Special Lagrangian cycles and Calabi-Yau transitions (Q6160268)

The authors consider special submanifolds of Calabi-Yau threefolds. They consider holomorphic \(2\)-cycles and special Lagrangian \(3\)-cycles and construct special Lagrangian \(3\)-spheres in non-Kähler compact threefolds equipped with the Fu-Li-Yau geometry. This construction establishes the existence of smooth special Lagrangian cycles with respect to a balanced metric on any compact threefold emerging from a conifold transition. These non-Kähler geometries emerge from topological transitions of compact Calabi-Yau threefolds. From this point of view, a conifold transition exchanges holomorphic \(2\)-cycles for special Lagrangian \(3\)-cycles. The problem discussed in this paper has direct applications to string theory, in the context of flux compactifications and compactifications on a \(6\)-manifold with \(\mathrm{SU}(3)\) structure. More specifically, the authors discuss the relation between \(\mathrm{SU}(3)\) structures and flux compactifications in physics.