Muthl. Comput. Modelling Vol. 26, No. 8-10, pp.

75-96, 1997
Copyright@1997 Elsevier Science Ltd
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PII:SO8957177(97)00201-X

Enumerative Geometry from String Theory

P. DI FRANCESCO
CEA, Service de Physique Thhorique*
F-91191 Gif sur Yvette Cedex, France

Abstract-some recent mathematical progress in enumerative geometry on a variety V is pre-

sented in the light of string theory, in its formulation as a topological field theory with target space V.
Simple physical notions such as operator product expansion and duality of (genus zero) correlation
functions translate into combinatorial recursion relations for the numbers of (rational) curves on V,
subject to some stabilizing conditions.

Keywords-Enumerative geometry, Rational curve, String theory, Quantum gravity, Topological

field theory.

1. INTRODUCTION
The aim of this paper, following [l-3], is to show how ideas borrowed from string theory can be
successfully applied to some concrete combinatorial problems of counting the numbers of (ratio-
nal) curves on various algebraic varieties, which have their roots in the work of Chasles, Schubert
and Zeuthen (see [4-71 for precise examples). The basic remark at the origin of these developments
is due to Kontsevich and Manin [3], who first directly solved the problem of enumerating rational
curves on the projective plane Pz, and then developed a mathematical framework applicable to
more general varieties.
String theory is a way of quantizing Einstein’s general relativity, namely of considering simul-
taneous fluctuations of interacting space-time and matter theories. In 2D quantum gravity, the
space-time is a two-dimensional surface, and all that can be observed, while this surface fluctu-
ates, are its topological invariants. In this paper, we will be dealing with Witten’s formulation
of 2D quantum gravity as a topological field theory [8] i .e., a theory of topological invariants of
the moduli space of (punctured) Riemann surfaces. Intuitively, a possible connection with the
abovementioned curve counting problem would be to consider the numbers of curves themselves
as topological invariants of some kind.
One is therefore led to assume that there exists some topological field theory in which the
observables are objects linked to the theory of intersection on a given “target” algebraic variety.
The natural candidates for observables are the cohomology classes of the target, and the numbers
of curves can be interpreted as correlation functions of these observables or deformations thereof.
The axioms of topological field theory impose strong constraints on what these numbers can
be, they amount in fact to recursion relations which determine them completely up to some initial
conditions.

It is impossible to describe with words how much I owe to C. Itzykson. Among many other things, he taught
me most of the material presented in this paper, and communicated to me his enthusiasm and joy at working. 1
would also like to thank M. Bauer for a careful and critical reading of the manuscript.
‘Laboratoire de la Direction des Sciences de la Mat&e du Comissariat 8. 1’Energie Atomique.
76 P. DI FRANCESCO

The sequence of steps suggested in this work can be made perfectly mathematically rigorous [3],
but we choose to present here a physicist’s point of view, based more on intuition and analogies.
The paper is organized as follows. We present in Section 2, with all the details, the problem of
counting of rational curves on the projective plane Pp, and its direct enumerative geometrical
solution. In Section 3, we give a brief overview of 2D quantum gravity as a toy model for string
theory. In its topological formulation, we describe the observables of the theory and the various
axioms they have to satisfy. Section 4 makes the link between the two topics, by reinterpreting
the solution of the Pz counting problem in topological theory terms. The main constraint takes
the form of a partial differential equation for the free energy of the theory, a generating function
for the numbers of curves. We outline a general scheme to find the solution of enumerative
geometrical problems, in topological theory settings. In Section 5, this scheme is applied to
rational curve counting on various target varieties. We conclude with the description of a few
related open problems and of possible directions of research.

2. ENUMERATIVE GEOMETRY ON p2
In this section, we will consider only irreducible plane curves of degree d, with equation

where f is a homogeneous irreducible polynomial of total degree d in the complex variables

(u, V, w) E Ps (i.e., up to global complex multiplication).
A generic problem of enumerative geometry involving such curves can be formulated as follows:
find the number of curves (2.1) subject to a certain number of stabilizing conditions such as
incidence of fixed points, tangency to fixed lines, etc. These conditions have to be chosen in such
a way that the desired number is finite.

2.1. Rational Curve Counting

A planar curve (2.1) is rational if its genus vanishes. Equivalently, a rational curve is in one
to one rational correspondence with the projective line Pi. Let Nd be the number of rational
irreducible plane curves passing through a number nd of fixed points in general position (nd has
to be determined in order for Nd to be finite). As far as singularities are concerned, the curves we
consider are only allowed to self-intersect at simple nodes with distinct tangents. We will denote
by 6d the number of simple nodes required for the curve to be rational. Higher-order singularities
will not be considered here. The reason is that the objects we are counting here are all generic,
i.e., in general position, and any higher-order self-intersection should be viewed as a particular
coalescence of simple nodes.
In degree d = 1, one is left with the enumeration of lines. The stabilizing condition is that
they go through nr = 2 fixed points, and their number is therefore just

NI = 1. (2.2)

In degree d = 2, a quadric is characterized by the six coefficients of f, reduced to five by global

complex multiplication. Imposing that they pass through nz = 5 points fixes them completely,
henceforth
Nz = 1. (2.3)

In degree d = 3, a generic cubic is not rational (see Figure la). Rationality is obtained by
imposing that the cubic has 6s = 1 simple node, in which case it is unicursal, i.e., parametrized
by the angle 19 (see Figure lb) or equivalently by rational functions of t = tan(B/2). The cubic
 Enumerative Geometry

(4 (b)
Figure 1. A generic planar cubic curve has genus 1 (a). Upon imposing that it has
a simple node (b), it becomes rational (genus 0). A simple parametrization is given
by the angle 0.

equation (2.1) has 10 - 1 = 9 free parameters (the subtraction is due to global complex multipli-
cation). However, the presence of a simple node reduces the number of incident points to n3 = 8.
To compute the number Ns, let us consider the linear pencil of curves

where f and g are two irreducible homogeneous polynomials of degree 3. The curves f = 0 and
g = 0 intersect through 3* = 9 points l. One of the these points is double iff

(2.5)

Note, that by homogeneity, any two of these equations imply the third one. Hence, one can solve
for the IPI ratio X/p iff
af ag af ag
du.du. avav o
= . (2.6)
af ag = af ag
awaw dwdzu
The equation (2.6) is the intersection of two quartic equations, hence has generically 4* = 16
solutions. But we have not taken into account the possibility that g = &$ = 0, i.e., the
intersection of two quadrics, hence we overcounted by 2* = 4. The number of rational plane
cubits through ns = 8 points is therefore

N3 = 12. (2.7)

The growing difficulty of this counting problem (e.g., there are N4 = 620 trinodal (64 = 3)
quartics through n4 = 11 fixed points, etc.) makes it desirable to resort to other techniques.
Before going into these, let us first recall the definition of the genus of a (planar) curve, and state
a more general counting problem for planar curves of arbitrary genus.

2.2. The Genus of a (Planar) Curve

The aim of this subsection is to derive the number 6d of simple nodes which have to be specified,
in order for the corresponding (planar) curves to be rational.
DEFINITION: CLASS OF A CURVE. Let C be a planar curve of degree d, with equation (2.1). The
class of C, denoted by c(C), is the number of tangent lines to C which can be drawn through a

‘Bezout’s theorem implies that any two irreducible curves of respective degrees dl and d2 intersect through dl x dz
point,s.
78 P. Dr FRANCESCO

fixed generic point (us, wa,WO) E P2. These tangent lines are entirely specified by their point of
constant with C, (u, TJ,w), solution of the system

In the second equation, we used the homogeneity of f. The contact points are therefore the
intersections of a degree d and a degree d - 1 curve, hence in number d(d - 1).

