Differential Cohomology and Gerbes: An Introduction to Higher Differential Geometry

Abstract

Differential cohomology is a topic that has been attracting considerable interest. Many interesting applications in mathematics and physics have been known, including the description of WZW terms, string structures, the study of conformal immersions, and classifications of Ramond–Ramond fields, to list a few. Additionally, it is an interesting application of the theory of infinity categories. In this paper, we give an expository account of differential cohomology and the classification of higher line bundles (also known as S1-banded gerbes) with a connection.We begin with how Čech cohomology is used to classify principal bundles and define their characteristic classes, introduce differential cohomology à la Cheeger and Simons, and introduce S1-banded gerbes with a connection.

Keywords

• Čech cohomology
• non-abelian cohomology
• characteristic classes
• differential characters
• differential cohomology
• bundle gerbes