We provide a gentle introduction to arc spaces, motivic integration and stringy invariants. We explain the basic concepts and first results, including the p-adic number theoretic pre-history, and we provide concrete examples.
The text is a slightly adapted version of the 'extended abstract' of the author's talks at the 12th MSJ-IRI "Singularity Theory and Its Applications" (2003) in Sapporo. At the end we included a list of various recent results.
We reformulate the construction of Kontsevich's completion and use Lawson homology to define many new motivic invariants. We show that the dimensions of subspaces generated by algebraic cycles of the cohomology groups of two $K$-equivalent varieties are the same, which implies that several conjectures of algebraic cycles are $K$-statements. We define stringy functions which enable us to ask stringy Grothendieck standard conjecture and stringy Hodge conjecture. We prove a projective bundle theorem in morphic cohomology for trivial bundles over any normal quasi-projective varieties.
We show that for a hypersurface Batyrev's stringy E-function can be seen as a residue of the Hodge zeta function, a specialization of the motivic zeta function of Denef and Loeser. This is a nice application of inversion of adjunction. If an affine hypersurface is given by a polynomial that is non-degenerate with respect to its Newton polyhedron, then the motivic zeta function and thus the stringy E-function can be computed from this Newton polyhedron (by work of Artal, Cassou-Nogues, Luengo and Melle based on an algorithm of Denef and Hoornaert). We use this procedure to obtain an easy way to…
For arbitrary connected reductive group G we consider the motivic integral over the arc space of an arbitrary Q-Gorenstein horospherical G-variety associated with a colored fan and prove a formula for the stringy E-function of a horospherical variety X which generalizes the one for toric varieties. We remark that in contrast to toric varieties the stringy E-function of a Gorenstein horospherical variety X may be not a polynomial if some cones in the fan of X have nonempty sets of colors. Using the stringy E-function, we can formulate and prove a new smoothness criterion for locally factorial h…
We introduce a formal integral on the system of varieties mapping properly and birationally to a given one, with value in an associated Chow group. Applications include comparisons of Chern numbers of birational varieties, new birational invariants, `stringy' Chern classes, and a `celestial' zeta function specializing to the topological zeta function. In its simplest manifestation, the integral gives a new expression for Chern-Schwartz-MacPherson classes of possibly singular varieties, placing them into a context in which a `change of variable' formula holds. The formalism has points of contac…
We prove that the moduli spaces of twisted $\mathrm{SL}_n$ and $\mathrm{PGL}_n$-Higgs bundles on a smooth projective curve have the same (stringy) class in the Grothendieck ring of rational Chow motives. On the level of Hodge numbers this was conjectured by Hausel and Thaddeus, and recently proven by Groechenig, Ziegler and the second author. To adapt their argument, which relies on p-adic integration, we use a version of motivic integration with values in rational Chow motives and the geometry of Néron models to evaluate such integrals on Hitchin fibers.
In this paper we determine the stringy motivic volume of log terminal horospherical $G$-varieties of complexity one, where $G$ is a connected reductive linear algebraic group. The stringy motivic volume of a log terminal variety is an invariant of singularities which was introduced by Batyrev and plays an important role in mirror symmetry for Calabi--Yau varieties. A horospherical $G$-variety of complexity one is a normal $G$-variety which is equivariantly birational to a product $C \times G/H$, where $C$ is a smooth projective curve and the closed subgroup $H$ contains a maximal unipotent sub…
We elaborate notions of integration over the space of arcs factorized by the natural $C^*$-action and over the space of non-parametrized arcs (branches). There are offered two motivic versions of the zeta function of the classical monodromy transformation of a germ of an analytic function on a smooth space. We indicate a direct formula which connects the naive motivic zeta function of J. Denef and F. Loeser with the classical monodromy zeta function.
