We explain an array of basic functional analysis puzzles on the way to general spectral flow formulae and indicate a direction of future topological research for dealing with these puzzles.

Let S be an inverse semigroup and let π:S→T be a surjective homomorphism with kernel K. We show how to obtain a presentation for K from a presentation for S, and vice versa. We then investigate the relationship between the properties of S, K and T, focusing mainly on finiteness conditions. In particular we consider finite presentability, solubility of the word problem, residual finiteness, and the homological finiteness property FPn. Our results extend several classical results from combinatorial group theory concerning group extensions to inverse semigroups. Examples are also provided that highlight the differences with the special case of groups.

We construct compact quantum metric spaces starting from a C*-algebra extension with a positive splitting. As special cases, we discuss Toeplitz algebras, quantum SU(2) and Podleś spheres.

The construction (by Kapranov) of the space of infinitesimal paths on a manifold is extended to include higher-dimensional infinitesimal objects, encoding contractions of infinitesimal loops. This full infinitesimal groupoid is shown to have the algebra of polyvector fields as its nonlinear cohomology.

Algebras associated with quantum electrodynamics and other gauge theories share some mathematical features with T-duality. Exploiting this different perspective and some category theory, the full algebra of fermions and bosons can be regarded as a braided Clifford algebra over a braided commutative boson algebra, sharing much of the structure of ordinary Clifford algebras.

Let S be a sub-Markovian semigroup on L2(ℝd) generated by a self-adjoint, second-order, divergence-form, elliptic operator H with W1,∞(ℝd) coefficients ckl, and let Ω be an open subset of ℝd. We prove that if either C∞c(ℝd) is a core of the semigroup generator of the consistent semigroup on Lp(ℝd) for some p∈[1,∞]  or Ω has a locally Lipschitz boundary, then S leaves L2 (Ω) invariant if and only if it is invariant under the flows generated by the vector fields ∑ dl=1ckl∂l for all k. Further, for all p∈[1,2] we derive sufficient conditions on the coefficients for the core property to be satisfied. Then by combination of these results we obtain various examples of invariance in terms of boundary degeneracy both for Lipschitz domains and domains with fractal boundaries.

Let α be a totally positive algebraic integer of degree d≥2 and α1=α,α2,…,αd be all its conjugates. We use explicit auxiliary functions to improve the known lower bounds of Sk/d, where Sk=∑ di=1αki and k=1,2,3. These improvements have consequences for the search of Salem numbers with negative traces.

We show how to derive the uniqueness of graded or ordinary traces on some algebras of log-polyhomogeneous pseudodifferential operators from the uniqueness of their restriction to classical pseudodifferential ones.

In this paper, we review the parametrized strict deformation quantization of C*-bundles obtained in a previous paper, and give more examples and applications of this theory. In particular, it is used here to classify H3-twisted noncommutative torus bundles over a locally compact space. This is extended to the case of general torus bundles and their parametrized strict deformation quantization. Rieffel’s basic construction of an algebra deformation can be mimicked to deform a monoidal category, which deforms not only algebras but also modules. As a special case, we consider the parametrized strict deformation quantization of Hilbert C*-modules over C*-bundles with fibrewise torus action.

A topological approach to the theory of equilibrium phase transitions in statistical physics is based on the topological hypothesis, which claims that phase transitions are due to changes of the topology of suitable submanifolds in the configuration space. In this paper we examine in detail the antiferromagnetic mean-field XY model and study the topology of the subenergy manifolds. The latter can be interpreted mechanically as the configuration space of a linkage with one telescopic leg. We use methods of Morse theory to describe explicitly the Betti numbers of this configuration space. We apply these results to the antiferromagnetic mean-field XY model and compute the exponential growth rate of the total Betti number. Previous authors studied the Euler characteristic rather than the total Betti number. We show that in the presence of an external magnetic field the model undergoes a single ‘total Betti number phase transition’.

Let (a,b,c) be a primitive Pythagorean triple such that b is even. In 1956, Jeśmanowicz conjectured that the equation ax+by=cz has the unique solution (x,y,z)=(2,2,2) in the positive integers. This is one of the most famous unsolved problems on Pythagorean triples. In this paper we propose a similar problem (which we call the shuffle variant of Jeśmanowicz’ problem). Our problem states that the equation cx+by=az with x,y and z positive integers has the unique solution (x,y,z)=(1,1,2) if c=b+1 and has no solutions if c>b+1 . We prove that the shuffle variant of the Jeśmanowicz problem is true if c≡1 mod b.

