Abstract:
Let $X$ be the variety of flexes of plane cubics. We prove that (1) $X$ is an irreducible rational algebraic variety endowed with a faithful algebraic action of $\mathrm {PSL}_3$, and (2) $X$ is $\mathrm {PSL}_3$-equivariantly birationally isomorphic to a homogeneous fiber space over $\mathrm {PSL}_3/K$ with fiber $\mathbb P^1$ for some subgroup $K$ isomorphic to the binary tetrahedral group $\mathrm {SL}_2(\mathbb F_3)$.
Keywords:
cubic, inflection point, elliptic curve, rational algebraic variety, algebraic group action.
Citation:
V. L. Popov, “The Variety of Flexes of Plane Cubics”, Birational Geometry and Fano Varieties, Collected papers. Dedicated to Yuri Gennadievich Prokhorov on the occasion of his 60th birthday, Trudy Mat. Inst. Steklova, 329, Steklov Math. Inst., Moscow, 2025, 209–226; Proc. Steklov Inst. Math., 329 (2025), 190–206