Asymptotic Geometric Tevelev Degrees of Hypersurfaces

Abstract

Let $(\mathit{C},{\mathit{p}}_1,\dots ,{\mathit{p}}_{\mathit{n}})$ be a fixed general pointed curve, and let $(\mathit{X},{\mathit{x}}_1,\dots ,{\mathit{x}}_{\mathit{n}})$ be a smooth hypersurface of degree e and dimension r with n general points. We consider the problem of enumerating maps $\mathit{f}:\mathit{C}\to \mathit{X}$ of degree d (as measured in the ambient projective space) such that $\mathit{f}({\mathit{p}}_{\mathit{i}})={\mathit{x}}_{\mathit{i}}$. When e is small compared to r and d is large compared to g, e, and r, these numbers have been computed first by passing to a virtual count in Gromov–Witten theory obtained by Buch–Pandharipande and then by showing (in the work of the author with Pandharipande) that the virtual counts are enumerative via an analysis of boundary contributions in the moduli space of stable maps. In this note, we give a simpler computation via projective geometry.