Spectral triples on proper étale groupoids

Abstract

A proper étale Lie groupoid is modelled as a (noncommutative) spectral geometric space. The spectral triple is built on the algebra of smooth functions on the groupoid base which are invariant under the groupoid action. Stiefel–Whitney classes in Lie groupoid cohomology are introduced to measure the orientability of the tangent bundle and the obstruction to lift the tangent bundle to a spinor bundle. In the case of an orientable and spin Lie groupoid, an invariant spinor bundle and an invariant Dirac operator will be constructed. This data gives rise to a spectral triple. The algebraic orientability axiom in noncommutative geometry is reformulated to make it compatible with the geometric model.