arXiv research

This is the second of a series of two technical papers devoted to the analysis of holonomy invariants in strict higher gauge theory with end applications in higher Chern--Simons theory. We provide a definition of trace over a crossed module such to yield surface knot invariants upon application to 2-holonomies. We show…

This is the first of a series of two technical papers devoted to the analysis of holonomy invariants in strict higher gauge theory with end applications in higher Chern--Simons theory. For a flat 2--connection, we define the 2-holonomy of surface knots of arbitrary genus and determine its covariance properties under 1-…

We present a Donaldson-Witten type field theory in eight dimensions on manifolds with $Spin(7)$ holonomy. We prove that the stress tensor is BRST exact for metric variations preserving the holonomy and we give the invariants for this class of variations. In six and seven dimensions we propose similar theories on Calabi…

We develop Hodge theory for a Riemannian manifold $(M,g)$ with a background closed 3-form, H. Precisely, we prove that if the metric connections with torsion $\pm H$ have holonomy groups $G_\pm$, then the $d^H$-Laplacian preserves the irreducible representations of the Lie algebras of the holonomy groups on the space o…

In 1981, covariantly constant spinors were introduced into Kaluza-Klein theory as a way of counting the number of supersymmetries surviving compactification. These are related to the holonomy group of the compactifying manifold. The first non-trivial example was provided in 1982 by D=11 supergravity on the squashed S7,…

Holonomy-preserving transformations help recover Alexander polynomials from graph zeta functions.

New $G_2$-holonomy manifolds from 5d N=1 theories domain walls.

Normal distribution manifolds play essential roles in the theory of information geometry, so do holonomy groups in classification of Riemannian manifolds. After some necessary preliminaries on information geometry and holonomy groups, it is presented that the corresponding Riemannian holonomy group of the $d$-dimension…

Bryant and Salamon gave a construction of metrics of G2 holonomy on the total space of the bundle of anti-self-dual (ASD) 2-forms over a 4-dimensional self-dual Einstein manifold. We generalise it by considering the total space of an SO(3) bundle (with fibers R^3) over a 4-dimensional base, with a connection on this bu…

New geometric approach realizes 5D bulk theories with 4D edge modes.

The paper explores holonomy, zeta functions, and cohomology in foliated manifolds with stratified boundaries.

In this paper we compute explicit formulas for the holonomy map for a gerbe with connection over an orbifold. We show that the holonomy descends to a transgression map in Deligne cohomology. We prove that this recovers both the inner local systems in Ruan's theory of twisted orbifold cohomology and the local system of …

The article confirms Joyce's examples of G2-holonomy are formal spaces.

This paper classifies holonomy groups of K-contact sub-pseudo-Riemannian manifolds.

We find G2-manifolds with specific asymptotic properties.

Integrates singular subalgebroids using diffeological groupoids.

Universal connection constructed using diffeology theory.

The subgroups of GL(n,R) that act irreducibly on R^n and that can occur as the holonomy of a torsion-free affine connection on an n-manifold are classified, thus completing the work on this subject begun by M. Berger in the 1950s. The methods employed include representation theory, the theory of hermitian symmetric spa…

We define intrinsic torsion in generalised geometry and use it to introduce a new notion of generalised special holonomy. We then consider generic warped supersymmetric flux compactifications of M theory and Type II of the form $\mathbb{R}^{D-1,1}\times M$. Using the language of $E_{d(d)}\times\mathbb{R}^+$ generalised…

The classical Wilson loop is the gauge-invariant trace of the parallel transport around a closed path with respect to a connection on a vector bundle over a smooth manifold. We build a precise mathematical model of the super Wilson loop, an extension introduced by Mason-Skinner and Caron-Huot, by endowing the objects o…

The exceptional holonomy groups are G2 in 7 dimensions, and Spin(7) in 8 dimensions. Riemannian manifolds with these holonomy groups are Ricci-flat. This is a survey paper on exceptional holonomy, in two parts. Part I introduces the exceptional holonomy groups, and explains constructions for compact 7- and 8-manifolds …

We consider a class of $S^{1}$-bundles whose total space admits a nowhere vanishing recurrent lightlike vector field with respect to a Lorentzian metric. This metric can be modified such that its restricted holonomy group is indecomposable and reducible. We apply Hodge theory to construct examples with Hermitian screen…

Classifies Spin(7) structures on compact 8-manifolds with abelian fundamental group.

M-theory on compact eight-manifolds with $\mathrm{Spin}(7)$-holonomy is a framework for geometric engineering of 3d $\mathcal{N}=1$ gauge theories coupled to gravity. We propose a new construction of such $\mathrm{Spin}(7)$-manifolds, based on a generalized connected sum, where the building blocks are a Calabi-Yau four…

Manifolds with exceptional holonomy play an important role in string theory, supergravity and M-theory. It is explained how one can find the holonomy algebra of an arbitrary Riemannian or Lorentzian manifold. Using the de~Rham and Wu decompositions, this problem is reduced to the case of locally indecomposable manifold…

We show that the $G_2$-manifolds and certain ${\rm Spin}(7)$-manifolds are endowed with natural Riemannian twistorial structures. Along the way, the exceptional holonomy representations are reviewed and other related facts are considered.

