Zeta-Functions for Families of Calabi--Yau n-folds with Singularities

We consider families of Calabi-Yau n-folds containing singular fibres and study relations between the occurring singularity structure and the decomposition of the local Weil zeta-function. For 1-parameter families, this provides new insights into the combinatorial structure of the strong equivalence classes arising in the Candelas - de la Ossa - Rodrigues-Villegas approach for computing the zeta-function. This can also be extended to families with more parameters as is explored in several examples, where the singularity analysis provides correct predictions for the changes of degree in the decomposition of the zeta-function when passing to singular fibres. These observations provide first evidence in higher dimensions for Lauder's conjectured analogue of the Clemens-Schmid exact sequence.