Quantization of hyper-elliptic curves from isomonodromic systems and topological recursion

We prove that the topological recursion formalism can be used to compute the WKB expansion of solutions of second order differential operators obtained by quantization of any hyper-elliptic curve. We express this quantum curve in terms of spectral Darboux coordinates on the moduli space of meromorphic $mathfrak{sl}_2$-connections on $mathbb{P}^1$ and argue that the topological recursion produces a $2g$-parameter family of associated tau functions, where $2g$ is the dimension of the moduli space considered. We apply this procedure to the 6 Painleve equations which correspond to $g=1$ and consider a $g=2$ example.

Isomonodromic deformations of a rational differential system and reconstruction with the topological recursion: the $mathfrak{sl}_2$ case

In this paper, we show that it is always possible to deform a differential equation $partial_x Psi(x) = L(x) Psi(x)$ with $L(x) in mathfrak{sl}_2(mathbb{C})(x)$ by introducing a small formal parameter $hbar$ in such a way that it satisfies the Topological Type properties of Berg`ere, Borot and Eynard. This is obtained by including the former differential equation in an isomonodromic system and using some homogeneity conditions to introduce $hbar$. The topological recursion is then proved to provide a formal series expansion of the corresponding tau-function whose coefficients can thus be expressed in terms of intersections of tautological classes in the Deligne-Mumford compactification of the moduli space of surfaces. We present a few examples including any Fuchsian system of $mathfrak{sl}_2(mathbb{C})(x)$ as well as some elements of Painleve hierarchies.

Geometric recursion

We propose a general theory to construct functorial assignments $Sigma longmapsto Omega_{Sigma} in E(Sigma)$ for a large class of functors $E$ from a certain category of bordered surfaces to a suitable target category of topological vector spaces. The construction proceeds by successive excisions of homotopy classes of embedded pairs of pants, and thus by induction on the Euler characteristic. We provide sufficient conditions to guarantee the infinite sums appearing in this construction converge. In particular, we can generate mapping class group invariant vectors $Omega_{Sigma} in E(Sigma)$. The initial data for the recursion encode the cases when $Sigma$ is a pair of pants or a torus with one boundary, as well as the recursion kernels used for glueing. We give this construction the name of Geometric Recursion (GR). As a first application, we demonstrate that our formalism produce a large class of measurable functions on the moduli space of bordered Riemann surfaces. Under certain conditions, the functions produced by the geometric recursion can be integrated with respect to the Weil--Petersson measure on moduli spaces with fixed boundary lengths, and we show that the integrals satisfy a topological recursion (TR) generalizing the one of Eynard and Orantin. We establish a generalization of Mirzakhani--McShane identities, namely that multiplicative statistics of hyperbolic lengths of multicurves can be computed by GR, and thus their integrals satisfy TR. As a corollary, we find an interpretation of the intersection indices of the Chern character of bundles of conformal blocks in terms of the aforementioned statistics. The theory has however a wider scope than functions on Teichmuller space, which will be explored in subsequent papers; one expects that many functorial objects in low-dimensional geometry could be constructed by variants of our new geometric recursion.

Primary invariants of Hurwitz Frobenius manifolds

Hurwitz spaces parameterizing covers of the Riemann sphere can be equipped with a Frobenius structure. In this review, we recall the construction of such Hurwitz Frobenius manifolds as well as the correspondence between semisimple Frobenius manifolds and the topological recursion formalism. We then apply this correspondence to Hurwitz Frobenius manifolds by explaining that the corresponding primary invariants can be obtained as periods of multidifferentials globally defined on a compact Riemann surface by topological recursion. Finally, we use this construction to reply to the following question in a large class of cases: given a compact Riemann surface, what does the topological recursion compute?

