arXiv research

Study fractional structures on bundle gerbe modules using rational homotopy theory.

The paper extends T-duality and Jacobi forms to Witten gerbe modules.

Abelian gerbes and twisted bundles describe the topology of the NS-NS 3-form gauge field strength H. We review how they have been usefully applied to study and resolve global anomalies in open string theory. Abelian 2-gerbes and twisted nonabelian gerbes describe the topology of the 4-form field strength G of M-theory.…

Constructs differential models for twisted Spin^c-bordism and its dual, defining a new anomaly map.

Introduces a new periodic Deligne cohomology with twists by gerbes.

Field theories help describe twisted bundles on orbifolds.

Constructs small bundle gerbes and proves index theorems for manifolds.

Let $G$ be a finite group and $\Y$ a $G$-gerbe over an orbifold $\B$. A disconnected orbifold $\hat{\Y}$ and a flat U(1)-gerbe $c$ on $\hat{\Y}$ is canonically constructed from $\Y$. Motivated by a proposal in physics, we study a mathematical duality between the geometry of the $G$-gerbe $\Y$ and the geometry of $\hat{…

Let X be a smooth elliptic fibration over a smooth base B. Under mild assumptions, we establish a Fourier-Mukai equivalence between the derived categories of two objects, each of which is an O^* gerbe over a genus one fibration which is a twisted form of X. The roles of the gerbe and the twist are interchanged by our d…

Introduces new K-theory for loop spaces with specific holonomy bundles.

It has been argued by Witten and others that in the presence of a nontrivial B-field, D-brane charges in type IIB string theories are measured by twisted K-theory. In joint work with Bouwknegt, Carey and Murray it was proved that twisted K-theory is canonically isomorphic to bundle gerbe K-theory, whose elements are or…

For a gerbe $\Y$ over a smooth proper Deligne-Mumford stack $\B$ banded by a finite group $G$, we prove a structure result on the Gromov-Witten theory of $\Y$, expressing Gromov-Witten invariants of $\Y$ in terms of Gromov-Witten invariants of $\B$ twisted by various flat $U(1)$-gerbes on $\B$. This is interpreted as a…

Topological twists for 4d N=2 theories depend on spacetime type, gerbe connections, and generalized spin-c structures.

We identify the 2-groupoid of deformations of a gerbe on a smooth manifold with the Deligne 2-groupoid of a corresponding twist of the DGLA of local Hochschild cochains on infinite jets of smooth functions.

We consider Real bundle gerbes on manifolds equipped with an involution and prove that they are classified by their Real Dixmier-Douady class in Grothendieck's equivariant sheaf cohomology. We show that the Grothendieck group of Real bundle gerbe modules is isomorphic to twisted KR-theory for a torsion Real Dixmier-Dou…

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…

In this paper, we develop differential twisted K-theory and define a twisted Chern character on twisted K-theory which depends on a choice of connection and curving on the twisting gerbe. We also establish the general Riemann-Roch theorem in twisted K-theory and find some applications in the study of twisted K-theory o…

Given a bundle gerbe on a compact smooth manifold or, more generally, on a compact étale Lie groupoid $M$, we show that the corresponding category of gerbe modules, if it is non-trivial, is equivalent to the category of finitely generated projective modules over an Azumaya algebra on $M$. This result can be seen as an …

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 aim of this talk is to explain how symmetry breaking in a quantum field theory problem leads to a study of projective bundles, Dixmier-Douady classes, and associated gerbes. A gerbe manifests itself in different equivalent ways. Besides the cohomological description as a DD class, it can be defined in terms of a fa…

We construct a new effective orbifold $\widehat{\Y}$ with an $S^1$-gerbe $c$ to study an $S^1$-gerbe $\mathfrak{t}$ on a $G$-gerbe $\Y$ over an orbifold $\B$. We view the former as the relative dual, relative to $\B$, of the latter. We show that the two pairs $(\Y, \mathfrak{t})$ and $(\widehat{\Y}, c)$ have isomorphic…

Study shows connection-preserving vector fields are equivalent to certain algebroid structures.

New result on finite gerbes simplifies classification of certain bundles.

The paper classifies symplectic Lie and $L_\infty$ algebroids and their applications.

