Local index theory and the Riemann–Roch–Grothendieck theorem for complex flat vector bundles

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to give a proof of the real part of the Riemann–Roch–Grothendieck theorem for complex flat vector bundles at the differential form level in the even dimensional fiber case. The proof is, roughly speaking, an application of the local family index theorem for a perturbed twisted spin Dirac operator, a variational formula of the Bismut–Cheeger eta form without the kernel bundle assumption in the even dimensional fiber case, and some properties of the Cheeger–Chern–Simons class of complex flat vector bundle.