Singularities with the highest Mather minimal log discrepancy

Abstract

This paper characterizes singularities with Mather minimal log discrepancies in the highest unit interval, i.e., the interval between $d-1$ and $d$, where $d$ is the dimension of the scheme. The class of these singularities coincides with one of the classes of (1) compound Du Val singularities, (2) normal crossing double singularities, (3) pinch points, and (4) pairs of non-singular varieties and boundaries with multiplicities less than or equal to 1 at the point. As a corollary, we also obtain one implication of an equivalence conjectured by Shokurov for the usual minimal log discrepancies.