Polarized K3 surfaces of genus thirteen and curves of genus three

Abstract

We describe a general (primitively) polarized K3 surface $(S,h)$ with $(h^2)=24$ as a complete intersection variety with respect to vector bundles on the $6$-dimensional moduli space $\mathcal{N}^-$ of the stable vector bundles of rank two with fixed odd determinant on a curve $C$ of genus $3$. If the curve $C$ is hyperelliptic, then $\mathcal{N}^-$ is a subvariety of the $12$-dimensional Grassmann variety $\operatorname{Gr}(\mathbf{C}^8,2)$ defined by a pencil of quadric forms. In this case, our description implies that a general $(S,h)$ is the intersection of two (7-dimensional) contact homogeneous varieties of $\operatorname{Spin}(7)$ in the Grassmann variety $\operatorname{Gr}(\mathbf{C}^8,2)$.