The Demailly system for a direct sum of ample line bundles on Riemann surfaces (Q6098493)

Let \(X\) be a projective manifold equipped with a Kähler metric \(\omega_0\), and \(E\) be a holomorphic vector bundle of rank \(r\) on \(X\) equipped with a smooth Hermitian metric \(h_0\). A conjecture of Griffiths states that \(E\) being Hartshorne ample (an algebraic/sheaf-theoretic notion) implies, and thus is equivalent to, \(E\) being Griffiths positive (a metric/differential-geometric notion). \textit{J.-P. Demailly} proposes in [Sb. Math. 212, No. 3, 305--318 (2021; Zbl 1464.32028); translation from Mat. Sb. 212, No. 3, 39--53 (2021)] an approach to solve the conjecture by solving a \(1\)-parameter family (with parameter \(t \in [0,1]\)) of systems of equations consisting of a ``matrix Monge-Ampère equation'' and an elliptic differential system of Hermitian-Yang-Mills type. See also [\textit{J.-P. Demailly}, ``Monge-Ampère functionals for the curvature tensor of a holomorphic vector bundle'', Preprint, \url{arXiv:2112.14463}] for a modified approach in the same line. This article investigates the special case \(\dim X = 1\), when the system in [\textit{J.-P. Demailly}, Sb. Math. 212, No. 3, 305--318 (2021; Zbl 1464.32028); translation from Mat. Sb. 212, No. 3, 39--53 (2021)] is reduced to \[ \left\{ \begin{aligned} &\det\left(\frac{\sqrt{-1} F_t}{\omega_0} +(1-t) \alpha_0\operatorname{id}_E\right) = e^{\lambda f} a_t \\ &\sqrt{-1} F_t -\frac 1r \:\operatorname{tr}\!\left(\sqrt{-1}F_t \right) \operatorname{id}_E = -e^{f_t} \ln g_t \omega_0 \end{aligned} \right. \quad\text{ for } 0\leq t \leq 1 \; , \] where \(\alpha_0, \lambda \gg r\) are constants, \(a_t\) is a positive smooth function, \(\operatorname{id}_E\) is the identity map on \(E\), and \(\sqrt{-1}F_t\) is the curvature of the metric \(h_t = e^{-f_t} g_t h_0\) on \(E\), with \((f_t, g_t)\) being the unknown of the system, where \(f_t\) is a function on \(X\), and \(g_t\) is a positive-definite \(h_0\)-Hermitian endomorphism on \(E\) with \(\det g_t = 1\). It is shown that, if either (1) \((E, h_0) = \bigoplus_{i=1}^r (L_i, h_{0\:i})\), where each \(L_i\) is an ample line bundle (but \(h_{0\:i}\) need not be positively curved), or (2) Every \(\mathcal C^{2,\gamma}\) (\(0< \gamma < 1\)) solution \((f_t, g_t)\) of the above system satisfies \(f_t \geq -C\) for some constant \(C\) independent of \(t\), then there exists a smooth metric \(h_t = e^{-f_t} g_t h_0\) on \(E\) whose curvature \(\sqrt{-1}F_t\) is Griffiths positive for all \(t \in [0,1]\). The existence of a solution at \(t=0\), namely, \((f_0, g_0) = (0, g_0)\), is guaranteed by a result of \textit{K. Uhlenbeck} and \textit{S. T. Yau} [Commun. Pure Appl. Math. 39, S257--S293 (1986; Zbl 0615.58045)]. While the continuity method seems insufficient to provide solutions of the Demailly system for all \(t \in [0,1]\), the author resorts to the Leray-Schauder degree theory for the existence of solutions on the whole interval. The a priori estimate (\(f_t \geq -C\) for \((f_t,g_t)\) being \(\mathcal C^{2,\gamma}\)) is shown to hold true when \((E,h_0)\) is a direct sum of Hermitian line bundles.