Configuration spaces and the space of rational curves on a toric variety

Abstract

The space of holomorphic maps from $S^2$ to a complex algebraic variety $X$, i.e. the space of parametrized rational curves on $X$, arises in several areas of geometry. It is a well known problem to determine an integer $n(D)$ such that the inclusion of this space in the corresponding space of continuous maps induces isomorphisms of homotopy groups up to dimension $n(D)$, where $D$ denotes the homotopy class of the maps. The solution to this problem is known for an important but special class of varieties, the generalized flag manifolds: such an integer may be computed, and $n(D)\to\infty$ as $D\to\infty$. We consider the problem for another class of varieties, namely, toric varieties. For smooth toric varieties and certain singular ones, $n(D)$ may be computed, and $n(D)\to\infty$ as $D\to\infty$. For other singular toric varieties, however, it turns out that $n(D)$ cannot always be made arbitrarily large by a suitable choice of $D$.