GEOMETRIC ORIGIN OF SUPER VIRASORO ALGEBRAS

RYO SATO

Abstract. We review some basic facts about superscheme theory and the
N = 2 super Virasoro algebra.

Contents
1. Commutative geometry
1.1. Locally ringed spaces
1.2. Ane schemes and commutative rings
1.3. Ane schemes and representable functors
1.4. Schemes
2. Super-geometry
2.1. Superschemes
2.2. Supermanifolds
2.3. Projective superschemes
2.4. Super Riemann surfaces
3. Geometric realization of super Virasoro algebras
3.1. Super-derivations
3.2. N = 2 super Virasoro algebra

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1. Commutative geometry
In this section, we review the precise notion of spaces. Since topological spaces
are too general to handle, we consider locally ringed spaces, which are topological
spaces together with an additional structure called the structure sheaf.
1.1. Locally ringed spaces. Let X be a topological space. Denote by OpX the
category of open sets in X, i.e.
(
)
Ob OpX := {U {X : open},
HomOpX (U, V ) :=

{U,V : U , V } if U V,
otherwise.

Definition 1.1. Let C be a category. A C-valued presheaf on X is a functor

opp
F : Opopp
X C, where OpX is the opposite category of OpX .
In this note, we always consider the case where C is an essentially small abelian
category. For U V and s F(V ), we write s|U for F(U,V )(s) F (U ). This is a
formalization of the restriction of a function to a subset of its domain.
Graduate School of Mathematical Sciences, The University of Tokyo.
Mail address: rsato@[Link].
1

RYO SATO

Definition 1.2. A sheaf on X is a presheaf F satisfying the following condition:



Gluing condition
For any open set U in X, the following data
an open covering {Ui }iI of U ,
{si F (Ui )}iI such that si |Ui Uj = sj |Ui Uj for any i, j I
give rise to a unique element s F (U ) such that s|Ui = si .

Let M be a topological space with an additional structure, i.e. a structure of a
smooth manifold, a complex manifold or an algebraic variety. For an open set U in
M , the set
OM (U ) := {f : U C | f is compatible with the additional structure.}
forms a commutative C-algebra. 1 Then the assignments U 7 OM (U ) and U,V 7
U,V define an AlgC -valued sheaf on M , where AlgC is the category of commutative
C-algebras.
Definition 1.3. Let F be a sheaf on X and I(x) the poset of open neighborhoods
of x X, i.e. U V if and only if U V . Define the stalk of F at x X by

F(U ) ,
Fx := lim F(U ) =

U I(x)

U I(x)

where f g holds for f F(U ) and g F (V ) if and only if there exists an open
subset W U V such that f |W = g|W . An element [f ] Fx is called a germ.
Example 1.4. Let X be an ane variety over C. Denote the coordinate ring by
A(X) and the field of rational functions by K(X). For x X, we put
mx := {f A(X) | f (x) = 0} A(X),
and then this ideal is maximal. Recall that the ring of regular functions on an open
subset U X is defined by

OX (U ) :=
A(X)mx K(X).
xU

Then we have OX,x

= A(X)mx = {g/f K(X) | f (x) = 0}.
Lemma 1.5. For any x M , the stalk OM,x is a local ring with the unique
maximal ideal mX,x := { [f ] OM,x | f (x) = 0 }.
These observations lead us to the following formulation of spaces.
Definition 1.6. A pair (X, OX ) is a locally ringed space if X is a topological space
and OX is a Ring-valued sheaf on X such that OX,x is a local ring for any x X,
where Ring is the category of rings. The sheaf OX is called the structure sheaf.
From now on, we fix a commutative ring k as a base ring.
1If U = , we set O () := {0}.
M

GEOMETRIC ORIGIN OF SUPER VIRASORO ALGEBRAS

Example 1.7. Let A be a commutative k-algebra and X := Spec(A) the set of

prime ideals of A with the Zariski topology. For a subset
{ S A, we define the zero
}
locus of S by Z(S) := { p Spec(A) | S p }. Then, Xf := X \ Z({f }) | f A
forms an open base of X and the assignment Xf 7 OX (Xf ) := Af gives rise to an
Algk -valued sheaf on X, where Algk is the category of commutative k-algebras. In
fact, the stalk OX,p is isomorphic to the local ring Ap . 2 Therefore this pair (X, OX )
gives an example of a locally ringed space, which is called an ane k-scheme.
Definition 1.8. A morphism of locally ringed spaces (X, OX ) (Y, OY ) is a pair
(f, f ) with f : X Y a continuous map and f : OY f OX a morphism of
sheaves such that the induced map fx : OY,f (x) OX,x is a local map for any
x X.
1.2. Ane schemes and commutative rings. Denote by A k the category of
ane k-schemes.
Lemma 1.9. For any ane k-scheme X, the mapping
(
)
(
)
(
)
: HomA k X, Spec(A) HomAlgk A, OX (X) ; (f, f ) 7 f Spec(A)
is bijective.
Proposition 1.10. The spectrum functor Spec : Algk A op
k and the global
section functor : A op

