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# On the construction of solutions to the Yang-Mills equations in higher dimensions

## 1 Introduction

Let $`M`$ be a Riemannian manifold of dimension $`n4`$. A a connection $`A`$ on a vector bundle over $`M`$ is a Yang-Mills connection if the curvature $`F_A`$ satisfies

$$D_A^{}F_A=0.$$

This is the Euler-Lagrange equation for the functional

$$E[A]=_M|F_A|^2.$$

Let $`\{A_k\}`$ be a sequence of Yang-Mills connections with uniformly bounded energy, i.e.

$$\underset{k}{sup}E[A_k]<\mathrm{}.$$

Then the set

$$S=\{xM:\underset{k\mathrm{}}{lim}r^{4n}_{B_r(x)}|F_{A_k}|^2\epsilon _0\text{for all }r>0\}$$

is called the blow-up set of the sequence $`\{A_k\}`$. G. Tian  proved that the blow-up set $`S`$ is closed and $`H^{n4}`$-rectifiable. Moreover, the energy densities satisfy

$$|F_{A_k}|^2dvol|F_A_{\mathrm{}}|^2dvol+8\pi ^2\mathrm{\Theta }dH^{n4}|_S$$

as $`k\mathrm{}`$, where $`A_{\mathrm{}}`$ is the limiting connection defined on $`MS`$, $`\mathrm{\Theta }`$ denotes the density function, and $`H^{n4}`$ is the $`(n4)`$-dimensional Hausdorff measure. Furthermore, if the limiting connection $`A_{\mathrm{}}`$ is admissible, then the generalized mean curvature of $`S`$ is equal to $`0`$ (see ). This result generalizes a theorem of K. Uhlenbeck in dimension $`4`$.

In this paper, we consider a smooth minimal submanifold $`S`$ of dimension $`n4`$. Our aim is to construct a sequence $`\{A_k\}`$ of smooth Yang-Mills connections whose blow-up set is equal to $`S`$.

In the first step, we construct a suitable family of approximate solutions. To this end, we assume that the normal bundle of $`S`$ can be endowed with a complex structure $`J`$ and a complex volume form $`\omega `$. Each approximate solution is described by a set $`(v,\lambda ,J,\omega )`$, where $`v`$ is a section of the normal bundle of $`S`$, $`\lambda `$ is a positive function on $`S`$, and $`(J,\omega )`$ is a $`SU(2)`$-structure on $`NS`$.

For every point $`xS`$, the normal components of an approximate solution $`A`$ coincide with the basic instanton on the fibre $`NS_x`$, i.e.

$`A(e_1^{})`$ $`={\displaystyle \frac{(y\epsilon v)_2i(y\epsilon v)_3j(y\epsilon v)_4k}{\epsilon ^2\lambda ^2+|y\epsilon v|^2}}`$
$`A(e_2^{})`$ $`={\displaystyle \frac{(y\epsilon v)_1i(y\epsilon v)_4j+(y\epsilon v)_3k}{\epsilon ^2\lambda ^2+|y\epsilon v|^2}}`$
$`A(e_3^{})`$ $`={\displaystyle \frac{(y\epsilon v)_4i+(y\epsilon v)_1j(y\epsilon v)_2k}{\epsilon ^2\lambda ^2+|y\epsilon v|^2}}`$
$`A(e_4^{})`$ $`={\displaystyle \frac{(y\epsilon v)_3i+(y\epsilon v)_2j+(y\epsilon v)_1k}{\epsilon ^2\lambda ^2+|y\epsilon v|^2}},`$
where $`\{e_\alpha ^{}:1\alpha 4\}`$ denotes a $`SU(2)`$ basis for the fibre $`NS_x`$.

Our aim is to deform the connection $`A`$ to a nearby connection $`\stackrel{~}{A}=A+a`$ such that $`\stackrel{~}{A}`$ is a solution of the Yang-Mills equations.

In the following, we denote by $`h`$ the second fundamental form of the submanifold $`S`$, and by $`R`$ the Riemann curvature tensor of $`M`$.

###### Theorem 1.1.

Suppose that $`H^1(M)=0`$. Then, for each $`\epsilon >0`$, there exists a mapping $`\mathrm{\Xi }_\epsilon `$ whch assigns to each set of glueing data $`(v,\lambda ,J,\omega )𝒞^{2,\gamma }(S)`$ a section of the vector bundle $`NS\mathrm{\Lambda }_+^2NS`$ of class $`𝒞^\gamma (S)`$ such that the following holds.

(i) If $`(v,\lambda ,J,\omega )`$ is a set of glueing data such that

$$v_{𝒞^{2,\gamma }(S)}K,$$

$$\lambda _{𝒞^{2,\gamma }(S)}K,inf\lambda 1,$$

$$(J,\omega )_{𝒞^{2,\gamma }(S)}K,$$

then we have the estimate

$``$ $`\mathrm{\Xi }_\epsilon (v,\lambda ,J,\omega )`$
$`(\mathrm{\Delta }v_\rho +{\displaystyle \underset{i,j=1}{\overset{n4}{}}}{\displaystyle \underset{\rho ,\sigma =1}{\overset{4}{}}}h_{ij,\rho }h_{ij,\sigma }v_\sigma +{\displaystyle \underset{i=1}{\overset{n4}{}}}{\displaystyle \underset{\rho ,\sigma =1}{\overset{4}{}}}R_{i\rho \sigma i}v_\sigma ,`$
$`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{\lambda }}\mathrm{\Delta }\lambda +{\displaystyle \frac{1}{4}}{\displaystyle \underset{i,j=1}{\overset{n4}{}}}{\displaystyle \underset{\rho =1}{\overset{4}{}}}h_{ij,\rho }h_{ij,\rho }+{\displaystyle \frac{1}{4}}{\displaystyle \underset{i=1}{\overset{n4}{}}}{\displaystyle \underset{\rho =1}{\overset{4}{}}}R_{i\rho \rho i}{\displaystyle \frac{1}{4}}|\theta |^2,`$
$`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{\lambda ^2}}{\displaystyle \underset{i=1}{\overset{n4}{}}}_i(\lambda ^2\theta _{i,\rho \sigma }))_{𝒞^\gamma (S)}C\epsilon ^{\frac{1}{64}}.`$
(ii) If $`\mathrm{\Xi }_\epsilon (v,\lambda ,J,\omega )=0`$, then the approximate solution $`A`$ corresponding to $`(v,\lambda ,J,\omega )`$ can be deformed to a nearby connection $`\stackrel{~}{A}`$ satisfying $`D_{\stackrel{~}{A}}^{}F_{\stackrel{~}{A}}=0`$.

In Section 2, we recall some results about the linearized operator on $`^4`$. In particular, the kernel of the linearized operator on $`^4`$ is isomorphic to $`^4^4\mathrm{\Lambda }_+^2^4`$ (compare ).

In Section 3, we study the mapping properties of a model operator on the product manifold $`^{n4}\times ^4`$.

In Section 4, we construct a family of approximate solutions of the Yang-Mills equations. More precisely, given any set of glueing data $`(v,\lambda ,J,\omega )`$ satisfying

$$v_{𝒞^{2,\gamma }(S)}K,$$

$$\lambda _{𝒞^{2,\gamma }(S)}K,inf\lambda 1,$$

$$(J,\omega )_{𝒞^{2,\gamma }(S)}K,$$

we construct a connection $`A`$ such that

$$D_A^{}F_A_{𝒞_3^\gamma (M)}C\epsilon ^2.$$

Here, the weighted Hölder space $`𝒞_\nu ^\gamma (M)`$ is defined as

$`u_{𝒞_\nu ^\gamma (M)}`$ $`=sup(\epsilon +\text{dist}(p,S))^\nu |u(p)|`$
$`+\underset{\begin{array}{c}4\text{dist}(p_1,p_2)\\ \epsilon +\text{dist}(p_1,S)+\text{dist}(p_2,S)\end{array}}{sup}(\epsilon +\text{dist}(p_1,S)+\text{dist}(p_2,S))^{\nu +\gamma }{\displaystyle \frac{|u(p_1)u(p_2)|}{\text{dist}(p_1,p_2)^\gamma }}.`$
In Section 5, we derive uniform estimates for the operator $`𝕃_A=L_A+D_AD_A^{}`$. Here, $`L_A`$ is the linearization of the Yang-Mills equations at an approximate solution $`A`$. The additional term $`D_AD_A^{}`$ must be included because $`L_A`$ is not an elliptic operator.

To derive uniform estimates independent of $`\epsilon `$, we need to restrict the operator $`𝕃_A`$ to a subspace $`_\nu ^\gamma (M)𝒞_\nu ^\gamma (M)`$. A $`1`$-form $`a`$ belongs to $`_\nu ^\gamma (M)`$ if

$$_{NS_x}\underset{\alpha =1}{\overset{4}{}}a(e_\alpha ^{}),F_A(X,e_\alpha ^{})=0$$

for all $`xS`$ and all vector fields of the form

$$X=\epsilon w_\rho e_\rho ^{}+\mu (y\epsilon v)_\rho e_\rho ^{}+r_{\rho \sigma }(y\epsilon v)_\sigma e_\rho ^{}$$

with $`wNS_x`$, $`\mu `$, and $`r\mathrm{\Lambda }_+^2NS_x`$.

In Section 6, we apply the contraction mapping principle to deform the approximate solution $`A`$ to a nearby connection $`\stackrel{~}{A}=A+a`$ such that

$$(\text{I})(D_{\stackrel{~}{A}}^{}F_{\stackrel{~}{A}}+D_{\stackrel{~}{A}}D_{\stackrel{~}{A}}^{}a)=0,$$

where $`(\text{I})`$ is the fibrewise projection from $`𝒞_\nu ^\gamma (M)`$ to the subspace $`_\nu ^\gamma (M)`$. In particular, if the balancing condition

$$(D_{\stackrel{~}{A}}^{}F_{\stackrel{~}{A}}+D_{\stackrel{~}{A}}D_{\stackrel{~}{A}}^{}a)=0$$

is satisfied, then $`\stackrel{~}{A}`$ is a Yang-Mills connection.

In Section 7, we calculate the leading term in the asymptotic expansion of

$$(D_{\stackrel{~}{A}}^{}F_{\stackrel{~}{A}}+D_{\stackrel{~}{A}}D_{\stackrel{~}{A}}^{}a)=0.$$

This concludes the proof of Theorem 1.1.

An example is discussed in Section 8.

A related balancing condition occurs in the work of R. Schoen and D. Pollack  on the constant scalar curvature equation in conformal geometry. In this way, an infinite dimensional problem is reduced to solving a finite dimensional balancing condition. The balancing condition ensures that the energy is stationary with respect to variations of the glueing data. For the constant scalar curvature equation, an asymptotic expansion for the energy of a multi-peak solution was calculated in A. Bahri and J. M. Coron . Similar results have been proved for constant mean curvature hypersurfaces (see ).

In the examples mentioned above, the blow-up set consists of isolated points and each approximate solution is characterized by a finite-dimensional set of glueing data. In our situation, the space of approximate solutions is infinite-dimensional. This leads to technical difficulties. A similar problem occurs in the work of F. Pacard and M. Ritoré  on the gradient theory of phase transitions, and in our earlier work on the Ginzburg-Landau equations in higher dimensions.

The author is grateful to Professor Gang Tian for discussions, and to the referee for valuable comments.

## 2 The kernel of the linearized operator on $`^4`$

The basic instanton on $`^4`$ is given by the formula

$`B_1`$ $`={\displaystyle \frac{y_2𝔦y_3𝔧y_4𝔨}{\epsilon ^2+|y|^2}}`$
$`B_2`$ $`={\displaystyle \frac{y_1𝔦y_4𝔧+y_3𝔨}{\epsilon ^2+|y|^2}}`$
$`B_3`$ $`={\displaystyle \frac{y_4𝔦+y_1𝔧y_2𝔨}{\epsilon ^2+|y|^2}}`$
$`B_4`$ $`={\displaystyle \frac{y_3𝔦+y_2𝔧+y_1𝔨}{\epsilon ^2+|y|^2}},`$
where $`\{𝔦,𝔧,𝔨\}`$ is the standard basis of $`𝔰𝔲(2)`$, i.e.

$`𝔦({\displaystyle \frac{}{y_1}})={\displaystyle \frac{}{y_2}},𝔦({\displaystyle \frac{}{y_2}})={\displaystyle \frac{}{y_1}},𝔦({\displaystyle \frac{}{y_3}})={\displaystyle \frac{}{y_4}},𝔦({\displaystyle \frac{}{y_4}})={\displaystyle \frac{}{y_3}},`$
$`𝔧({\displaystyle \frac{}{y_1}})={\displaystyle \frac{}{y_3}},𝔧({\displaystyle \frac{}{y_2}})={\displaystyle \frac{}{y_4}},𝔧({\displaystyle \frac{}{y_3}})={\displaystyle \frac{}{y_1}},𝔧({\displaystyle \frac{}{y_4}})={\displaystyle \frac{}{y_2}},`$
$`𝔨({\displaystyle \frac{}{y_1}})={\displaystyle \frac{}{y_4}},𝔨({\displaystyle \frac{}{y_2}})={\displaystyle \frac{}{y_3}},𝔨({\displaystyle \frac{}{y_3}})={\displaystyle \frac{}{y_2}},𝔨({\displaystyle \frac{}{y_4}})={\displaystyle \frac{}{y_1}}.`$
Note that $`[𝔦,𝔧]=2𝔨`$, $`[𝔧,𝔨]=2𝔦`$, $`[𝔨,𝔦]=2𝔧`$. The curvature of $`B`$ satisfies

$`F_{B,12}=F_{B,34}`$ $`={\displaystyle \frac{2\epsilon ^2𝔦}{(\epsilon ^2+|y|^2)^2}}`$
$`F_{B,13}=F_{B,42}`$ $`={\displaystyle \frac{2\epsilon ^2𝔧}{(\epsilon ^2+|y|^2)^2}}`$
$`F_{B,14}=F_{B,23}`$ $`={\displaystyle \frac{2\epsilon ^2𝔨}{(\epsilon ^2+|y|^2)^2}}.`$
We first recall some well-known facts about this solution. In the first step, we construct a frame which is asymptotically parallel as $`|y|\mathrm{}`$.

