Riemannian supergeometry

Motivated by Zirnbauer in J Math Phys 37(10):4986–5018 (1996), we develop a theory of Riemannian supermanifolds up to a definition of Riemannian symmetric superspaces. Various fundamental concepts needed for the study of these spaces both from the Riemannian and the Lie theoretical viewpoint are introduced, e.g., geodesics, isometry groups and invariant metrics on Lie supergroups and homogeneous superspaces. Research supported by the DFG, SFB TR/12 “Symmetries and Universality in Mesoscopic Systems”.     

Non-abelian GKM theory

We describe a generalization of GKM theory for actions of arbitrary compact connected Lie groups. To an action satisfying the non-abelian GKM conditions we attach a graph encoding the structure of the non-abelian 1-skeleton, i.e., the subspace of points with isotopy rank at most one less than the rank of the acting group. We show that the algebra structure of the equivariant cohomology can be read off from this graph. In comparison with ordinary abelian GKM theory, there are some special features due to the more complicated structure of the non-abelian 1-skeleton.     

Localization of Chern–Simons type invariants of Riemannian foliations

We prove an Atiyah–Bott–Berline–Vergne type localization formula for Killing foliations in the context of equivariant basic cohomology. As an application, we localize some Chern–Simons type invariants, for example the volume of Sasakian manifolds and secondary characteristic classes of Riemannian foliations, to the union of closed leaves. Various examples are given to illustrate our method.     

On the Geometry of the Orbits of Hermann Actions

We investigate the submanifold geometry of the orbits of Hermann actions on Riemannian symmetric spaces. After proving that the curvature and shape operators of these orbits commute, we calculate the eigenvalues of the shape operators in terms of the restricted roots. As applications, we get a formula for the volumes of the orbits and a new proof of a Weyl-type integration formula for Hermann actions.      

Reconstructing the orbit type stratification of a torus action from its equivariant cohomology

We investigate what information on the orbit type stratification of a torus action on a compact space is contained in its rational equivariant cohomology algebra. Regarding the (labelled) poset structure of the stratification, we show that equivariant cohomology encodes the subposet of ramified elements. For equivariantly formal actions, we also examine what cohomological information of the stratification is encoded. In the smooth setting, we show that under certain conditions—which in particular hold for a compact orientable manifold with discrete fixed point set—the equivariant cohomologies of the strata are encoded in the equivariant cohomology of the manifold.

     

Equivariant cohomology of K-contact manifolds

We investigate the equivariant cohomology of the natural torus action on a K-contact manifold and its relation to the topology of the Reeb flow. Using the contact moment map, we show that the equivariant cohomology of this action is Cohen–Macaulay, the natural substitute of equivariant formality for torus actions without fixed points. As a consequence, generic components of the contact moment map are perfect Morse-Bott functions for the basic cohomology of the orbit foliation ${{\mathcal F}}$ of the Reeb flow. Assuming that the closed Reeb orbits are isolated, we show that the basic cohomology of ${{\mathcal F}}$ vanishes in odd degrees, and that its dimension equals the number of closed Reeb orbits. We characterize K-contact manifolds with minimal number of closed Reeb orbits as real cohomology spheres. We also prove a GKM-type theorem for K-contact manifolds which allows to calculate the equivariant cohomology algebra under the nonisolated GKM condition.     

On the topology of metric f – K -contact manifolds

We observe that the class of metric f–K-contact manifolds, which naturally contains that of K-contact manifolds, is closed under forming mapping tori of automorphisms of the structure. We show that the de Rham cohomology of compact metric f–K-contact manifolds naturally splits off an exterior algebra, and relate the closed leaves of the characteristic foliation to its basic cohomology.     

Higher-order conservation laws for the nonlinear Poisson equation via characteristic cohomology

We study higher-order conservation laws of the nonlinearizable elliptic Poisson equation as elements of the characteristic cohomology of the associated exterior differential system. The theory of characteristic cohomology determines a normal form for differentiated conservation laws by realizing them as elements of the kernel of a linear differential operator. We show that the \mathbbS¹{\mathbb{S}^1} -symmetry of the PDE leads to a normal form for the undifferentiated conservation laws. Zhiber and Shabat (in Sov Phys Dokl Akad 24(8):607–609, 1979) determine which potentials of nonlinearizable Poisson equations admit nontrivial Lie–B?cklund transformations. In the case that such transformations exist, they introduce a pseudo-differential operator that can be used to generate infinitely many such transformations. We obtain similar results using the theory of characteristic cohomology: we show that for higher-order conservation laws to exist, it is necessary that the potential satisfies a linear second-order ODE. In this case, at most two new conservation laws in normal form appear at each even prolongation. By using a recursion motivated by Killing fields, we show that, for the simplest class of potentials, this upper bound is attained. The recursion circumvents the use of pseudo-differential operators. We relate higher-order conservation laws to generalized symmetries of the exterior differential system by identifying their generating functions. This Noether correspondence provides the connection between conservation laws and the canonical Jacobi fields of Pinkall and Sterling.     

Torsion in equivariant cohomology and Cohen-Macaulay G-actions

We show that the well-known fact that the equivariant cohomology (with real coefficients) of a torus action is a torsion-free module if and only if the map induced by the inclusion of the fixed point set is injective generalises to actions of arbitrary compact connected Lie groups if one replaces the fixed point set by the set of points with isotropy rank equal to the rank of the acting group. This is true essentially because the action on this set is always equivariantly formal. In case this set is empty we show that the induced action on the set of points with highest occuring isotropy rank is Cohen-Macaulay. It turns out that just as equivariant formality of an action is equivalent to equivariant formality of the action of a maximal torus, the same holds true for equivariant injectivity and the Cohen-Macaulay property. In addition, we find a topological criterion for equivariant injectivity in terms of orbit spaces.