A remark on dynamical degrees of automorphisms of hyperkähler manifolds (Q836904)

A hyperkähler manifold is a simply connected compact Kähler manifold \(X\) such that \(H^0(X, \Omega_X^2) \simeq \mathbb C \sigma\) where \(\sigma\) is a holomorphic two-form that is non-degenerate in every point. A hyperkähler manifold has even dimension \(2n\), the standard examples are the Hilbert schemes \(S^{[n]}\) parametrising zero-dimensional schemes of length \(n\) on a \(K3\) surface \(S\). Recall furthermore that if \(f: X \rightarrow X\) is a surjective endomorphism of a compact Kähler manifold \(X\) of dimension \(m\), the \(k\)-th dynamical degree \(d_k(f)\) is defined as \[ d_k(f) := \lim_{s \to \infty} \root{s}\of{\int_X (f^s)^* \omega^k \wedge \omega^{m - k}}, \] where \(\omega\) is any Kähler form on \(X\). The dynamical degree \(d_k(f)\) does not depend on the choice of the Kähler form and is in fact equal to the spectral radius of the pull-back \(f^*\) acting on \(H^{2k}(X, \mathbb R)\). \newline The aim of this article is to describe the dynamical degrees of an automorphism \(f\) of a hyperkähler manifold \(X\) of dimension \(2n\). The main theorem states that \(d_{2n-k}(f)=d_k(f)=d_1(f)^k\) for every \(k \in \{0, \ldots, n\}\). By the fundamental theorem of Gromov and Yomdin this immediately implies that the topological entropy of \(f\) equals \(n \log d_1(f)\). The proof of this surprisingly simple statement is based on two observations: an injectivity result for the multiplication on the cohomology ring \(H^*(X, \mathbb R)\) due to \textit{M. Verbitsky} [Geom. Funct. Anal. 6, No.4, 601-611 (1996; Zbl 0861.53069)] and the study of the characteristic polynomial of \(f^*|H^2(X, \mathbb Z)\) in an earlier paper of the author [Sugaku 59, 1-23 (2007)]. As a corollary one obtains that the dynamical degrees of an automorphism of a hyperkähler manifold are either one or Salem numbers (cf. \textit{C. T. McMullen} [J. Reine Angew. Math. 545, 201--233 (2002; Zbl 1054.37026)] for the definition and important role of Salem numbers in complex dynamics). \newline In the second part of the paper the author constructs examples of automorphisms on Hilbert schemes \(S^{[n]}\) and explicitly computes their dynamical degrees.