math.FA — Functional Analysis

Weak positivity of Schur forms under decomposable curvature

Contributed by Suvrit Sra

Griffiths's 1969 conjecture predicts positivity of Schur forms for Griffiths-positive vector bundles. Finski reduced its weak form to a sign question for the double mixed discriminant $\Phi_n(H)$ of a positive linear map. Du's rank-nine counterexample shows that $\Phi_n(H)\ge0$ fails in general. We prove $\Phi_n(H)\ge0$ for every decomposable map $H$, a sum of a completely positive and a completely copositive map, using a quaternionic Gaussian determinant representation. Combined with Finski's incidence formula, this inequality gives weak nonnegativity of every Schur form under decomposable curvature, without splitting assumptions. Beyond the decomposable cone, nonnegativity of $\Phi_k(H_{V,U})$ on every square compression is equivalent to $\Phi_n(H+S)\ge0$ for every entanglement-breaking map $S$. This class contains explicit indecomposable maps, but is nonconvex in every size $n\ge9$. We prove the nonconvexity by expressing Du's map as an average of four members, and the obstruction persists when all compression inequalities are strict.