arXiv research

Non-trivial Clifford bundle from loop space tangent bundle.

Study shows zero Pontrjagin classes for sprays.

Gelfand and MacPherson provided a new formula for calculating Pontrjagin classes.

We develop an epsilon-controlled algebraic L-theory, extending our earlier work on epsilon-controlled algebraic K-theory. The controlled L-theory is very close to being a generalized homology theory; we study analogues of the homology exact sequence of a pair, excision properties, and the Mayer--Vietoris exact sequence…

Novikov initiated the study of the algebraic properties of quadratic forms over polynomial extensions by a far-reaching analogue of the Pontrjagin-Thom transversality construction of a Seifert surface of a knot and the infinite cyclic cover of the knot exterior. In this paper the analogy is applied to explain the relat…

Analyzes quantization of flux observables in gauge theories.

We use the exterior and composition products of double forms together with the alternating operator to reformulate Pontrjagin classes and all Pontrjagin numbers in terms of the Riemannian curvature. We show that the alternating operator is obtained by a succession of applications of the first Bianchi sum and we prove s…

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 …

The based loop space homology of a special family of homogeneous spaces, flag manifolds of connected compact Lie groups is studied. First, the rational homology of the based loop space on a complete flag manifold is calculated together with its Pontrjagin structure. Second, it is shown that the integral homology of the…

We translate into the double forms formalism the basic identities of Greub and Greub-Vanstone that were obtained in the mixed exterior algebra. In particular, we introduce a second product in the space of double forms, namely the composition product, which provides this space with a second associative algebra structure…

The study restricts circle actions on certain manifolds to dimensions 4, 8, and 16.

Let $M^{2n}$ be a closed smooth manifold homotopy equivalent to the complex projective space $\mathbb{C}P(n)$. The purpose of this paper is to show that when $n$ is even, the difference of the first Pontrjagin classes between $M^{2n}$ and $\mathbb{C}P(n)$ is divisible by 16.

This paper shows how Hodge's theory of harmonic $p$-sets (a discrete version of his theory of harmonic forms) allows a new approach to be taken to the problem of providing a combinatorial definition of the Pontrjagin classes of a compact manifold. This approach is then related to the author's definition of flag vectors…

The paper studies integrability and geometric invariants on manifolds.

By results of Loeffler and Comezana, the Pontrjagin-Thom map from geometric G-equivariant bordism to homotopy theoretic equivariant bordism is injective for compact abelian G. If G = S^1 x ... x S^1, we prove that the associated fixed point square is a pull back square, thus confirming a recent conjecture of D. Sinha. …

Researchers classify quotients of lens spaces using linear actions and topological tools.

The paper proves a cohomological injection for a specific group.

We show that the integral of the first Pontrjagin class is given by an integer and it is identified with instanton number of the U(n) gauge theory on noncommutative ${\bf R^4}$. Here the dimension of the vector space $V$ that appear in the ADHM construction is called Instanton number. The calculation is done in operato…

A theory of differential characters is developed for manifolds with boundary. This is done from both the Cheeger-Simons and the deRham-Federer viewpoints. The central result of the paper is the formulation and proof of a Lefschetz-Pontrjagin Duality Theorem, which asserts that the pairing: Ch^k(X,dX) x Ch^{n-k-1}(X) --…

We show in this short note that if a rational linear combination of Pontrjagin numbers vanishes on all simply-connected $4k$-dimensional closed connected and oriented spin manifolds admitting a Riemannian metric whose Ricci curvature is nonnegative and nonzero at any point, then this linear combination must be a multip…

Let $M$ be a simply-connected closed manifold of dimension $\geq 5$ which does not admit a metric with positive scalar curvature. We give necessary conditions for $M$ to admit a scalar-flat metric. These conditions involve the first Pontrjagin class and the cohomology ring of $M$. As a consequence any simply-connected …

Chiral differential operators (CDOs) are closely related to string geometry and the quantum theory of two-dimensional sigma models. This paper investigates two topics about CDOs on smooth manifolds. In the first half, we study how a Lie group action on a smooth manifold can be lifted to a `formal loop group action' on …

The goal of this paper is to study the Pontrjagin dual of (reduced) 4-dimensional Spin bordism. That is to say, we consider the functor from the category of topological spaces to the category of compact abelian groups that associates to each space X the compact group of homomorphisms from the reduced 4-dimensional Spin…

We clarify the conformal invariance of the Pontrjagin forms by giving them a manifestly conformally invariant construction; they are shown to be the Pontrjagin forms of the conformally invariant tractor connection. The Q-curvature is intimately related to the Pfaffian. Working on even-dimensional manifolds, we show how…

We introduce an equivariant Pontrjagin-Thom construction which identifies equivariant cohomotopy classes with certain fixed point bordism classes. This provides a concrete geometric model for equivariant cohomotopy which works for any compact Lie group G. In the special case when G is finite or a torus, we show that ou…

This paper studies the relationship between the sections and the Chern or Pontrjagin classes of a vector bundle by the theory of connection. Our results are natural generalizations of the Gauss-Bonnet Theorem.

We prove several finiteness results for the class $M_{a,b,G,n}$ of $n$-manifolds that have fundamental groups isomorphic to $G$ and that can be given complete Riemannian metrics of sectional curvatures within $[a,b]$ where $a\le b<0$. In particular, if $M$ is a closed negatively curved manifold of dimension at least th…

The paper studies Gauss sums and their applications in algebra and topology.