###### Lemma 2.1.

Let

$$u=(\epsilon ^2+|y|^2)^{\frac{1}{2}}\left(\mu y_\rho +r_{\rho \sigma }y_\sigma \right)\frac{}{y_\rho }$$

for some $`\mu `$ and $`r\mathrm{\Lambda }_+^2^4`$. Then

$$D_{B,\alpha }u=\epsilon ^2(\epsilon ^2+|y|^2)^{\frac{3}{2}}\left(\mu \delta _{\rho \alpha }+r_{\rho \alpha }\right)\frac{}{y_\rho }.$$

Proof. We only consider the case $`\mu =1`$, $`r=0`$. By definition of $`B`$, we have

$`(\epsilon ^2+|y|^2)^{\frac{3}{2}}D_{B,1}u`$ $`=(\epsilon ^2+|y|^2){\displaystyle \frac{}{y_1}}y_1^2{\displaystyle \frac{}{y_1}}y_1y_2{\displaystyle \frac{}{y_2}}y_1y_3{\displaystyle \frac{}{y_3}}y_1y_4{\displaystyle \frac{}{y_4}}`$
$`+y_1\left(y_2{\displaystyle \frac{}{y_2}}+y_3{\displaystyle \frac{}{y_3}}+y_4{\displaystyle \frac{}{y_4}}\right)`$
$`+y_2\left(y_2{\displaystyle \frac{}{y_1}}+y_3{\displaystyle \frac{}{y_4}}y_4{\displaystyle \frac{}{y_3}}\right)`$
$`+y_3\left(y_2{\displaystyle \frac{}{y_4}}y_3{\displaystyle \frac{}{y_1}}+y_4{\displaystyle \frac{}{y_2}}\right)`$
$`+y_4\left(y_2{\displaystyle \frac{}{y_3}}y_3{\displaystyle \frac{}{y_2}}y_4{\displaystyle \frac{}{y_1}}\right)`$
$`=\epsilon ^2{\displaystyle \frac{}{y_1}},`$
$`(\epsilon ^2+|y|^2)^{\frac{3}{2}}D_{B,2}u`$ $`=(\epsilon ^2+|y|^2){\displaystyle \frac{}{y_2}}y_2y_1{\displaystyle \frac{}{y_1}}y_2^2{\displaystyle \frac{}{y_2}}y_2y_3{\displaystyle \frac{}{y_3}}y_2y_4{\displaystyle \frac{}{y_4}}`$
$`+y_1\left(y_1{\displaystyle \frac{}{y_2}}+y_4{\displaystyle \frac{}{y_3}}y_3{\displaystyle \frac{}{y_4}}\right)`$
$`+y_2\left(y_1{\displaystyle \frac{}{y_1}}+y_4{\displaystyle \frac{}{y_4}}+y_3{\displaystyle \frac{}{y_3}}\right)`$
$`+y_3\left(y_1{\displaystyle \frac{}{y_4}}y_4{\displaystyle \frac{}{y_1}}y_3{\displaystyle \frac{}{y_2}}\right)`$
$`+y_4\left(y_1{\displaystyle \frac{}{y_3}}y_4{\displaystyle \frac{}{y_2}}+y_3{\displaystyle \frac{}{y_1}}\right)`$
$`=\epsilon ^2{\displaystyle \frac{}{y_2}},`$
$`(\epsilon ^2+|y|^2)^{\frac{3}{2}}D_{B,3}u`$ $`=(\epsilon ^2+|y|^2){\displaystyle \frac{}{y_3}}y_3y_1{\displaystyle \frac{}{y_1}}y_3y_2{\displaystyle \frac{}{y_2}}y_3^2{\displaystyle \frac{}{y_3}}y_3y_4{\displaystyle \frac{}{y_4}}`$
$`+y_1\left(y_4{\displaystyle \frac{}{y_2}}y_1{\displaystyle \frac{}{y_3}}+y_2{\displaystyle \frac{}{y_4}}\right)`$
$`+y_2\left(y_4{\displaystyle \frac{}{y_1}}y_1{\displaystyle \frac{}{y_4}}y_2{\displaystyle \frac{}{y_3}}\right)`$
$`+y_3\left(y_4{\displaystyle \frac{}{y_4}}+y_1{\displaystyle \frac{}{y_1}}+y_2{\displaystyle \frac{}{y_2}}\right)`$
$`+y_4\left(y_4{\displaystyle \frac{}{y_3}}+y_1{\displaystyle \frac{}{y_2}}y_2{\displaystyle \frac{}{y_1}}\right)`$
$`=\epsilon ^2{\displaystyle \frac{}{y_3}},`$
$`(\epsilon ^2+|y|^2)^{\frac{3}{2}}D_{B,4}u`$ $`=(\epsilon ^2+|y|^2){\displaystyle \frac{}{y_4}}y_4y_1{\displaystyle \frac{}{y_1}}y_4y_2{\displaystyle \frac{}{y_2}}y_4y_3{\displaystyle \frac{}{y_3}}y_4^2{\displaystyle \frac{}{y_4}}`$
$`+y_1\left(y_3{\displaystyle \frac{}{y_2}}y_2{\displaystyle \frac{}{y_3}}y_1{\displaystyle \frac{}{y_4}}\right)`$
$`+y_2\left(y_3{\displaystyle \frac{}{y_1}}y_2{\displaystyle \frac{}{y_4}}+y_1{\displaystyle \frac{}{y_3}}\right)`$
$`+y_3\left(y_3{\displaystyle \frac{}{y_4}}+y_2{\displaystyle \frac{}{y_1}}y_1{\displaystyle \frac{}{y_2}}\right)`$
$`+y_4\left(y_3{\displaystyle \frac{}{y_3}}+y_2{\displaystyle \frac{}{y_2}}+y_1{\displaystyle \frac{}{y_1}}\right)`$
$`=\epsilon ^2{\displaystyle \frac{}{y_4}}.`$
The remaining cases are left to the reader.

###### Lemma 2.2.

For every $`r\mathrm{\Lambda }_+^2^4`$, we have the identity

$$D_B(r_{\rho \sigma }y_\sigma B_\rho )=F_B(r_{\rho \sigma }y_\sigma \frac{}{y_\rho },).$$

Proof. By direct calculation, one can see that

$$r_{\rho \sigma }y_\sigma _\rho B_\alpha +r_{\rho \alpha }B_\rho =0$$

for all $`r\mathrm{\Lambda }_+^2^4`$. This implies

$`r_{\rho \sigma }y_\sigma F_{B,\rho \alpha }`$ $`=r_{\rho \sigma }y_\sigma (_\rho B_\alpha _\alpha B_\rho +[B_\rho ,B_\alpha ])`$
$`=r_{\rho \sigma }y_\sigma (_\rho B_\alpha D_{B,\alpha }B_\rho )`$
$`=r_{\rho \sigma }y_\sigma _\rho B_\alpha +r_{\rho \alpha }B_\rho D_{B,\alpha }(r_{\rho \sigma }y_\sigma B_\rho )`$
$`=D_{B,\alpha }(r_{\rho \sigma }y_\sigma B_\rho ).`$
This proves the assertion.

In the second step, we study the linearized operator (cf. ), which we denote by $`L_B`$. The operator $`L_B`$ is given by the formula

$$L_Ba=D_B^{}D_Ba[F_B,a].$$

Using the Weitzenböck formula

$$D_B^{}D_Ba+D_BD_B^{}a=_B^{}_Ba[F_B,a],$$

we obtain

$$L_Ba+D_BD_B^{}a=_B^{}_Ba2[F_B,a].$$

In particular, $`L_B+D_BD_B^{}`$ is an elliptic operator.

###### Lemma 2.3.

For every $`a\mathrm{\Omega }^1(^4)`$ we have

$$L_Ba+D_BD_B^{}a=2D_B^{}P_+D_Ba+D_BD_B^{}a.$$

Hence, the operator $`L_B+D_BD_B^{}`$ is positive semidefinite.

Proof. By definition of $`L_B`$, we have

$`L_Ba`$ $`=D_B^{}D_Ba[F_B,a]`$
$`=D_B^{}D_BaD_BD_Ba`$
$`=D_B^{}D_Ba+D_B^{}D_Ba`$
$`=2D_B^{}P_+D_Ba.`$
From this the assertion follows.

Our aim is to describe the kernel of the operator $`L_B+D_BD_B^{}:𝒞_{1+\nu }^{2,\gamma }(^4)𝒞_{3+\nu }^\gamma (^4)`$.

###### Proposition 2.4.

Let

$$a=F_B(\epsilon w_\rho \frac{}{y_\rho }+\mu y_\rho \frac{}{y_\rho }+r_{\rho \sigma }y_\sigma \frac{}{y_\rho },)$$

for some $`w^4`$, $`\mu `$, and $`r\mathrm{\Lambda }_+^2^4`$. Then $`a`$ satisfies $`P_+D_Ba=0`$ and $`D_B^{}a=0`$.

Proof. Using the Bianchi identity, we obtain

$$D_Ba=\epsilon w_\rho D_{B,\rho }F_B+\mu y_\rho D_{B,\rho }F_B+r_{\rho \sigma }y_\sigma D_{B,\rho }F_B+2\mu F_B.$$

Since $`F_B\mathrm{\Lambda }_{}^2^4`$, this implies $`P_+D_Ba=0`$. Similarly, we obtain

$$D_B^{}a=(D_B^{}F_B)\left(\epsilon w_\rho \frac{}{y_\rho }+\mu y_\rho \frac{}{y_\rho }+r_{\rho \sigma }y_\sigma \frac{}{y_\rho }\right)=0.$$

This proves the assertion.

###### Corollary 2.5.

Let

$$a=F_B(\epsilon w_\rho \frac{}{y_\rho }+\mu y_\rho \frac{}{y_\rho }+r_{\rho \sigma }y_\sigma \frac{}{y_\rho },)$$

for some $`w^4`$, $`\mu `$, and $`r\mathrm{\Lambda }_+^2^4`$. Then $`a`$ satisfies $`L_Ba+D_BD_B^{}a=0`$.

We now prove the converse statement. Due to the conformal invariance of the Yang-Mills equations in dimension $`4`$, we may lift the problem on $`S^4`$. The kernel of the linearized operator on $`S^4`$ is described in the following result which is well-known.

###### Lemma 2.6.

Let $`a`$ be a $`1`$-form on $`S^4`$ such that $`L_{B,g_{S^4}}a=0`$. Then there exists some $`w^4`$, $`\mu `$, and an infinitesimal gauge transformation $`u`$ such that

$$a=F_B(\epsilon w_\rho \frac{}{y_\rho }+\mu y_\rho \frac{}{y_\rho },)+D_Bu.$$

###### Proposition 2.7.

Let $`0<\nu <1`$. Assume that $`a𝒞_{1+\nu }^{2,\gamma }(^4)`$ satisfies

$$L_Ba+D_BD_B^{}a=0.$$

Then $`a`$ is of the form

$$a=F_B(\epsilon w_\rho \frac{}{y_\rho }+\mu y_\rho \frac{}{y_\rho }+r_{\rho \sigma }y_\sigma \frac{}{y_\rho },)$$

for some $`w^4`$, $`\mu `$, and $`r\mathrm{\Lambda }_+^2^4`$.

Proof. Using integration by parts, we deduce that $`L_Ba=0`$ and $`D_B^{}a=0`$. We now lift the problem to $`S^4`$. The round metric on $`S^4`$ is given by

$$g_{S^4}=\frac{4\epsilon ^2}{(\epsilon ^2+|y|^2)^2}g_^4.$$

Using the estimate

$$|a(y)|_^4=O(|y|^{1\nu }),$$

we obtain

$$|a(y)|_{S^4}=\frac{\epsilon ^2+|y|^2}{2\epsilon }|a(y)|_^4=O(|y|^{1\nu }).$$

The conformal invariance of the Yang-Mills equations implies that $`L_{B,g_{S^4}}a=0`$. From this it follows that

$$a=F_B(\epsilon w_\rho \frac{}{y_\rho }+\mu y_\rho \frac{}{y_\rho },)+D_Bu,$$

where $`w^4`$, $`\mu `$, and $`u`$ denotes an infinitesimal gauge transformation. The function $`u`$ can be written as

$$u=r_{\rho \sigma }y_\sigma B_\rho +u_0,$$

where $`r\mathrm{\Lambda }_+^2^4`$ and $`u_0=O(|y|^\nu )`$. Therefore, we obtain

$$a=F_B(\epsilon w_\rho \frac{}{y_\rho }+\mu y_\rho \frac{}{y_\rho }+r_{\rho \sigma }y_\sigma \frac{}{y_\rho },)+D_Bu_0.$$

Since $`D_B^{}a=0`$, it follows that $`D_B^{}D_Bu_0=0`$. Since $`u_0𝒞_\nu ^{3,\gamma }(^4)`$, we conclude that $`u_0=0`$. Therefore, we obtain

$$a=F_B(\epsilon w_\rho \frac{}{y_\rho }+\mu y_\rho \frac{}{y_\rho }+r_{\rho \sigma }y_\sigma \frac{}{y_\rho },).$$

This proves the assertion.

