Regularized and $L^2$-Determinants

It is shown that in a tower of coverings the regularized determinant of a generalized Laplacian converges to the $L^2$-determinant. This shows generic nontriviality of analytic torsion or regularized determinants since the $L^2$-counterparts are easier to compute. We further have an "Euler product expansion" for regularized determinants in terms of equivariant $L^2$-determinants.