Complex powers and non-compact manifolds

We study the complex powers $A^{z}$ of an elliptic, strictly positive pseudodifferential operator $A$ using an axiomatic method that combines the approaches of Guillemin and Seeley. In particular, we introduce a class of algebras, ``extended Weyl algebras,'' whose definition was inspired by Guillemin's paper on the subject. An extended Weyl algebra can be thought of as an algebra of ``abstract pseudodifferential operators.'' Many algebras of pseudodifferential operators are extended Weyl algebras. Several results typical for algebras of pseudodifferential operators (asymptotic completeness, construction of Sobolev spaces, boundedness between apropriate Sobolev spaces, >...) generalize to extended Weyl algebras. Most important, our results may be used to obtain precise estimates at infinity for $A^{z}$, when $A > 0$ is elliptic and defined on a non-compact manifold, provided that a suitable ideal of regularizing operators is specified (a submultiplicative $\Psi^*$--algebra). We shall use these results in a forthcoming paper to study pseudodifferential operators and Sobolev spaces on manifolds with a Lie structure at infinity (a certain class of non-compact manifolds).