Mathematical Research Letters

Volume 6 (1999)

Number 4

Four-Manifold Geography and Superconformal Symmetry

Pages: 429 – 437

DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.4310/MRL.1999.v6.n4.a5

Authors

Marcos Mariño

Gregory Moore

Grigor Peradze

Abstract

A compact oriented 4-manifold is defined to be of “superconformal simple type” if certain polynomials in the basic classes (constructed using the Seiberg-Witten invariants) vanish identically. We show that all known 4-manifolds of $b_2^+ >1$ are of superconformal simple type, and that the numerical invariants of 4-manifolds of superconformal simple type satisfy a generalization of the Noether inequality. We sketch how these phenomena are predicted by the existence of certain four-dimensional superconformal quantum field theories.

Published 1 January 1999