On ratios of Chern numbers for complex hyperbolic branched covers

Abstract

In this paper we prove that, at least in even complex dimensions, the ratio of Chern numbers for a closed complex hyperbolic branched cover manifold are not all equal to the corresponding ratio of Chern numbers for a closed complex hyperbolic manifold. This leads to an answer for a question posed by Deraux and Seshadri, and proves that an almost $1/4$-pinched metric constructed by the author in a previous article is not K\"{a}hler.