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Tag: differential

curvatures

[Last
time][1] we saw that the algebra $(\Omega_V~C Q,Circ)$ of relative
differential forms and equipped with the Fedosov product is again the
path algebra of a quiver $\tilde{Q}$ obtained by doubling up the arrows
of $Q$. In our basic example the algebra map $C \tilde{Q} \rightarrow
\Omega_V~C Q$ is clarified by the following picture of $\tilde{Q}$
$\xymatrix{\vtx{} \ar@/^/[rr]^{a=u+du} \ar@/_/[rr]_{b=u-du} & &
\vtx{} \ar@(u,ur)^{x=v+dv} \ar@(d,dr)_{y=v-dv}} $ (which
generalizes in the obvious way to arbitrary quivers). But what about the
other direction $\Omega_V~C Q \rightarrow C \tilde{Q}$ ? There are two
embeddings $i,j : C Q \rightarrow C \tilde{Q}$ defined by $i : (u,v)
\rightarrow (a,x)$ and $j : (u,v) \rightarrow (b,y)$ giving maps
$\forall a \in C Q~:~p(a) = \frac{1}{2}(i(a)+j(a))~\quad~q(a) =
\frac{1}{2}(i(a)-j(a))$ Using these maps, the isomorphism $\Omega_V~C
Q \rightarrow C \tilde{Q}$ is determined by $ a_0 da_1 \ldots da_n
\rightarrow p(a_0)q(a_1) \ldots q(a_n)$ In particular, $p$ gives the
natural embedding (with the ordinary multiplication on differential
forms) $C Q \rightarrow \Omega_V~C Q$ of functions as degree zero
differential forms. However, $p$ is no longer an algebra map for the
Fedosov product on $\Omega_V~C Q$ as $p(ab) = p(a)Circ p(b) + q(a) Circ
q(b)$. In Cuntz-Quillen terminology, $\omega(a,b) = q(a) Circ q(b)$ is
the _curvature_ of the based linear map $p$. I\’d better define
this a bit more formal for any algebra $A$ and then say what is special
for formally smooth algebras (non-commutative manifolds). If $A,B$ are
$V = C \times \ldots \times C$-algebras, then a $V$-linear map $A
\rightarrow^l B$ is said to be a _based linear map_ if $ l | V = id_V$.
The _curvature_ of $l$ measures the obstruction to $l$ being an algebra
map, that is $\forall a,b \in A~:~\omega(a,b) = l(ab)-l(a)l(b)$ and
the curvature is said to be _nilpotent_ if there is an integer $n$ such
that all possible products $\omega(a_1,b_1)\omega(a_2,b_2) \ldots
\omega(a_n,b_n) = 0$ For any algebra $A$ there is a universal algebra
$R(A)$ turning based linear maps into algebra maps. That is, there is a
fixed based linear map $A \rightarrow^p R(A)$ such that for every based
linear map $A \rightarrow^l B$ there is an algebra map $R(A) \rightarrow
B$ making the diagram commute $\xymatrix{A \ar[r]^l \ar[d]^p & B
\\\ R(A) \ar[ru] &} $ In fact, Cuntz and Quillen show that $R(A)
\simeq (\Omega_V^{ev}~A,Circ)$ the algebra of even differential forms
equipped with the Fedosov product and that $p$ is the natural inclusion
of $A$ as degree zero forms (as above). Recall that $A$ is said to be
_formally smooth_ if every $V$-algebra map $A \rightarrow^f B/I$ where
$I$ is a nilpotent ideal, can be lifted to an algebra morphism $A
\rightarrow B$. We can always lift $f$ as a based linear map, say
$\tilde{f}$ and because $I$ is nilpotent, the curvature of $\tilde{f}$
is also nilpotent. To get a _uniform_ way to construct algebra lifts
modulo nilpotent ideals it would therefore suffice for a formally smooth
algebra to have an _algebra map_ $A \rightarrow \hat{R}(A)$ where
$\hat{R}(A)$ is the $\mathfrak{m}$-adic completion of $R(A)$ for the
ideal $\mathfrak{m}$ which is the kernel of the algebra map $R(A)
\rightarrow A$ corresponding to the based linear map $id_A : A
\rightarrow A$. Indeed, there is an algebra map $R(A) \rightarrow B$
determined by $\tilde{f}$ and hence also an algebra map $\hat{R}(A)
\rightarrow B$ and composing this with the (yet to be constructed)
algebra map $A \rightarrow \hat{R}(A)$ this would give the required lift
$A \rightarrow B$. In order to construct the algebra map $A
\rightarrow \hat{R}(A)$ (say in the case of path algebras of quivers) we
will need the Yang-Mills derivation and its associated flow.

