arXiv research

We introduce certain relative differential characters which we call Cheeger-Chern-Simons characters. These combine the well-known Cheeger-Simons characters with Chern-Simons forms. In the same way as the Cheeger-Simons characters generalize Chern-Simons invariants of oriented closed manifolds, the Cheeger-Chern-Simons …

New $L_\infty$ liftings derived from Chern-Simons classes for coherent sheaves.

We extend finite dimensional Chern-Simons theory to certain infinite dimensional principal bundles with connections, in particular to the frame bundle $FLM\to LM$ over the loop space of a Riemannian manifold $M$. Chern-Simons forms are defined roughly as in finite dimensions with the invariant polynomials replaced by a…

We define an extended Bloch group and show it is naturally isomorphic to H_3(PSL(2,C)^δ;Z). Using the Rogers dilogarithm function this leads to an exact simplicial formula for the universal Cheeger-Chern-Simons class on this homology group. It also leads to an independent proof of the analytic relationship between volu…

We present a simplification of Neumann's formula for the universal Cheeger-Chern-Simons class of the second Chern polynomial. Our approach is completely algebraic, and the final formula can be applied directly on a homology class in the bar complex.

We exhibit the Chern-Simons forms of some characteristic classes in the simplicial de Rham complex.

The Chern-Simons forms for R-linear connections on Lie algebroids are considered. A generalized Chern-Simons formula for such R-linear connections is obtained. We it apply to define Chern character and secondary characteristic classes for R-linear connections of Lie algebroids.

We present a formula for the full Cheeger-Chern-Simons class of the tautological flat complex vector bundle of rank two over BSL(2,\C^δ). Our formula improves the formula by Dupont and Zickert, where the class is only computed modulo 2-torsion.

We study S-dualities in analytically continued SL(2) Chern-Simons theory on a 3-manifold M. By realizing Chern-Simons theory via a compactification of a 6d five-brane theory on M, various objects and symmetries in Chern-Simons theory become related to objects and operations in dual 2d, 3d, and 4d theories. For example,…

We define an extended Bloch group and show it is isomorphic to $H_3(PSL(2,C)^δ;Z)$. Using the Rogers dilogarithm function this leads to an exact simplicial formula for the universal Cheeger-Simons class on this homology group. It also leads to an independent proof of the analytic relationship between volume and Chern-S…

Chern-Simons theory on a closed contact three-manifold is studied when the Lie group for gauge transformations is compact, connected and abelian. A rigorous definition of an abelian Chern-Simons partition function is derived using the Faddeev-Popov gauge fixing method. A symplectic abelian Chern-Simons partition functi…

Study gauged supergravity, M5-branes, and class R theories, constraining supergravity coefficients and calculating partition functions.

A correspondence between three-dimensional flat connections and constant curvature four-dimensional simplices is used to give a novel quantization of geometry via complex SL(2,C) Chern-Simons theory. The resulting quantum geometrical states are hence represented by the 3d blocks of analytically continued Chern-Simons t…

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 uni…

We develop the theory of Chern-Simons bundle 2-gerbes and multiplicative bundle gerbes associated to any principal $G$-bundle with connection and a class in $H^4(BG, \ZZ)$ for a compact semi-simple Lie group $G$. The Chern-Simons bundle 2-gerbe realises differential geometrically the Cheeger-Simons invariant. We apply …

In 1974, S.-S. Chern and J. Simons published a paper where they defined a new type of characteristic class - one that depends not just on the topology of a manifold but also on the geometry. The goal of this paper is to investigate what kinds of geometric information is contained in these classes by studying their beha…

Classical and quantum Chern-Simons with gauge group $\text{U}(1)^N$ were classified by Belov and Moore in \cite{belov_moore}. They studied both ordinary topological quantum field theories as well as spin theories. On the other hand a correspondence is well known between ordinary $(2+1)$-dimensional TQFTs and modular te…

This paper introduces complex Chern-Simons bundles in families setting and proves their crystalline nature.

The paper defines a Chern-Simons invariant for stably trivial vector bundles and uses it to obstruct conformal immersions.

