Noncommutative geometry

Noncommutative geometry (NCG) is a branch of mathematics concerned with a geometric approach to

noncommutative algebras, and with the construction of spaces that are locally presented by
noncommutative algebras of functions (possibly in some generalized sense). A noncommutative algebra
is an associative algebra in which the multiplication is not commutative, that is, for which does not
always equal ; or more generally an algebraic structure in which one of the principal binary operations
is not commutative; one also allows additional structures, e.g. topology or norm, to be possibly carried by
the noncommutative algebra of functions.

Contents
Motivation
Applications in mathematical physics
Motivation from ergodic theory
Noncommutative C*-algebras, von Neumann algebras
Noncommutative differentiable manifolds
Noncommutative affine and projective schemes
Invariants for noncommutative spaces
Examples of noncommutative spaces
See also
Notes
References
Further reading
External links

Motivation
The main motivation is to extend the commutative duality between spaces and functions to the
noncommutative setting. In mathematics, spaces, which are geometric in nature, can be related to
numerical functions on them. In general, such functions will form a commutative ring. For instance, one
may take the ring C(X) of continuous complex-valued functions on a topological space X. In many cases
(e.g., if X is a compact Hausdorff space), we can recover X from C(X), and therefore it makes some sense
to say that X has commutative topology.

More specifically, in topology, compact Hausdorff topological spaces can be reconstructed from the
Banach algebra of functions on the space (Gelfand–Naimark). In commutative algebraic geometry,
algebraic schemes are locally prime spectra of commutative unital rings (A. Grothendieck), and schemes
can be reconstructed from the categories of quasicoherent sheaves of modules on them (P. Gabriel–A.
Rosenberg). For Grothendieck topologies, the cohomological properties of a site are invariants of the
corresponding category of sheaves of sets viewed abstractly as a topos (A. Grothendieck). In all these
cases, a space is reconstructed from the algebra of functions or its categorified version—some category
of sheaves on that space.

Functions on a topological space can be multiplied and added pointwise hence they form a commutative
algebra; in fact these operations are local in the topology of the base space, hence the functions form a
sheaf of commutative rings over the base space.

The dream of noncommutative geometry is to generalize this duality to the duality between
noncommutative algebras, or sheaves of noncommutative algebras, or sheaf-like noncommutative
algebraic or operator-algebraic structures, and geometric entities of certain kinds, and give an interaction
between the algebraic and geometric description of those via this duality.

Regarding that the commutative rings correspond to usual affine schemes, and commutative C*-algebras
to usual topological spaces, the extension to noncommutative rings and algebras requires non-trivial
generalization of topological spaces as "non-commutative spaces". For this reason there is some talk
about non-commutative topology, though the term also has other meanings.

Applications in mathematical physics

Some applications in particle physics are described in the entries Noncommutative standard model and
Noncommutative quantum field theory. The sudden rise in interest in noncommutative geometry in
physics follows after the speculations of its role in M-theory made in 1997.[1]

Motivation from ergodic theory

Some of the theory developed by Alain Connes to handle noncommutative geometry at a technical level
has roots in older attempts, in particular in ergodic theory. The proposal of George Mackey to create a
virtual subgroup theory, with respect to which ergodic group actions would become homogeneous spaces
of an extended kind, has by now been subsumed.

Noncommutative C*-algebras, von Neumann algebras

(The formal duals of) non-commutative C*-algebras are often now called non-commutative spaces. This
is by analogy with the Gelfand representation, which shows that commutative C*-algebras are dual to
locally compact Hausdorff spaces. In general, one can associate to any C*-algebra S a topological space
Ŝ; see spectrum of a C*-algebra.

For the duality between σ-finite measure spaces and commutative von Neumann algebras,
noncommutative von Neumann algebras are called non-commutative measure spaces.

Noncommutative differentiable manifolds

A smooth Riemannian manifold M is a topological space with a lot of extra structure. From its algebra of
continuous functions C(M) we only recover M topologically. The algebraic invariant that recovers the
Riemannian structure is a spectral triple. It is constructed from a smooth vector bundle E over M, e.g. the
exterior algebra bundle. The Hilbert space L2(M, E) of square integrable sections of E carries a
representation of C(M) by multiplication operators, and we consider an unbounded operator D in
L2(M, E) with compact resolvent (e.g. the signature operator), such that the commutators [D, f] are
bounded whenever f is smooth. A recent deep theorem[2] states that M as a Riemannian manifold can be
recovered from this data.

This suggests that one might define a noncommutative Riemannian manifold as a spectral triple
(A, H, D), consisting of a representation of a C*-algebra A on a Hilbert space H, together with an
unbounded operator D on H, with compact resolvent, such that [D, a] is bounded for all a in some dense
subalgebra of A. Research in spectral triples is very active, and many examples of noncommutative
manifolds have been constructed.

