Poles of maximal order of motivic zeta functions (Q254757)

As main results in this paper, the authors prove a conjecture of Veys on poles of maximal order of topological/motivic zeta functions and a related result concerning the structure, with respect to a natural weight function, of the Berkovich skeleton associated with a degeneration of Calabi-Yau varieties. Let \(k\) be a field of characteristic zero, \(X\) a connected smooth \(k\)-variety and \(f\) a non-constant regular function on \(X\). The motivic zeta function, and its specialization the topological zeta function, at a point \(x\) of \(f=0\), is an important and rich singularity invariant of \(f\), as is clear from the works of Denef-Loeser and many others. It is obvious from formulae in terms of an embedded resolution of \(f=0\) that poles of these zeta functions have order at most \(n=\dim X\). The conjecture of Veys states that, if \(s_0\) is a pole of order \(n\), then \(-s_0\) is the log canonical threshold of \(f\) at \(x\). From geometric point of view, it is in fact a conjecture on the structure of the dual complex associated to an embedded resolution of \(f=0\), with respect to a natural weight function. The conjecture was only known for \(n=2\) and in the special case of Newton non-degenerate polynomials \(f\). Here the authors prove it in full generality, with as main method of proof a well chosen instance of the Minimal Model Program. In fact, the main geometric ideas in that proof lead to the second main result. Let now \(X\) be a geometrically connected smooth projective \(k((t))\)-scheme with trivial canonical sheaf, and take a volume form \(\omega\) on \(X\). Let \(\mathcal X\) be a simple normal crossings model of \(X\) over \(k[[t]]\). Consider the Berkovich analytification \(X^{\mathrm{an}}\) of \(X\) with its natural weight function \(\mathrm{wt}_\omega\). The dual complex of the special fibre of \(\mathcal X\) admits a canonical embedding \(Sk(\mathcal X)\) in \(X^{\mathrm{an}}\) on the whole of \(X^{\mathrm{an}}\). (This minimal value corresponds in spirit with the log canonical threshold). This result confirms the expectation that \(\mathrm{wt}_\omega\) induces some ``flow'' on \(X^{\mathrm{an}}\) in the direction of decreasing values of \(\mathrm{wt}_\omega\) that contracts \(X^{\mathrm{an}}\) to the subspace where \(\mathrm{wt}_\omega\) takes its minimal value. In this direction the authors also prove an additional statement concerning ``simultaneous collapses'' to that subspace, as well as an analogous statement on the dual complex in the first main result.