Characteristic classes for $G$-structures

Dimitri Alekseevsky, Peter W. Michor

Published 1992-09-01Version 1

Let $G\subset GL(V)$ be a linear Lie group with Lie algebra $\frak g$ and let $A(\frak g)^G$ be the subalgebra of $G$-invariant elements of the associative supercommutative algebra $A(\frak g)= S(\frak g^*)\otimes \La(V^*)$. To any $G$-structure $\pi:P\to M$ with a connection $\omega$ we associate a homomorphism $\mu_\omega:A(\frak g)^G\to \Omega(M)$. The differential forms $\mu_\omega(f)$ for $f\in A(\frak g)^G$ which are associated to the $G$-structure $\pi$ can be used to construct Lagrangians. If $\omega$ has no torsion the differential forms $\mu_\omega(f)$ are closed and define characteristic classes of a $G$-structure. The induced homomorphism $\mu'_\omega:A(\g)^G\to H^*(M)$ does not depend on the choice of the torsionfree connection $\omega$ and it is the natural generalization of the Chern Weil homomorphism.