We classify hyperbolic polynomials in two real variables that admit a transitive action on some component of their hyperbolic level sets. Such surfaces are called special homogeneous surfaces, and they are equipped with a natural Riemannian metric obtained by restricting the negative Hessian of their defining polynomial. Independent of the degree of the polynomials, there exist a finite number of special homogeneous surfaces. They are either flat, or have constant negative curvature.

We systematically study calibrated geometry in hyperkähler cones $C^{4n+4}$, their 3-Sasakian links $M^{4n+3}$, and the corresponding twistor spaces $Z^{4n+2}$, emphasizing the relationships between submanifold geometries in various spaces. Our analysis highlights the role played by a canonical $\mathrm {Sp}(n)\mathrm {U}(1)$-structure $\gamma $ on the twistor space Z. We observe that $\mathrm {Re}(e^{- i \theta } \gamma )$ is an $S^1$-family of semi-calibrations and make a detailed study of their associated calibrated geometries. As an application, we obtain new characterizations of complex Lagrangian and complex isotropic cones in hyperkähler cones, generalizing a result of Ejiri–Tsukada. We also generalize a theorem of Storm on submanifolds of twistor spaces that are Lagrangian with respect to both the Kähler–Einstein and nearly Kähler structures.

A protagonist here is a new-type invariant for type II degenerations of K3 surfaces, which is explicit piecewise linear convex function from the interval with at most $18$ nonlinear points. Forgetting its actual function behavior, it also classifies the type II degenerations into several combinatorial types, depending on the type of root lattices as appeared in classical examples.

From differential geometric viewpoint, the function is obtained as the density function of the limit measure on the collapsing hyper-Kähler metrics to conjectural segments, as in [HSZ19]. On the way, we also reconstruct a moduli compactification of elliptic K3 surfaces by [AB19], [ABE20], [Brun15] in a more elementary manner, and analyze the cusps more explicitly.

We also interpret the glued hyper-Kähler fibration of [HSVZ18] as a special case from our viewpoint, and discuss other cases, and possible relations with Landau–Ginzburg models in the mirror symmetry context.

This work is concerned with Bielawski’s hyperkähler slices in the cotangent bundles of homogeneous affine varieties. One can associate such a slice with the data of a complex semisimple Lie group $G$, a reductive subgroup $H\subseteq G$, and a Slodowy slice $S\subseteq \mathfrak{g}:=\text{Lie}(G)$, defining it to be the hyperkähler quotient of $T^{\ast }(G/H)\times (G\times S)$ by a maximal compact subgroup of $G$. This hyperkähler slice is empty in some of the most elementary cases (e.g., when $S$ is regular and $(G,H)=(\text{SL}_{n+1},\text{GL}_{n})$, $n\geqslant 3$), prompting us to seek necessary and sufficient conditions for non-emptiness.

We give a spherical-geometric characterization of the non-empty hyperkähler slices that arise when $S=S_{\text{reg}}$ is a regular Slodowy slice, proving that non-emptiness is equivalent to the so-called $\mathfrak{a}$-regularity of $(G,H)$. This $\mathfrak{a}$-regularity condition is formulated in several equivalent ways, one being a concrete condition on the rank and complexity of $G/H$. We also provide a classification of the $\mathfrak{a}$-regular pairs $(G,H)$ in which $H$ is a reductive spherical subgroup. Our arguments make essential use of Knop’s results on moment map images and Losev’s algorithm for computing Cartan spaces.

Paraconformal or GL(2, ℝ) geometry on an n-dimensional manifold M is defined by a field of rational normal curves of degree n – 1 in the projectivised cotangent bundle ℙT*M. Such geometry is known to arise on solution spaces of ODEs with vanishing Wünschmann (Doubrov–Wilczynski) invariants. In this paper we discuss yet another natural source of GL(2, ℝ) structures, namely dispersionless integrable hierarchies of PDEs such as the dispersionless Kadomtsev–Petviashvili (dKP) hierarchy. In the latter context, GL(2, ℝ) structures coincide with the characteristic variety (principal symbol) of the hierarchy.

Dispersionless hierarchies provide explicit examples of particularly interesting classes of involutive GL(2, ℝ) structures studied in the literature. Thus, we obtain torsion-free GL(2, ℝ) structures of Bryant [5] that appeared in the context of exotic holonomy in dimension four, as well as totally geodesic GL(2, ℝ) structures of Krynski [33]. The latter possess a compatible affine connection (with torsion) and a two-parameter family of totally geodesic α-manifolds (coming from the dispersionless Lax equations), which makes them a natural generalisation of the Einstein–Weyl geometry.

