Twisted K-theory Research Articles

Adams operations on the twisted K-theory of compact Lie groups

Adams operations on the twisted K-theory of compact Lie groups

Anyonic defect branes and conformal blocks in twisted equivariant differential (TED) K-theory

We demonstrate that twisted equivariant differential K-theory of transverse complex curves accommodates exotic charges of the form expected of codimension[Formula: see text]2 defect branes, such as of [Formula: see text]-branes in IIB/F-theory on [Formula: see text]-type orbifold singularities, but also of their dual 3-brane defects of class-S theories on M5-branes. These branes have been argued, within F-theory and the AGT correspondence, to carry special [Formula: see text]-monodromy charges not seen for other branes, at least partially reflected in conformal blocks of the [Formula: see text]-WZW model over their transverse punctured complex curve. Indeed, it has been argued that all “exotic” branes of string theory are defect branes carrying such U-duality monodromy charges — but none of these had previously been identified in the expected brane charge quantization law given by K-theory. Here we observe that it is the subtle (and previously somewhat neglected) twisting of equivariant K-theory by flat complex line bundles appearing inside orbi-singularities (“inner local systems”) that makes the secondary Chern character on a punctured plane inside an [Formula: see text]-type singularity evaluate to the twisted holomorphic de Rham cohomology which Feigin, Schechtman and Varchenko showed realizes [Formula: see text]-conformal blocks, here in degree 1 — in fact it gives the direct sum of these over all admissible fractional levels [Formula: see text]. The remaining higher-degree [Formula: see text]-conformal blocks appear similarly if we assume our previously discussed “Hypothesis H” about brane charge quantization in M-theory. Since conformal blocks — and hence these twisted equivariant secondary Chern characters — solve the Knizhnik–Zamolodchikov equation and thus constitute representations of the braid group of motions of defect branes inside their transverse space, this provides a concrete first-principles realization of anyon statistics of — and hence of topological quantum computation on — defect branes in string/M-theory.

Ramond–Ramond fields and twisted differential K-theory

We provide a systematic approach to describing the Ramond-Ramond (RR) fields as elements in twisted differential K-theory. This builds on a series of constructions by the authors on geometric and computational aspects of twisted differential K-theory, which to a large extent were originally motivated by this problem. In addition to providing a new conceptual framework and a mathematically solid setting, this allows us to uncover interesting and novel effects. Explicitly, we use our recently constructed Atiyah-Hirzebruch spectral sequence (AHSS) for twisted differential K-theory to characterize the RR fields and their quantization, which involves interesting interplay between geometric and topological data. We illustrate this with the examples of spheres, tori, and Calabi-Yau threefolds.

Twisted Morava K–theory and connective covers of Lie groups

Twisted Morava K-theory, along with computational techniques, including a universal coefficient theorem and an Atiyah-Hirzebruch spectral sequence, was introduced by Craig Westerland and the first author. We employ these techniques to compute twisted Morava K-theory of all connective covers of the stable orthogonal group and stable unitary group, and their classifying spaces, as well as spheres and Eilenberg-MacLane spaces. This extends to the twisted case some of the results of Ravenel and Wilson and of Kitchloo, Laures, and Wilson for Morava K-theory. This also generalizes to all chromatic levels computations by Khorami (and in part those of Douglas) at chromatic level one, i.e. for the case of twisted K-theory. We establish that for natural twists in all cases, there are only two possibilities: either that the twisted Morava homology vanishes, or that it is isomorphic to untwisted homology. We also provide a variant on the twist of Morava K-theory, with mod 2 cohomology in place of integral cohomology.

On the Chern Character in Higher Twisted K-Theory and Spherical T-Duality

In this paper, we construct for higher twists that arise from cohomotopy classes, the Chern character in higher twisted K-theory, that maps into higher twisted cohomology. We show that it gives rise to an isomorphism between higher twisted K-theory and higher twisted cohomology over the reals. Finally we compute spherical T-duality in higher twisted K-theory and higher twisted cohomology in very general cases.

Exotic twisted equivariant K-theory

In this paper we introduce exotic twistedT-equivariant K-theory of loop space LZ depending on the (typically non-flat) holonomy line bundle LB on LZ of a gerbe with connection on Z. We define an exotic twisted T-equivariant Chern character on the exotic twisted T-equivariant K-theory of LZ that maps to the exotic twisted T-equivariant cohomology of LZ as previously defined in Han and Mathai (2015).

