On equivariant Euler characteristics (Q920202)

Let G be a finite group of symmetries of a compact manifold M. In string theory one uses an Euler characteristic based on simultaneous fixed-point sets of commuting pairs of elements of G. The authors show that this is the same as the Euler characteristic of the equivariant K-theory \(K^*_ G(M)\). The method depends on expressing \(K^*_ G(M)\) tensored with the complex numbers in terms of the non-equivariant K- theory of the fixed-point sets of single elements of G.