The Dixmier trace and asymptotics of zeta functions

We obtain general theorems which enable the calculation of the Dixmier trace in terms of the asymptotics of the zeta function and of the trace of the heat semigroup. We prove our results in a general semi-finite von Neumann algebra. We find for p>1 that the asymptotics of the zeta function determines an ideal strictly larger than Lp,∞ on which the Dixmier trace may be defined. We also establish stronger versions of other results on Dixmier traces and zeta functions.     

Integration on locally compact noncommutative spaces

We present an ab initio approach to integration theory for nonunital spectral triples. This is done without reference to local units and in the full generality of semifinite noncommutative geometry. The main result is an equality between the Dixmier trace and generalised residue of the zeta function and heat kernel of suitable operators. We also examine definitions for integrable bounded elements of a spectral triple based on zeta function, heat kernel and Dixmier trace techniques. We show that zeta functions and heat kernels yield equivalent notions of integrability, which imply Dixmier traceability.     

Trace formulas for non-self-adjoint periodic Schrödinger operators and some applications

Recently, a trace formula for non-self-adjoint periodic Schrödinger operators in L²(R) associated with Dirichlet eigenvalues was proved in [Differential Integral Equations 14 (2001) 671-700]. Here we prove a corresponding trace formula associated with Neumann eigenvalues. In addition we investigate Dirichlet and Neumann eigenvalues of such operators. In particular, using the Dirichlet and Neumann trace formulas, we provide detailed information on location of the Dirichlet and Neumann eigenvalues for the model operator with the potential Ke2ix, where K∈C.     

Measures from Dixmier traces and zeta functions

For L^∞-functions on a (closed) compact Riemannian manifold, the noncommutative residue and the Dixmier trace formulation of the noncommutative integral are shown to equate to a multiple of the Lebesgue integral. The identifications are shown to continue to, and be sharp at, L²-functions. For functions strictly in Lp, 1?p<2, symmetrised noncommutative residue and Dixmier trace formulas must be introduced, for which the identification is shown to continue for the noncommutative residue. However, a failure is shown for the Dixmier trace formulation at L¹-functions. It is shown the noncommutative residue remains finite and recovers the Lebesgue integral for any integrable function while the Dixmier trace expression can diverge. The results show that a claim in the monograph [J.M. Gracia-Bondía, J.C. Várilly, H. Figueroa, Elements of Noncommutative Geometry, Birkhäuser Adv. Texts, Birkhäuser, Boston, 2001], that the equality on C^∞-functions between the Lebesgue integral and an operator-theoretic expression involving a Dixmier trace (obtained from Connes' Trace Theorem) can be extended to any integrable function, is false. The results of this paper include a general presentation for finitely generated von Neumann algebras of commuting bounded operators, including a bounded Borel or L^∞ functional calculus version of C^∞ results in IV.2.δ of [A. Connes, Noncommutative Geometry, Academic Press, New York, 1994].     

The local index formula in noncommutative geometry

In noncommutative geometry a geometric space is described from a spectral vantage point, as a tripleA, H, D consisting of a *-algebraA represented in a Hilbert spaceH together with an unbounded selfadjoint operatorD, with compact resolvent, which interacts with the algebra in a bounded fashion. This paper contributes to the advancement of this point of view in two significant ways: (1) by showing that any pseudogroup of transformations of a manifold gives rise to such a spectral triple of finite summability degree, and (2) by proving a general, in some sense universal, local index formula for arbitrary spectral triples of finite summability degree, in terms of the Dixmier trace and its residue-type extension.We dedicate this paper to Misha Gromov     

Summability for Nonunital Spectral Triples

This paper examines the issue of summability for spectral triples for the class of nonunital algebras introduced in [23]. For the case of (p, )-summability, we prove that the Dixmier trace can be used to define a (semifinite) trace on the algebra of the spectral triple. We show this trace is well-behaved, and provide a criteria for measurability of an operator in terms of zeta functions. We also show that all our hypotheses are satisfied by spectral triples arising from geodesically complete Riemannian manifolds. In addition, we indicate how the Local Index Theorem of Connes-Moscovici extends to our nonunital setting.     

