1.2.2. Compactification and distributional equation [03Z3]
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1.2.2. Compactification and distributional equation
When we partially compactify the principal -bundle over to a singular -bundle over by allowing torus fibres to degenerate, we need to encode the topology into the generalised Gibbons-Hawking ansatz, by changing the RHS of (1.11) into a distributional term reflecting the nontriviality of the first Chern class (cf. the Taub-NUT example 1.8). This has been worked out by Zharkov [31] in general dimensions; here we will focus on the vertices in .
Example 1.9.
(Positive vertex and Taub-NUT type ) Recall from Section 1.1.3 that are the homology classes of the two circle factors in the -fibre, or equivalently an integral basis in . The -valued curvature 2-form satisfies (cf. (1.12))
which is a -valued 3-current supported on the codimension 3 discriminant locus . Now take small 3-balls transverse to respectively. The integrals of over the balls are equal to the integrals of the Chern class representative over the linking , which by Section 1.1.3 are up to orientation issues. Thus
| (1.16) |
where the RHS is a -valued codimension 3 cycle. The orientation here is decided by comparing with the Taub-NUT example. If is an orientation form on , then the orientation forms on are , compatible with the directions pointing to infinity.
In the variant situation where instead of being periodic, to which previous discussions still apply, the generalised Gibbons-Hawking ansatz has a scaling symmetry compatible with the distributional equation (1.16): a new solution may be constructed from an old solution by
| (1.17) |
These solutions are isometric up to a scaling factor, analogous to Taub-NUT metrics with different asymptotic circle lengths. The presence of the periodicty condition (or more abstractly an integral lattice structure) breaks down scaling symmetry by singling out a special scale.
Example 1.10.
(Negative vertex) By a similar argument, in the negative vertex setting (cf. Section 1.1.5) the curvature 2-form satisfies
| (1.18) |
where defines a codimension 3 cycle. Here is endowed with the complex orientation, and the orientation on is defined by the form .