Yang-Mills Connections on Nonorientable Surfaces

In math.SG/0605587, we studied Yang-Mills functional on the space of connections on a principal G_R-bundle over a closed, connected, nonorientable surface, where G_R is any compact connected Lie group. In this sequel, we generalize the discussion in "The Yang-Mills equations over Riemann surfaces" by Atiyah and Bott, and math.SG/0605587. We obtain explicit descriptions (as representation varieties) of Morse strata of Yang-Mills functional on orientable and nonorientable surfa...

We revisit Atiyah and Bott's study of Morse theory for the Yang-Mills functional over a Riemann surface, and establish new formulas for the minimum codimension of a (non-semi-stable) stratum. These results yield the exact connectivity of the natural map (C_{min} E)//G(E) --> Map^E (M, BU(n)) from the homotopy orbits of the space of central Yang-Mills connections to the classifying space of the gauge group G(E). All of these results carry over to non-orientable surfaces via Ho...

We prove that Yang-Mills connections on a surface are characterized as those with the property that the holonomy around homotopic closed paths only depends on the oriented area between the paths. Using this we have an alternative proof for a theorem of Atiyah and Bott that the Yang-Mills connections on a compact orientable surface can be characterized by homomorphisms to the structure group from an extension of the fundamental group of the surface. In addition, we obtain the ...

Let $\Sigma$ be a closed surface, $G$ a compact Lie group, not necessarily connected, with Lie algebra $g$, endowed with an adjoint action invariant scalar product, let $\xi \colon P \to \Sigma$ be a principal $G$-bundle, and pick a Riemannian metric and orientation on $\Sigma$ so that the corresponding Yang-Mills equations are defined. In an earlier paper we determined the local structure of the moduli space $N(\xi)$ of central Yang-Mills connections on $\xi$ near an arbitra...

In arXiv:math/0605587, the first two authors have constructed a gauge-equivariant Morse stratification on the space of connections on a principal U(n)-bundle over a connected, closed, nonorientable surface. This space can be identified with the real locus of the space of connections on the pullback of this bundle over the orientable double cover of this nonorientable surface. In this context, the normal bundles to the Morse strata are real vector bundles. We show that these b...

In this paper we explain how Morse theory for the Yang-Mills functional can be used to prove an analogue, for surface groups, of the Atiyah-Segal theorem. Classically, the Atiyah-Segal theorem relates the representation ring R(\Gamma) of a compact Lie group $\Gamma$ to the complex K-theory of the classifying space $B\Gamma$. For infinite discrete groups, it is necessary to take into account deformations of representations, and with this in mind we replace the representation r...

Let $\Sigma$ be a closed surface, $G$ a compact Lie group, not necessarily connected, with Lie algebra $g$, endowed with an adjoint action invariant scalar product, let $\xi \colon P \to \Sigma$ be a principal $G$-bundle, and pick a Riemannian metric and orientation on $\Sigma$, so that the corresponding Yang-Mills equations $$d_A*K_A = 0$$ are defined, where $K_A$ refers to the curvature of a connection $A$. For every central Yang-Mills connection $A$, the data induce a stru...

A surface of codimension higher than one embedded in an ambient space possesses a connection associated with the rotational freedom of its normal vector fields. We examine the Yang-Mills functional associated with this connection. The theory it defines differs from Yang-Mills theory in that it is a theory of surfaces. We focus, in particular, on the Euler-Lagrange equations describing this surface, introducing a framework which throws light on their relationship to the Yang-M...

Let $\Sigma$ be a closed surface, $G$ a compact Lie group, with Lie algebra $g$, $\xi \colon P \to \Sigma$ a principal $G$-bundle, let $N(\xi)$ denote the moduli space of central Yang-Mills connections on $\xi$, for suitably chosen additional data, and let $\roman{Rep}_{\xi}(\Gamma,G)$ be the space of representations of the universal central extension $\Gamma$ of the fundamental group of $\Sigma$ in $G$ that corresponds to $\xi$. We construct smooth structures on $N(\xi)$ and...

The purpose of this paper is to give a self-contained exposition of the Atiyah-Bott picture for the Yang-Mills equation over Riemann surfaces with an emphasis on the analogy to finite dimensional geometric invariant theory. The main motivation is to provide a careful study of the semistable and unstable orbits: This includes the analogue of the Ness uniqueness theorem for Yang-Mills connections, the Kempf-Ness theorem, the Hilbert-Mumford criterion and a new proof of the mome...