Variation of mixed Hodge structures and the positivity for algebraic fiber spaces

Abstract

These are the lecture notes based on earlier papers with some additional new results. New and simple proofs are given for local freeness theorem and the semipositivity theorem. A decomposition theorem for higher direct images of dualizing sheaves of Koll\'ar is extended to the sheaves of differential forms of arbitrary degrees in the case of a well prepared birational model. We will also prove the log versions of some of the results, i.e., the case where we allow horizontal boundary components.