kollarbookmodbook20170720pdf
[LN02] A Lins Neto Some examples for the Poincare and Painleve problems Annales sci-
entifiques de lrsquoENS 352 (2002) 231-266 httparchivenumdamorgarticle
ASENS_2002_4_35_2_231_0pdf
[McQ12] M McQuillan Foliated Mori Theory amp Hyperbolicity of Algebraic Surfaces http
wwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillahomehtml
[McQ98] M McQuillan Diophantine approximation and foliations Inst Hautes Etudes Sci
Publ Math 87 (1998) 121-174 httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafiles
ihespdf
[McQ05rsquo] M McQuillan Bloch hyperbolicity preprint httpwwwmatuniroma2it
~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ05] M McQuillan Semi-stable reduction of foliations IHES pre-print IHESM0502
(2005) httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ05rdquo] M McQuillan Uniform Uniformisation IHES pre-print (2005) IHES M0503 http
wwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ08] M McQuillan Canonical models of foliations Pure Appl Math Q 4
(2008) no 3 Special Issue In honor of Fedor Bogomolov Part 2 877-1012
httpintlpresscomsitepubfiles_fulltextjournalspamq20080004
0003PAMQ-2008-0004-0003-a009pdf
[MP13] M McQuillan D Panazzolo Almost etale resolution of foliations J Diff Geom 95
(2013) pp 279-319 httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesmp1bispdf
[Pe02] JV Pereira On the Poincare Problem for Foliations of General Type Mathematische
Annalen 323 no 2 pp217-226 2002 httpsarxivorgabsmath0104185
[PS16] JV Pereira R Svaldi Effective algebraic integration in bounded genus preprint
httpsarxivorgabs161206932
64 FEDERICO BUONERBA
[Re83] M Reid Minimal models of canonical threefolds in rdquoAlgebraic Varieties and Ana-
lytic Varietiesrdquo Adv Stud Pure Math vol 1 S Iitaka ed Kinokuniya and North-
Holland 1983 pp 131-180 httpwwwmathsedacukcheltsovquotientpdf
reid2pdf
[Se67] A Seidenberg Reduction of singularities of the differential equation Ady = Bdx Amer
J Math 89 (1967) 248-269 httpwwwjstororgstable2373435
[SB83] N Shepherd-Barron Degenerations with numerically effective canonical divisor The
Birational Geometry of Degenerations (R Friedman and D Morrison eds) Progr
Math no 29 Birkhuser 1983 pp 33-84
[Vis89] A Vistoli Intersection theory on algebraic stacks and on their moduli spaces
Invent Math (1989) pp 613-670 httplinkspringercomarticle101007
2FBF01388892page-1
Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences New York University 251 Mercer
Street New York NY 10012 USA
E-mail address buonerbacimsnyuedu
- I Introduction
- II Preliminaries
-
- III Operations on Deligne-Mumford stacks
- IIII Width of embedded parabolic champs
- IIIII Gorenstein foliation singularities
- IIIV Foliated adjunction
- IIV Canonical models of foliated surfaces with canonical singularities
- IIVI Canonical models of foliated surfaces with log-canonical singularities
- IIVII Set-up
-
- III Invariant curves and singularities local description
-
- IIII `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F) not isolated
- IIIII `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F) isolated
- IIIIII Local consequences
-
- IV Invariant curves along which KF vanishes
-
- IVI KF-nil curves
- IVII Invariant curves inside `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F)
-
- V Configurations
-
- VI Configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
- VII Configurations of non-rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
-
- VI Contractions and proof of the Main Theorem
- VII Moduli space of foliated surfaces of general type
- References
-
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 29
(b) The fiber has two components xy = 0 hence λ = minus1 and g isin (xy z)
the restriction to y = 0 is part|(y=0) = x partpartx
+g|(y=0)partpartz
and necessarily g|(y=0)
is non-vanishing Therefore the restriction to either components is satu-
rated and the singularity is a canonical saddle-node on each of them
The invariant curves are among the axes x = y = 0 x = z = 0 y = z =
0
(c) The fiber has three components xyz = 0 hence λ = minus1 Necessarily
k = xklowast f = yf lowast g = zglowast with klowast + f lowast + glowast = 0 The restriction to
y = 0 is part|(y=0) = x(1 + klowast|(y=0))partpartx
+ zglowast|(y=0)partpartz
since g isin (x y) we have
glowast|(y=0) non-trivial Therefore the restriction to either x = 0 and y = 0
is saturated and the singularity is a canonical saddle-node on each of
them
The restriction to z = 0 is part|(z=0) = x(1 + klowast|(z=0))partpartx
+ y(minus1 + f lowast|(z=0))partparty
therefore the restriction is saturated and has a canonical non-degenerate
singularity
The invariant curves are among the axes x = y = 0 x = z = 0 y = z =
0
Summary with 2 eigenvalues there are either two or three components the
foliation restricts to a canonical saddle-node on two of them and to a non-
degenerate singularity on the third one if it exists All the invariant curves
are in the axes
i (3) partS has three eigenvalues We have partS = x partpartx
+ λy partparty
+ microz partpartz
(a) The fiber has one component y = 0 hence λ = 0 a contradiction
(b) The fiber has two components xy = 0 hence λ = minus1 The restriction to
y = 0 is part|(y=0) = x partpartx
+ microz partpartz
+ partN|(y=0) The singularity is log-canonical
30 FEDERICO BUONERBA
iff micro isin Qgt0 and partN|(y=0)= 0 and in this case the singularity on x = 0 is
canonical non-degenerate Invariant curves are those in y = 0 and the
axis x = z = 0
If the restriction to both fiber components is canonical then it non-
degenerate on both and the invariant curves are contained in the axes
x = y = 0 x = z = 0 y = z = 0
The fiber could be yz = 0 hence λ+micro = 0 It can be analyzed as in the
next item
(c) The fiber has three components xyz = 0 hence 1 + λ + micro = 0 In par-
ticular if λ = cmicro c isin Q+ then λ micro isin Q The restriction to y = 0
is part|(y=0) = x partpartx
+ microz partpartz
+ partN|(y=0) This singularity is log-canonical iff
micro isin Qgt0 and partN|(y=0)= 0 in which case the singularity on both x = 0
and z = 0 is canonical non-degenerate In particular if the singularity
is log-canonical on some fiber component then it is so on exactly one
component and all eigenvalues are rational Invariant curves are those
in y = 0 and the axis x = z = 0
If the restriction to all fiber components is canonical then it non-degenerate
on each of them and the invariant curves are contained in the axes
x = y = 0 x = z = 0 y = z = 0
Summary with 3 eigenvalues there are either two or three fiber components
the foliation restricts to a singular foliation on each of them and it has a
log-canonical singularity on at most one of them in this case all eigenvalues
of the semi-simple field are rational
IIIIII Local consequences We list some corollaries for future reference As al-
ways in this section the statements are local so everything happens in a formal
neighborhood of our point lowast First we state those corollaries we will need to describe
configurations of KF -nil curves
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 31
Definition IIIIII1 An LC-center Π sub X is an irreducible F -invariant formal
hypersurface such that the local vector field generating the foliation when restricted
to Π has semi-simple part with log-canonical singularity or a one-dimensional sin-
gular locus An LC-center with a log-canonical singularity is necessarily an algebraic
component of the singular fiber of p
Corollary IIIIII2 There is at most one LC-center with a log-canonical singularity
through lowast If it exists then all eigenvalues of the semi-simple field at lowast are rational
If there are at least two LC-centers through lowast then there are exactly two and the
foliation singularity is a smooth curve on each of them
Proof Possible cases in which an LC-center with log-canonical singularities appears
ni (2)a i (3)b i (3)c
Corollary IIIIII3 If there is no LC-center thorugh a point lowast then there are at
most three invariant curves through lowast all smooth Any number of them spans a sub-
space of the tangent space at lowast of maximal possible dimension
If there is an LC-center through lowast then there is at most one invariant curve through
lowast and not contained in the LC-center
If there is an LC-center with non-isolated singularity then the singularity is smooth
and all invariant curves contained in the LC-center intersect the singularity trans-
versely
Proof Invariant curves not in an LC-centers with log-canonical singularities are con-
tained in the three axes x = z = 0 x = y = 0 y = z = 0 mentioned in the above
classification The other statements are clear
Corollary IIIIII4 If p is smooth at lowast then Z is one dimensional around lowast
Proof Possible casesni (1)a ni (2)a
In particular if there is no LC-center the situation is the familiary
xz
32 FEDERICO BUONERBA
While if there is an LC-center (pink) with log-canonical singularity it will look like
y
LC-center
While if there is an LC-center with non-isolated singularity (red) it will look like
(the black arrows being invariant curves)
y
LC-center
The next corollary describes one-dimensional components of the foliation singularity
Corollary IIIIII5 If Z0 is a one-dimensional irreducible component of the folia-
tion singularity then it is at worst nodal The foliation when restricted to any fiber
component containing Z0 saturates to a smooth foliation in a neighborhood of Z0
and all the invariant curves are transverse to Z0
If Z0 is contained in exactly one fiber component then the semi-simple field has one
eigenvalue everywhere along Z0
If Z0 lies at the intersection of two fiber components then the semi-simple field has
two constant eigenvalues everywhere along Z0
Moreover if there exist a sequence of invariant curves converging in the compact-
open topology to Z0 then there is generically one eigenvalue along Z0
Proof Possible casesni (1)a ni (1)b ni (2)b ni (2)c Concerning the one-
eigenvalue case invariant curves converging to Z0 can be found in the formal hyper-
surface x = 0
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 33
IV Invariant curves along which KF vanishes
In this section we study in great detail a formal neighborhood of invariant curves
where KF is numerically trivial In the first subsection we deal with KF -nil curves
namely those whose generic point is not contained in the foliation singularity In this
case the normal bundle to the curve determines its formal neighborhood uniquely
and this has plenty of amazing consequences In the second subsection we study
those invariant curves which are contained in the foliation singularity In this case
we are not able to control the full formal neighborhood but important informations
can still be obtained
IVI KF -nil curves In this subsection we study in detail the structure of KF -
nil curves and their formal neighborhoods appearing in the set-up IIVII4 In
particular we will describe a simple process to replace cuspidal KF -nil curves by
net ones prove that the foliation is in the net completion around a net KF -nil curve
defined by a global vector field which admits a global Jordan decomposition deduce
that eigenfunctions for the semi-simple component of such field are also globally
defined on a formal neighborhood
The first important remark is of technical nature and explains how to deal with non-
net KF -nil curves By Proposition IIIV4 this is indeed possible and the images of
such curves will acquire cusp-like singularities It is hard to analyze the geometry
of F around such cuspidal curves and therefore necessary to remove them Let us
assume that C is simply connected with rational moduli f is ramified at 0 isin C
and and denote by X the formal completion along f(C) Then formally around
f(0) the curve f(C) has defining ideal (y xa minus zb) where y = 0 is a fiber of the
fibration p X rarr ∆ containing f(C) x z isin H0(X OX ) restrict to suitable local
coordinates on such fiber and a b ge 2 are coprime integers
Claim IVI1 Let r X ( aradicz = 0) rarr X be the a-th root of z = 0 III3 Then
(rlowastC)norm =∐a
1 C and the induced map rlowastf (rlowastC)norm rarrX ( aradicz = 0) is net
Proof Since r is etale away from z = 0 also rlowastC rarr C is etale away from 0 isin C
Since C 0 is simply connected we have rlowastC rminus1(0) =∐a
1 C 0 This proves
34 FEDERICO BUONERBA
the first statement Let ζ be a function on X ( aradicz = 0) such that ζa = z so then
rlowast(xa minus zb) =prod
ηa=1(x minus ηζb) Every branch is net in 0 and we obtain the second
statement as well
As such upon taking roots we can replace non-net KF -nil invariant curves with
rational moduli by net ones
We now proceed to study net KF -nil curves We will show that the foliation is
defined by a global vector field around a net KF -nil curve with rational moduli and
that such vector field admits a global Jordan decomposition
Proposition IVI2 Notation as in the set-up IIVII4 let f C rarrX be a KF -nil
curve Assume that f is net and let j C rarr C be the net completion along f Then
there exists an isomorphism
(16) OC(KF )simminusrarr OC
In particular there exists a global vector field partf on C that generates F
Proof Since C has rational moduli and is simply connected it has infinite-cyclic
Picard group and we have an isomorphism
(17) OC(KF )simminusrarr OC
Moreover we have a non-canonical splitting of the normal bundle Njsimminusrarr O(minusn) oplus
O(minusm) and we claim that both nm ge 0 Indeed consider the induced semi-stable
fibration C rarr ∆ and let F be the normalization of an irreducible component of a
fiber such that C sub F Consider the exact sequence
(18) 0rarr NCF rarr Nj rarr NFC|C rarr 0
Since KF is nef NCF is not ample since F is a fiber of a fibration also NFC|C is
not ample and this is enough to conclude even though nm may be different from
the degrees of such normal bundles
At this point we can lift the isomorphism 17 over infinitesimal neighborhoods of j
Indeed for every k ge 0 we have an exact sequence
(19) 0rarr Symk ICI2C rarr OCk+1
(KF )rarr OCk(KF )rarr 0
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 35
which shows that the obstruction to lifting the isomorphism lies in
(20) H1(C Symk ICI2C) = H1(C Symk(O(n)oplus O(m))) = 0
From this we can deduce
Proposition IVI3 The vector field partf admits a Jordan decomposition uniformly
along C
Proof The cohomology sequence attached to 19 is
(21) 0rarr H0(C Symk ICI2C)rarr H0(COCk+1
)rarr H0(COCk)rarr 0
Let partk+1 denote the image of partf in End(H0(COCk+1)) Looking at
H0(COCk+1) minusminusminusrarr H0(COCk
)
partk+1
y partk
yH0(COCk+1
) minusminusminusrarr H0(COCk)
we see the canonical Jordan deomposition of partk+1 restricts to that of partk
The above result describes a very useful interplay between normal bundles to
KF -nil curves and the structure of the semi-simple field It turns out that these
informations determine formal neighborhoods uniquely For simplicity let C be
an irreducible component of C without orbifold points Let us assume that part|C is
singular in 0infin Then there exist formal functions x y z at 0 isin C and ξ η ζ at
infin isin C such that x ξ are coordinates along C y η are local sections of OC(minusn)
so η = xny mod(I2C) z ζ are local sections of OC(minusm) so ζ = xmz mod(I2C)
Normalizing so that xminus1partS(x) = ε isin 0 1 we obtain
(22) part0S = εxpart
partx+ λy
part
party+ microz
part
partz partinfinS = minusεξ part
partξ+ (λ+ εn)η
part
partη+ (micro+ εm)ζ
part
partζ
More generally ie C = P1(d e) we have glueing rules x = te ξ = tminusd η = tny and
ζ = tmz mod(I2C) Normalizing so that tminus1partS(t) = ε isin 0 1 we obtain
(23) part0S = eεxpart
partx+ λy
part
party+ microz
part
partz partinfinS = minusdεξ part
partξ+ (λ+ εn)η
part
partη+ (micro+ εm)ζ
part
partζ
36 FEDERICO BUONERBA
It is worth remarking that the above relations hold between eigenvalues at the two
singular point of singular ie nodal or cuspidal KF -nil curves as well this is
easily seen by taking a root followed by net completion and keeping track of the
eigenvalues
Definition IVI4 Let C be a KF -nil curve The foliation singular points along C
are called ends
As well as the existence of Hilbert scheme in the following form
Fact IVI5 Let W sub Xlowast be a curve and D a divisor in the formal neighborhood
of W such that W = D capXlowast scheme-theoretically Then W moves in D
In what follows our main concern is to understand formal neighborhoods of KF -
nil curves Observe that the fibration p when restricted to the formal neighborhood
of such curves provides at least one eigenfunction of the semi-simple field Hence
in order to compute the width IIII we must study the behavior of the other eigen-
function on infinitesimal neighborhoods We first describe the situation inside the
smooth locus of p
Proposition IVI6 (Smooth fiber) Let f C rarrX be an irreducible KF -nil curve
which is contained in the smooth locus of a fiber Xlowast of p Then the end(s) on C are
flat over ∆ ni (1)b and ni (1)a with z2|g(y z) and C moves in a family flat over
∆
Proof Let us assume that f is net Then upon passing to net completion we can
actually assume it is embedded From our local classification of singularities we case
in case ni (1)a and ni (2)a We want to show that both ends have components
that move transversely to p hence we have to exclude case ni (1)a with g(y z) = ya
By way of contradiction say we have g(y z) = ya in the notation of opcit around
an end lowast isin C We proceed to compute what happens at the other end we find
formal coordinates ξ η ζ which by equation 23 satisfy
(24) ξ = xminus1 η = y ζ = xmz mod(I2C)
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 37
As such we compute part(ζ) = mζ + ξminusmηa mod(I2C) which is holomorphic if and only
if m le 0 so then C moves in Xlowast contradicting that the foliation has general type
Hence we are in cases ni (1)a ni (2)a with g = microyazb b ge 1
(25) part0 = xpart
partx+ microyazb
part
partz partinfin = minusξ part
partξ+ ζ(m+ microξm(bminus1)ηaζbminus1)
part
partζ(mod(I2C))
Following notation from subsection IIII observe that C1 is the section of E1C which
is disjoint from the proper transform of the fiber of p In coordinates over 0
(26) x1 = x y1 = y z1 = zyminus1
And similarly over infin Using the previous equation and 25 on C1 we find
(27)
part01 = x1part
partx1+microya+bminus11 zb1
part
partz1 partinfin1 = minusξ1
part
partξ1+ζ1(m+microξ
m(bminus1)1 ηa+bminus11 ζbminus11 )
part
partζ1(mod(I2C1
))
In particular the transform of the nilpotent field is still nilpotent after blowing up in
C It follows that the eigenvalues of the semi-simple field at the two ends of C and
C1 are the same Using equation 23 we deduce that the normal bundle to C1X1 to
isomorphic to that of CX in particular it contains a trivial direct summand This
proves that width(C) =infin
Next we show that f must be net Consider the induced flat projection pD D rarr ∆
its general fiber cannot be a cuspidal curve since along such cusp the foliation sin-
gularity would be log-canonical but not canonical Hence if C has a cusp necessarily
the general fiber of pD is a nodal curve Let X rarr X denote the blow up of the
nodal locus of pD with exceptional divisor E ruled over ∆ In a neighborhood of E
we have sing(F ) = D cap E which projects to ∆ as a double cover ramified over lowastObserve that the foliation on Xlowast is again log-canonical and not canonical hence its
local structure is ni (2)a In that case however p is unramified along the foliation
singularity Contradiction
We state a general criterion for movability of KF -nil curves
Proposition IVI7 Let C be a connected KF -nil curve such that p(C ) = lowast isin ∆
Assume its dual graph is a chain that none of its irreducible components is double
38 FEDERICO BUONERBA
VI3 and that its two extremal ends are flat over ∆ Then C moves in a family flat
over ∆ and each of its irreducible components is embedded
Proof We work in a formal neighborhood of C After taking roots we can assume
C is net and since its dual graph is a chain it is actually embedded We proceed by
induction on its length l where the case l = 1 is Proposition IVI6 For l gt 1 let C1
be a component of C which is extremal in its dual graph If C1 moves transversely
to p then both its ends do and hence we can apply the induction hypothesis to
C C1 If C1 is rigid then it can be flopped It is straightforward to check that we
can apply the induction hypothesis to the transform C + C+1 and we are done
Now we deal with rigid curves inside the singular fiber
Proposition IVI8 (Singular fiber) Let f C rarr X be an embedded net KF -
nil curve with anti-ample normal bundle Then there exists a birational map φ
(X F ) 99K (X +F+) and a KF+-nil curve C+ such that
bull φ is an isomorphism away from C+
bull In a formal neighborhood of at least one among C and C+ there exist two
invariant hypersurfaces D1D2 locally defined by the vanishing of eigenfunc-
tions of the semi-simple field such that C (resp C+)= D1 capD2
bull If F middot C lt 0 for some hypersurface F then F+ middot C+ gt 0 In particular X +
is projective
Such φ is called flop
Proof Our assumption is that Nfsimminusrarr O(minusn)oplusO(minusm) is anti-ample namely nm gt
0 If two invariant hypersurfaces as in our statement do exist around C the flop is
easily constructed as a weighted blow-up followed by a weighted blow-down As such
let us assume that such hypersurfaces do not exist around C In particular C is not
double VI3 By [Ar70] there exists a formal contraction c X rarrX0 collapsing C
to a point and an isomorphism everywhere else By Proposition IVI3 the foliation
F0 is Gorenstein around the node of X0 For ease of exposition let us assume
n = m = 1 the general case is handled the same way only the notation becomes more
cumbersome due to the presence of weights The node has embedding dimension 4
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 39
and in suitable local coordinates x0 y0 w0 z0 can be defined by x0z0minusy0w0 = 0 The
morphism c can be identified with the blow up of the embedded surface (x0 = y0 = 0)
Explicitly in the chart y = y0 x = x0yminus10 it is defined by
(28) y0 = y x0 = xy z0 = zprime w0 = xzprime
Here x is a coordinate along C while y = 0 is the pull-back of (x0 = y0 = 0) and
zprime some function in the normal bundle to C By the previous Proposition IVI6
we know C cannot be contained in the smooth locus of p Since C is not double
we can assume that in this local chart p is defined by (x y zprime) rarr xy - the case
(x y zprime) rarr xzprime being isomorphic as it is isomorphic to blow-up (z0 = w0 = 0)
instead of (x0 = y0 = 0) The issue is as emphasized by the notation zprime 6= z that
zprime may fail to be an eigenfunction for partS if it were we would be done since zprime = 0
is the local equation for the global pullback of (z0 = w0 = 0) However we have
a b isin C such that
(29) partS0(y0) = minusy0 partS0(x0) = 0 partS0(z0) = ay0 + bz0 partS0(w0) = ax0 + (b+ 1)w0
Observe that the embedded surfaces D01 = (y0 = z0 = 0) and D0
2 = (x0 = w0 = 0)
are both foliation invariant As such let b X + rarr X0 denote the blow-up of X0
along D01 - which is isomorphic to that along D0
2 - and let Di = blowastD0i i = 1 2
Finally X + is projective by Nakai-Moishezon Indeed every C with anti-ample
normal bundle is contained in an irreducible component F of X0 such that F middotC lt 0
Then F+ middot C+ gt 0 and we can find an ample divisor of the form H+ + εF+ where
H+ is the proper transform of an ample on X
Remark IVI9 In the previous proof a 6= b+ 1 Indeed such identity would create
a non-trivial Jordan block of partS0 in the (x0 w0)-plane thus contradicting the semi-
simplicity of partS0 In particular by a straightforward computation it is impossible to
find eigenfunctions of the form wlowast0 = w0 + αx0 zlowast0 = z0 + βy0 with x0z
lowast0 minus y0wlowast0 = 0
unless a = 0
We can conclude by pointing out an important point understood in this section
A painful aspect of the theory is that log-canonical singularities which appear natu-
rally as analytic degenerations of canonical ones come along with cuspidal invariant
40 FEDERICO BUONERBA
curves There is in particular no a-priori obstruction to the existence of rigid
cuspidal KF -nil curves in a smooth fiber of our family of foliated surfaces p Quite
generally a rigid curve of positive arithmetic genus in a smooth family of surfaces can
never be contracted to a point Therefore this would have been a counter-example
to any reasonable foliated canonical model theory one may wish to achieve Fortu-
nately such phenomenon does not happen and this establishes the Main Theorem I
modulo finitely many rigid curves confined in the singular fiber X0
IVII Invariant curves inside sing(F ) In this subsection we study curves Z0 subeXlowast cap sing(F ) which are inside the foliation singularity and invariant By this we
mean that there exists a sequence fn Cn rarrX of not necessarily algebraic invariant
curves converging in the compact-open topology to Z0 In other words the map
(30) NorF rarr Ω1Z0
is trivial By Corollary IIIIII5 we know that Z0 is at worst nodal it is smooth
wherever p is smooth for every point z isin Z0 the semi-simple part of the gener-
ating vector field has exactly one eigenvalue The problem here is that the Jordan
decomposition need not extend uniformly along Z0 not even along an irreducible
component In case ni (1)a the functions x and g may develop essential singulari-
ties arbitrary close to z Nonetheless the function x is unique and this says that x
does extend along Z0
Proposition IVII1 Let Z0 be as above Then in a formal neighborhood of Z0
there exists a unique smooth invariant hypersurface D0 containing Z0 which restricts
around any point in Z0 to the unique eigenfunction for the semi-simple field whose
eigenvalue is non-zero
Proof The local structure of the foliation around a point z isin Z0 is described by
cases ni (1)a and ni (1)b In both cases partS has one non-zero eigenvalue with
eigenfunction x Such eigenfunction x is a-priori only defined in the normal bundle to
Z0 but it is clear that the equation partx = x has a unique up to constants solution in
the formal completion around z As such there exists a unique smooth hypersurface
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 41
D0 in the formal completion around Z0 which restricts to the eigenfunction x around
z
Observe that the previous argument goes through since we are assuming Z0 subX0
Keeping notations from case ni (1)a if say g(y z) = yz then in the hypersurface
y equiv q isin Qgt0 the foliation has a log-canonical singularity and the eigenfunction x
extends highly non-uniquely to a formal neighborhood of the point (x y z) = (0 q 0)
In particular the existence of D0 as in the previous Proposition might fail along
the component (x = z = 0) of the foliation singularity This phenomenon is called
the beast
Anyway uniqueness in the previous proposition yields
Corollary IVII2 Let Z prime be a connected invariant curve inside sing(F ) Then in
a formal neighborhood of Z prime there exists a unique smooth invariant hypersurface D prime
containing Z prime which restricts around any point in Z prime to the hypersurface constructed
in the previous proposition
Next we turn to the intrinsic structure of invariant singular curves
Proposition IVII3 Let Z0 be an irreducible invariant curve inside sing(F )
Then Z0 is smooth and rational
Proof We work in a formal neighborhood of Z0 Let F0 denote the unique component
of X0 containing Z0 For any other fiber component F intersecting Z0 non-trivially
blow-up the invariant curve F cap F0 with exceptional divisor EF A straightforward
computation using the local formula ni (1)b shows that the fiber of the natural
projection EF rarr F cap F0 intersecting Z0 is also contained in sing(F ) For Z prime the
maximal connected singular invariant curve containing Z0 let G denote the saturated
foliation induced on D prime It is canonical with reduced singularities and it satisfies
KG = KF |Dprime minus Zprime By adjunction
(31) 2g(Z0)minus 2 + sZG(Z0) = minusZ prime middot Z0
Observe that thanks to our initial sequence of blow-ups the singularities of G along
Z0 coincide with the intersection of Z0 and Z prime Z0 In particular since D prime is formally
42 FEDERICO BUONERBA
flat over ∆ we deduce Z prime middot Z0 = 0 and the previous formula becomes
(32) 2g(Z0)minus 2 + sZG(Z0) = 0
This implies that Z0 is rational or elliptic If Z0 were elliptic then sZG(Z0) = 0 and
D0 defines an invariant elliptic curve in the general fiber of p By Baum-Bott this
contradicts that KF is big and nef Now we show that Z0 is smooth If it has a node
then D0 moves it in a family of nodal rational curves flat over ∆ In particular D0
itself has a node in codimension 1 hence Xlowast is smooth around the node of Z0 In its
formal neighborhood the foliation must be as in case ni (1)a which implies that
Z0 is smooth contradiction
We can improve as follows
Proposition IVII4 Let Z prime sube sing F capXlowast be a connected invariant curve with
KF middot Z prime = 0 Then its dual graph is a chain
Proof Assume Z prime is a cycle Then necessarily Z prime = D prime capXlowast scheme-theoretically
and by the existence of Hilbert scheme Z prime moves in the general fiber Its general
member is either a cycle of smooth rational curves or an elliptic curve Arguing as
in the previous proof we see that both options are impossible
V Configurations
In this section we analyze in great detail all possible configurations of invariant
curves along which KF vanishes These can be divided into three groups those
that do not move those that move in a one-dimensional family covering a surface
those that move in a higher-dimensional family covering a surface Curves in the first
group can form rather complicated configurations while those in the second group
are more simple they either move in the general fiber or they cover an isolated
Riccati component in the singular fiber Those in the third group turn out to be
represented by the two rulings of P1timesP1 if they happen to be cohomologous in the
ambient stack First we will analyze rigid curves then those which move and finally
we will describe their configurations
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 43
VI Configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially In
this subsection we describe configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF
trivially which arise in the situation described by set-up IIVII4
First we focus on KF -nil curves At the end of the section we deal with the simpler
case in which a curve in the configuration is fully contained in sing(F ) The general
fiber was handled in Proposition IVI6
Proposition VI1 Let C be a connected KF -nil curve contained in the smooth
locus of a fiber of p Then it is a chain or a cycle and it moves in a family flat over
∆
In what follows we let C denote a connected KF -nil curve contained in the
singular fiber X0 all of whose sub-curves are rigid in X Observe a consequence of
equation 23
Proposition VI2 Let C = cupiCi be a connected KF -nil curve Then the eigen-
values of partS are all rational at every point of sing(F )capC if and only if they are all
rational at one point
We can deduce many non-trivial properties about configurations of KF -nil curves
First we need
Definition VI3 Let C subX0 be a curve It is called double if there exists formally
around C two components F F prime of X0 such that C = F cap F prime A point lowast isin C where
three fiber components intersect is called a triple point If C lies on exactly one fiber
component it is called non-double We denote by F (C) such component
Remark VI4 Let Csimminusrarr P1(d e) be double with two triple points Then we know
e+ λ+ micro = minusd+ (λ+ n) + (micro+m) = 0 whence we obtain
(33) n+m = d+ e
Which is called triple-point formula
Next we show that essentially KF -nil curves do not form cycles unless something
deforms in X0 First we show that there are no cycles of rigid non-double curves
44 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proposition VI5 Let C be a connected KF -nil curve contained in the singular
fiber X0 of p Assume that every component of C is non-double and that every
sub-curve is rigid Then C contains no cycles
Proof We work in a formal neighborhood of C which we assume is a cycle Let
us first consider the case in which all components C1 middot middot middot CN are smooth with no
orbifold points and denote lowasti = Ci cap Ci+1 with CN+1 = C1 Moreover let us
assume no lowasti lies in the smooth locus of p
Since no curve is double the semi-simple field at every lowasti is as in case i (3)b in
particular the eigenvalues along the branches of Ci and Ci+1 add up to zero More-
over let minusni denote the self-intersection of Ci sub F (Ci) Normalize the eigenvalues
of partS so that at lowastn they are 1 in the C1 direction minus1 in the CN direction λ in the
F (C1)capF (CN) direction It follows by induction that at lowasti the eigenvalues are minus1
in the Ci direction 1 in the Ci+1 direction λ+ n1 + middot middot middot+ ni in the F (Ci) cap F (Ci+1)
direction After traveling around the cycle we obtain n1+middot middot middot+nN = 0 contradicting
that ni gt 0 for every i
We established the Proposition assuming every Ci is an embedded scheme and ev-
ery lowasti is in the singular locus of p The case in which Cisimminusrarr P1(di ei) has orbifold
points is analogous we end up with a combination c1n1 + middot middot middot + cNnN = 0 with ci
the eigenvalue at lowasti in the Ci+1 direction Normalizing so that c1 = e1 gt 0 again by
induction on i we see that every ci isin Qgt0 Next we show that our assumption on lowastiis always satisfied
Claim VI6 Every lowasti must belong to the singular locus of p
Proof We give two essentially equivalent proofs
bull If N = 2 3 then the previous argument goes through indeed we can normal-
ize eigenvalues at lowasti to be negative in the Ciminus1 direction and positive in the
Ci-direction and argue as above Hence we can assume N ge 4 If say lowasti is in
the smooth locus of p then F (Ci) = F (Ci+1) If also F (Ciminus1) = F (Ci) then Ci
lies in the smooth locus of p and hence it moves Therefore F (Ciminus1) 6= F (Ci)
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 45
and Ciminus1 can be flopped inside F (Ci) Since N ge 4 this preserves the smooth-
ness of F (Ci) and Ci is now is the smooth locus of p - contradiction
bull If lowasti belongs to the smooth locus of p then the end through lowasti moves We
can form a partial net completion fi Xi rarrX by normalizing C in lowasti only
Then f lowasti C is a chain with movable ends and hence moves in the general fiber
of p fi
Finally the general case in which some among the Ci have cusps can be easily
reduced to the smooth case in a couple of ways
bull Eigenvalues at the singularities of any KF -nil curve satisfy the same relations
as in the smooth case
bull Upon taking roots and net completion we can find a foliated formal 3-fold
supported on a cycle of smooth KF -nil curves which is a ramified cover of a
formal neighborhood of our cycle
Similarly we can show that there are no rigid cycles of double curves
Proposition VI7 Let C be a nodal KF -nil curve which is double Then C
deforms inside X0 In particular there cannot exist a rigid cycle of KF -nil double
curves
Proof Following the previous notation we have 0 = infin and if C = (xy = z = 0)
around 0 then we have identities
(34) x = η y = ξ z = ζ
The last one of which implies m = 0 that is C deforms Since C is double necessarily
the surface it spans must be contained in X0
The statement about cycles follows since a cycle of double curves can be transformed
after finitely many flops into a chain of smooth double curves with a nodal one
attached at one end
46 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Later on we will show that the deformations of C cannot span an elliptic surface
but only a family of nodal rational curves with a special Riccati foliation on it
We are ready to organize a detailed description of the dual graph of C More pre-
cisely we only need to understand how double curves intersect non-double curves
Lemma VI8 There exists a sequence of flops X 99KX + such that if C + denotes
the transform of C every double curve supported on C + contains two triple points
Proof Let C sube C be an irreducible component with at most one triple point and
let X 99K X + be its flop Then its transform C+ is non-double and the number
of double curves contained in C descreases It is clear that after finitely many flops
all double curves contain exactly two triple points
From now on all double curves in C have two triple points Thanks to proposition
VI2 we know that there are two cases to consider those curves along which the
semi-simple field has not only rational eigenvalues and those along which the semi-
simple field has only rational eigenvalues The first case being strictly easier than
the second it is a good starting place to warm up
Proposition VI9 (irrational eigenvalues) Assume that for every foliation singu-
larity along C not all eigenvalues of partS are rational Then every component of C
is net with at most one node and 1-skeleton of its dual graph is at worst trivalent
Write C = C axes cup C free where
C axes is the union of double curves
C free is the union of non-double curves
Then one among C axes and C free is empty Moreover
bull If C free is non-empty then it is a chain of smooth curves with rational moduli
bull If C axes is non-empty there exists a sequence of flops X 99KX + and an ir-
reducible component of the fiber FC subX + such that X + is a smooth stack
the transform C+ of C is contained in FC Moreover the dual graph of C+
is a tree which by [McQ08 III32] becomes a chain inside the normalization
of FC
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 47
Proof The first sentence is just corollary IIIIII3
Observe that if a non-double curve intersects a double curve then the non-double
curve must be contained in an LC-center around such intersection This contradicts
that not all eigenvalues are rational and establishes that one among C axes and C free
is empty
In case C free is not empty then it is clearly a chain or a cycle the latter being
impossible by Proposition VI5
We are left to show the existence of flops in case C = C axes We remark that
every component is smooth Let C0 be such a component and S0 a component of
X0 containing it Let C1 be the collection of irreducible components of C which
intersect S0 but are not contained in it All the components of C1 are smooth hence
we can flop them in any order until the transform of C1 lies in the transform of S0
Since the number of irreducible components of C lying outside S0 decreases after
such flop by induction we deduce the existence of finitely many flops after which
the birational transform of C is fully contained in the transform of S0
Next we take care of rational eigenvalues The complication here arises from
the fact that there may be double and non-double curves intersecting each other
However the situation is best possible
Proposition VI10 (rational eigenvalues) Assume that for every foliation singu-
larity along C all eigenvalues of partS are rational Write C = C axes cup C free where
C axes is the union of double curves
C free is the union of non-double curves
Then there exists a sequence of flops X 99K X + and an irreducible component of
the fiber FC axes subX + such that
bull X + is a smooth stack
bull The union of double curves of C axes is contained in FC axes the 1-skeleton of
its dual graph is a tree and each of its components has two triple points
bull The 1-skeleton of the dual graph of the transform C free+ is a disjoint union of
trees
bull Each connected component of C free+ intersects C axes in exactly one point
48 FEDERICO BUONERBA
In particular the 1-skeleton of the dual graph of C is a tree
Proof Notice that for every point lowast isin C cap Z there exists one LC-center through lowastIndeed there are three rational eigenvalues and they cannot be all non-vanishing and
all with different signs at the same time Now C axes can be treated as in proposition
VI9 This proves the first two items of the statement The third item follows from
Proposition VI5 so we can focus on the fourth one The proof is based on the
following obvious
Remark VI11 let C be a double curve such that either it is KF -nil hence has
two triple points or it is fully contained in sing(F ) Let C0 sube C free intersect C
non-trivially in a point lowast then necessarily C0 sub LClowast
Now let C0 middot middot middot CN form a chain of non-double curves with C0 and CN both
intersecting double curves as in the remark Denote by lowasti = Ci cap Ci+1 Since
C1 sub LClowast necessarily C1 is transverse to LClowast1 otherwise C1 would deform in F (C1)
Inductively we see that Ci+1 sub LClowasti and is transverse to LClowasti+1 In particular CN
cannot touch a double curve This contradiction proves the fourth item
Let us add a remark about configurations featuring invariant curves inside sing(F )
Proposition VI12 Let C be an invariant curve with KF middot C = 0 such that
Z0 sube C for some component Z0 sube sing(F ) Then C = Z prime cup C where
Z prime is a connected invariant curve inside the foliation singularity with dual graph a
chain
C is the union of at most two pairwise disjoint KF -nil curves with anti-ample
normal bundle
If not empty C can only intersect Z prime at the two ends of its dual graph Moreover
perhaps after a flop the intersection of C with Z prime supports the foliation singularity
along C As such if C has two components Z prime cup C deforms in the general fiber
Proof The structure of Z prime is Proposition IVII3 while that of Co is Proposition
IVI6 Let C prime be a component of C intersecting Z0 in a point lowast If C prime and Z0 belong
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 49
to different components of X0 then by case ni (1)b the eigenvalue of partS along C prime
vanishes so supp(sing(F ) cap C prime) = lowast If C prime and Z0 belong to the same component
then we can flop C prime into a different component
Observe that the divisor D prime from op cit can be extended along C prime This implies
that C can only intersect Z prime at its ends Moreover if C touches both ends necessarily
D prime capX0 = C scheme-theoretically hence by the existence of Hilbert scheme IVI5
we conclude
Our new set-up is
Set-up VI13 Everything as in set-up IIVII4 and moreover for any connected
invariant curve C with KF middot C = 0 all of whose sub-curves are rigid we have
configurations computed in proposition VI9 VI10 and Lemma VI12
VII Configurations of non-rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
In this subsection we describe configurations of surfaces which are covered by KF -nil
curves The structure of each such surface is described by classification IIV1 IIV2
and Corollary IIVI17 Our first step is to simplify the situation by contracting
chains of ruled surfaces The next step is to try and exclude the possibility that
the singular fiber of p contains fibrations by elliptic or nodal rational curves with
at least one invariant fiber This can be achieved with good success indeed there
may be at most one such Riccati foliation which is anyway rather isolated from the
remaining KF -nil curves Finally we observe that the only class of surfaces we have
not mentioned is
Definition VII1 A irreducible component F of the singular fiber of p is called
small Kronecker if
bull (FFF ) is birational to a Kronecker vector field on P1 timesP1 and
bull The two rulings of this P1 timesP1 are cohomologous inside X
The name comes from the fact that contraction of a small Kronecker yields a node
in the ambient threefold which admits a small resolution In fact in many respects
these fiber components behave very much like rigid KF -nil curves
50 FEDERICO BUONERBA
We start by getting rid of some fiber components which are ruled by KF -nil gener-
ically smooth rational curves
Proposition VII2 Notation as in Set-up VI13 there exists a sequence of flops
and divisorial contractions c X 99KX + such that
bull X + is a smooth stack
bull let S+ sub X + be an irreducible invariant divisor that contains a positive-
dimensional family of invariant rational curves along which KF+ vanishes
Then S+ is either birationally ruled by nodal rational curves or it is a small
Kronecker
Proof We focus first on contracting components of the singular fiber of p Consider
the following algorithm If there is no birationally ruled component different from
the ones listed in the second item we are done otherwise pick one such F and let
C denote the general member of the ruling If the cohomology class [C] is inde-
composable F is minimal Otherwise [C] = [C1] + [C2] where Ci are rational and
intersect KF trivially After finitely many steps we have a decomposition as a finite
sum of indecomposables [C] =sumn
i=0 ni[Ci] where every Ci is rational intersects KF
trivially We have two cases
bull There exists k such that Ck deforms in a birationally ruled necessarily min-
imal surface Fk
bull Every Ci has anti-ample normal bundle
In the first case denote by X rarr X1 the contraction of Fk along |Ck| and relpace
X by X1 Since Fk is minimal smoothness of the ambient stack is preserved unless
Fk is a small Kronecker This is however impossible if n ge 2 if Fk were a small
Kronecker then Ck deforms away from Fkminus1 so then Fkminus1 middot Ck = 0 on the other
hand Fkminus1 intersects the other ruling of Fk positively
In the second case flop C1 middot middot middot Cn in this order The transform of F is minimal and
not a small Kronecker so it can be contracted along its ruling preserving ambient
smoothness By induction on the Picard rank of X after finitely many steps this
algorithm ends Call X the output of this algorithm
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 51
Let S subX be an invariant divisor with a generically smooth ruling Then pS S rarr∆ is flat and after flopping finitely many rational curves in S cap plowastS(0) the resulting
pS is smooth Hence we can contract S along pS After finitely many steps the
Proposition is proven
For ease of notation in the sequel we call X the output of the previous proposition
Notice that there might still be divisors carrying a pencil of nodal rational curves
both inside and outside the singular fiber of p
We can start analyzing configurations of fiber components where the restriction of
F is not of general type We need some notation whose reason to exist will be clear
shortly
Definition VII3 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
along which KF is not big F is called special Riccati if
bull F is minimal
bull There exists a morphism s F rarr B onto a curve whose fibers are nodal
rational curve
bull F is transverse to the general fiber of s in particular KF is numerically
trivial along s
bull At least one fiber of s is invariant
bull There exists a section σ of s which is invariant and does not coincide with
the nodal locus of F
In particular the intersections of σ with invariant fibers of s isolated singularities
of F the node of F all coincide There may be fibers of s fully contained in sing(F )
in which case they are everywhere transverse to the saturated foliation
The definition looks nasty but special Riccati components have a rather simple
origin as the following proof shows
Lemma VII4 Let F be special Riccati Up to base change by an etale double cover
Bprime rarr B there is a natural isomorphism F norm simminusrarr BprimetimesP1 and the restriction of F
to F norm is birational to the projection onto P1
52 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proof We work over the normalization F norm Denote by Bprime the pre-image of the
node of F which is an etale double cover of B and let f denote an invariant fiber
of s with lowast = σ cap f Observe that F norm carries a Riccati foliation with 3 invariant
curves through lowast - namely σ f and a component of Bprime Hence FF has a log-canonical
singularity in lowast On F norm perform a weighted blow-up in each log-canonical singu-
larity followed by the contraction of the transforms of the corresponding fibers Let
s+ F+ rarr B denote the output of this operation If the proper transform of Bprime is
connected replace F+ by its base change under Bprime rarr B Hence we can assume Bprime
is the disjoint union of two sections of s+ and the transform of σ is a third section
which is disjoint from Bprime Therefore F+ = P1 timesBprime and the foliation restricts to the
projection onto P1
Next we describe those surfaces which cannot appear as components of the sin-
gular fiber X0
Definition VII5 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
along which KF is not big F is called illusory if
bull there exists a morphism t F rarr B onto a curve
bull KF is trivial along t
bull For any other fiber component F prime the intersection F cap F prime is either empty or
contained in a fiber of t
We give examples of illusory fiber components
Lemma VII6 The following fiber components are necessarily illusory
bull t is elliptic the foliation is either parallel to t or turbolent with at least one
invariant fiber
bull t is a nodal ruling the foliation is either parallel to t or transverse to t with
at least one invariant fiber and not birational to a special Riccati VII3
Proof Let f = F cap F prime for some fiber component F prime It is F -invariant
Assume t and F are parallel and f is transverse to both Then necessarily f subesing(F ) and KF is positive along the fibers of t contradiction
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 53
Assume t and F are generically transverse and f is transverse to t Let e be an
invariant fiber of t then ecap f isin sing(F ) hence t must be a family of nodal rational
curves and ecapf coincides with the node of e - otherwise KF would be positive along
t But this implies F is special Riccati contradiction
We proceed to show that illusory fibers do not exist
Lemma VII7 Let F be an illusory fiber component then every fiber of t is irre-
ducible If F prime is any fiber component intersecting F non-trivially then F prime is illusory
Proof Assume t has a reducible fiber f Then we can write f = f prime cup f primeprime where f prime
is irreducible and f primeprime is a disjoint union of chains of rational curves In particular
every subscheme supported on f primeprime is rigid in X f prime is rational and smooth iff f is a
cycle of rational curves hence the foliation on F is parallel to t and the choice of f prime
is not unique otherwise f prime is nodal or elliptic Let X 99KX + denote the flop of the
irreducible components of f primeprime in any order The proper transform f prime+ (below in red)
is the irreducible fiber of the induced morphism t+ F+ rarr B Since f primeprime+ intersects
f prime+ and is not contained in F+ there exists a component F prime of the fiber of p+ such
that F+ cap f prime+ 6= empty Since F+ is illusory necessarily F+ cap F prime = f prime+ Moreover F+
and F prime are the only fiber components intersecting f prime+ again because F+ is illusory
We deduce that F+ middot f prime+ = F prime middot f prime+ = 0 and therefore f prime+ is nef inside F prime It follows
that he restriction of F+ to F prime is not of general type and by the classification of
foliated surfaces [McQ08] necessarily f prime+ deforms inside F prime and defines a fibration
u F prime rarr Bprime In particular f prime+ is an irreducible fiber of u This is however impossible
since u contracts all the components of f primeprime+ contained in F prime (below in blue) and by
definition of F prime there exists at least one such component This proves that every
fiber of t is irreducible The following depicts the situation
F prime F+
f prime+
f primeprime+
t+u
54 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Concerning the second statement we only need to check the third condition for F prime
to be illussory namely that every other fiber component F primeprime intersecting F prime does
so along the fibers of u If F primeprime intersects F prime transversely to u then F primeprime intersects F
non-trivially and transversely to t as well absurd
Corollary VII8 Illusory components do not exist
Proof By the above lemma the existence of one illusory component implies that
every irreducible component of the singular fiber of p is illusory contradicting that
KF is big
We can now focus on fiber components that do appear
Corollary VII9 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
containing an invariant curve C which moves and such that KF middot C = 0 Then
following the classification [McQ08] we have two cases
(1) The minimal model of F is a special Riccati component
(2) F is a small Kronecker
Proof Certainly the ones listed are the only cases where C is KF -nil We have to
exclude the possibility that C is invariant inside sing(F ) By Proposition IVII3
such C would be rational with at most one node Since we already contracted at
the beginning of the present subsection all ruled surfaces necessarily C is nodal
However by opcit C cannot intersect any other fiber component of X0 which
implies the absurdity that X0 = F
We proceed to show that special Riccati components are rather isolated in the
fiber
Lemma VII10 Let F be a special Riccati component If F prime is a fiber component
intersecting F non-trivially then it does so transversely to s Morover there is
exactly one such F prime
Proof After finitely many flops we can assume that every fiber of s is irreducible
By the non-existence of illusory components there exists a fiber component F lowast with
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 55
σprime = F cap F prime transverse to s If F primeprime is a fiber component with f = F cap F primeprime a fiber
of s then we claim f sube sing(F ) If not then since KF middot f = 0 and σprime is invariant
necessarily σprimecap f is the node of f But then the existence of F primeprime contradicts that p is
snc Hence f sube sing(F ) so then around the node of f there are 3 fiber components -
two branches coming from F one from F primeprime - and sing(F ) has 2 branches - namely f
This is impossible by our case analysis ni (1)c ni (2)c The very same reasoning
establishes the uniqueness of F prime
Lemma VII11 Let F be as in the previous Lemma If C is a connected curve
with KF middot C = 0 then it is disjoint from F
Proof After finitely many flops s is irreducible and C intersects F transversely away
from its node Moreover lowast = C cap F isin sing(F ) and we deduce that the fiber of s
through lowast is fully contained in the singular locus of F This contradicts Proposition
IVII3 since such fiber is nodal
We conclude by observing the obvious
Lemma VII12 Let F be a small Kronecker Then there exists a contraction
c X rarr X prime which is an isomorphism away from F and contracts F along one
of its rulings Necessarily X prime is not projective since every global Cartier divisor
intersects c(F ) trivially On the other hand in a formal neighborhood of c(F ) there
exist Cartier divisors intersecting it non-trivialliy
As such the contribution coming from non-rigid curves is rather poor there are
curves moving in the general fiber there are special Riccati components disjoint from
any other invariant curve intersecting KF trivially there are small Kroneckers who
can be contracted to curves We shall see in the next section that the complications
arising from the contraction of such non-rigid curves is purely psychological and
totally harmless
56 FEDERICO BUONERBA
VI Contractions and proof of the Main Theorem
In this section we contract all invariant curves along which KF is zero thereby
establishing the existence of canonical models I First we contract non-rigid curves
as described in the previous subsection
bull Small Kroneckers along either ruling Albeit this destroys projectivity of
the ambient threefold there still exist Cartier divisors defined in a formal
neighborhood of the base curve that intersect it non-trivially
bull Families of irreducible nodal rational curves which are flat over ∆ This
creates elliptic singularities on the general fiber of p which are disjoint from
other invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
bull Special Riccati again families of irreducible nodal rational curves fully con-
tained in X0 This creates elliptic singularities disjoint from other invariant
curves intersecting KF trivially
We can summarize our situation by way of
Set-up VI1 X is a 3-dimensional DM stack with at worst elliptic singularities
F a foliation by curves with canonical singularities which is not Q-Cartier in a
neighborhood of Xsing
There exists a proper morphism p X rarr ∆ smooth off 0 isin ∆ F restricts to a
foliation on every fiber of p it has canonical singularities on the very general fiber
of p and log-canonical singularities on every fiber of p KF is big and nef on every
irreducible component of every fiber of p
Let C be the invariant sub-scheme along which KF is not big then C is a curve
fully contained in the smooth locus X0capXsmooth every sub-curve of C has anti-ample
normal bundle the 1-simplex of its dual graph is a tree and detailed configurations
of such are referenced in set-up VI13
We proceed to contract such C We assume that along C the semi-simple field has
only rational eigenvalues and moreover no component of C is inside the foliation
singularity The other two cases - irrational eigenvalues and presence of singular
component - are strictly easier and can be obtained with the very same method
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 57
The proof takes place in the formal completion around C = C free cup C axes The
former is a disjoint union of trees of non-double curves For each non-double C let
F (C) denote the unique component of X0 containing it The latter is a tree of double
curves each with two triple points all contained in the same irreducible FC axes Each
tree of non-double curves touches C axes in one point through a LC-center In order
to construct the contraction we will use Artinrsquos celebrated criterion in the following
form
Fact VI1 ([Ar70]) Let X be an irreducible algebraic space i Y rarr X a closed
subspace of pure codimension 1 and f Y rarr Y0 a proper morphism with flowastOY = OY0
Let X denote the formal completion of X along Y and assume there exists a Cartier
divisor D in X which is supported on Y and is f -anti-ample Then there exists a
proper morphism of algebraic spaces F X rarr X0 which is an isomorphism away
from Y and such that ilowastF = f
Now we use the tree structure of C to construct a suitable divisor to which apply
Artinrsquos theorem Namely consider the following inductive defintion
(35) C0 = C axes F0 = FC axes
For k ge 0 assume Ck Fk are defined
bull Let Ck+1 denote the union of irreducible components of C that intersect Fk
non-trivially but are not contained in cupilekFibull Let Fk+1 denote the reduced sum (
sumCsubeCk+1
F (C))red
This process stops with a collection C1 middot middot middotCN of curves and F1 middot middot middot FN of reduced
divisors
Lemma VI1 We have the following identities
(36)
Fk middot C lt 0 for every C sube Ck
(F0 + F1) middot C le 0 for every C sube C0
(Fkminus1 + Fk + Fk+1) middot C = 0 for every C sube Ck 1 lt k lt N
(FNminus1 + FN) middot C lt 0 for every C sube CN
58 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proof The first is just the fact that every component of C is rigid The remaining
three follow from X0 middot C = 0 but the last one requires further justification Indeed
if C sube CN N gt 0 then C is one end of a tree of non-double curves In particular
there exists a foliation singularity lowast isin C disjoint from any other component of
C and LClowast is transverse to C This implies LClowast middotC gt 0 which together with
(FNminus1 + FN + LClowast) middot C = 0 concludes the proof
Let ε1 middot middot middot εN isin Qgt0 and define
(37) F Nminusk = (1 + ε1 + middot middot middot+ εk)FNminusk
bull If C sube CN we have
(38) (F Nminus1 + F
N) middot C = ε1FNminus1 middot C + (FNminus1 + FN) middot C
bull If C sube CNminusk 1 lt k lt N we have
(39)
(F Nminuskminus1 + F
Nminusk + F Nminusk+1) middot C =
(1 + middot middot middot+ εk)(FNminuskminus1 + FNminusk + FNminusk+1) middot C minus εkFNminusk+1 middot C + εk+1FNminuskminus1 middot C =
minus εkFNminusk+1 middot C + εk+1FNminuskminus1 middot C
bull If C sube C0 we have
(40) (F 0 + F
1) middot C = εNF0 middot C + (Nminus1sumj=0
εj)(F0 + F1) middot C
It is clear that provided
(41) 1 gtgt ε1 gtgt middot middot middot gtgt εN
the divisor F =sumF k is negative along every component of C
This proves the existence of the contraction and concludes the proof of the Main
Theorem I
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 59
VII Moduli space of foliated surfaces of general type
In this section we study the modular variation of foliated surfaces of general type
The upshot is that it is possible to define a functor which is representable separated
and every irreducible component is proper The main issue here is that the supporting
surface of a foliated canonical model may well fail to be projective indeed KF is not
Q-Gorenstein in general Hence in order to proceed via standard methods [Ko17]
we have to parametrize our canonical models together with a suitable projective
resolution
Definition VII13 Let (SF ) be a foliated proper reduced purely 2-dimensional
DM stack Assume S has only normal crossing singularities in codimension 1 that
F has log-canonical foliation singularities and that KF is big and nef on at least
one of the irreducible components of S If whenever KF middot C = 0 for some curve C
then C moves in an irreducible component of S and no member of such deformation
is F -invariant then (SF ) is called foliated canonical model of general type
Clearly foliated canonical models are exactly the stable degenerations appearing
as the central fiber of our Main Theorem I Their lack of projectivity has two sources
namely the contraction of cycles of smooth KF -nil curves and of trees of cuspidal
ones Singularities arising from cycles behave well in families namely they always
deform into the general fiber Those arising from cuspidal curves on the other hand
tend to be rather isolated inside the degenerate fiber
Observe that the deformation theory of a foliated surface is rather simple suppose
given an infinitesimal C-algebras extension 0 rarr J rarr Ae rarr A rarr 0 and (SF )
a foliated surface flat over Spec(A) then the obstruction to lifting to Ae can be
understood in three simple steps
(1) Deformation of the underlying surface S once a deformation Se rarr Spec(Ae)
is given
(2) Deformation of the line bundle KF by the exponential sequence
(42) 0rarr J otimes OS rarr OlowastSerarr OlowastS rarr 0
obstructions lie in H2(SOS)otimes J once a deformation of KF is given
60 FEDERICO BUONERBA
(3) Deformation of the defining section OS rarr KF otimes TS obstructions lie in
H1(SKF otimes TS)otimes J
Now we have
Definition VII14 Let (SF ) be a foliated canonical model of general type A
proper birational morphism q (SF )proj rarr (SF ) is called its projective resolution
if
bull Every irreducible component of Sproj is smooth
bull The exceptional locus of q is a disjoint union of cycles of KFproj-nil smooth
curves and trees of KFproj-nil curves each of which has a non-trivial cuspidal
singularity
bull In a neighborhood of every q-exceptional cycle not only Sproj but also its
moduli space is smooth
We need a few remarks about projective resolutions
(1) Projective resolutions are always unique Indeed the only possible ambiguity
could lie in some extra smooth irreducible components in the exceptional
locus This is forbidden by definition in the trees of cuspidal curves it is
also forbidden by way of the third item in cycles of smooth ones ie on
algebraic surfaces the minimal resolution is unique
(2) Denote by E the collection of q-exceptional cycles Then there exist ε δ isinQgt0 such that KFproj
minus εE + δKSprojis ample by Nakai-Moishezon
(3) Deformations of a projective resolution of a foliated canonical model are
canonically identified with deformations of the underlying birational mor-
phism q Sproj rarr S followed by a deformation of the foliation F
We are now ready to construct a moduli functor for foliated surfaces more precisely
for projective resolutions of foliated canonical models of general type For m dN isinN and ε δ isin Qgt0 let
(43) MmdNεδ (C-schemes)rarr (sets)
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 61
be defined by MmdNεδ(S) = Diagrams
(44) (X F )projqminusrarr (X F )
pminusrarr S
Where
bull Both p and p q are flat and proper
bull For every closed point s isin S the induced morphism qs is the projective
resolution of (X F )s which is a foliated canonical model of general type
bull Denote by Es the collection of exceptional cycles of qs By our Main Theorem
I there is a fibrewise divisor E subXproj flat over S restricting to Es for every
s isin S
bull Let j W rarr Xproj denote the maximal closed subscheme away from which
KFprojand KXprojS are locally free Then
(45) L [m] = (jlowast(KFprojotimes OXproj
(minusεE )otimesKδXprojS
)otimesm)oror
is flat over S and commutes with base-change
bull L [m] is very ample of degree d on every fiber and defines an embedding into
PNS
We are now ready for
Theorem VII15 The functor MmdNεδ is represented by a separated algebraic
space each of whose irreducible components is proper
Proof We show that our functor satisfies Artinrsquos conditions [Ar74 Corollary 54] By
definition condition 1) and 4) hold while our previous remark on foliated obstruction
theory shows that 3) is true
We proceed to show 2) namely effectivity of formal deformations for MmdNεδ
What follows owes much to Artinrsquos [A74rsquo] Let T be a complete C-algebra Tn its
n-truncation so that Tsimminusrarr limlarrminusTn and finally qn isinMmdNεδ(Spec(Tn)) a compatible
sequence For each n there is a maximal open set Un sube Xprojn where qn is an
isomorphism denote by sn Cn rarr Zn the restriction of qn to the complement of Un
Clearly sn is projective over Spec(Tn)
62 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Denote by X C etc the formal algebraic spaces obtained as limits of Xn Cn
etc Then Xproj sub PNˆSpec(T )
hence by Grothendieckrsquos existence Theorem we find
bull a flat projective family (X F )proj rarr Spec(T ) resp a closed subscheme
C subXproj whose completion is Xproj resp C
bull a scheme Z whose completion is Z and a morphism s C rarr Z everything
being projective over Spec(T )
Further we have a formal contraction limminusrarr qn C rarr Z hence the main theorem
of [Ar70] gives algebraic contraction (X F )proj rarr (X F ) This proves the repre-
sentability of MmdNεδ The properness and separability of each irreducible com-
ponent can be checked using valutative criteria indeed properness is the content of
our Main Theorem I separatedness follows from the uniqueness of foliated canonical
models of general type and their projective resolution
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Publ Math 87 (1998) 121-174 httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafiles
ihespdf
[McQ05rsquo] M McQuillan Bloch hyperbolicity preprint httpwwwmatuniroma2it
~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ05] M McQuillan Semi-stable reduction of foliations IHES pre-print IHESM0502
(2005) httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ05rdquo] M McQuillan Uniform Uniformisation IHES pre-print (2005) IHES M0503 http
wwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ08] M McQuillan Canonical models of foliations Pure Appl Math Q 4
(2008) no 3 Special Issue In honor of Fedor Bogomolov Part 2 877-1012
httpintlpresscomsitepubfiles_fulltextjournalspamq20080004
0003PAMQ-2008-0004-0003-a009pdf
[MP13] M McQuillan D Panazzolo Almost etale resolution of foliations J Diff Geom 95
(2013) pp 279-319 httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesmp1bispdf
[Pe02] JV Pereira On the Poincare Problem for Foliations of General Type Mathematische
Annalen 323 no 2 pp217-226 2002 httpsarxivorgabsmath0104185
[PS16] JV Pereira R Svaldi Effective algebraic integration in bounded genus preprint
httpsarxivorgabs161206932
64 FEDERICO BUONERBA
[Re83] M Reid Minimal models of canonical threefolds in rdquoAlgebraic Varieties and Ana-
lytic Varietiesrdquo Adv Stud Pure Math vol 1 S Iitaka ed Kinokuniya and North-
Holland 1983 pp 131-180 httpwwwmathsedacukcheltsovquotientpdf
reid2pdf
[Se67] A Seidenberg Reduction of singularities of the differential equation Ady = Bdx Amer
J Math 89 (1967) 248-269 httpwwwjstororgstable2373435
[SB83] N Shepherd-Barron Degenerations with numerically effective canonical divisor The
Birational Geometry of Degenerations (R Friedman and D Morrison eds) Progr
Math no 29 Birkhuser 1983 pp 33-84
[Vis89] A Vistoli Intersection theory on algebraic stacks and on their moduli spaces
Invent Math (1989) pp 613-670 httplinkspringercomarticle101007
2FBF01388892page-1
Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences New York University 251 Mercer
Street New York NY 10012 USA
E-mail address buonerbacimsnyuedu
- I Introduction
- II Preliminaries
-
- III Operations on Deligne-Mumford stacks
- IIII Width of embedded parabolic champs
- IIIII Gorenstein foliation singularities
- IIIV Foliated adjunction
- IIV Canonical models of foliated surfaces with canonical singularities
- IIVI Canonical models of foliated surfaces with log-canonical singularities
- IIVII Set-up
-
- III Invariant curves and singularities local description
-
- IIII `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F) not isolated
- IIIII `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F) isolated
- IIIIII Local consequences
-
- IV Invariant curves along which KF vanishes
-
- IVI KF-nil curves
- IVII Invariant curves inside `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F)
-
- V Configurations
-
- VI Configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
- VII Configurations of non-rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
-
- VI Contractions and proof of the Main Theorem
- VII Moduli space of foliated surfaces of general type
- References
-
30 FEDERICO BUONERBA
iff micro isin Qgt0 and partN|(y=0)= 0 and in this case the singularity on x = 0 is
canonical non-degenerate Invariant curves are those in y = 0 and the
axis x = z = 0
If the restriction to both fiber components is canonical then it non-
degenerate on both and the invariant curves are contained in the axes
x = y = 0 x = z = 0 y = z = 0
The fiber could be yz = 0 hence λ+micro = 0 It can be analyzed as in the
next item
(c) The fiber has three components xyz = 0 hence 1 + λ + micro = 0 In par-
ticular if λ = cmicro c isin Q+ then λ micro isin Q The restriction to y = 0
is part|(y=0) = x partpartx
+ microz partpartz
+ partN|(y=0) This singularity is log-canonical iff
micro isin Qgt0 and partN|(y=0)= 0 in which case the singularity on both x = 0
and z = 0 is canonical non-degenerate In particular if the singularity
is log-canonical on some fiber component then it is so on exactly one
component and all eigenvalues are rational Invariant curves are those
in y = 0 and the axis x = z = 0
If the restriction to all fiber components is canonical then it non-degenerate
on each of them and the invariant curves are contained in the axes
x = y = 0 x = z = 0 y = z = 0
Summary with 3 eigenvalues there are either two or three fiber components
the foliation restricts to a singular foliation on each of them and it has a
log-canonical singularity on at most one of them in this case all eigenvalues
of the semi-simple field are rational
IIIIII Local consequences We list some corollaries for future reference As al-
ways in this section the statements are local so everything happens in a formal
neighborhood of our point lowast First we state those corollaries we will need to describe
configurations of KF -nil curves
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 31
Definition IIIIII1 An LC-center Π sub X is an irreducible F -invariant formal
hypersurface such that the local vector field generating the foliation when restricted
to Π has semi-simple part with log-canonical singularity or a one-dimensional sin-
gular locus An LC-center with a log-canonical singularity is necessarily an algebraic
component of the singular fiber of p
Corollary IIIIII2 There is at most one LC-center with a log-canonical singularity
through lowast If it exists then all eigenvalues of the semi-simple field at lowast are rational
If there are at least two LC-centers through lowast then there are exactly two and the
foliation singularity is a smooth curve on each of them
Proof Possible cases in which an LC-center with log-canonical singularities appears
ni (2)a i (3)b i (3)c
Corollary IIIIII3 If there is no LC-center thorugh a point lowast then there are at
most three invariant curves through lowast all smooth Any number of them spans a sub-
space of the tangent space at lowast of maximal possible dimension
If there is an LC-center through lowast then there is at most one invariant curve through
lowast and not contained in the LC-center
If there is an LC-center with non-isolated singularity then the singularity is smooth
and all invariant curves contained in the LC-center intersect the singularity trans-
versely
Proof Invariant curves not in an LC-centers with log-canonical singularities are con-
tained in the three axes x = z = 0 x = y = 0 y = z = 0 mentioned in the above
classification The other statements are clear
Corollary IIIIII4 If p is smooth at lowast then Z is one dimensional around lowast
Proof Possible casesni (1)a ni (2)a
In particular if there is no LC-center the situation is the familiary
xz
32 FEDERICO BUONERBA
While if there is an LC-center (pink) with log-canonical singularity it will look like
y
LC-center
While if there is an LC-center with non-isolated singularity (red) it will look like
(the black arrows being invariant curves)
y
LC-center
The next corollary describes one-dimensional components of the foliation singularity
Corollary IIIIII5 If Z0 is a one-dimensional irreducible component of the folia-
tion singularity then it is at worst nodal The foliation when restricted to any fiber
component containing Z0 saturates to a smooth foliation in a neighborhood of Z0
and all the invariant curves are transverse to Z0
If Z0 is contained in exactly one fiber component then the semi-simple field has one
eigenvalue everywhere along Z0
If Z0 lies at the intersection of two fiber components then the semi-simple field has
two constant eigenvalues everywhere along Z0
Moreover if there exist a sequence of invariant curves converging in the compact-
open topology to Z0 then there is generically one eigenvalue along Z0
Proof Possible casesni (1)a ni (1)b ni (2)b ni (2)c Concerning the one-
eigenvalue case invariant curves converging to Z0 can be found in the formal hyper-
surface x = 0
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 33
IV Invariant curves along which KF vanishes
In this section we study in great detail a formal neighborhood of invariant curves
where KF is numerically trivial In the first subsection we deal with KF -nil curves
namely those whose generic point is not contained in the foliation singularity In this
case the normal bundle to the curve determines its formal neighborhood uniquely
and this has plenty of amazing consequences In the second subsection we study
those invariant curves which are contained in the foliation singularity In this case
we are not able to control the full formal neighborhood but important informations
can still be obtained
IVI KF -nil curves In this subsection we study in detail the structure of KF -
nil curves and their formal neighborhoods appearing in the set-up IIVII4 In
particular we will describe a simple process to replace cuspidal KF -nil curves by
net ones prove that the foliation is in the net completion around a net KF -nil curve
defined by a global vector field which admits a global Jordan decomposition deduce
that eigenfunctions for the semi-simple component of such field are also globally
defined on a formal neighborhood
The first important remark is of technical nature and explains how to deal with non-
net KF -nil curves By Proposition IIIV4 this is indeed possible and the images of
such curves will acquire cusp-like singularities It is hard to analyze the geometry
of F around such cuspidal curves and therefore necessary to remove them Let us
assume that C is simply connected with rational moduli f is ramified at 0 isin C
and and denote by X the formal completion along f(C) Then formally around
f(0) the curve f(C) has defining ideal (y xa minus zb) where y = 0 is a fiber of the
fibration p X rarr ∆ containing f(C) x z isin H0(X OX ) restrict to suitable local
coordinates on such fiber and a b ge 2 are coprime integers
Claim IVI1 Let r X ( aradicz = 0) rarr X be the a-th root of z = 0 III3 Then
(rlowastC)norm =∐a
1 C and the induced map rlowastf (rlowastC)norm rarrX ( aradicz = 0) is net
Proof Since r is etale away from z = 0 also rlowastC rarr C is etale away from 0 isin C
Since C 0 is simply connected we have rlowastC rminus1(0) =∐a
1 C 0 This proves
34 FEDERICO BUONERBA
the first statement Let ζ be a function on X ( aradicz = 0) such that ζa = z so then
rlowast(xa minus zb) =prod
ηa=1(x minus ηζb) Every branch is net in 0 and we obtain the second
statement as well
As such upon taking roots we can replace non-net KF -nil invariant curves with
rational moduli by net ones
We now proceed to study net KF -nil curves We will show that the foliation is
defined by a global vector field around a net KF -nil curve with rational moduli and
that such vector field admits a global Jordan decomposition
Proposition IVI2 Notation as in the set-up IIVII4 let f C rarrX be a KF -nil
curve Assume that f is net and let j C rarr C be the net completion along f Then
there exists an isomorphism
(16) OC(KF )simminusrarr OC
In particular there exists a global vector field partf on C that generates F
Proof Since C has rational moduli and is simply connected it has infinite-cyclic
Picard group and we have an isomorphism
(17) OC(KF )simminusrarr OC
Moreover we have a non-canonical splitting of the normal bundle Njsimminusrarr O(minusn) oplus
O(minusm) and we claim that both nm ge 0 Indeed consider the induced semi-stable
fibration C rarr ∆ and let F be the normalization of an irreducible component of a
fiber such that C sub F Consider the exact sequence
(18) 0rarr NCF rarr Nj rarr NFC|C rarr 0
Since KF is nef NCF is not ample since F is a fiber of a fibration also NFC|C is
not ample and this is enough to conclude even though nm may be different from
the degrees of such normal bundles
At this point we can lift the isomorphism 17 over infinitesimal neighborhoods of j
Indeed for every k ge 0 we have an exact sequence
(19) 0rarr Symk ICI2C rarr OCk+1
(KF )rarr OCk(KF )rarr 0
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 35
which shows that the obstruction to lifting the isomorphism lies in
(20) H1(C Symk ICI2C) = H1(C Symk(O(n)oplus O(m))) = 0
From this we can deduce
Proposition IVI3 The vector field partf admits a Jordan decomposition uniformly
along C
Proof The cohomology sequence attached to 19 is
(21) 0rarr H0(C Symk ICI2C)rarr H0(COCk+1
)rarr H0(COCk)rarr 0
Let partk+1 denote the image of partf in End(H0(COCk+1)) Looking at
H0(COCk+1) minusminusminusrarr H0(COCk
)
partk+1
y partk
yH0(COCk+1
) minusminusminusrarr H0(COCk)
we see the canonical Jordan deomposition of partk+1 restricts to that of partk
The above result describes a very useful interplay between normal bundles to
KF -nil curves and the structure of the semi-simple field It turns out that these
informations determine formal neighborhoods uniquely For simplicity let C be
an irreducible component of C without orbifold points Let us assume that part|C is
singular in 0infin Then there exist formal functions x y z at 0 isin C and ξ η ζ at
infin isin C such that x ξ are coordinates along C y η are local sections of OC(minusn)
so η = xny mod(I2C) z ζ are local sections of OC(minusm) so ζ = xmz mod(I2C)
Normalizing so that xminus1partS(x) = ε isin 0 1 we obtain
(22) part0S = εxpart
partx+ λy
part
party+ microz
part
partz partinfinS = minusεξ part
partξ+ (λ+ εn)η
part
partη+ (micro+ εm)ζ
part
partζ
More generally ie C = P1(d e) we have glueing rules x = te ξ = tminusd η = tny and
ζ = tmz mod(I2C) Normalizing so that tminus1partS(t) = ε isin 0 1 we obtain
(23) part0S = eεxpart
partx+ λy
part
party+ microz
part
partz partinfinS = minusdεξ part
partξ+ (λ+ εn)η
part
partη+ (micro+ εm)ζ
part
partζ
36 FEDERICO BUONERBA
It is worth remarking that the above relations hold between eigenvalues at the two
singular point of singular ie nodal or cuspidal KF -nil curves as well this is
easily seen by taking a root followed by net completion and keeping track of the
eigenvalues
Definition IVI4 Let C be a KF -nil curve The foliation singular points along C
are called ends
As well as the existence of Hilbert scheme in the following form
Fact IVI5 Let W sub Xlowast be a curve and D a divisor in the formal neighborhood
of W such that W = D capXlowast scheme-theoretically Then W moves in D
In what follows our main concern is to understand formal neighborhoods of KF -
nil curves Observe that the fibration p when restricted to the formal neighborhood
of such curves provides at least one eigenfunction of the semi-simple field Hence
in order to compute the width IIII we must study the behavior of the other eigen-
function on infinitesimal neighborhoods We first describe the situation inside the
smooth locus of p
Proposition IVI6 (Smooth fiber) Let f C rarrX be an irreducible KF -nil curve
which is contained in the smooth locus of a fiber Xlowast of p Then the end(s) on C are
flat over ∆ ni (1)b and ni (1)a with z2|g(y z) and C moves in a family flat over
∆
Proof Let us assume that f is net Then upon passing to net completion we can
actually assume it is embedded From our local classification of singularities we case
in case ni (1)a and ni (2)a We want to show that both ends have components
that move transversely to p hence we have to exclude case ni (1)a with g(y z) = ya
By way of contradiction say we have g(y z) = ya in the notation of opcit around
an end lowast isin C We proceed to compute what happens at the other end we find
formal coordinates ξ η ζ which by equation 23 satisfy
(24) ξ = xminus1 η = y ζ = xmz mod(I2C)
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 37
As such we compute part(ζ) = mζ + ξminusmηa mod(I2C) which is holomorphic if and only
if m le 0 so then C moves in Xlowast contradicting that the foliation has general type
Hence we are in cases ni (1)a ni (2)a with g = microyazb b ge 1
(25) part0 = xpart
partx+ microyazb
part
partz partinfin = minusξ part
partξ+ ζ(m+ microξm(bminus1)ηaζbminus1)
part
partζ(mod(I2C))
Following notation from subsection IIII observe that C1 is the section of E1C which
is disjoint from the proper transform of the fiber of p In coordinates over 0
(26) x1 = x y1 = y z1 = zyminus1
And similarly over infin Using the previous equation and 25 on C1 we find
(27)
part01 = x1part
partx1+microya+bminus11 zb1
part
partz1 partinfin1 = minusξ1
part
partξ1+ζ1(m+microξ
m(bminus1)1 ηa+bminus11 ζbminus11 )
part
partζ1(mod(I2C1
))
In particular the transform of the nilpotent field is still nilpotent after blowing up in
C It follows that the eigenvalues of the semi-simple field at the two ends of C and
C1 are the same Using equation 23 we deduce that the normal bundle to C1X1 to
isomorphic to that of CX in particular it contains a trivial direct summand This
proves that width(C) =infin
Next we show that f must be net Consider the induced flat projection pD D rarr ∆
its general fiber cannot be a cuspidal curve since along such cusp the foliation sin-
gularity would be log-canonical but not canonical Hence if C has a cusp necessarily
the general fiber of pD is a nodal curve Let X rarr X denote the blow up of the
nodal locus of pD with exceptional divisor E ruled over ∆ In a neighborhood of E
we have sing(F ) = D cap E which projects to ∆ as a double cover ramified over lowastObserve that the foliation on Xlowast is again log-canonical and not canonical hence its
local structure is ni (2)a In that case however p is unramified along the foliation
singularity Contradiction
We state a general criterion for movability of KF -nil curves
Proposition IVI7 Let C be a connected KF -nil curve such that p(C ) = lowast isin ∆
Assume its dual graph is a chain that none of its irreducible components is double
38 FEDERICO BUONERBA
VI3 and that its two extremal ends are flat over ∆ Then C moves in a family flat
over ∆ and each of its irreducible components is embedded
Proof We work in a formal neighborhood of C After taking roots we can assume
C is net and since its dual graph is a chain it is actually embedded We proceed by
induction on its length l where the case l = 1 is Proposition IVI6 For l gt 1 let C1
be a component of C which is extremal in its dual graph If C1 moves transversely
to p then both its ends do and hence we can apply the induction hypothesis to
C C1 If C1 is rigid then it can be flopped It is straightforward to check that we
can apply the induction hypothesis to the transform C + C+1 and we are done
Now we deal with rigid curves inside the singular fiber
Proposition IVI8 (Singular fiber) Let f C rarr X be an embedded net KF -
nil curve with anti-ample normal bundle Then there exists a birational map φ
(X F ) 99K (X +F+) and a KF+-nil curve C+ such that
bull φ is an isomorphism away from C+
bull In a formal neighborhood of at least one among C and C+ there exist two
invariant hypersurfaces D1D2 locally defined by the vanishing of eigenfunc-
tions of the semi-simple field such that C (resp C+)= D1 capD2
bull If F middot C lt 0 for some hypersurface F then F+ middot C+ gt 0 In particular X +
is projective
Such φ is called flop
Proof Our assumption is that Nfsimminusrarr O(minusn)oplusO(minusm) is anti-ample namely nm gt
0 If two invariant hypersurfaces as in our statement do exist around C the flop is
easily constructed as a weighted blow-up followed by a weighted blow-down As such
let us assume that such hypersurfaces do not exist around C In particular C is not
double VI3 By [Ar70] there exists a formal contraction c X rarrX0 collapsing C
to a point and an isomorphism everywhere else By Proposition IVI3 the foliation
F0 is Gorenstein around the node of X0 For ease of exposition let us assume
n = m = 1 the general case is handled the same way only the notation becomes more
cumbersome due to the presence of weights The node has embedding dimension 4
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 39
and in suitable local coordinates x0 y0 w0 z0 can be defined by x0z0minusy0w0 = 0 The
morphism c can be identified with the blow up of the embedded surface (x0 = y0 = 0)
Explicitly in the chart y = y0 x = x0yminus10 it is defined by
(28) y0 = y x0 = xy z0 = zprime w0 = xzprime
Here x is a coordinate along C while y = 0 is the pull-back of (x0 = y0 = 0) and
zprime some function in the normal bundle to C By the previous Proposition IVI6
we know C cannot be contained in the smooth locus of p Since C is not double
we can assume that in this local chart p is defined by (x y zprime) rarr xy - the case
(x y zprime) rarr xzprime being isomorphic as it is isomorphic to blow-up (z0 = w0 = 0)
instead of (x0 = y0 = 0) The issue is as emphasized by the notation zprime 6= z that
zprime may fail to be an eigenfunction for partS if it were we would be done since zprime = 0
is the local equation for the global pullback of (z0 = w0 = 0) However we have
a b isin C such that
(29) partS0(y0) = minusy0 partS0(x0) = 0 partS0(z0) = ay0 + bz0 partS0(w0) = ax0 + (b+ 1)w0
Observe that the embedded surfaces D01 = (y0 = z0 = 0) and D0
2 = (x0 = w0 = 0)
are both foliation invariant As such let b X + rarr X0 denote the blow-up of X0
along D01 - which is isomorphic to that along D0
2 - and let Di = blowastD0i i = 1 2
Finally X + is projective by Nakai-Moishezon Indeed every C with anti-ample
normal bundle is contained in an irreducible component F of X0 such that F middotC lt 0
Then F+ middot C+ gt 0 and we can find an ample divisor of the form H+ + εF+ where
H+ is the proper transform of an ample on X
Remark IVI9 In the previous proof a 6= b+ 1 Indeed such identity would create
a non-trivial Jordan block of partS0 in the (x0 w0)-plane thus contradicting the semi-
simplicity of partS0 In particular by a straightforward computation it is impossible to
find eigenfunctions of the form wlowast0 = w0 + αx0 zlowast0 = z0 + βy0 with x0z
lowast0 minus y0wlowast0 = 0
unless a = 0
We can conclude by pointing out an important point understood in this section
A painful aspect of the theory is that log-canonical singularities which appear natu-
rally as analytic degenerations of canonical ones come along with cuspidal invariant
40 FEDERICO BUONERBA
curves There is in particular no a-priori obstruction to the existence of rigid
cuspidal KF -nil curves in a smooth fiber of our family of foliated surfaces p Quite
generally a rigid curve of positive arithmetic genus in a smooth family of surfaces can
never be contracted to a point Therefore this would have been a counter-example
to any reasonable foliated canonical model theory one may wish to achieve Fortu-
nately such phenomenon does not happen and this establishes the Main Theorem I
modulo finitely many rigid curves confined in the singular fiber X0
IVII Invariant curves inside sing(F ) In this subsection we study curves Z0 subeXlowast cap sing(F ) which are inside the foliation singularity and invariant By this we
mean that there exists a sequence fn Cn rarrX of not necessarily algebraic invariant
curves converging in the compact-open topology to Z0 In other words the map
(30) NorF rarr Ω1Z0
is trivial By Corollary IIIIII5 we know that Z0 is at worst nodal it is smooth
wherever p is smooth for every point z isin Z0 the semi-simple part of the gener-
ating vector field has exactly one eigenvalue The problem here is that the Jordan
decomposition need not extend uniformly along Z0 not even along an irreducible
component In case ni (1)a the functions x and g may develop essential singulari-
ties arbitrary close to z Nonetheless the function x is unique and this says that x
does extend along Z0
Proposition IVII1 Let Z0 be as above Then in a formal neighborhood of Z0
there exists a unique smooth invariant hypersurface D0 containing Z0 which restricts
around any point in Z0 to the unique eigenfunction for the semi-simple field whose
eigenvalue is non-zero
Proof The local structure of the foliation around a point z isin Z0 is described by
cases ni (1)a and ni (1)b In both cases partS has one non-zero eigenvalue with
eigenfunction x Such eigenfunction x is a-priori only defined in the normal bundle to
Z0 but it is clear that the equation partx = x has a unique up to constants solution in
the formal completion around z As such there exists a unique smooth hypersurface
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 41
D0 in the formal completion around Z0 which restricts to the eigenfunction x around
z
Observe that the previous argument goes through since we are assuming Z0 subX0
Keeping notations from case ni (1)a if say g(y z) = yz then in the hypersurface
y equiv q isin Qgt0 the foliation has a log-canonical singularity and the eigenfunction x
extends highly non-uniquely to a formal neighborhood of the point (x y z) = (0 q 0)
In particular the existence of D0 as in the previous Proposition might fail along
the component (x = z = 0) of the foliation singularity This phenomenon is called
the beast
Anyway uniqueness in the previous proposition yields
Corollary IVII2 Let Z prime be a connected invariant curve inside sing(F ) Then in
a formal neighborhood of Z prime there exists a unique smooth invariant hypersurface D prime
containing Z prime which restricts around any point in Z prime to the hypersurface constructed
in the previous proposition
Next we turn to the intrinsic structure of invariant singular curves
Proposition IVII3 Let Z0 be an irreducible invariant curve inside sing(F )
Then Z0 is smooth and rational
Proof We work in a formal neighborhood of Z0 Let F0 denote the unique component
of X0 containing Z0 For any other fiber component F intersecting Z0 non-trivially
blow-up the invariant curve F cap F0 with exceptional divisor EF A straightforward
computation using the local formula ni (1)b shows that the fiber of the natural
projection EF rarr F cap F0 intersecting Z0 is also contained in sing(F ) For Z prime the
maximal connected singular invariant curve containing Z0 let G denote the saturated
foliation induced on D prime It is canonical with reduced singularities and it satisfies
KG = KF |Dprime minus Zprime By adjunction
(31) 2g(Z0)minus 2 + sZG(Z0) = minusZ prime middot Z0
Observe that thanks to our initial sequence of blow-ups the singularities of G along
Z0 coincide with the intersection of Z0 and Z prime Z0 In particular since D prime is formally
42 FEDERICO BUONERBA
flat over ∆ we deduce Z prime middot Z0 = 0 and the previous formula becomes
(32) 2g(Z0)minus 2 + sZG(Z0) = 0
This implies that Z0 is rational or elliptic If Z0 were elliptic then sZG(Z0) = 0 and
D0 defines an invariant elliptic curve in the general fiber of p By Baum-Bott this
contradicts that KF is big and nef Now we show that Z0 is smooth If it has a node
then D0 moves it in a family of nodal rational curves flat over ∆ In particular D0
itself has a node in codimension 1 hence Xlowast is smooth around the node of Z0 In its
formal neighborhood the foliation must be as in case ni (1)a which implies that
Z0 is smooth contradiction
We can improve as follows
Proposition IVII4 Let Z prime sube sing F capXlowast be a connected invariant curve with
KF middot Z prime = 0 Then its dual graph is a chain
Proof Assume Z prime is a cycle Then necessarily Z prime = D prime capXlowast scheme-theoretically
and by the existence of Hilbert scheme Z prime moves in the general fiber Its general
member is either a cycle of smooth rational curves or an elliptic curve Arguing as
in the previous proof we see that both options are impossible
V Configurations
In this section we analyze in great detail all possible configurations of invariant
curves along which KF vanishes These can be divided into three groups those
that do not move those that move in a one-dimensional family covering a surface
those that move in a higher-dimensional family covering a surface Curves in the first
group can form rather complicated configurations while those in the second group
are more simple they either move in the general fiber or they cover an isolated
Riccati component in the singular fiber Those in the third group turn out to be
represented by the two rulings of P1timesP1 if they happen to be cohomologous in the
ambient stack First we will analyze rigid curves then those which move and finally
we will describe their configurations
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 43
VI Configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially In
this subsection we describe configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF
trivially which arise in the situation described by set-up IIVII4
First we focus on KF -nil curves At the end of the section we deal with the simpler
case in which a curve in the configuration is fully contained in sing(F ) The general
fiber was handled in Proposition IVI6
Proposition VI1 Let C be a connected KF -nil curve contained in the smooth
locus of a fiber of p Then it is a chain or a cycle and it moves in a family flat over
∆
In what follows we let C denote a connected KF -nil curve contained in the
singular fiber X0 all of whose sub-curves are rigid in X Observe a consequence of
equation 23
Proposition VI2 Let C = cupiCi be a connected KF -nil curve Then the eigen-
values of partS are all rational at every point of sing(F )capC if and only if they are all
rational at one point
We can deduce many non-trivial properties about configurations of KF -nil curves
First we need
Definition VI3 Let C subX0 be a curve It is called double if there exists formally
around C two components F F prime of X0 such that C = F cap F prime A point lowast isin C where
three fiber components intersect is called a triple point If C lies on exactly one fiber
component it is called non-double We denote by F (C) such component
Remark VI4 Let Csimminusrarr P1(d e) be double with two triple points Then we know
e+ λ+ micro = minusd+ (λ+ n) + (micro+m) = 0 whence we obtain
(33) n+m = d+ e
Which is called triple-point formula
Next we show that essentially KF -nil curves do not form cycles unless something
deforms in X0 First we show that there are no cycles of rigid non-double curves
44 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proposition VI5 Let C be a connected KF -nil curve contained in the singular
fiber X0 of p Assume that every component of C is non-double and that every
sub-curve is rigid Then C contains no cycles
Proof We work in a formal neighborhood of C which we assume is a cycle Let
us first consider the case in which all components C1 middot middot middot CN are smooth with no
orbifold points and denote lowasti = Ci cap Ci+1 with CN+1 = C1 Moreover let us
assume no lowasti lies in the smooth locus of p
Since no curve is double the semi-simple field at every lowasti is as in case i (3)b in
particular the eigenvalues along the branches of Ci and Ci+1 add up to zero More-
over let minusni denote the self-intersection of Ci sub F (Ci) Normalize the eigenvalues
of partS so that at lowastn they are 1 in the C1 direction minus1 in the CN direction λ in the
F (C1)capF (CN) direction It follows by induction that at lowasti the eigenvalues are minus1
in the Ci direction 1 in the Ci+1 direction λ+ n1 + middot middot middot+ ni in the F (Ci) cap F (Ci+1)
direction After traveling around the cycle we obtain n1+middot middot middot+nN = 0 contradicting
that ni gt 0 for every i
We established the Proposition assuming every Ci is an embedded scheme and ev-
ery lowasti is in the singular locus of p The case in which Cisimminusrarr P1(di ei) has orbifold
points is analogous we end up with a combination c1n1 + middot middot middot + cNnN = 0 with ci
the eigenvalue at lowasti in the Ci+1 direction Normalizing so that c1 = e1 gt 0 again by
induction on i we see that every ci isin Qgt0 Next we show that our assumption on lowastiis always satisfied
Claim VI6 Every lowasti must belong to the singular locus of p
Proof We give two essentially equivalent proofs
bull If N = 2 3 then the previous argument goes through indeed we can normal-
ize eigenvalues at lowasti to be negative in the Ciminus1 direction and positive in the
Ci-direction and argue as above Hence we can assume N ge 4 If say lowasti is in
the smooth locus of p then F (Ci) = F (Ci+1) If also F (Ciminus1) = F (Ci) then Ci
lies in the smooth locus of p and hence it moves Therefore F (Ciminus1) 6= F (Ci)
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 45
and Ciminus1 can be flopped inside F (Ci) Since N ge 4 this preserves the smooth-
ness of F (Ci) and Ci is now is the smooth locus of p - contradiction
bull If lowasti belongs to the smooth locus of p then the end through lowasti moves We
can form a partial net completion fi Xi rarrX by normalizing C in lowasti only
Then f lowasti C is a chain with movable ends and hence moves in the general fiber
of p fi
Finally the general case in which some among the Ci have cusps can be easily
reduced to the smooth case in a couple of ways
bull Eigenvalues at the singularities of any KF -nil curve satisfy the same relations
as in the smooth case
bull Upon taking roots and net completion we can find a foliated formal 3-fold
supported on a cycle of smooth KF -nil curves which is a ramified cover of a
formal neighborhood of our cycle
Similarly we can show that there are no rigid cycles of double curves
Proposition VI7 Let C be a nodal KF -nil curve which is double Then C
deforms inside X0 In particular there cannot exist a rigid cycle of KF -nil double
curves
Proof Following the previous notation we have 0 = infin and if C = (xy = z = 0)
around 0 then we have identities
(34) x = η y = ξ z = ζ
The last one of which implies m = 0 that is C deforms Since C is double necessarily
the surface it spans must be contained in X0
The statement about cycles follows since a cycle of double curves can be transformed
after finitely many flops into a chain of smooth double curves with a nodal one
attached at one end
46 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Later on we will show that the deformations of C cannot span an elliptic surface
but only a family of nodal rational curves with a special Riccati foliation on it
We are ready to organize a detailed description of the dual graph of C More pre-
cisely we only need to understand how double curves intersect non-double curves
Lemma VI8 There exists a sequence of flops X 99KX + such that if C + denotes
the transform of C every double curve supported on C + contains two triple points
Proof Let C sube C be an irreducible component with at most one triple point and
let X 99K X + be its flop Then its transform C+ is non-double and the number
of double curves contained in C descreases It is clear that after finitely many flops
all double curves contain exactly two triple points
From now on all double curves in C have two triple points Thanks to proposition
VI2 we know that there are two cases to consider those curves along which the
semi-simple field has not only rational eigenvalues and those along which the semi-
simple field has only rational eigenvalues The first case being strictly easier than
the second it is a good starting place to warm up
Proposition VI9 (irrational eigenvalues) Assume that for every foliation singu-
larity along C not all eigenvalues of partS are rational Then every component of C
is net with at most one node and 1-skeleton of its dual graph is at worst trivalent
Write C = C axes cup C free where
C axes is the union of double curves
C free is the union of non-double curves
Then one among C axes and C free is empty Moreover
bull If C free is non-empty then it is a chain of smooth curves with rational moduli
bull If C axes is non-empty there exists a sequence of flops X 99KX + and an ir-
reducible component of the fiber FC subX + such that X + is a smooth stack
the transform C+ of C is contained in FC Moreover the dual graph of C+
is a tree which by [McQ08 III32] becomes a chain inside the normalization
of FC
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 47
Proof The first sentence is just corollary IIIIII3
Observe that if a non-double curve intersects a double curve then the non-double
curve must be contained in an LC-center around such intersection This contradicts
that not all eigenvalues are rational and establishes that one among C axes and C free
is empty
In case C free is not empty then it is clearly a chain or a cycle the latter being
impossible by Proposition VI5
We are left to show the existence of flops in case C = C axes We remark that
every component is smooth Let C0 be such a component and S0 a component of
X0 containing it Let C1 be the collection of irreducible components of C which
intersect S0 but are not contained in it All the components of C1 are smooth hence
we can flop them in any order until the transform of C1 lies in the transform of S0
Since the number of irreducible components of C lying outside S0 decreases after
such flop by induction we deduce the existence of finitely many flops after which
the birational transform of C is fully contained in the transform of S0
Next we take care of rational eigenvalues The complication here arises from
the fact that there may be double and non-double curves intersecting each other
However the situation is best possible
Proposition VI10 (rational eigenvalues) Assume that for every foliation singu-
larity along C all eigenvalues of partS are rational Write C = C axes cup C free where
C axes is the union of double curves
C free is the union of non-double curves
Then there exists a sequence of flops X 99K X + and an irreducible component of
the fiber FC axes subX + such that
bull X + is a smooth stack
bull The union of double curves of C axes is contained in FC axes the 1-skeleton of
its dual graph is a tree and each of its components has two triple points
bull The 1-skeleton of the dual graph of the transform C free+ is a disjoint union of
trees
bull Each connected component of C free+ intersects C axes in exactly one point
48 FEDERICO BUONERBA
In particular the 1-skeleton of the dual graph of C is a tree
Proof Notice that for every point lowast isin C cap Z there exists one LC-center through lowastIndeed there are three rational eigenvalues and they cannot be all non-vanishing and
all with different signs at the same time Now C axes can be treated as in proposition
VI9 This proves the first two items of the statement The third item follows from
Proposition VI5 so we can focus on the fourth one The proof is based on the
following obvious
Remark VI11 let C be a double curve such that either it is KF -nil hence has
two triple points or it is fully contained in sing(F ) Let C0 sube C free intersect C
non-trivially in a point lowast then necessarily C0 sub LClowast
Now let C0 middot middot middot CN form a chain of non-double curves with C0 and CN both
intersecting double curves as in the remark Denote by lowasti = Ci cap Ci+1 Since
C1 sub LClowast necessarily C1 is transverse to LClowast1 otherwise C1 would deform in F (C1)
Inductively we see that Ci+1 sub LClowasti and is transverse to LClowasti+1 In particular CN
cannot touch a double curve This contradiction proves the fourth item
Let us add a remark about configurations featuring invariant curves inside sing(F )
Proposition VI12 Let C be an invariant curve with KF middot C = 0 such that
Z0 sube C for some component Z0 sube sing(F ) Then C = Z prime cup C where
Z prime is a connected invariant curve inside the foliation singularity with dual graph a
chain
C is the union of at most two pairwise disjoint KF -nil curves with anti-ample
normal bundle
If not empty C can only intersect Z prime at the two ends of its dual graph Moreover
perhaps after a flop the intersection of C with Z prime supports the foliation singularity
along C As such if C has two components Z prime cup C deforms in the general fiber
Proof The structure of Z prime is Proposition IVII3 while that of Co is Proposition
IVI6 Let C prime be a component of C intersecting Z0 in a point lowast If C prime and Z0 belong
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 49
to different components of X0 then by case ni (1)b the eigenvalue of partS along C prime
vanishes so supp(sing(F ) cap C prime) = lowast If C prime and Z0 belong to the same component
then we can flop C prime into a different component
Observe that the divisor D prime from op cit can be extended along C prime This implies
that C can only intersect Z prime at its ends Moreover if C touches both ends necessarily
D prime capX0 = C scheme-theoretically hence by the existence of Hilbert scheme IVI5
we conclude
Our new set-up is
Set-up VI13 Everything as in set-up IIVII4 and moreover for any connected
invariant curve C with KF middot C = 0 all of whose sub-curves are rigid we have
configurations computed in proposition VI9 VI10 and Lemma VI12
VII Configurations of non-rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
In this subsection we describe configurations of surfaces which are covered by KF -nil
curves The structure of each such surface is described by classification IIV1 IIV2
and Corollary IIVI17 Our first step is to simplify the situation by contracting
chains of ruled surfaces The next step is to try and exclude the possibility that
the singular fiber of p contains fibrations by elliptic or nodal rational curves with
at least one invariant fiber This can be achieved with good success indeed there
may be at most one such Riccati foliation which is anyway rather isolated from the
remaining KF -nil curves Finally we observe that the only class of surfaces we have
not mentioned is
Definition VII1 A irreducible component F of the singular fiber of p is called
small Kronecker if
bull (FFF ) is birational to a Kronecker vector field on P1 timesP1 and
bull The two rulings of this P1 timesP1 are cohomologous inside X
The name comes from the fact that contraction of a small Kronecker yields a node
in the ambient threefold which admits a small resolution In fact in many respects
these fiber components behave very much like rigid KF -nil curves
50 FEDERICO BUONERBA
We start by getting rid of some fiber components which are ruled by KF -nil gener-
ically smooth rational curves
Proposition VII2 Notation as in Set-up VI13 there exists a sequence of flops
and divisorial contractions c X 99KX + such that
bull X + is a smooth stack
bull let S+ sub X + be an irreducible invariant divisor that contains a positive-
dimensional family of invariant rational curves along which KF+ vanishes
Then S+ is either birationally ruled by nodal rational curves or it is a small
Kronecker
Proof We focus first on contracting components of the singular fiber of p Consider
the following algorithm If there is no birationally ruled component different from
the ones listed in the second item we are done otherwise pick one such F and let
C denote the general member of the ruling If the cohomology class [C] is inde-
composable F is minimal Otherwise [C] = [C1] + [C2] where Ci are rational and
intersect KF trivially After finitely many steps we have a decomposition as a finite
sum of indecomposables [C] =sumn
i=0 ni[Ci] where every Ci is rational intersects KF
trivially We have two cases
bull There exists k such that Ck deforms in a birationally ruled necessarily min-
imal surface Fk
bull Every Ci has anti-ample normal bundle
In the first case denote by X rarr X1 the contraction of Fk along |Ck| and relpace
X by X1 Since Fk is minimal smoothness of the ambient stack is preserved unless
Fk is a small Kronecker This is however impossible if n ge 2 if Fk were a small
Kronecker then Ck deforms away from Fkminus1 so then Fkminus1 middot Ck = 0 on the other
hand Fkminus1 intersects the other ruling of Fk positively
In the second case flop C1 middot middot middot Cn in this order The transform of F is minimal and
not a small Kronecker so it can be contracted along its ruling preserving ambient
smoothness By induction on the Picard rank of X after finitely many steps this
algorithm ends Call X the output of this algorithm
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 51
Let S subX be an invariant divisor with a generically smooth ruling Then pS S rarr∆ is flat and after flopping finitely many rational curves in S cap plowastS(0) the resulting
pS is smooth Hence we can contract S along pS After finitely many steps the
Proposition is proven
For ease of notation in the sequel we call X the output of the previous proposition
Notice that there might still be divisors carrying a pencil of nodal rational curves
both inside and outside the singular fiber of p
We can start analyzing configurations of fiber components where the restriction of
F is not of general type We need some notation whose reason to exist will be clear
shortly
Definition VII3 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
along which KF is not big F is called special Riccati if
bull F is minimal
bull There exists a morphism s F rarr B onto a curve whose fibers are nodal
rational curve
bull F is transverse to the general fiber of s in particular KF is numerically
trivial along s
bull At least one fiber of s is invariant
bull There exists a section σ of s which is invariant and does not coincide with
the nodal locus of F
In particular the intersections of σ with invariant fibers of s isolated singularities
of F the node of F all coincide There may be fibers of s fully contained in sing(F )
in which case they are everywhere transverse to the saturated foliation
The definition looks nasty but special Riccati components have a rather simple
origin as the following proof shows
Lemma VII4 Let F be special Riccati Up to base change by an etale double cover
Bprime rarr B there is a natural isomorphism F norm simminusrarr BprimetimesP1 and the restriction of F
to F norm is birational to the projection onto P1
52 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proof We work over the normalization F norm Denote by Bprime the pre-image of the
node of F which is an etale double cover of B and let f denote an invariant fiber
of s with lowast = σ cap f Observe that F norm carries a Riccati foliation with 3 invariant
curves through lowast - namely σ f and a component of Bprime Hence FF has a log-canonical
singularity in lowast On F norm perform a weighted blow-up in each log-canonical singu-
larity followed by the contraction of the transforms of the corresponding fibers Let
s+ F+ rarr B denote the output of this operation If the proper transform of Bprime is
connected replace F+ by its base change under Bprime rarr B Hence we can assume Bprime
is the disjoint union of two sections of s+ and the transform of σ is a third section
which is disjoint from Bprime Therefore F+ = P1 timesBprime and the foliation restricts to the
projection onto P1
Next we describe those surfaces which cannot appear as components of the sin-
gular fiber X0
Definition VII5 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
along which KF is not big F is called illusory if
bull there exists a morphism t F rarr B onto a curve
bull KF is trivial along t
bull For any other fiber component F prime the intersection F cap F prime is either empty or
contained in a fiber of t
We give examples of illusory fiber components
Lemma VII6 The following fiber components are necessarily illusory
bull t is elliptic the foliation is either parallel to t or turbolent with at least one
invariant fiber
bull t is a nodal ruling the foliation is either parallel to t or transverse to t with
at least one invariant fiber and not birational to a special Riccati VII3
Proof Let f = F cap F prime for some fiber component F prime It is F -invariant
Assume t and F are parallel and f is transverse to both Then necessarily f subesing(F ) and KF is positive along the fibers of t contradiction
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 53
Assume t and F are generically transverse and f is transverse to t Let e be an
invariant fiber of t then ecap f isin sing(F ) hence t must be a family of nodal rational
curves and ecapf coincides with the node of e - otherwise KF would be positive along
t But this implies F is special Riccati contradiction
We proceed to show that illusory fibers do not exist
Lemma VII7 Let F be an illusory fiber component then every fiber of t is irre-
ducible If F prime is any fiber component intersecting F non-trivially then F prime is illusory
Proof Assume t has a reducible fiber f Then we can write f = f prime cup f primeprime where f prime
is irreducible and f primeprime is a disjoint union of chains of rational curves In particular
every subscheme supported on f primeprime is rigid in X f prime is rational and smooth iff f is a
cycle of rational curves hence the foliation on F is parallel to t and the choice of f prime
is not unique otherwise f prime is nodal or elliptic Let X 99KX + denote the flop of the
irreducible components of f primeprime in any order The proper transform f prime+ (below in red)
is the irreducible fiber of the induced morphism t+ F+ rarr B Since f primeprime+ intersects
f prime+ and is not contained in F+ there exists a component F prime of the fiber of p+ such
that F+ cap f prime+ 6= empty Since F+ is illusory necessarily F+ cap F prime = f prime+ Moreover F+
and F prime are the only fiber components intersecting f prime+ again because F+ is illusory
We deduce that F+ middot f prime+ = F prime middot f prime+ = 0 and therefore f prime+ is nef inside F prime It follows
that he restriction of F+ to F prime is not of general type and by the classification of
foliated surfaces [McQ08] necessarily f prime+ deforms inside F prime and defines a fibration
u F prime rarr Bprime In particular f prime+ is an irreducible fiber of u This is however impossible
since u contracts all the components of f primeprime+ contained in F prime (below in blue) and by
definition of F prime there exists at least one such component This proves that every
fiber of t is irreducible The following depicts the situation
F prime F+
f prime+
f primeprime+
t+u
54 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Concerning the second statement we only need to check the third condition for F prime
to be illussory namely that every other fiber component F primeprime intersecting F prime does
so along the fibers of u If F primeprime intersects F prime transversely to u then F primeprime intersects F
non-trivially and transversely to t as well absurd
Corollary VII8 Illusory components do not exist
Proof By the above lemma the existence of one illusory component implies that
every irreducible component of the singular fiber of p is illusory contradicting that
KF is big
We can now focus on fiber components that do appear
Corollary VII9 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
containing an invariant curve C which moves and such that KF middot C = 0 Then
following the classification [McQ08] we have two cases
(1) The minimal model of F is a special Riccati component
(2) F is a small Kronecker
Proof Certainly the ones listed are the only cases where C is KF -nil We have to
exclude the possibility that C is invariant inside sing(F ) By Proposition IVII3
such C would be rational with at most one node Since we already contracted at
the beginning of the present subsection all ruled surfaces necessarily C is nodal
However by opcit C cannot intersect any other fiber component of X0 which
implies the absurdity that X0 = F
We proceed to show that special Riccati components are rather isolated in the
fiber
Lemma VII10 Let F be a special Riccati component If F prime is a fiber component
intersecting F non-trivially then it does so transversely to s Morover there is
exactly one such F prime
Proof After finitely many flops we can assume that every fiber of s is irreducible
By the non-existence of illusory components there exists a fiber component F lowast with
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 55
σprime = F cap F prime transverse to s If F primeprime is a fiber component with f = F cap F primeprime a fiber
of s then we claim f sube sing(F ) If not then since KF middot f = 0 and σprime is invariant
necessarily σprimecap f is the node of f But then the existence of F primeprime contradicts that p is
snc Hence f sube sing(F ) so then around the node of f there are 3 fiber components -
two branches coming from F one from F primeprime - and sing(F ) has 2 branches - namely f
This is impossible by our case analysis ni (1)c ni (2)c The very same reasoning
establishes the uniqueness of F prime
Lemma VII11 Let F be as in the previous Lemma If C is a connected curve
with KF middot C = 0 then it is disjoint from F
Proof After finitely many flops s is irreducible and C intersects F transversely away
from its node Moreover lowast = C cap F isin sing(F ) and we deduce that the fiber of s
through lowast is fully contained in the singular locus of F This contradicts Proposition
IVII3 since such fiber is nodal
We conclude by observing the obvious
Lemma VII12 Let F be a small Kronecker Then there exists a contraction
c X rarr X prime which is an isomorphism away from F and contracts F along one
of its rulings Necessarily X prime is not projective since every global Cartier divisor
intersects c(F ) trivially On the other hand in a formal neighborhood of c(F ) there
exist Cartier divisors intersecting it non-trivialliy
As such the contribution coming from non-rigid curves is rather poor there are
curves moving in the general fiber there are special Riccati components disjoint from
any other invariant curve intersecting KF trivially there are small Kroneckers who
can be contracted to curves We shall see in the next section that the complications
arising from the contraction of such non-rigid curves is purely psychological and
totally harmless
56 FEDERICO BUONERBA
VI Contractions and proof of the Main Theorem
In this section we contract all invariant curves along which KF is zero thereby
establishing the existence of canonical models I First we contract non-rigid curves
as described in the previous subsection
bull Small Kroneckers along either ruling Albeit this destroys projectivity of
the ambient threefold there still exist Cartier divisors defined in a formal
neighborhood of the base curve that intersect it non-trivially
bull Families of irreducible nodal rational curves which are flat over ∆ This
creates elliptic singularities on the general fiber of p which are disjoint from
other invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
bull Special Riccati again families of irreducible nodal rational curves fully con-
tained in X0 This creates elliptic singularities disjoint from other invariant
curves intersecting KF trivially
We can summarize our situation by way of
Set-up VI1 X is a 3-dimensional DM stack with at worst elliptic singularities
F a foliation by curves with canonical singularities which is not Q-Cartier in a
neighborhood of Xsing
There exists a proper morphism p X rarr ∆ smooth off 0 isin ∆ F restricts to a
foliation on every fiber of p it has canonical singularities on the very general fiber
of p and log-canonical singularities on every fiber of p KF is big and nef on every
irreducible component of every fiber of p
Let C be the invariant sub-scheme along which KF is not big then C is a curve
fully contained in the smooth locus X0capXsmooth every sub-curve of C has anti-ample
normal bundle the 1-simplex of its dual graph is a tree and detailed configurations
of such are referenced in set-up VI13
We proceed to contract such C We assume that along C the semi-simple field has
only rational eigenvalues and moreover no component of C is inside the foliation
singularity The other two cases - irrational eigenvalues and presence of singular
component - are strictly easier and can be obtained with the very same method
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 57
The proof takes place in the formal completion around C = C free cup C axes The
former is a disjoint union of trees of non-double curves For each non-double C let
F (C) denote the unique component of X0 containing it The latter is a tree of double
curves each with two triple points all contained in the same irreducible FC axes Each
tree of non-double curves touches C axes in one point through a LC-center In order
to construct the contraction we will use Artinrsquos celebrated criterion in the following
form
Fact VI1 ([Ar70]) Let X be an irreducible algebraic space i Y rarr X a closed
subspace of pure codimension 1 and f Y rarr Y0 a proper morphism with flowastOY = OY0
Let X denote the formal completion of X along Y and assume there exists a Cartier
divisor D in X which is supported on Y and is f -anti-ample Then there exists a
proper morphism of algebraic spaces F X rarr X0 which is an isomorphism away
from Y and such that ilowastF = f
Now we use the tree structure of C to construct a suitable divisor to which apply
Artinrsquos theorem Namely consider the following inductive defintion
(35) C0 = C axes F0 = FC axes
For k ge 0 assume Ck Fk are defined
bull Let Ck+1 denote the union of irreducible components of C that intersect Fk
non-trivially but are not contained in cupilekFibull Let Fk+1 denote the reduced sum (
sumCsubeCk+1
F (C))red
This process stops with a collection C1 middot middot middotCN of curves and F1 middot middot middot FN of reduced
divisors
Lemma VI1 We have the following identities
(36)
Fk middot C lt 0 for every C sube Ck
(F0 + F1) middot C le 0 for every C sube C0
(Fkminus1 + Fk + Fk+1) middot C = 0 for every C sube Ck 1 lt k lt N
(FNminus1 + FN) middot C lt 0 for every C sube CN
58 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proof The first is just the fact that every component of C is rigid The remaining
three follow from X0 middot C = 0 but the last one requires further justification Indeed
if C sube CN N gt 0 then C is one end of a tree of non-double curves In particular
there exists a foliation singularity lowast isin C disjoint from any other component of
C and LClowast is transverse to C This implies LClowast middotC gt 0 which together with
(FNminus1 + FN + LClowast) middot C = 0 concludes the proof
Let ε1 middot middot middot εN isin Qgt0 and define
(37) F Nminusk = (1 + ε1 + middot middot middot+ εk)FNminusk
bull If C sube CN we have
(38) (F Nminus1 + F
N) middot C = ε1FNminus1 middot C + (FNminus1 + FN) middot C
bull If C sube CNminusk 1 lt k lt N we have
(39)
(F Nminuskminus1 + F
Nminusk + F Nminusk+1) middot C =
(1 + middot middot middot+ εk)(FNminuskminus1 + FNminusk + FNminusk+1) middot C minus εkFNminusk+1 middot C + εk+1FNminuskminus1 middot C =
minus εkFNminusk+1 middot C + εk+1FNminuskminus1 middot C
bull If C sube C0 we have
(40) (F 0 + F
1) middot C = εNF0 middot C + (Nminus1sumj=0
εj)(F0 + F1) middot C
It is clear that provided
(41) 1 gtgt ε1 gtgt middot middot middot gtgt εN
the divisor F =sumF k is negative along every component of C
This proves the existence of the contraction and concludes the proof of the Main
Theorem I
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 59
VII Moduli space of foliated surfaces of general type
In this section we study the modular variation of foliated surfaces of general type
The upshot is that it is possible to define a functor which is representable separated
and every irreducible component is proper The main issue here is that the supporting
surface of a foliated canonical model may well fail to be projective indeed KF is not
Q-Gorenstein in general Hence in order to proceed via standard methods [Ko17]
we have to parametrize our canonical models together with a suitable projective
resolution
Definition VII13 Let (SF ) be a foliated proper reduced purely 2-dimensional
DM stack Assume S has only normal crossing singularities in codimension 1 that
F has log-canonical foliation singularities and that KF is big and nef on at least
one of the irreducible components of S If whenever KF middot C = 0 for some curve C
then C moves in an irreducible component of S and no member of such deformation
is F -invariant then (SF ) is called foliated canonical model of general type
Clearly foliated canonical models are exactly the stable degenerations appearing
as the central fiber of our Main Theorem I Their lack of projectivity has two sources
namely the contraction of cycles of smooth KF -nil curves and of trees of cuspidal
ones Singularities arising from cycles behave well in families namely they always
deform into the general fiber Those arising from cuspidal curves on the other hand
tend to be rather isolated inside the degenerate fiber
Observe that the deformation theory of a foliated surface is rather simple suppose
given an infinitesimal C-algebras extension 0 rarr J rarr Ae rarr A rarr 0 and (SF )
a foliated surface flat over Spec(A) then the obstruction to lifting to Ae can be
understood in three simple steps
(1) Deformation of the underlying surface S once a deformation Se rarr Spec(Ae)
is given
(2) Deformation of the line bundle KF by the exponential sequence
(42) 0rarr J otimes OS rarr OlowastSerarr OlowastS rarr 0
obstructions lie in H2(SOS)otimes J once a deformation of KF is given
60 FEDERICO BUONERBA
(3) Deformation of the defining section OS rarr KF otimes TS obstructions lie in
H1(SKF otimes TS)otimes J
Now we have
Definition VII14 Let (SF ) be a foliated canonical model of general type A
proper birational morphism q (SF )proj rarr (SF ) is called its projective resolution
if
bull Every irreducible component of Sproj is smooth
bull The exceptional locus of q is a disjoint union of cycles of KFproj-nil smooth
curves and trees of KFproj-nil curves each of which has a non-trivial cuspidal
singularity
bull In a neighborhood of every q-exceptional cycle not only Sproj but also its
moduli space is smooth
We need a few remarks about projective resolutions
(1) Projective resolutions are always unique Indeed the only possible ambiguity
could lie in some extra smooth irreducible components in the exceptional
locus This is forbidden by definition in the trees of cuspidal curves it is
also forbidden by way of the third item in cycles of smooth ones ie on
algebraic surfaces the minimal resolution is unique
(2) Denote by E the collection of q-exceptional cycles Then there exist ε δ isinQgt0 such that KFproj
minus εE + δKSprojis ample by Nakai-Moishezon
(3) Deformations of a projective resolution of a foliated canonical model are
canonically identified with deformations of the underlying birational mor-
phism q Sproj rarr S followed by a deformation of the foliation F
We are now ready to construct a moduli functor for foliated surfaces more precisely
for projective resolutions of foliated canonical models of general type For m dN isinN and ε δ isin Qgt0 let
(43) MmdNεδ (C-schemes)rarr (sets)
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 61
be defined by MmdNεδ(S) = Diagrams
(44) (X F )projqminusrarr (X F )
pminusrarr S
Where
bull Both p and p q are flat and proper
bull For every closed point s isin S the induced morphism qs is the projective
resolution of (X F )s which is a foliated canonical model of general type
bull Denote by Es the collection of exceptional cycles of qs By our Main Theorem
I there is a fibrewise divisor E subXproj flat over S restricting to Es for every
s isin S
bull Let j W rarr Xproj denote the maximal closed subscheme away from which
KFprojand KXprojS are locally free Then
(45) L [m] = (jlowast(KFprojotimes OXproj
(minusεE )otimesKδXprojS
)otimesm)oror
is flat over S and commutes with base-change
bull L [m] is very ample of degree d on every fiber and defines an embedding into
PNS
We are now ready for
Theorem VII15 The functor MmdNεδ is represented by a separated algebraic
space each of whose irreducible components is proper
Proof We show that our functor satisfies Artinrsquos conditions [Ar74 Corollary 54] By
definition condition 1) and 4) hold while our previous remark on foliated obstruction
theory shows that 3) is true
We proceed to show 2) namely effectivity of formal deformations for MmdNεδ
What follows owes much to Artinrsquos [A74rsquo] Let T be a complete C-algebra Tn its
n-truncation so that Tsimminusrarr limlarrminusTn and finally qn isinMmdNεδ(Spec(Tn)) a compatible
sequence For each n there is a maximal open set Un sube Xprojn where qn is an
isomorphism denote by sn Cn rarr Zn the restriction of qn to the complement of Un
Clearly sn is projective over Spec(Tn)
62 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Denote by X C etc the formal algebraic spaces obtained as limits of Xn Cn
etc Then Xproj sub PNˆSpec(T )
hence by Grothendieckrsquos existence Theorem we find
bull a flat projective family (X F )proj rarr Spec(T ) resp a closed subscheme
C subXproj whose completion is Xproj resp C
bull a scheme Z whose completion is Z and a morphism s C rarr Z everything
being projective over Spec(T )
Further we have a formal contraction limminusrarr qn C rarr Z hence the main theorem
of [Ar70] gives algebraic contraction (X F )proj rarr (X F ) This proves the repre-
sentability of MmdNεδ The properness and separability of each irreducible com-
ponent can be checked using valutative criteria indeed properness is the content of
our Main Theorem I separatedness follows from the uniqueness of foliated canonical
models of general type and their projective resolution
References
[Ar70] M Artin Algebraization of Formal Moduli II Existence of Modifications Ann
of Math Vol 91 No 1 (Jan 1970) pp 88-135 httpwwwjstororgstable
1970602
[Ar74] M Artin Versal Deformations and Algebraic Stacks Inventiones Math 27 165- 189
(1974) httpmathuchicagoedu~drinfeldArtin_on_stackspdf
[A74rsquo] M Artin Algebraic construction of Brieskornrsquos resolutions J Alg Vol 29 Issue
2 May 1974 pp 330-348 httpwwwsciencedirectcomsciencearticlepii
0021869374901021
[BB72] P Baum R Bott Singularities of holomorphic foliations J Diff Geom 7 (1972)
279-342 httpsprojecteuclidorgdownloadpdf_1euclidjdg1214431158
[Bo77] F Bogomolov Families of curves on a surface of general type Doklady Akademii Nauk
USSR (in Russian) 236 (5) 1041-1044
[Bo78] F Bogomolov Holomorphic tensors and vector bundles on projective varieties Math
USSR Izv 13 (1978) 499-555
[BM16] F Bogomolov M McQuillan Rational Curves on Foliated Varieties In Cascini
McKernan Pereira (eds) Foliation Theory in Algebraic Geometry Simons Symposia
Springer Cham pp 21-51 (2016) httpslinkspringercomchapter101007
978-3-319-24460-0_2
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 63
[Bu] F Buonerba Functorial resolution of tame quotient singularities in positive charac-
teristic httpsarxivorgabs151100550
[Ke99] S Keel Basepoint Freeness for Nef and Big Line Bundles in Positive Characteris-
tic Annals of Math 149 No 1 (Jan 1999) pp 253-286 httpwwwjstororg
stable121025 httpsarxivorgabsmath9901149
[KM97] S Keel S Mori Quotients by groupoids Annals of Math 145 (1997) pp
193-213 httpwwwjstororgstable2951828seq=1page_scan_tab_contents
httparxivorgabsalg-geom9508012
[Ko17] J Kollar Families of varieties of general type httpswebmathprincetonedu
~kollarbookmodbook20170720pdf
[LN02] A Lins Neto Some examples for the Poincare and Painleve problems Annales sci-
entifiques de lrsquoENS 352 (2002) 231-266 httparchivenumdamorgarticle
ASENS_2002_4_35_2_231_0pdf
[McQ12] M McQuillan Foliated Mori Theory amp Hyperbolicity of Algebraic Surfaces http
wwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillahomehtml
[McQ98] M McQuillan Diophantine approximation and foliations Inst Hautes Etudes Sci
Publ Math 87 (1998) 121-174 httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafiles
ihespdf
[McQ05rsquo] M McQuillan Bloch hyperbolicity preprint httpwwwmatuniroma2it
~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ05] M McQuillan Semi-stable reduction of foliations IHES pre-print IHESM0502
(2005) httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ05rdquo] M McQuillan Uniform Uniformisation IHES pre-print (2005) IHES M0503 http
wwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ08] M McQuillan Canonical models of foliations Pure Appl Math Q 4
(2008) no 3 Special Issue In honor of Fedor Bogomolov Part 2 877-1012
httpintlpresscomsitepubfiles_fulltextjournalspamq20080004
0003PAMQ-2008-0004-0003-a009pdf
[MP13] M McQuillan D Panazzolo Almost etale resolution of foliations J Diff Geom 95
(2013) pp 279-319 httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesmp1bispdf
[Pe02] JV Pereira On the Poincare Problem for Foliations of General Type Mathematische
Annalen 323 no 2 pp217-226 2002 httpsarxivorgabsmath0104185
[PS16] JV Pereira R Svaldi Effective algebraic integration in bounded genus preprint
httpsarxivorgabs161206932
64 FEDERICO BUONERBA
[Re83] M Reid Minimal models of canonical threefolds in rdquoAlgebraic Varieties and Ana-
lytic Varietiesrdquo Adv Stud Pure Math vol 1 S Iitaka ed Kinokuniya and North-
Holland 1983 pp 131-180 httpwwwmathsedacukcheltsovquotientpdf
reid2pdf
[Se67] A Seidenberg Reduction of singularities of the differential equation Ady = Bdx Amer
J Math 89 (1967) 248-269 httpwwwjstororgstable2373435
[SB83] N Shepherd-Barron Degenerations with numerically effective canonical divisor The
Birational Geometry of Degenerations (R Friedman and D Morrison eds) Progr
Math no 29 Birkhuser 1983 pp 33-84
[Vis89] A Vistoli Intersection theory on algebraic stacks and on their moduli spaces
Invent Math (1989) pp 613-670 httplinkspringercomarticle101007
2FBF01388892page-1
Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences New York University 251 Mercer
Street New York NY 10012 USA
E-mail address buonerbacimsnyuedu
- I Introduction
- II Preliminaries
-
- III Operations on Deligne-Mumford stacks
- IIII Width of embedded parabolic champs
- IIIII Gorenstein foliation singularities
- IIIV Foliated adjunction
- IIV Canonical models of foliated surfaces with canonical singularities
- IIVI Canonical models of foliated surfaces with log-canonical singularities
- IIVII Set-up
-
- III Invariant curves and singularities local description
-
- IIII `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F) not isolated
- IIIII `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F) isolated
- IIIIII Local consequences
-
- IV Invariant curves along which KF vanishes
-
- IVI KF-nil curves
- IVII Invariant curves inside `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F)
-
- V Configurations
-
- VI Configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
- VII Configurations of non-rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
-
- VI Contractions and proof of the Main Theorem
- VII Moduli space of foliated surfaces of general type
- References
-
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 31
Definition IIIIII1 An LC-center Π sub X is an irreducible F -invariant formal
hypersurface such that the local vector field generating the foliation when restricted
to Π has semi-simple part with log-canonical singularity or a one-dimensional sin-
gular locus An LC-center with a log-canonical singularity is necessarily an algebraic
component of the singular fiber of p
Corollary IIIIII2 There is at most one LC-center with a log-canonical singularity
through lowast If it exists then all eigenvalues of the semi-simple field at lowast are rational
If there are at least two LC-centers through lowast then there are exactly two and the
foliation singularity is a smooth curve on each of them
Proof Possible cases in which an LC-center with log-canonical singularities appears
ni (2)a i (3)b i (3)c
Corollary IIIIII3 If there is no LC-center thorugh a point lowast then there are at
most three invariant curves through lowast all smooth Any number of them spans a sub-
space of the tangent space at lowast of maximal possible dimension
If there is an LC-center through lowast then there is at most one invariant curve through
lowast and not contained in the LC-center
If there is an LC-center with non-isolated singularity then the singularity is smooth
and all invariant curves contained in the LC-center intersect the singularity trans-
versely
Proof Invariant curves not in an LC-centers with log-canonical singularities are con-
tained in the three axes x = z = 0 x = y = 0 y = z = 0 mentioned in the above
classification The other statements are clear
Corollary IIIIII4 If p is smooth at lowast then Z is one dimensional around lowast
Proof Possible casesni (1)a ni (2)a
In particular if there is no LC-center the situation is the familiary
xz
32 FEDERICO BUONERBA
While if there is an LC-center (pink) with log-canonical singularity it will look like
y
LC-center
While if there is an LC-center with non-isolated singularity (red) it will look like
(the black arrows being invariant curves)
y
LC-center
The next corollary describes one-dimensional components of the foliation singularity
Corollary IIIIII5 If Z0 is a one-dimensional irreducible component of the folia-
tion singularity then it is at worst nodal The foliation when restricted to any fiber
component containing Z0 saturates to a smooth foliation in a neighborhood of Z0
and all the invariant curves are transverse to Z0
If Z0 is contained in exactly one fiber component then the semi-simple field has one
eigenvalue everywhere along Z0
If Z0 lies at the intersection of two fiber components then the semi-simple field has
two constant eigenvalues everywhere along Z0
Moreover if there exist a sequence of invariant curves converging in the compact-
open topology to Z0 then there is generically one eigenvalue along Z0
Proof Possible casesni (1)a ni (1)b ni (2)b ni (2)c Concerning the one-
eigenvalue case invariant curves converging to Z0 can be found in the formal hyper-
surface x = 0
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 33
IV Invariant curves along which KF vanishes
In this section we study in great detail a formal neighborhood of invariant curves
where KF is numerically trivial In the first subsection we deal with KF -nil curves
namely those whose generic point is not contained in the foliation singularity In this
case the normal bundle to the curve determines its formal neighborhood uniquely
and this has plenty of amazing consequences In the second subsection we study
those invariant curves which are contained in the foliation singularity In this case
we are not able to control the full formal neighborhood but important informations
can still be obtained
IVI KF -nil curves In this subsection we study in detail the structure of KF -
nil curves and their formal neighborhoods appearing in the set-up IIVII4 In
particular we will describe a simple process to replace cuspidal KF -nil curves by
net ones prove that the foliation is in the net completion around a net KF -nil curve
defined by a global vector field which admits a global Jordan decomposition deduce
that eigenfunctions for the semi-simple component of such field are also globally
defined on a formal neighborhood
The first important remark is of technical nature and explains how to deal with non-
net KF -nil curves By Proposition IIIV4 this is indeed possible and the images of
such curves will acquire cusp-like singularities It is hard to analyze the geometry
of F around such cuspidal curves and therefore necessary to remove them Let us
assume that C is simply connected with rational moduli f is ramified at 0 isin C
and and denote by X the formal completion along f(C) Then formally around
f(0) the curve f(C) has defining ideal (y xa minus zb) where y = 0 is a fiber of the
fibration p X rarr ∆ containing f(C) x z isin H0(X OX ) restrict to suitable local
coordinates on such fiber and a b ge 2 are coprime integers
Claim IVI1 Let r X ( aradicz = 0) rarr X be the a-th root of z = 0 III3 Then
(rlowastC)norm =∐a
1 C and the induced map rlowastf (rlowastC)norm rarrX ( aradicz = 0) is net
Proof Since r is etale away from z = 0 also rlowastC rarr C is etale away from 0 isin C
Since C 0 is simply connected we have rlowastC rminus1(0) =∐a
1 C 0 This proves
34 FEDERICO BUONERBA
the first statement Let ζ be a function on X ( aradicz = 0) such that ζa = z so then
rlowast(xa minus zb) =prod
ηa=1(x minus ηζb) Every branch is net in 0 and we obtain the second
statement as well
As such upon taking roots we can replace non-net KF -nil invariant curves with
rational moduli by net ones
We now proceed to study net KF -nil curves We will show that the foliation is
defined by a global vector field around a net KF -nil curve with rational moduli and
that such vector field admits a global Jordan decomposition
Proposition IVI2 Notation as in the set-up IIVII4 let f C rarrX be a KF -nil
curve Assume that f is net and let j C rarr C be the net completion along f Then
there exists an isomorphism
(16) OC(KF )simminusrarr OC
In particular there exists a global vector field partf on C that generates F
Proof Since C has rational moduli and is simply connected it has infinite-cyclic
Picard group and we have an isomorphism
(17) OC(KF )simminusrarr OC
Moreover we have a non-canonical splitting of the normal bundle Njsimminusrarr O(minusn) oplus
O(minusm) and we claim that both nm ge 0 Indeed consider the induced semi-stable
fibration C rarr ∆ and let F be the normalization of an irreducible component of a
fiber such that C sub F Consider the exact sequence
(18) 0rarr NCF rarr Nj rarr NFC|C rarr 0
Since KF is nef NCF is not ample since F is a fiber of a fibration also NFC|C is
not ample and this is enough to conclude even though nm may be different from
the degrees of such normal bundles
At this point we can lift the isomorphism 17 over infinitesimal neighborhoods of j
Indeed for every k ge 0 we have an exact sequence
(19) 0rarr Symk ICI2C rarr OCk+1
(KF )rarr OCk(KF )rarr 0
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 35
which shows that the obstruction to lifting the isomorphism lies in
(20) H1(C Symk ICI2C) = H1(C Symk(O(n)oplus O(m))) = 0
From this we can deduce
Proposition IVI3 The vector field partf admits a Jordan decomposition uniformly
along C
Proof The cohomology sequence attached to 19 is
(21) 0rarr H0(C Symk ICI2C)rarr H0(COCk+1
)rarr H0(COCk)rarr 0
Let partk+1 denote the image of partf in End(H0(COCk+1)) Looking at
H0(COCk+1) minusminusminusrarr H0(COCk
)
partk+1
y partk
yH0(COCk+1
) minusminusminusrarr H0(COCk)
we see the canonical Jordan deomposition of partk+1 restricts to that of partk
The above result describes a very useful interplay between normal bundles to
KF -nil curves and the structure of the semi-simple field It turns out that these
informations determine formal neighborhoods uniquely For simplicity let C be
an irreducible component of C without orbifold points Let us assume that part|C is
singular in 0infin Then there exist formal functions x y z at 0 isin C and ξ η ζ at
infin isin C such that x ξ are coordinates along C y η are local sections of OC(minusn)
so η = xny mod(I2C) z ζ are local sections of OC(minusm) so ζ = xmz mod(I2C)
Normalizing so that xminus1partS(x) = ε isin 0 1 we obtain
(22) part0S = εxpart
partx+ λy
part
party+ microz
part
partz partinfinS = minusεξ part
partξ+ (λ+ εn)η
part
partη+ (micro+ εm)ζ
part
partζ
More generally ie C = P1(d e) we have glueing rules x = te ξ = tminusd η = tny and
ζ = tmz mod(I2C) Normalizing so that tminus1partS(t) = ε isin 0 1 we obtain
(23) part0S = eεxpart
partx+ λy
part
party+ microz
part
partz partinfinS = minusdεξ part
partξ+ (λ+ εn)η
part
partη+ (micro+ εm)ζ
part
partζ
36 FEDERICO BUONERBA
It is worth remarking that the above relations hold between eigenvalues at the two
singular point of singular ie nodal or cuspidal KF -nil curves as well this is
easily seen by taking a root followed by net completion and keeping track of the
eigenvalues
Definition IVI4 Let C be a KF -nil curve The foliation singular points along C
are called ends
As well as the existence of Hilbert scheme in the following form
Fact IVI5 Let W sub Xlowast be a curve and D a divisor in the formal neighborhood
of W such that W = D capXlowast scheme-theoretically Then W moves in D
In what follows our main concern is to understand formal neighborhoods of KF -
nil curves Observe that the fibration p when restricted to the formal neighborhood
of such curves provides at least one eigenfunction of the semi-simple field Hence
in order to compute the width IIII we must study the behavior of the other eigen-
function on infinitesimal neighborhoods We first describe the situation inside the
smooth locus of p
Proposition IVI6 (Smooth fiber) Let f C rarrX be an irreducible KF -nil curve
which is contained in the smooth locus of a fiber Xlowast of p Then the end(s) on C are
flat over ∆ ni (1)b and ni (1)a with z2|g(y z) and C moves in a family flat over
∆
Proof Let us assume that f is net Then upon passing to net completion we can
actually assume it is embedded From our local classification of singularities we case
in case ni (1)a and ni (2)a We want to show that both ends have components
that move transversely to p hence we have to exclude case ni (1)a with g(y z) = ya
By way of contradiction say we have g(y z) = ya in the notation of opcit around
an end lowast isin C We proceed to compute what happens at the other end we find
formal coordinates ξ η ζ which by equation 23 satisfy
(24) ξ = xminus1 η = y ζ = xmz mod(I2C)
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 37
As such we compute part(ζ) = mζ + ξminusmηa mod(I2C) which is holomorphic if and only
if m le 0 so then C moves in Xlowast contradicting that the foliation has general type
Hence we are in cases ni (1)a ni (2)a with g = microyazb b ge 1
(25) part0 = xpart
partx+ microyazb
part
partz partinfin = minusξ part
partξ+ ζ(m+ microξm(bminus1)ηaζbminus1)
part
partζ(mod(I2C))
Following notation from subsection IIII observe that C1 is the section of E1C which
is disjoint from the proper transform of the fiber of p In coordinates over 0
(26) x1 = x y1 = y z1 = zyminus1
And similarly over infin Using the previous equation and 25 on C1 we find
(27)
part01 = x1part
partx1+microya+bminus11 zb1
part
partz1 partinfin1 = minusξ1
part
partξ1+ζ1(m+microξ
m(bminus1)1 ηa+bminus11 ζbminus11 )
part
partζ1(mod(I2C1
))
In particular the transform of the nilpotent field is still nilpotent after blowing up in
C It follows that the eigenvalues of the semi-simple field at the two ends of C and
C1 are the same Using equation 23 we deduce that the normal bundle to C1X1 to
isomorphic to that of CX in particular it contains a trivial direct summand This
proves that width(C) =infin
Next we show that f must be net Consider the induced flat projection pD D rarr ∆
its general fiber cannot be a cuspidal curve since along such cusp the foliation sin-
gularity would be log-canonical but not canonical Hence if C has a cusp necessarily
the general fiber of pD is a nodal curve Let X rarr X denote the blow up of the
nodal locus of pD with exceptional divisor E ruled over ∆ In a neighborhood of E
we have sing(F ) = D cap E which projects to ∆ as a double cover ramified over lowastObserve that the foliation on Xlowast is again log-canonical and not canonical hence its
local structure is ni (2)a In that case however p is unramified along the foliation
singularity Contradiction
We state a general criterion for movability of KF -nil curves
Proposition IVI7 Let C be a connected KF -nil curve such that p(C ) = lowast isin ∆
Assume its dual graph is a chain that none of its irreducible components is double
38 FEDERICO BUONERBA
VI3 and that its two extremal ends are flat over ∆ Then C moves in a family flat
over ∆ and each of its irreducible components is embedded
Proof We work in a formal neighborhood of C After taking roots we can assume
C is net and since its dual graph is a chain it is actually embedded We proceed by
induction on its length l where the case l = 1 is Proposition IVI6 For l gt 1 let C1
be a component of C which is extremal in its dual graph If C1 moves transversely
to p then both its ends do and hence we can apply the induction hypothesis to
C C1 If C1 is rigid then it can be flopped It is straightforward to check that we
can apply the induction hypothesis to the transform C + C+1 and we are done
Now we deal with rigid curves inside the singular fiber
Proposition IVI8 (Singular fiber) Let f C rarr X be an embedded net KF -
nil curve with anti-ample normal bundle Then there exists a birational map φ
(X F ) 99K (X +F+) and a KF+-nil curve C+ such that
bull φ is an isomorphism away from C+
bull In a formal neighborhood of at least one among C and C+ there exist two
invariant hypersurfaces D1D2 locally defined by the vanishing of eigenfunc-
tions of the semi-simple field such that C (resp C+)= D1 capD2
bull If F middot C lt 0 for some hypersurface F then F+ middot C+ gt 0 In particular X +
is projective
Such φ is called flop
Proof Our assumption is that Nfsimminusrarr O(minusn)oplusO(minusm) is anti-ample namely nm gt
0 If two invariant hypersurfaces as in our statement do exist around C the flop is
easily constructed as a weighted blow-up followed by a weighted blow-down As such
let us assume that such hypersurfaces do not exist around C In particular C is not
double VI3 By [Ar70] there exists a formal contraction c X rarrX0 collapsing C
to a point and an isomorphism everywhere else By Proposition IVI3 the foliation
F0 is Gorenstein around the node of X0 For ease of exposition let us assume
n = m = 1 the general case is handled the same way only the notation becomes more
cumbersome due to the presence of weights The node has embedding dimension 4
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 39
and in suitable local coordinates x0 y0 w0 z0 can be defined by x0z0minusy0w0 = 0 The
morphism c can be identified with the blow up of the embedded surface (x0 = y0 = 0)
Explicitly in the chart y = y0 x = x0yminus10 it is defined by
(28) y0 = y x0 = xy z0 = zprime w0 = xzprime
Here x is a coordinate along C while y = 0 is the pull-back of (x0 = y0 = 0) and
zprime some function in the normal bundle to C By the previous Proposition IVI6
we know C cannot be contained in the smooth locus of p Since C is not double
we can assume that in this local chart p is defined by (x y zprime) rarr xy - the case
(x y zprime) rarr xzprime being isomorphic as it is isomorphic to blow-up (z0 = w0 = 0)
instead of (x0 = y0 = 0) The issue is as emphasized by the notation zprime 6= z that
zprime may fail to be an eigenfunction for partS if it were we would be done since zprime = 0
is the local equation for the global pullback of (z0 = w0 = 0) However we have
a b isin C such that
(29) partS0(y0) = minusy0 partS0(x0) = 0 partS0(z0) = ay0 + bz0 partS0(w0) = ax0 + (b+ 1)w0
Observe that the embedded surfaces D01 = (y0 = z0 = 0) and D0
2 = (x0 = w0 = 0)
are both foliation invariant As such let b X + rarr X0 denote the blow-up of X0
along D01 - which is isomorphic to that along D0
2 - and let Di = blowastD0i i = 1 2
Finally X + is projective by Nakai-Moishezon Indeed every C with anti-ample
normal bundle is contained in an irreducible component F of X0 such that F middotC lt 0
Then F+ middot C+ gt 0 and we can find an ample divisor of the form H+ + εF+ where
H+ is the proper transform of an ample on X
Remark IVI9 In the previous proof a 6= b+ 1 Indeed such identity would create
a non-trivial Jordan block of partS0 in the (x0 w0)-plane thus contradicting the semi-
simplicity of partS0 In particular by a straightforward computation it is impossible to
find eigenfunctions of the form wlowast0 = w0 + αx0 zlowast0 = z0 + βy0 with x0z
lowast0 minus y0wlowast0 = 0
unless a = 0
We can conclude by pointing out an important point understood in this section
A painful aspect of the theory is that log-canonical singularities which appear natu-
rally as analytic degenerations of canonical ones come along with cuspidal invariant
40 FEDERICO BUONERBA
curves There is in particular no a-priori obstruction to the existence of rigid
cuspidal KF -nil curves in a smooth fiber of our family of foliated surfaces p Quite
generally a rigid curve of positive arithmetic genus in a smooth family of surfaces can
never be contracted to a point Therefore this would have been a counter-example
to any reasonable foliated canonical model theory one may wish to achieve Fortu-
nately such phenomenon does not happen and this establishes the Main Theorem I
modulo finitely many rigid curves confined in the singular fiber X0
IVII Invariant curves inside sing(F ) In this subsection we study curves Z0 subeXlowast cap sing(F ) which are inside the foliation singularity and invariant By this we
mean that there exists a sequence fn Cn rarrX of not necessarily algebraic invariant
curves converging in the compact-open topology to Z0 In other words the map
(30) NorF rarr Ω1Z0
is trivial By Corollary IIIIII5 we know that Z0 is at worst nodal it is smooth
wherever p is smooth for every point z isin Z0 the semi-simple part of the gener-
ating vector field has exactly one eigenvalue The problem here is that the Jordan
decomposition need not extend uniformly along Z0 not even along an irreducible
component In case ni (1)a the functions x and g may develop essential singulari-
ties arbitrary close to z Nonetheless the function x is unique and this says that x
does extend along Z0
Proposition IVII1 Let Z0 be as above Then in a formal neighborhood of Z0
there exists a unique smooth invariant hypersurface D0 containing Z0 which restricts
around any point in Z0 to the unique eigenfunction for the semi-simple field whose
eigenvalue is non-zero
Proof The local structure of the foliation around a point z isin Z0 is described by
cases ni (1)a and ni (1)b In both cases partS has one non-zero eigenvalue with
eigenfunction x Such eigenfunction x is a-priori only defined in the normal bundle to
Z0 but it is clear that the equation partx = x has a unique up to constants solution in
the formal completion around z As such there exists a unique smooth hypersurface
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 41
D0 in the formal completion around Z0 which restricts to the eigenfunction x around
z
Observe that the previous argument goes through since we are assuming Z0 subX0
Keeping notations from case ni (1)a if say g(y z) = yz then in the hypersurface
y equiv q isin Qgt0 the foliation has a log-canonical singularity and the eigenfunction x
extends highly non-uniquely to a formal neighborhood of the point (x y z) = (0 q 0)
In particular the existence of D0 as in the previous Proposition might fail along
the component (x = z = 0) of the foliation singularity This phenomenon is called
the beast
Anyway uniqueness in the previous proposition yields
Corollary IVII2 Let Z prime be a connected invariant curve inside sing(F ) Then in
a formal neighborhood of Z prime there exists a unique smooth invariant hypersurface D prime
containing Z prime which restricts around any point in Z prime to the hypersurface constructed
in the previous proposition
Next we turn to the intrinsic structure of invariant singular curves
Proposition IVII3 Let Z0 be an irreducible invariant curve inside sing(F )
Then Z0 is smooth and rational
Proof We work in a formal neighborhood of Z0 Let F0 denote the unique component
of X0 containing Z0 For any other fiber component F intersecting Z0 non-trivially
blow-up the invariant curve F cap F0 with exceptional divisor EF A straightforward
computation using the local formula ni (1)b shows that the fiber of the natural
projection EF rarr F cap F0 intersecting Z0 is also contained in sing(F ) For Z prime the
maximal connected singular invariant curve containing Z0 let G denote the saturated
foliation induced on D prime It is canonical with reduced singularities and it satisfies
KG = KF |Dprime minus Zprime By adjunction
(31) 2g(Z0)minus 2 + sZG(Z0) = minusZ prime middot Z0
Observe that thanks to our initial sequence of blow-ups the singularities of G along
Z0 coincide with the intersection of Z0 and Z prime Z0 In particular since D prime is formally
42 FEDERICO BUONERBA
flat over ∆ we deduce Z prime middot Z0 = 0 and the previous formula becomes
(32) 2g(Z0)minus 2 + sZG(Z0) = 0
This implies that Z0 is rational or elliptic If Z0 were elliptic then sZG(Z0) = 0 and
D0 defines an invariant elliptic curve in the general fiber of p By Baum-Bott this
contradicts that KF is big and nef Now we show that Z0 is smooth If it has a node
then D0 moves it in a family of nodal rational curves flat over ∆ In particular D0
itself has a node in codimension 1 hence Xlowast is smooth around the node of Z0 In its
formal neighborhood the foliation must be as in case ni (1)a which implies that
Z0 is smooth contradiction
We can improve as follows
Proposition IVII4 Let Z prime sube sing F capXlowast be a connected invariant curve with
KF middot Z prime = 0 Then its dual graph is a chain
Proof Assume Z prime is a cycle Then necessarily Z prime = D prime capXlowast scheme-theoretically
and by the existence of Hilbert scheme Z prime moves in the general fiber Its general
