Student Algebraic Geometry Seminar

In 1849 Arthur Cayley and George Salmon proved the celebrated result that a general cubic surface contains exactly 27 lines. In this talk, we will initiate you into the secret fellowship of the 27 lines (as Ravi Vakil would say), proving that every smooth cubic surface over an algebraically closed field contains exactly 27 lines. Time permitting, we will also show that every smooth cubic surface is the blowup of the projective plane at six points. Speaker(s): Jonghyun Lee