We prove some combinatorial results required for the proof of the following conjecture of Nekrasov: The generating function of closed string invariants in local Calabi-Yau geometries obtained by appropriate fibrations of $A_N$ singularities over $P^1$ reproduce the generating function of equivariant $\hat{A}$-genera of moduli space of instants on $C^2$.
There have been two distinct schemes studied in the literature for instanton counting in A_{p-1} asymptotically locally Euclidean (ALE) spaces. We point out that the two schemes---namely the counting of orbifolded instantons and instanton counting in the resolved space---lead in general to different results for partition functions. We illustrate this observation in the case of N=2 U(N) gauge theory with 2N flavors on the A_{p-1} ALE space. We propose simple relations between the instanton partition functions given by the two schemes and test them by explicit calculations.
We show how to obtain the instanton partition function of N=2 SYM with exceptional gauge group EFG using blow-up recursion relations derived by Nakajima and Yoshioka. We compute the two instanton contribution and match it with the recent proposal for the superconformal index of rank 2 SCFTs with E6, E7 global symmetry.
We survey some features of equivariant instanton partition functions of topological gauge theories on four and six dimensional toric Kahler varieties, and their geometric and algebraic counterparts in the enumerative problem of counting holomorphic curves. We discuss the relations of instanton counting to representations of affine Lie algebras in the four-dimensional case, and to Donaldson-Thomas theory for ideal sheaves on Calabi-Yau threefolds. For resolutions of toric singularities, an algebraic structure induced by a quiver determines the instanton moduli space through the McKay correspond…
We study the prepotential of N=2 gauge theories using the instanton counting techniques introduced by Nekrasov. For the SO theories without matter we find a closed expression for the full prepotential and its string theory gravitational corrections. For the more subtle case of Sp theories without matter we discuss general features and compute the prepotential up to instanton number three. We also briefly discuss SU theories with matter in the symmetric and antisymmetric representations. We check all our results against the predictions of the corresponding Seiberg-Witten geometries.
In this expository paper we summarize the connection between random partitions and 4-dimensional supersymmetric gauge theories discovered in hep-th/0306238. There is also a brief section about how this extends to 3-dimensional partitions which is best read together with math-ph/0412008.
Noncommutative Donaldson-Thomas invariants for abelian orbifold singularities can be studied via the enumeration of instanton solutions in a six-dimensional noncommutative N=2 gauge theory; this construction is based on the generalized McKay correspondence and identifies the instanton counting with the counting of framed representations of a quiver which is naturally associated to the geometry of the singularity. We extend these constructions to compute BPS partition functions for higher-rank refined and motivic noncommutative Donaldson-Thomas invariants in the Coulomb branch in terms of gauge…
Motivated by Nekrasov's instanton counting, we discuss a method for calculating equivariant volumes of non-compact quotients in symplectic and hyper-Kähler geometry by means of the Jeffrey-Kirwan residue-formula of non-abelian localization. In order to overcome the non-compactness, we use varying symplectic cuts to reduce the problem to a compact setting, and study what happens in the limit that recovers the original problem. We implement this method for the ADHM construction of the moduli spaces of framed Yang-Mills instantons on $\R^{4}$ and rederive the formulas for the equivariant volumes …
We study Nekrasov's deformed partition function of 5-dimensional supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory compactified on a circle. Mathematically it is the generating function of the characters of the coordinate rings of the moduli spaces of instantons on $\mathbb R^4$. We show that it satisfies a system of functional equations, called blowup equations, whose solution is unique. As applications, we prove (a) logarithm of the partition function times $ε_1ε_2$ is regular at $ε_1 = ε_2 = 0$, (a part of Nekrasov's conjecture), and (b) the genus 1 parts, which are first several Taylor coefficients of the …
We explore the role played by the spectral curves associated with Higgs pairs in the context of the Nahm transform of doubly-periodic instantons defined in "Construction of doubly-periodic instantons" (math.DG/9909069) and "Nahm transform for doubly-periodic instantons" (math.DG/9910120). More precisely, we show how to construct a triple consisting of an algebraic curve plus a line bundle with connection over it from a doubly-periodic instanton, and that these coincide with the Hitchin's spectral data associated with the Nahm transformed Higgs bundle.
We perform a study of the moduli space of framed torsion free sheaves on Hirzebruch surfaces by using localization techniques. After discussing general properties of this moduli space, we classify its fixed points under the appropriate toric action and compute its Poincare' polynomial. From the physical viewpoint, our results provide the partition function of N=4 Vafa-Witten theory on Hirzebruch surfaces, which is relevant in black hole entropy counting problems according to a conjecture due to Ooguri, Strominger and Vafa.
