Atiyah—Patodi—Singer type index theorems for manifolds with splitting of $ \eta $-invariants

We construct self-adjoint extensions of Dirac operators on manifolds with corners of codimension 2, which generalize the Atiyah—Patodi—Singer boundary conditions. The boundary conditions are related to geometric constructions, which convert problems on manifolds with corners into problems on manifolds with boundary and wedge singularities. In the case, where the Dirac bundle is a super-bundle, we prove two general index theorems, which differ by the splitting formula for -invariants. Further we work out the de Rham, signature and twisted spin complex in closer detail. Finally we give a new proof of the splitting formula for the -invariant. Submitted: October 1999, Revised version: March 2001.     

The index of geometric operators on Lie groupoids

We revisit the cohomological index theorem for elliptic elements in the universal enveloping algebra of a Lie groupoid previously proved by the authors. We prove a Thom isomorphism for Lie algebroids which enables us to rewrite the “topological side” of the index theorem. This results in index formulae for Lie groupoid analogues of the familiar geometric operators on manifolds such as the signature and Dirac operator expressed in terms of the usual characteristic classes in Lie algebroid cohomology.     

Boundary Problems for Dirac-Type Operators on Manifolds with Multi-Cylindrical End Boundaries

The goal of this paper is to establish a geometric program to study elliptic pseudodifferential boundary problems which arise naturally under cutting and pasting of geometric and spectral invariants of Dirac-type operators on manifolds with corners endowed with multi-cylindrical, or b-type, metrics and ‘b-admissible’ partitioning hypersurfaces. We show that the Cauchy data space of a Dirac operator on such a manifold is Lagrangian for the self-adjoint case, the corresponding Calderón projector is a b-pseudodifferential operator of order 0, characterize Fredholmness, prove relative index formulæ, and solve the Bojarski conjecture. Mathematics Subject Classifications (2000): 58J28, 58J52.     

Elliptic Symbols

If G is the structure group of a manifold M it is shown how a certain ideal in the character ring of G corresponds to the set of geometric elliptic operators on M. This provides a simple method to construct these operators. For classical structure groups like G = O(n) (Riemannian manifolds), G = SO(n) (oriented Riemannian manifolds), G = U(m) (almost complex manifolds), G = Spin(n) (spin manifolds), or G = Spin^c(n) (spin^c manifolds) this yields well known classical operators like the Euler—deRham operator, signature operator, Cauchy—Riemann operator, or the Dirac operator. For some less well studied structure groups like Spin^h(n) or Sp(q)Sp(1) we can determine the corresponding operators. As applications, we obtain integrality results for such manifolds by applying the Atiyah—Singer Index Theorem to these operators. Finally, we explain how immersions yield interesting structure groups to which one can apply this method. This yields lower bounds on the codimension of immersions in terms of topological data of the manifolds involved.     

Quadratic estimates and functional calculi of perturbed Dirac operators

We prove quadratic estimates for complex perturbations of Dirac-type operators, and thereby show that such operators have a bounded functional calculus. As an application we show that spectral projections of the Hodge–Dirac operator on compact manifolds depend analytically on L_∞ changes in the metric. We also recover a unified proof of many results in the Calderón program, including the Kato square root problem and the boundedness of the Cauchy operator on Lipschitz curves and surfaces.     

Conformally invariant powers of the Dirac operator in Clifford analysis

The paper deals with conformally invariant higher‐order operators acting on spinor‐valued functions, such that their symbols are given by powers of the Dirac operator. A general classification result proves that these are unique, up to a constant multiple. A general construction for such an invariant operators on manifolds with a given conformal spin structure was described in (Conformally Invariant Powers of the Ambient Dirac Operator. ArXiv math.DG/0112033, preprint), generalizing the case of powers of the Laplace operator from (J. London Math. Soc. 1992; 46 :557–565). Although there is no hope to obtain explicit formulae for higher powers of the Laplace or Dirac operator on a general manifold, it is possible to write down an explicit formula on Einstein manifolds in case of the Laplace operator (see Laplacian Operators and Curvature on Conformally Einstein Manifolds. ArXiv: math/0506037, 2006). Here we shall treat the spinor case on the sphere. We shall compute the explicit form of such operators on the sphere, and we shall show that they coincide with operators studied in (J. Four. Anal. Appl. 2002; 8 (6):535–563). The methods used are coming from representation theory combined with traditional Clifford analysis techniques. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

