Berkovich spaces and tubular descent (Q1935186)

Let \(X\) be a scheme of finite type over a field \(k\). Let \(Z\) be a closed subscheme of \(X\) and denote by \(U\) its complement. The paper under review deals with the problem of reconstructing a coherent sheaf over \(X\) from its restrictions to \(U\) and to \(\mathfrak{X}\), where \(\mathfrak{X} = \hat{X}_{Z}\) is the formal completion of \(X\) along \(Z\). To this end, the authors introduce a space \(W\), which should be thought of as a punctured infinitesimal neighborhood of \(Z\) in \(X\). Their main result can now be expressed as an equivalence of categories \[ \mathrm{Coh}(X) \simeq \mathrm{Coh}(U) \times_{\mathrm{Coh}(W)} \mathrm{Coh}(\mathfrak{X}), \] where \(\mathrm{Coh}(S)\) denotes the category of coherent sheaves on the space \(S\). The authors remark that this result is only truly new in the case where \(Z\) has a non-trivial global geometry with respect to \(X\), {e.g.} a curve with positive self-intersection in \(\mathbb{P}^2\). The space \(W\) is realized as an analytic space, namely a Berkovich space over the field \(k\) endowed with the trivial absolute value. It has already appeared in a special case in the correspondence between Berkovich and Drinfeld. It has also been discovered and used independently by \textit{A. Thuillier} [Manuscr. Math. 123, No. 4, 381--451 (2007; Zbl 1134.14018)].