String structures and the index of the Dirac-Ramond operator on orbifolds (Q1113153)

A Dirac operator is defined on a manifold M possessing a spin structure, which happens if the second Stiefel-Whitney class \(w_ 2(M)\) vanishes; the index of this operator is then given by the Atiyah-Singer theorem. This paper considers the corresponding issues in string theory. The Dirac-Ramond operator is defined as an operator on the loop space of M, when M possesses a ``string structure''. The authors discuss the link between existence of such structures and a class \(\lambda \in H^ 4(M,{\mathbb{Z}})\), defined as one half the first Pontryagin class of the tangent bundle of M. For non simply connected M, they suggest that the vanishing of \(\lambda\) should be replaced by a stronger condition. Then they investigate to what extent the character valued index formula for the Dirac-Ramond operator detects the \(\lambda\)-class. The index formula is also extended to orbifolds, quotients of arbitrary manifolds by discrete symmetry groups.