arXiv subjects
Publications and source records attributed to Simone Noja.
We prove that, for every genus $g\geq 3$, the primary obstruction of each parity component of the moduli superstack of smooth unpunctured super Riemann surfaces is nonzero, both algebraically and holomorphically. Consequently, both components are non-projected and, in particular, non-split: neither admits an algebraic or holomorphic retraction onto its reduced moduli stack of spin curves.
We study cohomology classes whose restriction to the complement of a closed subset vanishes. The localisation sequence shows that their lifts to cohomology with support form a torsor under the image of the connecting morphism. We establish the behaviour of this torsor under excision, Cartesian base change, proper pushforward when compatible trace data are available, and external products, and characterise compatible local constructions in these terms. Under purity, excision and orientation hypotheses, its group of translations is identified with the image of the global-to-link Gysin transgression and hence with a subgroup of the kernel of multiplication by the Euler class; under a natural surjectivity hypothesis it is equal to this kernel. Injectivity of Euler multiplication therefore gives uniqueness of the supported lift, while concentration recovers the usual localisation formulae. In a stable categorical enhancement, we relate the set-level torsor to the corresponding space of nullhomotopies. For characteristic-class defects, we introduce Milnor localisation torsors and study their comparison morphisms and local index decompositions. For isolated hypersurface singularities, we describe the secondary ambiguity in terms of links and identify distinguished supported representatives arising from vanishing cycles.
The supermoduli stack ${\mathfrak M}_g$, parametrizing smooth unpunctured super Riemann surfaces of genus $g$, is known to be non-projected for $g \ge 5$. We extend this result to the even-spin component of ${\mathfrak M}_4$. This is done by exhibiting an appropriate compact curve in the spin moduli space ${\mathcal S\mathcal M}_4^{+}$, and computing the restriction to it of the class obstructing the projectedness of ${\mathfrak M}_4^{+}$. This restriction turns out to be non-zero, proving that ${\mathfrak M}_4^{+}$ is non-projected.
The study of super Riemann surfaces and their moduli led Witten and Felder, Kazhdan and Polishchuk to ask what is the smallest $d$ such that the $d$-th power of the Schottky ideal is contained in the super Schottky ideal. Felder, Kazhdan and Polishchuk proved that $d=g$ in odd genus $g\geq5$ and that $d\in\{g-1,g\}$ in even genus $g\geq4$; Y.~Shen subsequently proved that $d=g$ in even genus $g\geq6$. Thus the only remaining open case was $g=4$. Here we close this gap by showing that in genus $4$ too, the smallest power of the Schottky ideal contained in the super Schottky ideal is $d=g=4$. The question is equivalent to one concerning the codifferential of the super period map. The quadratic odd contribution sends a conormal vector to a bivector, represented by a skew-symmetric $(2g-2)\times(2g-2)$ matrix. The question is to find such a vector for which, at a generic point, this matrix has maximal rank $2g-2$, or $6$ in our case. Our computation uses the standard exact sequences on $C\times C$ attached to the sheaves $\OO(a,b,c)$, together with a degeneration to a vanishing theta-null and some facts about the Szegő kernel. At a curve with a vanishing theta-null, a regularized version of the codifferential can be described by an explicit multiplication map, allowing an easy computation of the rank. This rank turns out to be $4$. A first-order calculation on an explicit deformation of a cyclic trigonal vanishing theta-null differentiates the global Gaussian-map identity for the regularized conormal bivector. Including the variation of the Gaussian map gives a nonzero first normal symbol. The resulting first-order form is nonzero on the null space of the limiting skew-symmetric matrix, so the rank jumps to $6$ on nearby curves, showing that $d=4$.
Families of classical field theories often depend on geometric parameters. A basic question is whether the corresponding classical observables can be compared by flat parallel transport, and whether this comparison survives quantization. We study this problem for families of shifted Poisson structures. To such a family we attach a Poisson transverse controller $\mathbb U_π$, a homotopy stabilizer encoding transverse symmetries which preserve the Poisson Maurer--Cartan element up to coherent homotopy. Its flat splittings are precisely transversal shifted Poisson unfoldings, and they act on vertical symmetries, Poisson cohomology and local deformation theory. We then formulate the $\hslash$-adic lifting problem for quantized objects; its degree-two obstruction classes are the transport anomalies. The construction is realized for star-products, BV observables, factorization algebras and AKSZ theories. For the Poisson sigma model, anomaly-free quantization of the flat transport makes the Cattaneo--Felder/Kontsevich boundary product horizontal over the parameter space.
We settle the projectedness problem for the compactified unpunctured supermoduli stack in every genus at least two. In genus two, the odd component is split, whereas the even component is non-projected. In every genus $g\geq 3$, both compactified parity components are non-projected.
