A variational approach to SKT and balanced metrics (Q6163239)

A Hermitian metric \(g\) on a complex manifold of complex dimension \(n\) is called SKT (or pluriclosed), if its associated fundamental form \(\omega\) satisfies the condition \( \partial \overline \partial \omega=0\) and is balanced if \(d \omega^{n -1} =0\). For compact complex manifolds it has been conjectured in [\textit{A. Fino} and \textit{L. Vezzoni}, J. Geom. Phys. 91, 40--53 (2015; Zbl 1318.53049)] that a compact complex manifold admitting both a SKT metric and a balanced metric must be Kähler. The conjecture has been confirmed in some special cases, but is still open. The authors study this conjecture using a variational approach. They define two new functionals on the spaces of SKT (respectively, balanced) metrics and prove that their critical points are the Kähler metrics, if any. It turns out that a family of SKT metrics (respectively a family of balanced metrics) asymptotically minimising the corresponding functional either converges to a Kähler metric or degenerates. In the SKT case the main idea behind the functional is that the pluriclosedness of the metric can be rewritten as \(\partial \omega \in\) Ker \(d\), i.e., \(\partial \omega\) is orthogonal to Im \(d^*\), and the use of the decomposition of \(\partial \omega\) into a harmonic part and a \(d\)-exact part. In the balanced case, the authors exploit the three-space decomposition associated with the \(\overline \partial\)-Laplacian on \((n -1, n - 1)\)-forms and the orthogonal projection onto Im \(\overline \partial\) and they define a suitable torsion form which is of pure type \((n-1,n-2).\) Both functionals are non-normalised, but the authors also include a discussion of normalised versions of them. As a main result they compute the critical point equations and the variation of the functionals in the scaling direction.