member is either a cycle of smooth rational curves or an elliptic curve Arguing as
in the previous proof we see that both options are impossible
V Configurations
In this section we analyze in great detail all possible configurations of invariant
curves along which KF vanishes These can be divided into three groups those
that do not move those that move in a one-dimensional family covering a surface
those that move in a higher-dimensional family covering a surface Curves in the first
group can form rather complicated configurations while those in the second group
are more simple they either move in the general fiber or they cover an isolated
Riccati component in the singular fiber Those in the third group turn out to be
represented by the two rulings of P1timesP1 if they happen to be cohomologous in the
ambient stack First we will analyze rigid curves then those which move and finally
we will describe their configurations
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 43
VI Configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially In
this subsection we describe configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF
trivially which arise in the situation described by set-up IIVII4
First we focus on KF -nil curves At the end of the section we deal with the simpler
case in which a curve in the configuration is fully contained in sing(F ) The general
fiber was handled in Proposition IVI6
Proposition VI1 Let C be a connected KF -nil curve contained in the smooth
locus of a fiber of p Then it is a chain or a cycle and it moves in a family flat over
∆
In what follows we let C denote a connected KF -nil curve contained in the
singular fiber X0 all of whose sub-curves are rigid in X Observe a consequence of
equation 23
Proposition VI2 Let C = cupiCi be a connected KF -nil curve Then the eigen-
values of partS are all rational at every point of sing(F )capC if and only if they are all
rational at one point
We can deduce many non-trivial properties about configurations of KF -nil curves
First we need
Definition VI3 Let C subX0 be a curve It is called double if there exists formally
around C two components F F prime of X0 such that C = F cap F prime A point lowast isin C where
three fiber components intersect is called a triple point If C lies on exactly one fiber
component it is called non-double We denote by F (C) such component
Remark VI4 Let Csimminusrarr P1(d e) be double with two triple points Then we know
e+ λ+ micro = minusd+ (λ+ n) + (micro+m) = 0 whence we obtain
(33) n+m = d+ e
Which is called triple-point formula
Next we show that essentially KF -nil curves do not form cycles unless something
deforms in X0 First we show that there are no cycles of rigid non-double curves
44 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proposition VI5 Let C be a connected KF -nil curve contained in the singular
fiber X0 of p Assume that every component of C is non-double and that every
sub-curve is rigid Then C contains no cycles
Proof We work in a formal neighborhood of C which we assume is a cycle Let
us first consider the case in which all components C1 middot middot middot CN are smooth with no
orbifold points and denote lowasti = Ci cap Ci+1 with CN+1 = C1 Moreover let us
assume no lowasti lies in the smooth locus of p
Since no curve is double the semi-simple field at every lowasti is as in case i (3)b in
particular the eigenvalues along the branches of Ci and Ci+1 add up to zero More-
over let minusni denote the self-intersection of Ci sub F (Ci) Normalize the eigenvalues
of partS so that at lowastn they are 1 in the C1 direction minus1 in the CN direction λ in the
F (C1)capF (CN) direction It follows by induction that at lowasti the eigenvalues are minus1
in the Ci direction 1 in the Ci+1 direction λ+ n1 + middot middot middot+ ni in the F (Ci) cap F (Ci+1)
direction After traveling around the cycle we obtain n1+middot middot middot+nN = 0 contradicting
that ni gt 0 for every i
We established the Proposition assuming every Ci is an embedded scheme and ev-
ery lowasti is in the singular locus of p The case in which Cisimminusrarr P1(di ei) has orbifold
points is analogous we end up with a combination c1n1 + middot middot middot + cNnN = 0 with ci
the eigenvalue at lowasti in the Ci+1 direction Normalizing so that c1 = e1 gt 0 again by
induction on i we see that every ci isin Qgt0 Next we show that our assumption on lowastiis always satisfied
Claim VI6 Every lowasti must belong to the singular locus of p
Proof We give two essentially equivalent proofs
bull If N = 2 3 then the previous argument goes through indeed we can normal-
ize eigenvalues at lowasti to be negative in the Ciminus1 direction and positive in the
Ci-direction and argue as above Hence we can assume N ge 4 If say lowasti is in
the smooth locus of p then F (Ci) = F (Ci+1) If also F (Ciminus1) = F (Ci) then Ci
lies in the smooth locus of p and hence it moves Therefore F (Ciminus1) 6= F (Ci)
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 45
and Ciminus1 can be flopped inside F (Ci) Since N ge 4 this preserves the smooth-
ness of F (Ci) and Ci is now is the smooth locus of p - contradiction
bull If lowasti belongs to the smooth locus of p then the end through lowasti moves We
can form a partial net completion fi Xi rarrX by normalizing C in lowasti only
Then f lowasti C is a chain with movable ends and hence moves in the general fiber
of p fi
Finally the general case in which some among the Ci have cusps can be easily
reduced to the smooth case in a couple of ways
bull Eigenvalues at the singularities of any KF -nil curve satisfy the same relations
as in the smooth case
bull Upon taking roots and net completion we can find a foliated formal 3-fold
supported on a cycle of smooth KF -nil curves which is a ramified cover of a
formal neighborhood of our cycle
Similarly we can show that there are no rigid cycles of double curves
Proposition VI7 Let C be a nodal KF -nil curve which is double Then C
deforms inside X0 In particular there cannot exist a rigid cycle of KF -nil double
curves
Proof Following the previous notation we have 0 = infin and if C = (xy = z = 0)
around 0 then we have identities
(34) x = η y = ξ z = ζ
The last one of which implies m = 0 that is C deforms Since C is double necessarily
the surface it spans must be contained in X0
The statement about cycles follows since a cycle of double curves can be transformed
after finitely many flops into a chain of smooth double curves with a nodal one
attached at one end
46 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Later on we will show that the deformations of C cannot span an elliptic surface
but only a family of nodal rational curves with a special Riccati foliation on it
We are ready to organize a detailed description of the dual graph of C More pre-
cisely we only need to understand how double curves intersect non-double curves
Lemma VI8 There exists a sequence of flops X 99KX + such that if C + denotes
the transform of C every double curve supported on C + contains two triple points
Proof Let C sube C be an irreducible component with at most one triple point and
let X 99K X + be its flop Then its transform C+ is non-double and the number
of double curves contained in C descreases It is clear that after finitely many flops
all double curves contain exactly two triple points
From now on all double curves in C have two triple points Thanks to proposition
VI2 we know that there are two cases to consider those curves along which the
semi-simple field has not only rational eigenvalues and those along which the semi-
simple field has only rational eigenvalues The first case being strictly easier than
the second it is a good starting place to warm up
Proposition VI9 (irrational eigenvalues) Assume that for every foliation singu-
larity along C not all eigenvalues of partS are rational Then every component of C
is net with at most one node and 1-skeleton of its dual graph is at worst trivalent
Write C = C axes cup C free where
C axes is the union of double curves
C free is the union of non-double curves
Then one among C axes and C free is empty Moreover
bull If C free is non-empty then it is a chain of smooth curves with rational moduli
bull If C axes is non-empty there exists a sequence of flops X 99KX + and an ir-
reducible component of the fiber FC subX + such that X + is a smooth stack
the transform C+ of C is contained in FC Moreover the dual graph of C+
is a tree which by [McQ08 III32] becomes a chain inside the normalization
of FC
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 47
Proof The first sentence is just corollary IIIIII3
Observe that if a non-double curve intersects a double curve then the non-double
curve must be contained in an LC-center around such intersection This contradicts
that not all eigenvalues are rational and establishes that one among C axes and C free
is empty
In case C free is not empty then it is clearly a chain or a cycle the latter being
impossible by Proposition VI5
We are left to show the existence of flops in case C = C axes We remark that
every component is smooth Let C0 be such a component and S0 a component of
X0 containing it Let C1 be the collection of irreducible components of C which
intersect S0 but are not contained in it All the components of C1 are smooth hence
we can flop them in any order until the transform of C1 lies in the transform of S0
Since the number of irreducible components of C lying outside S0 decreases after
such flop by induction we deduce the existence of finitely many flops after which
the birational transform of C is fully contained in the transform of S0
Next we take care of rational eigenvalues The complication here arises from
the fact that there may be double and non-double curves intersecting each other
However the situation is best possible
Proposition VI10 (rational eigenvalues) Assume that for every foliation singu-
larity along C all eigenvalues of partS are rational Write C = C axes cup C free where
C axes is the union of double curves
C free is the union of non-double curves
Then there exists a sequence of flops X 99K X + and an irreducible component of
the fiber FC axes subX + such that
bull X + is a smooth stack
bull The union of double curves of C axes is contained in FC axes the 1-skeleton of
its dual graph is a tree and each of its components has two triple points
bull The 1-skeleton of the dual graph of the transform C free+ is a disjoint union of
trees
bull Each connected component of C free+ intersects C axes in exactly one point
48 FEDERICO BUONERBA
In particular the 1-skeleton of the dual graph of C is a tree
Proof Notice that for every point lowast isin C cap Z there exists one LC-center through lowastIndeed there are three rational eigenvalues and they cannot be all non-vanishing and
all with different signs at the same time Now C axes can be treated as in proposition
VI9 This proves the first two items of the statement The third item follows from
Proposition VI5 so we can focus on the fourth one The proof is based on the
following obvious
Remark VI11 let C be a double curve such that either it is KF -nil hence has
two triple points or it is fully contained in sing(F ) Let C0 sube C free intersect C
non-trivially in a point lowast then necessarily C0 sub LClowast
Now let C0 middot middot middot CN form a chain of non-double curves with C0 and CN both
intersecting double curves as in the remark Denote by lowasti = Ci cap Ci+1 Since
C1 sub LClowast necessarily C1 is transverse to LClowast1 otherwise C1 would deform in F (C1)
Inductively we see that Ci+1 sub LClowasti and is transverse to LClowasti+1 In particular CN
cannot touch a double curve This contradiction proves the fourth item
Let us add a remark about configurations featuring invariant curves inside sing(F )
Proposition VI12 Let C be an invariant curve with KF middot C = 0 such that
Z0 sube C for some component Z0 sube sing(F ) Then C = Z prime cup C where
Z prime is a connected invariant curve inside the foliation singularity with dual graph a
chain
C is the union of at most two pairwise disjoint KF -nil curves with anti-ample
normal bundle
If not empty C can only intersect Z prime at the two ends of its dual graph Moreover
perhaps after a flop the intersection of C with Z prime supports the foliation singularity
along C As such if C has two components Z prime cup C deforms in the general fiber
Proof The structure of Z prime is Proposition IVII3 while that of Co is Proposition
IVI6 Let C prime be a component of C intersecting Z0 in a point lowast If C prime and Z0 belong
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 49
to different components of X0 then by case ni (1)b the eigenvalue of partS along C prime
vanishes so supp(sing(F ) cap C prime) = lowast If C prime and Z0 belong to the same component
then we can flop C prime into a different component
Observe that the divisor D prime from op cit can be extended along C prime This implies
that C can only intersect Z prime at its ends Moreover if C touches both ends necessarily
D prime capX0 = C scheme-theoretically hence by the existence of Hilbert scheme IVI5
we conclude
Our new set-up is
Set-up VI13 Everything as in set-up IIVII4 and moreover for any connected
invariant curve C with KF middot C = 0 all of whose sub-curves are rigid we have
configurations computed in proposition VI9 VI10 and Lemma VI12
VII Configurations of non-rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
In this subsection we describe configurations of surfaces which are covered by KF -nil
curves The structure of each such surface is described by classification IIV1 IIV2
and Corollary IIVI17 Our first step is to simplify the situation by contracting
chains of ruled surfaces The next step is to try and exclude the possibility that
the singular fiber of p contains fibrations by elliptic or nodal rational curves with
at least one invariant fiber This can be achieved with good success indeed there
may be at most one such Riccati foliation which is anyway rather isolated from the
remaining KF -nil curves Finally we observe that the only class of surfaces we have
not mentioned is
Definition VII1 A irreducible component F of the singular fiber of p is called
small Kronecker if
bull (FFF ) is birational to a Kronecker vector field on P1 timesP1 and
bull The two rulings of this P1 timesP1 are cohomologous inside X
The name comes from the fact that contraction of a small Kronecker yields a node
in the ambient threefold which admits a small resolution In fact in many respects
these fiber components behave very much like rigid KF -nil curves
50 FEDERICO BUONERBA
We start by getting rid of some fiber components which are ruled by KF -nil gener-
ically smooth rational curves
Proposition VII2 Notation as in Set-up VI13 there exists a sequence of flops
and divisorial contractions c X 99KX + such that
bull X + is a smooth stack
bull let S+ sub X + be an irreducible invariant divisor that contains a positive-
dimensional family of invariant rational curves along which KF+ vanishes
Then S+ is either birationally ruled by nodal rational curves or it is a small
Kronecker
Proof We focus first on contracting components of the singular fiber of p Consider
the following algorithm If there is no birationally ruled component different from
the ones listed in the second item we are done otherwise pick one such F and let
C denote the general member of the ruling If the cohomology class [C] is inde-
composable F is minimal Otherwise [C] = [C1] + [C2] where Ci are rational and
intersect KF trivially After finitely many steps we have a decomposition as a finite
sum of indecomposables [C] =sumn
i=0 ni[Ci] where every Ci is rational intersects KF
trivially We have two cases
bull There exists k such that Ck deforms in a birationally ruled necessarily min-
imal surface Fk
bull Every Ci has anti-ample normal bundle
In the first case denote by X rarr X1 the contraction of Fk along |Ck| and relpace
X by X1 Since Fk is minimal smoothness of the ambient stack is preserved unless
Fk is a small Kronecker This is however impossible if n ge 2 if Fk were a small
Kronecker then Ck deforms away from Fkminus1 so then Fkminus1 middot Ck = 0 on the other
hand Fkminus1 intersects the other ruling of Fk positively
In the second case flop C1 middot middot middot Cn in this order The transform of F is minimal and
not a small Kronecker so it can be contracted along its ruling preserving ambient
smoothness By induction on the Picard rank of X after finitely many steps this
algorithm ends Call X the output of this algorithm
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 51
Let S subX be an invariant divisor with a generically smooth ruling Then pS S rarr∆ is flat and after flopping finitely many rational curves in S cap plowastS(0) the resulting
pS is smooth Hence we can contract S along pS After finitely many steps the
Proposition is proven
For ease of notation in the sequel we call X the output of the previous proposition
Notice that there might still be divisors carrying a pencil of nodal rational curves
both inside and outside the singular fiber of p
We can start analyzing configurations of fiber components where the restriction of
F is not of general type We need some notation whose reason to exist will be clear
shortly
Definition VII3 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
along which KF is not big F is called special Riccati if
bull F is minimal
bull There exists a morphism s F rarr B onto a curve whose fibers are nodal
rational curve
bull F is transverse to the general fiber of s in particular KF is numerically
trivial along s
bull At least one fiber of s is invariant
bull There exists a section σ of s which is invariant and does not coincide with
the nodal locus of F
In particular the intersections of σ with invariant fibers of s isolated singularities
of F the node of F all coincide There may be fibers of s fully contained in sing(F )
in which case they are everywhere transverse to the saturated foliation
The definition looks nasty but special Riccati components have a rather simple
origin as the following proof shows
Lemma VII4 Let F be special Riccati Up to base change by an etale double cover
Bprime rarr B there is a natural isomorphism F norm simminusrarr BprimetimesP1 and the restriction of F
to F norm is birational to the projection onto P1
52 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proof We work over the normalization F norm Denote by Bprime the pre-image of the
node of F which is an etale double cover of B and let f denote an invariant fiber
of s with lowast = σ cap f Observe that F norm carries a Riccati foliation with 3 invariant
curves through lowast - namely σ f and a component of Bprime Hence FF has a log-canonical
singularity in lowast On F norm perform a weighted blow-up in each log-canonical singu-
larity followed by the contraction of the transforms of the corresponding fibers Let
s+ F+ rarr B denote the output of this operation If the proper transform of Bprime is
connected replace F+ by its base change under Bprime rarr B Hence we can assume Bprime
is the disjoint union of two sections of s+ and the transform of σ is a third section
which is disjoint from Bprime Therefore F+ = P1 timesBprime and the foliation restricts to the
projection onto P1
Next we describe those surfaces which cannot appear as components of the sin-
gular fiber X0
Definition VII5 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
along which KF is not big F is called illusory if
bull there exists a morphism t F rarr B onto a curve
bull KF is trivial along t
bull For any other fiber component F prime the intersection F cap F prime is either empty or
contained in a fiber of t
We give examples of illusory fiber components
Lemma VII6 The following fiber components are necessarily illusory
bull t is elliptic the foliation is either parallel to t or turbolent with at least one
invariant fiber
bull t is a nodal ruling the foliation is either parallel to t or transverse to t with
at least one invariant fiber and not birational to a special Riccati VII3
Proof Let f = F cap F prime for some fiber component F prime It is F -invariant
Assume t and F are parallel and f is transverse to both Then necessarily f subesing(F ) and KF is positive along the fibers of t contradiction
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 53
Assume t and F are generically transverse and f is transverse to t Let e be an
invariant fiber of t then ecap f isin sing(F ) hence t must be a family of nodal rational
curves and ecapf coincides with the node of e - otherwise KF would be positive along
t But this implies F is special Riccati contradiction
We proceed to show that illusory fibers do not exist
Lemma VII7 Let F be an illusory fiber component then every fiber of t is irre-
ducible If F prime is any fiber component intersecting F non-trivially then F prime is illusory
Proof Assume t has a reducible fiber f Then we can write f = f prime cup f primeprime where f prime
is irreducible and f primeprime is a disjoint union of chains of rational curves In particular
every subscheme supported on f primeprime is rigid in X f prime is rational and smooth iff f is a
cycle of rational curves hence the foliation on F is parallel to t and the choice of f prime
is not unique otherwise f prime is nodal or elliptic Let X 99KX + denote the flop of the
irreducible components of f primeprime in any order The proper transform f prime+ (below in red)
is the irreducible fiber of the induced morphism t+ F+ rarr B Since f primeprime+ intersects
f prime+ and is not contained in F+ there exists a component F prime of the fiber of p+ such
that F+ cap f prime+ 6= empty Since F+ is illusory necessarily F+ cap F prime = f prime+ Moreover F+
and F prime are the only fiber components intersecting f prime+ again because F+ is illusory
We deduce that F+ middot f prime+ = F prime middot f prime+ = 0 and therefore f prime+ is nef inside F prime It follows
that he restriction of F+ to F prime is not of general type and by the classification of
foliated surfaces [McQ08] necessarily f prime+ deforms inside F prime and defines a fibration
u F prime rarr Bprime In particular f prime+ is an irreducible fiber of u This is however impossible
since u contracts all the components of f primeprime+ contained in F prime (below in blue) and by
definition of F prime there exists at least one such component This proves that every
fiber of t is irreducible The following depicts the situation
F prime F+
f prime+
f primeprime+
t+u
54 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Concerning the second statement we only need to check the third condition for F prime
to be illussory namely that every other fiber component F primeprime intersecting F prime does
so along the fibers of u If F primeprime intersects F prime transversely to u then F primeprime intersects F
non-trivially and transversely to t as well absurd
Corollary VII8 Illusory components do not exist
Proof By the above lemma the existence of one illusory component implies that
every irreducible component of the singular fiber of p is illusory contradicting that
KF is big
We can now focus on fiber components that do appear
Corollary VII9 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
containing an invariant curve C which moves and such that KF middot C = 0 Then
following the classification [McQ08] we have two cases
(1) The minimal model of F is a special Riccati component
(2) F is a small Kronecker
Proof Certainly the ones listed are the only cases where C is KF -nil We have to
exclude the possibility that C is invariant inside sing(F ) By Proposition IVII3
such C would be rational with at most one node Since we already contracted at
the beginning of the present subsection all ruled surfaces necessarily C is nodal
However by opcit C cannot intersect any other fiber component of X0 which
implies the absurdity that X0 = F
We proceed to show that special Riccati components are rather isolated in the
fiber
Lemma VII10 Let F be a special Riccati component If F prime is a fiber component
intersecting F non-trivially then it does so transversely to s Morover there is
exactly one such F prime
Proof After finitely many flops we can assume that every fiber of s is irreducible
By the non-existence of illusory components there exists a fiber component F lowast with
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 55
σprime = F cap F prime transverse to s If F primeprime is a fiber component with f = F cap F primeprime a fiber
of s then we claim f sube sing(F ) If not then since KF middot f = 0 and σprime is invariant
necessarily σprimecap f is the node of f But then the existence of F primeprime contradicts that p is
snc Hence f sube sing(F ) so then around the node of f there are 3 fiber components -
two branches coming from F one from F primeprime - and sing(F ) has 2 branches - namely f
This is impossible by our case analysis ni (1)c ni (2)c The very same reasoning
establishes the uniqueness of F prime
Lemma VII11 Let F be as in the previous Lemma If C is a connected curve
with KF middot C = 0 then it is disjoint from F
Proof After finitely many flops s is irreducible and C intersects F transversely away
from its node Moreover lowast = C cap F isin sing(F ) and we deduce that the fiber of s
through lowast is fully contained in the singular locus of F This contradicts Proposition
IVII3 since such fiber is nodal
We conclude by observing the obvious
Lemma VII12 Let F be a small Kronecker Then there exists a contraction
c X rarr X prime which is an isomorphism away from F and contracts F along one
of its rulings Necessarily X prime is not projective since every global Cartier divisor
intersects c(F ) trivially On the other hand in a formal neighborhood of c(F ) there
exist Cartier divisors intersecting it non-trivialliy
As such the contribution coming from non-rigid curves is rather poor there are
curves moving in the general fiber there are special Riccati components disjoint from
any other invariant curve intersecting KF trivially there are small Kroneckers who
can be contracted to curves We shall see in the next section that the complications
arising from the contraction of such non-rigid curves is purely psychological and
totally harmless
56 FEDERICO BUONERBA
VI Contractions and proof of the Main Theorem
In this section we contract all invariant curves along which KF is zero thereby
establishing the existence of canonical models I First we contract non-rigid curves
as described in the previous subsection
bull Small Kroneckers along either ruling Albeit this destroys projectivity of
the ambient threefold there still exist Cartier divisors defined in a formal
neighborhood of the base curve that intersect it non-trivially
bull Families of irreducible nodal rational curves which are flat over ∆ This
creates elliptic singularities on the general fiber of p which are disjoint from
other invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
bull Special Riccati again families of irreducible nodal rational curves fully con-
tained in X0 This creates elliptic singularities disjoint from other invariant
curves intersecting KF trivially
We can summarize our situation by way of
Set-up VI1 X is a 3-dimensional DM stack with at worst elliptic singularities
F a foliation by curves with canonical singularities which is not Q-Cartier in a
neighborhood of Xsing
There exists a proper morphism p X rarr ∆ smooth off 0 isin ∆ F restricts to a
foliation on every fiber of p it has canonical singularities on the very general fiber
of p and log-canonical singularities on every fiber of p KF is big and nef on every
irreducible component of every fiber of p
Let C be the invariant sub-scheme along which KF is not big then C is a curve
fully contained in the smooth locus X0capXsmooth every sub-curve of C has anti-ample
normal bundle the 1-simplex of its dual graph is a tree and detailed configurations
of such are referenced in set-up VI13
We proceed to contract such C We assume that along C the semi-simple field has
only rational eigenvalues and moreover no component of C is inside the foliation
singularity The other two cases - irrational eigenvalues and presence of singular
component - are strictly easier and can be obtained with the very same method
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 57
The proof takes place in the formal completion around C = C free cup C axes The
former is a disjoint union of trees of non-double curves For each non-double C let
F (C) denote the unique component of X0 containing it The latter is a tree of double
curves each with two triple points all contained in the same irreducible FC axes Each
tree of non-double curves touches C axes in one point through a LC-center In order
to construct the contraction we will use Artinrsquos celebrated criterion in the following
form
Fact VI1 ([Ar70]) Let X be an irreducible algebraic space i Y rarr X a closed
subspace of pure codimension 1 and f Y rarr Y0 a proper morphism with flowastOY = OY0
Let X denote the formal completion of X along Y and assume there exists a Cartier
divisor D in X which is supported on Y and is f -anti-ample Then there exists a
proper morphism of algebraic spaces F X rarr X0 which is an isomorphism away
from Y and such that ilowastF = f
Now we use the tree structure of C to construct a suitable divisor to which apply
Artinrsquos theorem Namely consider the following inductive defintion
(35) C0 = C axes F0 = FC axes
For k ge 0 assume Ck Fk are defined
bull Let Ck+1 denote the union of irreducible components of C that intersect Fk
non-trivially but are not contained in cupilekFibull Let Fk+1 denote the reduced sum (
sumCsubeCk+1
F (C))red
This process stops with a collection C1 middot middot middotCN of curves and F1 middot middot middot FN of reduced
divisors
Lemma VI1 We have the following identities
(36)
Fk middot C lt 0 for every C sube Ck
(F0 + F1) middot C le 0 for every C sube C0
(Fkminus1 + Fk + Fk+1) middot C = 0 for every C sube Ck 1 lt k lt N
(FNminus1 + FN) middot C lt 0 for every C sube CN
58 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proof The first is just the fact that every component of C is rigid The remaining
three follow from X0 middot C = 0 but the last one requires further justification Indeed
if C sube CN N gt 0 then C is one end of a tree of non-double curves In particular
there exists a foliation singularity lowast isin C disjoint from any other component of
C and LClowast is transverse to C This implies LClowast middotC gt 0 which together with
(FNminus1 + FN + LClowast) middot C = 0 concludes the proof
Let ε1 middot middot middot εN isin Qgt0 and define
(37) F Nminusk = (1 + ε1 + middot middot middot+ εk)FNminusk
bull If C sube CN we have
(38) (F Nminus1 + F
N) middot C = ε1FNminus1 middot C + (FNminus1 + FN) middot C
bull If C sube CNminusk 1 lt k lt N we have
(39)
(F Nminuskminus1 + F
Nminusk + F Nminusk+1) middot C =
(1 + middot middot middot+ εk)(FNminuskminus1 + FNminusk + FNminusk+1) middot C minus εkFNminusk+1 middot C + εk+1FNminuskminus1 middot C =
minus εkFNminusk+1 middot C + εk+1FNminuskminus1 middot C
bull If C sube C0 we have
(40) (F 0 + F
1) middot C = εNF0 middot C + (Nminus1sumj=0
εj)(F0 + F1) middot C
It is clear that provided
(41) 1 gtgt ε1 gtgt middot middot middot gtgt εN
the divisor F =sumF k is negative along every component of C
This proves the existence of the contraction and concludes the proof of the Main
Theorem I
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 59
VII Moduli space of foliated surfaces of general type
In this section we study the modular variation of foliated surfaces of general type
The upshot is that it is possible to define a functor which is representable separated
and every irreducible component is proper The main issue here is that the supporting
surface of a foliated canonical model may well fail to be projective indeed KF is not
Q-Gorenstein in general Hence in order to proceed via standard methods [Ko17]
we have to parametrize our canonical models together with a suitable projective
resolution
Definition VII13 Let (SF ) be a foliated proper reduced purely 2-dimensional
DM stack Assume S has only normal crossing singularities in codimension 1 that
F has log-canonical foliation singularities and that KF is big and nef on at least
one of the irreducible components of S If whenever KF middot C = 0 for some curve C
then C moves in an irreducible component of S and no member of such deformation
is F -invariant then (SF ) is called foliated canonical model of general type
Clearly foliated canonical models are exactly the stable degenerations appearing
as the central fiber of our Main Theorem I Their lack of projectivity has two sources
namely the contraction of cycles of smooth KF -nil curves and of trees of cuspidal
ones Singularities arising from cycles behave well in families namely they always
deform into the general fiber Those arising from cuspidal curves on the other hand
tend to be rather isolated inside the degenerate fiber
Observe that the deformation theory of a foliated surface is rather simple suppose
given an infinitesimal C-algebras extension 0 rarr J rarr Ae rarr A rarr 0 and (SF )
a foliated surface flat over Spec(A) then the obstruction to lifting to Ae can be
understood in three simple steps
(1) Deformation of the underlying surface S once a deformation Se rarr Spec(Ae)
is given
(2) Deformation of the line bundle KF by the exponential sequence
(42) 0rarr J otimes OS rarr OlowastSerarr OlowastS rarr 0
obstructions lie in H2(SOS)otimes J once a deformation of KF is given
60 FEDERICO BUONERBA
(3) Deformation of the defining section OS rarr KF otimes TS obstructions lie in
H1(SKF otimes TS)otimes J
Now we have
Definition VII14 Let (SF ) be a foliated canonical model of general type A
proper birational morphism q (SF )proj rarr (SF ) is called its projective resolution
if
bull Every irreducible component of Sproj is smooth
bull The exceptional locus of q is a disjoint union of cycles of KFproj-nil smooth
curves and trees of KFproj-nil curves each of which has a non-trivial cuspidal
singularity
bull In a neighborhood of every q-exceptional cycle not only Sproj but also its
moduli space is smooth
We need a few remarks about projective resolutions
(1) Projective resolutions are always unique Indeed the only possible ambiguity
could lie in some extra smooth irreducible components in the exceptional
locus This is forbidden by definition in the trees of cuspidal curves it is
also forbidden by way of the third item in cycles of smooth ones ie on
algebraic surfaces the minimal resolution is unique
(2) Denote by E the collection of q-exceptional cycles Then there exist ε δ isinQgt0 such that KFproj
minus εE + δKSprojis ample by Nakai-Moishezon
(3) Deformations of a projective resolution of a foliated canonical model are
canonically identified with deformations of the underlying birational mor-
phism q Sproj rarr S followed by a deformation of the foliation F
We are now ready to construct a moduli functor for foliated surfaces more precisely
for projective resolutions of foliated canonical models of general type For m dN isinN and ε δ isin Qgt0 let
(43) MmdNεδ (C-schemes)rarr (sets)
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 61
be defined by MmdNεδ(S) = Diagrams
(44) (X F )projqminusrarr (X F )
pminusrarr S
Where
bull Both p and p q are flat and proper
bull For every closed point s isin S the induced morphism qs is the projective
resolution of (X F )s which is a foliated canonical model of general type
bull Denote by Es the collection of exceptional cycles of qs By our Main Theorem
I there is a fibrewise divisor E subXproj flat over S restricting to Es for every
s isin S
bull Let j W rarr Xproj denote the maximal closed subscheme away from which
KFprojand KXprojS are locally free Then
(45) L [m] = (jlowast(KFprojotimes OXproj
(minusεE )otimesKδXprojS
)otimesm)oror
is flat over S and commutes with base-change
bull L [m] is very ample of degree d on every fiber and defines an embedding into
PNS
We are now ready for
Theorem VII15 The functor MmdNεδ is represented by a separated algebraic
space each of whose irreducible components is proper
Proof We show that our functor satisfies Artinrsquos conditions [Ar74 Corollary 54] By
definition condition 1) and 4) hold while our previous remark on foliated obstruction
theory shows that 3) is true
We proceed to show 2) namely effectivity of formal deformations for MmdNεδ
What follows owes much to Artinrsquos [A74rsquo] Let T be a complete C-algebra Tn its
n-truncation so that Tsimminusrarr limlarrminusTn and finally qn isinMmdNεδ(Spec(Tn)) a compatible
sequence For each n there is a maximal open set Un sube Xprojn where qn is an
isomorphism denote by sn Cn rarr Zn the restriction of qn to the complement of Un
Clearly sn is projective over Spec(Tn)
62 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Denote by X C etc the formal algebraic spaces obtained as limits of Xn Cn
etc Then Xproj sub PNˆSpec(T )
hence by Grothendieckrsquos existence Theorem we find
bull a flat projective family (X F )proj rarr Spec(T ) resp a closed subscheme
C subXproj whose completion is Xproj resp C
bull a scheme Z whose completion is Z and a morphism s C rarr Z everything
being projective over Spec(T )
Further we have a formal contraction limminusrarr qn C rarr Z hence the main theorem
of [Ar70] gives algebraic contraction (X F )proj rarr (X F ) This proves the repre-
sentability of MmdNεδ The properness and separability of each irreducible com-
ponent can be checked using valutative criteria indeed properness is the content of
our Main Theorem I separatedness follows from the uniqueness of foliated canonical
models of general type and their projective resolution
References
[Ar70] M Artin Algebraization of Formal Moduli II Existence of Modifications Ann
of Math Vol 91 No 1 (Jan 1970) pp 88-135 httpwwwjstororgstable
1970602
[Ar74] M Artin Versal Deformations and Algebraic Stacks Inventiones Math 27 165- 189
(1974) httpmathuchicagoedu~drinfeldArtin_on_stackspdf
[A74rsquo] M Artin Algebraic construction of Brieskornrsquos resolutions J Alg Vol 29 Issue
2 May 1974 pp 330-348 httpwwwsciencedirectcomsciencearticlepii
0021869374901021
[BB72] P Baum R Bott Singularities of holomorphic foliations J Diff Geom 7 (1972)
279-342 httpsprojecteuclidorgdownloadpdf_1euclidjdg1214431158
[Bo77] F Bogomolov Families of curves on a surface of general type Doklady Akademii Nauk
USSR (in Russian) 236 (5) 1041-1044
[Bo78] F Bogomolov Holomorphic tensors and vector bundles on projective varieties Math
USSR Izv 13 (1978) 499-555
[BM16] F Bogomolov M McQuillan Rational Curves on Foliated Varieties In Cascini
McKernan Pereira (eds) Foliation Theory in Algebraic Geometry Simons Symposia
Springer Cham pp 21-51 (2016) httpslinkspringercomchapter101007
978-3-319-24460-0_2
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 63
[Bu] F Buonerba Functorial resolution of tame quotient singularities in positive charac-
teristic httpsarxivorgabs151100550
[Ke99] S Keel Basepoint Freeness for Nef and Big Line Bundles in Positive Characteris-
tic Annals of Math 149 No 1 (Jan 1999) pp 253-286 httpwwwjstororg
stable121025 httpsarxivorgabsmath9901149
[KM97] S Keel S Mori Quotients by groupoids Annals of Math 145 (1997) pp
193-213 httpwwwjstororgstable2951828seq=1page_scan_tab_contents
httparxivorgabsalg-geom9508012
[Ko17] J Kollar Families of varieties of general type httpswebmathprincetonedu
~kollarbookmodbook20170720pdf
[LN02] A Lins Neto Some examples for the Poincare and Painleve problems Annales sci-
entifiques de lrsquoENS 352 (2002) 231-266 httparchivenumdamorgarticle
ASENS_2002_4_35_2_231_0pdf
[McQ12] M McQuillan Foliated Mori Theory amp Hyperbolicity of Algebraic Surfaces http
wwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillahomehtml
[McQ98] M McQuillan Diophantine approximation and foliations Inst Hautes Etudes Sci
Publ Math 87 (1998) 121-174 httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafiles
ihespdf
[McQ05rsquo] M McQuillan Bloch hyperbolicity preprint httpwwwmatuniroma2it
~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ05] M McQuillan Semi-stable reduction of foliations IHES pre-print IHESM0502
(2005) httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ05rdquo] M McQuillan Uniform Uniformisation IHES pre-print (2005) IHES M0503 http
wwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ08] M McQuillan Canonical models of foliations Pure Appl Math Q 4
(2008) no 3 Special Issue In honor of Fedor Bogomolov Part 2 877-1012
httpintlpresscomsitepubfiles_fulltextjournalspamq20080004
0003PAMQ-2008-0004-0003-a009pdf
[MP13] M McQuillan D Panazzolo Almost etale resolution of foliations J Diff Geom 95
(2013) pp 279-319 httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesmp1bispdf
[Pe02] JV Pereira On the Poincare Problem for Foliations of General Type Mathematische
Annalen 323 no 2 pp217-226 2002 httpsarxivorgabsmath0104185
[PS16] JV Pereira R Svaldi Effective algebraic integration in bounded genus preprint
httpsarxivorgabs161206932
64 FEDERICO BUONERBA
[Re83] M Reid Minimal models of canonical threefolds in rdquoAlgebraic Varieties and Ana-
lytic Varietiesrdquo Adv Stud Pure Math vol 1 S Iitaka ed Kinokuniya and North-
Holland 1983 pp 131-180 httpwwwmathsedacukcheltsovquotientpdf
reid2pdf
[Se67] A Seidenberg Reduction of singularities of the differential equation Ady = Bdx Amer
J Math 89 (1967) 248-269 httpwwwjstororgstable2373435
[SB83] N Shepherd-Barron Degenerations with numerically effective canonical divisor The
Birational Geometry of Degenerations (R Friedman and D Morrison eds) Progr
Math no 29 Birkhuser 1983 pp 33-84
[Vis89] A Vistoli Intersection theory on algebraic stacks and on their moduli spaces
Invent Math (1989) pp 613-670 httplinkspringercomarticle101007
2FBF01388892page-1
Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences New York University 251 Mercer
Street New York NY 10012 USA
E-mail address buonerbacimsnyuedu
- I Introduction
- II Preliminaries
-
- III Operations on Deligne-Mumford stacks
- IIII Width of embedded parabolic champs
- IIIII Gorenstein foliation singularities
- IIIV Foliated adjunction
- IIV Canonical models of foliated surfaces with canonical singularities
- IIVI Canonical models of foliated surfaces with log-canonical singularities
- IIVII Set-up
-
- III Invariant curves and singularities local description
-
- IIII `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F) not isolated
- IIIII `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F) isolated
- IIIIII Local consequences
-
- IV Invariant curves along which KF vanishes
-
- IVI KF-nil curves
- IVII Invariant curves inside `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F)
-
- V Configurations
-
- VI Configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
- VII Configurations of non-rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
-
- VI Contractions and proof of the Main Theorem
- VII Moduli space of foliated surfaces of general type
- References
-
32 FEDERICO BUONERBA
While if there is an LC-center (pink) with log-canonical singularity it will look like
y
LC-center
While if there is an LC-center with non-isolated singularity (red) it will look like
(the black arrows being invariant curves)
y
LC-center
The next corollary describes one-dimensional components of the foliation singularity
Corollary IIIIII5 If Z0 is a one-dimensional irreducible component of the folia-
tion singularity then it is at worst nodal The foliation when restricted to any fiber
component containing Z0 saturates to a smooth foliation in a neighborhood of Z0
and all the invariant curves are transverse to Z0
If Z0 is contained in exactly one fiber component then the semi-simple field has one
eigenvalue everywhere along Z0
If Z0 lies at the intersection of two fiber components then the semi-simple field has
two constant eigenvalues everywhere along Z0
Moreover if there exist a sequence of invariant curves converging in the compact-
open topology to Z0 then there is generically one eigenvalue along Z0
Proof Possible casesni (1)a ni (1)b ni (2)b ni (2)c Concerning the one-
eigenvalue case invariant curves converging to Z0 can be found in the formal hyper-
surface x = 0
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 33
IV Invariant curves along which KF vanishes
In this section we study in great detail a formal neighborhood of invariant curves
where KF is numerically trivial In the first subsection we deal with KF -nil curves
namely those whose generic point is not contained in the foliation singularity In this
case the normal bundle to the curve determines its formal neighborhood uniquely
and this has plenty of amazing consequences In the second subsection we study
those invariant curves which are contained in the foliation singularity In this case
we are not able to control the full formal neighborhood but important informations
can still be obtained
IVI KF -nil curves In this subsection we study in detail the structure of KF -
nil curves and their formal neighborhoods appearing in the set-up IIVII4 In
particular we will describe a simple process to replace cuspidal KF -nil curves by
net ones prove that the foliation is in the net completion around a net KF -nil curve
defined by a global vector field which admits a global Jordan decomposition deduce
that eigenfunctions for the semi-simple component of such field are also globally
defined on a formal neighborhood
The first important remark is of technical nature and explains how to deal with non-
net KF -nil curves By Proposition IIIV4 this is indeed possible and the images of
such curves will acquire cusp-like singularities It is hard to analyze the geometry
of F around such cuspidal curves and therefore necessary to remove them Let us
assume that C is simply connected with rational moduli f is ramified at 0 isin C
and and denote by X the formal completion along f(C) Then formally around
f(0) the curve f(C) has defining ideal (y xa minus zb) where y = 0 is a fiber of the
fibration p X rarr ∆ containing f(C) x z isin H0(X OX ) restrict to suitable local
coordinates on such fiber and a b ge 2 are coprime integers
Claim IVI1 Let r X ( aradicz = 0) rarr X be the a-th root of z = 0 III3 Then
(rlowastC)norm =∐a
1 C and the induced map rlowastf (rlowastC)norm rarrX ( aradicz = 0) is net
Proof Since r is etale away from z = 0 also rlowastC rarr C is etale away from 0 isin C
Since C 0 is simply connected we have rlowastC rminus1(0) =∐a
1 C 0 This proves
34 FEDERICO BUONERBA
the first statement Let ζ be a function on X ( aradicz = 0) such that ζa = z so then
rlowast(xa minus zb) =prod
ηa=1(x minus ηζb) Every branch is net in 0 and we obtain the second
statement as well
As such upon taking roots we can replace non-net KF -nil invariant curves with
rational moduli by net ones
We now proceed to study net KF -nil curves We will show that the foliation is
defined by a global vector field around a net KF -nil curve with rational moduli and
that such vector field admits a global Jordan decomposition
Proposition IVI2 Notation as in the set-up IIVII4 let f C rarrX be a KF -nil
curve Assume that f is net and let j C rarr C be the net completion along f Then
there exists an isomorphism
(16) OC(KF )simminusrarr OC
In particular there exists a global vector field partf on C that generates F
Proof Since C has rational moduli and is simply connected it has infinite-cyclic
Picard group and we have an isomorphism
(17) OC(KF )simminusrarr OC
Moreover we have a non-canonical splitting of the normal bundle Njsimminusrarr O(minusn) oplus
O(minusm) and we claim that both nm ge 0 Indeed consider the induced semi-stable
fibration C rarr ∆ and let F be the normalization of an irreducible component of a
fiber such that C sub F Consider the exact sequence
(18) 0rarr NCF rarr Nj rarr NFC|C rarr 0
Since KF is nef NCF is not ample since F is a fiber of a fibration also NFC|C is
not ample and this is enough to conclude even though nm may be different from
the degrees of such normal bundles
At this point we can lift the isomorphism 17 over infinitesimal neighborhoods of j
Indeed for every k ge 0 we have an exact sequence
(19) 0rarr Symk ICI2C rarr OCk+1
(KF )rarr OCk(KF )rarr 0
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 35
which shows that the obstruction to lifting the isomorphism lies in
(20) H1(C Symk ICI2C) = H1(C Symk(O(n)oplus O(m))) = 0
From this we can deduce
Proposition IVI3 The vector field partf admits a Jordan decomposition uniformly
along C
Proof The cohomology sequence attached to 19 is
(21) 0rarr H0(C Symk ICI2C)rarr H0(COCk+1
)rarr H0(COCk)rarr 0
Let partk+1 denote the image of partf in End(H0(COCk+1)) Looking at
H0(COCk+1) minusminusminusrarr H0(COCk
)
partk+1
y partk
yH0(COCk+1
) minusminusminusrarr H0(COCk)
we see the canonical Jordan deomposition of partk+1 restricts to that of partk
The above result describes a very useful interplay between normal bundles to
KF -nil curves and the structure of the semi-simple field It turns out that these
informations determine formal neighborhoods uniquely For simplicity let C be
an irreducible component of C without orbifold points Let us assume that part|C is
singular in 0infin Then there exist formal functions x y z at 0 isin C and ξ η ζ at
infin isin C such that x ξ are coordinates along C y η are local sections of OC(minusn)
so η = xny mod(I2C) z ζ are local sections of OC(minusm) so ζ = xmz mod(I2C)
Normalizing so that xminus1partS(x) = ε isin 0 1 we obtain
(22) part0S = εxpart
partx+ λy
part
party+ microz
part
partz partinfinS = minusεξ part
partξ+ (λ+ εn)η
part
partη+ (micro+ εm)ζ
part
partζ
More generally ie C = P1(d e) we have glueing rules x = te ξ = tminusd η = tny and
ζ = tmz mod(I2C) Normalizing so that tminus1partS(t) = ε isin 0 1 we obtain
(23) part0S = eεxpart
partx+ λy
part
party+ microz
part
partz partinfinS = minusdεξ part
partξ+ (λ+ εn)η
part
partη+ (micro+ εm)ζ
part
partζ
36 FEDERICO BUONERBA
It is worth remarking that the above relations hold between eigenvalues at the two
singular point of singular ie nodal or cuspidal KF -nil curves as well this is
easily seen by taking a root followed by net completion and keeping track of the
eigenvalues
Definition IVI4 Let C be a KF -nil curve The foliation singular points along C
are called ends
As well as the existence of Hilbert scheme in the following form
Fact IVI5 Let W sub Xlowast be a curve and D a divisor in the formal neighborhood
of W such that W = D capXlowast scheme-theoretically Then W moves in D
In what follows our main concern is to understand formal neighborhoods of KF -
nil curves Observe that the fibration p when restricted to the formal neighborhood
of such curves provides at least one eigenfunction of the semi-simple field Hence
in order to compute the width IIII we must study the behavior of the other eigen-
function on infinitesimal neighborhoods We first describe the situation inside the
smooth locus of p
Proposition IVI6 (Smooth fiber) Let f C rarrX be an irreducible KF -nil curve
which is contained in the smooth locus of a fiber Xlowast of p Then the end(s) on C are
flat over ∆ ni (1)b and ni (1)a with z2|g(y z) and C moves in a family flat over
∆
Proof Let us assume that f is net Then upon passing to net completion we can
actually assume it is embedded From our local classification of singularities we case
in case ni (1)a and ni (2)a We want to show that both ends have components
that move transversely to p hence we have to exclude case ni (1)a with g(y z) = ya
By way of contradiction say we have g(y z) = ya in the notation of opcit around
an end lowast isin C We proceed to compute what happens at the other end we find
formal coordinates ξ η ζ which by equation 23 satisfy
(24) ξ = xminus1 η = y ζ = xmz mod(I2C)
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 37
As such we compute part(ζ) = mζ + ξminusmηa mod(I2C) which is holomorphic if and only
if m le 0 so then C moves in Xlowast contradicting that the foliation has general type
Hence we are in cases ni (1)a ni (2)a with g = microyazb b ge 1
(25) part0 = xpart
partx+ microyazb
part
partz partinfin = minusξ part
partξ+ ζ(m+ microξm(bminus1)ηaζbminus1)
part
partζ(mod(I2C))
Following notation from subsection IIII observe that C1 is the section of E1C which
is disjoint from the proper transform of the fiber of p In coordinates over 0
(26) x1 = x y1 = y z1 = zyminus1
And similarly over infin Using the previous equation and 25 on C1 we find
(27)
part01 = x1part
partx1+microya+bminus11 zb1
part
partz1 partinfin1 = minusξ1
part
partξ1+ζ1(m+microξ
m(bminus1)1 ηa+bminus11 ζbminus11 )
part
partζ1(mod(I2C1
))
In particular the transform of the nilpotent field is still nilpotent after blowing up in
C It follows that the eigenvalues of the semi-simple field at the two ends of C and
C1 are the same Using equation 23 we deduce that the normal bundle to C1X1 to
isomorphic to that of CX in particular it contains a trivial direct summand This
proves that width(C) =infin
Next we show that f must be net Consider the induced flat projection pD D rarr ∆
its general fiber cannot be a cuspidal curve since along such cusp the foliation sin-
gularity would be log-canonical but not canonical Hence if C has a cusp necessarily
the general fiber of pD is a nodal curve Let X rarr X denote the blow up of the
nodal locus of pD with exceptional divisor E ruled over ∆ In a neighborhood of E
we have sing(F ) = D cap E which projects to ∆ as a double cover ramified over lowastObserve that the foliation on Xlowast is again log-canonical and not canonical hence its
local structure is ni (2)a In that case however p is unramified along the foliation
singularity Contradiction
We state a general criterion for movability of KF -nil curves
Proposition IVI7 Let C be a connected KF -nil curve such that p(C ) = lowast isin ∆
Assume its dual graph is a chain that none of its irreducible components is double
38 FEDERICO BUONERBA
VI3 and that its two extremal ends are flat over ∆ Then C moves in a family flat
over ∆ and each of its irreducible components is embedded
Proof We work in a formal neighborhood of C After taking roots we can assume
C is net and since its dual graph is a chain it is actually embedded We proceed by
induction on its length l where the case l = 1 is Proposition IVI6 For l gt 1 let C1
be a component of C which is extremal in its dual graph If C1 moves transversely
to p then both its ends do and hence we can apply the induction hypothesis to
C C1 If C1 is rigid then it can be flopped It is straightforward to check that we
can apply the induction hypothesis to the transform C + C+1 and we are done
Now we deal with rigid curves inside the singular fiber
Proposition IVI8 (Singular fiber) Let f C rarr X be an embedded net KF -
nil curve with anti-ample normal bundle Then there exists a birational map φ
(X F ) 99K (X +F+) and a KF+-nil curve C+ such that
bull φ is an isomorphism away from C+
bull In a formal neighborhood of at least one among C and C+ there exist two
invariant hypersurfaces D1D2 locally defined by the vanishing of eigenfunc-
tions of the semi-simple field such that C (resp C+)= D1 capD2
bull If F middot C lt 0 for some hypersurface F then F+ middot C+ gt 0 In particular X +
is projective
Such φ is called flop
Proof Our assumption is that Nfsimminusrarr O(minusn)oplusO(minusm) is anti-ample namely nm gt
0 If two invariant hypersurfaces as in our statement do exist around C the flop is
easily constructed as a weighted blow-up followed by a weighted blow-down As such
let us assume that such hypersurfaces do not exist around C In particular C is not
double VI3 By [Ar70] there exists a formal contraction c X rarrX0 collapsing C
to a point and an isomorphism everywhere else By Proposition IVI3 the foliation
F0 is Gorenstein around the node of X0 For ease of exposition let us assume
n = m = 1 the general case is handled the same way only the notation becomes more
cumbersome due to the presence of weights The node has embedding dimension 4
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 39
and in suitable local coordinates x0 y0 w0 z0 can be defined by x0z0minusy0w0 = 0 The
morphism c can be identified with the blow up of the embedded surface (x0 = y0 = 0)
Explicitly in the chart y = y0 x = x0yminus10 it is defined by
(28) y0 = y x0 = xy z0 = zprime w0 = xzprime
Here x is a coordinate along C while y = 0 is the pull-back of (x0 = y0 = 0) and
zprime some function in the normal bundle to C By the previous Proposition IVI6
we know C cannot be contained in the smooth locus of p Since C is not double
we can assume that in this local chart p is defined by (x y zprime) rarr xy - the case
(x y zprime) rarr xzprime being isomorphic as it is isomorphic to blow-up (z0 = w0 = 0)
instead of (x0 = y0 = 0) The issue is as emphasized by the notation zprime 6= z that
zprime may fail to be an eigenfunction for partS if it were we would be done since zprime = 0
is the local equation for the global pullback of (z0 = w0 = 0) However we have
a b isin C such that
(29) partS0(y0) = minusy0 partS0(x0) = 0 partS0(z0) = ay0 + bz0 partS0(w0) = ax0 + (b+ 1)w0
Observe that the embedded surfaces D01 = (y0 = z0 = 0) and D0
2 = (x0 = w0 = 0)
are both foliation invariant As such let b X + rarr X0 denote the blow-up of X0
along D01 - which is isomorphic to that along D0
2 - and let Di = blowastD0i i = 1 2
Finally X + is projective by Nakai-Moishezon Indeed every C with anti-ample
normal bundle is contained in an irreducible component F of X0 such that F middotC lt 0
Then F+ middot C+ gt 0 and we can find an ample divisor of the form H+ + εF+ where
H+ is the proper transform of an ample on X
Remark IVI9 In the previous proof a 6= b+ 1 Indeed such identity would create
a non-trivial Jordan block of partS0 in the (x0 w0)-plane thus contradicting the semi-
simplicity of partS0 In particular by a straightforward computation it is impossible to
find eigenfunctions of the form wlowast0 = w0 + αx0 zlowast0 = z0 + βy0 with x0z
lowast0 minus y0wlowast0 = 0
unless a = 0
We can conclude by pointing out an important point understood in this section
A painful aspect of the theory is that log-canonical singularities which appear natu-
rally as analytic degenerations of canonical ones come along with cuspidal invariant
40 FEDERICO BUONERBA
curves There is in particular no a-priori obstruction to the existence of rigid
cuspidal KF -nil curves in a smooth fiber of our family of foliated surfaces p Quite
generally a rigid curve of positive arithmetic genus in a smooth family of surfaces can
never be contracted to a point Therefore this would have been a counter-example
to any reasonable foliated canonical model theory one may wish to achieve Fortu-
nately such phenomenon does not happen and this establishes the Main Theorem I
modulo finitely many rigid curves confined in the singular fiber X0
IVII Invariant curves inside sing(F ) In this subsection we study curves Z0 subeXlowast cap sing(F ) which are inside the foliation singularity and invariant By this we
mean that there exists a sequence fn Cn rarrX of not necessarily algebraic invariant
curves converging in the compact-open topology to Z0 In other words the map
(30) NorF rarr Ω1Z0
is trivial By Corollary IIIIII5 we know that Z0 is at worst nodal it is smooth
wherever p is smooth for every point z isin Z0 the semi-simple part of the gener-
ating vector field has exactly one eigenvalue The problem here is that the Jordan
decomposition need not extend uniformly along Z0 not even along an irreducible
component In case ni (1)a the functions x and g may develop essential singulari-
ties arbitrary close to z Nonetheless the function x is unique and this says that x
does extend along Z0
Proposition IVII1 Let Z0 be as above Then in a formal neighborhood of Z0
there exists a unique smooth invariant hypersurface D0 containing Z0 which restricts
around any point in Z0 to the unique eigenfunction for the semi-simple field whose
eigenvalue is non-zero
Proof The local structure of the foliation around a point z isin Z0 is described by
cases ni (1)a and ni (1)b In both cases partS has one non-zero eigenvalue with
eigenfunction x Such eigenfunction x is a-priori only defined in the normal bundle to
Z0 but it is clear that the equation partx = x has a unique up to constants solution in
the formal completion around z As such there exists a unique smooth hypersurface
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 41
D0 in the formal completion around Z0 which restricts to the eigenfunction x around
z
Observe that the previous argument goes through since we are assuming Z0 subX0
Keeping notations from case ni (1)a if say g(y z) = yz then in the hypersurface
y equiv q isin Qgt0 the foliation has a log-canonical singularity and the eigenfunction x
extends highly non-uniquely to a formal neighborhood of the point (x y z) = (0 q 0)
In particular the existence of D0 as in the previous Proposition might fail along
the component (x = z = 0) of the foliation singularity This phenomenon is called
the beast
Anyway uniqueness in the previous proposition yields
Corollary IVII2 Let Z prime be a connected invariant curve inside sing(F ) Then in
a formal neighborhood of Z prime there exists a unique smooth invariant hypersurface D prime
containing Z prime which restricts around any point in Z prime to the hypersurface constructed
in the previous proposition
Next we turn to the intrinsic structure of invariant singular curves
Proposition IVII3 Let Z0 be an irreducible invariant curve inside sing(F )
Then Z0 is smooth and rational
Proof We work in a formal neighborhood of Z0 Let F0 denote the unique component
of X0 containing Z0 For any other fiber component F intersecting Z0 non-trivially
blow-up the invariant curve F cap F0 with exceptional divisor EF A straightforward
computation using the local formula ni (1)b shows that the fiber of the natural
projection EF rarr F cap F0 intersecting Z0 is also contained in sing(F ) For Z prime the
maximal connected singular invariant curve containing Z0 let G denote the saturated
foliation induced on D prime It is canonical with reduced singularities and it satisfies
KG = KF |Dprime minus Zprime By adjunction
(31) 2g(Z0)minus 2 + sZG(Z0) = minusZ prime middot Z0
Observe that thanks to our initial sequence of blow-ups the singularities of G along
Z0 coincide with the intersection of Z0 and Z prime Z0 In particular since D prime is formally
42 FEDERICO BUONERBA
flat over ∆ we deduce Z prime middot Z0 = 0 and the previous formula becomes
(32) 2g(Z0)minus 2 + sZG(Z0) = 0
This implies that Z0 is rational or elliptic If Z0 were elliptic then sZG(Z0) = 0 and
D0 defines an invariant elliptic curve in the general fiber of p By Baum-Bott this
contradicts that KF is big and nef Now we show that Z0 is smooth If it has a node
then D0 moves it in a family of nodal rational curves flat over ∆ In particular D0
itself has a node in codimension 1 hence Xlowast is smooth around the node of Z0 In its
formal neighborhood the foliation must be as in case ni (1)a which implies that
Z0 is smooth contradiction
We can improve as follows
Proposition IVII4 Let Z prime sube sing F capXlowast be a connected invariant curve with
KF middot Z prime = 0 Then its dual graph is a chain
Proof Assume Z prime is a cycle Then necessarily Z prime = D prime capXlowast scheme-theoretically
and by the existence of Hilbert scheme Z prime moves in the general fiber Its general
member is either a cycle of smooth rational curves or an elliptic curve Arguing as
in the previous proof we see that both options are impossible
V Configurations
In this section we analyze in great detail all possible configurations of invariant
curves along which KF vanishes These can be divided into three groups those
that do not move those that move in a one-dimensional family covering a surface
those that move in a higher-dimensional family covering a surface Curves in the first
group can form rather complicated configurations while those in the second group
are more simple they either move in the general fiber or they cover an isolated
Riccati component in the singular fiber Those in the third group turn out to be
represented by the two rulings of P1timesP1 if they happen to be cohomologous in the
ambient stack First we will analyze rigid curves then those which move and finally
we will describe their configurations
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 43
VI Configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially In
this subsection we describe configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF
trivially which arise in the situation described by set-up IIVII4
First we focus on KF -nil curves At the end of the section we deal with the simpler
case in which a curve in the configuration is fully contained in sing(F ) The general
fiber was handled in Proposition IVI6
Proposition VI1 Let C be a connected KF -nil curve contained in the smooth
locus of a fiber of p Then it is a chain or a cycle and it moves in a family flat over
∆
In what follows we let C denote a connected KF -nil curve contained in the
singular fiber X0 all of whose sub-curves are rigid in X Observe a consequence of
equation 23
Proposition VI2 Let C = cupiCi be a connected KF -nil curve Then the eigen-
values of partS are all rational at every point of sing(F )capC if and only if they are all
rational at one point
We can deduce many non-trivial properties about configurations of KF -nil curves
First we need
Definition VI3 Let C subX0 be a curve It is called double if there exists formally
around C two components F F prime of X0 such that C = F cap F prime A point lowast isin C where
three fiber components intersect is called a triple point If C lies on exactly one fiber
component it is called non-double We denote by F (C) such component
Remark VI4 Let Csimminusrarr P1(d e) be double with two triple points Then we know
e+ λ+ micro = minusd+ (λ+ n) + (micro+m) = 0 whence we obtain
(33) n+m = d+ e
Which is called triple-point formula
Next we show that essentially KF -nil curves do not form cycles unless something
deforms in X0 First we show that there are no cycles of rigid non-double curves
44 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proposition VI5 Let C be a connected KF -nil curve contained in the singular
fiber X0 of p Assume that every component of C is non-double and that every
sub-curve is rigid Then C contains no cycles
Proof We work in a formal neighborhood of C which we assume is a cycle Let
us first consider the case in which all components C1 middot middot middot CN are smooth with no
orbifold points and denote lowasti = Ci cap Ci+1 with CN+1 = C1 Moreover let us
assume no lowasti lies in the smooth locus of p
Since no curve is double the semi-simple field at every lowasti is as in case i (3)b in
particular the eigenvalues along the branches of Ci and Ci+1 add up to zero More-
over let minusni denote the self-intersection of Ci sub F (Ci) Normalize the eigenvalues
of partS so that at lowastn they are 1 in the C1 direction minus1 in the CN direction λ in the
F (C1)capF (CN) direction It follows by induction that at lowasti the eigenvalues are minus1
in the Ci direction 1 in the Ci+1 direction λ+ n1 + middot middot middot+ ni in the F (Ci) cap F (Ci+1)
direction After traveling around the cycle we obtain n1+middot middot middot+nN = 0 contradicting
that ni gt 0 for every i
We established the Proposition assuming every Ci is an embedded scheme and ev-
ery lowasti is in the singular locus of p The case in which Cisimminusrarr P1(di ei) has orbifold
points is analogous we end up with a combination c1n1 + middot middot middot + cNnN = 0 with ci
the eigenvalue at lowasti in the Ci+1 direction Normalizing so that c1 = e1 gt 0 again by
induction on i we see that every ci isin Qgt0 Next we show that our assumption on lowastiis always satisfied
Claim VI6 Every lowasti must belong to the singular locus of p
Proof We give two essentially equivalent proofs
bull If N = 2 3 then the previous argument goes through indeed we can normal-
ize eigenvalues at lowasti to be negative in the Ciminus1 direction and positive in the
Ci-direction and argue as above Hence we can assume N ge 4 If say lowasti is in
the smooth locus of p then F (Ci) = F (Ci+1) If also F (Ciminus1) = F (Ci) then Ci
lies in the smooth locus of p and hence it moves Therefore F (Ciminus1) 6= F (Ci)
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 45
and Ciminus1 can be flopped inside F (Ci) Since N ge 4 this preserves the smooth-
ness of F (Ci) and Ci is now is the smooth locus of p - contradiction
bull If lowasti belongs to the smooth locus of p then the end through lowasti moves We
can form a partial net completion fi Xi rarrX by normalizing C in lowasti only
Then f lowasti C is a chain with movable ends and hence moves in the general fiber
of p fi
Finally the general case in which some among the Ci have cusps can be easily
reduced to the smooth case in a couple of ways
bull Eigenvalues at the singularities of any KF -nil curve satisfy the same relations
as in the smooth case
bull Upon taking roots and net completion we can find a foliated formal 3-fold
supported on a cycle of smooth KF -nil curves which is a ramified cover of a
formal neighborhood of our cycle
Similarly we can show that there are no rigid cycles of double curves
Proposition VI7 Let C be a nodal KF -nil curve which is double Then C
deforms inside X0 In particular there cannot exist a rigid cycle of KF -nil double
curves
Proof Following the previous notation we have 0 = infin and if C = (xy = z = 0)
around 0 then we have identities
(34) x = η y = ξ z = ζ
The last one of which implies m = 0 that is C deforms Since C is double necessarily
the surface it spans must be contained in X0
The statement about cycles follows since a cycle of double curves can be transformed
after finitely many flops into a chain of smooth double curves with a nodal one
attached at one end
46 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Later on we will show that the deformations of C cannot span an elliptic surface
but only a family of nodal rational curves with a special Riccati foliation on it
We are ready to organize a detailed description of the dual graph of C More pre-
cisely we only need to understand how double curves intersect non-double curves
Lemma VI8 There exists a sequence of flops X 99KX + such that if C + denotes
the transform of C every double curve supported on C + contains two triple points
Proof Let C sube C be an irreducible component with at most one triple point and
let X 99K X + be its flop Then its transform C+ is non-double and the number
of double curves contained in C descreases It is clear that after finitely many flops
all double curves contain exactly two triple points
From now on all double curves in C have two triple points Thanks to proposition
VI2 we know that there are two cases to consider those curves along which the
semi-simple field has not only rational eigenvalues and those along which the semi-
simple field has only rational eigenvalues The first case being strictly easier than
the second it is a good starting place to warm up
Proposition VI9 (irrational eigenvalues) Assume that for every foliation singu-
larity along C not all eigenvalues of partS are rational Then every component of C
is net with at most one node and 1-skeleton of its dual graph is at worst trivalent
Write C = C axes cup C free where
C axes is the union of double curves
C free is the union of non-double curves
Then one among C axes and C free is empty Moreover
bull If C free is non-empty then it is a chain of smooth curves with rational moduli
bull If C axes is non-empty there exists a sequence of flops X 99KX + and an ir-
reducible component of the fiber FC subX + such that X + is a smooth stack
the transform C+ of C is contained in FC Moreover the dual graph of C+
is a tree which by [McQ08 III32] becomes a chain inside the normalization
of FC
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 47
Proof The first sentence is just corollary IIIIII3
Observe that if a non-double curve intersects a double curve then the non-double
curve must be contained in an LC-center around such intersection This contradicts
that not all eigenvalues are rational and establishes that one among C axes and C free
is empty
In case C free is not empty then it is clearly a chain or a cycle the latter being
impossible by Proposition VI5
We are left to show the existence of flops in case C = C axes We remark that
every component is smooth Let C0 be such a component and S0 a component of
X0 containing it Let C1 be the collection of irreducible components of C which
intersect S0 but are not contained in it All the components of C1 are smooth hence
we can flop them in any order until the transform of C1 lies in the transform of S0
Since the number of irreducible components of C lying outside S0 decreases after
such flop by induction we deduce the existence of finitely many flops after which
the birational transform of C is fully contained in the transform of S0
Next we take care of rational eigenvalues The complication here arises from
the fact that there may be double and non-double curves intersecting each other
However the situation is best possible
Proposition VI10 (rational eigenvalues) Assume that for every foliation singu-
larity along C all eigenvalues of partS are rational Write C = C axes cup C free where
C axes is the union of double curves
C free is the union of non-double curves
Then there exists a sequence of flops X 99K X + and an irreducible component of
the fiber FC axes subX + such that
bull X + is a smooth stack
bull The union of double curves of C axes is contained in FC axes the 1-skeleton of
its dual graph is a tree and each of its components has two triple points
bull The 1-skeleton of the dual graph of the transform C free+ is a disjoint union of
trees
bull Each connected component of C free+ intersects C axes in exactly one point
48 FEDERICO BUONERBA
In particular the 1-skeleton of the dual graph of C is a tree
Proof Notice that for every point lowast isin C cap Z there exists one LC-center through lowastIndeed there are three rational eigenvalues and they cannot be all non-vanishing and
all with different signs at the same time Now C axes can be treated as in proposition
VI9 This proves the first two items of the statement The third item follows from
Proposition VI5 so we can focus on the fourth one The proof is based on the
following obvious
Remark VI11 let C be a double curve such that either it is KF -nil hence has
two triple points or it is fully contained in sing(F ) Let C0 sube C free intersect C
non-trivially in a point lowast then necessarily C0 sub LClowast
Now let C0 middot middot middot CN form a chain of non-double curves with C0 and CN both
intersecting double curves as in the remark Denote by lowasti = Ci cap Ci+1 Since
C1 sub LClowast necessarily C1 is transverse to LClowast1 otherwise C1 would deform in F (C1)
Inductively we see that Ci+1 sub LClowasti and is transverse to LClowasti+1 In particular CN
cannot touch a double curve This contradiction proves the fourth item
Let us add a remark about configurations featuring invariant curves inside sing(F )
Proposition VI12 Let C be an invariant curve with KF middot C = 0 such that
Z0 sube C for some component Z0 sube sing(F ) Then C = Z prime cup C where
Z prime is a connected invariant curve inside the foliation singularity with dual graph a
chain
C is the union of at most two pairwise disjoint KF -nil curves with anti-ample
normal bundle
If not empty C can only intersect Z prime at the two ends of its dual graph Moreover
perhaps after a flop the intersection of C with Z prime supports the foliation singularity
along C As such if C has two components Z prime cup C deforms in the general fiber
Proof The structure of Z prime is Proposition IVII3 while that of Co is Proposition
IVI6 Let C prime be a component of C intersecting Z0 in a point lowast If C prime and Z0 belong
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 49
to different components of X0 then by case ni (1)b the eigenvalue of partS along C prime
vanishes so supp(sing(F ) cap C prime) = lowast If C prime and Z0 belong to the same component
then we can flop C prime into a different component
Observe that the divisor D prime from op cit can be extended along C prime This implies
that C can only intersect Z prime at its ends Moreover if C touches both ends necessarily
D prime capX0 = C scheme-theoretically hence by the existence of Hilbert scheme IVI5
we conclude
Our new set-up is
Set-up VI13 Everything as in set-up IIVII4 and moreover for any connected
invariant curve C with KF middot C = 0 all of whose sub-curves are rigid we have
configurations computed in proposition VI9 VI10 and Lemma VI12
VII Configurations of non-rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
In this subsection we describe configurations of surfaces which are covered by KF -nil
curves The structure of each such surface is described by classification IIV1 IIV2
and Corollary IIVI17 Our first step is to simplify the situation by contracting
chains of ruled surfaces The next step is to try and exclude the possibility that
the singular fiber of p contains fibrations by elliptic or nodal rational curves with
at least one invariant fiber This can be achieved with good success indeed there
may be at most one such Riccati foliation which is anyway rather isolated from the
remaining KF -nil curves Finally we observe that the only class of surfaces we have
not mentioned is
Definition VII1 A irreducible component F of the singular fiber of p is called
small Kronecker if
bull (FFF ) is birational to a Kronecker vector field on P1 timesP1 and
bull The two rulings of this P1 timesP1 are cohomologous inside X
The name comes from the fact that contraction of a small Kronecker yields a node
in the ambient threefold which admits a small resolution In fact in many respects
these fiber components behave very much like rigid KF -nil curves
50 FEDERICO BUONERBA
We start by getting rid of some fiber components which are ruled by KF -nil gener-
ically smooth rational curves
Proposition VII2 Notation as in Set-up VI13 there exists a sequence of flops
and divisorial contractions c X 99KX + such that
bull X + is a smooth stack
bull let S+ sub X + be an irreducible invariant divisor that contains a positive-
dimensional family of invariant rational curves along which KF+ vanishes
Then S+ is either birationally ruled by nodal rational curves or it is a small
Kronecker
Proof We focus first on contracting components of the singular fiber of p Consider
the following algorithm If there is no birationally ruled component different from
the ones listed in the second item we are done otherwise pick one such F and let
C denote the general member of the ruling If the cohomology class [C] is inde-
composable F is minimal Otherwise [C] = [C1] + [C2] where Ci are rational and
intersect KF trivially After finitely many steps we have a decomposition as a finite
sum of indecomposables [C] =sumn
i=0 ni[Ci] where every Ci is rational intersects KF
trivially We have two cases
bull There exists k such that Ck deforms in a birationally ruled necessarily min-
imal surface Fk
bull Every Ci has anti-ample normal bundle
In the first case denote by X rarr X1 the contraction of Fk along |Ck| and relpace
X by X1 Since Fk is minimal smoothness of the ambient stack is preserved unless
Fk is a small Kronecker This is however impossible if n ge 2 if Fk were a small
Kronecker then Ck deforms away from Fkminus1 so then Fkminus1 middot Ck = 0 on the other
hand Fkminus1 intersects the other ruling of Fk positively
In the second case flop C1 middot middot middot Cn in this order The transform of F is minimal and
not a small Kronecker so it can be contracted along its ruling preserving ambient
smoothness By induction on the Picard rank of X after finitely many steps this
algorithm ends Call X the output of this algorithm
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 51
Let S subX be an invariant divisor with a generically smooth ruling Then pS S rarr∆ is flat and after flopping finitely many rational curves in S cap plowastS(0) the resulting
pS is smooth Hence we can contract S along pS After finitely many steps the
Proposition is proven
For ease of notation in the sequel we call X the output of the previous proposition
Notice that there might still be divisors carrying a pencil of nodal rational curves
both inside and outside the singular fiber of p
We can start analyzing configurations of fiber components where the restriction of
F is not of general type We need some notation whose reason to exist will be clear
shortly
Definition VII3 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
along which KF is not big F is called special Riccati if
bull F is minimal
bull There exists a morphism s F rarr B onto a curve whose fibers are nodal
rational curve
bull F is transverse to the general fiber of s in particular KF is numerically
trivial along s
bull At least one fiber of s is invariant
bull There exists a section σ of s which is invariant and does not coincide with
the nodal locus of F
In particular the intersections of σ with invariant fibers of s isolated singularities
of F the node of F all coincide There may be fibers of s fully contained in sing(F )
in which case they are everywhere transverse to the saturated foliation
The definition looks nasty but special Riccati components have a rather simple
origin as the following proof shows
Lemma VII4 Let F be special Riccati Up to base change by an etale double cover
Bprime rarr B there is a natural isomorphism F norm simminusrarr BprimetimesP1 and the restriction of F
to F norm is birational to the projection onto P1
52 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proof We work over the normalization F norm Denote by Bprime the pre-image of the
node of F which is an etale double cover of B and let f denote an invariant fiber
of s with lowast = σ cap f Observe that F norm carries a Riccati foliation with 3 invariant
curves through lowast - namely σ f and a component of Bprime Hence FF has a log-canonical
singularity in lowast On F norm perform a weighted blow-up in each log-canonical singu-
larity followed by the contraction of the transforms of the corresponding fibers Let
s+ F+ rarr B denote the output of this operation If the proper transform of Bprime is
connected replace F+ by its base change under Bprime rarr B Hence we can assume Bprime
is the disjoint union of two sections of s+ and the transform of σ is a third section
which is disjoint from Bprime Therefore F+ = P1 timesBprime and the foliation restricts to the
projection onto P1
Next we describe those surfaces which cannot appear as components of the sin-
gular fiber X0
Definition VII5 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
along which KF is not big F is called illusory if
bull there exists a morphism t F rarr B onto a curve
bull KF is trivial along t
bull For any other fiber component F prime the intersection F cap F prime is either empty or
contained in a fiber of t
We give examples of illusory fiber components
Lemma VII6 The following fiber components are necessarily illusory
bull t is elliptic the foliation is either parallel to t or turbolent with at least one
invariant fiber
bull t is a nodal ruling the foliation is either parallel to t or transverse to t with
at least one invariant fiber and not birational to a special Riccati VII3
Proof Let f = F cap F prime for some fiber component F prime It is F -invariant
Assume t and F are parallel and f is transverse to both Then necessarily f subesing(F ) and KF is positive along the fibers of t contradiction
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 53
Assume t and F are generically transverse and f is transverse to t Let e be an
invariant fiber of t then ecap f isin sing(F ) hence t must be a family of nodal rational
curves and ecapf coincides with the node of e - otherwise KF would be positive along
t But this implies F is special Riccati contradiction
We proceed to show that illusory fibers do not exist
Lemma VII7 Let F be an illusory fiber component then every fiber of t is irre-
ducible If F prime is any fiber component intersecting F non-trivially then F prime is illusory
Proof Assume t has a reducible fiber f Then we can write f = f prime cup f primeprime where f prime
is irreducible and f primeprime is a disjoint union of chains of rational curves In particular
every subscheme supported on f primeprime is rigid in X f prime is rational and smooth iff f is a
cycle of rational curves hence the foliation on F is parallel to t and the choice of f prime
is not unique otherwise f prime is nodal or elliptic Let X 99KX + denote the flop of the
irreducible components of f primeprime in any order The proper transform f prime+ (below in red)
is the irreducible fiber of the induced morphism t+ F+ rarr B Since f primeprime+ intersects
f prime+ and is not contained in F+ there exists a component F prime of the fiber of p+ such
that F+ cap f prime+ 6= empty Since F+ is illusory necessarily F+ cap F prime = f prime+ Moreover F+
and F prime are the only fiber components intersecting f prime+ again because F+ is illusory
We deduce that F+ middot f prime+ = F prime middot f prime+ = 0 and therefore f prime+ is nef inside F prime It follows
that he restriction of F+ to F prime is not of general type and by the classification of
foliated surfaces [McQ08] necessarily f prime+ deforms inside F prime and defines a fibration
u F prime rarr Bprime In particular f prime+ is an irreducible fiber of u This is however impossible
since u contracts all the components of f primeprime+ contained in F prime (below in blue) and by
definition of F prime there exists at least one such component This proves that every
fiber of t is irreducible The following depicts the situation
F prime F+
f prime+
f primeprime+
t+u
54 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Concerning the second statement we only need to check the third condition for F prime
to be illussory namely that every other fiber component F primeprime intersecting F prime does
so along the fibers of u If F primeprime intersects F prime transversely to u then F primeprime intersects F
non-trivially and transversely to t as well absurd
Corollary VII8 Illusory components do not exist
Proof By the above lemma the existence of one illusory component implies that
every irreducible component of the singular fiber of p is illusory contradicting that
KF is big
We can now focus on fiber components that do appear
Corollary VII9 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
containing an invariant curve C which moves and such that KF middot C = 0 Then
following the classification [McQ08] we have two cases
(1) The minimal model of F is a special Riccati component
(2) F is a small Kronecker
Proof Certainly the ones listed are the only cases where C is KF -nil We have to
exclude the possibility that C is invariant inside sing(F ) By Proposition IVII3
such C would be rational with at most one node Since we already contracted at
the beginning of the present subsection all ruled surfaces necessarily C is nodal
However by opcit C cannot intersect any other fiber component of X0 which
implies the absurdity that X0 = F
We proceed to show that special Riccati components are rather isolated in the
fiber
Lemma VII10 Let F be a special Riccati component If F prime is a fiber component
intersecting F non-trivially then it does so transversely to s Morover there is
exactly one such F prime
Proof After finitely many flops we can assume that every fiber of s is irreducible
By the non-existence of illusory components there exists a fiber component F lowast with
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 55
σprime = F cap F prime transverse to s If F primeprime is a fiber component with f = F cap F primeprime a fiber
of s then we claim f sube sing(F ) If not then since KF middot f = 0 and σprime is invariant
necessarily σprimecap f is the node of f But then the existence of F primeprime contradicts that p is
snc Hence f sube sing(F ) so then around the node of f there are 3 fiber components -
two branches coming from F one from F primeprime - and sing(F ) has 2 branches - namely f
This is impossible by our case analysis ni (1)c ni (2)c The very same reasoning
establishes the uniqueness of F prime
Lemma VII11 Let F be as in the previous Lemma If C is a connected curve
with KF middot C = 0 then it is disjoint from F
Proof After finitely many flops s is irreducible and C intersects F transversely away
from its node Moreover lowast = C cap F isin sing(F ) and we deduce that the fiber of s
through lowast is fully contained in the singular locus of F This contradicts Proposition
IVII3 since such fiber is nodal
We conclude by observing the obvious
Lemma VII12 Let F be a small Kronecker Then there exists a contraction
c X rarr X prime which is an isomorphism away from F and contracts F along one
of its rulings Necessarily X prime is not projective since every global Cartier divisor
intersects c(F ) trivially On the other hand in a formal neighborhood of c(F ) there
exist Cartier divisors intersecting it non-trivialliy
As such the contribution coming from non-rigid curves is rather poor there are
curves moving in the general fiber there are special Riccati components disjoint from
any other invariant curve intersecting KF trivially there are small Kroneckers who
can be contracted to curves We shall see in the next section that the complications
arising from the contraction of such non-rigid curves is purely psychological and
totally harmless
56 FEDERICO BUONERBA
VI Contractions and proof of the Main Theorem
In this section we contract all invariant curves along which KF is zero thereby
establishing the existence of canonical models I First we contract non-rigid curves
as described in the previous subsection
bull Small Kroneckers along either ruling Albeit this destroys projectivity of
the ambient threefold there still exist Cartier divisors defined in a formal
neighborhood of the base curve that intersect it non-trivially
bull Families of irreducible nodal rational curves which are flat over ∆ This
creates elliptic singularities on the general fiber of p which are disjoint from
other invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
bull Special Riccati again families of irreducible nodal rational curves fully con-
tained in X0 This creates elliptic singularities disjoint from other invariant
curves intersecting KF trivially
We can summarize our situation by way of
Set-up VI1 X is a 3-dimensional DM stack with at worst elliptic singularities
F a foliation by curves with canonical singularities which is not Q-Cartier in a
neighborhood of Xsing
There exists a proper morphism p X rarr ∆ smooth off 0 isin ∆ F restricts to a
foliation on every fiber of p it has canonical singularities on the very general fiber
of p and log-canonical singularities on every fiber of p KF is big and nef on every
irreducible component of every fiber of p
Let C be the invariant sub-scheme along which KF is not big then C is a curve
fully contained in the smooth locus X0capXsmooth every sub-curve of C has anti-ample
normal bundle the 1-simplex of its dual graph is a tree and detailed configurations
of such are referenced in set-up VI13
We proceed to contract such C We assume that along C the semi-simple field has
only rational eigenvalues and moreover no component of C is inside the foliation
singularity The other two cases - irrational eigenvalues and presence of singular
component - are strictly easier and can be obtained with the very same method
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 57
The proof takes place in the formal completion around C = C free cup C axes The
former is a disjoint union of trees of non-double curves For each non-double C let
F (C) denote the unique component of X0 containing it The latter is a tree of double
curves each with two triple points all contained in the same irreducible FC axes Each
tree of non-double curves touches C axes in one point through a LC-center In order
to construct the contraction we will use Artinrsquos celebrated criterion in the following
form
Fact VI1 ([Ar70]) Let X be an irreducible algebraic space i Y rarr X a closed
subspace of pure codimension 1 and f Y rarr Y0 a proper morphism with flowastOY = OY0
Let X denote the formal completion of X along Y and assume there exists a Cartier
divisor D in X which is supported on Y and is f -anti-ample Then there exists a
proper morphism of algebraic spaces F X rarr X0 which is an isomorphism away
from Y and such that ilowastF = f
Now we use the tree structure of C to construct a suitable divisor to which apply
Artinrsquos theorem Namely consider the following inductive defintion
(35) C0 = C axes F0 = FC axes
For k ge 0 assume Ck Fk are defined
bull Let Ck+1 denote the union of irreducible components of C that intersect Fk
non-trivially but are not contained in cupilekFibull Let Fk+1 denote the reduced sum (
sumCsubeCk+1
F (C))red
This process stops with a collection C1 middot middot middotCN of curves and F1 middot middot middot FN of reduced
divisors
Lemma VI1 We have the following identities
(36)
Fk middot C lt 0 for every C sube Ck
(F0 + F1) middot C le 0 for every C sube C0
(Fkminus1 + Fk + Fk+1) middot C = 0 for every C sube Ck 1 lt k lt N
(FNminus1 + FN) middot C lt 0 for every C sube CN
58 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proof The first is just the fact that every component of C is rigid The remaining
three follow from X0 middot C = 0 but the last one requires further justification Indeed
if C sube CN N gt 0 then C is one end of a tree of non-double curves In particular
there exists a foliation singularity lowast isin C disjoint from any other component of
C and LClowast is transverse to C This implies LClowast middotC gt 0 which together with
(FNminus1 + FN + LClowast) middot C = 0 concludes the proof
Let ε1 middot middot middot εN isin Qgt0 and define
(37) F Nminusk = (1 + ε1 + middot middot middot+ εk)FNminusk
bull If C sube CN we have
(38) (F Nminus1 + F
N) middot C = ε1FNminus1 middot C + (FNminus1 + FN) middot C
bull If C sube CNminusk 1 lt k lt N we have
(39)
(F Nminuskminus1 + F
Nminusk + F Nminusk+1) middot C =
(1 + middot middot middot+ εk)(FNminuskminus1 + FNminusk + FNminusk+1) middot C minus εkFNminusk+1 middot C + εk+1FNminuskminus1 middot C =
minus εkFNminusk+1 middot C + εk+1FNminuskminus1 middot C
bull If C sube C0 we have
(40) (F 0 + F
1) middot C = εNF0 middot C + (Nminus1sumj=0
εj)(F0 + F1) middot C
It is clear that provided
(41) 1 gtgt ε1 gtgt middot middot middot gtgt εN
the divisor F =sumF k is negative along every component of C
This proves the existence of the contraction and concludes the proof of the Main
Theorem I
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 59
VII Moduli space of foliated surfaces of general type
In this section we study the modular variation of foliated surfaces of general type
The upshot is that it is possible to define a functor which is representable separated
and every irreducible component is proper The main issue here is that the supporting
surface of a foliated canonical model may well fail to be projective indeed KF is not
Q-Gorenstein in general Hence in order to proceed via standard methods [Ko17]
we have to parametrize our canonical models together with a suitable projective
resolution
Definition VII13 Let (SF ) be a foliated proper reduced purely 2-dimensional
DM stack Assume S has only normal crossing singularities in codimension 1 that
F has log-canonical foliation singularities and that KF is big and nef on at least
one of the irreducible components of S If whenever KF middot C = 0 for some curve C
then C moves in an irreducible component of S and no member of such deformation
is F -invariant then (SF ) is called foliated canonical model of general type
Clearly foliated canonical models are exactly the stable degenerations appearing
as the central fiber of our Main Theorem I Their lack of projectivity has two sources
namely the contraction of cycles of smooth KF -nil curves and of trees of cuspidal
ones Singularities arising from cycles behave well in families namely they always
deform into the general fiber Those arising from cuspidal curves on the other hand
tend to be rather isolated inside the degenerate fiber
Observe that the deformation theory of a foliated surface is rather simple suppose
given an infinitesimal C-algebras extension 0 rarr J rarr Ae rarr A rarr 0 and (SF )
a foliated surface flat over Spec(A) then the obstruction to lifting to Ae can be
understood in three simple steps
(1) Deformation of the underlying surface S once a deformation Se rarr Spec(Ae)
is given
(2) Deformation of the line bundle KF by the exponential sequence
(42) 0rarr J otimes OS rarr OlowastSerarr OlowastS rarr 0
obstructions lie in H2(SOS)otimes J once a deformation of KF is given
60 FEDERICO BUONERBA
(3) Deformation of the defining section OS rarr KF otimes TS obstructions lie in
H1(SKF otimes TS)otimes J
Now we have
Definition VII14 Let (SF ) be a foliated canonical model of general type A
proper birational morphism q (SF )proj rarr (SF ) is called its projective resolution
if
bull Every irreducible component of Sproj is smooth
bull The exceptional locus of q is a disjoint union of cycles of KFproj-nil smooth
curves and trees of KFproj-nil curves each of which has a non-trivial cuspidal
singularity
bull In a neighborhood of every q-exceptional cycle not only Sproj but also its
moduli space is smooth
We need a few remarks about projective resolutions
(1) Projective resolutions are always unique Indeed the only possible ambiguity
could lie in some extra smooth irreducible components in the exceptional
locus This is forbidden by definition in the trees of cuspidal curves it is
also forbidden by way of the third item in cycles of smooth ones ie on
algebraic surfaces the minimal resolution is unique
(2) Denote by E the collection of q-exceptional cycles Then there exist ε δ isinQgt0 such that KFproj
minus εE + δKSprojis ample by Nakai-Moishezon
(3) Deformations of a projective resolution of a foliated canonical model are
canonically identified with deformations of the underlying birational mor-
phism q Sproj rarr S followed by a deformation of the foliation F
We are now ready to construct a moduli functor for foliated surfaces more precisely
for projective resolutions of foliated canonical models of general type For m dN isinN and ε δ isin Qgt0 let
(43) MmdNεδ (C-schemes)rarr (sets)
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 61
be defined by MmdNεδ(S) = Diagrams
(44) (X F )projqminusrarr (X F )
pminusrarr S
Where
bull Both p and p q are flat and proper
bull For every closed point s isin S the induced morphism qs is the projective
resolution of (X F )s which is a foliated canonical model of general type
bull Denote by Es the collection of exceptional cycles of qs By our Main Theorem
I there is a fibrewise divisor E subXproj flat over S restricting to Es for every
s isin S
bull Let j W rarr Xproj denote the maximal closed subscheme away from which
KFprojand KXprojS are locally free Then
(45) L [m] = (jlowast(KFprojotimes OXproj
(minusεE )otimesKδXprojS
)otimesm)oror
is flat over S and commutes with base-change
bull L [m] is very ample of degree d on every fiber and defines an embedding into
PNS
We are now ready for
Theorem VII15 The functor MmdNεδ is represented by a separated algebraic
space each of whose irreducible components is proper
Proof We show that our functor satisfies Artinrsquos conditions [Ar74 Corollary 54] By
definition condition 1) and 4) hold while our previous remark on foliated obstruction
theory shows that 3) is true
We proceed to show 2) namely effectivity of formal deformations for MmdNεδ
What follows owes much to Artinrsquos [A74rsquo] Let T be a complete C-algebra Tn its
n-truncation so that Tsimminusrarr limlarrminusTn and finally qn isinMmdNεδ(Spec(Tn)) a compatible
sequence For each n there is a maximal open set Un sube Xprojn where qn is an
isomorphism denote by sn Cn rarr Zn the restriction of qn to the complement of Un
Clearly sn is projective over Spec(Tn)
62 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Denote by X C etc the formal algebraic spaces obtained as limits of Xn Cn
etc Then Xproj sub PNˆSpec(T )
hence by Grothendieckrsquos existence Theorem we find
bull a flat projective family (X F )proj rarr Spec(T ) resp a closed subscheme
C subXproj whose completion is Xproj resp C
bull a scheme Z whose completion is Z and a morphism s C rarr Z everything
being projective over Spec(T )
Further we have a formal contraction limminusrarr qn C rarr Z hence the main theorem
of [Ar70] gives algebraic contraction (X F )proj rarr (X F ) This proves the repre-
sentability of MmdNεδ The properness and separability of each irreducible com-
ponent can be checked using valutative criteria indeed properness is the content of
our Main Theorem I separatedness follows from the uniqueness of foliated canonical
models of general type and their projective resolution
References
[Ar70] M Artin Algebraization of Formal Moduli II Existence of Modifications Ann
of Math Vol 91 No 1 (Jan 1970) pp 88-135 httpwwwjstororgstable
1970602
[Ar74] M Artin Versal Deformations and Algebraic Stacks Inventiones Math 27 165- 189
(1974) httpmathuchicagoedu~drinfeldArtin_on_stackspdf
[A74rsquo] M Artin Algebraic construction of Brieskornrsquos resolutions J Alg Vol 29 Issue
2 May 1974 pp 330-348 httpwwwsciencedirectcomsciencearticlepii
0021869374901021
[BB72] P Baum R Bott Singularities of holomorphic foliations J Diff Geom 7 (1972)
279-342 httpsprojecteuclidorgdownloadpdf_1euclidjdg1214431158
[Bo77] F Bogomolov Families of curves on a surface of general type Doklady Akademii Nauk
USSR (in Russian) 236 (5) 1041-1044
[Bo78] F Bogomolov Holomorphic tensors and vector bundles on projective varieties Math
USSR Izv 13 (1978) 499-555
[BM16] F Bogomolov M McQuillan Rational Curves on Foliated Varieties In Cascini
McKernan Pereira (eds) Foliation Theory in Algebraic Geometry Simons Symposia
Springer Cham pp 21-51 (2016) httpslinkspringercomchapter101007
978-3-319-24460-0_2
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 63
[Bu] F Buonerba Functorial resolution of tame quotient singularities in positive charac-
teristic httpsarxivorgabs151100550
[Ke99] S Keel Basepoint Freeness for Nef and Big Line Bundles in Positive Characteris-
tic Annals of Math 149 No 1 (Jan 1999) pp 253-286 httpwwwjstororg
stable121025 httpsarxivorgabsmath9901149
[KM97] S Keel S Mori Quotients by groupoids Annals of Math 145 (1997) pp
193-213 httpwwwjstororgstable2951828seq=1page_scan_tab_contents
httparxivorgabsalg-geom9508012
[Ko17] J Kollar Families of varieties of general type httpswebmathprincetonedu
~kollarbookmodbook20170720pdf
[LN02] A Lins Neto Some examples for the Poincare and Painleve problems Annales sci-
entifiques de lrsquoENS 352 (2002) 231-266 httparchivenumdamorgarticle
ASENS_2002_4_35_2_231_0pdf
[McQ12] M McQuillan Foliated Mori Theory amp Hyperbolicity of Algebraic Surfaces http
wwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillahomehtml
[McQ98] M McQuillan Diophantine approximation and foliations Inst Hautes Etudes Sci
Publ Math 87 (1998) 121-174 httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafiles
ihespdf
[McQ05rsquo] M McQuillan Bloch hyperbolicity preprint httpwwwmatuniroma2it
~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ05] M McQuillan Semi-stable reduction of foliations IHES pre-print IHESM0502
(2005) httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ05rdquo] M McQuillan Uniform Uniformisation IHES pre-print (2005) IHES M0503 http
wwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ08] M McQuillan Canonical models of foliations Pure Appl Math Q 4
(2008) no 3 Special Issue In honor of Fedor Bogomolov Part 2 877-1012
httpintlpresscomsitepubfiles_fulltextjournalspamq20080004
0003PAMQ-2008-0004-0003-a009pdf
[MP13] M McQuillan D Panazzolo Almost etale resolution of foliations J Diff Geom 95
(2013) pp 279-319 httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesmp1bispdf
[Pe02] JV Pereira On the Poincare Problem for Foliations of General Type Mathematische
Annalen 323 no 2 pp217-226 2002 httpsarxivorgabsmath0104185
[PS16] JV Pereira R Svaldi Effective algebraic integration in bounded genus preprint
httpsarxivorgabs161206932
64 FEDERICO BUONERBA
[Re83] M Reid Minimal models of canonical threefolds in rdquoAlgebraic Varieties and Ana-
lytic Varietiesrdquo Adv Stud Pure Math vol 1 S Iitaka ed Kinokuniya and North-
Holland 1983 pp 131-180 httpwwwmathsedacukcheltsovquotientpdf
reid2pdf
[Se67] A Seidenberg Reduction of singularities of the differential equation Ady = Bdx Amer
J Math 89 (1967) 248-269 httpwwwjstororgstable2373435
[SB83] N Shepherd-Barron Degenerations with numerically effective canonical divisor The
Birational Geometry of Degenerations (R Friedman and D Morrison eds) Progr
Math no 29 Birkhuser 1983 pp 33-84
[Vis89] A Vistoli Intersection theory on algebraic stacks and on their moduli spaces
Invent Math (1989) pp 613-670 httplinkspringercomarticle101007
2FBF01388892page-1
Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences New York University 251 Mercer
Street New York NY 10012 USA
E-mail address buonerbacimsnyuedu
- I Introduction
- II Preliminaries
-
- III Operations on Deligne-Mumford stacks
- IIII Width of embedded parabolic champs
- IIIII Gorenstein foliation singularities
- IIIV Foliated adjunction
- IIV Canonical models of foliated surfaces with canonical singularities
- IIVI Canonical models of foliated surfaces with log-canonical singularities
- IIVII Set-up
-
- III Invariant curves and singularities local description
-
- IIII `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F) not isolated
- IIIII `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F) isolated
- IIIIII Local consequences
-
- IV Invariant curves along which KF vanishes
-
- IVI KF-nil curves
- IVII Invariant curves inside `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F)
-
- V Configurations
-
- VI Configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
- VII Configurations of non-rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
-
- VI Contractions and proof of the Main Theorem
- VII Moduli space of foliated surfaces of general type
- References
-
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 33
IV Invariant curves along which KF vanishes
In this section we study in great detail a formal neighborhood of invariant curves
where KF is numerically trivial In the first subsection we deal with KF -nil curves
namely those whose generic point is not contained in the foliation singularity In this
case the normal bundle to the curve determines its formal neighborhood uniquely
and this has plenty of amazing consequences In the second subsection we study
those invariant curves which are contained in the foliation singularity In this case
we are not able to control the full formal neighborhood but important informations
can still be obtained
IVI KF -nil curves In this subsection we study in detail the structure of KF -
nil curves and their formal neighborhoods appearing in the set-up IIVII4 In
particular we will describe a simple process to replace cuspidal KF -nil curves by
net ones prove that the foliation is in the net completion around a net KF -nil curve
defined by a global vector field which admits a global Jordan decomposition deduce
that eigenfunctions for the semi-simple component of such field are also globally
defined on a formal neighborhood
The first important remark is of technical nature and explains how to deal with non-
net KF -nil curves By Proposition IIIV4 this is indeed possible and the images of
such curves will acquire cusp-like singularities It is hard to analyze the geometry
of F around such cuspidal curves and therefore necessary to remove them Let us
assume that C is simply connected with rational moduli f is ramified at 0 isin C
and and denote by X the formal completion along f(C) Then formally around
f(0) the curve f(C) has defining ideal (y xa minus zb) where y = 0 is a fiber of the
fibration p X rarr ∆ containing f(C) x z isin H0(X OX ) restrict to suitable local
coordinates on such fiber and a b ge 2 are coprime integers
Claim IVI1 Let r X ( aradicz = 0) rarr X be the a-th root of z = 0 III3 Then
(rlowastC)norm =∐a
1 C and the induced map rlowastf (rlowastC)norm rarrX ( aradicz = 0) is net
Proof Since r is etale away from z = 0 also rlowastC rarr C is etale away from 0 isin C
Since C 0 is simply connected we have rlowastC rminus1(0) =∐a
1 C 0 This proves
34 FEDERICO BUONERBA
the first statement Let ζ be a function on X ( aradicz = 0) such that ζa = z so then
rlowast(xa minus zb) =prod
ηa=1(x minus ηζb) Every branch is net in 0 and we obtain the second
statement as well
As such upon taking roots we can replace non-net KF -nil invariant curves with
rational moduli by net ones
We now proceed to study net KF -nil curves We will show that the foliation is
defined by a global vector field around a net KF -nil curve with rational moduli and
that such vector field admits a global Jordan decomposition
Proposition IVI2 Notation as in the set-up IIVII4 let f C rarrX be a KF -nil
curve Assume that f is net and let j C rarr C be the net completion along f Then
there exists an isomorphism
(16) OC(KF )simminusrarr OC
In particular there exists a global vector field partf on C that generates F
Proof Since C has rational moduli and is simply connected it has infinite-cyclic
Picard group and we have an isomorphism
(17) OC(KF )simminusrarr OC
Moreover we have a non-canonical splitting of the normal bundle Njsimminusrarr O(minusn) oplus
O(minusm) and we claim that both nm ge 0 Indeed consider the induced semi-stable
fibration C rarr ∆ and let F be the normalization of an irreducible component of a
fiber such that C sub F Consider the exact sequence
(18) 0rarr NCF rarr Nj rarr NFC|C rarr 0
Since KF is nef NCF is not ample since F is a fiber of a fibration also NFC|C is
not ample and this is enough to conclude even though nm may be different from
the degrees of such normal bundles
At this point we can lift the isomorphism 17 over infinitesimal neighborhoods of j
Indeed for every k ge 0 we have an exact sequence
(19) 0rarr Symk ICI2C rarr OCk+1
(KF )rarr OCk(KF )rarr 0
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 35
which shows that the obstruction to lifting the isomorphism lies in
(20) H1(C Symk ICI2C) = H1(C Symk(O(n)oplus O(m))) = 0
From this we can deduce
Proposition IVI3 The vector field partf admits a Jordan decomposition uniformly
along C
Proof The cohomology sequence attached to 19 is
(21) 0rarr H0(C Symk ICI2C)rarr H0(COCk+1
)rarr H0(COCk)rarr 0
Let partk+1 denote the image of partf in End(H0(COCk+1)) Looking at
H0(COCk+1) minusminusminusrarr H0(COCk
)
partk+1
y partk
yH0(COCk+1
) minusminusminusrarr H0(COCk)
we see the canonical Jordan deomposition of partk+1 restricts to that of partk
The above result describes a very useful interplay between normal bundles to
KF -nil curves and the structure of the semi-simple field It turns out that these
informations determine formal neighborhoods uniquely For simplicity let C be
an irreducible component of C without orbifold points Let us assume that part|C is
singular in 0infin Then there exist formal functions x y z at 0 isin C and ξ η ζ at
infin isin C such that x ξ are coordinates along C y η are local sections of OC(minusn)
so η = xny mod(I2C) z ζ are local sections of OC(minusm) so ζ = xmz mod(I2C)
Normalizing so that xminus1partS(x) = ε isin 0 1 we obtain
(22) part0S = εxpart
partx+ λy
part
party+ microz
part
partz partinfinS = minusεξ part
partξ+ (λ+ εn)η
part
partη+ (micro+ εm)ζ
part
partζ
More generally ie C = P1(d e) we have glueing rules x = te ξ = tminusd η = tny and
ζ = tmz mod(I2C) Normalizing so that tminus1partS(t) = ε isin 0 1 we obtain
(23) part0S = eεxpart
partx+ λy
part
party+ microz
part
partz partinfinS = minusdεξ part
partξ+ (λ+ εn)η
part
partη+ (micro+ εm)ζ
part
partζ
36 FEDERICO BUONERBA
It is worth remarking that the above relations hold between eigenvalues at the two
singular point of singular ie nodal or cuspidal KF -nil curves as well this is
easily seen by taking a root followed by net completion and keeping track of the
eigenvalues
Definition IVI4 Let C be a KF -nil curve The foliation singular points along C
are called ends
As well as the existence of Hilbert scheme in the following form
Fact IVI5 Let W sub Xlowast be a curve and D a divisor in the formal neighborhood
of W such that W = D capXlowast scheme-theoretically Then W moves in D
In what follows our main concern is to understand formal neighborhoods of KF -
nil curves Observe that the fibration p when restricted to the formal neighborhood
of such curves provides at least one eigenfunction of the semi-simple field Hence
in order to compute the width IIII we must study the behavior of the other eigen-
function on infinitesimal neighborhoods We first describe the situation inside the
smooth locus of p
Proposition IVI6 (Smooth fiber) Let f C rarrX be an irreducible KF -nil curve
which is contained in the smooth locus of a fiber Xlowast of p Then the end(s) on C are
flat over ∆ ni (1)b and ni (1)a with z2|g(y z) and C moves in a family flat over
∆
Proof Let us assume that f is net Then upon passing to net completion we can
actually assume it is embedded From our local classification of singularities we case
in case ni (1)a and ni (2)a We want to show that both ends have components
that move transversely to p hence we have to exclude case ni (1)a with g(y z) = ya
By way of contradiction say we have g(y z) = ya in the notation of opcit around
an end lowast isin C We proceed to compute what happens at the other end we find
formal coordinates ξ η ζ which by equation 23 satisfy
(24) ξ = xminus1 η = y ζ = xmz mod(I2C)
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 37
As such we compute part(ζ) = mζ + ξminusmηa mod(I2C) which is holomorphic if and only
if m le 0 so then C moves in Xlowast contradicting that the foliation has general type
Hence we are in cases ni (1)a ni (2)a with g = microyazb b ge 1
(25) part0 = xpart
partx+ microyazb
part
partz partinfin = minusξ part
partξ+ ζ(m+ microξm(bminus1)ηaζbminus1)
part
partζ(mod(I2C))
Following notation from subsection IIII observe that C1 is the section of E1C which
is disjoint from the proper transform of the fiber of p In coordinates over 0
(26) x1 = x y1 = y z1 = zyminus1
And similarly over infin Using the previous equation and 25 on C1 we find
(27)
part01 = x1part
partx1+microya+bminus11 zb1
part
partz1 partinfin1 = minusξ1
part
partξ1+ζ1(m+microξ
m(bminus1)1 ηa+bminus11 ζbminus11 )
part
partζ1(mod(I2C1
))
In particular the transform of the nilpotent field is still nilpotent after blowing up in
C It follows that the eigenvalues of the semi-simple field at the two ends of C and
C1 are the same Using equation 23 we deduce that the normal bundle to C1X1 to
isomorphic to that of CX in particular it contains a trivial direct summand This
proves that width(C) =infin
Next we show that f must be net Consider the induced flat projection pD D rarr ∆
its general fiber cannot be a cuspidal curve since along such cusp the foliation sin-
gularity would be log-canonical but not canonical Hence if C has a cusp necessarily
the general fiber of pD is a nodal curve Let X rarr X denote the blow up of the
nodal locus of pD with exceptional divisor E ruled over ∆ In a neighborhood of E
we have sing(F ) = D cap E which projects to ∆ as a double cover ramified over lowastObserve that the foliation on Xlowast is again log-canonical and not canonical hence its
local structure is ni (2)a In that case however p is unramified along the foliation
singularity Contradiction
We state a general criterion for movability of KF -nil curves
Proposition IVI7 Let C be a connected KF -nil curve such that p(C ) = lowast isin ∆
Assume its dual graph is a chain that none of its irreducible components is double
38 FEDERICO BUONERBA
VI3 and that its two extremal ends are flat over ∆ Then C moves in a family flat
over ∆ and each of its irreducible components is embedded
Proof We work in a formal neighborhood of C After taking roots we can assume
C is net and since its dual graph is a chain it is actually embedded We proceed by
induction on its length l where the case l = 1 is Proposition IVI6 For l gt 1 let C1
be a component of C which is extremal in its dual graph If C1 moves transversely
to p then both its ends do and hence we can apply the induction hypothesis to
C C1 If C1 is rigid then it can be flopped It is straightforward to check that we
can apply the induction hypothesis to the transform C + C+1 and we are done
Now we deal with rigid curves inside the singular fiber
Proposition IVI8 (Singular fiber) Let f C rarr X be an embedded net KF -
nil curve with anti-ample normal bundle Then there exists a birational map φ
(X F ) 99K (X +F+) and a KF+-nil curve C+ such that
bull φ is an isomorphism away from C+
bull In a formal neighborhood of at least one among C and C+ there exist two
invariant hypersurfaces D1D2 locally defined by the vanishing of eigenfunc-
tions of the semi-simple field such that C (resp C+)= D1 capD2
bull If F middot C lt 0 for some hypersurface F then F+ middot C+ gt 0 In particular X +
is projective
Such φ is called flop
Proof Our assumption is that Nfsimminusrarr O(minusn)oplusO(minusm) is anti-ample namely nm gt
0 If two invariant hypersurfaces as in our statement do exist around C the flop is
easily constructed as a weighted blow-up followed by a weighted blow-down As such
let us assume that such hypersurfaces do not exist around C In particular C is not
double VI3 By [Ar70] there exists a formal contraction c X rarrX0 collapsing C
to a point and an isomorphism everywhere else By Proposition IVI3 the foliation
F0 is Gorenstein around the node of X0 For ease of exposition let us assume
n = m = 1 the general case is handled the same way only the notation becomes more
cumbersome due to the presence of weights The node has embedding dimension 4
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 39
and in suitable local coordinates x0 y0 w0 z0 can be defined by x0z0minusy0w0 = 0 The
morphism c can be identified with the blow up of the embedded surface (x0 = y0 = 0)
Explicitly in the chart y = y0 x = x0yminus10 it is defined by
(28) y0 = y x0 = xy z0 = zprime w0 = xzprime
Here x is a coordinate along C while y = 0 is the pull-back of (x0 = y0 = 0) and
zprime some function in the normal bundle to C By the previous Proposition IVI6
we know C cannot be contained in the smooth locus of p Since C is not double
we can assume that in this local chart p is defined by (x y zprime) rarr xy - the case
(x y zprime) rarr xzprime being isomorphic as it is isomorphic to blow-up (z0 = w0 = 0)
instead of (x0 = y0 = 0) The issue is as emphasized by the notation zprime 6= z that
zprime may fail to be an eigenfunction for partS if it were we would be done since zprime = 0
is the local equation for the global pullback of (z0 = w0 = 0) However we have
a b isin C such that
(29) partS0(y0) = minusy0 partS0(x0) = 0 partS0(z0) = ay0 + bz0 partS0(w0) = ax0 + (b+ 1)w0
Observe that the embedded surfaces D01 = (y0 = z0 = 0) and D0
2 = (x0 = w0 = 0)
are both foliation invariant As such let b X + rarr X0 denote the blow-up of X0
along D01 - which is isomorphic to that along D0
2 - and let Di = blowastD0i i = 1 2
Finally X + is projective by Nakai-Moishezon Indeed every C with anti-ample
normal bundle is contained in an irreducible component F of X0 such that F middotC lt 0
Then F+ middot C+ gt 0 and we can find an ample divisor of the form H+ + εF+ where
H+ is the proper transform of an ample on X
Remark IVI9 In the previous proof a 6= b+ 1 Indeed such identity would create
a non-trivial Jordan block of partS0 in the (x0 w0)-plane thus contradicting the semi-
simplicity of partS0 In particular by a straightforward computation it is impossible to
find eigenfunctions of the form wlowast0 = w0 + αx0 zlowast0 = z0 + βy0 with x0z
lowast0 minus y0wlowast0 = 0
unless a = 0
We can conclude by pointing out an important point understood in this section
A painful aspect of the theory is that log-canonical singularities which appear natu-
rally as analytic degenerations of canonical ones come along with cuspidal invariant
40 FEDERICO BUONERBA
curves There is in particular no a-priori obstruction to the existence of rigid
cuspidal KF -nil curves in a smooth fiber of our family of foliated surfaces p Quite
generally a rigid curve of positive arithmetic genus in a smooth family of surfaces can
never be contracted to a point Therefore this would have been a counter-example
to any reasonable foliated canonical model theory one may wish to achieve Fortu-
nately such phenomenon does not happen and this establishes the Main Theorem I
modulo finitely many rigid curves confined in the singular fiber X0
IVII Invariant curves inside sing(F ) In this subsection we study curves Z0 subeXlowast cap sing(F ) which are inside the foliation singularity and invariant By this we
mean that there exists a sequence fn Cn rarrX of not necessarily algebraic invariant
curves converging in the compact-open topology to Z0 In other words the map
(30) NorF rarr Ω1Z0
is trivial By Corollary IIIIII5 we know that Z0 is at worst nodal it is smooth
wherever p is smooth for every point z isin Z0 the semi-simple part of the gener-
ating vector field has exactly one eigenvalue The problem here is that the Jordan
decomposition need not extend uniformly along Z0 not even along an irreducible
component In case ni (1)a the functions x and g may develop essential singulari-
ties arbitrary close to z Nonetheless the function x is unique and this says that x
does extend along Z0
Proposition IVII1 Let Z0 be as above Then in a formal neighborhood of Z0
there exists a unique smooth invariant hypersurface D0 containing Z0 which restricts
around any point in Z0 to the unique eigenfunction for the semi-simple field whose
eigenvalue is non-zero
Proof The local structure of the foliation around a point z isin Z0 is described by
cases ni (1)a and ni (1)b In both cases partS has one non-zero eigenvalue with
eigenfunction x Such eigenfunction x is a-priori only defined in the normal bundle to
Z0 but it is clear that the equation partx = x has a unique up to constants solution in
the formal completion around z As such there exists a unique smooth hypersurface
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 41
D0 in the formal completion around Z0 which restricts to the eigenfunction x around
z
Observe that the previous argument goes through since we are assuming Z0 subX0
Keeping notations from case ni (1)a if say g(y z) = yz then in the hypersurface
y equiv q isin Qgt0 the foliation has a log-canonical singularity and the eigenfunction x
extends highly non-uniquely to a formal neighborhood of the point (x y z) = (0 q 0)
In particular the existence of D0 as in the previous Proposition might fail along
the component (x = z = 0) of the foliation singularity This phenomenon is called
the beast
Anyway uniqueness in the previous proposition yields
Corollary IVII2 Let Z prime be a connected invariant curve inside sing(F ) Then in
a formal neighborhood of Z prime there exists a unique smooth invariant hypersurface D prime
containing Z prime which restricts around any point in Z prime to the hypersurface constructed
in the previous proposition
Next we turn to the intrinsic structure of invariant singular curves
Proposition IVII3 Let Z0 be an irreducible invariant curve inside sing(F )
Then Z0 is smooth and rational
Proof We work in a formal neighborhood of Z0 Let F0 denote the unique component
of X0 containing Z0 For any other fiber component F intersecting Z0 non-trivially
blow-up the invariant curve F cap F0 with exceptional divisor EF A straightforward
computation using the local formula ni (1)b shows that the fiber of the natural
projection EF rarr F cap F0 intersecting Z0 is also contained in sing(F ) For Z prime the
maximal connected singular invariant curve containing Z0 let G denote the saturated
foliation induced on D prime It is canonical with reduced singularities and it satisfies
KG = KF |Dprime minus Zprime By adjunction
(31) 2g(Z0)minus 2 + sZG(Z0) = minusZ prime middot Z0
Observe that thanks to our initial sequence of blow-ups the singularities of G along
Z0 coincide with the intersection of Z0 and Z prime Z0 In particular since D prime is formally
42 FEDERICO BUONERBA
flat over ∆ we deduce Z prime middot Z0 = 0 and the previous formula becomes
(32) 2g(Z0)minus 2 + sZG(Z0) = 0
This implies that Z0 is rational or elliptic If Z0 were elliptic then sZG(Z0) = 0 and
D0 defines an invariant elliptic curve in the general fiber of p By Baum-Bott this
contradicts that KF is big and nef Now we show that Z0 is smooth If it has a node
then D0 moves it in a family of nodal rational curves flat over ∆ In particular D0
itself has a node in codimension 1 hence Xlowast is smooth around the node of Z0 In its
formal neighborhood the foliation must be as in case ni (1)a which implies that
Z0 is smooth contradiction
We can improve as follows
Proposition IVII4 Let Z prime sube sing F capXlowast be a connected invariant curve with
KF middot Z prime = 0 Then its dual graph is a chain
Proof Assume Z prime is a cycle Then necessarily Z prime = D prime capXlowast scheme-theoretically
and by the existence of Hilbert scheme Z prime moves in the general fiber Its general
member is either a cycle of smooth rational curves or an elliptic curve Arguing as
in the previous proof we see that both options are impossible
V Configurations
In this section we analyze in great detail all possible configurations of invariant
curves along which KF vanishes These can be divided into three groups those
that do not move those that move in a one-dimensional family covering a surface
those that move in a higher-dimensional family covering a surface Curves in the first
group can form rather complicated configurations while those in the second group
are more simple they either move in the general fiber or they cover an isolated
Riccati component in the singular fiber Those in the third group turn out to be
represented by the two rulings of P1timesP1 if they happen to be cohomologous in the
ambient stack First we will analyze rigid curves then those which move and finally
we will describe their configurations
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 43
VI Configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially In
this subsection we describe configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF
trivially which arise in the situation described by set-up IIVII4
First we focus on KF -nil curves At the end of the section we deal with the simpler
case in which a curve in the configuration is fully contained in sing(F ) The general
fiber was handled in Proposition IVI6
Proposition VI1 Let C be a connected KF -nil curve contained in the smooth
locus of a fiber of p Then it is a chain or a cycle and it moves in a family flat over
∆
In what follows we let C denote a connected KF -nil curve contained in the
singular fiber X0 all of whose sub-curves are rigid in X Observe a consequence of
equation 23
Proposition VI2 Let C = cupiCi be a connected KF -nil curve Then the eigen-
values of partS are all rational at every point of sing(F )capC if and only if they are all
rational at one point
We can deduce many non-trivial properties about configurations of KF -nil curves
First we need
Definition VI3 Let C subX0 be a curve It is called double if there exists formally
around C two components F F prime of X0 such that C = F cap F prime A point lowast isin C where
three fiber components intersect is called a triple point If C lies on exactly one fiber
component it is called non-double We denote by F (C) such component
Remark VI4 Let Csimminusrarr P1(d e) be double with two triple points Then we know
e+ λ+ micro = minusd+ (λ+ n) + (micro+m) = 0 whence we obtain
(33) n+m = d+ e
Which is called triple-point formula
Next we show that essentially KF -nil curves do not form cycles unless something
deforms in X0 First we show that there are no cycles of rigid non-double curves
44 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proposition VI5 Let C be a connected KF -nil curve contained in the singular
fiber X0 of p Assume that every component of C is non-double and that every
sub-curve is rigid Then C contains no cycles
Proof We work in a formal neighborhood of C which we assume is a cycle Let
us first consider the case in which all components C1 middot middot middot CN are smooth with no
orbifold points and denote lowasti = Ci cap Ci+1 with CN+1 = C1 Moreover let us
assume no lowasti lies in the smooth locus of p
Since no curve is double the semi-simple field at every lowasti is as in case i (3)b in
particular the eigenvalues along the branches of Ci and Ci+1 add up to zero More-
over let minusni denote the self-intersection of Ci sub F (Ci) Normalize the eigenvalues
of partS so that at lowastn they are 1 in the C1 direction minus1 in the CN direction λ in the
F (C1)capF (CN) direction It follows by induction that at lowasti the eigenvalues are minus1
in the Ci direction 1 in the Ci+1 direction λ+ n1 + middot middot middot+ ni in the F (Ci) cap F (Ci+1)
direction After traveling around the cycle we obtain n1+middot middot middot+nN = 0 contradicting
that ni gt 0 for every i
We established the Proposition assuming every Ci is an embedded scheme and ev-
ery lowasti is in the singular locus of p The case in which Cisimminusrarr P1(di ei) has orbifold
points is analogous we end up with a combination c1n1 + middot middot middot + cNnN = 0 with ci
the eigenvalue at lowasti in the Ci+1 direction Normalizing so that c1 = e1 gt 0 again by
induction on i we see that every ci isin Qgt0 Next we show that our assumption on lowastiis always satisfied
Claim VI6 Every lowasti must belong to the singular locus of p
Proof We give two essentially equivalent proofs
bull If N = 2 3 then the previous argument goes through indeed we can normal-
ize eigenvalues at lowasti to be negative in the Ciminus1 direction and positive in the
Ci-direction and argue as above Hence we can assume N ge 4 If say lowasti is in
the smooth locus of p then F (Ci) = F (Ci+1) If also F (Ciminus1) = F (Ci) then Ci
lies in the smooth locus of p and hence it moves Therefore F (Ciminus1) 6= F (Ci)
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 45
and Ciminus1 can be flopped inside F (Ci) Since N ge 4 this preserves the smooth-
ness of F (Ci) and Ci is now is the smooth locus of p - contradiction
bull If lowasti belongs to the smooth locus of p then the end through lowasti moves We
can form a partial net completion fi Xi rarrX by normalizing C in lowasti only
Then f lowasti C is a chain with movable ends and hence moves in the general fiber
of p fi
Finally the general case in which some among the Ci have cusps can be easily
reduced to the smooth case in a couple of ways
bull Eigenvalues at the singularities of any KF -nil curve satisfy the same relations
as in the smooth case
bull Upon taking roots and net completion we can find a foliated formal 3-fold
supported on a cycle of smooth KF -nil curves which is a ramified cover of a
formal neighborhood of our cycle
Similarly we can show that there are no rigid cycles of double curves
Proposition VI7 Let C be a nodal KF -nil curve which is double Then C
deforms inside X0 In particular there cannot exist a rigid cycle of KF -nil double
curves
Proof Following the previous notation we have 0 = infin and if C = (xy = z = 0)
around 0 then we have identities
(34) x = η y = ξ z = ζ
The last one of which implies m = 0 that is C deforms Since C is double necessarily
the surface it spans must be contained in X0
The statement about cycles follows since a cycle of double curves can be transformed
after finitely many flops into a chain of smooth double curves with a nodal one
attached at one end
46 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Later on we will show that the deformations of C cannot span an elliptic surface
but only a family of nodal rational curves with a special Riccati foliation on it
We are ready to organize a detailed description of the dual graph of C More pre-
cisely we only need to understand how double curves intersect non-double curves
Lemma VI8 There exists a sequence of flops X 99KX + such that if C + denotes
the transform of C every double curve supported on C + contains two triple points
Proof Let C sube C be an irreducible component with at most one triple point and
let X 99K X + be its flop Then its transform C+ is non-double and the number
of double curves contained in C descreases It is clear that after finitely many flops
all double curves contain exactly two triple points
From now on all double curves in C have two triple points Thanks to proposition
VI2 we know that there are two cases to consider those curves along which the
semi-simple field has not only rational eigenvalues and those along which the semi-
simple field has only rational eigenvalues The first case being strictly easier than
the second it is a good starting place to warm up
Proposition VI9 (irrational eigenvalues) Assume that for every foliation singu-
larity along C not all eigenvalues of partS are rational Then every component of C
is net with at most one node and 1-skeleton of its dual graph is at worst trivalent
Write C = C axes cup C free where
C axes is the union of double curves
C free is the union of non-double curves
Then one among C axes and C free is empty Moreover
bull If C free is non-empty then it is a chain of smooth curves with rational moduli
bull If C axes is non-empty there exists a sequence of flops X 99KX + and an ir-
reducible component of the fiber FC subX + such that X + is a smooth stack
the transform C+ of C is contained in FC Moreover the dual graph of C+
is a tree which by [McQ08 III32] becomes a chain inside the normalization
of FC
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 47
Proof The first sentence is just corollary IIIIII3
Observe that if a non-double curve intersects a double curve then the non-double
curve must be contained in an LC-center around such intersection This contradicts
that not all eigenvalues are rational and establishes that one among C axes and C free
is empty
In case C free is not empty then it is clearly a chain or a cycle the latter being
impossible by Proposition VI5
We are left to show the existence of flops in case C = C axes We remark that
every component is smooth Let C0 be such a component and S0 a component of
X0 containing it Let C1 be the collection of irreducible components of C which
intersect S0 but are not contained in it All the components of C1 are smooth hence
we can flop them in any order until the transform of C1 lies in the transform of S0
Since the number of irreducible components of C lying outside S0 decreases after
such flop by induction we deduce the existence of finitely many flops after which
the birational transform of C is fully contained in the transform of S0
Next we take care of rational eigenvalues The complication here arises from
the fact that there may be double and non-double curves intersecting each other
However the situation is best possible
Proposition VI10 (rational eigenvalues) Assume that for every foliation singu-
larity along C all eigenvalues of partS are rational Write C = C axes cup C free where
C axes is the union of double curves
C free is the union of non-double curves
Then there exists a sequence of flops X 99K X + and an irreducible component of
the fiber FC axes subX + such that
bull X + is a smooth stack
bull The union of double curves of C axes is contained in FC axes the 1-skeleton of
its dual graph is a tree and each of its components has two triple points
bull The 1-skeleton of the dual graph of the transform C free+ is a disjoint union of
trees
bull Each connected component of C free+ intersects C axes in exactly one point
48 FEDERICO BUONERBA
In particular the 1-skeleton of the dual graph of C is a tree
Proof Notice that for every point lowast isin C cap Z there exists one LC-center through lowastIndeed there are three rational eigenvalues and they cannot be all non-vanishing and
all with different signs at the same time Now C axes can be treated as in proposition
VI9 This proves the first two items of the statement The third item follows from
Proposition VI5 so we can focus on the fourth one The proof is based on the
following obvious
Remark VI11 let C be a double curve such that either it is KF -nil hence has
two triple points or it is fully contained in sing(F ) Let C0 sube C free intersect C
non-trivially in a point lowast then necessarily C0 sub LClowast
Now let C0 middot middot middot CN form a chain of non-double curves with C0 and CN both
intersecting double curves as in the remark Denote by lowasti = Ci cap Ci+1 Since
C1 sub LClowast necessarily C1 is transverse to LClowast1 otherwise C1 would deform in F (C1)
Inductively we see that Ci+1 sub LClowasti and is transverse to LClowasti+1 In particular CN
cannot touch a double curve This contradiction proves the fourth item
Let us add a remark about configurations featuring invariant curves inside sing(F )
Proposition VI12 Let C be an invariant curve with KF middot C = 0 such that
Z0 sube C for some component Z0 sube sing(F ) Then C = Z prime cup C where
Z prime is a connected invariant curve inside the foliation singularity with dual graph a
chain
C is the union of at most two pairwise disjoint KF -nil curves with anti-ample
normal bundle
If not empty C can only intersect Z prime at the two ends of its dual graph Moreover
perhaps after a flop the intersection of C with Z prime supports the foliation singularity
along C As such if C has two components Z prime cup C deforms in the general fiber
Proof The structure of Z prime is Proposition IVII3 while that of Co is Proposition
IVI6 Let C prime be a component of C intersecting Z0 in a point lowast If C prime and Z0 belong
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 49
to different components of X0 then by case ni (1)b the eigenvalue of partS along C prime
vanishes so supp(sing(F ) cap C prime) = lowast If C prime and Z0 belong to the same component
then we can flop C prime into a different component
Observe that the divisor D prime from op cit can be extended along C prime This implies
that C can only intersect Z prime at its ends Moreover if C touches both ends necessarily
D prime capX0 = C scheme-theoretically hence by the existence of Hilbert scheme IVI5
we conclude
Our new set-up is
Set-up VI13 Everything as in set-up IIVII4 and moreover for any connected
invariant curve C with KF middot C = 0 all of whose sub-curves are rigid we have
configurations computed in proposition VI9 VI10 and Lemma VI12
VII Configurations of non-rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
In this subsection we describe configurations of surfaces which are covered by KF -nil
curves The structure of each such surface is described by classification IIV1 IIV2
and Corollary IIVI17 Our first step is to simplify the situation by contracting
chains of ruled surfaces The next step is to try and exclude the possibility that
the singular fiber of p contains fibrations by elliptic or nodal rational curves with
at least one invariant fiber This can be achieved with good success indeed there
may be at most one such Riccati foliation which is anyway rather isolated from the
remaining KF -nil curves Finally we observe that the only class of surfaces we have
not mentioned is
Definition VII1 A irreducible component F of the singular fiber of p is called
small Kronecker if
bull (FFF ) is birational to a Kronecker vector field on P1 timesP1 and
bull The two rulings of this P1 timesP1 are cohomologous inside X
The name comes from the fact that contraction of a small Kronecker yields a node
in the ambient threefold which admits a small resolution In fact in many respects
these fiber components behave very much like rigid KF -nil curves
50 FEDERICO BUONERBA
We start by getting rid of some fiber components which are ruled by KF -nil gener-
ically smooth rational curves
Proposition VII2 Notation as in Set-up VI13 there exists a sequence of flops
and divisorial contractions c X 99KX + such that
bull X + is a smooth stack
bull let S+ sub X + be an irreducible invariant divisor that contains a positive-
dimensional family of invariant rational curves along which KF+ vanishes
Then S+ is either birationally ruled by nodal rational curves or it is a small
Kronecker
Proof We focus first on contracting components of the singular fiber of p Consider
the following algorithm If there is no birationally ruled component different from
the ones listed in the second item we are done otherwise pick one such F and let
C denote the general member of the ruling If the cohomology class [C] is inde-
composable F is minimal Otherwise [C] = [C1] + [C2] where Ci are rational and
intersect KF trivially After finitely many steps we have a decomposition as a finite
sum of indecomposables [C] =sumn
i=0 ni[Ci] where every Ci is rational intersects KF
trivially We have two cases
bull There exists k such that Ck deforms in a birationally ruled necessarily min-
imal surface Fk
bull Every Ci has anti-ample normal bundle
In the first case denote by X rarr X1 the contraction of Fk along |Ck| and relpace
X by X1 Since Fk is minimal smoothness of the ambient stack is preserved unless
Fk is a small Kronecker This is however impossible if n ge 2 if Fk were a small
Kronecker then Ck deforms away from Fkminus1 so then Fkminus1 middot Ck = 0 on the other
hand Fkminus1 intersects the other ruling of Fk positively
In the second case flop C1 middot middot middot Cn in this order The transform of F is minimal and
not a small Kronecker so it can be contracted along its ruling preserving ambient
smoothness By induction on the Picard rank of X after finitely many steps this
algorithm ends Call X the output of this algorithm
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 51
Let S subX be an invariant divisor with a generically smooth ruling Then pS S rarr∆ is flat and after flopping finitely many rational curves in S cap plowastS(0) the resulting
pS is smooth Hence we can contract S along pS After finitely many steps the
Proposition is proven
For ease of notation in the sequel we call X the output of the previous proposition
Notice that there might still be divisors carrying a pencil of nodal rational curves
both inside and outside the singular fiber of p
We can start analyzing configurations of fiber components where the restriction of
F is not of general type We need some notation whose reason to exist will be clear
shortly
Definition VII3 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
along which KF is not big F is called special Riccati if
bull F is minimal
bull There exists a morphism s F rarr B onto a curve whose fibers are nodal
rational curve
bull F is transverse to the general fiber of s in particular KF is numerically
trivial along s
bull At least one fiber of s is invariant
bull There exists a section σ of s which is invariant and does not coincide with
the nodal locus of F
In particular the intersections of σ with invariant fibers of s isolated singularities
of F the node of F all coincide There may be fibers of s fully contained in sing(F )
in which case they are everywhere transverse to the saturated foliation
The definition looks nasty but special Riccati components have a rather simple
origin as the following proof shows
Lemma VII4 Let F be special Riccati Up to base change by an etale double cover
Bprime rarr B there is a natural isomorphism F norm simminusrarr BprimetimesP1 and the restriction of F
to F norm is birational to the projection onto P1
52 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proof We work over the normalization F norm Denote by Bprime the pre-image of the
node of F which is an etale double cover of B and let f denote an invariant fiber
of s with lowast = σ cap f Observe that F norm carries a Riccati foliation with 3 invariant
curves through lowast - namely σ f and a component of Bprime Hence FF has a log-canonical
singularity in lowast On F norm perform a weighted blow-up in each log-canonical singu-
larity followed by the contraction of the transforms of the corresponding fibers Let
s+ F+ rarr B denote the output of this operation If the proper transform of Bprime is
connected replace F+ by its base change under Bprime rarr B Hence we can assume Bprime
is the disjoint union of two sections of s+ and the transform of σ is a third section
which is disjoint from Bprime Therefore F+ = P1 timesBprime and the foliation restricts to the
projection onto P1
Next we describe those surfaces which cannot appear as components of the sin-
gular fiber X0
Definition VII5 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
along which KF is not big F is called illusory if
bull there exists a morphism t F rarr B onto a curve
bull KF is trivial along t
bull For any other fiber component F prime the intersection F cap F prime is either empty or
contained in a fiber of t
We give examples of illusory fiber components
Lemma VII6 The following fiber components are necessarily illusory
bull t is elliptic the foliation is either parallel to t or turbolent with at least one
invariant fiber
bull t is a nodal ruling the foliation is either parallel to t or transverse to t with
at least one invariant fiber and not birational to a special Riccati VII3
Proof Let f = F cap F prime for some fiber component F prime It is F -invariant
Assume t and F are parallel and f is transverse to both Then necessarily f subesing(F ) and KF is positive along the fibers of t contradiction
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 53
Assume t and F are generically transverse and f is transverse to t Let e be an
invariant fiber of t then ecap f isin sing(F ) hence t must be a family of nodal rational
curves and ecapf coincides with the node of e - otherwise KF would be positive along
t But this implies F is special Riccati contradiction
We proceed to show that illusory fibers do not exist
Lemma VII7 Let F be an illusory fiber component then every fiber of t is irre-
ducible If F prime is any fiber component intersecting F non-trivially then F prime is illusory
Proof Assume t has a reducible fiber f Then we can write f = f prime cup f primeprime where f prime
is irreducible and f primeprime is a disjoint union of chains of rational curves In particular
every subscheme supported on f primeprime is rigid in X f prime is rational and smooth iff f is a
cycle of rational curves hence the foliation on F is parallel to t and the choice of f prime
is not unique otherwise f prime is nodal or elliptic Let X 99KX + denote the flop of the
irreducible components of f primeprime in any order The proper transform f prime+ (below in red)
is the irreducible fiber of the induced morphism t+ F+ rarr B Since f primeprime+ intersects
f prime+ and is not contained in F+ there exists a component F prime of the fiber of p+ such
that F+ cap f prime+ 6= empty Since F+ is illusory necessarily F+ cap F prime = f prime+ Moreover F+
and F prime are the only fiber components intersecting f prime+ again because F+ is illusory
We deduce that F+ middot f prime+ = F prime middot f prime+ = 0 and therefore f prime+ is nef inside F prime It follows
that he restriction of F+ to F prime is not of general type and by the classification of
foliated surfaces [McQ08] necessarily f prime+ deforms inside F prime and defines a fibration
u F prime rarr Bprime In particular f prime+ is an irreducible fiber of u This is however impossible
since u contracts all the components of f primeprime+ contained in F prime (below in blue) and by
definition of F prime there exists at least one such component This proves that every
fiber of t is irreducible The following depicts the situation
F prime F+
f prime+
f primeprime+
t+u
54 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Concerning the second statement we only need to check the third condition for F prime
to be illussory namely that every other fiber component F primeprime intersecting F prime does
so along the fibers of u If F primeprime intersects F prime transversely to u then F primeprime intersects F
non-trivially and transversely to t as well absurd
Corollary VII8 Illusory components do not exist
Proof By the above lemma the existence of one illusory component implies that
every irreducible component of the singular fiber of p is illusory contradicting that
KF is big
We can now focus on fiber components that do appear
Corollary VII9 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
containing an invariant curve C which moves and such that KF middot C = 0 Then
following the classification [McQ08] we have two cases
(1) The minimal model of F is a special Riccati component
(2) F is a small Kronecker
Proof Certainly the ones listed are the only cases where C is KF -nil We have to
exclude the possibility that C is invariant inside sing(F ) By Proposition IVII3
such C would be rational with at most one node Since we already contracted at
the beginning of the present subsection all ruled surfaces necessarily C is nodal
However by opcit C cannot intersect any other fiber component of X0 which
implies the absurdity that X0 = F
We proceed to show that special Riccati components are rather isolated in the
fiber
Lemma VII10 Let F be a special Riccati component If F prime is a fiber component
intersecting F non-trivially then it does so transversely to s Morover there is
exactly one such F prime
Proof After finitely many flops we can assume that every fiber of s is irreducible
By the non-existence of illusory components there exists a fiber component F lowast with
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 55
σprime = F cap F prime transverse to s If F primeprime is a fiber component with f = F cap F primeprime a fiber
of s then we claim f sube sing(F ) If not then since KF middot f = 0 and σprime is invariant
necessarily σprimecap f is the node of f But then the existence of F primeprime contradicts that p is
snc Hence f sube sing(F ) so then around the node of f there are 3 fiber components -
two branches coming from F one from F primeprime - and sing(F ) has 2 branches - namely f
This is impossible by our case analysis ni (1)c ni (2)c The very same reasoning
establishes the uniqueness of F prime
Lemma VII11 Let F be as in the previous Lemma If C is a connected curve
with KF middot C = 0 then it is disjoint from F
Proof After finitely many flops s is irreducible and C intersects F transversely away
from its node Moreover lowast = C cap F isin sing(F ) and we deduce that the fiber of s
through lowast is fully contained in the singular locus of F This contradicts Proposition
IVII3 since such fiber is nodal
We conclude by observing the obvious
Lemma VII12 Let F be a small Kronecker Then there exists a contraction
c X rarr X prime which is an isomorphism away from F and contracts F along one
of its rulings Necessarily X prime is not projective since every global Cartier divisor
intersects c(F ) trivially On the other hand in a formal neighborhood of c(F ) there
exist Cartier divisors intersecting it non-trivialliy
As such the contribution coming from non-rigid curves is rather poor there are
curves moving in the general fiber there are special Riccati components disjoint from
any other invariant curve intersecting KF trivially there are small Kroneckers who
can be contracted to curves We shall see in the next section that the complications
arising from the contraction of such non-rigid curves is purely psychological and
totally harmless
56 FEDERICO BUONERBA
VI Contractions and proof of the Main Theorem
In this section we contract all invariant curves along which KF is zero thereby
establishing the existence of canonical models I First we contract non-rigid curves
as described in the previous subsection
bull Small Kroneckers along either ruling Albeit this destroys projectivity of
the ambient threefold there still exist Cartier divisors defined in a formal
neighborhood of the base curve that intersect it non-trivially
bull Families of irreducible nodal rational curves which are flat over ∆ This
creates elliptic singularities on the general fiber of p which are disjoint from
other invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
bull Special Riccati again families of irreducible nodal rational curves fully con-
tained in X0 This creates elliptic singularities disjoint from other invariant
curves intersecting KF trivially
We can summarize our situation by way of
Set-up VI1 X is a 3-dimensional DM stack with at worst elliptic singularities
F a foliation by curves with canonical singularities which is not Q-Cartier in a
neighborhood of Xsing
There exists a proper morphism p X rarr ∆ smooth off 0 isin ∆ F restricts to a
foliation on every fiber of p it has canonical singularities on the very general fiber
of p and log-canonical singularities on every fiber of p KF is big and nef on every
irreducible component of every fiber of p
Let C be the invariant sub-scheme along which KF is not big then C is a curve
fully contained in the smooth locus X0capXsmooth every sub-curve of C has anti-ample
normal bundle the 1-simplex of its dual graph is a tree and detailed configurations
of such are referenced in set-up VI13
We proceed to contract such C We assume that along C the semi-simple field has
only rational eigenvalues and moreover no component of C is inside the foliation
singularity The other two cases - irrational eigenvalues and presence of singular
component - are strictly easier and can be obtained with the very same method
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 57
The proof takes place in the formal completion around C = C free cup C axes The
former is a disjoint union of trees of non-double curves For each non-double C let
F (C) denote the unique component of X0 containing it The latter is a tree of double
curves each with two triple points all contained in the same irreducible FC axes Each
tree of non-double curves touches C axes in one point through a LC-center In order
to construct the contraction we will use Artinrsquos celebrated criterion in the following
form
Fact VI1 ([Ar70]) Let X be an irreducible algebraic space i Y rarr X a closed
subspace of pure codimension 1 and f Y rarr Y0 a proper morphism with flowastOY = OY0
Let X denote the formal completion of X along Y and assume there exists a Cartier
divisor D in X which is supported on Y and is f -anti-ample Then there exists a
proper morphism of algebraic spaces F X rarr X0 which is an isomorphism away
from Y and such that ilowastF = f
Now we use the tree structure of C to construct a suitable divisor to which apply
Artinrsquos theorem Namely consider the following inductive defintion
(35) C0 = C axes F0 = FC axes
For k ge 0 assume Ck Fk are defined
bull Let Ck+1 denote the union of irreducible components of C that intersect Fk
non-trivially but are not contained in cupilekFibull Let Fk+1 denote the reduced sum (
sumCsubeCk+1
F (C))red
This process stops with a collection C1 middot middot middotCN of curves and F1 middot middot middot FN of reduced
divisors
Lemma VI1 We have the following identities
(36)
Fk middot C lt 0 for every C sube Ck
(F0 + F1) middot C le 0 for every C sube C0
(Fkminus1 + Fk + Fk+1) middot C = 0 for every C sube Ck 1 lt k lt N
(FNminus1 + FN) middot C lt 0 for every C sube CN
58 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proof The first is just the fact that every component of C is rigid The remaining
three follow from X0 middot C = 0 but the last one requires further justification Indeed
if C sube CN N gt 0 then C is one end of a tree of non-double curves In particular
there exists a foliation singularity lowast isin C disjoint from any other component of
C and LClowast is transverse to C This implies LClowast middotC gt 0 which together with
(FNminus1 + FN + LClowast) middot C = 0 concludes the proof
Let ε1 middot middot middot εN isin Qgt0 and define
(37) F Nminusk = (1 + ε1 + middot middot middot+ εk)FNminusk
bull If C sube CN we have
(38) (F Nminus1 + F
N) middot C = ε1FNminus1 middot C + (FNminus1 + FN) middot C
bull If C sube CNminusk 1 lt k lt N we have
(39)
(F Nminuskminus1 + F
Nminusk + F Nminusk+1) middot C =
(1 + middot middot middot+ εk)(FNminuskminus1 + FNminusk + FNminusk+1) middot C minus εkFNminusk+1 middot C + εk+1FNminuskminus1 middot C =
minus εkFNminusk+1 middot C + εk+1FNminuskminus1 middot C
bull If C sube C0 we have
(40) (F 0 + F
1) middot C = εNF0 middot C + (Nminus1sumj=0
εj)(F0 + F1) middot C
It is clear that provided
(41) 1 gtgt ε1 gtgt middot middot middot gtgt εN
the divisor F =sumF k is negative along every component of C
This proves the existence of the contraction and concludes the proof of the Main
Theorem I
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 59
VII Moduli space of foliated surfaces of general type
In this section we study the modular variation of foliated surfaces of general type
The upshot is that it is possible to define a functor which is representable separated
and every irreducible component is proper The main issue here is that the supporting
surface of a foliated canonical model may well fail to be projective indeed KF is not
Q-Gorenstein in general Hence in order to proceed via standard methods [Ko17]
we have to parametrize our canonical models together with a suitable projective
resolution
Definition VII13 Let (SF ) be a foliated proper reduced purely 2-dimensional
DM stack Assume S has only normal crossing singularities in codimension 1 that
F has log-canonical foliation singularities and that KF is big and nef on at least
one of the irreducible components of S If whenever KF middot C = 0 for some curve C
then C moves in an irreducible component of S and no member of such deformation
is F -invariant then (SF ) is called foliated canonical model of general type
Clearly foliated canonical models are exactly the stable degenerations appearing
as the central fiber of our Main Theorem I Their lack of projectivity has two sources
namely the contraction of cycles of smooth KF -nil curves and of trees of cuspidal
ones Singularities arising from cycles behave well in families namely they always
deform into the general fiber Those arising from cuspidal curves on the other hand
tend to be rather isolated inside the degenerate fiber
Observe that the deformation theory of a foliated surface is rather simple suppose
given an infinitesimal C-algebras extension 0 rarr J rarr Ae rarr A rarr 0 and (SF )
a foliated surface flat over Spec(A) then the obstruction to lifting to Ae can be
understood in three simple steps
(1) Deformation of the underlying surface S once a deformation Se rarr Spec(Ae)
is given
(2) Deformation of the line bundle KF by the exponential sequence
(42) 0rarr J otimes OS rarr OlowastSerarr OlowastS rarr 0
obstructions lie in H2(SOS)otimes J once a deformation of KF is given
60 FEDERICO BUONERBA
(3) Deformation of the defining section OS rarr KF otimes TS obstructions lie in
H1(SKF otimes TS)otimes J
