An openness theorem for harmonic 2-forms on 4-manifolds (Q1584481)

Let \(M\) be a closed orientable \(n\)-dimensional manifold. A closed \(m\)-form \(\omega\) on \(M\) is called intrinsically harmonic if there exists a Riemannian metric \(g\) on \(M\) with respect to which \(\omega\) is harmonic. Let \(\Omega^m(M)\) be the space of \(m\)-forms and \(\Omega^m_\alpha(M)\) the subspace consisting of \(m\)-forms in the cohomology class \(\alpha\in H^m(M;\mathbb R)\). Denote by \(\mathcal H^m _\alpha \subset \Omega^m_\alpha(M)\) the space of intrinsically harmonic \(m\)-forms in the class \(\alpha\) and by \(\widetilde{\mathcal H}^m_\alpha \subset \mathcal H^m_\alpha\) the subset of all harmonic \(m\)-forms in \(\alpha\) which are transverse to all the strata of \(\Lambda ^m (\mathbb R^n)^*\) under the action of \(SO(n)\). The elements of \(\widetilde{\mathcal H}^m_\alpha\) are called transverse. For the case of 1-forms, \textit{E.~Calabi} [An intrinsic characterization of harmonic one-forms, Global Analysis, Papers in Honor of K. Kodaira, 101-117 (1969; Zbl 0194.24701)] found the necessary and sufficient conditions for a 1-form \(\omega\) to be intrinsically harmonic and showed that the set of all transverse 1-forms \(\widetilde {\mathcal H}^1_\alpha\) is open. In this paper, the author considers the case of 2-forms and proves the openness theorem for 2-forms which requires more additional assumptions on 2-forms. Let \(M\) be a closed, orientable 4-dimensional manifold with \(b^\pm _2>0\). Then the generic harmonic 2-form \(\omega\) in the class \(\alpha\in H^2(M;\mathbb R)\) (generic in the space of metrics) is neither self-dual (SD), nor anti-self-dual (ASD), and is transverse. In particular, recalling the stratification of \(\Lambda^2(\mathbb R^4)^*\) under the action of \(SO(4)\), one has the following: (i) \(\omega\) has no zeros, (ii) the locus, where \(\omega\) is SD/ASD, consists of a union of circles \(C=\bigcup S^1\), (iii) the locus, where \(\omega\) has rank 2, is a 3-manifold \(N\) (possibly disconnected). \(C\) and \(N\) are disjoint. Let \(\{N_j\}\) be the set of connected components in \(N\). A \(2\)-form \(\omega\) is called semi-contact on \(N_j\) (or \(N_j\) is semi-contact) if the pullback of \(^*\omega\) to \(N_j\) is zero. Let \(\widetilde N\) be the union of all semi-contact \(N_j\)'s. Then \(\omega\) is said to satisfy the connectivity condition if \(M-\widetilde N\) is connected. The author proves that the set \(\widetilde {\mathcal H}^2_\alpha\) of all transverse intrinsically harmonic 2-forms \(\omega\) satisfying the connectivity condition is open.