This comprehensive yet concise book deals with nonlocal elliptic differential operators. These are operators whose coefficients involve shifts generated by diffeomorphisms of the manifold on which the operators are defined. This is the first book featuring a consistent application of methods of noncommutative geometry to the index problem in the theory of nonlocal elliptic operators. To make the book self-contained, the authors have included necessary geometric material.

Modern theory of elliptic operators, or simply elliptic theory, has been shaped by the Atiyah-Singer Index Theorem created 40 years ago. Reviewing elliptic theory over a broad range, 32 leading scientists from 14 different countries present recent developments in topology; heat kernel techniques; spectral invariants and cutting and pasting; noncommutative geometry; and theoretical particle, string and membrane physics, and Hamiltonian dynamics. The first of its kind, this volume is ideally suited to graduate students and researchers interested in careful expositions of newly-evolved achievements and perspectives in elliptic theory. The contributions are based on lectures presented at a workshop acknowledging Krzysztof P Wojciechowski''s work in the theory of elliptic operators. Sample Chapter(s). Contents (42 KB). Contents: On the Mathematical Work of Krzysztof P Wojciechowski: Selected Aspects of the Mathematical Work of Krzysztof P Wojciechowski (M Lesch); Gluing Formulae of Spectral Invariants and Cauchy Data Spaces (J Park); Topological Theories: The Behavior of the Analytic Index under Nontrivial Embedding (D Bleecker); Critical Points of Polynomials in Three Complex Variables (L I Nicolaescu); Chern-Weil Forms Associated with Superconnections (S Paycha & S Scott); Heat Kernel Calculations and Surgery: Non-Laplace Type Operators on Manifolds with Boundary (I G Avramidi); Eta Invariants for Manifold with Boundary (X Dai); Heat Kernels of the Sub-Laplacian and the Laplacian on Nilpotent Lie Groups (K Furutani); Remarks on Nonlocal Trace Expansion Coefficients (G Grubb); An Anomaly Formula for L 2- Analytic Torsions on Manifolds with Boundary (X Ma & W Zhang); Conformal Anomalies via Canonical Traces (S Paycha & S Rosenberg); Noncommutative Geometry: An Analytic Approach to Spectral Flow in von Neumann Algebras (M-T Benameur et al.); Elliptic Operators on Infinite Graphs (J Dodziuk); A New Kind of Index Theorem (R G Douglas); A Note on Noncommutative Holomorphic and Harmonic Functions on the Unit Disk (S Klimek); Star Products and Central Extensions (J Mickelsson); An Elementary Proof of the Homotopy Equivalence between the Restricted General Linear Group and the Space of Fredholm Operators (T Wurzbacher); Theoretical Particle, String and Membrane Physics, and Hamiltonian Dynamics: T-Duality for Non-Free Circle Actions (U Bunke & T Schick); A New Spectral Cancellation in Quantum Gravity (G Esposito et al.); A Generalized Morse Index Theorem (C Zhu). Readership: Researchers in modern global analysis and particle physics.

This book consists of a collection of original, refereed research and expository articles on elliptic aspects of geometric analysis on manifolds, including singular, foliated and non-commutative spaces. The topics covered include the index of operators, torsion invariants, K-theory of operator algebras and L2-invariants. There are contributions from leading specialists, and the book maintains a reasonable balance between research, expository and mixed papers.

This book consists of reviewed original research papers and expository articles in index theory (especially on singular manifolds), topology of manifolds, operator and equivariant K-theory, Hopf cyclic cohomology, geometry of foliations, residue theory, Fredholm pairs and others, and applications in mathematical physics. The wide spectrum of subjects reflects the diverse directions of research for which the starting point was the Atiyah-Singer index theorem.

Noncommutative Geometry is one of the most deep and vital research subjects of present-day Mathematics. Its development, mainly due to Alain Connes, is providing an increasing number of applications and deeper insights for instance in Foliations, K-Theory, Index Theory, Number Theory but also in Quantum Physics of elementary particles. The purpose of the Summer School in Martina Franca was to offer a fresh invitation to the subject and closely related topics; the contributions in this volume include the four main lectures, cover advanced developments and are delivered by prominent specialists.

This English version of the path-breaking French book on this subject gives the definitive treatment of the revolutionary approach to measure theory, geometry, and mathematical physics developed by Alain Connes. Profusely illustrated and invitingly written, this book is ideal for anyone who wants to know what noncommutative geometry is, what it can do, or how it can be used in various areas of mathematics, quantization, and elementary particles and fields. First full treatment of the subject and its applications Written by the pioneer of this field Broad applications in mathematics Of interest across most fields Ideal as an introduction and survey Examples treated include: the space of Penrose tilings the space of leaves of a foliation the space of irreducible unitary representations of a discrete group the phase space in quantum mechanics the Brillouin zone in the quantum Hall effect A model of space time

Since its inception 50 years ago, K-theory has been a tool for understanding a wide-ranging family of mathematical structures and their invariants: topological spaces, rings, algebraic varieties and operator algebras are the dominant examples. The invariants range from characteristic classes in cohomology, determinants of matrices, Chow groups of varieties, as well as traces and indices of elliptic operators. Thus K-theory is notable for its connections with other branches of mathematics. Noncommutative geometry develops tools which allow one to think of noncommutative algebras in the same footing as commutative ones: as algebras of functions on (noncommutative) spaces. The algebras in question come from problems in various areas of mathematics and mathematical physics; typical examples include algebras of pseudodifferential operators, group algebras, and other algebras arising from quantum field theory. To study noncommutative geometric problems one considers invariants of the relevant noncommutative algebras. These invariants include algebraic and topological K-theory, and also cyclic homology, discovered independently by Alain Connes and Boris Tsygan, which can be regarded both as a noncommutative version of de Rham cohomology and as an additive version of K-theory. There are primary and secondary Chern characters which pass from K-theory to cyclic homology. These characters are relevant both to noncommutative and commutative problems and have applications ranging from index theorems to the detection of singularities of commutative algebraic varieties. The contributions to this volume represent this range of connections between K-theory, noncommmutative geometry, and other branches of mathematics.