Analytic Pontryagin Duality

Abstract

Let $X$ be a smooth compact manifold. We propose a geometric model for the group $K^0(X,\mathbb{R}/\mathbb{Z}).$ We study a well-defined and non-degenerate analytic duality pairing between $K^0(X,\mathbb{R}/\mathbb{Z})$ and its Pontryagin dual group, the Baum-Douglas geometric $K$-homology $K_0(X),$ whose pairing formula comprises of an analytic term involving the Dai-Zhang eta-invariant associated to a twisted Dirac-type operator and a topological term involving a differential form and some characteristic forms. This yields a robust $\mathbb{R}/\mathbb{Z}$-valued invariant. We also study two special cases of the analytic pairing of this form in the cohomology group $H^1(X,\mathbb{R}/\mathbb{Z})$ and $H^2(X,\mathbb{R}/\mathbb{Z}).$