Instanton strings and hyper-Kähler geometry

We discuss two-dimensional sigma models on moduli spaces of instantons on K3 surfaces. These N = (4, 4) superconformal field theories describe the near-horizon dynamics of the D1-D5-brane system and are dual to string theory on AdS³. We derive a precise map relating the moduli of the K3 type 1113 string compactification to the moduli of these conformal field theories and the corresponding classical hyper-Kahler geometry. We conclude that in the absence of background gauge fields, the metric on the instanton moduli spaces degenerates exactly to the orbifold symmetric product of K3. Turning on a self-dual NS B-field deforms this symmetric product to a manifold that is diffeomorphic to the Hilbert scheme. We also comment on the mathematical applications of string duality to the global issues of deformations of hyper-Kähler manifolds.     

Anti-holomorphic involutive isometry of hyper-Kähler manifolds and branes

We study complex Lagrangian submanifolds of a compact hyper-Kähler manifold and prove two results: (a) that an involution of a hyper-Kähler manifold which is antiholomorphic with respect to one complex structure and which acts non-trivially on the corresponding symplectic form always has a fixed point locus which is complex Lagrangian with respect to one of the other complex structures, and (b) there exist Lagrangian submanifolds which are complex with respect to one complex structure and are not the fixed point locus of any involution which is anti-holomorphic with respect to one of the other complex structures.     

Explicit derivation of a new hyper-Kähler metric

Using the harmonic superspace techniques in D = 2 N = 4, we present an explicit derivation of a new hyper-Kähler metric associated to the Toda-like self-interaction H⁴⁺ (ω, u) = (ζ⁺⁺/γ)² exp (2γω). Some important features are also discussed.     

Pseudo-Hyperkähler Geometry and Generalized Kähler Geometry

We discuss the conditions for additional supersymmetry and twisted super-symmetry in N = (2, 2) supersymmetric nonlinear sigma models described by one left and one right semi-chiral superfield and carrying a pair of non-commuting complex structures. Focus is on linear non-manifest transformations of these fields that have an algebra that closes off-shell. We find that additional linear supersymmetry has no interesting solution, whereas additional linear twisted supersymmetry has solutions with interesting geometrical properties. We solve the conditions for invariance of the action and show that these solutions correspond to a bi-hermitian metric of signature (2, 2) and a pseudo-hyperkähler geometry of the target space.     

Conification of Kähler and Hyper-Kähler Manifolds

Given a Kähler manifold M endowed with a Hamiltonian Killing vector field Z, we construct a conical Kähler manifold ${\hat{M}}$ such that M is recovered as a Kähler quotient of ${\hat{M}}$ . Similarly, given a hyper-Kähler manifold (M, g, J ₁, J ₂, J ₃) endowed with a Killing vector field Z, Hamiltonian with respect to the Kähler form of J ₁ and satisfying ${\mathcal{L}_ZJ_2 = -2J_3}$ , we construct a hyper-Kähler cone ${\hat{M}}$ such that M is a certain hyper-Kähler quotient of ${\hat{M}}$ . In this way, we recover a theorem by Haydys. Our work is motivated by the problem of relating the supergravity c-map to the rigid c-map. We show that any hyper-Kähler manifold in the image of the c-map admits a Killing vector field with the above properties. Therefore, it gives rise to a hyper-Kähler cone, which in turn defines a quaternionic Kähler manifold. Our results for the signature of the metric and the sign of the scalar curvature are consistent with what we know about the supergravity c-map.     

Hyperkähler metrics and supersymmetry

We describe two constructions of hyperkähler manifolds, one based on a Legendre transform, and one on a sympletic quotient. These constructions arose in the context of supersymmetric nonlinear -models, but can be described entirely geometrically. In this general setting, we attempt to clarify the relation between supersymmetry and aspects of modern differential geometry, along the way reviewing many basic and well known ideas in the hope of making them accessible to a new audience.Supported by the Swedish Natural Science Research CouncilResearch supported by the National Science Foundation under Contract No. PHY 81 09110 A-01 and PHY 85-07627     

Instantons and Kähler manifolds

It is shown that for two-dimensional Euclidean chiral models of the field theory with values in arbitrary Kähler manifold duality equations reduce to the Cauchy-Riemann equations on this manifold. A class of models is described possessing such type solutions, the so called instanton solutions.     

Einstein-Kähler surfaces and gravitational instantons

Compact complex manifolds solutions of the Euclidean Einstein equations with a term are examined, through a survey of the literature on the classification of complex surfaces.     

Contact Spheres and Hyperkähler Geometry

A taut contact sphere on a 3-manifold is a linear 2-sphere of contact forms, all defining the same volume form. In the present paper we completely determine the moduli of taut contact spheres on compact left-quotients of SU(2) (the only closed manifolds admitting such structures). We also show that the moduli space of taut contact spheres embeds into the moduli space of taut contact circles.This moduli problem leads to a new viewpoint on the Gibbons-Hawking ansatz in hyperkähler geometry. The classification of taut contact spheres on closed 3-manifolds includes the known classification of 3-Sasakian 3-manifolds, but the local Riemannian geometry of contact spheres is much richer. We construct two examples of taut contact spheres on open subsets of \({\mathbb{R}^3}\) with nontrivial local geometry; one from the Helmholtz equation on the 2-sphere, and one from the Gibbons-Hawking ansatz. We address the Bernstein problem whether such examples can give rise to complete metrics.     

Hyper-Kähler Hierarchies and Their Twistor Theory

A twistor construction of the hierarchy associated with the hyper-K?hler equations on a metric (the anti-self-dual Einstein vacuum equations, ASDVE, in four dimensions) is given. The recursion operator R is constructed and used to build an infinite-dimensional symmetry algebra and in particular higher flows for the hyper-K?hler equations. It is shown that R acts on the twistor data by multiplication with a rational function. The structures are illustrated by the example of the Sparling–Tod (Eguchi–Hansen) solution. An extended space-time ? is constructed whose extra dimensions correspond to higher flows of the hierarchy. It is shown that ? is a moduli space of rational curves with normal bundle ?(n)⊕?(n) in twistor space and is canonically equipped with a Lax distribution for ASDVE hierarchies. The space ? is shown to be foliated by four dimensional hyper-K?hler slices. The Lagrangian, Hamiltonian and bi-Hamiltonian formulations of the ASDVE in the form of the heavenly equations are given. The symplectic form on the moduli space of solutions to heavenly equations is derived, and is shown to be compatible with the recursion operator. Received: 27 January 2000 / Accepted: 20 March 2000     

Bäcklund transformations for nonlinear sigma models with values in Riemannian symmetric spaces

This work deals with Bäcklund transformations for the principal SL(n, ) sigma model together with all reduced models with values in Riemannian symmetric spaces. First, the dressing method of Zakharov, Mikhailov, and Shabat is shown, for the case of a meromorphic dressing matrix, to be equivalent to a Bäcklund transformation for an associated, linearly extended system. Comparison of this multi-Bäcklund transformation with the composition of ordinary ones leads to a new proof of the permutability theorem. A new method of solution for such multi-Bäcklund transformations (MBT) is developed, by the introduction of a soliton correlation matrix which satisfies a Riccati system equivalent to the MBT. Using the geometric structure of this system, a linearization is achieved, leading to a nonlinear superposition formula expressing the solution explicitly in terms of solutions of a single Bäcklund transformation through purely linear algebraic relations. A systematic study of all reductions of the system by involutive automorphisms is made, thereby defining the multi-Bäcklund transformations and their solution for all Riemannian symmetric spaces.Supported in part by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, and by the Fonds FCAC pour l'aide et le soutien à la recherche