For a double complex , we show that if it satisfies the -lemma and the spectral sequence induced by does not degenerate at , then it degenerates at . We apply this result to prove the degeneration at of a Hodge-de Rham spectral sequence on compact bi-generalized Hermitian manifolds that satisfy a version of -lemma.
Building on the theory of elliptic operators, we give a unified treatment of the following topics: - the problem of homotopy invariance of Novikov’s higher signatures on closed manifolds, - the problem of cut-and-paste invariance of Novikov’s higher signatures on closed manifolds, - the problem of defining higher signatures on manifolds with boundary and proving their homotopy invariance.