In this paper we define a Poincaré-Reidemeister scalar product on the determinant line of the cohomology of any flat vector bundle over a closed orientable odd-dimensional manifold. It is a combinatorial "torsion-type" invariant which refines the PR-metric, introduced earlier by the first author, and contains an additional sign or phase information. We compute the PR-scalar product in terms of the torsions of Euler structures, introduced earlier by the second author. We show that the sign of our PR-scalar product is determined by the Stiefel-Whitney classes and the semi-characteristic of the manifold. As an application, we compute the Ray-Singer analytic torsion via the torsions of Euler structures. Another application: a computation of the twisted semi-characteristic in terms of the Stiefel-Whitney classes.
We use higher parallel transport -- more precisely, the integration A_{infty}-functor constructed by Block-Smith and Arias Abad-Schaetz -- to define Reidemeister torsion for flat superconnections. We hope that the combinatorial Reidemeister torsion coincides with the analytic torsion defined by Mathai and Wu, thus permitting for a generalization of the Cheeger-Mueller Theorem.
In this paper we compute the Reidemeister torsion of a isoenergetic surface for the integrable Hamiltonian system on the four-dimensional symplectic manifold. We use the spectral sequence defined by the filtration and following Witten-Floer ideas we bring into play the orbits connecting the critical submanifolds.
In this paper, we prove an equality which involves Reidemeister torsion, complex volume, and Zograf infinite product for hyperbolic 3-manifolds with cusps.
In this paper, we prove an equality which involves Reidemeister torsion, complex volume, and Zograf infinite product for closed hyperbolic 3-manifolds.
For a closed Riemannian manifold we extend the definition of analytic and Reidemeister torsion associated to an orthogonal representation of fundamental group on a Hilbert module of finite type over a finite von Neumann algebra. If the representation is of determinant class we prove, generalizing the Cheeger-Müller theorem, that the analytic and Reidemeister torsion are equal. In particular, this proves the conjecture that for closed Riemannian manifolds with positive Novikov-Shubin invariants, the L2 analytic and Reidemeister torsions are equal.
On an odd-dimensional oriented hyperbolic manifold of finite volume with strongly acyclic coefficient systems, we derive a formula relating analytic torsion with the Reidemeister torsion of the Borel-Serre compactification of the manifold. In a companion paper, this formula is used to derive exponential growth of torsion in cohomology of arithmetic groups.
For a non-compact hyperbolic 3-manifold with cusps we prove an explicit formula that relates the regularized analytic torsion associated to the even symmetric powers of the standard representation of SL_2(C) to the corresponding Reidemeister torsion. Our proof rests on an expression of the analytic torsion in terms of special values of Ruelle zeta functions as well as on recent work of Pere Menal-Ferrer and Joan Porti.
We study the Reidemeister torsion and the analytic torsion of the $m$ dimensional disc in the Euclidean $m$ dimensional space, using the base for the homology defined by Ray and Singer in \cite{RS}. We prove that the Reidemeister torsion coincides with a power of the volume of the disc. We study the additional terms arising in the analytic torsion due to the boundary, using generalizations of the Cheeger-Müller theorem. We use a formula proved by Brüning and Ma \cite{BM}, that predicts a new anomaly boundary term beside the known term proportional to the Euler characteristic of the boundary \c…
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.
In this paper we prove trace formulae for the Reidemeister number of a group endomorphism. This result implies the rationality of the Reidemeister zeta function in the following cases: the group is a direct product of a finite group and a finitely generated Abelian group; the group is finitely generated, nilpotent and torsion free. We continue to study analytical properties of the Nielsen zeta function. We connect the Reidemeister zeta function of an endomorphism of a direct product of a finite group and a finitely generated free Abelian group with the Lefschetz zeta function of the induced ma…
In two previous papers with Yi-Jen Lee, we defined and computed a notion of Reidemeister torsion for the Morse theory of closed 1-forms on a finite dimensional manifold. The present paper gives an a priori proof that this Morse theory invariant is a topological invariant. It is hoped that this will provide a model for possible generalizations to Floer theory.
