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Christian Baer

Publications and source records attributed to Christian Baer.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
arXiv2021

Boundary value problems for general first-order elliptic differential operators

We study boundary value problems for first-order elliptic differential operators on manifolds with compact boundary. The adapted boundary operator need not be selfadjoint and the boundary condition need not be pseudo-local. We show the equivalence of various characterisations of elliptic boundary conditions and demonstrate how the boundary conditions traditionally considered in the literature fit in our framework. The regularity of the solutions up to the boundary is proven. We show that imposing elliptic boundary conditions yields a Fredholm operator if the manifold is compact. We provide examples which are conveniently treated by our methods.

math.DG↗
arXiv2020

Local Flexibility for Open Partial Differential Relations

We show that local deformations, near closed subsets, of solutions to open partial differential relations can be extended to global deformations, provided all but the highest derivatives stay constant along the subset. The applicability of this general result is illustrated by a number of examples, dealing with convex embeddings of hypersurfaces, differential forms, and lapse functions in Lorentzian geometry. The main application is a general approximation result by sections which have very restrictive local properties an open dense subsets. This shows, for instance, that given any $K \in \mathbb{R}$ every manifold of dimension at least two carries a complete $C^{1,1}$-metric which, on a dense open subset, is smooth with constant sectional curvature $K$. Of course this is impossible for $C^2$-metrics in general.

math.DG↗
arXiv2019

An index theorem for Lorentzian manifolds with compact spacelike Cauchy boundary

We show that the Dirac operator on a compact globally hyperbolic Lorentzian spacetime with spacelike Cauchy boundary is a Fredholm operator if appropriate boundary conditions are imposed. We prove that the index of this operator is given by the same expression as in the index formula of Atiyah-Patodi-Singer for Riemannian manifolds with boundary. The index is also shown to equal that of a certain operator constructed from the evolution operator and a spectral projection on the boundary. In case the metric is of product type near the boundary a Feynman parametrix is constructed.

math.DG↗
arXiv2019

The curl operator on odd-dimensional manifolds

We study the spectral properties of curl, a linear differential operator of first order acting on differential forms of appropriate degree on an odd-dimensional closed oriented Riemannian manifold. In three dimensions its eigenvalues are the electromagnetic oscillation frequencies in vacuum without external sources. In general, the spectrum consists of the eigenvalue 0 with infinite multiplicity and further real discrete eigenvalues of finite multiplicity. We compute the Weyl asymptotics and study the zeta-function. We give a sharp lower eigenvalue bound for positively curved manifolds and analyze the equality case. Finally, we compute the spectrum for flat tori, round spheres and 3-dimensional spherical space forms.

math.DG↗
arXiv2018

Wave and Dirac equations on manifolds

We review some recent results on geometric equations on Lorentzian manifolds such as the wave and Dirac equations. This includes well-posedness and stability for various initial value problems, as well as results on the structure of these equations on black-hole spacetimes (in particular, on the Kerr solution), the index theorem for hyperbolic Dirac operators and properties of the class of Green-hyperbolic operators.

math.DG↗
arXiv2017

Boundary value problems for the Lorentzian Dirac operator

On a compact globally hyperbolic Lorentzian spin manifold with smooth spacelike Cauchy boundary the (hyperbolic) Dirac operator is known to be Fredholm when Atiyah-Patodi-Singer boundary conditions are imposed. In this paper we investigate to what extent these boundary conditions can be replaced by more general ones and how the index then changes. There are some differences to the classical case of the elliptic Dirac operator on a Riemannian manifold with boundary.

math.DG↗
arXiv2016

A rigorous geometric derivation of the chiral anomaly in curved backgrounds

We discuss the chiral anomaly for a Weyl field in a curved background and show that a novel index theorem for the Lorentzian Dirac operator can be applied to describe the gravitational chiral anomaly. A formula for the total charge generated by the gravitational and gauge field background is derived in a mathematically rigorous manner. It contains a term identical to the integrand in the Atiyah-Singer index theorem and another term involving the $η$-invariant of the Cauchy hypersurfaces.

math-ph↗
arXiv2015

Geometrically formal 4-manifolds with nonnegative sectional curvature

A Riemannian manifold is called geometrically formal if the wedge product of any two harmonic forms is again harmonic. We classify geometrically formal compact 4-manifolds with nonnegative sectional curvature. If the sectional curvature is strictly positive, the manifold must be homeomorphic to S^4 or diffeomorphic to CP^2. This conclusion stills holds true if the sectional curvature is strictly positive and we relax the condition of geometric formality to the requirement that the length of harmonic 2-forms is not too nonconstant. In particular, the Hopf conjecture on S^2 x S^2 holds in this class of manifolds.