[1]: http://www.matrix.ua.ac.be/index.php?p=354

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differential forms

The
previous post in this sequence was [(co)tangent bundles][1]. Let $A$ be
a $V$-algebra where $V = C \times \ldots \times C$ is the subalgebra
generated by a complete set of orthogonal idempotents in $A$ (in case $A
= C Q$ is a path algebra, $V$ will be the subalgebra generated by the
vertex-idempotents, see the post on [path algebras][2] for more
details). With $\overline{A}$ we denote the bimodule quotient
$\overline{A} = A/V$ Then, we can define the _non-commutative
(relative) differential n-forms_ to be $\Omega^n_V~A = A \otimes_V
\overline{A} \otimes_V \ldots \otimes_V \overline{A}$ with $n$ factors
$\overline{A}$. To get the connection with usual differential forms let
us denote the tensor $a_0 \otimes a_1 \otimes \ldots \otimes a_n =
(a_0,a_1,\ldots,a_n) = a_0 da_1 \ldots da_n$ On $\Omega_V~A =
\oplus_n~\Omega^n_V~A$ one defines an algebra structure via the
multiplication $(a_0da_1 \ldots da_n)(a_{n+1}da_{n+2} \ldots da_k)$$=
\sum_{i=1}^n (-1)^{n-i} a_0da_1 \ldots d(a_ia_{i+1}) \ldots da_k$
$\Omega_V~A$ is a _differential graded algebra_ with differential $d :
\Omega^n_V~A \rightarrow \Omega^{n+1}_V~A$ defined by $d(a_0 da_1 \ldots
da_n) = da_0 da_1 \ldots da_n$ This may seem fairly abstract but in
case $A = C Q$ is a path algebra, then the bimodule $\Omega^n_V~A$ has a
$V$-generating set consisting of precisely the elements $p_0 dp_1
\ldots dp_n$ with all $p_i$ non-zero paths in $A$ and such that
$p_0p_1 \ldots p_n$ is also a non-zero path. One can put another
algebra multiplication on $\Omega_V~A$ which Cuntz and Quillen call the
_Fedosov product_ defined for an $n$-form $\omega$ and a form $\mu$ by
$\omega Circ \mu = \omega \mu -(-1)^n d\omega d\mu$ There is an
important relation between the two structures, the degree of a
differential form puts a filtration on $\Omega_V~A$ (with Fedosov
product) such that the _associated graded algebra_ is $\Omega_V~A$ with
the usual product. One can visualize the Fedosov product easily in the
case of path algebras because $\Omega_V~C Q$ with the Fedosov product is
again the path algebra of the quiver obtained by doubling up all the
arrows of $Q$. In our basic example when $Q$ is the quiver
$\xymatrix{\vtx{} \ar[rr]^u & & \vtx{} \ar@(ur,dr)^v} $ the
algebra of non-commutative differential forms equipped with the Fedosov
product is isomorphic to the path algebra of the quiver
$\xymatrix{\vtx{} \ar@/^/[rr]^{a=u+du} \ar@/_/[rr]_{b=u-du} & &
\vtx{} \ar@(u,ur)^{x=v+dv} \ar@(d,dr)_{y=v-dv}} $ with the
indicated identification of arrows with elements from $\Omega_V~C Q$.
Note however that we usually embed the algebra $C Q$ as the degree zero
differential forms in $\Omega_V~C Q$ with the usual multiplication and
that this embedding is no longer an algebra map (but a based linear map)
for the Fedosov product. For this reason, Cuntz and Quillen invent a
Yang-Mills type argument to “flow” this linear map to an algebra
embedding, but to motivate this we will have to say some things about
[curvatures][3].