In this note we prove that equivariantly homeomorphic quasitoric manifolds are diffeomorphic. As a consequence we show that up to finite ambiguity the diffeomorphism type of certain quasitoric manifolds $M$ is determined by their cohomology rings and first Pontrjagin classes.

New conformally invariant forms help identify Einstein metrics.

We first notice in this article that if a compact Kähler manifold has the same integral cohomology ring and Pontrjagin classes as the complex projective space $\mathbb{C}P^n$, then it is biholomorphic to $\mathbb{C}P^n$ provided $n$ is odd. The same holds for even $n$ if we further assume that $M$ is simply-connected. …

Alan Weinstein showed that certain characteristic numbers of any Riemannian submersion with totally geodesic fibers and positive vertizontal curvatures are nonzero. In this paper we explicitly compute these invariants in terms of Chern and Pontrjagin numbers of the bundle. This allows us to show that many bundles do no…

This paper is an exposition of the new subject of String Topology. We present an introduction to this exciting new area, as well as a survey of some of the latest developments, and our views about future directions of research. We begin with reviewing the seminal paper of Chas and Sullivan, which started String Topolog…

In this paper we calculate the integral Pontrjagin homology ring of the based loop space on some generalised symmetric spaces with a toral stationary subgroup. In the Appendix we show that the method can be applied to other type generalised symmetric spaces as well.

We construct an oriented cobordism between moduli spaces of flat connections on the three holed sphere and disjoint unions of toric varieties, together with a closed two-form which restricts to the symplectic forms on the ends. As applications, we obtain formulas for mixed Pontrjagin numbers and Witten's formulas for s…

Subtle issues arise when extending homotopy invariants to spaces of functions having little regularity, e.g., Sobolev spaces containing discontinuous functions. Sometimes it is not possible to extend the invariant at all, and sometimes, even when the formulas defining the invariants make sense, they may not have expect…

We show that for any nonzero class $A$ in $H_2(X; \mathbb{Z}_2)$ in a rational 4-manifold $X$, $A$ is represented by a nonorientable embedded Lagrangian surface L (for some symplectic structure) if and only if $P(A)\equiv (L) (mod\ 4)$; where $P(A)$ denotes the mod 4 valued Pontrjagin square of $A$.

These introductory lectures show how to define finite type invariants of links and 3-manifolds by counting graph configurations in 3-manifolds, following ideas of Witten and Kontsevich. The linking number is the simplest finite type invariant for 2-component links. It is defined in many equivalent ways in the first sec…

The Theta invariant is the simplest 3-manifold invariant defined with configuration space integrals. It is actually an invariant of rational homology spheres equipped with a combing over the complement of a point. It can be computed as the algebraic intersection of three propagators associated to a given combing X in t…

We develop a Chern character map for twisted equivariant non-abelian cohomology.

In this paper a geometric approach toward stable homotopy groups of spheres, based on the Pontrjagin-Thom construction is proposed. From this approach a new proof of Hopf Invariant One Theorem by J.F.Adams for all dimensions except $15,31,63,127$ is obtained. It is proved that for $n>127$ in the stable homotopy group o…

The purpose of this paper is to both survey and offer some new results on the non-triviality of the characteristic classes of Riemannian foliations. We give examples where the primary Pontrjagin classes are all linearly independent. The independence of the secondary classes is also discussed, along with their total var…

We show that the Chas-Sullivan loop product, a combination of the Pontrjagin product on the fiber and intersection product on the base, makes sense on the total space homology of any fiberwise monoid E over a closed oriented manifold M. More generally the Thom spectrum E^{-TM} is a ring spectrum. Similarly a fiberwise …

We show that the self-duality defined in [Trautman, Int.J.Theor.Phys.,{\bf 16},561 (1977)] is equivalent to strong self-duality defined in [Bilge, Dereli and Kocak, Lett.Math.Phys., {\bf 36}, 301-309, (1996)] and we obtain an upper bound on $\int (p_2)^{n}$, where $p_2$ is the second Pontrjagin class of an $SO(N)$ bund…

Conformally compact and complete smooth solutions to the Strominger system with non vanishing flux, non-trivial instanton and non-constant dilaton using the first Pontrjagin form of the (-)-connection} on 6-dimensional non-Kaehler nilmanifold are presented. In the conformally compact case the dilaton is determined by t…

Let $M$ be a manifold homotopy equivalent to the complex projective space $\C P^m$. Petrie conjectured that $M$ has standard total Pontrjagin class if $M$ admits a non-trivial action by $S^1$. We prove the conjecture for $m<12$ under the assumption that the action extends to a nice $Pin(2)$-action with fixed point. The…

In this paper we consider a generalization of the Faddeev model for the maps from a closed three-manifold into the two-sphere. We give a novel representation of smooth $S^2$-valued maps based on flat connections. This representation allows us to obtain an analytic description of the homotopy classes of $S^2$-valued m…

For a Spin(9)-structure on a Riemannian manifold M^16 we write explicitly the matrix psi of its Kähler 2-forms and the canonical 8-form Phi. We then prove that Phi coincides up to a constant with the fourth coefficient of the characteristic polynomial of psi. This is inspired by lower dimensional situations, related to…