Our main result states that involutive GL(2, ℝ) structures are governed by a dispersionless integrable system whose general local solution depends on 2n – 4 arbitrary functions of 3 variables. This establishes integrability of the system of Wünschmann conditions.

Let $(M,I,J,K,g)$ be a hyperkähler manifold. Then the complex manifold $(M,I)$ is holomorphic symplectic. We prove that for all real $x,y$, with $x^{2}+y^{2}=1$ except countably many, any finite-energy $(xJ+yK)$-holomorphic curve with boundary in a collection of $I$-holomorphic Lagrangians must be constant. By an argument based on the Łojasiewicz inequality, this result holds no matter how the Lagrangians intersect each other. It follows that one can choose perturbations such that the holomorphic polygons of the associated Fukaya category lie in an arbitrarily small neighborhood of the Lagrangians. That is, the Fukaya category is local. We show that holomorphic Lagrangians are tautologically unobstructed. Moreover, the Fukaya $A_{\infty }$ algebra of a holomorphic Lagrangian is formal. Our result also explains why the special Lagrangian condition holds without instanton corrections for holomorphic Lagrangians.

For a fat sub-Riemannian structure, we introduce three canonical Ricci curvatures in the sense of Agrachev–Zelenko–Li. Under appropriate bounds we prove comparison theorems for conjugate lengths, Bonnet–Myers type results and Laplacian comparison theorems for the intrinsic sub-Laplacian. As an application, we consider the sub-Riemannian structure of 3-Sasakian manifolds, for which we provide explicit curvature formulas. We prove that any complete 3-Sasakian structure of dimension $4d+3$, with $d>1$, has sub-Riemannian diameter bounded by $\unicode[STIX]{x1D70B}$. When $d=1$, a similar statement holds under additional Ricci bounds. These results are sharp for the natural sub-Riemannian structure on $\mathbb{S}^{4d+3}$ of the quaternionic Hopf fibrations:

$$\begin{eqnarray}\mathbb{S}^{3}{\hookrightarrow}\mathbb{S}^{4d+3}\rightarrow \mathbb{HP}^{d},\end{eqnarray}$$

$\unicode[STIX]{x1D70B}$

$d\geqslant 1$

Let $M$ be an irreducible holomorphic symplectic (hyperkähler) manifold. If $b_{2}(M)\geqslant 5$, we construct a deformation $M^{\prime }$ of $M$ which admits a symplectic automorphism of infinite order. This automorphism is hyperbolic, that is, its action on the space of real $(1,1)$-classes is hyperbolic. If $b_{2}(M)\geqslant 14$, similarly, we construct a deformation which admits a parabolic automorphism (and many other automorphisms as well).

Let $X$ be a compact 4-manifold with boundary. We study the space of hyperkähler triples $\unicode[STIX]{x1D714}_{1},\unicode[STIX]{x1D714}_{2},\unicode[STIX]{x1D714}_{3}$ on $X$, modulo diffeomorphisms which are the identity on the boundary. We prove that this moduli space is a smooth infinite-dimensional manifold and describe the tangent space in terms of triples of closed anti-self-dual 2-forms. We also explore the corresponding boundary value problem: a hyperkähler triple restricts to a closed framing of the bundle of 2-forms on the boundary; we identify the infinitesimal deformations of this closed framing that can be filled in to hyperkähler deformations of the original triple. Finally we study explicit examples coming from gravitational instantons with isometric actions of $\text{SU}(2)$.

A trisymplectic structure on a complex $2n$-manifold is a three-dimensional space ${\rm\Omega}$ of closed holomorphic forms such that any element of ${\rm\Omega}$ has constant rank $2n$, $n$ or zero, and degenerate forms in ${\rm\Omega}$ belong to a non-degenerate quadric hypersurface. We show that a trisymplectic manifold is equipped with a holomorphic 3-web and the Chern connection of this 3-web is holomorphic, torsion-free, and preserves the three symplectic forms. We construct a trisymplectic structure on the moduli of regular rational curves in the twistor space of a hyperkähler manifold, and define a trisymplectic reduction of a trisymplectic manifold, which is a complexified form of a hyperkähler reduction. We prove that the trisymplectic reduction in the space of regular rational curves on the twistor space of a hyperkähler manifold $M$ is compatible with the hyperkähler reduction on $M$. As an application of these geometric ideas, we consider the ADHM construction of instantons and show that the moduli space of rank $r$, charge $c$ framed instanton bundles on $\mathbb{C}\mathbb{P}^{3}$ is a smooth trisymplectic manifold of complex dimension $4rc$. In particular, it follows that the moduli space of rank two, charge $c$ instanton bundles on $\mathbb{C}\mathbb{P}^{3}$ is a smooth complex manifold dimension $8c-3$, thus settling part of a 30-year-old conjecture.

