# Nakano positivity and the 𝐿²-metric on the direct image of an adjoint positive line bundle

## 1. Introduction

A holomorphic vector bundle $`E`$ over a complex projective manifold $`X`$ is called ample if the tautological line bundle $`𝒪_{(E)}(1)`$ over the projective bundle $`(E)`$ of hyperplanes in $`E`$ is ample. This notion of ampleness was introduced by R. Hartshorne in \[Ha\].

On the other hand, P.A. Griffiths in \[Gr\] introduced an analytic notion of positivity of a vector bundle. A holomorphic vector bundle $`E`$ over $`X`$ is called Griffiths positive if it admits a Hermitian metric $`h`$ such that the curvature $`C_h(E)C^{\mathrm{}}(X,\mathrm{\Omega }_X^{1,1}\text{End}(E))`$ of the Chern connection on $`E`$ for the Hermitian structure $`h`$ has the property that for every $`xX`$ and every nonzero holomorphic tangent vector $`0vT_xX`$, the endomorphism $`\sqrt{1}C_h(E)(x)(v,\overline{v})`$ of the fiber $`E_x`$ is positive definite with respect to $`h`$.

If $`h`$ is a Griffiths positive Hermitian metric on $`E`$, then the Hermitian metric on $`𝒪_{(E)}(1)`$ induced by $`h`$ has positive curvature. Therefore, $`E`$ is ample by a theorem due to Kodaira. An ample line bundle admits a Griffiths positive Hermitian metric. Also, an ample vector bundle on a Riemann surface is Griffiths positive, which was proved by H. Umemura in \[Um\]. However, the question posed by Griffiths \[Gr, page 186, (0.9)\] asking whether every ample vector bundle is Griffiths positive is yet to be settled.

The notion of Griffiths positivity was strengthened by S. Nakano. A holomorphic Hermitian vector bundle $`(E,h)`$ is called Nakano positive if $`\sqrt{1}C_h(E)`$ is a positive form on $`TXE`$. A Nakano positive vector bundle is clearly Griffiths positive. In the other direction, H. Skoda and J.-P. Demailly proved that if $`E`$ is Griffiths positive, then $`EdetE`$ is Nakano positive \[DS\], $`detE`$ being the line bundle given by the top exterior power of $`E`$.

Our aim here is to establish the following analytic property of an ample vector bundle (Theorem 3.1).

Theorem A.Let $`E`$ be an ample vector bundle of rank $`r`$ over a projective manifold $`X`$. The vector bundle $`S^k(E)detE`$ is Nakano positive for every $`k0`$, where $`S^k(E)`$ denotes the $`k`$-th symmetric power of $`E`$. More generally, for every decreasing sequence $`\lambda ^r`$ of height (= number of positive elements) $`l`$, the vector bundle $`\mathrm{\Gamma }^\lambda E(detE)^l`$ is Nakano positive; $`\mathrm{\Gamma }^\lambda E`$ is the vector bundle corresponding to the irreducible representation of $`GL(r,)`$ defined by the weight $`\lambda `$. So, in particular, $`\mathrm{\Gamma }^\lambda E(detE)^l`$ is Griffiths positive.

In the special case where $`X`$ is a toric variety or an abelian variety, the Griffiths positivity of such vector bundles associated to an ample bundle was proved in \[Mo\].

The above Theorem A is obtained as consequence of a result on the Nakano positivity of the direct image of an adjoint positive line bundle. This result on Nakano positivity of direct image will be described next.

Let $`L`$ be a holomorphic line bundle, equipped with a Hermitian metric $`h`$, over a connected projective manifold $`M`$. Given any section $`tH^0(M,LK_M)`$, where $`K_M`$ is the canonical bundle, its conjugate $`\overline{t}`$ is realized as a section of $`L^{}\overline{K_M}`$ using $`h`$. Now, given another section $`sH^0(M,LK_M)`$, consider the top form on $`M`$ obtained from $`s\overline{t}`$ by contracting $`L`$ with $`L^{}`$. The $`L^2`$ inner product on $`H^0(M,LK_M)`$ is defined by taking the integral of this form over $`M`$.

We prove the following theorem on the Nakano positivity of the $`L^2`$ metric on a direct image (Theorem 2.3).

Theorem B.Let $`\psi :YX`$ be a holomorphically locally trivial fiber bundle, where $`X`$ and $`Y`$ are connected projective manifolds, and $`H^1(\psi ^1(x),)=\mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}0}`$ for some, hence every, point $`xX`$. Let $`L`$ be a holomorphic line bundle over $`Y`$ equipped with a positive Hermitian metric $`h`$. Then the $`L^2`$-metric, defined using $`h`$, on the vector bundle $`\psi _{}(K_{Y/X}L)`$ over $`X`$ is Nakano positive; $`K_{Y/X}`$ is the relative canonical bundle.

We note that the condition of ampleness of $`L`$ in Theorem B ensures that the direct image $`\psi _{}(K_{Y/X}L)`$ is locally free with the fiber of the corresponding vector bundle over any point $`xX`$ being $`H^0(\psi ^1(x),(K_{Y/X}L)|_{\psi ^1(x)})`$.

