N=2 topological gauge theory, the Euler characteristic of moduli spaces, and the Casson invariant

DOI10.1007/BF02097057zbMATH Open0769.53017arXivhep-th/9112012MaRDI QIDQ1803941FDOQ1803941

Authors: Matthias Blau, George Thompson 

Publication date: 29 June 1993

Published in: Communications in Mathematical Physics (Search for Journal in Brave)

Abstract: We discuss gauge theory with a topological N=2 symmetry. This theory captures the de Rham complex and Riemannian geometry of some underlying moduli space $calM$ and the partition function equals the Euler number of $calM$. We explicitly deal with moduli spaces of instantons and of flat connections in two and three dimensions. To motivate our constructions we explain the relation between the Mathai-Quillen formalism and supersymmetric quantum mechanics and introduce a new kind of supersymmetric quantum mechanics based on the Gauss-Codazzi equations. We interpret the gauge theory actions from the Atiyah-Jeffrey point of view and relate them to supersymmetric quantum mechanics on spaces of connections. As a consequence of these considerations we propose the Euler number of the moduli space of flat connections as a generalization to arbitrary three-manifolds of the Casson invariant. We also comment on the possibility of constructing a topological version of the Penner matrix model.

Full work available at URL: https://arxiv.org/abs/hep-th/9112012

Recommendations

• TOPOLOGICAL GAUGE THEORIES FROM SUPERSYMMETRIC QUANTUM MECHANICS ON SPACES OF CONNECTIONS
• GEOMETRY AND QUANTIZATION OF TOPOLOGICAL GAUGE THEORIES
• Casson's invariant and gauge theory
• Aspects of \(N_T\geqslant 2\) topological gauge theories and D-branes
• Gauge theory, geometry and topology

zbMATH Keywords

supersymmetric quantum mechanicsCasson invariantMathai-Quillen formalismPenner matrix model

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Special connections and metrics on vector bundles (Hermite-Einstein, Yang-Mills) (53C07) Yang-Mills and other gauge theories in quantum field theory (81T13)

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Cited In (27)

• Topological rigid string theory and two-dimensional QCD
• Euler characteristics of \(\text{SU}(2)\) instanton moduli spaces on rational elliptic surfaces
• A taxonomy of twists of supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory
• Localization and diagonalization: A review of functional integral techniques for low-dimensional gauge theories and topological field theories
• Basic and equivariant cohomology in balanced topological field theory
• Renormalization and BRST symmetry in Donaldson-Witten theory
• Effective action for relativistic hydrodynamics: fluctuations, dissipation, and entropy inflow
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• Aspects of \(N_T\geqslant 2\) topological gauge theories and D-branes
• Mathai-Quillen formulation of twisted \(N=4\) supersymmetric gauge theories in four dimensions
• Chern-Simons theory on Seifert 3-manifolds
• Lectures on \(2\)D Yang-Mills theory, equivariant cohomology and topological field theories
• Twisted \(N=8\), \(D=2\) super-Yang-Mills theory as example of a Hodge-type cohomological theory
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• TOPOLOGICAL GAUGE THEORIES FROM SUPERSYMMETRIC QUANTUM MECHANICS ON SPACES OF CONNECTIONS
• The other topological twisting of \(N=4\) Yang-Mills
• \(N_T=4\) equivariant extension of the 3D topological model of Blau and Thompson
• Euclidean \(D\)-branes and higher-dimensional gauge theory
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• Three-manifold topology and the Donaldson-Witten partition function

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