Functorial embedded resolution via weighted blowings up

Abstract

We provide a simple procedure for resolving, in characteristic 0, singularities of a variety $X$ embedded in a smooth variety $Y$ by repeatedly blowing up the worst singularities, in the sense of stack-theoretic weighted blowings up. No history, no exceptional divisors, and no logarithmic structures are necessary to carry this out; the steps are explicit geometric operations requiring no choices; and the resulting algorithm is efficient.

A similar result was discovered independently by McQuillan (2020).