math.DG↗
arXiv2014

Initial value problems for wave equations on manifolds

We study the global theory of linear wave equations for sections of vector bundles over globally hyperbolic Lorentz manifolds. We introduce spaces of finite energy sections and show well-posedness of the Cauchy problem in those spaces. These spaces depend in general on the choice of a time function but it turns out that certain spaces of finite energy solutions are independent of this choice and hence invariantly defined. We also show existence and uniqueness of solutions for the Goursat problem where one prescribes initial data on a characteristic partial Cauchy hypersurface. This extends classical results due to Hörmander.

math.AP↗
arXiv2014

Green-hyperbolic operators on globally hyperbolic spacetimes

Green-hyperbolic operators are linear differential operators acting on sections of a vector bundle over a Lorentzian manifold which possess advanced and retarded Green's operators. The most prominent examples are wave operators and Dirac-type operators. This paper is devoted to a systematic study of this class of differential operators. For instance, we show that this class is closed under taking restrictions to suitable subregions of the manifold, under composition, under taking "square roots", and under the direct sum construction. Symmetric hyperbolic systems are studied in detail.

math-ph↗
arXiv2013

Some properties of solutions to weakly hypoelliptic equations

A linear different operator L is called weakly hypoelliptic if any local solution u of Lu=0 is smooth. We allow for systems, that is, the coefficients may be matrices, not necessarily of square size. This is a huge class of important operators which cover all elliptic, overdetermined elliptic, subelliptic and parabolic equations. We extend several classical theorems from complex analysis to solutions of any weakly hypoelliptic equation: the Montel theorem providing convergent subsequences, the Vitali theorem ensuring convergence of a given sequence and Riemann's first removable singularity theorem. In the case of constant coefficients we show that Liouville's theorem holds, any bounded solution must be constant and any L^p-solution must vanish.

math.AP↗
arXiv2013

Differential Characters and Geometric Chains

We study Cheeger-Simons differential characters and provide geometric descriptions of the ring structure and of the fiber integration map. The uniqueness of differential cohomology (up to unique natural transformation) is proved by deriving an explicit formula for any natural transformation between a differential cohomology theory and the model given by differential characters. Fiber integration for fibers with boundary is treated in the context of relative differential characters. As applications we treat higher-dimensional holonomy, parallel transport, and transgression.

math.DG↗
arXiv2012

Wiener Measures on Riemannian Manifolds and the Feynman-Kac Formula

This is an introduction to Wiener measure and the Feynman-Kac formula on general Riemannian manifolds for Riemannian geometers with little or no background in stochastics. We explain the construction of Wiener measure based on the heat kernel in full detail and we prove the Feynman-Kac formula for Schrödinger operators with $L^\infty$-potentials. We also consider normal Riemannian coverings and show that projecting and lifting of paths are inverse operations which respect the Wiener measure.

math.DG↗
arXiv2012

Renormalized Integrals and a Path Integral Formula for the Heat Kernel on a Manifold

We introduce renormalized integrals which generalize conventional measure theoretic integrals. One approximates the integration domain by measure spaces and defines the integral as the limit of integrals over the approximating spaces. This concept is implicitly present in many mathematical contexts such as Cauchy's principal value, the determinant of operators on a Hilbert space and the Fourier transform of an $L^p$-function. We use renormalized integrals to define a path integral on manifolds by approximation via geodesic polygons. The main part of the paper is dedicated to the proof of a path integral formula for the heat kernel of any self-adjoint generalized Laplace operator acting on sections of a vector bundle over a compact Riemannian manifold.

math.DG↗
arXiv2011

Boundary Value Problems for Elliptic Differential Operators of First Order

We study boundary value problems for linear elliptic differential operators of order one. The underlying manifold may be noncompact, but the boundary is assumed to be compact. We require a symmetry property of the principal symbol of the operator along the boundary. This is satisfied by Dirac type operators, for instance. We provide a selfcontained introduction to (nonlocal) elliptic boundary conditions, boundary regularity of solutions, and index theory. In particular, we simplify and generalize the traditional theory of elliptic boundary value problems for Dirac type operators. We also prove a related decomposition theorem, a general version of Gromov and Lawson's relative index theorem and a generalization of the cobordism theorem.

math.DG↗
arXiv2011

Classical and Quantum Fields on Lorentzian Manifolds

We construct bosonic and fermionic locally covariant quantum field theories on curved backgrounds for large classes of fields. We investigate the quantum field and n-point functions induced by suitable states.

math-ph↗
arXiv2010

Asymptotic heat kernel expansion in the semi-classical limit

Let $H_h = h^2 L +V$ where $L$ is a self-adjoint Laplace type operator acting on sections of a vector bundle over a compact Riemannian manifold and $V$ is a symmetric endomorphism field. We derive an asymptotic expansion for the heat kernel of $H_h$ as $h \to 0$. As a consequence we get an asymptotic expansion for the quantum partition function and we see that it is asymptotic to the classical partition function. Moreover, we show how to bound the quantum partition function for positive $h$ by the classical partition function.

math-ph↗