Mirror manifolds in higher dimension

We describe mirror manifolds in dimensions different from the familiar case of complex threefolds. We isolate certain simplifying features present only in dimension three, and supply alternative methods that do not rely on these special characteristics and hence can be generalized to other dimensions. Although the moduli spaces for Calabi-Yau d-folds are not "special Kähler manifolds" when d>3, they still have a restricted geometry, and we indicate the new geometrical structures which arise. We formulate and apply procedures which allow for the construction of mirror maps and the calculation of order-by-order instanton corrections to Yukawa couplings. Mathematically, these corrections are expected to correspond to calculating Chern classes of various parameter spaces (Hilbert schemes) for rational curves on Calabi-Yau manifolds. Our mirror-aided calculations agree with those Chern class calculations in the limited number of cases for which the latter can be carried out with current mathematical tools. Finally, we make explicit some striking relations between instanton corrections for various Yukawa couplings, derived from the associativity of the operator product algebra. © 1995 Springer-Verlag.

Duke Scholars

Author M. Ronen Plesser Physics