Goldman-Turaev formality from the Knizhnik-Zamolodchikov connection

For an oriented 2-dimensional manifold $\Sigma$ of genus $g$ with $n$ boundary components the space $\mathbb{C}\pi_1(\Sigma)/[\mathbb{C}\pi_1(\Sigma), \mathbb{C}\pi_1(\Sigma)]$ carries the Goldman-Turaev Lie bialgebra structure defined in terms of intersections and self-intersections of curves. Its associated graded (under the natural filtration) is described by cyclic words in $H_1(\Sigma)$ and carries the structure of a necklace Schedler Lie bialgebra. The isomorphism between these two structures in genus zero has been established in [G. Massuyeau, Formal descriptions of Turaev's loop operations] using Kontsevich integrals and in [A. Alekseev, N. Kawazumi, Y. Kuno and F. Naef, The Goldman-Turaev Lie bialgebra in genus zero and the Kashiwara-Vergne problem] using solutions of the Kashiwara-Vergne problem. In this note we give an elementary proof of this isomorphism over $\mathbb{C}$. It uses the Knizhnik-Zamolodchikov connection on $\mathbb{C}\backslash\{ z_1, \dots z_n\}$. The proof of the isomorphism for Lie brackets is a version of the classical result by Hitchin. Surprisingly, it turns out that a similar proof applies to cobrackets.Comment: 12 pages, 1 figure, section 3 adde

Chern-Simons, Wess-Zumino and other cocycles from Kashiwara-Vergne and associators

Descent equations play an important role in the theory of characteristic classes and find applications in theoretical physics, e.g. in the Chern-Simons field theory and in the theory of anomalies. The second Chern class (the first Pontrjagin class) is defined as $p= \langle F, F\rangle$ where $F$ is the curvature 2-form and $\langle \cdot, \cdot\rangle$ is an invariant scalar product on the corresponding Lie algebra $\mathfrak{g}$. The descent for $p$ gives rise to an element $\omega=\omega_3 + \omega_2 + \omega_1 + \omega_0$ of mixed degree. The 3-form part $\omega_3$ is the Chern-Simons form. The 2-form part $\omega_2$ is known as the Wess-Zumino action in physics. The 1-form component $\omega_1$ is related to the canonical central extension of the loop group $LG$. In this paper, we give a new interpretation of the low degree components $\omega_1$ and $\omega_0$. Our main tool is the universal differential calculus on free Lie algebras due to Kontsevich. We establish a correspondence between solutions of the first Kashiwara-Vergne equation in Lie theory and universal solutions of the descent equation for the second Chern class $p$. In more detail, we define a 1-cocycle $C$ which maps automorphisms of the free Lie algebra to one forms. A solution of the Kashiwara-Vergne equation $F$ is mapped to $\omega_1=C(F)$. Furthermore, the component $\omega_0$ is related to the associator corresponding to $F$. It is surprising that while $F$ and $\Phi$ satisfy the highly non-linear twist and pentagon equations, the elements $\omega_1$ and $\omega_0$ solve the linear descent equation

The Goldman-Turaev Lie bialgebra and the Kashiwara-Vergne problem in higher genera

For a compact oriented surface $\Sigma$ of genus $g$ with $n+1$ boundary components, the space $\mathfrak{g}$ spanned by free homotopy classes of loops in $\Sigma$ carries the structure of a Lie bialgebra. The Lie bracket was defined by Goldman and it is canonical. The Lie cobracket was defined by Turaev and it depends on the framing of $\Sigma$. The Lie bialgebra $\mathfrak{g}$ has a natural decreasing filtration such that both the Goldman bracket and the Turaev cobracket have degree $(-2)$. In this paper, we address the following Goldman-Turaev formality problem: construct a Lie bialgebra homomorphism $\theta$ from $\mathfrak{g}$ to its associated graded $gr\, \mathfrak{g}$ such that $gr\, \theta = {\rm id}$. In order to solve it, we define a family of higher genus Kashiwara-Vergne (KV) problems for an element $F\in Aut(L)$, where $L$ is a free Lie algebra. In the case of $g=0$ and $n=2$, the problem for $F$ is the classical KV problem from Lie theory. For $g>0$, these KV problems are new. Our main results are as follows. On the one hand, every solution of the KV problem induces a GT formality map. On the other hand, higher genus KV problems admit solutions for any $g$ and $n$. In fact, the solution reduces to two important cases: $g=0, n=2$ which admits solutions by Alekseev and Torossian and $g=1, n=1$ for which we construct solutions in terms of certain elliptic associators following Enriquez. By combining these two results, we obtain a proof of the GT formality for any $g$ and $n$. We also study the set of solutions of higher genus KV problems and introduce pro-unipotent groups $KRV^{(g,n+1)}$ which act on them freely and transitively. These groups admit graded pro-nilpotent Lie algebras $krv^{(g, n+1)}$. We show that the elliptic Lie algebra $krv^{(1,1)}$ contains a copy of the Grothendieck-Teichmuller Lie algebra $grt_1$ as well as symplectic derivations $\delta_{2n}$.Comment: 61 pages, 5 figure

Torsion volume forms

We introduce volume forms on mapping stacks in derived algebraic geometry using a parametrized version of the Reidemeister-Turaev torsion. In the case of derived loop stacks we describe this volume form in terms of the Todd class. In the case of mapping stacks from surfaces, we compare it to the symplectic volume form. As an application of these ideas, we construct canonical orientation data for cohomological DT invariants of closed oriented 3-manifolds.Comment: 58 page

Higher genus Kashiwara–Vergne problems and the Goldman–Turaev Lie bialgebra

We define a family ${\rm KV}^{(g,n)}$ of Kashiwara-Vergne problems associated with compact connected oriented 2-manifolds of genus $g$ with $n+1$ boundary components. The problem ${\rm KV}^{(0,3)}$ is the classical Kashiwara-Vergne problem from Lie theory. We show the existence of solutions of ${\rm KV}^{(g,n)}$ for arbitrary $g$ and $n$. The key point is the solution of ${\rm KV}^{(1,1)}$ based on the results by B. Enriquez on elliptic associators. Our construction is motivated by applications to the formality problem for the Goldman-Turaev Lie bialgebra $\mathfrak{g}^{(g, n+1)}$. In more detail, we show that every solution of ${\rm KV}^{(g,n)}$ induces a Lie bialgebra isomorphism between $\mathfrak{g}^{(g, n+1)}$ and its associated graded ${\rm gr} \, \mathfrak{g}^{(g, n+1)}$. For $g=0$, a similar result was obtained by G. Massuyeau using the Kontsevich integral. This paper is a summary of our results. Details and proofs will appear elsewhere.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figure