With T. de Fernex, E. Lupercio, and B. Uribe.``A localization principle for orbifold theories,''
hep-th/0411037.
In this article, written primarily for physicists and (differential) geometers,
we survey
several manifestations of a general localization principle for
orbifold theories such as
$K$-theory, index theory, motivic integration,
and elliptic genera.