Piecewise-isomorphism conjecture for birational complements

Let kk be an algebraically closed field of characteristic zero. Let XX be a separated scheme of finite type over kk, and let f ⁣:X\dasharrowXf\colon X\dasharrow X be a birational map inducing an isomorphism of kk-schemes UVU\cong V on dense open subsets U,VU,V of XX. Recall that two kk-schemes of finite type are piecewise isomorphic if each admits a finite partition into locally closed subschemes whose corresponding reduced subschemes are isomorphic over kk.

Piecewise-isomorphism conjecture. The kk-schemes

(XU)redand(XV)red(X\setminus U)_{\mathrm{red}}\quad\text{and}\quad (X\setminus V)_{\mathrm{red}}

are piecewise isomorphic.

This conjecture is a reformulation of the question whether equality in the Grothendieck ring of varieties implies piecewise isomorphism. It holds for separated schemes of finite type of dimension at most 11 over an algebraically closed field of characteristic zero, but remains open in general, particularly for schemes having infinitely many rational curves.

Sources & referencesView supporting material

Primary source

Stéphane Lamy and Julien Sebag, “Birational self-maps and piecewise algebraic geometry”, arXiv:1112.5706 (2011).

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