The Maslov index in symplectic Banach spaces

Abstract: We consider a curve of Fredholm pairs of Lagrangian subspaces in a fixed Banach space with continuously varying (weak) symplectic structures. Assuming vanishing index, we obtain intrinsically a continuously varying splitting of the total Banach space into pairs of symplectic subspaces. Using such decompositions we define the curve's Maslov index by symplectic reduction to the classical finite-dimensional case. We prove the transitivity of repeated symplectic reductions and obtain the invariance of the Maslov index under symplectic reduction, while recovering all the standard properties of the Maslov index. As an application, we consider curves of elliptic operators which have varying principal symbol, varying maximal domain and are not necessarily of Dirac type. For this class of operator curves, we derive a desuspension spectral flow formula for varying well-posed boundary conditions on manifolds with boundary and obtain the splitting of the spectral flow on partitioned manifolds.