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Raphael Ponge

Publications and source records attributed to Raphael Ponge.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
arXiv2017

Noncommutative Geometry and Conformal Geometry. I. Local Index Formula and Conformal Invariants

This paper is part of a series of articles on noncommutative geometry and conformal geometry. In this paper, we reformulate the local index formula in conformal geometry in such a way to take into account of the action of conformal diffeomorphisms. We also construct and compute a whole new family of geometric conformal invariants associated with conformal diffeomorphisms. This includes conformal invariants associated with equivariant characteristic classes. The approach of this paper involves using various tools from noncommutative geometry, such as twisted spectral triples and cyclic theory. An important step is to establish the conformal invariance of the Connes-Chern character of the conformal Dirac spectral triple of Connes-Moscovici. Ultimately, however, the main results of the paper are stated in a purely differential-geometric fashion.

math.DG↗
arXiv2015

Noncommutative Geometry and Conformal Geometry. II. Connes-Chern character and the local equivariant index theorem

This paper is the second part of a series of papers on noncommutative geometry and conformal geometry. In this paper, we compute explicitly the Connes-Chern character of an equivariant Dirac spectral triple. The formula that we obtain for which was used in the first paper of the series. The computation has two main steps. The first step is the justification that the CM cocycle represents the Connes-Chern character. The second step is the computation of the CM cocycle as a byproduct of a new proof of the local equivariant index theorem of Donnelly-Patodi, Gilkey and Kawasaki. The proof combines the rescaling method of Getzler with an equivariant version of the Greiner-Hadamard approach to the heat kernel asymptotics. Finally, as a further application of this approach, we computate the short-time limit of the JLO cocycle of an equivariant Dirac spectral triple.

math.DG↗
arXiv2014

Index map, $σ$-connections, and Connes-Chern character in the setting of twisted spectral triples

Twisted spectral triples are a twisting of the notion of spectral triple aiming at dealing with some type III geometric situations. In the first part of the paper, we give a geometric construction of the index map of a twisted spectral triple in terms of $σ$-connections on finitely generated projective modules. This makes it more transparent the analogy with the indices of Dirac operators with coefficients in vector bundles. In the second part, we give a direct construction of the Connes-Chern character of a twisted spectral, both in the invertible and non-invertible cases. Combining these two parts we obtain an analogue the Atiyah-Singer index formula for twisted spectral triples.

math.OA↗
arXiv2014

Noncommutative geometry, conformal geometry, and the local equivariant index theorem

We prove a local index formula in conformal geometry by computing the Connes-Chern character for the conformal Dirac (twisted) spectral triple recently constructed by Connes-Moscovici. Following an observation of Moscovici, the computation reduces to the computation of the CM cocycle of an equivariant Dirac (ordinary) spectral triple. This computation is obtained as a straightforward consequence of a new proof of the local equivariant index theorem of Patodi, Donelly-Patodi and Gilkey. This proof is obtained by combining Getzler's rescaling with an equivariant version of Greiner's approach to the heat kernel asymptotic. It is believed that this approach should hold in various other geometric settings. On the way we give a geometric description of the index map of a twisted spectral in terms of (twisted) connections on finitely generated projective modules.

math.OA↗
arXiv2013

The Logarithmic Singularities of the Green Functions of the Conformal Powers of the Laplacian

Green functions play an important role in conformal geometry. In this paper, we explain how to compute explicitly the logarithmic singularities of the Green functions of the conformal powers of the Laplacian. These operators include the Yamabe and Paneitz operators, as well as the conformal fractional powers of the Laplacian arising from scattering theory for Poincaré-Einstein metrics. The results are formulated in terms of Weyl conformal invariants arising from the ambient metric of Fefferman-Graham. As applications we obtain "Green function" characterizations of locally conformally flat manifolds and a spectral theoretic characterization of the conformal class of the round sphere.

math.DG↗
arXiv2012

Conformal invariants from nodal sets. I. Negative Eigenvalues and Curvature Prescription