Noncommutative affine and projective schemes

In analogy to the duality between affine schemes and commutative rings, we define a category of
noncommutative affine schemes as the dual of the category of associative unital rings. There are certain
analogues of Zariski topology in that context so that one can glue such affine schemes to more general
objects.

There are also generalizations of the Cone and of the Proj of a commutative graded ring, mimicking a
theorem of Serre on Proj. Namely the category of quasicoherent sheaves of O-modules on a Proj of a
commutative graded algebra is equivalent to the category of graded modules over the ring localized on
Serre's subcategory of graded modules of finite length; there is also analogous theorem for coherent
sheaves when the algebra is Noetherian. This theorem is extended as a definition of noncommutative
projective geometry by Michael Artin and J. J. Zhang,[3] who add also some general ring-theoretic
conditions (e.g. Artin–Schelter regularity).

Many properties of projective schemes extend to this context. For example, there exists an analog of the
celebrated Serre duality for noncommutative projective schemes of Artin and Zhang.[4]

A. L. Rosenberg has created a rather general relative concept of noncommutative quasicompact

scheme (over a base category), abstracting Grothendieck's study of morphisms of schemes and covers in
terms of categories of quasicoherent sheaves and flat localization functors.[5] There is also another
interesting approach via localization theory, due to Fred Van Oystaeyen, Luc Willaert and Alain
Verschoren, where the main concept is that of a schematic algebra.[6]

Invariants for noncommutative spaces

Some of the motivating questions of the theory are concerned with extending known topological
invariants to formal duals of noncommutative (operator) algebras and other replacements and candidates
for noncommutative spaces. One of the main starting points of Alain Connes' direction in
noncommutative geometry is his discovery of a new homology theory associated to noncommutative
associative algebras and noncommutative operator algebras, namely the cyclic homology and its relations
to the algebraic K-theory (primarily via Connes–Chern character map).

The theory of characteristic classes of smooth manifolds has been extended to spectral triples, employing
the tools of operator K-theory and cyclic cohomology. Several generalizations of now-classical index
theorems allow for effective extraction of numerical invariants from spectral triples. The fundamental
characteristic class in cyclic cohomology, the JLO cocycle, generalizes the classical Chern character.
Examples of noncommutative spaces
In the phase space formulation of quantum mechanics, the symplectic phase space of
classical mechanics is deformed into a non-commutative phase space generated by the
position and momentum operators.
The noncommutative standard model is a proposed extension of the standard model of
particle physics.
The noncommutative torus, deformation of the function algebra of the ordinary torus, can be
given the structure of a spectral triple. This class of examples has been studied intensively
and still functions as a test case for more complicated situations.
Snyder space[7]
Noncommutative algebras arising from foliations.
Examples related to dynamical systems arising from number theory, such as the Gauss
shift on continued fractions, give rise to noncommutative algebras that appear to have
interesting noncommutative geometries.

See also
Commutativity
Phase space formulation
Moyal product
Fuzzy sphere
Noncommutative algebraic geometry
Noncommutative topology

Notes
1. Alain Connes, Michael R. Douglas, Albert Schwarz, Noncommutative geometry and matrix
theory: compactification on tori. J. High Energy Phys. 1998, no. 2, Paper 3, 35 pp. doi (http
s://dx.doi.org/10.1088/1126-6708/1998/02/003), hep-th/9711162 (https://arxiv.org/abs/hep-t
h/9711162)
2. Connes, Alain, On the spectral characterization of manifolds, arXiv:0810.2088v1 (https://arxi
v.org/abs/0810.2088)
3. M. Artin, J. J. Zhang, Noncommutative projective schemes, Adv. Math. 109 (1994), no. 2,
228--287, doi (https://dx.doi.org/10.1006/aima.1994.1087)
4. Amnon Yekutieli, James J. Zhang, Serre duality for noncommutative projective schemes,
Proc. Amer. Math. Soc. 125, n. 3, 1997, 697-707, pdf (https://www.ams.org/proc/1997-125-0
3/S0002-9939-97-03782-9/S0002-9939-97-03782-9.pdf)
5. A. L. Rosenberg, Noncommutative schemes, Compositio Mathematica 112 (1998) 93--125,
doi (https://dx.doi.org/10.1023/A:1000479824211); Underlying spaces of noncommutative
schemes, preprint MPIM2003-111, dvi (http://www.mpim-bonn.mpg.de/preprints/send?bid=1
947), ps (http://www.mpim-bonn.mpg.de/preprints/send?bid=1948); MSRI lecture
Noncommutative schemes and spaces (Feb 2000): video (http://www.msri.org/publications/l
n/msri/2000/interact/rosenberg/1/index.html)
6. Freddy van Oystaeyen, Algebraic geometry for associative algebras, ISBN 0-8247-0424-X -
New York: Dekker, 2000.- 287 p. - (Monographs and textbooks in pure and applied
mathematics , 232); F. van Oystaeyen, L. Willaert, Grothendieck topology, coherent
sheaves and Serre's theorem for schematic algebras, J. Pure Appl. Alg. 104 (1995), p. 109-
-122
7. H. S. Snyder, Quantized Space-Time, Phys. Rev. 71 (1947) 38

