Dimensional asymptotics of effective actions on S^n, and proof of B\"ar-Schopka's conjecture

Abstract

We study the dimensional asymptotics of the effective actions, or functional determinants, for the Dirac operator D and Laplacians \Delta +\beta R on round S^n. For Laplacians the behavior depends on ``the coupling strength'' \beta, and one cannot in general expect a finite limit of \zeta'(0), and for the ordinary Laplacian, \beta=0, we prove it to be +\infty, for odd dimensions. For the Dirac operator, B\"ar and Schopka conjectured a limit of unity for the determinant ([BS]), i.e. \lim_{n\to\infty}\det(D, S^n_{\mathrm{can}})=1. We prove their conjecture rigorously, giving asymptotics, as well as a pattern of inequalities satisfied by the determinants. The limiting value of unity is a virtue of having ``enough scalar curvature'' and no kernel. Thus for the important (conformally covariant) Yamabe operator, \beta=(n-2)/(4(n-1)), the determinant tends to unity. For the ordinary Laplacian it is natural to rescale spheres to unit volume, since \lim_{k\to\infty}\det(\Delta, S_\mathrm{rescaled}^{2k+1})=\frac{1}{2\pi e}.