Relative bounded cohomology. (Q1398202)

The theory of bounded cohomology is of interest in much of recent research, mostly due to its applications in topology and geometry. The theory was initiated by \textit{M. Gromov's} seminal work [Publ. Math. Inst. Hautes Etud. Sci. 56, 5-99 (1982; Zbl 0516.53046)], in spite of a few earlier results. The (absolute) bounded cohomology of a topological space and that of a discrete group are both equipped with a seminorm and they are isomorphic, by the work of \textit{R. Brooks} [Riemann surfaces and related topics: Proc. 1978 Stony Brook Conf., Ann. Math. Stud. 97, 53--63 (1981; Zbl 0457.55002)]. If \(Y\) is a subspace of a topological space \(X\), the relative bounded cohomology \(\widehat{H}^*(X,Y)\) was defined by \textit{M. Gromov} [Publ. Math. Inst. Hautes Etud. Sci. 56, 5--99 (1982; Zbl 0516.53046)]. The paper under review constructs the theory of the relative bounded cohomology \(\widehat{H}^*(Y @>{\varphi}>> X)\) of \(X\) modulo \(Y\) for a continuous map \(\varphi : Y\to X\) between arbitrary topological spaces \(Y\) and \(X\), and provides its algebraic foundation. For this purpose, the author first defines the relative bounded cohomology \(\widehat{H}^*(A@>{\varphi}>> G)\) of \(G\) modulo \(A\) for a homomorphism \(\varphi : A\to G\) between two groups \(A\) and \(G\), and provides some of its properties. One of these properties states that if \(A\) is amenable then \(\widehat{H}^*(A@>{\varphi}>> G)\) and \(\widehat{H}^*(G)\) are isometrically isomorphic. The last section deals with the relative bounded cohomology \(\widehat{H}^*(Y@>{\varphi}>> X)\). It is shown that if \(\varphi : Y\to X\) is a continuous map and if \(\varphi_* : \pi_1Y\to \pi_1X\) is the induced map between the fundamental groups, then (as in the absolute case) there is an isomorphism between \(\widehat{H}^n(Y@>{\varphi}>> X)\) and \(\widehat{H}^n(\pi_1Y @>{\varphi_*}>> \pi_1X)\) carrying the seminorm on \(\widehat{H}^n(Y@>{\varphi}>> X)\) to the seminorm on \(\widehat{H}^n(\pi_1Y @>{\varphi_*}>> \pi_1X)\). Among other interesting properties of the relative bounded cohomology, it is also proved that if \(Y\) is a subspace of \(X\) and \(\varphi : Y\hookrightarrow X\) is the inclusion, then the group \(\widehat{H}^n(Y@>{\varphi}>> X)\) essentially becomes \(\widehat{H}^n(X,Y)\). More precisely, they are isometrically isomorphic.