Hodge genera and characteristic classes of complex algebraic varieties (Q928650)

Chern, Hirzebruch and Serre have proved the multiplicative formula \(\sigma(E)=\sigma(F)\cdot\sigma(B)\) for a fiber bundle \(E\to B\) with fiber \(F\) consisting of closed coherently oriented manifolds such that the corresponding action of \(\pi_1(B)\) on \(H^*(F;\mathbb{R})\) is trivial [\textit{S.-S.Chern, F. Hirzebruch and J.-P. Serre}, Proc. Am. Math. Soc. 8, 587--596 (1957; Zbl 0083.17801)]. When this action is not trivial, Atiyah proved a formula for \(\sigma(E)\) involving the \(K\)-theoretic signature of the flat bundle over \(B\) defined by the cohomology of the fibers of \(E\to B\) [\textit{M. F. Atiyah}, The signature of fibre-bundles. Global Analysis, Papers in Honor of K. Kodaira 73--84 (1969; Zbl 0193.52302)]. In turn, Atiyah's formula was generalized by Meyer to the case of twisted signatures of closed manifolds endowed with local systems satisfying duality [\textit{W. Meyer}, Die Signatur von lokalen Koeffizientensystemen, Bonn. Math. Schr. 53, 59 S. (1972; Zbl 0243.58004)]. Since in complex algebraic geometry, twisted signatures are special cases of Hodge-type invariants, a Hodge theoretic Atiyah-Meyer type formula should make sense for complex algebraic varieties. That kind of formula is announced in this paper, and some applications are considered. The detailed proof is in a preprint by the same authors [Hodge genera of algebraic varieties. II. \url{arXiv:math/0702380}].