Fredholm modules and the Beilinson-Bloch regulator

We prove an operator-theoretic reconstruction of the Beilinson-Bloch regulator for compact Riemann surfaces, using loop operators and the Connes-Karoubi character for Fredholm modules. The proof includes a new computation of the Connes-Karoubi character for Steinberg symbols of the circle, which relies on the Helton-Howe determinant theory, but not on the Carey-Pincus theory of joint torsion.