Moduli spaces of modules over even Clifford algebras and Prym varieties

Abstract

A conic fibration has an associated sheaf of even Clifford algebras on the base. In this paper, we study the relation between the moduli spaces of modules over the sheaf of even Clifford algebras and the Prym variety associated to the conic fibration. In particular, we construct a rational map from the moduli space of modules over the sheaf of even Clifford algebras to the special subvarieties in the Prym variety, and check that the rational map is birational in some cases. As an application, we get an explicit correspondence between instanton bundles of minimal charge on cubic threefolds and twisted Higgs bundles on curves.