Generalized Witten genus and vanishing theorems (Q661929)

The Witten genus \(W\) is a \(q\)-deformation of the \(\hat{A}\)-genus, i.e., a morphism from the oriented bordism ring into the formal power series ring \(\mathbb{Q}[[q]]\) with constant term \(\hat{A}\), defined for instance by using a Jacobi theta function as generating series. When \(M\) is an oriented closed spin manifold of dimension \(4k\), \(W(M)\) becomes a \(\mathrm{PSL}(2,\mathbb{Z})\) modular form of weight \(2k\). When \(M\) is \(string\), i.e., when the well-defined class \(\tfrac{1}{2}p_1(M)\in H^4(M,\mathbb{Z})\) vanishes, the Fourier coefficients of the above modular form in the cusp of the modular surface are integers. Under some topological assumptions, the Witten genus is rigid for \(S^1\) actions, i.e., it is a constant power series, and it vanishes on transverse intersections of string codimension \(2\) manifolds in \(\mathbb{C}P^n\). In this paper, the authors propose a modification of the Witten genus for even-dimensional spin\(^c\) manifolds, involving the auxiliary Jacobi theta functions in the generating series. By analogy with the Witten genus, this genus is shown to be rigid, to take values into modular forms with integral Fourier series coefficients when evaluated on \(string^c\) manifolds, and to vanish on certain complete intersections. For spin manifolds in dimensions \(8k+2\), the authors construct a \(\bmod{3}\) analogue of the Witten genus and study its properties.