In differential geometry, the Euler characteristic of an orbifold, or orbifold Euler characteristic, is a generalization of the topological Euler characteristic that includes contributions coming from nontrivial automorphisms. In particular, unlike a topological Euler characteristic, it is not restricted to integer values and is in general a rational number. It is of interest in mathematical physics, specifically in string theory. Given a compact manifold quotiented by a finite group , the Euler characteristic of is
where is the order of the group , the sum runs over all pairs of commuting elements of , and is the set of simultaneous fixed points of and . If the action is free, the sum has only a single term, and so this expression reduces to the topological Euler characteristic of divided by .
See also
Kawasaki's Riemann–Roch formula
References
External links
https://mathoverflow.net/questions/51993/euler-characteristic-of-orbifolds
https://mathoverflow.net/questions/267055/is-every-rational-realized-as-the-euler-characteristic-of-some-manifold-or-orbif