[1]: http://www.neverendingbooks.org/index.php?p=352
[2]: http://www.neverendingbooks.org/index.php?p=349
[3]: http://www.neverendingbooks.org/index.php?p=353

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cotangent bundles

The
previous post in this sequence was [moduli spaces][1]. Why did we spend
time explaining the connection of the quiver
$Q~:~\xymatrix{\vtx{} \ar[rr]^a & & \vtx{} \ar@(ur,dr)^x} $
to moduli spaces of vectorbundles on curves and moduli spaces of linear
control systems? At the start I said we would concentrate on its _double
quiver_ $\tilde{Q}~:~\xymatrix{\vtx{} \ar@/^/[rr]^a && \vtx{}
\ar@(u,ur)^x \ar@(d,dr)_{x^*} \ar@/^/[ll]^{a^*}} $ Clearly,
this already gives away the answer : if the path algebra $C Q$
determines a (non-commutative) manifold $M$, then the path algebra $C
\tilde{Q}$ determines the cotangent bundle of $M$. Recall that for a
commutative manifold $M$, the cotangent bundle is the vectorbundle
having at the point $p \in M$ as fiber the linear dual $(T_p M)^*$ of
the tangent space. So, why do we claim that $C \tilde{Q}$
corresponds to the cotangent bundle of $C Q$? Fix a dimension vector
$\alpha = (m,n)$ then the representation space
$\mathbf{rep}_{\alpha}~Q = M_{n \times m}(C) \oplus M_n(C)$ is just
an affine space so in its point the tangent space is the representation
space itself. To define its linear dual use the non-degeneracy of the
_trace pairings_ $M_{n \times m}(C) \times M_{m \times n}(C)
\rightarrow C~:~(A,B) \mapsto tr(AB)$ $M_n(C) \times M_n(C)
\rightarrow C~:~(C,D) \mapsto tr(CD)$ and therefore the linear dual
$\mathbf{rep}_{\alpha}~Q^* = M_{m \times n}(C) \oplus M_n(C)$ which is
the representation space $\mathbf{rep}_{\alpha}~Q^s$ of the quiver
$Q^s~:~\xymatrix{\vtx{} & & \vtx{} \ar[ll] \ar@(ur,dr)} $
and therefore we have that the cotangent bundle to the representation
space $\mathbf{rep}_{\alpha}~Q$ $T^* \mathbf{rep}_{\alpha}~Q =
\mathbf{rep}_{\alpha}~\tilde{Q}$ Important for us will be that any
cotangent bundle has a natural _symplectic structure_. For a good
introduction to this see the [course notes][2] “Symplectic geometry and
quivers” by [Geert Van de Weyer][3]. As a consequence $C \tilde{Q}$
can be viewed as a non-commutative symplectic manifold with the
symplectic structure determined by the non-commutative 2-form
$\omega = da^* da + dx^* dx$ but before we can define all this we
will have to recall some facts on non-commutative differential forms.
Maybe [next time][4]. For the impatient : have a look at the paper by
Victor Ginzburg [Non-commutative Symplectic Geometry, Quiver varieties,
and Operads][5] or my paper with Raf Bocklandt [Necklace Lie algebras
and noncommutative symplectic geometry][6]. Now that we have a
cotangent bundle of $C Q$ is there also a _tangent bundle_ and does it
again correspond to a new quiver? Well yes, here it is
$\xymatrix{\vtx{} \ar@/^/[rr]^{a+da} \ar@/_/[rr]_{a-da} & & \vtx{}
\ar@(u,ur)^{x+dx} \ar@(d,dr)_{x-dx}} $ and the labeling of the
arrows may help you to work through some sections of the Cuntz-Quillen
paper…

