Base loci of linear series are numerically determined

Abstract

Suppose D is an effective divisor on a smooth projective algebraic variety X. For each point x of X we associate a numberical invariant called the moving Seshadri constant of D at x which is a numerical measure of positivity of the divisor D at x. We determine the base locus of a large multiple of D by studying these moving Seshadri constants-- the drawback to this method is that these moving Seshadri constants are extremely difficult to compute.