Fibrations in complete intersections of quadrics, Clifford algebras, derived categories, and rationality problems

Let X -> Y be a fibration whose fibers are complete intersections of two quadrics. We develop new categorical and algebraic tools---a theory of relative homological projective duality and the Morita invariance of the even Clifford algebra under quadric reduction by hyperbolic splitting---to study semiorthogonal decompositions of the bounded derived category of X. Together with new results in the theory of quadratic forms, we apply these tools in the case where X -> Y has relative dimension 1, 2, or 3, in which case the fibers are curves of genus 1, Del Pezzo surfaces of degree 4, or Fano threefolds, respectively. In the latter two cases, if Y is the projective line over an algebraically closed field of characteristic zero, we relate rationality questions to categorical representability of X.Comment: 43 pages, changes made and some material added and corrected in sections 1, 4, and 5; this is the final version accepted for publication at Journal de Math\'ematiques Pures et Appliqu\'ee

Supersingular K3 surfaces for large primes

Given a K3 surface X over a field of characteristic p, Artin conjectured that if X is supersingular (meaning infinite height) then its Picard rank is 22. Along with work of Nygaard-Ogus, this conjecture implies the Tate conjecture for K3 surfaces over finite fields with p \geq 5. We prove Artin's conjecture under the additional assumption that X has a polarization of degree 2d with p > 2d+4. Assuming semistable reduction for surfaces in characteristic p, we can improve the main result to K3 surfaces which admit a polarization of degree prime-to-p when p \geq 5. The argument uses Borcherds' construction of automorphic forms on O(2,n) to construct ample divisors on the moduli space. We also establish finite-characteristic versions of the positivity of the Hodge bundle and the Kulikov-Pinkham-Persson classification of K3 degenerations. In the appendix by A. Snowden, a compatibility statement is proven between Clifford constructions and integral p-adic comparison functors.Comment: Some minor edits made; German error fixed; comments still welcom

Complex valued Ray-Singer torsion

In the spirit of Ray and Singer we define a complex valued analytic torsion using non-selfadjoint Laplacians. We establish an anomaly formula which permits to turn this into a topological invariant. Conjecturally this analytically defined invariant computes the complex valued Reidemeister torsion, including its phase. We establish this conjecture in some non-trivial situations.Comment: Fixed two sign mistakes and added a few more details here and ther

T-Duality from super Lie n-algebra cocycles for super p-branes

We compute the $L_\infty$-theoretic dimensional reduction of the F1/D$p$-brane super $L_\infty$-cocycles with coefficients in rationalized twisted K-theory from the 10d type IIA and type IIB super Lie algebras down to 9d. We show that the two resulting coefficient $L_\infty$-algebras are naturally related by an $L_\infty$-isomorphism which we find to act on the super $p$-brane cocycles by the infinitesimal version of the rules of topological T-duality and inducing an isomorphism between $K^0$ and $K^1$, rationally. In particular this is a derivation of the Buscher rules for RR-fields (Hori's formula) from first principles. Moreover, we show that these $L_\infty$-algebras are the homotopy quotients of the RR-charge coefficients by the "T-duality Lie 2-algebra". We find that the induced $L_\infty$-extension is a gerby extension of a 9+(1+1) dimensional (i.e. "doubled") T-duality correspondence super-spacetime, which serves as a local model for T-folds. We observe that this still extends, via the D0-brane cocycle of its type IIA factor, to a 10+(1+1)-dimensional super Lie algebra. Finally we observe that this satisfies expected properties of a local model space for F-theory elliptic fibrations.Comment: 44 pages; v2: added more discussion of double dimensional reduction via cyclic L-infinity cohomology; v3: added derivation of Buscher rules for RR-fields, expanded on role of curved L-infinity algebras in double dimensional reductio

Topological modular forms and conformal nets

We describe the role conformal nets, a mathematical model for conformal field theory, could play in a geometric definition of the generalized cohomology theory TMF of topological modular forms. Inspired by work of Segal and Stolz-Teichner, we speculate that bundles of boundary conditions for the net of free fermions will be the basic underlying objects representing TMF-cohomology classes. String structures, which are the fundamental orientations for TMF-cohomology, can be encoded by defects between free fermions, and we construct the bundle of fermionic boundary conditions for the TMF-Euler class of a string vector bundle. We conjecture that the free fermion net exhibits an algebraic periodicity corresponding to the 576-fold cohomological periodicity of TMF; using a homotopy-theoretic invariant of invertible conformal nets, we establish a lower bound of 24 on this periodicity of the free fermions