Supersymmetric localization, modularity and the Witten genus

Abstract

We use equivariant localization techniques to give a rigorous interpretation of the Witten genus as an integral over the double loop space. This provides a geometric explanation for its modularity properties. It also reveals an interplay between the geometry of double loop spaces and complex analytic elliptic cohomology. In particular, we identify a candidate target for the elliptic Bismut–Chern character.