Viehweg's hyperbolicity conjecture for families with maximal variation (Q2356909)

Let \(f^\circ: Y^\circ \rightarrow X^\circ\) be a family of complex projective manifolds of general type (or more generally projective manifolds admitting a good minimal model). We say that the variation of the family is maximal if for a general point \(x \in X^0\) there exist at most countably many \(x' \in X^0\) such that \(Y_x\) is birational to \(Y_{x'}\). A famous conjecture of Viehweg claims that for a family of maximal variation the manifold \(X^0\) is of log-general type, i.e., for a compactification \(X^0 \subset X\) such that \(B:=X \setminus X^0\) is a normal crossings divisor, the Kodaira dimension \(\kappa(X, K_X+B)\) is equal to the dimension \(\dim X\). In this paper the authors prove Viehweg's conjecture. \newline This generalises results of \textit{S. Kebekus} and \textit{S. J. Kovács} for low-dimensional bases [Invent. Math. 172, No. 3, 657--682 (2008; Zbl 1140.14031); Duke Math. J. 155, No. 1, 1--33 (2010; Zbl 1208.14027)], but also the theorem of \textit{F. Campana} and \textit{M. Păun} for families of projective manifolds with ample canonical divisor [Ann. Inst. Fourier 65, No. 2, 835--861 (2015; Zbl 1338.14012)]. While these earlier results rely on the Viehweg-Zuo sheaves introduced in [\textit{E. Viehweg} and \textit{K. Zuo}, in: Complex geometry. Collection of papers dedicated to Hans Grauert on the occasion of his 70th birthday. Berlin: Springer. 279--328 (2002; Zbl 1006.14004)], this paper is based on the construction of Hodge modules and associated Higgs bundles having certain positivity properties. As a consequence of these Hodge theoretic considerations the authors construct a Viehweg-Zuo sheaf \(\mathcal H \hookrightarrow (\Omega_X(\log B))^{\otimes s}\) that is big. Combined with the recent positivity result for the logarithmic cotangent bundle \(\Omega_X(\log B)\) by \textit{F. Campana} and \textit{M. Pǎun} [``Foliations with positive slopes and birational stability of orbifold cotangent bundles'', Preprint, \url{arXiv:1508.02456}] this implies the main theorem. The introduction of the paper gives a detailed account of the various technical elements that enter in the proof this important breakthrough.