Extension of period maps by polyhedral fans (Q2161304): Difference between revisions

For a variation of Hodge structure coming from a geometric family with singular fibers over discriminant locus, Deligne observed that the holomorphic vector bundle fibered by cohomology of smooth projective varieties can be extended holomorphically across a singular locus of simple-normal-crossing type, see [\textit{P. Deligne}, AMS/IP Stud. Adv. Math. 1, 683--699 (1997; Zbl 0939.14005)]. \textit{W. Schmid} [Invent. Math. 22, 211--319 (1973; Zbl 0278.14003)] proved the fundamental result that the degeneration of Hodge structures, and the resulting \emph{limiting mixed Hodge structures}, have essential relations with the unipotent monodromy of the family, as described by the nilpotent and \(\mathrm{SL}_2\)-orbit theorems. A result, by Baily and Borel, states that for a Hermitian symmetric domain \(D\) and an arithmetic subgroup \(\Gamma\leq Hol(D)^+\), the space \(\Gamma\backslash D\) admits a compactification by adding rational boundary components (or ``cusps'') [\textit{W. L. Baily jun.} and \textit{A. Borel}, Ann. Math. (2) 84, 442--528 (1966; Zbl 0154.08602)]. The resulting \emph{Baily-Borel Compactification} \(\Gamma\backslash D^*\) is a projective variety, usually highly singular. To improve the properties of this compactification, [\textit{A. Ash} et al., Smooth compactifications of locally symmetric varieties. With the collaboration of Peter Scholze. 2nd ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press (2010; Zbl 1209.14001)] introduced the \emph{toroidal compactification}, which depends on a choice of \(\Gamma\)-admissable polyhedral fan \(\Sigma\). \textit{K. Kato} and \textit{S. Usui} [Classifying spaces of degenerating polarized Hodge structures. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press (2009; Zbl 1172.14002)] developed a theory of partial compactifications for quotients of period domains \(D\) by arithmetic groups \(\Gamma\), in an attempt to generalize the toroidal compactifications of Ash-Mumford-Rapoport-Tai to non-classical cases. Their partial compactifications, which aim to fully compactify the images of period maps, rely on a choice of fan which is strongly compatible with \(\Gamma\). In particular, they conjectured the existence of a \textit{complete} fan, which would serve to simultaneously compactify all period maps of a given type. A long standing question, resolved by [\textit{K. Kato} and \textit{S. Usui}, Classifying spaces of degenerating polarized Hodge structures. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press (2009; Zbl 1172.14002)], has been to enlarge \(D\) to a space \(D^{\Sigma}\) of extended Hodge structures with a set of natural properties. This construction, which is based on the work of Cattani-Kaplan-Schmid, constructs \(D^{\Sigma}/\Gamma\)as a ``fine moduli space for polarized logarithmic Hodge structures with \(\Gamma\)-level structures''. Although not an analytic variety in the usual sense, holomorphic maps to it are well-defined and \(D^{\Sigma}/\Gamma\) does have an infinitesimal structure that allows one to define the differential of the period map at the boundary. The basic idea is to define boundary components of period domains as parameter spaces for multi-variable nilpotent orbits. By putting proper topological structures on the resulting spaces (to ``glue in'' these boundary components), one can provide compactifications whose global structure is encoded by some polyhedral fan of nilpotent elements. Kato and Usui also made conjectures about the complete fan and complete weak fan which, if proved to be true, will guarantee compactification for the image of any period map into \(\Gamma\backslash D\), as such fan or weak fan is, intuitively speaking, the collection of all \(\Gamma\)-compatible nilpotent cones. The conjecture about the existence of complete fan has been verified by Kato and Usui themselves (based on [\textit{A. Ash} et al., Smooth compactifications of locally symmetric varieties. With the collaboration of Peter Scholze. 2nd ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press (2010; Zbl 1209.14001)]) for classical cases. However, for non-classical cases, Watanabe provided a counterexample in [\textit{K. Watanabe}, J. Math. Kyoto Univ. 48, No. 4, Article ID 11, p. 951--962 (2008; Zbl 1185.14007)]. The paper constructs a fan which compactifies the image of a period map arising from a particular two-parameter family of Calabi-Yau threefolds studied by Hosono and Takagi, with Hodge numbers \((1,2,2,1)\). On the other hand, we disprove the existence of complete fans in some general cases, including the \((1,2,2,1)\) case.