[1]: http://www.neverendingbooks.org/index.php?p=39
[2]: http://www.win.ua.ac.be/~gvdwey/lectures/symplectic_moment.pdf
[3]: http://www.win.ua.ac.be/~gvdwey/
[4]: http://www.neverendingbooks.org/index.php?p=41
[5]: http://www.arxiv.org/abs/math.QA/0005165
[6]: http://www.arxiv.org/abs/math.AG/0010030

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moduli spaces

In [the previous part][1] we saw that moduli spaces of suitable representations
of the quiver $\xymatrix{\vtx{} \ar[rr] & & \vtx{}
\ar@(ur,dr)} $ locally determine the moduli spaces of
vectorbundles over smooth projective curves. There is yet another
classical problem related to this quiver (which also illustrates the
idea of looking at families of moduli spaces rather than individual
ones) : _linear control systems_. Such a system with an $n$ dimensional
_state space_ and $m$ _controls_ (or inputs) is determined by the
following system of linear differential equations $ \frac{d x}{d t}
= A.x + B.u$ where $x(t) \in \mathbb{C}^n$ is the state of the system at
time $t$, $u(t) \in \mathbb{C}^m$ is the control-vector at time $t$ and $A \in
M_n(\mathbb{C}), B \in M_{n \times m}(\mathbb{C})$ are the matrices describing the
evolution of the system $\Sigma$ (after fixing bases in the state- and
control-space). That is, $\Sigma$ determines a representation of the
above quiver of dimension-vector $\alpha = (m,n)$
$\xymatrix{\vtx{m} \ar[rr]^B & & \vtx{n} \ar@(ur,dr)^A} $
Whereas in control theory (see for example Allen Tannenbaum\’s Lecture
Notes in Mathematics 845 for a mathematical introduction) it is natural
to call two systems equivalent when they only differ up to base change
in the state-space, one usually fixes the control knobs so it is not
natural to allow for base change in the control-space. So, at first
sight the control theoretic problem of classifying equivalent systems is
not the same problem as classifying representations of the quiver up to
isomorphism. Fortunately, there is an elegant way round this which is
called _deframing_. That is, for a fixed number $m$ of controls one
considers the quiver $Q_f$ having precisely $m$ arrows from the first to
the second vertex $\xymatrix{\vtx{1} \ar@/^4ex/[rr]^{B_1}
\ar@/^/[rr]^{B_2} \ar@/_3ex/[rr]_{B_m} & & \vtx{n} \ar@(ur,dr)^A} $
and the system $\Sigma$ does determine a representation of this new
quiver of dimension vector $\beta=(1,n)$ by assigning to the arrows the
different columns of the matrix $B$. Isomorphism classes of these
quiver-representations do correspond precisely to equivalence classes of
linear control systems. In [part 4][1] we introduced stable and
semi-stable representations. In this framed-quiver setting call a
representation $(A,B_1,\ldots,B_m)$ stable if there is no proper
subrepresentation of dimension vector $(1,p)$ for some $p \lneq n$.
Perhaps remarkable this algebraic notion has a counterpart in
system-theory : the systems corresponding to stable
quiver-representations are precisely the completely controllable
systems. That is, those which can be brought to any wanted state by
varying the controls. Hence, the moduli space
$M^s_{(1,n)}(Q_f,\theta)$ classifying stable representations is
exactly the moduli space of completely controllable linear systems
studied in control theory. For an excellent account of this moduli space
one can read the paper [Introduction to moduli spaces associated to
quivers by [Christof Geiss][2]. Fixing the number $m$ of controls but
varying the dimensions of teh state-spaces one would like to take all
the moduli spaces $ \bigsqcup_n~M^s_{(1,n)}(Q_f,\theta)$
together as they are all determined by the same formally smooth algebra
$\mathbb{C} Q_f$. This was done in a joint paper with [Markus Reineke][3] called
[Canonical systems and non-commutative geometry][4] in which we prove
that this disjoint union can be identified with the _infinite
Grassmannian_ $ \bigsqcup_n~M^s_{(1,n)}(Q_f,\theta) =
\mathbf{Gras}_m(\infty)$ of $m$-dimensional subspaces of an
infinite dimensional space. This result can be seen as a baby-version of
George Wilson\’s result relating the disjoint union of Calogero-Moser
spaces to the _adelic_ Grassmannian. But why do we stress this
particular quiver so much? This will be partly explained [next time][5].

