arXiv subjects

Lorenzo Foscolo

Publications and source records attributed to Lorenzo Foscolo.

14 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Complete noncompact G2-manifolds with ALC asymptotics

We prove existence, uniqueness and structure results for complete noncompact 7-dimensional G2-holonomy metrics with ALC (asymptotically locally conical) asymptotics. We regard such spaces as G2-analogues of ALF gravitational instantons in 4-dimensional hyperk\"ahler geometry. Our main results include the existence of a G2-analogue of the Atiyah-Hitchin metric in 4-dimensional hyperk\"ahler geometry, the existence of a good moduli theory for ALC G2-holonomy metrics and rigidity results for ALC G2-metrics in terms of the symmetries of their asymptotic model. The analytic toolkit needed to prove all these results is a robust Fredholm theory for the natural geometric linear elliptic operators on ALC spaces. We provide a self-contained derivation of this Fredholm theory for arbitrary Riemannian manifolds with ALC asymptotics. Since our ALC Fredholm theory does not rely on imposing any holonomy reduction or curvature conditions it may also be of utility beyond the setting of ALC special holonomy metrics. As one such application of our general Fredholm theory we prove some Hodge-theoretic results on general ALC spaces.

math.DG↗

arXiv2024

Unstable minimal spheres with degree-1 Gauss lift in hyperk\"ahler 4-manifolds

We exhibit new minimal 2-spheres in hyperk\"ahler 4-manifolds arising from the Gibbons--Hawking ansatz and in the K3 manifold endowed with a hyperk\"ahler metric. These minimal surfaces are obtained via a gluing construction using the Scherk surface in flat space and the holomorphic cigar in the Taub-NUT space as building blocks. As for the stable minimal 2-sphere in the Atiyah--Hitchin manifold, the minimal surfaces we construct are not holomorphic with respect to any complex structure compatible with the metric, have degree-1 positive Gauss lift so they can be parametrised by a harmonic map that satisfies a first-order Fueter-type PDE, and yet are unstable. This shows that there is no characterisation of stable minimal surfaces in hyperk\"ahler 4-manifolds in terms of topological data.

math.DG↗

arXiv2023

Calorons and constituent monopoles

We study anti-self-dual Yang-Mills instantons on $\mathbb{R}^{3}\times S^{1}$, also known as calorons, and their behaviour under collapse of the circle factor. In this limit, we make explicit the decomposition of calorons in terms of constituent pieces which are essentially charge $1$ monopoles. We give a gluing construction of calorons in terms of the constituents and use it to compute the dimension of the moduli space. The construction works uniformly for structure group an arbitrary compact semi-simple Lie group.

math.DG↗

arXiv2023

Hypertoric varieties, $W$-Hilbert schemes, and Coulomb branches

We study transverse equivariant Hilbert schemes of affine hypertoric varieties equipped with a symplectic action of a Weyl group. In particular, we show that the Coulomb branches of Braverman, Finkelberg, and Nakajima can be obtained either as such Hilbert schemes or Hamiltonian reductions thereof. Furthermore, we propose that the Coulomb branches for representations of non-cotangent type are also obtained in this way. We also investigate the putative complete hyperk\"ahler metrics on these objects. We describe their twistor spaces and, in the case when the symplectic quotient construction of the hypertoric variety is $W$-equivariant (which includes Coulomb branches of cotangent type), we show that the hyperk\"ahler metric can be described as the natural $L^2$-metric on a moduli space of solutions to modified Nahm's equations on an interval with poles at both ends and a discontinuity in the middle, with the latter described by a new object: a hyperspherical variety canonically associated to a hypertoric variety.

