Alexander modules, Mellin transformation and variations of mixed Hodge structures

Abstract

To any complex algebraic variety endowed with a morphism to a complex affine torus we associate multivariable cohomological Alexander modules, and define natural mixed Hodge structures on their maximal Artinian submodules. The key ingredients of our construction are Gabber-Loeser's Mellin transformation and Hain-Zucker's work on unipotent variations of mixed Hodge structures. As applications, we prove the quasi-unipotence of monodromy, we obtain upper bounds on the sizes of the Jordan blocks of monodromy, and we explore the change in the Alexander modules after removing fibers of the map. We also give an example of a variety whose Alexander module has non-semisimple torsion.