Homotopy classes of self-maps of annuli, generalised twists and spin degree (Q993334)

Let \(X\) be a compact manifold with boundary and call \(\mathcal{A}(X)\) the set of all self-maps of \(X\) which fix \(\partial X\) equipped with the topology of uniform convergence. A generalised annulus is the product of an \(l\)-ball, \(B^l\), and an \(m\)-sphere, \(S^m\). Denote by \(\alpha\) and \(\beta\) the projections of \(X:=B^l\times S^m\) onto the first and second factor. For \(\phi\in\mathcal{A}(X)\) write \(\phi^\alpha=\alpha\circ\phi\) and \(\phi^\beta:=\beta\circ\phi\). For \(x\in X\) let \(r:=\alpha(x)\) and \(\theta:=\beta(x)\). Let then \(\omega[r](\theta):=\beta\circ\phi(r,\theta)\). Denote by \(C_*(S^m,S^m)\) the path connected component of \(C(S^m,S^m)\) containing the identity. Then \(\omega\) represents an element \([\omega]\) of \(\pi_l(C_*(S^m,S^m))\) and the map \(p\) which maps \([\phi]\) to \([\omega]\) is an isomorphism between the group \(\pi\) of homotopy classes \([\phi]\), \(\phi\in\mathcal{A}(X)\), and \(\pi_l(C_*(S^m,S^m))\). The author proves that there is an isomorphism \(\text{\textbf{deg}}\) mapping \(\pi\) to \(\mathbb{Z}\) if \(m=1\) and to \(\mathbb{Z}_2\) if \(m\geq2\). The author derives several methods for computing this degree. There is an interesting and unexpected application to nonlinear elasticity theory which disproves a common belief (more precisely, the author proves that for an incompressible material occupying the region between two concentric spheres a twist along a fixed axis does not guarantee solutions to equilibrium of elasticity).