Here we survey questions and results on the Hodge theory of hyperkaehler quotients, motivated by certain S-duality considerations in string theory. The problems include L^2 harmonic forms, Betti numbers and mixed Hodge structures on the moduli spaces of Yang-Mills instantons on ALE gravitational instantons, magnetic monopoles on R^3 and Higgs bundles on a Riemann surface. Several of these spaces and their hyperkaehler metrics were constructed by Nigel Hitchin and his collaborators.
Let M be a hypercomplex Hermitian manifold, (M,I) the same manifold considered as a complex Hermitian with a complex structure I induced by the quaternions. The standard linear-algebraic construction produces a canonical nowhere degenerate (2,0)-form on (M,I). It is well known that M is hyperkaehler if and only if the form Ωis closed with respect to the de Rham differential. The M is called HKT (hyperkaehler with torsion) if this form is closed with respect to the Dolbeault differential (this condition is weaker. Conjecturally, all compact hypercomplex manifolds admit an HKT-metrics. We exploi…
Let $M$ be a Kaehler manifold, and consider the total space $T^*M$ of the cotangent bundle to $M$. We show that in the formal neighborhood of the zero section $M \subset T^*M$ the space $T^*M$ admits a canonical hyperkaehler structure, compatible with the complex and holomorphic symplectic structures on $T^*M$. The associated hyperkaehler metric $h$ coincides with the given Kaehler metric on the zero section $M \subset T^*M$. Moreover, $h$ is invariant under the canonical circle action on $T^*M$ by dilatations along the fibers of $T^*M$ over $M$. We show that a hyperkaehler structure with thes…
We discuss two-dimensional sigma models on moduli spaces of instantons on K3 surfaces. These N=(4,4) superconformal field theories describe the near-horizon dynamics of the D1-D5-brane system and are dual to string theory on AdS_3. We derive a precise map relating the moduli of the K3 type IIB string compactification to the moduli of these conformal field theories and the corresponding classical hyperkaehler geometry. We conclude that, in the absense of background gauge fields, the metric on the instanton moduli spaces degenerates exactly to the orbifold symmetric product of K3. Turning on a s…
We define the Kobayashi quotient of a complex variety by identifying points with vanishing Kobayashi pseudodistance between them and show that if a compact complex manifold has an automorphism whose order is infinite, then the fibers of this quotient map are nontrivial. We prove that the Kobayashi quotients associated to ergodic complex structures on a compact manifold are isomorphic. We also give a proof of Kobayashi's conjecture on the vanishing of the pseudodistance for hyperkähler manifolds having Lagrangian fibrations without multiple fibers in codimension one. For a hyperbolic automorphi…
We prove in full generality the mirror duality conjecture for string-theoretic Hodge numbers of Calabi-Yau complete intersections in Gorenstein toric Fano varieties. The proof is based on properties of intersection cohomology
We establish a relationship between the graded quotients of a filtered holonomic D-module, their sheaf-theoretic duals, and the characteristic variety, in case the filtered D-module underlies a polarized Hodge module on a smooth algebraic variety. The proof is based on Saito's result that the associated graded module is Cohen-Macaulay, and on local duality on the cotangent bundle.
We prove that on a certain class of smooth complex varieties (those with "affine even stratifications"), the category of mixed Hodge modules is "almost" Koszul: it becomes Koszul after a few unwanted extensions are eliminated. We also give an equivalence between perverse sheaves on such a variety and modules for a certain graded ring, obtaining a formality result as a corollary. For flag varieties, these results were proved earlier by Beilinson-Ginzburg-Soergel using a rather different construction.
