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An L1L^1 bound for Ricci curvature on Kähler manifolds

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Abstract

We prove a uniform L1L^1 bound for Ricci curvature on noncollapsed Kähler manifolds with Ricci curvature bounded below. The proof combines the codimension two neck decomposition and entropy estimates with local Kähler geometry on regular balls. The key step is a linear control of the Ricci integral on a regular ball by the entropy pinching, obtained from a decomposition of the scalar-curvature integral that exploits the Kähler structure.

Introduction

In this paper, we prove a uniform L1L^{1} bound for Ricci curvature on noncollapsed Kähler manifolds with Ricci curvature bounded below. Our result establishes the Kähler case of the noncollapsing form of Yau’s scalar-curvature conjecture [36], as stated in [27 Conjecture 2.18].

Theorem 1.1. Let (Mn,g,J,p)(M^{n},g,J,p) be a complete Kähler manifold of real dimension n=2m≥2n=2m\geq2, with Ric⁡g≥−(n−1)g\operatorname{Ric}_{g}\geq-(n-1)g and Vol⁡g(B1(p))≥v>0\operatorname{Vol}_{g}(B_{1}(p))\geq v>0; then

∫B1(p)∣Ric⁡g∣ dVg≤C(n,v).(1)\int_{B_{1}(p)} |\operatorname{Ric}_{g}| \, \mathrm{d}V_{g} \leq C(n,v). \tag*{(1)}

Under a sectional-curvature lower bound, a local curvature integral estimate was established by Petrunin [31], with an alternative proof given by Li [20]. The problem is more difficult under only a Ricci lower bound. The counterexamples of Hao and Zhu [14] and Xu [34] disprove the asymptotic form of Yau’s conjecture, while Xu’s collapsing examples also show that a uniform local bound cannot hold on general Riemannian manifolds without a noncollapsing assumption. Under a noncollapsing assumption, Jiang and Naber obtained LpL^{p} estimates for 0<p<10<p<1 in the unpublished work [19]; see also Naber [27]. A proof was later given by Cucinotta and Mondino [11]. Here we study the case p=1p=1. Other related results on scalar-curvature integrals and Cohn–Vossen-type inequalities can be found in [10, 13, 25, 26, 32, 33, 35, 37, 38].

Kähler geometry provides additional structure for proving the L1L^{1} bound. Under positive or nonnegative bisectional curvature, the work of Chen and Zhu [9], Ni [30], and Liu [22] relates volume growth to scalar-curvature decay and integral estimates. Related developments include Liu’s Cohn–Vossen-type inequality for certain noncompact Kähler manifolds [21] and the Ricci-form estimates of Liu and Ni [23] under additional nonnegative-curvature and Ricci-pinching assumptions.

For the local problem under a Ricci lower bound, the results of Liu and Székelyhidi [24] are particularly relevant. On almost Euclidean balls, they constructed holomorphic coordinates and obtained local scalar-curvature integral estimates without any polarization assumption. For general noncollapsed unit balls, they proved the corresponding integral bound in the polarized setting. Under a Ricci lower bound, these scalar-curvature integral bounds are equivalent to local L1L^{1} bounds for Ricci curvature. Theorem Theorem 1.1 removes the polarization assumption from the estimate on general balls.

Our proof of this extension combines the almost Euclidean estimates with an analysis of regions close to singular cones. The foundational work of Cheeger and Colding [1, 2, 3, 4] established the almost splitting theorem and the structure theory of noncollapsed limit spaces, providing the basic analytic and geometric framework for this approach. In the Kähler setting, the fundamental work of Cheeger, Colding, and Tian [5] showed how the complex structure gives stronger control of the singularities of limit spaces. In particular, they used the parallel complex structure to obtain almost holomorphic functions from real splitting functions. This idea also appears in [24] and is used in the complex pairing argument in Lemma 2.16. Quantitative control of the singular geometry was developed by Cheeger and Naber [7], who introduced quantitative stratification and obtained volume estimates for quantitative singular strata. For noncollapsed manifolds with bounded Ricci curvature, they also proved codimension four regularity and LqL^{q} curvature estimates for q<2q<2 [8].

Building on this work, Jiang and Naber [18] proved the L2L^2 bound for the full curvature tensor under a two-sided Ricci bound and a noncollapsing assumption. Their proof decomposes a ball into regular regions and codimension four necks, with uniform packing estimates. On each neck, estimates for splitting and cone functions give a local L2L^2 curvature estimate that is linear in the drop of a monotone volume quantity. Monotonicity then allows these estimates to be summed over all scales. Combining the neck estimates with the bounds on the regular regions then gives the uniform L2L^2 curvature bound. For applications of this framework and related work on Yang–Mills fields, harmonic maps, geometric flows and parabolic equations, see [15, 16, 17, 28, 29].

Our proof follows this strategy in the codimension two setting, using the neck structure, decomposition, and entropy estimates of Cheeger, Jiang, and Naber [6]. The local analysis is more difficult here: with only a Ricci lower bound, we no longer have the uniform regularity in harmonic coordinates used in the L2L^2 argument of [18]. The almost Euclidean balls in this decomposition are controlled by the local estimates of Liu and Székelyhidi [24]. The remaining difficulty is to control the Ricci integral on regular balls inside a neck. To sum these local bounds over all scales, we need an estimate that is linear in the entropy pinching.

