Hodge theory, as developed by Deligne and Griffiths, is the main tool for analyzing the geometry and arithmetic of complex algebraic varieties. It is an essential fact that at heart, Hodge theory is NOT algebraic. On the other hand, according to both the Hodge conjecture and the Grothendieck period conjecture, this transcendence is severely constrained.

Tame geometry, whose idea was introduced by Grothendieck in the 80s, seems a natural setting for understanding these constraints. Tame geometry, developed by model theorists as o-minimal geometry, has for prototype real semi-algebraic geometry, but is much richer. It studies structures where every definable set has a finite geometric complexity.

The aim of these lectures is to present a number of recent applications of tame geometry to several problems related to Hodge theory and periods. Speaker(s): Bruno Klingler (Humboldt University)