We prove that any finite energy geodesic ray with a finite Mabuchi slope is maximal in the sense of Berman-Boucksom-Jonsson, and reduce the proof of the uniform Yau-Tian-Donaldson conjecture for constant scalar curvature Kähler metrics to Boucksom-Jonsson's regularization conjecture about the convergence of non-Archimedean entropy functional. As further applications, we show that a uniform K-stability condition for model filtrations and the $\mathcal{J}^{K_X}$-stability are both sufficient conditions for the existence of cscK metrics. The first condition is also conjectured to be necessary. Our arguments also produce a different proof of the toric uniform version of YTD conjecture for all polarized toric manifolds. Another result proved here is that the Mabuchi slope of a geodesic ray associated to a test configuration is equal to the non-Archimedean Mabuchi invariant.
This is a continuation of the previous articles on Kahler cone metrics. In this article, we introduce weighted function spaces and provide a self-contained treatment on cone angles in the whole interval $(0,1]$. We first construct geodesics in the space of Kahler cone metrics (cone geodesics). We next determine the very detailed asymptotic behaviour of constant scalar curvature Kahler (cscK) cone metrics, which leads to the reductivity of the automorphism group. Then we establish the linear theory for the Lichnerowicz operator, which immediately implies the openness of the path deforming the c…
In this paper we study K-polystability of arbitrary (possibly non-projective) compact Kähler manifolds admitting holomorphic vector fields. As a main result, we show that existence of a constant scalar curvature Kähler (cscK) metric implies 'geodesic K-polystability', in a sense that is expected to be equivalent to K-polystability in general. In particular, in the spirit of an expectation of Chen-Tang we show that geodesic K-polystability implies algebraic K-polystability for polarized manifolds. Hence our main result recovers a possibly stronger version of results of Berman-Darvas-Lu in this …
This is the first in a series of two papers studying mu-cscK metrics and muK-stability, from a new perspective evoked from observations in arXiv:2004.06393 and in this first article. The first paper is about a characterization of mu-cscK metrics in terms of Perelman's W-entropy $\check{W}^λ$. We regard Perelman's W-entropy as a functional on the tangent bundle $T \mathcal{H} (X, L)$ of the space $\mathcal{H} (X, L)$ of K"ahler metrics in a given K"ahler class $L$. The critical points of $\check{W}^λ$ turn out to be $μ^λ$-cscK metrics. When $λ\le 0$, the supremum along the fibres gives a smooth…
In this follow up work to [45, 33, 32, 46] we introduce and study a notion of geodesic stability restricted to rays with prescribed singularity types. A number of notions of interest fit into this framework, in particular algebraic- and transcendental K-polystability, equivariant K-polystability, and the geodesic K-polystability notion introduced by the author in [46]. We provide a partial comparison of the above notions, and show equivalence of some of these notions provided that the underlying manifold satisfies a certain 'weak cscK' condition. As an application this proves K-polystability o…
We prove that constant scalar curvature Kähler metric "adjacent" to a fixed Kähler class is unique up to isomorphism. This extends the uniqueness theorem of Donaldson and Chen-Tian, and formally fits into the infinite dimensional G.I.T picture described by Donaldson. We prove that the Calabi flow near a cscK metric exists globally and converges uniformly to a cscK metric in a polynomial rate. Viewed in a Kähler class, the Calabi flow is also shown to be asymptotic to a smooth geodesic ray at infinity. This latter fact is also interesting in the finite dimensional analogue, where we show that t…
The purpose of this paper is to generalize the convexity of Mabuchi's functional to the conic setting. We first established a frame to study conic cscK metrics, and then the conic Mabuchi functional was introduced in such a way that conic cscK metrics are its critical points. Finally we proved the convexity of the conic Mabuchi functional along any conic geodesics.
It is shown that the geodesic rays constructed as limits of Bergman geodesics from a test configuration are always of class $C^{1,α}, 0<α<1$. An essential step is to establish that the rays can be extended as solutions of a Dirichlet problem for a Monge-Ampere equation on a Kaehler manifold which is compact.
