An anomaly formula for Ray-Singer metrics on manifolds with boundary (Q5920668)

Given a compact \(m\)-dimensional smooth manifold \(X\), not necessary oriented with boundary \(\partial X := Y\) and a flat vector bundle \(F\) on \(X\) with a fixed flat connection. For a fixed Riemannian metric on \(X\) and a (not necessarily flat) Hermitian metric on \(F\), the Ray-Singer metric on the determinant of \(H^*(X,F)\) can be defined, where \(H^*(X,F)\) denotes the cohomology of \(X\) with coefficients in the flat bundle \(F\). In the paper under review, the authors prove a local Gauss-Bonnet-Chern theorem for manifolds with boundary, using heat kernel methods without assuming that the metric has a product structure near the boundary. Then they derive a formula for the variation of Ray-Singer metrics as the Riemannian metric on \(X\) and the Hermitian metric on \(F\) vary. To derive such a formula they split the problem into an interior part and a contribution from the boundary. In the interior of \(X\) they apply a previous result of \textit{J.-M. Bismut} and \textit{W. Zhang} [An extension of a Theorem by Cheeger and Müller, Astérisque. 205 (1992; Zbl 0781.58039)]. To deal with the boundary contribution, they use a formula identifying the variation of the Ray-Singer metrics as the constant term in the asymptotic expansion of the supertrace of a heat kernel multiplied by an endomorphism. To prove their results the authors rely on local index and rescaling techniques.