Cheeger-Mueller Theorem on manifolds with cusps

Abstract: We prove equality between the renormalized Ray-Singer analytic torsion and the intersection R-torsion on a Witt-manifold with cusps, up to an error term determined explicitly by the Betti numbers of the cross section of the cusp and the intersection R-torsion of a model cone. In the first step of the proof we compute explicitly the renormalized Ray-Singer analytic torsion of a model cusp in general dimension and without the Witt-condition. In the second step we establish a gluing formula for renormalized Ray-Singer analytic torsion on a general class of non-compact manifolds in any dimension that includes Witt-manifolds with cusps, but also scattering manifolds with asymptotically conical ends. In the final step, a Cheeger-Mueller theorem on cusps follows by a combination of the previous explicit computation and the gluing formula.