An approximation of the $e$-invariant in the stable homotopy category

Abstract

In their construction of the topological index for flat vector bundles, Atiyah, Patodi and Singer associate to each flat vector bundle a particular $\mathbb{C/Z}$-$K$-theory class. This assignment determines a map, up to weak homotopy, from $K_{a}\mathbb{C}$, the algebraic $K$-theory space of the complex numbers, to $F_{t,\mathbb{C/Z}}$, the homotopy fiber of the Chern character. In this paper, we give evidence for the conjecture that this map can be represented by an infinite loop map. The result of the paper implies a refined Bismut-Lott index theorem for a compact smooth bundle $E\rightarrow B$ with the fundamental group $\pi_{1}(E,\ast)$ finite for every point $\ast\in E$.