We give new proofs of two implications in the Donaldson--Uhlenbeck--Yau theorem. Our proofs are based on geodesic rays of Hermitian metrics, inspired by recent work on the Yau--Tian--Donaldson conjecture.
For smooth test configurations, there always exist C^{1,1} geodesic rays in Kahler metric space parallel to the algebraic ray. The $\yen$ invariant agrees with Futaki invariant, at least under nice assumptions. Explicit examples in Toric cases are calculated. On simple test configurations, Donaldson's correspondence between HCMA solution and holomorphic disc family is extended.
Geodesic rays of class C^{1,1} are constructed for any test configuration of a positive line bundle L on X using resolution of singularities. The construction reduces to finding a subsolution of the corresponding Monge-Ampere equation. Geometrically, this is accomplished by the use a positive line bundle on the resolution which is trivial outside of the exceptional divisor.
This article contains a detailed study, in the toric case, of the test configuration geodesic rays defined by Phong-Sturm. We show that the `Bergman approximations' of Phong-Sturm converge in C^1 to the geodesic ray and that the geodesic ray itself is C^{1,1} and no better. The \kahler metrics associated to the geodesic ray of potentials are discontinuous across certain hypersurfaces and are degenerate on certain open sets. A novelty in the analysis is the connection between Bergman metrics, Bergman kernels and the theory of large deviations.
We establish the essentially optimal form of Donaldson's geodesic stability conjecture regarding existence of constant scalar curvature Kähler metrics. We carry this out by exploring in detail the metric geometry of Mabuchi geodesic rays, and the uniform convexity properties of the space of Kähler metrics.
Suppose (X,ω) is a compact Kähler manifold. In the present work we propose a simple construction for weak geodesic rays in the space of Kähler metrics that seems to be tied together with properties of the class E(X,ω). As an application of our construction, we prove a characterization of E(X,ω) in terms of envelopes.
Suppose $(X,J,ω)$ is a Fano manifold and $t \to r_t$ is a diverging Kähler-Ricci trajectory. We construct a bounded geodesic ray $t \to u_t$ weakly asymptotic to $t \to r_t$, along which Ding's $\mathcal F$-functional decreases, partially confirming a folklore conjecture. In absence of non-trivial holomorphic vector fields this proves the equivalence between geodesic stability of the $\mathcal F$-functional and existence of Kähler-Einstein metrics. We also explore applications of our construction to Tian's $α$-invariant.
Let $X$ be a compact complex manifold, $L\to X$ an ample line bundle over $X$, and ${\cal H}$ the space of all positively curved metrics on $L$. We show that a pair $(h_0,T)$ consisting of a point $h_0\in {\cal H}$ and a test configuration $T=({\cal L}\to {\cal X}\to {\bf C})$, canonically determines a weak geodesic ray $R(h_0,T)$ in ${\cal H}$ which emanates from $h_0$. Thus a test configuration behaves like a vector field on the space of Kähler potentials ${\cal H}$. We prove that $R$ is non-trivial if the ${\bf C}^\times$ action on $X_0$, the central fiber of $\cal X$, is non-trivial. The r…
In this paper we explore the connection between special degenerations of algebraic manifolds and geodesics in the space of Kahler metrics. We provide a new and general geometric construction of nontrivial solutions for the geodesic equation. We show how to associate to any special nontrivial degeneration a geodesic of inifite length.
We prove a $C^{1,1}$ estimate for solutions of complex Monge-Ampère equations on compact Kähler manifolds with possibly nonempty boundary, in a degenerate cohomology class. This strengthens previous estimates of Phong-Sturm. As applications we deduce the local $C^{1,1}$ regularity of geodesic rays in the space of Kähler metrics associated to a test configuration, as well as the local $C^{1,1}$ regularity of quasi-psh envelopes in nef and big classes away from the non-Kähler locus.
We construct examples of compact and one-ended constant mean curvature surfaces with large mean curvature in Riemannian manifolds with axial symmetry by gluing together small spheres positioned end-to-end along a geodesic. Such surfaces cannot exist in Euclidean space, but we show that the gradient of the ambient scalar curvature acts as a `friction term' which permits the usual analytic gluing construction to be carried out.
