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Johannes Ebert
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Since the Kähler identities do not involve coordinates, it is natural to expect that there is a coordinate-free proof. However, it is completely unreasonable to expect that the coordinate-free proof is in any way more elegant.

Here is my rationale: if you read a proof using coordinates, and \it{this proof does not use any special property of the chosen coordinates}, then you can translate the argument into a coordinate-free one.

But the argument for the Kaehler identities is NOT: choose an arbitrary coordinate system and do a stupid calculation. If this were the case, Deligne, Sullivan, Griffiths and Morgan would surely have avoided coordinates. Instead, the argument is (in my opinion this argument is marvelous):

  1. check the identities on $C^n$ with the standard metric;
  2. at a given point $x \in M$, there is a coordinate system, mapping $x $ to $0$, such that the $1$-jet of the metric/complex structure is the ($1$-jet of the) standard metric/complex structure at $0$. Here Kählerness comes in, and if I remember correctly, exponential coordinates do the job.
  3. Since the Kähler identities involve only the $1$-jet of the metric/complex structure and completely invariant things, the formulae are valid on a general Kähler manifold.

The standard proof of point 1 is a bit messy, and my suggestion is to make it slicker by using the symmetries of $C^n$. Observe that all expressions on $C^n$ are translation-invariant and invariant under $U(n)$. Moreover, the effect of scaling $C^n$ and conjugation is easy to figure out. These properties should be enough to force the Kähler identities.

In a completely coordinate-free proof, you do no longer have these special coordinates at hand, and thus I expect the proof, though possible, to be much more complicated.

EDIT: as RdN points out, Huybrechts gives a coordinate-free proof in his book. Huybrecht's proof is about as elegant and complicated as the standard proof.

Since the Kähler identities do not involve coordinates, it is natural to expect that there is a coordinate-free proof. However, it is completely unreasonable to expect that the coordinate-free proof is in any way more elegant.

Here is my rationale: if you read a proof using coordinates, and \it{this proof does not use any special property of the chosen coordinates}, then you can translate the argument into a coordinate-free one.

But the argument for the Kaehler identities is NOT: choose an arbitrary coordinate system and do a stupid calculation. If this were the case, Deligne, Sullivan, Griffiths and Morgan would surely have avoided coordinates. Instead, the argument is (in my opinion this argument is marvelous):

  1. check the identities on $C^n$ with the standard metric;
  2. at a given point $x \in M$, there is a coordinate system, mapping $x $ to $0$, such that the $1$-jet of the metric/complex structure is the ($1$-jet of the) standard metric/complex structure at $0$. Here Kählerness comes in, and if I remember correctly, exponential coordinates do the job.
  3. Since the Kähler identities involve only the $1$-jet of the metric/complex structure and completely invariant things, the formulae are valid on a general Kähler manifold.

The standard proof of point 1 is a bit messy, and my suggestion is to make it slicker by using the symmetries of $C^n$. Observe that all expressions on $C^n$ are translation-invariant and invariant under $U(n)$. Moreover, the effect of scaling $C^n$ and conjugation is easy to figure out. These properties should be enough to force the Kähler identities.

In a completely coordinate-free proof, you do no longer have these special coordinates at hand, and thus I expect the proof, though possible, to be much more complicated.

Since the Kähler identities do not involve coordinates, it is natural to expect that there is a coordinate-free proof. However, it is completely unreasonable to expect that the coordinate-free proof is in any way more elegant.

Here is my rationale: if you read a proof using coordinates, and \it{this proof does not use any special property of the chosen coordinates}, then you can translate the argument into a coordinate-free one.

But the argument for the Kaehler identities is NOT: choose an arbitrary coordinate system and do a stupid calculation. If this were the case, Deligne, Sullivan, Griffiths and Morgan would surely have avoided coordinates. Instead, the argument is (in my opinion this argument is marvelous):

  1. check the identities on $C^n$ with the standard metric;
  2. at a given point $x \in M$, there is a coordinate system, mapping $x $ to $0$, such that the $1$-jet of the metric/complex structure is the ($1$-jet of the) standard metric/complex structure at $0$. Here Kählerness comes in, and if I remember correctly, exponential coordinates do the job.
  3. Since the Kähler identities involve only the $1$-jet of the metric/complex structure and completely invariant things, the formulae are valid on a general Kähler manifold.

The standard proof of point 1 is a bit messy, and my suggestion is to make it slicker by using the symmetries of $C^n$. Observe that all expressions on $C^n$ are translation-invariant and invariant under $U(n)$. Moreover, the effect of scaling $C^n$ and conjugation is easy to figure out. These properties should be enough to force the Kähler identities.

In a completely coordinate-free proof, you do no longer have these special coordinates at hand, and thus I expect the proof, though possible, to be much more complicated.

EDIT: as RdN points out, Huybrechts gives a coordinate-free proof in his book. Huybrecht's proof is about as elegant and complicated as the standard proof.

Source Link
Johannes Ebert
  • 20.9k
  • 4
  • 74
  • 117

Since the Kähler identities do not involve coordinates, it is natural to expect that there is a coordinate-free proof. However, it is completely unreasonable to expect that the coordinate-free proof is in any way more elegant.

Here is my rationale: if you read a proof using coordinates, and \it{this proof does not use any special property of the chosen coordinates}, then you can translate the argument into a coordinate-free one.

But the argument for the Kaehler identities is NOT: choose an arbitrary coordinate system and do a stupid calculation. If this were the case, Deligne, Sullivan, Griffiths and Morgan would surely have avoided coordinates. Instead, the argument is (in my opinion this argument is marvelous):

  1. check the identities on $C^n$ with the standard metric;
  2. at a given point $x \in M$, there is a coordinate system, mapping $x $ to $0$, such that the $1$-jet of the metric/complex structure is the ($1$-jet of the) standard metric/complex structure at $0$. Here Kählerness comes in, and if I remember correctly, exponential coordinates do the job.
  3. Since the Kähler identities involve only the $1$-jet of the metric/complex structure and completely invariant things, the formulae are valid on a general Kähler manifold.

The standard proof of point 1 is a bit messy, and my suggestion is to make it slicker by using the symmetries of $C^n$. Observe that all expressions on $C^n$ are translation-invariant and invariant under $U(n)$. Moreover, the effect of scaling $C^n$ and conjugation is easy to figure out. These properties should be enough to force the Kähler identities.

In a completely coordinate-free proof, you do no longer have these special coordinates at hand, and thus I expect the proof, though possible, to be much more complicated.