Dirac Operators In Riemannian Geometry

For a Riemannian manifold M, the geometry, topology and analysis are interrelated in ways that have become widely explored in modern mathematics. Bounds on the curvature can have significant implications for the topology of the manifold. The eigenvalues of the Laplacian are naturally linked to the geometry of the manifold. For manifolds that admit spin structures, one obtains further information from equations involving Dirac operators and spinor fields. In the case of four-manifolds, for example, one has the remarkable Seiberg-Witten invariants. In this text, Friedrich examines the Dirac operator on Riemannian manifolds, especially its connection with the underlying geometry and topology of the manifold. The presentation includes a review of Clifford algebras, spin groups and the spin representation, as well as a review of spin structures and $\textrm{spin}mathbb{C}$ structures. With this foundation established, the Dirac operator is defined and studied, with special attention to the cases of Hermitian manifolds and symmetric spaces. Then, certain analytic properties are established, including self-adjointness and the Fredholm property. An important link between the geometry and the analysis is provided by estimates for the eigenvalues of the Dirac operator in terms of the scalar curvature and the sectional curvature. Considerations of Killing spinors and solutions of the twistor equation on M lead to results about whether M is an Einstein manifold or conformally equivalent to one. Finally, in an appendix, Friedrich gives a concise introduction to the Seiberg-Witten invariants, which are a powerful tool for the study of four-manifolds. There is also an appendix reviewing principal bundles and connections. This detailed book with elegant proofs is suitable as a text for courses in advanced differential geometry and global analysis, and can serve as an introduction for further study in these areas. This edition is translated from the German edition published by Vieweg Verlag.

In the first edition of this book, simple proofs of the Atiyah-Singer Index Theorem for Dirac operators on compact Riemannian manifolds and its generalizations (due to the authors and J.-M. Bismut) were presented, using an explicit geometric construction of the heat kernel of a generalized Dirac operator; the new edition makes this popular book available to students and researchers in an attractive paperback.

A clear, concise and up-to-date introduction to the theory of the Dirac operator and its wide range of applications in theoretical physics for graduate students and researchers.

This volume is the first one that gives a systematic and self-contained introduction to the theory of symplectic Dirac operators and reflects the current state of the subject. At the same time, it is intended to establish the idea that symplectic spin geometry and symplectic Dirac operators may give valuable tools in symplectic geometry and symplectic topology, which have become important fields and very active areas of mathematical research.

The chapters on Clifford algebra and differential geometry can be used as an introduction to the topics, and are suitable for senior undergraduates and graduates. The other chapters are also accessible at this level.; This self-contained book requires very little previous knowledge of the domains covered, although the reader will benefit from knowledge of complex analysis, which gives the basic example of a Dirac operator.; The more advanced reader will appreciate the fresh approach to the theory, as well as the new results on boundary value theory.; Concise, but self-contained text at the introductory grad level. Systematic exposition.; Clusters well with other Birkhäuser titles in mathematical physics.; Appendix. General Manifolds * List of Symbols * Bibliography * Index

Covering subjects including manifolds, tensor fields, spinors, and differential forms, this textbook introduces geometrical topics useful in modern theoretical physics and mathematics. It develops understanding through over 1000 short exercises, and is suitable for advanced undergraduate or graduate courses in physics, mathematics and engineering.

This book contains a clear exposition of two contemporary topics in modern differential geometry: distance geometric analysis on manifolds, in particular, comparison theory for distance functions in spaces which have well defined bounds on their curvature the application of the Lichnerowicz formula for Dirac operators to the study of Gromov's invariants to measure the K-theoretic size of a Riemannian manifold. It is intended for both graduate students and researchers.

This volume surveys the spectral properties of the spin Dirac operator. After a brief introduction to spin geometry, we present the main known estimates for Dirac eigenvalues on compact manifolds with or without boundaries. We give examples where the spectrum can be made explicit and present a chapter dealing with the non-compact setting. The methods mostly involve elementary analytical techniques and are therefore accessible for Master students entering the subject. A complete and updated list of references is also included.