Now we have
Definition VII14 Let (SF ) be a foliated canonical model of general type A
proper birational morphism q (SF )proj rarr (SF ) is called its projective resolution
if
bull Every irreducible component of Sproj is smooth
bull The exceptional locus of q is a disjoint union of cycles of KFproj-nil smooth
curves and trees of KFproj-nil curves each of which has a non-trivial cuspidal
singularity
bull In a neighborhood of every q-exceptional cycle not only Sproj but also its
moduli space is smooth
We need a few remarks about projective resolutions
(1) Projective resolutions are always unique Indeed the only possible ambiguity
could lie in some extra smooth irreducible components in the exceptional
locus This is forbidden by definition in the trees of cuspidal curves it is
also forbidden by way of the third item in cycles of smooth ones ie on
algebraic surfaces the minimal resolution is unique
(2) Denote by E the collection of q-exceptional cycles Then there exist ε δ isinQgt0 such that KFproj
minus εE + δKSprojis ample by Nakai-Moishezon
(3) Deformations of a projective resolution of a foliated canonical model are
canonically identified with deformations of the underlying birational mor-
phism q Sproj rarr S followed by a deformation of the foliation F
We are now ready to construct a moduli functor for foliated surfaces more precisely
for projective resolutions of foliated canonical models of general type For m dN isinN and ε δ isin Qgt0 let
(43) MmdNεδ (C-schemes)rarr (sets)
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 61
be defined by MmdNεδ(S) = Diagrams
(44) (X F )projqminusrarr (X F )
pminusrarr S
Where
bull Both p and p q are flat and proper
bull For every closed point s isin S the induced morphism qs is the projective
resolution of (X F )s which is a foliated canonical model of general type
bull Denote by Es the collection of exceptional cycles of qs By our Main Theorem
I there is a fibrewise divisor E subXproj flat over S restricting to Es for every
s isin S
bull Let j W rarr Xproj denote the maximal closed subscheme away from which
KFprojand KXprojS are locally free Then
(45) L [m] = (jlowast(KFprojotimes OXproj
(minusεE )otimesKδXprojS
)otimesm)oror
is flat over S and commutes with base-change
bull L [m] is very ample of degree d on every fiber and defines an embedding into
PNS
We are now ready for
Theorem VII15 The functor MmdNεδ is represented by a separated algebraic
space each of whose irreducible components is proper
Proof We show that our functor satisfies Artinrsquos conditions [Ar74 Corollary 54] By
definition condition 1) and 4) hold while our previous remark on foliated obstruction
theory shows that 3) is true
We proceed to show 2) namely effectivity of formal deformations for MmdNεδ
What follows owes much to Artinrsquos [A74rsquo] Let T be a complete C-algebra Tn its
n-truncation so that Tsimminusrarr limlarrminusTn and finally qn isinMmdNεδ(Spec(Tn)) a compatible
sequence For each n there is a maximal open set Un sube Xprojn where qn is an
isomorphism denote by sn Cn rarr Zn the restriction of qn to the complement of Un
Clearly sn is projective over Spec(Tn)
62 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Denote by X C etc the formal algebraic spaces obtained as limits of Xn Cn
etc Then Xproj sub PNˆSpec(T )
hence by Grothendieckrsquos existence Theorem we find
bull a flat projective family (X F )proj rarr Spec(T ) resp a closed subscheme
C subXproj whose completion is Xproj resp C
bull a scheme Z whose completion is Z and a morphism s C rarr Z everything
being projective over Spec(T )
Further we have a formal contraction limminusrarr qn C rarr Z hence the main theorem
of [Ar70] gives algebraic contraction (X F )proj rarr (X F ) This proves the repre-
sentability of MmdNεδ The properness and separability of each irreducible com-
ponent can be checked using valutative criteria indeed properness is the content of
our Main Theorem I separatedness follows from the uniqueness of foliated canonical
models of general type and their projective resolution
References
[Ar70] M Artin Algebraization of Formal Moduli II Existence of Modifications Ann
of Math Vol 91 No 1 (Jan 1970) pp 88-135 httpwwwjstororgstable
1970602
[Ar74] M Artin Versal Deformations and Algebraic Stacks Inventiones Math 27 165- 189
(1974) httpmathuchicagoedu~drinfeldArtin_on_stackspdf
[A74rsquo] M Artin Algebraic construction of Brieskornrsquos resolutions J Alg Vol 29 Issue
2 May 1974 pp 330-348 httpwwwsciencedirectcomsciencearticlepii
0021869374901021
[BB72] P Baum R Bott Singularities of holomorphic foliations J Diff Geom 7 (1972)
279-342 httpsprojecteuclidorgdownloadpdf_1euclidjdg1214431158
[Bo77] F Bogomolov Families of curves on a surface of general type Doklady Akademii Nauk
USSR (in Russian) 236 (5) 1041-1044
[Bo78] F Bogomolov Holomorphic tensors and vector bundles on projective varieties Math
USSR Izv 13 (1978) 499-555
[BM16] F Bogomolov M McQuillan Rational Curves on Foliated Varieties In Cascini
McKernan Pereira (eds) Foliation Theory in Algebraic Geometry Simons Symposia
Springer Cham pp 21-51 (2016) httpslinkspringercomchapter101007
978-3-319-24460-0_2
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 63
[Bu] F Buonerba Functorial resolution of tame quotient singularities in positive charac-
teristic httpsarxivorgabs151100550
[Ke99] S Keel Basepoint Freeness for Nef and Big Line Bundles in Positive Characteris-
tic Annals of Math 149 No 1 (Jan 1999) pp 253-286 httpwwwjstororg
stable121025 httpsarxivorgabsmath9901149
[KM97] S Keel S Mori Quotients by groupoids Annals of Math 145 (1997) pp
193-213 httpwwwjstororgstable2951828seq=1page_scan_tab_contents
httparxivorgabsalg-geom9508012
[Ko17] J Kollar Families of varieties of general type httpswebmathprincetonedu
~kollarbookmodbook20170720pdf
[LN02] A Lins Neto Some examples for the Poincare and Painleve problems Annales sci-
entifiques de lrsquoENS 352 (2002) 231-266 httparchivenumdamorgarticle
ASENS_2002_4_35_2_231_0pdf
[McQ12] M McQuillan Foliated Mori Theory amp Hyperbolicity of Algebraic Surfaces http
wwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillahomehtml
[McQ98] M McQuillan Diophantine approximation and foliations Inst Hautes Etudes Sci
Publ Math 87 (1998) 121-174 httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafiles
ihespdf
[McQ05rsquo] M McQuillan Bloch hyperbolicity preprint httpwwwmatuniroma2it
~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ05] M McQuillan Semi-stable reduction of foliations IHES pre-print IHESM0502
(2005) httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ05rdquo] M McQuillan Uniform Uniformisation IHES pre-print (2005) IHES M0503 http
wwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ08] M McQuillan Canonical models of foliations Pure Appl Math Q 4
(2008) no 3 Special Issue In honor of Fedor Bogomolov Part 2 877-1012
httpintlpresscomsitepubfiles_fulltextjournalspamq20080004
0003PAMQ-2008-0004-0003-a009pdf
[MP13] M McQuillan D Panazzolo Almost etale resolution of foliations J Diff Geom 95
(2013) pp 279-319 httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesmp1bispdf
[Pe02] JV Pereira On the Poincare Problem for Foliations of General Type Mathematische
Annalen 323 no 2 pp217-226 2002 httpsarxivorgabsmath0104185
[PS16] JV Pereira R Svaldi Effective algebraic integration in bounded genus preprint
httpsarxivorgabs161206932
64 FEDERICO BUONERBA
[Re83] M Reid Minimal models of canonical threefolds in rdquoAlgebraic Varieties and Ana-
lytic Varietiesrdquo Adv Stud Pure Math vol 1 S Iitaka ed Kinokuniya and North-
Holland 1983 pp 131-180 httpwwwmathsedacukcheltsovquotientpdf
reid2pdf
[Se67] A Seidenberg Reduction of singularities of the differential equation Ady = Bdx Amer
J Math 89 (1967) 248-269 httpwwwjstororgstable2373435
[SB83] N Shepherd-Barron Degenerations with numerically effective canonical divisor The
Birational Geometry of Degenerations (R Friedman and D Morrison eds) Progr
Math no 29 Birkhuser 1983 pp 33-84
[Vis89] A Vistoli Intersection theory on algebraic stacks and on their moduli spaces
Invent Math (1989) pp 613-670 httplinkspringercomarticle101007
2FBF01388892page-1
Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences New York University 251 Mercer
Street New York NY 10012 USA
E-mail address buonerbacimsnyuedu
- I Introduction
- II Preliminaries
-
- III Operations on Deligne-Mumford stacks
- IIII Width of embedded parabolic champs
- IIIII Gorenstein foliation singularities
- IIIV Foliated adjunction
- IIV Canonical models of foliated surfaces with canonical singularities
- IIVI Canonical models of foliated surfaces with log-canonical singularities
- IIVII Set-up
-
- III Invariant curves and singularities local description
-
- IIII `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F) not isolated
- IIIII `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F) isolated
- IIIIII Local consequences
-
- IV Invariant curves along which KF vanishes
-
- IVI KF-nil curves
- IVII Invariant curves inside `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F)
-
- V Configurations
-
- VI Configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
- VII Configurations of non-rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
-
- VI Contractions and proof of the Main Theorem
- VII Moduli space of foliated surfaces of general type
- References
-
34 FEDERICO BUONERBA
the first statement Let ζ be a function on X ( aradicz = 0) such that ζa = z so then
rlowast(xa minus zb) =prod
ηa=1(x minus ηζb) Every branch is net in 0 and we obtain the second
statement as well
As such upon taking roots we can replace non-net KF -nil invariant curves with
rational moduli by net ones
We now proceed to study net KF -nil curves We will show that the foliation is
defined by a global vector field around a net KF -nil curve with rational moduli and
that such vector field admits a global Jordan decomposition
Proposition IVI2 Notation as in the set-up IIVII4 let f C rarrX be a KF -nil
curve Assume that f is net and let j C rarr C be the net completion along f Then
there exists an isomorphism
(16) OC(KF )simminusrarr OC
In particular there exists a global vector field partf on C that generates F
Proof Since C has rational moduli and is simply connected it has infinite-cyclic
Picard group and we have an isomorphism
(17) OC(KF )simminusrarr OC
Moreover we have a non-canonical splitting of the normal bundle Njsimminusrarr O(minusn) oplus
O(minusm) and we claim that both nm ge 0 Indeed consider the induced semi-stable
fibration C rarr ∆ and let F be the normalization of an irreducible component of a
fiber such that C sub F Consider the exact sequence
(18) 0rarr NCF rarr Nj rarr NFC|C rarr 0
Since KF is nef NCF is not ample since F is a fiber of a fibration also NFC|C is
not ample and this is enough to conclude even though nm may be different from
the degrees of such normal bundles
At this point we can lift the isomorphism 17 over infinitesimal neighborhoods of j
Indeed for every k ge 0 we have an exact sequence
(19) 0rarr Symk ICI2C rarr OCk+1
(KF )rarr OCk(KF )rarr 0
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 35
which shows that the obstruction to lifting the isomorphism lies in
(20) H1(C Symk ICI2C) = H1(C Symk(O(n)oplus O(m))) = 0
From this we can deduce
Proposition IVI3 The vector field partf admits a Jordan decomposition uniformly
along C
Proof The cohomology sequence attached to 19 is
(21) 0rarr H0(C Symk ICI2C)rarr H0(COCk+1
)rarr H0(COCk)rarr 0
Let partk+1 denote the image of partf in End(H0(COCk+1)) Looking at
H0(COCk+1) minusminusminusrarr H0(COCk
)
partk+1
y partk
yH0(COCk+1
) minusminusminusrarr H0(COCk)
we see the canonical Jordan deomposition of partk+1 restricts to that of partk
The above result describes a very useful interplay between normal bundles to
KF -nil curves and the structure of the semi-simple field It turns out that these
informations determine formal neighborhoods uniquely For simplicity let C be
an irreducible component of C without orbifold points Let us assume that part|C is
singular in 0infin Then there exist formal functions x y z at 0 isin C and ξ η ζ at
infin isin C such that x ξ are coordinates along C y η are local sections of OC(minusn)
so η = xny mod(I2C) z ζ are local sections of OC(minusm) so ζ = xmz mod(I2C)
Normalizing so that xminus1partS(x) = ε isin 0 1 we obtain
(22) part0S = εxpart
partx+ λy
part
party+ microz
part
partz partinfinS = minusεξ part
partξ+ (λ+ εn)η
part
partη+ (micro+ εm)ζ
part
partζ
More generally ie C = P1(d e) we have glueing rules x = te ξ = tminusd η = tny and
ζ = tmz mod(I2C) Normalizing so that tminus1partS(t) = ε isin 0 1 we obtain
(23) part0S = eεxpart
partx+ λy
part
party+ microz
part
partz partinfinS = minusdεξ part
partξ+ (λ+ εn)η
part
partη+ (micro+ εm)ζ
part
partζ
36 FEDERICO BUONERBA
It is worth remarking that the above relations hold between eigenvalues at the two
singular point of singular ie nodal or cuspidal KF -nil curves as well this is
easily seen by taking a root followed by net completion and keeping track of the
eigenvalues
Definition IVI4 Let C be a KF -nil curve The foliation singular points along C
are called ends
As well as the existence of Hilbert scheme in the following form
Fact IVI5 Let W sub Xlowast be a curve and D a divisor in the formal neighborhood
of W such that W = D capXlowast scheme-theoretically Then W moves in D
In what follows our main concern is to understand formal neighborhoods of KF -
nil curves Observe that the fibration p when restricted to the formal neighborhood
of such curves provides at least one eigenfunction of the semi-simple field Hence
in order to compute the width IIII we must study the behavior of the other eigen-
function on infinitesimal neighborhoods We first describe the situation inside the
smooth locus of p
Proposition IVI6 (Smooth fiber) Let f C rarrX be an irreducible KF -nil curve
which is contained in the smooth locus of a fiber Xlowast of p Then the end(s) on C are
flat over ∆ ni (1)b and ni (1)a with z2|g(y z) and C moves in a family flat over
∆
Proof Let us assume that f is net Then upon passing to net completion we can
actually assume it is embedded From our local classification of singularities we case
in case ni (1)a and ni (2)a We want to show that both ends have components
that move transversely to p hence we have to exclude case ni (1)a with g(y z) = ya
By way of contradiction say we have g(y z) = ya in the notation of opcit around
an end lowast isin C We proceed to compute what happens at the other end we find
formal coordinates ξ η ζ which by equation 23 satisfy
(24) ξ = xminus1 η = y ζ = xmz mod(I2C)
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 37
As such we compute part(ζ) = mζ + ξminusmηa mod(I2C) which is holomorphic if and only
if m le 0 so then C moves in Xlowast contradicting that the foliation has general type
Hence we are in cases ni (1)a ni (2)a with g = microyazb b ge 1
(25) part0 = xpart
partx+ microyazb
part
partz partinfin = minusξ part
partξ+ ζ(m+ microξm(bminus1)ηaζbminus1)
part
partζ(mod(I2C))
Following notation from subsection IIII observe that C1 is the section of E1C which
is disjoint from the proper transform of the fiber of p In coordinates over 0
(26) x1 = x y1 = y z1 = zyminus1
And similarly over infin Using the previous equation and 25 on C1 we find
(27)
part01 = x1part
partx1+microya+bminus11 zb1
part
partz1 partinfin1 = minusξ1
part
partξ1+ζ1(m+microξ
m(bminus1)1 ηa+bminus11 ζbminus11 )
part
partζ1(mod(I2C1
))
In particular the transform of the nilpotent field is still nilpotent after blowing up in
C It follows that the eigenvalues of the semi-simple field at the two ends of C and
C1 are the same Using equation 23 we deduce that the normal bundle to C1X1 to
isomorphic to that of CX in particular it contains a trivial direct summand This
proves that width(C) =infin
Next we show that f must be net Consider the induced flat projection pD D rarr ∆
its general fiber cannot be a cuspidal curve since along such cusp the foliation sin-
gularity would be log-canonical but not canonical Hence if C has a cusp necessarily
the general fiber of pD is a nodal curve Let X rarr X denote the blow up of the
nodal locus of pD with exceptional divisor E ruled over ∆ In a neighborhood of E
we have sing(F ) = D cap E which projects to ∆ as a double cover ramified over lowastObserve that the foliation on Xlowast is again log-canonical and not canonical hence its
local structure is ni (2)a In that case however p is unramified along the foliation
singularity Contradiction
We state a general criterion for movability of KF -nil curves
Proposition IVI7 Let C be a connected KF -nil curve such that p(C ) = lowast isin ∆
Assume its dual graph is a chain that none of its irreducible components is double
38 FEDERICO BUONERBA
VI3 and that its two extremal ends are flat over ∆ Then C moves in a family flat
over ∆ and each of its irreducible components is embedded
Proof We work in a formal neighborhood of C After taking roots we can assume
C is net and since its dual graph is a chain it is actually embedded We proceed by
induction on its length l where the case l = 1 is Proposition IVI6 For l gt 1 let C1
be a component of C which is extremal in its dual graph If C1 moves transversely
to p then both its ends do and hence we can apply the induction hypothesis to
C C1 If C1 is rigid then it can be flopped It is straightforward to check that we
can apply the induction hypothesis to the transform C + C+1 and we are done
Now we deal with rigid curves inside the singular fiber
Proposition IVI8 (Singular fiber) Let f C rarr X be an embedded net KF -
nil curve with anti-ample normal bundle Then there exists a birational map φ
(X F ) 99K (X +F+) and a KF+-nil curve C+ such that
bull φ is an isomorphism away from C+
bull In a formal neighborhood of at least one among C and C+ there exist two
invariant hypersurfaces D1D2 locally defined by the vanishing of eigenfunc-
tions of the semi-simple field such that C (resp C+)= D1 capD2
bull If F middot C lt 0 for some hypersurface F then F+ middot C+ gt 0 In particular X +
is projective
Such φ is called flop
Proof Our assumption is that Nfsimminusrarr O(minusn)oplusO(minusm) is anti-ample namely nm gt
0 If two invariant hypersurfaces as in our statement do exist around C the flop is
easily constructed as a weighted blow-up followed by a weighted blow-down As such
let us assume that such hypersurfaces do not exist around C In particular C is not
double VI3 By [Ar70] there exists a formal contraction c X rarrX0 collapsing C
to a point and an isomorphism everywhere else By Proposition IVI3 the foliation
F0 is Gorenstein around the node of X0 For ease of exposition let us assume
n = m = 1 the general case is handled the same way only the notation becomes more
cumbersome due to the presence of weights The node has embedding dimension 4
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 39
and in suitable local coordinates x0 y0 w0 z0 can be defined by x0z0minusy0w0 = 0 The
morphism c can be identified with the blow up of the embedded surface (x0 = y0 = 0)
Explicitly in the chart y = y0 x = x0yminus10 it is defined by
(28) y0 = y x0 = xy z0 = zprime w0 = xzprime
Here x is a coordinate along C while y = 0 is the pull-back of (x0 = y0 = 0) and
zprime some function in the normal bundle to C By the previous Proposition IVI6
we know C cannot be contained in the smooth locus of p Since C is not double
we can assume that in this local chart p is defined by (x y zprime) rarr xy - the case
(x y zprime) rarr xzprime being isomorphic as it is isomorphic to blow-up (z0 = w0 = 0)
instead of (x0 = y0 = 0) The issue is as emphasized by the notation zprime 6= z that
zprime may fail to be an eigenfunction for partS if it were we would be done since zprime = 0
is the local equation for the global pullback of (z0 = w0 = 0) However we have
a b isin C such that
(29) partS0(y0) = minusy0 partS0(x0) = 0 partS0(z0) = ay0 + bz0 partS0(w0) = ax0 + (b+ 1)w0
Observe that the embedded surfaces D01 = (y0 = z0 = 0) and D0
2 = (x0 = w0 = 0)
are both foliation invariant As such let b X + rarr X0 denote the blow-up of X0
along D01 - which is isomorphic to that along D0
2 - and let Di = blowastD0i i = 1 2
Finally X + is projective by Nakai-Moishezon Indeed every C with anti-ample
normal bundle is contained in an irreducible component F of X0 such that F middotC lt 0
Then F+ middot C+ gt 0 and we can find an ample divisor of the form H+ + εF+ where
H+ is the proper transform of an ample on X
Remark IVI9 In the previous proof a 6= b+ 1 Indeed such identity would create
a non-trivial Jordan block of partS0 in the (x0 w0)-plane thus contradicting the semi-
simplicity of partS0 In particular by a straightforward computation it is impossible to
find eigenfunctions of the form wlowast0 = w0 + αx0 zlowast0 = z0 + βy0 with x0z
lowast0 minus y0wlowast0 = 0
unless a = 0
We can conclude by pointing out an important point understood in this section
A painful aspect of the theory is that log-canonical singularities which appear natu-
rally as analytic degenerations of canonical ones come along with cuspidal invariant
40 FEDERICO BUONERBA
curves There is in particular no a-priori obstruction to the existence of rigid
cuspidal KF -nil curves in a smooth fiber of our family of foliated surfaces p Quite
generally a rigid curve of positive arithmetic genus in a smooth family of surfaces can
never be contracted to a point Therefore this would have been a counter-example
to any reasonable foliated canonical model theory one may wish to achieve Fortu-
nately such phenomenon does not happen and this establishes the Main Theorem I
modulo finitely many rigid curves confined in the singular fiber X0
IVII Invariant curves inside sing(F ) In this subsection we study curves Z0 subeXlowast cap sing(F ) which are inside the foliation singularity and invariant By this we
mean that there exists a sequence fn Cn rarrX of not necessarily algebraic invariant
curves converging in the compact-open topology to Z0 In other words the map
(30) NorF rarr Ω1Z0
is trivial By Corollary IIIIII5 we know that Z0 is at worst nodal it is smooth
wherever p is smooth for every point z isin Z0 the semi-simple part of the gener-
ating vector field has exactly one eigenvalue The problem here is that the Jordan
decomposition need not extend uniformly along Z0 not even along an irreducible
component In case ni (1)a the functions x and g may develop essential singulari-
ties arbitrary close to z Nonetheless the function x is unique and this says that x
does extend along Z0
Proposition IVII1 Let Z0 be as above Then in a formal neighborhood of Z0
there exists a unique smooth invariant hypersurface D0 containing Z0 which restricts
around any point in Z0 to the unique eigenfunction for the semi-simple field whose
eigenvalue is non-zero
Proof The local structure of the foliation around a point z isin Z0 is described by
cases ni (1)a and ni (1)b In both cases partS has one non-zero eigenvalue with
eigenfunction x Such eigenfunction x is a-priori only defined in the normal bundle to
Z0 but it is clear that the equation partx = x has a unique up to constants solution in
the formal completion around z As such there exists a unique smooth hypersurface
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 41
D0 in the formal completion around Z0 which restricts to the eigenfunction x around
z
Observe that the previous argument goes through since we are assuming Z0 subX0
Keeping notations from case ni (1)a if say g(y z) = yz then in the hypersurface
y equiv q isin Qgt0 the foliation has a log-canonical singularity and the eigenfunction x
extends highly non-uniquely to a formal neighborhood of the point (x y z) = (0 q 0)
In particular the existence of D0 as in the previous Proposition might fail along
the component (x = z = 0) of the foliation singularity This phenomenon is called
the beast
Anyway uniqueness in the previous proposition yields
Corollary IVII2 Let Z prime be a connected invariant curve inside sing(F ) Then in
a formal neighborhood of Z prime there exists a unique smooth invariant hypersurface D prime
containing Z prime which restricts around any point in Z prime to the hypersurface constructed
in the previous proposition
Next we turn to the intrinsic structure of invariant singular curves
Proposition IVII3 Let Z0 be an irreducible invariant curve inside sing(F )
Then Z0 is smooth and rational
Proof We work in a formal neighborhood of Z0 Let F0 denote the unique component
of X0 containing Z0 For any other fiber component F intersecting Z0 non-trivially
blow-up the invariant curve F cap F0 with exceptional divisor EF A straightforward
computation using the local formula ni (1)b shows that the fiber of the natural
projection EF rarr F cap F0 intersecting Z0 is also contained in sing(F ) For Z prime the
maximal connected singular invariant curve containing Z0 let G denote the saturated
foliation induced on D prime It is canonical with reduced singularities and it satisfies
KG = KF |Dprime minus Zprime By adjunction
(31) 2g(Z0)minus 2 + sZG(Z0) = minusZ prime middot Z0
Observe that thanks to our initial sequence of blow-ups the singularities of G along
Z0 coincide with the intersection of Z0 and Z prime Z0 In particular since D prime is formally
42 FEDERICO BUONERBA
flat over ∆ we deduce Z prime middot Z0 = 0 and the previous formula becomes
(32) 2g(Z0)minus 2 + sZG(Z0) = 0
This implies that Z0 is rational or elliptic If Z0 were elliptic then sZG(Z0) = 0 and
D0 defines an invariant elliptic curve in the general fiber of p By Baum-Bott this
contradicts that KF is big and nef Now we show that Z0 is smooth If it has a node
then D0 moves it in a family of nodal rational curves flat over ∆ In particular D0
itself has a node in codimension 1 hence Xlowast is smooth around the node of Z0 In its
formal neighborhood the foliation must be as in case ni (1)a which implies that
Z0 is smooth contradiction
We can improve as follows
Proposition IVII4 Let Z prime sube sing F capXlowast be a connected invariant curve with
KF middot Z prime = 0 Then its dual graph is a chain
Proof Assume Z prime is a cycle Then necessarily Z prime = D prime capXlowast scheme-theoretically
and by the existence of Hilbert scheme Z prime moves in the general fiber Its general
member is either a cycle of smooth rational curves or an elliptic curve Arguing as
in the previous proof we see that both options are impossible
V Configurations
In this section we analyze in great detail all possible configurations of invariant
curves along which KF vanishes These can be divided into three groups those
that do not move those that move in a one-dimensional family covering a surface
those that move in a higher-dimensional family covering a surface Curves in the first
group can form rather complicated configurations while those in the second group
are more simple they either move in the general fiber or they cover an isolated
Riccati component in the singular fiber Those in the third group turn out to be
represented by the two rulings of P1timesP1 if they happen to be cohomologous in the
ambient stack First we will analyze rigid curves then those which move and finally
we will describe their configurations
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 43
VI Configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially In
this subsection we describe configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF
trivially which arise in the situation described by set-up IIVII4
First we focus on KF -nil curves At the end of the section we deal with the simpler
case in which a curve in the configuration is fully contained in sing(F ) The general
fiber was handled in Proposition IVI6
Proposition VI1 Let C be a connected KF -nil curve contained in the smooth
locus of a fiber of p Then it is a chain or a cycle and it moves in a family flat over
∆
In what follows we let C denote a connected KF -nil curve contained in the
singular fiber X0 all of whose sub-curves are rigid in X Observe a consequence of
equation 23
Proposition VI2 Let C = cupiCi be a connected KF -nil curve Then the eigen-
values of partS are all rational at every point of sing(F )capC if and only if they are all
rational at one point
We can deduce many non-trivial properties about configurations of KF -nil curves
First we need
Definition VI3 Let C subX0 be a curve It is called double if there exists formally
around C two components F F prime of X0 such that C = F cap F prime A point lowast isin C where
three fiber components intersect is called a triple point If C lies on exactly one fiber
component it is called non-double We denote by F (C) such component
Remark VI4 Let Csimminusrarr P1(d e) be double with two triple points Then we know
e+ λ+ micro = minusd+ (λ+ n) + (micro+m) = 0 whence we obtain
(33) n+m = d+ e
Which is called triple-point formula
Next we show that essentially KF -nil curves do not form cycles unless something
deforms in X0 First we show that there are no cycles of rigid non-double curves
44 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proposition VI5 Let C be a connected KF -nil curve contained in the singular
fiber X0 of p Assume that every component of C is non-double and that every
sub-curve is rigid Then C contains no cycles
Proof We work in a formal neighborhood of C which we assume is a cycle Let
us first consider the case in which all components C1 middot middot middot CN are smooth with no
orbifold points and denote lowasti = Ci cap Ci+1 with CN+1 = C1 Moreover let us
assume no lowasti lies in the smooth locus of p
Since no curve is double the semi-simple field at every lowasti is as in case i (3)b in
particular the eigenvalues along the branches of Ci and Ci+1 add up to zero More-
over let minusni denote the self-intersection of Ci sub F (Ci) Normalize the eigenvalues
of partS so that at lowastn they are 1 in the C1 direction minus1 in the CN direction λ in the
F (C1)capF (CN) direction It follows by induction that at lowasti the eigenvalues are minus1
in the Ci direction 1 in the Ci+1 direction λ+ n1 + middot middot middot+ ni in the F (Ci) cap F (Ci+1)
direction After traveling around the cycle we obtain n1+middot middot middot+nN = 0 contradicting
that ni gt 0 for every i
We established the Proposition assuming every Ci is an embedded scheme and ev-
ery lowasti is in the singular locus of p The case in which Cisimminusrarr P1(di ei) has orbifold
points is analogous we end up with a combination c1n1 + middot middot middot + cNnN = 0 with ci
the eigenvalue at lowasti in the Ci+1 direction Normalizing so that c1 = e1 gt 0 again by
induction on i we see that every ci isin Qgt0 Next we show that our assumption on lowastiis always satisfied
Claim VI6 Every lowasti must belong to the singular locus of p
Proof We give two essentially equivalent proofs
bull If N = 2 3 then the previous argument goes through indeed we can normal-
ize eigenvalues at lowasti to be negative in the Ciminus1 direction and positive in the
Ci-direction and argue as above Hence we can assume N ge 4 If say lowasti is in
the smooth locus of p then F (Ci) = F (Ci+1) If also F (Ciminus1) = F (Ci) then Ci
lies in the smooth locus of p and hence it moves Therefore F (Ciminus1) 6= F (Ci)
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 45
and Ciminus1 can be flopped inside F (Ci) Since N ge 4 this preserves the smooth-
ness of F (Ci) and Ci is now is the smooth locus of p - contradiction
bull If lowasti belongs to the smooth locus of p then the end through lowasti moves We
can form a partial net completion fi Xi rarrX by normalizing C in lowasti only
Then f lowasti C is a chain with movable ends and hence moves in the general fiber
of p fi
Finally the general case in which some among the Ci have cusps can be easily
reduced to the smooth case in a couple of ways
bull Eigenvalues at the singularities of any KF -nil curve satisfy the same relations
as in the smooth case
bull Upon taking roots and net completion we can find a foliated formal 3-fold
supported on a cycle of smooth KF -nil curves which is a ramified cover of a
formal neighborhood of our cycle
Similarly we can show that there are no rigid cycles of double curves
Proposition VI7 Let C be a nodal KF -nil curve which is double Then C
deforms inside X0 In particular there cannot exist a rigid cycle of KF -nil double
curves
Proof Following the previous notation we have 0 = infin and if C = (xy = z = 0)
around 0 then we have identities
(34) x = η y = ξ z = ζ
The last one of which implies m = 0 that is C deforms Since C is double necessarily
the surface it spans must be contained in X0
The statement about cycles follows since a cycle of double curves can be transformed
after finitely many flops into a chain of smooth double curves with a nodal one
attached at one end
46 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Later on we will show that the deformations of C cannot span an elliptic surface
but only a family of nodal rational curves with a special Riccati foliation on it
We are ready to organize a detailed description of the dual graph of C More pre-
cisely we only need to understand how double curves intersect non-double curves
Lemma VI8 There exists a sequence of flops X 99KX + such that if C + denotes
the transform of C every double curve supported on C + contains two triple points
Proof Let C sube C be an irreducible component with at most one triple point and
let X 99K X + be its flop Then its transform C+ is non-double and the number
of double curves contained in C descreases It is clear that after finitely many flops
all double curves contain exactly two triple points
From now on all double curves in C have two triple points Thanks to proposition
VI2 we know that there are two cases to consider those curves along which the
semi-simple field has not only rational eigenvalues and those along which the semi-
simple field has only rational eigenvalues The first case being strictly easier than
the second it is a good starting place to warm up
Proposition VI9 (irrational eigenvalues) Assume that for every foliation singu-
larity along C not all eigenvalues of partS are rational Then every component of C
is net with at most one node and 1-skeleton of its dual graph is at worst trivalent
Write C = C axes cup C free where
C axes is the union of double curves
C free is the union of non-double curves
Then one among C axes and C free is empty Moreover
bull If C free is non-empty then it is a chain of smooth curves with rational moduli
bull If C axes is non-empty there exists a sequence of flops X 99KX + and an ir-
reducible component of the fiber FC subX + such that X + is a smooth stack
the transform C+ of C is contained in FC Moreover the dual graph of C+
is a tree which by [McQ08 III32] becomes a chain inside the normalization
of FC
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 47
Proof The first sentence is just corollary IIIIII3
Observe that if a non-double curve intersects a double curve then the non-double
curve must be contained in an LC-center around such intersection This contradicts
that not all eigenvalues are rational and establishes that one among C axes and C free
is empty
In case C free is not empty then it is clearly a chain or a cycle the latter being
impossible by Proposition VI5
We are left to show the existence of flops in case C = C axes We remark that
every component is smooth Let C0 be such a component and S0 a component of
X0 containing it Let C1 be the collection of irreducible components of C which
intersect S0 but are not contained in it All the components of C1 are smooth hence
we can flop them in any order until the transform of C1 lies in the transform of S0
Since the number of irreducible components of C lying outside S0 decreases after
such flop by induction we deduce the existence of finitely many flops after which
the birational transform of C is fully contained in the transform of S0
Next we take care of rational eigenvalues The complication here arises from
the fact that there may be double and non-double curves intersecting each other
However the situation is best possible
Proposition VI10 (rational eigenvalues) Assume that for every foliation singu-
larity along C all eigenvalues of partS are rational Write C = C axes cup C free where
C axes is the union of double curves
C free is the union of non-double curves
Then there exists a sequence of flops X 99K X + and an irreducible component of
the fiber FC axes subX + such that
bull X + is a smooth stack
bull The union of double curves of C axes is contained in FC axes the 1-skeleton of
its dual graph is a tree and each of its components has two triple points
bull The 1-skeleton of the dual graph of the transform C free+ is a disjoint union of
trees
bull Each connected component of C free+ intersects C axes in exactly one point
48 FEDERICO BUONERBA
In particular the 1-skeleton of the dual graph of C is a tree
Proof Notice that for every point lowast isin C cap Z there exists one LC-center through lowastIndeed there are three rational eigenvalues and they cannot be all non-vanishing and
all with different signs at the same time Now C axes can be treated as in proposition
VI9 This proves the first two items of the statement The third item follows from
Proposition VI5 so we can focus on the fourth one The proof is based on the
following obvious
Remark VI11 let C be a double curve such that either it is KF -nil hence has
two triple points or it is fully contained in sing(F ) Let C0 sube C free intersect C
non-trivially in a point lowast then necessarily C0 sub LClowast
Now let C0 middot middot middot CN form a chain of non-double curves with C0 and CN both
intersecting double curves as in the remark Denote by lowasti = Ci cap Ci+1 Since
C1 sub LClowast necessarily C1 is transverse to LClowast1 otherwise C1 would deform in F (C1)
Inductively we see that Ci+1 sub LClowasti and is transverse to LClowasti+1 In particular CN
cannot touch a double curve This contradiction proves the fourth item
Let us add a remark about configurations featuring invariant curves inside sing(F )
Proposition VI12 Let C be an invariant curve with KF middot C = 0 such that
Z0 sube C for some component Z0 sube sing(F ) Then C = Z prime cup C where
Z prime is a connected invariant curve inside the foliation singularity with dual graph a
chain
C is the union of at most two pairwise disjoint KF -nil curves with anti-ample
normal bundle
If not empty C can only intersect Z prime at the two ends of its dual graph Moreover
perhaps after a flop the intersection of C with Z prime supports the foliation singularity
along C As such if C has two components Z prime cup C deforms in the general fiber
Proof The structure of Z prime is Proposition IVII3 while that of Co is Proposition
IVI6 Let C prime be a component of C intersecting Z0 in a point lowast If C prime and Z0 belong
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 49
to different components of X0 then by case ni (1)b the eigenvalue of partS along C prime
vanishes so supp(sing(F ) cap C prime) = lowast If C prime and Z0 belong to the same component
then we can flop C prime into a different component
Observe that the divisor D prime from op cit can be extended along C prime This implies
that C can only intersect Z prime at its ends Moreover if C touches both ends necessarily
D prime capX0 = C scheme-theoretically hence by the existence of Hilbert scheme IVI5
we conclude
Our new set-up is
Set-up VI13 Everything as in set-up IIVII4 and moreover for any connected
invariant curve C with KF middot C = 0 all of whose sub-curves are rigid we have
configurations computed in proposition VI9 VI10 and Lemma VI12
VII Configurations of non-rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
In this subsection we describe configurations of surfaces which are covered by KF -nil
curves The structure of each such surface is described by classification IIV1 IIV2
and Corollary IIVI17 Our first step is to simplify the situation by contracting
chains of ruled surfaces The next step is to try and exclude the possibility that
the singular fiber of p contains fibrations by elliptic or nodal rational curves with
at least one invariant fiber This can be achieved with good success indeed there
may be at most one such Riccati foliation which is anyway rather isolated from the
remaining KF -nil curves Finally we observe that the only class of surfaces we have
not mentioned is
Definition VII1 A irreducible component F of the singular fiber of p is called
small Kronecker if
bull (FFF ) is birational to a Kronecker vector field on P1 timesP1 and
bull The two rulings of this P1 timesP1 are cohomologous inside X
The name comes from the fact that contraction of a small Kronecker yields a node
in the ambient threefold which admits a small resolution In fact in many respects
these fiber components behave very much like rigid KF -nil curves
50 FEDERICO BUONERBA
We start by getting rid of some fiber components which are ruled by KF -nil gener-
ically smooth rational curves
Proposition VII2 Notation as in Set-up VI13 there exists a sequence of flops
and divisorial contractions c X 99KX + such that
bull X + is a smooth stack
bull let S+ sub X + be an irreducible invariant divisor that contains a positive-
dimensional family of invariant rational curves along which KF+ vanishes
Then S+ is either birationally ruled by nodal rational curves or it is a small
Kronecker
Proof We focus first on contracting components of the singular fiber of p Consider
the following algorithm If there is no birationally ruled component different from
the ones listed in the second item we are done otherwise pick one such F and let
C denote the general member of the ruling If the cohomology class [C] is inde-
composable F is minimal Otherwise [C] = [C1] + [C2] where Ci are rational and
intersect KF trivially After finitely many steps we have a decomposition as a finite
sum of indecomposables [C] =sumn
i=0 ni[Ci] where every Ci is rational intersects KF
trivially We have two cases
bull There exists k such that Ck deforms in a birationally ruled necessarily min-
imal surface Fk
bull Every Ci has anti-ample normal bundle
In the first case denote by X rarr X1 the contraction of Fk along |Ck| and relpace
X by X1 Since Fk is minimal smoothness of the ambient stack is preserved unless
Fk is a small Kronecker This is however impossible if n ge 2 if Fk were a small
Kronecker then Ck deforms away from Fkminus1 so then Fkminus1 middot Ck = 0 on the other
hand Fkminus1 intersects the other ruling of Fk positively
In the second case flop C1 middot middot middot Cn in this order The transform of F is minimal and
not a small Kronecker so it can be contracted along its ruling preserving ambient
smoothness By induction on the Picard rank of X after finitely many steps this
algorithm ends Call X the output of this algorithm
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 51
Let S subX be an invariant divisor with a generically smooth ruling Then pS S rarr∆ is flat and after flopping finitely many rational curves in S cap plowastS(0) the resulting
pS is smooth Hence we can contract S along pS After finitely many steps the
Proposition is proven
For ease of notation in the sequel we call X the output of the previous proposition
Notice that there might still be divisors carrying a pencil of nodal rational curves
both inside and outside the singular fiber of p
We can start analyzing configurations of fiber components where the restriction of
F is not of general type We need some notation whose reason to exist will be clear
shortly
Definition VII3 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
along which KF is not big F is called special Riccati if
bull F is minimal
bull There exists a morphism s F rarr B onto a curve whose fibers are nodal
rational curve
bull F is transverse to the general fiber of s in particular KF is numerically
trivial along s
bull At least one fiber of s is invariant
bull There exists a section σ of s which is invariant and does not coincide with
the nodal locus of F
In particular the intersections of σ with invariant fibers of s isolated singularities
of F the node of F all coincide There may be fibers of s fully contained in sing(F )
in which case they are everywhere transverse to the saturated foliation
The definition looks nasty but special Riccati components have a rather simple
origin as the following proof shows
Lemma VII4 Let F be special Riccati Up to base change by an etale double cover
Bprime rarr B there is a natural isomorphism F norm simminusrarr BprimetimesP1 and the restriction of F
to F norm is birational to the projection onto P1
52 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proof We work over the normalization F norm Denote by Bprime the pre-image of the
node of F which is an etale double cover of B and let f denote an invariant fiber
of s with lowast = σ cap f Observe that F norm carries a Riccati foliation with 3 invariant
curves through lowast - namely σ f and a component of Bprime Hence FF has a log-canonical
singularity in lowast On F norm perform a weighted blow-up in each log-canonical singu-
larity followed by the contraction of the transforms of the corresponding fibers Let
s+ F+ rarr B denote the output of this operation If the proper transform of Bprime is
connected replace F+ by its base change under Bprime rarr B Hence we can assume Bprime
is the disjoint union of two sections of s+ and the transform of σ is a third section
which is disjoint from Bprime Therefore F+ = P1 timesBprime and the foliation restricts to the
projection onto P1
Next we describe those surfaces which cannot appear as components of the sin-
gular fiber X0
Definition VII5 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
along which KF is not big F is called illusory if
bull there exists a morphism t F rarr B onto a curve
bull KF is trivial along t
bull For any other fiber component F prime the intersection F cap F prime is either empty or
contained in a fiber of t
We give examples of illusory fiber components
Lemma VII6 The following fiber components are necessarily illusory
bull t is elliptic the foliation is either parallel to t or turbolent with at least one
invariant fiber
bull t is a nodal ruling the foliation is either parallel to t or transverse to t with
at least one invariant fiber and not birational to a special Riccati VII3
Proof Let f = F cap F prime for some fiber component F prime It is F -invariant
Assume t and F are parallel and f is transverse to both Then necessarily f subesing(F ) and KF is positive along the fibers of t contradiction
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 53
Assume t and F are generically transverse and f is transverse to t Let e be an
invariant fiber of t then ecap f isin sing(F ) hence t must be a family of nodal rational
curves and ecapf coincides with the node of e - otherwise KF would be positive along
t But this implies F is special Riccati contradiction
We proceed to show that illusory fibers do not exist
Lemma VII7 Let F be an illusory fiber component then every fiber of t is irre-
ducible If F prime is any fiber component intersecting F non-trivially then F prime is illusory
Proof Assume t has a reducible fiber f Then we can write f = f prime cup f primeprime where f prime
is irreducible and f primeprime is a disjoint union of chains of rational curves In particular
every subscheme supported on f primeprime is rigid in X f prime is rational and smooth iff f is a
cycle of rational curves hence the foliation on F is parallel to t and the choice of f prime
is not unique otherwise f prime is nodal or elliptic Let X 99KX + denote the flop of the
irreducible components of f primeprime in any order The proper transform f prime+ (below in red)
is the irreducible fiber of the induced morphism t+ F+ rarr B Since f primeprime+ intersects
f prime+ and is not contained in F+ there exists a component F prime of the fiber of p+ such
that F+ cap f prime+ 6= empty Since F+ is illusory necessarily F+ cap F prime = f prime+ Moreover F+
and F prime are the only fiber components intersecting f prime+ again because F+ is illusory
We deduce that F+ middot f prime+ = F prime middot f prime+ = 0 and therefore f prime+ is nef inside F prime It follows
that he restriction of F+ to F prime is not of general type and by the classification of
foliated surfaces [McQ08] necessarily f prime+ deforms inside F prime and defines a fibration
u F prime rarr Bprime In particular f prime+ is an irreducible fiber of u This is however impossible
since u contracts all the components of f primeprime+ contained in F prime (below in blue) and by
definition of F prime there exists at least one such component This proves that every
fiber of t is irreducible The following depicts the situation
F prime F+
f prime+
f primeprime+
t+u
54 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Concerning the second statement we only need to check the third condition for F prime
to be illussory namely that every other fiber component F primeprime intersecting F prime does
so along the fibers of u If F primeprime intersects F prime transversely to u then F primeprime intersects F
non-trivially and transversely to t as well absurd
Corollary VII8 Illusory components do not exist
Proof By the above lemma the existence of one illusory component implies that
every irreducible component of the singular fiber of p is illusory contradicting that
KF is big
We can now focus on fiber components that do appear
Corollary VII9 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
containing an invariant curve C which moves and such that KF middot C = 0 Then
following the classification [McQ08] we have two cases
(1) The minimal model of F is a special Riccati component
(2) F is a small Kronecker
Proof Certainly the ones listed are the only cases where C is KF -nil We have to
exclude the possibility that C is invariant inside sing(F ) By Proposition IVII3
such C would be rational with at most one node Since we already contracted at
the beginning of the present subsection all ruled surfaces necessarily C is nodal
However by opcit C cannot intersect any other fiber component of X0 which
implies the absurdity that X0 = F
We proceed to show that special Riccati components are rather isolated in the
fiber
Lemma VII10 Let F be a special Riccati component If F prime is a fiber component
intersecting F non-trivially then it does so transversely to s Morover there is
exactly one such F prime
Proof After finitely many flops we can assume that every fiber of s is irreducible
By the non-existence of illusory components there exists a fiber component F lowast with
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 55
σprime = F cap F prime transverse to s If F primeprime is a fiber component with f = F cap F primeprime a fiber
of s then we claim f sube sing(F ) If not then since KF middot f = 0 and σprime is invariant
necessarily σprimecap f is the node of f But then the existence of F primeprime contradicts that p is
snc Hence f sube sing(F ) so then around the node of f there are 3 fiber components -
two branches coming from F one from F primeprime - and sing(F ) has 2 branches - namely f
This is impossible by our case analysis ni (1)c ni (2)c The very same reasoning
establishes the uniqueness of F prime
Lemma VII11 Let F be as in the previous Lemma If C is a connected curve
with KF middot C = 0 then it is disjoint from F
Proof After finitely many flops s is irreducible and C intersects F transversely away
from its node Moreover lowast = C cap F isin sing(F ) and we deduce that the fiber of s
through lowast is fully contained in the singular locus of F This contradicts Proposition
IVII3 since such fiber is nodal
We conclude by observing the obvious
Lemma VII12 Let F be a small Kronecker Then there exists a contraction
c X rarr X prime which is an isomorphism away from F and contracts F along one
of its rulings Necessarily X prime is not projective since every global Cartier divisor
intersects c(F ) trivially On the other hand in a formal neighborhood of c(F ) there
exist Cartier divisors intersecting it non-trivialliy
As such the contribution coming from non-rigid curves is rather poor there are
curves moving in the general fiber there are special Riccati components disjoint from
any other invariant curve intersecting KF trivially there are small Kroneckers who
can be contracted to curves We shall see in the next section that the complications
arising from the contraction of such non-rigid curves is purely psychological and
totally harmless
56 FEDERICO BUONERBA
VI Contractions and proof of the Main Theorem
In this section we contract all invariant curves along which KF is zero thereby
establishing the existence of canonical models I First we contract non-rigid curves
as described in the previous subsection
bull Small Kroneckers along either ruling Albeit this destroys projectivity of
the ambient threefold there still exist Cartier divisors defined in a formal
neighborhood of the base curve that intersect it non-trivially
bull Families of irreducible nodal rational curves which are flat over ∆ This
creates elliptic singularities on the general fiber of p which are disjoint from
other invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
bull Special Riccati again families of irreducible nodal rational curves fully con-
tained in X0 This creates elliptic singularities disjoint from other invariant
curves intersecting KF trivially
We can summarize our situation by way of
Set-up VI1 X is a 3-dimensional DM stack with at worst elliptic singularities
F a foliation by curves with canonical singularities which is not Q-Cartier in a
neighborhood of Xsing
There exists a proper morphism p X rarr ∆ smooth off 0 isin ∆ F restricts to a
foliation on every fiber of p it has canonical singularities on the very general fiber
of p and log-canonical singularities on every fiber of p KF is big and nef on every
irreducible component of every fiber of p
Let C be the invariant sub-scheme along which KF is not big then C is a curve
fully contained in the smooth locus X0capXsmooth every sub-curve of C has anti-ample
normal bundle the 1-simplex of its dual graph is a tree and detailed configurations
of such are referenced in set-up VI13
We proceed to contract such C We assume that along C the semi-simple field has
only rational eigenvalues and moreover no component of C is inside the foliation
singularity The other two cases - irrational eigenvalues and presence of singular
component - are strictly easier and can be obtained with the very same method
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 57
The proof takes place in the formal completion around C = C free cup C axes The
former is a disjoint union of trees of non-double curves For each non-double C let
F (C) denote the unique component of X0 containing it The latter is a tree of double
curves each with two triple points all contained in the same irreducible FC axes Each
tree of non-double curves touches C axes in one point through a LC-center In order
to construct the contraction we will use Artinrsquos celebrated criterion in the following
form
Fact VI1 ([Ar70]) Let X be an irreducible algebraic space i Y rarr X a closed
subspace of pure codimension 1 and f Y rarr Y0 a proper morphism with flowastOY = OY0
Let X denote the formal completion of X along Y and assume there exists a Cartier
divisor D in X which is supported on Y and is f -anti-ample Then there exists a
proper morphism of algebraic spaces F X rarr X0 which is an isomorphism away
from Y and such that ilowastF = f
Now we use the tree structure of C to construct a suitable divisor to which apply
Artinrsquos theorem Namely consider the following inductive defintion
(35) C0 = C axes F0 = FC axes
For k ge 0 assume Ck Fk are defined
bull Let Ck+1 denote the union of irreducible components of C that intersect Fk
non-trivially but are not contained in cupilekFibull Let Fk+1 denote the reduced sum (
sumCsubeCk+1
F (C))red
This process stops with a collection C1 middot middot middotCN of curves and F1 middot middot middot FN of reduced
divisors
Lemma VI1 We have the following identities
(36)
Fk middot C lt 0 for every C sube Ck
(F0 + F1) middot C le 0 for every C sube C0
(Fkminus1 + Fk + Fk+1) middot C = 0 for every C sube Ck 1 lt k lt N
(FNminus1 + FN) middot C lt 0 for every C sube CN
58 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proof The first is just the fact that every component of C is rigid The remaining
three follow from X0 middot C = 0 but the last one requires further justification Indeed
if C sube CN N gt 0 then C is one end of a tree of non-double curves In particular
there exists a foliation singularity lowast isin C disjoint from any other component of
C and LClowast is transverse to C This implies LClowast middotC gt 0 which together with
(FNminus1 + FN + LClowast) middot C = 0 concludes the proof
Let ε1 middot middot middot εN isin Qgt0 and define
(37) F Nminusk = (1 + ε1 + middot middot middot+ εk)FNminusk
bull If C sube CN we have
(38) (F Nminus1 + F
N) middot C = ε1FNminus1 middot C + (FNminus1 + FN) middot C
bull If C sube CNminusk 1 lt k lt N we have
(39)
(F Nminuskminus1 + F
Nminusk + F Nminusk+1) middot C =
(1 + middot middot middot+ εk)(FNminuskminus1 + FNminusk + FNminusk+1) middot C minus εkFNminusk+1 middot C + εk+1FNminuskminus1 middot C =
minus εkFNminusk+1 middot C + εk+1FNminuskminus1 middot C
bull If C sube C0 we have
(40) (F 0 + F
1) middot C = εNF0 middot C + (Nminus1sumj=0
εj)(F0 + F1) middot C
It is clear that provided
(41) 1 gtgt ε1 gtgt middot middot middot gtgt εN
the divisor F =sumF k is negative along every component of C
This proves the existence of the contraction and concludes the proof of the Main
Theorem I
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 59
VII Moduli space of foliated surfaces of general type
In this section we study the modular variation of foliated surfaces of general type
The upshot is that it is possible to define a functor which is representable separated
and every irreducible component is proper The main issue here is that the supporting
surface of a foliated canonical model may well fail to be projective indeed KF is not
Q-Gorenstein in general Hence in order to proceed via standard methods [Ko17]
we have to parametrize our canonical models together with a suitable projective
resolution
Definition VII13 Let (SF ) be a foliated proper reduced purely 2-dimensional
DM stack Assume S has only normal crossing singularities in codimension 1 that
F has log-canonical foliation singularities and that KF is big and nef on at least
one of the irreducible components of S If whenever KF middot C = 0 for some curve C
then C moves in an irreducible component of S and no member of such deformation
is F -invariant then (SF ) is called foliated canonical model of general type
Clearly foliated canonical models are exactly the stable degenerations appearing
as the central fiber of our Main Theorem I Their lack of projectivity has two sources
namely the contraction of cycles of smooth KF -nil curves and of trees of cuspidal
ones Singularities arising from cycles behave well in families namely they always
deform into the general fiber Those arising from cuspidal curves on the other hand
tend to be rather isolated inside the degenerate fiber
Observe that the deformation theory of a foliated surface is rather simple suppose
given an infinitesimal C-algebras extension 0 rarr J rarr Ae rarr A rarr 0 and (SF )
a foliated surface flat over Spec(A) then the obstruction to lifting to Ae can be
understood in three simple steps
(1) Deformation of the underlying surface S once a deformation Se rarr Spec(Ae)
is given
(2) Deformation of the line bundle KF by the exponential sequence
(42) 0rarr J otimes OS rarr OlowastSerarr OlowastS rarr 0
obstructions lie in H2(SOS)otimes J once a deformation of KF is given
60 FEDERICO BUONERBA
(3) Deformation of the defining section OS rarr KF otimes TS obstructions lie in
H1(SKF otimes TS)otimes J
Now we have
Definition VII14 Let (SF ) be a foliated canonical model of general type A
proper birational morphism q (SF )proj rarr (SF ) is called its projective resolution
if
bull Every irreducible component of Sproj is smooth
bull The exceptional locus of q is a disjoint union of cycles of KFproj-nil smooth
curves and trees of KFproj-nil curves each of which has a non-trivial cuspidal
singularity
bull In a neighborhood of every q-exceptional cycle not only Sproj but also its
moduli space is smooth
We need a few remarks about projective resolutions
(1) Projective resolutions are always unique Indeed the only possible ambiguity
could lie in some extra smooth irreducible components in the exceptional
locus This is forbidden by definition in the trees of cuspidal curves it is
also forbidden by way of the third item in cycles of smooth ones ie on
algebraic surfaces the minimal resolution is unique
(2) Denote by E the collection of q-exceptional cycles Then there exist ε δ isinQgt0 such that KFproj
minus εE + δKSprojis ample by Nakai-Moishezon
(3) Deformations of a projective resolution of a foliated canonical model are
canonically identified with deformations of the underlying birational mor-
phism q Sproj rarr S followed by a deformation of the foliation F
We are now ready to construct a moduli functor for foliated surfaces more precisely
for projective resolutions of foliated canonical models of general type For m dN isinN and ε δ isin Qgt0 let
(43) MmdNεδ (C-schemes)rarr (sets)
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 61
be defined by MmdNεδ(S) = Diagrams
(44) (X F )projqminusrarr (X F )
pminusrarr S
Where
bull Both p and p q are flat and proper
bull For every closed point s isin S the induced morphism qs is the projective
resolution of (X F )s which is a foliated canonical model of general type
bull Denote by Es the collection of exceptional cycles of qs By our Main Theorem
I there is a fibrewise divisor E subXproj flat over S restricting to Es for every
s isin S
bull Let j W rarr Xproj denote the maximal closed subscheme away from which
KFprojand KXprojS are locally free Then
(45) L [m] = (jlowast(KFprojotimes OXproj
(minusεE )otimesKδXprojS
)otimesm)oror
is flat over S and commutes with base-change
bull L [m] is very ample of degree d on every fiber and defines an embedding into
PNS
We are now ready for
Theorem VII15 The functor MmdNεδ is represented by a separated algebraic
space each of whose irreducible components is proper
Proof We show that our functor satisfies Artinrsquos conditions [Ar74 Corollary 54] By
definition condition 1) and 4) hold while our previous remark on foliated obstruction
theory shows that 3) is true
We proceed to show 2) namely effectivity of formal deformations for MmdNεδ
What follows owes much to Artinrsquos [A74rsquo] Let T be a complete C-algebra Tn its
n-truncation so that Tsimminusrarr limlarrminusTn and finally qn isinMmdNεδ(Spec(Tn)) a compatible
sequence For each n there is a maximal open set Un sube Xprojn where qn is an
isomorphism denote by sn Cn rarr Zn the restriction of qn to the complement of Un
Clearly sn is projective over Spec(Tn)
62 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Denote by X C etc the formal algebraic spaces obtained as limits of Xn Cn
etc Then Xproj sub PNˆSpec(T )
hence by Grothendieckrsquos existence Theorem we find
bull a flat projective family (X F )proj rarr Spec(T ) resp a closed subscheme
C subXproj whose completion is Xproj resp C
bull a scheme Z whose completion is Z and a morphism s C rarr Z everything
being projective over Spec(T )
Further we have a formal contraction limminusrarr qn C rarr Z hence the main theorem
of [Ar70] gives algebraic contraction (X F )proj rarr (X F ) This proves the repre-
sentability of MmdNεδ The properness and separability of each irreducible com-
ponent can be checked using valutative criteria indeed properness is the content of
our Main Theorem I separatedness follows from the uniqueness of foliated canonical
models of general type and their projective resolution
References
[Ar70] M Artin Algebraization of Formal Moduli II Existence of Modifications Ann
of Math Vol 91 No 1 (Jan 1970) pp 88-135 httpwwwjstororgstable
1970602
[Ar74] M Artin Versal Deformations and Algebraic Stacks Inventiones Math 27 165- 189
(1974) httpmathuchicagoedu~drinfeldArtin_on_stackspdf
[A74rsquo] M Artin Algebraic construction of Brieskornrsquos resolutions J Alg Vol 29 Issue
2 May 1974 pp 330-348 httpwwwsciencedirectcomsciencearticlepii
0021869374901021
[BB72] P Baum R Bott Singularities of holomorphic foliations J Diff Geom 7 (1972)
279-342 httpsprojecteuclidorgdownloadpdf_1euclidjdg1214431158
[Bo77] F Bogomolov Families of curves on a surface of general type Doklady Akademii Nauk
USSR (in Russian) 236 (5) 1041-1044
[Bo78] F Bogomolov Holomorphic tensors and vector bundles on projective varieties Math
USSR Izv 13 (1978) 499-555
[BM16] F Bogomolov M McQuillan Rational Curves on Foliated Varieties In Cascini
McKernan Pereira (eds) Foliation Theory in Algebraic Geometry Simons Symposia
Springer Cham pp 21-51 (2016) httpslinkspringercomchapter101007
978-3-319-24460-0_2
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 63
[Bu] F Buonerba Functorial resolution of tame quotient singularities in positive charac-
teristic httpsarxivorgabs151100550
[Ke99] S Keel Basepoint Freeness for Nef and Big Line Bundles in Positive Characteris-
tic Annals of Math 149 No 1 (Jan 1999) pp 253-286 httpwwwjstororg
stable121025 httpsarxivorgabsmath9901149
[KM97] S Keel S Mori Quotients by groupoids Annals of Math 145 (1997) pp
193-213 httpwwwjstororgstable2951828seq=1page_scan_tab_contents
httparxivorgabsalg-geom9508012
[Ko17] J Kollar Families of varieties of general type httpswebmathprincetonedu
~kollarbookmodbook20170720pdf
[LN02] A Lins Neto Some examples for the Poincare and Painleve problems Annales sci-
entifiques de lrsquoENS 352 (2002) 231-266 httparchivenumdamorgarticle
ASENS_2002_4_35_2_231_0pdf
[McQ12] M McQuillan Foliated Mori Theory amp Hyperbolicity of Algebraic Surfaces http
wwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillahomehtml
[McQ98] M McQuillan Diophantine approximation and foliations Inst Hautes Etudes Sci
Publ Math 87 (1998) 121-174 httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafiles
ihespdf
[McQ05rsquo] M McQuillan Bloch hyperbolicity preprint httpwwwmatuniroma2it
~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ05] M McQuillan Semi-stable reduction of foliations IHES pre-print IHESM0502
(2005) httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ05rdquo] M McQuillan Uniform Uniformisation IHES pre-print (2005) IHES M0503 http
wwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ08] M McQuillan Canonical models of foliations Pure Appl Math Q 4
(2008) no 3 Special Issue In honor of Fedor Bogomolov Part 2 877-1012
httpintlpresscomsitepubfiles_fulltextjournalspamq20080004
0003PAMQ-2008-0004-0003-a009pdf
[MP13] M McQuillan D Panazzolo Almost etale resolution of foliations J Diff Geom 95
(2013) pp 279-319 httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesmp1bispdf
[Pe02] JV Pereira On the Poincare Problem for Foliations of General Type Mathematische
Annalen 323 no 2 pp217-226 2002 httpsarxivorgabsmath0104185
[PS16] JV Pereira R Svaldi Effective algebraic integration in bounded genus preprint
httpsarxivorgabs161206932
64 FEDERICO BUONERBA
[Re83] M Reid Minimal models of canonical threefolds in rdquoAlgebraic Varieties and Ana-
lytic Varietiesrdquo Adv Stud Pure Math vol 1 S Iitaka ed Kinokuniya and North-
Holland 1983 pp 131-180 httpwwwmathsedacukcheltsovquotientpdf
reid2pdf
[Se67] A Seidenberg Reduction of singularities of the differential equation Ady = Bdx Amer
J Math 89 (1967) 248-269 httpwwwjstororgstable2373435
[SB83] N Shepherd-Barron Degenerations with numerically effective canonical divisor The
Birational Geometry of Degenerations (R Friedman and D Morrison eds) Progr
Math no 29 Birkhuser 1983 pp 33-84
[Vis89] A Vistoli Intersection theory on algebraic stacks and on their moduli spaces
Invent Math (1989) pp 613-670 httplinkspringercomarticle101007
2FBF01388892page-1
Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences New York University 251 Mercer
Street New York NY 10012 USA
E-mail address buonerbacimsnyuedu
- I Introduction
- II Preliminaries
-
- III Operations on Deligne-Mumford stacks
- IIII Width of embedded parabolic champs
- IIIII Gorenstein foliation singularities
- IIIV Foliated adjunction
- IIV Canonical models of foliated surfaces with canonical singularities
- IIVI Canonical models of foliated surfaces with log-canonical singularities
- IIVII Set-up
-
- III Invariant curves and singularities local description
-
- IIII `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F) not isolated
- IIIII `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F) isolated
- IIIIII Local consequences
-
- IV Invariant curves along which KF vanishes
-
- IVI KF-nil curves
- IVII Invariant curves inside `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F)
-
- V Configurations
-
- VI Configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
- VII Configurations of non-rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
-
- VI Contractions and proof of the Main Theorem
- VII Moduli space of foliated surfaces of general type
- References
-
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 35
which shows that the obstruction to lifting the isomorphism lies in
(20) H1(C Symk ICI2C) = H1(C Symk(O(n)oplus O(m))) = 0
From this we can deduce
Proposition IVI3 The vector field partf admits a Jordan decomposition uniformly
along C
Proof The cohomology sequence attached to 19 is
(21) 0rarr H0(C Symk ICI2C)rarr H0(COCk+1
)rarr H0(COCk)rarr 0
Let partk+1 denote the image of partf in End(H0(COCk+1)) Looking at
H0(COCk+1) minusminusminusrarr H0(COCk
)
partk+1
y partk
yH0(COCk+1
) minusminusminusrarr H0(COCk)
we see the canonical Jordan deomposition of partk+1 restricts to that of partk
The above result describes a very useful interplay between normal bundles to
KF -nil curves and the structure of the semi-simple field It turns out that these
informations determine formal neighborhoods uniquely For simplicity let C be
an irreducible component of C without orbifold points Let us assume that part|C is
singular in 0infin Then there exist formal functions x y z at 0 isin C and ξ η ζ at
infin isin C such that x ξ are coordinates along C y η are local sections of OC(minusn)
so η = xny mod(I2C) z ζ are local sections of OC(minusm) so ζ = xmz mod(I2C)
Normalizing so that xminus1partS(x) = ε isin 0 1 we obtain
(22) part0S = εxpart
partx+ λy
part
party+ microz
part
partz partinfinS = minusεξ part
partξ+ (λ+ εn)η
part
partη+ (micro+ εm)ζ
part
partζ
More generally ie C = P1(d e) we have glueing rules x = te ξ = tminusd η = tny and
ζ = tmz mod(I2C) Normalizing so that tminus1partS(t) = ε isin 0 1 we obtain
(23) part0S = eεxpart
partx+ λy
part
party+ microz
part
partz partinfinS = minusdεξ part
partξ+ (λ+ εn)η
part
partη+ (micro+ εm)ζ
part
partζ
36 FEDERICO BUONERBA
It is worth remarking that the above relations hold between eigenvalues at the two
singular point of singular ie nodal or cuspidal KF -nil curves as well this is
easily seen by taking a root followed by net completion and keeping track of the
eigenvalues
Definition IVI4 Let C be a KF -nil curve The foliation singular points along C
are called ends
As well as the existence of Hilbert scheme in the following form
Fact IVI5 Let W sub Xlowast be a curve and D a divisor in the formal neighborhood
of W such that W = D capXlowast scheme-theoretically Then W moves in D
In what follows our main concern is to understand formal neighborhoods of KF -
nil curves Observe that the fibration p when restricted to the formal neighborhood
of such curves provides at least one eigenfunction of the semi-simple field Hence
in order to compute the width IIII we must study the behavior of the other eigen-
function on infinitesimal neighborhoods We first describe the situation inside the
smooth locus of p
Proposition IVI6 (Smooth fiber) Let f C rarrX be an irreducible KF -nil curve
which is contained in the smooth locus of a fiber Xlowast of p Then the end(s) on C are
flat over ∆ ni (1)b and ni (1)a with z2|g(y z) and C moves in a family flat over
∆
Proof Let us assume that f is net Then upon passing to net completion we can
actually assume it is embedded From our local classification of singularities we case
in case ni (1)a and ni (2)a We want to show that both ends have components
that move transversely to p hence we have to exclude case ni (1)a with g(y z) = ya
By way of contradiction say we have g(y z) = ya in the notation of opcit around
an end lowast isin C We proceed to compute what happens at the other end we find
formal coordinates ξ η ζ which by equation 23 satisfy
(24) ξ = xminus1 η = y ζ = xmz mod(I2C)
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 37
As such we compute part(ζ) = mζ + ξminusmηa mod(I2C) which is holomorphic if and only
if m le 0 so then C moves in Xlowast contradicting that the foliation has general type
Hence we are in cases ni (1)a ni (2)a with g = microyazb b ge 1
(25) part0 = xpart
partx+ microyazb
part
partz partinfin = minusξ part
partξ+ ζ(m+ microξm(bminus1)ηaζbminus1)
part
partζ(mod(I2C))
Following notation from subsection IIII observe that C1 is the section of E1C which
is disjoint from the proper transform of the fiber of p In coordinates over 0
(26) x1 = x y1 = y z1 = zyminus1
And similarly over infin Using the previous equation and 25 on C1 we find
(27)
part01 = x1part
partx1+microya+bminus11 zb1
part
partz1 partinfin1 = minusξ1
part
partξ1+ζ1(m+microξ
m(bminus1)1 ηa+bminus11 ζbminus11 )
part
partζ1(mod(I2C1
))
In particular the transform of the nilpotent field is still nilpotent after blowing up in
C It follows that the eigenvalues of the semi-simple field at the two ends of C and
C1 are the same Using equation 23 we deduce that the normal bundle to C1X1 to
isomorphic to that of CX in particular it contains a trivial direct summand This
proves that width(C) =infin
Next we show that f must be net Consider the induced flat projection pD D rarr ∆
its general fiber cannot be a cuspidal curve since along such cusp the foliation sin-
gularity would be log-canonical but not canonical Hence if C has a cusp necessarily
the general fiber of pD is a nodal curve Let X rarr X denote the blow up of the
nodal locus of pD with exceptional divisor E ruled over ∆ In a neighborhood of E
we have sing(F ) = D cap E which projects to ∆ as a double cover ramified over lowastObserve that the foliation on Xlowast is again log-canonical and not canonical hence its
local structure is ni (2)a In that case however p is unramified along the foliation
singularity Contradiction
We state a general criterion for movability of KF -nil curves
Proposition IVI7 Let C be a connected KF -nil curve such that p(C ) = lowast isin ∆
Assume its dual graph is a chain that none of its irreducible components is double
38 FEDERICO BUONERBA
VI3 and that its two extremal ends are flat over ∆ Then C moves in a family flat
over ∆ and each of its irreducible components is embedded
Proof We work in a formal neighborhood of C After taking roots we can assume
C is net and since its dual graph is a chain it is actually embedded We proceed by
induction on its length l where the case l = 1 is Proposition IVI6 For l gt 1 let C1
be a component of C which is extremal in its dual graph If C1 moves transversely
to p then both its ends do and hence we can apply the induction hypothesis to
C C1 If C1 is rigid then it can be flopped It is straightforward to check that we
can apply the induction hypothesis to the transform C + C+1 and we are done
Now we deal with rigid curves inside the singular fiber
Proposition IVI8 (Singular fiber) Let f C rarr X be an embedded net KF -
nil curve with anti-ample normal bundle Then there exists a birational map φ
(X F ) 99K (X +F+) and a KF+-nil curve C+ such that
bull φ is an isomorphism away from C+
bull In a formal neighborhood of at least one among C and C+ there exist two
invariant hypersurfaces D1D2 locally defined by the vanishing of eigenfunc-
tions of the semi-simple field such that C (resp C+)= D1 capD2
bull If F middot C lt 0 for some hypersurface F then F+ middot C+ gt 0 In particular X +
is projective
Such φ is called flop
Proof Our assumption is that Nfsimminusrarr O(minusn)oplusO(minusm) is anti-ample namely nm gt
0 If two invariant hypersurfaces as in our statement do exist around C the flop is
easily constructed as a weighted blow-up followed by a weighted blow-down As such
let us assume that such hypersurfaces do not exist around C In particular C is not
double VI3 By [Ar70] there exists a formal contraction c X rarrX0 collapsing C
to a point and an isomorphism everywhere else By Proposition IVI3 the foliation
F0 is Gorenstein around the node of X0 For ease of exposition let us assume
n = m = 1 the general case is handled the same way only the notation becomes more
cumbersome due to the presence of weights The node has embedding dimension 4
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 39
and in suitable local coordinates x0 y0 w0 z0 can be defined by x0z0minusy0w0 = 0 The
morphism c can be identified with the blow up of the embedded surface (x0 = y0 = 0)
Explicitly in the chart y = y0 x = x0yminus10 it is defined by
(28) y0 = y x0 = xy z0 = zprime w0 = xzprime
Here x is a coordinate along C while y = 0 is the pull-back of (x0 = y0 = 0) and
zprime some function in the normal bundle to C By the previous Proposition IVI6
we know C cannot be contained in the smooth locus of p Since C is not double
we can assume that in this local chart p is defined by (x y zprime) rarr xy - the case
(x y zprime) rarr xzprime being isomorphic as it is isomorphic to blow-up (z0 = w0 = 0)
instead of (x0 = y0 = 0) The issue is as emphasized by the notation zprime 6= z that
zprime may fail to be an eigenfunction for partS if it were we would be done since zprime = 0
is the local equation for the global pullback of (z0 = w0 = 0) However we have
a b isin C such that
(29) partS0(y0) = minusy0 partS0(x0) = 0 partS0(z0) = ay0 + bz0 partS0(w0) = ax0 + (b+ 1)w0
Observe that the embedded surfaces D01 = (y0 = z0 = 0) and D0
2 = (x0 = w0 = 0)
are both foliation invariant As such let b X + rarr X0 denote the blow-up of X0
along D01 - which is isomorphic to that along D0
2 - and let Di = blowastD0i i = 1 2
Finally X + is projective by Nakai-Moishezon Indeed every C with anti-ample
normal bundle is contained in an irreducible component F of X0 such that F middotC lt 0
Then F+ middot C+ gt 0 and we can find an ample divisor of the form H+ + εF+ where
H+ is the proper transform of an ample on X
Remark IVI9 In the previous proof a 6= b+ 1 Indeed such identity would create
a non-trivial Jordan block of partS0 in the (x0 w0)-plane thus contradicting the semi-
simplicity of partS0 In particular by a straightforward computation it is impossible to
find eigenfunctions of the form wlowast0 = w0 + αx0 zlowast0 = z0 + βy0 with x0z
lowast0 minus y0wlowast0 = 0
unless a = 0
We can conclude by pointing out an important point understood in this section
A painful aspect of the theory is that log-canonical singularities which appear natu-
rally as analytic degenerations of canonical ones come along with cuspidal invariant
40 FEDERICO BUONERBA
curves There is in particular no a-priori obstruction to the existence of rigid
cuspidal KF -nil curves in a smooth fiber of our family of foliated surfaces p Quite
generally a rigid curve of positive arithmetic genus in a smooth family of surfaces can
never be contracted to a point Therefore this would have been a counter-example
to any reasonable foliated canonical model theory one may wish to achieve Fortu-
nately such phenomenon does not happen and this establishes the Main Theorem I
modulo finitely many rigid curves confined in the singular fiber X0
IVII Invariant curves inside sing(F ) In this subsection we study curves Z0 subeXlowast cap sing(F ) which are inside the foliation singularity and invariant By this we
mean that there exists a sequence fn Cn rarrX of not necessarily algebraic invariant
curves converging in the compact-open topology to Z0 In other words the map
(30) NorF rarr Ω1Z0
is trivial By Corollary IIIIII5 we know that Z0 is at worst nodal it is smooth
wherever p is smooth for every point z isin Z0 the semi-simple part of the gener-
ating vector field has exactly one eigenvalue The problem here is that the Jordan
decomposition need not extend uniformly along Z0 not even along an irreducible
component In case ni (1)a the functions x and g may develop essential singulari-
ties arbitrary close to z Nonetheless the function x is unique and this says that x
does extend along Z0
Proposition IVII1 Let Z0 be as above Then in a formal neighborhood of Z0
there exists a unique smooth invariant hypersurface D0 containing Z0 which restricts
around any point in Z0 to the unique eigenfunction for the semi-simple field whose
eigenvalue is non-zero
Proof The local structure of the foliation around a point z isin Z0 is described by
cases ni (1)a and ni (1)b In both cases partS has one non-zero eigenvalue with
eigenfunction x Such eigenfunction x is a-priori only defined in the normal bundle to
Z0 but it is clear that the equation partx = x has a unique up to constants solution in
the formal completion around z As such there exists a unique smooth hypersurface
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 41
D0 in the formal completion around Z0 which restricts to the eigenfunction x around
z
Observe that the previous argument goes through since we are assuming Z0 subX0
Keeping notations from case ni (1)a if say g(y z) = yz then in the hypersurface
y equiv q isin Qgt0 the foliation has a log-canonical singularity and the eigenfunction x
extends highly non-uniquely to a formal neighborhood of the point (x y z) = (0 q 0)
In particular the existence of D0 as in the previous Proposition might fail along
the component (x = z = 0) of the foliation singularity This phenomenon is called
the beast
Anyway uniqueness in the previous proposition yields
Corollary IVII2 Let Z prime be a connected invariant curve inside sing(F ) Then in
a formal neighborhood of Z prime there exists a unique smooth invariant hypersurface D prime
containing Z prime which restricts around any point in Z prime to the hypersurface constructed
in the previous proposition
Next we turn to the intrinsic structure of invariant singular curves
Proposition IVII3 Let Z0 be an irreducible invariant curve inside sing(F )
Then Z0 is smooth and rational
Proof We work in a formal neighborhood of Z0 Let F0 denote the unique component
of X0 containing Z0 For any other fiber component F intersecting Z0 non-trivially
blow-up the invariant curve F cap F0 with exceptional divisor EF A straightforward
computation using the local formula ni (1)b shows that the fiber of the natural
projection EF rarr F cap F0 intersecting Z0 is also contained in sing(F ) For Z prime the
maximal connected singular invariant curve containing Z0 let G denote the saturated
foliation induced on D prime It is canonical with reduced singularities and it satisfies
KG = KF |Dprime minus Zprime By adjunction
(31) 2g(Z0)minus 2 + sZG(Z0) = minusZ prime middot Z0
Observe that thanks to our initial sequence of blow-ups the singularities of G along
Z0 coincide with the intersection of Z0 and Z prime Z0 In particular since D prime is formally
42 FEDERICO BUONERBA
flat over ∆ we deduce Z prime middot Z0 = 0 and the previous formula becomes
(32) 2g(Z0)minus 2 + sZG(Z0) = 0
This implies that Z0 is rational or elliptic If Z0 were elliptic then sZG(Z0) = 0 and
D0 defines an invariant elliptic curve in the general fiber of p By Baum-Bott this
contradicts that KF is big and nef Now we show that Z0 is smooth If it has a node
then D0 moves it in a family of nodal rational curves flat over ∆ In particular D0
itself has a node in codimension 1 hence Xlowast is smooth around the node of Z0 In its
formal neighborhood the foliation must be as in case ni (1)a which implies that
Z0 is smooth contradiction
We can improve as follows
Proposition IVII4 Let Z prime sube sing F capXlowast be a connected invariant curve with
KF middot Z prime = 0 Then its dual graph is a chain
Proof Assume Z prime is a cycle Then necessarily Z prime = D prime capXlowast scheme-theoretically
and by the existence of Hilbert scheme Z prime moves in the general fiber Its general
member is either a cycle of smooth rational curves or an elliptic curve Arguing as
in the previous proof we see that both options are impossible
V Configurations
In this section we analyze in great detail all possible configurations of invariant
curves along which KF vanishes These can be divided into three groups those
that do not move those that move in a one-dimensional family covering a surface
those that move in a higher-dimensional family covering a surface Curves in the first
group can form rather complicated configurations while those in the second group
are more simple they either move in the general fiber or they cover an isolated
Riccati component in the singular fiber Those in the third group turn out to be
represented by the two rulings of P1timesP1 if they happen to be cohomologous in the
ambient stack First we will analyze rigid curves then those which move and finally
we will describe their configurations
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 43
VI Configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially In
this subsection we describe configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF
trivially which arise in the situation described by set-up IIVII4
First we focus on KF -nil curves At the end of the section we deal with the simpler
case in which a curve in the configuration is fully contained in sing(F ) The general
fiber was handled in Proposition IVI6
Proposition VI1 Let C be a connected KF -nil curve contained in the smooth
locus of a fiber of p Then it is a chain or a cycle and it moves in a family flat over
∆
In what follows we let C denote a connected KF -nil curve contained in the
singular fiber X0 all of whose sub-curves are rigid in X Observe a consequence of
equation 23
Proposition VI2 Let C = cupiCi be a connected KF -nil curve Then the eigen-
values of partS are all rational at every point of sing(F )capC if and only if they are all
rational at one point
We can deduce many non-trivial properties about configurations of KF -nil curves
First we need
Definition VI3 Let C subX0 be a curve It is called double if there exists formally
around C two components F F prime of X0 such that C = F cap F prime A point lowast isin C where
three fiber components intersect is called a triple point If C lies on exactly one fiber
component it is called non-double We denote by F (C) such component
Remark VI4 Let Csimminusrarr P1(d e) be double with two triple points Then we know
e+ λ+ micro = minusd+ (λ+ n) + (micro+m) = 0 whence we obtain
(33) n+m = d+ e
Which is called triple-point formula
Next we show that essentially KF -nil curves do not form cycles unless something
deforms in X0 First we show that there are no cycles of rigid non-double curves
44 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proposition VI5 Let C be a connected KF -nil curve contained in the singular
fiber X0 of p Assume that every component of C is non-double and that every
sub-curve is rigid Then C contains no cycles
Proof We work in a formal neighborhood of C which we assume is a cycle Let
us first consider the case in which all components C1 middot middot middot CN are smooth with no
orbifold points and denote lowasti = Ci cap Ci+1 with CN+1 = C1 Moreover let us
assume no lowasti lies in the smooth locus of p
Since no curve is double the semi-simple field at every lowasti is as in case i (3)b in
particular the eigenvalues along the branches of Ci and Ci+1 add up to zero More-
over let minusni denote the self-intersection of Ci sub F (Ci) Normalize the eigenvalues
of partS so that at lowastn they are 1 in the C1 direction minus1 in the CN direction λ in the
F (C1)capF (CN) direction It follows by induction that at lowasti the eigenvalues are minus1
in the Ci direction 1 in the Ci+1 direction λ+ n1 + middot middot middot+ ni in the F (Ci) cap F (Ci+1)
direction After traveling around the cycle we obtain n1+middot middot middot+nN = 0 contradicting
that ni gt 0 for every i
We established the Proposition assuming every Ci is an embedded scheme and ev-
ery lowasti is in the singular locus of p The case in which Cisimminusrarr P1(di ei) has orbifold
points is analogous we end up with a combination c1n1 + middot middot middot + cNnN = 0 with ci
the eigenvalue at lowasti in the Ci+1 direction Normalizing so that c1 = e1 gt 0 again by
induction on i we see that every ci isin Qgt0 Next we show that our assumption on lowastiis always satisfied
Claim VI6 Every lowasti must belong to the singular locus of p
Proof We give two essentially equivalent proofs
bull If N = 2 3 then the previous argument goes through indeed we can normal-
ize eigenvalues at lowasti to be negative in the Ciminus1 direction and positive in the
Ci-direction and argue as above Hence we can assume N ge 4 If say lowasti is in
the smooth locus of p then F (Ci) = F (Ci+1) If also F (Ciminus1) = F (Ci) then Ci
lies in the smooth locus of p and hence it moves Therefore F (Ciminus1) 6= F (Ci)
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 45
and Ciminus1 can be flopped inside F (Ci) Since N ge 4 this preserves the smooth-
ness of F (Ci) and Ci is now is the smooth locus of p - contradiction
bull If lowasti belongs to the smooth locus of p then the end through lowasti moves We
can form a partial net completion fi Xi rarrX by normalizing C in lowasti only
Then f lowasti C is a chain with movable ends and hence moves in the general fiber
of p fi
Finally the general case in which some among the Ci have cusps can be easily
reduced to the smooth case in a couple of ways
bull Eigenvalues at the singularities of any KF -nil curve satisfy the same relations
as in the smooth case
bull Upon taking roots and net completion we can find a foliated formal 3-fold
supported on a cycle of smooth KF -nil curves which is a ramified cover of a
formal neighborhood of our cycle
Similarly we can show that there are no rigid cycles of double curves
Proposition VI7 Let C be a nodal KF -nil curve which is double Then C
deforms inside X0 In particular there cannot exist a rigid cycle of KF -nil double
curves
Proof Following the previous notation we have 0 = infin and if C = (xy = z = 0)
around 0 then we have identities
(34) x = η y = ξ z = ζ
The last one of which implies m = 0 that is C deforms Since C is double necessarily
the surface it spans must be contained in X0
The statement about cycles follows since a cycle of double curves can be transformed
after finitely many flops into a chain of smooth double curves with a nodal one
attached at one end
46 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Later on we will show that the deformations of C cannot span an elliptic surface
but only a family of nodal rational curves with a special Riccati foliation on it
We are ready to organize a detailed description of the dual graph of C More pre-
cisely we only need to understand how double curves intersect non-double curves
Lemma VI8 There exists a sequence of flops X 99KX + such that if C + denotes
the transform of C every double curve supported on C + contains two triple points
Proof Let C sube C be an irreducible component with at most one triple point and
let X 99K X + be its flop Then its transform C+ is non-double and the number
of double curves contained in C descreases It is clear that after finitely many flops
all double curves contain exactly two triple points
From now on all double curves in C have two triple points Thanks to proposition
VI2 we know that there are two cases to consider those curves along which the
semi-simple field has not only rational eigenvalues and those along which the semi-
simple field has only rational eigenvalues The first case being strictly easier than
the second it is a good starting place to warm up
Proposition VI9 (irrational eigenvalues) Assume that for every foliation singu-
larity along C not all eigenvalues of partS are rational Then every component of C
is net with at most one node and 1-skeleton of its dual graph is at worst trivalent
Write C = C axes cup C free where
C axes is the union of double curves
C free is the union of non-double curves
Then one among C axes and C free is empty Moreover
bull If C free is non-empty then it is a chain of smooth curves with rational moduli
bull If C axes is non-empty there exists a sequence of flops X 99KX + and an ir-
reducible component of the fiber FC subX + such that X + is a smooth stack
the transform C+ of C is contained in FC Moreover the dual graph of C+
is a tree which by [McQ08 III32] becomes a chain inside the normalization
of FC
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 47
Proof The first sentence is just corollary IIIIII3
Observe that if a non-double curve intersects a double curve then the non-double
curve must be contained in an LC-center around such intersection This contradicts
that not all eigenvalues are rational and establishes that one among C axes and C free
is empty
In case C free is not empty then it is clearly a chain or a cycle the latter being
impossible by Proposition VI5
We are left to show the existence of flops in case C = C axes We remark that
every component is smooth Let C0 be such a component and S0 a component of
X0 containing it Let C1 be the collection of irreducible components of C which
intersect S0 but are not contained in it All the components of C1 are smooth hence
we can flop them in any order until the transform of C1 lies in the transform of S0
Since the number of irreducible components of C lying outside S0 decreases after
such flop by induction we deduce the existence of finitely many flops after which
the birational transform of C is fully contained in the transform of S0
Next we take care of rational eigenvalues The complication here arises from
the fact that there may be double and non-double curves intersecting each other
However the situation is best possible
Proposition VI10 (rational eigenvalues) Assume that for every foliation singu-
larity along C all eigenvalues of partS are rational Write C = C axes cup C free where
C axes is the union of double curves
C free is the union of non-double curves
Then there exists a sequence of flops X 99K X + and an irreducible component of
the fiber FC axes subX + such that
bull X + is a smooth stack
bull The union of double curves of C axes is contained in FC axes the 1-skeleton of
its dual graph is a tree and each of its components has two triple points
bull The 1-skeleton of the dual graph of the transform C free+ is a disjoint union of
trees
bull Each connected component of C free+ intersects C axes in exactly one point
48 FEDERICO BUONERBA
In particular the 1-skeleton of the dual graph of C is a tree
Proof Notice that for every point lowast isin C cap Z there exists one LC-center through lowastIndeed there are three rational eigenvalues and they cannot be all non-vanishing and
all with different signs at the same time Now C axes can be treated as in proposition
VI9 This proves the first two items of the statement The third item follows from
Proposition VI5 so we can focus on the fourth one The proof is based on the
following obvious
Remark VI11 let C be a double curve such that either it is KF -nil hence has
two triple points or it is fully contained in sing(F ) Let C0 sube C free intersect C
non-trivially in a point lowast then necessarily C0 sub LClowast
Now let C0 middot middot middot CN form a chain of non-double curves with C0 and CN both
intersecting double curves as in the remark Denote by lowasti = Ci cap Ci+1 Since
C1 sub LClowast necessarily C1 is transverse to LClowast1 otherwise C1 would deform in F (C1)
Inductively we see that Ci+1 sub LClowasti and is transverse to LClowasti+1 In particular CN
cannot touch a double curve This contradiction proves the fourth item
Let us add a remark about configurations featuring invariant curves inside sing(F )
Proposition VI12 Let C be an invariant curve with KF middot C = 0 such that
Z0 sube C for some component Z0 sube sing(F ) Then C = Z prime cup C where
Z prime is a connected invariant curve inside the foliation singularity with dual graph a
chain
C is the union of at most two pairwise disjoint KF -nil curves with anti-ample
normal bundle
If not empty C can only intersect Z prime at the two ends of its dual graph Moreover
perhaps after a flop the intersection of C with Z prime supports the foliation singularity
along C As such if C has two components Z prime cup C deforms in the general fiber
Proof The structure of Z prime is Proposition IVII3 while that of Co is Proposition
IVI6 Let C prime be a component of C intersecting Z0 in a point lowast If C prime and Z0 belong
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 49
to different components of X0 then by case ni (1)b the eigenvalue of partS along C prime
vanishes so supp(sing(F ) cap C prime) = lowast If C prime and Z0 belong to the same component
then we can flop C prime into a different component
Observe that the divisor D prime from op cit can be extended along C prime This implies
that C can only intersect Z prime at its ends Moreover if C touches both ends necessarily
D prime capX0 = C scheme-theoretically hence by the existence of Hilbert scheme IVI5
we conclude
Our new set-up is
Set-up VI13 Everything as in set-up IIVII4 and moreover for any connected
invariant curve C with KF middot C = 0 all of whose sub-curves are rigid we have
configurations computed in proposition VI9 VI10 and Lemma VI12
VII Configurations of non-rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
In this subsection we describe configurations of surfaces which are covered by KF -nil
curves The structure of each such surface is described by classification IIV1 IIV2
and Corollary IIVI17 Our first step is to simplify the situation by contracting
chains of ruled surfaces The next step is to try and exclude the possibility that
the singular fiber of p contains fibrations by elliptic or nodal rational curves with
at least one invariant fiber This can be achieved with good success indeed there
may be at most one such Riccati foliation which is anyway rather isolated from the
remaining KF -nil curves Finally we observe that the only class of surfaces we have
not mentioned is
Definition VII1 A irreducible component F of the singular fiber of p is called
small Kronecker if
bull (FFF ) is birational to a Kronecker vector field on P1 timesP1 and
bull The two rulings of this P1 timesP1 are cohomologous inside X
The name comes from the fact that contraction of a small Kronecker yields a node
in the ambient threefold which admits a small resolution In fact in many respects
these fiber components behave very much like rigid KF -nil curves
50 FEDERICO BUONERBA
We start by getting rid of some fiber components which are ruled by KF -nil gener-
ically smooth rational curves
Proposition VII2 Notation as in Set-up VI13 there exists a sequence of flops
and divisorial contractions c X 99KX + such that
bull X + is a smooth stack
bull let S+ sub X + be an irreducible invariant divisor that contains a positive-
dimensional family of invariant rational curves along which KF+ vanishes
Then S+ is either birationally ruled by nodal rational curves or it is a small
Kronecker
Proof We focus first on contracting components of the singular fiber of p Consider
the following algorithm If there is no birationally ruled component different from
the ones listed in the second item we are done otherwise pick one such F and let
C denote the general member of the ruling If the cohomology class [C] is inde-
composable F is minimal Otherwise [C] = [C1] + [C2] where Ci are rational and
intersect KF trivially After finitely many steps we have a decomposition as a finite
sum of indecomposables [C] =sumn
i=0 ni[Ci] where every Ci is rational intersects KF
trivially We have two cases
bull There exists k such that Ck deforms in a birationally ruled necessarily min-
imal surface Fk
bull Every Ci has anti-ample normal bundle
In the first case denote by X rarr X1 the contraction of Fk along |Ck| and relpace
X by X1 Since Fk is minimal smoothness of the ambient stack is preserved unless
Fk is a small Kronecker This is however impossible if n ge 2 if Fk were a small
Kronecker then Ck deforms away from Fkminus1 so then Fkminus1 middot Ck = 0 on the other
hand Fkminus1 intersects the other ruling of Fk positively
In the second case flop C1 middot middot middot Cn in this order The transform of F is minimal and
not a small Kronecker so it can be contracted along its ruling preserving ambient
smoothness By induction on the Picard rank of X after finitely many steps this
algorithm ends Call X the output of this algorithm
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 51
Let S subX be an invariant divisor with a generically smooth ruling Then pS S rarr∆ is flat and after flopping finitely many rational curves in S cap plowastS(0) the resulting
pS is smooth Hence we can contract S along pS After finitely many steps the
Proposition is proven
For ease of notation in the sequel we call X the output of the previous proposition
Notice that there might still be divisors carrying a pencil of nodal rational curves
both inside and outside the singular fiber of p
We can start analyzing configurations of fiber components where the restriction of
F is not of general type We need some notation whose reason to exist will be clear
shortly
Definition VII3 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
along which KF is not big F is called special Riccati if
bull F is minimal
bull There exists a morphism s F rarr B onto a curve whose fibers are nodal
rational curve
bull F is transverse to the general fiber of s in particular KF is numerically
trivial along s
bull At least one fiber of s is invariant
bull There exists a section σ of s which is invariant and does not coincide with
the nodal locus of F
In particular the intersections of σ with invariant fibers of s isolated singularities
of F the node of F all coincide There may be fibers of s fully contained in sing(F )
in which case they are everywhere transverse to the saturated foliation
The definition looks nasty but special Riccati components have a rather simple
origin as the following proof shows
Lemma VII4 Let F be special Riccati Up to base change by an etale double cover
Bprime rarr B there is a natural isomorphism F norm simminusrarr BprimetimesP1 and the restriction of F
to F norm is birational to the projection onto P1
52 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proof We work over the normalization F norm Denote by Bprime the pre-image of the
node of F which is an etale double cover of B and let f denote an invariant fiber
of s with lowast = σ cap f Observe that F norm carries a Riccati foliation with 3 invariant
curves through lowast - namely σ f and a component of Bprime Hence FF has a log-canonical
singularity in lowast On F norm perform a weighted blow-up in each log-canonical singu-
larity followed by the contraction of the transforms of the corresponding fibers Let
s+ F+ rarr B denote the output of this operation If the proper transform of Bprime is
connected replace F+ by its base change under Bprime rarr B Hence we can assume Bprime
is the disjoint union of two sections of s+ and the transform of σ is a third section
which is disjoint from Bprime Therefore F+ = P1 timesBprime and the foliation restricts to the
projection onto P1
Next we describe those surfaces which cannot appear as components of the sin-
gular fiber X0
Definition VII5 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
along which KF is not big F is called illusory if
bull there exists a morphism t F rarr B onto a curve
bull KF is trivial along t
bull For any other fiber component F prime the intersection F cap F prime is either empty or
contained in a fiber of t
We give examples of illusory fiber components
Lemma VII6 The following fiber components are necessarily illusory
bull t is elliptic the foliation is either parallel to t or turbolent with at least one
invariant fiber
bull t is a nodal ruling the foliation is either parallel to t or transverse to t with
at least one invariant fiber and not birational to a special Riccati VII3
Proof Let f = F cap F prime for some fiber component F prime It is F -invariant
Assume t and F are parallel and f is transverse to both Then necessarily f subesing(F ) and KF is positive along the fibers of t contradiction
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 53
Assume t and F are generically transverse and f is transverse to t Let e be an
invariant fiber of t then ecap f isin sing(F ) hence t must be a family of nodal rational
curves and ecapf coincides with the node of e - otherwise KF would be positive along
t But this implies F is special Riccati contradiction
We proceed to show that illusory fibers do not exist
Lemma VII7 Let F be an illusory fiber component then every fiber of t is irre-
ducible If F prime is any fiber component intersecting F non-trivially then F prime is illusory
Proof Assume t has a reducible fiber f Then we can write f = f prime cup f primeprime where f prime
is irreducible and f primeprime is a disjoint union of chains of rational curves In particular
every subscheme supported on f primeprime is rigid in X f prime is rational and smooth iff f is a
cycle of rational curves hence the foliation on F is parallel to t and the choice of f prime
is not unique otherwise f prime is nodal or elliptic Let X 99KX + denote the flop of the
irreducible components of f primeprime in any order The proper transform f prime+ (below in red)
is the irreducible fiber of the induced morphism t+ F+ rarr B Since f primeprime+ intersects
f prime+ and is not contained in F+ there exists a component F prime of the fiber of p+ such
that F+ cap f prime+ 6= empty Since F+ is illusory necessarily F+ cap F prime = f prime+ Moreover F+
and F prime are the only fiber components intersecting f prime+ again because F+ is illusory
We deduce that F+ middot f prime+ = F prime middot f prime+ = 0 and therefore f prime+ is nef inside F prime It follows
that he restriction of F+ to F prime is not of general type and by the classification of
foliated surfaces [McQ08] necessarily f prime+ deforms inside F prime and defines a fibration
u F prime rarr Bprime In particular f prime+ is an irreducible fiber of u This is however impossible
since u contracts all the components of f primeprime+ contained in F prime (below in blue) and by
definition of F prime there exists at least one such component This proves that every
fiber of t is irreducible The following depicts the situation
F prime F+
f prime+
f primeprime+
t+u
54 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Concerning the second statement we only need to check the third condition for F prime
to be illussory namely that every other fiber component F primeprime intersecting F prime does
so along the fibers of u If F primeprime intersects F prime transversely to u then F primeprime intersects F
non-trivially and transversely to t as well absurd
Corollary VII8 Illusory components do not exist
Proof By the above lemma the existence of one illusory component implies that
every irreducible component of the singular fiber of p is illusory contradicting that
KF is big
We can now focus on fiber components that do appear
Corollary VII9 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
containing an invariant curve C which moves and such that KF middot C = 0 Then
following the classification [McQ08] we have two cases
(1) The minimal model of F is a special Riccati component
(2) F is a small Kronecker
Proof Certainly the ones listed are the only cases where C is KF -nil We have to
exclude the possibility that C is invariant inside sing(F ) By Proposition IVII3
such C would be rational with at most one node Since we already contracted at
the beginning of the present subsection all ruled surfaces necessarily C is nodal
However by opcit C cannot intersect any other fiber component of X0 which
implies the absurdity that X0 = F
We proceed to show that special Riccati components are rather isolated in the
fiber
Lemma VII10 Let F be a special Riccati component If F prime is a fiber component
intersecting F non-trivially then it does so transversely to s Morover there is
exactly one such F prime
Proof After finitely many flops we can assume that every fiber of s is irreducible
By the non-existence of illusory components there exists a fiber component F lowast with
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 55
σprime = F cap F prime transverse to s If F primeprime is a fiber component with f = F cap F primeprime a fiber
of s then we claim f sube sing(F ) If not then since KF middot f = 0 and σprime is invariant
necessarily σprimecap f is the node of f But then the existence of F primeprime contradicts that p is
snc Hence f sube sing(F ) so then around the node of f there are 3 fiber components -
two branches coming from F one from F primeprime - and sing(F ) has 2 branches - namely f
This is impossible by our case analysis ni (1)c ni (2)c The very same reasoning
establishes the uniqueness of F prime
Lemma VII11 Let F be as in the previous Lemma If C is a connected curve
with KF middot C = 0 then it is disjoint from F
Proof After finitely many flops s is irreducible and C intersects F transversely away
from its node Moreover lowast = C cap F isin sing(F ) and we deduce that the fiber of s
through lowast is fully contained in the singular locus of F This contradicts Proposition
IVII3 since such fiber is nodal
We conclude by observing the obvious
Lemma VII12 Let F be a small Kronecker Then there exists a contraction
c X rarr X prime which is an isomorphism away from F and contracts F along one
of its rulings Necessarily X prime is not projective since every global Cartier divisor
intersects c(F ) trivially On the other hand in a formal neighborhood of c(F ) there
exist Cartier divisors intersecting it non-trivialliy
As such the contribution coming from non-rigid curves is rather poor there are
curves moving in the general fiber there are special Riccati components disjoint from
any other invariant curve intersecting KF trivially there are small Kroneckers who
can be contracted to curves We shall see in the next section that the complications
arising from the contraction of such non-rigid curves is purely psychological and
totally harmless
56 FEDERICO BUONERBA
VI Contractions and proof of the Main Theorem
In this section we contract all invariant curves along which KF is zero thereby
establishing the existence of canonical models I First we contract non-rigid curves
as described in the previous subsection
bull Small Kroneckers along either ruling Albeit this destroys projectivity of
the ambient threefold there still exist Cartier divisors defined in a formal
neighborhood of the base curve that intersect it non-trivially
bull Families of irreducible nodal rational curves which are flat over ∆ This
creates elliptic singularities on the general fiber of p which are disjoint from
other invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
bull Special Riccati again families of irreducible nodal rational curves fully con-
tained in X0 This creates elliptic singularities disjoint from other invariant
curves intersecting KF trivially
We can summarize our situation by way of
Set-up VI1 X is a 3-dimensional DM stack with at worst elliptic singularities
F a foliation by curves with canonical singularities which is not Q-Cartier in a
neighborhood of Xsing
There exists a proper morphism p X rarr ∆ smooth off 0 isin ∆ F restricts to a
foliation on every fiber of p it has canonical singularities on the very general fiber
of p and log-canonical singularities on every fiber of p KF is big and nef on every
irreducible component of every fiber of p
Let C be the invariant sub-scheme along which KF is not big then C is a curve
fully contained in the smooth locus X0capXsmooth every sub-curve of C has anti-ample
normal bundle the 1-simplex of its dual graph is a tree and detailed configurations
of such are referenced in set-up VI13
We proceed to contract such C We assume that along C the semi-simple field has
only rational eigenvalues and moreover no component of C is inside the foliation
singularity The other two cases - irrational eigenvalues and presence of singular
component - are strictly easier and can be obtained with the very same method
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 57
The proof takes place in the formal completion around C = C free cup C axes The
former is a disjoint union of trees of non-double curves For each non-double C let
F (C) denote the unique component of X0 containing it The latter is a tree of double
curves each with two triple points all contained in the same irreducible FC axes Each
tree of non-double curves touches C axes in one point through a LC-center In order
to construct the contraction we will use Artinrsquos celebrated criterion in the following
form
Fact VI1 ([Ar70]) Let X be an irreducible algebraic space i Y rarr X a closed
subspace of pure codimension 1 and f Y rarr Y0 a proper morphism with flowastOY = OY0
Let X denote the formal completion of X along Y and assume there exists a Cartier
divisor D in X which is supported on Y and is f -anti-ample Then there exists a
proper morphism of algebraic spaces F X rarr X0 which is an isomorphism away
from Y and such that ilowastF = f
Now we use the tree structure of C to construct a suitable divisor to which apply
Artinrsquos theorem Namely consider the following inductive defintion
(35) C0 = C axes F0 = FC axes
For k ge 0 assume Ck Fk are defined
bull Let Ck+1 denote the union of irreducible components of C that intersect Fk
non-trivially but are not contained in cupilekFibull Let Fk+1 denote the reduced sum (
sumCsubeCk+1
F (C))red
This process stops with a collection C1 middot middot middotCN of curves and F1 middot middot middot FN of reduced
divisors
Lemma VI1 We have the following identities
(36)
Fk middot C lt 0 for every C sube Ck
(F0 + F1) middot C le 0 for every C sube C0
(Fkminus1 + Fk + Fk+1) middot C = 0 for every C sube Ck 1 lt k lt N
(FNminus1 + FN) middot C lt 0 for every C sube CN
58 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proof The first is just the fact that every component of C is rigid The remaining
three follow from X0 middot C = 0 but the last one requires further justification Indeed
if C sube CN N gt 0 then C is one end of a tree of non-double curves In particular
there exists a foliation singularity lowast isin C disjoint from any other component of
C and LClowast is transverse to C This implies LClowast middotC gt 0 which together with
(FNminus1 + FN + LClowast) middot C = 0 concludes the proof
Let ε1 middot middot middot εN isin Qgt0 and define
(37) F Nminusk = (1 + ε1 + middot middot middot+ εk)FNminusk
bull If C sube CN we have
(38) (F Nminus1 + F
N) middot C = ε1FNminus1 middot C + (FNminus1 + FN) middot C
bull If C sube CNminusk 1 lt k lt N we have
(39)
(F Nminuskminus1 + F
Nminusk + F Nminusk+1) middot C =
(1 + middot middot middot+ εk)(FNminuskminus1 + FNminusk + FNminusk+1) middot C minus εkFNminusk+1 middot C + εk+1FNminuskminus1 middot C =
minus εkFNminusk+1 middot C + εk+1FNminuskminus1 middot C
bull If C sube C0 we have
(40) (F 0 + F
1) middot C = εNF0 middot C + (Nminus1sumj=0
εj)(F0 + F1) middot C
It is clear that provided
(41) 1 gtgt ε1 gtgt middot middot middot gtgt εN
the divisor F =sumF k is negative along every component of C
This proves the existence of the contraction and concludes the proof of the Main
Theorem I
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 59
VII Moduli space of foliated surfaces of general type
In this section we study the modular variation of foliated surfaces of general type
The upshot is that it is possible to define a functor which is representable separated
and every irreducible component is proper The main issue here is that the supporting
surface of a foliated canonical model may well fail to be projective indeed KF is not
Q-Gorenstein in general Hence in order to proceed via standard methods [Ko17]
we have to parametrize our canonical models together with a suitable projective
resolution
Definition VII13 Let (SF ) be a foliated proper reduced purely 2-dimensional
DM stack Assume S has only normal crossing singularities in codimension 1 that
F has log-canonical foliation singularities and that KF is big and nef on at least
one of the irreducible components of S If whenever KF middot C = 0 for some curve C
then C moves in an irreducible component of S and no member of such deformation
is F -invariant then (SF ) is called foliated canonical model of general type
Clearly foliated canonical models are exactly the stable degenerations appearing
as the central fiber of our Main Theorem I Their lack of projectivity has two sources
namely the contraction of cycles of smooth KF -nil curves and of trees of cuspidal
ones Singularities arising from cycles behave well in families namely they always
deform into the general fiber Those arising from cuspidal curves on the other hand
tend to be rather isolated inside the degenerate fiber
Observe that the deformation theory of a foliated surface is rather simple suppose
given an infinitesimal C-algebras extension 0 rarr J rarr Ae rarr A rarr 0 and (SF )
a foliated surface flat over Spec(A) then the obstruction to lifting to Ae can be
understood in three simple steps
(1) Deformation of the underlying surface S once a deformation Se rarr Spec(Ae)
is given
(2) Deformation of the line bundle KF by the exponential sequence
(42) 0rarr J otimes OS rarr OlowastSerarr OlowastS rarr 0
obstructions lie in H2(SOS)otimes J once a deformation of KF is given
60 FEDERICO BUONERBA
(3) Deformation of the defining section OS rarr KF otimes TS obstructions lie in
H1(SKF otimes TS)otimes J
Now we have
Definition VII14 Let (SF ) be a foliated canonical model of general type A
proper birational morphism q (SF )proj rarr (SF ) is called its projective resolution
if
bull Every irreducible component of Sproj is smooth
bull The exceptional locus of q is a disjoint union of cycles of KFproj-nil smooth
curves and trees of KFproj-nil curves each of which has a non-trivial cuspidal
singularity
bull In a neighborhood of every q-exceptional cycle not only Sproj but also its
moduli space is smooth
We need a few remarks about projective resolutions
(1) Projective resolutions are always unique Indeed the only possible ambiguity
could lie in some extra smooth irreducible components in the exceptional
locus This is forbidden by definition in the trees of cuspidal curves it is
also forbidden by way of the third item in cycles of smooth ones ie on
algebraic surfaces the minimal resolution is unique
(2) Denote by E the collection of q-exceptional cycles Then there exist ε δ isinQgt0 such that KFproj
minus εE + δKSprojis ample by Nakai-Moishezon
(3) Deformations of a projective resolution of a foliated canonical model are
canonically identified with deformations of the underlying birational mor-
phism q Sproj rarr S followed by a deformation of the foliation F
We are now ready to construct a moduli functor for foliated surfaces more precisely
for projective resolutions of foliated canonical models of general type For m dN isinN and ε δ isin Qgt0 let
(43) MmdNεδ (C-schemes)rarr (sets)
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 61
be defined by MmdNεδ(S) = Diagrams
(44) (X F )projqminusrarr (X F )
pminusrarr S
Where
bull Both p and p q are flat and proper
bull For every closed point s isin S the induced morphism qs is the projective
resolution of (X F )s which is a foliated canonical model of general type
bull Denote by Es the collection of exceptional cycles of qs By our Main Theorem
I there is a fibrewise divisor E subXproj flat over S restricting to Es for every
s isin S
bull Let j W rarr Xproj denote the maximal closed subscheme away from which
KFprojand KXprojS are locally free Then
(45) L [m] = (jlowast(KFprojotimes OXproj
(minusεE )otimesKδXprojS
)otimesm)oror
is flat over S and commutes with base-change
bull L [m] is very ample of degree d on every fiber and defines an embedding into
PNS
We are now ready for
Theorem VII15 The functor MmdNεδ is represented by a separated algebraic
space each of whose irreducible components is proper
Proof We show that our functor satisfies Artinrsquos conditions [Ar74 Corollary 54] By
definition condition 1) and 4) hold while our previous remark on foliated obstruction
theory shows that 3) is true
We proceed to show 2) namely effectivity of formal deformations for MmdNεδ
What follows owes much to Artinrsquos [A74rsquo] Let T be a complete C-algebra Tn its
n-truncation so that Tsimminusrarr limlarrminusTn and finally qn isinMmdNεδ(Spec(Tn)) a compatible
sequence For each n there is a maximal open set Un sube Xprojn where qn is an
isomorphism denote by sn Cn rarr Zn the restriction of qn to the complement of Un
Clearly sn is projective over Spec(Tn)
62 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Denote by X C etc the formal algebraic spaces obtained as limits of Xn Cn
etc Then Xproj sub PNˆSpec(T )
hence by Grothendieckrsquos existence Theorem we find
bull a flat projective family (X F )proj rarr Spec(T ) resp a closed subscheme
C subXproj whose completion is Xproj resp C
bull a scheme Z whose completion is Z and a morphism s C rarr Z everything
being projective over Spec(T )
Further we have a formal contraction limminusrarr qn C rarr Z hence the main theorem
of [Ar70] gives algebraic contraction (X F )proj rarr (X F ) This proves the repre-
sentability of MmdNεδ The properness and separability of each irreducible com-
ponent can be checked using valutative criteria indeed properness is the content of
our Main Theorem I separatedness follows from the uniqueness of foliated canonical
models of general type and their projective resolution
References
[Ar70] M Artin Algebraization of Formal Moduli II Existence of Modifications Ann
of Math Vol 91 No 1 (Jan 1970) pp 88-135 httpwwwjstororgstable
1970602
[Ar74] M Artin Versal Deformations and Algebraic Stacks Inventiones Math 27 165- 189
(1974) httpmathuchicagoedu~drinfeldArtin_on_stackspdf
[A74rsquo] M Artin Algebraic construction of Brieskornrsquos resolutions J Alg Vol 29 Issue
2 May 1974 pp 330-348 httpwwwsciencedirectcomsciencearticlepii
0021869374901021
[BB72] P Baum R Bott Singularities of holomorphic foliations J Diff Geom 7 (1972)
279-342 httpsprojecteuclidorgdownloadpdf_1euclidjdg1214431158
[Bo77] F Bogomolov Families of curves on a surface of general type Doklady Akademii Nauk
USSR (in Russian) 236 (5) 1041-1044
[Bo78] F Bogomolov Holomorphic tensors and vector bundles on projective varieties Math
USSR Izv 13 (1978) 499-555
[BM16] F Bogomolov M McQuillan Rational Curves on Foliated Varieties In Cascini
McKernan Pereira (eds) Foliation Theory in Algebraic Geometry Simons Symposia
Springer Cham pp 21-51 (2016) httpslinkspringercomchapter101007
978-3-319-24460-0_2
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 63
[Bu] F Buonerba Functorial resolution of tame quotient singularities in positive charac-
teristic httpsarxivorgabs151100550
[Ke99] S Keel Basepoint Freeness for Nef and Big Line Bundles in Positive Characteris-
tic Annals of Math 149 No 1 (Jan 1999) pp 253-286 httpwwwjstororg
stable121025 httpsarxivorgabsmath9901149
[KM97] S Keel S Mori Quotients by groupoids Annals of Math 145 (1997) pp
193-213 httpwwwjstororgstable2951828seq=1page_scan_tab_contents
httparxivorgabsalg-geom9508012
[Ko17] J Kollar Families of varieties of general type httpswebmathprincetonedu
~kollarbookmodbook20170720pdf
[LN02] A Lins Neto Some examples for the Poincare and Painleve problems Annales sci-
entifiques de lrsquoENS 352 (2002) 231-266 httparchivenumdamorgarticle
ASENS_2002_4_35_2_231_0pdf
[McQ12] M McQuillan Foliated Mori Theory amp Hyperbolicity of Algebraic Surfaces http
wwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillahomehtml
[McQ98] M McQuillan Diophantine approximation and foliations Inst Hautes Etudes Sci
Publ Math 87 (1998) 121-174 httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafiles
ihespdf
[McQ05rsquo] M McQuillan Bloch hyperbolicity preprint httpwwwmatuniroma2it
~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ05] M McQuillan Semi-stable reduction of foliations IHES pre-print IHESM0502
(2005) httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ05rdquo] M McQuillan Uniform Uniformisation IHES pre-print (2005) IHES M0503 http
wwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ08] M McQuillan Canonical models of foliations Pure Appl Math Q 4
(2008) no 3 Special Issue In honor of Fedor Bogomolov Part 2 877-1012
httpintlpresscomsitepubfiles_fulltextjournalspamq20080004
0003PAMQ-2008-0004-0003-a009pdf
[MP13] M McQuillan D Panazzolo Almost etale resolution of foliations J Diff Geom 95
(2013) pp 279-319 httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesmp1bispdf
[Pe02] JV Pereira On the Poincare Problem for Foliations of General Type Mathematische
Annalen 323 no 2 pp217-226 2002 httpsarxivorgabsmath0104185
[PS16] JV Pereira R Svaldi Effective algebraic integration in bounded genus preprint
httpsarxivorgabs161206932
64 FEDERICO BUONERBA
[Re83] M Reid Minimal models of canonical threefolds in rdquoAlgebraic Varieties and Ana-
lytic Varietiesrdquo Adv Stud Pure Math vol 1 S Iitaka ed Kinokuniya and North-
Holland 1983 pp 131-180 httpwwwmathsedacukcheltsovquotientpdf
reid2pdf
[Se67] A Seidenberg Reduction of singularities of the differential equation Ady = Bdx Amer
J Math 89 (1967) 248-269 httpwwwjstororgstable2373435
[SB83] N Shepherd-Barron Degenerations with numerically effective canonical divisor The
Birational Geometry of Degenerations (R Friedman and D Morrison eds) Progr
Math no 29 Birkhuser 1983 pp 33-84
[Vis89] A Vistoli Intersection theory on algebraic stacks and on their moduli spaces
Invent Math (1989) pp 613-670 httplinkspringercomarticle101007
2FBF01388892page-1
Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences New York University 251 Mercer
Street New York NY 10012 USA
E-mail address buonerbacimsnyuedu
- I Introduction
- II Preliminaries
-
- III Operations on Deligne-Mumford stacks
- IIII Width of embedded parabolic champs
- IIIII Gorenstein foliation singularities
- IIIV Foliated adjunction
- IIV Canonical models of foliated surfaces with canonical singularities
- IIVI Canonical models of foliated surfaces with log-canonical singularities
- IIVII Set-up
-
- III Invariant curves and singularities local description
-
- IIII `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F) not isolated
- IIIII `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F) isolated
- IIIIII Local consequences
-
- IV Invariant curves along which KF vanishes
-
- IVI KF-nil curves
- IVII Invariant curves inside `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F)
-
- V Configurations
-
- VI Configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
- VII Configurations of non-rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
-
- VI Contractions and proof of the Main Theorem
- VII Moduli space of foliated surfaces of general type
- References
-
36 FEDERICO BUONERBA
It is worth remarking that the above relations hold between eigenvalues at the two
singular point of singular ie nodal or cuspidal KF -nil curves as well this is
easily seen by taking a root followed by net completion and keeping track of the
eigenvalues
Definition IVI4 Let C be a KF -nil curve The foliation singular points along C
are called ends
As well as the existence of Hilbert scheme in the following form
Fact IVI5 Let W sub Xlowast be a curve and D a divisor in the formal neighborhood
of W such that W = D capXlowast scheme-theoretically Then W moves in D
In what follows our main concern is to understand formal neighborhoods of KF -
nil curves Observe that the fibration p when restricted to the formal neighborhood
of such curves provides at least one eigenfunction of the semi-simple field Hence
in order to compute the width IIII we must study the behavior of the other eigen-
function on infinitesimal neighborhoods We first describe the situation inside the
smooth locus of p
Proposition IVI6 (Smooth fiber) Let f C rarrX be an irreducible KF -nil curve
which is contained in the smooth locus of a fiber Xlowast of p Then the end(s) on C are
flat over ∆ ni (1)b and ni (1)a with z2|g(y z) and C moves in a family flat over
∆
Proof Let us assume that f is net Then upon passing to net completion we can
actually assume it is embedded From our local classification of singularities we case
in case ni (1)a and ni (2)a We want to show that both ends have components
that move transversely to p hence we have to exclude case ni (1)a with g(y z) = ya
By way of contradiction say we have g(y z) = ya in the notation of opcit around
an end lowast isin C We proceed to compute what happens at the other end we find
formal coordinates ξ η ζ which by equation 23 satisfy
(24) ξ = xminus1 η = y ζ = xmz mod(I2C)
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 37
As such we compute part(ζ) = mζ + ξminusmηa mod(I2C) which is holomorphic if and only
if m le 0 so then C moves in Xlowast contradicting that the foliation has general type
Hence we are in cases ni (1)a ni (2)a with g = microyazb b ge 1
(25) part0 = xpart
partx+ microyazb
part
partz partinfin = minusξ part
partξ+ ζ(m+ microξm(bminus1)ηaζbminus1)
part
partζ(mod(I2C))
Following notation from subsection IIII observe that C1 is the section of E1C which
is disjoint from the proper transform of the fiber of p In coordinates over 0
(26) x1 = x y1 = y z1 = zyminus1
And similarly over infin Using the previous equation and 25 on C1 we find
(27)
part01 = x1part
partx1+microya+bminus11 zb1
part
partz1 partinfin1 = minusξ1
part
partξ1+ζ1(m+microξ
m(bminus1)1 ηa+bminus11 ζbminus11 )
part
partζ1(mod(I2C1
))
In particular the transform of the nilpotent field is still nilpotent after blowing up in
C It follows that the eigenvalues of the semi-simple field at the two ends of C and
C1 are the same Using equation 23 we deduce that the normal bundle to C1X1 to
isomorphic to that of CX in particular it contains a trivial direct summand This
proves that width(C) =infin
Next we show that f must be net Consider the induced flat projection pD D rarr ∆
its general fiber cannot be a cuspidal curve since along such cusp the foliation sin-
gularity would be log-canonical but not canonical Hence if C has a cusp necessarily
the general fiber of pD is a nodal curve Let X rarr X denote the blow up of the
nodal locus of pD with exceptional divisor E ruled over ∆ In a neighborhood of E
we have sing(F ) = D cap E which projects to ∆ as a double cover ramified over lowastObserve that the foliation on Xlowast is again log-canonical and not canonical hence its
local structure is ni (2)a In that case however p is unramified along the foliation
singularity Contradiction
We state a general criterion for movability of KF -nil curves
Proposition IVI7 Let C be a connected KF -nil curve such that p(C ) = lowast isin ∆
Assume its dual graph is a chain that none of its irreducible components is double
38 FEDERICO BUONERBA
VI3 and that its two extremal ends are flat over ∆ Then C moves in a family flat
over ∆ and each of its irreducible components is embedded
Proof We work in a formal neighborhood of C After taking roots we can assume
C is net and since its dual graph is a chain it is actually embedded We proceed by
induction on its length l where the case l = 1 is Proposition IVI6 For l gt 1 let C1
be a component of C which is extremal in its dual graph If C1 moves transversely
to p then both its ends do and hence we can apply the induction hypothesis to
C C1 If C1 is rigid then it can be flopped It is straightforward to check that we
can apply the induction hypothesis to the transform C + C+1 and we are done
Now we deal with rigid curves inside the singular fiber
Proposition IVI8 (Singular fiber) Let f C rarr X be an embedded net KF -
nil curve with anti-ample normal bundle Then there exists a birational map φ
(X F ) 99K (X +F+) and a KF+-nil curve C+ such that
bull φ is an isomorphism away from C+
bull In a formal neighborhood of at least one among C and C+ there exist two
invariant hypersurfaces D1D2 locally defined by the vanishing of eigenfunc-
tions of the semi-simple field such that C (resp C+)= D1 capD2
bull If F middot C lt 0 for some hypersurface F then F+ middot C+ gt 0 In particular X +
is projective
Such φ is called flop
Proof Our assumption is that Nfsimminusrarr O(minusn)oplusO(minusm) is anti-ample namely nm gt
0 If two invariant hypersurfaces as in our statement do exist around C the flop is
easily constructed as a weighted blow-up followed by a weighted blow-down As such
let us assume that such hypersurfaces do not exist around C In particular C is not
double VI3 By [Ar70] there exists a formal contraction c X rarrX0 collapsing C
to a point and an isomorphism everywhere else By Proposition IVI3 the foliation
F0 is Gorenstein around the node of X0 For ease of exposition let us assume
n = m = 1 the general case is handled the same way only the notation becomes more
cumbersome due to the presence of weights The node has embedding dimension 4
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 39
and in suitable local coordinates x0 y0 w0 z0 can be defined by x0z0minusy0w0 = 0 The
morphism c can be identified with the blow up of the embedded surface (x0 = y0 = 0)
Explicitly in the chart y = y0 x = x0yminus10 it is defined by
(28) y0 = y x0 = xy z0 = zprime w0 = xzprime
Here x is a coordinate along C while y = 0 is the pull-back of (x0 = y0 = 0) and
zprime some function in the normal bundle to C By the previous Proposition IVI6
we know C cannot be contained in the smooth locus of p Since C is not double
we can assume that in this local chart p is defined by (x y zprime) rarr xy - the case
(x y zprime) rarr xzprime being isomorphic as it is isomorphic to blow-up (z0 = w0 = 0)
instead of (x0 = y0 = 0) The issue is as emphasized by the notation zprime 6= z that
zprime may fail to be an eigenfunction for partS if it were we would be done since zprime = 0
is the local equation for the global pullback of (z0 = w0 = 0) However we have
a b isin C such that
(29) partS0(y0) = minusy0 partS0(x0) = 0 partS0(z0) = ay0 + bz0 partS0(w0) = ax0 + (b+ 1)w0
Observe that the embedded surfaces D01 = (y0 = z0 = 0) and D0
2 = (x0 = w0 = 0)
are both foliation invariant As such let b X + rarr X0 denote the blow-up of X0
along D01 - which is isomorphic to that along D0
2 - and let Di = blowastD0i i = 1 2
Finally X + is projective by Nakai-Moishezon Indeed every C with anti-ample
normal bundle is contained in an irreducible component F of X0 such that F middotC lt 0
Then F+ middot C+ gt 0 and we can find an ample divisor of the form H+ + εF+ where
H+ is the proper transform of an ample on X
Remark IVI9 In the previous proof a 6= b+ 1 Indeed such identity would create
a non-trivial Jordan block of partS0 in the (x0 w0)-plane thus contradicting the semi-
simplicity of partS0 In particular by a straightforward computation it is impossible to
find eigenfunctions of the form wlowast0 = w0 + αx0 zlowast0 = z0 + βy0 with x0z
lowast0 minus y0wlowast0 = 0
unless a = 0
We can conclude by pointing out an important point understood in this section
A painful aspect of the theory is that log-canonical singularities which appear natu-
rally as analytic degenerations of canonical ones come along with cuspidal invariant
40 FEDERICO BUONERBA
curves There is in particular no a-priori obstruction to the existence of rigid
cuspidal KF -nil curves in a smooth fiber of our family of foliated surfaces p Quite
generally a rigid curve of positive arithmetic genus in a smooth family of surfaces can
never be contracted to a point Therefore this would have been a counter-example
to any reasonable foliated canonical model theory one may wish to achieve Fortu-
nately such phenomenon does not happen and this establishes the Main Theorem I
modulo finitely many rigid curves confined in the singular fiber X0
IVII Invariant curves inside sing(F ) In this subsection we study curves Z0 subeXlowast cap sing(F ) which are inside the foliation singularity and invariant By this we
mean that there exists a sequence fn Cn rarrX of not necessarily algebraic invariant
curves converging in the compact-open topology to Z0 In other words the map
(30) NorF rarr Ω1Z0
is trivial By Corollary IIIIII5 we know that Z0 is at worst nodal it is smooth
wherever p is smooth for every point z isin Z0 the semi-simple part of the gener-
ating vector field has exactly one eigenvalue The problem here is that the Jordan
decomposition need not extend uniformly along Z0 not even along an irreducible
component In case ni (1)a the functions x and g may develop essential singulari-
ties arbitrary close to z Nonetheless the function x is unique and this says that x
does extend along Z0
Proposition IVII1 Let Z0 be as above Then in a formal neighborhood of Z0
there exists a unique smooth invariant hypersurface D0 containing Z0 which restricts
around any point in Z0 to the unique eigenfunction for the semi-simple field whose
eigenvalue is non-zero
Proof The local structure of the foliation around a point z isin Z0 is described by
cases ni (1)a and ni (1)b In both cases partS has one non-zero eigenvalue with
eigenfunction x Such eigenfunction x is a-priori only defined in the normal bundle to
Z0 but it is clear that the equation partx = x has a unique up to constants solution in
the formal completion around z As such there exists a unique smooth hypersurface
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 41
D0 in the formal completion around Z0 which restricts to the eigenfunction x around
z
Observe that the previous argument goes through since we are assuming Z0 subX0
Keeping notations from case ni (1)a if say g(y z) = yz then in the hypersurface
y equiv q isin Qgt0 the foliation has a log-canonical singularity and the eigenfunction x
extends highly non-uniquely to a formal neighborhood of the point (x y z) = (0 q 0)
In particular the existence of D0 as in the previous Proposition might fail along
the component (x = z = 0) of the foliation singularity This phenomenon is called
the beast
Anyway uniqueness in the previous proposition yields
Corollary IVII2 Let Z prime be a connected invariant curve inside sing(F ) Then in
a formal neighborhood of Z prime there exists a unique smooth invariant hypersurface D prime
containing Z prime which restricts around any point in Z prime to the hypersurface constructed
in the previous proposition
Next we turn to the intrinsic structure of invariant singular curves
Proposition IVII3 Let Z0 be an irreducible invariant curve inside sing(F )
Then Z0 is smooth and rational
Proof We work in a formal neighborhood of Z0 Let F0 denote the unique component
of X0 containing Z0 For any other fiber component F intersecting Z0 non-trivially
blow-up the invariant curve F cap F0 with exceptional divisor EF A straightforward
computation using the local formula ni (1)b shows that the fiber of the natural
projection EF rarr F cap F0 intersecting Z0 is also contained in sing(F ) For Z prime the
maximal connected singular invariant curve containing Z0 let G denote the saturated
foliation induced on D prime It is canonical with reduced singularities and it satisfies
KG = KF |Dprime minus Zprime By adjunction
(31) 2g(Z0)minus 2 + sZG(Z0) = minusZ prime middot Z0
Observe that thanks to our initial sequence of blow-ups the singularities of G along
Z0 coincide with the intersection of Z0 and Z prime Z0 In particular since D prime is formally
42 FEDERICO BUONERBA
flat over ∆ we deduce Z prime middot Z0 = 0 and the previous formula becomes
(32) 2g(Z0)minus 2 + sZG(Z0) = 0
This implies that Z0 is rational or elliptic If Z0 were elliptic then sZG(Z0) = 0 and
D0 defines an invariant elliptic curve in the general fiber of p By Baum-Bott this
contradicts that KF is big and nef Now we show that Z0 is smooth If it has a node
then D0 moves it in a family of nodal rational curves flat over ∆ In particular D0
itself has a node in codimension 1 hence Xlowast is smooth around the node of Z0 In its
formal neighborhood the foliation must be as in case ni (1)a which implies that
Z0 is smooth contradiction
We can improve as follows
Proposition IVII4 Let Z prime sube sing F capXlowast be a connected invariant curve with
KF middot Z prime = 0 Then its dual graph is a chain
Proof Assume Z prime is a cycle Then necessarily Z prime = D prime capXlowast scheme-theoretically
and by the existence of Hilbert scheme Z prime moves in the general fiber Its general
member is either a cycle of smooth rational curves or an elliptic curve Arguing as
in the previous proof we see that both options are impossible
V Configurations
In this section we analyze in great detail all possible configurations of invariant
curves along which KF vanishes These can be divided into three groups those
that do not move those that move in a one-dimensional family covering a surface
those that move in a higher-dimensional family covering a surface Curves in the first
group can form rather complicated configurations while those in the second group
are more simple they either move in the general fiber or they cover an isolated
Riccati component in the singular fiber Those in the third group turn out to be
represented by the two rulings of P1timesP1 if they happen to be cohomologous in the
ambient stack First we will analyze rigid curves then those which move and finally
we will describe their configurations
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 43
VI Configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially In
this subsection we describe configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF
trivially which arise in the situation described by set-up IIVII4
First we focus on KF -nil curves At the end of the section we deal with the simpler
case in which a curve in the configuration is fully contained in sing(F ) The general
fiber was handled in Proposition IVI6
Proposition VI1 Let C be a connected KF -nil curve contained in the smooth
locus of a fiber of p Then it is a chain or a cycle and it moves in a family flat over
∆
In what follows we let C denote a connected KF -nil curve contained in the
singular fiber X0 all of whose sub-curves are rigid in X Observe a consequence of
equation 23
Proposition VI2 Let C = cupiCi be a connected KF -nil curve Then the eigen-
values of partS are all rational at every point of sing(F )capC if and only if they are all
rational at one point
We can deduce many non-trivial properties about configurations of KF -nil curves
First we need
Definition VI3 Let C subX0 be a curve It is called double if there exists formally
around C two components F F prime of X0 such that C = F cap F prime A point lowast isin C where
three fiber components intersect is called a triple point If C lies on exactly one fiber
component it is called non-double We denote by F (C) such component
Remark VI4 Let Csimminusrarr P1(d e) be double with two triple points Then we know
e+ λ+ micro = minusd+ (λ+ n) + (micro+m) = 0 whence we obtain
(33) n+m = d+ e
Which is called triple-point formula
Next we show that essentially KF -nil curves do not form cycles unless something
deforms in X0 First we show that there are no cycles of rigid non-double curves
44 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proposition VI5 Let C be a connected KF -nil curve contained in the singular
fiber X0 of p Assume that every component of C is non-double and that every
sub-curve is rigid Then C contains no cycles
Proof We work in a formal neighborhood of C which we assume is a cycle Let
us first consider the case in which all components C1 middot middot middot CN are smooth with no
orbifold points and denote lowasti = Ci cap Ci+1 with CN+1 = C1 Moreover let us
assume no lowasti lies in the smooth locus of p
Since no curve is double the semi-simple field at every lowasti is as in case i (3)b in
particular the eigenvalues along the branches of Ci and Ci+1 add up to zero More-
over let minusni denote the self-intersection of Ci sub F (Ci) Normalize the eigenvalues
of partS so that at lowastn they are 1 in the C1 direction minus1 in the CN direction λ in the
F (C1)capF (CN) direction It follows by induction that at lowasti the eigenvalues are minus1
in the Ci direction 1 in the Ci+1 direction λ+ n1 + middot middot middot+ ni in the F (Ci) cap F (Ci+1)
direction After traveling around the cycle we obtain n1+middot middot middot+nN = 0 contradicting
that ni gt 0 for every i
We established the Proposition assuming every Ci is an embedded scheme and ev-
ery lowasti is in the singular locus of p The case in which Cisimminusrarr P1(di ei) has orbifold
points is analogous we end up with a combination c1n1 + middot middot middot + cNnN = 0 with ci
the eigenvalue at lowasti in the Ci+1 direction Normalizing so that c1 = e1 gt 0 again by
induction on i we see that every ci isin Qgt0 Next we show that our assumption on lowastiis always satisfied
Claim VI6 Every lowasti must belong to the singular locus of p
Proof We give two essentially equivalent proofs
bull If N = 2 3 then the previous argument goes through indeed we can normal-
ize eigenvalues at lowasti to be negative in the Ciminus1 direction and positive in the
Ci-direction and argue as above Hence we can assume N ge 4 If say lowasti is in
the smooth locus of p then F (Ci) = F (Ci+1) If also F (Ciminus1) = F (Ci) then Ci
lies in the smooth locus of p and hence it moves Therefore F (Ciminus1) 6= F (Ci)
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 45
and Ciminus1 can be flopped inside F (Ci) Since N ge 4 this preserves the smooth-
ness of F (Ci) and Ci is now is the smooth locus of p - contradiction
bull If lowasti belongs to the smooth locus of p then the end through lowasti moves We
can form a partial net completion fi Xi rarrX by normalizing C in lowasti only
Then f lowasti C is a chain with movable ends and hence moves in the general fiber
of p fi
Finally the general case in which some among the Ci have cusps can be easily
reduced to the smooth case in a couple of ways
bull Eigenvalues at the singularities of any KF -nil curve satisfy the same relations
as in the smooth case
bull Upon taking roots and net completion we can find a foliated formal 3-fold
supported on a cycle of smooth KF -nil curves which is a ramified cover of a
formal neighborhood of our cycle
Similarly we can show that there are no rigid cycles of double curves
Proposition VI7 Let C be a nodal KF -nil curve which is double Then C
deforms inside X0 In particular there cannot exist a rigid cycle of KF -nil double
curves
Proof Following the previous notation we have 0 = infin and if C = (xy = z = 0)
around 0 then we have identities
(34) x = η y = ξ z = ζ
The last one of which implies m = 0 that is C deforms Since C is double necessarily
the surface it spans must be contained in X0
The statement about cycles follows since a cycle of double curves can be transformed
after finitely many flops into a chain of smooth double curves with a nodal one
attached at one end
46 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Later on we will show that the deformations of C cannot span an elliptic surface
but only a family of nodal rational curves with a special Riccati foliation on it
We are ready to organize a detailed description of the dual graph of C More pre-
cisely we only need to understand how double curves intersect non-double curves
Lemma VI8 There exists a sequence of flops X 99KX + such that if C + denotes
the transform of C every double curve supported on C + contains two triple points
Proof Let C sube C be an irreducible component with at most one triple point and
let X 99K X + be its flop Then its transform C+ is non-double and the number
of double curves contained in C descreases It is clear that after finitely many flops
all double curves contain exactly two triple points
From now on all double curves in C have two triple points Thanks to proposition
VI2 we know that there are two cases to consider those curves along which the
semi-simple field has not only rational eigenvalues and those along which the semi-
simple field has only rational eigenvalues The first case being strictly easier than
the second it is a good starting place to warm up
Proposition VI9 (irrational eigenvalues) Assume that for every foliation singu-
larity along C not all eigenvalues of partS are rational Then every component of C
is net with at most one node and 1-skeleton of its dual graph is at worst trivalent
Write C = C axes cup C free where
C axes is the union of double curves
C free is the union of non-double curves
Then one among C axes and C free is empty Moreover
bull If C free is non-empty then it is a chain of smooth curves with rational moduli
bull If C axes is non-empty there exists a sequence of flops X 99KX + and an ir-
reducible component of the fiber FC subX + such that X + is a smooth stack
the transform C+ of C is contained in FC Moreover the dual graph of C+
is a tree which by [McQ08 III32] becomes a chain inside the normalization
of FC
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 47
Proof The first sentence is just corollary IIIIII3
Observe that if a non-double curve intersects a double curve then the non-double
curve must be contained in an LC-center around such intersection This contradicts
that not all eigenvalues are rational and establishes that one among C axes and C free
is empty
In case C free is not empty then it is clearly a chain or a cycle the latter being
impossible by Proposition VI5
We are left to show the existence of flops in case C = C axes We remark that
every component is smooth Let C0 be such a component and S0 a component of
X0 containing it Let C1 be the collection of irreducible components of C which
intersect S0 but are not contained in it All the components of C1 are smooth hence
we can flop them in any order until the transform of C1 lies in the transform of S0
Since the number of irreducible components of C lying outside S0 decreases after
such flop by induction we deduce the existence of finitely many flops after which
the birational transform of C is fully contained in the transform of S0
Next we take care of rational eigenvalues The complication here arises from
the fact that there may be double and non-double curves intersecting each other
However the situation is best possible
Proposition VI10 (rational eigenvalues) Assume that for every foliation singu-
larity along C all eigenvalues of partS are rational Write C = C axes cup C free where
C axes is the union of double curves
C free is the union of non-double curves
Then there exists a sequence of flops X 99K X + and an irreducible component of
the fiber FC axes subX + such that
bull X + is a smooth stack
bull The union of double curves of C axes is contained in FC axes the 1-skeleton of
its dual graph is a tree and each of its components has two triple points
bull The 1-skeleton of the dual graph of the transform C free+ is a disjoint union of
trees
bull Each connected component of C free+ intersects C axes in exactly one point
48 FEDERICO BUONERBA
In particular the 1-skeleton of the dual graph of C is a tree
Proof Notice that for every point lowast isin C cap Z there exists one LC-center through lowastIndeed there are three rational eigenvalues and they cannot be all non-vanishing and
all with different signs at the same time Now C axes can be treated as in proposition
VI9 This proves the first two items of the statement The third item follows from
Proposition VI5 so we can focus on the fourth one The proof is based on the
following obvious
Remark VI11 let C be a double curve such that either it is KF -nil hence has
two triple points or it is fully contained in sing(F ) Let C0 sube C free intersect C
non-trivially in a point lowast then necessarily C0 sub LClowast
Now let C0 middot middot middot CN form a chain of non-double curves with C0 and CN both
intersecting double curves as in the remark Denote by lowasti = Ci cap Ci+1 Since
C1 sub LClowast necessarily C1 is transverse to LClowast1 otherwise C1 would deform in F (C1)
Inductively we see that Ci+1 sub LClowasti and is transverse to LClowasti+1 In particular CN
cannot touch a double curve This contradiction proves the fourth item
Let us add a remark about configurations featuring invariant curves inside sing(F )
Proposition VI12 Let C be an invariant curve with KF middot C = 0 such that
Z0 sube C for some component Z0 sube sing(F ) Then C = Z prime cup C where
Z prime is a connected invariant curve inside the foliation singularity with dual graph a
chain
C is the union of at most two pairwise disjoint KF -nil curves with anti-ample
normal bundle
If not empty C can only intersect Z prime at the two ends of its dual graph Moreover
perhaps after a flop the intersection of C with Z prime supports the foliation singularity
along C As such if C has two components Z prime cup C deforms in the general fiber
Proof The structure of Z prime is Proposition IVII3 while that of Co is Proposition
IVI6 Let C prime be a component of C intersecting Z0 in a point lowast If C prime and Z0 belong
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 49
to different components of X0 then by case ni (1)b the eigenvalue of partS along C prime
vanishes so supp(sing(F ) cap C prime) = lowast If C prime and Z0 belong to the same component
then we can flop C prime into a different component
Observe that the divisor D prime from op cit can be extended along C prime This implies
that C can only intersect Z prime at its ends Moreover if C touches both ends necessarily
D prime capX0 = C scheme-theoretically hence by the existence of Hilbert scheme IVI5
we conclude
Our new set-up is
Set-up VI13 Everything as in set-up IIVII4 and moreover for any connected
invariant curve C with KF middot C = 0 all of whose sub-curves are rigid we have
configurations computed in proposition VI9 VI10 and Lemma VI12
VII Configurations of non-rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
In this subsection we describe configurations of surfaces which are covered by KF -nil
curves The structure of each such surface is described by classification IIV1 IIV2
and Corollary IIVI17 Our first step is to simplify the situation by contracting
chains of ruled surfaces The next step is to try and exclude the possibility that
the singular fiber of p contains fibrations by elliptic or nodal rational curves with
at least one invariant fiber This can be achieved with good success indeed there
may be at most one such Riccati foliation which is anyway rather isolated from the
remaining KF -nil curves Finally we observe that the only class of surfaces we have
not mentioned is
Definition VII1 A irreducible component F of the singular fiber of p is called
small Kronecker if
bull (FFF ) is birational to a Kronecker vector field on P1 timesP1 and
bull The two rulings of this P1 timesP1 are cohomologous inside X
The name comes from the fact that contraction of a small Kronecker yields a node
in the ambient threefold which admits a small resolution In fact in many respects
these fiber components behave very much like rigid KF -nil curves
50 FEDERICO BUONERBA
We start by getting rid of some fiber components which are ruled by KF -nil gener-
ically smooth rational curves
Proposition VII2 Notation as in Set-up VI13 there exists a sequence of flops
and divisorial contractions c X 99KX + such that
bull X + is a smooth stack
bull let S+ sub X + be an irreducible invariant divisor that contains a positive-
dimensional family of invariant rational curves along which KF+ vanishes
Then S+ is either birationally ruled by nodal rational curves or it is a small
Kronecker
Proof We focus first on contracting components of the singular fiber of p Consider
the following algorithm If there is no birationally ruled component different from
the ones listed in the second item we are done otherwise pick one such F and let
C denote the general member of the ruling If the cohomology class [C] is inde-
composable F is minimal Otherwise [C] = [C1] + [C2] where Ci are rational and
intersect KF trivially After finitely many steps we have a decomposition as a finite
sum of indecomposables [C] =sumn
i=0 ni[Ci] where every Ci is rational intersects KF
trivially We have two cases
bull There exists k such that Ck deforms in a birationally ruled necessarily min-
imal surface Fk
bull Every Ci has anti-ample normal bundle
In the first case denote by X rarr X1 the contraction of Fk along |Ck| and relpace
X by X1 Since Fk is minimal smoothness of the ambient stack is preserved unless
Fk is a small Kronecker This is however impossible if n ge 2 if Fk were a small
Kronecker then Ck deforms away from Fkminus1 so then Fkminus1 middot Ck = 0 on the other
hand Fkminus1 intersects the other ruling of Fk positively
In the second case flop C1 middot middot middot Cn in this order The transform of F is minimal and
not a small Kronecker so it can be contracted along its ruling preserving ambient
smoothness By induction on the Picard rank of X after finitely many steps this
algorithm ends Call X the output of this algorithm
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 51
Let S subX be an invariant divisor with a generically smooth ruling Then pS S rarr∆ is flat and after flopping finitely many rational curves in S cap plowastS(0) the resulting
pS is smooth Hence we can contract S along pS After finitely many steps the
Proposition is proven
For ease of notation in the sequel we call X the output of the previous proposition
Notice that there might still be divisors carrying a pencil of nodal rational curves
both inside and outside the singular fiber of p
We can start analyzing configurations of fiber components where the restriction of
F is not of general type We need some notation whose reason to exist will be clear
shortly
Definition VII3 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
along which KF is not big F is called special Riccati if
bull F is minimal
bull There exists a morphism s F rarr B onto a curve whose fibers are nodal
rational curve
bull F is transverse to the general fiber of s in particular KF is numerically
trivial along s
bull At least one fiber of s is invariant
bull There exists a section σ of s which is invariant and does not coincide with
the nodal locus of F
In particular the intersections of σ with invariant fibers of s isolated singularities
of F the node of F all coincide There may be fibers of s fully contained in sing(F )
in which case they are everywhere transverse to the saturated foliation
The definition looks nasty but special Riccati components have a rather simple
origin as the following proof shows
Lemma VII4 Let F be special Riccati Up to base change by an etale double cover
Bprime rarr B there is a natural isomorphism F norm simminusrarr BprimetimesP1 and the restriction of F
