The local intersection cohomology of a point in the Baily–Borel compactification (of a Hermitian locally symmetric space) is shown to be canonically isomorphic to the weighted cohomology of a certain linear locally symmetric space (an arithmetic quotient of the associated self-adjoint homogeneous cone). Explicit computations are given for the symplectic group in four variables.

We present an elementary proof that given a general collection of d points in Pn the linear system of cubics singular on each point has the expected codimension except when n=4 and d=7. In that case the cubic is unique. This, together with previous work of the author, gives a proof of the Alexander–Hirschowitz interpolation theorem.

To any finite group $\Gamma \subset {SL}_2({\mathbb {C}})$ and each element τ in the center of the group algebra of Γ, we associate a category, ${\mathcal {C}}\! oh({\mathbb {P}}^2_{_{\! \Gamma ^{\! },^{\! }\tau }},{\mathbb {P}}^1).$ It is defined as a suitable quotient of the category of graded modules over (a graded version of) the deformed preprojective algebra introduced by Crawley-Boevey and Holland. The category ${\mathcal {C}}\! oh({\mathbb {P}}^2_{_{\! \Gamma ^{\! },^{\! }\tau }},{\mathbb {P}}^1)$ should be thought of as the category of coherent sheaves on a ‘noncommutative projective space’, ${\mathbb {P}}^2_{_{\! \Gamma ^{\! },^{\! }\tau }},$ equipped with a framing at ${\mathbb {P}}^1$, the line at infinity. Our first result establishes an isomorphism between the moduli space of torsion free objects of ${\mathcal {C}}\! oh({\mathbb {P}}^2_{_{\! \Gamma ^{\! },^{\! }\tau }},{\mathbb {P}}^1)$ and the Nakajima quiver variety arising from Γ via the McKay correspondence. We apply the above isomorphism to deduce a generalization of the Crawley-Boevey and Holland conjecture, saying that the moduli space of `rank 1' projective modules over the deformed preprojective algebra is isomorphic to a particular quiver variety. This reduces, for $\Gamma =\{ 1\}$, to the recently obtained parametrisation of the isomorphism classes of right ideals in the first Weyl algebra, $\sf {A_1}$, by points of the Calogero–Moser space, due to Cannings and Holland and Berest and Wilson. Our approach is algebraic and is based on a monadic description of torsion free sheaves on ${\mathbb {P}}^2_{_{\! \Gamma ^{\! },^{\! }\tau }}$. It is totally different from the one used by Berest and Wilson, involving $\tau $-functions.

We factor the virtual Poincaré polynomial of every homogeneous space G/H, where G is a complex connected linear algebraic group and H is an algebraic subgroup, as $t^{2u} (t^2-1)^r Q_{G/H}(t^2)$ for a polynomial $Q_{G/H}$ with nonnegative integer coefficients. Moreover, we show that $Q_{G/H}(t^2)$ divides the virtual Poincaré polynomial of every regular embedding of G/H, if H is connected.

In Invent. Math.126 (2000), pp. 513–545, we gave a proof of Lang's conjecture on Abelian varieties leading to an effective bound for the number of translates involved. We show here that the method can be extended to give a similar statement for the ‘Mordell–Lang plus Bogomolov’ theorem proven by B. Poonen and independently by S. Zhang. We deal in detail with tori for which effective results have been obtained by J.-H. Evertse and H. P. Schlickewei; we improve on these mainly by providing polynomial bounds in the degree instead of doubly exponential ones. We also state a theorem for Abelian varieties. In both cases the strategy of proof is based on the approach of Mumford and Vojta–Faltings–Bombieri together with an effective Bogomolov property and therefore does not rely on either equidistribution nor subspace theorem arguments.