Let $\mathbb{X}=[X_1\rightrightarrows X_0]$ be a Lie groupoid equipped with a connection, given by a smooth distribution $\mathcal{H} \subset T X_1$ transversal to the fibers of the source map. Under the assumption that the distribution $\mathcal{H}$is integrable, we define a version of de Rham cohomology for the pair $(\mathbb{X}, \mathcal{H})$, and we study connections on principal $G$-bundles over $(\mathbb{X}, \mathcal{H})$ in terms of the associated Atiyah sequence of vector bundles. We also discuss associated constructions for differentiable stacks. Finally, we develop the corresponding Chern-Weil theory and describe characteristic classes of principal G-bundles over a pair $(\mathbb{X}, \mathcal{H})$.
The theory of principal $G$-bundles over a Lie groupoid is an important one, unifying the various types of principal $G$-bundles, including those over manifolds, those over orbifolds, as well as equivariant principal $G$-bundles. In this paper, we study the differential geometry of these objects, including connections and holonomy maps. We also introduce a Chern-Weil map for these principal bundles and prove that the characteristic classes obtained coincide with the universal characteristic classes. As an application, we recover the equivariant Chern-Weil map of Bott-Tu. We also obtain an expl…
We show that Chern-Weil theory for tensor bundles over manifolds is a consequence of the existence of natural closed differential forms on total spaces of torsion free connections on frame bundles.
A Chern-Weil construction for extensions of Lie-Rinehart algebras is introduced. This generalizes the classical Chern-Weil construction in differential geometry and yields characteristic classes for arbitrary extensions of Lie-Rinehart algebras. Some examples arising from spaces with singularities and from foliations are given that cannot be treated by means of the classical Chern-Weil construction.
Chern-Weil and Chern-Simons theory extend to certain infinite-rank bundles that appear in mathematical physics. We discuss what is known of the invariant theory of the corresponding infinite-dimensional Lie groups. We use these techniques to detect cohomology classes for spaces of maps between manifolds and for diffeomorphism groups of manifolds.
We discuss possible extensions of the classical Chern-Weil formalism to an infinite dimensional setup. This is based on joint work with Steven Rosenberg, joint work with Simon Scott and joint work with Jouko Mickelsson.
We explain how the distributional index of a transversally elliptic operator on a principal G-manifold P that is obtained by lifting a Dirac operator on P/G can serve as a link between the Duflo isomorphism and Chern-Weil forms.
In this paper, we proved that the Weil-Petersson volume of Calabi-Yau moduli is a rational number. We also proved that the integrations of the invariants of the Ricci curvature of the Weil-Petersson metric with respect to the Weil-Petersson volume form are all rational numbers.
We construct connections and characteristic forms for principal bundles over groupoids and stacks in the differentiable, holomorphic and algebraic category using Atiyah sequences associated to transversal tangential distributions.
In this PhD thesis, we have studied certain geometric structures over Lie groupoids and differentiable stacks. This thesis is based on the work [arXiv:2103.04560, arXiv:2012.08447, arXiv:2012.08442, arXiv:1907.00375]. In [arXiv:1907.00375], we have discussed the correspondence between two notions of a gerbe over a stack. In [arXiv:2012.08447], we have developed the notion of Chern-Weil map for principal bundles over a Lie groupoid when the Lie groupoid is equipped with a connection. In [arXiv:2012.08442], we discuss the notion of connection on the principal bundle over a Deligne Mumford stack …
We provide local expressions for Chern-Weil type forms built from superconnections associated with families of Dirac operators previously investigated in work by S. Scott and later work by S. Scott and the second author. When the underlying fibration of manifolds is trivial, the even degree forms can be interpreted as renormalised Chern-Weil forms in as far as they coincide with regularised Chern-Weil forms up to residue correction terms. Similarly, a new formula for the curvature of the local fermionic vacuum line bundles is derived using a residue correction term added to the naive curvature…
We apply the equivariance --> families principle to a geometric family of Clifford module bundles with an action of a compact Lie group G to prove an equivariant version of Bismut's families index theorem on the differential Borel quotient of the geometric family.
