Searcharxiv⌕ Search
Home/Archive/arXiv

arXiv · 1009.5479

Chiral differential operators on supermanifolds

Pokman Cheung
View original source ↗Read source document ↗Export metadata ↓

Abstract

The first part of this paper provides a new formulation of chiral differential operators (CDOs) in terms of global geometric quantities. The main result is a recipe to define all sheaves of CDOs on a smooth cs-manifold; its ingredients consist of an affine connection and an even 3-form that trivializes the first Pontrjagin form. With the connection fixed, two suitable 3-forms define isomorphic sheaves of CDOs if and only if their difference is exact. Moreover, conformal structures are in one-to-one correspondence with even 1-forms that trivialize the first Chern form. Applying our work in the first part, we construct what may be called "chiral Dolbeault complexes" of a complex manifold M, and analyze conditions under which these differential vertex superalgebras admit compatible conformal structures or extra gradings (fermion numbers). When M is compact, their cohomology computes (in various cases) the Witten genus, the two-variable elliptic genus and a spin-c version of the Witten genus. This part contains some new results as well as provides a geometric formulation of certain known facts from the study of holomorphic CDOs and sigma models.

Explore related subjects

math.ATmath.QA

Keep this discovery

BibTeXRIS

Pokman Cheung. 2011-06-22. Chiral differential operators on supermanifolds. https://arxiv.org/abs/1009.5479

Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.

KEEP EXPLORING

Related papers

arXiv2026

Homogeneous Milnor fibers and Kato--Matsumoto bounds via simplicial multiwedges

For every $n\geq 3$ and $s\geq 2$, we construct a homogeneous polynomial of degree $n(n+1)/2$ whose Milnor fiber is exactly $2s$-connected and whose rational cohomology contains a strictly defined nontrivial $n$-fold Massey product on classes of degree $2s+1$, implying that the Milnor fiber is non-formal, while attaining the Kato--Matsumoto connectivity bound. Our construction is based on the simplicial multiwedges of the nerve complexes of simple polytopes introduced by Limonchenko, combined with Suciu's realization of weighted homogeneous Milnor fibers. We thereby answer two problems posed by Suciu.

math.AT↗
arXiv2026

The homotopy types of directed path and trace spaces

We construct a saturated directed space with a Hausdorff $\Delta$-generated underlying space and two distinct points such that the trace space between them is homeomorphic to a square, whereas the directed path space has a nontrivial fundamental group. In particular, the canonical quotient map is not a weak homotopy equivalence. The same conclusion holds for regular directed paths modulo increasing homeomorphisms.

math.AT↗
arXiv2026

Moduli spaces of geometric functorial field theories

We develop tools to compute moduli spaces of geometric functorial field theories as mapping spaces of equivariant simplicial presheaves. Given a d-dimensional geometric structure F, presented as a presheaf on the site of smooth families of d-manifolds, we define its Cartesian realization, which is an O(d)-equivariant simplicial presheaf on the site of Cartesian spaces. We use Cartesian realizations to present the moduli space of functorial field theories with geometric structure F as a mapping space between O(d)-equivariant simplicial presheaves. In a companion paper, we use this result to compute the moduli space of smooth one-dimensional oriented Riemannian functorial field theories valued in an arbitrary smooth symmetric monoidal infinity-category.

math.AT↗