Spectral flow, eta invariants, and von Neumann algebras (Q1803327)

Let \(X\) be a smooth manifold of odd dimension and \(\alpha,\alpha' :\pi_ 1 (X) \to U(n)\) two representations of its fundamental group. The \(\eta\)- invariant \(\eta_ \alpha(X)\) is defined as follows: Choose a Riemannian metric on \(X\) and extend the signature operator to differential forms with coefficients in the flat vector bundle defined by \(\alpha\). Call this extended operator \(B\otimes \alpha\) and put \(\eta_ \alpha(X)=\eta (B \otimes \alpha)\). \textit{Atiyah}, \textit{Patodi}, and \textit{Singer} showed that \(\eta_ \alpha(X)-\eta_{\alpha'}(X)\) is independent of the metric, and \textit{Weinberger} showed, for manifolds with certain types of fundamental groups, that it is even a homotopy invariant. Given a path \(\gamma\) in the space \(\text{Hom} \bigl( \pi_ 1(X),U(n) \bigr)\), the author uses Weinberger's theorem to show that the spectral flow of the family \(B\otimes \gamma_ t\) is a homotopy invariant of the pair \((X,\gamma)\). He also proves that an \(\eta\)-invariant for normal covering spaces introduced by \textit{Cheeger} and \textit{Gromov} is a homotopy invariant if the fundamental group is a Bieberbach group. Finally he computes this invariant for closed locally symmetric spaces.