Three constructions of Frobenius manifolds: a comparative study

Abstract

The paper studies three classes of Frobenius manifolds: Quantum Cohomology (topological sigma-models), unfolding spaces of singularities (K. Saito's theory, Landau-Ginzburg models), and the recent Barannikov-Kontsevich construction starting with the Dolbeault complex of a Calabi-Yau manifold and conjecturally producing the B--side of the Mirror Conjecture in arbitrary dimension. Each known construction provides the relevant Frobenius manifold with an extra structure which can be thought of as a version of ``non-linear cohomology''. The comparison of thesestructures sheds some light on the general Mirror Problem: establishing isomorphisms between Frobenius manifolds of different classes. Another theme is the study of tensor products of Frobenius manifolds, corresponding respectively to the Künneth formula in Quantum Cohomology, direct sum of singularities in Saito's theory, and presumably, the tensor product of the differential Gerstenhaber-Batalin-Vilkovisky algebras. We extend the initial Gepner's construction of mirrors to the context of Frobenius manifolds and formulate the relevant mathematical conjecture.