Curved flats in symmetric spaces

In this paper we study maps (curved flats) into symmetric spaces which are tangent at each point to a flat of the symmetric space. Important examples of such maps arise from isometric immersions of space forms into space forms via their Gauss maps. Further examples are found in conformal geometry, e.g. the curved flats obtained from isothermic surfaces and conformally flat 3-folds in the 4-sphere. Curved flats admit a 1-parameter family of deformations (spectral parameter) which enables us to make contact to integrable system theory. In fact, we give a recipe to construct curved flats (and thus the above mentioned geometric objects) from a hierarchy of finite dimensional algebraically completely integrable flows.Comment: 9 pages, latex2e, no figures, also available at http://www_sfb288.math.tu-berlin.de/preprints.htm

A Geometry for Multidimensional Integrable Systems

A deformed differential calculus is developed based on an associative star-product. In two dimensions the Hamiltonian vector fields model the algebra of pseudo-differential operator, as used in the theory of integrable systems. Thus one obtains a geometric description of the operators. A dual theory is also possible, based on a deformation of differential forms. This calculus is applied to a number of multidimensional integrable systems, such as the KP hierarchy, thus obtaining a geometrical description of these systems. The limit in which the deformation disappears corresponds to taking the dispersionless limit in these hierarchies.Comment: LaTeX, 29 pages. To be published in J.Geom.Phy

Axion Monodromy and the Weak Gravity Conjecture

Axions with broken discrete shift symmetry (axion monodromy) have recently played a central role both in the discussion of inflation and the `relaxion' approach to the hierarchy problem. We suggest a very minimalist way to constrain such models by the weak gravity conjecture for domain walls: While the electric side of the conjecture is always satisfied if the cosine-oscillations of the axion potential are sufficiently small, the magnetic side imposes a cutoff, $\Lambda^3 \sim m f M_{pl}$, independent of the height of these `wiggles'. We compare our approach with the recent related proposal by Ibanez, Montero, Uranga and Valenzuela. We also discuss the non-trivial question which version, if any, of the weak gravity conjecture for domain walls should hold. In particular, we show that string compactifications with branes of different dimensions wrapped on different cycles lead to a `geometric weak gravity conjecture' relating volumes of cycles, norms of corresponding forms and the volume of the compact space. Imposing this `geometric conjecture', e.g.~on the basis of the more widely accepted weak gravity conjecture for particles, provides at least some support for the (electric and magnetic) conjecture for domain walls.Comment: 22 pages, 2 figures; v2: references added, typos corrected; v3: published version + minor clarifications on self dual flux in Sec. 3.