Abrams's stable equivalence for graph braid groups (Q471454)

Let \(G\) be a finite connected graph. The \textit{ordered \(n\)-strand configuration space} of \(G\), denoted \(\mathcal{C}^n(G)\), is the space of all ordered tuples of \(G\) consisting of \(n\) distinct elements. Let \({D}^n(G)\) denote the discretized labeled configuration space of \(G\). The main result of this paper is given in Theorem 3.2, the Stable Equivalence: {Theorem 3.2} Let \(n>1\) be an integer, and \(G\) a finite, connected graph. The space \(\mathcal{C}^n(G)\) deformation retracts onto \(\mathcal{D}^n(G)\) if {\parindent=6mm \begin{itemize}\item[(A)] each path connecting distinct essential vertices of \(G\) has length at least \(n-1\), and \smallskip \item [(B)] each homotopically essential path connecting a vertex to itself has length at least \(n+1\). \end{itemize}} One of the main tools used to prove this is discrete Morse theory. The authors review the basics of discrete Morse theory in Section 2 before the main proof in section 3. Discrete Morse theory is utilized by defining a certain function on \(\mathcal{D}^n(G')\), where \(G'\) is obtained from \(G\) by subdivision of an edge. This function is shown to be a discrete Morse function in Lemma 2.4, and because the critical values are also computed, this allows the authors to show that \(\mathcal{D}^n(G')\) collapses to a certain subcomplex. This is key in the proof of Theorem 3.2. The papers is completed with an illustrative example.