We give a mathematically rigorous proof of Nekrasov's conjecture: the integration in the equivariant cohomology over the moduli spaces of instantons on $\mathbb R^4$ gives a deformation of the Seiberg-Witten prepotential for N=2 SUSY Yang-Mills theory. Through a study of moduli spaces on the blowup of $\mathbb R^4$, we derive a differential equation for the Nekrasov's partition function. It is a deformation of the equation for the Seiberg-Witten prepotential, found by Losev et al., and further studied by Gorsky et al.
We propose an explicit formula connecting Donaldson invariants and Seiberg-Witten invariants of a 4-manifold of simple type via Nekrasov's deformed partition function for the N=2 SUSY gauge theory with a single fundamental matter. This formula is derived from Mochizuki's formula, which makes sense and was proved when the 4-manifold is complex projective. Assuming our formula is true for a 4-manifold of simple type, we prove Witten's conjecture and sum rules for Seiberg-Witten invariants (superconformal simple type condition), conjectured by Mariño, Moore and Peradze.
This thesis is an investigation of the moduli spaces of instanton bundles on the Fano threefold $Y_5$ (a linear section of $\mathbb{G}r(2,5)$). It contains new proofs of classical facts about lines, conics and cubics on $Y_5$, and about linear sections of $Y_5$. The main original results are a Grauert-Mülich theorem for the splitting type of instantons on conics, a bound to the splitting type of instantons on lines and an $SL_2$-equivariant description of the moduli space in charge 2 and 3. Using these results we prove the existence of a unique $SL_2$-equivariant instanton of minimal charge an…
In this paper we study the holomorphic Euler characteristics of determinant line bundles on moduli spaces of rank 2 semistable sheaves on an algebraic surface X, which can be viewed as $K$-theoretic versions of the Donaldson invariants. In particular, if X is a smooth projective toric surface, we determine these invariants and their wallcrossing in terms of the K-theoretic version of the Nekrasov partition function (called 5-dimensional supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory compactified on a circle in the physics literature). Using the results of math.AG/0606180 we give an explicit generating funct…
For a smooth projective toric surface we determine the Donaldson invariants and their wallcrossing in terms of the Nekrasov partition function. Using the solution of the Nekrasov conjecture math.AG/0306198, hep-th/0306238, math.AG/0409441 and its refinement math.AG/0311058, we apply this result to give a generating function for the wallcrossing of Donaldson invariants of good walls of simply connected projective surfaces with $b_+=1$ in terms of modular forms. This formula was proved earlier in alg-geom/9506018 more generally for simply connected 4-manifolds with $b_+=1$, assuming the Kotschic…
We introduce the notion of the (instanton part of the) Seiberg-Witten prepotential for general Schrodinger operators with periodic potential. In the case when the operator in question is integrable we show how to compute the prepotential in terms of period integrals; this implies that in the integrable case our definition of the prepotential coincides with the one that has been extensively studied in both mathematical and physical literature. As an application we give a proof of Nekrasov's conjecture connecting certain "instanton counting" partition function for an arbitrary simple group G wit…
A $h$-instanton sheaf on a closed subscheme $X$ of some projective space endowed with an ample and globally generated line bundle $\mathcal{O}_X(h)$ is a coherent sheaf whose cohomology table has a certain prescribed shape. In this paper we deal with $h$-instanton sheaves relating them to Ulrich sheaves. Moreover, we study $h$-instanton sheaves on smooth curves and surfaces, cyclic $n$-folds, Fano $3$-folds and scrolls over arbitrary smooth curves. We also deal with a family of monads associated to $h$-instanton bundles on varieties satisfying some mild extra technical conditions.
