Scalar curvature in conformal geometry of Connes-Landi noncommutative manifolds

Abstract: We first propose a conformal geometry for Connes-Landi noncommutative manifolds and study the associated scalar curvature. The new scalar curvature contains its Riemannian counterpart as the commutative limit. Similar to the results on noncommutative two tori, the quantum part of the curvature consists of actions of the modular derivation through two local curvature functions. Explicit expressions for those functions are obtained for all even dimensions (greater than two). In dimension four, the one variable function shows striking similarity to the analytic functions of the characteristic classes appeared in the Atiyah-Singer local index formula, namely, it is roughly a product of the $j$-function (which defines the $\hat A$-class of a manifold) and an exponential function (which defines the Chern character of a bundle). By performing two different computations for the variation of the Einstein-Hilbert action, we obtain a deep internal relations between two local curvature functions. Straightforward verification for those relations gives a strong conceptual confirmation for the whole computational machinery we have developed so far, especially the Mathematica code hidden behind the paper.