to F norm is birational to the projection onto P1
52 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proof We work over the normalization F norm Denote by Bprime the pre-image of the
node of F which is an etale double cover of B and let f denote an invariant fiber
of s with lowast = σ cap f Observe that F norm carries a Riccati foliation with 3 invariant
curves through lowast - namely σ f and a component of Bprime Hence FF has a log-canonical
singularity in lowast On F norm perform a weighted blow-up in each log-canonical singu-
larity followed by the contraction of the transforms of the corresponding fibers Let
s+ F+ rarr B denote the output of this operation If the proper transform of Bprime is
connected replace F+ by its base change under Bprime rarr B Hence we can assume Bprime
is the disjoint union of two sections of s+ and the transform of σ is a third section
which is disjoint from Bprime Therefore F+ = P1 timesBprime and the foliation restricts to the
projection onto P1
Next we describe those surfaces which cannot appear as components of the sin-
gular fiber X0
Definition VII5 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
along which KF is not big F is called illusory if
bull there exists a morphism t F rarr B onto a curve
bull KF is trivial along t
bull For any other fiber component F prime the intersection F cap F prime is either empty or
contained in a fiber of t
We give examples of illusory fiber components
Lemma VII6 The following fiber components are necessarily illusory
bull t is elliptic the foliation is either parallel to t or turbolent with at least one
invariant fiber
bull t is a nodal ruling the foliation is either parallel to t or transverse to t with
at least one invariant fiber and not birational to a special Riccati VII3
Proof Let f = F cap F prime for some fiber component F prime It is F -invariant
Assume t and F are parallel and f is transverse to both Then necessarily f subesing(F ) and KF is positive along the fibers of t contradiction
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 53
Assume t and F are generically transverse and f is transverse to t Let e be an
invariant fiber of t then ecap f isin sing(F ) hence t must be a family of nodal rational
curves and ecapf coincides with the node of e - otherwise KF would be positive along
t But this implies F is special Riccati contradiction
We proceed to show that illusory fibers do not exist
Lemma VII7 Let F be an illusory fiber component then every fiber of t is irre-
ducible If F prime is any fiber component intersecting F non-trivially then F prime is illusory
Proof Assume t has a reducible fiber f Then we can write f = f prime cup f primeprime where f prime
is irreducible and f primeprime is a disjoint union of chains of rational curves In particular
every subscheme supported on f primeprime is rigid in X f prime is rational and smooth iff f is a
cycle of rational curves hence the foliation on F is parallel to t and the choice of f prime
is not unique otherwise f prime is nodal or elliptic Let X 99KX + denote the flop of the
irreducible components of f primeprime in any order The proper transform f prime+ (below in red)
is the irreducible fiber of the induced morphism t+ F+ rarr B Since f primeprime+ intersects
f prime+ and is not contained in F+ there exists a component F prime of the fiber of p+ such
that F+ cap f prime+ 6= empty Since F+ is illusory necessarily F+ cap F prime = f prime+ Moreover F+
and F prime are the only fiber components intersecting f prime+ again because F+ is illusory
We deduce that F+ middot f prime+ = F prime middot f prime+ = 0 and therefore f prime+ is nef inside F prime It follows
that he restriction of F+ to F prime is not of general type and by the classification of
foliated surfaces [McQ08] necessarily f prime+ deforms inside F prime and defines a fibration
u F prime rarr Bprime In particular f prime+ is an irreducible fiber of u This is however impossible
since u contracts all the components of f primeprime+ contained in F prime (below in blue) and by
definition of F prime there exists at least one such component This proves that every
fiber of t is irreducible The following depicts the situation
F prime F+
f prime+
f primeprime+
t+u
54 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Concerning the second statement we only need to check the third condition for F prime
to be illussory namely that every other fiber component F primeprime intersecting F prime does
so along the fibers of u If F primeprime intersects F prime transversely to u then F primeprime intersects F
non-trivially and transversely to t as well absurd
Corollary VII8 Illusory components do not exist
Proof By the above lemma the existence of one illusory component implies that
every irreducible component of the singular fiber of p is illusory contradicting that
KF is big
We can now focus on fiber components that do appear
Corollary VII9 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
containing an invariant curve C which moves and such that KF middot C = 0 Then
following the classification [McQ08] we have two cases
(1) The minimal model of F is a special Riccati component
(2) F is a small Kronecker
Proof Certainly the ones listed are the only cases where C is KF -nil We have to
exclude the possibility that C is invariant inside sing(F ) By Proposition IVII3
such C would be rational with at most one node Since we already contracted at
the beginning of the present subsection all ruled surfaces necessarily C is nodal
However by opcit C cannot intersect any other fiber component of X0 which
implies the absurdity that X0 = F
We proceed to show that special Riccati components are rather isolated in the
fiber
Lemma VII10 Let F be a special Riccati component If F prime is a fiber component
intersecting F non-trivially then it does so transversely to s Morover there is
exactly one such F prime
Proof After finitely many flops we can assume that every fiber of s is irreducible
By the non-existence of illusory components there exists a fiber component F lowast with
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 55
σprime = F cap F prime transverse to s If F primeprime is a fiber component with f = F cap F primeprime a fiber
of s then we claim f sube sing(F ) If not then since KF middot f = 0 and σprime is invariant
necessarily σprimecap f is the node of f But then the existence of F primeprime contradicts that p is
snc Hence f sube sing(F ) so then around the node of f there are 3 fiber components -
two branches coming from F one from F primeprime - and sing(F ) has 2 branches - namely f
This is impossible by our case analysis ni (1)c ni (2)c The very same reasoning
establishes the uniqueness of F prime
Lemma VII11 Let F be as in the previous Lemma If C is a connected curve
with KF middot C = 0 then it is disjoint from F
Proof After finitely many flops s is irreducible and C intersects F transversely away
from its node Moreover lowast = C cap F isin sing(F ) and we deduce that the fiber of s
through lowast is fully contained in the singular locus of F This contradicts Proposition
IVII3 since such fiber is nodal
We conclude by observing the obvious
Lemma VII12 Let F be a small Kronecker Then there exists a contraction
c X rarr X prime which is an isomorphism away from F and contracts F along one
of its rulings Necessarily X prime is not projective since every global Cartier divisor
intersects c(F ) trivially On the other hand in a formal neighborhood of c(F ) there
exist Cartier divisors intersecting it non-trivialliy
As such the contribution coming from non-rigid curves is rather poor there are
curves moving in the general fiber there are special Riccati components disjoint from
any other invariant curve intersecting KF trivially there are small Kroneckers who
can be contracted to curves We shall see in the next section that the complications
arising from the contraction of such non-rigid curves is purely psychological and
totally harmless
56 FEDERICO BUONERBA
VI Contractions and proof of the Main Theorem
In this section we contract all invariant curves along which KF is zero thereby
establishing the existence of canonical models I First we contract non-rigid curves
as described in the previous subsection
bull Small Kroneckers along either ruling Albeit this destroys projectivity of
the ambient threefold there still exist Cartier divisors defined in a formal
neighborhood of the base curve that intersect it non-trivially
bull Families of irreducible nodal rational curves which are flat over ∆ This
creates elliptic singularities on the general fiber of p which are disjoint from
other invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
bull Special Riccati again families of irreducible nodal rational curves fully con-
tained in X0 This creates elliptic singularities disjoint from other invariant
curves intersecting KF trivially
We can summarize our situation by way of
Set-up VI1 X is a 3-dimensional DM stack with at worst elliptic singularities
F a foliation by curves with canonical singularities which is not Q-Cartier in a
neighborhood of Xsing
There exists a proper morphism p X rarr ∆ smooth off 0 isin ∆ F restricts to a
foliation on every fiber of p it has canonical singularities on the very general fiber
of p and log-canonical singularities on every fiber of p KF is big and nef on every
irreducible component of every fiber of p
Let C be the invariant sub-scheme along which KF is not big then C is a curve
fully contained in the smooth locus X0capXsmooth every sub-curve of C has anti-ample
normal bundle the 1-simplex of its dual graph is a tree and detailed configurations
of such are referenced in set-up VI13
We proceed to contract such C We assume that along C the semi-simple field has
only rational eigenvalues and moreover no component of C is inside the foliation
singularity The other two cases - irrational eigenvalues and presence of singular
component - are strictly easier and can be obtained with the very same method
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 57
The proof takes place in the formal completion around C = C free cup C axes The
former is a disjoint union of trees of non-double curves For each non-double C let
F (C) denote the unique component of X0 containing it The latter is a tree of double
curves each with two triple points all contained in the same irreducible FC axes Each
tree of non-double curves touches C axes in one point through a LC-center In order
to construct the contraction we will use Artinrsquos celebrated criterion in the following
form
Fact VI1 ([Ar70]) Let X be an irreducible algebraic space i Y rarr X a closed
subspace of pure codimension 1 and f Y rarr Y0 a proper morphism with flowastOY = OY0
Let X denote the formal completion of X along Y and assume there exists a Cartier
divisor D in X which is supported on Y and is f -anti-ample Then there exists a
proper morphism of algebraic spaces F X rarr X0 which is an isomorphism away
from Y and such that ilowastF = f
Now we use the tree structure of C to construct a suitable divisor to which apply
Artinrsquos theorem Namely consider the following inductive defintion
(35) C0 = C axes F0 = FC axes
For k ge 0 assume Ck Fk are defined
bull Let Ck+1 denote the union of irreducible components of C that intersect Fk
non-trivially but are not contained in cupilekFibull Let Fk+1 denote the reduced sum (
sumCsubeCk+1
F (C))red
This process stops with a collection C1 middot middot middotCN of curves and F1 middot middot middot FN of reduced
divisors
Lemma VI1 We have the following identities
(36)
Fk middot C lt 0 for every C sube Ck
(F0 + F1) middot C le 0 for every C sube C0
(Fkminus1 + Fk + Fk+1) middot C = 0 for every C sube Ck 1 lt k lt N
(FNminus1 + FN) middot C lt 0 for every C sube CN
58 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proof The first is just the fact that every component of C is rigid The remaining
three follow from X0 middot C = 0 but the last one requires further justification Indeed
if C sube CN N gt 0 then C is one end of a tree of non-double curves In particular
there exists a foliation singularity lowast isin C disjoint from any other component of
C and LClowast is transverse to C This implies LClowast middotC gt 0 which together with
(FNminus1 + FN + LClowast) middot C = 0 concludes the proof
Let ε1 middot middot middot εN isin Qgt0 and define
(37) F Nminusk = (1 + ε1 + middot middot middot+ εk)FNminusk
bull If C sube CN we have
(38) (F Nminus1 + F
N) middot C = ε1FNminus1 middot C + (FNminus1 + FN) middot C
bull If C sube CNminusk 1 lt k lt N we have
(39)
(F Nminuskminus1 + F
Nminusk + F Nminusk+1) middot C =
(1 + middot middot middot+ εk)(FNminuskminus1 + FNminusk + FNminusk+1) middot C minus εkFNminusk+1 middot C + εk+1FNminuskminus1 middot C =
minus εkFNminusk+1 middot C + εk+1FNminuskminus1 middot C
bull If C sube C0 we have
(40) (F 0 + F
1) middot C = εNF0 middot C + (Nminus1sumj=0
εj)(F0 + F1) middot C
It is clear that provided
(41) 1 gtgt ε1 gtgt middot middot middot gtgt εN
the divisor F =sumF k is negative along every component of C
This proves the existence of the contraction and concludes the proof of the Main
Theorem I
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 59
VII Moduli space of foliated surfaces of general type
In this section we study the modular variation of foliated surfaces of general type
The upshot is that it is possible to define a functor which is representable separated
and every irreducible component is proper The main issue here is that the supporting
surface of a foliated canonical model may well fail to be projective indeed KF is not
Q-Gorenstein in general Hence in order to proceed via standard methods [Ko17]
we have to parametrize our canonical models together with a suitable projective
resolution
Definition VII13 Let (SF ) be a foliated proper reduced purely 2-dimensional
DM stack Assume S has only normal crossing singularities in codimension 1 that
F has log-canonical foliation singularities and that KF is big and nef on at least
one of the irreducible components of S If whenever KF middot C = 0 for some curve C
then C moves in an irreducible component of S and no member of such deformation
is F -invariant then (SF ) is called foliated canonical model of general type
Clearly foliated canonical models are exactly the stable degenerations appearing
as the central fiber of our Main Theorem I Their lack of projectivity has two sources
namely the contraction of cycles of smooth KF -nil curves and of trees of cuspidal
ones Singularities arising from cycles behave well in families namely they always
deform into the general fiber Those arising from cuspidal curves on the other hand
tend to be rather isolated inside the degenerate fiber
Observe that the deformation theory of a foliated surface is rather simple suppose
given an infinitesimal C-algebras extension 0 rarr J rarr Ae rarr A rarr 0 and (SF )
a foliated surface flat over Spec(A) then the obstruction to lifting to Ae can be
understood in three simple steps
(1) Deformation of the underlying surface S once a deformation Se rarr Spec(Ae)
is given
(2) Deformation of the line bundle KF by the exponential sequence
(42) 0rarr J otimes OS rarr OlowastSerarr OlowastS rarr 0
obstructions lie in H2(SOS)otimes J once a deformation of KF is given
60 FEDERICO BUONERBA
(3) Deformation of the defining section OS rarr KF otimes TS obstructions lie in
H1(SKF otimes TS)otimes J
Now we have
Definition VII14 Let (SF ) be a foliated canonical model of general type A
proper birational morphism q (SF )proj rarr (SF ) is called its projective resolution
if
bull Every irreducible component of Sproj is smooth
bull The exceptional locus of q is a disjoint union of cycles of KFproj-nil smooth
curves and trees of KFproj-nil curves each of which has a non-trivial cuspidal
singularity
bull In a neighborhood of every q-exceptional cycle not only Sproj but also its
moduli space is smooth
We need a few remarks about projective resolutions
(1) Projective resolutions are always unique Indeed the only possible ambiguity
could lie in some extra smooth irreducible components in the exceptional
locus This is forbidden by definition in the trees of cuspidal curves it is
also forbidden by way of the third item in cycles of smooth ones ie on
algebraic surfaces the minimal resolution is unique
(2) Denote by E the collection of q-exceptional cycles Then there exist ε δ isinQgt0 such that KFproj
minus εE + δKSprojis ample by Nakai-Moishezon
(3) Deformations of a projective resolution of a foliated canonical model are
canonically identified with deformations of the underlying birational mor-
phism q Sproj rarr S followed by a deformation of the foliation F
We are now ready to construct a moduli functor for foliated surfaces more precisely
for projective resolutions of foliated canonical models of general type For m dN isinN and ε δ isin Qgt0 let
(43) MmdNεδ (C-schemes)rarr (sets)
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 61
be defined by MmdNεδ(S) = Diagrams
(44) (X F )projqminusrarr (X F )
pminusrarr S
Where
bull Both p and p q are flat and proper
bull For every closed point s isin S the induced morphism qs is the projective
resolution of (X F )s which is a foliated canonical model of general type
bull Denote by Es the collection of exceptional cycles of qs By our Main Theorem
I there is a fibrewise divisor E subXproj flat over S restricting to Es for every
s isin S
bull Let j W rarr Xproj denote the maximal closed subscheme away from which
KFprojand KXprojS are locally free Then
(45) L [m] = (jlowast(KFprojotimes OXproj
(minusεE )otimesKδXprojS
)otimesm)oror
is flat over S and commutes with base-change
bull L [m] is very ample of degree d on every fiber and defines an embedding into
PNS
We are now ready for
Theorem VII15 The functor MmdNεδ is represented by a separated algebraic
space each of whose irreducible components is proper
Proof We show that our functor satisfies Artinrsquos conditions [Ar74 Corollary 54] By
definition condition 1) and 4) hold while our previous remark on foliated obstruction
theory shows that 3) is true
We proceed to show 2) namely effectivity of formal deformations for MmdNεδ
What follows owes much to Artinrsquos [A74rsquo] Let T be a complete C-algebra Tn its
n-truncation so that Tsimminusrarr limlarrminusTn and finally qn isinMmdNεδ(Spec(Tn)) a compatible
sequence For each n there is a maximal open set Un sube Xprojn where qn is an
isomorphism denote by sn Cn rarr Zn the restriction of qn to the complement of Un
Clearly sn is projective over Spec(Tn)
62 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Denote by X C etc the formal algebraic spaces obtained as limits of Xn Cn
etc Then Xproj sub PNˆSpec(T )
hence by Grothendieckrsquos existence Theorem we find
bull a flat projective family (X F )proj rarr Spec(T ) resp a closed subscheme
C subXproj whose completion is Xproj resp C
bull a scheme Z whose completion is Z and a morphism s C rarr Z everything
being projective over Spec(T )
Further we have a formal contraction limminusrarr qn C rarr Z hence the main theorem
of [Ar70] gives algebraic contraction (X F )proj rarr (X F ) This proves the repre-
sentability of MmdNεδ The properness and separability of each irreducible com-
ponent can be checked using valutative criteria indeed properness is the content of
our Main Theorem I separatedness follows from the uniqueness of foliated canonical
models of general type and their projective resolution
References
[Ar70] M Artin Algebraization of Formal Moduli II Existence of Modifications Ann
of Math Vol 91 No 1 (Jan 1970) pp 88-135 httpwwwjstororgstable
1970602
[Ar74] M Artin Versal Deformations and Algebraic Stacks Inventiones Math 27 165- 189
(1974) httpmathuchicagoedu~drinfeldArtin_on_stackspdf
[A74rsquo] M Artin Algebraic construction of Brieskornrsquos resolutions J Alg Vol 29 Issue
2 May 1974 pp 330-348 httpwwwsciencedirectcomsciencearticlepii
0021869374901021
[BB72] P Baum R Bott Singularities of holomorphic foliations J Diff Geom 7 (1972)
279-342 httpsprojecteuclidorgdownloadpdf_1euclidjdg1214431158
[Bo77] F Bogomolov Families of curves on a surface of general type Doklady Akademii Nauk
USSR (in Russian) 236 (5) 1041-1044
[Bo78] F Bogomolov Holomorphic tensors and vector bundles on projective varieties Math
USSR Izv 13 (1978) 499-555
[BM16] F Bogomolov M McQuillan Rational Curves on Foliated Varieties In Cascini
McKernan Pereira (eds) Foliation Theory in Algebraic Geometry Simons Symposia
Springer Cham pp 21-51 (2016) httpslinkspringercomchapter101007
978-3-319-24460-0_2
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 63
[Bu] F Buonerba Functorial resolution of tame quotient singularities in positive charac-
teristic httpsarxivorgabs151100550
[Ke99] S Keel Basepoint Freeness for Nef and Big Line Bundles in Positive Characteris-
tic Annals of Math 149 No 1 (Jan 1999) pp 253-286 httpwwwjstororg
stable121025 httpsarxivorgabsmath9901149
[KM97] S Keel S Mori Quotients by groupoids Annals of Math 145 (1997) pp
193-213 httpwwwjstororgstable2951828seq=1page_scan_tab_contents
httparxivorgabsalg-geom9508012
[Ko17] J Kollar Families of varieties of general type httpswebmathprincetonedu
~kollarbookmodbook20170720pdf
[LN02] A Lins Neto Some examples for the Poincare and Painleve problems Annales sci-
entifiques de lrsquoENS 352 (2002) 231-266 httparchivenumdamorgarticle
ASENS_2002_4_35_2_231_0pdf
[McQ12] M McQuillan Foliated Mori Theory amp Hyperbolicity of Algebraic Surfaces http
wwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillahomehtml
[McQ98] M McQuillan Diophantine approximation and foliations Inst Hautes Etudes Sci
Publ Math 87 (1998) 121-174 httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafiles
ihespdf
[McQ05rsquo] M McQuillan Bloch hyperbolicity preprint httpwwwmatuniroma2it
~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ05] M McQuillan Semi-stable reduction of foliations IHES pre-print IHESM0502
(2005) httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ05rdquo] M McQuillan Uniform Uniformisation IHES pre-print (2005) IHES M0503 http
wwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ08] M McQuillan Canonical models of foliations Pure Appl Math Q 4
(2008) no 3 Special Issue In honor of Fedor Bogomolov Part 2 877-1012
httpintlpresscomsitepubfiles_fulltextjournalspamq20080004
0003PAMQ-2008-0004-0003-a009pdf
[MP13] M McQuillan D Panazzolo Almost etale resolution of foliations J Diff Geom 95
(2013) pp 279-319 httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesmp1bispdf
[Pe02] JV Pereira On the Poincare Problem for Foliations of General Type Mathematische
Annalen 323 no 2 pp217-226 2002 httpsarxivorgabsmath0104185
[PS16] JV Pereira R Svaldi Effective algebraic integration in bounded genus preprint
httpsarxivorgabs161206932
64 FEDERICO BUONERBA
[Re83] M Reid Minimal models of canonical threefolds in rdquoAlgebraic Varieties and Ana-
lytic Varietiesrdquo Adv Stud Pure Math vol 1 S Iitaka ed Kinokuniya and North-
Holland 1983 pp 131-180 httpwwwmathsedacukcheltsovquotientpdf
reid2pdf
[Se67] A Seidenberg Reduction of singularities of the differential equation Ady = Bdx Amer
J Math 89 (1967) 248-269 httpwwwjstororgstable2373435
[SB83] N Shepherd-Barron Degenerations with numerically effective canonical divisor The
Birational Geometry of Degenerations (R Friedman and D Morrison eds) Progr
Math no 29 Birkhuser 1983 pp 33-84
[Vis89] A Vistoli Intersection theory on algebraic stacks and on their moduli spaces
Invent Math (1989) pp 613-670 httplinkspringercomarticle101007
2FBF01388892page-1
Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences New York University 251 Mercer
Street New York NY 10012 USA
E-mail address buonerbacimsnyuedu
- I Introduction
- II Preliminaries
-
- III Operations on Deligne-Mumford stacks
- IIII Width of embedded parabolic champs
- IIIII Gorenstein foliation singularities
- IIIV Foliated adjunction
- IIV Canonical models of foliated surfaces with canonical singularities
- IIVI Canonical models of foliated surfaces with log-canonical singularities
- IIVII Set-up
-
- III Invariant curves and singularities local description
-
- IIII `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F) not isolated
- IIIII `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F) isolated
- IIIIII Local consequences
-
- IV Invariant curves along which KF vanishes
-
- IVI KF-nil curves
- IVII Invariant curves inside `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F)
-
- V Configurations
-
- VI Configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
- VII Configurations of non-rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
-
- VI Contractions and proof of the Main Theorem
- VII Moduli space of foliated surfaces of general type
- References
-
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 37
As such we compute part(ζ) = mζ + ξminusmηa mod(I2C) which is holomorphic if and only
if m le 0 so then C moves in Xlowast contradicting that the foliation has general type
Hence we are in cases ni (1)a ni (2)a with g = microyazb b ge 1
(25) part0 = xpart
partx+ microyazb
part
partz partinfin = minusξ part
partξ+ ζ(m+ microξm(bminus1)ηaζbminus1)
part
partζ(mod(I2C))
Following notation from subsection IIII observe that C1 is the section of E1C which
is disjoint from the proper transform of the fiber of p In coordinates over 0
(26) x1 = x y1 = y z1 = zyminus1
And similarly over infin Using the previous equation and 25 on C1 we find
(27)
part01 = x1part
partx1+microya+bminus11 zb1
part
partz1 partinfin1 = minusξ1
part
partξ1+ζ1(m+microξ
m(bminus1)1 ηa+bminus11 ζbminus11 )
part
partζ1(mod(I2C1
))
In particular the transform of the nilpotent field is still nilpotent after blowing up in
C It follows that the eigenvalues of the semi-simple field at the two ends of C and
C1 are the same Using equation 23 we deduce that the normal bundle to C1X1 to
isomorphic to that of CX in particular it contains a trivial direct summand This
proves that width(C) =infin
Next we show that f must be net Consider the induced flat projection pD D rarr ∆
its general fiber cannot be a cuspidal curve since along such cusp the foliation sin-
gularity would be log-canonical but not canonical Hence if C has a cusp necessarily
the general fiber of pD is a nodal curve Let X rarr X denote the blow up of the
nodal locus of pD with exceptional divisor E ruled over ∆ In a neighborhood of E
we have sing(F ) = D cap E which projects to ∆ as a double cover ramified over lowastObserve that the foliation on Xlowast is again log-canonical and not canonical hence its
local structure is ni (2)a In that case however p is unramified along the foliation
singularity Contradiction
We state a general criterion for movability of KF -nil curves
Proposition IVI7 Let C be a connected KF -nil curve such that p(C ) = lowast isin ∆
Assume its dual graph is a chain that none of its irreducible components is double
38 FEDERICO BUONERBA
VI3 and that its two extremal ends are flat over ∆ Then C moves in a family flat
over ∆ and each of its irreducible components is embedded
Proof We work in a formal neighborhood of C After taking roots we can assume
C is net and since its dual graph is a chain it is actually embedded We proceed by
induction on its length l where the case l = 1 is Proposition IVI6 For l gt 1 let C1
be a component of C which is extremal in its dual graph If C1 moves transversely
to p then both its ends do and hence we can apply the induction hypothesis to
C C1 If C1 is rigid then it can be flopped It is straightforward to check that we
can apply the induction hypothesis to the transform C + C+1 and we are done
Now we deal with rigid curves inside the singular fiber
Proposition IVI8 (Singular fiber) Let f C rarr X be an embedded net KF -
nil curve with anti-ample normal bundle Then there exists a birational map φ
(X F ) 99K (X +F+) and a KF+-nil curve C+ such that
bull φ is an isomorphism away from C+
bull In a formal neighborhood of at least one among C and C+ there exist two
invariant hypersurfaces D1D2 locally defined by the vanishing of eigenfunc-
tions of the semi-simple field such that C (resp C+)= D1 capD2
bull If F middot C lt 0 for some hypersurface F then F+ middot C+ gt 0 In particular X +
is projective
Such φ is called flop
Proof Our assumption is that Nfsimminusrarr O(minusn)oplusO(minusm) is anti-ample namely nm gt
0 If two invariant hypersurfaces as in our statement do exist around C the flop is
easily constructed as a weighted blow-up followed by a weighted blow-down As such
let us assume that such hypersurfaces do not exist around C In particular C is not
double VI3 By [Ar70] there exists a formal contraction c X rarrX0 collapsing C
to a point and an isomorphism everywhere else By Proposition IVI3 the foliation
F0 is Gorenstein around the node of X0 For ease of exposition let us assume
n = m = 1 the general case is handled the same way only the notation becomes more
cumbersome due to the presence of weights The node has embedding dimension 4
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 39
and in suitable local coordinates x0 y0 w0 z0 can be defined by x0z0minusy0w0 = 0 The
morphism c can be identified with the blow up of the embedded surface (x0 = y0 = 0)
Explicitly in the chart y = y0 x = x0yminus10 it is defined by
(28) y0 = y x0 = xy z0 = zprime w0 = xzprime
Here x is a coordinate along C while y = 0 is the pull-back of (x0 = y0 = 0) and
zprime some function in the normal bundle to C By the previous Proposition IVI6
we know C cannot be contained in the smooth locus of p Since C is not double
we can assume that in this local chart p is defined by (x y zprime) rarr xy - the case
(x y zprime) rarr xzprime being isomorphic as it is isomorphic to blow-up (z0 = w0 = 0)
instead of (x0 = y0 = 0) The issue is as emphasized by the notation zprime 6= z that
zprime may fail to be an eigenfunction for partS if it were we would be done since zprime = 0
is the local equation for the global pullback of (z0 = w0 = 0) However we have
a b isin C such that
(29) partS0(y0) = minusy0 partS0(x0) = 0 partS0(z0) = ay0 + bz0 partS0(w0) = ax0 + (b+ 1)w0
Observe that the embedded surfaces D01 = (y0 = z0 = 0) and D0
2 = (x0 = w0 = 0)
are both foliation invariant As such let b X + rarr X0 denote the blow-up of X0
along D01 - which is isomorphic to that along D0
2 - and let Di = blowastD0i i = 1 2
Finally X + is projective by Nakai-Moishezon Indeed every C with anti-ample
normal bundle is contained in an irreducible component F of X0 such that F middotC lt 0
Then F+ middot C+ gt 0 and we can find an ample divisor of the form H+ + εF+ where
H+ is the proper transform of an ample on X
Remark IVI9 In the previous proof a 6= b+ 1 Indeed such identity would create
a non-trivial Jordan block of partS0 in the (x0 w0)-plane thus contradicting the semi-
simplicity of partS0 In particular by a straightforward computation it is impossible to
find eigenfunctions of the form wlowast0 = w0 + αx0 zlowast0 = z0 + βy0 with x0z
lowast0 minus y0wlowast0 = 0
unless a = 0
We can conclude by pointing out an important point understood in this section
A painful aspect of the theory is that log-canonical singularities which appear natu-
rally as analytic degenerations of canonical ones come along with cuspidal invariant
40 FEDERICO BUONERBA
curves There is in particular no a-priori obstruction to the existence of rigid
cuspidal KF -nil curves in a smooth fiber of our family of foliated surfaces p Quite
generally a rigid curve of positive arithmetic genus in a smooth family of surfaces can
never be contracted to a point Therefore this would have been a counter-example
to any reasonable foliated canonical model theory one may wish to achieve Fortu-
nately such phenomenon does not happen and this establishes the Main Theorem I
modulo finitely many rigid curves confined in the singular fiber X0
IVII Invariant curves inside sing(F ) In this subsection we study curves Z0 subeXlowast cap sing(F ) which are inside the foliation singularity and invariant By this we
mean that there exists a sequence fn Cn rarrX of not necessarily algebraic invariant
curves converging in the compact-open topology to Z0 In other words the map
(30) NorF rarr Ω1Z0
is trivial By Corollary IIIIII5 we know that Z0 is at worst nodal it is smooth
wherever p is smooth for every point z isin Z0 the semi-simple part of the gener-
ating vector field has exactly one eigenvalue The problem here is that the Jordan
decomposition need not extend uniformly along Z0 not even along an irreducible
component In case ni (1)a the functions x and g may develop essential singulari-
ties arbitrary close to z Nonetheless the function x is unique and this says that x
does extend along Z0
Proposition IVII1 Let Z0 be as above Then in a formal neighborhood of Z0
there exists a unique smooth invariant hypersurface D0 containing Z0 which restricts
around any point in Z0 to the unique eigenfunction for the semi-simple field whose
eigenvalue is non-zero
Proof The local structure of the foliation around a point z isin Z0 is described by
cases ni (1)a and ni (1)b In both cases partS has one non-zero eigenvalue with
eigenfunction x Such eigenfunction x is a-priori only defined in the normal bundle to
Z0 but it is clear that the equation partx = x has a unique up to constants solution in
the formal completion around z As such there exists a unique smooth hypersurface
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 41
D0 in the formal completion around Z0 which restricts to the eigenfunction x around
z
Observe that the previous argument goes through since we are assuming Z0 subX0
Keeping notations from case ni (1)a if say g(y z) = yz then in the hypersurface
y equiv q isin Qgt0 the foliation has a log-canonical singularity and the eigenfunction x
extends highly non-uniquely to a formal neighborhood of the point (x y z) = (0 q 0)
In particular the existence of D0 as in the previous Proposition might fail along
the component (x = z = 0) of the foliation singularity This phenomenon is called
the beast
Anyway uniqueness in the previous proposition yields
Corollary IVII2 Let Z prime be a connected invariant curve inside sing(F ) Then in
a formal neighborhood of Z prime there exists a unique smooth invariant hypersurface D prime
containing Z prime which restricts around any point in Z prime to the hypersurface constructed
in the previous proposition
Next we turn to the intrinsic structure of invariant singular curves
Proposition IVII3 Let Z0 be an irreducible invariant curve inside sing(F )
Then Z0 is smooth and rational
Proof We work in a formal neighborhood of Z0 Let F0 denote the unique component
of X0 containing Z0 For any other fiber component F intersecting Z0 non-trivially
blow-up the invariant curve F cap F0 with exceptional divisor EF A straightforward
computation using the local formula ni (1)b shows that the fiber of the natural
projection EF rarr F cap F0 intersecting Z0 is also contained in sing(F ) For Z prime the
maximal connected singular invariant curve containing Z0 let G denote the saturated
foliation induced on D prime It is canonical with reduced singularities and it satisfies
KG = KF |Dprime minus Zprime By adjunction
(31) 2g(Z0)minus 2 + sZG(Z0) = minusZ prime middot Z0
Observe that thanks to our initial sequence of blow-ups the singularities of G along
Z0 coincide with the intersection of Z0 and Z prime Z0 In particular since D prime is formally
42 FEDERICO BUONERBA
flat over ∆ we deduce Z prime middot Z0 = 0 and the previous formula becomes
(32) 2g(Z0)minus 2 + sZG(Z0) = 0
This implies that Z0 is rational or elliptic If Z0 were elliptic then sZG(Z0) = 0 and
D0 defines an invariant elliptic curve in the general fiber of p By Baum-Bott this
contradicts that KF is big and nef Now we show that Z0 is smooth If it has a node
then D0 moves it in a family of nodal rational curves flat over ∆ In particular D0
itself has a node in codimension 1 hence Xlowast is smooth around the node of Z0 In its
formal neighborhood the foliation must be as in case ni (1)a which implies that
Z0 is smooth contradiction
We can improve as follows
Proposition IVII4 Let Z prime sube sing F capXlowast be a connected invariant curve with
KF middot Z prime = 0 Then its dual graph is a chain
Proof Assume Z prime is a cycle Then necessarily Z prime = D prime capXlowast scheme-theoretically
and by the existence of Hilbert scheme Z prime moves in the general fiber Its general
member is either a cycle of smooth rational curves or an elliptic curve Arguing as
in the previous proof we see that both options are impossible
V Configurations
In this section we analyze in great detail all possible configurations of invariant
curves along which KF vanishes These can be divided into three groups those
that do not move those that move in a one-dimensional family covering a surface
those that move in a higher-dimensional family covering a surface Curves in the first
group can form rather complicated configurations while those in the second group
are more simple they either move in the general fiber or they cover an isolated
Riccati component in the singular fiber Those in the third group turn out to be
represented by the two rulings of P1timesP1 if they happen to be cohomologous in the
ambient stack First we will analyze rigid curves then those which move and finally
we will describe their configurations
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 43
VI Configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially In
this subsection we describe configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF
trivially which arise in the situation described by set-up IIVII4
First we focus on KF -nil curves At the end of the section we deal with the simpler
case in which a curve in the configuration is fully contained in sing(F ) The general
fiber was handled in Proposition IVI6
Proposition VI1 Let C be a connected KF -nil curve contained in the smooth
locus of a fiber of p Then it is a chain or a cycle and it moves in a family flat over
∆
In what follows we let C denote a connected KF -nil curve contained in the
singular fiber X0 all of whose sub-curves are rigid in X Observe a consequence of
equation 23
Proposition VI2 Let C = cupiCi be a connected KF -nil curve Then the eigen-
values of partS are all rational at every point of sing(F )capC if and only if they are all
rational at one point
We can deduce many non-trivial properties about configurations of KF -nil curves
First we need
Definition VI3 Let C subX0 be a curve It is called double if there exists formally
around C two components F F prime of X0 such that C = F cap F prime A point lowast isin C where
three fiber components intersect is called a triple point If C lies on exactly one fiber
component it is called non-double We denote by F (C) such component
Remark VI4 Let Csimminusrarr P1(d e) be double with two triple points Then we know
e+ λ+ micro = minusd+ (λ+ n) + (micro+m) = 0 whence we obtain
(33) n+m = d+ e
Which is called triple-point formula
Next we show that essentially KF -nil curves do not form cycles unless something
deforms in X0 First we show that there are no cycles of rigid non-double curves
44 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proposition VI5 Let C be a connected KF -nil curve contained in the singular
fiber X0 of p Assume that every component of C is non-double and that every
sub-curve is rigid Then C contains no cycles
Proof We work in a formal neighborhood of C which we assume is a cycle Let
us first consider the case in which all components C1 middot middot middot CN are smooth with no
orbifold points and denote lowasti = Ci cap Ci+1 with CN+1 = C1 Moreover let us
assume no lowasti lies in the smooth locus of p
Since no curve is double the semi-simple field at every lowasti is as in case i (3)b in
particular the eigenvalues along the branches of Ci and Ci+1 add up to zero More-
over let minusni denote the self-intersection of Ci sub F (Ci) Normalize the eigenvalues
of partS so that at lowastn they are 1 in the C1 direction minus1 in the CN direction λ in the
F (C1)capF (CN) direction It follows by induction that at lowasti the eigenvalues are minus1
in the Ci direction 1 in the Ci+1 direction λ+ n1 + middot middot middot+ ni in the F (Ci) cap F (Ci+1)
direction After traveling around the cycle we obtain n1+middot middot middot+nN = 0 contradicting
that ni gt 0 for every i
We established the Proposition assuming every Ci is an embedded scheme and ev-
ery lowasti is in the singular locus of p The case in which Cisimminusrarr P1(di ei) has orbifold
points is analogous we end up with a combination c1n1 + middot middot middot + cNnN = 0 with ci
the eigenvalue at lowasti in the Ci+1 direction Normalizing so that c1 = e1 gt 0 again by
induction on i we see that every ci isin Qgt0 Next we show that our assumption on lowastiis always satisfied
Claim VI6 Every lowasti must belong to the singular locus of p
Proof We give two essentially equivalent proofs
bull If N = 2 3 then the previous argument goes through indeed we can normal-
ize eigenvalues at lowasti to be negative in the Ciminus1 direction and positive in the
Ci-direction and argue as above Hence we can assume N ge 4 If say lowasti is in
the smooth locus of p then F (Ci) = F (Ci+1) If also F (Ciminus1) = F (Ci) then Ci
lies in the smooth locus of p and hence it moves Therefore F (Ciminus1) 6= F (Ci)
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 45
and Ciminus1 can be flopped inside F (Ci) Since N ge 4 this preserves the smooth-
ness of F (Ci) and Ci is now is the smooth locus of p - contradiction
bull If lowasti belongs to the smooth locus of p then the end through lowasti moves We
can form a partial net completion fi Xi rarrX by normalizing C in lowasti only
Then f lowasti C is a chain with movable ends and hence moves in the general fiber
of p fi
Finally the general case in which some among the Ci have cusps can be easily
reduced to the smooth case in a couple of ways
bull Eigenvalues at the singularities of any KF -nil curve satisfy the same relations
as in the smooth case
bull Upon taking roots and net completion we can find a foliated formal 3-fold
supported on a cycle of smooth KF -nil curves which is a ramified cover of a
formal neighborhood of our cycle
Similarly we can show that there are no rigid cycles of double curves
Proposition VI7 Let C be a nodal KF -nil curve which is double Then C
deforms inside X0 In particular there cannot exist a rigid cycle of KF -nil double
curves
Proof Following the previous notation we have 0 = infin and if C = (xy = z = 0)
around 0 then we have identities
(34) x = η y = ξ z = ζ
The last one of which implies m = 0 that is C deforms Since C is double necessarily
the surface it spans must be contained in X0
The statement about cycles follows since a cycle of double curves can be transformed
after finitely many flops into a chain of smooth double curves with a nodal one
attached at one end
46 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Later on we will show that the deformations of C cannot span an elliptic surface
but only a family of nodal rational curves with a special Riccati foliation on it
We are ready to organize a detailed description of the dual graph of C More pre-
cisely we only need to understand how double curves intersect non-double curves
Lemma VI8 There exists a sequence of flops X 99KX + such that if C + denotes
the transform of C every double curve supported on C + contains two triple points
Proof Let C sube C be an irreducible component with at most one triple point and
let X 99K X + be its flop Then its transform C+ is non-double and the number
of double curves contained in C descreases It is clear that after finitely many flops
all double curves contain exactly two triple points
From now on all double curves in C have two triple points Thanks to proposition
VI2 we know that there are two cases to consider those curves along which the
semi-simple field has not only rational eigenvalues and those along which the semi-
simple field has only rational eigenvalues The first case being strictly easier than
the second it is a good starting place to warm up
Proposition VI9 (irrational eigenvalues) Assume that for every foliation singu-
larity along C not all eigenvalues of partS are rational Then every component of C
is net with at most one node and 1-skeleton of its dual graph is at worst trivalent
Write C = C axes cup C free where
C axes is the union of double curves
C free is the union of non-double curves
Then one among C axes and C free is empty Moreover
bull If C free is non-empty then it is a chain of smooth curves with rational moduli
bull If C axes is non-empty there exists a sequence of flops X 99KX + and an ir-
reducible component of the fiber FC subX + such that X + is a smooth stack
the transform C+ of C is contained in FC Moreover the dual graph of C+
is a tree which by [McQ08 III32] becomes a chain inside the normalization
of FC
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 47
Proof The first sentence is just corollary IIIIII3
Observe that if a non-double curve intersects a double curve then the non-double
curve must be contained in an LC-center around such intersection This contradicts
that not all eigenvalues are rational and establishes that one among C axes and C free
is empty
In case C free is not empty then it is clearly a chain or a cycle the latter being
impossible by Proposition VI5
We are left to show the existence of flops in case C = C axes We remark that
every component is smooth Let C0 be such a component and S0 a component of
X0 containing it Let C1 be the collection of irreducible components of C which
intersect S0 but are not contained in it All the components of C1 are smooth hence
we can flop them in any order until the transform of C1 lies in the transform of S0
Since the number of irreducible components of C lying outside S0 decreases after
such flop by induction we deduce the existence of finitely many flops after which
the birational transform of C is fully contained in the transform of S0
Next we take care of rational eigenvalues The complication here arises from
the fact that there may be double and non-double curves intersecting each other
However the situation is best possible
Proposition VI10 (rational eigenvalues) Assume that for every foliation singu-
larity along C all eigenvalues of partS are rational Write C = C axes cup C free where
C axes is the union of double curves
C free is the union of non-double curves
Then there exists a sequence of flops X 99K X + and an irreducible component of
the fiber FC axes subX + such that
bull X + is a smooth stack
bull The union of double curves of C axes is contained in FC axes the 1-skeleton of
its dual graph is a tree and each of its components has two triple points
bull The 1-skeleton of the dual graph of the transform C free+ is a disjoint union of
trees
bull Each connected component of C free+ intersects C axes in exactly one point
48 FEDERICO BUONERBA
In particular the 1-skeleton of the dual graph of C is a tree
Proof Notice that for every point lowast isin C cap Z there exists one LC-center through lowastIndeed there are three rational eigenvalues and they cannot be all non-vanishing and
all with different signs at the same time Now C axes can be treated as in proposition
VI9 This proves the first two items of the statement The third item follows from
Proposition VI5 so we can focus on the fourth one The proof is based on the
following obvious
Remark VI11 let C be a double curve such that either it is KF -nil hence has
two triple points or it is fully contained in sing(F ) Let C0 sube C free intersect C
non-trivially in a point lowast then necessarily C0 sub LClowast
Now let C0 middot middot middot CN form a chain of non-double curves with C0 and CN both
intersecting double curves as in the remark Denote by lowasti = Ci cap Ci+1 Since
C1 sub LClowast necessarily C1 is transverse to LClowast1 otherwise C1 would deform in F (C1)
Inductively we see that Ci+1 sub LClowasti and is transverse to LClowasti+1 In particular CN
cannot touch a double curve This contradiction proves the fourth item
Let us add a remark about configurations featuring invariant curves inside sing(F )
Proposition VI12 Let C be an invariant curve with KF middot C = 0 such that
Z0 sube C for some component Z0 sube sing(F ) Then C = Z prime cup C where
Z prime is a connected invariant curve inside the foliation singularity with dual graph a
chain
C is the union of at most two pairwise disjoint KF -nil curves with anti-ample
normal bundle
If not empty C can only intersect Z prime at the two ends of its dual graph Moreover
perhaps after a flop the intersection of C with Z prime supports the foliation singularity
along C As such if C has two components Z prime cup C deforms in the general fiber
Proof The structure of Z prime is Proposition IVII3 while that of Co is Proposition
IVI6 Let C prime be a component of C intersecting Z0 in a point lowast If C prime and Z0 belong
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 49
to different components of X0 then by case ni (1)b the eigenvalue of partS along C prime
vanishes so supp(sing(F ) cap C prime) = lowast If C prime and Z0 belong to the same component
then we can flop C prime into a different component
Observe that the divisor D prime from op cit can be extended along C prime This implies
that C can only intersect Z prime at its ends Moreover if C touches both ends necessarily
D prime capX0 = C scheme-theoretically hence by the existence of Hilbert scheme IVI5
we conclude
Our new set-up is
Set-up VI13 Everything as in set-up IIVII4 and moreover for any connected
invariant curve C with KF middot C = 0 all of whose sub-curves are rigid we have
configurations computed in proposition VI9 VI10 and Lemma VI12
VII Configurations of non-rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
In this subsection we describe configurations of surfaces which are covered by KF -nil
curves The structure of each such surface is described by classification IIV1 IIV2
and Corollary IIVI17 Our first step is to simplify the situation by contracting
chains of ruled surfaces The next step is to try and exclude the possibility that
the singular fiber of p contains fibrations by elliptic or nodal rational curves with
at least one invariant fiber This can be achieved with good success indeed there
may be at most one such Riccati foliation which is anyway rather isolated from the
remaining KF -nil curves Finally we observe that the only class of surfaces we have
not mentioned is
Definition VII1 A irreducible component F of the singular fiber of p is called
small Kronecker if
bull (FFF ) is birational to a Kronecker vector field on P1 timesP1 and
bull The two rulings of this P1 timesP1 are cohomologous inside X
The name comes from the fact that contraction of a small Kronecker yields a node
in the ambient threefold which admits a small resolution In fact in many respects
these fiber components behave very much like rigid KF -nil curves
50 FEDERICO BUONERBA
We start by getting rid of some fiber components which are ruled by KF -nil gener-
ically smooth rational curves
Proposition VII2 Notation as in Set-up VI13 there exists a sequence of flops
and divisorial contractions c X 99KX + such that
bull X + is a smooth stack
bull let S+ sub X + be an irreducible invariant divisor that contains a positive-
dimensional family of invariant rational curves along which KF+ vanishes
Then S+ is either birationally ruled by nodal rational curves or it is a small
Kronecker
Proof We focus first on contracting components of the singular fiber of p Consider
the following algorithm If there is no birationally ruled component different from
the ones listed in the second item we are done otherwise pick one such F and let
C denote the general member of the ruling If the cohomology class [C] is inde-
composable F is minimal Otherwise [C] = [C1] + [C2] where Ci are rational and
intersect KF trivially After finitely many steps we have a decomposition as a finite
sum of indecomposables [C] =sumn
i=0 ni[Ci] where every Ci is rational intersects KF
trivially We have two cases
bull There exists k such that Ck deforms in a birationally ruled necessarily min-
imal surface Fk
bull Every Ci has anti-ample normal bundle
In the first case denote by X rarr X1 the contraction of Fk along |Ck| and relpace
X by X1 Since Fk is minimal smoothness of the ambient stack is preserved unless
Fk is a small Kronecker This is however impossible if n ge 2 if Fk were a small
Kronecker then Ck deforms away from Fkminus1 so then Fkminus1 middot Ck = 0 on the other
hand Fkminus1 intersects the other ruling of Fk positively
In the second case flop C1 middot middot middot Cn in this order The transform of F is minimal and
not a small Kronecker so it can be contracted along its ruling preserving ambient
smoothness By induction on the Picard rank of X after finitely many steps this
algorithm ends Call X the output of this algorithm
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 51
Let S subX be an invariant divisor with a generically smooth ruling Then pS S rarr∆ is flat and after flopping finitely many rational curves in S cap plowastS(0) the resulting
pS is smooth Hence we can contract S along pS After finitely many steps the
Proposition is proven
For ease of notation in the sequel we call X the output of the previous proposition
Notice that there might still be divisors carrying a pencil of nodal rational curves
both inside and outside the singular fiber of p
We can start analyzing configurations of fiber components where the restriction of
F is not of general type We need some notation whose reason to exist will be clear
shortly
Definition VII3 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
along which KF is not big F is called special Riccati if
bull F is minimal
bull There exists a morphism s F rarr B onto a curve whose fibers are nodal
rational curve
bull F is transverse to the general fiber of s in particular KF is numerically
trivial along s
bull At least one fiber of s is invariant
bull There exists a section σ of s which is invariant and does not coincide with
the nodal locus of F
In particular the intersections of σ with invariant fibers of s isolated singularities
of F the node of F all coincide There may be fibers of s fully contained in sing(F )
in which case they are everywhere transverse to the saturated foliation
The definition looks nasty but special Riccati components have a rather simple
origin as the following proof shows
Lemma VII4 Let F be special Riccati Up to base change by an etale double cover
Bprime rarr B there is a natural isomorphism F norm simminusrarr BprimetimesP1 and the restriction of F
to F norm is birational to the projection onto P1
52 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proof We work over the normalization F norm Denote by Bprime the pre-image of the
node of F which is an etale double cover of B and let f denote an invariant fiber
of s with lowast = σ cap f Observe that F norm carries a Riccati foliation with 3 invariant
curves through lowast - namely σ f and a component of Bprime Hence FF has a log-canonical
singularity in lowast On F norm perform a weighted blow-up in each log-canonical singu-
larity followed by the contraction of the transforms of the corresponding fibers Let
s+ F+ rarr B denote the output of this operation If the proper transform of Bprime is
connected replace F+ by its base change under Bprime rarr B Hence we can assume Bprime
is the disjoint union of two sections of s+ and the transform of σ is a third section
which is disjoint from Bprime Therefore F+ = P1 timesBprime and the foliation restricts to the
projection onto P1
Next we describe those surfaces which cannot appear as components of the sin-
gular fiber X0
Definition VII5 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
along which KF is not big F is called illusory if
bull there exists a morphism t F rarr B onto a curve
bull KF is trivial along t
bull For any other fiber component F prime the intersection F cap F prime is either empty or
contained in a fiber of t
We give examples of illusory fiber components
Lemma VII6 The following fiber components are necessarily illusory
bull t is elliptic the foliation is either parallel to t or turbolent with at least one
invariant fiber
bull t is a nodal ruling the foliation is either parallel to t or transverse to t with
at least one invariant fiber and not birational to a special Riccati VII3
Proof Let f = F cap F prime for some fiber component F prime It is F -invariant
Assume t and F are parallel and f is transverse to both Then necessarily f subesing(F ) and KF is positive along the fibers of t contradiction
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 53
Assume t and F are generically transverse and f is transverse to t Let e be an
invariant fiber of t then ecap f isin sing(F ) hence t must be a family of nodal rational
curves and ecapf coincides with the node of e - otherwise KF would be positive along
t But this implies F is special Riccati contradiction
We proceed to show that illusory fibers do not exist
Lemma VII7 Let F be an illusory fiber component then every fiber of t is irre-
ducible If F prime is any fiber component intersecting F non-trivially then F prime is illusory
Proof Assume t has a reducible fiber f Then we can write f = f prime cup f primeprime where f prime
is irreducible and f primeprime is a disjoint union of chains of rational curves In particular
every subscheme supported on f primeprime is rigid in X f prime is rational and smooth iff f is a
cycle of rational curves hence the foliation on F is parallel to t and the choice of f prime
is not unique otherwise f prime is nodal or elliptic Let X 99KX + denote the flop of the
irreducible components of f primeprime in any order The proper transform f prime+ (below in red)
is the irreducible fiber of the induced morphism t+ F+ rarr B Since f primeprime+ intersects
f prime+ and is not contained in F+ there exists a component F prime of the fiber of p+ such
that F+ cap f prime+ 6= empty Since F+ is illusory necessarily F+ cap F prime = f prime+ Moreover F+
and F prime are the only fiber components intersecting f prime+ again because F+ is illusory
We deduce that F+ middot f prime+ = F prime middot f prime+ = 0 and therefore f prime+ is nef inside F prime It follows
that he restriction of F+ to F prime is not of general type and by the classification of
foliated surfaces [McQ08] necessarily f prime+ deforms inside F prime and defines a fibration
u F prime rarr Bprime In particular f prime+ is an irreducible fiber of u This is however impossible
since u contracts all the components of f primeprime+ contained in F prime (below in blue) and by
definition of F prime there exists at least one such component This proves that every
fiber of t is irreducible The following depicts the situation
F prime F+
f prime+
f primeprime+
t+u
54 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Concerning the second statement we only need to check the third condition for F prime
to be illussory namely that every other fiber component F primeprime intersecting F prime does
so along the fibers of u If F primeprime intersects F prime transversely to u then F primeprime intersects F
non-trivially and transversely to t as well absurd
Corollary VII8 Illusory components do not exist
Proof By the above lemma the existence of one illusory component implies that
every irreducible component of the singular fiber of p is illusory contradicting that
KF is big
We can now focus on fiber components that do appear
Corollary VII9 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
containing an invariant curve C which moves and such that KF middot C = 0 Then
following the classification [McQ08] we have two cases
(1) The minimal model of F is a special Riccati component
(2) F is a small Kronecker
Proof Certainly the ones listed are the only cases where C is KF -nil We have to
exclude the possibility that C is invariant inside sing(F ) By Proposition IVII3
such C would be rational with at most one node Since we already contracted at
the beginning of the present subsection all ruled surfaces necessarily C is nodal
However by opcit C cannot intersect any other fiber component of X0 which
implies the absurdity that X0 = F
We proceed to show that special Riccati components are rather isolated in the
fiber
Lemma VII10 Let F be a special Riccati component If F prime is a fiber component
intersecting F non-trivially then it does so transversely to s Morover there is
exactly one such F prime
Proof After finitely many flops we can assume that every fiber of s is irreducible
By the non-existence of illusory components there exists a fiber component F lowast with
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 55
σprime = F cap F prime transverse to s If F primeprime is a fiber component with f = F cap F primeprime a fiber
of s then we claim f sube sing(F ) If not then since KF middot f = 0 and σprime is invariant
necessarily σprimecap f is the node of f But then the existence of F primeprime contradicts that p is
snc Hence f sube sing(F ) so then around the node of f there are 3 fiber components -
two branches coming from F one from F primeprime - and sing(F ) has 2 branches - namely f
This is impossible by our case analysis ni (1)c ni (2)c The very same reasoning
establishes the uniqueness of F prime
Lemma VII11 Let F be as in the previous Lemma If C is a connected curve
with KF middot C = 0 then it is disjoint from F
Proof After finitely many flops s is irreducible and C intersects F transversely away
from its node Moreover lowast = C cap F isin sing(F ) and we deduce that the fiber of s
through lowast is fully contained in the singular locus of F This contradicts Proposition
IVII3 since such fiber is nodal
We conclude by observing the obvious
Lemma VII12 Let F be a small Kronecker Then there exists a contraction
c X rarr X prime which is an isomorphism away from F and contracts F along one
of its rulings Necessarily X prime is not projective since every global Cartier divisor
intersects c(F ) trivially On the other hand in a formal neighborhood of c(F ) there
exist Cartier divisors intersecting it non-trivialliy
As such the contribution coming from non-rigid curves is rather poor there are
curves moving in the general fiber there are special Riccati components disjoint from
any other invariant curve intersecting KF trivially there are small Kroneckers who
can be contracted to curves We shall see in the next section that the complications
arising from the contraction of such non-rigid curves is purely psychological and
totally harmless
56 FEDERICO BUONERBA
VI Contractions and proof of the Main Theorem
In this section we contract all invariant curves along which KF is zero thereby
establishing the existence of canonical models I First we contract non-rigid curves
as described in the previous subsection
bull Small Kroneckers along either ruling Albeit this destroys projectivity of
the ambient threefold there still exist Cartier divisors defined in a formal
neighborhood of the base curve that intersect it non-trivially
bull Families of irreducible nodal rational curves which are flat over ∆ This
creates elliptic singularities on the general fiber of p which are disjoint from
other invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
bull Special Riccati again families of irreducible nodal rational curves fully con-
tained in X0 This creates elliptic singularities disjoint from other invariant
curves intersecting KF trivially
We can summarize our situation by way of
Set-up VI1 X is a 3-dimensional DM stack with at worst elliptic singularities
F a foliation by curves with canonical singularities which is not Q-Cartier in a
neighborhood of Xsing
There exists a proper morphism p X rarr ∆ smooth off 0 isin ∆ F restricts to a
foliation on every fiber of p it has canonical singularities on the very general fiber
of p and log-canonical singularities on every fiber of p KF is big and nef on every
irreducible component of every fiber of p
Let C be the invariant sub-scheme along which KF is not big then C is a curve
fully contained in the smooth locus X0capXsmooth every sub-curve of C has anti-ample
normal bundle the 1-simplex of its dual graph is a tree and detailed configurations
of such are referenced in set-up VI13
We proceed to contract such C We assume that along C the semi-simple field has
only rational eigenvalues and moreover no component of C is inside the foliation
singularity The other two cases - irrational eigenvalues and presence of singular
component - are strictly easier and can be obtained with the very same method
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 57
The proof takes place in the formal completion around C = C free cup C axes The
former is a disjoint union of trees of non-double curves For each non-double C let
F (C) denote the unique component of X0 containing it The latter is a tree of double
curves each with two triple points all contained in the same irreducible FC axes Each
tree of non-double curves touches C axes in one point through a LC-center In order
to construct the contraction we will use Artinrsquos celebrated criterion in the following
form
Fact VI1 ([Ar70]) Let X be an irreducible algebraic space i Y rarr X a closed
subspace of pure codimension 1 and f Y rarr Y0 a proper morphism with flowastOY = OY0
Let X denote the formal completion of X along Y and assume there exists a Cartier
divisor D in X which is supported on Y and is f -anti-ample Then there exists a
proper morphism of algebraic spaces F X rarr X0 which is an isomorphism away
from Y and such that ilowastF = f
Now we use the tree structure of C to construct a suitable divisor to which apply
Artinrsquos theorem Namely consider the following inductive defintion
(35) C0 = C axes F0 = FC axes
For k ge 0 assume Ck Fk are defined
bull Let Ck+1 denote the union of irreducible components of C that intersect Fk
non-trivially but are not contained in cupilekFibull Let Fk+1 denote the reduced sum (
sumCsubeCk+1
F (C))red
This process stops with a collection C1 middot middot middotCN of curves and F1 middot middot middot FN of reduced
divisors
Lemma VI1 We have the following identities
(36)
Fk middot C lt 0 for every C sube Ck
(F0 + F1) middot C le 0 for every C sube C0
(Fkminus1 + Fk + Fk+1) middot C = 0 for every C sube Ck 1 lt k lt N
(FNminus1 + FN) middot C lt 0 for every C sube CN
58 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proof The first is just the fact that every component of C is rigid The remaining
three follow from X0 middot C = 0 but the last one requires further justification Indeed
if C sube CN N gt 0 then C is one end of a tree of non-double curves In particular
there exists a foliation singularity lowast isin C disjoint from any other component of
C and LClowast is transverse to C This implies LClowast middotC gt 0 which together with
(FNminus1 + FN + LClowast) middot C = 0 concludes the proof
Let ε1 middot middot middot εN isin Qgt0 and define
(37) F Nminusk = (1 + ε1 + middot middot middot+ εk)FNminusk
bull If C sube CN we have
(38) (F Nminus1 + F
N) middot C = ε1FNminus1 middot C + (FNminus1 + FN) middot C
bull If C sube CNminusk 1 lt k lt N we have
(39)
(F Nminuskminus1 + F
Nminusk + F Nminusk+1) middot C =
(1 + middot middot middot+ εk)(FNminuskminus1 + FNminusk + FNminusk+1) middot C minus εkFNminusk+1 middot C + εk+1FNminuskminus1 middot C =
minus εkFNminusk+1 middot C + εk+1FNminuskminus1 middot C
bull If C sube C0 we have
(40) (F 0 + F
1) middot C = εNF0 middot C + (Nminus1sumj=0
εj)(F0 + F1) middot C
It is clear that provided
(41) 1 gtgt ε1 gtgt middot middot middot gtgt εN
the divisor F =sumF k is negative along every component of C
This proves the existence of the contraction and concludes the proof of the Main
Theorem I
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 59
VII Moduli space of foliated surfaces of general type
In this section we study the modular variation of foliated surfaces of general type
The upshot is that it is possible to define a functor which is representable separated
and every irreducible component is proper The main issue here is that the supporting
surface of a foliated canonical model may well fail to be projective indeed KF is not
Q-Gorenstein in general Hence in order to proceed via standard methods [Ko17]
we have to parametrize our canonical models together with a suitable projective
resolution
Definition VII13 Let (SF ) be a foliated proper reduced purely 2-dimensional
DM stack Assume S has only normal crossing singularities in codimension 1 that
F has log-canonical foliation singularities and that KF is big and nef on at least
one of the irreducible components of S If whenever KF middot C = 0 for some curve C
then C moves in an irreducible component of S and no member of such deformation
is F -invariant then (SF ) is called foliated canonical model of general type
Clearly foliated canonical models are exactly the stable degenerations appearing
as the central fiber of our Main Theorem I Their lack of projectivity has two sources
namely the contraction of cycles of smooth KF -nil curves and of trees of cuspidal
ones Singularities arising from cycles behave well in families namely they always
deform into the general fiber Those arising from cuspidal curves on the other hand
tend to be rather isolated inside the degenerate fiber
Observe that the deformation theory of a foliated surface is rather simple suppose
given an infinitesimal C-algebras extension 0 rarr J rarr Ae rarr A rarr 0 and (SF )
a foliated surface flat over Spec(A) then the obstruction to lifting to Ae can be
understood in three simple steps
(1) Deformation of the underlying surface S once a deformation Se rarr Spec(Ae)
is given
(2) Deformation of the line bundle KF by the exponential sequence
(42) 0rarr J otimes OS rarr OlowastSerarr OlowastS rarr 0
obstructions lie in H2(SOS)otimes J once a deformation of KF is given
60 FEDERICO BUONERBA
(3) Deformation of the defining section OS rarr KF otimes TS obstructions lie in
H1(SKF otimes TS)otimes J
Now we have
Definition VII14 Let (SF ) be a foliated canonical model of general type A
proper birational morphism q (SF )proj rarr (SF ) is called its projective resolution
if
bull Every irreducible component of Sproj is smooth
bull The exceptional locus of q is a disjoint union of cycles of KFproj-nil smooth
curves and trees of KFproj-nil curves each of which has a non-trivial cuspidal
singularity
bull In a neighborhood of every q-exceptional cycle not only Sproj but also its
moduli space is smooth
We need a few remarks about projective resolutions
(1) Projective resolutions are always unique Indeed the only possible ambiguity
could lie in some extra smooth irreducible components in the exceptional
locus This is forbidden by definition in the trees of cuspidal curves it is
also forbidden by way of the third item in cycles of smooth ones ie on
algebraic surfaces the minimal resolution is unique
(2) Denote by E the collection of q-exceptional cycles Then there exist ε δ isinQgt0 such that KFproj
minus εE + δKSprojis ample by Nakai-Moishezon
(3) Deformations of a projective resolution of a foliated canonical model are
canonically identified with deformations of the underlying birational mor-
phism q Sproj rarr S followed by a deformation of the foliation F
We are now ready to construct a moduli functor for foliated surfaces more precisely
for projective resolutions of foliated canonical models of general type For m dN isinN and ε δ isin Qgt0 let
(43) MmdNεδ (C-schemes)rarr (sets)
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 61
be defined by MmdNεδ(S) = Diagrams
(44) (X F )projqminusrarr (X F )
pminusrarr S
Where
bull Both p and p q are flat and proper
bull For every closed point s isin S the induced morphism qs is the projective
resolution of (X F )s which is a foliated canonical model of general type
bull Denote by Es the collection of exceptional cycles of qs By our Main Theorem
I there is a fibrewise divisor E subXproj flat over S restricting to Es for every
s isin S
bull Let j W rarr Xproj denote the maximal closed subscheme away from which
KFprojand KXprojS are locally free Then
(45) L [m] = (jlowast(KFprojotimes OXproj
(minusεE )otimesKδXprojS
)otimesm)oror
is flat over S and commutes with base-change
bull L [m] is very ample of degree d on every fiber and defines an embedding into
PNS
We are now ready for
Theorem VII15 The functor MmdNεδ is represented by a separated algebraic
space each of whose irreducible components is proper
Proof We show that our functor satisfies Artinrsquos conditions [Ar74 Corollary 54] By
definition condition 1) and 4) hold while our previous remark on foliated obstruction
theory shows that 3) is true
We proceed to show 2) namely effectivity of formal deformations for MmdNεδ
What follows owes much to Artinrsquos [A74rsquo] Let T be a complete C-algebra Tn its
n-truncation so that Tsimminusrarr limlarrminusTn and finally qn isinMmdNεδ(Spec(Tn)) a compatible
sequence For each n there is a maximal open set Un sube Xprojn where qn is an
isomorphism denote by sn Cn rarr Zn the restriction of qn to the complement of Un
Clearly sn is projective over Spec(Tn)
62 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Denote by X C etc the formal algebraic spaces obtained as limits of Xn Cn
etc Then Xproj sub PNˆSpec(T )
hence by Grothendieckrsquos existence Theorem we find
bull a flat projective family (X F )proj rarr Spec(T ) resp a closed subscheme
C subXproj whose completion is Xproj resp C
bull a scheme Z whose completion is Z and a morphism s C rarr Z everything
being projective over Spec(T )
Further we have a formal contraction limminusrarr qn C rarr Z hence the main theorem
of [Ar70] gives algebraic contraction (X F )proj rarr (X F ) This proves the repre-
sentability of MmdNεδ The properness and separability of each irreducible com-
ponent can be checked using valutative criteria indeed properness is the content of
our Main Theorem I separatedness follows from the uniqueness of foliated canonical
models of general type and their projective resolution
References
[Ar70] M Artin Algebraization of Formal Moduli II Existence of Modifications Ann
of Math Vol 91 No 1 (Jan 1970) pp 88-135 httpwwwjstororgstable
1970602
[Ar74] M Artin Versal Deformations and Algebraic Stacks Inventiones Math 27 165- 189
(1974) httpmathuchicagoedu~drinfeldArtin_on_stackspdf
[A74rsquo] M Artin Algebraic construction of Brieskornrsquos resolutions J Alg Vol 29 Issue
2 May 1974 pp 330-348 httpwwwsciencedirectcomsciencearticlepii
0021869374901021
[BB72] P Baum R Bott Singularities of holomorphic foliations J Diff Geom 7 (1972)
279-342 httpsprojecteuclidorgdownloadpdf_1euclidjdg1214431158
[Bo77] F Bogomolov Families of curves on a surface of general type Doklady Akademii Nauk
USSR (in Russian) 236 (5) 1041-1044
[Bo78] F Bogomolov Holomorphic tensors and vector bundles on projective varieties Math
USSR Izv 13 (1978) 499-555
[BM16] F Bogomolov M McQuillan Rational Curves on Foliated Varieties In Cascini
McKernan Pereira (eds) Foliation Theory in Algebraic Geometry Simons Symposia
Springer Cham pp 21-51 (2016) httpslinkspringercomchapter101007
978-3-319-24460-0_2
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 63
[Bu] F Buonerba Functorial resolution of tame quotient singularities in positive charac-
teristic httpsarxivorgabs151100550
[Ke99] S Keel Basepoint Freeness for Nef and Big Line Bundles in Positive Characteris-
tic Annals of Math 149 No 1 (Jan 1999) pp 253-286 httpwwwjstororg
stable121025 httpsarxivorgabsmath9901149
[KM97] S Keel S Mori Quotients by groupoids Annals of Math 145 (1997) pp
193-213 httpwwwjstororgstable2951828seq=1page_scan_tab_contents
httparxivorgabsalg-geom9508012
[Ko17] J Kollar Families of varieties of general type httpswebmathprincetonedu
~kollarbookmodbook20170720pdf
[LN02] A Lins Neto Some examples for the Poincare and Painleve problems Annales sci-
entifiques de lrsquoENS 352 (2002) 231-266 httparchivenumdamorgarticle
ASENS_2002_4_35_2_231_0pdf
[McQ12] M McQuillan Foliated Mori Theory amp Hyperbolicity of Algebraic Surfaces http
wwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillahomehtml
[McQ98] M McQuillan Diophantine approximation and foliations Inst Hautes Etudes Sci
Publ Math 87 (1998) 121-174 httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafiles
ihespdf
[McQ05rsquo] M McQuillan Bloch hyperbolicity preprint httpwwwmatuniroma2it
~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ05] M McQuillan Semi-stable reduction of foliations IHES pre-print IHESM0502
(2005) httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ05rdquo] M McQuillan Uniform Uniformisation IHES pre-print (2005) IHES M0503 http
wwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ08] M McQuillan Canonical models of foliations Pure Appl Math Q 4
(2008) no 3 Special Issue In honor of Fedor Bogomolov Part 2 877-1012
httpintlpresscomsitepubfiles_fulltextjournalspamq20080004
0003PAMQ-2008-0004-0003-a009pdf
[MP13] M McQuillan D Panazzolo Almost etale resolution of foliations J Diff Geom 95
(2013) pp 279-319 httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesmp1bispdf
[Pe02] JV Pereira On the Poincare Problem for Foliations of General Type Mathematische
Annalen 323 no 2 pp217-226 2002 httpsarxivorgabsmath0104185
[PS16] JV Pereira R Svaldi Effective algebraic integration in bounded genus preprint
httpsarxivorgabs161206932
64 FEDERICO BUONERBA
[Re83] M Reid Minimal models of canonical threefolds in rdquoAlgebraic Varieties and Ana-
lytic Varietiesrdquo Adv Stud Pure Math vol 1 S Iitaka ed Kinokuniya and North-
Holland 1983 pp 131-180 httpwwwmathsedacukcheltsovquotientpdf
reid2pdf
[Se67] A Seidenberg Reduction of singularities of the differential equation Ady = Bdx Amer
J Math 89 (1967) 248-269 httpwwwjstororgstable2373435
[SB83] N Shepherd-Barron Degenerations with numerically effective canonical divisor The
Birational Geometry of Degenerations (R Friedman and D Morrison eds) Progr
Math no 29 Birkhuser 1983 pp 33-84
[Vis89] A Vistoli Intersection theory on algebraic stacks and on their moduli spaces
Invent Math (1989) pp 613-670 httplinkspringercomarticle101007
2FBF01388892page-1
Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences New York University 251 Mercer
Street New York NY 10012 USA
E-mail address buonerbacimsnyuedu
- I Introduction
- II Preliminaries
-
- III Operations on Deligne-Mumford stacks
- IIII Width of embedded parabolic champs
- IIIII Gorenstein foliation singularities
- IIIV Foliated adjunction
- IIV Canonical models of foliated surfaces with canonical singularities
- IIVI Canonical models of foliated surfaces with log-canonical singularities
- IIVII Set-up
-
- III Invariant curves and singularities local description
-
- IIII `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F) not isolated
- IIIII `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F) isolated
- IIIIII Local consequences
-
- IV Invariant curves along which KF vanishes
-
- IVI KF-nil curves
- IVII Invariant curves inside `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F)
-
- V Configurations
-
- VI Configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
- VII Configurations of non-rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
-
- VI Contractions and proof of the Main Theorem
- VII Moduli space of foliated surfaces of general type
- References
-
38 FEDERICO BUONERBA
VI3 and that its two extremal ends are flat over ∆ Then C moves in a family flat
over ∆ and each of its irreducible components is embedded
Proof We work in a formal neighborhood of C After taking roots we can assume
C is net and since its dual graph is a chain it is actually embedded We proceed by
induction on its length l where the case l = 1 is Proposition IVI6 For l gt 1 let C1
be a component of C which is extremal in its dual graph If C1 moves transversely
to p then both its ends do and hence we can apply the induction hypothesis to
C C1 If C1 is rigid then it can be flopped It is straightforward to check that we
can apply the induction hypothesis to the transform C + C+1 and we are done
Now we deal with rigid curves inside the singular fiber
Proposition IVI8 (Singular fiber) Let f C rarr X be an embedded net KF -
nil curve with anti-ample normal bundle Then there exists a birational map φ
(X F ) 99K (X +F+) and a KF+-nil curve C+ such that
bull φ is an isomorphism away from C+
bull In a formal neighborhood of at least one among C and C+ there exist two
invariant hypersurfaces D1D2 locally defined by the vanishing of eigenfunc-
tions of the semi-simple field such that C (resp C+)= D1 capD2
bull If F middot C lt 0 for some hypersurface F then F+ middot C+ gt 0 In particular X +
is projective
Such φ is called flop
Proof Our assumption is that Nfsimminusrarr O(minusn)oplusO(minusm) is anti-ample namely nm gt
0 If two invariant hypersurfaces as in our statement do exist around C the flop is
easily constructed as a weighted blow-up followed by a weighted blow-down As such
let us assume that such hypersurfaces do not exist around C In particular C is not
double VI3 By [Ar70] there exists a formal contraction c X rarrX0 collapsing C
to a point and an isomorphism everywhere else By Proposition IVI3 the foliation
F0 is Gorenstein around the node of X0 For ease of exposition let us assume
n = m = 1 the general case is handled the same way only the notation becomes more
cumbersome due to the presence of weights The node has embedding dimension 4
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 39
and in suitable local coordinates x0 y0 w0 z0 can be defined by x0z0minusy0w0 = 0 The
morphism c can be identified with the blow up of the embedded surface (x0 = y0 = 0)
Explicitly in the chart y = y0 x = x0yminus10 it is defined by
(28) y0 = y x0 = xy z0 = zprime w0 = xzprime
Here x is a coordinate along C while y = 0 is the pull-back of (x0 = y0 = 0) and
zprime some function in the normal bundle to C By the previous Proposition IVI6
we know C cannot be contained in the smooth locus of p Since C is not double
we can assume that in this local chart p is defined by (x y zprime) rarr xy - the case
(x y zprime) rarr xzprime being isomorphic as it is isomorphic to blow-up (z0 = w0 = 0)
instead of (x0 = y0 = 0) The issue is as emphasized by the notation zprime 6= z that
zprime may fail to be an eigenfunction for partS if it were we would be done since zprime = 0
is the local equation for the global pullback of (z0 = w0 = 0) However we have
a b isin C such that
(29) partS0(y0) = minusy0 partS0(x0) = 0 partS0(z0) = ay0 + bz0 partS0(w0) = ax0 + (b+ 1)w0
Observe that the embedded surfaces D01 = (y0 = z0 = 0) and D0
2 = (x0 = w0 = 0)
are both foliation invariant As such let b X + rarr X0 denote the blow-up of X0
along D01 - which is isomorphic to that along D0
2 - and let Di = blowastD0i i = 1 2
Finally X + is projective by Nakai-Moishezon Indeed every C with anti-ample
normal bundle is contained in an irreducible component F of X0 such that F middotC lt 0
Then F+ middot C+ gt 0 and we can find an ample divisor of the form H+ + εF+ where
H+ is the proper transform of an ample on X
Remark IVI9 In the previous proof a 6= b+ 1 Indeed such identity would create
a non-trivial Jordan block of partS0 in the (x0 w0)-plane thus contradicting the semi-
simplicity of partS0 In particular by a straightforward computation it is impossible to
find eigenfunctions of the form wlowast0 = w0 + αx0 zlowast0 = z0 + βy0 with x0z
lowast0 minus y0wlowast0 = 0
unless a = 0
We can conclude by pointing out an important point understood in this section
A painful aspect of the theory is that log-canonical singularities which appear natu-
rally as analytic degenerations of canonical ones come along with cuspidal invariant
40 FEDERICO BUONERBA
curves There is in particular no a-priori obstruction to the existence of rigid
cuspidal KF -nil curves in a smooth fiber of our family of foliated surfaces p Quite
generally a rigid curve of positive arithmetic genus in a smooth family of surfaces can
never be contracted to a point Therefore this would have been a counter-example
to any reasonable foliated canonical model theory one may wish to achieve Fortu-
nately such phenomenon does not happen and this establishes the Main Theorem I
modulo finitely many rigid curves confined in the singular fiber X0
IVII Invariant curves inside sing(F ) In this subsection we study curves Z0 subeXlowast cap sing(F ) which are inside the foliation singularity and invariant By this we
mean that there exists a sequence fn Cn rarrX of not necessarily algebraic invariant
curves converging in the compact-open topology to Z0 In other words the map
(30) NorF rarr Ω1Z0
is trivial By Corollary IIIIII5 we know that Z0 is at worst nodal it is smooth
wherever p is smooth for every point z isin Z0 the semi-simple part of the gener-
ating vector field has exactly one eigenvalue The problem here is that the Jordan
decomposition need not extend uniformly along Z0 not even along an irreducible
component In case ni (1)a the functions x and g may develop essential singulari-
ties arbitrary close to z Nonetheless the function x is unique and this says that x
does extend along Z0
Proposition IVII1 Let Z0 be as above Then in a formal neighborhood of Z0
there exists a unique smooth invariant hypersurface D0 containing Z0 which restricts
around any point in Z0 to the unique eigenfunction for the semi-simple field whose
eigenvalue is non-zero
Proof The local structure of the foliation around a point z isin Z0 is described by
cases ni (1)a and ni (1)b In both cases partS has one non-zero eigenvalue with
eigenfunction x Such eigenfunction x is a-priori only defined in the normal bundle to
Z0 but it is clear that the equation partx = x has a unique up to constants solution in
the formal completion around z As such there exists a unique smooth hypersurface
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 41
D0 in the formal completion around Z0 which restricts to the eigenfunction x around
z
Observe that the previous argument goes through since we are assuming Z0 subX0
Keeping notations from case ni (1)a if say g(y z) = yz then in the hypersurface
y equiv q isin Qgt0 the foliation has a log-canonical singularity and the eigenfunction x
extends highly non-uniquely to a formal neighborhood of the point (x y z) = (0 q 0)
In particular the existence of D0 as in the previous Proposition might fail along
the component (x = z = 0) of the foliation singularity This phenomenon is called
the beast
Anyway uniqueness in the previous proposition yields
Corollary IVII2 Let Z prime be a connected invariant curve inside sing(F ) Then in
a formal neighborhood of Z prime there exists a unique smooth invariant hypersurface D prime
containing Z prime which restricts around any point in Z prime to the hypersurface constructed
in the previous proposition
Next we turn to the intrinsic structure of invariant singular curves
Proposition IVII3 Let Z0 be an irreducible invariant curve inside sing(F )
Then Z0 is smooth and rational
Proof We work in a formal neighborhood of Z0 Let F0 denote the unique component
of X0 containing Z0 For any other fiber component F intersecting Z0 non-trivially
blow-up the invariant curve F cap F0 with exceptional divisor EF A straightforward
computation using the local formula ni (1)b shows that the fiber of the natural
projection EF rarr F cap F0 intersecting Z0 is also contained in sing(F ) For Z prime the
maximal connected singular invariant curve containing Z0 let G denote the saturated
foliation induced on D prime It is canonical with reduced singularities and it satisfies
KG = KF |Dprime minus Zprime By adjunction
(31) 2g(Z0)minus 2 + sZG(Z0) = minusZ prime middot Z0
Observe that thanks to our initial sequence of blow-ups the singularities of G along
Z0 coincide with the intersection of Z0 and Z prime Z0 In particular since D prime is formally
42 FEDERICO BUONERBA
flat over ∆ we deduce Z prime middot Z0 = 0 and the previous formula becomes
(32) 2g(Z0)minus 2 + sZG(Z0) = 0
This implies that Z0 is rational or elliptic If Z0 were elliptic then sZG(Z0) = 0 and
D0 defines an invariant elliptic curve in the general fiber of p By Baum-Bott this
contradicts that KF is big and nef Now we show that Z0 is smooth If it has a node
then D0 moves it in a family of nodal rational curves flat over ∆ In particular D0
itself has a node in codimension 1 hence Xlowast is smooth around the node of Z0 In its
formal neighborhood the foliation must be as in case ni (1)a which implies that
Z0 is smooth contradiction
We can improve as follows
Proposition IVII4 Let Z prime sube sing F capXlowast be a connected invariant curve with
KF middot Z prime = 0 Then its dual graph is a chain
Proof Assume Z prime is a cycle Then necessarily Z prime = D prime capXlowast scheme-theoretically
and by the existence of Hilbert scheme Z prime moves in the general fiber Its general
member is either a cycle of smooth rational curves or an elliptic curve Arguing as
in the previous proof we see that both options are impossible
V Configurations
In this section we analyze in great detail all possible configurations of invariant
curves along which KF vanishes These can be divided into three groups those
that do not move those that move in a one-dimensional family covering a surface
those that move in a higher-dimensional family covering a surface Curves in the first
group can form rather complicated configurations while those in the second group
are more simple they either move in the general fiber or they cover an isolated
Riccati component in the singular fiber Those in the third group turn out to be
represented by the two rulings of P1timesP1 if they happen to be cohomologous in the
ambient stack First we will analyze rigid curves then those which move and finally
we will describe their configurations
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 43
VI Configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially In
this subsection we describe configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF
trivially which arise in the situation described by set-up IIVII4
First we focus on KF -nil curves At the end of the section we deal with the simpler
case in which a curve in the configuration is fully contained in sing(F ) The general
fiber was handled in Proposition IVI6
Proposition VI1 Let C be a connected KF -nil curve contained in the smooth
locus of a fiber of p Then it is a chain or a cycle and it moves in a family flat over
∆
In what follows we let C denote a connected KF -nil curve contained in the
singular fiber X0 all of whose sub-curves are rigid in X Observe a consequence of
equation 23
Proposition VI2 Let C = cupiCi be a connected KF -nil curve Then the eigen-
values of partS are all rational at every point of sing(F )capC if and only if they are all
rational at one point
We can deduce many non-trivial properties about configurations of KF -nil curves
First we need
Definition VI3 Let C subX0 be a curve It is called double if there exists formally
around C two components F F prime of X0 such that C = F cap F prime A point lowast isin C where
three fiber components intersect is called a triple point If C lies on exactly one fiber
component it is called non-double We denote by F (C) such component
Remark VI4 Let Csimminusrarr P1(d e) be double with two triple points Then we know
e+ λ+ micro = minusd+ (λ+ n) + (micro+m) = 0 whence we obtain
(33) n+m = d+ e
Which is called triple-point formula
Next we show that essentially KF -nil curves do not form cycles unless something
deforms in X0 First we show that there are no cycles of rigid non-double curves
44 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proposition VI5 Let C be a connected KF -nil curve contained in the singular
fiber X0 of p Assume that every component of C is non-double and that every
sub-curve is rigid Then C contains no cycles
Proof We work in a formal neighborhood of C which we assume is a cycle Let
us first consider the case in which all components C1 middot middot middot CN are smooth with no
orbifold points and denote lowasti = Ci cap Ci+1 with CN+1 = C1 Moreover let us
assume no lowasti lies in the smooth locus of p
Since no curve is double the semi-simple field at every lowasti is as in case i (3)b in
particular the eigenvalues along the branches of Ci and Ci+1 add up to zero More-
over let minusni denote the self-intersection of Ci sub F (Ci) Normalize the eigenvalues
of partS so that at lowastn they are 1 in the C1 direction minus1 in the CN direction λ in the
F (C1)capF (CN) direction It follows by induction that at lowasti the eigenvalues are minus1
in the Ci direction 1 in the Ci+1 direction λ+ n1 + middot middot middot+ ni in the F (Ci) cap F (Ci+1)
direction After traveling around the cycle we obtain n1+middot middot middot+nN = 0 contradicting
that ni gt 0 for every i
We established the Proposition assuming every Ci is an embedded scheme and ev-
ery lowasti is in the singular locus of p The case in which Cisimminusrarr P1(di ei) has orbifold
points is analogous we end up with a combination c1n1 + middot middot middot + cNnN = 0 with ci
the eigenvalue at lowasti in the Ci+1 direction Normalizing so that c1 = e1 gt 0 again by
induction on i we see that every ci isin Qgt0 Next we show that our assumption on lowastiis always satisfied
Claim VI6 Every lowasti must belong to the singular locus of p
Proof We give two essentially equivalent proofs
bull If N = 2 3 then the previous argument goes through indeed we can normal-
ize eigenvalues at lowasti to be negative in the Ciminus1 direction and positive in the
Ci-direction and argue as above Hence we can assume N ge 4 If say lowasti is in
the smooth locus of p then F (Ci) = F (Ci+1) If also F (Ciminus1) = F (Ci) then Ci
lies in the smooth locus of p and hence it moves Therefore F (Ciminus1) 6= F (Ci)
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 45
and Ciminus1 can be flopped inside F (Ci) Since N ge 4 this preserves the smooth-
ness of F (Ci) and Ci is now is the smooth locus of p - contradiction
bull If lowasti belongs to the smooth locus of p then the end through lowasti moves We
can form a partial net completion fi Xi rarrX by normalizing C in lowasti only
Then f lowasti C is a chain with movable ends and hence moves in the general fiber
of p fi
Finally the general case in which some among the Ci have cusps can be easily
reduced to the smooth case in a couple of ways
bull Eigenvalues at the singularities of any KF -nil curve satisfy the same relations
as in the smooth case
bull Upon taking roots and net completion we can find a foliated formal 3-fold
supported on a cycle of smooth KF -nil curves which is a ramified cover of a
formal neighborhood of our cycle
Similarly we can show that there are no rigid cycles of double curves
Proposition VI7 Let C be a nodal KF -nil curve which is double Then C
deforms inside X0 In particular there cannot exist a rigid cycle of KF -nil double
curves
Proof Following the previous notation we have 0 = infin and if C = (xy = z = 0)
around 0 then we have identities
(34) x = η y = ξ z = ζ
The last one of which implies m = 0 that is C deforms Since C is double necessarily
the surface it spans must be contained in X0
The statement about cycles follows since a cycle of double curves can be transformed
after finitely many flops into a chain of smooth double curves with a nodal one
attached at one end
46 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Later on we will show that the deformations of C cannot span an elliptic surface
but only a family of nodal rational curves with a special Riccati foliation on it
We are ready to organize a detailed description of the dual graph of C More pre-
cisely we only need to understand how double curves intersect non-double curves
Lemma VI8 There exists a sequence of flops X 99KX + such that if C + denotes
the transform of C every double curve supported on C + contains two triple points
Proof Let C sube C be an irreducible component with at most one triple point and
let X 99K X + be its flop Then its transform C+ is non-double and the number
of double curves contained in C descreases It is clear that after finitely many flops
all double curves contain exactly two triple points
From now on all double curves in C have two triple points Thanks to proposition
VI2 we know that there are two cases to consider those curves along which the
semi-simple field has not only rational eigenvalues and those along which the semi-
simple field has only rational eigenvalues The first case being strictly easier than
the second it is a good starting place to warm up
Proposition VI9 (irrational eigenvalues) Assume that for every foliation singu-
larity along C not all eigenvalues of partS are rational Then every component of C
is net with at most one node and 1-skeleton of its dual graph is at worst trivalent
Write C = C axes cup C free where
C axes is the union of double curves
C free is the union of non-double curves
Then one among C axes and C free is empty Moreover
bull If C free is non-empty then it is a chain of smooth curves with rational moduli
bull If C axes is non-empty there exists a sequence of flops X 99KX + and an ir-
reducible component of the fiber FC subX + such that X + is a smooth stack
the transform C+ of C is contained in FC Moreover the dual graph of C+
is a tree which by [McQ08 III32] becomes a chain inside the normalization
of FC
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 47
Proof The first sentence is just corollary IIIIII3
Observe that if a non-double curve intersects a double curve then the non-double
curve must be contained in an LC-center around such intersection This contradicts
that not all eigenvalues are rational and establishes that one among C axes and C free
is empty
In case C free is not empty then it is clearly a chain or a cycle the latter being
impossible by Proposition VI5
We are left to show the existence of flops in case C = C axes We remark that
every component is smooth Let C0 be such a component and S0 a component of
X0 containing it Let C1 be the collection of irreducible components of C which
intersect S0 but are not contained in it All the components of C1 are smooth hence
we can flop them in any order until the transform of C1 lies in the transform of S0
Since the number of irreducible components of C lying outside S0 decreases after
such flop by induction we deduce the existence of finitely many flops after which
the birational transform of C is fully contained in the transform of S0
Next we take care of rational eigenvalues The complication here arises from
the fact that there may be double and non-double curves intersecting each other
However the situation is best possible
Proposition VI10 (rational eigenvalues) Assume that for every foliation singu-
larity along C all eigenvalues of partS are rational Write C = C axes cup C free where
C axes is the union of double curves
C free is the union of non-double curves
Then there exists a sequence of flops X 99K X + and an irreducible component of
the fiber FC axes subX + such that
bull X + is a smooth stack
bull The union of double curves of C axes is contained in FC axes the 1-skeleton of
its dual graph is a tree and each of its components has two triple points
bull The 1-skeleton of the dual graph of the transform C free+ is a disjoint union of
trees
bull Each connected component of C free+ intersects C axes in exactly one point
48 FEDERICO BUONERBA
In particular the 1-skeleton of the dual graph of C is a tree
Proof Notice that for every point lowast isin C cap Z there exists one LC-center through lowastIndeed there are three rational eigenvalues and they cannot be all non-vanishing and
all with different signs at the same time Now C axes can be treated as in proposition
VI9 This proves the first two items of the statement The third item follows from
Proposition VI5 so we can focus on the fourth one The proof is based on the
following obvious
Remark VI11 let C be a double curve such that either it is KF -nil hence has
two triple points or it is fully contained in sing(F ) Let C0 sube C free intersect C
non-trivially in a point lowast then necessarily C0 sub LClowast
Now let C0 middot middot middot CN form a chain of non-double curves with C0 and CN both
intersecting double curves as in the remark Denote by lowasti = Ci cap Ci+1 Since
C1 sub LClowast necessarily C1 is transverse to LClowast1 otherwise C1 would deform in F (C1)
Inductively we see that Ci+1 sub LClowasti and is transverse to LClowasti+1 In particular CN
cannot touch a double curve This contradiction proves the fourth item
Let us add a remark about configurations featuring invariant curves inside sing(F )
Proposition VI12 Let C be an invariant curve with KF middot C = 0 such that
Z0 sube C for some component Z0 sube sing(F ) Then C = Z prime cup C where
Z prime is a connected invariant curve inside the foliation singularity with dual graph a
chain
C is the union of at most two pairwise disjoint KF -nil curves with anti-ample
normal bundle
If not empty C can only intersect Z prime at the two ends of its dual graph Moreover
perhaps after a flop the intersection of C with Z prime supports the foliation singularity
along C As such if C has two components Z prime cup C deforms in the general fiber
Proof The structure of Z prime is Proposition IVII3 while that of Co is Proposition
IVI6 Let C prime be a component of C intersecting Z0 in a point lowast If C prime and Z0 belong
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 49
to different components of X0 then by case ni (1)b the eigenvalue of partS along C prime
vanishes so supp(sing(F ) cap C prime) = lowast If C prime and Z0 belong to the same component
then we can flop C prime into a different component
Observe that the divisor D prime from op cit can be extended along C prime This implies
that C can only intersect Z prime at its ends Moreover if C touches both ends necessarily
D prime capX0 = C scheme-theoretically hence by the existence of Hilbert scheme IVI5
we conclude
Our new set-up is
Set-up VI13 Everything as in set-up IIVII4 and moreover for any connected
invariant curve C with KF middot C = 0 all of whose sub-curves are rigid we have
configurations computed in proposition VI9 VI10 and Lemma VI12
VII Configurations of non-rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
In this subsection we describe configurations of surfaces which are covered by KF -nil
curves The structure of each such surface is described by classification IIV1 IIV2
and Corollary IIVI17 Our first step is to simplify the situation by contracting
chains of ruled surfaces The next step is to try and exclude the possibility that
the singular fiber of p contains fibrations by elliptic or nodal rational curves with
at least one invariant fiber This can be achieved with good success indeed there
may be at most one such Riccati foliation which is anyway rather isolated from the
remaining KF -nil curves Finally we observe that the only class of surfaces we have
not mentioned is
Definition VII1 A irreducible component F of the singular fiber of p is called
small Kronecker if
bull (FFF ) is birational to a Kronecker vector field on P1 timesP1 and
bull The two rulings of this P1 timesP1 are cohomologous inside X
The name comes from the fact that contraction of a small Kronecker yields a node
in the ambient threefold which admits a small resolution In fact in many respects
these fiber components behave very much like rigid KF -nil curves
50 FEDERICO BUONERBA
We start by getting rid of some fiber components which are ruled by KF -nil gener-
ically smooth rational curves
Proposition VII2 Notation as in Set-up VI13 there exists a sequence of flops
and divisorial contractions c X 99KX + such that
bull X + is a smooth stack
bull let S+ sub X + be an irreducible invariant divisor that contains a positive-
dimensional family of invariant rational curves along which KF+ vanishes
Then S+ is either birationally ruled by nodal rational curves or it is a small
Kronecker
Proof We focus first on contracting components of the singular fiber of p Consider
the following algorithm If there is no birationally ruled component different from
the ones listed in the second item we are done otherwise pick one such F and let
C denote the general member of the ruling If the cohomology class [C] is inde-
composable F is minimal Otherwise [C] = [C1] + [C2] where Ci are rational and
intersect KF trivially After finitely many steps we have a decomposition as a finite
sum of indecomposables [C] =sumn
i=0 ni[Ci] where every Ci is rational intersects KF
trivially We have two cases
bull There exists k such that Ck deforms in a birationally ruled necessarily min-
imal surface Fk
bull Every Ci has anti-ample normal bundle
In the first case denote by X rarr X1 the contraction of Fk along |Ck| and relpace
X by X1 Since Fk is minimal smoothness of the ambient stack is preserved unless
Fk is a small Kronecker This is however impossible if n ge 2 if Fk were a small
Kronecker then Ck deforms away from Fkminus1 so then Fkminus1 middot Ck = 0 on the other
hand Fkminus1 intersects the other ruling of Fk positively
In the second case flop C1 middot middot middot Cn in this order The transform of F is minimal and
not a small Kronecker so it can be contracted along its ruling preserving ambient
smoothness By induction on the Picard rank of X after finitely many steps this
algorithm ends Call X the output of this algorithm
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 51
Let S subX be an invariant divisor with a generically smooth ruling Then pS S rarr∆ is flat and after flopping finitely many rational curves in S cap plowastS(0) the resulting
pS is smooth Hence we can contract S along pS After finitely many steps the
Proposition is proven
For ease of notation in the sequel we call X the output of the previous proposition
Notice that there might still be divisors carrying a pencil of nodal rational curves
both inside and outside the singular fiber of p
We can start analyzing configurations of fiber components where the restriction of
F is not of general type We need some notation whose reason to exist will be clear
shortly
Definition VII3 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
along which KF is not big F is called special Riccati if
bull F is minimal
bull There exists a morphism s F rarr B onto a curve whose fibers are nodal
rational curve
bull F is transverse to the general fiber of s in particular KF is numerically
trivial along s
bull At least one fiber of s is invariant
bull There exists a section σ of s which is invariant and does not coincide with
the nodal locus of F
In particular the intersections of σ with invariant fibers of s isolated singularities
of F the node of F all coincide There may be fibers of s fully contained in sing(F )
in which case they are everywhere transverse to the saturated foliation
The definition looks nasty but special Riccati components have a rather simple
origin as the following proof shows
Lemma VII4 Let F be special Riccati Up to base change by an etale double cover
Bprime rarr B there is a natural isomorphism F norm simminusrarr BprimetimesP1 and the restriction of F
to F norm is birational to the projection onto P1
52 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proof We work over the normalization F norm Denote by Bprime the pre-image of the
node of F which is an etale double cover of B and let f denote an invariant fiber
of s with lowast = σ cap f Observe that F norm carries a Riccati foliation with 3 invariant
curves through lowast - namely σ f and a component of Bprime Hence FF has a log-canonical
singularity in lowast On F norm perform a weighted blow-up in each log-canonical singu-
larity followed by the contraction of the transforms of the corresponding fibers Let
s+ F+ rarr B denote the output of this operation If the proper transform of Bprime is
connected replace F+ by its base change under Bprime rarr B Hence we can assume Bprime
is the disjoint union of two sections of s+ and the transform of σ is a third section
which is disjoint from Bprime Therefore F+ = P1 timesBprime and the foliation restricts to the
projection onto P1
Next we describe those surfaces which cannot appear as components of the sin-
gular fiber X0
Definition VII5 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
along which KF is not big F is called illusory if
bull there exists a morphism t F rarr B onto a curve
bull KF is trivial along t
bull For any other fiber component F prime the intersection F cap F prime is either empty or
contained in a fiber of t
We give examples of illusory fiber components
Lemma VII6 The following fiber components are necessarily illusory
bull t is elliptic the foliation is either parallel to t or turbolent with at least one
invariant fiber
bull t is a nodal ruling the foliation is either parallel to t or transverse to t with
at least one invariant fiber and not birational to a special Riccati VII3
Proof Let f = F cap F prime for some fiber component F prime It is F -invariant
Assume t and F are parallel and f is transverse to both Then necessarily f subesing(F ) and KF is positive along the fibers of t contradiction
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 53
Assume t and F are generically transverse and f is transverse to t Let e be an
invariant fiber of t then ecap f isin sing(F ) hence t must be a family of nodal rational
curves and ecapf coincides with the node of e - otherwise KF would be positive along
t But this implies F is special Riccati contradiction
We proceed to show that illusory fibers do not exist
Lemma VII7 Let F be an illusory fiber component then every fiber of t is irre-
ducible If F prime is any fiber component intersecting F non-trivially then F prime is illusory
Proof Assume t has a reducible fiber f Then we can write f = f prime cup f primeprime where f prime
is irreducible and f primeprime is a disjoint union of chains of rational curves In particular
every subscheme supported on f primeprime is rigid in X f prime is rational and smooth iff f is a
cycle of rational curves hence the foliation on F is parallel to t and the choice of f prime
is not unique otherwise f prime is nodal or elliptic Let X 99KX + denote the flop of the
irreducible components of f primeprime in any order The proper transform f prime+ (below in red)
is the irreducible fiber of the induced morphism t+ F+ rarr B Since f primeprime+ intersects
f prime+ and is not contained in F+ there exists a component F prime of the fiber of p+ such
that F+ cap f prime+ 6= empty Since F+ is illusory necessarily F+ cap F prime = f prime+ Moreover F+
and F prime are the only fiber components intersecting f prime+ again because F+ is illusory
We deduce that F+ middot f prime+ = F prime middot f prime+ = 0 and therefore f prime+ is nef inside F prime It follows
that he restriction of F+ to F prime is not of general type and by the classification of
foliated surfaces [McQ08] necessarily f prime+ deforms inside F prime and defines a fibration
u F prime rarr Bprime In particular f prime+ is an irreducible fiber of u This is however impossible
since u contracts all the components of f primeprime+ contained in F prime (below in blue) and by
definition of F prime there exists at least one such component This proves that every
fiber of t is irreducible The following depicts the situation
F prime F+
f prime+
f primeprime+
t+u
54 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Concerning the second statement we only need to check the third condition for F prime
to be illussory namely that every other fiber component F primeprime intersecting F prime does
so along the fibers of u If F primeprime intersects F prime transversely to u then F primeprime intersects F
non-trivially and transversely to t as well absurd
Corollary VII8 Illusory components do not exist
Proof By the above lemma the existence of one illusory component implies that
every irreducible component of the singular fiber of p is illusory contradicting that
KF is big
We can now focus on fiber components that do appear
Corollary VII9 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
containing an invariant curve C which moves and such that KF middot C = 0 Then
following the classification [McQ08] we have two cases
(1) The minimal model of F is a special Riccati component
(2) F is a small Kronecker
Proof Certainly the ones listed are the only cases where C is KF -nil We have to
exclude the possibility that C is invariant inside sing(F ) By Proposition IVII3
such C would be rational with at most one node Since we already contracted at
the beginning of the present subsection all ruled surfaces necessarily C is nodal
However by opcit C cannot intersect any other fiber component of X0 which
implies the absurdity that X0 = F
We proceed to show that special Riccati components are rather isolated in the
fiber
Lemma VII10 Let F be a special Riccati component If F prime is a fiber component
intersecting F non-trivially then it does so transversely to s Morover there is
exactly one such F prime
Proof After finitely many flops we can assume that every fiber of s is irreducible
By the non-existence of illusory components there exists a fiber component F lowast with
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 55
σprime = F cap F prime transverse to s If F primeprime is a fiber component with f = F cap F primeprime a fiber
of s then we claim f sube sing(F ) If not then since KF middot f = 0 and σprime is invariant
necessarily σprimecap f is the node of f But then the existence of F primeprime contradicts that p is
snc Hence f sube sing(F ) so then around the node of f there are 3 fiber components -
two branches coming from F one from F primeprime - and sing(F ) has 2 branches - namely f
This is impossible by our case analysis ni (1)c ni (2)c The very same reasoning
establishes the uniqueness of F prime
Lemma VII11 Let F be as in the previous Lemma If C is a connected curve
with KF middot C = 0 then it is disjoint from F
Proof After finitely many flops s is irreducible and C intersects F transversely away
from its node Moreover lowast = C cap F isin sing(F ) and we deduce that the fiber of s
through lowast is fully contained in the singular locus of F This contradicts Proposition
IVII3 since such fiber is nodal
We conclude by observing the obvious
Lemma VII12 Let F be a small Kronecker Then there exists a contraction
c X rarr X prime which is an isomorphism away from F and contracts F along one
of its rulings Necessarily X prime is not projective since every global Cartier divisor
intersects c(F ) trivially On the other hand in a formal neighborhood of c(F ) there
exist Cartier divisors intersecting it non-trivialliy
As such the contribution coming from non-rigid curves is rather poor there are
curves moving in the general fiber there are special Riccati components disjoint from
any other invariant curve intersecting KF trivially there are small Kroneckers who
can be contracted to curves We shall see in the next section that the complications
arising from the contraction of such non-rigid curves is purely psychological and
totally harmless
56 FEDERICO BUONERBA
VI Contractions and proof of the Main Theorem
In this section we contract all invariant curves along which KF is zero thereby
establishing the existence of canonical models I First we contract non-rigid curves
as described in the previous subsection
bull Small Kroneckers along either ruling Albeit this destroys projectivity of
the ambient threefold there still exist Cartier divisors defined in a formal
neighborhood of the base curve that intersect it non-trivially
bull Families of irreducible nodal rational curves which are flat over ∆ This
creates elliptic singularities on the general fiber of p which are disjoint from
other invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
bull Special Riccati again families of irreducible nodal rational curves fully con-
tained in X0 This creates elliptic singularities disjoint from other invariant
curves intersecting KF trivially
We can summarize our situation by way of
Set-up VI1 X is a 3-dimensional DM stack with at worst elliptic singularities
F a foliation by curves with canonical singularities which is not Q-Cartier in a
neighborhood of Xsing
There exists a proper morphism p X rarr ∆ smooth off 0 isin ∆ F restricts to a
foliation on every fiber of p it has canonical singularities on the very general fiber
of p and log-canonical singularities on every fiber of p KF is big and nef on every
irreducible component of every fiber of p
Let C be the invariant sub-scheme along which KF is not big then C is a curve
fully contained in the smooth locus X0capXsmooth every sub-curve of C has anti-ample
normal bundle the 1-simplex of its dual graph is a tree and detailed configurations
of such are referenced in set-up VI13
We proceed to contract such C We assume that along C the semi-simple field has
only rational eigenvalues and moreover no component of C is inside the foliation
singularity The other two cases - irrational eigenvalues and presence of singular
component - are strictly easier and can be obtained with the very same method
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 57
The proof takes place in the formal completion around C = C free cup C axes The
former is a disjoint union of trees of non-double curves For each non-double C let
F (C) denote the unique component of X0 containing it The latter is a tree of double
curves each with two triple points all contained in the same irreducible FC axes Each
tree of non-double curves touches C axes in one point through a LC-center In order
to construct the contraction we will use Artinrsquos celebrated criterion in the following
form
Fact VI1 ([Ar70]) Let X be an irreducible algebraic space i Y rarr X a closed
subspace of pure codimension 1 and f Y rarr Y0 a proper morphism with flowastOY = OY0
Let X denote the formal completion of X along Y and assume there exists a Cartier
divisor D in X which is supported on Y and is f -anti-ample Then there exists a
proper morphism of algebraic spaces F X rarr X0 which is an isomorphism away
from Y and such that ilowastF = f
Now we use the tree structure of C to construct a suitable divisor to which apply
Artinrsquos theorem Namely consider the following inductive defintion
(35) C0 = C axes F0 = FC axes
For k ge 0 assume Ck Fk are defined
bull Let Ck+1 denote the union of irreducible components of C that intersect Fk
non-trivially but are not contained in cupilekFibull Let Fk+1 denote the reduced sum (
sumCsubeCk+1
F (C))red
This process stops with a collection C1 middot middot middotCN of curves and F1 middot middot middot FN of reduced
divisors
Lemma VI1 We have the following identities
(36)
Fk middot C lt 0 for every C sube Ck
(F0 + F1) middot C le 0 for every C sube C0
(Fkminus1 + Fk + Fk+1) middot C = 0 for every C sube Ck 1 lt k lt N
(FNminus1 + FN) middot C lt 0 for every C sube CN
58 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proof The first is just the fact that every component of C is rigid The remaining
three follow from X0 middot C = 0 but the last one requires further justification Indeed
if C sube CN N gt 0 then C is one end of a tree of non-double curves In particular
there exists a foliation singularity lowast isin C disjoint from any other component of
C and LClowast is transverse to C This implies LClowast middotC gt 0 which together with
(FNminus1 + FN + LClowast) middot C = 0 concludes the proof
Let ε1 middot middot middot εN isin Qgt0 and define
(37) F Nminusk = (1 + ε1 + middot middot middot+ εk)FNminusk
bull If C sube CN we have
(38) (F Nminus1 + F
N) middot C = ε1FNminus1 middot C + (FNminus1 + FN) middot C
bull If C sube CNminusk 1 lt k lt N we have
(39)
(F Nminuskminus1 + F
Nminusk + F Nminusk+1) middot C =
(1 + middot middot middot+ εk)(FNminuskminus1 + FNminusk + FNminusk+1) middot C minus εkFNminusk+1 middot C + εk+1FNminuskminus1 middot C =
minus εkFNminusk+1 middot C + εk+1FNminuskminus1 middot C
bull If C sube C0 we have
(40) (F 0 + F
1) middot C = εNF0 middot C + (Nminus1sumj=0
εj)(F0 + F1) middot C
It is clear that provided
(41) 1 gtgt ε1 gtgt middot middot middot gtgt εN
the divisor F =sumF k is negative along every component of C
This proves the existence of the contraction and concludes the proof of the Main
Theorem I
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 59
VII Moduli space of foliated surfaces of general type
In this section we study the modular variation of foliated surfaces of general type
The upshot is that it is possible to define a functor which is representable separated
and every irreducible component is proper The main issue here is that the supporting
surface of a foliated canonical model may well fail to be projective indeed KF is not
Q-Gorenstein in general Hence in order to proceed via standard methods [Ko17]
we have to parametrize our canonical models together with a suitable projective
resolution
Definition VII13 Let (SF ) be a foliated proper reduced purely 2-dimensional
DM stack Assume S has only normal crossing singularities in codimension 1 that
F has log-canonical foliation singularities and that KF is big and nef on at least
one of the irreducible components of S If whenever KF middot C = 0 for some curve C
then C moves in an irreducible component of S and no member of such deformation
is F -invariant then (SF ) is called foliated canonical model of general type
Clearly foliated canonical models are exactly the stable degenerations appearing
as the central fiber of our Main Theorem I Their lack of projectivity has two sources
namely the contraction of cycles of smooth KF -nil curves and of trees of cuspidal
ones Singularities arising from cycles behave well in families namely they always
deform into the general fiber Those arising from cuspidal curves on the other hand
tend to be rather isolated inside the degenerate fiber
Observe that the deformation theory of a foliated surface is rather simple suppose
given an infinitesimal C-algebras extension 0 rarr J rarr Ae rarr A rarr 0 and (SF )
a foliated surface flat over Spec(A) then the obstruction to lifting to Ae can be
understood in three simple steps
(1) Deformation of the underlying surface S once a deformation Se rarr Spec(Ae)
is given
(2) Deformation of the line bundle KF by the exponential sequence
(42) 0rarr J otimes OS rarr OlowastSerarr OlowastS rarr 0
obstructions lie in H2(SOS)otimes J once a deformation of KF is given
60 FEDERICO BUONERBA
(3) Deformation of the defining section OS rarr KF otimes TS obstructions lie in
H1(SKF otimes TS)otimes J
Now we have
Definition VII14 Let (SF ) be a foliated canonical model of general type A
proper birational morphism q (SF )proj rarr (SF ) is called its projective resolution
if
bull Every irreducible component of Sproj is smooth
bull The exceptional locus of q is a disjoint union of cycles of KFproj-nil smooth
curves and trees of KFproj-nil curves each of which has a non-trivial cuspidal
singularity
bull In a neighborhood of every q-exceptional cycle not only Sproj but also its
moduli space is smooth
We need a few remarks about projective resolutions
(1) Projective resolutions are always unique Indeed the only possible ambiguity
could lie in some extra smooth irreducible components in the exceptional
locus This is forbidden by definition in the trees of cuspidal curves it is
also forbidden by way of the third item in cycles of smooth ones ie on
algebraic surfaces the minimal resolution is unique
(2) Denote by E the collection of q-exceptional cycles Then there exist ε δ isinQgt0 such that KFproj
minus εE + δKSprojis ample by Nakai-Moishezon
(3) Deformations of a projective resolution of a foliated canonical model are
canonically identified with deformations of the underlying birational mor-
phism q Sproj rarr S followed by a deformation of the foliation F
We are now ready to construct a moduli functor for foliated surfaces more precisely
for projective resolutions of foliated canonical models of general type For m dN isinN and ε δ isin Qgt0 let
(43) MmdNεδ (C-schemes)rarr (sets)
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 61
be defined by MmdNεδ(S) = Diagrams
(44) (X F )projqminusrarr (X F )
pminusrarr S
Where
bull Both p and p q are flat and proper
bull For every closed point s isin S the induced morphism qs is the projective
resolution of (X F )s which is a foliated canonical model of general type
bull Denote by Es the collection of exceptional cycles of qs By our Main Theorem
I there is a fibrewise divisor E subXproj flat over S restricting to Es for every
s isin S
bull Let j W rarr Xproj denote the maximal closed subscheme away from which
KFprojand KXprojS are locally free Then
(45) L [m] = (jlowast(KFprojotimes OXproj
(minusεE )otimesKδXprojS
)otimesm)oror
is flat over S and commutes with base-change
bull L [m] is very ample of degree d on every fiber and defines an embedding into
PNS
We are now ready for
Theorem VII15 The functor MmdNεδ is represented by a separated algebraic
space each of whose irreducible components is proper
Proof We show that our functor satisfies Artinrsquos conditions [Ar74 Corollary 54] By
definition condition 1) and 4) hold while our previous remark on foliated obstruction
theory shows that 3) is true
We proceed to show 2) namely effectivity of formal deformations for MmdNεδ
What follows owes much to Artinrsquos [A74rsquo] Let T be a complete C-algebra Tn its
n-truncation so that Tsimminusrarr limlarrminusTn and finally qn isinMmdNεδ(Spec(Tn)) a compatible
sequence For each n there is a maximal open set Un sube Xprojn where qn is an
isomorphism denote by sn Cn rarr Zn the restriction of qn to the complement of Un
Clearly sn is projective over Spec(Tn)
62 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Denote by X C etc the formal algebraic spaces obtained as limits of Xn Cn
etc Then Xproj sub PNˆSpec(T )
hence by Grothendieckrsquos existence Theorem we find
bull a flat projective family (X F )proj rarr Spec(T ) resp a closed subscheme
C subXproj whose completion is Xproj resp C
bull a scheme Z whose completion is Z and a morphism s C rarr Z everything
being projective over Spec(T )
Further we have a formal contraction limminusrarr qn C rarr Z hence the main theorem
of [Ar70] gives algebraic contraction (X F )proj rarr (X F ) This proves the repre-
sentability of MmdNεδ The properness and separability of each irreducible com-
ponent can be checked using valutative criteria indeed properness is the content of
our Main Theorem I separatedness follows from the uniqueness of foliated canonical
models of general type and their projective resolution
References
[Ar70] M Artin Algebraization of Formal Moduli II Existence of Modifications Ann
of Math Vol 91 No 1 (Jan 1970) pp 88-135 httpwwwjstororgstable
1970602
[Ar74] M Artin Versal Deformations and Algebraic Stacks Inventiones Math 27 165- 189
(1974) httpmathuchicagoedu~drinfeldArtin_on_stackspdf
[A74rsquo] M Artin Algebraic construction of Brieskornrsquos resolutions J Alg Vol 29 Issue
2 May 1974 pp 330-348 httpwwwsciencedirectcomsciencearticlepii
0021869374901021
[BB72] P Baum R Bott Singularities of holomorphic foliations J Diff Geom 7 (1972)
279-342 httpsprojecteuclidorgdownloadpdf_1euclidjdg1214431158
[Bo77] F Bogomolov Families of curves on a surface of general type Doklady Akademii Nauk
USSR (in Russian) 236 (5) 1041-1044
[Bo78] F Bogomolov Holomorphic tensors and vector bundles on projective varieties Math
USSR Izv 13 (1978) 499-555
[BM16] F Bogomolov M McQuillan Rational Curves on Foliated Varieties In Cascini
McKernan Pereira (eds) Foliation Theory in Algebraic Geometry Simons Symposia
Springer Cham pp 21-51 (2016) httpslinkspringercomchapter101007
978-3-319-24460-0_2
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 63
[Bu] F Buonerba Functorial resolution of tame quotient singularities in positive charac-
teristic httpsarxivorgabs151100550
[Ke99] S Keel Basepoint Freeness for Nef and Big Line Bundles in Positive Characteris-
tic Annals of Math 149 No 1 (Jan 1999) pp 253-286 httpwwwjstororg
stable121025 httpsarxivorgabsmath9901149
[KM97] S Keel S Mori Quotients by groupoids Annals of Math 145 (1997) pp
193-213 httpwwwjstororgstable2951828seq=1page_scan_tab_contents
httparxivorgabsalg-geom9508012
[Ko17] J Kollar Families of varieties of general type httpswebmathprincetonedu
~kollarbookmodbook20170720pdf
[LN02] A Lins Neto Some examples for the Poincare and Painleve problems Annales sci-
entifiques de lrsquoENS 352 (2002) 231-266 httparchivenumdamorgarticle
ASENS_2002_4_35_2_231_0pdf
[McQ12] M McQuillan Foliated Mori Theory amp Hyperbolicity of Algebraic Surfaces http
wwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillahomehtml
[McQ98] M McQuillan Diophantine approximation and foliations Inst Hautes Etudes Sci
Publ Math 87 (1998) 121-174 httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafiles
ihespdf
[McQ05rsquo] M McQuillan Bloch hyperbolicity preprint httpwwwmatuniroma2it
~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ05] M McQuillan Semi-stable reduction of foliations IHES pre-print IHESM0502
(2005) httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ05rdquo] M McQuillan Uniform Uniformisation IHES pre-print (2005) IHES M0503 http
wwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ08] M McQuillan Canonical models of foliations Pure Appl Math Q 4
(2008) no 3 Special Issue In honor of Fedor Bogomolov Part 2 877-1012
httpintlpresscomsitepubfiles_fulltextjournalspamq20080004
0003PAMQ-2008-0004-0003-a009pdf
[MP13] M McQuillan D Panazzolo Almost etale resolution of foliations J Diff Geom 95
(2013) pp 279-319 httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesmp1bispdf
[Pe02] JV Pereira On the Poincare Problem for Foliations of General Type Mathematische
Annalen 323 no 2 pp217-226 2002 httpsarxivorgabsmath0104185
[PS16] JV Pereira R Svaldi Effective algebraic integration in bounded genus preprint
httpsarxivorgabs161206932
64 FEDERICO BUONERBA
[Re83] M Reid Minimal models of canonical threefolds in rdquoAlgebraic Varieties and Ana-
lytic Varietiesrdquo Adv Stud Pure Math vol 1 S Iitaka ed Kinokuniya and North-
Holland 1983 pp 131-180 httpwwwmathsedacukcheltsovquotientpdf
reid2pdf
[Se67] A Seidenberg Reduction of singularities of the differential equation Ady = Bdx Amer
J Math 89 (1967) 248-269 httpwwwjstororgstable2373435
[SB83] N Shepherd-Barron Degenerations with numerically effective canonical divisor The
Birational Geometry of Degenerations (R Friedman and D Morrison eds) Progr
Math no 29 Birkhuser 1983 pp 33-84
[Vis89] A Vistoli Intersection theory on algebraic stacks and on their moduli spaces
Invent Math (1989) pp 613-670 httplinkspringercomarticle101007
2FBF01388892page-1
Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences New York University 251 Mercer
Street New York NY 10012 USA
E-mail address buonerbacimsnyuedu
- I Introduction
- II Preliminaries
-
- III Operations on Deligne-Mumford stacks
- IIII Width of embedded parabolic champs
- IIIII Gorenstein foliation singularities
- IIIV Foliated adjunction
- IIV Canonical models of foliated surfaces with canonical singularities
- IIVI Canonical models of foliated surfaces with log-canonical singularities
- IIVII Set-up
-
- III Invariant curves and singularities local description
-
- IIII `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F) not isolated
- IIIII `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F) isolated
- IIIIII Local consequences
-
- IV Invariant curves along which KF vanishes
-
- IVI KF-nil curves
- IVII Invariant curves inside `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F)
-
- V Configurations
-
- VI Configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
- VII Configurations of non-rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
-
- VI Contractions and proof of the Main Theorem
- VII Moduli space of foliated surfaces of general type
- References
-
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 39
and in suitable local coordinates x0 y0 w0 z0 can be defined by x0z0minusy0w0 = 0 The
morphism c can be identified with the blow up of the embedded surface (x0 = y0 = 0)
Explicitly in the chart y = y0 x = x0yminus10 it is defined by
(28) y0 = y x0 = xy z0 = zprime w0 = xzprime
Here x is a coordinate along C while y = 0 is the pull-back of (x0 = y0 = 0) and
zprime some function in the normal bundle to C By the previous Proposition IVI6
we know C cannot be contained in the smooth locus of p Since C is not double
we can assume that in this local chart p is defined by (x y zprime) rarr xy - the case
(x y zprime) rarr xzprime being isomorphic as it is isomorphic to blow-up (z0 = w0 = 0)
instead of (x0 = y0 = 0) The issue is as emphasized by the notation zprime 6= z that
zprime may fail to be an eigenfunction for partS if it were we would be done since zprime = 0
is the local equation for the global pullback of (z0 = w0 = 0) However we have
a b isin C such that
(29) partS0(y0) = minusy0 partS0(x0) = 0 partS0(z0) = ay0 + bz0 partS0(w0) = ax0 + (b+ 1)w0
Observe that the embedded surfaces D01 = (y0 = z0 = 0) and D0
2 = (x0 = w0 = 0)
are both foliation invariant As such let b X + rarr X0 denote the blow-up of X0
along D01 - which is isomorphic to that along D0
2 - and let Di = blowastD0i i = 1 2
Finally X + is projective by Nakai-Moishezon Indeed every C with anti-ample
normal bundle is contained in an irreducible component F of X0 such that F middotC lt 0
Then F+ middot C+ gt 0 and we can find an ample divisor of the form H+ + εF+ where
H+ is the proper transform of an ample on X
Remark IVI9 In the previous proof a 6= b+ 1 Indeed such identity would create
a non-trivial Jordan block of partS0 in the (x0 w0)-plane thus contradicting the semi-
simplicity of partS0 In particular by a straightforward computation it is impossible to
find eigenfunctions of the form wlowast0 = w0 + αx0 zlowast0 = z0 + βy0 with x0z
lowast0 minus y0wlowast0 = 0
unless a = 0
We can conclude by pointing out an important point understood in this section
A painful aspect of the theory is that log-canonical singularities which appear natu-
rally as analytic degenerations of canonical ones come along with cuspidal invariant
40 FEDERICO BUONERBA
curves There is in particular no a-priori obstruction to the existence of rigid
cuspidal KF -nil curves in a smooth fiber of our family of foliated surfaces p Quite
generally a rigid curve of positive arithmetic genus in a smooth family of surfaces can
never be contracted to a point Therefore this would have been a counter-example
to any reasonable foliated canonical model theory one may wish to achieve Fortu-
nately such phenomenon does not happen and this establishes the Main Theorem I
modulo finitely many rigid curves confined in the singular fiber X0
IVII Invariant curves inside sing(F ) In this subsection we study curves Z0 subeXlowast cap sing(F ) which are inside the foliation singularity and invariant By this we
mean that there exists a sequence fn Cn rarrX of not necessarily algebraic invariant
curves converging in the compact-open topology to Z0 In other words the map
(30) NorF rarr Ω1Z0
is trivial By Corollary IIIIII5 we know that Z0 is at worst nodal it is smooth
wherever p is smooth for every point z isin Z0 the semi-simple part of the gener-
ating vector field has exactly one eigenvalue The problem here is that the Jordan
decomposition need not extend uniformly along Z0 not even along an irreducible
component In case ni (1)a the functions x and g may develop essential singulari-
ties arbitrary close to z Nonetheless the function x is unique and this says that x
does extend along Z0
Proposition IVII1 Let Z0 be as above Then in a formal neighborhood of Z0
there exists a unique smooth invariant hypersurface D0 containing Z0 which restricts
around any point in Z0 to the unique eigenfunction for the semi-simple field whose
eigenvalue is non-zero
Proof The local structure of the foliation around a point z isin Z0 is described by
cases ni (1)a and ni (1)b In both cases partS has one non-zero eigenvalue with
eigenfunction x Such eigenfunction x is a-priori only defined in the normal bundle to
Z0 but it is clear that the equation partx = x has a unique up to constants solution in
the formal completion around z As such there exists a unique smooth hypersurface
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 41
D0 in the formal completion around Z0 which restricts to the eigenfunction x around
z
Observe that the previous argument goes through since we are assuming Z0 subX0
Keeping notations from case ni (1)a if say g(y z) = yz then in the hypersurface
y equiv q isin Qgt0 the foliation has a log-canonical singularity and the eigenfunction x
extends highly non-uniquely to a formal neighborhood of the point (x y z) = (0 q 0)
In particular the existence of D0 as in the previous Proposition might fail along
the component (x = z = 0) of the foliation singularity This phenomenon is called
the beast
Anyway uniqueness in the previous proposition yields
Corollary IVII2 Let Z prime be a connected invariant curve inside sing(F ) Then in
a formal neighborhood of Z prime there exists a unique smooth invariant hypersurface D prime
containing Z prime which restricts around any point in Z prime to the hypersurface constructed
in the previous proposition
Next we turn to the intrinsic structure of invariant singular curves
Proposition IVII3 Let Z0 be an irreducible invariant curve inside sing(F )
Then Z0 is smooth and rational
Proof We work in a formal neighborhood of Z0 Let F0 denote the unique component
of X0 containing Z0 For any other fiber component F intersecting Z0 non-trivially
blow-up the invariant curve F cap F0 with exceptional divisor EF A straightforward
computation using the local formula ni (1)b shows that the fiber of the natural
projection EF rarr F cap F0 intersecting Z0 is also contained in sing(F ) For Z prime the
maximal connected singular invariant curve containing Z0 let G denote the saturated
foliation induced on D prime It is canonical with reduced singularities and it satisfies
KG = KF |Dprime minus Zprime By adjunction
(31) 2g(Z0)minus 2 + sZG(Z0) = minusZ prime middot Z0
Observe that thanks to our initial sequence of blow-ups the singularities of G along
Z0 coincide with the intersection of Z0 and Z prime Z0 In particular since D prime is formally
42 FEDERICO BUONERBA
flat over ∆ we deduce Z prime middot Z0 = 0 and the previous formula becomes
(32) 2g(Z0)minus 2 + sZG(Z0) = 0
This implies that Z0 is rational or elliptic If Z0 were elliptic then sZG(Z0) = 0 and
D0 defines an invariant elliptic curve in the general fiber of p By Baum-Bott this
contradicts that KF is big and nef Now we show that Z0 is smooth If it has a node
then D0 moves it in a family of nodal rational curves flat over ∆ In particular D0
itself has a node in codimension 1 hence Xlowast is smooth around the node of Z0 In its
formal neighborhood the foliation must be as in case ni (1)a which implies that
Z0 is smooth contradiction
We can improve as follows
Proposition IVII4 Let Z prime sube sing F capXlowast be a connected invariant curve with
KF middot Z prime = 0 Then its dual graph is a chain
Proof Assume Z prime is a cycle Then necessarily Z prime = D prime capXlowast scheme-theoretically
and by the existence of Hilbert scheme Z prime moves in the general fiber Its general
member is either a cycle of smooth rational curves or an elliptic curve Arguing as
in the previous proof we see that both options are impossible
V Configurations
In this section we analyze in great detail all possible configurations of invariant
curves along which KF vanishes These can be divided into three groups those
that do not move those that move in a one-dimensional family covering a surface
those that move in a higher-dimensional family covering a surface Curves in the first
group can form rather complicated configurations while those in the second group
are more simple they either move in the general fiber or they cover an isolated
Riccati component in the singular fiber Those in the third group turn out to be
represented by the two rulings of P1timesP1 if they happen to be cohomologous in the
ambient stack First we will analyze rigid curves then those which move and finally
we will describe their configurations
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 43
VI Configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially In
this subsection we describe configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF
trivially which arise in the situation described by set-up IIVII4
First we focus on KF -nil curves At the end of the section we deal with the simpler
case in which a curve in the configuration is fully contained in sing(F ) The general
fiber was handled in Proposition IVI6
Proposition VI1 Let C be a connected KF -nil curve contained in the smooth
locus of a fiber of p Then it is a chain or a cycle and it moves in a family flat over
∆
In what follows we let C denote a connected KF -nil curve contained in the
singular fiber X0 all of whose sub-curves are rigid in X Observe a consequence of
equation 23
Proposition VI2 Let C = cupiCi be a connected KF -nil curve Then the eigen-
values of partS are all rational at every point of sing(F )capC if and only if they are all
rational at one point
We can deduce many non-trivial properties about configurations of KF -nil curves
First we need
Definition VI3 Let C subX0 be a curve It is called double if there exists formally
around C two components F F prime of X0 such that C = F cap F prime A point lowast isin C where
three fiber components intersect is called a triple point If C lies on exactly one fiber
component it is called non-double We denote by F (C) such component
Remark VI4 Let Csimminusrarr P1(d e) be double with two triple points Then we know
e+ λ+ micro = minusd+ (λ+ n) + (micro+m) = 0 whence we obtain
(33) n+m = d+ e
Which is called triple-point formula
Next we show that essentially KF -nil curves do not form cycles unless something
deforms in X0 First we show that there are no cycles of rigid non-double curves
44 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proposition VI5 Let C be a connected KF -nil curve contained in the singular
fiber X0 of p Assume that every component of C is non-double and that every
sub-curve is rigid Then C contains no cycles
Proof We work in a formal neighborhood of C which we assume is a cycle Let
us first consider the case in which all components C1 middot middot middot CN are smooth with no
orbifold points and denote lowasti = Ci cap Ci+1 with CN+1 = C1 Moreover let us
assume no lowasti lies in the smooth locus of p
Since no curve is double the semi-simple field at every lowasti is as in case i (3)b in
particular the eigenvalues along the branches of Ci and Ci+1 add up to zero More-
over let minusni denote the self-intersection of Ci sub F (Ci) Normalize the eigenvalues
of partS so that at lowastn they are 1 in the C1 direction minus1 in the CN direction λ in the
F (C1)capF (CN) direction It follows by induction that at lowasti the eigenvalues are minus1
in the Ci direction 1 in the Ci+1 direction λ+ n1 + middot middot middot+ ni in the F (Ci) cap F (Ci+1)
direction After traveling around the cycle we obtain n1+middot middot middot+nN = 0 contradicting
that ni gt 0 for every i
We established the Proposition assuming every Ci is an embedded scheme and ev-
ery lowasti is in the singular locus of p The case in which Cisimminusrarr P1(di ei) has orbifold
points is analogous we end up with a combination c1n1 + middot middot middot + cNnN = 0 with ci
the eigenvalue at lowasti in the Ci+1 direction Normalizing so that c1 = e1 gt 0 again by
induction on i we see that every ci isin Qgt0 Next we show that our assumption on lowastiis always satisfied
Claim VI6 Every lowasti must belong to the singular locus of p
Proof We give two essentially equivalent proofs
bull If N = 2 3 then the previous argument goes through indeed we can normal-
ize eigenvalues at lowasti to be negative in the Ciminus1 direction and positive in the
Ci-direction and argue as above Hence we can assume N ge 4 If say lowasti is in
the smooth locus of p then F (Ci) = F (Ci+1) If also F (Ciminus1) = F (Ci) then Ci
lies in the smooth locus of p and hence it moves Therefore F (Ciminus1) 6= F (Ci)
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 45
and Ciminus1 can be flopped inside F (Ci) Since N ge 4 this preserves the smooth-
ness of F (Ci) and Ci is now is the smooth locus of p - contradiction
bull If lowasti belongs to the smooth locus of p then the end through lowasti moves We
can form a partial net completion fi Xi rarrX by normalizing C in lowasti only
Then f lowasti C is a chain with movable ends and hence moves in the general fiber
of p fi
Finally the general case in which some among the Ci have cusps can be easily
reduced to the smooth case in a couple of ways
bull Eigenvalues at the singularities of any KF -nil curve satisfy the same relations
as in the smooth case
bull Upon taking roots and net completion we can find a foliated formal 3-fold
supported on a cycle of smooth KF -nil curves which is a ramified cover of a
formal neighborhood of our cycle
Similarly we can show that there are no rigid cycles of double curves
Proposition VI7 Let C be a nodal KF -nil curve which is double Then C
deforms inside X0 In particular there cannot exist a rigid cycle of KF -nil double
curves
Proof Following the previous notation we have 0 = infin and if C = (xy = z = 0)
around 0 then we have identities
(34) x = η y = ξ z = ζ
The last one of which implies m = 0 that is C deforms Since C is double necessarily
the surface it spans must be contained in X0
The statement about cycles follows since a cycle of double curves can be transformed
after finitely many flops into a chain of smooth double curves with a nodal one
attached at one end
46 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Later on we will show that the deformations of C cannot span an elliptic surface
but only a family of nodal rational curves with a special Riccati foliation on it
We are ready to organize a detailed description of the dual graph of C More pre-
cisely we only need to understand how double curves intersect non-double curves
Lemma VI8 There exists a sequence of flops X 99KX + such that if C + denotes
the transform of C every double curve supported on C + contains two triple points
Proof Let C sube C be an irreducible component with at most one triple point and
let X 99K X + be its flop Then its transform C+ is non-double and the number
of double curves contained in C descreases It is clear that after finitely many flops
all double curves contain exactly two triple points
From now on all double curves in C have two triple points Thanks to proposition
VI2 we know that there are two cases to consider those curves along which the
semi-simple field has not only rational eigenvalues and those along which the semi-
simple field has only rational eigenvalues The first case being strictly easier than
the second it is a good starting place to warm up
Proposition VI9 (irrational eigenvalues) Assume that for every foliation singu-
larity along C not all eigenvalues of partS are rational Then every component of C
is net with at most one node and 1-skeleton of its dual graph is at worst trivalent
Write C = C axes cup C free where
C axes is the union of double curves
C free is the union of non-double curves
Then one among C axes and C free is empty Moreover
bull If C free is non-empty then it is a chain of smooth curves with rational moduli
bull If C axes is non-empty there exists a sequence of flops X 99KX + and an ir-
reducible component of the fiber FC subX + such that X + is a smooth stack
the transform C+ of C is contained in FC Moreover the dual graph of C+
is a tree which by [McQ08 III32] becomes a chain inside the normalization
of FC
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 47
Proof The first sentence is just corollary IIIIII3
Observe that if a non-double curve intersects a double curve then the non-double
curve must be contained in an LC-center around such intersection This contradicts
that not all eigenvalues are rational and establishes that one among C axes and C free
is empty
In case C free is not empty then it is clearly a chain or a cycle the latter being
impossible by Proposition VI5
We are left to show the existence of flops in case C = C axes We remark that
every component is smooth Let C0 be such a component and S0 a component of
X0 containing it Let C1 be the collection of irreducible components of C which
intersect S0 but are not contained in it All the components of C1 are smooth hence
we can flop them in any order until the transform of C1 lies in the transform of S0
Since the number of irreducible components of C lying outside S0 decreases after
such flop by induction we deduce the existence of finitely many flops after which
the birational transform of C is fully contained in the transform of S0
Next we take care of rational eigenvalues The complication here arises from
the fact that there may be double and non-double curves intersecting each other
However the situation is best possible
Proposition VI10 (rational eigenvalues) Assume that for every foliation singu-
larity along C all eigenvalues of partS are rational Write C = C axes cup C free where
C axes is the union of double curves
C free is the union of non-double curves
Then there exists a sequence of flops X 99K X + and an irreducible component of
the fiber FC axes subX + such that
bull X + is a smooth stack
bull The union of double curves of C axes is contained in FC axes the 1-skeleton of
its dual graph is a tree and each of its components has two triple points
bull The 1-skeleton of the dual graph of the transform C free+ is a disjoint union of
trees
bull Each connected component of C free+ intersects C axes in exactly one point
48 FEDERICO BUONERBA
In particular the 1-skeleton of the dual graph of C is a tree
Proof Notice that for every point lowast isin C cap Z there exists one LC-center through lowastIndeed there are three rational eigenvalues and they cannot be all non-vanishing and
all with different signs at the same time Now C axes can be treated as in proposition
VI9 This proves the first two items of the statement The third item follows from
Proposition VI5 so we can focus on the fourth one The proof is based on the
following obvious
Remark VI11 let C be a double curve such that either it is KF -nil hence has
two triple points or it is fully contained in sing(F ) Let C0 sube C free intersect C
non-trivially in a point lowast then necessarily C0 sub LClowast
Now let C0 middot middot middot CN form a chain of non-double curves with C0 and CN both
intersecting double curves as in the remark Denote by lowasti = Ci cap Ci+1 Since
C1 sub LClowast necessarily C1 is transverse to LClowast1 otherwise C1 would deform in F (C1)
Inductively we see that Ci+1 sub LClowasti and is transverse to LClowasti+1 In particular CN
cannot touch a double curve This contradiction proves the fourth item
Let us add a remark about configurations featuring invariant curves inside sing(F )
Proposition VI12 Let C be an invariant curve with KF middot C = 0 such that
Z0 sube C for some component Z0 sube sing(F ) Then C = Z prime cup C where
Z prime is a connected invariant curve inside the foliation singularity with dual graph a
chain
C is the union of at most two pairwise disjoint KF -nil curves with anti-ample
normal bundle
If not empty C can only intersect Z prime at the two ends of its dual graph Moreover
perhaps after a flop the intersection of C with Z prime supports the foliation singularity
along C As such if C has two components Z prime cup C deforms in the general fiber
Proof The structure of Z prime is Proposition IVII3 while that of Co is Proposition
IVI6 Let C prime be a component of C intersecting Z0 in a point lowast If C prime and Z0 belong
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 49
to different components of X0 then by case ni (1)b the eigenvalue of partS along C prime
vanishes so supp(sing(F ) cap C prime) = lowast If C prime and Z0 belong to the same component
then we can flop C prime into a different component
Observe that the divisor D prime from op cit can be extended along C prime This implies
that C can only intersect Z prime at its ends Moreover if C touches both ends necessarily
D prime capX0 = C scheme-theoretically hence by the existence of Hilbert scheme IVI5
we conclude
Our new set-up is
Set-up VI13 Everything as in set-up IIVII4 and moreover for any connected
invariant curve C with KF middot C = 0 all of whose sub-curves are rigid we have
configurations computed in proposition VI9 VI10 and Lemma VI12
VII Configurations of non-rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
In this subsection we describe configurations of surfaces which are covered by KF -nil
curves The structure of each such surface is described by classification IIV1 IIV2
and Corollary IIVI17 Our first step is to simplify the situation by contracting
chains of ruled surfaces The next step is to try and exclude the possibility that
the singular fiber of p contains fibrations by elliptic or nodal rational curves with
at least one invariant fiber This can be achieved with good success indeed there
may be at most one such Riccati foliation which is anyway rather isolated from the
remaining KF -nil curves Finally we observe that the only class of surfaces we have
not mentioned is
Definition VII1 A irreducible component F of the singular fiber of p is called
small Kronecker if
bull (FFF ) is birational to a Kronecker vector field on P1 timesP1 and
bull The two rulings of this P1 timesP1 are cohomologous inside X
The name comes from the fact that contraction of a small Kronecker yields a node
in the ambient threefold which admits a small resolution In fact in many respects
these fiber components behave very much like rigid KF -nil curves
50 FEDERICO BUONERBA
We start by getting rid of some fiber components which are ruled by KF -nil gener-
ically smooth rational curves
Proposition VII2 Notation as in Set-up VI13 there exists a sequence of flops
and divisorial contractions c X 99KX + such that
bull X + is a smooth stack
bull let S+ sub X + be an irreducible invariant divisor that contains a positive-
dimensional family of invariant rational curves along which KF+ vanishes
Then S+ is either birationally ruled by nodal rational curves or it is a small
Kronecker
Proof We focus first on contracting components of the singular fiber of p Consider
the following algorithm If there is no birationally ruled component different from
the ones listed in the second item we are done otherwise pick one such F and let
C denote the general member of the ruling If the cohomology class [C] is inde-
composable F is minimal Otherwise [C] = [C1] + [C2] where Ci are rational and
intersect KF trivially After finitely many steps we have a decomposition as a finite
sum of indecomposables [C] =sumn
i=0 ni[Ci] where every Ci is rational intersects KF
trivially We have two cases
bull There exists k such that Ck deforms in a birationally ruled necessarily min-
imal surface Fk
bull Every Ci has anti-ample normal bundle
In the first case denote by X rarr X1 the contraction of Fk along |Ck| and relpace
X by X1 Since Fk is minimal smoothness of the ambient stack is preserved unless
Fk is a small Kronecker This is however impossible if n ge 2 if Fk were a small
Kronecker then Ck deforms away from Fkminus1 so then Fkminus1 middot Ck = 0 on the other
hand Fkminus1 intersects the other ruling of Fk positively
In the second case flop C1 middot middot middot Cn in this order The transform of F is minimal and
not a small Kronecker so it can be contracted along its ruling preserving ambient
smoothness By induction on the Picard rank of X after finitely many steps this
algorithm ends Call X the output of this algorithm
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 51
Let S subX be an invariant divisor with a generically smooth ruling Then pS S rarr∆ is flat and after flopping finitely many rational curves in S cap plowastS(0) the resulting
pS is smooth Hence we can contract S along pS After finitely many steps the
Proposition is proven
For ease of notation in the sequel we call X the output of the previous proposition
Notice that there might still be divisors carrying a pencil of nodal rational curves
both inside and outside the singular fiber of p
We can start analyzing configurations of fiber components where the restriction of
F is not of general type We need some notation whose reason to exist will be clear
shortly
Definition VII3 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
along which KF is not big F is called special Riccati if
bull F is minimal
bull There exists a morphism s F rarr B onto a curve whose fibers are nodal
rational curve
bull F is transverse to the general fiber of s in particular KF is numerically
trivial along s
bull At least one fiber of s is invariant
bull There exists a section σ of s which is invariant and does not coincide with
the nodal locus of F
In particular the intersections of σ with invariant fibers of s isolated singularities
of F the node of F all coincide There may be fibers of s fully contained in sing(F )
in which case they are everywhere transverse to the saturated foliation
The definition looks nasty but special Riccati components have a rather simple
origin as the following proof shows
Lemma VII4 Let F be special Riccati Up to base change by an etale double cover
Bprime rarr B there is a natural isomorphism F norm simminusrarr BprimetimesP1 and the restriction of F
to F norm is birational to the projection onto P1
52 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proof We work over the normalization F norm Denote by Bprime the pre-image of the
node of F which is an etale double cover of B and let f denote an invariant fiber
of s with lowast = σ cap f Observe that F norm carries a Riccati foliation with 3 invariant
curves through lowast - namely σ f and a component of Bprime Hence FF has a log-canonical
singularity in lowast On F norm perform a weighted blow-up in each log-canonical singu-
larity followed by the contraction of the transforms of the corresponding fibers Let
s+ F+ rarr B denote the output of this operation If the proper transform of Bprime is
connected replace F+ by its base change under Bprime rarr B Hence we can assume Bprime
is the disjoint union of two sections of s+ and the transform of σ is a third section
which is disjoint from Bprime Therefore F+ = P1 timesBprime and the foliation restricts to the
projection onto P1
Next we describe those surfaces which cannot appear as components of the sin-
gular fiber X0
Definition VII5 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
along which KF is not big F is called illusory if
bull there exists a morphism t F rarr B onto a curve
bull KF is trivial along t
bull For any other fiber component F prime the intersection F cap F prime is either empty or
contained in a fiber of t
We give examples of illusory fiber components
Lemma VII6 The following fiber components are necessarily illusory
bull t is elliptic the foliation is either parallel to t or turbolent with at least one
invariant fiber
