Let $Y$ be an $(m+1)$-dimensional irreducible smooth complex projective variety embedded in a projective space. Let $Z$ be a closed subscheme of $Y$, and $δ$ be a positive integer such that $\mathcal I_{Z,Y}(δ)$ is generated by global sections. Fix an integer $d\geq δ+1$, and assume the general divisor $X \in |H^0(Y,\ic_{Z,Y}(d))|$ is smooth. Denote by $H^m(X;\mathbb Q)_{\perp Z}^{\text{van}}$ the quotient of $H^m(X;\mathbb Q)$ by the cohomology of $Y$ and also by the cycle classes of the irreducible components of dimension $m$ of $Z$. In the present paper we prove that the monodromy representation on $H^m(X;\mathbb Q)_{\perp Z}^{\text{van}}$ for the family of smooth divisors $X \in |H^0(Y,\ic_{Z,Y}(d))|$ is irreducible.
We give a survey on some aspects of the topological investigation of isolated singularities of complex hypersurfaces by means of Picard-Lefschetz theory. We focus on the concept of distinguished bases of vanishing cycles and the concept of monodromy.
Let $X$ be a general complex projective hypersurface in $\mathbb{P}^{n+1}$ of degree $d>1$. A point $P$ not in $X$ is called uniform if the monodromy group of the projection of $X$ from $P$ is isomorphic to the symmetric group. We prove that all the points in $\mathbb{P}^{n+1}$ are uniform for $X$, generalizing a result of Cukierman on general plane curves.
For a subvariety of a smooth projective variety, consider the family of smooth hypersurfaces of sufficiently large degree containing it, and take the quotient of the middle cohomology of the hypersurfaces by the cohomology of the ambient variety and also by the cycle classes of the irreducible components of the subvariety. Using Deligne's semisimplicity theorem together with Steenbrink's theory for semistable degenerations, we give a simpler proof of the first author's theorem (with a better bound of the degree of hypersurfaces) that this monodromy representation is irreducible.
We introduce braid monodromy for the discriminant hypersurface in versal unfoldings of hypersurface singularities. Our objective is then to compute this invariant for singularities of Brieskorn Pham type: First we consider the unfolding by linear monomials in some detail and relate it to the versal unfolding. Next we present the A_n case in our framework. The two main chapters then provide the result in case of two variables and the inductive step to all higher dimensions. We finish with a presentation of the fundamental group of the discriminant complement.
Let $X$ be an irreducible, reduced complex projective hypersurface of degree $d$. A point $P$ not contained in $X$ is called uniform if the monodromy group of the projection of $X$ from $P$ is isomorphic to the symmetric group $S_d$. We prove that the locus of non--uniform points is finite when $X$ is smooth or a general projection of a smooth variety. In general, it is contained in a finite union of linear spaces of codimension at least $2$, except possibly for a special class of hypersurfaces with singular locus linear in codimension $1$. Moreover, we generalise a result of Fukasawa and Taka…
We consider an arbitrary polynomial map $f:{\mathbb C}^{n+1}\to {\mathbb C} $ and we study the Alexander invariants of ${\mathbb C}^{n+1}\setminus X$ for any fiber $X$ of $f$. The article has two major messages. First, the most important qualitative properties of the Alexander modules are completely independent of the behaviour of $f$ at infinity, or about the special fibers. Second, all the Alexander invariants of all the fibers of the polynomial $f$ are closely related to the monodromy representation of $f$. In fact, all the torsion parts of the Alexander modules (associated with all the pos…
We study the topology of the space of affine hyperplanes $L \subset \CC^n$ which are in general position with respect to a given generic quadratic hypersurface $A$, and calculate the monodromy action of the fundamental group of this space on the relative homology groups $H_*(\CC^n, A \cup L)$ associated with such hyperplanes.
