Reducibility of spectral curves of finite Jacobi pencils

Fuente: arXiv
Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Shapiro, B.
Format: Preprint
Published: 2026
Subjects:
Online Access:
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1866910221670023168
author Shapiro, B.
author_facet Shapiro, B.
contents We consider finite pencils of Jacobi matrices \[ J_n(w)=A+wB, \] where $A$ is diagonal and $B$ is tridiagonal with zero diagonal. The spectral curve is the affine plane curve \[ χ_n(λ,w)=\det(λI+J_n(w))=0 . \] The main question is to describe when this curve is reducible. We prove generic irreducibility for fixed pairwise distinct diagonal entries and discuss several elementary reducibility mechanisms. Besides disconnected Jacobi chains, constant eigenvalue branches, and reflection-symmetric components, one must also take into account reducibility caused by scalar diagonal blocks. We formulate a reducibility conjecture and record low-dimensional evidence and counterexamples to several overly optimistic classifications. A central point of the picture is a codimension-growth principle: apart from the cutting divisors $b_i=0$, genuinely connected primitive reducibility should move to higher and higher codimension as the size of the chain grows.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2605_14817
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Reducibility of spectral curves of finite Jacobi pencils
Shapiro, B.
Spectral Theory
Algebraic Geometry
15A18, 15A29, 14H50, 47B36
We consider finite pencils of Jacobi matrices \[ J_n(w)=A+wB, \] where $A$ is diagonal and $B$ is tridiagonal with zero diagonal. The spectral curve is the affine plane curve \[ χ_n(λ,w)=\det(λI+J_n(w))=0 . \] The main question is to describe when this curve is reducible. We prove generic irreducibility for fixed pairwise distinct diagonal entries and discuss several elementary reducibility mechanisms. Besides disconnected Jacobi chains, constant eigenvalue branches, and reflection-symmetric components, one must also take into account reducibility caused by scalar diagonal blocks. We formulate a reducibility conjecture and record low-dimensional evidence and counterexamples to several overly optimistic classifications. A central point of the picture is a codimension-growth principle: apart from the cutting divisors $b_i=0$, genuinely connected primitive reducibility should move to higher and higher codimension as the size of the chain grows.
title Reducibility of spectral curves of finite Jacobi pencils
topic Spectral Theory
Algebraic Geometry
15A18, 15A29, 14H50, 47B36
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.14817