The purpose of this book is to introduce a new notion of analytic space over a non-Archimedean field. Despite the total disconnectedness of the ground field, these analytic spaces have the usual topological properties of a complex analytic space, such as local compactness and local arcwise connectedness. This makes it possible to apply the usual notions of homotopy and singular homology. The book includes a homotopic characterization of the analytic spaces associated with certain classes of algebraic varieties and an interpretation of Bruhat-Tits buildings in terms of these analytic spaces. The author also studies the connection with the earlier notion of a rigid analytic space. Geometrical considerations are used to obtain some applications, and the analytic spaces are used to construct the foundations of a non-Archimedean spectral theory of bounded linear operators. This book requires a background at the level of basic graduate courses in algebra and topology, as well as some familiarity with algebraic geometry. It would be of interest to research mathematicians and graduate students working in algebraic geometry, number theory, and -adic analysis.

Spectral theory is a diverse area of mathematics that derives its motivations, goals, and impetus from several sources. In particular, the spectral theory of the Laplacian on a compact Riemannian manifold is a central object in differential geometry. From a physical point a view, the Laplacian on a compact Riemannian manifold is a fundamental linear operator which describes numerous propagation phenomena: heat propagation, wave propagation, quantum dynamics, etc. Moreover, the spectrum of the Laplacian contains vast information about the geometry of the manifold. This book gives a self-contained introduction to spectral geometry on compact Riemannian manifolds. Starting with an overview of spectral theory on Hilbert spaces, the book proceeds to a description of the basic notions in Riemannian geometry. Then its makes its way to topics of main interests in spectral geometry. The topics presented include direct and inverse problems. Direct problems are concerned with computing or finding properties on the eigenvalues while the main issue in inverse problems is knowing the spectrum of the Laplacian, can we determine the geometry of the manifold? Addressed to students or young researchers, the present book is a first introduction to spectral theory applied to geometry. For readers interested in pursuing the subject further, this book will provide a basis for understanding principles, concepts, and developments of spectral geometry.

This text introduces geometric spectral theory in the context of infinite-area Riemann surfaces, providing a comprehensive account of the most recent developments in the field. For the second edition the context has been extended to general surfaces with hyperbolic ends, which provides a natural setting for development of the spectral theory while still keeping technical difficulties to a minimum. All of the material from the first edition is included and updated, and new sections have been added. Topics covered include an introduction to the geometry of hyperbolic surfaces, analysis of the resolvent of the Laplacian, scattering theory, resonances and scattering poles, the Selberg zeta function, the Poisson formula, distribution of resonances, the inverse scattering problem, Patterson-Sullivan theory, and the dynamical approach to the zeta function. The new sections cover the latest developments in the field, including the spectral gap, resonance asymptotics near the critical line, and sharp geometric constants for resonance bounds. A new chapter introduces recently developed techniques for resonance calculation that illuminate the existing results and conjectures on resonance distribution. The spectral theory of hyperbolic surfaces is a point of intersection for a great variety of areas, including quantum physics, discrete groups, differential geometry, number theory, complex analysis, and ergodic theory. This book will serve as a valuable resource for graduate students and researchers from these and other related fields. Review of the first edition: "The exposition is very clear and thorough, and essentially self-contained; the proofs are detailed...The book gathers together some material which is not always easily available in the literature...To conclude, the book is certainly at a level accessible to graduate students and researchers from a rather large range of fields. Clearly, the reader...would certainly benefit greatly from it." (Colin Guillarmou, Mathematical Reviews, Issue 2008 h)

Authoritative lectures from world experts on spectral theory and geometry.

"Shape optimization and spectral theory" is a survey book aiming to give an overview of recent results in spectral geometry and its links with shape optimization. It covers most of the issues which are important for people working in PDE and differential geometry interested in sharp inequalities and qualitative behaviour for eigenvalues of the Laplacian with different kind of boundary conditions (Dirichlet, Robin and Steklov). This includes: existence of optimal shapes, their regularity, the case of special domains like triangles, isospectrality, quantitative form of the isoperimetric inequalities, optimal partitions, universal inequalities and numerical results. Much progress has been made in these extremum problems during the last ten years and this edited volume presents a valuable update to a wide community interested in these topics. List of contributors Antunes Pedro R.S., Ashbaugh Mark, Bonnaillie-Noel Virginie, Brasco Lorenzo, Bucur Dorin, Buttazzo Giuseppe, De Philippis Guido, Freitas Pedro, Girouard Alexandre, Helffer Bernard, Kennedy James, Lamboley Jimmy, Laugesen Richard S., Oudet Edouard, Pierre Michel, Polterovich Iosif, Siudeja Bartlomiej A., Velichkov Bozhidar

This book gives a detailed and self-contained introduction into the theory of spectral functions, with an emphasis on their applications to quantum field theory. All methods are illustrated with applications to specific physical problems from the forefront of current research, such as finite-temperature field theory, D-branes, quantum solitons and noncommutativity. In the first part of the book, necessary background information on differential geometry and quantization, including less standard material, is collected. The second part of the book contains a detailed description of main spectral functions and methods of their calculation. In the third part, the theory is applied to several examples (D-branes, quantum solitons, anomalies, noncommutativity). This book addresses advanced graduate students and researchers in mathematical physics with basic knowledge of quantum field theory and differential geometry. The aim is to prepare readers to use spectral functions in their own research, in particular in relation to heat kernels and zeta functions.

North-Holland Series in Applied Mathematics and Mechanics, Volume 6: Introduction to Spectral Theory in Hilbert Space focuses on the mechanics, principles, and approaches involved in spectral theory in Hilbert space. The publication first elaborates on the concept and specific geometry of Hilbert space and bounded linear operators. Discussions focus on projection and adjoint operators, bilinear forms, bounded linear mappings, isomorphisms, orthogonal subspaces, base, subspaces, finite dimensional Euclidean space, and normed linear spaces. The text then takes a look at the general theory of linear operators and spectral analysis of compact linear operators, including spectral decomposition of a compact selfadjoint operator, weakly convergent sequences, spectrum of a compact linear operator, and eigenvalues of a linear operator. The manuscript ponders on the spectral analysis of bounded linear operators and unbounded selfadjoint operators. Topics include spectral decomposition of an unbounded selfadjoint operator and bounded normal operator, functions of a unitary operator, step functions of a bounded selfadjoint operator, polynomials in a bounded operator, and order relation for bounded selfadjoint operators. The publication is a valuable source of data for mathematicians and researchers interested in spectral theory in Hilbert space.