The Poincaré series of multiplier ideals of a simple complete ideal in a local ring of a smooth surface (Q990756)

This paper introduces and studies an algebraic object, named the \textit{Poincaré series}, attached to the sequence of multiplier ideals of any given simple complete ideal on a complex surface. Let \(R\) be a local ring at a closed point of a smooth complex variety, and let \({\mathcal P} \subset R\) be a simple complete ideal. The corresponding valuation is extracted by a simple sequence of point blowing-ups \(\pi : X \to X_0 = \text{Spec}(R)\). This gives a log-resolution of \({\mathcal P}\). Writing \({\mathcal P}{\mathcal O}_X = {\mathcal O}_X(-D)\), for every \(\iota \geq 0\) one defines the multiplier ideal \[ {\mathcal J}({\mathcal P}^\iota) := \pi_*{\mathcal O}_X(K_{X/X_0} - \lfloor \iota D \rfloor) \] where \(K_{X/X_0}\) is the relative canonical divisor and \(\lfloor \iota D \rfloor\) is the round-down, component by component, of the \({\mathbb R}\)-divisor \(\iota D\). The jumping numbers are the values of \(\iota\) where the multiplier ideal ``jumps''. They form a discrete set \({\mathcal H} \subset {\mathbb Q_+}\), and at each jump the corresponding quotient is finite dimensional over \({\mathbb C}\). The Poincaré series is thus defined to be \[ P({\mathcal P}) := \sum_{\iota \in {\mathcal H}} \dim_{\mathbb C} \left(\frac{{\mathcal J}({\mathcal P}^{\iota-\epsilon})}{{\mathcal J}({\mathcal P}^\iota)}\right) t^\iota, \] where \(0 < \epsilon \ll 1\). This series is related to the Hodge spectrum of the singularity. More precisely, it follows by \textit{N. Budur} [Math. Ann. 327, No.2, 257--270 (2003; Zbl 1035.14010)] that the terms of degree less than one of \(P({\mathcal P})\) coincide with those of the Hodge spectrum of a general element of \({\mathcal P}\). The main result of the paper is that the Poincaré series \(P({\mathcal P})\) is rational. Moreover, the series can be described by an explicit formula which depends on the particular exceptional divisors in the log-resolution that compute to the jumping numbers, in the spirit of the work of \textit{K. E. Smith} and \textit{H. M. Thompson} [Irrelevant exceptional divisors for curves on a smooth surface. In Algebra, geometry and their interactions. Contemporary Mathematics 448, 245--254 (2007; Zbl 1141.14004)].