Amenability of the Gauge Group

Let G be one of the local gauge groups C(X,U(n)), C^\infty(X,U(n)), C(X,SU(n)) or C^\infty(X,SU(n)) where X is a compact Riemannian manifold. We observe that G has a nontrivial group topology, coarser than its natural topology, w.r.t. which it is amenable, viz the relative weak topology of C(X,M(n)). This topology seems more useful than other known amenable topologies for G. We construct a simple fermionic model containing an action of G, continuous w.r.t. this amenable topology.Comment: 8 pages, Late

A gerbe obstruction to quantization of fermions on odd dimensional manifolds with boundary

We consider the canonical quantization of fermions on an odd dimensional manifold with boundary, with respect to a family of elliptic hermitean boundary conditions for the Dirac hamiltonian. We show that there is a topological obstruction to a smooth quantization as a function of the boundary conditions. The obstruction is given in terms of a gerbe and its Dixmier-Douady class is evaluated.Comment: Improved introduction, minor corrections in the text, results unchange

Loop groups, anyons and the Calogero-Sutherland model

The positive energy representations of the loop group of U(1) are used to construct a boson-anyon correspondence. We compute all the correlation functions of our anyon fields and study an anyonic W-algebra of unbounded operators with a common dense domain. This algebra contains an operator with peculiar exchange relations with the anyon fields. This operator can be interpreted as a second quantised Calogero-Sutherland (CS) Hamiltonian and may be used to solve the CS model. In particular, we inductively construct all eigenfunctions of the CS model from anyon correlation functions, for all particle numbers and positive couplings.Comment: 34 pages, Late

The universal gerbe, Dixmier-Douady class, and gauge theory

We clarify the relation between the Dixmier-Douady class on the space of self adjoint Fredholm operators (`universal B-field') and the curvature of determinant bundles over infinite-dimensional Grassmannians. In particular, in the case of Dirac type operators on a three dimensional compact manifold we obtain a simple and explicit expression for both forms.Comment: 13 pages, no figure

Spectral flow of monopole insertion in topological insulators

Inserting a magnetic flux into a two-dimensional one-particle Hamiltonian leads to a spectral flow through a given gap which is equal to the Chern number of the associated Fermi projection. This paper establishes a generalization to higher even dimension by inserting non-abelian monopoles of the Wu-Yang type. The associated spectral flow is then equal to a higher Chern number. For the study of odd spacial dimensions, a new so-called `chirality flow' is introduced which, for the insertion of a monopole, is then linked to higher winding numbers. This latter fact follows from a new index theorem for the spectral flow between two unitaries which are conjugates of each other by a self-adjoint unitary.Comment: title changed; final corrections before publication; to appear in Commun. Math. Phy

Index Theory, Gerbes, and Hamiltonian Quantization

We give an Atiyah-Patodi-Singer index theory construction of the bundle of fermionic Fock spaces parametrized by vector potentials in odd space dimensions and prove that this leads in a simple manner to the known Schwinger terms (Faddeev-Mickelsson cocycle) for the gauge group action. We relate the APS construction to the bundle gerbe approach discussed recently by Carey and Murray, including an explicit computation of the Dixmier-Douady class. An advantage of our method is that it can be applied whenever one has a form of the APS theorem at hand, as in the case of fermions in an external gravitational field.Comment: 16 pages, Plain TeX inputting AMSTe

Higher spectral flow and an entire bivariant JLO cocycle

Given a smooth fibration of closed manifolds and a family of generalised Dirac operators along the fibers, we define an associated bivariant JLO cocycle. We then prove that, for any $\ell \geq 0$, our bivariant JLO cocycle is entire when we endow smoooth functions on the total manifold with the $C^{\ell+1}$ topology and functions on the base manifold with the $C^\ell$ topology. As a by-product of our theorem, we deduce that the bivariant JLO cocycle is entire for the Fr\'echet smooth topologies. We then prove that our JLO bivariant cocycle computes the Chern character of the Dai-Zhang higher spectral flow