Flat partial connections on a three manifold equipped with a codimension one foliation (Q1573683)

For a compact manifold \(M\) (connected oriented \(C^\infty\) real \(M\) of dimension 3) a nonsingular smooth foliation \(i:F \subset T_M\) of codimension 1 is considered, where \(T_M\) is the tangent bundle. The normal bundle \(N=T_M/F\) has a natural partial connection along \(F\), which is known as the Bott connection. A partial connection along \(F\) on \(E\) is a differential operator \(D:\underline E\to\underline {F^*\otimes E}\) of order 1 satisfying the Leibniz identity \(D(f\cdot s)=f\cdot D(s)+ i^*(df) \otimes s\), where \(E\) denotes the sheaf of local sections of \(E\), \(E\) is a \(C^\infty\) vector bundle over \(M\), \(i^*:T^* M\to F^*\) is the adjoint of \(i\). A \(2\)-form \(\Omega\) on the space parametrizing flat partial connections is constructed such that \(d\Omega =0\). In particular, a surface bundle over the circle is investigated.