Complex-valued-Ray–Singer-torsion.pdfVIP

Complex valued Ray–Singer torsion Dan Burghelea and Stefan Haller Abstract. In the spirit of Ray and Singer we define a complex valued ana- lytic torsion using non-selfadjoint Laplacians. We establish an anomaly for- mula which permits to turn this into a topological invariant. Conjecturally this analytically defined invariant computes the complex valued Reidemeister torsion, including its phase. We establish this conjecture in some non-trivial situations. Mathematics Subject Classification (2000). 57R20, 58J52. Keywords. Ray–Singer torsion; Reidemeister torsion; analytic torsion; com- binatorial torsion; anomaly formula; Bismut–Zhang, Cheeger, M¨uller theo- rem; Euler structures; co-Euler structures; asymptotic expansion; heat kernel; Dirac operator; Contents 1. Introduction 2 2. Preliminaries 3 3. Reidemeister torsion 8 4. Ray–Singer torsion 14 5. A Bismut–Zhang, Cheeger, M¨uller type formula 19 6. Proof of the anomaly formula 25 7. Asymptotic expansion of the heat kernel 29 8. Application to Laplacians 37 9. The case of non-vanishing Euler–Poincar´e characteristics 43 References 45 Part of this work was done while the second author enjoyed the hos