Figure 2. A simple node may always be seen as a limit of two disconnected pieces of
curve. The corresponding class would overcount by two the number of tangent lines
from a fixed point. The total overcounting due to simple nodes is therefore 26d.

However the system (2.8) also includes the simple nodes of C. As shown on Figure 2, a simple
node corresponds to a double solution of (2.8), in fact it can be viewed as the coalescence of two
distinct tangents. The correct number therefore reads

c(C) = d(d - 1) - 2&. (2.9)

CI
Figure 3. The stereographic projection of a curve from a point onto the projective
line. The resulting covering of the sphere with d sheets has the indicated polygonal
decomposition. Over each point q, projection of a tangent line, two of the sheets
coalesce.

GENUS. The topological genus of C is computed as follows. The curve is stereographically pro-
jected onto a line (IPr) from a fixed point as shown on Figure 3. This leads to a covering of the
two-dimensional sphere (Pi) with generically d sheets, as the degree d is the generic number of
intersections of C with a line. There are however two coinciding sheets over each of the c(C)
projections of the tangent lines to C. Let us draw the polygonal envelope of these c(C) points on
the sphere (see Figure 3). The genus of C is computed through the Euler characteristic of the
corresponding polygonal decomposition of the covering of the sphere. The respective numbers
F, E, V of faces, edges and vertices of this decomposition read

F = 2 x (d sheets),
E = c(C) x (d sheets), (2.10)
V = c(C) x (d - 1 sheets),
 Enumerative Geometry 79

therefore, the Euler characteristic ‘is

x(C) = F - E + V = 2d - c(C) = 2 - 29, (2.11)

where g is the topological genus of the curve C. Using (2.9), we finally get

(d - l)(d - 2) _ s
9= d. (2!.12)
2

In particular, a rational (genus 0) curve must have

bd = Cd- l)(d - 2) (2.13)

2 ’

simple nodes. We recover the fact that a cubic (d = 3) must have 6s = 1 simple node to be
rational (a rational quartic, d = 4, must have S4 = 3 simple nodes, etc.).

2.3. Incidence Conditions and Higher Genus Curves

The set of homogeneous polynomials of degree d in three complex variables is a linear space of
dimension (d + l)(d + 2)/2, the number of coefficient. For a IPz curve, this dimension is reduced
by one for global multiplication, to d(d + 3)/2. For rational curves, the dimension is further
reduced by the number 6d = (d - l)(d - 2)/2 of simple node conditions (2.13), leaving us with

4d+3)
--

2
Cd-l)(d-2)
2
= 3d_ 1

> (2.14)

free parameters. To fix this linear space, we therefore need to impose

nd = 3d - 1, (2.15)

conditions of incidence of fixed points.

To summarize, Nd is the number of irreducible, (rational), degree d plane curves through
nd = 3d - 1 fixed points, having & = (d - l)(d - 2)/2 simple nodes. Note here that the
rationality condition is equivalent to that of imposing & = (d - l)(d - 2)/2 simple nodes.
This suggests to extend the counting problem to genus g curves, in which case the above
reasoning is generalized in a straightforward way: find the number NF’ (NF) = Nd) of genus g,
irreducible, degree d plane curves through n$‘) = 3d - 1 + g fixed points, having 62) = (d - l)(d -
2)/2 - g simple nodes. Note again that the genus g condition is equivalent to that of imposing
@’ = (d - l)(d - 2)/2 -g simple nodes, according to (2.12).
This second problem, for g 2 1 seems considerably more difficult than the rational one, and it
is still an open question whether the approach described in the second part of this paper in the
rational case can be extended or not to higher genus. We shall therefore mainly concentrate on
the rational case in the following.

2.4. The Main Theorem; A Direct Proof

Kontsevich has proposed a complete solution to the rational counting problem in the form of
a recursion relation

Nd = c d:dzNd,Nda (2.16)
dl+da=d
dl,dz21

valid for d 2 2, together with the initial condition Nl = 1. This can be really considered as
the starting point of a long and rather indirect argument relating the initial counting problem
80 P. DI FRANCESCO

and string theory. As we will try to convince the reader, the beauty and the simplicity of the
recursion relation (2.16) have everything to do with the s&called “duality of string amplitudes”,
which in the case of four point correlation functions of string observables has a very similar form,
namely quadratic equations.
Before going into this, let us briefly sketch Kontsevich’s direct enumerative proof of the recur-
sion relation (2.16). It is based on a degeneration argument, which reads as follows: splitting the
incidence conditions in such a way as to force the curve to degenerate into two curves of lower
degree (typically by sending points to infinity), it becomes possible to relate the number Nd to
lower degree numbers.
More precisely, let us fix 3d - 4 points (denoted generically by q*), and two particular points
pi and ps in the plane. The pencil of degree d rational curves through the q* and pl and ps is a
linear pencil of dimension 1 (therefore parametrized by Pi). Let us fix two generic lines 1s and Z4
and choose any of the d points of intersection with C on each of them. Denote these points by pa
and ~4. An explicit mapping cp from the pencil of curves to Pi is realized by the cross-ratio of
the four points pr, ~2, ps, and ~4. The correct degeneration argument consists in equating the
cardinal of the inverse images by cp of the values 00 and 0 of the cross-ratio.

degree dl j dz dl j d2
..i i ..................................
Points 3dl -2 j 3d2-2 3dl-1 ‘/ 3d2-3
...a. i
f-13..
...... d!...............
................ (.....................
.....
............
.................
............. d.!.
......
.....
......................................
P4 dI /
........
.............................
.............
/ .........................
dz _...................
..............
...............................................................
P5 dl$d2 d&d2
..,...........................
.............................................
....C&.
.....................
............

(4 (b)
Figure 4. The two possible degenerations of the curve C into two curves. The case (a)
occurs when the cross-ratio of the points (~1,ps, p3, p4) is infinite. The case (b) occurs
when it vanishes. Below each figure, in addition to the degree of each degenerating
piece, we summarize the various numbers of choices to be made for, respectively,
the fixed incident points (among the 3d - 4 points q*), the points p3 and p4 on the
lines 1s and 14, and the intersection point ps (always dl x d2 choices from Bezout’s
theorem).

In Figures 4a and 4b, we display typical configurations of the degenerate curve in the two
limiting cases, namely cp = 00 (case (a)) corresponds to an infinite separation of pi and ~2, each
keeping close to ps, ~4, respectively, whereas cp = 0 (case (b)) corresponds to taking pl close to ps
and ps and p4 infinitely separated from them. We have also denoted by ps a generic point in the
intersection of the two degenerations Ci and Cz of respective degree dl and ds of the curve C,
with d = dl + d2. For each degenerating piece, we have to choose the correct number of incident
points in order for the number of curves to be finite. This fixes how many of the q* points have
to fix Ci and Cz, respectively. This leads to (lilt) c hoices of incident points in the case (a),
and (,“,“;_” choices in the case (b). Extra combinatorial factors have to account for the possible
choices of ps, ~4, and ps and are presented in this order in the expressions below. The case (b)
also includes the case Ci = {ps), i.e., di = 0, contributing for an extra Nd to the cardinal of
(p-l(O). We find
 Enumerative Geometry 81

card ‘p-l (oo) = x dl x dz x dld2,

(:!.17)
card (p-‘(O) = Nd + x d1 x d2 x dld2.
dl+dz=d

Identifying the two cardinals yields the desired recursion relation (2.16).