Theorem A is an immediate consequence of Theorem B applied to a natural line bundle over the flag bundle $`\psi :M_\lambda (E)X`$ associated to an ample vector bundle $`E`$ by a weight $`\lambda `$. In particular, setting $`Y=(E)`$ and $`L=𝒪_{(E)}(k+r)`$ in Theorem B, where $`E`$ is an ample vector bundle of rank $`r`$, the Nakano positivity of $`S^k(E)detE`$ is obtained. This particular case corresponds to the weight $`(k,0,0,\mathrm{},0)`$.

Acknowledgments: Remarks 3.3 and 3.5 were communicated to us by Jean-Pierre Demailly. We are very grateful to him for this. We thank M.S. Narasimhan for some useful discussions. We would like to thank the International Centre for Theoretical Physics, Trieste, for its hospitality. The first-named author also thanks Joseph Le Potier and the Institut de Mathématiques de Jussieu for hospitality. The second-named author thanks T. Ohsawa and K. Yoshikawa for his visit to Nagoya University.

## 2. Curvature of the $`L^2`$-metric

We first recall the definition of Nakano positivity. Let $`E`$ be a holomorphic vector bundle over $`X`$ equipped with a Hermitian metric $`h`$. Let $`C_h(E)`$ denote the curvature of the corresponding Chern connection on $`E`$. Let $`\mathrm{\Theta }_h`$ denote the unique sesquilinear form on $`TXE`$ such that for any $`v_1,v_2T_xX`$ and $`e_1,e_2E_x`$, the equality

$$\mathrm{\Theta }_h(v_1e_1,v_2e_2)=\sqrt{1}C_h(E)(v_1,\overline{v_2})e_1,e_2_h$$

is valid. The metric $`h`$ is called Nakano positive if the sesquilinear form $`\mathrm{\Theta }_h`$ on $`TXE`$ is Hermitian, i.e., it is positive definite.

Let $`X`$ and $`Y`$ be two connected complex projective manifolds of dimension $`m`$ and $`n`$ respectively, and let

$`(2.1)`$ 
$$\psi :YX$$

be a holomorphic submersion defining a holomorphically locally trivial fiber bundle over $`X`$ of relative dimension $`f=nm`$. So, every point of $`X`$ has an analytic open neighborhood $`U`$ such that $`\psi ^1(U)`$ is holomorphically isomorphic to the trivial fiber bundle $`U\times F`$ over $`U`$, where $`F`$ is the typical fiber of $`\psi `$. The relative canonical line bundle $`K_Y\psi ^{}K_X^1`$ over $`Y`$ will be denoted by $`K_{Y/X}`$.

For any $`xX`$, the submanifold $`\psi ^1(x)`$ of $`Y`$ will be denoted by $`Y_x`$.

Let $`L`$ be an ample line bundle over $`Y`$. The direct image $`\psi _{}(K_{Y/X}L)`$ is locally free on $`X`$. Indeed, from the Kodaira vanishing theorem it follows that all the higher direct images of $`K_{Y/X}L`$ vanish. Let $`V`$ denote the vector bundle over $`X`$ given by this direct image $`\psi _{}(K_{Y/X}L)`$.

Fix a positive Hermitian metric $`h`$ on $`L`$. For any point $`xX`$, using the natural conjugate linear isomorphism of $`\mathrm{\Omega }_{Y_x}^{f,0}`$ with $`\mathrm{\Omega }_{Y_x}^{0,f}`$ and the Hermitian metric $`h`$ on $`L|_{Y_x}`$, a conjugate linear isomorphism between $`\mathrm{\Omega }_{Y_x}^{f,0}L|_{Y_x}`$ and $`\mathrm{\Omega }_{Y_x}^{0,f}L^{}|_{Y_x}`$ is obtained. We denote this conjugate linear isomorphism by $`\iota `$.

The $`L^2`$ Hermitian metric on the vector bundle $`V:=\psi _{}(K_{Y/X}L)`$ is defined by sending any pair of sections

$$t_1,t_2V_x:=H^0(Y_x,(K_{Y/X}L)|_{Y_x})$$

to the integral over $`Y_x`$ of the contraction of $`(\sqrt{1})^{f^2}t_1`$ with $`\iota (t_2)`$. In other words, if $`t_i=s_id\zeta _1d\zeta _2\mathrm{}d\zeta _f`$, where $`\{\zeta _1,\mathrm{},\zeta _f\}`$ is a local holomorphic coordinate chart on the fiber $`Y_x`$ and $`s_i`$, $`i=1,2`$, is a local section of $`L`$, then the pairing

$`(2.2)`$ 
$$t_1,t_2:=(\sqrt{1})^{f^2}_{Y_x}s_1,s_2_h𝑑\zeta _1d\zeta _2\mathrm{}d\zeta _fd\overline{\zeta _1}d\overline{\zeta _2}\mathrm{}d\overline{\zeta _f}$$

is the $`L^2`$ inner product of the two vectors $`t_1`$ and $`t_2`$ of the fiber $`V_x`$. The top form

$$s_1,s_2_hd\zeta _1d\zeta _2\mathrm{}d\zeta _fd\overline{\zeta _1}d\overline{\zeta _2}\mathrm{}d\overline{\zeta _f}$$

clearly depends only on $`t_1`$ and $`t_2`$ and, in particular, it does not depend on the choice of the coordinate function $`\zeta `$; in other words, it is a globally defined top form on $`Y_x`$. We note that the definition of $`L^2`$-metric does not require a metric on $`Y_x`$.