[1]: http://www.neverendingbooks.org/index.php?p=350
[2]: http://www.matem.unam.mx/~christof/
[3]: http://wmaz1.math.uni-wuppertal.de/reineke/
[4]: http://www.arxiv.org/abs/math.AG/0303304
[5]: http://www.neverendingbooks.org/index.php?p=352

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algebraic vs. differential nog


OK! I asked to get side-tracked by comments so now that there is one I’d better deal with it at once. So, is there any relation between the non-commutative (algebraic) geometry based on formally smooth algebras and the non-commutative _differential_ geometry advocated by Alain Connes?
Short answers to this question might be (a) None whatsoever! (b) Morally they are the same! and (c) Their objectives are quite different!

As this only adds to the confusion, let me try to explain each point separately after issuing a _disclaimer_ that I am by no means an expert in Connes’ NOG neither in $C^* $-algebras. All I know is based on sitting in some lectures by Alain Connes, trying at several times to make sense of his terribly written book and indeed by reading the Landi notes in utter desperation.
(a) _None whatsoever!_ : Connes’ approach via spectral triples is modelled such that one gets (suitable) ordinary (that is, commutative) manifolds into this framework. The obvious algebraic counterpart for this would be a statement to the effect that the affine coordinate ring $\mathbb{C}[X] $ of a (suitable) smooth affine variety X would be formally smooth. Now you’re in for a first shock : the only affine smooth varieties for which this holds are either _points_ or _curves_! Not much of a geometry huh? In fact, that is the reason why I prefer to call formally smooth algebras just _qurves_ …
(b) _Morally they are the same_ : If you ever want to get some differential geometry done, you’d better have a connection on the tangent bundle! Now, Alain Connes extended the notion of a connection to the non-commutative world (see for example _the_ book) and if you take the algebraic equivalent of it and ask for which algebras possess such a connection, you get _precisely_ the formally smooth algebras (see section 8 of the Cuntz-Quillen paper “Algebra extensions and nonsingularity” Journal AMS Vol 8 (1991). Besides there is a class of $C^* $-algebras which are formally smooth algebras : the AF-algebras which also feature prominently in the Landi notes (although they are virtually never affine, that is, finitely generated as an algebra).
(c) _Their objectives are quite different!_ : Connes’ formalism aims to define a length function on a non-commutative manifold associated to a $C^* $-algebra. Non-commutative geometry based on formally smooth algebras has no interest in defining some sort of space associated to the algebra. The major importance of formally smooth algebras (as advocated by Maxim Kontsevich is that such an algebra A can be seen as a _machine_ producing an infinite family of ordinary commutative manifolds via its _representation varieties_ $\mathbf{rep}_n~A $ which are manifolds equipped with a $GL_n $-action. Non-commutative functions and diifferential forms defined at the level of the formally smooth algebra A do determine similar $GL_n $-invariant features on _all_ of these representation varieties at once.

