Let $X$ be a compact manifold, $G$ a Lie group, $P \to X$ a principal $G$-bundle, and $\mathcal{B}_P$ the infinite-dimensional moduli space of connections on $P$ modulo gauge. For a real elliptic operator $E_\bullet$ we previously studied orientations on the real determinant line bundle over $\mathcal{B}_P$. These are used to construct orientations in the usual sense on smooth gauge theory moduli spaces, and have been extensively studied since the work of Donaldson.
Here we consider complex elliptic operators $F_\bullet$ and introduce the idea of spin structures, square roots of the complex determinant line bundle of $F_\bullet$. These may be used to construct spin structures in the usual sense on smooth complex gauge theory moduli spaces. We study the existence and classification of such spin structures. Our main result identifies spin structures on $X$ with orientations on $X \times S^1$. Thus, if $P \to X$ and $Q \to X \times S^1$ are principal $G$-bundles with $Q|_{X\times\{1\}} \cong P$, we relate spin structures on $(\mathcal{B}_P,F_\bullet)$ to orientations on $(\mathcal{B}_Q,E_\bullet)$ for a certain class of operators $F_\bullet$ on $X$ and $E_\bullet$ on $X\times S^1$.
Combined with arXiv:1811.02405, we obtain canonical spin structures for positive Diracians on spin 6-manifolds and gauge groups $G=U(m), SU(m)$. In a sequel arXiv:2001.00113 we apply this to define canonical orientation data for all Calabi-Yau 3-folds $X$ over the complex numbers, as in Kontsevich-Soibelman arXiv:0811.2435, solving a long-standing problem in Donaldson-Thomas theory.
Kontsevich and Soibelman introduced a notion of orientation data on Calabi-Yau category. It can be viewed as a consistent choice of spin structure on moduli space of objects in the given category. The orientation data plays an important role in Donaldson-Thomas theory. Let X be a projective, simply connected and torsion free CY 3-fold. We prove the existence of orientation data for the moduli space of coherent sheaves on X.
Joyce, Tanaka, and Upmeier give an orientation of the $G$-instanton moduli spaces on a closed four manifolds which is canonically defined using the the $\mathrm{Spin}^c$ structure on the $4$-manifold. In this note, we describe the relation between the orientations given by other choices of the $\mathrm{Spin}^c$ structures, in a slightly more general setting. Furthermore, we give an alternative proof of the orientability of the instanton moduli spaces and an alternative construction of the orientation by Joyce, Tanaka and Upmeier, by using Witten localization of the index of a Dirac type operat…
Let $X$ be a compact manifold, $D$ a real elliptic operator on $X$, $G$ a Lie group, $P\to X$ a principal $G$-bundle, and ${\mathcal B}_P$ the infinite-dimensional moduli space of all connections $\nabla_P$ on $P$ modulo gauge, as a topological stack. For each $[\nabla_P]\in{\mathcal B}_P$, we can consider the twisted elliptic operator $D^{\nabla_{Ad(P)}}$ on X. This is a continuous family of elliptic operators over the base ${\mathcal B}_P$, and so has an orientation bundle $O^D_P\to{\mathcal B}_P$, a principal ${\mathbb Z}_2$-bundle parametrizing orientations of Ker$D^{\nabla_{Ad(P)}}\oplus$…
Suppose $(X, g)$ is a compact, spin Riemannian 7-manifold, with Dirac operator $D$. Let $G$ be SU$(m)$ or U$(m)$, and $E\to X$ be a rank $m$ complex bundle with $G$-structure. Write ${\mathcal B}_E$ for the infinite-dimensional moduli space of connections on $E$, modulo gauge. There is a natural principal ${\mathbb Z}_2$-bundle $O^D_E\to{\mathcal B}_E$ parametrizing orientations of det$\,D_{{\rm Ad }A}$ for twisted elliptic operators $D_{{\rm Ad }A}$ at each $[A]$ in ${\mathcal B}_E$. A theorem of Walpuski shows $O^D_E$ is trivializable. We prove that if we choose an orientation for det$\,D$, …
Let $({\bf X},ω_{\bf X}^*)$ be a separated, $-2$-shifted symplectic derived $\mathbb C$-scheme, in the sense of Pantev, Toen, Vezzosi and Vaquie arXiv:1111.3209, of complex virtual dimension ${\rm vdim}_{\mathbb C}{\bf X}=n\in\mathbb Z$, and $X_{\rm an}$ the underlying complex analytic topological space. We prove that $X_{\rm an}$ can be given the structure of a derived smooth manifold ${\bf X}_{\rm dm}$, of real virtual dimension ${\rm vdim}_{\mathbb R}{\bf X}_{\rm dm}=n$. This ${\bf X}_{\rm dm}$ is not canonical, but is independent of choices up to bordisms fixing the underlying topological …
Let $M$ be a simply connected spin manifold of dimension at least six which admits a metric of positive scalar curvature. We show that the observer moduli space of positive scalar curvature metrics on $M$ has non-trivial higher homotopy groups. Moreover, denote by $\mathcal{M}_0^+(M)$ the moduli space of positive scalar cuvature metrics on $M$ associated to the group of orientation-preserving diffeomorphisms of $M$. We show that if $M$ belongs to a certain class of manifolds which includes $(2n-2)$-connected $(4n-2)$-dimensional manifolds, then the fundamental group of $\mathcal{M}_0^+(M)$ is …
In general, a Kobayashi-Hitchin correspondence establishes an isomorphism between a moduli space of stable algebraic geometric objects and a moduli space of solutions of a certain (generalized) Hermite-Einstein equation. We believe that, for a large class of moduli problems, this correspondence respects the virtual fundamental classes defined in the two categories. We prove this statement in an interesting case, namely the moduli problem associated with the symplectic factorization problem which yields the complete toric varieties. Therefore, our main objects are the moduli spaces of "twisted"…
We show that the ``classical'' Harder-Narasimhan filtration associated to a non semistable vector bundle $E$ can be viewed as a limit object for the action of the gauge group in the direction of an optimal destabilizing vector. This vector appears as an extremal value of the so called "maximal weight function". We give a complete description of these optimal destabilizing endomorphisms. Then we show that this principle holds for another important moduli problem: holomorphic pairs (i.e. holomorphic vector bundles coupled with morphisms with fixed source). We get a generalization of the Harder-N…
We generalize the classical Beauville-Narasimhan-Ramanan correspondence to the case of parabolic Higgs bundles with regular singularities and Higgs $V$-bundles. Using this correspondence along with Bott-Morse theoretic techniques we provide an exact component count for moduli spaces of maximal parabolic $\text{Sp}\left( 2n,\mathbb{R} \right)$-Higgs bundles with fixed parabolic structure.