Dubrovins superpotential as a global spectral curve

We apply the spectral curve topological recursion to Dubrovins universal Landau-Ginzburg superpotential associated to a semi-simple point of any conformal Frobenius manifold. We show that under some conditions the expansion of the correlation differentials reproduces the cohomological field theory associated with the same point of the initial Frobenius manifold.

Modular functors, cohomological field theories and topological recursion

Given a topological modular functor $mathcal{V}$ in the sense of Walker cite{Walker}, we construct vector bundles over $bar{mathcal{M}}_{g,n}$, whose Chern classes define semi-simple cohomological field theories. This construction depends on a determination of the logarithm of the eigenvalues of the Dehn twist and central element actions. We show that the intersection of the Chern class with the $psi$-classes in $bar{mathcal{M}}_{g,n}$ is computed by the topological recursion of cite{EOFg}, for a local spectral curve that we describe. In particular, we show how the Verlinde formula for the dimensions $D_{vec{lambda}}(mathbf{Sigma}_{g,n}) = dim mathcal{V}_{vec{lambda}}(mathbf{Sigma}_{g,n})$ is retrieved from the topological recursion. We analyze the consequences of our result on two examples: modular functors associated to a finite group $G$ (for which $D_{vec{lambda}}(mathbf{Sigma}_{g,n})$ enumerates certain $G$-principle bundles over a genus $g$ surface with $n$ boundary conditions specified by $vec{lambda}$), and the modular functor obtained from Wess-Zumino-Witten conformal field theory associated to a simple, simply-connected Lie group $G$ (for which $mathcal{V}_{vec{lambda}}(mathbf{Sigma}_{g,n})$ is the Verlinde bundle).

Polynomiality of Hurwitz numbers, Bouchard-Mari~no conjecture, and a new proof of the ELSV formula

In this paper we give a new proof of the ELSV formula. First, we refine an argument of Okounkov and Pandharipande in order to prove (quasi-)polynomiality of Hurwitz numbers without using the ELSV formula (the only way to do that before used the ELSV formula). Then, using this polynomiality we give a new proof of the Bouchard-Mari~no conjecture. After that, using the correspondence between the Givental group action and the topological recursion coming from matrix models, we prove the equivalence of the Bouchard-Mari~no conjecture and the ELSV formula (it is a refinement of an argument by Eynard).

Abstract loop equations, topological recursion, and applications

We formulate a notion of abstract loop equations, and show that their solution is provided by a topological recursion under some assumptions, in particular the result takes a universal form. The Schwinger-Dyson equation of the one and two hermitian matrix models, and of the O(n) model appear as special cases. We study applications to repulsive particles systems, and explain how our notion of loop equations are related to Virasoro constraints. Then, as a special case, we study in detail applications to enumeration problems in a general class of non-intersecting loop models on the random lattice of all topologies, to SU(N) Chern-Simons invariants of torus knots in the large N expansion. We also mention an application to Liouville theory on surfaces of positive genus.

Computation of open Gromov-Witten invariants for toric Calabi-Yau 3-folds by topological recursion, a proof of the BKMP conjecture

The BKMP conjecture (2006-2008), proposed a new method to compute closed and open Gromov-Witten invariants for every toric Calabi-Yau 3-folds, through a topological recursion based on mirror symmetry. So far, this conjecture had been verified to low genus for several toric CY3folds, and proved to all genus only for C^3. In this article we prove the general case. Our proof is based on the fact that both sides of the conjecture can be naturally written in terms of combinatorial sums of weighted graphs: on the A-model side this is the localization formula, and on the B-model side the graphs encode the recursive algorithm of the topological recursion. One can slightly reorganize the set of graphs obtained in the B-side, so that it coincides with the one obtained by localization in the A-model.Then it suffices to compare the weights of vertices and edges of graphs on each side, which is done in 2 steps: the weights coincide in the large radius limit, due to the fact that the toric graph is the tropical limit of the mirror curve. Then the derivatives with respect to Kahler radius coincide due to special geometry property implied by the topological recursion.