Degree growth of meromorphic surface maps (Q2475023)

This article deals with the dynamics of meromorphic self-maps of compact Kähler surfaces \(F : X \to X\) : the authors study the degree growth of the iterates of \(F\) with respect to a fixed Kähler class \(\omega\). Let \(\lambda_1 := \lim_n (\deg_\omega F^n)^{1/n}\) and \(\lambda_2\) be the topological degree of \(F\). The main result is that if \(\lambda_1^2 > \lambda_2\), then \(\deg_\omega F^n = b \lambda_1^n + O(\lambda_2^{n/2})\) for some \(b = b(\omega) > 0\) when \(n\) tends to infinity. In the case of bimeromorphic maps of surfaces, \textit{J. Diller} and \textit{C. Favre} [Am. J. Math. 123, No. 6, 1135--1169 (2001; Zbl 1112.37308)] proved the existence of stable meromorphic models: the degree growth of \(F^n\) is understood in that context by studying the spectral properties of the action of \(F\) on the Dolbeault cohomology \(H^{1,1}\). In the present general (non invertible) case, the authors employ a different approach for the proof: they consider all the bimeromorphic models of \(X\) at the same time and study the action of \(F\) on the Riemann-Zariski space of \(X\).