The monodromy conjecture is an umbrella term for several conjectured relationships between poles of zeta functions, monodromy eigenvalues and roots of Bernstein-Sato polynomials in arithmetic geometry and singularity theory. Even the weakest of these relations -- the Denef--Loeser conjecture on topological zeta functions -- is open for surface singularities. We prove it for a wide class of multidimensional singularities that are non-degenerate with respect to their Newton polyhedra, including all such singularities of functions of four variables. A crucial difference from the known case of thr…
A relation is proved between the Poincaré series of the coordinate algebra of a two-dimensional quasihomogeneous isolated hypersurface singularity and the characteristic polynomial of its monodromy operator. For a Kleinian singularity not of type $A_{2n}$, this amounts to the statement that the Poincaré series is the quotient of the characteristic polynomial of the Coxeter element by the characteristic polynomial of the affine Coxeter element of the corresponding root system. We show that this result also follows from the McKay correspondence.
We describe an algorithm computing the monodromy and the pole order filtration on the top Milnor fiber cohomology of hypersurfaces in $\mathbb{P}^n$ whose pole order spectral sequence degenerates at the second page. In the case of hyperplane arrangements and free, locally quasi-homogeneous hypersurfaces, and assuming a key conjecture, this algorithm is much faster than for a hypersurface as above. Our conjecture is supported by the results due to L. Narv\' ez Macarro and M. Saito on the roots of Bernstein-Sato polynomials of such hypersurfaces, by all the examples computed so far, and by one p…
The Monodromy Conjecture asserts that if c is a pole of the local topological zeta function of a hypersurface, then exp(2πi c) is an eigenvalue of the monodromy on the cohomology of the Milnor fiber. A stronger version of the conjecture asserts that every pole is a root of the Bernstein-Sato polynomial of the hypersurface. In this note we prove the weak version of the conjecture for hyperplane arrangements. Furthermore, we reduce the strong version to the following conjecture: -n/d is always a root of the Bernstein-Sato polynomial of an indecomposable essential central hyperplane arrangement o…
Let $\{V_q\}_{q}$ be a complex one-parameter family of smooth hypersurfaces in a toric variety. In this paper, we give a concrete description of the monodromy transformation of $\{V_q\}_q$ around $q=\infty$ in terms of tropical geometry. The main tool is the tropical localization introduced by Mikhalkin.
I describe the monodromy of smooth hypersurfaces $X$ of high degree in a fixed smooth variety $Y$ containing a fixed subvariety $W$ of $Y$. The cohomology of $X$ in middle degree spanned by the pull-back of the cohomology of $Y$ and by the classes of the irreducible components of $W$ is monodromy invariant. I show that the monodromy representation on the orthogonal of those classes is irreducible. The proof is essentially topological. Difficulties arise from the fact that $W$ may have arbitrary singularities.
The quintic-mirror family is a well-known one-parameter family of Calabi-Yau threefolds. A complete description of the global monodromy group of this family is not yet known. In this paper, we give a presentation of the global monodromy group in the general linear group of degree 4 over the ring of integers modulo 5.
A log generic hypersurface in $\mathbb{P}^n$ with respect to a birational modification of $\mathbb{P}^n$ is by definition the image of a generic element of a high power of an ample linear series on the modification. A log very-generic hypersurface is defined similarly but restricting to line bundles satisfying a non-resonance condition. Fixing a log resolution of a product $f=f_1\ldots f_p$ of polynomials, we show that the monodromy conjecture, relating the motivic zeta function with the complex monodromy, holds for the tuple $(f_1,\ldots,f_p,g)$ and for the product $fg$, if $g$ is log generic…
Let $k$ be an uncountable algebraically closed field of characteristic $0$, and let $X$ be a smooth projective connected variety of dimension $2p$, appropriately embedded into $\mathbb P^m$ over $k$. Let $Y$ be a hyperplane section of $X$, and let $A^p(Y)$ and $A^{p+1}(X)$ be the groups of algebraically trivial algebraic cycles of codimension $p$ and $p+1$ modulo rational equivalence on $Y$ and $X$ respectively. Assume that, whenever $Y$ is smooth, the group $A^p(Y)$ is regularly parametrized by an abelian variety $A$ and coincides with the subgroup of degree $0$ classes in the Chow group $CH^…
This paper is a sequel to [He7]. There a notion of marking of isolated hypersurface singularities was defined, and a moduli space $M_μ^{mar}$ for marked singularities in one $μ$-homotopy class of isolated hypersurface singularities was established. One can consider it as a global $μ$-constant stratum or as a Teichmüller space for singularities. It comes together with a $μ$-constant monodromy group $G^{mar}\subset G_Z$. Here $G_Z$ is the group of automorphisms of a Milnor lattice which respect the Seifert form. It was conjectured that $M_μ^{mar}$ is connected. This is equivalent to $G^{mar}= G_…
We introduce and study the vanishing homology of singular projective hypersurfaces. We prove its concentration in two levels in case of 1-dimensional singular locus $Σ$, and moreover determine the ranks of the nontrivial homology groups. These two groups depend on the monodromy at special points of $Σ$ and on the effect of the monodromy of the local system over its complement.
