The Heat Kernel Lefschetz Fixed Point Formula for the Spin-c Dirac Operator (Progress in Nonlinear Differential Equations and Their Applications, 18) - Softcover

Duistermaat, J.J.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1461253462 ISBN 13: 9781461253464

Publisher: Birkhäuser, 2011

Synopsis

When visiting M.I.T. for two weeks in October 1994, Victor Guillemin made me enthusiastic about a problem in symplectic geometry which involved the use of the so-called spin-c Dirac operator. Back in Berkeley, where I had l spent a sabbatical semester , I tried to understand the basic facts about this operator: its definition, the main theorems about it, and their proofs. This book is an outgrowth of the notes in which I worked this out. For me this was a great learning experience because of the many beautiful mathematical structures which are involved. I thank the Editorial Board of Birkhauser, especially Haim Brezis, for sug­ gesting the publication of these notes as a book. I am also very grateful for the suggestions by the referees, which have led to substantial improvements in the presentation. Finally I would like to express special thanks to Ann Kostant for her help and her prodding me, in her charming way, into the right direction. J.J. Duistermaat Utrecht, October 16, 1995.

About this title

From the Back Cover:

Interest in the spin-c Dirac operator originally came about from the study of complex analytic manifolds, where in the non-Kähler case the Dolbeault operator is no longer suitable for getting local formulas for the Riemann–Roch number or the holomorphic Lefschetz number. However, every symplectic manifold (phase space in classical mechanics) also carries an almost complex structure and hence a corresponding spin-c Dirac operator. Using the heat kernels theory of Berline, Getzler, and Vergne, this work revisits some fundamental concepts of the theory, and presents the application to symplectic geometry.

J.J. Duistermaat was well known for his beautiful and concise expositions of seemingly familiar concepts, and this classic study is certainly no exception. Reprinted as it was originally published, this work is as an affordable text that will be of interest to a range of researchers in geometric analysis and mathematical physics.

Overall this is a carefully written, highly readable book on a very beautiful subject. ―Mathematical Reviews

The book of J.J. Duistermaat is a nice introduction to analysis related [to the] spin-c Dirac operator. ... The book is almost self contained, [is] readable, and will be useful for anybody who is interested in the topic. ―EMS Newsletter

The author's book is a marvelous introduction to [these] objects and theories. ―Zentralblatt MATH

About the Author:

Hans Duistermaat was a geometric analyst, who unexpectedly passed away in March 2010. His research encompassed many different areas in mathematics: ordinary differential equations, classical mechanics, discrete integrable systems, Fourier integral operators and their application to partial differential equations and spectral problems, singularities of mappings, harmonic analysis on semisimple Lie groups, symplectic differential geometry, and algebraic geometry. He was (co-)author of eleven books.

Duistermaat was affiliated to the Mathematical Institute of Utrecht University since 1974 as a Professor of Pure and Applied Mathematics. During the last five years he was honored with a special professorship at Utrecht University endowed by the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences. He was also a member of the Academy since 1982. He had 23 PhD students.

About this edition

• Publisher: Birkhäuser
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 1461253462
• ISBN 13: 9781461253464
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 255