The identification of conformal hypercomplex and quaternionic manifolds
Eric Bergshoeff, Stefan Vandoren, Antoine Van Proeyen
备注：
22 pages, 2 figures, Contribution to the proceedings volume for the Conference "Symmetry in Geometry and Physics" in honour of Dmitri Alekseevsky, September 2005
We review the map between hypercomplex manifolds that admit a closed homothetic Killing vector (i.e. `conformal hypercomplex' manifolds) and quaternionic manifolds of 1 dimension less. This map is related to a method for constructing supergravity theories using superconformal techniques. An explicit relation between the structure of these manifolds is presented, including curvatures and symmetries. An important role is played by `ξtransformations', relating connections on quaternionic manifolds, and a new type `\hatξtransformations' relating complex structures on conformal hypercomplex manifolds. In this map, the subclass of conformal hyper-Kaehler manifolds is mapped to quaternionic-Kaehler manifolds.
We review the general properties of target spaces of hypermultiplets, which are quaternionic-like manifolds, and discuss the relations between these manifolds and their symmetry generators. We explicitly construct a one-to-one map between conformal hypercomplex manifolds (i.e. those that have a closed homothetic Killing vector) and quaternionic manifolds of one quaternionic dimension less. An important role is played by 'ξ-transformations', relating complex structures on conformal hypercomplex manifolds and connections on quaternionic manifolds. In this map, the subclass of conformal hyper-Kae…
Given a quaternionic manifold $M$ with a certain $\mathrm{U}(1)$-symmetry, we construct a hypercomplex manifold $M'$ of the same dimension. This construction generalizes the quaternionic Kähler/hyper-Kähler-correspondence. As an example of this construction, we obtain a compact homogeneous hypercomplex manifold which does not admit any hyper-Kähler structure. Therefore our construction is a proper generalization of the quaternionic Kähler/hyper-Kähler-correspondence.
We study the quaternionic Calabi-Yau problem in HKT geometry introduced by Alesker and Verbitsky on 8-dimensional 2-step nilmanifolds with an abelian hypercomplex structure. We show that the quaternionic Monge-Ampère equation on these manifolds can always be solved for every data which is invariant by the action of a 3-dimensional torus.
A hypercomplex manifold is a manifold equipped with a triple of complex structures $I, J, K$ satisfying the quaternionic relations. We define a quaternionic analogue of plurisubharmonic functions on hypercomplex manifolds, and interpret these functions geometrically as potentials of HKT (hyperkähler with torsion) metrics, and prove a quaternionic analogue of A.D. Aleksandrov and Chern-Levine-Nirenberg theorems.
We study quaternionic Bott-Chern cohomology on compact hypercomplex manifolds and adapt some results from complex geometry to the quaternionic setting. For instance, we prove a criterion for the existence of HKT metrics on compact hypercomplex manifolds of real dimension 8 analogous to the one given by Teleman [35] and Angella-Dloussky-Tomassini [3] for compact complex surfaces.
A manifold (M,I,J,K) is called hypercomplex if I,J,K are complex structures satisfying quaternionic relations. A quaternionic Hermitian metric is called HKT (hyperkaehler with torsion) if $Idω_I = Jd ω_J=Kdω_K$, where $ω_I,ω_J, ω_K$ are Hermitian forms associated with I, J, K. A Hermitian metric $ω$ on a complex manifold is called balanced if $d^*ω=0$. We show that balanced HKT metrics are precisely the quaternionic Calabi-Yau metrics defined in terms of the quaternionic Monge-Ampere equation. In particular, a balanced HKT-metric is unique in its cohomology class, and it always exists if the q…
Given a hypercomplex manifold with a rotating vector field (and additional data), we construct a conical hypercomplex manifold. As a consequence, we associate a quaternionic manifold to a hypercomplex manifold of the same dimension with a rotating vector field. This is a generalization of the HK/QK-correspondence. As an application, we show that a quaternionic manifold can be associated to a conical special complex manifold of half its dimension. Furthermore, a projective special complex manifold (with a canonical c-projective structure) associates with a quaternionic manifold. The latter is a…
We first make a little survey of the twistor theory for hypercomplex, generalized hypercomplex, quaternionic or generalized quaternionic manifolds. This last theory was iniated by Pantilie, who shows that any generalized almost quaternionic manifold equipped with an appropriate connection admit a twistor space with an almost generalized complex structure. The aim of this article is to give an integrability criterion for this generalized almost complex structure and to give some examples especially in the case of generalized hyperkähler manifolds using the generalized Bismut connection, introdu…