Our aim is to compute the curvature of the Chern connection on $`V`$ for the $`L^2`$ metric.

Theorem 2.3.Assume that $`H^1(Y_x,)=\mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}0}`$ for some, hence every, point $`xX`$. Then the $`L^2`$-metric on the direct image $`V`$ is Nakano positive.

Proof. Take a point $`\xi X`$. Let $`\{z_1,z_2,\mathrm{},z_m\}`$ be a holomorphic coordinate chart on $`X`$ around $`\xi `$ such that $`\xi =0`$.

Let $`r`$ be the rank of the direct image $`V`$. Fix a normal frame $`\{t_1,t_2,\mathrm{},t_r\}`$ of $`V`$ around $`\xi `$ with respect to the $`L^2`$ metric. In other words, $`\{t_1,t_2,\mathrm{},t_r\}`$ is a holomorphic frame of $`V`$ around $`\xi `$ such that for the function $`t_\alpha ,t_\beta `$ around $`\xi `$ we have

$`t_\alpha ,t_\beta |_{z=0}`$ $`=`$ $`\delta _{\alpha \beta }`$   
$`{\displaystyle \frac{t_\alpha ,t_\beta }{z_i}}|_{z=0}`$ $`=`$ $`0`$   
for all $`\alpha ,\beta [1,r]`$ and all $`i[1,m]`$. We note that the second condition is equivalent to the condition that $`dt_\alpha ,t_\beta (0)=0`$, where $`d`$ is the exterior derivation.

Let $`^{L^2}`$ denote the Chern connection on $`V`$ for the $`L^2`$ metric. Its curvature, which is a $`\mathrm{End}(V)`$-valued $`(1,1)`$-form on $`X`$, will be denoted by $`C_{L^2}`$. Take any vector

$$v=\underset{i=1}{\overset{m}{}}\underset{\alpha =1}{\overset{r}{}}v_{i,\alpha }\frac{}{z_i}t_\alpha T_\xi XV_\xi .$$

We wish to show that

$`(2.4)`$ 
$$\underset{i=1}{\overset{m}{}}\underset{j=1}{\overset{m}{}}\underset{\alpha =1}{\overset{r}{}}\underset{\beta =1}{\overset{r}{}}v_{i,\alpha }\overline{v_{j,\beta }}\sqrt{1}C_{L^2}(\frac{}{z_i},\frac{}{\overline{z_j}})t_\alpha ,t_\beta _{L^2}>\mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}0}$$

with the assumption that $`v0`$. Now, we have

$$\sqrt{1}C_{L^2}(\frac{}{z_i},\frac{}{\overline{z_j}})t_\alpha ,t_\beta _{L^2}(0)=\frac{1}{\sqrt{1}}\frac{^2t_\alpha ,t_\beta }{z_i\overline{z_j}}(0).$$

For any $`\alpha [1,r]`$, let $`\widehat{t}_\alpha `$ be the unique section of $`K_{Y/X}L`$, defined on an analytic open neighborhood of $`Y_\xi :=\psi ^1(\xi )`$, which is determined by the condition that for any $`xX`$ in a sufficiently small neighborhood of $`\xi `$, the restriction of $`\widehat{t}_\alpha `$ to the fiber $`\psi ^1(x)`$ represents $`t_\alpha (x)`$, the evaluation of the section $`t_\alpha `$ at $`x`$. The holomorphicity of the section $`t_\alpha `$ of $`V`$ implies that the section $`\widehat{t}_\alpha `$ of $`K_{Y/X}L`$ is also holomorphic.

Fix a trivialization of the fiber bundle over a neighborhood of $`\xi `$ defined by the projection $`\psi `$. In other words, we fix an isomorphism of the fiber bundle $`\psi ^1(U)U`$ over some open subset $`UX`$ containing $`\xi `$ with the trivial fiber bundle $`U\times Y_\xi `$ over $`U`$. Using this isomorphism, the relative tangent bundle for the projection $`\psi `$ gets identified with a subbundle of the restriction of the tangent bundle $`TY`$ to $`\psi ^1(U)`$. Consequently, any relative differential form on $`\psi ^1(U)`$ becomes a differential form on $`\psi ^1(U)`$.

If $`\theta `$ (respectively, $`\omega `$) is a $`L`$-valued $`(i_1,i_2)`$-form (respectively, $`L`$-valued $`(j_1,j_2)`$-form), i.e., a smooth section of $`\mathrm{\Omega }_Y^{i_1,i_2}L`$ (respectively, $`\mathrm{\Omega }_Y^{j_1,j_2}L`$), then define $`\{\theta ,\omega \}`$ to be the $`(i_1+j_2,i_2+j_1)`$-form on $`Y`$ obtained from the section

$$\theta \overline{\omega }C^{\mathrm{}}(\mathrm{\Omega }_Y^{i_1+j_2,i_2+j_1}LL^{}),$$

where the conjugate of $`L`$ has been identified with $`L^{}`$ using the Hermitian structure $`h`$, and then contracting $`L`$ with $`L^{}`$.

