Geometrical aspects of Schlesinger''s equation

The equation (Schlesinger's equation) for the isomonodromic deformations of an (SL (2, C) connection with four simple poles on the projective line is shown to describe a holomorphic projective structure on a surface. The space of geodesics of this structure is, by a primitive version of twistor theory, a two-dimensional complex Poisson manifold containing complete rational curves. The Poisson structure degenerates on a divisor and it is shown that the complement of the divisor is a symplectic manifold which can be identified with the quotient of the moduli space of representations of a free group on three generators in SL (2, ) by the action of a braid group.     

Twistor spinors on Lorentzian symmetric spaces

An indecomposable Riemannian symmetric space which admits non-trivial twistor spinors has constant sectional curvature. Furthermore, each homogeneous Riemannian manifold with parallel spinors is flat. In the present paper we solve the twistor equation on all indecomposable Lorentzian symmetric spaces explicitly. In particular, we show that there are — in contrast to the Riemannian case — indecomposable Lorentzian symmetric spaces with twistor spinors, which have non-constant sectional curvature and non-flat and non-Ricci flat homogeneous Lorentzian manifolds with parallel spinors.     

Minimal orbits of metrics

The group of diffeomorphisms of a compact manifold acts isometrically on the space of Riemannian metrics with its L² metric. Following Arnaudon and Paycha (1995) and Maeda, Rosenberg and Tondeur (1993), we define minimal orbits for this action by a zeta function regularization. We show that odd dimensional isotropy irreducible homogeneous spaces give rise to minimal orbits, the first known examples of minimal submanifolds of infinite dimension and codimension. We also find a flat 2-torus giving a stable minimal orbit. We prove that isolated orbits are minimal, as in finite dimensions.     

Symplectic twistor spaces

The paper describes the geometry of the bundle (M, ω) of the compatible complex structures of the tangent spaces of an (almost) symplectic manifold (M, ω), from the viewpoint of general twistor spaces [3], [9], [1]. It is shown that M has an either complex or almost Kaehler twistor space iff it has a flat symplectic connection. Applications of the twistor space to the study of the differential forms of M, and to the study of mappings : N → M, where N is a Kaehler manifold are indicated.     

Geometric phases and coherent states

A cyclic evolution of a pure quantum state is characterized by a closed curve γ in the projective Hilbert space , equipped with the Fubini-Study geometry. It is known that the geometric phase for this evolution is given by the integral of the symplectic form of the Fubini-Study geometry over an arbitrary surface spanning γ. This result extends to an infinite-dimensional Hilbert space for a bosonic quantum field. We prove that is bounded above by the infimum area over all surfaces spanning γ, and that the bound is attained if γ can be spanned by a holomorphic curve. Using an earlier result concerning the intrinsic Euclidean geometry of the coherent state submanifold , we derive an expression for the geometric phase for a cyclic evolution amongst coherent states. We indicate how the intensity of a classical configuration can be inferred from the winding number of the exponential geometric phase about the origin in the complex plane. In the case of photon states we present group theoretic and 2-component spinor representations of . We derive an expression for in the case of a sequence of measurements such that the resulting states are coherent at each step, in terms of a sequence of projection operators. The situation in relation to some earlier experiments of Pancharatnam and Tomita–Chiao is explained.     

Heterotic non-Kähler geometries via polystable bundles on Calabi-Yau threefolds

In arXiv:1008.1018 it is shown that a given stable vector bundle V on a Calabi-Yau threefold X which satisfies c₂(X)=c₂(V) can be deformed to a solution of the Strominger system and the equations of motion of heterotic string theory. In this note we extend this result to the polystable case and construct explicit examples of polystable bundles on elliptically fibered Calabi-Yau threefolds where it applies. The polystable bundle is given by a spectral cover bundle, for the visible sector, and a suitably chosen bundle, for the hidden sector. This provides a new class of heterotic flux compactifications via non-Kähler deformation of Calabi-Yau geometries with polystable bundles. As an application, we obtain examples of non-Kähler deformations of some three generation GUT models.     

Holographic correspondence in topological superconductors

We analytically derive a compatible family of effective field theories that uniquely describe topological superconductors in 3D, their 2D boundary and their 1D defect lines. We start by deriving the topological field theory of a 3D topological superconductor in class DIII, which is consistent with its symmetries. Then we identify the effective theory of a 2D topological superconductor in class D living on the gapped boundary of the 3D system. By employing the holographic correspondence we derive the effective chiral conformal field theory that describes the gapless modes living on the defect lines or effective boundary of the class D topological superconductor. We demonstrate that the chiral central charge is given in terms of the 3D winding number of the bulk which by its turn is equal to the Chern number of its gapped boundary.     

Fattening complex manifolds: Curvature and Kodaira—Spencer maps

We present a calculus whereby the curvature of a geometry arising from any generalized twistor correspondence is related to an obstruction-theoretic classification of the infinitesimal neighborhoods of submanifolds of its twistor space. The crux of the argument involves a relation between Kodaira—Spencer maps and the Penrose transform.     

Some properties of the spectral flow in semiriemannian geometry

Let be the action integral on a semiriemannian manifold ( , g) defined on the space of the curves z : [0, 1] → joining two given points z₀ and z₁. The critical points of ƒ are the geodesics joining z₀ and z₁. Let s ε [0, 1]. We study the behavior, in dependence of s, of the eigenvalues of the Hessian form of ƒ evaluated at z, restricted to the interval [0, s]. A formula for the derivative of the eigenvalues is given and some applications are shown.     

