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.

We study the topology of the nontrivial component, , of self-adjoint Fredholm operators on a separable Hilbert space. In particular, if {Bt} is a path of such operators, we can associate to {Bt} an integer, sf({Bt}), called the spectral flow of the path. This notion, due to M. Atiyah and G. Lusztig, assigns to the path {Bt} the net number of eigenvalues (counted with multiplicities) which pass through 0 in the positive direction. There are difficulties in making this precise — the usual argument involves looking at the graph of the spectrum of the family (after a suitable perturbation) and then counting intersection numbers with y = 0.We present a completely different approach using the functional calculus to obtain continuous paths of eigenprojections (at least locally) of the form . The spectral flow is then defined as the dimension of the nonnegative eigenspace at the end of this path minus the dimension of the nonnegative eigenspace at the beginning. This leads to an easy proof that spectral flow is a well-defined homomorphism from the homotopy groupoid of onto Z. For the sake of completeness we also outline the seldom-mentioned proof that the restriction of spectral flow to is an isomorphism onto Z.

Abstract. We study the gap (= "projection norm" = "graph distance") topology of the space of all (not necessarily bounded) self-adjoint Fredholm operators in a separable Hilbert space by the Cayley transform and direct methods. In particular, we show the surprising result that this space is connected in contrast to the bounded case. Moreover, we present a rigorous definition of spectral flow of a path of such operators (actually alternative but mutually equivalent definitions) and prove the homotopy invariance. As an example, we discuss operator curves on manifolds with boundary.

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Abstract. We give a comprehensive account of an analytic approach to spectral flow along paths of self-adjoint Breuer-Fredholm operators in a type I ∞ or II ∞ von Neumann algebra N . The framework is that of odd unbounded θ-summable Breuer-Fredholm modules for a unital Banach * -algebra, A. In the type II ∞ case spectral flow is real-valued, has no topological definition as an intersection number and our formulae encompass all that is known. We borrow Ezra Getzler's idea (suggested by I. M. Singer) of considering spectral flow (and eta invariants) as the integral of a closed one-form on an affine space. Applications in both the type I and type II cases include a general formula for the relative index of two projections, representing truncated eta functions as integrals of one forms and expressing spectral flow in terms of the JLO cocycle to give the pairing of the K-homology and K-theory of A.