We consider the index of a Dirac operator on a compact even dimensional manifold with a domain wall. The latter is defined as a co-dimension one submanifold where the connection jumps. We formulate and prove an analog of the Atiyah-Patodi-Singer theorem that relates the index to the bulk integral of Pontryagin density and $η$-invariants of auxiliary Dirac operators on the domain wall. Thus the index is expressed through the global chiral anomaly in the volume and the parity anomaly on the wall.
Let K and K' be 2-knots. Suppose that K and K' are ribbon-move equivalent. Then the Farber-Levine pairing for K is equivalent to that for K' and the (Z-)torsion part of the first Alexander module of $K$ is isomorphic to that of K' as Z[Z] modules. Let K be a 2-knot which is ribbon-move equivalent to the trivial knot. Then the Atiyah-Patodi-Singer-Casson-Gordon-Ruberman Q/Z-valued \widetildeη-invariants of K for Z_d is zero. (d is a natural number. d>2.).
Gauge anomaly in 4-dimensions can be viewed as a current inflow into an extra-dimension, where the total phase of the fermion partition function is given in a gauge invariant way by the Atiyah- Patodi-Singer(APS) eta-invariant of a 5-dimensional Dirac operator. However, this formalism requires a non-local boundary condition, with which the physical roles of edge/bulk modes are unclear and how the causality of the theory is maintained is not obvious. In this work, we consider a special case where the Dirac operator is in a real representation and its eta invariant becomes the mod-two type APS i…
Dirac's quantization condition, $eg=n/2$ ($n \in \Bbb Z$), and Schwinger's quantization condition, $eg=n$ ($n \in \Bbb Z$), for an electric charge $e$ and a magnetic charge $g$ are derived by utilizing the Atiyah-Singer index theorem in two dimensions. The massless Dirac equation on a sphere with a magnetic-monopole background is solved in order to count the number of zero-modes of the Dirac operator.
The Atiyah-Patodi-Singer(APS) index theorem attracts attention for understanding physics on the surface of materials in topological phases. The mathematical set-up for this theorem is, however, not directly related to the physical fermion system, as it imposes on the fermion fields a non-local boundary condition known as the "APS boundary condition" by hand, which is unlikely to be realized in the materials. In this work, we attempt to reformulate the APS index in a "physicist-friendly" way for a simple set-up with $U(1)$ or $SU(N)$ gauge group on a flat four-dimensional Euclidean space. We fi…
The Atiyah-Singer index theorem, a landmark achievement of the early 1960s, brings together ideas in analysis, geometry, and topology. We recount some antecedents and motivations; various forms of the theorem; and some of its implications, which extend to the present.
We formulate and prove a lattice version of the Atiyah-Singer index theorem. The main theorem gives a $K$-theoretic formula for an index-type invariant of operators on lattice approximations of closed integral affine manifolds. We apply the main theorem to an index problem of Wilson-Dirac operators in lattice gauge theory.
The Atiyah-Singer index theorem is generalized to a two-dimensional SO(3) Yang-Mills-Higgs (YMH) system. The generalized theorem is proven by using the heat kernel method and a nonlinear realization of SU(2) gauge symmetry. This theorem is applied to the problem of deriving a charge quantization condition in the four-dimensional SO(3) YMH system with non-Abelian monopoles. The resulting quantization condition, eg=n (n: integer), for an electric charge e and a magnetic charge g is consistent with that found by Arafune, Freund and Goebel. It is shown that the integer n is half of the index of a …
We show that the Atiyah-Singer index theorem of Dirac operator can be directly proved in the canonical formulation of quantum mechanics, without using the path-integral technique. This proof takes advantage of an algebraic isomorphism between Clifford algebra and exterior algebra in small $τ$ (high temperature) limit, together with simple properties of quantum mechanics of harmonic oscillator. Compared to the proof given by heat kernel, we try to prove this theorem more quantum mechanically.