In this paper we study some new theories of characteristic homology classes for singular complex algebraic (or compactifiable analytic) spaces. We introduce a motivic Chern class transformation mC_{*}: K_{0}(var/X)-> G_{0}(X)[y], which generalizes the total λ-class of the cotangent bundle to singular spaces. Here K_{0}(var/X) is the relative Grothendieck group of complex algebraic varieties over X as introduced and studied by Looijenga and Bittner in relation to motivic integration, and G_{0}(X) is the Grothendieck group of coherent sheaves of O_{X}-modules. We define a natural transformation …
We investigate connections between Lipschitz geometry of real algebraic varieties and properties of their arc spaces. For this purpose we develop motivic integration in the real algebraic set-up. We construct a motivic measure on the space of real analytic arcs. We use this measure to define a real motivic integral which admits a change of variables formula not only for the birational but also for generically one-to-one Nash maps. As a consequence we obtain an inverse mapping theorem which holds for continuous rational maps and, more generally, for generically arc-analytic maps. These maps app…
Motivic measure on the space of functions was introduced by Campillo, Delgado and Gusein-Zade as an analog of the motivic measure on the space of arcs . In this paper we prove that the measure on the space of functions can be related to the motivic measure on the space of arcs by a factor, which can be defined explicitly in geometric terms. This provides a possibility to rewrite motivic integrals over the space of functions as integrals over the union of all symmetric powers of the space of arcs.
We define invariants of the blow-Nash equivalence of real analytic function germs, in a similar way that the motivic zeta functions of Denef & Loeser. As a key ingredient, we extend the virtual Betti numbers, which were known for real algebraic sets, as a generalized Euler characteristics for projective constructible arc-symmetrics sets. Actually we prove more: the virtual Betti numbers are not only algebraic invariant, but also Nash-invariant of arc-symmetric sets. Our zeta functions enable to sketch the blow-Nash equivalence classes of Brieskorn polynomials of two variables.
We study the scheme of formal arcs on a singular algebraic variety and its images under truncations. We prove a rationality result for the Poincare series of these images which is an analogue of the rationality of the Poincare series associated to p-adic points on a p-adic variety. The main tools which are used are semi-algebraic geometry in spaces of power series and motivic integration (a notion introduced by M. Kontsevich). In particular we develop the theory of motivic integration for semi-algebraic sets of formal arcs on singular algebraic varieties, we prove a change of variable formula …
A functional equation for the motivic integral corresponding to the Milnor number of an arc is derived using the Denef-Loeser formula for the change of variables. Its solution is a function of five auxiliary parameters, it is unique up to multiplication by a constant and there is a simple recursive algorithm to find its coefficients. The method is universal enough and gives, for example, equations for the integral corresponding to the intersection number over the space of pairs of arcs and over the space of unordered tuples of arcs.
To a Nash function germ, we associate a zeta function similar to the one introduced by J. Denef and F. Loeser. Our zeta function is a formal power series with coefficients in the Grothendieck ring $\mathcal{M}$ of $\mathcal{AS}$-sets up to $\mathbb{R}^*$-equivariant $\mathcal{AS}$-bijections over $\mathbb{R}^*$, an analog of the Grothendieck ring constructed by G. Guibert, F. Loeser and M. Merle. This zeta function generalizes the previous construction of G. Fichou but thanks to its richer structure it allows us to get a convolution formula and a Thom-Sebastiani type formula. We show that our …
We present a general, functorial approach to Motivic Integration for separated schemes of finite type in lieu of recent work by Hans Schoutens on the subject. Presented is a change of variables formula and a hierarchy of stability properties which are closely connected to the integrability of Motivic functions for schemes. Most notably, we prove that if a scheme has smooth reduction then it has a natural geometric definition of motivic volume in the Grothendick ring of the formal motivic site.
We introduce a quotient of the Grothendieck ring of varieties by identifying classes of universally homeomorphic varieties. We show that the standard realization morphisms factor through this quotient, and we argue that it is the correct value ring for the theory of motivic integration on formal schemes and rigid varieties in mixed characteristic. The present note is an excerpt of a detailed survey paper which will be published in the proceedings of the conference "Motivic integration and its interactions with model theory and non-archimedean geometry" (ICMS, 2008).
Through a cascade of generalizations, we develop a theory of motivic integration which works uniformly in all non-archimedean local fields of characteristic zero, overcoming some of the difficulties related to ramification and small residue field characteristics. We define a class of functions, called functions of motivic exponential class, which we show to be stable under integration and under Fourier transformation, extending results and definitions from previous papers. We prove uniform results related to rationality and to various kinds of loci. A key ingredient is a refined form of Denef-…
We present a decomposition of the space of twisted arcs of a toric stack. As a consequence, we give a combinatorial description of the motivic integral associated to a torus-invariant divisor of a toric stack.