math.AG↗

arXiv2021

Deformations of hyperkähler cones

We use twistor methods to promote Namikawa's universal Poisson deformations of conic affine symplectic singularities to families of hyperkähler structures deforming hyperkähler cone metrics. The metrics we produce are generally incomplete, but for specific classes of hyperkähler cones, even these incomplete metrics have some interest and applications: we study in detail the case of the nilpotent cone of a simple complex Lie algebra, with applications to hyperkähler metrics with symmetries and hyperkähler quotients, and the case of Kleinian singularities, with applications to codimension-4 singularities of G2-holonomy metrics and their dual description in theoretical physics in terms of 3-dimensional gauge theory.

math.DG↗

arXiv2021

Infinitely many new families of complete cohomogeneity one G_2-manifolds: G_2 analogues of the Taub-NUT and Eguchi-Hanson spaces

We construct infinitely many new 1-parameter families of simply connected complete noncompact G_2-manifolds with controlled geometry at infinity. The generic member of each family has so-called asymptotically locally conical (ALC) geometry. However, the nature of the asymptotic geometry changes at two special parameter values: at one special value we obtain a unique member of each family with asymptotically conical (AC) geometry; on approach to the other special parameter value the family of metrics collapses to an AC Calabi-Yau 3-fold. Our infinitely many new diffeomorphism types of AC G_2-manifolds are particularly noteworthy: previously the three examples constructed by Bryant and Salamon in 1989 furnished the only known simply connected AC G_2-manifolds. We also construct a closely related conically singular G_2 holonomy space: away from a single isolated conical singularity, where the geometry becomes asymptotic to the G_2-cone over the standard nearly Kähler structure on the product of a pair of 3-spheres, the metric is smooth and it has ALC geometry at infinity. We argue that this conically singular ALC G_2-space is the natural G_2 analogue of the Taub-NUT metric in 4-dimensional hyperKaehler geometry and that our new AC G_2-metrics are all analogues of the Eguchi-Hanson metric, the simplest ALE hyperKähler manifold. Like the Taub-NUT and Eguchi-Hanson metrics, all our examples are cohomogeneity one, i.e. they admit an isometric Lie group action whose generic orbit has codimension one.

math.DG↗

arXiv2020

Complete non-compact G2-manifolds from asymptotically conical Calabi-Yau 3-folds

We develop a powerful new analytic method to construct complete non-compact G2-manifolds, i.e. Riemannian 7-manifolds (M,g) whose holonomy group is the compact exceptional Lie group G2. Our construction starts with a complete non-compact asymptotically conical Calabi-Yau 3-fold B and a circle bundle M over B satisfying a necessary topological condition. Our method then produces a 1-parameter family of circle-invariant complete G2-metrics on M that collapses to the original Calabi-Yau metric on the base B as the parameter converges to 0. The G2-metrics we construct have controlled asymptotic geometry at infinity, so-called asymptotically locally conical (ALC) metrics, and are the natural higher-dimensional analogues of the ALF metrics that are well known in 4-dimensional hyperkähler geometry. We give two illustrations of the strength of our method. Firstly we use it to construct infinitely many diffeomorphism types of complete non-compact simply connected G2-manifolds; previously only a handful of such diffeomorphism types was known. Secondly we use it to prove the existence of continuous families of complete non-compact G2-metrics of arbitrarily high dimension; previously only rigid or 1-parameter families of complete non-compact G2-metrics were known.

math.DG↗

arXiv2020

New $G_2$-conifolds in $M$-theory and their Field Theory Interpretation

A recent theorem of Foscolo-Haskins-Nordström which constructs complete $G_2$-holonomy orbifolds from circle bundles over Calabi-Yau cones can be utilised to construct and investigate a large class of generalisations of the $M$-theory flop transition. We see that in many cases a UV perturbative gauge theory appears to have an infrared dual described by a smooth $G_2$-holonomy background in $M$-theory. Various physical checks of this proposal are carried out affirmatively.