## 3 The model problem on $`^{n4}\times ^4`$

Let $`B`$ be a connection on $`^{n4}\times ^4`$ which is invariant under translations along the $`^{n4}`$ factor and agrees with the basic instanton along the $`^4`$ factor. This implies

$`B(e_1^{})`$ $`={\displaystyle \frac{y_2𝔦y_3𝔧y_4𝔨}{\epsilon ^2+|y|^2}}`$
$`B(e_2^{})`$ $`={\displaystyle \frac{y_1𝔦y_4𝔧+y_3𝔨}{\epsilon ^2+|y|^2}}`$
$`B(e_3^{})`$ $`={\displaystyle \frac{y_4𝔦+y_1𝔧y_2𝔨}{\epsilon ^2+|y|^2}}`$
$`B(e_4^{})`$ $`={\displaystyle \frac{y_3𝔦+y_2𝔧+y_1𝔨}{\epsilon ^2+|y|^2}},`$
where

$`𝔦(e_1^{})=e_2^{},𝔦(e_2^{})=e_1^{},𝔦(e_3^{})=e_4^{},𝔦(e_4^{})=e_3^{},`$
$`𝔧(e_1^{})=e_3^{},𝔧(e_2^{})=e_4^{},𝔧(e_3^{})=e_1^{},𝔧(e_4^{})=e_2^{},`$
$`𝔨(e_1^{})=e_4^{},𝔨(e_2^{})=e_3^{},𝔨(e_3^{})=e_2^{},𝔨(e_4^{})=e_1^{}.`$
Furthermore, $`B(e_i)=0`$ for $`1i4`$.

The linearized operator satisfies

$$L_Ba=D_B^{}D_Ba+(1)^n[F_B,a]$$

Using the Weitzenböck formula

$$D_B^{}D_Ba+D_BD_B^{}a=_B^{}_Ba+(1)^n[F_B,a],$$

we obtain

$$L_Ba+D_BD_B^{}a=_B^{}_Ba+(1)^n\mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}2}[F_B,a],$$

For abbreviation, let $`𝕃_B=L_B+D_BD_B^{}`$.

We define the weighted Hölder space $`𝒞_\nu ^\gamma (^{n4}\times ^4)`$ by

$`u_{𝒞_\nu ^\gamma (^{n4}\times ^4)}`$ $`=sup(\epsilon +|y|)^\nu |u(x,y)|`$
$`+\underset{\begin{array}{c}4(|x_1x_2|+|y_1y_2|)\\ \epsilon +|y_1|+|y_2|\end{array}}{sup}(\epsilon +|y_1|+|y_2|)^{\nu +\gamma }{\displaystyle \frac{|u(x_1,y_1)u(x_2,y_2)|}{(|x_1x_2|+|y_1y_2|)^\gamma }}.`$
More generally, we define

$$u_{𝒞_\nu ^{k,\gamma }(^{n4}\times ^4)}=\underset{l=0}{\overset{k}{}}^lu_{𝒞_{\nu +l}^\gamma (^{n4}\times ^4)}.$$

Let $`_\nu ^{k,\gamma }(^{n4}\times ^4)`$ be the set of all $`a\mathrm{\Omega }^1(^{n4}\times ^4)`$ such that $`a𝒞_\nu ^{k,\gamma }(^{n4}\times ^4)`$ and

$$_{\{x\}\times ^4}\underset{\alpha =1}{\overset{4}{}}a(e_\alpha ^{}),F_B(X,e_\alpha ^{})=0$$

for all $`x^{n4}`$ and all vector fields of the form

$$X=\epsilon w_\rho e_\rho ^{}+\mu y_\rho e_\rho ^{}+r_{\rho \sigma }y_\sigma e_\rho ^{}$$

with $`w^4`$, $`\mu `$, and $`r\mathrm{\Lambda }_+^2^4`$.

###### Proposition 3.1.

The operator $`𝕃_B`$ maps $`_{1+\nu }^{2,\gamma }(^{n4}\times ^4)`$ into $`_{3+\nu }^\gamma (^{n4}\times ^4)`$.

Proof. It is obvious from the definition that $`𝕃_B`$ maps $`𝒞_{1+\nu }^{2,\gamma }(^{n4}\times ^4)`$ into $`𝒞_{3+\nu }^\gamma (^{n4}\times ^4)`$. We now assume that $`a𝒞_{1+\nu }^{2,\gamma }(^{n4}\times ^4)`$ satisfies

$$_{\{x\}\times ^4}\underset{\alpha =1}{\overset{4}{}}a(e_\alpha ^{}),F_B(X,e_\alpha ^{})=0$$

for all $`x^{n4}`$ and all vector fields of the form

$$X=\epsilon w_\rho e_\rho ^{}+\mu y_\rho e_\rho ^{}+r_{\rho \sigma }y_\sigma e_\rho ^{}$$

with $`w^4`$, $`\mu `$, and $`r\mathrm{\Lambda }_+^2^4`$. Taking derivatives in horizontal direction, we obtain

$$_{\{x\}\times ^4}\underset{\alpha =1}{\overset{4}{}}\underset{j=1}{\overset{n4}{}}_j_ja(e_\alpha ^{}),F_B(X,e_\alpha ^{})=0.$$

Furthermore, integration by parts gives

$`{\displaystyle _{\{x\}\times ^4}}{\displaystyle \underset{\alpha =1}{\overset{4}{}}}{\displaystyle \underset{\beta =1}{\overset{4}{}}}D_{B,e_\beta ^{}}D_{B,e_\beta ^{}}a(e_\alpha ^{}),F_B(X,e_\alpha ^{})`$
$`+2{\displaystyle _{\{x\}\times ^4}}{\displaystyle \underset{\alpha =1}{\overset{4}{}}}{\displaystyle \underset{\beta =1}{\overset{4}{}}}[F_B(e_\alpha ^{},e_\beta ^{}),a(e_\beta ^{})],F_B(X,e_\alpha ^{})`$
$`={\displaystyle _{\{x\}\times ^4}}{\displaystyle \underset{\alpha =1}{\overset{4}{}}}{\displaystyle \underset{\beta =1}{\overset{4}{}}}a(e_\alpha ^{}),D_{B,e_\beta ^{}}D_{B,e_\beta ^{}}F_B(X,e_\alpha ^{})`$
$`+2{\displaystyle _{\{x\}\times ^4}}{\displaystyle \underset{\alpha =1}{\overset{4}{}}}{\displaystyle \underset{\beta =1}{\overset{4}{}}}a(e_\alpha ^{}),[F_B(e_\alpha ^{},e_\beta ^{}),F_B(X,e_\alpha ^{})]`$
$`=0.`$
Thus, we conclude that

$$_{\{x\}\times ^4}\underset{\alpha =1}{\overset{4}{}}(𝕃_Ba)(e_\alpha ^{}),F_B(X,e_\alpha ^{})=0$$

for all $`x^{n4}`$ and all vector fields of the form

$$X=\epsilon w_\rho e_\rho ^{}+\mu y_\rho e_\rho ^{}+r_{\rho \sigma }y_\sigma e_\rho ^{}$$

with $`w^4`$, $`\mu `$, and $`r\mathrm{\Lambda }_+^2^4`$.

###### Proposition 3.2.

Let $`0<\nu <1`$, $`b𝒞_{3+\nu }^\gamma (^4)`$, and $`\eta 𝒮(^{n4})`$. Moreover, assume that the Fourier transform of $`\eta `$ satisfies $`\widehat{\eta }(\xi )=0`$ for $`|\xi |\delta `$ for some $`\delta >0`$. Then there exists a $`1`$-form $`a𝒞_{1+\nu }^{2,\gamma }(^{n4}\times ^4)`$ such that

$$𝕃_Ba=\eta (x)b(y).$$

Proof. We perform a Fourier transformation in the $`^{n4}`$ variables. Let

$$\eta (x)=_{^{n4}}e^{ix\xi }\widehat{\eta }(\xi )𝑑\xi .$$

For every $`\xi ^{n4}`$, there exists a $`1`$-form $`\widehat{a}(\xi ,)𝒞_{1+\nu }^{2,\gamma }(^4)`$ such that

$$\underset{\beta =1}{\overset{4}{}}D_{B,\beta }D_{B,\beta }\widehat{a}_\alpha (\xi ,y)+2\underset{\beta =1}{\overset{4}{}}[F_{B,\alpha \beta },\widehat{a}_\beta (\xi ,y)]|\xi |^2\widehat{a}_\alpha (\xi ,y)=b_\alpha (y)$$

for $`1\alpha 4`$ and

$$\underset{\beta =1}{\overset{4}{}}D_{B,\beta }D_{B,\beta }\widehat{a}_i(\xi ,y)|\xi |^2\widehat{a}_i(\xi ,y)=b_i(y)$$

for $`1in4`$. We now define a $`1`$-form $`a`$ by

$$a_\alpha (x,y)=_{^{n4}}e^{ix\xi }\widehat{\eta }(\xi )\widehat{a}_\alpha (\xi ,y)𝑑\xi $$

for $`1\alpha 4`$ and

$$a_i(x,y)=_{^{n4}}e^{ix\xi }\widehat{\eta }(\xi )\widehat{a}_i(\xi ,y)𝑑\xi $$

for $`1in4`$. Then the $`1`$-form $`a`$ satisfies

$$\underset{j=1}{\overset{n4}{}}_j_ja_\alpha +\underset{\beta =1}{\overset{4}{}}D_{B,\beta }D_{B,\beta }a_\alpha +2\underset{\beta =1}{\overset{4}{}}[F_{B,\alpha \beta },a_\beta ]=\eta (x)b_\alpha (y)$$

for $`1\alpha 4`$ and

$$\underset{j=1}{\overset{n4}{}}_j_ja_i+\underset{\beta =1}{\overset{4}{}}D_{B,\beta }D_{B,\beta }a_i=\eta (x)b_i(y)$$

for $`1in4`$. From this we deduce that $`𝕃_Ba=\eta (x)b(y)`$.

###### Proposition 3.3.

Let $`0<\nu <1`$, and suppose that $`a_{1+\nu }^{2,\gamma }(^{n4}\times ^4)`$ satisfies $`𝕃_Ba=0`$. Then $`a=0`$.

Proof. Let $`b𝒞_{3+\nu }^\gamma (^4)`$ and $`\zeta 𝒮(^{n4})`$ be given. We define a function $`\eta 𝒮(^{n4})`$ by $`\eta (x)=\zeta (x+x_0)\zeta (x)`$. Then the Fourier transform of $`\eta `$ satisfies $`\widehat{\eta }(0)=0`$. We approximate $`\eta `$ by functions $`\eta _\delta `$ such that

$$\widehat{\eta }_\delta (\xi )=0$$

for $`|\xi |\delta `$ and

$$\widehat{\eta }_\delta (\xi )=\widehat{\eta }(\xi )$$

for $`|\xi |2\delta `$. Using the condition $`\widehat{\eta }(0)=0`$, we obtain

$$D^{n4}(\widehat{\eta }\widehat{\eta }_\delta )_{L^{\frac{p}{p1}}(^{n4})}C\delta ^{1\frac{n4}{p}},$$

hence

$$(1+|x|)^{n4}(\eta \eta _\delta )_{L^p(^{n4})}C\delta ^{1\frac{n4}{p}}$$

for all $`p2`$. From this it follows that

$`\eta \eta _\delta _{L^1(^{n4})}`$ $`(1+|x|)^{(n4)}_{L^{\frac{p}{p1}}(^{n4})}(1+|x|)^{n4}(\eta \eta _\delta )_{L^p(^{n4})}`$
$`C\delta ^{1\frac{n4}{p}}`$
for all $`p2`$. This implies

$$\eta \eta _\delta _{L^1(^{n4})}0$$

as $`\delta 0`$.

For each $`\delta >0`$, the $`1`$-form $`\eta _\delta (x)b(y)`$ lies in the image of $`𝕃_B`$. Since $`a`$ belongs to the kernel of $`𝕃_B`$, we obtain

$$_{^{n4}\times ^4}a(x,y),\eta _\delta (x)b(y)=0.$$

Letting $`\delta 0`$, we obtain

$$_{^{n4}\times ^4}a(x,y),\eta (x)b(y)=0,$$

hence

$$_{^{n4}\times ^4}a(x,y),\zeta (x)b(y)=_{^{n4}\times ^4}a(xx_0,y),\zeta (x)b(y).$$

Since $`b`$ and $`\zeta `$ are arbitrary, we conclude that $`a(x,y)=a(xx_0,y)`$. Therefore, $`a(x,y)`$ is constant in $`x`$. Using Proposition 2.7, we obtain

$$a=F_B(X,),$$

where $`X`$ is a vector field of the form

$$X=\epsilon w_\rho e_\rho ^{}+\mu y_\rho e_\rho ^{}+r_{\rho \sigma }y_\sigma e_\rho ^{}=0$$

for suitable $`w^4`$, $`\mu `$, and $`r\mathrm{\Lambda }_+^2^4`$. This proves the assertion.

###### Proposition 3.4.

Let $`0<\nu <1`$. Then we have the estimate

$$a_{𝒞_{1+\nu }^{2,\gamma }(^{n4}\times ^4)}C𝕃_Ba_{𝒞_{3+\nu }^\gamma (^{n4}\times ^4)}$$

for all $`a_{1+\nu }^{2,\gamma }(^{n4}\times ^4)`$.

Proof. By Schauder estimates, it suffices to prove that

$$sup(\epsilon +|y|)^{1+\nu }|a(x,y)|Csup(\epsilon +|y|)^{3+\nu }|𝕃_Ba(x,y)|.$$

Suppose that this estimate fails. Then there exists a sequence of $`1`$-forms $`a^{(j)}_{1+\nu }^{2,\gamma }(^{n4}\times ^4)`$ such that

$$sup(\epsilon +|y|)^{1+\nu }|a^{(j)}(x,y)|=1$$

and

$$sup(\epsilon +|y|)^{3+\nu }|𝕃_Ba^{(j)}(x,y)|0.$$

Then there exists a sequence of points $`(x_j,y_j)^{n4}\times ^4`$ such that

$$sup(\epsilon +|y_j|)^{1+\nu }|a^{(j)}(x_j,y_j)|\frac{1}{2}.$$

There are two possibilities:

(i) Suppose that the sequence $`|y_j|`$ is bounded. After passing to a subsequence, we may assume that the sequence $`a^{(j)}`$ converges to a $`1`$-form $`a_{1+\nu }^{2,\gamma }(^{n4}\times ^4)`$ such that

$$sup(\epsilon +|y|)^{1+\nu }|a(x,y)|1$$

and

$$𝕃_Ba=0.$$

Using Proposition 3.3, we conclude that $`a=0`$. This is a contradiction.

