Gromov-Witten/Donaldson-Thomas correspondence for toric 3-folds (Q648064)

Gromov-Witten and Donaldson-Thomas invariants are virtual counts of curves in smooth projective threefolds, defined as integrals over the moduli space of stable maps and the moduli space of ideal sheaves, respectively. A priori, there is no clear connection between the two sets of invariants, for at least two reasons: (i) the moduli spaces involved are very different, (ii) the two counts of curves are only virtual. However, the GW/DT correspondence conjecturally equates two generating series of invariants, after a change of variables. The current paper establishes the correspondence for toric \(3\)-folds. The main result can be explained as follows. First, for any curve class \(\beta\), write \(\mathcal {\overline M}'_{g, r}(X, \beta)\) for the moduli space of \(r\)-marked, genus \(g\) stable maps of class \(\beta\) to a smooth projective threefold \(X\); the domains of the maps are allowed to be disconnected. The virtual fundamental class of \(\mathcal {\overline M}'_{g, r}(X, \beta)\) is constructed from the two-term perfect obstruction theory of the moduli space. Write \[ \text{ev}_i: \mathcal {\overline M}'_{g, r}(X, \beta)\to X \] for the evaluation map at the \(i^{\text{th}}\) marking. For any cohomology classes \(\gamma_1, \dots, \gamma_r\in H^{\star}(X)\), we consider the primary GW invariants \[ \langle \gamma_1, \dots, \gamma_r\rangle'_{g, \beta}= \int_{[\mathcal {\overline M}'_{g, r}(X, \beta)]^{\text{vir}}} \prod_{i=1}^r \text{ev}_i^{\star} \gamma_i, \] and form the corresponding generating series \[ \mathsf Z_{{GW}}'(X, u|\gamma_1, \dots, \gamma_r)_{\beta}=\sum_{g} \langle \gamma_1, \dots, \gamma_r\rangle'_{g, \beta} u^{2g-2}. \] In a similar fashion, we consider the moduli space \(I_n(X, \beta)\) of ideal sheaves \(I_Y\), for subschemes \(Y\) of \(X\) of dimension less or equal to \(1\), with fixed invariants \[ \chi(\mathcal O_Y)=n, \left[Y\right]=\beta. \] The moduli space \(I_n(X, \beta)\) also comes equipped with a virtual fundamental class \(\left[I_n(X, \beta)\right]^{\text{vir}}\), and invariants can be defined for any cohomology classes \(\gamma_1, \dots, \gamma_r\in H^{\star}(X)\): \[ \langle \gamma_1, \dots, \gamma_r\rangle_{n, \beta}=\int_{\left[I_n(X, \beta)\right]^{\text{vir}}} \prod_{i=1}^r c_2(\gamma_i). \] Here, for \(\gamma\in H^{\star}(X)\), \(c_2(\gamma)\) is the operator on the homology of \(I_n(X, \beta)\) defined as \[ c_2(\gamma): x\mapsto (\pi_1)_{\star}(c_2(\mathcal I)\cdot \pi_2^{\star}\gamma \cap \pi_{1}^{\star}x), \] where \[ \mathcal I\to I_n(X, \beta)\times X \] is the universal ideal sheaf and \(\pi_1, \pi_2\) denote the two projections. The DT invariants are assembled into a generating series \[ \mathsf Z_{{DT}}(X, q|\gamma_1, \dots, \gamma_r)_{\beta}=\sum_{n} \langle \gamma_1, \dots, \gamma_r\rangle_{n, \beta} q^n. \] A reduced partition function is defined by factoring out the degree \(0\) contributions \[ \mathsf Z'_{DT}(X, q|\gamma_1, \dots, \gamma_r)=\frac{\mathsf Z_{{DT}}(X, q|\gamma_1, \dots, \gamma_r)_{\beta}}{\mathsf Z_{{DT}}(X, q|\gamma_1, \dots, \gamma_r)_{0}}. \] The resulting series should be a rational function of \(q\). The above discussion assumes that \(X\) is a smooth projective threefold. Refinements allow for toric (not necessarily projective) smooth threefolds. In this setting, letting \(T\) denote the three dimensional torus acting on \(X\), the invariants are defined via the virtual localization as residues, and the series \(\mathsf Z'_{GW}\) and \(\mathsf Z'_{DT}\) now take values in equivariant cohomology \(H^{\star}_T(\cdot, \mathbb C)\). The main result of the paper establishes the equality of generating functions \[ (-iu)^{-K_X\cdot \beta} \mathsf Z'_{GW}(X, u|\gamma_1, \dots, \gamma_r)_{\beta}=(-q)^{\frac{1}{2}K_X\cdot \beta} \mathsf Z'_{DT}(X, q|\gamma_1, \dots, \gamma_r)_{\beta} \] after the change of variables \[ q=-e^{iu} \] for all nonsingular (not necessarily projective) toric threefolds. The method of proof involves reorganizing the localization sums into \textit{capped} edge and vertex contributions, which are then matched using the local curve correspondence and the \(A_n\times \mathbb P^1\) geometry for \(n\leq 2\), respectively [\textit{J. Bryan} and \textit{R. Pandharipande}, ``The local Gromov-Witten theory of curves'', J. Am. Math. Soc 21, No. 1, 101--136 (2008; Zbl 1126.14062); \textit{A. Okounkov,} and \textit{R. Pandharipande}, ``The local Donaldson-Thomas theory of curves'', Geom. Topol. 14, No. 3, 1503--1567 (2010; Zbl 1205.14067); \textit{D. Maulik}, ``Gromov-Witten theory of \(A_n\)-resolutions'', Geom. Topol. 13, No. 3, 1729--1773 (2009; Zbl 1184.14085); \textit{D. Maulik} and \textit{A. Oblomkov}, ``Donaldson-Thomas Theory of \(A_n\times \mathbb P^1\)'', Compos. Math. 145, No. 5, 1249--1276 (2009; Zbl 1188.14036)].