Universal structures in \(\mathbb{C}\)-linear enumerative invariant theories (Q2084146): Difference between revisions

An enumerative invariant theory in algebraic geometry, differential geometry, or representation theory, is the study of invariants which count \(\tau\)-(semi)stable objects \(E\) with fixed topological invariants \([\![E]\!] = \alpha\) in some geometric problem, by means of a virtual class \([\mathcal{M}_\alpha^{\mathrm{ss}}(\tau)]_{\mathrm{virt}}\) in some homology theory for the moduli spaces \(\mathcal{M}_\alpha^{\mathrm{st}}(\tau)\subseteq\mathcal{M}_\alpha^{\mathrm{ss}}(\tau)\) of \(\tau\)-stable and \(\tau\)-semistable objects, respectively. Examples include Mochizuki's invariants counting coherent sheaves on surfaces, Donaldson-Thomas type invariants counting coherent sheaves on Calabi-Yau 3- and 4-folds and Fano 3-folds, and Donaldson invariants of 4-manifolds. J. Gross, D. Joyce, and Y. Tanaka make conjectures on new universal structures common to many enumerative invariant theories, which have two moduli spaces \(\mathcal{M}\), \(\mathcal{M}^{\mathrm{pl}}\), where D. Joyce gives \(H_*(\mathcal{M})\) the structure of a graded vertex algebra, and \(H_*\big(\mathcal{M}^{\mathrm{pl}}\big)\) a graded Lie algebra, closely related to \(H_*(\mathcal{M})\). The virtual classes \([\mathcal{M}_\alpha^{\mathrm{ss}}(\tau)]_{\mathrm{virt}}\) take values in \(H_*\big(\mathcal{M}^{\mathrm{pl}}\big)\). In most such theories, defining \([\mathcal{M}_\alpha^{\mathrm{ss}}(\tau)]_{\mathrm{virt}}\) when \(\mathcal{M}_\alpha^{\mathrm{st}}(\tau)\ne\mathcal{M}_\alpha^{\mathrm{ss}}(\tau)\) (in gauge theory, when the moduli space contains reducibles) is very difficult. The authors conjecture that there is a natural way to define invariants \([\mathcal{M}_\alpha^{\mathrm{ss}}(\tau)]_{\mathrm{inv}}\) in homology over \(\mathbb{Q}\), with \([\mathcal{M}_\alpha^{\mathrm{ss}}(\tau)]_{\mathrm{inv}}=[\mathcal{M}_\alpha^{\mathrm{ss}}(\tau)]_{\mathrm{virt}}\) when \(\mathcal{M}_\alpha^{\mathrm{st}}(\tau) = \mathcal{M}_\alpha^{\mathrm{ss}}(\tau)\), and that these invariants satisfy a universal wall-crossing formula under change of the stability condition \(\tau\), written using the Lie bracket on \(H_*\big(\mathcal{M}^{\mathrm{pl}}\big)\). The authors prove their conjectures for moduli spaces of representations of quivers without oriented cycles.