Traces and Quasi-traces on the Boutet de Monvel Algebra

Abstract

We construct an analogue of Kontsevich and Vishik's canonical trace for a class of pseudodifferential boundary value problems in Boutet de Monvel's calculus on compact manifolds with boundary. For an operator A in the calculus (of class zero), and an auxiliary operator B, formed of the Dirichlet realization of a strongly elliptic second-order differential operator and an elliptic operator on the boundary, we consider the coefficient C_0(A,B) of (-\lambda)^{-N} in the asymptotic expansion of the resolvent trace Tr(A(B-\lambda)^{-N}) (with N large) in powers and log-powers of \lambda as \lambda tends to infinity in a suitable sector of the complex plane. C_0(A,B) identifies with the coefficient of s^0 in the Laurent series for the meromorphic extension of the generalized zeta function \zeta(A,B,s)= Tr(AB^{-s}) at s=0, when B is invertible. We show that C_0(A,B) is in general a quasi-trace, in the sense that it vanishes on commutators [A,A'] modulo local terms, and has a specific value independent of B modulo local terms; and we single out particular cases where the local ``errors'' vanish so that C_0(A,B) is a well-defined trace of A. Our main tool is a precise analysis of the asymptotic expansion of the resolvent trace, based on pseudodifferential calculations involving rational functions (in particular Laguerre functions) of the normal variable.