Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge / 2013 / iii / Paper 17 / 2 / Solution

A connection on a vector bundle is a complex-linear map from smooth sections to vector-bundle-valued one-forms satisfyingChoose a locally finite trivializing cover, its componentwise flat connections on a vector bundle $D_i$, and a subordinate smooth partition of unity ${\rho }_i$. The formula $D={\sum }_i{\rho }_i{D}_i$ is globally meaningful: each weighted term extends by zero outside its chart. Its Leibniz rule follows from ${\sum }_i{\rho }_i=1$, proving every smooth complex vector bundle admits a connection.

Extend the connection on a vector bundle to bundle-valued differential forms byThe curvature form of a connection is ${\Theta }_D=D^2$. Applying this twice to $fs$ shows that the $df$ terms cancel, so $D^2$ is tensorial and defines an $\mathrm{End}(E)$-valued two-form. With column coordinates for sections and connection one-form $A$, the local expression is $D=d+A\wedge$. Direct expansion on an arbitrary bundle-valued form givesThe terms containing a derivative of the argument cancel by the graded Leibniz rule. Thus Cartan curvature matrix equation isHere multiplication includes matrix multiplication and the exterior product of form entries. For a frame change $e^{\prime }=eg$, the connection one-form and curvature form of a connection transform asThe trace is consequently frame independent. Alsothe diagonal terms vanish and the off-diagonal terms cancel in pairs. Locally $\mathrm{Tr}\Theta =d\mathrm{Tr}A$, and hence $d\mathrm{Tr}\Theta =0$. The local primitives need not agree, but the two-form does. We obtain a global closed two-form $\mathrm{Tr}{\Theta }_D$.

The determinant connection on $\det E={\bigwedge }^{r}E$ is defined intrinsically bywhere the differential-form coefficient of $D{s}_j$ is placed first. In a local frame, only the diagonal components contribute to the derivative of $e_1\wedge \cdots \wedge e_r$, so its connection one-form is $\mathrm{Tr}A$. A line-bundle connection has curvature $d\mathrm{Tr}A$, because a scalar one-form wedges with itself to zero. ThereforeTo see independence of the de Rham cohomology class, write $D_1-D_0=a$, a globally defined endomorphism-valued one-form. The curvature difference formula and the same trace cancellations give the trace curvature transgressionTheir difference is globally an exact differential form, so their de Rham cohomology classes coincide.

For the Hermitian metric on a holomorphic vector bundle, use the displayed ordering of the local matrices and put $B=(\partial h)h^{-1}$. The identity $\bar{\partial }{h}^{-1}=-h^{-1}(\bar{\partial }h)h^{-1}$ givesThe plus sign comes from applying the graded Leibniz rule to the one-form $\partial h$. By the derivative formula for a determinant,The Hermitian positive-definite matrix $h$ has positive real determinant, so this logarithm is an ordinary smooth real function. The trace of Chern curvature in these conventions is thereforeIt is locally an exact differential form and in particular closed.

A holomorphic local frame change multiplies $\det h$ by $|\det g{|}^2$. A nowhere-zero holomorphic function has a local holomorphic logarithm, so $\bar{\partial }\partial \log |\det g{|}^2=0$. Thus the preceding expression for $\alpha$ is independent of the frame and glues globally. For two Hermitian metrics on a holomorphic vector bundle, the functionis globally defined because the frame-change factors cancel. Their two-forms differ by $d(\partial f)$. Hence the class of $\alpha$ is independent of the metric. The two-form is generally imaginary-valued; the metric independence statement is in complex de Rham cohomology, or equivalently for the real form $i\alpha$.