Classification of higher dimensional algebraic varieties (Q2655424)

Fifteen years ago, an Oberwolfach seminar organized by Y. Miyaoka and T. Peternell surveyed the development of the classification theory of higher dimensional algebraic varieties since \textit{S. Mori} published his foundational paper [Ann. Math. (2) 110, 593--606 (1979; Zbl 0423.14006)]. In the lecture notes of this seminar [\textit{Y. Miyaoka} and \textit{T. Peternell}, Geometry of higher dimensional algebraic varieties. DMV Seminar. 26. Basel: Birkhäuser. (1997; Zbl 0865.14018)]) the authors focused on the theory of rational curves and the classical theorems of the minimal model program like the cone and the contraction theorem. Since the publication of these lecture notes there has been tremendous progress on the minimal model program culminating in the proof of the existence of flips in any dimension by \textit{C. Hacon} and \textit{J. McKernan} [\url{arXiv:math.AG/0507597}] and the finite generation of canonical rings by \textit{C. Birkar, P. Cascini, C. Hacon} and \textit{J. McKernan} [J. Am. Math. Soc. 23, No. 2, 405--468 (2010; Zbl 1210.14019)]. These results are no longer based on precise classification results (like Mori's classification of threefold contractions) but use the positivity of \(\mathbb R\)-divisors, multiplier ideals and very subtle extension results. In the book under review, which is also based on an Oberwolfach Seminar, the authors give a detailed account of these new results and the theory of compact moduli spaces of canonically polarised varieties. \newline The book is organized in three parts, the first containing a general introduction (the case of curves and surfaces and the problems that appear in higher dimension) and the technical preliminaries including the theory of singularities arising naturally in the MMP and moduli problems of varieties of general type. \newline The second part contains complete proofs of the existence of flips, finite generation of the canonical ring and the existence of minimal models for varieties of log-general type. On the way to these landmark results of the minimal model program the authors give an introduction to the techniques of extending pluricanonical forms and non-vanishing, two of the key points that made the recent advances possible. \newline The third part starts with a general introduction to the problem of representing functors and coarse moduli spaces. It continues with a construction of the moduli space of smooth canonically varieties, followed by a discussion of the additional difficulties which appear if we want to construct moduli spaces of varieties of general type which are also proper. The part ends with a chapter on the subvarieties of moduli spaces of general type, including the question of hyperbolicity of these spaces. \newline Let me conclude this short outline of the contents with the remark that the book contains a considerable number of exercises as well as a chapter of hints to solve them. Although the material covered is rather technical, the authors have made quite an effort to write a text that is both an accessible introduction and a useful reference. Since I received it for review it has already proven to be a useful companion, so I can only recommend it to researchers and advanced graduate students interested in this highly active field of mathematics.