On the Chow motive of an abelian scheme with non-trivial endomorphisms

Abstract

Let X be an abelian scheme over a base variety S with endomorphism algebra D. We prove that the relative Chow motive R(X/S) has a canonical decomposition as a direct sum of motives R^(\xi)$ where \xi runs over an explicitly determined finite set of irreducible representations of the group D^{opp,*}, such that R^(\xi), seen as a functor from Chow motives to D^{\opp,*}-representations, is \xi-isotypic. Our decomposition refines the motivic decomposition of Deninger and Murre, as well as Beauville's decomposition of the Chow group. The second main result is that we construct a canonical generalized motivic Lefschetz decomposition. Inspired by work of Looijenga and Lunts, the role of sl_2 in the classical theory is here replaced by a larger Lie algebra, generated by all Lefschetz and Lambda operators associated to non-degenerate line bundles. We construct an action of this larger Lie algebra on R(X/S) and deduce from this a generalized Lefschetz decomposition. We also give a precise structure result for the Lefschetz components that arise. As an application of our techniques, we provide a positive answer to a question of Claire Voisin concerning the analogue for abelian varieties of a conjecture of Beauville.