On the constant scalar curvature Kähler metrics (II)—Existence results

Abstract

In this paper, we apply our previous estimates in Chen and Cheng [On the constant scalar curvature Kähler metrics (I): a priori estimates, Preprint] to study the existence of cscK metrics on compact Kähler manifolds. First we prove that the properness ofKK-energy in terms ofL1L^1geodesic distanced1d_1in the space of Kähler potentials implies the existence of cscK metrics. We also show that the weak minimizers of theKK-energy in(E1,d1)(\mathcal {E}^1, d_1)are smooth cscK potentials. Finally we show that the non-existence of cscK metric implies the existence of a destabilizedL1L^1geodesic ray where theKK-energy is non-increasing, which is a weak version of a conjecture by Donaldson. The continuity path proposed by Xiuxiong Chen [Ann. Math. Qué. 42 (2018), pp. 69–189] is instrumental in the above proofs.