Infinitesimal variations of Hodge structure at infinity (Q1018074)

In the fundamental paper [\textit{J. Carlson, M. Green, P. Griffiths} and \textit{J. Harris} [Compos. Math. 50, 109--205 (1983; Zbl 0531.14006)], Carlson et al. introduced the idea of infinitesimal variation of Hodge structure (IVHS) as a way to associate to a polarized variation of Hodge structure (PVHS) an integral element of the corresponding Griffiths' exterior differential system. Similarly, in the paper under review, to any degenerating PVHS it is associated an infinitesimal variation of Hodge structure at infinity (IVI). Using the local description of PVHS near infinity [\textit{W. Schmid}, Invent. Math. 22, 211--319 (1973; Zbl 0278.14003)], it is proved that every IVI integrates to a PVHS and that every IVI is a limit of IVHS at infinity. It is also showed that IVIs encode somehow more refined information of a PVHS than an IVHS does for finite points, in the sense that, even though the upper bounds for the maximal dimension of an IVHS remain valid and sharp for IVIs in a given period domain, considering only IVIs with underlying particular mixed Hodge structures or nilpotent cones leads to lower maximal dimensions.