We study the existence of $S^1$-equivariant characteristic classes on certain natural infinite rank bundles over the loop space $LM$ of a manifold $M$. We discuss the different $S^1$-equivariant cohomology theories in the literature and clarify their relationships. We attempt to use $S^1$-equivariant Chern-Weil techniques to construct $S^1$-equivariant characteristic classes. The main result is the construction of a sequence of $S^1$-equivariant characteristic classes on the total space of the bundles, but these classes do not descend to the base $LM$. Nevertheless, we conclude by identifying …
We prove a result of Chern-Weil type for canonically metrized line bundles on one-parameter families of smooth complex curves. Our result generalizes a result due to J.I. Burgos Gil, J. Kramer and U. Kühn that deals with a line bundle of Jacobi forms on the universal elliptic curve over the modular curve with full level structure, equipped with the Petersson metric. Our main tool, as in the work by Burgos Gil, Kramer and Kühn, is the notion of a b-divisor.
We describe the Cartan and Weil models of twisted equivariant cohomology together with the Cartan homomorphism among the two, and we extend the Chern-Weil homomorphism to the twisted equivariant cohomology. We clarify that in order to have a cohomology theory, the coefficients of the twisted equivariant cohomology must be taken in the completed polynomial algebra over the dual Lie algebra of $G$. We recall the relation between the equivariant cohomology of exact Courant algebroids and the twisted equivariant cohomology, and we show how to endow with a generalized complex structure the finite d…
We construct Chern-Weil classes on infinite dimensional vector bundles with structure group contained in the algebra $\cl[\leq 0](M, E)$ of non-positive order classical pseudo-differential operators acting on a finite rank vector bundle $E$ over a closed manifold $M$. Mimicking the finite dimensional Chern-Weil construction, we replace the ordinary trace on matrices by linear functionals on $\cl[\leq 0] (M, E)$ built from the leading symbols of the operators. The corresponding Chern classes vanish for loop groups, but a weighted trace construction yields a non-zero class perviously constructed…
We prove that Chern-Weil forms are the only natural differential forms associated to a connection on a principal G-bundle. We use the homotopy theory of simplicial sheaves on smooth manifolds to formulate the theorem and set up the proof. Other arguments come from classical invariant theory. We identify the Weil algebra as the de Rham complex of a specific simplicial sheaf, and similarly give a new interpretation of the Weil model in equivariant de Rham theory. There is an appendix proving a general theorem about set-theoretic transformations of polynomial functors. This paper is dedicated to …
In this paper we look at two naturally occurring situations where the following question arises. When one can find a metric so that a Chern-Weil form can be represented by a given form ? The first setting is semi-stable Hartshorne-ample vector bundles on complex surfaces where we provide evidence for a conjecture of Griffiths by producing metrics whose Chern forms are positive. The second scenario deals with a particular rank-2 bundle (related to the vortex equations) over a product of a Riemann surface and the sphere.
We show a Chern-Weil type statement and a Hilbert-Samuel formula for a large class of singular plurisubharmonic metrics on a line bundle over a smooth projective complex variety. For this we use the theory of b-divisors and the so-called multiplier ideal volume function. We apply our results to the line bundle of Siegel-Jacobi forms over the universal abelian variety endowed with its canonical invariant metric. This generalizes a result of the second author for the universal family of elliptic curves to higher degrees.
We provide an integral formula for the Maslov index of a pair $(E,F)$ over a surface $Σ$, where $E\rightarrowΣ$ is a complex vector bundle and $F\subset E_{|\partialΣ}$ is a totally real subbundle. As in Chern-Weil theory, this formula is written in terms of the curvature of $E$ plus a boundary contribution. When $(E,F)$ is obtained via an immersion of $(Σ,\partialΣ)$ into a pair $(M,L)$ where $M$ is Kähler and $L$ is totally real, the formula allows us to control the Maslov index in terms of the geometry of $(M,L)$. We exhibit natural conditions on $(M,L)$ which lead to bounds and monotonicit…
A strong from of invariance under a group G is manifested in a family over the classifying space BG. We advocate a differential-geometric avatar of BG when G is a Lie group. Applied to G-equivariant connections on smooth principal or vector bundles, the equivariance-->families principle converts the G-equivariant extensions of curvature and Chern-Weil forms to the standard nonequivariant versions. An application of this technique yields the moment map of the determinant line of a G-equivariant Dirac operator, which in turn sheds light on some anomaly formulas in quantum field theory.
