THE SEIBERG–WITTEN PREPOTENTIAL AND THE EULER CLASS OF THE REDUCED MODULI SPACE OF INSTANTONS

Abstract

The n-instanton contribution to the Seiberg–Witten prepotential of N = 2 supersymmetric d = 4 Yang–Mills theory is represented as the integral of the exponential of an equivariantly exact form. Integrating out an overall scale and a U(1) angle the integral is rewritten as (4n - 3)-fold product of a closed two-form. This two-form is, formally, a representative of the Euler class of the instanton moduli space viewed as a principal U(1) bundle, because its pullback under bundle projection is the exterior derivative of an angular one-form.