We give a definition of differentiable cohomology of a Lie group G (possibly infinite-dimensional) with coefficients in any abelian Lie group. This differentiable cohomology maps both to the cohomology of the group made discrete and to Lie algebra cohomology. We show that the secondary characteristic classes of Beilinson lead to differentiable cohomology classes with coefficients in C*. These may be viewed as an enrichment of the Chern-Simons differential forms.
By transgression, classes in differentiable cohomology of a Lie group G lead to differentiable cohomology classes for gauge groups Map(M,G). These classes generalize the central extensions of loop groups. We also discuss holomorphic cohomology of complex Lie groups as the natural place to construct secondary classes.
We present several conjectures relating the above cohomology classes to the differential forms of Bott-Shulman-Stasheff.
A new cohomology, induced by a vector field, is defined on pairs of differential forms ($1$--differentiable forms) in a manifold. It is proved a link with the classical de Rham cohomology and an $1$-differentable cohomology of Lichnerowicz type associated to an one form. Also, the case when the manifold is complex and the vector field is holomorphic is studied. Finally, an application of this theory to the harmonicity of $1$-differentiable forms is studied in a particular case.
We construct and analyse models of equivariant cohomology for differentiable stacks with Lie group actions extending classical results for smooth manifolds due to Borel, Cartan and Getzler. We also derive various spectral sequences for the equivariant cohomology of a differentiable stack generalising among others Bott's spectral sequence which converges to the cohomology of the classifying space of a Lie group.
In the first section we discuss Morita invariance of differentiable/algebroid cohomology. In the second section we present an extension of the van Est isomorphism to groupoids. This immediately implies a version of Haefliger's conjecture for differentiable cohomology. As a first application we clarify the connection between differentiable and algebroid cohomology (proved in degree 1, and conjectured in degree 2 by Weinstein-Xu). As a second application we extend van Est's argument for the integrability of Lie algebras. Applied to Poisson manifolds, this immediately gives (a slight improvement …
We show how an affine connection on a Riemannian manifold occurs naturally as a cochain in the complex for Leibniz cohomology of vector fields with coefficients in the adjoint representation. The Leibniz coboundary of the Levi-Civita connection can be expressed as a sum of two terms, one the Laplace-Beltrami operator and the other a Ricci curvature term. The vanishing of this coboundary has an interpretation in terms of eigenfunctions of the Laplacian. Additionally, we compute the Leibniz cohomology with adjoint coefficients for a certain family of vector fields on Euclidean ${\bf{R}}^n$ corre…
We prove a cyclic cohomological analogue of Haefliger's van Est-type theorem for the groupoid of germs of diffeomorphisms of a manifold. The differentiable version of cyclic cohomology is associated to the algebra of transverse differential operators on that groupoid, which is shown to carry an intrinsic Hopf algebraic structure. We establish a canonical isomorphism between the periodic Hopf cyclic cohomology of this extended Hopf algebra and the Gelfand-Fuchs cohomology of the Lie algebra of formal vector fields. We then show that this isomorphism can be explicitly implemented at the cochain …
We establish that for any proper action of a Lie group on a manifold the associated equivariant differentiable cohomology groups with coefficients in modules of $\mathcal{C}^\infty$-functions vanish in all degrees except than zero. Furthermore let $G$ be a Lie group of $CR$-automorphisms of a strictly pseudo-convex $CR$-manifold $M$. We associate to $G$ a canonical class in the first differential cohomology of $G$ with coefficients in the $\mathcal{C}^\infty$-functions on $M$. This class is non-zero if and only if $G$ is essential in the sense that there does not exist a $CR$-compatible strict…
We develop a theory of Lie algebroids over differentiable stacks that extends the standard theory of Lie algebroids over manifolds. In particular we show that Lie algebroids satisfy descent for submersions, define the category of Lie algebroids over a differentiable stack, construct a cohomology theory for these objects, and explain the relation to the theory of $\mathcal{LA}$-groupoids. We construct a number of examples.
The natural partial ordering of the orbit types of the action of the group of local gauge transformations on the space of connections in space-time dimension d<=4 is investigated. For that purpose, a description of orbit types in terms of cohomology elements of space-time, derived earlier, is used. It is shown that, on the level of these cohomology elements, the partial ordering relation is characterized by a system of algebraic equations. Moreover, operations to generate direct successors and direct predecessors are formulated. The latter allow to successively reconstruct the set of orbit typ…
Quantum cohomology gives a finite dimensional integrable system via the Dubrovin connection. Motivated by Givental's work on mirror symmetry, we use gauge theory techniques and the Frobenius Integrability Theorem to find flat sections for the Dubrovin connection. An explicit calculation is given for projective space.