We develop a Chern-Weil theory for compact Lie group action whose generic stabilizers are finite in the framework of equivariant cohomology. This provides a method of changing an equivariant closed form within its cohomological class to a form more suitable to yield localization results. This work is motivated by our work on reproving wall crossing formulas in Seiberg-Witten theory, where the Lie group is the circle. As applications, we derive two localization formulas of Kalkman type for G = SU(2) or SO(3)-actions on compact manifolds with boundary. One of the formulas is then used to yield a…
In this paper we analyse the topological group cohomology of finite-dimensional Lie groups. We introduce a technique for computing it (as abelian groups) for torus coefficients by the naturally associated long exact sequence. The upshot in there is that certain morphisms in this long exact coefficient sequence can be accessed (at least for semi-simple Lie groups) very conveniently by the Chern-Weil homomorphism of the naturally associated compact dual symmetric space. Since the latter is very well-known, this gives the possibility to compute the topological group cohomology of the classical si…
Ehresmann's introduction of differentiable groupoids in the 1950s may be seen as a starting point for two diverging lines of research, many-object Lie theory (the study of Lie algebroids and Lie groupoids) and sketch theory. This thesis uses tangent categories to build a bridge between these two lines of research, providing a structural account of Lie algebroids and the Lie functor. To accomplish this, we develop the theory of involution algebroids, which are a tangent-categorical sketch of Lie algebroids. We show that the category of Lie algebroids is precisely the category of involution alge…
Chern-Weil theory provides for each invariant polynomial on a Lie algebra g a map from g-connections to differential cocycles whose volume holonomy is the corresponding Chern-Simons theory action functional. Kotov and Strobl have observed that this naturally generalizes from Lie algebras to dg-manifolds and dg-bundles and that the Chern-Simons action functional associated this way to an $n$-symplectic manifold is the action functional of the AKSZ $σ$-model whose target space is the given $n$-symplectic manifold (examples of this are the Poisson sigma-model or the Courant sigma-model, including…
In this paper, we proved the Gauss-Bonnet-Chern theorem on moduli space of polarized Kahler manifolds. Using our results, we proved the rationality of the Chern-Weil forms (with respect to the Weil-Petersson metric) on CY moduli. As an application in physics, by the Ashok-Douglas theory, counting the number of flux compactifications of the type IIb string on a Calabi-Yau threefold is related to the integrations of various Chern-Weil forms. We proved that all these integrals are finite (and also rational).
Using a certain well-posed ODE problem introduced by Shilnikov in the sixties, G. Minervini proved in his PhD thesis [17], among other things, the Harvey-Lawson Diagonal Theorem but without the restrictive tameness condition for Morse flows. Here we combine the same techniques with the ideas of Latschev in order to construct local resolutions for the flow of the graph of a section of a fiber bundle. This is endowed with a vertical vector field which is horizontally constant and Morse-Smale in every fiber. The resolution allows the removal of the tameness hypothesis from the homotopy formula in…
Let $G$ be a compact connected Lie group. We show that the category $\mathbf{Loc}_{\infty}(BG)$ of $\infty$-local systems on the classifying space of $G$, can be described infinitesimally as the category $\mathbf{InfLoc}_{\infty}(\mathfrak{g})$ of basic $\mathfrak{g}$-$L_\infty$ spaces. Moreover, we show that, given a principal bundle $π\colon P \rightarrow X$ with structure group $G$ and any connection $θ$ on $P$, there is a DG functor $$\mathcal{CW}_θ \colon \mathbf{InfLoc}_{\infty}(\mathfrak{g}) \longrightarrow \mathbf{Loc}_{\infty}(X), $$ which corresponds to the pullback functor by the cl…
We prove that the universal Teichmuller space T(1) carries a new structure of a complex Hilbert manifold. We show that the connected component of the identity of T(1), the Hilbert submanifold T_{0}(1), is a topological group. We define a Weil-Petersson metric on T(1) by Hilbert space inner products on tangent spaces, compute its Riemann curvature tensor, and show that T(1) is a Kahler-Einstein manifold with negative Ricci and sectional curvatures. We introduce and compute Mumford-Miller-Morita characteristic forms for the vertical tangent bundle of the universal Teichmuller curve fibration ove…
In this paper we study the groups of contactomorphisms of a closed contact manifold from a topological viewpoint. First we construct examples of contact forms on spheres whose Reeb flow has a dense orbit. Then we show that the unitary group U(n+1) is homotopically essential in the group of contactomorphisms of the standard contact sphere S^(2n+1) and prove that in the case of the 3-sphere the contactomorphism group is in fact homotopy equivalent to U(2). In the second part of the paper we focus on the group of strict contactomorphisms -- using the framework of Chern-Weil theory we introduce an…
In this paper we consider a family of Dirac-type operators on fibration $P \to B$ equivariant with respect to an action of an etale groupoid. Such a family defines an element in the bivariant $K$ theory. We compute the action of the bivariant Chern character of this element on the image of Connes' map $Φ$ in the cyclic cohomology. A particular case of this result is Connes' index theorem for etale groupoids in the case of fibrations.