(ii) We now assume that $`|y_j|\mathrm{}`$. Let

$$\stackrel{~}{a}^{(j)}(x,y)=|y_j|^{1+\nu }a^{(j)}(x+x_j,|y_j|y).$$

After passing to a subsequence, we may assume that the sequence $`\stackrel{~}{a}^{(j)}`$ converges to a $`1`$-form $`\stackrel{~}{a}`$ such that

$$sup|y|^{1+\nu }|\stackrel{~}{a}(x,y)|1$$

and

$$d^{}d\stackrel{~}{a}+dd^{}\stackrel{~}{a}=0.$$

Thus, we conclude that $`\stackrel{~}{a}=0`$. This is a contradiction.

###### Proposition 3.5.

Let $`0<\nu <1`$. Assume that $`b𝒞_{3+\nu }^\gamma (^4)`$ satisfies

$$_^4b,F_B(X,)=0$$

for all $`x^{n4}`$ and all vector fields of the form

$$X=\epsilon w_\rho e_\rho ^{}+\mu y_\rho e_\rho ^{}+r_{\rho \sigma }y_\sigma e_\rho ^{}$$

with $`w^4`$, $`\mu `$, and $`r\mathrm{\Lambda }_+^2^4`$. Moreover, let $`\eta 𝒮(^{n4})`$. Then there exists a $`1`$-form $`a_{1+\nu }^{2,\gamma }(^{n4}\times ^4)`$ such that

$$𝕃_Ba=\eta (x)b(y).$$

Proof. Let

$$\eta (x)=_{^{n4}}e^{ix\xi }\widehat{\eta }(\xi )𝑑\xi .$$

For every $`\xi ^{n4}`$, there exists a $`1`$-form $`\widehat{a}(\xi ,)𝒞_{1+\nu }^{2,\gamma }(^4)`$ such that

$$\underset{\beta =1}{\overset{4}{}}D_{B,\beta }D_{B,\beta }\widehat{a}_\alpha (\xi ,y)+2\underset{\beta =1}{\overset{4}{}}[F_{B,\alpha \beta },\widehat{a}_\beta (\xi ,y)]|\xi |^2\widehat{a}_\alpha (\xi ,y)=b_\alpha (y)$$

for $`1\alpha 4`$ and

$$\underset{\beta =1}{\overset{4}{}}D_{B,\beta }D_{B,\beta }\widehat{a}_i(\xi ,y)|\xi |^2\widehat{a}_i(\xi ,y)=b_i(y)$$

for $`1in4`$. Furthermore, $`\widehat{a}(\xi ,)`$ satisfies

$$_^4\widehat{a}(\xi ,),F_B(X,)=0$$

for all $`x^{n4}`$ and all vector fields of the form

$$X=\epsilon w_\rho e_\rho ^{}+\mu y_\rho e_\rho ^{}+r_{\rho \sigma }y_\sigma e_\rho ^{}=0$$

with $`w^4`$, $`\mu `$, and $`r\mathrm{\Lambda }_+^2^4`$. We now define a $`1`$-form $`a_{1+\nu }^{2,\gamma }(^{n4}\times ^4)`$ by

$$a_\alpha (x,y)=_{^{n4}}e^{ix\xi }\widehat{\eta }(\xi )\widehat{a}_\alpha (\xi ,y)𝑑\xi $$

for $`1\alpha 4`$ and

$$a_i(x,y)=_{^{n4}}e^{ix\xi }\widehat{\eta }(\xi )\widehat{a}_i(\xi ,y)𝑑\xi $$

for $`1in4`$. Then the $`1`$-form $`a`$ satisfies

$$\underset{j=1}{\overset{n4}{}}_j_ja_\alpha (x,y)+\underset{\beta =1}{\overset{4}{}}D_{B,\beta }D_{B,\beta }a_\alpha +2\underset{\beta =1}{\overset{4}{}}[F_{B,\alpha \beta },a_\beta ]=\eta (x)b_\alpha (y)$$

for $`1\alpha 4`$ and

$$\underset{j=1}{\overset{n4}{}}_j_ja_i(x,y)+\underset{\beta =1}{\overset{4}{}}D_{B,\beta }D_{B,\beta }a_i=\eta (x)b_i(y)$$

for $`1in4`$. Thus, we conclude that $`a_{1+\nu }^{2,\gamma }(^{n4}\times ^4)`$ and $`𝕃_Ba=\eta (x)b(y)`$.

###### Corollary 3.6.

Let $`0<\nu <1`$, and suppose that $`b_{3+\nu }^\gamma (^{n4}\times ^4)`$ has compact support. Then there exists a $`1`$-form $`a_{1+\nu }^{2,\gamma }(^{n4}\times ^4)`$ such that

$$a_{𝒞_{1+\nu }^{2,\gamma }(^{n4}\times ^4)}Cb_{𝒞_{3+\nu }^\gamma (^{n4}\times ^4)}$$

and

$$𝕃_Ba=b.$$

Proof. It follows from Proposition 3.4 that the range of the operator $`𝕃_B:_{1+\nu }^{2,\gamma }(^{n4}\times ^4)_{3+\nu }^\gamma (^{n4}\times ^4)`$ is a closed subspace of the Banach space $`_{3+\nu }^\gamma (^{n4}\times ^4)`$. By Proposition 3.5, it contains all $`1`$-forms of the form $`\eta (x)b(y)`$, where $`\eta 𝒮(^{n4})`$ and $`b𝒞_{3+\nu }^\gamma (^4)`$ satisfies

$$_^4b,F_B(X,)=0$$

for all $`x^{n4}`$ and all vector fields of the form

$$X=\epsilon w_\rho e_\rho ^{}+\mu y_\rho e_\rho ^{}+r_{\rho \sigma }y_\sigma e_\rho ^{}$$

with $`w^4`$, $`\mu `$, and $`r\mathrm{\Lambda }_+^2^4`$. The assertion follows now by approximation.

###### Proposition 3.7.

Let $`0<\nu <1`$. Suppose that $`b_{3+\nu }^\gamma (^{n4}\times ^4)`$ is supported in the set $`\{(x,y)^{n4}\times ^4:|x|\delta ,|y|2\delta ^4\}`$. Then there exists a $`1`$-form $`a𝒞_{1+\nu }^{2,\gamma }(^{n4}\times ^4)`$ such that $`a`$ is supported in $`\{(x,y)^{n4}\times ^4:|x|2\delta ,|y|2\delta ^2\}`$,

$$a_{𝒞_{1+\nu }^{2,\gamma }(^{n4}\times ^4)}Cb_{𝒞_{3+\nu }^\gamma (^{n4}\times ^4)}$$

and

$$𝕃_Bab_{𝒞_{3+\nu }^\gamma (\{(x,y)^{n4}\times ^4:|y|2\delta ^4\})}C\delta b_{𝒞_{3+\nu }^\gamma (^{n4}\times ^4)}$$

and

$$𝕃_Bab_{𝒞_{3+\nu }^\gamma (^{n4}\times ^4)}C|\mathrm{log}\delta |^1b_{𝒞_{3+\nu }^\gamma (^{n4}\times ^4)}.$$

Proof. By Corollary 3.6, there exists a $`1`$-form $`a_{1+\nu }^{2,\gamma }(^{n4}\times ^4)`$ such that

$$a_{𝒞_{1+\nu }^{2,\gamma }(^{n4}\times ^4)}Cb_{𝒞_{3+\nu }^\gamma (^{n4}\times ^4)}$$

and

$$𝕃_Ba=b.$$

Let $`\zeta `$ be a cut-off function on $`^{n4}`$ such that $`\zeta (x)=1`$ for $`|x|\delta `$, $`\zeta (x)=0`$ for $`|x|2\delta `$, and

$$sup\delta |\zeta |+sup\delta ^2|^2\zeta |C.$$

Furthermore, let $`\eta `$ be a cut-off function on $`^{n4}`$ satisfying $`\eta (y)=1`$ for $`|y|2\delta ^4`$, $`\eta (y)=0`$ for $`|y|2\delta ^2`$, and

$$sup|y||\eta |+sup|y|^2|^2\eta |C|\mathrm{log}\delta |^1.$$

Then we have the estimates

$$\eta \zeta a_{𝒞_{1+\nu }^{2,\gamma }(^{n4}\times ^4)}Cb_{𝒞_{3+\nu }^\gamma (^{n4}\times ^4)}$$

and

$`𝕃_B(\zeta a)b_{𝒞_{3+\nu }^\gamma (\{(x,y)^{n4}\times ^4:|y|2\delta ^4\})}`$
$`=𝕃_B(\zeta a)\zeta 𝕃_Ba_{𝒞_{3+\nu }^\gamma (\{(x,y)^{n4}\times ^4:|y|2\delta ^4\})}`$
$`C\delta a_{𝒞_{1+\nu }^{1,\gamma }(^{n4}\times ^4)}`$
$`C\delta b_{𝒞_{3+\nu }^\gamma (^{n4}\times ^4)}`$
and

$`𝕃_B(\eta \zeta a)b_{𝒞_{3+\nu }^\gamma (^{n4}\times ^4)}`$
$`=𝕃_B(\eta \zeta a)\eta \zeta 𝕃_Ba_{𝒞_{3+\nu }^\gamma (^{n4}\times ^4)}`$
$`C|\mathrm{log}\delta |^1a_{𝒞_{1+\nu }^{1,\gamma }(^{n4}\times ^4)}`$
$`C|\mathrm{log}\delta |^1b_{𝒞_{3+\nu }^\gamma (^{n4}\times ^4)}.`$
From this the assertion follows.

## 4 Construction of the approximate solutions

In this section, we describe the construction of the approximate solutions. To this end, we assume that the normal bundle $`NS`$ can be endowed with a $`SU(2)`$-structure $`(J,\omega )`$. Here, $`J`$ is a complex structure and $`\omega `$ is a complex volume form on $`NS`$.

Let $`^{}=+\theta `$ be a connection on the normal bundle $`NS`$ such that $`\theta `$ is a $`1`$-form with values in the Lie algebra $`\mathrm{\Lambda }_+^2NS`$ and $`(J,\omega )`$ is parallel with respect to the connection $`^{}`$. The $`1`$-form $`\theta `$ is uniquely determined by the covariant derivative of the pair $`(J,\omega )`$ with respect to the Levi-Civita connection $``$. Since $`(J,\omega )`$ is parallel with respect to $`^{}`$, the connection induced by $`^{}`$ on the bundle $`\mathrm{\Lambda }_+^2NS`$ is flat.

The connection $`^{}`$ induces a splitting of the tangent space $`TNS`$ into horizontal and vertical subspaces. Let $`\{e_i^{}:1in4\}`$ be an orthonormal basis for the horizontal subspace with respect to $`^{}`$, and let $`\{e_\alpha ^{}:1\alpha 4\}`$ be a $`SU(2)`$ basis for the vertical subspace $`V`$.

In the first step, we define a connection on the pull-back bundle $`\pi ^{}NS`$ of the normal bundle under the natural projection $`\pi :NSS`$. Since we may identify a neighborhood of $`S`$ in $`M`$ with a neighborhood of the zero section in $`NS`$, this gives a connection on a small neighborhood of $`S`$ in $`M`$. In the second step, we show that this connection can be extended to the whole of $`M`$ using suitable cut-off functions.

The glueing data consist of a set $`(v,\lambda ,J,\omega )`$, where $`v`$ is a section of the normal bundle $`NS`$, $`\lambda `$ is a positive function on $`S`$, and $`(J,\omega )`$ is a $`SU(2)`$ structure on the normal bundle $`NS`$. As in Section 3, let $`\{𝔦,𝔧,𝔨\}`$ be a basis for the Lie algebra $`𝔰𝔲(NS)`$ such that

$`𝔦(e_1^{})=e_2^{},𝔦(e_2^{})=e_1^{},𝔦(e_3^{})=e_4^{},𝔦(e_4^{})=e_3^{},`$
$`𝔧(e_1^{})=e_3^{},𝔧(e_2^{})=e_4^{},𝔧(e_3^{})=e_1^{},𝔧(e_4^{})=e_2^{},`$
$`𝔨(e_1^{})=e_4^{},𝔨(e_2^{})=e_3^{},𝔨(e_3^{})=e_2^{},𝔨(e_4^{})=e_1^{}.`$
We consider a connection of the form $`D_A=^{}+A`$. The vertical components of $`A`$ are defined by

$`A(e_1^{})`$ $`={\displaystyle \frac{(y\epsilon v)_2𝔦(y\epsilon v)_3𝔧(y\epsilon v)_4𝔨}{\epsilon ^2\lambda ^2+|y\epsilon v|^2}}`$
$`A(e_2^{})`$ $`={\displaystyle \frac{(y\epsilon v)_1𝔦(y\epsilon v)_4𝔧+(y\epsilon v)_3𝔨}{\epsilon ^2\lambda ^2+|y\epsilon v|^2}}`$
$`A(e_3^{})`$ $`={\displaystyle \frac{(y\epsilon v)_4𝔦+(y\epsilon v)_1𝔧(y\epsilon v)_2𝔨}{\epsilon ^2\lambda ^2+|y\epsilon v|^2}}`$
$`A(e_4^{})`$ $`={\displaystyle \frac{(y\epsilon v)_3𝔦+(y\epsilon v)_2𝔧+(y\epsilon v)_1𝔨}{\epsilon ^2\lambda ^2+|y\epsilon v|^2}}.`$
Since the basic instanton on $`^4`$ is $`SU(2)`$-equivariant, this definition is independent of the choice of $`SU(2)`$-frame $`\{e_\alpha ^{}:1\alpha 4\}`$. Furthermore, the horizontal components of $`A`$ are defined by

$$A(e_i^{})=\epsilon _i^{}v_\rho A(e_\rho ^{})\lambda ^1_i\lambda (y\epsilon v)_\rho A(e_\rho ^{})$$

for $`1in4`$.

