Multiple cover formula of generalized DT invariants. I: Parabolic stable pairs (Q2445860)

Let \(X\) be a smooth projective Calabi-Yau 3-fold over the complex numbers and \(\omega\) the first Chern class of an ample line bundle \(\mathcal{O}_X(1)\). Let \(H\subset X\) be another divisor. We say that a one cycle \(C\) intersects with \(H\) transversally if the intersection \(H\cap C\) is zero dimensional. Now, a parabolic stable pair is defined to be a pair \((F,s)\), where (a) \(F\) is a one dimensional \(\omega\)-semistable sheaf, (b) \(s\) is a global section of \(F\otimes \mathcal{O}_H\), (c) the one cycle \([F]\) associated with \(F\) intersects \(H\) transversally and (d) for any surjection \(\pi: F\to F'\) with \(\chi(F)/([F]\cdot \omega)=:\mu_\omega(F)=\mu_\omega(F')\), we have \(\pi\otimes \mathcal{O}_H(s)\neq 0\). The goal of the paper under review is to study counting invariants of the moduli spaces of parabolic stable pairs and relate them to generalised Donaldson-Thomas (DT) invariants. To do this, the author introduces parabolic stable pairs and studies some of their properties in Section 2. In the same section the author considers the functor \(\mathcal{M}_n^{\text{par}}(X,\beta)\) from the category of \(\mathbb{C}\)-schemes of finite type to the category of sets roughly defined as follows. If \(T\) is a \(\mathbb{C}\)-scheme, the functor assigns to it the isomorphism classes of families of parabolic stable pairs \((F,s)\) satisfying \([F]=\beta\) and \(\chi(F)=n\), where \(\beta\in H_2(X,\mathbb{Z})\). Note that this functor depends on \(\omega\) and \(H\), although this is not reflected in the notation. It is shown that for any \(d\in \mathbb{Z}_{>0}\) there exists a divisor \(H\in |\mathcal{O}_X(h)|\) which intersects any one cycle \(C\) with \(\omega\cdot C\leq d\) transversally. Then the author proves that for a chosen \(d\in \mathbb{Z}_{>0}\) and such a divisor \(H\), and any \(n\in \mathbb{Z}\) and \(\beta\in H_2(X,\mathbb{Z})\) with \(\omega\cdot \beta\leq d\), the above functor is represented by a projective \(\mathbb{C}\)-scheme \(M=M_n^{\text{par}}(X,\beta)\). The strategy to prove this result is to imitate the construction of the moduli space of Pandharipande-Thomas stable pairs. In the following section the author introduces counting invariants of parabolic stable pairs. More precisely, the integer valued counting invariant is defined to be \(\text{DT}^{\text{par}}_{n,\beta}=\int_M\nu_Md\chi=\sum_{l\in \mathbb{Z}} l\chi(\nu_M^{-1}(l))\), where \(\nu_M\) is Behrend's constructible function. Note that any parabolic pair \((F,s)\) can be interpreted as a pair \(s: N_{H/X}[-1]\to F\). The author defines a category \(\mathcal{A}(\mu,d)\) consisting of objects \(s: N_{H/X}^{\oplus r}[-1]\to F\) with \(r\in \mathbb{Z}_{\geq 0}\), \(\mu_\omega(F)=\mu\) and \(\omega\cdot [F]\leq d\), introduces so-called weak stability conditions on it, studies a stack of objects in this category, defines the Hall algebra \(H(\mu,d)\) of \(\mathcal{A}(\mu,d)\), constructs a Lie algebra homomorphism from a certain Lie subalgebra of \(H(\mu,d)\) to a Lie algebra defined by the Euler pairing on \(\mathcal{A}(\mu,d)\) and using this obtains a formula (Theorem 1.3 in the paper) relating the invariants counting parabolic stable pairs to generalized DT invariants \(N_{n,\beta}\) which count one dimensional semistable sheaves on \(X\) satisfying \(\chi(F)=n\) and \([F]=\beta\). In the last section the author discusses a relationship between parabolic stable pairs invariants and the conjectural multiple cover formula of generalized DT invariants. If \(\beta\) and \(n\) are coprime, then the invariant \(N_{n,\beta}\) is an integer and can be defined as a holomorphic Casson invariant. But if \(\beta\) and \(n\) are not coprime, Hall algebra techniques (similar to those briefly described above) are required to define these invariants. The conjectural multiple cover formula states that \(N_{n,\beta}=\sum_{k\geq 1, k|(n,\beta)}\frac{1}{k^2}N_{1,\beta/k}\). This formula is equivalent to the Pandharipande-Thomas conjecture on the strong rationality of the generating series of stable pair invariants. The author shows that this formula is also equivalent to a conjectural product expansion formula for the generating series of the invariants \(\text{DT}^{\text{par}}_{n,\beta}\).