Moduli spaces of curves and representation theory

We establish a canonical isomorphism between the second cohomology of the Lie algebra of regular differential operators on ^x of degree 1, and the second singular cohomology of the moduli space of quintuples (C, p, z, L, ]), whereC is a smooth genusg Riemann surface,p a point onC, z a local parameter atp, L a degreeg–1 line bundle onC, and ] a class of local trivializations ofL atp which differ by a non-zero factor. The construction uses an interplay between various infinite-dimensional manifolds based on the topological spaceH of germs of holomorphic functions in a neighborhood of 0 in ^x and related topological spaces. The basic tool is a canonical map from to the infinite-dimensional Grassmannian of subspaces ofH, which is the orbit of the subspaceH _– of holomorphic functions on ^x vanishing at , under the group AutH. As an application, we give a Lie-algebraic proof of the Mumford formula: _n =(6n ²–6n+1)₁, where _n is the determinant line bundle of the vector bundle on the moduli space of curves of genusg, whose fiber overC is the space of differentials of degreen onC.