In the above notation we have

$`(2.5)`$ 
$$_Xt_\alpha ,t_\beta =\psi _{}(_Y\{\widehat{t}_\alpha ,\widehat{t}_\beta \}),$$

where $`\psi _{}`$ is the integration of forms along the fiber (the Gysin map) and $`\alpha ,\beta [1,r]`$.

It is easy to see directly that the right-hand side of (2.5) does not depend on the choice of the trivialization of the fibration defined by $`\psi `$. Indeed, any two choices of the local trivialization defines a homomorphism, over $`U`$, from the tangent bundle $`TU`$ to the trivial vector bundle over $`U`$ with the space of vertical vector fields $`H^0(Y_\xi ,TY_\xi )`$ as the fiber. This homomorphism is constructed by taking the difference of the two horizontal lifts, given by the two trivializations, of vector fields. If the one-form in the right-hand side of (2.5) for a different choice of trivialization is denoted by $`\eta `$, then the one-form defined by the difference

$$\eta \psi _{}(_Y\{\widehat{t}_\alpha ,\widehat{t}_\beta \})$$

sends any tangent vector $`vT_xX`$ to

$$_{\psi ^1(x)}L_{\widehat{v}}\{\widehat{t}_\alpha ,\widehat{t}_\beta \},$$

where $`L_{\widehat{v}}`$ is the Lie derivative with respect to the vertical vector field corresponding to $`v`$ for the given pair trivializations of the fiber bundle. Now the identity $`L_{\widehat{v}}=di_{\widehat{v}}+i_{\widehat{v}}d`$ and the Stokes’ theorem together ensure that the right-hand side of (2.5) is independent of the choice of trivialization of the fibration defined by $`\psi `$.

Let $``$ denote the Chern connection of the holomorphic line bundle $`L`$ equipped with the Hermitian metric $`h`$. Its curvature will be denoted by $`C_h`$.

Since $`\widehat{t}_\alpha `$ is a holomorphic section for every $`\alpha [1,r]`$, the equality

$$\psi _{}(_Y\{\widehat{t}_\alpha ,\widehat{t}_\beta \})=\psi _{}(\{\widehat{t}_\alpha ,\widehat{t}_\beta \})$$

is valid for all $`\alpha ,\beta [1,r]`$.

For any $`i[1,m]`$, let $`\frac{\stackrel{~}{}}{z_i}`$ denote vector field on $`\psi ^1(U)`$ given by the lift of the local vector field $`\frac{}{z_i}`$ on $`UX`$ using the chosen trivialization of the fiber bundle. The contraction of a one-form $`\theta `$ with a vector field $`\nu `$ will be denoted by $`(\theta ,\nu )`$.

The above equality combined with (2.5) gives

$$\frac{}{z_i}t_\alpha ,t_\beta =\left(\psi _{}(\{_{\frac{\stackrel{~}{}}{z_i}}\widehat{t}_\alpha ,\widehat{t}_\beta \})\right)|_{Y_\xi }$$

as any $`\widehat{t}_\alpha `$ is a relative top form with values in $`L`$. Now taking taking $`\overline{}_Y`$ of this equality yields

$$\frac{^2}{\overline{z_j}z_i}t_\alpha ,t_\beta =(\overline{}_X\psi _{}(\{_{\frac{\stackrel{~}{}}{z_i}}\widehat{t}_\alpha ,\widehat{t}_\beta \}),\frac{}{\overline{z}_j})=(\psi _{}(\overline{}_Y\{_{\frac{\stackrel{~}{}}{z_i}}\widehat{t}_\alpha ,\widehat{t}_\beta \}),\frac{}{\overline{z_j}}).$$

Since any $`\widehat{t}_\alpha `$ is holomorphic, the last term coincides with

$$(\psi _{}(\{^{0,1}_{\frac{\stackrel{~}{}}{z_i}}\widehat{t}_\alpha ,\widehat{t}_\beta \}),\frac{}{\overline{z_j}})+(1)^f(\psi _{}(\{_{\frac{\stackrel{~}{}}{z_i}}\widehat{t}_\alpha ,^{1,0}\widehat{t}_\beta \}),\frac{}{\overline{z_j}})$$

$`(2.6)`$ 
$$=\psi _{}(\{_{\frac{\stackrel{~}{}}{\overline{z_j}}}_{\frac{\stackrel{~}{}}{z_i}}\widehat{t}_\alpha ,\widehat{t}_\beta \})+(1)^f\psi _{}(\{_{\frac{\stackrel{~}{}}{z_i}}\widehat{t}_\alpha ,_{\frac{\stackrel{~}{}}{z_j}}\widehat{t}_\beta \}),$$

where $`\frac{\stackrel{~}{}}{\overline{z_j}}`$, as before, denotes the lift of $`\frac{}{\overline{z_j}}`$ using the chosen trivialization of the fibration, and $`f`$ is the relative dimension. The holomorphicity of any $`\widehat{t}_\alpha `$ yields the equality

$$\psi _{}(\{_{\frac{\stackrel{~}{}}{\overline{z_j}}}_{\frac{\stackrel{~}{}}{z_i}}\widehat{t}_\alpha ,\widehat{t}_\beta \})=\psi _{}(C_h(\frac{\stackrel{~}{}}{z_i},\frac{\stackrel{~}{}}{\overline{z_j}})\{\widehat{t}_\alpha ,\widehat{t}_\beta \}).$$

