Pontryagin forms on $(4k-2)$-manifolds and symplectic structures on the spaces of Riemannian metrics

Abstract

The Pontryagin forms on 1-jet bundle of Riemannian metrics, are shown to provide, in a natural way, diffeomorphism-invariant pre-symplectic structures on the space of Riemannian metrics for dimensions $n=4r-2$. The equivariant Pontryagin forms provide canonical moment maps for these structures. In dimension two, the symplectic reduction corresponding to the pre-symplectic form and its moment map attached to the first Pontryagin form, is proved to coincide with the Teichmüller space endowed with the Weil-Petersson symplectic form.