Curvatures of direct image sheaves of vector bundles and applications I

Abstract: Let $p:\sXS$ be a proper K\"ahler fibration and $\sE\sX$ a Hermitian holomorphic vector bundle. As motivated by the work of Berndtsson(\cite{Berndtsson09a}), by using basic Hodge theory, we derive several general curvature formulas for the direct image $p_(K_{\sX/S}\ts \sE)$ for general Hermitian holomorphic vector bundle $\sE$ in a simple way. A straightforward application is that, if the family $\sXS$ is infinitesimally trivial and Hermitian vector bundle $\sE$ is Nakano-negative along the base $S$, then the direct image $p_(K_{\sX/S}\ts \sE)$ is Nakano-negative. We also use these curvature formulas to study the moduli space of projectively flat vector bundles with positive first Chern classes and obtain that, if the Chern curvature of direct image $p_*(K_{X}\ts E)$--of a positive projectively flat family $(E,h(t))_{t\in \mathbb D}X$--vanishes, then the curvature forms of this family are connected by holomorphic automorphisms of the pair $(X,E)$.