No label defined (Q4397708)

This book constitutes the thesis of the author at the University of Mainz. The mathematical objects studied by the author are manifolds of bounded geometry defined as follows: ``Let \(M\) be a manifolds with boundary \(\partial M\). Then \(M\) is of bounded geometry if: (N) There exists \(r_C>0\) so that the geodesic collar \(e:[0,r_C) \times \partial M\to M:(t,x)\to \exp_x(tv_x)\) is a diffeomorphism onto its image \((v_x\) is the unit inward normal vector at \(x\in \partial M)\). (IC) The injectivity radius of \(\partial M\) is positive. (I) There is \(r_i>0\) so that for \(x\in M-e ([0,{r_C \over 3}) \times \partial M)\) the exponential map is a diffeomorphism on \(B(0,r_i) \subset T_xM\). (B) For every \(K\in\mathbb{N}\) there is \(C_K>0\) so that \(| \nabla^i R|\leq C_K\) and \(|\overline \nabla^i l|\leq C_K\), \(0\leq i\leq K\) \((R=\)curvature, \(l=\)second fundamental form tensor, \(\nabla=\)Levi-Civita connection of \(M\) and \(\overline \nabla=\)Levi-Civita connection of \(\partial M)\).'' The author establishes several interesting results about the geometry, topology and analysis on this type of manifolds, directed at the aim to obtain the \(L^2\)-index theorem, in the case \(M\) compact, as main result: ``Suppose that \(\widetilde M\downarrow M\) is a normal covering of \(M\) with covering group \(\Gamma= \pi_1(M)/ \pi_1 (\widetilde M)\), \(P\) is an elliptic boundary problem on \(M\) and \(\widetilde P\) its lift to \(\widetilde M\). Then the numbers \(\dim_\Gamma \ker (\widetilde P)\), \(\dim_\Gamma \text{coker} (\widetilde P)\) are finite and \(\text{ind}_\Gamma (\widetilde P) (=\dim_\Gamma \ker (\widetilde P)- \dim_\Gamma \text{coker} (\widetilde P))= \text{ind} (P)\). Particularly, \(\text{ind}_\Gamma (\widetilde P)\) is an integer.'' This theorem is applied to the construction of geometric representations of Lie groups.