A gem of the modular universe (Q2736217)

\textit{B. Hunt}, in the book: ``The geometry of some special arithmetic quotients'', Lect. Notes Math. 1637 (1996; Zbl 0904.14025)], initiated a program for studying projective embeddings of arithmetic quotients of bounded symmetric domains. The paper under review, which might be viewed as a sequel of this book, develops the methods begun there in more detail and derives some new results.NEWLINENEWLINENEWLINEThe thesis under review has four chapters. Chapter 1 introduces a few varieties, among them \({\mathcal S}_3\) and \({\mathcal N}_5\), which are necessary for the presentation of chapter 2. The fourfold \({\mathcal I}_5\subset \mathbb{P}^5\), introduced in chapter 2, was discovered by the author in collaboration with \textit{Duco van Straten}: If \({\mathcal L}\) is the set of 27 lines on a cubic surface, the invariant quintic fourfold \({\mathcal I}_5 \subset\mathbb{P}^5\) is the unique invariant hypersurface of degree 5 under the natural action of \(\Aut({\mathcal L}) \simeq W(E_6)\) on \(\mathbb{P}^5\). Then, the rich geometry of the fourfold \({\mathcal I}_5\) is presented; the results were obtained by the author, partly in collaboration with I. Dolgachev, B. van Geemen and M. Yoshida. NEWLINENEWLINENEWLINEIn chapter 3 one gives a self-contained exposition of the theory of ball quotients, i.e. quotients of the complex hyperbolic space. The main object of study are subball quotients. The author's contributions to the theory are the generalization of the notion of relative proportionality to the non-compact case and criteria for identifying ball quotients.NEWLINENEWLINENEWLINEFinally in chapter 4 one applies the results of chapter 3 to give proofs that a series of varieties are ball quotients: NEWLINENEWLINENEWLINEThe following varieties are birational to compactifications of ball quotients:NEWLINENEWLINENEWLINE1. The Segre cubic threefold \({\mathcal S}_3\);NEWLINENEWLINENEWLINE2. The Cayley cubic surface \({\mathcal C}\);NEWLINENEWLINENEWLINE3. Another surface related to the arrangement Ceva\((2,3)\);NEWLINENEWLINENEWLINE4. A threefold related to the arrangement \({\mathcal A}(W(D_4))\); NEWLINENEWLINENEWLINE5. The Nieto quintic \({\mathcal N}_5\);NEWLINENEWLINENEWLINE6. The invariant quintic fourfold \({\mathcal I}_5\).NEWLINENEWLINENEWLINEMoreover, the birational maps preserve the automorphisms group of the variety in question.''NEWLINENEWLINENEWLINEAll the quotients above are quotients of the ball by discrete groups which have torsion; therefore the results of chapter 3 are not immediately applicable. The author constructs a branched cover of the variety in question, applies the above results to that cover, and then takes the quotient to get the final statements.