We study non-abelian differentiable gerbes over stacks using the theory of Lie groupoids. More precisely, we develop the theory of connections on Lie groupoid $G$-extensions, which we call "connections on gerbes", and study the induced connections on various associated bundles. We also prove analogues of the Bianchi identities. In particular, we develop a cohomology theory which measures the existence of connections and curvings for $G$-gerbes over stacks. We also introduce $G$-central extensions of groupoids, generalizing the standard groupoid $S^1$-central extensions. As an example, we apply…
The notion of a higher bundle gerbe is introduced to give a geometric realization of the higher degree integral cohomology of certain manifolds. We consider examples using the infinite dimensional spaces arising in gauge theories.
We review and elaborate on some aspects of the quantization of certain classes of higher abelian gauge theories using techniques of generalized differential cohomology. Particular emphasis is placed on the examples of generalized Maxwell theory and Cheeger-Simons cohomology, and of Ramond-Ramond fields in Type II superstring theory and differential K-theory.
Let $M$ be a smooth manifold and $Γ$ a group acting on $M$ by diffeomorphisms; which means that there is a group morphism $ρ:Γ\rightarrow \mathrm{Diff}(M)$ from $Γ$ to the group of diffeomorphisms of $M$. For any such action we associate a cohomology $\mathrm{H}(Ω(M)_Γ)$ which we call the cohomology of $Γ$-coinvariant forms. This is the cohomology of the graded vector space generated by the differentiable forms $ω-ρ(γ)^*ω$ where $ω$ is a differential form with compact support and $γ\in Γ$. The present paper is an introduction to the study of this cohomology. More precisely, we study the relati…
We formulate differential cohomology and Chern-Weil theory -- the theory of connections on fiber bundles and of gauge fields -- abstractly in the context of a certain class of higher toposes that we call "cohesive". Cocycles in this differential cohomology classify higher principal bundles equipped with cohesive structure (topological, smooth, synthetic differential, supergeometric, etc.) and equipped with connections, hence higher gauge fields. We discuss various models of the axioms and applications to fundamental notions and constructions in quantum field theory and string theory. In partic…
We study some graded geometric constructions appearing naturally in the context of gauge theories. Inspired by a known relation of gauging with equivariant cohomology we generalize the latter notion to the case of arbitrary Q-manifolds introducing thus the concept of equivariant Q-cohomology. Using this concept we describe a procedure for analysis of gauge symmetries of given functionals as well as for constructing functionals (sigma models) invariant under an action of some gauge group. As the main example of application of these constructions we consider the twisted Poisson sigma model. We o…
The problem of gauging a closed form is considered. When the target manifold is a simple Lie group G, it is seen that there is no obstruction to the gauging of a subgroup H\subset G if we may construct from the form a cocycle for the relative Lie algebra cohomology (or for the equivariant cohomology), and an explicit general expression for these cocycles is given. The common geometrical structure of the gauged closed forms and the D'Hoker and Weinberg effective actions of WZW type, as well as the obstructions for their existence, is also exhibited and explained.
We introduce the notion of cofoliation on a stack. A cofoliation is a change of the differentiable structure which amounts to giving a full representable smooth epimorphism. Cofoliations are uniquely determined by their associated Lie algebroids. Cofoliations on stacks arise from flat connections on groupoids. Connections on groupoids generalize connections on gerbes and bundles in a natural way. A flat connection on a groupoid is an integrable distribution of the morphism space compatible with the groupoid structure and complementary to both source and target fibres. A cofoliation of a stack …
Cohomological methods are applied for the special set of solutions corresponding to rotating branes in arbitrary dimensions, AdS black holes (which can be embedded in ten or eleven dimensions), and gauge supergravities. A new class of solutions is proposed, the Hilbert modular varieties, which consist of the $2n$-fold product of the two-spaces ${\bf H}^n/Γ$ (where ${\bf H}^n$ denotes the product of $n$ upper half-planes, $H^2$, equipped with the co-compact action of $Γ\subset SL(2, {\mathbb R})^n$) and $({\bf H}^n)^*/Γ$ (where $(H^2)^* = H^2\cup \{{\rm cusp\,\, of}\,\,Γ\}$ and $Γ$ is a congrue…
We investigate the well-known Loday-Quillen-Tsygan theorem, which calculates the Lie algebra homology of the general linear algebra $\mathfrak{gl}(A)$ for an associative algebra $A$ in terms of cyclic homology, and extend the proof to bornological Lie algebra homology of Fréchet and LF-algebras. For Fréchet spaces, this equals continuous Lie algebra homology. To this end we prepare several statements about homological algebra of topological vector spaces, and discuss when the differential of the bornological Hochschild and cyclic complex are topological homomorphisms in the setting of Fréchet …
We show that a flat principal bundle with compact connected structure group and its adjoint bundles of Lie groups have the same cohomology as the trivial bundle, which is done by proving they satisfy the condition for the Leray-Hirsch theorem. This information has been used to construct a cohomology class of the adjoint bundle of a flat bundle whose restriction to each fiber is the class of the Maurer-Cartan 3-form. Then we use this result to define an invariant of a gauge transformation of a flat bundle which describes the effect of the gauge transformation on a Chern-Simons functional.