Now, for any $`v=_{i=1}^m_{\alpha =1}^rv_{i,\alpha }\frac{}{z_i}t_\alpha T_\xi XV_\xi `$ we have

$$\underset{i=1}{\overset{m}{}}\underset{j=1}{\overset{m}{}}\underset{\alpha =1}{\overset{r}{}}\underset{\beta =1}{\overset{r}{}}v_{i,\alpha }\overline{v_{j,\beta }}\psi _{}(C_h(\frac{\stackrel{~}{}}{z_i},\frac{\stackrel{~}{}}{\overline{z_j}})\{\widehat{t}_\alpha ,\widehat{t}_\beta \})=\psi _{}(\underset{i,j=1}{\overset{m}{}}C_h(\frac{\stackrel{~}{}}{z_i},\frac{\stackrel{~}{}}{\overline{z_j}})\{\theta _i,\overline{\theta _j}\}),$$

where $`\theta _i:=_{\alpha =1}^rv_{i,a}\widehat{t}_a`$ is the section of $`K_{Y/X}L`$ defined on a neighborhood of $`Y_\xi `$. Let $`e`$ be a local section of $`L`$ defined around a point $`yY`$ and $`\{\zeta _1,\zeta _2,\mathrm{},\zeta _f\}`$ be a holomorphic coordinate chart on $`Y_\xi `$ around $`y`$. Set $`\tau `$ to be the local section of $`TY`$ defined around $`y`$ that satisfies the equality

$$d\zeta _1\zeta _2\mathrm{}\zeta _fe\tau =\underset{i=1}{\overset{m}{}}\frac{\stackrel{~}{}}{z_i}\theta _i$$

of local sections of $`K_{Y/X}LTY`$. Using this notation, the evaluation at $`\xi `$ of the function defined on a neighborhood of $`\xi `$ by the fiber integral

$$\psi _{}(\{_{\frac{\stackrel{~}{}}{\overline{z_j}}}_{\frac{\stackrel{~}{}}{z_i}}\widehat{t}_\alpha ,\widehat{t}_\beta \})$$

in (2.6) coincides with

$`(2.7)`$ 
$$\psi _{}\left(C_h(\tau ,\overline{\tau })e,e_hd\zeta _1d\zeta _2\mathrm{}d\zeta _fd\overline{\zeta _1}d\overline{\zeta _2}\mathrm{}d\overline{\zeta _f}\right).$$

The curvature $`C_h`$ is given to be positive. So using the expression (2.7) we conclude that the evaluation at $`\xi `$ of the complex valued function around $`\xi `$ defined by

$$\frac{1}{\sqrt{1}}\underset{i=1}{\overset{m}{}}\underset{j=1}{\overset{m}{}}\underset{\alpha =1}{\overset{r}{}}\underset{\beta =1}{\overset{r}{}}v_{i,\alpha }\overline{v_{j,\beta }}\psi _{}(\{_{\frac{\stackrel{~}{}}{\overline{z_j}}}_{\frac{\stackrel{~}{}}{z_i}}\widehat{t}_\alpha ,\widehat{t}_\beta \})$$

is positive real; $`\psi _{}(\{_{\frac{\stackrel{~}{}}{\overline{z_j}}}_{\frac{\stackrel{~}{}}{z_i}}\widehat{t}_\alpha ,\widehat{t}_\beta \})`$ is a term in (2.6). Consequently, to prove the theorem it suffices to show that the last term in (2.6), namely the complex valued function

$`(2.8)`$ 
$$\psi _{}(\{_{\frac{\stackrel{~}{}}{z_i}}\widehat{t}_\alpha ,_{\frac{\stackrel{~}{}}{z_j}}\widehat{t}_\beta \}),$$

which defined around $`\xi `$, actually vanishes at $`\xi `$.

Let $`\omega `$ denote the Kähler form on $`Y_\xi `$ obtained from the curvature of the Chern connection $`C_h`$ on $`L`$. The second part of the normal frame condition gives

$$(_{\frac{\stackrel{~}{}}{z_i}}\widehat{t}_\alpha )|_{Y_\xi },\widehat{t}_\beta |_{Y_\xi }_\omega =\psi _{}(\{_{\frac{\stackrel{~}{}}{z_i}}\widehat{t}_\alpha ,\widehat{t}_\beta \})(\xi )=\mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}0}$$

for all $`\alpha ,\beta [1,r]`$ and $`i[1,m]`$; here $`,_\omega `$ is the inner product defined using $`\omega `$. We note that the above orthogonality condition does not depend on the choice of the Kähler form on $`Y_\xi `$ that is needed to define the orthogonality condition.

