Related papers: Morse theory and higher torsion invariants I

Let p: M -> B be a family of compact manifolds equipped with a unitarily flat vector bundle F -> M. We generalize Igusa's higher Franz-Reidemeister torsion \tau(M/B;F) to the case that the fibre-wise cohomology H^*(M/B;F) -> B carries a…

We consider a closed odd-dimensional oriented manifold $M$ together with an acyclic flat hermitean vector bundle $\cF$. We form the trivial fibre bundle with fibre $M$ over the manifold of all Riemannian metrics on $M$. It has a natural…

We consider a fibration with compact fiber together with a unitarily flat complex vector bundle over the total space. Under the assumption that the fiberwise cohomology admits a filtration with unitary factors, we construct Bismut-Lott…

Comparing invariants from both topological and geometric perspectives is a key focus in index theorem. This paper compares higher analytic and topological torsions and establishes a version of the higher Cheeger-M\"uller/Bismut-Zhang…

When two smooth manifold bundles over the same base are fiberwise tangentially homeomorphic, the difference is measured by a homology class in the total space of the bundle. We call this the relative smooth structure class. Rationally and…

We explain the relationship between various characteristic classes for smooth manifold bundles known as ``higher torsion'' classes. We isolate two fundamental properties that these cohomology classes may or may not have: additivity and…

Using the higher analytic torsion form of Bismut and Lott we construct a characteristic class for smooth sphere bundles. We calculate this class in the case where the sphere bundle comes from a complex vector bundle. Related to these…

By explicitly comparing constructions, we prove that the higher torsion invariants of smooth bundles defined by Igusa and Klein via Morse theory agree with the higher torsion invariants defined by Badzioch, Dorabiala, Dwyer, Weiss, and…

In this paper we extend first the Bismut-Lott's analytic torsion form for flat vector bundles to the boundary case, then we establish its gluing formula on a smooth fibration under the assumption that a fiberwise Morse function exists. We…

We show that the Igusa-Klein topological torsion and the Bismut-Lott analytic torsion are equivalent for any flat vector bundle whose holonomy is a finite subgroup of $\mathrm{GL}_n(\mathbb{Q})$. Our proof uses Artin's induction theorem in…

This paper contains a long summary of the basic properties of higher FR torsion. An attempt is made to simplify the constructions from my book Higher Franz-Reidemeister Torsion (IP/AMS Studies in Advanced Math 31). Some new basic theorems…

Using the work of Dwyer, Weiss, and Williams we associate an invariant to any topologically trivial family of smooth h-cobordisms. This invariant is called the smooth structure class, and is closely related to the higher Franz--Reidemeister…

With the smooth action of a connected compact Lie group G, we realize the G-invariant Thom-Smale complex in an analytic way using the G-invariant Witten instanton complex. Both complexes are associated to a specific Morse-Bott function on a…

We prove an index theorem concerning the pushforward of flat B-vector bundles, where B is an appropriate algebra. We construct the associated analytic torsion form T. If Z is a smooth closed aspherical manifold, we show that T gives…

We use a variation of a classical construction of A. Hatcher to construct virtually all stable exotic smooth structures on compact smooth manifold bundles whose fibers have sufficiently large odd dimension (at least twice the base dimension…

We study the behaviour of analytic torsion under smooth fibrations. Namely, let F \to E \to^{f} B be a smooth fiber bundle of connected closed oriented smooth manifolds and let $V$ be a flat vector bundle over $E$. Assume that $E$ and $B$…

Let F be a flat vector bundle over a compact Riemannian manifold M and let f be a Morse function. Let g be a smooth Euclidean metric on F, let g_t=e^{-2tf}g and let \rho(t) be the Ray-Singer analytic torsion of F associated to the metric…

Let $(P, Y)$ be a bundle gerbe over a fibre bundle $Y \to M$. We show that if $M$ is simply-connected and the fibres of $Y \to M$ are connected and finite-dimensional then the Dixmier-Douady class of $(P, Y)$ is torsion. This corrects and…

We generalise the Kreck-Stolz invariants s_2 and s_3 by defining a new invariant, the t-invariant, for quaternionic line bundles E over closed spin-manifolds M of dimension 4k-1 with H^3(M; \Q) = 0 such that c_2(E)\in H^4(M) is torsion. The…

This paper attempts to investigate the space of various characteristic classes for smooth manifold bundles with local system on the total space inducing a finite holonomy covering. These classes are known as twisted higher torsion classes.…