Arakelov inequalities and the uniformization of certain rigid Shimura varieties (Q2466965)

Let \(Y\) be a complex projective manifold, \(S\) be a reduced normal crossing divisor in \(Y\) such that \(\omega_Y(S)\) is nef and ample with respect to \(U\), \(U=Y\setminus S\) and \(f:V\rightarrow U\) be a smooth family of polarized \(g\)-dimensional abelian varieties such that the local monodromy of \(R^1f_*\mathbb C_V\) around the components of \(S\) is unipotent. Let \(\mathbb V\) be a sub-variation of Hodge structures in \(R^1f_*\mathbb C_V\) without unitary direct factor and \((E=E^{1,0}\oplus E^{(0,1)}, \theta)\) be the associated Higgs bundle. In the paper under review, the authors establish the inequality \(\mu(\mathbb E^{1,0})-\mu(\mathbb E^{0,1})\leq\mu(\Omega_Y^1(\log S))\), where the slope function is defined as the degree with respect to \(\omega_Y(S)\) devided by the rank. This is a generalization to higher dimension case of a so-called Arakelov inequality due to \textit{G. Faltings} [Invent. Math. 73, 337--347 (1983; Zbl 0588.14025)] for a smooth projective curve. If the equality is attained, the authors show that both vector bundle \(E^{1,0}\) and \(E^{0,1}\) are semi-stable. The main tools used by the authors are Simpson's correspondence between Higgs bundles and local systems and Yau's uniformization theorem based on the existence of Kähler-Einstein metrics. Denote by \(\varphi:U\rightarrow\mathcal A_g\) the morphism from \(U\) to the moduli stack of polarized \(g\)-dimensional abelian varieties induced by \(f\), assumed to be generically finite. Suppose in addition that the equality \(\mu(\mathbb E^{1,0})-\mu(\mathbb E^{0,1})=\mu(\Omega_Y^1(\log S))\) holds. The authors prove that, if the discriminant of \(\mathbb V\) with respect to \(\omega_Y(S)\) is zero, or if \(\Omega_Y^1(\log S)\) is a direct sum of line bundles, then \(U\) is a rigid Shimura subvariety of \(\mathcal A_g\). This criterion generalizes the authors' several previous results such as [J. Differ. Geom. 66, No. 2, 233--287 (2004; Zbl 1078.11043)] and [J. Algebr. Geom. 14, No. 3, 481--528 (2005; Zbl 1086.14029)]