In algebraic geometry, a cubic threefold is a

hypersurface In geometry, a hypersurface is a generalization of the concepts of hyperplane, plane curve, and surface. A hypersurface is a manifold or an algebraic variety of dimension , which is embedded in an ambient space of dimension , generally a Eucl ...

of degree 3 in 4-dimensional projective space. Cubic threefolds are all

unirational In mathematics, a rational variety is an algebraic variety, over a given field ''K'', which is birationally equivalent to a projective space of some dimension over ''K''. This means that its function field is isomorphic to :K(U_1, \dots , U_d), ...

, but used

intermediate Jacobian In mathematics, the intermediate Jacobian of a compact Kähler manifold or Hodge structure is a complex torus that is a common generalization of the Jacobian variety of a curve and the Picard variety and the Albanese variety. It is obtained by put ...

s to show that non-singular cubic threefolds are not rational. The space of lines on a non-singular cubic 3-fold is a

Fano surface In algebraic geometry, a Fano surface is a surface of general type (in particular, not a Fano variety) whose points index the lines on a non-singular cubic threefold. They were first studied by . Hodge diamond: Fano surfaces are perhaps the si ...

Examples

* Koras–Russell cubic threefold * Klein cubic threefold *

Segre cubic In algebraic geometry, the Segre cubic is a cubic threefold embedded in 4 (or sometimes 5) dimensional projective space, studied by . Definition The Segre cubic is the set of points (''x''0:''x''1:''x''2:''x''3:''x''4:''x''5) of ''P''5 satisfyin ...

References

* * *{{Citation , last1=Murre , first1=J. P. , author-link1=Jaap Murre , title=Algebraic equivalence modulo rational equivalence on a cubic threefold , url=http://www.numdam.org/item?id=CM_1972__25_2_161_0 , mr=0352088 , year=1972 , journal=Compositio Mathematica , issn=0010-437X , volume=25 , pages=161–206 Algebraic varieties 3-folds