Einstein metrics and complex singularities (Q1882740)

This paper is concerned with the construction of special metrics on non-compact \(4\)-manifolds which arise as resolutions of complex orbifold singularities. Let \(\Gamma \subset U(2)\) be a finite cyclic subgroup such that \(0 \in {\mathbb C}^2\) is the only fixed point, and let \(X\) be a toric resolution of \({\mathbb C}^2/\Gamma\). The authors first show that \(X\) admits a finite-dimensional family of asymptotically locally Euclidean scalar-flat Kähler metrics. Now suppose that the canonical bundle \(K_X\) is strictly nef. Then there is a function \(F\) on \(X\) with the property that \(dF \neq 0\) on \(Y = \{F=0\}\), the exceptional divisor \(E\) of \(X\) is contained in \(X_+ = \{F > 0\}\), and for one of the above metrics \(g\), \(g_+ = F^{-2}g| _{X_+}\) is a complete self-dual Einstein metric with negative scalar curvature. Moreover, if \(X_- = \{F < 0\}\), \(g_- = F^{-2}g| _{X_-}\) is also a self-dual Einstein metric with negative scalar curvature, which extends to a complete orbifold metric on the one-point compactification of \(X_-\). Denote by \(N\) the link of the singularity in \(X\), which is a lens space. Then there is an infinite-dimensional family of conformal structures on \(N\) that bound complete, asymptotically hyperbolic self-dual Einstein metrics on connected neighbourhoods \(X_+\) of the exceptional divisor \(E\) of \(X\). Moreover, there is an asymptotically complex self-dual Einstein metric on \(X\) whose CR infinity is a quasiregular normal CR structure on \(N\). The authors also discuss the condition for \(K_X\) to be strictly nef. Firstly, they show that analogous results hold if one replaces \(X\) by the complex orbifold \(\check{X}\) obtained by contracting all chains of \((-2)\) curves contained in \(E\). On the other hand, the following result shows that the condition that \(K_X\) is strictly nef is necessary for the existence of toric self-dual Einstein metrics on the smooth resolution \(X\) itself. Let \((U,g)\) be a self-dual Einstein manifold of negative scalar curvature. Suppose that \(\Sigma \subset U\) is a smoothly embedded, compact, totally geodesic surface. Then \(\chi(\Sigma) - \Sigma \cdot \Sigma < 0\), where \(\chi(\Sigma)\) is the Euler characteristic of \(\Sigma\).