Related papers: Equivariant, string and leading order characterist…

By work of Kirby-Siebenmann \cite{KirbySiebenmann} and Kervaire-Milnor \cite{KervaireMilnor}, there are only finitely many smooth manifolds homeomorphic to a given closed topological manifold. A construction involving Whitehead torsion…

Let $X$ be a differentiable manifold endowed with a transitive action $\alpha:A\times X\longrightarrow X$ of a Lie group $A$. Let $K$ be a Lie group. Under suitable technical assumptions, we give explicit classification theorems, in terms…

We construct a family of rings. To a plane diagram of a tangle we associate a complex of bimodules over these rings. Chain homotopy equivalence class of this complex is an invariant of the tangle. On the level of Grothendieck groups this…

An equivariant Thom isomorphism theorem in operator K-theory is formulated and proven for infinite rank Euclidean vector bundles over finite dimensional Riemannian manifolds. The main ingredient in the argument is the construction of a…

We construct a canonical Thom isomorphism in Grojnowski's equivariant elliptic cohomology, for virtual T-oriented T-equivariant spin bundles with vanishing Borel-equivariant second Chern class, which is natural under pull-back of vector…

We review and elaborate on certain aspects of the connections between instanton counting in maximally supersymmetric gauge theories and the computation of enumerative invariants of smooth varieties. We study in detail three instances of…

In this paper, we construct new characteristic classes of fiber bundles via flat connections with values in infinite-dimensional Lie algberas of derivations. In fact, choosing a fiberwise metric, we construct a chain map to the de Rham…

We explain the relationship between various characteristic classes for smooth manifold bundles known as ``higher torsion'' classes. We isolate two fundamental properties that these cohomology classes may or may not have: additivity and…

We revisit Vafa-Witten theory in the more general setting whereby the underlying moduli space is not that of instantons, but of the full Vafa-Witten equations. We physically derive (i) a novel Vafa-Witten four-manifold invariant associated…

I provide two solutions to the problem of categorifying quantum link invariants, which work uniformly for all gauge groups and originate in geometry and string theory. The first is based on a category of equivariant B-type branes on ${\cal…

In this paper, we characterize the second bounded characteristic classes of foliated bundles in terms of the non-descendible quasi-morphisms on the universal covering of the structure group. As its application, we study the boundedness of…

An equivariant bundle gerbe \`a la Meinrenken over a $G$-manifold $M$ is known to be a special type of $S^1$-gerbe over the differentiable stack $[M/G]$. We prove that the natural morphism relating the Cartan and simplicial models of…

The superpotential in four-dimensional heterotic effective theories contains terms arising from holomorphic Chern-Simons invariants associated to the gauge and tangent bundles of the compactification geometry. These effects are crucial for…

We explore the theory of connected Gromov-Witten invariants of the symmetric product stack [Sym^n(A_r)]. We derive closed-form expressions for all equivariant invariants with two insertions and reveal a natural correspondence between the…

We obtain the topological obstructions to existence of a bundle of irreducible real Clifford modules over a pseudo-Riemannian manifold $(M,g)$ of arbitrary dimension and signature and prove that bundles of Clifford modules are associated to…

The infinite matrix `Schwartz' group $G^{-\infty}$ is a classifying group for odd K-theory and carries Chern classes in each odd dimension, generating the cohomology. These classes are closely related to the Fredholm determinant on…

As a formulation of 'codimension-two arguments' in invariant theory, we define a (rational) almost principal bundle. It is a principal bundle off closed subsets of codimension two or more. We discuss the behavior of the category of…

We consider the Gopakumar-Ooguri-Vafa correspondence, relating ${\rm U}(N)$ Chern-Simons theory at large $N$ to topological strings, in the context of spherical Seifert 3-manifolds. These are quotients $\mathbb{S}^{\Gamma} =…

Let G be a simple Lie group of real rank one, and S the ideal boundary of the corresponding symmetric space of noncompact type (H^n_R, H^n_C, H^n_H or H^2_O). We show the finiteness of the possible values of the secondary characteristic…

We use string-net models to accomplish a direct, purely two-dimensional, approach to correlators of two-dimensional rational conformal field theories. We obtain concise geometric expressions for the objects describing bulk and boundary…