Past Talks
March
11
3pm - 4pm
Derived categories and the geometry of cubics and intersections of quadrics
Saket Shah, University of Michigan
We will present several semiorthogonal decompositions and identities in the Grothendieck ring of categories arising from the geometry of cubic hypersurfaces and complete intersections of two quadrics, some of which will be conjectural. Along the way, we will present some interesting birationality constructions, and time permitting, some work in progress in proving some of these decompositions/identities.
February
25
3pm - 4pm
Dimension Theory of Noncommutative Curves
Anirban Bhaduri, University of South Carolina
We compute several types of dimension for the
bounded derived categories of coherent sheaves
of orbifold curves. This completes the calculation
of these dimensions for derived categories of noncommutative
curves in the sense of Reiten-van den Bergh. Along the
way we construct stability conditions for orbifold curves.
We also obtain a characterisation of orbifold curves with
hereditary tilting bundle in terms of diagonal dimension.
February
11
3pm - 4pm
Derived equivalences of holomorphic symplectic varieties
Dion Leijnse, University of Amsterdam
A conjecture of Orlov predicts that for two derived equivalent
varieties $X$ and $Y$ over the complex numbers, there is an
isomorphism between their cohomology that preserves the grading and Hodge
structure. A few years ago, Taelman showed that the conjecture holds for
hyperkähler varieties. In this talk, I will show how this generalizes to
more general varieties carrying a symplectic form, under some assumptions.
The main technical tool is the so-called LLV algebra; I will introduce it
and explain its relevance to the problem.
January
28
3pm - 4pm
Derived symmetries induced by crepant contractions
Marina Purri Brant Godinho, University of Glasgow
The derived autoequivalence group of a variety has really
interesting applications due to its connections to mirror
symmetry and stability conditions. For a smooth projective
variety X with an ample or anti-ample canonical bundle,
Bondal and Orlov showed that the variety only admits certain
"trivial autoequivalences". When the canonical bundle is
trivial, however, then the autoequivalence group is much richer.
As a relative analog of this fact, birational morphisms \(X \to Y\)
with trivial relative canonical bundle, known as a crepant contractions,
could be expected to induce new derived symmetries. In this talk,
I will construct autoequivalences induced by these contractions and
characterise them as twists around spherical objects and spherical functors.
This talk will mostly be examples based. We will consider some examples
in which these autoequivalences exist and some examples in which they don't.
We will hopefully extract some "hidden smoothness" and "spherical" criteria
which allow us to construct these symmetries.
January
14
3pm - 4pm
Matrix Factorizations and Knörrer Periodicity
Calum Crossley, LSGNT / University College London
Matrix factorizations give a deformation of the
derived category of coherent sheaves on a variety, originally
found in the study of hypersurface singularities, but more recently
cropping up in homological mirror symmetry with superpotentials.
Sticking to algebraic geometry in relation to derived categories,
I will introduce and try to give some geometric intuition for matrix
factorizations. A crucial result allowing us to compare these categories
is Knörrer periodicity, which I will give some motivation for and describe
an application to singular varieties.
December
10
3pm - 4pm
Line Bundle Resolutions via the Coherent-Constructible Correspondence
Mykola Sapronov, University of Minnesota
The Coherent-Constructible Correspondence provides a categorical
equivalence between the complexes of coherent sheaves on toric
varieties and complexes of certain constructible sheaves on the
mirror torus. In this talk, I will explain how to use this
equivalence together with the stratification of the mirror torus
introduced by Bondal to generalize Hilbert's Syzygy Theorem to
any smooth, projective toric variety. This talk is based on my
joint work with David Favero (https://arxiv.org/pdf/2411.17873).
November
12
3pm - 4pm
Aspects of the Derived Torelli Theorem for K3 surfaces
Reinder Meinsma, Université Libre de Bruxelles
The Derived Torelli Theorem by Mukai ('87) and Orlov ('96) connects
the derived categories, Hodge theory, and geometry of K3 surfaces.
Each of these three aspects is important in their own right, which
makes the Derived Torelli Theorem a rich source for the study of
the geometric implications of derived equivalence. In this talk, I
will present some of the main ideas of Mukai and Orlov, and broadly
explain how to prove the Derived Torelli Theorem. This means diving
into the theory of moduli spaces of sheaves on K3 surfaces, Brauer
groups, and of course Hodge theory. I will also give some explicit
examples of derived equivalent elliptic K3 surfaces that will show
all three aspects in action.
