From semi-orthogonal decompositions to polarized intermediate Jacobians via Jacobians of noncommutative motives

Let X and Y be complex smooth projective varieties, and D^b(X) and D^b(Y) the associated bounded derived categories of coherent sheaves. Assume the existence of a triangulated category T which is admissible both in D^b(X) as in D^b(Y). Making use of the recent theory of Jacobians of noncommutative motives, we construct out of this categorical data a morphism t of abelian varieties (up to isogeny) from the product of the intermediate algebraic Jacobians of X to the product of the intermediate algebraic Jacobians of Y. When the orthogonal complement of T in D^b(X) has a trivial Jacobian (e.g. when it is generated by exceptional objects), the morphism t is split injective. When this also holds for the orthogonal complement of T in D^b(Y), t becomes an isomorphism. Furthermore, in the case where X and Y have a single intermediate algebraic Jacobian carrying a principal polarization, we prove that the morphism t preserves this extra structure. As an application, we obtain categorical Torelli theorems, an incompatibility between two conjectures of Kuznetsov (one concerning Fourier-Mukai functors and another one concerning Fano threefolds), a new proof of a classical theorem of Clemens-Griffiths on blow-ups of threefolds, and several new results on quadric fibrations and intersection of quadrics.