In
mathematics
Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, Mathematical theory, theories and theorems that are developed and Mathematical proof, proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many ar ...
, particularly in
representation theory
Representation theory is a branch of mathematics that studies abstract algebra, abstract algebraic structures by ''representing'' their element (set theory), elements as linear transformations of vector spaces, and studies Module (mathematics), ...
, a symplectic resolution is a
morphism
In mathematics, a morphism is a concept of category theory that generalizes structure-preserving maps such as homomorphism between algebraic structures, functions from a set to another set, and continuous functions between topological spaces. Al ...
that combines
symplectic geometry
Symplectic geometry is a branch of differential geometry and differential topology that studies symplectic manifolds; that is, differentiable manifolds equipped with a closed, nondegenerate 2-form. Symplectic geometry has its origins in the ...
and
resolution of singularities
In algebraic geometry, the problem of resolution of singularities asks whether every algebraic variety ''V'' has a resolution, which is a non-singular variety ''W'' with a Proper morphism, proper birational map ''W''→''V''. For varieties ov ...
.
Definition
Let
be a
morphism
In mathematics, a morphism is a concept of category theory that generalizes structure-preserving maps such as homomorphism between algebraic structures, functions from a set to another set, and continuous functions between topological spaces. Al ...
between
complex algebraic varieties, where
is
smooth and carries a
symplectic structure
Symplectic geometry is a branch of differential geometry and differential topology that studies symplectic manifolds; that is, differentiable manifolds equipped with a closed, nondegenerate 2-form. Symplectic geometry has its origins in the ...
, and
is
affine
Affine may describe any of various topics concerned with connections or affinities.
It may refer to:
* Affine, a Affinity_(law)#Terminology, relative by marriage in law and anthropology
* Affine cipher, a special case of the more general substi ...
,
normal, and carries a
Poisson structure
In differential geometry, a field in mathematics, a Poisson manifold is a smooth manifold endowed with a Poisson structure. The notion of Poisson manifold generalises that of symplectic manifold, which in turn generalises the phase space from Hami ...
. Then
is a ''symplectic resolution'' if and only if
is
projective,
birational
In mathematics, birational geometry is a field of algebraic geometry in which the goal is to determine when two algebraic varieties are isomorphic outside lower-dimensional subsets. This amounts to studying mappings that are given by rational f ...
, and Poisson.
A conical symplectic resolution is one that is equipped with compatible
actions of
on both
and
. Under these actions,
contracts to a single point (denoted 0), the symplectic form is scaled with weight 2, and the morphism
is compatible with these actions. The ''core'' of a conical symplectic resolution is defined as the central
fiber
Fiber (spelled fibre in British English; from ) is a natural or artificial substance that is significantly longer than it is wide. Fibers are often used in the manufacture of other materials. The strongest engineering materials often inco ...
. A conical symplectic resolution is Hamiltonian if it possesses
Hamiltonian actions of a
torus
In geometry, a torus (: tori or toruses) is a surface of revolution generated by revolving a circle in three-dimensional space one full revolution about an axis that is coplanarity, coplanar with the circle. The main types of toruses inclu ...
on both
and
. In this case, the morphism
must be
-equivariant, with the
action commuting with the conical
action. Additionally, the
fixed point set must be finite.
History
The study of symplectic resolutions emerged as a natural generalization of classical techniques in
representation theory
Representation theory is a branch of mathematics that studies abstract algebra, abstract algebraic structures by ''representing'' their element (set theory), elements as linear transformations of vector spaces, and studies Module (mathematics), ...
. During the 20th century, mathematicians primarily investigated the representation theory of
semisimple Lie algebras
In mathematics, a Lie algebra is semisimple if it is a direct sum of simple Lie algebras. (A simple Lie algebra is a non-abelian Lie algebra without any non-zero proper ideals.)
Throughout the article, unless otherwise stated, a Lie algebra is ...
through geometric methods, focusing particularly on
flag varieties In mathematics, a generalized flag variety (or simply flag variety) is a homogeneous space whose points are flags in a finite-dimensional vector space ''V'' over a field F. When F is the real or complex numbers, a generalized flag variety is a smo ...
and their
cotangent bundles
In mathematics, especially differential geometry, the cotangent bundle of a smooth manifold is the vector bundle of all the cotangent spaces at every point in the manifold. It may be described also as the dual bundle to the tangent bundle. This m ...
.
In the 21st century, this approach evolved into a more general framework where the traditional cotangent bundle of the flag variety was replaced by symplectic resolutions. This generalization led to significant developments in understanding the relationship between
geometry
Geometry (; ) is a branch of mathematics concerned with properties of space such as the distance, shape, size, and relative position of figures. Geometry is, along with arithmetic, one of the oldest branches of mathematics. A mathematician w ...
and representation theory. The classical semisimple Lie algebra was correspondingly replaced by the
deformation quantization
In mathematics and physics, deformation quantization roughly amounts to finding a (quantum) algebra whose classical limit is a given (classical) algebra such as a Lie algebra or a Poisson algebra.
In physics
Intuitively, a deformation of a math ...
of the
affine
Affine may describe any of various topics concerned with connections or affinities.
It may refer to:
* Affine, a Affinity_(law)#Terminology, relative by marriage in law and anthropology
* Affine cipher, a special case of the more general substi ...
Poisson variety
Poisson may refer to:
People
*Siméon Denis Poisson, French mathematician
* Eric Poisson, Canadian physicist
Places
* Poissons, a commune of Haute-Marne, France
* Poisson, Saône-et-Loire, a commune of Saône-et-Loire, France
Other uses
* Poisso ...
.
References
{{reflist
See also
*
Coulomb branch
The coulomb (symbol: C) is the unit of electric charge in the International System of Units (SI).
It is defined to be equal to the electric charge delivered by a 1 ampere current in 1 second, with the elementary charge ''e'' as a defining con ...
*
Poisson variety
Poisson may refer to:
People
*Siméon Denis Poisson, French mathematician
* Eric Poisson, Canadian physicist
Places
* Poissons, a commune of Haute-Marne, France
* Poisson, Saône-et-Loire, a commune of Saône-et-Loire, France
Other uses
* Poisso ...
*
Symplectic duality
The term "symplectic" is a calque of "complex" introduced by Hermann Weyl in 1939. In mathematics it may refer to:
* Symplectic category
* Symplectic Clifford algebra, see Weyl algebra
* Symplectic geometry
* Symplectic group, and corresponding s ...
*
Symplectic geometry
Symplectic geometry is a branch of differential geometry and differential topology that studies symplectic manifolds; that is, differentiable manifolds equipped with a closed, nondegenerate 2-form. Symplectic geometry has its origins in the ...
Algebraic geometry
Representation theory