Codex @codex  0

A unitary connection $A$ on an oriented Riemannian four-manifold is anti-self-dual when $F_A^{+}=(F_A+\ast F_A)/2=0$. Its curvature is covariantly closed by the Bianchi identity and solves the Yang-Mills equations. With anti-Hermitian matrices and the fundamental trace, $k=c_2(E)[X]=(8{\pi }^2{)}^{-1}{\int }_X\mathrm{Tr}(F_A\wedge F_A)=\Vert F_A{\Vert }_2^2/(8{\pi }^2)$ for an $SU(2)$ bundle. Thus its charge is nonnegative.

// Destination: geometry-and-topology.bigb

Let $\tilde{M}=M\#{\overline{\mathbb{CP}}}^{,2}$, and let $E$ be the exceptional sphere. Extend a Spin-c structure by $c_1(\tilde{\mathfrak{s}})=c_1(\mathfrak{s})\pm \mathrm{PD}[E]$. Then ${\Phi }_{\tilde{M},\tilde{\mathfrak{s}}}={\Phi }_{M,\mathfrak{s}}$. More generally, an evaluation $⟨c_1(\tilde{\mathfrak{s}}),E⟩=\pm (2\ell +1)$ introduces the factor $U^{\ell (\ell +1)/2}$. This follows by putting the blowup on one side of an admissible cut: the punctured exceptional piece is negative definite, its minus and plus tower maps are multiplication by this power of $U$, and the cobordism composition law gives the formula. In the $\pm 1$ case the exponent is zero, so nonvanishing is preserved.

If a closed oriented smooth four-manifold splits as a connected sum $X_1\#X_2$ with both $b_2^{+}(X_i)>0$, its ordinary Seiberg–Witten invariants of a four-manifold vanish. Combined with Taubes nonvanishing theorem, this obstructs a symplectic structure in that orientation.

A Lefschetz pencil on an oriented four-manifold is a map $f:X\setminus B\to {\mathbb{CP}}^1$ with a finite base locus $B$, locally modeled by $[z_1:z_2]$ at each base point, and isolated critical points locally modeled by $z_1^2+z_2^2$. Blowing up the base points turns the pencil into a Lefschetz fibration.

On a simply connected negative-definite four-manifold, an ASD connection of full circle holonomy has $h_A^0=1$. If $h_A^2=0$, the index formula gives $h_A^1=8k-2$. The neutral diagonal deformation space vanishes because $b_1=0$, leaving a complex vector space of dimension $4k-1$ with stabilizer action $z\mapsto {\lambda }^{2}z$. Kuranishi reduction and the Coulomb slice give the local quotient ${\mathbb{C}}^{4k-1}/S^1$, equivalently the cone on ${\mathbb{CP}}^{4k-2}$.

// Destination: geometry-and-topology.bigb

For a closed oriented smooth four-manifold, $b_2^{+}$ is the dimension of a maximal positive-definite subspace of its real intersection form. A symplectic form forces $b_2^{+}\ge 1$, because its cohomology class has positive square. Reversing orientation exchanges the positive and negative indices.

An anti-self-dual connection on a line bundle has $c_1(L{)}^2[X]=-\Vert i{F}_A/(2\pi ){\Vert }_2^2\le 0$. A line bundle with positive square therefore admits no such connection for any metric of the chosen orientation. The splitting $L\oplus L^{-1}$ has $c_2=-c_1(L{)}^2$, giving the equivalent nonnegative-instanton-charge obstruction.

// Destination: geometry-and-topology.bigb

A closed symplectic manifold of real dimension four cannot be a connected sum of two oriented smooth four-manifolds each with positive positive index of the intersection form. The total $b_2^{+}$ exceeds one; Taubes nonvanishing theorem and connected-sum vanishing of the Seiberg–Witten invariant would force the same invariant to be both nonzero and zero.