3. STRING THEORY AND TOPOLOGICAL GRAVITY

3.1. String Theory and 2D Quantum Gravity

String theory can be viewed as an attempt to overcome severe divergence problems in the
quantization of Einstein’s four-dimensional General Relativity. Classically, General Relat,ivity
expresses the relation between the matter (described as interacting field theories), and the ge-
ometry of space (captured in a metric tensor, itself yet another interacting field). The idea is
to replace point-like particles by small loops, hence fields are no longer defined on points, but
rather on small circles. When they evolve in time, these loops describe a two-dimensional “world
sheet” in four-dimensional space-time. The interaction between strings has a simple geometrical
meaning: it creates holes in the world sheet surface, thus changing its topology. Quantization is
performed by incorporating all possible fluctuations of the fields involved.
Changing the point of view, the string theory can be interpreted as that of some four-compo-
nent, space-time coordinate field, taking its values on the two-dimensional world sheet spanned
by the interacting strings. The various fluctuations of the world sheet are captured in those of
a two-dimensional metric field. Hence, the quantization of the string is realized by summing
over all the possible metrics and topologies of the world-sheet, as well as all the fluctuations of
the space-time coordinate fields defined on it. This gives a two-dimensional interpretation of
string theory. This situation is very much like 2D quantum gravity, in which the space-time is
two-dimensional. In the latter case, Einstein’s theory only depends on the area and topology of
the two-dimensional space-time. It includes, therefore, two parameters coupled, respectively, to
the area A of the surface (the cosmological constant A) and its Euler characteristic x = 2 - 2g
(the Newton constant G).

#i#-+

Figure 5. Switching gravity on in the 2D square lattice Ising model.

An easy way of viewing 2D quantum gravity is through the discretization of the two-dimensional
space-time, by replacing the corresponding Riemann surface of genus g by some polygonal de-
composition of same genus. In such a decomposition, the metric is replaced by the length of
edges, and curvature is obtained by allowing more or less adjacent polygons around a vertex than
in a flat situation. The matter is then added as some decoration of the polygonal decomposition,
for instance in the form of weights attached to the vertices.
The archetypical example is the Ising model. In flat space, it consist of a ZZ spin variable
ui = fl defined on the vertices i of the square lattice, interacting through nearest neighbours
only. The partition function of the model is a sum over all possible spin configurations on
the lattice, weighed by some Boltzmann factor exp(-PE), where E is the total energy of the
82 P. DI FRANCESCO

configuration and ,O the inverse of the temperature

e-PE({ol)
ZIsing(P7H) = C I
spin configs. {u}
(3.1)
E({fT}) = -J c a&Tj + Hp.
neighb. (ij) i

The energy of a configuration decomposes into a nearest neighbour interaction term of strength J
favorizing equal (ferromagnetic J > 0) or opposite (antiferromagnetic J < 0) values of the
neighbouring spins, and a magnetic energy proportional to the applied external magnetic field H.
The function Zrsing(P, H) ch aracterizes the statistical behaviour of the system. In particular, its
singularities indicate phase transitions.
Switching gravity on simply amounts to replacing the (flat) square lattice by a (deformed)
square decomposition of a surface of arbitrary genus, as sketched in Figure 5. Positive or negative
curvature is obtained by letting some vertices be adjacent to less or more than four squares. The
corresponding gravitational partition function 2rsins is an extra sum over all possible square
decompositions F of surfaces of arbitrary genera of the partition function (3.1), in which the
sum extends over the spin configurations on the vertices of I?. Denoting by Zf,,,,(p,H) the
corresponding partition function, we get

,-AA-G(2-2g)zr
Zising(Aj G; 0, H) = C Ising@, W, (3.2)
sq. damp. l-

where an extra weight has been added to represent the Einstein action for 2D gravity. The area A
of a square decomposition is simply the number of its elementary squares, and the genus g is that
of the surface which is decomposed. In this example, we see clearly the different roles played by
the matter part (parameters ,B,H) and the gravity part (cosmological constant A and Newton’s
constant G), as well as their interaction through the discretized space-time P.
The quantum theory is therefore obtained by summing over all possible polygon decompositions
of surfaces of arbitrary genus, weighed accordingly, and by taking a suitable continuum limit,
which should erase the details of the discretization. Random matrix models have proved to be
instrumental in carrying out this program, leading to exact perturbative solutions of various
quantum gravitational theories in two dimensions. Roughly speaking, random matrix integrals
provide generating functions for polygonal decompositions of surfaces of arbitrary genus, hence
give a direct formulation of discretized 2D quantum gravity. The abovementioned solutions
take the beautiful form of integrable systems of differential equations, governing the correlation
functions of the observables of the theory.
Let us only quote the simplest result for pure 2D quantum gravity (i.e., without matter added).
In a suitable continuum scaling limit (in which the cosmological constant gets renormalized
A + X, the partition function of pure 2D quantum gravity for genus g space-times can be shown
to behave like
2&X) N (X, - x)5(‘-g)‘2, (3.3)
indicating some critical behaviour at a particular value X, of the renormalized cosmological con-
stant. This singularity is best understood in terms of the mean area A of the surfaces summed
over, after a Laplace transform

(3.4)

This shows that the number of surfaces of genus g with (large) fixed mean area A decreases
exponentially with A, with some power correction, whose exponent is a linear function of the
genus. This phenomenon will be a useful guideline towards a connection between 2D gravity and
the counting of curves on P2.
 Enumerative Geometry 83

3.2. Topological Gravity: The Equivalence Theorem

Parallelly to the matrix model formulation of 2D quantum gravity, its formulation BS a topo-
logical field theory coupled to topological gravity has brought many interesting mathematical
developments [S-11]. A topological field theory is a field theory for which the correlation func-
tions of observables do not depend on the precise location of the points at which they are defined,
but only on the topology of the manifold to which they belong.
Topological gravity is defined through its observables, the basic physical fields of the theory.
The latter are the stable cohomology classes of the moduli space of (punctured) Riemann surfaces
with arbitrary genus, expressible as exterior powers of the first chern class of a complex line
bundle, whose base is the tangent space to the Riemann surface at a given point. A correlation
function of such observables is simply the integral over a certain compactification of the moduli
space of the exterior product of the corresponding differential forms. These correlation functions
are a collection of topological invariants. Topological gravity is a kind of direct realization of
the quantization of space-time, not by summing over all surfaces with arbitrary genera, but by
direct,ly considering topological invariants of these (punctured) surfaces.
In topological gravity, the observables are organized into a hierarchy, on top of which is the
puncture operator, i.e., the operator which creates a small hole (puncture) in a Riemann surface,
at the point where it is inserted. The puncture operator is called a gravitational primary field,
whereas all the other operators are called gravitational descendants of this operator, in the sense
that all their correlations can be expressed in terms of correlations of the puncture operator only,
through recursion relations. The latter can be derived from the very definition of the observables
of the theory.
The coupling to matter is realized by considering more general topological field theories, con-
taining more gravitational primary fields together with their towers of descendants. These pri-
mary fields stand for the gravitational dressing of the observables of the matter theory (.when
defined in flat space). Again, the descendent correlators can be expressed in terms of the correla-
tions of primary operators through defining recursion relations, analogous to those of topological
gravity.
A theorem due to Witten and Kontsevich states the equivalence between topological and 2D
quantum gravity, as defined in the previous section. The proof is rather elegant, and uses an
explicit generating function for correlation functions of topological gravity, written as yet another
random matrix integral [9,12,13]. The equivalence is proved by showing that the same integrable
systems of differential equations govern the correlation functions of topological and 2D quantum
gravity. The theorem has been extended to the coupling of a certain set of matter theories to 2D
quantum gravity, their counterparts are some more sophisticated topological field theories [14].
As an example, the topological field theory describing the Ising model coupled to 2D gravity
has three gravitational primary fields, corresponding to the gravitational dressing of, respectively,
the identity (40 = I), the spin (41 = o), and the energy ($2 = E) operators. Each of these fields
carries an infinite tower of gravitational descendent operators, whose correlation functions are
linked by recursion relations. The exact solution for the 2D Ising model coupled to gravity takes
the form of a coupled system of differential equations for the correlation functions of spin and
energy, in which the temperature, magnetic field, cosmological constant, and Newton constant
are just external parameters. This is considerably simpler than the flat space solution d.ue to
Onsager (151 (only k nown in zero magnetic field H = 0).