We show that the absolute value at zero of the Ruelle zeta function defined by the geodesic flow coincides with the higher-dimensional Reidemeister torsion for the unit tangent bundle over a 2-dimensional hyperbolic orbifold and a non-unitary representation of the fundamental group. Our proof is based on the integral expression of the Ruelle zeta function. This integral expression is derived from the functional equation of the Selberg zeta function for a discrete subgroup with elliptic elements in PSL(2;R). We also show that the asymptotic behavior of the higher-dimensional Reidemeister torsio…
Let X be a compact oriented Riemannian manifold and let $ϕ:X\to S^1$ be a circle-valued Morse function. Under some mild assumptions on $ϕ$, we prove a formula relating: (a) the number of closed orbits of the gradient flow of $ϕ$ of any given degree; (b) the torsion of a ``Morse complex'', which counts gradient flow lines between critical points of $ϕ$; and (c) a kind of Reidemeister torsion of X determined by the homotopy class of $ϕ$. When $\dim(X)=3$ and $b_1(X)>0$, we state a conjecture analogous to Taubes's ``SW=Gromov'' theorem, and we use it to deduce (for closed manifolds, modulo signs)…
The paper consists of four parts. Part I presents a brief survey of the Nielsen fixed point theory. Part II deals with dynamical zeta functions connected with Nielsen fixed point theory. Part III is concerned with congruences for the Reidemeister and Nielsen numbers. Part IV deals with the Reidemeister torsion . In Chapter 2 we prove that the Reidemeister zeta function of a group endomorphism is a rational function with functional equation in the following cases: the group is finitely generated and an endomorphism is eventually commutative; the group is finite ; the group is a direct sum of a …
Torsion invariants for manifolds which are not simply connected were introduced by K. Reidemeister and generalized to higher dimensions by W. Franz. The Reidemeister torsion, was the first invariant of manifolds which was not a homotopy invariant. The analytic counterpart of the combinatorial Reidemeister torsion was introduced by D. B. Ray and I. M. Singer in form of a weighted product of zeta-regularized determinants of Laplace operators on differential forms. The celebrated Cheeger-Mueller Theorem, established independently by J. Cheeger and W. Mueller, proved equality between the analytic …
We extend the definition of analytic and Reidemeister torsion from closed compact Riemannian manifolds to compact Riemannian manifolds with boundary $(M, \partial M)$, given a flat bundle $\Cal F$ of $\Cal A$-Hilbert modules of finite type and a decomposition of the boundary $\partial M =\partial_- M \cup \partial_+ M$ into disjoint components. In particular we extend the $L-2$ analytic and Reidemeister torsions to compact manifolds with boundary. If the system $(M,\partial_-M, \partial_+M, \Cal F)$ is of determinant class we compute the quotient of the analytic and the Reidemeister torsion an…
This is the second part of an article in two parts, which builds the foundation of a Floer-theoretic invariant, I_F. (See math.DG/0111313 for part I). Having constructed I_F and outlined a proof of its invariance based on bifurcation analysis in part I, in this part we prove a series of gluing theorems to confirm the bifurcation behavior predicted in part I. These gluing theorems are different from (and much harder than) the more conventional versions in that they deal with broken trajectories or broken orbits connected at degenerate rest points. The issues of orientation and signs are also se…
Let X be a closed manifold with zero Euler characteristic, and let f: X --> S^1 be a circle-valued Morse function. We define an invariant I which counts closed orbits of the gradient of f, together with flow lines between the critical points. We show that our invariant equals a form of topological Reidemeister torsion defined by Turaev [Math. Res. Lett. 4 (1997) 679-695]. We proved a similar result in our previous paper [Topology, 38 (1999) 861-888], but the present paper refines this by separating closed orbits and flow lines according to their homology classes. (Previously we only considered…
It is shown that for any piecewise-linear closed orientable manifold of odd dimension there exists an invariantly defined metric on the determinant line of cohomology with coefficients in an arbitrary flat bundle E over the manifold (E is not required to be unimodular). The construction of this metric (called Poincare - Reidemeister metric) is purely combinatorial; it combines the standard Reidemeister type construction with Poincare duality. The main result of the paper states that the Poincare-Reidemeister metric computes combinatorially the Ray-Singer metric. It is shown also that the Ray-S…
For a closed manifold equipped with a Riemannian metric, a triangulation, a representation of its fundamental group on an Hilbert module of finite type (over of finite von Neumann algebra), and a Hermitian structure on the flat bundle associated to the representation, one defines a numerical invariant, the relative torsion. The relative torsion is a positive real number and unlike the analytic torsion or the Reidemeister torsion, which are defined only when the pair manifold- representation is of determinant class, is always defined. When the pair is of determinant class the relative torsionis…
This is the first part of an article in two parts, which builds the foundation of a Floer-theoretic invariant, (I_F). (See math.DG/0505013 for part II). The Floer homology can be trivial in many variants of the Floer theory; it is therefore interesting to consider more refined invariants of the Floer complex. We consider one such instance--the Reidemeister torsion (τ_F) of the Floer-Novikov complex of (possibly non-hamiltonian) symplectomorphisms. (τ_F) turns out NOT to be invariant under hamiltonian isotopies, but this failure may be fixed by introducing certain ``correction term'': We define…
We give a surgery formula for the torsions and Seiberg-Witten invariants associated with $Spin^c$-structures on 3-manifolds. We use the technique of Reidemeister-type torsions and their refinements.
