# JLO cocycle

In noncommutative geometry, the JLO cocycle is a cocycle (and thus defines a cohomology class) in entire cyclic cohomology. It is a non-commutative version of the classic Chern character of the conventional differential geometry. In noncommutative geometry, the concept of a manifold is replaced by a noncommutative algebra ${\displaystyle {\mathcal {A}}}$ of "functions" on the putative noncommutative space. The cyclic cohomology of the algebra ${\displaystyle {\mathcal {A}}}$ contains the information about the topology of that noncommutative space, very much as the deRham cohomology contains the information about the topology of a conventional manifold.

The JLO cocycle is associated with a metric structure of non-commutative differential geometry known as a ${\displaystyle \theta }$-summable Fredholm module (also known as a ${\displaystyle \theta }$-summable spectral triple).

## ${\displaystyle \theta }$-summable Fredholm Modules

A ${\displaystyle \theta }$-summable Fredholm module consists of the following data:

(a) A Hilbert space ${\displaystyle {\mathcal {H}}}$ such that ${\displaystyle {\mathcal {A}}}$ acts on it as an algebra of bounded operators.

(c) A self-adjoint (unbounded) operator ${\displaystyle D}$, called the Dirac operator such that

(i) ${\displaystyle D}$ is odd under ${\displaystyle \gamma }$, i.e. ${\displaystyle D\gamma =-\gamma D}$.
(ii) Each ${\displaystyle a\in {\mathcal {A}}}$ maps the domain of ${\displaystyle D}$, ${\displaystyle {\mathrm {Dom} }\left(D\right)}$ into itself, and the operator ${\displaystyle \left[D,a\right]:{\mathrm {Dom} }\left(D\right)\to {\mathcal {H}}}$ is bounded.
(iii) ${\displaystyle {\mathrm {tr} }\left(e^{-tD^{2}}\right)<\infty }$, for all ${\displaystyle t>0}$.

A classic example of a ${\displaystyle \theta }$-summable Fredholm module arises as follows. Let ${\displaystyle M}$ be a compact spin manifold, ${\displaystyle {\mathcal {A}}=C^{\infty }\left(M\right)}$, the algebra of smooth functions on ${\displaystyle M}$, ${\displaystyle {\mathcal {H}}}$ the Hilbert space of square integrable forms on ${\displaystyle M}$, and ${\displaystyle D}$ the standard Dirac operator.

## The Cocycle

The JLO cocycle ${\displaystyle \Phi _{t}\left(D\right)}$ is a sequence

${\displaystyle \Phi _{t}\left(D\right)=\left(\Phi _{t}^{0}\left(D\right),\Phi _{t}^{2}\left(D\right),\Phi _{t}^{4}\left(D\right),\ldots \right)}$

of functionals on the algebra ${\displaystyle {\mathcal {A}}}$, where

${\displaystyle \Phi _{t}^{0}\left(D\right)\left(a_{0}\right)={\mathrm {tr} }\left(\gamma a_{0}e^{-tD^{2}}\right),}$
${\displaystyle \Phi _{t}^{n}\left(D\right)\left(a_{0},a_{1},\ldots ,a_{n}\right)=\int _{0\leq s_{1}\leq \ldots s_{n}\leq t}{\mathrm {tr} }\left(\gamma a_{0}e^{-s_{1}D^{2}}\left[D,a_{1}\right]e^{-\left(s_{2}-s_{1}\right)D^{2}}\ldots \left[D,a_{n}\right]e^{-\left(t-s_{n}\right)D^{2}}\right)ds_{1}\ldots ds_{n},}$

for ${\displaystyle n=2,4,\dots }$. The cohomology class defined by ${\displaystyle \Phi _{t}\left(D\right)}$ is independent of the value of ${\displaystyle t}$.