Cette thèse porte sur la théorie BF abélienne sur une variété fermée de dimen-sion 3. Elle est formulée en termes de classes de jauge qui sont en fait des classes de cohomologie de Deligne-Beilinson. Cette formulation offre la possibilité d’extraire les quantités mathématiquement pertinentes d’intégrales fonctionnelles formelles. La fonction de partition et les valeurs moyennes d’observables sont ainsi calculées. Ces calculs complètent ceux effectués pour la théorie de Chern-Simons abélienne et ces résultats sont liés entre eux de même qu’avec les invariants de Reshetikhin-Turaev et de Turaev-Viro abéliens. Deux extensions de ce travail sont discutées. Premièrement, une approche graphique est proposée afin de traiter l’invariant classique SU(N) de Chern-Simons. Deuxièmement, une interprétation géométrique de la procédure de fixation de jauge est présentée pour la théorie de Chern-Simons abélienne dans mathbb{R}^{4l+3}. / In this study, the abelian BF theory is considered on a closed manifold of di-mension 3. It is formulated in terms of gauge classes which appear to be Deligne-Beilinson cohomology classes. Such a formulation offers the possibility to extract the quantities mathematically relevant quantities from formal functional integrals. This way, the partition function and the expectation value of observables are computed. Those computations complete the ones performed with the abelian Chern-Simons theory and the results appear to be connected together and also with abelian Reshetikhin-Turaev and Turaev-Viro topological invariants. Two extensions of this study are also discussed. Firstly, a graphical approach is proposed to deal with the SU(N) classical Chern-Simons invariant. Secondly, a geometric interpretation of the gauge fixing procedure is presented for the abelian Chern-Simons theory in mathbb{R}^{4l+3}.

Thesis (MSc)--Stellenbosch University, 2014. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: In this thesis we develop a self-dual categorical approach to some topics in non-abelian algebra, which is based on replacing the framework of a category with that of a category equipped with a functor to it. We also make some first steps towards a possible link between this theory and the theory of databases in computer science. Both of these theories are based around the study of Grothendieck bifibrations and their generalisations. The main results in this thesis concern correspondences between certain structures on a category which are relevant to the study of categories of non-abelian group-like structures, and functors over that category. An investigation of these correspondences leads to a system of dual axioms on a functor, which can be considered as a solution to the proposal of Mac Lane in his 1950 paper "Duality for Groups" that a self-dual setting for formulating and proving results for groups be found. The part of the thesis concerned with the theory of databases is based on a recent approach by Johnson and Rosebrugh to views of databases and the view update problem. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: In hierdie tesis word ’n self-duale kategoriese benadering tot verskeie onderwerpe in nie-abelse algebra ontwikkel, wat gebaseer is op die vervanging van die raamwerk van ’n kategorie met dié van ’n kategorie saam met ’n funktor tot die kategorie. Ons neem ook enkele eerste stappe in die rigting van ’n skakel tussen hierdie teorie and die teorie van databasisse in rekenaarwetenskap. Beide hierdie teorieë is gebaseer op die studie van Grothendieck bifibrasies en hul veralgemenings. Die hoof resultate in hierdie tesis het betrekking tot ooreenkomste tussen sekere strukture op ’n kategorie wat relevant tot die studie van nie-abelse groep-agtige strukture is, en funktore oor daardie kategorie. ’n Verdere ondersoek van hierdie ooreemkomste lei tot ’n sisteem van duale aksiomas op ’n funktor, wat beskou kan word as ’n oplossing tot die voorstel van Mac Lane in sy 1950 artikel “Duality for Groups” dat ’n self-duale konteks gevind word waarin resultate vir groepe geformuleer en bewys kan word. Die deel van hierdie tesis wat met die teorie van databasisse te doen het is gebaseer op ’n onlangse benadering deur Johnson en Rosebrugh tot aansigte van databasisse en die opdatering van hierdie aansigte.

