The Riemannian geometry of the Yang-Mills moduli space

The moduli space of self-dual connections over a Riemannian 4-manifold has a natural Riemannian metric, inherited from theL ² metric on the space of connections. We give a formula for the curvature of this metric in terms of the relevant Green operators. We then examine in great detail the moduli space ₁ ofk=1 instantons on the 4-sphere, and obtain an explicit formula for the metric in this case. In particular, we prove that ₁ is rotationally symmetric and has finite geometry: it is an incomplete 5-manifold with finite diameter and finite volume.Partially supported by Horace Rackham Faculty Research Grant from the University of MichiganPartially supported by N.S.F. Grant DMS-8603461