References
Connes, Alain (1994), Non-commutative geometry (https://archive.org/details/noncommutati
vege0000conn), Boston, MA: Academic Press, ISBN 978-0-12-185860-5
Connes, Alain; Marcolli, Matilde (2008), "A walk in the noncommutative garden", An
invitation to noncommutative geometry, World Sci. Publ., Hackensack, NJ, pp. 1–128,
arXiv:math/0601054 (https://arxiv.org/abs/math/0601054), Bibcode:2006math......1054C (htt
ps://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2006math......1054C), MR 2408150 (https://www.ams.org/m
athscinet-getitem?mr=2408150)
Connes, Alain; Marcolli, Matilde (2008), Noncommutative geometry, quantum fields and
motives (http://www.alainconnes.org/docs/bookwebfinal.pdf) (PDF), American Mathematical
Society Colloquium Publications, 55, Providence, R.I.: American Mathematical Society,
ISBN 978-0-8218-4210-2, MR 2371808 (https://www.ams.org/mathscinet-getitem?mr=2371
808)
Gracia-Bondia, Jose M; Figueroa, Hector; Varilly, Joseph C (2000), Elements of Non-
commutative geometry, Birkhauser, ISBN 978-0-8176-4124-5
Landi, Giovanni (1997), An introduction to noncommutative spaces and their geometries,
Lecture Notes in Physics. New Series m: Monographs, 51, Berlin, New York: Springer-
Verlag, pp. arXiv:hep–th/9701078, arXiv:hep-th/9701078 (https://arxiv.org/abs/hep-th/97010
78), Bibcode:1997hep.th....1078L (https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1997hep.th....1078L),
ISBN 978-3-540-63509-3, MR 1482228 (https://www.ams.org/mathscinet-getitem?mr=1482
228)
Van Oystaeyen, Fred; Verschoren, Alain (1981), Non-commutative algebraic geometry,
Lecture Notes in Mathematics, 887, Springer-Verlag, ISBN 978-3-540-11153-5

Further reading
Consani, Caterina; Connes, Alain, eds. (2011), Noncommutative geometry, arithmetic, and
related topics. Proceedings of the 21st meeting of the Japan-U.S. Mathematics Institute
(JAMI) held at Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA, March 23–26, 2009 (https://b
ooks.google.com/books?id=yqdCBA9hQr0C&dq=Noncommutative+geometry,+arithmetic,+
and+related+topics), Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, ISBN 978-1-4214-
0352-6, Zbl 1245.00040 (https://zbmath.org/?format=complete&q=an:1245.00040)
Grensing, Gerhard (2013). Structural aspects of quantum field theory and noncommutative
geometry. Hackensack New Jersey: World Scientific. ISBN 978-981-4472-69-2.

External links
Introduction to Quantum Geometry (http://www.matem.unam.mx/~micho/papers/qgeom.pdf)
by Micho Đurđevich
Lectures on Noncommutative Geometry (https://arxiv.org/abs/math/0506603) by Victor
Ginzburg
Very Basic Noncommutative Geometry (https://arxiv.org/abs/math/0408416) by Masoud
Khalkhali
Lectures on Arithmetic Noncommutative Geometry (https://arxiv.org/abs/math.qa/0409520)
by Matilde Marcolli
Noncommutative Geometry for Pedestrians (https://arxiv.org/abs/gr-qc/9906059) by J.
Madore
 An informal introduction to the ideas and concepts of noncommutative geometry (https://arxi
v.org/abs/math-ph/0612012) by Thierry Masson (an easier introduction that is still rather
technical)
Noncommutative geometry on arxiv.org (http://xstructure.inr.ac.ru/x-bin/subthemes3.py?leve
l=2&index1=-173391&skip=0)
MathOverflow, Theories of Noncommutative Geometry (https://mathoverflow.net/q/10512)
S. Mahanta, On some approaches towards non-commutative algebraic geometry,
math.QA/0501166 (https://arxiv.org/abs/math/0501166)
G. Sardanashvily, Lectures on Differential Geometry of Modules and Rings (Lambert
Academic Publishing, Saarbrücken, 2012); arXiv:0910.1515
Noncommutative geometry and particle physics (http://www.noncommutativegeometry.nl)

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