bull t is a nodal ruling the foliation is either parallel to t or transverse to t with
at least one invariant fiber and not birational to a special Riccati VII3
Proof Let f = F cap F prime for some fiber component F prime It is F -invariant
Assume t and F are parallel and f is transverse to both Then necessarily f subesing(F ) and KF is positive along the fibers of t contradiction
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 53
Assume t and F are generically transverse and f is transverse to t Let e be an
invariant fiber of t then ecap f isin sing(F ) hence t must be a family of nodal rational
curves and ecapf coincides with the node of e - otherwise KF would be positive along
t But this implies F is special Riccati contradiction
We proceed to show that illusory fibers do not exist
Lemma VII7 Let F be an illusory fiber component then every fiber of t is irre-
ducible If F prime is any fiber component intersecting F non-trivially then F prime is illusory
Proof Assume t has a reducible fiber f Then we can write f = f prime cup f primeprime where f prime
is irreducible and f primeprime is a disjoint union of chains of rational curves In particular
every subscheme supported on f primeprime is rigid in X f prime is rational and smooth iff f is a
cycle of rational curves hence the foliation on F is parallel to t and the choice of f prime
is not unique otherwise f prime is nodal or elliptic Let X 99KX + denote the flop of the
irreducible components of f primeprime in any order The proper transform f prime+ (below in red)
is the irreducible fiber of the induced morphism t+ F+ rarr B Since f primeprime+ intersects
f prime+ and is not contained in F+ there exists a component F prime of the fiber of p+ such
that F+ cap f prime+ 6= empty Since F+ is illusory necessarily F+ cap F prime = f prime+ Moreover F+
and F prime are the only fiber components intersecting f prime+ again because F+ is illusory
We deduce that F+ middot f prime+ = F prime middot f prime+ = 0 and therefore f prime+ is nef inside F prime It follows
that he restriction of F+ to F prime is not of general type and by the classification of
foliated surfaces [McQ08] necessarily f prime+ deforms inside F prime and defines a fibration
u F prime rarr Bprime In particular f prime+ is an irreducible fiber of u This is however impossible
since u contracts all the components of f primeprime+ contained in F prime (below in blue) and by
definition of F prime there exists at least one such component This proves that every
fiber of t is irreducible The following depicts the situation
F prime F+
f prime+
f primeprime+
t+u
54 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Concerning the second statement we only need to check the third condition for F prime
to be illussory namely that every other fiber component F primeprime intersecting F prime does
so along the fibers of u If F primeprime intersects F prime transversely to u then F primeprime intersects F
non-trivially and transversely to t as well absurd
Corollary VII8 Illusory components do not exist
Proof By the above lemma the existence of one illusory component implies that
every irreducible component of the singular fiber of p is illusory contradicting that
KF is big
We can now focus on fiber components that do appear
Corollary VII9 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
containing an invariant curve C which moves and such that KF middot C = 0 Then
following the classification [McQ08] we have two cases
(1) The minimal model of F is a special Riccati component
(2) F is a small Kronecker
Proof Certainly the ones listed are the only cases where C is KF -nil We have to
exclude the possibility that C is invariant inside sing(F ) By Proposition IVII3
such C would be rational with at most one node Since we already contracted at
the beginning of the present subsection all ruled surfaces necessarily C is nodal
However by opcit C cannot intersect any other fiber component of X0 which
implies the absurdity that X0 = F
We proceed to show that special Riccati components are rather isolated in the
fiber
Lemma VII10 Let F be a special Riccati component If F prime is a fiber component
intersecting F non-trivially then it does so transversely to s Morover there is
exactly one such F prime
Proof After finitely many flops we can assume that every fiber of s is irreducible
By the non-existence of illusory components there exists a fiber component F lowast with
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 55
σprime = F cap F prime transverse to s If F primeprime is a fiber component with f = F cap F primeprime a fiber
of s then we claim f sube sing(F ) If not then since KF middot f = 0 and σprime is invariant
necessarily σprimecap f is the node of f But then the existence of F primeprime contradicts that p is
snc Hence f sube sing(F ) so then around the node of f there are 3 fiber components -
two branches coming from F one from F primeprime - and sing(F ) has 2 branches - namely f
This is impossible by our case analysis ni (1)c ni (2)c The very same reasoning
establishes the uniqueness of F prime
Lemma VII11 Let F be as in the previous Lemma If C is a connected curve
with KF middot C = 0 then it is disjoint from F
Proof After finitely many flops s is irreducible and C intersects F transversely away
from its node Moreover lowast = C cap F isin sing(F ) and we deduce that the fiber of s
through lowast is fully contained in the singular locus of F This contradicts Proposition
IVII3 since such fiber is nodal
We conclude by observing the obvious
Lemma VII12 Let F be a small Kronecker Then there exists a contraction
c X rarr X prime which is an isomorphism away from F and contracts F along one
of its rulings Necessarily X prime is not projective since every global Cartier divisor
intersects c(F ) trivially On the other hand in a formal neighborhood of c(F ) there
exist Cartier divisors intersecting it non-trivialliy
As such the contribution coming from non-rigid curves is rather poor there are
curves moving in the general fiber there are special Riccati components disjoint from
any other invariant curve intersecting KF trivially there are small Kroneckers who
can be contracted to curves We shall see in the next section that the complications
arising from the contraction of such non-rigid curves is purely psychological and
totally harmless
56 FEDERICO BUONERBA
VI Contractions and proof of the Main Theorem
In this section we contract all invariant curves along which KF is zero thereby
establishing the existence of canonical models I First we contract non-rigid curves
as described in the previous subsection
bull Small Kroneckers along either ruling Albeit this destroys projectivity of
the ambient threefold there still exist Cartier divisors defined in a formal
neighborhood of the base curve that intersect it non-trivially
bull Families of irreducible nodal rational curves which are flat over ∆ This
creates elliptic singularities on the general fiber of p which are disjoint from
other invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
bull Special Riccati again families of irreducible nodal rational curves fully con-
tained in X0 This creates elliptic singularities disjoint from other invariant
curves intersecting KF trivially
We can summarize our situation by way of
Set-up VI1 X is a 3-dimensional DM stack with at worst elliptic singularities
F a foliation by curves with canonical singularities which is not Q-Cartier in a
neighborhood of Xsing
There exists a proper morphism p X rarr ∆ smooth off 0 isin ∆ F restricts to a
foliation on every fiber of p it has canonical singularities on the very general fiber
of p and log-canonical singularities on every fiber of p KF is big and nef on every
irreducible component of every fiber of p
Let C be the invariant sub-scheme along which KF is not big then C is a curve
fully contained in the smooth locus X0capXsmooth every sub-curve of C has anti-ample
normal bundle the 1-simplex of its dual graph is a tree and detailed configurations
of such are referenced in set-up VI13
We proceed to contract such C We assume that along C the semi-simple field has
only rational eigenvalues and moreover no component of C is inside the foliation
singularity The other two cases - irrational eigenvalues and presence of singular
component - are strictly easier and can be obtained with the very same method
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 57
The proof takes place in the formal completion around C = C free cup C axes The
former is a disjoint union of trees of non-double curves For each non-double C let
F (C) denote the unique component of X0 containing it The latter is a tree of double
curves each with two triple points all contained in the same irreducible FC axes Each
tree of non-double curves touches C axes in one point through a LC-center In order
to construct the contraction we will use Artinrsquos celebrated criterion in the following
form
Fact VI1 ([Ar70]) Let X be an irreducible algebraic space i Y rarr X a closed
subspace of pure codimension 1 and f Y rarr Y0 a proper morphism with flowastOY = OY0
Let X denote the formal completion of X along Y and assume there exists a Cartier
divisor D in X which is supported on Y and is f -anti-ample Then there exists a
proper morphism of algebraic spaces F X rarr X0 which is an isomorphism away
from Y and such that ilowastF = f
Now we use the tree structure of C to construct a suitable divisor to which apply
Artinrsquos theorem Namely consider the following inductive defintion
(35) C0 = C axes F0 = FC axes
For k ge 0 assume Ck Fk are defined
bull Let Ck+1 denote the union of irreducible components of C that intersect Fk
non-trivially but are not contained in cupilekFibull Let Fk+1 denote the reduced sum (
sumCsubeCk+1
F (C))red
This process stops with a collection C1 middot middot middotCN of curves and F1 middot middot middot FN of reduced
divisors
Lemma VI1 We have the following identities
(36)
Fk middot C lt 0 for every C sube Ck
(F0 + F1) middot C le 0 for every C sube C0
(Fkminus1 + Fk + Fk+1) middot C = 0 for every C sube Ck 1 lt k lt N
(FNminus1 + FN) middot C lt 0 for every C sube CN
58 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proof The first is just the fact that every component of C is rigid The remaining
three follow from X0 middot C = 0 but the last one requires further justification Indeed
if C sube CN N gt 0 then C is one end of a tree of non-double curves In particular
there exists a foliation singularity lowast isin C disjoint from any other component of
C and LClowast is transverse to C This implies LClowast middotC gt 0 which together with
(FNminus1 + FN + LClowast) middot C = 0 concludes the proof
Let ε1 middot middot middot εN isin Qgt0 and define
(37) F Nminusk = (1 + ε1 + middot middot middot+ εk)FNminusk
bull If C sube CN we have
(38) (F Nminus1 + F
N) middot C = ε1FNminus1 middot C + (FNminus1 + FN) middot C
bull If C sube CNminusk 1 lt k lt N we have
(39)
(F Nminuskminus1 + F
Nminusk + F Nminusk+1) middot C =
(1 + middot middot middot+ εk)(FNminuskminus1 + FNminusk + FNminusk+1) middot C minus εkFNminusk+1 middot C + εk+1FNminuskminus1 middot C =
minus εkFNminusk+1 middot C + εk+1FNminuskminus1 middot C
bull If C sube C0 we have
(40) (F 0 + F
1) middot C = εNF0 middot C + (Nminus1sumj=0
εj)(F0 + F1) middot C
It is clear that provided
(41) 1 gtgt ε1 gtgt middot middot middot gtgt εN
the divisor F =sumF k is negative along every component of C
This proves the existence of the contraction and concludes the proof of the Main
Theorem I
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 59
VII Moduli space of foliated surfaces of general type
In this section we study the modular variation of foliated surfaces of general type
The upshot is that it is possible to define a functor which is representable separated
and every irreducible component is proper The main issue here is that the supporting
surface of a foliated canonical model may well fail to be projective indeed KF is not
Q-Gorenstein in general Hence in order to proceed via standard methods [Ko17]
we have to parametrize our canonical models together with a suitable projective
resolution
Definition VII13 Let (SF ) be a foliated proper reduced purely 2-dimensional
DM stack Assume S has only normal crossing singularities in codimension 1 that
F has log-canonical foliation singularities and that KF is big and nef on at least
one of the irreducible components of S If whenever KF middot C = 0 for some curve C
then C moves in an irreducible component of S and no member of such deformation
is F -invariant then (SF ) is called foliated canonical model of general type
Clearly foliated canonical models are exactly the stable degenerations appearing
as the central fiber of our Main Theorem I Their lack of projectivity has two sources
namely the contraction of cycles of smooth KF -nil curves and of trees of cuspidal
ones Singularities arising from cycles behave well in families namely they always
deform into the general fiber Those arising from cuspidal curves on the other hand
tend to be rather isolated inside the degenerate fiber
Observe that the deformation theory of a foliated surface is rather simple suppose
given an infinitesimal C-algebras extension 0 rarr J rarr Ae rarr A rarr 0 and (SF )
a foliated surface flat over Spec(A) then the obstruction to lifting to Ae can be
understood in three simple steps
(1) Deformation of the underlying surface S once a deformation Se rarr Spec(Ae)
is given
(2) Deformation of the line bundle KF by the exponential sequence
(42) 0rarr J otimes OS rarr OlowastSerarr OlowastS rarr 0
obstructions lie in H2(SOS)otimes J once a deformation of KF is given
60 FEDERICO BUONERBA
(3) Deformation of the defining section OS rarr KF otimes TS obstructions lie in
H1(SKF otimes TS)otimes J
Now we have
Definition VII14 Let (SF ) be a foliated canonical model of general type A
proper birational morphism q (SF )proj rarr (SF ) is called its projective resolution
if
bull Every irreducible component of Sproj is smooth
bull The exceptional locus of q is a disjoint union of cycles of KFproj-nil smooth
curves and trees of KFproj-nil curves each of which has a non-trivial cuspidal
singularity
bull In a neighborhood of every q-exceptional cycle not only Sproj but also its
moduli space is smooth
We need a few remarks about projective resolutions
(1) Projective resolutions are always unique Indeed the only possible ambiguity
could lie in some extra smooth irreducible components in the exceptional
locus This is forbidden by definition in the trees of cuspidal curves it is
also forbidden by way of the third item in cycles of smooth ones ie on
algebraic surfaces the minimal resolution is unique
(2) Denote by E the collection of q-exceptional cycles Then there exist ε δ isinQgt0 such that KFproj
minus εE + δKSprojis ample by Nakai-Moishezon
(3) Deformations of a projective resolution of a foliated canonical model are
canonically identified with deformations of the underlying birational mor-
phism q Sproj rarr S followed by a deformation of the foliation F
We are now ready to construct a moduli functor for foliated surfaces more precisely
for projective resolutions of foliated canonical models of general type For m dN isinN and ε δ isin Qgt0 let
(43) MmdNεδ (C-schemes)rarr (sets)
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 61
be defined by MmdNεδ(S) = Diagrams
(44) (X F )projqminusrarr (X F )
pminusrarr S
Where
bull Both p and p q are flat and proper
bull For every closed point s isin S the induced morphism qs is the projective
resolution of (X F )s which is a foliated canonical model of general type
bull Denote by Es the collection of exceptional cycles of qs By our Main Theorem
I there is a fibrewise divisor E subXproj flat over S restricting to Es for every
s isin S
bull Let j W rarr Xproj denote the maximal closed subscheme away from which
KFprojand KXprojS are locally free Then
(45) L [m] = (jlowast(KFprojotimes OXproj
(minusεE )otimesKδXprojS
)otimesm)oror
is flat over S and commutes with base-change
bull L [m] is very ample of degree d on every fiber and defines an embedding into
PNS
We are now ready for
Theorem VII15 The functor MmdNεδ is represented by a separated algebraic
space each of whose irreducible components is proper
Proof We show that our functor satisfies Artinrsquos conditions [Ar74 Corollary 54] By
definition condition 1) and 4) hold while our previous remark on foliated obstruction
theory shows that 3) is true
We proceed to show 2) namely effectivity of formal deformations for MmdNεδ
What follows owes much to Artinrsquos [A74rsquo] Let T be a complete C-algebra Tn its
n-truncation so that Tsimminusrarr limlarrminusTn and finally qn isinMmdNεδ(Spec(Tn)) a compatible
sequence For each n there is a maximal open set Un sube Xprojn where qn is an
isomorphism denote by sn Cn rarr Zn the restriction of qn to the complement of Un
Clearly sn is projective over Spec(Tn)
62 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Denote by X C etc the formal algebraic spaces obtained as limits of Xn Cn
etc Then Xproj sub PNˆSpec(T )
hence by Grothendieckrsquos existence Theorem we find
bull a flat projective family (X F )proj rarr Spec(T ) resp a closed subscheme
C subXproj whose completion is Xproj resp C
bull a scheme Z whose completion is Z and a morphism s C rarr Z everything
being projective over Spec(T )
Further we have a formal contraction limminusrarr qn C rarr Z hence the main theorem
of [Ar70] gives algebraic contraction (X F )proj rarr (X F ) This proves the repre-
sentability of MmdNεδ The properness and separability of each irreducible com-
ponent can be checked using valutative criteria indeed properness is the content of
our Main Theorem I separatedness follows from the uniqueness of foliated canonical
models of general type and their projective resolution
References
[Ar70] M Artin Algebraization of Formal Moduli II Existence of Modifications Ann
of Math Vol 91 No 1 (Jan 1970) pp 88-135 httpwwwjstororgstable
1970602
[Ar74] M Artin Versal Deformations and Algebraic Stacks Inventiones Math 27 165- 189
(1974) httpmathuchicagoedu~drinfeldArtin_on_stackspdf
[A74rsquo] M Artin Algebraic construction of Brieskornrsquos resolutions J Alg Vol 29 Issue
2 May 1974 pp 330-348 httpwwwsciencedirectcomsciencearticlepii
0021869374901021
[BB72] P Baum R Bott Singularities of holomorphic foliations J Diff Geom 7 (1972)
279-342 httpsprojecteuclidorgdownloadpdf_1euclidjdg1214431158
[Bo77] F Bogomolov Families of curves on a surface of general type Doklady Akademii Nauk
USSR (in Russian) 236 (5) 1041-1044
[Bo78] F Bogomolov Holomorphic tensors and vector bundles on projective varieties Math
USSR Izv 13 (1978) 499-555
[BM16] F Bogomolov M McQuillan Rational Curves on Foliated Varieties In Cascini
McKernan Pereira (eds) Foliation Theory in Algebraic Geometry Simons Symposia
Springer Cham pp 21-51 (2016) httpslinkspringercomchapter101007
978-3-319-24460-0_2
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 63
[Bu] F Buonerba Functorial resolution of tame quotient singularities in positive charac-
teristic httpsarxivorgabs151100550
[Ke99] S Keel Basepoint Freeness for Nef and Big Line Bundles in Positive Characteris-
tic Annals of Math 149 No 1 (Jan 1999) pp 253-286 httpwwwjstororg
stable121025 httpsarxivorgabsmath9901149
[KM97] S Keel S Mori Quotients by groupoids Annals of Math 145 (1997) pp
193-213 httpwwwjstororgstable2951828seq=1page_scan_tab_contents
httparxivorgabsalg-geom9508012
[Ko17] J Kollar Families of varieties of general type httpswebmathprincetonedu
~kollarbookmodbook20170720pdf
[LN02] A Lins Neto Some examples for the Poincare and Painleve problems Annales sci-
entifiques de lrsquoENS 352 (2002) 231-266 httparchivenumdamorgarticle
ASENS_2002_4_35_2_231_0pdf
[McQ12] M McQuillan Foliated Mori Theory amp Hyperbolicity of Algebraic Surfaces http
wwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillahomehtml
[McQ98] M McQuillan Diophantine approximation and foliations Inst Hautes Etudes Sci
Publ Math 87 (1998) 121-174 httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafiles
ihespdf
[McQ05rsquo] M McQuillan Bloch hyperbolicity preprint httpwwwmatuniroma2it
~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ05] M McQuillan Semi-stable reduction of foliations IHES pre-print IHESM0502
(2005) httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ05rdquo] M McQuillan Uniform Uniformisation IHES pre-print (2005) IHES M0503 http
wwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ08] M McQuillan Canonical models of foliations Pure Appl Math Q 4
(2008) no 3 Special Issue In honor of Fedor Bogomolov Part 2 877-1012
httpintlpresscomsitepubfiles_fulltextjournalspamq20080004
0003PAMQ-2008-0004-0003-a009pdf
[MP13] M McQuillan D Panazzolo Almost etale resolution of foliations J Diff Geom 95
(2013) pp 279-319 httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesmp1bispdf
[Pe02] JV Pereira On the Poincare Problem for Foliations of General Type Mathematische
Annalen 323 no 2 pp217-226 2002 httpsarxivorgabsmath0104185
[PS16] JV Pereira R Svaldi Effective algebraic integration in bounded genus preprint
httpsarxivorgabs161206932
64 FEDERICO BUONERBA
[Re83] M Reid Minimal models of canonical threefolds in rdquoAlgebraic Varieties and Ana-
lytic Varietiesrdquo Adv Stud Pure Math vol 1 S Iitaka ed Kinokuniya and North-
Holland 1983 pp 131-180 httpwwwmathsedacukcheltsovquotientpdf
reid2pdf
[Se67] A Seidenberg Reduction of singularities of the differential equation Ady = Bdx Amer
J Math 89 (1967) 248-269 httpwwwjstororgstable2373435
[SB83] N Shepherd-Barron Degenerations with numerically effective canonical divisor The
Birational Geometry of Degenerations (R Friedman and D Morrison eds) Progr
Math no 29 Birkhuser 1983 pp 33-84
[Vis89] A Vistoli Intersection theory on algebraic stacks and on their moduli spaces
Invent Math (1989) pp 613-670 httplinkspringercomarticle101007
2FBF01388892page-1
Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences New York University 251 Mercer
Street New York NY 10012 USA
E-mail address buonerbacimsnyuedu
- I Introduction
- II Preliminaries
-
- III Operations on Deligne-Mumford stacks
- IIII Width of embedded parabolic champs
- IIIII Gorenstein foliation singularities
- IIIV Foliated adjunction
- IIV Canonical models of foliated surfaces with canonical singularities
- IIVI Canonical models of foliated surfaces with log-canonical singularities
- IIVII Set-up
-
- III Invariant curves and singularities local description
-
- IIII `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F) not isolated
- IIIII `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F) isolated
- IIIIII Local consequences
-
- IV Invariant curves along which KF vanishes
-
- IVI KF-nil curves
- IVII Invariant curves inside `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F)
-
- V Configurations
-
- VI Configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
- VII Configurations of non-rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
-
- VI Contractions and proof of the Main Theorem
- VII Moduli space of foliated surfaces of general type
- References
-
40 FEDERICO BUONERBA
curves There is in particular no a-priori obstruction to the existence of rigid
cuspidal KF -nil curves in a smooth fiber of our family of foliated surfaces p Quite
generally a rigid curve of positive arithmetic genus in a smooth family of surfaces can
never be contracted to a point Therefore this would have been a counter-example
to any reasonable foliated canonical model theory one may wish to achieve Fortu-
nately such phenomenon does not happen and this establishes the Main Theorem I
modulo finitely many rigid curves confined in the singular fiber X0
IVII Invariant curves inside sing(F ) In this subsection we study curves Z0 subeXlowast cap sing(F ) which are inside the foliation singularity and invariant By this we
mean that there exists a sequence fn Cn rarrX of not necessarily algebraic invariant
curves converging in the compact-open topology to Z0 In other words the map
(30) NorF rarr Ω1Z0
is trivial By Corollary IIIIII5 we know that Z0 is at worst nodal it is smooth
wherever p is smooth for every point z isin Z0 the semi-simple part of the gener-
ating vector field has exactly one eigenvalue The problem here is that the Jordan
decomposition need not extend uniformly along Z0 not even along an irreducible
component In case ni (1)a the functions x and g may develop essential singulari-
ties arbitrary close to z Nonetheless the function x is unique and this says that x
does extend along Z0
Proposition IVII1 Let Z0 be as above Then in a formal neighborhood of Z0
there exists a unique smooth invariant hypersurface D0 containing Z0 which restricts
around any point in Z0 to the unique eigenfunction for the semi-simple field whose
eigenvalue is non-zero
Proof The local structure of the foliation around a point z isin Z0 is described by
cases ni (1)a and ni (1)b In both cases partS has one non-zero eigenvalue with
eigenfunction x Such eigenfunction x is a-priori only defined in the normal bundle to
Z0 but it is clear that the equation partx = x has a unique up to constants solution in
the formal completion around z As such there exists a unique smooth hypersurface
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 41
D0 in the formal completion around Z0 which restricts to the eigenfunction x around
z
Observe that the previous argument goes through since we are assuming Z0 subX0
Keeping notations from case ni (1)a if say g(y z) = yz then in the hypersurface
y equiv q isin Qgt0 the foliation has a log-canonical singularity and the eigenfunction x
extends highly non-uniquely to a formal neighborhood of the point (x y z) = (0 q 0)
In particular the existence of D0 as in the previous Proposition might fail along
the component (x = z = 0) of the foliation singularity This phenomenon is called
the beast
Anyway uniqueness in the previous proposition yields
Corollary IVII2 Let Z prime be a connected invariant curve inside sing(F ) Then in
a formal neighborhood of Z prime there exists a unique smooth invariant hypersurface D prime
containing Z prime which restricts around any point in Z prime to the hypersurface constructed
in the previous proposition
Next we turn to the intrinsic structure of invariant singular curves
Proposition IVII3 Let Z0 be an irreducible invariant curve inside sing(F )
Then Z0 is smooth and rational
Proof We work in a formal neighborhood of Z0 Let F0 denote the unique component
of X0 containing Z0 For any other fiber component F intersecting Z0 non-trivially
blow-up the invariant curve F cap F0 with exceptional divisor EF A straightforward
computation using the local formula ni (1)b shows that the fiber of the natural
projection EF rarr F cap F0 intersecting Z0 is also contained in sing(F ) For Z prime the
maximal connected singular invariant curve containing Z0 let G denote the saturated
foliation induced on D prime It is canonical with reduced singularities and it satisfies
KG = KF |Dprime minus Zprime By adjunction
(31) 2g(Z0)minus 2 + sZG(Z0) = minusZ prime middot Z0
Observe that thanks to our initial sequence of blow-ups the singularities of G along
Z0 coincide with the intersection of Z0 and Z prime Z0 In particular since D prime is formally
42 FEDERICO BUONERBA
flat over ∆ we deduce Z prime middot Z0 = 0 and the previous formula becomes
(32) 2g(Z0)minus 2 + sZG(Z0) = 0
This implies that Z0 is rational or elliptic If Z0 were elliptic then sZG(Z0) = 0 and
D0 defines an invariant elliptic curve in the general fiber of p By Baum-Bott this
contradicts that KF is big and nef Now we show that Z0 is smooth If it has a node
then D0 moves it in a family of nodal rational curves flat over ∆ In particular D0
itself has a node in codimension 1 hence Xlowast is smooth around the node of Z0 In its
formal neighborhood the foliation must be as in case ni (1)a which implies that
Z0 is smooth contradiction
We can improve as follows
Proposition IVII4 Let Z prime sube sing F capXlowast be a connected invariant curve with
KF middot Z prime = 0 Then its dual graph is a chain
Proof Assume Z prime is a cycle Then necessarily Z prime = D prime capXlowast scheme-theoretically
and by the existence of Hilbert scheme Z prime moves in the general fiber Its general
member is either a cycle of smooth rational curves or an elliptic curve Arguing as
in the previous proof we see that both options are impossible
V Configurations
In this section we analyze in great detail all possible configurations of invariant
curves along which KF vanishes These can be divided into three groups those
that do not move those that move in a one-dimensional family covering a surface
those that move in a higher-dimensional family covering a surface Curves in the first
group can form rather complicated configurations while those in the second group
are more simple they either move in the general fiber or they cover an isolated
Riccati component in the singular fiber Those in the third group turn out to be
represented by the two rulings of P1timesP1 if they happen to be cohomologous in the
ambient stack First we will analyze rigid curves then those which move and finally
we will describe their configurations
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 43
VI Configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially In
this subsection we describe configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF
trivially which arise in the situation described by set-up IIVII4
First we focus on KF -nil curves At the end of the section we deal with the simpler
case in which a curve in the configuration is fully contained in sing(F ) The general
fiber was handled in Proposition IVI6
Proposition VI1 Let C be a connected KF -nil curve contained in the smooth
locus of a fiber of p Then it is a chain or a cycle and it moves in a family flat over
∆
In what follows we let C denote a connected KF -nil curve contained in the
singular fiber X0 all of whose sub-curves are rigid in X Observe a consequence of
equation 23
Proposition VI2 Let C = cupiCi be a connected KF -nil curve Then the eigen-
values of partS are all rational at every point of sing(F )capC if and only if they are all
rational at one point
We can deduce many non-trivial properties about configurations of KF -nil curves
First we need
Definition VI3 Let C subX0 be a curve It is called double if there exists formally
around C two components F F prime of X0 such that C = F cap F prime A point lowast isin C where
three fiber components intersect is called a triple point If C lies on exactly one fiber
component it is called non-double We denote by F (C) such component
Remark VI4 Let Csimminusrarr P1(d e) be double with two triple points Then we know
e+ λ+ micro = minusd+ (λ+ n) + (micro+m) = 0 whence we obtain
(33) n+m = d+ e
Which is called triple-point formula
Next we show that essentially KF -nil curves do not form cycles unless something
deforms in X0 First we show that there are no cycles of rigid non-double curves
44 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proposition VI5 Let C be a connected KF -nil curve contained in the singular
fiber X0 of p Assume that every component of C is non-double and that every
sub-curve is rigid Then C contains no cycles
Proof We work in a formal neighborhood of C which we assume is a cycle Let
us first consider the case in which all components C1 middot middot middot CN are smooth with no
orbifold points and denote lowasti = Ci cap Ci+1 with CN+1 = C1 Moreover let us
assume no lowasti lies in the smooth locus of p
Since no curve is double the semi-simple field at every lowasti is as in case i (3)b in
particular the eigenvalues along the branches of Ci and Ci+1 add up to zero More-
over let minusni denote the self-intersection of Ci sub F (Ci) Normalize the eigenvalues
of partS so that at lowastn they are 1 in the C1 direction minus1 in the CN direction λ in the
F (C1)capF (CN) direction It follows by induction that at lowasti the eigenvalues are minus1
in the Ci direction 1 in the Ci+1 direction λ+ n1 + middot middot middot+ ni in the F (Ci) cap F (Ci+1)
direction After traveling around the cycle we obtain n1+middot middot middot+nN = 0 contradicting
that ni gt 0 for every i
We established the Proposition assuming every Ci is an embedded scheme and ev-
ery lowasti is in the singular locus of p The case in which Cisimminusrarr P1(di ei) has orbifold
points is analogous we end up with a combination c1n1 + middot middot middot + cNnN = 0 with ci
the eigenvalue at lowasti in the Ci+1 direction Normalizing so that c1 = e1 gt 0 again by
induction on i we see that every ci isin Qgt0 Next we show that our assumption on lowastiis always satisfied
Claim VI6 Every lowasti must belong to the singular locus of p
Proof We give two essentially equivalent proofs
bull If N = 2 3 then the previous argument goes through indeed we can normal-
ize eigenvalues at lowasti to be negative in the Ciminus1 direction and positive in the
Ci-direction and argue as above Hence we can assume N ge 4 If say lowasti is in
the smooth locus of p then F (Ci) = F (Ci+1) If also F (Ciminus1) = F (Ci) then Ci
lies in the smooth locus of p and hence it moves Therefore F (Ciminus1) 6= F (Ci)
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 45
and Ciminus1 can be flopped inside F (Ci) Since N ge 4 this preserves the smooth-
ness of F (Ci) and Ci is now is the smooth locus of p - contradiction
bull If lowasti belongs to the smooth locus of p then the end through lowasti moves We
can form a partial net completion fi Xi rarrX by normalizing C in lowasti only
Then f lowasti C is a chain with movable ends and hence moves in the general fiber
of p fi
Finally the general case in which some among the Ci have cusps can be easily
reduced to the smooth case in a couple of ways
bull Eigenvalues at the singularities of any KF -nil curve satisfy the same relations
as in the smooth case
bull Upon taking roots and net completion we can find a foliated formal 3-fold
supported on a cycle of smooth KF -nil curves which is a ramified cover of a
formal neighborhood of our cycle
Similarly we can show that there are no rigid cycles of double curves
Proposition VI7 Let C be a nodal KF -nil curve which is double Then C
deforms inside X0 In particular there cannot exist a rigid cycle of KF -nil double
curves
Proof Following the previous notation we have 0 = infin and if C = (xy = z = 0)
around 0 then we have identities
(34) x = η y = ξ z = ζ
The last one of which implies m = 0 that is C deforms Since C is double necessarily
the surface it spans must be contained in X0
The statement about cycles follows since a cycle of double curves can be transformed
after finitely many flops into a chain of smooth double curves with a nodal one
attached at one end
46 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Later on we will show that the deformations of C cannot span an elliptic surface
but only a family of nodal rational curves with a special Riccati foliation on it
We are ready to organize a detailed description of the dual graph of C More pre-
cisely we only need to understand how double curves intersect non-double curves
Lemma VI8 There exists a sequence of flops X 99KX + such that if C + denotes
the transform of C every double curve supported on C + contains two triple points
Proof Let C sube C be an irreducible component with at most one triple point and
let X 99K X + be its flop Then its transform C+ is non-double and the number
of double curves contained in C descreases It is clear that after finitely many flops
all double curves contain exactly two triple points
From now on all double curves in C have two triple points Thanks to proposition
VI2 we know that there are two cases to consider those curves along which the
semi-simple field has not only rational eigenvalues and those along which the semi-
simple field has only rational eigenvalues The first case being strictly easier than
the second it is a good starting place to warm up
Proposition VI9 (irrational eigenvalues) Assume that for every foliation singu-
larity along C not all eigenvalues of partS are rational Then every component of C
is net with at most one node and 1-skeleton of its dual graph is at worst trivalent
Write C = C axes cup C free where
C axes is the union of double curves
C free is the union of non-double curves
Then one among C axes and C free is empty Moreover
bull If C free is non-empty then it is a chain of smooth curves with rational moduli
bull If C axes is non-empty there exists a sequence of flops X 99KX + and an ir-
reducible component of the fiber FC subX + such that X + is a smooth stack
the transform C+ of C is contained in FC Moreover the dual graph of C+
is a tree which by [McQ08 III32] becomes a chain inside the normalization
of FC
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 47
Proof The first sentence is just corollary IIIIII3
Observe that if a non-double curve intersects a double curve then the non-double
curve must be contained in an LC-center around such intersection This contradicts
that not all eigenvalues are rational and establishes that one among C axes and C free
is empty
In case C free is not empty then it is clearly a chain or a cycle the latter being
impossible by Proposition VI5
We are left to show the existence of flops in case C = C axes We remark that
every component is smooth Let C0 be such a component and S0 a component of
X0 containing it Let C1 be the collection of irreducible components of C which
intersect S0 but are not contained in it All the components of C1 are smooth hence
we can flop them in any order until the transform of C1 lies in the transform of S0
Since the number of irreducible components of C lying outside S0 decreases after
such flop by induction we deduce the existence of finitely many flops after which
the birational transform of C is fully contained in the transform of S0
Next we take care of rational eigenvalues The complication here arises from
the fact that there may be double and non-double curves intersecting each other
However the situation is best possible
Proposition VI10 (rational eigenvalues) Assume that for every foliation singu-
larity along C all eigenvalues of partS are rational Write C = C axes cup C free where
C axes is the union of double curves
C free is the union of non-double curves
Then there exists a sequence of flops X 99K X + and an irreducible component of
the fiber FC axes subX + such that
bull X + is a smooth stack
bull The union of double curves of C axes is contained in FC axes the 1-skeleton of
its dual graph is a tree and each of its components has two triple points
bull The 1-skeleton of the dual graph of the transform C free+ is a disjoint union of
trees
bull Each connected component of C free+ intersects C axes in exactly one point
48 FEDERICO BUONERBA
In particular the 1-skeleton of the dual graph of C is a tree
Proof Notice that for every point lowast isin C cap Z there exists one LC-center through lowastIndeed there are three rational eigenvalues and they cannot be all non-vanishing and
all with different signs at the same time Now C axes can be treated as in proposition
VI9 This proves the first two items of the statement The third item follows from
Proposition VI5 so we can focus on the fourth one The proof is based on the
following obvious
Remark VI11 let C be a double curve such that either it is KF -nil hence has
two triple points or it is fully contained in sing(F ) Let C0 sube C free intersect C
non-trivially in a point lowast then necessarily C0 sub LClowast
Now let C0 middot middot middot CN form a chain of non-double curves with C0 and CN both
intersecting double curves as in the remark Denote by lowasti = Ci cap Ci+1 Since
C1 sub LClowast necessarily C1 is transverse to LClowast1 otherwise C1 would deform in F (C1)
Inductively we see that Ci+1 sub LClowasti and is transverse to LClowasti+1 In particular CN
cannot touch a double curve This contradiction proves the fourth item
Let us add a remark about configurations featuring invariant curves inside sing(F )
Proposition VI12 Let C be an invariant curve with KF middot C = 0 such that
Z0 sube C for some component Z0 sube sing(F ) Then C = Z prime cup C where
Z prime is a connected invariant curve inside the foliation singularity with dual graph a
chain
C is the union of at most two pairwise disjoint KF -nil curves with anti-ample
normal bundle
If not empty C can only intersect Z prime at the two ends of its dual graph Moreover
perhaps after a flop the intersection of C with Z prime supports the foliation singularity
along C As such if C has two components Z prime cup C deforms in the general fiber
Proof The structure of Z prime is Proposition IVII3 while that of Co is Proposition
IVI6 Let C prime be a component of C intersecting Z0 in a point lowast If C prime and Z0 belong
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 49
to different components of X0 then by case ni (1)b the eigenvalue of partS along C prime
vanishes so supp(sing(F ) cap C prime) = lowast If C prime and Z0 belong to the same component
then we can flop C prime into a different component
Observe that the divisor D prime from op cit can be extended along C prime This implies
that C can only intersect Z prime at its ends Moreover if C touches both ends necessarily
D prime capX0 = C scheme-theoretically hence by the existence of Hilbert scheme IVI5
we conclude
Our new set-up is
Set-up VI13 Everything as in set-up IIVII4 and moreover for any connected
invariant curve C with KF middot C = 0 all of whose sub-curves are rigid we have
configurations computed in proposition VI9 VI10 and Lemma VI12
VII Configurations of non-rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
In this subsection we describe configurations of surfaces which are covered by KF -nil
curves The structure of each such surface is described by classification IIV1 IIV2
and Corollary IIVI17 Our first step is to simplify the situation by contracting
chains of ruled surfaces The next step is to try and exclude the possibility that
the singular fiber of p contains fibrations by elliptic or nodal rational curves with
at least one invariant fiber This can be achieved with good success indeed there
may be at most one such Riccati foliation which is anyway rather isolated from the
remaining KF -nil curves Finally we observe that the only class of surfaces we have
not mentioned is
Definition VII1 A irreducible component F of the singular fiber of p is called
small Kronecker if
bull (FFF ) is birational to a Kronecker vector field on P1 timesP1 and
bull The two rulings of this P1 timesP1 are cohomologous inside X
The name comes from the fact that contraction of a small Kronecker yields a node
in the ambient threefold which admits a small resolution In fact in many respects
these fiber components behave very much like rigid KF -nil curves
50 FEDERICO BUONERBA
We start by getting rid of some fiber components which are ruled by KF -nil gener-
ically smooth rational curves
Proposition VII2 Notation as in Set-up VI13 there exists a sequence of flops
and divisorial contractions c X 99KX + such that
bull X + is a smooth stack
bull let S+ sub X + be an irreducible invariant divisor that contains a positive-
dimensional family of invariant rational curves along which KF+ vanishes
Then S+ is either birationally ruled by nodal rational curves or it is a small
Kronecker
Proof We focus first on contracting components of the singular fiber of p Consider
the following algorithm If there is no birationally ruled component different from
the ones listed in the second item we are done otherwise pick one such F and let
C denote the general member of the ruling If the cohomology class [C] is inde-
composable F is minimal Otherwise [C] = [C1] + [C2] where Ci are rational and
intersect KF trivially After finitely many steps we have a decomposition as a finite
sum of indecomposables [C] =sumn
i=0 ni[Ci] where every Ci is rational intersects KF
trivially We have two cases
bull There exists k such that Ck deforms in a birationally ruled necessarily min-
imal surface Fk
bull Every Ci has anti-ample normal bundle
In the first case denote by X rarr X1 the contraction of Fk along |Ck| and relpace
X by X1 Since Fk is minimal smoothness of the ambient stack is preserved unless
Fk is a small Kronecker This is however impossible if n ge 2 if Fk were a small
Kronecker then Ck deforms away from Fkminus1 so then Fkminus1 middot Ck = 0 on the other
hand Fkminus1 intersects the other ruling of Fk positively
In the second case flop C1 middot middot middot Cn in this order The transform of F is minimal and
not a small Kronecker so it can be contracted along its ruling preserving ambient
smoothness By induction on the Picard rank of X after finitely many steps this
algorithm ends Call X the output of this algorithm
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 51
Let S subX be an invariant divisor with a generically smooth ruling Then pS S rarr∆ is flat and after flopping finitely many rational curves in S cap plowastS(0) the resulting
pS is smooth Hence we can contract S along pS After finitely many steps the
Proposition is proven
For ease of notation in the sequel we call X the output of the previous proposition
Notice that there might still be divisors carrying a pencil of nodal rational curves
both inside and outside the singular fiber of p
We can start analyzing configurations of fiber components where the restriction of
F is not of general type We need some notation whose reason to exist will be clear
shortly
Definition VII3 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
along which KF is not big F is called special Riccati if
bull F is minimal
bull There exists a morphism s F rarr B onto a curve whose fibers are nodal
rational curve
bull F is transverse to the general fiber of s in particular KF is numerically
trivial along s
bull At least one fiber of s is invariant
bull There exists a section σ of s which is invariant and does not coincide with
the nodal locus of F
In particular the intersections of σ with invariant fibers of s isolated singularities
of F the node of F all coincide There may be fibers of s fully contained in sing(F )
in which case they are everywhere transverse to the saturated foliation
The definition looks nasty but special Riccati components have a rather simple
origin as the following proof shows
Lemma VII4 Let F be special Riccati Up to base change by an etale double cover
Bprime rarr B there is a natural isomorphism F norm simminusrarr BprimetimesP1 and the restriction of F
to F norm is birational to the projection onto P1
52 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proof We work over the normalization F norm Denote by Bprime the pre-image of the
node of F which is an etale double cover of B and let f denote an invariant fiber
of s with lowast = σ cap f Observe that F norm carries a Riccati foliation with 3 invariant
curves through lowast - namely σ f and a component of Bprime Hence FF has a log-canonical
singularity in lowast On F norm perform a weighted blow-up in each log-canonical singu-
larity followed by the contraction of the transforms of the corresponding fibers Let
s+ F+ rarr B denote the output of this operation If the proper transform of Bprime is
connected replace F+ by its base change under Bprime rarr B Hence we can assume Bprime
is the disjoint union of two sections of s+ and the transform of σ is a third section
which is disjoint from Bprime Therefore F+ = P1 timesBprime and the foliation restricts to the
projection onto P1
Next we describe those surfaces which cannot appear as components of the sin-
gular fiber X0
Definition VII5 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
along which KF is not big F is called illusory if
bull there exists a morphism t F rarr B onto a curve
bull KF is trivial along t
bull For any other fiber component F prime the intersection F cap F prime is either empty or
contained in a fiber of t
We give examples of illusory fiber components
Lemma VII6 The following fiber components are necessarily illusory
bull t is elliptic the foliation is either parallel to t or turbolent with at least one
invariant fiber
bull t is a nodal ruling the foliation is either parallel to t or transverse to t with
at least one invariant fiber and not birational to a special Riccati VII3
Proof Let f = F cap F prime for some fiber component F prime It is F -invariant
Assume t and F are parallel and f is transverse to both Then necessarily f subesing(F ) and KF is positive along the fibers of t contradiction
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 53
Assume t and F are generically transverse and f is transverse to t Let e be an
invariant fiber of t then ecap f isin sing(F ) hence t must be a family of nodal rational
curves and ecapf coincides with the node of e - otherwise KF would be positive along
t But this implies F is special Riccati contradiction
We proceed to show that illusory fibers do not exist
Lemma VII7 Let F be an illusory fiber component then every fiber of t is irre-
ducible If F prime is any fiber component intersecting F non-trivially then F prime is illusory
Proof Assume t has a reducible fiber f Then we can write f = f prime cup f primeprime where f prime
is irreducible and f primeprime is a disjoint union of chains of rational curves In particular
every subscheme supported on f primeprime is rigid in X f prime is rational and smooth iff f is a
cycle of rational curves hence the foliation on F is parallel to t and the choice of f prime
is not unique otherwise f prime is nodal or elliptic Let X 99KX + denote the flop of the
irreducible components of f primeprime in any order The proper transform f prime+ (below in red)
is the irreducible fiber of the induced morphism t+ F+ rarr B Since f primeprime+ intersects
f prime+ and is not contained in F+ there exists a component F prime of the fiber of p+ such
that F+ cap f prime+ 6= empty Since F+ is illusory necessarily F+ cap F prime = f prime+ Moreover F+
and F prime are the only fiber components intersecting f prime+ again because F+ is illusory
We deduce that F+ middot f prime+ = F prime middot f prime+ = 0 and therefore f prime+ is nef inside F prime It follows
that he restriction of F+ to F prime is not of general type and by the classification of
foliated surfaces [McQ08] necessarily f prime+ deforms inside F prime and defines a fibration
u F prime rarr Bprime In particular f prime+ is an irreducible fiber of u This is however impossible
since u contracts all the components of f primeprime+ contained in F prime (below in blue) and by
definition of F prime there exists at least one such component This proves that every
fiber of t is irreducible The following depicts the situation
F prime F+
f prime+
f primeprime+
t+u
54 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Concerning the second statement we only need to check the third condition for F prime
to be illussory namely that every other fiber component F primeprime intersecting F prime does
so along the fibers of u If F primeprime intersects F prime transversely to u then F primeprime intersects F
non-trivially and transversely to t as well absurd
Corollary VII8 Illusory components do not exist
Proof By the above lemma the existence of one illusory component implies that
every irreducible component of the singular fiber of p is illusory contradicting that
KF is big
We can now focus on fiber components that do appear
Corollary VII9 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
containing an invariant curve C which moves and such that KF middot C = 0 Then
following the classification [McQ08] we have two cases
(1) The minimal model of F is a special Riccati component
(2) F is a small Kronecker
Proof Certainly the ones listed are the only cases where C is KF -nil We have to
exclude the possibility that C is invariant inside sing(F ) By Proposition IVII3
such C would be rational with at most one node Since we already contracted at
the beginning of the present subsection all ruled surfaces necessarily C is nodal
However by opcit C cannot intersect any other fiber component of X0 which
implies the absurdity that X0 = F
We proceed to show that special Riccati components are rather isolated in the
fiber
Lemma VII10 Let F be a special Riccati component If F prime is a fiber component
intersecting F non-trivially then it does so transversely to s Morover there is
exactly one such F prime
Proof After finitely many flops we can assume that every fiber of s is irreducible
By the non-existence of illusory components there exists a fiber component F lowast with
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 55
σprime = F cap F prime transverse to s If F primeprime is a fiber component with f = F cap F primeprime a fiber
of s then we claim f sube sing(F ) If not then since KF middot f = 0 and σprime is invariant
necessarily σprimecap f is the node of f But then the existence of F primeprime contradicts that p is
snc Hence f sube sing(F ) so then around the node of f there are 3 fiber components -
two branches coming from F one from F primeprime - and sing(F ) has 2 branches - namely f
This is impossible by our case analysis ni (1)c ni (2)c The very same reasoning
establishes the uniqueness of F prime
Lemma VII11 Let F be as in the previous Lemma If C is a connected curve
with KF middot C = 0 then it is disjoint from F
Proof After finitely many flops s is irreducible and C intersects F transversely away
from its node Moreover lowast = C cap F isin sing(F ) and we deduce that the fiber of s
through lowast is fully contained in the singular locus of F This contradicts Proposition
IVII3 since such fiber is nodal
We conclude by observing the obvious
Lemma VII12 Let F be a small Kronecker Then there exists a contraction
c X rarr X prime which is an isomorphism away from F and contracts F along one
of its rulings Necessarily X prime is not projective since every global Cartier divisor
intersects c(F ) trivially On the other hand in a formal neighborhood of c(F ) there
exist Cartier divisors intersecting it non-trivialliy
As such the contribution coming from non-rigid curves is rather poor there are
curves moving in the general fiber there are special Riccati components disjoint from
any other invariant curve intersecting KF trivially there are small Kroneckers who
can be contracted to curves We shall see in the next section that the complications
arising from the contraction of such non-rigid curves is purely psychological and
totally harmless
56 FEDERICO BUONERBA
VI Contractions and proof of the Main Theorem
In this section we contract all invariant curves along which KF is zero thereby
establishing the existence of canonical models I First we contract non-rigid curves
as described in the previous subsection
bull Small Kroneckers along either ruling Albeit this destroys projectivity of
the ambient threefold there still exist Cartier divisors defined in a formal
neighborhood of the base curve that intersect it non-trivially
bull Families of irreducible nodal rational curves which are flat over ∆ This
creates elliptic singularities on the general fiber of p which are disjoint from
other invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
bull Special Riccati again families of irreducible nodal rational curves fully con-
tained in X0 This creates elliptic singularities disjoint from other invariant
curves intersecting KF trivially
We can summarize our situation by way of
Set-up VI1 X is a 3-dimensional DM stack with at worst elliptic singularities
F a foliation by curves with canonical singularities which is not Q-Cartier in a
neighborhood of Xsing
There exists a proper morphism p X rarr ∆ smooth off 0 isin ∆ F restricts to a
foliation on every fiber of p it has canonical singularities on the very general fiber
of p and log-canonical singularities on every fiber of p KF is big and nef on every
irreducible component of every fiber of p
Let C be the invariant sub-scheme along which KF is not big then C is a curve
fully contained in the smooth locus X0capXsmooth every sub-curve of C has anti-ample
normal bundle the 1-simplex of its dual graph is a tree and detailed configurations
of such are referenced in set-up VI13
We proceed to contract such C We assume that along C the semi-simple field has
only rational eigenvalues and moreover no component of C is inside the foliation
singularity The other two cases - irrational eigenvalues and presence of singular
component - are strictly easier and can be obtained with the very same method
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 57
The proof takes place in the formal completion around C = C free cup C axes The
former is a disjoint union of trees of non-double curves For each non-double C let
F (C) denote the unique component of X0 containing it The latter is a tree of double
curves each with two triple points all contained in the same irreducible FC axes Each
tree of non-double curves touches C axes in one point through a LC-center In order
to construct the contraction we will use Artinrsquos celebrated criterion in the following
form
Fact VI1 ([Ar70]) Let X be an irreducible algebraic space i Y rarr X a closed
subspace of pure codimension 1 and f Y rarr Y0 a proper morphism with flowastOY = OY0
Let X denote the formal completion of X along Y and assume there exists a Cartier
divisor D in X which is supported on Y and is f -anti-ample Then there exists a
proper morphism of algebraic spaces F X rarr X0 which is an isomorphism away
from Y and such that ilowastF = f
Now we use the tree structure of C to construct a suitable divisor to which apply
Artinrsquos theorem Namely consider the following inductive defintion
(35) C0 = C axes F0 = FC axes
For k ge 0 assume Ck Fk are defined
bull Let Ck+1 denote the union of irreducible components of C that intersect Fk
non-trivially but are not contained in cupilekFibull Let Fk+1 denote the reduced sum (
sumCsubeCk+1
F (C))red
This process stops with a collection C1 middot middot middotCN of curves and F1 middot middot middot FN of reduced
divisors
Lemma VI1 We have the following identities
(36)
Fk middot C lt 0 for every C sube Ck
(F0 + F1) middot C le 0 for every C sube C0
(Fkminus1 + Fk + Fk+1) middot C = 0 for every C sube Ck 1 lt k lt N
(FNminus1 + FN) middot C lt 0 for every C sube CN
58 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proof The first is just the fact that every component of C is rigid The remaining
three follow from X0 middot C = 0 but the last one requires further justification Indeed
if C sube CN N gt 0 then C is one end of a tree of non-double curves In particular
there exists a foliation singularity lowast isin C disjoint from any other component of
C and LClowast is transverse to C This implies LClowast middotC gt 0 which together with
(FNminus1 + FN + LClowast) middot C = 0 concludes the proof
Let ε1 middot middot middot εN isin Qgt0 and define
(37) F Nminusk = (1 + ε1 + middot middot middot+ εk)FNminusk
bull If C sube CN we have
(38) (F Nminus1 + F
N) middot C = ε1FNminus1 middot C + (FNminus1 + FN) middot C
bull If C sube CNminusk 1 lt k lt N we have
(39)
(F Nminuskminus1 + F
Nminusk + F Nminusk+1) middot C =
(1 + middot middot middot+ εk)(FNminuskminus1 + FNminusk + FNminusk+1) middot C minus εkFNminusk+1 middot C + εk+1FNminuskminus1 middot C =
minus εkFNminusk+1 middot C + εk+1FNminuskminus1 middot C
bull If C sube C0 we have
(40) (F 0 + F
1) middot C = εNF0 middot C + (Nminus1sumj=0
εj)(F0 + F1) middot C
It is clear that provided
(41) 1 gtgt ε1 gtgt middot middot middot gtgt εN
the divisor F =sumF k is negative along every component of C
This proves the existence of the contraction and concludes the proof of the Main
Theorem I
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 59
VII Moduli space of foliated surfaces of general type
In this section we study the modular variation of foliated surfaces of general type
The upshot is that it is possible to define a functor which is representable separated
and every irreducible component is proper The main issue here is that the supporting
surface of a foliated canonical model may well fail to be projective indeed KF is not
Q-Gorenstein in general Hence in order to proceed via standard methods [Ko17]
we have to parametrize our canonical models together with a suitable projective
resolution
Definition VII13 Let (SF ) be a foliated proper reduced purely 2-dimensional
DM stack Assume S has only normal crossing singularities in codimension 1 that
F has log-canonical foliation singularities and that KF is big and nef on at least
one of the irreducible components of S If whenever KF middot C = 0 for some curve C
then C moves in an irreducible component of S and no member of such deformation
is F -invariant then (SF ) is called foliated canonical model of general type
Clearly foliated canonical models are exactly the stable degenerations appearing
as the central fiber of our Main Theorem I Their lack of projectivity has two sources
namely the contraction of cycles of smooth KF -nil curves and of trees of cuspidal
ones Singularities arising from cycles behave well in families namely they always
deform into the general fiber Those arising from cuspidal curves on the other hand
tend to be rather isolated inside the degenerate fiber
Observe that the deformation theory of a foliated surface is rather simple suppose
given an infinitesimal C-algebras extension 0 rarr J rarr Ae rarr A rarr 0 and (SF )
a foliated surface flat over Spec(A) then the obstruction to lifting to Ae can be
understood in three simple steps
(1) Deformation of the underlying surface S once a deformation Se rarr Spec(Ae)
is given
(2) Deformation of the line bundle KF by the exponential sequence
(42) 0rarr J otimes OS rarr OlowastSerarr OlowastS rarr 0
obstructions lie in H2(SOS)otimes J once a deformation of KF is given
60 FEDERICO BUONERBA
(3) Deformation of the defining section OS rarr KF otimes TS obstructions lie in
H1(SKF otimes TS)otimes J
Now we have
Definition VII14 Let (SF ) be a foliated canonical model of general type A
proper birational morphism q (SF )proj rarr (SF ) is called its projective resolution
if
bull Every irreducible component of Sproj is smooth
bull The exceptional locus of q is a disjoint union of cycles of KFproj-nil smooth
curves and trees of KFproj-nil curves each of which has a non-trivial cuspidal
singularity
bull In a neighborhood of every q-exceptional cycle not only Sproj but also its
moduli space is smooth
We need a few remarks about projective resolutions
(1) Projective resolutions are always unique Indeed the only possible ambiguity
could lie in some extra smooth irreducible components in the exceptional
locus This is forbidden by definition in the trees of cuspidal curves it is
also forbidden by way of the third item in cycles of smooth ones ie on
algebraic surfaces the minimal resolution is unique
(2) Denote by E the collection of q-exceptional cycles Then there exist ε δ isinQgt0 such that KFproj
minus εE + δKSprojis ample by Nakai-Moishezon
(3) Deformations of a projective resolution of a foliated canonical model are
canonically identified with deformations of the underlying birational mor-
phism q Sproj rarr S followed by a deformation of the foliation F
We are now ready to construct a moduli functor for foliated surfaces more precisely
for projective resolutions of foliated canonical models of general type For m dN isinN and ε δ isin Qgt0 let
(43) MmdNεδ (C-schemes)rarr (sets)
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 61
be defined by MmdNεδ(S) = Diagrams
(44) (X F )projqminusrarr (X F )
pminusrarr S
Where
bull Both p and p q are flat and proper
bull For every closed point s isin S the induced morphism qs is the projective
resolution of (X F )s which is a foliated canonical model of general type
bull Denote by Es the collection of exceptional cycles of qs By our Main Theorem
I there is a fibrewise divisor E subXproj flat over S restricting to Es for every
s isin S
bull Let j W rarr Xproj denote the maximal closed subscheme away from which
KFprojand KXprojS are locally free Then
(45) L [m] = (jlowast(KFprojotimes OXproj
(minusεE )otimesKδXprojS
)otimesm)oror
is flat over S and commutes with base-change
bull L [m] is very ample of degree d on every fiber and defines an embedding into
PNS
We are now ready for
Theorem VII15 The functor MmdNεδ is represented by a separated algebraic
space each of whose irreducible components is proper
Proof We show that our functor satisfies Artinrsquos conditions [Ar74 Corollary 54] By
definition condition 1) and 4) hold while our previous remark on foliated obstruction
theory shows that 3) is true
We proceed to show 2) namely effectivity of formal deformations for MmdNεδ
What follows owes much to Artinrsquos [A74rsquo] Let T be a complete C-algebra Tn its
n-truncation so that Tsimminusrarr limlarrminusTn and finally qn isinMmdNεδ(Spec(Tn)) a compatible
sequence For each n there is a maximal open set Un sube Xprojn where qn is an
isomorphism denote by sn Cn rarr Zn the restriction of qn to the complement of Un
Clearly sn is projective over Spec(Tn)
62 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Denote by X C etc the formal algebraic spaces obtained as limits of Xn Cn
etc Then Xproj sub PNˆSpec(T )
hence by Grothendieckrsquos existence Theorem we find
bull a flat projective family (X F )proj rarr Spec(T ) resp a closed subscheme
C subXproj whose completion is Xproj resp C
bull a scheme Z whose completion is Z and a morphism s C rarr Z everything
being projective over Spec(T )
Further we have a formal contraction limminusrarr qn C rarr Z hence the main theorem
of [Ar70] gives algebraic contraction (X F )proj rarr (X F ) This proves the repre-
sentability of MmdNεδ The properness and separability of each irreducible com-
ponent can be checked using valutative criteria indeed properness is the content of
our Main Theorem I separatedness follows from the uniqueness of foliated canonical
models of general type and their projective resolution
References
[Ar70] M Artin Algebraization of Formal Moduli II Existence of Modifications Ann
of Math Vol 91 No 1 (Jan 1970) pp 88-135 httpwwwjstororgstable
1970602
[Ar74] M Artin Versal Deformations and Algebraic Stacks Inventiones Math 27 165- 189
(1974) httpmathuchicagoedu~drinfeldArtin_on_stackspdf
[A74rsquo] M Artin Algebraic construction of Brieskornrsquos resolutions J Alg Vol 29 Issue
2 May 1974 pp 330-348 httpwwwsciencedirectcomsciencearticlepii
0021869374901021
[BB72] P Baum R Bott Singularities of holomorphic foliations J Diff Geom 7 (1972)
279-342 httpsprojecteuclidorgdownloadpdf_1euclidjdg1214431158
[Bo77] F Bogomolov Families of curves on a surface of general type Doklady Akademii Nauk
USSR (in Russian) 236 (5) 1041-1044
[Bo78] F Bogomolov Holomorphic tensors and vector bundles on projective varieties Math
USSR Izv 13 (1978) 499-555
[BM16] F Bogomolov M McQuillan Rational Curves on Foliated Varieties In Cascini
McKernan Pereira (eds) Foliation Theory in Algebraic Geometry Simons Symposia
Springer Cham pp 21-51 (2016) httpslinkspringercomchapter101007
978-3-319-24460-0_2
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 63
[Bu] F Buonerba Functorial resolution of tame quotient singularities in positive charac-
teristic httpsarxivorgabs151100550
[Ke99] S Keel Basepoint Freeness for Nef and Big Line Bundles in Positive Characteris-
tic Annals of Math 149 No 1 (Jan 1999) pp 253-286 httpwwwjstororg
stable121025 httpsarxivorgabsmath9901149
[KM97] S Keel S Mori Quotients by groupoids Annals of Math 145 (1997) pp
193-213 httpwwwjstororgstable2951828seq=1page_scan_tab_contents
httparxivorgabsalg-geom9508012
[Ko17] J Kollar Families of varieties of general type httpswebmathprincetonedu
~kollarbookmodbook20170720pdf
[LN02] A Lins Neto Some examples for the Poincare and Painleve problems Annales sci-
entifiques de lrsquoENS 352 (2002) 231-266 httparchivenumdamorgarticle
ASENS_2002_4_35_2_231_0pdf
[McQ12] M McQuillan Foliated Mori Theory amp Hyperbolicity of Algebraic Surfaces http
wwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillahomehtml
[McQ98] M McQuillan Diophantine approximation and foliations Inst Hautes Etudes Sci
Publ Math 87 (1998) 121-174 httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafiles
ihespdf
[McQ05rsquo] M McQuillan Bloch hyperbolicity preprint httpwwwmatuniroma2it
~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ05] M McQuillan Semi-stable reduction of foliations IHES pre-print IHESM0502
(2005) httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ05rdquo] M McQuillan Uniform Uniformisation IHES pre-print (2005) IHES M0503 http
wwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ08] M McQuillan Canonical models of foliations Pure Appl Math Q 4
(2008) no 3 Special Issue In honor of Fedor Bogomolov Part 2 877-1012
httpintlpresscomsitepubfiles_fulltextjournalspamq20080004
0003PAMQ-2008-0004-0003-a009pdf
[MP13] M McQuillan D Panazzolo Almost etale resolution of foliations J Diff Geom 95
(2013) pp 279-319 httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesmp1bispdf
[Pe02] JV Pereira On the Poincare Problem for Foliations of General Type Mathematische
Annalen 323 no 2 pp217-226 2002 httpsarxivorgabsmath0104185
[PS16] JV Pereira R Svaldi Effective algebraic integration in bounded genus preprint
httpsarxivorgabs161206932
64 FEDERICO BUONERBA
[Re83] M Reid Minimal models of canonical threefolds in rdquoAlgebraic Varieties and Ana-
lytic Varietiesrdquo Adv Stud Pure Math vol 1 S Iitaka ed Kinokuniya and North-
Holland 1983 pp 131-180 httpwwwmathsedacukcheltsovquotientpdf
reid2pdf
[Se67] A Seidenberg Reduction of singularities of the differential equation Ady = Bdx Amer
J Math 89 (1967) 248-269 httpwwwjstororgstable2373435
[SB83] N Shepherd-Barron Degenerations with numerically effective canonical divisor The
Birational Geometry of Degenerations (R Friedman and D Morrison eds) Progr
Math no 29 Birkhuser 1983 pp 33-84
[Vis89] A Vistoli Intersection theory on algebraic stacks and on their moduli spaces
Invent Math (1989) pp 613-670 httplinkspringercomarticle101007
2FBF01388892page-1
Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences New York University 251 Mercer
Street New York NY 10012 USA
E-mail address buonerbacimsnyuedu
- I Introduction
- II Preliminaries
-
- III Operations on Deligne-Mumford stacks
- IIII Width of embedded parabolic champs
- IIIII Gorenstein foliation singularities
- IIIV Foliated adjunction
- IIV Canonical models of foliated surfaces with canonical singularities
- IIVI Canonical models of foliated surfaces with log-canonical singularities
- IIVII Set-up
-
- III Invariant curves and singularities local description
-
- IIII `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F) not isolated
- IIIII `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F) isolated
- IIIIII Local consequences
-
- IV Invariant curves along which KF vanishes
-
- IVI KF-nil curves
- IVII Invariant curves inside `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F)
-
- V Configurations
-
- VI Configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
- VII Configurations of non-rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
-
- VI Contractions and proof of the Main Theorem
- VII Moduli space of foliated surfaces of general type
- References
-
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 41
D0 in the formal completion around Z0 which restricts to the eigenfunction x around
z
Observe that the previous argument goes through since we are assuming Z0 subX0
Keeping notations from case ni (1)a if say g(y z) = yz then in the hypersurface
y equiv q isin Qgt0 the foliation has a log-canonical singularity and the eigenfunction x
extends highly non-uniquely to a formal neighborhood of the point (x y z) = (0 q 0)
In particular the existence of D0 as in the previous Proposition might fail along
the component (x = z = 0) of the foliation singularity This phenomenon is called
the beast
Anyway uniqueness in the previous proposition yields
Corollary IVII2 Let Z prime be a connected invariant curve inside sing(F ) Then in
a formal neighborhood of Z prime there exists a unique smooth invariant hypersurface D prime
containing Z prime which restricts around any point in Z prime to the hypersurface constructed
in the previous proposition
Next we turn to the intrinsic structure of invariant singular curves
Proposition IVII3 Let Z0 be an irreducible invariant curve inside sing(F )
Then Z0 is smooth and rational
Proof We work in a formal neighborhood of Z0 Let F0 denote the unique component
of X0 containing Z0 For any other fiber component F intersecting Z0 non-trivially
blow-up the invariant curve F cap F0 with exceptional divisor EF A straightforward
computation using the local formula ni (1)b shows that the fiber of the natural
projection EF rarr F cap F0 intersecting Z0 is also contained in sing(F ) For Z prime the
maximal connected singular invariant curve containing Z0 let G denote the saturated
foliation induced on D prime It is canonical with reduced singularities and it satisfies
KG = KF |Dprime minus Zprime By adjunction
(31) 2g(Z0)minus 2 + sZG(Z0) = minusZ prime middot Z0
Observe that thanks to our initial sequence of blow-ups the singularities of G along
Z0 coincide with the intersection of Z0 and Z prime Z0 In particular since D prime is formally
42 FEDERICO BUONERBA
flat over ∆ we deduce Z prime middot Z0 = 0 and the previous formula becomes
(32) 2g(Z0)minus 2 + sZG(Z0) = 0
This implies that Z0 is rational or elliptic If Z0 were elliptic then sZG(Z0) = 0 and
D0 defines an invariant elliptic curve in the general fiber of p By Baum-Bott this
contradicts that KF is big and nef Now we show that Z0 is smooth If it has a node
then D0 moves it in a family of nodal rational curves flat over ∆ In particular D0
itself has a node in codimension 1 hence Xlowast is smooth around the node of Z0 In its
formal neighborhood the foliation must be as in case ni (1)a which implies that
Z0 is smooth contradiction
We can improve as follows
Proposition IVII4 Let Z prime sube sing F capXlowast be a connected invariant curve with
KF middot Z prime = 0 Then its dual graph is a chain
Proof Assume Z prime is a cycle Then necessarily Z prime = D prime capXlowast scheme-theoretically
and by the existence of Hilbert scheme Z prime moves in the general fiber Its general
member is either a cycle of smooth rational curves or an elliptic curve Arguing as
in the previous proof we see that both options are impossible
V Configurations
In this section we analyze in great detail all possible configurations of invariant
curves along which KF vanishes These can be divided into three groups those
that do not move those that move in a one-dimensional family covering a surface
those that move in a higher-dimensional family covering a surface Curves in the first
group can form rather complicated configurations while those in the second group
are more simple they either move in the general fiber or they cover an isolated
Riccati component in the singular fiber Those in the third group turn out to be
represented by the two rulings of P1timesP1 if they happen to be cohomologous in the
ambient stack First we will analyze rigid curves then those which move and finally
we will describe their configurations
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 43
VI Configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially In
this subsection we describe configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF
trivially which arise in the situation described by set-up IIVII4
First we focus on KF -nil curves At the end of the section we deal with the simpler
case in which a curve in the configuration is fully contained in sing(F ) The general
fiber was handled in Proposition IVI6
Proposition VI1 Let C be a connected KF -nil curve contained in the smooth
locus of a fiber of p Then it is a chain or a cycle and it moves in a family flat over
∆
In what follows we let C denote a connected KF -nil curve contained in the
singular fiber X0 all of whose sub-curves are rigid in X Observe a consequence of
equation 23
Proposition VI2 Let C = cupiCi be a connected KF -nil curve Then the eigen-
values of partS are all rational at every point of sing(F )capC if and only if they are all
rational at one point
We can deduce many non-trivial properties about configurations of KF -nil curves
First we need
Definition VI3 Let C subX0 be a curve It is called double if there exists formally
around C two components F F prime of X0 such that C = F cap F prime A point lowast isin C where
three fiber components intersect is called a triple point If C lies on exactly one fiber
component it is called non-double We denote by F (C) such component
Remark VI4 Let Csimminusrarr P1(d e) be double with two triple points Then we know
e+ λ+ micro = minusd+ (λ+ n) + (micro+m) = 0 whence we obtain
(33) n+m = d+ e
Which is called triple-point formula
Next we show that essentially KF -nil curves do not form cycles unless something
deforms in X0 First we show that there are no cycles of rigid non-double curves
44 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proposition VI5 Let C be a connected KF -nil curve contained in the singular
fiber X0 of p Assume that every component of C is non-double and that every
sub-curve is rigid Then C contains no cycles
Proof We work in a formal neighborhood of C which we assume is a cycle Let
us first consider the case in which all components C1 middot middot middot CN are smooth with no
orbifold points and denote lowasti = Ci cap Ci+1 with CN+1 = C1 Moreover let us
assume no lowasti lies in the smooth locus of p
Since no curve is double the semi-simple field at every lowasti is as in case i (3)b in
particular the eigenvalues along the branches of Ci and Ci+1 add up to zero More-
over let minusni denote the self-intersection of Ci sub F (Ci) Normalize the eigenvalues
of partS so that at lowastn they are 1 in the C1 direction minus1 in the CN direction λ in the
F (C1)capF (CN) direction It follows by induction that at lowasti the eigenvalues are minus1
in the Ci direction 1 in the Ci+1 direction λ+ n1 + middot middot middot+ ni in the F (Ci) cap F (Ci+1)
direction After traveling around the cycle we obtain n1+middot middot middot+nN = 0 contradicting
that ni gt 0 for every i
We established the Proposition assuming every Ci is an embedded scheme and ev-
ery lowasti is in the singular locus of p The case in which Cisimminusrarr P1(di ei) has orbifold
points is analogous we end up with a combination c1n1 + middot middot middot + cNnN = 0 with ci
the eigenvalue at lowasti in the Ci+1 direction Normalizing so that c1 = e1 gt 0 again by
induction on i we see that every ci isin Qgt0 Next we show that our assumption on lowastiis always satisfied
Claim VI6 Every lowasti must belong to the singular locus of p
Proof We give two essentially equivalent proofs
bull If N = 2 3 then the previous argument goes through indeed we can normal-
ize eigenvalues at lowasti to be negative in the Ciminus1 direction and positive in the
Ci-direction and argue as above Hence we can assume N ge 4 If say lowasti is in
the smooth locus of p then F (Ci) = F (Ci+1) If also F (Ciminus1) = F (Ci) then Ci
lies in the smooth locus of p and hence it moves Therefore F (Ciminus1) 6= F (Ci)
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 45
and Ciminus1 can be flopped inside F (Ci) Since N ge 4 this preserves the smooth-
ness of F (Ci) and Ci is now is the smooth locus of p - contradiction
bull If lowasti belongs to the smooth locus of p then the end through lowasti moves We
can form a partial net completion fi Xi rarrX by normalizing C in lowasti only
Then f lowasti C is a chain with movable ends and hence moves in the general fiber
of p fi
Finally the general case in which some among the Ci have cusps can be easily
reduced to the smooth case in a couple of ways
bull Eigenvalues at the singularities of any KF -nil curve satisfy the same relations
as in the smooth case
bull Upon taking roots and net completion we can find a foliated formal 3-fold
supported on a cycle of smooth KF -nil curves which is a ramified cover of a
formal neighborhood of our cycle
Similarly we can show that there are no rigid cycles of double curves
Proposition VI7 Let C be a nodal KF -nil curve which is double Then C
deforms inside X0 In particular there cannot exist a rigid cycle of KF -nil double
curves
Proof Following the previous notation we have 0 = infin and if C = (xy = z = 0)
around 0 then we have identities
(34) x = η y = ξ z = ζ
The last one of which implies m = 0 that is C deforms Since C is double necessarily
the surface it spans must be contained in X0
The statement about cycles follows since a cycle of double curves can be transformed
after finitely many flops into a chain of smooth double curves with a nodal one
attached at one end
46 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Later on we will show that the deformations of C cannot span an elliptic surface
but only a family of nodal rational curves with a special Riccati foliation on it
We are ready to organize a detailed description of the dual graph of C More pre-
cisely we only need to understand how double curves intersect non-double curves
Lemma VI8 There exists a sequence of flops X 99KX + such that if C + denotes
the transform of C every double curve supported on C + contains two triple points
Proof Let C sube C be an irreducible component with at most one triple point and
let X 99K X + be its flop Then its transform C+ is non-double and the number
of double curves contained in C descreases It is clear that after finitely many flops
all double curves contain exactly two triple points
From now on all double curves in C have two triple points Thanks to proposition
VI2 we know that there are two cases to consider those curves along which the
semi-simple field has not only rational eigenvalues and those along which the semi-
simple field has only rational eigenvalues The first case being strictly easier than
the second it is a good starting place to warm up
Proposition VI9 (irrational eigenvalues) Assume that for every foliation singu-
larity along C not all eigenvalues of partS are rational Then every component of C
is net with at most one node and 1-skeleton of its dual graph is at worst trivalent
Write C = C axes cup C free where
C axes is the union of double curves
C free is the union of non-double curves
Then one among C axes and C free is empty Moreover
bull If C free is non-empty then it is a chain of smooth curves with rational moduli
bull If C axes is non-empty there exists a sequence of flops X 99KX + and an ir-
reducible component of the fiber FC subX + such that X + is a smooth stack
the transform C+ of C is contained in FC Moreover the dual graph of C+
is a tree which by [McQ08 III32] becomes a chain inside the normalization
of FC
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 47
Proof The first sentence is just corollary IIIIII3
Observe that if a non-double curve intersects a double curve then the non-double
curve must be contained in an LC-center around such intersection This contradicts
that not all eigenvalues are rational and establishes that one among C axes and C free
is empty
In case C free is not empty then it is clearly a chain or a cycle the latter being
impossible by Proposition VI5
We are left to show the existence of flops in case C = C axes We remark that
every component is smooth Let C0 be such a component and S0 a component of
X0 containing it Let C1 be the collection of irreducible components of C which
intersect S0 but are not contained in it All the components of C1 are smooth hence
we can flop them in any order until the transform of C1 lies in the transform of S0
Since the number of irreducible components of C lying outside S0 decreases after
such flop by induction we deduce the existence of finitely many flops after which
the birational transform of C is fully contained in the transform of S0
Next we take care of rational eigenvalues The complication here arises from
the fact that there may be double and non-double curves intersecting each other
However the situation is best possible
Proposition VI10 (rational eigenvalues) Assume that for every foliation singu-
larity along C all eigenvalues of partS are rational Write C = C axes cup C free where
C axes is the union of double curves
C free is the union of non-double curves
Then there exists a sequence of flops X 99K X + and an irreducible component of
the fiber FC axes subX + such that
bull X + is a smooth stack
bull The union of double curves of C axes is contained in FC axes the 1-skeleton of
its dual graph is a tree and each of its components has two triple points
bull The 1-skeleton of the dual graph of the transform C free+ is a disjoint union of
trees
bull Each connected component of C free+ intersects C axes in exactly one point
48 FEDERICO BUONERBA
In particular the 1-skeleton of the dual graph of C is a tree
Proof Notice that for every point lowast isin C cap Z there exists one LC-center through lowastIndeed there are three rational eigenvalues and they cannot be all non-vanishing and
all with different signs at the same time Now C axes can be treated as in proposition
VI9 This proves the first two items of the statement The third item follows from
Proposition VI5 so we can focus on the fourth one The proof is based on the
following obvious
Remark VI11 let C be a double curve such that either it is KF -nil hence has
two triple points or it is fully contained in sing(F ) Let C0 sube C free intersect C
non-trivially in a point lowast then necessarily C0 sub LClowast
Now let C0 middot middot middot CN form a chain of non-double curves with C0 and CN both
intersecting double curves as in the remark Denote by lowasti = Ci cap Ci+1 Since
C1 sub LClowast necessarily C1 is transverse to LClowast1 otherwise C1 would deform in F (C1)
Inductively we see that Ci+1 sub LClowasti and is transverse to LClowasti+1 In particular CN
cannot touch a double curve This contradiction proves the fourth item
Let us add a remark about configurations featuring invariant curves inside sing(F )
Proposition VI12 Let C be an invariant curve with KF middot C = 0 such that
Z0 sube C for some component Z0 sube sing(F ) Then C = Z prime cup C where
Z prime is a connected invariant curve inside the foliation singularity with dual graph a
chain
C is the union of at most two pairwise disjoint KF -nil curves with anti-ample
normal bundle
If not empty C can only intersect Z prime at the two ends of its dual graph Moreover
perhaps after a flop the intersection of C with Z prime supports the foliation singularity
along C As such if C has two components Z prime cup C deforms in the general fiber
Proof The structure of Z prime is Proposition IVII3 while that of Co is Proposition
IVI6 Let C prime be a component of C intersecting Z0 in a point lowast If C prime and Z0 belong
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 49
to different components of X0 then by case ni (1)b the eigenvalue of partS along C prime
vanishes so supp(sing(F ) cap C prime) = lowast If C prime and Z0 belong to the same component
then we can flop C prime into a different component
Observe that the divisor D prime from op cit can be extended along C prime This implies
that C can only intersect Z prime at its ends Moreover if C touches both ends necessarily
D prime capX0 = C scheme-theoretically hence by the existence of Hilbert scheme IVI5
we conclude
Our new set-up is
Set-up VI13 Everything as in set-up IIVII4 and moreover for any connected
invariant curve C with KF middot C = 0 all of whose sub-curves are rigid we have
configurations computed in proposition VI9 VI10 and Lemma VI12
VII Configurations of non-rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
In this subsection we describe configurations of surfaces which are covered by KF -nil
curves The structure of each such surface is described by classification IIV1 IIV2
and Corollary IIVI17 Our first step is to simplify the situation by contracting
chains of ruled surfaces The next step is to try and exclude the possibility that
the singular fiber of p contains fibrations by elliptic or nodal rational curves with
at least one invariant fiber This can be achieved with good success indeed there
may be at most one such Riccati foliation which is anyway rather isolated from the
remaining KF -nil curves Finally we observe that the only class of surfaces we have
not mentioned is
Definition VII1 A irreducible component F of the singular fiber of p is called
small Kronecker if
bull (FFF ) is birational to a Kronecker vector field on P1 timesP1 and
bull The two rulings of this P1 timesP1 are cohomologous inside X
The name comes from the fact that contraction of a small Kronecker yields a node
in the ambient threefold which admits a small resolution In fact in many respects
these fiber components behave very much like rigid KF -nil curves
50 FEDERICO BUONERBA
We start by getting rid of some fiber components which are ruled by KF -nil gener-
ically smooth rational curves
Proposition VII2 Notation as in Set-up VI13 there exists a sequence of flops
and divisorial contractions c X 99KX + such that
bull X + is a smooth stack
bull let S+ sub X + be an irreducible invariant divisor that contains a positive-
dimensional family of invariant rational curves along which KF+ vanishes
Then S+ is either birationally ruled by nodal rational curves or it is a small
Kronecker
Proof We focus first on contracting components of the singular fiber of p Consider
the following algorithm If there is no birationally ruled component different from
the ones listed in the second item we are done otherwise pick one such F and let
C denote the general member of the ruling If the cohomology class [C] is inde-
composable F is minimal Otherwise [C] = [C1] + [C2] where Ci are rational and
intersect KF trivially After finitely many steps we have a decomposition as a finite
sum of indecomposables [C] =sumn
i=0 ni[Ci] where every Ci is rational intersects KF
trivially We have two cases
bull There exists k such that Ck deforms in a birationally ruled necessarily min-
imal surface Fk
bull Every Ci has anti-ample normal bundle
In the first case denote by X rarr X1 the contraction of Fk along |Ck| and relpace
X by X1 Since Fk is minimal smoothness of the ambient stack is preserved unless
Fk is a small Kronecker This is however impossible if n ge 2 if Fk were a small
Kronecker then Ck deforms away from Fkminus1 so then Fkminus1 middot Ck = 0 on the other
hand Fkminus1 intersects the other ruling of Fk positively
In the second case flop C1 middot middot middot Cn in this order The transform of F is minimal and
not a small Kronecker so it can be contracted along its ruling preserving ambient
smoothness By induction on the Picard rank of X after finitely many steps this
algorithm ends Call X the output of this algorithm
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 51
Let S subX be an invariant divisor with a generically smooth ruling Then pS S rarr∆ is flat and after flopping finitely many rational curves in S cap plowastS(0) the resulting
pS is smooth Hence we can contract S along pS After finitely many steps the
Proposition is proven
For ease of notation in the sequel we call X the output of the previous proposition
Notice that there might still be divisors carrying a pencil of nodal rational curves
both inside and outside the singular fiber of p
We can start analyzing configurations of fiber components where the restriction of
F is not of general type We need some notation whose reason to exist will be clear
shortly
Definition VII3 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
along which KF is not big F is called special Riccati if
bull F is minimal
bull There exists a morphism s F rarr B onto a curve whose fibers are nodal
rational curve
bull F is transverse to the general fiber of s in particular KF is numerically
trivial along s
bull At least one fiber of s is invariant
bull There exists a section σ of s which is invariant and does not coincide with
the nodal locus of F
In particular the intersections of σ with invariant fibers of s isolated singularities
of F the node of F all coincide There may be fibers of s fully contained in sing(F )
in which case they are everywhere transverse to the saturated foliation
The definition looks nasty but special Riccati components have a rather simple
origin as the following proof shows
Lemma VII4 Let F be special Riccati Up to base change by an etale double cover
Bprime rarr B there is a natural isomorphism F norm simminusrarr BprimetimesP1 and the restriction of F
to F norm is birational to the projection onto P1
52 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proof We work over the normalization F norm Denote by Bprime the pre-image of the
node of F which is an etale double cover of B and let f denote an invariant fiber
of s with lowast = σ cap f Observe that F norm carries a Riccati foliation with 3 invariant
curves through lowast - namely σ f and a component of Bprime Hence FF has a log-canonical
singularity in lowast On F norm perform a weighted blow-up in each log-canonical singu-
larity followed by the contraction of the transforms of the corresponding fibers Let
s+ F+ rarr B denote the output of this operation If the proper transform of Bprime is
connected replace F+ by its base change under Bprime rarr B Hence we can assume Bprime
is the disjoint union of two sections of s+ and the transform of σ is a third section
which is disjoint from Bprime Therefore F+ = P1 timesBprime and the foliation restricts to the
projection onto P1
Next we describe those surfaces which cannot appear as components of the sin-
gular fiber X0
Definition VII5 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
along which KF is not big F is called illusory if
bull there exists a morphism t F rarr B onto a curve
bull KF is trivial along t
bull For any other fiber component F prime the intersection F cap F prime is either empty or
contained in a fiber of t
We give examples of illusory fiber components
Lemma VII6 The following fiber components are necessarily illusory
bull t is elliptic the foliation is either parallel to t or turbolent with at least one
invariant fiber
bull t is a nodal ruling the foliation is either parallel to t or transverse to t with
at least one invariant fiber and not birational to a special Riccati VII3
Proof Let f = F cap F prime for some fiber component F prime It is F -invariant
Assume t and F are parallel and f is transverse to both Then necessarily f subesing(F ) and KF is positive along the fibers of t contradiction
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 53
Assume t and F are generically transverse and f is transverse to t Let e be an
invariant fiber of t then ecap f isin sing(F ) hence t must be a family of nodal rational
curves and ecapf coincides with the node of e - otherwise KF would be positive along
t But this implies F is special Riccati contradiction
We proceed to show that illusory fibers do not exist
Lemma VII7 Let F be an illusory fiber component then every fiber of t is irre-
ducible If F prime is any fiber component intersecting F non-trivially then F prime is illusory
Proof Assume t has a reducible fiber f Then we can write f = f prime cup f primeprime where f prime
is irreducible and f primeprime is a disjoint union of chains of rational curves In particular
every subscheme supported on f primeprime is rigid in X f prime is rational and smooth iff f is a
cycle of rational curves hence the foliation on F is parallel to t and the choice of f prime
is not unique otherwise f prime is nodal or elliptic Let X 99KX + denote the flop of the
irreducible components of f primeprime in any order The proper transform f prime+ (below in red)
is the irreducible fiber of the induced morphism t+ F+ rarr B Since f primeprime+ intersects
f prime+ and is not contained in F+ there exists a component F prime of the fiber of p+ such
that F+ cap f prime+ 6= empty Since F+ is illusory necessarily F+ cap F prime = f prime+ Moreover F+
and F prime are the only fiber components intersecting f prime+ again because F+ is illusory
We deduce that F+ middot f prime+ = F prime middot f prime+ = 0 and therefore f prime+ is nef inside F prime It follows
that he restriction of F+ to F prime is not of general type and by the classification of
foliated surfaces [McQ08] necessarily f prime+ deforms inside F prime and defines a fibration
u F prime rarr Bprime In particular f prime+ is an irreducible fiber of u This is however impossible
since u contracts all the components of f primeprime+ contained in F prime (below in blue) and by
definition of F prime there exists at least one such component This proves that every
fiber of t is irreducible The following depicts the situation
F prime F+
f prime+
f primeprime+
t+u
54 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Concerning the second statement we only need to check the third condition for F prime
to be illussory namely that every other fiber component F primeprime intersecting F prime does
so along the fibers of u If F primeprime intersects F prime transversely to u then F primeprime intersects F
non-trivially and transversely to t as well absurd
Corollary VII8 Illusory components do not exist
Proof By the above lemma the existence of one illusory component implies that
every irreducible component of the singular fiber of p is illusory contradicting that
KF is big
We can now focus on fiber components that do appear
Corollary VII9 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
containing an invariant curve C which moves and such that KF middot C = 0 Then
following the classification [McQ08] we have two cases
(1) The minimal model of F is a special Riccati component
(2) F is a small Kronecker
Proof Certainly the ones listed are the only cases where C is KF -nil We have to
exclude the possibility that C is invariant inside sing(F ) By Proposition IVII3
such C would be rational with at most one node Since we already contracted at
the beginning of the present subsection all ruled surfaces necessarily C is nodal
However by opcit C cannot intersect any other fiber component of X0 which
implies the absurdity that X0 = F
We proceed to show that special Riccati components are rather isolated in the
fiber
Lemma VII10 Let F be a special Riccati component If F prime is a fiber component
intersecting F non-trivially then it does so transversely to s Morover there is
exactly one such F prime
Proof After finitely many flops we can assume that every fiber of s is irreducible
By the non-existence of illusory components there exists a fiber component F lowast with
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 55
σprime = F cap F prime transverse to s If F primeprime is a fiber component with f = F cap F primeprime a fiber
of s then we claim f sube sing(F ) If not then since KF middot f = 0 and σprime is invariant
necessarily σprimecap f is the node of f But then the existence of F primeprime contradicts that p is
snc Hence f sube sing(F ) so then around the node of f there are 3 fiber components -
two branches coming from F one from F primeprime - and sing(F ) has 2 branches - namely f
This is impossible by our case analysis ni (1)c ni (2)c The very same reasoning
establishes the uniqueness of F prime
Lemma VII11 Let F be as in the previous Lemma If C is a connected curve
with KF middot C = 0 then it is disjoint from F
Proof After finitely many flops s is irreducible and C intersects F transversely away
from its node Moreover lowast = C cap F isin sing(F ) and we deduce that the fiber of s
through lowast is fully contained in the singular locus of F This contradicts Proposition
IVII3 since such fiber is nodal
We conclude by observing the obvious
Lemma VII12 Let F be a small Kronecker Then there exists a contraction
c X rarr X prime which is an isomorphism away from F and contracts F along one
of its rulings Necessarily X prime is not projective since every global Cartier divisor
intersects c(F ) trivially On the other hand in a formal neighborhood of c(F ) there
exist Cartier divisors intersecting it non-trivialliy
As such the contribution coming from non-rigid curves is rather poor there are
curves moving in the general fiber there are special Riccati components disjoint from
any other invariant curve intersecting KF trivially there are small Kroneckers who
can be contracted to curves We shall see in the next section that the complications
arising from the contraction of such non-rigid curves is purely psychological and
totally harmless
56 FEDERICO BUONERBA
VI Contractions and proof of the Main Theorem
In this section we contract all invariant curves along which KF is zero thereby
establishing the existence of canonical models I First we contract non-rigid curves
as described in the previous subsection
bull Small Kroneckers along either ruling Albeit this destroys projectivity of
the ambient threefold there still exist Cartier divisors defined in a formal
neighborhood of the base curve that intersect it non-trivially
bull Families of irreducible nodal rational curves which are flat over ∆ This
creates elliptic singularities on the general fiber of p which are disjoint from
other invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
bull Special Riccati again families of irreducible nodal rational curves fully con-
tained in X0 This creates elliptic singularities disjoint from other invariant
curves intersecting KF trivially
We can summarize our situation by way of
Set-up VI1 X is a 3-dimensional DM stack with at worst elliptic singularities
F a foliation by curves with canonical singularities which is not Q-Cartier in a
neighborhood of Xsing
There exists a proper morphism p X rarr ∆ smooth off 0 isin ∆ F restricts to a
foliation on every fiber of p it has canonical singularities on the very general fiber
of p and log-canonical singularities on every fiber of p KF is big and nef on every
irreducible component of every fiber of p
Let C be the invariant sub-scheme along which KF is not big then C is a curve
fully contained in the smooth locus X0capXsmooth every sub-curve of C has anti-ample
normal bundle the 1-simplex of its dual graph is a tree and detailed configurations
of such are referenced in set-up VI13
We proceed to contract such C We assume that along C the semi-simple field has
only rational eigenvalues and moreover no component of C is inside the foliation
singularity The other two cases - irrational eigenvalues and presence of singular
component - are strictly easier and can be obtained with the very same method
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 57
The proof takes place in the formal completion around C = C free cup C axes The
former is a disjoint union of trees of non-double curves For each non-double C let
F (C) denote the unique component of X0 containing it The latter is a tree of double
curves each with two triple points all contained in the same irreducible FC axes Each
tree of non-double curves touches C axes in one point through a LC-center In order
to construct the contraction we will use Artinrsquos celebrated criterion in the following
form
Fact VI1 ([Ar70]) Let X be an irreducible algebraic space i Y rarr X a closed
subspace of pure codimension 1 and f Y rarr Y0 a proper morphism with flowastOY = OY0
Let X denote the formal completion of X along Y and assume there exists a Cartier
divisor D in X which is supported on Y and is f -anti-ample Then there exists a
proper morphism of algebraic spaces F X rarr X0 which is an isomorphism away
from Y and such that ilowastF = f
Now we use the tree structure of C to construct a suitable divisor to which apply
Artinrsquos theorem Namely consider the following inductive defintion
(35) C0 = C axes F0 = FC axes
For k ge 0 assume Ck Fk are defined
bull Let Ck+1 denote the union of irreducible components of C that intersect Fk
non-trivially but are not contained in cupilekFibull Let Fk+1 denote the reduced sum (
sumCsubeCk+1
F (C))red
This process stops with a collection C1 middot middot middotCN of curves and F1 middot middot middot FN of reduced
divisors
Lemma VI1 We have the following identities
(36)
Fk middot C lt 0 for every C sube Ck
(F0 + F1) middot C le 0 for every C sube C0
(Fkminus1 + Fk + Fk+1) middot C = 0 for every C sube Ck 1 lt k lt N
(FNminus1 + FN) middot C lt 0 for every C sube CN
58 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proof The first is just the fact that every component of C is rigid The remaining
three follow from X0 middot C = 0 but the last one requires further justification Indeed
if C sube CN N gt 0 then C is one end of a tree of non-double curves In particular
there exists a foliation singularity lowast isin C disjoint from any other component of
C and LClowast is transverse to C This implies LClowast middotC gt 0 which together with
(FNminus1 + FN + LClowast) middot C = 0 concludes the proof
Let ε1 middot middot middot εN isin Qgt0 and define
(37) F Nminusk = (1 + ε1 + middot middot middot+ εk)FNminusk
bull If C sube CN we have
(38) (F Nminus1 + F
N) middot C = ε1FNminus1 middot C + (FNminus1 + FN) middot C
bull If C sube CNminusk 1 lt k lt N we have
(39)
(F Nminuskminus1 + F
Nminusk + F Nminusk+1) middot C =
(1 + middot middot middot+ εk)(FNminuskminus1 + FNminusk + FNminusk+1) middot C minus εkFNminusk+1 middot C + εk+1FNminuskminus1 middot C =
minus εkFNminusk+1 middot C + εk+1FNminuskminus1 middot C
bull If C sube C0 we have
(40) (F 0 + F
1) middot C = εNF0 middot C + (Nminus1sumj=0
εj)(F0 + F1) middot C
It is clear that provided
(41) 1 gtgt ε1 gtgt middot middot middot gtgt εN
the divisor F =sumF k is negative along every component of C
This proves the existence of the contraction and concludes the proof of the Main
Theorem I
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 59
VII Moduli space of foliated surfaces of general type
In this section we study the modular variation of foliated surfaces of general type
The upshot is that it is possible to define a functor which is representable separated
and every irreducible component is proper The main issue here is that the supporting
surface of a foliated canonical model may well fail to be projective indeed KF is not
Q-Gorenstein in general Hence in order to proceed via standard methods [Ko17]
we have to parametrize our canonical models together with a suitable projective
resolution
Definition VII13 Let (SF ) be a foliated proper reduced purely 2-dimensional
DM stack Assume S has only normal crossing singularities in codimension 1 that
F has log-canonical foliation singularities and that KF is big and nef on at least
one of the irreducible components of S If whenever KF middot C = 0 for some curve C
then C moves in an irreducible component of S and no member of such deformation
is F -invariant then (SF ) is called foliated canonical model of general type
Clearly foliated canonical models are exactly the stable degenerations appearing
as the central fiber of our Main Theorem I Their lack of projectivity has two sources
namely the contraction of cycles of smooth KF -nil curves and of trees of cuspidal
ones Singularities arising from cycles behave well in families namely they always
deform into the general fiber Those arising from cuspidal curves on the other hand
tend to be rather isolated inside the degenerate fiber
Observe that the deformation theory of a foliated surface is rather simple suppose
given an infinitesimal C-algebras extension 0 rarr J rarr Ae rarr A rarr 0 and (SF )
a foliated surface flat over Spec(A) then the obstruction to lifting to Ae can be
understood in three simple steps
(1) Deformation of the underlying surface S once a deformation Se rarr Spec(Ae)
is given
(2) Deformation of the line bundle KF by the exponential sequence
(42) 0rarr J otimes OS rarr OlowastSerarr OlowastS rarr 0
obstructions lie in H2(SOS)otimes J once a deformation of KF is given
60 FEDERICO BUONERBA
(3) Deformation of the defining section OS rarr KF otimes TS obstructions lie in
H1(SKF otimes TS)otimes J
Now we have
Definition VII14 Let (SF ) be a foliated canonical model of general type A
proper birational morphism q (SF )proj rarr (SF ) is called its projective resolution
if
bull Every irreducible component of Sproj is smooth
bull The exceptional locus of q is a disjoint union of cycles of KFproj-nil smooth
curves and trees of KFproj-nil curves each of which has a non-trivial cuspidal
singularity
bull In a neighborhood of every q-exceptional cycle not only Sproj but also its
moduli space is smooth
We need a few remarks about projective resolutions
(1) Projective resolutions are always unique Indeed the only possible ambiguity
could lie in some extra smooth irreducible components in the exceptional
locus This is forbidden by definition in the trees of cuspidal curves it is
also forbidden by way of the third item in cycles of smooth ones ie on
algebraic surfaces the minimal resolution is unique
(2) Denote by E the collection of q-exceptional cycles Then there exist ε δ isinQgt0 such that KFproj
minus εE + δKSprojis ample by Nakai-Moishezon
(3) Deformations of a projective resolution of a foliated canonical model are
canonically identified with deformations of the underlying birational mor-
phism q Sproj rarr S followed by a deformation of the foliation F
We are now ready to construct a moduli functor for foliated surfaces more precisely
for projective resolutions of foliated canonical models of general type For m dN isinN and ε δ isin Qgt0 let
(43) MmdNεδ (C-schemes)rarr (sets)
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 61
be defined by MmdNεδ(S) = Diagrams
(44) (X F )projqminusrarr (X F )
pminusrarr S
Where
bull Both p and p q are flat and proper
bull For every closed point s isin S the induced morphism qs is the projective
resolution of (X F )s which is a foliated canonical model of general type
bull Denote by Es the collection of exceptional cycles of qs By our Main Theorem
I there is a fibrewise divisor E subXproj flat over S restricting to Es for every
s isin S
bull Let j W rarr Xproj denote the maximal closed subscheme away from which
KFprojand KXprojS are locally free Then
(45) L [m] = (jlowast(KFprojotimes OXproj
(minusεE )otimesKδXprojS
)otimesm)oror
is flat over S and commutes with base-change
bull L [m] is very ample of degree d on every fiber and defines an embedding into
PNS
We are now ready for
Theorem VII15 The functor MmdNεδ is represented by a separated algebraic
space each of whose irreducible components is proper
Proof We show that our functor satisfies Artinrsquos conditions [Ar74 Corollary 54] By
definition condition 1) and 4) hold while our previous remark on foliated obstruction
theory shows that 3) is true
We proceed to show 2) namely effectivity of formal deformations for MmdNεδ
What follows owes much to Artinrsquos [A74rsquo] Let T be a complete C-algebra Tn its
n-truncation so that Tsimminusrarr limlarrminusTn and finally qn isinMmdNεδ(Spec(Tn)) a compatible
sequence For each n there is a maximal open set Un sube Xprojn where qn is an
isomorphism denote by sn Cn rarr Zn the restriction of qn to the complement of Un
Clearly sn is projective over Spec(Tn)
62 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Denote by X C etc the formal algebraic spaces obtained as limits of Xn Cn
etc Then Xproj sub PNˆSpec(T )
hence by Grothendieckrsquos existence Theorem we find
bull a flat projective family (X F )proj rarr Spec(T ) resp a closed subscheme
C subXproj whose completion is Xproj resp C
bull a scheme Z whose completion is Z and a morphism s C rarr Z everything
being projective over Spec(T )
Further we have a formal contraction limminusrarr qn C rarr Z hence the main theorem
of [Ar70] gives algebraic contraction (X F )proj rarr (X F ) This proves the repre-
sentability of MmdNεδ The properness and separability of each irreducible com-
ponent can be checked using valutative criteria indeed properness is the content of
our Main Theorem I separatedness follows from the uniqueness of foliated canonical
models of general type and their projective resolution
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~kollarbookmodbook20170720pdf
[LN02] A Lins Neto Some examples for the Poincare and Painleve problems Annales sci-
entifiques de lrsquoENS 352 (2002) 231-266 httparchivenumdamorgarticle
ASENS_2002_4_35_2_231_0pdf
[McQ12] M McQuillan Foliated Mori Theory amp Hyperbolicity of Algebraic Surfaces http
wwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillahomehtml
[McQ98] M McQuillan Diophantine approximation and foliations Inst Hautes Etudes Sci
Publ Math 87 (1998) 121-174 httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafiles
ihespdf
[McQ05rsquo] M McQuillan Bloch hyperbolicity preprint httpwwwmatuniroma2it
~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ05] M McQuillan Semi-stable reduction of foliations IHES pre-print IHESM0502
(2005) httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ05rdquo] M McQuillan Uniform Uniformisation IHES pre-print (2005) IHES M0503 http
wwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ08] M McQuillan Canonical models of foliations Pure Appl Math Q 4
(2008) no 3 Special Issue In honor of Fedor Bogomolov Part 2 877-1012
httpintlpresscomsitepubfiles_fulltextjournalspamq20080004
0003PAMQ-2008-0004-0003-a009pdf
[MP13] M McQuillan D Panazzolo Almost etale resolution of foliations J Diff Geom 95
(2013) pp 279-319 httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesmp1bispdf
[Pe02] JV Pereira On the Poincare Problem for Foliations of General Type Mathematische
Annalen 323 no 2 pp217-226 2002 httpsarxivorgabsmath0104185
[PS16] JV Pereira R Svaldi Effective algebraic integration in bounded genus preprint
httpsarxivorgabs161206932
64 FEDERICO BUONERBA
[Re83] M Reid Minimal models of canonical threefolds in rdquoAlgebraic Varieties and Ana-
lytic Varietiesrdquo Adv Stud Pure Math vol 1 S Iitaka ed Kinokuniya and North-
Holland 1983 pp 131-180 httpwwwmathsedacukcheltsovquotientpdf
reid2pdf
[Se67] A Seidenberg Reduction of singularities of the differential equation Ady = Bdx Amer
J Math 89 (1967) 248-269 httpwwwjstororgstable2373435
[SB83] N Shepherd-Barron Degenerations with numerically effective canonical divisor The
Birational Geometry of Degenerations (R Friedman and D Morrison eds) Progr
Math no 29 Birkhuser 1983 pp 33-84
[Vis89] A Vistoli Intersection theory on algebraic stacks and on their moduli spaces
Invent Math (1989) pp 613-670 httplinkspringercomarticle101007
2FBF01388892page-1
Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences New York University 251 Mercer
Street New York NY 10012 USA
E-mail address buonerbacimsnyuedu
- I Introduction
- II Preliminaries
-
- III Operations on Deligne-Mumford stacks
- IIII Width of embedded parabolic champs
- IIIII Gorenstein foliation singularities
- IIIV Foliated adjunction
- IIV Canonical models of foliated surfaces with canonical singularities
- IIVI Canonical models of foliated surfaces with log-canonical singularities
- IIVII Set-up
-
- III Invariant curves and singularities local description
-
- IIII `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F) not isolated
- IIIII `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F) isolated
- IIIIII Local consequences
-
- IV Invariant curves along which KF vanishes
-
- IVI KF-nil curves
- IVII Invariant curves inside `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F)
-
- V Configurations
-
- VI Configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
- VII Configurations of non-rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
-
- VI Contractions and proof of the Main Theorem
- VII Moduli space of foliated surfaces of general type
- References
-
42 FEDERICO BUONERBA
flat over ∆ we deduce Z prime middot Z0 = 0 and the previous formula becomes
(32) 2g(Z0)minus 2 + sZG(Z0) = 0
This implies that Z0 is rational or elliptic If Z0 were elliptic then sZG(Z0) = 0 and
D0 defines an invariant elliptic curve in the general fiber of p By Baum-Bott this
contradicts that KF is big and nef Now we show that Z0 is smooth If it has a node
then D0 moves it in a family of nodal rational curves flat over ∆ In particular D0
itself has a node in codimension 1 hence Xlowast is smooth around the node of Z0 In its
formal neighborhood the foliation must be as in case ni (1)a which implies that
Z0 is smooth contradiction
We can improve as follows
Proposition IVII4 Let Z prime sube sing F capXlowast be a connected invariant curve with
KF middot Z prime = 0 Then its dual graph is a chain
Proof Assume Z prime is a cycle Then necessarily Z prime = D prime capXlowast scheme-theoretically
and by the existence of Hilbert scheme Z prime moves in the general fiber Its general
member is either a cycle of smooth rational curves or an elliptic curve Arguing as
in the previous proof we see that both options are impossible
V Configurations
In this section we analyze in great detail all possible configurations of invariant
curves along which KF vanishes These can be divided into three groups those
that do not move those that move in a one-dimensional family covering a surface
those that move in a higher-dimensional family covering a surface Curves in the first
group can form rather complicated configurations while those in the second group
are more simple they either move in the general fiber or they cover an isolated
Riccati component in the singular fiber Those in the third group turn out to be
represented by the two rulings of P1timesP1 if they happen to be cohomologous in the
ambient stack First we will analyze rigid curves then those which move and finally
we will describe their configurations
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 43
VI Configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially In
this subsection we describe configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF
trivially which arise in the situation described by set-up IIVII4
First we focus on KF -nil curves At the end of the section we deal with the simpler
case in which a curve in the configuration is fully contained in sing(F ) The general
fiber was handled in Proposition IVI6
Proposition VI1 Let C be a connected KF -nil curve contained in the smooth
locus of a fiber of p Then it is a chain or a cycle and it moves in a family flat over
∆
In what follows we let C denote a connected KF -nil curve contained in the
singular fiber X0 all of whose sub-curves are rigid in X Observe a consequence of
equation 23
Proposition VI2 Let C = cupiCi be a connected KF -nil curve Then the eigen-
values of partS are all rational at every point of sing(F )capC if and only if they are all
rational at one point
We can deduce many non-trivial properties about configurations of KF -nil curves
First we need
Definition VI3 Let C subX0 be a curve It is called double if there exists formally
around C two components F F prime of X0 such that C = F cap F prime A point lowast isin C where
three fiber components intersect is called a triple point If C lies on exactly one fiber
component it is called non-double We denote by F (C) such component
Remark VI4 Let Csimminusrarr P1(d e) be double with two triple points Then we know
e+ λ+ micro = minusd+ (λ+ n) + (micro+m) = 0 whence we obtain
(33) n+m = d+ e
Which is called triple-point formula
Next we show that essentially KF -nil curves do not form cycles unless something
deforms in X0 First we show that there are no cycles of rigid non-double curves
44 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proposition VI5 Let C be a connected KF -nil curve contained in the singular
fiber X0 of p Assume that every component of C is non-double and that every
sub-curve is rigid Then C contains no cycles
Proof We work in a formal neighborhood of C which we assume is a cycle Let
us first consider the case in which all components C1 middot middot middot CN are smooth with no
orbifold points and denote lowasti = Ci cap Ci+1 with CN+1 = C1 Moreover let us
assume no lowasti lies in the smooth locus of p
Since no curve is double the semi-simple field at every lowasti is as in case i (3)b in
particular the eigenvalues along the branches of Ci and Ci+1 add up to zero More-
over let minusni denote the self-intersection of Ci sub F (Ci) Normalize the eigenvalues
of partS so that at lowastn they are 1 in the C1 direction minus1 in the CN direction λ in the
F (C1)capF (CN) direction It follows by induction that at lowasti the eigenvalues are minus1
in the Ci direction 1 in the Ci+1 direction λ+ n1 + middot middot middot+ ni in the F (Ci) cap F (Ci+1)
direction After traveling around the cycle we obtain n1+middot middot middot+nN = 0 contradicting
that ni gt 0 for every i
We established the Proposition assuming every Ci is an embedded scheme and ev-
ery lowasti is in the singular locus of p The case in which Cisimminusrarr P1(di ei) has orbifold
points is analogous we end up with a combination c1n1 + middot middot middot + cNnN = 0 with ci
the eigenvalue at lowasti in the Ci+1 direction Normalizing so that c1 = e1 gt 0 again by
induction on i we see that every ci isin Qgt0 Next we show that our assumption on lowastiis always satisfied
Claim VI6 Every lowasti must belong to the singular locus of p
Proof We give two essentially equivalent proofs
bull If N = 2 3 then the previous argument goes through indeed we can normal-
ize eigenvalues at lowasti to be negative in the Ciminus1 direction and positive in the
Ci-direction and argue as above Hence we can assume N ge 4 If say lowasti is in
the smooth locus of p then F (Ci) = F (Ci+1) If also F (Ciminus1) = F (Ci) then Ci
lies in the smooth locus of p and hence it moves Therefore F (Ciminus1) 6= F (Ci)
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 45
and Ciminus1 can be flopped inside F (Ci) Since N ge 4 this preserves the smooth-
ness of F (Ci) and Ci is now is the smooth locus of p - contradiction
bull If lowasti belongs to the smooth locus of p then the end through lowasti moves We
can form a partial net completion fi Xi rarrX by normalizing C in lowasti only
Then f lowasti C is a chain with movable ends and hence moves in the general fiber
of p fi
Finally the general case in which some among the Ci have cusps can be easily
reduced to the smooth case in a couple of ways
bull Eigenvalues at the singularities of any KF -nil curve satisfy the same relations
as in the smooth case
bull Upon taking roots and net completion we can find a foliated formal 3-fold
supported on a cycle of smooth KF -nil curves which is a ramified cover of a
formal neighborhood of our cycle
Similarly we can show that there are no rigid cycles of double curves
Proposition VI7 Let C be a nodal KF -nil curve which is double Then C
deforms inside X0 In particular there cannot exist a rigid cycle of KF -nil double
curves
Proof Following the previous notation we have 0 = infin and if C = (xy = z = 0)
around 0 then we have identities
(34) x = η y = ξ z = ζ
The last one of which implies m = 0 that is C deforms Since C is double necessarily
the surface it spans must be contained in X0
The statement about cycles follows since a cycle of double curves can be transformed
after finitely many flops into a chain of smooth double curves with a nodal one
attached at one end
46 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Later on we will show that the deformations of C cannot span an elliptic surface
but only a family of nodal rational curves with a special Riccati foliation on it
We are ready to organize a detailed description of the dual graph of C More pre-
cisely we only need to understand how double curves intersect non-double curves
Lemma VI8 There exists a sequence of flops X 99KX + such that if C + denotes
the transform of C every double curve supported on C + contains two triple points
Proof Let C sube C be an irreducible component with at most one triple point and
let X 99K X + be its flop Then its transform C+ is non-double and the number
of double curves contained in C descreases It is clear that after finitely many flops
all double curves contain exactly two triple points
From now on all double curves in C have two triple points Thanks to proposition
VI2 we know that there are two cases to consider those curves along which the
semi-simple field has not only rational eigenvalues and those along which the semi-
simple field has only rational eigenvalues The first case being strictly easier than
the second it is a good starting place to warm up
Proposition VI9 (irrational eigenvalues) Assume that for every foliation singu-
larity along C not all eigenvalues of partS are rational Then every component of C
is net with at most one node and 1-skeleton of its dual graph is at worst trivalent
Write C = C axes cup C free where
C axes is the union of double curves
C free is the union of non-double curves
Then one among C axes and C free is empty Moreover
bull If C free is non-empty then it is a chain of smooth curves with rational moduli
bull If C axes is non-empty there exists a sequence of flops X 99KX + and an ir-
reducible component of the fiber FC subX + such that X + is a smooth stack
the transform C+ of C is contained in FC Moreover the dual graph of C+
is a tree which by [McQ08 III32] becomes a chain inside the normalization
of FC
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 47
Proof The first sentence is just corollary IIIIII3
Observe that if a non-double curve intersects a double curve then the non-double
curve must be contained in an LC-center around such intersection This contradicts
that not all eigenvalues are rational and establishes that one among C axes and C free
is empty
In case C free is not empty then it is clearly a chain or a cycle the latter being
impossible by Proposition VI5
We are left to show the existence of flops in case C = C axes We remark that
every component is smooth Let C0 be such a component and S0 a component of
X0 containing it Let C1 be the collection of irreducible components of C which
intersect S0 but are not contained in it All the components of C1 are smooth hence
we can flop them in any order until the transform of C1 lies in the transform of S0
Since the number of irreducible components of C lying outside S0 decreases after
such flop by induction we deduce the existence of finitely many flops after which
the birational transform of C is fully contained in the transform of S0
Next we take care of rational eigenvalues The complication here arises from
the fact that there may be double and non-double curves intersecting each other
However the situation is best possible
Proposition VI10 (rational eigenvalues) Assume that for every foliation singu-
larity along C all eigenvalues of partS are rational Write C = C axes cup C free where
C axes is the union of double curves
C free is the union of non-double curves
Then there exists a sequence of flops X 99K X + and an irreducible component of
the fiber FC axes subX + such that
bull X + is a smooth stack
bull The union of double curves of C axes is contained in FC axes the 1-skeleton of
its dual graph is a tree and each of its components has two triple points
bull The 1-skeleton of the dual graph of the transform C free+ is a disjoint union of
trees
bull Each connected component of C free+ intersects C axes in exactly one point
48 FEDERICO BUONERBA
In particular the 1-skeleton of the dual graph of C is a tree
Proof Notice that for every point lowast isin C cap Z there exists one LC-center through lowastIndeed there are three rational eigenvalues and they cannot be all non-vanishing and
all with different signs at the same time Now C axes can be treated as in proposition
VI9 This proves the first two items of the statement The third item follows from
Proposition VI5 so we can focus on the fourth one The proof is based on the
following obvious
Remark VI11 let C be a double curve such that either it is KF -nil hence has
two triple points or it is fully contained in sing(F ) Let C0 sube C free intersect C
non-trivially in a point lowast then necessarily C0 sub LClowast
Now let C0 middot middot middot CN form a chain of non-double curves with C0 and CN both
intersecting double curves as in the remark Denote by lowasti = Ci cap Ci+1 Since
C1 sub LClowast necessarily C1 is transverse to LClowast1 otherwise C1 would deform in F (C1)
Inductively we see that Ci+1 sub LClowasti and is transverse to LClowasti+1 In particular CN
cannot touch a double curve This contradiction proves the fourth item
Let us add a remark about configurations featuring invariant curves inside sing(F )
Proposition VI12 Let C be an invariant curve with KF middot C = 0 such that
Z0 sube C for some component Z0 sube sing(F ) Then C = Z prime cup C where
Z prime is a connected invariant curve inside the foliation singularity with dual graph a
chain
C is the union of at most two pairwise disjoint KF -nil curves with anti-ample
normal bundle
If not empty C can only intersect Z prime at the two ends of its dual graph Moreover
perhaps after a flop the intersection of C with Z prime supports the foliation singularity
along C As such if C has two components Z prime cup C deforms in the general fiber
Proof The structure of Z prime is Proposition IVII3 while that of Co is Proposition
IVI6 Let C prime be a component of C intersecting Z0 in a point lowast If C prime and Z0 belong
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 49
to different components of X0 then by case ni (1)b the eigenvalue of partS along C prime
vanishes so supp(sing(F ) cap C prime) = lowast If C prime and Z0 belong to the same component
then we can flop C prime into a different component
Observe that the divisor D prime from op cit can be extended along C prime This implies
that C can only intersect Z prime at its ends Moreover if C touches both ends necessarily
D prime capX0 = C scheme-theoretically hence by the existence of Hilbert scheme IVI5
we conclude
Our new set-up is
Set-up VI13 Everything as in set-up IIVII4 and moreover for any connected
invariant curve C with KF middot C = 0 all of whose sub-curves are rigid we have
configurations computed in proposition VI9 VI10 and Lemma VI12
VII Configurations of non-rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
In this subsection we describe configurations of surfaces which are covered by KF -nil
curves The structure of each such surface is described by classification IIV1 IIV2
and Corollary IIVI17 Our first step is to simplify the situation by contracting
chains of ruled surfaces The next step is to try and exclude the possibility that
the singular fiber of p contains fibrations by elliptic or nodal rational curves with
at least one invariant fiber This can be achieved with good success indeed there
may be at most one such Riccati foliation which is anyway rather isolated from the
remaining KF -nil curves Finally we observe that the only class of surfaces we have
not mentioned is
Definition VII1 A irreducible component F of the singular fiber of p is called
small Kronecker if
bull (FFF ) is birational to a Kronecker vector field on P1 timesP1 and
bull The two rulings of this P1 timesP1 are cohomologous inside X
The name comes from the fact that contraction of a small Kronecker yields a node
in the ambient threefold which admits a small resolution In fact in many respects
these fiber components behave very much like rigid KF -nil curves
50 FEDERICO BUONERBA
We start by getting rid of some fiber components which are ruled by KF -nil gener-
ically smooth rational curves
Proposition VII2 Notation as in Set-up VI13 there exists a sequence of flops
and divisorial contractions c X 99KX + such that
bull X + is a smooth stack
bull let S+ sub X + be an irreducible invariant divisor that contains a positive-
dimensional family of invariant rational curves along which KF+ vanishes
Then S+ is either birationally ruled by nodal rational curves or it is a small
Kronecker
Proof We focus first on contracting components of the singular fiber of p Consider
the following algorithm If there is no birationally ruled component different from
the ones listed in the second item we are done otherwise pick one such F and let
C denote the general member of the ruling If the cohomology class [C] is inde-
composable F is minimal Otherwise [C] = [C1] + [C2] where Ci are rational and
intersect KF trivially After finitely many steps we have a decomposition as a finite
sum of indecomposables [C] =sumn
i=0 ni[Ci] where every Ci is rational intersects KF
trivially We have two cases
bull There exists k such that Ck deforms in a birationally ruled necessarily min-
imal surface Fk
bull Every Ci has anti-ample normal bundle
In the first case denote by X rarr X1 the contraction of Fk along |Ck| and relpace
X by X1 Since Fk is minimal smoothness of the ambient stack is preserved unless
Fk is a small Kronecker This is however impossible if n ge 2 if Fk were a small
Kronecker then Ck deforms away from Fkminus1 so then Fkminus1 middot Ck = 0 on the other
hand Fkminus1 intersects the other ruling of Fk positively
In the second case flop C1 middot middot middot Cn in this order The transform of F is minimal and
not a small Kronecker so it can be contracted along its ruling preserving ambient
smoothness By induction on the Picard rank of X after finitely many steps this
algorithm ends Call X the output of this algorithm
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 51
Let S subX be an invariant divisor with a generically smooth ruling Then pS S rarr∆ is flat and after flopping finitely many rational curves in S cap plowastS(0) the resulting
pS is smooth Hence we can contract S along pS After finitely many steps the
Proposition is proven
For ease of notation in the sequel we call X the output of the previous proposition
Notice that there might still be divisors carrying a pencil of nodal rational curves
both inside and outside the singular fiber of p
We can start analyzing configurations of fiber components where the restriction of
F is not of general type We need some notation whose reason to exist will be clear
shortly
Definition VII3 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
along which KF is not big F is called special Riccati if
bull F is minimal
bull There exists a morphism s F rarr B onto a curve whose fibers are nodal
rational curve
bull F is transverse to the general fiber of s in particular KF is numerically
trivial along s
bull At least one fiber of s is invariant
bull There exists a section σ of s which is invariant and does not coincide with
the nodal locus of F
In particular the intersections of σ with invariant fibers of s isolated singularities
of F the node of F all coincide There may be fibers of s fully contained in sing(F )
in which case they are everywhere transverse to the saturated foliation
The definition looks nasty but special Riccati components have a rather simple
origin as the following proof shows
Lemma VII4 Let F be special Riccati Up to base change by an etale double cover
Bprime rarr B there is a natural isomorphism F norm simminusrarr BprimetimesP1 and the restriction of F
to F norm is birational to the projection onto P1
52 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proof We work over the normalization F norm Denote by Bprime the pre-image of the
node of F which is an etale double cover of B and let f denote an invariant fiber
of s with lowast = σ cap f Observe that F norm carries a Riccati foliation with 3 invariant
curves through lowast - namely σ f and a component of Bprime Hence FF has a log-canonical
singularity in lowast On F norm perform a weighted blow-up in each log-canonical singu-
larity followed by the contraction of the transforms of the corresponding fibers Let
s+ F+ rarr B denote the output of this operation If the proper transform of Bprime is
connected replace F+ by its base change under Bprime rarr B Hence we can assume Bprime
is the disjoint union of two sections of s+ and the transform of σ is a third section
which is disjoint from Bprime Therefore F+ = P1 timesBprime and the foliation restricts to the
projection onto P1
Next we describe those surfaces which cannot appear as components of the sin-
gular fiber X0
Definition VII5 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
along which KF is not big F is called illusory if
bull there exists a morphism t F rarr B onto a curve
bull KF is trivial along t
bull For any other fiber component F prime the intersection F cap F prime is either empty or
contained in a fiber of t
We give examples of illusory fiber components
Lemma VII6 The following fiber components are necessarily illusory
bull t is elliptic the foliation is either parallel to t or turbolent with at least one
invariant fiber
bull t is a nodal ruling the foliation is either parallel to t or transverse to t with
at least one invariant fiber and not birational to a special Riccati VII3
Proof Let f = F cap F prime for some fiber component F prime It is F -invariant
Assume t and F are parallel and f is transverse to both Then necessarily f subesing(F ) and KF is positive along the fibers of t contradiction
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 53
Assume t and F are generically transverse and f is transverse to t Let e be an
invariant fiber of t then ecap f isin sing(F ) hence t must be a family of nodal rational
curves and ecapf coincides with the node of e - otherwise KF would be positive along
t But this implies F is special Riccati contradiction
We proceed to show that illusory fibers do not exist
Lemma VII7 Let F be an illusory fiber component then every fiber of t is irre-
ducible If F prime is any fiber component intersecting F non-trivially then F prime is illusory
Proof Assume t has a reducible fiber f Then we can write f = f prime cup f primeprime where f prime
is irreducible and f primeprime is a disjoint union of chains of rational curves In particular
every subscheme supported on f primeprime is rigid in X f prime is rational and smooth iff f is a
cycle of rational curves hence the foliation on F is parallel to t and the choice of f prime
is not unique otherwise f prime is nodal or elliptic Let X 99KX + denote the flop of the
irreducible components of f primeprime in any order The proper transform f prime+ (below in red)
is the irreducible fiber of the induced morphism t+ F+ rarr B Since f primeprime+ intersects
f prime+ and is not contained in F+ there exists a component F prime of the fiber of p+ such
that F+ cap f prime+ 6= empty Since F+ is illusory necessarily F+ cap F prime = f prime+ Moreover F+
and F prime are the only fiber components intersecting f prime+ again because F+ is illusory
We deduce that F+ middot f prime+ = F prime middot f prime+ = 0 and therefore f prime+ is nef inside F prime It follows
that he restriction of F+ to F prime is not of general type and by the classification of
foliated surfaces [McQ08] necessarily f prime+ deforms inside F prime and defines a fibration
u F prime rarr Bprime In particular f prime+ is an irreducible fiber of u This is however impossible
since u contracts all the components of f primeprime+ contained in F prime (below in blue) and by
definition of F prime there exists at least one such component This proves that every
fiber of t is irreducible The following depicts the situation
F prime F+
f prime+
f primeprime+
t+u
54 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Concerning the second statement we only need to check the third condition for F prime
to be illussory namely that every other fiber component F primeprime intersecting F prime does
so along the fibers of u If F primeprime intersects F prime transversely to u then F primeprime intersects F
non-trivially and transversely to t as well absurd
Corollary VII8 Illusory components do not exist
Proof By the above lemma the existence of one illusory component implies that
every irreducible component of the singular fiber of p is illusory contradicting that
KF is big
We can now focus on fiber components that do appear
Corollary VII9 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
containing an invariant curve C which moves and such that KF middot C = 0 Then
following the classification [McQ08] we have two cases
(1) The minimal model of F is a special Riccati component
(2) F is a small Kronecker
Proof Certainly the ones listed are the only cases where C is KF -nil We have to
exclude the possibility that C is invariant inside sing(F ) By Proposition IVII3
such C would be rational with at most one node Since we already contracted at
the beginning of the present subsection all ruled surfaces necessarily C is nodal
However by opcit C cannot intersect any other fiber component of X0 which
implies the absurdity that X0 = F
We proceed to show that special Riccati components are rather isolated in the
fiber
Lemma VII10 Let F be a special Riccati component If F prime is a fiber component
intersecting F non-trivially then it does so transversely to s Morover there is
exactly one such F prime
Proof After finitely many flops we can assume that every fiber of s is irreducible
By the non-existence of illusory components there exists a fiber component F lowast with
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 55
σprime = F cap F prime transverse to s If F primeprime is a fiber component with f = F cap F primeprime a fiber
of s then we claim f sube sing(F ) If not then since KF middot f = 0 and σprime is invariant
necessarily σprimecap f is the node of f But then the existence of F primeprime contradicts that p is
snc Hence f sube sing(F ) so then around the node of f there are 3 fiber components -
two branches coming from F one from F primeprime - and sing(F ) has 2 branches - namely f
This is impossible by our case analysis ni (1)c ni (2)c The very same reasoning
establishes the uniqueness of F prime
Lemma VII11 Let F be as in the previous Lemma If C is a connected curve
with KF middot C = 0 then it is disjoint from F
Proof After finitely many flops s is irreducible and C intersects F transversely away
from its node Moreover lowast = C cap F isin sing(F ) and we deduce that the fiber of s
through lowast is fully contained in the singular locus of F This contradicts Proposition
IVII3 since such fiber is nodal
We conclude by observing the obvious
Lemma VII12 Let F be a small Kronecker Then there exists a contraction
c X rarr X prime which is an isomorphism away from F and contracts F along one
of its rulings Necessarily X prime is not projective since every global Cartier divisor
intersects c(F ) trivially On the other hand in a formal neighborhood of c(F ) there
exist Cartier divisors intersecting it non-trivialliy
As such the contribution coming from non-rigid curves is rather poor there are
curves moving in the general fiber there are special Riccati components disjoint from
any other invariant curve intersecting KF trivially there are small Kroneckers who
can be contracted to curves We shall see in the next section that the complications
arising from the contraction of such non-rigid curves is purely psychological and
totally harmless
56 FEDERICO BUONERBA
VI Contractions and proof of the Main Theorem
In this section we contract all invariant curves along which KF is zero thereby
establishing the existence of canonical models I First we contract non-rigid curves
as described in the previous subsection
bull Small Kroneckers along either ruling Albeit this destroys projectivity of
the ambient threefold there still exist Cartier divisors defined in a formal
neighborhood of the base curve that intersect it non-trivially
bull Families of irreducible nodal rational curves which are flat over ∆ This
creates elliptic singularities on the general fiber of p which are disjoint from
other invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
bull Special Riccati again families of irreducible nodal rational curves fully con-
tained in X0 This creates elliptic singularities disjoint from other invariant
curves intersecting KF trivially
We can summarize our situation by way of
Set-up VI1 X is a 3-dimensional DM stack with at worst elliptic singularities
F a foliation by curves with canonical singularities which is not Q-Cartier in a
neighborhood of Xsing
There exists a proper morphism p X rarr ∆ smooth off 0 isin ∆ F restricts to a
foliation on every fiber of p it has canonical singularities on the very general fiber
of p and log-canonical singularities on every fiber of p KF is big and nef on every
irreducible component of every fiber of p
Let C be the invariant sub-scheme along which KF is not big then C is a curve
fully contained in the smooth locus X0capXsmooth every sub-curve of C has anti-ample
normal bundle the 1-simplex of its dual graph is a tree and detailed configurations
of such are referenced in set-up VI13
We proceed to contract such C We assume that along C the semi-simple field has
only rational eigenvalues and moreover no component of C is inside the foliation
singularity The other two cases - irrational eigenvalues and presence of singular
component - are strictly easier and can be obtained with the very same method
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 57
The proof takes place in the formal completion around C = C free cup C axes The
former is a disjoint union of trees of non-double curves For each non-double C let
F (C) denote the unique component of X0 containing it The latter is a tree of double
curves each with two triple points all contained in the same irreducible FC axes Each
tree of non-double curves touches C axes in one point through a LC-center In order
to construct the contraction we will use Artinrsquos celebrated criterion in the following
form
Fact VI1 ([Ar70]) Let X be an irreducible algebraic space i Y rarr X a closed
subspace of pure codimension 1 and f Y rarr Y0 a proper morphism with flowastOY = OY0
Let X denote the formal completion of X along Y and assume there exists a Cartier
divisor D in X which is supported on Y and is f -anti-ample Then there exists a
proper morphism of algebraic spaces F X rarr X0 which is an isomorphism away
from Y and such that ilowastF = f
Now we use the tree structure of C to construct a suitable divisor to which apply
Artinrsquos theorem Namely consider the following inductive defintion
(35) C0 = C axes F0 = FC axes
For k ge 0 assume Ck Fk are defined
bull Let Ck+1 denote the union of irreducible components of C that intersect Fk
non-trivially but are not contained in cupilekFibull Let Fk+1 denote the reduced sum (
sumCsubeCk+1
F (C))red
This process stops with a collection C1 middot middot middotCN of curves and F1 middot middot middot FN of reduced
divisors
Lemma VI1 We have the following identities
(36)
Fk middot C lt 0 for every C sube Ck
(F0 + F1) middot C le 0 for every C sube C0
(Fkminus1 + Fk + Fk+1) middot C = 0 for every C sube Ck 1 lt k lt N
(FNminus1 + FN) middot C lt 0 for every C sube CN
58 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proof The first is just the fact that every component of C is rigid The remaining
three follow from X0 middot C = 0 but the last one requires further justification Indeed
if C sube CN N gt 0 then C is one end of a tree of non-double curves In particular
there exists a foliation singularity lowast isin C disjoint from any other component of
C and LClowast is transverse to C This implies LClowast middotC gt 0 which together with
(FNminus1 + FN + LClowast) middot C = 0 concludes the proof
Let ε1 middot middot middot εN isin Qgt0 and define
(37) F Nminusk = (1 + ε1 + middot middot middot+ εk)FNminusk
bull If C sube CN we have
(38) (F Nminus1 + F
N) middot C = ε1FNminus1 middot C + (FNminus1 + FN) middot C
bull If C sube CNminusk 1 lt k lt N we have
(39)
(F Nminuskminus1 + F
Nminusk + F Nminusk+1) middot C =
(1 + middot middot middot+ εk)(FNminuskminus1 + FNminusk + FNminusk+1) middot C minus εkFNminusk+1 middot C + εk+1FNminuskminus1 middot C =
minus εkFNminusk+1 middot C + εk+1FNminuskminus1 middot C
bull If C sube C0 we have
(40) (F 0 + F
1) middot C = εNF0 middot C + (Nminus1sumj=0
εj)(F0 + F1) middot C
It is clear that provided
(41) 1 gtgt ε1 gtgt middot middot middot gtgt εN
the divisor F =sumF k is negative along every component of C
This proves the existence of the contraction and concludes the proof of the Main
Theorem I
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 59
VII Moduli space of foliated surfaces of general type
In this section we study the modular variation of foliated surfaces of general type
The upshot is that it is possible to define a functor which is representable separated
and every irreducible component is proper The main issue here is that the supporting
surface of a foliated canonical model may well fail to be projective indeed KF is not
Q-Gorenstein in general Hence in order to proceed via standard methods [Ko17]
we have to parametrize our canonical models together with a suitable projective
resolution
Definition VII13 Let (SF ) be a foliated proper reduced purely 2-dimensional
DM stack Assume S has only normal crossing singularities in codimension 1 that
F has log-canonical foliation singularities and that KF is big and nef on at least
one of the irreducible components of S If whenever KF middot C = 0 for some curve C
then C moves in an irreducible component of S and no member of such deformation
is F -invariant then (SF ) is called foliated canonical model of general type
Clearly foliated canonical models are exactly the stable degenerations appearing
as the central fiber of our Main Theorem I Their lack of projectivity has two sources
namely the contraction of cycles of smooth KF -nil curves and of trees of cuspidal
ones Singularities arising from cycles behave well in families namely they always
deform into the general fiber Those arising from cuspidal curves on the other hand
tend to be rather isolated inside the degenerate fiber
Observe that the deformation theory of a foliated surface is rather simple suppose
given an infinitesimal C-algebras extension 0 rarr J rarr Ae rarr A rarr 0 and (SF )
a foliated surface flat over Spec(A) then the obstruction to lifting to Ae can be
understood in three simple steps
(1) Deformation of the underlying surface S once a deformation Se rarr Spec(Ae)
is given
(2) Deformation of the line bundle KF by the exponential sequence
(42) 0rarr J otimes OS rarr OlowastSerarr OlowastS rarr 0
obstructions lie in H2(SOS)otimes J once a deformation of KF is given
60 FEDERICO BUONERBA
(3) Deformation of the defining section OS rarr KF otimes TS obstructions lie in
H1(SKF otimes TS)otimes J
Now we have
Definition VII14 Let (SF ) be a foliated canonical model of general type A
proper birational morphism q (SF )proj rarr (SF ) is called its projective resolution
if
bull Every irreducible component of Sproj is smooth
bull The exceptional locus of q is a disjoint union of cycles of KFproj-nil smooth
curves and trees of KFproj-nil curves each of which has a non-trivial cuspidal
singularity
bull In a neighborhood of every q-exceptional cycle not only Sproj but also its
moduli space is smooth
We need a few remarks about projective resolutions
(1) Projective resolutions are always unique Indeed the only possible ambiguity
could lie in some extra smooth irreducible components in the exceptional
locus This is forbidden by definition in the trees of cuspidal curves it is
also forbidden by way of the third item in cycles of smooth ones ie on
algebraic surfaces the minimal resolution is unique
(2) Denote by E the collection of q-exceptional cycles Then there exist ε δ isinQgt0 such that KFproj
minus εE + δKSprojis ample by Nakai-Moishezon
(3) Deformations of a projective resolution of a foliated canonical model are
canonically identified with deformations of the underlying birational mor-
phism q Sproj rarr S followed by a deformation of the foliation F
We are now ready to construct a moduli functor for foliated surfaces more precisely
for projective resolutions of foliated canonical models of general type For m dN isinN and ε δ isin Qgt0 let
(43) MmdNεδ (C-schemes)rarr (sets)
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 61
be defined by MmdNεδ(S) = Diagrams
(44) (X F )projqminusrarr (X F )
pminusrarr S
Where
bull Both p and p q are flat and proper
bull For every closed point s isin S the induced morphism qs is the projective
resolution of (X F )s which is a foliated canonical model of general type
bull Denote by Es the collection of exceptional cycles of qs By our Main Theorem
I there is a fibrewise divisor E subXproj flat over S restricting to Es for every
s isin S
bull Let j W rarr Xproj denote the maximal closed subscheme away from which
KFprojand KXprojS are locally free Then
(45) L [m] = (jlowast(KFprojotimes OXproj
(minusεE )otimesKδXprojS
)otimesm)oror
is flat over S and commutes with base-change
bull L [m] is very ample of degree d on every fiber and defines an embedding into
PNS
We are now ready for
Theorem VII15 The functor MmdNεδ is represented by a separated algebraic
space each of whose irreducible components is proper
Proof We show that our functor satisfies Artinrsquos conditions [Ar74 Corollary 54] By
definition condition 1) and 4) hold while our previous remark on foliated obstruction
theory shows that 3) is true
We proceed to show 2) namely effectivity of formal deformations for MmdNεδ
What follows owes much to Artinrsquos [A74rsquo] Let T be a complete C-algebra Tn its
n-truncation so that Tsimminusrarr limlarrminusTn and finally qn isinMmdNεδ(Spec(Tn)) a compatible
sequence For each n there is a maximal open set Un sube Xprojn where qn is an
isomorphism denote by sn Cn rarr Zn the restriction of qn to the complement of Un
Clearly sn is projective over Spec(Tn)
62 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Denote by X C etc the formal algebraic spaces obtained as limits of Xn Cn
etc Then Xproj sub PNˆSpec(T )
hence by Grothendieckrsquos existence Theorem we find
bull a flat projective family (X F )proj rarr Spec(T ) resp a closed subscheme
C subXproj whose completion is Xproj resp C
bull a scheme Z whose completion is Z and a morphism s C rarr Z everything
being projective over Spec(T )
Further we have a formal contraction limminusrarr qn C rarr Z hence the main theorem
of [Ar70] gives algebraic contraction (X F )proj rarr (X F ) This proves the repre-
sentability of MmdNεδ The properness and separability of each irreducible com-
ponent can be checked using valutative criteria indeed properness is the content of
our Main Theorem I separatedness follows from the uniqueness of foliated canonical
models of general type and their projective resolution
References
[Ar70] M Artin Algebraization of Formal Moduli II Existence of Modifications Ann
of Math Vol 91 No 1 (Jan 1970) pp 88-135 httpwwwjstororgstable
1970602
[Ar74] M Artin Versal Deformations and Algebraic Stacks Inventiones Math 27 165- 189
(1974) httpmathuchicagoedu~drinfeldArtin_on_stackspdf
[A74rsquo] M Artin Algebraic construction of Brieskornrsquos resolutions J Alg Vol 29 Issue
2 May 1974 pp 330-348 httpwwwsciencedirectcomsciencearticlepii
0021869374901021
[BB72] P Baum R Bott Singularities of holomorphic foliations J Diff Geom 7 (1972)
279-342 httpsprojecteuclidorgdownloadpdf_1euclidjdg1214431158
[Bo77] F Bogomolov Families of curves on a surface of general type Doklady Akademii Nauk
USSR (in Russian) 236 (5) 1041-1044
[Bo78] F Bogomolov Holomorphic tensors and vector bundles on projective varieties Math
USSR Izv 13 (1978) 499-555
[BM16] F Bogomolov M McQuillan Rational Curves on Foliated Varieties In Cascini
McKernan Pereira (eds) Foliation Theory in Algebraic Geometry Simons Symposia
Springer Cham pp 21-51 (2016) httpslinkspringercomchapter101007
978-3-319-24460-0_2
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 63
[Bu] F Buonerba Functorial resolution of tame quotient singularities in positive charac-
teristic httpsarxivorgabs151100550
[Ke99] S Keel Basepoint Freeness for Nef and Big Line Bundles in Positive Characteris-
tic Annals of Math 149 No 1 (Jan 1999) pp 253-286 httpwwwjstororg
stable121025 httpsarxivorgabsmath9901149
[KM97] S Keel S Mori Quotients by groupoids Annals of Math 145 (1997) pp
193-213 httpwwwjstororgstable2951828seq=1page_scan_tab_contents
httparxivorgabsalg-geom9508012
[Ko17] J Kollar Families of varieties of general type httpswebmathprincetonedu
~kollarbookmodbook20170720pdf
[LN02] A Lins Neto Some examples for the Poincare and Painleve problems Annales sci-
entifiques de lrsquoENS 352 (2002) 231-266 httparchivenumdamorgarticle
ASENS_2002_4_35_2_231_0pdf
[McQ12] M McQuillan Foliated Mori Theory amp Hyperbolicity of Algebraic Surfaces http
wwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillahomehtml
[McQ98] M McQuillan Diophantine approximation and foliations Inst Hautes Etudes Sci
Publ Math 87 (1998) 121-174 httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafiles
ihespdf
[McQ05rsquo] M McQuillan Bloch hyperbolicity preprint httpwwwmatuniroma2it
~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ05] M McQuillan Semi-stable reduction of foliations IHES pre-print IHESM0502
(2005) httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ05rdquo] M McQuillan Uniform Uniformisation IHES pre-print (2005) IHES M0503 http
wwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ08] M McQuillan Canonical models of foliations Pure Appl Math Q 4
(2008) no 3 Special Issue In honor of Fedor Bogomolov Part 2 877-1012
httpintlpresscomsitepubfiles_fulltextjournalspamq20080004
0003PAMQ-2008-0004-0003-a009pdf
[MP13] M McQuillan D Panazzolo Almost etale resolution of foliations J Diff Geom 95
(2013) pp 279-319 httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesmp1bispdf
[Pe02] JV Pereira On the Poincare Problem for Foliations of General Type Mathematische
Annalen 323 no 2 pp217-226 2002 httpsarxivorgabsmath0104185
[PS16] JV Pereira R Svaldi Effective algebraic integration in bounded genus preprint
httpsarxivorgabs161206932
64 FEDERICO BUONERBA
[Re83] M Reid Minimal models of canonical threefolds in rdquoAlgebraic Varieties and Ana-
lytic Varietiesrdquo Adv Stud Pure Math vol 1 S Iitaka ed Kinokuniya and North-
Holland 1983 pp 131-180 httpwwwmathsedacukcheltsovquotientpdf
reid2pdf
[Se67] A Seidenberg Reduction of singularities of the differential equation Ady = Bdx Amer
J Math 89 (1967) 248-269 httpwwwjstororgstable2373435
[SB83] N Shepherd-Barron Degenerations with numerically effective canonical divisor The
Birational Geometry of Degenerations (R Friedman and D Morrison eds) Progr
Math no 29 Birkhuser 1983 pp 33-84
[Vis89] A Vistoli Intersection theory on algebraic stacks and on their moduli spaces
Invent Math (1989) pp 613-670 httplinkspringercomarticle101007
2FBF01388892page-1
Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences New York University 251 Mercer
Street New York NY 10012 USA
E-mail address buonerbacimsnyuedu
- I Introduction
- II Preliminaries
-
- III Operations on Deligne-Mumford stacks
- IIII Width of embedded parabolic champs
- IIIII Gorenstein foliation singularities
- IIIV Foliated adjunction
- IIV Canonical models of foliated surfaces with canonical singularities
- IIVI Canonical models of foliated surfaces with log-canonical singularities
- IIVII Set-up
-
- III Invariant curves and singularities local description
-
- IIII `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F) not isolated
- IIIII `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F) isolated