In this paper we study the relationship between three compactifications of the moduli space of Hermitian-Yang-Mills connections on a fixed Hermitian vector bundle over a projective algebraic manifold of arbitrary dimension. Via the Donaldson-Uhlenbeck-Yau theorem, this space is analytically isomorphic to the moduli space of stable holomorphic vector bundles, and as such it admits an algebraic compactification by Gieseker-Maruyama semistable torsion-free sheaves. A recent construction due to the first and third authors gives another compactification as a moduli space of slope semistable sheaves…
We provide a moduli-theoretic framework for the collapsing of Ricci-flat Kahler metrics via compactification of moduli varieties of Morgan-Shalen and Satake type. In patricular, we use it to study the Gromov-Hausdorff limits of hyperKahler metrics with fixed diameters, especially for K3 surfaces.
Given any compact Riemann surface $C$, there is a canonical meromorphic 2--form $\widehatη$ on $C\times C$, with pole of order two on the diagonal $Δ\, \subset\, C\times C$, constructed in \cite{cfg}. This meromorphic 2--form $\widehatη$ produces a canonical projective structure on $C$. On the other hand the uniformization theorem provides another canonical projective structure on any compact Riemann surface $C$. We prove that these two projective structures differ in general. This is done by comparing the $(0,1)$--component of the differential of the corresponding sections of the moduli space…
In this article we complete the proof---for a broad class of four-manifolds---of Witten's conjecture that the Donaldson and Seiberg-Witten series coincide, at least through terms of degree less than or equal to c-2, where c is a linear combination of the Euler characteristic and signature of the four-manifold. This article is a revision of sections 4--7 of an earlier version, while a revision of sections 1--3 of that earlier version now appear in a separate companion article (math.DG/0007190). Here, we use our computations of Chern classes for the virtual normal bundles for the Seiberg-Witten …
Let $G$ be a Lie group with a biinvariant metric, not necessarily positive definite. It is shown that a certain construction carried out in an earlier paper for the fundamental group of a closed surface may be extended to an arbitrary infinite orientation preserving cocompact planar discrete group of euclidean or non-euclidean motions $π$ and yields (i) a symplectic structure on a certain smooth manifold $\Cal M$ containing the space $\roman{Hom}(π,G)$ of homomorphisms and, furthermore, (ii) a hamiltonian $G$-action on $\Cal M$ preserving the symplectic structure together with a momentum mappi…
We introduce a class of metrics on gauge theoretic moduli spaces. These metrics are made out of the universal matrix that appears in the universal connection construction of M. S. Narasimhan and S. Ramanan. As an example we construct metrics on the c_{2}=1 SU(2) moduli space of instantons on R^4 for various universal matrices.
This article is an expanded version of talks given by the authors in Oberwolfach, Bochum, and at the Fano Conference in Torino. Some new results (e. g. the material concerning flag varieties, Quot spaces over $¶^1$, and the generalized quiver representations) were included. The main goal is the construction of gauge theoretical Gromov-Witten type invariants of arbitrary genus associated with certain symplectic factorization problems with additional symmetry, and the computation of these invariants in terms of complex geometric objects. The main tool for describing moduli spaces associated with…
We define Hitchin's moduli space for a principal bundle $P$, whose structure group is a compact semisimple Lie group $K$, over a compact non-orientable Riemannian manifold $M$. We use the Donaldson-Corlette correspondence, which identifies Hitchin's moduli space with the moduli space of flat $K^\mathbb{C}$-connections, which remains valid when M is non-orientable. This enables us to study Hitchin's moduli space both by gauge theoretical methods and algebraically by using representation varieties. If the orientable double cover $\tilde{M}$ of $M$ is a Kähler manifold with odd complex dimension …
In this expository review we discuss various aspects of gauge theory. While the focus is on mathematics, wherever possible we make contact with theoretical high energy physics. Particular emphasis is placed on instantons and monopoles, which admit physical interpretation, and yield interesting and nontrivial mathematics. We give a clear and essentially self-contained exposition of the mathematical structure of the Seiberg-Witten monopole equations. Other topics include Donaldson's theorem on moduli spaces of monopoles, compactification of spaces of ASD connections, The Abelian monopole equatio…
In this paper we study the symplectic and Poisson geometry of moduli spaces of flat connections over quilted surfaces. These are surfaces where the structure group varies from region to region in the surface, and where a reduction (or relation) of structure occurs along the boundaries of the regions. Our main theoretical tool is a new form moment-map reduction in the context of Dirac geometry. This reduction framework allows us to use very general relations of structure groups, and to investigate both the symplectic and Poisson geometry of the resulting moduli spaces from a unified perspective…
