Higher-twisted periodic smooth Deligne cohomology

Generalizing degree one twisting of Deligne cohomology, as a differential refinement of integral cohomology, from previous work, here we consider higher degree twists. The Rham complex, hence de Rham cohomology, admits twists of any odd degree. However, in order to consider twists of integral cohomology we need a periodic version. Combining the periodic versions of both ingredients leads us to introduce a periodic form of Deligne cohomology. We demonstrate that this theory indeed admits a twist by a gerbe of any odd degree. We present the main properties of the new theory and illustrate its use with examples and computations, mainly via a corresponding twisted differential Atiyah–Hirzebruch spectral sequence.

Keywords

Deligne cohomology, differential cohomology, gerbe, twisted cohomology, stack, Atiyah–Hirzebruch spectral sequence

2010 Mathematics Subject Classification

14D23, 14F43, 18G40, 19L50, 53C08, 55R20

Full Text (PDF format)

Received 28 March 2018

Received revised 21 June 2018

Accepted 2 July 2018

Published 5 September 2018