Lectures on K3 Surfaces

By Daniel Huybrechts, University of Bonn
Cambridge Studies in Advanced Mathematics

Book description
K3 surfaces are central objects in modern algebraic geometry. This book examines this important class of Calabi–Yau manifolds from various perspectives in eighteen self-contained chapters. It starts with the basics and guides the reader to recent breakthroughs, such as the proof of the Tate conjecture for K3 surfaces and structural results on Chow groups. Powerful general techniques are introduced to study the many facets of K3 surfaces, including arithmetic, homological, and differential geometric aspects. In this context, the book covers Hodge structures, moduli spaces, periods, derived categories, birational techniques, Chow rings, and deformation theory. Famous open conjectures, for example the conjectures of Calabi, Weil, and Artin–Tate, are discussed in general and for K3 surfaces in particular, and each chapter ends with questions and open problems. Based on lectures at the advanced graduate level, this book is suitable for courses and as a reference for researchers.

Reviews
‘K3 surfaces play something of a magical role in algebraic geometry and neighboring areas. They arise in astonishingly varied contexts, and the study of K3 surfaces has propelled the development of many of the most powerful tools in the field. The present lectures provide a comprehensive and wide-ranging survey of this fascinating subject. Suitable both for study and as a reference work, and written with Huybrechts's usual clarity of exposition, this book is destined to become the standard text on K3 surfaces.'
Rob Lazarsfeld - State University of New York, Stony Brook

‘This book will be extremely valuable to all mathematicians who are interested in K3 surfaces and related topics. It not only serves as an excellent introduction, but also covers a wide variety of advanced subjects, ranging from complex geometry to derived geometry and arithmetic.'
Klaus Hulek - Leibniz Universität Hannover