Hodge numbers attached to a polynomial map

Abstract

We attach a limit mixed Hodge structure to any polynomial map f:ℂ n →ℂ. The equivariant Hodge numbers of this mixed Hodge structure are invariants of f which reflect its asymptotic behaviour. We compute them for a generic class of polynomials in terms of equivariant Hodge numbers attached to isolated hypersurface singularities and equivariant Hodge numbers of cyclic coverings of projective space branched along a hypersurface. We show how these invariants allow to determine topological invariants of f such as the real Seifert form at infinity.