Simple homotopy types and finite spaces

We present a new approach to simple homotopy theory of polyhedra using finite topological spaces. We define the concept of collapse of a finite space and prove that this new notion corresponds exactly to the concept of a simplicial collapse. More precisely, we show that a collapse X↘Y of finite spaces induces a simplicial collapse K(X)↘K(Y) of their associated simplicial complexes. Moreover, a simplicial collapse K↘L induces a collapse X(K)↘X(L) of the associated finite spaces. This establishes a one-to-one correspondence between simple homotopy types of finite simplicial complexes and simple equivalence classes of finite spaces. We also prove a similar result for maps: We give a complete characterization of the class of maps between finite spaces which induce simple homotopy equivalences between the associated polyhedra. This class describes all maps coming from simple homotopy equivalences at the level of complexes. The advantage of this theory is that the elementary move of finite spaces is much simpler than the elementary move of simplicial complexes: It consists of removing (or adding) just a single point of the space.     

Minimal fibrations and the organizing theorem of simplicial homotopy theory

Quillen showed that simplicial sets form a model category (with appropriate choices of three classes of morphisms), which organized the homotopy theory of simplicial sets. His proof is very difficult and uses even the classification theory of principal bundles. Thus, Goerss–Jardine appealed to topological methods for the verification. In this paper we give a new proof of this organizing theorem of simplicial homotopy theory which is elementary in the sense that it does not use the classifying theory of principal bundles or appeal to topological methods.     

AN INVARIANT FOR HYPERGRAPHS

ＡＮＩＮＶＡＲＩＡＮＴＦＯＲＨＹＰＥＲＧＲＡＰＨＳＷＡＮＧＪＩＡＮＦＡＮＧ（ＩｎｓｔｉｔｕｔｅｏｆＡＰＰｌｉｅｄＭａｔｈｅｍａｔｉｃｓ，ＣｈｉｎｅｓｅＡｃａｄｅｍｙｏｆＳｃｉｅｎｃｅｓ，Ｂｅｉｊｉｎｇ１０００８０，ＣｈｉｎａａｎｄＡｓｉａ－Ｐａｃｉｆ...     

Strong homotopy induced by adjacency structure

This paper generalizes the concept of SA-homotopy in finite topological adjacency category, which is introduced in our previous work, to graph category and discusses its properties. We prove that every SA-strong deformation retract of a simple graph G could be obtained by removing trivial vertices one by one, which makes it possible to allow an iterative algorithm of finding all SA-strong deformation retracts of G. We also obtain that two simple graphs are SA-homotopy equivalent if and only if they have graph isomorphic cores. Compared with the graph homotopy transformation defined by S.T. Yau et al. and the s-homotopy transformation defined by R. Boulet et al., the main advantage of SA-homotopy transformation is that it could reflect correspondences between vertices, and hence it more accurately describe the transformation process than the graph homotopy transformation and s-homotopy transformation. As an application of SA-homotopy on graphs, we introduce the mapping class group of a graph, which also shows its advantage over the graph homotopy transformation and the s-homotopy transformation.     

Hom complexes and homotopy in the category of graphs

In this extended abstract we develop a notion of ×-homotopy of graph maps that is based on the internal hom associated to the categorical product. We show that graph ×-homotopy is characterized by the topological properties of the so-called Hom complex, a functorial way to assign a poset to a pair of graphs. Along the way we establish some structural properties of Hom complexes involving products and exponentials of graphs, as well as a symmetry result which can be used to reprove a theorem of Kozlov involving foldings of graphs. We end with a discussion of graph homotopies arising from other internal homs, including the construction of ‘A-theory’ associated to the cartesian product in the category of reflexive graphs. For proofs and further discussions we refer the reader to the full paper [Anton Dochtermann. Hom complexes and homotopy theory in the category of graphs. arXiv:math.CO/0605275].     

Fundamental group of homotopy colimits

We give a general version of theorems due to Seifert-van Kampen and Brown about the fundamental group of topological spaces. We consider here the fundamental group of a general homotopy colimit of spaces. This includes unions, direct limits and quotient spaces as special cases. The fundamental group of the homotopy colimit is determined by the induced diagram of fundamental groupoids via a simple commutation formula. We use this framework to discuss homotopy (co-)limits of groups and groupoids as well as the useful Classification Lemma 6.4. Immediate consequences include the fundamental group of a quotient spaces by a group action and of more general colimits. The Bass-Serre and Haefliger's decompositions of groups acting on simplicial complexes is shown to follow effortlessly. An algebraic notion of the homotopy colimit of a diagram of groups is treated in some detail.     

Strong Homotopy Types,Nerves and Collapses

We introduce the theory of strong homotopy types of simplicial complexes. Similarly to classical simple homotopy theory, the strong homotopy types can be described by elementary moves. An elementary move in this setting is called a strong collapse and it is a particular kind of simplicial collapse. The advantage of using strong collapses is the existence and uniqueness of cores and their relationship with the nerves of the complexes. From this theory we derive new results for studying simplicial collapsibility with a different point of view. We analyze vertex-transitive simplicial G-actions and prove a particular case of the Evasiveness conjecture for simplicial complexes. Moreover, we reduce the general conjecture to the class of minimal complexes. We also strengthen a result of V. Welker on the barycentric subdivision of collapsible complexes. We obtain this and other results on collapsibility of polyhedra by means of the characterization of the different notions of collapses in terms of finite topological spaces.     

Extending local homotopy equivalences

We give an elementary proof of one of tom Dieck’s theorems. The theorem says that iff:X → Y is a local homotopy equivalence in a strong enough sense, thenf is a homotopy equivalence globally. Applications, 1. The base space of any numerable principalG-bundle is of the sme homotopy type as the Borel space of the bundle. 2. The nerve of a numerable coveringU ofX for which all finite intersections are contractible is of the same homotopy type asX.     