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path algebras

The previous post can be found [here][1].
Pierre Gabriel invented a lot of new notation (see his book [Representations of finite dimensional algebras][2] for a rather extreme case) and is responsible for calling a directed graph a quiver. For example,

$\xymatrix{\vtx{} \ar@/^/[rr] & & \vtx{} \ar@(u,ur) \ar@(d,dr) \ar@/^/[ll]} $

is a quiver. Note than it is allowed to have multiple arrows between vertices, as well as loops in vertices. For us it will be important that a quiver $Q $ depicts how to compute in a certain non-commutative algebra : the path algebra $\mathbb{C} Q $. If the quiver has $k $ vertices and $l $ arrows (including loops) then the path algebra $\mathbb{C} Q $ is a subalgebra of the full $k \times k $ matrix-algebra over the free algebra in $l $ non-commuting variables

$\mathbb{C} Q \subset M_k(\mathbb{C} \langle x_1,\ldots,x_l \rangle) $

Under this map, a vertex $v_i $ is mapped to the basis $i $-th diagonal matrix-idempotent and an arrow

$\xymatrix{\vtx{v_i} \ar[rr]^{x_a} & & \vtx{v_j}} $

is mapped to the matrix having all its entries zero except the $(j,i) $-entry which is equal to $x_a $. That is, in our main example

$\xymatrix{\vtx{e} \ar@/^/[rr]^a & & \vtx{f} \ar@(u,ur)^x \ar@(d,dr)_y \ar@/^/[ll]^b} $

the corresponding path algebra is the subalgebra of $M_2(\mathbb{C} \langle a,b,x,y \rangle) $ generated by the matrices

$e \mapsto \begin{bmatrix} 1 & 0 \\ 0 & 0 \end{bmatrix} $ $ f \mapsto \begin{bmatrix} 0 & 0 \\ 0 & 1 \end{bmatrix} $

$a \mapsto \begin{bmatrix} 0 & 0 \\ a & 0 \end{bmatrix} $ $b \mapsto \begin{bmatrix} 0 & b \\ 0 & 0 \end{bmatrix} $

$x \mapsto \begin{bmatrix} 0 & 0 \\ 0 & x \end{bmatrix} $ $y \mapsto \begin{bmatrix} 0 & 0 \\ 0 & y \end{bmatrix} $

The name \’path algebra\’ comes from the fact that the subspace of $\mathbb{C} Q $ at the $(j,i) $-place is the vectorspace spanned by all paths in the quiver starting at vertex $v_i $ and ending in vertex $v_j $. For an easier and concrete example of a path algebra. consider the quiver

$\xymatrix{\vtx{e} \ar[rr]^a & & \vtx{f} \ar@(ur,dr)^x} $

and verify that in this case, the path algebra is just

$\mathbb{C} Q = \begin{bmatrix} \mathbb{C} & 0 \\ \mathbb{C}[x]a & \mathbb{C}[x] \end{bmatrix} $

Observe that we write and read paths in the quiver from right to left. The reason for this strange convention is that later we will be interested in left-modules rather than right-modules. Right-minder people can go for the more natural left to right convention for writing paths.
Why are path algebras of quivers of interest in non-commutative geometry? Well, to begin they are examples of _formally smooth algebras_ (some say _quasi-free algebras_, I just call them _qurves_). These algebras were introduced and studied by Joachim Cuntz and Daniel Quillen and they are precisely the algebras allowing a good theory of non-commutative differential forms.
So you should think of formally smooth algebras as being non-commutative manifolds and under this analogy path algebras of quivers correspond to _affine spaces_. That is, one expects path algebras of quivers to turn up in two instances : (1) given a non-commutative manifold (aka formally smooth algebra) it must be \’embedded\’ in some non-commutative affine space (aka path algebra of a quiver) and (2) given a non-commutative manifold, the \’tangent spaces\’ should be determined by path algebras of quivers.
The first fact is easy enough to prove, every affine $\mathbb{C} $-algebra is an epimorphic image of a free algebra in say $l $ generators, which is just the path algebra of the _bouquet quiver_ having $l $ loops

$\xymatrix{\vtx{} \ar@(dl,l)^{x_1} \ar@(l,ul)^{x_2} \ar@(ur,r)^{x_i} \ar@(r,dr)^{x_l}} $

The second statement requires more work. For a first attempt to clarify this you can consult my preprint [Qurves and quivers][3] but I\’ll come back to this in another post. For now, just take my word for it : if formally smooth algebras are the non-commutative analogon of manifolds then path algebras of quivers are the non-commutative version of affine spaces!

