Topology, geometry, and gauge fields. Interactions (Q5918061)

In this book the author carries on the study on the interaction between mathematics and physics that he began with the book entitled: ``Topology, Geometry and Gauge Fields: Foundations'' [Texts in applied mathematics 25, New York, Springer (1997; Zbl 0876.53002)]. Hereafter this book will be denoted by [N]. In the present book, the subtitle is ``Interactions'', which means the study of the geometry and topology of the interplay between gauge fields and matter fields. The first chapter (Geometrical Background) provides the geometrical framework (contained in Chapters 3 and 4 of [N]) that is necessary in Chapter 2 (Physical Motivation). This chapter contains the main feature of the book: the study of some events in the world around us can lead to abstract mathematical notions. The examples considered are electromagnetic fields (Coulomb field and monopole field), spin zero electrodynamics (Klein-Gordon equations), spin one-half electrodynamics and SU(2)-Yang-Mills-Higgs theory on \(\mathbb{R}^n\). These examples of classical gauge theories are heuristic and informally discussed and the mathematical notions that arise from its description are principal bundles, characteristic classes, and spinor structures. Hereafter the contents of the book adapts itself to the structure of the standard texts in differential geometry: Frame Bundles and Spacetimes (Chapter 3), Differential Forms and Integration (Chapter 4), de Rham Cohomology (Chapter 5) and Characteristic Classes (Chapter 6). The book concludes with an Appendix that contains a brief description of the Seiberg-Witten monopoles on \(\mathbb{R}^4\). As in [N], there are many exercises (228) that essentially constitute fragments of proofs of theorems and propositions. The reviewer considers that the present book (jointly with [N]) gives an excellent pattern to follow in the study of the interaction between mathematics and physics from a mathematical viewpoint, i.e., by introducing heuristically and informally physical problems that motivate the basic mathematical ingredients required for its description and then develop in detail the necessary results of the mathematical theory that arise to obtain the highest information about the initial problems. On the other hand, the book gives a very good motivation for the study of characteristic classes (Chern classes and Stiefel-Whitney classes) and spinor structures (one proves that several spacetimes admit spinor structures). The proofs are well structured and the parts left to the reader have as goal, according to the author, that the reader participates actively in their development. However, some of them can be slightly simplified. For example, the author constructs a partition of unity subordinated to an open covering of a smooth manifold with the same index set (Corollary 3.1.5, where there is an erratum: \(\sum^\infty_{k=1} \varphi_k (x)=1\) ought to be \(\sum_{\alpha \in A}\varphi_\alpha (x)=1)\) and this is not used in many proofs, with the consequent simplification (Theorem 3.1.6 (existence of a Riemannian metric), Theorem 3.1.7 (existence of a connection) and some others).