[Math] Is any quasi-projective variety isomorphic to a closed subvariety of a product of a projective space and an affine space

algebraic-geometry

Let $k$ be an algebraically closed field.
Let $\mathbb{P}^n$ be a projective space over $k$.
Let $\mathbb{A}^m$ be an affine space over $k$.
Is any quasi-projective variety isomorphic to a closed subvariety of $\mathbb{P}^n\times \mathbb{A}^m$ for some $n, m$?

Best Answer

Edit Remove some false statements on the general situation.

Counterexample. Let $X=\mathbb P^2\setminus \{ \text{one closed point}\}$ over a field $k$. Suppose $X$ is closed in a $P\times A$ with $P$ projective and $A$ affine. Composing with projection then gives a morphism $p: X\to A$. As $A$ is affine, this morphism corresponds to a homomorphism $O(A)\to O(X)=k$ of $k$-algebras and is given by $X\to \mathrm{Spec}(O(X))\to A$. Therefore $p$ is constant and $X$ is a closed subscheme of $P\times \{ p(X) \}$ which is projective. But $X$ is not projective !

More generally, there is a notion of anti-affine varieties which don't have non-constant morphisms to any affine variety. Any non projective anti-affine variety is a counterexample to your question.

Remark The properties : being a closed variety of a product $\mathbb P^n\times \mathbb A^m$; projective over an affine varietiy; affine over a projective are clearly equivalent. And the examples in the answers show that this is a strictly stronger condition than being quasi-projective.

There is one way (probably useless) to characterize varieties $X$ which are embeddable in a $\mathbb P^n\times \mathbb A^m$: namey, $O_X(X)$ is finitely generated $k$-algebra and the canonical morphism $X\to \mathrm{Spec}(O(X)) $ is projective. The only non-trivial point is the "only if" part. Suppose $X$ can be embedded in some $\mathbb P^n\times \mathbb A^m$. Composing with the projection to $\mathbb A^m$, we get a projective morphism $f: X\to \mathbb A^n_k$. By the theorem of direct image $O(X)$ is finite over $O(\mathbb A^n)$. So this is a finitely generated $k$-algebra. The morphism $f$ factorizes through $X\to\mathrm{Spec}(O(X))\to \mathbb A^m$. This implies that the first morphism is projective.

This gives another way to provide examples of quasi-projective varieties which are not embeddable into $\mathbb P^n\times \mathbb A^m$: it suffices that $O(X)$ is not f.g. over $k$. Such $X$ exist with $X$ quasi-affine (Nagata, related to Hilbert's 14th Problem).