Skip to main content
Log in

Groupoid C *-Algebras and Index Theory on Manifolds with Singularities

  • Published:
Geometriae Dedicata Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The simplest case of a manifold with singularities is a manifold M with boundary, together with an identification ∂M ≅ βM × P, where P is a fixed manifold. The associated singular space is obtained by collapsing P to a point. When P = Z/k or S 1, we show how to attach to such a space a noncommutative C *-algebra that captures the extra structure. We then use this C *-algebra to give a new proof of the Freed–Melrose Z/k-index theorem and a proof of an index theorem for manifolds with S 1 singularities. Our proofs apply to the real as well as to the complex case. Applications are given to the study of metrics of positive scalar curvature.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Atiyah, M. F.: K-theory and reality, Quart. J. Math. Oxford Ser. (2) 17 (1966), 367–386. MR 34 #6756.

    Google Scholar 

  2. Atiyah, M. F. and Segal, G. B.: Equivariant K-theory and completion, J. Differential Geom. 3 (1969), 1–18. MR 41 #4575.

    Google Scholar 

  3. Baas, N. A.: On bordism theory of manifolds with singularities, Math. Scand. 33 (1973), 279–302 (1974). MR 49 #11547b.

    Google Scholar 

  4. Blackadar, B.: K-theory for Operator Algebras, 2nd edn, Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge, 1998. MR 99g:46104.

    Google Scholar 

  5. Botvinnik, B.: Manifolds with Singularities and the Adams-Novikov Spectral Sequence, Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge, 1992. MR 93h:55002.

    Google Scholar 

  6. Botvinnik, B.: Manifolds with singularities accepting a metric of positive scalar curvature, Geom. Topol. 5 (2001), 683–718 (electronic). MR 1 857 524.

    Google Scholar 

  7. Connes, A.: Noncommutative Geometry, Academic Press, San Diego, CA, 1994. MR 95j:46063.

    Google Scholar 

  8. Freed, D. S. ℤ/k-manifolds and families of Dirac operators, Invent. Math. 92(2) (1988), 243–254. MR 89f:58127.

    Google Scholar 

  9. Freed, D. S. and Melrose, R. B.: A mod k index theorem, Invent. Math. 107(2) (1992), 283–299. MR 93c:58212.

    Google Scholar 

  10. Gromov, M. and Blaine Lawson, H. Jr.: Positive scalar curvature and the Dirac operator on complete Riemannian manifolds, Inst. Hautes E´ tudes Sci. Publ. Math. (1983), No. 58, 83–196 (1984). MR 85g:58082.

    Google Scholar 

  11. Higson, N.: An approach to ℤ/k-index theory, Internat. J. Math. 1(2) (1990), 189–210. MR 91h:58109.

    Google Scholar 

  12. Hitchin, N.: Harmonic spinors, Adv. Math. 14 (1974), 1–55. MR 50 #11332

    Google Scholar 

  13. Julg, P. K-théorie équivariante et produits croisés, C.R. Acad. Sci. Paris Sér. I Math. 292(13) (1981), 629–632. MR 83b:46090.

    Google Scholar 

  14. Kaminker, J. and Wojciechowski, K. P.: Index theory of ℤ/k manifolds and the Grassmannian, In: Operator Algebras and Topology (Craiova, 1989), Longman, Harlow, 1992, pp. 82–92. MR 93j:58127. Note: The published version of the paper is missing two pages. They are available from the authors at www.math.iupui.edu.

    Google Scholar 

  15. Kasparov, G. G.: The operator K-functor and extensions of C*-algebras, Izv. Akad. Nauk SSSR Ser. Mat. 44(3) (1980), 571–636, 719 (Russian), transl. in Math. USSR Izv. 16 (1981), 513–572. MR 81m:58075.

    Google Scholar 

  16. Kasparov, G. G.: K-theory, group C*-algebras, and higher signatures (conspectus), In: Novikov Conjectures, Index Theorems and Rigidity, Vol. 1 (Oberwolfach, 1993), Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge, 1995, pp. 101–146. MR 97j:58153.

    Google Scholar 

  17. Blaine Lawson, H. Jr. and Michelsohn M.-L.: Spin Geometry, Princeton Univ. Press, Princeton, NJ, 1989. MR 91g:53001.

    Google Scholar 

  18. Morgan, J. W. and Sullivan, D. P.: The transversality characteristic class and linking cycles in surgery theory, Ann. of Math. (2) 99 (1974), 463–544. MR 50 #3240.

    Google Scholar 

  19. Paterson, A. L. T.: Groupoids, Inverse Semigroups, and their Operator Algebras, Birkhäuser, Boston, MA, 1999. MR 2001a:22003.

    Google Scholar 

  20. Renault, J.: A Groupoid Approach to C*-Algebras, Springer, Berlin, 1980. MR 82h:46075.

    Google Scholar 

  21. Rosenberg, J.: Review of ‘Elements of KK-theory’ by K. K. Jensen and K. Thomsen, Bull. Amer. Math. Soc. (N.S.) 28(2) (1993), 342–347.

    Google Scholar 

  22. Rosenberg, J.: The G-signature theorem revisited, In: Tel Aviv Topology Conference: Rothenberg Festschrift (1998), Amer. Math. Soc., Providence, RI, 1999, pp. 251–264. MR 2000h:58047.

    Google Scholar 

  23. Schochet, C.: The Kasparov groups for commutative C*-algebras and Spanier-Whitehead duality, In: Operator Theory: Operator Algebras and Applications, Part 2 (Durham, NH, 1988), Amer. Math. Soc., Providence, RI, 1990, pp. 307–321. MR 92e:46138.

    Google Scholar 

  24. Segal, G.: Equivariant K-theory, Inst. Hautes E´tudes Sci. Publ. Math. (1968), No. 34, 129–151. MR 38 #2769.

    Google Scholar 

  25. Stolz, S.: Simply connected manifolds of positive scalar curvature, Ann. of Math. (2) 136(3) (1992), 511–540. MR 93i:57033

    Google Scholar 

  26. Sullivan, D. P.: Triangulating and smoothing homotopy equivalences and homeomorphisms: geometric topology seminar notes, In: The Hauptvermutung Book, Kluwer Acad. Publ., Dordrecht, 1996, pp. 69–103. MR 98c:57027.

    Google Scholar 

  27. Zhang, W.: On the mod k index theorem of Freed and Melrose, J. Differential Geom. 43(1) (1996), 198–206. MR 97k:58157.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Rosenberg, J. Groupoid C *-Algebras and Index Theory on Manifolds with Singularities. Geometriae Dedicata 100, 65–84 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1025802811202

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1025802811202

Navigation