First Order Approach and Index Theorems for Discrete and Metric Graphs

The aim of the present paper is to introduce a unified notion of Laplacians on discrete and metric graphs. In order to cover all self-adjoint vertex conditions for the associated metric graph Laplacian, we develop systematically a new type of discrete graph operators acting on a decorated graph. The decoration at each vertex of degree d is given by a subspace of , generalising the fact that a function on the standard vertex space has only a scalar value. We illustrate the abstract concept by giving classical examples throughout the article. Our approach includes infinite graphs as well. We develop the notion of exterior derivative, differential forms, Dirac and Laplace operators in the discrete and metric case, using a supersymmetric framework. We calculate the (supersymmetric) index of the discrete Dirac operator generalising the standard index formula involving the Euler characteristic of a graph. Finally, we show that for finite graphs, the corresponding index for the metric Dirac operator agrees with the discrete one.     

An Index Formula for Perturbed Dirac Operators on Lie Manifolds

We prove an index formula for a class of Dirac operators coupled with unbounded potentials, also called “Callias-type operators”. More precisely, we study operators of the form \(P := \hspace* {.5mm} / \hspace* {-2.3mm}D+ V\) , where \(\hspace* {.5mm} / \hspace* {-2.3mm}D\) is a Dirac operator and V is an unbounded potential at infinity on a non-compact manifold M ₀. We assume that M ₀ is a Lie manifold with compactification denoted by M. Examples of Lie manifolds are provided by asymptotically Euclidean or asymptotically hyperbolic spaces and many others. The potential V is required to be such that V is invertible outside a compact set K and V ^?1 extends to a smooth vector bundle endomorphism over M?K that vanishes on all faces of M in a controlled way. Using tools from analysis on non-compact Riemannian manifolds, we show that the computation of the index of P reduces to the computation of the index of an elliptic pseudodifferential operator of order zero on M ₀ that is a multiplication operator at infinity. The index formula for P can then be obtained from the results of Carvalho (in K-theory 36(1–2):1–31, 2005). As a first step in the proof, we obtain a similar index formula for general pseudodifferential operators coupled with bounded potentials that are invertible at infinity on a restricted class of Lie manifolds, so-called asymptotically commutative, which includes, for instance, the scattering and double-edge calculi. Our results extend many earlier, particular results on Callias-type operators.     

Geometric connections and geometric Dirac operators on contact manifolds

We construct some natural metric connections on metric contact manifolds compatible with the contact structure and characterized by the Dirac operators they determine. In the case of CR manifolds these are invariants of a fixed pseudo-hermitian structure, and one of them coincides with the Tanaka-Webster connection.     

Generalized dirac operators on nonsmooth manifolds and Maxwell's equations

We develop a function theory associated with Dirac type operators on Lipschitz subdomains of Riemannian manifolds. The main emphasis is on Hardy spaces and boundary value problems, and our aim is to identify the geometric and analytic assumptions guaranteeing the validity of basic results from complex function theory in this general setting. For example, we study Plemelj-Calderón-Seeley-Bojarski type splittings of Cauchy boundary data into traces of ‘inner’ and ‘outer’ monogenics and show that this problem has finite index. We also consider Szegö projections and the corresponding L^p-decompositions. Our approach relies on an extension of the classical Calderón-Zygmund theory of singular integral operators which allow one to consider Cauchy type operators with variable kernels on Lipschitz graphs. In the second part, where we explore connections with Maxwell's equations, the main novelty is the treatment of the corresponding electro-magnetic boundary value problem by recasting it as a ‘half’ Dirichlet problem for a suitable Dirac operator.     