The above assertion that the smooth section

$$\stackrel{~}{t}_{i,\alpha }:=(_{\frac{\stackrel{~}{}}{z_i}}\widehat{t}_\alpha )|_{Y_\xi }$$

is orthogonal to $`H^0(Y_\xi ,(K_{Y/X}L)|_{Y_\xi })`$ is equivalent to the condition that $`\stackrel{~}{t}_{i,\alpha }`$ is orthogonal to the space $`H^{f,0}(Y_\xi ,L|_{Y_\xi })`$ of $`\mathrm{\Delta }_{Y_\xi }^{\prime \prime }`$-harmonic $`(f,0)`$-forms with values in $`L`$; here $`f`$, as before, is the relative dimension. This Laplacian $`\mathrm{\Delta }_{Y_\xi }^{\prime \prime }`$ corresponds to the Dolbeault operator on $`L|_{Y_\xi }`$ endowed with the Hermitian metric $`h|_{Y_\xi }`$.

The above orthogonality condition implies that the equality

$$\stackrel{~}{t}_{i,\alpha }=\mathrm{\Delta }_{Y_\xi }^{\prime \prime }G_{Y_\xi }^{\prime \prime }(\stackrel{~}{t}_{i,\alpha })=(D_{Y_\xi }^{\prime \prime })^{}D_{Y_\xi }^{\prime \prime }G_{Y_\xi }^{\prime \prime }(\stackrel{~}{t}_{i,\alpha })$$

is valid; here $`G_{Y_\xi }^{\prime \prime }`$ is the Green operator corresponding to $`\mathrm{\Delta }_{Y_\xi }^{\prime \prime }`$. Therefore, we have the following equality

$$\psi _{}(\{_{\frac{\stackrel{~}{}}{z_i}}\widehat{t}_\alpha ,_{\frac{\stackrel{~}{}}{z_j}}\widehat{t}_\beta \})=_{Y_\xi }D_{Y_\xi }^{\prime \prime }(\stackrel{~}{t}_{i,\alpha }),D_{Y_\xi }^{\prime \prime }G_{Y_\xi }^{\prime \prime }(\stackrel{~}{t}_{j,\beta })_\omega =_{Y_\xi }(D_{Y_\xi }^{\prime \prime })^{}D_{Y_\xi }^{\prime \prime }(\stackrel{~}{t}_{i,\alpha }),G_{Y_\xi }^{\prime \prime }(\stackrel{~}{t}_{j,\beta })_\omega $$

for the function defined by (2.8).

Now, to prove that the function defined in (2.8) vanishes at $`\xi `$ it suffices to establish the equality

$`(2.9)`$ 
$$D_{Y_\xi }^{\prime \prime }(\stackrel{~}{t}_{i,\alpha })=\mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}0}$$

for all $`i[1,m]`$ and $`\alpha [1,r]`$.

To prove this we first note that

$$D_{Y_\xi }^{\prime \prime }(\stackrel{~}{t}_{i,\alpha })=D_{Y_\xi }^{\prime \prime }((_{\frac{\stackrel{~}{}}{z_i}}\widehat{t}_\alpha )|_{Y_\xi })=(\underset{k=1}{\overset{f}{}}_{\frac{}{\overline{\zeta _k}}}(_{\frac{\stackrel{~}{}}{z_i}}\widehat{t}_\alpha )d\overline{\zeta _k})|_{Y_\xi }=\underset{k=1}{\overset{f}{}}C_h(\frac{\stackrel{~}{}}{z_i},\frac{}{\overline{\zeta _k}})\widehat{t}_\alpha d\overline{\zeta _k},$$

where $`\{\zeta _1,\mathrm{},\zeta _{f1},\zeta _f\}`$, as before is a local holomorphic coordinate chart on $`Y_\xi `$.

The locally defined $`(0,1)`$-form $`_{k=1}^fC_h(\frac{\stackrel{~}{}}{z_i},\frac{}{\overline{\zeta _k}})d\overline{\zeta _k}`$ is easily seen to be independent of the coordinate function $`\{\zeta _1,\mathrm{},\zeta _f\}`$. Indeed, this locally defined $`(0,1)`$-form coincides with the contraction

$$i_{\frac{\stackrel{~}{}}{z_i}}C_h|_{Y_\xi }$$

of the $`(1,1)`$-form $`C_h`$ with the vector field $`\frac{\stackrel{~}{}}{z_i}`$.

We have $`H^{0,1}(Y_\xi )=0`$, as, by assumption, $`H^1(Y_\xi ,)=0`$ and $`Y_\xi `$ is Kähler. Consequently, there is no nonzero harmonic form of type $`(0,1)`$ on $`Y_\xi `$. Therefore, the equality (2.9) is an immediate consequence of the following lemma.

Lemma 2.10.The $`(0,1)`$-form $`i_{\frac{\stackrel{~}{}}{z_i}}C_h|_{Y_\xi }`$ on $`Y_\xi `$ is harmonic.

Proof of Lemma 2.10. This form $`i_{\frac{\stackrel{~}{}}{z_i}}C_h|_{Y_\xi }`$ is evidently $`\overline{}_{Y_\xi }`$-closed.