3.3. The Ring of Observables: Associativity and Integrability

Due to all the recursion relations which exist between various correlation functions, the spec-
ification of a topological field theory requires only the knowledge of the genus 0 three point
correlators of the gravitational primary fields c$o,&, . . ,$I,. (by convention &, always denot,es the
84 P. DI FRANCESCO

puncture operator), namely the quantities

Cijk = (&4j4k)O, (3.5)

where the subscript refers to the genus. The bracket stands for an expectation value supposedly
taken over the set of fields with respect to some probability distribution, which takes the form of
the exponential of an action functional of the fields (the continuum counterpart of the Boltzmann
factor). We will not be interested in the explicit form of this action nor in the precise mathematical
definition of this average. Instead we will concentrate on the basic properties of this topological
field theory.
The gravitational primary fields form a ring under short distance product. More precisely,
as the correlation functions do not depend on the precise location of points, the usual short
distance operator product expansion of field theory is nonsingular. It can be summarized, between
gravitational primary fields, as
$i x 6j = c ‘$$k, (3.6)
k

where the third index in the structure constants C (3.5) is raised by the inverse of the metric of
the two point correlations with one insertion of puncture operator

vkl = (#04kh)O = COkl,

Vkl= [q-l]kl,
(3.7)
C. = C Cijlrlkl.

The operator product expansion of field theory is associative by construction, hence the structure
constants C satisfy the following associativity condition

k k

This condition may also be viewed as one of the abovementioned relations between correlation
functions of observables in the topological theory. As such it expresses two equivalent ways of
computing the four point correlation function (&4j4r&)s = (&&$j&)c.
The ring of the gravitational primary fields is graded, by attaching scaling dimensions to the
fields. The puncture operator 40 has dimension 0. The topological action of the theory includes
a term proportional to the area A of the surfaces. The area is nothing but the integral of the
puncture operator over the surface. This area is multiplied by the (renormalized) cosmological
constant X (denoted by yc here), which is dimensional (- length-2), as the product yoA must be
dimensionless. We can fix the overall scale by measuring all the dimensions in units of ys, to which
we attach the dimension [ys] = 1 (we use the symbol [.] for scaling dimensions). Analogously,
each gravitational primary field has an associated dimensional parameter, say yj for #j, such
that the insertion of the field +j in any correlation function is obtained by differentiating it with
respect to Yj

The same holds also for gravitational descendants, upon introducing more parameters. This
means in particular that there exists a quasi-homogeneous function F of the parameters ys, yi,
. . . , yr (and of the descendent parameters as well) such that

(3.10)
 Enumerative Geometry 85

The function F is the free energy of the topological theory. Its existence is guaranteed by the
following integrability condition

a,, Cijk is symmetric under permutations of i, j, k, 1, (3.11)

expressing again that the four-point function (4i4j4k4l)O is symmetric under permutation of the
fields.
The associativity and integrability conditions (3.8) and (3.11) can be summarized in a single
flatness condition for the connexion

(3.12)

where the matrix Ci has entries [Ci]_jk = C$, and z is an arbitrary parameter. The flatness
condition for (3.12) reads
[vz”,vj”] =o, Vi,j,Z. (3.13)

Indeed, equation (3.8) expresses nothing but the computation of the matrices Cj and Cl (z2 term
in (3.13)) and equation (3.11) is the z term of (3.13).
The properties (3.8) and (3.11) are only the tip of the iceberg for a topological field theory.
In principle we should be able to write all the recursion relations for correlation functions of
gravitational descendants, and in arbitrary genus as well. It turns out however that the two
constraints (3.8) and (3.11) together with the gradation of the ring of primary fields are sufficient
to fix all the genus zero primary correlators, when all the y’s are taken to zero.

A GENERAL SCHEME FOR SOLVING

4.
GEOMETRICAL ENUMERATIVE PROBLEMS

4.1. The Deformed Cohomology Ring of Pp.

In many ways, the result (2.16) has a flavour of 2D quantum gravity for genus g = 0. In
particular, it is possible, using the recursion relation (2.16), to show that for large degree a!, the
numbers Nd behave like [2]

(4.1)

for some constants a and c. The exponent 712 should of course be compared with the area
dependence (3.4) of the partition function for pure gravity. If the degree d of the curves is
interpreted as some kind of area, this indicates a possible connection between the two problems.
In particular, we would expect by analogy that the numbers Np) of higher genus curves behave
like
NY) N c ad
gd1+5(1-g)/2 ’ (4.2)
for large d.
The main philosophy of the approach we will try to follow is to build a certain topological field
theory, for which the Np) will be equal to correlation functions of gravitational primary observab-
les. As mentioned in the previous sections, these observables should form a multiplicative ring.
Natural candidates for observables linked to the intersection theory on lF’2are the cohomology
classes of lF“2,which form the cohomology ring (C[E]/Z3. Indeed, the multiplication laws of the
three classes to, tl, and t2, respectively, some (O,O), (0, l), and (2,2)-forms, read

6) totj = tj,

(ii) ty = t2, (4.3)

(iii) t1t2 = t; = 0,
86 P. DI FRANCESCO

expressing by duality that

(i) the plane (homology cycle dual to to) intersects points, lines, and planes at themselves,
hence, multiplication by to acts as the identity,
(ii) the lines (homology cycles dual to ti) intersect each other at points (homology cycles dual
to tz),
(iii) lines do not intersect generic points, nor do two generic points intersect each other.
This ring can easily be interpreted as the ring of a topological field theory. The puncture
operator, with degree 0, must be chosen as the identity to. The natural grading of the classes
by the degree of the corresponding form gives a dimension 1 to tl, 2 to tz. Next the structure
constants of the ring (4.3) are easily seen to derive from a classical free energy as in (3.10)

fCl(Y0, Yl, Y2> = yo2y2; yfyo 7 (4.4)

exhibiting the metric vij = bi+j,2 = s ti A tj. The function f is quasi-homogeneous of degree 1,
fixed by requiring that [yc] = 1, hence [yi] = 0 and [y2] = -1. Note that necessarily we have
[Yj] + [4j] = const . = 1 here, for the couplings Yj J 4j to be dimensionless.
This provides us with some quite poor topological field theory, in which only two- and three-
point functions are nonzero. The basic structural remark of Kontsevich and Manin is that the
Nd’s can be interpreted as correlation functions of deformed cohomology classes of lF’2,generating
a deformed cohomology ring, which will be referred to as quantum cohomology ring, as opposed
to the classical one encoded in the classical free energy (4.4). The crucial point is that this
deformation of the ring preserves the grading of the generators.
Let c#J,-,= To, ~$1 = Ti, ~$2 = T2 be the generators of a graded deformation of the ring (4.3),
and let us assume that it is still the ring of primary gravitational fields of a topological field
theory. The flatness condition (3.13) implies in particular that the metric nij remains constant in
the deformation, hence the classical part fcl(yo, ~1, y2) is unchanged in the new (deformed) free
energy, which now reads

