Geometric structures on G2 and Spin(7)-manifolds

We introduce the notion of complex $G_2$ manifold $M_{\mathbb C}$, and complexification of a $G_2$ manifold $M\subset M_{\mathbb C}$. As an application we show the following: If $(Y,s)$ is a closed oriented $3$-manifold with a $Spin^{c}$ structure, and $(Y,s)\subset (M, \varphi)$ is an imbedding as an associative submanifold of some $G_2$ manifold (such imbedding always exists), then the isotropic associative deformations of $Y$ in the complexified $G_2$ manifold $M_{\mathbb ...

Motivated by the description of $\mathcal{N}=1$ M-theory compactifications to four-dimensions given by Exceptional Generalized Geometry, we propose a way to geometrize the M-theory fluxes by appropriately relating the compactification space to a higher-dimensional manifold equipped with a torsion-free structure. As a non-trivial example of this proposal, we construct a bijection from the set of $Spin(7)$-structures on an eight-dimensional $S^{1}$-bundle to the set of $G_{2}$-...

A deformed Donaldson-Thomas (dDT) connection is a Hermitian connection of a Hermitian line bundle over a $G_2$-manifold $X$ satisfying a certain nonlinear PDE. This is considered to be the mirror of a (co)associative cycle in the context of mirror symmetry. The dDT connection is an analogue of a deformed Hermitian Yang-Mills (dHYM) connection which is extensively studied recently. In this paper, we study the moduli spaces of dDT and dHYM connections. In the former half, we ...

We characterize compact locally conformal parallel $G_2$ (respectively, $Spin(7)$) manifolds as fiber bundles over $S^1$ with compact nearly K\"ahler (respectively, compact nearly parallel $G_2$) fiber. A more specific characterization is provided when the local parallel structures are flat.

An important open question in G$_{2}$ geometry concerns whether or not a compact seven-manifold can support an exact G$_{2}$-Structure. Given the significance of this question we initiate a study of exact G$_{2}$-Structures on compact manifolds. We focus on exact G$_2$-Structures subject to no additional constraints but we also consider the relationship between the exact condition and other conditions for closed G$_{2}$-Structures such as the Extremally Ricci-Pinched and Lapl...

We study the Hitchin component in the space of representations of the fundamental group of a Riemann surface into a split real simple Lie group in the rank 2 case. We prove that such representations are described by a conformal structure and class of Higgs bundle we call cyclic and we show cyclic Higgs bundles correspond to a form of the affine Toda equations. In each case we relate cyclic Higgs bundles to geometric structures on the surface. We elucidate the geometry of gene...

We study the geometry induced on the local orbit spaces of Killing vector fields on (Riemannian) $G$-manifolds, with an emphasis on the cases $G={\rm Spin}(7)$ and $G=G_2$. Along the way, we classify the harmonic morphisms with one-dimensional fibres from $G_2$-manifolds to Einstein manifolds.

In this paper we will introduce a new notion of geometric structures defined by systems of closed differential forms in term of the Clifford algebra of the direct sum of the tangent bundle and the cotangent bundle on a manifold. We develop a unified approach of a deformation problem and establish a criterion of unobstructed deformations of the structures from a cohomological point of view. We construct the moduli spaces of the structures by using the action of b-fields and sh...

We present a construction of a canonical G_2 structure on the unit sphere tangent bundle S_M of any given orientable Riemannian 4-manifold M. Such structure is never geometric or 1-flat, but seems full of other possibilities. We start by the study of the most basic properties of our construction. The structure is co-calibrated if, and only if, M is an Einstein manifold. The fibres are always associative. In fact, the associated 3-form results from a linear combination of thre...

Let M^7 a manifold with holonomy in G_2, and Y^3 an associative submanifold with boundary in a coassociative submanifold. In [5], the authors proved that M_{X,Y}, the moduli space of its associative deformations with boundary in the fixed X, has finite virtual dimension. Using Bochner's technique, we give a vanishing theorem that forces M_{X,Y} to be locally smooth.