The index theory on non-compact manifolds with proper group action

We construct a regularized index of a generalized Dirac operator on a complete Riemannian manifold endowed with a proper action of a unimodular Lie group. We show that the index is preserved by a certain class of non-compact cobordisms and prove a gluing formula for the regularized index. The results of this paper generalize our previous construction of index for compact group action and the recent paper of Mathai and Hochs who studied the case of a Hamiltonian action on a symplectic manifold. As an application of the cobordism invariance of the index we give an affirmative answer to a question of Mathai and Hochs about the independence of the Mathai-Hochs quantization of the metric, connection and other choices.

The Berry phase and the phase of the determinant

In 1984 Michael Berry discovered that an isolated eigenstate of an adiabatically changing periodic Hamiltonian $H(t)$ acquires a phase, called the Berry phase. We show that under very general assumptions the adiabatic approximation of the phase of the zeta-regularized determinant of the imaginary-time Schrodinger operator with periodic Hamiltonian is equal to the Berry phase.

Background cohomology of a non-compact Kahler G-manifold

For a compact Lie group G we define a regularized version of the Dolbeault cohomology of a G-equivariant holomorphic vector bundles over non-compact Kahler manifolds. The new cohomology is infinite-dimensional, but as a representation of G it decomposes into a sum of irreducible components, each of which appears in it with finite multiplicity. Thus equivariant Betti numbers are well defined. We study various properties of the new cohomology and prove that it satisfies a Kodaira-type vanishing theorem.