The first goal of this Thesis is to contribute to the study of principally polarized abelian varieties (ppav), especially to the Schottky and the Torelli problems. Ppav admit a duality theory analogous to that of projective spaces, where the role played by hyperplanes in projective spaces is played by divisors representing the principal polarization. Thus, given a subvariety Y of a ppav, we can define its thetadual T(Y) as the set of divisors representing the principal polarization that contain this subvariety. This set admits a natural schematic structure (as defined by Pareschi and Popa). Jacobian and Prym varieties are classical examples of ppav constructed from curves. Besides, they are interesting because some properties of the curves involved in their construction are reflected in their geometry or in the geometry of some special subvarieties. For example, in the case of Jacobians we have the BrillNoether loci Wd ( W1 corresponds to the AbelJacobi curve) and in the case of Pryms we have the AbelPrym curve C. In chapter III, we study the schematic structure of the thetadual of the BrillNoether loci Wd and the AbelPrym curve. In the first case, we obtain with different methods, the result of Pareschi and Popa T(Wd)= Wgd1. In the case of the AbelPrym curve C, we get that T(C)=V², where V² is the second PrymBrillNoether locus with the schematic structure defined by Welters. Pareschi and Popa have proved a result for ppavs analogous to the Castelnuovo Lemma for projective spaces. That is, if (A,Θ) is a ppav of dimension g, then g+2 distinct points in general position with respect to Θ, but in special position with respect to 2Θ, have to be contained in a curve of minimal degree in A, i.e. an AbelJacobi curve. In particular, they obtain a Schottky result because A has to be a Jacobian variety and a Torelli result, because the curve is the intersection of all the divisors in |2Θ| that contain the g+2 points. In chapter IV, as Eisenbud and Harris have done in the projective Castelnuovo Lemma, we extend this result to possibly nonreduced finite schemes. The second goal of this thesis is the study of varieties of general type. Almost by definition, pluricanonical maps are the essential tool to study them. One of the main problems in this area is to find geometric or numerical conditions to guarantee that the mth pluricanonical map (for low m) induces a birational equivalence with its image. The classification of surfaces whose bicanonical map is nonbirational has attracted considerable interest among algebraic geometers. In chapter V, we give a sufficient numerical condition for the birationality of the bicanonical map of irregular varieties of arbitrary dimension. We also prove that, if X is a primitive variety, then it only admits very special fibrations to other irregular varieties. For primitive varieties we get that the following are equivalent: X is birational to a divisor Θ in an indecomposable ppav, the irregularity q(X) > dim X and the bicanonical map is nonbirational. When X is a primitive variety of general type and q(X) = dim X we prove, under certain conditions over the Stein factorization of the Albanese map, that the only possibility for the bicanonical map being nonbirational is that X is a double cover branched along a divisor in |2Θ|. These results extend to arbitrary dimension, wellknown theorems in the case of surfaces and curves. / El primer objectiu d'aquesta tesi és contribuir a l'estudi de les varietats abelianes principalment polaritzades (vapp), especialment als problemes de Schottky i Torelli. Les vapp admeten una teoria de dualitat anàloga a la dualitat dels espais projectius, on el paper que juguen els hiperplans de l'espai projectiu és substituït pels divisors que representen la polarització principal. Així doncs, donada una subvarietat Y d'una vapp, podem definir el seu thetadual T(Y) com el conjunt dels divisors que representen la polarització principal i contenen aquesta subvarietat. Aquest conjunt admet una estructura esquemàtica natural (tal i com la defineixen Pareschi i Popa). Les varietats Jacobianes i de Prym són exemples clàssics de vapp construïdes a partir de corbes. A més, són interessants perquè certes propietats de les corbes involucrades es veuen reflectides en elles o en algunes subvarietats especials. Per exemple, en el cas de les Jacobianes tenim els llocs de BrillNoether Wd ( W1 correspon a la corba d'AbelJacobi) i en el cas de les Pryms tenim la corba d'AbelPrym C. Al capítol III de la tesi s'estudia l'estructura esquemàtica del thetadual dels llocs de BrillNoether Wd i de la corba d'AbelPrym. En el primer cas, es reobté amb uns altres mètodes, el resultat de Pareschi i Popa T(Wd)= Wgd1. En el cas de la corba d'AbelPrym C, s'obté que T(C)=V², onV² és el segon lloc de PrymBrillNoether amb l'estructura esquemàtica definida per Welters. Pareschi i Popa han demostrat un resultat anàleg per les vapp al Lemma de Castelnuovo pels espais projectius. És a dir, si (A,Θ) és una vapp de dimensió g, aleshores g+2 punts en posició general respecte Θ, però en posició especial respecte 2Θ, han d'estar continguts en una corba de grau minimal a A, i.e. una corba d'AbelJacobi. En particular, s'obté un resultat de Schottky ja que A ha de ser una Jacobiana i un resultat de Torelli, ja que la corba és la intersecció de tots els divisors de |2Θ| que contenen els g+2 punts. Al capítol IV, tal i com Eisenbud i Harris van fer en el cas projectiu, s'estén aquest resultat a esquemes finits possiblement no reduïts. El segon objectiu d'aquesta tesi és contribuir a l'estudi de les varietats de tipus general. Pràcticament per definició, les aplicacions pluricanòniques són essencials pel seu estudi. Un dels problemes principals de l'àrea és donar condicions geomètriques o numèriques per assegurar que la mèsima aplicació pluricanònica (per m baix) indueix una equivalència biracional amb la imatge. La classificació de les superfícies que tenen l'aplicació bicanònica no biracional ha atret l'atenció de molts geòmetres algebraics. Al capítol V, es dóna un criteri numèric suficient per assegurar la biracionalitat de l'aplicació bicanònica de les varietats irregulars de dimensió arbitrària. També es demostra que si X és una varietat primitiva, aleshores només admet fibracions molt especials a altres varietats irregulars. Per aquestes varietats s'obté que és equivalent que X sigui biracional a un divisor Θ en una vapp indescomponible, a què la irregularitat q(X) > dim X i l'aplicació bicanònica sigui no biracional. Quan X és una varietat primitiva de tipus general i q(X) = dim X es demostra sota certes condicions de la descomposició de Stein del morfisme d'Albanese, que l'única possibilitat per tal que l'aplicació bicanònica sigui no biracional és que X sigui un recobriment doble sobre una vapp ramificat al llarg d'un divisor a |2Θ|. Aquest resultats estenen a dimensió arbitrària, teoremes ben coneguts en el cas de superfícies i corbes.

