An index theorem for Z/2-harmonic spinors branching along a graph

Abstract

We prove an index formula for the Dirac operator acting on two-valued spinors on a $3$-manifold $M$ which branch along a smoothly embedded graph $\Sigma \subset M$, and with respect to a boundary condition along $\Sigma$ inspired by an instance of this setting related to the deformation theory of $\mathbb Z_2$-harmonic spinors. When $\Sigma$ is a smooth embedded curve, this index vanishes; this was proved earlier by one of us, but the proof here is different and extends to the more general setting where $\Sigma$ also has vertices. We focus primarily on the Dirac operator itself, but also show how our results apply to more general twisted Dirac operators and to the closely related $\mathbb Z_2$ harmonic $1$-forms.