We compare two influential ways of defining a generalized notion of space. The first, inspired by Gelfand duality, states that the category of ‘noncommutative spaces’ is the opposite of the category of C*-algebras. The second, loosely generalizing Stone duality, maintains that the category of ‘point-free spaces’ is the opposite of the category of frames (that is, complete lattices in which the meet distributes over arbitrary joins). Earlier work by the first three authors shows how a noncommutative C*-algebra gives rise to a commutative one internal to a certain sheaf topos. The latter, then, has a constructive Gelfand spectrum, also internal to the topos in question. After a brief review of this work, we compute the so-called external description of this internal spectrum, which in principle is a fibred point-free space in the familiar topos of sets and functions. However, we obtain the external spectrum as a fibred topological space in the usual sense. This leads to an explicit Gelfand transform, as well as to a topological reinterpretation of the Kochen–Specker theorem of quantum mechanics.

A relationship between symplectic geometry and information geometry is studied. The square of a dually flat space admits a natural symplectic structure that is the pullback of the canonical symplectic structure on the cotangent bundle of the dually flat space via the canonical divergence. With respect to the symplectic structure, there exists a moment map whose image is the dually flat space. As an example, we obtain a duality relation between the Fubini–Study metric on a projective space and the Fisher metric on a statistical model on a finite set. Conversely, a dually flat space admitting a symplectic structure is locally symplectically isomorphic to the cotangent bundle with the canonical symplectic structure of some dually flat space. We also discuss nonparametric cases.

We show that the residue density of the logarithm of a generalized Laplacian on a closed manifold defines an invariant polynomial-valued differential form. We express it in terms of a finite sum of residues of classical pseudodifferential symbols. In the case of the square of a Dirac operator, these formulas provide a pedestrian proof of the Atiyah–Singer formula for a pure Dirac operator in four dimensions and for a twisted Dirac operator on a flat space of any dimension. These correspond to special cases of a more general formula by Scott and Zagier. In our approach, which is of perturbative nature, we use either a Campbell–Hausdorff formula derived by Okikiolu or a noncommutative Taylor-type formula.

We study Markov measures and p-adic random walks with the use of states on the Cuntz algebras Op. Via the Gelfand–Naimark–Segal construction, these come from families of representations of Op. We prove that these representations reflect selfsimilarity especially well. In this paper, we consider a Cuntz–Krieger type algebra where the adjacency matrix depends on a parameter q ( q=1 is the case of Cuntz–Krieger algebra). This is an ongoing work generalizing a construction of certain measures associated to random walks on graphs.

Twisted K-theory classes over compact Lie groups can be realized as families of Fredholm operators using the representation theory of loop groups. In this paper we show how to deform the Fredholm family in the sense of quantum groups. The family of Dirac-type operators is parametrized by vectors in the adjoint module for a quantum affine algebra and transforms covariantly under a central extension of the algebra.

We study the existence of some covers and envelopes in the chain complex category of R-modules. Let (𝒜,ℬ) be a cotorsion pair in R-Mod and let ℰ𝒜 stand for the class of all exact complexes with each term in 𝒜. We prove that (ℰ𝒜,ℰ𝒜⊥) is a perfect cotorsion pair whenever 𝒜 is closed under pure submodules, cokernels of pure monomorphisms and direct limits and so every complex has an ℰ𝒜-cover. As an application we show that every complex of R-modules over a right coherent ring R has an exact Gorenstein flat cover. In addition, the existence of -covers and -envelopes of special complexes is considered where and denote the classes of all complexes with each term in 𝒜 and ℬ, respectively.

Let (P,Y ) be a bundle gerbe over a fibre bundle Y →M. We show that if M is simply connected and the fibres of Y →M are connected and finite-dimensional, then the Dixmier–Douady class of (P,Y ) is torsion. This corrects and extends an earlier result of the first author.

After reviewing geometric quantisation of linear bosonic and fermionic systems, we study the holonomy of the projectively flat connection on the bundle of Hilbert spaces over the space of compatible complex structures and relate it to the Maslov index and its various generalisations. We also consider bosonic and fermionic harmonic oscillators parametrised by compatible complex structures and compare Berry’s phase with the above holonomy.

Let L=H(2r;n) be a graded Lie algebra of Hamiltonian type in the Cartan type series over an algebraically closed field of characteristic p>2. In the generalized restricted Lie algebra setup, any irreducible representation of L corresponds uniquely to a (generalized) p-character χ. When the height of χ is no more than min {pni−pni−1∣i=1,2,…,2r}−2, the corresponding irreducible representations are proved to be induced from irreducible representations of the distinguished maximal subalgebra L0 with the aid of an analogy of Skryabin’s category ℭ for the generalized Jacobson–Witt algebras and modulo finitely many exceptional cases. Since the exceptional simple modules have been classified, we can then give a full description of the irreducible representations with p-characters of height below this number.