Mixed Hodge Structures

The text of this book has its origins more than twenty- ve years ago. In the seminar of the Dutch Singularity Theory project in 1982 and 1983, the second-named author gave a series of lectures on Mixed Hodge Structures and Singularities, accompanied by a set of hand-written notes. The publication of these notes was prevented by a revolution in the subject due to Morihiko Saito: the introduction of the theory of Mixed Hodge Modules around 1985. Understanding this theory was at the same time of great importance and very hard, due to the fact that it uni es many di erent theories which are quite complicated themselves: algebraic D-modules and perverse sheaves. The present book intends to provide a comprehensive text about Mixed Hodge Theory with a view towards Mixed Hodge Modules. The approach to Hodge theory for singular spaces is due to Navarro and his collaborators, whose results provide stronger vanishing results than Deligne’s original theory. Navarro and Guill en also lled a gap in the proof that the weight ltration on the nearby cohomology is the right one. In that sense the present book corrects and completes the second-named author’s thesis.

From the reviews:

"This book is dealing with Hodge Theory ... which generalizes in a functorial way the variations of MHS. ... The clarity of the presentation and the wealth of information are both remarkable. This book ... is a masterpiece that anyone working in Algebraic Geometry, Singularities or Analytic/Complex Geometry would like to have in his own library." (Alexandru Dimca, Zentralblatt MATH, Vol. 1138 (16), 2008)

"The book under review ... focuses mainly on the ‘pure’ story just summarized, is aimed at graduate students and researchers ... . The book begins with a brief historical survey; each chapter is headed by a good summary of its contents and concluded by historical remarks (with references). ... this work is a thoroughly readable and very up-to-date account of mixed Hodge theory, written by masters of the subject, and will undoubtedly serve as a basic reference for years to come." (Matt Kerr, Mathematical Reviews, Issue 2009 C)

“This book has been awaited for many years. ... the book which is now available will certainly rapidly become one of the standard references on the topic. Hodge theory assigns to a complex variety data which come from linear algebra. ... I heartily recommend the book.” (Helene Esnault, Jahresbericht der Deutsche Mathematiker Vereinigung, Vol. 112 (1), 2010)