The rack space

The main result of this paper is a new classification theorem for links (smooth embeddings in codimension 2). The classifying space is the rack space and the classifying bundle is the first James bundle.

We investigate the algebraic topology of this classifying space and report on calculations given elsewhere. Apart from defining many new knot and link invariants (including generalised James-Hopf invariants), the classification theorem has some unexpected applications. We give a combinatorial interpretation for of a complex which can be used for calculations and some new interpretations of the higher homotopy groups of the 3-sphere. We also give a cobordism classification of virtual links.

     

On the homotopy invariance of torsion for covering spaces

We prove the homotopy invariance of torsion for covering spaces, whenever the covering transformation group is either residually finite or amenable. In the case when the covering transformation group is residually finite and when the cohomology of the covering space vanishes, the homotopy invariance was established by Lück. We also give some applications of our results.

     

Homological algebra of Novikov-Shubin invariants and morse inequalities

It is shown in this paper that the topological phenomenonzero in the continuous spectrum, discovered by S.P. Novikov and M.A. Shubin, can be explained in terms of a homology theory on the category of finite polyhedra with values in a certain abelian category. This approach implies homotopy invariance of the Novikov-Shubin invariants. Its main advantage is that it allows the use of the standard homological techniques, such as spectral sequences, derived functors, universal coefficients etc., while studying the Novikov-Shubin invariants. It also leads to some new quantitative invariants, measuring the Novikov-Shubin phenomenon in a different way, which are used in the present paper in order to strengthen the Morse type inequalities of Novikov and Shubin [NSh2].The research was supported by a grant from US-Israel Binational Science Foundation.     

-kernels of Lie groups

We study a filtration on the group of homotopy classes of self maps of a compact Lie group associated with homotopy groups. We determine these filtrations of and completely. We introduce two natural invariants and defined by the filtration, where is a prime number, and compute the invariants for simple Lie groups in the cases where Lie groups are -regular or quasi -regular. We apply our results to the groups of self homotopy equivalences.

     

Bauer–Furuta invariants under $${\mathbb{Z}_2}$$ -actions

S. Bauer and M. Furuta defined a stable cohomotopy refinement of the Seiberg–Witten invariants. In this paper, we prove a vanishing theorem of Bauer–Furuta invariants for 4-manifolds with smooth -actions. As an application, we give a constraint on smooth -actions on homotopy K3#K3, and construct a nonsmoothable locally linear -action on K3#K3. We also construct a nonsmoothable locally linear -action on K3.      

Integration of singular braid invariants and graph cohomology

We prove necessary and sufficient conditions for an arbitrary invariant of braids with double points to be the `` derivative' of a braid invariant. We show that the ``primary obstruction to integration' is the only obstruction. This gives a slight generalization of the existence theorem for Vassiliev invariants of braids. We give a direct proof by induction on which works for invariants with values in any abelian group.

We find that to prove our theorem, we must show that every relation among four-term relations satisfies a certain geometric condition. To find the relations among relations we show that of a variant of Kontsevich's graph complex vanishes. We discuss related open questions for invariants of links and other things.

     

Tetragonal curves, scrolls and surfaces

In this paper we establish a theorem which determines the invariants of a general hyperplane section of a rational normal scroll of arbitrary dimension. We then construct a complete intersection surface on a four-dimensional scroll and prove it is regular with a trivial dualizing sheaf. We determine the invariants for which the surface is nonsingular, and hence a surface. A general hyperplane section of this surface is a tetragonal curve; we use the first theorem to determine for which tetragonal invariants such a construction is possible. In particular we show that for every genus there is a tetragonal curve of genus that is a hyperplane section of a surface. Conversely, if the tetragonal invariants are not sufficiently balanced, then the complete intersection must be singular. Finally we determine for which additional sets of invariants this construction gives a tetragonal curve as a hyperplane section of a singular canonically trivial surface, and discuss the connection with other recent results on canonically trivial surfaces.