- IIIIII Local consequences
-
- IV Invariant curves along which KF vanishes
-
- IVI KF-nil curves
- IVII Invariant curves inside `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F)
-
- V Configurations
-
- VI Configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
- VII Configurations of non-rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
-
- VI Contractions and proof of the Main Theorem
- VII Moduli space of foliated surfaces of general type
- References
-
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 43
VI Configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially In
this subsection we describe configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF
trivially which arise in the situation described by set-up IIVII4
First we focus on KF -nil curves At the end of the section we deal with the simpler
case in which a curve in the configuration is fully contained in sing(F ) The general
fiber was handled in Proposition IVI6
Proposition VI1 Let C be a connected KF -nil curve contained in the smooth
locus of a fiber of p Then it is a chain or a cycle and it moves in a family flat over
∆
In what follows we let C denote a connected KF -nil curve contained in the
singular fiber X0 all of whose sub-curves are rigid in X Observe a consequence of
equation 23
Proposition VI2 Let C = cupiCi be a connected KF -nil curve Then the eigen-
values of partS are all rational at every point of sing(F )capC if and only if they are all
rational at one point
We can deduce many non-trivial properties about configurations of KF -nil curves
First we need
Definition VI3 Let C subX0 be a curve It is called double if there exists formally
around C two components F F prime of X0 such that C = F cap F prime A point lowast isin C where
three fiber components intersect is called a triple point If C lies on exactly one fiber
component it is called non-double We denote by F (C) such component
Remark VI4 Let Csimminusrarr P1(d e) be double with two triple points Then we know
e+ λ+ micro = minusd+ (λ+ n) + (micro+m) = 0 whence we obtain
(33) n+m = d+ e
Which is called triple-point formula
Next we show that essentially KF -nil curves do not form cycles unless something
deforms in X0 First we show that there are no cycles of rigid non-double curves
44 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proposition VI5 Let C be a connected KF -nil curve contained in the singular
fiber X0 of p Assume that every component of C is non-double and that every
sub-curve is rigid Then C contains no cycles
Proof We work in a formal neighborhood of C which we assume is a cycle Let
us first consider the case in which all components C1 middot middot middot CN are smooth with no
orbifold points and denote lowasti = Ci cap Ci+1 with CN+1 = C1 Moreover let us
assume no lowasti lies in the smooth locus of p
Since no curve is double the semi-simple field at every lowasti is as in case i (3)b in
particular the eigenvalues along the branches of Ci and Ci+1 add up to zero More-
over let minusni denote the self-intersection of Ci sub F (Ci) Normalize the eigenvalues
of partS so that at lowastn they are 1 in the C1 direction minus1 in the CN direction λ in the
F (C1)capF (CN) direction It follows by induction that at lowasti the eigenvalues are minus1
in the Ci direction 1 in the Ci+1 direction λ+ n1 + middot middot middot+ ni in the F (Ci) cap F (Ci+1)
direction After traveling around the cycle we obtain n1+middot middot middot+nN = 0 contradicting
that ni gt 0 for every i
We established the Proposition assuming every Ci is an embedded scheme and ev-
ery lowasti is in the singular locus of p The case in which Cisimminusrarr P1(di ei) has orbifold
points is analogous we end up with a combination c1n1 + middot middot middot + cNnN = 0 with ci
the eigenvalue at lowasti in the Ci+1 direction Normalizing so that c1 = e1 gt 0 again by
induction on i we see that every ci isin Qgt0 Next we show that our assumption on lowastiis always satisfied
Claim VI6 Every lowasti must belong to the singular locus of p
Proof We give two essentially equivalent proofs
bull If N = 2 3 then the previous argument goes through indeed we can normal-
ize eigenvalues at lowasti to be negative in the Ciminus1 direction and positive in the
Ci-direction and argue as above Hence we can assume N ge 4 If say lowasti is in
the smooth locus of p then F (Ci) = F (Ci+1) If also F (Ciminus1) = F (Ci) then Ci
lies in the smooth locus of p and hence it moves Therefore F (Ciminus1) 6= F (Ci)
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 45
and Ciminus1 can be flopped inside F (Ci) Since N ge 4 this preserves the smooth-
ness of F (Ci) and Ci is now is the smooth locus of p - contradiction
bull If lowasti belongs to the smooth locus of p then the end through lowasti moves We
can form a partial net completion fi Xi rarrX by normalizing C in lowasti only
Then f lowasti C is a chain with movable ends and hence moves in the general fiber
of p fi
Finally the general case in which some among the Ci have cusps can be easily
reduced to the smooth case in a couple of ways
bull Eigenvalues at the singularities of any KF -nil curve satisfy the same relations
as in the smooth case
bull Upon taking roots and net completion we can find a foliated formal 3-fold
supported on a cycle of smooth KF -nil curves which is a ramified cover of a
formal neighborhood of our cycle
Similarly we can show that there are no rigid cycles of double curves
Proposition VI7 Let C be a nodal KF -nil curve which is double Then C
deforms inside X0 In particular there cannot exist a rigid cycle of KF -nil double
curves
Proof Following the previous notation we have 0 = infin and if C = (xy = z = 0)
around 0 then we have identities
(34) x = η y = ξ z = ζ
The last one of which implies m = 0 that is C deforms Since C is double necessarily
the surface it spans must be contained in X0
The statement about cycles follows since a cycle of double curves can be transformed
after finitely many flops into a chain of smooth double curves with a nodal one
attached at one end
46 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Later on we will show that the deformations of C cannot span an elliptic surface
but only a family of nodal rational curves with a special Riccati foliation on it
We are ready to organize a detailed description of the dual graph of C More pre-
cisely we only need to understand how double curves intersect non-double curves
Lemma VI8 There exists a sequence of flops X 99KX + such that if C + denotes
the transform of C every double curve supported on C + contains two triple points
Proof Let C sube C be an irreducible component with at most one triple point and
let X 99K X + be its flop Then its transform C+ is non-double and the number
of double curves contained in C descreases It is clear that after finitely many flops
all double curves contain exactly two triple points
From now on all double curves in C have two triple points Thanks to proposition
VI2 we know that there are two cases to consider those curves along which the
semi-simple field has not only rational eigenvalues and those along which the semi-
simple field has only rational eigenvalues The first case being strictly easier than
the second it is a good starting place to warm up
Proposition VI9 (irrational eigenvalues) Assume that for every foliation singu-
larity along C not all eigenvalues of partS are rational Then every component of C
is net with at most one node and 1-skeleton of its dual graph is at worst trivalent
Write C = C axes cup C free where
C axes is the union of double curves
C free is the union of non-double curves
Then one among C axes and C free is empty Moreover
bull If C free is non-empty then it is a chain of smooth curves with rational moduli
bull If C axes is non-empty there exists a sequence of flops X 99KX + and an ir-
reducible component of the fiber FC subX + such that X + is a smooth stack
the transform C+ of C is contained in FC Moreover the dual graph of C+
is a tree which by [McQ08 III32] becomes a chain inside the normalization
of FC
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 47
Proof The first sentence is just corollary IIIIII3
Observe that if a non-double curve intersects a double curve then the non-double
curve must be contained in an LC-center around such intersection This contradicts
that not all eigenvalues are rational and establishes that one among C axes and C free
is empty
In case C free is not empty then it is clearly a chain or a cycle the latter being
impossible by Proposition VI5
We are left to show the existence of flops in case C = C axes We remark that
every component is smooth Let C0 be such a component and S0 a component of
X0 containing it Let C1 be the collection of irreducible components of C which
intersect S0 but are not contained in it All the components of C1 are smooth hence
we can flop them in any order until the transform of C1 lies in the transform of S0
Since the number of irreducible components of C lying outside S0 decreases after
such flop by induction we deduce the existence of finitely many flops after which
the birational transform of C is fully contained in the transform of S0
Next we take care of rational eigenvalues The complication here arises from
the fact that there may be double and non-double curves intersecting each other
However the situation is best possible
Proposition VI10 (rational eigenvalues) Assume that for every foliation singu-
larity along C all eigenvalues of partS are rational Write C = C axes cup C free where
C axes is the union of double curves
C free is the union of non-double curves
Then there exists a sequence of flops X 99K X + and an irreducible component of
the fiber FC axes subX + such that
bull X + is a smooth stack
bull The union of double curves of C axes is contained in FC axes the 1-skeleton of
its dual graph is a tree and each of its components has two triple points
bull The 1-skeleton of the dual graph of the transform C free+ is a disjoint union of
trees
bull Each connected component of C free+ intersects C axes in exactly one point
48 FEDERICO BUONERBA
In particular the 1-skeleton of the dual graph of C is a tree
Proof Notice that for every point lowast isin C cap Z there exists one LC-center through lowastIndeed there are three rational eigenvalues and they cannot be all non-vanishing and
all with different signs at the same time Now C axes can be treated as in proposition
VI9 This proves the first two items of the statement The third item follows from
Proposition VI5 so we can focus on the fourth one The proof is based on the
following obvious
Remark VI11 let C be a double curve such that either it is KF -nil hence has
two triple points or it is fully contained in sing(F ) Let C0 sube C free intersect C
non-trivially in a point lowast then necessarily C0 sub LClowast
Now let C0 middot middot middot CN form a chain of non-double curves with C0 and CN both
intersecting double curves as in the remark Denote by lowasti = Ci cap Ci+1 Since
C1 sub LClowast necessarily C1 is transverse to LClowast1 otherwise C1 would deform in F (C1)
Inductively we see that Ci+1 sub LClowasti and is transverse to LClowasti+1 In particular CN
cannot touch a double curve This contradiction proves the fourth item
Let us add a remark about configurations featuring invariant curves inside sing(F )
Proposition VI12 Let C be an invariant curve with KF middot C = 0 such that
Z0 sube C for some component Z0 sube sing(F ) Then C = Z prime cup C where
Z prime is a connected invariant curve inside the foliation singularity with dual graph a
chain
C is the union of at most two pairwise disjoint KF -nil curves with anti-ample
normal bundle
If not empty C can only intersect Z prime at the two ends of its dual graph Moreover
perhaps after a flop the intersection of C with Z prime supports the foliation singularity
along C As such if C has two components Z prime cup C deforms in the general fiber
Proof The structure of Z prime is Proposition IVII3 while that of Co is Proposition
IVI6 Let C prime be a component of C intersecting Z0 in a point lowast If C prime and Z0 belong
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 49
to different components of X0 then by case ni (1)b the eigenvalue of partS along C prime
vanishes so supp(sing(F ) cap C prime) = lowast If C prime and Z0 belong to the same component
then we can flop C prime into a different component
Observe that the divisor D prime from op cit can be extended along C prime This implies
that C can only intersect Z prime at its ends Moreover if C touches both ends necessarily
D prime capX0 = C scheme-theoretically hence by the existence of Hilbert scheme IVI5
we conclude
Our new set-up is
Set-up VI13 Everything as in set-up IIVII4 and moreover for any connected
invariant curve C with KF middot C = 0 all of whose sub-curves are rigid we have
configurations computed in proposition VI9 VI10 and Lemma VI12
VII Configurations of non-rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
In this subsection we describe configurations of surfaces which are covered by KF -nil
curves The structure of each such surface is described by classification IIV1 IIV2
and Corollary IIVI17 Our first step is to simplify the situation by contracting
chains of ruled surfaces The next step is to try and exclude the possibility that
the singular fiber of p contains fibrations by elliptic or nodal rational curves with
at least one invariant fiber This can be achieved with good success indeed there
may be at most one such Riccati foliation which is anyway rather isolated from the
remaining KF -nil curves Finally we observe that the only class of surfaces we have
not mentioned is
Definition VII1 A irreducible component F of the singular fiber of p is called
small Kronecker if
bull (FFF ) is birational to a Kronecker vector field on P1 timesP1 and
bull The two rulings of this P1 timesP1 are cohomologous inside X
The name comes from the fact that contraction of a small Kronecker yields a node
in the ambient threefold which admits a small resolution In fact in many respects
these fiber components behave very much like rigid KF -nil curves
50 FEDERICO BUONERBA
We start by getting rid of some fiber components which are ruled by KF -nil gener-
ically smooth rational curves
Proposition VII2 Notation as in Set-up VI13 there exists a sequence of flops
and divisorial contractions c X 99KX + such that
bull X + is a smooth stack
bull let S+ sub X + be an irreducible invariant divisor that contains a positive-
dimensional family of invariant rational curves along which KF+ vanishes
Then S+ is either birationally ruled by nodal rational curves or it is a small
Kronecker
Proof We focus first on contracting components of the singular fiber of p Consider
the following algorithm If there is no birationally ruled component different from
the ones listed in the second item we are done otherwise pick one such F and let
C denote the general member of the ruling If the cohomology class [C] is inde-
composable F is minimal Otherwise [C] = [C1] + [C2] where Ci are rational and
intersect KF trivially After finitely many steps we have a decomposition as a finite
sum of indecomposables [C] =sumn
i=0 ni[Ci] where every Ci is rational intersects KF
trivially We have two cases
bull There exists k such that Ck deforms in a birationally ruled necessarily min-
imal surface Fk
bull Every Ci has anti-ample normal bundle
In the first case denote by X rarr X1 the contraction of Fk along |Ck| and relpace
X by X1 Since Fk is minimal smoothness of the ambient stack is preserved unless
Fk is a small Kronecker This is however impossible if n ge 2 if Fk were a small
Kronecker then Ck deforms away from Fkminus1 so then Fkminus1 middot Ck = 0 on the other
hand Fkminus1 intersects the other ruling of Fk positively
In the second case flop C1 middot middot middot Cn in this order The transform of F is minimal and
not a small Kronecker so it can be contracted along its ruling preserving ambient
smoothness By induction on the Picard rank of X after finitely many steps this
algorithm ends Call X the output of this algorithm
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 51
Let S subX be an invariant divisor with a generically smooth ruling Then pS S rarr∆ is flat and after flopping finitely many rational curves in S cap plowastS(0) the resulting
pS is smooth Hence we can contract S along pS After finitely many steps the
Proposition is proven
For ease of notation in the sequel we call X the output of the previous proposition
Notice that there might still be divisors carrying a pencil of nodal rational curves
both inside and outside the singular fiber of p
We can start analyzing configurations of fiber components where the restriction of
F is not of general type We need some notation whose reason to exist will be clear
shortly
Definition VII3 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
along which KF is not big F is called special Riccati if
bull F is minimal
bull There exists a morphism s F rarr B onto a curve whose fibers are nodal
rational curve
bull F is transverse to the general fiber of s in particular KF is numerically
trivial along s
bull At least one fiber of s is invariant
bull There exists a section σ of s which is invariant and does not coincide with
the nodal locus of F
In particular the intersections of σ with invariant fibers of s isolated singularities
of F the node of F all coincide There may be fibers of s fully contained in sing(F )
in which case they are everywhere transverse to the saturated foliation
The definition looks nasty but special Riccati components have a rather simple
origin as the following proof shows
Lemma VII4 Let F be special Riccati Up to base change by an etale double cover
Bprime rarr B there is a natural isomorphism F norm simminusrarr BprimetimesP1 and the restriction of F
to F norm is birational to the projection onto P1
52 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proof We work over the normalization F norm Denote by Bprime the pre-image of the
node of F which is an etale double cover of B and let f denote an invariant fiber
of s with lowast = σ cap f Observe that F norm carries a Riccati foliation with 3 invariant
curves through lowast - namely σ f and a component of Bprime Hence FF has a log-canonical
singularity in lowast On F norm perform a weighted blow-up in each log-canonical singu-
larity followed by the contraction of the transforms of the corresponding fibers Let
s+ F+ rarr B denote the output of this operation If the proper transform of Bprime is
connected replace F+ by its base change under Bprime rarr B Hence we can assume Bprime
is the disjoint union of two sections of s+ and the transform of σ is a third section
which is disjoint from Bprime Therefore F+ = P1 timesBprime and the foliation restricts to the
projection onto P1
Next we describe those surfaces which cannot appear as components of the sin-
gular fiber X0
Definition VII5 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
along which KF is not big F is called illusory if
bull there exists a morphism t F rarr B onto a curve
bull KF is trivial along t
bull For any other fiber component F prime the intersection F cap F prime is either empty or
contained in a fiber of t
We give examples of illusory fiber components
Lemma VII6 The following fiber components are necessarily illusory
bull t is elliptic the foliation is either parallel to t or turbolent with at least one
invariant fiber
bull t is a nodal ruling the foliation is either parallel to t or transverse to t with
at least one invariant fiber and not birational to a special Riccati VII3
Proof Let f = F cap F prime for some fiber component F prime It is F -invariant
Assume t and F are parallel and f is transverse to both Then necessarily f subesing(F ) and KF is positive along the fibers of t contradiction
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 53
Assume t and F are generically transverse and f is transverse to t Let e be an
invariant fiber of t then ecap f isin sing(F ) hence t must be a family of nodal rational
curves and ecapf coincides with the node of e - otherwise KF would be positive along
t But this implies F is special Riccati contradiction
We proceed to show that illusory fibers do not exist
Lemma VII7 Let F be an illusory fiber component then every fiber of t is irre-
ducible If F prime is any fiber component intersecting F non-trivially then F prime is illusory
Proof Assume t has a reducible fiber f Then we can write f = f prime cup f primeprime where f prime
is irreducible and f primeprime is a disjoint union of chains of rational curves In particular
every subscheme supported on f primeprime is rigid in X f prime is rational and smooth iff f is a
cycle of rational curves hence the foliation on F is parallel to t and the choice of f prime
is not unique otherwise f prime is nodal or elliptic Let X 99KX + denote the flop of the
irreducible components of f primeprime in any order The proper transform f prime+ (below in red)
is the irreducible fiber of the induced morphism t+ F+ rarr B Since f primeprime+ intersects
f prime+ and is not contained in F+ there exists a component F prime of the fiber of p+ such
that F+ cap f prime+ 6= empty Since F+ is illusory necessarily F+ cap F prime = f prime+ Moreover F+
and F prime are the only fiber components intersecting f prime+ again because F+ is illusory
We deduce that F+ middot f prime+ = F prime middot f prime+ = 0 and therefore f prime+ is nef inside F prime It follows
that he restriction of F+ to F prime is not of general type and by the classification of
foliated surfaces [McQ08] necessarily f prime+ deforms inside F prime and defines a fibration
u F prime rarr Bprime In particular f prime+ is an irreducible fiber of u This is however impossible
since u contracts all the components of f primeprime+ contained in F prime (below in blue) and by
definition of F prime there exists at least one such component This proves that every
fiber of t is irreducible The following depicts the situation
F prime F+
f prime+
f primeprime+
t+u
54 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Concerning the second statement we only need to check the third condition for F prime
to be illussory namely that every other fiber component F primeprime intersecting F prime does
so along the fibers of u If F primeprime intersects F prime transversely to u then F primeprime intersects F
non-trivially and transversely to t as well absurd
Corollary VII8 Illusory components do not exist
Proof By the above lemma the existence of one illusory component implies that
every irreducible component of the singular fiber of p is illusory contradicting that
KF is big
We can now focus on fiber components that do appear
Corollary VII9 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
containing an invariant curve C which moves and such that KF middot C = 0 Then
following the classification [McQ08] we have two cases
(1) The minimal model of F is a special Riccati component
(2) F is a small Kronecker
Proof Certainly the ones listed are the only cases where C is KF -nil We have to
exclude the possibility that C is invariant inside sing(F ) By Proposition IVII3
such C would be rational with at most one node Since we already contracted at
the beginning of the present subsection all ruled surfaces necessarily C is nodal
However by opcit C cannot intersect any other fiber component of X0 which
implies the absurdity that X0 = F
We proceed to show that special Riccati components are rather isolated in the
fiber
Lemma VII10 Let F be a special Riccati component If F prime is a fiber component
intersecting F non-trivially then it does so transversely to s Morover there is
exactly one such F prime
Proof After finitely many flops we can assume that every fiber of s is irreducible
By the non-existence of illusory components there exists a fiber component F lowast with
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 55
σprime = F cap F prime transverse to s If F primeprime is a fiber component with f = F cap F primeprime a fiber
of s then we claim f sube sing(F ) If not then since KF middot f = 0 and σprime is invariant
necessarily σprimecap f is the node of f But then the existence of F primeprime contradicts that p is
snc Hence f sube sing(F ) so then around the node of f there are 3 fiber components -
two branches coming from F one from F primeprime - and sing(F ) has 2 branches - namely f
This is impossible by our case analysis ni (1)c ni (2)c The very same reasoning
establishes the uniqueness of F prime
Lemma VII11 Let F be as in the previous Lemma If C is a connected curve
with KF middot C = 0 then it is disjoint from F
Proof After finitely many flops s is irreducible and C intersects F transversely away
from its node Moreover lowast = C cap F isin sing(F ) and we deduce that the fiber of s
through lowast is fully contained in the singular locus of F This contradicts Proposition
IVII3 since such fiber is nodal
We conclude by observing the obvious
Lemma VII12 Let F be a small Kronecker Then there exists a contraction
c X rarr X prime which is an isomorphism away from F and contracts F along one
of its rulings Necessarily X prime is not projective since every global Cartier divisor
intersects c(F ) trivially On the other hand in a formal neighborhood of c(F ) there
exist Cartier divisors intersecting it non-trivialliy
As such the contribution coming from non-rigid curves is rather poor there are
curves moving in the general fiber there are special Riccati components disjoint from
any other invariant curve intersecting KF trivially there are small Kroneckers who
can be contracted to curves We shall see in the next section that the complications
arising from the contraction of such non-rigid curves is purely psychological and
totally harmless
56 FEDERICO BUONERBA
VI Contractions and proof of the Main Theorem
In this section we contract all invariant curves along which KF is zero thereby
establishing the existence of canonical models I First we contract non-rigid curves
as described in the previous subsection
bull Small Kroneckers along either ruling Albeit this destroys projectivity of
the ambient threefold there still exist Cartier divisors defined in a formal
neighborhood of the base curve that intersect it non-trivially
bull Families of irreducible nodal rational curves which are flat over ∆ This
creates elliptic singularities on the general fiber of p which are disjoint from
other invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
bull Special Riccati again families of irreducible nodal rational curves fully con-
tained in X0 This creates elliptic singularities disjoint from other invariant
curves intersecting KF trivially
We can summarize our situation by way of
Set-up VI1 X is a 3-dimensional DM stack with at worst elliptic singularities
F a foliation by curves with canonical singularities which is not Q-Cartier in a
neighborhood of Xsing
There exists a proper morphism p X rarr ∆ smooth off 0 isin ∆ F restricts to a
foliation on every fiber of p it has canonical singularities on the very general fiber
of p and log-canonical singularities on every fiber of p KF is big and nef on every
irreducible component of every fiber of p
Let C be the invariant sub-scheme along which KF is not big then C is a curve
fully contained in the smooth locus X0capXsmooth every sub-curve of C has anti-ample
normal bundle the 1-simplex of its dual graph is a tree and detailed configurations
of such are referenced in set-up VI13
We proceed to contract such C We assume that along C the semi-simple field has
only rational eigenvalues and moreover no component of C is inside the foliation
singularity The other two cases - irrational eigenvalues and presence of singular
component - are strictly easier and can be obtained with the very same method
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 57
The proof takes place in the formal completion around C = C free cup C axes The
former is a disjoint union of trees of non-double curves For each non-double C let
F (C) denote the unique component of X0 containing it The latter is a tree of double
curves each with two triple points all contained in the same irreducible FC axes Each
tree of non-double curves touches C axes in one point through a LC-center In order
to construct the contraction we will use Artinrsquos celebrated criterion in the following
form
Fact VI1 ([Ar70]) Let X be an irreducible algebraic space i Y rarr X a closed
subspace of pure codimension 1 and f Y rarr Y0 a proper morphism with flowastOY = OY0
Let X denote the formal completion of X along Y and assume there exists a Cartier
divisor D in X which is supported on Y and is f -anti-ample Then there exists a
proper morphism of algebraic spaces F X rarr X0 which is an isomorphism away
from Y and such that ilowastF = f
Now we use the tree structure of C to construct a suitable divisor to which apply
Artinrsquos theorem Namely consider the following inductive defintion
(35) C0 = C axes F0 = FC axes
For k ge 0 assume Ck Fk are defined
bull Let Ck+1 denote the union of irreducible components of C that intersect Fk
non-trivially but are not contained in cupilekFibull Let Fk+1 denote the reduced sum (
sumCsubeCk+1
F (C))red
This process stops with a collection C1 middot middot middotCN of curves and F1 middot middot middot FN of reduced
divisors
Lemma VI1 We have the following identities
(36)
Fk middot C lt 0 for every C sube Ck
(F0 + F1) middot C le 0 for every C sube C0
(Fkminus1 + Fk + Fk+1) middot C = 0 for every C sube Ck 1 lt k lt N
(FNminus1 + FN) middot C lt 0 for every C sube CN
58 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proof The first is just the fact that every component of C is rigid The remaining
three follow from X0 middot C = 0 but the last one requires further justification Indeed
if C sube CN N gt 0 then C is one end of a tree of non-double curves In particular
there exists a foliation singularity lowast isin C disjoint from any other component of
C and LClowast is transverse to C This implies LClowast middotC gt 0 which together with
(FNminus1 + FN + LClowast) middot C = 0 concludes the proof
Let ε1 middot middot middot εN isin Qgt0 and define
(37) F Nminusk = (1 + ε1 + middot middot middot+ εk)FNminusk
bull If C sube CN we have
(38) (F Nminus1 + F
N) middot C = ε1FNminus1 middot C + (FNminus1 + FN) middot C
bull If C sube CNminusk 1 lt k lt N we have
(39)
(F Nminuskminus1 + F
Nminusk + F Nminusk+1) middot C =
(1 + middot middot middot+ εk)(FNminuskminus1 + FNminusk + FNminusk+1) middot C minus εkFNminusk+1 middot C + εk+1FNminuskminus1 middot C =
minus εkFNminusk+1 middot C + εk+1FNminuskminus1 middot C
bull If C sube C0 we have
(40) (F 0 + F
1) middot C = εNF0 middot C + (Nminus1sumj=0
εj)(F0 + F1) middot C
It is clear that provided
(41) 1 gtgt ε1 gtgt middot middot middot gtgt εN
the divisor F =sumF k is negative along every component of C
This proves the existence of the contraction and concludes the proof of the Main
Theorem I
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 59
VII Moduli space of foliated surfaces of general type
In this section we study the modular variation of foliated surfaces of general type
The upshot is that it is possible to define a functor which is representable separated
and every irreducible component is proper The main issue here is that the supporting
surface of a foliated canonical model may well fail to be projective indeed KF is not
Q-Gorenstein in general Hence in order to proceed via standard methods [Ko17]
we have to parametrize our canonical models together with a suitable projective
resolution
Definition VII13 Let (SF ) be a foliated proper reduced purely 2-dimensional
DM stack Assume S has only normal crossing singularities in codimension 1 that
F has log-canonical foliation singularities and that KF is big and nef on at least
one of the irreducible components of S If whenever KF middot C = 0 for some curve C
then C moves in an irreducible component of S and no member of such deformation
is F -invariant then (SF ) is called foliated canonical model of general type
Clearly foliated canonical models are exactly the stable degenerations appearing
as the central fiber of our Main Theorem I Their lack of projectivity has two sources
namely the contraction of cycles of smooth KF -nil curves and of trees of cuspidal
ones Singularities arising from cycles behave well in families namely they always
deform into the general fiber Those arising from cuspidal curves on the other hand
tend to be rather isolated inside the degenerate fiber
Observe that the deformation theory of a foliated surface is rather simple suppose
given an infinitesimal C-algebras extension 0 rarr J rarr Ae rarr A rarr 0 and (SF )
a foliated surface flat over Spec(A) then the obstruction to lifting to Ae can be
understood in three simple steps
(1) Deformation of the underlying surface S once a deformation Se rarr Spec(Ae)
is given
(2) Deformation of the line bundle KF by the exponential sequence
(42) 0rarr J otimes OS rarr OlowastSerarr OlowastS rarr 0
obstructions lie in H2(SOS)otimes J once a deformation of KF is given
60 FEDERICO BUONERBA
(3) Deformation of the defining section OS rarr KF otimes TS obstructions lie in
H1(SKF otimes TS)otimes J
Now we have
Definition VII14 Let (SF ) be a foliated canonical model of general type A
proper birational morphism q (SF )proj rarr (SF ) is called its projective resolution
if
bull Every irreducible component of Sproj is smooth
bull The exceptional locus of q is a disjoint union of cycles of KFproj-nil smooth
curves and trees of KFproj-nil curves each of which has a non-trivial cuspidal
singularity
bull In a neighborhood of every q-exceptional cycle not only Sproj but also its
moduli space is smooth
We need a few remarks about projective resolutions
(1) Projective resolutions are always unique Indeed the only possible ambiguity
could lie in some extra smooth irreducible components in the exceptional
locus This is forbidden by definition in the trees of cuspidal curves it is
also forbidden by way of the third item in cycles of smooth ones ie on
algebraic surfaces the minimal resolution is unique
(2) Denote by E the collection of q-exceptional cycles Then there exist ε δ isinQgt0 such that KFproj
minus εE + δKSprojis ample by Nakai-Moishezon
(3) Deformations of a projective resolution of a foliated canonical model are
canonically identified with deformations of the underlying birational mor-
phism q Sproj rarr S followed by a deformation of the foliation F
We are now ready to construct a moduli functor for foliated surfaces more precisely
for projective resolutions of foliated canonical models of general type For m dN isinN and ε δ isin Qgt0 let
(43) MmdNεδ (C-schemes)rarr (sets)
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 61
be defined by MmdNεδ(S) = Diagrams
(44) (X F )projqminusrarr (X F )
pminusrarr S
Where
bull Both p and p q are flat and proper
bull For every closed point s isin S the induced morphism qs is the projective
resolution of (X F )s which is a foliated canonical model of general type
bull Denote by Es the collection of exceptional cycles of qs By our Main Theorem
I there is a fibrewise divisor E subXproj flat over S restricting to Es for every
s isin S
bull Let j W rarr Xproj denote the maximal closed subscheme away from which
KFprojand KXprojS are locally free Then
(45) L [m] = (jlowast(KFprojotimes OXproj
(minusεE )otimesKδXprojS
)otimesm)oror
is flat over S and commutes with base-change
bull L [m] is very ample of degree d on every fiber and defines an embedding into
PNS
We are now ready for
Theorem VII15 The functor MmdNεδ is represented by a separated algebraic
space each of whose irreducible components is proper
Proof We show that our functor satisfies Artinrsquos conditions [Ar74 Corollary 54] By
definition condition 1) and 4) hold while our previous remark on foliated obstruction
theory shows that 3) is true
We proceed to show 2) namely effectivity of formal deformations for MmdNεδ
What follows owes much to Artinrsquos [A74rsquo] Let T be a complete C-algebra Tn its
n-truncation so that Tsimminusrarr limlarrminusTn and finally qn isinMmdNεδ(Spec(Tn)) a compatible
sequence For each n there is a maximal open set Un sube Xprojn where qn is an
isomorphism denote by sn Cn rarr Zn the restriction of qn to the complement of Un
Clearly sn is projective over Spec(Tn)
62 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Denote by X C etc the formal algebraic spaces obtained as limits of Xn Cn
etc Then Xproj sub PNˆSpec(T )
hence by Grothendieckrsquos existence Theorem we find
bull a flat projective family (X F )proj rarr Spec(T ) resp a closed subscheme
C subXproj whose completion is Xproj resp C
bull a scheme Z whose completion is Z and a morphism s C rarr Z everything
being projective over Spec(T )
Further we have a formal contraction limminusrarr qn C rarr Z hence the main theorem
of [Ar70] gives algebraic contraction (X F )proj rarr (X F ) This proves the repre-
sentability of MmdNεδ The properness and separability of each irreducible com-
ponent can be checked using valutative criteria indeed properness is the content of
our Main Theorem I separatedness follows from the uniqueness of foliated canonical
models of general type and their projective resolution
References
[Ar70] M Artin Algebraization of Formal Moduli II Existence of Modifications Ann
of Math Vol 91 No 1 (Jan 1970) pp 88-135 httpwwwjstororgstable
1970602
[Ar74] M Artin Versal Deformations and Algebraic Stacks Inventiones Math 27 165- 189
(1974) httpmathuchicagoedu~drinfeldArtin_on_stackspdf
[A74rsquo] M Artin Algebraic construction of Brieskornrsquos resolutions J Alg Vol 29 Issue
2 May 1974 pp 330-348 httpwwwsciencedirectcomsciencearticlepii
0021869374901021
[BB72] P Baum R Bott Singularities of holomorphic foliations J Diff Geom 7 (1972)
279-342 httpsprojecteuclidorgdownloadpdf_1euclidjdg1214431158
[Bo77] F Bogomolov Families of curves on a surface of general type Doklady Akademii Nauk
USSR (in Russian) 236 (5) 1041-1044
[Bo78] F Bogomolov Holomorphic tensors and vector bundles on projective varieties Math
USSR Izv 13 (1978) 499-555
[BM16] F Bogomolov M McQuillan Rational Curves on Foliated Varieties In Cascini
McKernan Pereira (eds) Foliation Theory in Algebraic Geometry Simons Symposia
Springer Cham pp 21-51 (2016) httpslinkspringercomchapter101007
978-3-319-24460-0_2
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 63
[Bu] F Buonerba Functorial resolution of tame quotient singularities in positive charac-
teristic httpsarxivorgabs151100550
[Ke99] S Keel Basepoint Freeness for Nef and Big Line Bundles in Positive Characteris-
tic Annals of Math 149 No 1 (Jan 1999) pp 253-286 httpwwwjstororg
stable121025 httpsarxivorgabsmath9901149
[KM97] S Keel S Mori Quotients by groupoids Annals of Math 145 (1997) pp
193-213 httpwwwjstororgstable2951828seq=1page_scan_tab_contents
httparxivorgabsalg-geom9508012
[Ko17] J Kollar Families of varieties of general type httpswebmathprincetonedu
~kollarbookmodbook20170720pdf
[LN02] A Lins Neto Some examples for the Poincare and Painleve problems Annales sci-
entifiques de lrsquoENS 352 (2002) 231-266 httparchivenumdamorgarticle
ASENS_2002_4_35_2_231_0pdf
[McQ12] M McQuillan Foliated Mori Theory amp Hyperbolicity of Algebraic Surfaces http
wwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillahomehtml
[McQ98] M McQuillan Diophantine approximation and foliations Inst Hautes Etudes Sci
Publ Math 87 (1998) 121-174 httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafiles
ihespdf
[McQ05rsquo] M McQuillan Bloch hyperbolicity preprint httpwwwmatuniroma2it
~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ05] M McQuillan Semi-stable reduction of foliations IHES pre-print IHESM0502
(2005) httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ05rdquo] M McQuillan Uniform Uniformisation IHES pre-print (2005) IHES M0503 http
wwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ08] M McQuillan Canonical models of foliations Pure Appl Math Q 4
(2008) no 3 Special Issue In honor of Fedor Bogomolov Part 2 877-1012
httpintlpresscomsitepubfiles_fulltextjournalspamq20080004
0003PAMQ-2008-0004-0003-a009pdf
[MP13] M McQuillan D Panazzolo Almost etale resolution of foliations J Diff Geom 95
(2013) pp 279-319 httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesmp1bispdf
[Pe02] JV Pereira On the Poincare Problem for Foliations of General Type Mathematische
Annalen 323 no 2 pp217-226 2002 httpsarxivorgabsmath0104185
[PS16] JV Pereira R Svaldi Effective algebraic integration in bounded genus preprint
httpsarxivorgabs161206932
64 FEDERICO BUONERBA
[Re83] M Reid Minimal models of canonical threefolds in rdquoAlgebraic Varieties and Ana-
lytic Varietiesrdquo Adv Stud Pure Math vol 1 S Iitaka ed Kinokuniya and North-
Holland 1983 pp 131-180 httpwwwmathsedacukcheltsovquotientpdf
reid2pdf
[Se67] A Seidenberg Reduction of singularities of the differential equation Ady = Bdx Amer
J Math 89 (1967) 248-269 httpwwwjstororgstable2373435
[SB83] N Shepherd-Barron Degenerations with numerically effective canonical divisor The
Birational Geometry of Degenerations (R Friedman and D Morrison eds) Progr
Math no 29 Birkhuser 1983 pp 33-84
[Vis89] A Vistoli Intersection theory on algebraic stacks and on their moduli spaces
Invent Math (1989) pp 613-670 httplinkspringercomarticle101007
2FBF01388892page-1
Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences New York University 251 Mercer
Street New York NY 10012 USA
E-mail address buonerbacimsnyuedu
- I Introduction
- II Preliminaries
-
- III Operations on Deligne-Mumford stacks
- IIII Width of embedded parabolic champs
- IIIII Gorenstein foliation singularities
- IIIV Foliated adjunction
- IIV Canonical models of foliated surfaces with canonical singularities
- IIVI Canonical models of foliated surfaces with log-canonical singularities
- IIVII Set-up
-
- III Invariant curves and singularities local description
-
- IIII `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F) not isolated
- IIIII `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F) isolated
- IIIIII Local consequences
-
- IV Invariant curves along which KF vanishes
-
- IVI KF-nil curves
- IVII Invariant curves inside `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F)
-
- V Configurations
-
- VI Configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
- VII Configurations of non-rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
-
- VI Contractions and proof of the Main Theorem
- VII Moduli space of foliated surfaces of general type
- References
-
44 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proposition VI5 Let C be a connected KF -nil curve contained in the singular
fiber X0 of p Assume that every component of C is non-double and that every
sub-curve is rigid Then C contains no cycles
Proof We work in a formal neighborhood of C which we assume is a cycle Let
us first consider the case in which all components C1 middot middot middot CN are smooth with no
orbifold points and denote lowasti = Ci cap Ci+1 with CN+1 = C1 Moreover let us
assume no lowasti lies in the smooth locus of p
Since no curve is double the semi-simple field at every lowasti is as in case i (3)b in
particular the eigenvalues along the branches of Ci and Ci+1 add up to zero More-
over let minusni denote the self-intersection of Ci sub F (Ci) Normalize the eigenvalues
of partS so that at lowastn they are 1 in the C1 direction minus1 in the CN direction λ in the
F (C1)capF (CN) direction It follows by induction that at lowasti the eigenvalues are minus1
in the Ci direction 1 in the Ci+1 direction λ+ n1 + middot middot middot+ ni in the F (Ci) cap F (Ci+1)
direction After traveling around the cycle we obtain n1+middot middot middot+nN = 0 contradicting
that ni gt 0 for every i
We established the Proposition assuming every Ci is an embedded scheme and ev-
ery lowasti is in the singular locus of p The case in which Cisimminusrarr P1(di ei) has orbifold
points is analogous we end up with a combination c1n1 + middot middot middot + cNnN = 0 with ci
the eigenvalue at lowasti in the Ci+1 direction Normalizing so that c1 = e1 gt 0 again by
induction on i we see that every ci isin Qgt0 Next we show that our assumption on lowastiis always satisfied
Claim VI6 Every lowasti must belong to the singular locus of p
Proof We give two essentially equivalent proofs
bull If N = 2 3 then the previous argument goes through indeed we can normal-
ize eigenvalues at lowasti to be negative in the Ciminus1 direction and positive in the
Ci-direction and argue as above Hence we can assume N ge 4 If say lowasti is in
the smooth locus of p then F (Ci) = F (Ci+1) If also F (Ciminus1) = F (Ci) then Ci
lies in the smooth locus of p and hence it moves Therefore F (Ciminus1) 6= F (Ci)
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 45
and Ciminus1 can be flopped inside F (Ci) Since N ge 4 this preserves the smooth-
ness of F (Ci) and Ci is now is the smooth locus of p - contradiction
bull If lowasti belongs to the smooth locus of p then the end through lowasti moves We
can form a partial net completion fi Xi rarrX by normalizing C in lowasti only
Then f lowasti C is a chain with movable ends and hence moves in the general fiber
of p fi
Finally the general case in which some among the Ci have cusps can be easily
reduced to the smooth case in a couple of ways
bull Eigenvalues at the singularities of any KF -nil curve satisfy the same relations
as in the smooth case
bull Upon taking roots and net completion we can find a foliated formal 3-fold
supported on a cycle of smooth KF -nil curves which is a ramified cover of a
formal neighborhood of our cycle
Similarly we can show that there are no rigid cycles of double curves
Proposition VI7 Let C be a nodal KF -nil curve which is double Then C
deforms inside X0 In particular there cannot exist a rigid cycle of KF -nil double
curves
Proof Following the previous notation we have 0 = infin and if C = (xy = z = 0)
around 0 then we have identities
(34) x = η y = ξ z = ζ
The last one of which implies m = 0 that is C deforms Since C is double necessarily
the surface it spans must be contained in X0
The statement about cycles follows since a cycle of double curves can be transformed
after finitely many flops into a chain of smooth double curves with a nodal one
attached at one end
46 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Later on we will show that the deformations of C cannot span an elliptic surface
but only a family of nodal rational curves with a special Riccati foliation on it
We are ready to organize a detailed description of the dual graph of C More pre-
cisely we only need to understand how double curves intersect non-double curves
Lemma VI8 There exists a sequence of flops X 99KX + such that if C + denotes
the transform of C every double curve supported on C + contains two triple points
Proof Let C sube C be an irreducible component with at most one triple point and
let X 99K X + be its flop Then its transform C+ is non-double and the number
of double curves contained in C descreases It is clear that after finitely many flops
all double curves contain exactly two triple points
From now on all double curves in C have two triple points Thanks to proposition
VI2 we know that there are two cases to consider those curves along which the
semi-simple field has not only rational eigenvalues and those along which the semi-
simple field has only rational eigenvalues The first case being strictly easier than
the second it is a good starting place to warm up
Proposition VI9 (irrational eigenvalues) Assume that for every foliation singu-
larity along C not all eigenvalues of partS are rational Then every component of C
is net with at most one node and 1-skeleton of its dual graph is at worst trivalent
Write C = C axes cup C free where
C axes is the union of double curves
C free is the union of non-double curves
Then one among C axes and C free is empty Moreover
bull If C free is non-empty then it is a chain of smooth curves with rational moduli
bull If C axes is non-empty there exists a sequence of flops X 99KX + and an ir-
reducible component of the fiber FC subX + such that X + is a smooth stack
the transform C+ of C is contained in FC Moreover the dual graph of C+
is a tree which by [McQ08 III32] becomes a chain inside the normalization
of FC
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 47
Proof The first sentence is just corollary IIIIII3
Observe that if a non-double curve intersects a double curve then the non-double
curve must be contained in an LC-center around such intersection This contradicts
that not all eigenvalues are rational and establishes that one among C axes and C free
is empty
In case C free is not empty then it is clearly a chain or a cycle the latter being
impossible by Proposition VI5
We are left to show the existence of flops in case C = C axes We remark that
every component is smooth Let C0 be such a component and S0 a component of
X0 containing it Let C1 be the collection of irreducible components of C which
intersect S0 but are not contained in it All the components of C1 are smooth hence
we can flop them in any order until the transform of C1 lies in the transform of S0
Since the number of irreducible components of C lying outside S0 decreases after
such flop by induction we deduce the existence of finitely many flops after which
the birational transform of C is fully contained in the transform of S0
Next we take care of rational eigenvalues The complication here arises from
the fact that there may be double and non-double curves intersecting each other
However the situation is best possible
Proposition VI10 (rational eigenvalues) Assume that for every foliation singu-
larity along C all eigenvalues of partS are rational Write C = C axes cup C free where
C axes is the union of double curves
C free is the union of non-double curves
Then there exists a sequence of flops X 99K X + and an irreducible component of
the fiber FC axes subX + such that
bull X + is a smooth stack
bull The union of double curves of C axes is contained in FC axes the 1-skeleton of
its dual graph is a tree and each of its components has two triple points
bull The 1-skeleton of the dual graph of the transform C free+ is a disjoint union of
trees
bull Each connected component of C free+ intersects C axes in exactly one point
48 FEDERICO BUONERBA
In particular the 1-skeleton of the dual graph of C is a tree
Proof Notice that for every point lowast isin C cap Z there exists one LC-center through lowastIndeed there are three rational eigenvalues and they cannot be all non-vanishing and
all with different signs at the same time Now C axes can be treated as in proposition
VI9 This proves the first two items of the statement The third item follows from
Proposition VI5 so we can focus on the fourth one The proof is based on the
following obvious
Remark VI11 let C be a double curve such that either it is KF -nil hence has
two triple points or it is fully contained in sing(F ) Let C0 sube C free intersect C
non-trivially in a point lowast then necessarily C0 sub LClowast
Now let C0 middot middot middot CN form a chain of non-double curves with C0 and CN both
intersecting double curves as in the remark Denote by lowasti = Ci cap Ci+1 Since
C1 sub LClowast necessarily C1 is transverse to LClowast1 otherwise C1 would deform in F (C1)
Inductively we see that Ci+1 sub LClowasti and is transverse to LClowasti+1 In particular CN
cannot touch a double curve This contradiction proves the fourth item
Let us add a remark about configurations featuring invariant curves inside sing(F )
Proposition VI12 Let C be an invariant curve with KF middot C = 0 such that
Z0 sube C for some component Z0 sube sing(F ) Then C = Z prime cup C where
Z prime is a connected invariant curve inside the foliation singularity with dual graph a
chain
C is the union of at most two pairwise disjoint KF -nil curves with anti-ample
normal bundle
If not empty C can only intersect Z prime at the two ends of its dual graph Moreover
perhaps after a flop the intersection of C with Z prime supports the foliation singularity
along C As such if C has two components Z prime cup C deforms in the general fiber
Proof The structure of Z prime is Proposition IVII3 while that of Co is Proposition
IVI6 Let C prime be a component of C intersecting Z0 in a point lowast If C prime and Z0 belong
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 49
to different components of X0 then by case ni (1)b the eigenvalue of partS along C prime
vanishes so supp(sing(F ) cap C prime) = lowast If C prime and Z0 belong to the same component
then we can flop C prime into a different component
Observe that the divisor D prime from op cit can be extended along C prime This implies
that C can only intersect Z prime at its ends Moreover if C touches both ends necessarily
D prime capX0 = C scheme-theoretically hence by the existence of Hilbert scheme IVI5
we conclude
Our new set-up is
Set-up VI13 Everything as in set-up IIVII4 and moreover for any connected
invariant curve C with KF middot C = 0 all of whose sub-curves are rigid we have
configurations computed in proposition VI9 VI10 and Lemma VI12
VII Configurations of non-rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
In this subsection we describe configurations of surfaces which are covered by KF -nil
curves The structure of each such surface is described by classification IIV1 IIV2
and Corollary IIVI17 Our first step is to simplify the situation by contracting
chains of ruled surfaces The next step is to try and exclude the possibility that
the singular fiber of p contains fibrations by elliptic or nodal rational curves with
at least one invariant fiber This can be achieved with good success indeed there
may be at most one such Riccati foliation which is anyway rather isolated from the
remaining KF -nil curves Finally we observe that the only class of surfaces we have
not mentioned is
Definition VII1 A irreducible component F of the singular fiber of p is called
small Kronecker if
bull (FFF ) is birational to a Kronecker vector field on P1 timesP1 and
bull The two rulings of this P1 timesP1 are cohomologous inside X
The name comes from the fact that contraction of a small Kronecker yields a node
in the ambient threefold which admits a small resolution In fact in many respects
these fiber components behave very much like rigid KF -nil curves
50 FEDERICO BUONERBA
We start by getting rid of some fiber components which are ruled by KF -nil gener-
ically smooth rational curves
Proposition VII2 Notation as in Set-up VI13 there exists a sequence of flops
and divisorial contractions c X 99KX + such that
bull X + is a smooth stack
bull let S+ sub X + be an irreducible invariant divisor that contains a positive-
dimensional family of invariant rational curves along which KF+ vanishes
Then S+ is either birationally ruled by nodal rational curves or it is a small
Kronecker
Proof We focus first on contracting components of the singular fiber of p Consider
the following algorithm If there is no birationally ruled component different from
the ones listed in the second item we are done otherwise pick one such F and let
C denote the general member of the ruling If the cohomology class [C] is inde-
composable F is minimal Otherwise [C] = [C1] + [C2] where Ci are rational and
intersect KF trivially After finitely many steps we have a decomposition as a finite
sum of indecomposables [C] =sumn
i=0 ni[Ci] where every Ci is rational intersects KF
trivially We have two cases
bull There exists k such that Ck deforms in a birationally ruled necessarily min-
imal surface Fk
bull Every Ci has anti-ample normal bundle
In the first case denote by X rarr X1 the contraction of Fk along |Ck| and relpace
X by X1 Since Fk is minimal smoothness of the ambient stack is preserved unless
Fk is a small Kronecker This is however impossible if n ge 2 if Fk were a small
Kronecker then Ck deforms away from Fkminus1 so then Fkminus1 middot Ck = 0 on the other
hand Fkminus1 intersects the other ruling of Fk positively
In the second case flop C1 middot middot middot Cn in this order The transform of F is minimal and
not a small Kronecker so it can be contracted along its ruling preserving ambient
smoothness By induction on the Picard rank of X after finitely many steps this
algorithm ends Call X the output of this algorithm
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 51
Let S subX be an invariant divisor with a generically smooth ruling Then pS S rarr∆ is flat and after flopping finitely many rational curves in S cap plowastS(0) the resulting
pS is smooth Hence we can contract S along pS After finitely many steps the
Proposition is proven
For ease of notation in the sequel we call X the output of the previous proposition
Notice that there might still be divisors carrying a pencil of nodal rational curves
both inside and outside the singular fiber of p
We can start analyzing configurations of fiber components where the restriction of
F is not of general type We need some notation whose reason to exist will be clear
shortly
Definition VII3 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
along which KF is not big F is called special Riccati if
bull F is minimal
bull There exists a morphism s F rarr B onto a curve whose fibers are nodal
rational curve
bull F is transverse to the general fiber of s in particular KF is numerically
trivial along s
bull At least one fiber of s is invariant
bull There exists a section σ of s which is invariant and does not coincide with
the nodal locus of F
In particular the intersections of σ with invariant fibers of s isolated singularities
of F the node of F all coincide There may be fibers of s fully contained in sing(F )
in which case they are everywhere transverse to the saturated foliation
The definition looks nasty but special Riccati components have a rather simple
origin as the following proof shows
Lemma VII4 Let F be special Riccati Up to base change by an etale double cover
Bprime rarr B there is a natural isomorphism F norm simminusrarr BprimetimesP1 and the restriction of F
to F norm is birational to the projection onto P1
52 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proof We work over the normalization F norm Denote by Bprime the pre-image of the
node of F which is an etale double cover of B and let f denote an invariant fiber
of s with lowast = σ cap f Observe that F norm carries a Riccati foliation with 3 invariant
curves through lowast - namely σ f and a component of Bprime Hence FF has a log-canonical
singularity in lowast On F norm perform a weighted blow-up in each log-canonical singu-
larity followed by the contraction of the transforms of the corresponding fibers Let
s+ F+ rarr B denote the output of this operation If the proper transform of Bprime is
connected replace F+ by its base change under Bprime rarr B Hence we can assume Bprime
is the disjoint union of two sections of s+ and the transform of σ is a third section
which is disjoint from Bprime Therefore F+ = P1 timesBprime and the foliation restricts to the
projection onto P1
Next we describe those surfaces which cannot appear as components of the sin-
gular fiber X0
Definition VII5 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
along which KF is not big F is called illusory if
bull there exists a morphism t F rarr B onto a curve
bull KF is trivial along t
bull For any other fiber component F prime the intersection F cap F prime is either empty or
contained in a fiber of t
We give examples of illusory fiber components
Lemma VII6 The following fiber components are necessarily illusory
bull t is elliptic the foliation is either parallel to t or turbolent with at least one
invariant fiber
bull t is a nodal ruling the foliation is either parallel to t or transverse to t with
at least one invariant fiber and not birational to a special Riccati VII3
Proof Let f = F cap F prime for some fiber component F prime It is F -invariant
Assume t and F are parallel and f is transverse to both Then necessarily f subesing(F ) and KF is positive along the fibers of t contradiction
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 53
Assume t and F are generically transverse and f is transverse to t Let e be an
invariant fiber of t then ecap f isin sing(F ) hence t must be a family of nodal rational
curves and ecapf coincides with the node of e - otherwise KF would be positive along
t But this implies F is special Riccati contradiction
We proceed to show that illusory fibers do not exist
Lemma VII7 Let F be an illusory fiber component then every fiber of t is irre-
ducible If F prime is any fiber component intersecting F non-trivially then F prime is illusory
Proof Assume t has a reducible fiber f Then we can write f = f prime cup f primeprime where f prime
is irreducible and f primeprime is a disjoint union of chains of rational curves In particular
every subscheme supported on f primeprime is rigid in X f prime is rational and smooth iff f is a
cycle of rational curves hence the foliation on F is parallel to t and the choice of f prime
is not unique otherwise f prime is nodal or elliptic Let X 99KX + denote the flop of the
irreducible components of f primeprime in any order The proper transform f prime+ (below in red)
is the irreducible fiber of the induced morphism t+ F+ rarr B Since f primeprime+ intersects
f prime+ and is not contained in F+ there exists a component F prime of the fiber of p+ such
that F+ cap f prime+ 6= empty Since F+ is illusory necessarily F+ cap F prime = f prime+ Moreover F+
and F prime are the only fiber components intersecting f prime+ again because F+ is illusory
We deduce that F+ middot f prime+ = F prime middot f prime+ = 0 and therefore f prime+ is nef inside F prime It follows
that he restriction of F+ to F prime is not of general type and by the classification of
foliated surfaces [McQ08] necessarily f prime+ deforms inside F prime and defines a fibration
u F prime rarr Bprime In particular f prime+ is an irreducible fiber of u This is however impossible
since u contracts all the components of f primeprime+ contained in F prime (below in blue) and by
definition of F prime there exists at least one such component This proves that every
fiber of t is irreducible The following depicts the situation
F prime F+
f prime+
f primeprime+
t+u
54 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Concerning the second statement we only need to check the third condition for F prime
to be illussory namely that every other fiber component F primeprime intersecting F prime does
so along the fibers of u If F primeprime intersects F prime transversely to u then F primeprime intersects F
non-trivially and transversely to t as well absurd
Corollary VII8 Illusory components do not exist
Proof By the above lemma the existence of one illusory component implies that
every irreducible component of the singular fiber of p is illusory contradicting that
KF is big
We can now focus on fiber components that do appear
Corollary VII9 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
containing an invariant curve C which moves and such that KF middot C = 0 Then
following the classification [McQ08] we have two cases
(1) The minimal model of F is a special Riccati component
(2) F is a small Kronecker
Proof Certainly the ones listed are the only cases where C is KF -nil We have to
exclude the possibility that C is invariant inside sing(F ) By Proposition IVII3
such C would be rational with at most one node Since we already contracted at
the beginning of the present subsection all ruled surfaces necessarily C is nodal
However by opcit C cannot intersect any other fiber component of X0 which
implies the absurdity that X0 = F
We proceed to show that special Riccati components are rather isolated in the
fiber
Lemma VII10 Let F be a special Riccati component If F prime is a fiber component
intersecting F non-trivially then it does so transversely to s Morover there is
exactly one such F prime
Proof After finitely many flops we can assume that every fiber of s is irreducible
By the non-existence of illusory components there exists a fiber component F lowast with
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 55
σprime = F cap F prime transverse to s If F primeprime is a fiber component with f = F cap F primeprime a fiber
of s then we claim f sube sing(F ) If not then since KF middot f = 0 and σprime is invariant
necessarily σprimecap f is the node of f But then the existence of F primeprime contradicts that p is
snc Hence f sube sing(F ) so then around the node of f there are 3 fiber components -
two branches coming from F one from F primeprime - and sing(F ) has 2 branches - namely f
This is impossible by our case analysis ni (1)c ni (2)c The very same reasoning
establishes the uniqueness of F prime
Lemma VII11 Let F be as in the previous Lemma If C is a connected curve
with KF middot C = 0 then it is disjoint from F
Proof After finitely many flops s is irreducible and C intersects F transversely away
from its node Moreover lowast = C cap F isin sing(F ) and we deduce that the fiber of s
through lowast is fully contained in the singular locus of F This contradicts Proposition
IVII3 since such fiber is nodal
We conclude by observing the obvious
Lemma VII12 Let F be a small Kronecker Then there exists a contraction
c X rarr X prime which is an isomorphism away from F and contracts F along one
of its rulings Necessarily X prime is not projective since every global Cartier divisor
intersects c(F ) trivially On the other hand in a formal neighborhood of c(F ) there
exist Cartier divisors intersecting it non-trivialliy
As such the contribution coming from non-rigid curves is rather poor there are
curves moving in the general fiber there are special Riccati components disjoint from
any other invariant curve intersecting KF trivially there are small Kroneckers who
can be contracted to curves We shall see in the next section that the complications
arising from the contraction of such non-rigid curves is purely psychological and
totally harmless
56 FEDERICO BUONERBA
VI Contractions and proof of the Main Theorem
In this section we contract all invariant curves along which KF is zero thereby
establishing the existence of canonical models I First we contract non-rigid curves
as described in the previous subsection
bull Small Kroneckers along either ruling Albeit this destroys projectivity of
the ambient threefold there still exist Cartier divisors defined in a formal
neighborhood of the base curve that intersect it non-trivially
bull Families of irreducible nodal rational curves which are flat over ∆ This
creates elliptic singularities on the general fiber of p which are disjoint from
other invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
bull Special Riccati again families of irreducible nodal rational curves fully con-
tained in X0 This creates elliptic singularities disjoint from other invariant
curves intersecting KF trivially
We can summarize our situation by way of
Set-up VI1 X is a 3-dimensional DM stack with at worst elliptic singularities
F a foliation by curves with canonical singularities which is not Q-Cartier in a
neighborhood of Xsing
There exists a proper morphism p X rarr ∆ smooth off 0 isin ∆ F restricts to a
foliation on every fiber of p it has canonical singularities on the very general fiber
of p and log-canonical singularities on every fiber of p KF is big and nef on every
irreducible component of every fiber of p
Let C be the invariant sub-scheme along which KF is not big then C is a curve
fully contained in the smooth locus X0capXsmooth every sub-curve of C has anti-ample
normal bundle the 1-simplex of its dual graph is a tree and detailed configurations
of such are referenced in set-up VI13
We proceed to contract such C We assume that along C the semi-simple field has
only rational eigenvalues and moreover no component of C is inside the foliation
singularity The other two cases - irrational eigenvalues and presence of singular
component - are strictly easier and can be obtained with the very same method
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 57
The proof takes place in the formal completion around C = C free cup C axes The
former is a disjoint union of trees of non-double curves For each non-double C let
F (C) denote the unique component of X0 containing it The latter is a tree of double
curves each with two triple points all contained in the same irreducible FC axes Each
tree of non-double curves touches C axes in one point through a LC-center In order
to construct the contraction we will use Artinrsquos celebrated criterion in the following
form
Fact VI1 ([Ar70]) Let X be an irreducible algebraic space i Y rarr X a closed
subspace of pure codimension 1 and f Y rarr Y0 a proper morphism with flowastOY = OY0
Let X denote the formal completion of X along Y and assume there exists a Cartier
divisor D in X which is supported on Y and is f -anti-ample Then there exists a
proper morphism of algebraic spaces F X rarr X0 which is an isomorphism away
from Y and such that ilowastF = f
Now we use the tree structure of C to construct a suitable divisor to which apply
Artinrsquos theorem Namely consider the following inductive defintion
(35) C0 = C axes F0 = FC axes
For k ge 0 assume Ck Fk are defined
bull Let Ck+1 denote the union of irreducible components of C that intersect Fk
non-trivially but are not contained in cupilekFibull Let Fk+1 denote the reduced sum (
sumCsubeCk+1
F (C))red
This process stops with a collection C1 middot middot middotCN of curves and F1 middot middot middot FN of reduced
divisors
Lemma VI1 We have the following identities
(36)
Fk middot C lt 0 for every C sube Ck
(F0 + F1) middot C le 0 for every C sube C0
(Fkminus1 + Fk + Fk+1) middot C = 0 for every C sube Ck 1 lt k lt N
(FNminus1 + FN) middot C lt 0 for every C sube CN
58 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proof The first is just the fact that every component of C is rigid The remaining
three follow from X0 middot C = 0 but the last one requires further justification Indeed
if C sube CN N gt 0 then C is one end of a tree of non-double curves In particular
there exists a foliation singularity lowast isin C disjoint from any other component of
C and LClowast is transverse to C This implies LClowast middotC gt 0 which together with
(FNminus1 + FN + LClowast) middot C = 0 concludes the proof
Let ε1 middot middot middot εN isin Qgt0 and define
(37) F Nminusk = (1 + ε1 + middot middot middot+ εk)FNminusk
bull If C sube CN we have
(38) (F Nminus1 + F
N) middot C = ε1FNminus1 middot C + (FNminus1 + FN) middot C
bull If C sube CNminusk 1 lt k lt N we have
(39)
(F Nminuskminus1 + F
Nminusk + F Nminusk+1) middot C =
(1 + middot middot middot+ εk)(FNminuskminus1 + FNminusk + FNminusk+1) middot C minus εkFNminusk+1 middot C + εk+1FNminuskminus1 middot C =
minus εkFNminusk+1 middot C + εk+1FNminuskminus1 middot C
bull If C sube C0 we have
(40) (F 0 + F
1) middot C = εNF0 middot C + (Nminus1sumj=0
εj)(F0 + F1) middot C
It is clear that provided
(41) 1 gtgt ε1 gtgt middot middot middot gtgt εN
the divisor F =sumF k is negative along every component of C
This proves the existence of the contraction and concludes the proof of the Main
Theorem I
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 59
VII Moduli space of foliated surfaces of general type
In this section we study the modular variation of foliated surfaces of general type
The upshot is that it is possible to define a functor which is representable separated
and every irreducible component is proper The main issue here is that the supporting
surface of a foliated canonical model may well fail to be projective indeed KF is not
Q-Gorenstein in general Hence in order to proceed via standard methods [Ko17]
we have to parametrize our canonical models together with a suitable projective
resolution
Definition VII13 Let (SF ) be a foliated proper reduced purely 2-dimensional
DM stack Assume S has only normal crossing singularities in codimension 1 that
F has log-canonical foliation singularities and that KF is big and nef on at least
one of the irreducible components of S If whenever KF middot C = 0 for some curve C
then C moves in an irreducible component of S and no member of such deformation
is F -invariant then (SF ) is called foliated canonical model of general type
Clearly foliated canonical models are exactly the stable degenerations appearing
as the central fiber of our Main Theorem I Their lack of projectivity has two sources
namely the contraction of cycles of smooth KF -nil curves and of trees of cuspidal
ones Singularities arising from cycles behave well in families namely they always
deform into the general fiber Those arising from cuspidal curves on the other hand
tend to be rather isolated inside the degenerate fiber
Observe that the deformation theory of a foliated surface is rather simple suppose
given an infinitesimal C-algebras extension 0 rarr J rarr Ae rarr A rarr 0 and (SF )
a foliated surface flat over Spec(A) then the obstruction to lifting to Ae can be
understood in three simple steps
(1) Deformation of the underlying surface S once a deformation Se rarr Spec(Ae)
is given
(2) Deformation of the line bundle KF by the exponential sequence
(42) 0rarr J otimes OS rarr OlowastSerarr OlowastS rarr 0
obstructions lie in H2(SOS)otimes J once a deformation of KF is given
60 FEDERICO BUONERBA
(3) Deformation of the defining section OS rarr KF otimes TS obstructions lie in
H1(SKF otimes TS)otimes J
Now we have
Definition VII14 Let (SF ) be a foliated canonical model of general type A
proper birational morphism q (SF )proj rarr (SF ) is called its projective resolution
if
bull Every irreducible component of Sproj is smooth
bull The exceptional locus of q is a disjoint union of cycles of KFproj-nil smooth
curves and trees of KFproj-nil curves each of which has a non-trivial cuspidal
singularity
bull In a neighborhood of every q-exceptional cycle not only Sproj but also its
moduli space is smooth
We need a few remarks about projective resolutions
(1) Projective resolutions are always unique Indeed the only possible ambiguity
could lie in some extra smooth irreducible components in the exceptional
locus This is forbidden by definition in the trees of cuspidal curves it is
also forbidden by way of the third item in cycles of smooth ones ie on
algebraic surfaces the minimal resolution is unique
(2) Denote by E the collection of q-exceptional cycles Then there exist ε δ isinQgt0 such that KFproj
minus εE + δKSprojis ample by Nakai-Moishezon
(3) Deformations of a projective resolution of a foliated canonical model are
canonically identified with deformations of the underlying birational mor-
phism q Sproj rarr S followed by a deformation of the foliation F
We are now ready to construct a moduli functor for foliated surfaces more precisely
for projective resolutions of foliated canonical models of general type For m dN isinN and ε δ isin Qgt0 let
(43) MmdNεδ (C-schemes)rarr (sets)
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 61
be defined by MmdNεδ(S) = Diagrams
(44) (X F )projqminusrarr (X F )
pminusrarr S
Where
bull Both p and p q are flat and proper
bull For every closed point s isin S the induced morphism qs is the projective
resolution of (X F )s which is a foliated canonical model of general type
bull Denote by Es the collection of exceptional cycles of qs By our Main Theorem
I there is a fibrewise divisor E subXproj flat over S restricting to Es for every
s isin S
bull Let j W rarr Xproj denote the maximal closed subscheme away from which
KFprojand KXprojS are locally free Then
(45) L [m] = (jlowast(KFprojotimes OXproj
(minusεE )otimesKδXprojS
)otimesm)oror
is flat over S and commutes with base-change
bull L [m] is very ample of degree d on every fiber and defines an embedding into
PNS
We are now ready for
Theorem VII15 The functor MmdNεδ is represented by a separated algebraic
space each of whose irreducible components is proper
Proof We show that our functor satisfies Artinrsquos conditions [Ar74 Corollary 54] By
definition condition 1) and 4) hold while our previous remark on foliated obstruction
theory shows that 3) is true
We proceed to show 2) namely effectivity of formal deformations for MmdNεδ
What follows owes much to Artinrsquos [A74rsquo] Let T be a complete C-algebra Tn its
n-truncation so that Tsimminusrarr limlarrminusTn and finally qn isinMmdNεδ(Spec(Tn)) a compatible
sequence For each n there is a maximal open set Un sube Xprojn where qn is an
isomorphism denote by sn Cn rarr Zn the restriction of qn to the complement of Un
Clearly sn is projective over Spec(Tn)
62 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Denote by X C etc the formal algebraic spaces obtained as limits of Xn Cn
etc Then Xproj sub PNˆSpec(T )
hence by Grothendieckrsquos existence Theorem we find
bull a flat projective family (X F )proj rarr Spec(T ) resp a closed subscheme
C subXproj whose completion is Xproj resp C
bull a scheme Z whose completion is Z and a morphism s C rarr Z everything
being projective over Spec(T )
Further we have a formal contraction limminusrarr qn C rarr Z hence the main theorem
of [Ar70] gives algebraic contraction (X F )proj rarr (X F ) This proves the repre-
sentability of MmdNεδ The properness and separability of each irreducible com-
ponent can be checked using valutative criteria indeed properness is the content of
our Main Theorem I separatedness follows from the uniqueness of foliated canonical
models of general type and their projective resolution
References
[Ar70] M Artin Algebraization of Formal Moduli II Existence of Modifications Ann
of Math Vol 91 No 1 (Jan 1970) pp 88-135 httpwwwjstororgstable
1970602
[Ar74] M Artin Versal Deformations and Algebraic Stacks Inventiones Math 27 165- 189
(1974) httpmathuchicagoedu~drinfeldArtin_on_stackspdf
[A74rsquo] M Artin Algebraic construction of Brieskornrsquos resolutions J Alg Vol 29 Issue
2 May 1974 pp 330-348 httpwwwsciencedirectcomsciencearticlepii
0021869374901021
[BB72] P Baum R Bott Singularities of holomorphic foliations J Diff Geom 7 (1972)
279-342 httpsprojecteuclidorgdownloadpdf_1euclidjdg1214431158
[Bo77] F Bogomolov Families of curves on a surface of general type Doklady Akademii Nauk
USSR (in Russian) 236 (5) 1041-1044
[Bo78] F Bogomolov Holomorphic tensors and vector bundles on projective varieties Math
USSR Izv 13 (1978) 499-555
[BM16] F Bogomolov M McQuillan Rational Curves on Foliated Varieties In Cascini
McKernan Pereira (eds) Foliation Theory in Algebraic Geometry Simons Symposia
Springer Cham pp 21-51 (2016) httpslinkspringercomchapter101007
978-3-319-24460-0_2
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 63
[Bu] F Buonerba Functorial resolution of tame quotient singularities in positive charac-
teristic httpsarxivorgabs151100550
[Ke99] S Keel Basepoint Freeness for Nef and Big Line Bundles in Positive Characteris-
tic Annals of Math 149 No 1 (Jan 1999) pp 253-286 httpwwwjstororg
stable121025 httpsarxivorgabsmath9901149
[KM97] S Keel S Mori Quotients by groupoids Annals of Math 145 (1997) pp
193-213 httpwwwjstororgstable2951828seq=1page_scan_tab_contents
httparxivorgabsalg-geom9508012
[Ko17] J Kollar Families of varieties of general type httpswebmathprincetonedu
~kollarbookmodbook20170720pdf
[LN02] A Lins Neto Some examples for the Poincare and Painleve problems Annales sci-
entifiques de lrsquoENS 352 (2002) 231-266 httparchivenumdamorgarticle
ASENS_2002_4_35_2_231_0pdf
[McQ12] M McQuillan Foliated Mori Theory amp Hyperbolicity of Algebraic Surfaces http
wwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillahomehtml
[McQ98] M McQuillan Diophantine approximation and foliations Inst Hautes Etudes Sci
Publ Math 87 (1998) 121-174 httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafiles
ihespdf
[McQ05rsquo] M McQuillan Bloch hyperbolicity preprint httpwwwmatuniroma2it
~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ05] M McQuillan Semi-stable reduction of foliations IHES pre-print IHESM0502
(2005) httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ05rdquo] M McQuillan Uniform Uniformisation IHES pre-print (2005) IHES M0503 http
wwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ08] M McQuillan Canonical models of foliations Pure Appl Math Q 4
(2008) no 3 Special Issue In honor of Fedor Bogomolov Part 2 877-1012
httpintlpresscomsitepubfiles_fulltextjournalspamq20080004
0003PAMQ-2008-0004-0003-a009pdf
[MP13] M McQuillan D Panazzolo Almost etale resolution of foliations J Diff Geom 95
(2013) pp 279-319 httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesmp1bispdf
[Pe02] JV Pereira On the Poincare Problem for Foliations of General Type Mathematische
Annalen 323 no 2 pp217-226 2002 httpsarxivorgabsmath0104185
[PS16] JV Pereira R Svaldi Effective algebraic integration in bounded genus preprint
httpsarxivorgabs161206932
64 FEDERICO BUONERBA
[Re83] M Reid Minimal models of canonical threefolds in rdquoAlgebraic Varieties and Ana-
lytic Varietiesrdquo Adv Stud Pure Math vol 1 S Iitaka ed Kinokuniya and North-
Holland 1983 pp 131-180 httpwwwmathsedacukcheltsovquotientpdf
reid2pdf
[Se67] A Seidenberg Reduction of singularities of the differential equation Ady = Bdx Amer
J Math 89 (1967) 248-269 httpwwwjstororgstable2373435
[SB83] N Shepherd-Barron Degenerations with numerically effective canonical divisor The
Birational Geometry of Degenerations (R Friedman and D Morrison eds) Progr
Math no 29 Birkhuser 1983 pp 33-84
[Vis89] A Vistoli Intersection theory on algebraic stacks and on their moduli spaces
Invent Math (1989) pp 613-670 httplinkspringercomarticle101007
2FBF01388892page-1
Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences New York University 251 Mercer
Street New York NY 10012 USA
E-mail address buonerbacimsnyuedu
- I Introduction
- II Preliminaries
-
- III Operations on Deligne-Mumford stacks
- IIII Width of embedded parabolic champs
- IIIII Gorenstein foliation singularities
- IIIV Foliated adjunction
- IIV Canonical models of foliated surfaces with canonical singularities
- IIVI Canonical models of foliated surfaces with log-canonical singularities
- IIVII Set-up
-
- III Invariant curves and singularities local description
-
- IIII `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F) not isolated
- IIIII `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F) isolated
- IIIIII Local consequences
-
- IV Invariant curves along which KF vanishes
-
- IVI KF-nil curves
- IVII Invariant curves inside `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F)
-
- V Configurations
-
- VI Configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
- VII Configurations of non-rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
-
- VI Contractions and proof of the Main Theorem
- VII Moduli space of foliated surfaces of general type
- References
-
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 45
and Ciminus1 can be flopped inside F (Ci) Since N ge 4 this preserves the smooth-
ness of F (Ci) and Ci is now is the smooth locus of p - contradiction
bull If lowasti belongs to the smooth locus of p then the end through lowasti moves We
can form a partial net completion fi Xi rarrX by normalizing C in lowasti only
Then f lowasti C is a chain with movable ends and hence moves in the general fiber
of p fi
Finally the general case in which some among the Ci have cusps can be easily
reduced to the smooth case in a couple of ways
bull Eigenvalues at the singularities of any KF -nil curve satisfy the same relations
as in the smooth case
bull Upon taking roots and net completion we can find a foliated formal 3-fold
supported on a cycle of smooth KF -nil curves which is a ramified cover of a
formal neighborhood of our cycle
Similarly we can show that there are no rigid cycles of double curves
Proposition VI7 Let C be a nodal KF -nil curve which is double Then C
deforms inside X0 In particular there cannot exist a rigid cycle of KF -nil double
curves
Proof Following the previous notation we have 0 = infin and if C = (xy = z = 0)
around 0 then we have identities
(34) x = η y = ξ z = ζ
The last one of which implies m = 0 that is C deforms Since C is double necessarily
the surface it spans must be contained in X0
The statement about cycles follows since a cycle of double curves can be transformed
after finitely many flops into a chain of smooth double curves with a nodal one
attached at one end
46 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Later on we will show that the deformations of C cannot span an elliptic surface
but only a family of nodal rational curves with a special Riccati foliation on it
We are ready to organize a detailed description of the dual graph of C More pre-
cisely we only need to understand how double curves intersect non-double curves
Lemma VI8 There exists a sequence of flops X 99KX + such that if C + denotes
the transform of C every double curve supported on C + contains two triple points
Proof Let C sube C be an irreducible component with at most one triple point and
let X 99K X + be its flop Then its transform C+ is non-double and the number
of double curves contained in C descreases It is clear that after finitely many flops
all double curves contain exactly two triple points
From now on all double curves in C have two triple points Thanks to proposition
VI2 we know that there are two cases to consider those curves along which the
semi-simple field has not only rational eigenvalues and those along which the semi-
simple field has only rational eigenvalues The first case being strictly easier than
the second it is a good starting place to warm up
Proposition VI9 (irrational eigenvalues) Assume that for every foliation singu-
larity along C not all eigenvalues of partS are rational Then every component of C
is net with at most one node and 1-skeleton of its dual graph is at worst trivalent
Write C = C axes cup C free where
C axes is the union of double curves
C free is the union of non-double curves
Then one among C axes and C free is empty Moreover
bull If C free is non-empty then it is a chain of smooth curves with rational moduli
bull If C axes is non-empty there exists a sequence of flops X 99KX + and an ir-
reducible component of the fiber FC subX + such that X + is a smooth stack
the transform C+ of C is contained in FC Moreover the dual graph of C+
is a tree which by [McQ08 III32] becomes a chain inside the normalization
of FC
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 47
Proof The first sentence is just corollary IIIIII3
Observe that if a non-double curve intersects a double curve then the non-double
curve must be contained in an LC-center around such intersection This contradicts
that not all eigenvalues are rational and establishes that one among C axes and C free
is empty
In case C free is not empty then it is clearly a chain or a cycle the latter being
impossible by Proposition VI5
We are left to show the existence of flops in case C = C axes We remark that
every component is smooth Let C0 be such a component and S0 a component of
X0 containing it Let C1 be the collection of irreducible components of C which
intersect S0 but are not contained in it All the components of C1 are smooth hence
we can flop them in any order until the transform of C1 lies in the transform of S0
Since the number of irreducible components of C lying outside S0 decreases after
such flop by induction we deduce the existence of finitely many flops after which
the birational transform of C is fully contained in the transform of S0
Next we take care of rational eigenvalues The complication here arises from
the fact that there may be double and non-double curves intersecting each other
However the situation is best possible
Proposition VI10 (rational eigenvalues) Assume that for every foliation singu-
larity along C all eigenvalues of partS are rational Write C = C axes cup C free where
C axes is the union of double curves
C free is the union of non-double curves
Then there exists a sequence of flops X 99K X + and an irreducible component of
the fiber FC axes subX + such that
bull X + is a smooth stack
bull The union of double curves of C axes is contained in FC axes the 1-skeleton of
its dual graph is a tree and each of its components has two triple points
bull The 1-skeleton of the dual graph of the transform C free+ is a disjoint union of
trees
bull Each connected component of C free+ intersects C axes in exactly one point
48 FEDERICO BUONERBA
In particular the 1-skeleton of the dual graph of C is a tree
Proof Notice that for every point lowast isin C cap Z there exists one LC-center through lowastIndeed there are three rational eigenvalues and they cannot be all non-vanishing and
all with different signs at the same time Now C axes can be treated as in proposition
VI9 This proves the first two items of the statement The third item follows from
Proposition VI5 so we can focus on the fourth one The proof is based on the
following obvious
Remark VI11 let C be a double curve such that either it is KF -nil hence has
two triple points or it is fully contained in sing(F ) Let C0 sube C free intersect C
non-trivially in a point lowast then necessarily C0 sub LClowast
Now let C0 middot middot middot CN form a chain of non-double curves with C0 and CN both
intersecting double curves as in the remark Denote by lowasti = Ci cap Ci+1 Since
C1 sub LClowast necessarily C1 is transverse to LClowast1 otherwise C1 would deform in F (C1)
Inductively we see that Ci+1 sub LClowasti and is transverse to LClowasti+1 In particular CN
cannot touch a double curve This contradiction proves the fourth item
Let us add a remark about configurations featuring invariant curves inside sing(F )
Proposition VI12 Let C be an invariant curve with KF middot C = 0 such that
Z0 sube C for some component Z0 sube sing(F ) Then C = Z prime cup C where
Z prime is a connected invariant curve inside the foliation singularity with dual graph a
chain
C is the union of at most two pairwise disjoint KF -nil curves with anti-ample
normal bundle
If not empty C can only intersect Z prime at the two ends of its dual graph Moreover
perhaps after a flop the intersection of C with Z prime supports the foliation singularity
along C As such if C has two components Z prime cup C deforms in the general fiber
Proof The structure of Z prime is Proposition IVII3 while that of Co is Proposition
IVI6 Let C prime be a component of C intersecting Z0 in a point lowast If C prime and Z0 belong
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 49
to different components of X0 then by case ni (1)b the eigenvalue of partS along C prime
vanishes so supp(sing(F ) cap C prime) = lowast If C prime and Z0 belong to the same component
then we can flop C prime into a different component
Observe that the divisor D prime from op cit can be extended along C prime This implies
that C can only intersect Z prime at its ends Moreover if C touches both ends necessarily
D prime capX0 = C scheme-theoretically hence by the existence of Hilbert scheme IVI5
we conclude
Our new set-up is
Set-up VI13 Everything as in set-up IIVII4 and moreover for any connected
invariant curve C with KF middot C = 0 all of whose sub-curves are rigid we have
configurations computed in proposition VI9 VI10 and Lemma VI12
VII Configurations of non-rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
In this subsection we describe configurations of surfaces which are covered by KF -nil
curves The structure of each such surface is described by classification IIV1 IIV2
and Corollary IIVI17 Our first step is to simplify the situation by contracting
chains of ruled surfaces The next step is to try and exclude the possibility that
the singular fiber of p contains fibrations by elliptic or nodal rational curves with
at least one invariant fiber This can be achieved with good success indeed there
may be at most one such Riccati foliation which is anyway rather isolated from the
remaining KF -nil curves Finally we observe that the only class of surfaces we have
not mentioned is
Definition VII1 A irreducible component F of the singular fiber of p is called
small Kronecker if
bull (FFF ) is birational to a Kronecker vector field on P1 timesP1 and
bull The two rulings of this P1 timesP1 are cohomologous inside X
The name comes from the fact that contraction of a small Kronecker yields a node
in the ambient threefold which admits a small resolution In fact in many respects
these fiber components behave very much like rigid KF -nil curves
50 FEDERICO BUONERBA
We start by getting rid of some fiber components which are ruled by KF -nil gener-
ically smooth rational curves
Proposition VII2 Notation as in Set-up VI13 there exists a sequence of flops
and divisorial contractions c X 99KX + such that
bull X + is a smooth stack
bull let S+ sub X + be an irreducible invariant divisor that contains a positive-
dimensional family of invariant rational curves along which KF+ vanishes
Then S+ is either birationally ruled by nodal rational curves or it is a small
Kronecker
Proof We focus first on contracting components of the singular fiber of p Consider
the following algorithm If there is no birationally ruled component different from
the ones listed in the second item we are done otherwise pick one such F and let
C denote the general member of the ruling If the cohomology class [C] is inde-
composable F is minimal Otherwise [C] = [C1] + [C2] where Ci are rational and
intersect KF trivially After finitely many steps we have a decomposition as a finite
sum of indecomposables [C] =sumn
i=0 ni[Ci] where every Ci is rational intersects KF
trivially We have two cases
bull There exists k such that Ck deforms in a birationally ruled necessarily min-
imal surface Fk
bull Every Ci has anti-ample normal bundle
In the first case denote by X rarr X1 the contraction of Fk along |Ck| and relpace
X by X1 Since Fk is minimal smoothness of the ambient stack is preserved unless
Fk is a small Kronecker This is however impossible if n ge 2 if Fk were a small
Kronecker then Ck deforms away from Fkminus1 so then Fkminus1 middot Ck = 0 on the other
hand Fkminus1 intersects the other ruling of Fk positively
In the second case flop C1 middot middot middot Cn in this order The transform of F is minimal and
not a small Kronecker so it can be contracted along its ruling preserving ambient
smoothness By induction on the Picard rank of X after finitely many steps this
algorithm ends Call X the output of this algorithm
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 51
Let S subX be an invariant divisor with a generically smooth ruling Then pS S rarr∆ is flat and after flopping finitely many rational curves in S cap plowastS(0) the resulting
pS is smooth Hence we can contract S along pS After finitely many steps the
Proposition is proven
For ease of notation in the sequel we call X the output of the previous proposition
Notice that there might still be divisors carrying a pencil of nodal rational curves
both inside and outside the singular fiber of p
We can start analyzing configurations of fiber components where the restriction of
F is not of general type We need some notation whose reason to exist will be clear
shortly
Definition VII3 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
along which KF is not big F is called special Riccati if
bull F is minimal
bull There exists a morphism s F rarr B onto a curve whose fibers are nodal
rational curve
bull F is transverse to the general fiber of s in particular KF is numerically
trivial along s
bull At least one fiber of s is invariant
bull There exists a section σ of s which is invariant and does not coincide with
the nodal locus of F
In particular the intersections of σ with invariant fibers of s isolated singularities
of F the node of F all coincide There may be fibers of s fully contained in sing(F )
in which case they are everywhere transverse to the saturated foliation
The definition looks nasty but special Riccati components have a rather simple
origin as the following proof shows
Lemma VII4 Let F be special Riccati Up to base change by an etale double cover
Bprime rarr B there is a natural isomorphism F norm simminusrarr BprimetimesP1 and the restriction of F
to F norm is birational to the projection onto P1
52 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proof We work over the normalization F norm Denote by Bprime the pre-image of the
node of F which is an etale double cover of B and let f denote an invariant fiber
of s with lowast = σ cap f Observe that F norm carries a Riccati foliation with 3 invariant
curves through lowast - namely σ f and a component of Bprime Hence FF has a log-canonical
singularity in lowast On F norm perform a weighted blow-up in each log-canonical singu-
larity followed by the contraction of the transforms of the corresponding fibers Let
s+ F+ rarr B denote the output of this operation If the proper transform of Bprime is
connected replace F+ by its base change under Bprime rarr B Hence we can assume Bprime
is the disjoint union of two sections of s+ and the transform of σ is a third section
which is disjoint from Bprime Therefore F+ = P1 timesBprime and the foliation restricts to the
projection onto P1
Next we describe those surfaces which cannot appear as components of the sin-
gular fiber X0
Definition VII5 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
along which KF is not big F is called illusory if
bull there exists a morphism t F rarr B onto a curve
bull KF is trivial along t
bull For any other fiber component F prime the intersection F cap F prime is either empty or
contained in a fiber of t
We give examples of illusory fiber components
Lemma VII6 The following fiber components are necessarily illusory
bull t is elliptic the foliation is either parallel to t or turbolent with at least one
invariant fiber
bull t is a nodal ruling the foliation is either parallel to t or transverse to t with
at least one invariant fiber and not birational to a special Riccati VII3
Proof Let f = F cap F prime for some fiber component F prime It is F -invariant
Assume t and F are parallel and f is transverse to both Then necessarily f subesing(F ) and KF is positive along the fibers of t contradiction
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 53
Assume t and F are generically transverse and f is transverse to t Let e be an
invariant fiber of t then ecap f isin sing(F ) hence t must be a family of nodal rational
curves and ecapf coincides with the node of e - otherwise KF would be positive along
t But this implies F is special Riccati contradiction
We proceed to show that illusory fibers do not exist
Lemma VII7 Let F be an illusory fiber component then every fiber of t is irre-
ducible If F prime is any fiber component intersecting F non-trivially then F prime is illusory
Proof Assume t has a reducible fiber f Then we can write f = f prime cup f primeprime where f prime
is irreducible and f primeprime is a disjoint union of chains of rational curves In particular
every subscheme supported on f primeprime is rigid in X f prime is rational and smooth iff f is a
cycle of rational curves hence the foliation on F is parallel to t and the choice of f prime
is not unique otherwise f prime is nodal or elliptic Let X 99KX + denote the flop of the
irreducible components of f primeprime in any order The proper transform f prime+ (below in red)
is the irreducible fiber of the induced morphism t+ F+ rarr B Since f primeprime+ intersects
f prime+ and is not contained in F+ there exists a component F prime of the fiber of p+ such
that F+ cap f prime+ 6= empty Since F+ is illusory necessarily F+ cap F prime = f prime+ Moreover F+
and F prime are the only fiber components intersecting f prime+ again because F+ is illusory
We deduce that F+ middot f prime+ = F prime middot f prime+ = 0 and therefore f prime+ is nef inside F prime It follows
that he restriction of F+ to F prime is not of general type and by the classification of
foliated surfaces [McQ08] necessarily f prime+ deforms inside F prime and defines a fibration
u F prime rarr Bprime In particular f prime+ is an irreducible fiber of u This is however impossible
since u contracts all the components of f primeprime+ contained in F prime (below in blue) and by
definition of F prime there exists at least one such component This proves that every
fiber of t is irreducible The following depicts the situation
F prime F+
f prime+
f primeprime+
t+u
54 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Concerning the second statement we only need to check the third condition for F prime
to be illussory namely that every other fiber component F primeprime intersecting F prime does
so along the fibers of u If F primeprime intersects F prime transversely to u then F primeprime intersects F
non-trivially and transversely to t as well absurd
Corollary VII8 Illusory components do not exist
Proof By the above lemma the existence of one illusory component implies that
every irreducible component of the singular fiber of p is illusory contradicting that
KF is big
We can now focus on fiber components that do appear
Corollary VII9 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
containing an invariant curve C which moves and such that KF middot C = 0 Then
following the classification [McQ08] we have two cases
(1) The minimal model of F is a special Riccati component
(2) F is a small Kronecker
Proof Certainly the ones listed are the only cases where C is KF -nil We have to
exclude the possibility that C is invariant inside sing(F ) By Proposition IVII3
such C would be rational with at most one node Since we already contracted at
the beginning of the present subsection all ruled surfaces necessarily C is nodal
However by opcit C cannot intersect any other fiber component of X0 which
implies the absurdity that X0 = F
We proceed to show that special Riccati components are rather isolated in the
fiber
Lemma VII10 Let F be a special Riccati component If F prime is a fiber component
intersecting F non-trivially then it does so transversely to s Morover there is
exactly one such F prime
Proof After finitely many flops we can assume that every fiber of s is irreducible
By the non-existence of illusory components there exists a fiber component F lowast with
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 55
σprime = F cap F prime transverse to s If F primeprime is a fiber component with f = F cap F primeprime a fiber
of s then we claim f sube sing(F ) If not then since KF middot f = 0 and σprime is invariant
necessarily σprimecap f is the node of f But then the existence of F primeprime contradicts that p is
snc Hence f sube sing(F ) so then around the node of f there are 3 fiber components -
two branches coming from F one from F primeprime - and sing(F ) has 2 branches - namely f
This is impossible by our case analysis ni (1)c ni (2)c The very same reasoning
establishes the uniqueness of F prime
Lemma VII11 Let F be as in the previous Lemma If C is a connected curve
with KF middot C = 0 then it is disjoint from F
Proof After finitely many flops s is irreducible and C intersects F transversely away
from its node Moreover lowast = C cap F isin sing(F ) and we deduce that the fiber of s
through lowast is fully contained in the singular locus of F This contradicts Proposition
IVII3 since such fiber is nodal
We conclude by observing the obvious
Lemma VII12 Let F be a small Kronecker Then there exists a contraction
c X rarr X prime which is an isomorphism away from F and contracts F along one
of its rulings Necessarily X prime is not projective since every global Cartier divisor
intersects c(F ) trivially On the other hand in a formal neighborhood of c(F ) there
exist Cartier divisors intersecting it non-trivialliy
As such the contribution coming from non-rigid curves is rather poor there are
curves moving in the general fiber there are special Riccati components disjoint from
any other invariant curve intersecting KF trivially there are small Kroneckers who
can be contracted to curves We shall see in the next section that the complications
arising from the contraction of such non-rigid curves is purely psychological and
totally harmless
56 FEDERICO BUONERBA
VI Contractions and proof of the Main Theorem
In this section we contract all invariant curves along which KF is zero thereby
establishing the existence of canonical models I First we contract non-rigid curves
as described in the previous subsection
bull Small Kroneckers along either ruling Albeit this destroys projectivity of
the ambient threefold there still exist Cartier divisors defined in a formal
neighborhood of the base curve that intersect it non-trivially
bull Families of irreducible nodal rational curves which are flat over ∆ This
creates elliptic singularities on the general fiber of p which are disjoint from
other invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
bull Special Riccati again families of irreducible nodal rational curves fully con-
tained in X0 This creates elliptic singularities disjoint from other invariant
curves intersecting KF trivially
We can summarize our situation by way of
Set-up VI1 X is a 3-dimensional DM stack with at worst elliptic singularities
F a foliation by curves with canonical singularities which is not Q-Cartier in a
neighborhood of Xsing
There exists a proper morphism p X rarr ∆ smooth off 0 isin ∆ F restricts to a
foliation on every fiber of p it has canonical singularities on the very general fiber
of p and log-canonical singularities on every fiber of p KF is big and nef on every
irreducible component of every fiber of p
Let C be the invariant sub-scheme along which KF is not big then C is a curve
fully contained in the smooth locus X0capXsmooth every sub-curve of C has anti-ample
normal bundle the 1-simplex of its dual graph is a tree and detailed configurations
of such are referenced in set-up VI13
We proceed to contract such C We assume that along C the semi-simple field has
only rational eigenvalues and moreover no component of C is inside the foliation
singularity The other two cases - irrational eigenvalues and presence of singular
component - are strictly easier and can be obtained with the very same method
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 57
The proof takes place in the formal completion around C = C free cup C axes The
former is a disjoint union of trees of non-double curves For each non-double C let
F (C) denote the unique component of X0 containing it The latter is a tree of double
curves each with two triple points all contained in the same irreducible FC axes Each
tree of non-double curves touches C axes in one point through a LC-center In order
to construct the contraction we will use Artinrsquos celebrated criterion in the following
form
Fact VI1 ([Ar70]) Let X be an irreducible algebraic space i Y rarr X a closed
subspace of pure codimension 1 and f Y rarr Y0 a proper morphism with flowastOY = OY0
Let X denote the formal completion of X along Y and assume there exists a Cartier
divisor D in X which is supported on Y and is f -anti-ample Then there exists a
proper morphism of algebraic spaces F X rarr X0 which is an isomorphism away
from Y and such that ilowastF = f
Now we use the tree structure of C to construct a suitable divisor to which apply
Artinrsquos theorem Namely consider the following inductive defintion
(35) C0 = C axes F0 = FC axes
For k ge 0 assume Ck Fk are defined
bull Let Ck+1 denote the union of irreducible components of C that intersect Fk
non-trivially but are not contained in cupilekFibull Let Fk+1 denote the reduced sum (
sumCsubeCk+1
F (C))red
This process stops with a collection C1 middot middot middotCN of curves and F1 middot middot middot FN of reduced
divisors
Lemma VI1 We have the following identities
(36)
Fk middot C lt 0 for every C sube Ck
(F0 + F1) middot C le 0 for every C sube C0
(Fkminus1 + Fk + Fk+1) middot C = 0 for every C sube Ck 1 lt k lt N
(FNminus1 + FN) middot C lt 0 for every C sube CN
58 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proof The first is just the fact that every component of C is rigid The remaining
three follow from X0 middot C = 0 but the last one requires further justification Indeed
if C sube CN N gt 0 then C is one end of a tree of non-double curves In particular
there exists a foliation singularity lowast isin C disjoint from any other component of
C and LClowast is transverse to C This implies LClowast middotC gt 0 which together with
(FNminus1 + FN + LClowast) middot C = 0 concludes the proof
Let ε1 middot middot middot εN isin Qgt0 and define
(37) F Nminusk = (1 + ε1 + middot middot middot+ εk)FNminusk
bull If C sube CN we have
(38) (F Nminus1 + F
N) middot C = ε1FNminus1 middot C + (FNminus1 + FN) middot C
bull If C sube CNminusk 1 lt k lt N we have
(39)
(F Nminuskminus1 + F
Nminusk + F Nminusk+1) middot C =
(1 + middot middot middot+ εk)(FNminuskminus1 + FNminusk + FNminusk+1) middot C minus εkFNminusk+1 middot C + εk+1FNminuskminus1 middot C =
minus εkFNminusk+1 middot C + εk+1FNminuskminus1 middot C
bull If C sube C0 we have
(40) (F 0 + F
1) middot C = εNF0 middot C + (Nminus1sumj=0
εj)(F0 + F1) middot C
It is clear that provided
(41) 1 gtgt ε1 gtgt middot middot middot gtgt εN
the divisor F =sumF k is negative along every component of C
This proves the existence of the contraction and concludes the proof of the Main
Theorem I
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 59
VII Moduli space of foliated surfaces of general type
In this section we study the modular variation of foliated surfaces of general type
The upshot is that it is possible to define a functor which is representable separated
and every irreducible component is proper The main issue here is that the supporting
surface of a foliated canonical model may well fail to be projective indeed KF is not
Q-Gorenstein in general Hence in order to proceed via standard methods [Ko17]
we have to parametrize our canonical models together with a suitable projective
resolution
Definition VII13 Let (SF ) be a foliated proper reduced purely 2-dimensional
DM stack Assume S has only normal crossing singularities in codimension 1 that
F has log-canonical foliation singularities and that KF is big and nef on at least
one of the irreducible components of S If whenever KF middot C = 0 for some curve C
then C moves in an irreducible component of S and no member of such deformation
is F -invariant then (SF ) is called foliated canonical model of general type
Clearly foliated canonical models are exactly the stable degenerations appearing
as the central fiber of our Main Theorem I Their lack of projectivity has two sources
namely the contraction of cycles of smooth KF -nil curves and of trees of cuspidal
ones Singularities arising from cycles behave well in families namely they always
deform into the general fiber Those arising from cuspidal curves on the other hand
tend to be rather isolated inside the degenerate fiber
Observe that the deformation theory of a foliated surface is rather simple suppose
given an infinitesimal C-algebras extension 0 rarr J rarr Ae rarr A rarr 0 and (SF )
a foliated surface flat over Spec(A) then the obstruction to lifting to Ae can be
understood in three simple steps
(1) Deformation of the underlying surface S once a deformation Se rarr Spec(Ae)
is given
(2) Deformation of the line bundle KF by the exponential sequence
(42) 0rarr J otimes OS rarr OlowastSerarr OlowastS rarr 0
obstructions lie in H2(SOS)otimes J once a deformation of KF is given
60 FEDERICO BUONERBA
(3) Deformation of the defining section OS rarr KF otimes TS obstructions lie in
H1(SKF otimes TS)otimes J
Now we have
Definition VII14 Let (SF ) be a foliated canonical model of general type A
proper birational morphism q (SF )proj rarr (SF ) is called its projective resolution
if
bull Every irreducible component of Sproj is smooth
bull The exceptional locus of q is a disjoint union of cycles of KFproj-nil smooth
curves and trees of KFproj-nil curves each of which has a non-trivial cuspidal
singularity
bull In a neighborhood of every q-exceptional cycle not only Sproj but also its
moduli space is smooth
We need a few remarks about projective resolutions
(1) Projective resolutions are always unique Indeed the only possible ambiguity
could lie in some extra smooth irreducible components in the exceptional
locus This is forbidden by definition in the trees of cuspidal curves it is
also forbidden by way of the third item in cycles of smooth ones ie on
algebraic surfaces the minimal resolution is unique
(2) Denote by E the collection of q-exceptional cycles Then there exist ε δ isinQgt0 such that KFproj
minus εE + δKSprojis ample by Nakai-Moishezon
(3) Deformations of a projective resolution of a foliated canonical model are
canonically identified with deformations of the underlying birational mor-
phism q Sproj rarr S followed by a deformation of the foliation F
We are now ready to construct a moduli functor for foliated surfaces more precisely
for projective resolutions of foliated canonical models of general type For m dN isinN and ε δ isin Qgt0 let
(43) MmdNεδ (C-schemes)rarr (sets)
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 61
be defined by MmdNεδ(S) = Diagrams
(44) (X F )projqminusrarr (X F )
pminusrarr S
Where
bull Both p and p q are flat and proper
bull For every closed point s isin S the induced morphism qs is the projective
resolution of (X F )s which is a foliated canonical model of general type
bull Denote by Es the collection of exceptional cycles of qs By our Main Theorem
I there is a fibrewise divisor E subXproj flat over S restricting to Es for every
s isin S
bull Let j W rarr Xproj denote the maximal closed subscheme away from which
KFprojand KXprojS are locally free Then
(45) L [m] = (jlowast(KFprojotimes OXproj
(minusεE )otimesKδXprojS
)otimesm)oror
is flat over S and commutes with base-change
bull L [m] is very ample of degree d on every fiber and defines an embedding into
PNS
We are now ready for
Theorem VII15 The functor MmdNεδ is represented by a separated algebraic
space each of whose irreducible components is proper
Proof We show that our functor satisfies Artinrsquos conditions [Ar74 Corollary 54] By
definition condition 1) and 4) hold while our previous remark on foliated obstruction
theory shows that 3) is true
We proceed to show 2) namely effectivity of formal deformations for MmdNεδ
What follows owes much to Artinrsquos [A74rsquo] Let T be a complete C-algebra Tn its
n-truncation so that Tsimminusrarr limlarrminusTn and finally qn isinMmdNεδ(Spec(Tn)) a compatible
sequence For each n there is a maximal open set Un sube Xprojn where qn is an
isomorphism denote by sn Cn rarr Zn the restriction of qn to the complement of Un
Clearly sn is projective over Spec(Tn)
62 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Denote by X C etc the formal algebraic spaces obtained as limits of Xn Cn
etc Then Xproj sub PNˆSpec(T )
hence by Grothendieckrsquos existence Theorem we find
bull a flat projective family (X F )proj rarr Spec(T ) resp a closed subscheme
C subXproj whose completion is Xproj resp C
bull a scheme Z whose completion is Z and a morphism s C rarr Z everything
being projective over Spec(T )
Further we have a formal contraction limminusrarr qn C rarr Z hence the main theorem
of [Ar70] gives algebraic contraction (X F )proj rarr (X F ) This proves the repre-
sentability of MmdNεδ The properness and separability of each irreducible com-
ponent can be checked using valutative criteria indeed properness is the content of
our Main Theorem I separatedness follows from the uniqueness of foliated canonical
models of general type and their projective resolution
References
[Ar70] M Artin Algebraization of Formal Moduli II Existence of Modifications Ann
of Math Vol 91 No 1 (Jan 1970) pp 88-135 httpwwwjstororgstable
1970602
[Ar74] M Artin Versal Deformations and Algebraic Stacks Inventiones Math 27 165- 189
(1974) httpmathuchicagoedu~drinfeldArtin_on_stackspdf
[A74rsquo] M Artin Algebraic construction of Brieskornrsquos resolutions J Alg Vol 29 Issue
2 May 1974 pp 330-348 httpwwwsciencedirectcomsciencearticlepii
0021869374901021
[BB72] P Baum R Bott Singularities of holomorphic foliations J Diff Geom 7 (1972)
279-342 httpsprojecteuclidorgdownloadpdf_1euclidjdg1214431158
[Bo77] F Bogomolov Families of curves on a surface of general type Doklady Akademii Nauk
USSR (in Russian) 236 (5) 1041-1044
[Bo78] F Bogomolov Holomorphic tensors and vector bundles on projective varieties Math
USSR Izv 13 (1978) 499-555
[BM16] F Bogomolov M McQuillan Rational Curves on Foliated Varieties In Cascini
McKernan Pereira (eds) Foliation Theory in Algebraic Geometry Simons Symposia
Springer Cham pp 21-51 (2016) httpslinkspringercomchapter101007
978-3-319-24460-0_2
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 63
[Bu] F Buonerba Functorial resolution of tame quotient singularities in positive charac-
teristic httpsarxivorgabs151100550
[Ke99] S Keel Basepoint Freeness for Nef and Big Line Bundles in Positive Characteris-
tic Annals of Math 149 No 1 (Jan 1999) pp 253-286 httpwwwjstororg
stable121025 httpsarxivorgabsmath9901149
[KM97] S Keel S Mori Quotients by groupoids Annals of Math 145 (1997) pp
193-213 httpwwwjstororgstable2951828seq=1page_scan_tab_contents
httparxivorgabsalg-geom9508012
[Ko17] J Kollar Families of varieties of general type httpswebmathprincetonedu
~kollarbookmodbook20170720pdf
[LN02] A Lins Neto Some examples for the Poincare and Painleve problems Annales sci-
entifiques de lrsquoENS 352 (2002) 231-266 httparchivenumdamorgarticle
ASENS_2002_4_35_2_231_0pdf
[McQ12] M McQuillan Foliated Mori Theory amp Hyperbolicity of Algebraic Surfaces http
wwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillahomehtml
[McQ98] M McQuillan Diophantine approximation and foliations Inst Hautes Etudes Sci
Publ Math 87 (1998) 121-174 httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafiles
ihespdf
[McQ05rsquo] M McQuillan Bloch hyperbolicity preprint httpwwwmatuniroma2it
~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ05] M McQuillan Semi-stable reduction of foliations IHES pre-print IHESM0502
(2005) httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ05rdquo] M McQuillan Uniform Uniformisation IHES pre-print (2005) IHES M0503 http
wwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ08] M McQuillan Canonical models of foliations Pure Appl Math Q 4
(2008) no 3 Special Issue In honor of Fedor Bogomolov Part 2 877-1012
httpintlpresscomsitepubfiles_fulltextjournalspamq20080004
0003PAMQ-2008-0004-0003-a009pdf
[MP13] M McQuillan D Panazzolo Almost etale resolution of foliations J Diff Geom 95
(2013) pp 279-319 httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesmp1bispdf
[Pe02] JV Pereira On the Poincare Problem for Foliations of General Type Mathematische
Annalen 323 no 2 pp217-226 2002 httpsarxivorgabsmath0104185
[PS16] JV Pereira R Svaldi Effective algebraic integration in bounded genus preprint
httpsarxivorgabs161206932
64 FEDERICO BUONERBA
[Re83] M Reid Minimal models of canonical threefolds in rdquoAlgebraic Varieties and Ana-
lytic Varietiesrdquo Adv Stud Pure Math vol 1 S Iitaka ed Kinokuniya and North-
Holland 1983 pp 131-180 httpwwwmathsedacukcheltsovquotientpdf
reid2pdf
[Se67] A Seidenberg Reduction of singularities of the differential equation Ady = Bdx Amer
J Math 89 (1967) 248-269 httpwwwjstororgstable2373435
[SB83] N Shepherd-Barron Degenerations with numerically effective canonical divisor The
Birational Geometry of Degenerations (R Friedman and D Morrison eds) Progr
Math no 29 Birkhuser 1983 pp 33-84
[Vis89] A Vistoli Intersection theory on algebraic stacks and on their moduli spaces
Invent Math (1989) pp 613-670 httplinkspringercomarticle101007
2FBF01388892page-1
Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences New York University 251 Mercer
Street New York NY 10012 USA
E-mail address buonerbacimsnyuedu
- I Introduction
- II Preliminaries
-
- III Operations on Deligne-Mumford stacks
- IIII Width of embedded parabolic champs
- IIIII Gorenstein foliation singularities
- IIIV Foliated adjunction
- IIV Canonical models of foliated surfaces with canonical singularities
- IIVI Canonical models of foliated surfaces with log-canonical singularities
- IIVII Set-up
-
- III Invariant curves and singularities local description
-
- IIII `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F) not isolated
- IIIII `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F) isolated
- IIIIII Local consequences
-
- IV Invariant curves along which KF vanishes
-
- IVI KF-nil curves
- IVII Invariant curves inside `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F)
-
- V Configurations
-
- VI Configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
- VII Configurations of non-rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
-
- VI Contractions and proof of the Main Theorem
- VII Moduli space of foliated surfaces of general type
- References
-
46 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Later on we will show that the deformations of C cannot span an elliptic surface
but only a family of nodal rational curves with a special Riccati foliation on it
We are ready to organize a detailed description of the dual graph of C More pre-
cisely we only need to understand how double curves intersect non-double curves
Lemma VI8 There exists a sequence of flops X 99KX + such that if C + denotes
the transform of C every double curve supported on C + contains two triple points
Proof Let C sube C be an irreducible component with at most one triple point and
let X 99K X + be its flop Then its transform C+ is non-double and the number
of double curves contained in C descreases It is clear that after finitely many flops
all double curves contain exactly two triple points
From now on all double curves in C have two triple points Thanks to proposition
VI2 we know that there are two cases to consider those curves along which the
semi-simple field has not only rational eigenvalues and those along which the semi-
simple field has only rational eigenvalues The first case being strictly easier than
the second it is a good starting place to warm up
Proposition VI9 (irrational eigenvalues) Assume that for every foliation singu-
larity along C not all eigenvalues of partS are rational Then every component of C
is net with at most one node and 1-skeleton of its dual graph is at worst trivalent
Write C = C axes cup C free where
C axes is the union of double curves
C free is the union of non-double curves
Then one among C axes and C free is empty Moreover
bull If C free is non-empty then it is a chain of smooth curves with rational moduli
bull If C axes is non-empty there exists a sequence of flops X 99KX + and an ir-
reducible component of the fiber FC subX + such that X + is a smooth stack
the transform C+ of C is contained in FC Moreover the dual graph of C+
is a tree which by [McQ08 III32] becomes a chain inside the normalization
of FC
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 47
Proof The first sentence is just corollary IIIIII3
Observe that if a non-double curve intersects a double curve then the non-double
curve must be contained in an LC-center around such intersection This contradicts
that not all eigenvalues are rational and establishes that one among C axes and C free
is empty
In case C free is not empty then it is clearly a chain or a cycle the latter being
impossible by Proposition VI5
We are left to show the existence of flops in case C = C axes We remark that
every component is smooth Let C0 be such a component and S0 a component of
X0 containing it Let C1 be the collection of irreducible components of C which
intersect S0 but are not contained in it All the components of C1 are smooth hence
we can flop them in any order until the transform of C1 lies in the transform of S0
Since the number of irreducible components of C lying outside S0 decreases after
such flop by induction we deduce the existence of finitely many flops after which
the birational transform of C is fully contained in the transform of S0
Next we take care of rational eigenvalues The complication here arises from
the fact that there may be double and non-double curves intersecting each other
However the situation is best possible
Proposition VI10 (rational eigenvalues) Assume that for every foliation singu-
larity along C all eigenvalues of partS are rational Write C = C axes cup C free where
C axes is the union of double curves
C free is the union of non-double curves
Then there exists a sequence of flops X 99K X + and an irreducible component of
the fiber FC axes subX + such that
bull X + is a smooth stack
bull The union of double curves of C axes is contained in FC axes the 1-skeleton of
its dual graph is a tree and each of its components has two triple points
bull The 1-skeleton of the dual graph of the transform C free+ is a disjoint union of
trees
bull Each connected component of C free+ intersects C axes in exactly one point
48 FEDERICO BUONERBA
In particular the 1-skeleton of the dual graph of C is a tree
Proof Notice that for every point lowast isin C cap Z there exists one LC-center through lowastIndeed there are three rational eigenvalues and they cannot be all non-vanishing and
all with different signs at the same time Now C axes can be treated as in proposition
VI9 This proves the first two items of the statement The third item follows from
Proposition VI5 so we can focus on the fourth one The proof is based on the
following obvious
Remark VI11 let C be a double curve such that either it is KF -nil hence has
two triple points or it is fully contained in sing(F ) Let C0 sube C free intersect C
non-trivially in a point lowast then necessarily C0 sub LClowast
Now let C0 middot middot middot CN form a chain of non-double curves with C0 and CN both
intersecting double curves as in the remark Denote by lowasti = Ci cap Ci+1 Since
C1 sub LClowast necessarily C1 is transverse to LClowast1 otherwise C1 would deform in F (C1)
Inductively we see that Ci+1 sub LClowasti and is transverse to LClowasti+1 In particular CN
cannot touch a double curve This contradiction proves the fourth item
Let us add a remark about configurations featuring invariant curves inside sing(F )
Proposition VI12 Let C be an invariant curve with KF middot C = 0 such that
Z0 sube C for some component Z0 sube sing(F ) Then C = Z prime cup C where
Z prime is a connected invariant curve inside the foliation singularity with dual graph a
chain
C is the union of at most two pairwise disjoint KF -nil curves with anti-ample
normal bundle
If not empty C can only intersect Z prime at the two ends of its dual graph Moreover
perhaps after a flop the intersection of C with Z prime supports the foliation singularity
along C As such if C has two components Z prime cup C deforms in the general fiber
Proof The structure of Z prime is Proposition IVII3 while that of Co is Proposition
IVI6 Let C prime be a component of C intersecting Z0 in a point lowast If C prime and Z0 belong
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 49
to different components of X0 then by case ni (1)b the eigenvalue of partS along C prime
vanishes so supp(sing(F ) cap C prime) = lowast If C prime and Z0 belong to the same component
then we can flop C prime into a different component
Observe that the divisor D prime from op cit can be extended along C prime This implies
that C can only intersect Z prime at its ends Moreover if C touches both ends necessarily
D prime capX0 = C scheme-theoretically hence by the existence of Hilbert scheme IVI5
we conclude
Our new set-up is
Set-up VI13 Everything as in set-up IIVII4 and moreover for any connected
invariant curve C with KF middot C = 0 all of whose sub-curves are rigid we have
configurations computed in proposition VI9 VI10 and Lemma VI12
VII Configurations of non-rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
In this subsection we describe configurations of surfaces which are covered by KF -nil
curves The structure of each such surface is described by classification IIV1 IIV2
and Corollary IIVI17 Our first step is to simplify the situation by contracting
chains of ruled surfaces The next step is to try and exclude the possibility that
the singular fiber of p contains fibrations by elliptic or nodal rational curves with
at least one invariant fiber This can be achieved with good success indeed there
may be at most one such Riccati foliation which is anyway rather isolated from the
remaining KF -nil curves Finally we observe that the only class of surfaces we have
not mentioned is
Definition VII1 A irreducible component F of the singular fiber of p is called
small Kronecker if
bull (FFF ) is birational to a Kronecker vector field on P1 timesP1 and
bull The two rulings of this P1 timesP1 are cohomologous inside X
The name comes from the fact that contraction of a small Kronecker yields a node
in the ambient threefold which admits a small resolution In fact in many respects
these fiber components behave very much like rigid KF -nil curves
50 FEDERICO BUONERBA
We start by getting rid of some fiber components which are ruled by KF -nil gener-
ically smooth rational curves
Proposition VII2 Notation as in Set-up VI13 there exists a sequence of flops
and divisorial contractions c X 99KX + such that
bull X + is a smooth stack
bull let S+ sub X + be an irreducible invariant divisor that contains a positive-
dimensional family of invariant rational curves along which KF+ vanishes
Then S+ is either birationally ruled by nodal rational curves or it is a small
Kronecker
Proof We focus first on contracting components of the singular fiber of p Consider
the following algorithm If there is no birationally ruled component different from
the ones listed in the second item we are done otherwise pick one such F and let
C denote the general member of the ruling If the cohomology class [C] is inde-
composable F is minimal Otherwise [C] = [C1] + [C2] where Ci are rational and
intersect KF trivially After finitely many steps we have a decomposition as a finite
sum of indecomposables [C] =sumn
i=0 ni[Ci] where every Ci is rational intersects KF
trivially We have two cases
bull There exists k such that Ck deforms in a birationally ruled necessarily min-
imal surface Fk
bull Every Ci has anti-ample normal bundle
In the first case denote by X rarr X1 the contraction of Fk along |Ck| and relpace
X by X1 Since Fk is minimal smoothness of the ambient stack is preserved unless
Fk is a small Kronecker This is however impossible if n ge 2 if Fk were a small
Kronecker then Ck deforms away from Fkminus1 so then Fkminus1 middot Ck = 0 on the other
hand Fkminus1 intersects the other ruling of Fk positively
In the second case flop C1 middot middot middot Cn in this order The transform of F is minimal and
not a small Kronecker so it can be contracted along its ruling preserving ambient
smoothness By induction on the Picard rank of X after finitely many steps this
algorithm ends Call X the output of this algorithm
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 51
Let S subX be an invariant divisor with a generically smooth ruling Then pS S rarr∆ is flat and after flopping finitely many rational curves in S cap plowastS(0) the resulting
pS is smooth Hence we can contract S along pS After finitely many steps the
Proposition is proven
For ease of notation in the sequel we call X the output of the previous proposition
Notice that there might still be divisors carrying a pencil of nodal rational curves
both inside and outside the singular fiber of p
We can start analyzing configurations of fiber components where the restriction of
F is not of general type We need some notation whose reason to exist will be clear
shortly
Definition VII3 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
along which KF is not big F is called special Riccati if
bull F is minimal
bull There exists a morphism s F rarr B onto a curve whose fibers are nodal
rational curve
bull F is transverse to the general fiber of s in particular KF is numerically
trivial along s
bull At least one fiber of s is invariant
bull There exists a section σ of s which is invariant and does not coincide with
the nodal locus of F
In particular the intersections of σ with invariant fibers of s isolated singularities
of F the node of F all coincide There may be fibers of s fully contained in sing(F )
in which case they are everywhere transverse to the saturated foliation
The definition looks nasty but special Riccati components have a rather simple
origin as the following proof shows
Lemma VII4 Let F be special Riccati Up to base change by an etale double cover
Bprime rarr B there is a natural isomorphism F norm simminusrarr BprimetimesP1 and the restriction of F
to F norm is birational to the projection onto P1
52 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proof We work over the normalization F norm Denote by Bprime the pre-image of the
node of F which is an etale double cover of B and let f denote an invariant fiber
of s with lowast = σ cap f Observe that F norm carries a Riccati foliation with 3 invariant
curves through lowast - namely σ f and a component of Bprime Hence FF has a log-canonical
singularity in lowast On F norm perform a weighted blow-up in each log-canonical singu-
larity followed by the contraction of the transforms of the corresponding fibers Let
s+ F+ rarr B denote the output of this operation If the proper transform of Bprime is
connected replace F+ by its base change under Bprime rarr B Hence we can assume Bprime
is the disjoint union of two sections of s+ and the transform of σ is a third section
which is disjoint from Bprime Therefore F+ = P1 timesBprime and the foliation restricts to the
projection onto P1
Next we describe those surfaces which cannot appear as components of the sin-
gular fiber X0
Definition VII5 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
along which KF is not big F is called illusory if
bull there exists a morphism t F rarr B onto a curve
bull KF is trivial along t
bull For any other fiber component F prime the intersection F cap F prime is either empty or
contained in a fiber of t
We give examples of illusory fiber components
Lemma VII6 The following fiber components are necessarily illusory
bull t is elliptic the foliation is either parallel to t or turbolent with at least one
invariant fiber
bull t is a nodal ruling the foliation is either parallel to t or transverse to t with
at least one invariant fiber and not birational to a special Riccati VII3
Proof Let f = F cap F prime for some fiber component F prime It is F -invariant
Assume t and F are parallel and f is transverse to both Then necessarily f subesing(F ) and KF is positive along the fibers of t contradiction
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 53
Assume t and F are generically transverse and f is transverse to t Let e be an
invariant fiber of t then ecap f isin sing(F ) hence t must be a family of nodal rational
curves and ecapf coincides with the node of e - otherwise KF would be positive along
t But this implies F is special Riccati contradiction
We proceed to show that illusory fibers do not exist
Lemma VII7 Let F be an illusory fiber component then every fiber of t is irre-
ducible If F prime is any fiber component intersecting F non-trivially then F prime is illusory
Proof Assume t has a reducible fiber f Then we can write f = f prime cup f primeprime where f prime
is irreducible and f primeprime is a disjoint union of chains of rational curves In particular
every subscheme supported on f primeprime is rigid in X f prime is rational and smooth iff f is a
cycle of rational curves hence the foliation on F is parallel to t and the choice of f prime
is not unique otherwise f prime is nodal or elliptic Let X 99KX + denote the flop of the
irreducible components of f primeprime in any order The proper transform f prime+ (below in red)
is the irreducible fiber of the induced morphism t+ F+ rarr B Since f primeprime+ intersects
f prime+ and is not contained in F+ there exists a component F prime of the fiber of p+ such
that F+ cap f prime+ 6= empty Since F+ is illusory necessarily F+ cap F prime = f prime+ Moreover F+
and F prime are the only fiber components intersecting f prime+ again because F+ is illusory
We deduce that F+ middot f prime+ = F prime middot f prime+ = 0 and therefore f prime+ is nef inside F prime It follows
that he restriction of F+ to F prime is not of general type and by the classification of
foliated surfaces [McQ08] necessarily f prime+ deforms inside F prime and defines a fibration
u F prime rarr Bprime In particular f prime+ is an irreducible fiber of u This is however impossible
since u contracts all the components of f primeprime+ contained in F prime (below in blue) and by
definition of F prime there exists at least one such component This proves that every
fiber of t is irreducible The following depicts the situation
F prime F+
f prime+
f primeprime+
t+u
54 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Concerning the second statement we only need to check the third condition for F prime
to be illussory namely that every other fiber component F primeprime intersecting F prime does
so along the fibers of u If F primeprime intersects F prime transversely to u then F primeprime intersects F
non-trivially and transversely to t as well absurd
Corollary VII8 Illusory components do not exist
Proof By the above lemma the existence of one illusory component implies that
every irreducible component of the singular fiber of p is illusory contradicting that
KF is big
We can now focus on fiber components that do appear
Corollary VII9 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
containing an invariant curve C which moves and such that KF middot C = 0 Then
following the classification [McQ08] we have two cases
(1) The minimal model of F is a special Riccati component
(2) F is a small Kronecker
Proof Certainly the ones listed are the only cases where C is KF -nil We have to
exclude the possibility that C is invariant inside sing(F ) By Proposition IVII3
such C would be rational with at most one node Since we already contracted at
the beginning of the present subsection all ruled surfaces necessarily C is nodal
However by opcit C cannot intersect any other fiber component of X0 which
implies the absurdity that X0 = F
We proceed to show that special Riccati components are rather isolated in the
fiber
Lemma VII10 Let F be a special Riccati component If F prime is a fiber component
intersecting F non-trivially then it does so transversely to s Morover there is
exactly one such F prime
Proof After finitely many flops we can assume that every fiber of s is irreducible
By the non-existence of illusory components there exists a fiber component F lowast with
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 55
σprime = F cap F prime transverse to s If F primeprime is a fiber component with f = F cap F primeprime a fiber
of s then we claim f sube sing(F ) If not then since KF middot f = 0 and σprime is invariant
necessarily σprimecap f is the node of f But then the existence of F primeprime contradicts that p is
snc Hence f sube sing(F ) so then around the node of f there are 3 fiber components -
two branches coming from F one from F primeprime - and sing(F ) has 2 branches - namely f
This is impossible by our case analysis ni (1)c ni (2)c The very same reasoning
establishes the uniqueness of F prime
Lemma VII11 Let F be as in the previous Lemma If C is a connected curve
with KF middot C = 0 then it is disjoint from F
Proof After finitely many flops s is irreducible and C intersects F transversely away
from its node Moreover lowast = C cap F isin sing(F ) and we deduce that the fiber of s
through lowast is fully contained in the singular locus of F This contradicts Proposition
IVII3 since such fiber is nodal
We conclude by observing the obvious
Lemma VII12 Let F be a small Kronecker Then there exists a contraction
c X rarr X prime which is an isomorphism away from F and contracts F along one
of its rulings Necessarily X prime is not projective since every global Cartier divisor
intersects c(F ) trivially On the other hand in a formal neighborhood of c(F ) there
exist Cartier divisors intersecting it non-trivialliy
As such the contribution coming from non-rigid curves is rather poor there are
curves moving in the general fiber there are special Riccati components disjoint from
any other invariant curve intersecting KF trivially there are small Kroneckers who
can be contracted to curves We shall see in the next section that the complications
arising from the contraction of such non-rigid curves is purely psychological and
totally harmless
56 FEDERICO BUONERBA
VI Contractions and proof of the Main Theorem
In this section we contract all invariant curves along which KF is zero thereby
establishing the existence of canonical models I First we contract non-rigid curves
as described in the previous subsection
bull Small Kroneckers along either ruling Albeit this destroys projectivity of
the ambient threefold there still exist Cartier divisors defined in a formal
neighborhood of the base curve that intersect it non-trivially
bull Families of irreducible nodal rational curves which are flat over ∆ This
creates elliptic singularities on the general fiber of p which are disjoint from
other invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
bull Special Riccati again families of irreducible nodal rational curves fully con-
tained in X0 This creates elliptic singularities disjoint from other invariant
curves intersecting KF trivially
We can summarize our situation by way of
Set-up VI1 X is a 3-dimensional DM stack with at worst elliptic singularities
F a foliation by curves with canonical singularities which is not Q-Cartier in a
neighborhood of Xsing
There exists a proper morphism p X rarr ∆ smooth off 0 isin ∆ F restricts to a
foliation on every fiber of p it has canonical singularities on the very general fiber
of p and log-canonical singularities on every fiber of p KF is big and nef on every
irreducible component of every fiber of p
Let C be the invariant sub-scheme along which KF is not big then C is a curve
fully contained in the smooth locus X0capXsmooth every sub-curve of C has anti-ample
normal bundle the 1-simplex of its dual graph is a tree and detailed configurations
of such are referenced in set-up VI13
We proceed to contract such C We assume that along C the semi-simple field has
only rational eigenvalues and moreover no component of C is inside the foliation
singularity The other two cases - irrational eigenvalues and presence of singular
component - are strictly easier and can be obtained with the very same method
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 57
The proof takes place in the formal completion around C = C free cup C axes The
former is a disjoint union of trees of non-double curves For each non-double C let
F (C) denote the unique component of X0 containing it The latter is a tree of double
curves each with two triple points all contained in the same irreducible FC axes Each
tree of non-double curves touches C axes in one point through a LC-center In order
to construct the contraction we will use Artinrsquos celebrated criterion in the following
form
Fact VI1 ([Ar70]) Let X be an irreducible algebraic space i Y rarr X a closed
subspace of pure codimension 1 and f Y rarr Y0 a proper morphism with flowastOY = OY0
Let X denote the formal completion of X along Y and assume there exists a Cartier
divisor D in X which is supported on Y and is f -anti-ample Then there exists a
proper morphism of algebraic spaces F X rarr X0 which is an isomorphism away
from Y and such that ilowastF = f
Now we use the tree structure of C to construct a suitable divisor to which apply
Artinrsquos theorem Namely consider the following inductive defintion
(35) C0 = C axes F0 = FC axes
For k ge 0 assume Ck Fk are defined
bull Let Ck+1 denote the union of irreducible components of C that intersect Fk
non-trivially but are not contained in cupilekFibull Let Fk+1 denote the reduced sum (
sumCsubeCk+1
F (C))red
This process stops with a collection C1 middot middot middotCN of curves and F1 middot middot middot FN of reduced
divisors
Lemma VI1 We have the following identities
(36)
Fk middot C lt 0 for every C sube Ck
(F0 + F1) middot C le 0 for every C sube C0
(Fkminus1 + Fk + Fk+1) middot C = 0 for every C sube Ck 1 lt k lt N
(FNminus1 + FN) middot C lt 0 for every C sube CN
58 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proof The first is just the fact that every component of C is rigid The remaining
three follow from X0 middot C = 0 but the last one requires further justification Indeed
if C sube CN N gt 0 then C is one end of a tree of non-double curves In particular
there exists a foliation singularity lowast isin C disjoint from any other component of
C and LClowast is transverse to C This implies LClowast middotC gt 0 which together with
(FNminus1 + FN + LClowast) middot C = 0 concludes the proof
Let ε1 middot middot middot εN isin Qgt0 and define
(37) F Nminusk = (1 + ε1 + middot middot middot+ εk)FNminusk
bull If C sube CN we have
(38) (F Nminus1 + F
N) middot C = ε1FNminus1 middot C + (FNminus1 + FN) middot C
bull If C sube CNminusk 1 lt k lt N we have
(39)
(F Nminuskminus1 + F
Nminusk + F Nminusk+1) middot C =
(1 + middot middot middot+ εk)(FNminuskminus1 + FNminusk + FNminusk+1) middot C minus εkFNminusk+1 middot C + εk+1FNminuskminus1 middot C =
minus εkFNminusk+1 middot C + εk+1FNminuskminus1 middot C
bull If C sube C0 we have
(40) (F 0 + F
1) middot C = εNF0 middot C + (Nminus1sumj=0
εj)(F0 + F1) middot C
It is clear that provided
(41) 1 gtgt ε1 gtgt middot middot middot gtgt εN
the divisor F =sumF k is negative along every component of C
This proves the existence of the contraction and concludes the proof of the Main
Theorem I
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 59
VII Moduli space of foliated surfaces of general type
In this section we study the modular variation of foliated surfaces of general type
The upshot is that it is possible to define a functor which is representable separated
and every irreducible component is proper The main issue here is that the supporting
surface of a foliated canonical model may well fail to be projective indeed KF is not
Q-Gorenstein in general Hence in order to proceed via standard methods [Ko17]
we have to parametrize our canonical models together with a suitable projective
resolution
Definition VII13 Let (SF ) be a foliated proper reduced purely 2-dimensional
DM stack Assume S has only normal crossing singularities in codimension 1 that
F has log-canonical foliation singularities and that KF is big and nef on at least
one of the irreducible components of S If whenever KF middot C = 0 for some curve C
then C moves in an irreducible component of S and no member of such deformation
is F -invariant then (SF ) is called foliated canonical model of general type
Clearly foliated canonical models are exactly the stable degenerations appearing
as the central fiber of our Main Theorem I Their lack of projectivity has two sources
namely the contraction of cycles of smooth KF -nil curves and of trees of cuspidal
ones Singularities arising from cycles behave well in families namely they always
deform into the general fiber Those arising from cuspidal curves on the other hand
tend to be rather isolated inside the degenerate fiber
Observe that the deformation theory of a foliated surface is rather simple suppose
given an infinitesimal C-algebras extension 0 rarr J rarr Ae rarr A rarr 0 and (SF )
a foliated surface flat over Spec(A) then the obstruction to lifting to Ae can be
understood in three simple steps
(1) Deformation of the underlying surface S once a deformation Se rarr Spec(Ae)
is given
(2) Deformation of the line bundle KF by the exponential sequence
(42) 0rarr J otimes OS rarr OlowastSerarr OlowastS rarr 0
obstructions lie in H2(SOS)otimes J once a deformation of KF is given
60 FEDERICO BUONERBA
(3) Deformation of the defining section OS rarr KF otimes TS obstructions lie in
H1(SKF otimes TS)otimes J
Now we have
Definition VII14 Let (SF ) be a foliated canonical model of general type A
proper birational morphism q (SF )proj rarr (SF ) is called its projective resolution
if
bull Every irreducible component of Sproj is smooth
bull The exceptional locus of q is a disjoint union of cycles of KFproj-nil smooth
curves and trees of KFproj-nil curves each of which has a non-trivial cuspidal
singularity
bull In a neighborhood of every q-exceptional cycle not only Sproj but also its
moduli space is smooth
We need a few remarks about projective resolutions
(1) Projective resolutions are always unique Indeed the only possible ambiguity
could lie in some extra smooth irreducible components in the exceptional
locus This is forbidden by definition in the trees of cuspidal curves it is
also forbidden by way of the third item in cycles of smooth ones ie on
algebraic surfaces the minimal resolution is unique
(2) Denote by E the collection of q-exceptional cycles Then there exist ε δ isinQgt0 such that KFproj
minus εE + δKSprojis ample by Nakai-Moishezon
(3) Deformations of a projective resolution of a foliated canonical model are
canonically identified with deformations of the underlying birational mor-
phism q Sproj rarr S followed by a deformation of the foliation F
We are now ready to construct a moduli functor for foliated surfaces more precisely
for projective resolutions of foliated canonical models of general type For m dN isinN and ε δ isin Qgt0 let
(43) MmdNεδ (C-schemes)rarr (sets)
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 61
be defined by MmdNεδ(S) = Diagrams
(44) (X F )projqminusrarr (X F )
pminusrarr S
Where
bull Both p and p q are flat and proper
bull For every closed point s isin S the induced morphism qs is the projective
resolution of (X F )s which is a foliated canonical model of general type
bull Denote by Es the collection of exceptional cycles of qs By our Main Theorem
I there is a fibrewise divisor E subXproj flat over S restricting to Es for every
s isin S
bull Let j W rarr Xproj denote the maximal closed subscheme away from which
KFprojand KXprojS are locally free Then
(45) L [m] = (jlowast(KFprojotimes OXproj
(minusεE )otimesKδXprojS
)otimesm)oror
is flat over S and commutes with base-change
bull L [m] is very ample of degree d on every fiber and defines an embedding into
PNS
We are now ready for
Theorem VII15 The functor MmdNεδ is represented by a separated algebraic
space each of whose irreducible components is proper
Proof We show that our functor satisfies Artinrsquos conditions [Ar74 Corollary 54] By
definition condition 1) and 4) hold while our previous remark on foliated obstruction
theory shows that 3) is true
We proceed to show 2) namely effectivity of formal deformations for MmdNεδ
What follows owes much to Artinrsquos [A74rsquo] Let T be a complete C-algebra Tn its
n-truncation so that Tsimminusrarr limlarrminusTn and finally qn isinMmdNεδ(Spec(Tn)) a compatible
sequence For each n there is a maximal open set Un sube Xprojn where qn is an
isomorphism denote by sn Cn rarr Zn the restriction of qn to the complement of Un
Clearly sn is projective over Spec(Tn)
62 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Denote by X C etc the formal algebraic spaces obtained as limits of Xn Cn
etc Then Xproj sub PNˆSpec(T )
hence by Grothendieckrsquos existence Theorem we find
bull a flat projective family (X F )proj rarr Spec(T ) resp a closed subscheme
C subXproj whose completion is Xproj resp C
bull a scheme Z whose completion is Z and a morphism s C rarr Z everything
being projective over Spec(T )
Further we have a formal contraction limminusrarr qn C rarr Z hence the main theorem
of [Ar70] gives algebraic contraction (X F )proj rarr (X F ) This proves the repre-
sentability of MmdNεδ The properness and separability of each irreducible com-
ponent can be checked using valutative criteria indeed properness is the content of
our Main Theorem I separatedness follows from the uniqueness of foliated canonical
models of general type and their projective resolution
References
[Ar70] M Artin Algebraization of Formal Moduli II Existence of Modifications Ann
of Math Vol 91 No 1 (Jan 1970) pp 88-135 httpwwwjstororgstable
1970602
[Ar74] M Artin Versal Deformations and Algebraic Stacks Inventiones Math 27 165- 189
(1974) httpmathuchicagoedu~drinfeldArtin_on_stackspdf
[A74rsquo] M Artin Algebraic construction of Brieskornrsquos resolutions J Alg Vol 29 Issue
2 May 1974 pp 330-348 httpwwwsciencedirectcomsciencearticlepii
0021869374901021
[BB72] P Baum R Bott Singularities of holomorphic foliations J Diff Geom 7 (1972)
279-342 httpsprojecteuclidorgdownloadpdf_1euclidjdg1214431158
[Bo77] F Bogomolov Families of curves on a surface of general type Doklady Akademii Nauk
USSR (in Russian) 236 (5) 1041-1044
[Bo78] F Bogomolov Holomorphic tensors and vector bundles on projective varieties Math
USSR Izv 13 (1978) 499-555
[BM16] F Bogomolov M McQuillan Rational Curves on Foliated Varieties In Cascini
McKernan Pereira (eds) Foliation Theory in Algebraic Geometry Simons Symposia
Springer Cham pp 21-51 (2016) httpslinkspringercomchapter101007
978-3-319-24460-0_2
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 63
[Bu] F Buonerba Functorial resolution of tame quotient singularities in positive charac-
teristic httpsarxivorgabs151100550
[Ke99] S Keel Basepoint Freeness for Nef and Big Line Bundles in Positive Characteris-
tic Annals of Math 149 No 1 (Jan 1999) pp 253-286 httpwwwjstororg
stable121025 httpsarxivorgabsmath9901149
[KM97] S Keel S Mori Quotients by groupoids Annals of Math 145 (1997) pp
193-213 httpwwwjstororgstable2951828seq=1page_scan_tab_contents
httparxivorgabsalg-geom9508012
[Ko17] J Kollar Families of varieties of general type httpswebmathprincetonedu
~kollarbookmodbook20170720pdf
[LN02] A Lins Neto Some examples for the Poincare and Painleve problems Annales sci-
entifiques de lrsquoENS 352 (2002) 231-266 httparchivenumdamorgarticle
ASENS_2002_4_35_2_231_0pdf
[McQ12] M McQuillan Foliated Mori Theory amp Hyperbolicity of Algebraic Surfaces http
wwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillahomehtml
[McQ98] M McQuillan Diophantine approximation and foliations Inst Hautes Etudes Sci
Publ Math 87 (1998) 121-174 httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafiles
ihespdf
[McQ05rsquo] M McQuillan Bloch hyperbolicity preprint httpwwwmatuniroma2it
~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ05] M McQuillan Semi-stable reduction of foliations IHES pre-print IHESM0502
(2005) httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ05rdquo] M McQuillan Uniform Uniformisation IHES pre-print (2005) IHES M0503 http
wwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ08] M McQuillan Canonical models of foliations Pure Appl Math Q 4
(2008) no 3 Special Issue In honor of Fedor Bogomolov Part 2 877-1012
httpintlpresscomsitepubfiles_fulltextjournalspamq20080004
0003PAMQ-2008-0004-0003-a009pdf
[MP13] M McQuillan D Panazzolo Almost etale resolution of foliations J Diff Geom 95
(2013) pp 279-319 httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesmp1bispdf
[Pe02] JV Pereira On the Poincare Problem for Foliations of General Type Mathematische
Annalen 323 no 2 pp217-226 2002 httpsarxivorgabsmath0104185
[PS16] JV Pereira R Svaldi Effective algebraic integration in bounded genus preprint
httpsarxivorgabs161206932
64 FEDERICO BUONERBA
[Re83] M Reid Minimal models of canonical threefolds in rdquoAlgebraic Varieties and Ana-
lytic Varietiesrdquo Adv Stud Pure Math vol 1 S Iitaka ed Kinokuniya and North-
Holland 1983 pp 131-180 httpwwwmathsedacukcheltsovquotientpdf
reid2pdf
[Se67] A Seidenberg Reduction of singularities of the differential equation Ady = Bdx Amer
J Math 89 (1967) 248-269 httpwwwjstororgstable2373435
[SB83] N Shepherd-Barron Degenerations with numerically effective canonical divisor The
Birational Geometry of Degenerations (R Friedman and D Morrison eds) Progr
Math no 29 Birkhuser 1983 pp 33-84
[Vis89] A Vistoli Intersection theory on algebraic stacks and on their moduli spaces
Invent Math (1989) pp 613-670 httplinkspringercomarticle101007
2FBF01388892page-1
Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences New York University 251 Mercer
Street New York NY 10012 USA
E-mail address buonerbacimsnyuedu
- I Introduction
- II Preliminaries
-
- III Operations on Deligne-Mumford stacks
- IIII Width of embedded parabolic champs
- IIIII Gorenstein foliation singularities
- IIIV Foliated adjunction
- IIV Canonical models of foliated surfaces with canonical singularities
- IIVI Canonical models of foliated surfaces with log-canonical singularities
- IIVII Set-up
-
- III Invariant curves and singularities local description
-
- IIII `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F) not isolated
- IIIII `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F) isolated
- IIIIII Local consequences
-
- IV Invariant curves along which KF vanishes
-
- IVI KF-nil curves
- IVII Invariant curves inside `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F)
-
- V Configurations
-
- VI Configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
- VII Configurations of non-rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
-
- VI Contractions and proof of the Main Theorem
- VII Moduli space of foliated surfaces of general type
- References
-
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 47
Proof The first sentence is just corollary IIIIII3
Observe that if a non-double curve intersects a double curve then the non-double
curve must be contained in an LC-center around such intersection This contradicts
that not all eigenvalues are rational and establishes that one among C axes and C free
is empty
In case C free is not empty then it is clearly a chain or a cycle the latter being
impossible by Proposition VI5
We are left to show the existence of flops in case C = C axes We remark that
every component is smooth Let C0 be such a component and S0 a component of
X0 containing it Let C1 be the collection of irreducible components of C which
intersect S0 but are not contained in it All the components of C1 are smooth hence
we can flop them in any order until the transform of C1 lies in the transform of S0
Since the number of irreducible components of C lying outside S0 decreases after
such flop by induction we deduce the existence of finitely many flops after which
the birational transform of C is fully contained in the transform of S0
Next we take care of rational eigenvalues The complication here arises from
the fact that there may be double and non-double curves intersecting each other
However the situation is best possible
Proposition VI10 (rational eigenvalues) Assume that for every foliation singu-
larity along C all eigenvalues of partS are rational Write C = C axes cup C free where
C axes is the union of double curves
C free is the union of non-double curves
Then there exists a sequence of flops X 99K X + and an irreducible component of
the fiber FC axes subX + such that
bull X + is a smooth stack
bull The union of double curves of C axes is contained in FC axes the 1-skeleton of
