Stable sheaves with twisted sections and the Vafa-Witten equations on smooth projective surfaces

This article describes a Hitchin-Kobayashi style correspondence for the Vafa-Witten equations on smooth projective surfaces. This is an equivalence between a suitable notion of stability for a pair $(\mathcal{E}, \varphi)$, where $\mathcal{E}$ is a locally-free sheaf over a surface $X$ and $\varphi$ is a section of $\text{End} (\mathcal{E}) \otimes K_{X}$; and the existence of a solution to certain gauge-theoretic equations, the Vafa-Witten equations, for a Hermitian metric on $\mathcal{E}$. It turns out to be a special case of results obtained by Alvarez-Consul and Garcia-Prada. In this article, we give an alternative proof which uses a Mehta-Ramanathan style argument originally developed by Donaldson for the Hermitian-Einstein problem, as it relates the subject with the Hitchin equations on Riemann surfaces, and surely indicates a similar proof of the existence of a solution under the assumption of stability for the Donaldson-Thomas instanton equations described in arXiv:0805.2192 on smooth projective threefolds; and more broadly that for the quiver vortex equation on higher dimensional smooth projective varieties.Comment: 17 pages, minor changes, a reference added, to appear in Manuscripta Mathematic

Anomaly Cancellation and Smooth Non-Kahler Solutions in Heterotic String Theory

We show that six-dimensional backgrounds that are T^2 bundle over a Calabi-Yau two-fold base are consistent smooth solutions of heterotic flux compactifications. We emphasize the importance of the anomaly cancellation condition which can only be satisfied if the base is K3 while a T^4 base is excluded. The conditions imposed by anomaly cancellation for the T^2 bundle structure, the dilaton field, and the holomorphic stable bundles are analyzed and the solutions determined. Applying duality, we check the consistency of the anomaly cancellation constraints with those for flux backgrounds of M-theory on eight-manifolds.Comment: 30 pages, harvmac; v2: typos corrected and minor clarifications adde

Pseudoholomorphic tori in the Kodaira-Thurston manifold

The Kodaira-Thurston manifold is a quotient of a nilpotent Lie group by a cocompact lattice. We compute the family Gromov-Witten invariants which count pseudoholomorphic tori in the Kodaira-Thurston manifold. For a fixed symplectic form the Gromov-Witten invariant is trivial so we consider the twistor family of left-invariant symplectic forms which are orthogonal for some fixed metric on the Lie algebra. This family defines a loop in the space of symplectic forms. This is the first example of a genus one family Gromov-Witten computation for a non-K\"ahler manifold.Comment: 46 pages; v2 added some references and explanation, v3 couple of typos corrected. To appear in Compositio Mathematic

Refined BPS invariants of 6d SCFTs from anomalies and modularity

F-theory compactifications on appropriate local elliptic Calabi-Yau manifolds engineer six dimensional superconformal field theories and their mass deformations. The partition function $Z_{top}$ of the refined topological string on these geometries captures the particle BPS spectrum of this class of theories compactified on a circle. Organizing $Z_{top}$ in terms of contributions $Z_\beta$ at base degree $\beta$ of the elliptic fibration, we find that these, up to a multiplier system, are meromorphic Jacobi forms of weight zero with modular parameter the Kaehler class of the elliptic fiber and elliptic parameters the couplings and mass parameters. The indices with regard to the multiple elliptic parameters are fixed by the refined holomorphic anomaly equations, which we show to be completely determined from knowledge of the chiral anomaly of the corresponding SCFT. We express $Z_\beta$ as a quotient of weak Jacobi forms, with a universal denominator inspired by its pole structure as suggested by the form of $Z_{top}$ in terms of 5d BPS numbers. The numerator is determined by modularity up to a finite number of coefficients, which we prove to be fixed uniquely by imposing vanishing conditions on 5d BPS numbers as boundary conditions. We demonstrate the feasibility of our approach with many examples, in particular solving the E-string and M-string theories including mass deformations, as well as theories constructed as chains of these. We make contact with previous work by showing that spurious singularities are cancelled when the partition function is written in the form advocated here. Finally, we use the BPS invariants of the E-string thus obtained to test a generalization of the Goettsche-Nakajima-Yoshioka $K$-theoretic blowup equation, as inspired by the Grassi-Hatsuda-Marino conjecture, to generic local Calabi-Yau threefolds.Comment: 64 pages; v2: typos correcte