This is the first in a series of papers constructing geometric models of twisted differential K-theory. In this paper we construct a model of even twisted differential K-theory when the underlying topological twist represents a torsion class. By differential twists we will mean smooth U(1)-gerbes with connection, and w…

On a projective complex manifold, the Abelian group of Divisors maps surjectively onto that of holomorphic line bundles (the Picard group). On a $G_2$-manifold we use coassociative submanifolds to define an analogue of the first, and a gauge theoretical equation for a connection on a gerbe to define an analogue of the …

This paper is our first step in establishing a de Rham model for equivariant twisted $K$-theory using machinery from noncommutative geometry. Let $G$ be a compact Lie group, $M$ a compact manifold on which $G$ acts smoothly. For any $α\in H^3_G (M, {\mathbb Z})$ we introduce a notion of localized equivariant twisted co…

In this paper we consider deformations of an algebroid stack on an etale groupoid. We construct a differential graded Lie algebra (DGLA) which controls this deformation theory. In the case when the algebroid is a twisted form of functions we show that this DGLA is quasiisomorphic to the twist of the DGLA of Hochschild …

We define exotic twisted $S^1$-equivariant cohomology for the loop space $LZ$ of a smooth manifold $Z$ via the invariant differential forms on $LZ$ with coefficients in the (typically non-flat) holonomy line bundle of a gerbe, with differential an equivariantly flat superconnection. We introduce the twisted Bismut-Cher…

In this paper, we develop twisted $K$-theory for stacks, where the twisted class is given by an $S^1$-gerbe over the stack. General properties, including the Mayer-Vietoris property, Bott periodicity, and the product structure $K^i_α\otimes K^j_β\to K^{i+j}_{α+β}$ are derived. Our approach provides a uniform framework …

Theory of 2-vector bundles for smooth manifolds developed.

This is the second in a series of papers discussing in the framework of gerbe theory canonical and geometric aspects of the 2d nonlinear sigma model in the presence of conformal defects in the worldsheet. Employing the formal tools worked out in the first paper of the series, 1101.1126 [hep-th], a thorough analysis of …

In the paper we prove the existence of the strict but relative relation between small exotic $\mathbb{R}^{4}$ for a fixed radial family of DeMichelis-Freedman type, and cobordism classes of codimension one foliations of $S^{3}$ distinguished by the Godbillon-Vey invariant, $GV\in H^{3}(S^{3},\mathbb{R})$ (represented b…

We give a simplified definition of topological T-duality that applies to arbitrary torus bundles. The new definition does not involve Chern classes or spectral sequences, only gerbes and morphisms between them. All the familiar topological conditions for T-duals are shown to follow. We determine necessary and sufficien…

Equivariant T-duality connects bundles with twists.

Researchers analyze sign choices for O-planes in orientifolds, proving stabilisation and deriving topological constraints.

Three perspectives on quantizing magnetic Poisson structures are explored.

In the background effective field theory of heterotic string theory, the Green-Schwarz anomaly cancellation mechanism plays a key role. Here we reinterpret it and its magnetic dual version in terms of differential twisted String- and differential twisted Fivebrane-structures that generalize the notion of Spin-structure…

We introduce conformal Courant algebroids, a mild generalization of Courant algebroids in which only a conformal structure rather than a bilinear form is assumed. We introduce exact conformal Courant algebroids and show they are classified by pairs $(L,H)$ with $L$ a flat line bundle and $H \in H^3(M,L)$ a degree 3 cla…

Master's thesis reviews bundle gerbe theory and introduces new isomorphic gerbe.

What are called secondary characteristic classes in Chern-Weil theory are a refinement of ordinary characteristic classes of principal bundles from cohomology to differential cohomology. We consider the problem of refining the construction of secondary characteristic classes from cohomology sets to cocycle spaces; and …

Just as $\Cstar$ principal bundles provide a geometric realisation of two-dimensional integral cohomology; gerbes or sheaves of groupoids, provide a geometric realisation of three dimensional integral cohomology through their Dixmier-Douady class. I consider an alternative, related, geometric realisation of three dimen…

Introduces Weyl bundle gerbe and shows it's not D-stably isomorphic.

Extends Chern character to non-abelian cohomology, linking to physics.

Decomposes bundle gerbes on supermanifolds into simpler components.

We present a review of bundle gerbes, emphasizing their relations to Lie groups. Indeed, compact Lie groups do not only carry the structure of a Riemannian manifold, but also canonical families of bundle gerbes. We recall the construction of these bundle gerbes and their relation to loop groups. We discuss several alge…

New spherical Milnor spaces for diffeological groups with geometric and topological properties.

Survey of bundle gerbes in geometry, field theory, and quantization.