Tractor Bundle Research Articles

Conformal and projective tractors from 2-frame bundles by the dressing field method

This paper is devoted to the study of conformal and projective structures, and especially their connections, in the language of 2-frames, or [Formula: see text]-structures of second order. While their normal Cartan connections are well-known, we use the dressing field method to obtain their local, mostly gauge invariant, connections. Lastly, we recall how to obtain the tractor bundle from conformal structures, and then show that we can define a projective tractor bundle using the same kind of construction.

Generalized Willmore energies, Q-curvatures, extrinsic Paneitz operators, and extrinsic Laplacian powers

Over forty years ago, Paneitz, and independently Fradkin and Tseytlin, discovered a fourth-order conformally invariant differential operator, intrinsically defined on a conformal manifold, mapping scalars to scalars. This operator is a special case of the so-termed extrinsic Paneitz operator defined in the case when the conformal manifold is itself a conformally embedded hypersurface. In particular, this encodes the obstruction to smoothly solving the five-dimensional scalar Laplace equation, and suitable higher dimensional analogs, on conformally compact structures with constant scalar curvature. Moreover, the extrinsic Paneitz operator can act on tensors of general type by dint of being defined on tractor bundles. Motivated by a host of applications, we explicitly compute the extrinsic Paneitz operator. We apply this formula to obtain: an extrinsically-coupled [Formula: see text]-curvature for embedded four-manifolds, the anomaly in renormalized volumes for conformally compact five-manifolds with negative constant scalar curvature, Willmore energies for embedded four-manifolds, the local obstruction to smoothly solving the five-dimensional singular Yamabe problem, and new extrinsically-coupled fourth- and sixth-order operators for embedded surfaces and four-manifolds, respectively.

Tractor Geometry of Asymptotically Flat Spacetimes

In a recent work it was shown that conformal Carroll geometries are canonically equipped with a null-tractor bundle generalizing the tractor bundle of conformal geometry. We here show that in the case of the conformal boundary of an asymptotically flat spacetime of any dimension d>=3, this null-tractor bundle over null infinity can be canonically derived from the interior spacetime geometry. As was previously discussed, compatible normal connections on the null-tractor bundle are not unique: We prove that they are in fact in one-to-one correspondence with the germ of the asymptotically flat spacetimes to leading order. In dimension d=3 the tractor connection invariantly encodes a choice of mass and angular momentum aspect, in dimension d>=4 a choice of asymptotic shear. In dimension d=4 the presence of tractor curvature correspond to gravitational radiation. Even thought these results are by construction geometrical and coordinate invariant, we give explicit expressions in BMS coordinates for concreteness.

Einstein gravity as a gauge theory for the conformal group

General relativity in dimension n = p + q can be formulated as a gauge theory for the conformal group , along with an additional field reducing the structure group down to the Poincaré group . In this paper, we propose a new variational principle for Einstein geometry which realizes this fact. Importantly, as opposed to previous treatments in the literature, our action functional gives first order field equations and does not require supplementary constraints on gauge fields, such as torsion-freeness. Our approach is based on the ‘first order formulation’ of conformal tractor geometry. Accordingly, it provides a straightforward variational derivation of the tractor version of the Einstein equation. To achieve this, we review the standard theory of tractor geometry with a gauge theory perspective, defining the tractor bundle a priori in terms of an abstract principal bundle and providing an identification with the standard conformal tractor bundle via a dynamical soldering form. This can also be seen as a generalization of the so called Cartan–Palatini formulation of general relativity in which the ‘internal’ orthogonal group is extended to an appropriate parabolic subgroup of the conformal group.

CR Embedded Submanifolds of CR Manifolds

We develop a complete local theory for CR embedded submanifolds of CR manifolds in a way which parallels the Ricci calculus for Riemannian submanifold theory. In particular, we establish the subtle relationship between the submanifold and ambient standard tractor bundles, allowing us to relate the respective normal Cartan (or tractor) connections via a CR Gauss formula. The CR invariant tractor calculus of CR embeddings is developed concretely in terms of the Tanaka-Webster calculus of an arbitrary (suitably adapted) ambient contact form. This enables straightforward and explicit calculation of the pseudohermitian invariants of the embedding which are also CR invariant. These are extremely difficult to find and compute by more naive methods. We conclude by establishing a CR analogue of the classical Bonnet theorem in Riemannian submanifold theory.

