The degree of maps of free G-manifolds

Suppose that M and N are orientable, closed, connected manifolds with free actions of compact Lie groups G and H of the same dimension, and suppose that u : G → H is a homomorphism. We study the degree of maps f : M → N that are “equivariant up to u”. For abelian actions and for a power map such maps satisfy the condition f(λx) = λ ^r x. To Albrecht Dold and Edward Fadell     

Real, complex and quaternionic equivariant vector fields on spheres

The equivariant real, complex and quaternionic vector fields on spheres problem is reduced to a question about the equivariant J-groups of the projective spaces. As an application of this reduction, we give a generalization of the results of Namboodiri [U. Namboodiri, Equivariant vector fields on spheres, Trans. Amer. Math. Soc. 278 (2) (1983) 431-460], on equivariant real vector fields, and Önder [T. Önder, Equivariant cross sections of complex Stiefel manifolds, Topology Appl. 109 (2001) 107-125], on equivariant complex vector fields, which avoids the restriction that the representation containing the sphere has enough orbit types.     

Equivariant fixed-point indices of iterated maps

We describe an equivariant version (for actions of a finite group G) of Dold’s index theory, [10], for iterated maps. Equivariant Dold indices are defined, in general, for a G-map U → X defined on an open G-subset of a G-ANR X (and satisfying a suitable compactness condition). A local index for isolated fixed-points is introduced, and the theorem of Shub and Sullivan on the vanishing of all but finitely many Dold indices for a continuously differentiable map is extended to the equivariant case. Homotopy Dold indices, arising from the equivariant Reidemeister trace, are also considered.      

An effective algorithm for the cohomology ring of symplectic reductions

Let G be a compact torus acting on a compact symplectic manifold M in a Hamiltonian fashion, and T a subtorus of G. We prove that the kernel of is generated by a small number of classes satisfying very explicit restriction properties. Our main tool is the equivariant Kirwan map, a natural map from the G-equivariant cohomology of M to the G/T-equivariant cohomology of the symplectic reduction of M by T . We show this map is surjective. This is an equivariant version of the well-known result that the (nonequivariant) Kirwan map is surjective. We also compute the kernel of the equivariant Kirwan map, generalizing the result due to Tolman and Weitsman [TW] in the case T = G and allowing us to apply their methods inductively. This result is new even in the case that dim T = 1. We close with a worked example: the cohomology ring of the product of two , quotiented by the diagonal 2-torus action. Submitted: September 2001, Revised: December 2001, Revised: February 2002.     

Classifying spaces of Kač-Moody groups

We study the structure of classifying spaces of Kač-Moody groups from a homotopy theoretic point of view. They behave in many respects as in the compact Lie group case. The mod p cohomology algebra is noetherian and Lannes'T functor computes the mod p cohomology of classifying spaces of centralizers of elementary abelian p-subgroups. Also, spaces of maps from classifying spaces of finite p-groups to classifying spaces of Kač-Moody groups are described in terms of classifying spaces of centralizers while the classifying space of a Kač-Moody group itself can be described as a homotopy colimit of classifying spaces of centralizers of elementary abelian p-subgroups, up to p-completion. We show that these properties are common to a larger class of groups, also including parabolic subgroups of Kač-Moody groups, and centralizers of finite p-subgroups. Received: 15 June 2000 / in final form: 20 September 2001 / Published online: 29 April 2002     

Generalized Dirichlet to Neumann operator on invariant differential forms and equivariant cohomology

In recent work, Belishev and Sharafutdinov show that the generalized Dirichlet to Neumann (DN) operator Λ on a compact Riemannian manifold M with boundary ∂M determines de Rham cohomology groups of M. In this paper, we suppose G is a torus acting by isometries on M. Given X in the Lie algebra of G and the corresponding vector field XM on M, Witten defines an inhomogeneous coboundary operator dXM=d+ιXM on invariant forms on M. The main purpose is to adapt Belishev-Sharafutdinov?s boundary data to invariant forms in terms of the operator dXM in order to investigate to what extent the equivariant topology of a manifold is determined by the corresponding variant of the DN map. We define an operator ΛXM on invariant forms on the boundary which we call the XM-DN map and using this we recover the XM-cohomology groups from the generalized boundary data (∂M,ΛXM). This shows that for a Zariski-open subset of the Lie algebra, ΛXM determines the free part of the relative and absolute equivariant cohomology groups of M. In addition, we partially determine the ring structure of XM-cohomology groups from ΛXM. These results explain to what extent the equivariant topology of the manifold in question is determined by ΛXM.     

