Characteristic numbers of algebraic varieties

A rational linear combination of Chern numbers is an oriented diffeomorphism invariant of smooth complex projective varieties if and only if it is a linear combination of the Euler and Pontryagin numbers. In dimension at least three only multiples of the top Chern number, which is the Euler characteristic, are invariant under diffeomorphisms that are not necessarily orientation-preserving. In the space of Chern numbers there are two distinguished subspaces, one spanned by the Euler and Pontryagin numbers, the other spanned by the Hirzebruch--Todd numbers. Their intersection is the span of the Euler number and the signature.