The no-connected-hypersurfaces conjecture for Jacobi spectral curves

Let the parameter space of finite Jacobi pencils be coordinatized by a1,,an,b1,,bn1a_1,\ldots,a_n,b_1,\ldots,b_{n-1}, and call the chain connected when b1bn10b_1\cdots b_{n-1}\ne0. The reducible locus consists of parameters for which the spectral polynomial χn(λ,w)\chi_n(\lambda,w) is reducible.

No-connected-hypersurfaces conjecture. For every n4n\ge4, every codimension-one component of the reducible locus is one of the cutting hyperplanes bi=0b_i=0. Equivalently, the reducible locus restricted to the connected stratum b1bn10b_1\cdots b_{n-1}\ne0 has codimension at least two. Scalar-diagonal strata have codimension m1m-1 for blocks of length mm and therefore do not contradict this prediction for m3m\ge3.

The claim predicts that connected reducibility has no divisorial component. The source presents the codimension assertions as expected and does not state a proof or a resolution.

Sources & referencesView supporting material

Primary source

B. Shapiro, “Reducibility of spectral curves of finite Jacobi pencils”, arXiv:2605.14817 (2026).

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