We classify two-symmetric Lorentzian manifolds using methods of the theory of holonomy groups. These manifolds are exhausted by a special type of pp-waves and, like the symmetric Cahen-Wallach spaces, they have commutative holonomy.

In M-theory vacua with vanishing 4-form F, one can invoke the ordinary Riemannian holonomy H \subset SO(1,10) to account for unbroken supersymmetries n=1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 16, 32. However, the generalized holonomy conjecture, valid for non-zero F, can account for more exotic fractions of supersymmetry, in particular 16<n…

This paper shows how to construct anomaly free world sheet actions in string theory with $D$-branes. Our method is to use Deligne cohomology and bundle gerbe theory to define geometric objects which are naturally associated to $D$-branes and connections on them. The holonomy of these connections can be used to cancel g…

In this paper we introduce a generalisation of the notion of holonomy for connections over a bundle map on a principal fibre bundle. We prove that, as in the standard theory on principal connections, the holonomy groups are Lie subgroups of the structure group of the principle fibre bundle and we also derive a straight…

Our paper is devoted to the study of the holonomy groups of Finsler surfaces using the methods of infinite dimensional Lie theory. The notion of infinitesimal holonomy algebra will be introduced, by the smallest Lie algebra of vector fields on an indicatrix, containing the curvature vector fields and their horizontal c…

There are two different notions of holonomy in supergeometry, the supergroup introduced by Galaev and our functorial approach motivated by super Wilson loops. Either theory comes with its own version of invariance of vectors and subspaces under holonomy. By our first main result, the Twofold Theorem, these definitions …

We survey several mathematical developments in the holonomy approach to gauge theory. A cornerstone of this approach is the introduction of group structures on spaces of based loops on a smooth manifold, relying on certain homotopy equivalence relations -- such as the so-called thin homotopy -- and the resulting interp…

Researchers find new $G_2$-conifolds in $M$-theory with potential field theory duals.

We consider euclidean D-branes wrapping around manifolds of exceptional holonomy in dimensions seven and eight. The resulting theory on the D-brane---that is, the dimensional reduction of 10-dimensional supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory---is a cohomological field theory which describes the topology of the moduli space o…

Recently twisted K-theory has received much attention due to its applications in string theory and the announced result by Freed, Hopkins and Telemann relating the twisted equivariant K-theory of a compact Lie group to its Verlinde algebra. Rather than considering gerbes as separate objects, in twisted K-theory one con…

The Wess-Zumino term in two-dimensional conformal field theory is best understood as a surface holonomy of a bundle gerbe. We define additional structure for a bundle gerbe that allows to extend the notion of surface holonomy to unoriented surfaces. This provides a candidate for the Wess-Zumino term for WZW models on u…

This paper is a review of the twistor theory of irreducible G-structures and affine connections. Long ago, Berger presented a very restricted list of possible irreducibly acting holonomies of torsion-free affine connections. His list was complete in the part of metric connections, while the situation with holonomies of…

A classic theorem in the theory of connections on principal fiber bundles states that the evaluation of all holonomy functions gives enough information to characterize the bundle structure (among those sharing the same structure group and base manifold) and the connection up to a bundle equivalence map. This result and…

The paper studies Anosov holonomy groups in complete affine manifolds.

We study geometry on real gerbes in the spirit of Cheeger-Simons theory. The concepts of adaptations and holonomy forms are introduced for flat connections on real gerbes. Their relations to complex gerbes with connections are presented, as well as results in loop and map spaces.

This article is a follow-up of ``Holonomy and Path Structures in General Relativity and Yang-Mills Theory" by Barrett, J. W. (Int.J.Theor.Phys., vol.30, No.9, 1991). Its main goal is to provide an alternative proof of this part of the reconstruction theorem which concerns the existence of a connection. A construction o…

Course notes on Lie groups and Riemannian geometry, focusing on applications and low-dimensional examples.

Hermitian bundle gerbes with connection are geometric objects for which a notion of surface holonomy can be defined for closed oriented surfaces. We systematically introduce bundle gerbes by closing the pre-stack of trivial bundle gerbes under descent. Inspired by structures arising in a representation theoretic approa…

The paper connects $G_2$-manifolds to Coulomb and Higgs phases of gauge theories.

We use tools from generalized complex geometry to develop the theory of SKT (a.k.a. pluriclosed Hermitian) manifolds and more generally manifolds with special holonomy with respect to a metric connection with closed skew-symmetric torsion. We develop Hodge theory on such manifolds showing how the reduction of the holon…

Many physical theories, including notably string theory, require non-abelian higher gauge fields defining higher holonomy. Previous approaches to such higher connections on categorified principal bundles require these to be fake flat. This condition, however, renders them locally gauge equivalent to connections on abel…

The most general gauge-invariant marginal deformation of four-dimensional abelian BF-type topological field theory is studied. It is shown that the deformed quantum field theory is topological and that its observables compute, in addition to the usual linking numbers, smooth intersection indices of immersed surfaces wh…