In this paper we introduce a new algebraic device, which enables us to treat the quaternions as though they were a commutative field. This is of interest both for its own sake, and because it can be applied to develop an "algebraic geometry" of noncompact hypercomplex manifolds. The basic building blocks of the theory are AH modules, which should be thought of "vector spaces" over the quaternions. An AH-module is a left module over the quaternions H, together with a real vector subspace. There are natural concepts of linear map and tensor product of AH-modules, which have many of the propertie…
A hypercomplex manifold $M$ is a manifold equipped with three complex structures satisfying quaternionic relations. Such a manifold admits a canonical torsion-free connection preserving the quaternion action, called Obata connection. A quaternionic Hermitian metric is a Riemannian metric on which is invariant with respect to unitary quaternions. Such a metric is called HKT if it is locally obtained as a Hessian of a function averaged with quaternions. HKT metric is a natural analogue of a Kahler metric on a complex manifold. We push this analogy further, proving a quaternionic analogue of Buch…
The investigation of strings and M-theory involves the understanding of various BPS solitons which in a certain approximation can be thought of as solutions of ten- and eleven-dimensional supergravity theories. These solitons have a brane or a intersecting brane interpretation, saturate a bound and are associated with parallel spinors with respect to a connection of the spin bundle of spacetime. A class of intersecting brane configurations is examined and it is shown that the geometry of spacetime is hyper-Kähler with torsion. A relation between these hyper-Kähler geometries with torsion and q…
We call a quaternionic Kaehler manifold with non-zero scalar curvature, whose quaternionic structure is trivialized by a hypercomplex structure, a hyper-Hermitian quaternionic Kaehler manifold. We prove that every locally symmetric hyper-Hermitian quaternionic Kaehler manifold is locally isometric to the quaternionic projective space or to the quaternionic hyperbolic space. We describe locally the hyper-Hermitian quaternionic Kaehler manifolds with closed Lee form and show that the only complete simply connected such manifold is the quaternionic hyperbolic space.
Almost hypercomplex manifolds with Hermitian and Norden metrics and more specially the corresponding quaternionic Kaehler manifolds are considered. Some necessary and sufficient conditions the investigated manifolds be isotropic hyper-Kaehlerian and flat are found. It is proved that the quaternionic Kaehler manifolds with the considered metric structure are Einstein for dimension at least 8. The class of the non-hyper-Kaehler quaternionic Kaehler manifold of the considered type is determined.
A hypercomplex structure $(I,J,K)$ on a manifold $M$ is said to be $C^\infty$-pure-and-full if the Dolbeault cohomology $H^{2,0}_{\partial}(M,I)$ is the direct sum of two natural subgroups called the $\bar{J}$-invariant and the $\bar{J}$-anti-invariant subgroups. We prove that a compact hypercomplex manifold that satisfies the quaternionic version of the $dd^c$-Lemma is $C^\infty$-pure-and-full. Moreover, we study the dimensions of the $\bar{J}$-invariant and the $\bar{J}$-anti-invariant subgroups, together with their analogue in the Bott-Chern cohomology. For instance, in real dimension 8, we…
A hypercomplex manifold is a manifold equipped with a triple of complex structures satisfying the quaternionic relations. A holomorphic Lagrangian variety on a hypercomplex manifold with trivial canonical bundle is a holomorphic subvariety which is calibrated by a form associated with the holomorphic volume form; this notion is a generalization of the usual holomorphic Lagrangian subvarieties known in hyperkaehler geometry. An HKT (hyperkaehler with torsion) metric on a hypercomplex manifold is a metric determined by a local potential, in a similar way to the Kaehler metric. We prove that a ba…
The class of the hypercomplex pseudo-Hermitian manifolds is considered. The flatness of the considered manifolds with the 3 parallel complex structures is proved. Conformal transformations of the metrics are introduced. The conformal invariance and the conformal equivalence of the basic types manifolds are studied. A known example is characterized in relation to the obtained results.
