Families over special base manifolds and a conjecture of Campana (Q658334)

Let \(f : X \rightarrow Y\) be a family of canonically polarised complex manifolds over a smooth base, i.e., a smooth morphism between quasi-projective complex manifolds such that the fibres are projective manifolds with ample canonical bundle. The family induces a natural map from the base \(Y\) to a moduli space (of canonically polarised manifolds with fixed Hilbert polynomial) and we define the variation of the family \(f\) as the dimension of the image of this map. If the variation is maximal, i.e., equal to the dimension of \(Y\), a conjecture of Viehweg claims that the manifold \(Y\) is of log-general type. \textit{S. Kebekus} and \textit{S. J. Kovács} [Invent. Math. 172, No. 3, 657--682 (2008; Zbl 1140.14031); Duke Math. J. 155, No. 1, 1--33 (2010; Zbl 1208.14027)] recently proved that Viehweg's conjecture holds if the base has dimension at most three. In the paper under review the authors consider the following refinement of Viehweg's conjecture: if the base \(Y\) is special in the sense of \textit{F. Campana}'s orbifold theory [Ann. Inst. Fourier 54, No. 3, 499--630 (2004; Zbl 1062.14014)], the family is isotrivial, that is the image of the moduli map is a point. The authors prove this conjecture if \(Y\) is a surface or threefold. The paper also gives a self-contained introduction to Campana's theory as well as an adaptation of the tools used in the papers by Kebekus and Kovács to the orbifold setting.