its dual graph is a tree and each of its components has two triple points
bull The 1-skeleton of the dual graph of the transform C free+ is a disjoint union of
trees
bull Each connected component of C free+ intersects C axes in exactly one point
48 FEDERICO BUONERBA
In particular the 1-skeleton of the dual graph of C is a tree
Proof Notice that for every point lowast isin C cap Z there exists one LC-center through lowastIndeed there are three rational eigenvalues and they cannot be all non-vanishing and
all with different signs at the same time Now C axes can be treated as in proposition
VI9 This proves the first two items of the statement The third item follows from
Proposition VI5 so we can focus on the fourth one The proof is based on the
following obvious
Remark VI11 let C be a double curve such that either it is KF -nil hence has
two triple points or it is fully contained in sing(F ) Let C0 sube C free intersect C
non-trivially in a point lowast then necessarily C0 sub LClowast
Now let C0 middot middot middot CN form a chain of non-double curves with C0 and CN both
intersecting double curves as in the remark Denote by lowasti = Ci cap Ci+1 Since
C1 sub LClowast necessarily C1 is transverse to LClowast1 otherwise C1 would deform in F (C1)
Inductively we see that Ci+1 sub LClowasti and is transverse to LClowasti+1 In particular CN
cannot touch a double curve This contradiction proves the fourth item
Let us add a remark about configurations featuring invariant curves inside sing(F )
Proposition VI12 Let C be an invariant curve with KF middot C = 0 such that
Z0 sube C for some component Z0 sube sing(F ) Then C = Z prime cup C where
Z prime is a connected invariant curve inside the foliation singularity with dual graph a
chain
C is the union of at most two pairwise disjoint KF -nil curves with anti-ample
normal bundle
If not empty C can only intersect Z prime at the two ends of its dual graph Moreover
perhaps after a flop the intersection of C with Z prime supports the foliation singularity
along C As such if C has two components Z prime cup C deforms in the general fiber
Proof The structure of Z prime is Proposition IVII3 while that of Co is Proposition
IVI6 Let C prime be a component of C intersecting Z0 in a point lowast If C prime and Z0 belong
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 49
to different components of X0 then by case ni (1)b the eigenvalue of partS along C prime
vanishes so supp(sing(F ) cap C prime) = lowast If C prime and Z0 belong to the same component
then we can flop C prime into a different component
Observe that the divisor D prime from op cit can be extended along C prime This implies
that C can only intersect Z prime at its ends Moreover if C touches both ends necessarily
D prime capX0 = C scheme-theoretically hence by the existence of Hilbert scheme IVI5
we conclude
Our new set-up is
Set-up VI13 Everything as in set-up IIVII4 and moreover for any connected
invariant curve C with KF middot C = 0 all of whose sub-curves are rigid we have
configurations computed in proposition VI9 VI10 and Lemma VI12
VII Configurations of non-rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
In this subsection we describe configurations of surfaces which are covered by KF -nil
curves The structure of each such surface is described by classification IIV1 IIV2
and Corollary IIVI17 Our first step is to simplify the situation by contracting
chains of ruled surfaces The next step is to try and exclude the possibility that
the singular fiber of p contains fibrations by elliptic or nodal rational curves with
at least one invariant fiber This can be achieved with good success indeed there
may be at most one such Riccati foliation which is anyway rather isolated from the
remaining KF -nil curves Finally we observe that the only class of surfaces we have
not mentioned is
Definition VII1 A irreducible component F of the singular fiber of p is called
small Kronecker if
bull (FFF ) is birational to a Kronecker vector field on P1 timesP1 and
bull The two rulings of this P1 timesP1 are cohomologous inside X
The name comes from the fact that contraction of a small Kronecker yields a node
in the ambient threefold which admits a small resolution In fact in many respects
these fiber components behave very much like rigid KF -nil curves
50 FEDERICO BUONERBA
We start by getting rid of some fiber components which are ruled by KF -nil gener-
ically smooth rational curves
Proposition VII2 Notation as in Set-up VI13 there exists a sequence of flops
and divisorial contractions c X 99KX + such that
bull X + is a smooth stack
bull let S+ sub X + be an irreducible invariant divisor that contains a positive-
dimensional family of invariant rational curves along which KF+ vanishes
Then S+ is either birationally ruled by nodal rational curves or it is a small
Kronecker
Proof We focus first on contracting components of the singular fiber of p Consider
the following algorithm If there is no birationally ruled component different from
the ones listed in the second item we are done otherwise pick one such F and let
C denote the general member of the ruling If the cohomology class [C] is inde-
composable F is minimal Otherwise [C] = [C1] + [C2] where Ci are rational and
intersect KF trivially After finitely many steps we have a decomposition as a finite
sum of indecomposables [C] =sumn
i=0 ni[Ci] where every Ci is rational intersects KF
trivially We have two cases
bull There exists k such that Ck deforms in a birationally ruled necessarily min-
imal surface Fk
bull Every Ci has anti-ample normal bundle
In the first case denote by X rarr X1 the contraction of Fk along |Ck| and relpace
X by X1 Since Fk is minimal smoothness of the ambient stack is preserved unless
Fk is a small Kronecker This is however impossible if n ge 2 if Fk were a small
Kronecker then Ck deforms away from Fkminus1 so then Fkminus1 middot Ck = 0 on the other
hand Fkminus1 intersects the other ruling of Fk positively
In the second case flop C1 middot middot middot Cn in this order The transform of F is minimal and
not a small Kronecker so it can be contracted along its ruling preserving ambient
smoothness By induction on the Picard rank of X after finitely many steps this
algorithm ends Call X the output of this algorithm
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 51
Let S subX be an invariant divisor with a generically smooth ruling Then pS S rarr∆ is flat and after flopping finitely many rational curves in S cap plowastS(0) the resulting
pS is smooth Hence we can contract S along pS After finitely many steps the
Proposition is proven
For ease of notation in the sequel we call X the output of the previous proposition
Notice that there might still be divisors carrying a pencil of nodal rational curves
both inside and outside the singular fiber of p
We can start analyzing configurations of fiber components where the restriction of
F is not of general type We need some notation whose reason to exist will be clear
shortly
Definition VII3 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
along which KF is not big F is called special Riccati if
bull F is minimal
bull There exists a morphism s F rarr B onto a curve whose fibers are nodal
rational curve
bull F is transverse to the general fiber of s in particular KF is numerically
trivial along s
bull At least one fiber of s is invariant
bull There exists a section σ of s which is invariant and does not coincide with
the nodal locus of F
In particular the intersections of σ with invariant fibers of s isolated singularities
of F the node of F all coincide There may be fibers of s fully contained in sing(F )
in which case they are everywhere transverse to the saturated foliation
The definition looks nasty but special Riccati components have a rather simple
origin as the following proof shows
Lemma VII4 Let F be special Riccati Up to base change by an etale double cover
Bprime rarr B there is a natural isomorphism F norm simminusrarr BprimetimesP1 and the restriction of F
to F norm is birational to the projection onto P1
52 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proof We work over the normalization F norm Denote by Bprime the pre-image of the
node of F which is an etale double cover of B and let f denote an invariant fiber
of s with lowast = σ cap f Observe that F norm carries a Riccati foliation with 3 invariant
curves through lowast - namely σ f and a component of Bprime Hence FF has a log-canonical
singularity in lowast On F norm perform a weighted blow-up in each log-canonical singu-
larity followed by the contraction of the transforms of the corresponding fibers Let
s+ F+ rarr B denote the output of this operation If the proper transform of Bprime is
connected replace F+ by its base change under Bprime rarr B Hence we can assume Bprime
is the disjoint union of two sections of s+ and the transform of σ is a third section
which is disjoint from Bprime Therefore F+ = P1 timesBprime and the foliation restricts to the
projection onto P1
Next we describe those surfaces which cannot appear as components of the sin-
gular fiber X0
Definition VII5 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
along which KF is not big F is called illusory if
bull there exists a morphism t F rarr B onto a curve
bull KF is trivial along t
bull For any other fiber component F prime the intersection F cap F prime is either empty or
contained in a fiber of t
We give examples of illusory fiber components
Lemma VII6 The following fiber components are necessarily illusory
bull t is elliptic the foliation is either parallel to t or turbolent with at least one
invariant fiber
bull t is a nodal ruling the foliation is either parallel to t or transverse to t with
at least one invariant fiber and not birational to a special Riccati VII3
Proof Let f = F cap F prime for some fiber component F prime It is F -invariant
Assume t and F are parallel and f is transverse to both Then necessarily f subesing(F ) and KF is positive along the fibers of t contradiction
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 53
Assume t and F are generically transverse and f is transverse to t Let e be an
invariant fiber of t then ecap f isin sing(F ) hence t must be a family of nodal rational
curves and ecapf coincides with the node of e - otherwise KF would be positive along
t But this implies F is special Riccati contradiction
We proceed to show that illusory fibers do not exist
Lemma VII7 Let F be an illusory fiber component then every fiber of t is irre-
ducible If F prime is any fiber component intersecting F non-trivially then F prime is illusory
Proof Assume t has a reducible fiber f Then we can write f = f prime cup f primeprime where f prime
is irreducible and f primeprime is a disjoint union of chains of rational curves In particular
every subscheme supported on f primeprime is rigid in X f prime is rational and smooth iff f is a
cycle of rational curves hence the foliation on F is parallel to t and the choice of f prime
is not unique otherwise f prime is nodal or elliptic Let X 99KX + denote the flop of the
irreducible components of f primeprime in any order The proper transform f prime+ (below in red)
is the irreducible fiber of the induced morphism t+ F+ rarr B Since f primeprime+ intersects
f prime+ and is not contained in F+ there exists a component F prime of the fiber of p+ such
that F+ cap f prime+ 6= empty Since F+ is illusory necessarily F+ cap F prime = f prime+ Moreover F+
and F prime are the only fiber components intersecting f prime+ again because F+ is illusory
We deduce that F+ middot f prime+ = F prime middot f prime+ = 0 and therefore f prime+ is nef inside F prime It follows
that he restriction of F+ to F prime is not of general type and by the classification of
foliated surfaces [McQ08] necessarily f prime+ deforms inside F prime and defines a fibration
u F prime rarr Bprime In particular f prime+ is an irreducible fiber of u This is however impossible
since u contracts all the components of f primeprime+ contained in F prime (below in blue) and by
definition of F prime there exists at least one such component This proves that every
fiber of t is irreducible The following depicts the situation
F prime F+
f prime+
f primeprime+
t+u
54 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Concerning the second statement we only need to check the third condition for F prime
to be illussory namely that every other fiber component F primeprime intersecting F prime does
so along the fibers of u If F primeprime intersects F prime transversely to u then F primeprime intersects F
non-trivially and transversely to t as well absurd
Corollary VII8 Illusory components do not exist
Proof By the above lemma the existence of one illusory component implies that
every irreducible component of the singular fiber of p is illusory contradicting that
KF is big
We can now focus on fiber components that do appear
Corollary VII9 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
containing an invariant curve C which moves and such that KF middot C = 0 Then
following the classification [McQ08] we have two cases
(1) The minimal model of F is a special Riccati component
(2) F is a small Kronecker
Proof Certainly the ones listed are the only cases where C is KF -nil We have to
exclude the possibility that C is invariant inside sing(F ) By Proposition IVII3
such C would be rational with at most one node Since we already contracted at
the beginning of the present subsection all ruled surfaces necessarily C is nodal
However by opcit C cannot intersect any other fiber component of X0 which
implies the absurdity that X0 = F
We proceed to show that special Riccati components are rather isolated in the
fiber
Lemma VII10 Let F be a special Riccati component If F prime is a fiber component
intersecting F non-trivially then it does so transversely to s Morover there is
exactly one such F prime
Proof After finitely many flops we can assume that every fiber of s is irreducible
By the non-existence of illusory components there exists a fiber component F lowast with
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 55
σprime = F cap F prime transverse to s If F primeprime is a fiber component with f = F cap F primeprime a fiber
of s then we claim f sube sing(F ) If not then since KF middot f = 0 and σprime is invariant
necessarily σprimecap f is the node of f But then the existence of F primeprime contradicts that p is
snc Hence f sube sing(F ) so then around the node of f there are 3 fiber components -
two branches coming from F one from F primeprime - and sing(F ) has 2 branches - namely f
This is impossible by our case analysis ni (1)c ni (2)c The very same reasoning
establishes the uniqueness of F prime
Lemma VII11 Let F be as in the previous Lemma If C is a connected curve
with KF middot C = 0 then it is disjoint from F
Proof After finitely many flops s is irreducible and C intersects F transversely away
from its node Moreover lowast = C cap F isin sing(F ) and we deduce that the fiber of s
through lowast is fully contained in the singular locus of F This contradicts Proposition
IVII3 since such fiber is nodal
We conclude by observing the obvious
Lemma VII12 Let F be a small Kronecker Then there exists a contraction
c X rarr X prime which is an isomorphism away from F and contracts F along one
of its rulings Necessarily X prime is not projective since every global Cartier divisor
intersects c(F ) trivially On the other hand in a formal neighborhood of c(F ) there
exist Cartier divisors intersecting it non-trivialliy
As such the contribution coming from non-rigid curves is rather poor there are
curves moving in the general fiber there are special Riccati components disjoint from
any other invariant curve intersecting KF trivially there are small Kroneckers who
can be contracted to curves We shall see in the next section that the complications
arising from the contraction of such non-rigid curves is purely psychological and
totally harmless
56 FEDERICO BUONERBA
VI Contractions and proof of the Main Theorem
In this section we contract all invariant curves along which KF is zero thereby
establishing the existence of canonical models I First we contract non-rigid curves
as described in the previous subsection
bull Small Kroneckers along either ruling Albeit this destroys projectivity of
the ambient threefold there still exist Cartier divisors defined in a formal
neighborhood of the base curve that intersect it non-trivially
bull Families of irreducible nodal rational curves which are flat over ∆ This
creates elliptic singularities on the general fiber of p which are disjoint from
other invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
bull Special Riccati again families of irreducible nodal rational curves fully con-
tained in X0 This creates elliptic singularities disjoint from other invariant
curves intersecting KF trivially
We can summarize our situation by way of
Set-up VI1 X is a 3-dimensional DM stack with at worst elliptic singularities
F a foliation by curves with canonical singularities which is not Q-Cartier in a
neighborhood of Xsing
There exists a proper morphism p X rarr ∆ smooth off 0 isin ∆ F restricts to a
foliation on every fiber of p it has canonical singularities on the very general fiber
of p and log-canonical singularities on every fiber of p KF is big and nef on every
irreducible component of every fiber of p
Let C be the invariant sub-scheme along which KF is not big then C is a curve
fully contained in the smooth locus X0capXsmooth every sub-curve of C has anti-ample
normal bundle the 1-simplex of its dual graph is a tree and detailed configurations
of such are referenced in set-up VI13
We proceed to contract such C We assume that along C the semi-simple field has
only rational eigenvalues and moreover no component of C is inside the foliation
singularity The other two cases - irrational eigenvalues and presence of singular
component - are strictly easier and can be obtained with the very same method
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 57
The proof takes place in the formal completion around C = C free cup C axes The
former is a disjoint union of trees of non-double curves For each non-double C let
F (C) denote the unique component of X0 containing it The latter is a tree of double
curves each with two triple points all contained in the same irreducible FC axes Each
tree of non-double curves touches C axes in one point through a LC-center In order
to construct the contraction we will use Artinrsquos celebrated criterion in the following
form
Fact VI1 ([Ar70]) Let X be an irreducible algebraic space i Y rarr X a closed
subspace of pure codimension 1 and f Y rarr Y0 a proper morphism with flowastOY = OY0
Let X denote the formal completion of X along Y and assume there exists a Cartier
divisor D in X which is supported on Y and is f -anti-ample Then there exists a
proper morphism of algebraic spaces F X rarr X0 which is an isomorphism away
from Y and such that ilowastF = f
Now we use the tree structure of C to construct a suitable divisor to which apply
Artinrsquos theorem Namely consider the following inductive defintion
(35) C0 = C axes F0 = FC axes
For k ge 0 assume Ck Fk are defined
bull Let Ck+1 denote the union of irreducible components of C that intersect Fk
non-trivially but are not contained in cupilekFibull Let Fk+1 denote the reduced sum (
sumCsubeCk+1
F (C))red
This process stops with a collection C1 middot middot middotCN of curves and F1 middot middot middot FN of reduced
divisors
Lemma VI1 We have the following identities
(36)
Fk middot C lt 0 for every C sube Ck
(F0 + F1) middot C le 0 for every C sube C0
(Fkminus1 + Fk + Fk+1) middot C = 0 for every C sube Ck 1 lt k lt N
(FNminus1 + FN) middot C lt 0 for every C sube CN
58 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proof The first is just the fact that every component of C is rigid The remaining
three follow from X0 middot C = 0 but the last one requires further justification Indeed
if C sube CN N gt 0 then C is one end of a tree of non-double curves In particular
there exists a foliation singularity lowast isin C disjoint from any other component of
C and LClowast is transverse to C This implies LClowast middotC gt 0 which together with
(FNminus1 + FN + LClowast) middot C = 0 concludes the proof
Let ε1 middot middot middot εN isin Qgt0 and define
(37) F Nminusk = (1 + ε1 + middot middot middot+ εk)FNminusk
bull If C sube CN we have
(38) (F Nminus1 + F
N) middot C = ε1FNminus1 middot C + (FNminus1 + FN) middot C
bull If C sube CNminusk 1 lt k lt N we have
(39)
(F Nminuskminus1 + F
Nminusk + F Nminusk+1) middot C =
(1 + middot middot middot+ εk)(FNminuskminus1 + FNminusk + FNminusk+1) middot C minus εkFNminusk+1 middot C + εk+1FNminuskminus1 middot C =
minus εkFNminusk+1 middot C + εk+1FNminuskminus1 middot C
bull If C sube C0 we have
(40) (F 0 + F
1) middot C = εNF0 middot C + (Nminus1sumj=0
εj)(F0 + F1) middot C
It is clear that provided
(41) 1 gtgt ε1 gtgt middot middot middot gtgt εN
the divisor F =sumF k is negative along every component of C
This proves the existence of the contraction and concludes the proof of the Main
Theorem I
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 59
VII Moduli space of foliated surfaces of general type
In this section we study the modular variation of foliated surfaces of general type
The upshot is that it is possible to define a functor which is representable separated
and every irreducible component is proper The main issue here is that the supporting
surface of a foliated canonical model may well fail to be projective indeed KF is not
Q-Gorenstein in general Hence in order to proceed via standard methods [Ko17]
we have to parametrize our canonical models together with a suitable projective
resolution
Definition VII13 Let (SF ) be a foliated proper reduced purely 2-dimensional
DM stack Assume S has only normal crossing singularities in codimension 1 that
F has log-canonical foliation singularities and that KF is big and nef on at least
one of the irreducible components of S If whenever KF middot C = 0 for some curve C
then C moves in an irreducible component of S and no member of such deformation
is F -invariant then (SF ) is called foliated canonical model of general type
Clearly foliated canonical models are exactly the stable degenerations appearing
as the central fiber of our Main Theorem I Their lack of projectivity has two sources
namely the contraction of cycles of smooth KF -nil curves and of trees of cuspidal
ones Singularities arising from cycles behave well in families namely they always
deform into the general fiber Those arising from cuspidal curves on the other hand
tend to be rather isolated inside the degenerate fiber
Observe that the deformation theory of a foliated surface is rather simple suppose
given an infinitesimal C-algebras extension 0 rarr J rarr Ae rarr A rarr 0 and (SF )
a foliated surface flat over Spec(A) then the obstruction to lifting to Ae can be
understood in three simple steps
(1) Deformation of the underlying surface S once a deformation Se rarr Spec(Ae)
is given
(2) Deformation of the line bundle KF by the exponential sequence
(42) 0rarr J otimes OS rarr OlowastSerarr OlowastS rarr 0
obstructions lie in H2(SOS)otimes J once a deformation of KF is given
60 FEDERICO BUONERBA
(3) Deformation of the defining section OS rarr KF otimes TS obstructions lie in
H1(SKF otimes TS)otimes J
Now we have
Definition VII14 Let (SF ) be a foliated canonical model of general type A
proper birational morphism q (SF )proj rarr (SF ) is called its projective resolution
if
bull Every irreducible component of Sproj is smooth
bull The exceptional locus of q is a disjoint union of cycles of KFproj-nil smooth
curves and trees of KFproj-nil curves each of which has a non-trivial cuspidal
singularity
bull In a neighborhood of every q-exceptional cycle not only Sproj but also its
moduli space is smooth
We need a few remarks about projective resolutions
(1) Projective resolutions are always unique Indeed the only possible ambiguity
could lie in some extra smooth irreducible components in the exceptional
locus This is forbidden by definition in the trees of cuspidal curves it is
also forbidden by way of the third item in cycles of smooth ones ie on
algebraic surfaces the minimal resolution is unique
(2) Denote by E the collection of q-exceptional cycles Then there exist ε δ isinQgt0 such that KFproj
minus εE + δKSprojis ample by Nakai-Moishezon
(3) Deformations of a projective resolution of a foliated canonical model are
canonically identified with deformations of the underlying birational mor-
phism q Sproj rarr S followed by a deformation of the foliation F
We are now ready to construct a moduli functor for foliated surfaces more precisely
for projective resolutions of foliated canonical models of general type For m dN isinN and ε δ isin Qgt0 let
(43) MmdNεδ (C-schemes)rarr (sets)
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 61
be defined by MmdNεδ(S) = Diagrams
(44) (X F )projqminusrarr (X F )
pminusrarr S
Where
bull Both p and p q are flat and proper
bull For every closed point s isin S the induced morphism qs is the projective
resolution of (X F )s which is a foliated canonical model of general type
bull Denote by Es the collection of exceptional cycles of qs By our Main Theorem
I there is a fibrewise divisor E subXproj flat over S restricting to Es for every
s isin S
bull Let j W rarr Xproj denote the maximal closed subscheme away from which
KFprojand KXprojS are locally free Then
(45) L [m] = (jlowast(KFprojotimes OXproj
(minusεE )otimesKδXprojS
)otimesm)oror
is flat over S and commutes with base-change
bull L [m] is very ample of degree d on every fiber and defines an embedding into
PNS
We are now ready for
Theorem VII15 The functor MmdNεδ is represented by a separated algebraic
space each of whose irreducible components is proper
Proof We show that our functor satisfies Artinrsquos conditions [Ar74 Corollary 54] By
definition condition 1) and 4) hold while our previous remark on foliated obstruction
theory shows that 3) is true
We proceed to show 2) namely effectivity of formal deformations for MmdNεδ
What follows owes much to Artinrsquos [A74rsquo] Let T be a complete C-algebra Tn its
n-truncation so that Tsimminusrarr limlarrminusTn and finally qn isinMmdNεδ(Spec(Tn)) a compatible
sequence For each n there is a maximal open set Un sube Xprojn where qn is an
isomorphism denote by sn Cn rarr Zn the restriction of qn to the complement of Un
Clearly sn is projective over Spec(Tn)
62 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Denote by X C etc the formal algebraic spaces obtained as limits of Xn Cn
etc Then Xproj sub PNˆSpec(T )
hence by Grothendieckrsquos existence Theorem we find
bull a flat projective family (X F )proj rarr Spec(T ) resp a closed subscheme
C subXproj whose completion is Xproj resp C
bull a scheme Z whose completion is Z and a morphism s C rarr Z everything
being projective over Spec(T )
Further we have a formal contraction limminusrarr qn C rarr Z hence the main theorem
of [Ar70] gives algebraic contraction (X F )proj rarr (X F ) This proves the repre-
sentability of MmdNεδ The properness and separability of each irreducible com-
ponent can be checked using valutative criteria indeed properness is the content of
our Main Theorem I separatedness follows from the uniqueness of foliated canonical
models of general type and their projective resolution
References
[Ar70] M Artin Algebraization of Formal Moduli II Existence of Modifications Ann
of Math Vol 91 No 1 (Jan 1970) pp 88-135 httpwwwjstororgstable
1970602
[Ar74] M Artin Versal Deformations and Algebraic Stacks Inventiones Math 27 165- 189
(1974) httpmathuchicagoedu~drinfeldArtin_on_stackspdf
[A74rsquo] M Artin Algebraic construction of Brieskornrsquos resolutions J Alg Vol 29 Issue
2 May 1974 pp 330-348 httpwwwsciencedirectcomsciencearticlepii
0021869374901021
[BB72] P Baum R Bott Singularities of holomorphic foliations J Diff Geom 7 (1972)
279-342 httpsprojecteuclidorgdownloadpdf_1euclidjdg1214431158
[Bo77] F Bogomolov Families of curves on a surface of general type Doklady Akademii Nauk
USSR (in Russian) 236 (5) 1041-1044
[Bo78] F Bogomolov Holomorphic tensors and vector bundles on projective varieties Math
USSR Izv 13 (1978) 499-555
[BM16] F Bogomolov M McQuillan Rational Curves on Foliated Varieties In Cascini
McKernan Pereira (eds) Foliation Theory in Algebraic Geometry Simons Symposia
Springer Cham pp 21-51 (2016) httpslinkspringercomchapter101007
978-3-319-24460-0_2
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 63
[Bu] F Buonerba Functorial resolution of tame quotient singularities in positive charac-
teristic httpsarxivorgabs151100550
[Ke99] S Keel Basepoint Freeness for Nef and Big Line Bundles in Positive Characteris-
tic Annals of Math 149 No 1 (Jan 1999) pp 253-286 httpwwwjstororg
stable121025 httpsarxivorgabsmath9901149
[KM97] S Keel S Mori Quotients by groupoids Annals of Math 145 (1997) pp
193-213 httpwwwjstororgstable2951828seq=1page_scan_tab_contents
httparxivorgabsalg-geom9508012
[Ko17] J Kollar Families of varieties of general type httpswebmathprincetonedu
~kollarbookmodbook20170720pdf
[LN02] A Lins Neto Some examples for the Poincare and Painleve problems Annales sci-
entifiques de lrsquoENS 352 (2002) 231-266 httparchivenumdamorgarticle
ASENS_2002_4_35_2_231_0pdf
[McQ12] M McQuillan Foliated Mori Theory amp Hyperbolicity of Algebraic Surfaces http
wwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillahomehtml
[McQ98] M McQuillan Diophantine approximation and foliations Inst Hautes Etudes Sci
Publ Math 87 (1998) 121-174 httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafiles
ihespdf
[McQ05rsquo] M McQuillan Bloch hyperbolicity preprint httpwwwmatuniroma2it
~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ05] M McQuillan Semi-stable reduction of foliations IHES pre-print IHESM0502
(2005) httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ05rdquo] M McQuillan Uniform Uniformisation IHES pre-print (2005) IHES M0503 http
wwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ08] M McQuillan Canonical models of foliations Pure Appl Math Q 4
(2008) no 3 Special Issue In honor of Fedor Bogomolov Part 2 877-1012
httpintlpresscomsitepubfiles_fulltextjournalspamq20080004
0003PAMQ-2008-0004-0003-a009pdf
[MP13] M McQuillan D Panazzolo Almost etale resolution of foliations J Diff Geom 95
(2013) pp 279-319 httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesmp1bispdf
[Pe02] JV Pereira On the Poincare Problem for Foliations of General Type Mathematische
Annalen 323 no 2 pp217-226 2002 httpsarxivorgabsmath0104185
[PS16] JV Pereira R Svaldi Effective algebraic integration in bounded genus preprint
httpsarxivorgabs161206932
64 FEDERICO BUONERBA
[Re83] M Reid Minimal models of canonical threefolds in rdquoAlgebraic Varieties and Ana-
lytic Varietiesrdquo Adv Stud Pure Math vol 1 S Iitaka ed Kinokuniya and North-
Holland 1983 pp 131-180 httpwwwmathsedacukcheltsovquotientpdf
reid2pdf
[Se67] A Seidenberg Reduction of singularities of the differential equation Ady = Bdx Amer
J Math 89 (1967) 248-269 httpwwwjstororgstable2373435
[SB83] N Shepherd-Barron Degenerations with numerically effective canonical divisor The
Birational Geometry of Degenerations (R Friedman and D Morrison eds) Progr
Math no 29 Birkhuser 1983 pp 33-84
[Vis89] A Vistoli Intersection theory on algebraic stacks and on their moduli spaces
Invent Math (1989) pp 613-670 httplinkspringercomarticle101007
2FBF01388892page-1
Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences New York University 251 Mercer
Street New York NY 10012 USA
E-mail address buonerbacimsnyuedu
- I Introduction
- II Preliminaries
-
- III Operations on Deligne-Mumford stacks
- IIII Width of embedded parabolic champs
- IIIII Gorenstein foliation singularities
- IIIV Foliated adjunction
- IIV Canonical models of foliated surfaces with canonical singularities
- IIVI Canonical models of foliated surfaces with log-canonical singularities
- IIVII Set-up
-
- III Invariant curves and singularities local description
-
- IIII `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F) not isolated
- IIIII `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F) isolated
- IIIIII Local consequences
-
- IV Invariant curves along which KF vanishes
-
- IVI KF-nil curves
- IVII Invariant curves inside `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F)
-
- V Configurations
-
- VI Configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
- VII Configurations of non-rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
-
- VI Contractions and proof of the Main Theorem
- VII Moduli space of foliated surfaces of general type
- References
-
48 FEDERICO BUONERBA
In particular the 1-skeleton of the dual graph of C is a tree
Proof Notice that for every point lowast isin C cap Z there exists one LC-center through lowastIndeed there are three rational eigenvalues and they cannot be all non-vanishing and
all with different signs at the same time Now C axes can be treated as in proposition
VI9 This proves the first two items of the statement The third item follows from
Proposition VI5 so we can focus on the fourth one The proof is based on the
following obvious
Remark VI11 let C be a double curve such that either it is KF -nil hence has
two triple points or it is fully contained in sing(F ) Let C0 sube C free intersect C
non-trivially in a point lowast then necessarily C0 sub LClowast
Now let C0 middot middot middot CN form a chain of non-double curves with C0 and CN both
intersecting double curves as in the remark Denote by lowasti = Ci cap Ci+1 Since
C1 sub LClowast necessarily C1 is transverse to LClowast1 otherwise C1 would deform in F (C1)
Inductively we see that Ci+1 sub LClowasti and is transverse to LClowasti+1 In particular CN
cannot touch a double curve This contradiction proves the fourth item
Let us add a remark about configurations featuring invariant curves inside sing(F )
Proposition VI12 Let C be an invariant curve with KF middot C = 0 such that
Z0 sube C for some component Z0 sube sing(F ) Then C = Z prime cup C where
Z prime is a connected invariant curve inside the foliation singularity with dual graph a
chain
C is the union of at most two pairwise disjoint KF -nil curves with anti-ample
normal bundle
If not empty C can only intersect Z prime at the two ends of its dual graph Moreover
perhaps after a flop the intersection of C with Z prime supports the foliation singularity
along C As such if C has two components Z prime cup C deforms in the general fiber
Proof The structure of Z prime is Proposition IVII3 while that of Co is Proposition
IVI6 Let C prime be a component of C intersecting Z0 in a point lowast If C prime and Z0 belong
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 49
to different components of X0 then by case ni (1)b the eigenvalue of partS along C prime
vanishes so supp(sing(F ) cap C prime) = lowast If C prime and Z0 belong to the same component
then we can flop C prime into a different component
Observe that the divisor D prime from op cit can be extended along C prime This implies
that C can only intersect Z prime at its ends Moreover if C touches both ends necessarily
D prime capX0 = C scheme-theoretically hence by the existence of Hilbert scheme IVI5
we conclude
Our new set-up is
Set-up VI13 Everything as in set-up IIVII4 and moreover for any connected
invariant curve C with KF middot C = 0 all of whose sub-curves are rigid we have
configurations computed in proposition VI9 VI10 and Lemma VI12
VII Configurations of non-rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
In this subsection we describe configurations of surfaces which are covered by KF -nil
curves The structure of each such surface is described by classification IIV1 IIV2
and Corollary IIVI17 Our first step is to simplify the situation by contracting
chains of ruled surfaces The next step is to try and exclude the possibility that
the singular fiber of p contains fibrations by elliptic or nodal rational curves with
at least one invariant fiber This can be achieved with good success indeed there
may be at most one such Riccati foliation which is anyway rather isolated from the
remaining KF -nil curves Finally we observe that the only class of surfaces we have
not mentioned is
Definition VII1 A irreducible component F of the singular fiber of p is called
small Kronecker if
bull (FFF ) is birational to a Kronecker vector field on P1 timesP1 and
bull The two rulings of this P1 timesP1 are cohomologous inside X
The name comes from the fact that contraction of a small Kronecker yields a node
in the ambient threefold which admits a small resolution In fact in many respects
these fiber components behave very much like rigid KF -nil curves
50 FEDERICO BUONERBA
We start by getting rid of some fiber components which are ruled by KF -nil gener-
ically smooth rational curves
Proposition VII2 Notation as in Set-up VI13 there exists a sequence of flops
and divisorial contractions c X 99KX + such that
bull X + is a smooth stack
bull let S+ sub X + be an irreducible invariant divisor that contains a positive-
dimensional family of invariant rational curves along which KF+ vanishes
Then S+ is either birationally ruled by nodal rational curves or it is a small
Kronecker
Proof We focus first on contracting components of the singular fiber of p Consider
the following algorithm If there is no birationally ruled component different from
the ones listed in the second item we are done otherwise pick one such F and let
C denote the general member of the ruling If the cohomology class [C] is inde-
composable F is minimal Otherwise [C] = [C1] + [C2] where Ci are rational and
intersect KF trivially After finitely many steps we have a decomposition as a finite
sum of indecomposables [C] =sumn
i=0 ni[Ci] where every Ci is rational intersects KF
trivially We have two cases
bull There exists k such that Ck deforms in a birationally ruled necessarily min-
imal surface Fk
bull Every Ci has anti-ample normal bundle
In the first case denote by X rarr X1 the contraction of Fk along |Ck| and relpace
X by X1 Since Fk is minimal smoothness of the ambient stack is preserved unless
Fk is a small Kronecker This is however impossible if n ge 2 if Fk were a small
Kronecker then Ck deforms away from Fkminus1 so then Fkminus1 middot Ck = 0 on the other
hand Fkminus1 intersects the other ruling of Fk positively
In the second case flop C1 middot middot middot Cn in this order The transform of F is minimal and
not a small Kronecker so it can be contracted along its ruling preserving ambient
smoothness By induction on the Picard rank of X after finitely many steps this
algorithm ends Call X the output of this algorithm
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 51
Let S subX be an invariant divisor with a generically smooth ruling Then pS S rarr∆ is flat and after flopping finitely many rational curves in S cap plowastS(0) the resulting
pS is smooth Hence we can contract S along pS After finitely many steps the
Proposition is proven
For ease of notation in the sequel we call X the output of the previous proposition
Notice that there might still be divisors carrying a pencil of nodal rational curves
both inside and outside the singular fiber of p
We can start analyzing configurations of fiber components where the restriction of
F is not of general type We need some notation whose reason to exist will be clear
shortly
Definition VII3 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
along which KF is not big F is called special Riccati if
bull F is minimal
bull There exists a morphism s F rarr B onto a curve whose fibers are nodal
rational curve
bull F is transverse to the general fiber of s in particular KF is numerically
trivial along s
bull At least one fiber of s is invariant
bull There exists a section σ of s which is invariant and does not coincide with
the nodal locus of F
In particular the intersections of σ with invariant fibers of s isolated singularities
of F the node of F all coincide There may be fibers of s fully contained in sing(F )
in which case they are everywhere transverse to the saturated foliation
The definition looks nasty but special Riccati components have a rather simple
origin as the following proof shows
Lemma VII4 Let F be special Riccati Up to base change by an etale double cover
Bprime rarr B there is a natural isomorphism F norm simminusrarr BprimetimesP1 and the restriction of F
to F norm is birational to the projection onto P1
52 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proof We work over the normalization F norm Denote by Bprime the pre-image of the
node of F which is an etale double cover of B and let f denote an invariant fiber
of s with lowast = σ cap f Observe that F norm carries a Riccati foliation with 3 invariant
curves through lowast - namely σ f and a component of Bprime Hence FF has a log-canonical
singularity in lowast On F norm perform a weighted blow-up in each log-canonical singu-
larity followed by the contraction of the transforms of the corresponding fibers Let
s+ F+ rarr B denote the output of this operation If the proper transform of Bprime is
connected replace F+ by its base change under Bprime rarr B Hence we can assume Bprime
is the disjoint union of two sections of s+ and the transform of σ is a third section
which is disjoint from Bprime Therefore F+ = P1 timesBprime and the foliation restricts to the
projection onto P1
Next we describe those surfaces which cannot appear as components of the sin-
gular fiber X0
Definition VII5 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
along which KF is not big F is called illusory if
bull there exists a morphism t F rarr B onto a curve
bull KF is trivial along t
bull For any other fiber component F prime the intersection F cap F prime is either empty or
contained in a fiber of t
We give examples of illusory fiber components
Lemma VII6 The following fiber components are necessarily illusory
bull t is elliptic the foliation is either parallel to t or turbolent with at least one
invariant fiber
bull t is a nodal ruling the foliation is either parallel to t or transverse to t with
at least one invariant fiber and not birational to a special Riccati VII3
Proof Let f = F cap F prime for some fiber component F prime It is F -invariant
Assume t and F are parallel and f is transverse to both Then necessarily f subesing(F ) and KF is positive along the fibers of t contradiction
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 53
Assume t and F are generically transverse and f is transverse to t Let e be an
invariant fiber of t then ecap f isin sing(F ) hence t must be a family of nodal rational
curves and ecapf coincides with the node of e - otherwise KF would be positive along
t But this implies F is special Riccati contradiction
We proceed to show that illusory fibers do not exist
Lemma VII7 Let F be an illusory fiber component then every fiber of t is irre-
ducible If F prime is any fiber component intersecting F non-trivially then F prime is illusory
Proof Assume t has a reducible fiber f Then we can write f = f prime cup f primeprime where f prime
is irreducible and f primeprime is a disjoint union of chains of rational curves In particular
every subscheme supported on f primeprime is rigid in X f prime is rational and smooth iff f is a
cycle of rational curves hence the foliation on F is parallel to t and the choice of f prime
is not unique otherwise f prime is nodal or elliptic Let X 99KX + denote the flop of the
irreducible components of f primeprime in any order The proper transform f prime+ (below in red)
is the irreducible fiber of the induced morphism t+ F+ rarr B Since f primeprime+ intersects
f prime+ and is not contained in F+ there exists a component F prime of the fiber of p+ such
that F+ cap f prime+ 6= empty Since F+ is illusory necessarily F+ cap F prime = f prime+ Moreover F+
and F prime are the only fiber components intersecting f prime+ again because F+ is illusory
We deduce that F+ middot f prime+ = F prime middot f prime+ = 0 and therefore f prime+ is nef inside F prime It follows
that he restriction of F+ to F prime is not of general type and by the classification of
foliated surfaces [McQ08] necessarily f prime+ deforms inside F prime and defines a fibration
u F prime rarr Bprime In particular f prime+ is an irreducible fiber of u This is however impossible
since u contracts all the components of f primeprime+ contained in F prime (below in blue) and by
definition of F prime there exists at least one such component This proves that every
fiber of t is irreducible The following depicts the situation
F prime F+
f prime+
f primeprime+
t+u
54 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Concerning the second statement we only need to check the third condition for F prime
to be illussory namely that every other fiber component F primeprime intersecting F prime does
so along the fibers of u If F primeprime intersects F prime transversely to u then F primeprime intersects F
non-trivially and transversely to t as well absurd
Corollary VII8 Illusory components do not exist
Proof By the above lemma the existence of one illusory component implies that
every irreducible component of the singular fiber of p is illusory contradicting that
KF is big
We can now focus on fiber components that do appear
Corollary VII9 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
containing an invariant curve C which moves and such that KF middot C = 0 Then
following the classification [McQ08] we have two cases
(1) The minimal model of F is a special Riccati component
(2) F is a small Kronecker
Proof Certainly the ones listed are the only cases where C is KF -nil We have to
exclude the possibility that C is invariant inside sing(F ) By Proposition IVII3
such C would be rational with at most one node Since we already contracted at
the beginning of the present subsection all ruled surfaces necessarily C is nodal
However by opcit C cannot intersect any other fiber component of X0 which
implies the absurdity that X0 = F
We proceed to show that special Riccati components are rather isolated in the
fiber
Lemma VII10 Let F be a special Riccati component If F prime is a fiber component
intersecting F non-trivially then it does so transversely to s Morover there is
exactly one such F prime
Proof After finitely many flops we can assume that every fiber of s is irreducible
By the non-existence of illusory components there exists a fiber component F lowast with
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 55
σprime = F cap F prime transverse to s If F primeprime is a fiber component with f = F cap F primeprime a fiber
of s then we claim f sube sing(F ) If not then since KF middot f = 0 and σprime is invariant
necessarily σprimecap f is the node of f But then the existence of F primeprime contradicts that p is
snc Hence f sube sing(F ) so then around the node of f there are 3 fiber components -
two branches coming from F one from F primeprime - and sing(F ) has 2 branches - namely f
This is impossible by our case analysis ni (1)c ni (2)c The very same reasoning
establishes the uniqueness of F prime
Lemma VII11 Let F be as in the previous Lemma If C is a connected curve
with KF middot C = 0 then it is disjoint from F
Proof After finitely many flops s is irreducible and C intersects F transversely away
from its node Moreover lowast = C cap F isin sing(F ) and we deduce that the fiber of s
through lowast is fully contained in the singular locus of F This contradicts Proposition
IVII3 since such fiber is nodal
We conclude by observing the obvious
Lemma VII12 Let F be a small Kronecker Then there exists a contraction
c X rarr X prime which is an isomorphism away from F and contracts F along one
of its rulings Necessarily X prime is not projective since every global Cartier divisor
intersects c(F ) trivially On the other hand in a formal neighborhood of c(F ) there
exist Cartier divisors intersecting it non-trivialliy
As such the contribution coming from non-rigid curves is rather poor there are
curves moving in the general fiber there are special Riccati components disjoint from
any other invariant curve intersecting KF trivially there are small Kroneckers who
can be contracted to curves We shall see in the next section that the complications
arising from the contraction of such non-rigid curves is purely psychological and
totally harmless
56 FEDERICO BUONERBA
VI Contractions and proof of the Main Theorem
In this section we contract all invariant curves along which KF is zero thereby
establishing the existence of canonical models I First we contract non-rigid curves
as described in the previous subsection
bull Small Kroneckers along either ruling Albeit this destroys projectivity of
the ambient threefold there still exist Cartier divisors defined in a formal
neighborhood of the base curve that intersect it non-trivially
bull Families of irreducible nodal rational curves which are flat over ∆ This
creates elliptic singularities on the general fiber of p which are disjoint from
other invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
bull Special Riccati again families of irreducible nodal rational curves fully con-
tained in X0 This creates elliptic singularities disjoint from other invariant
curves intersecting KF trivially
We can summarize our situation by way of
Set-up VI1 X is a 3-dimensional DM stack with at worst elliptic singularities
F a foliation by curves with canonical singularities which is not Q-Cartier in a
neighborhood of Xsing
There exists a proper morphism p X rarr ∆ smooth off 0 isin ∆ F restricts to a
foliation on every fiber of p it has canonical singularities on the very general fiber
of p and log-canonical singularities on every fiber of p KF is big and nef on every
irreducible component of every fiber of p
Let C be the invariant sub-scheme along which KF is not big then C is a curve
fully contained in the smooth locus X0capXsmooth every sub-curve of C has anti-ample
normal bundle the 1-simplex of its dual graph is a tree and detailed configurations
of such are referenced in set-up VI13
We proceed to contract such C We assume that along C the semi-simple field has
only rational eigenvalues and moreover no component of C is inside the foliation
singularity The other two cases - irrational eigenvalues and presence of singular
component - are strictly easier and can be obtained with the very same method
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 57
The proof takes place in the formal completion around C = C free cup C axes The
former is a disjoint union of trees of non-double curves For each non-double C let
F (C) denote the unique component of X0 containing it The latter is a tree of double
curves each with two triple points all contained in the same irreducible FC axes Each
tree of non-double curves touches C axes in one point through a LC-center In order
to construct the contraction we will use Artinrsquos celebrated criterion in the following
form
Fact VI1 ([Ar70]) Let X be an irreducible algebraic space i Y rarr X a closed
subspace of pure codimension 1 and f Y rarr Y0 a proper morphism with flowastOY = OY0
Let X denote the formal completion of X along Y and assume there exists a Cartier
divisor D in X which is supported on Y and is f -anti-ample Then there exists a
proper morphism of algebraic spaces F X rarr X0 which is an isomorphism away
from Y and such that ilowastF = f
Now we use the tree structure of C to construct a suitable divisor to which apply
Artinrsquos theorem Namely consider the following inductive defintion
(35) C0 = C axes F0 = FC axes
For k ge 0 assume Ck Fk are defined
bull Let Ck+1 denote the union of irreducible components of C that intersect Fk
non-trivially but are not contained in cupilekFibull Let Fk+1 denote the reduced sum (
sumCsubeCk+1
F (C))red
This process stops with a collection C1 middot middot middotCN of curves and F1 middot middot middot FN of reduced
divisors
Lemma VI1 We have the following identities
(36)
Fk middot C lt 0 for every C sube Ck
(F0 + F1) middot C le 0 for every C sube C0
(Fkminus1 + Fk + Fk+1) middot C = 0 for every C sube Ck 1 lt k lt N
(FNminus1 + FN) middot C lt 0 for every C sube CN
58 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proof The first is just the fact that every component of C is rigid The remaining
three follow from X0 middot C = 0 but the last one requires further justification Indeed
if C sube CN N gt 0 then C is one end of a tree of non-double curves In particular
there exists a foliation singularity lowast isin C disjoint from any other component of
C and LClowast is transverse to C This implies LClowast middotC gt 0 which together with
(FNminus1 + FN + LClowast) middot C = 0 concludes the proof
Let ε1 middot middot middot εN isin Qgt0 and define
(37) F Nminusk = (1 + ε1 + middot middot middot+ εk)FNminusk
bull If C sube CN we have
(38) (F Nminus1 + F
N) middot C = ε1FNminus1 middot C + (FNminus1 + FN) middot C
bull If C sube CNminusk 1 lt k lt N we have
(39)
(F Nminuskminus1 + F
Nminusk + F Nminusk+1) middot C =
(1 + middot middot middot+ εk)(FNminuskminus1 + FNminusk + FNminusk+1) middot C minus εkFNminusk+1 middot C + εk+1FNminuskminus1 middot C =
minus εkFNminusk+1 middot C + εk+1FNminuskminus1 middot C
bull If C sube C0 we have
(40) (F 0 + F
1) middot C = εNF0 middot C + (Nminus1sumj=0
εj)(F0 + F1) middot C
It is clear that provided
(41) 1 gtgt ε1 gtgt middot middot middot gtgt εN
the divisor F =sumF k is negative along every component of C
This proves the existence of the contraction and concludes the proof of the Main
Theorem I
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 59
VII Moduli space of foliated surfaces of general type
In this section we study the modular variation of foliated surfaces of general type
The upshot is that it is possible to define a functor which is representable separated
and every irreducible component is proper The main issue here is that the supporting
surface of a foliated canonical model may well fail to be projective indeed KF is not
Q-Gorenstein in general Hence in order to proceed via standard methods [Ko17]
we have to parametrize our canonical models together with a suitable projective
resolution
Definition VII13 Let (SF ) be a foliated proper reduced purely 2-dimensional
DM stack Assume S has only normal crossing singularities in codimension 1 that
F has log-canonical foliation singularities and that KF is big and nef on at least
one of the irreducible components of S If whenever KF middot C = 0 for some curve C
then C moves in an irreducible component of S and no member of such deformation
is F -invariant then (SF ) is called foliated canonical model of general type
Clearly foliated canonical models are exactly the stable degenerations appearing
as the central fiber of our Main Theorem I Their lack of projectivity has two sources
namely the contraction of cycles of smooth KF -nil curves and of trees of cuspidal
ones Singularities arising from cycles behave well in families namely they always
deform into the general fiber Those arising from cuspidal curves on the other hand
tend to be rather isolated inside the degenerate fiber
Observe that the deformation theory of a foliated surface is rather simple suppose
given an infinitesimal C-algebras extension 0 rarr J rarr Ae rarr A rarr 0 and (SF )
a foliated surface flat over Spec(A) then the obstruction to lifting to Ae can be
understood in three simple steps
(1) Deformation of the underlying surface S once a deformation Se rarr Spec(Ae)
is given
(2) Deformation of the line bundle KF by the exponential sequence
(42) 0rarr J otimes OS rarr OlowastSerarr OlowastS rarr 0
obstructions lie in H2(SOS)otimes J once a deformation of KF is given
60 FEDERICO BUONERBA
(3) Deformation of the defining section OS rarr KF otimes TS obstructions lie in
H1(SKF otimes TS)otimes J
Now we have
Definition VII14 Let (SF ) be a foliated canonical model of general type A
proper birational morphism q (SF )proj rarr (SF ) is called its projective resolution
if
bull Every irreducible component of Sproj is smooth
bull The exceptional locus of q is a disjoint union of cycles of KFproj-nil smooth
curves and trees of KFproj-nil curves each of which has a non-trivial cuspidal
singularity
bull In a neighborhood of every q-exceptional cycle not only Sproj but also its
moduli space is smooth
We need a few remarks about projective resolutions
(1) Projective resolutions are always unique Indeed the only possible ambiguity
could lie in some extra smooth irreducible components in the exceptional
locus This is forbidden by definition in the trees of cuspidal curves it is
also forbidden by way of the third item in cycles of smooth ones ie on
algebraic surfaces the minimal resolution is unique
(2) Denote by E the collection of q-exceptional cycles Then there exist ε δ isinQgt0 such that KFproj
minus εE + δKSprojis ample by Nakai-Moishezon
(3) Deformations of a projective resolution of a foliated canonical model are
canonically identified with deformations of the underlying birational mor-
phism q Sproj rarr S followed by a deformation of the foliation F
We are now ready to construct a moduli functor for foliated surfaces more precisely
for projective resolutions of foliated canonical models of general type For m dN isinN and ε δ isin Qgt0 let
(43) MmdNεδ (C-schemes)rarr (sets)
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 61
be defined by MmdNεδ(S) = Diagrams
(44) (X F )projqminusrarr (X F )
pminusrarr S
Where
bull Both p and p q are flat and proper
bull For every closed point s isin S the induced morphism qs is the projective
resolution of (X F )s which is a foliated canonical model of general type
bull Denote by Es the collection of exceptional cycles of qs By our Main Theorem
I there is a fibrewise divisor E subXproj flat over S restricting to Es for every
s isin S
bull Let j W rarr Xproj denote the maximal closed subscheme away from which
KFprojand KXprojS are locally free Then
(45) L [m] = (jlowast(KFprojotimes OXproj
(minusεE )otimesKδXprojS
)otimesm)oror
is flat over S and commutes with base-change
bull L [m] is very ample of degree d on every fiber and defines an embedding into
PNS
We are now ready for
Theorem VII15 The functor MmdNεδ is represented by a separated algebraic
space each of whose irreducible components is proper
Proof We show that our functor satisfies Artinrsquos conditions [Ar74 Corollary 54] By
definition condition 1) and 4) hold while our previous remark on foliated obstruction
theory shows that 3) is true
We proceed to show 2) namely effectivity of formal deformations for MmdNεδ
What follows owes much to Artinrsquos [A74rsquo] Let T be a complete C-algebra Tn its
n-truncation so that Tsimminusrarr limlarrminusTn and finally qn isinMmdNεδ(Spec(Tn)) a compatible
sequence For each n there is a maximal open set Un sube Xprojn where qn is an
isomorphism denote by sn Cn rarr Zn the restriction of qn to the complement of Un
Clearly sn is projective over Spec(Tn)
62 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Denote by X C etc the formal algebraic spaces obtained as limits of Xn Cn
etc Then Xproj sub PNˆSpec(T )
hence by Grothendieckrsquos existence Theorem we find
bull a flat projective family (X F )proj rarr Spec(T ) resp a closed subscheme
C subXproj whose completion is Xproj resp C
bull a scheme Z whose completion is Z and a morphism s C rarr Z everything
being projective over Spec(T )
Further we have a formal contraction limminusrarr qn C rarr Z hence the main theorem
of [Ar70] gives algebraic contraction (X F )proj rarr (X F ) This proves the repre-
sentability of MmdNεδ The properness and separability of each irreducible com-
ponent can be checked using valutative criteria indeed properness is the content of
our Main Theorem I separatedness follows from the uniqueness of foliated canonical
models of general type and their projective resolution
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1970602
[Ar74] M Artin Versal Deformations and Algebraic Stacks Inventiones Math 27 165- 189
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[A74rsquo] M Artin Algebraic construction of Brieskornrsquos resolutions J Alg Vol 29 Issue
2 May 1974 pp 330-348 httpwwwsciencedirectcomsciencearticlepii
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[BB72] P Baum R Bott Singularities of holomorphic foliations J Diff Geom 7 (1972)
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[Ke99] S Keel Basepoint Freeness for Nef and Big Line Bundles in Positive Characteris-
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[McQ12] M McQuillan Foliated Mori Theory amp Hyperbolicity of Algebraic Surfaces http
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[McQ98] M McQuillan Diophantine approximation and foliations Inst Hautes Etudes Sci
Publ Math 87 (1998) 121-174 httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafiles
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[McQ05rdquo] M McQuillan Uniform Uniformisation IHES pre-print (2005) IHES M0503 http
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[McQ08] M McQuillan Canonical models of foliations Pure Appl Math Q 4
(2008) no 3 Special Issue In honor of Fedor Bogomolov Part 2 877-1012
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0003PAMQ-2008-0004-0003-a009pdf
[MP13] M McQuillan D Panazzolo Almost etale resolution of foliations J Diff Geom 95
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[Pe02] JV Pereira On the Poincare Problem for Foliations of General Type Mathematische
Annalen 323 no 2 pp217-226 2002 httpsarxivorgabsmath0104185
[PS16] JV Pereira R Svaldi Effective algebraic integration in bounded genus preprint
httpsarxivorgabs161206932
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[Re83] M Reid Minimal models of canonical threefolds in rdquoAlgebraic Varieties and Ana-
lytic Varietiesrdquo Adv Stud Pure Math vol 1 S Iitaka ed Kinokuniya and North-
Holland 1983 pp 131-180 httpwwwmathsedacukcheltsovquotientpdf
reid2pdf
[Se67] A Seidenberg Reduction of singularities of the differential equation Ady = Bdx Amer
J Math 89 (1967) 248-269 httpwwwjstororgstable2373435
[SB83] N Shepherd-Barron Degenerations with numerically effective canonical divisor The
Birational Geometry of Degenerations (R Friedman and D Morrison eds) Progr
Math no 29 Birkhuser 1983 pp 33-84
[Vis89] A Vistoli Intersection theory on algebraic stacks and on their moduli spaces
Invent Math (1989) pp 613-670 httplinkspringercomarticle101007
2FBF01388892page-1
Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences New York University 251 Mercer
Street New York NY 10012 USA
E-mail address buonerbacimsnyuedu
- I Introduction
- II Preliminaries
-
- III Operations on Deligne-Mumford stacks
- IIII Width of embedded parabolic champs
- IIIII Gorenstein foliation singularities
- IIIV Foliated adjunction
- IIV Canonical models of foliated surfaces with canonical singularities
- IIVI Canonical models of foliated surfaces with log-canonical singularities
- IIVII Set-up
-
- III Invariant curves and singularities local description
-
- IIII `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F) not isolated
- IIIII `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F) isolated
- IIIIII Local consequences
-
- IV Invariant curves along which KF vanishes
-
- IVI KF-nil curves
- IVII Invariant curves inside `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F)
-
- V Configurations
-
- VI Configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
- VII Configurations of non-rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
-
- VI Contractions and proof of the Main Theorem
- VII Moduli space of foliated surfaces of general type
- References
-
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 49
to different components of X0 then by case ni (1)b the eigenvalue of partS along C prime
vanishes so supp(sing(F ) cap C prime) = lowast If C prime and Z0 belong to the same component
then we can flop C prime into a different component
Observe that the divisor D prime from op cit can be extended along C prime This implies
that C can only intersect Z prime at its ends Moreover if C touches both ends necessarily
D prime capX0 = C scheme-theoretically hence by the existence of Hilbert scheme IVI5
we conclude
Our new set-up is
Set-up VI13 Everything as in set-up IIVII4 and moreover for any connected
invariant curve C with KF middot C = 0 all of whose sub-curves are rigid we have
configurations computed in proposition VI9 VI10 and Lemma VI12
VII Configurations of non-rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
In this subsection we describe configurations of surfaces which are covered by KF -nil
curves The structure of each such surface is described by classification IIV1 IIV2
and Corollary IIVI17 Our first step is to simplify the situation by contracting
chains of ruled surfaces The next step is to try and exclude the possibility that
the singular fiber of p contains fibrations by elliptic or nodal rational curves with
at least one invariant fiber This can be achieved with good success indeed there
may be at most one such Riccati foliation which is anyway rather isolated from the
remaining KF -nil curves Finally we observe that the only class of surfaces we have
not mentioned is
Definition VII1 A irreducible component F of the singular fiber of p is called
small Kronecker if
bull (FFF ) is birational to a Kronecker vector field on P1 timesP1 and
bull The two rulings of this P1 timesP1 are cohomologous inside X
The name comes from the fact that contraction of a small Kronecker yields a node
in the ambient threefold which admits a small resolution In fact in many respects
these fiber components behave very much like rigid KF -nil curves
50 FEDERICO BUONERBA
We start by getting rid of some fiber components which are ruled by KF -nil gener-
ically smooth rational curves
Proposition VII2 Notation as in Set-up VI13 there exists a sequence of flops
and divisorial contractions c X 99KX + such that
bull X + is a smooth stack
bull let S+ sub X + be an irreducible invariant divisor that contains a positive-
dimensional family of invariant rational curves along which KF+ vanishes
Then S+ is either birationally ruled by nodal rational curves or it is a small
Kronecker
Proof We focus first on contracting components of the singular fiber of p Consider
the following algorithm If there is no birationally ruled component different from
the ones listed in the second item we are done otherwise pick one such F and let
C denote the general member of the ruling If the cohomology class [C] is inde-
composable F is minimal Otherwise [C] = [C1] + [C2] where Ci are rational and
intersect KF trivially After finitely many steps we have a decomposition as a finite
sum of indecomposables [C] =sumn
i=0 ni[Ci] where every Ci is rational intersects KF
trivially We have two cases
bull There exists k such that Ck deforms in a birationally ruled necessarily min-
imal surface Fk
bull Every Ci has anti-ample normal bundle
In the first case denote by X rarr X1 the contraction of Fk along |Ck| and relpace
X by X1 Since Fk is minimal smoothness of the ambient stack is preserved unless
Fk is a small Kronecker This is however impossible if n ge 2 if Fk were a small
Kronecker then Ck deforms away from Fkminus1 so then Fkminus1 middot Ck = 0 on the other
hand Fkminus1 intersects the other ruling of Fk positively
In the second case flop C1 middot middot middot Cn in this order The transform of F is minimal and
not a small Kronecker so it can be contracted along its ruling preserving ambient
smoothness By induction on the Picard rank of X after finitely many steps this
algorithm ends Call X the output of this algorithm
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 51
Let S subX be an invariant divisor with a generically smooth ruling Then pS S rarr∆ is flat and after flopping finitely many rational curves in S cap plowastS(0) the resulting
pS is smooth Hence we can contract S along pS After finitely many steps the
Proposition is proven
For ease of notation in the sequel we call X the output of the previous proposition
Notice that there might still be divisors carrying a pencil of nodal rational curves
both inside and outside the singular fiber of p
We can start analyzing configurations of fiber components where the restriction of
F is not of general type We need some notation whose reason to exist will be clear
shortly
Definition VII3 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
along which KF is not big F is called special Riccati if
bull F is minimal
bull There exists a morphism s F rarr B onto a curve whose fibers are nodal
rational curve
bull F is transverse to the general fiber of s in particular KF is numerically
trivial along s
bull At least one fiber of s is invariant
bull There exists a section σ of s which is invariant and does not coincide with
the nodal locus of F
In particular the intersections of σ with invariant fibers of s isolated singularities
of F the node of F all coincide There may be fibers of s fully contained in sing(F )
in which case they are everywhere transverse to the saturated foliation
The definition looks nasty but special Riccati components have a rather simple
origin as the following proof shows
Lemma VII4 Let F be special Riccati Up to base change by an etale double cover
Bprime rarr B there is a natural isomorphism F norm simminusrarr BprimetimesP1 and the restriction of F
to F norm is birational to the projection onto P1
52 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proof We work over the normalization F norm Denote by Bprime the pre-image of the
node of F which is an etale double cover of B and let f denote an invariant fiber
of s with lowast = σ cap f Observe that F norm carries a Riccati foliation with 3 invariant
curves through lowast - namely σ f and a component of Bprime Hence FF has a log-canonical
singularity in lowast On F norm perform a weighted blow-up in each log-canonical singu-
larity followed by the contraction of the transforms of the corresponding fibers Let
s+ F+ rarr B denote the output of this operation If the proper transform of Bprime is
connected replace F+ by its base change under Bprime rarr B Hence we can assume Bprime
is the disjoint union of two sections of s+ and the transform of σ is a third section
which is disjoint from Bprime Therefore F+ = P1 timesBprime and the foliation restricts to the
projection onto P1
Next we describe those surfaces which cannot appear as components of the sin-
gular fiber X0
Definition VII5 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
along which KF is not big F is called illusory if
bull there exists a morphism t F rarr B onto a curve
bull KF is trivial along t
bull For any other fiber component F prime the intersection F cap F prime is either empty or
contained in a fiber of t
We give examples of illusory fiber components
Lemma VII6 The following fiber components are necessarily illusory
bull t is elliptic the foliation is either parallel to t or turbolent with at least one
invariant fiber
bull t is a nodal ruling the foliation is either parallel to t or transverse to t with
at least one invariant fiber and not birational to a special Riccati VII3
Proof Let f = F cap F prime for some fiber component F prime It is F -invariant
Assume t and F are parallel and f is transverse to both Then necessarily f subesing(F ) and KF is positive along the fibers of t contradiction
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 53
Assume t and F are generically transverse and f is transverse to t Let e be an
invariant fiber of t then ecap f isin sing(F ) hence t must be a family of nodal rational
curves and ecapf coincides with the node of e - otherwise KF would be positive along
t But this implies F is special Riccati contradiction
We proceed to show that illusory fibers do not exist
Lemma VII7 Let F be an illusory fiber component then every fiber of t is irre-
ducible If F prime is any fiber component intersecting F non-trivially then F prime is illusory
Proof Assume t has a reducible fiber f Then we can write f = f prime cup f primeprime where f prime
is irreducible and f primeprime is a disjoint union of chains of rational curves In particular
every subscheme supported on f primeprime is rigid in X f prime is rational and smooth iff f is a
cycle of rational curves hence the foliation on F is parallel to t and the choice of f prime
is not unique otherwise f prime is nodal or elliptic Let X 99KX + denote the flop of the
irreducible components of f primeprime in any order The proper transform f prime+ (below in red)
is the irreducible fiber of the induced morphism t+ F+ rarr B Since f primeprime+ intersects
f prime+ and is not contained in F+ there exists a component F prime of the fiber of p+ such
that F+ cap f prime+ 6= empty Since F+ is illusory necessarily F+ cap F prime = f prime+ Moreover F+
and F prime are the only fiber components intersecting f prime+ again because F+ is illusory
We deduce that F+ middot f prime+ = F prime middot f prime+ = 0 and therefore f prime+ is nef inside F prime It follows
that he restriction of F+ to F prime is not of general type and by the classification of
foliated surfaces [McQ08] necessarily f prime+ deforms inside F prime and defines a fibration
u F prime rarr Bprime In particular f prime+ is an irreducible fiber of u This is however impossible
since u contracts all the components of f primeprime+ contained in F prime (below in blue) and by
definition of F prime there exists at least one such component This proves that every
fiber of t is irreducible The following depicts the situation
F prime F+
f prime+
f primeprime+
t+u
54 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Concerning the second statement we only need to check the third condition for F prime
to be illussory namely that every other fiber component F primeprime intersecting F prime does
so along the fibers of u If F primeprime intersects F prime transversely to u then F primeprime intersects F
non-trivially and transversely to t as well absurd
Corollary VII8 Illusory components do not exist
Proof By the above lemma the existence of one illusory component implies that
every irreducible component of the singular fiber of p is illusory contradicting that
KF is big
We can now focus on fiber components that do appear
Corollary VII9 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
containing an invariant curve C which moves and such that KF middot C = 0 Then
following the classification [McQ08] we have two cases
(1) The minimal model of F is a special Riccati component
(2) F is a small Kronecker
Proof Certainly the ones listed are the only cases where C is KF -nil We have to
exclude the possibility that C is invariant inside sing(F ) By Proposition IVII3
such C would be rational with at most one node Since we already contracted at
the beginning of the present subsection all ruled surfaces necessarily C is nodal
However by opcit C cannot intersect any other fiber component of X0 which
implies the absurdity that X0 = F
We proceed to show that special Riccati components are rather isolated in the
fiber
Lemma VII10 Let F be a special Riccati component If F prime is a fiber component
intersecting F non-trivially then it does so transversely to s Morover there is
exactly one such F prime
Proof After finitely many flops we can assume that every fiber of s is irreducible
By the non-existence of illusory components there exists a fiber component F lowast with
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 55
σprime = F cap F prime transverse to s If F primeprime is a fiber component with f = F cap F primeprime a fiber
of s then we claim f sube sing(F ) If not then since KF middot f = 0 and σprime is invariant
necessarily σprimecap f is the node of f But then the existence of F primeprime contradicts that p is
snc Hence f sube sing(F ) so then around the node of f there are 3 fiber components -
two branches coming from F one from F primeprime - and sing(F ) has 2 branches - namely f
This is impossible by our case analysis ni (1)c ni (2)c The very same reasoning
establishes the uniqueness of F prime
Lemma VII11 Let F be as in the previous Lemma If C is a connected curve
with KF middot C = 0 then it is disjoint from F
Proof After finitely many flops s is irreducible and C intersects F transversely away
from its node Moreover lowast = C cap F isin sing(F ) and we deduce that the fiber of s
through lowast is fully contained in the singular locus of F This contradicts Proposition
IVII3 since such fiber is nodal
We conclude by observing the obvious
Lemma VII12 Let F be a small Kronecker Then there exists a contraction
c X rarr X prime which is an isomorphism away from F and contracts F along one
of its rulings Necessarily X prime is not projective since every global Cartier divisor
intersects c(F ) trivially On the other hand in a formal neighborhood of c(F ) there
exist Cartier divisors intersecting it non-trivialliy
As such the contribution coming from non-rigid curves is rather poor there are
curves moving in the general fiber there are special Riccati components disjoint from
any other invariant curve intersecting KF trivially there are small Kroneckers who
can be contracted to curves We shall see in the next section that the complications
arising from the contraction of such non-rigid curves is purely psychological and
totally harmless
56 FEDERICO BUONERBA
VI Contractions and proof of the Main Theorem
In this section we contract all invariant curves along which KF is zero thereby
establishing the existence of canonical models I First we contract non-rigid curves
as described in the previous subsection
bull Small Kroneckers along either ruling Albeit this destroys projectivity of
the ambient threefold there still exist Cartier divisors defined in a formal
neighborhood of the base curve that intersect it non-trivially
bull Families of irreducible nodal rational curves which are flat over ∆ This
creates elliptic singularities on the general fiber of p which are disjoint from
other invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
bull Special Riccati again families of irreducible nodal rational curves fully con-
tained in X0 This creates elliptic singularities disjoint from other invariant
curves intersecting KF trivially
We can summarize our situation by way of
Set-up VI1 X is a 3-dimensional DM stack with at worst elliptic singularities
F a foliation by curves with canonical singularities which is not Q-Cartier in a
neighborhood of Xsing
There exists a proper morphism p X rarr ∆ smooth off 0 isin ∆ F restricts to a
foliation on every fiber of p it has canonical singularities on the very general fiber
of p and log-canonical singularities on every fiber of p KF is big and nef on every
irreducible component of every fiber of p
Let C be the invariant sub-scheme along which KF is not big then C is a curve
fully contained in the smooth locus X0capXsmooth every sub-curve of C has anti-ample
normal bundle the 1-simplex of its dual graph is a tree and detailed configurations
of such are referenced in set-up VI13
We proceed to contract such C We assume that along C the semi-simple field has
only rational eigenvalues and moreover no component of C is inside the foliation
singularity The other two cases - irrational eigenvalues and presence of singular
component - are strictly easier and can be obtained with the very same method
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 57
The proof takes place in the formal completion around C = C free cup C axes The
former is a disjoint union of trees of non-double curves For each non-double C let
F (C) denote the unique component of X0 containing it The latter is a tree of double
curves each with two triple points all contained in the same irreducible FC axes Each
tree of non-double curves touches C axes in one point through a LC-center In order
to construct the contraction we will use Artinrsquos celebrated criterion in the following
form
Fact VI1 ([Ar70]) Let X be an irreducible algebraic space i Y rarr X a closed
subspace of pure codimension 1 and f Y rarr Y0 a proper morphism with flowastOY = OY0
Let X denote the formal completion of X along Y and assume there exists a Cartier
divisor D in X which is supported on Y and is f -anti-ample Then there exists a
proper morphism of algebraic spaces F X rarr X0 which is an isomorphism away
from Y and such that ilowastF = f
Now we use the tree structure of C to construct a suitable divisor to which apply
Artinrsquos theorem Namely consider the following inductive defintion
(35) C0 = C axes F0 = FC axes
For k ge 0 assume Ck Fk are defined
bull Let Ck+1 denote the union of irreducible components of C that intersect Fk
non-trivially but are not contained in cupilekFibull Let Fk+1 denote the reduced sum (
sumCsubeCk+1
F (C))red
This process stops with a collection C1 middot middot middotCN of curves and F1 middot middot middot FN of reduced
divisors
Lemma VI1 We have the following identities
(36)
Fk middot C lt 0 for every C sube Ck
(F0 + F1) middot C le 0 for every C sube C0
(Fkminus1 + Fk + Fk+1) middot C = 0 for every C sube Ck 1 lt k lt N
(FNminus1 + FN) middot C lt 0 for every C sube CN
58 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proof The first is just the fact that every component of C is rigid The remaining
three follow from X0 middot C = 0 but the last one requires further justification Indeed
if C sube CN N gt 0 then C is one end of a tree of non-double curves In particular
there exists a foliation singularity lowast isin C disjoint from any other component of
C and LClowast is transverse to C This implies LClowast middotC gt 0 which together with
(FNminus1 + FN + LClowast) middot C = 0 concludes the proof
Let ε1 middot middot middot εN isin Qgt0 and define
(37) F Nminusk = (1 + ε1 + middot middot middot+ εk)FNminusk
bull If C sube CN we have
(38) (F Nminus1 + F
N) middot C = ε1FNminus1 middot C + (FNminus1 + FN) middot C
bull If C sube CNminusk 1 lt k lt N we have
(39)
(F Nminuskminus1 + F
Nminusk + F Nminusk+1) middot C =
(1 + middot middot middot+ εk)(FNminuskminus1 + FNminusk + FNminusk+1) middot C minus εkFNminusk+1 middot C + εk+1FNminuskminus1 middot C =
minus εkFNminusk+1 middot C + εk+1FNminuskminus1 middot C
bull If C sube C0 we have
(40) (F 0 + F
1) middot C = εNF0 middot C + (Nminus1sumj=0
εj)(F0 + F1) middot C
It is clear that provided
(41) 1 gtgt ε1 gtgt middot middot middot gtgt εN
the divisor F =sumF k is negative along every component of C
This proves the existence of the contraction and concludes the proof of the Main
Theorem I
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 59
VII Moduli space of foliated surfaces of general type
In this section we study the modular variation of foliated surfaces of general type
The upshot is that it is possible to define a functor which is representable separated
and every irreducible component is proper The main issue here is that the supporting
surface of a foliated canonical model may well fail to be projective indeed KF is not
Q-Gorenstein in general Hence in order to proceed via standard methods [Ko17]
we have to parametrize our canonical models together with a suitable projective
resolution
Definition VII13 Let (SF ) be a foliated proper reduced purely 2-dimensional
DM stack Assume S has only normal crossing singularities in codimension 1 that
F has log-canonical foliation singularities and that KF is big and nef on at least
one of the irreducible components of S If whenever KF middot C = 0 for some curve C
then C moves in an irreducible component of S and no member of such deformation
is F -invariant then (SF ) is called foliated canonical model of general type
Clearly foliated canonical models are exactly the stable degenerations appearing
as the central fiber of our Main Theorem I Their lack of projectivity has two sources
namely the contraction of cycles of smooth KF -nil curves and of trees of cuspidal
ones Singularities arising from cycles behave well in families namely they always
deform into the general fiber Those arising from cuspidal curves on the other hand
tend to be rather isolated inside the degenerate fiber
Observe that the deformation theory of a foliated surface is rather simple suppose
given an infinitesimal C-algebras extension 0 rarr J rarr Ae rarr A rarr 0 and (SF )
a foliated surface flat over Spec(A) then the obstruction to lifting to Ae can be
understood in three simple steps
(1) Deformation of the underlying surface S once a deformation Se rarr Spec(Ae)
is given
(2) Deformation of the line bundle KF by the exponential sequence
(42) 0rarr J otimes OS rarr OlowastSerarr OlowastS rarr 0
obstructions lie in H2(SOS)otimes J once a deformation of KF is given
60 FEDERICO BUONERBA
(3) Deformation of the defining section OS rarr KF otimes TS obstructions lie in
H1(SKF otimes TS)otimes J
Now we have
Definition VII14 Let (SF ) be a foliated canonical model of general type A
proper birational morphism q (SF )proj rarr (SF ) is called its projective resolution
if
bull Every irreducible component of Sproj is smooth
bull The exceptional locus of q is a disjoint union of cycles of KFproj-nil smooth
curves and trees of KFproj-nil curves each of which has a non-trivial cuspidal
singularity
bull In a neighborhood of every q-exceptional cycle not only Sproj but also its
moduli space is smooth
We need a few remarks about projective resolutions
(1) Projective resolutions are always unique Indeed the only possible ambiguity
could lie in some extra smooth irreducible components in the exceptional
locus This is forbidden by definition in the trees of cuspidal curves it is
also forbidden by way of the third item in cycles of smooth ones ie on
algebraic surfaces the minimal resolution is unique
(2) Denote by E the collection of q-exceptional cycles Then there exist ε δ isinQgt0 such that KFproj
minus εE + δKSprojis ample by Nakai-Moishezon
(3) Deformations of a projective resolution of a foliated canonical model are
canonically identified with deformations of the underlying birational mor-
phism q Sproj rarr S followed by a deformation of the foliation F
We are now ready to construct a moduli functor for foliated surfaces more precisely
for projective resolutions of foliated canonical models of general type For m dN isinN and ε δ isin Qgt0 let
(43) MmdNεδ (C-schemes)rarr (sets)
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 61
be defined by MmdNεδ(S) = Diagrams
(44) (X F )projqminusrarr (X F )
pminusrarr S
Where
bull Both p and p q are flat and proper
bull For every closed point s isin S the induced morphism qs is the projective
resolution of (X F )s which is a foliated canonical model of general type
bull Denote by Es the collection of exceptional cycles of qs By our Main Theorem
I there is a fibrewise divisor E subXproj flat over S restricting to Es for every
s isin S
bull Let j W rarr Xproj denote the maximal closed subscheme away from which
KFprojand KXprojS are locally free Then
(45) L [m] = (jlowast(KFprojotimes OXproj
(minusεE )otimesKδXprojS
)otimesm)oror
is flat over S and commutes with base-change
bull L [m] is very ample of degree d on every fiber and defines an embedding into
PNS
We are now ready for
Theorem VII15 The functor MmdNεδ is represented by a separated algebraic
space each of whose irreducible components is proper
Proof We show that our functor satisfies Artinrsquos conditions [Ar74 Corollary 54] By
definition condition 1) and 4) hold while our previous remark on foliated obstruction
theory shows that 3) is true
We proceed to show 2) namely effectivity of formal deformations for MmdNεδ
What follows owes much to Artinrsquos [A74rsquo] Let T be a complete C-algebra Tn its
n-truncation so that Tsimminusrarr limlarrminusTn and finally qn isinMmdNεδ(Spec(Tn)) a compatible
sequence For each n there is a maximal open set Un sube Xprojn where qn is an
isomorphism denote by sn Cn rarr Zn the restriction of qn to the complement of Un
Clearly sn is projective over Spec(Tn)
62 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Denote by X C etc the formal algebraic spaces obtained as limits of Xn Cn
etc Then Xproj sub PNˆSpec(T )
hence by Grothendieckrsquos existence Theorem we find
bull a flat projective family (X F )proj rarr Spec(T ) resp a closed subscheme
C subXproj whose completion is Xproj resp C
bull a scheme Z whose completion is Z and a morphism s C rarr Z everything
being projective over Spec(T )
Further we have a formal contraction limminusrarr qn C rarr Z hence the main theorem
of [Ar70] gives algebraic contraction (X F )proj rarr (X F ) This proves the repre-
sentability of MmdNεδ The properness and separability of each irreducible com-
ponent can be checked using valutative criteria indeed properness is the content of
our Main Theorem I separatedness follows from the uniqueness of foliated canonical
models of general type and their projective resolution
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(2013) pp 279-319 httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesmp1bispdf
[Pe02] JV Pereira On the Poincare Problem for Foliations of General Type Mathematische
Annalen 323 no 2 pp217-226 2002 httpsarxivorgabsmath0104185
[PS16] JV Pereira R Svaldi Effective algebraic integration in bounded genus preprint
httpsarxivorgabs161206932
64 FEDERICO BUONERBA
[Re83] M Reid Minimal models of canonical threefolds in rdquoAlgebraic Varieties and Ana-
lytic Varietiesrdquo Adv Stud Pure Math vol 1 S Iitaka ed Kinokuniya and North-
Holland 1983 pp 131-180 httpwwwmathsedacukcheltsovquotientpdf
reid2pdf
[Se67] A Seidenberg Reduction of singularities of the differential equation Ady = Bdx Amer
J Math 89 (1967) 248-269 httpwwwjstororgstable2373435
[SB83] N Shepherd-Barron Degenerations with numerically effective canonical divisor The
Birational Geometry of Degenerations (R Friedman and D Morrison eds) Progr
Math no 29 Birkhuser 1983 pp 33-84
[Vis89] A Vistoli Intersection theory on algebraic stacks and on their moduli spaces
Invent Math (1989) pp 613-670 httplinkspringercomarticle101007
2FBF01388892page-1
Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences New York University 251 Mercer
Street New York NY 10012 USA
E-mail address buonerbacimsnyuedu
- I Introduction
- II Preliminaries
-
- III Operations on Deligne-Mumford stacks
- IIII Width of embedded parabolic champs
- IIIII Gorenstein foliation singularities
- IIIV Foliated adjunction
- IIV Canonical models of foliated surfaces with canonical singularities
- IIVI Canonical models of foliated surfaces with log-canonical singularities
- IIVII Set-up
-
- III Invariant curves and singularities local description
-
- IIII `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F) not isolated
- IIIII `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F) isolated
- IIIIII Local consequences
-
- IV Invariant curves along which KF vanishes
-
- IVI KF-nil curves
- IVII Invariant curves inside `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F)
-
- V Configurations
-
- VI Configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
- VII Configurations of non-rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
-
- VI Contractions and proof of the Main Theorem
- VII Moduli space of foliated surfaces of general type
- References
-
50 FEDERICO BUONERBA
We start by getting rid of some fiber components which are ruled by KF -nil gener-
ically smooth rational curves
Proposition VII2 Notation as in Set-up VI13 there exists a sequence of flops
and divisorial contractions c X 99KX + such that
bull X + is a smooth stack
bull let S+ sub X + be an irreducible invariant divisor that contains a positive-
dimensional family of invariant rational curves along which KF+ vanishes
Then S+ is either birationally ruled by nodal rational curves or it is a small
Kronecker
Proof We focus first on contracting components of the singular fiber of p Consider
the following algorithm If there is no birationally ruled component different from
the ones listed in the second item we are done otherwise pick one such F and let
C denote the general member of the ruling If the cohomology class [C] is inde-
composable F is minimal Otherwise [C] = [C1] + [C2] where Ci are rational and
intersect KF trivially After finitely many steps we have a decomposition as a finite
sum of indecomposables [C] =sumn
i=0 ni[Ci] where every Ci is rational intersects KF
trivially We have two cases
bull There exists k such that Ck deforms in a birationally ruled necessarily min-
imal surface Fk
bull Every Ci has anti-ample normal bundle
In the first case denote by X rarr X1 the contraction of Fk along |Ck| and relpace
X by X1 Since Fk is minimal smoothness of the ambient stack is preserved unless
Fk is a small Kronecker This is however impossible if n ge 2 if Fk were a small
Kronecker then Ck deforms away from Fkminus1 so then Fkminus1 middot Ck = 0 on the other
hand Fkminus1 intersects the other ruling of Fk positively
In the second case flop C1 middot middot middot Cn in this order The transform of F is minimal and
not a small Kronecker so it can be contracted along its ruling preserving ambient
smoothness By induction on the Picard rank of X after finitely many steps this
algorithm ends Call X the output of this algorithm
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 51
Let S subX be an invariant divisor with a generically smooth ruling Then pS S rarr∆ is flat and after flopping finitely many rational curves in S cap plowastS(0) the resulting
pS is smooth Hence we can contract S along pS After finitely many steps the
Proposition is proven
For ease of notation in the sequel we call X the output of the previous proposition
Notice that there might still be divisors carrying a pencil of nodal rational curves
both inside and outside the singular fiber of p
We can start analyzing configurations of fiber components where the restriction of
F is not of general type We need some notation whose reason to exist will be clear
shortly
Definition VII3 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
along which KF is not big F is called special Riccati if
bull F is minimal
bull There exists a morphism s F rarr B onto a curve whose fibers are nodal
rational curve
bull F is transverse to the general fiber of s in particular KF is numerically
trivial along s
bull At least one fiber of s is invariant
bull There exists a section σ of s which is invariant and does not coincide with
the nodal locus of F
In particular the intersections of σ with invariant fibers of s isolated singularities
of F the node of F all coincide There may be fibers of s fully contained in sing(F )
in which case they are everywhere transverse to the saturated foliation
The definition looks nasty but special Riccati components have a rather simple
origin as the following proof shows
Lemma VII4 Let F be special Riccati Up to base change by an etale double cover
Bprime rarr B there is a natural isomorphism F norm simminusrarr BprimetimesP1 and the restriction of F
to F norm is birational to the projection onto P1
52 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proof We work over the normalization F norm Denote by Bprime the pre-image of the
node of F which is an etale double cover of B and let f denote an invariant fiber
of s with lowast = σ cap f Observe that F norm carries a Riccati foliation with 3 invariant
curves through lowast - namely σ f and a component of Bprime Hence FF has a log-canonical
singularity in lowast On F norm perform a weighted blow-up in each log-canonical singu-
larity followed by the contraction of the transforms of the corresponding fibers Let
s+ F+ rarr B denote the output of this operation If the proper transform of Bprime is
connected replace F+ by its base change under Bprime rarr B Hence we can assume Bprime
is the disjoint union of two sections of s+ and the transform of σ is a third section
which is disjoint from Bprime Therefore F+ = P1 timesBprime and the foliation restricts to the
projection onto P1
Next we describe those surfaces which cannot appear as components of the sin-
gular fiber X0
Definition VII5 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
along which KF is not big F is called illusory if
bull there exists a morphism t F rarr B onto a curve
bull KF is trivial along t
bull For any other fiber component F prime the intersection F cap F prime is either empty or
contained in a fiber of t
We give examples of illusory fiber components
Lemma VII6 The following fiber components are necessarily illusory
bull t is elliptic the foliation is either parallel to t or turbolent with at least one
invariant fiber
bull t is a nodal ruling the foliation is either parallel to t or transverse to t with
at least one invariant fiber and not birational to a special Riccati VII3
Proof Let f = F cap F prime for some fiber component F prime It is F -invariant
Assume t and F are parallel and f is transverse to both Then necessarily f subesing(F ) and KF is positive along the fibers of t contradiction
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 53
Assume t and F are generically transverse and f is transverse to t Let e be an
invariant fiber of t then ecap f isin sing(F ) hence t must be a family of nodal rational
curves and ecapf coincides with the node of e - otherwise KF would be positive along
t But this implies F is special Riccati contradiction
We proceed to show that illusory fibers do not exist
Lemma VII7 Let F be an illusory fiber component then every fiber of t is irre-
ducible If F prime is any fiber component intersecting F non-trivially then F prime is illusory
Proof Assume t has a reducible fiber f Then we can write f = f prime cup f primeprime where f prime
is irreducible and f primeprime is a disjoint union of chains of rational curves In particular
every subscheme supported on f primeprime is rigid in X f prime is rational and smooth iff f is a
cycle of rational curves hence the foliation on F is parallel to t and the choice of f prime
is not unique otherwise f prime is nodal or elliptic Let X 99KX + denote the flop of the
irreducible components of f primeprime in any order The proper transform f prime+ (below in red)
is the irreducible fiber of the induced morphism t+ F+ rarr B Since f primeprime+ intersects
f prime+ and is not contained in F+ there exists a component F prime of the fiber of p+ such
that F+ cap f prime+ 6= empty Since F+ is illusory necessarily F+ cap F prime = f prime+ Moreover F+
and F prime are the only fiber components intersecting f prime+ again because F+ is illusory
We deduce that F+ middot f prime+ = F prime middot f prime+ = 0 and therefore f prime+ is nef inside F prime It follows
that he restriction of F+ to F prime is not of general type and by the classification of
foliated surfaces [McQ08] necessarily f prime+ deforms inside F prime and defines a fibration
u F prime rarr Bprime In particular f prime+ is an irreducible fiber of u This is however impossible
since u contracts all the components of f primeprime+ contained in F prime (below in blue) and by
definition of F prime there exists at least one such component This proves that every
fiber of t is irreducible The following depicts the situation
F prime F+
f prime+
f primeprime+
t+u
54 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Concerning the second statement we only need to check the third condition for F prime
to be illussory namely that every other fiber component F primeprime intersecting F prime does
so along the fibers of u If F primeprime intersects F prime transversely to u then F primeprime intersects F
non-trivially and transversely to t as well absurd
Corollary VII8 Illusory components do not exist
Proof By the above lemma the existence of one illusory component implies that
every irreducible component of the singular fiber of p is illusory contradicting that
KF is big
We can now focus on fiber components that do appear
Corollary VII9 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
containing an invariant curve C which moves and such that KF middot C = 0 Then
following the classification [McQ08] we have two cases
(1) The minimal model of F is a special Riccati component
(2) F is a small Kronecker
Proof Certainly the ones listed are the only cases where C is KF -nil We have to
exclude the possibility that C is invariant inside sing(F ) By Proposition IVII3
such C would be rational with at most one node Since we already contracted at
the beginning of the present subsection all ruled surfaces necessarily C is nodal
However by opcit C cannot intersect any other fiber component of X0 which
implies the absurdity that X0 = F
We proceed to show that special Riccati components are rather isolated in the
fiber
Lemma VII10 Let F be a special Riccati component If F prime is a fiber component
intersecting F non-trivially then it does so transversely to s Morover there is
exactly one such F prime
Proof After finitely many flops we can assume that every fiber of s is irreducible
By the non-existence of illusory components there exists a fiber component F lowast with
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 55
σprime = F cap F prime transverse to s If F primeprime is a fiber component with f = F cap F primeprime a fiber
of s then we claim f sube sing(F ) If not then since KF middot f = 0 and σprime is invariant
necessarily σprimecap f is the node of f But then the existence of F primeprime contradicts that p is
snc Hence f sube sing(F ) so then around the node of f there are 3 fiber components -
two branches coming from F one from F primeprime - and sing(F ) has 2 branches - namely f
This is impossible by our case analysis ni (1)c ni (2)c The very same reasoning
establishes the uniqueness of F prime
Lemma VII11 Let F be as in the previous Lemma If C is a connected curve
with KF middot C = 0 then it is disjoint from F
Proof After finitely many flops s is irreducible and C intersects F transversely away
from its node Moreover lowast = C cap F isin sing(F ) and we deduce that the fiber of s
through lowast is fully contained in the singular locus of F This contradicts Proposition
IVII3 since such fiber is nodal
We conclude by observing the obvious
Lemma VII12 Let F be a small Kronecker Then there exists a contraction
c X rarr X prime which is an isomorphism away from F and contracts F along one
of its rulings Necessarily X prime is not projective since every global Cartier divisor
intersects c(F ) trivially On the other hand in a formal neighborhood of c(F ) there
exist Cartier divisors intersecting it non-trivialliy
As such the contribution coming from non-rigid curves is rather poor there are
curves moving in the general fiber there are special Riccati components disjoint from
any other invariant curve intersecting KF trivially there are small Kroneckers who
can be contracted to curves We shall see in the next section that the complications
arising from the contraction of such non-rigid curves is purely psychological and
totally harmless
56 FEDERICO BUONERBA
VI Contractions and proof of the Main Theorem
In this section we contract all invariant curves along which KF is zero thereby
establishing the existence of canonical models I First we contract non-rigid curves
as described in the previous subsection
bull Small Kroneckers along either ruling Albeit this destroys projectivity of
the ambient threefold there still exist Cartier divisors defined in a formal
neighborhood of the base curve that intersect it non-trivially
bull Families of irreducible nodal rational curves which are flat over ∆ This
creates elliptic singularities on the general fiber of p which are disjoint from
other invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
bull Special Riccati again families of irreducible nodal rational curves fully con-
tained in X0 This creates elliptic singularities disjoint from other invariant
curves intersecting KF trivially
We can summarize our situation by way of
Set-up VI1 X is a 3-dimensional DM stack with at worst elliptic singularities
F a foliation by curves with canonical singularities which is not Q-Cartier in a
neighborhood of Xsing
There exists a proper morphism p X rarr ∆ smooth off 0 isin ∆ F restricts to a
foliation on every fiber of p it has canonical singularities on the very general fiber
of p and log-canonical singularities on every fiber of p KF is big and nef on every
irreducible component of every fiber of p
Let C be the invariant sub-scheme along which KF is not big then C is a curve
fully contained in the smooth locus X0capXsmooth every sub-curve of C has anti-ample
normal bundle the 1-simplex of its dual graph is a tree and detailed configurations
of such are referenced in set-up VI13
We proceed to contract such C We assume that along C the semi-simple field has
only rational eigenvalues and moreover no component of C is inside the foliation
singularity The other two cases - irrational eigenvalues and presence of singular
component - are strictly easier and can be obtained with the very same method
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 57
The proof takes place in the formal completion around C = C free cup C axes The
former is a disjoint union of trees of non-double curves For each non-double C let
F (C) denote the unique component of X0 containing it The latter is a tree of double
curves each with two triple points all contained in the same irreducible FC axes Each
tree of non-double curves touches C axes in one point through a LC-center In order
to construct the contraction we will use Artinrsquos celebrated criterion in the following
form
Fact VI1 ([Ar70]) Let X be an irreducible algebraic space i Y rarr X a closed
subspace of pure codimension 1 and f Y rarr Y0 a proper morphism with flowastOY = OY0
Let X denote the formal completion of X along Y and assume there exists a Cartier
divisor D in X which is supported on Y and is f -anti-ample Then there exists a
proper morphism of algebraic spaces F X rarr X0 which is an isomorphism away
from Y and such that ilowastF = f
Now we use the tree structure of C to construct a suitable divisor to which apply
Artinrsquos theorem Namely consider the following inductive defintion
(35) C0 = C axes F0 = FC axes
For k ge 0 assume Ck Fk are defined
bull Let Ck+1 denote the union of irreducible components of C that intersect Fk
non-trivially but are not contained in cupilekFibull Let Fk+1 denote the reduced sum (
sumCsubeCk+1
F (C))red
This process stops with a collection C1 middot middot middotCN of curves and F1 middot middot middot FN of reduced
divisors
Lemma VI1 We have the following identities
(36)
Fk middot C lt 0 for every C sube Ck
(F0 + F1) middot C le 0 for every C sube C0
(Fkminus1 + Fk + Fk+1) middot C = 0 for every C sube Ck 1 lt k lt N
(FNminus1 + FN) middot C lt 0 for every C sube CN
58 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proof The first is just the fact that every component of C is rigid The remaining
three follow from X0 middot C = 0 but the last one requires further justification Indeed
if C sube CN N gt 0 then C is one end of a tree of non-double curves In particular
there exists a foliation singularity lowast isin C disjoint from any other component of
C and LClowast is transverse to C This implies LClowast middotC gt 0 which together with
(FNminus1 + FN + LClowast) middot C = 0 concludes the proof
Let ε1 middot middot middot εN isin Qgt0 and define
(37) F Nminusk = (1 + ε1 + middot middot middot+ εk)FNminusk
bull If C sube CN we have
(38) (F Nminus1 + F
N) middot C = ε1FNminus1 middot C + (FNminus1 + FN) middot C
bull If C sube CNminusk 1 lt k lt N we have
(39)
(F Nminuskminus1 + F
Nminusk + F Nminusk+1) middot C =
(1 + middot middot middot+ εk)(FNminuskminus1 + FNminusk + FNminusk+1) middot C minus εkFNminusk+1 middot C + εk+1FNminuskminus1 middot C =
minus εkFNminusk+1 middot C + εk+1FNminuskminus1 middot C
bull If C sube C0 we have
(40) (F 0 + F
1) middot C = εNF0 middot C + (Nminus1sumj=0
εj)(F0 + F1) middot C
It is clear that provided
(41) 1 gtgt ε1 gtgt middot middot middot gtgt εN
the divisor F =sumF k is negative along every component of C
This proves the existence of the contraction and concludes the proof of the Main
Theorem I
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 59
VII Moduli space of foliated surfaces of general type
In this section we study the modular variation of foliated surfaces of general type
The upshot is that it is possible to define a functor which is representable separated
and every irreducible component is proper The main issue here is that the supporting
surface of a foliated canonical model may well fail to be projective indeed KF is not
Q-Gorenstein in general Hence in order to proceed via standard methods [Ko17]
we have to parametrize our canonical models together with a suitable projective
resolution
Definition VII13 Let (SF ) be a foliated proper reduced purely 2-dimensional
DM stack Assume S has only normal crossing singularities in codimension 1 that
F has log-canonical foliation singularities and that KF is big and nef on at least
one of the irreducible components of S If whenever KF middot C = 0 for some curve C
then C moves in an irreducible component of S and no member of such deformation
is F -invariant then (SF ) is called foliated canonical model of general type
Clearly foliated canonical models are exactly the stable degenerations appearing
as the central fiber of our Main Theorem I Their lack of projectivity has two sources
namely the contraction of cycles of smooth KF -nil curves and of trees of cuspidal
ones Singularities arising from cycles behave well in families namely they always
deform into the general fiber Those arising from cuspidal curves on the other hand
tend to be rather isolated inside the degenerate fiber
Observe that the deformation theory of a foliated surface is rather simple suppose
given an infinitesimal C-algebras extension 0 rarr J rarr Ae rarr A rarr 0 and (SF )
a foliated surface flat over Spec(A) then the obstruction to lifting to Ae can be
understood in three simple steps
(1) Deformation of the underlying surface S once a deformation Se rarr Spec(Ae)
is given
(2) Deformation of the line bundle KF by the exponential sequence
(42) 0rarr J otimes OS rarr OlowastSerarr OlowastS rarr 0
obstructions lie in H2(SOS)otimes J once a deformation of KF is given
60 FEDERICO BUONERBA
(3) Deformation of the defining section OS rarr KF otimes TS obstructions lie in
H1(SKF otimes TS)otimes J
Now we have
Definition VII14 Let (SF ) be a foliated canonical model of general type A
proper birational morphism q (SF )proj rarr (SF ) is called its projective resolution
if
bull Every irreducible component of Sproj is smooth
bull The exceptional locus of q is a disjoint union of cycles of KFproj-nil smooth
curves and trees of KFproj-nil curves each of which has a non-trivial cuspidal
singularity
bull In a neighborhood of every q-exceptional cycle not only Sproj but also its
moduli space is smooth
We need a few remarks about projective resolutions
(1) Projective resolutions are always unique Indeed the only possible ambiguity
could lie in some extra smooth irreducible components in the exceptional
locus This is forbidden by definition in the trees of cuspidal curves it is
also forbidden by way of the third item in cycles of smooth ones ie on
algebraic surfaces the minimal resolution is unique
(2) Denote by E the collection of q-exceptional cycles Then there exist ε δ isinQgt0 such that KFproj
minus εE + δKSprojis ample by Nakai-Moishezon
(3) Deformations of a projective resolution of a foliated canonical model are
canonically identified with deformations of the underlying birational mor-
phism q Sproj rarr S followed by a deformation of the foliation F
We are now ready to construct a moduli functor for foliated surfaces more precisely
for projective resolutions of foliated canonical models of general type For m dN isinN and ε δ isin Qgt0 let
(43) MmdNεδ (C-schemes)rarr (sets)
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 61
be defined by MmdNεδ(S) = Diagrams
(44) (X F )projqminusrarr (X F )
pminusrarr S
Where
bull Both p and p q are flat and proper
bull For every closed point s isin S the induced morphism qs is the projective
resolution of (X F )s which is a foliated canonical model of general type
bull Denote by Es the collection of exceptional cycles of qs By our Main Theorem
I there is a fibrewise divisor E subXproj flat over S restricting to Es for every
s isin S
bull Let j W rarr Xproj denote the maximal closed subscheme away from which
KFprojand KXprojS are locally free Then
(45) L [m] = (jlowast(KFprojotimes OXproj
(minusεE )otimesKδXprojS
)otimesm)oror
is flat over S and commutes with base-change
bull L [m] is very ample of degree d on every fiber and defines an embedding into
PNS
We are now ready for
Theorem VII15 The functor MmdNεδ is represented by a separated algebraic
space each of whose irreducible components is proper
Proof We show that our functor satisfies Artinrsquos conditions [Ar74 Corollary 54] By
definition condition 1) and 4) hold while our previous remark on foliated obstruction
theory shows that 3) is true
We proceed to show 2) namely effectivity of formal deformations for MmdNεδ
What follows owes much to Artinrsquos [A74rsquo] Let T be a complete C-algebra Tn its
n-truncation so that Tsimminusrarr limlarrminusTn and finally qn isinMmdNεδ(Spec(Tn)) a compatible
sequence For each n there is a maximal open set Un sube Xprojn where qn is an
isomorphism denote by sn Cn rarr Zn the restriction of qn to the complement of Un
Clearly sn is projective over Spec(Tn)
62 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Denote by X C etc the formal algebraic spaces obtained as limits of Xn Cn
etc Then Xproj sub PNˆSpec(T )
hence by Grothendieckrsquos existence Theorem we find
bull a flat projective family (X F )proj rarr Spec(T ) resp a closed subscheme
C subXproj whose completion is Xproj resp C
bull a scheme Z whose completion is Z and a morphism s C rarr Z everything
being projective over Spec(T )
Further we have a formal contraction limminusrarr qn C rarr Z hence the main theorem
of [Ar70] gives algebraic contraction (X F )proj rarr (X F ) This proves the repre-
sentability of MmdNεδ The properness and separability of each irreducible com-
ponent can be checked using valutative criteria indeed properness is the content of
our Main Theorem I separatedness follows from the uniqueness of foliated canonical
models of general type and their projective resolution
References
[Ar70] M Artin Algebraization of Formal Moduli II Existence of Modifications Ann
of Math Vol 91 No 1 (Jan 1970) pp 88-135 httpwwwjstororgstable
1970602
[Ar74] M Artin Versal Deformations and Algebraic Stacks Inventiones Math 27 165- 189
(1974) httpmathuchicagoedu~drinfeldArtin_on_stackspdf
[A74rsquo] M Artin Algebraic construction of Brieskornrsquos resolutions J Alg Vol 29 Issue
2 May 1974 pp 330-348 httpwwwsciencedirectcomsciencearticlepii
0021869374901021
[BB72] P Baum R Bott Singularities of holomorphic foliations J Diff Geom 7 (1972)
279-342 httpsprojecteuclidorgdownloadpdf_1euclidjdg1214431158
[Bo77] F Bogomolov Families of curves on a surface of general type Doklady Akademii Nauk
USSR (in Russian) 236 (5) 1041-1044
[Bo78] F Bogomolov Holomorphic tensors and vector bundles on projective varieties Math
USSR Izv 13 (1978) 499-555
[BM16] F Bogomolov M McQuillan Rational Curves on Foliated Varieties In Cascini
McKernan Pereira (eds) Foliation Theory in Algebraic Geometry Simons Symposia
Springer Cham pp 21-51 (2016) httpslinkspringercomchapter101007
978-3-319-24460-0_2
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 63
[Bu] F Buonerba Functorial resolution of tame quotient singularities in positive charac-
teristic httpsarxivorgabs151100550
[Ke99] S Keel Basepoint Freeness for Nef and Big Line Bundles in Positive Characteris-
tic Annals of Math 149 No 1 (Jan 1999) pp 253-286 httpwwwjstororg
stable121025 httpsarxivorgabsmath9901149
[KM97] S Keel S Mori Quotients by groupoids Annals of Math 145 (1997) pp
193-213 httpwwwjstororgstable2951828seq=1page_scan_tab_contents
httparxivorgabsalg-geom9508012
[Ko17] J Kollar Families of varieties of general type httpswebmathprincetonedu
~kollarbookmodbook20170720pdf
[LN02] A Lins Neto Some examples for the Poincare and Painleve problems Annales sci-
entifiques de lrsquoENS 352 (2002) 231-266 httparchivenumdamorgarticle
ASENS_2002_4_35_2_231_0pdf
[McQ12] M McQuillan Foliated Mori Theory amp Hyperbolicity of Algebraic Surfaces http
wwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillahomehtml
[McQ98] M McQuillan Diophantine approximation and foliations Inst Hautes Etudes Sci
Publ Math 87 (1998) 121-174 httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafiles
ihespdf
[McQ05rsquo] M McQuillan Bloch hyperbolicity preprint httpwwwmatuniroma2it
~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ05] M McQuillan Semi-stable reduction of foliations IHES pre-print IHESM0502
(2005) httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ05rdquo] M McQuillan Uniform Uniformisation IHES pre-print (2005) IHES M0503 http
wwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ08] M McQuillan Canonical models of foliations Pure Appl Math Q 4
(2008) no 3 Special Issue In honor of Fedor Bogomolov Part 2 877-1012
httpintlpresscomsitepubfiles_fulltextjournalspamq20080004
0003PAMQ-2008-0004-0003-a009pdf
[MP13] M McQuillan D Panazzolo Almost etale resolution of foliations J Diff Geom 95
(2013) pp 279-319 httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesmp1bispdf
[Pe02] JV Pereira On the Poincare Problem for Foliations of General Type Mathematische
Annalen 323 no 2 pp217-226 2002 httpsarxivorgabsmath0104185
[PS16] JV Pereira R Svaldi Effective algebraic integration in bounded genus preprint
httpsarxivorgabs161206932
64 FEDERICO BUONERBA
[Re83] M Reid Minimal models of canonical threefolds in rdquoAlgebraic Varieties and Ana-
lytic Varietiesrdquo Adv Stud Pure Math vol 1 S Iitaka ed Kinokuniya and North-
Holland 1983 pp 131-180 httpwwwmathsedacukcheltsovquotientpdf
reid2pdf
[Se67] A Seidenberg Reduction of singularities of the differential equation Ady = Bdx Amer
J Math 89 (1967) 248-269 httpwwwjstororgstable2373435
[SB83] N Shepherd-Barron Degenerations with numerically effective canonical divisor The
Birational Geometry of Degenerations (R Friedman and D Morrison eds) Progr
Math no 29 Birkhuser 1983 pp 33-84
[Vis89] A Vistoli Intersection theory on algebraic stacks and on their moduli spaces
Invent Math (1989) pp 613-670 httplinkspringercomarticle101007
2FBF01388892page-1
Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences New York University 251 Mercer
Street New York NY 10012 USA
E-mail address buonerbacimsnyuedu
- I Introduction
- II Preliminaries
-
- III Operations on Deligne-Mumford stacks
- IIII Width of embedded parabolic champs
- IIIII Gorenstein foliation singularities
- IIIV Foliated adjunction
- IIV Canonical models of foliated surfaces with canonical singularities
- IIVI Canonical models of foliated surfaces with log-canonical singularities
- IIVII Set-up
-
- III Invariant curves and singularities local description
-
- IIII `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F) not isolated
- IIIII `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F) isolated
- IIIIII Local consequences
-
- IV Invariant curves along which KF vanishes
-
- IVI KF-nil curves
- IVII Invariant curves inside `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F)
-
- V Configurations
-
- VI Configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
- VII Configurations of non-rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
-
- VI Contractions and proof of the Main Theorem
- VII Moduli space of foliated surfaces of general type
- References
-
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 51
Let S subX be an invariant divisor with a generically smooth ruling Then pS S rarr∆ is flat and after flopping finitely many rational curves in S cap plowastS(0) the resulting
pS is smooth Hence we can contract S along pS After finitely many steps the
Proposition is proven
For ease of notation in the sequel we call X the output of the previous proposition
Notice that there might still be divisors carrying a pencil of nodal rational curves
both inside and outside the singular fiber of p
We can start analyzing configurations of fiber components where the restriction of
F is not of general type We need some notation whose reason to exist will be clear
shortly
Definition VII3 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
along which KF is not big F is called special Riccati if
bull F is minimal
bull There exists a morphism s F rarr B onto a curve whose fibers are nodal
rational curve
bull F is transverse to the general fiber of s in particular KF is numerically
trivial along s
bull At least one fiber of s is invariant
bull There exists a section σ of s which is invariant and does not coincide with
the nodal locus of F
In particular the intersections of σ with invariant fibers of s isolated singularities
of F the node of F all coincide There may be fibers of s fully contained in sing(F )
in which case they are everywhere transverse to the saturated foliation
The definition looks nasty but special Riccati components have a rather simple
origin as the following proof shows
Lemma VII4 Let F be special Riccati Up to base change by an etale double cover
Bprime rarr B there is a natural isomorphism F norm simminusrarr BprimetimesP1 and the restriction of F
to F norm is birational to the projection onto P1
52 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proof We work over the normalization F norm Denote by Bprime the pre-image of the
node of F which is an etale double cover of B and let f denote an invariant fiber
of s with lowast = σ cap f Observe that F norm carries a Riccati foliation with 3 invariant
curves through lowast - namely σ f and a component of Bprime Hence FF has a log-canonical
singularity in lowast On F norm perform a weighted blow-up in each log-canonical singu-
larity followed by the contraction of the transforms of the corresponding fibers Let
s+ F+ rarr B denote the output of this operation If the proper transform of Bprime is
connected replace F+ by its base change under Bprime rarr B Hence we can assume Bprime
is the disjoint union of two sections of s+ and the transform of σ is a third section
which is disjoint from Bprime Therefore F+ = P1 timesBprime and the foliation restricts to the
projection onto P1
Next we describe those surfaces which cannot appear as components of the sin-
gular fiber X0
Definition VII5 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
along which KF is not big F is called illusory if
bull there exists a morphism t F rarr B onto a curve
bull KF is trivial along t
bull For any other fiber component F prime the intersection F cap F prime is either empty or
contained in a fiber of t
We give examples of illusory fiber components
Lemma VII6 The following fiber components are necessarily illusory
bull t is elliptic the foliation is either parallel to t or turbolent with at least one
invariant fiber
bull t is a nodal ruling the foliation is either parallel to t or transverse to t with
at least one invariant fiber and not birational to a special Riccati VII3
Proof Let f = F cap F prime for some fiber component F prime It is F -invariant
Assume t and F are parallel and f is transverse to both Then necessarily f subesing(F ) and KF is positive along the fibers of t contradiction
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 53
Assume t and F are generically transverse and f is transverse to t Let e be an
invariant fiber of t then ecap f isin sing(F ) hence t must be a family of nodal rational
curves and ecapf coincides with the node of e - otherwise KF would be positive along
t But this implies F is special Riccati contradiction
We proceed to show that illusory fibers do not exist
Lemma VII7 Let F be an illusory fiber component then every fiber of t is irre-
ducible If F prime is any fiber component intersecting F non-trivially then F prime is illusory
Proof Assume t has a reducible fiber f Then we can write f = f prime cup f primeprime where f prime
is irreducible and f primeprime is a disjoint union of chains of rational curves In particular
every subscheme supported on f primeprime is rigid in X f prime is rational and smooth iff f is a
cycle of rational curves hence the foliation on F is parallel to t and the choice of f prime
is not unique otherwise f prime is nodal or elliptic Let X 99KX + denote the flop of the
irreducible components of f primeprime in any order The proper transform f prime+ (below in red)
is the irreducible fiber of the induced morphism t+ F+ rarr B Since f primeprime+ intersects
f prime+ and is not contained in F+ there exists a component F prime of the fiber of p+ such
that F+ cap f prime+ 6= empty Since F+ is illusory necessarily F+ cap F prime = f prime+ Moreover F+
and F prime are the only fiber components intersecting f prime+ again because F+ is illusory
We deduce that F+ middot f prime+ = F prime middot f prime+ = 0 and therefore f prime+ is nef inside F prime It follows
that he restriction of F+ to F prime is not of general type and by the classification of
foliated surfaces [McQ08] necessarily f prime+ deforms inside F prime and defines a fibration
u F prime rarr Bprime In particular f prime+ is an irreducible fiber of u This is however impossible
since u contracts all the components of f primeprime+ contained in F prime (below in blue) and by
definition of F prime there exists at least one such component This proves that every
fiber of t is irreducible The following depicts the situation
F prime F+
f prime+
f primeprime+
t+u
54 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Concerning the second statement we only need to check the third condition for F prime
to be illussory namely that every other fiber component F primeprime intersecting F prime does
so along the fibers of u If F primeprime intersects F prime transversely to u then F primeprime intersects F
non-trivially and transversely to t as well absurd
Corollary VII8 Illusory components do not exist
Proof By the above lemma the existence of one illusory component implies that
every irreducible component of the singular fiber of p is illusory contradicting that
KF is big
We can now focus on fiber components that do appear
Corollary VII9 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
containing an invariant curve C which moves and such that KF middot C = 0 Then
following the classification [McQ08] we have two cases
(1) The minimal model of F is a special Riccati component
(2) F is a small Kronecker
Proof Certainly the ones listed are the only cases where C is KF -nil We have to
exclude the possibility that C is invariant inside sing(F ) By Proposition IVII3
such C would be rational with at most one node Since we already contracted at
the beginning of the present subsection all ruled surfaces necessarily C is nodal
However by opcit C cannot intersect any other fiber component of X0 which
implies the absurdity that X0 = F
We proceed to show that special Riccati components are rather isolated in the
fiber
Lemma VII10 Let F be a special Riccati component If F prime is a fiber component
intersecting F non-trivially then it does so transversely to s Morover there is
exactly one such F prime
Proof After finitely many flops we can assume that every fiber of s is irreducible
By the non-existence of illusory components there exists a fiber component F lowast with
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 55
σprime = F cap F prime transverse to s If F primeprime is a fiber component with f = F cap F primeprime a fiber
of s then we claim f sube sing(F ) If not then since KF middot f = 0 and σprime is invariant
necessarily σprimecap f is the node of f But then the existence of F primeprime contradicts that p is
snc Hence f sube sing(F ) so then around the node of f there are 3 fiber components -
two branches coming from F one from F primeprime - and sing(F ) has 2 branches - namely f
This is impossible by our case analysis ni (1)c ni (2)c The very same reasoning
establishes the uniqueness of F prime
Lemma VII11 Let F be as in the previous Lemma If C is a connected curve
with KF middot C = 0 then it is disjoint from F
Proof After finitely many flops s is irreducible and C intersects F transversely away
from its node Moreover lowast = C cap F isin sing(F ) and we deduce that the fiber of s
through lowast is fully contained in the singular locus of F This contradicts Proposition
IVII3 since such fiber is nodal
We conclude by observing the obvious
Lemma VII12 Let F be a small Kronecker Then there exists a contraction
c X rarr X prime which is an isomorphism away from F and contracts F along one
of its rulings Necessarily X prime is not projective since every global Cartier divisor
intersects c(F ) trivially On the other hand in a formal neighborhood of c(F ) there
exist Cartier divisors intersecting it non-trivialliy
As such the contribution coming from non-rigid curves is rather poor there are
curves moving in the general fiber there are special Riccati components disjoint from
any other invariant curve intersecting KF trivially there are small Kroneckers who
can be contracted to curves We shall see in the next section that the complications
arising from the contraction of such non-rigid curves is purely psychological and
totally harmless
56 FEDERICO BUONERBA
VI Contractions and proof of the Main Theorem
In this section we contract all invariant curves along which KF is zero thereby
establishing the existence of canonical models I First we contract non-rigid curves
as described in the previous subsection
bull Small Kroneckers along either ruling Albeit this destroys projectivity of
the ambient threefold there still exist Cartier divisors defined in a formal
neighborhood of the base curve that intersect it non-trivially
bull Families of irreducible nodal rational curves which are flat over ∆ This
creates elliptic singularities on the general fiber of p which are disjoint from
other invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
bull Special Riccati again families of irreducible nodal rational curves fully con-
tained in X0 This creates elliptic singularities disjoint from other invariant
curves intersecting KF trivially
We can summarize our situation by way of
Set-up VI1 X is a 3-dimensional DM stack with at worst elliptic singularities
F a foliation by curves with canonical singularities which is not Q-Cartier in a
neighborhood of Xsing
There exists a proper morphism p X rarr ∆ smooth off 0 isin ∆ F restricts to a
foliation on every fiber of p it has canonical singularities on the very general fiber
of p and log-canonical singularities on every fiber of p KF is big and nef on every
irreducible component of every fiber of p
Let C be the invariant sub-scheme along which KF is not big then C is a curve
fully contained in the smooth locus X0capXsmooth every sub-curve of C has anti-ample
normal bundle the 1-simplex of its dual graph is a tree and detailed configurations
of such are referenced in set-up VI13
We proceed to contract such C We assume that along C the semi-simple field has
only rational eigenvalues and moreover no component of C is inside the foliation
singularity The other two cases - irrational eigenvalues and presence of singular
component - are strictly easier and can be obtained with the very same method
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 57
The proof takes place in the formal completion around C = C free cup C axes The
former is a disjoint union of trees of non-double curves For each non-double C let
F (C) denote the unique component of X0 containing it The latter is a tree of double
curves each with two triple points all contained in the same irreducible FC axes Each
tree of non-double curves touches C axes in one point through a LC-center In order
to construct the contraction we will use Artinrsquos celebrated criterion in the following
form
Fact VI1 ([Ar70]) Let X be an irreducible algebraic space i Y rarr X a closed
subspace of pure codimension 1 and f Y rarr Y0 a proper morphism with flowastOY = OY0
Let X denote the formal completion of X along Y and assume there exists a Cartier
divisor D in X which is supported on Y and is f -anti-ample Then there exists a
proper morphism of algebraic spaces F X rarr X0 which is an isomorphism away
from Y and such that ilowastF = f
Now we use the tree structure of C to construct a suitable divisor to which apply
Artinrsquos theorem Namely consider the following inductive defintion
(35) C0 = C axes F0 = FC axes
For k ge 0 assume Ck Fk are defined
bull Let Ck+1 denote the union of irreducible components of C that intersect Fk
non-trivially but are not contained in cupilekFibull Let Fk+1 denote the reduced sum (
sumCsubeCk+1
F (C))red
This process stops with a collection C1 middot middot middotCN of curves and F1 middot middot middot FN of reduced
divisors
Lemma VI1 We have the following identities
(36)
Fk middot C lt 0 for every C sube Ck
(F0 + F1) middot C le 0 for every C sube C0
(Fkminus1 + Fk + Fk+1) middot C = 0 for every C sube Ck 1 lt k lt N
(FNminus1 + FN) middot C lt 0 for every C sube CN
58 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proof The first is just the fact that every component of C is rigid The remaining
three follow from X0 middot C = 0 but the last one requires further justification Indeed
if C sube CN N gt 0 then C is one end of a tree of non-double curves In particular
there exists a foliation singularity lowast isin C disjoint from any other component of
C and LClowast is transverse to C This implies LClowast middotC gt 0 which together with
(FNminus1 + FN + LClowast) middot C = 0 concludes the proof
Let ε1 middot middot middot εN isin Qgt0 and define
(37) F Nminusk = (1 + ε1 + middot middot middot+ εk)FNminusk
bull If C sube CN we have
(38) (F Nminus1 + F
N) middot C = ε1FNminus1 middot C + (FNminus1 + FN) middot C
bull If C sube CNminusk 1 lt k lt N we have
(39)
(F Nminuskminus1 + F
Nminusk + F Nminusk+1) middot C =
(1 + middot middot middot+ εk)(FNminuskminus1 + FNminusk + FNminusk+1) middot C minus εkFNminusk+1 middot C + εk+1FNminuskminus1 middot C =
minus εkFNminusk+1 middot C + εk+1FNminuskminus1 middot C
bull If C sube C0 we have
(40) (F 0 + F
1) middot C = εNF0 middot C + (Nminus1sumj=0
εj)(F0 + F1) middot C
It is clear that provided
(41) 1 gtgt ε1 gtgt middot middot middot gtgt εN
the divisor F =sumF k is negative along every component of C
This proves the existence of the contraction and concludes the proof of the Main
Theorem I
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 59
VII Moduli space of foliated surfaces of general type
In this section we study the modular variation of foliated surfaces of general type
The upshot is that it is possible to define a functor which is representable separated
and every irreducible component is proper The main issue here is that the supporting
surface of a foliated canonical model may well fail to be projective indeed KF is not
Q-Gorenstein in general Hence in order to proceed via standard methods [Ko17]
we have to parametrize our canonical models together with a suitable projective
resolution
Definition VII13 Let (SF ) be a foliated proper reduced purely 2-dimensional
DM stack Assume S has only normal crossing singularities in codimension 1 that
F has log-canonical foliation singularities and that KF is big and nef on at least
one of the irreducible components of S If whenever KF middot C = 0 for some curve C
then C moves in an irreducible component of S and no member of such deformation
is F -invariant then (SF ) is called foliated canonical model of general type
Clearly foliated canonical models are exactly the stable degenerations appearing
as the central fiber of our Main Theorem I Their lack of projectivity has two sources
namely the contraction of cycles of smooth KF -nil curves and of trees of cuspidal
ones Singularities arising from cycles behave well in families namely they always
deform into the general fiber Those arising from cuspidal curves on the other hand
tend to be rather isolated inside the degenerate fiber
Observe that the deformation theory of a foliated surface is rather simple suppose
given an infinitesimal C-algebras extension 0 rarr J rarr Ae rarr A rarr 0 and (SF )
a foliated surface flat over Spec(A) then the obstruction to lifting to Ae can be
understood in three simple steps
(1) Deformation of the underlying surface S once a deformation Se rarr Spec(Ae)
is given
(2) Deformation of the line bundle KF by the exponential sequence
(42) 0rarr J otimes OS rarr OlowastSerarr OlowastS rarr 0
obstructions lie in H2(SOS)otimes J once a deformation of KF is given
60 FEDERICO BUONERBA
(3) Deformation of the defining section OS rarr KF otimes TS obstructions lie in
H1(SKF otimes TS)otimes J
Now we have
Definition VII14 Let (SF ) be a foliated canonical model of general type A
proper birational morphism q (SF )proj rarr (SF ) is called its projective resolution
if
bull Every irreducible component of Sproj is smooth
bull The exceptional locus of q is a disjoint union of cycles of KFproj-nil smooth
curves and trees of KFproj-nil curves each of which has a non-trivial cuspidal
singularity
bull In a neighborhood of every q-exceptional cycle not only Sproj but also its
moduli space is smooth
We need a few remarks about projective resolutions
(1) Projective resolutions are always unique Indeed the only possible ambiguity
could lie in some extra smooth irreducible components in the exceptional
locus This is forbidden by definition in the trees of cuspidal curves it is
also forbidden by way of the third item in cycles of smooth ones ie on
algebraic surfaces the minimal resolution is unique
(2) Denote by E the collection of q-exceptional cycles Then there exist ε δ isinQgt0 such that KFproj
minus εE + δKSprojis ample by Nakai-Moishezon
(3) Deformations of a projective resolution of a foliated canonical model are
canonically identified with deformations of the underlying birational mor-
phism q Sproj rarr S followed by a deformation of the foliation F
We are now ready to construct a moduli functor for foliated surfaces more precisely
for projective resolutions of foliated canonical models of general type For m dN isinN and ε δ isin Qgt0 let
(43) MmdNεδ (C-schemes)rarr (sets)
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 61
be defined by MmdNεδ(S) = Diagrams
(44) (X F )projqminusrarr (X F )
pminusrarr S
Where
bull Both p and p q are flat and proper
bull For every closed point s isin S the induced morphism qs is the projective
resolution of (X F )s which is a foliated canonical model of general type
bull Denote by Es the collection of exceptional cycles of qs By our Main Theorem
I there is a fibrewise divisor E subXproj flat over S restricting to Es for every
s isin S
bull Let j W rarr Xproj denote the maximal closed subscheme away from which
KFprojand KXprojS are locally free Then
(45) L [m] = (jlowast(KFprojotimes OXproj
(minusεE )otimesKδXprojS
)otimesm)oror
is flat over S and commutes with base-change
bull L [m] is very ample of degree d on every fiber and defines an embedding into
PNS
We are now ready for
Theorem VII15 The functor MmdNεδ is represented by a separated algebraic
space each of whose irreducible components is proper
Proof We show that our functor satisfies Artinrsquos conditions [Ar74 Corollary 54] By
definition condition 1) and 4) hold while our previous remark on foliated obstruction
theory shows that 3) is true
We proceed to show 2) namely effectivity of formal deformations for MmdNεδ
What follows owes much to Artinrsquos [A74rsquo] Let T be a complete C-algebra Tn its
n-truncation so that Tsimminusrarr limlarrminusTn and finally qn isinMmdNεδ(Spec(Tn)) a compatible
sequence For each n there is a maximal open set Un sube Xprojn where qn is an
isomorphism denote by sn Cn rarr Zn the restriction of qn to the complement of Un
Clearly sn is projective over Spec(Tn)
62 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Denote by X C etc the formal algebraic spaces obtained as limits of Xn Cn
etc Then Xproj sub PNˆSpec(T )
hence by Grothendieckrsquos existence Theorem we find
bull a flat projective family (X F )proj rarr Spec(T ) resp a closed subscheme
C subXproj whose completion is Xproj resp C
bull a scheme Z whose completion is Z and a morphism s C rarr Z everything
being projective over Spec(T )
Further we have a formal contraction limminusrarr qn C rarr Z hence the main theorem
of [Ar70] gives algebraic contraction (X F )proj rarr (X F ) This proves the repre-
sentability of MmdNεδ The properness and separability of each irreducible com-
ponent can be checked using valutative criteria indeed properness is the content of
our Main Theorem I separatedness follows from the uniqueness of foliated canonical
models of general type and their projective resolution
References
[Ar70] M Artin Algebraization of Formal Moduli II Existence of Modifications Ann
of Math Vol 91 No 1 (Jan 1970) pp 88-135 httpwwwjstororgstable
1970602
[Ar74] M Artin Versal Deformations and Algebraic Stacks Inventiones Math 27 165- 189
(1974) httpmathuchicagoedu~drinfeldArtin_on_stackspdf
[A74rsquo] M Artin Algebraic construction of Brieskornrsquos resolutions J Alg Vol 29 Issue
2 May 1974 pp 330-348 httpwwwsciencedirectcomsciencearticlepii
0021869374901021
[BB72] P Baum R Bott Singularities of holomorphic foliations J Diff Geom 7 (1972)
279-342 httpsprojecteuclidorgdownloadpdf_1euclidjdg1214431158
[Bo77] F Bogomolov Families of curves on a surface of general type Doklady Akademii Nauk
USSR (in Russian) 236 (5) 1041-1044
[Bo78] F Bogomolov Holomorphic tensors and vector bundles on projective varieties Math
USSR Izv 13 (1978) 499-555
[BM16] F Bogomolov M McQuillan Rational Curves on Foliated Varieties In Cascini
McKernan Pereira (eds) Foliation Theory in Algebraic Geometry Simons Symposia
Springer Cham pp 21-51 (2016) httpslinkspringercomchapter101007
978-3-319-24460-0_2
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 63
[Bu] F Buonerba Functorial resolution of tame quotient singularities in positive charac-
teristic httpsarxivorgabs151100550
[Ke99] S Keel Basepoint Freeness for Nef and Big Line Bundles in Positive Characteris-
tic Annals of Math 149 No 1 (Jan 1999) pp 253-286 httpwwwjstororg
stable121025 httpsarxivorgabsmath9901149
[KM97] S Keel S Mori Quotients by groupoids Annals of Math 145 (1997) pp
193-213 httpwwwjstororgstable2951828seq=1page_scan_tab_contents
httparxivorgabsalg-geom9508012
[Ko17] J Kollar Families of varieties of general type httpswebmathprincetonedu
~kollarbookmodbook20170720pdf
[LN02] A Lins Neto Some examples for the Poincare and Painleve problems Annales sci-
entifiques de lrsquoENS 352 (2002) 231-266 httparchivenumdamorgarticle
ASENS_2002_4_35_2_231_0pdf
[McQ12] M McQuillan Foliated Mori Theory amp Hyperbolicity of Algebraic Surfaces http
wwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillahomehtml
[McQ98] M McQuillan Diophantine approximation and foliations Inst Hautes Etudes Sci
Publ Math 87 (1998) 121-174 httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafiles
ihespdf
[McQ05rsquo] M McQuillan Bloch hyperbolicity preprint httpwwwmatuniroma2it
~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ05] M McQuillan Semi-stable reduction of foliations IHES pre-print IHESM0502
(2005) httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ05rdquo] M McQuillan Uniform Uniformisation IHES pre-print (2005) IHES M0503 http
wwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ08] M McQuillan Canonical models of foliations Pure Appl Math Q 4
(2008) no 3 Special Issue In honor of Fedor Bogomolov Part 2 877-1012
httpintlpresscomsitepubfiles_fulltextjournalspamq20080004
0003PAMQ-2008-0004-0003-a009pdf
[MP13] M McQuillan D Panazzolo Almost etale resolution of foliations J Diff Geom 95
(2013) pp 279-319 httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesmp1bispdf
[Pe02] JV Pereira On the Poincare Problem for Foliations of General Type Mathematische
Annalen 323 no 2 pp217-226 2002 httpsarxivorgabsmath0104185
[PS16] JV Pereira R Svaldi Effective algebraic integration in bounded genus preprint
httpsarxivorgabs161206932
64 FEDERICO BUONERBA
[Re83] M Reid Minimal models of canonical threefolds in rdquoAlgebraic Varieties and Ana-
lytic Varietiesrdquo Adv Stud Pure Math vol 1 S Iitaka ed Kinokuniya and North-
Holland 1983 pp 131-180 httpwwwmathsedacukcheltsovquotientpdf
reid2pdf
[Se67] A Seidenberg Reduction of singularities of the differential equation Ady = Bdx Amer
J Math 89 (1967) 248-269 httpwwwjstororgstable2373435
[SB83] N Shepherd-Barron Degenerations with numerically effective canonical divisor The
Birational Geometry of Degenerations (R Friedman and D Morrison eds) Progr
Math no 29 Birkhuser 1983 pp 33-84
[Vis89] A Vistoli Intersection theory on algebraic stacks and on their moduli spaces
Invent Math (1989) pp 613-670 httplinkspringercomarticle101007
2FBF01388892page-1
Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences New York University 251 Mercer
Street New York NY 10012 USA
E-mail address buonerbacimsnyuedu
- I Introduction
- II Preliminaries
-
- III Operations on Deligne-Mumford stacks
- IIII Width of embedded parabolic champs
- IIIII Gorenstein foliation singularities
- IIIV Foliated adjunction
- IIV Canonical models of foliated surfaces with canonical singularities
- IIVI Canonical models of foliated surfaces with log-canonical singularities
- IIVII Set-up
-
- III Invariant curves and singularities local description
-
- IIII `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F) not isolated
- IIIII `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F) isolated
- IIIIII Local consequences
-
- IV Invariant curves along which KF vanishes
-
- IVI KF-nil curves
- IVII Invariant curves inside `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F)
-
- V Configurations
-
- VI Configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
- VII Configurations of non-rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
-
- VI Contractions and proof of the Main Theorem
- VII Moduli space of foliated surfaces of general type
- References
-
52 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proof We work over the normalization F norm Denote by Bprime the pre-image of the
node of F which is an etale double cover of B and let f denote an invariant fiber
of s with lowast = σ cap f Observe that F norm carries a Riccati foliation with 3 invariant
curves through lowast - namely σ f and a component of Bprime Hence FF has a log-canonical
singularity in lowast On F norm perform a weighted blow-up in each log-canonical singu-
larity followed by the contraction of the transforms of the corresponding fibers Let
s+ F+ rarr B denote the output of this operation If the proper transform of Bprime is
connected replace F+ by its base change under Bprime rarr B Hence we can assume Bprime
is the disjoint union of two sections of s+ and the transform of σ is a third section
which is disjoint from Bprime Therefore F+ = P1 timesBprime and the foliation restricts to the
projection onto P1
Next we describe those surfaces which cannot appear as components of the sin-
gular fiber X0
Definition VII5 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
along which KF is not big F is called illusory if
bull there exists a morphism t F rarr B onto a curve
bull KF is trivial along t
bull For any other fiber component F prime the intersection F cap F prime is either empty or
contained in a fiber of t
We give examples of illusory fiber components
Lemma VII6 The following fiber components are necessarily illusory
bull t is elliptic the foliation is either parallel to t or turbolent with at least one
invariant fiber
bull t is a nodal ruling the foliation is either parallel to t or transverse to t with
at least one invariant fiber and not birational to a special Riccati VII3
Proof Let f = F cap F prime for some fiber component F prime It is F -invariant
Assume t and F are parallel and f is transverse to both Then necessarily f subesing(F ) and KF is positive along the fibers of t contradiction
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 53
Assume t and F are generically transverse and f is transverse to t Let e be an
invariant fiber of t then ecap f isin sing(F ) hence t must be a family of nodal rational
curves and ecapf coincides with the node of e - otherwise KF would be positive along
t But this implies F is special Riccati contradiction
We proceed to show that illusory fibers do not exist
Lemma VII7 Let F be an illusory fiber component then every fiber of t is irre-
ducible If F prime is any fiber component intersecting F non-trivially then F prime is illusory
Proof Assume t has a reducible fiber f Then we can write f = f prime cup f primeprime where f prime
is irreducible and f primeprime is a disjoint union of chains of rational curves In particular
every subscheme supported on f primeprime is rigid in X f prime is rational and smooth iff f is a
cycle of rational curves hence the foliation on F is parallel to t and the choice of f prime
is not unique otherwise f prime is nodal or elliptic Let X 99KX + denote the flop of the
irreducible components of f primeprime in any order The proper transform f prime+ (below in red)
is the irreducible fiber of the induced morphism t+ F+ rarr B Since f primeprime+ intersects
f prime+ and is not contained in F+ there exists a component F prime of the fiber of p+ such
that F+ cap f prime+ 6= empty Since F+ is illusory necessarily F+ cap F prime = f prime+ Moreover F+
and F prime are the only fiber components intersecting f prime+ again because F+ is illusory
We deduce that F+ middot f prime+ = F prime middot f prime+ = 0 and therefore f prime+ is nef inside F prime It follows
that he restriction of F+ to F prime is not of general type and by the classification of
foliated surfaces [McQ08] necessarily f prime+ deforms inside F prime and defines a fibration
u F prime rarr Bprime In particular f prime+ is an irreducible fiber of u This is however impossible
since u contracts all the components of f primeprime+ contained in F prime (below in blue) and by
definition of F prime there exists at least one such component This proves that every
fiber of t is irreducible The following depicts the situation
F prime F+
f prime+
f primeprime+
t+u
54 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Concerning the second statement we only need to check the third condition for F prime
to be illussory namely that every other fiber component F primeprime intersecting F prime does
so along the fibers of u If F primeprime intersects F prime transversely to u then F primeprime intersects F
non-trivially and transversely to t as well absurd
Corollary VII8 Illusory components do not exist
Proof By the above lemma the existence of one illusory component implies that
every irreducible component of the singular fiber of p is illusory contradicting that
KF is big
We can now focus on fiber components that do appear
Corollary VII9 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
containing an invariant curve C which moves and such that KF middot C = 0 Then
following the classification [McQ08] we have two cases
(1) The minimal model of F is a special Riccati component
(2) F is a small Kronecker
Proof Certainly the ones listed are the only cases where C is KF -nil We have to
exclude the possibility that C is invariant inside sing(F ) By Proposition IVII3
such C would be rational with at most one node Since we already contracted at
the beginning of the present subsection all ruled surfaces necessarily C is nodal
However by opcit C cannot intersect any other fiber component of X0 which
implies the absurdity that X0 = F
We proceed to show that special Riccati components are rather isolated in the
fiber
Lemma VII10 Let F be a special Riccati component If F prime is a fiber component
intersecting F non-trivially then it does so transversely to s Morover there is
exactly one such F prime
Proof After finitely many flops we can assume that every fiber of s is irreducible
By the non-existence of illusory components there exists a fiber component F lowast with
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 55
σprime = F cap F prime transverse to s If F primeprime is a fiber component with f = F cap F primeprime a fiber
of s then we claim f sube sing(F ) If not then since KF middot f = 0 and σprime is invariant
necessarily σprimecap f is the node of f But then the existence of F primeprime contradicts that p is
snc Hence f sube sing(F ) so then around the node of f there are 3 fiber components -
two branches coming from F one from F primeprime - and sing(F ) has 2 branches - namely f
This is impossible by our case analysis ni (1)c ni (2)c The very same reasoning
establishes the uniqueness of F prime
Lemma VII11 Let F be as in the previous Lemma If C is a connected curve
with KF middot C = 0 then it is disjoint from F
Proof After finitely many flops s is irreducible and C intersects F transversely away
from its node Moreover lowast = C cap F isin sing(F ) and we deduce that the fiber of s
through lowast is fully contained in the singular locus of F This contradicts Proposition
IVII3 since such fiber is nodal
We conclude by observing the obvious
Lemma VII12 Let F be a small Kronecker Then there exists a contraction
c X rarr X prime which is an isomorphism away from F and contracts F along one
of its rulings Necessarily X prime is not projective since every global Cartier divisor
intersects c(F ) trivially On the other hand in a formal neighborhood of c(F ) there
exist Cartier divisors intersecting it non-trivialliy
As such the contribution coming from non-rigid curves is rather poor there are
curves moving in the general fiber there are special Riccati components disjoint from
any other invariant curve intersecting KF trivially there are small Kroneckers who
can be contracted to curves We shall see in the next section that the complications
arising from the contraction of such non-rigid curves is purely psychological and
totally harmless
56 FEDERICO BUONERBA
VI Contractions and proof of the Main Theorem
In this section we contract all invariant curves along which KF is zero thereby
establishing the existence of canonical models I First we contract non-rigid curves
as described in the previous subsection
bull Small Kroneckers along either ruling Albeit this destroys projectivity of
the ambient threefold there still exist Cartier divisors defined in a formal
neighborhood of the base curve that intersect it non-trivially
bull Families of irreducible nodal rational curves which are flat over ∆ This
creates elliptic singularities on the general fiber of p which are disjoint from
other invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
bull Special Riccati again families of irreducible nodal rational curves fully con-
tained in X0 This creates elliptic singularities disjoint from other invariant
curves intersecting KF trivially
We can summarize our situation by way of
Set-up VI1 X is a 3-dimensional DM stack with at worst elliptic singularities
F a foliation by curves with canonical singularities which is not Q-Cartier in a
neighborhood of Xsing
There exists a proper morphism p X rarr ∆ smooth off 0 isin ∆ F restricts to a
foliation on every fiber of p it has canonical singularities on the very general fiber
of p and log-canonical singularities on every fiber of p KF is big and nef on every
irreducible component of every fiber of p
Let C be the invariant sub-scheme along which KF is not big then C is a curve
fully contained in the smooth locus X0capXsmooth every sub-curve of C has anti-ample
normal bundle the 1-simplex of its dual graph is a tree and detailed configurations
of such are referenced in set-up VI13
We proceed to contract such C We assume that along C the semi-simple field has
only rational eigenvalues and moreover no component of C is inside the foliation
singularity The other two cases - irrational eigenvalues and presence of singular
component - are strictly easier and can be obtained with the very same method
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 57
The proof takes place in the formal completion around C = C free cup C axes The
former is a disjoint union of trees of non-double curves For each non-double C let
F (C) denote the unique component of X0 containing it The latter is a tree of double
curves each with two triple points all contained in the same irreducible FC axes Each
tree of non-double curves touches C axes in one point through a LC-center In order
to construct the contraction we will use Artinrsquos celebrated criterion in the following
form
Fact VI1 ([Ar70]) Let X be an irreducible algebraic space i Y rarr X a closed
subspace of pure codimension 1 and f Y rarr Y0 a proper morphism with flowastOY = OY0
Let X denote the formal completion of X along Y and assume there exists a Cartier
divisor D in X which is supported on Y and is f -anti-ample Then there exists a
proper morphism of algebraic spaces F X rarr X0 which is an isomorphism away
from Y and such that ilowastF = f
Now we use the tree structure of C to construct a suitable divisor to which apply
Artinrsquos theorem Namely consider the following inductive defintion
(35) C0 = C axes F0 = FC axes
For k ge 0 assume Ck Fk are defined
bull Let Ck+1 denote the union of irreducible components of C that intersect Fk
non-trivially but are not contained in cupilekFibull Let Fk+1 denote the reduced sum (
sumCsubeCk+1
F (C))red
This process stops with a collection C1 middot middot middotCN of curves and F1 middot middot middot FN of reduced
divisors
Lemma VI1 We have the following identities
(36)
Fk middot C lt 0 for every C sube Ck
(F0 + F1) middot C le 0 for every C sube C0
(Fkminus1 + Fk + Fk+1) middot C = 0 for every C sube Ck 1 lt k lt N
(FNminus1 + FN) middot C lt 0 for every C sube CN
58 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proof The first is just the fact that every component of C is rigid The remaining
three follow from X0 middot C = 0 but the last one requires further justification Indeed
if C sube CN N gt 0 then C is one end of a tree of non-double curves In particular
there exists a foliation singularity lowast isin C disjoint from any other component of
C and LClowast is transverse to C This implies LClowast middotC gt 0 which together with
(FNminus1 + FN + LClowast) middot C = 0 concludes the proof
Let ε1 middot middot middot εN isin Qgt0 and define
(37) F Nminusk = (1 + ε1 + middot middot middot+ εk)FNminusk
bull If C sube CN we have
(38) (F Nminus1 + F
N) middot C = ε1FNminus1 middot C + (FNminus1 + FN) middot C
bull If C sube CNminusk 1 lt k lt N we have
(39)
(F Nminuskminus1 + F
Nminusk + F Nminusk+1) middot C =
(1 + middot middot middot+ εk)(FNminuskminus1 + FNminusk + FNminusk+1) middot C minus εkFNminusk+1 middot C + εk+1FNminuskminus1 middot C =
minus εkFNminusk+1 middot C + εk+1FNminuskminus1 middot C
bull If C sube C0 we have
(40) (F 0 + F
1) middot C = εNF0 middot C + (Nminus1sumj=0
εj)(F0 + F1) middot C
It is clear that provided
(41) 1 gtgt ε1 gtgt middot middot middot gtgt εN
the divisor F =sumF k is negative along every component of C
This proves the existence of the contraction and concludes the proof of the Main
