Cecotti–Vafa spectrum conjecture for distinguished matrices

Fix n∈Z≥2n\in\mathbb{Z}_{\geq 2}. Let TnS1(R)T_n^{S^1}(\mathbb{R}) consist of upper triangular real matrices with diagonal entries 11 whose matrices S−1StS^{-1}S^t have all eigenvalues on the unit circle. For S∈TnS1(R)S\in T_n^{S^1}(\mathbb{R}), a spectrum is an ordered tuple Sp⁡(S)=(α1,…,αn)∈Rn\operatorname{Sp}(S)=(\alpha_1,\ldots,\alpha_n)\in\mathbb{R}^n.

Cecotti–Vafa spectrum conjecture. The Cecotti–Vafa construction can be made precise so that

α1≤⋯≤αn,αi+αn+1−i=0,\alpha_1\leq\cdots\leq\alpha_n,\qquad \alpha_i+\alpha_{n+1-i}=0,

and e−2πiα1,…,e−2πiαne^{-2\pi i\alpha_1},\ldots,e^{-2\pi i\alpha_n} are the eigenvalues of S−1StS^{-1}S^t.

The original construction requires natural choices of a path from the identity to SS and continuous lifts of the eigenvalue arguments. The paper explains that these choices present obstacles and that the construction is currently available only for certain subsets of the relevant matrix space.

References

Primary source

Sven Balnojan and Claus Hertling, “Characterization of distinguished matrices of isolated hypersurface singularities through their spectral numbers”, arXiv:2508.15497 (2026).

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