1977/07/01 by Jeff Cheeger · 2 citations
Mathematics · Physics and Astronomy · #Geometric Analysis and Curvature Flows #Algebraic and Geometric Analysis #Advanced Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics #Torsion (gastropod) #Conjecture #Mathematics #Pure mathematics #Degenerate energy levels #Manifold (fluid mechanics) #Mathematical analysis #Physics #Biology #Anatomy #Quantum mechanics
paper · doi:10.1073/pnas.74.7.2651
openalex publication_date 1977/07/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/22
We announce a proof of the conjecture of Ray and Singer that for a compact Riemannian manifold the analytic torsion and Reidemeister torsion are equal. The proof involves studying the heat equation for certain manifolds M, equipped with metrics g(u), 0 < u < 1 which degenerate in a prescribed way at the boundary deltaM, as u --> 0,1.