Alg
are
mutually
quasi-inverse.
k
k
1.3. Ane schemes and representable functors. A functor
F : Algk Set
(
)
is representable if there exists A Ob Algk such that F
= HomAlgk (A, ) as a
functor, where Set is the category of sets. We regard an ane scheme Spec(A) for
a k-algebra A as the representable functor
Algk Set; B 7 HomAlgk (A, B).
We also write Spec(A) for this functor.
Proposition 1.11. The above identification gives rise to a bijection
(
)
(
)
ane k-schemes /
= representable functors Algk Set /
=.
1.4. Schemes. (Under construction...)
2. Super-geometry
In this section, we generalize the objects in the previous section to supercommutative case. (cf. cosmic scheme theory)
2.1. Superschemes. In what follows, we replace rings by superrings, i.e. Z2 graded rings. A superring R = R0 R1 is supercommutative if
ab = (1)|a||b| ba
for any a R|a| and b R|b| . A superring is local if it has a unique maximal graded
left ideal. We note that a Z2 -graded k-algebra is often referred as a k-superalgebra.
2A is the localization of A by the multiplicative set A \ p. Note that pA = {r/s | r p, s
p
p
A \ p} gives the unique maximal ideal.

RYO SATO

Lemma 2.1. Let A = A0 A1 be a supercommutative k-superalgebra and set

Spec(A) := Spec(A0 ). The assignment
(
)
Spec(A)f 7 OSpec(A) Spec(A)f := Af (f A0 )
gives rise to a SAlgk -valued sheaf on Spec(A), where SAlgk is the category of
supercommutative k-superalgebras. Moreover, for any p Spec(A), its stalk
OSpec(A),p is isomorphic to the local k-superalgebra Ap .
(
)
Definition 2.2. A locally superringed space Spec(A) := Spec(A), OSpec(A) is
called an ane k-superscheme. The underlying topological space Spec(A) is called
the reduced space of Spec(A).
Example 2.3. Let (1 , . . . , n ) be the
basis of Cn . By setting deg(i ) := 1
standard
n
for 1 i n, the exterior algebra (C ) forms a supercommutative
algebra. De
note this 2n1 |2n1 -dimensional supercommutative algebra by (1 , . . . , n ). The
ane superscheme

)
(
Am|n := Spec C[x1 , . . . , xm ] (1 , . . . , n )
is simply called the m|n-dimensional ane superspace over C.
Remark 2.4. Here we write A for the supercommutative algebra C[x1 , . . . , xm ]
(1 , . . . , n ). Note that a projection
A0 A0 /A21
= C[x1 , . . . , xm ]
induces a homeomorphism
(
)
=
Spec C[x1 , . . . , xm ] Spec(A).
Therefore we can regard the locally superringed space Am|n as the space Am with
a larger structure sheaf than OAm .
Denote by SA k the full subcategory of locally superringed spaces whose objects
are ane k-superschemes. The following statements are super-analogs of Proposition 1.10 and 1.11.
Proposition 2.5. The spectrum functor Spec : SAlgk SA op
k and the global
section functor : SA op

SAlg
are
mutually
quasi-inverse.
k
k
Proposition 2.6.
(
)
(
)
ane k-superschemes /
= representable functors SAlgk Set /
=
is bijective.
Here we introduce the notion of superschemes.
Definition 2.7. A locally superringed space (X, OX ) is a k-superscheme if a pair
(X, OX,0 ) forms a k-scheme and the OX,0 -module OX,1 is quasi-coherent.
Example 2.8. It is obvious that an ane k-superscheme is a k-superscheme. Note
that every k-superscheme is locally isomorphic to some ane k-superscheme.

