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# The Topology of 𝑂𝑢𝑡(𝐹_𝑛)

## 1. Introduction

The aim of this note is to survey some of the topological methods developed in the last 20 years to study the group $`Out(F_n)`$ of outer automorphisms of a free group $`F_n`$ of rank $`n`$. For an excellent and more detailed survey see also . Stallings’ paper  marks the turning point and for the earlier history of the subject the reader is referred to . $`Out(F_n)`$ is defined as the quotient of the group $`Aut(F_n)`$ of all automorphisms of $`F_n`$ by the subgroup of inner automorphisms. On one hand, abelianizing $`F_n`$ produces an epimorphism $`Out(F_n)Out(^n)=GL_n()`$, and on the other hand $`Out(F_n)`$ contains as a subgroup the mapping class group of any compact surface with fundamental group $`F_n`$. A leitmotiv in the subject, promoted by Karen Vogtmann, is that $`Out(F_n)`$ satisfies a mix of properties, some inherited from mapping class groups, and others from arithmetic groups. The table below summarizes the parallels between topological objects associated with these groups.

Outer space is not a manifold and only a polyhedron, imposing a combinatorial character on $`Out(F_n)`$.

## 2. Stallings’ Folds

A graph is a 1-dimensional cell complex. A map $`f:GG^{}`$ between graphs is simplicial if it maps vertices to vertices and open 1-cells homeomorphically to open 1-cells. The simplicial map $`f`$ is a fold if it is surjective and identifies two edges that share at least one vertex. A fold is a homotopy equivalence unless the two edges share both pairs of endpoints and in that case the induced homomorphism in $`\pi _1`$ corresponds to killing a basis element.

###### Theorem 1 (Stallings ).

A simplicial map $`f:GG^{}`$ between finite connected graphs can be factored as the composition

$$G=G_0G_1\mathrm{}G_kG^{}$$

where each $`G_iG_{i+1}`$ is a fold and $`G_kG^{}`$ is locally injective (an immersion). Moreover, such a factorization can be found by a (fast) algorithm.

In the absence of valence 1 vertices the last map $`G_kG^{}`$ can be thought of as the core of the covering space of $`G^{}`$ corresponding to the image in $`\pi _1`$ of $`f`$. The following problems can be solved algorithmically using Theorem 1 (these were known earlier, but Theorem 1 provides a simple unified argument). Let $`F`$ be a free group with a fixed finite basis.

* Find a basis of the subgroup $`H`$ generated by a given finite collection $`h_1,\mathrm{},h_k`$ of elements of $`F`$.
* Given $`wF`$, decide if $`w<h_1,\mathrm{},h_k>`$.
* Given $`wF`$, decide if $`w`$ is conjugate into $`<h_1,\mathrm{},h_k>`$.
* Given a homomorphism $`\varphi :FF^{}`$ between two free groups of finite rank, decide if $`\varphi `$ is injective, surjective.
* Given finitely generated $`H<F`$ decide if it has finite index.
* Given two f.g. subgroups $`H_1,H_2<F`$ compute $`H_1H_2`$ and also the collection of subgroups $`H_1H_2^g`$ where $`gF`$. In particular, is $`H_1`$ malnormal?
* Represent a given automorphism of $`F`$ as the composition of generators of $`Aut(F)`$ of the following form:

Signed permutations: each $`a_i`$ maps to $`a_i`$ or to $`a_i^1`$.

Change of maximal tree: $`a_1a_1`$, $`a_ia_1^{\pm 1}a_i`$ or $`a_ia_ia_1^{\pm 1}`$ ($`i>1`$).
* Todd-Coxeter process .

## 3. Culler-Vogtmann’s Outer space

Fix the wedge of $`n`$ circles $`R_n`$ and a natural identification $`\pi _1(R_n)F_n`$ in which oriented edges correspond to the basis elements. Thus any $`\varphi Out(F_n)`$ can be thought of as a homotopy equivalence $`R_nR_n`$. A marked metric graph is a pair $`(G,g)`$ where

* $`G`$ is a finite graph without vertices of valence 1 or 2.
* $`g:R_nG`$ is a homotopy equivalence (the marking).
* $`G`$ is equipped with a path metric so that the sum of the lengths of all edges is 1.

Outer space $`X_n`$ is the set of equivalence classes of marked metric graphs under the equivalence relation $`(G,g)(G^{},g^{})`$ if there is an isometry $`h:GG^{}`$ such that $`gh`$ and $`g^{}`$ are homotopic .

If $`\alpha `$ is a loop in $`R_n`$ we have the length function $`l_\alpha :X_n`$ where $`l_\alpha (G,g)`$ is the length of the immersed loop homotopic to $`g(\alpha )`$. The collection $`\{l_\alpha \}`$ as $`\alpha `$ ranges over all immersed loops in $`R_n`$ defines an injection $`X_n^{\mathrm{}}`$ and the topology on $`X_n`$ is defined so that this injection is an embedding. $`X_n`$ naturally decomposes into open simplices obtained by varying edge-lengths on a fixed marked graph. The group $`Out(F_n)`$ acts on $`X_n`$ on the right via

$$(G,g)\varphi =(G,g\varphi ).$$

###### Theorem 2 (Culler-Vogtmann ).

$`X_n`$ is contractible and the action of $`Out(F_n)`$ is properly discontinuous (with finite point stabilizers). $`X_n`$ equivariantly deformation retracts to a $`(2n3)`$-dimensional complex ($`n>1`$).

If $`(G,g)`$ and $`(G^{},g^{})`$ represent two points of $`X_n`$, there is a “difference of markings” map $`h:GG^{}`$ such that $`hg`$ and $`g^{}`$ are homotopic. Representing $`h`$ as a composition of folds (appropriately interpreted) leads to a path in $`X_n`$ from $`(G,g)`$ to $`(G^{},g^{})`$. Arranging that these paths vary continuously with endpoints leads to a proof of contractibility of $`X_n`$ ,,.

###### Corollary 3.

The virtual cohomological dimension $`\mathrm{vcd}(Out(F_n))=2n3`$ ($`n>1`$).

###### Theorem 4 (Culler ).

Every finite subgroup of $`Out(F_n)`$ fixes a point of $`X_n`$.

Outer space can be equivariantly compactified . Points at infinity are represented by actions of $`F_n`$ on $``$-trees.

## 4. Train tracks

Any $`\varphi Out(F_n)`$ can be represented as a cellular map $`f:GG`$ on a marked graph $`G`$. We say that $`\varphi `$ is reducible if there is such a representative where

* $`G`$ has no vertices of valence 1 or 2, and
* there is a proper $`f`$-invariant subgraph of $`G`$ with at least one non-contractible component.

Otherwise, we say that $`\varphi `$ is irreducible.

A cellular map $`f:GG`$ is a train track map if for every $`k>0`$ the map $`f^k:GG`$ is locally injective on every open 1-cell. For example, homeomorphisms are train track maps and Culler’s theorem guarantees that every $`\varphi Out(F_n)`$ of finite order has a representative $`f:GG`$ which is a homeomorphism. More generally, we have

###### Theorem 5 (Bestvina-Handel ).

Every irreducible outer automorphism $`\varphi `$ can be represented as a train track map $`f:GG`$.

