On occult period maps (Q1935343)

Let \(\pi:X \to S\) be a family of smooth projective complex varieties. The usual period maps associate to each point \(s\) of \(S\) the (polarized) Hodge structure of the fiber \(\pi^{-1}(s)\); providing in this way a map from \(S\) to an orbifold quotient \(D/\Gamma\), where \(D\) is some period domain and \(\Gamma\) is a discrete subgroup of its group of automorphisms. In various papers, the so called ``hidden period maps'' have been constructed in some cases; these are maps whose target spaces are quotients of the complex unit ball by a suitable arithmetical discrete subgroup of its automorphisms. In the paper under review, that authors describe these hidden period maps in four examples (cubic surfaces, cubic threefolds, genus three and four non-hyperelliptic curves) and also describe the complement of the corresponding images in terms of some special divisors. These maps (morphisms), which are primary defined over \(\mathbb{C}\), are between objects defined over a fixed imaginary-quadratic extensions \(k\) of \(\mathbb{Q}\). It is proved that these morphisms are in fact also defined over \(k\).