Let $ (E,h) $ be a Griffiths semipositive Hermitian holomorphic vector bundle of rank $ 3 $ over a complex manifold. In this paper, we prove the positivity of the characteristic differential form $ c_1(E,h) \wedge c_2(E,h) - c_3(E,h) $, thus providing a new evidence towards a conjecture by Griffiths about the positivity of the Schur polynomials in the Chern forms of Griffiths semipositive vector bundles. As a consequence, we establish a new chain of inequalities between Chern forms. Moreover, we point out how to obtain the positivity of the second Chern form $ c_2(E,h) $ in any rank, starting …
In this paper we proved that the Weil-Petersson volume of the Chern class of any order over the moduli space of Calabi-Yau manifolds is a rational number. We also found the necessary and sufficient condition of the incompleteness of Weil-Petersson metric in several variables case.
The Van Est homomorphism for a Lie groupoid $G \rightrightarrows M$, as introduced by Weinstein-Xu, is a cochain map from the complex $C^\infty(BG)$ of groupoid cochains to the Chevalley-Eilenberg complex $C(A)$ of the Lie algebroid $A$ of $G$. It was generalized by Weinstein, Mehta, and Abad-Crainic to a morphism from the Bott-Shulman-Stasheff complex $Ω(BG)$ to a (suitably defined) Weil algebra $W(A)$. In this paper, we will give an approach to the Van Est map in terms of the Perturbation Lemma of homological algebra. This approach is used to establish the basic properties of the Van Est map…
We present a geometric approach, in the spirit of the Chern-Weil theory, for constructing cocycles representing the classes of the Hopf cyclic cohomology of the Hopf algebra H(n) relative to GL(n, R). This provides an explicit description of the universal Hopf cyclic Chern classes, which complements our earlier geometric realization of the Hopf cyclic characteristic classes of foliations.
We show a relationship between Chern-Simons 1- and 3-forms and harmonic forms on a principal bundle. Doing so requires one to consider an adiabatic limit. For the 3-form case, assume that G is simple and the corresponding Chern-Weil 4-form is exact. Then, the Chern-Simons 3-form on the princpal bundle G-bundle, minus a canonical term from the base, is harmonic in the adiabatic limit.
A equivalence relation, preserving the Chern-Weil form, is defined between connections on a complex vector bundle. Bundles equipped with such an equivalence class are called Structured Bundles, and their isomorphism classes form an abelian semi-ring. By applying the Grothedieck construction one obtains the ring K, elements of which, modulo a complex torus of dimension the sum of the odd Betti numbers of the base, are uniquely determined by the corresponding element of ordinary K and the Chern-Weil form. This construction provides a simple model of differential K-theory, c.f.Hopkins-Singer (200…
For a compact Lie group acting on a smooth manifold, we define the differential cohomology of a certain quotient stack involving principal bundles with connection. This produces differential equivariant cohomology groups that map to the Cartan-Weil equivariant forms and to Borel's equivariant integral cohomology. We show the Chern-Weil homomorphism for equivariant vector bundles with connection naturally factors through differential equivariant cohomology.
