Notes on Calabi-Yau ordinary differential equations (Q846256)

\textit{K. Samol} and \textit{D. van Straten} [Commun. Number Theory Phys. 2, No. 3, 537--561 (2008; Zbl 1166.14026)] studied the variation of the Frobenius action on the cohomology of a Calabi-Yau variety over a finite field via the expansion at a totally degenerate point of a certain period of the pencil. For a certain family, they provided a \(p\)-adic analytic formula for the unit root as well as the Frobenius polynomial in case of rank 4 with ordinary fibers. Their computations revealed the Dwork-type congruences among the coefficients of the period of such a family. The paper under review provides some theoretical explanations of the observations and computations of Samol and van Straten. For this, the paper studies the structures of ordinary Calabi-Yau differential equations and their relations to the arithmetic of the pencils of Calabi-Yau varieties. In particular, the families of Calabi-Yau varieties over a projective line with totally degenerate fibers at the origin and their Picard-Fuchs differential equations are considered. They provide the geometric source of the Calabi-Yau differential equations. The mod \(p\) and \(p\)-adic properties, e.g., \(p\)-adic Hasse invariant, formal groups, and the Dwork-type congruences are shown to follow from the relative geometry of the family.