On Fredholm determinants in topology

Abstract

Given an abstract simplicial complex G, the connection graph G' of G has as vertex set the faces of the complex and connects two if they intersect. If A is the adjacency matrix of that connection graph, we prove that the Fredholm characteristic det(1+A) takes values in {-1,1} and is equal to the Fermi characteristic, which is the product of the w(x), where w(x)=(-1)^dim(x). The Fredholm characteristic is a special value of the Bowen-Lanford zeta function and has various combinatorial interpretations. The unimodularity theorem proven here shows that it is a cousin of the Euler characteristic as the later is the sum of the w(x). Unimodularity implies that the matrix 1+A has an inverse which takes integer values. Experiments suggest the conjecture that the range of the Green function values, the union of the entries of the inverse of 1+A form a combinatorial invariant of the simplicial complex and do not change under Barycentric or edge refinements.