K-theory allows us to define an analytical condition for the existence of `false' gauge field copies through the use of the Atiyah-Singer index theorem. After establishing that result we discuss a possible extension of the same result without the help of the index theorem and suggest possible related lines of work.
Feynman's time-slicing construction approximates the path integral by a product, determined by a partition of a finite time interval, of approximate propagators. This paper formulates general conditions to impose on a short-time approximation to the propagator in a general class of imaginary-time quantum mechanics on a Riemannian manifold which ensure these products converge. The limit defines a path integral which agrees pointwise with the heat kernel for a generalized Laplacian. The result is a rigorous construction of the propagator for supersymmetric quantum mechanics, with potential, as a…
Sir Michael Atiyah was considered as one of the world's foremost mathematicians, He is best known for his work in algebraic topology and the co-development of a branch of mathematics called topological K-theory together with the Atiyah-Singer index theorem for which he received Fields Medal (1966). He received also the Abel Prize (2004) along with Isadore M. Singer for their discovery and proof of the index theorem, bringing together topology, geometry and analysis, and their outstanding role in building new bridges between mathematics and theoretical physics. Indeed, his work has helped theor…
We study an example of an index problem for a Dirac-like operator subject to Atiyah-Patodi-Singer boundary conditions on a noncommutative manifold with boundary, namely the quantum unit disk.
We study a Dirac operator subject to Atiayh-Patodi-Singer like boundary conditions on the solid torus and show that the corresponding boundary value problem is elliptic, in the sense that the Dirac operator has a compact parametrix.
New extrinsic lower bounds are given for the classical Dirac operator on the boundary of a compact domain of a spin manifold. The main tool is to solve some boundary problems for the Dirac operator of the domain under boundary conditions of Atiyah-Patodi-Singer type. Spinorial techniques are used to give simple proofs of classical results for compact embedded hypersurfaces.
The Atiyah-Patodi-Singer (APS) index theorem relates the index of a Dirac operator to an integral of the Pontryagin density in the bulk (which is equal to global chiral anomaly) and an $η$ invariant on the boundary (which defines the parity anomaly). We show that the APS index theorem holds for configurations with domain walls that are defined as surfaces where background gauge fields have discontinuities.
We study quantum analogs of the Dirac type operator $-2\bar{z}\frac{\partial}{\partial\bar{z}}$ on the punctured disk, subject to the Atiyah-Patodi-Singer boundary conditions. We construct a parametrix of the quantum operator and show that it is bounded outside of the zero mode.
Ellipticity of boundary value problems is characterized in terms of the Calderon projector. The presence of topological obstructions for the chiral Dirac operator under local boundary conditions in even dimension is discussed. Functional determinants for Dirac operators on manifolds with boundary are considered. The functional determinant for a Dirac operator on a bidimensional disk, in the presence of an Abelian gauge field and subject to global boundary conditions of the type introduced by Atiyah-Patodi-Singer, is evaluated. The relationship with the index theorem is also commented.
In this paper, nonholonomic gerbes will be naturally derived for manifolds and vector bundle spaces provided with nonintegrable distributions (in brief, nonholonomic spaces). An important example of such gerbes is related to distributions defining nonlinear connection (N-connection) structures. They geometrically unify and develop the concepts of Riemann-Cartan manifolds and Lagrange-Finsler spaces. The obstruction to the existence of a spin structure on nonholonomic spaces is just the second Stiefel-Whitney class, defined by the cocycle associated to a $\mathbb{Z} /2$ gerbe, which is called t…
The present paper gives calculations in detail to prove several special cases of Atiyah-Singer theorem through supersymmetric $σ$-models. Some technical tricks are employed to calculate the determinants of fluctuation operators of the path integrals. An intuitive and geometric argument is applied to overcome the complicated calculation on spin fields twisted by gauge fields.
By examining the analyticity of a sequence of topologically-proper lattice Dirac operators, we show that they tend to a nonlocal Dirac operator. This implies that a nonlocal lattice Dirac operator can have exact zero modes satisfying the Atiyah-Singer index theorem, in gauge backgrounds with nonzero topological charge.