Relative BGG sequences; II. BGG machinery and invariant operators

For a real or complex semisimple Lie group G and two nested parabolic subgroups Q⊂P⊂G, we study parabolic geometries of type (G,Q). Associated to the group P, we introduce the classes of relative natural bundles and of relative tractor bundles and construct some basic invariant differential operators on such bundles. We define a (rather weak) notion of “compressability” for operators acting on relative differential forms with values in a relative tractor bundle. Then we develop a general machinery which converts a compressable operator to an operator on bundles associated to completely reducible representations on relative Lie algebra homology groups.Applying this machinery to a specific compressable invariant differential operator of order one, we obtain a relative version of BGG (Bernstein–Gelfand–Gelfand) sequences. All our constructions apply in the case P=G, producing new and simpler proofs in the case of standard BGG sequences. We characterize cases in which the relative BGG sequences are complexes or even fine resolutions of certain sheaves and describe these sheaves. We show that this gives constructions of new invariant differential operators as well as of new subcomplexes in certain curved BGG sequences. The results are made explicit in the case of generalized path geometries.

Tractors and twistors from conformal Cartan geometry: a gauge theoretic approach II. Twistors

Tractor and Twistor bundles provide natural conformally covariant calculi on 4D-Riemannian manifolds. They have different origins but are closely related, and usually constructed bottom–up through prolongation of defining differential equations. We propose alternative top–down gauge theoretic constructions, starting from the conformal Cartan bundle and its vectorial E and spinorial associated bundles. Our key ingredient is the dressing field method of gauge symmetry reduction, which allows tractors and twistors and their associated connections to exhibit as gauge fields of a non-standard kind as far as Weyl rescaling transformation is concerned. By non-standard we mean that they implement the gauge principle of physics, but are of a different geometric nature than the well-known differential geometric objects usually underlying gauge theories. We provide the corresponding BRST treatment. In a companion paper we dealt with tractors, in the present one we address the case of twistors.

The almost Einstein operator for $(2, 3, 5)$ distributions

For the geometry of oriented $(2, 3, 5)$ distributions $(M, )$, which correspond to regular, normal parabolic geometries of type $(\operatorname{G}_2, P)$ for a particular parabolic subgroup $P < \operatorname{G}_2$, we develop the corresponding tractor calculus and use it to analyze the first BGG operator $\Theta_0$ associated to the $7$-dimensional irreducible representation of $\operatorname{G}_2$. We give an explicit formula for the normal connection on the corresponding tractor bundle and use it to derive explicit expressions for this operator. We also show that solutions of this operator are automatically normal, yielding a geometric interpretation of $\ker \Theta_0$: For any $(M, )$, this kernel consists precisely of the almost Einstein scales of the Nurowski conformal structure on $M$ that $\mathbf{D}$ determines. We apply our formula for $\Theta_0$ (1) to recover efficiently some known solutions, (2) to construct a distribution with root type $[3, 1]$ with a nonzero solution, and (3) to show efficiently that the conformal holonomy of a particular $(2, 3, 5)$ conformal structure is equal to $\operatorname{G}_2$.

Nearly Kahler geometry and (2,3,5)-distributions via projective holonomy

We show that any dimension $6$ nearly K\"ahler (or nearly para-K\"ahler) geometry arises as a projective manifold equipped with a $\textrm{G}_2^{(*)}$ holonomy reduction. In the converse direction we show that if a projective manifold is equipped with a parallel $7$-dimensional cross product on its standard tractor bundle then the manifold is: a Riemannian nearly K\"ahler manifold, if the cross product is definite, otherwise, if the cross product has the other algebraic type, the manifold is in general stratified with nearly K\"ahler and nearly para-K\"ahler parts separated by a hypersurface which canonically carries a Cartan $(2,3,5)$-distribution. This hypersurface is a projective infinity for the pseudo-Riemannian geometry elsewhere on the manifold, and we establish how the Cartan distribution can be understood explicitly, and also in terms of conformal geometry, as a limit of the ambient nearly (para\nobreakdash-)K\"ahler structures. Any real-analytic $(2,3,5)$-distribution is seen to arise as such a limit, because we can solve the geometric Dirichlet problem of building a collar structure equipped with the required holonomy-reduced projective structure. A model geometry for these structures is provided by the projectivization of the imaginary (split) octonions. Our approach is to use Cartan/tractor theory to provide a curved version of this geometry, this encodes a curved version of the algebra of imaginary (split) octonions as a flat structure over its projectivization. The perspective is used to establish detailed results concerning the projective compactification of nearly (para\nobreakdash-)K\"ahler manifolds, including how the almost (para\nobreakdash-)complex structure and metric smoothly degenerate along the singular hypersurface to give the distribution there.

