Nearby cycles and Alexander modules of hypersurface complements

DOI10.1016/J.AIM.2015.10.032MaRDI QIDQ2634784zbMATH OpenOpenAlexFDO

Publication date 18 February 2016

Published in Advances in Mathematics (Search for Journal in Brave)

Full work available at URL https://arxiv.org/abs/1405.2343

Alexander polynomial hypersurface complement mixed Hodge structure nearby cycles Sabbah specialization complex

Vanishing theorems in algebraic geometry (14F17) Hypersurfaces and algebraic geometry (14J70) Global theory of complex singularities; cohomological properties (32S20) Complex surface and hypersurface singularities (32S25) Mixed Hodge theory of singular varieties (complex-analytic aspects) (32S35) Milnor fibration; relations with knot theory (32S55) Stratifications; constructible sheaves; intersection cohomology (complex-analytic aspects) (32S60)

Abstract: Let

f : C N i g h t a r r o w C

be a polynomial map, which is transversal at infinity. Using Sabbah's specialization complex, we give a new description of the Alexander modules of the hypersurface complement

C N s e t m i n u s f^{- 1} (0)

, and obtain a general divisibility result for the associated Alexander polynomials. As a byproduct, we prove a conjecture of Maxim on the decomposition of the Cappell-Shaneson peripheral complex of the hypersurface. Moreover, as an application, we use nearby cycles to recover the mixed Hodge structure on the torsion Alexander modules, as defined by Dimca and Libgober. We also explore the relation between the generic fibre of

f

and the nearby cycles.

Review text

Consider a hypersurface complement \(U\) in \(\mathbb C^{n+1}\) and its natural infinite cyclic cover \(U^c\). The \(i\)-th Alexander module is defined to be the \(i\)-th homology of \(U^c\) as a \(Z[t,t^{-1}]\)-module (coming from the deck transformations). This module is a torsion module (if the hypersurface is transversal at infinity), hence one encodes the Alexander invariants by a polynomial in \(t\), the Alexander polynomial. The main result of the paper is a realization of the Alexander module by Sabbah's specialization complex. The latter is closely related with the nearby cycles and hence to the local invariants of the singularities of the hypersurface. The first application is a relation between the generic fiber and Sabbah's specialization complex. A corollary is an upper bound for \(H_n(U^c)\). Another nice application is a divisibility result of the following nature: the prime factors of the global Alexander invariant (in a certain range) are among the prime factors of the local Alexander polynomials (in a certain range) coming from a stratification of the hypersurface. The author also proves Maxim's conjecture about the prime factors of the global Alexander invariant in the case when the nearby cycle splits in the appropriate category. Probably the most important application of the main theorem is the definition of a mixed Hodge structure (inherited from the nearby cycles) on the torsion Alexander module. This structure recovers results of Dimca-Libgober in conceptual way.

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