Canonical metrics on the moduli space of Riemann surfaces. II (Q814684)

In part I of this paper [\textit{K. Liu, X. Sun} and \textit{S.-T. Yau}, J. Differ. Geom. 68, No. 3, 571--637 (2004; Zbl 1078.30038)], the authors started the project to understand the canonical metrics on the Teichmüller and the moduli spaces of Riemann surfaces, especially the Kähler-Einstein metric. In the present paper, the authors continue the study of these metrics and other classical metrics, in particular, the Kähler-Einstein metric, and the perturbed Ricci metric. Fix an integer \(g\geq 2\) and denote by \(\mathcal T_g\), the Teichmüller space, and \(\mathcal M_g\), the moduli space of closed Riemann surfaces of genus \(g\). The first main result is about the curvature properties of the Ricci and the perturbed Ricci metrics: The holomorphic bisectional curvature, the holomorphic sectional curvature and the Ricci curvature of the Ricci metric \(\tau\) on the moduli space \(\mathcal M_g\) are bounded. For any constant \(C > 0\), the bisectional curvature of the perturbed Ricci metric \({\widetilde\tau} = \tau + Ch\) is bounded. Furthermore, with a suitable choice of \(C\), the holomorphic sectional curvature and the Ricci curvature of \(\widetilde\tau\) are bounded from above and below by negative constants. Both of the above theorems are proved by a detailed analysis of the boundary behavior of these metrics and their curvature. By using minimal surface theory and the Bers' embedding theorem, the authors prove that the injectivity radius of the Teichmüller space equipped with the Ricci metric or the perturbed Ricci metric is bounded from below. These results imply that Ricci metric and the perturbed Ricci metric both have bounded geometry. Let \(\overline{\mathcal M}_g\) be the Deligne-Mumford compactification of the moduli space of Riemann surfaces. Let \(\overline E\) denote the logarithmic extension of the cotangent bundle of the moduli space. The next result is an interesting consequence of the detailed understanding of the Kähler-Einstein metric on the moduli spaces: The first Chern class of \(\overline E\) is positive and \(\overline E\) is Mumford stable with respect to \(c_1({\overline E})\). The authors prove this theorem by using the good control of the Kähler-Einstein metric and of the Ricci metric, obtained near the boundary of the moduli space. As a direct corollary, the authors obtain that the Deligne-Mumford moduli space \(\overline{\mathcal M}_g\) is of logarithmic general type for any \(g\geq 2\). The final result is the following theorem about the Kähler-Einstein metric: The Kähler-Einstein metric on the Teichmüller space \(\mathcal T_g\) has bounded geometry. Furthermore, the covariant derivatives of its curvature are all uniformly bounded. This theorem is proved by using the Kähler-Ricci flow and the method of Yau in his proof of the Calabi conjecture to obtain higher order estimates of the curvature.