Homology classification of spatial embeddings of a graph (Q1902979): Difference between revisions

For a topological space \(X\), let \(C_2(X)\) be the configuration space of ordered two points on \(X\). Let \(\sigma\) be the involution on \(C_2(X)\) such that \(\sigma(x,y) = (y,x)\). Let \(H^*(C_2(X), \sigma)\) denote the skew-symmetric cohomology of the pair \((C_2(X), \sigma)\). Let \(G\) be a finite simple graph, and \(f : G \to \mathbb{R}^3\) a (PL) piecewise-linear embedding of \(G\) into the three-dimensional Euclidean space \(\mathbb{R}^3\). Let \(f^2 : C_2(G) \to C_2(\mathbb{R}^3)\) be the map given by \(f^2 (x,y) = (f(x), f(y))\). Then \(f^2\) induces a homomorphism \((f^2)^\# : H^2 (C_2(\mathbb{R}^3),\sigma) \to H^2(C_2(G), \sigma)\). The Wu invariant of \(f\) is, by definition, the cohomology class \((f^2)^\# (\tau)\), \(\tau\) being a fixed generator of \(H^2(C_2 (\mathbb{R}^3), \sigma) \cong \mathbb{Z}\) [\textit{W.-T. Wu}, Sci. Sinica 9, 21-46 (1960; Zbl 0121.18102)]. In this fine paper, the author gives a homology classification of PL embeddings of \(G\) into \(\mathbb{R}^3\) by their Wu invariants. More precisely, the main theorem is the following: two (PL) embeddings \(f, g : G \to \mathbb{R}^3\) are homologous if and only if \((f^2)^\# (\tau) = (g^2)^\# (\tau)\).