Limits of log canonical thresholds

Tommaso de Fernex, Mircea Mustata

Published 2007-10-26, updated 2009-02-02Version 4

Let T_n denote the set of log canonical thresholds of pairs (X,Y), with X a nonsingular variety of dimension n, and Y a nonempty closed subscheme of X. Using non-standard methods, we show that every limit of a decreasing sequence in T_n lies in T_{n-1}, proving in this setting a conjecture of Koll\'{a}r. We also show that T_n is a closed subset in the set of real numbers; in particular, every limit of log canonical thresholds on smooth varieties of fixed dimension is a rational number. As a consequence of this property, we see that in order to check Shokurov's ACC Conjecture for all T_n, it is enough to show that 1 is not a point of accumulation from below of any T_n. In a different direction, we interpret the ACC Conjecture as a semi-continuity property for log canonical thresholds of formal power series.