Local models in the ramified case. II. Splitting models

Abstract

This paper is a continuation of our paper math.AG/0006222. We study the reduction of certain PEL Shimura varieties with parahoric level structure at primes p at which the group that defines the Shimura variety ramifies. We describe "good" $p$-adic integral models of these Shimura varieties and study their 'etale local structure. In particular, we exhibit a stratification of their (singular) special fibers and give a partial calculation of the sheaf of nearby cycles.