A. Girand has constructed an explicit two-parameter family of flat connections over the complex projective plane $\mathbb{P}^2$. These connections have dihedral monodromy and their polar locus is a prescribed quintic composed of a conic and three tangent lines. In this paper, we give a generalization of this construction. That is, we construct an explicit $n$-parameter family of flat connections over the complex projective space $\mathbb{P}^n$. Moreover, we discuss the relation between these connections and the Garnier system.
Let X be an irreducible, reduced complex projective hypersurface of degree d. A uniform point for X is a point P such that the projection of X from P has maximal monodromy. We extend and improve some results concerning the finiteness of the locus of non-uniform points for projections of hypersurfaces obtained by the authors and Cuzzucoli only for P not contained in X.
We consider a hypersurface in $\mathbb{C}^n$ with an isolated singular point at the origin, and study the mixed Hodge structure of the stalk of its intersection cohomology complex at the origin. In particular we express the dimension of each graded piece of the weight filtration of this mixed Hodge structure in terms of the numbers of the Jordan blocks in the Milnor monodromy.
A well-known theorem of Kulikov, Persson and Pinkham states that a degeneration of a family of K3-surfaces with trivial monodromy can be completed to a smooth family. We give a simple example that an analogous statement does not hold for Calabi-Yau threefolds.
We show that if we are given a smooth non-isotrivial family of elliptic curves over~$\mathbb C$ with a smooth base~$B$ for which the general fiber of the mapping $J\colon B\to\mathbb A^1$ (assigning $j$-invariant of the fiber to a point) is connected, then the monodromy group of the family (acting on $H^1(\cdot,\mathbb Z)$ of the fibers) coincides with $\mathrm{SL}(2,\mathbb Z)$; if the general fiber has $m\ge2$ connected components, then the monodromy group has index at most~$2m$ in $\mathrm{SL}(2,\mathbb Z)$. By contrast, in \emph{any} family of hyperelliptic curves of genus $g\ge3$, the mon…
Necessary and sufficient conditions are given (in terms of monodromy) for extending a family of smooth curves over an open subset U of S to a family of stable curves over S. More precisely, we introduce the abelian monodromy extension (AME) property and show that the standard Deligne-Mumford compactification is the unique, maximal AME compactification of the moduli space of curves. We also show that the Baily-Borel compactification is the unique, maximal projective AME compactification of the moduli space of abelian varieties.
We study in detail the family of Calabi-Yau hypersurfaces defined by x_1+...+x_n+1/(x_1...x_n)=t over a finite field k. We determine its local and global monodromy and the trivial factors of its moment zeta function and Dwork's unit root zeta function.
Let $n$ be a positive even integer and $d$ a positive integer . To every complete family $Z$ of n dimensional degree d hypersurfaces in the projective space with isolated A-D-E singularities we construct according to an idea of Carlson-Toledo a Deligne-Mumford stack $\bar Z$ whose moduli space is $Z$ such that the monodromy representation extends. We study the corresponding periods mapping and establish an infinitesimal Torelli theorem along the isosingular strata of lZ$ under transversality assumptions. We apply this result to prove Steiness of the universal covering space of $\bar Z$.