Consider the $3$-dimensional $\mathcal N=4$ supersymmetric gauge theory associated with a compact Lie group $G$ and its quaternionic representation $\mathbf M$. Physicists study its Coulomb branch, which is a noncompact hyper-Kähler manifold, such as instanton moduli spaces on $\mathbb R^4$, $SU(2)$-monopole moduli spaces on $\mathbb R^3$, etc. In this paper and its sequel, we propose a mathematical definition of the coordinate ring of the Coulomb branch, using the vanishing cycle cohomology group of a certain moduli space for a gauged $σ$-model on the $2$-sphere associated with $(G,\mathbf M)…
We deal with finite dimensional differentiable manifolds. All items are concerned with are differentiable as well. The class of differentiability is $C^\infty$. A metric structure in a vector bundle $E$ is a constant rank symmetric bilinear vector bundle homomorphism of $E\times E$ in the trivial bundle line bundle. We address the question whether a given gauge structure in $E$ is metric. That is the main concerns. We use generalized Amari functors of the information geometry for introducing two index functions defined in the moduli space of gauge structures in $E$. Beside we introduce a diffe…
Let $Y$ be a CW-complex with a single 0-cell, $K$ its Kan group, a model for the loop space of $Y$, and let $G$ be a compact, connected Lie group. We give an explicit finite dimensional construction of generators of the equivariant cohomology of the geometric realization of the cosimplicial manifold $\roman{Hom}(K,G)$ and hence of the space $\roman{Map}^o(Y,BG)$ of based maps from $Y$ to the classifying space $BG$. For a smooth manifold $Y$, this may be viewed as a rigorous approach to lattice gauge theory, and we show that it then yields, (i) when {$\roman{dim}(Y)=2$,} equivariant de Rham rep…
The main new result here is the cancellation of global anomalies in the Type I superstring, with and without D-branes. Our argument here depends on a precise interpretation of the 2-form abelian gauge field using KO-theory; then the anomaly cancellation follows from a geometric form of the full Atiyah-Singer index theorem for families of Dirac operators. This is a refined version of the Green-Schwarz mechanism. It seems that a geometric interpretation of this mechanism-the cancellation of local and global fermion anomalies against local and global anomalies in the electric coupling of an abeli…
We generalize the van Est map and isomorphism theorem in three ways, and we discuss conjectured connections with homotopy theory, including a proposal of a category which unifies differentiable stacks, Lie algebroids and homotopy theory. In Part 2 of this thesis we generalize the van Est map from a comparison map between Lie groupoid cohomology and Lie algebroid cohomology to a (more conceptual) comparison map between the cohomology of a stack $\mathcal{G}$ and the cohomology of a simple foliation $\mathcal{H}\to\mathcal{G}$. In Part 1 we generalize the functions that we can take cohomology of…
We define the "localized index" of longitudinal elliptic operators on Lie groupoids associated to Lie algebroid cohomology classes. We derive a topological expression for these numbers using the algebraic index theorem for Poisson manifolds on the dual of the Lie algebroid. Underlying the definition and computation of the localized index, is an action of the Hopf algebroid of jets around the unit space, and the characteristic map it induces on Lie algebroid cohomology. This map can be globalized to differentiable groupoid cohomology, giving a definition as well as a computation of the "global …
We describe the deformation cohomology of a symplectic groupoid, and use it to study deformations via Moser path methods, proving a symplectic groupoid version of the Moser Theorem. Our construction uses the deformation cohomologies of Lie groupoids and of multiplicative forms, and we prove that in the symplectic case, deformation cohomology of both the underlying groupoid and of the symplectic groupoid have de Rham models in terms of differential forms. We use the de Rham model, which is intimately connected to the Bott-Shulman-Stasheff double complex, to compute deformation cohomology in sev…
We construct a global geometric model for complex analytic equivariant elliptic cohomology for all compact Lie groups. Cocycles are specified by functions on the space of fields of the two-dimensional sigma model with background gauge fields and $\mathcal{N} = (0, 1)$ supersymmetry. We also consider a theory of free fermions valued in a representation whose partition function is a section of a determinant line bundle. We identify this section with a cocycle representative of the (twisted) equivariant elliptic Euler class of the representation. Finally, we show that the moduli stack of $U(1)$-g…
Consider a manifold endowed with the action of a Lie group. We study the relation between the cohomology of the Cartan complex and the equivariant cohomology by using the equivariant De Rham complex developed by Getzler, and we show that the cohomology of the Cartan complex lies on the 0-th row of the second page of a spectral sequence converging to the equivariant cohomology. We use this result to generalize a result of Witten on the equivalence of absence of anomalies in gauge WZW actions on compact Lie groups to the existence of equivariant extension of the WZW term, to the case on which th…
The first group of differentiable cohomology of $\Diff(S^1)$, vanishing on the Möbius subgroup $PSL(2,R)\subset\Diff(S^1)$, with coefficients in modules of linear differential operators on $S^1$ is calculated. We introduce three non-trivial $PSL(2,R)$-invariant 1-cocycles on $\Diff(S^1)$ generalizing the Schwarzian derivative.