F(YO,Yl,Y2) = fCl(YOlo,Yl,Y2)+ f(YlTY2). (4.5)

The quantum part f (y1 , y2) is independent of yc, as the source for the metric is entirely contained
in the classical part fcl. By assuming that the T’s are the gravitational primary fields of a
topological field theory, we implicitly postulate the existence of a suitable string-like Feynman
path integral over the space of maps from (punctured) Riemann surfaces to the target B2, which
enables one to evaluate the partition function 2 = eF of the theory. The degree of a rational curve
(itself a map from Pi to the target space p2) is proportional to the integral over the corresponding
pre-image of the Klihler class of P2 represented by the class ti. The classical part of the free
energy, fcl is easily interpreted as the contribution of degree 0 curves, i.e., points, to the basic
path integral. The quantum part f corresponds to higher degree curves. In the semiclassical
approximation to field theory, path integrals are evaluated by summing over all nontrivial critical
points (extrema) of the action functional, over which the integral is localized. It is therefore
natural to expect that f (yl, y2) takes the form of such a sum over “instanton configurations”.
Assuming that the path integral 2 is precisely localized on stable curves of arbitrary degree and
genus, namely curves which are stabilized by the abovementioned incidence conditions of suitable
numbers of fixed points, the corresponding quantum part of the genus 0 free energy should read

3d-1
f(yl,Y2) = CNd
d21
”
(3d - l)! edy19

where the contribution of each critical point is weighed by its multiplicity Nd, the “area”
term edgl, and the factor yidel /(3d - l)! indicating that (3d - 1) indistinguishable points (dual
 Enumerative Geometry 87

to the class tz) must be intersected by the curves. In other words, the numbers Nd, for d > 1,
are simply the genus zero correlation functions in the limit where all the parameters y vanish

Nd = ((d2)3d-1)0 = $$&o=~I=~~=cI, 114.7)

whereas the correlators mixing 42 and 41 read, in the same limit, for d 2 1

d”Nd = ( (h)“(d’2)3d-1), (4.8)

The quantum part of the free energy (4.6) seems however to violate the required quasi-horn@
geneity of the total free energy F, with the weights [F] = 1, [yo] = 1, [yl] = 0, and [yZ] = -1. To
recover the quasi-homogeneity of f, with [f] = 1, we need that eY1 be a dimensional parameter,
with homogeneity weight [eY1] = 3. Let us assume this: it implies that y1 itself has not exactly
the dimension 0. When we perform a change of scale f + p f, we have yo --f pyo, y2 + p--ly2,
but y1 is shifted by a constant y1 + yl + 3 Logp. This affects the classical part of the free
energy only, which is quasi-homogeneous uz) to a second degree polynomial of the y’s. In fact,
this should not be surprising in view of the fact that only third and more derivations of F have
to be taken to define the theory (e.g., the structure constants CiJk are third derivatives of F),
hence insensitive to the anomaly in the global quasi-homogeneity.
Denoting by fijk... = 8,,8,,8,, . . f, the structure constants for the deformed ring (3.6) give
the multiplication rules
TO x Ti =Tj,
Tl x Tl = T2 + fl11T1 + f112T0,
(4.9)
Tl x T2 = f1127’1 + f122T0,

7’2 x T2 = f122T1 + fmTo.

Note that these rules preserve the grading of the various generators, thanks to the quasi-homo-
geneity property f: from [Ti] + [yi] = 1 and [yi] + [yz_i] + [yo] = [f], we deduce that [Ti] +
of
[Tj] z [Tz-r~] + [fijk], in agreement with the relations (4.9). Another way of summarizing the
multiplication rules (4.9) of the deformed ring is through the (adjoint) 3 x 3 matrix represent,ation
Ci used in the connexion (3.12)

The associativity of the ring (4.9) translates into the commutativity of the matrix generators

[Ci, Cjl = 0, i,j = 0,1,2. (4.11)

The resulting relations, involving the function f, can be reduced to a single identity

f222 = (f112)2 - flllf122. (4.12)

Substituting the series expansion (4.6) into the main relation (4.12), we simply recover the
recursion relation (2.16) of Section 2 ! Together with the initial value JVl = 1, this fixes all
the Nd’s.

4.2. Philosophy

The various steps leading to the result (4.12), which we only briefly sketched above, can
be followed in a mathematically rigorous way. In particular, the deformation To,Tl,Tz of the
cohomology ring of P2 can be constructed explicitly: the corresponding forms are the so-called
88 P. Di FRANCESCO

Gromov-Witten classes of the moduli space of projective plane curves. Instead of covering this
aspect (see [3] for all the details), our purpose here was rather to give a flavour of the physical
intuition leading to the relation (4.12).
When dealing with other target spaces, the general philosophy for counting rational curves is
clear. Starting from the (graded) cohomology ring of the target, endowed with the usual metric,
one looks for deformations of this ring
(i) preserving the metric,
(ii) preserving the grading of the generators,
(iii) deriving from a deformed free energy F(Y), which encodes the multiplication rules,
(iv) preserving associativity.
The free energy F must decompose into a classical part fCl(Yc, . . . , yh), a cubic polynomial in
the Y’s encoding the multiplication rules of the ordinary cohomology ring of the target, and a
quantum part f(Yl , . . . , yk) encoding the deformation, whose specific form is fixed by the various
incidence conditions which have to be imposed to stabilize the curves one wants to count. In
particular, each type of curve comes with a multiplicity factor, which is exactly the enumerative
data we want to compute. The total free energy F = _fcl+ f must be a quasi-homogeneous
function of the parameters y, up to a second degree polynomial. The associativity condition (iv)
results in a system of partial differential equations for the quantum free energy f, which in turn
translates into a system of coupled recursion relations for the numbers of rational curves on the
target. At this stage, two points are still unclear.
(i) Is this system of recursion relations compatible?
(ii) If yes, how much does it constrain the numbers of rational curves, in particular how many
initial data must one incorporate to get all the numbers from the recursion relations?
To the best of our knowledge, no global answer to these questions is known yet. We will however
see in the next section, by studying various examples, that all the systems of recursion relations
we find turn out to be numerically compatible, and that the necessary initial data is very little
(e.g., one only needs to know that Nr = 1 in the P’s case to feed the recursion).
This give us all reasons to believe that this scheme is an extremely powerful and economical
way of addressing enumerative geometrical problems, at least as far as rational curve counting is
concerned.

