The extension of numerically trivial divisors on a family

Abstract

Let $f:X\to S$ be a projective morphism of normal varieties. Assume $U$ is an open subset of $S$ and $L_U$ is a $\mathbb{Q}$-divisor on $X_U:=X\times_S U$ such that $L_U\equiv_U 0$. We explore when it is possible to extend $L_U$ to a global $\mathbb{Q}$-divisor $L$ on $X$ such that $L\equiv_f 0$. In particular, we show that such $L$ always exists after a (weak) semi-stable reduction when $\dim S=1$. On the other hand, we give an example showing that $L$ may not exist (after any reasonable modification of $f$) if $\dim S\ge 2$, which also gives an $f_U$-nef divisor $M_U$ that cannot extend to an $f$-nef ($\mathbb{Q}$) divisor $M$ for any compactification of $f|_U$, even after replacing $X_U$ with any higher birational model.