We prove that any nef $b$-divisor class on a projective variety defined over an algebraically closed field of characteristic zero is a decreasing limit of nef Cartier classes. Building on this technical result, we construct an intersection theory of nef $b$-divisors, and prove several variants of the Hodge index theorem inspired by the work of Dinh and Sibony. We show that any big and basepoint-free curve class is a power of a nef $b$-divisor, and relate this statement to the Zariski decomposition of curves classes introduced by Lehmann and Xiao. Our construction allows us to relate various Banach spaces contained in the space of $b$-divisors which were defined in our previous work.

We consider a meromorphic family of endomorphisms of degree at least 2 of a complex projective space that is parameterized by the unit disk. We prove that the measure of maximal entropy of these endomorphisms converges to the equilibrium measure of the associated non-Archimedean dynamical system when the system degenerates. The convergence holds in the hybrid space constructed by Berkovich and further studied by Boucksom and Jonsson. We also infer from our analysis an estimate for the blow-up of the Lyapunov exponent near a pole in one-dimensional families of endomorphisms.

We prove a version of Montel’s theorem for analytic functions over a non-Archimedean complete valued field. We propose a definition of normal family in this context, and give applications of our results to the dynamics of non-Archimedean entire functions.