Index Theory with Applications to Mathematics and Physics

Index Theory with Applications to Mathematics and Physics describes, explains, and explores the Index Theorem of Atiyah and Singer, one of the truly great accomplishments of twentieth-century mathematics whose influence continues to grow, fifty years after its discovery. In this ambitious new work, authors David Bleecker and Bernhelm Boo-Bavnbek give two proofs of the Atiyah-Singer Index Theorem in impressive detail: one based on K-theory and the other on the heat kernel approach. As a preparation for this, the authors explain all the background information on such diverse topics as Fredholm operators, pseudo-differential operators, analysis on manifolds, principal bundles and curvature, and K-theorycarefully and with concern for the reader. Many applications of the theorem are given, as well as an account of some of the most important recent developments in the subject, with emphasis on gauge theoretic physical models and low-dimensional topology.