Coniveau and the Grothendieck group of varieties (Q956724)

Let \(X\) be a smooth complex projective variety and let \(H^i(X)\) denote its singular homology with rational coefficients. The \textit{coniveau} filtration on \(H^i(X)\) is a descending filtration defined by \(N^pH^i(X)=\sum_{\text{codim} S\geq p} \text{Ker}[H^i(X)\to H^i(X-S)]\). The generalized Hodge conjecture (GHC) predicts that \(N^pH^i(X)\) coincides with the \textit{level} filtration, which is the largest rational sub-Hodge structure contained in \(F^pH^i(X)\) [\textit{A. Grothendieck}, Topology 8, 299--303 (1969; Zbl 0177.49002)]. The main result of the paper is the following: if GHC holds for \(X\) than it holds for any variety defining the same class in a suitable completion of the Grothendieck group of varieties. Using motivic integration it is also proved that this is the case for birationally equivalent Calabi-Yau varieties or, more generally, K-equivalent varieties.