A vertex formalism for local ruled surfaces (Q863127)

The authors develop a vertex formalism for topological string amplitudes on ruled surfaces with an arbitrary number of reducible fibers embedded in a Calabi-Yau threefold. The construction is based on large \(N\) duality and localization with respect to a degenerate torus action, i.e., a torus action whose fixed locus does not consist of finitely many isolated points. More precisely, let \(\Sigma\) be a genus \(g\) surface, and let \(L\) be a line bundle on \(\Sigma\) with \(\deg(L)\leq 0\). Denote by \(S\) the ruled surface \({\mathbb P}({\mathcal O}_{\Sigma}\oplus L)\); the \({\mathbb P}^1\)-fibration \(S\to \Sigma\) has two canonical sections, corresponding to the points \([0,v]\) and \([1,0]\) in the \({\mathbb P}^1\)'s. Let \(X\) be the total space of the canonical bundle of \(S\); it is a noncompact Calabi-Yau threefold. A torus action on \(X\) can be defined, with weight \(\lambda_k\) on the fibers of \(X\to S\) and weight \(\lambda_f\) on the fibers of \(S\to \Sigma\); the fixed loci of this action are the canonical sections of \(S\to \Sigma\). The authors are mainly interested in the special case \(\lambda_k+\lambda_f=0\); in this case, both the canonical sections of \(S\to \Sigma\) are equivariant Calabi-Yau local curves in the language of \textit{J.~Bryan} and \textit{R.~Pandharipande} [The local Gromov-Witten theory of curves, \texttt{math.AG/0411037}]. Reducible fibers in the ruling \(S\to \Sigma\) can be introduced by blowing up a certain number of points in \(S\); in order for the torus action to lift to the blown up surface, these points should lie on the canonical sections of \(S\to \Sigma\). The basic building blocks of the vertex formalism are the trivalent vertex and the cap [cf. \textit{M.~Aganagic}, \textit{A.~Klemm}, \textit{M.~Mariño} and \textit{C.~Vafa}, Commun. Math. Phys. 254, No. 2, 425--478 (2005; Zbl 1114.81076)]. The trivalent vertex corresponds to the partition function of the theory for a ruled surface over a genus zero curve with three punctures; in principle, such an object should have a rigorous mathematical definition in terms of relative Gromov-Witten invariants, but this construction is not attempted in the paper. Rather, the authors use a large \(N\) duality argument to propose the following description of the trivalent vertex: the three legs of the level zero vertex \({}^0V\) are labeled by a pair of Young tableaux \((R,R')\), corresponding to the two canonical sections of \(S\to \Sigma\). The coefficients \({}^0V_{R,R'}\) have a formal expansion of the form \({}^0V_{RR'}=\sum_{d=0}^{\infty}{}^0V^{(d)}_{RR'}{q_f}^d\), where \(q_f=e^{-t_f}\) is the formal symbol attached to the fiber class. Using large \(N\) duality, the authors show that \[ {}^0V_{RR'}=\left(\sum_Q {q_f}^{l(Q)}W_{RQ}W_{QR'} \right)^{-1}, \] where \(l(Q)\) is the total number of boxes of the Young diagram \(Q\), and \(W\) is a suitable product of Schur functions. The level \(p\) vertex \({}^pV\) is obtained from the level zero vertex \({}^0V\) by the formula \[ {}^pV_{RR'}=\left((-1)^{l(R')+l(R)}q^{(\kappa(R')-\kappa(R))/2}\right)^p\, {}^0V_{RR'}, \] where \(q=e^{ig_s}\) and \(\kappa(R)=2\sum_{\square\in R}(i(\square)-j(\square))\), with \((i,j)\) specifying the position of a given box in the Young diagram \(R\). The cap corresponds to the partition function of the theory on a ruled surface over a disk \(\Delta\); therefore it is represented by a vertex with one leg, labeled by two Young tableaux \((R,R')\). There are different types of caps depending on the geometry of the central fiber; yet, to avoid inessential complications, the authors restrict their attention to central fibers with at most two irreducible rational components. Therefore in the paper two types of cups are considered: the caps \(C_{RR'}\) corresponding to a smooth \((0,-2)\) curve, and the caps \(B_{R,R'}\) corresponding to a normal crossing of two \((-1,-1)\) curves. Both caps can be determined by localization with respect to a nondegenerate torus action, making the torus act also on the base \(\Delta\) fixing the origin. One finds \[ C_{RR'}=\sum_Q W_{RQ}W_{QR'}{q_f}^{l(Q)}, \] \[ B_{RR'}=\sum_{Q,Q'}(-1)^{l(Q)+l(Q')}q^{-(\kappa(Q)+\kappa(Q'))/2} W_{RQ}W_{QQ'}W_{Q'R'} {q_{f_1}}^{l(Q)}{q_{f_2}}^{l(Q')}, \] where \(q_{f_1}\) and \(q_{f_2}\) are the formal symbols attached to the irreducible components of the normal crossing and are therefore subject to the relation \(q_{f_1}q_{f_2}=q_f\). Since the large \(N\) duality argument used in the paper is not completely rigorous from a mathematical point of view, the authors perform several numerical tests of their formalism, obtaining exact agreement with known enumerative computations. Though this is not a proof, it provides a strong evidence for the formalism described in the paper. In the final part of the paper, the authors sketch how similar constructions could be carried on for more general noncompact Calabi-Yau threefolds admitting a degenerate torus action; for instance, threefolds which can be obtained by resolving higher genus curves of \(ADE\) singularities in a Calabi-Yau threefold. The case considered in the paper corresponds to a curve \(\Sigma\) of \(A_1\) singularities.