October
29
3pm - 4pm
Normal bundles and fully faithful Fourier-Mukai transforms
Erik Nikolov, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Universität Hannover
Working with triangulated categories in general, it is important to
determine whether a given exact functor is fully faithful or not. In
algebraic geometry, one often encounters exact functors of Fourier-Mukai
type relating derived categories of smooth projective varieties. In my
talk, I will focus on a typical geometric situation and present a
criterion allowing to verify fully faithfulness of certain Fourier-Mukai
transforms (built from projections and closed embeddings). The goal is
to explain the role of normal bundles in such computations and to provide
as many examples as possible.
October
15
3pm - 4pm
Tilting sheaves and the Baer-Bondal theorem
Daniel Bernal, The State University of Campinas
The study of derived categories of coherent sheaves has
been studied strongly in the last few years. However,
sometimes it is difficult to obtain good descriptions on
it. One method to studying is via representations of quivers,
as they behave nicely and its derived category is rather tame.
In this talk we are going to mention some past results which
indicate where the derived category of sheaves coincides with
the derived category of representations of quivers; which
essentially happens when we have a tilting sheaf, or a strong
exceptional collection. We expect to prove it and to give a
small breath of what is happening behind such equivalence.
October
1
3pm - 4pm
Derived Categories of Cubic Fourfolds
Bogdan Simeonov, LSGNT
The rationality problem of the cubic fourfold is a classical problem
which remains unsolved (though there is recent work of Katzarkov-Kontsevich-Pantev-Yu
that promises a solution). I will describe two approaches to this problem:
one Hodge-theoretic (due to Hassett), and one using derived categories
(due to Kuznetsov). Along the way, I will introduce Kuznetsov components,
their properties and how they are related to K3 surfaces. If time permits,
I will give an overview of a paper by Thomas and Addington, which shows that
the two approaches are actually equivalent.
Past Talks (2023 - 2024)
June
27
3pm - 4pm
Flops of moduli of sheaves
Abhishek Khannur, LSGNT
A stability condition is necessary for constructing well behaved moduli
spaces of (complexes of) sheaves on a projective variety. I'll give a
brief introduction to stability conditions and mention how varying this
stability condition changes the moduli space as we cross a wall. In particular,
I will describe, hopefully with a concrete example, a local model for flops
of moduli of Bridgeland semistable (complexes of) sheaves on a K3 surface in
terms of GIT or King stability for quiver varieties. If time permits, I'll
say a thing or two about wall crossing formulas for the derived category of
coherent sheaves of the moduli spaces.
June
11
3pm - 4pm
DAnG it! An Introduction to Derived Analytic Geometry
Rhiannon Savage, University of Oxford
Derived algebraic geometry (DAG) can be viewed as homotopical algebraic geometry relative, in the sense of
Toën and Vezzosi, to the category of simplicial commutative rings. In this talk we will explore a new model
for derived analytic geometry (DAnG), proposed by Ben-Bassat, Kelly, and Kremnizer, as homotopical
algebraic geometry relative to the category of simplicial commutative complete bornological rings. I will
also briefly mention some work I have done looking at representability of derived analytic stacks in this
framework.
This will mainly be an ideas/vibes talk and no knowledge of analytic geometry or infinity categories will
be assumed!
May
28
3pm - 4pm
Some things I know about derived intersections
Oscar Finegan, Cardiff University
Intersection theory (in the sense of Fulton) sets up intersections of
objects considered only up to rational equivalence. This leads to nice
numerics in intersections according to a principle of continuity.
However, it's somewhat weird and unintuitive. A self-intersection of a
line in the plane is clearly distinguished from the transverse intersection
of two lines. Derived Algebraic Geometry produces a more rigid framework in
which these degenerate cases are interesting to study. I'll talk about this
a little bit, then actually talk about the homological methods I've used over
the course of my doctorate (maybe even including a proof of a result 😲).
May
14
3pm - 4pm
Categorical Torelli theorems for Fano threefolds
Augustinas Jacovskis, University of Luxembourg
Let \(X\) be a smooth Fano threefold. Due to a theorem of Bondal-Orlov from the 90s, \(X\) is determined
up to isomorphism by its derived category \(D^b(X)\). Since \(X\) is Fano, \(D^b(X)\) admits a semiorthogonal
decomposition into a number of exceptional objects, and the orthogonal complement to them. It is
a natural question to ask whether \(X\) is determined up to isomorphism by less data than the whole of
\(D^b(X)\). A natural candidate for "less data" is the aforementioned orthogonal complement to the
exceptional objects. This subcategory of \(D^b(X)\) is known as the Kuznetsov component \(Ku(X)\), and when
\(Ku(X)\) determines \(X\) up to isomorphism a categorical Torelli theorem is said to hold.
In my talk I will overview two methods (Bridgeland moduli-theoretic and K-theoretic) of proving categorical Torelli theorems for certain classes of prime Fano threefolds. I will in particular discuss joint work with Xun Lin, Zhiyu Liu, and Shizhuo Zhang; and Hannah Dell and Franco Rota.
