Curvature on determinant bundles and first Chern forms (Q1867211)

Let \({\mathcal E}={\mathcal E}^+\oplus{\mathcal E}^-\to B\) be a Hilbert superbundle over a base \(B\), and \(L:{\mathcal E}^+\to{\mathcal E}^-\) a section over \(B\) of Fredholm operators. Then the complex lines \(\det({\mathcal E})_b:=(\Lambda^{\operatorname {top} \operatorname {ker}}L_b)^* \otimes\Lambda^{\operatorname {top} \operatorname {coker}} L_b\), \(b\in B\), form a line bundle over \(B\), although \(b\mapsto\dim\ker L_b\) is generally discontinuous. The motivating example for this construction is the determinant of the index bundle of a family indexed by \(B\) of elliptic operators on a smooth manifold \(M\). In order to define a Hermitian metric on \(\det L\), \textit{D. Quillen} [Funkt. Anal. Prilozh. 19, 31-41 (1985; Zbl 0603.32016)] found a regularization of the divergent product \(P(Q,a):=\prod_{a<\lambda\in \operatorname {Spec}(Q)} \lambda\), for \(Q\) a positive pseudodifferential operator of positive order on \(M\), with the property that \(P(Q,a)=P(Q,a') \prod_{a<\lambda<a'}\lambda\). A metric connection on this bundle was constructed by \textit{J.-M. Bismut} and \textit{D. S. Freed} [Commun. Math. Phys. 106, 159-176 (1986; Zbl 0657.58037)] in their proof of Witten's global anomaly formula. These constructions use an extension of the trace functional to operators which are not of trace class, by means of the holomorphic family of complex powers of \(Q\), or equivalently via the heat kernel expansion. In the paper under review, the authors construct \(Q\)-weighted first Chern forms on the bundle \({\mathcal E}\) when the fibers are modeled over \(H^s(M)\), \(s>\dim(M)/2\), given a connection whose curvature is pointwise given by pseudodifferential operators on \(M\). They compare this form with the (negative of the) curvature form of the Bismut-Freed connection. Although the two do not agree, their difference turns out to be an explicit Wodzicki residue (Theorem 3). They also obtain another expression for the same difference using heat regularization and the Bismut superconnection. As an illustration of their results, the authors compute in the second part of the paper the curvature and the regularized first Chern form on a natural superbundle over the Fréchet manifold of smooth almost complex structures over a Riemann surface.