An analytic application of Geometric Invariant Theory (Q2032684)

One of the mathematical highlights of the 1980s is the establishment of the Hitchin-Kobayashi correspondence. Given a holomorphic vector bundle over a compact Kähler manifold, this correspondence states that the bundle admits a Hermite-Einstein metric if and only if it satisfies the algebro-geometric condition of slope polystability [\textit{S. K. Donaldson}, Proc. Lond. Math. Soc. (3) 50, 1--26 (1985; Zbl 0529.53018); \textit{K. Uhlenbeck} and \textit{S. T. Yau}, Commun. Pure Appl. Math. 39, S257--S293 (1986; Zbl 0615.58045)]. Almost equally important as the statement is the following expectation that arises from this correspondence. The notion of slope stability was introduced in relation to considerations from moduli spaces, and so one should be able to form moduli spaces of holomorphic vector bundles which (equivalently) admit a Hermite-Einstein metric or are slope polystable. This expectation is well understood when the compact Kähler manifold is actually a smooth projective variety through work of many authors, such as \textit{C. T. Simpson} [Publ. Math., Inst. Hautes Étud. Sci. 79, 47--129 (1994; Zbl 0891.14005)] and \textit{D. Greb} et al. [Geom. Topol. 25, No. 4, 1719--1818 (2021; Zbl 1486.14016)]. The paper under review is a key step towards understanding the story beyond the projective setting. The authors use their prior work, demonstrating which deformations of polystable bundles remain polystable, to construct a moduli space of slope polystable bundles over a compact Kähler manifold. They also construct a natural Kähler metric on the moduli space. The method they employ is to view their prior work as producing ``charts'' on the moduli space; this strategy had previously been used in other contexts, but the work of the authors contains some new features. The paper is very clearly and carefully written, and should be viewed as an important contribution to the field.