A Characterization of the Heat Kernel Coefficients

We consider the asymptotic expansion of the heat kernel of a generalized Laplacian for $t\to 0^+$ and characterize the coefficients $a_k$ of this expansion by a natural intertwining property. In particular we will give a closed formula for the infinite order jet of these coefficients on the diagonal in terms of the local expressions of the powers of the given generalized Laplacian in normal coordinates.