Providing a timely description of the present state of the art of moduli spaces of curves and their geometry, this volume is written in a way which will make it extremely useful both for young people who want to approach this important field, and also for established researchers, who will find references, problems, original expositions, new viewpoints, etc. The book collects the lecture notes of a number of leading algebraic geometers and in particular specialists in the field of moduli spaces of curves and their geometry. This is an important subject in algebraic geometry and complex analysis which has seen spectacular developments in recent decades, with important applications to other parts of mathematics such as birational geometry and enumerative geometry, and to other sciences, including physics. The themes treated are classical but with a constant look to modern developments (see Cascini, Debarre, Farkas, and Sernesi's contributions), and include very new material, such as Bridgeland stability (see Macri's lecture notes) and tropical geometry (see Chan's lecture notes).

The second volume of this modern account of Kaehlerian geometry and Hodge theory starts with the topology of families of algebraic varieties. The main results are the generalized Noether-Lefschetz theorems, the generic triviality of the Abel-Jacobi maps, and most importantly, Nori's connectivity theorem, which generalizes the above. The last part deals with the relationships between Hodge theory and algebraic cycles. The text is complemented by exercises offering useful results in complex algebraic geometry. Also available: Volume I 0-521-80260-1 Hardback $60.00 C

The 2003 second volume of this account of Kaehlerian geometry and Hodge theory starts with the topology of families of algebraic varieties. Proofs of the Lefschetz theorem on hyperplane sections, the Picard-Lefschetz study of Lefschetz pencils, and Deligne theorems on the degeneration of the Leray spectral sequence and the global invariant cycles follow. The main results of the second part are the generalized Noether-Lefschetz theorems, the generic triviality of the Abel-Jacobi maps, and most importantly Nori's connectivity theorem, which generalizes the above. The last part of the book is devoted to the relationships between Hodge theory and algebraic cycles. The book concludes with the example of cycles on abelian varieties, where some results of Bloch and Beauville, for example, are expounded. The text is complemented by exercises giving useful results in complex algebraic geometry. It will be welcomed by researchers in both algebraic and differential geometry.

The first of two volumes offering a modern introduction to Kaehlerian geometry and Hodge structure. The book starts with basic material on complex variables, complex manifolds, holomorphic vector bundles, sheaves and cohomology theory, the latter being treated in a more theoretical way than is usual in geometry. The author then proves the Kaehler identities, which leads to the hard Lefschetz theorem and the Hodge index theorem. The book culminates with the Hodge decomposition theorem. The meanings of these results are investigated in several directions. Completely self-contained, the book is ideal for students, while its content gives an account of Hodge theory and complex algebraic geometry as has been developed by P. Griffiths and his school, by P. Deligne, and by S. Bloch. The text is complemented by exercises which provide useful results in complex algebraic geometry.

This is a modern introduction to Kaehlerian geometry and Hodge structure. Coverage begins with variables, complex manifolds, holomorphic vector bundles, sheaves and cohomology theory (with the latter being treated in a more theoretical way than is usual in geometry). The book culminates with the Hodge decomposition theorem. In between, the author proves the Kaehler identities, which leads to the hard Lefschetz theorem and the Hodge index theorem. The second part of the book investigates the meaning of these results in several directions.

The main goal of the CIME Summer School on "Algebraic Cycles and Hodge Theory" has been to gather the most active mathematicians in this area to make the point on the present state of the art. Thus the papers included in the proceedings are surveys and notes on the most important topics of this area of research. They include infinitesimal methods in Hodge theory; algebraic cycles and algebraic aspects of cohomology and k-theory, transcendental methods in the study of algebraic cycles.

In this book, Claire Voisin provides an introduction to algebraic cycles on complex algebraic varieties, to the major conjectures relating them to cohomology, and even more precisely to Hodge structures on cohomology. The volume is intended for both students and researchers, and not only presents a survey of the geometric methods developed in the last thirty years to understand the famous Bloch-Beilinson conjectures, but also examines recent work by Voisin. The book focuses on two central objects: the diagonal of a variety--and the partial Bloch-Srinivas type decompositions it may have depending on the size of Chow groups--as well as its small diagonal, which is the right object to consider in order to understand the ring structure on Chow groups and cohomology. An exploration of a sampling of recent works by Voisin looks at the relation, conjectured in general by Bloch and Beilinson, between the coniveau of general complete intersections and their Chow groups and a very particular property satisfied by the Chow ring of K3 surfaces and conjecturally by hyper-Kahler manifolds. In particular, the book delves into arguments originating in Nori's work that have been further developed by others."

In this book, Claire Voisin provides an introduction to algebraic cycles on complex algebraic varieties, to the major conjectures relating them to cohomology, and even more precisely to Hodge structures on cohomology. The volume is intended for both students and researchers, and not only presents a survey of the geometric methods developed in the last thirty years to understand the famous Bloch-Beilinson conjectures, but also examines recent work by Voisin. The book focuses on two central objects: the diagonal of a variety--and the partial Bloch-Srinivas type decompositions it may have depending on the size of Chow groups--as well as its small diagonal, which is the right object to consider in order to understand the ring structure on Chow groups and cohomology. An exploration of a sampling of recent works by Voisin looks at the relation, conjectured in general by Bloch and Beilinson, between the coniveau of general complete intersections and their Chow groups and a very particular property satisfied by the Chow ring of K3 surfaces and conjecturally by hyper-Kahler manifolds. In particular, the book delves into arguments originating in Nori's work that have been further developed by others."

Although the majority of the world's Herons live in the tropics and subtropics, Europe is home to nine species, some large, some small, some colonial, some solitary breeders. Highly specialized birds, they exhibit many interesting differences in their behaviour and ecology and are a favourite group for many ornithologists. Voisin begins her book with a general description of the family before going on to treat each species in more detail. The species accounts summarize such topics as field characters, distribution, population size, breeding and feeding ecology and behaviour.