Lifting problems and transgression for non-abelian gerbes

We discuss lifting and reduction problems for bundles and gerbes in the context of a Lie 2-group. We obtain a geometrical formulation (and a new proof) for the exactness of Breen’s long exact sequence in non-abelian cohomology. We use our geometrical formulation in order to define a transgression map in non-abelian cohomology. This transgression map relates the degree one non-abelian cohomology of a smooth manifold (represented by non-abelian gerbes) with the degree zero non-abelian cohomology of the free loop space (represented by principal bundles). We prove several properties for this transgression map. For instance, it reduces–in case of a Lie 2-group with a single object–to the ordinary transgression in ordinary cohomology. We describe applications of our results to string manifolds: first, we obtain a new comparison theorem for different notions of string structures. Second, our transgression map establishes a direct relation between string structures and spin structures on the loop space.     

Surface holonomy for non-abelian 2-bundles via double groupoids

In the context of non-abelian gerbes, we define a cubical version of categorical group 2-bundles with connection over a smooth manifold. We address their two-dimensional parallel transport, study its properties, and construct non-abelian Wilson surface functionals.     

Conformal holonomy of C-spaces, Ricci-flat, and Lorentzian manifolds

The main result of this paper is that a Lorentzian manifold is locally conformally equivalent to a manifold with recurrent lightlike vector field and totally isotropic Ricci tensor if and only if its conformal tractor holonomy admits a 2-dimensional totally isotropic invariant subspace. Furthermore, for semi-Riemannian manifolds of arbitrary signature we prove that the conformal holonomy algebra of a C-space is a Berger algebra. For Ricci-flat spaces we show how the conformal holonomy can be obtained by the holonomy of the ambient metric and get results for Riemannian manifolds and plane waves.     

Isotropic ppmc immersions

Isometric immersions with parallel pluri-mean curvature (“ppmc”) in euclidean n-space generalize constant mean curvature (“cmc”) surfaces to higher dimensional Kähler submanifolds. Like cmc surfaces they allow a one-parameter family of isometric deformations rotating the second fundamental form at each point. If these deformations are trivial the ppmc immersions are called isotropic. Our main result drastically restricts the intrinsic geometry of such a submanifold: Locally, it must be a symmetric space or a Riemannian product unless the immersion is holomorphic or a superminimal surface in a sphere. We can give a precise classification if the codimension is less than 7. The main idea of the proof is to show that the tangent holonomy is restricted and to apply the Berger-Simons holonomy theorem.     

Butterflies II: Torsors for 2-group stacks

We study torsors over 2-groups and their morphisms. In particular, we study the first non-abelian cohomology group with values in a 2-group. Butterfly diagrams encode morphisms of 2-groups and we employ them to examine the functorial behavior of non-abelian cohomology under change of coefficients. We re-interpret the first non-abelian cohomology with coefficients in a 2-group in terms of gerbes bound by a crossed module. Our main result is to provide a geometric version of the change of coefficients map by lifting a gerbe along the “fraction” (weak morphism) determined by a butterfly. As a practical byproduct, we show how butterflies can be used to obtain explicit maps at the cocycle level. In addition, we discuss various commutativity conditions on cohomology induced by various degrees of commutativity on the coefficient 2-groups, as well as specific features pertaining to group extensions.     

On codimension one foliations with prescribed cuspidal separatrix

In this paper, we will construct a pre-normal form for germs of codimension one holomorphic foliation having a particular type of separatrix, of cuspidal type. As an application, we will explain how this form could be used in order to study the analytic classification of the singularities via the projective holonomy, in the generalized surface case. We will also give an application to the analytic classification of singularities, and a sufficient condition, in the quasi-homogeneous, three-dimensional case, for these foliations to be of generalized surface type.     

Holonomy transformations for singular foliations

In order to understand the linearization problem around a leaf of a singular foliation, we extend the familiar holonomy map from the case of regular foliations to the case of singular foliations. To this aim we introduce the notion of holonomy transformation. Unlike the regular case, holonomy transformations cannot be attached to classes of paths in the foliation, but rather to elements of the holonomy groupoid of the singular foliation.     