For Finsler metrics (no reversibility assumed) on closed orientable surfaces of genus greater than one, we study the dynamics of minimal rays and minimal geodesics in the universal cover. We prove in particular, that for almost all asymptotic directions the minimal rays with these directions laminate the universal cover and that the Busemann functions with these directions are unique up to adding constants. Moreover, using a kind of weak KAM theory, we show that for almost all types of minimal geodesics in the sense of Morse, there is precisely one minimal geodesic of this type.
Let X be a compact complex manifold equipped with a smooth (but not necessarily positive) closed form theta of one-one type. By a well-known envelope construction this data determines a canonical theta-psh function u which is not two times differentiable, in general. We introduce a family of regularizations of u, parametrized by a positive number beta, defined as the smooth solutions of complex Monge-Ampere equations of Aubin-Yau type. It is shown that, as beta tends to infinity, the regularizations converge to the envelope u in the strongest possible Holder sense. A generalization of this res…
We show that any grafting ray in Teichmüller space is (strongly) asymptotic to some Teichmüller geodesic ray. As an intermediate step we introduce surfaces that arise as limits of these degenerating Riemann surfaces. Given a grafting ray, the proof involves a Teichmüller ray with a conformally equivalent limit, and building quasiconformal maps of low dilatation between the surfaces along the rays. Our preceding work had proved the result for rays determined by an arational lamination or a multicurve, and the unified approach here gives an alternative proof of the former case.
We show that the co-rays to a ray in a complete non-compact Finsler manifold contain geodesic segments to upper level sets of Busemann functions. Moreover, we characterise the co-point set to a ray as the cut locus of such level sets. The structure theorem of the co-point set on a surface, namely that is a local tree, and other properties follow immediately from the known results about the cut locus. We point out that some of our findings, in special the relation of co-point set to the upper lever sets, are new even for Riemannian manifolds.
We show that any grafting ray in Teichmüller space determined by an arational lamination or a multi-curve is (strongly) asymptotic to a Teichmüller geodesic ray. As a consequence the projection of a generic grafting ray to moduli space is dense. We also show that the set of points in Teichmüller space obtained by integer (2π-) graftings on any hyperbolic surface projects to a dense set, which implies that complex projective surfaces with any fixed Fuchsian holonomy are dense in moduli space.
Conformally compact asymptotically hyperbolic metrics have been intensively studied. The goal of this note is to understand what intrinsic conditions on a complete Riemannian manifold (M,g) will ensure that g is asymptotically hyperbolic in this sense. We use the geodesic compactification by asymptotic geodesic rays to compactify M and appropriate curvature decay conditions to study the regularity of the conformal compactification. We also present an interesting example that shows our conclusion is nearly optimal for our assumptions.
We consider the Weil--Petersson (WP) metric on the modular surface. We lift WP geodesics to the universal cover of the modular surface and analyse geometric properties of the lifts as paths in the hyperbolic metric on the universal cover. For any pair of distinct points in the thick part of the universal cover, we prove that the WP and hyperbolic geodesic segments that connect the pair, fellow-travel in the thick part and all deviations between these segments arise during cusp excursions. Furthermore, we give a quantitative analysis of the deviation during an excursion. We leverage the fellow …
We consider the broken ray transform on Riemann surfaces in the presence of an obstacle, following earlier work of Mukhometov. If the surface has nonpositive curvature and the obstacle is strictly convex, we show that a function is determined by its integrals over broken geodesic rays that reflect on the boundary of the obstacle. Our proof is based on a Pestov identity with boundary terms, and it involves Jacobi fields on broken rays. We also discuss applications of the broken ray transform.
This PhD thesis studies the broken ray transform, a generalization of the geodesic X-ray transform where geodesics are replaced with broken rays that reflect on a part of the boundary. The fundamental question is whether this transform is injective. We employ four different methods to approach this question, and each of them gives interesting results. Direct calculation can be used in a ball, where the geometry is particularly simple. If the reflecting part of the boundary is (piecewise) flat, a reflection argument can be used to reduce the problem to the usual X-ray transform. In some geometr…
