Connections in Geometry and Physics - 2009

I will discuss the metric behavior of the Kahler-Ricci flow on Hirzebruch surfaces assuming that the initial metric is invariant under a maximal compact subgroup of the automorphism group. I will describe how, in the sense of Gromov-Hausdorff, the flow either shrinks to a point, collapses to P^1 or contracts an exceptional divisor. This confirms a conjecture of Feldman-Ilmanen-Knopf. This is a joint work with Jian Song.

The classical "split" rational R-matrix Poisson bracket structure on the space of rational connections over the Riemann sphere provides a natural setting for studying deformations. It can be shown that a natural set of Poisson commuting spectral invariant Hamiltonians, which are dual to the Casimir invariants of the Poisson structure, generate all deformations which, when viewed as nonautonomous Hamiltonian systems, preserve the generalized monodromy of the connections, in the sense of Birkhoff (i.e., the monodromy representation, the Stokes parameters and connection matrices). These spectral invariants may be expressed as residues of the trace invariants of the connection over the spectral curve. Applications include the deformation equations for orthogonal polynomials having "semi-classical" measures. The $\tau$ function for such isomonodromic deformations coincides with the Hankel determinant formed from the moments, and is interpretable as a generalized matrix model integral. They are also related to Seiberg-Witten invariants. (This talk is based in part on joint work with: Marco Bertola, Gabor Pusztai and Jacques Hurtubise)

The space of regular noncommutative algebras includes regular graded Clifford algebras, which correspond to base point free linear systems of quadrics in dimension n in P^n. The schemes of linear modules for these algebras can be described in terms of this linear system. We show that the space of line modules on a 4 dimensional algebra is an Enriques surface called the Reye congruence, and we extend this result to higher dimensions.

This talk will discuss, illustrated by a toy example, how to construct "higher-algebraic" quantum field theories using groupoids. In particular, the groupoids describe configuration spaces of connections, together with their gauge symmetries, on spacetime, space, and boundaries of regions in space. The talk will describe a higher-algebraic "sum over histories", and how this construction is related to usual QFT's, and particularly the relation to the case of the Chern-Simons theory.

"A Hamiltonian action of a Lie group on a symplectic manifold $(M,\omega)$ gives rise to a gauge theoretic deformation of the Cauchy-Riemann equations, called the symplectic vortex equations. Counting solutions of these equations over the complex plane leads to a quantum version of the Kirwan map. In joint work with Christopher Woodward, we interpret this map as a weak morphism of cohomological field theories."