On a complex Hessian flow (Q2305060)

The authors study the flow on a compact Kähler manifold \((M,\omega)\) given by \[ \frac{\partial u}{\partial t} = \log \sigma_k(g_{i\bar j}+u_{i\bar j}) - \log f(x,u), \quad u\mid_{M\times\{0\}}=u_0. \tag{1}\] Here \(\sigma_k(g_{i\bar j}+u_{i\bar j})\) denotes the \(k\)-th elementary symmetric function of the eigenvalues of \(g_{i\bar j}+u_{i\bar j}\) relative to \(g_{i\bar j}\), where \(\omega=\sqrt{-1}g_{i\bar j} dz^i \wedge d\bar z^j\) in a local coordinate chart, and \(f\) is a given smooth positive function on \(M\times \mathbb{R}\). (1) is the gradient flow of the functional \[ J_k(u) = \int_M F(x,u) \omega^n - \frac{\binom{n}{k}}{k+1} \sum_{j=0}^k\int_M u(\omega + \sqrt{-1} \partial\bar\partial u)^j \wedge \omega^{n-j} \] where \(F(x,u)=\int_0^u f(x,z)\, dz\). In the special case \(k=n\) and \(f(x,z)=f(x)e^z\), (1) is the Kähler-Ricci flow on manifolds with negative first Chern class, which was solved by \textit{H.-D. Cao} [Invent. Math. 81, 359--372 (1985; Zbl 0574.53042)]. The main result is the existence of a smooth admissible solution of (1) and the convergence as \(t\rightarrow \infty\) to a smooth solution of \[ \sigma_k(g_{i\bar j}+u_{i\bar j}) = f(x,u)\text{ on }M. \tag{2}\] The existence and uniqueness of a weak solution of (2) was proved by \textit{H. C. Lu} [J. Math. Pures Appl. (9) 100, No. 6, 785--805 (2013; Zbl 1288.53072)] under weaker conditions on \(f\).