The use of bundle gerbes and bundle gerbe modules is considered as a replacement for the usual theory of Clifford modules on manifolds that fail to be spin. It is shown that both sides of the Atiyah-Singer index formula for coupled Dirac operators can be given natural interpretations using this language and that the resulting formula is still an identity.
We prove a Godbillon-Vey index formula for longitudinal Dirac operators on a foliated bundle with boundary; in particular, we define a Godbillon-Vey eta invariant on the boundary-foliation; this is a secondary invariant for longitudinal Dirac operators on type-III foliations. Moreover, employing the Godbillon-Vey index as a pivotal example, we explain a new approach to higher index theory on geometric structures with boundary. This is heavily based on the interplay between the absolute and relative pairings of K-theory and cyclic cohomology for an exact sequence of Banach algebras which in the present context takes the form $0to Jto Ato Bto 0$, with J dense and holomorphically closed in the C^*-algebra of the foliation and B depending only on boundary data. Of particular importance is the definition of a relative cyclic cocycle $(tau_{GV}^r,sigma_{GV})$ for the pair $Ato B$; $tau_{GV}^r$ is a cyclic cochain on A defined through a regularization, `a la Melrose, of the usual Godbillon-Vey cyclic cocycle $tau_{GV}$; $sigma_{GV}$ is a cyclic cocycle on B, obtained through a suspension procedure involving $tau_{GV}$ and a specific 1-cyclic cocycle (Roes 1-cocycle). We call $sigma_{GV}$ the eta cocycle associated to $tau_{GV}$. The Atiyah-Patodi-Singer formula is obtained by defining a relative index class $Ind (D,D^partial)in K_* (A,B)$ and establishing the equality <Ind (D),[tau_{GV}]>=<Ind (D,D^partial), [tau^r_{GV}, sigma_{GV}]>$. The Godbillon-Vey eta invariant $eta_{GV}$ is obtained through the eta cocycle $sigma_{GV}$.
We introduce the notion of a general cup product bundle gerbe and use it to define the Weyl bundle gerbe on T x SU(n)/T. The Weyl map from T x SU(n)/T to SU(n) is then used to show that the pullback of the basic bundle gerbe on SU(n) defined by the second two authors is stably isomorphic to the Weyl bundle gerbe as SU(n)-equivariant bundle gerbes. Both bundle gerbes come equipped with connections and curvings and by considering the holonomy of these we show that these bundle gerbes are not D-stably isomorphic.
We formulate and prove an analog of the Hopf Index Theorem for Riemannian foliations. We compute the basic Euler characteristic of a closed Riemannian manifold as a sum of indices of a non-degenerate basic vector field at critical leaf closures. The primary tool used to establish this result is an adaptation to foliations of the Witten deformation method.
This paper generalizes Bismuts equivariant Chern character to the setting of abelian gerbes. In particular, associated to an abelian gerbe with connection, an equivariantly closed differential form is constructed on the space of maps of a torus into the manifold. These constructions are made explicit using a new local version of the higher Hochschild complex, resulting in differential forms given by iterated integrals. Connections to two dimensional topological field theories are indicated. Similarly, this local higher Hochschild complex is used to calculate the 2-holonomy of an abelian gerbe along any closed oriented surface, as well as the derivative of 2-holonomy, which in the case of a torus fits into a sequence of higher holonomies and their differentials.
We prove that the Gram--Schmidt orthogonalization process can be carried out in Hilbert modules over Clifford algebras, in spite of the un-invertibility and the un-commutativity of general Clifford numbers. Then we give two crucial applications of the orthogonalization method. One is to give a constructive proof of existence of an orthonormal basis of the inner spherical monogenics of order $k$ for each $kinmathbb{N}.$ The second is to formulate the Clifford Takenaka--Malmquist systems, or in other words, the Clifford rational orthogonal systems, as well as define Clifford Blaschke product functions, in both the unit ball and the half space contexts. The Clifford TM systems then are further used to establish an adaptive rational approximation theory for $L^2$ functions on the sphere and in $mathbb{R}^m.$