A hypercomplex structure on a differentiable manifold consists of three integrable almost complex structures that satisfy quaternionic relations. If, in addition, there exists a metric on the manifold which is Hermitian with respect to the three structures, and such that the corresponding Hermitian forms are closed, the manifold is said to be hyperkaehler. In the paper "Non-Hermitian Yang-Mills connections", Kaledin and Verbitsky proved that the twistor space of a hyperkaehler manifold admits a balanced metric; these were first studied in the article "On the existence of special metrics in com…
Unit tangent bundles $UM$ of semi-Riemannian manifolds $M$ are shown to be examples of dynamical Legendrian contact structures, which were defined in recent work [25] of Sykes-Zelenko to generalize leaf spaces of 2-nondegenerate CR manifolds. In doing so, Sykes-Zelenko extended the classification in Porter-Zelenko [20] of regular, 2-nondegenerate CR structures to those that can be recovered from their leaf space. The present paper treats dynamical Legendrian contact structures associated with 2-nondegenerate CR structures which were called "strongly regular" in Porter-Zelenko, named "L-contact…
We characterise the integrability of any co-CR quaternionic structure in terms of the curvature and a generalized torsion of the connection. Also, we apply this result to obtain, for example, the following. (1) New co-CR quaternionic structures built on vector bundles over a quaternionic manifold M, whose twistor spaces are holomorphic vector bundles over the twistor space Z of M. Moreover, all the holomorphic vector bundles over Z, which are positive and isotypic when restricted to the twistor lines, are obtained this way. (2) Under generic dimensional conditions, any manifold endowed with an…
A hypercomplex manifold M is a manifold with a triple I,J,K of complex structure operators satisfying quaternionic relations. For each quaternion L=aI +bJ+cK, L^2=-1, L is also a complex structure operator on M, called an induced complex structure. We are studying compact complex subvarieties of (M,L), when L is a generic induced complex structure. Under additional assumptions (Obata holonomy contained in SL(n,H), existence of an HKT metric), we prove that (M,L) contains no divisors, and all complex subvarieties of codimension 2 are trianalytic (that is, also hypercomplex).
A nilmanifold is a quotient of a nilpotent group $G$ by a co-compact discrete subgroup. A complex nilmanifold is one which is equipped with a $G$-invariant complex structure. We prove that a complex nilmanifold has trivial canonical bundle. This is used to study hypercomplex nilmanifolds (nilmanifolds with a triple of $G$-invariant complex structures which satisfy quaternionic relations). We prove that a hypercomplex nilmanifold admits an HKT (hyperkahler with torsion) metric if and only if the underlying hypercomplex structure is abelian. Moreover, any $G$-invariant HKT-metric on a nilmanifol…
A hypercomplex manifold is a manifold equipped with three complex structures I, J, K satisfying the quaternionic relations. Let M be a 4-dimensional compact smooth manifold equipped with a hypercomplex structure, and E be a vector bundle on M. We show that the moduli space of anti-self-dual connections on E is also hypercomplex, and admits a strong HKT metric. We also study manifolds with (4,4)-supersymmetry, that is, Riemannian manifolds equipped with a pair of strong HKT-structures that have opposite torsion. In the language of Hitchin's and Gualtieri's generalized complex geometry, (4,4)-ma…
We characterize HKT structure in terms of nondegenrate complex Poisson bivector on hypercomplex manifold. We extend the characterization to the twistor space. After considering the flat case in detail, we show that the twistor space of hyperkaehler manifold admits a holomorphic Poisson structure. We briefly mention the relation to quaternionic and hypercomplex deformations on tori and K3 surfaces
We describe a diagram containing the zero sets of the moment maps associated to the diagonal U(1) and Sp(1) actions on the quaternionic projective space HP^n. These sets are related both to focal sets of submanifolds and to Sasakian-Einstein structures on induced Hopf bundles. As an application, we construct a complex structure on the Stiefel manifolds V_2 (C^{n+1}) and V_4 (R^{n+1}), the one on the former manifold not being compatible with its known hypercomplex structure.
A nilmanifold is a (left) quotient of a nilpotent Lie group by a cocompact lattice. A hypercomplex structure on a manifold is a triple of complex structure operators satisfying the quaternionic relations. A hypercomplex nilmanifold is a compact quotient of a nilpotent Lie group equipped with a left-invariant hypercomplex structure. Such a manifold admits a whole 2-dimensional sphere $S^2$ of complex structures induced by quaternions. We prove that for any hypercomplex nilmanifold $M$ and a generic complex structure $L\in S^2$, the complex manifold $(M,L)$ has algebraic dimension 0. A stronger …
We prove that a compact quaternionic-Kähler manifold of dimension $4n\geq 8$ admitting a conformal-Killing 2-form which is not Killing, is isomorphic to the quaternionic projective space, with its standard quaternionic-Kähler structure.