Dans cette thèse nous étudions deux problèmes dans le domaine de la géométrie arithmétique, concernant respectivement les points de torsion des variétés abéliennes et le polylogarithme motivique sur les schémas abéliens. La conjecture de Manin-Mumford (démontrée par Raynaud en 1983) affirme que si A est une variété abélienne et X est une sous-variété de A ne contenant aucune translatée d'une sous-variété abélienne de A, alors X ne contient qu'un nombre fini de points de torsion de A. En 1996, Buium présenta une forme effective de la conjecture dans le cas des courbes. Dans cette thèse, nous montrons que l'argument de Buium peut être utilisé aussi en dimension supérieure pour prouver une version quantitative de la conjecture pour une classe de sous-variétés avec fibré cotangent ample étudiée par Debarre. Nous généralisons aussi à toute dimension un résultat sur la dispersion des relèvements p-divisibles non ramifiés obtenu par Raynaud dans le cas des courbes. En 2014, Kings and Roessler ont montré que la réalisation en cohomologie de Deligne analytique de la part de degré zéro du polylogarithme motivique sur les schémas abéliens peut être reliée aux formes de torsion analytique de Bismut-Koehler du fibré de Poincaré. Dans cette thèse, nous utilisons la théorie de l'intersection arithmétique dans la version de Burgos pour raffiner ce résultat dans le cas où la base du schéma abélien est propre. / In this thesis we approach two independent problems in the field of arithmetic geometry, one regarding the torsion points of abelian varieties and the other the motivic polylogarithm on abelian schemes. The Manin-Mumford conjecture (proved by Raynaud in 1983) states that if A is an abelian variety and X is a subvariety of A not containing any translate of an abelian subvariety of A, then X can only have a finite number of points that are of finite order in A. In 1996, Buium presented an effective form of the conjecture in the case of curves. In this thesis, we show that Buium's argument can be made applicable in higher dimensions to prove a quantitative version of the conjecture for a class of subvarieties with ample cotangent studied by Debarre. Our proof also generalizes to any dimension a result on the sparsity of p-divisible unramified liftings obtained by Raynaud in the case of curves. In 2014, Kings and Roessler showed that the realisation in analytic Deligne cohomology of the degree zero part of the motivic polylogarithm on abelian schemes can be described in terms of the Bismut-Koehler higher analytic torsion form of the Poincaré bundle. In this thesis, using the arithmetic intersection theory in the sense of Burgos, we give a refinement of Kings and Roessler's result in the case in which the base of the abelian scheme is proper.

The aim of this project is to understand the structure of the Standard Model of the particle physics. Therefore quantum field theories (QFT) are studied in the both cases of abelian and non-abelian gauge theories i.e. quantum electrodynamics (QED), quantum chromodynamics (QCD) and electroweak interaction are reviewed. The solution to the mass problem arising in these theories i.e. spontaneous symmetry breaking is also studied. / Syftet med detta projekt är att förstå strukturen för partikelfysikens standardmodell. Därför studeras kvantfältsteorier (QFT) i båda fallen av abelska och icke-abelska gaugeteorier, dvs kvantelektrodynamik (QED), kvantkromodynamik (QCD) och elektrosvag växelverkan granskas. Lösningen på massproblemet som uppstår i dessa teorier, dvs. spontant symmetribrott studeras också.

