The based SU(n)-instanton moduli spaces.
We define suitable Sobolev topologies on the space of connections of bounded geometry and finite Yang-Mills action and the gauge group and show that the corresponding configuration space is a stratified space. The underlying open manifold is assumed to have bounded geometry.
We investigate the mapping class groups of diffeomorphisms fixing a frame at a point for general classes of 3-manifolds. These groups form the equivalent to the groups of large gauge transformations in Yang-Mills theories. They are also isomorphic to the fundamental groups of the spaces of 3-metrics modulo diffeomorphisms, which are the analogues in General Relativity to gauge-orbit spaces in gauge theories.
The geometric description of Yang–Mills theories and their configuration space is reviewed. The presence of singularities in M is explained and some of their properties are described. The singularity structure is analysed in detail for structure group SU(2). This review is based on [28].