To prove that it is also $`\overline{}_{Y_\xi }^{}`$-closed, first note that the Kähler identity gives

$$\sqrt{1}\overline{}_{Y_\xi }^{}\left(\underset{k=1}{\overset{f}{}}C_h(\frac{\stackrel{~}{}}{z_i},\frac{}{\overline{\zeta _k}})d\overline{\zeta _k}\right)=\mathrm{\Lambda }_\omega _{Y_\xi }\underset{k=1}{\overset{f}{}}C_h(\frac{\stackrel{~}{}}{z_i},\frac{}{\overline{\zeta _k}})d\overline{\zeta _k}.$$

The right-hand side coincides with

$$\mathrm{\Lambda }_\omega \underset{l=1}{\overset{f}{}}\underset{k=1}{\overset{f}{}}\frac{}{\zeta _l}C_h(\frac{\stackrel{~}{}}{z_i},\frac{}{\overline{\zeta _k}})d\zeta _ld\overline{\zeta _k}=\mathrm{\Lambda }_\omega \underset{l=1}{\overset{f}{}}\underset{k=1}{\overset{f}{}}\frac{\stackrel{~}{}}{z_i}C_h(\frac{}{\zeta _l},\frac{}{\overline{\zeta _k}})d\zeta _ld\overline{\zeta _k}.$$

The last equality is a obtained using the Bianchi identity. Since $`\mathrm{\Lambda }_\omega `$ and $`\frac{\stackrel{~}{}}{z_i}`$ commute, the following equality is obtained :

$$\mathrm{\Lambda }_\omega \underset{l=1}{\overset{f}{}}\underset{k=1}{\overset{f}{}}\frac{\stackrel{~}{}}{z_i}C_h(\frac{}{\zeta _l},\frac{}{\overline{\zeta _k}})d\zeta _ld\overline{\zeta _k}=\frac{\stackrel{~}{}}{z_i}(\mathrm{\Lambda }_\omega \omega )=\mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}0}.$$

This completes the proof of the lemma.$`\mathrm{}`$

We already noted that the given condition $`H^1(Y_\xi ,)=0`$ and the above lemma together imply the equality (2.9). This completes the proof of the theorem.$`\mathrm{}`$

If $`H^1(Y_\xi ,)0`$, then the Picard group of $`Y_\xi `$ has continuous part. If $`\psi `$ gives a locally trivial holomorphic fibration, then the family of line bundle $`L|_{Y_x}`$ gives an infinitesimal deformation map $`\tau :T_\xi XH^1(Y_\xi ,𝒪_{Y_\xi })`$. It is easy to check that the harmonic $`(0,1)`$-form $`_{k=1}^fC_h(\frac{\stackrel{~}{}}{z_i},\frac{}{\overline{\zeta _k}})d\overline{\zeta _k}`$ in Lemma 2.10 is the harmonic representative of the image of the tangent vector $`\frac{}{z_i}`$ under the homomorphism $`\tau `$. (See \[ST\], \[BS\] for a similar argument.)

## 3. Applications of the positivity of direct images

Let $`E`$ be an ample vector bundle of rank $`r`$ on a projective manifold $`X`$. Take $`\lambda =(\lambda _1,\lambda _2,\mathrm{},\lambda _r)^r`$ such that $`\lambda _i\lambda _j`$ if $`ij`$. Let $`\mathrm{\Gamma }^\lambda E`$ denote the vector bundle associated to $`E`$ for the weight $`\lambda `$. If, in particular, $`\lambda _i=0`$ for $`i2`$, then $`\mathrm{\Gamma }^\lambda E`$ is the symmetric power $`S^{\lambda _1}(E)`$; if $`\lambda _i=0`$ for $`ik+1`$ and $`\lambda _i=1`$ for $`ik`$, then $`\mathrm{\Gamma }^\lambda E`$ is the exterior power $`^k(E)`$. Let

$$\psi :M_\lambda (E)X$$

denote the associated flag bundle over $`X`$ and $`L_\lambda M_\lambda (E)`$ is the corresponding line bundle. If $`\lambda _2=0`$, then $`M_\lambda (E)=(E)`$ and $`L_\lambda =𝒪_{(E)}(\lambda _1+r)`$. The direct image $`\psi _{}(L_\lambda K_{M_\lambda (E)/X})`$ coincides with $`\mathrm{\Gamma }^\lambda E(^rE)^l`$, where $`l[1,r]`$ such that $`\lambda _l0`$ and $`\lambda _{l+1}=0`$; $`K_{M_\lambda (E)/X}`$ is the relative canonical bundle for the projection $`\psi `$. In this special setup Theorem 2.3 reads as follows :

Theorem 3.1.The vector bundle $`\mathrm{\Gamma }^\lambda E(^rE)^l`$ is Nakano positive. In particular, setting $`\lambda =(k,0,\mathrm{},0,0)`$ the vector bundle $`S^k(E)detE`$ is Nakano positive.

Theorem 3.1 combined with a vanishing theorem of Nakano proved in \[Na\] immediately gives as a corollary the following result of Demailly proved in \[De\].

Corollary 3.2.Let $`E`$ be an ample vector bundle on a projective manifold $`X`$ of dimension $`n`$. Then

$$H^{n,i}(X,\mathrm{\Gamma }^\lambda E(detE)^l)=\mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}0}$$

for $`i1`$ and $`\lambda `$ as above.

We note that the special case Corollary 3.2 where $`\mathrm{\Gamma }^\lambda E=S^k(E)`$ was proved by Griffiths \[Gr\].

