Normalized curvature form of a Hermitian holomorphic line bundle Created 2026-10-05 Updated 2026-11-05
For a holomorphic line bundle with Hermitian metric , its normalized Chern curvature is
where is a holomorphic local frame and . A change of frame multiplies by the squared absolute value of a holomorphic unit; its logarithm has zero mixed derivative. The local expressions therefore define a closed real (1, 1)-form representing the First Chern class.
Positive curvature is an additional condition on the metric, distinct from positivity of each fibre norm. On the trivial line over , the metric is positive definite but has zero curvature. The metric instead gives , a positive real (1, 1)-form. Globally, admitting such a positively curved metric is the definition of a positive holomorphic line bundle.
Replacing by adds . Thus the normalized Chern curvature changes by an exact differential form, while its First Chern class stays fixed.
A positive holomorphic line bundle admits a Hermitian metric whose Chern connection curvature satisfies that is a positive real (1, 1)-form. In a local holomorphic local frame with squared length , the local formula for the Chern connection on a line bundle gives , so positivity means is positive definite. Its closedness makes a Kähler form; use this form to define the operators below.
Let , choose a Hermitian metric on , and equip with the tensor-product metric. The curvature of a tensor product connection gives
On -valued zero-forms, the Lefschetz commutator is . Thus the Bochner-Kodaira-Nakano identity gives
This last operator is a fixed smooth self-adjoint bundle endomorphism. Compactness supplies a finite such that at every point. For a holomorphic section of , and by degree, so integrating the identity gives
Choose an integer with . Then . The threshold depends on the fixed bundle , as the curvature bound makes explicit. Positive complex dimension is necessary: on a zero-dimensional manifold positivity is vacuous and a nonzero fibre has nonzero sections for every twist.
Use the integral normalization of the Chern connection curvature. For a holomorphic local frame , put . The fundamental form of a Hermitian holomorphic line bundle is
This follows from the local formula for the Chern connection on a line bundle, . It is a closed real (1, 1)-form representing the First Chern class. If , the formula becomes .
The Hermitian metric is positive when this is a positive real (1, 1)-form: for every nonzero ,
Equivalently, the matrix is a positive-definite matrix in every frame. Such a metric makes a positive holomorphic line bundle. Omitting the normalization factor changes none of these positivity conditions.
A real (1, 1)-form is a form satisfying . In holomorphic coordinates it has the form
It is a positive real (1, 1)-form when
for every nonzero tangent vector of type , equivalently when the Hermitian matrix is positive definite.
A holomorphic local trivialization of a holomorphic line bundle is equivalently a nowhere-zero holomorphic local frame . A connection is unitary when it preserves the fiberwise Hermitian inner product:
The Chern connection is the unique unitary connection whose part is the bundle's Dolbeault partial connection .
In a holomorphic frame, put . The local formula for the Chern connection on a line bundle is
The curvature therefore has type . Since a unitary connection has imaginary curvature, , and hence
Thus is a real -form.
For connections on and on , the tensor product connection is defined on decomposable local sections by
The curvature of a tensor product connection on line bundles is additive:
Consequently
which is positive whenever both summands are positive.
For the final assertion, simultaneously diagonalize the positive Hermitian matrices of and by congruence at the chosen point. In the resulting coframe,
A direct wedge-product calculation gives
If and are linearly independent, at least one of these minors is nonzero. Every coefficient is positive, so the sum is strictly positive. This is wedge positivity for two positive (1, 1)-forms.
Positive holomorphic line bundle Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14