We use the mixed-twist construction of Doran and Malmendier to obtain a multi-parameter family of K3 surfaces of Picard rank $ρ\ge 16$. Upon identifying a particular Jacobian elliptic fibration on its general member, we determine the lattice polarization and the Picard-Fuchs system for the family. We construct a sequence of restrictions that lead to extensions of the polarization by two-elementary lattices. We show that the Picard-Fuchs operators for the restricted families coincide with known resonant hypergeometric systems. Second, for the one-parameter mirror families of deformed Fermat hyp…
Let ${\cal M}_{g,n}$, for $2g-2+n>0$, be the moduli stack of $n$-pointed, genus $g$, smooth curves. For a family $C\to S$ of such curves over a connected base and a geometric point $ξ$ on $S$, the associated monodromy representation is the induced homomorphism $π_1(S,ξ)\toπ_1({\cal M}_{g,n},[C_ξ])$ on algebraic fundamental groups. It is well known that, if $S$ is irreducible, reduced and locally of finite type over a field $k$ of characteristic zero, the fibre $C_ξ$ and the corresponding monodromy representation determine the relative isomorphism class of the family. In the first part of the p…
We define an iterative construction that produces a family of elliptically fibered Calabi-Yau $n$-folds with section from a family of elliptic Calabi-Yau varieties of one dimension lower. Parallel to the geometric construction, we iteratively obtain for each family with a point of maximal unipotent monodromy, normalized to be at t=0, its Picard-Fuchs operator and a closed-form expression for the period holomorphic at t=0, through a generalization of the classical Euler transform for hypergeometric functions. In particular, our construction yields one-parameter families of elliptically fibered …
Doran and Morgan have introduced certain rational basis for the monodromy group of the Picard-Fuchs operator of a hypergeometric family of Calabi-Yau threefolds. In this paper we compute numerically the transition matrix between a generalization of the Doran-Morgan basis and the Frobenius basis at a half-conifold point of a one-parameter family of double octic Calabi-Yau threefolds. We identify the entries of this matrix as rational functions in the special values $L(f,1)$ and $L(f,2)$ of the corresponding modular form $f$ and one constant. We also present related results concerning the rank o…
Recently J.C. Rohde constructed families of Calabi-Yau threefolds parametrised by Shimura varieties. The points corresponding to threefolds with CM are dense in the Shimura variety and, moreover, the families do not have boundary points with maximal unipotent monodromy. Both aspects are of interest for Mirror Symmetry. In this paper we discuss one of Rohde's examples in detail and we explicitly give the Picard-Fuchs equation for this one dimensional family.
We formulate a geometric Riemann-Hilbert correspondence that applies to the derivation by Jimbo and Sakai of equation $q$-PVI from ``isomonodromy'' conditions. This is a step within work in progress towards the application of $q$-isomonodromy and $q$-isoStokes to $q$-Painlevé.
For any genus g > 1 we give an example of a family of smooth complex projective curves of genus g such that the image of the monodromy representation of the Hitchin connection on the sheaf of generalized SL(2)-theta functions of level l different from 1,2,4 and 8 contains an element of infinite order.
Assume that the local universal deformation of a Calabi-Yau 3-manifold X has an automorphism which does not act by 1 or -1 on the third cohomology. We show that the $F^2$ bundle in the Variation of Hodge structures of each maximal family containing $X$ is constant in this case. Thus X cannot be a fiber of a maximal family with maximally unipotent monodromy, if such an automorphism exists. Moreover we classify the possible actions of such an automorphism on the third cohomology, construct examples and show that the period domain is a complex ball containing a dense set of complex multiplication…
This paper is a sequel to [He11] and [GH17]. In [He11] a notion of marking of isolated hypersurface singularities was defined, and a moduli space $M_μ^{mar}$ for marked singularities in one $μ$-homotopy class of isolated hypersurface singularities was established. It is an analogue of a Teichmüller space. It comes together with a $μ$-constant monodromy group $G^{mar}\subset G_{\mathbb{Z}}$. Here $G_{\mathbb{Z}}$ is the group of automorphisms of a Milnor lattice which respect the Seifert form. It was conjectured that $M_μ^{mar}$ is connected. This is equivalent to $G^{mar}= G_{\mathbb{Z}}$. Als…
Monodromy in analytic families of smooth complex surfaces yields groups of isotopy classes of orientation preserving diffeomorphisms for each family member X. For all deformation classes of minimal elliptic surfaces with p_g>q=0, we determine the monodromy group of a representative X, i.e. the group of isometries of the intersection lattice L_X:=H_2/torsion generated by the monodromy action of all families containing X. To this end we construct families such that any isometry is in the group generated by their monodromies or does not respect the invariance of the canonical class or the spinor …
We show that the kernel of the monodromy representation for hypersurfaces of degree d and dimension n is large for d at least three with the exception of the cases (d,n) = (3,0) and (3,1). For these the kernel is finite. By "large" we mean a group that admits a homomorphism to a semisimple Lie group of noncompact type with Zariski-dense image. By the Tits alternative a large group contains a free subgroup of rank two.
