Absolute torsion and eta-invariant

DOI10.1007/S002099900110MaRDI QIDQ1574459zbMATH OpenOpenAlexFDO

Authors Michael Farber

Publication date 22 February 2001

Published in Mathematische Zeitschrift (Search for Journal in Brave)

Full work available at URL https://arxiv.org/abs/math/9903141

zbMATH Keywords

absolute torsioneta-invariantReidemeister torsionspectral flow

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Global differential geometry (53C99) Simple homotopy type, Whitehead torsion, Reidemeister-Franz torsion, etc. (57Q10) Eta-invariants, Chern-Simons invariants (58J28)

Abstract: In a recent joint work with V. Turaev (cf. math.DG/9810114) we defined a new concept of combinatorial torsion which we called absolute torsion. Compared with the classical Reidemeister torsion it has the advantage of having a well-defined sign. Also, the absolute torsion is defined for arbitrary orientable flat vector bundles, and not only for unimodular ones, as is classical Reidemeister torsion. In this paper I show that the sign behavior of the absolute torsion, under a continuous deformation of the flat bundle, is determined by the eta-invariant and the Pontrjagin classes.

Review text

The paper gives a relation between the sign of absolute torsion \(\tau\) (an extension of Reidemeister torsion with a well defined sign) and the eta-invariant. The situation is the following: \(X\) is a closed oriented PL-manifold of odd dimension \(m\), \(F\) is a flat orientable Hermitian vector bundle over \(X\), the Stiefel-Whitney class \(w_{m-1}(X)\) vanishes and \(H_1(X,{\mathbb Z})\) has no \(2\)-torsion. Let now \(\nabla_t\), \(t\in (a,b)\), be a real analytic family of flat Hermitian connections on \(F\), and set \(F_t:=(F,\nabla_t)\). Assume \(H_*(X,F_t)=0\) for \(t\notin S\) with finite subset \(S\) of \((a,b)\). In this case, \(\tau(X,F_t)\in {\mathbb R}\) is defined for \(t\notin S\). Then the author proves: \[ \text{sign}(\tau(F_t))\exp(i\pi \eta(F_t)/2)V(t)\in{\mathbb C} \] is independent of \(t\in (a,b)-S\). Here, \(V(t)\) is an expression involving the Pontryagin classes of \(X\) and the monodromy of \(\nabla_t\). Moreover, if \(m\) is congruent to \(3\) modulo \(4\), or if \(\nabla_t\) is an analytic family of SU-connections, then the formula is valid also if \(H_1(X,{\mathbb Z})\) is arbitrary, and \(V(t)\) vanishes. The eta-invariant is the eta-invariant of the operator \(i^{(m+1)/2} (-1)^{N+1}(*\nabla-\nabla*)\) on forms of even degree (where \(N(\phi)\) is the degree of \(\phi\)).

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(12)

• Sub-signature operators, \(\eta\)-invariants and a Riemann-Roch theorem for flat vector bundles
• Refined analytic torsion as analytic function on the representation variety and applications
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• Invariance of Torsion and the Borsuk Conjecture
• Rokhlin invariant, \(\eta\)-invariant, and Reidemeister torsion
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• Euler structures, the variety of representations and the Milnor-Turaev torsion
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