GEOMETRIC ORIGIN OF SUPER VIRASORO ALGEBRAS

2.2. Supermanifolds. In this subsection, we study a connection between supergeometry and ordinary geometry.
Lemma 2.9. The forgetful functor U : SAlgk SVeck admits a left adjoint
functor F : SVeck SAlgk , i.e. there exist natural isomorphisms
(
)
(
)
HomSAlgk F(V ), A
= HomSVeck V, U(A)
for V SVeck and A SAlgk .
Let X be a k-scheme and U X an open set. Denote by
U : OX (U )mod Veck SVeck
the composition of the forgetful functor and the natural embedding, and : SVeck
SVeck the parity change functor. Set a functor

(U ) := F U : OX (U )mod SAlgk .

Then the set of functors { (U ) | U X : open} gives a functor

: OX mod PSh(X, SAlgk ),

where PSh(X, SAlgk ) is the category of SAlgk -valued presheaves on X.
Definition 2.10. For a real or complex manifold X and
a coherent OX -module F,
we define a locally superringed space S(X, F) := (X, F) . Then, a supermanifold
is a locally superringed space (X, OX ) which has an open covering {Ui X} such
that (Ui , OX |Ui )
= S(Ui , Fi ) for some {Fi }. A supermanifold is split if it is globally
isomorphic to some S(X, F).
Example 2.11. The m|n-dimensional ane superspace( Am|n is a split
) superman
as a locally
ifold. In fact, there exists an isomorphism Am|n
= S Am , (OAn
m)
superringed space, where () stands for HomOX (, OX ).
(
)
Example 2.12. A supermanifold SX := S X, 1X is called the de Rham spectrum of a real or complex manifold X. This supermanifold is considered as the
configuration space of an N = 1 supersymmetric particle moving on X.
Example 2.13. R. Donagi and E. Witten prove that the moduli space of super
Riemann surfaces with genus greater than or equal to 5 is not split.
2.3. Projective superschemes. (Under construction...)
2.4. Super Riemann surfaces. (Under construction...)
3. Geometric realization of super Virasoro algebras
3.1. Super-derivations. (Under construction...)

3.2.
N = 2 super Virasoro algebra. We define a super-derivation on C[z ]
() by
)
(
f (z) + g(z) := g(z)

for f (z), g(z) C[z ]. Then we have the canonical anti-commutation relation
{
}

, =
+
= id .

RYO SATO

(
)
We fix a C-basis of the Lie superalgebra W1 := Der C[z ] () as follows:

(n + 1)z n ,
z
2

jn := z n ,

1
gr+ := z r+ 2 ,

r+ 12
gr := z

n := z n+1

for n Z and r Z + 21 .
Lemma 3.1. We have
[m , n ] = (m n)m+n , [m , jn ] = njm+n , [m , gr ] =

(m

r gm+r
,

[jm , jn ] = 0, [jm , gr ] = gm+r

, {gr+ , gs+ } = {gr , gs } = 0,
1
{gr+ , gs } = r+s + (r s)jr+s .
2
Remark 3.2. By easy computations, we have the following:
]
[

= (m + n)z m+n+1 ,
z m+1 , z n+1
z
z
z
[
]

z m+1 , z n
= nz m+n ,
z

] (
)
[
1
1
1

= r+
z m+r+ 2 ,
z m+1 , z r+ 2
z

] (
)
[
1
1

= m + r
z m+r+ 2 ,
z m+1 , z r+ 2
z
z
2
z
[
]

zm , zn
= 0,

]
[
1
1

= z m+r+ 2 ,
z m , z r+ 2

[
]
1
1

z m , z r+ 2
= z m+r+ 2 ,

z
z
}
{
1
1
z r+ 2 , z s+ 2
= 0,

{
}
(
)
1
1

z r+ 2 , z s+ 2
= z r+s+1
+ r+
z r+s ,

z
z
2

{
}
1
1

z r+ 2 , z s+ 2
= 0.
z
z

It is known that W1 is isomorphic to the N

Lie) superalgebra K2 ,
( = 2 contact

which is a Lie subsuperalgebra of W2 := Der C[z ] (1 , 2 ) . Moreover there

exists a universal central extension
0 C ns2 K2 0

GEOMETRIC ORIGIN OF SUPER VIRASORO ALGEBRAS

called (the Neveu-Schwarz sector of) the N = 2 super Virasoro algebra. This Lie
superalgebra may describe infinitesimal deformation of super complex structures
3
on a 1|1-dimensional projective C-superschemes.

3A super complex structure is a choice of a completely non-integrable 0|1-dimensional subbundle of its tangent bundle.