Elliptic Operators and Higher Signatures

We extend the notion of the symmetric signature $\sigma(\bar{M},r)$ in L^n(R) for a compact n-dimensional manifold M without boundary, a reference map r from M to BG and a homomorphism of rings with involutions from ZG to R to the case with boundary $\partial M$, where $(\bar{M},\bar{\partial M}) \to (M,\partial M)$ is the G-covering associated to r. We need the assumption that $C_*(\bar{\partial M}) \otimes_{\zz G} R$ isR-chain homotopy equivalent to a R-chain complex D_* wi...

We describe Novikov's "higher signature conjecture," which dates back to the late 1960's, as well as many alternative formulations and related problems. The Novikov Conjecture is perhaps the most important unsolved problem in high-dimensional manifold topology, but more importantly, variants and analogues permeate many other areas of mathematics, from geometry to operator algebras to representation theory

If M is a compact oriented manifold-with-boundary whose fundamental group is virtually nilpotent or Gromov-hyperbolic, we show that the higher signatures of M are oriented-homotopy invariants.

This is a sequel to the paper "The signature package on Witt spaces, I. Index classes" by the same authors. In the first part we investigated, via a parametrix construction, the regularity properties of the signature operator on a stratified Witt pseudomanifold, proving, in particular, that one can define a K-homology signature class. We also established the existence of an analytic index class for the signature operator twisted by a C^*_r\Gamma Mischenko bundle and proved th...

We define and study the signature, A-hat genus and higher signatures of the quotient space of an $S^1$-action on a closed oriented manifold. We give applications to questions of positive scalar curvature and to an Equivariant Novikov Conjecture.

We find the stable homotopy classification of elliptic operators on stratified manifolds. Namely, we establish an isomorphism of the set of elliptic operators modulo stable homotopy and the $K$-homology group of the singular manifold. As a corollary, we obtain an explicit formula for the obstruction of Atiyah--Bott type to making interior elliptic operators Fredholm.

We obtain a classification of elliptic operators modulo stable homotopy on manifolds with edges (this is in some sense the simplest class of manifolds with nonisolated singularities). We show that the operators are classified by the K-homology group of the manifold. To this end, we construct exact sequence in elliptic theory isomorphic to the K-homology exact sequence. The main part of the proof is the computation of the boundary map using semiclassical quantization.

We establish the stable homotopy classification of elliptic pseudodifferential operators on manifolds with corners and show that the set of elliptic operators modulo stable homotopy is isomorphic to the K-homology group of some stratified manifold. By way of application, generalizations of some recent results due to Monthubert and Nistor are given.

We revisit the construction of signature classes in C*-algebra K-theory, and develop a variation that allows us to prove equality of signature classes in some situations involving homotopy equivalences of noncompact manifolds that are only defined outside of a compact set. As an application, we prove a counterpart for signature classes of a codimension two vanishing theorem for the index of the Dirac operator on spin manifolds (the latter is due to Hanke, Pape and Schick, and...

In the paper we consider the theory of elliptic operators acting in subspaces defined by pseudodifferential projections. This theory on closed manifolds is connected with the theory of boundary value problems for operators violating Atiyah-Bott condition. We prove an index formula for elliptic operators in subspaces defined by even projections on odd-dimensional manifolds and for boundary value problems, generalizing the classical result of Atiyah-Bott. Besides a topological ...