A Kummer-type construction of self-dual 4-manifolds (Q1337547)

First, the authors introduce the notion called Taubes invariant for smooth oriented compact 4-manifolds. It is defined to be the least integer \(n\) such that, for a given 4-manifold \(M\), the connected sum \(M\# n\mathbb{C}\mathbb{P}_ 2\) admit a self-dual metric. The existence of such a finite integer was proved by \textit{C. H. Taubes} [J. Differ. Geom. 36, No. 1, 163-253 (1992)]; however, as the authors claim, its value is hardly calculable. In this paper, they prove that the Taubes invariant for \(M= \overline \mathbb{C}\mathbb{P}_ 2\) is between 2 and 14. Second, and as the main contribution of this paper, the authors show how to construct the generalized connected sum of two self-dual orbifolds. Their argument extends really to the case of reflection orbifolds with a self-dual metric, these are manifolds with an action of \(\mathbb{Z}_ 2\) equipped with a global self-dual Riemannian metric. A notable example is the compactification of the Eguchi-Hanson manifold. Following and modifying the argument in [\textit{S. Donaldson} and \textit{R. Friedman}, Nonlinearity 2, No. 2, 197-239 (1989; Zbl 0671.53029)] the authors show the existence of self-dual metrics on such a connected sum of reflection orbifolds satisfying certain cohomological conditions. Then, this is applied to a pair of a reflection orbifold and the compactified Eguchi-Hanson orbifold, thus concluding the estimate of the Taubes invariant of \(\overline \mathbb{C}\mathbb{P}_ 2\). As another application, the authors give an explicit construction of the Ricci-flat Kähler metric on a \(K3\) surface belonging to a certain class, which is to be compared with the general existence theorem by Calabi-Yau of such metrics on \(K3\)-surfaces.