The inverse Penrose transform on Riemannian twistor spaces (Q1357176)

The twistor space of \({\mathbb{R}}^{2n}\) is a complex manifold \(Z\) of dimension \(\frac{1}{2}n(n+1)\) equipped with a submersion \(p:Z\to{\mathbb{R}}^{2n}\) whose fibres are holomorphic. More precisely, they are all isomorphic to \(\frac{1}{2}n(n-1)\)-dimensional complex projective space. In fact, the construction of \(Z\) is conformally invariant and so one gets a compactified twistor space with submersion to the \(2n\)-sphere as the conformal compactification of \({\mathbb{R}}^{2n}\) under stereographic projection. When \(n=1\), this is just the usual holomorphic structure on the \(2\)-sphere. When \(n=2\), it is the projection \(\mathbb{C} P_3\to S^4\) obtained by regarding \(S^4\) as \(1\)-dimensional quaternionic projective space and taking the quaternionic span. The Penrose transform is obtained by taking a Dolbeault cohomology class on \(Z\) with coefficients in a suitable holomorphic vector bundle and restricting it to the fibres of \(p\). The simplest case is when the coefficients are in a suitably negative power of the `hyperplane bundle' on \(Z\) and cohomology is taken in degree \(\frac{1}{2}n(n-1)\). Then the restriction to the fibres gives cohomology in top degree and the result may be interpreted as a spinor field on \({\mathbb{R}}^{2n}\). The Penrose transform gives an isomorphism between this cohomology on \(Z\) and solutions of the conformally invariant Dirac equation (of appropriate helicity) on \({\mathbb{R}}^{2n}\). Whilst there are many proofs of this, it is interesting to have an explicit inversion formula giving a particular representative (the harmonic one) of the Dolbeault class. For \(n=2\) there is a formula due to \textit{N. M. J. Woodhouse} [Classical Quantum Gravity 2, 257-291 (1985; Zbl 0575.53082)]. In this article, the author gives a very neat generalisation of this formula to cover all \(n\). In fact, when \(n=2\), there are also nonflat twistor spaces and the author discusses how the Woodhouse formula in this case, too, may be seen as a special case of his construction. Presumably, there are similar formulae for odd-dimensional conformal spaces either satisfying the Einstein-Weyl equations if the dimension is three or conformally flat in higher dimensions.