Naive atoms of blowups: examples
Pith reviewed 2026-06-26 22:48 UTC · model grok-4.3
The pith
Naive atomic decompositions of smooth projective varieties satisfy a naive version of Iritani's blowup formula in several examples.
A machine-rendered reading of the paper's core claim, the machinery that carries it, and where it could break.
Core claim
We define naive atomic decompositions of smooth projective varieties. We show that they satisfy a naive version of Iritani's blowup formula in several examples that are complicated enough to show most interesting features of the general theory while being simple enough to be computable by elementary methods.
What carries the argument
Naive atomic decompositions, a decomposition of the variety into atomic parts that permits application of a simplified blowup formula.
If this is right
- The formula holds in examples involving blowups of points and other subvarieties.
- Elementary methods suffice to verify the property in non-trivial cases.
- The decompositions capture the main features of the blowup behavior.
- Such examples serve as a testing ground for the general theory.
Where Pith is reading between the lines
- Generalizing to all smooth projective varieties might be possible if the examples are typical.
- This could simplify computations of invariants in blown-up varieties.
- Similar naive approaches might apply to other formulas in algebraic geometry.
- Testing more examples could reveal if the naive version is always sufficient.
Load-bearing premise
The selected examples are representative of the general theory and capture its essential features without hidden dependencies on advanced tools.
What would settle it
Computing the naive atomic decomposition and checking the blowup formula for one of the paper's examples and finding a mismatch would falsify the claim.
read the original abstract
We define naive atomic decompositions of smooth projective varieties. We show that they satisfy a naive version of Iritani's blowup formula in several examples that are complicated enough to show most interesting features of the general theory while being simple enough to be computable by elementary methods.
Editorial analysis
A structured set of objections, weighed in public.
Referee Report
Summary. The manuscript defines naive atomic decompositions of smooth projective varieties and verifies, via explicit elementary computations, that these decompositions satisfy a naive version of Iritani's blowup formula in several examples chosen to illustrate most interesting features while remaining computable.
Significance. If the example verifications hold, the work supplies concrete, machine-checkable data points on the behavior of atomic decompositions under blowups. The elementary character of the computations is a positive feature, as it allows direct inspection without advanced tools and may serve as a test bed for any future general statement of the naive formula.
minor comments (3)
- The abstract refers to 'several examples' without naming the varieties or the blowup centers; adding this information would immediately clarify the scope for readers.
- The definition of naive atomic decompositions appears in the body without a highlighted statement or numbered definition; extracting it into a standalone definition would improve readability.
- It is unclear whether the paper includes a table or summary comparing the naive decompositions before and after each blowup; such a table would make the verification easier to follow.
Simulated Author's Rebuttal
We thank the referee for the positive assessment of the manuscript, the recognition that the elementary computations provide machine-checkable data points, and the recommendation of minor revision. No specific major comments appear in the report.
Circularity Check
No significant circularity; explicit example computations
full rationale
The paper defines naive atomic decompositions of smooth projective varieties and verifies that they satisfy a naive version of Iritani's blowup formula via direct, elementary computations in a small number of explicitly chosen examples. No general theorem is claimed, no parameters are fitted to data and then repurposed as predictions, and no load-bearing steps reduce to self-citations, self-definitions, or imported ansatzes. The derivation chain consists of concrete calculations whose outcomes are stated as observed facts rather than forced by construction from the inputs.
Axiom & Free-Parameter Ledger
invented entities (1)
-
naive atomic decompositions
no independent evidence
Reference graph
Works this paper leans on
-
[1]
Bayer, A., Semisimple quantum cohomology and blowups, Int. Math. Res. Not. 2004, no. 40, 2069--2083
2004
-
[2]
Torino, Turin, (2004)
Bayer, A., Manin, Y.I., (Semi)simple Exercises in Quantum Cohomology, in: The Fano Conference, 143--173, Univ. Torino, Turin, (2004)
2004
-
[3]
Bauer, A
Beauville, A., Quantum Cohomology of Complete Intersections, in: Les rencontres physiciens-math\' e maticiens de Strasbourg - RCP25, (1997), tome 48 ``Conf\' e rences de M. Bauer, A. Beauville, O. Babelon, A. Bilal, R. Stora", , exp. no 2, 57--68
1997
-
[4]
Benedetti, V., Gu\' e r\' e , J., Manivel, L., Perrin, N., Quantum cohomology and birational geometry of Verra fourfolds, preprint (2026), https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.30450 https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.30450
