Stochastic Wess-Zumino-Witten model over a symplectic manifold (Q678119)

Consider the loop space of a compact manifold, that is, the space of smooth applications from the circle into the manifold. The propagation of a loop is related to conformal field theory. When there is no boundary, random tori are considered, and the integral over all random tori for the given action gives the partition action of the theory. It involves a renormalization procedure and is called the nonlinear \(\sigma\)-model. In the flat case, it corresponds to the free field, and the measure lives over distributions. If some fermionic part is added to the nonlinear \(\sigma\)-model, the partition function becomes the partition function of a supersymmetric nonlinear \(\sigma\)-model and gives the index of some relevant operator over the loop space. The Wess-Zumino-Witten model is related to the perturbation theory: the exterior derivative over the loop space, its adjoint, is considered and it is perturbed by multiplying with a 1-form. When this 1-form is d\(F\) for a suitable functional, this functional is called the Wess-Zumino-Witten functional. \textit{E. Witten} [J. Differ. Geom. 17, 661-692 (1982; Zbl 0499.53056)] remarked that this perturbation of the free operator is related to Morse theory, and this remark was fully exploited in [\textit{J. M. Bismut}, J. Differ. Geom. 23, 207-240 (1986; Zbl 0608.58038); \textit{B. Helffer} and \textit{J.Sjöstrand}, Commun. Partial Differ. Equations 10, 245-340 (1985; Zbl 0597.35024)] in finite dimension. The author's purpose is to give a rigorous formulation to the argument of Witten in infinite dimensions. Over the path space of a symplectic manifold with end points in two Lagrangian submanifolds, in the simply connected case, a measure and a stochastic symplectic action are introduced. A regularized Wess-Zumino-Witten Laplacian over the forms of finite degree over the path space is defined. A short time asymptotic near the critical points is performed and a limit Brownian harmonic oscillator is found: it is diagonalized explicitly, and the limit ground state of the Laplacian is obtained. A stochastic Witten complex and its algebraic counterpart at the level of Chen forms are defined.