The local Donaldson-Thomas theory of curves (Q982168)

The authors carry out calculations of the local Donaldson-Thomas theory of curves, which refers to all Donaldson-Thomas invariants on the total space of a rank two bundle over a curve relative to surfaces determined by the fibers over fixed points in the curve. By comparing these results to those obtained by \textit{J. Bryan} and \textit{R. Pandharipande} [J. Am. Math. Soc. 21, No. 1, 101--136 (2008; Zbl 1126.14062)] on the local Gromov-Witten theory of curves, they establish the Gromov-Witten/Donaldson-Thomas correspondence for the local theory of curves. This provides a rich class of new examples where the GW/DT correspondence is verified, and these techniques are likely to play a basic role in the general proof of the GW/DT correspondence for 3-folds. The calculations are achieved by localization and degeneration methods, and the results relate both the Gromov-Witten and Donaldson-Thomas invariants to the quantum cohomology of the Hilbert scheme of points in the plane.