Origins, Applications and Generalisations of the Q -Curvature

• Autores: Thomas B. Branson, A. Rod Gover
• Localización: Acta applicandae mathematicae, ISSN 0167-8019, Vol. 102, Nº. 2-3, 2008, págs. 131-146
• Idioma: inglés
• DOI: 10.1007/s10440-008-9236-0
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• Resumen

  • These expository notes sketch the origins of Branson�s Q-curvature. We give an introductory account of the equations governing its prescription, its roles in a conformal action formula as well as in Polyakov-type formulae for the conformal variation of the functional determinants of suitable elliptic operators. We indicate how properties, which partly characterise the Q-curvature, identify it as an extreme case of a class of differential operators on closed differential forms; these so-called Q-operators generalise the Q-curvature.