Heat-trace asymptotics for edge Laplacians with algebraic boundary conditions

Abstract: We consider the Hodge Laplacian on manifolds with incomplete edge singularities, with infinite dimensional von Neumann spaces and intricate elliptic boundary value theory. We single out a class of its algebraic self-adjoint extensions. Our microlocal heat kernel construction for algebraic boundary conditions is guided by the method of signaling solutions by Mooers, though crucial arguments in the conical case obviously do not carry over to the setup of edges. We then establish the heat kernel asymptotics for the algebraic extensions of the Hodge operator on edges, and elaborate on the exotic phenomena in the heat trace asymptotics which appear in case of a non-Friedrichs extension.