tt∗ geometry of modular curves

Abstract

Abstract Motivated by Vafa’s model, we study the tt ∗ geometry of a degenerate class of fractional quantum Hall effect (FQHE) models with an abelian group of symmetry acting transitively on the classical vacua. Despite it is not relevant for the phenomenology of the FQHE, this class of theories has interesting mathematical properties. We find that these models are parametrized by the family of modular curves Y 1(N) = ℍ/Γ1(N), labelled by an integer N ≥ 2. Each point of the space of level N is in correspondence with a one dimensional $$ \mathcal{N} $$ N = 4 Landau-Ginzburg theory, which is defined on an elliptic curve with N vacua and N poles in the fundamental cell. The modular curve Y (N) = ℍ/Γ(N) is a cover of degree N of Y 1(N) and plays the role of spectral cover for the space of models. The presence of an abelian symmetry allows to diagonalize the Berry’s connection of the vacuum bundle and the tt ∗ equations turn out to be the well known $$ \hat{A} $$ A ^ N −1 Toda equations. The underlying structure of the modular curves and the connection between geometry and number theory emerge clearly when we study the modular properties and classify the critical limits of these models.