In this paper, we study conformal invariants that arise from nodal sets and negative eigenvalues of conformally covariant operators; more specifically, the GJMS operators, which include the Yamabe and Paneitz operators. We give several applications to curvature prescription problems. We establish a version in conformal geometry of Courant's Nodal Domain Theorem. We also show that on any manifold of dimension $n\geq 3$, there exist many metrics for which our invariants are nontrivial. We prove that the Yamabe operator can have an arbitrarily large number of negative eigenvalues on any manifold of dimension $n\geq 3$. We obtain similar results for some higher order GJMS operators on some Einstein and Heisenberg manifolds. We describe the invariants arising from the Yamabe and Paneitz operators associated to left-invariant metrics on Heisenberg manifolds. Finally, in the appendix, the 2nd named author and Andrea Malchiodi study the $Q$-curvature prescription problems for non-critical $Q$-curvatures.

math.DG↗
arXiv2011

A New Hypoelliptic Operator on Almost CR Manifolds

The aim of this paper is to present the construction, out of the Kohn-Rossi complex, of a new hypoelliptic operator $Q_{L}$ on almost CR manifolds equipped with a real structure. The operator acts on all (p,q)-forms, but when restricted to (p,0)-forms and (p,n)-forms it is a sum of squares up to sign factor and lower order terms. Therefore, only a finite type condition condition is needed to have hypoellipticity on those forms. However, outside these forms $Q_{L}$ may fail to be hypoelliptic, as it is shown in the example of the Heisenberg group. We also look at the Fredholm properties of $Q_{L}$ and show that the corresponding Fredholm index is zero.

math.CV↗
arXiv2008

Traces on pseudodifferential operators and sums of commutators

The aim of this paper is to show that various known characterizations of traces on classical pseudodifferentials operators (PsiDOs) can actually be obtained by very elementary considerations on PsiDOs, using only basic properties of these operators. Thereby, we give a unified treatment of the determinations of the space of traces (i) on PsiDOs of noninteger orders or of regular parity-class, (ii) on integer order PsiDOs, (iii) on nonpositive order PsiDOs in dimension greather than or equal to 2, and (iv) on nonpositive order PsiDOs in dimension 1.

math.AP↗
arXiv2007

Logarithmic singularities of Schwartz kernels and local invariants of conformal and CR structures

This paper consists of two parts. In the first part we show that in odd dimension, as well as in even dimension below the critical weight (i.e. half the dimension), the logarithmic singularities of Schwartz kernels and Green kernels of conformal invariant pseudodifferential operators are linear combinations of Weyl conformal invariants, i.e., of local conformal invariants arising from complete tensorial contractions of the covariant derivatives of the Lorentz ambient metric of Fefferman-Graham. In even dimension and above the critical weight exceptional local conformal invariants may further come into play. As a consequence, this allows us to get invariant expressions for the logarithmic singularities of the Green kernels of the GJMS operators (including the Yamabe and Paneitz operators). In the second part, we prove analogues of these results in CR geometry. Namely, we prove that the logarithmic singularities of Schwartz kernels and Green kernels of CR invariant Heisenberg pseudodifferential operators give rise to local CR invariants, and below the critical weight are linear combinations of complete tensorial contractions of the covariant derivatives of Fefferman's Kälher-Lorentz ambient metric. As a consequence, we can obtain invariant descriptions of the logarithmic singularities of the Green kernels of the CR GJMS operators of Gover-Graham (including the CR Yamabe operator of Jerison-Lee).

math.DG↗
arXiv2007

Noncommutative residue for Heisenberg manifolds. Applications in CR and contact geometry

This paper has four main parts. In the first part, we construct a noncommutative residue for the hypoelliptic calculus on Heisenberg manifolds, that is, for the class of Heisenberg PsiDOs introduced by Beals-Greiner and Taylor. This noncommutative residue appears as the residual trace on integer order Heisenberg PsiDOs induced by the analytic extension of the usual trace to non-integer order Heisenberg PsiDOs. Moreover, it agrees with the integral of the density defined by the logarithmic singularity of the Schwartz kernel of the corresponding Heisenberg PsiDO. In addition, we show that this noncommutative residue provides us with the unique trace up to constant multiple on the algebra of integer order Heisenberg PsiDOs. In the second part, we give some analytic applications of this construction concerning zeta functions of hypoelliptic operators, logarithmic metric estimates for Green kernels of hypoelliptic operators, and the extension of the Dixmier trace to the whole algebra of integer order Heisenberg PsiDOs. In the third part, we present examples of computations of noncommutative residues of some powers of the horizontal sublaplacian and the contact Laplacian on contact manifolds. In the fourth part, we present two applications in CR geometry. First, we give some examples of geometric computations of noncommutative residues of some powers of the horizontal sublaplacian and of the Kohn Laplacian. Second, we make use of the framework of noncommutative geometry and of our noncommutative residue to define lower dimensional volumes in pseudohermitian geometry, e.g., we can give sense to the area of any 3-dimensional CR manifold. On the way we obtain a spectral interpretation of the Einstein-Hilbert action in pseudohermitian geometry.