Any vertex $`vG`$ has a cone neighborhood, and the frontier points can be thought of as “germs of directions” at $`v`$. A train track map (or any cellular map that does not collapse edges) $`f`$ induces the “derivative” map $`Df`$ on these germs (on possibly different vertices). We declare two germs at the same vertex to be equivalent (and the corresponding “turn” illegal) if they get identified by some power of $`Df`$ (and otherwise the turn is legal). An immersed loop in $`G`$ is legal if every turn determined by entering and then exiting a vertex is legal. It follows that $`f`$ sends legal loops to legal loops. This gives a method for computing the growth rate of $`\varphi `$, as follows. The transition matrix $`(a_{ij})`$ of $`f`$ (or more generally of a cellular map $`GG`$ that is locally injective on edges) has $`a_{ij}`$ equal to the number of times that the $`f`$-image of $`j^{th}`$ edge crosses $`i^{th}`$ edge. Applying the Perron-Frobenius theorem to the transition matrix, one can find a unique metric structure on $`G`$ such that $`f`$ expands lengths of edges (and also legal loops) by a factor $`\lambda 1`$. For a conjugacy class $`\gamma `$ in $`F_n`$ the growth rate is defined as

$$GR(\varphi ,\gamma )=\underset{k\mathrm{}}{lim\; sup}\mathrm{log}(\varphi ^k(\gamma ))/k$$

where $`\gamma `$ is the word length of the cyclically reduced word representing $`\gamma `$. Growth rates can be computed using lengths of loops in $`G`$ rather than in $`R_n`$.

###### Corollary 6.

If $`\varphi `$ is irreducible as above, then either $`\gamma `$ is a $`\varphi `$-periodic conjugacy class, or $`GR(\varphi ,\gamma )=\mathrm{log}\lambda `$. Moreover, $`lim\; sup`$ can be replaced by $`lim`$.

The proof of Theorem 5 uses a folding process that successively reduces the Perron-Frobenius number of the transition matrix until either a train track representative is found, or else a reduction of $`\varphi `$ is discovered. This process is algorithmic (see ,).

Another application of train tracks is to fixed subgroups.

###### Theorem 7 (Bestvina-Handel ).

Let $`\mathrm{\Phi }:F_nF_n`$ be an automorphism whose associated outer automorphism is irreducible. Then the fixed subgroup $`Fix(\mathrm{\Phi })`$ is trivial or cyclic. Without the irreducibility assumption, the rank of $`Fix(\mathrm{\Phi })`$ is at most $`n`$.

It was known earlier by the work of Gersten  that $`Fix(\mathrm{\Phi })`$ has finite rank (for simpler proofs see ,). The last sentence in the above theorem was conjectured by Peter Scott. Subsequent work by Collins-Turner , Dicks-Ventura , Ventura , Martino-Ventura , imposed further restrictions on a subgroup of $`F_n`$ that occurs as the fixed subgroup of an automorphism. To analyze reducible automorphisms, a more general version of a train track map is required.

###### Definition 8.

A cellular map $`f:GG`$ on a finite graph with no vertices of valence 1 that does not collapse any edges is a relative train track map if there is a filtration

$$\mathrm{}=G_0\mathrm{}G_m=G$$

into $`f`$-invariant subgraphs with the following properties. Denote by $`H_r`$ the closure of $`G_rG_{r1}`$, and by $`M_r`$ the part of the transition matrix corresponding to $`H_r`$. Then $`M_r`$ is the zero matrix or an irreducible matrix. If $`M_r`$ is irreducible and the Perron-Frobenius eigenvalue $`\lambda _r>1`$ then:

* the derivative $`Df`$ maps the germs in $`H_r`$ to germs in $`H_r`$,
* if $`\alpha `$ is a nontrivial path in $`G_{r1}`$ with endpoints in $`G_{r1}H_r`$ then $`f(\alpha )`$, after pulling tight, is also a nontrivial path with endpoints in $`G_{r1}H_r`$, and
* every legal path in $`H_r`$ is mapped to a path that does not cross illegal turns in $`H_r`$.

As an example, consider the automorphism $`aa,bab,ccaba^1b^1d`$, $`ddbcd`$ represented on the rose $`R_4`$. The strata are $`\mathrm{}G_1=\{a\}\{a,b\}G`$. $`H_1`$ and $`H_2`$ have $`\lambda =1`$ while $`H_3`$ has $`\lambda _3>1`$. The following is an analog of Thurston’s normal form for surface homeomorphisms.

###### Theorem 9.

 Every automorphism of $`F_n`$ admits a relative train track representative.

Consequently, automorphisms of $`F_n`$ can be thought of as being built from building blocks (exponential and non-exponential kinds) but the later stages are allowed to map over the previous stages. This makes the study of automorphisms of $`F_n`$ more difficult (and interesting) than the study of surface homeomorphisms. Other non-surface phenomena (present in linear groups) are:

* stacking up non-exponential strata produces (nonlinear) polynomial growth,
* the growth rate of an automorphism is generally different from the growth rate of its inverse.

## 5. Related spaces and structures

Unfortunately, relative train track representatives are far from unique. As a replacement, one looks for canonical objects associated to automorphisms that can be computed using relative train tracks. There are 3 kinds of such objects, all stemming from the surface theory: laminations, $``$-trees, and hierarchical decompositions of $`F_n`$ .

Laminations. Laminations were used in the proof of the Tits alternative for $`Out(F_n)`$. To each automorphism one associates finitely many attracting laminations. Each consists of a collection of “leaves”, i.e. biinfinite paths in the graph $`G`$, or alternatively, of an $`F_n`$-orbit of pairs of distinct points in the Cantor set of ends of $`F_n`$. A leaf $`\mathrm{}`$ can be computed by iterating an edge in an exponentially growing stratum $`H_r`$. The other leaves are biinfinite paths whose finite subpaths appear as subpaths of $`\mathrm{}`$. Some of the attracting laminations may be sublaminations of other attracting laminations, and one focuses on the maximal (or topmost) laminations. It is possible to identify the basin of attraction for each such lamination. Let $``$ be any subgroup of $`Out(F_n)`$. Some of the time it is possible to find to elements $`f,g`$ that attract each other’s laminations and then the standard ping-pong argument shows that $`<f,g>F_2`$. Otherwise, there is a finite set of attracting laminations permuted by $``$, a finite index subgroup $`_0`$ that fixes each of these laminations and a homomorphism (“stretch factor”) $`_0A`$ to a finitely generated abelian group $`A`$ whose kernel consists entirely of polynomially growing automorphisms. There is an analog of Kolchin’s theorem that says that finitely generated groups of polynomially growing automorphisms can simultaneously be realized as relative train track maps on the same graph (the classical Kolchin theorem says that a group of unipotent matrices can be conjugated to be upper triangular, or equivalently that it fixes a point in the flag manifold). The main step in the proof of the analog of Kolchin’s theorem is to find an appropriate fixed $``$-tree in the boundary of Outer space. This leads to the Tits alternative for $`Out(F_n)`$:

###### Theorem 10 (Bestvina-Feighn-Handel ,,).

Any subgroup $``$ of $`Out(F_n)`$ either contains $`F_2`$ or is virtually solvable.

A companion theorem  (for a simpler proof see ) is that solvable subgroups of $`Out(F_n)`$ are virtually abelian.

$``$-trees. Points in the compactified Outer space are represented as $`F_n`$-actions on $``$-trees. It is then not surprising that the Rips machine , which is used to understand individual actions, provides a new tool to be deployed to study $`Out(F_n)`$. Gaboriau, Levitt, and Lustig  and Sela  find another proof of Theorem 7. Gaboriau and Levitt compute the topological dimension of the boundary of Outer Space . Levitt and Lustig show  that automorphisms with irreducible powers have the standard north-south dynamics on the compactified Outer space. Guirardel  shows that the action of $`Out(F_n)`$ on the boundary does not have dense orbits; however, there is a unique minimal closed invariant set. For other applications of $``$-trees in geometric group theory, the reader is referred to the survey .

Cerf theory. An advantage of $`Aut(F_n)`$ over $`Out(F_n)`$ is that there is a natural inclusion $`Aut(F_n)Aut(F_{n+1})`$. One can define Auter Space $`AX_n`$ similarly to Outer space, except that all graphs are equipped with a base vertex, which is allowed to have valence 2. The degree of the base vertex $`v`$ is $`2n\text{valence}(v)`$. Denote by $`D_n^k`$ the subcomplex of $`AX_n`$ consisting of graphs of degree $`k`$. Hatcher-Vogtmann  develop a version of Cerf theory and show that $`D_n^k`$ is $`(k1)`$-connected. Since the quotient $`D_n^k/Aut(F_n)`$ stabilizes when $`n`$ is large, one sees that (rational) homology $`H_i(Aut(F_n))`$ also stabilizes when $`n`$ is large ($`n3i/2`$). Hatcher-Vogtmann show that the same is true for integral homology and in the range $`n2i+3`$. They also make explicit computations in low dimensions  and all stable rational homology groups $`H_i`$ vanish for $`i7`$.

