Relations on \(\overline{\mathcal{M}}_{g,n}\) and the negative \(r\)-spin Witten conjecture (Q6937072)

This paper deals with a version of the Witten \(r\)-spin class for negative spin. More precisely, the geometric space of interest here is the moduli space of \(r\)-th roots of the anticanonical bundle. The authors construct and study various properties of a negative spin version of the Witten \(r\)-spin class. By taking the top Chern class of a certain vector bundle on the moduli space of spin curves that parametrises \(r\)-th roots of the anticanonical bundle, they construct a non-semisimple cohomological field theory (CohFT) called the Theta class \(\Theta^r\). This CohFT does not have a flat unit and its associated Dubrovin-Frobenius manifold is nowhere semisimple. Despite this, they construct a semisimple deformation of the Theta class, and using the Teleman reconstruction theorem, they obtain tautological relations on \(\overline{\mathcal{M}}_{g,n}\). \N\NFurthermore, the authors prove that the descendant potential of the Theta class is the unique solution to a set of \(\mathcal{W}\)-algebra constraints, which implies a recursive formula for all the descendant integrals. Using this result for \(r=2\), they prove Norbury's conjecture which states that the descendant potential of \(\Theta^2\) coincides with the Brézin-Gross-Witten tau function of the Korteweg-de Vries (KdV) hierarchy. Furthermore, they conjecture that the descendant potential of \(\Theta^r\) is the \(r\)-BGW tau function of the \(r\)-KdV hierarchy and prove the conjecture for \(r=3\). \N\NThis paper is organized as follows : Section 1 is an introduction to the subject and statement of the results. Section 2 deals with Theta class. The authors introduce the main characters of this paper -- the Theta class \(\Theta^r\) and its deformation \(\Theta^{r,\epsilon}\) -- and study their properties in detail. They define the deformed Theta classes and prove that they form a CohFT. Section 3 is devoted to Givental-Teleman reconstruction. Here, the authors study the deformed Theta CohFT further using the techniques of the Givental-Teleman reconstruction theorem. They show that the deformed Theta class is semisimple and use the Givental-Teleman reconstruction theorem in order to find an expression in terms of tautological classes. In addition, this method gives vanishing relations in the tautological ring. \N\NThe authors investigate the Dubrovin-Frobenius manifold associated to the deformed Theta class, and apply the reconstruction theorem to find an expression for \(\Theta^r\) in terms of tautological classes and obtain tautological relations. Section 4 deals with topological recursion and the spectral curve. Recall that topological recursion is a universal procedure that associates a collection of symmetric multidifferentials to a spectral curve, which is a curve with some extra data [\textit{B. Eynard} and \textit{N. Orantin}, Commun. Number Theory Phys. 1, No. 2, 347--452 (2007; Zbl 1161.14026)]. What makes topological recursion especially useful is its applications to enumerative geometry: many counting problems are solved by topological recursion, in the sense that the sought numbers are coefficients of the multidifferentials when expanded in a specific basis [\textit{B. Eynard}, ICM 2014, 1063--1085 (2014; Zbl 1373.14029)]. \N\NThe authors find global spectral curves corresponding to the deformed Theta class, and show that the \(r\)-Bessel curve computes descendant integrals of the Theta class. Section 5 is devoted to \(\mathcal{W}\)-constraints and integrability. The authors prove that the descendant potential of the Theta class is the unique solution to \(\mathcal{W}\)-constraints. They conjecture that the \(r\)-BGW tau function matches with the descendant potential \(Z^{\Theta^r}\), and prove it for \(r=2\) and \(3\). The paper is supported by an appendix about integrals of Airy functions and Scorer functions.