Equivalence of two approaches to Yang-Mills on noncommutative torus (Q2354788)

The authors compare two different approaches to the Yang-Mills action functional in noncommutative geometry (NCG), in the popular and important class of examples of noncommutative tori. The theory of (noncommutative) Yang-Mills concerns linear connections in the setting of NCG. In the first of the two approaches for Yang-Mills ([\textit{A. Connes}, C. R. Acad. Sci., Paris, Sér. A 290, 599--604 (1980; Zbl 0433.46057)] and [\textit{A. Connes} and \textit{M. A. Rieffel}, Contemp. Math. 62, 237--266 (1987; Zbl 0633.46069)]), the basic data consists of a \(C^*\)-dynamical system \(({\mathcal A}, G, \alpha)\), where \(G\) is a connected Lie group with the Lie algebra \({\mathcal G}\) (say), and a \(G\)-invariant, faithful trace on \({\mathcal A}\). A linear connection on a finitely generated projective right \({\mathcal A}\)-module \({\mathcal E}\) is then a \({\mathbb C}\)-linear map \(\nabla\) from \({\mathcal E}\) to \({\mathcal E} \otimes {\mathcal G}^*\), determined by its evaluation \(\nabla_X\) on elements \(X \in {\mathcal G}\), which should satisfy \[ \nabla_X(ea)=\nabla_X(e)a+e \delta_X(a), \] for \(e \in {\mathcal E}\), \(a \in {\mathcal A}\), where \(\delta_X(\cdot)\) denotes the generator \(\frac{d}{dt}|_{t=0}\alpha_{\text{exp}(tX)}(\cdot)\) of the one-parameter subgroup of automorphisms corresponding to \(X\). Moreover, given a Hermitian structure on the module, which is to be interpreted as a `metric', a natural analogue of the metric-compatibility can be formulated. Let \({\mathcal C}({\mathcal E})\) be the set of all compatible linear connections on a given finitely generated projective right \({\mathcal A}\)-module with a Hermitian structure. Using the trace \(\tau\), Connes and Rieffel [loc. cit.] defined the Yang-Mills action functional \(YM : {\mathcal C}({\mathcal E}) \rightarrow {\mathbb R}_+ \cup \{ 0 \}\) and studied it in the model of noncommutative two-tori. On the other hand, in [Noncommutative geometry. Transl. from the French by Sterling Berberian. San Diego, CA: Academic Press (1994; Zbl 0818.46076)], \textit{A. Connes} proposed a more general formulation of NCG in terms of the so-called spectral triple. Given a spectral triple \(({\mathcal A}, {\mathcal H}, D)\) satisfying certain regularity conditions, with the associated module of `one-forms' \(\Omega^1_D\), a linear connection on a finitely generated projective right \({\mathcal A}\)-module \({\mathcal E}\) is a \({\mathbb C}\)-linear map \(\nabla\) from \({\mathcal E}\) to \({\mathcal E} \otimes_{{\mathcal A}} \Omega^1_D\) satisfying \[ \nabla(ea)=\nabla(e)a+e \otimes_{{\mathcal A}} da, \] where \(d : {\mathcal A} \rightarrow \Omega^1_D\) is the analogue of the de Rham differential map in the NCG framework. As in the previous approach, given a Hermitian structure on the module \({\mathcal E}\), one has a natural metric compatibility condition and a YM action functional on the space \(\tilde{\mathcal C}({\mathcal E})\) of compatible connections. The aim of the authors of the present paper is to compare these two definitions for the canonical spectral triples on the noncommutative \(n\)-tori, where one has a natural \({\mathbb R}^n\)-action and an invariant faithful trace. The main result is that there is a one-to-one correspondence between the two spaces \({\mathcal C}({\mathcal E})\) and \(\tilde{\mathcal C}({\mathcal E})\) for any finitely generated projective module \({\mathcal E}\) with a Hermitian structure and the corresponding YM functionals differ by a constant. Besides this, the authors also prove an interesting result on the Hermitian structures on finitely generated projective modules over spectrally invariant subalgebras of \(C^*\)-algebras.