We develop a formal moduli theory for the splitting problem of complex supermanifolds. Starting from Green's obstruction tower, we construct a finite-step filtered dg Lie algebra which controls splittings by filtered Maurer-Cartan theory. We prove that the classical successive obstruction classes are recovered as the leading terms of adapted Maurer-Cartan representatives, and we transfer the theory to a minimal filtered $L_\infty$-model whose higher brackets give the intrinsic Kuranishi relations among the obstruction coordinates. We also prove that, in a precise filtered sense, the affine Atiyah class contains the entire Green obstruction tower: the Donagi-Witten component gives the primary obstruction, while the higher obstructions arise as successive projected defects and residual classes of the same Atiyah cocycle. We then pass to families, by constructing the fixed-retract formal moduli problem with prescribed split model and by identifying the formal neighbourhood of the split section with the fibrewise deformation theory of the split model; under standard finiteness, base-change, and descent hypotheses this yields relative tangent-obstruction and Kuranishi presentations. Finally, we work out explicit examples of non-split supergeometries, including cases with residual higher obstructions and a first nonlinear Kuranishi relation. These examples illustrate the interaction between Green obstructions, Atiyah classes, and higher $L_\infty$-operations.
We study relative differential and integral forms on families of supermanifolds and their cohomology. We prove a relative Poincaré--Verdier duality and show that it relates the cohomology of differential and integral forms, admitting a concrete geometric realization via Berezin fiber integration. We further introduce the Poincaré--dual integral form associated to an embedded even family and prove that it satisfies the correct localization property. We then apply these results to supergravity, focusing on the $3d$ case. In this setting, we show that relative Poincaré duality provides the natural framework for encoding the data needed to relate a superspace formulation to the physical spacetime, thereby yielding a rigorous definition of picture changing operators used in the physics literature. Building on this, after a careful analysis of the space of fields and the relevant constraints, we prove that the component, superspace, and geometric formulation of the theory are all equivalent. Finally, under suitable hypotheses, we argue that our construction illustrates a general principle governing the mathematical formulation of classical field theories on supermanifolds.
We study the Dirac cohomology of supermodules over basic classical Lie superalgebras, formulated in terms of cubic Dirac operators associated with parabolic subalgebras. Specifically, we establish a super-analog of the Casselman-Osborne theorem for supermodules with an infinitesimal character and use it to show that the Dirac cohomology of highest-weight supermodules is always non-trivial. In particular, we explicitly compute the Dirac cohomology of finite-dimensional simple supermodules for basic Lie superalgebras of type 1 with a typical highest weight, as well as of simple supermodules in the parabolic BGG category. We further investigate the relationship between Dirac cohomology and Kostant (co)homology, proving that, under suitable conditions, Dirac cohomology embeds into Kostant (co)homology. Moreover, we show that this embedding lifts to an isomorphism when the supermodule is unitarizable.
The projective variety of square-zero elements in the six-dimensional minimal supersymmetry algebra is isomorphic to $\mathbb{P}^1 \times \mathbb{P}^3$. We use this fact, together with the pure spinor superfield formalism, to study supermultiplets in six dimensions, starting from vector bundles on projective spaces. We classify all multiplets whose derived invariants for the supertranslation algebra form a line bundle over the nilpotence variety; one can think of such multiplets as being those whose holomorphic twists have rank one over Dolbeault forms on spacetime. In addition, we explicitly construct multiplets associated to natural higher-rank equivariant vector bundles, including the tangent and normal bundles as well as their duals. Among the multiplets constructed are the vector multiplet and hypermultiplet, the family of $\mathcal{O}(n)$-multiplets, and the supergravity and gravitino multiplets. Along the way, we tackle various theoretical problems within the pure spinor superfield formalism. In particular, we give some general discussion about the relation of the projective nilpotence variety to multiplets and prove general results on short exact sequences and dualities of sheaves in the context of the pure spinor superfield formalism.
The nilpotence variety for extended supersymmetric quantum mechanics is a cone over a quadric in projective space. The pure spinor correspondence, which relates the description of off-shell supermultiplets to the classification of modules over the corresponding hypersurface ring, reduces to a classical problem of linear algebra. Spinor bundles, which correspond to maximal Cohen-Macaulay modules, serve as basic building blocks. Koszul duality appears as a deformed version of the Bernstein-Gel'fand-Gel'fand correspondence that we make fully concrete. We illustrate in numerous examples the close relationship between these connections and the powerful graphical technology of Adinkras, which appear as a decategorification of special complexes on quadrics. We emphasize the role of R-symmetry for recovering higher-dimensional gauge and gravity multiplets.