Bordification. The action of $`Out(F_n)`$ on Outer space $`X_n`$ is not cocompact. By analogy with Borel-Serre bordification of symmetric spaces  and Harer’s bordification of Teichmüller space , Bestvina and Feighn  bordify $`X_n`$, i.e. equivariantly add ideal points so that the action on the new space $`BX_n`$ is cocompact. This is done by separately compactifying every simplex with missing faces in $`X_n`$ and then gluing these together. To see the idea, consider the case of the theta-graph in rank 2. Varying metrics yields a 2-simplex $`\sigma `$ without the vertices. As a sequence of metrics approaches a missing vertex, the lengths of two edges converge to 0. Restricting a metric to these two edges and normalizing so that the total length is 1 gives a point in $`[0,1]`$ (the length of one of the edges), and a way to compactify $`\sigma `$ by adding an interval for each missing vertex. The compactified $`\sigma `$ is a hexagon. This procedure equips the limiting theta graph with a metric that may vanish on two edges, in which case a “secondary metric” is defined on their union. In general, a graph representing a point in the bordification is equipped with a sequence of metrics, each defined on the core of the subgraph where the previous metric vanishes.

Lengths of curves (at various scales) provide a “Morse function” on $`BX_n`$ with values in a product of $`[0,\mathrm{})`$’s with the target lexicographically ordered. The sublevel and superlevel sets intersect each cell in a semi-algebraic set and it is possible to study how the homotopy types change as the level changes. A distinct advantage of $`BX_n`$ over the spine of $`X_n`$ (an equivariant deformation retract) is that the change in homotopy type of superlevel sets as the level decreases is very simple – via attaching of cells of a fixed dimension.

###### Theorem 11 (Bestvina-Feighn ).

$`BX_n`$ and $`Out(F_n)`$ are $`(2n5)`$-connected at infinity, and $`Out(F_n)`$ is a virtual duality group of dimension $`2n3`$.

Mapping tori. If $`\varphi :F_nF_n`$ is an automorphism, form the mapping torus $`M(\varphi )`$. This is the fundamental group of the mapping torus $`G\times [0,1]/(x,1)(f(x),0)`$ of any representative $`f:GG`$, and it plays the role analogous to 3-manifolds that fiber over the circle. Such a group is always coherent . A quasi-isometry classification of these groups seems out of reach, but the following is known. When $`\varphi `$ has no periodic conjugacy classes, $`M(\varphi )`$ is a hyperbolic group . When $`\varphi `$ has polynomial growth, $`M(\varphi )`$ satisfies quadratic isoperimetric inequality  and moreover, $`M(\varphi )`$ quasi-isometric to $`M(\psi )`$ for $`\psi `$ growing polynomially forces $`\psi `$ to grow as a polynomial of the same degree . Bridson and Groves announced  that $`M(\varphi )`$ satisfies quadratic isoperimetric inequality for all $`\varphi `$.

Geometry. Perhaps the biggest challenge in the field is to find a good geometry that goes with $`Out(F_n)`$. The payoff would most likely include rigidity theorems for $`Out(F_n)`$. Both mapping class groups and arithmetic groups act isometrically on spaces of nonpositive curvature. Unfortunately, the results to date for $`Out(F_n)`$ are negative. Bridson  showed that Outer space does not admit an equivariant piecewise Euclidean $`CAT(0)`$ metric. $`Out(F_n)`$ ($`n>2`$) is far from being $`CAT(0)`$ ,.

An example of a likely rigidity theorem is that higher rank lattices in simple Lie groups do not embed into $`Out(F_n)`$. A possible strategy is to follow the proof in  of the analogous fact for mapping class groups. The major missing piece of the puzzle is the replacement for Harvey’s curve complex; a possible candidate is described in .


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# Gravitational Wave Confusion Noise

## Acknowledgments

This work grew out of discussion with Sterl Phinney, Ron Hellings and Shane Larson. Financial support was provided by the NASA EPSCoR program through Cooperative Agreement NCC5-579.


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# Gauge Theory: Instantons, Monopoles, and Moduli Spaces

## 1 Introduction

In this section we introduce the basic notation and setup for the later sections, which will discuss instantons and monopoles both from the viewpoint of physics, and from the viewpoint of relevance to Floer homology.

### 1.1 Gauge Theory

The mathematical scenario in which we work is that of Yang-Mills-Higgs theory, which in $`d`$ space dimensions is defined by a gauge potential

$$A=A_j(x)dx^j$$

and a scalar Higgs field

$$\mathrm{\Phi }=\mathrm{\Phi }(x)$$

The components $`A_j(x)`$ take values in the Lie algebra $`𝔤`$ of a finite dimensional Lie group $`G`$, the gauge group. The field $`\mathrm{\Phi }`$ takes values in a representation space $`L`$ of $`G`$, corresponding to a representation $`\rho :G\mathrm{Aut}(L)`$. We regard the book  as a fundamental reference for the global analysis of these structures.

The gauge potential defines a curvature

$$F=dA+AA=\frac{1}{2}F_{ij}(x)dx^idx^j$$

where in the last expression, the components $`F_{ij}`$ are given by the equations

$$F_{ij}(x)=_iA_j(x)_jA_i(x)+[A_i(x),A_j(x)]$$

The connection (Lie algebra-valued 1-form) $`A`$ defines a covariant derivative acting on the Higgs field, by the following equation

$$D_A\mathrm{\Phi }=(_A)_j(\mathrm{\Phi })dx^j$$

where $`(_A)_j(\mathrm{\Phi })=_j\mathrm{\Phi }+\rho (A_j)(\mathrm{\Phi })`$. This is a special case of the general possibility of defining an exterior covariant derivative on $`p`$-forms taking values in a representation of a Lie algebra ($`𝔤`$-module). For an $`L`$-valued $`p`$-form $`\omega `$, we define

$$D_A\omega d\omega +\rho (A)\omega $$

This is covariant with respect to the natural action of a gauge transformation $`g:^dG`$ in the following way:

$$D_{A_g}(\rho (g)\omega )=\rho (g)D_A\omega $$

With these definitions, the Euclidean Yang-Mills-Higgs action is

$$𝒜(A,\mathrm{\Phi })=\frac{1}{2}_^d\left\{(F_A,F_A)+(D_A\mathrm{\Phi },D_A\mathrm{\Phi })+\frac{\lambda }{4}(\left|\mathrm{\Phi }\right|^21)^2\right\}$$
(1)
where $`\lambda 0`$ is a coupling constant and the last term in (1) represents the self-interaction of the Higgs field.

In more mathematical language, $`A`$ is a connection in a principal $`G`$-bundle $`P`$ over a manifold $`M`$. $`\mathrm{\Phi }`$ is a section of the adjoint bundle $`\mathrm{ad}(P)=P_{\mathrm{ad}}𝔤`$. The gauge transformations $`g`$ are taken as smooth sections of the bundle $`\mathrm{aut}(P)`$. In a fundamental paper , Floer studies actions of the form (1) with Higgs coupling $`\lambda =0`$.

The question is to characterize the field configurations $`c`$ which minimize the action functional

$$𝒜(c)=_M(\left|F_A\right|^2+\left|d_A\mathrm{\Phi }\right|^2)d\mathrm{vol}_M$$
(2)
It is well known that for $`M=^3`$, the absolute minima of (2) are characterized by the Bogomolny equations

$$d_A\mathrm{\Phi }=\pm F_A$$
(3)
An interesting aspect of Yang-Mills-Higgs theory is that the moduli space of solutions of (3), modulo gauge equivalence, is a finite dimensional manifold for a large class of interesting examples.

