Differential twisted K-theory and applications (Q1017430)

There are two important algebraic topological theories that have appeared recently in the literature: K-theory twisted by an element of \(H^3(X; \mathbb{Z})\) [\textit{M. Atiyah} and \textit{G. Segal}, Ukr. Math. Bull. 1, No.~3, 291--334 (2004; Zbl 1151.55301)] and differential cohomology [\textit{D. S. Freed}, Surv. Differ. Geom., Suppl. J. Differ. Geom. 7, 129--194 (2000; Zbl 1058.81058); \textit{M. J. Hopkins} and \textit{I. M. Singer}, J. Differ. Geom, 70, No. 3, 329--452 (2005; Zbl 1116.58018); \textit{U. Bunke} and \textit{T. Schick}, ``Smooth \(K\)-theory'', arXiv 0707.0046]. In this paper, the authors combine these two ideas to create a differential twisted K-theory. Let \(X\) be a compact smooth manifold and let \(\sigma\) be a map from \(X\) to the Eilenberg-MacLane space \(K(\mathbb{Z}, 3)\). If \(\mathcal{H}\) is a separable infinite-dimensional complex Hilbert space, then the classifying space \(B\mathbf{PU}(\mathcal{H})\) is a model for \(K(\mathbb{Z}, 3)\), and we let \(\mathcal{P}_\sigma\) be a principal \(\mathbf{PU}(\mathcal{H})\)-bundle over \(X\) whose classifying map is \(\sigma\). Let \(\mathcal{G}_\sigma\) be the canonical lifting bundle gerbe over \(X\) determined by \(\mathcal{P}_\sigma\), choose a gerbe connection \(\theta\) and a curving \(\omega\), and let \(\check{\sigma}\) denote the triple \((\mathcal{G}_\sigma, \theta, \omega)\). Define \(H\) to be the normalized curvature of \(\check{\sigma}\); this is a closed differential 3-form that represents the image of \(\sigma\) under the obvious map from \(H^3(X, \mathbb{Z})\) to \(H^3(X, \mathbb{R})\). The elements of the twisted differential \(K\)-theory group \(\check{K}^1(X, \check{\sigma})\) are constructed as follows. Let \(\mathbf{Fred}^{\text{sa}}_*\) be the set of bounded self-adjoint Fredholm operators on \(\mathcal{H}\) that possess both positive and negative essential spectrum, and let \(f: \mathcal{P}_\sigma \longrightarrow \mathbf{Fred}^{\text{sa}}_*\) be a \(\mathbf{PU}(\mathcal{H})\)-equivariant map such that \(f(x)\) has discrete spectrum for each \(x\) in \(X\). Next, choose an open cover \(\{U_i\}\) of \(X\) such that on each \(U_i\) there is a local section \(\varphi_i: U_i \longrightarrow \mathcal{P}_\sigma\) with the property that there is a real number \(\lambda_i\) that is not in the spectrum of \(f(\phi_i(x))\) for any \(x\) in \(U_i\); the authors refer to this as a spectral cut. Let \(\{\rho_i\}\) be a partition of unity subordinate to \(\{U_i\}\), and choose an element \(\eta\) in \(\Omega^{\text{even}}(X)\slash \text{Im}(d - H)\), where \(\text{Im}(d - H)\) denotes the image of the twisted de Rham operator \(d - H: \Omega^{\text{even}}(X) \longrightarrow \Omega^{\text{odd}}(X)\). Once a suitable equivalence relation is applied, the 4-tuples \((f, \{\lambda_i\}, \{\rho_i\}, \eta)\) (called twisted differential \(\check{K}^1\) cocycles) are the elements of \(\check{K}^1(X, \check{\sigma})\). The authors define a Chern character map \(ch_{\check{\sigma}}: \check{K}^1(X, \check{\sigma}) \longrightarrow \Omega^{\text{odd}}(X, d - H)\) and show that it is compatible with the Chern character in twisted (nondifferential) \(K\)-theory. The group \(\check{K}^0(X, \check{\sigma})\) is then defined in terms of \(S^1\)-parametrized families of twisted differential \(\check{K}^1\) cocycles that pass through one that determines the zero element in \(\check{K}^1(X, \check{\sigma})\). As in the odd case, there is a Chern character map \(ch_{\check{\sigma}}: \check{K}^0(X, \check{\sigma}) \longrightarrow \Omega^{\text{even}}(X, d - H)\). The authors also give a classifying space interpretation of twisted differential \(K\)-theory. As applications of their theory, the authors prove a Riemann-Roch theorem for twisted \(K\)-theory and study the twisted \(K\)-theory of simply connected simple Lie groups; they look specifically at \(SU(2)\) and \(SU(3)\).