Special geometry,cubic polynomials and homogeneous quaternionic spaces

The existing classification of homogeneous quaternionic spaces is not complete. We study these spaces in the context of certainN=2 supergravity theories, where dimensional reduction induces a mapping betweenspecial real, Kähler and quaternionic spaces. The geometry of the real spaces is encoded in cubic polynomials, those of the Kähler and quaternionic manifolds in homogeneous holomorphic functions of second degree. We classify all cubic polynomials that have an invariance group that acts transitively on the real manifold. The corresponding Kähler and quaternionic manifolds are then homogeneous. We find that they lead to a well-defined subset of the normal quaternionic spaces classified by Alekseevskiî (and the corresponding special Kähler spaces given by Cecotti), but there is a new class of rank-3 spaces of quaternionic dimension larger than 3. We also point out that some of the rank-4 Alekseevskiî spaces were not fully specified and correspond to a finite variety of inequivalent spaces. A simpler version of the equation that underlies the classification of this paper also emerges in the context ofW ₃ algebras.Communicated by K. Gawedzki     

Invariant connections and vortices

We study the vortex equations on a line bundle over a compact Kähler manifold. These are a generalization of the classical vortex equations over ². We first prove an invariant version of the theorem of Donaldson, Uhlenbeck and Yau relating the existence of a Hermitian-Yang-Mills metric on a holomorphic bundle to the stability of such a bundle. We then show that the vortex equations are a dimensional reduction of the Hermitian-Yang-Mills equation. Using this fact and the theorem above we give a new existence proof for the vortex equations and describe the moduli space of solutions.     

A generalization of the momentum mapping construction for quaternionic Kähler manifolds

We present a method of reduction of any quaternionic Kähler manifold with isometries to another quaternionic Kähler manifold in which the isometries are divided out. Our method is a generalization of the Marsden-Weinstein construction for symplectic manifolds to the non-symplectic geometry of the quaternionic Kähler case. We compare our results with the known construction for Kähler and hyperKähler manifolds. We also discuss the relevance of our results to the physics of supersymmetric non-linear -models and some applications of the method. In particular, we show that the Wolf spaces can be obtained as theU(1) andSU(2) quotients of quaternionic projective spaceH P(n). We also construct an interesting example of compact riemannianV-manifolds(orbifolds) whose metrics are quaternionic Kähler and not symmetric.On leave from the University of Wrocaw, Wrocaw, Poland     

Symplectic and hyperkähler structures in a dimensional reduction of the Seiberg-Witten equations with a Higgs field

In this paper we show that the dimensionally reduced Seiberg-Witten equations lead to a Higgs field and we study the resulting moduli spaces. The moduli space arising out of a subset of the equations, shown to be non-empty for a compact Riemann surface of genus g ≥ 1, gives rise to a family of moduli spaces carrying a hyperkähler structure. For the full set of equations the corresponding moduli space does not have the aforementioned hyperkähler structure but has a natural symplectic structure. For the case of the torus, g = 1, we show that the full set of equations has a solution, different from the “vortex solutions”.     

Hyper-Kähler induction and self-duality on Riemann surfaces

Universal hyper-Kähler spaces are constructed from Lie groups acting on flat Kähler manifolds. These spaces are used to describe the moduli space of solutions of Hitchin's equation — self-duality equations on a Riemann surface — as the contangent bundle of the moduli space of flat connections on a Riemann surface.     

HyperKähler and quaternionic Kähler manifolds with S -symmetries

We study relations between quaternionic Riemannian manifolds admitting different types of symmetries. We show that any hyperKähler manifold admitting hyperKähler potential and triholomorphic action of S¹$S^1$ can be constructed from another hyperKähler manifold (of lower dimension) with an action of S¹$S^1$ that fixes one complex structure and rotates the other two and vice versa. We also study the corresponding quaternionic Kähler manifolds equipped with a quaternionic Kähler action of the circle. In particular we show that any positive quaternionic Kähler manifolds with S¹$S^1$-symmetry admits a Kähler metric on an open everywhere dense subset.     