###### Lemma 4.1.

The curvature of $`A`$ is given by

$$F_A(e_i^{},e_\alpha ^{})=\left(\epsilon _i^{}v_\rho +\lambda ^1_i\lambda (y\epsilon v)_\rho \right)F_A(e_\rho ^{},e_\alpha ^{})$$

and

$`F_A(e_i^{},e_j^{})`$ $`=\left(\epsilon _i^{}v_\rho +\lambda ^1_i\lambda (y\epsilon v)_\rho \right)`$
$`\left(\epsilon _j^{}v_\sigma +\lambda ^1_j\lambda (y\epsilon v)_\sigma \right)F_A(e_\rho ^{},e_\sigma ^{})`$
$`+C_{ij}+A\left(C_{ij}(y\epsilon v)\right),`$
where $`C_{ij}\mathrm{\Lambda }_{}^2NS`$ is the curvature of the connection $`^{}`$.

Proof. By definition of $`A`$, we have

$`F_A(e_i^{},e_\alpha ^{})`$ $`=_{e_i^{}}^{}A(e_\alpha ^{})_{e_\alpha ^{}}A(e_i^{})+[A(e_i^{}),A(e_\alpha ^{})]`$
$`=\epsilon _i^{}v_\rho \left(_{e_\rho ^{}}A(e_\alpha ^{})_{e_\alpha ^{}}A(e_\rho ^{})+[A(e_\rho ^{}),A(e_\alpha ^{})]\right)`$
$`\lambda ^1_i\lambda (y\epsilon v)_\rho \left(_{e_\rho ^{}}A(e_\alpha ^{})_{e_\alpha ^{}}A(e_\rho ^{})+[A(e_\rho ^{}),A(e_\alpha ^{})]\right)`$
$`=\epsilon _i^{}v_\rho F_A(e_\rho ^{},e_\alpha ^{})`$
$`\lambda ^1_i\lambda (y\epsilon v)_\rho F_A(e_\rho ^{},e_\alpha ^{})`$
and

$`F_A(e_i^{},e_j^{})`$ $`=C_{ij}+_{e_i^{}}^{}A(e_j^{})_{e_j^{}}^{}A(e_i^{})+[A(e_i^{}),A(e_j^{})]A([e_i^{},e_j^{}])`$
$`=_{e_i^{}}^{}A(e_j^{})_{e_j^{}}^{}A(e_i^{})+[A(e_i^{}),A(e_j^{})]+C_{ij}+A\left(C_{ij}y\right)`$
$`=\epsilon _i^{}v_\rho \epsilon _j^{}v_\sigma \left(_{e_\rho ^{}}A(e_\sigma ^{})_{e_\sigma ^{}}A(e_\rho ^{})+[A(e_\rho ^{}),A(e_\sigma ^{})]\right)`$
$`+\epsilon _i^{}v_\rho \lambda ^1_j\lambda (y\epsilon v)_\sigma \left(_{e_\rho ^{}}A(e_\sigma ^{})_{e_\sigma ^{}}A(e_\rho ^{})+[A(e_\rho ^{}),A(e_\sigma ^{})]\right)`$
$`+\lambda ^1_i\lambda (y\epsilon v)_\rho \epsilon _j^{}v_\sigma \left(_{e_\rho ^{}}A(e_\sigma ^{})_{e_\sigma ^{}}A(e_\rho ^{})+[A(e_\rho ^{}),A(e_\sigma ^{})]\right)`$
$`+C_{ij}+A\left(C_{ij}(y\epsilon v)\right)`$
$`=\epsilon _i^{}v_\rho \epsilon _j^{}v_\sigma F_A(e_\rho ^{},e_\sigma ^{})`$
$`+\epsilon _i^{}v_\rho \lambda ^1_j\lambda (y\epsilon v)_\sigma F_A(e_\rho ^{},e_\sigma ^{})`$
$`+\lambda ^1_i\lambda (y\epsilon v)_\rho \epsilon _j^{}v_\sigma F_A(e_\rho ^{},e_\sigma ^{})`$
$`+C_{ij}+A\left(C_{ij}(y\epsilon v)\right).`$
This proves the assertion.

Let $`\{e_i:1in4\}`$ be an orthonormal basis for the horizontal subspace with respect to the Levi-Civita connection $``$. Then we have the following result:

###### Lemma 4.2.

The curvature of $`A`$ satisfies

$$F_A(e_i,e_\alpha ^{})=\left(\epsilon _iv_\rho +\lambda ^1_i\lambda (y\epsilon v)_\rho +\theta _{i,\rho \sigma }(y\epsilon v)_\sigma \right)F_A(e_\rho ^{},e_\alpha ^{})$$

and

$`F_A(e_i,e_j)`$ $`=\left(\epsilon _iv_\rho +\lambda ^1_i\lambda (y\epsilon v)_\rho +\theta _{i,\rho \alpha }(y\epsilon v)_\alpha \right)`$
$`\left(\epsilon _jv_\sigma +\lambda ^1_j\lambda (y\epsilon v)_\sigma +\theta _{j,\sigma \beta }(y\epsilon v)_\beta \right)F_A(e_\rho ^{},e_\sigma ^{})`$
$`+C_{ij}+A\left(C_{ij}(y\epsilon v)\right),`$
where $`C_{ij}\mathrm{\Lambda }_{}^2NS`$ is the curvature of $`^{}`$.

Proof. Since $`^{}=+\theta `$, the orthonormal basis $`\{e_i:1in4\}`$ is related to the orthonormal basis $`\{e_i^{}:1in4\}`$ by

$$e_i^{}=e_i+\theta _{i,\rho \sigma }y_\sigma e_\rho ^{}.$$

The assertion follows now from Lemma 4.1.

Using Lemma 2.1, we obtain the following result.

###### Lemma 4.3.

Suppose that $`\mu `$ is constant and $`r`$ is a section of the vector bundle $`\mathrm{\Lambda }_+^2NS`$ such that $`^{}r=0`$. Let

$$u=(\epsilon ^2\lambda ^2+|y\epsilon v|^2)^{\frac{1}{2}}\left(\mu (y\epsilon v)_\rho +r_{\rho \sigma }(y\epsilon v)_\sigma \right)e_\rho ^{}.$$

Then the covariant derivative of $`u`$ satisfies the estimate

$$D_Au_{𝒞_3^{1,\gamma }(M)}C\epsilon ^2.$$

Hence, as we move away from the submanifold $`S`$, the connection $`A`$ approaches a flat connection. Therefore, we can extend $`A`$ trivially to $`M`$.

Our aim is to derive estimates for $`D_A^{}F_A`$ in $`𝒞_3^\gamma (M)`$. To this end, we assume that the glueing data $`(v,\lambda ,J,\omega )`$ satisfy the estimates

$$v_{𝒞^{2,\gamma }(S)}K,$$

$$\lambda _{𝒞^{2,\gamma }(S)}K,inf\lambda 1,$$

$$(J,\omega )_{𝒞^{2,\gamma }(S)}K$$

for some $`K>0`$. All implicite constants will depend on $`K`$.

###### Proposition 4.4.

If the set $`(v,\lambda ,J,\omega )`$ is admissible, then we have the estimate

$$D_A^{}F_A_{𝒞_3^\gamma (M)}C\epsilon ^2.$$

Proof. Since $`B`$ is a Yang-Mills connection on $`^4`$, we have

$$\underset{\beta =1}{\overset{4}{}}D_{A,e_\beta ^{}}F_A(e_\alpha ^{},e_\beta ^{})=0.$$

Using Proposition 2.4, we obtain

$$\underset{\beta =1}{\overset{4}{}}D_{A,e_\beta ^{}}\left(_iv_\rho F_A(e_\rho ^{},e_\beta ^{})\right)=0,$$

$$\underset{\beta =1}{\overset{4}{}}D_{A,e_\beta ^{}}\left(\lambda ^1_i\lambda (y\epsilon v)_\rho F_A(e_\rho ^{},e_\beta ^{})\right)=0,$$

$$\underset{\beta =1}{\overset{4}{}}D_{A,e_\beta ^{}}\left(\theta _{i,\rho \sigma }(y\epsilon v)_\sigma F_A(e_\rho ^{},e_\beta ^{})\right)=0.$$

From this it follows that

$$\underset{\beta =1}{\overset{4}{}}D_{A,e_\beta ^{}}F_A(e_i,e_\beta ^{})=0.$$

Therefore, we obtain

$$D_A^{_{g_0}}F_A_{𝒞_3^\gamma (M)}C\epsilon ^2.$$

Here, $`g_0`$ denotes the product metric on $`NS`$, i.e.

$`g_0(e_i,e_j)=\delta _{ij}`$
$`g_0(e_i,e_\alpha ^{})=0`$
$`g_0(e_\alpha ^{},e_\beta ^{})=\delta _{\alpha \beta }.`$
Let $`g`$ be the pull-back of the Riemannian metric on $`M`$ under the exponential map $`\mathrm{exp}:NSM`$. Then the metric $`g`$ satisfies an asymptotic expansion of the form

$`g(e_i,e_j)=\delta _{ij}+2{\displaystyle \underset{\rho =1}{\overset{4}{}}}h_{ij,\rho }y_\rho +O(|y|^2)`$
$`g(e_i,e_\alpha ^{})=O(|y|^2)`$
$`g(e_\alpha ^{},e_\beta ^{})=\delta _{\alpha \beta }+O(|y|^2),`$
where $`h`$ denotes the second fundamental form of $`S`$. In particular, the volume form of $`g`$ is related to the volume form of $`g_0`$ by

$$\left(\frac{detg}{detg_0}\right)^{\frac{1}{2}}=1+H_\rho y_\rho +O(|y|^2),$$

where $`H`$ is the mean curvature vector of $`S`$. Since the mean curvature of $`S`$ is $`0`$, we obtain

$$\left(\frac{detg}{detg_0}\right)^{\frac{1}{2}}=1+O(|y|^2).$$

Thus, we conclude that

$$D_A^{}F_A_{𝒞_3^\gamma (M)}C\epsilon ^2$$

## 5 Estimates for the linearized operator in weighted Hölder spaces

Our aim in this section is to analyze the mapping properties of the linearized operator $`𝕃_A:\mathrm{\Omega }^1(M)\mathrm{\Omega }^1(M)`$.

###### Proposition 5.1.

Suppose that $`b𝒞_{3+\nu }^\gamma (M)`$ is supported in the set $`\{pM:\text{dist}(p,S)2\delta ^4\}`$ and satisfies

$$_{NS_x}\underset{\alpha =1}{\overset{4}{}}b(e_\alpha ^{}),F_A(X,e_\alpha ^{})=0$$

for all $`xS`$ and all vector fields of the form

$$X=\epsilon w_\rho e_\rho ^{}+\mu (y\epsilon v)_\rho e_\rho ^{}+r_{\rho \sigma }(y\epsilon v)_\sigma e_\rho ^{}$$

with $`wNS`$, $`\mu `$, and $`r\mathrm{\Lambda }_+^2NS`$. Then there exists a $`1`$-form $`a𝒞_{1+\nu }^{2,\gamma }(M)`$ which is supported in the region $`\{pM:\text{dist}(p,S)2\delta ^2\}`$ such that

$$a_{𝒞_{1+\nu }^{2,\gamma }(M)}Cb_{𝒞_{3+\nu }^\gamma (M)}$$

and

$$𝕃_Aab_{𝒞_{3+\nu }^\gamma (\{pM:\text{dist}(p,S)2\delta ^4\})}C\delta b_{𝒞_{3+\nu }^\gamma (M)}$$

and

$$𝕃_Aab_{𝒞_{3+\nu }^\gamma (M)}C|\mathrm{log}\delta |^1b_{𝒞_{3+\nu }^\gamma (M)}.$$

Proof. Let $`\{\zeta ^{(j)}:1jj_0\}`$ be a partition of unity on $`S`$ such that each function $`\zeta ^{(j)}`$ is supported in a ball $`B_\delta (p_j)`$, and

$$|\{1jj_0:xB_{4\delta }(p_j)\}|C$$

for all $`xS`$ and some uniform constant $`C`$. For each $`1jj_0`$, there exists a $`1`$-form $`a^{(j)}𝒞_{1+\nu }^{2,\gamma }(M)`$ which is supported in the region $`\{(x,y)NS:xB_{2\delta }(p_j),|y|2\delta ^2\}`$ such that

$$a^{(j)}_{𝒞_{1+\nu }^{2,\gamma }(M)}C\zeta ^{(j)}b_{𝒞_{3+\nu }^\gamma (M)}$$

and

$$𝕃_Aa^{(j)}\zeta ^{(j)}b_{𝒞_{3+\nu }^\gamma (\{pM:\text{dist}(p,S)2\delta ^4\})}C\delta \zeta ^{(j)}b_{𝒞_{3+\nu }^\gamma (M)}$$

and

$$𝕃_Aa^{(j)}\zeta ^{(j)}b_{𝒞_{3+\nu }^\gamma (M)}C|\mathrm{log}\delta |^1b_{𝒞_{3+\nu }^\gamma (M)}.$$

We now define

$$a=\underset{j=1}{\overset{j_0}{}}a^{(j)}.$$

Then we have the estimates

$`a_{𝒞_{1+\nu }^{2,\gamma }(M)}`$ $`C\underset{1jj_0}{sup}a^{(j)}_{𝒞_{1+\nu }^{2,\gamma }(M)}`$
$`C\underset{1jj_0}{sup}\zeta ^{(j)}b_{𝒞_{3+\nu }^\gamma (M)}`$
$`Cb_{𝒞_{3+\nu }^\gamma (M)},`$
$`𝕃_Aab_{𝒞_{3+\nu }^\gamma (\{pM:\text{dist}(p,S)2\delta ^4\})}`$ $`C\underset{1jj_0}{sup}𝕃_Aa^{(j)}\zeta ^{(j)}b_{𝒞_{3+\nu }^\gamma (\{pM:\text{dist}(p,S)2\delta ^4\})}`$
$`C\delta \underset{1jj_0}{sup}\zeta ^{(j)}b_{𝒞_{3+\nu }^\gamma (M)}`$
$`C\delta b_{𝒞_{3+\nu }^\gamma (M)},`$
$`𝕃_Aab_{𝒞_{3+\nu }^\gamma (M)}`$ $`C\underset{1jj_0}{sup}𝕃_Aa^{(j)}\zeta ^{(j)}b_{𝒞_{3+\nu }^\gamma (M)}`$
$`C|\mathrm{log}\delta |^1\underset{1jj_0}{sup}\zeta ^{(j)}b_{𝒞_{3+\nu }^\gamma (M)}`$
$`C|\mathrm{log}\delta |^1b_{𝒞_{3+\nu }^\gamma (M)}.`$
This proves the assertion.