We show how formal and rigid geometry can be used in the theory of complex singularities, and in particular in the study of the Milnor fibration and the motivic zeta function. We introduce the so-called analytic Milnor fiber associated to the germ of a morphism f from a smooth complex algebraic variety X to the affine line. This analytic Milnor fiber is a smooth rigid variety over the field of Laurent series C((t)). Its etale cohomology coincides with the singular cohomology of the classical topological Milnor fiber of f; the monodromy transformation is given by the Galois action. Moreover, th…
In what follows, we are interested in an extension of a theorem of Nicholas Katz, which will be useful in studying the cohomology of generalized arc spaces develop by Hans Schoutens. As is well known, one is typically interested in the motivic volume of a definable subset of $\mathcal{X} \times X \times \mathbb{Z}^n$ where $\mathcal{X}$ is a scheme over $k((t))$ and $X$ the special fiber of $\mathcal{X}$ . Schoutens has introduced the possibility of developing a motivic integration for limit points other than $k[[t]]$.
We introduce spaces of exponential constructible functions in the motivic setting for which we construct direct image functors in the absolute and relative cases. This allows us to define a motivic Fourier transformation for which we get various inversion statements. We define also motivic Schwartz-Bruhat spaces on which motivic Fourier transformation induces an isomorphism. Our motivic integrals specialize to non archimedian integrals. We give a general transfer principle comparing identities between functions defined by integrals over local fields of characteristic zero, resp. positive, havi…
We propose a suitable substitute for the classical Grothendieck ring of an algebraically closed field, in which any quasi-projective scheme is represented, while maintaining its non-reduced structure. This yields a more subtle invariant, called the schemic Grothendieck ring, in which we can formulate a form of integration resembling Kontsevich's motivic integration via arc schemes. In view of its more functorial properties, we can present a characteristic-free proof of the rationality of the geometric Igusa zeta series for certain hypersurfaces, thus generalizing the ground-breaking work on mo…
We give a new proof - not using resolution of singularities - of a formula of Denef and the second author expressing the Lefschetz number of iterates of the monodromy of a function on a smooth complex algebraic variety in terms of the Euler characteristic of a space of truncated arcs. Our proof uses l-adic cohomology of non-archimedean spaces, motivic integration and the Lefschetz fixed point formula for finite order automorphisms. We also consider a generalization due to Nicaise and Sebag and at the end of the paper we discuss connections with the motivic Serre invariant and the motivic Milno…
We introduce spaces of exponential constructible functions in the motivic setting for which we construct direct image functors in the absolute and relative cases. This allows us to define a motivic Fourier transformation for which we get various inversion statements. We define also motivic Schwartz-Bruhat spaces on which motivic Fourier transformation induces an isomorphism. Our motivic integrals specialize to non archimedian integrals. We give a general transfer principle comparing identities between functions defined by integrals over local fields of characteristic zero, resp. positive, havi…
We study loci of arcs on a smooth variety defined by order of contact with a fixed subscheme. Specifically, we establish a Nash-type correspondence showing that the irreducible components of these loci arise from (intersections of) exceptional divisors in a resolution of singularities. We show also that these loci account for all the valuations determined by irreducible cylinders in the arc space. Along the way, we recover in an elementary fashion-without using motivic integration-results of the third author relating singularities to arc spaces. Moreover, we extend these results to give a jet-…
We study endomorphisms of complete Noetherian local rings in the context of motivic integration. Using the notion of an auto-arc space, we introduce the (reduced) auto-Igusa zeta series at a point, which appears to measure the degree to which a variety is not smooth that point. We conjecture a closed formula in the case of curves with one singular point, and we provide explicit formulas for this series in the case of the cusp and the node. Using the work of Denef and Loeser, one can show that this series will often be rational. These ideas were obtained through extensive calculations in Sage. …
We use the theory of motivic integration for singular spaces to give a characterization of minimal log discrepencies in terms of the codimension of certain subsets of spaces of arcs. This is done for arbitrary pairs $(X,Y)$, with $X$ normal and Q-Gorenstein. As a first application, we prove a precise version of Inversion of Adjunction, in the case when the ambient variety is smooth. Another application concerns the semicontinuity of minimal log discrepancies on smooth varieties.