Twisted differential K-characters and D-branes

We analyse in detail the language of partially non-abelian Deligne cohomology and of twisted differential K-theory, in order to describe the geometry of type II superstring backgrounds with D-branes. This description will also provide the opportunity to show some mathematical results of independent interest. In particular, we begin classifying the possible gauge theories on a D-brane or on a stack of D-branes using the intrinsic tool of long exact sequences. Afterwards, we recall how to construct two relevant models of differential twisted K-theory, paying particular attention to the dependence on the twisting cocycle within its cohomology class. In this way we will be able to define twisted K-homology and twisted Cheeger-Simons K-characters in the category of simply-connected manifolds, eliminating any unnatural dependence on the cocycle. The ambiguity left for non simply-connected manifolds will naturally correspond to the ambiguity in the gauge theory, following the previous classification. This picture will allow for a complete characterization of D-brane world-volumes, the Wess-Zumino action and topological D-brane charges within the K-theoretical framework, that can be compared step by step to the old cohomological classification. This has already been done for backgrounds with vanishing B-field; here we remove this hypothesis.

Homotopical and operator algebraic twisted K-theory

Using the framework for multiplicative parametrized homotopy theory introduced in joint work with C. Schlichtkrull, we produce a multiplicative comparison between the homotopical and operator algebraic constructions of twisted K-theory, both in the real and complex case. We also improve several comparison results about twisted K-theory of C^*-algebras to include multiplicative structures. Our results can also be interpreted in the infty -categorical setup for parametrized spectra.

Weibel’s conjecture for twisted K-theory

We prove Weibel's conjecture for twisted $K$-theory when twisting by a smooth proper connective dg-algebra. Our main contribution is showing we can kill a negative twisted $K$-theory class using a projective birational morphism (in the same twisted setting). We extend the vanishing result to relative twisted $K$-theory of a smooth affine morphism and describe counter examples to some similar extensions.

On Finiteness Conditions in Twisted K-Theory

The aim of this (mostly expository) article is to show a connection between the finiteness conditions arising in twisted K-theory. There are two different conditions arising naturally in two main approaches to the problem of computing the index of the appropriate family of elliptic operators (the approach of Nistor and Troitsky and the approach of Mathai, Melrose, and Singer). These conditions are formulated absolutely differently, but in some sense they should be close to each other. In this paper, we find this connection and prove the corresponding formal statement. Thereby it is shown that these conditions map to each other. This opens a possibility to synthesize these approaches. It is also shown that the finiteness condition arising in the paper of Nistor and Troitsky is a special case of the finiteness condition that appears in the paper of Emerson and Meyer, where the theorem of Nistor and Troitsky is proved not only for the case of a bundle of Lie groups, but also for the case of a general groupoid.

A completion theorem for fusion systems

We show that the twisted K-theory of the classifying space of a p-local finite group is isomorphic to the completion of the Grothendieck group of twisted representations of the fusion system with respect to the augmentation ideal of the representation ring of the fusion system. We use this result to compute the K-theory of the Ruiz-Viruel exotic 7-local finite groups.

A new approach to twisted K–theory of compact Lie groups

This paper explores further the computation of the twisted K-theory and K-homology of compact simple Lie groups, previously studied by Hopkins, Moore, Maldacena-Moore-Seiberg, Braun, and Douglas, with a focus on groups of rank 2. We give a new method of computation based on the Segal spectral sequence which seems to us appreciably simpler than the methods used previously, at least in many key cases. The exposition has been clarified and one mistake in the previous version has been fixed. Also the references have been updated.

Twisted differential generalized cohomology theories and their Atiyah–Hirzebruch spectral sequence

We construct the Atiyah-Hirzebruch spectral sequence (AHSS) for twisted differential generalized cohomology theories. This generalizes to the twisted setting the authors' corresponding earlier construction for differential cohomology theories, as well as to the differential setting the AHSS for twisted generalized cohomology theories, including that of twisted K-theory by Rosenberg and Atiyah-Segal. In describing twisted differential spectra we build on the work of Bunke-Nikolaus, but we find it useful for our purposes to take an approach that highlights direct analogies with classical bundles and that is at the same time amenable for calculations. We will, in particular, establish that twisted differential spectra are bundles of spectra equipped with a flat connection. Our prominent case will be twisted differential K-theory, for which we work out the differentials in detail. This involves differential refinements of primary and secondary cohomology operations the authors developed in earlier papers. We illustrate our constructions and computational tools with examples.

