Hodge theory and deformations of SKT manifolds

We use tools from generalized complex geometry to develop the theory of SKT (a.k.a. pluriclosed Hermitian) manifolds and more generally manifolds with special holonomy with respect to a metric connection with closed skew-symmetric torsion. We develop Hodge theory on such manifolds showing how the reduction of the holonomy group causes a decomposition of the twisted cohomology. For SKT manifolds this decomposition is accompanied by an identity between different Laplacian operators and forces the collapse of a spectral sequence at the first page. Further we study the deformation theory of SKT structures, identifying the space where the obstructions live. We illustrate our theory with examples based on Calabi--Eckmann manifolds, instantons, Hopf surfaces and Lie groups.Comment: 46 pages, 9 figures; v5: Added theorem 5.16 and expanded example 5.17 to show that the only Calabi-Eckman manifolds to admit SKT structures are S^1 x S^1, S^1 x S^3 and S^3 x S^

Symplectic resolutions, Lefschetz property and formality

We introduce a method to resolve a symplectic orbifold into a smooth symplectic manifold. Then we study how the formality and the Lefschetz property of the symplectic resolution are compared with that of the symplectic orbifold. We also study the formality of the symplectic blow-up of a symplectic orbifold along symplectic submanifolds disjoint from the orbifold singularities. This allows us to construct the first example of a simply connected compact symplectic manifold of dimension 8 which satisfies the Lefschetz property but is not formal, therefore giving a counter-example to a conjecture of Babenko and Taimanov.Comment: 21 pages, no figure

Fibrations and stable generalized complex structures

A generalized complex structure is called stable if its defining anticanonical section vanishes transversally, on a codimension-two submanifold. Alternatively, it is a zero elliptic residue symplectic structure in the elliptic tangent bundle associated to this submanifold. We develop Gompf-Thurston symplectic techniques adapted to Lie algebroids, and use these to construct stable generalized complex structures out of log-symplectic structures. In particular we introduce the notion of a boundary Lefschetz fibration for this purpose and describe how they can be obtained from genus one Lefschetz fibrations over the disk.Comment: 35 pages, 2 figure