arXiv subjects

Nigel Higson

Publications and source records attributed to Nigel Higson.

31 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2017

Algebraic Families of Harish-Chandra Pairs

Mathematical physicists have studied degenerations of Lie groups and their representations, which they call contractions. In this paper we study these contractions, and also other families, within the framework of algebraic families of Harish-Chandra modules. We construct a family that incorporates both a real reductive group and its compact form, separate parts of which have been studied individually as contractions. We give a complete classification of generically irreducible families of Harish-Chandra modules in the case of the family associated to SL(2, R).

math.RT↗

arXiv2017

Contractions of Representations and Algebraic Families of Harish-Chandra Modules

We examine from an algebraic point of view some families of unitary group representations that arise in mathematical physics and are associated to contraction families of Lie groups. The contraction families of groups relate different real forms of a reductive group and are continuously parametrized, but the unitary representations are defined over a parameter subspace that includes both discrete and continuous parts. Both finite- and infinite-dimensional representations can occur, even within the same family. We shall study the simplest nontrivial examples, and use the concepts of algebraic families of Harish-Chandra pairs and Harish-Chandra modules, introduced in a previous paper, together with the Jantzen filtration, to construct these families of unitary representations algebraically.

math.RT↗

arXiv2017

Algebraic Families of Groups and Commuting Involutions

Let $G$ be a complex affine algebraic group, and let $σ_1$ and $σ_2$ be commuting anti-holomorphic involutions of $G$. We construct an algebraic family of algebraic groups over the complex projective line and a real structure on the family that interpolates between the real forms $G^{σ_1}$ and $G^{σ_2}$.

math.RT↗

arXiv2016

A Differential Complex for CAT(0) Cubical Spaces

In the 1980's Pierre Julg and Alain Valette, and also Tadeusz Pytlik and Ryszard Szwarc, constructed and studied a certain Fredholm operator associated to a simplicial tree. The operator can be defined in at least two ways: from a combinatorial flow on the tree, similar to the flows in Forman's discrete Morse theory, or from the theory of unitary operator-valued coccyges. There are applications of the theory surrounding the operator to C*-algebra K-theory, to the theory of completely bounded representations of groups that act on trees, and to the Selberg principle in the representation theory of p-adic groups. The main aim of this paper is to extend the constructions of Julg and Valette, and Pytlik and Szwarc, to CAT(0) cubical spaces. A secondary aim is to illustrate the utility of the extended construction by developing an application to operator K-theory and giving a new proof of K-amenability for groups that act properly on bounded-geometry CAT(0)-cubical spaces.

math.KT↗

arXiv2016

A Second Adjoint Theorem for SL(2,R)

We formulate a second adjoint theorem in the context of tempered representations of real reductive groups, and prove it in the case of SL(2,R).

math.RT↗

arXiv2016

Adjoint functors between categories of Hilbert C*-modules

Let E be a (right) Hilbert C*-module over a C*-algebra A. If E is equipped with a left action of a second C*-algebra B, then tensor product with E gives rise to a functor from the category of Hilbert B-modules to the category of Hilbert A-modules. The purpose of this paper is to study adjunctions between functors of this sort. We shall introduce a new kind of adjunction relation, called a local adjunction, that is weaker than the standard concept from category theory. We shall give several examples, the most important of which is the functor of parabolic induction in the tempered representation theory of real reductive groups. Each local adjunction gives rise to an ordinary adjunction of functors between categories of Hilbert space representations. In this way we shall show that the parabolic induction functor has a simultaneous left and right adjoint, namely the parabolic restriction functor constructed in a previous paper.

math.OA↗

arXiv2015

Parabolic induction and restriction via C-algebras and Hilbert C-modules

This paper is about the reduced group C*-algebras of real reductive groups, and about Hilbert C*-modules over these C*-algebras. We shall do three things. First we shall apply theorems from the tempered representation theory of reductive groups to determine the structure of the reduced C*-algebra (the result has been known for some time, but it is difficult to assemble a full treatment from the existing literature). Second, we shall use the structure of the reduced C*-algebra to determine the structure of the Hilbert C*-bimodule that represents the functor of parabolic induction. Third, we shall prove that the parabolic induction bimodule admits a secondary inner product, using which we can define a functor of parabolic restriction in tempered representation theory. We shall prove in the sequel to this paper that parabolic restriction is adjoint, on both the left and the right, to parabolic induction.

math.RT↗

arXiv2015

Parabolic induction, categories of representations and operator spaces

We study some aspects of the functor of parabolic induction within the context of reduced group C*-algebras and related operator algebras. We explain how Frobenius reciprocity fits naturally within the context of operator modules, and examine the prospects for an operator algebraic formulation of Bernstein's reciprocity theorem (his second adjoint theorem).

math.RT↗

arXiv2012

Weyl character formula in KK-theory

The purpose of this paper is to begin an exploration of connections between the Baum-Connes conjecture in operator $\K$-theory and the geometric representation theory of reductive Lie groups. Our initial goal is very modest, and we shall not stray far from the realm of compact groups, where geometric representation theory amounts to elaborations of the Weyl character formula such as the Borel-Weil-Bott theorem. We shall recast the topological $\K$-theory approach to the Weyl character formula, due basically to Atiyah and Bott, in the language of Kasparov's $\K\K$-theory. Then we shall show how, contingent on the Baum-Connes conjecture, our $\K\K$-theoretic Weyl character formula can be carried over to noncompact groups.

math.OA↗

arXiv2009

A Geometric Description of Equivariant K-Homology for Proper Actions

Let G be a discrete group and let X be a G-finite, proper G-CW-complex. We prove that Kasparov's equivariant K-homology groups KK^G(C_0(X),\C) are isomorphic to the geometric equivariant K-homology groups of X that are obtained by making the geometric K-homology theory of Baum and Douglas equivariant in the natural way. This reconciles the original and current formulations of the Baum-Connes conjecture for discrete groups.

math.KT↗

arXiv2009

Spaces with vanishing $l\sp 2$-homology and their fundamental groups (after Farber and Weinberger)

The "zero in the spectrum conjecture" asserted (in its strongest form) that for any manifold M zero should be in the l2-spectrum of the Laplacian (on forms) of the universal covering of M, i.e. that at least one (unreduced) L2-cohomology group of (the universal covering of) M is non-zero. Farber and Weinberger gave the first counterexamples to this conjecture. In this paper, using their fundamental idea to show the following stronger version of this result: Let G be a finitely presented group and suppose that the homology groups H_k(G,\ell^2(G)) are zero for k=0,1,2. For every dimension n\ge 6 there is a closed manifold M of dimension n and with fundamental group G such that the L2-cohomology of (the universal covering of) M vanishes in all degrees.

math.KT↗

arXiv2009

On the Equivalence of Geometric and Analytic K-Homology

We give a proof that the geometric K-homology theory for finite CW-complexes defined by Baum and Douglas is isomorphic to Kasparov's K-homology. The proof is a simplification of more elaborate arguments which deal with the geometric formulation of equivariant K-homology theory.

math.KT↗

arXiv2007

Weak amenability of CAT(0) cubical groups

We prove that if G is a discrete group that admits a metrically proper action on a finite-dimensional CAT(0) cube complex X, then G is weakly amenable. We do this by constructing uniformly bounded Hilbert space representations for which the quantities z^{l(g)} are matrix coefficients. Here l is a length function on G obtained from the combinatorial distance function on the complex X.

math.OA↗