[1]: http://www.neverendingbooks.org/index.php?p=71
[2]: http://www.booxtra.de/verteiler.asp?site=artikel.asp&wea=1070000&sh=homehome&artikelnummer=000000689724
[3]: http://www.arxiv.org/abs/math.RA/0406618

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driven by ambition and sloth

Here’s a part of yesterday’s post by bitch ph.d. :

But first of all I have to figure out what the hell I’m going to teach my graduate students this semester, and really more to the point, what I am not going to bother to try to cram into this class just because it’s my first graduate class and I’m feeling like teaching everything I know in one semester is a realistic and desireable possibility. Yes! Here it all is! Everything I have ever learned! Thank you, and goodnight!

Ah, the perpetual motion machine of last-minute course planning, driven by ambition and sloth!.

I’ve had similar experiences, even with undergraduate courses (in Belgium there is no fixed curriculum so the person teaching the course is responsible for its contents). If you compare the stuff I hoped to teach when I started out with the courses I’ll be giving in a few weeks, you would be more than disappointed.
The first time I taught _differential geometry 1_ (a third year course) I did include in the syllabus everything needed to culminate in an outline of Donaldson’s result on exotic structures on $\mathbb{R}^4 $ and Connes’ non-commutative GUT-model (If you want to have a good laugh, here is the set of notes). As far as I remember I got as far as classifying compact surfaces!
A similar story for the _Lie theory_ course. Until last year this was sort of an introduction to geometric invariant theory : quotient variety of conjugacy classes of matrices, moduli space of linear dynamical systems, Hilbert schemes and the classification of $GL_n $-representations (again, smile! here is the set of notes).
Compared to these (over)ambitious courses, next year’s courses are lazy sunday-afternoon walks! What made me change my mind? I learned the hard way something already known to the ancient Greeks : mathematics does not allow short-cuts, you cannot expect students to run before they can walk. Giving an over-ambitious course doesn’t offer the students a quicker road to research, but it may result in a burn-out before they get even started!

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nog course outline

Now that the preparation for my undergraduate courses in the first semester is more or less finished, I can begin to think about the courses I’ll give this year in the master class
non-commutative geometry. For a change I’d like to introduce the main ideas and concepts by a very concrete example : Ginzburg’s coadjoint-orbit result for the Calogero-Moser space and its
relation to the classification of one-sided ideals in the first Weyl algebra. Not only will this example give me the opportunity to say things about formally smooth algebras, non-commutative
differential forms and even non-commutative symplectic geometry, but it also involves what some people prefer to call _non-commutative algebraic geometry_ (that is the study of graded Noetherian
rings having excellent homological properties) via the projective space associated to the homogenized Weyl algebra. Besides, I have some affinity with this example.

A long time ago I introduced
the moduli spaces for one-sided ideals in the Weyl algebra in Moduli spaces for right ideals of the Weyl algebra and when I was printing a _very_ preliminary version of Ginzburg’s paper
Non-commutative Symplectic Geometry, Quiver varieties, and Operads (probably because he send a preview to Yuri Berest and I was in contact with him at the time about the moduli spaces) the
idea hit me at the printer that the right way to look at the propblem was to consider the quiver

$\xymatrix{\vtx{} \ar@/^/[rr]^a & & \vtx{} \ar@(u,ur)^x \ar@(d,dr)_y \ar@/^/[ll]^b} $

which eventually led to my paper together with Raf Bocklandt Necklace Lie algebras and noncommutative symplectic geometry.