A family of proper smooth curves of genus $\geq 2$, parametrised by an open dense subset $U$ of a normal variety $S$, extends to $S$ if the natural map $π_1(U) \to π_1(S)$ on fundamental groups is an isomorphism. The criterion of this note is actually more precise.
We consider the problem of existence of Neron models for a family of abelian varieties over a base of dimension greater than 1. We show that when S is of equicharacteristic zero, the condition of toric additivity introduced in [Ore18] is sufficient for the existence of a Neron model, and also necessary under some extra assumptions. Furthermore, we give an equivalent formulation of toric additivity in terms of monodromy action on the l-adic Tate module.
We consider the space of smooth complex projective plane curves of degree d. Defined over this is the tautological family of plane curves, and hence there is a monodromy representation into the mapping class group of the fiber. We show two results concerning this monodromy group. First, we show that the presence of an invariant known as a "n-spin structure" constrains the image in ways not predicted by previous work of Beauville. Second, we show that for degree d=5, our invariant is the only obstruction for a mapping class to be contained in the image. This requires combining the algebro-geome…
Let $ρ$ be a finite-dimensional faithful representation of a semisimple algebraic group $G$. By means of a deformation argument, we show that there exists a family of Abelian varieties over a smooth and projective curve over the algebraic closure of a prime field of positive characteristic, such that its $\ell$-adic monodromy group covers $G$ and its $\ell$-adic monodromy representation contains $ρ$.
We study the boundary $L_t$ of the Milnor fiber for the reduced holomorphic germs $f:(\Bbb C^3,0) \rightarrow (\Bbb C,0)$ having a non-isolated singularity at $0$. We prove that $L_t$ is a graph manifold by using a new technique of carrousel depending on one parameter varying on a circle. Our results enable one to compare the topology of $L_t$ and of the link of the normalization of $f^{-1}(0)$.
Let X be a smooth complex projective variety. The group of autoequivalences of the derived category of X acts naturally on its singular cohomology H(X, Q) and we denote by Geq(X) the Zariski closure of its image in Gl(H(X, Q)). We study the relation of the Lie algebra LieGeq(X) and the Neron-Severi Lie algebra gNS(X) in case X has trivial canonical line bundle. At the same time for mirror symmetric families of (weakly) Calabi-Yau varieties we consider a conjecture of Kontsevich on the relation between the monodromy of one family and the group Geq(X) for a very general member X of the other fam…
In 1970, Kobayashi conjectured that general hypersurfaces of sufficiently large degree in $P^n$ are hyperbolic. In this paper we prove that a general sufficiently ample hypersurface in a smooth projective variety is hyperbolic. To prove this statement, we construct hypersurfaces satisfying a property which is Zariski open and which implies hyperbolicity. These hypersurfaces are chosen such that the geometry of their higher order jet spaces can be related to the geometry of a universal family of complete intersections. To do so, we introduce a Wronskian construction which associates a (twisted)…
We exhibit an infinite family of discrete subgroups of ${Sp}_4(\mathbb R)$ which have a number of remarkable properties. Our results are established by showing that each group plays ping-pong on an appropriate set of cones. The groups arise as the monodromy of hypergeometric differential equations with parameters $\left(\tfrac{N-3}{2N},\tfrac{N-1}{2N}, \tfrac{N+1}{2N}, \tfrac{N+3}{2N}\right)$ at infinity and maximal unipotent monodromy at zero, for any integer $N\geq 4$. Additionally, we relate the cones used for ping-pong in $\mathbb R^4$ with crooked surfaces, which we then use to exhibit do…
