Integrating over Higgs branches

DOI10.1007/PL00005525MaRDI QIDQ1970902zbMATH OpenOpenAlexFDO

Authors G. W. Moore, Nikita Nekrasov, S. Shatashvili

Publication date 18 March 2002

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

Full work available at URL https://arxiv.org/abs/hep-th/9712241

equivariant momentum map Hamiltonian regularization hyper-Kähler quotients regularized volume symplectic manifold symplectic quotient

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Algebraic moduli problems, moduli of vector bundles (14D20) Hyper-Kähler and quaternionic Kähler geometry, ``special geometry (53C26) Applications of global differential geometry to the sciences (53C80) Momentum maps; symplectic reduction (53D20) Group actions and symmetry properties (58D19) String and superstring theories; other extended objects (e.g., branes) in quantum field theory (81T30) Supersymmetric field theories in quantum mechanics (81T60)

Abstract: We develop some useful techinques for integrating over Higgs branches in supersymmetric theories with 4 and 8 supercharges. In particular, we define a regularized volume for hyperkahler quotients. We evaluate this volume for certain ALE and ALF spaces in terms of the hyperkahler periods. We also reduce these volumes for a large class of hyperkahler quotients to simpler integrals. These quotients include complex coadjoint orbits, instanton moduli spaces on R^4 and ALE manifolds, Hitchin spaces, and moduli spaces of parabolic Higgs bundles on Riemann surfaces. In the case of Hitchin spaces the evaluation of the volume reduces to a summation over solutions of Bethe Ansatz equations for the non-linear Schroedinger system. We discuss some applications of our results.

Review text

The regularized volume for hyper-Kähler quotients is introduced, and regularized volumes of the Hitchin space, the moduli space of instantons and quiver varieties are computed. It is shown in the case of Hitchin spaces that the evaluation of the volume reduces to a summation over solutions of Bethe Ansatz equations for the nonlinear Schrödinger system. To define the regularized volume, first Kähler and hyper-Kähler quotients are explained in Section 2. Let \(X\) be a symplectic manifold with the symplectic form \(\omega\), \(K\) a compact group acting on \(X\) and preserving \(\omega\), \(\mu:X\to \underline{\mathfrak k}^*\) be an equivariant momentum map: \(d\langle \mu,\xi \rangle= -\iota_{V_\xi} \omega\). The symplectic quotient is \(X//K= \mu^{-1}(0)/K\). If \(X\) is a Kähler manifold, then \(X//K\) is a Kähler manifold. If \(X\) is a hyper-Kähler manifold and \(K\) preserves the hyper-Kähler structure, then the momentum map is extended to the hyper-Kähler moment map \(\vec\mu: X\to \underline{\mathfrak k}^*\otimes \mathbb{R}^3\), \(d\langle\vec \mu,\xi\rangle =-\iota_{V_\xi} \vec \omega\), where \(\vec\omega\) is the triplet of symplectic forms. The hyper-Kähler quotient is \(X////K= \vec\mu^{-1} (0)/K\). It is a hyper-Kähler manifold [\textit{N. Hitchin}, \textit{A. Karlhede}, \textit{U. Lindström} and \textit{M. Roček}, Commun. Math. Phys. 108, 535-589 (1987; Zbl 0612.53043)]. By using these notations, the following definitions are given: (a) The Hamiltonian regularized volume: \(\text{Vol}_\varepsilon ({\mathcal M})= \int_{\mathcal M}e^{ \overline \omega-H_\varepsilon}\). Here, \({\mathcal M}\) is acted on by a group \(H\) in a Hamiltonian way such that for some \(\varepsilon\in \underline h\) the Hamiltonian \(H_\varepsilon= \langle\mu_h, \varepsilon \rangle\) is sufficiently positive at infinity. (b) The hyper-Kähler regularized volume: \(\text{Vol}_{ \vec \varepsilon} ({\mathcal M}(\vec\zeta))=\int_{{\mathcal M}(\vec\zeta)} \text{vol}_g e^{\langle \vec\varepsilon, \vec\mu_t \rangle}\). The authors remark that this definition is the direct analogue of the ``equivariant volumes of \textit{A. B. Givental} [Equivariant Gromov-Witten invariants, Int. Math. Res. Not. 1996, 613-663 (1996; Zbl 0881.55006)]. But it requires a triholomorphic action on \({\mathcal M}\) of the torus of dimension \(\dim{\mathcal M}/4\). Let \({\mathfrak T}\) be such a torus and \(\vec\varepsilon \in{\mathfrak t}\otimes \mathbb{R}^3\). If \(\vec \varepsilon \in{\mathfrak t}\otimes \mathbb{R}\), then this regularization reduces to the Hamiltonian regularization (Section 3). To compute the regularized volume, localization is useful. It is explained in Section 2. In Section 4, the regularized volume of ALE gravitational instanton is computed in terms of the fundamental weights in the \(A_n\) case. The regularized volume of the Hitchin space is computed in Section 5. It is expressed as the double summand with respect to the decomposition of the bundle as the sum of line bundles and the decomposition of the Chern numbers. So there are two ways to get the answer and this leads to the relation of the Bethe Ansatz equation for the nonlinear system and the regularized volume. Volumes of the moduli spaces of instantons and quiver varieties are computed in Sections 6 and 7.

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