###### Proposition 5.2.

For every $`b𝒞_{3+\nu }^\gamma (M)`$, there exists a $`1`$-form $`a𝒞_{1+\nu }^{2,\gamma }(M)`$ such that

$$a_{𝒞_{1+\nu }^{2,\gamma }(M)}Cb_{𝒞_{3+\nu }^\gamma (M)}$$

and

$$d^{}da+dd^{}a=b.$$

Proof. Since $`H^1(M)=0`$, the operator $`d^{}d+dd^{}:\mathrm{\Omega }^1(M)\mathrm{\Omega }^1(M)`$ is invertible. Hence, there exists a $`1`$-form $`a`$ such that

$$d^{}da+dd^{}a=b.$$

Therefore, it remains to show that

$$a_{𝒞_{1+\nu }^{2,\gamma }(M)}Cd^{}da+dd^{}a_{𝒞_{3+\nu }^\gamma (M)}.$$

By Schauder estimates, it suffices to show that

$$sup(\epsilon +\text{dist}(p,S))^{1+\nu }|a|Csup(\epsilon +\text{dist}(p,S))^{3+\nu }|d^{}da+dd^{}a|.$$

Suppose that this estimate fails. Then there exists a sequence of positive real numbers $`\epsilon _j`$ and a sequence of $`1`$-forms $`a^{(j)}𝒞_{1+\nu }^{2,\gamma }(M)`$ such that

$$sup(\epsilon _j+\text{dist}(p,S))^{1+\nu }|a^{(j)}|=1$$

and

$$sup(\epsilon _j+\text{dist}(p,S))^{3+\nu }|d^{}da^{(j)}+dd^{}a^{(j)}|0.$$

Then there exists a sequence of points $`p_jM`$ such that

$$sup(\epsilon _j+\text{dist}(p_j,S))^{1+\nu }|a^{(j)}(p_j)|\frac{1}{2}.$$

There are two possibilities:

(i) Suppose that $`\text{dist}(p_j,S)`$ is bounded from below. After passing to a subsequence, we may assume that the sequence $`a^{(j)}`$ converges to a $`1`$-form $`a\mathrm{\Omega }^1(M)`$ such that

$$sup\text{dist}(p,S)^{1+\nu }|a|1$$

and

$$d^{}da+dd^{}a=0.$$

From this it follows that $`a`$ is smooth. Since the operator $`d^{}d+dd^{}:\mathrm{\Omega }^1(M)\mathrm{\Omega }^1(M)`$ has trivial kernel, it follows that $`a=0`$. This is a contradiction.

(ii) We now assume that $`\text{dist}(p_j,S)0`$. After rescaling and taking the limit, we obtain a $`1`$-form $`\stackrel{~}{a}\mathrm{\Omega }^1(^{n4}\times ^4)`$ such that

$$sup|y|^{1+\nu }|\stackrel{~}{a}|1$$

and

$$d^{}d\stackrel{~}{a}+dd^{}\stackrel{~}{a}=0.$$

Thus, we conclude that $`\stackrel{~}{a}=0`$. This is a contradiction.

###### Proposition 5.3.

Suppose that $`b𝒞_{3+\nu }^\gamma (M)`$ is supported in the region $`\{pM:\text{dist}(p,S)\delta ^4\}`$. Then there exists a $`1`$-form $`a𝒞_{1+\nu }^{2,\gamma }(M)`$ which is supported in the region $`\{pM:\text{dist}(p,S)\delta ^8\}`$ such that

$$a_{𝒞_{1+\nu }^{2,\gamma }(M)}Cb_{𝒞_{3+\nu }^\gamma (M)}$$

and

$$𝕃_Aab_{𝒞_{3+\nu }^\gamma (M)}C\left(|\mathrm{log}\delta |^1+\delta ^{16}\epsilon ^2\right)b_{𝒞_{3+\nu }^\gamma (M)}.$$

Proof. By Proposition 5.2, there exists a $`1`$-form $`a𝒞_{1+\nu }^{2,\gamma }(M)`$ such that

$$a_{𝒞_{1+\nu }^{2,\gamma }(M)}Cb_{𝒞_{3+\nu }^\gamma (M)}$$

and

$$d^{}da+dd^{}a=b.$$

Let now $`\eta `$ be a cut-off function such that $`\eta (p)=0`$ for $`\text{dist}(p,S)\delta ^8`$, $`\eta (p)=1`$ for $`\text{dist}(p,S)\delta ^4`$ and

$$sup\text{dist}(p,S)|\eta |+sup\text{dist}(p,S)^2|^2\eta |C|\mathrm{log}\delta |^1.$$

Then the $`1`$-form $`\eta a`$ is supported in the region $`\{pM:\text{dist}(p,S)\delta ^8\}`$ and satisfies

$`𝕃_A(\eta a)b_{𝒞_{3+\nu }^\gamma (M)}`$
$`=D_A^{}D_A(\eta a)+D_AD_A^{}(\eta a)+(1)^n[F_A,\eta a]\eta (d^{}da+dd^{}a)_{𝒞_{3+\nu }^\gamma (M)}`$
$`D_A^{}D_A(\eta a)+D_AD_A^{}(\eta a)+(1)^n[F_A,\eta a]d^{}d(\eta a)dd^{}(\eta a)_{𝒞_{3+\nu }^\gamma (M)}`$
$`+d^{}d(\eta a)+dd^{}(\eta a)\eta (d^{}da+dd^{}a)_{𝒞_{3+\nu }^\gamma (M)}`$
$`D_A^{}D_A(\eta a)+D_AD_A^{}(\eta a)+(1)^n[F_A,\eta a]d^{}d(\eta a)dd^{}(\eta a)_{𝒞_{3+\nu }^\gamma (M)}`$
$`+d^{}d(\eta a)+dd^{}(\eta a)\eta (d^{}da+dd^{}a)_{𝒞_{3+\nu }^\gamma (M)}`$
$`C\delta ^{16}\epsilon ^2a_{𝒞_{1+\nu }^{1,\gamma }(M)}+C|\mathrm{log}\delta |^1a_{𝒞_{1+\nu }^{1,\gamma }(M)}`$
$`C\delta ^{16}\epsilon ^2b_{𝒞_{3+\nu }^\gamma (M)}+C|\mathrm{log}\delta |^1b_{𝒞_{3+\nu }^\gamma (M)}.`$
This proves the assertion.

In the following, we will choose $`\delta =\epsilon ^{\frac{1}{16}}`$. Let $`\kappa `$ be a cut-off function such that $`\kappa (p)=1`$ for $`\text{dist}(p,S)\epsilon ^{\frac{1}{4}}`$ and $`\kappa (p)=0`$ for $`\text{dist}(p,S)2\epsilon ^{\frac{1}{4}}`$.

Let $`_\nu ^{k,\gamma }(M)`$ be the set of all $`b\mathrm{\Omega }^1(M)`$ such that $`b𝒞_\nu ^{k,\gamma }(M)`$ and

$$_{NS_x}\kappa \underset{\alpha =1}{\overset{4}{}}b(e_\alpha ^{}),F_A(X,e_\alpha ^{})=0$$

for all $`xS`$ and all vector fields of the form

$$X=\epsilon w_\rho e_\rho ^{}+\mu (y\epsilon v)_\rho e_\rho ^{}+r_{\rho \sigma }(y\epsilon v)_\sigma e_\rho ^{}$$

with $`wNS_x`$, $`\mu `$, and $`r\mathrm{\Lambda }_+^2NS_x`$.

We denote by $`\text{I}`$ the fibrewise projection from $`𝒞_\nu ^\gamma (M)`$ to the subspace $`_\nu ^\gamma (M)`$. Hence, if $`b`$ is a $`1`$-form, then the projection $`b`$ is of the form

$$b(e_\alpha ^{})=\kappa \left(\epsilon w_\rho +\mu (y\epsilon v)_\rho +r_{\rho \sigma }(y\epsilon v)_\sigma \right)F_A(e_\rho ^{},e_\alpha ^{})$$

for some $`wNS`$, $`\mu `$, and $`r\mathrm{\Lambda }_+^2NS`$. Let $`\mathrm{\Pi }`$ be the linear operator which assigns to every $`1`$-form $`b`$ the triplet

$$\mathrm{\Pi }b=(w,\mu ,r)NS\mathrm{\Lambda }_+^2NS.$$

We shall need the following estimate for the operator norm of the projection operator $``$.

###### Proposition 5.4.

For every $`1`$-form $`b𝒞_{3+\nu }^\gamma (M)`$, we have the estimates

$$\mathrm{\Pi }b_{𝒞^\gamma (S)}C\epsilon ^{2\nu \gamma }b_{𝒞_{3+\nu }^\gamma (M)}$$

and

$$b_{𝒞_{3+\nu }^\gamma (M)}C\epsilon ^{\nu \gamma }b_{𝒞_{3+\nu }^\gamma (M)}.$$

Proof. Without loss of generality, we may assume that

$$b_{𝒞_{3+\nu }^\gamma (M)}1.$$

Consider a point $`xS`$ and let $`X`$ be a vector field of the form

$$X=\epsilon w_\rho e_\rho ^{}+\mu (y\epsilon v)_\rho e_\rho ^{}+r_{\rho \sigma }(y\epsilon v)_\sigma e_\rho ^{}.$$

Using the estimate

$$sup(\epsilon +|y|)^{3+\nu }|b(x,y)|1,$$

we obtain

$$\left|_{NS_x}\kappa \underset{\alpha =1}{\overset{4}{}}b(e_\alpha ^{}),F_A(X,e_\alpha ^{})\right|C\epsilon ^\nu (|w|+|\mu |+|r|).$$

From this it follows that

$$sup|\mathrm{\Pi }b(x)|C\epsilon ^{2\nu }.$$

This implies

$$\underset{4|x_1x_2|\epsilon }{sup}\frac{|\mathrm{\Pi }b(x_1)\mathrm{\Pi }b(x_2)|}{|x_1x_2|^\gamma }C\epsilon ^{2\nu \gamma }.$$

Using the estimate

$$\underset{4|x_1x_2|\epsilon }{sup}(\epsilon +|y|)^{3+\nu }\frac{|b(x_1,y)b(x_2,y)|}{|x_1x_2|^\gamma }\epsilon ^\gamma ,$$

we deduce that

$$sup\frac{|\mathrm{\Pi }b(x_1)\mathrm{\Pi }b(x_2)|}{|x_1x_2|^\gamma }C\epsilon ^{2\nu \gamma }.$$

Thus, we conclude that

$$\mathrm{\Pi }b_{𝒞^\gamma (S)}C\epsilon ^{2\nu \gamma },$$

hence

$$b_{𝒞_{3+\nu }^\gamma (M)}C\epsilon ^{\nu \gamma }.$$

This proves the assertion.

###### Proposition 5.5.

For every $`b_{3+\nu }^\gamma (M)`$ there exists a $`1`$-form $`a𝒞_{1+\nu }^{2,\gamma }(M)`$ such that

$$a_{𝒞_{1+\nu }^{2,\gamma }(M)}Cb_{𝒞_{3+\nu }^\gamma (M)}$$

and

$$𝕃_Aab_{𝒞_{3+\nu }^\gamma (\{pM:\text{dist}(p,S)\epsilon ^{\frac{1}{2}}\})}C\epsilon ^{\frac{1}{16}}b_{𝒞_{3+\nu }^\gamma (M)}$$

and

$$𝕃_Aab_{𝒞_{3+\nu }^\gamma (M)}C|\mathrm{log}\epsilon |^1b_{𝒞_{3+\nu }^\gamma (M)}.$$

Proof. Apply Proposition 5.1 to $`\kappa b`$ and Proposition 5.3 to $`(1\kappa )b`$.

