The LLV decomposition of hyper-Kähler cohomology (the known cases and the general conjectural behavior) (Q2122073)

The compact irreducible hyperkähler manifolds are among the most studied objects in complex and algebraic geometry. The known examples are scarce and the search for more topological restrictions is well justified. By the Global Torelli Theorem due to [\textit{M. Verbitsky}, Duke Math. J. 162, No. 15, 2929--2986 (2013; Zbl 1295.53042)], the Hodge structure on the second cohomology essentially determines the manifold. On the other side the existence of Kähler metric and holomorphic symplectic form lead to generalization of the Hard Lefschetz Theorem. For a hyperkähler \(X\) in [\textit{E. Looijenga} and \textit{V. A. Lunts}, Invent. Math. 129, No. 2, 361--412 (1997; Zbl 0890.53030); Funkts. Anal. Prilozh. 24, No. 3, 70--71 (1990; Zbl 0709.53047)] an action of the Lie algebra \(so(4, b_2-2)\) on the total cohomology \(H^*(X)\) is defined. The decomposition of \(H^*(X)\) into irreducible components under this action is the main subject of the paper under review. The authors call it LLV decomposition and their first main result is a description of the LLV decompositions for all known compact examples. As a consequence they obtain a generalization of the known formulas for the Euler characteric, the Betti numbers, and the Hodge numbers of the Beauville's examples due to \textit{L. Göttsche} [Math. Ann. 286, No. 1--3, 193--207 (1990; Zbl 0679.14007)]. The component of LLV decomposition which contains the second cohomology is called Verbitsky's component. The second part of the paper considers a conjecture which is generalization of a conjecture due to \textit{Y. Nagai} [Math. Z. 258, No. 2, 407--426 (2008; Zbl 1140.14008)] which esentially states that the Verbitsky's component is dominant in the LLV decomposition (for the natural partial order on the dominant weights of the irreducible representations). The authors prove the conjecture for the known examples. An application of the results in this paper is in another work by the second and third author [Bull. Soc. Math. Fr. 148, No. 3, 467--480 (2020; Zbl 1457.14090)] where it is shown that the generalized Nagai conjecture leads to upper bounds on the second Betti number of \(X\) in terms of the dimension of \(X\), or in terms of the odd Betti numbers of \(X\) if they are nonzero.