Homogeneous Kähler manifolds andT-algebras inN=2 supergravity and superstrings

Motivated by the problem of the moduli space of superconformal theories, we classify all the (normal) homogeneous Kähler spaces which are allowed in the coupling of vector multiplets toN=2 SUGRA. Such homogeneous spaces are in one-to-one correspondence with the homogeneous quaternionic spaces (H ⁿ ) found by Alekseevskii. There are two infinite families of homogeneous non-symmetric spaces, each labelled by two integers. We construct explicitly the corresponding supergravity models. They are described by acubic functionF, as in flat-potential models. They are Kähler-Einstein if and only if they are symmetric. We describe in detail the geometry of the relevant manifolds. They are Siegel (bounded) domains of the first type. We discuss the physical relevance of this class of bounded domains for string theory and the moduli geometry. Finally, we introduce theT-algebraic formalism of Vinberg to describe in an efficient way the geometry of these manifolds. The homogeneous spaces allowed inN=2 SUGRA are associated to rank 3T-algebras in exactly the same way as the symmetric spaces are related to Jordan algebras. We characterize theT-algebras allowed inN=2 supergravity. They are those for which theungraded determinant is a polynomial in the matrix entries. The Kähler potential is simply minus the logarithm of this naive determinant.     

The Dynamics of the Energy of a Kähler Class

The energy of a Kähler class, on a compact complex manifold (M,J) of Kähler type, is the infimum of the squared L²-norm of the scalar curvature over all Kähler metrics representing the class. We study general properties of this functional, and define its gradient flow over all Kähler classes represented by metrics of fixed volume. When besides the trivial holomorphic vector field of (M,J), all others have no zeroes, we extend it to a flow over all cohomology classes of fixed top cup product. We prove that the dynamical system in this space defined by the said flow does not have periodic orbits, that its only fixed points are critical classes of a suitably defined extension of the energy function, and that along solution curves in the Kähler cone the energy is a monotone function. If the Kähler cone is forward invariant under the flow, solutions to the flow equation converge to a critical point of the class energy function. We show that this is always the case when the manifold has a signed first Chern class. We characterize the forward stability of the Kähler cone in terms of the value of a suitable time dependent form over irreducible subvarieties of (M,J). We use this result to draw several geometric conclusions, including the determination of optimal dimension dependent bounds for the squared L²-norm of the scalar curvature functional.Acknowledgement We would like to thank Nicholas Buchdahl for helpful conversations leading us to several improvements of an earlier version of the article, including the correction of two improper assertions.     

Einstein metrics onS 3,R 3 andR 4 bundles

Starting from a 4n-dimensional quaternionic Kähler base space, we construct metrics of cohomogeneity one in (4n+3) dimensions whose level surfaces are theS ² bundle space of almost complex structures on the base manifold. We derive the conditions on the metric functions that follow from imposing the Einstein equation, and obtain solutions both for compact and non-compact (4n+3)-dimensional spaces. Included in the non-compact solutions are two Ricci-flat 7-dimensional metrics withG ₂ holonomy. We also discuss two other Ricci-flat solutions, one on theR ⁴ bundle overS ³ and the other on anR ⁴ bundle overS ⁴. These haveG ₂ and Spin(7) holonomy respectively.     

Quaternion analyticity and conformally Kählerian structure in Euclidean gravity

Starting from the fact that the d=4 Euclidean flat spacetime is conformally related to the Kähler manifold H ²×S ², we show the Euclidean Schwarzschild metric to be conformally related to another Kähler manifold M ²×S ² with M ² being conformal to H ² in two dimensions. Both metrics which are conformally Kählerian, are form-invariant under the infinite parameter Fueter group, the Euclidean counterpart of Milne's group of clock regraduation. The associated Einstein's equations translate into Fueter's quaternionic analyticity. The latter leads to an infinite number of local continuity equations.     

Kähler metrics generated by functions of the time-like distance in the flat Kähler–Lorentz space

We prove that every Kähler metric, whose potential is a function of the time-like distance in the flat Kähler–Lorentz space, is of quasi-constant holomorphic sectional curvatures, satisfying certain conditions. This gives a local classification of the Kähler manifolds with the above-mentioned metrics. New examples of Sasakian space forms are obtained as real hypersurfaces of a Kähler space form with special invariant distribution. We introduce three types of even dimensional rotational hypersurfaces in flat spaces and endow them with locally conformal Kähler structures. We prove that these rotational hypersurfaces carry Kähler metrics of quasi-constant holomorphic sectional curvatures satisfying some conditions, corresponding to the type of the hypersurfaces. The meridians of those rotational hypersurfaces, whose Kähler metrics are Bochner–Kähler (especially of constant holomorphic sectional curvatures), are also described.     