Pith/arXiv arXiv 2026
-
[5]
B\"ohning, Chr., Graf von Bothmer, H.-C.., Su'a, Z., Macaulay 2 files for ``Naive atoms of blowups: examples", available at https://zenodo.org/uploads/20625923 https://zenodo.org/uploads/20625923
-
[6]
Cavenaghi, L.F., Katzarkov, L., Kontsevich, M., Atoms meet symbols, preprint (2025), arXiv:2509.15831v3 [math.AG]
arXiv 2025
-
[7]
Ciolli, G., On the quantum cohomology of some Fano threefolds and a conjecture of Dubrovin, International Journal of Mathematics Vol. 16, No. 08, (2005), 823--839
2005
-
[8]
European Mathematical Society- EMS-Publishing House GmbH, (2014)
Coates, T., Corti, A., Galkin, S., Golyshev, V., Kasprzyk, A., Mirror symmetry and Fano manifolds, in: European congress of mathematics, 285--300. European Mathematical Society- EMS-Publishing House GmbH, (2014)
2014
-
[9]
Coates, T., Corti, A., Galkin, S., Kasprzyk, A., Quantum periods for 3-dimensional Fano manifolds, Geometry & Topology, 20, 103 -- 256, (2016)
2016
-
[10]
Coates, T., Galkin, S., Kasprzyk, A., Strangeway, A., Quantum periods for certain four-dimensional Fano manifolds, Experimental Mathematics, 29, 183 -- 221, (2014)
2014
-
[11]
Eisenbud, D., Harris, J., 3264 and All That: A Second Course in Algebraic Geometry, Cambridge University Press (2016)
2016
-
[12]
Elagin, A., Schneider, J., Shinder, E., Atomic decompositions for derived categories of G-surfaces, preprint (2025), https://arxiv.org/abs/2512.05064 https://arxiv.org/abs/2512.05064
arXiv 2025
-
[13]
Fay, A., Equivariant irrationality of very general symmetric Verra fourfolds, preprint (2026), https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.30439 https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.30439
Pith/arXiv arXiv 2026
-
[14]
Fulton, W., Intersection Theory, Second Ed., Springer-Verlag (1998)
1998
-
[15]
Fulton, W., Pandharipande, R., Notes on stable maps and quantum cohomology, Algebraic geometry -- Santa Cruz 1995, Proc. Sympos. Pure Math., vol. 62, Amer. Math. Soc., Providence, RI, (1997), 45--96
1995
-
[16]
13, 613--663, (1996)
Givental, A.B., Equivariant Gromov--Witten invariants, International Mathematics Research Notices 1996, no. 13, 613--663, (1996)
1996
-
[17]
Golyshev, V.V., Classification problems and mirror duality, in: Surveys in geometry and number theory: reports on contemporary Russian mathematics, volume 338 of London Math. Soc. Lecture Note Ser., 88--121. Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge, (2007)
2007
-
[18]
Guest, M.A., From Quantum Cohomology to Integrable Systems, Oxford Graduate Texts in Mathematics 15, OUP (2008)
2008
-
[19]
Gyenge, A., Szab\' o , S., Blow-ups and the quantum spectrum of surfaces, Advances in Mathematics, Volume 479, (2025), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aim.2025.110432 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aim.2025.110432
-
[20]
Hu, X., Big quantum cohomology of even dimensional intersections of two quadrics, preprint (2021), https://arxiv.org/abs/2109.11469 https://arxiv.org/abs/2109.11469
arXiv 2021
-
[21]
Hu, J., Ke, H., Li, C., Song, L., On the quantum cohomology of blow-ups of four-dimensional quadrics, preprint (2025), https://arxiv.org/abs/2502.13558v1 https://arxiv.org/abs/2502.13558v1
arXiv 2025
-
[22]
Iritani, H., Quantum cohomology of blowups, preprint (2023), v3 2025 available at arXiv:2307.13555v3 [math.AG]
arXiv 2023
-
[23]
Katzarkov, L., Kontsevich, M., Pantev, T., Yu, T.Y., Birational Invariants from Hodge Structures and Quantum Multiplication, preprint (2025), arXiv:2508.05105v1 [math.AG]
arXiv 2025
-
[24]
and Manin, Y.I., Gromov-Witten classes, quantum cohomology, and enumerative geometry, Comm
Kontsevich, M. and Manin, Y.I., Gromov-Witten classes, quantum cohomology, and enumerative geometry, Comm. Math. Phys. 164 (1994), no. 3, 525--562
1994
-
[25]
Kuznetsov, A., Shinder, E., Derived categories of Fano threefolds and degenerations, Invent. math. 239, 377--430 (2025)
2025
-
[26]
Manin, Y.I., Frobenius Manifolds, Quantum Cohomology, and Moduli Spaces, American Mathematical Society Colloquium Publications, Volume 47, AMS (1999)
1999
-
[27]
Okonek, Chr., Moduli reflexiver Garben und Fl\"achen von kleinem Grad in ^4 , Mathematische Zeitschrift 184 (1983), 549--572
1983
-
[28]
Pertusi, L., Stellari, P., Categorical Torelli theorems: results and open problems, Rend. Circ. Mat. Palermo, II. Ser. 72, 2949--3011 (2023)
2023
-
[29]
Przyjalkowski, Victor V., Gromov-Witten invariants of Fano manifolds, thesis (2006) (in Russian), available at https://homepage.mi-ras.ru/ victorprz/rus/disser.pdf https://homepage.mi-ras.ru/ victorprz/rus/disser.pdf
2006
-
[30]
Przyjalkowski, Victor V., Gromov-Witten invariants of Fano threefolds of genera 6 and 8, Sbornik: Mathematics 198 (2007), 433 -- 446
2007
-
[31]
Przyjalkowski, Victor V., Quantum cohomology of smooth complete intersections in weighted projective spaces and in singular toric varieties, Sbornik: Mathematics 198 (2007), 1325 -- 1340
2007
-
[32]
Przyjalkowski, Victor, Toric Landau–Ginzburg models, Russian Mathematical Surveys 73 (2018), 1033 -- 1118
2018
-
[33]
Przyjalkowski, Victor, Landau-Ginzburg models for Fano threefolds of Picard rank one and exceptional collections, preprint arXiv:2601.16497 [math.AG], (2026)
arXiv 2026
discussion (0)
Sign in with ORCID, Apple, or X to comment. Anyone can read and Pith papers without signing in.