On the geometry of calibrated manifolds : with applications to electrodynamics

Abstract: In this master thesis we study calibrated geometries, a family of Riemannian or Hermitian manifolds with an associated differential form, φ. We show that it isuseful to introduce the concept of proper calibrated manifolds, which are in asense calibrated manifolds where the geometry is derived from the calibration. In particular, the φ-Grassmannian is considered in the case of proper calibratedmanifolds. The impact of proper calibrated manifolds as a model is studied, aswell as the usefulness of pluripotential theory as tools for the model. The specialLagrangian calibration is an example of an important calibration introduced byHarvey and Lawson, which leads to the definition of the special Lagrangian differentialequation. This partial differential equation can be formulated in threeand four dimensions as det(H(u)) = Δu, where H(u) is the Hessian matrix of some potential u. We prove the existence of solutions and some other propertiesof this nonlinear differential equation and present the resulting 6- and 8-dimensional manifolds defined by the graph {x + iu(x)}. We also considerthe physical applications of calibrated geometry, which have so far largely beenrestricted to string theory. However, we consider the manifold (M,g,F), whichis calibrated by the scaled Maxwell 2-form. Some geometrical properties of relativisticand classical electrodynamics are translated into calibrated geometry.