Zeta regularized determinant of the Laplacian for classes of spherical space forms (Q2474528)

Let \(M\) be a compact Riemannian manifold of dimension \(m\) which has constant sectional curvature \(+1\); such a manifold is called a spherical space form and can be represented as a quotient \(M=S^m/\Gamma\) of the standard round sphere by a finite subgroup \(\Gamma\) of the orthogonal group \(O(m+1)\) which acts without fixed points; if \(\Gamma\) is cyclic, then \(M\) is called a lens space. If \(m\) is even, then \(M\) is either a sphere or a projective space; thus it is usual to suppose \(m\) is odd in which case \(M\) is necessarily orientable. The authors calculate the spectral zeta function and the zeta-regularized determinant of the Laplacian for certain classes of spherical space forms and lens spaces -- the methods of the paper also apply if \(\Gamma\)arises from the dihedral group. They show that all spectral zeta functions can be expressed as combinations of Dirichlet series -- a fundamental technical difficulty is determining the multiplicities involved.