Spin\(^c\) structures and scalar curvature estimates (Q5960163)

Let \(M\) and \(N\) be compact manifolds. A continuous map \(f:N \to M\) is called a \textit{spin map} if we have for the second Stiefel-Whitney classes \(f^* w_2(M) = w_2(N)\). In particular, if both manifolds are spin, then every \(f\) is a spin map. If \(M\) is a spin\(^c\) manifold, then the \textit{spin\(^c\) degree} of \(f\) is defined to be the number \(\langle \widehat A (N) f^* e^{c/2}, [N]\rangle\) where \(c\) denotes the canonical class of the spin\(^c\) structure of \(M\). If \(M=N\), then the spin\(^c\) degree of \(f=id\) is nothing but the Todd genus of \(M\). The main result of the paper says that if \(M\) is a compact connected Kähler manifold with nonnegative Ricci curvature and \(N\) is a compact connected orientable Riemannian manifold, then for each area nonincreasing spin map \(f:N\to M\) of nontrivial spin\(^c\) degree one has \[ \text{scal}_N \not> \text{scal}_M \circ f \] and \(\text{scal}_N \geq \text{scal}_M \circ f\) implies \(\text{scal}_N = \text{scal}_M \circ f\). Here \(M\) carries the spin\(^c\) structure induced from its complex structure. The case \(f=id\) shows that Kähler metrics with nonnegative Ricci curvature on a complex compact connected manifold with nontrivial Todd genus are in a certain sense area-extremal. These results can be used to give upper bounds for the minimum of the scalar curvature of complete intersections thus proving a conjecture by \textit{Ch. Bär} and \textit{D. Bleecker} in [Contemp. Math. 242, 3-24 (1999; Zbl 0951.53028)]. The main tools for the proof are index theory for certain twisted Dirac operators and the corresponding Bochner-Lichnerowicz-Weitzenböck formulas.