Definition

An irreducible holomorphic symplectic manifold is a compact, simply connected XX such that

H0(X,ΩX2)=CσH^0(X,\Omega_X^2)=\mathbb C\sigma

for an everywhere nondegenerate holomorphic 22-form σ\sigma. Thus XX is a , its complex dimension is even, and every global holomorphic 22-form is a scalar multiple of σ\sigma. The form is determined only up to nonzero scalar unless it is included as part of the data. Compactness, simple connectedness, and the one-dimensionality condition are all essential to this convention.

Riemannian interpretation

Yau’s theorem gives a Ricci-flat in each , and the defining conditions imply restricted holonomy Sp(n)\operatorname{Sp}(n) when dimCX=2n\dim_{\mathbb C}X=2n. This is why these manifolds are often called compact in complex geometry Huybrechts, §1. The terminology packages a , whereas a Riemannian hyperkähler structure includes a particular metric and quaternionic triple of complex structures.

Examples and non-examples

A K3 surface is the basic two-dimensional example. Hilbert schemes of points on a K3 surface and generalized Kummer varieties provide higher-dimensional families Beauville, §§5–6. A complex symplectic torus is compact and Kähler but not simply connected. A product of two K3 surfaces is simply connected and holomorphic symplectic, but its space of holomorphic 22-forms has dimension two, so it is not irreducible in this sense.

Conventions and scope

“Compact hyperkähler,” “irreducible symplectic,” and “irreducible holomorphic symplectic” are not used uniformly. Some authors replace simple connectedness by an irreducibility or holonomy condition; in the compact Kähler setting these standard formulations are closely related but should not be transferred unchanged to noncompact manifolds. The word “irreducible” here is not algebraic irreducibility of the underlying analytic space.

References
  1. Arnaud Beauville, “Variétés Kähleriennes dont la première classe de Chern est nulle,” Journal of Differential Geometry 18 (1983), 755–782. DOI record. Relevant: §§3–6, decomposition, irreducible symplectic factors, and standard examples.
  2. Daniel Huybrechts, “Compact Hyperkähler Manifolds: Basic Results,” Inventiones Mathematicae 135 (1999), 63–113. DOI record. Relevant: §1, definitions, terminology, and the holonomy interpretation.