Discrete invariants of varieties in positive characteristic

If $S$ is a scheme of characteristic $p$, we define an $F$-zip over $S$ to be a vector bundle with two filtrations plus a collection of semi-linear isomorphisms between the graded pieces of the filtrations. For every smooth proper morphism $X\to S$ satisfying certain conditions the de Rham bundles $H^n_{{\rm dR}}(X/S)$ have a natural structure of an $F$-zip. We give a complete classification of $F$-zips over an algebraically closed field by studying a semi-linear variant of a variety that appears in recent work of Lusztig. For every $F$-zip over $S$ our methods give a scheme-theoretic stratification of $S$. If the $F$-zip is associated to an abelian scheme over $S$ the underlying topological stratification is the Ekedahl-Oort stratification. We conclude the paper with a discussion of several examples such as good reductions of Shimura varieties of PEL type and K3-surfaces.Comment: 35 pages, minor changes in exposition, major changes to introductio

Classification of Reductive Monoid Spaces Over an Arbitrary Field

In this semi-expository paper we review the notion of a spherical space. In particular we present some recent results of Wedhorn on the classification of spherical spaces over arbitrary fields. As an application, we introduce and classify reductive monoid spaces over an arbitrary field.Comment: This is the final versio