Index Theory with Applications to Mathematics and Physics

David D. Bleecker, Bernhelm Booß-Bavnbek

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. The Index Theorem has given birth to many mathematical research areas and exposed profound connections between analysis, geometry, topology, algebra, and mathematical physics. Hardly any topic of modern mathematics stands independent of its influence. In this ambitious new work, authors David Bleecker and Bernhelm Booss-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,...