Projective compactness and conformal boundaries

Let $\overline{M}$ be a smooth manifold with boundary $\partial M$ and interior $M$. Consider an affine connection $\nabla$ on $M$ for which the boundary is at infinity. Then $\nabla$ is projectively compact of order $\alpha$ if the projective structure defined by $\nabla$ smoothly extends to all of $\overline{M}$ in a specific way that depends on no particular choice of boundary defining function. Via the Levi--Civita connection, this concept applies to pseudo--Riemannian metrics on $M$. We study the relation between interior geometry and the possibilities for compactification, and then develop the tools that describe the induced geometry on the boundary. We prove that a pseudo--Riemannian metric on $M$ which is projectively compact of order two admits a certain asymptotic form. This form was known to be sufficient for projective compactness, so the result establishes that it provides an equivalent characterization. From a projectively compact connection on $M$, one obtains a projective structure on $\overline{M}$, which induces a conformal class of (possibly degenerate) bundle metrics on the tangent bundle to the hypersurface $\partial M$. Using the asymptotic form, we prove that in the case of metrics, which are projectively compact of order two, this boundary structure is always non--degenerate. We also prove that in this case the metric is necessarily asymptotically Einstein, in a natural sense. Finally, a non--degenerate boundary geometry gives rise to a (conformal) standard tractor bundle endowed with a canonical linear connection, and we explicitly describe these in terms of the projective data of the interior geometry.

Conformal superalgebras via tractor calculus

We use the manifestly conformally invariant description of a Lorentzian conformal structure in terms of a parabolic Cartan geometry in order to introduce a superalgebra structure on the space of twistor spinors and normal conformal vector fields formulated in purely algebraic terms on parallel sections in tractor bundles. Via a fixed metric in the conformal class, one reproduces a conformal superalgebra structure that has been considered in the literature before. The tractor approach, however, makes clear that the failure of this object to be a Lie superalgebra in certain cases is due to purely algebraic identities on the spinor module and to special properties of the conformal holonomy representation. Moreover, it naturally generalizes to higher signatures. This yields new formulas for constructing new twistor spinors and higher order normal conformal Killing forms out of existing ones, generalizing the well-known spinorial Lie derivative. Moreover, we derive restrictions on the possible dimension of the space of twistor spinors in any metric signature.

The conformal-to-Einstein equation on Möbius surfaces

On a conformal manifold, it is well known that parallel sections of the standard tractor bundle with non-vanishing scale are in 1–1 correspondence with solutions of the conformal Einstein equation. In 2 dimensions conformal geometry carries no local information but one can remedy this by equipping the surface with a Möbius structure. The conformal Einstein equation is then a well defined overdetermined system of linear PDEs on the Möbius surface. It turns out however that an additional term involving curvature in the form of the Cotton–York tensor appears in the prolongation of the conformal Einstein equation in 2-dimensions, in contrast to the higher dimensional setting. We establish a 1–1 correspondence between solutions of the conformal Einstein equation on Möbius surfaces with non-vanishing scale and parallel sections of the modified standard tractor connection called the prolongation connection. We also discuss the consequence of this in deriving local obstructions, and also obtain (partial) results on the possible dimensions of the kernel space of the conformal-to-Einstein operator on Möbius surfaces.

Holonomy reductions of Cartan geometries and curved orbit decompositions

We develop a holonomy reduction procedure for general Cartan geometries. We show that, given a reduction of holonomy, the underlying manifold naturally decomposes into a disjoint union of initial submanifolds. Each such submanifold corresponds to an orbit of the holonomy group on the modeling homogeneous space and carries a canonical induced Cartan geometry. The result can therefore be understood as a “curved orbit decomposition.” The theory is then applied to the study of several invariant overdetermined differential equations in projective, conformal, and CR geometry. This makes use of an equivalent description of solutions to these equations as parallel sections of a tractor bundle. In projective geometry we study a third-order differential equation that governs the existence of a compatible Einstein metric, and in conformal geometry we discuss almost-Einstein scales. Finally, we discuss analogues of the two latter equations in CR geometry, which leads to invariant equations that govern the existence of a compatible Kähler–Einstein metric.