Dressing preserving the fundamental group

In this note we consider the relationship between the dressing action and the holonomy representation in the context of constant mean curvature surfaces. We characterize dressing elements that preserve the topology of a surface and discuss dressing by simple factors as a means of adding bubbles to a class of non-finite type cylinders.     

Spin Structures on Flat Manifolds

The aim of this paper is to present some results about spin structures on flat manifolds. We prove that any finite group can be the holonomy group of a flat spin manifold. Moreover, we shall give some methods of constructing spin structures related to the holonomy representation.     

On homogeneous connections with exotic holonomy

In Proc. Symp. Pure Math. 53 (1991), 33–88, Bryant gave examples of torsion free connections on four-manifolds whose holonomy is exotic, i.e. is not contained on Berger's classical list of irreducible holonomy representations. The holonomy in Bryant's examples is the irreducible four-dimensional representation of S1(2, #x211D;) (G1(2, #x211D;) resp.) and these connections are called H ₃-connections (G ₃-connections resp.).In this paper, we give a complete classification of homogeneous G ₃-connections. The moduli space of these connections is four-dimensional, and the generic homogeneous G ₃-connection is shown to be locally equivalent to a left-invariant connection on U(2). Thus, we prove the existence of compact manifolds with G ₃-connections. This contrasts a result in by Schwachhöfer (Trans. Amer. Math. Soc. 345 (1994), 293–321) which states that there are no compact manifolds with an H ₃-connection.     

Covariant derivative of the curvature tensor of pseudo-Kählerian manifolds

It is well known that the curvature tensor of a pseudo-Riemannian manifold can be decomposed with respect to the pseudo-orthogonal group into the sum of the Weyl conformal curvature tensor, the traceless part of the Ricci tensor and of the scalar curvature. A similar decomposition with respect to the pseudo-unitary group exists on a pseudo-Kählerian manifold; instead of the Weyl tensor one obtains the Bochner tensor. In the present paper, the known decomposition with respect to the pseudo-orthogonal group of the covariant derivative of the curvature tensor of a pseudo-Riemannian manifold is refined. A decomposition with respect to the pseudo-unitary group of the covariant derivative of the curvature tensor for pseudo-Kählerian manifolds is obtained. This defines natural classes of spaces generalizing locally symmetric spaces and Einstein spaces. It is shown that the values of the covariant derivative of the curvature tensor for a non-locally symmetric pseudo-Riemannian manifold with an irreducible connected holonomy group different from the pseudo-orthogonal and pseudo-unitary groups belong to an irreducible module of the holonomy group.     

How the Curvature Generates the Holonomy of a Connection in an Arbitrary Fibre Bundle

For an arbitrary fibre bundle with a connection, the holonomy group of which is a Lie transformation group, it is shown how the parallel displacement along a null-homotopic loop can be obtained from the curvature by integration. The result also sheds some new light on the situation for vector bundles and principal fibre bundles. The Theorem of Ambrose–Singer is derived as a corollary in our general setting. The curvature of the connection is interpreted as a differential 2-form with values in the holonomy algebra bundle, the elements of which are special vector fields on the fibres of the given bundle. Received: May 16, 2006; Revised: July 30, 2006; Accepted: August 2, 2006     

Twistor spaces and spinors over loop spaces

In this paper two natural twistor spaces over the loop space of a Riemannian manifold are constructed and their equivalence is shown in the Kählerian case. This relies on a detailed study of frame bundles of loop spaces on the one hand and, on the other hand, on an explicit local trivialization of the Atiyah operator family [defined in Atiyah (SMF 131:43–59, 1985)] associated to a loop space. We relate these constructions to the Dixmier-Douady obstruction class against the existence of a string structure, as well as to pseudo - line bundle gerbes in the sense of Brylinski (Loop spaces, characteristic classes and geometric quantization. Birkhäuser, Basel, 1993).     