5. APPLICATIONS

This section is a summary of the enumerative results for a number of targets. For each case,
the results are exposed as follows:
(i) we briefly describe the classical cohomology ring,
(ii) we list the dimensions of the various deformation parameters,
(iii) we give the form of the quantum part of the deformed free energy,
(iv) we write the system of partial differential equations implied by the associativity condition,
(v) we write the corresponding system of recursion relations,
(vi) we list the first few rational curve numbers.
For completeness, we also summarize the results for the Pz case.

5.1. The B2 Case

The classical cohomology ring is C[z]/z3, with elements to N 1, ti N z, and ts N z2, with
respective degrees 0, 1, and 2, and it is encoded in the classical free energy

f cl = f(Yo2Y2+ YOY?)* (5.1)

 Enumerative Geometry 89

The deformation is parametrized by Yo, Yl, and ~2, respectively, coupled to the deformed elements
TO, Tl , and T2 and with dimensions

[Yol = 1, [eY1] = 3, [YZI = -1, [F] = 1. (5.2)

The quantum free energy reads

f = 2 ~~ yid-l edyl,
(5.3)
dZl (3d - I)!

where Nd is the number of rational curves on B2, with degree d, and through (3d - 1) points.
The associativity of the deformed ring implies that

f222 = f,“,, - flllf122. 115.4)

This translates into the recursion relation

(5.5)

With the initial data NI = 1 (there is one line through two points), we get

NI = 1,
N2 = 1,
N3 = 12,
N4 = 620,
N5 = 87304,
Ns = 26312976,
(5.6)
N7 = 14616808192,
NS = 13525751027392,
Ng = 19385778269260800,
Nlo = 40739017561997799680,
NI1 = 120278021410937387514880,
N12 = 48211368061~029292368686080.

5.2. The F’s Case

The classical cohomology ring is @[x]/z”, with elements to N 1, tl N 2, t2 N x2, and t3 N x3,
with respective degrees 0, 1, 2, and 3, and dual to the homology classes of the 3-space, planes,
lines, and points, respectively. The multiplication rules are encoded in the classical free energy

1 13
fcl = -Y2Y + yoy1?42 + -Y1. (5.7)
203 6
The deformation is parametrized by yo, ~1, ~2, and ~3, respectively, coupled to the deformed
elements TO, TI , T2, and Ts and with dimensions

[Yo] = 1, [eyl] = 4, [Yzl = -1, fY31 = -2, [F] = 0. (5.8)

The quantum free energy reads

f = c Na,b$ $ edyl,
. . (5.9)
a+26=4d
a,b>O,d>l
90 P. DI FRANCESCO

where Na,b denotes the number of rational curves of Pa, with degree d = (a + 2b)/4, passing
through 6 points and intersecting a lines.
The associativity of the deformed ring implies that

(1) 2fl23 - fizz = f111f222 - f112f122,

(2) fl33 - f223 = flllf223 - fl13fl22,

(3) -f223 = flllf233 + fl12fl33 - 2fl13fi23,

(5.10)
(4) f233 = fl13f222 - fl12f223r

(5) f333 = fi223 + fl13f223 - fl12f233 - fl22fl33,

(6) 0 = fl22f233 + fl33f222 - 2fl23f223.

This translates into the recursion relations

(1) 2dNa--2,b+l- Na,b= c Na,,blNaa,bz

(2) dNa--2,b+l- Na,b= c Nczl,alNa,,bz (y”) [d:(y) -&2(p.J] 7

(3) -N,,a = c Nal ,iq Naz,bz

x [dqaql) (Y2)

+d:d2(;l3J (“b, ‘) - 2&2(y ‘) (;:;)I9

(4 Na--P,b+l = c %,b&,,t&
[(Y3)(bz)

- (ii-:)(bhl)]T (5.11)

(5)

(f-3

With the initial data No,2 = 1 (there is one line through two points), we get

d = 1: N4,0 = 2, Nz,r = 1, No,2 = 1,

d= 2: Ns,s = 92, Ns,r = 18, N4,2 = 4, (5.12)

N2,3 = 1, No,4 = 0,
 Enumerative Geometry 91

d= 3: N12,0 = 80160, Nrs,r = 9864, N&z = 1312,

Ns,s = 190, N4,4 = 30, N2,5 = 5,
N 0,6 = 1,

d= 4: N16,0 = 383306880, NI~,~ = 34382544, N12,2 = 3259680,

NIo,s = 327888, NEB4= 35104, N6,5 = 4000,

(5.12)(cont.)
N4,6 = 480, Nz,r = 58, No,8 = 4,

d= 5: N20,0 = 6089786376960, Nr8,r = 429750191232, Nre,z = 31658432256,

Nl4,3 = 2440235712, Nl2,4 = 197240400, N10.5 = 16744080,

N8,6 = 1492616, N6,7 = 139098, N4,8 = 13354,

N2,9 = 1265, No,Io = 105.

5.3. The Quadric PI x PI

The classical cohomology ring of the quadric Pr x Pr of P3 is generated by the classes to

(dual to the double line), tA (dual to the line x points), tB (dual to the points x line) and
t2 (dual to double points). Rational curves on Br x Pr have therefore a bi-degree (a, b) referring
to the numbers of their intersections with lines in either Pr, corresponding to tA and tn. The
multiplication rules of the ring are encoded in the classical free energy
1 2
fd = -1jYoY2+ YoYAYB. (,5.13)

The deformation is parametrized by ya, YA, YB, and yz, respectively, coupled to the deformed
elements TO, TA, TB, and Tz and with dimensions

[Yo] = 1; [eYA] = [eYB] = 2; [Yzl = -1; [F] = 1. (5.14)

The quantum free energy reads

2(a+b)-1
f = c Na,b c2$+ bj _ 1J, eaYA+bYe 1 (5.15)
a,b>O
a+b>l

where Na,b denotes the number of rational curves of Pr x IPI, with bi-degree (a, b), through
2(u + b) - 1 points.
The associativity of the deformed ring implies that

(1) ?fAB2 + fAABfABB - fAAA.fBBB = 0,

(2) fA22 + fAA2fABB - fAAAfBB2 = 0,

(5.16)
(3) 2fAA2fAB2 - fAAAfB22 - fAABfA22 = 0,

(4) f222 + fAABfB22 + fABBfA22 - fAAPfBB2 - (fAB2)2 = 0.

This translates into the recursion relations

(1) 2ab%,a = c Nal,blNaZ,bza:b~(alb2 - aah)

(2) aN,,b = ~N,l,blN,,,blar(a:b~ -a%)

(3) 0= c Nal,alN~,,bla$zbz - bla2 - alb2

(5.17)
+ (bz - az)(albz - b141

(4) Na,b = c Na1,b,Nal,bl(arbz + czbl)bz

I
2(a + b) - 4 2(a + b) - 4
2(ar +bl) -2 2(ar +bl) -3 ’
92 P. DI FRANCESCO

With the initial data Ni,o = 1 (tautology), and the obvious symmetry Na,b = Nb,a, we get

d= 1: NI,O = 1,
d= 2: NI,I = 1,
d= 3: N2,1 = 1,

d= 4: N3,1 = 1, N2,2 = 1%

d= 5: N4,1 = 1, N3,2 = 96,

d= 6: Ns,l = 1, N4,2 = 640, N3,3 = 3510, (5.18)

d= 7: N6,1 = 1, N5,2 = 3840, N4,3 = 87544,
d= 8: N7,1 = 1, NG,2 = 21504, N5,3 = 1763415, N4,4 = 6508640,
d= 9: N8,1 = 1, N7,2 = 114688, N6,3 = 30940512, N5,4 = 348005120,
d = 10: Ns,r = 1, Ns,s = 589824, N7,3 = 492675292, N6,4 = 15090252800,
N5,5 = 43628131782.

