Pluriclosed star split Hermitian metrics (Q6063903)

A Hermitian metric \(\omega\) on a complex manifold \(X\) of complex dimension \(n\) is called pluriclosed or strong Kähler with torsion (shortly, SKT) if \(\partial \overline \partial \omega = 0\), astheno-Kähler if \(\partial \overline \partial \omega^{n -2} = 0\), and \((n -2)\)-Gauduchon if \(\omega \wedge \partial \overline \partial \omega^{n -2} =0\). The author introduces the notion of pluriclosed star split metrics as a generalization of astheno-Kähler metrics and \((n -2)\)-Gauduchon metrics. A Hermitian metric \(\omega\) on an \(n\)-dimensional complex manifold \(X\) is called pluriclosed star split (resp., closed star split) if \(\partial \overline \partial (\star \rho_{\omega}) = 0\) (resp., if \(d (\star \rho_{\omega}) = 0\)), where \(\rho_{\omega}\) is the unique \((1,1)\)-form such that \(i \partial \overline \partial \omega^{n-2} = \omega^{n -2} \wedge \rho_{\omega}\). Since the astheno-Kähler condition is equivalent to \(\rho_{\omega} =0\), every astheno-Käler metric is closed star split and hence also pluriclosed star split. By an explicit computation it turns out that \[ \star \rho_{\omega} = \frac{1}{n -1} f_{\omega} \omega^{n-1} - i \partial \overline \partial \omega^{n -2}, \] where \(f_{\omega}\) is the real valued \({\mathcal C}^{\infty}\) function on \(X\) defined by \(f_{\omega} = (\omega \wedge \partial \overline \partial \omega^{n -2})/\omega^n\). In the first part of the paper the author proves that, if \(X\) is a compact connected complex manifold of complex dimension \(n\) and \(\omega\) is a pluriclosed star split Hermitian metric on \(X\), then the associated function \(f_{\omega}\) satisfies one of the following three conditions: \(f_\omega >0\) or \(f_{\omega}<0\) or \(f_{\omega} \equiv 0\). In Section 2.2 the author constructs some explicit examples admitting pluriclosed star split Gauduchon (even balanced) metrics with constant \(f_{\omega}\). These examples include the Iwasawa manifold and its small deformations, the Nakamura manifolds, the 3-dimensional Calabi-Eckmann manifold and its small deformations. Moreover, the author generalises the pluriclosed star split and the closed star split conditions to pairs of Hermitian metrics, showing as an application that under extra assumptions a compact complex manifold admitting both pluriclosed and balanced metrics must be Kähler. This gives, under extra assumptions, a positive answer to a conjecture formulated by \textit{A. Fino} and \textit{L. Vezzoni} [J. Geom. Phys. 91, 40--53 (2015; Zbl 1318.53049)]. In the second part of the paper the author introduces and studies a Laplace-like differential operator of order two acting on the smooth \((1, 1)\)-forms of a Hermitian manifold, showing that it is elliptic and determining its links with the pluriclosed star split metrics and pairs defined in the first part of the paper.