Let $X$ be a non-compact geometrically finite hyperbolic 3-manifold without cusps of rank 1. The deformation space $\mc{H}$ of $X$ can be identified with the Teichmüller space $\mc{T}$ of the conformal boundary of $X$ as the graph of a section in $T^*\mc{T}$. We construct a Hermitian holomorphic line bundle $\mc{L}$ on $\mc{T}$, with curvature equal to a multiple of the Weil-Petersson symplectic form. This bundle has a canonical holomorphic section defined by $e^{\frac{1}π{\rm Vol}_R(X)+2πi\CS(X)}$ where ${\rm Vol}_R(X)$ is the renormalized volume of $X$ and $\CS(X)$ is the Chern-Simons invari…
This note announces a general construction of characteristic currents for singular connections on a vector bundle. It develops, in particular, a Chern-Weil-Simons theory for smooth bundle maps $α: E \rightarrow F$ which, for smooth connections on $E$ and $F$, establishes formulas of the type $$ ϕ\ = \ \text{\rm Res}_ϕΣ_α + dT. $$ Here $ϕ$ is a standard charactersitic form, $\text{Res}_ϕ$ is an associated smooth ``residue'' form computed canonically in terms of curvature, $Σ_α$ is a rectifiable current depending only on the singular structure of $α$, and $T$ is a canonical, functorial transgres…
In the late 1980s Witten used the Chern-Simons form of a connection to construct new invariants of 3-manifolds and knots, recovering in particular the Jones invariants. Since then the associated topological quantum field theory (TQFT) has served as a key example in understanding the structure of TQFTs in general. We survey some of that structure with a particular focus on the "multi-tier" aspects. We discuss general axioms, generators-and-relations theorems, a priori constructions, dimensional reduction and K-theory, and Chern-Simons as a 0-1-2-3 theory. An appendix gives a lightening treatmen…
It has been argued by Witten and others that in the presence of a nontrivial B-field, D-brane charges in type IIB string theories are measured by twisted K-theory. In joint work with Bouwknegt, Carey and Murray it was proved that twisted K-theory is canonically isomorphic to bundle gerbe K-theory, whose elements are ordinary vector bundles on a principal projective unitary bundle, with an action of the bundle gerbe determined by the principal projective unitary bundle. The principal projective unitary bundle is in turn determined by the twist. In this paper, we study in more detail the Chern-W…
We use Chern-Weil theory for Hermitian holomorphic vector bundles with canonical connections for explicit computation of the Chern forms of trivial bundles with special non-diagonal Hermitian metrics. We prove that every del-dellbar exact real form of the type (k,k) on an n-dimensional complex manifold X arises as a difference of the Chern character forms of trivial Hermitian vector bundles with canonical connections, and that (modulo the image of del and delbar) every real form of type (k,k), k<n, arises as a Bott-Chern form for two Hermitian metrics on some trivial vector bundle over X. The …
The notion of a gerbe with connection is conveniently reformulated in terms of the simplicial deRham complex. In particular the usual Chern-Weil and Chern-Simons theory is well adapted to this framework and rather easily gives rise to `characteristic gerbes' associated to families of bundles and connections. In turn this gives invariants for families of foliated bundles. A special case is the Quillen line bundle associated to families of flat SU(2)-bundles
This is a survey paper, starting from the general notion of coordinate bundle taken from Steenrod. Its aim is to provide a motivation for the introduction of cyclic homology (and the closely related noncommutative de Rham cohomology) by Connes, Tsygan and the author. The bridge is made through a generalization of Chern-Weil theory, explained in a very concrete manner through the transition functions of the bundles involved. The final result is a "Chern character" introduced by Connes and the author in the framework of K-theory and functional analysis.
We study $S^1$-bundles and $S^1$-gerbes over differentiable stacks in terms of Lie groupoids, and construct Chern classes and Dixmier-Douady classes in terms of analogues of connections and curvature.
We introduce a notion of admissible Hermitian metrics on parabolic bundles and define positivity properties for the same. We develop Chern-Weil theory for parabolic bundles and prove that our metric notions coincide with the already existing algebro-geometric versions of parabolic Chern classes. We also formulate a Griffiths conjecture in the parabolic setting and prove some results that provide evidence in its favour for certain kinds of parabolic bundles. For these kinds of parabolic structures, we prove that the conjecture holds on Riemann surfaces. We also prove that a Berndtsson-type resu…
We develop a framework to compute characteristic classes and their forms in the computer algebra system SageMath using symbolic calculus. In order to do this, we make use of the Chern-Weil approach in which characteristic classes of vector bundles in the de Rham cohomology are obtained by arbitrary connections. Along the way, we implement the notion of vector bundles, their sections and connections as well as mixed differential forms in SageMath. We conclude by discussing some application examples exposed in Jupyter Notebook and eventually address the issue of computational cost.
We consider the gradient flow of the Yang-Mills-Higgs functional of twist Higgs pairs on a Hermitian vector bundle $(E,H_0)$ over a Riemann surface $X$. It is already known the gradient flow with initial data $(A_0,ϕ_0)$ converges to a critical point $(A_\infty, ϕ_\infty)$ of this functional. Using a modified Chern-Weil type inequality, we prove that the limiting twist Higgs bundle $(E, d_{A_\infty}", ϕ_\infty)$ is given by the graded twist Higgs bundle defined by the Harder-Narasimhan-Seshadri filtration of the initial twist Higgs bundle $(E,d_{A_0}",ϕ_0)$, generalizing Wilkin's results for u…
