Loop Group-Valued CS and WZNW models,integrable systems,and self-dual Yang-Mills theory

Affine CS and WZNW theories with values in infinite-dimensional (loop) groups are proposed. It appears that the affine CS theory naturally introduces a spectral parameter into a CS theory. The Sinh-Gordon, KdV, and nonlinear Schrödinger equations are obtained, via Hamiltonian reductions, from the affine WZNW. It is shown that the self-dual Yang-Mills (SDYM) equation is related to the equation of motion of the affine WZNW and, thus, symmetry algebra underlying the SDYM can be identified with the affine two-loop Kac-Moody algebra of the affine WZNW.K. C. Wong Research Award Winner, address after 28 October 1992: Department of Mathematics, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland 4072, Australia.     

Supersymmetric instantons and topological quantum field theory

We present an action which generates the supersymmetric self-dual equations corresponding to euclidean super Yang-Mills theory in four dimensions. By adding additional constraint fields with new local symmetries, the classical equations of this system are the usual super self-dual equations when a gauge is chosen for the constraint fields. This construction is a supersymmetric generalization of the Labastida-Pernici action which corresponds to a gauge unfixed version of Witten's topological quantum field theory. We discuss some topological prospects for this model, and the role of supersymmetric instantons in Donaldson theory.     

General solution of 7D octonionic top equation

The general solution of a 7D analogue of the 3D Euler top equation is shown to be given by an integration over a Riemann surface with genus 9. The 7D model is derived from the 8D Spin(7) invariant self-dual Yang-Mills equation depending only upon one variable and is regarded as a model describing self-dual membrane instantons. Several integrable reductions of the 7D top to lower target space dimensions are discussed and one of them gives 6, 5, 4D descendants and the 3D Euler top associated with Riemann surfaces with genus 6, 5, 2 and 1, respectively.     

On a hierarchy of nonlinear dynamical systems and Painlevé test

A hierarchy of nonlinear dynamical systems is studied applying the Painlevé test. An interesting connection between a reduced self-dual Yang-Mills equation and a reduced Yang-Mills equation is given.     

A new symmetry group of real self-dual Yang-Mills theory

A new infinite parameter symmetry group is found for real self-dual Yang-Mills theory in four euclidean dimensions. Whereas the gauge potentials transform under a group including local gauge transformations and Kac-Moody-like transformations, the gauge invariant object tr P exp(∮A·dξ) is seen to carry a representation of the Kac-Moody symmetry. Four-dimensional Polyakov loop-space currents restricted to the self-dual sector are constructed from this algebra.     

Superholomorphic structures,moment maps,and super self-dual Yang-Mills connections over super Riemann surfaces

We consider the space of superconnections with certain curvature constraints over super Riemann surfaces. We define a moment map over that space to the dual of the super Lie algebra of gauge transformations. The zero set of this moment map corresponds to the super self-dual Yang-Mills equations in two dimensions. This result generalizes the recently proposed scheme for the nonsupersymmetric case. The superfield equations also arise from super self-dual Yang-Mills equations in four dimensions by dimensional reduction.     

Reduction of 4-dim self-dual super Yang-Mills equations onto super Riemann surfaces

Recently, a self-dual super Yang-Mills equation over a super Reimann surface was obtained as the zero set of a moment map on the space of superconnections to the dual of the super Lie algebra of gauge transformations. We present a new formulation of the 4-dim Euclidean self-dual super Yang-Mills equations in terms of constraints on the supercurvature. By dimensional reduction, we obtain the same set of superconformal field equations which define self-dual connections on a super Rieman surface.     

Local currents for the GL(N,C) self-dual Yang-Mills equation

By using a simple Bäcklund-like transformation which linearizes the GL(N, C) self-dual Yang-Mills equation, an infinite number of local conservation laws for this equation are constructed. In the SL(N, C) case, the currents become trivial, which explains why these currents are not found in SU(N) gauge theory.     

A connection between the Einstein and Yang-Mills equations

It is our purpose here to show an unusual relationship between the Einstein equations and the Yang-Mills equations. We give a correspondence between solutions of the self-dual Einstein vacuum equations and the self-dual Yang-Mills equations with a special choice of gauge group. The extension of the argument to the full Yang-Mills equations yields Einstein's unifield equations. We try to incorporate the full Einstein vacuum equations, but the approach is incomplete. We first consider Yang-Mills theory for an arbitrary Lie-algebra with the condition that the connection 1-form and curvature are constant on Minkowski space. This leads to a set of algebraic equations on the connection components. We then specialize the Lie-algebra to be the (infinite dimensional) Lie-algebra of a group of diffeomorphisms of some manifold. The algebraic equations then become differential equations for four vector fields on the manifold on which the diffeomorphisms act. In the self-dual case, if we choose the connection components from the Lie-algebra of the volume preserving 4-dimensional diffeomorphism group, the resulting equations are the same as those obtained by Ashtekar, Jacobsen and Smolin, in their remarkable simplification of the self-dual Einstein vacuum equations. (An alternative derivation of the same equations begins with the self-dual Yang-Mills connection now depending only on the time, then choosing the Lie algebra as that of the volume preserving 3-dimensional diffeomorphisms.) When the reduced full Yang-Mills equations are used in the same context, we get Einstein's equations for his unified theory based on absolute parallelism. To incorporate the full Einsteinvacuum equations we use as the Lie group the semi-direct product of the diffeomorphism group of a 4-dimensional manifold with the group of frame rotations of anSO(1, 3) bundle over the 4-manifold. This last approach, however, yields equations more general than the vacuum equations.Andrew Mellon Postdoctoral fellow and Fulbright ScholarSupported in part by NSF grant no. PHY 80023     

