Birational Calabi-Yau threefolds and BPS state counting (Q959500)

Gromov-Witten invariants count the number of genus \(g\) curves in a complex projective manifold, or more generally a symplectic manifold. However, this symplectic invariant is only a rational number. Gromov-Witten invariants for Calabi-Yau threefolds are particular important, mainly because of the mirror symmetry conjecture which relates them to the variation of Hodge structures for the mirror manifold, at least for the genus zero invariants. Gopakumar and Vafa conjectured that the Gromov-Witten invariants for Calabi-Yau threefolds should be related to an integer valued invariants which is formally defined using a \(sl(2)\times sl(2)\) action on the cohomology group of the moduli space of D2-branes, i.e. holomorphic curves coupled with holomorphic line bundles on them. So far there is still no mathematical definition of the Gopakumar-Vafa invariants. In this article, the author defines a motivic version of the Gopakumar-Vafa invariants and shows they are invariant under birational transformations among Calabi-Yau threefolds.