###### Proposition 5.6.

For every $`b_{3+\nu }^\gamma (M)`$ there exists a $`1`$-form $`a𝒞_{1+\nu }^{2,\gamma }(M)`$ such that

$$a_{𝒞_{1+\nu }^{2,\gamma }(M)}Cb_{𝒞_{3+\nu }^\gamma (M)}$$

and

$$(\text{I})𝕃_Aa=b.$$

Furthermore, $`a`$ satisfies the estimate

$$\mathrm{\Pi }𝕃_Aa_{𝒞^\gamma (S)}C\epsilon ^{2+\frac{1}{32}}b_{𝒞_{3+\nu }^\gamma (M)}.$$

Proof. By Proposition 5.5, there exists an operator $`𝕊:_{3+\nu }^\gamma (M)𝒞_{1+\nu }^{2,\gamma }(M)`$ such that

$$𝕊b_{𝒞_{1+\nu }^{2,\gamma }(M)}Cb_{𝒞_{3+\nu }^\gamma (M)}$$

and

$$𝕃_A𝕊bb_{𝒞_{3+\nu }^\gamma (\{pM:\text{dist}(p,S)\epsilon ^{\frac{1}{2}}\})}C\epsilon ^{\frac{1}{16}}b_{𝒞_{3+\nu }^\gamma (M)}$$

and

$$𝕃_A𝕊bb_{𝒞_{3+\nu }^\gamma (M)}C|\mathrm{log}\epsilon |^1b_{𝒞_{3+\nu }^\gamma (M)}.$$

This implies

$$\mathrm{\Pi }𝕃_A𝕊b_{𝒞^\gamma (S)}=\mathrm{\Pi }(𝕃_A𝕊bb)_{𝒞^\gamma (S)}C\epsilon ^{2+\frac{1}{16}\nu \gamma }b_{𝒞_{3+\nu }^\gamma (M)}.$$

From this it follows that

$$(\text{I})𝕃_A𝕊bb_{𝒞_{3+\nu }^\gamma (M)}C|\mathrm{log}\epsilon |^1b_{𝒞_{3+\nu }^\gamma (M)}.$$

Therefore, the operator $`(\text{I})𝕃_A𝕊:_{3+\nu }^\gamma (M)_{3+\nu }^\gamma (M)`$ is invertible. Hence, if we define

$$a=𝕊\left[(\text{I})𝕃_A𝕊\right]^1b,$$

then $`a`$ satisfies

$$a_{𝒞_{1+\nu }^{2,\gamma }(M)}Cb_{𝒞_{3+\nu }^\gamma (M)}$$

and

$$(\text{I})𝕃_Aa=b.$$

This proves the assertion.

## 6 The nonlinear problem

###### Proposition 6.1.

For every approximate solution $`A`$, there exists a nearby connection $`\stackrel{~}{A}=A+a`$ such that

$$a_{C_{1+\nu }^{2,\gamma }(M)}C\epsilon ^{2\nu \gamma }$$

and

$$(\text{I})(D_{\stackrel{~}{A}}^{}F_{\stackrel{~}{A}}+D_{\stackrel{~}{A}}D_{\stackrel{~}{A}}^{}a)=0.$$

Furthermore, $`a`$ satisfies the estimate

$$\mathrm{\Pi }𝕃_Aa_{𝒞^\gamma (S)}C\epsilon ^{\frac{1}{32}}.$$

Proof. The connection $`\stackrel{~}{A}=A+a`$ satisfies

$$D_{\stackrel{~}{A}}^{}F_{\stackrel{~}{A}}+D_{\stackrel{~}{A}}D_{\stackrel{~}{A}}^{}a=D_A^{}F_A+L_Aa+D_AD_A^{}a+Q(a),$$

where $`Q(a)`$ contains only quadratic and cubic terms. This implies

$$D_{\stackrel{~}{A}}^{}F_{\stackrel{~}{A}}+D_{\stackrel{~}{A}}D_{\stackrel{~}{A}}^{}a=D_A^{}F_A+𝕃_Aa+Q(a).$$

According to Proposition 5.6, there exists an operator $`𝔾:_{3+\nu }^\gamma (M)𝒞_{1+\nu }^{2,\gamma }(M)`$ such that

$$𝔾b_{𝒞_{1+\nu }^{2,\gamma }(M)}Cb_{𝒞_{3+\nu }^\gamma (M)}$$

and

$$(\text{I})𝕃_A𝔾=\text{I}.$$

We now define a mapping $`\mathrm{\Phi }:𝒞_{1+\nu }^{2,\gamma }(M)𝒞_{1+\nu }^{2,\gamma }(M)`$ by

$$\mathrm{\Phi }(a)=𝔾(\text{I})(D_A^{}F_A)𝔾(\text{I})Q(a).$$

Then we have the estimate

$`\mathrm{\Phi }(a)_{𝒞_{1+\nu }^{2,\gamma }(M)}`$ $`C(\text{I})(D_A^{}F_A)_{𝒞_{3+\nu }^\gamma (M)}+C(\text{I})Q(a)_{𝒞_{3+\nu }^\gamma (M)}`$
$`C\epsilon ^{\nu \gamma }D_A^{}F_A_{𝒞_{3+\nu }^\gamma (M)}+C\epsilon ^{\nu \gamma }Q(a)_{𝒞_{3+\nu }^\gamma (M)}`$
$`C\epsilon ^{\nu \gamma }D_A^{}F_A_{𝒞_{3+\nu }^\gamma (M)}+C\epsilon ^{2\nu \gamma }a_{𝒞_{1+\nu }^{2,\gamma }(M)}^2+C\epsilon ^{3\nu \gamma }a_{𝒞_{1+\nu }^{2,\gamma }(M)}^3`$
$`C\epsilon ^{2\nu \gamma }`$
for all $`a𝒞_{1+\nu }^{2,\gamma }(M)`$ satisfying

$$a_{𝒞_{1+\nu }^{2,\gamma }(M)}\epsilon ^{\frac{3}{2}}.$$

Moreover, we have

$`\mathrm{\Phi }(a)\mathrm{\Phi }(a^{})_{𝒞_{1+\nu }^{2,\gamma }(M)}`$ $`C\epsilon ^{\nu \gamma }Q(a)Q(a^{})_{𝒞_{3+\nu }^\gamma (M)}`$
$`C\epsilon ^{\frac{3}{2}2\nu \gamma }aa^{}_{𝒞_{1+\nu }^{2,\gamma }(M)}`$
for all $`a,a^{}𝒞_{1+\nu }^{2,\gamma }(M)`$ satisfying

$$a_{𝒞_{1+\nu }^{2,\gamma }(M)},a^{}_{𝒞_{1+\nu }^{2,\gamma }(M)}\epsilon ^{\frac{3}{2}}.$$

Hence, it follows from the contraction mapping principle that there exists a $`1`$-form $`a𝒞_{1+\nu }^{2,\gamma }(M)`$ such that

$$a_{𝒞_{1+\nu }^{2,\gamma }(M)}C\epsilon ^{2\nu \gamma }$$

and

$$\mathrm{\Phi }(a)=a.$$

From this it follows that

$$𝔾(\text{I})(D_A^{}F_A)+a+𝔾(\text{I})Q(a)=0,$$

hence

$$(\text{I})(D_A^{}F_A)+(\text{I})𝕃_Aa+(\text{I})Q(a)=0.$$

Thus, we conclude that

$$(\text{I})(D_{\stackrel{~}{A}}^{}F_{\stackrel{~}{A}}+D_{\stackrel{~}{A}}D_{\stackrel{~}{A}}^{}a)=0.$$

This proves the assertion.

###### Corollary 6.2.

If $`\stackrel{~}{A}`$ satisfies

$$(D_{\stackrel{~}{A}}^{}F_{\stackrel{~}{A}}+D_{\stackrel{~}{A}}D_{\stackrel{~}{A}}^{}a)=0,$$

then $`\stackrel{~}{A}`$ is a solution of the Yang-Mills equations, i.e.

$$D_{\stackrel{~}{A}}^{}F_{\stackrel{~}{A}}=0.$$

Proof. By definition of $`\stackrel{~}{A}`$, we have

$$(\text{I})(D_{\stackrel{~}{A}}^{}F_{\stackrel{~}{A}}+D_{\stackrel{~}{A}}D_{\stackrel{~}{A}}^{}a)=0.$$

Hence, if $`\stackrel{~}{A}`$ satisfies

$$(D_{\stackrel{~}{A}}^{}F_{\stackrel{~}{A}}+D_{\stackrel{~}{A}}D_{\stackrel{~}{A}}^{}a)=0,$$

then we obtain

$$D_{\stackrel{~}{A}}^{}F_{\stackrel{~}{A}}+D_{\stackrel{~}{A}}D_{\stackrel{~}{A}}^{}a=0.$$

Using the Bianchi identity, we obtain

$$D_{\stackrel{~}{A}}^{}D_{\stackrel{~}{A}}D_{\stackrel{~}{A}}^{}a=D_{\stackrel{~}{A}}^{}D_{\stackrel{~}{A}}^{}F_{\stackrel{~}{A}}+D_{\stackrel{~}{A}}^{}D_{\stackrel{~}{A}}D_{\stackrel{~}{A}}^{}a=0.$$

Integrating over $`M`$, we conclude that

$$D_{\stackrel{~}{A}}D_{\stackrel{~}{A}}^{}a=0,$$

hence

$$D_{\stackrel{~}{A}}^{}F_{\stackrel{~}{A}}=0.$$

This proves the assertion.

## 7 The balancing condition

###### Proposition 7.1.

Let $`g_0`$ be the product metric on the normal bundle $`NS`$ (cf. Section 4). Then the fibrewise projection $`\mathrm{\Pi }(D_A^{_{g_0}}F_A)`$ is given by

$$\mathrm{\Pi }(D_A^{_{g_0}}F_A)=(\mathrm{\Delta }v,\frac{1}{\lambda }\mathrm{\Delta }\lambda \frac{1}{4}|\theta |^2,\frac{1}{\lambda ^2}\underset{i=1}{\overset{n4}{}}_i(\lambda ^2\theta _i)).$$

Proof. Using the results from Section 4, we obtain

$$\underset{\beta =1}{\overset{4}{}}D_{A,e_\beta ^{}}F_A(e_i,e_\beta ^{})=0.$$

Moreover, the Bianchi identity implies that

$$D_{A,e_\beta ^{}}F_A(e_i,e_\alpha ^{})D_{A,e_\alpha ^{}}F_A(e_i,e_\beta ^{})+D_{A,e_i}F_A(e_\alpha ^{},e_\beta ^{})=0.$$

From this it follows that

$`{\displaystyle \underset{i=1}{\overset{n4}{}}}{\displaystyle \underset{\alpha ,\beta =1}{\overset{4}{}}}(_{e_\beta ^{}}F_A(e_i,e_\beta ^{}),F_A(e_i,e_\alpha ^{}){\displaystyle \frac{1}{2}}_{e_\alpha ^{}}F_A(e_i,e_\beta ^{}),F_A(e_i,e_\beta ^{})`$
$`+_{e_i}F_A(e_i,e_\beta ^{}),F_A(e_\alpha ^{},e_\beta ^{}))X^\alpha `$
$`={\displaystyle \underset{i=1}{\overset{n4}{}}}{\displaystyle \underset{\alpha ,\beta =1}{\overset{4}{}}}D_{A,e_i}F_A(e_i,e_\beta ^{}),F_A(e_\alpha ^{},e_\beta ^{})X^\alpha `$
$`=D_A^{_{g_0}}F_A,F_A(X,).`$
If $`X`$ is a vector field of the form

$$X=\epsilon w_\rho e_\rho ^{}+\mu (y\epsilon v)_\rho e_\rho ^{}+r_{\rho \sigma }(y\epsilon v)_\sigma e_\rho ^{},$$

then we have

$`{\displaystyle _{NS_x}}{\displaystyle \underset{i=1}{\overset{n4}{}}}{\displaystyle \underset{\alpha ,\beta =1}{\overset{4}{}}}\left(_{e_\beta ^{}}F_A(e_i,e_\beta ^{}),F_A(e_i,e_\alpha ^{}){\displaystyle \frac{1}{2}}_{e_\alpha ^{}}F_A(e_i,e_\beta ^{}),F_A(e_i,e_\beta ^{})\right)X^\alpha `$
$`={\displaystyle _{NS_x}}{\displaystyle \underset{i=1}{\overset{n4}{}}}{\displaystyle \underset{\alpha ,\beta =1}{\overset{4}{}}}\left(F_A(e_i,e_\beta ^{}),F_A(e_i,e_\alpha ^{})_\beta X^\alpha {\displaystyle \frac{1}{2}}F_A(e_i,e_\beta ^{}),F_A(e_i,e_\beta ^{})_\alpha X^\alpha \right)`$
$`=\epsilon ^2(4\pi ^2|v|^2+8\pi ^2|\lambda |^2+2\pi ^2|\theta |^2)\mu .`$
Similarly, we obtain

$`{\displaystyle _{NS_x}}{\displaystyle \underset{\alpha ,\beta =1}{\overset{4}{}}}F_A(e_i,e_\beta ^{}),F_A(e_\alpha ^{},e_\beta ^{})X^\alpha `$
$`=\epsilon ^2(4\pi ^2_iv,w+8\pi ^2\lambda _i\lambda \mu +2\pi ^2\lambda ^2\theta _i,r).`$
Differentiating this identity, we obtain

$`{\displaystyle _{NS_x}}{\displaystyle \underset{i=1}{\overset{n4}{}}}{\displaystyle \underset{\alpha ,\beta =1}{\overset{4}{}}}_{e_i}F_A(e_i,e_\beta ^{}),F_A(e_\alpha ^{},e_\beta ^{}))X^\alpha `$
$`={\displaystyle \underset{i=1}{\overset{n4}{}}}_{e_i}{\displaystyle _{NS_x}}{\displaystyle \underset{\alpha ,\beta =1}{\overset{4}{}}}F_A(e_i,e_\beta ^{}),F_A(e_\alpha ^{},e_\beta ^{})X^\alpha `$
$`{\displaystyle _{NS_x}}{\displaystyle \underset{i=1}{\overset{n4}{}}}{\displaystyle \underset{\alpha ,\beta =1}{\overset{4}{}}}F_A(e_i,e_\beta ^{}),F_A(e_\alpha ^{},e_\beta ^{})_iX^\alpha `$
$`=\epsilon ^2\left(4\pi ^2\mathrm{\Delta }v,w+8\pi ^2\lambda \mathrm{\Delta }\lambda \mu +8\pi ^2|\lambda |^2\mu +4\pi ^2|v|^2\mu +2\pi ^2{\displaystyle \underset{i=1}{\overset{n4}{}}}_i(\lambda ^2\theta _i),r\right).`$
Thus, we conclude that

$`{\displaystyle _{NS_x}}D_A^{_{g_0}}F_A,F_A(X,)`$
$`=\epsilon ^2\left(4\pi ^2\mathrm{\Delta }v,w+8\pi ^2\lambda \mathrm{\Delta }\lambda ,\mu 2\pi ^2\lambda ^2|\theta |^2\mu +2\pi ^2{\displaystyle \underset{i=1}{\overset{n4}{}}}_i(\lambda ^2\theta _i),r\right).`$
From this the assertion follows.

