Deformations of groups of gauge transformations (Q1180538)

This article presents a detailed investigation of the deformation theory of representations of a given group \(H\) into the group of gauge transformations of a principal \(G\)-bundle over a manifold \(X\). The group of all gauge transformations can be regarded as an infinite dimensional Lie group when endowed with the appropriate topology. The authors' approach differs significantly from that of earlier theories of representations of gauge groups in the sense that their primary objective is concerned with representations of groups ``into'' gauge groups. A deformation of a representation is a parametrized family of representations with prescribed properties containing the given representation. A complete theory of deformations of representations of finitely generated groups into finite dimensional Lie groups has been developed by A. Weil and others, and in the present paper an analog of this theory is constructed in the context of gauge groups. Explicit computations of the infinitesimal deformations and the associated higher cohomology are presented. Infinitesimal deformations that arise from vector fields on \(X\) are analyzed, and the role played by the continuous cohomology of the gauge group is examined.