In this paper we initiate the study of submanifolds of almost hypercomplex manifolds with Hermitian and Norden metrics. Object of investigations are holomorphic submanifolds of the hypercomplex manifolds which are locally conformally equivalent to the hyper-Kähler manifolds of the considered type. Necessary and sufficient conditions the investigated holomorphic submanifolds to be totally umbilical or totally geodesic are obtained. Examples of the examined submanifolds are constructed.
Let $g$ be a hyper-Hermitian metric on a simply connected hypercomplex four-manifold $M$. We show that when the isometry group $I(M,g)$ contains a subgroup acting simply transitively on $M$ by hypercomplex isometries then the metric $g$ is conformal to a hyper-Kähler metric. We describe explicitely the corresponding hyper-Kähler metrics and it follows that, in four dimensions, these are the only hyper-Kähler metrics containing a homogeneous metric in its conformal class.
The conformal infinity of a quaternionic-Kahler metric on a 4n-manifold with boundary is a codimension 3-distribution on the boundary called quaternionic contact. In dimensions 4n-1 greater than 7, a quaternionic contact structure is always the conformal infinity of a quaternionic-Kahler metric. On the contrary, in dimension 7, we prove a criterion for quaternionic contact structures to be the conformal infinity of a quaternionic- Kahler metric. This allows us to find the quaternionic-contact structures on the 7-sphere close to the conformal infinity of the quaternionic hyperbolic metric and w…
We show that, in quaternionic geometry, the Ward transform is a manifestation of the functoriality of the basic correspondence between the $ρ$-quaternionic manifolds and their twistor spaces. We apply this fact, together with the Penrose transform, to obtain existence results for hypercomplex manifolds and for harmonic morphisms from hyper-Kaehler manifolds.
We introduce the notions of h-conformal slant submersions and almost h-conformal slant submersions from almost quaternionic Hermitian manifolds onto Riemannian manifolds as a generalization of Riemannian submersions, horizontally conformal submersions, slant submersions, h-slant submersions, almost h-slant submersion and conformal slant submersions. We investigate several properties of these including the integrability of distributions, the geometry of foliations and the conditions for such maps to be totally geodesic. Further we give some examples of such maps.
A tensor invariant is defined on a quaternionic contact manifold in terms of the curvature and torsion of the Biquard connection involving derivatives up to third order of the contact form. This tensor, called quaternionic contact conformal curvature, is similar to the Weyl conformal curvature in Riemannian geometry and to the Chern-Moser tensor in CR geometry. It is shown that a quaternionic contact manifold is locally quaternionic contact conformal to the standard flat quaternionic contact structure on the quaternionic Heisenberg group, or equivalently, to the standard 3-sasakian structure o…
The purpose of this paper is to introduce a geometric structure called pseudo-conformal quaternionic CR structure on a (4n+3)-dimensional mamnifold and then exhibit a quaternionic analogue of Chern-Moser's CR structure and uniformization.
As a generalization of Riemannian submersions, horizontally conformal submersions, semi-invariant submersions, h-semi-invariant submersions, almost h-semi-invariant submersions, conformal semi-invariant submersions, we introduce h-conformal semi-invariant submersions and almost h-conformal semi-invariant submersions from almost quaternionic Hermitian manifolds onto Riemannian manifolds. We study their properties: the geometry of foliations, the conditions for total manifolds to be locally product manifolds, the conditions for such maps to be totally geodesic, etc. Finally, we give some example…
A 2-form on a quaternionic-Kahler manifold (M, g) is called compatible (with the quaternionic structure) if it is a section of the direct sum bundle S^2(H) \oplus S^2(E). We construct a connection D on S^2(H) \oplus S^2(E)\oplus TM, which is a prolongation of the conformal-Killing operator acting on compatible 2-forms. We show that D is flat if and only if the quaternionic-Weyl tensor of (M,g) is zero. Consequences of this result are developed. We construct a skew-symmetric multiplication on the space of conformal-Killing 2-forms on (M,g) and we study its properties in connection with the subs…
A hypercomplex structure on a smooth manifold is a triple of integrable almost complex structures satisfying quaternionic relations. The Obata connection is the unique torsion-free connection that preserves each of the complex structures. The holonomy group of the Obata connection is contained in $GL(n, \mathbb{H})$. There is a well-known construction of hypercomplex structures on Lie groups due to Joyce. In this paper we show that the holonomy of the Obata connection on SU(3) coincides with $GL(2, \mathbb{H})$.