We present an algorithm for computing instanton numbers of curve singularities. A comparison is made between these and some other invariants of curve singularities. The algorithm has been implemented in the symbolic computer algebra program Macaulay2, and can be downloaded from http://www.math.nmsu.edu/\~{}iswanson/instanton.m2.}
A generic quartic 3-fold X admits a 7-dimensional family of representations as the Pfaffian of an 8 by 8 skew-symmetric matrix of linear forms. This provides a 7-dimensional moduli space M of rank 2 vector bundles on X. A precise geometric description of a 14-dimensional family of half-canonical curves C of genus 15 in X such that the above vector bundles are obtained by Serre's construction from C is given. It is proved that the Abel-Jacobi map of this family factors through M, and the resulting map from M to the intermediate Jacobian is quasi-finite. In particular, every component of M has n…
We review and elaborate on certain aspects of the connections between instanton counting in maximally supersymmetric gauge theories and the computation of enumerative invariants of smooth varieties. We study in detail three instances of gauge theories in six, four and two dimensions which naturally arise in the context of topological string theory on certain non-compact threefolds. We describe how the instanton counting in these gauge theories are related to the computation of the entropy of supersymmetric black holes, and how these results are related to wall-crossing properties of enumerativ…
These notes have two parts. The first is a study of Nekrasov's deformed partition functions $Z(\ve_1,\ve_2,\vec{a};\q,\vecτ)$ of N=2 SUSY Yang-Mills theories, which are generating functions of the integration in the equivariant cohomology over the moduli spaces of instantons on $\mathbb R^4$. The second is review of geometry of the Seiberg-Witten curves and the geometric engineering of the gauge theory, which are physical backgrounds of Nekrasov's partition functions. The first part is continuation of math.AG/0306198, where we identified the Seiberg-Witten prepotential with $Z(0,0,\vec{a};\q,0…
This is a survey on recent results on counting of curves over finite fields. It reviews various results on the maximum number of points on a curve of genus g over a finite field of cardinality q, but the main emphasis is on results on the Euler characteristic of the cohomology of local systems on moduli spaces of curves of low genus and its implications for modular forms.
The Donaldson-Thomas invariant is a curve counting invariant on Calabi-Yau 3-folds via ideal sheaves. Another counting invariant via stable pairs is introduced by Pandharipande and Thomas, which counts pairs of curves and divisors on them. These two theories are conjecturally equivalent via generating functions, called DT/PT correspondence. In this paper, we show the Euler characteristic version of DT/PT correspondence, using the notion of weak stability conditions and the wall-crossing formula.
The trigonal curves of genus 5 can be represented by projective plane quintics that have 1 singularity of delta invariant 1. Combining this with a partial sieve method for plane curves we count the number of such curves over any finite field. The main application is that this then gives the motivic Euler characteristic of the moduli space of trigonal curves of genus 5.
We give a method of counting the number of curves with a given type of singularity in a suitably ample linear series on a smooth surface using punctual Hilbert schemes. The types of singulaties for which our methods suffice include the topological type with local equation x^a +y^b with b-1 < a < 3b+1. We work out the example of curves with the analytic type of singularity with local equation x^2+y^n for 1<n<9.
The purpose of this paper is twofold: first we give a survey on the recent developments of curve counting invariants on Calabi-Yau 3-folds, e.g. Gromov-Witten theory, Donaldson-Thomas theory and Pandharipande-Thomas theory. Next we focus on the proof of the rationality conjecture of the generating series of PT invariants, and discuss its conjectural Gopakumar-Vafa form.
We show that there exist mathematical 4-instanton bundles F on the projective 3-space such that F(2) is globally generated (by four global sections). This is equivalent to the existence of elliptic space curves of degree 8 defined by quartic equations. There is a (possibly incomplete) intersection theoretic argument for the existence of such curves in D'Almeida [Bull. Soc. Math. France 128 (2000), 577-584] and another argument, using results of Mori [Nagoya Math. J. 96 (1984), 127-132], in Chiodera and Ellia [Rend. Istit. Univ. Trieste 44 (2012), 413-422]. Our argument is quite different. We p…
Let X be a (possibly nodal) K-trivial threefold moving in a fixed ambient space P. Suppose X contains a continuous family of curves, all of whose members satisfy certain unobstructedness conditions in P. A formula is given for computing the corresponding virtual number of curves, that is, the number of curves on a generic deformation of X "contributed by" the continuous family on X.
We propose a geometric interpretation of Block and Göttsche's refined tropical curve counting invariants in terms of virtual $χ_{-y}$-specializations of motivic measures of semialgebraic sets in relative Hilbert schemes. We prove that this interpretation is correct for linear series of genus 1, and in arbitrary genus after specializing from $χ_{-y}$ to Euler characteristic.