Tracial gauge norms on finite von Neumann algebras satisfying the weak Dixmier property

In this paper we set up a representation theorem for tracial gauge norms on finite von Neumann algebras satisfying the weak Dixmier property in terms of Ky Fan norms. Examples of tracial gauge norms on finite von Neumann algebras satisfying the weak Dixmier property include unitarily invariant norms on finite factors (type II₁ factors and Mn(C)) and symmetric gauge norms on L^∞[0,1] and Cn. As the first application, we obtain that the class of unitarily invariant norms on a type II₁ factor coincides with the class of symmetric gauge norms on L^∞[0,1] and von Neumann's classical result [J. von Neumann, Some matrix-inequalities and metrization of matrix-space, Tomsk. Univ. Rev. 1 (1937) 286-300] on unitarily invariant norms on Mn(C). As the second application, Ky Fan's dominance theorem [Ky Fan, Maximum properties and inequalities for the eigenvalues of completely continuous operators, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 37 (1951) 760-766] is obtained for finite von Neumann algebras satisfying the weak Dixmier property. As the third application, some classical results in non-commutative Lp-theory (e.g., non-commutative Hölder's inequality, duality and reflexivity of non-commutative Lp-spaces) are obtained for general unitarily invariant norms on finite factors. We also investigate the extreme points of N(M), the convex compact set (in the pointwise weak topology) of normalized unitarily invariant norms (the norm of the identity operator is 1) on a finite factor M. We obtain all extreme points of N(M₂(C)) and some extreme points of N(Mn(C)) (n?3). For a type II₁ factor M, we prove that if t (0?t?1) is a rational number then the Ky Fan tth norm is an extreme point of N(M).     

Paraproducts and Hankel operators of Schatten class via p-John-Nirenberg Theorem

We give an interpolation-free proof of the known fact that a dyadic paraproduct is of Schatten-von Neumann class S_p, if and only if its symbol is in the dyadic Besov space B_p^d. Our main tools are a product formula for paraproducts and a “p-John-Nirenberg-Theorem” due to Rochberg and Semmes.We use the same technique to prove a corresponding result for dyadic paraproducts with operator symbols.Using an averaging technique by Petermichl, we retrieve Peller's characterizations of scalar and vector Hankel operators of Schatten-von Neumann class S_p for 1<p<∞. We then employ vector techniques to characterise little Hankel operators of Schatten-von Neumann class, answering a question by Bonami and Peloso.Furthermore, using a bilinear version of our product formula, we obtain characterizations for boundedness, compactness and Schatten class membership of products of dyadic paraproducts.     

Dixmier traces on noncompact isospectral deformations

We extend the isospectral deformations of Connes, Landi and Dubois-Violette to the case of Riemannian spin manifolds carrying a proper action of the noncompact abelian group Rl. Under deformation by a torus action, a standard formula relates Dixmier traces of measurable operators to integrals of functions on the manifold. We show that this relation persists for actions of Rl, under mild restrictions on the geometry of the manifold which guarantee the Dixmier traceability of those operators.     

The local index formula in semifinite Von Neumann algebras I: Spectral flow

We generalise the local index formula of Connes and Moscovici to the case of spectral triples for a *-subalgebra A of a general semifinite von Neumann algebra. In this setting it gives a formula for spectral flow along a path joining an unbounded self-adjoint Breuer-Fredholm operator, affiliated to the von Neumann algebra, to a unitarily equivalent operator. Our proof is novel even in the setting of the original theorem and relies on the introduction of a function valued cocycle which is ‘almost’ a (b,B)-cocycle in the cyclic cohomology of A.     

