Twisted index theory on good orbifolds. II: Fractional quantum numbers (Q5940471)

The authors study twisted higher index theory of elliptic operators on orbifold covering spaces of compact good orbifolds. Their primary motivation is the hope that this theory will provide a topological perspective on the fractional quantum numbers in the quantum Hall effect. This paper's first theorem is a cohomological formula for the result of pairing a first-order elliptic differential operator (living on an orbifold covering space of a compact good orbifold and invariant under a projective action of the orbifold fundamental group) with a cyclic cocycle (``higher trace'') associated to a group cocycle for the orbifold fundamental group. This result is closely related to work of \textit{A. Connes} and \textit{H. Moscovici} [Topology 29, No. 3, 345-388 (1990; Zbl 0759.58047)], and it generalizes the results on \(0\)-traces of the authors [Commun. Contemp. Math. 1, 553-587 (1999; Zbl 0959.58035)]. The paper then shows that for a cocompact Fuchsian group the area \(2\)-cocycle defines a higher trace on \(K\)-theory whose range consists of integer multiples of the orbifold Euler characteristic of an orbifold associated with the group. The application of this result to the quantum Hall effect extends results of \textit{J. Bellissard, A. van Elst}, and \textit{H. Schulz-Baldes} [J. Math. Phys. 35, 5373-5451 (1994; Zbl 0824.46086)] and \textit{A. Carey, K. Hannabuss, V. Mathai}, and \textit{P. McCann} [Commun. Math. Phys. 190, 629-673 (1998; Zbl 0916.46057)]. The authors show that the area \(2\)-cocycle represents the same cyclic cohomology class as the cocycle giving the hyperbolic Connes-Kubo formula for the Hall conductance. Thus in this model the Hall conductance has plateaux that are integer multiples of orbifold Euler characteristics. The paper contains a discussion of the relationship between the physics and the mathematics of this model, including a comparison of the fractional quantum numbers arising in this model with those observed in experiments.