###### Proposition 7.2.

The fibrewise projection $`\mathrm{\Pi }(D_A^{}F_A)`$ satisfies the estimate

$``$ $`\mathrm{\Pi }(D_A^{}F_A)`$
$`(\mathrm{\Delta }v_\rho +{\displaystyle \underset{i,j=1}{\overset{n4}{}}}{\displaystyle \underset{\rho ,\sigma =1}{\overset{4}{}}}h_{ij,\rho }h_{ij,\sigma }v_\sigma +{\displaystyle \underset{i=1}{\overset{n4}{}}}{\displaystyle \underset{\rho ,\sigma =1}{\overset{4}{}}}R_{i\rho \sigma i}v_\sigma ,`$
$`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{\lambda }}\mathrm{\Delta }\lambda +{\displaystyle \frac{1}{4}}{\displaystyle \underset{i,j=1}{\overset{n4}{}}}{\displaystyle \underset{\rho =1}{\overset{4}{}}}h_{ij,\rho }h_{ij,\rho }+{\displaystyle \frac{1}{4}}{\displaystyle \underset{i=1}{\overset{n4}{}}}{\displaystyle \underset{\rho =1}{\overset{4}{}}}R_{i\rho \rho i}{\displaystyle \frac{1}{4}}|\theta |^2,`$
$`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{\lambda ^2}}{\displaystyle \underset{i=1}{\overset{n4}{}}}_i(\lambda ^2\theta _{i,\rho \sigma }))_{𝒞^\gamma (S)}C\epsilon .`$
Proof. The Riemannian metric satisfies the asymptotic expansion of the form

$`g(e_i,e_j)`$ $`=\delta _{ij}+2{\displaystyle \underset{\rho =1}{\overset{4}{}}}h_{ij,\rho }y_\rho `$
$`+{\displaystyle \underset{k=1}{\overset{n4}{}}}{\displaystyle \underset{\rho ,\sigma =1}{\overset{4}{}}}h_{ik,\rho }h_{jk,\sigma }y_\rho y_\sigma `$
$`{\displaystyle \underset{\rho ,\sigma =1}{\overset{4}{}}}R_{i\rho \sigma j}y_\rho y_\sigma +O(|y|^3)`$
$`g(e_i,e_\alpha ^{})`$ $`=O(|y|^2)`$
$`g(e_\alpha ^{},e_\beta ^{})`$ $`=\delta _{\alpha \beta }{\displaystyle \frac{1}{3}}{\displaystyle \underset{\rho ,\sigma =1}{\overset{4}{}}}R_{\alpha \rho \sigma \beta }y_\rho y_\sigma +O(|y|^3).`$
Using this asymptotic expansion, Proposition 7.2 can be deduced from Proposition 7.1. The details are left to the reader.

###### Proposition 7.3.

The fibrewise projection of $`D_{\stackrel{~}{A}}^{}F_{\stackrel{~}{A}}+D_{\stackrel{~}{A}}D_{\stackrel{~}{A}}^{}a`$ satisfies

$``$ $`\mathrm{\Pi }(D_{\stackrel{~}{A}}^{}F_{\stackrel{~}{A}}+D_{\stackrel{~}{A}}D_{\stackrel{~}{A}}^{}a)`$
$`(\mathrm{\Delta }v_\rho +{\displaystyle \underset{i,j=1}{\overset{n4}{}}}{\displaystyle \underset{\rho ,\sigma =1}{\overset{4}{}}}h_{ij,\rho }h_{ij,\sigma }v_\sigma +{\displaystyle \underset{i=1}{\overset{n4}{}}}{\displaystyle \underset{\rho ,\sigma =1}{\overset{4}{}}}R_{i\rho \sigma i}v_\sigma ,`$
$`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{\lambda }}\mathrm{\Delta }\lambda +{\displaystyle \frac{1}{4}}{\displaystyle \underset{i,j=1}{\overset{n4}{}}}{\displaystyle \underset{\rho =1}{\overset{4}{}}}h_{ij,\rho }h_{ij,\rho }+{\displaystyle \frac{1}{4}}{\displaystyle \underset{i=1}{\overset{n4}{}}}{\displaystyle \underset{\rho =1}{\overset{4}{}}}R_{i\rho \rho i}{\displaystyle \frac{1}{4}}|\theta |^2,`$
$`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{\lambda ^2}}{\displaystyle \underset{i=1}{\overset{n4}{}}}_i(\lambda ^2\theta _{i,\rho \sigma }))_{𝒞^\gamma (S)}C\epsilon ^{\frac{1}{32}}.`$
Proof. Using the estimate

$$a_{C_{1+\nu }^{2,\gamma }(M)}C\epsilon ^{2\nu \gamma },$$

we obtain

$`\mathrm{\Pi }Q(a)_{𝒞^\gamma (S)}`$ $`C\epsilon ^{2\nu \gamma }Q(a)_{𝒞_{3+\nu }^\gamma (M)}`$
$`C\epsilon ^{22\nu \gamma }a_{𝒞_{1+\nu }^{2,\gamma }(M)}^2+C\epsilon ^{23\nu \gamma }a_{𝒞_{1+\nu }^{2,\gamma }(M)}^3`$
$`C\epsilon ^{24\nu 3\gamma }.`$
Moreover, we have

$$\mathrm{\Pi }𝕃_Aa_{𝒞^\gamma (S)}C\epsilon ^{\frac{1}{32}}.$$

Hence, the assertion follows from Proposition 7.2.

Proof of Theorem 1.1. Let

$$\mathrm{\Xi }_\epsilon (v,\lambda ,J,\omega )=\mathrm{\Pi }(D_{\stackrel{~}{A}}^{}F_{\stackrel{~}{A}}+D_{\stackrel{~}{A}}D_{\stackrel{~}{A}}^{}a).$$

The first part of Theorem 1.1 follows from Corollary 6.2, the second part from Proposition 7.3.

## 8 An example

Suppose that the normal bundle $`NS`$ can be endowed with a $`SU(2)`$-structure $`(J,\omega )`$ which is parallel with respect to the Levi-Civita connection $``$. This implies that $`\theta =0`$. Moreover, suppose that $`\lambda `$ is a postive function on $`S`$ which satisfies the linear PDE

$$\mathrm{\Delta }\lambda +\frac{1}{4}\underset{i,j=1}{\overset{n4}{}}\underset{\rho =1}{\overset{4}{}}h_{ij,\rho }h_{ij,\rho }\lambda +\frac{1}{4}\underset{i=1}{\overset{n4}{}}\underset{\rho =1}{\overset{4}{}}R_{i\rho \rho i}\lambda =0.$$

In addition, we assume that the following non-degeneracy conditions hold:

(i) The Jacobi operator of $`S`$ is invertible.

(ii) The kernel of the operator

$$\mathrm{\Delta }+\frac{1}{4}\underset{i,j=1}{\overset{n4}{}}\underset{\rho =1}{\overset{4}{}}h_{ij,\rho }h_{ij,\rho }+\frac{1}{4}\underset{i=1}{\overset{n4}{}}\underset{\rho =1}{\overset{4}{}}R_{i\rho \rho i}$$

is spanned by the function $`\lambda `$.

###### Proposition 8.1.

Let $`(w,\mu ,r)`$ be a section of the vector bundle $`NS\mathrm{\Lambda }_+^2NS`$ such that

$$w_{𝒞^{2,\gamma }(S)}\epsilon ^{\frac{1}{64}},$$

$$\mu _{𝒞^{2,\gamma }(S)}\epsilon ^{\frac{1}{64}},$$

$$s_{𝒞^{2,\gamma }(S)}\epsilon ^{\frac{1}{64}}.$$

Then the connection $`\stackrel{~}{A}=A+a`$ corresponding to $`(w,\mu ,r)`$ satisfies the estimate

$``$ $`\mathrm{\Pi }(D_{\stackrel{~}{A}}^{}F_{\stackrel{~}{A}}+D_{\stackrel{~}{A}}D_{\stackrel{~}{A}}^{}a)`$
$`(\mathrm{\Delta }w_\rho +{\displaystyle \underset{i,j=1}{\overset{n4}{}}}{\displaystyle \underset{\rho ,\sigma =1}{\overset{4}{}}}h_{ij,\rho }h_{ij,\sigma }w_\sigma +{\displaystyle \underset{i=1}{\overset{n4}{}}}{\displaystyle \underset{\rho ,\sigma =1}{\overset{4}{}}}R_{i\rho \sigma i}w_\sigma ,`$
$`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{\lambda }}\mathrm{\Delta }(\lambda \mu )+{\displaystyle \frac{1}{4}}{\displaystyle \underset{i,j=1}{\overset{n4}{}}}{\displaystyle \underset{\rho =1}{\overset{4}{}}}h_{ij,\rho }h_{ij,\rho }\mu +{\displaystyle \frac{1}{4}}{\displaystyle \underset{i=1}{\overset{n4}{}}}{\displaystyle \underset{\rho =1}{\overset{4}{}}}R_{i\rho \rho i}\mu ,`$
$`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{\lambda ^2}}{\displaystyle \underset{i=1}{\overset{n4}{}}}_i(\lambda ^2_ir))_{𝒞^\gamma (S)}C\epsilon ^{\frac{1}{32}}.`$
Proof. This follows immediately from Proposition 7.3.

For abbreviation, let

$`J(w,\mu ,r)=(`$ $`\mathrm{\Delta }w_\rho +{\displaystyle \underset{i,j=1}{\overset{n4}{}}}{\displaystyle \underset{\rho ,\sigma =1}{\overset{4}{}}}h_{ij,\rho }h_{ij,\sigma }w_\sigma +{\displaystyle \underset{i=1}{\overset{n4}{}}}{\displaystyle \underset{\rho ,\sigma =1}{\overset{4}{}}}R_{i\rho \sigma i}w_\sigma ,`$
$`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{\lambda }}\mathrm{\Delta }(\lambda \mu )+{\displaystyle \frac{1}{4}}{\displaystyle \underset{i,j=1}{\overset{n4}{}}}{\displaystyle \underset{\rho =1}{\overset{4}{}}}h_{ij,\rho }h_{ij,\rho }\mu +{\displaystyle \frac{1}{4}}{\displaystyle \underset{i=1}{\overset{n4}{}}}{\displaystyle \underset{\rho =1}{\overset{4}{}}}R_{i\rho \rho i}\mu ,`$
$`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{\lambda ^2}}{\displaystyle \underset{i=1}{\overset{n4}{}}}_i(\lambda ^2_ir)).`$
If $`(w,\mu ,r)`$ is a section of the vector bundle $`NS\mathrm{\Lambda }_+^2NS`$ of class $`𝒞^{2,\gamma }`$, then $`J(w,\mu ,r)`$ is a section of the vector bundle $`NS\mathrm{\Lambda }_+^2NS`$ of class $`𝒞^\gamma `$.

The kernel of $`J`$ is a vector space of dimension $`4`$. It consists of all triplets $`(0,\mu ,r)`$, where $`\mu `$ is constant on $`S`$ and $`r`$ is a parallel section of the vector bundle $`\mathrm{\Lambda }_+^2NS`$.

###### Proposition 8.2.

There exists a section $`(w,\mu ,r)`$ of the vector bundle $`NS\mathrm{\Lambda }_+^2NS`$ such that

$$\mathrm{\Pi }(D_{\stackrel{~}{A}}^{}F_{\stackrel{~}{A}}+D_{\stackrel{~}{A}}D_{\stackrel{~}{A}}^{}a)V,$$

where $`\stackrel{~}{A}=A+a`$ is the connection corresponding to $`(w,\mu ,r)`$.

Proof. By Proposition 8.1, we may write

$$\mathrm{\Pi }(D_{\stackrel{~}{A}}^{}F_{\stackrel{~}{A}}+D_{\stackrel{~}{A}}D_{\stackrel{~}{A}}^{}a)=J(w,\mu ,r)+R(w,\mu ,r),$$

where $`R(w,\mu ,r)_{𝒞^\gamma (S)}C\epsilon ^{\frac{1}{32}}`$ for $`(w,\mu ,r)_{𝒞^{2,\gamma }(S)}\epsilon ^{\frac{1}{64}}`$. Hence, the operator $`J^1R`$ maps a ball of radius $`\epsilon ^{\frac{1}{64}}`$ in the Banach space $`𝒞^{2,\gamma }(S)`$ into a ball of radius $`C\epsilon ^{\frac{1}{32}}`$ in $`𝒞^{2,\gamma }(S)`$. Using an appropriate sequence of smoothing operators, we may approximate the mapping $`J^1R`$ by a sequence of compact mappings. Each of these mappings has a fixed point in $`𝒞^{2,\gamma }(S)`$ by Schauder’s fixed point theorem. Taking limits, we obtain a fixed point of the original mapping $`J^1R`$ in the Banach space $`𝒞^{2,\frac{\gamma }{2}}(S)`$. With this choice of the glueing data $`(w,\mu ,r)`$, we obtain $`(w,\mu ,r)+J^1R(w,\mu ,r)=0`$, hence $`J(w,\mu ,r)+R(w,\mu ,r)V`$.