With the insertion of the Higgs self-interaction term $`\frac{\lambda }{4}(\left|\mathrm{\Phi }\right|^21)^2`$, the variational equations for (1) are given by

$`D_AF`$ $`=`$ $`J`$ (4)
$`_A^2\mathrm{\Phi }`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{\lambda }{2}}\mathrm{\Phi }(\left|\mathrm{\Phi }\right|^21)`$ (5)
where $`J`$ is known in the physics literature as the *current*, and is defined for an arbitrary representation $`\rho `$ of the Gauge group by the equation

$$J=(\rho (h^a)\mathrm{\Phi },D_A\mathrm{\Phi })h_a$$
(6)
in which $`\{h^a:a=1,\mathrm{},dim𝔤\}=\{h_a\}`$ is a chosen basis of $`𝔤`$. The solutions to equations (4), (5), (6) do not depend on this choice.

### 1.2 Instantons

In this section we begin our discussion of instantons. Recall that finite-action solutions of the field equations (4), (5), (6) are called *solitons*. In the physics literature, the term *instanton* refers to a soliton in $`d=4`$ Euclidean “pure Yang-Mills theory” (that is, the theory that results from (1) by setting $`\lambda =0`$ and $`\mathrm{\Phi }0`$, in other words the variational theory of connections on a principal bundle).

The following one-instanton solution of pure Yang-Mills theory was given by Belavin, Polyakov, Tyupkin, and Schwartz. Consider the gauge group $`G=SU(2)`$ and let $`g:^4SU(2)`$ be given by $`g=\left|x\right|^1(x^0+ix^k\sigma _k)`$, where $`\sigma ^1,\sigma ^2,\sigma ^3`$ are the Pauli matrices. Then $`A=\frac{x^2}{x^2+\mu ^2}gdg^1`$ is a finite-action field configuration satisfying the pure Yang-Mills equations. This solution was found by explicitly computing the curvature two-form

$$F=\underset{\mathrm{}=1}{\overset{3}{}}\tau _{\mathrm{}}\left(\frac{2}{r}\frac{df}{dr}e^4e^{\mathrm{}}+\frac{2}{r^2}(f^2f)\underset{j,k=1}{\overset{3}{}}ϵ_{jk\mathrm{}}e^je^k\right)$$
(7)
with $`\tau _j=\frac{1}{2}\sigma _j`$, where $`\sigma _j`$ are the Pauli matrices. One then explicitly computes the Hodge star of (7) and shows that the self-duality equation $`F=F`$ leads to the following differential equation for $`f`$:

$$\frac{df}{dr}=\frac{2}{r}f(f1)$$

which has solution $`f(r)=\frac{r^2}{r^2+c^2}`$, $`c`$.

### 1.3 The Instanton Bundle

In Section 1.2 above, we introduced the instanton potential,

$$A_1=\frac{r^2}{r^2+c^2}\gamma ^1d\gamma $$

as a solution to the Euclidean Yang-Mills equations. The map $`\gamma :^4\{0\}SU(2)`$ is given by

$$\gamma (x)=\frac{1}{r}\left(x^4i\underset{j=1}{\overset{3}{}}\sigma _jx^j\right),$$

and $`\sigma _j`$ are the Pauli matrices. The potential $`A_1`$ is regular at $`x=0`$, but decays only as $`O(r^1)`$ at infinity. However, we can change these features with a gauge transformation. Explicitly,

$$A_2=\gamma A_1\gamma ^1+\gamma d\gamma ^1=\frac{c^2}{r^2+c^2}\gamma d\gamma ^1$$

and note that this $`A_2`$ is now singular at $`x=0`$, but vanishes as $`O(r^3)`$ at infinity. Let $`U_1=S^4\{\text{south pole}\}`$ and $`U_2=S^4\{\text{north pole}\}`$ denote the standard covering of $`S^4`$ by two charts, where each chart is identified with $`^4`$ by means of stereographic projection. We can thus consider $`A_j(j=1,2)`$ as being defined on $`U_j`$ via pullback. The slow decay of $`A_1`$ at $`r\mathrm{}`$ means that $`A_1`$ cannot be extended across the south pole. Similarly, the singularity of $`A_2`$ at the origin prevents its being extended from $`U_2`$ to all of $`S^4`$ (but the rapid decrease at infinity implies that its stereographic projection is well defined across the north pole). It now follows as a special case of a general existence theorem for connections on principal bundles (Theorem 1, reproduced below) that $`A_1`$ and $`A_2`$ are local representatives of a connection on an $`SU(2)`$ bundle over $`S^4`$ whose transition function is $`\gamma `$. The total space of this bundle is $`S^7`$.

###### Theorem 1.

Assume $`P\stackrel{𝜋}{}M`$ is a principal $`G`$-bundle. Let $`\{U_r\}`$ be an open covering of $`M`$. Given a family of local $`𝔤`$-valued 1-forms $`A_r\mathrm{\Lambda }^1(U_r,𝔤)`$ which fulfill the compatibility condition:

$$\text{ for }xU_rU_s,A_{r,x}=\mathrm{Ad}(g_{sr}^1(x))A_{s,x}+(g_{sr}^{}\zeta )_x$$

where $`\zeta `$ is the Maurer-Cartan form on $`G`$, and given a set of local sections $`\sigma _r:U_r\pi ^1(U_r)`$ satisfying

$$\sigma _s(x)=\sigma _r(x)g_{rs}(x)$$

there is a unique connection $`𝒜`$ on $`P`$ such that $`A_r=\sigma _r^{}𝒜`$.

### 1.4 Monopoles

In this section we begin our discussion of monopoles. We again consider a special case of the Yang-Mills-Higgs variational equations, in which now $`d=3`$, $`G=U(1)`$, the representation is the adjoint representation $`L=𝔤`$, $`\rho (x)=\mathrm{ad}(x)`$ and $`\lambda =0`$, so the Higgs field self-interaction is infinitely weak but the gauge potential still couples to the Higgs field through the covariant derivative terms.

This is the mathematical model of the physical phenomena of electromagnetism. In this model, $`A`$ corresponds to the “magnetic vector potential” encountered in Maxewell theory, and $`\mathrm{\Phi }`$ is the scalar electric potential.

Introduce a density $`q_e(x)`$ of electric charge, and $`q_m(x)`$ a corresponding magnetic charge density. In the presence of these background charges the static Maxwell equations are given by

$`dF`$ $`=`$ $`0`$ (8)
$`dF`$ $`=`$ $`(4\pi )q_m`$ (9)
$`\mathrm{}\mathrm{\Phi }`$ $`=`$ $`4\pi q_e`$ (10)
One obtains Dirac’s magnetic monopole by considering the case in which $`q_m(x)=\delta (xx_0)`$. This allows for the possibility that the integral of the closed 2-form $`F`$ over a two-sphere in $`^3\{x_0\}`$ is nonzero, which gives in turn a nonzero divergence of the magnetic field (which is, by definition $`\stackrel{}{B}=F=dA`$).

All $`U(1)`$ monopole field configurations have infinite action; no finite action solutions to (8)-(10) exist when $`q_m(x)`$ is a delta function.

### 1.5 The Monopole Bundle

In order to describe a magnetic monopole within the framework of electrodynamics, Dirac used the vector potential

$$A=i\frac{m}{2r(x^3r)}(x^1dx^2x^2dx^1)$$

in which $`x^0,\mathrm{},x^4`$ are coordinates in Minkowski space, $`r^2=(x^1)^2+(x^2)^2+(x^3)^2`$ denotes the squared distance to the origin in Euclidean space, and $`m`$ is an integer constant.