La première valeur propre de l'opérateur de Dirac sur les variétés kählériennes compactes

K.D. Kirchberg [Ki1] gave a lower bound for the first eigenvalue of the Dirac operator on a spin compact Kähler manifoldM of odd complex dimension with positive scalar curvature. We prove that manifolds of real dimension 8l+6 satisfying the limiting case are twistor space (cf. [Sa]) of quaternionic Kähler manifold with positive scalar curvature and that the only manifold of real dimension 8l+2 satisfying the limiting case is the complex projective spaceCP ^4l+1.     

Nahm Transform for Periodic Monopoles¶and ?=2 Super Yang–Mills Theory

We study Bogomolny equations on ℝ²×?¹. Although they do not admit nontrivial finite-energy solutions, we show that there are interesting infinite-energy solutions with Higgs field growing logarithmically at infinity. We call these solutions periodic monopoles. Using the Nahm transform, we show that periodic monopoles are in one-to-one correspondence with solutions of Hitchin equations on a cylinder with Higgs field growing exponentially at infinity. The moduli spaces of periodic monopoles belong to a novel class of hyperk?hler manifolds and have applications to quantum gauge theory and string theory. For example, we show that the moduli space of k periodic monopoles provides the exact solution of ?=2 super Yang–Mills theory with gauge group SU(k) compactified on a circle of arbitrary radius. Received: 20 July 2000 / Accepted: 29 November 2000     

On the Hyperkähler/Quaternion Kähler Correspondence

A hyperkähler manifold with a circle action fixing just one complex structure admits a natural hyperholomorphic line bundle. This observation forms the basis for the construction of a corresponding quaternionic Kähler manifold in the work of A.Haydys. In this paper the corresponding holomorphic line bundle on twistor space is described and many examples computed, including monopole and Higgs bundle moduli spaces. Finally a twistor version of the hyperkähler/quaternion Kähler correspondence is established.     

Quaternionic,quaternionic Kähler,and hyper-Kähler supermanifolds

Almost quaternionic, quaternionic, hyper-Kähler, and quaternionic Kähler supermanifolds are introduced and studied.     

Hamiltonian constructions of Kähler-Einstein metrics and Kähler metrics of constant scalar curvature

Assuming the existence of a real torus acting through holomorphic isometries on a Kähler manifold, we construct an ansatz for Kähler-Einstein metrics and an ansatz for Kähler metrics with constant scalar curvature. Using this Hamiltonian approach we solve the differential equations in special cases and find, in particular, a family of constant scalar curvature Kähler metrics describing a non-linear superposition of the Bergman metric, the Calabi metric and a higher dimensional generalization of the LeBrun Kähler metric. The superposition contains Kähler-Einstein metrics and all the geometries are complete on the open disk bundle of some line bundle over the complex projective spaceP _n. We also build such Kähler geometries on Kähler quotients of higher cohomogeneity.Partially supported by the NSF Under Grant No. DMS 8906809     

Warped product Kähler manifolds and Bochner–Kähler metrics

Using as an underlying manifold an alpha-Sasakian manifold, we introduce warped product Kähler manifolds. We prove that if the underlying manifold is an alpha-Sasakian space form, then the corresponding Kähler manifold is of quasi-constant holomorphic sectional curvatures with a special distribution. Conversely, we prove that any Kähler manifold of quasi-constant holomorphic sectional curvatures with a special distribution locally has the structure of a warped product Kähler manifold whose base is an alpha-Sasakian space form. As an application, we describe explicitly all Bochner–Kähler metrics of quasi-constant holomorphic sectional curvatures. We find four families of complete metrics of this type. As a consequence, we obtain Bochner–Kähler metrics generated by a potential function of distance in complex Euclidean space and of time-like distance in the flat Kähler–Lorentz space.     

A Positive Mass Theorem for Spaces with Asymptotic SUSY Compactification

We prove a positive mass theorem for spaces which asymptotically approach a flat Euclidean space times a Calabi-Yau manifold (or any special honolomy manifold except the quaternionic Kähler). This is motivated by the very recent work of Hertog-Horowitz-Maeda [HHM].