The dualizing spectrum of a topological group

To a topological group G, we assign a naive G-spectrum , called the dualizing spectrum of G. When the classifying space BG is finitely dominated, we show that detects Poincaré duality in the sense that BG is a Poincaré duality space if and only if is a homotopy finite spectrum. Secondly, we show that the dualizing spectrum behaves multiplicatively on certain topological group extensions. In proving these results we introduce a new tool: a norm map which is defined for any G and for any naive G-spectrum E. Applications of the dualizing spectrum come in two flavors: (i) applications in the theory of Poincaré duality spaces, and (ii) applications in the theory of group cohomology. On the Poincaré duality space side, we derive a homotopy theoretic solution to a problem posed by Wall which says that in a fibration sequence of fini the total space satisfies Poincaré duality if and only if the base and fiber do. The dualizing spectrum can also be used to give an entirely homotopy theoretic construction of the Spivak fibration of a finitely dominated Poincaré duality space. We also include a new proof of Browder's theorem that every finite H-space satisfies Poincaré duality. In connection with group cohomology, we show how to define a variant of Farrell-Tate cohomology for any topological or discrete group G, with coefficients in any naive equivariant cohomology theory E. When E is connective, and when G admits a subgroup H of finite index such that BH is finitely dominated, we show that this cohomology coincides with the ordinary cohomology of G with coefficients in E in degrees greater than the cohomological dimension of H. In an appendix, we identify the homotopy type of for certain kinds of groups. The class includes all compact Lie groups, torsion free arithmetic groups and Bieri-Eckmann duality groups. Received July 14, 1999 / Revised May 17, 2000 / Published online February 5, 2001     

Bredon homology and ramified covering G-maps

Let G be a finite group. The objective of this paper is twofold. First we prove that the cellular Bredon homology groups with coefficients in an arbitrary coefficient system M are isomorphic to the homotopy groups of certain topological abelian group. And second, we study ramified covering G-maps of simplicial sets and of simplicial complexes. As an application, we construct a transfer for them in Bredon homology, when M is a Mackey functor. We also show that the Bredon-Illman homology with coefficients in M satisfies the equivariant weak homotopy equivalence axiom in the category of G-spaces.     

Computation of Nielsen numbers for maps of compact surfaces with boundary

In this paper we study the Nielsen number of a self-map f:M→M of a compact connected surface with boundary. Let G=π₁(M) be the fundamental group of M which is a finitely generated free group. We introduce a new algebraic condition called “bounded solution length” on the induced endomorphism φ:G→G of f and show that many maps which have no remnant satisfy this condition. For a map f that has bounded solution length, we describe an algorithm for computing the Nielsen number N(f).     

Chern–Weil map for principal bundles over groupoids

The theory of principal G-bundles over a Lie groupoid is an important one unifying various types of principal G-bundles, including those over manifolds, those over orbifolds, as well as equivariant principal G-bundles. In this paper, we study differential geometry of these objects, including connections and holonomy maps. We also introduce a Chern–Weil map for these principal bundles and prove that the characteristic classes obtained coincide with the universal characteristic classes. As an application, we recover the equivariant Chern–Weil map of Bott–Tu. We also obtain an explicit chain map between the Weil model and the simplicial model of equivariant cohomology which reduces to the Bott–Shulman map when the manifold is a point. P. Xu Research partially supported by NSF grant DMS-03-06665.     

On the Lusternik-Schnirelmann category of Stiefel manifolds

We determine the Lusternik-Schnirelmann category of real Stiefel manifolds Vn,k and quaternionic Stiefel manifolds Xn,k for n?2k which is equal to the cup-length of the mod 2 cohomology of Vn,k and the integer cohomology of Xn,k, respectively.     

