Speaker: Robin Deeley, UH – Manoa

Title: Local index theory: an overview

Abstract: I will review the statement of the Atiyah-Singer index theorem with the aim of discussing local index theory. The main aim of this theory is to replace the cohomology class in the statement of the index theorem with an explicitly constructed differential form. This can be done for Dirac type operators using the heat kernel. Outlining this process is the main goal of the talk, but applications will also be discussed if time permits.