Morse theory and higher torsion invariants I

2001/11/20 by Sebastian Goette, Goette, Sebastian
Mathematics · #57Q10 #57R22 #58J52 #Differential Geometry (math.DG) #FOS: Mathematics #Geometric and Algebraic Topology #Geometry and complex manifolds #Homotopy and Cohomology in Algebraic Topology #K-Theory and Homology (math.KT) #math.DG #math.KT #msc:57Q10 #msc:57R22 #msc:58J52

paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.math/0111222

80 pages, AmSTeX, uses pstricks. v2: new abstract, more examples and applications. v3: 94 pages, major revision, submitted; Thm 0.2 and Sections 3.c, 5.d-5.f added

openalex publication_date 2001/11/20 · arxiv created 2003/01/09 · arxiv updated 2009/11/30 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28

Abstract

We compare the higher analytic torsion of Bismut and Lott of a fibre bundle p: M -> B equipped with a flat vector bundle F -> M and a fibre-wise Morse function h on M with a higher torsion T that is constructed in terms of a families Thom-Smale complex associated to h and F, thereby extending previous joint work with Bismut. Under additional conditions on F, the torsion T is related to Igusa's higher Franz-Reidemeister torsion. As an application, we use the higher analytic torsion to detect infinite families of smooth bundles p_i: M -> B with diffeomorphic fibres that are homeomorphic but not diffeomorphic as bundles.

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