Smoothing of semistable Fano varieties (Q782381)

In the article under review, the author studies what kind of Fano varieties with semistable singularities appear as fibers in a semistable morphism. A semistable map, roughly speaking, is a morphism \(f: (X, D_X)\mapsto (Y,D_Y)\) where \(X\) and \(Y\) are smooth varieties, \(D_X\subseteq X\) and \(D_Y\subseteq Y\) are simple normal crossings divisors, \(f^{-1}(D_Y)\subseteq D_X\), and formally locally \(f\) is isomorphic to the spectrum of \(k[[y_1, \ldots , y_r]]\mapsto k[[x_1, \ldots x_s]]\) defined by \(y_i \mapsto x_{l_{i-1}+1} + \cdots + x_{l_i},\) for \(0 = l_0 < l_1< \cdots <l_k\leq s\). A variety \(X\) has semistable singularities if étale locally it is a product of normal crossings singularities. In characteristic 0, this problem arises, for instance, when studying a Mori fibration from a smooth projective variety where the general fibers are smooth Fano varieties. This is because conjecturally [Conjecture 0.2, \textit{D. Abramovich} and \textit{K. Karu}, Invent. Math. 139, No. 2, 241--273 (2000; Zbl 0958.14006)], after a base change and a birational modification, the fibration can be changed to this form. The main result, in this case, is the following. Theorem 1.1. Let \(k\) be a field of characteristic 0 and \(X\) be a Fano semistable variety. Let \(r\geq 1\) be an integer. Then the following are equivalent: \begin{enumerate} \item There exists a smooth variety with a normal crossings divisor \((\mathscr{X},D_{\mathscr{X}})\) which is semistable over \((B,D_B)\) such that \(B\) is an \(r\)-dimensional smooth variety over \(k\), \(0\in B\) is a \(k\)-point, \(D_B\) is a simple normal crossings divisor whose number of branches at 0 is \(r\), and \(\mathscr{X}_0\equiv X\) as log varieties. \item \(X\) has a log structure (in the sense of Kato-Fontaine-Illusie) of semistable type over \((k, \mathbb{N}^r\mapsto 0)\). \end{enumerate} A variety \(X\) has a log structure in the sense of Kato-Fontaine-Illusie if a global condition on the intersection of its components is satisfied. Geometric descriptions and examples of when this condition is satisfied are the topic Section 5.\\ The mixed characteristic case is also discussed in the article. In this case, it is conjectured that if \(X\) is a smooth projective Fano variety and \(X_L\) the corresponding variety to a finite extension of the field, there exists a semistable model, that is, a semistable morphism whose generic fiber is isomorphic to \(X_L\). In this case, the main result is about what variety with semistable singularities can be the central fiber. Theorem 1.2. Let \(k\) be a perfect field of characteristic \(p>0\) and \(X\) be a log variety which is semistable log smooth over \((k, \mathbb{N}^r\to 0)\) for some \(r\geq 0\). Assume that \(\dim{X}<p\). If \(X\) is Fano and admits a log smooth lifting over \((W_2(k),\mathbb{N}^r \mapsto 0)\), then there exists a smooth variety with a normal crossings divisor \((\mathscr{X},D_{\mathscr{X}})\) which is semistable over \((B,D_B)\) such that \begin{enumerate} \item \(B\) is an \(r\)-dimensional smooth variety over \(k\), \(0\in B\) is a \(k\)-point and \(D_B\) is a simple normal crossings divisor whose number of branches at 0 is \(r\); \item \(\mathscr{X}_0\equiv X\) as log varieties. \end{enumerate} Moreover, if \(r=1\), then \(X\) appears in a semistable reduction over the ring of Witt vectors \(W(k)\). The techniques used for the proof include log-deformations and log geometry. For instance, the author used log geometry, and more concretely, Kato's decomposition theorem of the log de Rham complex [Theorem 4.12, \textit{K. Kato}, in: Algebraic analysis, geometry, and number theory: proceedings of the JAMI inaugural conference, held at Baltimore, MD, USA, May 16-19, 1988. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. 191--224 (1989; Zbl 0776.14004)], to obtain a general Akizuki-Nakano-Kodaira type vanishing theorem for semistable log varieties (Theorem 3.5 and Corollary 3.6.) This vanishing result is used in the proof of the main theorem. In the appendix of the reviewed article, the author gives a detailed proof of Kato's result. In section 5, to complete the main results, the author studies geometric descriptions for the existence of log structures of semistable type.