In this paper, we investigate the space of certain weak stability conditions on the triangulated category of D0-D2-D6 bound states on a smooth projective Calabi-Yau 3-fold. In the case of a quintic 3-fold, the resulting space is interpreted as a universal covering space of an infinitesimal neighborhood of the conifold point in the stringy Kahler moduli space. We then construct the DT type invariants counting semistable objects in our triangulated category, which are new curve counting invariants on a Calabi-Yau 3-fold. We also investigate the wall-crossing formula of our invariants and their i…
We consider a class of special Lagrangian subspaces of Calabi-Yau manifolds and identify their mirrors, using the recent derivation of mirror symmetry, as certain holomorphic varieties of the mirror geometry. This transforms the counting of holomorphic disc instantons ending on the Lagrangian submanifold to the classical Abel-Jacobi map on the mirror. We recover some results already anticipated as well as obtain some highly non-trivial new predictions.
We study instanton partition functions for N=2 superconformal Sp(1) and SO(4) gauge theories. We find that they agree with the corresponding U(2) instanton partitions functions only after a non-trivial mapping of the microscopic gauge couplings, since the instanton counting involves different renormalization schemes. Geometrically, this mapping relates the Gaiotto curves of the different realizations as double coverings. We then formulate an AGT-type correspondence between Sp(1)/SO(4) instanton partition functions and chiral blocks with an underlying W(2,2)-algebra symmetry. This form of the c…
For a semi-simple simply connected algebraic group G we introduce certain parabolic analogues of the Nekrasov partition function (introduced by Nekrasov and studied recently by Nekrasov-Okounkov and Nakajima-Yoshioka for G=SL(n)). These functions count (roughly speaking) principal G-bundles on the projective plane with a trivialization at infinity and with a parabolic structure at the horizontal line. When the above parabolic subgroup is a Borel subgroup we show that the corresponding partition function is basically equal to the Whittaker matrix coefficient in the universal Verma module over c…
The family Blow Up formula is recalled. Certain combinatoric graphs are introduced for the discussion of the counting of nodal curves on an Kahler surface.
This note concerns the theoretical algorithmic problem of counting rational points on curves over finite fields. It explicates how the algorithmic scheme introduced by Schoof and generalized by the author yields an algorithm whose running time is uniformly polynomial time for curves in families.
In this paper, we define two numbers. One comes from counting tropical curves with a stop and the other is the number of holomorphic discs in toric varieties with Lagrangian boundary condition. Both of these curves should satisfy some matching conditions. We show that these numbers coincide. These numbers can be considered as Gromov-Witten type invariants for holomorphic discs, and they have both similarities and differences to the counting numbers of closed holomorphic curves. We study several aspects of them.
We study U(r) instantons on elliptic surfaces with a section and show that they are in one-one correspondence with spectral data consisting of a curve in the dual elliptic surface and a line bundle on that curve. We use relative Fourier-Mukai transforms to analyse their properties and, in the case of the K3 and abelian surfaces, we show that the moduli space of instantons has a natural Lagrangian fibration with respect to the canonical complex symplectic structure.
Beijing Institute of Mathematical Sciences and Applications(北京国际数学研究中心);Yau Mathematical Sciences Center, Tsinghua University(清华大学丘成桐数学科学中心);Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, CNRS/IN2P3, IP2I Lyon, UMR 5822(里昂第一大学,CNRS/IN2P3,IP2I里昂);Université Bourgogne Europe, CNRS, IMB UMR 5584(勃艮第欧洲大学,CNRS,IMB)
We give an asymptotic formula for the number of elliptic curves over $\mathbb{Q}$ with bounded Faltings height. Silverman has shown that the Faltings height for elliptic curves over number fields can be expressed in terms of modular functions and the minimal discriminant of the elliptic curve. We use this to recast the problem as one of counting lattice points in a particular region in $\mathbb{R}^2$.
Hirzebruch surfaces provide an excellent example to underline the fact that in general symplectic manifolds, Gromov-Witten invariants might well count curves in the boundary components of the moduli space. We use this example to explain in detail that the counting argument given by Batyrev in "Quantum cohomology rings of toric manifolds" (Asterisque 218:9-34, 1993) does not work.
We introduce a new algorithm to compute the zeta function of a curve over a finite field. This method extends previous work of ours to all curves for which a good lift to characteristic zero is known. We develop all the necessary bounds, analyse the complexity of the algorithm and provide a complete implementation.
In this Part II, D(10.2), of D(10), we take D(10.1) (arXiv:1302.2054 [math.AG]) as the foundation to define the notion of $Z$-semistable morphisms from general Azumaya nodal curves, of genus $\ge 2$, with a fundamental module to a projective Calabi-Yau 3-fold and show that the moduli stack of such $Z$-semistable morphisms of a fixed type is compact. This gives us a counter moduli stack to D-strings as the moduli stack of stable maps in Gromov-Witten theory to the fundamental string. It serves and prepares for us the basis toward a new invariant of Calabi-Yau 3-fold that captures soft-D-string …
We introduce a new algorithm to compute the zeta function of a curve over a finite field. This method extends Kedlaya's algorithm to a very general class of curves using a map to the projective line. We develop all the necessary bounds, analyse the complexity of the algorithm and provide some examples computed with our implementation.
