Period mappings and differential equations. From \({\mathbb C}\) to \({\mathbb C}_p\). Tôhoku-Hokkaidô lectures in arithmetic geometry. With appendices: A: Rapid course in \(p\)-adic analysis by F. Kato, B: An overview of the theory of \(p\)-adic unifomization by F. Kato, C: \(p\)-adic symmetric domains and Totaro's theorem by N. Tsuzuki (Q1811520)

This monograph is an outgrowth of a series of lectures that the author delivered at Tôhoku University (1998) and at Hokkaidô University (2001), respectively, during two workshops on arithmetic geometry. Its main purpose is to introduce the reader to some of the principles of \(p\)-adic analytic geometry as well as to some aspects of the theory of \(p\)-adic analytic functions and differential equations, thereby focusing on the topic of \(p\)-adic period domains and \(p\)-adic period mappings. As to the methodical strategy underlying his text, the author has tried to follow as closely as possible the complex-analytic theory, and to switch back and forth between the complex and \(p\)-adic context, which makes the exposition highly interesting for both complex geometers and arithmetic geometers. Furthermore, he has chosen the theme of period mappings as the guiding thread of this text because of its historically grown significance. Namely, the idea of period mappings played a central role in nineteenth-century mathematics, ranging from Gauss and Riemann to Klein and Poincaré, in that it not only stimulated the interaction between differential equations, group theory, algebraic geometry, differential geometry, number theory, and analysis situs (topology), but also represented one of the most propelling factors in the early development of these (nowadays fundamental) areas of mathematics. The concepts of a Riemann surface, Abelian integral, hypergeometric differential equation, automorphic function, monodromy group, and uniformizing differential equation stand for these developments in the classical complex context, and the elaboration of their non-Archimedean analogues in \(p\)-adic analysis by J. Tate, B. Dwork, G. Shimura, N. Katz, and others must be seen as one of the greatest achievements of mathematics in the twentieth century. Recent developments indicate that a synthesis between the complex and \(p\)-adic theories, which had been growing apart during the last decades, is gradually emerging, and that period mappings could indeed become a unifying concept in this regard. In this vein, the monograph under review is intended to be a connecting link, mainly by bringing closer the \(p\)-adic theory to its complex ancestor. As to the contents, this monograph consists of three chapters and three appendices, the latter of which being written by different authors. Chapter 1, entitled ``Analytic aspects of \(p\)-adic periods (Analysis)'', is preparatory and introductory in nature. Subdivided into five sections, it deals with the problems of analytic continuation, solving complex differential equations, and periods of Abelian integrals, with emphasis on the \(p\)-adic context. The author discusses the approach to \(p\)-adic geometry by V. G. Berkovich, B. Dwork's theory of \(p\)-adic differential equations, the \(p\)-adic Gauss-Manin connection, and P. Colmez's construction of Abelian \(p\)-adic periods. Chapter 2 serves as an introduction to the geometric theory of \(p\)-adic period mappings developed by \textit{V. G. Drinfeld} in 1976 and \textit{M. Rapoport} and \textit{Th. Zink} [Ann. Math. Stud. 141 (1996; Zbl 0873.14039)]. After a survey on moduli and period mappings (à la Ph. A. Griffiths) for complex varieties, some preliminaries on \(p\)-divisible groups, and a review of Dieudonné modules and crystalline cohomology, the author gives an introduction to moduli problems for \(p\)-divisible groups, \(p\)-adic period domains, the \(p\)-adic period mapping and the Gauss-Manin connection, and he concludes this chapter with applications to the \(p\)-adic uniformization theory for Shimura varieties after Rapoport-Zink and Čerednik-Drinfeld. After this merely geometric part, chapter 3 turns to the group-theoretic aspects under the title ``\(p\)-adic orbifolds and monodromy''. This is no doubt the most advanced and innovating part of the book, and here the introductory notes evolve to an original research monograph. The author gives a very modern presentation of ramified coverings, uniformization, and the Gauss-Riemann-Fuchs-Schwarz theory in the \(p\)-adic context. This includes étale coverings and fundamental groups in \(p\)-adic geometry (à la V. G. Berkovich and A. J. de Jong), tempered fundamental groups (after Y. André himself), local and global monodromy of \(p\)-adic differential equations, new material on non-Archimedean orbifolds, uniformizing \(p\)-adic differential equations, the non-Archimedean Riemann-Hilbert correspondence, \(p\)-adic triangle groups, and the uniformization of Shimura curves. In contrast to the first two, merely introductory chapters, this last and longest chapter provides a systematic exposition of completely new material on \(p\)-adic analysis and geometry. Appendix A, written by \textit{F. Kato}, gives an introduction to \(p\)-adic analysis, incorporating rigid analytic spaces, some formal geometry, and a brief survey on V. G. Berkovich's approach to non-Archimedean analysis. Appendix B, also written by \textit{F. Kato}, provides an overview of the theory of \(p\)-adic uniformization. Appendix C, written by \textit{N. Tsuzuki}, is a short exposition of \(p\)-adic symmetric domains (after Rapoport-Zink) and \textit{B. Totaro}'s work on \(p\)-adic Hodge theory [Duke Math. J. 83, No. 1, 79-104 (1996; Zbl 0873.14019)]. To sum up, this monograph is highly valuable and useful, in that it links classical and modern complex analysis with ultra-modern \(p\)-adic analysis and geometry in a masterly manner, thereby combining a nearly self-contained introduction to the subject with pioneering new results in this direction.