hep-th↗

arXiv2019

Complete non-compact Spin(7) manifolds from self-dual Einstein 4-orbifolds

We present an analytic construction of complete non-compact 8-dimensional Ricci-flat manifolds with holonomy Spin(7). The construction relies on the study of the adiabatic limit of metrics with holonomy Spin(7) on principal Seifert circle bundles over asymptotically conical G2 orbifolds. The metrics we produce have an asymptotic geometry, so-called ALC geometry, that generalises to higher dimensions the geometry of 4-dimensional ALF hyperkähler metrics. We apply our construction to asymptotically conical G2 metrics arising from self-dual Einstein 4-orbifolds with positive scalar curvature. As illustrative examples of the power of our construction, we produce complete non-compact Spin(7) manifolds with arbitrarily large second Betti number and infinitely many distinct families of ALC Spin(7) metrics on the same smooth 8-manifold.

math.DG↗

arXiv2017

ALF gravitational instantons and collapsing Ricci-flat metrics on the K3 surface

We construct large families of new collapsing hyperkähler metrics on the K3 surface. The limit space is the quotient of a flat 3-torus by an involution. Away from finitely many exceptional points the collapse occurs with bounded curvature. There are at most 24 exceptional points where the curvature concentrates, which always contains the 8 fixed points of the involution on the 3-torus. The geometry around these points is modelled by ALF gravitational instantons: of dihedral type (Dk) for the fixed points of the involution on the 3-torus and of cyclic type (Ak) otherwise. The collapsing metrics are constructed by deforming approximately hyperkähler metrics obtained by gluing ALF gravitational instantons to a background (incomplete) hyperkähler metric arising from the Gibbons-Hawking ansatz over a punctured 3-torus. As an immediate application to submanifold geometry, we exhibit hyperkähler metrics on the K3 surface that admit a strictly stable minimal sphere which cannot be holomorphic with respect to any complex structure compatible with the metric.

math.DG↗

arXiv2016

New G2 holonomy cones and exotic nearly Kaehler structures on the 6-sphere and the product of a pair of 3-spheres

There is a rich theory of so-called (strict) nearly Kaehler manifolds, almost-Hermitian manifolds generalising the famous almost complex structure on the 6-sphere induced by octonionic multiplication. Nearly Kaehler 6-manifolds play a distinguished role both in the general structure theory and also because of their connection with singular spaces with holonomy group the compact exceptional Lie group G2: the metric cone over a Riemannian 6-manifold M has holonomy contained in G2 if and only if M is a nearly Kaehler 6-manifold. A central problem in the field has been the absence of any complete inhomogeneous examples. We prove the existence of the first complete inhomogeneous nearly Kaehler 6-manifolds by proving the existence of at least one cohomogeneity one nearly Kaehler structure on the 6-sphere and on the product of a pair of 3-spheres. We conjecture that these are the only simply connected (inhomogeneous) cohomogeneity one nearly Kaehler structures in six dimensions.

math.DG↗

arXiv2016

Deformation theory of nearly Kähler manifolds

Nearly Kähler manifolds are the Riemannian 6-manifolds admitting real Killing spinors. Equivalently, the Riemannian cone over a nearly Kähler manifold has holonomy contained in G2. In this paper we study the deformation theory of nearly Kähler manifolds, showing that it is obstructed in general. More precisely, we show that the infinitesimal deformations of the homogeneous nearly Kähler structure on the flag manifold are all obstructed to second order.

math.DG↗

arXiv2015

A gluing construction for periodic monopoles

We construct periodic monopoles (with singularities), i.e. monopoles on $\mathbb{R}^{2} \times \mathbb{S}^{1}$ possibly singular at a finite collection of points, by gluing methods.

math.DG↗

arXiv2014

Deformation theory of periodic monopoles (with singularities)

We show that for generic choices of parameters the moduli spaces of periodic monopoles (with singularities), i.e. monopoles on $\mathbb{R}^{2} \times \mathbb{S}^{1}$ possibly singular at a finite collection of points, are either empty or smooth hyperkähler manifolds. Furthermore, we prove an index theorem and therefore compute the dimension of the moduli spaces.

math.DG↗