Compact Kähler manifolds with no projective specialization (Q2162473)

The paper under review strengthens the counterexamples to the Kodaira problem obtained by the author in [Invent. Math. 157, No. 2, 329--343 (2004; Zbl 1065.32010); J. Differ. Geom. 72, No. 1, 43--71 (2006; Zbl 1102.32008)]. More precisely, a compact complex manifold \(Z\) is said to have a \textit{projective specialization} if there exists a proper flat holomorphic map \(\mathcal X \to B\) as above such that one fibre \(\mathcal X_0\) is projective while some other fibre \(\mathcal X_b\) is isomorphic to \(Z\). In this paper, a compact Kähler manifold \(X\) of dimension \(\geq 7\) and a compact Kähler manifold \(Y\) of dimension \(\geq 5\) are constructed with the property that there exists \textit{no} projective specialization of \(X\) or of any compact complex manifold \(Z\) homeomorphic to \(Y\) (\(Z\) is not assumed to be Kähler). The constructions of \(X\) and \(Y\) are slight variants of those in [loc. cit.]. The proof of the non-existence of the acclaimed projective specializations relies on the claim that, under the assumptions that \begin{itemize} \item (if \(Z\) is Kähler) the Hodge structure of the cohomology algebra \(H^*(Z, \mathbb Q)\) is rigid under small deformations of \(Z\) and the automorphisms \emph{of the Hodge structure} on \(H^*(Z, \mathbb Q)\) are semi-simple, or \item (if \(Z\) is not assumed to be Kähler) the automorphisms of \(H^*(Z, \mathbb Q)\) are semi-simple (a stronger assumption than the Kähler case), \end{itemize} the existence of a projective specialization of \(Z\) implies that \(H^*(Z, \mathbb Q)\) admits a \textit{polarizable} Hodge structure. The constructed manifolds \(X\) and \(Y\) satisfy either one of the assumptions and their cohomology algebras carry no \textit{polarizable} Hodge structure, hence the desired non-existence results.