In my talk I will overview two methods (Bridgeland moduli-theoretic and K-theoretic) of proving categorical Torelli theorems for certain classes of prime Fano threefolds. I will in particular discuss joint work with Xun Lin, Zhiyu Liu, and Shizhuo Zhang; and Hannah Dell and Franco Rota.
April
30
3pm - 4pm
Preprojective algebras via Serre functors and HRS-tilting
Jon Cheah, University of Hong Kong
The preprojective algebra of a quiver is the quotient of the path algebra of the
doubled quiver by certain commutator relations. This brief description hides many
questions as to why such a construction is natural/useful: Why these particular
commutators? What does preprojective mean? I will give a gentle introduction to
preprojective algebras and use examples to demonstrate the classical definitions.
Using results which relate the Coxeter functors and AR-translate to Serre functors
on the derived category, I will show how the defining relations arise naturally from
an explicit computation of the Serre functor. This derived construction gives a
dg-algebra whose zeroth cohomology gives the classical preprojective algebra. If time
permits, I will discuss the Serre functor as a composition of derived reflection functors
from the point of view of HRS-tilting.
March
19
3pm - 4pm
Bayer-Macrì nef divisor on Bridgeland moduli spaces: Q&A
Uttaran Dutta, University of South Carolina
Last week I talked about Bayer-Macrì nef divisor, which is a general way of showing projectivity of a
Bridgeland Moduli space. But since there is no GIT construction available for Bridgeland Moduli spaces,
existence of universal family is not at all easy to prove. There are other techniques such as
using F-M transform and the "Gieseker wall", using exceptional collections and their "quiver region",
etc. I can discuss these things if people are interested.
March
12
3pm - 4pm
Bayer-Macrì nef divisor on Bridgeland moduli spaces
Uttaran Dutta, University of South Carolina
There is a notion of flat families of Bridgeland-semistable objects parametrized by
an algebraic space, and correspondingly, there is a moduli stack parametrizing flat
families of Bridgeland-semistable objects of a fixed character. There are many open
questions about the geometry of these moduli spaces. One of the major questions is:
when is there a projective coarse moduli space parameterizing S-equivalence classes of
Bridgeland-semistable objects of a fixed character?
Bayer and Macrì defined a nef divisor on such moduli spaces and gave a description of the contracting curves. This led to a general way of showing the projectivity of these moduli spaces. The construction of the nef divisor is related to the classical determinant line bundle construction on moduli of sheaves. I shall start by giving an overview of both the theories and how they are related. In the end, if time permits, I shall add a few comments on the ampleness of the Bayer-Macrì divisor on K3 surfaces.
Bayer and Macrì defined a nef divisor on such moduli spaces and gave a description of the contracting curves. This led to a general way of showing the projectivity of these moduli spaces. The construction of the nef divisor is related to the classical determinant line bundle construction on moduli of sheaves. I shall start by giving an overview of both the theories and how they are related. In the end, if time permits, I shall add a few comments on the ampleness of the Bayer-Macrì divisor on K3 surfaces.
March
5
3pm - 4pm
Toric GIT quotients and some homological mirror symmetry: Q&A
Michela Barbieri, University College London
A Q&A session following on from the previous talk!
February
27
3pm - 4pm
Toric GIT quotients and some homological mirror symmetry
Michela Barbieri, University College London
Anything about mirror symmetry refers to some mysterious relationships
between complex and symplectic geometry. Roughly speaking, homological
mirror symmetry says that if you have some complex geometry X, there
is a mirror symplectic geometry Y such that D^b(Coh X) is equivalent
to the Fukaya category of Y, denoted Fuk(Y). In fact, starting from a
complex geometry (think an algebraic variety) there isn't just one mirror.
There's a family of mirrors living over a parameter space, which is
sometimes referred to as the Stringy Kähler Moduli Space (SKMS). The
fundamental group of the SKMS acts naturally on Fuk(Y) via monodromy,
and by mirror symmetry, we expect to see this action carry over. The way
it carries over is believed to be through spherical functors.
My goal will be to explain some details of this story in the context of
Calabi-Yau toric geometric invariant theory. I'll start off explaining some things
about GIT, mainly focusing on examples, and see where we get to!
February
20
3pm - 4pm
Derived autoequivalences on algebraic flops: Q&A
Caroline Namanya, Makerere University and University of Glasgow
A Q&A session following on from the previous talk!
