Eta invariants and manifolds with boundary (Q1340157)

Let \(M\) be a compact Riemannian manifold and let \(D\) be a first order elliptic differential operator on \(M\) which is formally self-adjoint. If the boundary of \(M\) is empty, then \(D\) has a discrete spectral resolution, if \(\lambda_ j\) are the eigenvalues of \(D\), the eta function of Atiyah, Patodi, and Singer is defined by: \(\eta(s,D) = \sum_{\lambda_ j \neq 0}\text{sign}(\lambda_ j)|\lambda_ j|^{-s}.\) If \(M\) has non-empty boundary, assume the structures are product near the boundary so that \(D\) takes the form \(D = \gamma(\partial_ \nu + A)\) where \(A\) is a self-adjoint tangential operator. Impose spectral boundary conditions using the negative spectral projection \(\Pi_ -^ A\). If \(\text{ker}(A) \neq 0\), the resulting extension of \(D\) is not self-adjoint; it is necessary to pick a unitary involution \(\sigma\) of \(\ker (A)\) anti-commuting with \(\gamma\) to split \(\ker(A)\). Let \(P_ -^ A\) be the orthogonal projection on the \(-1\) eigenspace of \(\sigma\); the boundary conditions defined by \(\Pi_ -^ A + P_ -^ A\) then make \(D\) self-adjoint and define a suitable eta function. The author shows \(\eta\) has a meromorphic extension to the whole complex plane; he does not completely answer the question of the regularity at \(s = 0\). He studies the behavior of the eta invariant under variations which are constant near the boundary and shows that for such variations the residue at \(s = 0\) is a homotopy invariant. This shows that \(\eta\) is regular at \(s = 0\) for operators of Dirac type. The author investigates the dependence of the eta invariant on the choice of the unitary involution \(\sigma\) and derives results proved independently by Lesch and Wojciechowski. The author also studies the eta invariant within the \(L^ 2\) framework by glueing on an infinite cylinder; he shows the eta invariant in this context agrees with the previous eta invariant if \(D\) is a compatible operator of Dirac type.