A Hilbert bundle description of differential K-theory

We give an infinite dimensional description of the differential K-theory of a manifold M. The generators are triples [H,A,ω] where H is a Z2-graded Hilbert bundle on M, A is a superconnection on H and ω is a differential form on M. The relations involve eta forms. We show that the ensuing group is the differential K-group Kˇ0(M). In addition, we construct the pushforward of a finite dimensional cocycle under a proper submersion with a Riemannian structure. We give the analogous description of the odd differential K-group Kˇ1(M). Finally, we give a model for twisted differential K-theory.

Segal's Spectral Sequence in Twisted Equivariant K-theory for Proper and Discrete Actions

AbstractWe use a spectral sequence developed by Graeme Segal in order to understand the twisted G-equivariant K-theory for proper and discrete actions. We show that the second page of this spectral sequence is isomorphic to a version of Bredon cohomology with local coefficients in twisted representations. We furthermore explain some phenomena concerning the third differential of the spectral sequence, and recover known results when the twisting comes from finite order elements in discrete torsion.

Group dualities, T‐dualities, and twisted K‐theory

This paper explores further the connection between Langlands duality and T-duality for compact simple Lie groups, which appeared in work of Daenzer-Van Erp and Bunke-Nikolaus. We show that Langlands duality gives rise to isomorphisms of twisted K-groups, but that these K-groups are trivial except in the simplest case of SU(2) and SO(3). Along the way we compute explicitly the map on $H^3$ induced by a covering of compact simple Lie groups, which is either 1 or 2 depending in a complicated way on the type of the groups involved. We also give a new method for computing twisted K-theory using the Segal spectral sequence, giving simpler computations of certain twisted K-theory groups of compact Lie groups relevant for D-brane charges in WZW theories and rank-level dualities. Finally we study a duality for orientifolds based on complex Lie groups with an involution.

Geometric models of twisted differential K-theory I

This is the first in a series of papers constructing geometric models of twisted differential K-theory. In this paper we construct a model of even twisted differential K-theory when the underlying topological twist represents a torsion class. By differential twists we will mean smooth U(1)-gerbes with connection, and we use twisted vector bundles with connection as cocycles. The model we construct satisfies the axioms of Kahle and Valentino, including functoriality, naturality of twists, and the hexagon diagram. This paper confirms a long-standing hypothetical idea that twisted vector bundles with connection define twisted differential K-theory.

Twisted orbifold K-theory for global quotient

Let [X/G] be the global quotient of a complex manifold X by a finite group G, with a twisting α∈Z2(G,S1). Adem and Ruan defined the twisted orbifold K-theory Korbα(X/G). In this paper, we construct a decomposition for Korbα(X/G) and define a product on Korbα(X/G) using the method of stringy product. Then we construct a twisted Chern characterChorbα:αKorb(X/G)⊗C⟶Horb⁎(X/G;Lα). Here Horb⁎(X/G;Lα) is the twisted orbifold cohomology of [X/G]. Furthermore we show that this twisted Chern character is a ring isomorphism.

Lie n-algebras of BPS charges

We uncover higher algebraic structures on Noether currents and BPS charges. It is known that equivalence classes of conserved currents form a Lie algebra. We show that at least for target space symmetries of higher parameterized WZW-type sigma-models this naturally lifts to a Lie (p + 1)-algebra structure on the Noether currents themselves. Applied to the Green-Schwarz-type action functionals for super p-brane sigma-models this yields super Lie (p+1)-algebra refinements of the traditional BPS brane charge extensions of supersymmetry algebras. We discuss this in the generality of higher differential geometry, where it applies also to branes with (higher) gauge fields on their worldvolume. Applied to the M5-brane sigma-model we recover and properly globalize the M-theory super Lie algebra extension of 11-dimensional superisometries by 2-brane and 5-brane charges. Passing beyond the infinitesimal Lie theory we find cohomological corrections to these charges in higher analogy to the familiar corrections for D-brane charges as they are lifted from ordinary cohomology to twisted K-theory. This supports the proposal that M-brane charges live in a twisted cohomology theory.

Twisted K-theory, Real A-bundles and Grothendieck–Witt groups

We introduce a general framework to unify several variants of twisted topological K-theory. We focus on the role of finite dimensional real simple algebras with a product-preserving involution, showing that Grothendieck–Witt groups provide interesting examples of twisted K-theory. These groups are linked with the classification of algebraic vector bundles on real algebraic varieties.