Orbifold virtual cohomology of the symmetric product (Q1959060): Difference between revisions

\textit{E. Lupercio, B. Uribe} and \textit{M. Xicoténcati} have shown that the ring structure defined in the homology of the loop space of the symmetric product orbifold induces a ring structure on the cohomology of the inertia orbifold, by restricting the structure to the constant loops [J. Pure Appl. Algebra 211, No. 2, 293--306 (2007; Zbl 1148.55005)]. This has led them to define a ring structure on the inertia orbifold of any orbifold that the authors coined virtual cohomology. This cohomology is defined via the pull-push formalism similar to the way that the Chen-Ruan product for orbifolds is defined (see \textit{W. Chen} and \textit{Y. Ruan} [Commun. Math. Phys. 248, No. 1, 1--31 (2004; Zbl 1063.53091)]; \textit{B. Fantechi} and \textit{L. Göttsche} [Duke Math. J. 117, No. 2, 197-227 (2003; Zbl 1086.14046)]). { }In [\textit{A. Gonzáles, E. Lupercio, C. Segovia, B. Uribe} and \textit{M. A. Xicoténcati}, Math. Res. Lett. 14, No. 3, 491-501 (2007; Zbl 1127.53073)], the relation between the virtual and the Chen-Ruan cohomology was clarified, namely, that for an almost complex orbifold, its virtual cohomology is isomorphic to the Chen-Ruan cohomology of its cotangent orbifold. In this paper the authors give an algorithm to calculate the virtual cohomology of a large family of orbifolds. The authors first show that for any global quotient orbifold \([Y/G]\), the virtual cohomology \(H^\ast_{virt}(Y,G;\mathbb{Z})\) maps to the group ring \(H^\ast(Y;\mathbb{Z})[G]\), and therefore, when this map is injective one can see the virtual cohomology as a subring of the group ring. This for example is the case when the inclusions of the fixed point sets \(Y^g\rightarrow Y\) induce a monomorphism in homology. The authors calculate the virtual cohomology of these orbifolds by describing a set of generators in the group ring. In the case of the symmetric product the authors reduce the set of generators to the lower degree cohomology classes of the fixed point sets of the transpositions.