Theorem I
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 59
VII Moduli space of foliated surfaces of general type
In this section we study the modular variation of foliated surfaces of general type
The upshot is that it is possible to define a functor which is representable separated
and every irreducible component is proper The main issue here is that the supporting
surface of a foliated canonical model may well fail to be projective indeed KF is not
Q-Gorenstein in general Hence in order to proceed via standard methods [Ko17]
we have to parametrize our canonical models together with a suitable projective
resolution
Definition VII13 Let (SF ) be a foliated proper reduced purely 2-dimensional
DM stack Assume S has only normal crossing singularities in codimension 1 that
F has log-canonical foliation singularities and that KF is big and nef on at least
one of the irreducible components of S If whenever KF middot C = 0 for some curve C
then C moves in an irreducible component of S and no member of such deformation
is F -invariant then (SF ) is called foliated canonical model of general type
Clearly foliated canonical models are exactly the stable degenerations appearing
as the central fiber of our Main Theorem I Their lack of projectivity has two sources
namely the contraction of cycles of smooth KF -nil curves and of trees of cuspidal
ones Singularities arising from cycles behave well in families namely they always
deform into the general fiber Those arising from cuspidal curves on the other hand
tend to be rather isolated inside the degenerate fiber
Observe that the deformation theory of a foliated surface is rather simple suppose
given an infinitesimal C-algebras extension 0 rarr J rarr Ae rarr A rarr 0 and (SF )
a foliated surface flat over Spec(A) then the obstruction to lifting to Ae can be
understood in three simple steps
(1) Deformation of the underlying surface S once a deformation Se rarr Spec(Ae)
is given
(2) Deformation of the line bundle KF by the exponential sequence
(42) 0rarr J otimes OS rarr OlowastSerarr OlowastS rarr 0
obstructions lie in H2(SOS)otimes J once a deformation of KF is given
60 FEDERICO BUONERBA
(3) Deformation of the defining section OS rarr KF otimes TS obstructions lie in
H1(SKF otimes TS)otimes J
Now we have
Definition VII14 Let (SF ) be a foliated canonical model of general type A
proper birational morphism q (SF )proj rarr (SF ) is called its projective resolution
if
bull Every irreducible component of Sproj is smooth
bull The exceptional locus of q is a disjoint union of cycles of KFproj-nil smooth
curves and trees of KFproj-nil curves each of which has a non-trivial cuspidal
singularity
bull In a neighborhood of every q-exceptional cycle not only Sproj but also its
moduli space is smooth
We need a few remarks about projective resolutions
(1) Projective resolutions are always unique Indeed the only possible ambiguity
could lie in some extra smooth irreducible components in the exceptional
locus This is forbidden by definition in the trees of cuspidal curves it is
also forbidden by way of the third item in cycles of smooth ones ie on
algebraic surfaces the minimal resolution is unique
(2) Denote by E the collection of q-exceptional cycles Then there exist ε δ isinQgt0 such that KFproj
minus εE + δKSprojis ample by Nakai-Moishezon
(3) Deformations of a projective resolution of a foliated canonical model are
canonically identified with deformations of the underlying birational mor-
phism q Sproj rarr S followed by a deformation of the foliation F
We are now ready to construct a moduli functor for foliated surfaces more precisely
for projective resolutions of foliated canonical models of general type For m dN isinN and ε δ isin Qgt0 let
(43) MmdNεδ (C-schemes)rarr (sets)
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 61
be defined by MmdNεδ(S) = Diagrams
(44) (X F )projqminusrarr (X F )
pminusrarr S
Where
bull Both p and p q are flat and proper
bull For every closed point s isin S the induced morphism qs is the projective
resolution of (X F )s which is a foliated canonical model of general type
bull Denote by Es the collection of exceptional cycles of qs By our Main Theorem
I there is a fibrewise divisor E subXproj flat over S restricting to Es for every
s isin S
bull Let j W rarr Xproj denote the maximal closed subscheme away from which
KFprojand KXprojS are locally free Then
(45) L [m] = (jlowast(KFprojotimes OXproj
(minusεE )otimesKδXprojS
)otimesm)oror
is flat over S and commutes with base-change
bull L [m] is very ample of degree d on every fiber and defines an embedding into
PNS
We are now ready for
Theorem VII15 The functor MmdNεδ is represented by a separated algebraic
space each of whose irreducible components is proper
Proof We show that our functor satisfies Artinrsquos conditions [Ar74 Corollary 54] By
definition condition 1) and 4) hold while our previous remark on foliated obstruction
theory shows that 3) is true
We proceed to show 2) namely effectivity of formal deformations for MmdNεδ
What follows owes much to Artinrsquos [A74rsquo] Let T be a complete C-algebra Tn its
n-truncation so that Tsimminusrarr limlarrminusTn and finally qn isinMmdNεδ(Spec(Tn)) a compatible
sequence For each n there is a maximal open set Un sube Xprojn where qn is an
isomorphism denote by sn Cn rarr Zn the restriction of qn to the complement of Un
Clearly sn is projective over Spec(Tn)
62 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Denote by X C etc the formal algebraic spaces obtained as limits of Xn Cn
etc Then Xproj sub PNˆSpec(T )
hence by Grothendieckrsquos existence Theorem we find
bull a flat projective family (X F )proj rarr Spec(T ) resp a closed subscheme
C subXproj whose completion is Xproj resp C
bull a scheme Z whose completion is Z and a morphism s C rarr Z everything
being projective over Spec(T )
Further we have a formal contraction limminusrarr qn C rarr Z hence the main theorem
of [Ar70] gives algebraic contraction (X F )proj rarr (X F ) This proves the repre-
sentability of MmdNεδ The properness and separability of each irreducible com-
ponent can be checked using valutative criteria indeed properness is the content of
our Main Theorem I separatedness follows from the uniqueness of foliated canonical
models of general type and their projective resolution
References
[Ar70] M Artin Algebraization of Formal Moduli II Existence of Modifications Ann
of Math Vol 91 No 1 (Jan 1970) pp 88-135 httpwwwjstororgstable
1970602
[Ar74] M Artin Versal Deformations and Algebraic Stacks Inventiones Math 27 165- 189
(1974) httpmathuchicagoedu~drinfeldArtin_on_stackspdf
[A74rsquo] M Artin Algebraic construction of Brieskornrsquos resolutions J Alg Vol 29 Issue
2 May 1974 pp 330-348 httpwwwsciencedirectcomsciencearticlepii
0021869374901021
[BB72] P Baum R Bott Singularities of holomorphic foliations J Diff Geom 7 (1972)
279-342 httpsprojecteuclidorgdownloadpdf_1euclidjdg1214431158
[Bo77] F Bogomolov Families of curves on a surface of general type Doklady Akademii Nauk
USSR (in Russian) 236 (5) 1041-1044
[Bo78] F Bogomolov Holomorphic tensors and vector bundles on projective varieties Math
USSR Izv 13 (1978) 499-555
[BM16] F Bogomolov M McQuillan Rational Curves on Foliated Varieties In Cascini
McKernan Pereira (eds) Foliation Theory in Algebraic Geometry Simons Symposia
Springer Cham pp 21-51 (2016) httpslinkspringercomchapter101007
978-3-319-24460-0_2
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 63
[Bu] F Buonerba Functorial resolution of tame quotient singularities in positive charac-
teristic httpsarxivorgabs151100550
[Ke99] S Keel Basepoint Freeness for Nef and Big Line Bundles in Positive Characteris-
tic Annals of Math 149 No 1 (Jan 1999) pp 253-286 httpwwwjstororg
stable121025 httpsarxivorgabsmath9901149
[KM97] S Keel S Mori Quotients by groupoids Annals of Math 145 (1997) pp
193-213 httpwwwjstororgstable2951828seq=1page_scan_tab_contents
httparxivorgabsalg-geom9508012
[Ko17] J Kollar Families of varieties of general type httpswebmathprincetonedu
~kollarbookmodbook20170720pdf
[LN02] A Lins Neto Some examples for the Poincare and Painleve problems Annales sci-
entifiques de lrsquoENS 352 (2002) 231-266 httparchivenumdamorgarticle
ASENS_2002_4_35_2_231_0pdf
[McQ12] M McQuillan Foliated Mori Theory amp Hyperbolicity of Algebraic Surfaces http
wwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillahomehtml
[McQ98] M McQuillan Diophantine approximation and foliations Inst Hautes Etudes Sci
Publ Math 87 (1998) 121-174 httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafiles
ihespdf
[McQ05rsquo] M McQuillan Bloch hyperbolicity preprint httpwwwmatuniroma2it
~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ05] M McQuillan Semi-stable reduction of foliations IHES pre-print IHESM0502
(2005) httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ05rdquo] M McQuillan Uniform Uniformisation IHES pre-print (2005) IHES M0503 http
wwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ08] M McQuillan Canonical models of foliations Pure Appl Math Q 4
(2008) no 3 Special Issue In honor of Fedor Bogomolov Part 2 877-1012
httpintlpresscomsitepubfiles_fulltextjournalspamq20080004
0003PAMQ-2008-0004-0003-a009pdf
[MP13] M McQuillan D Panazzolo Almost etale resolution of foliations J Diff Geom 95
(2013) pp 279-319 httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesmp1bispdf
[Pe02] JV Pereira On the Poincare Problem for Foliations of General Type Mathematische
Annalen 323 no 2 pp217-226 2002 httpsarxivorgabsmath0104185
[PS16] JV Pereira R Svaldi Effective algebraic integration in bounded genus preprint
httpsarxivorgabs161206932
64 FEDERICO BUONERBA
[Re83] M Reid Minimal models of canonical threefolds in rdquoAlgebraic Varieties and Ana-
lytic Varietiesrdquo Adv Stud Pure Math vol 1 S Iitaka ed Kinokuniya and North-
Holland 1983 pp 131-180 httpwwwmathsedacukcheltsovquotientpdf
reid2pdf
[Se67] A Seidenberg Reduction of singularities of the differential equation Ady = Bdx Amer
J Math 89 (1967) 248-269 httpwwwjstororgstable2373435
[SB83] N Shepherd-Barron Degenerations with numerically effective canonical divisor The
Birational Geometry of Degenerations (R Friedman and D Morrison eds) Progr
Math no 29 Birkhuser 1983 pp 33-84
[Vis89] A Vistoli Intersection theory on algebraic stacks and on their moduli spaces
Invent Math (1989) pp 613-670 httplinkspringercomarticle101007
2FBF01388892page-1
Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences New York University 251 Mercer
Street New York NY 10012 USA
E-mail address buonerbacimsnyuedu
- I Introduction
- II Preliminaries
-
- III Operations on Deligne-Mumford stacks
- IIII Width of embedded parabolic champs
- IIIII Gorenstein foliation singularities
- IIIV Foliated adjunction
- IIV Canonical models of foliated surfaces with canonical singularities
- IIVI Canonical models of foliated surfaces with log-canonical singularities
- IIVII Set-up
-
- III Invariant curves and singularities local description
-
- IIII `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F) not isolated
- IIIII `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F) isolated
- IIIIII Local consequences
-
- IV Invariant curves along which KF vanishes
-
- IVI KF-nil curves
- IVII Invariant curves inside `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F)
-
- V Configurations
-
- VI Configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
- VII Configurations of non-rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
-
- VI Contractions and proof of the Main Theorem
- VII Moduli space of foliated surfaces of general type
- References
-
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 53
Assume t and F are generically transverse and f is transverse to t Let e be an
invariant fiber of t then ecap f isin sing(F ) hence t must be a family of nodal rational
curves and ecapf coincides with the node of e - otherwise KF would be positive along
t But this implies F is special Riccati contradiction
We proceed to show that illusory fibers do not exist
Lemma VII7 Let F be an illusory fiber component then every fiber of t is irre-
ducible If F prime is any fiber component intersecting F non-trivially then F prime is illusory
Proof Assume t has a reducible fiber f Then we can write f = f prime cup f primeprime where f prime
is irreducible and f primeprime is a disjoint union of chains of rational curves In particular
every subscheme supported on f primeprime is rigid in X f prime is rational and smooth iff f is a
cycle of rational curves hence the foliation on F is parallel to t and the choice of f prime
is not unique otherwise f prime is nodal or elliptic Let X 99KX + denote the flop of the
irreducible components of f primeprime in any order The proper transform f prime+ (below in red)
is the irreducible fiber of the induced morphism t+ F+ rarr B Since f primeprime+ intersects
f prime+ and is not contained in F+ there exists a component F prime of the fiber of p+ such
that F+ cap f prime+ 6= empty Since F+ is illusory necessarily F+ cap F prime = f prime+ Moreover F+
and F prime are the only fiber components intersecting f prime+ again because F+ is illusory
We deduce that F+ middot f prime+ = F prime middot f prime+ = 0 and therefore f prime+ is nef inside F prime It follows
that he restriction of F+ to F prime is not of general type and by the classification of
foliated surfaces [McQ08] necessarily f prime+ deforms inside F prime and defines a fibration
u F prime rarr Bprime In particular f prime+ is an irreducible fiber of u This is however impossible
since u contracts all the components of f primeprime+ contained in F prime (below in blue) and by
definition of F prime there exists at least one such component This proves that every
fiber of t is irreducible The following depicts the situation
F prime F+
f prime+
f primeprime+
t+u
54 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Concerning the second statement we only need to check the third condition for F prime
to be illussory namely that every other fiber component F primeprime intersecting F prime does
so along the fibers of u If F primeprime intersects F prime transversely to u then F primeprime intersects F
non-trivially and transversely to t as well absurd
Corollary VII8 Illusory components do not exist
Proof By the above lemma the existence of one illusory component implies that
every irreducible component of the singular fiber of p is illusory contradicting that
KF is big
We can now focus on fiber components that do appear
Corollary VII9 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
containing an invariant curve C which moves and such that KF middot C = 0 Then
following the classification [McQ08] we have two cases
(1) The minimal model of F is a special Riccati component
(2) F is a small Kronecker
Proof Certainly the ones listed are the only cases where C is KF -nil We have to
exclude the possibility that C is invariant inside sing(F ) By Proposition IVII3
such C would be rational with at most one node Since we already contracted at
the beginning of the present subsection all ruled surfaces necessarily C is nodal
However by opcit C cannot intersect any other fiber component of X0 which
implies the absurdity that X0 = F
We proceed to show that special Riccati components are rather isolated in the
fiber
Lemma VII10 Let F be a special Riccati component If F prime is a fiber component
intersecting F non-trivially then it does so transversely to s Morover there is
exactly one such F prime
Proof After finitely many flops we can assume that every fiber of s is irreducible
By the non-existence of illusory components there exists a fiber component F lowast with
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 55
σprime = F cap F prime transverse to s If F primeprime is a fiber component with f = F cap F primeprime a fiber
of s then we claim f sube sing(F ) If not then since KF middot f = 0 and σprime is invariant
necessarily σprimecap f is the node of f But then the existence of F primeprime contradicts that p is
snc Hence f sube sing(F ) so then around the node of f there are 3 fiber components -
two branches coming from F one from F primeprime - and sing(F ) has 2 branches - namely f
This is impossible by our case analysis ni (1)c ni (2)c The very same reasoning
establishes the uniqueness of F prime
Lemma VII11 Let F be as in the previous Lemma If C is a connected curve
with KF middot C = 0 then it is disjoint from F
Proof After finitely many flops s is irreducible and C intersects F transversely away
from its node Moreover lowast = C cap F isin sing(F ) and we deduce that the fiber of s
through lowast is fully contained in the singular locus of F This contradicts Proposition
IVII3 since such fiber is nodal
We conclude by observing the obvious
Lemma VII12 Let F be a small Kronecker Then there exists a contraction
c X rarr X prime which is an isomorphism away from F and contracts F along one
of its rulings Necessarily X prime is not projective since every global Cartier divisor
intersects c(F ) trivially On the other hand in a formal neighborhood of c(F ) there
exist Cartier divisors intersecting it non-trivialliy
As such the contribution coming from non-rigid curves is rather poor there are
curves moving in the general fiber there are special Riccati components disjoint from
any other invariant curve intersecting KF trivially there are small Kroneckers who
can be contracted to curves We shall see in the next section that the complications
arising from the contraction of such non-rigid curves is purely psychological and
totally harmless
56 FEDERICO BUONERBA
VI Contractions and proof of the Main Theorem
In this section we contract all invariant curves along which KF is zero thereby
establishing the existence of canonical models I First we contract non-rigid curves
as described in the previous subsection
bull Small Kroneckers along either ruling Albeit this destroys projectivity of
the ambient threefold there still exist Cartier divisors defined in a formal
neighborhood of the base curve that intersect it non-trivially
bull Families of irreducible nodal rational curves which are flat over ∆ This
creates elliptic singularities on the general fiber of p which are disjoint from
other invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
bull Special Riccati again families of irreducible nodal rational curves fully con-
tained in X0 This creates elliptic singularities disjoint from other invariant
curves intersecting KF trivially
We can summarize our situation by way of
Set-up VI1 X is a 3-dimensional DM stack with at worst elliptic singularities
F a foliation by curves with canonical singularities which is not Q-Cartier in a
neighborhood of Xsing
There exists a proper morphism p X rarr ∆ smooth off 0 isin ∆ F restricts to a
foliation on every fiber of p it has canonical singularities on the very general fiber
of p and log-canonical singularities on every fiber of p KF is big and nef on every
irreducible component of every fiber of p
Let C be the invariant sub-scheme along which KF is not big then C is a curve
fully contained in the smooth locus X0capXsmooth every sub-curve of C has anti-ample
normal bundle the 1-simplex of its dual graph is a tree and detailed configurations
of such are referenced in set-up VI13
We proceed to contract such C We assume that along C the semi-simple field has
only rational eigenvalues and moreover no component of C is inside the foliation
singularity The other two cases - irrational eigenvalues and presence of singular
component - are strictly easier and can be obtained with the very same method
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 57
The proof takes place in the formal completion around C = C free cup C axes The
former is a disjoint union of trees of non-double curves For each non-double C let
F (C) denote the unique component of X0 containing it The latter is a tree of double
curves each with two triple points all contained in the same irreducible FC axes Each
tree of non-double curves touches C axes in one point through a LC-center In order
to construct the contraction we will use Artinrsquos celebrated criterion in the following
form
Fact VI1 ([Ar70]) Let X be an irreducible algebraic space i Y rarr X a closed
subspace of pure codimension 1 and f Y rarr Y0 a proper morphism with flowastOY = OY0
Let X denote the formal completion of X along Y and assume there exists a Cartier
divisor D in X which is supported on Y and is f -anti-ample Then there exists a
proper morphism of algebraic spaces F X rarr X0 which is an isomorphism away
from Y and such that ilowastF = f
Now we use the tree structure of C to construct a suitable divisor to which apply
Artinrsquos theorem Namely consider the following inductive defintion
(35) C0 = C axes F0 = FC axes
For k ge 0 assume Ck Fk are defined
bull Let Ck+1 denote the union of irreducible components of C that intersect Fk
non-trivially but are not contained in cupilekFibull Let Fk+1 denote the reduced sum (
sumCsubeCk+1
F (C))red
This process stops with a collection C1 middot middot middotCN of curves and F1 middot middot middot FN of reduced
divisors
Lemma VI1 We have the following identities
(36)
Fk middot C lt 0 for every C sube Ck
(F0 + F1) middot C le 0 for every C sube C0
(Fkminus1 + Fk + Fk+1) middot C = 0 for every C sube Ck 1 lt k lt N
(FNminus1 + FN) middot C lt 0 for every C sube CN
58 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proof The first is just the fact that every component of C is rigid The remaining
three follow from X0 middot C = 0 but the last one requires further justification Indeed
if C sube CN N gt 0 then C is one end of a tree of non-double curves In particular
there exists a foliation singularity lowast isin C disjoint from any other component of
C and LClowast is transverse to C This implies LClowast middotC gt 0 which together with
(FNminus1 + FN + LClowast) middot C = 0 concludes the proof
Let ε1 middot middot middot εN isin Qgt0 and define
(37) F Nminusk = (1 + ε1 + middot middot middot+ εk)FNminusk
bull If C sube CN we have
(38) (F Nminus1 + F
N) middot C = ε1FNminus1 middot C + (FNminus1 + FN) middot C
bull If C sube CNminusk 1 lt k lt N we have
(39)
(F Nminuskminus1 + F
Nminusk + F Nminusk+1) middot C =
(1 + middot middot middot+ εk)(FNminuskminus1 + FNminusk + FNminusk+1) middot C minus εkFNminusk+1 middot C + εk+1FNminuskminus1 middot C =
minus εkFNminusk+1 middot C + εk+1FNminuskminus1 middot C
bull If C sube C0 we have
(40) (F 0 + F
1) middot C = εNF0 middot C + (Nminus1sumj=0
εj)(F0 + F1) middot C
It is clear that provided
(41) 1 gtgt ε1 gtgt middot middot middot gtgt εN
the divisor F =sumF k is negative along every component of C
This proves the existence of the contraction and concludes the proof of the Main
Theorem I
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 59
VII Moduli space of foliated surfaces of general type
In this section we study the modular variation of foliated surfaces of general type
The upshot is that it is possible to define a functor which is representable separated
and every irreducible component is proper The main issue here is that the supporting
surface of a foliated canonical model may well fail to be projective indeed KF is not
Q-Gorenstein in general Hence in order to proceed via standard methods [Ko17]
we have to parametrize our canonical models together with a suitable projective
resolution
Definition VII13 Let (SF ) be a foliated proper reduced purely 2-dimensional
DM stack Assume S has only normal crossing singularities in codimension 1 that
F has log-canonical foliation singularities and that KF is big and nef on at least
one of the irreducible components of S If whenever KF middot C = 0 for some curve C
then C moves in an irreducible component of S and no member of such deformation
is F -invariant then (SF ) is called foliated canonical model of general type
Clearly foliated canonical models are exactly the stable degenerations appearing
as the central fiber of our Main Theorem I Their lack of projectivity has two sources
namely the contraction of cycles of smooth KF -nil curves and of trees of cuspidal
ones Singularities arising from cycles behave well in families namely they always
deform into the general fiber Those arising from cuspidal curves on the other hand
tend to be rather isolated inside the degenerate fiber
Observe that the deformation theory of a foliated surface is rather simple suppose
given an infinitesimal C-algebras extension 0 rarr J rarr Ae rarr A rarr 0 and (SF )
a foliated surface flat over Spec(A) then the obstruction to lifting to Ae can be
understood in three simple steps
(1) Deformation of the underlying surface S once a deformation Se rarr Spec(Ae)
is given
(2) Deformation of the line bundle KF by the exponential sequence
(42) 0rarr J otimes OS rarr OlowastSerarr OlowastS rarr 0
obstructions lie in H2(SOS)otimes J once a deformation of KF is given
60 FEDERICO BUONERBA
(3) Deformation of the defining section OS rarr KF otimes TS obstructions lie in
H1(SKF otimes TS)otimes J
Now we have
Definition VII14 Let (SF ) be a foliated canonical model of general type A
proper birational morphism q (SF )proj rarr (SF ) is called its projective resolution
if
bull Every irreducible component of Sproj is smooth
bull The exceptional locus of q is a disjoint union of cycles of KFproj-nil smooth
curves and trees of KFproj-nil curves each of which has a non-trivial cuspidal
singularity
bull In a neighborhood of every q-exceptional cycle not only Sproj but also its
moduli space is smooth
We need a few remarks about projective resolutions
(1) Projective resolutions are always unique Indeed the only possible ambiguity
could lie in some extra smooth irreducible components in the exceptional
locus This is forbidden by definition in the trees of cuspidal curves it is
also forbidden by way of the third item in cycles of smooth ones ie on
algebraic surfaces the minimal resolution is unique
(2) Denote by E the collection of q-exceptional cycles Then there exist ε δ isinQgt0 such that KFproj
minus εE + δKSprojis ample by Nakai-Moishezon
(3) Deformations of a projective resolution of a foliated canonical model are
canonically identified with deformations of the underlying birational mor-
phism q Sproj rarr S followed by a deformation of the foliation F
We are now ready to construct a moduli functor for foliated surfaces more precisely
for projective resolutions of foliated canonical models of general type For m dN isinN and ε δ isin Qgt0 let
(43) MmdNεδ (C-schemes)rarr (sets)
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 61
be defined by MmdNεδ(S) = Diagrams
(44) (X F )projqminusrarr (X F )
pminusrarr S
Where
bull Both p and p q are flat and proper
bull For every closed point s isin S the induced morphism qs is the projective
resolution of (X F )s which is a foliated canonical model of general type
bull Denote by Es the collection of exceptional cycles of qs By our Main Theorem
I there is a fibrewise divisor E subXproj flat over S restricting to Es for every
s isin S
bull Let j W rarr Xproj denote the maximal closed subscheme away from which
KFprojand KXprojS are locally free Then
(45) L [m] = (jlowast(KFprojotimes OXproj
(minusεE )otimesKδXprojS
)otimesm)oror
is flat over S and commutes with base-change
bull L [m] is very ample of degree d on every fiber and defines an embedding into
PNS
We are now ready for
Theorem VII15 The functor MmdNεδ is represented by a separated algebraic
space each of whose irreducible components is proper
Proof We show that our functor satisfies Artinrsquos conditions [Ar74 Corollary 54] By
definition condition 1) and 4) hold while our previous remark on foliated obstruction
theory shows that 3) is true
We proceed to show 2) namely effectivity of formal deformations for MmdNεδ
What follows owes much to Artinrsquos [A74rsquo] Let T be a complete C-algebra Tn its
n-truncation so that Tsimminusrarr limlarrminusTn and finally qn isinMmdNεδ(Spec(Tn)) a compatible
sequence For each n there is a maximal open set Un sube Xprojn where qn is an
isomorphism denote by sn Cn rarr Zn the restriction of qn to the complement of Un
Clearly sn is projective over Spec(Tn)
62 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Denote by X C etc the formal algebraic spaces obtained as limits of Xn Cn
etc Then Xproj sub PNˆSpec(T )
hence by Grothendieckrsquos existence Theorem we find
bull a flat projective family (X F )proj rarr Spec(T ) resp a closed subscheme
C subXproj whose completion is Xproj resp C
bull a scheme Z whose completion is Z and a morphism s C rarr Z everything
being projective over Spec(T )
Further we have a formal contraction limminusrarr qn C rarr Z hence the main theorem
of [Ar70] gives algebraic contraction (X F )proj rarr (X F ) This proves the repre-
sentability of MmdNεδ The properness and separability of each irreducible com-
ponent can be checked using valutative criteria indeed properness is the content of
our Main Theorem I separatedness follows from the uniqueness of foliated canonical
models of general type and their projective resolution
References
[Ar70] M Artin Algebraization of Formal Moduli II Existence of Modifications Ann
of Math Vol 91 No 1 (Jan 1970) pp 88-135 httpwwwjstororgstable
1970602
[Ar74] M Artin Versal Deformations and Algebraic Stacks Inventiones Math 27 165- 189
(1974) httpmathuchicagoedu~drinfeldArtin_on_stackspdf
[A74rsquo] M Artin Algebraic construction of Brieskornrsquos resolutions J Alg Vol 29 Issue
2 May 1974 pp 330-348 httpwwwsciencedirectcomsciencearticlepii
0021869374901021
[BB72] P Baum R Bott Singularities of holomorphic foliations J Diff Geom 7 (1972)
279-342 httpsprojecteuclidorgdownloadpdf_1euclidjdg1214431158
[Bo77] F Bogomolov Families of curves on a surface of general type Doklady Akademii Nauk
USSR (in Russian) 236 (5) 1041-1044
[Bo78] F Bogomolov Holomorphic tensors and vector bundles on projective varieties Math
USSR Izv 13 (1978) 499-555
[BM16] F Bogomolov M McQuillan Rational Curves on Foliated Varieties In Cascini
McKernan Pereira (eds) Foliation Theory in Algebraic Geometry Simons Symposia
Springer Cham pp 21-51 (2016) httpslinkspringercomchapter101007
978-3-319-24460-0_2
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 63
[Bu] F Buonerba Functorial resolution of tame quotient singularities in positive charac-
teristic httpsarxivorgabs151100550
[Ke99] S Keel Basepoint Freeness for Nef and Big Line Bundles in Positive Characteris-
tic Annals of Math 149 No 1 (Jan 1999) pp 253-286 httpwwwjstororg
stable121025 httpsarxivorgabsmath9901149
[KM97] S Keel S Mori Quotients by groupoids Annals of Math 145 (1997) pp
193-213 httpwwwjstororgstable2951828seq=1page_scan_tab_contents
httparxivorgabsalg-geom9508012
[Ko17] J Kollar Families of varieties of general type httpswebmathprincetonedu
~kollarbookmodbook20170720pdf
[LN02] A Lins Neto Some examples for the Poincare and Painleve problems Annales sci-
entifiques de lrsquoENS 352 (2002) 231-266 httparchivenumdamorgarticle
ASENS_2002_4_35_2_231_0pdf
[McQ12] M McQuillan Foliated Mori Theory amp Hyperbolicity of Algebraic Surfaces http
wwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillahomehtml
[McQ98] M McQuillan Diophantine approximation and foliations Inst Hautes Etudes Sci
Publ Math 87 (1998) 121-174 httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafiles
ihespdf
[McQ05rsquo] M McQuillan Bloch hyperbolicity preprint httpwwwmatuniroma2it
~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ05] M McQuillan Semi-stable reduction of foliations IHES pre-print IHESM0502
(2005) httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ05rdquo] M McQuillan Uniform Uniformisation IHES pre-print (2005) IHES M0503 http
wwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ08] M McQuillan Canonical models of foliations Pure Appl Math Q 4
(2008) no 3 Special Issue In honor of Fedor Bogomolov Part 2 877-1012
httpintlpresscomsitepubfiles_fulltextjournalspamq20080004
0003PAMQ-2008-0004-0003-a009pdf
[MP13] M McQuillan D Panazzolo Almost etale resolution of foliations J Diff Geom 95
(2013) pp 279-319 httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesmp1bispdf
[Pe02] JV Pereira On the Poincare Problem for Foliations of General Type Mathematische
Annalen 323 no 2 pp217-226 2002 httpsarxivorgabsmath0104185
[PS16] JV Pereira R Svaldi Effective algebraic integration in bounded genus preprint
httpsarxivorgabs161206932
64 FEDERICO BUONERBA
[Re83] M Reid Minimal models of canonical threefolds in rdquoAlgebraic Varieties and Ana-
lytic Varietiesrdquo Adv Stud Pure Math vol 1 S Iitaka ed Kinokuniya and North-
Holland 1983 pp 131-180 httpwwwmathsedacukcheltsovquotientpdf
reid2pdf
[Se67] A Seidenberg Reduction of singularities of the differential equation Ady = Bdx Amer
J Math 89 (1967) 248-269 httpwwwjstororgstable2373435
[SB83] N Shepherd-Barron Degenerations with numerically effective canonical divisor The
Birational Geometry of Degenerations (R Friedman and D Morrison eds) Progr
Math no 29 Birkhuser 1983 pp 33-84
[Vis89] A Vistoli Intersection theory on algebraic stacks and on their moduli spaces
Invent Math (1989) pp 613-670 httplinkspringercomarticle101007
2FBF01388892page-1
Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences New York University 251 Mercer
Street New York NY 10012 USA
E-mail address buonerbacimsnyuedu
- I Introduction
- II Preliminaries
-
- III Operations on Deligne-Mumford stacks
- IIII Width of embedded parabolic champs
- IIIII Gorenstein foliation singularities
- IIIV Foliated adjunction
- IIV Canonical models of foliated surfaces with canonical singularities
- IIVI Canonical models of foliated surfaces with log-canonical singularities
- IIVII Set-up
-
- III Invariant curves and singularities local description
-
- IIII `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F) not isolated
- IIIII `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F) isolated
- IIIIII Local consequences
-
- IV Invariant curves along which KF vanishes
-
- IVI KF-nil curves
- IVII Invariant curves inside `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F)
-
- V Configurations
-
- VI Configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
- VII Configurations of non-rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
-
- VI Contractions and proof of the Main Theorem
- VII Moduli space of foliated surfaces of general type
- References
-
54 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Concerning the second statement we only need to check the third condition for F prime
to be illussory namely that every other fiber component F primeprime intersecting F prime does
so along the fibers of u If F primeprime intersects F prime transversely to u then F primeprime intersects F
non-trivially and transversely to t as well absurd
Corollary VII8 Illusory components do not exist
Proof By the above lemma the existence of one illusory component implies that
every irreducible component of the singular fiber of p is illusory contradicting that
KF is big
We can now focus on fiber components that do appear
Corollary VII9 Let F be an irreducible component of the singular fiber of p
containing an invariant curve C which moves and such that KF middot C = 0 Then
following the classification [McQ08] we have two cases
(1) The minimal model of F is a special Riccati component
(2) F is a small Kronecker
Proof Certainly the ones listed are the only cases where C is KF -nil We have to
exclude the possibility that C is invariant inside sing(F ) By Proposition IVII3
such C would be rational with at most one node Since we already contracted at
the beginning of the present subsection all ruled surfaces necessarily C is nodal
However by opcit C cannot intersect any other fiber component of X0 which
implies the absurdity that X0 = F
We proceed to show that special Riccati components are rather isolated in the
fiber
Lemma VII10 Let F be a special Riccati component If F prime is a fiber component
intersecting F non-trivially then it does so transversely to s Morover there is
exactly one such F prime
Proof After finitely many flops we can assume that every fiber of s is irreducible
By the non-existence of illusory components there exists a fiber component F lowast with
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 55
σprime = F cap F prime transverse to s If F primeprime is a fiber component with f = F cap F primeprime a fiber
of s then we claim f sube sing(F ) If not then since KF middot f = 0 and σprime is invariant
necessarily σprimecap f is the node of f But then the existence of F primeprime contradicts that p is
snc Hence f sube sing(F ) so then around the node of f there are 3 fiber components -
two branches coming from F one from F primeprime - and sing(F ) has 2 branches - namely f
This is impossible by our case analysis ni (1)c ni (2)c The very same reasoning
establishes the uniqueness of F prime
Lemma VII11 Let F be as in the previous Lemma If C is a connected curve
with KF middot C = 0 then it is disjoint from F
Proof After finitely many flops s is irreducible and C intersects F transversely away
from its node Moreover lowast = C cap F isin sing(F ) and we deduce that the fiber of s
through lowast is fully contained in the singular locus of F This contradicts Proposition
IVII3 since such fiber is nodal
We conclude by observing the obvious
Lemma VII12 Let F be a small Kronecker Then there exists a contraction
c X rarr X prime which is an isomorphism away from F and contracts F along one
of its rulings Necessarily X prime is not projective since every global Cartier divisor
intersects c(F ) trivially On the other hand in a formal neighborhood of c(F ) there
exist Cartier divisors intersecting it non-trivialliy
As such the contribution coming from non-rigid curves is rather poor there are
curves moving in the general fiber there are special Riccati components disjoint from
any other invariant curve intersecting KF trivially there are small Kroneckers who
can be contracted to curves We shall see in the next section that the complications
arising from the contraction of such non-rigid curves is purely psychological and
totally harmless
56 FEDERICO BUONERBA
VI Contractions and proof of the Main Theorem
In this section we contract all invariant curves along which KF is zero thereby
establishing the existence of canonical models I First we contract non-rigid curves
as described in the previous subsection
bull Small Kroneckers along either ruling Albeit this destroys projectivity of
the ambient threefold there still exist Cartier divisors defined in a formal
neighborhood of the base curve that intersect it non-trivially
bull Families of irreducible nodal rational curves which are flat over ∆ This
creates elliptic singularities on the general fiber of p which are disjoint from
other invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
bull Special Riccati again families of irreducible nodal rational curves fully con-
tained in X0 This creates elliptic singularities disjoint from other invariant
curves intersecting KF trivially
We can summarize our situation by way of
Set-up VI1 X is a 3-dimensional DM stack with at worst elliptic singularities
F a foliation by curves with canonical singularities which is not Q-Cartier in a
neighborhood of Xsing
There exists a proper morphism p X rarr ∆ smooth off 0 isin ∆ F restricts to a
foliation on every fiber of p it has canonical singularities on the very general fiber
of p and log-canonical singularities on every fiber of p KF is big and nef on every
irreducible component of every fiber of p
Let C be the invariant sub-scheme along which KF is not big then C is a curve
fully contained in the smooth locus X0capXsmooth every sub-curve of C has anti-ample
normal bundle the 1-simplex of its dual graph is a tree and detailed configurations
of such are referenced in set-up VI13
We proceed to contract such C We assume that along C the semi-simple field has
only rational eigenvalues and moreover no component of C is inside the foliation
singularity The other two cases - irrational eigenvalues and presence of singular
component - are strictly easier and can be obtained with the very same method
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 57
The proof takes place in the formal completion around C = C free cup C axes The
former is a disjoint union of trees of non-double curves For each non-double C let
F (C) denote the unique component of X0 containing it The latter is a tree of double
curves each with two triple points all contained in the same irreducible FC axes Each
tree of non-double curves touches C axes in one point through a LC-center In order
to construct the contraction we will use Artinrsquos celebrated criterion in the following
form
Fact VI1 ([Ar70]) Let X be an irreducible algebraic space i Y rarr X a closed
subspace of pure codimension 1 and f Y rarr Y0 a proper morphism with flowastOY = OY0
Let X denote the formal completion of X along Y and assume there exists a Cartier
divisor D in X which is supported on Y and is f -anti-ample Then there exists a
proper morphism of algebraic spaces F X rarr X0 which is an isomorphism away
from Y and such that ilowastF = f
Now we use the tree structure of C to construct a suitable divisor to which apply
Artinrsquos theorem Namely consider the following inductive defintion
(35) C0 = C axes F0 = FC axes
For k ge 0 assume Ck Fk are defined
bull Let Ck+1 denote the union of irreducible components of C that intersect Fk
non-trivially but are not contained in cupilekFibull Let Fk+1 denote the reduced sum (
sumCsubeCk+1
F (C))red
This process stops with a collection C1 middot middot middotCN of curves and F1 middot middot middot FN of reduced
divisors
Lemma VI1 We have the following identities
(36)
Fk middot C lt 0 for every C sube Ck
(F0 + F1) middot C le 0 for every C sube C0
(Fkminus1 + Fk + Fk+1) middot C = 0 for every C sube Ck 1 lt k lt N
(FNminus1 + FN) middot C lt 0 for every C sube CN
58 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proof The first is just the fact that every component of C is rigid The remaining
three follow from X0 middot C = 0 but the last one requires further justification Indeed
if C sube CN N gt 0 then C is one end of a tree of non-double curves In particular
there exists a foliation singularity lowast isin C disjoint from any other component of
C and LClowast is transverse to C This implies LClowast middotC gt 0 which together with
(FNminus1 + FN + LClowast) middot C = 0 concludes the proof
Let ε1 middot middot middot εN isin Qgt0 and define
(37) F Nminusk = (1 + ε1 + middot middot middot+ εk)FNminusk
bull If C sube CN we have
(38) (F Nminus1 + F
N) middot C = ε1FNminus1 middot C + (FNminus1 + FN) middot C
bull If C sube CNminusk 1 lt k lt N we have
(39)
(F Nminuskminus1 + F
Nminusk + F Nminusk+1) middot C =
(1 + middot middot middot+ εk)(FNminuskminus1 + FNminusk + FNminusk+1) middot C minus εkFNminusk+1 middot C + εk+1FNminuskminus1 middot C =
minus εkFNminusk+1 middot C + εk+1FNminuskminus1 middot C
bull If C sube C0 we have
(40) (F 0 + F
1) middot C = εNF0 middot C + (Nminus1sumj=0
εj)(F0 + F1) middot C
It is clear that provided
(41) 1 gtgt ε1 gtgt middot middot middot gtgt εN
the divisor F =sumF k is negative along every component of C
This proves the existence of the contraction and concludes the proof of the Main
Theorem I
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 59
VII Moduli space of foliated surfaces of general type
In this section we study the modular variation of foliated surfaces of general type
The upshot is that it is possible to define a functor which is representable separated
and every irreducible component is proper The main issue here is that the supporting
surface of a foliated canonical model may well fail to be projective indeed KF is not
Q-Gorenstein in general Hence in order to proceed via standard methods [Ko17]
we have to parametrize our canonical models together with a suitable projective
resolution
Definition VII13 Let (SF ) be a foliated proper reduced purely 2-dimensional
DM stack Assume S has only normal crossing singularities in codimension 1 that
F has log-canonical foliation singularities and that KF is big and nef on at least
one of the irreducible components of S If whenever KF middot C = 0 for some curve C
then C moves in an irreducible component of S and no member of such deformation
is F -invariant then (SF ) is called foliated canonical model of general type
Clearly foliated canonical models are exactly the stable degenerations appearing
as the central fiber of our Main Theorem I Their lack of projectivity has two sources
namely the contraction of cycles of smooth KF -nil curves and of trees of cuspidal
ones Singularities arising from cycles behave well in families namely they always
deform into the general fiber Those arising from cuspidal curves on the other hand
tend to be rather isolated inside the degenerate fiber
Observe that the deformation theory of a foliated surface is rather simple suppose
given an infinitesimal C-algebras extension 0 rarr J rarr Ae rarr A rarr 0 and (SF )
a foliated surface flat over Spec(A) then the obstruction to lifting to Ae can be
understood in three simple steps
(1) Deformation of the underlying surface S once a deformation Se rarr Spec(Ae)
is given
(2) Deformation of the line bundle KF by the exponential sequence
(42) 0rarr J otimes OS rarr OlowastSerarr OlowastS rarr 0
obstructions lie in H2(SOS)otimes J once a deformation of KF is given
60 FEDERICO BUONERBA
(3) Deformation of the defining section OS rarr KF otimes TS obstructions lie in
H1(SKF otimes TS)otimes J
Now we have
Definition VII14 Let (SF ) be a foliated canonical model of general type A
proper birational morphism q (SF )proj rarr (SF ) is called its projective resolution
if
bull Every irreducible component of Sproj is smooth
bull The exceptional locus of q is a disjoint union of cycles of KFproj-nil smooth
curves and trees of KFproj-nil curves each of which has a non-trivial cuspidal
singularity
bull In a neighborhood of every q-exceptional cycle not only Sproj but also its
moduli space is smooth
We need a few remarks about projective resolutions
(1) Projective resolutions are always unique Indeed the only possible ambiguity
could lie in some extra smooth irreducible components in the exceptional
locus This is forbidden by definition in the trees of cuspidal curves it is
also forbidden by way of the third item in cycles of smooth ones ie on
algebraic surfaces the minimal resolution is unique
(2) Denote by E the collection of q-exceptional cycles Then there exist ε δ isinQgt0 such that KFproj
minus εE + δKSprojis ample by Nakai-Moishezon
(3) Deformations of a projective resolution of a foliated canonical model are
canonically identified with deformations of the underlying birational mor-
phism q Sproj rarr S followed by a deformation of the foliation F
We are now ready to construct a moduli functor for foliated surfaces more precisely
for projective resolutions of foliated canonical models of general type For m dN isinN and ε δ isin Qgt0 let
(43) MmdNεδ (C-schemes)rarr (sets)
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 61
be defined by MmdNεδ(S) = Diagrams
(44) (X F )projqminusrarr (X F )
pminusrarr S
Where
bull Both p and p q are flat and proper
bull For every closed point s isin S the induced morphism qs is the projective
resolution of (X F )s which is a foliated canonical model of general type
bull Denote by Es the collection of exceptional cycles of qs By our Main Theorem
I there is a fibrewise divisor E subXproj flat over S restricting to Es for every
s isin S
bull Let j W rarr Xproj denote the maximal closed subscheme away from which
KFprojand KXprojS are locally free Then
(45) L [m] = (jlowast(KFprojotimes OXproj
(minusεE )otimesKδXprojS
)otimesm)oror
is flat over S and commutes with base-change
bull L [m] is very ample of degree d on every fiber and defines an embedding into
PNS
We are now ready for
Theorem VII15 The functor MmdNεδ is represented by a separated algebraic
space each of whose irreducible components is proper
Proof We show that our functor satisfies Artinrsquos conditions [Ar74 Corollary 54] By
definition condition 1) and 4) hold while our previous remark on foliated obstruction
theory shows that 3) is true
We proceed to show 2) namely effectivity of formal deformations for MmdNεδ
What follows owes much to Artinrsquos [A74rsquo] Let T be a complete C-algebra Tn its
n-truncation so that Tsimminusrarr limlarrminusTn and finally qn isinMmdNεδ(Spec(Tn)) a compatible
sequence For each n there is a maximal open set Un sube Xprojn where qn is an
isomorphism denote by sn Cn rarr Zn the restriction of qn to the complement of Un
Clearly sn is projective over Spec(Tn)
62 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Denote by X C etc the formal algebraic spaces obtained as limits of Xn Cn
etc Then Xproj sub PNˆSpec(T )
hence by Grothendieckrsquos existence Theorem we find
bull a flat projective family (X F )proj rarr Spec(T ) resp a closed subscheme
C subXproj whose completion is Xproj resp C
bull a scheme Z whose completion is Z and a morphism s C rarr Z everything
being projective over Spec(T )
Further we have a formal contraction limminusrarr qn C rarr Z hence the main theorem
of [Ar70] gives algebraic contraction (X F )proj rarr (X F ) This proves the repre-
sentability of MmdNεδ The properness and separability of each irreducible com-
ponent can be checked using valutative criteria indeed properness is the content of
our Main Theorem I separatedness follows from the uniqueness of foliated canonical
models of general type and their projective resolution
References
[Ar70] M Artin Algebraization of Formal Moduli II Existence of Modifications Ann
of Math Vol 91 No 1 (Jan 1970) pp 88-135 httpwwwjstororgstable
1970602
[Ar74] M Artin Versal Deformations and Algebraic Stacks Inventiones Math 27 165- 189
(1974) httpmathuchicagoedu~drinfeldArtin_on_stackspdf
[A74rsquo] M Artin Algebraic construction of Brieskornrsquos resolutions J Alg Vol 29 Issue
2 May 1974 pp 330-348 httpwwwsciencedirectcomsciencearticlepii
0021869374901021
[BB72] P Baum R Bott Singularities of holomorphic foliations J Diff Geom 7 (1972)
279-342 httpsprojecteuclidorgdownloadpdf_1euclidjdg1214431158
[Bo77] F Bogomolov Families of curves on a surface of general type Doklady Akademii Nauk
USSR (in Russian) 236 (5) 1041-1044
[Bo78] F Bogomolov Holomorphic tensors and vector bundles on projective varieties Math
USSR Izv 13 (1978) 499-555
[BM16] F Bogomolov M McQuillan Rational Curves on Foliated Varieties In Cascini
McKernan Pereira (eds) Foliation Theory in Algebraic Geometry Simons Symposia
Springer Cham pp 21-51 (2016) httpslinkspringercomchapter101007
978-3-319-24460-0_2
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 63
[Bu] F Buonerba Functorial resolution of tame quotient singularities in positive charac-
teristic httpsarxivorgabs151100550
[Ke99] S Keel Basepoint Freeness for Nef and Big Line Bundles in Positive Characteris-
tic Annals of Math 149 No 1 (Jan 1999) pp 253-286 httpwwwjstororg
stable121025 httpsarxivorgabsmath9901149
[KM97] S Keel S Mori Quotients by groupoids Annals of Math 145 (1997) pp
193-213 httpwwwjstororgstable2951828seq=1page_scan_tab_contents
httparxivorgabsalg-geom9508012
[Ko17] J Kollar Families of varieties of general type httpswebmathprincetonedu
~kollarbookmodbook20170720pdf
[LN02] A Lins Neto Some examples for the Poincare and Painleve problems Annales sci-
entifiques de lrsquoENS 352 (2002) 231-266 httparchivenumdamorgarticle
ASENS_2002_4_35_2_231_0pdf
[McQ12] M McQuillan Foliated Mori Theory amp Hyperbolicity of Algebraic Surfaces http
wwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillahomehtml
[McQ98] M McQuillan Diophantine approximation and foliations Inst Hautes Etudes Sci
Publ Math 87 (1998) 121-174 httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafiles
ihespdf
[McQ05rsquo] M McQuillan Bloch hyperbolicity preprint httpwwwmatuniroma2it
~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ05] M McQuillan Semi-stable reduction of foliations IHES pre-print IHESM0502
(2005) httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ05rdquo] M McQuillan Uniform Uniformisation IHES pre-print (2005) IHES M0503 http
wwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ08] M McQuillan Canonical models of foliations Pure Appl Math Q 4
(2008) no 3 Special Issue In honor of Fedor Bogomolov Part 2 877-1012
httpintlpresscomsitepubfiles_fulltextjournalspamq20080004
0003PAMQ-2008-0004-0003-a009pdf
[MP13] M McQuillan D Panazzolo Almost etale resolution of foliations J Diff Geom 95
(2013) pp 279-319 httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesmp1bispdf
[Pe02] JV Pereira On the Poincare Problem for Foliations of General Type Mathematische
Annalen 323 no 2 pp217-226 2002 httpsarxivorgabsmath0104185
[PS16] JV Pereira R Svaldi Effective algebraic integration in bounded genus preprint
httpsarxivorgabs161206932
64 FEDERICO BUONERBA
[Re83] M Reid Minimal models of canonical threefolds in rdquoAlgebraic Varieties and Ana-
lytic Varietiesrdquo Adv Stud Pure Math vol 1 S Iitaka ed Kinokuniya and North-
Holland 1983 pp 131-180 httpwwwmathsedacukcheltsovquotientpdf
reid2pdf
[Se67] A Seidenberg Reduction of singularities of the differential equation Ady = Bdx Amer
J Math 89 (1967) 248-269 httpwwwjstororgstable2373435
[SB83] N Shepherd-Barron Degenerations with numerically effective canonical divisor The
Birational Geometry of Degenerations (R Friedman and D Morrison eds) Progr
Math no 29 Birkhuser 1983 pp 33-84
[Vis89] A Vistoli Intersection theory on algebraic stacks and on their moduli spaces
Invent Math (1989) pp 613-670 httplinkspringercomarticle101007
2FBF01388892page-1
Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences New York University 251 Mercer
Street New York NY 10012 USA
E-mail address buonerbacimsnyuedu
- I Introduction
- II Preliminaries
-
- III Operations on Deligne-Mumford stacks
- IIII Width of embedded parabolic champs
- IIIII Gorenstein foliation singularities
- IIIV Foliated adjunction
- IIV Canonical models of foliated surfaces with canonical singularities
- IIVI Canonical models of foliated surfaces with log-canonical singularities
- IIVII Set-up
-
- III Invariant curves and singularities local description
-
- IIII `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F) not isolated
- IIIII `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F) isolated
- IIIIII Local consequences
-
- IV Invariant curves along which KF vanishes
-
- IVI KF-nil curves
- IVII Invariant curves inside `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F)
-
- V Configurations
-
- VI Configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
- VII Configurations of non-rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
-
- VI Contractions and proof of the Main Theorem
- VII Moduli space of foliated surfaces of general type
- References
-
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 55
σprime = F cap F prime transverse to s If F primeprime is a fiber component with f = F cap F primeprime a fiber
of s then we claim f sube sing(F ) If not then since KF middot f = 0 and σprime is invariant
necessarily σprimecap f is the node of f But then the existence of F primeprime contradicts that p is
snc Hence f sube sing(F ) so then around the node of f there are 3 fiber components -
two branches coming from F one from F primeprime - and sing(F ) has 2 branches - namely f
This is impossible by our case analysis ni (1)c ni (2)c The very same reasoning
establishes the uniqueness of F prime
Lemma VII11 Let F be as in the previous Lemma If C is a connected curve
with KF middot C = 0 then it is disjoint from F
Proof After finitely many flops s is irreducible and C intersects F transversely away
from its node Moreover lowast = C cap F isin sing(F ) and we deduce that the fiber of s
through lowast is fully contained in the singular locus of F This contradicts Proposition
IVII3 since such fiber is nodal
We conclude by observing the obvious
Lemma VII12 Let F be a small Kronecker Then there exists a contraction
c X rarr X prime which is an isomorphism away from F and contracts F along one
of its rulings Necessarily X prime is not projective since every global Cartier divisor
intersects c(F ) trivially On the other hand in a formal neighborhood of c(F ) there
exist Cartier divisors intersecting it non-trivialliy
As such the contribution coming from non-rigid curves is rather poor there are
curves moving in the general fiber there are special Riccati components disjoint from
any other invariant curve intersecting KF trivially there are small Kroneckers who
can be contracted to curves We shall see in the next section that the complications
arising from the contraction of such non-rigid curves is purely psychological and
totally harmless
56 FEDERICO BUONERBA
VI Contractions and proof of the Main Theorem
In this section we contract all invariant curves along which KF is zero thereby
establishing the existence of canonical models I First we contract non-rigid curves
as described in the previous subsection
bull Small Kroneckers along either ruling Albeit this destroys projectivity of
the ambient threefold there still exist Cartier divisors defined in a formal
neighborhood of the base curve that intersect it non-trivially
bull Families of irreducible nodal rational curves which are flat over ∆ This
creates elliptic singularities on the general fiber of p which are disjoint from
other invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
bull Special Riccati again families of irreducible nodal rational curves fully con-
tained in X0 This creates elliptic singularities disjoint from other invariant
curves intersecting KF trivially
We can summarize our situation by way of
Set-up VI1 X is a 3-dimensional DM stack with at worst elliptic singularities
F a foliation by curves with canonical singularities which is not Q-Cartier in a
neighborhood of Xsing
There exists a proper morphism p X rarr ∆ smooth off 0 isin ∆ F restricts to a
foliation on every fiber of p it has canonical singularities on the very general fiber
of p and log-canonical singularities on every fiber of p KF is big and nef on every
irreducible component of every fiber of p
Let C be the invariant sub-scheme along which KF is not big then C is a curve
fully contained in the smooth locus X0capXsmooth every sub-curve of C has anti-ample
normal bundle the 1-simplex of its dual graph is a tree and detailed configurations
of such are referenced in set-up VI13
We proceed to contract such C We assume that along C the semi-simple field has
only rational eigenvalues and moreover no component of C is inside the foliation
singularity The other two cases - irrational eigenvalues and presence of singular
component - are strictly easier and can be obtained with the very same method
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 57
The proof takes place in the formal completion around C = C free cup C axes The
former is a disjoint union of trees of non-double curves For each non-double C let
F (C) denote the unique component of X0 containing it The latter is a tree of double
curves each with two triple points all contained in the same irreducible FC axes Each
tree of non-double curves touches C axes in one point through a LC-center In order
to construct the contraction we will use Artinrsquos celebrated criterion in the following
form
Fact VI1 ([Ar70]) Let X be an irreducible algebraic space i Y rarr X a closed
subspace of pure codimension 1 and f Y rarr Y0 a proper morphism with flowastOY = OY0
Let X denote the formal completion of X along Y and assume there exists a Cartier
divisor D in X which is supported on Y and is f -anti-ample Then there exists a
proper morphism of algebraic spaces F X rarr X0 which is an isomorphism away
from Y and such that ilowastF = f
Now we use the tree structure of C to construct a suitable divisor to which apply
Artinrsquos theorem Namely consider the following inductive defintion
(35) C0 = C axes F0 = FC axes
For k ge 0 assume Ck Fk are defined
bull Let Ck+1 denote the union of irreducible components of C that intersect Fk
non-trivially but are not contained in cupilekFibull Let Fk+1 denote the reduced sum (
sumCsubeCk+1
F (C))red
This process stops with a collection C1 middot middot middotCN of curves and F1 middot middot middot FN of reduced
divisors
Lemma VI1 We have the following identities
(36)
Fk middot C lt 0 for every C sube Ck
(F0 + F1) middot C le 0 for every C sube C0
(Fkminus1 + Fk + Fk+1) middot C = 0 for every C sube Ck 1 lt k lt N
(FNminus1 + FN) middot C lt 0 for every C sube CN
58 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proof The first is just the fact that every component of C is rigid The remaining
three follow from X0 middot C = 0 but the last one requires further justification Indeed
if C sube CN N gt 0 then C is one end of a tree of non-double curves In particular
there exists a foliation singularity lowast isin C disjoint from any other component of
C and LClowast is transverse to C This implies LClowast middotC gt 0 which together with
(FNminus1 + FN + LClowast) middot C = 0 concludes the proof
Let ε1 middot middot middot εN isin Qgt0 and define
(37) F Nminusk = (1 + ε1 + middot middot middot+ εk)FNminusk
bull If C sube CN we have
(38) (F Nminus1 + F
N) middot C = ε1FNminus1 middot C + (FNminus1 + FN) middot C
bull If C sube CNminusk 1 lt k lt N we have
(39)
(F Nminuskminus1 + F
Nminusk + F Nminusk+1) middot C =
(1 + middot middot middot+ εk)(FNminuskminus1 + FNminusk + FNminusk+1) middot C minus εkFNminusk+1 middot C + εk+1FNminuskminus1 middot C =
minus εkFNminusk+1 middot C + εk+1FNminuskminus1 middot C
bull If C sube C0 we have
(40) (F 0 + F
1) middot C = εNF0 middot C + (Nminus1sumj=0
εj)(F0 + F1) middot C
It is clear that provided
(41) 1 gtgt ε1 gtgt middot middot middot gtgt εN
the divisor F =sumF k is negative along every component of C
This proves the existence of the contraction and concludes the proof of the Main
Theorem I
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 59
VII Moduli space of foliated surfaces of general type
In this section we study the modular variation of foliated surfaces of general type
The upshot is that it is possible to define a functor which is representable separated
and every irreducible component is proper The main issue here is that the supporting
surface of a foliated canonical model may well fail to be projective indeed KF is not
Q-Gorenstein in general Hence in order to proceed via standard methods [Ko17]
we have to parametrize our canonical models together with a suitable projective
resolution
Definition VII13 Let (SF ) be a foliated proper reduced purely 2-dimensional
DM stack Assume S has only normal crossing singularities in codimension 1 that
F has log-canonical foliation singularities and that KF is big and nef on at least
one of the irreducible components of S If whenever KF middot C = 0 for some curve C
then C moves in an irreducible component of S and no member of such deformation
is F -invariant then (SF ) is called foliated canonical model of general type
Clearly foliated canonical models are exactly the stable degenerations appearing
as the central fiber of our Main Theorem I Their lack of projectivity has two sources
namely the contraction of cycles of smooth KF -nil curves and of trees of cuspidal
ones Singularities arising from cycles behave well in families namely they always
deform into the general fiber Those arising from cuspidal curves on the other hand
tend to be rather isolated inside the degenerate fiber
Observe that the deformation theory of a foliated surface is rather simple suppose
given an infinitesimal C-algebras extension 0 rarr J rarr Ae rarr A rarr 0 and (SF )
a foliated surface flat over Spec(A) then the obstruction to lifting to Ae can be
understood in three simple steps
(1) Deformation of the underlying surface S once a deformation Se rarr Spec(Ae)
is given
(2) Deformation of the line bundle KF by the exponential sequence
(42) 0rarr J otimes OS rarr OlowastSerarr OlowastS rarr 0
obstructions lie in H2(SOS)otimes J once a deformation of KF is given
60 FEDERICO BUONERBA
(3) Deformation of the defining section OS rarr KF otimes TS obstructions lie in
H1(SKF otimes TS)otimes J
Now we have
Definition VII14 Let (SF ) be a foliated canonical model of general type A
proper birational morphism q (SF )proj rarr (SF ) is called its projective resolution
if
bull Every irreducible component of Sproj is smooth
bull The exceptional locus of q is a disjoint union of cycles of KFproj-nil smooth
curves and trees of KFproj-nil curves each of which has a non-trivial cuspidal
singularity
bull In a neighborhood of every q-exceptional cycle not only Sproj but also its
moduli space is smooth
We need a few remarks about projective resolutions
(1) Projective resolutions are always unique Indeed the only possible ambiguity
could lie in some extra smooth irreducible components in the exceptional
locus This is forbidden by definition in the trees of cuspidal curves it is
also forbidden by way of the third item in cycles of smooth ones ie on
algebraic surfaces the minimal resolution is unique
(2) Denote by E the collection of q-exceptional cycles Then there exist ε δ isinQgt0 such that KFproj
minus εE + δKSprojis ample by Nakai-Moishezon
(3) Deformations of a projective resolution of a foliated canonical model are
canonically identified with deformations of the underlying birational mor-
phism q Sproj rarr S followed by a deformation of the foliation F
We are now ready to construct a moduli functor for foliated surfaces more precisely
for projective resolutions of foliated canonical models of general type For m dN isinN and ε δ isin Qgt0 let
(43) MmdNεδ (C-schemes)rarr (sets)
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 61
be defined by MmdNεδ(S) = Diagrams
(44) (X F )projqminusrarr (X F )
pminusrarr S
Where
bull Both p and p q are flat and proper
bull For every closed point s isin S the induced morphism qs is the projective
resolution of (X F )s which is a foliated canonical model of general type
bull Denote by Es the collection of exceptional cycles of qs By our Main Theorem
I there is a fibrewise divisor E subXproj flat over S restricting to Es for every
s isin S
bull Let j W rarr Xproj denote the maximal closed subscheme away from which
KFprojand KXprojS are locally free Then
(45) L [m] = (jlowast(KFprojotimes OXproj
(minusεE )otimesKδXprojS
)otimesm)oror
is flat over S and commutes with base-change
bull L [m] is very ample of degree d on every fiber and defines an embedding into
PNS
We are now ready for
Theorem VII15 The functor MmdNεδ is represented by a separated algebraic
space each of whose irreducible components is proper
Proof We show that our functor satisfies Artinrsquos conditions [Ar74 Corollary 54] By
definition condition 1) and 4) hold while our previous remark on foliated obstruction
theory shows that 3) is true
We proceed to show 2) namely effectivity of formal deformations for MmdNεδ
What follows owes much to Artinrsquos [A74rsquo] Let T be a complete C-algebra Tn its
n-truncation so that Tsimminusrarr limlarrminusTn and finally qn isinMmdNεδ(Spec(Tn)) a compatible
sequence For each n there is a maximal open set Un sube Xprojn where qn is an
isomorphism denote by sn Cn rarr Zn the restriction of qn to the complement of Un
Clearly sn is projective over Spec(Tn)
62 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Denote by X C etc the formal algebraic spaces obtained as limits of Xn Cn
etc Then Xproj sub PNˆSpec(T )
hence by Grothendieckrsquos existence Theorem we find
bull a flat projective family (X F )proj rarr Spec(T ) resp a closed subscheme
C subXproj whose completion is Xproj resp C
bull a scheme Z whose completion is Z and a morphism s C rarr Z everything
being projective over Spec(T )
Further we have a formal contraction limminusrarr qn C rarr Z hence the main theorem
of [Ar70] gives algebraic contraction (X F )proj rarr (X F ) This proves the repre-
sentability of MmdNεδ The properness and separability of each irreducible com-
ponent can be checked using valutative criteria indeed properness is the content of
our Main Theorem I separatedness follows from the uniqueness of foliated canonical
models of general type and their projective resolution
References
[Ar70] M Artin Algebraization of Formal Moduli II Existence of Modifications Ann
of Math Vol 91 No 1 (Jan 1970) pp 88-135 httpwwwjstororgstable
1970602
[Ar74] M Artin Versal Deformations and Algebraic Stacks Inventiones Math 27 165- 189
(1974) httpmathuchicagoedu~drinfeldArtin_on_stackspdf
[A74rsquo] M Artin Algebraic construction of Brieskornrsquos resolutions J Alg Vol 29 Issue
2 May 1974 pp 330-348 httpwwwsciencedirectcomsciencearticlepii
0021869374901021
[BB72] P Baum R Bott Singularities of holomorphic foliations J Diff Geom 7 (1972)
279-342 httpsprojecteuclidorgdownloadpdf_1euclidjdg1214431158
[Bo77] F Bogomolov Families of curves on a surface of general type Doklady Akademii Nauk
USSR (in Russian) 236 (5) 1041-1044
[Bo78] F Bogomolov Holomorphic tensors and vector bundles on projective varieties Math
USSR Izv 13 (1978) 499-555
[BM16] F Bogomolov M McQuillan Rational Curves on Foliated Varieties In Cascini
McKernan Pereira (eds) Foliation Theory in Algebraic Geometry Simons Symposia
Springer Cham pp 21-51 (2016) httpslinkspringercomchapter101007
978-3-319-24460-0_2
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 63
[Bu] F Buonerba Functorial resolution of tame quotient singularities in positive charac-
teristic httpsarxivorgabs151100550
[Ke99] S Keel Basepoint Freeness for Nef and Big Line Bundles in Positive Characteris-
tic Annals of Math 149 No 1 (Jan 1999) pp 253-286 httpwwwjstororg
stable121025 httpsarxivorgabsmath9901149
[KM97] S Keel S Mori Quotients by groupoids Annals of Math 145 (1997) pp
193-213 httpwwwjstororgstable2951828seq=1page_scan_tab_contents
httparxivorgabsalg-geom9508012
[Ko17] J Kollar Families of varieties of general type httpswebmathprincetonedu
~kollarbookmodbook20170720pdf
[LN02] A Lins Neto Some examples for the Poincare and Painleve problems Annales sci-
entifiques de lrsquoENS 352 (2002) 231-266 httparchivenumdamorgarticle
ASENS_2002_4_35_2_231_0pdf
[McQ12] M McQuillan Foliated Mori Theory amp Hyperbolicity of Algebraic Surfaces http
wwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillahomehtml
[McQ98] M McQuillan Diophantine approximation and foliations Inst Hautes Etudes Sci
Publ Math 87 (1998) 121-174 httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafiles
ihespdf
[McQ05rsquo] M McQuillan Bloch hyperbolicity preprint httpwwwmatuniroma2it
~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ05] M McQuillan Semi-stable reduction of foliations IHES pre-print IHESM0502
(2005) httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ05rdquo] M McQuillan Uniform Uniformisation IHES pre-print (2005) IHES M0503 http
wwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ08] M McQuillan Canonical models of foliations Pure Appl Math Q 4
(2008) no 3 Special Issue In honor of Fedor Bogomolov Part 2 877-1012
httpintlpresscomsitepubfiles_fulltextjournalspamq20080004
0003PAMQ-2008-0004-0003-a009pdf
[MP13] M McQuillan D Panazzolo Almost etale resolution of foliations J Diff Geom 95
(2013) pp 279-319 httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesmp1bispdf
[Pe02] JV Pereira On the Poincare Problem for Foliations of General Type Mathematische
Annalen 323 no 2 pp217-226 2002 httpsarxivorgabsmath0104185
[PS16] JV Pereira R Svaldi Effective algebraic integration in bounded genus preprint
httpsarxivorgabs161206932
64 FEDERICO BUONERBA
[Re83] M Reid Minimal models of canonical threefolds in rdquoAlgebraic Varieties and Ana-
lytic Varietiesrdquo Adv Stud Pure Math vol 1 S Iitaka ed Kinokuniya and North-
Holland 1983 pp 131-180 httpwwwmathsedacukcheltsovquotientpdf
reid2pdf
[Se67] A Seidenberg Reduction of singularities of the differential equation Ady = Bdx Amer
J Math 89 (1967) 248-269 httpwwwjstororgstable2373435
[SB83] N Shepherd-Barron Degenerations with numerically effective canonical divisor The
Birational Geometry of Degenerations (R Friedman and D Morrison eds) Progr
Math no 29 Birkhuser 1983 pp 33-84
[Vis89] A Vistoli Intersection theory on algebraic stacks and on their moduli spaces
Invent Math (1989) pp 613-670 httplinkspringercomarticle101007
2FBF01388892page-1
Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences New York University 251 Mercer
Street New York NY 10012 USA
E-mail address buonerbacimsnyuedu
- I Introduction
- II Preliminaries
-
- III Operations on Deligne-Mumford stacks
- IIII Width of embedded parabolic champs
- IIIII Gorenstein foliation singularities
- IIIV Foliated adjunction
- IIV Canonical models of foliated surfaces with canonical singularities
- IIVI Canonical models of foliated surfaces with log-canonical singularities
- IIVII Set-up
-
- III Invariant curves and singularities local description
-
- IIII `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F) not isolated
- IIIII `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F) isolated
- IIIIII Local consequences
-
- IV Invariant curves along which KF vanishes
-
- IVI KF-nil curves
- IVII Invariant curves inside `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F)
-
- V Configurations
-
- VI Configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
- VII Configurations of non-rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
-
- VI Contractions and proof of the Main Theorem
- VII Moduli space of foliated surfaces of general type
- References
-
56 FEDERICO BUONERBA
VI Contractions and proof of the Main Theorem
In this section we contract all invariant curves along which KF is zero thereby
establishing the existence of canonical models I First we contract non-rigid curves
as described in the previous subsection
bull Small Kroneckers along either ruling Albeit this destroys projectivity of
the ambient threefold there still exist Cartier divisors defined in a formal
neighborhood of the base curve that intersect it non-trivially
bull Families of irreducible nodal rational curves which are flat over ∆ This
creates elliptic singularities on the general fiber of p which are disjoint from
other invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
bull Special Riccati again families of irreducible nodal rational curves fully con-
tained in X0 This creates elliptic singularities disjoint from other invariant
curves intersecting KF trivially
We can summarize our situation by way of
Set-up VI1 X is a 3-dimensional DM stack with at worst elliptic singularities
F a foliation by curves with canonical singularities which is not Q-Cartier in a
neighborhood of Xsing
There exists a proper morphism p X rarr ∆ smooth off 0 isin ∆ F restricts to a
foliation on every fiber of p it has canonical singularities on the very general fiber
of p and log-canonical singularities on every fiber of p KF is big and nef on every
irreducible component of every fiber of p
Let C be the invariant sub-scheme along which KF is not big then C is a curve
fully contained in the smooth locus X0capXsmooth every sub-curve of C has anti-ample
normal bundle the 1-simplex of its dual graph is a tree and detailed configurations
of such are referenced in set-up VI13
We proceed to contract such C We assume that along C the semi-simple field has
only rational eigenvalues and moreover no component of C is inside the foliation
singularity The other two cases - irrational eigenvalues and presence of singular
component - are strictly easier and can be obtained with the very same method
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 57
The proof takes place in the formal completion around C = C free cup C axes The
former is a disjoint union of trees of non-double curves For each non-double C let
F (C) denote the unique component of X0 containing it The latter is a tree of double
curves each with two triple points all contained in the same irreducible FC axes Each
tree of non-double curves touches C axes in one point through a LC-center In order
to construct the contraction we will use Artinrsquos celebrated criterion in the following
form
Fact VI1 ([Ar70]) Let X be an irreducible algebraic space i Y rarr X a closed
subspace of pure codimension 1 and f Y rarr Y0 a proper morphism with flowastOY = OY0
Let X denote the formal completion of X along Y and assume there exists a Cartier
divisor D in X which is supported on Y and is f -anti-ample Then there exists a
proper morphism of algebraic spaces F X rarr X0 which is an isomorphism away
from Y and such that ilowastF = f
Now we use the tree structure of C to construct a suitable divisor to which apply
Artinrsquos theorem Namely consider the following inductive defintion
(35) C0 = C axes F0 = FC axes
For k ge 0 assume Ck Fk are defined
bull Let Ck+1 denote the union of irreducible components of C that intersect Fk
non-trivially but are not contained in cupilekFibull Let Fk+1 denote the reduced sum (
sumCsubeCk+1
F (C))red
This process stops with a collection C1 middot middot middotCN of curves and F1 middot middot middot FN of reduced
divisors
Lemma VI1 We have the following identities
(36)
Fk middot C lt 0 for every C sube Ck
(F0 + F1) middot C le 0 for every C sube C0
(Fkminus1 + Fk + Fk+1) middot C = 0 for every C sube Ck 1 lt k lt N
(FNminus1 + FN) middot C lt 0 for every C sube CN
58 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proof The first is just the fact that every component of C is rigid The remaining
three follow from X0 middot C = 0 but the last one requires further justification Indeed
if C sube CN N gt 0 then C is one end of a tree of non-double curves In particular
there exists a foliation singularity lowast isin C disjoint from any other component of
C and LClowast is transverse to C This implies LClowast middotC gt 0 which together with
(FNminus1 + FN + LClowast) middot C = 0 concludes the proof
Let ε1 middot middot middot εN isin Qgt0 and define
(37) F Nminusk = (1 + ε1 + middot middot middot+ εk)FNminusk
bull If C sube CN we have
(38) (F Nminus1 + F
N) middot C = ε1FNminus1 middot C + (FNminus1 + FN) middot C
bull If C sube CNminusk 1 lt k lt N we have
(39)
(F Nminuskminus1 + F
Nminusk + F Nminusk+1) middot C =
(1 + middot middot middot+ εk)(FNminuskminus1 + FNminusk + FNminusk+1) middot C minus εkFNminusk+1 middot C + εk+1FNminuskminus1 middot C =
minus εkFNminusk+1 middot C + εk+1FNminuskminus1 middot C
bull If C sube C0 we have
(40) (F 0 + F
1) middot C = εNF0 middot C + (Nminus1sumj=0
εj)(F0 + F1) middot C
It is clear that provided
(41) 1 gtgt ε1 gtgt middot middot middot gtgt εN
the divisor F =sumF k is negative along every component of C
This proves the existence of the contraction and concludes the proof of the Main
Theorem I
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 59
VII Moduli space of foliated surfaces of general type
In this section we study the modular variation of foliated surfaces of general type
The upshot is that it is possible to define a functor which is representable separated
and every irreducible component is proper The main issue here is that the supporting
surface of a foliated canonical model may well fail to be projective indeed KF is not
Q-Gorenstein in general Hence in order to proceed via standard methods [Ko17]
we have to parametrize our canonical models together with a suitable projective
resolution
Definition VII13 Let (SF ) be a foliated proper reduced purely 2-dimensional
DM stack Assume S has only normal crossing singularities in codimension 1 that
F has log-canonical foliation singularities and that KF is big and nef on at least
one of the irreducible components of S If whenever KF middot C = 0 for some curve C
then C moves in an irreducible component of S and no member of such deformation
is F -invariant then (SF ) is called foliated canonical model of general type
Clearly foliated canonical models are exactly the stable degenerations appearing
as the central fiber of our Main Theorem I Their lack of projectivity has two sources
namely the contraction of cycles of smooth KF -nil curves and of trees of cuspidal
ones Singularities arising from cycles behave well in families namely they always
deform into the general fiber Those arising from cuspidal curves on the other hand
tend to be rather isolated inside the degenerate fiber
Observe that the deformation theory of a foliated surface is rather simple suppose
given an infinitesimal C-algebras extension 0 rarr J rarr Ae rarr A rarr 0 and (SF )
a foliated surface flat over Spec(A) then the obstruction to lifting to Ae can be
understood in three simple steps
(1) Deformation of the underlying surface S once a deformation Se rarr Spec(Ae)
is given
(2) Deformation of the line bundle KF by the exponential sequence
(42) 0rarr J otimes OS rarr OlowastSerarr OlowastS rarr 0
obstructions lie in H2(SOS)otimes J once a deformation of KF is given
60 FEDERICO BUONERBA
(3) Deformation of the defining section OS rarr KF otimes TS obstructions lie in
H1(SKF otimes TS)otimes J
Now we have
Definition VII14 Let (SF ) be a foliated canonical model of general type A
proper birational morphism q (SF )proj rarr (SF ) is called its projective resolution
if
bull Every irreducible component of Sproj is smooth
bull The exceptional locus of q is a disjoint union of cycles of KFproj-nil smooth
curves and trees of KFproj-nil curves each of which has a non-trivial cuspidal
singularity
bull In a neighborhood of every q-exceptional cycle not only Sproj but also its
moduli space is smooth
We need a few remarks about projective resolutions
(1) Projective resolutions are always unique Indeed the only possible ambiguity
could lie in some extra smooth irreducible components in the exceptional
locus This is forbidden by definition in the trees of cuspidal curves it is
also forbidden by way of the third item in cycles of smooth ones ie on
algebraic surfaces the minimal resolution is unique
(2) Denote by E the collection of q-exceptional cycles Then there exist ε δ isinQgt0 such that KFproj
minus εE + δKSprojis ample by Nakai-Moishezon
(3) Deformations of a projective resolution of a foliated canonical model are
canonically identified with deformations of the underlying birational mor-
phism q Sproj rarr S followed by a deformation of the foliation F
We are now ready to construct a moduli functor for foliated surfaces more precisely
for projective resolutions of foliated canonical models of general type For m dN isinN and ε δ isin Qgt0 let
(43) MmdNεδ (C-schemes)rarr (sets)
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 61
be defined by MmdNεδ(S) = Diagrams
(44) (X F )projqminusrarr (X F )
pminusrarr S
Where
bull Both p and p q are flat and proper
bull For every closed point s isin S the induced morphism qs is the projective
resolution of (X F )s which is a foliated canonical model of general type
bull Denote by Es the collection of exceptional cycles of qs By our Main Theorem
I there is a fibrewise divisor E subXproj flat over S restricting to Es for every
s isin S
bull Let j W rarr Xproj denote the maximal closed subscheme away from which
KFprojand KXprojS are locally free Then
(45) L [m] = (jlowast(KFprojotimes OXproj
(minusεE )otimesKδXprojS
)otimesm)oror
is flat over S and commutes with base-change
bull L [m] is very ample of degree d on every fiber and defines an embedding into
PNS
We are now ready for
Theorem VII15 The functor MmdNεδ is represented by a separated algebraic
space each of whose irreducible components is proper
Proof We show that our functor satisfies Artinrsquos conditions [Ar74 Corollary 54] By
definition condition 1) and 4) hold while our previous remark on foliated obstruction
theory shows that 3) is true
We proceed to show 2) namely effectivity of formal deformations for MmdNεδ
What follows owes much to Artinrsquos [A74rsquo] Let T be a complete C-algebra Tn its
n-truncation so that Tsimminusrarr limlarrminusTn and finally qn isinMmdNεδ(Spec(Tn)) a compatible
sequence For each n there is a maximal open set Un sube Xprojn where qn is an
isomorphism denote by sn Cn rarr Zn the restriction of qn to the complement of Un
Clearly sn is projective over Spec(Tn)
62 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Denote by X C etc the formal algebraic spaces obtained as limits of Xn Cn
etc Then Xproj sub PNˆSpec(T )
hence by Grothendieckrsquos existence Theorem we find
bull a flat projective family (X F )proj rarr Spec(T ) resp a closed subscheme
C subXproj whose completion is Xproj resp C
bull a scheme Z whose completion is Z and a morphism s C rarr Z everything
being projective over Spec(T )
Further we have a formal contraction limminusrarr qn C rarr Z hence the main theorem
of [Ar70] gives algebraic contraction (X F )proj rarr (X F ) This proves the repre-
sentability of MmdNεδ The properness and separability of each irreducible com-
ponent can be checked using valutative criteria indeed properness is the content of
our Main Theorem I separatedness follows from the uniqueness of foliated canonical
models of general type and their projective resolution
References
[Ar70] M Artin Algebraization of Formal Moduli II Existence of Modifications Ann
of Math Vol 91 No 1 (Jan 1970) pp 88-135 httpwwwjstororgstable
1970602
[Ar74] M Artin Versal Deformations and Algebraic Stacks Inventiones Math 27 165- 189
(1974) httpmathuchicagoedu~drinfeldArtin_on_stackspdf
[A74rsquo] M Artin Algebraic construction of Brieskornrsquos resolutions J Alg Vol 29 Issue
2 May 1974 pp 330-348 httpwwwsciencedirectcomsciencearticlepii
0021869374901021
[BB72] P Baum R Bott Singularities of holomorphic foliations J Diff Geom 7 (1972)
279-342 httpsprojecteuclidorgdownloadpdf_1euclidjdg1214431158
[Bo77] F Bogomolov Families of curves on a surface of general type Doklady Akademii Nauk
USSR (in Russian) 236 (5) 1041-1044
[Bo78] F Bogomolov Holomorphic tensors and vector bundles on projective varieties Math
USSR Izv 13 (1978) 499-555
[BM16] F Bogomolov M McQuillan Rational Curves on Foliated Varieties In Cascini
McKernan Pereira (eds) Foliation Theory in Algebraic Geometry Simons Symposia
Springer Cham pp 21-51 (2016) httpslinkspringercomchapter101007
978-3-319-24460-0_2
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 63
[Bu] F Buonerba Functorial resolution of tame quotient singularities in positive charac-
teristic httpsarxivorgabs151100550
[Ke99] S Keel Basepoint Freeness for Nef and Big Line Bundles in Positive Characteris-
tic Annals of Math 149 No 1 (Jan 1999) pp 253-286 httpwwwjstororg
stable121025 httpsarxivorgabsmath9901149
[KM97] S Keel S Mori Quotients by groupoids Annals of Math 145 (1997) pp
193-213 httpwwwjstororgstable2951828seq=1page_scan_tab_contents
httparxivorgabsalg-geom9508012
[Ko17] J Kollar Families of varieties of general type httpswebmathprincetonedu
~kollarbookmodbook20170720pdf
[LN02] A Lins Neto Some examples for the Poincare and Painleve problems Annales sci-
entifiques de lrsquoENS 352 (2002) 231-266 httparchivenumdamorgarticle
ASENS_2002_4_35_2_231_0pdf
[McQ12] M McQuillan Foliated Mori Theory amp Hyperbolicity of Algebraic Surfaces http
wwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillahomehtml
[McQ98] M McQuillan Diophantine approximation and foliations Inst Hautes Etudes Sci
Publ Math 87 (1998) 121-174 httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafiles
ihespdf
[McQ05rsquo] M McQuillan Bloch hyperbolicity preprint httpwwwmatuniroma2it
~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ05] M McQuillan Semi-stable reduction of foliations IHES pre-print IHESM0502
(2005) httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ05rdquo] M McQuillan Uniform Uniformisation IHES pre-print (2005) IHES M0503 http
wwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ08] M McQuillan Canonical models of foliations Pure Appl Math Q 4
(2008) no 3 Special Issue In honor of Fedor Bogomolov Part 2 877-1012
httpintlpresscomsitepubfiles_fulltextjournalspamq20080004
0003PAMQ-2008-0004-0003-a009pdf
[MP13] M McQuillan D Panazzolo Almost etale resolution of foliations J Diff Geom 95
(2013) pp 279-319 httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesmp1bispdf
[Pe02] JV Pereira On the Poincare Problem for Foliations of General Type Mathematische
Annalen 323 no 2 pp217-226 2002 httpsarxivorgabsmath0104185
[PS16] JV Pereira R Svaldi Effective algebraic integration in bounded genus preprint
httpsarxivorgabs161206932
64 FEDERICO BUONERBA
[Re83] M Reid Minimal models of canonical threefolds in rdquoAlgebraic Varieties and Ana-
lytic Varietiesrdquo Adv Stud Pure Math vol 1 S Iitaka ed Kinokuniya and North-
Holland 1983 pp 131-180 httpwwwmathsedacukcheltsovquotientpdf
reid2pdf
[Se67] A Seidenberg Reduction of singularities of the differential equation Ady = Bdx Amer
J Math 89 (1967) 248-269 httpwwwjstororgstable2373435
[SB83] N Shepherd-Barron Degenerations with numerically effective canonical divisor The
Birational Geometry of Degenerations (R Friedman and D Morrison eds) Progr
Math no 29 Birkhuser 1983 pp 33-84
[Vis89] A Vistoli Intersection theory on algebraic stacks and on their moduli spaces
Invent Math (1989) pp 613-670 httplinkspringercomarticle101007
2FBF01388892page-1
Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences New York University 251 Mercer
Street New York NY 10012 USA
E-mail address buonerbacimsnyuedu
- I Introduction
- II Preliminaries
-
- III Operations on Deligne-Mumford stacks
- IIII Width of embedded parabolic champs
- IIIII Gorenstein foliation singularities
- IIIV Foliated adjunction
- IIV Canonical models of foliated surfaces with canonical singularities
- IIVI Canonical models of foliated surfaces with log-canonical singularities
- IIVII Set-up
-
- III Invariant curves and singularities local description
-
- IIII `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F) not isolated
- IIIII `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F) isolated
- IIIIII Local consequences
-
- IV Invariant curves along which KF vanishes
-
- IVI KF-nil curves
- IVII Invariant curves inside `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F)
-
- V Configurations
-
- VI Configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
- VII Configurations of non-rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
-
- VI Contractions and proof of the Main Theorem
- VII Moduli space of foliated surfaces of general type
- References
-
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 57
The proof takes place in the formal completion around C = C free cup C axes The
former is a disjoint union of trees of non-double curves For each non-double C let
F (C) denote the unique component of X0 containing it The latter is a tree of double
curves each with two triple points all contained in the same irreducible FC axes Each
tree of non-double curves touches C axes in one point through a LC-center In order
to construct the contraction we will use Artinrsquos celebrated criterion in the following
form
Fact VI1 ([Ar70]) Let X be an irreducible algebraic space i Y rarr X a closed
subspace of pure codimension 1 and f Y rarr Y0 a proper morphism with flowastOY = OY0
Let X denote the formal completion of X along Y and assume there exists a Cartier
divisor D in X which is supported on Y and is f -anti-ample Then there exists a
proper morphism of algebraic spaces F X rarr X0 which is an isomorphism away
from Y and such that ilowastF = f
Now we use the tree structure of C to construct a suitable divisor to which apply
Artinrsquos theorem Namely consider the following inductive defintion
(35) C0 = C axes F0 = FC axes
For k ge 0 assume Ck Fk are defined
bull Let Ck+1 denote the union of irreducible components of C that intersect Fk
non-trivially but are not contained in cupilekFibull Let Fk+1 denote the reduced sum (
sumCsubeCk+1
F (C))red
This process stops with a collection C1 middot middot middotCN of curves and F1 middot middot middot FN of reduced
divisors
Lemma VI1 We have the following identities
(36)
Fk middot C lt 0 for every C sube Ck
(F0 + F1) middot C le 0 for every C sube C0
(Fkminus1 + Fk + Fk+1) middot C = 0 for every C sube Ck 1 lt k lt N
(FNminus1 + FN) middot C lt 0 for every C sube CN
58 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proof The first is just the fact that every component of C is rigid The remaining
three follow from X0 middot C = 0 but the last one requires further justification Indeed
if C sube CN N gt 0 then C is one end of a tree of non-double curves In particular
there exists a foliation singularity lowast isin C disjoint from any other component of
C and LClowast is transverse to C This implies LClowast middotC gt 0 which together with
(FNminus1 + FN + LClowast) middot C = 0 concludes the proof
Let ε1 middot middot middot εN isin Qgt0 and define
(37) F Nminusk = (1 + ε1 + middot middot middot+ εk)FNminusk
bull If C sube CN we have
(38) (F Nminus1 + F
N) middot C = ε1FNminus1 middot C + (FNminus1 + FN) middot C
bull If C sube CNminusk 1 lt k lt N we have
(39)
(F Nminuskminus1 + F
Nminusk + F Nminusk+1) middot C =
(1 + middot middot middot+ εk)(FNminuskminus1 + FNminusk + FNminusk+1) middot C minus εkFNminusk+1 middot C + εk+1FNminuskminus1 middot C =
minus εkFNminusk+1 middot C + εk+1FNminuskminus1 middot C
bull If C sube C0 we have
(40) (F 0 + F
1) middot C = εNF0 middot C + (Nminus1sumj=0
εj)(F0 + F1) middot C
It is clear that provided
(41) 1 gtgt ε1 gtgt middot middot middot gtgt εN
the divisor F =sumF k is negative along every component of C
This proves the existence of the contraction and concludes the proof of the Main
Theorem I
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 59
VII Moduli space of foliated surfaces of general type
In this section we study the modular variation of foliated surfaces of general type
The upshot is that it is possible to define a functor which is representable separated
and every irreducible component is proper The main issue here is that the supporting
surface of a foliated canonical model may well fail to be projective indeed KF is not
Q-Gorenstein in general Hence in order to proceed via standard methods [Ko17]
we have to parametrize our canonical models together with a suitable projective
resolution
Definition VII13 Let (SF ) be a foliated proper reduced purely 2-dimensional
DM stack Assume S has only normal crossing singularities in codimension 1 that
F has log-canonical foliation singularities and that KF is big and nef on at least
one of the irreducible components of S If whenever KF middot C = 0 for some curve C
then C moves in an irreducible component of S and no member of such deformation
is F -invariant then (SF ) is called foliated canonical model of general type
Clearly foliated canonical models are exactly the stable degenerations appearing
as the central fiber of our Main Theorem I Their lack of projectivity has two sources
namely the contraction of cycles of smooth KF -nil curves and of trees of cuspidal
ones Singularities arising from cycles behave well in families namely they always
deform into the general fiber Those arising from cuspidal curves on the other hand
tend to be rather isolated inside the degenerate fiber
Observe that the deformation theory of a foliated surface is rather simple suppose
given an infinitesimal C-algebras extension 0 rarr J rarr Ae rarr A rarr 0 and (SF )
a foliated surface flat over Spec(A) then the obstruction to lifting to Ae can be
understood in three simple steps
(1) Deformation of the underlying surface S once a deformation Se rarr Spec(Ae)
is given
(2) Deformation of the line bundle KF by the exponential sequence
(42) 0rarr J otimes OS rarr OlowastSerarr OlowastS rarr 0
obstructions lie in H2(SOS)otimes J once a deformation of KF is given
60 FEDERICO BUONERBA
(3) Deformation of the defining section OS rarr KF otimes TS obstructions lie in
H1(SKF otimes TS)otimes J
Now we have
Definition VII14 Let (SF ) be a foliated canonical model of general type A
proper birational morphism q (SF )proj rarr (SF ) is called its projective resolution
if
bull Every irreducible component of Sproj is smooth
bull The exceptional locus of q is a disjoint union of cycles of KFproj-nil smooth
curves and trees of KFproj-nil curves each of which has a non-trivial cuspidal
singularity
bull In a neighborhood of every q-exceptional cycle not only Sproj but also its
moduli space is smooth
We need a few remarks about projective resolutions
(1) Projective resolutions are always unique Indeed the only possible ambiguity
could lie in some extra smooth irreducible components in the exceptional
locus This is forbidden by definition in the trees of cuspidal curves it is
also forbidden by way of the third item in cycles of smooth ones ie on
algebraic surfaces the minimal resolution is unique
(2) Denote by E the collection of q-exceptional cycles Then there exist ε δ isinQgt0 such that KFproj
minus εE + δKSprojis ample by Nakai-Moishezon
(3) Deformations of a projective resolution of a foliated canonical model are
canonically identified with deformations of the underlying birational mor-
phism q Sproj rarr S followed by a deformation of the foliation F
We are now ready to construct a moduli functor for foliated surfaces more precisely
for projective resolutions of foliated canonical models of general type For m dN isinN and ε δ isin Qgt0 let
(43) MmdNεδ (C-schemes)rarr (sets)
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 61
be defined by MmdNεδ(S) = Diagrams
(44) (X F )projqminusrarr (X F )
pminusrarr S
Where
bull Both p and p q are flat and proper
bull For every closed point s isin S the induced morphism qs is the projective
resolution of (X F )s which is a foliated canonical model of general type
bull Denote by Es the collection of exceptional cycles of qs By our Main Theorem
I there is a fibrewise divisor E subXproj flat over S restricting to Es for every
s isin S
bull Let j W rarr Xproj denote the maximal closed subscheme away from which
KFprojand KXprojS are locally free Then
(45) L [m] = (jlowast(KFprojotimes OXproj
(minusεE )otimesKδXprojS
)otimesm)oror
is flat over S and commutes with base-change
bull L [m] is very ample of degree d on every fiber and defines an embedding into
PNS
We are now ready for
Theorem VII15 The functor MmdNεδ is represented by a separated algebraic
space each of whose irreducible components is proper
Proof We show that our functor satisfies Artinrsquos conditions [Ar74 Corollary 54] By
definition condition 1) and 4) hold while our previous remark on foliated obstruction
theory shows that 3) is true
We proceed to show 2) namely effectivity of formal deformations for MmdNεδ
What follows owes much to Artinrsquos [A74rsquo] Let T be a complete C-algebra Tn its
n-truncation so that Tsimminusrarr limlarrminusTn and finally qn isinMmdNεδ(Spec(Tn)) a compatible
sequence For each n there is a maximal open set Un sube Xprojn where qn is an
isomorphism denote by sn Cn rarr Zn the restriction of qn to the complement of Un
Clearly sn is projective over Spec(Tn)
62 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Denote by X C etc the formal algebraic spaces obtained as limits of Xn Cn
etc Then Xproj sub PNˆSpec(T )
hence by Grothendieckrsquos existence Theorem we find
bull a flat projective family (X F )proj rarr Spec(T ) resp a closed subscheme
C subXproj whose completion is Xproj resp C
bull a scheme Z whose completion is Z and a morphism s C rarr Z everything
being projective over Spec(T )
Further we have a formal contraction limminusrarr qn C rarr Z hence the main theorem
of [Ar70] gives algebraic contraction (X F )proj rarr (X F ) This proves the repre-
sentability of MmdNεδ The properness and separability of each irreducible com-
ponent can be checked using valutative criteria indeed properness is the content of
our Main Theorem I separatedness follows from the uniqueness of foliated canonical
models of general type and their projective resolution
References
[Ar70] M Artin Algebraization of Formal Moduli II Existence of Modifications Ann
of Math Vol 91 No 1 (Jan 1970) pp 88-135 httpwwwjstororgstable
1970602
[Ar74] M Artin Versal Deformations and Algebraic Stacks Inventiones Math 27 165- 189
(1974) httpmathuchicagoedu~drinfeldArtin_on_stackspdf
[A74rsquo] M Artin Algebraic construction of Brieskornrsquos resolutions J Alg Vol 29 Issue
2 May 1974 pp 330-348 httpwwwsciencedirectcomsciencearticlepii
0021869374901021
[BB72] P Baum R Bott Singularities of holomorphic foliations J Diff Geom 7 (1972)
279-342 httpsprojecteuclidorgdownloadpdf_1euclidjdg1214431158
[Bo77] F Bogomolov Families of curves on a surface of general type Doklady Akademii Nauk
USSR (in Russian) 236 (5) 1041-1044
[Bo78] F Bogomolov Holomorphic tensors and vector bundles on projective varieties Math
USSR Izv 13 (1978) 499-555
[BM16] F Bogomolov M McQuillan Rational Curves on Foliated Varieties In Cascini
McKernan Pereira (eds) Foliation Theory in Algebraic Geometry Simons Symposia
Springer Cham pp 21-51 (2016) httpslinkspringercomchapter101007
978-3-319-24460-0_2
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 63
[Bu] F Buonerba Functorial resolution of tame quotient singularities in positive charac-
teristic httpsarxivorgabs151100550
[Ke99] S Keel Basepoint Freeness for Nef and Big Line Bundles in Positive Characteris-
tic Annals of Math 149 No 1 (Jan 1999) pp 253-286 httpwwwjstororg
stable121025 httpsarxivorgabsmath9901149
[KM97] S Keel S Mori Quotients by groupoids Annals of Math 145 (1997) pp
193-213 httpwwwjstororgstable2951828seq=1page_scan_tab_contents
httparxivorgabsalg-geom9508012
[Ko17] J Kollar Families of varieties of general type httpswebmathprincetonedu
~kollarbookmodbook20170720pdf
[LN02] A Lins Neto Some examples for the Poincare and Painleve problems Annales sci-
entifiques de lrsquoENS 352 (2002) 231-266 httparchivenumdamorgarticle
ASENS_2002_4_35_2_231_0pdf
[McQ12] M McQuillan Foliated Mori Theory amp Hyperbolicity of Algebraic Surfaces http
wwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillahomehtml
[McQ98] M McQuillan Diophantine approximation and foliations Inst Hautes Etudes Sci
Publ Math 87 (1998) 121-174 httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafiles
ihespdf
[McQ05rsquo] M McQuillan Bloch hyperbolicity preprint httpwwwmatuniroma2it
~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ05] M McQuillan Semi-stable reduction of foliations IHES pre-print IHESM0502
(2005) httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ05rdquo] M McQuillan Uniform Uniformisation IHES pre-print (2005) IHES M0503 http
wwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ08] M McQuillan Canonical models of foliations Pure Appl Math Q 4
(2008) no 3 Special Issue In honor of Fedor Bogomolov Part 2 877-1012
httpintlpresscomsitepubfiles_fulltextjournalspamq20080004
0003PAMQ-2008-0004-0003-a009pdf
[MP13] M McQuillan D Panazzolo Almost etale resolution of foliations J Diff Geom 95
(2013) pp 279-319 httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesmp1bispdf
[Pe02] JV Pereira On the Poincare Problem for Foliations of General Type Mathematische
Annalen 323 no 2 pp217-226 2002 httpsarxivorgabsmath0104185
[PS16] JV Pereira R Svaldi Effective algebraic integration in bounded genus preprint
httpsarxivorgabs161206932
64 FEDERICO BUONERBA
[Re83] M Reid Minimal models of canonical threefolds in rdquoAlgebraic Varieties and Ana-
lytic Varietiesrdquo Adv Stud Pure Math vol 1 S Iitaka ed Kinokuniya and North-
Holland 1983 pp 131-180 httpwwwmathsedacukcheltsovquotientpdf
reid2pdf
[Se67] A Seidenberg Reduction of singularities of the differential equation Ady = Bdx Amer
J Math 89 (1967) 248-269 httpwwwjstororgstable2373435
[SB83] N Shepherd-Barron Degenerations with numerically effective canonical divisor The
Birational Geometry of Degenerations (R Friedman and D Morrison eds) Progr
Math no 29 Birkhuser 1983 pp 33-84
[Vis89] A Vistoli Intersection theory on algebraic stacks and on their moduli spaces
Invent Math (1989) pp 613-670 httplinkspringercomarticle101007
2FBF01388892page-1
Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences New York University 251 Mercer
Street New York NY 10012 USA
E-mail address buonerbacimsnyuedu
- I Introduction
- II Preliminaries
-
- III Operations on Deligne-Mumford stacks
- IIII Width of embedded parabolic champs
- IIIII Gorenstein foliation singularities
- IIIV Foliated adjunction
- IIV Canonical models of foliated surfaces with canonical singularities
- IIVI Canonical models of foliated surfaces with log-canonical singularities
- IIVII Set-up
-
- III Invariant curves and singularities local description
-
- IIII `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F) not isolated
- IIIII `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F) isolated
- IIIIII Local consequences
-
- IV Invariant curves along which KF vanishes
-
- IVI KF-nil curves
- IVII Invariant curves inside `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F)
-
- V Configurations
-
- VI Configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
- VII Configurations of non-rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
-
- VI Contractions and proof of the Main Theorem
- VII Moduli space of foliated surfaces of general type
- References
-
58 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Proof The first is just the fact that every component of C is rigid The remaining
three follow from X0 middot C = 0 but the last one requires further justification Indeed
if C sube CN N gt 0 then C is one end of a tree of non-double curves In particular
there exists a foliation singularity lowast isin C disjoint from any other component of
C and LClowast is transverse to C This implies LClowast middotC gt 0 which together with
(FNminus1 + FN + LClowast) middot C = 0 concludes the proof
Let ε1 middot middot middot εN isin Qgt0 and define
(37) F Nminusk = (1 + ε1 + middot middot middot+ εk)FNminusk
bull If C sube CN we have
(38) (F Nminus1 + F
N) middot C = ε1FNminus1 middot C + (FNminus1 + FN) middot C
bull If C sube CNminusk 1 lt k lt N we have
(39)
(F Nminuskminus1 + F
Nminusk + F Nminusk+1) middot C =
(1 + middot middot middot+ εk)(FNminuskminus1 + FNminusk + FNminusk+1) middot C minus εkFNminusk+1 middot C + εk+1FNminuskminus1 middot C =
minus εkFNminusk+1 middot C + εk+1FNminuskminus1 middot C
bull If C sube C0 we have
(40) (F 0 + F
1) middot C = εNF0 middot C + (Nminus1sumj=0
εj)(F0 + F1) middot C
It is clear that provided
(41) 1 gtgt ε1 gtgt middot middot middot gtgt εN
the divisor F =sumF k is negative along every component of C
This proves the existence of the contraction and concludes the proof of the Main
Theorem I
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 59
VII Moduli space of foliated surfaces of general type
In this section we study the modular variation of foliated surfaces of general type
The upshot is that it is possible to define a functor which is representable separated
and every irreducible component is proper The main issue here is that the supporting
surface of a foliated canonical model may well fail to be projective indeed KF is not
Q-Gorenstein in general Hence in order to proceed via standard methods [Ko17]
we have to parametrize our canonical models together with a suitable projective
resolution
Definition VII13 Let (SF ) be a foliated proper reduced purely 2-dimensional
DM stack Assume S has only normal crossing singularities in codimension 1 that
F has log-canonical foliation singularities and that KF is big and nef on at least
one of the irreducible components of S If whenever KF middot C = 0 for some curve C
then C moves in an irreducible component of S and no member of such deformation
is F -invariant then (SF ) is called foliated canonical model of general type
Clearly foliated canonical models are exactly the stable degenerations appearing
as the central fiber of our Main Theorem I Their lack of projectivity has two sources
namely the contraction of cycles of smooth KF -nil curves and of trees of cuspidal
ones Singularities arising from cycles behave well in families namely they always
deform into the general fiber Those arising from cuspidal curves on the other hand
tend to be rather isolated inside the degenerate fiber
Observe that the deformation theory of a foliated surface is rather simple suppose
given an infinitesimal C-algebras extension 0 rarr J rarr Ae rarr A rarr 0 and (SF )
a foliated surface flat over Spec(A) then the obstruction to lifting to Ae can be
understood in three simple steps
(1) Deformation of the underlying surface S once a deformation Se rarr Spec(Ae)
is given
(2) Deformation of the line bundle KF by the exponential sequence
(42) 0rarr J otimes OS rarr OlowastSerarr OlowastS rarr 0
obstructions lie in H2(SOS)otimes J once a deformation of KF is given
60 FEDERICO BUONERBA
(3) Deformation of the defining section OS rarr KF otimes TS obstructions lie in
H1(SKF otimes TS)otimes J
Now we have
Definition VII14 Let (SF ) be a foliated canonical model of general type A
proper birational morphism q (SF )proj rarr (SF ) is called its projective resolution
if
bull Every irreducible component of Sproj is smooth
bull The exceptional locus of q is a disjoint union of cycles of KFproj-nil smooth
curves and trees of KFproj-nil curves each of which has a non-trivial cuspidal
singularity
bull In a neighborhood of every q-exceptional cycle not only Sproj but also its
moduli space is smooth
We need a few remarks about projective resolutions
(1) Projective resolutions are always unique Indeed the only possible ambiguity
could lie in some extra smooth irreducible components in the exceptional
locus This is forbidden by definition in the trees of cuspidal curves it is
also forbidden by way of the third item in cycles of smooth ones ie on
algebraic surfaces the minimal resolution is unique
(2) Denote by E the collection of q-exceptional cycles Then there exist ε δ isinQgt0 such that KFproj
minus εE + δKSprojis ample by Nakai-Moishezon
(3) Deformations of a projective resolution of a foliated canonical model are
canonically identified with deformations of the underlying birational mor-
phism q Sproj rarr S followed by a deformation of the foliation F
We are now ready to construct a moduli functor for foliated surfaces more precisely
for projective resolutions of foliated canonical models of general type For m dN isinN and ε δ isin Qgt0 let
(43) MmdNεδ (C-schemes)rarr (sets)
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 61
be defined by MmdNεδ(S) = Diagrams
(44) (X F )projqminusrarr (X F )
pminusrarr S
Where
bull Both p and p q are flat and proper
bull For every closed point s isin S the induced morphism qs is the projective
resolution of (X F )s which is a foliated canonical model of general type
bull Denote by Es the collection of exceptional cycles of qs By our Main Theorem
I there is a fibrewise divisor E subXproj flat over S restricting to Es for every
s isin S
bull Let j W rarr Xproj denote the maximal closed subscheme away from which
KFprojand KXprojS are locally free Then
(45) L [m] = (jlowast(KFprojotimes OXproj
(minusεE )otimesKδXprojS
)otimesm)oror
is flat over S and commutes with base-change
bull L [m] is very ample of degree d on every fiber and defines an embedding into
PNS
We are now ready for
Theorem VII15 The functor MmdNεδ is represented by a separated algebraic
space each of whose irreducible components is proper
Proof We show that our functor satisfies Artinrsquos conditions [Ar74 Corollary 54] By
definition condition 1) and 4) hold while our previous remark on foliated obstruction
theory shows that 3) is true
We proceed to show 2) namely effectivity of formal deformations for MmdNεδ
What follows owes much to Artinrsquos [A74rsquo] Let T be a complete C-algebra Tn its
n-truncation so that Tsimminusrarr limlarrminusTn and finally qn isinMmdNεδ(Spec(Tn)) a compatible
sequence For each n there is a maximal open set Un sube Xprojn where qn is an
isomorphism denote by sn Cn rarr Zn the restriction of qn to the complement of Un
Clearly sn is projective over Spec(Tn)
62 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Denote by X C etc the formal algebraic spaces obtained as limits of Xn Cn
etc Then Xproj sub PNˆSpec(T )
hence by Grothendieckrsquos existence Theorem we find
bull a flat projective family (X F )proj rarr Spec(T ) resp a closed subscheme
C subXproj whose completion is Xproj resp C
bull a scheme Z whose completion is Z and a morphism s C rarr Z everything
being projective over Spec(T )
Further we have a formal contraction limminusrarr qn C rarr Z hence the main theorem
of [Ar70] gives algebraic contraction (X F )proj rarr (X F ) This proves the repre-
sentability of MmdNεδ The properness and separability of each irreducible com-
ponent can be checked using valutative criteria indeed properness is the content of
our Main Theorem I separatedness follows from the uniqueness of foliated canonical
models of general type and their projective resolution
References
[Ar70] M Artin Algebraization of Formal Moduli II Existence of Modifications Ann
of Math Vol 91 No 1 (Jan 1970) pp 88-135 httpwwwjstororgstable
1970602
[Ar74] M Artin Versal Deformations and Algebraic Stacks Inventiones Math 27 165- 189
(1974) httpmathuchicagoedu~drinfeldArtin_on_stackspdf
[A74rsquo] M Artin Algebraic construction of Brieskornrsquos resolutions J Alg Vol 29 Issue
2 May 1974 pp 330-348 httpwwwsciencedirectcomsciencearticlepii
0021869374901021
[BB72] P Baum R Bott Singularities of holomorphic foliations J Diff Geom 7 (1972)
279-342 httpsprojecteuclidorgdownloadpdf_1euclidjdg1214431158
[Bo77] F Bogomolov Families of curves on a surface of general type Doklady Akademii Nauk
USSR (in Russian) 236 (5) 1041-1044
[Bo78] F Bogomolov Holomorphic tensors and vector bundles on projective varieties Math
USSR Izv 13 (1978) 499-555
[BM16] F Bogomolov M McQuillan Rational Curves on Foliated Varieties In Cascini
McKernan Pereira (eds) Foliation Theory in Algebraic Geometry Simons Symposia
Springer Cham pp 21-51 (2016) httpslinkspringercomchapter101007
978-3-319-24460-0_2
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 63
[Bu] F Buonerba Functorial resolution of tame quotient singularities in positive charac-
teristic httpsarxivorgabs151100550
[Ke99] S Keel Basepoint Freeness for Nef and Big Line Bundles in Positive Characteris-
tic Annals of Math 149 No 1 (Jan 1999) pp 253-286 httpwwwjstororg
stable121025 httpsarxivorgabsmath9901149
[KM97] S Keel S Mori Quotients by groupoids Annals of Math 145 (1997) pp
193-213 httpwwwjstororgstable2951828seq=1page_scan_tab_contents
httparxivorgabsalg-geom9508012
[Ko17] J Kollar Families of varieties of general type httpswebmathprincetonedu
~kollarbookmodbook20170720pdf
[LN02] A Lins Neto Some examples for the Poincare and Painleve problems Annales sci-
entifiques de lrsquoENS 352 (2002) 231-266 httparchivenumdamorgarticle
ASENS_2002_4_35_2_231_0pdf
[McQ12] M McQuillan Foliated Mori Theory amp Hyperbolicity of Algebraic Surfaces http
wwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillahomehtml
[McQ98] M McQuillan Diophantine approximation and foliations Inst Hautes Etudes Sci
Publ Math 87 (1998) 121-174 httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafiles
ihespdf
[McQ05rsquo] M McQuillan Bloch hyperbolicity preprint httpwwwmatuniroma2it
~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ05] M McQuillan Semi-stable reduction of foliations IHES pre-print IHESM0502
(2005) httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ05rdquo] M McQuillan Uniform Uniformisation IHES pre-print (2005) IHES M0503 http
wwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ08] M McQuillan Canonical models of foliations Pure Appl Math Q 4
(2008) no 3 Special Issue In honor of Fedor Bogomolov Part 2 877-1012
httpintlpresscomsitepubfiles_fulltextjournalspamq20080004
0003PAMQ-2008-0004-0003-a009pdf
[MP13] M McQuillan D Panazzolo Almost etale resolution of foliations J Diff Geom 95
(2013) pp 279-319 httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesmp1bispdf
[Pe02] JV Pereira On the Poincare Problem for Foliations of General Type Mathematische
Annalen 323 no 2 pp217-226 2002 httpsarxivorgabsmath0104185
[PS16] JV Pereira R Svaldi Effective algebraic integration in bounded genus preprint
httpsarxivorgabs161206932
64 FEDERICO BUONERBA
[Re83] M Reid Minimal models of canonical threefolds in rdquoAlgebraic Varieties and Ana-
lytic Varietiesrdquo Adv Stud Pure Math vol 1 S Iitaka ed Kinokuniya and North-
Holland 1983 pp 131-180 httpwwwmathsedacukcheltsovquotientpdf
reid2pdf
[Se67] A Seidenberg Reduction of singularities of the differential equation Ady = Bdx Amer
J Math 89 (1967) 248-269 httpwwwjstororgstable2373435
[SB83] N Shepherd-Barron Degenerations with numerically effective canonical divisor The
Birational Geometry of Degenerations (R Friedman and D Morrison eds) Progr
Math no 29 Birkhuser 1983 pp 33-84
[Vis89] A Vistoli Intersection theory on algebraic stacks and on their moduli spaces
Invent Math (1989) pp 613-670 httplinkspringercomarticle101007
2FBF01388892page-1
Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences New York University 251 Mercer
Street New York NY 10012 USA
E-mail address buonerbacimsnyuedu
- I Introduction
- II Preliminaries
-
- III Operations on Deligne-Mumford stacks
- IIII Width of embedded parabolic champs
- IIIII Gorenstein foliation singularities
- IIIV Foliated adjunction
- IIV Canonical models of foliated surfaces with canonical singularities
- IIVI Canonical models of foliated surfaces with log-canonical singularities
- IIVII Set-up
-
- III Invariant curves and singularities local description
-
- IIII `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F) not isolated
- IIIII `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F) isolated
- IIIIII Local consequences
-
- IV Invariant curves along which KF vanishes
-
- IVI KF-nil curves
- IVII Invariant curves inside `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F)
-
- V Configurations
-
- VI Configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
- VII Configurations of non-rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
-
- VI Contractions and proof of the Main Theorem
- VII Moduli space of foliated surfaces of general type
- References
-
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 59
VII Moduli space of foliated surfaces of general type
In this section we study the modular variation of foliated surfaces of general type
The upshot is that it is possible to define a functor which is representable separated
and every irreducible component is proper The main issue here is that the supporting
surface of a foliated canonical model may well fail to be projective indeed KF is not
Q-Gorenstein in general Hence in order to proceed via standard methods [Ko17]
we have to parametrize our canonical models together with a suitable projective
resolution
Definition VII13 Let (SF ) be a foliated proper reduced purely 2-dimensional
DM stack Assume S has only normal crossing singularities in codimension 1 that
F has log-canonical foliation singularities and that KF is big and nef on at least
one of the irreducible components of S If whenever KF middot C = 0 for some curve C
then C moves in an irreducible component of S and no member of such deformation
is F -invariant then (SF ) is called foliated canonical model of general type
Clearly foliated canonical models are exactly the stable degenerations appearing
as the central fiber of our Main Theorem I Their lack of projectivity has two sources
namely the contraction of cycles of smooth KF -nil curves and of trees of cuspidal
ones Singularities arising from cycles behave well in families namely they always
deform into the general fiber Those arising from cuspidal curves on the other hand
tend to be rather isolated inside the degenerate fiber
Observe that the deformation theory of a foliated surface is rather simple suppose
given an infinitesimal C-algebras extension 0 rarr J rarr Ae rarr A rarr 0 and (SF )
a foliated surface flat over Spec(A) then the obstruction to lifting to Ae can be
understood in three simple steps
(1) Deformation of the underlying surface S once a deformation Se rarr Spec(Ae)
is given
(2) Deformation of the line bundle KF by the exponential sequence
(42) 0rarr J otimes OS rarr OlowastSerarr OlowastS rarr 0
obstructions lie in H2(SOS)otimes J once a deformation of KF is given
60 FEDERICO BUONERBA
(3) Deformation of the defining section OS rarr KF otimes TS obstructions lie in
H1(SKF otimes TS)otimes J
Now we have
Definition VII14 Let (SF ) be a foliated canonical model of general type A
proper birational morphism q (SF )proj rarr (SF ) is called its projective resolution
if
bull Every irreducible component of Sproj is smooth
bull The exceptional locus of q is a disjoint union of cycles of KFproj-nil smooth
curves and trees of KFproj-nil curves each of which has a non-trivial cuspidal
singularity
bull In a neighborhood of every q-exceptional cycle not only Sproj but also its
moduli space is smooth
We need a few remarks about projective resolutions
(1) Projective resolutions are always unique Indeed the only possible ambiguity
could lie in some extra smooth irreducible components in the exceptional
locus This is forbidden by definition in the trees of cuspidal curves it is
also forbidden by way of the third item in cycles of smooth ones ie on
algebraic surfaces the minimal resolution is unique
(2) Denote by E the collection of q-exceptional cycles Then there exist ε δ isinQgt0 such that KFproj
minus εE + δKSprojis ample by Nakai-Moishezon
(3) Deformations of a projective resolution of a foliated canonical model are
canonically identified with deformations of the underlying birational mor-
phism q Sproj rarr S followed by a deformation of the foliation F
We are now ready to construct a moduli functor for foliated surfaces more precisely
for projective resolutions of foliated canonical models of general type For m dN isinN and ε δ isin Qgt0 let
(43) MmdNεδ (C-schemes)rarr (sets)
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 61
be defined by MmdNεδ(S) = Diagrams
(44) (X F )projqminusrarr (X F )
pminusrarr S
Where
bull Both p and p q are flat and proper
bull For every closed point s isin S the induced morphism qs is the projective
resolution of (X F )s which is a foliated canonical model of general type
bull Denote by Es the collection of exceptional cycles of qs By our Main Theorem
I there is a fibrewise divisor E subXproj flat over S restricting to Es for every
s isin S
bull Let j W rarr Xproj denote the maximal closed subscheme away from which
KFprojand KXprojS are locally free Then
(45) L [m] = (jlowast(KFprojotimes OXproj
(minusεE )otimesKδXprojS
)otimesm)oror
is flat over S and commutes with base-change
bull L [m] is very ample of degree d on every fiber and defines an embedding into
PNS
We are now ready for
Theorem VII15 The functor MmdNεδ is represented by a separated algebraic
space each of whose irreducible components is proper
Proof We show that our functor satisfies Artinrsquos conditions [Ar74 Corollary 54] By
definition condition 1) and 4) hold while our previous remark on foliated obstruction
theory shows that 3) is true
We proceed to show 2) namely effectivity of formal deformations for MmdNεδ
What follows owes much to Artinrsquos [A74rsquo] Let T be a complete C-algebra Tn its
n-truncation so that Tsimminusrarr limlarrminusTn and finally qn isinMmdNεδ(Spec(Tn)) a compatible
sequence For each n there is a maximal open set Un sube Xprojn where qn is an
isomorphism denote by sn Cn rarr Zn the restriction of qn to the complement of Un
Clearly sn is projective over Spec(Tn)
62 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Denote by X C etc the formal algebraic spaces obtained as limits of Xn Cn
etc Then Xproj sub PNˆSpec(T )
hence by Grothendieckrsquos existence Theorem we find
bull a flat projective family (X F )proj rarr Spec(T ) resp a closed subscheme
C subXproj whose completion is Xproj resp C
bull a scheme Z whose completion is Z and a morphism s C rarr Z everything
being projective over Spec(T )
Further we have a formal contraction limminusrarr qn C rarr Z hence the main theorem
of [Ar70] gives algebraic contraction (X F )proj rarr (X F ) This proves the repre-
sentability of MmdNεδ The properness and separability of each irreducible com-
ponent can be checked using valutative criteria indeed properness is the content of
our Main Theorem I separatedness follows from the uniqueness of foliated canonical
models of general type and their projective resolution
References
[Ar70] M Artin Algebraization of Formal Moduli II Existence of Modifications Ann
of Math Vol 91 No 1 (Jan 1970) pp 88-135 httpwwwjstororgstable
1970602
[Ar74] M Artin Versal Deformations and Algebraic Stacks Inventiones Math 27 165- 189
(1974) httpmathuchicagoedu~drinfeldArtin_on_stackspdf
[A74rsquo] M Artin Algebraic construction of Brieskornrsquos resolutions J Alg Vol 29 Issue
2 May 1974 pp 330-348 httpwwwsciencedirectcomsciencearticlepii
0021869374901021
[BB72] P Baum R Bott Singularities of holomorphic foliations J Diff Geom 7 (1972)
279-342 httpsprojecteuclidorgdownloadpdf_1euclidjdg1214431158
[Bo77] F Bogomolov Families of curves on a surface of general type Doklady Akademii Nauk
USSR (in Russian) 236 (5) 1041-1044
[Bo78] F Bogomolov Holomorphic tensors and vector bundles on projective varieties Math
USSR Izv 13 (1978) 499-555
[BM16] F Bogomolov M McQuillan Rational Curves on Foliated Varieties In Cascini
McKernan Pereira (eds) Foliation Theory in Algebraic Geometry Simons Symposia
Springer Cham pp 21-51 (2016) httpslinkspringercomchapter101007
978-3-319-24460-0_2
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 63
[Bu] F Buonerba Functorial resolution of tame quotient singularities in positive charac-
teristic httpsarxivorgabs151100550
[Ke99] S Keel Basepoint Freeness for Nef and Big Line Bundles in Positive Characteris-
tic Annals of Math 149 No 1 (Jan 1999) pp 253-286 httpwwwjstororg
stable121025 httpsarxivorgabsmath9901149
[KM97] S Keel S Mori Quotients by groupoids Annals of Math 145 (1997) pp
193-213 httpwwwjstororgstable2951828seq=1page_scan_tab_contents
httparxivorgabsalg-geom9508012
[Ko17] J Kollar Families of varieties of general type httpswebmathprincetonedu
~kollarbookmodbook20170720pdf
[LN02] A Lins Neto Some examples for the Poincare and Painleve problems Annales sci-
entifiques de lrsquoENS 352 (2002) 231-266 httparchivenumdamorgarticle
ASENS_2002_4_35_2_231_0pdf
[McQ12] M McQuillan Foliated Mori Theory amp Hyperbolicity of Algebraic Surfaces http
wwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillahomehtml
[McQ98] M McQuillan Diophantine approximation and foliations Inst Hautes Etudes Sci
Publ Math 87 (1998) 121-174 httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafiles
ihespdf
[McQ05rsquo] M McQuillan Bloch hyperbolicity preprint httpwwwmatuniroma2it
~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ05] M McQuillan Semi-stable reduction of foliations IHES pre-print IHESM0502
(2005) httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ05rdquo] M McQuillan Uniform Uniformisation IHES pre-print (2005) IHES M0503 http
wwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ08] M McQuillan Canonical models of foliations Pure Appl Math Q 4
(2008) no 3 Special Issue In honor of Fedor Bogomolov Part 2 877-1012
httpintlpresscomsitepubfiles_fulltextjournalspamq20080004
0003PAMQ-2008-0004-0003-a009pdf
[MP13] M McQuillan D Panazzolo Almost etale resolution of foliations J Diff Geom 95
(2013) pp 279-319 httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesmp1bispdf
[Pe02] JV Pereira On the Poincare Problem for Foliations of General Type Mathematische
Annalen 323 no 2 pp217-226 2002 httpsarxivorgabsmath0104185
[PS16] JV Pereira R Svaldi Effective algebraic integration in bounded genus preprint
httpsarxivorgabs161206932
64 FEDERICO BUONERBA
[Re83] M Reid Minimal models of canonical threefolds in rdquoAlgebraic Varieties and Ana-
lytic Varietiesrdquo Adv Stud Pure Math vol 1 S Iitaka ed Kinokuniya and North-
Holland 1983 pp 131-180 httpwwwmathsedacukcheltsovquotientpdf
reid2pdf
[Se67] A Seidenberg Reduction of singularities of the differential equation Ady = Bdx Amer
J Math 89 (1967) 248-269 httpwwwjstororgstable2373435
[SB83] N Shepherd-Barron Degenerations with numerically effective canonical divisor The
Birational Geometry of Degenerations (R Friedman and D Morrison eds) Progr
Math no 29 Birkhuser 1983 pp 33-84
[Vis89] A Vistoli Intersection theory on algebraic stacks and on their moduli spaces
Invent Math (1989) pp 613-670 httplinkspringercomarticle101007
2FBF01388892page-1
Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences New York University 251 Mercer
Street New York NY 10012 USA
E-mail address buonerbacimsnyuedu
- I Introduction
- II Preliminaries
-
- III Operations on Deligne-Mumford stacks
- IIII Width of embedded parabolic champs
- IIIII Gorenstein foliation singularities
- IIIV Foliated adjunction
- IIV Canonical models of foliated surfaces with canonical singularities
- IIVI Canonical models of foliated surfaces with log-canonical singularities
- IIVII Set-up
-
- III Invariant curves and singularities local description
-
- IIII `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F) not isolated
- IIIII `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F) isolated
- IIIIII Local consequences
-
- IV Invariant curves along which KF vanishes
-
- IVI KF-nil curves
- IVII Invariant curves inside `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F)
-
- V Configurations
-
- VI Configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
- VII Configurations of non-rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
-
- VI Contractions and proof of the Main Theorem
- VII Moduli space of foliated surfaces of general type
- References
-
60 FEDERICO BUONERBA
(3) Deformation of the defining section OS rarr KF otimes TS obstructions lie in
H1(SKF otimes TS)otimes J
Now we have
Definition VII14 Let (SF ) be a foliated canonical model of general type A
proper birational morphism q (SF )proj rarr (SF ) is called its projective resolution
if
bull Every irreducible component of Sproj is smooth
bull The exceptional locus of q is a disjoint union of cycles of KFproj-nil smooth
curves and trees of KFproj-nil curves each of which has a non-trivial cuspidal
singularity
bull In a neighborhood of every q-exceptional cycle not only Sproj but also its
moduli space is smooth
We need a few remarks about projective resolutions
(1) Projective resolutions are always unique Indeed the only possible ambiguity
could lie in some extra smooth irreducible components in the exceptional
locus This is forbidden by definition in the trees of cuspidal curves it is
also forbidden by way of the third item in cycles of smooth ones ie on
algebraic surfaces the minimal resolution is unique
(2) Denote by E the collection of q-exceptional cycles Then there exist ε δ isinQgt0 such that KFproj
minus εE + δKSprojis ample by Nakai-Moishezon
(3) Deformations of a projective resolution of a foliated canonical model are
canonically identified with deformations of the underlying birational mor-
phism q Sproj rarr S followed by a deformation of the foliation F
We are now ready to construct a moduli functor for foliated surfaces more precisely
for projective resolutions of foliated canonical models of general type For m dN isinN and ε δ isin Qgt0 let
(43) MmdNεδ (C-schemes)rarr (sets)
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 61
be defined by MmdNεδ(S) = Diagrams
(44) (X F )projqminusrarr (X F )
pminusrarr S
Where
bull Both p and p q are flat and proper
bull For every closed point s isin S the induced morphism qs is the projective
resolution of (X F )s which is a foliated canonical model of general type
bull Denote by Es the collection of exceptional cycles of qs By our Main Theorem
I there is a fibrewise divisor E subXproj flat over S restricting to Es for every
s isin S
bull Let j W rarr Xproj denote the maximal closed subscheme away from which
KFprojand KXprojS are locally free Then
(45) L [m] = (jlowast(KFprojotimes OXproj
(minusεE )otimesKδXprojS
)otimesm)oror
is flat over S and commutes with base-change
bull L [m] is very ample of degree d on every fiber and defines an embedding into
PNS
We are now ready for
Theorem VII15 The functor MmdNεδ is represented by a separated algebraic
space each of whose irreducible components is proper
Proof We show that our functor satisfies Artinrsquos conditions [Ar74 Corollary 54] By
definition condition 1) and 4) hold while our previous remark on foliated obstruction
theory shows that 3) is true
We proceed to show 2) namely effectivity of formal deformations for MmdNεδ
What follows owes much to Artinrsquos [A74rsquo] Let T be a complete C-algebra Tn its
n-truncation so that Tsimminusrarr limlarrminusTn and finally qn isinMmdNεδ(Spec(Tn)) a compatible
sequence For each n there is a maximal open set Un sube Xprojn where qn is an
isomorphism denote by sn Cn rarr Zn the restriction of qn to the complement of Un
Clearly sn is projective over Spec(Tn)
62 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Denote by X C etc the formal algebraic spaces obtained as limits of Xn Cn
etc Then Xproj sub PNˆSpec(T )
hence by Grothendieckrsquos existence Theorem we find
bull a flat projective family (X F )proj rarr Spec(T ) resp a closed subscheme
C subXproj whose completion is Xproj resp C
bull a scheme Z whose completion is Z and a morphism s C rarr Z everything
being projective over Spec(T )
Further we have a formal contraction limminusrarr qn C rarr Z hence the main theorem
of [Ar70] gives algebraic contraction (X F )proj rarr (X F ) This proves the repre-
sentability of MmdNεδ The properness and separability of each irreducible com-
ponent can be checked using valutative criteria indeed properness is the content of
our Main Theorem I separatedness follows from the uniqueness of foliated canonical
models of general type and their projective resolution
References
[Ar70] M Artin Algebraization of Formal Moduli II Existence of Modifications Ann
of Math Vol 91 No 1 (Jan 1970) pp 88-135 httpwwwjstororgstable
1970602
[Ar74] M Artin Versal Deformations and Algebraic Stacks Inventiones Math 27 165- 189
(1974) httpmathuchicagoedu~drinfeldArtin_on_stackspdf
[A74rsquo] M Artin Algebraic construction of Brieskornrsquos resolutions J Alg Vol 29 Issue
2 May 1974 pp 330-348 httpwwwsciencedirectcomsciencearticlepii
0021869374901021
[BB72] P Baum R Bott Singularities of holomorphic foliations J Diff Geom 7 (1972)
279-342 httpsprojecteuclidorgdownloadpdf_1euclidjdg1214431158
[Bo77] F Bogomolov Families of curves on a surface of general type Doklady Akademii Nauk
USSR (in Russian) 236 (5) 1041-1044
[Bo78] F Bogomolov Holomorphic tensors and vector bundles on projective varieties Math
USSR Izv 13 (1978) 499-555
[BM16] F Bogomolov M McQuillan Rational Curves on Foliated Varieties In Cascini
McKernan Pereira (eds) Foliation Theory in Algebraic Geometry Simons Symposia
Springer Cham pp 21-51 (2016) httpslinkspringercomchapter101007
978-3-319-24460-0_2
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 63
[Bu] F Buonerba Functorial resolution of tame quotient singularities in positive charac-
teristic httpsarxivorgabs151100550
[Ke99] S Keel Basepoint Freeness for Nef and Big Line Bundles in Positive Characteris-
tic Annals of Math 149 No 1 (Jan 1999) pp 253-286 httpwwwjstororg
stable121025 httpsarxivorgabsmath9901149
[KM97] S Keel S Mori Quotients by groupoids Annals of Math 145 (1997) pp
193-213 httpwwwjstororgstable2951828seq=1page_scan_tab_contents
httparxivorgabsalg-geom9508012
[Ko17] J Kollar Families of varieties of general type httpswebmathprincetonedu
~kollarbookmodbook20170720pdf
[LN02] A Lins Neto Some examples for the Poincare and Painleve problems Annales sci-
entifiques de lrsquoENS 352 (2002) 231-266 httparchivenumdamorgarticle
ASENS_2002_4_35_2_231_0pdf
[McQ12] M McQuillan Foliated Mori Theory amp Hyperbolicity of Algebraic Surfaces http
wwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillahomehtml
[McQ98] M McQuillan Diophantine approximation and foliations Inst Hautes Etudes Sci
Publ Math 87 (1998) 121-174 httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafiles
ihespdf
[McQ05rsquo] M McQuillan Bloch hyperbolicity preprint httpwwwmatuniroma2it
~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ05] M McQuillan Semi-stable reduction of foliations IHES pre-print IHESM0502
(2005) httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ05rdquo] M McQuillan Uniform Uniformisation IHES pre-print (2005) IHES M0503 http
wwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ08] M McQuillan Canonical models of foliations Pure Appl Math Q 4
(2008) no 3 Special Issue In honor of Fedor Bogomolov Part 2 877-1012
httpintlpresscomsitepubfiles_fulltextjournalspamq20080004
0003PAMQ-2008-0004-0003-a009pdf
[MP13] M McQuillan D Panazzolo Almost etale resolution of foliations J Diff Geom 95
(2013) pp 279-319 httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesmp1bispdf
[Pe02] JV Pereira On the Poincare Problem for Foliations of General Type Mathematische
Annalen 323 no 2 pp217-226 2002 httpsarxivorgabsmath0104185
[PS16] JV Pereira R Svaldi Effective algebraic integration in bounded genus preprint
httpsarxivorgabs161206932
64 FEDERICO BUONERBA
[Re83] M Reid Minimal models of canonical threefolds in rdquoAlgebraic Varieties and Ana-
lytic Varietiesrdquo Adv Stud Pure Math vol 1 S Iitaka ed Kinokuniya and North-
Holland 1983 pp 131-180 httpwwwmathsedacukcheltsovquotientpdf
reid2pdf
[Se67] A Seidenberg Reduction of singularities of the differential equation Ady = Bdx Amer
J Math 89 (1967) 248-269 httpwwwjstororgstable2373435
[SB83] N Shepherd-Barron Degenerations with numerically effective canonical divisor The
Birational Geometry of Degenerations (R Friedman and D Morrison eds) Progr
Math no 29 Birkhuser 1983 pp 33-84
[Vis89] A Vistoli Intersection theory on algebraic stacks and on their moduli spaces
Invent Math (1989) pp 613-670 httplinkspringercomarticle101007
2FBF01388892page-1
Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences New York University 251 Mercer
Street New York NY 10012 USA
E-mail address buonerbacimsnyuedu
- I Introduction
- II Preliminaries
-
- III Operations on Deligne-Mumford stacks
- IIII Width of embedded parabolic champs
- IIIII Gorenstein foliation singularities
- IIIV Foliated adjunction
- IIV Canonical models of foliated surfaces with canonical singularities
- IIVI Canonical models of foliated surfaces with log-canonical singularities
- IIVII Set-up
-
- III Invariant curves and singularities local description
-
- IIII `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F) not isolated
- IIIII `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F) isolated
- IIIIII Local consequences
-
- IV Invariant curves along which KF vanishes
-
- IVI KF-nil curves
- IVII Invariant curves inside `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F)
-
- V Configurations
-
- VI Configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
- VII Configurations of non-rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
-
- VI Contractions and proof of the Main Theorem
- VII Moduli space of foliated surfaces of general type
- References
-
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 61
be defined by MmdNεδ(S) = Diagrams
(44) (X F )projqminusrarr (X F )
pminusrarr S
Where
bull Both p and p q are flat and proper
bull For every closed point s isin S the induced morphism qs is the projective
resolution of (X F )s which is a foliated canonical model of general type
bull Denote by Es the collection of exceptional cycles of qs By our Main Theorem
I there is a fibrewise divisor E subXproj flat over S restricting to Es for every
s isin S
bull Let j W rarr Xproj denote the maximal closed subscheme away from which
KFprojand KXprojS are locally free Then
(45) L [m] = (jlowast(KFprojotimes OXproj
(minusεE )otimesKδXprojS
)otimesm)oror
is flat over S and commutes with base-change
bull L [m] is very ample of degree d on every fiber and defines an embedding into
PNS
We are now ready for
Theorem VII15 The functor MmdNεδ is represented by a separated algebraic
space each of whose irreducible components is proper
Proof We show that our functor satisfies Artinrsquos conditions [Ar74 Corollary 54] By
definition condition 1) and 4) hold while our previous remark on foliated obstruction
theory shows that 3) is true
We proceed to show 2) namely effectivity of formal deformations for MmdNεδ
What follows owes much to Artinrsquos [A74rsquo] Let T be a complete C-algebra Tn its
n-truncation so that Tsimminusrarr limlarrminusTn and finally qn isinMmdNεδ(Spec(Tn)) a compatible
sequence For each n there is a maximal open set Un sube Xprojn where qn is an
isomorphism denote by sn Cn rarr Zn the restriction of qn to the complement of Un
Clearly sn is projective over Spec(Tn)
62 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Denote by X C etc the formal algebraic spaces obtained as limits of Xn Cn
etc Then Xproj sub PNˆSpec(T )
hence by Grothendieckrsquos existence Theorem we find
bull a flat projective family (X F )proj rarr Spec(T ) resp a closed subscheme
C subXproj whose completion is Xproj resp C
bull a scheme Z whose completion is Z and a morphism s C rarr Z everything
being projective over Spec(T )
Further we have a formal contraction limminusrarr qn C rarr Z hence the main theorem
of [Ar70] gives algebraic contraction (X F )proj rarr (X F ) This proves the repre-
sentability of MmdNεδ The properness and separability of each irreducible com-
ponent can be checked using valutative criteria indeed properness is the content of
our Main Theorem I separatedness follows from the uniqueness of foliated canonical
models of general type and their projective resolution
References
[Ar70] M Artin Algebraization of Formal Moduli II Existence of Modifications Ann
of Math Vol 91 No 1 (Jan 1970) pp 88-135 httpwwwjstororgstable
1970602
[Ar74] M Artin Versal Deformations and Algebraic Stacks Inventiones Math 27 165- 189
(1974) httpmathuchicagoedu~drinfeldArtin_on_stackspdf
[A74rsquo] M Artin Algebraic construction of Brieskornrsquos resolutions J Alg Vol 29 Issue
2 May 1974 pp 330-348 httpwwwsciencedirectcomsciencearticlepii
0021869374901021
[BB72] P Baum R Bott Singularities of holomorphic foliations J Diff Geom 7 (1972)
279-342 httpsprojecteuclidorgdownloadpdf_1euclidjdg1214431158
[Bo77] F Bogomolov Families of curves on a surface of general type Doklady Akademii Nauk
USSR (in Russian) 236 (5) 1041-1044
[Bo78] F Bogomolov Holomorphic tensors and vector bundles on projective varieties Math
USSR Izv 13 (1978) 499-555
[BM16] F Bogomolov M McQuillan Rational Curves on Foliated Varieties In Cascini
McKernan Pereira (eds) Foliation Theory in Algebraic Geometry Simons Symposia
Springer Cham pp 21-51 (2016) httpslinkspringercomchapter101007
978-3-319-24460-0_2
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 63
[Bu] F Buonerba Functorial resolution of tame quotient singularities in positive charac-
teristic httpsarxivorgabs151100550
[Ke99] S Keel Basepoint Freeness for Nef and Big Line Bundles in Positive Characteris-
tic Annals of Math 149 No 1 (Jan 1999) pp 253-286 httpwwwjstororg
stable121025 httpsarxivorgabsmath9901149
[KM97] S Keel S Mori Quotients by groupoids Annals of Math 145 (1997) pp
193-213 httpwwwjstororgstable2951828seq=1page_scan_tab_contents
httparxivorgabsalg-geom9508012
[Ko17] J Kollar Families of varieties of general type httpswebmathprincetonedu
~kollarbookmodbook20170720pdf
[LN02] A Lins Neto Some examples for the Poincare and Painleve problems Annales sci-
entifiques de lrsquoENS 352 (2002) 231-266 httparchivenumdamorgarticle
ASENS_2002_4_35_2_231_0pdf
[McQ12] M McQuillan Foliated Mori Theory amp Hyperbolicity of Algebraic Surfaces http
wwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillahomehtml
[McQ98] M McQuillan Diophantine approximation and foliations Inst Hautes Etudes Sci
Publ Math 87 (1998) 121-174 httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafiles
ihespdf
[McQ05rsquo] M McQuillan Bloch hyperbolicity preprint httpwwwmatuniroma2it
~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ05] M McQuillan Semi-stable reduction of foliations IHES pre-print IHESM0502
(2005) httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ05rdquo] M McQuillan Uniform Uniformisation IHES pre-print (2005) IHES M0503 http
wwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ08] M McQuillan Canonical models of foliations Pure Appl Math Q 4
(2008) no 3 Special Issue In honor of Fedor Bogomolov Part 2 877-1012
httpintlpresscomsitepubfiles_fulltextjournalspamq20080004
0003PAMQ-2008-0004-0003-a009pdf
[MP13] M McQuillan D Panazzolo Almost etale resolution of foliations J Diff Geom 95
(2013) pp 279-319 httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesmp1bispdf
[Pe02] JV Pereira On the Poincare Problem for Foliations of General Type Mathematische
Annalen 323 no 2 pp217-226 2002 httpsarxivorgabsmath0104185
[PS16] JV Pereira R Svaldi Effective algebraic integration in bounded genus preprint
httpsarxivorgabs161206932
64 FEDERICO BUONERBA
[Re83] M Reid Minimal models of canonical threefolds in rdquoAlgebraic Varieties and Ana-
lytic Varietiesrdquo Adv Stud Pure Math vol 1 S Iitaka ed Kinokuniya and North-
Holland 1983 pp 131-180 httpwwwmathsedacukcheltsovquotientpdf
reid2pdf
[Se67] A Seidenberg Reduction of singularities of the differential equation Ady = Bdx Amer
J Math 89 (1967) 248-269 httpwwwjstororgstable2373435
[SB83] N Shepherd-Barron Degenerations with numerically effective canonical divisor The
Birational Geometry of Degenerations (R Friedman and D Morrison eds) Progr
Math no 29 Birkhuser 1983 pp 33-84
[Vis89] A Vistoli Intersection theory on algebraic stacks and on their moduli spaces
Invent Math (1989) pp 613-670 httplinkspringercomarticle101007
2FBF01388892page-1
Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences New York University 251 Mercer
Street New York NY 10012 USA
E-mail address buonerbacimsnyuedu
- I Introduction
- II Preliminaries
-
- III Operations on Deligne-Mumford stacks
- IIII Width of embedded parabolic champs
- IIIII Gorenstein foliation singularities
- IIIV Foliated adjunction
- IIV Canonical models of foliated surfaces with canonical singularities
- IIVI Canonical models of foliated surfaces with log-canonical singularities
- IIVII Set-up
-
- III Invariant curves and singularities local description
-
- IIII `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F) not isolated
- IIIII `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F) isolated
- IIIIII Local consequences
-
- IV Invariant curves along which KF vanishes
-
- IVI KF-nil curves
- IVII Invariant curves inside `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F)
-
- V Configurations
-
- VI Configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
- VII Configurations of non-rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
-
- VI Contractions and proof of the Main Theorem
- VII Moduli space of foliated surfaces of general type
- References
-
62 FEDERICO BUONERBA
Denote by X C etc the formal algebraic spaces obtained as limits of Xn Cn
etc Then Xproj sub PNˆSpec(T )
hence by Grothendieckrsquos existence Theorem we find
bull a flat projective family (X F )proj rarr Spec(T ) resp a closed subscheme
C subXproj whose completion is Xproj resp C
bull a scheme Z whose completion is Z and a morphism s C rarr Z everything
being projective over Spec(T )
Further we have a formal contraction limminusrarr qn C rarr Z hence the main theorem
of [Ar70] gives algebraic contraction (X F )proj rarr (X F ) This proves the repre-
sentability of MmdNεδ The properness and separability of each irreducible com-
ponent can be checked using valutative criteria indeed properness is the content of
our Main Theorem I separatedness follows from the uniqueness of foliated canonical
models of general type and their projective resolution
References
[Ar70] M Artin Algebraization of Formal Moduli II Existence of Modifications Ann
of Math Vol 91 No 1 (Jan 1970) pp 88-135 httpwwwjstororgstable
1970602
[Ar74] M Artin Versal Deformations and Algebraic Stacks Inventiones Math 27 165- 189
(1974) httpmathuchicagoedu~drinfeldArtin_on_stackspdf
[A74rsquo] M Artin Algebraic construction of Brieskornrsquos resolutions J Alg Vol 29 Issue
2 May 1974 pp 330-348 httpwwwsciencedirectcomsciencearticlepii
0021869374901021
[BB72] P Baum R Bott Singularities of holomorphic foliations J Diff Geom 7 (1972)
279-342 httpsprojecteuclidorgdownloadpdf_1euclidjdg1214431158
[Bo77] F Bogomolov Families of curves on a surface of general type Doklady Akademii Nauk
USSR (in Russian) 236 (5) 1041-1044
[Bo78] F Bogomolov Holomorphic tensors and vector bundles on projective varieties Math
USSR Izv 13 (1978) 499-555
[BM16] F Bogomolov M McQuillan Rational Curves on Foliated Varieties In Cascini
McKernan Pereira (eds) Foliation Theory in Algebraic Geometry Simons Symposia
Springer Cham pp 21-51 (2016) httpslinkspringercomchapter101007
978-3-319-24460-0_2
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 63
[Bu] F Buonerba Functorial resolution of tame quotient singularities in positive charac-
teristic httpsarxivorgabs151100550
[Ke99] S Keel Basepoint Freeness for Nef and Big Line Bundles in Positive Characteris-
tic Annals of Math 149 No 1 (Jan 1999) pp 253-286 httpwwwjstororg
stable121025 httpsarxivorgabsmath9901149
[KM97] S Keel S Mori Quotients by groupoids Annals of Math 145 (1997) pp
193-213 httpwwwjstororgstable2951828seq=1page_scan_tab_contents
httparxivorgabsalg-geom9508012
[Ko17] J Kollar Families of varieties of general type httpswebmathprincetonedu
~kollarbookmodbook20170720pdf
[LN02] A Lins Neto Some examples for the Poincare and Painleve problems Annales sci-
entifiques de lrsquoENS 352 (2002) 231-266 httparchivenumdamorgarticle
ASENS_2002_4_35_2_231_0pdf
[McQ12] M McQuillan Foliated Mori Theory amp Hyperbolicity of Algebraic Surfaces http
wwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillahomehtml
[McQ98] M McQuillan Diophantine approximation and foliations Inst Hautes Etudes Sci
Publ Math 87 (1998) 121-174 httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafiles
ihespdf
[McQ05rsquo] M McQuillan Bloch hyperbolicity preprint httpwwwmatuniroma2it
~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ05] M McQuillan Semi-stable reduction of foliations IHES pre-print IHESM0502
(2005) httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ05rdquo] M McQuillan Uniform Uniformisation IHES pre-print (2005) IHES M0503 http
wwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ08] M McQuillan Canonical models of foliations Pure Appl Math Q 4
(2008) no 3 Special Issue In honor of Fedor Bogomolov Part 2 877-1012
httpintlpresscomsitepubfiles_fulltextjournalspamq20080004
0003PAMQ-2008-0004-0003-a009pdf
[MP13] M McQuillan D Panazzolo Almost etale resolution of foliations J Diff Geom 95
(2013) pp 279-319 httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesmp1bispdf
[Pe02] JV Pereira On the Poincare Problem for Foliations of General Type Mathematische
Annalen 323 no 2 pp217-226 2002 httpsarxivorgabsmath0104185
[PS16] JV Pereira R Svaldi Effective algebraic integration in bounded genus preprint
httpsarxivorgabs161206932
64 FEDERICO BUONERBA
[Re83] M Reid Minimal models of canonical threefolds in rdquoAlgebraic Varieties and Ana-
lytic Varietiesrdquo Adv Stud Pure Math vol 1 S Iitaka ed Kinokuniya and North-
Holland 1983 pp 131-180 httpwwwmathsedacukcheltsovquotientpdf
reid2pdf
[Se67] A Seidenberg Reduction of singularities of the differential equation Ady = Bdx Amer
J Math 89 (1967) 248-269 httpwwwjstororgstable2373435
[SB83] N Shepherd-Barron Degenerations with numerically effective canonical divisor The
Birational Geometry of Degenerations (R Friedman and D Morrison eds) Progr
Math no 29 Birkhuser 1983 pp 33-84
[Vis89] A Vistoli Intersection theory on algebraic stacks and on their moduli spaces
Invent Math (1989) pp 613-670 httplinkspringercomarticle101007
2FBF01388892page-1
Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences New York University 251 Mercer
Street New York NY 10012 USA
E-mail address buonerbacimsnyuedu
- I Introduction
- II Preliminaries
-
- III Operations on Deligne-Mumford stacks
- IIII Width of embedded parabolic champs
- IIIII Gorenstein foliation singularities
- IIIV Foliated adjunction
- IIV Canonical models of foliated surfaces with canonical singularities
- IIVI Canonical models of foliated surfaces with log-canonical singularities
- IIVII Set-up
-
- III Invariant curves and singularities local description
-
- IIII `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F) not isolated
- IIIII `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F) isolated
- IIIIII Local consequences
-
- IV Invariant curves along which KF vanishes
-
- IVI KF-nil curves
- IVII Invariant curves inside `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F)
-
- V Configurations
-
- VI Configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
- VII Configurations of non-rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
-
- VI Contractions and proof of the Main Theorem
- VII Moduli space of foliated surfaces of general type
- References
-
Stable reduction of foliated surfaces 63
[Bu] F Buonerba Functorial resolution of tame quotient singularities in positive charac-
teristic httpsarxivorgabs151100550
[Ke99] S Keel Basepoint Freeness for Nef and Big Line Bundles in Positive Characteris-
tic Annals of Math 149 No 1 (Jan 1999) pp 253-286 httpwwwjstororg
stable121025 httpsarxivorgabsmath9901149
[KM97] S Keel S Mori Quotients by groupoids Annals of Math 145 (1997) pp
193-213 httpwwwjstororgstable2951828seq=1page_scan_tab_contents
httparxivorgabsalg-geom9508012
[Ko17] J Kollar Families of varieties of general type httpswebmathprincetonedu
~kollarbookmodbook20170720pdf
[LN02] A Lins Neto Some examples for the Poincare and Painleve problems Annales sci-
entifiques de lrsquoENS 352 (2002) 231-266 httparchivenumdamorgarticle
ASENS_2002_4_35_2_231_0pdf
[McQ12] M McQuillan Foliated Mori Theory amp Hyperbolicity of Algebraic Surfaces http
wwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillahomehtml
[McQ98] M McQuillan Diophantine approximation and foliations Inst Hautes Etudes Sci
Publ Math 87 (1998) 121-174 httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafiles
ihespdf
[McQ05rsquo] M McQuillan Bloch hyperbolicity preprint httpwwwmatuniroma2it
~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ05] M McQuillan Semi-stable reduction of foliations IHES pre-print IHESM0502
(2005) httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ05rdquo] M McQuillan Uniform Uniformisation IHES pre-print (2005) IHES M0503 http
wwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesfileshtml
[McQ08] M McQuillan Canonical models of foliations Pure Appl Math Q 4
(2008) no 3 Special Issue In honor of Fedor Bogomolov Part 2 877-1012
httpintlpresscomsitepubfiles_fulltextjournalspamq20080004
0003PAMQ-2008-0004-0003-a009pdf
[MP13] M McQuillan D Panazzolo Almost etale resolution of foliations J Diff Geom 95
(2013) pp 279-319 httpwwwmatuniroma2it~mcquillafilesmp1bispdf
[Pe02] JV Pereira On the Poincare Problem for Foliations of General Type Mathematische
Annalen 323 no 2 pp217-226 2002 httpsarxivorgabsmath0104185
[PS16] JV Pereira R Svaldi Effective algebraic integration in bounded genus preprint
httpsarxivorgabs161206932
64 FEDERICO BUONERBA
[Re83] M Reid Minimal models of canonical threefolds in rdquoAlgebraic Varieties and Ana-
lytic Varietiesrdquo Adv Stud Pure Math vol 1 S Iitaka ed Kinokuniya and North-
Holland 1983 pp 131-180 httpwwwmathsedacukcheltsovquotientpdf
reid2pdf
[Se67] A Seidenberg Reduction of singularities of the differential equation Ady = Bdx Amer
J Math 89 (1967) 248-269 httpwwwjstororgstable2373435
[SB83] N Shepherd-Barron Degenerations with numerically effective canonical divisor The
Birational Geometry of Degenerations (R Friedman and D Morrison eds) Progr
Math no 29 Birkhuser 1983 pp 33-84
[Vis89] A Vistoli Intersection theory on algebraic stacks and on their moduli spaces
Invent Math (1989) pp 613-670 httplinkspringercomarticle101007
2FBF01388892page-1
Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences New York University 251 Mercer
Street New York NY 10012 USA
E-mail address buonerbacimsnyuedu
- I Introduction
- II Preliminaries
-
- III Operations on Deligne-Mumford stacks
- IIII Width of embedded parabolic champs
- IIIII Gorenstein foliation singularities
- IIIV Foliated adjunction
- IIV Canonical models of foliated surfaces with canonical singularities
- IIVI Canonical models of foliated surfaces with log-canonical singularities
- IIVII Set-up
-
- III Invariant curves and singularities local description
-
- IIII `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F) not isolated
- IIIII `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F) isolated
- IIIIII Local consequences
-
- IV Invariant curves along which KF vanishes
-
- IVI KF-nil curves
- IVII Invariant curves inside `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F)
-
- V Configurations
-
- VI Configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
- VII Configurations of non-rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
-
- VI Contractions and proof of the Main Theorem
- VII Moduli space of foliated surfaces of general type
- References
-
64 FEDERICO BUONERBA
[Re83] M Reid Minimal models of canonical threefolds in rdquoAlgebraic Varieties and Ana-
lytic Varietiesrdquo Adv Stud Pure Math vol 1 S Iitaka ed Kinokuniya and North-
Holland 1983 pp 131-180 httpwwwmathsedacukcheltsovquotientpdf
reid2pdf
[Se67] A Seidenberg Reduction of singularities of the differential equation Ady = Bdx Amer
J Math 89 (1967) 248-269 httpwwwjstororgstable2373435
[SB83] N Shepherd-Barron Degenerations with numerically effective canonical divisor The
Birational Geometry of Degenerations (R Friedman and D Morrison eds) Progr
Math no 29 Birkhuser 1983 pp 33-84
[Vis89] A Vistoli Intersection theory on algebraic stacks and on their moduli spaces
Invent Math (1989) pp 613-670 httplinkspringercomarticle101007
2FBF01388892page-1
Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences New York University 251 Mercer
Street New York NY 10012 USA
E-mail address buonerbacimsnyuedu
- I Introduction
- II Preliminaries
-
- III Operations on Deligne-Mumford stacks
- IIII Width of embedded parabolic champs
- IIIII Gorenstein foliation singularities
- IIIV Foliated adjunction
- IIV Canonical models of foliated surfaces with canonical singularities
- IIVI Canonical models of foliated surfaces with log-canonical singularities
- IIVII Set-up
-
- III Invariant curves and singularities local description
-
- IIII `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F) not isolated
- IIIII `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F) isolated
- IIIIII Local consequences
-
- IV Invariant curves along which KF vanishes
-
- IVI KF-nil curves
- IVII Invariant curves inside `39`42`613A``45`47`603Asing(F)
-
- V Configurations
-
- VI Configurations of rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
- VII Configurations of non-rigid invariant curves intersecting KF trivially
-
- VI Contractions and proof of the Main Theorem
- VII Moduli space of foliated surfaces of general type
- References
-