We prove that the anomaly term appearing in the ratio between Reidemeister torsion and analytic torsion for a space with a conical singularity vanishes in the smooth case. Moreover, we show that such anomaly term is non trivial for the cone over a torus.
We prove a formula relating the analytic torsion and Reidemeister torsion on manifolds with boundary in the general case when the metric is not necessarily a product near the boundary. The product case has been established by W. Luck and S. M. Vishik. We find that the extra term that comes in here in the nonproduct case is the transgression of the Euler class in the even dimensional case and a slightly more mysterious term involving the second fundamental form of the boundary and the curvature tensor of the manifold in the odd dimensional case.
We prove that for certain sequences of hyperbolic three--manifolds with cusps which converge to hyperbolic three--space in a weak ("Benjamini-Schramm") sense and certain coefficient systems the regularized analytic torsion approximates the $L^2$-torsion of the universal cover under an additional hypothesis. We also prove an asymptotic equality between the former and some Reidemeister torsion of the truncated manifolds.
We define geometric zeta functions for locally symmetric spaces as generalizations of the zeta functions of Ruelle and Selberg. As a special value at zero we obtain the Reidemeister torsion of the manifold. For hermitian spaces these zeta functions have as special value the quotient of the holomorphic torsion of Ray and Singer and the holomorphic $L^2$-torsion, where the latter is defined via the $L^2$-theory of Atiyah. For higher fundamental rank twisted torsion numbers appear.
Let p: M -> B be a family of compact manifolds equipped with a unitarily flat vector bundle F -> M. We generalize Igusa's higher Franz-Reidemeister torsion τ(M/B;F) to the case that the fibre-wise cohomology H^*(M/B;F) -> B carries a parallel metric. If moreover M admits a fibre-wise Morse function, we compute the difference of τ(M/B;F) and the higher analytic torsion \Cal T(M/B;F). We also generalise the examples given in math.DG/0111222 .
For an odd-dimensional oriented hyperbolic manifold with cusps and strongly acyclic coefficient systems we define the Reidemeister torsion of the Borel-Serre compactification of the manifold using bases of cohomology classes defined via Eisenstein series by the method of Harder. In the main result of this paper we relate this combinatorial torsion to the regularized analytic torsion. Together with results on the asymptotic behaviour of the regularized analytic torsion, established previously, this should have applications to study the growth of torsion in the cohomology of arithmetic groups. O…
In this paper we extend and Poincare dualize the concept of Euler structures, introduced by Turaev for manifolds with vanishing Euler-Poincare characteristic, to arbitrary manifolds. We use the Poincare dual concept, co-Euler structures, to remove all geometric ambiguities from the Ray-Singer torsion by providing a slightly modified object which is a topological invariant. We show that when the co-Euler structure is integral then the modified Ray-Singer torsion when regarded as a function on the variety of generically acyclic complex representations of the fundamental group of the manifold is …
In this paper we prove that for a fixed neat principal congruence subgroup of a Bianchi group the order of the torsion part of its second cohomology group with coefficients in an integral lattice associated to the m-th symmetric power of the standard representation of SL_2(C) grows exponentially in m^2. We give upper and lower bounds for the growth rate. Our result extends a result of Mueller and Marshall, who proved the corresponding statement for closed arithmetic 3-manifolds, to the finite-volume case. We also prove a limit multiplicity formula for twisted combinatorial Reidemeister torsion…