Introducing polar coordinates $`(r,\vartheta ,\phi )`$ on space, and noting that in the polar expression for $`A`$ and its gauge transformations, $`r`$ does not appear. Thus we can consider $`A`$ (and gauge transformations $`A^{}=A+\gamma ^1d\gamma `$ as living on the 2-sphere. Indeed, on $`U_1=S^2\{(0,0,1)\}`$ we have

$$A_1=\frac{1}{2}im(1\mathrm{cos}\vartheta )d\phi $$

and similarly on $`U_2=S^2\{(0,0,1)\}`$ we have

$$A_2=\frac{1}{2}im(1\mathrm{cos}\vartheta )d\phi $$

On the overlap $`U_1U_2`$ the connections are related by a gauge transformation $`A_1=A_2+\gamma ^1d\gamma `$, where $`\gamma `$ is some function on spacetime taking values in $`U(1)`$. An appeal to Theorem 1 shows that $`A_1`$ and $`A_2`$ determine a connection on a $`U(1)`$ principal bundle over $`S^2`$ whose transition function $`g_{21}:U_1U_2U(1)`$ is given by $`\gamma `$. If $`m0`$, the bundle is nontrivial, and in general, different values of $`m`$ do not give rise to equivalent bundles.

We give more details in the case $`m=1`$. The total space of the bundle is $`S^3`$, and identifying $`S^3`$ with the unit sphere in $`^2`$ gives coordinates

$$z^1=y^1+iy^2,z^2=y^3+iy^4$$

which can be used to define a (Lie-algebra valued) connection 1-form

$$𝒜:=i(y^1dy^2y^2dy^1+y^3dy^4y^4dy^3)$$

which takes values in the Lie algebra $`u(1)`$. By direct calculation one verifies that the local representatives of $`𝒜`$ are the potentials $`A_1`$ and $`A_2`$ of the $`m=1`$ Dirac monopole.

## 2 Bundles and Covariant Derivatives

A principal $`G`$-bundle $`P`$ over a smooth manifold $`X`$ is a manifold with a smooth right $`G`$-action, and with $`X=`$ the orbit space $`P/G`$. The action must be locally equivalent to the obvious action on $`U\times G`$ where $`U`$ is an open set in $`X`$. This local product structure defines a fibration $`\pi :PX`$.

We will describe here three equivalent ways to describe a connection on such a bundle:

1. A smooth distribution of $`G`$-invariant ‘horizontal subspaces’ $`HTP`$, where ‘horizontal’ means that for all $`pP`$, we have a decomposition $`TP_p=H_pT(\pi ^1(x))`$, where $`x=\pi (p)`$.
2. A $`G`$-invariant 1-form $`A`$ on $`P`$ taking values in the Lie algebra $`𝔤=\mathrm{Lie}(G)`$, or in other words a section of the bundle $`T^{}P𝔤`$, where ‘$`G`$-invariant’ refers to a combination of the given action of $`G`$ on $`P`$, and the adjoint action representation of $`G`$ on $`𝔤`$.
3. A covariant derivative $``$ on an associated vector bundle $`E`$, which is by definition a linear map $`:\mathrm{\Omega }_X^0(E)\mathrm{\Omega }_X^1(E)`$ satisfying the Leibniz rule: $`(fs)=fs+(df)s`$ where $`f`$ is a function on $`X`$, and $`s\mathrm{\Gamma }(E)`$. This gives a connection in the sense of (i), as follows. Let $`P`$ be the frame bundle of $`E`$, then a local section $`\sigma `$ of $`P`$, which is a collection $`(s_1,\mathrm{},s_n)`$ of local sections of $`E`$, is called ‘horizontal’ if $`(s_i)_x=0`$ for all $`i=1,\mathrm{},n`$. Then define $`H_p`$ to be the tangent space to (the image of) a horizontal section $`\sigma `$ through $`p`$, regarding the latter as a submanifold of $`P`$.

For the classical groups, these are all equivalent. In working with the Yang-Mills equations on Euclidean spaces, the most useful connection is the standard product connection which can be defined on any trivial bundle $`^n\times X`$ by taking the covariant derivative to be the usual notion of ‘total derivative’ of vector valued functions.

If $`X`$ is an oriented Riemannian four-manifold, Hodge theory gives a decomposition of the 2-forms on $`X`$ into self-dual and anti-self-dual (ASD) pieces, which are just the $`\pm 1`$ eigenspaces of the Hodge $``$ operator:

$$\mathrm{\Omega }_X^2=\mathrm{\Omega }_X^+\mathrm{\Omega }_X^{}$$

This construction extends naturally to bundle-valued forms, and hence to the curvature form $`F_A`$ of a connection. The connection is called ASD (self-dual) if $`F_A^+(F_A^{})`$ is zero.

For connections with $`SU(r)`$ structure group on a 4-manifold $`X`$, we have

$$c_2(E)=\frac{1}{8\pi ^2}_X\mathrm{Tr}(F_A^2)$$

and a connection is ASD if and only if we have $`\mathrm{Tr}(F_A^2)=\left|F_A\right|^2d\mu `$, where $`d\mu `$ is the Riemannian volume element. We now make connection with Yang-Mills theory: the functional

$$F_A^2=_A\mathrm{Tr}(F_A^2)𝑑\mu $$

is a special case of the Yang-Mills functional, and these observations suffice to show that $`\left|8\pi ^2c_2(E)\right|`$ gives a lower bound on the Yang-Mills functional, which (when $`c_2>0`$) is achieved precisely in case that the connection $`A`$ is anti-self-dual.

## 3 Spin, Spinc, and Dirac

The material in this section owes much to .

Let $`EX`$ denote a real $`n`$-dimensional vector bundle over the smooth manifold $`X`$. We assume:

1. We have a positive definite inner product $`(,)`$ defined continuously in the fibers.
2. The bundle is *oriented*, so there is a choice of orientation for the vector space which forms each fiber, chosen in a continuous way.

We will investigate the second condition more closely. Note that in general, we have an isomorphism

$$H^1(X;G)\left\{\begin{array}{c}\text{ equivalence classes of }\\ \text{ principal }G\text{-bundles on }X\text{ }\end{array}\right\}$$
(11)
This implies that the set $`\mathrm{Cov}_2(X)`$ of equivalence classes of 2-sheeted coverings of $`X`$ is isomorphic to $`H^1(X;_2)`$. Let $`P_OX`$ be the principal $`O(n)`$ bundle whose fiber at $`xX`$ is the space of ON bases of $`E_x`$. The bundle of orientations $`O_E`$ is the quotient $`P_O/SO(n)`$, which is a 2-sheeted covering of $`X`$. In fact, $`EX`$ is orientable iff $`w_1(E)=0`$, where $`w_1`$ denotes the $`1^{st}`$ Stiefel-Whitney class, which is the element of $`H^1(X;_2)`$ defined by the covering $`O_EX`$ via the isomorphism (11).

Thus choosing an orientation is equivalent to simplifying the structure group of the bundle from $`O(n)`$ to its subgroup $`SO(n)`$, which is connected. We now ask whether it is possible to obtain a simply connected structure group. Let $`P_{SO}X`$ denote the bundle of *oriented* orthonormal frames in $`E`$, and for $`n3`$ let $`\xi _0:\mathrm{Spin}(n)SO(n)`$ denote the universal covering group homomorphism.

###### Definition 1.

A *spin structure* on $`E`$ is a principal $`\mathrm{Spin}(n)`$ bundle $`P_{\mathrm{Spin}}(E)`$ together with a 2-sheeted covering $`\xi :P_{\mathrm{Spin}}(E)P_{SO}(E)`$ such that

$$\xi (pg)=\xi (p)\xi _0(g)\text{ for all }pP_{\mathrm{Spin}}(E),g\mathrm{Spin}(n)$$

Spin structures on are in natural 1-1 correspondence with the 2-sheeted coverings of $`P_{SO}(E)`$ which are non-trivial on fibers of $`\pi `$. Also, there is an existence-uniqueness result for spin structures similar to that which was noted above for orientations. A spin structure exists $``$ the $`2^{nd}`$ Stiefel-Whitney class $`w_2(E)`$ is zero, and in this situation the distinct spin structures lie in 1-1 correspondence with the elements of $`H^1(X;_2)`$. In summary, if a Riemannian vector bundle $`E`$ over $`X`$ is equivalent to a vector bundle with connected, simply connected structure group, then it is orientable and spin. A manifold $`X`$ is said to be *spin* if $`TXX`$ is a spin bundle.

