Monoidal transforms and invariants of singularities in positive characteristic

Abstract

The problem of resolution of singularities in positive characteristic can be reformulated as follows: Fix a hypersurface $X$, embedded in a smooth scheme, with points of multiplicity at most $n$. Let an $n$-sequence of transformations of $X$ be a finite composition of monoidal transformations with centers included in the $n$-fold points of $X$, and of its successive strict transforms. The open problem (in positive characteristic) is to prove that there is an $n$-sequence such that the final strict transform of $X$ has no points of multiplicity $n$ (no $n$-fold points). In characteristic zero, such an $n$-sequence is defined in two steps: the first consisting in the transformation of $X$ to a hypersurface with $n$-fold points in the so called monomial case. The second step consists in the elimination of these $n$-fold points (in the monomial case), which is achieved by a simple combinatorial procedure for choices of centers. The invariants treated in this work allow us to define a notion of strong monomial case which parallels that of monomial case in characteristic zero: If a hypersurface is within the strong monomial case we prove that a resolution can be achieved in a combinatorial manner.