This is a survey of results and conjectures on mirror symmetry phenomena in the non-Abelian Hodge theory of a curve. We start with the conjecture of Hausel-Thaddeus which claims that certain Hodge numbers of moduli spaces of flat SL(n,C) and PGL(n,C)-connections on a smooth projective algebraic curve agree. We then change our point of view in the non-Abelian Hodge theory of the curve, and concentrate on the SL(n,C) and PGL(n,C) character varieties of the curve. Here we discuss a recent conjecture of Hausel-Rodriguez-Villegas which claims, analogously to the above conjecture, that certain Hodge…
We study the moduli spaces of flat SL(r)- and PGL(r)-connections, or equivalently, Higgs bundles, on an algebraic curve. These spaces are noncompact Calabi-Yau orbifolds; we show that they can be regarded as mirror partners in two different senses. First, they satisfy the requirements laid down by Strominger-Yau-Zaslow (SYZ), in a suitably general sense involving a B-field or flat unitary gerbe. To show this, we use their hyperkahler structures and Hitchin's integrable systems. Second, their Hodge numbers, again in a suitably general sense, are equal. These spaces provide significant evidence …
By normalizing the space of commuting pairs of elements in a reductive Lie group G, and the corresponding space for the Langlands dual group, we construct pairs of hyperkahler orbifolds which satisfy the conditions to be mirror partners in the sense of Strominger-Yau-Zaslow. The same holds true for commuting quadruples in a compact Lie group. The Hodge numbers of the mirror partners, or more precisely their orbifold E-polynomials, are shown to agree, as predicted by mirror symmetry. These polynomials are explicitly calculated when G is a quotient of SL(n).
This is the second part of two papers. In this part, we establish closed formulae for the universal functions in the blowup formulae for virtual Hodge polynomials of Gieseker moduli spaces of rank-2 stable sheaves and Uhlenbeck compactification spaces over algebraic surfaces.
We show that the pairing on de Rham realizations of 1-motives in "Theorie di Hodge III", IHES 44, can be defined over any base scheme and we prove that it gives rise to a perfect duality if one is working with a 1-motive and its Cartier dual. Furthermore we study universal extensions of 1-motives and their relation with $\natural$-extensions.
We define the Z/2Z Hodge spaces H_{pq}(Σ) of a fan Σ. If Σis the normal fan of a reflexive polytope Δthen we use polyhedral duality to compute the Z/2Z Hodge Spaces of Σ. In particular, if the cones of dimension at most e in the face fan Σ^* of Δare smooth then we compute H_{pq}(Σ) for p<e-1. If Σ^* is a smooth fan then we completely determine the spaces H_{pq}(Σ) and we show the toric variety X associated to Σis maximal, meaning that the sum of the Z/2Z Betti numbers of X(R) is equal to the sum of the Z/2Z Betti numbers of X(C).
This is the first part of two papers. In this part, we prove the blowup formulae for virtual Hodge polynomials of Gieseker moduli spaces of rank-2 stable sheaves and Uhlenbeck compactification spaces over algebraic surfaces. In particular, we verify the blowup formulae for the S-duality conjecture of Vafa-Witten, i.e. the blowup formulae for the Euler numbers of instanton moduli spaces over algebraic surfaces.
A closed formula is obtained for the integral $\int_{\mathcal{\bar{H}}_g^1}κ_{1}ψ^{2g-2}$ of tautological classes over the locus of hyperelliptic Weierstraß points in the moduli space of curves. As a corollary, a relation between Hodge integrals is obtained. The calculation utilizes the homeomorphism between the moduli space of curves $\mathcal{M}_{g,1}$ and the combinatorial moduli space $\mathcal{M}^{comb}_{g,1}$, a PL-orbifold whose cells are enumerated by fatgraphs. This cell decomposition can be used to naturally construct combinatorial PL-cycles $W_a\subset\mathcal{M}^{comb}_{g,1}$ whose…
Let (S,H) be a rational algebraic surface with an ample divisor. We compute generating functions for the Hodge numbers of the moduli spaces of H-stable rank 2 sheaves on S in terms of certain theta functions for indefinite lattices that were introduced in the paper alg-geom/9612020 written jointly with Don Zagier. If H lies in the closure of the ample cone and has self-intersection 0, it follows that the generating functions are Jacobi forms. In particular the generating functions for the Euler numbers have a similar transformation behaviour under SL(2,Z) as that predicted in Vafa and Witten: …
For arbitrary field coefficients $\mathbb{K}$, we show that $\mathbb{K}$-perverse sheaves on a complex affine torus satisfy the so-called propagation package, i.e., the generic vanishing property and the signed Euler characteristic property hold, and the corresponding cohomology jump loci satisfy the propagation property and codimension lower bound. The main ingredient used in the proof is Gabber-Loeser's Mellin transformation functor for $\mathbb{K}$-constructible complexes on a complex affine torus, and the fact that it behaves well with respect to perverse sheaves. As a concrete topological…