We now discuss briefly the associated bundle construction. Given a principal $`G`$-bundle $`PX`$, $`G`$ a lie group, and given a continuous homomorphism $`\rho :G\mathrm{Homeo}(F)`$ from $`G`$ into the group of homeomorphisms of a space $`F`$, then consider the free left action of $`G`$ on $`P\times F`$ given by

$$g(p,f):=(pg^1,\rho (g)f)$$
(12)
The projection is constant on orbits under (12), hence it induces a mapping where $`P\times _\rho F`$ is the orbit space of the action. If $`\rho :G\mathrm{GL}(V)`$ is a linear representation, then $`(P\times _\rho F,\pi _\rho )`$ is a vector bundle.

Now let $`M`$ be a left module over the Clifford Algebra $`\mathrm{C}\mathrm{}(^n)`$, and let $`\xi :P_{\mathrm{Spin}}(E)P_{SO}(E)`$ be a spin structure. A *real spinor bundle* for $`E`$ is a bundle of the form $`S(E)=P_{\mathrm{Spin}}(E)\times _\mu M`$ where $`\mu :\mathrm{Spin}(n)SO(M)`$ is the representation given by left multiplication by elements of $`\mathrm{Spin}(n)\mathrm{C}\mathrm{}^0(^n)`$. Similarly, one can consider complex spinor bundles by considering $`M_{}=`$ a complex representation for $`\mathrm{C}\mathrm{}(^n)`$.

Let $`n=2m`$ be even and let $`S_{}(E)=`$ the irreducible complex spinor bundle of $`E`$. Then $`S_{}(E)`$ splits naturally into a direct sum

$$S_{}(E)=S_{}^+(E)S_{}^{}(E)$$

of $`\mathrm{C}\mathrm{}^0(E)`$-modules, which are defined to be the $`\pm 1`$ eigenspaces of Clifford multiplication by the element defined at each point $`xX`$ by the following equation:

$$\omega _{,x}:=i^me_1\mathrm{}e_{2m}$$

where $`e_1,\mathrm{},e_{2m}`$ is a positively oriented basis of $`E_x`$.

We now remark on the important special case $`E=TX`$. We set $`P_{SO}(X)=P_{SO}(TX)`$, $`\mathrm{C}\mathrm{}(X)=\mathrm{C}\mathrm{}(TX)`$. Then there exists a unique connection on $`P_{SO}(X)`$ with identically vanishing torsion. If $`X`$ has a spin structure $`\xi :P_{\mathrm{Spin}}(X)P_{SO}(X)`$ then we can lift this canonical Riemannian connection to a connection on $`P_{\mathrm{Spin}}(X)`$. Thus all spin bundles inherit this connection.

In general, let $`S`$ be any bundle of left modules over $`\mathrm{C}\mathrm{}(X)`$. Assume $`S`$ is Riemannian and has the canonical connection. In this scenario, there is a canonical first order differential operator called the *Dirac operator*

$$D:\mathrm{\Gamma }(S)\mathrm{\Gamma }(S)$$

by using the following local formula: at $`xX`$ we define

$$D\sigma :=e^j_{e_j}\sigma $$

where $`\{e^i\}`$ is an ON basis of $`TX_x`$ and $``$ denotes Clifford multiplication. By direct computation of symbols, one checks that both $`D`$ and $`D^2`$ (the *Dirac laplacian*) are elliptic operators. The Dirac operator in this form was first written down by Atiyah and Singer in the course of their work on the index theorem.

Finally, we remark that one can develop much of the theory of spin structures in the parallel case of $`\mathrm{Spin}^c`$ structures, in which (roughly speaking) many of the important structural elements are complexified. By definition the group $`\mathrm{Spin}^c(V)`$ is the subgroup of the multiplicative group of units of $`\mathrm{C}\mathrm{}(V)_{}`$ generated by $`\mathrm{Spin}(V)`$ and the unit circle of complex scalars. Then there is an isomorphism $`\mathrm{Spin}^c(V)\mathrm{Spin}(V)\times __2U(1)`$. \[Proof: since the circle of unit scalars commutes with $`\mathrm{Spin}(V)`$, it follows that we have a natural surjective map $`\mathrm{Spin}(V)\times U(1)\mathrm{Spin}^c(V)`$. The kernel of this map is $`\{(\alpha ,\alpha ^1)\alpha \mathrm{Spin}(V)U(1)\}`$, but the intersection of $`\mathrm{Spin}(V)`$ with the scalars is $`\{\pm 1\}=_2`$. \]

Thus, $`\mathrm{Spin}^c(V)`$ is the double covering group of $`SO(V)\times U(1)`$ which is nontrivial on each factor.

###### Definition 2.

Let $`P_{SO}X`$ be a principal $`SO(n)`$-bundle on $`X`$. A *$`\mathrm{Spin}^c`$ structure* on $`P_{SO}`$ consists of a principal $`U(1)`$ bundle $`P_{U(1)}`$ and a principal $`\mathrm{Spin}^c(n)`$-bundle $`P_{\mathrm{Spin}^c}`$ together with a $`\mathrm{Spin}^c`$-equivariant bundle map

$$P_{\mathrm{Spin}^c}P_{SO}\times P_{U(1)}$$

The integral class $`cH^2(X;)`$ corresponding to $`P_{U(1)}`$ under the isomorphism $`H^2(X;)\mathrm{Prin}_{U(1)}(X)`$ is called the *canonical class* of the $`\mathrm{Spin}^c`$ structure.

## 4 Moduli Spaces of Monopoles: Donaldson’s Theorem

A monopole on $`^3`$ is defined by Atiyah  to consist of a gauge field (connection) $`A_\mu (x),\mu =1,2,3`$, and a Higgs field $`\psi (x)`$ (all smooth functions of $`x^3`$ and take values in the Lie algebra of $`SU(2)`$) which satisfy the so-called *Bogomolny equations*

$$D\varphi =F$$

where $`D_\mu \varphi =_\mu \varphi +[A_\mu ,\varphi ]`$ and $`F_{\mu \nu }=_\mu A_\nu _\nu A_\mu +[A_\mu ,A_\nu ]`$. Moreover, we require the energy ($`L^2`$-norm of $`F`$) to be finite. The Bogomolny equations are in fact equivalent to the self-dual Yang-Mills equations in Euclidean 4-space. The general structure of the moduli space of solutions to these equations was given by Donaldson in , in which he gives an identification of a circle bundle over the moduli space with the space of basepoint preserving rational maps $`P^1P^1`$ of degree $`k`$. To mention a few of the basic details which are used in Donaldson’s proof fits well into this survey. The starting point is a theorem of Hitchin

###### Theorem 2 (Donaldson).

There is a natural equivalence between the following two structures:

1. monopoles for the group $`SU(2)`$ with charge $`k`$, up to gauge transformation.
2. conjugacy classes under $`O(k,)`$ of matrix-valued functions $`f_1(s),f_2(s),f_3(s)`$ of one real variable $`s(0,2)`$ satisfying

$`{\displaystyle \frac{dT_i}{ds}}+{\displaystyle \underset{j,k}{}}ϵ_{ijk}T_jT_k`$ $`=`$ $`0`$
$`T_i^{}(s)`$ $`=`$ $`T_i(s)`$
$`T_i(2s)`$ $`=`$ $`T_i(s)^t`$
In addition, we require that $`T_i`$ will extend to a meromorphic function on a neighborhood of $`[0,2]`$ with simple poles at $`s=0,2`$ but otherwise analytic, and the residues of the matrices $`T_i`$ at the poles $`s=0,2`$ define an irreducible representation of $`SU(2)`$.