Remark 3.3. The curvature terms of the $`L^2`$-metric on the vector bundle $`\mathrm{\Gamma }^\lambda E(detE)^l`$ are

$$\psi _{}(\{_{\frac{\stackrel{~}{}}{\overline{z_j}}}_{\frac{\stackrel{~}{}}{z_i}}\widehat{t}_\alpha ,\widehat{t}_\beta \})$$

The curvature of the dual metric is the negative of the transpose of the initial curvature. Hence, the sesquilinear form on $`TXE^{}`$ computed with the dual metric is Nakano negative. As an immediate consequence, for an ample vector bundle $`E`$ we have

$$H^{p,n}(X,\mathrm{\Gamma }^\lambda E(detE)^l)=\mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}0}$$

if $`p1`$ and $`\lambda `$ as above.

Let $`X`$ be a compact complex manifold equipped with a Hermitian structure $`\omega `$. In \[DPS\], the notion of a numerically effective line bundle on $`X`$ is defined to be a holomorphic line bundle $`L`$ satisfying the condition that given any $`ϵ>0`$, there is a Hermitian metric $`h_ϵ`$ on $`L`$ such that

$$\mathrm{\Theta }_{h_ϵ}ϵ\omega ,$$

where $`\mathrm{\Theta }_{h_ϵ}`$ is the Chern curvature for the Hermitian metric $`h_ϵ`$ \[DPS, Definition 1.2\]. The manifold $`X`$ being compact, this condition, of course, does not depend on $`\omega `$. A vector bundle $`E`$ over $`X`$ is called numerically effective if the tautological line bundle $`𝒪_{(E)}(1)`$ over $`(E)`$ is numerically effective \[DPS, Definition 1.9\].

We have the following proposition as an easy consequence of the proof of Theorem 2.3.

Proposition 3.4.Let $`X`$ be a compact complex manifold equipped with a Hermitian form $`\omega `$. A vector bundle $`E`$ over $`X`$ is numerically effective if and only if there is a Hermitian metric $`h_{k,\epsilon }`$ on $`S^k(E)detE`$, for all $`k1`$ and all $`\epsilon >0`$, such that

$$\sqrt{1}C_{h_{k,\epsilon }}(S^k(E)detE)>\epsilon \omega Id_{S^k(E)detE},$$

where $`C_{h_{k,\epsilon }}(S^k(E)detE)`$ denotes the curvature of the metric $`h_{k,\epsilon }`$. The inequality is in the sense of Nakano.

Proof. Let $`E`$ be a numerically effective vector bundle of rank $`r`$ over the compact complex manifold $`X`$. Let $`Y`$ denote the projective bundle $`(E)`$ over $`X`$. The natural projection of $`Y`$ to $`X`$ will be denoted by $`\psi `$.

The tautological line bundle $`𝒪_{(E)}(1)`$ on $`(E)`$ is numerically effective. For any $`\epsilon >0`$, consider the Hermitian metric $`h_\epsilon `$ on $`𝒪_{(E)}(1)`$ as in Definition 1.2 (pp. 299) of \[DPS\]. This Hermitian metric $`h_\epsilon `$ induces a Hermitian metric on each $`𝒪_{(E)}(k)`$, where $`k>1`$.

Consequently, we have a Hermitian metric $`h_{k,\epsilon }`$ on each $`S^k(E)detE`$ obtained as the $`L^2`$-metric for the above Hermitian metric on $`𝒪_{(E)}(k+r)`$ obtained from $`h_\epsilon `$. Now, from the proof of Theorem 2.3 it can be deduced that the condition for numerically effectiveness of a line bundle in Definition 1.2 (pp. 299) of \[DPS\], given in terms of Hermitian metrics $`h_\epsilon `$, ensures that the inequality in the proposition is valid.

Conversely, let $`E`$ be a vector bundle such that the inequality condition in the statement of the proposition is valid. Now it follows immediately from the criterion of numerically effectiveness given in Theorem 1.12 (pp. 306) of \[DPS\] that such a vector bundle $`E`$ must be numerically effective. This completes the proof of the proposition.$`\mathrm{}`$

Remark 3.5. Let $`E`$ be a vector bundle of rank $`r`$ and set $`L=𝒪_{(E)}(r+k)`$ in (2.6). The expression for the curvature of the $`L^2`$-metric on $`S^kEdetE`$ shows that if $`E`$ is ample, then for each $`k\mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}1}`$, there is a Hermitian metrics on $`S^kEdetE`$ such that there exits a positive number $`\epsilon >\mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}0}`$ with the property that for every positive integer $`k`$, the inequality

$$\sqrt{1}c(S^kEdetE)>(k+r)\epsilon \omega \mathrm{Id}_{S^kEdetE}$$

is valid, where $`\omega `$ is any fixed Hermitian form on $`X`$; the inequality is in the sense of Nakano.

We observe that the above property is actually a characterization of ampleness. Indeed, if $`E`$ is a vector bundle which satisfies the above condition, then fix any metric on the line bundle $`detE`$. By subtracting it to $`S^kEdetE`$, we get a metric on $`S^kE`$ whose curvature is, for a large $`k`$, Nakano positive. Hence, $`S^kE`$ must be ample. This immediately yields the ampleness of $`E`$.