Real dimensional spaces in noncommutative geometry (Q2345403)

The paper under review is aimed at master students in mathematics who have a good background in functional analysis. The results from functional analysis which will be used are stated in the preliminaries, but familiarity with it is convenient. Knowledge of noncommutative geometry is not necessary, the text will gradually recall the theory of noncommutative geometry. The article deals with \(z\)-dimensional spaces where \(z\) is a positive real number. Given a positive real number \(z\), \textit{A. Connes} and \textit{M. Marcolli} showed in [Noncommutative geometry, quantum fields and motives. Providence, RI: American Mathematical Society (AMS)/Hindustan Book Agency (2008; Zbl 1209.58007)] that it is possible to construct a space of dimension \(z\). Such spaces are given by semifinite spectral triples, a generalization of spectral triples which in turn are a generalization of manifolds. The paper under review investigates these \(z\)-dimensional spaces and give applications in physics to dimensional regularization and zeta regularization. The text starts with reviewing the basics from functional analysis, and explains how noncommutative geometry is a generalization of differential geometry and gives an overview of the concepts of noncommutative geometry which will be used in the rest of the paper. In particular it explains how the notion of dimension and the smooth structure of a manifold can be extended to spectral triples (the so called noncommutative manifolds). In the second part the paper considers the generalization of spectral triples to semifinite spectral triples. The product of semifinite spectral triples is an important tool needed in the applications. The author generalizes the construction of the product of two spectral triples to a product of semifinite spectral triples. It is clear that the product will not be a classical spectral triple, but the process obtains a semifinite spectral triple. After these preliminaries the spaces of real dimension are constructed based on the work of Connes and Marcolli [loc. cit.]. These spaces are investigated in detail and it is shown that they are \(z\)-dimensional. In the last part, the paper gives applications of these spaces in physics and describes how they can be used in dimensional regularization [\textit{G. 't Hooft} and \textit{M. Veltman}, ``Regularization and renormalization of gauge fields'', Nucl. Phys. B 44, No. 1, 189--213 (1972; \url{doi:10.1016/0550-3213(72)90279-9})] and zeta function regularization [\textit{S. W. Hawking}, Commun. Math. Phys. 55, 133--148 (1977; Zbl 0407.58024)]. These are procedures which are commonly used in physics to deal with divergent integrals.