Aspects of classical and quantum Nambu mechanics

We present recent developments in the theory of Nambu mechanics, which include new examples of Nambu-Poisson manifolds with linear Nambu brackets and new representations of Nambu-Heisenberg commutation relations.     

Drinfeld-Sokolov reduction on a simple lie algebra from the bihamiltonian point of view

We show that the Drinfeld-Sokolov reduction can be framed in the general theory of bihamiltonian manifolds, with the help of a specialized version of a reduction theorem for Poisson manifolds by Marsden and Ratiu.This work has been supported by the Italian MURST and by the GNFM of the Italian C.N.R.     

Asymptotically Hyperbolic Manifolds with Small Mass

For asymptotically hyperbolic manifolds of dimension n with scalar curvature at least equal to ?n(n ? 1) the conjectured positive mass theorem states that the mass is non-negative, and vanishes only if the manifold is isometric to hyperbolic space. In this paper we study asymptotically hyperbolic manifolds which are also conformally hyperbolic outside a ball of fixed radius, and for which the positive mass theorem holds. For such manifolds we show that the conformal factor tends to one as the mass tends to zero.     

Le théorème de réduction de Marsden-Weinstein en géométrie cosymplectique et de contact

We show that the classical Marsden-Weinstein Reduction theorem for Hamiltonian systems with symmetries is still true for contact manifolds and cosympletic manifolds (i.e. canonical manifolds in the sense of A. Lichnerowicz).

In fact, we precise the notion of transitive almost contact structure, which enables us to consider the cosymplectic geometry as a limit of the contact geometry when a certain parameter goes to zero. This point of view unifies both theories.

However, we have to give two distinct proofs for the contact Reduction theorem and the cosymplectic one.     

A Note on Invariant Temporal Functions

The purpose of this article is to present a result on the existence of Cauchy temporal functions invariant by the action of a compact group of conformal transformations in arbitrary globally hyperbolic manifolds. Moreover, the previous results about the existence of Cauchy temporal functions with additional properties on arbitrary globally hyperbolic manifolds are unified in a very general theorem. To make the article more accessible for non-experts, and in the lack of an appropriate single reference for the Lorentzian geometry background of the result, the latter is provided in an introductory section.     

A note on toric contact geometry

After observing that the well-known convexity theorems of symplectic geometry also hold for compact contact manifolds with an effective torus action whose Reeb vector field corresponds to an element of the Lie algebra of the torus, we use this fact together with a recent symplectic orbifold version of Delzant’s theorem due to Lerman and Tolman [E. Lerman, S. Tolman, Trans. Am. Math. Soc. 349 (10) (1997) 4201–4230] to show that every such compact toric contact manifold can be obtained by a contact reduction from an odd dimensional sphere.     

Some applications of geometry is continuum mechanics

Some contemporary ideas from differential geometry are applied to continuum mechanics. The Lie derivative is used to clarify the notion of “objective rates”, an intrinsic treatment of Piola transformations is described, a simplified proof of Vainberg's theorem for potential operators is given by way of the Poincaré lemma on infinite dimensional manifolds, and a new derivation of the basic equations of continuum mechanics is presented which is valid in a general Riemannian manifold setting.     

On the AKSZ Formulation of the Poisson Sigma Model

We review and extend the Alexandrov–Kontsevich–Schwarz–Zaboronsky construction of solutions of the Batalin–Vilkovisky classical master equation. In particular, we study the case of sigma models on manifolds with boundary. We show that a special case of this construction yields the Batalin–Vilkovisky action functional of the Poisson sigma model on a disk. As we have shown in a previous paper, the perturbative quantization of this model is related to Kontsevich's deformation quantization of Poisson manifolds and to his formality theorem. We also discuss the action of diffeomorphisms of the target manifolds.     

Rigidity of Asymptotically Hyperbolic Manifolds

In this paper, we prove a rigidity theorem of asymptotically hyperbolic manifolds only under the assumptions on curvature. Its proof is based on analyzing asymptotic structures of such manifolds at infinity and a volume comparison theorem.The first author’s research is partially supported by NSF grant of China.The second author’s research is partially supported by an NSF grant and a Simon fund.     

Poisson Quasi-Nijenhuis Manifolds

We introduce the notion of Poisson quasi-Nijenhuis manifolds generalizing Poisson-Nijenhuis manifolds of Magri-Morosi. We also investigate the integration problem of Poisson quasi-Nijenhuis manifolds. In particular, we prove that, under some topological assumption, Poisson (quasi)-Nijenhuis manifolds are in one-one correspondence with symplectic (quasi)-Nijenhuis groupoids. As an application, we study generalized complex structures in terms of Poisson quasi-Nijenhuis manifolds. We prove that a generalized complex manifold corresponds to a special class of Poisson quasi-Nijenhuis structures. As a consequence, we show that a generalized complex structure integrates to a symplectic quasi-Nijenhuis groupoid, recovering a theorem of Crainic. Francqui fellow of the Belgian American Educational Foundation. Research supported by NSF grant DMS03-06665 and NSA grant 03G-142.     

