Related papers: Gerbes in classical Chern-Simons theory
To each second-order ordinary differential equation $\sigma $ on a smooth manifold $M$ a $G$-structure $P^\sigma $ on $J^1(\mathbb{R},M)$ is associated and the Chern connection $\nabla ^\sigma $ attached to $\sigma $ is proved to be…
Let $G$ be a finite group and $\Y$ a $G$-gerbe over an orbifold $\B$. A disconnected orbifold $\hat{\Y}$ and a flat U(1)-gerbe $c$ on $\hat{\Y}$ is canonically constructed from $\Y$. Motivated by a proposal in physics, we study a…
We present an explicit construction of the basic bundle gerbes with connection over all connected compact simple Lie groups. These are geometric objects that appear naturally in the Lagrangian approach to the WZW conformal field theories.…
In this paper we introduce the concept of Deligne cohomology of an orbifold. We prove that the third Deligne cohomology group of a smooth \'{e}tale groupoid classify gerbes with connection over the groupoid. We argue that the $B$-field and…
This work unveils a novel and fundamental connection between structured light and topological field theory by showing how the natural geometrical setting for paraxial vector beams is that of a $SU(2)$ principal bundle over…
Suppose that a complex manifold M is locally embedded into a higher-dimensional neighbourhood as a submanifold. We show that, if the local neighbourhood germs are compatible in a suitable sense, then they glue together to give a global…
Chern-Simons gauge theory is formulated on three dimensional $Z_2$ orbifolds. The locus of singular points on a given orbifold is equivalent to a link of Wilson lines. This allows one to reduce any correlation function on orbifolds to a sum…
There are two natural Chern-Simons theories associated with the embedding of a three-dimensional surface in Euclidean space; one is constructed using the induced metric connection -- it involves only the intrinsic geometry, the other is…
We give a functorial definition of $G$-gerbes over a simplicial complex when the local symmetry group $G$ is non-Abelian. These combinatorial gerbes are naturally endowed with a connective structure and a curving. This allows us to define a…
We consider the class of compact Hermitian manifolds whose Chern connection is Ambrose-Singer, namely, it has parallel torsion and curvature. We prove structure theorems for such manifolds.
We consider closed manifolds that admit a metric locally isometric to a product of symmetric planes. For such manifolds, we prove that the Euler characteristic is an obstruction to the existence of flat structures, confirming an old…
We develop the theory of simplicial extensions for bundle gerbes and their characteristic classes with a view towards studying descent problems and equivariance for bundle gerbes. Equivariant bundle gerbes are important in the study of…
The Chern-Simons forms for R-linear connections on Lie algebroids are considered. A generalized Chern-Simons formula for such R-linear connections is obtained. We it apply to define Chern character and secondary characteristic classes for…
This paper introduces the notion of ``relative gerbes'' for smooth maps of manifolds, and discusses their differential geometry. The equivalence classes of relative gerbes are further classified by the relative integral cohomology in degree…
Infinitesimal symmetries of $S^1$-bundle gerbes are modelled with multiplicative vector fields on Lie groupoids. It is shown that a connective structure on a bundle gerbe gives rise to a natural horizontal lift of multiplicative vector…
We show that Chern-Weil theory for tensor bundles over manifolds is a consequence of the existence of natural closed differential forms on total spaces of torsion free connections on frame bundles.
Three dimensional Yang-Mills gauge theories in the presence of the Chern-Simons action are seen as being generated by the pure topological Chern-Simons term through nonlinear covariant redefinitions of the gauge field
We construct chain-level $S^1$-equivariant string topology for each simply connected closed manifold. This amounts to constructing a Maurer-Cartan element for the canonical involutive Lie bialgebra (IBL) structure on the dual cyclic bar…
We study the perturbation theory for three dimensional Chern--Simons quantum field theory on a general compact three manifold without boundary. We show that after a simple change of variables, the action obtained by BRS gauge fixing in the…
Chern-Simons field theory based on a compact non-abelian gauge group is studied as a theory of knots and links in three dimensions. A method to obtain the invariants for links made from braids of upto four strands is developed. This…