February
13
3pm - 4pm
Derived autoequivalences on algebraic flops
Caroline Namanya, Makerere University and University of Glasgow
In this talk, i will give a construction of derived
autoequivalences associated to an algebraic flopping contraction
\(X\to X_{\text{con}}\) where \(X\) is quasi-projective with only mild
singularities. These functors are constructed naturally using
bimodule cones, and are locally two-sided tilting complexes by using
the local-global properties.
January
30
3pm - 4pm
Higher coherences/infinity categories pop up naturally in Algebraic geometry
Omer Bojan, Tel Aviv University
In this talk I hope to convince you these are intuitive objects
using repetitive topological slogans, examples, and deceitful charm.
Plan:
- Infinity sheaves (Stacks, moduli spaces...)
- Stable categories
- Coherent group actions, and more
January
23
3pm - 4pm
Fourier-Mukai transforms: Q&A
Luke Naylor, University of Edinburgh
A Q&A session following on from the previous talk!
January
16
3pm - 4pm
Fourier-Mukai transforms
Luke Naylor, University of Edinburgh
Shigeru Mukai first introduced a "Fourier functor" in the 80s, now known as the Fourier-Mukai transform, which has since been used extensively for derived equivalences in algebraic geometry. In this talk, I will cover some material around the following topics:
- Where does the "Fourier" come from?
- Some homological algebra around the definition and early propositions
- Some roles it plays in algebraic geometry
November
28
3pm - 4pm
Demystifying Bridgeland stability conditions: Q&A
Hannah Dell, University of Edinburgh
A Q&A session following on from the previous talk!
November
21
3pm - 4pm
Demystifying Bridgeland stability conditions
Hannah Dell, University of Edinburgh
Bridgeland stability conditions have proved to be a useful tool in algebraic geometry and beyond.
However, if one looks at the definition, the connection to geometry can seem quite mysterious.
In this talk, I will introduce them and present some examples and applications.
November
7
3pm - 4pm
…a big fan of your heart
Parth Shimpi, University of Glasgow
Just like dogs, the derived categories of finite dimensional
algebras have hearts. Unlike dogs, a single category can have
many hearts. Fortunately the zoo of hearts is not completely
unclassifiable— in this talk I will describe various ways
to classify hearts, first homologically by detecting various
shadows in the module category itself, and then combinatorially
much like how fans classify toric varieties.
October
31
3pm - 4pm
Fourier-Mukai transforms on Jacobians and Pryms: Q&A
Robert Hanson, Instituto Superior Técnico
A Q&A session following on from the previous talk!
October
24
3pm - 4pm
Fourier-Mukai transforms on Jacobians and Pryms
Robert Hanson, Instituto Superior Técnico
Shigeru Mukai has constructed certain derived equivalences between an
abelian variety \(A\) and its dual \(A^{\vee}\). These equivalences are
called Fourier-Mukai transforms, named so for their similarity to the
classical Fourier transform on \(L^2\) spaces. Given a smooth curve \(C\),
one gets a derived autoequivalence on the Jacobian \(A = A^{\vee} = Jac(C)\),
and given a finite morphism of smooth curves \(\beta : C \to X\), one gets
a derived equivalence between the Prym variety \(A = Prym(\beta)\) and
the GIT quotient \(A^{\vee} = Prym(\beta) / \Gamma\), where \(\Gamma\) is a
group of torsion line bundles on \(X\). Motivated by mirror symmetry and
geometric Langlands, this talk explores extensions of these derived
equivalences to cases where \(C\) is singular and we compactify the
Jacobians and Pryms. This is based on joint work with Emilio Franco and
Joao Ruano in our preprint arXiv 2206.12349.
October
17
3pm - 4pm
A tour of the McKay correspondence: Q&A
Austin Hubbard, University of Bath
A Q&A session following on from the previous talk!
October
10
3pm - 4pm
A tour of the McKay correspondence
Austin Hubbard, University of Bath
The classical McKay correspondence is a great example of a deep geometric connection realised
as an equivalence of derived categories. We will discuss the classical
case and various generalisations.
October
03
3pm - 4pm
Derived Categories of Nodal Varieties: Q&A
Aporva Varshney, UCL
A Q&A session following on from the previous talk!
September
26
3pm - 4pm
Derived Categories of Nodal Varieties
Aporva Varshney, UCL
It can be daunting to leave the warm, cosy duvet of smooth varieties, no matter
how much the minimal model program may tempt us. In this talk, we will take small steps by
looking at nodal varieties using recent results of Kuznetsov-Shinder.
We will see how, at the level of the derived category, nodal singularities can sometimes
be "absorbed" by producing a semiorthogonal decomposition into a "singular" component and
a "smooth" component.
I will then sketch a proof of a very cool result which shows that for curves and threefolds
admitting this kind of absorption, the singular component in the decomposition vanishes when
smoothing the variety.