Consider a family f:A --> U of g-dimensional abelian varieties over a quasiprojective manifold U. Suppose that the induced map from U to the moduli scheme of polarized abelian varieties is generically finite and that there is a projective manifold Y, containing U as the complement of a normal crossing divisor S, such that the sheaf of logarithmic one forms is nef and that its determinant is ample with respect to U. We characterize whether $U$ is a Shimura variety by numerical data attached to the variation of Hodge structures, rather than by properties of the map from U to the moduli scheme or by the existence of CM points. More precisely, we show that U is a Shimura variety, if and only if two conditions hold. First, each irreducible local subsystem V of the complex weight one variation of Hodge structures is either unitary or satisfies the Arakelov equality. Secondly, for each factor M in the universal cover of U whose tangent bundle behaves like the one of a complex ball, an iterated Kodaira-Spencer map associated with V has minimal possible length in the direction of M.
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