An index theorem for anti-self-dual orbifold-cone metrics (Q2437535)

A four-dimensional manifold \(M\) is said to have an edge-cone singularity along an embedded two-dimensional submanifold \(\Sigma\) if, in directions transverse to \(\Sigma\), \(M\)'s metric is modeled on that of a cone formed by identifying the radial edges of a disk sector with angle less than \(2\pi\). Such metrics have played important roles in the study of Kähler-Einstein geometry. For details see [\textit{M. Atiyah} and \textit{C. Lebrun}, Math. Proc. Camb. Philos. Soc. 155, No. 1, 13--37 (2013; Zbl 1273.53041)] and references therein. Atiyah and Lebrun [loc. cit.] established Gauss-Bonnet and signature formulas for four-dimensional manifolds with edge-cone singularities, and they generalized to these spaces the Hitchin-Thorpe obstruction to the existence of an Einstein metric. The paper under review focuses on the orbifold class of edge-cone singularities, the class where the disk angle is the quotient of \(2\pi\) by an integer. As for smooth manifolds, in the self-dual case and in the anti-self-dual case there are elliptic complexes with Kuranishi maps that determine the local structure of moduli space (for fixed cone angle). The index formulas for the elliptic complexes come from the [\textit{T. Kawasaki}, Nagoya Math. J. 84, 135--157 (1981; Zbl 0437.58020)] index formula, which the authors specialize and simplify in their setting. As corollaries the authors prove results about the moduli spaces. The authors report evidence suggesting that their results extend beyond the orbifold case.