Write , the Lefschetz operator of a Kähler manifold. The metric and volume form define the inner product on smooth complex forms, and is its formal adjoint. Similarly, is the formal adjoint of the Dolbeault operator, characterized by . The Dolbeault Laplacian is
On the compact manifold without boundary, integration by parts gives
If the Laplacian vanishes, both terms are zero. Conversely, if both operators annihilate , the defining formula annihilates it. Thus harmonicity is equivalent to being both -closed and -closed.
Because is closed and has type , and . The supplied identity from the Kähler identities gives . With ordinary commutators for the even-degree operator ,
The last identity follows from . This also proves that the Lefschetz operator preserves harmonic forms.
For the cohomology map one can work directly with forms: , since has even degree. It takes closed forms to closed forms and exact forms to exact forms. Therefore the th power of induces
The bidegree is , including the zero groups outside the dimension range. No isomorphism claim is needed here.
Finally put , so . Let
Both Kähler forms are -closed, so . For a closed representative ,
This primitive has type ; the degree-one sign produces no additional term because is closed. Hence
This is the dependence of Lefschetz maps on the Dolbeault class.