Homological type of geometric transitions (Q2430735)

A geometric transition between two Calabi-Yau threefolds \(Y\) and \(\widetilde Y\) is the process \(T(Y,\overline Y, \widetilde Y)\) obtained by ``composing'' a birational contraction \(Y \to \overline Y\) to a normal threefold \(\overline Y\), with a complex smoothing of \(\overline Y\) to \(\widetilde Y\). The paper concentrates on the changes in topology (reflected in Betti and Hodge numbers) induced by a geometric transition.