arXiv subjects
Publications and source records attributed to D. H. Phong.
Multiplier ideal sheaves are constructed as obstructions to the convergence of the Kähler-Ricci flow on Fano manifolds, following earlier constructions of Kohn, Siu, and Nadel, and using the recent estimates of Kolodziej and Perelman
We prove the conjecture of Tian on the strong form of the Moser-Trudinger inequality for Kahler-Einstein manifolds with positive first Chern class, when there are no holomorphic vector fields, and, more generally, when the setting is invariant under a maximal compact subgroup of the automorphism group.
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 ray $R$ is obtained as limit of smooth geodesic rays $R_k\subset{\cal H}_k$, where ${\cal H}_k\subset{\cal H}$ is the subspace of Bergman metrics.
Complex geometry and supergeometry are closely entertwined in superstring perturbation theory, since perturbative superstring amplitudes are formulated in terms of supergeometry, and yet should reduce to integrals of holomorphic forms on the moduli space of punctured Riemann surfaces. The presence of supermoduli has been a major obstacle for a long time in carrying out this program. Recently, this obstacle has been overcome at genus 2, which is the first loop order where it appears in all amplitudes. An important ingredient is a better understanding of the relation between geometry and supergeometry, and between holomorphicity and superholomorphicity. This talk provides a survey of these developments and a brief discussion of the directions for further investigation.
It is shown that geodesics in the space of Kähler potentials can be uniformly approximated by geodesics in the spaces of Bergman metrics. Two important tools in the proof are the Tian-Yau-Zelditch approximation theorem for Kähler potentials and the pluripotential theory of Bedford-Taylor, suitably adapted to Kähler manifolds.
The two-loop contribution to the Type IIB low energy effective action term $D^4 R^4$, predicted by SL(2,Z) duality, is compared with that of the two-loop 4-point function derived recently in superstring perturbation theory through the method of projection onto super period matrices. For this, the precise overall normalization of the 4-point function is determined through factorization. The resulting contributions to $D^4 R^4$ match exactly, thus providing an indirect check of SL(2,Z) duality. The two-loop Heterotic low energy term $D^2F^4$ is evaluated in string perturbation theory; its form is closely related to the $D^4 R^4$ term in Type II, although its significance to duality is an open issue.
A systematic construction of superstring scattering amplitudes for $N$ massless NS bosons to two loop order is given, based on the projection of supermoduli space onto super period matrices used earlier for the superstring measure in the first four papers of this series. The one important new difficulty arising for the $N$-point amplitudes is the fact that the projection onto super period matrices introduces corrections to the chiral vertex operators for massless NS bosons which are not pure (1,0) differential forms. However, it is proved that the chiral amplitudes are closed differential forms, and transform by exact differentials on the worldsheet under changes of gauge slices. Holomorphic amplitudes and independence of left from right movers are recaptured after the extraction of terms which are Dolbeault exact in one insertion point, and de Rham closed in the remaining points. This allows a construction of GSO projected, integrated superstring scattering amplitudes which are independent of the choice of gauge slices and have only physical kinematical singularities.
The N-point amplitudes for the Type II and Heterotic superstrings at two-loop order and for $N \leq 4$ massless NS bosons are evaluated explicitly from first principles, using the method of projection onto super period matrices introduced and developed in the first five papers of this series. The gauge-dependent corrections to the vertex operators, identified in paper V, are carefully taken into account, and the crucial counterterms which are Dolbeault exact in one insertion point and de Rham closed in the remaining points are constructed explicitly. This procedure maintains gauge slice independence at every stage of the evaluation. Analysis of the resulting amplitudes demonstrates, from first principles, that for $N\leq 3$, no two-loop corrections occur, while for N=4, no two-loop corrections to the low energy effective action occur for $R^4$ terms in the Type II superstrings, and for $F^4$, $F^2F^2$, $F^2R^2$, and $R^4$ terms in the Heterotic strings.
Assuming uniform bounds for the curvature, the exponential convergence of the Kähler-Ricci flow is established under two conditions which are a form of stability: the Mabuchi energy is bounded from below, and the dimension of the space of holomorphic vector fields in an orbit of the diffeomorphism group cannot jump up in the limit.
Precise factorization constraints are formulated for the three-loop superstring chiral measure, in the separating degeneration limit. Several natural Ansätze in terms of polynomials in theta constants for the density of the measure are examined. None of these Ansätze turns out to satisfy the dual criteria of modular covariance of weight 6, and of tending to the desired degeneration limit. However, an Ansatz is found which does satisfy these criteria for the square of the density of the measure, raising the possibility that it is not the density of the measure, but its square which is a polynomial in theta constants. A key notion is that of totally asyzygous sextets of spin structures. It is argued that the Ansatz produces a vanishing cosmological constant.
