Lie Groupoids, Gerbes, and Non-Abelian Cohomology

We observe that any regular Lie groupoid G over a manifold M fits into an extension K G E of a foliation groupoid E by a bundle of connected Lie groups K. If F is the foliation on M given by the orbits of E and T is a complete transversal to F , this extension restricts to T, as an extension K _T G _T E _T of an étale groupoid E _T by a bundle of connected groups K _T . We break up the classification problem for regular Lie groupoids into two parts. On the one hand, we classify the latter extensions of étale groupoids by (non-Abelian) cohomology classes in a new ech cohomology of étale groupoids. On the other hand, given K and E and an extension K _T G _T E _T over T, we present a cohomological obstruction to the problem of whether this is the restriction of an extension K G E over M; if this obstruction vanishes, all extensions K G E over M which restrict to a given extension over the transversal together form a principal bundle over a group of bitorsors under K.     

Gerbes and twisted orbifold quantum cohomology

In this paper,we construct an orbifold quantum cohomology twisted by a flat gerbe. Then we compute these invariants in the case of a smooth manifold and a discrete torsion on a global quotient orbifold.     

Bundle gerbes and moduli spaces

In this paper, we construct the index bundle gerbe of a family of self-adjoint Dirac-type operators, refining a construction of Segal. In a special case, we construct a geometric bundle gerbe called the caloron bundle gerbe, which comes with a natural connection and curving, and show that it is isomorphic to the analytically constructed index bundle gerbe. We apply these constructions to certain moduli spaces associated to compact Riemann surfaces, constructing on these moduli spaces, natural bundle gerbes with connection and curving, whose 3-curvature represent Dixmier-Douady classes that are generators of the third de Rham cohomology groups of these moduli spaces.     

Obstruction classes of crossed modules of Lie algebroids and Lie groupoids linked to existence of principal bundles

Let K be a Lie group and P be a K-principal bundle on a manifold M. Suppose given furthermore a central extension of K. It is a classical question whether there exists a -principal bundle on M such that . Neeb (Commun. Algebra 34:991–1041, 2006) defines in this context a crossed module of topological Lie algebras whose cohomology class is an obstruction to the existence of . In the present article, we show that is up to torsion a full obstruction for this problem, and we clarify its relation to crossed modules of Lie algebroids and Lie groupoids, and finally to gerbes.      

Topological Quantum Field Theory on non-Abelian gerbes

The infinitesimal symmetries of a fully decomposed non-Abelian gerbe can be generated in terms of a nilpotent BRST operator, which is here constructed. The appearing fields find a natural interpretation in terms of the universal gerbe, a generalisation of the universal bundle. We comment on the construction of observables in the arising Topological Quantum Field Theory. It is also shown how the BRST operator and the trace part of a suitably truncated set of fields on the non-Abelian gerbe reduce directly to the coboundary operator and the pertinent cochains of the underlying ?ech–de Rham complex.     

A Gerbe Obstruction to Quantization of Fermions on Odd-Dimensional Manifolds with Boundary

We consider the canonical quantization of fermions on an odd-dimensional manifold with boundary, with respect to a family of elliptic Hermitian boundary conditions for the Dirac Hamiltonian. We show that there is a topological obstruction to a smooth quantization as a function of the boundary conditions. The obstruction is given in terms of a gerbe and its Dixmier–Douady class is evaluated.