The Hochschild class of the Chern character for semifinite spectral triples

We provide a proof of Connes’ formula for a representative of the Hochschild class of the Chern character for (p,∞)-summable spectral triples. Our proof is valid for all semifinite von Neumann algebras, and all integral p?1. We employ the minimum possible hypotheses on the spectral triples.     

Dimensions and singular traces for spectral triples, with applications to fractals

Given a spectral triple , the functionals on of the form a?τ_ω(a|D|^−α) are studied, where τ_ω is a singular trace, and ω is a generalised limit. When τ_ω is the Dixmier trace, the unique exponent d giving rise possibly to a non-trivial functional is called Hausdorff dimension, and the corresponding functional the (d-dimensional) Hausdorff functional.It is shown that the Hausdorff dimension d coincides with the abscissa of convergence of the zeta function of |D|⁻¹, and that the set of α's for which there exists a singular trace τ_ω giving rise to a non trivial functional is an interval containing d. Moreover, the endpoints of such traceability interval have a dimensional interpretation. The functionals corresponding to points in the traceability interval are called Hausdorff-Besicovitch functionals.These definitions are tested on fractals in , by computing the mentioned quantities and showing in many cases their correspondence with classical objects. In particular, for self-similar fractals the traceability interval consists only of the Hausdorff dimension, and the corresponding Hausdorff-Besicovitch functional gives rise to the Hausdorff measure. More generally, for any limit fractal, the described functionals do not depend on the generalized limit ω.     

Spectral flow and Dixmier traces

We obtain general theorems which enable the calculation of the Dixmier trace in terms of the asymptotics of the zeta function and of the heat operator in a general semi-finite von Neumann algebra. Our results have several applications. We deduce a formula for the Chern character of an odd -summable Breuer-Fredholm module in terms of a Hochschild 1-cycle. We explain how to derive a Wodzicki residue for pseudo-differential operators along the orbits of an ergodic action on a compact space X. Finally, we give a short proof of an index theorem of Lesch for generalised Toeplitz operators.     

The local index formula in semifinite von Neumann algebras II: The even case

We generalise the even local index formula of Connes and Moscovici to the case of spectral triples for a *-subalgebra A of a general semifinite von Neumann algebra. The proof is a variant of that for the odd case which appears in Part I. To allow for algebras with a non-trivial centre we have to establish a theory of unbounded Fredholm operators in a general semifinite von Neumann algebra and in particular prove a generalised McKean-Singer formula.     

Noncommutative residue for Heisenberg manifolds. Applications in CR and contact geometry

This paper has four main parts. In the first part, we construct a noncommutative residue for the hypoelliptic calculus on Heisenberg manifolds, that is, for the class of ΨHDO operators introduced by Beals-Greiner and Taylor. This noncommutative residue appears as the residual trace on integer order ΨHDOs induced by the analytic extension of the usual trace to non-integer order ΨHDOs. Moreover, it agrees with the integral of the density defined by the logarithmic singularity of the Schwartz kernel of the corresponding ΨHDO. In addition, we show that this noncommutative residue provides us with the unique trace up to constant multiple on the algebra of integer order ΨHDOs. In the second part, we give some analytic applications of this construction concerning zeta functions of hypoelliptic operators, logarithmic metric estimates for Green kernels of hypoelliptic operators, and the extension of the Dixmier trace to the whole algebra of integer order ΨHDOs. In the third part, we present examples of computations of noncommutative residues of some powers of the horizontal sublaplacian and the contact Laplacian on contact manifolds. In the fourth part, we present two applications in CR geometry. First, we give some examples of geometric computations of noncommutative residues of some powers of the horizontal sublaplacian and of the Kohn Laplacian. Second, we make use of the framework of noncommutative geometry and of our noncommutative residue to define lower-dimensional volumes in pseudohermitian geometry, e.g., we can give sense to the area of any 3-dimensional CR manifold endowed with a pseudohermitian structure. On the way we obtain a spectral interpretation of the Einstein-Hilbert action in pseudohermitian geometry.     

