arXiv subjects
Publications and source records attributed to Duong H. Phong.
A new derivation of the flow of metrics in the Type IIA flow is given. It is adapted to the formulation of the flow as a variant of a Laplacian flow, and it uses the projected Levi-Civita connection of the metrics themselves instead of their conformal rescalings.
A geometric flow on $6$-dimensional symplectic manifolds is introduced which is motivated by supersymmetric compactifications of the Type IIA string. The underlying structure turns out to be SU(3) holonomy, but with respect to the projected Levi-Civita connection of an almost-Hermitian structure. The short-time existence is established, and new identities for the Nijenhuis tensor are found which are crucial for Shi-type estimates. The integrable case can be completely solved, giving an alternative proof of Yau's theorem on Ricci-flat Kähler metrics. In the non-integrable case, models are worked out which suggest that the flow should lead to optimal almost-complex structures compatible with the given symplectic form.
It is shown that bounds of all orders of derivative would follow from uniform bounds for the metric and the torsion 1-form, for a flow in non-Kähler geometry which can be interpreted as either a flow for the Type IIB string or the Anomaly flow with source term and zero slope parameter. A key ingredient in the proof is a formulation of this flow unifying it with the Ricci flow, which was recently found.
A short proof of the convergence of the Kahler-Ricci flow on Fano manifolds admitting a Kahler-Einstein metric or a Kahler-Ricci soliton is given, using a variety of recent techniques
The existence of Kahler-Einstein metrics on a Fano manifold is characterized in terms of a uniform gap between 0 and the first positive eigenvalue of the Cauchy-Riemann operator on smooth vector fields. It is also characterized by a similar gap between 0 and the first positive eigenvalue for Hamiltonian vector fields. The underlying tool is a compactness criterion for suitably bounded subsets of the space of Kahler potentials which implies a positive gap.
An informal introduction to some new geometric partial differential equations motivated by string theories is provided. Some of these equations are also interesting from the point of view of non-Kähler geometry and the theory of non-linear partial differential equations. In particular, a survey is given of joint works of the author with Teng Fei, Bin Guo, Sebastien Picard, and Xiangwen Zhang.
A new formulation of the Anomaly flow in the case of vanishing slope parameter is given, where the dependence on the global section of the canonical bundle appears only in the initial data. This allows a natural unification of the Anomaly flow with the Kähler-Ricci flow.
A one-parameter family of coupled flows depending on a parameter $κ>0$ is introduced which reduces when $κ=1$ to the coupled flow of a metric $ω$ with a $(1,1)$-form $α$ due recently to Y. Li, Y. Yuan, and Y. Zhang. It is shown in particular that, for $κ\not=1$, estimates for derivatives of all orders would follow from $C^0$ estimates for $ω$ and $α$. Together with the monotonicity of suitably adapted energy functionals, this can be applied to establish the convergence of the flow in some situations, including on Riemann surfaces. Very little is known as yet about the monotonicity and convergence of flows in presence of couplings, and conditions such as $κ\not=1$ seem new and may be useful in the future.
This is a survey of some of the recent developments on the geometric and analytic aspects of the Anomaly flow. It is a flow of $(2,2)$-forms on a $3$-fold which was originally motivated by string theory and the need to preserve the conformally balanced property of a Hermitian metric in the absence of a $\partial\bar\partial$-Lemma. It has revealed itself since to be a remarkable higher order extension of the Ricci flow. It has also led to several other curvature flows which may be interesting from the point of view of both non-Kähler geometry and the theory of non-linear partial differential equations.
Ansatze are constructed under which the solutions of 11D supergravity must be stationary points of a parabolic flow on a Riemannian manifold $M^{10-p}$. This parabolic flow turns out to be the Ricci flow coupled to a scalar field, a $(3-p)$-form, and a $4$-form. This allows the introduction of techniques from parabolic partial differential equations to the search of solutions to 11D supergravity. As a first step, Shi-type estimates and criteria for the long-time existence of the flow are established.
While the Anomaly flow was originally motivated by string theory, its zero slope case is potentially of considerable interest in non-Kahler geometry, as it is a flow of conformally balanced metrics whose stationary points are precisely Kahler metrics. We establish its convergence on Kahler manifolds for suitable initial data. We also discuss its relation to some current problems in complex geometry.
Necessary and sufficient conditions are provided for a class of warped product manifolds with non-vanishing flux to be supersymmetric solutions of 11D supergravity. Many noncompact, but complete solutions can be obtained in this manner, including the multi-membrane solution initially found by Duff and Stelle. In a different direction, an explicit 5-parameter moduli space of solutions to 11D supergravity is also constructed which can be viewed as nonsupersymmetric deformations of the Duff-Stelle solution.
In this short paper, we improve the result of Phong-Song-Sturm on degeneration of Fano Kähler-Ricci solitons by removing the assumption on the uniform bound of the Futaki invariant. Let $\mathcal{KR}(n)$ be the space of Kähler-Ricci solitons on $n$-dimensional Fano manifolds. We show that after passing to a subsequence, any sequence in $\mathcal{KR}(n)$ converge in the Gromov-Hausdorff topology to a Kähler-Ricci soliton on an $n$-dimensional $\mathbb{Q}$-Fano variety with log terminal singularities.
The Anomaly flow is shown to converge on toric fibrations with the Fu-Yau ansatz, for both positive and negative values of the slope parameter $α'$. This implies both results of Fu and Yau on the existence of solutions for Hull-Strominger systems, which they proved using different methods depending on the sign of $α'$. It is also the first case where the Anomaly flow can even be shown to exist for all time. This is in itself remarkable from the point of view of the theory of fully nonlinear partial differential equations, as the elliptic terms in the flow are not concave.
The Anomaly flow is a flow which implements the Green-Schwarz anomaly cancellation mechanism originating from superstring theory, while preserving the conformally balanced condition of Hermitian metrics. There are several versions of the flow, depending on whether the gauge field also varies, or is assumed known. A distinctive feature of Anomaly flows is that, in $m$ dimensions, the flow of the Hermitian metric has to be inferred from the flow of its $(m-1)$-th power $ω^{m-1}$. We show how this can be done explicitly, and we work out the corresponding flows for the torsion and the curvature tensors. The results are applied to produce criteria for the long-time existence of the flow, in the simplest case of zero slope parameter.
We solve the Fu-Yau equation for arbitrary dimension and arbitrary slope $α'$. Actually we obtain at the same time a solution of the open case $α'>0$, an improved solution of the known case $α'<0$, and solutions for a family of Hessian equations which includes the Fu-Yau equation as a special case. The method is based on the introduction of a more stringent ellipticity condition than the usual $Γ_k$ admissible cone condition, and which can be shown to be preserved by precise estimates with scale.
A notion of parabolic C-subsolutions is introduced for parabolic equations, extending the theory of C-subsolutions recently developed by B. Guan and more specifically G. Székelyhidi for elliptic equations. The resulting parabolic theory provides a convenient unified approach for the study of many geometric flows.
The Hull-Strominger system for supersymmetric vacua of the heterotic string allows general unitary Hermitian connections with torsion and not just the Chern unitary connection. Solutions on unimodular Lie groups exploiting this flexibility were found by T. Fei and S.T. Yau. The Anomaly flow is a flow whose stationary points are precisely the solutions of the Hull-Strominger system. Here we examine its long-time behavior on unimodular Lie groups with general unitary Hermitian connections. We find a diverse and intricate behavior, which depends very much on the Lie group and the initial data.