Ambikaehler geometry, ambitoric surfaces and Einstein 4-orbifolds

Abstract

We give an explicit local classification of conformally equivalent but oppositely oriented Kaehler metrics on a 4-manifold which are toric with respect to a common 2-torus action. In the generic case, these structures have an intriguing local geometry depending on a quadratic polynomial and two arbitrary functions of one variable, these two functions being explicit degree 4 polynomials when the Kaehler metrics are extremal (in the sense of Calabi). One motivation for and application of this result is an explicit local description of Einstein 4-manifolds which are hermitian with respect to either orientation. This can be considered as a riemannian analogue of a result in General Relativity due to R. Debever, N. Kamran, and R. McLenaghan, and is a natural extension of the classification of selfdual Einstein hermitian 4-manifolds, obtained independently by R. Bryant and the first and third authors. We discuss toric compactifications of these metrics on orbifolds and provide infinite discrete families of compact toric extremal Kaehler orbifolds. Our examples include Bach-flat Kaehler orbifolds which are conformal to complete smooth Einstein metrics on an open subset. We illustrate how these examples fit with recent conjectures relating the existence of extremal toric metrics to various notions of stability.