A General Families Index Theorem

We consider the heat operator of a Bismut superconnection for a family of generalized Dirac operators defined along the leaves of a foliation with Hausdorff graph. We assume that the strong Novikov–Shubin invariants of the Dirac operators are greater than three times the codimension of the foliation. We compute the t asymptotics associated to a rescaling of the metric by 1/t and show that the heat operator converges to the Chern character of the index bundle of the operator. Combined with previous results, this gives a general families index theorem for such operators.     

Upper eigenvalue estimates for Dirac operators

We derive upper eigenvalue estimates for generalized Dirac operators on closed Riemannian manifolds. In the case of the classical Dirac operator the estimates on the first eigenvalues are sharp for spheres of constant curvature.     

K-homology and index theory on contact manifolds

This paper applies K-homology to solve the index problem for a class of hypoelliptic (but not elliptic) operators on contact manifolds. K-homology is the dual theory to K-theory. We explicitly calculate the K-cycle (i.e., the element in geometric K-homology) determined by any hypoelliptic Fredholm operator in the Heisenberg calculus. The index theorem of this paper precisely indicates how the analytic versus geometric K-homology setting provides an effective framework for extending formulas of Atiyah–Singer type to non-elliptic Fredholm operators.     

Spectral triples and manifolds with boundary

We investigate manifolds with boundary in noncommutative geometry. Spectral triples associated to a symmetric differential operator and a local boundary condition are constructed. We show that there is no tadpole for classical Dirac operators with a chiral boundary condition on spin manifolds.     

A Callias-Type Index Theorem with Degenerate Potentials

A generalization of Callias’ index theorem for self adjoint Dirac operators with skew adjoint potentials on asymptotically conic manifolds is presented in which the potential term may have constant rank nullspace at infinity. The index obtained depends on the choice of a family of Fredholm extensions, though as in the classical version it depends only on the data at infinity.     

Aspects of Dirac Operators in Analysis

We give a review of the analysis behind several examples of Dirac-type operators over manifolds arising in Clifford analysis. These include the Atiyah-Singer-Dirac operator acting on sections of a spin bundle over a spin manifold. It also includes several Dirac operators arising over conformally flat spin manifolds including hyperbolic space. Links to classical harmonic analysis are pointed out.

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Received: June 2007     

Cotangent bundles for “matrix algebras converge to the sphere”

In the high-energy quantum-physics literature one finds statements such as “matrix algebras converge to the sphere”. Earlier I provided a general setting for understanding such statements, in which the matrix algebras are viewed as compact quantum metric spaces, and convergence is with respect to a quantum Gromov–Hausdorff-type distance. More recently I have dealt with corresponding statements in the literature about vector bundles on spheres and matrix algebras. But physicists want, even more, to treat structures on spheres (and other spaces) such as Dirac operators, Yang–Mills functionals, etc., and they want to approximate these by corresponding structures on matrix algebras. In preparation for understanding what the Dirac operators should be, we determine here what the corresponding “cotangent bundles” should be for the matrix algebras, since it is on them that a “Riemannian metric” must be defined, which is then the information needed to determine a Dirac operator. (In the physics literature there are at least 3 inequivalent suggestions for the Dirac operators.)     

Positive scalar curvature,higher rho invariants and localization algebras

In this paper, we use localization algebras to study higher rho invariants of closed spin manifolds with positive scalar curvature metrics. The higher rho invariant is a secondary invariant and is closely related to positive scalar curvature problems. The main result of the paper connects the higher index of the Dirac operator on a spin manifold with boundary to the higher rho invariant of the Dirac operator on the boundary, where the boundary is endowed with a positive scalar curvature metric. Our result extends a theorem of Piazza and Schick [27, Theorem 1.17].     

Cusp geometry and the cobordism invariance of the index

The cobordism invariance of the index on closed manifolds is reproved using the calculus Ψ_c of cusp pseudodifferential operators on a manifold with boundary. More generally, on a compact manifold with corners, the existence of a symmetric cusp differential operator of order 1 and of Dirac type near the boundary implies that the sum of the indices of the induced operators on the hyperfaces is null.