This linear bound is the new estimate in Proposition 3.1. Using a section of the canonical bundle and the cone function, we split the scalar-curvature integral into two terms. We control the weighted term by Ricci contractions through Bochner formulas. For the other term, we use products of two L2L^2 errors of square-root size and squared derivative terms; a holomorphic correction and integration by parts then give the required linear bound. Proposition 2.17 converts this estimate into linear entropy control on regular balls, which can be summed using entropy monotonicity and the neck packing estimates.

§ 2 records the needed results and consequences from [6, 24]. § 3 proves the key local linear estimate; the development of this argument was substantially assisted by AI, as explained in the Acknowledgments. § 4 follows the Jiang–Naber neck summation scheme to complete the proof.

Neck regions and entropy estimates

We recall the geometric decomposition and localized entropy estimates from [6], together with the local Kähler results from [24] used in the proof. We also record several consequences of these results in the form needed below. Theorem 2.11 provides a splitting map and a cone function whose Hessian energies and Ricci contractions are controlled linearly by entropy pinching; Proposition 2.17 collects the estimates needed for the curvature calculation. All manifolds below are complete and smooth.

Symmetry, volume ratios, and neck regions

We first describe the cone models and centers of a codimension two neck. The Euclidean directions in the cone model determine the axis in the neck definition.

Definition 2.1. A ball Bs(x)B_s(x) is (k,ε)(k,\varepsilon)-symmetric if there is a metric cone

X′=Rk×C(Z),x0=(0,o),X' = \mathbb{R}^k \times C(Z), \qquad x_0 = (0,o),

where oo is the cone vertex, such that

dGH(Bs(x),Bs(x0))<εs.d_{\mathrm{GH}}(B_s(x), B_s(x_0)) < \varepsilon s.

Given a corresponding GH approximation ι:Bs(x0)⟶Bs(x)\iota:B_s(x_0)\longrightarrow B_s(x), write

Lx,s=ι((Rk×{o})∩Bs(x0)).L_{x,s}=\iota\left((\mathbb{R}^k\times\{o\})\cap B_s(x_0)\right).

We then say that the ball is symmetric with respect to Lx,sL_{x,s}. The set Lx,sL_{x,s} is the image of the model axis under this approximation.

For Ric⁡≥−(n−1)κg\operatorname{Ric}\geq-(n-1)\kappa g, κ≥0\kappa\geq0, write

νsκ(x)=Vol⁡(Bs(x))Vol⁡−κ(Bs).(2)\nu_s^\kappa(x)=\frac{\operatorname{Vol}(B_s(x))}{\operatorname{Vol}_{-\kappa}(B_s)}. \tag*{(2)}

where the denominator is the volume in the simply connected space form of curvature −κ-\kappa. We omit κ\kappa when the lower bound is fixed.

A neck is the region outside a family of center balls, where the space is close to codimension two cones at each scale. The conditions below are used in the packing and function estimates.

Definition 2.2 ([6]). Let (Mn,g)(M^n,g) be a complete smooth Riemannian manifold, with RR, vv, δ0\delta_0, η>0\eta>0 and κ≥0\kappa\geq0. Suppose Ric⁡≥−(n−1)κg\operatorname{Ric}\geq-(n-1)\kappa g, κR2≤δ02\kappa R^2\leq\delta_0^2, and Vol⁡(BR(q))≥vRn\operatorname{Vol}(B_R(q))\geq vR^n. Let C⊂B2R(q)C\subset B_{2R}(q) be closed, with q∈Cq\in C, and let x↦rx>0x\mapsto r_x>0 be continuous on CC. The region

N=B2R(q)∖Brx‾(C),Brx‾(C)=⋃x∈CBrx‾(x),(3)\mathcal{N}=B_{2R}(q)\setminus\overline{B_{r_x}}(C),\qquad\overline{B_{r_x}}(C)=\bigcup_{x\in C}\overline{B_{r_x}}(x), \tag*{(3)}

is an (n−2,δ0,η)(n-2,\delta_0,\eta)-neck if:

(n1) The balls Bτnrx(x)B_{\tau_n r_x}(x), x∈Cx\in C, are pairwise disjoint and contained in B2R(q)B_{2R}(q), where τn=10−10nωn\tau_n=10^{-10n}\omega_n and ωn=Vol⁡(B1(0n))\omega_n=\operatorname{Vol}(B_1(0^n)).

(n2) For every x∈Cx\in C,

∣νδ0−1R(x)−νδ0rx(x)∣<δ02.\left|\nu_{\delta_0^{-1}R}(x)-\nu_{\delta_0r_x}(x)\right|<\delta_0^2.

(n3) For x∈Cx\in C and rx≤s≤δ0−1Rr_x\leq s\leq\delta_0^{-1}R, Bs(x)B_s(x) is (n−2,δ02)(n-2,\delta_0^2)-symmetric with respect to Lx,sL_{x,s}, but is not (n−1,η)(n-1,\eta)-symmetric.

(n4) For x∈Cx\in C, s≥rxs\geq r_x, and B2s(x)⊂B2R(q)B_{2s}(x)\subset B_{2R}(q),

Lx,s⊂Bτns(C),C∩Bs(x)⊂Bτns(Lx,s).L_{x,s}\subset B_{\tau_n s}(C),\qquad C\cap B_s(x)\subset B_{\tau_n s}(L_{x,s}).

(n5) Lip⁡rx≤δ0\operatorname{Lip}r_x\leq\delta_0.

Here Bt(D)=⋃z∈DBt(z)B_t(D)=\bigcup_{z\in D}B_t(z).

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