We generalise the local index formula of Connes and Moscovici to the case of spectral triples for a * -subalgebra A of a general semifinite von Neumann algebra. In this setting it gives a formula for spectral flow along a path joining an unbounded self-adjoint Breuer-Fredholm operator, affiliated to the von Neumann algebra, to a unitarily equivalent operator. Our proof is novel even in the setting of the original theorem and relies on the introduction of a function valued cocycle which is 'almost' a (b, B)-cocycle in the cyclic cohomology of A.

Spectral triples for nonunital algebras model locally compact spaces in noncommutative geometry. In the present text, we prove the local index formula for spectral triples over nonunital algebras, without the assumption of local units in our algebra. This formula has been successfully used to calculate index pairings in numerous noncommutative examples. The absence of any other effective method of investigating index problems in geometries that are genuinely noncommutative, particularly in the nonunital situation, was a primary motivation for this study and we illustrate this point with two examples in the text.In order to understand what is new in our approach in the commutative setting we prove an analogue of the Gromov-Lawson relative index formula (for Dirac type operators) for even dimensional manifolds with bounded geometry, without invoking compact supports. For odd dimensional manifolds our index formula appears to be completely new. As we prove our local index formula in the framework of semifinite noncommutative geometry we are also able to prove, for manifolds of bounded geometry, a version of Atiyah's L 2 -index Theorem for covering spaces. We also explain how to interpret the McKean-Singer formula in the nonunital case.In order to prove the local index formula, we develop an integration theory compatible with a refinement of the existing pseudodifferential calculus for spectral triples. We also clarify some aspects of index theory for nonunital algebras.

No abstract

Abstract. We present a new and simple approach to the theory of multiple operator integrals that applies to unbounded operators affiliated with general von Neumann algebras. For semifinite von Neumann algebras we give applications to the Fréchet differentiation of operator functions that sharpen existing results, and establish the Birman-Solomyak representation of the spectral shift function of M. G. Krein in terms of an average of spectral measures in the type II setting. We also exhibit a surprising connection between the spectral shift function and spectral flow.

We show that if ðE; k Á k E Þ is a symmetric Banach sequence space then the corresponding space S E of operators on a separable Hilbert space, defined by T A S E if and only if À s n ðTÞAlthough this was proved for finite-dimensional spaces by von Neumann in 1937, it has never been established in complete generality in infinite-dimensional spaces; previous proofs have used the stronger hypothesis of full symmetry on E. The proof that k Á k S E is a norm requires the apparently new concept of uniform Hardy-Littlewood majorization; completeness also requires a new proof. We also give the analogous results for operator spaces modelled on a semifinite von Neumann algebra with a normal faithful semi-finite trace.