This paper provides a rigorous account on the geometry of forms on supermanifolds, with a focus on its algebraic-geometric aspects. First, we introduce the de Rham complex of differential forms and we compute its cohomology. We then discuss three intrinsic definitions of the Berezinian sheaf of a supermanifold - as a quotient sheaf, via cohomology of the super Koszul complex or via cohomology of the total de Rham complex. Further, we study the properties of the Berezinian sheaf, showing in particular that it defines a right $\mathcal{D}$-module. Then we introduce integral forms and their complex and we compute their cohomology, by providing a suitable Poincaré lemma. We show that the complex of differential forms and integral forms are quasi-isomorphic and their cohomology computes the de Rham cohomology of the reduced space of the supermanifold. The notion of Berezin integral is then introduced and put to the good use to prove the superanalog of Stokes' theorem and Poincaré duality, which relates differential and integral forms on supermanifolds. Finally, a different point of view is discussed by introducing the total tangent supermanifold and (integrable) pseudoforms in a new way. In this context, it is shown that a particular class of integrable pseudoforms having a distributional dependence supported at a point on the fibers are isomorphic to integral forms. Within the general overview several new proofs of results are scattered.
We study global and local geometry of forms on odd symplectic BV supermanifolds, constructed from the total space of the bundle of 1-forms on a base supermanifold. We show that globally 1-forms are an extension of vector bundles defined on the base supermanifold. In the holomorphic category, we prove that this extension is split if and only if the super Atiyah class of the base supermanifold vanishes. This is equivalent to the existence of a holomorphic superconnection: we show how this condition is related to the characteristic non-split geometry of complex supermanifolds. From a local point of view, we prove that the deformed de Rham double complex naturally arises as a de-quantization of the de Rham/Spencer double complex of the base supermanifold. Following Ševera, we show that the associated spectral sequence yields semidensities on the BV supermanifold, together with their differential in the form of a super BV Laplacian.
The universal Spencer and de Rham complexes of sheaves over a smooth or analytical manifold are well known to play a basic role in the theory of $\mathcal{D}$-modules. In this article we consider a double complex of sheaves generalizing both complexes for an arbitrary supermanifold, and we use it to unify the notions of differential and integral forms on real, complex and algebraic supermanifolds. The associated spectral sequences give the de Rham complex of differential forms and the complex of integral forms at page one. For real and complex supermanifolds both spectral sequences converge at page two to the locally constant sheaf. We use this fact to show that the cohomology of differential forms is isomorphic to the cohomology of integral forms, and they both compute the de Rham cohomology of the reduced manifold. Furthermore, we show that, in contrast with the case of ordinary complex manifolds, the Hodge-to-de Rham (or Frölicher) spectral sequence of supermanifolds with Kähler reduced manifold does not converge in general at page one.
We construct the super Koszul complex of a free supercommutative $A$-module $V$ of rank $p|q$ and prove that its homology is concentrated in a single degree and it yields an exact resolution of $A$. We then study the dual of the super Koszul complex and show that its homology is concentrated in a single degree as well and isomorphic to $Π^{p+q} A$, with $Π$ the parity changing functor. Finally, we show that, given an automorphism of $V$, the induced transformation on the only non-trivial homology class of the dual of the super Koszul complex is given by the multiplication by the Berezinian of the automorphism, thus relating this homology group with the Berezinian module of $V$.
We start a systematic study of non-projected supermanifolds, concentrating on supermanifolds with fermionic dimension 2 and with the reduced manifold a complex projective space. We show that all the non-projected supermanifolds of dimension $2|2$ over $\mathbb{P}^2$ are completely characterised by a non-zero 1-form $ω$ and by a locally free sheaf $\mathcal{F}$ of rank $0|2$, satisfying $Sym^2 \mathcal{F} \cong K_{\mathbb{P}^2}$. Denoting such supermanifolds with $\mathbb{P}^{2}_ω(\mathcal{F})$, we show that all of them are Calabi-Yau supermanifolds and, when $ω\neq 0$, they are non-projective, that is they cannot be embedded into any projective superspace $\mathbb{P}^{n|m}$. Instead, we show that every non-projected supermanifolds over $\mathbb{P}^2$ admits an embedding into a super Grassmannian. By contrast, we give an example of a supermanifold $\mathbb P^{2}_ω(\mathcal F)$ that cannot be embedded in any of the $Π$-projective superspaces $\mathbb P^{n}_Π$ introduced by Manin and Deligne. However, we also show that when $\mathcal F$ is the cotangent bundle over $\mathbb{P}^2$, then the non-projected $\mathbb{P}^2_ω(\mathcal F)$ and the $Π$-projective plane $\mathbb P^{2}_Π$ do coincide.
Inspired by the analogy between different types of differential forms on supermanifolds and string fields in superstring theory, we construct new multilinear non-associative products of forms which yield an $A_\infty$-algebra.
In this paper we give a brief account of the relations between non-projected supermanifolds and projectivity in supergeometry. Following the general results of arXiv:1706.01354, we study an explicit example of non-projected and non-projective supermanifold over the projective plane and we show how to embed it into a super Grassmannian. The geometry of super Grassmannians is also reviewed in details.