     

The relationship between the diagonal and the bar constructions on a bisimplicial set

The aim of this paper is to prove that the homotopy type of any bisimplicial set X is modelled by the simplicial set , the bar construction on X. We stress the interest of this result by showing two relevant theorems which now become simple instances of it; namely, the Homotopy colimit theorem of Thomason, for diagrams of small categories, and the generalized Eilenberg-Zilber theorem of Dold-Puppe for bisimplicial Abelian groups. Among other applications, we give an algebraic model for the homotopy theory of (not necessarily path-connected) spaces whose homotopy groups vanish in degree 4 and higher.     

Harnack-Thom theorem for higher cycle groups and Picard varieties

We generalize the Harnack-Thom theorem to relate the ranks of the Lawson homology groups with -coefficients of a real quasiprojective variety with the ranks of its reduced real Lawson homology groups. In the case of zero-cycle group, we recover the classical Harnack-Thom theorem and generalize the classical version to include real quasiprojective varieties. We use Weil's construction of Picard varieties to construct reduced real Picard groups, and Milnor's construction of universal bundles to construct some weak models of classifying spaces of some cycle groups. These weak models are used to produce long exact sequences of homotopy groups which are the main tool in computing the homotopy groups of some cycle groups of divisors. We obtain some congruences involving the Picard number of a nonsingular real projective variety and the rank of its reduced real Lawson homology groups of divisors.

     

Carrier and nerve theorems in the extension theory

We show that a regular cover of a general topological space provides structure similar to a triangulation. In this general setting we define analogues of simplicial maps and prove their existence and uniqueness up to homotopy. As an application we give simple proofs of sharpened versions of nerve theorems of K. Borsuk and A. Weil, which state that the nerve of a regular cover is homotopy equivalent to the underlying space.

Next we prove a nerve theorem for a class of spaces with uniformly bounded extension dimension. In particular we prove that the canonical map from a separable metric -dimensional space into the nerve of its weakly regular open cover induces isomorphisms on homotopy groups of dimensions less than .

     

Order one invariants of immersions of surfaces into 3-space

We classify all order one invariants of immersions of a closed orientable surface F into ³, with values in an arbitrary Abelian group . We show that for any F and and any regular homotopy class of immersions of F into ³, the group of all order one invariants on is isomorphic to is the group of all functions from a set of cardinality . Our work includes foundations for the study of finite order invariants of immersions of a closed orientable surface into ³, analogous to chord diagrams and the 1-term and 4-term relations of knot theory.Partially supported by the Minerva FoundationMathamatics Subject Classification (2000):57M, 57R42     

Characterizing Artin stacks

We study properties of morphisms of stacks in the context of the homotopy theory of presheaves of groupoids on a small site . There is a natural method for extending a property P of morphisms of sheaves on to a property ${\mathcal{P}}$ of morphisms of presheaves of groupoids. We prove that the property ${\mathcal{P}}$ is homotopy invariant in the local model structure on when P is stable under pullback and local on the target. Using the homotopy invariance of the properties of being a representable morphism, representable in algebraic spaces, and of being a cover, we obtain homotopy theoretic characterizations of algebraic and Artin stacks as those which are equivalent to simplicial objects in satisfying certain analogues of the Kan conditions. The definition of Artin stack can naturally be placed within a hierarchy which roughly measures how far a stack is from being representable. We call the higher analogues of Artin stacks n-algebraic stacks, and provide a characterization of these in terms of simplicial objects. A consequence of this characterization is that, for presheaves of groupoids, n-algebraic is the same as 3-algebraic for all n ≥ 3. As an application of these results we show that a stack is n-algebraic if and only if the homotopy orbits of a group action on it is.     

