An introduction to Dirac operators on manifolds (Q700335)

This book gives an introduction to Dirac operators on manifolds for readers with little knowledge in differential geometry and analysis. In the first chapter the algebraic theory of Clifford algebras and spinors is explained. For educational reasons the author decided to develop the theory of spinor fields and Dirac operators in chapters 2 and 3 for submanifolds of Euclidean space. There is also an appendix treating abstract Riemannian manifolds. In chapter 4 the behavior of the Dirac operator under conformal mappings is explored. Chapter 5 is devoted to showing that harmonic spinors (called monogenic functions in this book) are uniquely determined by their restriction to a nonempty open subset. In the last chapter it is shown how to reconstruct harmonic spinors out of their boundary values. Compared to other books treating similar subjects such as \textit{N. Berline}, \textit{E. Getzler}, and \textit{M. Vergne} [Heat kernels and Dirac operators, Springer-Verlag (1992; Zbl 0744.58001)], \textit{B. Booß-Bavnbek} and \textit{K. Wojciechowski} [Elliptic boundary problems for Dirac operators, Birkhäuser (1993; Zbl 0797.58004)], \textit{T. Friedrich} [Dirac operators in Riemannian geometry, AMS (2000; Zbl 0949.58032)], \textit{H. B. Lawson} and \textit{M.-L. Michelsohn} [Spin geometry, Princeton University Press (1989; Zbl 0688.57001)], and \textit{R. Melrose} [The Atiyah-Patodi-Singer index theorem, A. K. Peters (1993; Zbl 0796.58050)] the present book is considerably more elementary and is mostly restricted to results that can easily be obtained out of the definitions. More advanced topics like index theory are not covered.