Göpel's orbital degeneracy-locus conjecture for the half-spin representation

Let Δ\Delta be the half-spin representation, let Q14\mathbb{Q}_{14} be the 1414-dimensional quadric, and let S\mathcal S be the associated spinor bundle. For the codimension-ii orbit closures YiY_i in the fiber half-spin representation, define

DYi(v)={xQ14v(x)YiΔ14}.D_{Y_i}(v)=\{x\in\mathbb{Q}_{14}\mid v(x)\in Y_i\subset\Delta_{14}\}.

Here Quv=DY1(v)Qu_v=D_{Y_1}(v) is the quartic section associated with vv, and Jac(C)/{±id}\operatorname{Jac}(C)/\{\pm\operatorname{id}\} denotes the Kummer variety of the curve CC.

Göpel's orbital degeneracy-locus conjecture. Let vv be a general element of Δ\Delta. Then:

  1. DY10(v)D_{Y_{10}}(v) is the Kummer fourfold Jac(C)/{±id}\operatorname{Jac}(C)/\{\pm\operatorname{id}\} of a non-hyperelliptic genus-four curve CC with a vanishing theta null and a unique degree-33 map to P1\mathbb{P}^1;
  2. DY14(v)D_{Y_{14}}(v) consists of the 256256 22-torsion points in the Kummer;
  3. DY5(v)D_{Y_5}(v) is the moduli space SUC(2,OC)\operatorname{SU}_C(2,\mathcal O_C) of semistable rank-22 vector bundles on CC with trivial determinant;
  4. DY1(v)=QuvD_{Y_1}(v)=Qu_v is the unique quartic singular along SUC(2,OC)\operatorname{SU}_C(2,\mathcal O_C).

The conjecture proposes a detailed correspondence between orbital degeneracy loci of a general half-spin section and moduli spaces associated with a special genus-four curve. The supplied text gives no evidence that it has been solved or refuted.

Sources & referencesView supporting material

Primary source

Vladimiro Benedetti, Michele Bolognesi, Daniele Faenzi and Laurent Manivel, “Göpel Varieties”, arXiv:2506.22030 (2025).

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