A global Torelli theorem for hyperkahler manifolds

Misha Verbitsky

Published 2009-08-28, updated 2013-05-22Version 8

A mapping class group of an oriented manifold is a quotient of its diffeomorphism group by the isotopies. We compute a mapping class group of a hypekahler manifold $M$, showing that it is commensurable to an arithmetic subgroup in SO(3, b_2-3). A Teichmuller space of $M$ is a space of complex structures on $M$ up to isotopies. We define a birational Teichmuller space by identifying certain points corresponding to bimeromorphically equivalent manifolds, and show that the period map gives an isomorphism of the birational Teichmuller space and the corresponding period space $SO(b_2-3, 3)/SO(2)\times SO(b_2 -3, 1)$. We use this result to obtain a Torelli theorem identifying any connected component of birational moduli space with a quotient of a period space by an arithmetic subgroup. When $M$ is a Hilbert scheme of $n$ points on a K3 surface, with $n-1$ a prime power, our Torelli theorem implies the usual Hodge-theoretic birational Torelli theorem (for other examples of hyperkahler manifolds the Hodge-theoretic Torelli theorem is known to be false).