5.4. The Lines of lP3

The variety of lines in Ps corresponds to the four-dimensional Plucker quadric in Pg. If a line
in Ps is given by two points with homogeneous coordinates (zs,zi, 22,~s) and (~0, yr, 7~2,ys), the
coordinates of the line are F,, = xpyv - x,yp, 0 < p < v < 3, i.e., Ei = Foi (electric field)
and Bi = Fjk (magnetic field), where i,j, Ic is a cyclic permutation of 1,2,3. One checks that
,??.fi = 0 is the necessary and sufficient condition that F lies on the Plucker quadric Q in Pg.
The cohomology ring is spanned by the classes to (dual to the set of all lines), ti (dual to the set
of lines meeting a given line), tza (dual to the pencil of lines through a fixed point), t2b (dual to
the pencil of lines belonging to a fixed plane), t3 (dual to the pencil of lines belonging to a fixed
plane, and through a fixed point), and t4 (dual to a fixed line). With these interpretations, it is
easy to convince oneself that the multiplications of the ring are encoded in the following classical
free energy

fcl = +O (YOy4 + & + Y;b) + ?/OYlYB + $/;(?/?a + Y2b). (5.19)

The deformation is parametrized by ys, ~1, yza, y2br ys, ~4, respectively, coupled to the deformed
elements To, TI, Tsa, T&,, Ts, T4, and with dimensions

[Yol= 1; [@I = 4; [YZa] = [Y26] = -1; [y3] = -2; [y4] = -3; [F] = -1. (5.20)

The quantum free energy reads

f= c N(a,p,y,b)% $. $. $edpl,
.
(5.21)
%P,7+W
a+P+2y+36=4d+l

where N(cu,p,r,S) denotes the number of rational curves on the quadric Q, with degree d =
(Ly + p + 2y + 36 - 1)/4, intersecting, respectively, (Y,0, y, 6 times some fixed homology cycles,
respectively, dual to taa, t2b, t3, t4.
For the sake of simplicity, we will not write explicitly the 15 relations implied by the associa-
tivity condition, nor the 15 corresponding recursion relations. We simply give the results. The
recursion relations need only to be fed with the single initial condition N(0,0, 1,1) = 1, express-
ing that there is a single set of lines in a plane, containing a fixed line and intersecting another
 Enumerative Geometry 93

generic such pencil in one line. The results read

d=l: N(5,0,0,0)=0, N(4,1,0,0)=0, N(3,2,0,0)=1, N(3,0,1,0)=0,

N(2,1,1,0)=1, N&0,2,0)=1, N(2,0,0,1)=0, N(l,l,O,l)=l,
N(O,O, 1,1) = 1,
d=2: N(9,0,0,0)=2, N(8,1,0,0)=6, N(7,2,0,0)=18, N(6,3,0,0)=34,
N(5,4,0,0) = 42, N(7,0,1,0) = 3, N(6,1,1,0) = 9, N(5,2,1,0) = 17,
N(4,3,1,0) = 21, N(5,0,2,0) = 5, N(4,1,2,0) = 9, N(3,2,2,0) = 11, (5.22)
N(3,0,3,0) = 5, N(2,1,3,0) = 6, iV(l,O, 4,0) = 3, N(6,0,0,1) = 1,
N(5,1,0,1) = 3, N(4,2,0,1) = 5, N(3,3,0,1) = 5, N(4,0,1,1) = 2,
N(3,1,1,1) = 3, N(2,2,1,1) = 3, N(2,0,2,1) = 2, N&l, 2,1) = 2,
N(O,O, 3,l) = 1, N(3,0,0,2) = 1, N(2,1,0,2) = 1, N&O, 1,2) = 1,
N(O,O, 0,3) = 1.

5.5. The Flag Variety of B2

The cohomology ring of the flag variety of Pz (variety of flags, i.e., couples (point, line) of the
projective plane, such that the point belongs to the line) has six generators, te (dual to arbit,rary
flags), tl, (dual to the flags whose point belongs to a fixed line), tn, (dual to the flags whose line
passes through a fixed point), tza (dual to the flags whose point is fixed), tzb (dual to the flags
whose line is fixed), ts (dual to fixed flags). The flag variety of IF’2is best described as Pz x lP’y,
where we take the points (5, y, Z) in the first IF’2and the lines (X, Y, 2) in the second (dual) one,
and impose the incidence condition zX + yY + ~2 = 0, so we are dealing with a quadric in
If’2 x Bz. Rational curves on this manifold have a natural bi-degree (a, b) corresponding to the
numbers of its intersections with a line in either Pz, hence correspond to the classes tl, and tlb.
With these interpretations, the rules for multiplication of classes are easily seen to be encoded in
the following classical free energy

fcl = $3 + ~O(!hd2b + YlbY2a) + $/laYlb(Ylo + !/lb). (5.23)

The deformation is parametrized by ye,yla,ylb,yza, y&ys, respectively, coupled to the de-

formed elements To,TI, ,Tlb,Tza, T2b,
T3,and with dimensions

[Yol= 1; [eyla] = [@lb] = 2; k42a1 = [Y2b] = -1; [Y31 = -2; [F] = 0. (5.24)

The quantum free energy reads

f= c
X+p+2v=2(a+b)
N(X, ,+ v 1 a, b)!i$!j! $
. . .
eaYla+bYlb, (15.25)

X,p,v,a,b>O;a+b>l

where N(X, CL,Y 1a, b) denotes the number of rationally parametrized flags with bi-degree (a, b),
and which have X,/J, v intersections with some fixed homology cycles dual to tsar tzb, and t3,
respectively.
Again, we will not write the associativity conditions and the resulting recursion relations ex-
plicitly. We simply give the results up to total degree 5. The only initial conditions needed are
that iV(0,0,l1 1,O) = 1 (a flag curve with fixed line is completely fixed when one requires t,hat it
contains a fixed flag), and N(2,0,0 1 1,O) = 1 (the intersection with two cycles in the class dual
94 P. DI FRANCESCO

to taa fixes two points in the line, hence fixes the line of the flag completely). With the obvious
symmetry N(X, p, v 1a, b) = N(p, A, Y 1b, a) due to the point-line duality of F’s, we get

d = 1: N(2,0,0 ( l,O)=l, N(O,O, 1 1 l,O)=l,

d = 2: N(O,O, 2 ( 1, l)=l, N(l,l, 1 ) l,l)=l, N(2,2,0 1 l,l)=l,

d= 3: N(2,0,2 12,1)=1, N(4,0,1 ) 2,1)=1, N(3,1,1 12,1)=1, N(5,1,0 I 2, I)=27

N(4,2,0 ( 2,1)=1,

d = 4: N(4,0,2 I 3,1)=1, N(6,0,1 13,1)=4, N(5,1,1 I 3,1)=1, N(B,O,O ) 3,1)=12,

N(7,1,0 13,1)=6, N(6,2,0 13,1)=1, N(O,O,4 ) 2,2)=1, N(2,0,3 I 2,2)=1,
N&l, 3 ) 2,2)=2, N(3,1,2 ( 2,2)=2, N(2,2,2 ) 2,2)=3, N(4,2,1 ( 2,2)=4,
(5.26)
N(3,3,1 12,2)=5, N(5,3,0 I 2,2)=8, N(4,4,0 12,2)=10,

