The Cauchy problem for the homogeneous real/complexMongeAmp`ere equation (HRMA/HCMA) arises from the initial value
problem for geodesics in the space of K¨ahler metrics equipped with the Mabuchi metric. This Cauchy problem is believed to be
ill-posed and a basic problem is to characterize initial data of (weak) solutions which exist up to time T . In this article, we use a
quantization method to construct a subsolution of the HCMA on a general projective variety, and we conjecture that it solves the
equation for as long as the unique solution exists. The subsolution, called the “quantum analytic continuation potential,” is obtained
by (i) Toeplitz quantizing the Hamiltonian flow determined by the Cauchy data, (ii) analytically continuing the quantization, and (iii) taking a certain logarithmic classical limit. We then prove that in the case of torus invariant metrics (where the HCMA reduces
to the HRMA) the quantum analytic continuation potential coincides with the well-known Legendre transform potential, and hence solves the equation as long as it is smooth. In the sequel [29], it is proved that the Legendre transform potential ceases to
solve the HCMA once it ceases to be smooth. The results here and in the sequels in particular characterize the initial data of smooth
geodesic rays.