Related papers: Loop Groups, Higgs Fields and Generalised String C…

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…

We show that the Chas-Sullivan loop product, a combination of the Pontrjagin product on the fiber and intersection product on the base, makes sense on the total space homology of any fiberwise monoid E over a closed oriented manifold M.…

Just as gauge theory describes the parallel transport of point particles using connections on bundles, higher gauge theory describes the parallel transport of 1-dimensional objects (e.g. strings) using 2-connections on 2-bundles. A 2-bundle…

Let $M$ be an irreducible projective variety over an algebraically closed field $k$ of characteristic zero equipped with an action of a group $\Gamma$. Let $E_G$ be a principal $G$--bundle over $M$, where $G$ is a connected reductive…

This brief survey aims to set the stage and summarize some of the ideas under discussion at the Workshop on Singular Geometry and Higgs Bundles in String Theory, to be held at the American Institute of Mathematics from October 30th to…

We study extension properties for morphisms of stacks of bundles for group algebraic spaces. Applications are a short proof of the classification of bundles on the projective line for smooth geometrically reductive groups and the existence…

In the paper arXiv:0810.4291 we have shown, in the context of type II superstring theory, the classification of the allowed B-field and A-field configurations in the presence of anomaly-free D-branes, the mathematical framework being…

The notion of a higher bundle gerbe is introduced to give a geometric realization of the higher degree integral cohomology of certain manifolds. We consider examples using the infinite dimensional spaces arising in gauge theories.

We consider smooth families of Lie groups (group bundles) and connections that are compatible with the group operation. We characterize the space of group connections on a group bundle as an affine space modeled over the vector space of…

In this paper we study $G$-Higgs bundles over an elliptic curve when the structure group $G$ is a classical complex reductive Lie group. Modifying the notion of family, we define a new moduli problem for the classification of semistable…

We define the notion of a loop Hodge structure -- an infinite dimensional generalization of a Hodge structure -- and prove that a suitable variation of this object over a complex manifold is equivalent to the datum of a harmonic bundle.…

Based on a fact that complex Clifford algebras of even dimension are isomorphic to the matrix ones, we consider bundles in Clifford algebras whose structure group is a general linear group acting on a Clifford algebra by left…

Let K be a Lie group and P be a K-principal bundle on a manifold M. Suppose given furthermore a central extension 1\to Z\to \hat{K}\to K\to 1 of K. It is a classical question whether there exists a \hat{K}-principal bundle \hat{P} on M such…

We study relations among characteristic classes of smooth manifold bundles with highly-connected fibers. For bundles with fiber the connected sum of $g$ copies of a product of spheres $S^d \times S^d$ and an odd $d$, we find numerous…

Higgs bundles over a closed orientable surface can be defined for any real reductive Lie group G. In this paper we examine the case G=SO*(2n). We describe a rigidity phenomenon encountered in the case of maximal Toledo invariant. Using this…

Let A be a complex abelian variety. The moduli space ${\mathcal M}_C$ of rank one algebraic connections on $A$ is a principal bundle over the dual abelian variety $A^\vee=\text{Pic}^0(A)$ for the group $H^0(A, \Omega^1_A)$. Take any line…

We develop a geometric framework that characterizes the synchronization problem --- the problem of consistently registering or aligning a collection of objects. The theory we formulate characterizes the cohomological nature of…

Categorifying the concept of topological group, one obtains the notion of a 'topological 2-group'. This in turn allows a theory of 'principal 2-bundles' generalizing the usual theory of principal bundles. It is well-known that under mild…

We reformulate the construction of Kontsevich's completion and use Lawson homology to define many new motivic invariants. We show that the dimensions of subspaces generated by algebraic cycles of the cohomology groups of two $K$-equivalent…

Let $X$ be a smooth projective curve over a field of characteristic zero and let $\mathcal D$ be an effective divisor on $X$. We calculate motivic classes of various moduli stacks of parabolic vector bundles with irregular connections on…