Relations in the Sarkisov program

Abstract

AbstractThe Sarkisov program studies birational maps between varieties that are end products of the Minimal Model Program (MMP) on nonsingular uniruled varieties. If $X$ and $Y$ are terminal $ \mathbb{Q} $-factorial projective varieties endowed with a structure of Mori fibre space, a birational map $f: X\dashrightarrow Y$ is the composition of a finite number of elementary Sarkisov links. This decomposition is in general not unique: two such define a relation in the Sarkisov program. I define elementary relations, and show they generate relations in the Sarkisov program. Roughly speaking, elementary relations are the relations among the end products of suitable relative MMPs of $Z$ over $W$ with $\rho (Z/ W)= 3$.