Dixmier traces as singular symmetric functionals and applications to measurable operators

We unify various constructions and contribute to the theory of singular symmetric functionals on Marcinkiewicz function/operator spaces. This affords a new approach to the non-normal Dixmier and Connes-Dixmier traces (introduced by Dixmier and adapted to non-commutative geometry by Connes) living on a general Marcinkiewicz space associated with an arbitrary semifinite von Neumann algebra. The corollaries to our approach, stated in terms of the operator ideal L^(1,∞) (which is a special example of an operator Marcinkiewicz space), are: (i) a new characterization of the set of all positive measurable operators from L^(1,∞), i.e. those on which an arbitrary Connes-Dixmier trace yields the same value. In the special case, when the operator ideal L^(1,∞) is considered on a type I infinite factor, a bounded operator x belongs to L^(1,∞) if and only if the sequence of singular numbers {s_n(x)}_n?1 (in the descending order and counting the multiplicities) satisfies . In this case, our characterization amounts to saying that a positive element x∈L^(1,∞) is measurable if and only if exists; (ii) the set of Dixmier traces and the set of Connes-Dixmier traces are norming sets (up to equivalence) for the space , where the space is the closure of all finite rank operators in L^(1,∞) in the norm ∥.∥_(1,∞).     

Sharp remainder estimates in the Weyl formula for the Neumann Laplacian on a class of planar regions

We obtain estimates for the counting function of the Neumann Laplacian on a planar domain bounded by the graph of a lower semicontinuous L₁-function. These estimates imply necessary and sufficient conditions for the validity of the classical one-term Weyl formula for the counting function and, under certain restrictions, give an order sharp remainder estimate in this formula.     

Les espaces Lp d'une algèbre de von Neumann définies par la derivée spatiale

This work answers a question raised by A. Connes (on the spatial theory of von Neumann algebras, preprint, Inst. Hautes Études Sci., France) and generalizes for a general von Neumann algebra the theory of non-commutative integration of J. Dixmier (Bull. Soc. Math. France81 (1953)) and I. Segal (Ann. of Math.57 (1973)).     

Regularity of variational solutions to linear boundary value problems in Lipschitz domains

In a bounded Lipschitz domain in ?ⁿ, we consider a second-order strongly elliptic system with symmetric principal part written in divergent form. We study the Neumann boundary value problem in a generalized variational (or weak) setting using the Lebesgue spaces H _p ^σ (Ω) for solutions, where p can differ from 2 and σ can differ from 1. Using the tools of interpolation theory, we generalize the known theorem on the regularity of solutions, in which p = 2 and {σ ? 1} < 1/2, and the corresponding theorem on the unique solvability of the problem (Savaré, 1998) to p close to 2. We compare this approach with the nonvariational approach accepted in numerous papers of the modern theory of boundary value problems in Lipschitz domains. We discuss the regularity of eigenfunctions of the Dirichlet, Neumann, and Poincaré-Steklov spectral problems.     

Spectral problems in Lipschitz domains

The paper is devoted to spectral problems for strongly elliptic second-order systems in bounded Lipschitz domains. We consider the spectral Dirichlet and Neumann problems and three problems with spectral parameter in conditions at the boundary: the Poincaré–Steklov problem and two transmission problems. In the style of a survey, we discuss the main properties of these problems, both self-adjoint and non-self-adjoint. As a preliminary, we explain several facts of the general theory of the main boundary value problems in Lipschitz domains. The original definitions are variational. The use of the boundary potentials is based on results on the unique solvability of the Dirichlet and Neumann problems. In the main part of the paper, we use the simplest Hilbert L ₂-spaces H _s , but we describe some generalizations to Banach spaces H ^s _p of Bessel potentials and Besov spaces B ^s _p at the end of the paper.