d = 5: N(lO,O,O I 4,1)=60, N(9,1,0 ( 4,1)=12, N(8,2,0 ) 4,1)=1, N(B,O, 1 I 4,1)=9,

N(7,1,1 I4,1)=1, N(6,0,2 /4,1)=1, N(8,2,0 13,2)=108, N(7,3,0 ) 3,2)=150,
N(6,4,0 ) 3,2)=96, N(5,5,0 I 3,2)=32, N(7,1,1 13,2)=36, N(6,2,1 I 3,2)=60,
N(5,3,1 13,2)=40, N(4,4,1 ( 3,2)=16, N(6,0,2 I 3,2)=12, N(5,1,2 I 3,2)=26,
N(4,2,2 ( 3,2)=18, N(3,3,2 I 3,2)=8, N(4,0,3 ( 3,2)=12, N(3,1,3 I 3,2)=9,
N(2,2,3 I 3,2)=4, N(2,0,4 I 3,2)=5, N&1,4 13,2)=2, N(O,O, 5 I 3,2)=1.

6. CONCLUSION AND PERSPECTIVES

The comparison of the above results with the known enumerative data of the counting of
rational curves on these varieties shows a perfect agreement. The interpretation of the numbers
of curves as correlation functions of observables in some topological field theories seems to be a
remarkably powerful counting tool.
A complete understanding of these underlying theories however would be desirable if only
to extend the results for rational curves to arbitrary genus. The mathematical treatment of
deformed cohomology classes for higher genus is still not explicit enough to yield analogous
recursion relations for the desired numbers. The conjecture (4.2) should serve as a guideline in
the search for a simple recursive structure for higher genus numbers of curves. On the other
hand, from the point of view of topological field theory, before going to higher genus, it would
be very useful to unearth the structure of genus zero gravitational descendent operators.
Some progress has been made in this direction [16,17], unfortunately only for the simplest case
of lPi. The structure of gravitational primary operators for Pi is very simple. In addition to the
puncture operator 40 = To, there is only one other primary field 41, whose correlations are all
equal to 1. The total free energy is simply

(6.1)
Clearly the structure of rational curves on 81 is very poor (there is Ni = 1 line, and d = 1 is the
only allowed degree). But from the topological gravity point of view, the structure of gravitational
descendants of TO and Tr is very rich. It was shown to be governed by a classical integrable system
of differential equations (in the parameters coupled to the gravitational descendants), identified as
a new extension of the Toda system (16,171. It is very tempting to infer that the quantum theory is
simply obtained by quantizing this classical system (replacing Poisson brackets by commutators),
which in turn would yield all the higher genus contributions to the free energy of the full theory
(including gravitational descendants). This remains to be done in the Pz case.
The general structure of the associativity condition on a deformation of the cohomology ring
of a variety may lead to many different deformations of the same classical ring, if we allow the
 Enumerative Geometry 95

grading to be altered. In particular there exists an interesting parallel between the deformation of
the cohomology ring C[z]/ zn for P,, and that of the same ring which is involved in the so-called
W,+s gravity topological field theories. The latter generalize 20 topological gravity (W2 in this
nomenclature). The W,+, theory has (n + 1) gravitational primary operators, Uc, Ui, . . . ! U,,
with coupled parameters ~0, ~1,. . . , z,. The main difference with the P, theory, which also has
(n + 1) gravitational primary operators Tc,Ti, . . , T, with coupled parameters yc, ~1,. . . , Y.~, is
that the dimensions of the parameters z are all strictly positive. The classical ring is the same in
the two theories, but the quantum free energy for Wn+z is a polynomial of the Z’S (as opposed to
an infinite series in the y’s for B,,). The analogy between the two models is even more striking
when comparing the explicit gradings.

[Yol [Yll ... [Yil ... iY7l.l VI

pn 1 0 ... L-i ... l-n 3-n

[zol [a] ... L%l .. [&I VI

nfl 2
W n+2 1 - ... l---J-- ... - 3-n
nS2 ‘n + 2 nt2 nS2

The descendent structure for Wn+z theories was identified as (reductions of) the KP integrable
system of differential equations [13], governing the descendent correlation functions. For instance,
for n = 0, the descendents are governed by the generalized KdV system. For n = 1, Wz descen-
dents are governed by the generalized Boussinesq system, whereas we have just mentioned that
the Pi descendents are governed by the Toda system. One should probably look for a direct
connection between these two structures.
Another possible extension of the results presented in this paper would be to incorporate more
subtle stabilizing incidence conditions for the curves, such as tangency conditions to fixed varieties
or curves. An example of this is the extension of the pz curve counting problem including the
condition of simple tangency to some fixed lines. Let N,,p the number of rational plane curves
passing through Q fixed points and tangent to p lines, with degree d = (a +/3-t 1)/3. A tangency
condition gives indeed only one condition, in the same way as the incidence of a point. In
particular Nd = Nsd_i,c in this notation. A direct counting of theses new numbers was obtained
in [2], by a straightforward extension of the direct proof of Section 2.4. Let

(~(YI,Yz;z) = c Na,ps gedyl,

d>l,a,@O W’ r’
a+4=3d-1

be the generating function for the numbers N,J. Then the extension of (2.16) reads

I$222 = (4512 - hh22) + 2% (h12h22 - h11@222) + 2z2 (&2 - h12@222) .( (6.3)

With adequate initial data, this gives, up to d = 5

d= 1: N2,0 = 1, Ni,i = 0, No,2 = 0,

d= 2: Ns,e = 1, N4,1 = 2, N3,2 = 4,
N2,3 = 4, N1,4 = 2, No,5 = 1,
(6.4)
d= 3: Ns,c = 12, Nr,r = 36, Ns,2 = 100,
N5,3 = 240, N4,4 = 480, N3,5 = 712,

N2,6 = 756, 1~1,~ = 600, No,s = 400,

96 P. DI FRANCESCO

d= 4: Nll,o = 620, N1o,l = 2184, Ns,z = 7200,

Ns,3 = 21776, NT,4 = 59424, Ns,5 = 143040,
N5,s = 295544, N4,7 = 505320, N3,s = 699216,
N2,s = 783584, N1,10 = 728160, No,1l = 581904,
(6.4)(cont.)
d = 5: N14,0 = 87304, N13,1 = 335792, N1z,2 = 1222192,
N11,3 = 4173280, N10,4 = 13258208, N9,5 = 38816224,
Ns,s = 103544272, N,,7 = 248204432, Ns,s = 526105120,
N5,g = 969325888, N4,10 = 1532471744, N3,11 = 2069215552.

This result can be recast in topological gravity terms, but the dimensionful parameter z turns
out to be coupled to another gravitational primary operator. It appears simply as a decoration of
the total free energy which still reads F = fcl + f, with the quantum part f = 4(yl, 92; z) (6.2),
and the classical part reads

fcl(yo, yl, y2; z) = +22 2$

y&2; ycd- 2*x6$ (6.5)

With the definition of F, the main equation (6.3) is nothing but the associativity condition for
the ring encoded in F. We see that this interpretation requires that the classical ring depend
parametrically on the extra variable z. In particular, the metric 77of the two point functions with
one insertion of puncture is now a function of z. This suggests therefore, to also study extensions
of the usual topological theories, in which the metric is no longer a constant but can also be
deformed specifically.

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