We perform microscopic mean-field studies of topological order in a two-dimensional topological superconductor in the Bogoliubov-de Gennes (BdG) formalism. By adopting a two-dimensional s-wave topological superconductivity (TSC) model on a minimal tight-binding system, we solve the BdG equations self-consistently to obtain not only the superconducting order parameter, but also the Hartree potential. By computing the Thouless, Kohmoto, Nightingale, and den Nijs (TKNN) number and investigating the bulk-boundary correspondence, we study the nature of Abelian and non-Abelian TSC in terms of self-consistent solutions to the BdG equations. In particular, we examine the effects of temperature and a single non-magnetic impurity deposited in the centre of the system and how they vary depending on topology. We find that the non-Abelian phase exhibits signs of unconventional superconductivity, and by examining the behaviour of this phase under both low and high Zeeman field conditions, we show that the magnitude of the Zeeman field largely dictates the susceptibility of the system to temperature. Furthermore, we investigate the possible interplay of charge density waves (CDW) and TSC. By self-consistently solving for the mean fields, we show that TSC and topological CDW are degenerate ground states---with the same excitation spectrum in the presence of surfaces---and thus can coexist in the Abelian phase. The effects of a non-magnetic impurity, which tends to pin the phase of charge density modulations, are examined in the context of topological CDW.

Making use of linear and homological algebra techniques we study the linearization map between the generalized Burnside and rational representation rings of a group G. For groups G and H, the generalized Burnside ring is the Grothendieck construction of the semiring of G × H-sets with a free H-action. The generalized representation ring is the Grothendieck construction of the semiring of rational G×H-modules that are free as rational H-modules. The canonical map between these two rings mapping the isomorphism class of a G-set X to the class of its permutation module is known as the linearization map. For p a prime number and H the unique group of order p, we describe the generators of the kernel of this map in the cases where G is an elementary abelian p-group or a cyclic p-group. In addition we introduce the methods needed to study the Bredon homology theory of a G-CW-complex with coefficients coming from the classical Burnside ring.

Let Knots be the abelian monoid of isotopy classes of knots S1 ⊂ S3 under connected sum, and let C be the topological knot concordance group of knots modulo slice knots. Cochran-Orr-Teichner [COT03] defined a filtration of C: C ⊃ F(0) ⊃ F(0.5) ⊃ F(1) ⊃ F(1.5) ⊃ F(2) ⊃ . . .The quotient C/F(0.5) is isomorphic to Levine’s algebraic concordance group AC1 [Lev69]; F(0.5) is the algebraically slice knots. The quotient C/F(1.5) contains all metabelian concordance obstructions. The Cochran-Orr-Teichner (1.5)-level two stage obstructions map the concordance class of a knot to a pointed set (COT (C/1.5),U). We define an abelian monoid of chain complexes P, with a monoid homomorphism Knots → P. We then define an algebraic concordance equivalence relation on P and therefore a group AC2 := P/ ~, our second order algebraic knot concordance group. The results of this thesis can be summarised in the following diagram: . That is, we define a group homomorphism C → AC2 which factors through C/F(1.5). We can extract the two stage Cochran-Orr-Teichner obstruction theory from AC2: the dotted arrows are morphisms of pointed sets. Our second order algebraic knot concordance group AC2 is a single stage obstruction group.

In this thesis we investigate wall-crossing phenomena in the stability manifold of an irreducible principally polarized abelian surface for objects with the same invariants as (twists of) ideal sheaves of points. In particular, we construct a sequence of fine moduli spaces which are related by Mukai flops and observe that the stability of these objects is completely determined by the configuration of points. Finally, we use Fourier-Mukai theory to show that these moduli are projective.

This paper presents a theory of Fourier transforms of complex-valued functions on a finite abelian group and investigates two applications of this theory. Chapter I is an introduction with remarks on notation. Basic theory, including Pontrvagin duality and the Poisson Summation formula, is the subject of Chapter II. In Chapter III the Fourier transform is viewed as an intertwining operator for certain unitary group representations. The solution of the eigenvalue problem of the Fourier transform of functions on the group Z/n of integers module n leads to a proof of the quadratic reciprocity law in Chapter IV. Chapter V addresses the, use of the Fourier transform in computing.