The twistor theory of equations of KdV type: I

This article is the first of two concerned with the development of the theory of equations of KdV type from the point of view of twistor theory and the self-dual Yang-Mills equations. A hierarchy on the self-dual Yang-Mills equations is introduced and it is shown that a certain reduction of this hierarchy is equivalent to then-generalized KdV-hierarchy. It also emerges that each flow of then-KdV hierarchy is a reduction of the self-dual Yang-Mills equations with gauge group SL _n . It is further shown that solutions of the self-dual Yang-Mills hierarchy and their reductions arise via a generalized Ward transform from holomorphic vector bundles over a twistor space. Explicit examples of such bundles are given and the Ward transform is implemented to yield a large class of explicit solutions of then-KdV equations. It is also shown that the construction of Segal and Wilson of solutions of then-KdV equations from loop groups is contained in our approach as an ansatz for the construction of a class of holomorphic bundles on twistor space.A summary of the results of the second part of this work appears in the Introduction.Most of this work was done while Darby Fellow of Mathematics at Lincoln College, Oxford     

Bäcklund transformations and local conservation laws for self-dual Yang-Mills fields with arbitrary gauge group

A process is described for deriving infinite sets of local conservation laws for self-dual Yang-Mills fields with arbitrary gauge group. This process utilizes a set of recently constructed Bäcklund transformations which leave the self-duality equation invariant.     

Painlevé test for the self-dual Yang-Mills equation

It is shown that the SU(2) self-dual Yang-Mills equation passes the Painlevé test for complete integrability.     

Gravitational instantons

The path-integral approach to quantum field theory assigns special importance to finite action Euclidean solutions of classical field equations. In Yang-Mills gauge theories, the instanton solutions of classical field equations with self-dual field strength have given rise to a new, nonperturbative treatment of the quantum field theory and its vacuum state. Since gravitation is also a species of gauge theory, one might think that similar phenomena would occur in gravity. The authors recently sought and found a new self-dual solution to Euclidean gravity which plays a role parallel to that of the Yang-Mills instanton. Gravitational instantons now promise to yield new insights into the nature of quantum gravity.This essay received the second award from the Gravity Research Foundation for the year 1979-Ed.     

A connection dynamic theory of gravity

A gauge theory of gravity with matter sources is investigated. In this theory the fundamental fields are the connections of a principal de Sitter fiber bundle, and the action is a quadratic form of the curvature as in the standard Yang-Mills theory, in which the Einstein-Hilbert action is included. The Hamiltonian formulation and the constraint analysis of it is given. The separation of the self-dual and anti self-dual parts of the connection and curvature is exhibited.     

On the Weyl-Wigner-Moyal description of SU (∞) Nahm equations

We show how the reduced self-dual Yang-Mills theory described by the Nahm equations can be carried over to the Weyl-Wigner-Moyal formalism employed recently in self-dual gravity. Evidence of the existence of a correspondence between BPS magnetic monopoles and space-time hyper-Kähler metrics is given.     

Lax pair, conserved currents, and hidden symmetry transformation for the Ernst equation

The matrix Ernst equation (a reduced form of the self-dual Yang-Mills equation) is written as the compatibility condition for solution of a linear “inverse scattering” system. This system is used to construct infinite sequences of nonlocal conserved charges, as well as an infinitesimal hidden symmetry transformation, for the Ernst equation.     

Infinite number of local conservation laws for the self-dual SU(2) Yang-Mills system within 't Hooft's ansatz

We derive infinite sets of local continuity equations for the four-dimensional classical self-dual SU(2) Yang-Mills fields subjected to 't Hooft's ansatz. In striking analogy to the two-dimensional CP(n) non-linear sigma model where local conservation laws obtain either from complex Cauchy-Riemann analyticity or from a matrix Riccati equation, our local sets derive from quaternionic Fueter analyticity or a Riccati equation associated with the geometric prolongation structure implied by the Belavin-Zakharov linear spectral problem for the self-dual Yang-Mills system. Our analysis underlines the close connection between local and non-local conservation laws and suggests that infinite sets of local continuity equations should be present in the general self-(antiself-)dual gauge field case.     

N=2 super Yang-Mills theory in projective superspace

We constructN=2 Yang-Mills theory in projective superspace by exploiting the analogy to Ward's twistor construction of self-dual Yang-Mills fields.Work supported in part by NSF grant No. PHY 85-07627     

Complex solutions of Yang-Mills

Complex solutions to classical euclidean Yang-Mills theory are found with zero action. There are both configurations which are neither self-dual nor anti-self-dual, and self-dual solutions. The quantity Pe^φA_μdx_μ is computed. The working of a Bäcklund transformation between these finite (zero) action solutions and the multi-instantons is illustrated.