This research monograph is a systematic exposition of the background, methods, and recent results in the theory of cycle spaces of ?ag domains. Some of the methods are now standard, but many are new. The exposition is carried out from the viewpoint of complex algebraic and differential geometry. Except for certain foundational material,whichisreadilyavailablefromstandardtexts,itisessentiallyself-contained; at points where this is not the case we give extensive references. After developing the background material on complex ?ag manifolds and rep- sentationtheory, wegiveanexposition(withanumberofnewresults)ofthecomplex geometric methods that lead to our characterizations of (group theoretically de?ned) cyclespacesandtoanumberofconsequences. Thenwegiveabriefindicationofjust how those results are related to the representation theory of semisimple Lie groups through, for example, the theory of double ?bration transforms, and we indicate the connection to the variation of Hodge structure. Finally, we work out detailed local descriptions of the relevant full Barlet cycle spaces. Cycle space theory is a basic chapter in complex analysis. Since the 1960s its importance has been underlined by its role in the geometry of ?ag domains, and by applications in the representation theory of semisimple Lie groups. This developed veryslowlyuntilafewofyearsagowhenmethodsofcomplexgeometry,inparticular those involving Schubert slices, Schubert domains, Iwasawa domains and suppo- ing hypersurfaces, were introduced. In the late 1990s, and continuing through early 2002, we developed those methods and used them to give a precise description of cycle spaces for ?ag domains. This effectively enabled the use of double ?bration transforms in all ?ag domain situations.
This monograph, divided into four parts, presents a comprehensive treatment and systematic examination of cycle spaces of flag domains. Assuming only a basic familiarity with the concepts of Lie theory and geometry, this work presents a complete structure theory for these cycle spaces, as well as their applications to harmonic analysis and algebraic geometry.
Key features:
* Accessible to readers from a wide range of fields, with all the necessary background material provided for the nonspecialist
* Many new results presented for the first time
* Driven by numerous examples
* The exposition is presented from the complex geometric viewpoint, but the methods, applications and much of the motivation also come from real and complex algebraic groups and their representations, as well as other areas of geometry
* Comparisons with classical Barlet cycle spaces are given
* Good bibliography and index
Researchers and graduate students in differential geometry, complex analysis, harmonic analysis, representation theory, transformation groups, algebraic geometry, and areas of global geometric analysis will benefit from this work.