The Novikov Conjecture for Low Degree Cohomology Classes

We outline a twisted analogue of the Mishchenko–Kasparov approach to prove the Novikov conjecture on the homotopy invariance of the higher signatures. Using our approach, we give a new and simple proof of the homotopy invariance of the higher signatures associated to all cohomology classes of the classifying space that belong to the subring of the cohomology ring of the classifying space that is generated by cohomology classes of degree less than or equal to 2, a result that was first established by Connes and Gromov and Moscovici using other methods. A key new ingredient is the construction of a tautological C* _r (, )-bundle and connection, which can be used to construct a C* _r (, )-index that lies in the Grothendieck group of C* _r (, ), where is a multiplier on the discrete group corresponding to a degree 2 cohomology class. We also utilise a main result of Hilsum and Skandalis to establish our theorem.     

Fibred sites and stack cohomology

The usual notion of the site associated to a stack is expanded to a definition to a site fibred over a presheaf of categories A on a site . If the presheaf of categories is a presheaf of groupoids G, then the associated homotopy theory is Quillen equivalant to the homotopy theory of simplicial presheaves over BG, and so the homotopy theory for the fibred site is an invariant of the homotopy type of G. Similar homotopy invariance results obtain for presheaves of spectra and presheaves of symmetric spectra on . In particular, stack cohomology can be calculated on the fibred site for any representing presheaf of groupoids within a fixed homotopy type.     

Signatures for ‐hermitians and ‐unitaries on Krein spaces with Real structures

For J‐hermitian operators on a Krein space satisfying an adequate Fredholm property, a global Krein signature is shown to be a homotopy invariant. It is argued that this global signature is a generalization of the Noether index. When the Krein space has a supplementary Real structure, the sets of J‐hermitian Fredholm operators with Real symmetry can be retracted to certain of the classifying spaces of Atiyah and Singer. Secondary ‐invariants are introduced to label their connected components. Related invariants are also analyzed for J‐unitary operators.     

Superperverse intersection cohomology: stratification (in)dependence

Within its traditional range of perversity parameters, intersection cohomology is a topological invariant of pseudomanifolds. This is no longer true once one allows superperversities, perversities with . In this case, intersection cohomology may depend on the choice of the stratification by which it is defined. Topological invariance also does not hold if one allows stratifications with codimension one strata. Nonetheless, both errant situations arise in important situations, the former in the Cappell-Shaneson superduality theorem and the latter in any discussion of pseudomanifold bordism. We show that while full invariance of intersection cohomology under restratification does not hold in this generality, it does hold up to restratifications that fix the the top stratum.     

Bounding volume by systoles of 3-manifolds

We prove a new systolic volume lower bound for non-orientablen-manifolds, involving the stable 1-systole as well as the codimension-1systole with coefficients in ₂. As an application, we provethat Lusternik–Schnirelmann category and systolic categoryagree for non-orientable closed manifolds of dimension 3, extendingour earlier result in the orientable case. Finally, we provethe homotopy invariance of systolic category.     

Symmetric functions and the phase problem in crystallography

The calculation of crystal structure from X-ray diffraction data requires that the phases of the ``structure factors' (Fourier coefficients) determined by scattering be deduced from the absolute values of those structure factors. Motivated by a question of Herbert Hauptman, we consider the problem of determining phases by direct algebraic means in the case of crystal structures with equal atoms in the unit cell, with small. We rephrase the problem as a question about multiplicative invariants for a particular finite group action. We show that the absolute values form a generating set for the field of invariants of this action, and consider the problem of making this theorem constructive and practical; the most promising approach for deriving explicit formulas uses SAGBI bases.

     

A Tale of Three Homotopies

For a Koszul operad \(\mathcal {P}\), there are several existing approaches to the notion of a homotopy between homotopy morphisms of homotopy \(\mathcal {P}\)-algebras. Some of those approaches are known to give rise to the same notions. We exhibit the missing links between those notions, thus putting them all into the same framework. The main nontrivial ingredient in establishing this relationship is the homotopy transfer theorem for homotopy cooperads due to Drummond-Cole and Vallette.