Twisted \(K\)-theory and \(K\)-theory of bundle gerbes (Q1849273): Difference between revisions

Let \(\pi : Y \longrightarrow M\) be a continuous map which admits continuous local sections. Write \(Y^{[2]}\) for the pullback \(Y \times_{\pi} Y\). A bundle gerbe over \(M\) is a pair \((L , Y)\) where \(L\) is a complex Hermitian line bundle over \(Y^{[2]}\) with an isomorphism of Hermitian line bundles of the form \(L \otimes L \cong L\). A bundle gerbe is called trivial if it has the form \(J \otimes J^{*}\) for some line bundle \(J\) on \(Y\). The obstruction to triviality of a bundle gerbe is its Dixmier-Douady classs in \(H^{3}(M; {\mathbb Z})\). Two bundle gerbes \((L,Y)\) and \((J,Z)\) are stably isomorphic if \(L \otimes J^{*}\) is trivial. When \(M\) is a manifold the authors introduce the structure of an \((L,Y)\)-module structure on a vector bundle \(E\) over \(Y\) and form the topological K-group of these bundle gerbe modules. This group depends only on the Dixmier-Douady class \([H] \in H^{3}(M; {\mathbb Z})\) of \((L,Y)\) and is denoted by \(K(M, [H])\). The authors then show that the group \(K(M, [H])\) is often describable in terms of homotopy classes into the space of Fredholm operators on Hilbert space (twisted K-theory) via an index construction. The paper closes with a brief discussion of the possible application of bundle gerbe K-theory to the classification of D-brane charges in non-trivial backgrounds.