Differential KO-theory: Constructions, computations, and applications

We provide a systematic and detailed treatment of differential refinements of KO-theory. We explain how various flavors capture geometric aspects in different but related ways, highlighting the utility of each. While general axiomatics exist, no explicit constructions seem to have appeared before. This fills a gap in the literature in which K-theory is usually worked out leaving KO-theory essentially untouched, with only scattered partial information in print. We compare to the complex case, highlighting which constructions follow analogously and which are much more subtle. We construct a pushforward and differential refinements of genera, leading to a Riemann-Roch theorem for $\widehat{\rm KO}$-theory. We also construct the corresponding Atiyah-Hirzebruch spectral sequence (AHSS) and explicitly identify the differentials, including ones which mix geometric and topological data. This allows us to completely characterize the image of the Pontrjagin character. Then we illustrate with examples and applications, including higher tangential structures, Adams operations, and a differential Wu formula.

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