Donaldson has observed that the conditions $`\frac{dT_i}{ds}+ϵ_{ijk}T_jT_k=0`$ are equivalent to the ASD equations for the connection

$$𝒜=T_1(s)dx_1+T_2(x)dx_2+T_3(s)dx_3$$

on $`\times ^3`$ with coordinates $`s,x_1,x_2,x_3`$.

## 5 Compactification of Moduli Spaces of ASD Connections

We wish now to introduce moduli spaces of ASD Yang-Mills connections. Let $`E`$ be a bundle over a compact oriented Riemannian $`X^4`$. The set $`M_E`$ is defined to be the set of gauge equivalence classes of ASD connections on $`E`$. More explicitly, ‘gauge equivalence’ refers to the action of the bundle automorphism group $`𝒢`$.

We recall briefly how the gauge group acts on the space of connections. For a given trivialization $`\tau `$ of $`E`$, we let $`A^\tau `$ denote the connection matrices of $`A`$ in this trivialization. (By “connection matrices” we will always be implicitly referring to the fact that the connection can be viewed as a one-form taking values in a finite-dimensional semisimple Lie algebra, i.e. a matrix Lie algebra.)

Suppose $`u𝒢`$, the group of bundle automorphisms of $`E`$. We define the action of $`u`$ on the connection $`A`$ by how it transforms the corresponding covariant derivatives:

$$_{u(A)}s=u_A(u^1s)$$

Using the fact that $`u`$ is a section of the vector bundle $`\mathrm{End}(E)`$, we can take the covariant derivative of it. In this language, we have $`u(A)=A(_Au)u^1`$.

In terms of the connection matrices in some trivialization we have

$$A^{u\tau }=uA^\tau u^1(du)u^1$$

The space $`𝒜`$ of connections has the structure of an affine space, and the topological and metric structure of an infinite-dimensional Banach manifold, however the moduli space $`M_E`$ with its inherited topology, is finite dimensional

The construction of this moduli space can be broken naturally into two steps.

1. Find the solutions to the ASD equation. $`F_A^+=0`$, where the $`+,`$ indices refer to the natural splitting of $`\mathrm{\Omega }_X^2`$ into $`\pm 1`$ eigenspaces of the Hodge $``$ operator.
2. Quotient by the action of the gauge group.

We will now discuss the usefulness of Sobolev spaces in Part (ii) of this program.

In four dimensions, the Sobolev embedding theorem states that $`k>2W^{k,2}`$ embeds into the space of continuous functions. One can then define the notion of a $`W^{k,2}`$ map from a domain in $`X`$ to the structure group $`G`$ of the bundle. In many important examples, $`G`$ can be identified with a group of unitary matrices, and then one can consider matrix-valued maps which are of class $`L_k^2`$ with respect to the norm on $`U(n)`$. One then defines an $`L_k^2G`$-bundle to be a bundle in which the transition functions are of class $`L_k^2`$. In a similar line of thought, one defines Sobolev spaces of connections on a $`G`$-bundle by demanding that in any local trivialization the connections are given by $`L_{k1}^2`$ connection matrices. Such connections have curvature in $`L_{k2}^2`$, Here we have used the fact that pointwise multiplication induces a continuous map

$$L_{k1}^2\times L_{k1}^2L_{k2}^2$$

for $`k>2`$.

We write $`𝒜`$ for the space of $`L_{k1}^2`$ connections on an $`L_k^2G`$-bundle, and $``$ for the quotient $`𝒜/𝒢`$, where of course $`𝒢`$ denotes automorphisms in the category of $`L_k^2`$ bundles.

The important point is that the $`L^2`$ metric on $`𝒜`$ is preserved by the action of $`𝒢`$ so that

$$d([A],[B]):=\underset{g𝒢}{inf}Ag(B)$$

gives a metric on $``$. In particular $``$ is Hausdorff in the $`L_{k1}^2`$ topology, which is finer than the $`L^2`$ topology.

We now comment briefly on the local structure of the moduli space $``$. In light of the topological isomorphism

$$\mathrm{\Omega }^1(𝔤)=\mathrm{im}d_A\mathrm{ker}d_A^{}$$

that is given by elliptic theory, it holds that a neighborhood of $`[A]`$ in $``$ can be described as a quotient of $`T_{A,ϵ}`$ for small $`ϵ`$, where

$$T_{A,ϵ}=\{a\mathrm{\Omega }^1(𝔤)d_A^{}=0,a_{L_{k1}^2}<ϵ\}$$

For $`X`$ a compact orientable manifold with Riemannian metric $`g`$, and $`SU(2)`$-bundle $`E`$ with second Chern class $`c_2(E)=k`$. If $`b^+>0`$, the moduli space $`M_k`$ of ASD connections on $`E`$ is, for a generic metric, an orientable smooth manifold of dimension $`8k3(1b_1+b^+)`$, where $`b^+`$ is the number of positive eigenvalues of the intersection form and $`b_1`$ is the first Betti number. The manifold $`M_k`$ is not necessarily compact, but it can be compactified (as shown by Uhlenbeck) Further information on these compactifications can be obtained from  or from .

As a final remark on the moduli space for the ASD equations, we note that it is not empty. A theorem of Clifford Taubes  establishes the existence of self-dual connections on a 4-manifold $`M`$ whose intersection form is positive definite, using analytic techniques to build the connections on $`M`$ from those on $`S^4`$. Atiyah, Hitchin, and Singer were able also to construct these connections, under the additional assumption that $`M`$ is “half-conformally flat,” using twistor theory to convert Yang-Mills into a problem in algebraic geometry.

## 6 The Abelian Monopole Equations and Seiberg-Witten Theory

Let $`(X,g)`$ be a closed oriented Riemannian four-manifold. Choose a $`\mathrm{Spin}^c`$ structure on $`X`$, $`c\mathrm{Spin}^c(X)`$, let $`L=L_c`$ be the corresponding Hermitian line bundle, and let $`S_L^\pm `$ denote the corresponding spinor bundles.

A *field configuration* in this setup is a pair $`(A,\psi )`$ where $`A`$ is a unitary connection on $`L`$ and $`\psi `$ is a smooth section of $`S_L^+`$. The *Seiberg-Witten equations*, which one should think of as abelian monopole equations, are differential equations of these field configurations:

$`\overline{)}_A\psi `$ $`=`$ $`0`$ (13)
$`F_A^+`$ $`=`$ $`q(\psi )=\psi \psi ^{}{\displaystyle \frac{\left|\psi \right|^2}{2}}I`$ (14)
The remainder of this section will be devoted to the structure of these equations. $`\overline{)}_A`$ is the Dirac operator associated to the Levi-Cività connection on the frame bundle of the tangent bundle, and the connection $`A`$ on the determinant line bundle of the $`\mathrm{Spin}^c`$ structure. The first equation (13) just says that $`\psi \mathrm{ker}\overline{)}_A`$. For the first equation, note that $`S_L^+`$ has a hermitian metric, hence we can identify this bundle with its dual via an anti-hermitian isomorphism. So $`\psi ^{}`$ denotes the image of $`\psi `$ under this isomorphism. Thus,

$$\psi \psi ^{}S_L^+(S_L^+)^{}=\mathrm{End}_{}\left(S_L^+\right)$$

Now recall that for a positive definite real oriented inner product space $`V`$, with oriented ON basis $`\{e_1,\mathrm{},e_n\}`$, we define

$$\omega _{}=i^{[\frac{n+1}{2}]}e_1\mathrm{}e_n$$

This element $`\omega _{}`$ squares to 1 and does not depend on the choice of basis. Moreover, its $`\pm 1`$ eigenspaces define a canonical splitting of the complexified Clifford algebra $`\mathrm{C}\mathrm{}(V)`$. We write these eigenspaces as $`(\mathrm{C}\mathrm{}(V))^\pm `$. Then Clifford multiplication induces an isomorphism

$$(\mathrm{C}\mathrm{}^0(P))^+\mathrm{End}_{}\left(S_L^+\right),$$
(15)
and it is readily seen that

$$(\mathrm{C}\mathrm{}^0(P))^+\left(\frac{1+\omega _{}}{2}\right)(_+^2(TX))$$
(16)
Under the isomorphism implied by eqns. (15)-(16), $`(1+\omega _{})/2`$ acts as the identity and the traceless endomorphisms of $`S_L^+`$ come from elements of $`_+^2(TX)`$. The trace of $`\psi \psi ^{}`$ is $`\left|\psi \right|^2`$, so $`q(\psi )=\psi \psi ^{}\frac{\left|\psi \right|^2}{2}I`$ is traceless and can therefore be identified with a section of $`_+^2(TX)`$. Using the metric to identify the tangent bundle $`TX`$ with the cotangent bundle $`T^{}X`$, $`q(\psi )`$ can be viewed as a complex valued self-dual 2-form. The other Seiberg-Witten equation (14) just says that $`q(\psi )`$ is the self-dual part of the curvature form.

