Superpotential algebras and manifolds

In this paper we study a special class of Calabi-Yau algebras (in the sense of Ginzburg): those arising as the fundamental group algebras of acyclic manifolds. Motivated partly by the usefulness of `superpotential descriptions' in motivic Donaldson-Thomas theory, we investigate the question of whether these algebras admit superpotential presentations. We establish that the fundamental group algebras of a wide class of acyclic manifolds, including all hyperbolic manifolds, do not admit such descriptions, disproving Ginzburg's conjecture regarding them. We also describe a class of manifolds that do admit such descriptions, and discuss a little their motivic Donaldson-Thomas theory. Finally, some links with topological field theory are described.