Around a class version of the Hodge index theorem for singular varieties

TL;DR

This paper reviews recent progress on a characteristic class version of the Hodge index theorem for singular varieties, confirming the conjecture in various new classes of algebraic varieties.

Contribution

It clarifies relationships between different L-classes and proves the conjecture for several new classes of singular varieties.

Findings

Confirmed the conjecture for all compact toric varieties

Established the conjecture for all (matroid) Schubert varieties

Proved the conjecture for all projective simply connected spherical varieties

Abstract

We give an overview of recent developments around a characteristic class version of the Hodge index theorem for singular complex algebraic varieties. This was formulated by Brasselet-Schuermann-Yokura as a conjecture expressing the Goresky-MacPherson homology L-classes in terms of suitable Hodge-theoretic L-classes. Along the way, we clarify the relationship between several notions of L-classes appearing in the literature, but we also include many new cases for which the conjecture is true, e.g., all compact toric varieties, all (matroid) Schubert varieties, all Richardson and intersection varieties, all projective simply connected spherical varieties, and all compact complex algebraic surfaces and threefolds.