Orientability of moduli spaces of \(\mathrm{Spin}(7)\)-instantons and coherent sheaves on Calabi-Yau 4-folds (Q2180890)

Let \((X,g)\) be a compact, connected, oriented, spin Riemannian 8-manifold, and let \(P\to X\) be a principal \(G\)-bundle with \(G=\mathrm{U}(m)\) or \(\mathrm{SU}(m)\). Denote \(\mathcal{B}_P\) the moduli space of gauge equivalence classes of connections on \(P\), considered as a topological stack. The first main result of the paper is that \(\mathcal{B}_P\) is orientable for any such \((X,g)\) and \(P\). Moreover, there is a method for choosing an orientation that constructively depends on a finite arbitrary choice. Analogous problem for moduli spaces of anti-self-dual instantons on 4-manifolds was solved by Donaldson, and the authors follow his techniques. However, orientability depends on effects involving submanifolds of codimension 3, which in the 8-dimensional case are much more complex than circles that Donaldson dealt with. The proof relies on the classification of compact, simply-connected 5-manifolds by \textit{D. Crowley} [``5-manifolds: 1-connected'', Bull. Manifold Atlas 2011, 49-55 (2011)]. The theorem implies orientability of analogous moduli spaces for \(\mathrm{Spin}(7)\) instantons, which will be needed to define enumerative invariants of \(\mathrm{Spin}(7)\) manifolds by `counting' them. The second main result concerns Calabi-Yau \(4m\)-folds \(X\), that is projective complex \(4m\)-manifolds with trivial canonical bundle. Let \(\mathcal{M}\) denote the derived moduli stack of coherent sheaves (or complexes thereof) on \(X\), taken as a derived stack in the sense of \textit{B. Toën} and \textit{G. Vezzosi} [NATO Sci. Ser. II, Math. Phys. Chem. 131, 173--216 (2004; Zbl 1076.14002)]. It has a \((2-4m)\)-shifted symplectic structure \(\omega\), and \textit{D. Borisov} and \textit{D. Joyce} [Geom. Topol. 21, No. 6, 3231--3311 (2017; Zbl 1390.14008)] defined a notion of orientation on \(k\)-shifted symplectic derived stacks \((\mathcal{M},\omega)\) for even \(k\), which form a principal \(\mathbb{Z}_2\)-bundle \(O^\omega\to\mathcal{M}\). Let \(\mathcal{M}^{\mathrm{top}}\) denote the topological realization of \(\mathcal{M}\), and \(\mathcal{C}\) denote the space of continuous maps from \(X\) to the classifying space for complex K-theory. The authors prove that one can build a continuous map \(\Gamma\!\!: \mathcal{M}^{\mathrm{top}}\to\mathcal{C}\), that produces an isomorphism of principal \(\mathbb{Z}_2\)-bundles between \((O^\omega)^{\mathrm{top}}\to\mathcal{M}^{\mathrm{top}}\) and the pullback by \(\Gamma\) of the topological bundle of orientations on \(\mathcal{C}\). In particular, if the latter trivializes then so does \(O^\omega\to\mathcal{M}\) and \(\mathcal{M}\) is orientable. Moreover, there is a canonical choice of the above isomorphism. Combining these two results we get a nice application to defining Donaldson-Thomas type `DT4 invariants' based on counting semistable coherent sheaves on Calabi-Yau 4-folds, as proposed by Donaldson-Thomas, Cao-Leung, and Borisov-Joyce. For Calabi-Yau 4-folds the derived moduli stack \(\mathcal{M}\) of (complexes of) coherent sheaves on \(X\) is a \(-2\)-shifted symplectic derived stack \((\mathcal{M},\omega)\), which was here proved to be orientable. Considering the corresponding semistable derived moduli schemes (at least when semistable implies stable) and using the orientations of this paper one can pair the virtual cycle with certain cohomology classes on the scheme, and obtain the proposed DT4 invariants.