Simon Scott (KCL)

Exotic analytic-torsion and TQFT

Abstract: Studies of the logarithm of an elliptic pseudodifferential operator and ideas in TQFT have led to the suggestion that certain classes of topological and spectral geometric invariants arise as torsion invariants associated to logarithmic representations of the cobordism category. The aim of the talk will be to describe the structures and the progress made so far in this dialogue between microlocal analysis and topology/ TQFT.