Deformation theory of G_2 conifolds

TL;DR

This paper studies the deformation theory of G_2 manifolds with conical asymptotics and singularities, providing conditions for smoothness, obstructions, and explicit descriptions of the moduli space, with applications to uniqueness and desingularization.

Contribution

It offers a detailed analysis of the deformation spaces of G_2 conifolds, including criteria for smoothness, explicit obstruction spaces, and applications to geometric problems.

Findings

Moduli space is smooth for generic rates in (-4,0) with computed dimension.

Obstruction spaces are explicitly described via Laplacian spectrum on cone links.

Demonstrates applications to uniqueness, rigidity, and desingularization of G_2 manifolds.

Abstract

We consider the deformation theory of asymptotically conical (AC) and of conically singular (CS) $G_2$-manifolds. In the AC case, we show that if the rate of convergence $\nu$ to the cone at infinity is generic in a precise sense and lies in the interval $(-4, 0)$, then the moduli space is smooth and we compute its dimension in terms of topological and analytic data. For generic rates $\nu < -4$ in the AC case, and for generic positive rates of convergence to the cones at the singular points in the CS case, the deformation theory is in general obstructed. We describe the obstruction spaces explicitly in terms of the spectrum of the Laplacian on the link of the cones on the ends, and compute the virtual dimension of the moduli space. We also present many applications of these results, including: the uniqueness of the Bryant--Salamon AC $G_2$-manifolds via local rigidity and the cohomogeneity one property of AC $G_2$-manifolds asymptotic to homogeneous cones; the smoothness of the CS moduli space if the singularities are modeled on particular $G_2$-cones; and the proof of existence of a "good gauge" needed for desingularization of CS $G_2$-manifolds. Finally, we discuss some open problems.