We prove the CR version of the Obata's result for the first eigenvalue of the sub-Laplacian in the setting of a compact strictly pseudoconvex pseudohermitian three-dimensional manifold with non-negative CR-Paneitz operator which satisfies a Lichnerowicz-type condition. We show that if the first positive eigenvalue of the sub-Laplacian takes the smallest possible value, then, up to a homothety of the pseudohermitian structure, the manifold is the standard Sasakian three-dimensional unit sphere.

The squared distance curvature is a kind of two-point curvature the sign of which turned out to be crucial for the smoothness of optimal transportation maps on Riemannian manifolds. Positivity properties of that new curvature have been established recently for all the simply connected compact rank one symmetric spaces, except the Cayley plane. Direct proofs were given for the sphere, and an indirect one (via the Hopf fibrations) for the complex and quaternionic projective spaces. Here, we present a direct proof of a property implying all the preceding ones, valid on every positively curved Riemannian locally symmetric space.

We introduce an analogue in hyperkähler geometry of the symplectic implosion, in the case of $\mathrm{SU} (n)$ actions. Our space is a stratified hyperkähler space which can be defined in terms of quiver diagrams. It also has a description as a non-reductive geometric invariant theory quotient.

We prove the classification of the real vector subspaces of a quaternionic vector space by using a covariant functor which associates, to any pair formed of a quaternionic vector space and a real subspace, a coherent sheaf over the sphere.

Let $L$ be an oriented Lagrangian submanifold in an $n$-dimensional Kähler manifold $M$. Let $u:\,D\,\to \,M$ be a minimal immersion from a disk $D$ with $u(\partial D)\,\subset \,L$ such that $u(D)$ meets $L$ orthogonally along $u(\partial D)$. Then the real dimension of the space of admissible holomorphic variations is at least $n\,+\,\mu (E,\,F)$, where $\mu (E,\,F)$ is a boundary Maslov index; the minimal disk is holomorphic if there exist $n$ admissible holomorphic variations that are linearly independent over $\mathbb{R}$ at some point $p\,\in \,\partial D;$; if $M=\mathbb{C}{{P}^{n}}$ and $u$ intersects $L$ positively, then $u$ is holomorphic if it is stable, and its Morse index is at least $n\,+\,\mu (E,\,F)$ if $u$ is unstable.

We show that on the Hilbert scheme of n points on ℂ2, the hyperkähler metric constructed by Nakajima via hyperkähler reduction is the quasi-asymptotically locally Euclidean (QALE) metric constructed by Joyce.

We present a superfield formulation of the chiral de Rham complex (CDR), as introduced by Malikov, Schechtman and Vaintrob in 1999, in the setting of a general smooth manifold, and use it to endow CDR with superconformal structures of geometric origin. Given a Riemannian metric, we construct an N=1 structure on CDR (action of the N=1 super-Virasoro, or Neveu–Schwarz, algebra). If the metric is Kähler, and the manifold Ricci-flat, this is augmented to an N=2 structure. Finally, if the manifold is hyperkähler, we obtain an N=4 structure. The superconformal structures are constructed directly from the Levi-Civita connection. These structures provide an analog for CDR of the extended supersymmetries of nonlinear σ-models.

Let (M,I,J,K) be a compact hyperkähler manifold, , and L a non-trivial holomorphic line bundle on (M,I). Using the quaternionic Dolbeault complex, we prove the following vanishing theorem for holomorphic cohomology of L. If c1(L) lies in the closure of the dual Kähler cone, then Hi(L)=0 for i>n. If c1(L) lies in the opposite cone , then Hi(L)=0 for i<n. Finally, if c1(L) is neither in nor in , then Hi(L)=0 for .

We consider some deformations of ${{G}_{2}}$-structures on 7-manifolds. We discover a canonical way to deform a ${{G}_{2}}$-structure by a vector field in which the associated metric gets “twisted” in some way by the vector cross product. We present a system of partial differential equations for an unknown vector field $w$ whose solution would yield a manifold with holonomy ${{G}_{2}}$. Similarly we consider analogous constructions for Spin(7)-structures on 8-manifolds. Some of the results carry over directly, while others do not because of the increased complexity of the Spin(7) case.

In this paper, half-dimensional Einstein–Kähler submanifolds or locally reducible Kähler submanifolds are classified in a quaternion projective space.