Cubic threefolds and hyperkähler manifolds uniformized by the 10-dimensional complex ball

Abstract

We first prove an isomorphism between the moduli space of smooth cubic threefolds and the moduli space of hyperkahler fourfolds of $$K3^{[2]}$$ -type with a non-symplectic automorphism of order three, whose invariant lattice has rank one and is generated by a class of square 6; both these spaces are uniformized by the same 10-dimensional arithmetic complex ball quotient. We then study the degeneration of the automorphism along the loci of nodal or chordal degenerations of the cubic threefold, showing the birationality of these loci with some moduli spaces of hyperkahler fourfolds of $$K3^{[2]}$$ -type with non-symplectic automorphism of order three belonging to different families. Finally, we construct a cyclic Pfaffian cubic fourfold to give an explicit construction of a non-natural automorphism of order three on the Hilbert square of a K3 surface.