An excellent reference for further study is .

## 7 The Stability of Magnetic, or Abelian Higgs Vortices

In this section, we discuss results on the stability of magnetic (or Abelian Higgs) vortices. These are certain critical points of the energy functional

$$E(\psi ,A)=\frac{1}{2}_{𝐑^2}\left\{|_A\psi |^2+(\times A)^2+\frac{\lambda }{4}(|\psi |^21)^2\right\}$$
(17)
for the fields

$$A:𝐑^2𝐑^2\text{ and }\psi :𝐑^2𝐂.$$

Here $`_A=iA`$ is the covariant gradient, and $`\lambda >0`$ is a coupling constant. For a vector, $`A`$, $`\times A`$ is the scalar $`_1A_2_2A_1`$, and for a scalar $`\xi `$, $`\times \xi `$ is the vector $`(_2\xi ,_1\xi )`$. Critical points of $`E(\psi ,A)`$ satisfy the Ginzburg-Landau (GL) equations

$$\mathrm{\Delta }_A\psi +\frac{\lambda }{2}(|\psi |^21)\psi =0$$
(18)
$$\times \times A\mathrm{}(\overline{\psi }_A\psi )=0$$
(19)
where $`\mathrm{\Delta }_A=_A_A`$.

Physically, the functional $`E(\psi ,A)`$ gives the difference in free energy between the superconducting and normal states near the transition temperature in the Ginzburg-Landau theory. $`A`$ is the vector potential ($`\times A`$ is the induced magnetic field), and $`\psi `$ is an order parameter. The modulus of $`\psi `$ is interpreted as describing the local density of superconducting Cooper pairs of electrons.

The functional $`E(\psi ,A)`$ also gives the energy of a static configuration in the Yang-Mills-Higgs classical gauge theory on $`𝐑^2`$, with abelian gauge group $`U(1)`$. In this case $`A`$ is a connection on the principal $`U(1)`$\- bundle $`𝐑^2\times U(1)`$, and $`\psi `$ is the Higgs field (see  for details).

A central feature of the functional $`E(\psi ,A)`$ (and the GL equations) is its infinite-dimensional symmetry group. Specifically, $`E(\psi ,A)`$ is invariant under $`U(1)`$ gauge transformations,

$$\psi e^{i\gamma }\psi $$
(20)
$$AA+\gamma $$
(21)
for any smooth $`\gamma :𝐑^2𝐑`$. In addition, $`E(\psi ,A)`$ is invariant under coordinate translations, and under the coordinate rotation transformation

$$\psi (x)\psi (g^1x)A(x)gA(g^1x)$$
(22)
for $`gSO(2)`$.

Finite energy field configurations satisfy

$$|\psi |1\text{ as }|x|\mathrm{}$$
(23)
which leads to the definition of the topological degree, $`\text{deg}(\psi )`$, of such a configuration:

$$\text{deg}(\psi )=\text{deg}(\frac{\psi }{|\psi |}|_{|x|=R}:𝐒^1𝐒^1)$$

($`R`$ sufficiently large). The degree is related to the phenomenon of flux quantization. Indeed, an application of Stokes’ theorem shows that a finite-energy configuration satisfies

$$\text{deg}(\psi )=\frac{1}{2\pi }_{𝐑^2}(\times A).$$

We study, in particular, “radially-symmetric” or “equivariant” fields of the form

$$\psi ^{(n)}(x)=f_n(r)e^{in\theta }A^{(n)}(x)=n\frac{a_n(r)}{r}\widehat{x}^{}$$
(24)
where $`(r,\theta )`$ are polar coordinates on $`𝐑^2`$, $`\widehat{x}^{}=\frac{1}{r}(x_2,x_1)^t`$, $`n`$ is an integer, and

$$f_n,a_n:[0,\mathrm{})𝐑.$$

It is easily checked that such configurations, if they satisfy (23), have degree $`n`$. The existence of critical points of this form is well-known; they are called $`n`$-vortices.

The main results cited in this section concern the stability of these $`n`$-vortex solutions. Let

$$L^{(n)}=\text{ Hess }E(\psi ^{(n)},A^{(n)})$$

be the linearized operator for GL around the $`n`$-vortex, acting on the space

$$X=L^2(𝐑^2,𝐂)L^2(𝐑^2,𝐑^2).$$

The symmetry group of $`E(\psi ,A)`$ gives rise to an infinite-dimensional subspace of $`\mathrm{ker}(L^{(n)})X`$, which we denote here by $`Z_{sym}`$. We say the $`n`$-vortex is (linearly) stable if for some $`c>0`$,

$$L^{(n)}|_{Z_{sym}^{}}c,$$

and unstable if $`L^{(n)}`$ has a negative eigenvalue. A basic result due to Gustafson and Sigal is the following linearized stability statement:

###### Theorem 3.

1. (Stability of fundamental vortices)
For all $`\lambda >0`$, the $`\pm 1`$-vortex is stable.
2. (Stability/instability of higher-degree vortices)
For $`|n|2`$, the $`n`$-vortex is

$$\{\begin{array}{cc}\text{ stable }& \text{ for }\lambda <1\\ \text{ unstable }& \text{ for }\lambda >1.\end{array}$$

Theorem 3 is the basic ingredient in a proof of the nonlinear dynamical stability/instability of the $`n`$-vortex for certain dynamical versions of the GL equations. These include the GL gradient flow equations, the Abelian Higgs (Lorentz-invariant) equations, and the Maxwell equations coupled to a nonlinear Schrödinger equation.

###### Theorem 4.

As a solution of either (GF) or (AH), the $`n`$-vortex is stable (in the sense of Lyapunov) for $`\lambda >1`$ or for $`\lambda <1`$ and $`n=\pm 1`$, and unstable for $`\lambda >1`$ and $`|n|2`$.

The statement of theorem 3 was conjectured in  on the basis of numerical observations (see ). Bogomolnyi () gave an argument for instability of vortices for $`\lambda >1`$, $`|n|2`$.

The solutions of (18-19) are well-understood in the case of critical coupling, $`\lambda =1`$. In this case, the Bogomolnyi method () gives a pair of first-order equations whose solutions are global minimizers of $`E(\psi ,A)`$ among fields of fixed degree (and hence solutions of the the GL equations). Taubes () has shown that all solutions of GL with $`\lambda =1`$ are solutions of these first-order equations, and that for a given degree $`n`$, the gauge-inequivalent solutions form a $`2|n|`$-parameter family. The $`2|n|`$ parameters describe the locations of the zeros of the scalar field. This is discussed in more detail in . We remark that for $`\lambda =1`$, an $`n`$-vortex solution (24) corresponds to the case when all $`|n|`$ zeros of the scalar field lie at the origin.

It is observed numerically (eg ) that in fields containing localized vortices of like-signed winding number, the vortices attract each other when $`\lambda <1`$ (bringing vortex centres closer together lowers the energy) and repel each other when $`\lambda >1`$ (separating vortex centres lowers the energy). When $`\lambda =1`$ there is no interaction (which allows for the existence of the stable multi-vortex solutions of Taubes, described above).