Boundary Conditions for Topological Quantum Field Theories,Anomalies and Projective Modular Functors

We study boundary conditions for extended topological quantum field theories (TQFTs) and their relation to topological anomalies. We introduce the notion of TQFTs with moduli level m, and describe extended anomalous theories as natural transformations of invertible field theories of this type. We show how in such a framework anomalous theories give rise naturally to homotopy fixed points for n-characters on ∞-groups. By using dimensional reduction on manifolds with boundaries, we show how boundary conditions for n + 1-dimensional TQFTs produce n-dimensional anomalous field theories. Finally, we analyse the case of fully extended TQFTs, and show that any fully extended anomalous theory produces a suitable boundary condition for the anomaly field theory.     

On a poisson reduction for Gel'fand-Zakharevich manifolds

We formulate and discuss a reduction theorem for Poisson pencils associated with a class of integrable systems, defined on bi-Hamiltonian manifolds, recently studied by Gel'fand and Zakharevich. The reduction procedure is suggested by the bi-Hamiltonian approach to the separation of variables problem.     

Reduction of Jacobi–Nijenhuis manifolds

A reduction theorem for Jacobi–Nijenhuis manifolds is established and its relation with the reduction of homogeneous Poisson–Nijenhuis structures is shown. Reduction under Lie group actions is also studied.     

Transformations of measures via their generalized densities

In this note we describe algorithms for obtaining formulae for transformations of measures on infinite dimensional topological vector spaces or manifolds, generated by transformations of the domains of the measures and by transformations of the range.     

Intersection properties of invariant manifolds in certain twist maps

We consider the spaceN ofC ² twist maps that satisfy the following requirements. The action is the sum of a purely quadratic term and a periodic potential times a constantk (hereafter called the nonlinearity). The potential restricted to the unit circle is bimodal, i.e. has one local minimum and one local maximum. The following statements are proven for maps inN with nonlinearityk large enough. The intersection of the unstable and stable invariant manifolds to the hyperbolic minimizing periodic points contains minimizing homoclinic points. Consider two finite pieces of these manifolds that connect two adjacent homoclinic minimizing points (hereafter called fundamental domains). We prove that all such fundamental domains have precisely one point in their intersection (the Single Intersection theorem). In addition, we show that limit points of minimizing points are recurrent, which implies that Aubry Mather sets (with irrational rotation number) are contained in diamonds formed by local stable and unstable manifolds of nearby minimizing periodic orbits (the Diamond Configuration theorem). Another corollary concerns the intersection of the minimax orbits with certain symmetry lines of the map.     

Almost rigidity of the positive mass theorem for asymptotically hyperbolic manifolds with spherical symmetry

We use the notion of intrinsic flat distance to address the almost rigidity of the positive mass theorem for asymptotically hyperbolic manifolds. In particular, we prove that a sequence of spherically symmetric asymptotically hyperbolic manifolds satisfying the conditions of the positive mass theorem converges to hyperbolic space in the intrinsic flat sense, if the limit of the mass along the sequence is zero.     

Comment on "Finding finite-time invariant manifolds in two-dimensional velocity fields" [Chaos 10, 99 (2000)

This note serves as a commentary of the paper of Haller [Chaos 10, 99 (2000)] on techniques for detecting invariant manifolds. Here we show that the criterion of Haller can be improved in two ways. First, by using the strain basis reference frame, a more efficient version of theorem 1 of Haller (2000) allows to better detect the manifolds. Second, we emphasize the need to nondimensionalize the estimate of hyperbolic persistence. These statements are illustrated by the example of the Kida ellipse. (c) 2001 American Institute of Physics.     

The Equivariant Cohomology Theory of Twisted Generalized Complex Manifolds

It has been shown recently by Kapustin and Tomasiello that the mathematical notion of Hamiltonian actions on twisted generalized Kähler manifolds is in perfect agreement with the physical notion of general (2, 2) gauged sigma models with three-form fluxes. In this article, we study the twisted equivariant cohomology theory of Hamiltonian actions on H-twisted generalized complex manifolds. If the manifold satisfies the ${\overline{\partial} \partial}It has been shown recently by Kapustin and Tomasiello that the mathematical notion of Hamiltonian actions on twisted generalized K?hler manifolds is in perfect agreement with the physical notion of general (2, 2) gauged sigma models with three-form fluxes. In this article, we study the twisted equivariant cohomology theory of Hamiltonian actions on H-twisted generalized complex manifolds. If the manifold satisfies the -lemma, we establish the equivariant formality theorem. If in addition, the manifold satisfies the generalized K?hler condition, we prove the Kirwan injectivity in this setting. We then consider the Hamiltonian action of a torus on an H-twisted generalized Calabi-Yau manifold and extend to this case the Duistermaat-Heckman theorem for the push-forward measure. As a side result, we show in this paper that the generalized K?hler quotient of a generalized K?hler vector space can never have a (cohomologically) non-trivial twisting. This gives a negative answer to a question asked by physicists whether one can construct (2, 2) gauged linear sigma models with non-trivial fluxes.     

A Construction of Frobenius Manifolds with Logarithmic Poles and Applications

A construction theorem for Frobenius manifolds with logarithmic poles is established. This is a generalization of a theorem of Hertling and Manin. As an application we prove a partial generalization of the reconstruction theorem of Kontsevich and Manin for projective smooth varieties with convergent Gromov-Witten potential. A second application is a construction of Frobenius manifolds out of a variation of polarized Hodge structures which degenerates along a normal crossing divisor when certain generation conditions are fulfilled.