Algebraic Geometry (Spring 2009)

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Description

Riemann's zeta function has a natural generalisation to zeta functions associated to finitely generated (commutative) rings, and more generally, to schemes of finite type. For nonsingular projective curves over finite fields the Riemann hypothesis has been proven by Hasse (elliptic curves) and Weil (arbitrary genus, 1940's). The case of higher dimensional varieties over finite fields was proved by Deligne (1974), building on the work of Grothendieck. In this course we will treat the case of curves over finite fields, using intersection theory on surfaces. The course will start with some explicit examples of zeta functions, including Riemann's and those of curves over finite fields. Then slowly we will develop those techniques necessary to treat Weil's proof, from Hartshorne's book Algebraic Geometry. Finally, we will present Weil's proof. Our goal is to provide a good overview of Weil's proof. Obviously, it is not desirable nor possible to treat all of Hartshorne's book.
This course is part of the Dutch Master Program in Mathematics. They maintain a page for this course here.

Instructors

The lectures will be given by
Bas Edixhoven edix (at) math (dot) leidenuniv (dot) nl
Lenny Taelman taelman (at) math (dot) leidenuniv (dot) nl
The problem sessions are taught by:
Sylvain Brochard brochard (at) math (dot) leidenuniv (dot) nl
Arjen Stolk astolk (at) math (dot) leidenuniv (dot) nl

Homework

Every week during the lecture some homework will be assigned. This homework has to be handed in the next week before the start of the lecture. While cooperation is encouraged when thinking about the problems, we require students to write up and hand in the homework individually. Copying from others is not cooperation and will not be condoned. Homework exercises will be corrected and marked pass or fail. Late homework is not accepted.

Exam

At the end of the course, each student is required to take an oral exam. These oral exams will take place at Leiden University. A list of possible dates will be given in due time. The deadline for the oral exams is June 30th. On the exam, students will be questioned about the homework exercises. In order to be admitted into the exam, a student has to pass at least 7 of the homework sets. Questions may be asked about all the homework exercises, not just those for which the student has received a pass.

Oral exams

The oral exams will take place at the start of June. Contact the instructors if you want to take part in the exam. The exams will be held in room 236 of the Snellius building (in Leiden). This is prof. Edixhoven's room.

Tuesday, June 2

WhenWho
9:00Timo Kluck
9:30Michiel Kosters
10:00Joost Michielsen
10:30Tom Veerman
11:00Matthijs van Duin
11:30Jan Nauta
lunch break
13:00Johan Konter
13:30Ambi Oosterhout
14:00Milan de Nijs
14:30Yujia Qiu
15:00available
15:30Evan DeCorte
16:00Johannes van der Horst
16:30Herman Stel
17:00Siana Ivanova

Wednesday, June 3

available
WhenWho
9:00Maarten Derickx
9:30Miguel Perez
10:00Foris Necas
10:30Shreya Khemani
11:00John Welliaveetil
11:30Sander Kupers
lunch break
13:00Bas Heine
13:30Monique van Beek
14:00Francesca Diana
14:30Sebastian Klein
15:00Sander Meinema
15:30A.S.I. Anema
16:00Maximilian Poretschkin
16:30
17:00Joachim Schipper

Thursday, June 4

WhenWho
11:00Chengyuan LU
11:30Fan Shi
12:00Magdalena Kedziorek
13:00Gijs Heuts
13:30Farhad Babaee

Notes

The course is based on material from Hartshorne's book Algebraic Geometry. We will pick and choose from the book and at times will cover material which is not presented in it. For the convenience of the students, we therefore want to compile notes of the course. We are looking for student volunteers to make notes during the class and typeset them.
The notes are now available.

Schedule

There is an extra problem session on Tuesday May 26. It will be held in Leiden, in the Snellius building (where the math department is) in room 412, from 13:00 to 16:00.

Classes

Date Subject Homework
Feb. 3 Introduction: zeta functions, Riemann hypothesis Set 1
Feb. 10 Introduction: examples of plane curves, genus, Hasse-Weil bound Set 2
Feb. 17 Affine algebraic varieties ([AG. I.1]) Set 3
Feb. 24 Projective space Set 4
Mar. 3 Geometry in projective space: examples Set 5
Mar. 10 Regular functions, category of abstract varieties Set 6
Mar. 17 Affine varieties, product varieties, presentation of varieties. Set 7
Mar. 24 No course
Mar. 31 Gluing, presentation, smoothness and rational functions. Set 8
Apr. 7 The Riemann-Roch theorem Set 9
Apr. 14 Tangent spaces, 1-forms, residues Set 10
Apr. 21 Serre duality, Varieties over finite fields, rationality of zeta. Set 11
Apr. 28 Rationality and functional equation of zeta. Set 12
May 5 No course
May 12 Curves on surfaces. Set 13
May 19 The Hasse-Weil inequality. None