Ambient connections realising conformal Tractor holonomy

For a conformal manifold we introduce the notion of an ambient connection, an affine connection on an ambient manifold of the conformal manifold, possibly with torsion, and with conditions relating it to the conformal structure. The purpose of this construction is to realise the normal conformal Tractor holonomy as affine holonomy of such a connection. We give an example of an ambient connection for which this is the case, and which is torsion free if we start the construction with a C-space, and in addition Ricci-flat if we start with an Einstein manifold. Thus, for a C-space this example leads to an ambient metric in the weaker sense of Čap and Gover, and for an Einstein space to a Ricci-flat ambient metric in the sense of Fefferman and Graham. Current address for first author: Erwin Schr?dinger International Institute for Mathematical Physics (ESI), Boltzmanngasse 9, 1090 Vienna, Austria Current address for second author: Department of Mathematics, University of Hamburg, Bundesstra?e 55, 20146 Hamburg, Germany     

Hyperbolic cone-manifold structures with prescribed holonomy I: punctured tori

We consider the relationship between hyperbolic cone-manifold structures on surfaces, and algebraic representations of the fundamental group into a group of isometries. A hyperbolic cone-manifold structure on a surface, with all interior cone angles being integer multiples of 2π, determines a holonomy representation of the fundamental group. We ask, conversely, when a representation of the fundamental group is the holonomy of a hyperbolic cone-manifold structure. In this paper we prove results for the punctured torus; in the sequel, for higher genus surfaces. We show that a representation of the fundamental group of a punctured torus is a holonomy representation of a hyperbolic cone-manifold structure with no interior cone points and a single corner point if and only if it is not virtually abelian. We construct a pentagonal fundamental domain for hyperbolic structures, from the geometry of a representation. Our techniques involve the universal covering group [(PSL₂\mathbb R)\tilde]{\widetilde{{\it PSL}_2{\mathbb R}}} of the group of orientation-preserving isometries of \mathbb H²{{\mathbb H}^2} and Markoff moves arising from the action of the mapping class group on the character variety.     

Hyperbolic cone-manifold structures with prescribed holonomy II: higher genus

We consider the relationship between hyperbolic cone-manifold structures on surfaces, and algebraic representations of the fundamental group into a group of isometries. A hyperbolic cone-manifold structure on a surface, with all interior cone angles being integer multiples of 2??, determines a holonomy representation of the fundamental group. We ask, conversely, when a representation of the fundamental group is the holonomy of a hyperbolic cone-manifold structure. In this paper we build upon previous work with punctured tori to prove results for higher genus surfaces. Our techniques construct fundamental domains for hyperbolic cone-manifold structures, from the geometry of a representation. Central to these techniques are the Euler class of a representation, the group ${\widetilde{PSL_{2}\mathbb{R}}}$ , the twist of hyperbolic isometries, and character varieties. We consider the action of the outer automorphism and related groups on the character variety, which is measure-preserving with respect to a natural measure derived from its symplectic structure, and ergodic in certain regions. Under various hypotheses, we almost surely or surely obtain a hyperbolic cone-manifold structure with prescribed holonomy.     

On the connection theory of extensions of transitive Lie groupoids

Due to a result by Mackenzie, extensions of transitive Lie groupoids are equivalent to certain Lie groupoids which admit an action of a Lie group. This paper is a treatment of the equivariant connection theory and holonomy of such groupoids, and shows that such connections give rise to the transition data necessary for the classification of their respective Lie algebroids.     

Structure groups and holonomy in infinite dimensions

We give a theorem of reduction of the structure group of a principal bundle P with regular structure group G. Then, when G is in the classes of regular Lie groups defined by T. Robart in [Can. J. Math. 49 (4) (1997) 820-839], we define the closed holonomy group of a connection as the minimal closed Lie subgroup of G for which the previous theorem of reduction can be applied. We also prove an infinite dimensional version of the Ambrose-Singer theorem: the Lie algebra of the holonomy group is spanned by the curvature elements.