A Lagrangian for Hamiltonian vector fields on singular Poisson manifolds

On a manifold equipped with a bivector field, we introduce for every Hamiltonian a Lagrangian on paths valued in the cotangent space whose stationary points project onto Hamiltonian vector fields. We show that the remaining components of those stationary points tell whether the bivector field is Poisson or at least defines an integrable distribution—a class of bivector fields generalizing twisted Poisson structures that we study in detail.     

Electron conductance in curved quantum structures

A differential-geometry analysis is employed to investigate the transmission of electrons through a curved quantum-wire structure. Although the problem is a three-dimensional spatial problem, the Schrödinger equation can be separated into three general coordinates. Hence, the proposed method is computationally fast and provides direct (geometrical) parameter insight as regards the determination of the electron transmission coefficient. We present, as a case study, calculations of the electron conductivity of a helically shaped quantum-wire structure and discuss the influence of the quantum-wire centerline radius of curvature and pitch length for the conductivity versus the chemical potential.     

Discrete symmetries and the propagator approach to coupled fermions in Quantum Field Theory. Generalities: The case of a single fermion-antifermion pair

Starting from Wigner’s symmetry representation theorem, we give a general account of discrete symmetries (parity P, charge conjugation C, time-reversal T), focusing on fermions in Quantum Field Theory. We provide the rules of transformation of Weyl spinors, both at the classical level (grassmanian wave functions) and quantum level (operators). Making use of Wightman’s definition of invariance, we outline ambiguities linked to the notion of classical fermionic Lagrangian. We then present the general constraints cast by these transformations and their products on the propagator of the simplest among coupled fermionic system, the one made with one fermion and its antifermion. Last, we put in correspondence the propagation of C eigenstates (Majorana fermions) and the criteria cast on their propagator by C and CP invariance.     

Are Causality Violations Undesirable?

Causality violations are typically seen as unrealistic and undesirable features of a physical model. The following points out three reasons why causality violations, which Bonnor and Steadman identified even in solutions to the Einstein equation referring to ordinary laboratory situations, are not necessarily undesirable. First, a space-time in which every causal curve can be extended into a closed causal curve is singularity free—a necessary property of a globally applicable physical theory. Second, a causality-violating space-time exhibits a nontrivial topology—no closed timelike curve (CTC) can be homotopic among CTCs to a point, or that point would not be causally well behaved—and nontrivial topology has been explored as a model of particles. Finally, if every causal curve in a given space-time passes through an event horizon, a property which can be called “causal censorship”, then that space-time with event horizons excised would still be causally well behaved. In honor of the retirement from Davidson College of Dr. L. Richardson King, an extraordinary teacher and mathematician. An earlier version () was selected as co-winner of the CTC Essay Prize set by Queen Mary College, University of London. The views expressed in this paper are those of the author and should not be attributed to the International Monetary Fund, its Executive Board, or its management. This paper was not prepared using official resources. Comments are appreciated from anonymous referees and from participants in seminars at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México and Davidson College.     

A correspondence for isometric immersions into product spaces and its applications

We present a correspondence for isometric immersions that are graphs in Riemannian or semi-Riemannian warped product spaces. We use this correspondence to give several existence and non-existence theorems for hypersurfaces in Riemannian or Lorentzian spaces. In the case of surfaces, we obtain further applications regarding height estimates, harmonic representation of surfaces and the existence of holomorphic quadratic differentials in homogeneous and non-homogeneous spaces.     

Functional programming framework for <Emphasis Type="Italic">GRworkbench</Emphasis>

The software tool GRworkbench is an ongoing project in visual, numerical General Relativity at The Australian National University. Recently, the numerical differential geometric engine of GRworkbench has been rewritten using functional programming techniques. By allowing functions to be directly represented as program variables in C++ code, the functional framework enables the mathematical formalism of Differential Geometry to be more closely reflected in GRworkbench. The powerful technique of ‘automatic differentiation’ has replaced numerical differentiation of the metric components, resulting in more accurate derivatives and an order-of-magnitude performance increase for operations relying on differentiation.     

Double field formulation of Yang-Mills theory

Based on our previous work on the differential geometry for the closed string double field theory, we construct a Yang-Mills action which is covariant under O(D,D) T-duality rotation and invariant under three-types of gauge transformations: non-Abelian Yang-Mills, diffeomorphism and one-form gauge symmetries. In double field formulation, in a manifestly covariant manner our action couples a single O(D,D) vector potential to the closed string double field theory. In terms of undoubled component fields, it couples a usual Yang-Mills gauge field to an additional one-form field and also to the closed string background fields which consist of a dilaton, graviton and a two-form gauge field. Our resulting action resembles a twisted Yang-Mills action.     

On the structure and multipole moments of axially symmetric stationary metrics

The structure of the stationary metrics [1], generated from Laplace’s solutions as seed, is investigated. The expressions for the equatorial and polar circumferences, the surface area of the event horizon, location of singular points and the Gaussian curvatures of the metrics [1] are derived and their variations with the field parameter α₀ are studied. The multipole moments are calculated with the help of coordinate invariant Geroch-Hansen technique. These investigations expose some interesting properties of the metrics, some of which are known in the literature and some deserve a new interpretation.