On the rigidity of stable maps to Calabi-Yau threefolds

If X is a nonsingular curve in a Calabi--Yau threefold Y whose normal bundle N_{X/Y} is a generic semistable bundle, are the local Gromov-Witten invariants of X well defined? For X of genus two or higher, the issues are subtle. We will formulate a precise line of inquiry and present some results, some positive and some negative.Comment: This is the version published by Geometry & Topology Monographs on 22 April 200

Quot schemes of curves and surfaces: virtual classes, integrals, Euler characteristics

We compute tautological integrals over Quot schemes on curves and surfaces. After obtaining several explicit formulas over Quot schemes of dimension 0 quotients on curves (and finding a new symmetry), we apply the results to tautological integrals against the virtual fundamental classes of Quot schemes of dimension 0 and 1 quotients on surfaces (using also universality, torus localization, and cosection localization). The virtual Euler characteristics of Quot schemes of surfaces, a new theory parallel to the Vafa-Witten Euler characteristics of the moduli of bundles, is defined and studied. Complete formulas for the virtual Euler characteristics are found in the case of dimension 0 quotients on surfaces. Dimension 1 quotients are studied on K3 surfaces and surfaces of general type with connections to the Kawai-Yoshioka formula and the Seiberg-Witten invariants respectively. The dimension 1 theory is completely solved for minimal surfaces of general type admitting a nonsingular canonical curve. Along the way, we find a new connection between weighted tree counting and multivariate Fuss-Catalan numbers which is of independent interest