Math 731 Introduction to Gromov-Witten Theory

 

 

Renzo Cavalieri

 

 

T-Th 10 – 11:30 am

 

 

East Hall 3096

 

 

 

Any relevant information about this course will (hopefully) appear on this webpage. This course is meant to be a “soft” and intuitive introduction to Gromov-Witten theory, the study of intersection theory on moduli spaces of stable maps.  It would be unfair (and incorrect) to claim that this is a particular area of algebraic geometry. Rather, it is an area of mathematics that involves algebraic geometry, but really finds its roots in mathematical physics and goes to touch, according to your flavor, analysis, topology, symplectic geometry, combinatorics etc

The presentation of the subject is hopefully going to be (whether fully honestly or not we’ll have to see…)  deprived of its most technical aspects and the point of view of a “generic geometer” will be adopted – so the class can be useful, interesting and accessible also to graduate students in neighboring areas.

 

References (the list will grow as the class unravels):

General:

 

1.     An invitation to Quantum Cohomology. Kontsevich's formula for rational plane curves.

 

This beautiful and reasonably elementary book by Kock and Vainsencher is an excellent introduction to GW theory, from the point of view of someone particularly interested in enumerative geometry. It will be accompanying us for the first month or so of class.

 

2.     Notes on stable maps and quantum cohomology.

 

A classic. Fulton and Pandharipande’s lecture notes. More general, more technical.

 

3.     Notes on psi classes.

 

Another beautiful  expository work of Joachim Kock. All the ins and outs of gravitational descendants unveiled here.

 

 

On moduli spaces of Rational Stable Curves

 

1.     Intersection Theory of Moduli Space of Stable N-Pointed Curves of Genus Zero

 

Sean Keel's paper describing the Chow ring of these spaces.

 

2.     On the projectivity of the moduli space of Stable Curves (I),(II),(III).

 

Knudsen's original papers on \bar{M}_{0,n}.

 

 

On Stacks

 

1.     Stacks for everybody

 

Fantechi's friendly expose' .

 

2.    Algebraic stacks

 

A slightly more detailed while still clear introducion.

 

 

On higher genus and localization

 

1.     Algebraic Gromov-Witten invariants

 

Behrend "as friendly as it gets" article on GW invariants and the virtual fundamental class.

 

2.    Localization of virtual classes

 

Graber-Pandharipande bring localization into high genus GW theory.