In this note, we report on a work jointly done with C. Simpson on a generalization of Reznikov's theorem which says that the Chern-Simons classes and in particular the Deligne Chern classes (in degrees $> 1$) are torsion, of a flat vector bundle on a smooth complex projective variety. We consider the case of a smooth q…

Let M be a U(1) bundle over a smooth Riemann surface. I show that for Chern-Simons theory on M, with structure group G, the path integral is an integral over the space of G-connections on the Riemann surface involving characteristic classes as well as a certain 4-dimensional class that comes from a universal bundle. Wh…

Let $M$ be a 3-manifold with a finite set $X(M)$ of conjugacy classes of representations $ρ:π_1(M)\to$SU$_2$. We study here the distribution of the values of the Chern-Simons function CS$:X(M)\to \mathbb{R}/2π\mathbb{Z}$. We observe in some examples that it resembles the distribution of quadratic residues. In particula…

Computing Chern-Simons action for perturbed Dirac triples

We study the expectation value of a nonplanar Wilson graph operator in SL(2,C) Chern-Simons theory on $S^3$. In particular we analyze its asymptotic behaviour in the double-scaling limit in which both the representation labels and the Chern-Simons coupling are taken to be large, but with fixed ratio. When the Wilson gr…

We show that a flat principal bundle with compact connected structure group and its adjoint bundles of Lie groups have the same cohomology as the trivial bundle, which is done by proving they satisfy the condition for the Leray-Hirsch theorem. This information has been used to construct a cohomology class of the adjoin…

Formula derived for enclosed volume of CMC surfaces in 3-sphere.

We define a Chern-Simons invariant for a certain class of infinite volume hyperbolic 3-manifolds. We then prove an expression relating the Bergman tau function on a cover of the Hurwitz space, to the lifting of the function $F$ defined by Zograf on Teichmüller space, and another holomorphic function on the cover of the…

New approach connects 3D Chern-Simons theory to spectral networks.

There is an equivalence relation on the set of smooth maps of a manifold into the stable unitary group, defined using a Chern-Simons type form, whose equivalence classes form an abelian group under ordinary block sum of matrices. This construction is functorial, and defines a differential extension of odd K-theory, fit…

We propose a new partially topological theory in three dimensions which couples Chern-Simons theory to matter. The 3-manifolds needed for this construction admit transverse holomorphic foliation (THF). The theory depends only on the choice of such a structure, but not on a choice of metric and in this sense, it is topo…

We give a generalization of the notion of a Cartan-Ehresmann connection from Lie algebras to L-infinity algebras and use it to study the obstruction theory of lifts through higher String-like extensions of Lie algebras. We find (generalized) Chern-Simons and BF-theory functionals this way and describe aspects of their …

We identify a large class R of three-dimensional N=2 superconformal field theories. This class includes the effective theories T_M of M5-branes wrapped on 3-manifolds M, discussed in previous work by the authors, and more generally comprises theories that admit a UV description as abelian Chern-Simons-matter theories w…

Geometrically constructs dilogarithm from Chern-Simons theory.

Study on contact manifolds reveals infinite isometry groups for large Chern classes.

3D gauge theories link knot polynomials to vortex partition functions.

Arithmetic Dijkgraaf-Witten theory constructs analogues in Chern-Simons TQFT.

This paper extends complex Cartan geometry results to noncompact and non-Kähler manifolds.

The abstract discusses conjectures about Chern-Simons invariants of 3-manifolds.

Study SO(3)-knot states for torus complements, linking to simplicial volume.

We calculate the asymptotic behavior of hyperbolic volume and Chern-Simons invariant.

The paper explores the connection between 3d gravity and Chern-Simons theory using affine group connections.

Lecture notes on Lie groups and Chern-Simons theory for grad students.

Chern-Simons and Reshetikhin-Turaev theories are shown equivalent for U(1) gauge group.

We show that for an odd prime r > 3 and an integer g > 1, in the projective representation given by the SO(3) Witten-Chern-Simons theory at an rth root of unity, the image of the mapping class group of a surface of genus g is dense.

We calculate the Chern-Simons invariants of the hyperbolic double twist knot orbifolds using the Schläfli formula for the generalized Chern-Simons function on the family of cone-manifold structures of double twist knots.

We give an efficient simplicial formula for the volume and Chern-Simons invariant of a boundary-parabolic PSL(2,C)-representation of a tame 3-manifold. If the representation is the geometric representation of a hyperbolic 3-manifold, our formula computes the volume and Chern-Simons invariant directly from an ideal tria…

New invariant from non-acyclic flat connections.

Classifies extended Abelian Chern-Simons theories using quadratic modules.