L-S category of quaternionic Stiefel manifolds

By calculating certain generalized cohomology theory, lower bounds for the L-S category of quaternionic Stiefel manifolds are given.     

Kernels of maps between classifying spaces

For homomorphisms between groups, one can divide out the kernel to get an injection. Here, we develop a notion of kernels for maps between classifying spaces of compact Lie groups. We show that the kernel is a normal subgroup in a modified sense and prove a generalization of a theorem of Quillen, namely, a mapf:BG→BH _p ^∧ is injective, iff the induced map in mod-p cohomology is finite. Moreover, for compact connected Lie groups, every mapf:BG→BH _p ^∧ factors over a quotient ofG in a modified sense and this factorisation is an injection.     

Roots of mappings on nonorientable surfaces¶and equations in free groups

Let f:M ₁→M ₂ be a continuous map and c:M ₁→M ₂ a constant map between closed (not necessarily orientable) surfaces. By definition the pair (f,c) has the Wecken property if f can be deformed into a map f' such that the number of coincidence points of (f',c) is the same as the number of essential coincidence classes of (f,c) and, hence, every essential coincidence class consists of exactly one point. When both surfaces are orientable the problem to determine all maps which have the Wecken property was solved in [14]. Let A(f) denote the absolute degree as defined in [6] or [15] and . Here we show that a map f has the Wecken property iff either the Euler characteristic or . In free groups there are solved certain quadratic equations closely related to the root problem. Received: Received: 18 January 2001 / Revised version: 27 November 2001     

Induced Hamiltonian maps on the symplectic quotient

Let (M,ω) be a symplectic manifold and G a compact Lie group that acts on M. Assume that the action of G on M is Hamiltonian. Then a G-equivariant Hamiltonian map on M induces a map on the symplectic quotient of M by G. Consider an autonomous Hamiltonian H with compact support on M, with no non-constant closed trajectory in time less than 1 and time-1 map fH. If the map fH descends to the symplectic quotient to a map Φ(fH) and the symplectic manifold M is exact and Ham(M,ω) has no short loops, we prove that the Hofer norm of the induced map Φ(fH) is bounded above by the Hofer norm of fH.     

Coincidences of maps into homogeneous spaces

Let f,g:X→M be maps between two closed connected orientable n-manifolds where M=G/K is the homogeneous space of left cosets of a compact connected Lie group G by a finite subgroup K. In this note, we obtain a simple formula for the Lefschetz coincidence number L(f,g) in terms of topological degree, generalizing some previously known formulas for fixed points. Our approach, by means of Nielsen root theory, also allows us to give a simpler and more geometric proof of the fact that all coincidence classes of f and g have coincidence index of the same sign. Received: 3 March 1998 / Revised version: 29 June 1998     

On the equivariant cohomology of rotation groups and Stiefel manifolds

In this paper, we compute the RO(Z/2)-graded equivariant cohomology of rotation groups and Stiefel manifolds with particular involutions.     

On extensions of a symplectic class

Let F be a fibration on a simply-connected base with symplectic fiber (M,ω). Assume that the fiber is nilpotent and T2k-separable for some integer k or a nilmanifold. Then our main theorem, Theorem 1.8, gives a necessary and sufficient condition for the cohomology class [ω] to extend to a cohomology class of the total space of F. This allows us to describe Thurston?s criterion for a symplectic fibration to admit a compatible symplectic form in terms of the classifying map for the underlying fibration. The obstruction due to Lalond and McDuff for a symplectic bundle to be Hamiltonian is also rephrased in the same vein. Furthermore, with the aid of the main theorem, we discuss a global nature of the set of the homotopy equivalence classes of fibrations with symplectic fiber in which the class [ω] is extendable.     

On the Cohomology of the Invariant Euler–Lagrange Complex

Given a Lie group action G we show, using the method of equivariant moving frames, that the local cohomology of the invariant Euler–Lagrange complex is isomorphic to the Lie algebra cohomology of G.