Differential geometry of gerbes (Q2577012)

A foundational concept in differential geometry is that of a connection on a \(G\)-principal bundle \(P\), which embodies the notion of parallel transport between infinitesimally close fibers of the bundle. The curvature of the connection measures the compatibilities of these parallel transports around infinitesimal closed loops in the base space \(X\). It is a global 2-form on \(X\) with values in the Lie algebra of the gauge group of \(P\) and satisfies the Bianchi identity. Just as principal bundles are geometric realizations of \(G\)-valued 1-cocycles, a gerbe on \(X\) is the geometric embodiment of a 2-cocycle on \(X\) with values in a non-abelian group. The authors of the paper show how to define the corresponding concepts of connection and curvature for a gerbe \(\mathcal P\) on \(X\). When the gerbe is endowed with trivializing data with respect to an open cover of \(X\), they describe this connective structure in two separate ways, which extend from abelian to general gerbes the corresponding descriptions due to \textit{J.-L. Brylinski} [``Loop spaces, characteristic class and geometric quantization'', Prog. Math. 107 (1993; Zbl 0823.55002)] and \textit{N. Hitchin} [in: Winter school on mirror symmetry, vector bundles and Lagrangian submanifolds. Proc. winter school on mirror symmetry, Cambridge, MA, USA, January 1999. AMS/IP Stud. Adv. Math. 23, 151--182 (2001; Zbl 1079.14522)]. They give a global definition of the 3-curvature of this connective structure as a 3-form on \(X\) with values in the Lie stack of the gauge stack of the gerbe. They also study this notion locally in terms of more traditional Lie algebra-valued 3-forms. The Bianchi identity, which the curvature of a connection on a principal bundle satisfies, is replaced here by a more elaborate equation.