We show how to define and count lattice points in the moduli space $\modm_{g,n}$ of genus g curves with n labeled points. This produces a polynomial with coefficients that include the Euler characteristic of the moduli space, and tautological intersection numbers on the compactified moduli space.
This is a survey describing recents developments in enumerative geometry of curves on projective varieties. Various methods to arrive at results such as Kontsevich's formula for plane rational curves, or Caporaso-Harris's formula for plane curves of any genus, are illustrated on concrete examples It will appear on the Proceedings of the European Congress of Mathematics, Budapest 1996.
These notes are intended as an easy-to-read supplement to part of the background material presented in my talks on enumerative geometry. In particular, the numbers $n_3$ and $n_4$ of plane rational cubics through eight points and of plane rational quartics through eleven points are determined via the classical approach of counting curves. The computation of the latter number also illustrates my topological approach to counting the zeros of a fixed vector bundle section that lie in the main stratum of a compact space. The arguments used in the computation of the number $n_4$ extend easily to co…
We obtain a recursive formula answering the following question: How many irreducible, plane curves of degree d and (geometric) genus g pass through 3d-1+g general points in the plane? The formula is proved by studying suitable degenerations of plane curves.
For a given conic bundle X over a curve C defined over F_q, we count irreducible branch covers of C in X of degree d and height e>>1. As a special case, we get the number of algebraic numbers of degree d and height e over the function field F_q (C).
In this paper we produce a generating function for the number of hyperelliptic curves (up to translation) on a polarized Abelian surfaces using the crepant resolution conjecture and the Yau-Zaslow formula. We present a formula to compute these in terms of MacMahon's generalized sum-of-divisors functions, and prove that they are quasi-modular forms.
We describe an algorithm for counting points on an arbitrary hyperelliptic curve over a finite field of odd characteristic, using Monsky-Washnitzer cohomology to compute a p-adic approximation to the characteristic polynomial of Frobenius. For fixed p, the asymptotic running time for a curve of genus g over the field of p^n elements is O(g^{4+ε} n^{3+ε}).
This paper has been rendered obsolete by our newer eprint alg-geom/9411005 "Bott's formula and enumerative geometry", which is a considerably expanded version of the same paper, in spite of the change of titles. Please download alg-geom/9411005 instead, and update possible references.
We study the problem of lifting curves from finite fields to number fields in a genus and gonality preserving way. More precisely, we sketch how this can be done efficiently for curves of gonality at most four, with an in-depth treatment of curves of genus at most five over finite fields of odd characteristic, including an implementation in Magma. We then use such a lift as input to an algorithm due to the second author for computing zeta functions of curves over finite fields using $p$-adic cohomology.
Mcduff had proposed in 1997 a way to modify the definition of Taubes' version of Gromov invariant when multiple coverings of -1 curves appear. In this paper we generalize Mcduff's proposal to the family case, as is needed in the discussion of family Seiberg-Witten theory. For simplicity, the discussion has been formulated in the algebraic category.
We find a closed formula for the number $\operatorname{hyp}(g)$ of hyperelliptic curves of genus $g$ over a finite field $k=\mathbb{F}_q$ of odd characteristic. These numbers $\operatorname{hyp}(g)$ are expressed as a polynomial in $q$ with integer coefficients that depend on the set of divisors of $q-1$ and $q+1$. As a by-product we obtain a closed formula for the number of self-dual curves of genus $g$. A hyperelliptic curve is self-dual if it is $k$-isomorphic to its own hyperelliptic twist.
We develop a general strategy, based on gauge theoretical methods, to prove existence of curves on class VII surfaces. We prove that, for $b_2=2$, every minimal class VII surface has a cycle of rational curves hence, by a result of Nakamura, is a global deformation of a one parameter family of blown up primary Hopf surfaces. The case $b_2=1$ has been solved in a previous article. The fundamental object intervening in our strategy is the moduli space ${\mathcal M}^{\pst}(0,{\mathcal K})$ of polystable bundles ${\mathcal E}$ with $c_2({\mathcal E})=0$, $\det({\mathcal E})={\mathcal K}$. For larg…