Topology, geometry and physics: background for the Witten conjecture. I

MaRDI QIDQ1773010zbMATH OpenFDO

Authors Gregory L. Naber

Publication date 22 April 2005

Published in Journal of Geometry and Symmetry in Physics (Search for Journal in Brave)

Full work available at URL http://obzor.bio21.bas.bg/jgsp/jgsp_files/vol2/volume2cont.htm

zbMATH Keywords

Donaldson invariantpath integralWitten conjecture

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Special connections and metrics on vector bundles (Hermite-Einstein, Yang-Mills) (53C07) Gromov-Witten invariants, quantum cohomology, Frobenius manifolds (53D45) Topological quantum field theories (aspects of differential topology) (57R56) Applications of global analysis to structures on manifolds (57R57) Variational problems concerning extremal problems in several variables; Yang-Mills functionals (58E15) Yang-Mills and other gauge theories in quantum field theory (81T13)

Review text

The paper surveys some background for the Witten conjecture that relates Donaldson invariants with Seiberg-Witten invariants. Starting with an elementary discussion of connections, curvature, etc. and their physical interpretations, the paper reviews the definition of Donaldson invariants. In the case of zero dimensional anti-self-dual moduli spaces, Donaldson invariant is viewed as the Euler number of an infinite rank vector bundle in a familiar way. Following \textit{M. F. Atiyah} and \textit{L. Jeffrey} [J. Geom. Phys. 7, 119--136 (1990; Zbl 0721.58056)], the Euler number in turn is interpreted as a path integral using the Mathai-Quillen formalism. The path integral has been derived by Witten via a physical approach, and it is the starting point for the Witten conjecture, the detail of which will be given in the second part of the series.

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• On higher rank instantons and the monopole cobordism program
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• Geometric prequantization of the Seiberg-Witten moduli space on the product of a Riemann surface

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