On conformal powers of the Dirac operator on spin manifolds

The well known conformal covariance of the Dirac operator acting on spinor fields does not extend to its powers in general. For odd powers of the Dirac operator we derive an algorithmic construction in terms of associated tractor bundles computing correction terms in order to achieve conformal covariance. These operators turn out to be formally (anti-) self-adjoint. Working out this algorithm we recover explicit formula for the conformal third and present a conformal fifth power of the Dirac operator. Finally, we will present polynomial structures for the first examples of conformal powers in terms of first order differential operators acting on the spinor bundle.

On a new normalization for tractor covariant derivatives

A regular normal parabolic geometry of type G/P on a manifold M gives rise to sequences D_i of invariant differential operators, known as the curved version of the BGG resolution. These sequences are constructed from the normal covariant derivative \nabla^\omega on the corresponding tractor bundle V, where \omega is the normal Cartan connection. The first operator D_0 in the sequence is overdetermined and it is well known that \nabla^\omega yields the prolongation of this operator in the homogeneous case M = G/P . Our first main result is the curved version of such a prolongation. This requires a new normalization of the tractor covariant derivative on V . Moreover, we obtain an analogue for higher operators D_i . In that case one needs to modify the exterior covariant derivative d^{\nabla^\omega} by differential terms. Finally we demonstrate these results on simple examples in projective, conformal and Grassmannian geometry. Our approach is based on standard techniques of the BGG machinery.

Subtleties concerning conformal tractor bundles

Abstract The realization of tractor bundles as associated bundles in conformal geometry is studied. It is shown that different natural choices of principal bundle with normal Cartan connection corresponding to a given conformal manifold can give rise to topologically distinct associated tractor bundles for the same inducing representation. Consequences for homogeneous models and conformal holonomy are described. A careful presentation is made of background material concerning standard tractor bundles and equivalence between parabolic geometries and underlying structures.

Smooth metric measure spaces, quasi-Einstein metrics, and tractors

Abstract We introduce the tractor formalism from conformal geometry to the study of smooth metric measure spaces. In particular, this gives rise to a correspondence between quasi-Einstein metrics and parallel sections of certain tractor bundles. We use this formulation to give a sharp upper bound on the dimension of the vector space of quasi-Einstein metrics, providing a different perspective on some recent results of He, Petersen and Wylie.

A holonomy characterisation of Fefferman spaces

We prove that Fefferman spaces, associated to non-degenerate CR structures of hypersurface type, are characterised, up to local conformal isometry, by the existence of a parallel orthogonal complex structure on the standard tractor bundle. This condition can be equivalently expressed in terms of conformal holonomy. Extracting from this picture the essential consequences at the level of tensor bundles yields an improved, conformally invariant analogue of Sparling’s characterisation of Fefferman spaces.

The canonical Cartan bundle and connection in CR geometry

AbstractWe give a simple differential geometric description of the canonical Cartan (or tractor) bundle and connection in CR geometry, thus offering an alternative definition to the usual abstract Lie algebraic approach.

Infinitesimal automorphisms and deformations of parabolic geometries

We show that infinitesimal automorphisms and infinitesimal deformations of parabolic geometries can be nicely described in terms of the twisted de Rham sequence associated to a certain linear connection on the adjoint tractor bundle. For regular normal geometries, this description can be related to the underlying geometric structure using the machinery of BGG sequences. In the locally flat case, this leads to a deformation complex, which generalizes the well known complex for locally conformally flat manifolds. Recently, a theory of subcomplexes in BGG sequences has been developed. This applies to certain types of torsion free parabolic geometries including quaternionic structures, quaternionic contact structures and CR structures. We show that for these structures one of the subcomplexes in the adjoint BGG sequence leads (even in the curved case) to a complex governing deformations in the subcategory of torsion free geometries. For quaternionic structures, this deformation complex is elliptic.