Is there physics for the connection Laplacian?

The classical potential $V(x,y) = 1/|x-y|$ has infinite range which violently clashes with relativity. Solving this problem had required a completely new theory: GR. It remains also a fundamental problem still in general relativity: a Gedanken experiment in which the particles in the sun suddenly transition to particles without mass shows this. [This is forbidden by energy conservation but energy … ….

Quest for a Green Function Formula

A simplicial complex G, a finite set of non-empty sets closed under the operation of taking finite non-empty subsets, has the Laplacian $L(x,y) = {\rm sign}(|x \cap y|)$. It is natural as it is always unimodular so that its inverse $g(x,y)$ is always integer valued. In a potential theoretical setup, the Green function values $g(x,y)$ measure a potential energy between … ….

More Green Function Values

We have seen that for a finite abstract simplicial complex $G$, the connection Laplacian L has an inverse g with integer entries and that $g(x,x) = 1-X(S(x))$, where $S(x)$ is the unit sphere of $x$ in the graph $G_1=(V,E)$, where $V=G$ and where (a,b) in E if and only if $a \subset b$ or $b \subset a$. We have also … ….

Isospectral Simplicial Complexes

One can not hear a complex! After some hope that some kind of algebraic miracle allows to recover the complex from the spectrum (for example by looking for the minimal polynomial which an eigenvalue has and expecting that the factorization reflects some order structure in the abstract simplicial complex), I wondered whether there is an argument proving that that there … ….

Wenjun Wu, 1919-2017

According to Wikipedia, the mathematician Wen-Tsun Wu passed away earlier this year. I encountered some mathematics developed by Wu when working on Wu characteristic. See the Slides and the paper on multi-linear valuations. There is an other paper on this in preparation, especially dealing with the cohomology belonging to Wu characteristics. Just as a reminder, the Wu characteristic of a … ….

Hearing the shape of a simplicial complex

A finite abstract simplicial complex has a natural connection Laplacian which is unimodular. The energy of the complex is the sum of the Green function entries. We see that the energy is also the number of positive eigenvalues minus the number of negative eigenvalues. One can therefore hear the Euler characteristic. Does the spectrum determine the complex?

Discrete Atiyah-Singer and Atiyah-Bott

As a follow-up note to the strong ring note, I tried between summer and fall semester to formulate a discrete Atiyah-Singer and Atiyah-Bott result for simplicial complexes. The classical theorems from the sixties are heavy, as they involve virtually every field of mathematics. By searching for analogues in the discrete, I hoped to get a grip on the ideas. (I … ….

Strong Ring of Simplicial Complexes

The strong ring is a category of geometric objects G which are disjoint unions of products of
simplicial complexes. Each has a Dirac operator D and a connection operator L. Both are related in
various ways to topology.

The Dirac operator of Products

Implementing the Dirac operator D for products of simplicial complexes without going to the Barycentric refined simplicial complex has numerical advantages. If G is a finite abstract simplicial complex with n elements and H is a finite abstract simplicial complex with m elements, then is a strong ring element with n*m elements. Its Barycentric refinement is the Whitney complex of … ….

The Two Operators

The strong ring The strong ring generated by simplicial complexes produces a category of geometric objects which carries a ring structure. Each element in the strong ring is a “geometric space” carrying cohomology (simplicial, and more general interaction cohomologies) and has nice spectral properties (like McKean Singer) and a “counting calculus” in which Euler characteristic is the most natural functional. … ….