 Solution

The specified bidegree is the conjugate-linear Hodge star, not the complex-linear extension of the real star. If the pointwise Hermitian inner product is linear in its first argument, it is defined byIt is the real Hodge star operator extended complex-linearly and composed with complex conjugation; ${\ast }^2=(-1{)}^{p+q}$. On a compact Hermitian manifold,is a positive definite Hermitian inner product on smooth forms. The formal adjoint is ${\bar{\partial }}^{\ast }=-\ast \bar{\partial }\ast$ in this convention; the final star in this identity is present in the PDF but is corrupted in the TeX aid.

State the relevant Hodge theorem as follows. On a compact manifold without boundary, the Dolbeault Laplacian ${\Delta }_{\bar{\partial }}=\bar{\partial }{\bar{\partial }}^{\ast }+{\bar{\partial }}^{\ast }\bar{\partial }$ is elliptic, self-adjoint and nonnegative. Its harmonic kernel ${\mathcal{H}}_{\bar{\partial }}^{p,q}$ is finite-dimensional, and smooth forms split orthogonally as this kernel plus the image of ${\Delta }_{\bar{\partial }}$. There are the orthogonal projection $H$ and a smooth Green operator $G$ withFor any form $u$, expand the Laplacian term to obtainHarmonic forms are both closed and coclosed, since $({\Delta }_{\bar{\partial }}v,v)=\Vert \bar{\partial }v{\Vert }^2+\Vert {\bar{\partial }}^{\ast }v{\Vert }^2$. They are orthogonal to both other terms; the two images are orthogonal because $(\bar{\partial }a,{\bar{\partial }}^{\ast }b)=({\bar{\partial }}^{2}a,b)=0$. This proves the Dolbeault Hodge decompositionThe closed forms are exactly the first two summands: if $\bar{\partial }u=0$, then $u$ is orthogonal to the adjoint image, and conversely the first two summands are closed. It follows that every Dolbeault cohomology class has a unique harmonic representative. Negative or out-of-range bidegrees mean zero spaces. Compactness and the absence of boundary are necessary for this stated global decomposition.

Now assume a Kähler metric. Set $L=\omega \wedge -$ and $\Lambda =L^{\ast }$. The permitted Kähler identities, stated with signs, arewith ordinary commutators because $\Lambda$ has even degree. Thus ${\bar{\partial }}^{\ast }=-i[\Lambda ,\partial ]$, andby ${\partial }^2=0$. The companion identity gives $\bar{\partial }{\partial }^{\ast }+{\partial }^{\ast }\bar{\partial }=0$ in the same way.

Define ${\Delta }_d=d{d}^{\ast }+d^{\ast }d$ and ${\Delta }_{\partial }=\partial {\partial }^{\ast }+{\partial }^{\ast }\partial$. Expanding $d=\partial +\bar{\partial }$ and $d^{\ast }={\partial }^{\ast }+{\bar{\partial }}^{\ast }$ makes the two mixed anticommutators vanish, so ${\Delta }_d={\Delta }_{\partial }+{\Delta }_{\bar{\partial }}$. To prove equality of the latter two, substitute the same commutator formulas and use $\partial \bar{\partial }=-\bar{\partial }\partial$:The displayed operators are identical. Therefore the Kähler Laplacian identity is

Let $\eta$ be a $\bar{\partial }$-exact form. It is closed and orthogonal to harmonic forms. The Dolbeault Hodge decomposition, or the Green identity with $\alpha =G\eta$, therefore givesFor the Green construction, $\bar{\partial }\alpha =0$ follows since $G$ commutes with $\bar{\partial }$; equivalently the coexact component of a closed form vanishes. This yields exactly the stated factorization.

If also $\partial \eta =0$, put $\beta ={\bar{\partial }}^{\ast }\alpha$ and $\xi =\partial \beta$. The identities already proved giveThus $\xi$ is harmonic for ${\Delta }_{\bar{\partial }}$ and hence for ${\Delta }_{\partial }$. But it is $\partial$-exact, so it is orthogonal to the harmonic summand in the Hodge decomposition theorem. Consequently $\xi =0$, proving that $\beta ={\bar{\partial }}^{\ast }\alpha$ is $\partial$-closed.

Furthermore $\beta$ is orthogonal to the common harmonic space, since $(\beta ,h)=(\alpha ,\bar{\partial }h)=0$. Its $\partial$-Hodge decomposition then has neither a harmonic term nor a coexact term: closedness kills the coexact term. Therefore $\beta =\partial \chi$ for a form $\chi \in A^{p-1,q-1}$. It follows thatThis proves the requested ddbar lemma, including the intermediate harmonicity and orthogonality steps. The hypotheses $p,q\ge 1$ ensure that the potential has a valid bidegree.

Finally $\eta ={\omega }_2-{\omega }_1$ is a real closed $(1,1)$ form and is $d$-exact. Integration by parts makes it orthogonal to every $d$-harmonic form. By the Kähler Laplacian identity it is also orthogonal to the Dolbeault harmonic space; because it is $\bar{\partial }$-closed, the Dolbeault Hodge decomposition makes it $\bar{\partial }$-exact. Apply the proved ddbar lemma to get $\eta =\partial \bar{\partial }\varphi$ for a smooth complex-valued function. Reality gives $\eta =-\partial \bar{\partial }\overline{\varphi }$, so averaging yieldsWith $f=\mathrm{Im}\varphi$,The potential is defined up to a real constant on each connected component. This is a statement about cohomologous Kähler forms, not about an arbitrary pair of such forms.