Geometry & Topology, Vol. 9(2005)
Paper no. 52, pages 2261--2302.
A splitting formula for the spectral flow of the odd signature operator on 3-manifolds coupled to a path of SU(2) connections
Benjamin Himpel
Abstract.
We establish a splitting formula for the spectral flow of the odd
signature operator on a closed 3-manifold M coupled to a path of SU(2)
connections, provided M = S cup X, where S is the solid torus. It
describes the spectral flow on M in terms of the spectral flow on S,
the spectral flow on X (with certain Atiyah-Patodi-Singer boundary
conditions), and two correction terms which depend only on the
endpoints. Our result improves on other splitting theorems by removing
assumptions on the non-resonance level of the odd signature operator
or the dimension of the kernel of the tangential operator, and allows
progress towards a conjecture by Lisa Jeffrey in her work on Witten's
3-manifold invariants in the context of the asymptotic expansion
conjecture.
Keywords.
Spectral flow, odd signature operator, gauge theory, Chern-Simons theory, Atiyah-Patodi-Singer boundary conditions, Maslov index
AMS subject classification.
Primary: 57M27.
Secondary: 57R57, 53D12, 58J30.
E-print: arXiv:math.GT/0412191
DOI: 10.2140/gt.2005.9.2261
Submitted to GT on 4 December 2004.
Paper accepted 1 November 2005.
Paper published 6 December 2005.
Notes on file formats
Benjamin Himpel
Mathematisches Institut, Universitaet Bonn
Beringstr. 6, D-53115 Bonn, Germany
Email: himpel@math.uni-bonn.de
URL: http://www.math.uni-bonn.de/people/himpel/
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