math.DG↗
arXiv2007

Noncommutative geometry and lower dimensional volumes in Riemannian geometry

In this paper we explain how to define "lower dimensional'' volumes of any compact Riemannian manifold as the integrals of local Riemannian invariants. For instance we give sense to the area and the length of such a manifold in any dimension. Our reasoning is motivated by an idea of Connes and involves in an essential way noncommutative geometry and the analysis of Dirac operators on spin manifolds. However, the ultimate definitions of the lower dimensional volumes don't involve noncommutative geometry or spin structures at all.

math.DG↗
arXiv2006

Noncommutative residue invariants for CR and contact manifolds

In this paper we produce several new invariants for CR and contact manifolds by looking at the noncommutative residue traces of various geometric projections. In the CR setting these operators arise from the Kohn-Rossi complex and include the Szegö projections on forms. In the contact setting they stem from the generalized Szegö projections at arbitrary integer levels of Epstein-Melrose and from the contact complex of Rumin. In particular, we recover and extend recent results of Hirachi and Boutet de Monvel and answer a question of Fefferman.

math.DG↗
arXiv2006

Comments on: "Operator $K$-theory for the group SU(n,1)" by P. Julg and G. Kasparov

In this note we point out and fill a gap in the proof by Julg-Kasparov of the Baum-Connes conjecture with coefficients for discrete subgroups of $\op{SU}(n,1)$. The issue at stake is the proof that the complex powers of the contact Laplacian are element of the Heisenberg calculus. In particular, we explain why we cannot implement into the setting of the Heisenberg calculus the classical Seeley's approach to complex powers.

math.OA↗
arXiv2006

Complex powers of the contact Laplacian and the Baum-Connes conjecture for SU(n,1)

This paper is an extended version of math.OA/0601528 where we point out and remedy a gap in the proof by P. Julg and G. Kasparov of the Baum-Connes conjecture for discrete subgroups of SU(n,1). In particular, here we explain in details why the non-microlocality of the Heisenberg calculus prevents us from implementing into this framework the classical approach of Seeley to pseudodifferential complex powers, which was the main issue at stake in math.OA/0601528.

math.AP↗
arXiv2006

The tangent groupoid of a Heisenberg manifold

As a step toward proving an index theorem for hypoelliptic operators Heisenberg manifolds, including those on CR and contact manifolds, we construct an analogue for Heisenberg manifolds of Connes' tangent groupoid of a manifold $M$. As it is well known for a Heisenberg manifold $(M,H)$ the relevant notion of tangent is rather that of Lie group bundle of graded 2-step nilpotent Lie groups $GM$. We then construct the tangent groupoid of $(M,H)$ as a differentiable groupoid $\cG_{H} M$ encoding the smooth deformation of $M\times M$ to $GM$. In this construction a crucial use is made of a refined notion of privileged coordinates and of a tangent approximation result for Heisenberg diffeomorphisms.

math.DG↗
arXiv2006

Spectral Asymmetry, Zeta Functions and the Noncommutative Residue

In this paper we study the spectral asymmetry of (possibly nonselfadjoint) elliptic PsiDO's in terms of the difference of zeta functions coming from different cuttings. Refining previous formulas of Wodzicki in the case of odd class elliptic PsiDO's, our main results have several consequence concerning the local independence with respect to the cutting, the regularity at integer points of eta functions and a geometric expression for the spectral asymmetry of Dirac operators which, in particular, yields a new spectral interpretation of the Einstein-Hilbert action in gravity.

math.DG↗
arXiv2006

Szego projections and new invariants for CR and contact manifolds

In this paper we give a survey of the constructions in math.DG/0510061 of several new invariants for CR and contact manifolds. The latter extend previous constructions of Hirachi and Boutet de Monvel. In addition, we give simple algebro-geometric arguments proving that Hirachi's invariant vanishes on strictly pseudoconvex CR manifolds of dimension 4m+1.

math.DG↗