Nils Waterstraat

A family index theorem for periodic Hamiltonian systems and bifurcation

We prove an index theorem for families of linear periodic Hamiltonian systems, which is reminiscent of the Atiyah–Singer index theorem for selfadjoint elliptic operators. For the special case of one-parameter families, we compare our theorem with a classical result of Salamon and Zehnder. Finally, we use the index theorem to study bifurcation of branches of periodic solutions for families of nonlinear Hamiltonian systems.

A K-theoretic proof of the Morse index theorem in semi-Riemannian geometry

We give a short proof of the Morse index theorem for geodesics in semi-Riemannian manifolds by using K-theory. This makes the Morse index theorem reminiscent of the Atiyah-Singer index theorem for families of selfadjoint elliptic operators.

Spectral flow, crossing forms and homoclinics of Hamiltonian systems

We prove a spectral flow formula for one-parameter families of Hamiltonian systems under homoclinic boundary conditions, which relates the spectral flow to the relative Maslov index of a pair of curves of Lagrangians induced by the stable and unstable subspaces, respectively. Finally, we deduce sufficient conditions for bifurcation of homoclinic trajectories of one-parameter families of nonautonomous amiltonian vector fields.

On bifurcation for semilinear elliptic Dirichlet problems on shrinking domains

We consider the Dirichlet problem for semilinear elliptic equations on a bounded domain which is diffeomorphic to a ball and investigate bifurcation from a given (trivial) branch of solutions, where the radius of the ball serves as bifurcation parameter. Our methods are based on well-known results from variational bifurcation theory, which we outline in a separate section for the readers’ convenience.

A Remark on Bifurcation of Fredholm Maps

Abstract We modify an argument for multiparameter bifurcation of Fredholm maps by Fitzpatrick and Pejsachowicz to strengthen results on the topology of the bifurcation set. Furthermore, we discuss an application to families of differential equations parametrised by Grassmannians.

Spectral flow and bifurcation for a class of strongly indefinite elliptic systems

We consider bifurcation of solutions from a given trivial branch for a class of strongly indefinite elliptic systems via the spectral flow. Our main results establish bifurcation invariants that can be obtained from the coefficients of the systems without using explicit solutions of their linearisations at the given branch. Our constructions are based on a comparison principle for the spectral flow and a generalisation of a bifurcation theorem due to Szulkin.

A K-theoretical invariant and bifurcation for homoclinics of Hamiltonian systems

We revisit a K-theoretical invariant that was invented by the first author some years ago for studying multiparameter bifurcation of branches of critical points of functionals. Our main aim is to apply this invariant to investigate bifurcation of homoclinic solutions of families of Hamiltonian systems which are parametrised by tori.

Bifurcation of critical points along gap-continuous families of subspaces

We consider the restriction of twice differentiable functionals on a Hilbert space to families of subspaces that vary continuously with respect to the gap metric. We study bifurcation of branches of critical points along these families and apply our results to semilinear systems of ordinary differential equations.

On the space of connections having non-trivial twisted harmonic spinors

We consider Dirac operators on odd-dimensional compact spin manifolds which are twisted by a product bundle. We show that the space of connections on the twisting bundle which yield an invertible operator has infinitely many connected components if the untwisted Dirac operator is invertible and the dimension of the twisting bundle is sufficiently large.