Convergence of polarizations, toric degenerations, and Newton–Okounkov bodies

Abstract

Let $X$ be a smooth irreducible complex algebraic variety of dimension $n$ and $L$ a very ample line bundle on $X$. Given a toric degeneration of $(X,L)$ satisfying some natural technical hypotheses, we construct a deformation $\{J_s\}$ of the complex structure on $X$ and bases $\mathcal{B}_s$ of $H^0(X,L, J_s)$ so that $J_0$ is the standard complex structure and, in the limit as $s \to \infty$, the basis elements approach dirac-delta distributions centered at Bohr-Sommerfeld fibers of a moment map associated to $X$ and its toric degeneration. The theory of Newton-Okounkov bodies and its associated toric degenerations shows that the technical hypotheses mentioned above hold in some generality. Our results significantly generalize previous results in geometric quantization which prove independence of polarization between Kahler quantizations and real polarizations. As an example, in the case of general flag varieties $X=G/B$ and for certain choices of $\lambda$, our result geometrically constructs a continuous degeneration of the (dual) canonical basis of $V_{\lambda}^*$ to a collection of dirac delta functions supported at the Bohr-Sommerfeld fibres corresponding exactly to the lattice points of a Littelmann-Berenstein-Zelevinsky string polytope $\Delta_{\underline{w}_0}(\lambda) \cap \mathbb{Z}^{\dim(G/B)}$.