Deformations along subsheaves

Abstract

Let f : Y -> X be a morphism of complex projective manifolds, and let F be a subsheaf of the tangent bundle which is closed under the Lie bracket, but not necessarily a foliation. This short paper contains an elementary and very geometric argument to show that all obstructions to deforming the morphism f along the sheaf F lie in the first cohomology group H^1(Y, F_Y) of the sheaf F_Y, which is the image of f^*(F) in f^*(T_X) under the pull-back of the inclusion map. Special cases of this result include the theory of deformation along a (possibly singular) foliation, logarithmic deformation theory and deformations with fixed points.

Removed an unnecessary projectivity assumption and implemented several smaller changes, suggested to us by the referee. To appear in L'Enseignement Mathematique.