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Encyclopedia > Birational geometry

In mathematics, birational geometry is a part of the subject of algebraic geometry, that deals with the geometry of an algebraic variety that is dependent only on its function field. In the case of dimension two, the birational geometry of algebraic surfaces was largely worked out by the Italian school of algebraic geometry in the years 1890-1910. From about 1970 advances have been made in higher dimensions, giving a good theory of birational geometry for dimension three. Euclid, Greek mathematician, 3rd century BC, as imagined by by Raphael in this detail from The School of Athens. ... Algebraic geometry is a branch of mathematics which, as the name suggests, combines abstract algebra, especially commutative algebra, with geometry. ... In mathematics, an algebraic variety is essentially a set of common zeroes of a set of polynomials. ... In algebraic geometry, the function field of an irreducible algebraic variety is the field of fractions of the ring of regular functions. ... In relation with the history of mathematics, the Italian school of algebraic geometry refers to the work over half a century or more (flourishing roughly 1885-1935) done internationally in birational geometry, particularly on algebraic surfaces. ...


Birational geometry is largely a geometry of transformations, but it doesn't fit exactly with the Erlangen programme. One reason is that its nature is to deal with transformations that are only defined on an open, dense subset of an algebraic variety. Such transformations, given by rational functions in the co-ordinates, can be undefined not just at isolated points on curves, but on entire curves on a surface, and so on. An influential research programme and manifesto was published in 1872 by Felix Klein, under the title Vergleichende Betrachtungen über neuere geometrische Forschungen. ... In mathematics, a rational function in algebra is a function defined as a ratio of polynomials. ...


A formal definition of birational mapping from one algebraic variety V to another is that it is a rational mapping with a rational inverse mapping. This has to be understood in the extended sense that the composition, in either order, is only in fact defined on a non-empty Zariski open subset. In mathematics, in particular the subfield of algebraic geometry, a rational map is a kind of partial function between algebraic varieties. ... In mathematics, namely algebraic geometry, the Zariski topology is a particular topology chosen for algebraic varieties that reflects the algebraic nature of their definition but is only weakly related to their geometric properties; it is due to Oscar Zariski and took a place of particular importance in the field around...


One of the first results in the subject is the birational isomorphism of the projective plane, and a non-singular quadric Q in projective 3-space. Already in this example one can see whole sets where the mappings are ill-defined: taking a point P on Q as origin, we can use lines through P, intersecting Q at one other point, to project to a plane - but this definition breaks down with all lines tangent to Q at P, which in a certain sense 'blow up' P into the intersection of the tangent plane with the plane to which we project. Definition In mathematics, two varieties are birationally isomorphic if there is a bijective birational map from one variety to the other, defined over . ... Projective plane - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ... Ellipsoid Elliptic Paraboloid Hyperbolic Paraboloid Hyperboloid of One Sheet Hyperboloid of Two Sheets Cone Elliptic Cylinder Hyperbolic Cylinder Parabolic Cylinder In mathematics a quadric, or quadric surface, is any D-dimensional (hyper-)surface represented by a second-order equation in spatial variables (coordinates). ... In mathematics, the word tangent has two distinct but etymologically-related meanings: one in geometry and one in trigonometry. ...


That is, quite generally, we can expect birational mappings to act like relations, with graphs containing parts that are not functional. On an open dense set they do behave like functions, but the Zariski closures of their graphs are more complex correspondences on the product showing 'blowing up' and 'blowing down'. Quite detailed descriptions of those, in terms of projective spaces associated to tangent spaces can be given and justified by the theory. In mathematics, the concept of a relation is a generalization of 2-place relations, such as the relation of equality, denoted by the sign = in a statement like 5 + 7 = 12, or the relation of order, denoted by the sign < in a statement like 5 < 12. Relations that involve two... In mathematics, the Zariski topology is a structure basic to algebraic geometry, especially since 1950. ...


An example is the Cremona group of birational automorphisms of the projective plane. In purely algebraic terms, for a given field K, this is the automorphism group over K of the field K(X, Y) of rational functions in two variables. Its structure has been analysed since the nineteenth century, but it is 'large' (while the corresponding group for the projective line consists only of Möbius transformations determined by three parameters). It is still the subject of research. In mathematics, in birational geometry, the Cremona group of order over a field is the group of birational automorphisms of the -dimensional projective space over . ... In mathematics, an automorphism is an isomorphism from a mathematical object to itself. ... In abstract algebra, a field is an algebraic structure in which the operations of addition, subtraction, multiplication and division (except division by zero) may be performed, and the same rules hold which are familiar from the arithmetic of ordinary numbers. ... In mathematics, a Möbius transformation is a bijective conformal mapping of the extended complex plane (i. ...


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