On the topological contents of \(\eta\)-invariants (Q2356947)

The purpose of this interesting paper is to understand which topological information is encoded in the eta-invariant, a spectral-geometric invariant introduced by Atiyah, Patodi and Singer in the context of index theory for boundary value problems for Dirac operators. The author discusses a universal bordism invariant obtained from the Atiyah-Patodi-Singer eta-invariant from the analytic and homotopy-theoretic point of view. The main results are a secondary index theorem about the coincidence of the analytic and topological constructions and intrinsic expressions for the bordism invariants.