Starting from a complex manifold S with a real-analytic c-projective structure whose curvature has type (1,1), and a complex line bundle L with a connection whose curvature has type (1,1), we construct the twistor space Z of a quaternionic manifold M with a quaternionic circle action which contains S as a totally complex submanifold fixed by the action. This extends a construction of hypercomplex manifolds, including hyperkaehler metrics on cotangent bundles, obtained independently by B. Feix and D. Kaledin. When S is a Riemann surface, M is a self-dual conformal 4-manifold, and the quotient o…
We investigate the Fefferman spaces of conformal type which are induced, via parabolic geometry, by the quaternionic contact (qc) manifolds introduced by O.Biquard. Equivalent characterizations of these spaces are proved: as conformal manifolds with symplectic conformal holonomy of the appropriate signature; as pseudo-Riemannian manifolds admitting conformal Killing fields satisfying a conformally invariant system of conditions analog to G. Sparling's criteria; and as the total space of a SO(3)- or $S^3$-bundle over a qc manifold with the conformally equivalent metrics defined directly by Biqu…
We construct explicit left invariant quaternionic contact structures on Lie groups with zero and non-zero torsion, and with non-vanishing quaternionic contact conformal curvature tensor, thus showing the existence of quaternionic contact manifolds not locally quaternionic contact conformal to the quaternionic sphere. We present a left invariant quaternionic contact structure on a seven dimensional non-nilpotent Lie group, and show that this structure is locally quaternionic contact conformal to the flat quaternionic contact structure on the quaternionic Heisenberg group. On the product of a se…
In this paper we show how hypercomplex function theoretical objects can be used to construct explicitly self-dual SU(2)-Yang-Mills instanton solutions on certain classes of conformally flat 4-manifolds. We use a hypercomplex argument principle to establish a natural link between the fundamental solutions of $D Δf = 0$ and the second Chern class of the SU(2) principal bundles over these manifolds. The considered base manifolds of the bundles are not simply-connected, in general. Actually, this paper summarizes an extension of the corresponding results of Gürsey and Tze on a hyper-complex analyt…
Almost hypercomplex manifolds with Hermitian and anti-Hermitian metrics are considered. A linear connection $D$ is introduced such that the structure of these manifolds is parallel with respect to D. Of special interest is the class of the locally conformally equivalent manifolds of the manifolds with covariantly constant almost complex structures and the case when the torsion of D is D-parallel. Curvature properties of these manifolds are studied. An example of 4-dimensional manifolds in the considered basic class is constructed and characterized.
We study the relation between the existence of null conformal Killing vector fields and existence of compatible complex and para-hypercomplex structures on a pseudo-Riemannian manifold with metric of signature (2,2). We establish first the topological types of pseudo-Hermitian surfaces admitting a nowhere vanishing null vector field. Then we show that a pair of orthogonal, pointwise linearly independent, null, conformal Killing vector fields defines a para-hyperhermitian structure and use this fact for a classification of the smooth compact four-manifolds admitting such a pair of vector fields…
Mainly motivated by a conjecture of Alesker and Verbitsky, we study a class of fully non-linear elliptic equations on certain compact hyperhermitian manifolds. By adapting the approach of Székelyhidi to the hypercomplex setting, we prove some a priori estimates for solutions to such equations under the assumption of existence of $\mathcal{C}$-subsolutions. In the estimate of the quaternionic Laplacian, we need to further assume the existence of a flat hyperkähler metric. As an application of our results we prove that the quaternionic analogue of the Hessian equation and Monge-Ampère equation f…
A partial solution of the quaternionic contact Yamabe problem on the quaternionic sphere is given. It is shown that the torsion of the Biquard connection vanishes exactly when the trace-free part of the horizontal Ricci tensor of the Biquard connection is zero and this occurs precisely on 3-Sasakian manifolods. All conformal deformations sending the standard flat torsion-free quaternionic contact structure on the quaternionic Heisenberg group to a quaternionic contact structure with vanishing torsion of the Biquard connection are explicitly described. A '3-Hamiltonian form' of infinitesimal co…
This paper constructs a family of coordinate systems about a point on a quaternionic contact manifold, called quaternionic contact pseudohermitian normal coordinates. Once defined, conformal variations of the quaternionic contact structure induce changes on the coordinates which are studied in an effort to simplify the torsion and curvature at the center point.
We prove that if the fundamental 4-form of an almost-quaternionic Hermitian manifold (M, Q, g) of dimension at least eight satisfies the conformal-Killing equation, then (M, Q, g) is quaternionic-Kahler.
