Elliptic Operators, Topology, and Asymptotic Methods


Book Description

Ten years after publication of the popular first edition of this volume, the index theorem continues to stand as a central result of modern mathematics-one of the most important foci for the interaction of topology, geometry, and analysis. Retaining its concise presentation but offering streamlined analyses and expanded coverage of important exampl




Elliptic Operators, Topology, and Asymptotic Methods, Second Edition


Book Description

Ten years after publication of the popular first edition of this volume, the index theorem continues to stand as a central result of modern mathematics-one of the most important foci for the interaction of topology, geometry, and analysis. Retaining its concise presentation but offering streamlined analyses and expanded coverage of important examples and applications, Elliptic Operators, Topology, and Asymptotic Methods, Second Edition introduces the ideas surrounding the heat equation proof of the Atiyah-Singer index theorem. The author builds towards proof of the Lefschetz formula and the full index theorem with four chapters of geometry, five chapters of analysis, and four chapters of topology. The topics addressed include Hodge theory, Weyl's theorem on the distribution of the eigenvalues of the Laplacian, the asymptotic expansion for the heat kernel, and the index theorem for Dirac-type operators using Getzler's direct method. As a "dessert," the final two chapters offer discussion of Witten's analytic approach to the Morse inequalities and the L2-index theorem of Atiyah for Galois coverings. The text assumes some background in differential geometry and functional analysis. With the partial differential equation theory developed within the text and the exercises in each chapter, Elliptic Operators, Topology, and Asymptotic Methods becomes the ideal vehicle for self-study or coursework. Mathematicians, researchers, and physicists working with index theory or supersymmetry will find it a concise but wide-ranging introduction to this important and intriguing field.







Analysis, Geometry and Topology of Elliptic Operators


Book Description

Modern theory of elliptic operators, or simply elliptic theory, has been shaped by the Atiyah-Singer Index Theorem created 40 years ago. Reviewing elliptic theory over a broad range, 32 leading scientists from 14 different countries present recent developments in topology; heat kernel techniques; spectral invariants and cutting and pasting; noncommutative geometry; and theoretical particle, string and membrane physics, and Hamiltonian dynamics. The first of its kind, this volume is ideally suited to graduate students and researchers interested in careful expositions of newly-evolved achievements and perspectives in elliptic theory. The contributions are based on lectures presented at a workshop acknowledging Krzysztof P Wojciechowski''s work in the theory of elliptic operators. Sample Chapter(s). Contents (42 KB). Contents: On the Mathematical Work of Krzysztof P Wojciechowski: Selected Aspects of the Mathematical Work of Krzysztof P Wojciechowski (M Lesch); Gluing Formulae of Spectral Invariants and Cauchy Data Spaces (J Park); Topological Theories: The Behavior of the Analytic Index under Nontrivial Embedding (D Bleecker); Critical Points of Polynomials in Three Complex Variables (L I Nicolaescu); Chern-Weil Forms Associated with Superconnections (S Paycha & S Scott); Heat Kernel Calculations and Surgery: Non-Laplace Type Operators on Manifolds with Boundary (I G Avramidi); Eta Invariants for Manifold with Boundary (X Dai); Heat Kernels of the Sub-Laplacian and the Laplacian on Nilpotent Lie Groups (K Furutani); Remarks on Nonlocal Trace Expansion Coefficients (G Grubb); An Anomaly Formula for L 2- Analytic Torsions on Manifolds with Boundary (X Ma & W Zhang); Conformal Anomalies via Canonical Traces (S Paycha & S Rosenberg); Noncommutative Geometry: An Analytic Approach to Spectral Flow in von Neumann Algebras (M-T Benameur et al.); Elliptic Operators on Infinite Graphs (J Dodziuk); A New Kind of Index Theorem (R G Douglas); A Note on Noncommutative Holomorphic and Harmonic Functions on the Unit Disk (S Klimek); Star Products and Central Extensions (J Mickelsson); An Elementary Proof of the Homotopy Equivalence between the Restricted General Linear Group and the Space of Fredholm Operators (T Wurzbacher); Theoretical Particle, String and Membrane Physics, and Hamiltonian Dynamics: T-Duality for Non-Free Circle Actions (U Bunke & T Schick); A New Spectral Cancellation in Quantum Gravity (G Esposito et al.); A Generalized Morse Index Theorem (C Zhu). Readership: Researchers in modern global analysis and particle physics.




Elliptic Boundary Problems for Dirac Operators


Book Description

Elliptic boundary problems have enjoyed interest recently, espe cially among C* -algebraists and mathematical physicists who want to understand single aspects of the theory, such as the behaviour of Dirac operators and their solution spaces in the case of a non-trivial boundary. However, the theory of elliptic boundary problems by far has not achieved the same status as the theory of elliptic operators on closed (compact, without boundary) manifolds. The latter is nowadays rec ognized by many as a mathematical work of art and a very useful technical tool with applications to a multitude of mathematical con texts. Therefore, the theory of elliptic operators on closed manifolds is well-known not only to a small group of specialists in partial dif ferential equations, but also to a broad range of researchers who have specialized in other mathematical topics. Why is the theory of elliptic boundary problems, compared to that on closed manifolds, still lagging behind in popularity? Admittedly, from an analytical point of view, it is a jigsaw puzzle which has more pieces than does the elliptic theory on closed manifolds. But that is not the only reason.




