Non-rational centers of log canonical singularities (Q1946096)

In the minimal model program, the main classes of singularities of pairs \((X,B)\) are: terminal, canonical, log terminal, and log canonical. The first three classes are rational and hence Cohen-Macaulay (CM). However, log canonical singularities are neither, in general. (Note however that log canonical singularities are Du Bois [\textit{J. Kollár} and \textit{S. J. Kovács}, J. Am. Math. Soc. 23, No. 3, 791--813 (2010; Zbl 1202.14003)]). In the paper under review, the authors study rationality and depth conditions of non-klt centers of a log canonical pair \((X,B)\). Similar results were obtained by S. J. Kovács using different methods in [\textit{S. J. Kovács}, Pure Appl. Math. Q. 7, No. 4, 1495--1515 (2011; Zbl 1316.14031)]. Let \(X\) be an algebraic variety over an algebraically closed field of characteristic zero and let \(f: Y\rightarrow X\) be a resolution. The sheaves \(R^if_*\mathcal{O}_X\), \(i\geq0\), are coherent on \(X\) and do not depend on the choice of the resolution. A normal variety \(X\) has rationality singularities if \(R^if_*\mathcal{O}_X=0\) for all \(i>0\). In the paper under discussion, the authors study the non-rational centers, which are the subvarieties defined by the associated primes of \(R^if_*\mathcal{O}_X\), \(i>0\). (See Definition 1.1.) The first main result of the paper, Theorem 1.2, asserts that: For a log canonical pair \((X,B)\), every non-rational center of \(X\) is a non-klt center of \((X,B)\). Note that the closed set of non-rational singularities is a subset of the closed set of non-klt singularities, but the theorem is not obvious. For the depth condition, instead of Serre's condition \(S_n\), the authors study the condition \(C_n\), where \(C\) stands for a ``closed point.'' A coherent sheaf \(\mathcal{F}\) on \(X\) satisfies condition \(C_n\) if for every closed point \(x\in\) \text{Supp}\((\mathcal{F})\), one has \text{depth}\( (\mathcal{F}_x)\geq n\). Note that if \(n\leq\dim X\), then \(S_n\) is stronger than \(C_n\). However, there is an example where \(X\) is \(C_n\) but not \(S_n\) (Example 2.2). The condition \(C_n\) is convenient to work with for projective varieties due to the following simple criterion: For \(\mathcal{F}\) a coherent sheaf on a projective scheme \(X\) with an ample invertible sheaf \(L\), \(\mathcal{F}\) is \(C_n\) if and only if \(\mathrm{H}^i(X,\mathcal{F}(-sL))=0\) for any \(i<\dim X\) and \(s\gg0\) (Lemma 2.3, or \textit{R. Hartshorne} [Algebraic geometry. Graduate Texts in Mathematics. 52. New York-Heidelberg-Berlin: Springer-Verlag. XVI. (1977; Zbl 0367.14001) III, 7.6]). The second main result of the paper under review, Theorem 1.5, asserts: For \(X\) a normal variety of \(\dim X\geq d+2\). Assume that the pair \((X,B)\) is log canonical and that every non-klt centers of \((X,B)\) has dimension \(\geq d\). Then for each \(i>0\), the sheaf \(R^if_*\mathcal{O}_X\) is \(C_{d+1-i}\) and \(X\) is \(C_{d+2}\). The proof uses a special resolution \(f:Y\rightarrow X\) that factors through a ``dlt-blowup'' \(f':Y'\rightarrow X\) of \((X,B)\), which is constructed by running a minimal model program over \(X\). See Theorem 3.1 and Proposition 3.7. To get the first result, a vanishing theorem for global embedded simple normal crossing pairs of \textit{F. Ambro} [Proc. Steklov Inst. Math. 240, 214--233 (2003); translation from Tr. Mat. Inst. Im. V. A. Steklova 240, 220--239 (2003; Zbl 1081.14021)] and \textit{O. Fujino} [``Introduction to the log minimal model program for log canonical pairs'', \url{arXiv:0907.1506}] is applied. For the second result, the method of \textit{J. Kollár} [Ann. Math. (2) 124, 171--202 (1986; Zbl 0605.14014)] is applied to the extent of variation of mixed Hodge structures in [\textit{Kawamata, Y.}, ``On algebraic fiber spaces'', \url{arXiv:math/0107160}, ``Semipositivity theorem for reducible algebraic fiber spaces'', \url{arXiv:0911.1670}, ``Hodge theory on generalized normal crossing varieties'', \url{arXiv:1104.0524}].