Quantization Of Singular Symplectic Quotients

This is the first exposition of the quantization theory of singular symplectic (Marsden-Weinstein) quotients and their applications to physics. The reader will acquire an introduction to the various techniques used in this area, as well as an overview of the latest research approaches. These involve classical differential and algebraic geometry, as well as operator algebras and noncommutative geometry. Thus one will be amply prepared to follow future developments in this field.

This volume is a collection of articles by speakers at the Poisson 2006 conference. The program for Poisson 2006 was an overlap of topics that included deformation quantization, generalized complex structures, differentiable stacks, normal forms, and group-valued moment maps and reduction.

The material and references in this extended second edition of "The Topology of Torus Actions on Symplectic Manifolds", published as Volume 93 in this series in 1991, have been updated. Symplectic manifolds and torus actions are investigated, with numerous examples of torus actions, for instance on some moduli spaces. Although the book is still centered on convexity results, it contains much more material, in particular lots of new examples and exercises.

This volume, based on lectures and short communications at a summer school in Villa de Leyva, Colombia (July 2005), offers an introduction to some recent developments in several active topics at the interface between geometry, topology and quantum field theory. It is aimed at graduate students in physics or mathematics who might want insight in the following topics (covered in five survey lectures): Anomalies and noncommutative geometry, Deformation quantisation and Poisson algebras, Topological quantum field theory and orbifolds. These lectures are followed by nine articles on various topics at the borderline of mathematics and physics ranging from quasicrystals to invariant instantons through black holes, and involving a number of mathematical tools borrowed from geometry, algebra and analysis.

In the last decade, the development of new ideas in quantum theory, including geometric and deformation quantization, the non-Abelian Berry''s geometric factor, super- and BRST symmetries, non-commutativity, has called into play the geometric techniques based on the deep interplay between algebra, differential geometry and topology. The book aims at being a guide to advanced differential geometric and topological methods in quantum mechanics. Their main peculiarity lies in the fact that geometry in quantum theory speaks mainly the algebraic language of rings, modules, sheaves and categories. Geometry is by no means the primary scope of the book, but it underlies many ideas in modern quantum physics and provides the most advanced schemes of quantization.

* The invited papers in this volume are written in honor of Alan Weinstein, one of the world’s foremost geometers * Contributions cover a broad range of topics in symplectic and differential geometry, Lie theory, mechanics, and related fields * Intended for graduate students and working mathematicians, this text is a distillation of prominent research and an indication of future trends in geometry, mechanics, and mathematical physics

This volume marks the twentieth anniversary of the Bialowieza series of meetings on Differential Geometric Methods in Physics; the anniversary meeting was held during July 1-7, 2001. The Bialowieza meetings, held every year during the first week of July, have now grown into an annual pilgrimage for an international group of physicists and mathematicians. The topics discussed at the meetings, while within the broad area of differential geometric methods in physics, have focused around quantization, coherent states, infinite dimensional systems, symplectic geometry, spectral theory and harmonic analysis. The present volume brings together a set of specially invited papers from leading experts in the various fields, who have contributed to these meetings and whose work represents a cross-section of the topics discussed. Consequently, rather than a proceedings volume, this book embodies the spirit of the Bialowieza workshops and reflects their scientific tenor, as a tribute to the completion of two decades of a shared scientific experience.This book will be of interest to researchers and graduate students working in the area of differential geometric methods in physics, as it gives interesting glimpses into the present state of the art from different points of view.

This volume reflects the growing collaboration between mathematicians and theoretical physicists to treat the foundations of quantum field theory using the mathematical tools of q-deformed algebras and noncommutative differential geometry. A particular challenge is posed by gravity, which probably necessitates extension of these methods to geometries with minimum length and therefore quantization of space. This volume builds on the lectures and talks that have been given at a recent meeting on "Quantum Field Theory and Noncommutative Geometry." A considerable effort has been invested in making the contributions accessible to a wider community of readers - so this volume will not only benefit researchers in the field but also postgraduate students and scientists from related areas wishing to become better acquainted with this field.

An accessible introduction to Poisson geometry suitable for graduate students.