Geometric and Topological Invariants of Elliptic Operators


Book Description

This volume contains the proceedings of the AMS-IMS-SIAM Summer Research Conference on ``Geometric and Topological Invariants of Elliptic Operators,'' held in August 1988 at Bowdoin College. Some of the themes covered at the conference and appearing in the articles are: the use of more sophisticated asymptotic methods to obtain index theorems, the study of the $\eta$ invariant and analytic torsion, and index theory on open manifolds and foliated manifolds. The current state of noncommutative differential geometry, as well as operator algebraic and $K$-theoretic methods, are also presented in several the articles. This book will be useful to researchers in index theory, operator algebras, foliations, and mathematical physics. Topologists and geometers are also likely to find useful the view the book provides of recent work in this area. In addition, because of the expository nature of several of the articles, it will be useful to graduate students interested in working in these areas.




PDE Models for Multi-Agent Phenomena


Book Description

This volume covers selected topics addressed and discussed during the workshop “PDE models for multi-agent phenomena,” which was held in Rome, Italy, from November 28th to December 2nd, 2016. The content mainly focuses on kinetic equations and mean field games, which provide a solid framework for the description of multi-agent phenomena. The book includes original contributions on the theoretical and numerical study of the MFG system: the uniqueness issue and finite difference methods for the MFG system, MFG with state constraints, and application of MFG to market competition. The book also presents new contributions on the analysis and numerical approximation of the Fokker-Planck-Kolmogorov equations, the isotropic Landau model, the dynamical approach to the quantization problem and the asymptotic methods for fully nonlinear elliptic equations. Chiefly intended for researchers interested in the mathematical modeling of collective phenomena, the book provides an essential overview of recent advances in the field and outlines future research directions.




C * -Algebras and Elliptic Operators in Differential Topology


Book Description

The aim of this book is to present some applications of functional analysis and the theory of differential operators to the investigation of topological invariants of manifolds. The main topological application discussed in the book concerns the problem of the description of homotopy-invariant rational Pontryagin numbers of non-simply connected manifolds and the Novikov conjecture of homotopy invariance of higher signatures. The definition of higher signatures and the formulation of the Novikov conjecture are given in Chapter 3. In this chapter, the authors also give an overview of different approaches to the proof of the Novikov conjecture. First, there is the Mishchenko symmetric signature and the generalized Hirzebruch formulae and the Mishchenko theorem of homotopy invariance of higher signatures for manifolds whose fundamental groups have a classifying space, being a complete Riemannian non-positive curvature manifold. Then the authors present Solovyov's proof of the Novikov conjecture for manifolds with fundamental group isomorphic to a discrete subgroup of a linear algebraic group over a local field, based on the notion of the Bruhat-Tits building. Finally, the authors discuss the approach due to Kasparov based on the operator $KK$-theory and another proof of the Mishchenko theorem. In Chapter 4, they outline the approach to the Novikov conjecture due to Connes and Moscovici involving cyclic homology. That allows one to prove the conjecture in the case when the fundamental group is a (Gromov) hyperbolic group. The text provides a concise exposition of some topics from functional analysis (for instance, $C^*$-Hilbert modules, $K$-theory or $C^*$-bundles, Hermitian $K$-theory, Fredholm representations, $KK$-theory, and functional integration) from the theory of differential operators (pseudodifferential calculus and Sobolev chains over $C^*$-algebras), and from differential topology (characteristic classes). The book explains basic ideas of the subject and can serve as a course text for an introduction to the study of original works and special monographs.




Trace Formulas


Book Description

This volume introduces noncommutative integration theory on semifinite von Neumann algebras and the theory of singular traces for symmetric operator spaces. Deeper aspects of the association between measurability, poles and residues of spectral zeta functions, and asymptotics of heat traces are studied. Applications in Connes’ noncommutative geometry that are detailed include integration of quantum differentials, measures on fractals, and Connes’ character formula concerning the Hochschild class of the Chern character.




Semigroups of Operators and Spectral Theory


Book Description

This book presents some aspects of the theory of semigroups of operators, mostly from the point of view of its interaction withspectral theory. In order to make it self-contained, a concise description of the basic theory of semigroups, with complete proofs, is included in Part I. Some of the author's recent results, such as the construction of the Hille-Yosida space for general operators, the semi-simplicity manifold, and a Taylor formula for semigroups as functions of their generator, are also included in Part I. Part II describes recent generalizations (most of them in bookform for the first time), including pre-semigroups, semi-simplicity manifolds in situations more general than that considered in Part I, semigroups of unbounded symmetric operators, and an analogous result on "local cosine families" and semi-analytic vectors. It is hoped that this book will inspire more research in this field. This book will be of particular interest to graduate students and researchers working operator theory and its applications.