Apart from this papers I would like to explain the following
papers by illustrating them on the above example : Michail Kapranov Noncommutative geometry based on commutator expansions Maxim Kontsevich and Alex Rosenberg Noncommutative smooth
spaces
Yuri Berest and George Wilson Automorphisms and Ideals of the Weyl Algebra Yuri Berest and George Wilson Ideal Classes of the Weyl Algebra and Noncommutative Projective
Geometry
Travis Schedler A Hopf algebra quantizing a necklace Lie algebra canonically associated to a quiver and of course the seminal paper by Joachim Cuntz and Daniel Quillen on
quasi-free algebras and their non-commutative differential forms which, unfortunately, in not available online.

I plan to write a series of posts here on all this material but I will be very
happy to get side-tracked by any comments you might have. So please, if you are interested in any of this and want to have more information or explanation do not hesitate to post a comment (only
your name and email is required to do so, you do not have to register and you can even put some latex-code in your post but such a posting will first have to viewed by me to avoid cluttering of
nonsense GIFs in my directories).

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the necklace Lie bialgebra

Today Travis Schedler posted a nice paper on the arXiv
“A Hopf algebra quantizing a necklace Lie algebra
canonically associated to a quiver”
. I heard the first time about
necklace Lie algebras from Jacques Alev who had heard a talk by Kirillov
who constructed an infinite dimensional Lie algebra on the monomials in
two non-commuting variables X and Y (upto cyclic permutation of the
word, whence ‘necklace’). Later I learned that this Lie algebra was
defined by Maxim Kontsevich for the free algebra in an even number of
variables in his “Formal (non)commutative symplectic geometry” paper
(published in the Gelfand seminar proceedings 1993). Later I extended
this construction together with Raf Bocklandt in “Necklace Lie algebras and non-commutative symplectic
geometry”
(see also Victor Ginzburg’s paper “Non-commutative symplectic geometry, quiver
varieties and operads”
. Here, the necklace Lie algebra appears from
(relative) non-commutative differential forms on a symmetric quiver and
its main purpose is to define invariant symplectic flows on quotient
varieties of representations of the quiver.
Travis Schedler
extends this construction in two important ways. First, he shows that
the Lie-algebra is really a Lie-bialgebra hence there is some sort of
group-like object acting on all the representation varieties. Even more
impoprtant, he is able to define a quantization of this structure
defining a Hopf algebra. In this quantization, necklaces play a role
similar to that of (projected) flat links in the plane whereas their
quantization (necklaces with a height) are similar to genuine links in
3-space.
Sadly, at the moment there is no known natural
representations for this Hopf algebra playing a similar role to the
quotient varieties of quiver-varieties in the case of the necklace Lie
bialgebra.

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noncommutative geometry

Today I
did prepare my lectures for tomorrow for the NOG master-class on
non-commutative geometry. I\’m still doubting whether it is worth TeXing
my handwritten notes. Anyway, here is what I will cover tomorrow :

– Examples of l-algebras (btw. l is an
arbitrary field) : matrix-algebras, group-algebras lG of finite
groups, polynomial algebras, free and tensor-algebras, path algebras
lQ of a finite quiver, coordinaterings O(C) of affine smooth
curves C etc.
– Refresher on homological algebra : free and
projective modules, exact sequences and complexes, Hom and Ext groups
and how to calculate them from projective resolutions, interpretation of
Ext^1 via (non-split) short exact sequences and stuff like that.
– Hochschild cohomology and noncommutative differential forms.
Bimodules and their Hochschild cohomology, standard complex and
connection with differential forms, universal bimodule of derivations
etc.
– Non-commutative manifolds. Interpretation of low degree
Hochschild cohomology, characterization of non-commutative points as
separable l-algebras and examples. Formally smooth algebras
(non-commutative curves) characterised by the lifting property for
square-free extensions and a proof that formally smooth algebras are
hereditary.

Next week I will cover the representation
varieties of formally smooth algebras and the semigroup on their
connected (or irreducible) components.

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