Discrete Morse Theory and the Homotopy Type of Clique Graphs

We attach topological concepts to a simple graph by means of the simplicial complex of its complete subgraphs. Using Forman’s discrete Morse theory we show that the strong product of two graphs is homotopic to the topological product of the spaces of their complexes. As a consequence, we enlarge the class of clique divergent graphs known to be homotopy equivalent to all its iterated clique graphs.     

Simplicial simple-homotopy of flag complexes in terms of graphs

A flag complex can be defined as a simplicial complex whose simplices correspond to complete subgraphs of its 1-skeleton taken as a graph. In this article, by introducing the notion of s-dismantlability, we shall define the s-homotopy type of a graph and show in particular that two finite graphs have the same s-homotopy type if, and only if, the two flag complexes determined by these graphs have the same simplicial simple-homotopy type. This result is closely related to similar results established by Barmak and Minian [J.A. Barmak, E.G. Minian, Simple homotopy types and finite spaces, Adv. Math. 218 (1) (2008) 87–104. doi:10.1016/j.aim.2007.11.019] in the framework of posets and we give the relation between the two approaches. We conclude with a question about the relation between the s-homotopy and the graph homotopy defined in [B. Chen, S.-T. Yau, Y.-N. Yeh, Graph homotopy and Graham homotopy, Selected papers in honor of Helge Tverberg, Discrete Math. 241 (1-3) (2001) 153–170. doi:10.1016/S0012-365X(01)00115-7.]     

Some examples of homotopy Π-algebras

The homotopy Π-algebra of a pointed topological space, X, consists of the homotopy groups of X together with the additional structure of the primary homotopy operations. We extend two well-known results for homotopy groups to homotopy Π-algebras and look at some examples illustrating the depth of structure on homotopy groups; from graded group to graded Lie ring, to Π-algebra and beyond. We also describe an abstract Π-algebra and give three abstract Π-algebra structures on the homotopy groups of the loop space of X which can be realized as the homotopy Π-algebras of three different spaces.     

A characterization of hypercacti

In [M. Sonntag, Antimagic vertex labelings of hypergraphs, Discrete Math. 247 (2002) 187-199] the graph theoretic notion of a cactus is generalized to hypergraphs. We present some elementary properties and give a characterization of hypercacti.     

The homotopy type of the complement of a coordinate subspace arrangement

The homotopy type of the complement of a complex coordinate subspace arrangement is studied by utilising some connections between its topological and combinatorial structures. A family of arrangements for which the complement is homotopy equivalent to a wedge of spheres is described. One consequence is an application in commutative algebra: certain local rings are proved to be Golod, that is, all Massey products in their homology vanish.     

The coherent homotopy category over a fixed space is a category of fractions

In this note we prove that the coherent homotopy category over a fixed space B with morphisms represented by certain homotopy commutative squares (see [8]) is isomorphic to the category obtained by formally inverting those maps in the category Top_B of topological spaces over B which are ordinary homotopy equivalences.     

Compact open topology and CW homotopy type

The class of spaces having the homotopy type of a CW complex is not closed under formation of function spaces. In 1959, Milnor proved the fundamental theorem that, given a space and a compact Hausdorff space X, the space Y^X of continuous functions X→Y, endowed with the compact open topology, belongs to . P.J. Kahn extended this in 1982, showing that if X has finite n-skeleton and π_k(Y)=0, k>n.

Using a different approach, we obtain a further generalization and give interesting examples of function spaces where is not homotopy equivalent to a finite complex, and has infinitely many nontrivial homotopy groups. We also obtain information about some topological properties that are intimately related to CW homotopy type.

As an application we solve a related problem concerning towers of fibrations between spaces of CW homotopy type.     

Simple homotopy types of Hom-complexes, neighborhood complexes, Lovász complexes, and atom crosscut complexes

In this paper we provide concrete combinatorial formal deformation algorithms, namely sequences of elementary collapses and expansions, which relate various previously extensively studied families of combinatorially defined polyhedral complexes.To start with, we give a sequence of elementary collapses leading from the barycentric subdivision of the neighborhood complex to the Lovász complex of a graph. Then, for an arbitrary lattice L we describe a formal deformation of the barycentric subdivision of the atom crosscut complex Γ(L) to its order complex . We proceed by proving that the complex of sets bounded from below J(L) can also be collapsed to .Finally, as a pinnacle of our project, we apply all these results to certain graph complexes. Namely, by describing an explicit formal deformation, we prove that, for any graph G, the neighborhood complex N(G) and the polyhedral complex Hom(K₂,G) have the same simple homotopy type in the sense of Whitehead.     

Models for torsion homotopy types

Given an integern>1 and any setP of positive integers, one can assign to each topological spaceX a homotopy universal mapX ^(P,n) →X whereX ^(P,n) is an (n−1)-connected CW-complex whose homotopy groups areP-torsion. We analyze this construction and its properties by means of a suitable closed model category structure on the pointed category of topological spaces. The authors acknowledge financial aid given by the DGICYT under projects PB93-0581-C02-01 and PB94-0725.     

Counting acyclic hypergraphs

Acyclic hypergraphs are analogues of forests in graphs. They are very useful in the design of databases. The number of distinct acyclic uniform hypergraphs withn labeled vertices is studied. With the aid of the principle of inclusion-exclusion, two formulas are presented. One is the explicitformula for strict (d)-connected acyclic hypergraphs, the other is the recurrence formula for linear acyclic hypergraphs.