N=2 gauge theories, instanton moduli spaces and geometric representation theory

We survey some of the AGT relations between N=2 gauge theories in four dimensions and geometric representations of symmetry algebras of two-dimensional conformal field theory on the equivariant cohomology of their instanton moduli spaces. We treat the cases of gauge theories on both flat space and ALE spaces in some detail, and with emphasis on the implications arising from embedding them into supersymmetric theories in six dimensions. Along the way we construct new toric noncommutative ALE spaces using the general theory of complex algebraic deformations of toric varieties, and indicate how to generalize the construction of instanton moduli spaces. We also compute the equivariant partition functions of topologically twisted six-dimensional Yang-Mills theory with maximal supersymmetry in a general Ω-background, and use the construction to obtain novel reductions to theories in four dimensions.