The goal of this paper and of a subsequent continuation is to find some viable ansatze for the three-loop superstring chiral measure. For this, two alternative formulas are derived for the two-loop superstring chiral measure. Unlike the original formula, both alternates admit modular covariant generalizations to higher genus. One of these two generalizations is analyzed in detail in the present paper, with the analysis of the other left to the next paper of the series.
It is observed that for complex surfaces, the positivity of the Ricci curvature is preserved by the Kähler-Ricci flow, under the additional assumption that the sum of the two lowest eigenvalues of the traceless curvature operator is non-negative.
Various asymmetric orbifold models based on chiral shifts and chiral reflections are investigated. Special attention is devoted to the consistency of the models with two fundamental principles for asymmetric orbifolds : modular invariance and the existence of a proper Hilbert space formulation for states and operators. The interplay between these two principles is non-trivial. It is shown, for example, that their simultaneous requirement forces the order of a chiral reflection to be 4, instead of the naive 2. A careful explicit construction is given of the associated one-loop partition functions. At higher loops, the partition functions of asymmetric orbifolds are built from the chiral blocks of associated symmetric orbifolds, whose pairings are determined by degenerations to one-loop.
The two-loop chiral measure for superstring theories compactified on $\bZ_2$ reflection orbifolds is constructed from first principles for even spin structures. This is achieved by a careful implementation of the chiral splitting procedure in the twisted sectors and the identification of a subtle worldsheet supersymmetric and supermoduli dependent shift in the Prym period. The construction is generalized to compactifications which involve more general NS backgrounds preserving worldsheet supersymmetry. The measures are unambiguous and independent of the gauge slice. Two applications are presented, both to superstring compactifications where 4 dimensions are $\bZ_2$-twisted and where the GSO projection involves a chiral summation over spin structures. The first is an orbifold by a single $\bZ_2$-twist; here, orbifolding reproduces a supersymmetric theory and it is shown that its cosmological constant indeed vanishes. The second model is of the type proposed by Kachru-Kumar-Silverstein and additionally imposes a $\bZ_2$-twist by the parity of worldsheet fermion number; it is shown here that the corresponding cosmological constant does not vanish pointwise on moduli space.
In this paper, we the improve the bound for the moment map derivative proved by Donaldson in his recent proof of the Hilbert-Mumford stability of complex manifolds with constant scalar curvature. The proof depends on the identification of Donaldson's symplectic form with the curvature of a certain Deligne pairing.
If $M$ is a projective manifold in $P^N$, then one can associate to each one parameter subgroup $H$ of $SL(N+1)$ the Mumford $μ$ invariant. The manifold $M$ is Chow-Mumford stable if $μ$ is positive for all $H$. Tian has defined the notion of K-stability, and has shown it to be intimately related to the existence of Kähler-Einstein metrics. The manifold $M$ is K-stable if $μ'$ is positive for all $H$, where $μ'$ is an invariant which is defined in terms of the Mabuchi K-energy. In this paper we derive an explicit formula for $μ'$ in the case where $M$ is a curve. The formula is similar to Mumford's formula for $μ$, and is likewise expressed in terms of the vertices of the Newton diagram of a basis of holomorphic sections for the hyperplane line bundle.
We study the Futaki invariant and the Mabuchi K-energy of a Kähler manifold $M$ using the Deligne pairing technique developed in earlier papers. We first prove a rather simple characterization of the Futaki character: The Futaki character on a Q-Fano variety is the eigenvalue of the action of $Aut(M)$ on $Chow(M)$, the Chow point of $M$. We use this to give a new proof of Lu's theorem on the Futaki invariant of a complete intersection. In the last theorem, we prove a non-linear generalization of Lu's formula which expresses the K-energy of a smooth complete intersection as a singular norm on the space of defining polynomials.
This is an expanded version of lectures given in Hangzhou and Beijing, on the symplectic forms common to Seiberg-Witten theory and the theory of solitons. Methods for evaluating the prepotential are discussed. The construction of new integrable models arising from supersymmetric gauge theories are reviewed, including twisted Calogero-Moser systems and spin chain models with twisted monodromy conditions. A practical framework is presented for evaluating the universal symplectic form in terms of Lax pairs. A subtle distinction between a Lie algebra and a Lie group version of this symplectic form is clarified, which is necessary in chain models.