English

Hodge integrals and Gromov-Witten theory

Algebraic Geometry 2007-05-23 v1 High Energy Physics - Theory

Abstract

Integrals of the Chern classes of the Hodge bundle in Gromov-Witten theory are studied. We find a universal system of differential equations which determines the generating function of these integrals from the standard descendent potential (for any target X). We use virtual localization and classical degeneracy calculations to find trigonometric closed form solutions for special Hodge integrals over the moduli space of pointed curves. These formulas are applied to two computations in Gromov-Witten theory for Calabi-Yau 3-folds. The genus g, degree d multiple cover contribution of a rational curve is found to be simply proportional to the Euler characteristic of M_g. The genus g, degree 0 Gromov-Witten invariant is calculated (in agreement with recent string theoretic calculations of Gopakumar-Vafa and Marino-Moore). Finally, with Zagier's help, our Hodge integral formulas imply a general genus prediction of the punctual Virasoro constraints applied to the projective line.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.math/9810173,
  title  = {Hodge integrals and Gromov-Witten theory},
  author = {C. Faber and R. Pandharipande},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:math/9810173},
  year   = {2007}
}

Comments

24 pages, LaTeX2e

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