The Cauchy problem for the homogeneous Monge-Ampère equation. II: Legendre transform (Q649589)

This paper is the second in a series of papers by the authors devoted to a detailed study of the Cauchy problem for the homogeneous real/complex Monge-Ampère equation (in short, HRMA/HCMA); see [\textit{Y. A. Rubinstein} and \textit{S. Zelditch}, J. Differ. Geom. 90, No. 2, 303--327 (2012; Zbl 1250.32036)]. The Cauchy problem studied here is MA\(\psi=0\) on \([0,T]\times{\mathbb R}^n\), with initial conditions \(\psi(0,\cdot)=\psi_0\) and \({\partial\psi\over\partial s}(0,\cdot)=\dot\psi_0\), where MA is the real Monge-Ampère operator, \(\psi_0\) is smooth, strictly convex with invertible Hessian and linear growth on \({\mathbb R}^n\), and \(\dot\psi_0\) is smooth and bounded on \({\mathbb R}^n\). Applying the Legendre transform to this problem one gets the equation \(\ddot u=0\), with initial conditions \(u_0=\psi_0^*\) and \(\dot u_0=-\dot\psi_0\circ(\nabla\psi_0)^{-1}\), where \({}^*\) denotes the Legendre transform. It is well-known that the function \(\psi(s,x)=(u_0+s\dot u_0)^*(x)\) solves the original Cauchy problem for the HMRA on the interval \([0,T^{\text{cvx}})\) where \(u_s=u_0+s\dot u_0\) is convex; the main result of this paper is that conversely such a \(\psi\) fails to solve the HRMA as soon as \(u_s\) ceases to be convex. However, the authors also prove that \(\psi\) does solve HRMA wherever it is differentiable, and that this happens on a dense set whose complement has zero Lebesgue measure. As an application, the authors remark that the Legendre transform solution of the initial value problem for geodesics in the space of torus-invariant Kähler metrics on a Kähler manifold with torus symmetry ceases to be a geodesic as soon as it develops singularities, but it still solves the geodesic equation on its dense regular locus.